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Cars & Trains: The Roots, The Leaves
Cars & Trains
The Roots, The Leaves
(Fake Four Inc., 2010)
Cars & Trains is the name of Tom Filepp’s Portland-based one-man band. Filepp’s sound is a highly produced folk music that winds up sounding like a rustic Postal Service. The tempos thud, generally slowly, but a multitude of instruments and ambient rhythms keep the show moving along nicely. The record’s name refers to two instrumental tracks: “The Roots” is made up of orchestral synth music on top of a downbeat drum ‘n’ bass accompaniment, and filled out with tinkering sound effects, like a toy maker going to work in a rickety attic. Similarly, “The Leaves” contains music box melodies and a sort of watch-winding sound effect.
All of these references to ambient sounds make more sense when you listen to Filepp’s lyrics, which consistently describe interactions with his surroundings. The images that stand out the most are the numerous uses of giddy anthropomorphism. During a train ride on “Asleep on a Train”, Filepp sees “tree branches wave and telephone poles compare notes.” From “The Birds in Your Chest”, we hear of “The planes overhead / That hum their own two cents” and how “The birds in your chest / Try to reveal all the names / Of the subtle little things / We’d try to understand.” More menacing, however, are the descriptions of a homicidal workspace on “Drop Ceilings and Day Planners”, which begins, “When you first walked into the office building / That would eventually kill you,” a line that is echoed by the even more macabre, “When you first stepped into the small cubicle / That could potentially entomb you.”
Beak>: Beak>
Beak>
Beak>
(Invada Records, 2009)
Portishead founder Geoff Barrow assembled Beak> in January 2009 with fellow Bristolians Billy Fuller (bass, worked with Robert Plant and Massive Attack) and Matt Williams (keyboards, also known as a solo entity called Team Brick). Twelve days later, they had a punchy, streamlined record in the can.
Just like Wagner’s famous drone prelude to Das Rheingold, which evoked the murky genesis of the universe, Beak>’s opener, “Backwell”, begins with a heartbeat of a bass line—130 bars of unswerving bass, pulsing and waiting for the right time to explode. While Wagner’s piece turns into operatic aria, Beak> kicks in a straight-ahead drumbeat. If Wagner were still around, he’d probably see the wisdom in this approach: The drone streams on, but is pumped more forcefully. And that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for medley; only that here it’s handled by synth arpeggios.
Wale: Attention Deficit
Wale
Attention Deficit
(Allido, 2009)
Wale is the reigning champ of inventive mixtapes. In 2007, his 100 Miles and Running was welcomed with wide acclaim. One standout track was “Work”, a four-minute verse set to the Beatles‘ “Hey Bulldog” and the “Apache” beat. And in 2008, Wale’s Mixtape About Nothing set the bar even higher. It was chock full of well-timed Seinfeld interludes, it contained a humorous aping of Seinfeld’s comedic stylings—”What’s the deal with mixtapes?”—and Julia Louis-Dreyfus endorsed the record on one track. Everyone DL’ed The Mixtape About Nothing and then sat on their hands for a year waiting for a proper album.
With mixtapes, there’s a greater freedom to sample popular works—no way you’re actually clearing “Hey Bulldog” for sample use on an album. And there’s no Seinfeld cameo on Attention Deficit. But Wale still brings a bevy of sounds and support with a range of voices and producers: Bun B and Gucci Mane offer verses. K’naan, a Somali-Canadian poet who could recite Rakim lyrics before he could speak English, brings a completely different cadence to the party with his verse on “TV in the Radio.” “Pretty Girls” features a strong tenor hook by Weensey, a member of DC’s Backyard Band, who is sampled on the song. Elsewhere, hooks are offered by Lady Gaga and Pharrell.
The Ever-Mutating Mutantes
Fans are waiting outside of the Independent for the doors to open, but inside Os Mutantes is staggering through their soundcheck. I’m not sure what’s wrong, but there are numerous disagreements being conducted in Portuguese. Making matters worse is that lead singer and guitarist Sérgio Dias is sleeping off exhaustion at the hotel while everyone else tries to figure out all the knobs on his incredibly elaborate guitar.
Later, backstage, in his purple cloak, Dias showed me the custom model: “There’s an octave divider, there’s compressor, there’s echo, this is one fuzz, that’s a different fuzz, this is the volume for the bridge pickup, this is the volume of echo in relation to guitar, this is tone, this one fades between the pickups, this turns on the echo, and this turns on the compressor, which is here, this is mono, then all the magnetic pickups with the piezo here, stereo, and off. As you see, it is powered by its own cable because it eats battery a lot. Actually, one of the lights fell down there. I have to fix it.”
Guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Vitor Trida and bassist Vinicius Junqueria struggle to get the massive axe under control, and after a fierce shriek of feedback, one of the soundguys calls out, “By the way, that’s not the piezo. It’s on the other guitar.” The band runs through the complicated prog-rock number “Jardim Elétrico” without incident. “It’s okay?” asks keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Henrique Peters. “Yeah,” says the soundman. Just then, one of the guitars burps up a cloud of static. “Wait,” asks the soundman. “What’s that?” Don’t worry,” says Peters with a smile. “It will be fixed.”
Blakroc: Blakroc
Blakroc
Blakroc
(Blakroc, 2009)
Fusing rap and rock sounds like a natural pairing, but the rap-rock subgenre has produced so many misfires. It was a revolutionary concept back when Run-DMC and Aerosmith remade “Walk This Way”, but had devolved into noisy clichés by 2004, when Jay-Z and Linkin Park collaborated on Collision Course. And then, just when you get your shovel out to bury the genre, Damon Dash and the Black Keys save it.
They are unlikely saviors of the genre: Damon Dash is a hip-hop mogul and cofounder of Roc-A-Fella Records; the Black Keys are two indie darlings known for their garagiste take on blues-rock. But it works. The Black Keys don’t have to exaggerate the hip-hop quotient in their music; Patrick Carney’s beats rock and Dan Auerbach’s guitar work brings the appropriate swagger. Damon Dash, for his part, doesn’t even have to touch the mic—not when he’s got Mos Def, Q-Tip, a third of the Wu-Tang Clan, and his former Roc-A-Fella roster in his rolodex.
Joe Jackson: Mike’s Murder OST
Joe Jackson
Mike’s Murder OST
(A&M, 1983)
Joe Jackson: Classical composer, post-punk impresario, sometime swinger, and musician responsible for a handful of little-known soundtracks. The best known are: Tucker: The Man and His Dream (flopped; soundtrack out of print), Queens Logic (flopped; Jackson’s score omitted from official soundtrack), and Mike’s Murder (flopped; soundtrack broke the Top 100; score almost entirely stripped from movie). Mike’s Murder could have been a solid follow-up to Jackson’s 1982 chart-topper Night and Day. Instead, it sunk along with the movie it accompanied.
He was fresh out of Ohio—what did he know about the city?
So intones the throaty narrator on the trailer for the thriller flop of ‘84, Mike’s Murder. Mike is a tennis instructor-cum-coke dealer, goofy, friendly looking, not exactly the CEO of the ROC, no. The lyrics Jackson imagines for his “Mike” are similarly goofy and vulnerable, though Jackson pits his protagonist against New York, where he lived at the time, and the Mike of Mike’s Murder spends his time on the coke-white beaches of LA.
The Swimmers: People Are Soft
The Swimmers
People Are Soft
(MAD Dragon, 2009)
No need to worry about a sophomore slump from Philly four-piece the Swimmers. People Are Soft, the follow-up to 2008’s Fighting Trees, is a thick slice of shimmering pop, with more layered arrangements than their debut, and a hefty dose of atmospherics for those that like a side of ambiance with their rock.
There are lots of production surprises on the record, which keep things interesting throughout. On “What This World Is Coming To”, just when you think the song has run out of steam, it winds up and drops into a wonderful half-time breakdown, replete with hand claps, bass, and g-funk synth courtesy of Krista Yutzy-Burkey. Steve Yutzy-Burkey’s vocals on “Save Me” use some anticipatory backwards doubling before being funneled into a whirlpool of echo.
The only song that seems overly repetitive is “A Hundred Hearts”, with its nursery rhyme-like chorus: “If you had a hundred hearts you could try to ration out ‘em / But then one by one they’d break ‘em and you’d only be without ‘em.” Repetitive, yes, but so much so that it gets stuck in your head till you want to play it again.
The stormy lyrics continue with the dreary “Dresses Don’t Fit”, a brooding dirge set to a quick tempo. The chorus picks up a hopeful chord change just to slam you with the quizzical downer: “No, the dresses don’t fit / But they won’t quit until you’re gone / Uh-uh, the windows won’t lock / But people will find their way into your heart.” “Drug Party” also does a remarkable job of setting heavy subject matter over a fun sing-along. Fuzzy bass and drums—supplied by Rick Sieber and Scott French, respectively—are accentuated by distorted xylophone and vocals that intone, “Tell me that I’m alright sister / Pick me up and give me water… I am always outside getting sick.”
Two other lines from “Drug Party”—”I can settle into my own skin” and “I know I’ll learn to settle in”—are evoked again on the finale, “Try to Settle In.” That song is an audio massacre. The drums sound like they’re in another room, down a tunnel, and around the block; the vocals are delivered in mumbles; the whole song swings, throwing around its weight, until it crumbles and dissolves into a stream of fizz. The record seems completed when a dancefloor-worthy synth breakdown reintroduces the melody with church bells.
