Weekend Music Roundup

 

Welcome to the long weekend. I know the roundup has been occasionally MIA over the past month or so, that because we've been busy with parties and living the vax-life, which I realize is kind of just like 2019, only without all of the Trump-talk. It's like a better version of 2019. This week, I rant about some new releases and some recent pick-ups. Some great stuff on here, so hopefully you have the energy to check out something new. Enjoy.

 

St. Vincent - Daddy's Home: It's been four years since art rock artist's last album and it's been all over the place. This blends all the sounds she's been doing for years, which basically amounts psychedelic soul art pop. Though I've enjoyed her past work, none of it grabbed me the way this one has. This album taps into something that just makes every song sound so perfect. There's a confidence that oozes through the tracks, a 70s Fleetwood Mac sense of decadence mixed with a Trip-Hop coolness. 

Television - Adventure: The iconic NYC's first album, 1977's Marquee Moon is one of my favorite debuts of all time. This, their second album, was released a year later and has been on my want list for ages. Though it's been re-issued, I've always been waiting for an original at a reasonable price, something that isn't an impossible ask. I finally found one and though, as I expected, it's impossible to live up to the first album, it's still quite awesome. They've always done something quite different with the genre than other early art punk bands and create incredible stories with their sounds. It doesn't have the same hint of danger as the debut, but still has the eeriness that I love. 

Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks of God: This is the seventh album from the Atlanta indie rock band, and their first since 2017. This is one of those bands that I've been following for over fifteen years and can say with confidence that this is their best album in over a decade. It's not that I didn't enjoy the more recent ones, but this one captures some of that vulnerable magic from their earlier work that first drew me to them. It opens with the beautiful "Inaudible," an ethereal hymn to isolation, and then moves into the classic sounding "Angel of Death" and I was hooked.  This album is the perfect example of why, when an artist makes an album that I love, I continue to follow their career. 

Nervous Dater - Call in the Mess: This is the second album from NYC indie band and comes four years after their debut. This has a very 90s indie feel to it, and it opens with the great track "Middle Child." My enjoyment of it definitely stems from a nostalgia feeling. Some songs are better than others, and there's a few that are just too emo pop punk for my taste. "Violent Haiku," "Turn Them Ourselves in the Grave," along with the opening track are personal favorites. 

Richie Havens - Mixed Bag: Released in '67, this was Haven's second album and his commercial breakthrough that landed him at Woodstock which propelled soulful folk artist into the history of rock. I recently picked this up in the 4 for $10 bin at the local shop because there was gap in my collection which hadn't included any Havens. There's some amazing covers on here, with "High Flyin' Bird" and "Eleanor Rigby" being my personal favorites. 

The Raconteurs - Live at Electric Lady: Released last spring, this live event hosted by Jim Jarmusch for the band's top Spotify listeners is a solid set from a band that has always been super professional, comprised of super-talented artists. Along with favorites from their three albums, this also includes a cover of Richard Hell's "Blank Generation" with is pretty phenom. A must have for fans.

 

 

 

 

Fiction Friday (132)

 

 

I had meant to take a break from reading YA fiction, but recently the library I work out weeded the Teen collection and I went through the DISCARDs and grabbed a few that looked interesting. I started to read this one, mostly because the cover appealed to me, and because it was named after an Iron and Wine album. It turned out to be a very satisfying read.

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

(Tin House Books, 2015)

The world of adults and the world of children are often lived in separate realities that overlap somewhere in the middle like circles on a venn diagram, leaving members of each without a full understanding of how the other half lives. This is very much 8yo Peggy's situation, living on an estate in North London in the mid-70s with her eccentric parents. Her mother is a famous German pianist; her younger father a survivalist dreamer. Both seem to exist outside Peggy's internal world except when their world intrudes into hers.

Peggy's father emerges quickly as an unstable personality, and after a fallout with his wife, begins to fully embrace a split with reality, sweeping his daughter along with her. When the two of them leave their home and hike off into the secluded mountains of Bavaria, Peggy has no idea she will be spending the next nine years of her life alone in a cabin with her father. Terrified of crossing the river, and walled in by mountains, there is nowhere to go. Even if there was, her father has told her that beyond their little section of forest, the rest of the world has vanished.

