Guided By Voices, "The Electrifying Conclusion"
Philadelphia, Theatre Of Living Arts
Friday September 10, 2004

I do like Guided By Voices, but am by no means their biggest fan. There any many more people who are endlessly devoted to this band. Shortly after seeing the video for "Motor Away" on 120 minutes years ago, I've been cognizant 2 things about GBV:

1. Bob Pollard is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time, releasing about an album a year with usually over 20 songs a shot.
2. Bob Pollard has also penned some of the best indie rock/indie pop songs/albums of the 90s and early 2000s.

What I learned this past Friday is that people are also devoted to GBV because:
Guided By Voices are one of the best rock and roll shows around, putting to shame many a lesser band.

Anthony - Neu York
Secret Crush Records

I'd never heard of this guy before, so I went into this record completely blind. How I came out of it, though, was at once pleasantly surprised and a little confused. But I like this guy. Anthony Reynolds is the frontman for UK groups Jack and Jacques, of whom I have only vaguely heard, and just based on this solo project, I expect to hear a lot more from him from now on.

The opening track of Neu York, "I Love My Radio (on)," is a sweeping, delicious track that provokes images of summer trips and landscapes speeding by your window. Slightly new wave in feel and fully embracing electronica enhancements, I'm certain that this song is going to end up on my next road trip CD. This is followed by the extremely radio-ready "Lush Life," which if anyone can tell me why I'm not hearing this song everywhere, I'll give them a cookie. Love the line "We're too beautiful to die."
At this point, I'm feeling comfortable and think I have a good grip on what this record will be about, but I soon find out that my notions of comfort are about to be shaken up a bit. Neu York suddenly takes a journey into another world where things are a little more antiseptic on the surface.

"Good Times" is basically just Anthony and his guitar in the beginning; then it builds slightly, adding instrumentation and electronic noises, creating an alien landscape that reminds me of what Radiohead did with the quieter songs on their opus OK Computer...a sort of a lonely out in deep, dark space ambiance. And then, before you've noticed, the 5:13 of the song has crept by you.

"Dear Melvyn" strikes me as being fairly autobiographical, and like many semi-spoken word songs, it comes off as awkward and a little too esoteric for my taste. "Love to Loved (Sweetness and Light)" sounds like Love & Rockets and gets us momentarily back to the catchy, poppy sound that started off the album. And then we take a strange turn back to a Blade Runner-esque world with "I Sit With the Smokers." This mood is continued with songs like "2000 Miles (Boxing Day Blues)" and "If July Were a Kingdom," which are intensely melancholy and futuristic.

At the core of this record, however, is careful songwriting navigating many different genres and sounds. Anthony has managed to create songs that cover the the spectrum of artistic expression: Pure ambient, almost folkish singer/songwriter, vapid (and not-so-vapid) pop, metallic visionary and even channeling a little Smiths in "Prelude to...." While Anthony makes the most of electronics, he doesn't rely on them to do the work for him, nor does he throw them in his songs arbitrarily.

One suggestion I might have had, had I been asked, is that perhaps these 14 songs should have been released on two albums because there really do seem to be two distinct tones. I just get settled in at the beginning of the record, comfortable in my expectation of slightly challenging, poppy songs (which is, by the way, not a criticism at all), and then suddenly I'm floating out in the far reaches of the universe alone and wishing there was someone to talk to.

I can't really wrap my head around the dichotomy on Neu York, but I think maybe that this is the point. "Neu York," you know, not "New York"? It begins safely, with the known, and progresses to the slightly foreign and strange, slightly cold and impersonal. Maybe what Anthony is trying to tell us in his futuristic vision is that the landscape passing by outside our window is really the passing of time and our notion of what the world can become.

DJ Shadow- In Tune and on Time LIVE
Geffen Records

In Tune and on Time has revealed an ancient secret to me--a dark secret from the deep trenches of musical history, a revelation striking the basic foundations of music: musicians are people who play instruments!

As much as we forget Hollywood celebrities aren't just people who get married to other celebrities and showcase couture but are also people whose job it is to act, equally we forget that musicians are people whose job it is to play instruments. Music fans have been put under the spell of the studio album: the thousandth-try work of faltering, sloppy musicians and the diligent editing of disingenuous, vocoding producers--where months of unwavering labor can be put into what comes in at barely an hour of music. Musicians are more than these parlor tricks, behind the smoke and fog, they are just people who play instruments (turntables et. all)--this is something DJ Shadow can do well. Nearly every sound that comes through in the studio he produces live and masterfully. No Boards of Canada'esque 17 note chords here, real sounds and samples--in tune and on time.

United State of Electronica - U.S.E.

There are times when we pride ourselves on our alternative music tastes, whether it is some new group from India playing neo-classical drum & bass or a live recording of forty people playing forty different organs, but then there are moments of such unadulterated bliss in which you find yourself saying "I love pop music, I really do." U.S.E by United State of Electronica is one of those unadorned moments that continue to show the power of pop music's potential.

Autoparty - Lumlight

I got the Autoparty (comprised of Baskerville singer/guitarist Rob Keith and bassist Christoph Gerozissis) debut, Lumlight, from Liz one balmy afternoon, and I was pretty excited. New music is something like new sneakers; you have to put them on immediately and bounce around for a while. Unfortunately, not all sneakers have great bouncy properties, and likewise, some new music just leaves you feeling flat. I have to confess that this genre, call it Electropsychedelia LaptopPopDiscoNoir all you like, is just not my bag, baby. In fact, I'd have to say that the more contrived a name is given to something, the more contrived that something generally turns out to be...and I'm not sure I've ever known a case where being more contrived translated to something positive.

