Monday, October 31, 2005
One of my birthday presents yesterday was the cool Bob Dylan Live at the Gaslight 1962 CD (you know the Starbucks one), and on it near the end, an absolutely gorgeous rendition of the classic traditional folk ballad, "Barbara Allen".
Another present was the great-looking Looney Tubes Golden Collection, Vol. 3...I instantly played "Robin Hood Daffy", one of my all-time favourite cartoons, and what does Porky Pig (as Friar Tuck) happen to be singing? None other than the same "Barbara Allen"...
Want a great little Halloween mix to set the mood on this fun day? Try this 70 minute, highly spooky mix by the fine folks at WFMU. And if you really want to scare the kids, put some speakers behind the garage door, pop in the brilliantly dark, dismal, and ear-splitting album by Sunn O))), hit the repeat button, and watch them run away in fear. Seriously, that's the best Halloween album, ever.
Sunn O))) have to come out my way someday...after hearing stories of how they were so loud, glasses were falling off tables and people were throwing up at their recent show in Vancouver, it's clear we're not getting the complete experience on record. I must see them do this live.
Friday, October 28, 2005
One of Stephane Sednaoui's most indentifiable traits is how his music videos focus on the energy of the song or the artist. The camera is either moving in time to the music, or is simply focusing on the magnetic presence of the subject. Definitely the most stylish and abstract of the group of four directors in the Directors Label series, Sednaoui evokes mood better than anyone, creating indelible images that enhance the music as much as they accompany it. Like Anton Corbijn, his background is in still photography, but Sednaoui's real ambition has always been film, and you can see that, especially when you compare his lively, daring video clips with that of Corbijn's.
I was never a huge fan of Sednaoui in the past. Perhaps it was because his videos always looke too stylish, too simple. Or perhaps it was because I grew tired of the video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give it Away". However, after watching this DVD, I soon found myself enthralled by it all. "Give it Away" is his most ubiquitous work, becoming one of the most distinct popular culture images from the 1990s (remember Weird Al Yankovic's video parody?), and re-watching it today, you can see why; the clip catapulted the Chili Peppers from college rock mainstays to a smash success, as for the very first time, a video director had come up with the perfect visual accompaniment to this most energetic rock 'n' roll band. It all seems so ridiculously simple: drive out to the desert, paint the band silver, and have them dance and perform in front of a stationary camera. But what Sednaoui did was match the Chili Peppers' energy step for step behind the camera lens, using simple visual tricks like wide angle lenses and kaleidoscopic gimmickry to brilliant effect. The video has become so overplayed over the years, that it's easy to forget just how good it is (whenever it came on, I always turned the channel), but in actuality, it's still a brilliant piece of filmmaking.
The visceral feel of Sednaoui's style is eveident on every one of the 19 videos included on the DVD. Distorted images stretch and sway in time to the sinewy guitat licks of U2's "Mysterious Ways", a contagiously effervescent Bjork dances exuberantly on a flatbed truck driving through Manhattan, Tricky appears just as menacing as his song "Hell is Around the Corner", a gorgeously slazified Sofia Coppola walks the streets of New York on the smacked-out clip for the Black Crowes' "Sometimes Salvation", Alanis Morissette creates four distict personalities on the charming video for "Ironic", the Chili Peppers appear aged, exhausted, and just plain beaten on the beautiful "Scar Tissue". The one video of Sednaoui's that remains my favourite is Garbage's "Queer"; when Garbage's first album came out with such huge advertising hoopla, I was left wondering just who these folks were, but when I saw the video for "Queer" for the first time, I was floored. It was so simple, yet so well done, as the viwer sees from the point of view of some prettyboy, as he's approached and propositioned by the very sultry Shirley Manson. She lures him down the street (I like how the camera looks away, only to have Manson put her hand on the character's face and pull his gaze back towards her), and into a house, where she throws him down on the floor, gagging and blindfolding hime. When he comes to, Manson is straddled on top of him, the rest of the band behind her, as she tears off the guy's clothes and shaves his head. It's an oddly savage video, every bit as seductive as it is disturbing. Every time you watch it, you can't take your eyes off it.
Sednaoui has done so many videos in the past dozen or so years that there is a large number of omissions, by many very notable artists and well-known songs. Smashing Pumpkins' "Today", Madonna's "Fever", Fiona Apple's "Never is a Promise", Alanis Morissette's "Thank U", and the Chili Peppers' "Breaking the Girl" and "Around the World" have all been ignored. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing, as none of those clips exude the kind of energy, be it upbeat, morose, or otherwise, that seems to be the central theme of this compilation. Like the Corbijn disc, this could have easily been a double-sided DVD, like the Gondry and Jonze DVDs.
As good as Sednaoui's videos on the disc are, I found myself blown away by the extra features. His short film based on Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" is astounding, a gritty, very explicit film adaptation of the legendary song that works perfectly, capturing the gutter romanticism of the song. "Acqua Natasa" is very straightforward, as model Natasa Vojnovic is shown writhing underwater in slow motion, but the way it's photographed is mesmerizing, as Sednaoui uses a Mirwais track as musical accompaniment. The computer animated video for Bjork's "Army of Me" is very cool, offering a different accompaniment to the song than Michel Gondry's original 1995 video. Sednaoui's presentation at New York University is highly entertaining, as he talks about his work and answers questions from students; he's a very personable guy, and quite funny, and his anecdotes are great fun. Also included is a good 35 minute documentary, providing a profile of the artist with interviews from many famous collaborators, and if that wasn't enough, Sednaoui's first foray into film, a very silly horror movie he shot with friends at Montmartre when he was 17 (his commentary is very funny).
Sednaoui is a very versatile video director, capable of ideas on extremely short notice (the eerily pensive video for Tricky's "Pumpkin", featuring a young Alsison Goldfrapp, was fillmed in just 45 minutes), and capable of masterful work on much larger budgets, and while some might question his inclusion in the Directors Label series, one viewing of this DVD will prove why he's most deserving.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
If Mark Romanek is the Stanley Kubrick of music videos, then Anton Corbijn is Ingmar Bergman. Or Fritz Lang. Or Jean Cocteau. Unlike Romanek's very precise, intricately planned out projects, Corbijn takes a much more sloppy, chaotic, strictly visual approach, and as anyone who has seen his videos knows, the results are always of very high quality. More than anyone else in the series, Corbijn's clips have more of a photographic quality; while he tosses in various influences like German expressionism and surrealism, there's a visual consitency to his work, so much so, that his videos always resemble his work as a photographer, his first profession. His style is very easy to identify, and despite the fact that I've been watching his videos for 20 years now, it wasn't until I saw his new DVD collection that the impact of his film work really struck me.
Corbijn will always be remembered for three very famous music videos. His work on Joy Division's "Atmosphere" is stunning, a posthumous tribute to Ian Curtis (which you may remember appearing in the movie 24 Hour Party People), as a group of hooded children carry gigantic photos of Curtis in a ceremonial procession across a Spanish beach, as the elegaic clip is underscored by the majestic, emotional song. In 1992, U2 put out three different videos for their great song "One": there was the Phil Joanou version that had Bono in a bar (which was the most-played on TV), the gorgeous Mark Pellington's clip of the slo-mo monochrome clip of a buffalo running, and Corbijn's, which was by far the more daring. Filmed in Berlin, the sepia-toned video was a complicated one, touching on male-female relationships (the two cars), gender identity (the band cross-dressing), and the relationship between a father and his son (Bono and his own father), and nearly 15 years later, it has certainly aged well, its visual impact and its lack of a single, concrete theme giving it a more mysterious air. Corbijn's most famous video, Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box", is an interesting one, in that the idea for the video was all Kurt Cobain's, as Corbijn followed the treatment to a tee, only adding a small handful of spontaneous ideas (the birds, the large woman). His neatest idea, though, was applying the unique colour scheme...Cobain wanted the film to be processed through Technicolour, but since that wasn't available, Corbijn chose to film it in straight colour, re-print it in black and white, and then paint every frame by hand. As a result, we get the ultra-vivid, otherworldly quality that makes the video so unforgettable. In an old interview on the DVD, Cobain expresses his amazement at how Corbijn brought his mental vision to life so accurately.
Those three clips might be the famous ones, but Corbijn's strongest work has always been with Depeche Mode. In fact, Corbijn has done so many videos for Depeche Mode, that it's impossible to include them all on this DVD ("Personal Jesus" and "I Feel You" are two notable excusions). With Depeche, Corbijn found the perfect musical collaborators, a band whose music suited Corbijns ouevre perfectly, and a singer in Dave Gahan willing enough to take chances with Corbijn's nutty ideas. "Enjoy the Silence" is both silly and poignant, as Gahan portrays a king who wanders the globe looking for a place to sit on his deckchair. "Walking in My Shoes" is gorgeous, "Barrel of a Gun" is much darker (with its allusions to Gahan's 1995 suicide attempt), while "It's No Good" is pure comedy. The only disappointment on this DVD is that there wasn't more Depeche Mode included.
Watching the videos chronologically, you can see how Corbijn's filmmaking evolved from the experimental (Propaganda's "Dr. Mafuse", David Sylvian's "Red Guitar", Echo & the Bunnymen's "Seven Seas") to more straightforward, grainy monochrome ("Atmosphere", Joni Mitchell's "My Secret Place", to heavy emphasis on striking primary colours ("Heart-Shaped Box", "Walking in My Shoes", Henry Rollins's "Liar"). His recent work has definitely become more varied, as Corbijn seems to be in total command of his creative skills, proven by the overwhelming beauty of U2's "Electrical Storm", the darkly hilarious video of Travis's "Re-Offender", and the nonlinear Russ Meyer homage of The Killers' "All These Things That I've Done". What's also noticeable in Corbijn's work is the prevelance of religious imagery (his father was a preacher) and the subtle, dry humour that laces most of his work, something not always noticeable upon first viewing.
