Angel Olsen - Live KEXP 2017-02-18 (concert)

More KEXP goodness, this time with Angel Olsen, recorded nearly a year ago in support of her excellent 2016 LP "My Woman". 

This four song set doesn't feature "Shut Up Kiss Me" or "Sister", my two favorite songs from "My Woman", but does feature the next best three songs from the LP ("Intern", "Woman", and "Never Be Mine") as well as a great cover of "Total Control" by The Motels. 

I've since updated my LP review to reflect this, but this KEXP concert clip is where I realized that the backup singer in the Colbert video that I raved about to all of my friends is actually Heather McEntire, the lead singer for Mount Moriah (on the right-hand side of the image above).  I've already covered how great Heather is in my review of their eponymous LP, so on the one hand, I'm disappointed that I didn't recognize her, even in the whole The Crickets / rockabilly outfit, and on the other hand I'm glad I noticed her sound and thought "wow, she should have her own band!" Fortunately Mount Moriah is still active and this is just another example of their members being involved in different projects (cf. Jenks Miller and Horseback). 

This is at least the second time Olsen has been on KEXP, but the 2014 appearance was in support of the "Burn Your Fire for No Witness" LP, which although not bad is not the masterpiece that "My Woman" is. 




Bonus link: The Motels - "Total Control"

Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye" (spotlight)

Driving last night I heard "Lazy Eye" on the radio, and that reminded me that I've been meaning to do this: I hereby declare The Smashing Pumpkins redundant, and in the future we need only the Silversun Pickups.

When I first head "Lazy Eye" some 11 (!) years ago I (and everyone else) thought Brian Aubert's voice was similar to Billy Corgan's, and that their overall sound mines the same territory as The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, and MBV.  So why are TSPs now redundant?

First, although I was never a huge fan of TSPs, their early work (e.g., from 1993's "Siamese Dream") nicely captures the sound of the early 90s / post-college and all the associated nostalgia.  I enjoyed the singles from each successive LP less and less, but did not let their decreasing relevancy diminish my enjoyment of "Disarm", "Today", etc.

Then when Danette and I got together she made it clear in no uncertain terms that she did not like Billy Corgan.  On the other hand, Danette's a hater and dislikes a lot of good music, so I remained unconvinced and having never seen Corgan in an interview, I had a protective veil of ignorance.  Recently, in the autobiography "Girl in a Band",  I discovered that Kim Gordon's assessment of Billy Corgan matches Danette's.  This is when I started to think maybe Danette was right... 

The final straw is when I recently saw a screen grab of Billy Corgan on Info Wars, talking about chemtrails or something.  That convinced me that 1) he actually was batshit crazy, and 2) Danette was definitely right.

Can you reject creepy Corgan and still enjoy "Today"?  I'm not sure, but in the mean time we can enjoy the Silversun Pickups, who still "sound like college" to me.  They've had a steady stream of moderately successful singles, but "Lazy Eye" from their 2006 debut LP "Carnavas" is probably still their biggest hit.  And we can probably just retire Billy et al.

Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye", live from Sun Liquor (from which their name derives), live on Fearless Music (2010-06)

Bonus Sonic Youth reference:  From the official video, Nikki Monninger (top) looks like a brunette Kim Gordon (bottom).  

2018-02-15 edit: I came across this today...

Just a little reminder, in case you’re tempted to support Billy Corgan during this “Smashing Pumpkins reunion” tour. pic.twitter.com/NN7R0g9p9P

— AustinBloggy (₌ㅇᆽㅇ₌) (@AustinBloggy) February 15, 2018

AC/DC - "Jailbreak" (forgotten song)

Malcolm Young, a founding member of the seminal blues/hard-rock/heavy metal band AC/DC, died recently, just over three years after he retired from the band because of his dementia diagnosis.  Although he was "just" a rhythm guitarist, Malcolm co-wrote, with his brother Angus, the music for all AC/DC songs.  Considering all the memorable riffs AC/DC has produced over 40+ years, that's quite an impressive feat.

