2006-12 Vital Source Mag – December 2006

Radio Birdman

Radio Birdman

By Blaine Schultz In the mid-1970s, Michigan native Deniz Tek moved to Australia to attend medical school. There he met Rob Younger, an Aussie who shared Tek’s attraction to the high-energy music of bands like the Stooges and MC5. Tek and Younger formed Radio Birdman, a group that pulled into the New Wave tsunami and released their influential cult classic debut Radios Appear in 1977. Never quite part of any scene, they recorded a follow-up in England (Living Eyes eventually came out in 1981) and imploded while touring in a vehicle dubbed “Van of Hate.” Two decades down the pike and the members have buried the hatchet somewhere other than each other’s heads. September saw Radio Birdman playing Chicago’s Double Door as part of their first ever U.S. tour. The sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of faithful had no reason to believe they would ever witness this show. The energy between audience and band was only magnified by years of rock & roll mythology. The sextet of 50-somethings went through amplifiers the way other bands break strings. Which brings us to Zeno Beach, the album the band was touring to promote. You’d expect something heady from a band whose members’ day jobs include trauma surgeon and U.S. Navy jet pilot, and “The Brotherhood of Al Wazah” and “Heyday” recall the open-minded smarts that once got Radio Birdman compared to vintage Blue Oyster Cult. The opening track, “We’ve Come So Far (To Be Here Today),” could serve as the manifesto as well as feature for Tek and Klondike Masuak’s two guitar inter-lock. While vocalist Rob Younger’s presence may not be as manic as 20-plus years ago, his intensity is trained like a laser. Zeno Beach is a welcome chapter in the Radio Birdman legacy. Let’s hope the next installment happens sooner. VS

Too close to call

Too close to call

By Matt Wild When our country’s top film scholars inevitably get together at the neighborhood Olive Garden to discuss cinema’s greatest artistic breakthroughs, a certain achievement that’s continually – and criminally – overlooked is contained within 1977’s masterpiece, Smokey and the Bandit. Starring Jackie Gleason, Sally Field and the irrepressible moustache of Burt Reynolds, Bandit features a landmark innovation that still manages to stir the hearts and souls of audiences today: a theme song, written and performed by co-star Jerry Reed, which helpfully explains the plot. Confused as to what’s going on in this Byzantine tale of Coors bootleggers and bumbling, boorish cops? No problem; just listen to the lyrics of Reed’s feel-good ditty, “East Bound and Down,” a song that’s featured at least 178 times throughout this 96-minute movie: “The boys are thirsty in Atlanta / and there’s beer in Texarkana / We’ll bring it back no matter what it takes.” What about Smokey, you ask? Does he have his ears on, and is he indeed hot on Bandit’s trail? “Old Smokey’s got them ears on / He’s hot on your trail / and he ain’t gonna rest ‘til you’re in jail.” Therefore, to both honor this cinematic achievement as well as guide readers through the following music and poetry-filled column (sadly, there’s little-to-no bootlegging involved), a few helpful lyrics will be provided before each major section. Well these kids made a call / to good ol’ Darling Hall / to see a rock show scheduled there for 9… Decked out in Romper Room / thrift store-chic, Darling Hall (601 S. 6th St.) is one of those small and homely spaces that only seem to grow larger and warmer the more packed with bodies it becomes. It’s during the first bitterly cold night of the year that I find myself crammed inside its walls. South Side barber by day, Darling Hall regular by night, Jose the Barber (natch) starts the evening out on a classy note, singing in a strong, confident tenor (Hank Williams’ “Cold Cold Heart” is a particular standout). Milwaukee’s The Flying Party is up next, a group that harkens back to when you were 19 and every band you loved seemed to feature an adorable Asian girl playing a Moog. Though derivative to an incalculable degree, their set is pleasant enough. Plus their drummer is the goofball that posted that phony terrorist plot to bomb football stadiums online a few months back. Summing up the next two acts quickly: I’ve covered The Trusty Knife in these pages before (VITAL April 06, August 06), so I’ll only say that – once again – they’re by far one of the best rock & roll acts in town. Seriously. As for Kansas City’s Davan, I can only warn future house-party and basement-show attendees throughout the Midwest to stay far, far away from this band. Again, seriously. Flash forward now to Circa / like a whisky drinkin’ ghost / Yes, we’re gonna’ git uncomfortably close… A few days later I […]