Like the Romanek disc, this DVD is crammed with commentaries, bonus clips (including a very cool concert projection video that he made specially for Depeche Mode), and a very entertaining documentary profile. Mark Romanek's collaborators always seem to use the word "perfectionist" when describing the man, and in contrast, Corbijn's musician friends all describe how funny a guy he is, and while the majesty of his visuals is the first thing we feel, that unmistakable sense of fun creeps in the more wee see the work. It's clear his subjects are always at ease when they work with him, which is a big reason why a)his videos are always great, b)he continues to work on clips today, and c) he's part of this Directors Label series. I wasn't expecting to like this DVD as much as I do now, that's for sure.
Tomorrow, I conclude with Stephane Sednaoui...
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Chris Rock put it best when he said that nobody makes a crappy song sound good like Mark Romanek. Just look at his video for Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My WaY"...he takes a mildly engaging song by a middling classic rock wannabe, and makes him an instant iconic figure, this despite the fact that Kravitz is a complete hack. By placing Kravitz on a spectacular stage set with a glitzy light show and dancing kids all around him, as he shreds away on his Gibson Flying V, Romanek is singularly responsible for catapulting Kravitz to stardom, and in the process, unfortunately making Kravitz one of the most painfully ubiquitous rock stars of the last ten years or so. That video is the perfect encapsulation of what Mark Romanek can do with a music video...his clips are always very precise, polished, distinct pieces, and although his collection of work is the most mainstream of the Directors Labe series so far, his influence on the art form is undeniable.
It's no surprise that this DVD has been as painstakingly compiled as any of Romanek's individual videos...seriously, out of the four discs in the new series, this wins the Best Bang For Your Buck title, hands down. You get 25 videos, two commentaries for each clip, as well as three separate doscumentaries, making for close to a staggering five hours' worth of viewing. It's an embarrassment of riches: there's the infamous "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, Fiona Apple's sultry (and unfairly criticized) "Criminal", Jay-Z's powerful "99 Problems", another great NIN track in "The Perfect Drug", Beck's Midnight Cowboy-esque Devil's Haircut, the very underrated treatment of Madonna's "Rain", the very cool "Wicked as it Seems" by Keith Richards (which I hadn't seen in a very long time)...and of course, Romanek's masterwork, the timeless video for Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt".
"Hurt" ranks as one of the most genuinely affecting music videos ever made (Romanek openly admits it's his greatest achievement), and it's great fun to learn how the video came about, how easily Cash took to the process, how Romanek had no idea what he was going to do a day before filming, how, contrary to the images in the video, Cash was in very good health. It was a video that made an unprecedented splash across the board...it played on every video channel, from the MTV to VH1 to CMT, not only a highly emotional track, but a very warm, loving summation of Cash's life and music. What Romanek achieves is something that he has always had an uncanny knack for doing; the real genius of his videos has been that his images always, always complement the music, and never overwhelm it. It's a very, very tough balance to achieve (even Gondry, Jonze, Cunningham, and Glazer have all been guilty of this at various stages of their careers), but Romanek's clips have always had a consistency to them, a sense of dignity, something driven home with astonishing power on "Hurt".
In his interview with Spike Jonze in the accompanying book, Romanek touches on how he prefers to work with solo artists instead of bands, and watching his collected work on this DVD, that quickly becomes very apparent. He loves to focus on the one specific artist, and it's clear he's at his best when he does that. His work with bands is still very good; he has fun with such bands as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Eels (if there's one weak video on the DVD, it's No Doubt's "Hella Good"), and his pyro-laced video for Audioslave's "Cochise", one of the most forgettable rock tracks of the last decade, makes the band seem much better than they actually are, which is no small feat. However, as we learn on the commentaries for Weezer's "El Scorcho", when a band isn't co-operating with Romanek to the fullest, it doesn't work nearly as well.
While I still prefer the more mercurial music video directors, there's a ton of stuff to like on Romanek's DVD. With a flat-out classic piece ("Hurt"), a handful of knockouts ("Closer", "Criminal", "99 Problems", "Are You Gonna Go My Way"), and a huge number of consistently good work, with very entertaining commentaries and documentary features, it proves he's very deserving of being part of this great series. This one's a keeper.
Tomorrow, the poignant, atmosperic work of Anton Corbijn...
Tuesday, October 25, 2005: Ten hours later
I'm a big fan of the Palm Directors Label DVD series, as 2003's collections of work by Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and Chris Cunningham were what I'd always been wishing for: definitive music video anthologies by the best video driectors on the planet. Now, two years later, we have the second series, and the first one I'll touch on will be the collected work of Jonathan Glazer.
I've always been a big fan of Glazer's work, going back to the brilliant Clockwork Orange homage in Blur's 1996 video for "The Universal", and continuing with the ingenious optical illusions of Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity" and the harrowing, redemtive clip for UNKLE's Rabbit in Your Headlights". Like the Cunningham disc, Glazer's is the most sparing DVD of the new series, but unlike the Cunningham, which barely ran half an hour, Glazer's still has plenty of content, about an hour and a half worth.
What's most noticeable about Glazer's work is the man's pure wit. He's quirky without being precious, innovative without being gimmicky, capable of getting both belly laughs and nervous, uncomfortable chuckles from viewers. His visual images are always very vivid, and like it or not, always stay with you whenever you hear the songs. Many might argue this is not a good thing (Nick Cave argues on the DVD that Glazer's highly emotional treatment of "Into My Arms" overwhelmed the music too much), but I've always felt that hit images have always seemed a very good fit. You just never forget the surreal slo-mo in Radiohead's "Street Spirit", the beleaguered man's revenge in "Karma Police", the laughing priest horrifying the man in Blur's "The Universal", the comedic payoff in Richard Ashcroft's paranoid "A Song For the Lovers", the Shining-like scenes in Massive Attack's "Karmacoma".
Also included are a bunch of outstanding TV commercials, the best being two very hilarious ads for Stella Artois beer, one featuring a bunch of young priests on a frozen lake trying to sneak in some beer without the bishop finding out, with disastrous consequences (and is that Zbigniew Zamachowski in the lead role?), the other showing a dying man's last wishes for one last drink, and the trouble his grandson has to go through to deliver it. Glazer has directed two feature films, the brilliant, underrated Sexy Beast and last year's Birth (which I haven't seen yet), and short clips from both movies have been included, as well as interviews with the various cast members. There are commentaries for all videos save for the Radiohead ones (come on Thom, join the fun, you miserable sod), the best being Jamiroquai's spirited description of "Virtual Insanity" and Richard Ashcroft's thoughtful analysis of his video. It's clear Glazer had fun putting this DVD together, as even the menus offer some clever laughs, as each menu shows Glazer "secretly" approaching a weird homeless man for advice ("I need a good, hard man." "Ben Kingsley." "What, Gandhi?" "Trust Me."). The videos menu is cool, too, as when you highlight each title, two people offer football style commentary for each clip ("I like Blur's new white uniforms." "Yes, very Leeds-like."). Overall, a very, very good collection...not quite as great as Gondry and Jonze, but on the same high level as Cunningham.
Next up, the prolific Mark Romanek...
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I finally got the new Palm Directors Label Series DVDs, so every day this week (erm, starting later today), I'll be posting my thoughts on each one on this page. The first one up: Jonathan Glazer.
There are some bands who are so consistently great live, that there's never any excuse not to go to their shows, and over the past couple years, Metric has become one of them. Take my word for it: never, ever pass up a chance to see this band live, because the Toronto foursome have evolved into one of our country's finest acts, delivering potent live shows each time out.
Coming almost exactly a year since I saw them last, Metric was headlining in my fair city for the very first time, and their constant touring, repeat apperarances, and some very positive word of mouth has built a very strong fanbase in Western Canada (just look at Edmonton, they're nutty for Metric--three sold out shows this week!)...well, save for clueless Regina. So it came as no surprise that the show at Louis' sold out once word spread about the show. The first thing that became apparent as I made my way into the hot basement venue was the very high number of 16-19 year-old young ladies...if Feist is the darling of the indie yuppie set, Metric has completely won over the high school girl crowd...needless to say, it was a strange contrast from the extremely male-heavy crowd at Cryptopsy the night before. Thankfully, the university has banned all ages shows, so the Brat Factor was quite low, making for a good atmosphere.
I arrived intentionally late, because a)I'm still tired from the madness of the past six days, and b)I had little desire to see the opening bands, but as always happens when I try to show up at the right time, I always get there too early. When I arrived, The Lovely Feathers were finishing up their drab, yet inoffensive set of (yawn) disco punk, but while I was completely unmoved by their music, it was still much more palatable than the ridiculous display of Canadian indie collective tedium that was forced upon us by the laughable outfit Most Serene Republic. The D-list talent of the Arts & Crafts label, the sextet played an interminable, profoundly excruciating seven or eight song set that shamelessly aped labelmates Broken Social Scene, and while they definitely had the energy (not to mention a girl guitar player who has to be four feet tall), they possess none of the songwriting skill of BSS. It was all show and no payoff, as their shaggy, hippy-dippy singer sung boring, tuneless songs, waving his arms and hopping around like an idiot, bringing out a trombone from time to time, because that's, like, what Canadian indie collectives to. They all love the high school band nerd instruments. Anyway, I've wasted enough time talking about them. I can't stand them, and if it is indeed true that they're opening for Broken Social Scene in three weeks, then I'm definitely going to show up late for that one.
