Then I'll Drag You Home...

Bonjour!
The subject of this evening's post is one the most "underrated brit-pop acts of the 90's". Believe me, I could fill the Library of Congress with bands that fall under that heading. I could fill up the Library of Congress with a lot of other things believe you me (???). Anyways! The band of this evening is no other than Gene. Having been compared to The Faces and The Smiths alike, Martin Rossiter and co. oozed cynical croons all over the 90's and didn't clean up (yucky). Their music has been condemned to Anglophile dick-measuring banter.

Here it is in two Parts: Gene's To See the Lights; a compilation of b-sides and live goodies. Additionally it was never formally released in the United States.
part 1
part 2

The Jesus and the Mary Chain Gangs of New York

Guitar feedback is back in style, but the question remains: did it ever really go out of style? A perfect garnish to any jam session, loud-primal-ear-wrenching-feedback is a saving grace to rock music. Take the most recent Magnetic Fields album Distortion exemplifies this trend. Complete with beautiful cascades of white noise and soaring feedback this album pulverizes from start to finish, but in a sleek elegant and refined way. Where does front man, Steven Merrit, get this idea from? Well, funny you ask! Merrit is not bashful to cite Jesus Mary Chain's Pyschocandy as an inspiration to his new album. This album paved the road for all the great noise rock outfits of our generation. Drawing their inspiration from the seminal Velvet Underground, JMC use artful orchestration to transmit their raw loud, uncaged approach to rock and roll. Using primarily surf-inspired melodies, JMC's melodic backbone perpetuates each song, which is embellished by an unholy amount of feedback.
Chew on this Download 1985's Pyschocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain.

-L-U-D-U-S-

this week's selection is not one but two full length albums from the jazz-inspired, art rock outfit known as Ludus. How did I find out about these guys? Well, Morrissey put out a compilation during 2006 and one of their tracks just happen to appear on it. The track was jangly, melodic, and the atonal guitar solo added an extra shot of jazzy spunk to the mix. That song" let me go where my pictures go" before we proceed here are some reviews of the album:
"Ludus are surely the art and architecture of Malevich, Tatlin and Duchamp given voice" (Careless Talk Costs Lives, 1/03)
"A twofer of albums recorded in 1980 and 1981, that saw LInder confront the caveman attitudes towards women in rock which had survived punk. This she did in multiple, sarcastic vocals styles, against a tight but meandering backdrop of Beefheart/jazz-inflected guitar arrangements. Far from having dated, tracks like Herstory are as challenging to sexist and musical assumptions as they were decades ago" (eMusic, 11/06)
download Pickpocket/Danger Came Smiling

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS

This past weekend I attended a little show: A Place to Bury Strangers- Live!
the show can be described in these pictures above: (thank you, Justin!)

Fuckin' Hell Yeah

heavy ACCENTS!
versace dominance!

ROCK MOVIES!!!

This year or past year has been the year of cataclysmic rock movies. Movies like Anton Corbijn's Control, Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, and Todd Haynes' I'm Not There blew the hair off of unsuspecting movie-goers all over the world. This is a slight exaggeration, because it would make no sense for all these movies to garner so much power. Come on! A musical comprised of age-old Beatles tracks set in a surreal environment sounds like a stoner's idea. I am in no way disrespecting the Beatles. Poor guys! It just that the idea of covering Beatles songs in a musical is not innovative, but rather a conceptual platitude. It is important to mention that I have not seen this movie, but that concept alone is the very definition of hackneyed. It requires little to no brilliance to grasp the concepts within the songs. Not to mention that the endless amount of resources that analyze every possible dimension to these songs. So, what could this movie possibly do to set itself apart from the ocean of present day Beatlemania. Additionally, the soundtrack is a trainwreck. Bono miraculously rapes "I am the Walrus", and "Helter Skelter"(a song that inspires beautiful mass-murders) gets murdered by this adult-contemporary-as-fuck-coffee-shop-voice. If you ever wonder what Beatles' song would sound like if Melissa Etheridge had her way with it, buy this soundtrack now to put that suspicion to rest. Anyways, you get the point!
I'm Not There on the other hand is a step up. It about Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) during four different periods in his career. There is on catch! A different actor and actress (oooh la la) potrays him during these various stages. Heath Ledger (R.I.P), Cate Blanchett, and Richard Gere are among the cast of people who play this musician during his seminal career. All in all, not a bad idea. Given Todd Haynes record (going off of Velvet Goldmine; I have yet to see Superstar) the movie is bound suffer from an abstract sense of continuity, but this may also add to the "I'm Not There" motif. We'll see. I have not see these movies, so this review is not by any means "fair". They are preliminary reviews and they are more or less an experiment. I might change my mind and swallow my words. Like I said "we'll see."
Since I have seen and very much enjoyed Control, it would be fair to praise this movie. Because it had subjectively speaking more interesting subject matter, it would not be fair to belittle these movies in light of this. Additionally this movie's director, Anton Corbijn, has incredible photographer's eye, which more often than not delivers great art direction (cinematography especially). It would not be fair for me to talk "shit" about the art direction in both
I'm Not There and Across the Universe, because I just can't. If I did, it would be a hell of an assumption, which we'll save for another perhaps more interesting post. STAY TUNED!


