Weekend Music Roundup

This was one of those weeks of unexpected new releases from bands I was unaware had a new release scheduled. I love those kinds of weeks, especially when the bands are among my favorites. In the midst of that, I also rediscovered some things that I'd neglected for too long and decided to include those as well. And in case you ever wondered how I make these lists, basically I get up on Sunday's, look at the albums waiting to be reviewed, and pick ones based on what I feel like listening to that day. It is rare that I don't listen to the album as I write the review, just in case something fresh hits me. Anyway, plenty here to digest. Enjoy.

Manic Street Preachers - National Treasures-The Complete Singles: Though a contractual Best Of called Forever Delayed was released in 2002, it wasn't complete by any stretch. This double album, with nineteen tracks on each, includes every song the band has released as a single, in chronological order. Reviewing these kind of albums is tough, because it is essentially a review of the band's career, in this case, one of the greatest bands of the last twenty years in my opinion. You really hear the band progress from their early rebellious Motorcycle Emptiness phase, into their If You Tolerate This era of epic beauty and tragedy, and finally onto the reflective current period. What shows through is the consistent brilliance of one of the most political bands of all time. Impossible not to give this 5 stars. 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill: After reuniting with his oft backing band earlier this year for their take on Americana, the Godfather of Grunge and Crazy Horse have given us this double album of goodness. I have to admit to being weary of this album. Though one of my all time favorite songwriters, Neil's recent albums, while not embarrassing by any means, have tended to bore me. But I gave this a go, mostly because of how much I enjoyed Americana. I'm glad I did. This easily his best album in decades. The opening epic 27minute track "Drifting Back," is not only amazing, I would suggest it deserves mention among Neil's best. The rest of the album is also extremely strong, lacking any real wasteful tracks. I love the way his past material sometimes creeps into these songs, like the past is blending with the present. Psychedelic Pill is proof that great artists always have the potential for greatness, it's the reason why we dedicate ourselves to following their work.

Andrew Bird - Hands of Glory: With his second album of 2012, following springs stellar Break It Yourself, Andrew Bird continues to be in top form. These nine tracks are less ambitious than those on the other album, but no less amazing. There's more of indie folk vibe here as compared to the more chamber folk sound Andrew Bird usually delivers. The only question I have is which of the two will make it higher on my best of the year list because right now it's really hard to tell, both are fantastic.

Godspeed You Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!: The gloomy Canadian drone rock band has had a bit of cult following ever since 2000's Lift Yr. Skinny Fists... album, one that I own and enjoy, though never really understood completely the reverence in which it's held. They return here with their first full length album in 10 years and not much has really changed. Consisting of two 20-plus minute tracks and two 6-plus minute tracks, their instrumental music never fails to create vast soundscapes. It's very weighty album, though, as I've always felt with them, probably not as weighty as they would like to believe judging from their Joycean choices of titles. Still though, quality through and through, but personally I think Earth does this type of thing slightly better.

  

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am...: Far from new, I've had this album since 2006, the year it was released, and the band has remained a favorite of mine ever since. I decided to include this album on this week's list because I pulled out the CD the other day and listened to it for the first time in probably over two years. I found myself re-blown away by how aggressive and original it still sounds today. It's a raw and emotional observation on life in the modern age, full of justified cynicism and tongue in cheek wit. But above all of that, it rocks as hard as anything The Stooges ever did. There's a good reason why this album made waves in the UK. Definitely should have made more waves here in the US. 

The Music Tapes - Mary's Voice: Julian Koster's fourth release as The Music Tapes in the last 13 years is a beautiful record. One of the members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Julian has been involved in many of the Elephant 6 projects since it's early days. The Music Tapes has always been his baby, and has always attempted to make imaginary worlds that sound almost like field recordings from a circus that never was. This album isn't any different. There are lot of accordion/saw interludes between the traditional songs, but those songs are some of the best on any of his albums. "To All Who Say Goodnight" is absolutely amazing.

