Music: Beck's Best Re-Boots With Bonus Disc

Beck is all "I see you jacked my look Michael Cera..."

Many reviews of the new two-disc Deluxe Edition of Beck's 1996 opus Odelay have seemed to include an obligatory Kurt Cobain compare-and-contrast alt-stars of the 90s moment. The standard trope is that Kurt was too raw and full of feeling and fellow blonde skinny boy Beck swooped in post-mortem to lighten the mood and take us all away on a wave of irony. Ah, hindsight.

My obligatory Beck/Kurt connection is my memory of the day Cobain died, when Beck's "Loser" was riding up the charts and MTV actually meant Music Televison. Stone-faced MTV News guy (yes there was such a thing as MTV News) Kurt Loder was explaining that an unidentified body had been found in Cobain's house, and it was a blode male in his 20s. My friend turned to me and said hopefully, "Maybe its Beck..."

"Loser" and the accompanying album Mellow Gold did seem like a wispy thin coton candy strand of irony compared to Cobain's gravitas at the time. There was no reason to imagine life beyond a one-hit wonder for the onetime Beck Hansen whereas Nirvana had already been crowned the band of a generation.

The reality is that both artists were expert magpies, building their own sounds and stances out of the accumulated weight of music past. Cobain also in his own way did as much to obscure his true self and his subject matter as Beck did with sometimes obtuse lyrics and misleading explanations.

Ultimately they were both expert curators. Cobain shilled for beloved bands of the past that were barely known outside of rarefied circles: The Vaselines, Meat Puppets, Wipers, and many more. Beck reconfigured underground folk, blues, hip-hop, and indie rock styles, and Odelay is in some ways a tip of the hat to The Beastie Boys 1989 masterpiece Paul's Boutique a massive sales flop that accumulated a rabid cult. They both shared a fondness for Calvin Johnson and K Records.

So on to Odelay, an album that holds up magnificently and benefits from the remastering job (as silly as it might seem to remaster an album that came out in the heyday of CD tech.) Beck hired the Dust Brothers, the producers behind the aforementioned Paul's Boutique. Like the Beastie's album, Odelay is a crazy quilt of samples from sources as diverse as Van Morrison's early band Them, Rachmaninoff, and a host of obscure soul singles. These are fused with a strong set of songs that touch on hip-hop, indian tinged psychedelia , hardcore, noise rock and folk blues.

Beck would never sound as simultaneously expansive and unified again as he does here. Subsequent albums, as excellent as they are, tend to explore certain aspects of each of these touchstones. The follow up for example, Mutations, strips away all of the sampling and hip-hop and rock influences to explore a baroque trippy folk.

Expanding Odelay to two discs blunts its impact somewhat with a grab bag of worthy and second string songs and remixes. "Electric Music and The Summer People" for instance, was a b-side in a different, superior version than the one here. The remixes are almost all negligable, as is a clever mariachi version of "Jack-Ass" entitled "Burro" natch.

This gets 4 out of 5 Kurt Loders, but the original album is a stone 5 Loder classic:


Here's the freaky-deaky video for "New Pollution":


And "Minus" live getting torn up!:

New Music: Cat Power's Jukebox Stocked With Curious Covers

Cat Power gets creamy


Cat Power has done this before. In 2000 Chan Marshall (for Cat Power is she for all intents and purposes) released The Covers Record, a set of radically re-interpreted songs both classic and obscure that dramatically raised her profile in the music world. Jukebox is a similar undertaking but Cat Power is in a different musical place than she was on the earlier album.

In 2000, she was still tentative as a performer, not so much freak folk as freaked-out folk. She was known for stage shows that devolved into abject terror and whispered vocals. The arrangements -- spare, exploratory, searching -- reflect this and add to the revelatory feel of her interpretations.

Today Cat Power has become something of a classicist, her last album The Greatest having embraced classic country soul moves with the help of a group of well-versed sessioners. She has also developed a more confident stage presence and quit drinking. As a result some have found Jukebox to be disappointingly straightforward -- her confident arrangements leading to more standardized interpretations.

This is a more conventional record than The Covers Record for Cat Power but she has reconfigured these songs for the most part, many radically, to fit her bold new style. Hank William's "Travellin' Man" becomes "Travelin' (Wo)Man", and the gender shift is more than just titular. The melancholy she found in her earlier stripped down alt folk rock is still here but it's fully limbed -- fixed to her distinctive voice which is deployed with much more precision.

There are two originals here -- a reworking of her "Metal Heart" and a tribute to Bob Dylan called "Song to Bobby" that plays out as a fans mash note. My favorite track though is her opening-- a cover of the Sinatra standard "New York, New York" that shows off her newly minted swagger.

Jukebox gets 4 out 5 Fonzies:



Here's Cat Power in the studio doing "Dark End of The Street" which, despite my earlier post previewing the album, didn't make the cut. Too bad!

