I Blog What I Hear

Is it standard to write a brief apology when writing one of these blogs after a long absence? Well, I’ve been moving, so I apologize, my life has been in and out of boxes.  But I have left the cultural capital of the known universe (Jersey City) for a bit, and now reside in Clinton Hill Brooklyn.  Anyway, lets get to business.

Daniel Lanois confuses me at times.  There is not much debate that he is one of the most significant producers of the last 20 years- He’s partially responsible for U2’s most memorable work and Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind, that’s enough for me to buy anyone a sandwich.  His sound on record is instantly recognizable.  It’s as if you took only the good parts of 1980’s production, matched it with a gritty guitar sound, add some New Orleans style drumming, and put lots of delay on everything.  I would say he has created one of the great American sounds, but he’s Canadian.

Now it may be just me, but his solo work seems a tad self indulgent as of late.  While I am a junky for any documentary style film about studio recording, his film “Here Is What Is”, a companion film to the album of the same name, definitely included some parts that were like “Oh Hey, here I am, and this is why I’m awesome, and I hang out with Billy Bob Thorton”.  Don’t get me wrong, the album has a few great tracks, and the production is amazing, but it seemed to just be an experiment of him making sounds for the sake of sounds.  Now, is there anything wrong with that?  Not really…but I still feel torn about it.  His aim does in fact seem true, he hires great musicians, is mindful of the vibe of the whole album, does not use any digital workstation trickery…but there is something that just doesn’t sit right with me.

Last week was a prime example.  My sister and I went to see Lanois new band Black Dub at the Bowery Ballroom.  The main draw, in addition to Lanois himself, was Brian Blade on drums.  Blade is a straight up monster, and there is not one person alive who could argue this.  He has some magical power behind the kit, no note ever seems excessive, any beat he plays just makes you smile.  The entire front row was made up of drummers just trying to get a look at Blade.  More on him later.  The band was fronted, and kind of seems like a Lanois inspired vehicle for, Trixie Whitley- a young vocalist, who’s basically a model.  This is where it gets weird and confusing.

Have you ever heard that old story of how some oil tycoon in the 1930’s rented out Carniege Hall so his wife could play piano there or something?  I think this is kind of like that.  Whitley is a capable singer…but is she worthy of a band of the finest studio musicians in the world and a tour to support it?  I’m gonna come out and say no.  She sounds like one of those girls you hear playing a set at Kennys Castaways who has an overly put on, immitation soul voice, singing an octave below her natural range trying not to sound like the tiny white girl she is.  I felt betrayed slightly.  She sounded kind of like a Christina Aguilera immitator, and looked like Taylor Swift.  Really Lanois?

Brian Blade...in the shadows

On the stage were 2 drum kits, a keyboard, giant bass rig, pedal steel and guitar amp.  Lanois played one beautiful guitar the whole night, just one delay effect on it.  Blade had his drum kit, the bassist (whose name ecsapes me but was fantastic) also kept it simple…..Trixie had her own drum kit, which she futzed about with for a few songs, a keyboard which she played one song on and was barely audible, and a badass black Les Paul, which she played for one song, and only plucked a few notes.   Again Lanois, really??  First off, you have Brian Blade up there.  The only other drummer who has added something while playing with him, is Jim Keltner on Time Out of Mind, thats because he’s one of the greatest drummers of all time.  But this girl who can barely play?  WTF man.  To his credit, Blade took it like a champ, I don’t think its possible for him to sound bad.  Any time she got on the kit, he just kept straight ahead time, throwing in a simple accent fill when necessary, he’s like Bacon, he makes anything better.

