Home Blitz - “Two Steps” from O.ut O.f P.hase (Richie, 2009)

STUFF I BUY FROM AQUARIUS RECORDS #2

an outlier amidst the current proliferation of lo-fi bands, it’s hard to figure out how intentional the sound of this record is.  the thing about home blitz is that “low” isn’t really the problem, the recording is actually ridiculously hot and present.  makes the 50-buck guitars and the fact that the drummer fucks up a lot all the more obvious.  but the songs are there—supercharged pop sung by a dude who sounds like he’s 12 and has drank a lot of soda recently.  could they do any better than this and keep the charm?

True Widow - “Duelist” from True Widow (End Sounds, 2008)

STUFF I BUY FROM AQUARIUS RECORDS #1

aquarius, in san franciso, is the best record store in the country.  every few months, when i have the time and money, i browse through their voluminous, labor-intensive new release lists, read the descriptions, listen to the minute-long samples, and buy 4 or 5 things i’ve never ever heard of.  i’ve gotten some of my favorite albums this way, and the aQ folks are pretty much the only people i’m aware of who provide this much exposure to this many obscure artists.  so in this occasional series i’ll highlight as many aQ purchases as i can.

true widow write songs that sit pretty comfortably in a sort of familiar, 90s, heroin-y, dreampop/slowcore tradition that on its own would be enough to make me like them, since this kind of music isn’t done very much these days.  but what they really are is a case study in how a minor band can differentiate itself with its sound.  this record has an incredible sound: super grungey downtuned guitars, tons of low end, fuzz bass, even a little hazy pedal steel here and there.  try to listen to “duelist” loud on decent speakers, it’s probably the only way you’ll notice that this is just a really heavy record that marries my 90s indie and stoner metal sensibilities together into something i could listen to for days on end.

again, NEVER WOULD HAVE HEARD without aquarius.  and already feels like a classic to me.

Joanna Newsom - “Jackrabbits” from Have One On Me (Drag City, 2010)

i was p. much a newsom hater until two weeks ago—respected the talent, couldn’t listen to the songs.  but this tune is a stunner, and not the only one to be found on three discs’ worth of HOOM.

Hot Snakes - “Plenty For All” from Audit In Progress (Swami, 2004)

well last week i compared the soft pack to hot snakes, so maybe it’s time for the real thing.  hot snakes always struck me, from both my own listening and critical consensus, as a band that was next to impossible to hate on—they knew exactly what they wanted to do (tight downer garage jams with a level of craftsmanship that put the idea of all other post-60s “garage” to shame) and did in just about 100% of the time.  “plenty for all” was always a favorite of mine for a few reasons: the last song on their last studio album, it was both atypical (where did that cheery major-key melody riff come from?) and a perfect summation of their “thing.”  that’s because rick froberg’s black-heart sarcasm never got better than this one—southern california is a hellhole, but come here anyway, what else are you going to do (ps it’s all pointless anyway)?  you can’t take him seriously in the context of his body of work as a lyricist, but i’d be lying if i said this song wasn’t affecting (and genuinely sad) on some level.

i guess part of that reaction is that except for a live album, this was it.  i’m not a purist in anything, but sometimes when i listen to these guys i just want them to come back and show everyone how it’s done.

The Soft Pack - “C’mon” from The Soft Pack (Kemado, 2010)

“army, navy, air force, and marines”

dan, you were right about these guys, who are my new favorite hot snakes tribute band.

Wild Nothing - “Summer Holiday”

a good break from reviewing last year—let’s blog abt some new band that i don’t even think has a physical release yet.  sadly, pitchfork already said what i wanted to say about this but i still want you to listen to it and i’ll supply a quick recap: it’s one of those perfectly needy indie-pop songs until the chorus, when a wordless moan and two unexpected chord changes take it to a more indelible place.  the lyrics seem to suggest an early teenage ambivalence (with a little anxiety for good measure), and then there’s that chorus again, expressing so much and so little at once.  evocative and timeless.

