2007-04 Vital Source Mag – April 2007
Andrew Bird/Apostle of Hustle @ Alverno’s Pitman Theatre, April 21
Announcing that the audience at Alverno’s Pitman Theatre was about to experience the venue’s only ‘rock’ show of the season, opening act Apostle of Hustle began their set. It was filled with punchy banter from front man Andrew Whiteman, flippant statements on politics, co-eds and drug culture and lots of new material from their latest release National Anthem of Nowhere. The set swapped southwestern indie rock sounds with indie pop rock, pleasing fans, intriguing first-time listeners and warming the crowd well for the headliner. Chicagoan Andrew Bird (whose music is based on the excellent combination of big sounds and big words) returned to Milwaukee for his first ‘big-venue’ appearance at the Pitman Theatre (his previous Milwaukee shows have been at the former Gil’s Café and the Miramar Theatre). And while Whiteman may have dubbed the evening a “rock show,” true-blue Bird fans knew they were in for much more than that. Armed with his latest collection of songs from Armchair Apocrypha, his two touring pals Martin Dosh (drums, keys) and Jeremy Ylvisaker (guitar, bass) from Minneapolis and two of the coolest amps ever created by Chicago luthier Ian Schneller – a single horn shaped like a gramophone and a double-spinning-horn amp called a “Janus Horn”– Bird and company created a stunning mini-orchestra. Bird hushed the audience with his whimsical croon, sparkling, world-famous whistle and glockenspiel combination, and his amazing ability to layer guitar and violin via a sampler. Bird even shook off his shoes, giving himself easier toe-push access to the buttons on his sampler, arranging a base of guitar, then plucked up his violin, setting his Janus amp a-spinning to bow his way through renditions of “Fiery Crash” and “Imitosis.” He later took it solo with “Masterfade” (the audience helping him along with his brain-farted lyrics) and “Dr. Stringz,” dedicated to his nieces and from his television appearance on kids TV network Noggin. Bird pulled the show together by weaving in stories about his travels in France and how they were the partial inspiration for his new material. “Plasticities,” he said, is a song born from a breakfast of oatmeal and accompanied by four looped songs in a topsy-turvy French hotel, while an attempted car-parking in Bordeaux before a show gave us “Heretics.” Storytime ended and Bird finished up the set with material from The Mysterious Production of Eggs (“Skin Is, My” and “Tables and Chairs” ) and “Scythian Empires” from Armchair. The audience, picture-perfect up until now, politely hushed during songs and wildly cheering in-between, couldn’t resist any longer as a few made their way down the aisle, dancing and twirling to Bird’s literary indie symphony. VS To view more images from the show, click HERE.
Apr 24th, 2007 by Erin Wolf
A Walk In The Woods
A park bench seems innocent enough until you get it on stage. What might casually be seen as an unsuspecting piece of furniture in its aural habitat takes on a whole new personality when it is placed in front of an audience. In Edward Albee’s Zoo Story, a bench is a silent witness to murder; it may as well be an accomplice. In Mark St. Germain’s Ears On A Beatle a park bench bears witness to meetings between FBI agents whose values slowly shift. And in Lee Blessing’s Walk In The Woods, a park bench takes center stage in the impressive space of the Broadway Theatre Center’s Cabot Theatre. The bench in question is Swiss. It sits on the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland in the mid-1980s. Scenic Designer R.H.Graham sculpts the ample space of the Cabot’s stage into a grand sylvan setting. The ground is very earthy and organic. The trees are stark vertical lines far in the background and there is a winding path leading off the stage on the left. It is here that two men meet, away from the conference, to hammer out a few agreements involving weapons that could wipe out most of the life on the face of the planet. Peter Reeves plays John Honeyman, an American. Robert Spencer plays the Soviet Andrey Botvinnik. Relying entirely on two actors playing two characters for an entire story can strain any feature-length play. Thankfully, Reeves and Spencer develop a rapport within Graham’s script that is interesting enough to swiftly carry four scenes with relatively few tiresome stretches. At the beginning of the first scene, we are seeing two people who have just met and begun working with each other. They’ve been hired by opposing employers and both want to work out an agreement. Honeyman is a young, lean and bureaucratic man who seems to want to meet success in negotiations for the sake of his own achievement as a professional negotiator. Botvinnik is an older gentleman who has been working away at brokering an arms agreement between the U.S. and the USSR for a number of years. He wants to get to know Honeyman as a human being. Much of the appeal of the play unfolds in the first scene as Botvinnik tries desperately to reach Henyman’s human side so that they can talk like normal human beings. Any appeal that the rest of the play holds resonates from that first scene. Spencer’s charisma here is much the same as it was in the Milwaukee Rep’s production of Tuesdays With Morrie some time ago. Spencer has a gift for portraying wise older man with diligent ethics and complex personalities. Reeves plays the straight man with such ferocity here that his suspicion of Botvinnik is palpable. With Spencer’s precise execution of Honeyman’s smart professionalism, it’s easy to side with his suspicions. Maybe Botvinnik’s efforts to reach a more friendly level of rapport with him are actually an attempt to control him. As the conversations play out, it is […]