Music: Jesus and Mary Chain -- They have Risen! So Sayeth Magnetic Fields

Magnetic Fields ride a freight elevator together

Magnetic Fields' mastermind Stephen Merritt is a man constantly in search of a gimmick to hang his new albums on. 69 Love Songs, the band's brilliant box set that contained exactly what the title promised, is still the most successful of these, but their last album i (all songs started with the letter "i") and their new one Distortion all strive to take their titles literally.

Hmmm Distortion, what's that gonna sound like? It sounds like The Magnetic Fields, only distorted. Duh. What that means are clever knowing pop songs which stay (mostly) on the right side of twee. The joke here is that Merritt has acknowledged The Jesus and Mary Chain's debut classic Psychocandy as a model, but rather than repeat their formula of Phil Spector pop dipped in an acid bath he substitutes himself for Spector. This leads to some funny moments of distorted accordions and such, though it's a jest meant for the music geek.

Distortion also marks the degree that the Reid brothers of JAMC fame have become a major indie-rock touchstone, influencing some of last year's best records by The Liars, Ponys, and by the brothers themselves backing up and producing their younger sister Linda on her delightful Sister Vanilla album. Sister Vanilla has proven to be a dry run for this year's Major Reunion, the JAMC themselves.

Back to Magnetic Fields though -- is Distortion any good? Some fans will undoubtedly rebel at the conceit of Merritt's songs slathered in distortion and feedback (though it rarely reaches JAMC style squalling). the underlying songs are solid though, noticeably more consistent than the ones on i. "Too Drunk to Dream" is a typically wry highlight, starting as it does like a demented sea shanty"Sober, life is a prison, Shitfaced, it is a blessing". "Drive On, Driver", "California Girls", and the wonderfully misanthropic "Mr. Mistletoe" all make for a most enjoyable set. Also, though the production apes the Reids, Merritt's songwriting is distinctly his own, his deep baritone is as baritone-y as ever, and the lovely lead vocals of Shirley Simms on several tracks keep this away from bald-faced imitation.

Distortion gets 4 out of 5 Psychcandys:

Music Review: Black Francis -- Oh Inverted Name!

Black Francis -- "Logging" some time in the studio, he "wood" "branch" out and "leaf" his old name behind...heh heh..uh yeah I know that's so lame.

After breaking up the Pixies via fax machine in the early 90's Black Francis commenced his solo career as Frank Black. As Frank Black, Charles Thompson (as his parents named him) would refine and simplify many of the Pixies wilder explorations so that by the time of 2006's Fast Man, Raider Man he resembled no-one so much as latter-day Nick Lowe. This is hardly a bad thing, as both men have a gift for melody and turning a wry phrase but compared to Thompson's wild years and the recent spate of Pixies reunion shows his latter albums can seem pallid. So when it was revealed that the man's new album Bluefinger would be released under the Black Francis moniker fans were excited for a return to Pixies era howling and tension and release style songwriting. They may be disappointed to learn that this is more of a hybrid, with songs that could come from any phase of his career. They should still give this a shot however as it's one of his best albums, his most vital work since his excellent first two solo albums Frank Black and Teenager of The Year.

Bluefinger does feature more vocal growling and howling than Black has employed in years and the first two songs serve to grab the listener by the collar and shake them around a bit. The Pxies-ish "Threshold Apprehension" ranks among his very best tunes, with driving guitars, killer drums, and great backup vocals by his wife Violet, who serves as a Kim Deal-like foil for many of the albums highlights. Then comes "Captain Pasty" which harks back to the triptych of loud fast songs that closed out Teenager of The Year. Other songs like the sweetly melodic "She Took All The Money" and the gorgeous title track hark back to overlooked later albums in Black's solo catalog like 2001's Dog in The Sand.

Bluefinger is a concept album of sorts inspired by Dutch painter and musician Herman Brood -- a man well known for his whole-hearted embrace of the sex drugs and rock n roll ethos. Brood committed suicide by jumping from the roof of a hotel. There are echos and direct references to his personality throughout, songs like the killer "Tight Black Leather" and "Your Mouth Into Mine" in which Black seems to coax Brood's spirit into communicating from Black's own lips.

Overall this is a distillation as opposed to a sprawling demonstration (ala Teenager of The Year) of all Black can do and that means that no matter what phase of his sound he calls upon, the songs are top-notch as is the playing. Those who have had only a passing interest in Blacks' solo career will probably call this a return to form and it is a refreshing change from the mellow mid-tempo adult alternative sounds he has been proffering with his brand name Nashville studio hotshots lately. But this is still a unique record, and all the better for not attempting to simply rehash Pixies-style songwriting.

