The New New Folk: Horse Feathers, The Middle East, & Frontier Ruckus

Isn't it incredible, after all these years, that dudes are still finding something original to do with acoustic guitars? There are, after all, only so many chords and so many melodies...and yet every year there seems to be a band who comes along and rewrites the formula of what a folk song should be. 2009's best candidate so far is Horse Feathers, a duo from Portland who walk the invisible line between faintly nostalgic and groundbreaking. The songwriting, to be honest, is unsurprising - nothing you haven't heard on a Nick Drake or Iron & Wine album. And that's fine, because the genius of Horse Feathers is in the arrangements. An almost complete lack of percussion lets Aaron Copland strings swell and spill over stuttering fingerpicks, a kind of musical naked swagger. It's Appalachian-rustic that insists on being timeless, and its gorgeous.




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Here's the crazy thing: there's no way you or I should know about The Middle East. They were an ultra obscure band from Queensland, Australia that broke up a week after this album was made last April, and they have little more than an incomplete Myspace page left to prove they ever existed. Miraculously someone somewhere dug this album up and off it shot through the internet, exploding all over the blogosphere like a brilliant post-rock firework. References have been made to Sigur Ros, Mogwai, and Arcade Fire, but I find them pretty hard to pin down...all I know is that hearing the power of the slow-build chorus to "Blood" for the first time is yet another victory for the internet

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Orion (pronounced OR-ee-un, not o-RY-un), the place that Frontier Ruckus calls home, is a small farm town just outside the reach of the urban decay of Detroit. While the hometown of most bands these days is inconsequential, Orion and the impending death of the city that supports it explains the totally unsentimental, fierce folk that Frontier Ruckus creates. The first thing you'll notice about FR is lead singer Matt Milia's voice - like Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel, it creaks and quivers and pushes. It's a love/hate thing for sure, but for me it's got that kind of perfect imperfection I fiend for in this age of the vocoder. The songs on Orion Songbook are songs of endings - of relationships, of communities, and of identities - both for better and worse. More than the story of any specific place, The Orion Songbook is an exploration of our new fragile interconnectedness - urban and rural, past and future - and in that, these stunningly original and honest tracks crafted out of banjos, saws and fiddles are the hymns of now.






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Leaks

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The Vega Star

I bumped into The Vega Star at our neighborhood Beat Kitchen. They were the one shining star of the show. Out of Milwaukee (Algonquin for the Good Land), I believe this was their first foray to Chicago, meaning definitely a fresh face on the scene. They describe themselves as Folk Rock/Rock/Psychedelic on their myspace page, and I agree. Their sound almost comes across as lethargic, however you don't feel that way listening to it. My concert-mate used the word languid which I, and John the drummer who chatted with us for awhile after their set, think very aptly captures the tempo. It is slow, yet alive with talented driving guitars, both acoustic and electric, a supportive bass that lays the ground work and drums that often accent with hats and snares that help keep the sound fresh despite its pace. The vocals are dark, adding to the brooding feeling, but they hit their notes, harmonize on occasion and help create a very unique sound.

Enjoy "The Night" by The Vega Star.  Over and Out.

Wave of Adulation

I have chosen to go from one of the most ubiquitious, well-known names in classic rock history in Pink Floyd to one of the most underrated, yet perhaps equally influential in The Pixies. This is Doolittle, their seminal 1989 masterpiece which many have credited as singlehandedly responsible for the early 90's grunge revolution. It was also ranked #226 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, #36 on Spin's 100 Greatest Albums from 1985-2005 and #2 on NME's 100 Best Albums of All Time.

Many of these songs might be familiar at this point, from movies, Rock Band, etc... I won't go on too long about it, but I will say this. Listen to the first few songs and I don't think you'll have a hard time seeing how Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl created "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in a similar vein.

Standout tracks include the breakneck "Debaser," the tender "Here Comes Your Man," the song the Strokes wish they could write in "Wave of Mutilation," and the oddly surreal "La La Love You." I won't lie; this is one of my favorite albums of all time. It's incredibly visceral, powerful and is a nice mix between surf-rock, new-wave and punk rock. I'll even go so far as to guarantee you'll like it...unless you're a Bolshevik.

Shatner on the Twilight Zone: "There's some...Pigs on the Wing"

While most people tend to revere Pink Floyd for its more ambient (Dark Side of the Moon), more iconic (Wish You Were Here) or more overtly conceptual albums (Dark Side, The Wall), 1977's Animals holds a special place in my heart. It's the first Pink Floyd album, nay, maybe the first album period, that I ever really listened to from start to finish. I was at sleepaway camp in upstate New York the summer before sixth grade when our counselor finally got fed up with Adam Sandler, Green Day and The Offspring LPs (as though we were listening on vinyl...God, I'm pretentious.)

