Record Review: Iran – Dissolver

Those who fell in love with the gnarled, messy production that typified Iran’s first two records might find the Brooklyn-group’s latest instalment somewhat jarring. The trio, masterminded by Aaron Aites, with the help of Aaron Romanello and TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, shook off their collective agoraphobia and got hi-fi, recording Dissolver in an actual studio. Of course, in the world of bedroom recording, hi-fi is a relative term and most likely the only genre where a few backing vocals and guitar over-dubs are seen as a repudiation of your roots. Dissolver comes across less a Chinese Democracy cluster fuck and more Sebadoh channelling Phil Spector. Regardless of personal recording aesthetic beliefs the songs are what will make or break this album and Iran have them is spades. That any of the record’s ten tracks could be played on an acoustic guitar smears Aites’s image as a purveyor of experimental noise and exposes his inner pop songwriter. But the group’s insistence on soaking would-be pop singles like the beautiful “Airport” in feedback and aural dissonance is what separates them from the pack and keeps listeners returning for more.

This review originally appeared in the February issue of Exclaim!

Record Review: Sholi – S/T

The clattering of the snare drum that welcomes listeners to Sholi’s debut might as well be the death rattle of the slick indie rock that makes music supervisors froth at the mouth. Producer Greg Saunier, moonlighting from his beat-keeping day job in Deerhoof, appears to have taken a hands-off approach during the recording process; it’s easy to imagine the band members setting up around a single mic and letting loose. This gives the songs the sense of place and timelessness that’s been sucked out of most modern records. The San Francisco group throw cacophonous sonics on top of swinging bass lines and jazz-inspired drums, creating a lazy, lo-fi version of the Dismemberment Plan’s Change. Sholi is a brief affair, with only eight tracks, but every tune teems with ideas and moments of brilliance, and that’s part of its charm. The record is by no means a masterpiece but the seeds have been sown. A little focus and tightening and Sholi will be unstoppable.

This review originally appeared in the February issue of Exclaim!

Record Review: Contrived – blank, blank, blank

What do you do when you’re not invited to the big party? Throw your own and invite the coolest kid in school. At least that’s what the folks in the Nova Scotia-based Dependent Music collective have done with their latest creation. Though heroes in their home province, the collective’s flagship groups (Holy Fuck and Wintersleep) were largely ignored by the rest of the country until last year, their members failing to get the nod of approval an appearance on a Broken Social Scene record gives Canadian indie musicians. So, much like New Pornographers have done out west, the crew have created their own East-coast sphere of collaboration and influence. Contrived find a middle ground between Holy Fuck’s instrumental chaos and the pop sensibility Wintersleep displayed on Welcome to the Night Sky. Muscular, overdriven hooks sit next to chiming verses while high pitched vocals float overhead. The whole thing feels like it should collapse under its own weight but BSS producer David Newfeld holds it all together. At times, like the feedback-soaked “Angels Rioting Against Nothing,” the tunes veer a little too close to BSS territory. But the quality of songwriting is too high to quibble over borrowed reverb, ensuring that blank, blank, blank becomes more satisfying with each listen.

This review originally appeared in the February issue of Exclaim!

New Immaculate Machine video – C’mon Sea Legs

My old and good friend Geoff Tomlin Hood (we call him Tippi) co-directed this wicked new video for Vancouver/Victoria-based band Immaculate Machine. They’re part of the New Pornographers sphere of groups with keyboardist Kathryn Calder often filling in for Neko Case on vocals.

This track is from their excellent record Immaculate Machine’s Fables which is teeming with brilliant hooks and vocal harmonies and I believe they have a new record out sometime this spring.  Check it, share it with your friends and buy their album.

Record Review: The BPA – I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

The first few seconds of the new Norman Cook project are a quick reminder that despite a new name (the Brighton Port Authority) and faux back-story (these tracks are from recently unearthed tapes from decades-old late night jams), I Think We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat is still a Fatboy Slim record. Rock-steady guitars and big beats drive the album, but to accuse Cook and frequent collaborator Simon Thornton of rehashing the past with a baker’s dozen of guest singers sells the funk soul brother — always a master of pop hooks — short. With the BPA, Cook achieves what he’s been working towards since he dropped “The Rockafeller Skank” on an unsuspecting public a decade ago — a sublime pop record masquerading as a balls-out party jam. Tracks are short, thoughtful and fun, particularly lead single “Toe Jam,” warbled by David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. But slow groove tunes like the Olly Hite sung “So It Goes” make the album soar.

This review originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Exclaim!