Would-Be-Goods - The Morning After
Matinee Recordings

Describe a band or record as twee and suddenly it's gotten the short end of every stick around. The stigma of creating precious or quiet pop is unfounded in the indie rock world. I will never understand why every reviewer feels free to love Belle and Sebastian but anyone compared to the Scottish supergroup is automatically boring and crap.

The Morning After is a record that can hopefully break a few of those indier-than-thou mindsets away from the twee=bland equation. England's Would-Be-Goods, led by famed-in-certain-circles el recording artist Jessica Griffin, have created a new album of elegant and timeless guitar pop. At no point in time does guitarist Peter Momtichiloff (Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, Razorcuts and Scarlet's Well) break into major rock chords and strum as if his hands are afire... but nor is his guitar polite or apologetic. There should be nothing conciliatory about creating a sound this beautiful and soulful, even if it's not going to shift enough units to hit the charts. This playful record bounds between charming songs of identifying with a caged lion ('Big Cat Act') to French ballads alternating between patient chords and a surf rock anthem ('Le Crocodile').

The Shore
Maverick

I've always come under the assumption that if Pink Floyd never released 'Dark Side of the Moon' and if Gram Parsons never met his Grievous Angel, then the sounds we now know as Shoegazer, Dream Pop, Space Rock, etc. would probably never exist.

With that in mind, every musical generation has its album that fits that sound. Most notably, in the 90s era when Britpop ruled the world, The Verve were the leaders of the pack as they took that style and brought it to stadiums around the world. Now, while some may think that sounding like a previously-existing band may be derivative or plain old copying, when you take that familiar sound and bring it to a different level, its cool. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to the new torchbearers - The Shore.

“Weightlifting” is an Exercise in Superior Songwriting

The lyrics to the opener, “Welcome Back,” on the Trash Can Sinatras new album, Weightlifting, could easily be a message to the band themselves. A few seconds into “Welcome Back” Francis Reader, the Trash Can Sinatras’ front man, sings: “Welcome back, back to health, back from the edge where we found you.” These lyrics mirror the reality the band has faced since 1996’s A Happy Pocket. After the release of A Happy Pocket, the band ended up declaring bankruptcy, but due to their love of making music together they managed to come back from the brink of financial ruin to release Weightlifting, a musically solid collection of songs that are as good, if not better (in some respects), that their previous albums. That is to say if you are a fan of their earlier albums, you will surely love the new record. Weightlifting picks up where A Happy Pocket left off and the two albums can be played back-to-back seamlessly despite the eight years that have passed between the two releases.

Tilly and the Wall
Team Love

I fell in love with Tilly and the Wall before I had even heard them. My jaw dropped when I saw their website, which is currently covered in hearts and crocodiles with flashing neon bands of color. Good graphic design will do that to a girl. I ordered 'Wild Like Children' shortly after my friend Jason Anderson (of K records fame) told me, and I quote, "They will be your NEW FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME!!!" Let's just say he wasn't far off. 'Wild Like Children' was the only disc in my stereo for weeks, because it truly is that good. I went on a crusade telling all of my friends how good this record makes me feel. It's hard to put a finger on what specifically made me go gaga for, as their fanbase fondly calls them, The Tillies.
Instead of using a traditional band set-up, TATW toss aside the notion of having of a proper drummer and opt for hand claps and tap dancing instead and various other forms of percussion. The beats are infectious regardless of what they are made with. In some respects, this is like an Elephant 6 record. There are "woos" and "ba-bas". The harmonies are creamy and dream-like. Their friends join in and help out with the recording process. They use non-conventional instruments to create vibrant and catchy bursts of sound. The lyrics sometimes touch upon the nonsensical. Regardless, this doesn't sound much like anything ever put out on Elephant 6.

While I would say they are an indie pop band, 'Wild Like Children' spans the entire range of the indie subgenre. 'Nights of the Living Dead', sounds like a fluffed up Thermals song. 'A Perfect Fit' sounds like any number of syrupy electropop songs that have, in the past couple of years, come into fashion. The song structure, the content and even the lyrical style of 'I Always Knew', are similar to Rilo Kiley (minus the mention of plane crashes). Nevertheless, Tilly and the Wall create their own sound and keep the album feeling fresh throughout.

My favorite tune off the record is 'Bessa', a song about a love leaving, and dreaming about better times. It's an old storyline that's been made time and time again throughout the ages, but the Tillies add their special formula together to make a special sweet and sad version, ending with: "I guess I better wake up then. I guess I better get going. I guess I better move on now and find my own way." It's the 'I Will Survive' of the indie world.

'Wild Like Children' was the first release on Conor Oberst's new record label, Team Love, which is a subsidiary of Saddle Creek. Having the advantage of being on an indie superstar's label, they've supported Pedro the Lion and Rilo Kiley on tours thus far. Their live show is rivaled to be even better than their record, complete with the tap dancing! At the rate at which people are falling in love with the Tillies, I'm certain that next time around they'll be the ones headlining.

SEBADOH's reunion tour is pretty lean, as Lou Barlow put it:

"No record label, no record, no guestlist, no drummer."

Lou and Jay Lowenstein have just completed their US tour with a show at the Los Angeles Troubadour. I'm no Sebadoh historian but I believe this is ther first tour in five years.