#1 Album for 2009: The-Dream - Love vs. Money (Def Jam)

i came to love vs. money only a month or so after discovering terius nash and his amazing first album, love/hate.  that record came out in december ‘08, just late enough to make a big splash on 2009 year-end polls.  by the time i really absorbed any of it love vs. money was on the shelves.  i bought it the day it came out in early march.  in a sense this was the best way to “get into” the-dream—with two albums worth of his maximal, highly self-referential take on r&b to deal with at once, i started to hear him trade themes, lines, and even individual sounds between the two.  the effect was dizzying; the music seemed unbelievably intricate.  because, while i’m not normally a big fan of meta, the-dream just has so much fun with it, and he makes you believe it’s all a part of some kaleidoscopic larger narrative.  and sometimes maybe it is: lvm opens with 5 love songs, culminating in “put it down,” and “sweat it out,” both packed with the type of detailed lyrics that only nash can write, both spliced with tender feeling and goofy humor simultaneously.  following these are a staggering four-song breakup set—“love vs. money” parts 1 and 2, “fancy” (a six and a half minute story-song that’s just kind of out on its own planet), and “right side of my brain,” which you can listen to above and which matches nash’s gift for melody and wordplay (he sells “touch/untouch” and “love/unlove”) with his producers’ best musical qualities: huge synths, oddball vocal samples, monumental drums, and an unerring ability to ride the line between “too much” and “just enough.”  after this it’s actually hard to recover for the end of the record, even though the last two songs are ace and the very last line namechecks (what else?) listening to the-dream’s first cd on a hookup.

it adds up to an exhausting and inspiring record of the year.  no one else had a fuller vision, and i don’t think anyone else gave us more of themselves.  but it’s the little things i always come back to.  at the beginning of “love vs. money” (part 1) the music darkens and nash says something like “i’m gonna tell a different kind of story.”  and all these songs are stories: they’re human-scale (believe it or not), they’re relatable, they make you laugh, they make you feel pain.  supposedly the third the-dream album is out this year.  how could anyone truly be ready?

#2 Album for 2009: Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport (ATP Recordings)

it’s been a long time since i had a strong emotional reaction to sheer sound. we’d have to bring it back to the halcyon days of mogwai which were about 10 years ago (yikes).  fuck buttons work with strong contrasts: earthbound, simplistic percussion against stratospheric, beatific synth noise; the beauty of sturdy postrock melodies against the violence that the band’s basic menu of sounds suggests.  the result is one of the year’s most powerful, overwhelming albums, something that still has me a little bit in awe when i think about it and brought about one of my favorite written descriptions of music ever. “surf solar,” in my opinion, is the vital track from this one.  it’s too big to embed in tumblr at any quality so use the youtube above.  but if i can be a pedant this is the exact type of music that suffers at low quality, do yrself a favor and buy a physical copy or at least a really good file.

#3 Album for 2009: Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another (4AD)

future of the left (ex-mclusky) wrote the best rock song i heard this year.  it’s called “arming eritrea” and you can listen to it above.  for the rest of twmaa they only write some of the most inventive and interesting guitar/bass/drums music i’ve heard in ages, with a muscular dexterity that extends from faux-showtune outros to post-shellac grind to violating the remains of dance-punk.  simply put, they pull a lot of stuff together, and it’s rare that a 32-minute record with this level of aggression would also have so many layers to pull back.  the constant is andy falkous’ madcap black humor, which has apparently gotten more unhinged since the mclusky years.  falco covers satanic orgies, pterodactyls, and a guy named reginald j. trotsfield in lyrics that are both genuinely hilarious and regularly disturbing.  people who complain about where indie rock has gone, i have a record for you.

#4 Album for 2009: Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II

i know, i know: old guy rap.  but it’s only fair to acknowledge that the last great wu-related album could happen at any time, and may well have happened this year: i pushed play on cuban linx pt. ii with no expectations whatsoever, and got a bracing, engaging, almost perfectly sequenced record that spanned 15 or 20 years with no seams.  its 22 tracks contain an almost overwhelming haul of old soul samples, nearly abstract beats, interstitial dialogue, and verse after excellent verse from a crew of guys in the age 35-40 range.  seriously, it’s verging on unbelievable that everybody would sound so good, from career bench guys like styles p up to ghostface.  don’t get me wrong, i more than respect ghost’s right to follow his muse, but he never sounds more at home than he does on stuff like this—belting out hard, gritty lines with that urgent sound in his voice.  at the center of it all is rae, a guy so disinclined to draw attention to himself that he’s happy to cede many of this album’s thrilling moments to others.  but don’t forget about him because he gives this stuff a heart.  listen to his awesome, heartfelt tribute to odb, “ason jones,” above.