Interview: Murder City Devils’ Spencer Moody

Murder City Devils have always had bad timing. Signed to Sub Pop during the label’s lean years in the late ’90s, the Seattle sextet broke up in 2001, mere months before their brand of down and dirty garage rock exploded into the mainstream. But this month as the band embark on their first tour since splitting, lead singer Spencer Moody is finally seeing the planets align. “Kids in rad new punk bands, it seems like they would think we’re square and antiquated,” he says. “That there’s people that don’t feel that way is cool. It means that maybe we were doing something that is valuable.”

You’re reissuing the Murder City Devils back catalogue this month on Sub Pop. Why now?

I think some of the vinyl had gone out of print so it was one way to get it back into print. And I think there’s some stuff in the packaging like actual photographs and stuff like that.

And in honour of these reissues you’re going on tour down the West coast as well.

The tour came first. The idea was “what can we do that’s special?”

You’ve played some one-off gigs together since the band broke up in 2001, but this will be your first proper tour. Does it feel good to be going back on the road with the band?

Yeah. It will be nice to get out of town. I’ve been working a lot so it’s nice to be able to leave and hang out with friends.

Why did the group decide to finally book a full tour?

We would have done it earlier, it’s just really difficult to get everyone’s schedules together. What we had been doing was waiting for a big offer for a single show and then build a tour around that. There was one thing we were supposed to do and it fell through and we decided that we maybe needed to take control of our own destiny a little bit and just book a tour and play in clubs and stuff. I personally would rather see a band at night in a club than during the day at a big festival anyway. In order for us to play a show we need to get together for a few days and practice and people have to fly out. Once you’re doing all of that we might as well do a fucking tour. It’s kind of silly to spend four or five days preparing to play one show and then play one show and everyone just goes home. It seems to make more sense to put a little tour together. And more fun.

Stresses from touring were part of what led to the split. Are you worried old tensions might erupt again?

Oh I’m sure they could, but I don’t think they will. I think we’re all a little bit more mature, whatever that means. And the last few times we’ve all been together everyone’s gotten along great. I doubt that would be a problem. There’s six of us and everyone has their own distinct personality, that’s for sure. It certainly will be a lot more fun than the last time. I don’t think people would do it if they thought it would be a trial.

You’ve said that you always wanted to be the kind of band that breaks up only to see their stature grow once they’re gone. Why is that?

It means people still care, which is nice. If we stopped touring and making records and just never sold another record… before, when we were putting out records on Sub Pop we had a publicity machine that was working for us. We were trying to sell records – we had an advertising budget, we had publicists – and as soon as the band broke up, all of that went away completely. If people continue to buy the records it’s not because it’s on the end of the rack at the record store and there was a big poster up or something. You get into the zone where it’s more older brothers telling younger siblings “you should listen to this.” I think it’s a nicer way for the word to spread about any artistic thing.

What about Murder City Devils do those younger siblings identify with?

I don’t know. From the beginning there was no attempt to fit in with any certain contemporary thing. And we weren’t paying very much attention to what was going on in the world of music at that time. The bands we were listening to tended to be older bands.

Have you come across younger bands influenced by Murder City Devils?

I don’t really leave the same few blocks in Seattle very much to be honest with you. My current band Triumph of Lethargy have done some touring but mostly just down the West coast and stuff.

Since this tour was announced, it always surprises me the people that are excited about it, or say that they like [Murder City Devils]. I was hanging out with a guy the other night who makes his living as a music writer and I really respect his taste and I like him a lot. He mentioned that we were going to be playing these shows and I was like really? Because people don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings, like you really like [Murder City Devils]? And he said “yeah.”

It’s weird. Because we were becoming fairly successful, or we could play pretty big venues and people would show up it sort of always made me just assume that we weren’t very good. Do you know what I mean?

Uh… kind of.

But there are people whose taste in music I trust who continue to show an interest. And I can’t listen to those records and I was in the band. I have friends that are in incredible bands who make amazing music and I have a hard time listening to those records because it’s too close. The only reason I would ever listen to a Murder City Devils song is ’cause I have to learn them for this tour. I feel relatively detached from the whole thing until we go on stage and there’s a bunch of kids there. Then I don’t feel detached. But until then I don’t know. I don’t exist in that world. But it does give me a very good feeling to know there’s kids sitting around in their apartments or bedrooms at their mom’s house playing records for each other and our records are amongst the records that they’re playing. And it always surprises me that kids in rad new punk bands, it seems like they would think we’re square and antiquated. That there’s people that don’t feel that way is cool. It means that maybe we were doing something that is valuable.

Your current band Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death is still on the go. Do you enjoy having your fingers in a lot of different pots?

It’s nice to be able to make music with people that get along and nobody tells anybody else what to do. What I was doing immediately after the break up of Murder City Devils was just trying to distance myself from all of that, which I did. Now I feel I can go back and sort of have a foot in different worlds and feel good about all of it.

