As perfect songs often do, this one just lept up at me with relevance anew.
I mean, holy fuck! I've been listening to this song for the better part of 10 years and never before has it been as poignant as it is for me, and for a good chunk of the country I imagine, as right fucking now.
If hopefulness and hopelessness were to collide, head on, it would sound like this.
Showing posts with label ROCK 'N ROLL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ROCK 'N ROLL. Show all posts
On Rilo Kiley... Deconstructing One of The Most Deplorable/Beautiful Bands of All Time (Part 1)
One of the most fun things about meeting someone new is that you get to introduce them to all the things that make you tick. In my case, a huge majority of those things are related to music. Of all the music-related things from the last five years or so, one band that must be detailed thoroughly is a little 4-piece out of Los Angeles called Rilo Kiley.
My relationship with Rilo Kiley is about as bumpy as it gets when you're talking about the top 1% of my (never documented, constantly revised) all-time favorites list. And while I truly LOVE this band, I also love to HATE them. Much like their gut wrenchingly-pretty music about the most supremely heartbreaking of life's big moments, my opinion of Rilo Kiley's music flails so wildly across the map that I've resorted to dividing their catalog into three distinct mental blocks. It's my way of keeping this amazing band's sordid legacy at once untouchable and easily disparaged by the little rock geek inside my brain.
Why am I telling you all this? Well because it's complicated, and what are blogs for but to post rambing, self-indulgent ruminations on subjects we think we know a lot about, am I right or am I right?
Now, then:
Part 1 - The Pre-Everything Years - 1999-2001
The first Rilo Kiley epoch is essentially a preamble, in that it spans the length of time between the forming of the band and the release of their first official recording. It is Rilo Kiley in their infancy, drooling on guitars, spitting up all manner of musical sludge. Devoid of publicity and enshrouded in a you-had-to-be-there haze, these pre-everything days produced exactly one album's worth of material, which the band released on its own and then re-issued, twice.
Together the three pressings of the "Initial Friends" EP (it's an LP, in my book) are what Rilo Kiley sounds like in a vacuum. Despite its hiccups (powerpop?) and mis-steps (turntable scratching? really?), it is unmistakably Rilo Kiley, and considering that it was created free from external influence and before anyone knew when the fuck* they were, it's safe to say it's Rilo Kiley at their most sincere.
And I love just about every second of it. A lot.
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 to see what happens when the promise of worldwide fame, fortune and lifelong careers in music enter the picture.
*"Initial Friends" features a liberal use of curse words (sample lyric: "Would you fuck me? 'Cause I'd fuck me."), a Rilo Kiley lyrical standard.
My relationship with Rilo Kiley is about as bumpy as it gets when you're talking about the top 1% of my (never documented, constantly revised) all-time favorites list. And while I truly LOVE this band, I also love to HATE them. Much like their gut wrenchingly-pretty music about the most supremely heartbreaking of life's big moments, my opinion of Rilo Kiley's music flails so wildly across the map that I've resorted to dividing their catalog into three distinct mental blocks. It's my way of keeping this amazing band's sordid legacy at once untouchable and easily disparaged by the little rock geek inside my brain.
Why am I telling you all this? Well because it's complicated, and what are blogs for but to post rambing, self-indulgent ruminations on subjects we think we know a lot about, am I right or am I right?
Now, then:
Part 1 - The Pre-Everything Years - 1999-2001
The first Rilo Kiley epoch is essentially a preamble, in that it spans the length of time between the forming of the band and the release of their first official recording. It is Rilo Kiley in their infancy, drooling on guitars, spitting up all manner of musical sludge. Devoid of publicity and enshrouded in a you-had-to-be-there haze, these pre-everything days produced exactly one album's worth of material, which the band released on its own and then re-issued, twice.
Together the three pressings of the "Initial Friends" EP (it's an LP, in my book) are what Rilo Kiley sounds like in a vacuum. Despite its hiccups (powerpop?) and mis-steps (turntable scratching? really?), it is unmistakably Rilo Kiley, and considering that it was created free from external influence and before anyone knew when the fuck* they were, it's safe to say it's Rilo Kiley at their most sincere.
And I love just about every second of it. A lot.
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 to see what happens when the promise of worldwide fame, fortune and lifelong careers in music enter the picture.
*"Initial Friends" features a liberal use of curse words (sample lyric: "Would you fuck me? 'Cause I'd fuck me."), a Rilo Kiley lyrical standard.
DEAR BURN TO SHINE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?
Every now and then something (a band, an artist, a movie, etc.) comes along that makes you think to yourself, "Goodness, why on earth haven't I heard about this before?" Such is the case with Burn to Shine, the live music DVD series curated by Brendan Canty, former Fugazi drummer.