Apr 23rd, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Ears on a Beatle
John Lennon mastered the deceptively simple genius of finding his own voice and speaking with it. He spoke it deftly and frequently enough to have made quite a few people uncomfortable over the years and some of these people were in rather prominent positions in the U.S. government. As a result, Lennon was trailed by the FBI for a number of years. Agents were assigned. Reports were written. A stage comedy about this could be done a lot of different ways. With Ears On A Beatle, playwright Mark St. Germain delivers a competent script that mixes some clever bits of comedy with an overall natural sense of drama about two FBI agents assigned to trail John Lennon. Under the direction of frequent Rep actor Jonathan Smoots, Next Act Theater closes its season with an enjoyable production of the hit comedy. St. Germain chose for the play to follow the two FBI agents over an extended period of years. Next Act Producing Artistic Director David Cescarini plays Howard Ballentine, the older, more cynical agent who’s been on the job for a very long time. Ryan Schaubach plays younger, more idealistic FBI agent Daniel McClure, who goes undercover as a young hippie. This sets up a youth/experience theme that sees cynicism slowly change hands between generations as the ‘70s slowly fade-out into the ‘80s with the death of Lennon. The story is painted in fairly broad strokes, but that doesn’t make it any less compelling than a more intricate plot might have been. For the most part, we focus on the two agents and their lives and their interactions with each other. Other characters appear in the production as rendered in dialogue. J. Edgar Hoover is a silent character in the play, making his presence known subtly throughout the story. It was Hoover’s FBI that opened the file on Lennon in the first place. Dialogue ranges from very obvious jokes about the nature of work at the FBI to very, very subtle moments passing between two agents in idle conversation. Lennon himself is evident in so much of the dialogue, but nowhere is he more present than St. Germain’s depiction of the era of which he was a part. Cescarini brings his usual charisma to the role of Agent Ballentine. It’s a sympathetic portrayal of a public servant who just happens to be following around one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century. Cescarini has an impressive presence in any role and his performance here is no exception. His sympathetic portrayal of a practical conservative who comes to an understanding about the man he’s being paid to follow has a great deal of depth to it. Schaubach plays McClure as the nice guy who comes from a proud military family but gets shifted off to the FBI instead. He seems to believe in the idealism of his country, but understands that there’s a moral code that it doesn’t always live up to. His idealism outweighs his patriotism, leaving his personality […]
Apr 2nd, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Downhill, you’ll go mach speed
By the time you read this, I’ll already be dead. No, no! Really, I’m fine. Really! I’ve just always wanted to open with something like that, and now seemed as good a time as any. I suppose I could chalk it up to some kind of April Fools’ gag, but to be honest, it could be the middle of October and I still would have run with it. Anyway, this month’s column is a somewhat random mish-mash of the painful disillusionment of growing old and the utter futility of getting up in the morning. There’s a small glimmer of hope near the end, however, when the author’s faith in mankind is briefly restored after getting drunk at 11a.m. and helping an old lady to a bus stop. Also, a supporting character will relate a delightful story of how she nearly shaved off her right nipple while taking a shower. Wake the kids, mom; this one’s a doozy. My typical day, in a nutshell: wake up at 10 a.m. and eat a bologna sandwich; watch two episodes of The Cosby Show (skipping past the ones involving either the Huxtable grandparents or choreographed dance numbers); catch a few minutes of Springer (skipping past the ones where Steve the bodyguard assumes hosting duties); go to work; come home at 9 p.m. and eat another bologna sandwich; weep uncontrollably for 20-25 minutes; go to bed and dream of