Built to last

Built to last

By Jon M. Gilbertson Any reasonably intelligent rock fan who lived through the 1990s can take a few seconds and remember an indie band that emerged from the underground and seemed this close to mainstream success. Pavement. Chavez. Sleater-Kinney. The Afghan Whigs. Guided By Voices. Not since the heyday of punk rock in the 1970s did so much promise turn into so much history. All of the above bands – and several more besides – dissolved, leaving behind a small shelf of work, a wall of interesting concert posters and a handful of memories. In this context, the continued existence of Built to Spill, more than a decade after their formation, is a minor-key miracle. From the listener’s perspective, it has been half a decade between Ancient Melodies of the Future and You In Reverse; from frontman Doug Martsch’s perspective, it’s also been half a decade, but not a silent time. “We toured for about a year, and then I took about a year off and I did some other musical things,” Martsch explains, obliquely referring to his 2002 solo album, Now You Know, and other projects. “Then we got back together and started touring and writing songs for a couple years, and then spent about a year making the record, and another year waiting for the record to come out. So there was really only a short break in there.” So if You In Reverse gives the impression of a creative revitalization brought about by an extended rest period, the premise is a false one. But the revitalization is there nevertheless. Even on the first track “Goin’ Against Your Mind,” which opens with a long passage of guitars running through a spectrum of interactions, Built to Spill sounds urgent yet relaxed. Martsch attributes this interesting quality to what he reluctantly calls “jam sessions.” “When I say ‘jam,’ I mean improvise with the attempt to make up parts,” he says. “We did the most jamming that we’d ever done to make the record. We’re not all just noodling around, but of course a little of that happens; we’re consciously trying to come up with patterns and chords that fit together. We’re trying to write songs as a band.” The rotating membership of Built to Spill has, in the past, made such open collaboration somewhat difficult, even though the ever-changing roster has usually involved one friend leaving and another returning. Even so, over time a kind of solidification has occurred. Besides the familiar rhythm section of bassist Brett Nelson and drummer Scott Plouf, the lineup currently includes guitarist Jim Roth, previously an accompanist on tour, and Brett Netson, an intermittent member who rejoined Built to Spill just in time to play on a few tracks and throw down a fantastic guitar solo on “Just a Habit.” “Netson is my favorite musician and I happen to know him, so I recruit him whenever I need someone,” Martsch says. “Caustic Resin, his band, wasn’t really doing anything, so I called him in again. […]

Beck

Beck

No artist is ever completely unpredictable: patterns form and grooves are worn. Some have no need to pull themselves away from the paths they’ve already beaten. Sometimes, like Björk or Beck, they simply realign, rearrange, rethink. At its most functional, The Information is a rethink of Beck’s creative relationship with producer Nigel Godrich (now highly acclaimed for his work with Radiohead and Paul McCartney). Here, Godrich usually finds – or at least allows Beck to enter – a reflective mode, as heard on Mutations and Sea Change. Started before and completed after last year’s Guero, The Information naturally features some refraction of Guero’s compilation-like tendencies. The easygoing hip-hop of “Elevator Music” segues into the (deliberately?) “I Feel Fine”-like treble of “Think I’m In Love,” which falls into the street-corner robot dance and muffled beatbox that activate “Cellphone’s Dead.” The Information also maintains Beck’s dedication to craftsmanship, which tightens the art without restricting it. Godrich, for his part, keeps getting better at adapting his own considerable sensibilities to the artist at hand. On Thom Yorke’s solo album, The Eraser, he shrink-wrapped Yorke’s paranoia; here, he’s like a near-telepathically responsive DJ, slapping down the right sounds to match Beck’s multitudinous moods. The overall vibe on The Information is pleasure. It’s not encoded in the lyrics; keep in mind that Beck can write entire albums, like Midnite Vultures, of near-total absurdity. Nor is it right up front in the tunes, but rather a pleasure that Beck and Godrich take in making music, a satellite orbiting each track, receiving and transmitting information. VS

