Live Review - 4/8/2012 Jeff Mangum at Great American Music Hall

I'm 32 now, and as time goes by I get more jaded.  Even a few years ago I would note how many beards and flannel shirts there were at concerts, or look with contempt at the ironic John Deere trucker hats people were wearing, or mock the apparently lack of interest on the part of those who seemed more interested in "the scene" than in the music.  I would be wearing my collared shirt or whatever, straight from work, because dammit I have a job (unless these slackers) but I still love the music.

Well, no one's less cynical than Jeff Mangum, who said once in an interview that he "had a very utopian vision that we could overcome anything through music" and after he found that wasn't true, stopped his Neutral Milk Hotel project for what turned out to be almost 15 years.  I cherished NMH's second album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, as my favorite of all time, but I never actually thought I'd get to see it performed live.  But there I was, with balcony seats at a 90-degree angle to the stage, so I could see not only Mangum and his cameo co-conspirators (including former NMHer Scott Spillane) but the crowd filling the Great American Music Hall.  I could see you, white guy with dreadlocks, obviously high but drumming along to "Holland, 1945."  I could see you, hipster girl with the dyed hair, and you were singing every word to "King of Carrot Flowers."  I could see you, old guy across the balcony, and you were clapping as hard as anyone for Mangum to come out for a second encore.  And I could see you, young college kids, who must have been about five when Aeroplane came out, and no one looked more ecstatic when he did come out, and played "Everything Is" and "Engine" and left us all to exit the concert into the streets, the last guitar strums still ringing in our ears.

Neutral Milk Hotel / Jeff Mangum official site

Wilco - The Whole Love

There are two tracks that immediately stand out on Wilco's eighth and latest studio album, The Whole Love, and they stand out both for being terrific songs and also for being different from the rest of the album.  It seems a shame to write just one review and have my thoughts on those two songs jumbled up with my thoughts on the rest of the album, but what can you do?

Wilco has been called "The American Radiohead," a designation that lost any meaning a long time ago, but is strangely apt on album opener "The Art of Almost," which starts with feedback and skittering electronic percussion that could easily have been cribbed from any of Radiohead's recent effort.  Like "Ashes of American Flags," the opener to Wilco's magnum opus Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, "The Art of Almost" features cryptic lyrics sung understatedly in a catchy melody over a backdrop of disintegrating chaos.  Drums drop in and out, strings rise and fall, organ chords set a spare mood.  It's a great track ... but it's not really what The Whole Love is all about.

Album closer "One Sunday Morning" (enigmatically subtitled "Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend") is another great track.  It's a quiet tune, backed by an acoustic guitar riff with a mirrored piano line and delicate brushed percussion.  The song features one of singer / songwriter Jeff Tweedy's best vocal performances; it's understated but you can feel the emotion underlying it.  The lyrics are cryptic, evoking images of loss but not of grief, of skepticism but not of judgment, of nostalgia but not regret.  The song goes on for twelve minutes ("This is how I'll tell it / Oh, but it's long," Tweedy sings) and it has no chorus or bridge, but somehow it never gets old.  Again, it's a terrific track ... but it's not really what The Whole Love is about.

So what is The Whole Love about?  Simply put, it's the group's poppiest statement since Summerteeth. "Sunloathe" is the band's most Beatles-esque track, featuring harmonies on the chorus and some George-Harrison-style guitar.  The title track is a bouncy jaunt keyed by John Stirratt's groovy bass line.  (Stirratt is just a monster on this album; the bass sets the mood on each track, from the snaking groove of "Standing O" to the gentle country bump of "Black Moon" to the slides of "Born Alone.")  "Born Alone" features depressing existential lyrics set against an upbeat verse and an anthemic wordless chorus.  "Standing O" is rocking power pop in the traditional of some of Big Star's finest moments.  "Dawned On Me" features a bop-along chorus that rivals "Kamera" and "Heavy Metal Drummer" as one of Wilco's catchiest moments.  "The Whole Love" is a treat for anyone who enjoys pop, and it's nice to see they can still bring it when they go this route.

I'm a Wilco fan and have bought each of their albums.  This is their best effort since at least A Ghost Is Born, maybe since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and one of the best records of 2011.

Wilco official site

Still Lost Bird Music - August

The greatest songwriters in pop / rock history invariably are compared to poets.  Still Lost Bird Music (the pop project of composer Simon Fink) decided to take things one step further, drawing on centuries of public-domain poetry for the lyrics to his latest album, August.  While the album continues in the rich pop vein of Still Lost Bird Music's debut, Sargent Egyptian Girl, it also includes a number of folk elements: banjos, fiddles, and acoustic guitars people the album throughout, giving it a pastoral foundation that melds with the poetic lyrics.

