One Rose Melberg band covers another (the one which happens to be my favorite of all time) at the Slumberland 20th Anniversary show at the Echo on Sunday. Kids, dreams do come true! Apologies as usual for the camera phone video.
All photos by David Greenwald
[Rawkblog @ SXSW 2010: Complete Coverage]
There were no surprises with the Dum Dum Girls. They played a polished set of original but indebted Phil Spector tributes with a wardrobe to match; respectable stuff, but especially after seeing Rose Elinor Dougall sing with so much energy the night before, they really just made me miss the Pipettes. More photos after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo by David Greenwald
[Rawkblog @ SXSW 2010: Complete Coverage]
Local Natives own the dubious honor of being the first non-Smell-related Los Angeles guitar band to earn a Best New Music maybe ever. But if any group deserves to be the one to thaw the site’s frigid East Coast bias, it’s the Natives — the band has more stage presence than the entire chillwave scene combined. While the material still isn’t quite on par with fellow folk-rockers such as Grizzly Bear or the Acorn, their debut, Gorilla Manor, is starting to grow on me. Their best new music may be yet to come.
More : Concert Photos | SXSW 2010
All photos by David Greenwald
[Rawkblog @ SXSW 2010: Complete Coverage]
I saw the Happy Hollows a few years back opening for the Fiery Furnaces, but the L.A. upstarts have evolved since then. As I may have said elsewhere, their latest album, the triumphant Spells, is a West Coast answer to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — with frontwoman Sarah Negahdari often equalling the rock goddess charisma of Karen O. They were a live-wire end to my stint at Lambert’s, certainly the most rock ‘n’ roll afternoon I could’ve asked for. More photos after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Glenn’s wearing a Record Store Day shirt!
Previously: All Wilco Posts
Go Sailor aren’t the most notorious of Rose Melberg’s projects: The Softies, who lasted longer and sounded sweeter, and Tiger Trap, which announced her emergence into the twee scene with a treble-heavy bang, are both better known. But the band, which reunited for an instant classic show at the Echo on Sunday night, deserves the same recognition. The short-lived group, which included Crimpshine’s Paul Curran and Amy Linton of Henry’s Dress and later, the Aislers Set, produced three EPs and two compilation tracks ultimately gathered on the 1996 Go Sailor compilation. The release’s 14 songs benefit from a mid-fidelity approach that allows for that trademark Pacific Northwest ’90s jangle without burying Melberg’s coy, cucumber-cool vocals — an enhancement over Tiger Trap in that respect, and Go Sailor were always that band’s equal for material. As current acts like Best Coast, Surfer Blood and Washed Out marvel over the ocean as if they’d just flown in from Nebraska, Go Sailor’s nautical bent (evident on “Fine Day For Sailing,” “Bigger Than An Ocean” and “The Boy Who Sailed Around The World,” among others) sounds as timely as ever — and as tuneful. Stream the album in full after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
All photos by David Greenwald
[Rawkblog @ SXSW 2010: Complete Coverage]
Warpaint were one of SXSW’s biggest surprises. After hearing their single “Billie Holiday,” I’d pegged them as Cat Power clones — but live, with their powerhouse drumming and mutating electric songs, they were anything but. More photos after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Things that are missing from and/or embarrassing with Pitchfork’s review today of Elliott Smith’s Roman Candle and From a Basement on the Hill:
1) A single paragraph in this review is spent discussing Roman Candle. This graf somehow earns it a 7.8. The fact that the album, Smith’s solo debut and his most fumblingly lo-fi/experimental effort, has been remastered is mentioned only in passing; that New Moon‘s Larry Crane did the remastering is not discussed at all, nor is its first-time-ever vinyl release. One would think these might be talking points in a review of a reissue. (Did I mention that Roman Candle is my favorite album of all time? Oh, yeah.)
2) The rest of the review is spent discussing From a Basement, suddenly worthy of an 8.4 despite the fact that nothing about it has changed whatsoever since Pitchfork gave it a 7.2 in 2004. This is essentially a second printing. The new release isn’t remastered and contains no bonus tracks; there’s nothing new to say about it except for the self-evident, single-sentence fact that, yes, it’s a harrowing record made a bit easier to listen to a few years removed from Smith’s tragic death.
3) Basement is a raw, angry record rusted through with distorted guitars. So, to an extent, is Roman Candle. This is the thematic and sonic link between the two, and what makes them interesting career bookends. In case you were wondering. Smith also used to play in a alternative rock band called Heatmiser whose sound and influence should probably be mentioned here, but that would be complicated.
4) Judging by a search of his work for the site, Jayson Greene, the writer behind the piece, is primarily a hip-hop scribe who has reviewed such records as Wale’s The Mixtape About Nothing, the Game’s L.A.X., Nosaj Thing and Baby Charles for Pitchfork. He also openly trashes Smith’s Figure 8 for being too polished before calling out Roman Candle for not being polished enough. Clearly, this is a critic with demonstrable familiarity and expertise within the singer-songwriter genre and the proper understanding of the Smith back catalog.
5) Look, folks, I hate getting all Ripfork here and it’s not news that Pitchfork’s never liked Smith much (Ryan Schreiber himself gave Figure 8 a 6.9 in 2000), but for crying out loud, this is a Monday morning lead review — you’d think someone would bother actually reviewing the reissue treatment of the album that’s getting one, or (God forbid!) take the opportunity to delve into what’s probably Smith’s least-heard album some 16 years later.
If you, dear reader, take that opportunity for yourself, your reward will be one of the most fascinatingly arranged, evocatively written albums ever made. Or you could listen to a Wale mixtape about Seinfeld. The choice is yours.
