The Eagles - "Seven Bridges Road" (spotlight)

I'm getting tired of having to acknowledge the passing of legends...  Yesterday Glenn Frey, co-founder of the Eagles, died.  The Eagles were so good at the entire Southwest, country-rock crossover thing, they experienced an inevitable backlash -- it became cool to hate them because of their success (and the 70s-era excess they represented).  But the truth is anyone who was raised on AOR (now known as classic rock) stations, as this Gen Xer was,  knows most of their songs by heart.

I'll choose to remember them not for any of the dozens of popular songs they wrote, but for a cover of a Steve Young song, "Seven Bridges Road",  they released in 1980 (from "Eagles Live") as their last single before they reunited in 1994.  For a band that spent most of their time fighting each other, the five part harmony of this mostly a cappella song was a nice metaphor for what they could achieve together. 

Eagles - "Seven Bridges Road"

David Bowie - "Blackstar" (spotlight)

David Bowie died yesterday.  Obviously when an icon of this stature dies it is tempting to recall any of his numerous popular and/or influential works (with "Low" being an example of influential but not really popular, at least by comparison to other works in his canon). 

Instead, I prefer to draw your attention to "Blackstar", which came out about six weeks ago, right before Thanksgiving.  I heard it driving home one night on "Out of the Box" and was struck by the fact that although it was clearly David Bowie, it sounded like classic Bowie but I couldn't identify the song.  And there were modern influences as well, so maybe it wasn't a classic song.  And "Out of the Box" focuses on new music -- was this a re-release?.  Was it another artist ripping off Bowie?  Eventually I was able to shazam the song and learn that it was the title track from his forthcoming LP (which was released just two days before his death).

I texted & emailed with all my music buddies saying "you need to check out this new Bowie song".  The summary of those conversations was how effortlessly it was both modern & classic, seamlessly incorporating the past & present.  And as a bonus, the video was mysterious & freaky.  I had planned to blog about it then, but with the holidays it got delayed.  His illness had not been made public, so I did not realize there was much time left.

So don't just remember Ziggy Stardust and other characters.  Remember Bowie for making engaging, challenging music for his entire career, even right at the end. 

David Bowie - "Blackstar".

Hawkwind - "Silver Machine" (forgotten song)

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister died this week at the age of 70.  If you don't know what Lemmy means to metal, or just rock in general, then I'm not going to be able to explain it to you.  Exhibit A: NPR did a story about his passing.  NPR.  Think about that.  Words like "icon", "legend",  and "pioneer" are often casually tossed around, but in this case they're appropriate.  Quoting from a Guardian story from this summer:

Lemmy is as much a collection of myths and legends as a man. In the popular imagination, he’s made up of equal parts Jack Daniel’s, amphetamine sulphate, Nazi memorabilia and extreme-velocity noise. The myths and legends cloak him as surely as the black shirt, the black jeans, the custom-made boots, the cowboy hat with its “Death or Glory” insignia and the Iron Cross around his neck.

Of course, Lemmy is best known as the vocalist & bassist -- and only permanent member -- for Motorhead.  Motorhead, of course, is the seminal band that first combined outlaw biker imagery with a punk style / ethos & metal heaviness, although Lemmy always insisted they were simply a "rock-n-roll band".  Furthermore, he was innovative in that he played bass like it was a lead instrument and not rhythm.  But before there was Motorhead, there was Hawkwind -- the seminal space rock group, featuring fluid membership, Michael Moorcock inspired imagery & lyrics, and nearly limitless Spinal Tap-esque cliches (including one of the first appearances of the heavy metal umlaut). 

I could memorialize Lemmy with any of numerous excellent Motorhead songs, but instead I'll choose Hawkwind's 1972 single, "Silver Machine", which he didn't even write but I believe was the first song on which he sang lead (he was not the primary vocalist for Hawkwind), and turned out to be Hawkwind's only "hit" song.  Although Lemmy would not be fired from Hawkwind for another three years, this is probably the song that set him on the path from "band member" to "band leader". 

I believe this video is the one shown on BBC's Top of the Pops in 1972 (instead of having the band in the studio lip syncing).  It features Lemmy in his pre-Motorhead, all black garb.  The sound is early-70s groovy, the studio version is badly synced with the concert footage, which features bubbles, a flautist (!) and, of course, a dancer.  You can't make this stuff up.  Despite (because of?) all that, the song rawks and I love it.  Danette hates it, for all of the same reasons listed above, though she does like Motorhead in general.

