In Another Time

I like to think that I would have been a huge follower of THE WHO had I been alive during their height. That is not to say that I don't thoroughly enjoy their work and have found their grandiose nature highly intriguing. It's easy to say that I would have been a fan of THE BEATLES or THE ROLLING STONES at the time because they were the logical choices. No doubt I would have fancied both bands but there is something about THE WHO that separates them. Maybe it's that the sense of theater appeals to me. Their songs played more like small symphonies rather than pop songs. They wrote about life and philosophy and the passage of time rather than girls and love. I admit that for a long time I shied away from the band because I just didn't get as much exposure to them as some of the other "classic bands". I highly doubt there will ever be a WHO Rock Band game. Unlike the Beatles they have not completely sold their commercial souls (save for the licensing of their music to the CSI franchise, which is a little sad).

The Who is an interesting amalgam mostly due to the fact that while most of the songs are written by Pete Townsend, he rarely sings them opting for the more soulful Roger Daltry to be his voice. Townsend does chime and opportune times which gives the band an additional depth in that it really is the relationship between the two that makes it work so well. When it works, such as with "Baba O' Reilly", "My Generation" or "Join Together", it is remarkable.

Sure they can be pompous and heavy handed. "Tommy" is both a masterpiece and totally absurd. "Quadrophenia" makes little or no sense. But whether it's their early more raw efforts, such as the brilliant "My Generation", or later on in their career, the Who could never be accused of taking a half assed approach. It's that go for broke, let the music take us where it wants aesthetic that is what initially interested me in their work and it's what I think would have made me a huge fan of theirs. Lucky for me I got them now; even all these years later it still moves me...

(mp3) The Who -- Baba O'Reilly

Anyone who does not get chills from this might just be dead.

(mp3) The Who -- Tea and Theatre
From the album of about three years ago, all that's left is Daltry and Townsend but still the passion and emotion is there. A great song about the twilight of life and the joy in the little things.

Wating for the Cold Weather To Come

One of the downsides of living in Southern California is that you never really get winter. I know, I know a SoCal native bitching about the weather while those on the east coast or in other countries freezing their butts off is bit of piling on, but we write what we know so bear with me. This year it seems that we have had a longer than usual warm period out here which has led to a delay in my pulling out the sweaters and jackets. This is important because I absolutely detest wearing a shirt and tie to work and winter always allowed me to slide a bit on the wardrobe. But it also lacks a certain romance to the impending holiday season when I'm running around in shorts and flip flops. So I have decided to try to get myself in a colder place mentally by drifting to more somber and solemn musical selections. The wife has long held BON IVER up as a bastion of cool indie folk and I have been somewhat resistant. But after finally breaking down and partaking of "For Emma, Forever Ago" and the subsequent "Blood Bank EP" I have come to appreciate his music. His voice has such an ethereal quality that it often seems as if it is floating over the instrumentation rather than part of the song. The arrangements are sparse (fitting with the cold space theme I had been searching for). One can almost feel the frost of the guitar as he strums the notes on "Blood Bank" and "Woods from the ep.

Then there is his contribution to the TWILIGHT SOUNDTRACK. This is not the place to get into my conflicted feelings on this soundtrack. We will discuss that later. But his duet with St. Vincent is a simply beautiful piece of music. It's so fragile and yet so powerful as the sound of two voices melds into one. Bon Iver brings my mind to the cold of winter, and that is a good thing.

(mp3) Bon Iver -- Blood Bank

(mp3) Bon Iver and St. Vincent -- Rosalyn

The 80's Revival Continues

First THE EDITORS channel vintage New Order and now THE MARY ONETTES have jettisoned their love for the Jesus and Mary Chain for a keyboard and reverb fest that harkens back to The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and others from that era. The swedish band's latest, "Islands", has a distinct pop feel that is also echoes fellow Swedes The Shout Out Louds. "Puzzles" has a great synth hook as part of it's chorus and a nice string section working in the background. The sunnier outlook on this record is tempered a bit since the lyrics still speak of love lost and bygone times of happiness. I just can't get over the keyboard lines that run throughout the album and how much they remind me of other sounds I grew up with. It's as if the band had "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" on in the recording studio as they made this record. "The Disappearance of Youth" has a nice acoustic shuffle as lead singer Philip Ekstroms reveals his coming to terms with his advancement in age and the changes it brings to his relationships. For a band that I was quick to dismiss a couple of years ago as another fad band, they have developed depth. It would be nice to see them combine the two influences from their first couple of records into something truly original. But at least they are making some interesting music worth checking out.

(mp3) The Mary Onettes -- Puzzles

When Do I Have To Give Up The Fight?