I think everyone was pretty instantly hooked. Floyd was the new "It" band that summer. In some way, I really feel like Pink Floyd is that rare classic rock band that would sound as fresh today as I imagine it did on January 23rd, 1977 (which, for this post's useless trivia nugget of the day, is the precise day Roots debuted on ABC.)

It's my understanding that this is the first Pink Floyd album where Roger Waters really became the colossal egomaniac of wide repute. He wrote all of the songs himself, only sharing a writing credit on "Dogs" with underrated guitar virtuoso David Gilmour. The recording process for Animals is widely attributed as the start of Pink Floyd's breakup...

Nevertheless, it's awesome for several reasons.

1. It's apparently a giant allegory of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Dogs are the men (Ask a feminist,) Sheep are the masses (seems pretty standard) and Pigs, well, I'm not really sure, but I guess Snowball Stalin and Napoleon Trotsky might help you with that interpretation.
2. It has some of the most incredibly biting, vicious, searing guitar lines of any album of which I'm aware. Credit Gilmour on that one.
   
3. When Waters says "Ha Ha, charade you are," I never really understood why he doesn't say "sha-raid;" is it a British pronunciation?
4. The animal sounds always weird me out...

Thoughts on this latest classic rock posting?

VA - Dark Was The Night Comp

As a rabid music fan, I am by nature severely allergic to compilation albums, and subscribe to the belief that the number of "Best Ofs" you own is inversely related to how interesting and engaging of a person you are. For example, if the only Bob Marley album you own is "Legend" or the only Jimi album you've listened to is "The Ultimate Experience", chances are we'll disagree on a lot of other topics and our approach to life in general. And honestly, the "Best Ofs" aren't even the worst kind of compilation album. Think of all the Radiohead cover comps, the Christmas comps, the Now That's What I Call Musics of the world...they are everything that is bad and cheap and ignorant conveniently condensed onto one disc.

"Dark Was The Night" is the best comp ever made because it breaks all of the dumb rules that make compilations suck. There's no theme or tribute behind it, no artificial structure to prop up bad songs or bad bands. The Red Hot Organization (the AIDS fund behind this) assembled a bunch of the most progressive bands playing right now and just let them be themselves. Sometimes the result is unlikely collaboration (Dirty Projectors + David Byrne), sometimes its a great cover song (The Books and Jose Gonzalez on Nick Drake's Cello Song), and sometimes it is a really big weird idea that couldn't live anywhere else (Sufjan's 10 minute ridicu-symphony). Regardless, the results over the course of this 31 track double-disc are always totally untethered and fascinating - Bon Iver goes electric, The National goes Beck, My Morning Jacket goes 80's saxpop...the whole thing is an absolute blast. Granted, Disc 1 is far better than Disc 2, and as albums they don't really hold together at all...but being children of the internet it's not like we've ever cared about that kind of thing. The key is that Dark Was The Night doesn't try to be any kind of capital-S Statement, so it gives these bands the freedom to shoot off into any and all directions. What we're given is a well of awesomeness you can keep coming back to again and again.





Since this is an AIDS benefit album and I really don't feel like stealing from people with AIDS, buy from Beggars here or ITunes here - it's worth it

PWRFL Power

I went to the oddest concert last night. It was basically a series of musicians playing in this dude's living room. But lo and behold they introduced PWRFL Power aka Kazutaka Nomura. From Seattle by way of Tokyo. I don't think the recordings really do him justice.

First of all, this guy is a phenomenal guitarist. He did some deconstructed, atonal, arhythmic stuff that I have never really heard before to start off. It was like Monk started playing guitar. He said he's been touring without a guitar because he hates lugging it around so he just borrows guitars wherever he goes. Last night he played on a super jazzy Ibanez that suited him quite nicely but I am curious to hear him again in a different setting with different equipment. But that is neither here nor there.

Then he launched into his material - it is hard to tell what is improvised and what isn't. His songs are incredibly idiosyncratic and a little precious with extremely amusing lyrics ("I am Google. I know everything."). They're short and frequently are introduced with hilarious little anecdotes. I have immediately dubbed this guy the Tom Waits of indie/hipster rock. But the songs themselves are quite good, for all their cynicism and hilarity, they're quite earnest and rocking. When he lets himself go on the solos, it's fucking brilliant, which is unfortunately why the recorded stuff falls short - it's light on the guitar solos.