Thankfully, the ever-lovable Metric quickly washed away the patchouli stink left by the openers. Emily Haines is arguably the finest, most magnetic, charismatic frontwoman in Canadian music right now, and when the band took the stage, it was clear all eyes were on here. Dressed in a black one-piece dress and looking a bit blonder than the last time we saw her here (not to mention strutting the stage barefoot), she commanded everyone's attention immediately, as her mates, guitarist James Shaw, bassist Joshua Winstead, and drummer Jules Scott-Key provided an extremely tight, forceful, energetic backdrop to Haines's girlish voice. The set was divided equally between both Old World Underground and Live it Out, and while the new material (especially "Monster Hospital") was greeted with much enthusiasm, the folks still swooned for the old stuff, as songs like "Combat Baby" and "The List" got huge reactions. What especially impressed me was how so many of the young ladies knew the lyrics to songs like "Calculation Theme" and "Hustle Rose" by heart, most of them boisterously singing along. Of the new material, "Glass Ceiling" and "Pster of a Girl" sounded especially powerful, and while the band's entire performance was completely without fault, it was slightly disappointing they didn't play the new album's best songs, "Too Little Too Late" and "The Police and the Private". Still, with a 14 song set that lasted well over an hour, there was little to complain about, as the entire crowd was in the hands of Haines, who strutted, gesticulated, howled, screamed, posed, and crooned in her own inimitable way.
One neat thing about Louis' is that there's a spot on stage left where you can stand and watch from the side of the stage without getting in anyone's way, and before the encore, I left my usual spot at the center in front of the sound board to get a better view from the side. It's a cool vantage point, as you can both watch the band up close and see the reaction of the sardine-packed crowd on the floor, and after the always great "Hustle Rose" (which sounds so much better live than on record), the crowded pit went nuts for an extended version of "Dead Disco", during which Haines stuck in a verse of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". The entire show was as electric a performance as everyone had been expecting it would be, and judging by Metric's growing popularity, Louis' might be too small a venue the next time the band comes to town. Hopefully they'll be back soon. Whenever Metric comes to your town, life always seems just a bit better. Here's the setlist:
Empty
Succexy
The List
Monster Hospital
Ending Start
Poster of a Girl
Glass Ceiling
Patriarch on a Vespa
Handshakes
Calculation Theme
Combat Baby
Live it Out
Encore:
Hustle Rose
Dead Disco
Love is a Place
Monday, October 24, 2005
What a bombshell that was dropped a couple days ago. Tuomas Dumps Tarja in Finnish Metal Firing Shocker! Tarja Turunen is one of the best vocalists around, but she could live to regret her recent behaviour...despite the great disappointment, being such a recent Nightwish fanboy, I think Nightwish will survive. Now if only they'll steal Simone Simons away from Epica...
Some catching up to do here. My review of Kate Earl's mildly impressive debut album is up at Static, while my piece on Broacast's new disc Tender Buttons has surfaced at PopMatters. The Broadcast album is very good...the minimal feel is unsettling at first, but it grows on you...it's a smart little record.
After the drive back home yesterday late afternoon, I made my way to the next concert on the list, and it turned out to be a case of the very good, followed by the even better, and capped off by the staggeringly awesome. I arrived at the Roxy after Despised Icon's set (I was way too tired to endure four bands, and Despised Icon are only average grindcore to begin with), and right when Belgium's Aborted were taking the stage. Their new album is a pretty darn good one, and the band sounded especially proficient in a live setting, combining grindcore speed with more accessible metal breakdowns, leaving many in the club, including yours truly, mightily impressed. Suffocation followed, and unlike Aborted, these guys from Long Island are all about straight-ahead death metal, delivered extremely tightly, as charismatic lead vocalist Frank Mullen howls away, gesticulating like a madman. While it's nothing new, they do it flawlessly, and their set spanned the band's long career, going all the way back to the early track "Catatonia". As great as Suffocation were, Cryptopsy bested them. I'm a huge fan of their new album, and while their surprisingly short set was light on the new stuff (they only played "Carrionshine", "The Frantic Pace of Dying", and "Adeste Infidelis"), it was still a face-shredding, blistering set, featuring their highly distinctive brand of free jazz-influenced death metal, highlighted by older tracks "Cold Hate, Warm Blood" and "Phobophile". Prodigal vocalist Lord Worm was his distinctive, rather witty self, but the real treat was watching the masterful Flo Mounier do his thing on the drums...the man is a virtuoso, his percussion talents mind-boggling on record, and even moreso in concert. It was an evening full of savagely brutal music, but the crowd was a good one, everyone had fun, and before I knew it, three and a half hours had flown by.
Metric is tonight, so watch for a big ol' recap of that one late tonight/early tomorrow. It's sold right out, and looks to be one of the better concerts in Saskatoon this year.
Friday, October 21, 2005
"I came to Edmonton at one a.m...Loaded!"
It had been a very long, 21 year wait, but finally, at long last, I was able to witness firsthand the classic metal spectacle that is Judas Priest. Priest is one of those bands who, if you love heavy metal music, you have to see live once in your lifetime, but the chance just never arose for yours truly. They visited my home province in late 1984, but I was a young pup then, just getting into their music (plus, they were playing four hours from where I lived). They played in Alberta both in 1987 and 1990, but again, too far for me to make the trip across the border. When the band reunited a couple years ago and announced their upcoming world tour last year, I said, "I'm not missing them this time," and after seeing them announce dates in Europe, then the States, back to Europe, back to the States, and to South America, much to my relief, they set on a big Canadian tour this October. Although no Saskatoon date was announced (the idiots at CU Centre!), the Edmonton date was do-able. Weirdly enough, I stumbled across a special pre-sale password for people who went to the Edmonton Motley Crue show in August, I tried it, and whaddya know, it didn't need any special verification, so I was able to snag myself a very sweet seat location. Anyway, I made the drive out here to Edmonton on Wednesday, yesterday at 6:30 (there was no way I was going to be late for this), I was charging down Wayne Gretzky Drive, Angel of Retribution blasting on the car stereo, enroute to the arena, the song "Angel" crescendoing neatly, right when the big Rexall Place came into full view.
I made my way in (not many people had arrived, so lineups were small), went down to my section, and was stunned by how good my seat was. The diagram at Ticketmaster showed my section as being the second one from the stage (right behind the hockey penalty box), but it so happened the stage had been moved ahead one section, so I had a spectacular view, located on stage left, four rows up from the floor, not thirty feet away. As the crowd trickled in, it was clear many of them, like yours truly, were just as excited to see Anthrax (including a funny call/response across the arena of, "What is it!" "Caught! In! A! Mosh!"), and indeed, as the band took the stage, many people were cheering excitedly. I've been into Anthrax for almost as long as Judas Priest, but again, had never seen them in concert, and the fact that they had reunited the classic 1985-91 lineup, from when I was a huge fan in my teens, was especially thrilling. And they proceeded to tear up the place with a highly exuberant, nine song set the lasted nearly an hour. Joey Belladonna looked like they took him straight out of 1987 (big hair and all), wound him up, and let him go, because he looked and sounded like he did 20 years ago. Ever the madman, Scott Ian stomped and hopped about in his trademark fashion (which was exhausting to watch), the outgoing Frank Bello ran all over the place, his bass slung low, mimicking Steve Harris (one foot on the monitor, mouthing the lyrics, etc.), Charlie Benante was as great as always on the drums, and the reserved Dan Spitz performed the lead guitar licks impeccably. Highlights included "Caught in a Mosh", "Madhouse", "Indians", "NFL", and "I'm the Man", but for me, they peaked with the set-closer "I Am the Law", if only for that fun-pickin' breakdown and the always fun exhortation, "DROKK IT!!!" It was all great fun (though tame...I expected chairs to be tossed in fits of friendly violent mayhem, but nothing materialized), and I'm very glad such a great band was asked to open on the tour. Here's the setlist:
Among the Living
Got the Time
Caught in a Mosh
Madhouse
Antisocial
N.F.L.
Indians
I'm the Man
I Am the Law
By the time Anthrax had finished, the arena had filled up nicely (my estimation, around 7,000), and there was an axious atmosphere as the Anthrax stage was dismantled and the big drum kit belonging to Scott Travis uncovered. When the lights went out, the place went nuts, and a large backdrop of a gigantic eye was unfurled, with a red, pupil-like spotlight shining from the centre. As the pre-recorded "The Hellion" began, the band took the stage, save for Rob Halford...as the four guys (Tipton/Downing on guitars, Hill on bass, and Travis) kicked into "Electric Eye", the iris of the eye opened to show Halford high above the dums, decked in elaborate leather and studs, standing motionless (kind of regal, really), singing the first verse. After the chorus, the eye closed shut, and during the bridge, Halford reappeared, levitating from the bottom of a riser, where he concluded the song. "Metal Gods" had him doing his coll little robot walk, taking the entire song to make his way down the steps to the front of the stage, where he was greeted by huge cheers. It was all very theatrical, and looked awfully cool.
After that, it was full speed ahead, the band sounding sharp, Halford, much to my surprise, hitting all the high notes, with no sign of weakness whatsoever. When I heard bootleg recordings of their summer 2004 shows, Halford had trouble with his range, but not on this night. Not only that, but the dude made something like ten different wardrobe changes, wearing a wide variety of coats, ranging from a neat, burgundy number, to a classic leather biker's jacket at the end. "Riding on the Wind" had him in full screech mode, "A Touch of Evil" sounded impassioned, and he displayed fine range on the acoustic rendition of "Diamonds and Rust". For all its criticism, "Turbo Lover" went over huge, while "I'm a Rocker", from Ram it Down, easily my least favourite Judas Priest album, was decent, but unnecessary. The new songs sounded good, highlighted by the very underrated "Worth Fighting For", "Hellrider" (their best song in years), and "Judas is Rising", during which Halford rose (get it?) on a small platform high above the stage. The encore had the usual crowdpleasers ("Hell Bent For Leather"--complete with Harley-- "Livin' After Midnight", and the audience participation goofiness of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'") but for me, the real treat was right before that, as "Beyond the Realm of Death" sounded epic, "Victim of Changes" blew me away (especially Halford's screams at the climax), and "Painkiller" sounded absolutely massive. It was a long, very noisy night, but I made it out of there, hearing intact (thankfully...airplane ear plugs work best), drained, but ecstatic, glad I got my chance to see the legends in person. The Priest setlist:
The Hellion/Electric Eye
Metal Gods
Riding on the Wind
A Touch of Evil
Judas is Rising
Revolution
I'm a Rocker
Breaking the Law
Diamonds and Rust
Worth Fighting For
Beyond the Realm of Death
Turbo Lover
Hellrider
Victim of Changes
Painkiller
Encore 1:
Hell Bent For Leather
Livin' After Midnight
Encore 2:
You've Got Another Thing Comin'
So now, I have the Oilers/Avalanche game tonight, the drive back to Saskadaskatoonywoony on Sunday, Cryptopsy/Suffocation/Aborted/Despised Icon that night, and then the huge Metric show on Monday. Eeee-yikes, that's an exhausting few days! Full reports to follow...
