The Apples In Stereo - The Future Is Now

My piece on The Apples In Stereo, for Blurt Online

(Orig. published 5/14/10 at Blurt Online)

HAPPY ACCIDENTS: Fyfe Dangerfield

My piece on Fyfe Dangerfield, up at Blurt Online.

Dr. Dog - Trying A Detour

My piece on Dr. Dog, an Under the Radar Web exclusive (3/5/10)

The greatest love song of the last 10 years

If you just read selected lyrics, it comes across like your typical ode to lost love ("I don't even know where she lives/ I've not seen her in 10 years..." or the impassioned chorus of "Other girls went and other girls came/ I can't get over my old flame/ I'm still in love with Emily Kane.") But what makes "Emily Kane" arguably the greatest indie rock love song of the last decade is Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos' delivery and attitude. Sure there's some humor there, but it's only to mask the fact that he's 100% sincere.

From the way the opening eight chords slide down the scale to the fevered repetition of the final choruses, "Emily Kane" sticks with you not just because it's a great pop song, but because it so vividly pines for a certain feeling at a certain time of life. Not to mention that it's relatable; nearly everyone had some sort of infatuation at age 15 - unrequited or otherwise - and the thrill of that early romance is the newness of it. And that's half of what Argos is longing for: "Even though we didn't understand/ How to do much more than just hold hands/ There's so much about you I miss/ The clumsy way we used to kiss," he reminisces in his mostly-spoken style. Sure, it's a tribute to a real person, but more than that, it's a longing for something intangible - a little bit of nostalgia for a feeling that you basically only get once.

(Note: The video sucks, so press play and then ignore the visuals. Or just go find your copy of the album and turn it up fucking loud.)



(Originally posted 2/12/10 at SpectrumCulture.com)

Review: Aziz Ansari - "Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening"

Arguably the three biggest stand-up comedy stories of the last decade were the massive popularity of “blue collar” comedians; the continued prominence of macho frat-boy jack-ass comedy (lookin’ at you, Dane Cook); and so-called indie comedy, the likes of David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Flight of the Conchords and more. Aziz Ansari (best known from his work on Parks and Recreation, Human Giant and Funny People) fits easily in that last category, but Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening demonstrates that he’s still got a long climb before he reaches those comics’ level.

Intimate Moments, Ansari’s first stand-up special, premiered on Comedy Central, followed by release a few days later on both CD and DVD. The DVD’s only benefit over the CD (aside from the visual component, and save for one joke, Ansari’s not a visual comedian) is the bonus 30 minutes of material not included in the special itself. Why Comedy Central chose to release this in two separate formats rather than just packaging them together is beyond me, though my educated guess is that it has more to do with commerce and less to do with common sense or what the consumer might want.

As for the work itself, Ansari’s an insanely clever jokester, but he suffers from multiple faults which cheapen the material. Comedy has its own verbal tics and cues, and jokes need the proper tone for set up, development and punchline, but Ansari too often takes the same tone on each joke, wearing it out before its time. Thus material which should seem spontaneous comes across as scripted, punctuated only by Ansari’s frequent yelling to emphasize a punchline, for example.

There’s way too much repetition here, too. One joke (or series of jokes) about meeting celebrities is fine – indeed the Kanye West bit is among the best moments here – but there’s not just one bit about meeting celebrities: there’s three. In addition to West, Ansari also riffs on run-ins with M.I.A. and R. Kelly. If that’s your shtick and your name is Kathy Griffin, I suppose that’s okay; but since that’s already been taken, Aziz better come up with something else.

But the celebrity issue exemplifies one of Intimate Moments’ main problems. Far too frequently Ansari repeats himself and/or drags things out vastly longer than necessary, such as on the aforementioned R. Kelly bit or in a segment about commenting on Facebook. What starts out as funny simply becomes dull and irritating as the listener has wait for him to exhaust the topic at hand before he moves on to something else.

The set concludes with an 8-minute encore of “RAAAAAAAANDY,” Ansari’s take on macho comedian buffoonery (and his character from Funny People). Ansari’s clearly thought this through and done the research to come up with a composite sketch of that kind of comic, but it quickly moves from funny to obnoxious. That’s obviously the point, but Ansari seems to think enough of it to drag it on for longer than necessary. Like much of the rest of Intimate Moments, it’s a clever idea taken too far for too long.