August, like SLBM's debut, is full of gorgeous pop backdrops for Fink's voice.  In the brief opener, "Storm," the echo-y vocals come out of a gauzy haze of acoustic guitar and organ.  "Nightfall" is a slow, spare pop gem, with jangly guitar over chimes and the gentle beat of a bass and snare drum.  "Luke Havergal" is set against a twangy backdrop of banjo and mouth harp.  "A Garden By the Sea," maybe the album's best track, is a dark tune accentuated by a snaking electric guitar riff and an explosive harmonica solo.  At its worst moments, the music and words conspire to indulgence; "The Stolen Child" sounds like it was pulled from a musical, and the melodrama of "Intrigue" is a bit overwrought.  But at its best, August is like nothing else.  "Lament For the Makers" is a super-catchy pop tune with a chorus in Latin; who does that?

August is unique and challenging, but it's still a beautiful and engaging listen.  Not every track is a home run, but it's amazing that a project like this worked, and produced one of the best albums of 2011.

Still Lost Bird Music official site

Packway Handle Band - What Are We Gonna Do Now?

The Packway Handle Band totally won me over with their live show, so I picked up their most recent album, What Are We Gonna Do Now?  The group shows off some of the humor and energy that characterizes their live shows, but ultimately the album lacks something; the PHB is more suited to the live format.

The strongest track are those which feature the band's sense of humor.  "I'm Glad You've Got My Priorities So Straight" is a vitriolic masterpiece delivered in a completely deadpan manner.  "The Packway Handle Song," instead of revealing the secret of the band's name, takes glee in obscuring it further.  It also gets some digs in at Tennessee folks (the band is based in Athens, Georgia, home of UGA).  These songs are both written by fiddler Andrew Heaton, who also pens the title track, which closes the album and serves as kind of a roster for the band.  By this time, the schtick wore a little thin, and I was left wondering, "another novelty song?"

The band shares songwriting duties, and the other band members tend to play things a little more straight.  Mandolin player Michael Paynter contributes many of the tracks.  Opener "Walking Disaster" is almost emo in its self-deprecation, but some of the imagery couldn't help but make me chuckle: "I'm what the rubber-neckers are gawking at."  Classic.  Paynter's ballad "Tired" isn't as strong, dialing back the album's energy three-fourths of the way through.  The third songwriter is guitarist Josh Erwin, who contributes unremarkable instrumental "Horse vs. Technology" and the deliciously dark "Lord Baltimore," a kind of bluegrass heir to Nick Cave's creepy "Red Right Hand."  It's one of the album's best moments and shows a nice contrast to some of the group's lighter moments.

All in all, What Are We Gonna Do Now? is a decent album, with some standout tracks (Priorities, "Walking Disaster," "Lord Baltimore") alongside some more forgettable ones.  Definitely check those tracks out, and be sure to catch the Packway Handle Band if they come to your town.  The live show is killer.

Packway Handle Band official site

Del McCoury - Deeper Shade of Blue

Del goes emo.  Actually, Del is often kinda emo, but in this case he's making a whole album out of it.  This isn't a recent release - A Deeper Shade of Blue was released back in 1993 - but it's new to me, as they say.  Nobody epitomizes the high, lonesome sound better than Del McCoury, so this album largely choc-full of sad tunes is right in his wheelhouse.  There are fully five songs with the word "blue" in the title, so the album name is appropriate (though, oddly enough, son Ronnie takes the lead vocal on the title track).

Despite blue theme the band does get to show off its versatility, both in terms of the presentation of the songs and the sources of inspiration.  There's the requisite blazing Ronnie McCoury mandolin instrumental ("Quicksburg Rendezvous"), the weepy waltz ("More Often Than Once In a While"), and the propulsive opener "Cheek To Cheek With the Blues."  The band draws from rock (a terrific version of Jerry Lee Lewis' "What Made Milwaukee Famous"), country (Lefty Frizzell's "If You've Got the Money Honey"), and gospel ("I Know His Voice").  In a lot of ways, this is a paint-by-numbers Del McCoury album, but his is a group known more for delivery and passion than originality anyway.  Delivery and passion aren't a problem here; a great example is the tragic "Cold Cheater's Heart," where Del's mournful delivery is bolstered by atmospheric dobro.

Sure, the album does get blue at times, but there's always a bright moment around the corner, even when the lyrics are sad.  "I'm Lonely For My Only" is no cryin' in your beer tune; it's almost rock n' roll with bluegrass instruments, including a bluesy Ronnie McCoury mandolin solo that would make Keith Richards proud.  This is the great tension of bluegrass music; the high lonesome sound with the rhythm and blues backbeat.  Nobody hits that balance better than The Del McCoury Band.  This isn't their most perfect album, but it's plenty good.

