A great day for new releases, with fantastic new material from Akron/Family, Shout Out Louds, Besnard Lakes, Dirty Projectors and a host of others.
Akron/Family, Love Is Simple: Akron/Family’s greatest moment is still — as it almost certainly forever will be — “I’ll Be on the Water,” an amazing little CSNY/Microphones ballad from their first album. It has CSNY’s harmonizing deftness, light touch and Neil Young’s sense of emotional surrender, and the Microphones’ modern depression, finger-strummed guitar sound, oddball found sounds (waves washing, children cackling) and a general feel of lazy momentum. It’s fairly miraculous (peek below for a great performance of it I found on YouTube), and while nothing on Love Is Simple, the band’s new album, can match it, I still think Love is the best thing they’ve done to date.
Here are some reference points for Love Is Simple: Wilco’s heralded Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Neil Young’s Zuma and the Microphones’ Mt. Eerie. It’s a very thematic album (there’s a “Love is simple” refrain that repeats throughout the record) that doubles back on itself, veers blindly between crunchy guitar rock and Debbie Downer folk and often makes not much sense. For all of those reasons, it’s also exhilarating.
Rather than start at the beginning of the record, I recommend jumping right into the middle, the meandering opus “There’s So Many Colors” the best song on here by a good bit (it reminds me so much of Neil Young’s “Down by the River”), and followers “Crickets” (the closest Love Is Simple has to “I’ll Be Across the Water”) and “Phenomena” (goofy fun that’s part Elephant 6, part ’60s cult) both fantastic. From “There’s So Many Colors” to the end, I have a hard time finding much fault with the record at all; there’s a momentum that builds beautifully, the songs not only arranged well but the flow between them, too.
As is obvious by now, I adore this record. And, honestly, I seem to be the only one here (among Joe and Todd and I) who does. But I will defend this album to the death. If you feel inspired to take a flyer on it, I would be mighty obliged.
Oh, and here’s “I’ll Be on the Water:”
Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills: Our Ill Wills is a pretty good Cure album, which, from any band other than the Cure, equals a really damn good record, period. And that’s what Our Ill Wills is. Joe and I are both big fans, although Joe a bit more so (I still stick a bit too heavily to the first four songs, which I love) and I’m sure he’ll weigh in with an impassioned case for this record’s merits. Please believe him. Just this once.
The Dirty Projectors, Rise Above: I am hearing them for the first time today, and I’m still a little unsure what to think. I know Michael likes them, but my uninformed ears keep hearing an awkward Remain In Light tribute with a little bit of Prince loving, too. Clearly I need more time with this. Here’s a YouTube clip:
The Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil: Let’s get to the big news first. Yes, this means that Vice is back. However, I want to point out that it’s unclear what Vice being back will mean in terms of the catalogue that we used to have. All of that is being sorted out, but it seems pretty certain that we won’t have some of what we did before — and please note that this is not something Vice has decided to do. It’s completely out of their hands.
Now, as for the new Black Lips record, I have to admit that I’m bummed by it. It’s kinda generic, like some of the songs could be the Bottle Rockets (no offense, Bottle Rockets!) instead of, say, the Gypsy Trips (download that Gypsy Trips song; it’s amazing). “O Katrina!” gets it totally right; the rest I am much less enamored with.
Various Artists, Comedy Death Ray: Big names ahoy! Stand-up from David Cross, Mindy Kaling (Kelly from The Office), Patton Oswalt, Neil Hamburger, Reno 911, etc.
Oakley Hall, I’ll Follow You: I don’t like this band. I’ve tried. I really have. But it just feels limp to me. I’m sure some of you like them — quite a few people do! — so if anyone wants to make a case in the comments, have at it.
Various Artists, Summer Records Anthology: 1974-1988: Collection of no-profile reggae singles from the ’70s and ’80s. Joe loves, and I like what I’ve heard so far. Smooth.
Bad Brains, Build A Nation: New one from the Bad Brains, produced by Adam Yauch.
