2004-10 Vital Source Mag – October 2004
Sally Timms
By Erin Wolf Touch and Gowww.tgrec.com Those familiar with Sally Timms’ work with the Mekons know her as an artist of creativity and charm, with a voice as sireny and sweet as a lullaby. Influenced by the Mekons’ drift into alt-country or “cow-punk,” Timms offers a genuineness to her solo efforts that is often lost in the Nashville scene. Her first solo country album, Cowboy Sally’s Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos (1999), included covers by Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash, offering up a bright, inoffensive take on typical sentimental material. Her latest effort, In the World of Him, finds Timms once again dipping into the pot of country influences, but meandering in a different direction with heavier, more thought-provoking lyrics and tones provided by a myriad of artists. This “theme album,” recorded with Johnny Dowd and his band, arranges songs penned by Mark Eitzel, Ryan Adams, Jon Langford and the Mekons into unique and evocative soundscapes surrounding Timms’ soft and emotive voice. In the World of Him explores, in a post-feminist sense, the perspective of men on subjects such as commitment, communication, love and war. Although a departure from her previous material, Timms, along with Dowd, manages to confidently create an album that is beautifully strange in its diversity of style and seriousness of subject. Beautiful in its blatant take on humanity’s natural tendency to despair—“Lord, Lord, can you hear me? Are your angels just children laughing insane at the fools we are as men?”—the album’s lyrics are dark and striking. Take it or leave it, this is an album that will leave the listener deep in thought. On November 21, Sally Timms and Johnny Dowd play Bremen Café, 901 E. Clarke St.
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
American Music Club
By Erin Wolf Merge Records www.mergerecords.com It’s official: American Music Club frontman Mark Eitzel now reclaims the Bleeding-Heart title for writing cutting and honest lyrics. Even under the long shadow of his Rolling Stone-bestowed designation of “Best Songwriter,” he helps to create an AMC album (the first since the band’s breakup in 1995) filled with heartfelt disappointment, frustration, pathos and occasionally insightful contentment. Love Songs for Patriots may seem like a Springsteen-esque title, but it’s a far cry from that. As Eitzel comments on Ladies and Gentlemen, “This is what George Bush should have said after 9/11.” More tongue-in-cheek than Jersey Shore, Eitzel reflects upon his own vision of the United States. Politics aside, he also remains America’s response to Morrissey, musing on love (and lack thereof) and life hardships, incorporating touches of rock, blues, jazz, pop and country into an astounding sonic masterpiece. Orchestrated by the original band members with complete fervor, American Music Club welcomes pianist and trumpeter Marc Capelle for an added twist. Harsher than previous recordings like Mercury and Everclear, Love Songs for Patriots focuses on Eitzel’s unique voice, more weathered than before—timeworn, life-worn, but completely affecting. Fuzzy distortion lends an air of confusion to complement purposefully plodding vocals on songs like “Job to Do,” while “Love Can Set You Free” captures a clean, meandering, acoustic guitar-enforced melody with an almost sweet hopefulness. Although Eitzel sounds pessimistic as he sings “…only love can set you free,” he also sounds as if he’s truly learned this lesson, not as if he’s simply waxing poetic. “I’ve been so lucky,” he concludes. And we’re lucky to welcome back American Music Club. On November 12 and 13, American Music Club plays Schuba’s in Chicago, 3159 N. Southport.
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Bjork
By John Hughes Atlantic www.bjorkweb.com It would be misleading to write that Bjork’s new disc is sort of an Icelandic spin on that Chant album that was such a phenomenon in the 1990s. Medulla is in no way churchy. I mention the comparison, though, because both albums demand that you listen with both ears. They are about the human voice, and both evoke some sort of inflamed Spirit, in their individual ways. Medulla, a visionary record for the new millennium, will no doubt expand the musical lexicon of its listeners. It certainly expanded mine. This music utilizing human beat boxes, Inuit (indigenous Canadian) throat singing, and choirs from Iceland and England, in addition to the writing and singing performance of Bjork’s inventive life—is thoroughly unusual. It took me some time to realize that what I was hearing on most tracks was profound and challenging beauty. It’s futuristic yet warm, postmodern yet sensual: a heart-stoppingly elegant, deeply subtle and erotic celebration of humanness. Unlike Bjork’s previous outing, Vespertine, which was heavy with instrumentation and electronica, Medulla is almost entirely instrument-free; a piano, for example, accompanies only two songs. The album has an organic, rich and compelling texture. It’s like a beckoning to your own primordial awareness. This is avant-garde music, and like most albums that can be so labeled, it may strike you as “weird” at first. (It makes Moby’s Play sound like three chords and 12 bars.) The considerable rewards will surface gradually, and for an hour, make you glad to be alive.
