Tag: #gangstarr

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Battle of the Bands: Indie, Hip Hop, and a Bunch of Punks

Having just completed a mini marathon of five headliners in six days this week (#41isthenew14), it only feels right to empty out the guest room of all the other finds that’ve been piling up lately.  First we’ll start with the latest in the 33 1/3 series I picked up, the mostly underwhelming, sometimes great series on classic albums that covers everything from Led Zeppelin IV and Exile on Main St. to OK Computer and In Utero — as well as this one, the classic debut of Television, Marquee Moon. Written by a mix of journalists and fans, the series too frequently offers semantic debates or sociological dissections of the artists and albums in lieu of what interests me most — examinations of the recording and impact of the actual music.  Tidbits from the studio, background on the band and how their experiences led to what usually is a beloved album, deconstructions of the songs and what they mean.  All too often those are ignored in the series and so for every four or five I read, one actually hits the mark.  Thankfully this is one of those.

Author Bryan Waterman does an excellent job describing Television’s place in the parade of New York’s underground, punk/new-wave legends, starting with the Velvet Underground in the late 60s, the New York Dolls in the early 70s, and then Television and the slew of giants that came out of CBGB in the decade’s remainder — the Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads all regularly played there and became enormous names well into the 80s.  Unfortunately, Television — the band that started everything — did not. (Waterman does a great job capturing descriptions of the venue so intricately tied to those bands’ rise, too — “CBGB is a toilet. An impossibly scuzzy club buried… in the sections of the Village the cab drivers don’t like to drive through.”)

That failure to launch is an appropriate follow on to the previous post on the beloved Replacements and a seamless inheritance of the previous bands’ legacies — headstrong and rebellious frontman and/or internal band frictions delay or outright impede greater success, relegating their bands to critical reverence and popular obscurity while their peers skyrocket and become household names.  And while Television frontman Tom Verlaine may not have been as self-destructive as Paul Westerberg later would be or as unflinchingly dickish as Lou Reed was beforehand, it’s telling that the band who walked up to CBGB owner Hilly Kristal in late ’73, fast talking their way into a prolonged residency that would make them cult favorites and launch the venue (and burgeoning punk scene) for the remainder of the decade were among the last to get a record deal (and the only of the aforementioned to not become household names).

It’s a fascinating tangle and Waterman does a great job unraveling it all — showing how the Dolls’ manager Malcolm McLaren took that group’s failure to break to the UK and subsequently launched the Sex Pistols (taking elements of both the Dolls and Television and immediately exploding). How original Television bassist Richard Hell left before the band’s debut to join former Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders (who Paul Westerberg later wrote a cheeky ode to in “Johnny’s Gonna Die”) and formed the Heartbreakers before leaving to start the Voidoids (two more underground favorites). How Verlaine and company played non-stop for over two years (including numerous two a day, three night runs at CBGB) before finally getting signed and nearly three before dropping their classic debut.

All of which culminates in this amazing album. I remember first discovering it back in college when I would spend hours in my dorm room on Napster, pulling on various threads of bands I knew/loved (in lieu of attempting to seduce uninterested undergrads — you’re welcome). This being the era before streaming I would download anything I could find to widen the web of bands at my disposal, mining random live recordings and bootlegs for new things to listen to as I walked around to class.  As a big fan of the Velvets it was only a matter of time before I got to these guys — they are constantly described as the proteges/inheritors of that legacy, not only for the New York angle and their sound, but also for never having broken big.  (The ties are even tighter according to Waterman — frontman Lou Reed was a fixture at CBGB when Television was playing and actually got called out by Verlaine for bootlegging their shows one night).

I remember the title track being the first thing I heard, the epic 10-plus minute opus that was the cornerstone of the album and so emblematic of what made the band special.  As Waterman writes (albeit for a different song), “Like most Television songs this one starts with an extended introduction, a sense of anticipation, hesitation, building tension. Then, we’re off, though the stress falling on the first and third beats creates a slightly syncopated sense of lurching. The music is repetitive, churning, the sounds of machinery, the lead guitar rolling on the right side like a power saw cutting pavement…Then, an opening lyric, in Verlaine’s strained nasal harangue.” Those twinned guitars, that strangely commanding if effeminate voice, those disparate solos that would meander brilliantly before snapping back into place like a bolt of lightning — as Waterman quotes, they were “a force to be reckoned with,” purveyors of “loud intimacy,” and never moreso than on this amazing track/album.