boogie boarding. On the weekends I walk through my soon-to-be defiled Downer Avenue neighborhood, mentally composing letters in my head to the land-developing outfit that has recently made it their mission to suck all remaining character out of the area: Dear Party People, Hi, you don’t know me, but I’ve lived on Milwaukee’s Fashionable East Side? for nearly 11 (!) years. I’m a gainfully-employed college graduate with a strong hairline and a modest criminal record. Lately, you’ve been going ahead with plans to erect an eleven-story dorm tower and a 40,000-level parking garage in my charming little neck of the woods. You’ve snatched up most of the nearby commercial space as well, raising leases and driving away even the most established of chains, all of which – as none of the kids say – is really harshing my mellow. Now, I know that behind your misleading, Patriot Act-esque corporate name, there must be an actual group of human beings, though I prefer to imagine you as a ravenous pack of cave-dwelling, baby-eating mutants, swallowing up everything that’s good and decent about my neighborhood (the houses and restaurants, not the babies). Assuming for a moment that you’re not really a loosely-knit band of Morlocks, let me say this: I know that change is inevitable and all that jazz, but seriously, can’t you show a little compassion? To belabor the baby thing a bit more, if the day ever passes that you require every resident to sacrifice their first-born child in order to continue living in this neighborhood (and I wouldn’t put it past you), I would have […]
Apr 1st, 2007 by Matt Wild
Cheryl Pawelski
Photo by Audrey Bilger Some people make mix tapes for fun, but Milwaukee native Cheryl Pawelski can list that on her resume. As far as music fans go, Pawelski’s 17 years beat most people’s lifetime of participation. As a young music maven she worked at the old downtown Radio Doctors learning record distribution. She moved to California and in 1990 began a 12-year run at Capitol Records, and in 2005 moved over to Concord Records to run their catalog development. In January of this year she began what many consider a dream job, heading up A&R at Rhino Records. Though music is what pays her bills, she remains a devoted fan. In her words, the whole trip “…only took 17 years. I’d do it all again, too – it’s been a ball.” 1. What is your dream project? Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a couple dream projects. In fact, at this point, I’d have to say I’m working on my dream project in that I’m heading up A&R at Rhino and the catalogs under the Rhino umbrella are some of my favorites. That having been said, I would indeed drop everything to go and work as Bruce Springsteen’s archivist and special project producer. 2. Is there any Milwaukee-related artist or project you’d like to work on? Yes. For years I’ve wanted to cut out enough time to put together a double CD release I’d like to call The Real Happy Days. It’s not a single artist anthology but a Wisconsin-based one. I’ve long been a fan of the single and by that I mean the 45 rpm or 7” vinyl slab. I started collecting records on local labels from the ‘50s and ‘60s a long time ago – Cuca and Raymond among others. I would like to pull together a nice collection of those but just haven’t had the time. 3. What project so far do you think reflects your own personality? The Band box set, A Musical Journey, certainly reflects my detail-oriented, “everything must be right” kind of work ethic. The rockabilly box, Rockin’ Bones, is four discs of really fun and sometimes surprisingly absurd early rock & roll and there’s an earlier compilation I did at Capitol called Rebels & Outlaws, which is basically filled with all kinds of songs about carryin’ on and makin’ a racket, so those all collectively add up to something. I guess sometimes projects can be an extension of a personality but only a small fraction, and at that, the fraction may be based in fantasy or wishful thinking. 4. What do you like best about California? I like everything in California between about Big Sur and Point Reyes (just north of San Francisco). LA for me has been something that I put up with as a trade for getting to do what I do. The best parts of LA seem to be hidden and certainly not advertised – so uncovering the history of LA is a lot of fun. […]
Apr 1st, 2007 by Blaine Schultz
Low
