Dancing About Architecture 08.04.09
Posted by Ian Wright on 08.04.2009
Thoughts on the new Why? album, new music from Fuck Buttons, Guitar Hero, an indie supergroup, bad news for Minneapolis music fans and more.
The bit at the start
Eskimo Snow is likely the least hip-hop sounding record that Yoni Wolf has ever made. That's not my opinion but that of the man himself, "This record, Eskimo Snow, is really the least hip-hop out of anything I've ever been involved with," the Why? frontman/man formerly known as Why? told pitchfork a few months ago (see?) and considering that Wolf is a man who's career has been built in part on his own wry sense of self awareness and introspection who is anyone to doubt him.
And he's not wrong in this instance. Eskimo Snow, less of a follow up to last year's excellent Alopecia than a companion piece seeing as the 2 albums were for the most part recorded simultaneously. Nor is it an out-takes album as the track selection on the two albums has apparently had more to do with tone and style than anything else.
All that being said the sound of Eskimo Snow isn't entirely uncharted territory for Why?, anyone who heard last year's Almost Live From Eli's Live Room album which documented the live arrangements for their songs at the time would be able to notice similarities. But there are new developments all the same, "Even The Good Wood Gone" features slide guitar sections which in tandem with the keys lend a country element to the song and throughout the album the drums are much less treated then on Alopecia and the bass lines are far more of the flat 4/4 root note variety, both are elements that you might more expect to find on something released by a conventional indie rock band rather than a group that is on Anticon. Elsewhere the guitar picking on songs like "One Rose" and "Berkely By Hearseback" feature a surprising folk influence running through them and on one part of "From The Windows Of My Embrace" Wolf's delivery seems to ape Bob Dylan's on "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carrol".
Nonetheless this is unmistakably a Why? record, Wolf's nasal delivery of his frequently brilliant and occasionally tragically dichotomous lyrics are unmistakable, as is his habit of referencing his previous work by dredging up and reusing his old lyrics ("One Rose"'s mention of skies for shoeing horses under for example). Though he's hardly unique in that practice, in recent years the likes of Craig Finn and Spencer Krug have shamelessly and liberally re-mined their lyrics books, then you've for the afore mentioned Bob Dylan who did the same on Sara from Desire. There's also instrumental signatures that crop up too such as the use of vibraphone and also whole sections of music that seem rehashed from Alopecia which might be another motivation for keeping particular songs away from each other. The piano intro to "January Twenty Something", aside from a slowed down tempo are less processing on the signal are very, very similar, were it not for a key change they might even be melodically identical.
Why? as far as I'm concerned, as a band at least, up till now have never really made a bad record and in Eskimo Snow the habit has been comfortably continued. However despite it's qualities it doesn't quite match the heights of the best things that they've done and long term I can see myself replaying their older albums far more frequently than will this one.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
Yo La Tengo – I can hear the heart beating as one.
Of all the great YLT albums THIS is THE ONE.
You news, you lose
Free new tune of the week.
Fuck Button's debut album, last years' Street Horrsing was one of 2008's best. The band have spent some of the time since then in dance music supremo Andrew Wetherall's studio working on the follow up to it.
Tarot Sport will be released in the UK on October 12th and 8 days later in North America on ATP recordings.
The album will be preceded by a single "Surf Solar" on September 14th. The full album version of the song is a 10 minute long monster but a shorter edit of the tune was released to the internet last week. The song itself sounds amazing but I imagine that the full version of it won't be half punishing to listen to.
However I'd never ever contemplate combining the two which is why I've got nothing but contempt for the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series of games.
All that being said if you do insist on investing in Guitar Hero 5 when it's released at least you'll be able to press buttons along to some decent tunes. The set list will include songs by the likes of Vampire Weekend, Elliott Smith, Sunny Day Real Estate, Band Of Horses, Weezer, TV On The Radio, Sonic Youth, My Morning Jacket and The White Stripes.
If you're in Minneapolis and aged between 18 and 21 a story from the City Pages might be bad news for you as Minneapolis City Council is apparently considering banning 18+ gigs.
Councilwoman Lisa Goodman is claiming that these gigs make it far too easy for underaged concertgoers to get drunk because SHOCK HORROR 21 year olds might pass them booze. If Goodman's proposal passes it will force the city's promoters to put on either all ages shows where no one can drink or 21+ ones where everyone can. Goodman told the City Pages, "I just don't know how I can in good faith look at these public-health people and tell them we don't propagate youth access to alcohol when we allow 18-year-olds into bars where 21-year-olds can pass them alcohol. If I don't do something to address this now, I'm going to face something far more onerous."
Minneapolis club owners have responded to the proposal by claiming that such a move would be disastrous to their businesses. John Barlow who manages the venue Epic said, "We would lose anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per month and would close if this law goes into effect. This would be a deathblow to us as a concert venue. There's a $2 million project here that will sit idle and dark."
Look, up in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's indie supergroup.
A while back I wrote about the forthcoming Neil Finn solo album which features contributions from Johnny Marr, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead, Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Pat Sansone, and Glenn Kotche of Wilco, and others. 7 Worlds Collide: The Sun Came Out will be out in the UK on August 31 and September 29 in the U.S. with all profits going to the charity Oxfam.