This is one of those novels the joins the reader to the main character. The reader is the character's only true friend and confidant. As a result, we get to know Punzel, nee Peggy and she becomes someone we care about. She is a very strong character, yet we lament her losses that she cannot fully comprehend. And as her father's mental grasp on begins to falter, we begin to fear for her safety. 

We are never completely fearful for her however, because the novel alternates between her time in the woods and her time home, which is very effective in creating a sense of mystery and providing clues to keep the reader engaged. There are a few open ended questions at the end, deliberately so, that are meant to engage younger readers to consider options. However adult readers are fairly convinced of what happened.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

It's the weekend and the roundup is back. I've been listening to a lot of new albums recently and have heard some great ones. I've also picked up some older albums on vinyl in the last few weeks, and always, have come across some eclectic stuff. Getting ready for the long haul of summer by lining up the albums I plan to enjoy while the heat threatens to bring me down. It's hard to be too down when the sounds around give you joy. Enjoy.

The Coral - Coral Island: This is the tenth album from the neo-psychedelic band out of Liverpool. I've been a fan of these guys since their 2002 debut and was pretty excited that a new album arrived after three years. This double album reminds me most of 2016's Distance Inbetween, which is one of my favorites of theirs. There's a blend of psyche folk and they do really well with that mellow late 60s Pink Floyd sound. "Change Your Mind," "Mist on the River," "Autumn Has Come," "Old Photographs," "Calico Girl," and "Watch You Disappear" are standouts on this exceptional album. 

New Bums - Last Time I Saw Grace: This is the second album from the indie duo that features Donovan Quinn from The Skygreen Leopards. Like that band, this is a stripped down acoustic album with psychedelic folk influences. There's nothing earth-shattering about this album, but that doesn't mean it's quite stellar. It's got a classic Drag City sound to it that I've always enjoyed. "Billy God Damn," "Wild Dogs," "Turned to Graffiti," "Cover Band," and "Hermitage Song" are personal favorites, though I love the entire album. 

Ryley Walker and Kikagaku Moyo - Deep Fried Grandeur: This EP from one of my favorite guitar players consists of two 18 minute instrumental tracks. It's beautiful psychedelic folk. As with all of Ryley's work, there's a deep 70s influence and often feels like solo Neil Young stuff, or at least has a similar vibe. Another fine addition to his growing catalog.

 

Rosalie Sorrels - Always a Lady: Rosalie was an American folk singer from Boise who began recording in the early 60s and remained active up through the early 2000s, before passing away in 2017. This album is from 1976 and I picked it up on a whim from the 4 for $10 bin at the local shop. This album has a rugged natural sound that reminds me of Karen Dalton. It's also very conversational at times, something that was pretty common in folk revival of the early 60s. A real solid folk record with my personal favorites being "Baby Rocking Melody," "Hey Little Girl," "The Caterpillar and the Butterfly," and "the Moth."

The Kinks - One For the Road: This live album was released in 1980 and features mostly work of the late '70s, with very few of their classic tracks (with exception of Side D..yeah encore). Because of that, I enjoy it...but that's also because I have live albums from their early days and have all those classic tracks live. Over the past couple of years, I've learned to appreciate this Kinks era and the maturity of their sound which really shows through on the way the classic tracks evolved over 15 years. Live always have never really been my thing, but this one I enjoy. 

Floatie - Voyage Out: The debut album from the Chicago four-piece indie band was released in March. This album is a bit math rocky, but in a subdued way. The vocals fade into the background as the repetitive notes build in sequence and retreat back again. It feels like one of those albums that good to have on in the background. Nothing really stands out on it as it really feels like a continuous exploration of one sound. 

 

Fiction Friday (131)

 

There are a handful of figures that have shaped my creative pursuits in my lifetime, one of them being Henry Darger. I still remember my first encounter with his artwork, from an ArtForum article in the late '90s and my interest has never waned. I recently have been listening to an album inspired by his words are art, which made me curious to search for books and I came across this 2019 novel which incorporates him as a character. It more than lived up to my expectations.

Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand

(Mulholland Books, 2019)

Pin is a fourteen year girl living in the dangerous city of Chicago in 1915. The city is a particularly dangerous for girls during that summer. After the murder of Pin's younger sister, her mother insists that Pin disguise herself as a boy for safety while they are living at the Riverview Amusement Park, a bustling Coney Island equivalent. Pin relishes the freedom that comes with being a boy, though lives in constant fear of being discovered. Her fears are exasperated when one day she witnesses a young girl enter the "Hell's Gate" ride with a man, and only the man emerges when the boat comes out. 

She's not the only one to witness this crime. A odd man named Henry Darger (based on the Outsider Artist) also saw the girl enter and not come out. Together, the two characters form an unlikely pair looking to capture the killer and avenge the deaths of his many victims. 

This was a spellbinding novel that really delved into many aspects of psychological disorders. There is care taken in presenting these characters in an understanding and thoughtful way. The "disturbed" are given a humanity, no matter how terrible they may be...and that's the joy of the book for me. And Pin is one of those wonderfully brave characters that you'll never forget.

Weekend Music Roundup

 

It's the weekend, and there's been a few warmish days of late, those beautiful late spring kind of days that borrow from the best of summer without the worst of it. Perhaps because of that, and because my listening taste always seems to match the weather, this list features all albums that capture different aspects of that vibe for me. Enjoy.

Will Oldham - Songs of Love and Horror: Released in 2018 to coincide with a book of his lyrics, these are new recordings of old songs that date through his career. These are stripped bare, just Bonnie "Prince" Billy and his acoustic guitar. It captures what I've always loved about his work, and reminds me of some old Palace material and The Amalgamated Sons of Rest project with Jason Molina and Alsadir Roberts. I've been listening to album at night before bedtime, and it's been pretty perfect. And much like the Pond Scum album, it delivers in making songs you love sound completely new and let you love them all over again.

The Antlers - Green to Gold: This sixth album from the NYC indie band comes seven years after their last album. This is band that I've always enjoyed, but also found to be a bit pretentious to the point that prevented me from ever loving their work. This one is different. The time spent on this album definitely shows and there is a maturity to this record, a deep sense of honesty that connects with the listener. "Stubborn Man," and "Just One Sec" are two of my favorite songs they've every recorded. 

 

Super Natural Psycho - Rendezvous With the Sun: The 2018 release is the second and most recent album from the NYC psych rock outfit. Despite the name, this is of the mellow psych variety, and quite awesome too. I went into this album not knowing anything about them, but liking the cover and checking the rating. I really enjoy the vibe on the record and feel it's going to get a lot play during my summer.

Tyrannosaurus Rex - A Beard of Stars: Released in spring of '70, this was the last album before they shortened their name to T.Rex for the next album released seven months later. This is the album where you can hear Marc Bolan embrace the glam rock style that would come to define his career. It's the transition album from psychedelic folk to the T.Rex sound and it's brilliant. I've always loved transition albums, albums where artists are finding their sound. This is one of those records and it's a great addition to the collection. 

Fanny - Mother's Pride: The early '70s pop glam rock band out of California was unknown to me until a video of June Millington shredding on guitar popped into my feed. Two days later, a visit to the local shop found this in their newly acquired bin. It's one of those funny coincidences where five days before, I would have flipped right past. There's definitely a west coast pop rock feel to this, but in the best kind of way. I love the way there always seems to be a little bit of sunshine in most California bands, there's just something magical about that region that invades the psyche. 

Built to Spill - Keep it Like a Secret: Released in '99, this was the fourth album from the Boise indie band, and the album that first introduced me to them. Perhaps because of that, it's always been my favorite record of theirs. It's one of those albums I've had on CD for decades and have kept a look out for on vinyl. I was fortunate enough to come across it at the local shop a few weeks back and knew I had to buy it. Having not listened to it in several years, it took me right back to that summer in NYC the way few albums can.