Little Birds Born Without a Mother or a Father

Tonight I'm going to see Jeff Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel) play a concert at a small theater in Woodstock, NY. For those of you not familiar with the story, it goes something like this. With their second album, Neutral Milk Hotel achieved a mild level of success within the indie world and by 1998 were well on their way to stardom. Then they simply stopped playing.

In the years since, there have a been only a handful of Jeff Mangum solo shows. Recently this summer, he began playing a very small tour. When this show was announced so near my home, I couldn't miss it. And not only is it a chance to see one of my favorite songwriters of all time, it's also a benefit concert for the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary--the home of Albie, the three-legged goat I sponsored this year. I'll be there with my friend Dan, the same person I saw NMH hotel with over thirteen years ago. It should be a near religious experience.

Weekend Music Roundup (Elephant 6 Recording Co. Edition)

I spent this week revisiting a set of albums that have been important to me for over a decade. As I mentioned in my review of an Olivia Tremor Control album last week, I've been reading the 33 1/3 volume on the Neutral Milk Hotel album In The Aeroplane Over the Sea. This series of books takes seminal albums and discusses them in detail; how they came about, how they evolved and how they continue to evolve long after their release. It's a great series that features volumes on half of my ten favorite albums of all time, including this one.

The book spent a lot time discussing the Elephant 6 Collective in detail. For those who don't know, the Elephant 6 was (and still is) a collection of bands that lived, worked, wrote, and performed music together. It was a movement of like-minded friends that shared a different vision of the world than the mainstream and strove to express it and share it with the world.

The music made by the Elephant 6 bands captured my imagination starting in 1998 and still has yet to let go. I have an entire shelf in my music room devoted to CDs purchased from the late '90s through the early part of the last decade, all with the Elephant 6 logo on the back, some on Spin Art records, some on Kindercore, and some on Merge. As I was reading the book and it would discuss or mention another of these bands familiar to my heart, I would venture onto the shelf and pull it out. I ended up immersing myself in this music for the last week or so and felt the need to dedicate this week's round up to these treasures. Enjoy.

NOTE: I am not reviewing the title album because on any given day, it might very well be the album I name as my favorite of all time. It means to much to me to put into words.

Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island: The first proper NMH album (there are several self-released cassettes the preceded it) is essentially a Jeff Mangum solo album. The band wouldn't be assembled until after this album was recorded. It's a lo-fi album, heavy on fuzz, yet Jeff's voice blazes through it all and pulls the listener into the frenzy that are the songs. Not as defined or intense as Aeroplane, but nearly as good. This album features some of my favorite NMH songs. "A Baby for Pree" and "Pree-Sisters" are wonderful and always feel like little novels to me. "Naomi", probably the most accessible NMH song, is a wonderful pop tune. And then there's "Gardenhead/ Leave Me Alone" which features some of the best lyrics I've ever heard.

Jeff Mangum - Live at Aquarius Records: This bootleg captures a show between the two NMH albums in which Jeff is working out some of the songs that would later appear on Aeroplane, either in different forms or only in bits used in other songs. The set includes the unreleased companion track to "Oh Comely" (a track on Aeroplane and one of the best songs ever written). The companion track is called "Oh Sister" and it's amazing. More frantic than "Oh Comely" but no less powerful. The set also includes live staples such as "Engine" and always the enjoyable, yet tragic, "She Did a Lot of Acid."

Olivia Tremor Control - Presents: Singles and Beyond: This compilation, released in 2000, gathered the earliest OTC limited release singles and EPs for their expanding fan base. The music is all from a short period of time, so there isn't any of the disjointed feeling that sometimes comes with collected volumes like this. It all feels like a very cohesive blend of the OTC combination of sunshine psychedelia and noise effects.

Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage: Released in 1999, this is my personal favorite of the OTC albums. It's hard to say it's better than Dusk at Cubist Castle, it's just a little different. A bit darker, a bit more expansive. There's a lot of looping back on this album, repeated refrains and echoing sounds that give it a circular feel that has always appealed to me. This is the last release under the name Olivia Tremor Control. Will Cullen Hart would continue as Circulatory System (great albums, all of them) and Bill Doss would continue as The Sunshine Fix (equally great albums, all of them).

