Plastic Impossible

Sidewalk Re-Opens

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:20:00 +0000

After a long, long Sidewalk-less summer, that old antifolk birthplace(?)/hub/hangout finally re-opened. Last night's packed show marked its grand re-opening after some serious renovations to the cafe and bar.

The bar now resembles more of its swanky East Village neighbors and the inside of the music room has lost all of the broken guitars, drums, and other musical artifacts that had been hanging on the walls. The stage lighting, sound system, and back line also underwent major upgrading. However, what stayed the same was the quality of the performances. Here are a few highlights from last night's performances:

1. Ben Krieger / Crabs on Banjo - Open mic host and last night's MC, started the night off by improvising a song about "refurbished barn wood" (an audience suggestion from somewhere in the back of the house) with piano accompaniment.

2. Howard Hughes - Filling in for Major Matt Mason and originally from France, this fragile-voiced, Andre Herman Dune sound-alike sang an acoustic pop song that provocatively began with the lyrics "my father shot himself" and, well, was not as depressing and dark as the lyric would suggest. Au contraire.

3. Phoebe Kreutz - A master of acoustic songs full of quirk and hooks, Phoebe somehow made a song about Noah's Ark catchy and un-preachy.

(photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

4. Adam Green - Making a surprise, unscheduled appearance, this former Moldy Peach and Sidewalk Cafe legend really needs no introduction or further hyping. He's probably famous enough already.

4b. Adam Green - "Stadium Soul" (Video)

5. Bible Gun - When this New-Jersey-based piano and sax duo hit the stage with their slightly atonal barrage of speed-pop, you can't help but scratch your head and say, "I don't know what that was, but it was awesome." Don't forget to check out the Bible Gun bandcamp.

5b. Bible Gun - ????? (Video)

6. Debe Dalton - Another Sidewalk Cafe legend, Debe began her set with a touching song about her recovery from a recent icy-sidewalk slipping accident and then closed it with a fine cover of a classic (anti?)folk song. There's a reason she has her own plaque now:

(photo hijacked from Ben Krieger's facebook)

6b. Debe Dalton - "Pack Up Your Sorrows" (Richard & Mimi Farina Cover) (Video)

7. Brook Pridemore - This Sidewalk regular's brand of "trash folk" just gets better every time I see him. His cover of Adam Green's "Bluebirds" classic(?) song in the man's presence was followed by someone shouting "suck-up" shout from the audience, but he more than made up for it with an awesome performance of one of his most anthemic originals with piano accompaniment.

7b. Brook Pridemore - "Bluebirds" (Adam Green Cover) (Video)

7c. Brook Pridemore - "I'll Be Here All Night" (Video)

(video by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

Alas, since it was a weeknight and I had to go shortly after Pridemore's set, I missed the awesomeness that came later. If you have any videos or stories from what came later, please send them over to:

plasticimpossible (at) gmail (dot) com

2 Shows, 1 Post: Real Estate, The Feelies, Julian Lynch & Dent May

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

So in the past few days, Real Estate, The Feelies, Julian Lynch and Dent May played some awesome shows around Brooklyn. Although I attended both shows of which they were all a part, I can only offer partial coverage of each show due to slacking on my part--and insufficient camera battery-life.

Consequently, I am now combining two shows into this one, normal-sized post. In my own warped blog-logic, two partially covered shows can combine into a single, normal-sized post equivalent to one fully-covered show. Whether or not my blog-logic survives scrutiny (it may not), here goes:

Show #1 Dent May, Julian Lynch, and Alex Bleeker - July 21, 2011 @ Glasslands Gallery

With what seem like loose associations with the New Jersey beach-indie scene, Dent May played a ukulele-less show with Real Estate's current bassist, Alex Bleeker, and ethnomusicologist-and-indie-star, Julian Lynch. As if to only tighten that loose association, all the night's bands used a kick drum with "Real Estate" on the front drumhead (could this instrument possibly be the property of the New Jersey band??? ...or is it just part of Glasslands' backline??? The world may never know.)

Sadly, I failed to record any video of Alex Bleeker's set, but here's what I did record of Dent May and Julian Lynch's sets:

1. Dent May - "That Feeling"

2. Dent May - "College Town Boy"

3. Dent May - "Meet Me In The Garden"

4. Julian Lynch - "????"

Show #2 - The Feelies, Real Estate, and Times New Viking - July 23, 2011 @ Prospect Park Bandshell

After spending half the day at Far Rockaway Beach this past Saturday, I made it to the Prospect Park Bandshell just in time for Real Estate's "Beach Comber," the last song of their set:

5. Real Estate - "Beach Comber"

While Real Estate's set was pleasant, I couldn't wait for them to finish. Frankly, I was there to see the 1980s post-punk(?) legends, The Feelies, for the first time. With a nice balance of songs drawing equally from Crazy Rhythms and Time for a Witness with some unexpected covers added in, their set did not disappoint. Their flawless musicianship also brought the sound from the records to life, while seamlessly improvising and extending the songs into awesome new shapes. With a little video-shooting help from fellow blogger, Maria, here are some videos from the show:

7. The Feelies - "Doin' It Again"

(video by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

8. The Feelies - "Crazy Rhythms" (Medley)

9. The Feelies - "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (The Stooges Cover)

(video by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

In Conclusion

Wow.

Bill Callahan @ Bowery Ballroom

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Last night, Bill Callahan and Ed Askew played to a packed house at their sold-out, Bowery Ballroom show.

Ed Askew started things off with a set of songs sung with a raspy-yet-gentle voice over keyboard accompaniment.

Here's a song about a "Brown-Eyed Boy:"

Ed Askew - "Brown-Eyed Boy"

Bill Callahan and his two bandmates took to the stage shortly afterwards.

They went on to play a set drawing heavily from Callahan's most recent post-Smog releases, Apocalypse and Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle album. For example, they played "Too Many Birds" from the latter album:

Bill Callahan - "Too Many Birds"

However, the set also included many golden-oldies from classic Smog albums such as Supper and A River Ain't Too Much Love.

