I Don't Need A Cure, I Need A Final Solution

Words cannot describe how amazing Pere Ubu were last night. It just might have been the best show I've seen this semester (though it has some stiff competition!). Plus, seeing one of the first and most important bands in post-punk (which formed before "punk" was really founded!) felt like a real honour. Sure, their lineup changes constantly, but that's sort of a key feature of Ubu - it's not about who's in it, it's about the entity of Pere Ubu itself. And damn, did that entity ever put on a great show.

The opening act, Gagarin, was actually Ubu's soundman, and as one would expect he worked with sonic manipulation. He used a ton of reverb and distortion on a soundboard to make hauntingly bizarre tunes, which was interesting but somehow not all that engaging. Still a worthwhile sight, though. The real attraction began when David Thomas and company took the stage, with him dressed like a classic noir detective in a fedora and trenchcoat. They went right ahead, with an energy that belied the odd experimentation of their recorded work. Make no mistake - their music was crazy, bizarre, experimental, but it also really rocked. the effect was anything but rockist, though - it felt more like performance art than a typical rock show.

Their setup did a lot to add to this. First of all, as Ubu apparently specifies for every show, the lights were "theatrical rather than rockist" - they accentuated the band's presence and drew attention to their actions rather than being bombastic. What's more, Thomas had a chair behind him to sit down whenever he wasn't singing - giving the impression of an actor waiting for his cue more than anything. And some of the instruments were completely bizarre themselves - most notably, keyboardist Robert Wheeler not only had a soundboard attached to his keys (complete with 4 oscillators, as Thomas explained at great length), but had some kind of apparatus of two metal, and presumably magnetic triangles which he would move his hands around near to generate crazy high-pitched squeals. Also, Thomas has a distortion-wrought telephone in addition to a regular mic.

Let's face it, Thomas was the star of the show. Besides being the only permanent member of Ubu, and his trademark nasal singing voice, his showmanship really made the night. From rattling off ridiculously fast speeches about ghost towns, explaining that a song was "called 'Love Song' because it's about love, so it's a love song which is why we call it 'Love Song'", he was hilarious the whole time. Other highlights included him saying "this is a song Mr. Elvis Presley wrote for me about a year ago, and I'm trying to work on the vocal technique", talking about how a song was "for all the women in the audience, but only the men will understand", and of course his "conversations" with certain celebrities. These last were all in the following format: "I was talking to Kylie Minogue last month, and she told me '(in falsetto)You know David, I really dig your music, but there's one thing you should add to your show: a costume change.' And I thought about it, and decided, sure I'll put in a costume change Here it is." He then proceeded to put his hat and coat back on. The second was Sting (with the same falsetto voice) saying he needed social relevance, to which Thomas replied "Well, Mr. Sting, I just prefer writing about guys and girls in bars." Last, during the drawn-out pause in their last song, it was Bob Dylan (once again in falsetto) telling him he needed shorter songs, which drew the comment "Well, Mr. Dylan, I really respect you, but what the hell were those last two albums? Seriously, does anyone think the last Dylan album is worth mor than dogshit?" priceless.

Of course, the music was amazing too. They played a solid hour and a half of material from many different points in their career, though I neglected to get the setlist. Basically, it was an incredible show and will be a very hard act for Samiam and the Draft to follow tonight.