The Apples in Stereo - Tone Soul Evolution: The Elephant 6 was divided into two camps. The Athens, Georgia side which included NMH and OTC and the Denver side which included The Apples in Stereo and The Minders. Robert Schneider is the connecting glue during the early years. He was the producer on both NMH albums, and the lead singer and creative force in The Apples in Stereo. Though both camps enjoyed the fuzzy lo-fi aesthetic, the Denver bands were more obsessed with reinventing a '60s psychedelic pop sound. This is the band's second album, released in 1997, and it's quite remarkable. It has this Beatles feel to it, but at the same time sounds so new...like an artifact from the past that isn't discovered until the future is ready for it.

The Apples in Stereo - Her Wallpaper Reverie: The band's third album, released in 1999, remains their most ambitious album in my opinion. I feel like there is an attempt to break out of the 3 minute pop song format and create a more surreal context. It still has the same bright feeling as their others, but there's just something special about this one that has always stood out for me.

The Music Tapes - First Imaginary Symphony for Nomad: This project shares a direct link with NMH. The Music Tapes is essentially Julian Koster who played bass, accordion, and saw in NMH. But The Music Tapes existed prior to that, as an outlet for Julian's experimentation. This album is easily the most inaccessible album on this list. Grating at times and beautiful at others, it's unconcerned with catchy song structure. When I first heard it upon its release in 1999, I found it unlistenable and felt the best thing about it was the pop-up cover art. It was a few years later when I revisited it that I heard how remarkable it is. There are still parts of it that don't appeal to me, but for the most part it's well worth the listen. "Song for the Death of Parents" is the real stand out track for me.

Elf Power - When the Red King Comes: Probably the closest to NMH out of all the Elephant 6 bands, Elf Power play a similar blend of lo-fi surrealist music, but also have an ear for the sunny psychedelia of OTC and The Apples in Stereo. I saw this band open for NHM in 1998, and I was familiar with their earliest albums, but this is the band I really explored in depth for the first time this week. This album, released in 1997 is quite remarkable. Out of all the Elephant 6 albums, I would say this is the only one that even comes close to resembling Aeroplane, though it's also quite different at the same time. Not nearly as ambitious, but ambitious enough.

Elf Power - A Dream in Sound: This 1999 follow-up to When the Red King Comes sees the band moving a little more toward the pop sound of the other Elephant 6 bands. The uniting threads and more surrealist lyrics of the previous album give way to more conventional song writing. It serves them well and the album is pretty great. As a matter of preference, I prefer the earlier album, but enjoy this one immensely as well.

The Essex Green - Everything is Green: Released in 1999, this album marked an expansion of the Elephant 6 as the band hails from Brooklyn, NY. Though there has always been a NYC connection, NMH having been based there and the full band formed there between the two albums. This is one of my favorite albums on the list. It's a little more psychedelic and feels more folkish than poppy. Their two follow up albums are also great, as is their album released under the name The Sixth Great Lake.

The Minders - Cul-De-Sacs & Dead Ends: Released in 1999, this is a compilation of earlier, limited release singles and EPs. Even in the earliest days, The Minders sound polished, playing songs that sound like lost recordings from the mid-to-late '60s. Infectious pop hooks, combined with the slightest bit of psychedelic experimentation blended in so perfectly. However, they always managed to present a view on our modern culture, capturing a lost soul perspective that I identify with.

The Minders - Hooray for Tuesday: Released in 1998, this is one of the most pleasurable albums in my entire music collection. Since the year of its release, it's been an album I'll often pull out in anticipation of going out. It's so upbeat and beautiful, catchy and wonderful. As the cover suggests, it certainly evokes a '60s feel, but as I mentioned above, it zeros in on a uniquely late 20th century longing, illustrated in one of my favorite verses from the title track: "I'll write you a letter, from someplace where they don't have telephones. And I'll send you a postcard, a postcard is better, you can see where I sent it from." An album that's impossible not to enjoy.