Monday, October 17, 2005
Well, if you live in Saskatoon, and plan on seeing Broken Social Scene on November 18, you had better have gotten your ticket, because to no one's surprise, the show has already sold out. Not only that, but it's the fastest sellout ever for Amigos...considering that there was ZERO advertising, and that tickets were only available at the bar, such a fast sellout is quite impressive. Compared to the other big venues BSS will be playing over the next month, the 230 capacity Amigos is going to be quite the cozy place to hear one of Canada's greatest live bands.
Speaking of BSS, the new album continues to grow on me the more I hear it, but Zeth Lundy provides a very well-written argument against it. It does have faults (above everything else, it's a spectacularly dense disc), but I still think there's plenty to like about the CD.
I finally got to hear the new album by UK electronic pop duo Broadcast last week, and I came away mightily impressed by it. It's a considerable departure from their last two records, more streamilned both in the personnel and in the compositions, and less of a flighty pop feel to Trish Keenan's vocals. It's a bit harsher, more urgent, more creative lyrically, and most noticeably, more minimalist, yet musically rich. If that all makes sense. The bold "America's Boy" is an interesting take on the US's obsession with their military, simultaneously condemning and admiring...instead of taking sides, Keenan's lyrics are more philosophical, which admittedly is a bit of a refreshing change from the usual (and warranted) protest vitriol. Anyway, the album's a grower, but a very solid onem.
The other night, I finished my writing obligations early, so I decided to reach into the big pile of CDs the kind folks at Victory had sent me, and just a few minutes later, I found myself smitten with a raucous album of punk-fueled Irish folk music by Chicago's The Tossers. A very strange departure for such a punk-oriented label like Victory, the band's devotion to The Pogues is glaringly obvious, right down to Tony Duggins's burly, beer-fueled vocals, but this is such a convincing collection of musicians, and the fast-paced music is so tight, and exudes so much verve, that the lack of originality on The Valley of the Shadow of Death is completely forgivable. "Goodmornin' Da" (download here) is hilarious, evoking memories of Was (Not Was)'s "Hello Dad...I'm in Jail" as Duggins hollers, "Goodmornin' da, well I'm in gaol!" "A Criminal of Me" and the impassioned "I've Pursued Nothing" are the kind of raucous folk songs you expect from a band like this, while "No Loot, No Booze, No Fun" (download here) is a surprisingly touching elegy for Dee Dee Ramone. There are plenty of more traditional songs, such as "The Crock of Gold" and "Preab San Ol", plus a cool combination of spoken word and pub sing-along on "Drinking in the Day". If you like If I Should Fall from the Grace of God (an album I adore), you'll probably like this one, too. For any kids who are into Victory's usual fare, give this album a try, and broaden your horizons...it might sound different, but you'll see it's more punk than the phoney baloney Dropkick Murphys. It's good, honest, drunken fun, a real pleasure to listen to.
And speaking of pleasant surprises, Rogue Wave's "Publish My Love" really took me aback the first time I heard it. I enjoyed their first album, but this song's homage to 80s college rock was startling. Think of a combination of early Stone Roses and mid-80s REM. I look forward to hearing the rest of the new CD.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Okay, time for the big announcement I promised. A few weeks ago, I was offered the chance to contribute a monthly metal column for PopMatters, and the idea was too great to pass up. So after working doggedly for a week or so, the first installment was completed, and it appeared yesterday. Not many other webzines of this size are willing to give metal this kind of coverage, and with this column, I hope to appeal to both metal fans and curious newbies alike. Many non-metal fans find the genre much too imposing to bother trying to figure out what the heck they like, but if this column does what it's supposed to do, it should make it easier for folks to decide what kind of heavy music is best for them, along with exploring all facets of the genre, both past and present. The first piece serves mainly as an introduction to what will hopefully be a lengthy series of essays, as I try to explain why metal is so big right now, both among the mass audience and the indie hipster crowd, while I point out three American bands who continue to take the genre into new, exciting directions: Between the Buried and Me, Minsk, and The Red Chord. So anyway, give the thing a read, and try out some new music. You might be surprised at what you'll find yourself enjoying. And if you're already big into metal, listen to all my picks, if you know what's good for you.
I am fully aware that "Blood and Thunder" is a shameless rip-off of the Mastodon song of the same name, not to mention a painfully obvious choice, considering Leviathan's lofty status among music fans these days, but hey, it's a snappy title, and is perfectly suited to the content.
Oh, and thanks to Justin for his kind plug yesterday.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
My review of the Constantines' Tournament of Hearts appeared yesterday. There are some good songs, and one great one ("Working Full-Time" is almost worth the price of the CD alone. Almost), but overall, it's just too bland and underwhelming to fully recommend. It broke my heart to have to give it such a harsh review, but I think the band will come through next time around.
Last night's Feist show was an odd one, that's for sure. It all started with the fact that I was very nearly flattened by a speeding mini-van doing about 60 on the narrow campus road, apparently ignorant of the fact that I was on a crosswalk on a well-lit street. Anyway, after shaking visions of a rather ugly and bloody demise out of my head, I made my way into the basement of the old MUB building, only to find I was too early. After standing around bored to tears for half an hour, New Buffalo, aka Australian singer-songwriter Sally Seltmann (wife of one of the guys from the Avalanches...I did not know that until just now!) took the stage with her guitar and sequencer. She was likeable enough, in an endearing, Emiliana Torrini-meets-Cat Power kind of way. Trouble was, nobody in the room cared what she was singing about, as she fought to make herself heard over the chatter. Still, despite the noise (always a curse, especially at three-band indie rock shows, where enthusiasm for the first band is never shown), she held her own, her songs "I've Got You and You've Got Me", "Come Back", and "Recovery" being the ones that stuck in my head the most.
I was interested in Jason Collett's set, mainly because Canadian critics seem to be smitten with the guy, and I hadn't gotten around to hearing his new album, Idols of Exile yet. I didn't really know what to expect, so I was very pleasantly surprised when he and his four piece band tore out a robust, Americana (Canadiana?) themed set, sounding like a less flaky, more levelheaded and sober version of Wilco. Collett was gregarious and in good vocal form, and the collaborative, Broken Social Scene spirit was present, as Leslie Feist joined Collett in a duet on "Hangover Days", and later played some ferocious, lovably sloppy drums on "I'll Bring the Sun". Collett and his boys played about nine or ten songs, and I dug every minute...looking back, I know they played "Hangover Days", "We All Lose One Another", "I'll Bring the Sun", "Feral Republic", "Pavement Puddle Stars", "Almost Summer", "Pink Night", "These Are the Days", and a great new tune that went something like "I'm Not Over You", if I can recall correctly (maybe another one as well, I forget). The crowd enjoyed it the longer Collett went on, his band loud enough to drown out the talkers. The set was so good, I had to buy the CD, which has been on repeat ever since.
Louis' had filled completely by the time Feist and her band came out, and although I had a great spot (where I always hang out there), it soon became apparent, as Feist opened with the understated "When I Was a Young Girl", that half of the people there couldn't care less about the charming little white-clad brunette with the bright red guitar. I've heard stories about how Feist can get a bit, erm, peersnickety when things aren't going her way, and although she sarcastically acknowledged the chatter (including dedicating a new song to the people who weren't listening, then hilariously commenting on the pointlessness of how they wouldn't hear it anyway), she remained in good spirits all the way through, playing gallantly for those of us who did care about the music. The arrangements of the songs seemed to be flip-flopped a touch..."Secret Heart" and "Let it Die" were cranked right up, the electric guitars adding tremendous emotional punch, while the previously dancey cover of "Inside and Out" was transformed into a low-key ballad. Feist got a bunch of people onstage to sing backing vocals on "Gatekeeper", while "Mushaboom" had the entire room (again, those of us who were listening) singing along, while "One Evening" was a faithful, not to mention lovely, rendition. She pulled out some new songs, tinkering around with a cool loop effect dealy, where she looped both guitars and multilayered vocal harmonies, the best example being the spectacular blues excursion "Sea Lion Woman", which I saw her do on that Bravo special back in August.
But on man, to the people in the back of the room, will you please SHUT THE %*&# UP and let the woman sing??? I had to leave my prime spot midway through the set because of the idiots behind me. Why, oh why, do people pay 20 bucks to get in, and then proceed to have a stupid conversation about Screeching Weasel and how good Green Day's rhythm section is? One of the best artists in Canada is onstage, at a show many of us had been waiting a year and a half for, and you show her such disrespect. I was ready to maim people, as I searched for a spot where I could hear the music better (egads, do the sides of the room sound terrible). If it wasn't for the cheerful persona of the spunky Ms. Feist (who really did live up to her name last night), the evening would have been ruined by a couple hundred idiots. So despite the presence of a bunch of imbeciles, I managed to get a better spot for the last half (despite having a moron cut in front of me and proceed to give the devil-horn salute repeatedly), and overall, it was a great show. Next time, though, I hope she's at the Broadway Theatre instead of some dumb bar.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
It appears last Thursday's front-page article in the local paper gave the much-needed push to sell the remaining 150 tickets at Louis', because it appears it's completely sold out. A nice thing...crowded, cozy Louis'=good sound, sparse Louis'=crummy sound. Anyway, a full recap will be posted early Wednesday.