Friday Random 10, "I should really be working right now" edition

1. Gang of Our - Why Theory? (Solid Gold, 1981): One of my favourite drum patterns, and a cool minimalist song to go with it. The melodica is great, though the lyrics are a little pretentious at times. I'm a big fan of "too much thinking makes me ill - I think I'll have another gin" though. 8/10.
2. Happy Go Licky - Twist and Shout (20 Years of Dischord, 2002): It's hard to go too wrong with Dischord bands, and this song's no exception. It's a bizarrely structured experimental instrumental from the sort-of-reunion of Rites of Spring, and the sly title is amusing. A very interesting listen. 7/10.
3. No Em Pingo D'Agua - Assanadho (Brasil 500 Years): Funky Brazilian jazz from a random compilation. A great track which I actually hadn't gotten around to listening to before, with a strong Brazilian flavour but also a great funk bassline. 8/10.
4. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Jon Lord (live) (Full Tension Beaters, 2002): A nice fun dub from everyone's favourite 10-piece Japanese Ska Band. The vocals are totally unintelligible - and probably aren't words anyway - but the horn section really stands out. 7/10.
5. Ciccone Youth - Silence (Whitey Album, 1986): 1:05 of silence, from the weird Madonna theme album by Sonic Youth and Mike Watt. What the hell? 0/10, I'll do an extra track to make up for it.
6. Cheb Balowski - Paloma (Bartzeloona, 2001): I'm now in love with this band. Their mix of Spanish, Arabic, and Balkan folk with reggae, funk and rock influences is great. This a particularly excellent track, with a back-and forth between a very Arabic section with a great beat and a Spanish section with absolutely gorgeous vocals, both of which are excellent. The transitioning is what makes this song great. 9/10.
7. Sonic Youth - Nic Fit (Dirty, 1992): SY covering the Untouchables, in their best impression of a short hardcore song. Amusing, but not too great musically. 5/10.
8. Gogol Bordello - Passport (Voi-La Intruder, 1999): Gogol Bordello are hilarious in their gypsy-punk stylings, but they're also quite good. This song is a great Slavic ballad with a brilliant accordion part that explodes into a punky midesction before returning to form, and is a lot of fun from beginning to end. 8/10.
9. The Doors - Not to Touch the Earth (live) (Absolutely Live, 1970): Jim Morrisson at his most pretentious, but a rather good song once you get past it. A bit different from their usual bluesy stuff, but that guitar part is wonderfully forboding. 8/10.
10. Deerhoof - The Eyebright Bugler (Reveille, 2002): A strange 40-second pop song from the masters of bizarre pop. Amusing and fairly pleasant, and the use of electronic is cool. If this were a full-length song it would be great, I think. 7/10.
11. The Stooges - Ann (The Stooges, 1969): Iggy and the gang at their most brooding. A brilliant rambling guitar part and excellent lyrics leading into a standard issue Stooges solo, over simple but emphatic drumming. Not bad at all. 8/10.
Overall: 7.5, discounting the Ciccone Youth red herring. A pretty strong selection of solid songs I'd never think of at first when looking for good songs, which is nice.

We'll Inherit The Earth...

An actual record review!

V/A: We'll Inherit the Earth... A Tribute to the Replacements

1-2-3-4-Go! Records, 2006

The tribute album concept is a tricky one for me. I like the idea of hearing reinterpretations of songs by great artists, and that of current artists paying respect to their influences, but on the other hand... well, I'd generally rather just hear the originals. Thus I was both excited and uneasy about the news of a tribute to the Replacements, one of my personal favourite bands of all time. Sure, if there's an artist who deserves it, it's the 'Mats... but yet there's the possibility that a mediocre tribute could colour my fondness for the originals. Plus, the 'Mats are a sort of tricky band to cover – their simplicity makes most songs easy to play, but they have a certain disarming honesty and intensity that makes a lot of covers just not stand up.

Fortunately, the cast of contributors here is particularly excellent. Between heavy-hitters like The Draft, Strike Anywhere's Thomas Barnett, and (the controversial?) Against Me! and lesser-knowns with strong 'Mats tendencies like the Modern Machines and the Obsoletes, this disc promised some great covers, and didn't disappoint. There's not a single song here that Westerberg and the boys would be ashamed of. All 23 contributors put in very competent 'Mats impressions, though certain ones are a bit weaker (I'm looking at you, The Queers – could Joe sound any more bored and monotone on a more angst-charged song?). While there's only one song that surpasses the original here – Almighty Do Me A Favor's version of the originally jokey and minimally-played “Treatment Bound” – that's no fault of theirs, it's just that the 'Mats are basically an impossible act to surpass at their own game. There are still some great renditions of classic 'Mats tunes, like the Modern Machines' stumbling version of “Mr. Whirly” and The Ergs!' even speedier “I'm In Trouble”. In fact, of 23 covers, there's about 17 I would call very good.