Bill Callahan - "Our Anniversary"

And he ultimately closed the set with another Smog classic:

Bill Callahan - "Say Valley Maker (Medley)"

NYC Popfest-fest 2011

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:50:00 +0000

So this past weekend was the 2011 NYC Popfest. Although I was too broke to buy the 4-day pass, I did manage to attend two shows of the fest: Saturday's show at Santos Party House in Manhattan and Sunday's show at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn. I wouldn't've even been able to afford two shows had it not been for the kindness of Neil and Alexis of the Australian pop band, The Motifs. They added me to their guest list for Sunday's show after I loaned them my Angel 27k glockenspiel for a few of their songs, which you can see in action in one of the videos I'm posting below. Thanks, guys.

1. Cuffs - "Privelege" - http://cuffsband.tumblr.com

2. Chalk and Numbers - "Let's Go Away" - http://chalkandnumbers.bandcamp.com

3. Chalk and Numbers - "Whenever You're Ready (Zombies Cover)"

4. Panda Riot - "?????" - http://pandariotmusic.tumblr.com

5. The Motifs - "????" - http://www.myspace.com/themotifs

An Interview with Andrew Churchman

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Last night at New York's Cake Shop, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band, Cuffs, played a impressive set of bright, noise-pop songs alongside Brooklyn's The Surprisers and ex-Television Personalities bassist, Jowe Head.

After Cuffs singer and guitarist, Andrew Churchman, announced the end of his last band, Pants Yell! via MySpace blog, he left only a few 4-track demos and a Cuffs tumblr as signs what was to come. Listening to promising 4-track demos such as "Albert Kroft" now expanded into live arrangements along with several newer tracks showed me just how much the band has developed over the past few months and hinted at awesome things to come.

After their set, Andrew chatted with me and fellow blogger and Brooklyn-based journalist, Maria, on the Ludlow Street sidewalk in front of Cake Shop about his goals for Cuffs, good song lyrics, and its relationship with a few likeminded bands.

Me: So what goals do you have for Cuffs? And how are they different from the goals you had for Pants Yell!?

Andrew: The goals for Cuffs …

Andrew trailed off for a moment as he said goodbye to what appeared to have been Ducktails member, Samuel Franklin.

Andrew: I think my main goal for Cuffs--that would be different from Pants Yell!--is to be a little more aggressive and a more cosmopolitan. I think the songwriting's not as sweet and poppy as in Pants Yell!, but a little more underhanded.

Me: I noticed that the Bandcamp demos for Cuffs are recorded on a 4-track tape recorder. Is that a conscious recording choice that you guys intend to stick with?

Andrew: The demos were just 4-track out of necessity. It was just because I had them. That's how I wrote the songs... just on the 4-track. So it was more of like a songwriting tool. As a band, I actually want everything to be really hi-fi. So we just recorded our first single--we recorded two singles, one's coming out soon and another one--we did that one in a studio and recorded digitally. And uh… I think it's pretty hi-fi. I want it to be the opposite of no-fi, home recordings. But the demos… I think the reason we put the demos up is because I thought that'd be a good introduction to the band. And that's just how I knew those songs at the time. It was before the other members of the band were playing with me.

Me: I noticed a similarity in the lyrical style between Pants Yell! and Cuffs. They're both very you, I would say. What would you say constitutes good lyrics and bad lyrics when you're writing a song?

Andrew: I actually...

Andrew laughed. He paused for a moment before continuing his answer.

Andrew: I actually try to be too honest when I'm writing a song and I'm actually trying not to do that anymore.

Andrew laughed again.

Andrew: For some of the Cuffs stuff, I'm gonna be changing the lyrics quite a bit. Good lyrics are things that I won't feel embarrassed singing. But then again, I feel bad singing some stuff. So it's a weird sort of fine line. I guess something that is a little witty and I can feel confident singing about. I tend to fall back to very honest kind of singing openly about my life and about my friends and what not. I'm trying to be a little more surreal with the lyrics in Cuffs. The first couple demos aren't as clear on that vision, but going forward that's what I'm hoping to do.

Me: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I saw the guitar player from this Cuffs show in the video for Pants Yell!'s "Someone Loves You." Is he the only other common member between the two bands?

Andrew: Me and the drummer [Casey Keenan] were in Pants Yell!, the guy who plays guitar, Martin, he filled in on some west coast dates we played. But he played bass for like four shows with Pants Yell! in California, and now he plays guitar full time in Cuffs. But our bass player [Ian Drennan] in Cuffs, plays guitar in this really awesome band called Big Troubles and he also plays in Ducktails.

Me: I was going to ask you about those other guys that you just said bye to…

Andrew: Yeah, those are the guys from Ducktails and the Big Troubles guys, but they're going now to play another show across town.

As it turned out, that had been Samuel Franklin from Ducktails. Andrew knows him from his time drumming in Franklin's other project Fluffy Lumbers.

Me: Well thank you for your time. Maria has one last question…

Maria: Are you only in bands with clothes-related names?

Andrew: No. But Cuffs was an intentional shift from Pants Yell!

Andrew paused.

Andrew: It was an intentional homage to Pants Yell! Sometimes we say the name and someone is like, "Oh cool, Cuffs. Like handcuffs?" And I'm like, "No. Not at all." I guess different people take it in different ways.

Black Heartland EP

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:10:00 +0000

I've just posted a new Little Insects EP on the Little Insects bandcamp site. The album is called Black Heartland EP and it's essentially a collection of melancholy folk-pop songs inspired by the heartland, but born in the city. They are mostly acoustic, but are augmented by electronics in subtle and blatantly nontraditional ways such as extensive use of reverb plug-ins in Logic Audio.

The whole thing is a pay-what-you-want-even-zero download from the Bandcamp site and two of the individual tracks can be downloaded independently for free.

It includes the following tracks:

1. "Uncertainty Principle" (free download)
2. "Snow Day"
3. "Bound For Sorrow" (free download)
4. "Feeling Just Like 20 Bucks"

Two of which ("Snow Day" and "Feeling Just Like 20 Bucks") appeared previously in YouTube videos on my WarmTurkey channel.

The cover, which you can click on to be taken to the bandcamp site, looks like this:

Anyway, that's enough self-promotional linking for one post. Enjoy the music.

K Records Invades Dead Herring

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:48:00 +0000

Last night, K Records took over Dead Herring, the loft/performance-space in Williamsburg. Two of the four performers, Chain and the Gang and EPrhyme, are on the K Records artist roster and one of them, Calvin Johnson, is K records. The other performer, Girls In Trobule, while not on the artist roster of K Records, played with a member of K-Band, Old Time Relijun, on bass.