A month ago, The Atlantic had an article featuring Lemmy and entitled "Twilight of the Headbangers: How long can the legends of heavy metal keep on rocking?".  Not long enough, though I think we have to count ourselves lucky that he made it to 70.

Hawkwind - "Silver Machine"

"Born to Lose, Lived to Win"

Waxahatchee - "Cerulean Salt" (LP Review)

Just over a year ago I reviewed "American Weekend", the debut LP from Waxahatchee.  Her second LP "Cerulean Salt" (2013) finds her backed by a "real band" (actually members shared with her sister's band, Swearin'). 

Whereas "American Weekend" was a solo, lo-fi, bedroom recording masterpiece, "Cerulean Salt" doesn't try to duplicate that success.  The songs are still sparse and minimally produced, but are enriched by the fuller sound afforded by the presence of band members.  Some of them even downright rawk -- such as "Coast to Coast" and especially "Misery Over Dispute".  And while the comparison to Liz Phair continues (exhibit A: "Brother Bryan" vs. "Girls! Girls! Girls!"; Exhibit B: "Dixie Cups and Jars" vs. "Go West"), a more thematic comparison would be to Bruce Springsteen in that the glossy, upbeat songs hide some pretty dark lyrics.  Almost any song would do, but it's hard to beat "Dixie Cups and Jars":

I'm not a whipper in the wind
Or solace laying at the bottom of a bottle
Or your thick skin
Escape yells both our names out loud
We run like hell, I'll write a tragic epilogue and you'll act it out

I watched your dad give you away
I watched him drink the bitter taste in his exertion away
Make-up sits on your face like tar
The champagne flutes poorly engineered
Employ dixie cups and jars

A more eloquent LP review is available at Pitchfork.  I will say that while it doesn't speak to me personally like "American Weekend", "Cerulean Salt" is arguably a better all around LP. 

Standout songs: "Dixie Cups and Jars" (live), "Brother Bryan" (live), "Coast to Coast" (live) (live w/ Mish Way), "Tangled Envisioning" (live), "Misery Over Dispute" (live), "Lively" (live), "Swan Dive" (live),

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10. 

Balam Acab - "See Birds" (LP Review)

Balam Acab, aka Alec Koone, released his first EP, "See Birds", to critical acclaim in 2010 (for example, the Pitchfork review).  Herbert turned me on to this a few years ago and I had to get my own copy.  It's tempting to discount this EP because Koone wasn't an established artist (and arguably still isn't), but I have to give it my highest possible score because it was a shocking eye opener for me, sounding nothing like what I was used to.  Created with "found" (on the Internet) music samples, Koone creates a rich, subtle, and surprisingly warm sound.  I can't help but compare it to, say, "What Does Your Soul Look Like" ca. 1994.  Another stylistic comparison would be The Caretaker's "Persistent Repetition of Phrases", but with different source material.

Apparently the "new" sound of which he was a part earned the label "witch house", which was applied at least partially in jest.  I'm not going to argue for or against that label, but I will say this is a compelling new style of music that demands a listen.   Unfortunately, while his 2011 full length LP "Wander / Wonder" is good, it fails to continue the magic introduced on this EP. 

Standout songs: all:  See Birds (Moon), Regret Making Mistakes, Big Boy, Dream Out, See Birds (Sun); all five songs as a playlist. 

Skip 'em songs: none

Final score: 10/10

Gina Chavez - Live NPR Tiny Desk Concert 2015-09-22 (concert)

This post comes courtesy of our friend Joy, who a while back sent us a link to this NPR Tiny Desk concert of Austin-based Gina Chavez. 

You're probably thinking "do we need yet another Latin-folk-pop-hip-hop-lesbian-activitist artist?"  Yes, apparently we do. 

Yet more good stuff coming from Austin, TX.  You can find a lot more of her stuff on SoundCloud.  Thanks Joy for the tip.

The Robbin Thompson Band - "Candy Apple Red" (forgotten song)

Richmond-based Robbin Thompson died last week.  Never heard of him?  Don't worry, most people haven't, despite his being involved with early Bruce Springsteen related bands.  His songs were popular on local radio in the early 80s, but he never really got a national break, despite minor hits from his 1980 LP "Two B's Please", like "Brite Eyes" and "Sweet Virginia Breeze" (which is one of the two replacement songs for Virginia's unfortunate former state song).

My favorite from the time was "Candy Apple Red", a nostalgic song borrowing from both Beach Music and The Beach Boys.  It wasn't a single from the LP, but I recall hearing it on the radio at the time.  And while the theme is hardly unique,  I can't help but think it presaged "Glory Days", which Bruce would record a few years later.

The Robbin Thompson Band - "Candy Apple Red"