Of course, it isn't all good. There are two main issues with this tribute: first, the track choices. The 'Mats' unquestioned masterpiece, Let It Be, is only represented with two tracks – the aforementioned “Unsatisfied” and the Druglords of the Avenues' “Favorite Thing” – in favour of a lot of tracks from the relatively weaker late releases. In this shuffle, plus all over the other records represented, a lot of key 'Mats tracks are absent. Where's “I Will Dare”? “Alex Chilton”? “I Hate Music”? “Swinging Party”? My personal favourite, “Take Me Down to the Hospital”? Also, most of the bands don't really do much besides do their best to imitate the 'Mats – which is reasonable considering it's a tribute, but most of these bands can't match the 'Mats at their own game, so some more reinterpretation would be interesting. Most tracks sound like a slightly worse 'Mats at a different tempo and with a different singer (Against Me! are particularly guilty of this – if you discount Tom Gabel not sounding like Westerberg, it would be pretty much an exact replica), so those which add a bit of a distinctive touch, like Thomas Barnett and his former Inquisition bandmate Rob Huddleston's ethereal version of “Here Comes a Regular”, are particularly appreciated. Still, a passable 'Mats impression is pretty damned worthwhile, so I can't fault this comp too much. All in all, it's a very good tribute to an incredible band, so I recommend it to fans of any of the bands involved, especially 'Mats fans. This is a good example of what tribute comps should be like.

Rock Action

Two days after seeing Mogwai, my ears are still ringing. That's how loud it was. It was particularly striking because you don't really expect it - unlike a band like, say, Cougars, whose music exists to be played at absurd volumes, Mogwai's music is soaring and atmospheric, with some more chaotic points, but I wasn't prepared for just how loud they would be. It was very impressive.

I arrived at the Melkweg fairly late, and missed most of the opener, Eugene Kelly. He was a solo singer-songwriter type, with an acoustic guitar and a heavy Scottish accent. I only caught two songs, but he seemed pretty good, with the description of a song about the time he took too much LSD and thought he was a horse being pretty amusing. For his last song, he proceeded to jump off stage and wander around the crowd, almost hitting me on the way down. I can't really say much about his set, but it seemed good from what I saw.

It took Mogwai a while to set up, considering all the fancy lights and the synth with "MOGWAI ... MR BEAST" written on it taking up lots of stage romm, not to mention all the pedals and miscellaneous effects equipment. Regardless, they finally got on stage to massive applause from the completely full floor of the Melkweg (it was one of the biggest and most applause-happy crowds I've seen in Holland) and broke right into "You Don't Know Jesus". I was immediately floored by the intensity of the show. Not only was it loud as hell, like I described above, but it was also incredibly intricate - if anything, more detailed than the album cuts. And let's not forget the lights - though I don't think that would be possible. Mogwai added at least 15 additional lights to Melkweg's already formidable setup, and constantly made crazy apperns and effects with the, in all sorts of insane colours. More on specifics later.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the show was the way Mogwai worked their dynamics. Their songs tend to alternate beween hypnotically atmospheric numbers and crushing discordance. They fluidly segued between the two, giving the whole show an ebb-and-floe feel. Perhaps the most intense example of this came at what I'd call the climax of the show, when they seamlessly went from the mesmerizing end of "Mogwai Fear Satan" to Mr. Beast's most powerful track, "Glasgow Mega-Snake", at full, crushing volume and speed. That moment was one of the most intense in my showgoing career - be in a trancelike state from from the previous cut, and then being pummeled over the head with one of the loudest songs of a loud show was quite the jolt, and they took advantage of the situation by turning every light in the house on strobe in different colours! They did so for what felt like an eternity, and I swear the entire crowd had a collective epilectic seizure. It was insane.