The night began with an a cappella performance by EPrhyme.

Eprhyme | NYC @ Dead Herring | 11 Feb 2011 from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.

On account of observing Shabbat, he forfeited the use of a P.A. system or electronics. Instead he was accompanied by a hype man, of sorts, that worked the crowd--or at least tried to, with partial success. EPrhyme's hype man got people into some claps and call-and-responses, but none seemed to last an entire song and the crowd's enthusiasm underwhelmed. A few songs in, I heard what could only be the bassy growl of Calvin Johnson's voice behind me responding to the hype man's call and responses. It seems as if Johnson had appeared on the stairs of the loft-space to provide some emergency enthusiasm. Pretty damn nice of him, actually.

Ultimately, I regretted that my first exposure to EPrhyme's music was under these a cappella circumstances. While Calvin Johnson can mesmerize a crowd with or without electronic amplification, the extent of which we'll get to in a bit, EPrhyme just didn't seem to be at that stage of his artistic life yet. He still did an amazing job, considering the circumstances, I can't say EPrhyme fully pulled off the a cappella hip hop.

Girls In Trouble followed.

Girls In Trouble - Snow from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.

Since, I was literally in the worst possible standing spot, I can't fully comment on their movements or appearance. They could've been dressed as Disney characters for all I knew. I mostly just heard their music as I stared at the backs of people's heads. Regardless, what I heard was some stellar, violin-driven chamber rock. The easy vocal comparison is Mirah, but I can't say the overall sound of the band is very Mirah-esque. Overall, they came off as a more polite, more introverted version of Amanda Palmer's music. Paradoxically, even though they used amplification and electronics during their set, unlike EPrhyme, the audience was much louder and talkative during their set and they became a bit hard to fully hear towards the end.

The third performer and obvious show-stealer, was Ian Svenonius' most-recent musical project, Chain and the Gang.

The band's brand of "liberation theology" seemed to bring together Svenonius' unique quasi-political neo-gospel (Chain) and a 1960s, Detroit garage band throwback to MC5 or Iggy & the Stooges (the Gang). Just see for yourself in this explosive video of the aptly-titled song "Trash Talk":

Chain and the Gang - "Trash Talk"

Finally, the man of the hour himself, Calvin Johnson, took the stage.

...Or at least, he stood on the un-used speaker cabinet that served as a stage.

Johnson played the set in the mode of his most recent, solo Calvin Johnson record What Was Me. He also seemed to be channeling some sort of Buddy Holly vibe in his appearance (and even name-dropped the guy in one of his song-introductions.) His set consisted of mostly Calvin Johnson & Sons of the Soil, Halo Benders, and What Was Me songs. Such as these two, from the Halo Bender's second album Rebels Not In and What Was Me, respectively:

Calvin Johnson - "Love Travels Faster" (*originally recorded with Halo Benders)

Calvin Johnson - "What Was Me"

During one part of the show, an audience member joined him for an a cappella duet version of "Ode to St. Valentine," on account of the holiday coming up on Monday. You can check that out here in this video someone other than me recorded from a much better spot in the room:

This show could've easily been at Bowery Ballroom or some other conventional, larger indie venue. Considering Johnson's cult-legend status, it probably could've sold out or at least filled up the Bowery Ballroom. Instead, it made you feel like a group of friends you know just getting together and playing a few of their songs for you in their living room. Mostly because it was a group of highly intimate, personal performers playing in a living room--albeit a very, very, tightly packed one that charged $7 at the door.

Best and Biggest of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Since I doubt anything mind-blowing is going to come out either today or tomorrow, I present to you:

the Best and Biggest of 2010

This is a list of the best and biggest of 2010. How did I come up with this list? Very simply actually. Instead of thinking about buzz and hype and/or a load of aesthetic criteria to evaluate each album on some sort of numerical system and then rank them in some sort of order, I went with two very simple processes:

1. For the 10 best albums, I simply picked the 10 albums from this year that I listened to on repeat on my iPod, that is as a whole album, the most times. High replay value. That's it.

2. For the 10 best songs, I simply selected tracks from this year (that don't appear on my Top 10 album choices and) that immediately stuck in my head and/or hypnotized me into listening to them over and over the first time I heard them. Instant re-playability. That's it.

Those two systems left me with the following list(s):

Best Albums of 2010

1. Gemini by Wild Nothing - http://www.mediafire.com/?cvy54u2fsb5ar9m

2. Clinging To A Scheme by the Radio Dept. - http://www.mediafire.com/?mzgqkmztniz

3. New Chain by Small Black - http://www.mediafire.com/?addhw7fbcm3hvfv

4. Instant Coffee Baby / If You Leave It Alone by the Wave Pictures - http://www.mediafire.com/?addhw7fbcm3hvfv & http://www.mediafire.com/?gzmyk5wyzy5

5. Avi Buffalo by Avi Buffalo - http://www.mediafire.com/?lnzedt1hqmn

6. kills by jj - http://www.mediafire.com/?t107u4w33k5853v

7. Sir Luscious Left Foot: the Son of Chico Dusty by Big Boi - http://www.mediafire.com/?v1onmzki4oc

8. Causers of This by Toro Y Moi - http://www.mediafire.com/?5yzz4z2zlzy

9. Before Today by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - http://www.mediafire.com/?cjyikl3vy3r

10. Incredibad by The Lonely Island - http://www.mediafire.com/?ytkymuommjc

Best Songs of 2010

1. "The Polaroid Song" by Allo Darlin'

2. "Say No To Love" by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

3. "Best Friend" by The Drums

4. "Go Outside" by Cults

5. "Goth-Star" by Pictureplane

6. "The Blues" by Primary 1 feat. Nina Persson

7. "Sundriped" by Com Truise

8. "Broken Dreams Club" by Girls

9. "A More Perfect Union" by Titus Andronicus

10. "Mien" by MillionYoung

In Conclusion:

As much as it pains me to admit it since I want to let things exist be narrative-less, there is a narrative here. It's a narrative running through these seemingly different-sounding artists, albums, and songs. It's the narrative of the entire decade and that is finally culminating in 2010.

2010 has been a year in which the most interesting music to emerge and jump leaps and bounds ahead of its musical peers is music that synthesizes a song format from the recent past and plays around with and within it in a novel and fun way.