My review of the new Franz Ferdinand album has appeared. Quite frankly, I can't remember writing the thing. Anyway, it's an excellent album, a worthy successor to the debut. Call me crazy, but I think "Do You Want To" is a better single than "Take Me Out". Nothing on You Could Have it So Much Better really floored me like "Matinee" did last year, but "The Fallen" comes awfully darn close. More people should be buying this than those buying the new Nickelback album. Seriously, every time I've entered a music store or Wal-Marty place, I've seen somebody clutching a copy of Nickelback, which is thoroughly depressing. Post punk trend? Nonexistent on the Canadian prairies, I tell you what. Oh, and the band's Dimebag Darrell "tribute" is embarrassingly bad, not to mention in poor taste.
Yesterday, I found the one and only copy of the new two-disc Anthraz compilation for a relatively cheap price, and I could not say no to it. I have yet to replace my old Anthrax cassettes (I'm notoriously slow at such a task), but a two CD set of Anthrax's Belladonna years seems just about right in my books. Don't get me wrong, I've been a big admirer of Anthrax since 1985 when I saw the video for "Madhouse", but I'll be the first to admit, their albums have always been a bit on the spotty side. Aside from Among the Living (their finest hour) and the very solid Spreading the Disease, their albums seem to be marred by too much filler, either sounding too jokey or too serious. Anthrax is an interesting band, in that two different age groups grew up with two different versions of the band. The kids my age in the mid-80s loved the melodic vocals of Jowy Belladonna, and when John Bush left Armored Saint to replace Belladonna in 1993, a new set of teenagers grew to love such albums as Sound of White Noise and Stomp 442. I always liked Bush's work with Armored Saint in the 80s, but was slow to catch on to his albums with Anthrax, but last year's live CD/DVD really converted me. Still, like every other thirtysomething metalhead, Anthrax was always about those years between 1985 and 1991, and Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) ctaers exclusively to that crowd. An obvious attempt to cash in on this year's "classic lineup" reunion, it's far from a definitive Anthrax retropective, as it ignores not only the Bush years, but also 1984's generic, but very fun Fistful of Metal, with Neil Turbin on vocals. Still, it's loaded with over two and a half hours' worth of thrash gems...for those counting, Spreading the Disease has seven tracks, Among the Living has six, State of Euphoria has six, and Persistence of Time has seven. Also included is the breakthrough (not to mention oddly flukey) hit "I'm the Man" and the Public Enemy duet on "Bring Tha Noize", as well as a couple of interesting choices in the cover of Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and a French version of their cover of Trust's "Antisocial", which appeared in English form on Euphoria. Anyway, the band has done a fantastic job culling the best tracks, and I have no qualms about the choices. Well, actually, I wish they'd have replaced the French "Antisocial" (not really needed) with the Belladonna version of 1984's "Metal Thrashing Mad", from the old Armed and Dangerous EP, if only to give a nod to that first album, while sticking with the Belladonna era. It's one of the better metal comps in recent years, and although I recommend people have the band's first three albums in their entirety, you can't go wrong with this one. This only makes the prospect of the upcoming Priest/Anthrax show (nine days!) even more exciting...
Monday, October 10, 2005
Just a quickie update today. It's been the craziest of weekends (writing! birthday parties! happy dogs! thrilling hockey doubleheaders! writing! Canadian thanksgiving feasts! road trips! writing!), exhausting, but extremely fun.
My reaview of For Against's vastly underrated 1988 album December appeared a few days ago. Ever since Words on Music reissued the Nebraska band's debut a year ago, I'd been anxiously awaiting the re-release of December, and a fine job they did with it, too. A great dreampop album that deserves more recognition. Go here for a couple free MP3s.
Also, I put together a review of the wonderful Magic Numbers album for Static. It was finally released in the United States last week, and hopefully it'll catch on like it did in the UK earlier this year. It's got a good shot at cracking my top 20, maybe even the top ten. The AMG review of the album bugs me: "[The album is] not just a crashing bore, but an irritating one since it not only lacks one song with an undeniable, memorable hook, but the self-satsified vibe of the band combined with Stodart's reedy whine makes the Magic Numbers feel not just less real than the groups they're allegedly an antidote to, but more disingenuous as well." Come on, it's one of the catchiest, sincere-sounding releases of the year! And I like the lead vocals...
The more I hear it, the more I like Metric's Live it Out. It's definitely not as instantly engaging as their first album was, and it's much more guitar-heavy, but it slowly, persistently, works its way into you. "Too Little Too Late" has jumped out at me recently...all of a sudden, I was thinking, "wow, this song is a real knockout." Actually, "Too Little Too Late", "Poster of a Girl", "Monster Hospital", "Patriarch on a Vespa", and "The Police & the Private" make for a superb run of songs in the middle of the album. The show on the 24th is going to be fantastic...Brooklynvegan has some cool new live photos. Bam chicka bam, chicka boom boom boom, shalang shalang boom, shalang shalang boom.
Thursday, October 6, 2005
Yay! The NHL is back, and looking pretty darn good. Spent five and a half hours watching five games last night, and oh, was it sweet: Montreal won, Toronto lost, Edmonton and Vancouver won, Calgary lost...everything worked out perfectly on opening night. Didn't take long for me to hit midseason form, going through defending-third-period-lead butterflies, hollering nonsense at the TV. Glad to finally have something to watch at night, after suffering through the worst winter ever. Also, the night after I see the Mighty Judas Priest in Edmonton, I'm seeing the Avs/Oilers game, my first visit to an NHL game in two years and ten months...
So do you have the new Ladytron CD yet? No? Why the heck not? It's their best album yet, full of tons of electro/shoegazer/dreampoppy moments, sounding dark, but oddly accessible. A stellar vocal performance from Helen Marnie, and some killer, killer tunes, like "Sugar", "Destroy Everythnig You Touch", and "International Dateline". Still not convinced? Read my review.
My review of the charming new album by Norwegian Viking metal band Leaves' Eyes is up. What separates the band from the Amon Amarths of the world is the fact they're fronted by a woman, Liv Kristine Espanaes Krull (what a name), formerly of goth standouts Theatre of Tragedy...she takes the whole Viking shtick, and turns the tables, telling the tale of Leif Erikson's legendary journey to Greenland with a decidedly feminine perspective. It's actually quite moving and lovely at times...at its best, Vinland Saga does the sweeping, operatic, Nightwish style power metal that I am such a sucker for, but at its worst, Liv Kristine meanders a bit too far into Enya territory. Still, a charming album. "Farewell Proud Men" and "Elegy" are ace.
The more I hear it, the more I like the new Franz Ferdinand album. Bloc Party's Silent Alarm might be the better album, myoozically speaking, but Franz has personality, and like some dude said, personality goes a long way. They're charmers, be it on "Eleanor Put Your Boots On", or in the video for "Do You Want To". Aaron Wherry went into greater detail about this subject on his blog, comparing Franz to the Beatles. Wait, before you groan, trust me, he's going somewhere with this...
Been spinning the new Constantines CD, trying to identify any more redeeming qualities in what has turned out to be one of the year's bigger let-downs. It's just not happening...it's not the acoustic songs, as they're adequate enough, in a pointless, BRMC sort of way, it's that too many of the compositions are too lifeless and uninspired. I want to love this album, and there are good songs (three or four, last time I checked), but it's not going to happen for me.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really like the new King's X album. Which is strange, considering I've never been much of a King's X fan over the last 17 years, but what do you know, this hooky little CD has niggled its way into my head.
Monday, October 3, 2005
It was a long night, five hours of standing, but it sure was worth it, as last night's Arcade Fire show was every bit the spectacle I'd expected it to be. For well over a year, people have been saying, "If you think Funeral is good, wait until you see them live, they blow the album away." And they're right. As brilliant as the CD is (it's still the best album of 2004), they pack so much power into their live show, it's amazing. The intensity is cranked up a hundredfold, making for an unforgettable experience.
Doors opened at the Odeon at seven, but with it so darn cold this past weekend, it appeared I played my cards right by arriving at 6:40, as less than a hundred people had lined up outside. As a result, it wasn't long before I was inside the venue, and much to my surprise, only a couple people had staked places at the rail behind the sunken dance floor, the best vantage point in the building. So, I grabbed a spot, and remained there for the rest of the night, and man, what a place to witness the concert from, 30 feet from the stage, with a totally unobstructed view.
Belle Orchestre were alright, nothing really spectacular, as Arcade Fire members Sara Neufeld, Richard Reed Parry, and French horn player Pietro Amato, with two other guys on trumpet and drums played some decent orch/chamber instrumental pop for a half hour or so. It wasn't bad, as Neufeld attacked her violin like a percussion instrument, sawing away maniacally, and Parry played some cool upright bass (smooth bowed melodies and more jazzy, plucked basslines), but the novelty seemed to wear thin, despite the polite reception from the crowd. Pleasant enough, but a minute longer, and I would have felt compelled to give up my prime spot and head to the bar.