You'd think I would have known about a bunch of videos put together by the guy who's band I've been a fan of since I was 13 that happen to feature some of my favorite bands of all time. But you know what? I didn't have clue about this until yesterday.
That's how much worthwhile shit there is out there, I suppose.
Anyway, the setup for Burn to Shine is simple. Pick a city and take 8-10 of the best, independently-minded bands from that region. Then rent a big old empty house that's about to be destroyed and film the shit out of everyone playing live.
The resulting film, at least from the clips I've seen, is as intimate as most of us are ever likely to get with some of the best bands making music right now. Here are just a few clips which prove that point beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Good luck scraping your jaw off the floor.
Sleater-Kinney - Modern Girl
At any given moment in my life, I could probably call five different bands my absolute "favorite." Sleater-Kinney has stuck around in that list just about longer than any other since I first heard them back in 2001, and this video right here should tell you why.
The Shins - St. Simon
The vocal harmonies on this song have always brought a tear to my eye. So watching The Shins nail it -- just absolutely nail it -- in a space that small, with sound that good, is, I imagine, like watching your kid win the spelling bee. Just fills you with pride.
Eddie Vedder - Can't Keep
The lead singer for another one of my favorite bands of all time tearing through one of their tracks on a goddamn ukulele. Wow.
Wilco - Muzzle of Bees
Holy mother of god they got Wilco! Not only that, they got THE WHOLE BAND! And they crammed them into a tiny little room and convinced them to play MUZZLE OF BEES! Yeehaw!
You'd think I would have known about a bunch of videos put together by the guy who's band I've been a fan of since I was 13 that happen to feature some of my favorite bands of all time. But you know what? I didn't have clue about this until yesterday.
That's how much worthwhile shit there is out there, I suppose.
Anyway, the setup for Burn to Shine is simple. Pick a city and take 8-10 of the best, independently-minded bands from that region. Then rent a big old empty house that's about to be destroyed and film the shit out of everyone playing live.
The resulting film, at least from the clips I've seen, is as intimate as most of us are ever likely to get with some of the best bands making music right now. Here are just a few clips which prove that point beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Good luck scraping your jaw off the floor.
Sleater-Kinney - Modern Girl
At any given moment in my life, I could probably call five different bands my absolute "favorite." Sleater-Kinney has stuck around in that list just about longer than any other since I first heard them back in 2001, and this video right here should tell you why.
The Shins - St. Simon
The vocal harmonies on this song have always brought a tear to my eye. So watching The Shins nail it -- just absolutely nail it -- in a space that small, with sound that good, is, I imagine, like watching your kid win the spelling bee. Just fills you with pride.
Eddie Vedder - Can't Keep
The lead singer for another one of my favorite bands of all time tearing through one of their tracks on a goddamn ukulele. Wow.
Wilco - Muzzle of Bees
Holy mother of god they got Wilco! Not only that, they got THE WHOLE BAND! And they crammed them into a tiny little room and convinced them to play MUZZLE OF BEES! Yeehaw!
GETTING EVEN WITH THE EVENS
Despite the overt phonetic similarity this song has to a certain other kind of movement, I'm pretty sure my musical idol Ian MacKaye and his percussive better half, Amy Farina (aka: The Evens), had nothing but the most altruistic of intentions when they put together this awesome little ditty and accompanying video:
If you've never checked out the Evens, for the love of god, please do so now; they manage to pack a remarkable amount of soul and fire into an tight little acoustic package.
Here they are at NYU tearing the ass out of one of my favorite songs, "You Won't Feel a Thing":
If you've never checked out the Evens, for the love of god, please do so now; they manage to pack a remarkable amount of soul and fire into an tight little acoustic package.
Here they are at NYU tearing the ass out of one of my favorite songs, "You Won't Feel a Thing":
20 Minute Loop!
Alrighty friend-O’s: I mentioned somewhere down there that I was holding back the D/B music coverage because I hoped to launch with a piece about one of my absolute favorite local bands, 20 Minute Loop. Why? Because to me, 20 Minute Loop is the essence of Deplorable/Beautiful. The quintessence, even. Their sound is at once sublimely pretty and totally and completely fucked up. For example, check out the dichotomy going on in the track that originally did it for me, a song that would likely be #1 on my “Deplorable/Beautiful” playlist, “Jubilation” from 2001’s Decline of Day:
This is a song about “bloody steak knives” and “bunions, cut off the feet” that arrives at your ear drums on the wings of soaring, glorious, JUBILOUS two-part harmonies, and I ask you, what could possibly be more deplorable/beautiful? Seriously, if you have any thoughts on that, I’d love some comments.
Now then, 20ML have just put out their 4th album and let me be perfectly clear, it kicks a whole lot of arse. As each 20ML record has done before it, Famous People Mary Famous People dances that fine line between harmony and discord, splendor and squalor, glory and infamy. I could go on about this for ages, suffice it to say I think you should all click THIS LINK and buy yourself some 20ML records, immediately.