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Mike Watt and the Secondmen
By Jeremy M. Rottgen Columbia Records www.wattage.com Dubbed a punk opera on Mike Watt’s spiel place, www.hootpage.com, The Secondman’s Middle Stand is quite a departure for the seasoned bassist. Busting things down to a trio with bass, drums and keyboard, the formula is simple, but the outcome is huge. The inspiration for the album came after Watt fell seriously ill and decided to document his experience. The result is a very personal account that puts the listener inside Watt’s head for once. It’s quite a trip, even for the most avid of Watt fans. The album is divided into three sections of three songs each. Watt borrowed from great literature like Dante’s Divine Comedy to describe his death-defying journey back to health. You can feel the flu-like symptoms from the beginning with “Boilin’ Blazes.” The organ blasts from Pete Mazich keep things moving like psychedelic bombs bursting around Watt’s thuds. Odd time signatures keep the drums beating, mixing and swirling around. The dynamics created by these three is a testament to great musicianship. Songs like “Puked to High Heaven,” “Pissbags and Tubing,” and “Beltsandedman” describe his agony with the straight-ahead, brutal honesty you’d expect from the spiel-meister. On October 3, Mike Watt plays Shank Hall, 1434 N. Farwell Ave.
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Robyn Hitchcock
By Jon M. Gilbertson Yep Roc www.yeproc.com William Burroughs complained that the English were capable of granting him hours of charming conversation without telling him anything personal about themselves. The English have never filed an official reply, but singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock—an English charmer since at least 1977 (when he formed the Soft Boys and introduced literate wit to punk rock) —would probably suggest to Burroughs that at least he got an evening’s entertainment. Nevertheless, Hitchcock reaches his most affecting moments when he at least gives the appearance of dropping his verbose reserve. With Spooked, his two major accompanists are Nashville residents Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who have made their own careers from a history of honest and moderated revelation. They gently encourage him to play quietly, and in the familiar crackling of his voice there comes a sense that he’s actually checking to see that what he sings is worth saying. Hitchcock scatters a handful of the usual chuckled asides (“We’re Gonna Live in the Trees”) and obsessions (“Demons and Fiends”), but the atmosphere of the recording—two friends welcoming a third into their circle and letting him hold forth—coaxes intimacy from his sheltered heart. The feathery “Full Moon In My Soul” ranks among his finest true love songs; the delicate fingerpicking of “Television” indicates genteel sympathy for its TV-addicted protagonist; and the airy “Flanagan’s Song” closes Spooked in hushed reflection. In conversation with Rawlings and Welch, Robyn Hitchcock charms, to be sure, but he also tells them a few things about himself. On November 5, Robyn Hitchcock plays Shank Hall, 1434 N. Farwell Ave.
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Anybody But Bush?
By John Hughes American electoral politics is not so much an organized debate over the supremacy of ideologies—a national, logical quest for the best governing ideas—but a rugged skirmish between two warring camps. It’s a ruthless wrestling for power. Oftentimes, the coalition with the most money wins the election. The media, often portrayed as liberally biased, but almost always owned by very wealthy white men, plays a huge role, as does the charisma, or lack thereof, of the candidates. There are famous examples of the power of charisma: Kennedy vs. Nixon, Reagan vs. Carter, Reagan vs. Mondale, Clinton vs. Dole. This fact, of two vast coalitions in a constant struggle of power and public relations, without tremendous regard for fairness or even truth, rankles many people. The rankled people, when they feel that they don’t fit under the electable umbrella of either coalition, become disenfranchised. When they discover that there are millions of other disenchanted citizens, they form a coalition of the rankled: a third party movement. Third parties: a voice for our righteous indignation. In the Presidential election of 2000, the candidacy of legendary consumer rights crusader Ralph Nader, as the nominee of the Green Party, garnered four percent of the vote, but considerably more than that in media attention. George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in one of the thinnest electoral victories in history, and Nader’s winning of 2.8 million potential Gore supporters converged with the voting poll and juridical farces in Florida to deliver the presidency to Bush. But what drives people to support Ralph Nader or David Cook or, for that matter, Ross Perot or Jesse Jackson or John Anderson, or 1948’s Henry Wallace? The answer lies in understanding what drives third party movements. Third parties share the desire to be heard, for acknowledgement of ideas not necessarily prioritized by the two mainstream parties. Some of the best, if least powerful, desire that the process be a debate over ideas, rather than a cage match for political domination. Third parties are also about righteous anger. The elections of Presidents have a pre-fabricated feel to them. There are obviously many individuals of good will and honest intentions within each coalition, but the Democratic and Republican parties themselves became machines long ago, with the twin primary motives – self-perpetuation and self-assertion. In the eyes of many independent voters, this underlying motivation translates into unacceptable policy. There’s a time for independence, and a time for… Even to the most casual and jaded observer it’s evident that altruism, the genuine desire for the highest good for the greatest number of people, has taken a back seat to power politics. Third party movements are an attempt to cleanse the temple, overthrow the tables and bring altruism and egalitarianism to prominence in our national conversation. In Wisconsin, third party politics plays a major role in electing public officials. Lest we forget, Ralph Nader won 94,070 votes in Wisconsin in 2000. Al Gore barely won the state, holding off Bush by just 5,708 […]