Black Francis, Bluefinger: Accidentally went up on the site a few weeks ago, this is yet another new record from Frank Black.
A.R.E. Weapons, Modern Mayhem: I don’t expect anyone to download this record. A.R.E. Weapons are, to put it kindly, an acquired taste. Their first single, “Street Gang,” was cheeky fun a la Suicide and The Warriors, and “Don’t Be Scared” from their self-titled debut was absolute hyperbolic genius. Modern Mayhem seems to be a mixed bag, with some truly awful songs (that Times Square song) and some decent ones, too.
School of Seven Bells, Face to Face on High Places: Members of Secret Machines and On! Air! Library! They’re on tour now with Blonde Redhead, and it’s a pretty apt comparison. My favorite song on this debut single is the nine-minute title track (very nice), but nothing can match the On! Air! Library! song “Bread,” which you should watch here:
The Besnard Lakes, Casino Nanaimo: Maybe I do like the Besnard Lakes! Earlier in the year I was befuddled by their surprise success on the site, but these two songs — both of them looooooooong — are pretty damn enjoyable. Recommended.
Gang Gang Dance, Rawwar: Gang Gang Dance have gone poppy! Or poppy-ish for them, anyway. Still lots of weirdo new age vocals, but the Kate Bush part has really been played up more on this three-song EP, especially in regards to the arrangements. Me like.
Dragons, BFI: This is Captain of Captain and Tennille’s first band, apparently, and it’s somewhat cheesy ’70s funk-rock that can either sound like MIDI songs you might have heard on someone’s Geocities page in 1997 or highly sample-able soul. I’m looking forward to Joe hearing this one.
Mono, Gone: Collection of oddities from the Japanese rockers.
Cloak/Dagger, We Are: Jade Tree post-hardcore. Noisy. Boisterous.
Happy Apple, Happy Apple Back on Top: New one from the well-regarded Minneapolis bop-influenced jazz trio.
Ha Ha Tonka, Buckle in the Bible Belt: New Bloodshot signing that AMG calls “an up-tempo union of alt country twang, indie rock melodic efficiency, and barrelhouse energy.”
No mention of Joe Henry’s latest, Civilians? I shouldn’t be surprised, as it’s mis-labeled as Civil Twlight on eMusic. Henry is among the most inventive artists out there.
good catch! totally skimmed past that record today.
The greatest moment for Akron/Family is called “I’ll Be On The Water.” Just FYI. I would nominate “Raising The Sparks” for their second greatest moment.
After reading John’s comment, I clicked through to his blog, and found this:
“Friends and I were conversing before the show about the lack of harmony singing from current bands, saying that many a decent song would be elevated with this extra effort. As if seeking to prove the point, Crowded House made full use of backing harmonies; at times all five musicians on stage (the four Crowdies and Neil’s son, Liam, who opened and then backed the band on acoustic guitar) sang, creating lush, rich harmonies that made these songs soar.”
This is OTM, and something I’ve been lamenting recently. Those big, wall of sound harmonies give a song power and depth. I know mentioning Journey draws many snickers and snide remarks , but that band knew just how to use big harmonies in a rock song to create drama and depth, e.g., Girl Can’t Help It, After The Fall, and Separate Ways. Anyway, those harmonies are something I miss in rock songs, and Todd makes this point more eloquently than I ever could. (n.1)
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(n.1) Obviously, there are some exceptions. Low, for instance, uses big harmonies to create an eerie — and very dramatic — atmosphere. By contrast, Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam harmonizes with his sister to give Beam’s songs texture and warmth. Offhand, though, I can’t think of many other acts that even attempt to use big harmonies, much less use them to such dramatic effect.
Where is the Pinback record - “Autumn of the Seraphs”?? Y’all got the single? What gives???
For now, file the Pinback with Blonde Redhead and New Pornographers. Not on street date. Bummer, I know.