Bluefinger gets four out of five blue fingers:

Music Review: M.I.A goes POW! Drops Her Best Album Yet

Maya Arulpragasm (aka M.I.A.) dressed for some night jogging

Sri Lankan rapper/singer M.I.A. (pronounced like "maya") is connoisseur of rhythm, a veritable beat specialist. Like James Brown, she's never met a groove or a polyrhythm she didn't want to ride and on her new album Kala she serves up the results on a gleaming silver platter. Her last record, 2005's Arular, was produced by Diplo with a dense steamy mix that acted as a sensory assault, while still shakin' booties. Kala (XL Records) goes straight to the ass however, stripping away anything that doesn't serve the rhythmic flow and building layers of airy open sound out of people talking, M.I.A. rapping and singing in her distinct lilt and odd juxtapositions of lyrics and influences. "20 Dollar" comes in on gunshots, fuzz guitar, quasi-Indian vocals from M.I.A. and electro-drums before she she starts rapping, her flow insistent and cajoling until suddenly she hits the chorus and it's a cover of "Where is My Mind?" by The Pixies. "Bamboo Banger" similarly takes The Modern Lovers pre-punk classic "Roadrunner" and transforms it into a refrain for third-worlders banging on the doors of passing Hummers that could be full of tourists or soldiers or both. The killer single "Bird Flu" busts out of the speakers with squawking, Burundi-style drumming and wild vocal trills. "Jimmy" is a Bollywood tribute that's as smooth as melting butter and deserves to be a smash. "Mango Pickle" is as addictive as M.I.A. claims the titular snack is and features the rapping of aboriginal Australian pre-pubescents The Wilcannia Mob. They give this song about fishing and eating a strange skew with their high raspy voices and didgeridoo. Then there is "Paper Planes which samples The Clash's "Straight to Hell" in the service of discussing M.I.A.'s wanderings forced and otherwise. As a side-effect of Bush's stringent visa policies she was unable to work with Timbaland on the entire album, as was her plan. As the one Timbaland track shows, this was a good thing as her globetrotting yields up an album of diverse and eclectic pleasure all aligned with the hips and wedded to lyrics about third world democracy and "boyz" who start wars. This one gets 5 out of 5 Visas, a modern dancefloor clasic in the making:

Music Review: The Dynamics First Landing – Lost Soul Redeemed

Jonathan Lethem’s novel Fortress Of Solitude featured a number of imaginary soul musicians nestled among the real-life stars of soul and R and B as part of the fabric of his narrative. Hacktone’s reissue of The Dynamics 1969 album First Landing sounds like what I imagined one of Lethem’s imaginary groups to be: lost could-have-been first string soul stars. First Landing is a surprisingly strong example of the last gasp of traditional soul as it was being challenged first by funk, and later by disco. Sharp, punchy arrangements and production (on two songs by the legendary Chips Moman) are re-mastered to perfection here.
First Landing is impressive in its consistency in a genre known more for singles than for long players. It is stronger song-for-song than, say, Al Green’s debut album. This is all the more notable given the stylistic variety on display, from up-tempo burners like “ I Don’t Want Nobody to Lead Me On” to funky churners like “Dum-De-Dum” to ballads like “What Would I Do.” Isaac “Zeke” Harris has a terrific voice, aided and abetted by co-leads George White (who busts out a killer falsetto) and Fred “Sonny” Baker.
This is a real treat for any fans of late 60’s and early 70’s soul. First Landing gets 4 out of 5 afro picks:

Music Review: Interpol are Repeat Offenders

Interpol have been tagged from the beginning as a sort of Joy Division retread (I hear more Echo and the Bunnymen in their sound). Unlike Joy Division though, lead singer Paul Banks shows no signs of offing himself and Interpol seems unlikely at this late date to turn into New Order. That's not to say this band doesn't have it's own merits. There are terrific songs scattered over their three albums so far, and if their latest Our Love To Admire holds fewer peaks than previous LP Antics, it also contains fewer troughs. What you get is further distillation of the Interpol sound, with some more fancy-pants production courtesy the major-label coffers. Sadly what you don't get is the crystal clear focus on the bands killer all-too secret weapons: the rhythm section of bassist Carlos Dengler and drum phenomenon Sam Fogarino. On Admire the production and arrangements conspire to drown their snap and pop in a blanket of strings, keyboards and guitars.

As I mentioned earlier there are still moments worth savoring, though they will have an air of familiarity to longtime Interpol-ites. "No I in Threesome" is a clever fucked-up relationship song, "The Heinrich Manouver" is an excellent single if a notch down from 2004's "Slow Hands", and "Mammoth" has an epic grandeur befitting it's title. Those are the highlights but the rest is perfectly fine if you can't get enough of Banks' voice and Daniel Kessler's guitar atmospherics. For those who were hoping for some development in the songwriting or playing, disappointment awaits. Interpol has their sound and they are sticking to it. Our Love To Admire merits Three out of Five Ian Curtis neckties (if you know what I mean):