na: righteous babe, deerhunter
(photo by mhwlng)
New today: the second record from Deerhunter. But first: Righteous Babe
So let’s get this out of the way early: in college, I straight-up loved Ani DiFranco. Like, saw her in concert not one, not two, but three times (though one of those times, she was opening for Bob Dylan, so). I loved her, even while being vaguely aware of some of the more dubious things she spawned. F’rinstance: I lost track of just how many spoken word poetry sessions I sat through in Philadelphia in the mid 90s. I also may or may not have incorporated lyrics from one of her songs into a song I wrote for the band I was in.
There was definitely a “turning point” for me, where I realized that maybe I didn’t love this so much anymore, but I still think her best moments justify themselves — those moments being Dilate, Living in Clip and Not a Pretty Girl. I’d love to hear other suggestions from Ani fans who stuck around a bit longer.
Other Righetous Babe gems:
Andrew Bird, Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs and Various Artists, Til We Outnumber ‘Em: A tribute to Woody Guthrie featuring performances by Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg Arlo Guthrie, Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls and many others.
I will now post about nothing but metal for a while.
Forest of Shadows, Departure: Fantastic metalgaze, cataclysmic guitars, big doomy and sad. I’d argue this one will even satisfy people who think they don’t like metal. There’s an accompanying EP called Where Dreams Turn to Dust that prominently features pan flute. So.
Swallow the Sun, Ghosts of Loss: Super, super melodic metal topped with that hellfire growl. A Gothy take on death metal, if you will.
Walknut, Graveforests and Their Shadows: Another one in the metalgaze school, guitars so thick and heavy and distorted they simply blend into bands of sound.
Abominant, Warblast: Just in time for Halloween, grim extreme metal, larynx-wrecking vocals and big, corkscrewing riffs.
Bloodrain, Ultimatum: A bit more melodic — think Katatonia — with periodic divergences into thrash.
Non-Metal New Arrivals
Deerhunter, Microcastle: After a few days delay, the much-anticipated second album from Deerhunter arrives. eMusic’s Andy Battaglia says:
Deerhunter are either one of the toughest ambient bands or one of the most ambient tough bands you will ever come across; the difference hardly matters, because the group is so good at being both. After gritty breakthrough Cryptograms and the wild charge of Deerhunter’s increasingly storied live shows, the initial hush and softness of Microcastle might come as a surprise. In “Agoraphobia,” Bradford Cox sings softly over guitars that ring and chime almost like R.E.M. This being Deerhunter, though, that mood proves deceiving; the ring quickly takes on sinister tones and Cox gets to singing, with an eerie stoic desperation, “I had a dream no longer to be free/ I want only to see four walls made of concrete.”
Various Artists, Perfect as Cats: a Tribute to the Cure: Tribute records almost always suck. Remember that tribute record to Jimi Hendrix in the ’90s, where the Cure did “Purple Haze”? I rest my case. So it’s kinda surprising that this tribute to the Cure, horrific cover art aside, is actually pretty good. Highly, highly recommended is Bat for Lashes suitably spooky take on “A Forest.” Rainbow Arabia, who Yancey discovered the other day and who have become fast eMusic favorites, do an AMAZING take on one of the greatest Cure songs ever, “Six Different Ways.” eMusic Selects act blackblack apply their charming no-fi aesthetic to “Inbetween Days.” Dandy Warhols take a break from sucking so hard to power through “Primary,” new eMusic faves Army Navy close the blinds for an uncharacteristically Gothy take on the Cure’s uncharacteristically un-Gothy “Jumping Someone Else’s Train.” In short, there’s a lot here to love. Jump around and sample for yourself.
Celestial, Crystal Heights: Speaking of C86 — this band definitely has the glimmery Field Mice guitar tones. Am super, super mixed on the vocals, but those more forgiving of, say, Mary Chapin-Carpenter than I might find much to like here.
Sean Price Presents Ruste Juxx, Indestructible: No phrase strikes colder fear into the hearts of hip-hop fans than “[Your Favorite Rapper] Presents…” This actually sounds decent, though — minimal production and lean, limber flow. Still not as good as Monkey Barz, though, an album that has yet to get its proper due.
DJ Babu, Duck Season Vol. 3: Solid mixtape with contributions from underground faves like Dilate Peoples, Guilty Simpson, Strong Arm Steady and Percee P.
Edgar Allen Flow, The Streetwise LP: Aside from having one of the greatest rapper names ever, Edgar Allen Floe actually turns in a pretty solid LP. Production mostly from 9th Wonder (ex-Little Brother), Streetwise showcases Floe’s husky voice and totally adequate lyrics.
