New Music

I, like so many others, have been quite preoccupied with the election of late, and my posts have certainly reflected that.  It’s hard not to be focused on it, as this particular cycle is offering us such an exciting and historic candidate; and it is such a wonderful opportunity for America to throw off the shackles of divisiveness and fear-mongering and xenophobia and violence, in favor of a fresh image, one born of intellectualism and diplomacy, of progressive thought and honesty.  When i watched Barack Obama make his victory speech in Iowa after the caucus, i was touched.  That was in the first week of January.  When i saw him make his victory speech in South Carolina a few weeks later, i was more than touched, i was moved, and there have been many speeches since then.  His monumental address in Berlin gave me chills down my spine, and his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention is the most inspiring thing i’ve ever seen on television.  It was simply breathtaking, and i am not ashamed to admit that I wept freely that night as i watched it from my living room.

These moments are some of the very real and quite legitimate reasons why i have been so fired-up for the last 10 months.  I am a historian at heart, and we are in the midst of history.  And not the nasty Crusades-Spanish Inquisition-genocide of the Native Americans-Holocaust-Great Leap Forward kind of history, either.  Instead, Barack’s incredible rise to prominence and popularity through the power of his eloquence seems to hearken back to the histories of Pericles, Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, and John F. Kennedy.  What will be written about the events of the 4th (not to mention the next 8 years) is beyond our current knowledge, but at this moment, it is hard to feel anything but inspired and enveloped by the events surrounding the election, and i have succumbed as much as anyone.

Still, it’s a tiring subject, isn’t it.  Tiring to write about, tiring to read about, tiring to converse about, tiring to think about.  Of course, that it is taxing should not be used as a pass to be intellectually lazy and to avoid the subject altogether.  Every one of us who is eligible to vote has a real responsibility to research and consider, to debate and to decide, and, ultimately, to vote, on (or before) the 4th.  However, it is tiring, and as I’ve already voted (absentee for the win), i’m now trying desperately to forget about it entirely until that fateful day a week and a half from now.  I have done my research, and fulfilled my responsibility, and now it’s time for me to pop my head out of the my hole and take a look around at what else is going on.

In my case, that means taking a look (or a listen) at new music.  As it says on my “About” page, i’m obsessed with all things musical, and i feel like these last couple of months i’ve been somewhat stuck in neutral on that front, which is a discomforting feeling.  Sure, there were the 3 Dave Matthews Band shows at The Greek in September (which were mindblowingly glorious), and there have been a smattering of other notable musical experiences as well (a few decent jams, the DJ Z-Trip mix that i posted about earlier, the Me First and The Gimme Gimmes show i saw back in August), but really, i haven’t been “feeling it” all that much in recent days, and i think that it’s largely due to my focus on the deadly-serious nature of the election.  Well, as i’m now vowing to take a respite from all that for a few days, i thought this might be a good opportunity to discuss some of the new albums that i’ve been able to sneak-in in between the political rants and hoopla.  After all, music is, literally, the most important aspect of my universe, and this page really ought to start showing that to be the case.

So here: I give you my take on two new(ish) releases.  There are more to come (may this be the beginning of a long series of music-related posts here, as i certainly have a lot to say on the topic).  Enjoy.

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JENNY LEWIS – ACID TONGUE

Ok, so the first thing i need to state here, upfront and with full-disclosure, is that i am an enormous and unabashed Jenny Lewis fan.  Rilo Kiley, the band that Lewis has made a name for herself with, may well be my favorite band of the decade (if not they’re really close to it), and that’s even after taking into consideration their less-than-fantastic 2007 release, Under The Blacklight, which did not set my soul afire.  That is just how incredibly good their other work has been.  The Execution of All Things (2002) is a damn-near perfect record, as is her solo debut Rabbit Fur Coat (2006), with Takeoffs and Landings (2001) and More Adventurous (2004) not too far behind.  And when i say “perfect”, i mean exactly that.  So keep in mind that this is not an unbiased review.  Music, like all art, is a subjective beast, and to try to tame it objectively is entirely futile.  Trust me, i’ve tried.

So, as a fanboy, the release of this record was a matter of much anticipation on my part.  I waited and waited, ticking off the days and weeks with growing impatience, and finally, on my birthday of all days, it was released (incidentally, the last time my birthday fell on a Tuesday, which is the typical day that new albums are released in the U.S., was 2003, and no less a record than Dave Matthews’ solo debut Some Devil, a fantastic piece of music, was released . . but i digress).  I had already heard a few of the tracks from Acid Tongue before the release, so i didn’t come into the first listening blindly.  NPR records and shares an impressive number of sets every year from the 9:30 club in Washington D.C. on their All Songs Considered program, and a few of the tracks from this record can be heard in their infancy on just such a recording (made in 2006 on the Rabbit Fur Coat tour).  Check it out here.  The whole show can be freely and legally downloaded by clicking on the link on the bottom of the left sidebar panel that says “Download Jenny Lewis”.  It’s a fantastic show, and will soon become a prized gem in your music collection.  Guaranteed.  It pays to keep up with NPR.  Those guys are almost as awesome as their TV corollary, PBS.

Anyways, i’d heard a few tracks already, so between the NPR show and the tracks that Jenny upped on her Myspace page, i knew roughly what to expect, and those expectations were sky high.  So, how did the actual record match up?  Well, to be brief about it, pretty damn well.