But wait, there’s more. In celebration of the new record’s long awaited debut, 20ML threw a party a couple Fridays ago at the best club in San Francisco, Bottom of the Hill, and I got to watch and film as they tore through the new songs. The video below captures not only the show opening, but some lovely post-set fashion modeling by singer/guitarist Greg Giles, a fascinating rumination on what it’s like to play live whilst pregnant by singer/keyboard player Kelly Atkins, and finally, a few comments on just how much the show sucked courtesy of bassist Adam Cunha.
Further 20ML Reading: Jeremy and I interviewed Greg, Kelly and Nils just before the release of their previous record, the equally and unnervingly awesome Yawn + House = Explosion for SF Station a couple years ago. The article is here, just don't ask me why those fuckers gave me such a puny, bottom-feeding byline.
This is a song about “bloody steak knives” and “bunions, cut off the feet” that arrives at your ear drums on the wings of soaring, glorious, JUBILOUS two-part harmonies, and I ask you, what could possibly be more deplorable/beautiful? Seriously, if you have any thoughts on that, I’d love some comments.
Now then, 20ML have just put out their 4th album and let me be perfectly clear, it kicks a whole lot of arse. As each 20ML record has done before it, Famous People Mary Famous People dances that fine line between harmony and discord, splendor and squalor, glory and infamy. I could go on about this for ages, suffice it to say I think you should all click THIS LINK and buy yourself some 20ML records, immediately.
But wait, there’s more. In celebration of the new record’s long awaited debut, 20ML threw a party a couple Fridays ago at the best club in San Francisco, Bottom of the Hill, and I got to watch and film as they tore through the new songs. The video below captures not only the show opening, but some lovely post-set fashion modeling by singer/guitarist Greg Giles, a fascinating rumination on what it’s like to play live whilst pregnant by singer/keyboard player Kelly Atkins, and finally, a few comments on just how much the show sucked courtesy of bassist Adam Cunha.
Further 20ML Reading: Jeremy and I interviewed Greg, Kelly and Nils just before the release of their previous record, the equally and unnervingly awesome Yawn + House = Explosion for SF Station a couple years ago. The article is here, just don't ask me why those fuckers gave me such a puny, bottom-feeding byline.
THE NEW BECK WILL EVISCERATE YOU
Friends, it’s time we took this blog into the place that it was created to cover. That is, ROCK ‘N ROLL. I’ve been biting my tongue on the whole music thing, mostly because I wanted to hang back for next week’s record release by one of the most Deplorably Beautiful bands in the land, 20 Minute Loop, but after hearing this new Beck track, Chemtrails, I just can’t fucking resist. Don’t ask me how I got it, just click play and take it all in:
I mean, FUCK ME. Not since the Sea Change has a Beck hit me in the gut this hard and good. Without knowing the details on this track, I can only assume that’s our friend Jason Falkner on bass, going all La’ Femme De Argent on our asses/ears while Joey Waronker smacks the fuck out of a time-warped Ludwig kit off in the back corner of the room. That right there would be enough to melt anyone’s brain, right? RIGHT. But then BECK, the musical mind-fuck of our generation, throws out the most hauntingly reverb-drenched falsetto vocal line I’ve heard in soooo long, atop bone-shaking single-note, one-beat piano strikes--KERRRRRPOW!—chills up my spine. But wait, there’s more. In my book, the song achieves perfect status right about 4:06 when, from out of the diminishing bits of what seems to be song’s final fleeting notes, the band rises up and tears the main chord progression, along with the remnants of my previously melted innards, to shreds.
GO BECK, GO. I hope this record makes you a gazillion dollars because you deserve every goddamn penny.
I mean, FUCK ME. Not since the Sea Change has a Beck hit me in the gut this hard and good. Without knowing the details on this track, I can only assume that’s our friend Jason Falkner on bass, going all La’ Femme De Argent on our asses/ears while Joey Waronker smacks the fuck out of a time-warped Ludwig kit off in the back corner of the room. That right there would be enough to melt anyone’s brain, right? RIGHT. But then BECK, the musical mind-fuck of our generation, throws out the most hauntingly reverb-drenched falsetto vocal line I’ve heard in soooo long, atop bone-shaking single-note, one-beat piano strikes--KERRRRRPOW!—chills up my spine. But wait, there’s more. In my book, the song achieves perfect status right about 4:06 when, from out of the diminishing bits of what seems to be song’s final fleeting notes, the band rises up and tears the main chord progression, along with the remnants of my previously melted innards, to shreds.
GO BECK, GO. I hope this record makes you a gazillion dollars because you deserve every goddamn penny.
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