But there was really no need for her to have a drum kit, or guitar, or keyboard.  Focus on someones strengths, which in her case i think were backing vocals, when Lanois took the lead on his hit “The Maker”.  Not awkwardly trying to play guitar, drums, or keys, it just took away from whatever she had.  The thing is….LANOIS HAS TO KNOW THIS!  He produced Achtung Baby!  And Time Out Of Mind!  COME ON MAN!  I really dont want to say it…he has to just want to bang her, or has to be banging her, something in that realm.  You know how when two people are talking, and one clearly likes the other, and the other clearly does not like that person back, and its kinda painful to watch?  This seemed a little like that.  Lanois would move his mic stand towards her, she would kind of just stand in the same place.  He’d hug her and shit between songs, it just seemed a little weird. During the encore, they finished their song, the plan seemed to be for Lanois to finish the show solo with guitar, and he was like “you wanna sing one more with me?”  and shes all “nah, you finish this one, do your thing”.  That seemed the equivelant of, “you wanna go get a drink after dinner?”  “Nah I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I need to be up early, I’m just gonna head home”  Tough break Lanois, Tough Break.

I guess he’ll just have to take solace in his millions of dollars, incredible talent as a producer and musician, and worldwide acclaim.  It must be a tough life.

Now my dilemma only continued a few days after the show when I spoke to my sister to ask her opinion.  She enthusiastically loved the show.  Now, we both loved the band, but she enjoyed the vocalist far more than I did.  Im pretty confused right now, and Im questioning all I believe is right and holy.  Maybe I’m being too harsh on Trixie, maybe in any other context I would have enjoyed her performance.  But when someone is presented to you with such a powerful band, I feel its accurate to raise your expectations.  And that is the story I am sticking to.

After my initial encounter with Tuneyards, expectations were high.  Any time an opening band who you have never heard of shows up a headliner, its always a nice surprise.  I think all of New York felt the same way, since the band sold out The Bell House in advance.  This was their largest headlining show to date, I think everyone who saw them open for the Dirty Projectors was also at this show.   Well, at least every person I know, and a few hundred others.

So on a Friday night with a heavy snow prediction, we trekked out to the Gowanus, ready to hear some worldly jams.  I have always enjoyed the Bell House.  Even when sold out, its not overly crowded, its always easy to get to the bar, I’ve never seen an overly douchey crowd in attendance, the sound is consistently good.  This may be because its in the middle of nowhere…but I’m ok with that.  Sometimes you have to think outside the box.  That box being easily accessible by public transit locations.  They do have minimal lighting though, which explains the blurriness of my photos.

Lets get right down to it, I’m getting over a stomach flu, and there is no time to waste.  This is a solid band, who in the future will do even greater things, but they do have a few obstacles to overcome. Tuneyards is primarily Merril Garbus , who plays ukulele, drums, and sings, accompanied by a bassist…and that’s it.  Its very stripped down, but sounds quite full due to the use of loops, and her fantastically huge voice.  Surprisingly though, I think she was suffering from some stage fright!  When it comes down to it, she is the show.  500 people are standing there, waiting for you to do something completely awesome, and you have to deliver.  She even said “I’m a little nervous right now, I’ve never had this many people know they’re here to see me!”  You could just feel the nervous energy.  Her voice shook at times, she seemed a little self conscious.  You wanted to just shake her and be like “You’re fucking awesome, stop thinking so much, just go for it!”

Even through the nerves…there were some shining moments.  She without a doubt has that special quality in a front person where you re like “yep, I can see why you’re going to be successful”  She has two tones of voice, there is one quiet and one loud.  The quiet…well, its quiet.  That was mostly where you could hear any apprehension, or maybe she justwasn ‘t warmed up, who knows.  But as soon as she opened up, it jumped about 50 decibels, and she just belted out the jams.  It was fantastic. It was like watching Aretha Franklin or something.  It makes you wonder how a person could produce so much sound.

It was interesting watching her craft loops during live performance.  This basically means, she records a few seconds of sound, plays it over and over while adding more sound to it, eventually creating the sound of a full band.  Her percussion ideas were pretty interesting.  Itwasn’t always just Boom-Chick stuff, there were some ghost notes, some interesting fills, I was enjoying it.

I do hope she can accept the fact that shes amazing, and worthy of a crowd’s attention, I think that’s what it comes down to.  While the last performance was a straight up 10, i’d give this one an 8.  While still good, they are going to need to turn it up for next time.  And there will be a next time!

Notice the mic drilled into the book case...