The band rightly thought their music did enough talking - they said a total of two different sentences through the course of the show, those being "We're Mogwai from Glasgow" and "Thanks a lot". Touching on the first of those, they certainly seemed to want to make it clear they were Scottish: an amp and a guitar each had a Scottish flag, the bassist had an Arab Strap shirt with the same flag, and a Scottish crest on the drumset, so I think they got the point across.

The show really made me lose my sense of time - in a way, it was like an incredibly intense, focussed trip of a caliber I've never had with anything but music. Regardless, it seemed to go on for a long, long time, but then ended seemingly as soon as it got going. It was great regardless, and Mogwai have just replaced Godspeed You! Black Emperor as my favourite post-rock band. 10/10.

Setlist:
You DOn't Know Jesus
Friend of the Night
Travel Is Dangerous
Ithica 27-9
New Paths to Helicon Pt. 2
I Know You Are But What Am I?
Acid Food
Hunted by a Freak
Mogwai Fear Satan
Glasgow Mega-Snake
New Paths To Helicon Pt. 1
We're No Here
Encore:
2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
Folk Death 95

Shoddy Photos here.

You Got It While It Was Hot

(woo 30 posts)

New York Dolls – Like in Amsterdam, Oct 4, 2006

The first New York punk band, the last proto-punk band, freaks, transvestites, heroes – call them what you will, but the New York Dolls need no introduction. David Johansen seemed o agree as he took the stage at the Melkweg,barely pausing to grab the mic before opening with those oh-so-familiar words: “When I say I'm in love you'd best believe I'm in love, L-U-V!” From that moment, it was easy to tell this would be one hell of a show. Sure, there are only two original members left. Sure, Johansen is close to 60. But when they blazed into “Looking for a Kiss”, the crowd forgot all that and just took in an incredibly energetic show from one of the most influential bands of all time – certainly the most important band I've ever seen. Their immensely dirty rock and roll, which so many bands revered within the punk community were created by, sounded incredible in person. The only nod they made to their egos was after their second song, when Johansen declared “They say the New York Dolls influenced a lot of people. Well, I dunno about that, but our favourite band is Janis Joplin” before launching into a staggering cover of her “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” (it was the 26^th anniversary of Joplin's death). This turned out to be only the first tribute to a fallen comrade, as they followed by dedicating “Private World” to Killer Kane and even played Johnny Thunders' “You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory”.

All the while, the band seemed to be having loads of fun in their unsurprisingly flamboyant, uniformly pink and black attire. Johansen engaged in his trademark freakily-sexual dancing, Syl Sylvain joked around, and they generally seemed very honest and energetic, especially at downright silly moments like the entirety of “Dance Like a Monkey” and Syl Sylvain's wondering if the crowd's huge applause to the announcement of “Trash” meant they though his band was trash. Speaking of the crowd, they were superb – one of the most energetic I've seen in Holland, and fittingly eclectic for the show they were at. This brought Johansen to reminisce the last time they were in Amsterdam, 33 years prior – it sounded like he enjoyed himself. It was mutual – by the last song of the regular set, I certainly didn't want the show to end. Of course, the end of the set brought the obvious encore of “Personality Crisis”, which the crowd naturally loved. They finished on one more encore, consisting of a song from their new album (from which they had been playing quite a lot of cuts, all of which sounded great, especially “Fishnets & Cigarettes”) announced as “Go Fuck Yourself” (not the real title, I'm not sure what it's actually called) and “Human Being”. Then it was finally over, and we left feeling awed. I think I can safely say that I owe Morrissey thanks for getting the Dolls to regroup, as this show was incredible, and deserves no less than a 10/10.