It means that the best artists of 2010 have pinned down the mechanics and patterns of a recording technique or recording aesthetic from the recent past and have not only recreated the technique or aesthetic in a convincing pastiche that could stand-in or substitute or (perhaps most-importantly) sound right on a playlist next to "real" recordings from that era, but the artist has also had fun playing around within the format and pushing it to its structural and compositional limits and constantly reminding the listener that it isn't from a recently-bygone era because something about it will be so jarringly different.

Be that Ariel Pink's simultaneous homage to and destruction/reconstruction of 1970s AM radio pop in Before Today or The Pains of Being Pure At Heart's seemingly contradictory synthesis of Sarah Records introverted, anti-stardom with a post-Strokes, effortlessly efficient, big rock sound overloaded with hooks and riffs that Sarah Records never would've touched in the song "Say Not To Love," 2010 is characterized by that simultaneous fan-boy embrace and playful rejection of the sound of the recent past.

(Note: Incredibad doesn't exactly fall into that narrative entirely--it's fun, but not exactly pastiche--but it's undeniably one of the most re-playable releases of the year for other reasons probably.)

And that brings us to the biggest of 2010. Biggest disappointment, that is.

Biggest Disappointment of 2010

Sufjan Stevens and/or Age of Adz

If anyone seemed oblivious to what made 2010 work it was Sufjan Stevens. Which is sad, because he seems like a smart guy from what he occasionally writes in the Asthmatic Kitty blog--and also, y'know, his music.

I know that it probably wasn't easy for him to follow up Come On! Feel the Illinoise in any way that could come close to satisfying the public and his audience, but even I could see that he had two obvious, easy options for achieving at least moderate satisfaction from the public and audiences:

1. He could've made a totally stripped-down, simple cycle of folk songs with no elaborate orchestration and emphasizing a back-to-basics approach. Imagine album of a bunch of songs like "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." and "Casimir Pulaski Day." (This would've been my preferred option)

2. He could've tried to "fit in" and make an album of 2010, in which he tries to play in the style-of-the-day but putting some sort of Sufjan stamp on it. Imagine Sufjan's trying to make a track ala Toro y Moi or Washed Out or Neon Indian.

From the sound of Age of Adz (and from the concert I experienced first-hand back in November at the Beacon Theater), it seemed like he tried (and failed) to do option 2.

Age of Adz was indeed electronic, but it didn't exactly sound like any particular electronic style that came before it, except for maybe a recent Of Montreal album drained of any fun and wit. Still, it's way too soon to be re-viving Of Montreal--and especially in such a half-assed way.

Instead, the album was overwhelmingly Sufjan-ey: hyper-clean electronic pop with elaborate, IDM-influenced, yet completely un-fun and funk-less beat programing mashed together with the occasional harmonic dissonance or tonal departure--y'know, for street cred among the academics.

But unlike the Illinois and Michigan albums, Age of Adz's was low (confusing, even) on concepts, great folk songs, and post-Philip-Glass orchestration. It sounded as if, in the years since Illinoise, Sufjan surrounded himself by yes-men that failed to give him honest feedback on all the bad ideas that went into this album as he was working on it.

And so without even going into the mess that was the Beacon Theater live show, Age of Adz and its creator stand as the biggest disappointment of 2010, if only for the wasted potential, unmet expectations, untimeliness and complete irrelevance upon release. Maybe time will be kind to it and, years from now, some musicologists will find some sort of use for the album. Perhaps they'll discover that this particular CD makes an unusually great frisbee or that the mp3s make really great... hard drive space wasters?

But I digress...

In (real) conclusion, 2010 was a swell year. Apart from Sufjan, everyone else did amazing work, including a ton of artists that I failed to mention here but deserve some major nods. 2011 is gonna have a hard time following up 2010.

Post-Snowstorm

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:01:00 +0000

So yesterday, last night, and this morning, snow poured down from the sky incessantly all over New York City and all over the rest of the northeast. Some called it a blizzard others a snowstorm, but since this is my first winter outside of Florida, I have no reference point and can only call it "lots of snow."

This morning, I finally went out around Clinton Hill, the Brooklyn neighborhood where I live, to explore and took a few pics and recorded some videos. What I saw was:

timeless...

...snowy stoops...

...and buried cars....

When I got home, I compiled all my video footage and recorded some instrumental music for arpeggiator-driven synthesizer and sleigh bells to go along with the video. I call the track+video "Snow Day" and you can download the track via MediaFire here or check out the whole track+video below (or in HD here):

Little Insects - Black Candy Cane EP

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:41:00 +0000

So in an attempt to both celebrate and oppose the proliferation of consumer culture that goes on around the holidays, here is a new, free Little Insects release. In other words, it's a gift to you (Merry Christmas!) but it's free and doesn't proliferate consumer culture around a time of otherwise rampant $$$ spending.

It's a two-song EP (or a single?) of Velvet Underground covers called Black Candy Cane EP made in collaboration with my friend Geannie of Saving Twilight. She sang on, decided upon and played guitar on the first track ("Femme Fatale") and then I did the second ("Sunday Morning.")

You can stream it via bandcamp here:

And this is the cover:

Galaxie 500-ish: Dean Wareham Live At Music Hall of Williamsburg

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:15:00 +0000

On Friday, December 18, 2010 Dean Wareham (and his un-announced, un-billed wife Britta Phillips) played a set of Galaxie 500 songs at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Here's how it went down.

The night began with an amazing, yet seemingly out-of-nowhere performance by a band calling themselves only the incredibly-difficult-to-Google name of The Building (so just look on bandcamp.)

They consisted of a combination of more-or-less traditional rock music instrumentation of bass, guitars, sampler, and drums with traditional, well, traditional music instrumentation of cello, clarinet, and violin, seated just next to the band. But unlike the over-blown, self-indulgent train-wreck that many indie-rock situations and combinations such as that can easily become, The Building played a somber set of subtle songs merging rich, jazzy harmonies with their own post-punk take on jangle pop. In many ways (fittingly) reminiscent of Galaxie 500, but in even more ways completely different and more harmonically elaborate.

You can see and hear most of one of the last song they played, called "Twenty Years," in the video below--or at least what I managed to record before an employee of the venue asked me to turn my camera off. This song is also available as a free download from their website.