I was really looking forward to Wolf Parade, and they proved why everyone is calling them Canada's next big thing, as those boys can deliver the proverbial goods live. Vocal duties were split between amiable keyboardist Spencer Krug and the more aloof, rather rockerly-looking (kind of odd for an indie rock band) Dan Boeckner. I knew Boeckner's songs would sound great, as "Shine a Light" and "This Heart's on Fire" were obvious highlights, but Krug's performance really made me like his contributions to Apologies to the Queen Mary more than I did before, "I'll Believe in Anything" and "Fancy Claps" both sounding incredible. Former Hot Hot Heat guitarist Dante DeCaro played rhythm guitar, keyboards, and additional percussion, and with sound manipulator guy Hadji Baraka doing his thing as well, making for a very potent live sound (Arcade Fire member Tim Kingsbury also played on the last two songs). Sadly, the set seemed to sail over the heads of the audience (not a surprise, as the album just came out last week), as it took a while for people to get into the music (especially Krug's Modest Mouse-meets-Frog Eyes compositions). Still, like with Belle Orchestre, they were most appreciative. I know Wolf Parade played ten songs (Krug singing six, Boeckner four), but I can only remember eight of them, so here they are, pretty much in order:
You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son
Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts
It's A Curse
We Built Another World
Shine A Light
I'll Believe In Anything
This Heart's On Fire (w/ Tim Kingsbury on bass)
Fancy Claps (w/ Tim Kingsbury on guitar)
You know it's going to be a great show when the headlining band makes your hair stand on end ten seconds into the first song. I was expecting power, but not this much power, and as the eight members of the band, all clad in funereal black, took to the stage, which was adorned with a big, red-and-black backdrop, several flags, and seven fancy antique lamps lit around the stage, and hammered out a ferocious rendition of "Wake Up". Win Butler cuts a most imposing figure onstage (seriously, the dude is tall), and the rest of the band matched his energy throughout, especially his brother William, who played the Bob Nastanovich role (a reference for all you old Pavement fans out there), sort of a utility player/cheerleader. Everyone traded instruments at a Broken Social Sceney rate; one moment, someone's playing accordion, the next, the same person is drumming maniacally on a pair of motorcycle helmets, beating tom toms, and performing a savage dual assault on some poor glockenspiel...it's just nuts. The band played three tracks from their first EP, as well as a very cool cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Mr. State Trooper" (with Boeckner from Wolf Parade on backing vocals), but whenever they pulled out a song from Funeral (they played eight of them), the crowd went crazy. "Laika" was insane, "Crown of Love" and "Tunnels" were both overwhelming (little Regine Chassagne pounded away impressively on drums during those two songs), Chassagne sounded great on "Haiti", but the climax of the set came during "Power Out" (it was cool how the stage plunged into darkness right after Butler hollered, There ain't no foolin' us, with the power out!"), which segued, in spectacular fashion I might add, into a raucous version of "Rebellion (Lies)", during which the crowd went completely goofy, capped off by a stage dive by the massive Butler (those poor unsuspecting kids below!), who kept playing his guitar while being carried by the fans. After the band left the stage, the kids on the floor started singing the outro violin melody of "Rebellion (Lies)" in unison, which was a neat bit of spontaneity (a rarity in Saskatoon).
I should add how cool an idea it was to have the seven lamps onstage...it's an ingenious stage prop, as all lamps were wired together, with some guy offstage with a dimmer switch in hand, manipulating the light in time with the music. Economical, undeniably indie, yet very effective. Anyway, there must have been a midnight curfew or something, because Butler said something about running out of time, which was a real shame, as we got 12 songs as opposed to Winnipeg's 13, but the lone encore of "In the Backseat" was a wonderful way to go out. Chassagne's impassioned lead vocals were a high point, and after the song climaxed, the band gradually quietened things down, and started switching from electric instruments to acoustic ones, from drum kit to tom toms, and they exited down the front of the stage in single file, singing the song's backing harmony vocals while weaving through the packed floor, first off stage right, then back to the other side, crossing right in front of me. They kept playing and singing towards the lobby, up the stairs to the side lounge, promptly disappearing out a side door. The effect was especially sublime and understated, a nice contrast to the previous hour's worth of stage antics. Needless to say, everyone went home very happy, including yours truly. Really, what a phenomenal show. Here's the set list:
Wake Up
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haiti
Headlights Look Like Diamonds
My Heart is an Apple
Mr. State Trooper
Crown of Love
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
encore:
In the Backseat
Sunday, October 2, 2005
Hello all, I'm back! Now, contrary to popular opinion, I have not gone on a killing spree across the Canadian Prairies, doing away with useless record store employees. In reality, I've been hard at work these past eight days on The Secret Project, a fun, but very taxing bit of work, the end result of which should be appearing soon.
Besides, I managed to snag a copy of the Wolf Parade album, after all, as a local place got a ton of copies four days late. And yes, it's good. Really, really good. Very Modest Mousey, with touches of Frog Eyes, but that's what everybody has been saying. The Spencer Krug songs are the toughest to get into (the dude carries on like he's Casey Mercer's little brother), but while those six tunes of his need some time to sink in, man oh man, does Dan Boeckner sound like an indie rock hero on his tracks. It's an interesting contrast, and I greatly look forward to hearing this band in a live setting tonight.
Yes, tonight is the big, big night of The Arcade Fire/Wolf Eyes/Belle Orchestre show here in Saskabush, something a few of us in this city have been waiting more than a year for. The Arcade Fire's last few shows have been apparently incredible, featuring covers of David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen songs, so it's going to be fun to see what they pull out of their collective hats later tonight. As per usual, I'll be posting an in-depth recap of the night's events...one thing's for certain, it's going to be a packed building. Which means we'll probably be standing in the frigid cold for an hour or so. It's an all-ages show, so here's hoping the Brat Factor is low.
Anyway, back to bidness here. Reviews! Tons and tons of reviews! Okay, more like four.
First, there's my piece on the recent album by Sweden's Grand Magus, a very good slice of doom-slash-power metal. What I like best is how this band, who are not the most technically brilliant band on earth, can still sound like the best metal band on the planet thanks to an excellent lead singer. More American metalcore bands need bombastic guys like this.
Then there's the new Stryper. I was so not expecting a CD like this one...I volunteered to cover it on a whim, as I was curious to hear what these old born-again balladeers sound like these days, but when I gave it a listen, I was awestruck by just how solid an album it really is, how it reminds me of why I liked this band back in 1985: they can bring the heay rock. It's not a perfect album, but it's a dignified one, with several standout tracks that would be crossover hits if they were sung by a secular emo band.
Winnipeg's Novillero has been in my town a bunch of times, and while I haven't seen them at any of those shows, I have heard them plenty of times on the radio, and at first, their music sounded alright, but nothing extraordinary or anything. Once I started playing their new CD repeatedly, though, it started to sink in more and more, and now, I'm quite smitten with the thing. It needs that one knockout single, but for what it is, it's an enjoyable helping of catchy indie rock. Here's my review.
Then there's the big Killing Joke piece I wrote, more specifically, about the recent reissues of their 1994 album Pandemonium and 1996's Democracy. Democracy's a mixed bag, but I've been having a lot of fun with Pandemonium, a consistently good bit of industrial-tinged music, as only the Joke can pull off. Now, I think that's all the reviews of mine that appeared this past week...
Back to the Wolf Eyes, I mean Wolf Parade (why do I keep doing that?) for a sec...Now, I'm a big fan of the digipak, I've always been. I like how, when done creatively, it can bring us back to the glory days of gatefold album artwork, the most recent example being the latest Clutch CD. However, what I do not like are the CDs that come in the really skinny digipaks, the ones where the discs are in cardboard sleeves, not a plastic holder. With The Arcade Fire and now Wolf Eyes, it's impossible to carefully remove the discs without dmaging the packaging, the only solution being to madly shake the CD out. A year later, my Funeral CD is loaded with surface scratches, and the same thing will probably happen to Apologies to the Queen Mary. The solution to this madness? Easy...just do what the Kiss Me Deadlys have done, and put the CD in a litte envelope first, like the old record sleeves of yore. Slightly more cumbersome, sure, but a longer life for your disc.
Oh, and I like that Kiss Me Deadlys album a lot, but have had little time to give it more attention. It's a good one...I think it's in stores on Tuesday. That is, if you have actual good record stores in your town...
Happy October, folks. Best time of the year, so enjoy it. Plus, Haley turns the Big Four in six days!
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I Give Up.
"Hi, I can't find the new Wolf Parade album."
(blank stare) "Let me check...how do you spell that?"
"Wolf. Parade."
clicketyclick.
"What's the CD called?"
"Forget it."
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Sorry about the lack of updates, but there have been some pretty big goings-on lately regarding my music writing. Nothing worth divulging right now, but pretty darn soon.
In the meantime, this week is shaping up to be all about Montreal's Wolf Parade. Their new album is in stores today, but weirdly enough, I haven't heard it. I have heard their teaser EP, which I recently reviewed for Static. I'll be looking for the CD today (if I find it, I'll post my thoughts on it as soon as I can), as well as the new one by Metric. As good timing would have it, Wolf Parade will be in town on Sunday opening for the Arcade Fire, which should be a show to remember.
Speaking of Wolf Parade, if you haven't seen cokemachineglow's review of the album, consider yourself lucky. You know, as PopMatters, Stylus, and Pitchfork continue to provide consistently well-written reviews and features, it's that kind of pretentious, sloppy attempt at a "concept review" that perpetuates the stereotype of online writing being erratic and useless. I'm not usually one to be snippy about other writers, but seriously, that's one of the worst pieces of writing I have ever encountered. Absolute garbage.
According to Matthew Good, "An encore is played when a band feels that the audience deserves it, as a reciprocal show of appreciation." Aaron Wherry justifiably questions the Canadian rocker's sanity. The comments are worth reading, too.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
The reviews are appearing at a ridiculous rate this week. Don't say I didn't warn you. Wait...did I?
If you don't own the new Opeth album, you are missing out on somethnig special. I say this every year, you wait all year long for that one album to completely knock you off your feet...a few have come awfully close, but it's realling looking like Ghost Reveries is The One this year. I won't know for sure until I hear System of a Down's Hypnotize, which will be out on November 22, but right now, Opeth are the champs of 2005 so far. Still not convinced? Read my full review. Now that it's becoming so bizzarrely trendy to say you like metal music, it's strange how the indie rock crowd have yet to cross over and embrace Opeth like they have Mastodon and High on Fire. It's just a matter of time before Pitchfork tells the kids it's okay to listen to it.
Still in keeping witht he metal stuff, my review of Black Label Society's recent album is up over at Static. Like any other BLS album, it has its moments, especially early on (I heartily endorse the first five tracks), but Zakk Wylde and Co. bury themselves with Southern metal cliches, predictable riffs (seriously dude, the gimmick has worn thin), and self-parodical vocals. With Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity putting out far, far superior albums this year, why on earth should we waste our money on this half-hearted attempt to ride the Ozzfest money train for the umpteenth year in a row?