Two years ago, The Great Destroyer marked a period of incredible transition for Low. Not only did the album itself bristle with challenges to the band’s established method of slow and steady and hauntingly beautiful, but the period shortly after its release also saw bassist Zak Sally leave the band and founding member Alan Sparhawk check into the hospital for mental health treatment. Clearly, there were shakeups, and Drums and Guns refracts the altered configuration of thoughts and people. Producer Dave Fridmann returns to work the subtle transformations that informed his efforts on The Great Destroyer (and with bands like The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev) ; new bassist and vocalist Matt Livingston fills no one’s shoes but his own and the album feels constantly unsettled. Even now, with listeners braced for new directions, Low’s music surprises. The opening track, “Pretty People,” crackles in with static and feedback as it raises a golem of Eastern-flavored psychedelic meditation. “Always Fade” sets an electronic whirl in the background of a jazz-funk bass line and a thunderous cardboard-like snare snap. And “Take Your Time” drops chiming bells over a deliberately skipping loop of church-like vocal cadences and a tinny drum-machine rhythm. Even in relatively familiar territory – the vocal harmonizing between Sparhawk and wife/drummer Mimi Parker is as tenderly hushed as ever on “Belarus” – Low orient themselves to see and hear things differently. Drums and Guns mesmerizes listeners to do the same. VS
Apr 1st, 2007 by Jon Gilbertson
The Fall
The mid- to late ‘70s was a time of musical change. If the ’60s “free love” culture, though hopeful, was not enough to transform mass awareness, then the “fuck you” attitude of punk and post-punk was the necessary conduit for change. Though The Ramones and The Sex Pistols captured the spotlight, no other band was quite as prolific and influential as The Fall. Throughout their history, which spans 30+ years, 50-some lineups and over 20 records, The Fall remain true to their roots. The Fall approach each release with a freshness orchestrated by stoic frontman Mark E. Smith and Post-TLC Reformation!, is no exception. The first track, “Over, Over,” begins with a menacing laugh and segues into, “I think it’s over now/I think it’s ending/I think it’s over now/I think it’s beginning.” Accompanied by a droned-out bass, a simple guitar progression and ambient sounds, “Over, Over” is an homage to cycles. This album is raw and some tracks sound improvised. “Insult Song” is a narrative, almost abrasive recounting of past show experiences interlaced with dark imagery and a satirical, intermittent chuckle from Smith. The beat is steady and syncopated, with a slap bass progression and melodic guitar solos. The overall effect complements the development of the story it tells. Post-TLC Reformation! is dark, but not depressing. The vocal style is consistently dreary, but the upbeat bass and uncompromising guitar riffs create a harmonizing juxtaposition that never lets the listener get too far down to get back up again. It’s groovy. VS
Apr 1st, 2007 by Blaine Schultz
Kawoomph!
Photos by Kevin C. Groen Mason Street Grill 425 East Mason Street 414-298-3131 www.masonstreetgrill.com Kawoomph” is the term Mark Weber coined to describe the explosive sound brandy makes as it hits a searing pan of steak au poivre. Mason Street Grill adopted it as the name for its logo: a steer with a chicken hat and flying fish grazing its shoulders representing the breadth of its offerings. Under Weber’s stewardship as Managing Director, the Pfister Hotel’s new flagship restaurant is now at street level and accessible to diverse customers. If you’re with friends, settle into the comfortable leather chairs and banquettes for a memorable feast. Solo diners can pony up to the kitchen counter where they’ll find company watching all the action through the pass. Dinner fare ranges from an exquisite herb-crusted New York Strip steak at $48.50 to a grilled hot dog bun crammed with lobster salad for just $16.50. Steaks come with salad and a side (like the inspired fresh creamed spinach scented with nutmeg) and sandwiches include fries or gingered cabbage slaw. The crispy cracker-crusted pizzas (all under $10) topped with tomatoes and fresh herbs taste like summer. The vanilla-flecked cheesecake is light as mousse. And with a Kenwood Yulumpa Brut for $6.50 a glass, even I, a pauper writer, can afford it. Those who have followed Weber’s luminous career from Arby’s (!) to the Riversite to his own restaurant, WaterMark, would not be surprised by his current appointment, for his cookery is inspired in any setting. He’s received great critical acclaim, but none greater than that of French Novelle Cuisine innovator Paul Bocuse. Among classically trained culinarians, Bocuse (not Emeril or any other TV celebrities) reigns as pope. Thus, it was like Da Vinci honoring a protégé when Bocuse himself complimented a meal Weber had prepared for him at Lake Park Bistro as the closest to his own cuisine that he had ever tasted. He was bred for the food and beverage industry. The chef’s ancestors were brewers in Germany who brought their trade to the U.S. His great grandfather worked for Pabst and his great uncle Clem, as a Miller Brewing VP, brought Lite beer and Lowenbrau to the brand. With thumb and forefinger a couple inches apart, Weber says, “We had our own kiddy mugs this big as long as I can remember.” Weber grew up in Rochester, New York, where his father was a VP for French’s Mustard. The position involved a lot of entertaining that opened portals of extensive gustatory experimentation for his son. Weekends and vacations were spent at the family vineyard in nearby Canandaigua where there was work for all seasons. Three years into an engineering degree at Monmouth College, Weber was bored stiff and left. By then, his parents had moved to Mequon and after a few weeks on their couch Weber ventured out to find employment. He put in a desultory application at the Midway Motor Lodge’s fine dining restaurant, Café Manhattan, hoping they wouldn’t call. “I had […]
