2003-09 Vital Source Mag – September 2003
Lovelier Than Ever
By Jason Keil Liv Mueller and Barb Endes have been hard at work this summer, putting the finishing touches on The Lovelies’ highly anticipated new album White Leather, their fourth release of smart, catchy, melodic rock due for release in late September. In a recent interview, Mueller shared that she’d been distracted, at least momentarily, by a review she stumbled upon from their recent show at the SXSW festival in Austin last March. The article described the band as “Laverne and Shirley meet the Everly Brothers,” going on to describe the band’s look while making little mention of their music. “They looked like they bought their outfits at the Chess King,” the reporter went on, only taking time to refer to their music as “bland.” But one scathing review can’t slow the juggernaut year for one of Milwaukee’s favorite bands. In addition to playing SXSW, breaking in their new drummer and dedicating most of their summer to White Leather, a tour of the Midwest and the South has been set up to promote the release of the new album. “I thought that the title encapsulated everything wonderful: Nancy Sinatra and Evel Kneivel, bubbles and danger, tough and soft, leather and lace,” says Mueller of White Leather. “Our friends and followers can expect to hear a great Lovelies record.” White Leather is, in many ways, a literal continuation of their previous release Hot One. In fact, four of the tracks from Hot One were re-recorded for White Leather, as their new label, St. Louis-based Force MP, feels they’re great songs that deserve a “wider audience.” Even with a degree of success in the testosterone-drenched world of rock music, there’s still a “chick rocker” label attached to The Lovelies. Mueller isn’t bothered. “Being a woman in music is very comparable to being a man in music, except Barb and I have these things called ‘breasts’ that get in the way of our guitar straps sometimes,” she says. “I see The Lovelies kicking open doors, breaking gender roles, and making so much money that Barb and I can finally get the sex change operations we’ve been waiting for!” Liv jokes. “But seriously, who knows where we fit in, or if we ever will. We’ve always remained true to our own style, and that makes us proud. I think there are a lot of female fronted bands that are getting a lot more respect than they used to.” Mueller remains distracted by the SXSW review, going so far as to shoot a response to the critic that seems to encapsulate The Lovelies unique sense of ironic fun. “I have never read a good rock review that didn’t go into great detail about the ‘appearance’ of a band before commenting on its music. I’m grateful that he tuned in to my ‘guitar centric-go nowhere tunes’ … In this day and age of hustle and bustle, Starbucks, traffic jams and video stores, I pose to you this question: Why go anywhere? EVEN in a song? My […]
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Frank Black and the Catholics
Frank Black and the Catholics Show Me Your Tears spinART www.spinartrecords.com/bands_frankblack.html The standard spiel about Frank Black could apply to any other seminal rock ‘n’ roll figure (Bob Mould, say) who presaged the alternative-rock insurrection but neither profited heavily from it nor died conveniently young. The line goes like this: “He hasn’t done anything great since he was in [insert band name here].” This cuts deeply in Black’s case because, more than anyone else, the Pixies — his band back when he was Black Francis — defined the edgy dynamics that Nirvana used to sell millions of records, inject electricity back into radio, destroy metal temporarily, etc. And after the Pixies disintegrated, Black formed a new band, the Catholics, with whom he’s cranked out rock ‘n’ roll that has been frequently good, sometimes better than good, but never quite so scintillating as the earlier flashes of fire. Show Me Your Tears is Black’s latest. Like most of his work in the last few years, it sounds as if he’s decided to reduce not merely his own expectations but those of everyone else as well. It’s just 13 songs ranging from the dark, stalking rockabilly of “Nadine” to the airy brooding roots-rock of “Manitoba,” with influences like Tex-Mex and spaghetti Westerns in between. None of the songs qualifies as a genuine waste of time, but Black’s voice — mostly low grit with the occasional leavening of melody or falsetto — lacks tension. The elastic snap that would propel the music past its own fleeting pleasures simply doesn’t happen. Show Me Your Tears, the title says, but Black gives out mere traces of tears, blood and sweat: the bodily fluids of art.
Sep 1st, 2003 by Jon Gilbertson
Welcome to Milwaukee’s Eighth Wonder — Pier Wisconsin!