So which one should I choose to mark Malcom's passing?  It's actually pretty difficult.  I remember "Back in Black", with its many hit singles, when it was a new release in 1980, coinciding with my budding awareness of music.  After that, Bill Glidden got a lot of their early catalog (e.g., "Highway to Hell", "Powerage").  I also have some pretty enjoyable memories of "For Those About to Rock We Salute You" at Robert Gordick's house. 

Instead of the many great songs from those LPs, I will choose "Jailbreak", which first appeared on Australian version of their 1976 LP "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", but not on the US version of that LP which did not come out until 1981, a full year after the death of Bon Scott and Brian Johnson replacing him for the seminal "Back in Black".  The song "Jailbreak" wasn't released in the US until the 1984 EP "'74 Jailbreak". 

Confused yet?  Well the discography of AC/DC is filled with all kinds of anomalies, mostly arising from different versions of their LPs for Australia, Europe, and the US.  And a 1976 song, not released in the US until 1984, on an EP that suggests 1974, perfectly captures the disorder of their early catalog  -- which includes two essentially different LPs with the same title!   

So why does AC/DC continue to have such appeal?  Danette and I talk about this occasionally.  First, the songs are heavy and feature memorable riffs, but the blues origins are clearly maintained.  The lyrics, especially those of Bon Scott, are funny even when they're sophomoric.  We often wonder if we first heard songs like "Big Balls" today (instead of 35+ years ago) if we'd still find them funny, but I suspect we would.  We recently decided that a deciding factor in their appeal is they are, to the best that we could remember, one of the least misogynistic hard rock bands.  Sure, there are a lot of songs about women and sex, but we can't recall any that are especially mean-spirited or degrading.  Perhaps that's why we have all-female tribute bands, like Hell's Belles. 

Officially, AC/DC continues, but with death of founding member Malcolm, the voluntary retirement of long-time bassist Cliff Williams,  the involuntary retirement of Brian Johnson, and long-time drummer Phil Rudd landing in jail because of living out the story line of "Dirty Deeds...", well I'm not sure it's still really AC/DC.

There's a 1976 video for "Jailbreak", which features Malcolm in the opening sequence (in a guard's outfit).  A video is pretty rare for 1976, so I suppose we should forgive them for not figuring out how to get all five band members in frame at once.

AC/DC - "Jailbreak"

Celtic Frost - "Tragic Serenades" (LP Review)

"Lend me your steel-bearing hand
So I may reign the Jewel Throne
My soul feels the gods' demand
As the lost kings uphold my side

Blood and sand
Mark their way
The usurper's tears
Guide my sword"

As I've discussed before, I'm surprised at how well Celtic Frost early material has held up some 30+ years later.  The music was always ferocious (even if, or perhaps because, the production is so raw), the Tolkienesque lyrics (e.g., the opening stanzas from "The Usurper" above) are still engaging, and the result is that CF is one of the few metals bands that I now appreciate even more than I did back in the day.  Furthermore, I recently discovered CF's 2006 reunion LP, "Monotheist", as well as the material from the post-CF band Triptykon, and I find they exhibit a peerless progression of complexity, depth, and execution of their vision, which first surfaced in 1984's "Apocalyptic Raids". 

So I was sad to discover a month ago that bassist Martin Eric Ain died.  Ain was a long-time collaborator with Thomas Gabriel Fischer (aka Tom G. Warrior), participating in the last half of Hellhammer and most of Celtic Frost, and in the process they substantially influenced many sub-genres within metal.  Their up-and-down relationship mirrors that of Bob Mould and Grant Hart: compare Bob's note about Grant and Thomas's note about Martin.

To mark Martin's passing, I'm choosing Celtic Frost's 1986 EP "Tragic Serenades" for several reasons.  First, it's the only CF release I have on vinyl (the rest of their early material I taped from Scott Kinkade).  Second, the existence of this EP is due to Martin leaving Celtic Frost prior to 1985's "To Mega Therion", then returning in 1986.  This EP re-records two songs from TMT, "The Usurper" and "Jewel Throne", but with Martin on bass.  It closes with a "party mix" (?!) of  "Return to the Eve", first seen on "Morbid Tales".