Apr 1st, 2007 by Cate Miller
The Decemberists’ Chris Funk
Anyone with even a minute awareness of The Decemberists would find it challenging to resist asking guitarist Chris Funk all kinds of ridiculousness, like the random “What’s your favorite Western?” or the general “Why are you guys so fun?” But, it takes only one spin of anything in their catalogue to understand – Guitarmageddon, stage antics and official drink aside – that they are indeed serious musicians. With Guitarmageddon, stage antics and official drink considered, however, perhaps “serious about music” would be a better phrase. Multi-instrumentalist Funk, who personally handled acoustic guitar, banjo, bouzouki, dulcimer, electric guitar, hurdy-gurdy, pedal steel and percussion on 2006’s The Crane Wife alone, is fresh off a European tour and at home in Oregon, a state whose spectacle and character lured him from the Midwest over a decade ago. “I felt like I had done all I could do,” says the Indiana native. “I wanted to move out to Oregon to play music, for some reason.” Portland may now be the hub for a list of acts just as extensive as Funk’s performance credits, but, he adds, “at the time it wasn’t known as a musical city, and not a music-industry city by any stretch of the imagination.” Intuition paid off for Funk, who has toured with The Decemberists for around six years, a substantial tenure. During that short span, they have cultivated an active community of fans and released four LPs and five EPs (including two online exclusives) to critical kudos. As impressive as that sounds, to Funk, it only means that he, vocalist Colin Meloy, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query and drummer John Moen simply “happen to find ourselves in a rock band that people marginally care about.” The understating Funk knows that “blowing people’s minds is really difficult to do these days” and that not many since Jimi Hendrix have accomplished anything of the sort. “I’m not saying our band is doing it; I don’t think our band is,” he says. Yet sitting somewhere between Hendrix and today’s Top 40 are The Decemberists. So what are they doing exactly? “We’re a pop band and that’s about it.” It’s clear that Funk is realistic, even while contributing to a group especially keen on narrative, mythology and folklore. That being said, The Decemberists aren’t your trendy, textbook cool, or even a particularly marketable band, which is why signing Capitol Records to push their new release last year, instead of their alma mater Kill Rock Stars, was a potentially risky move. Thankfully, outside of the inevitably larger venues and increased ticket prices, corporate pitfalls have been innocuous thus far to the quintet, who places “serving music” above all else. “The responsibility is initially with yourself,” Funk explains. Integrity will prevent the release of anything they’re “not into” in the future, regardless of what label is driving their deadlines. “When we make a record, we feel an unspoken responsibility to make ourselves happy and entertain ourselves.” The Decemberists are celebrated for their over-the-top theatrics and […]
Apr 1st, 2007 by Amber Herzog
April 2007
April 3rd The Academy Is… Santi Fueled By Ramen Boys Like Girls Boys Like Girls Red Ink/Columbia Brandi Carlile The Story Columbia Chevelle Vena Sera Epic Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Rough Trade/World’s Fair Fountains of Wayne Traffic and Weather Virgin Kings of Leon Because of the Times RCA Los Straitjackets Rock en Espanol, Vo. 1 Yep Roc Maxïmo Park Our Earthly Pleasures Warp Andy Partridge Monstrance Ape House/Ryko Static-X Cannibal Reprise Timbaland Timbaland Presents Shock Value Paul Wall Get Money – Stay True Atlantic The Waterboys Boy of Lightning U.K. – Universal April 10th Army of Me Citizen Doghouse Blonde Redhead 23 4AD Bright Eyes Cassadaga Saddle Creek Coco Rosie The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn Touch & Go From Autumn to Ashes Holding a Wolf By the Ears Vagrant Grinderman Grinderman Anti-/Epitaph Guster Satellite EP Reprise Nekromantrix Life is a Grave & I Dig It! Hellcat/Epitaph The Terrible Twos If You Ever See an Owl Poquito/Vagrant April 17th The Comas Spells Vagrant Avril Lavigne The Best Damn Thing RCA Page McConnell Page McConnell Legacy Nine Inch Nails Year Zero Nothing/Interscope The Old Soul The Old Soul Friendly Fire Priestbird In Your Time Kemado April 24th Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare Domino Bill Callahan Woke on a Whaleheart Drag City/Caroline Cowboy Junkies At the End of Paths Taken Zoe/Rounder The Electric Soft Parade No Need to be Downhearted Better Looking Gus Gus Forever Groove Atack Kalli While the City Sleeps One Little Indian Mando Diao Ode to Ochrasy Mute Midnight Movies Lion the Girl New Line Patti Smith Twelve Columbia The Veils Nux Vomica Rough Trade/World’s Fair