It has been brought to my attention that I am now 36 years old. I have a mortgage and car payments. I have two (soon to be three) kids. I wear a freakin' tie to work most days. I have a job where I am referred to as MR. most of the time. I do yardwork on the weekends (occasionally in shorts with socks pulled up to shield me from the weedwacker's rage). I laugh at TWO AND HALF MEN because I genuinely believe it is funny. I no longer watch MTV, and even VH1 is a bit sketchy at this point. You might say that this is the beginning of a mid life crisis, but oh no, it is something so much worse. This is an Indie Rock Credibility Crisis.

I have always fancied myself something of a music snob. This used to spread to movies, TV and books (back when I read things that were not the sports section in my chair half asleep). I have tried to maintain a certain hipness in my listening tastes (despite a somewhat ironic love for U2 and yes I am aware that this makes me a hypocrite). But am I now at a point in my life where I have to surrender that? Do I have to pack up my ringer tees and jeans for polo shirts and cargo shorts? Can a man be both a shining example of suburban malaise and a hipper than thou music aficionado?

PEOPLE, THIS IS A GENUINE CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE!!

It is no small coincidence that REM has played a large part in my listening habits over the past few weeks. They are the epitome of indie cred who have, in their old age, gone for the soft underbelly of commercialism. So when I took to listening to their new live CD it only cemented this moral calamity. "Driver 8" and "Gardening at Night" are still great, but do they still carry the same weight as they did all those years ago? Are they even still the poster children for the now antiquated college radio movement given that they "sold out" years ago? Are they just a relic of a bygone era replaced with blogs, zines and internet podcasts by every 20 year old with a macbook and a microphone? It is my assertion that for those of us who came of age in the true alternative era, REM have always represented the purest and most accurate accounting of band as artists and outsiders who did it the right way. But does that even matter any more?

I have no answers to these questions. This is not a manifesto of my rebellion against the passage of time. It is merely the cries of a middle aged man who very much loves the way he has dressed all these years, loves the music he has collected over time (and still from time to time dips his toes in the current indie waters) and is not ready to put on the black socks and sandals just yet.

(m4a) The Godfathers -- Birth, School, Work, Death

U2 Live at Rose Bowl (with a few friends)

I hazard a guess that for those of us in the Southern California metropolis this concert will go down as one of those "where were you?" moments. Seriously, there was something like 100,000 people there and by the time I end this entry into my blog the number will have grown. This being the ninth time I have seen them (spanning two states and two countries beginning with Zoo TV and the subsequent Zooropa tours, through PopMart, to Elevation and Vertigo to this incarnation of the 360 tour), I have a sense that I can call myself a U2 live expert in grading their shows. So, in no particular order, are my thoughts;

1) THE CLAW was impressive, ugly, revolutionary and yet strangely irrelevant by the end of the evening. First glance had it reaching beyond the top of the bowl and the sheer size of it was mighty cool. But once the band hit the stage it was not that different from other shows. In fact, the giant Zoo TV set was far cooler.

2) The Rose Bowl was not equipped for that many people. I say this knowing that no venue in America is really ready for this sort of collection of humanity. It was just too much. The wait to park was long, the lines for food were long (and they ran out at one point), and the number of people compacted the whole place.

3) There is no doubt that last night's version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was the best I have heard. For some reason the song meshed with the theme of the show of space and travel and time in a perfect symmetry.

4) The set list was certainly a change from past tours. Given the more solemn nature of the new record, the greatest hits selections leaned to the more somber. "The Unforgettable Fire" was a great choice from my standpoint, but I would imagine people would have rather had "Pride" instead.

5) Hearing "With or Without You" for the first time live was great. If I had had my way they would have ended with that instead of "Moment of Surrender". The later song felt more like a coda than a culmination.

6) My one tangent on the people there - I feel that about 3/4 of the crowd was there to see the band. the other quarter was more interested in beer, taking pictures of themselves and chatting with friends. Why would you pay in excess of $100.00 to do something you can do at any bar in LA for half that? I mean, people can do whatever they want but the number of people who spent the night traveling up and down the aisles was staggering. I bet there are 20,00o or so people who couldn't recall anything off the set list except maybe "Streets" and "Elevation".

7) "Vertigo" and "Elevation" have matured very well since their concert debuts and now have a firm place in the live show. I could say the same for "Get On Your Boots" but I think the pacing on it needs a bit or work. I could see that being a nice three song middle section next time out.

8) "Breathe" was a great opening. Other than that I thought the new stuff suffered by comparison. Maybe it's because a lot of people didn't know the material, but it seemed like Bono was working a little harder during those songs. "Unknown Caller" even came with subtitles so people could sing along; that never used to be necessary.

9) At this point in their careers, U2 can pretty much get away with anything but there is no forgiving them for torturing us with the BLACK EYED PEAS. Seriously, this is the same band that once had both PUBLIC ENEMY and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE open for them on US tours and now we get this crap. Not even Slash could redeem them (or at least that's what I heard from my hour long wait at the snack bar).