Champagne and other delights

Champagne and other delights

By Nathan Norfolk Let’s get this straight. Just because it’s bubbly doesn’t mean it’s Champagne. Champagne refers to a French province northeast of Paris, the only place from where true Champagne comes. The rest, my dear readers, is just sparkling wine. Okay, moving on. Where do the bubbles come from? In the process of making wine, carbon dioxide is produced. In wine without bubbles the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape, but for sparkling wines the carbon dioxide is trapped, creating bubbles and fizz. There are several ways to trap these bubbles, the most renowned of which is used in Champagne. Known as méthode champenoise (Doesn’t that sound pretentious?), the wine goes through secondary fermentation in the bottle. Any winery serious about bubbles uses this method, supposedly invented in the late 17th century by Dom Pérignon. The name Champagne is, however, protected by law and the term méthode champenoise cannot be used for wines made outside the region. Another crazy twist is that Champagne can only be made from a combination of three grapes: Chardonnay, which is a white grape, and Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, which are both red grapes. To keep from tainting the end-product with color, the red grapes are harvested very carefully and then cautiously crushed so that as little of the pigment from their skins interacts with the juice as possible. Some other sparkling wines are made in a big stainless steel tank by the Charmat method. The end result is rarely as elegant as the bottle-fermented method, but it’s much cheaper to produce and therefore purchase. The lowest form of sparkling wine production is the injection method, where carbonic gas is simply injected into the base wine, the same way soda is made. Yuck. The language of bubbles The first thing to consider when buying sparkling wine is how sweet or dry you like it. Here are some guidelines for deciphering the labels. Brut: Typically bone dry. Extra Dry: Less dry than brut, often showing a little bright fruitiness. Demi-Sec: Half-dry, which most people taste as just slightly sweet. Spumante: Simply Italian for “sparkling wine,” many American producers make cheap, sweet styles under this term. Don’t be fooled; spumante just means the stuff has bubbles. Dolce: Means “sweet” in Italian. Cava: Produced in northern and central Spain, and great values for those looking for inexpensive bubbles made in a traditional manner. Blanc de Blanc: Literally means “white of white.” This refers to any Champagne or sparkling wine made solely from white grapes. Blanc de Noir: French for “white of black.” The grapes are actually red, though the product is white in color. Prosecco: Made in the Venato region of northern Italy, this is the de facto before-dinner drink. Light, refreshing, slightly dry and modestly priced. A few fabulous true Champagnes: Joseph Perrier Non-Vintage ($30): This is the deal to end all deals when it comes to Champagne. It’s nutty, rich and crisp with aromas that mingle Granny Smith apples and fresh-baked bread. Duval-Leroy Non-Vintage […]