Del McCoury Band official site

Della Mae - I Built This Heart

It's appropriate that this reviews follows my review of Greg Kot's Ripped, a book focused on how the Internet has changed the music business and giving examples of paths bands might take to get their music to fans in the Internet/MP3 era (and hopefully, make a bit of money in the process).  As I noted previously in this blog, Boston-based Della Mae used Kickstarter, a startup company that allows artists and entrepreneurs to raise funds directly from patrons or their potential audience, to fund the production and release of new album I Built This Heart.  Della Mae was able to self-release their album, raising almost $12000 from 240 backers (for rewards at various price points) and without giving up any artistic control to a record company or investor.  It will be interesting to see how many bands, especially in niche genres like bluegrass, opt for this sort of approach rather than the traditional route.

I would like to be post-feminist enough to make it through this review without mentioning that Della Mae is entirely composed of female musicians, but it really is core to their identity.  The cover songs on the album were both written by prominent female musicians - "Bowling Green" by Cousin Emmy, and "My Heart's Own Love" by Hazel Dickens, to whom the album was partially dedicated.  The guest stars - Laurie Lewis and Emma Beaton on harmony vocals, Alison Brown on banjo, and Brittany Haas on fiddle - are women as well.  But this ain't no knittin' circle - the characters peopling this album are strong, from the determined walker of "Down To You" to the burned out drunkard of "From the Bottle" to the late wanderer of "Sweet Verona."  There's also a sensuality to the lyrics, but it's more womanly than feminine - the besotted narrator of "The Most" wants to "make love with the windows open / So everyone will know."  No wilting violets, here.

The lyrics wouldn't have such weight if they weren't backed up by songwriter / guitarist Celia Woodsmith's powerhouse singing.  She's a dynamo, with range and passion, capable of cutting loose with a rock n' roll sensibility but also capable of subtlety.  A great example is "Aged Pine," the chorus of which gives the album its title.  The song is a slow waltz that demands both a real vulnerability - it was written during the terminal illness of Woodsmith's father - but a core of emotional strength; if the narrator's heart breaks, she'll "build it back again."  The rest of the band is up to the task of matching Woodsmith's intensity.  Kimber Ludiker is one of the feistiest fiddlers around.  Mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner and sometime flatpicker Courtney Hartman also display serious chops, and bass player Amanda Kowalski keeps the whole thing moving.

I Built This Heart is a terrific album, one of the best of the year, and you should pick it up if you like bluegrass, if you like rock, if you like strong female artists, or hell, if you just like music.

Della Mae official site
This review is based on a preview copy of I Built This Heart; the album is not yet available for general release.  Follow this blog or the band's official site for updates on its release.

Greg Kot - Ripped

One of the most fascinating questions in modern times is, with MP3 downloads readily available and folks swapping files left and right, how is anyone going to make money in the music business.  Greg Kot's book Ripped may not have a concrete answer (does anyone?), but it does raise a number of possibilities as well as provide history on how we got here.  Along the way, he tells how many of the most interesting bands in rock / indie today - Wilco, Radiohead, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie - took advantage of some of the changes in music technology and in the industry to achieve a level of success that might not have been possible for similar bands in the pre-Internet/MP3 era.

My complaint with the book is that Kot repeatedly casts the record companies, and corporations in general, as evil capitalist overlords that only do harm to consumers and artists.  And hey, let's face it - the record industry has not covered itself in glory over the past twenty years, missing the boat on the Internet despite numerous opportunities and making every wrong move when it comes to adapting to the digital music era.  It's clear that the industry is going to need to be re-molded to meet the needs of fans, artists, and distributors; what's less clear is that the record companies have no role to play in this process, which seems to be the position Kot is taking.

Still, while the book has few answers to what the future does look like, Kot covers an admirable breadth of possibilities in his examples.  Wilco was famously catapulted to "stardom" after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot leaked on the Internet.  Radiohead self-released album In Rainbows.  Death Cab was given huge exposure when they were featured on teen dramedy The O.C.  Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were jump-started by exposure through web 'zine Pitchfork.  These routes to success may not be open for every band, but they're interesting examples of how bands can reach a wide audience, often in a short period of time, independent of the model that has largely sustained the music business over the last half-century.

I'd recommend Ripped to anyone interested in the music industry and what the business of music looks like over the next couple decades.  There isn't anything earth-shattering for folks who have been following what's happened over the last decade, but Kot's writing is engaging and the anecdotes and quotes that fill the book are fun and interesting.  Kot continues to follow developments on his blog and on radio show / Podcast Sound Opinions.  You should check those out and if you enjoy them, Ripped is a great summary of how we got here and where we might be going.

Greg Kot official site