The Building "Twenty Years"

It'd be a stretch to say The Building "rocked," because they played to an audience of early-birds most of whom (including yours truly) sat quietly indian-style and awestricken on the floor by the stage. However, they slowly, quietly and politely proved that real rock bands try too hard.

The Building's amazing set was followed by the considerably less-amazing, Cheval Sombre.

While in an almost any another context, Cheval Sombre wouldn't be a bad band, they were a major step-down from The Building. Chevel Sombre's ensemble consisted of a violinist, a Casiotone player, and a multi-instrumentalist switching between melodica, lap-steel guitar, and omnichord. Normally, this would be an entirely fascinating ensemble, at least arrangement-wise, but they nearly bored me to death because they were lead by a highly uncharismatic, seemingly generic, acoustic-guitar-playing singer-songwriter buried under layers of reverb and/or delay rendering his lyrics unintelligible. This is not to say that unintelligible lyrics always suck, because that can actually be awesome when the total-effect of the music is enough to pull it off. However in the case of Cheval Sombre, unintelligible lyrics are unacceptable because the music supporting these lyrics just fails at the composition and performance level. About the only good thing I can say about Cheval Sombre's set is that it left most members of the audience with peace of mind and without the fear of "missing something good" while they went to the bathroom before Dean Wareham's set began.

(For obvious reasons, there is no video of Cheval Sombre.)

Finally (and boy do that I mean that adverb), Dean Wareham took to the stage along with his (surprise!) guest and wife Britta Phillips.

There were others, but, since their names were neither Naomi Yang or Damon Krukowski, their names and what they played don't really matter. Oh yeah! Here're two more pictures of Dean & Britta:

Their set consisted of mostly the hits of Galaxie 500. They played most of the songs I wanted to hear from On Fire, except for (my favorite) "Tell Me."

Galaxie 500-ish - "Strange"

Galaxie 500-ish - "When Will You Come Home"

Between and during the songs, here are a few things notable things that happened in no particular order:

Dean apologized for his voice.
Dean proceeded to screw up (vocally) only about 1% of the time and then sing pretty amazingly the other 99% of the time.
Dean read a fan letter in which a female fan said his new book, Black Postcards, was pretty good but that he was a jerk for cheating on his wife during one part of the book and requested that he play the song about eating Twinkees in line.
Dean introduced "Decomposing Trees" simply by saying that he "used took a lot of acid."
Dean talked about and drank "special" cold medicine.

After these events, the band walked off stage and the audience begged for their return via applause. They returned the stage along with the singer of The Building and performed an amazing, Bob Dylan (by way of Nico) cover:

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips - "I'll Keep It With Mine"

And (finally) the band closed out the set with a cover of the Joy Division/New Order (and, in my opinion, contender for greatest-ever) song "Ceremony" in nearly the exact same style of Galaxie 500's amazing cover from On Fire.

Galaxie 500-ish - "Ceremony"

All in all, two out of three ain't bad.

Jeff Mangum seen (and heard) in Brooklyn

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:22:00 +0000

So in case you haven't heard, a pre-Christmas miracle happened in Brooklyn: Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel might rose from the dead (or wherever he's been hiding) to play one, tiny, un-promoted show in Brooklyn's The Schoolhouse performance space. If you are like me, and were not part of the tiny audience of <100 people, you can live vicariously through mp3 bootlegs.

Download the mp3 bootleg below:
Jeff Mangum @ The Schoolhouse in Brooklyn, NY 12-03-10

(via International Tapes)

Briefly Back From Brooklyn @ Uncle Lou's in Orlando, FL

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:13:00 +0000

Last Sunday, November 28th was my last night in Orlando, FL. I had spent a few days there celebrating Thanksgiving with my family and hanging out with a few old friends and now the subsequent days working extra hours at my day job to make up for the hours I didn't work while on the trip--hence the delayed posting here. Anyway, for my last night, I could think of no other way to spend my time than by playing a small show at Uncle Lou's on Mills Ave. with two of my favorite Orlando musicians and inviting my friends to come and see us play. The e-flyer for the show looked kinda like this:

The night began with an intimate performance by Phil Defile (aka Phil Ileto aka the Defilers aka WPRK DJ of Hex Enduction Programme) on a mountain of vintage keyboards and his trademark, gentle vocal delivery.

He played the haunting, season-appropriate song "Witch Vllg," which is track B6 or so on his fantastic, ultra-single, Fall Subscription Vol. 2.

You can download the track for free here: http://www.mediafire.com/?vf2mpf834uc4n2g or watch the video from the show below.

Phil Defile - "Witch Vllg"

After, Phil, Saving Twilight took to the Uncle Lou's stage, or really just the rug and area by the pool table that serves as a stage.

Since the last time I'd seen them, fellow, Orland-based singer-songwriter, Lauren Carder had joined up with founding member Geannie Friedman and drummer Andrea Knight. They unveiled a new song written as a collaboration between Friedman and Carder called "Beautiful Now."

Saving Twilight - "Beautiful Now"

Geannie also contributed to Phil's Fall Subscription Vol. 2 with an equally amazing track about coat collars and Keruoac Books called "Twilight." You can download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?m7utb3p9mjm879k

That night also marked the debut/final-performance of Giant Insects, who took the "stage" after Saving Twilight. This was a band made up of myself, Omar Delarosa, and Casey Schwarz (of Little Insects), Isaac Pinedale (of Wheels Above), and Andrew Santorelli.

We had only minimal rehearsal time and I admire Casey, Isaac and Andrew's boldness for going through with the show with so little preparation before hand and going along with my crazy, hair-brained, Giant-Insects scheme. In fact, only Casey, Andrew and I really got to rehearse together the day before and Isaac just somehow showed up and pulled off an amazing performance, entirely rehearsal-free on old and new Little Insects songs such as these, awesomely captured to digital camera by David Hood:

Giant Insects - Casio Drone/ Stop Taking Advice From Songs

Giant Insects - Feeling Just Like 20 Bucks

Giant Insects - Burn The City

The night ended with a very special, guest appearance by Christopher Paul Stelling, a Central Floridian now also-living in Brooklyn like myself and visiting Orlando for the holiday also like myself. The guest appearance was setup and made possible by awesome Orlando musician and all-around-mover-and-shaker, Matt Kamm, whose current project Telethon, amazes me more and more with each subsequent release. He played an intimate acoustic-set with some vocal support from Julia Christgau. Unfortunately, I have no photos or video of his performance since I spent some of it putting away our equipment and loading it into various vehicles (this is one of the many limitations of being a blogger/musician/etc. at the same time.) However, you can check out some of Mr. Stelling's amazing folk music on bandcamp here: http://christopherpaulstelling.bandcamp.com

As the night came to a close, I felt very warm inside. Not only because it was awesome getting see and play with all these old friends, but because I've been living in New York for almost 6 months now in relatively cool weather and Orlando, by contrast, just feels incredibly warm to me now in a literal, climate-sense as well.