By Raymond Johnson Could there really be a better idea than to build a Great Lakes freshwater education center on the Milwaukee Lakefront, as proposed by Pier Wisconsin? Especially after a few years of our local water utility MMSD fouling up Lake Michigan by dumping (oops, “blending” ) raw sewage into our rivers? Those people should be given free lifetime passes once it is built — and be required to go every week. Thankfully, the project is back on track. The story So far. Local philanthropist Michael Cudahy agrees to give millions of dollars to Pier Wisconsin to build a freshwater education center. There is one condition — Mr. Cudahy chooses the architect. The firm — McClintock Architects — designs a badly over-scaled building that some (though not I) complain too much resembles the recently built Quadracci pavilion for the Milwaukee Art Museum, known as “the Calatrava.” The design is so bad (according to its detractors) that everyone freaks out, including said Quadraccis and Mr. Calatrava himself. Ideas are floated to keep the design but move the center. The Harbor Commission decides to reject a lease agreement for the center — reasonably citing the views that the six-story building would obstruct. Michael Cudahy freaks out — saying he will never give another penny to the city for anything. Fast forward a little. Mr. Cudahy reconsiders, and the Harbor Commission, turning 180 degrees, gives Pier Wisconsin a lease, with the stipulation that the building be redesigned. Apparently this design will be reviewed by several municipal agencies. The new design itself will be handled by said McClintock Architects, who will work closely with city planning director Peter Park, with some moderating by Larry Witzling, a professor of architecture at UWM. All this is good stuff, and the building produced by this team will probably be acceptable, maybe even decent. The problem is, decent is not good enough for our lakefront. Buildings on the lakefront need to be excellent. And moderation rarely produces excellence. Let’s open it up. What we need here is an open design competition. Open, meaning anyone can enter. Design as has been happening around our city over the last decade, though rarely in whole buildings. Competition is that principle upon which market economies are based, whereby excellence in everything from plumbing to philosophy is produced. The ingredients for an incredible open design competition are already in place. You have a benefactor (Mr. Cudahy) who appreciates excellence and could bankroll an open design competition for probably 1f the project cost. You have a city representative (Mr. Park) who knows a thing or two about design. And you have a moderator (Mr. Witzling) who is a nationally recognized leader in putting together open design competitions. You’ll notice I keep referring to an “open design competition,” instead of shortening it to “competition.” This is because all three of these words are equally important. The process must remain open, and be anonymous. A local woman who has been doing fabulous restaurant/bar renovations around […]
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
The First Day of School
By Lucky Tomaszek My middle child, Emma, starts kindergarten this month. Like all parents, I find it hard to believe that this baby is ready for such a large endeavor. She is a smart, beautiful and creative five year old who truly seems ready for a slightly more structured learning environment. Emma has already learned so much. She is just starting to read and loves to add single digit numbers. She can tell you anything about bugs and loves art. She knows the colors of the rainbow and is borderline obsessed with putting all of her toys in ROYGBIV order. And she is craving more! When I sent my older child Lena to public school for the first time (albeit briefly, as it turned out), we made a big deal out of the day. She got a new dress to wear, with nice shoes and a new headband. She took a long bath the night before and I spent extra time and care combing her hair and trimming her nails. In the morning she jumped out of bed, excited to start on this new adventure. I helped her dress and gave her a necklace to wear to school, so she’d have something to hold on to if the day seemed hard. Of course we took pictures, lots of pictures of Lena’s first day of school. Eventually, group schooling didn’t work out for our family and I brought her home to start homeschooling. As I am getting ready to homeschool Emma, I think back on that other first day of school warmly. It was fun to shop with Lena and buy her first day of school dress. It was wonderful to spend the extra time with her the night before the big day. And the look on her face when I gave her the necklace was priceless. It was clear to both of us that she was growing up, and this first day of school was a rite of passage. These rituals of dressing up and taking pictures mean a lot to families. They make a special occasion out of these important events. Rituals like this show your kids that you know they’re ready to take this next big step and you believe they can succeed. All of this helps your child feel like a valued member of the family and increases their self-confidence at a time when kids are nervous and scared about trying something new. I want to make Emma’s entry to homeschool kindergarten just as special as Lena’s entry to public kindergarten. Emma is emotionally and developmentally ready to take the next step with more a formalized learning environment, and that step should be marked. We have decided that we will dress up in first day of school clothes and take pictures. We will break out our new school books for the first time and do a little lesson, and then we’re going to celebrate Emma’s entrance to kindergarten with a picnic at a local park. I hope […]
Sep 1st, 2003 by Lucky Tomaszek
Therapy