Moving on, here’s a quick note.  At a studio I was in recently, there is this little card on top of a speaker that says “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have”  And I really think those are words to live by when entering into any production endeavor.  DanielLanois frequently mentions that no matter the scenario, you have to work with your situation.  He records Bono live in the control room, no headphones with an SM58.  The Traveling Wilburys vocals were recorded in a pool house (bob dylan ’s pool house, but that’s beside the point)  with 1 microphone in the center of the room.   This weekend I had the chance to adapt to a situation, and the results were overwhelmingly positive.  The band was recording some vocals, at my wonderful chateau in beautifully historic downtown Jersey City.  About 10 minutes before the session, I was setting up.   Mic, MicPre , Converter, Headphones……..mic stand?  no.   There was no mic stand in attendance.  OK, there had to be a way around this.  Broomstick?  no.  Tie a rope to the ceiling and hang it down?  nah.  Stereo Mic Bar?  That had to work.  That’s basically a 6″ flat bar with a mic mount on it.  So, I removed one end of it, leaving a threaded hole, found a piece of flat metal in a tool box, and drilled that shit into my bookshelf.  The results?  Perfect.  Well, i mean, its not like it had an impact on the sound.  But it certainly did the job, it added a bit of an improvisational style to the session, and that’s always a plus.

In an effort to encourage people to donate to the relief effort in Haiti, Wilco posted 2 shows on their website in exchange for a donation (its the honors system, they link to a few charities, don’t screw your karma here!) Of course, we shouldn’t need incentives to help those in need…but a few live concerts is a nice touch. One of the recordings is this summers show from Keyspan Park in Coney Island. It was a beautiful summer evening, outdoor small stadium, free ice cream trucks in the parking lot, Nathans hot dogs, Feist and the dude from Grizzly Bear sat in, all good things. But listening back, as is often the case, the energy doesn’t translate as well. A live album is a tricky and mysterious thing. For every “Live At Budokan” there are hundreds of “Kiss Alive XXVII”.

In my earliest days of audiophile aspirations, I traded cassettes of live shows. This was in the early days of the Internet, we still mailed cassettes, CD burners were not commercially available…and you could barely send a jpeg…UPHILL IN THE SNOW BOTH WAYS! Recently when my parents moved from their house, I found all these original cassettes in the basement in several racks. There were hundreds of them. Sometimes you would get lucky, as in the case of The Black Crowes, i believe it was the Palace Theater, in Syracuse 1996. Someone leaked a soundboard recording of the show, I still remember the insert card on the case, it was bright pink photocopied, with some Fillmore style text on it. Even on that crappy inconsistent speed of the cassette, probably 9th generation, you could feel the incredible multiple drug infused energy of this band at their peak. On the other hand, pick any one of thousands of Grateful Dead tapes from XYZ Arena, and you have the opposite effect.

As far as official live releases go, the classic AC/DC life is pretty near flawless.  The Stones live classic “Get Yer Yayas Out”  Is a perfect picture of a sloppy burnt out bunch of English rockers at their best, just about to fall apart and create a masterpiece in the studio.  It seems like back in the day, more thought was put into a live album, since so much preparation had to be taken in order to make it happen.  With remote recording rigs so readily available, I would venture to say that most larger bands record nearly everything they do. Sometimes they all get released- as is the case with the Live Phish series, as well as current Black Crowes shows. Others, as in the case with Wilco, they filter the releases a little more. The Keyspan Park show probably suffers in the technical mix a bit, maybe we were just distracted by the beautiful surroundings of Coney Island at the time, who knows. But in some cases, I think my new philosophy will be to live in the moment as far as shows go, and not seek recordings after the fact.

Today dear reader, lets take a journey together. A journey into uncharted territory. I will now attempt to liveblog a Lady Gaga Album.

Who is Lady Gaga? Chances are you know better than I do. I have no idea. Her name is thrown around by pop culture fanatics and esoteric hipsters alike. She apparently is the new Madonna? I don’t know, you don’t come here to hear about Lady Gaga. In all this hubbub, I feel the need to be in on the action. Steps have been taken to clear my mind of all preconceived notions, I’ve done some stretching exercises, my subscription to Lala.com has been created (this site seems absolutely kick amazing, thanks to Eric Tarn for the recommendation). I will listen to 30 seconds of each song from whichever album I find first, then do about a minute of stream of conscious writing. Ok, the album will be Fame Monster. Ready? GO.