Even more so than the noise and effects, the melodies are astounding. The melodies hook you like earrings from the get-go. Opener “Shelter” layers three complementary melodies on the opening drive, and from there they proceed to empty out their bag of melodic tricks. I would recommend a little settling in or maybe settling down for the Swimmers, except that it might stunt their growth.
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]
Sean Lennon: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead OST
Sean Lennon
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead OST
(Chimera, 2009)
Perhaps more than any other peripheral characters from the world of Shakespeare, Hamlet courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have the dubious honor of starring in the most Shakespeare parodies. W.S. Gilbert (the librettist half of Gilbert and Sullivan) took a shot at them with the late-19th century play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: A Tragic Episode, in Three Tabloids, and in 1966, Tom Stoppard debuted his absurdist take on the characters with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Now, with all America enraptured by vampires, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead demands a soundtrack that is both macabre and playful to underscore their exploits.
Sean Lennon delivers with songs that are eerie and childlike, befitting wakes as well as naptime. This distinction is clear from the beginning of the record, when Lennon layers sheets of devilish piano tritones before resolving into major chords and finally picking up steam with tuba oomph and pizzicato strings. The title theme evokes the scores that Danny Elfman has contributed to Tim Burton films; fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas will be especially pleased.
Lennon doesn’t settle for any single style, however. “Elsinore Revisited” is a creepy music-box number. “Bobby’s Bedroom” is a sweet 6/8 ballad, alternating between happy arpeggios and a beautifully brooding B section. “‘S Blood” and “The Interview” are sustained soundscapes that evoke Brian Eno’s ambient sphere.
“Elsinore Reprise” and “Finale” have some soaring rock moments. The latter concludes with pulsing brass and bass, and a blast of cacophony is truly reminiscent of the mid-period Beatles tracks “Only a Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much.” (I’d make the same comparison regardless of the artist’s last name.)
The record was composed on Lennon’s bedroom computer, and while this indicates that there’s a large amount of MIDI synth in use, the overall sound is surprisingly organic. “Fortenbras” comes close to a too-synthetic sound, but the rhythm is pinned down by a watery scratch on guitar strings that balances everything out. Only “Charlotte’s Theme”, with its militant video game bombast, slips too far into the MIDI hole.
The record is primarily instrumental, save for a few “ahhs”; but there’s nothing wrong with a little free association rap from the man that invented and destroyed the sub-genre: Kool Keith. Keith swings by on “Desire”, and, as he is a masterful actor in his own right, he reprises his intergalactic pimp persona: “We protrude the ozone layer / I’m a ozone player, club night / I’m a broad chaser with a silver blazer.”
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead, the movie, has been circulating around film festivals and garnering positive reviews for its dark comedy, but as of yet, it doesn’t seem to have a full-fledged distribution deal. So you’ll have to get the album and use your imagination, watch the actors and vampires chew and suck the life out of each other on the insides of your eyelids. The soundtrack is direction enough.
Listen: Various Tracks [at chimeramusic.com]
Steely Dan at Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco
Steely Dan
October 25th at Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco
An incredibly well-oiled Steely Dan came through town for a three-show stint this past weekend. The Steely Dan orchestra is comprised of four horns, two guitars, two keyboards, bass, drums, and three back-up vocalists, working together like a locomotive hauling a deep catalog of difficult and subversive jazz-rock.
Friday, they played the legendary Aja straight through; Saturday featured a recital of The Royal Scam; and, for the fan who needs a little extra, Sunday was Internet Request Night. The perk was that audience votes nudged the band back toward a few tracks that were left out of recent tours but remain audience favorites: “Any Major Dude Will Tell You”, “Reelin’ in the Years”, and “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number.” “Rikki’s” chords were tweaked with more sustain courtesy of the horn section. The result was a jazzier, more nostalgic take on the radio hit.
Album Review: Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here
by: David MacFadden-Elliott
I’m New Here
(XL Recordings, 2010)
It’s been 40 years since Gil Scott-Heron told us that the revolution would not be televised, and Heron feels a need to reintroduce himself with I’m New Here. The title track is actually a cover of a song by folkster Smog—finger-picked guitar and mostly spoken words that intimate, “I did not become someone different, that I did not want to be, but I’m new here.” He goes on to explain, “Turn around turn around turn around / You may come full circle / I’m new here again.”
This is a little different from what you might expect from this soul master and proto hip-hop musician. Musically, the whole record’s full of surprises. XL Recordings founder Richard Russell—who cut his teeth in the early-‘90s UK rave scene—handles production duties, finding deep electronic grooves that still contain hints of soul and gospel music.
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by: David MacFadden-Elliott
published: February 8, 2010
in column: Reviews
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