So to conclude, I will post his myspace link, but if you have the chance to go see this guy live, absolutely take it, he's oddly mesmerizing.

PWRFL Power

NASA - The Spirit of Apollo

NASA (standing for North America/South America) are two DJs with ridiculous connections. Seriously, check out this tracklist:

1. Intro
2. The People Tree (feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, & Z-Trip)
3. Money (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip)
4. NASA Music (feat. Method Man, E-40, & DJ Swamp)
5. Way Down (feat. RZA, Barbie Hatch, & John Frusciante)
6. Hip Hop (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip, & Slim Kid Tre)
7. Four Rooms, Earth View
8. Strange Enough (feat. Karen O, Ol Dirty Bastard, & Fatlip)
9. Spacious Thoughts (feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
10. Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santogold, & Lykke Li)
11. A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank, & Lovefoxxx)
12. There's A Party (feat. George Clinton & Chali 2na)
13. Whachadoin? (feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold, & Nick Zinner)
14. O Pato (feat. Kool Kojak & DJ Baboa)
15. Samba Soul (feat. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Q-Bert)
16. The Mayor (feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM, & Scarface)
17. NASA Anthem

Is it as good as that sounds? Well, no - probably about half as good...but still, when it clicks, like on the Karen O/ODB track, you just need to get out of the way son. Other highlights include the Kanye/Santogold/Lykke Li collabo (alt title: "what 808 should've sounded like"), the RZA/Frusciante joint that miraculously finds the middle ground between Portishead and Wu-Tang, and the Spank Rock/MIA/Santogold baile funk monster that feels like it could go on for 2 hours and you wouldn't care. Maybe wildly inconsistent isn't that bad after all.

NASA - The Spirit of Apollo

Cold War Kids

It occurred to me as I began writing this that I really don't listen to much modern rock n roll. I listen to lots of hip hop, electronic, funk, soul and combinations thereof...but I only really listen to 3 or 4 modern "rock" groups and that includes Radiohead, if you can really classify them as any single genre. There just isn't that much of it around that I really feel is worth my time. Most of it just misses the mark. You don't want to turn it up really loud and drive down a highway to it. Actually most of it makes you want to turn the lights off and cry.

That said, these guys started popping up on my Pandora and it made me want to hear more. I dug up their first album from 2006, Robbers and Cowards. It's solid. Strong vocals, satisfying guitar, all around good stuff. They're from California so there's a little bit of surfer soul mixed in with the usual NYC trying-to-be-cool indie rock sound. It makes for a nice balance and it's a pretty straight up rock album - the first four or five songs are particularly good. They released a second album last year, Loyalty to Loyalty, which I think kind of sucks, but others might be interested - if so let me know.

Robbers and Cowards

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Rodrigo y Gabriela are like some music bloggers wet dream: Mexican black metal bandmates get jaded with the scene and, penniless, decide to move to Ireland to rock flamenco-style on acoustic guitars. It's a story that begs to be wrapped in dumbass labels like "acoustic metal", "gypsy grunge", or "mariachi Metallica" or something even more terrible I lack the ability to create. And just like that, music that's totally original and groundbreaking gets reduced to a gimmick. So let's not play that game, and instead focus on how awesome this is. I mean check out Gabriela's hand in the video...I don't know anything about guitar and it blows me away, like a hummingbird flying between the strings. The badass factor of this video outlines the logic of doing flamenco covers of metal songs - the frenetic rhythm remains, but now electricity is created with melody lines instead of power chords. It's not a new genre or a sign of globalization. It just kicks ass.

Also, probably the best "Stairway" cover I've ever heard

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela

When Experimental Music Goes RIGHT

I am sad and embarrassed to admit, I kinda hate The Clash. A lot of their music just gets on my nerves. Sorry, I respect them, I know I should like them as a respectable music fan. But Rock the Kasbah Makes me want to put puppies in microwaves. (EASY... I didn't say I would turn them on. If I did defrost tops, I swear.) Anyway, I am a huge music doc fan, and as I respect them, I netflixed The Furture is Unwritten: Joe Strummer. Fuck man, what an awesome dude. I really wish I could have met him. PLEASE SEE IT FOR YOURSELF. Truly genius, riveting, devastating, and inspiring. After that, I went on a hunt for everything non-Clash Joe Strummer related and fell in love. This is Global A Go-Go an album he did with the Mescalaros shortly before he passed away. World, Rock, Folk, Punk, Latin, Electronic... Again a guy that just did what so many others try to do and fucking wreck, he does authentically and masterfully. You will love this record now... almost as much as you will after you see the film that inspired me to check it out.