BAD ROMANCE: This seems like the opening of a meatloaf album. I feel like some giant guy is going to descend from the ceiling in a cage carrying a red rose and pluck a woman from the top of the empire state building. After that fog will fill up the stage and various scantily clad dancers will come out until suddenly the action stops and that song “Ya’ll Ready For This!” comes on and Lady Gaga appears in an 18th century ball gown, which is being carried at the ends by various doves, all dyed different colors and glowing in the dark. NEXT SONG.

ALEJANDRO: Ok this one i had to extend to 35 sec since the first 30 is all intro. She puts on a french accent, some violins are playing. We’re on a dark street corner (not an actual corner, but some type of film set) and the fog machines are once again blasting. Meatloaf, who is still in the cage from the first song is the subject of her desire, after a wardrobe change, she makes various hand gestures, maybe in Kabuki style makeup perhaps? When she tells our beloved Loaf that she just can’t be with him anymore, the cage explodes in a fantastic pyrotechnic explosion of glitter, and Loaf is now her dance partner, in some type of tuxedo with a rose in his teeth. Lady Gaga is in some type of S&M getup (ok, shes basically Madonna, even after 1:05 of music I have come to this conclusion) and various backup dancers each dressed as a different historical figure shadow their every move. There is Napoleon, Einstein, Patrick Ewing, and Andy Warhol…NEXT!

MONSTER: How is it that every song so far fits into my idea that Meatloaf is a constant character on this album? Meat is now back in a different cage…a jail cell! He has been re-incarcerated after his glittery escape from captivity, at least he got to enjoy a night on the town with his lady, Gaga. He sobs, as she looks on longingly, yet with an heir of confidence, that her life will now be free and easy without a giant Meatloaf/gorilla shadowing her every move, preventing her from getting in taxicabs, things like that. As the auto tune of “He Ate My Heart” comes in, the prison guards turn out to be her backup dancers, the dramatic lighting kicks in, you know where it goes from here.

SPEECHLESS: Oh my god, its a meatloaf album. Seriously, this song is like Rocky Horror Picture Show. Loaf remains in the cell as Gaga has run off, and left him a single red rose. A spotlight appears and a piano is rolled out next to him. As the power ballad drums come in, he dramatically switches back to tuxedo, the single rose in a vase atop the piano. I’m only listening to 30 seconds of each song, but I’m willing to wager that this one ends with a dramatic piano/vocal outro, which in our imaginary live Broadway production, Loaf would remove the rose, give it a dramatic sniff, and a single tear would run down his cheek. (again, the fact that Lady Gaga is singing is irrelevant, this song clearly belongs to Jim Steinman and Meatloaf)

DANCE IN THE DARK: Gaga now begins her dark descent into the seedy underworld as her one true love has been taken away. The intro carries her through various back alleys, with our trusty fog machines working full force (they really are helpful with this album) She becomes more and more disheveled as these first 30 seconds of the song continue. By the end she looks like one of those heroin chic models from the mid 90’s, with that crazy black eyeliner. Shes in a bad part of town with a sketchy clientele as the music kicks in, and the various vagrants once again become her backup dancers. When this goes to broadway, we’ll save a lot of money by just using the same 5 backup dancers, but dressing them as prison guards, historical figures, homeless junkies, you get the idea.

TELEPHONE: She is in the midst of embracing her 2nd act life struggles. Shes in the club, as the lyrics state, blocking out memories of one Meat Q. Loaf, remaining alone in captivity, for reasons we do not yet know or understand. The lyric “I Got No Service In The Club, Sorry I Cant Hear You I’m Kinda Busy” is clearly a metaphor for her running away from her problems and embracing a life of crime and substance abuse. She has various visions of scary things, maybe theres even a guy in some type of demon suit (a la that scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in the hotel lobby) Yet in the midst of all this, there is a sure to be classic dance sequence on the club floor. This will rival both Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and Jackson in Thriller. I’m willing to bet the next song will be some type of ballad….lets see.