By now, we all know that poor Liz Phair is a lost cause, having sold her soul to the corporate rock devil years ago, but still, the lady's one of my absolute favourite artists from the 90s, and to this day I still care somewhat about her music. While I was greatly offended by her trainwreck of an album two and a half years ago, not so much because it was too commercial, but because it just plain sucked, her new record, Somebody's Miracle is a considerable improvement. It's still not good enough to fully recommend, as it goes on for far too long (14 tracks), and sounds for the most part very bland, but it does have a handful of songs that, while nothing close to her 90s material, still beats 90% of the dreck on the last CD. "Somebody's Miracle", "Count on My Love", and "Everything to Me" are pretty alright. Not great, but better than 90% of the last album. And "Why I Lie" comes closest to her old vocal style, which made her so endearing in the first place. I definitely don't hate this album. If the last one was a one out of ten, this one's a four. Hey, at least it's progress.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
My review of the expanded edition of The Fall's spectacular 1982 album Hex Enduction Hour has appeared. Simply a classic album, one of the most prickly, truly misanthropic records from the post punk era. Mark E. Smith is on fire, as he spits his acerbic, acidic lyrics like venom, as the rest of the band sounds just as menacing. It's arguably The Fall's finest hour.
No Direction Home came out on DVD yesterday, and oh man, is the documentary ever fanfreakingtastic. The footage is flat-out unreal, and Scorsese does a note-perfect job piecing everything together. The first hour is great fun, giving us a very detailed look at Dylan's formative years, but the real kicker is Part Two on the second disc. The Newport '65 footage is astonishing...unlike the audio of "Maggie's Farm" on the CD, you can hear all the boos and catcalls on the DVD. Actually, one big mistake the CD producers made was not including his encore of "Baby Blue", which Bob brilliantly turns into a scathing kiss-off to the folk purists. There's some stuff from Eat the Document, like the casual duet with Johnny Cash, but in all honesty, Part Two does such a brilliant job chronicling the '66 tour, it almost renders Eat the Document useless. And if that wasn't enough, what a way to pull the rug out from under our feet by unveiling actual footage of the immortal Manchester Free Trade Hall 'Judas' performance of "Rolling Stone", something I don't think any Dylan expert ever knew existed. Wow. Dylan himself is much more straight-shooting than I've ever seen him (remember that ridiculous 60 Minutes interview last year?). The contributors all do a great job, especially Joan Baez (who's hilarious), Dave Van Ronk, Maria Muldaur, Liam Clancy, Pete Seeger, and especially Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg was always one of the best Dylan analysts, and his interview clips were always very perceptive...it's touchingwhen he mentions hearing "Hard Rain" for the first time, and gets all choked up, and I'm glad he told the tale of his crazy summer of '65, where he went from being deported from two countries to John Lennon's lap ina span of a few short weeks. I miss Ginzy. The extras are great, but if anything, I still think they're a bit skimpy. I would have preferred that all of Newport '65 been on there (logistical reasons probably prevented it), but really, that's a minor quibble. This DVD ranks right up there with T. Rex's Born to Boogie. It's been a great year for music DVDs!
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Hoooo boy, is the new Strokes single ever great. I mean, really...Wow. Played it about a dozen times in half an hour. This is the kind of leap people have been waiting for the band to make..it's wickedly heavy (startlingly so), with a cool 50s Peter Gunn-style riff, but the song then quickly takes off in about four or five different directions in a minute and a half, before launching into an extremely terrific, effects-laden guitar solo. "Why won't you come over heeee-eere? We've got a city to loooove..."
Well, we got lucky here in Saskatoon, as Broken Social Scene have at long last booked a show here on November 18. The fact that it's at the cozy Amigos instead of Louis' is interesting, seeing that Amigos is much, much smaller than the rest of the venues BSS will be hitting in the other Canadian cities. That place is going to be packed.
My review of Goldfrapp's Supernature is now up. After the initial excitement, I've come to realise that the album is not as good as the last two, but it does seem to be growing on me in a different way, as songs like "Slide In" and "Number 1" are really starting to emerge as a couple of the strongest tracks on the CD. Many Frapp fans are complaining about how the song "Beautiful" was a last minute cut, but I can see the rationale behind the decision..."Ooh La La" is the most outwardly glam song on the album, and it really didn't need another track that did pretty much the same thing. Anyway, although the album won't be in stores here for another five months, it is available for dirt cheap over at CD Wow...with free worldwide shipping, to boot! An incredible deal, and very prompt service. I highly recommend them.
Monday, September 19, 2005
No fewer than four reviews of mine have appeared over the last few days. Many more to come, too. Anyway, first, there's the new (well, sorta new) Natasha Bedingfield album. A year ago, I was quite enamoured with her single "These Words", which had topped the UK pop chart, and the song just stuck with me for the rest of the year, making my 20 songs list in December. Just recently released in North America, Unwritten has been revamped, and I have to say, for the better, as two unneccessary songs have been added, and two new ones tacked on, and the rest of the album has been remixed. It's not a perfect album, but Bedingfield's very easy to like, with her fine voice and her doses of self-deprecating wit. The fact that the album seems to be doing quite well in North America is especially pleasing. It's a good little CD.
Also up is my big review of the newly expanded edition of Fates Warning's 1986 progressive metal classic, Awaken the Guardian Regarded by many as the band's greatest album, it's a chalenging, at times baffling piece of work, but once you let it sink in, the more you relise just how one of a kind it really is. It's off in a world all its own, full of complicated (but not dense) movements, heady lyrics, and wild vocal melodies by singer John Arch. I go into greater detail in my review...it's atruly unique, not to mention highly influential album, one that has grown better with age.
When I first heard the new album by Avenged Sevenfold, I was baffled. Here's a band who has the ability to let loose some spectacular vintage metal riffs and solos, but who also has the audacity to toss in bizarre emo choruses. For weeks, I didn't know what to make of it. The more I heard it, though, the more impressed I became with the band's wild ambition. They go a bit too overboard at times, but an epic track like "The Wicked End" makes up for the clumsier moments. Antway, read my review over at Static.
Lastly, my review of the very enjoyable new album by Diamond Nights has appeared. Heartily recommended, especially for the indie geeks who want to rawk, but are afraid to admit it.
I didn't know controller.controller has a new album coming out in three weeks. Turns out I'm going to miss their show with Magneta Lane on the 20th. Of course, I don't have to say that seeing the mighty Judas Priest is far, far more important than standing beside a bunch of bored-looking people trying to convince themselves that Magneta Lane are actually a good band. It just is.
Do yourself a favour, and listen to the Drive-By Truckers deliver a gorgeous rendition of "Louisiana 1927".
Thursday, September 15, 2005
While out on Tuesday, I saw that the new Sigur Ros album was quite cheap, so I picked it up on the spur of the moment. I've always liked the band, going back to the beautiful Agaetis Byrjun and its darker successor, () (which made my year-end list in 2002), but it had been quite a while since I'd listened to their music. Takk (meaning "thank you") quickly reminded me of how good this unique band is; they're master manipulators of dream pop/orch pop/ shoegazer/whatever, with the uncanny ability to know just when to sit and bob along with the gentle tide, and when to crank up the gears to a majestic swell. As a result, their albums are best experienced from start to finish...an iPod band, they are not. The new album seems to sound a lot more optimistic than the rather dour (), with a more innocent quality settling in (dig the glockenspiel in "Sé Lest"), Jonsi Birgisson's ever-strange falsetto vocals cooing away. If there's one big difference from the previous album, it's that there are more individual tracks that leap out, especially "Glósóli", the gorgeous "Saeglopur", the emotional "Milanó", and the wonderful, wonderful "Hoppípolla". As usual with this band, a quietly epic piece of work, as graceful as it is grandiose. It's yet another title to add to my huge list of year-end list contenders.
For some stupid reason, feeling the smooth, hard yet bumpy embossed cardboard apckaging on the album, I was reminded of those yummy, flat sultana raisin cookies I used to have when I was little, which sort of felt the same way. I wonder if they still sell those things...
Speaking of year-end list contenders, the new Rachel Stevens album, called Come and Get It, is far and away the best pop album I've heard since Kylie's near-perfect Fever. I've always been a fan of her singles, but this time, Stevens and her producers have managed to piece together a record that's consistently excellent from top to bottom. It's brimming with single after glorious single, not to mention some equally great album tracks, which hit you in the gut, one after the other, leaving you winded: "So Good" (pow!), "Crazy Boys" (biff!), "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)" (zuff!), "Nothing Good About This Goodbye" (pan!), "Dumb Dumb" (snuh!), "Negotiate With Love" (bort!), "It's All About Me" (newt!). The album is simply relentless...it's going to be massive in the UK, we all know that, but will North American audiences finally warm up to this lady's extremely well-produced music? Probably not, but that's no reason for you, dear reader, to ignore this album. I'll say it now: it's even better than the much-hyped (deservedly so) Anniemal. As Casey Spooner likes to say, uh-huh, that's right.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Another crazy week. I cranked out so many reviews, I forgot the titles of the first three I had written on Monday and Tuesday. All the while, new albums kept pouring in.
My review of Turbonegro's fine Party Animals, which I discussed here way back in March (I think) popped up late last week. While I do agree with the skeptics that they're really taming down their sound, I still think they do the whole glam metal revival gimmick better than anyone, and even a tame Turbonegro album is still a killer one. It's all about charisma, folks.
Also, my gigantic feature piece on the spectacular DVD release of T. Rex's Born to Boogie is now up over at Static, which was a really fun piece to do. I'd always liked T. Rex, but aside from those old mimed TV appearances, I never really knew what the band were really like in a live setting, and this incredible set was a real eye-opener. With the original Ringo Starr-directed movie (which, for all its 70s self-indulgence, is still a pretty good film), two full London concerts from the same day in 1972, plus a documentary and scads of extras, it's packed with nearly five hours' worth of goodies to binge on. The evening concert, in particular, is sensational, and Marc Bolan is an absolute god onstage, winking and strutting away, not to mention letting loose those Chuck Berry riffs he so gleefully swiped. The crowd (mostly girls) hang on every word, every gesture, and with the unbelievably great surround mix by Tony Visconti, the effect is hair-raising. For a while there, Bolan and T. Rex caught lightning in a bottle, and the DVD is a perfect document of a rock icon at the peak of his career. Anyway, go read the review, I go into much greater detail. Definitely the best music DVD I've seen this year so far.