Apr 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
The 2007 WMSE Rockabilly Chili Contest packed quite the punch
As predicted, the 2007 WMSE Rockabilly Chili Contest lived up to its rollicking title on the opening day of April. Despite some inclement weather, the event overflowed the hall and showcased some remarkable 38 chili recipes from area restaurants and cooks. This reporter could only make it through 13 lucky bowls before my stomach wanted to crawl under the cool of the front porch to die. Many great exotic and innovative elements were sampled, along with a few misses and two comforting bowls of Wisconsin-style chili (minus noodles). For the first time in the event’s five-year history, the “People’s Choice” award for meat chili ended in a tie between Wicked Hop and Meat and Metal! from 964 votes. Each chili recipe was a dark and thick brown affair, with a medium kick and a smoldering finish. The winner in the veggie chili category was Stacy Stangarone of Annona Bistro, whose Sweet Potato and Black Bean chili was the buzz on the crowd’s lips. Despite the popular theory that a recipe closely following the middle of the road with the crowd’s tastes would win, in this category the unique idea appealed best. Stangarone’s recipe still tastes very much like a regular chili, but is lifted up to a higher level with certain key ingredients. Crawdaddy’s alligator sirloin based chili was a stewed affair with a light taste. Alligator, by the way, tastes a lot like turkey. Rush-Mor/Palomino probably had the most elaborate affair with their green chili. After plating, the dish was topped with cornbread crumbs and a small lime that was then eyedropped with everclear and set aflame. Mehrdad Dalamie, of VITAL Source and Bremen Café fame, racked up 22 ingredients in his spicy yet thorough concoction, while Solly’s Grille came through with a gorgeous piece of road food good enough for Route 66. One of the most consistent vendors was again Mary Krimmer from Soup’s On! who put out both meat and veggie versions of tremendous character and verve. Koppa’s and Fuel Cafe were some of the first to run out. Sarah Kordus stood under the daunting banner of the reigning champions’ corner, and luckily her batch was as good if not better than last year. Another buzz had gone through the room about Fuel’s veggie batch, which bravely used relatively unknown wheat gluten known as seitan. Often used as an alternative to tofu, it gave the taster the distinct feeling they had just eaten meat-based chili. Finally, one of my favorites was from the Riverwalk Bistro. Billed as “Chorizo and shortrib chili,” it was similar to the two meat winners but provided a little more texture and smokiness than the others I sampled. The event appeared to perfectly serve the exposure satisfaction for WMSE and the vendors. Cold Pabst beer in cans was a favorite spice quaffer, steel guitar music ruled the airwaves and rumors were confirmed that WMSE is securing an even bigger venue for next year’s event. Keep watching http://www.wmse.org/ for final complete tally results, and […]
Apr 1st, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
The Arcade Fire
“World War Three, when are you comin’ for me?” Win Butler of the Arcade Fire poses the question in Neon Bible, which is saturated with natural disasters, social unrest, fundamentalist discontent and the toxic emissions from celebrity culture. Arcade Fire opens its mouth to the world, attempts to swallow it, digest, then spit it back out for our benefit. Fortunately, they pull off the huge feat of addressing cultural and global issues without needing to be punk and without sounding anthematically ridiculous. Stadium act they still are not. Rather, the band has worked on crescendo-ing their status and sound not by venue, but by orchestrating the music into sweeping, gothic proportions which, given their choice of instruments – a pipe organ, accordion, hurdy gurdy and the addition of a military choir and a Hungarian orchestra – seems perfectly appropriate. With a grandiosity that exceeds the debut, Funeral, Neon Bible sweeps in with the sinister staccato rumblings of a piano akin to a cold front before a summer storm, thundering alongside windy string arrangements. Tracks dodge between orchestra pit pop and rock epics, finding gospel-influenced ballads tagged with southwestern brass along the way. As Neon Bible reflects on the situation of “us versus the world,” it comes dangerously close to compacting too much doom and gloom into an album that was definitely meant to deliver a blow, not a nudge; after awhile, the same bruise gets punched. The only respite from the global explosion of chaos is the closing track, “No Cars Go” (re-recorded from a previous EP). The Arcade Fire may have favored ending high and hopeful with a message more about running to freedom than running from global assault.
Apr 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
