2006-11 Vital Source Mag – November 2006
Joanna Newsom
By Erin Wolf When one insists on being called a “harper” rather than a harpist and becomes peeved when told that one sounds “childlike” (“Bjork-ish,” too) even though the description is nail-on-the-head, it’s obvious one’s perception of oneself is a tad bit off-kilter. Some would call this stubborn, some would call it quirky; most would call it self-absorbed. This self-absorption, though, is just what makes Joanna Newsom’s music work. Her first two EPs and full-length album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, were studies of self-absorption, created from a world not known to anyone other than the 24-year-old herself, characterized by music and lyrics straight out of the writings of Homer and a “childlike” voice more like a infantile gnome with a bad cold piped in between harp pluckings. To write music that sounds centuries old, the writer must obviously not be spending too much time watching television. Going from the intriguing base that is her first album, Newsom’s latest, Ys, is a wash of strings and rich orchestral sounds, surrounding the ever-plucky “harper’s” own string manipulations and warbling. Ys was produced and mixed by Steve Albini (!) and Jim O’Rourke, and adding even more magical elements with string arrangements was Van Dyke Parks of Beach Boys fame. Blending lyrics that are pure poetry (“there is a rusty light on the pines tonight / sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow / down into the bones of the birches and the spires of the churches”) and music arranged in a manner that resembles an old school Disney score takes incredible patience and craft. It also takes incredible patience on the listener’s part, as most of the songs clock in between 7 and 17 minutes long. It is worth it to be patient with Ys, though. It is an album meant to be reflected upon, for it has definite stories to tell. There’s a slim to none chance that the five songs featured here will ever make it to Top 40 radio, but this is just exemplary of the diamond in the rough quality Ys possesses.
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Anders Parker
By Frank Olson On his self-titled album, former Varnaline frontman Anders Parker displays a knack for capturing a lonely highway vibe not dissimilar to The Rolling Stones on their old country songs. Parker, though, is neither as engaging as Mick Jagger nor as good a songsmith as the Glimmer Twins, which, while not a criticism in itself, casts a long shadow for Parker to sidestep. The end result is a singer-songwriter album with dreary, light-grunge singing and forgettable songwriting. There are a few decent songs here, including the opening “Circle Same,” which uses a looping structure to give the standard going-nowhere lyrics more weight, and “False Positive,” which marries a tightly-coiled verse section to a George Harrison-esque chorus. But even these bright spots seem more the work of a good producer (Adam Lasus, who has worked with Clem Snide) and a good band (including former members of Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks) than of the spotlight talent. The album’s best moments are the ones that allow the band to stretch out and reshape the generally uninteresting songs. A dramatic electric guitar/steel pedal duet ends the otherwise dull “Dear Sara;” instrumental breaks change up the pace of “Airport Road;” thundering percussion underlines a sensitive pedal steel solo in “Under Wide Unbroken Skies.” But these moments are few, and most of Anders Parker is dominated by generic alt-country songs and lyrics that often literally sound like Hallmark cards.
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Matthew Schroeder
By Blaine Schultz + Photo by Kate Engeriser Matthew Schroeder, guitarist and department chair at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, has traversed the entire spectrum of music, from guttural electric with local rock groups Pet Engine and The Barbeez to Signal, his recently released debut solo album of original acoustic finger-style compositions. On November 18, Schroeder will launch the Midwest Guitar Summit with longtime friends and collaborators Dan Schwartz and Ben Woolman at the WCM. Find tickets at www.matthewschroederonline.com. 1. With instrumental music, do you have certain images that come to mind for songs when you play them? Imagery is central. In composing it helps you stay the course, and in performing it takes you where you need to go emotionally to best play the piece. If you play well, you create art in the mind of the listener, and much like a good book, it’s a bit different for everyone. Many times someone will know just what the tune is about, and what’s best is when they add surprise details to the picture. 2. What makes for a good instrumental guitar tune? There are no particular elements that need to be present. I simply need to enjoy hearing and reacting to it. I do like tunes that incorporate something slightly off the beaten path in note choice or technique. A tune that succeeds in the imagery category is John Fahey’s “The Approaching of the Disco Void.” Recorded live in Tasmania, it will scare you! In the groove/melody area, Leo Kottke’s “Orange Room” is pure fun. 3. What drew you to this music? Coming from a rock background and looking for more, finger-style guitar was a means of expression outside of the traditional classical or jazz guitar idiom. Along the way I fell in love with the style. Many people keep searching for what they should be doing with their life. I feel I’ve found it. 4. What is the Midwest Guitar Summit? The Midwest Guitar Summit is a finger-style guitar concert featuring myself, Dan Schwartz and Ben Woolman. We all met in the early 90s while attending the cooperative guitar program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee/Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and received BFAs in American finger-style guitar performance. We enjoy each other’s music and friendship, and have stayed close over the years, so doing some shows together is a natural result. A typical MGS performance will consist of each player doing a short solo set, some duets, and culminate with all three guitarists onstage together, displaying their versatility by including other instruments such as lap steel, bass and electric guitar. 5. How do you define success as a musician? I currently teach and perform. When my students are learning, and I am moving people with music, that is success for me as a musician. VS
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
By Erin Wolf Polyvinyl must love Boris, seeing as the respected indie label is presenting a freshly remixed and remastered version of their original 2005 release, Broom. To give this album a review so late in the game is almost ridiculous, but the fact is that SSLYBY hasn’t been playing by the particular rules that govern indie-rock publicity. SSLYBY only recently surfaced from the depths of their homemade environs (originally recording Broom in an attic) when they placed a few songs on the World Wide Web. Then, Magic Blog-land whipped itself into a frenzy of admiration for the band and their album and hastily posted criticisms, which admitted that although SSLYBY did sound an awful lot like Olivia Tremor Control, Beulah, The Shins, Of Montreal, Weezer, Elliot Smith, Bright Eyes, Ben Kweller, etc. … that gee, they sure could write a nice song. After being background-checked and deemed inoffensive copycats, Broom became slightly legendary. Just like the original release, Broom is filled with unintentionally precious and breathy off-key vocals and yodels, strummed guitars and the air of relief for not being a political band, despite the name. The songs slip one by one down a string of lyrics ranging from travel songs revolving around packs of cigarettes to girls named Anna Lee. Pleasant and familiar, like reading a well-worn book of short stories in the sun, Broom isn’t a half-bad way to pass a half hour. Now that they’ve ventured a bit further from Internet notoriety, perhaps they’ll become more adventurous in other ways as well.