New Chilly Songs: Never Let Go + Leaf

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:11:00 +0000

I've just posted two new tracks from my experimental-ish new Little Insects album, Autumn Skies EP.

These songs are the most electronic tracks I've made in a while and I'm proud to say that I didn't use guitars at all (excluding bass, guitar) on them. They are intended to be refreshingly "guitar-less" and "chilly" to welcome in the autumn season. The two tracks are intended to be heard in a series so they are "gapless." However, they could work as two distinct tracks as well, I suppose.

Anyway here they are streaming from Bandcamp "Never Let Go" and "Leaf"

You can download them for free from the site as well, you just may have to enter your email so I can email you whenever the next album comes out.

New Songs - Autumn Skies EP

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:34:00 +0000

The autumn, while literally chillier, feels warmer than other seasons, figuratively. It's the colors. Naturally, autumn deserved its own concept album--or at least a concept EP.

In the past few days, I spent some extra time indoors, resting and staying warm to help cure a cold, and used the time to also get some recording done on the Autumn Skies EP.

(cover photo by Eric Kankowski)

However, what came out of these recording sessions for this EP will be far different from Almost Ghost in many ways. Since long stretches of perfectly quiet time and ample spaces with nice acoustics are harder to come by in Brooklyn than they were in Orlando, I've had to crank up the volumes of what I record and the amounts of Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal that I use.

Turns out, it's actually a good way to play nicely with the background noise of buses and neighbors walking around upstairs. Consequently, Autumn Skies EP is far more noisy than Almost Ghost or anything I've recorded before for that matter.

Take for example the Autumn Skies track, "Let Go of My Sweater," which you can stream from YouTube or download for free from Bandcamp.

It's somewhat of a departure from Almost Ghost, on which I used hardly any distortion at all. You can expect similar things on some of the other tracks on the EP, which are as follows:

Autumn Skies EP - tracklist:

1. Never Let Go
2. Leaf
3. Autumn Skies
4. Let Go Of My Sweater (free download)
(5. Midnight Is Almost Over --- Bonus Track!)

You should be able to grab a copy of the entire EP at either of the following shows:

1. At my November 16th show:

9pm @ Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village, New York
94 Avenue A,
New York, NY
(at the intersection of Avenue A & East 6th St.)
(Click here for the Facebook Event Page)

2. At my November 28th show:

9pm @ Uncle Lou's in Orlando, FL
1016 North Mills Avenue,
Orlando, FL 32803
(near Mills and Virginia Ave.)
(Click here for the Facebook Event Page)

So yeah. I hope to see you at one or both of these shows.

Merry Autumn, everyone!

Jonathan Richman @ Bowery Ballroom

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:36:00 +0000

(photo by Vicky Cerutti)

On Monday, November 1, Jonathan Richman played his first of two New York shows at Bowery Ballroom (the other was at Bell House) alongside long-time drummer/entire-band Tommy Larkins. Compared to the other two times I've seen Richman (and Larkins) live this show was both almost exactly like the others and yet full of impromptu "unique" moments like only Richman can provide via on-the-fly lyrical-re-writes to his songs setting it apart from the others as well.

The setlist drew heavily from 2008's "Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild," which isn't exactly a bad thing considering that late-career album's surprising high-quality. Strangely enough, he left out "As My Mother Lay Lying" from the set, which was a bit of a shame since his performances of the track the two previous times I saw him seemed extremely heart-felt and highlights of both of those sets. However, he made up for it with an awesome, extended rendition of the title track of 2004's "Not so Much To Be Loved as To Love" discussing his young man "yearning" and eventual "learning." Overall, the setlist left little to be desired--except maybe the newer (unreleased?) song "Keith Richards" historicizing the life and style of the Rolling Stone.

A highlight of the set (as usual) was the inter-song commentary. The commentary on the old, Modern Lovers' classic "Pablo Picasso." As he began the now-acoustic version of the song he laughed about how the phrase "some people try to pick up girls and get called assholes" sounded less predatorial in 1969 when he wrote it. His comments here got lots of laughs from the large crowd, packed liked sardines on both levels of the Bowery Ballroom.

He added to the amusing commentary by giving some "behind the scenes" stories regarding the new album. At another point of the show, he talked about the constant changes in direction during the last six months of recording his follow-up to "Because Her Beauty is Raw And Wild" and mentioned how each recording session took the album in a completely different direction than he thought of taking it the previous direction. Then he mentioned how the title-track of the new album, "Oh Moon, Queen of Night on Earth" (due out Nov. 9 on Vapor Records) was born out of an impromptu call-and-response between himself and the female vocalist in the studio featuring the title-phrase. He admitted to having no idea what to respond or where to take the song after she sang her part, but somehow something came to him. And that "something" turned out to be a pretty decent, new Richman track I was hearing for the first time.

Of course, that wasn't everything. It just wouldn't've been a Jonathan Richman show without his trade mark dance moves appearing about as frequently as other artists take guitar solos.

(photo by Vicky Cerutti)

Korallreven - Honey Mine (feat. Victoria Bergsman)

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:58:00 +0000

If you could break great pop down to a formula it would have to be this: lushness + funkiness + euphonious/melodious vocals. "Honey Mine" The new Korallreven collaboration with Victoria Bergsman (the woman behind/in-front-of Taken By Trees, the Concretes and Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks") is perhaps the greatest example of that formula in action.

Korrallreven - Honey Mine (feat. Victoria Bergsman) (via DiscoBelle)

Broken Dreams Club - A new EP by Girls

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:56:00 +0000

So according to the True Panther Sounds blog, Girls are releasing a new 30-minute EP with 6 songs called Broken Dreams Club. This comes as little surprise considering the number of non-Album songs they have sitting around in cold-storage and that they've gradually trickled out over the past few months as singles and played at shows.