Joe Strummer and the Mescalaros - Global A Go-Go

Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine

January was a great month for Bangers - we had a total of 2,880 visits from all over the world: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, US, UK, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen (!)...really mindblowing and exciting. I hope you're all enjoying the vibe we're putting out even if you don't fully understand the language we put it out in.

Now for something completely different...Death From Above 1979 was a short-lived bass/drums duo from Toronto that only made one full-length album in 2004. You read that right - just a bassist and a drummer. So how does this not suck? DFA 1979 compensates for the lack of instrumentation with walls of raw, sweaty noise, breaking apart punk into its periodic elements of bass, drums, and vocals. It's supremely danceable - every one of these 11 songs feels like it's on the edge of turning into a primal orgy - yet retains serious grit and balls and undeniable swagger. This is what post-punk should've turned out like, instead of whiny crap like The Rapture.





Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine

I have the Lou Reed, the Lou Reed for Speed...

Apart from what is absolutely my most pun-fueled, disgustingly over the top post headline ever, if you don't recognize the Andy Warhol painting above, consider yourself fortunate to have stumbled upon a legitimate classic rock gem. [Yes, this was the actual album cover for the Velvet Underground's debut LP.]

It's somewhat of a little known analogy that, (and please excuse the SAT format style,) in the late 1960s:

The Velvet Underground : New York ::: The Grateful Dead : San Francisco

What became known as the San Francisco sound, comprising bands as diverse as the aforementioned Dead, Quiksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane (later the Starship, or should I say, Starshit,) etc... definitely holds a big spot in my heart. Nevertheless, New York in the late 1960s was a much darker place musically. The NY psychedelic rock was much more "Helter Skelter" than it was "Maxwell Silver Hammer." Lou Reed wrote songs about deviant behavior; "love" is not a prominent lyrical theme; "heroin," however, is.

This album is supplanted by model/Andy Warhol wunderkind Nico. Here's a photo of her with the band in 1967. Lou Reed in the lower right:


She had an interesting look but I don't think she was on the album for her quote unquote singing talent though I would argue that she sounds great. She's listed in the liner notes as "chanteuse." Andy Warhol was the Velvet Underground's manager and the official producer of this album and hence responsible for Nico's inclusion. It failed commercially so Lou Reed fired him shortly after its release. I've never seen an original vinyl pressing of this album, but apparently the reason it says "Peel slowly and see" on the album cover is because the yellow bananas were printed as peelable stickers, under which was a supposed "nude" banana. Pretty cool stuff.

This album is a perfect Sunday morning wake-up record. Keep up the good funk; that shit makes me dance, embarassing though that may be...

Da Funk - Budos Band, El Michels Affair, & Menahan Street Band

Here's a bunch of funk albums I've been meaning to post - Brynna kind of beat me to it - you should listen to them all, and then buy them or see a show, because these bands are all poor dudes living in Brooklyn who deserve your money.

First up is Budos Band - very James Browny, rhythmic, and African-influenced. Their take on "My Girl" by the Temptations pretty much sums it up:


Budos Band - II

El Michel Affair have more of a laidback R&B/Soul slant, like 60's film music. Their collaboration with Wu-Tang was SICK (youtube it), so they've got some street cred too. Here's "Too Late To Turn Back":

El Michels Affair - Sounding Out The City

Finally, the biggest funk band that nobody's heard of. Menahan Street Band brought you those sweet horn lines from "Roc Boys", but actually the rest of this album is pretty lowkey, pleasant even. There's also something about how these songs sound - dubby, like it was mixed by a reggae producer - that gives it this awesome worn-in vibe. I really, really can't wait to see these guys live. Here's "Home Again":




Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking

Lest you think I've forgotten you

I think I'd be fairly safe in assuming that virtually everyone who reads this blog regularly has not only heard of, but in fact listens to the Talking Heads with some frequency. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the band's recorded output is often reduced by those in our generation (myself included to some extent) to their outstanding greatest hits record, aptly titled the Best of Once in a Lifetime.

Remain in Light is arguably the band's most memorable LP, though some might make a strong case for Fear of Music (I might agree, but it'd really depend on the time of day, season, mood, etc...) This album has Once in a Lifetime on it, but it's a little known trivia fact that the song actually flopped upon initial release as a single. It only passed into the mainstream as the years progressed, particularly, as I just learned, from its inclusion in the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills. [I do not recommend you rent this film.] The music video, which eventually caught on in this newfangled MTV-amajig, didn't hurt either...