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Look back and laugh
By Howie Goldklang I want to tell you a little story ‘Cause it makes me warm inside It’s about some friends growing up And all the things they tried I’m not talking about staple shit They went for something more I guess it was too much dreaming Too much to hope for One day something funny happened But it scared the shit out of me Their heads went in different directions And their friendship ceased to be Minor Threat, “Look Back And Laugh” From Out of Step (1983, Dischord Records) “Today’s kids are missing the point, man. They need to take out the iPod headphones and log off of fuckin’ MySpace and listen up.” Steve Blush, on the phone from his New York apartment, is emphatic. “This film is the story of American hardcore.” Blush is the author of American Hardcore: A Tribal History. After publishing his book in 2001, Blush and fellow scenester and music video director Paul Rachman spent four long years tracking down musicians, fanzine writers, girlfriends, promoters, photographers, indie label owners, fans, college DJs and club owners: anyone that helped define the hardcore movement; a short-lived, riotous era in punk rock music whose lasting effects are what makes up the dirt under the nails of rock and punk music today. The result: the landmark documentary film American Hardcore – The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986, which stands as an unflinching, 100-minute lightning bolt of hardcore history featuring 115 interviews, highlights culled from over 100 hours of rare stock performance footage and hundreds of photographs of hardcore heavyweights in their prime. American Hardcore made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year and was immediately picked up by Sony Pictures Classic. “They haven’t changed a single frame of the movie,” says Rachman, also checking in from New York. “It’s all there.” Data Control Making American Hardcore American Hardcore is a film of non-stop cuts and clips, seamlessly mixing vintage live performance footage of Bad Brains, MDC, Minor Threat and Black Flag with numerous contemporary interviews with the grown-up versions of the scene’s major players. “The film is very direct, with a first person point of view,” explains Rachman. “That was very important; to get the story told from the people who shaped it.” “We were able to get the interviews because between Paul and I, we know people all over the country from the hardcore network, and we never fucked anyone over, you know?” recalls Blush. “Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat) and Keith Morris (Circle Jerks) never return half the calls they get, but they know we’re legit. We were a part of the scene. We started with a set of interviews in Boston in late 2001 and just kept it rolling from there.” Using the book “as a roadmap,” Blush and Rachman set out with bare equipment essentials: a DV camera, a few microphones and a laptop for editing. “I did shop the book around,” admits Rachman. “But it’s hard to sell a project […]
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
November Record Releases
By Erin Wolf November 7 …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead So Divided Interscope Bowling for Soup The Great Burrito Extortion Case Jive Foo Fighters Skin and Bones Roswell/RCA JJ Cale & Eric Clapton The Road to Escondido Duck/Reprise Josh Groban Awake 143/Reprise Kenny G I’m in the Mood for Love: The Most Romantic Melodies of All Time Arista Talib Kweli Ear Drum Blacksmith/Warner The Long Blondes Someone to Drive You Home Rough Trade The Magic Numbers Those the Brokes Heavenly/EMI MoZella I Will Maverick/Warner ODB A Son Unique Damon Dash Music SugarLand Enjoy the Ride Mercury Keith Urban Love, Pain & the Whole Damn Thing Capitol Nashville Dionne Warwick Me & My Friends Concord Lucinda Williams The Knowing Lost Highway November 14 Army of Anyone self-titled The Firm/EMI Bad Astronaut Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment Fat Wreck Chords Depeche Mode The Best of Volume 1 Sire/Reprise The Game Doctor’s Advocate Geffen Jamiroquai Greatest Hits Epic Luciano Pavarotti The Ultimate Collection Universal Nanci Griffith Ruby’s Torch Rounder Maroon5 TBA Octone/J Brian McKnight 10 Warner Mya Liberation Universal Motown Joanna Newsom Ys Drag City Joan Osborne Pretty Little Stranger Vanguard Robert Plant Nine Lives Rhino Damien Rice 9 Warner Styles P Time is Money Ruff Ryders Sublime Rarities Geffen Tamia Between Friends Gallo Record Company/Image Tenacious D Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny Epic Kenny Wayne Shepherd 10 Days Out: Blues From a Backroad Reprise Neil Young Live at the Fillmore East 1970 Reprise Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens) An Other Cup Ya/Atlantic November 21 Patti Austin Avant Gershwin Rendezvous Crowded House Farewell to the World Parlophone Incubus Light Grenades Epic Jay-Z Kingdom Come Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies Roadrunner Oasis Stop the Clocks Epic Our Lady Peace A Decade Columbia Rock Star Supernova TBA Epic Snoop Dogg Blue Carpet Treatment Doggystyle/Geffen Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas Asthmatic Kitty Throwing Muses House Tornado (Remastered) Wounded Bird Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards Anti-/Epitaph Lee Ann Womack Finding My Way Back Home Mercury Nashville November 28 The Early Years self-titled Beggars Banquet
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