SO HAPPY I COULD DIE: Ok, i should really look at titles before I predict the next song. But this is truly live, no preparation or extra time has been taken. Lets call this one Conflict Resolution. Shes getting her life back together. This could be where the Training Montage comes in, various scenes of her becoming independent and powerful, taking life by the horns. Buying expensive clothes, having high powered meetings, volunteering with young children, shes on the path for success. She passes by some of her old associates on the street who are not doing well, she doesn’t even stop to look. She has business to attend to. And that business sang Paradise By The Dashboard Light. NEXT!

TEETH: Man, Whats with this last track? It just doesn’t make sense with the rest of the album. There is no conflict resolution, no final romance, no triumphant ending (well at least in the first 30 seconds) I Hate to leave this unfinished, so maybe we can come up with some type of ending? Maybe its a really artsy film where the end doesn’t have to make sense? Or like Kubrick where he says “you won’t understand this for 20 years” I don’t know. Gaga, I mean, its a catchy track, but you’re really not working with me on this one. Mabye Jim Steinman who seems to have wrote most of the previous material we have discussed took a lunch break, and while he was having a sandwich she finished up the album. That’s what I’m sticking to.

Whew! Well that was grueling. I guess after a look back (I made no edits, that was truly live) this was less of a live blog and more of a “Live Dramatic Interpretation.” As a closing thought, I would agree with the Madonna comparisons that are so present in her media criticism. But I really think they’re missing the boat with her Meatloaf influence. The obviously put on drama, the introductions, its all there.

When I initially learned of the new Spoon album, Transference, I was not so excited to go out and get it.  Gagagagaga was a good recording, but I felt like my relationship with the band had ended there.  We would remain friends, acting cordially towards each other at gatherings, but never rekindle the magic we once had.  Really, it was that live show that did it.  Spoon’s albums are well crafted in my favorite sense.  The sounds are not too polished, the arrangements kind of stripped down, the groove is always good, and the melody always obvious yet not too in your face.  Its got a minimalist thing that I love.  The guitars always sounded great.  “Commercial Appeal” was a fantastic track, go listen to that just for posterity then we’ll continue.

Spoon at Terminal Five last year

But a few years back they played Terminal 5, and I was left so unsatisfied that I had trouble listening to the band afterwards.  It was not as if they were horrible, or even sub-par, they were really just….par.  Nothing jumped out at me, its like they weren’t connecting with the audience.  And maybe its unfair to judge a band based on one show, but it just left me feeling uncomfortable.   So Spoon records went unplayed on my ipod, new of the band went overlooked by my short blog related attention span.

But this morning while listening to the Sound Opinions Podcast (a great podcast which I highly recommend from Greg Kot and Jim DeRegotis from Chicago) they reviewed the new Spoon album.  I heard some clips, and the fire was re-ignited.  They claimed the tunes were more stripped down than on Gagagagaga, no fancy horn arrangements or attempts at pop masterpieces, just a straight ahead kind of artsy minimal rock record.  Well Jim and Greg, lets have at it.  I went through the morning considering the options of how to purchase (or illegally download) and made a decision.  Normally, such decisions would be kept between Trent Reznor and I, but I bought it through iTunes, strictly because it came with a Digital Booklet.

This is one of the most overlooked concepts in the digital download world.  Why does every album not include one?  Its not like there are any extra printing costs, you’re just including a .pdf file with the artwork.  It really gives a context to an album. The greatest thing that everyone misses about the CD and even Vinyl days is the artwork and liner notes.  Its a little insight into the feel of an album, perhaps even some notes from the band.  For tech junkies like me, I love to see where it was recorded, or if i know the engineer or any guest musicians.  Maybe some in studio photos?  I’m getting nostalgic just thinking about it.  But anyway, whats keeping this from being included with every album on iTunes?  For real, I would like to know.  Someone get Steve Jobs on the phone, patch him through to my secretary, I’ll be in meetings until after lunch.