Partial set list (sequential but missing songs)

Looking for a Kiss

We're All In Love

Take Another Little Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin)

Fishnets & Cigarettes

Private World (To Killer Kane)

Plenty of Music

Pills

Dancing on the Lip of a Volcano

Rainbow Store

You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders)

Gimme Luv & Turn on the Light

Dance Like a Monkey

Trash

Encore: Personality Crisis

Encore 2: “Go Fuck Yourself”

Human Being

Friday Random 10, one-day-late edition

Between working on my essays for both philosophy and political science and the Tribal committee party last night, I didn't get around to a FRT. Here's the compensation.

1. Japanther - Second Hand (Wolfenswan, 2006): Weirdness from one of the more amusing bands I saw at ZXZW. While this track shows their odd mix of lo-fi garage rock and recorded noise, it's lacking in substance and rather dull even for its short duration. A shame, really. 4/10.
2. Pavement - Price Yeah! (Westing (By Musket and Sextant), 1993): Super-early pavement, at their most listener-unfriendly era. Sounds like early Sonic Youth put through a college-rock blender, which is a good thing. And behind all that abrasiveness, the guitar line is very good. 7/10.
3. Dead Kennedys - Funland at the Beach (Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980): The last of of three consecutive, basically interchangable songs, the least interesting of the songs on a classic album. Still solid, but a bit boring, considering its company. 5/10.
4. The Skatalites and King Tubby - Fugitive Dub (The Legendary Skatalites in Dub, 2001): One of the best reggae producers and one of the great ska ensembles, united to creat an incredibly groovy dub with wonderfully unusual instrumentation in the flute lead. Very enjoyable. 8/10.
5. Elvis Costello - No Dancing (My Aim Is True, 1977): Elvis is king, and this is great if slightly soppy song from his classic debut. The lyrics are particularly great, even for Elvis, and Clover are in their element on the backing instruments. 8/10.
6. Black Flag - Damaged II (Damaged, 1981): How many versions of "Damaged" did they make anyway? This is the midtempo one, with Greg Ginn's grinding guitar taking the forefront with Rollins' black-lung growl as usual. Typical Black Flag, which is a good thing, but not terribly special. 7/10.
7. Ramones - You're Gonna Kill That Girl (Leave Home, 1977): Semi-sappy Ramones, with particularly half-assed vocal harmonies. Worse than most Ramones songs, though the dynamics are good. Still solid, as the Ramones never made a bad song, even in the 80s, but below average for them. 6/10.
8. Sonic Youth - Shaking Hell (Confusion is Sex, 1983): The best thing about early Sonic Youth is that the songs really sound like the insane titles attached to them. The intro to this song, in particular, is guitar-based onomatopoeia at its finest. Kim's vocals are weird, and the lyrics even more so, but they're also incredibly evocative, particularly combined with the creepy dynamics in the background. I'm not so sure about her playing backup vocals to herself though. 8/10.
9. King Tubby and Soul Syndicate - Ethiopian Version (Freedom Sounds In Dub, 1996) - More Blood & Fire dub, and some of Tubby's best production. He layers on the production while avoiding overproduction somehow, and on top of Soul Syndicate's fine musicianship provides an incredible dub track. 8/10.
10. The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes (The Velvet Underground, 1969): DO I really have to explain why the Velvets' best downtempo song is just that? Lou Reed's voice, so heartfelt he sounds like he's really about to cry, does a far better job. A clean-cut 10/10.
Overall: 6.3 average. Slightly less than usual thanks to the lackluster Japanther and DKs songs, but still solid.

We Don't Torture, We're a Civilized Nation

Shed a tear for the ideal that America stands for freedom and justice, it's now officially dead.
I've always had my issues with my country of birth, but there was always that fundamental good principle behind it. Now, though, it's been compromised beyond any hope of regaining my trust. When a government can betray the very founding principles of democracy and the country itself in pursuit of a bullshit "war" on a tactic, and the so-called opposition party let them get away with it, something is horribly, horribly wrong. The US governmental system has failed me, the American people, and the world. All my talk of not wanting to be identified as an American is coming back, and I mean it now. I refuse to be aligned with with a nation that condones torture.

I'm a couple days late, but this is still the biggest political miscarriage I've seen in my short history of observing politics, so there you go.