So it's a three song EP, all of which are re-recordings of existing songs -- certainly this is only necessary for completists and its release didn't really advance their musical journey past the source material.  On the other hand, this EP exists because of Martin and his difficult relationship with Thomas, and as such is a fitting tribute to his passing.

Standout songs: "The Usurper" and "Jewel Throne"  (full EP).

Final score: 7/10  Ultimately, this is just an interesting footnote in the CF canon. 


Bonus link: Martin sings lead on 2006's "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh".

Grant Hart - "2541" (the song remains the same)

About two months ago Grant Hart died.  Grant was a founding member of the seminal punk band Husker Du, a band I've nearly completely covered in F-Measure.   It wasn't until recently that I settled on how to acknowledge his passing: his solo debut EP, post-Husker Du, released in 1988.  The title track, "2541", a poignant song about Husker Du's first shared house/rehearsal space, is a parable about the rise and fall of the band itself ("Now everything is over / Now everything is done / Everything's in boxes / At twenty-five forty-one"). 

After Husker Du broke up, I unconsciously ended up on team Bob.  I have several LPs from solo Bob Mould and Sugar, but never got any solo work from Grant or Nova Mob.  I need to fix that.

Bob and Grant had a fiery, sometimes-on but mostly-off working relationship both during Husker Du and after.  The tension made for some great material in Husker Du, and while they made good material after Husker Du... well... few bands could top their 1985, which saw the release of both "New Day Rising" and "Flip Your Wig". 

I remember hearing this summer about their release of "Savage Young Du", their reissue/retrospective of Husker Du's early days, and thinking that Bob and Grant were back on speaking terms.  Bob posted a note on Grant's passing that stated it was not unexpected, so I'm grateful they patched things up at the end.

Grant Hart - "2541" (acoustic version from the self-titled EP, this is my preferred version)
Grant Hart - "2541" (from the 1989 LP "Intolerance")
Marshall Crenshaw - "2541" (from "Velvel")*

Bonus link: "The Brilliance of Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart in 10 Songs" from Pitchfork.



* If you saw this and thought "oh cool, I didn't know Marshall Crenshaw covered a Grant Hart song!" then you're definitely a child of the 80s.

Fats Domino - "Ain't That A Shame" (the song remains the same)

Fats Domino (aka Antoine Dominique Domino Jr.), one of the architects of the original "rock-n-roll sound", died this week.  Fats has many well-known songs, but without a doubt my favorite is "Ain't That A Shame", from his 1955 debut LP "Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino".

And while the Fats version is great and has inspired many covers (some of which I provide below), it's the Cheap Trick version (from 1979's landmark "Cheap Trick at Budokan") that is my absolute favorite version.  Cheap Trick's sound was always centered in a celebration of the origins of rock, so it makes perfect sense that they would turn in such a great cover.

Fats Domino - "Ain't That A Shame" (from a movie?)
John Lennon - "Ain't That A Shame"
Pat Boone - "Ain't That A Shame"
Hank Williams Jr. "Ain't That A Shame"
Cheap Trick -  "Ain't That A Shame" (live in Budokan, 1978), (live, 1980)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" (forgotten song)

After a confusing period of statements and retractions, late last night it was confirmed that Tom Petty, songwriter par excellence, had died.  A staple on AOR and then classic rock stations, Petty's extensive discography provides many songs that I could feature; just this weekend while driving to Blacksburg and back Danette and I heard many Tom Petty songs on the radio.  Unfortunately, they were mostly my least favorite of his songs, which seem to get the most airplay (many of which appear on 1989's "Full Moon Fever").  They're not necessarily bad songs, it's just that when compared to the many great songs he has, well... I just don't see the point of playing a song like "I Won't Back Down".

While searching for once popular but now obscure songs of his, I thought about "Change of Heart" or "Even the Losers", but finally decided on "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)", the second single from 1981's "Hard Promises".  Structurally similar to "Breakdown", it's a great song that received airplay back in the day but is unfortunately eclipsed today.  The final deciding point is the video which, while simple, is rather high quality compared to most videos ca. 1981. 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -  "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)"