(Originally posted 2/5/10 @ SpectrumCulture.com)

Review: The Decemberists - "Here Come The Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized"

Go buy some drugs, The Hazards of Love has an animated album-length video companion.

It’s somewhat predictable that a project like this would be attempted – pompous concept albums about wood nymphs and shape-shifters do lend themselves well to full-length animation treatment after all – but for any inherent ridiculousness, the whole thing works fairly well. It’s not as inventive as its forbears – chiefly The Wall, but also The Song Remains The Same and Magical Mystery Tour, among others – but, as with the album-length video companion, ambitious conceptual rock operas have also gone out of fashion.

As on the record, there’s a woodsy theme throughout the early proceedings, with leaves, roots, dirt and the like moving in time to the music and reflecting changes in tone and theme. Subsequent visual elements include constellations, woodland animals, geometric shapes, sinking ships and more.

For those looking for an old-fashioned “turn it up and tune out,” you could do a lot worse (and, oddly, it seems like it might appeal to toddlers as well, despite the occasional song about infanticide). But for those less interested in chemical stimulation, this is something of a one-shot deal. Having seen the band perform the record in its entirety, I’m still convinced that they should’ve just done the whole thing as a live album, in which case this could have served as a companion DVD documenting the live show.

Still, maybe somebody will figure out a way to sync their next record up with The Wizard of Oz. Or, that having already been done, perhaps Metropolis. Or maybe The Corpse Bride. Hell, just give ‘em a laser light show already.

(Originally posted in slightly different form at Under The Radar, 1/27/10)

Review: Forge Your Own Chains - Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges, 1968-1974

Consider this the umpteenth edition of Now That’s What I Call Psychedelic Music!, the would-be series having begun with Nuggets, then Pebbles and countless other psychedelic reissue compilations leading up to Forge Your Own Chains.

The record’s primary fault lies in its specificity, creating a listener expectation that the tracks doesn’t live up to. Sure, there are some heavy psychedelic ballads and dirges as advertised, but there’s also funk and soul of East of Underground’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes” and The Strangers’ “Two To Make A Pair.” Shin Jung Hyun & The Men’s “Twilight” wouldn’t have been out of place on a Kill Bill soundtrack (or in any other Tarantino film, for that matter), while the plaintive cut from D.R. Hooker that gives the record its name mixes meandering guitar with bursts of brass and flute.

Still, there’s some solid psych cuts here, not least of which Ellison’s “Strawberry Rain,” and Shadrack Chameleon’s “Don’t Let It Get You Down,” and Morly Gray’s “Who Can I Say You Are?", all of which stand out as classic psychedelia, with hazy, clouded vibes pervasive throughout. Tracks like that form the heart of the record, even when they’re flanked by lesser ditties that don’t seem to meet the “psychedelic” tag.

Compiled by the venerable Stones Throw label and producer Egon (also an NPR Music contributor), the whole set earns points for its thoroughness, including extensive liner notes on each artist’s background, recording history and more. Anthologies like this rise or fall by their liner notes as much as the music, and this one scores on that front. Additionally, those involved in culling the disc aren’t afraid of a long song – a plus, since many comps like this put the focus on short blasts of primal teenage garage energy. Indeed, many of the bands featured here were teens when these tracks were recorded, and it’s a credit to Stones Throw that they’ve brought together material of this sort not just from the states but from Columbia, South Korea, Nigeria, Iran and more.

Forge does what collections of this sort should, bringing together rare (in some cases ultra-rare) tunes by disparate artists all working within the same field and revealing even more breadth to a genre than previously known.

But unearthing a rare psychedelic-era track doesn’t automatically make it a Nugget or even a Pebble, and despite some real finds here, there’s the feeling that much of this ground has already been plowed. How many more great unknown psych-era bands are there, really? Hasn’t that well run dry by now? Judging from Forge Your Own Chains, if it hasn’t already, it may well be on its way.

(Originally posted to SpectrumCulture.com, 1/13/10)