The Akron/Family disc is fabulous and I’m really enjoying the few songs I’ve grabbed from Dirty Projectors. Give ‘em a fair shake, Yancey. At the risk of repeating myself from the new arrivals thread, I love their awkward songs. Think “new weird america” with a defined swagger… like she got a haircut, found her black eyeliner and bought a pair of kitten heels. Or something.
Daniel, Esq., did you just footnote your own blog reply? I have never seen anyone do that! That is too cool.
I also agree with your point about harmonies. That was one one of the reasons I fell in love with the Besnard Lakes. Big sound, big harmonies.
Thanks for the info, Yancey and everyone. Today has been a really great day for releases, and my downloads refresh sometime this afternoon. I’m not sure when. It’s torture! It would almost be easier if they refreshed tomorrow.
“Daniel, Esq., did you just footnote your own blog reply? I have never seen anyone do that! That is too cool.”
I did; thanks. By-product of the professional training.
Sorry to hear about Pinback. When I saw that Challengers wasn’t going to go up on EMU, let’s just say I got it from a less-than reputable source. Too bad for Matador, they lost a sale. Same will probably go for Pinback/Touch & Go.
I want to support the small(er) labels and their artists, so I’ll try to hold out for emusic, but no promises. Sorry guys.
added trivia: i’ve just learned that the dirty projectors record is apparently all the lyrics to black flag’s damaged with different music.
I’m having a hard time finding the Pinback on iTunes even! Wow! Boycott of digital stores? Bizarre…
FYI — I wasn’t too sold on Dirty Projector until I witnessed this. Wild, wild, wild harmonies and music. Say goodbye to the Talking Heads cues without any real rhythmic beats behind them on these performances…..
wonderful link. i am quickly realizing how right you are (and wrong i was).
Well, I like Oakley Hall. Don’t have much of a case to make though except that one thing I enjoy is the English folky sensibility they bring to the indie alt.country mix. That might be the limp part. Snippets of new one sound the equal of Gypsum Strings/Second Guessing(especially as for some reason I was not expecting it to be dl’able in my region.)
Also. And for those interested in the country side of things, the new Moot Davis Already Moved On which turned up today is highly recommended. Along with the new Bill Kirchen and David Ball records, this has been a good year for new soulful honky tonk for grown-ups on eMu.
See Oakley Hall live before you give up on them. When they are on–they really put on a massive show. Psychedelic country-fried seventies rock at its best. The albums so far have been just okay, but I was blown away by them when I saw them live. They’re playing again in October, so I’ll probably pick up the new album there.
(My stategy for music is eMusic buy albums from the band at a show. Works well with the budget, and with the conscience. I really wonder if bands make any money from eMusic sales. But, I guess they make more than sales from “less-than reputable source(es)”.
Thanks, David, for checking out my blog and noticing the mention of the value of harmony singing. Anyone who appreciates it ought to check out that new Crowded House disc, Time on Earth. Meanwhile, Joe Henry, who’s absence from the above post started all of this, has put out another fantastic disc with Civilians (now correctly labeled on eMusic after debuting Tuesday morning as Civil Twilight). He eschews harmony singing, but the strength of his songs and the performances is more than enough, in this case, to forgive him.
Whoa, I didn’t think that Joe Henry album came out until later this month! Thanks for pointing that out. Civil Twilight is a song on the upcoming Weakerthans album released by ANTI, same label Joe Henry’s on. Looks like that error is fixed.
I’m having the same issues re: Oakley Hall. Maybe I’ll give them another chance later today after listening to Civilians numerous times.
What about Grizzly Bear if u r lookin’ out for vocal harmonies? I was blown away by all four members singin’ n’ playin’ live.
“What about Grizzly Bear if u r lookin’ out for vocal harmonies? I was blown away by all four members singin’ n’ playin’ live.”
Yes, that’s true. One song — whose name escapes me — from their 2006 disc, in particular, has really lush harmonies. Overall, Grizzly Bear doesn’t do much for me, but I was feeling that one song for a few months last year.