Remain in Light was also the first album where the Talking Heads really cut loose from an Afro-rhythmic standpoint. I guess they sort of did that on Fear of Music, but this album is almost exclusively and entirely supported with intricate and cross-sweeping percussion. On an earthy note, it was also covered in its entirety by Phish on Halloween, 1996. The whole album really sounds great in its order and context, but my personal favorite is probably "Crosseyed and Painless."

This album is almost 30 years old.

Remix Artist Collective - RAC Vol. 1

RAC (Remix Artist Collective) is basically just a 23-year old dude named Andre from Portugal who apparently owns a lot of keyboards. He did a few Bloc Party remixes in 2007 that caught fire and has had pretty steady remix work ever since, from bands like Chromeo, CSS, and The Shins. Stereogum has put together a compilation of some of his best work which you can listen to below and download here. All the songs have a similar M83/Ratatat/Klaxons vibe to them, making them perfect for your next indietastic party.

New Animal Collective

Describing Animal Collective's sound is tough, but probably the closest I can get is this: remember when you used to roll down a hill as a kid, and instantly bounce back up dizzy as hell, the world swirling and bouncing around? AC is that feeling - that bizarre, disorienting, fleeting euphoria - made into music. Crowned by pretty much everybody as the new kings of psychedelia, they've released 3 albums and a few solo ones, each a little more unhinged and astounding than the last. And each time they've come out, I've listened, admired, and promptly forgotten about them - satisfied that some people are exploring the farthest reaches of the musicverse, I returned to my Lil Wayne and Vampire Weekend.

That pattern somewhat changes with "Merriweather Post Pavilion", their latest, most accessible LP. MPP is already being called Animal Collective's "sellout" album (as much as a drone-ambient/spacerock/afro-electro freakshow of a band can sellout), but to me it's just conventional enough to be listenable beyond its sonic novelty. There's a distinct "Beach Boys drop acid" feel to the whole thing, with the vocal harmonies smoothing over the often chaotic backdrop of pulsating percussion and feral synths. What's incredible is how organic everything sounds - there's no guitars, and few acoustic instruments of any kind - yet you'd never call this electronic...it's a vibe completely it's own. Which is why, when listening to MPP, it's hard not to think that this is the future of pop music, with its seamless meld of old and new, African and European, natural and artificial, reassurance and dissonance.

Marinate on it:





Animal Collective - MPP

If you're digging this, I would also highly suggest you go back and check out Brynna's post on Gang Gang Dance, a similar band that also sounds a lot like the future of music

Paper Route

I saw Paper Route open for Innerpartysystem the other day at Merc Lounge. They were one of those opening acts where your like, "Damn this doesn't suck. Who are these guys again?" They remind me of high school, in a good way. Reminicent of old Death Cab, Band Of Horses, and a bit of Explosions in the Sky (but more poppy and with Lyrics and with songs under half hour). Its Post-rock with a taste of new wave synth. Check em out. Im particularly partial to You Kill Me.

You Kill Me - Paper Route

Early Live Radiohead

I know there are a shit ton of Radiohead fans on here. This is a bootleg I bought at an independent music store called the Music Arcade on Long Island back in the late 1990s. Remember when bootlegs used to cost $25-$30 and were like finding a needle in the haystack? This was one such case. The artwork's pretty awesome but I didn't really see a need to scan it in. Aside from this one, I have some other cool boots in my CD archives, so let me know if you enjoy this one...

The first 8 tracks are from a live show in Glastonbury in 1997. The last 8 tracks are from Roma in 1995. There are a few repeats, but considering that Radiohead hasn't performed "Creep" live, to the best of my knowledge, in almost a decade, you'll have to just make do with two versions of it.

Hopefully this makes someone's day...

The Tallest Man on Earth

Can't lie I found this while scowering the best of lists of '08 (can't lie a fairly shit year for music minus a few great gems, heres to 09!). I wish I caught it earlier, a nice humble folk album with catchy tunes and nice everyday man lyrics. What Ryan Adams and Connor Oberst wish they were and try so very very hard to be, but dont let that turn you off, the shits official. Truely in the vein of the great Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. I know everyone says that about everyone but this record just has a certain authenticity, trust me... it just feels... right. Its gonna be so nice in the park on a sunny day and there is no doubt I'll still be giving it spins for months to come.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Graves

The Tallest Man on Earth: Where Do My Bluebird Fly from shoottheplayer.com on Vimeo.