You can download one of them, "Heartbreaker" for free from the True Panther blog. Sounds like a dream come true to me.

Here's a video I took earlier this year of Girls playing "Heartbreaker" at Webster Hall in NYC.

Girls - Heartbreaker (Live at Webster Hall, NYC - 4-3-10)

Titus Andronicus + Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Pitchfork Offline/Anti-CMJ Fest

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:58:00 +0000

For a New Yorker without the money for a CMJ badge or the money for going to the shows a la carte (let's face it, the bands you want to see never seem to all play together in one convenient venue for one convenient cover charge), this was a bleak week. I really didn't know what CMJ shows (if any) I'd realistically be able to afford to attend.

And so here comes Pitchfork's #Offline Festival to save the day for brokelyners like me. For one $10 cover charge at Brooklyn Bowl, p4k brought together a ton of bands I wanted to see at CMJ one venue and for one convenient cover charge and didn't require any badge to get into. Even if the actual presentation of the event was fairly last-minute and half-assed (basically, from my experiences there yesterday for Day 3, it was just a bunch of regular shows at Brooklyn Bowl with some random p4k video footage playing on large screens by the bar), the bang for your buck was unrivaled.

For $20...

1. I saw The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.

2. I got 2 Chicken Tacos from the Endless Summer Taco Truck down Bedford Ave.

3. I came back to Brooklyn Bowl in time for Titus Andronicus.

4. I had a Brooklyn Brewery "Pitchfork Pilsner."

Now that's bang for your buck.

I also got to see a set by Ty Segall, in which they covered Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" rather well, and a set by Freddie Gibbs that went on a little too long but was enjoyable nonetheless. (Sorry, Freddie, I just really really wanted to see Titus Andronicus).

So yeah, don't just take my word for it. Relive the awesomeness with these four awesome videos I shot at the show.

1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "This Love Is Fucking Right"

2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction"

3. Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"

4. Titus Andronicus - "Titus Andronicus"

The best $20 I ever spent.

Celebrity Sighting - Gary Busey

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Lou Reed is right. Go down near Union Square and you really never know who'll meet there. You might just meet Gary Busey.

Promoting Famiglia's Pizza, I believe. A few blocks from Union Square.

UPDATE (via Alan G.):

This whole thing is part of the TV show Celebrity Apprentice. More info here:

http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/1355646705/gary-busey-selling-pizza-in-nyc-for-celebrity

Say No To Lovely IndiePop Perfection

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:38:00 +0000

At some point in 2009, I started listening to an album and just couldn't stop. That album was The Pains of Being Pure At Heart's self titled LP. The album just gets everything about music right. Great rhythms, great guitar, catchy melodies, ambiguously dark lyrics. Just great. It instantly became my ride-to-work music and my ride-back-from-work-after-a-crummy-day music for basically the entire remaining year of 2009 and some of 2010. Instantly climbed to the top of my Last.fm most played, too.

Anyway, so while there hasn't been a proper follow up, my days were further brightened by a lo-fi recording of The Pains playing a then-new song called "Say No To Love" at a Slumberland records 20th anniversary party or something. While still relatively basic compared to their previous songs, I knew it'd be great. So I waited around for a bit until they released and finished it. And now, that day has finally come. Actually it probably came a while ago, but I just stumbled upon the awesome video for the "final" version of this awesome song.

I can't wait until their next full-length album comes out. But you probably already knew that.

Jens Lekman's Smalltalk Highlights of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:48:00 +0000

Idiosyncratic, Swedish pop auteur, Jens Lekman, blogs. It's a primitive blog called "smalltalk." There are no comments and it doesn't appear to use pHp or WordPress or MovableType or any observable CMS like that. It appears to be a straightforward, HTML page that he restarts each year. His posts are infrequent and semi-poetic, in a simple, straight-forward way. Much like his music releases. Anyway, as much as I love the blog, it has no RSS feed to subscribe to or mailing list or anything like that, so I tend to catch up on it every few months.

This past weekend, I sat down to catch up on the last few months of Jens' blogging and here's what I found out:

1. Jens Lekman can sing in Spanish.

javiera mena - sufrir from denver on Vimeo.

2. There were these awesome Latino, ex-gang-member oldies-pop group in the Bronx in the 1970s called "Street The Beat"

Street The Beat - "Falling in Love"

Street The Beat - "Crazy Boy"

3. Jens Lekman can do a great Kraftwerk impersonation:

Oh, you're so awesome, Jens...

Yann Tiersen Live @ The Concert Hall, NYC

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:29:00 +0000

Last night, Yann Tiersen brought his twinkly minimalism to New York City's The Concert Hall. It was my first time seeing Tiersen live and my first time at this rather anonymously named venue (really, couldn't any venue be called "The Concert Hall"?) that appears to be part of something called The New York Society for Ethical Culture. Their website defines Ethical Culture as:

"a religion centered on ethics, not theology, whose mission is to encourage respect for humanity and nature and to create a better world."

Somehow, the music of Yann Tiersen fits into that world view or religion. Or not and they just rented the hall out to his ensemble. Anyway, the venue is essentially what appears to be a standard church auditorium located a few blocks north of Columbus Circle on Central Park West.

Complete with impressive, antique lighting.

Anyway, after a few minutes of sitting in the pews watching people drink $6 Sam Adamses and $5 Bud Lights and thinking that this must be the coolest church ever, albeit somewhat over-priced in their beverages, Yann Tiersen and his ensemble took to the stage.

As you can see from the pictures and videos, my orchestra-right seating kinda sucked. That's what you get when you buy your a ticket on craigslist on the cheap.

During the show, Mr. Tiersen himself alternated between melodica, acoustic guitar, violin, and piano, while the rest of the ensemble surrounded him in lush, twinkly, orchestral pop. At one point he played on his newer compositions called "Palestine," which really exemplifies all of these characteristics in a single work.

Yann Tiersen - Palestine - Video

(Note: the above video is taken from another performance of the same composition at a previous concert.)

One of the more interesting elements of the ensemble was the keyboard player using what appeared to be a Memory Moog and an Korg MS-20 to add electronic texture to the rest of the classical-meets-rock ensemble.