You can listen to clips from the album on MySpace here.
Tracklisting:
CD1
01 Too Blue [written by Johnny Marr/Jeff Tweedy, sung by Johnny Marr/Neil Finn]
02 You Never Know [written and sung by Jeff Tweedy]
03 Little By Little [written and sung by Sharon Finn/Neil Finn]
04 Learn to Crawl [written by Ed O'Brien/Johnny Marr/Liam Finn/Neil Finn, sung by Neil Finn/Liam Finn]
05 Black Silk Ribbon [written and sung by KT Tunstall/Bic Runga]
06 Girl, Make Your Own Mind Up [written and sung by Don McGlashan]
07 Run in the Dust [written and sung by Johnny Marr]
08 Red Wine Bottle [written by Liam Finn/Chris Garland/Johnny Mar, sung by Liam Finn]
09 The Ties That Bind Us [written and sung by Phil Selway]
10 Reptile [written and sung by Lisa Germano]
11 Bodhisattva Blues [written by Ed O'Brien/Liam Finn, sung by Ed O'Brien/Neil Finn]
12 What Could Have Been [written and sung by Jeff Tweedy]
CD2
01 All Comedians Suffer [written and sung by Neil Finn]
02 Duxton Blues [written and sung by Glenn Richards]
03 Hazel Black [written and sung by KT Tunstall/Neil Finn]
04 Riding the Wave [written and sung by Tim Finn]
05 The Witching Hour [written and sung by Phil Selway]
06 Over and Done [written and sung by John Stirratt]
07 A Change of Heart [written by Bic Runga/Dan Wilson, sung by Bic Runga]
08 Don't Forget Me [written and sung by Pat Sansone]
09 Long Time Gone [written and sung by Don McGlashan]
10 The Cobbler [written and sung by Elroy Finn]
11 3 Worlds Collide [written by Glenn Kotche/Phil Selway/Neil Baldock]
12 The Water [written and sung by Sebastian Steinberg]
The YouTube video of the week
New York I love you but you're making me green.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Pixies – Doolittle 20th Anniversary Tour, now with US dates
09-30 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
10-01 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
10-02 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
10-04 Glasgow, Scotland - SECC - Hall 4
10-06 London, England - Brixton Academy
10-07 London, England - Brixton Academy
10-08 London, England - Brixton Academy
10-09 London, England - Brixton Academy
10-11 Frankfurt, Germany - Jahrhunderhalle
10-13 Amsterdam, Holland - Heineken Music Hall
10-14 Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
10-15 Paris, France - Zenith
10-16 Paris, France - Zenith
11-04 Los Angeles, CA - The Palladium
11-08 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11-09 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11-12 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11-13 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11-14 Eugene, OR - Hult Center
11-16 Denver, CO - The Fillmore
11-20 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
11-21 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
11-23 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-24 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-25 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-27 Boston, MA - Wang Center
11-30 Washington, D.C. - Constitution Hall
Broadcast and Atlas Sound
10-15 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
10-16 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
10-17 Washington, D.C. - Black Cat
10-18 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
10-20 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
10-21 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
10-22 Boston, MA - The Paradise
10-23 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10-24 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
10-25 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
10-26 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10-27 Northfield, MN - The Cave
10-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards On Richards
10-31 Seattle, WA - Nuemos
11-01 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
11-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11-04 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
11-05 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
11-07 Denton, TX - Hailey's
Wavves
08-28 San Diego, CA - Street Scene
09-05 Los Angeles, CA - FYF Fest
09-06 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop *
09-13 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
09-14 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge *
09-15 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Music Hall *
09-16 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *
09-17 Grinnell, IA - Gardner Lounge (Grinnell College) *
09-18 Champaign, IL - Pygmalion Music Festival *
09-19 Madison, WI - Forward Music Festival *
09-20 Chicago, IL - Chopin Theater *
09-20 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
09-21 Detroit, MI - Majestic Cafe *
09-22 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo *
09-23 Montreal, Quebec - Friendship Cove *
09-24 New York, NY - Santos Party House *
09-25 New York, NY - Todd P show *
09-27 Boston, MA - Great Scott *
09-29 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
09-30 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *
10-01 Washington, D.C. - Rock and Roll Hotel *
10-02 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
10-03 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
10-04 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
10-06 Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's *
10-09 Dallas, TX - Pastime Lounge *
10-10 Austin, TX - Emo's *#
10-15 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room *
10-16 San Diego, CA - Casbah *
10-17 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex *
* with Ganglians
# with the Soft Pack
Jay Reatard – note that all NA dates are free, all ages and taking place in record stores
08-14 Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
08-15 Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
08-18 Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Music Hollywood
08-19 Long Beach, CA - Fingerprints
08-20 San Diego, CA - M-Theory
08-21 Santa Cruz, CA - Streetlight Records
08-22 San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Music
08-23 Berkeley, CA - Amoeba Music
08-25 Portland, OR - Jackpot Records
08-26 Seattle, WA - Easy Street Records
08-27 Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom Records
08-28 Vancouver, British Columbia - Zulu Records
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
The bit at the end
I'm outta here. Tuesday sees me travel up to Belfast in Northern Ireland to catch Final Fantasy, my favourite solo live performer. Really looking forward to it.