My mad dream for the holidays

My mad dream for the holidays

By Lucky Tomaszek It’s been years since I’ve looked forward to a holiday season this way. I think about it every day, and like a kid, I’m getting excited. Each time a new event gets added to my calendar, I am just a little happier about the next six weeks unfolding in front of my family and me. If you’re surprised to read this, you’re not alone. I’m surprised about it myself. I thought that I had lost my sense of winter wonder years ago, and was merely drudging through the season, surviving it, like so many of us. We know that people are more prone to depression during the weeks leading up to Christmas and that the endless Ho-Ho-Ho’ing and shopping and cookie-making and (worst by far) obligations make relaxing next to impossible. But somehow, this year, I don’t care. It’s not that I have more free time than before. In fact, I’m busier now than I can remember being in years. And it’s not that I’ve been the recipient of some large windfall. As near as I can tell, this is going to be the tightest holiday in recent memory. There’s no lack of responsibilities this year, either. As a student, midwife, mother and active member of my tribe, I never stop moving during daylight hours. In spite of all this, however, I am positively longing to find a cheap replacement for my current cheap (and now broken) artificial tree. After that, I want to spend a day with my kids, making a new garland for it out of mini-origami stars then decorating it with a our motley mélange of decorations: a collection of handmade gifts from the kids, cheap sets of ornaments from after-Christmas clearance sales and a few leftovers from my own childhood. After much pondering, I think I’ve discovered the reason for my overabundant (and perhaps a little sickening) enthusiasm. I began back to school in August to finish my English degree, which I started back before Madonna donned her first severe bullet bra. My oldest child is now in middle school and growing a healthy social life. My middle girl is a third-grader, a Brownie and a budding artist. My little guy is a first-grader, cute and cuddly, but with a nightly dose of homework that must be supervised. We are busy. And we miss each other. My dream (and please don’t shatter it) is that the holiday season will allow us to make up for a little lost time from the fall. Hot cider, hot chocolate, warm hugs and kisses. Wrapping paper, bows, endless envelopes to address. All of this sounds so good to me as we head into the holiday season. Heck, I’m even looking forward to poinsettias, though I’ve always found them ugly and they make me sneeze. There’s more, of course. From now till the 25th, we will be making our Christmas cards and signing them. All the kids are now old enough to reliably sign their own names on […]

100 hours in America

100 hours in America

By In 1994, the Democrats lost control of a Congress awash in the same kind of scandals, unabashed cronyism, unmitigated fraud and unwarranted arrogance that were the Republicans’ downfall this past November. For years, there has been a slowly mounting chorus of voices clamoring for a change in what has been described as the Washington “culture of corruption.” So just like before, the American electorate has “thrown the bums out.” It’s a whole circle of life thing. Now, with the election behind them, the Democrats can turn their attention to governing, but caution may be the word of the day. The essential fact is, they didn’t win so much as the Republicans, and Bush in particular, lost. With that in mind, Americans can only hope that they live up to their promises and prove to the nation that there is an antidote to the right-wing, demagogic hate machine that has for 12 years eroded our economy, our personal freedoms, our well-being and our national and domestic security. Going into the election, it wasn’t clear if the Democrats would be able to effect much meaningful change even if successful in their efforts. Most analysts expected them to take the House, but the Senate, they said, would remain in the grip of the Republicans, resulting in gridlock. But with a narrow victory in the Senate and a strong margin in the House, the Democrats are now in a position to push many of their initiatives forward. Leading the charge is Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to be Speaker of the House. She intends to announce broad changes within the first 100 hours of the new Congressional session and has promised to bring an end to what she terms the “rich mans’ welfare state.” So what exactly is on the docket for the first 100 hundred hours of the 110th Congress? The first 24 hours: Under Republican rule, lobbying in Washington has grown to grotesque proportions. There are over 35,000 lobbyists in DC “buying” legislation at an estimated $200 million a month. Lobbying has sparked countless scandals and cost several members of Congress their careers, if not their freedom. The Republican majority has repeatedly blocked measures designed to curtail lobbying. Because of this, the Democrats have said that they will put new rules in place to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.” This, they say, will help end the stranglehold that the Jack Abramoff/Tom DeLay K Street gang has had on the policy process. The second 24 hours: To date, less than 50 percent of the 9-11 Commission’s recommendations have been implemented, leaving ports, power plants, planes and us vulnerable. The Democrats plan to remedy this by enacting ALL of the remaining recommendations. “They [Republicans] claim to be the party of national security, yet they have failed to implement these vital recommendations to ensure the safety of our nation and our people,” John Kerry said during a recent interview with the Associated Press. The third 24 hours: In June, the minimum wage […]