Out of all the CDs that have appeared in my mailbox, the one I've been having the most fun listening to lately is the debut full-length album by Queens, NY's Diamond Nights. Early this year, back in January or so, JG told me I had to download their song "Destination Diamonds" cos it was the greatest thing ever (download it here), and I thought it was pretty good. Then early this summer, I was reminded of the band again by Bill, and I wound up downloading their Once We Were Diamonds EP, which sounded awfully impressive, namely the aforementioned track and "The Girl's Attractive". With Popsicle, they completely live up to the initial promise. People will inevitably compare them to The Darkness, and these guys definitely do a great job imitating late-70s hard rock (right down to the Stained Class-style guitar tone and the warm drum sound, but they bring a lot more variety. There are touches of Thin Lizzy, both in the dual guitar harmonies and Morgan Phalen's Lynottesque vocals, a cool touch of "Saturday Night Special" Skynyrd on "Beyond the City of Love", a bit of glam rock, folky acoustic departures, a hint of reggae (perhaps the clunkiest moment), and best of all, two songs in "It's a Shokka" and "Needle in the Rice", two songs that brilliantly mimic old New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Tygers of Pan Tang and
I've always been a fan of Rachel Stevens singles, from "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex" to "Some Girls" to this year's phenomenal trio of "Negotiate With Love", "So Good", and "I Said Never Again But Here We Are", but I'm willing to bet that her upcoming album will be absolutely killer. If the fun "Nothing Good About This Goodbye" made me perk up my ears, another album track, "Crazy Boys" has me anticipating the new disc like a lame fanboy. It could be her best song yet, and I hope it's a single. Here, give it a listen:
Rachel Stevens - "Crazy Boys"
Oh, and the new Franz Ferdinand album is good. A bit different, but more of the same. Not so many Big Choruses, but plenty of fun to be had. Hopefully I'll post some more comments in the next day or two...
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
I've gotten so many new CDs over the past ten days, that I have no idea where to start here. Hence my lack of posts...I've been busy sorting through the stacks and hammering out reviews. And speaking of reviews...
My review of the North Mississippi Allstars' excellent Electric Blue Watermelon appeared last week. Like I said a short while back, it's their best album yet. Tons of blues-rock fun.
Also, my piece on the new Richard Hawley album sprouted up yesterday. Just how overlooked is this guy in North America? At amazon.com, he's #1288. At amazon.co.uk, he's #47. Do yourself a favour, and givethis fine CD a listen.
If that weren't enough, my gigantic review of the new Bob Dylan Bootleg Series set went up over the weekend. I hadn't gotten around to mentioning just how impressive the CD is...it's no surprise, really, as the Bootleg series has always been nothing short of great. Plus, I really enjoy writing about Bob Dylan...I've lost count at how many Dylan pieces I've done. Chronicling Bob's years from 1959 to 1966 (basically a companion piece to the upcoming Scorsese documentary), the new two-disc set is a highly enjoyable mishmash of rarities, highlighted by the absolutely ripping performance of "Maggie's Farm" from that infamous set at Newport '65, and the stunning outtake of "Visions of Johanna", recorded with The Band. Remember, No Direction Home airs on PBS in three weeks!
Metric's new album, Live it Out, is out in Canada on the 27th, but has already leaked on the internet, and yeah, I was greedy enough to snag it. It's not as upbeat at Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, and lacks the real killer singles that "Combat Baby" and "Dead Disco" were, but it's still a very worthwhile album of straightforward post punk, but with that quirky Metric twist, and actually a more consistent record. There's more depth to the music, less of a pop feel, somethnig you hear instantly on the cool opening track "Empty". And the inimitable Ms. Haines is all over this CD, the entire band carried by her charismatic persona, and her girlish, yet powerful voice. Early on, the standout tracks seem to be the dark "Glass Ceiling", the sultry, French-tinged electro of "Poster of a Girl", the decidedly Metric-esque "Patriarch on a Vespa", and lead single "Monster Hospital", a song which, when I first heard it a few weeks ago, struck me as an odd choice, but has grown on me hugely the more I heard it..."Bam chicka-bam chicka-boom boom boom/Shalang shalang boom/Shalang shalang boom." And the video for the song is fabulous. I wish I could link to it, but it's aired only once in Canada, and it doesn't appear to be anywhere on the internet. Anyway, the album is a good one, living up to my rather high expectations. Their headlining show on October 24 is going to be amazing.
Man, oh man, do I love the new Franz Ferdinand video. I tivo'd it on Friday, and I keep wathing it over and over. Not only is the video hilarious, in an 80s camera-mugging sort of way, but it actually helps the song, which I originally thought was kind of ordinary. Now I can't get that hook out of my head. Alex Kapranos has to be my favourite frontman since Jarvis Cocker.
I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I actually like the new Stryper album. Talk about being blindsided...I honestly (ugh, unintentional play on words there) didn't think they had it in them.
Thursday, September 1, 2005
Another two months have gone by, so my July-August entries have been archived. Just in case you were wondering. Which you probably weren't, but still...
My review of the fine new album by Darkane appeared a couple days ago. It's one that I'd lost track of over the summer, but after giving it repeated listens a while back, I was really struck by how solid the CD is. Anyway, read the review and check out the album...it's one that deserves some attention.
Ghost Reveries, the new album by progressive death masters Opeth, came out on Tuesday, and ever since it leaked about six weeks ago, it's been growing on me more and more, to the point where I can say in all confidence that it is now a serious contender for my Album of the Year. Yeah, that's right. It's that good.
I'd always admired Opeth...they do the progresive thing very well, a fact driven home during their sensational, 40 minute set at Sounds of the Underground (see my July 30 entry). While other death metal bands tend to take on more of a free-form musical style, Opeth take the brutal sounds of the genre, and place it within a very rigid song structure, befitting progressive rock bands. As a result, you get moments of astounding power, but all super-tightly executed. Singer/guitarist Michael Akerfeldt is a remarkable vocalist, with the ability to deliver an effective death growl, but then shift into a more smooth-voiced croon, and over the past few years, that mellow aspect has been slowly creeping into the band's sound at an increasing rate, culminating in the largely acoustic/non-distorted Damnation. Now, all the experimentation seems to be over; after a decade, Ghost Reveries has Opeth perfecting their sound, effortlessly marrying both the haunted and the haunting. The end result is, quite simply, a triumph.
Actually, there are considerable changes to the Opeth sound, as they now have a full-time keyboardist in their employ, and although keyboards have appeared on past albums, the presence of Per Wiberg makes a huge difference: a Rhodes piano shimmers eerily, a mellotron weeps in the background, a Hammond B3 chuns ominously, a grand piano chimes mournfully. However, while this album is decidedly a very moody piece of work, it's both an incredibly accessible album and a welcome return to the monstrous sounds of the past, something you hear instantly on the opening track "Ghost of Perdition", which, after a brief, understated intro, explodes with distorted chords. Only here, there's more nuance to Akerfeldt's compositions, more style. It's not just heavy-mellow-heavy-mellow anymore...the disparate styles intertwine with a grace that is all too rare in metal music. The most perfect examples are on the 12 minute "Reverie/Harlequin Forest" (listen to the extended coda, which really smacks of 2003's "Deliverance") and the ten minute "The Baying of the Hounds", the latter of which taking off on an astonishing tangent three quarters of the way through. The album's production is much fuller than before, sounding more intimate, yet more muscular at the same time, and the improved sound puts more focus on Akerfeldt's vocals, as his growls are much fuller-sounding, and his singing is the strongest it's ever been (especially on "Isolation Years" and "Atonement"). As great as the entire album is, "The Grand Conjuration" still steals the show for me. It's a jaw-dropping exercise in just what a skilled band can do with the simplest of melodies...the primary hook, which consists of a series of ascending and descending notes is so understated, but so effective, creating a simultaneous sense of comfort and menace, and the band takes that one little melody, and makes something massive and majestic out of it, to the tune of ten minutes. Opeth are never a band to rush things, and they just take their time, shifting smoothly from hushed verses ("This poetry/Our blasphemy/Know the sounds/Of infamy") to choruses of demonic wrath ("The hands of Satan/Assembling his flock/Pale horse rider/Searching the earth"). The song meanders here and there...a moment of double-bass driven doom here...a moment of discordant notes resembling a damaged music box there...a soaring movement which has you visualising an unholy beast rising from the ether...until, finally, coming full circle, being welcomed by that distinctive melody, which brings the song, and the album, to a spine-tingling climax.
I've only just begun to scratch the surface here...this album has exceeded my expectations completely. Ghost Reveries is a rare feat, in which Opeth has managed to create a piece of work that appeals to both metal fans and non-metal listeners. Fans might still cling to earlier albums (metal fans are awful at that), but personally, this one marks a career peak for the band. It's brutal and heavy, yet approaches it all with a sense of class and dignity. Even the lyrics have a doom-laced beauty to them, which is no small feat when considering just how many lousy lyricists there are in metal these days. From the power of "Ghost of Perdition" to the Pink Floyd style mellow-dies (sorry) of "Isolation Years", this is a gorgeously dark, darkly gorgeous masterpiece (sorry again). If you're a metal aficionado, get this immediately. If you're not a metal fan, but intend to buy just one metal album this year, make it this one. If you're someone who likes to shallowly think metal is a useless and cheesy genre that peaked witht he fourth Black Sabbath album, think twice. Download the following tracks. Listen. Lose yourself in the grandeur of it all. And darnit, go buy the CD with all speed.
Opeth - "Ghost of Perdition"
Opeth - "The Baying of the Hounds"
Opeth - "Reverie/Harlequin Forest"
Opeth - "The Grand Conjuration"