By Eric Francis For those of you planning to learn Chinese, or read War and Peace or dive into the Harry Potter series this fall, I have another idea for a project: Therapy. I have a friend who sometimes tells the story of a difficult period of his life, back around his college years. He is an educated and sensitive person. “I was so messed up I needed to see a counselor!” he sometimes says, still amazed after all these years, and speaking as if it were some great shame to need help. His perspective reveals the bias that we don’t need therapy unless we’re messed up; messed up is somehow shameful or wrong, as if we should not be this way. In that context, any form of needing help or desiring growth can be viewed pathologically, as a sickness, and thus wrong, instead of the desire to live a more full life. I speak from the viewpoint of having had very good experiences with therapists, which isn’t the case for everyone. But when you hear those stories, it’s worth checking whether the client went in seeking to learn about their own healing process and empower themselves, or to have someone else run their life. The starting point and the original intention have a lot to do with the outcome. In my own therapy process, I learned how to set the priority of taking care of myself. I learned to assess my relationships with my parents, and their impact on me, very honestly. I learned to ask for what I need in my intimate relationships. And most of all, I learned that I have the power to make choices. Disaster isn’t a necessary precondition. Most people opt for therapy when their life gets out of control, or when their pain is very intense, such as when they are getting divorced and things are falling apart. This is typical, and we are fortunate to have help available at such times (this was not always the case) but disaster is not a necessary precondition of working with someone. Therapy is an excellent growth tool and a process you can put to work for realizing your potential. Going into therapy involves acknowledging that you do need or desire some assistance, which is a tremendous step in itself. It also involves a commitment of your time and resources — both. The money is part of the picture, and so is having the dedication to show up for each session. The most important thing people learn in therapy is awareness. This is the same as learning how to be ourselves. In process, we talk a lot and eventually learn to listen to ourselves. This is worth paying for. You might ask why you can’t do this with a friend, and my response would be that a friend has other interests in you, and is unlikely to give you the objectivity, the room to change, or the opportunity to challenge yourself that you need. Perspective is […]
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Hope Lives in Tonasket
By Richard Walters In the wake of the Trade Center tragedy, the Bush administration pushed through Congress the so-called “PATRIOT Act” — probably the most mistakenly-titled piece of legislation in the history of the country. At the time, none dared oppose it — after all, it was called the PATRIOT Act, and to fail to vote for it would be, well, unpatriotic, not to mention disrespectful to all those heroic folks who died. As the fog has cleared, Americans from coast to coast have awakened to the horrifying consequences of exactly what has been done to them. The resulting pockets of backlash, although widespread, have not been widely publicized so far (what else can we now expect?). But they’ve cropped up in some surprising places. At over fifty thousand words, the PATRIOT Act is a virtual novella of oppression. Within its pages, the Bill of Rights is shredded, and the blind lady Justice is summarily gang-raped. For those who haven’t read it (most of us), let’s think about the freedoms sacrificed in the name of national security. The gang rape of blind Lady Justice. Start with freedom of association. Your government is now empowered to investigate you because of the people with whom you converse, exchange letters, or have a cup of coffee. Then there’s freedom from unreasonable search and seizure — the government has the ability to enter your home without a warrant, and take a look around without telling anyone, the so-called “sneak and peek.” Freedom of information? The government can peruse your library records, video store check-out history, shopping patterns, credit card receipts, bank records, all without subpoena. And freedom of speech? Your librarian, banker, video clerk, can all be sent to prison if they tell anyone that an investigation is ongoing. Your right to counsel? Forget it — the feds can eavesdrop on conversations between lawyer and client. If you are accused of a terror-related offense, they can deny you access to counsel, period. Speedy trial? You can now be held indefinitely without being charged. Public trial? Nope, in camera proceedings are now authorized. Even if you are charged, you can be denied the right to question witnesses against you if “national security interests” are cited, without any requirement on the part of the government to provide proof. As to freedom of information, the government has now closed once-public immigration hearings, secretly detained hundreds of people of “questionable” ethnic background, and encouraged government officials to resist public records requests. Last but not least, God help you if you win the trifecta — questionable ethnicity, a connection (however tenuous) to designated terrorist organizations, and a suspicion of providing “material support” or “specific expertise” to those groups (such as treating a member of one if you’re a doctor, or representing one if you’re a lawyer). This makes you eligible for the bonus round —designation as a probable enemy agent or combatant, a secret trial without counsel before a military tribunal, with the possibility of a death sentence and […]
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Annie Lennox
By Brian Barney Annie Lennox Bare J Records www.alennox.net Just when it would seem that Her Grace Annie Lennox had pretty much done it all as a ground breaking artist and diva, she opens yet another door to a room of musical treasure. Introspective and engaging lyrical content cuts straight to the heart early on in “Pavement Cracks,” where the loveliness of her voice is used as an instrument with tones as full and rich as any string or woodwind can boast. Things pick up in tracks like “Bitter Pill,” where her reverence for Motown shines through with glorious background vocals (all performed by Lennox) and foot stomping rhythm. Stand out tracks like “Honestly” and “Loveliness” are Annie at her best, showing the fullness and power that has grown as the years have passed. As always, Lennox writes from the heart and soul, displaying in tunes like “Twisted” and “A Thousand Beautiful Things,” the sort of depth and emotion few artists can grasp as wholly as she. Closing track, “Oh God,” serves as the perfect point of decrescendo with haunting melody and breathy lilt. It’s been twelve releases since Annie’s gone solo, and she shows no sign of slowing. This CD is a MUST have.
