The Rawking Refuses To Stop!

The Week In Rawk, 11.08.09: TEAM TAYLOR

David Greenwald — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:04:18 +0000

New Music: Taken By Trees‘ “Watch the Waves”; Shannon Stephens‘ long-awaited return.

Videos: Taylor Swift charms on Saturday Night Live, the Main Drag’s stop-motion throwdown for “Dove Nets”; live footage of Rose Melberg’s rare, gorgeous trip to Los Angeles.

[Taylor in Columbus in 2008 / photo by rowelbg]

Camera Obscurist: Orangutan love.

Critical Backlash: Harshing Owl City’s misbegotten mellow.

Video: Taylor Swift’s “SNL” Opening Monologue

David Greenwald — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:44:07 +0000

Guys, let’s be honest here: Taylor’s funny! And she wrote her own monologue! She was pretty great in every skit last night, though it’d be nice if Saturday Night Live, y’know, fired all their writers and hired some funny people so poor Kristen Wiig would have something less embarrassing to do. At any rate, can somebody put our girl in a teen rom-com opposite Jesse Eisenberg already?

Previously: Best of 2008: Albums of the Year

New Music: Taken By Trees – “Watch The Waves”

David Greenwald — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:18 +0000

Victoria Bergsman’s never had to worry about her instrument. As the singer of the Concretes, the feminine side of Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks,” and now with her solo project, Taken By Trees, the Swedish vocalist could put the phone book to song. On her Taken By Trees debut, Open Season, unfortunately, she kinda did. East of Eden is a decidedly different affair. Recorded in Pakistan and helmed by producer Dan Lissvik of excellent nu-Balearicists Studio, the group’s sophomore record smolders with exotic grooves cooled by Victoria’s snowy melodies. The worldbeat bent doesn’t elevate every song, but the highs — “Anna, “Watch the Waves,” the borderline-hilarious cover of Animal Collective’s “My Girls” — aim for the sky.

Taken By Trees – “Watch The Waves”: mp3

More: New Music

Premiere: Video: The Main Drag – “Dove Nets”

David Greenwald — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:00:38 +0000

The Main Drag “Dove Nets” directed by Ben&Julia from Ben&Julia on Vimeo.

A jam of a stop-motion video, directed by Ben&Julia for a stand-out from the Main Drag’s Yours As Fast As Mine. Details on the band’s just-completed third album (and fresher tracks) on the way, promise.

Camera Obscurist: I Miss You Like I Miss You

David Greenwald — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:19 +0000

Photo by David Greenwald

From the Los Angeles Zoo, October 2009.

Chad VanGaalen – “I Miss You Like I Miss You”: mp3

Previously: Camera Obscurist

Videos: Rose Melberg @ Echo Curio, 10.27.09

David Greenwald — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:55 +0000

Rose Melberg sings “Homemade Ship”

LA-Underground has captured three wonderful performances from Rose Melberg’s rare L.A. gig at the Echo Curio last week. Two more videos, including Rose’s cover of Fred Brooks’ “I Will Never Marry,” after the jump.

“Things That We Do”

“I Will Never Marry”

More: Live: Rose Melberg at Echo Curio, 10.27.09

First Look: Shannon Stephens – “The Breadwinner”

David Greenwald — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:15 +0000

While not quite the Stevens I was expecting from Asthmatic Kitty Records this year (2010, pals), Shannon Stephen’s breathtaking The Breadwinner is just as welcome — and maybe more so, given the decade-long wait following her self-titled debut. Stephens also served as frontwoman for Sufjan’s undersung Marzuki, but The Breadwinner shares more in common with White Hinterland’s recent gem Phylactery Factory — it’s a set of intimately recorded, lush, jazz-tinged singer-songwriter pop that’s as sweet and joy-inducing as spiked eggnog at the office Christmas party. White Hinterland’s Casey Dienel offers more vocal acrobatics, but Shannon sings much like Sufjan — serious and straightforward. What she sacrifices in fey charm, she makes up for in heart-tugging, especially on slow-burners such as “In Summer In The Heat.” With the blogosphere obsessed over pretty young things with keyboards and sparkly makeup (and completely unmemorable songs) these days, let’s make a little room for Stephens in our hearts/playlists, OK?

Shannon Stephens – “In Summer In The Heat”: mp3

(The Breadwinner is out now on Asthmatic Kitty)

More: New Music

Critical Backlash: A Word About This Owl City Bullshit

David Greenwald — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:34 +0000

I’ll confess I’m often mystified by the songs that top the Billboard charts, but I think I have an explanation for the popularity of Owl City, the band with the current No. 1 song in the country. In a column for the UCLA Daily Bruin in April 2006 (prescience!) I wrote:

Being the list-obsessed guy I am, my personal favorite [Facebook feature] is the trend-tallying Facebook Pulse.

Most of the UCLA edition makes sense – real-life Californians like “The O.C.” less than the rest of the country, especially after the train wreck of the last seven episodes or so. Not that I’m keeping track. And being the discerningly hip viewers we are, we love “Arrested Development” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

It’s the music front that throws me off: Apparently, four years later, The Postal Service is still one of our collective favorite bands… There was something in the marriage of Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello (aka Dntel) as The Postal Service which captured a strange cultural zeitgeist. Previous to 2002’s “Give Up,” Gibbard’s might-as-well-be-emo vocals had been constrained by Death Cab’s low-budget indie rock. But he found a better backing band in Tamborello’s Playskool IDM. A few electronic beats and cheeseball lyrics later, The Postal Service had captured the hearts of anyone looking for an indie alternative to the ironic masculinity embodied by The Strokes.

I say they were in the right place at the right time. “Such Great Heights” is a great song, but a novelty one, and anyone in possession of the next Death Cab album or Dntel’s other projects would likely agree…

More importantly, the band was a side project. The duo hasn’t really recorded since, and there were plenty of equally popular albums in 2002 that hold up better today: Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” or Interpol’s “Turn on the Bright Lights,” for instance. So what gives, fellow Bruins? Did we all just forget to update our profiles?

I still don’t have an answer to that question, but I should’ve known this was something to worry about. Owl City is the product of 23-year-old Adam Young — in other words, a dude the perfect age to have had the Postal Service in his Facebook profile from 2002-2006. On “Fireflies,” his No. 1 track, it sounds like he’s still listening: the synth melody is a slightly skewed mirror image of “Such Great Heights,” the vocals borrow Ben Gibbard’s vowel-loving enunciation and his polite syntax (”You’d think me rude”) and even the chorus bites him, too — “I’d like to make myself believe” vs. Gibbard’s “Clark Gable” chorus of “I want so badly to believe.” Eight syllables each.

At this point, I don’t think I even need to say “fuck this plagiarizing hack.” I guess I’m just surprised this didn’t happen sooner, but given the Garden State generation’s imminent coming of age, we’re probably in for more. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!