It’s just the way it is, it’s not the way I would choose to have things but it’s totally fine, but I think me and Corey started doing Triumph of Lethargy while Murder City Devils were still playing shows. We’ve put out a bunch of records, we’ve toured, we play shows around town all the time and as soon as it comes up that there’s going to be Murder City Devils shows people say “oh, I heard you’re playing some shows” and they’re not referring to the band that I go to band practice every week for. So it’s sort of this weird thing. I’m not particularly sensitive about it but it kind of is a little annoying.

So I take it Murder City Devils won’t be in the studio anytime soon.

Every individual person in Murder City Devils I would love to make music with. I mean the Cave Singers are a fucking great band and Big Business is an incredible band and Dan has done amazing stuff musically. It’s hard for me to even fathom making music that at some point Dan Gallucci wouldn’t be involved in – playing or producing or whatever. I see him as someone who forever will be somehow connected to the music that I’m making. And Nate, I totally respect his music making ability and playing. And Leslie is fucking incredible and has such good taste and isn’t afraid to speak up and is a great person to make music with. Any of those people, if they called up and said “let’s make a record,” I’d do it in a second. It’s just the logistics of a Murder City Devils record don’t make sense really. If we did that, whatever we came up with wouldn’t sound like stuff we’d done before.

When you say logistics, do you mean that the band members all live in different places?

Yeah, and people are doing other things. It’s a lot of work to get songs together and it’s expensive to go into a recording studio and there’s not a lot of people that want to pay for that stuff anymore. That we’re not going to want to go out on the road and support it, that also decreases the number of people that want to give you money. As long as people are expressing themselves one way or another it’s not really necessary for us to do that.

This interview originally appeared at exclaim.ca.

New TV on the Radio – “Heroes” (David Bowie cover)

TV on the Radio, still reeling from having this blog name their latest effort Dear Science album of the year, are at it again. Many have offered their take on this Berlin-era Bowie track, but none have managed to make it their own the way these fabulous Brooklynites have here. This after lead singer Tunde Adebimpe dropped that killer version of Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend” on the Rachel Getting Married soundtrack. Keep it up kids…

Ted Leo covers Bruce Springsteen (this time for keeps)

Bruce Springsteen finally gave the world what’s the closest thing to an official version of  Ted Leo covering the Boss classic “Dancing in the Dark” when his label handed over this video to P4K the other day.

I’m reposting it here in part cause his Bruceness just announced his Working On A Dream Tour which will bring him to Toronto on May 7 (yeah!!!).

But I would also like to note that despite having featured this cover as part of his live set for years, Leo’s version  was originally intended to be part of a 7 inch called “Dancing in the Dork” featured Mirah, Operation Makeout and R. Mutt each offering their own versions of the track. It’s my understanding that Mr. Leo either ran out of time to record his contribution or he decided to record what eventually became Tell Balgeary, Balgury is Dead EP instead. Or both. My friend Godfrey put the record out four or five years ago and I suspect it’s quite hard to come by these days, but if you can get your hands on a copy it’s well worth it. Operation Makeout in particular captured the raw energy of the song’s lyrics. Their unofficial myspace page I linked to above is streaming the track.

more about “Ted Leo covers Bruce Springsteen (thi…“, posted with vodpod

Incoming: CFCF – “Crystal Mines”

Montreal’s remix wizard CFCF has his debut EP Parisian Nights out now on Paper Bag Records digital, but you can also buy his new seven inch “You Hear Colours/Invitation To Love” from my friend Patrick’s Acephale Records. This shit sounds like the alternate soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop. While I don’t want to take away from the artistic achievement that is Parisian Nights, if you can only afford to get one, get the seven inch – vinyl’s way cooler than mp3s and Patrick will appreciate your business.

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Film Review – “Notorious”

It’s a crime that a film about an MC widely regarded to have had one of the greatest flows in the history of hip-hop is completely devoid of any. Notorious, a biopic showcasing murdered rapper Notorious B.I.G.’s rags to riches tale, is a cut and paste mess adding nothing to the slain star’s legend.

The film opens the night of Biggie’s fatal shooting then quickly rewinds to a young Chris Wallace (played by Biggie’s real-life son) dreaming of hip-hop glory on the schoolyard. Soon we see him honing his rap skills while hustling on neighbourhood corners, eventually adopting the Notorious B.I.G. moniker.

Newcomer Jamal Woolard does an admirable job portraying Wallace, even stepping into his shoes on the mic for some scenes, and Angela Bassett delivers a typically overwrought performance as his mother Voletta.

But it’s former R&B singer Naturi Naughton who eats up the screen as firebrand MC Lil Kim. Soul Food director George Tillman Jr.’s inability to maintain the film’s pacing denies viewers the context needed to understand Biggie’s place in the hip-hop pantheon.

This review originally appeared in the January 16, 2009 edition of Metro News Toronto.