10) "Beautiful Day" and "Where The Streets Have No Name" illustrate the greatness of this band. Say what you want about Bono and his sanctimony filtered through self effacing irony or the sheer pretentiousness of playing to that many people (not including the Youtube viewing audience as well), they still play live better than anyone else I have seen. They have the unique ability to bring people to a place that is only possible through music. A place of both spirituality and soulfulness. A place where for a few moments everyone in that place feel something magical. Every time I have heard "Streets" I have felt that. The way it builds and builds them releases the energy and force of the song is worth the price of admission alone. It's why I will keep coming back again and again, without any trace of guilt that I am a fan of the biggest rock band in the world.

Click here and here for a set from Paris off the European leg of this tour. It's a pretty good approximation of what last night sounded like. Thanks to He's A Whore for the set.

A Note about my soon to be born child: How cool is it that during the height of "Streets" he was kicking up a storm. Does that boy know what good music is or what?

A Note About My Wife: My wife is currently 8 months pregnant with our third child. By day she takes care of twin 3 1/2 old boys while lugging around a bowling ball where her stomach used to be. And yet, there she was, sitting on a hard bench with half a spilled beer on her lap from the drunk behind us, with swollen ankles and aches and pains throughout her body from the 1/2 mile trek to get in. She endured because, while she is a fan of the band, she knew it was important to me. She tolerated the pain and agony that comes with being upright for five hours so that I could experience U2 one more time. In my mind, she has never been more beautiful to me then she was last night. To quote Bono:

"And I miss you when you're not around, I'm getting ready to leave the ground, oh you look so beautiful tonight, in the city of blinding lights..."

The Editors Release Their Inner New Order

Much has been made about THE EDITOR'S sound being somewhat derivative of JOY DIVSION, mostly due to the striking resemblance of lead singer Tom Smith's baritone to that of the late Ian Curtis. Although that comparison still holds some truth, the band has slowly worked it's way away from the straight up post punk of their debut and into something more reliant on synthesizers and moody bass lines. So with the release of their third album, "In This Light and On This Evening", the band jettisons it's worship of the artists formerly known as WARSAW for a tribute of sorts to what came out of the ashes of Curtis's death; NEW ORDER.

The prevalence of synths on the latest record give it a more updated feel. The lead single, "Papillon", is a dance song that Sumner and company would have been proud of. The moodiness of the title track recalls early New Order and the overall use of the bass to drive the song structure seems to echo the importance bass held to New Order throughout their career.

But this might appear to undersell the record and the band. In fact, this might be the first record that the band has made that is finally their own sound. Here are songs that have a more anthemic feel to them that was lacking on the first two records. "Bricks and Mortar" builds and builds on itself to it releases the powerful chorus towards the end. The discordant synth lines of "The Big Exit" make them sound like THE CURE for a moment. It's certainly a dark record, which is not new territory for the band. The only real complaint is the lack of real driving rock songs, which by the end makes the collection a little more muted than before. But as a transitional step to a new phase of the band, it's a welcome step in a new direction. Besides, leave the copying of Joy Division to Interpol.

(mp3) Editors -- Papillion

X-Lion Tamer gets in touch with his inner 80's

The sound of the 80's (Synthesizers that sound like lasers, vocals that sound like robots, cheesy lyrics about teen lust) has made a bit of a comeback the last couple of years due mostly to the hip-hop community latching onto the sound because Kanye West apparently told them it was cool. I bring this up because my first listen to tracks from X-LION TAMER reminded me of that sound. It's not the 80's per say, more a copy of the 80's filtered through a post modern sheen. It's not to say I was skeptical, after all the recommendation came from Ed over at 17 Seconds (and his taste is usually impeccable), it's just I felt the sound had been played out.

I am happy to say that the band (or the guy since it's a one man show) has earned a place of fondness for me. By his own admission, the sound is something you might hear at the end of one of those John Hughes movies starring Molly Ringwald and a pre-drug Robert Downey Jr. or James Spader. This could have come off a trite but the depth of musicianship helps save the songs and make them original. "I Said Stop" is what Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark would have sounded like had they not tried to replicate "If You Leave" for the remainder of their career. The cover of the Galaxie 500's "Tugboat" has both hints of the original and yet is also very unique in it's own right. "Life Support Machine" has all the makings of a PET SHOP BOYS song without the deadpan vocals.

It's fun (and yet surprisingly dark in lyrical make-up) and has me both nostalgic and looking to the future. If you like your music with a lot of pop, then this is for you.

(mp3) X-Lion Tamer -- I Said Stop

(mp3) X Lion Tamer -- Tugboat