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Jeremy Rottgen Sneaks Backstage with the Misfits
By Jeremy M. Rottgen We used to cruise around in my friend’s car before and after school, listening to the Misfits before and after school. Yelling at the top of our lungs to every song was a cleansing experience after a long, institutionalized day. In 1998, the Misfits consisted of founding bass player Jerry Only and his chord-pounding brother, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein. Singer Michael Graves and drummer Dr. Chud were new additions to the band, and maybe only a year or two older than we were. The Misfits came to the Eagles Ballroom that year with none other than Megadeth, a band I still emulate in my own music. My friends and I were pumped. A female friend of ours showed up to the show in a Marilyn Monroe Goth-type dress. The Misfits’ bus driver spotted her and invited her on to the bus. She emerged a minute later in tears of joy. “I saw them shaving,” she said excitedly. When the show started, all seemed calm until the howl of Doyle’s guitar ripped through the air. It was pure, hellish joy. I remember a girl with a fork bent around her wrist, scraping and poking people in the pit. Ouch. After the Misfits left the stage, I went to buy sodas. Maneuvering through the crowd, I looked up to see my friends pointing to stairs leading down to some mysterious location. Having no clue, I followed them, double-fisting two root beers. We entered the room at the bottom of the steps, and it blew our minds. As we rounded the corner we up on two of the very large men who’d just kicked everybody’s asses on stage. There they sat quietly, sweat pouring off them. Holy shit. It was Jerry and Doyle. When you think about “backstage” at a rock show, you think of champagne spraying, groupies floundering and things smashing. Or at least my friends and I did at the time. But this was not one of those dressing rooms. We stood there, trying to get our heads around our favorite horror punk band sitting around like a family in a living room. It was humbling to hear Jerry talk about his daughter and wanting to know what we younger folks were into these days. What else could we say? The Misfits and PlayStation basically ruled our lives. Jerry was very cordial, offering us any drinks or food we wanted from their table. After all, they weren’t eating most of it: these guys worked out … a ton. They didn’t fuel themselves with Twinkies and Cheeto’s. Jerry, tearing the tab from a gallon of milk with his teeth, offered protein shakes. “Dave’s got us on this Met-RX shake” he offered. To which I responded, “Oh yeah, he kick boxes.” My knowledge of Megadeth trivia still astounds me. I’m such a dork. Chud searched around for some ‘real food.’ “Here” said Doyle. “Have a roast beef […]
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Afghanistan
By Paul McLeary “Our Nation is standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, because when America gives its word, America must keep its word. As importantly, we are serving a vital and historic cause that will make our country safer.” “Since 2001, Americans have been given hills to climb, and found the strength to climb them. Now, because we have made the hard journey, we can see the valley below. Now, because we have faced challenges with resolve, we have historic goals within our reach, and greatness in our future.” “Our allies also know the historic importance of our work. About 40 nations stand beside us in Afghanistan, and some 30 in Iraq.”Above from Bush from RNC “Afghanistan is free and moving forward.”Donald RumsfeldDoD New Briefing, Jan 06, 2004 “The job in Afghanistan is only half done and will be no easier in the year ahead.”Kofi AnnanUnited Nations Secretary-GeneralUN Press Conference, Dec 18, 2003 While we are all familiar with the debacle that has become the occupation of Iraq the original salvo in the war on terrorism, Afghanistan, has faded well into the background over the past year and a half. The quick, relatively bloodless victory in Afghanistan was supposed to be a shining example of everything that is right with the American military machine. In targeted, lightning strikes, less than 10,000 American troops defeated the Taliban and scattered al Qaeda’s leadership across the mountainous border region with Pakistan, and for a time, we seemed poised to capture Osama bin Laden and his Taliban host, Mullah Omar. The United States had been sucker punched on 9/11 but had quickly identified its enemy and through tough, decisive action, was poised to bring him to justice. By the end of 2001, we had scored a major victory in the war on terrorism while the world stood with us in our grief, sending military and civilian aid to help in the reconstruction of the country we had recently vanquished, and indeed, liberated. The Administration fiddles while Afghanistan burns.But by the end of 2002, the world had become a very different place. More than 200,000 members of the U.S. armed forces were beginning to muster near Iraq as massive anti-war protests were flaming up across Europe. The Bush administration, through a startling mix of macho rhetoric, policy failures and simple ham-fisted diplomacy, managed to alienate and insult many of our former allies, squandering the emotional capital we amassed after the 9/11 attacks. In the confusion over where best to fight the terrorist threat and the administration’s willful obfuscation of who our real enemies are, the issue of truly securing and rebuilding Afghanistan became lost in the heated debate over Iraq’s non-existent chemical weapons stockpiles and phantom nuclear capabilities. While the world argued over weapons inspections in Iraq, the Bush administration, as well as the American public, quickly forgot about the tenuous situation in Afghanistan, and as the president fiddled with faulty intelligence, Afghanistan continued to burn. As James Fallows says in his scathing critique […]
Oct 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