It turns out this album was self produced.  I like the sound of that, to me that says “we had success with our last release, now we’re just going to do what we want, we’ve already got your money, so lets enjoy ourselves”  whether this is true or not, I can only speculate, but the album delivers that feel.  It sounds like it was recorded in 4 days, with not too much attention paid to detail (that’s a good thing).  Songs end abruptly or with a quick fade, delays and other effects seem hastily piled on, orchestrations are minimal and song structure is simple.  It was moving in the right direction.   Overall, this is a Bass and Drums record.  I can barely remember one interesting guitar part, yet all the drum and bass parts connected instantly.  Some great fuzzed out bass tones, some punchy Motown style licks, I enjoyed all of it.  On the drum side of things, it was like they went into my brain, picked out some ideal drum sounds, and ran back to the studio with them.  (Yes, I am accusing Spoon of intellectual thievery, you will be hearing from my imaginary lawyer any moment.)  One thing that stands out, is the use of shaker over hi hat. This has been my new goal in life, ever since I listened to Jay Bellerose (T Bone Burnett and Ray Lamontagne’s main drummer.)  The snare is always very flat and present, there are no extraneous drum fills, its as if the drums walked in the room where you are currently sitting, greeted you warmly, sat in a chair directly in front of you, and started tapping on your head in a pleasing yet interesting manner.

Lets select some highlights from the record, as we don’t have time to go through the whole thing, we’re all busy people, with important government related business to attend to.  Based on initial listening, my favorite tack is “Who Makes Your Money”  and not just because I’ve recently really been into AC/DC’s “Money Talks”.  It makes use of all my favorite elements, but not just in a trivial way, they all serve the song.  Shaker instead of hi hat, incredibly consistent bass line, weird delay on either a guitar or keyboard, very basic etherial sounding melody.  The song achieves almost a hypnotic trance feel, its so even and driving that you begin tapping your foot, and maybe even swaying a little bit on the PATH train on your morning commute while the guy in an uncomfortable looking suit sitting in front of you gives you a quizzical look.  I’m just sayin in general, not specifically.  The song clocks in at just over 3 minutes, there is no messing around.  The background vocals have this weird tremelo-delay thing happening, its kind of like if 50’s rockabilly met some dub reggae music.  The prechorus breaks down to just bass and drums, a technique I’m very much a fan of- subtraction rather than addition.

One key characteristic tying many of these songs together is the lack of a bridge.  This I also support.  Don’t just add extra stuff for the sake of adding it.  There was that Death Cab For Cutie “Open Door EP” released recently, which featured the fantastic song “My Mirror Speaks”, which might have been one of the best songs ever, had it not included a pointless and distracting bridge.  Lets stop this before it gets too far to turn back.

“The Mystery Zone”  runs along similar lines as “Who Makes Your Money”  with a great consistent feel, almost as if your brain is on autopilot being driven by delay effects, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but lets talk about another song.  “Written In Reverse”  slams along like a White Album Beatles track, with more soul.  Slamming on piano and guitar, with some lower octave background vocals and big distorted bass fills, it all comes together. It might just be one chord for most of the song, which again, I fully support.  Its not even a riff, its more of a drone, accented by dynamic changes and sloppy guitar fills.

If there is any immediate criticism, I would say that for such a driving and consistent album in the middle, it starts off kind of hodge-podge with “Before Destruction”  which seems to lack a little focus.  These days, who cares, we just put the songs we like on our ipods and shuffle away.  BUT, since the digital booklet was split up into “side a” and “side b”  for the track listing, I am holding Spoon to it.  The also include the phrase “buying records at actual record stores is cool”  which I respect, even though I bought it on iTunes.  Overall, Transference is a solid album, it veers towards the weird side.  Its like a giant drone, flavored with some rock music.  You’ve won this round Britt, see you next time.

Coming up next week, I’m going to listen to 30 seconds of each track of the most recent Lady Gaga album, which I have never heard, and write stream-of-consciousness for 20 minutes after.  What results, is any-one’s guess.