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Inn
By Brian Barney Inn Inn Io Records With a sound the band itself describes as “tronic groove”, Milwaukee’s Inn has used calculative strategy and loose jam to create a truly unique sound. Their self titled debut release waffles between coffee house techno and an almost 80s club style, where Depeche Mode-like beats and a Pearl Jam approach toward electric guitar are held together with spatial keyboard. Track after track, the hypnotic mood continues, mimicking a movie soundtrack that features serious scenes taking place in seedy bars. Opening track “Nirvana” sets the tone, melodic and weaving to a perfect fade. The music seems to hold its’ own at a predictable clip up to track 7, entitled “Low Resolution.” Here the feel seems to modulate towards ambient, and structure is abandoned in track 8, “Gibbous (Beta),” a thirty second musical interlude that could easily be mistaken for the theme from Shaft. The “stand out” track (last on the record), “Trek,” features trippy guitar and bass lines winding around grinding saturated vocals for the heaviest, yet most accessible offering overall. The strength of the disc most definitely lies in its’ diversity. Middle Eastern influenced lead lines, off kilter melody with catchy, often spooky counter melodies blend with what can be described as fantastic rhythm trackings in a creditable attempt in originality. Step into Inn’s Inn for a freshman effort well worth sampling.
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Fountains of Wayne
By Brian Barney Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers S-Curve Records www.fountainsofwayne.com With their third release to date, Welcome Interstate Managers, New York’s Fountains of Wayne has cemented their standing as one of the great all-time pop acts of recent years. Song writing duo Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, along with former Posie Judy Porter and drummer Brian Young, have crafted yet another collection of songs that take the best of the timeless catchiness reminiscent of groups ranging from The Monkees to The Knack. Polished with style is the flavor of the day in hit-worthy tracks like “Stacey’s Mom” and “Little Red Light” where hard-edged guitars meet melody lines that remain stuck in the brain from the first listen. The jangly, slightly overdriven layering of vintage guitars through vox amplification resounds throughout in tunes such as “No Better Place.” Although the subject matter of cell phones and late appointments may wax redundant, the volley between electric and down right pretty acoustic in tracks like “Valley Winter Song” keeps things fresh and interesting. A precious gem lies hidden under this vast mountain of pop in the country snippet “Hung Up On You,” which features a guest appearance by steel pedal master Robert Randolph. With equal doses of pop, twang, rock and 60s psychedelica, FOW’s latest has covered all the bases with something for everyone.
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Eliet Brookes
By Brian Barney Eliet BrookesThe Miles Left Over Recorded poetry and spoken word do not get commercially released as often as they should. Look for it in a store and you’ll be sauntering through the same ghetto aisle that has been set aside for “comedy.” Luckily for those of us who wade through Adam Sandler, Weird Al and the Jerky Boys, there exists poetry CDs like Eliet Brookes’ The Miles Left Over — eleven tracks of sheer pleasure. Settle into a pleasant moment, fire-up the CD player, cuddle up with Brookes’ beautiful voice and don’t forget the cocktail party at the bar on the fifth track. Exquisitely produced by Brew City musician Paul Setser, each track features musical accompaniment ranging from the talents of acoustic guitarist Richard Pinney to Paul Lawson to the Aimless Blades to Setser himself. Never obtrusive, the music adds to the substance of Brookes’ voice at every turn. Brookes works from a variety of moods quite successfully. Overall, there is a sense of incredibly tranquil peace, even in the bittersweet moments of the second track, “annie from broken street.” Somewhere halfway through that fifth track, Brookes says, “of course, none of this is true.” Somehow she manages to make even something this haunting sound very reassuring. Remarkably dark moments are traveled through with great grace. Brookes’ voice is not the only one on the CD. The fifth track features cameos by poet Lisa Mahan, musicians/poets Tank Staggers, Voot Warnings Rustle of Luv and several more. And then there’s the seventh track. Eamonn O’Neill manages to make Brookes’ contemporary poetics sound vaguely like Middle English. The journey ends on an intriguingly Asian-sounding “usyoumewei, (eliet’s mantra),” as performed by singer/songwriter Mariah Myerson. Can’t find the CD? Eliet Brookes can be reached at: herontree@ecoisp.com. It is also available at Woodland Pattern. See Eliet: Sept 8: Thai Joes Sept 18: Zodiac Luxury Lounge Sept. 24: Y-Not II Sept 26: Bremen Café
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