Yann Tiersen @ The Concert Hall, NYC - Video

Apart from several of these lush compositions, Mr. Tiersen also performed an incredible violin solo mid-set from a composition called "Wire." Seen here at another concert if you skip to around the 44:02 mark.

(Thanks to Alvago, for the link to a previous performance of the composition and the tip)

Must've been to apparently remind the rest of the strings players who's boss. ~~I have no video of this unfortunately, since it took me by surprise and I failed to activate my camera on time.~~

After the set 90-minute-or-so set, he came back on stage with the drummer and played a second, encore violin solo (or violin + drums, at least) that paled in comparison to the one mid-show.

Yann Tiersen - Violin Improvisation @ The Concert Hall, NYC - Video

Due to the shame he felt from the inferiority of the second violin improvisation (above) to the million-times better one mid-set (available here as "Wire" around the 44:02 mark ), Mr. Tiersen proceeded to try to slash his own throat using a violin bow.

Fortunately for us and Mr. Tiersen, he failed to slash himself and will live on to do more incredible performances such as this one. Including one in Los Angeles in January 2011.

The Vaselines + Jeffrey Lewis + Crystal Stilts @ Webster Hall

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:14:00 +0000

Last night, The newly-reformed Vaselines played at Webster Hall alongside Jeffrey Lewis and Crystal Stilts.

Jeffrey Lewis got things rolling, alternating between full band performances featuring a few members from other bands on instruments like horn, violin, and drums and brother and member of official Jeffrey Lewis band, "the Junkyard," Jack, on bass.

They played several songs as a band, including two awesome songs about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the French Revolution that included slide-show accompaniment of artwork related to the lyrics drawn by Jeffrey Lewis himself. The highlight of their set was the solo, Jeffrey Lewis performance of a new song called "Cult Boyfriend."

A few months ago, I was very lucky to be at the right open mic at the right time (Lach's Anti-Hoot at one of the other rooms at Webster Hall a few months ago during summer) and Jeffrey Lewis casually dropped in and played the open mic. The song he chose to play that night was a very early version of "Cult Boyfriend" in which he comically forgot some of the lyrics and laughed his way through a few mistakes. Still, the song was instant, classic Lewis. I was really happy to see the "final" version of the song at this show last night. Here's a video I recorded of the song at the show, including the last bit of his inter-song banter about his fans not fighting over his dropped guitar picks and instead simply returning them to him.

Jeffrey Lewis - "Cult Boyfriend"

After Lewis, Crystal Stilts took to the stage. They played a decent, but (in today's climate of dime-a-dozen lo-fi, 60s pop meets Joy Division revivalists) ultimately generic and forgettable set. Still, they showed me that they're deserving of the hype surrounding them.

Finally, at about 10:45 and a little past my usual, weeknight bedtime, The Vaselines took the stage and did not disappoint. They sounded crisp and true to their recordings, though significantly more polished than the days of Dum-Dum.

The Vaselines - "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam"

Last Person In The World To Get Into Elliott Smith

noreply@blogger.com (omar d.) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Being among the first to discover a new, awesome musician feels "cool." Like you have found gold buried in your back yard and see a lot more beneath the surface and no one else knows about the gold. Maybe there are better analogies than that, but the feeling of being among the first to discover a band has few parallels in life. Conversely, though, being among the last to discover an awesome musician can feel almost embarrassing.

When you are among the last to discover how awesome a musician is, no one else knows about your discovery and that's kinda how you want it to stay. You feel like vast music knowledge is something you pride yourself on and people come to you for recommendations and yet you overlooked something really important. You somehow let a major player slip through the cracks. It's like you somehow fell asleep at the wheel of the truck hauling the bandwagon. This is the case with me and Elliott Smith. Sort of, anyway.

I've heard of Elliott Smith before. In fact, I've known his music for seemingly always. I recognized (and loved) "Needle In The Hay" when I saw Royal Tenenbaums in theaters. I was saddened by the news of his suicide. I watched a short film he made when it streamed on Pitchfork.tv. I downloaded his entire catalog from Torrents--years ago. However, I failed to give him the close listens he deserved. His music, on the surface, struck me as pretty, sensitive, but ultimately generic singer-songwriterly stuff. Like just another depressed guy with an acoustic guitar and a piano emoting on to tape or ADAT or whatever. However, Elliott Smith is everything but those things.

I mean, okay, in some ways, some of his songs are those things. Pretty, sensitive, acoustic ballads with more than a hint of melancholy. Yet in a very he's also a pop craftsman. He passes my litmus test of ignoring the content of the lyrics and just listening to the sound and music and still ending up pleased. He has much more in common with Jon Brion than your average acoustic singer-songwriter because of his ability to just layer sounds and harmonies so well.

I've spent the day thus far listening to XO a lot and, so far, more inclined to repeatedly listen to the entire album than the others I have on my iPod (Either Or and From A Basement On A Hill). From that album "Waltz #2" and "Oh Well, Okay" are my favorites thus far.

Elliott Smith - Waltz #2

There's something schmaltzy and corny about most Waltzy songs. Or at least it's easy for them to come off that way, but something between the chromatic descending melodies and the lean piano melody save this song from schamltziness and give it an more contemporary and elegant sound that many other pop artists' too overtly retro experiments with waltz-time lack. Or maybe it's the string scrapes near the end of the song that do it?

Elliott Smith - Oh Well, Okay

Now "Oh Well, Okay" on the other hand could've easily wandered into cliche, acoustic singer-songwriter territory. But there's something about the atypical movements of the chord progression and the subtle cello swells that add much more space and harmonic depth to this song that so many bare-bones, acoustic-guitar-plus-vocals singer songwriters lack. To make matters worse, the lyrics are not altogether disposable either. They have pleasant moments that articulate the feelings of real situations. Such as:

If you get a feeling next time you see me
Do me a favor and let me know
'Cos it's hard to tell
It's hard to say
Oh well, okay

I don't like to delve into lyrical interpretations or anything, but sometimes simple, ambiguous lyrics such as that say much more than something more elaborate. Not knowing what the listener/other person is feeling seems to be somewhere at the bottom of these lyrics and yet interpretation could go in other directions too. Good stuff.

So despite being the last person in the world to get (at least fully) into Elliott Smith, I'm glad I made it. R.I.P. Elliott, and thanks for the wonderful music.