Perfect as Cats sales will benefit Invisible Children. I was wondering if that included emusic sales…
The metal posts gives me the perfect opportunity to mention Black Elk which I discovered recently and think is really amazing; Joe, stop me if you’ve heard this one but I think you might like this:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Black-Elk-Black-Elk-MP3-Download/10984128.html
The only Ani album I ever had was Imperfectly which I bought on cassette at a concert I think in fall 1993. Going to college in Western New York, I was exposed to some very rabid fans very early on in her career but never really managed to get that interested myself. Still it was cool to see this stuff show up and I’m tempted to give it another chance.
Also this Arto Lindsay album is really good, I had no idea it was on Righteous Babe:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Prize-Prize-MP3-Download/11311070.html
Thanks for the heads up on Black Elk – am totally unfamiliar, but will check it out.
OK, just checked out. LOVE.
Don’t sleep on the Cynic album. I was skeptical of the samples but it’s actually really good.
When I saw the Righteous Babe logo on eMusic, my first thought was, “HAMELL ON TRIAL!”
I’m pretty sure I’m the only girl on the planet that doesn’t like Ani Difranco. I’m sorry, I just don’t get it, please don’t take away my self righteous girl card. I do love (would kill for) Tori Amos, so am I even?
Deerhunter came up as not in the USA?
The Utah Phillips is a happiness.
Porieux, I love that you’re skeptical about Cynic. I myself am a cynic about The Skeptics.
How about Weird Era Cont? Any chance we’ll see it?
weird – that’s the first bad thing i’ve ever heard about the cure “purple haze” cover.
and addendum:
going through the samples of that cure cover comp, there’s a lot of that kind of moldy peaches-type sound in there, i.e. aggressively no-fi. shit like that always makes me wonder if the people “playing” those instruments perhaps were insulted by somebody who told them they couldn’t be musicians if they didn’t know how to play an instrument, so they decided to form a band just to prove that person wrong.
see, i actually like it when people in bands don’t know how to play their instruments! not so big into moldy peaches, but give me shambling over super-polished any day of the week. i actually get bummed that most indie rock these days is too professional!
joe, 100% agree with that. What bothers me most is when a group starts out all rough and crazy and then gets “good” at playing their instruments and spends the rest of their career making yawnfests.
Yeah, I feel like Cat Power falls into that category for me. I loved, loved, loved those ragged early records, but have been significantly less interested as she’s become more polished.
I have to admit that I really like “The Greatest” polished as it is, but that’s probably because it’s my first and only Cat Power album so far – without tying it anything else it really is a good soul album.
So what’s the best starting point for her early ragged stuff?
Moon Pix and What Would the Community Think are both awesome.
@SarahDevil – ani de franco leaves me cold too. i like her independent/diy ethics but not much else.
@Joe – totally agree about loose amateur playing. as long as the feeling and passion is there; and the songs of course it will always win me over.
Speaking of which, check out a huge favourite Sleepy Township. The Melbourne band released 2 albums and a host of singles and had that loose feeling, wonky vocals. They swayed between Magnetic Fields baritone pop to spritely Pastels tunes. The single Carribean Delight is a particular favourite.
Thanks for the tip on this! Checking them out now.
SarahDevil, Once again I find myself agreeing with you. I just always Found Ani Grating (but talented and, as I said in the earlier thread, I love her independent spirit). However The Utah Philips/Ani I wanted did come in (It’s not the one listed under ANI but Under Utah) sweet grabbed the Whole Thing
Also re: loose amateur playing
I think in some cases on the Cure Tribute (well one) it works. The Kaki King version of “Close To Me” Broke my heart, I could just imagine a timid/shy woman trying to serande I boy that she’s direly in love with and he doesn’t notice her
(Naw I’m not a Romantic HAHA)
Oh now Kaki makes sense to me
NPR Weekend Edition Sunday, November 21, 2004 – Acoustic guitarist Kaki King honed her unusual fingerstyle technique playing in New York City subway stations. …
I once had a person describe pretty accurately how I feel about Ani, Nergal, his upstairs neighbor put “Small Hands” on infinite repeat for four days. He wanted to bore his brain out with a screwdriver.
It’s not that bad but somehow I have never managed to find her all that engaging. I agree with you that the independent spirit and her commitment to getting her music out there is A one, but the music itself, eh. However, she did share the joy around and so Utah Phillips. Can’t hold that against her.