Also check out my download du jour Cut Copy's Latest Remixed by Boys Noize

New Sensation: Hercules & The Love Affair

Imagine a more disco-centric Pet Shop Boys with an occasional visit from Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser. I am unclear as to whether she is actually on the album or not. Regardless, there is definitely a strong Cocteau Twins influence on the vocals. I am not the first blogger to rave about these guys nor shall I be the last. Why? Because of their DFA-produced and approved sound and their poly rhythmic disco approach textured oh-so-DFA-like, they are going to stick around for a minute to pester all you dance-music-hatin' punks.
Take this track Iris (download). If that is not Elizabeth Fraser, I will be damned. Not to mention that the song title is very Cocteau Twins-esque. As the group's name suggest their music invokes classical themes and their fashion sense makes plaid look oh-so-stylish. The NYC quartet also enlists the likes of Antony (from Antony and the Johnson's). His operatic voice adds to the Disco-New-Romanticism aesthetic. Find out more!

SPARKS!

Perhaps the title of this blog is unclear to you. Initially, it seems like it is a pun based off of the mathematical term "Fibonacci Sequence." -It is, but it also references flamboyant pianist Liberace. Just giving you something neat to wrap your head around.
Today's attraction is the hit British sensation, Sparks. Oddly enough, these purveyors of glam/new-wave/rock have had a long, critically acclaimed, and largely unnoticed career. I would then give you a description of the band, but Allmusic.com does a way better job. Here it is:

by Jason Ankeny Sparks were a vehicle for the skewed pop smarts and wise-guy wordplay of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, Los Angeles natives who spent their childhood modeling young men's apparel for mail-order catalogs. While attending UCLA in 1970, the Maels formed their first group, Halfnelson, which featured songwriter Ron on keyboards and Russell as lead vocalist; the band was rounded out by another pair of brothers, guitarist Earle and bassist Jim Mankey, and drummer Harley Feinstein. Halfnelson soon came to the attention of Todd Rundgren, who helped land the group a contract with Bearsville and produced their self-titled 1971 debut. Their quirky, tongue-in-cheek art pop failed to find an audience, however, and their manager successfully convinced the Maels to change the group's name. After becoming Sparks, they almost reached the Hot 100 with the single "Wonder Girl," and 1972's sublimely bizarre A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing cemented the band's cult status, scoring another near-hit with "Girl from Germany." While touring the U.K., Sparks were warmly received by the British music press, and ultimately, the Mael brothers relocated to London, leaving the rest of the band behind; Earle Mankey subsequently became a noted producer, while Jim later joined Concrete Blonde. In need of a new support unit, the Maels placed an advertisement in Melody Maker, and with guitarist Adrian Fisher, bassist Martin Gordon, and drummer Norman "Dinky" Diamond firmly in place, they recorded 1974's glam-bubblegum opus Kimono My House, which reached the Top Five of the U.K. album charts and spawned two major British hits, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" and "Amateur Hour." With new guitarist Trevor White and bassist Ian Hampton, Sparks returned later that year with Propaganda, another U.K. smash that scored with the hits "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" and "Something for the Girl with Everything." Overblown production from Tony Visconti derailed 1975's Indiscreet, however, and when the record fared less successfully than its predecessors, the Maels returned to the U.S., where they recruited Tuff Darts guitarist Jeff Salen, former Milk & Cookies bassist Sal Maida, and drummer Hilly Michaels for 1976's Big Beat. By 1977's ironic Introducing Sparks, recorded with a series of Los Angeles session players, the Mael brothers were treading water, so they enlisted disco producer Giorgio Moroder to helm 1979's synth-powered dance-pop confection No. 1 in Heaven, which spurred the group to renewed success in England on the strength of the hit singles "The Number One Song in Heaven," "Beat the Clock," and "Tryouts for the Human Race." Moroder's sidekick Harold Faltermeyer took the production reins for the immediate follow-up, Terminal Jive, which scored a massive French hit with "When I'm with You." Sparks left disco in the dust with 1981's Whomp That Sucker, recorded in Munich with a new supporting band comprised of guitarist Bob Haag, bassist Leslie Bohem, and drummer David Kendrick (who also played together as the Gleaming Spires). After 1982's Angst in My Pants, they recorded 1983's Sparks in Outer Space; the wonderful "Cool Places," a duet with the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin, nearly reached the U.S. Top 40, and was the band's biggest hit. The disastrous 1984 LP Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat derailed any chart momentum the band had gathered at home, however, and after 1986's self-explanatory Music That You Can Dance To, Sparks -- again reduced to the core duo of Ron and Russell -- recorded 1988's Interior Design, which was followed by a long hiatus. Outside of composing the music for a film by Hong Kong action maestro Tsui Hark, Sparks remained silent until Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins, released in 1994. PlagiarismBalls, the band ushered in a more productive era, releasing Lil' Beethoven in 2002 and Hello Young Lovers in 2006. Wow! Neat! Informative! Great job at explaining this band's lengthy historical tale! Check out this song Sherlock Holmes from their 1982 album Angst in My Pants . For lack of a better word this song is "gay", but it is not a bad thing. The effeminate tone of the song creates a truly beautiful and theatrical soundscape. The airy melodic phrasing and the tom-heavy percussion accompaniment introduce a new-wave sensibility previously unheard Sparks' prior work. [URL=http://www.zshare.net/audio/71715502886725/]04 sherlock holmes.mp3 - 6.42MB[/URL]