It’s a varied record, and it doesn’t seem to have much flow or cohesion (case in point, the first two tracks are both repetitive B-Sides that somehow found their way into those all-important first two slots instead of being mid-album transitions or being cut altogether).  So, in that way, it’s not as good as Rabbit Fur Coat.  But, honestly, even as someone whose expectations for this LP would have been nearly impossible to live up to, i’m quite happy with it as a whole.  It’s a very good record.  After the first two clunkers (“Black Sand”, and “Pretty Bird”), the listener is treated to an impressive run of startlingly touching and impassioned tunes delivered in Jenny’s trademark breezy L.A. style.

“The Next Messiah” is a wonderfully idiosyncratic eight and a half minute romp that, like the best of Jenny’s songs, doesn’t have to mean a damn thing if it doesn’t want to (not that i’m saying that it’s meaningless, not at all, but rather that the music is good enough to carry it past such trivial constraints as lyrical depth).  The title track is perhaps the best song on the whole album, and, frankly, i’ve had it stuck in my head for about 3 weeks now.  Where that would normally annoy the shit out of me, in this case it’s been a pleasure.  That song KILLS.  “See Fernando”, “Godspeed”, “Trying My Best to Love You” . . all instant-classic Jenny Lewis.  Elvis Costello guests on another beauty, “Carpetbaggers”, and “Jack Killed Mom” is almost as good as it was on that NPR show that i linked earlier (which is actually a complement, if you can believe it).  Never before has matricide sounded like so much fun.

So, yeah.  This is a pretty great collection that Miss. Lewis has given us.  It’s not as incredible as Rabbit Fur Coat, or The Execution of All Things, but hey, what is?  You can’t make a perfect record every time out.  No one does.  Not The Beatles.  Not Zeppelin.  Not Dylan.  Not Petty.  Not Paul Simon.  It doesn’t happen.  But what we get here, while not perfect, is still full of wonderfully crafted, memorable tunes.  Songs that i will be singing for the rest of my life. It’s not every day, or week, or month that i get to hear an album like that, and i’ll be on the edge of my metaphorical seat waiting the next installment of the Jenny Lewis catalog, just as excited as i was for this one.

["Acid Tongue" at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco]

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LISA HANNIGAN – SEA SEW

Those of you who listen to or are at least familiar with Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice (that should be every single one of you, such is the sheer and undeniable awesomeness of his two albums O (2002), and 9 (2006)) will recognize Lisa.  She sang backup on those two outstanding records, even taking a few lead bits in the latter, and in that capacity she absolutely shined.  When Damien suddenly announced last year that they would no longer be working together (the rumor being that they had a romantic relationship, the termination of which was the cause of their professional split), it may have signaled the end of his relevance, THAT is how good they were together, and how important i believe she is to his sound.  I hope i am wrong about Damien, as i love his music, but only time will tell.  Too, when that sad announcement was made public, there was no doubt at all that this, Lisa’s first solo work, would be coming sooner or later.

Yet there was no publicity.  Zero.  Not even in this, the internet age, where publicity is easier to drum up than a lynch mob in 19th Century Mississippi, was there even a hint that this would be coming now.  Sure, there was probably a bit of buzz in Ireland, where she and Damien hail from.  But not here, not even to someone who was listening.  This is why i didn’t find out that this album even existed until today.  Feverishly, i ran around (figuratively, as not much actual running was called for) trying to get my hands on it, thrilled that this woman who i admire so has already put together a whole record full of originals, and pissed at myself that the release had slipped under my radar (apparently it was released in Ireland five weeks ago).  Well my search was successful, and, nervously, i plugged in my headphones and pushed Play.

It turns out I had no reason to be nervous.  Even though this is her first solo effort, not a single song here betrays that fact.  I haven’t had nearly the time to digest it that i have had for Acid Tongue, thus this will be a much less detailed review, but don’t mistake a lack of specificity for flippancy or dissatisfaction.

This is one of those records that starts off mellow, but in a satisfactory way.  Damien’s songs are often mellow, and so i expected the same from her, and that’s what we’re greeted by, but it’s only the beginning of a wondrous progression.  At first it’s, “Oh, this is nice.  A little vanilla, but nice,” and the next thing you know you’re bobbing your head and completely caught-up in tune after tune after tune.

You can hear the Joni Mitchell in her melodies and mildly-funky rhythms, but this stuff is a lot more palatable than Joni’s (for the record, i think Joni Mitchell is amazing, but “easily consumed” is not as fitting an adjective for her music as are “eclectic” and “complex”).  Also, you can definitely hear Damien’s influence in there, yet the differences are substantial.  I’ll tell you this much, Damien Rice sure as hell never wrote a song as upbeat and poppy as “I Don’t Know”, and while i might normally use “poppy” as a negative, here it holds none of that connotation.

The arrangements are exceptional on nearly every track, as is the backing instrumentation.  The horns are perfect, and track by track, it really keeps you guessing.  I don’t know who produced it or helped with the arrangements, but it’s a very mature record, and i have absolutely nothing negative to say about it.  Here i am, a notorious nitpicker (even of the things i love); i’ve listened to this album through four times now, and i simply can’t bring myself to be negative about it.  It’s a thoroughly pleasant and well-crafted piece of work, especially for a debut.

She has a naturally whispery singing style, which might have worked against her in any kind of solo effort, but not here.  On this she manages to be soft and strong at the same time.  The dynamic shifts are impressive and well-placed, possibly a lesson learned from her former partner.  “Teeth” sounds like something he might have written, and yet it manages to be clearly HER song.

Alright, i think i’ve made my recommendation clear.  Get it.  It may be a sonofabitch to find, as it’s only been released in Ireland to date, but it’s worth the search.  And hey, if you can’t find it, leave me a message.  I may be able to help you out.

Now away with you all!  I’m going to go put it on again

[A performance of "Teeth" from December, 2006]