The fact that the band was gone less than a year later, having released their follow-on (the often overlooked, but quite good Adventure) without reaping any larger following, drives home the cruel criminality that bands as good as this (and the Velvets and the Replacements and so many others) can still be so unknown.  After only two albums and four landmark years, these guys were gone — Verlaine released several solo albums in the intervening years, but the band that created this gem (and the scene that sparked so many other great bands) was essentially gone for good. (They recorded a one album reunion in 1992, but nothing more.) Thankfully we’ll always have this (and Adventure) to go back to — so dive in the same spot I did and splash around the blissful title track.

We’ll shift to more rapid fire mode now, just pulling stuff at random off the day bed to clear some space — first looks like we’ve got the latest single from Broken Bells, the hipster boner band of Shins frontman James Mercer and producer/musician/CMA Danger Mouse.  It’s the first song they’ve put out in a year (the underwhelming “Shelter“) and only the second since their last album (2014’s also underwhelming After the Disco). This one gets them back on a positive path.  There’s still no news about a forthcoming album, but in the interim we can enjoy this one off, the solid “Good Luck.”

Continuing in the vein of moonlighting frontmen and hipster arousal comes the news that National singer Matt Berninger will be releasing a solo album soon (Serpentine Prison, release date TBD) and he also recently teamed with Phoebe Bridgers (who has herself been playing in two separate indie porn posses before this one — with Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst in Better Oblivion Community and with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus in Boygenius). That the Berninger/Bridgers pairing was for the Between Two Ferns movie means you can almost hear the seams on the hipsters’ corduroys screaming from all the tumescence.  You can also hear a pretty good song, too — check out “Walking on a String” here:

We’ll stay moonlighting one moment more with a track from Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn, who despite releasing both a solo album (I Need a New War) and a band one (Thrashing Thru the Passion) this year, still has more new music for us.  This time it’s in the form of the horn-laden look back at punk days gone by, “It’s Never Been a Fair Fight.”  It’s a solid song, between the horns’ warmth and Finn’s longing lyrics.  Give it a listen here:

Speaking of punk days gone by, there was the surprise release this week of a new song from LA legends X, their first new music since 1993’s Hey Zeus! (It’s also their first with the full original lineup since 1985’s Ain’t Love Grand!) Apparently after all the years on the road for their 30th reunion tour (I caught them a couple years ago myself) they finally decided to hop into the studio and record some new stuff this year.  This one’s a throwback to their heyday, both sonically and historically (apparently they recorded a demo of it for their debut, but never finished it until now).  It’s a vintage sub-two minute ripper, with John Doe and Exene furiously dueting while Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake charge along beside them. It sounds great — hopefully the rest of the songs do as well.  Check out “Delta 88 Nightmare” while we wait to see:

We’ll keep the surprise reunion vibe going, this time in the guise of rap royalty Gang Starr.  As I mentioned two posts ago, they recently dropped their first new music in sixteen years, which was a big enough treat.  Now comes the news that not only will there be more — this week they dropped another solid tune, “Bad Name” (check it out below) — but there will be a whole ALBUM full of new music!  With appearances from Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, and more! And it’ll be here in two weeks! (One of the Best Yet is due out 1 November) That is great news, so we’ll see what other treats Guru (RIP) and Premier have in store for us then — in the meantime, get ready with this one:

We’ll shift genres to the formerly hot (and yet still almost unavoidable) electro scene with the latest from French DJ/producer Gesaffelstein, who dropped the six song EP Novo Sonic System last week.  Thankfully it’s a return to the sounds of his debut Aleph, which as I wrote about on the old site melds equal parts 80s video game bleeps and thudding beats, as if your Nintendo commandeered the DJ booth.  This stuff (and not the flabby cheese of his sophomore album Hyperion) is the perfect soundtrack to high speed car rides after dark, whether being chased by the law or just speeding down the highway pretending.  “Dance X” is one of the best — when the beat snaps in just try not to floor it in response…

Having satiated our need for speed (and electro), we’ll mosey back to the indie world again to close things out with three more songs from that realm. (#symmetry) First up comes the latest from Canadians Wolf Parade, their first new music since 2017’s Cry Cry Cry.  It keeps the 80s vibe of the previous entry going (quite literally with the Nintendo-style introduction) and sports some synths alongside frontman Spencer Krug’s vocals.  It’s unclear if it portends a full album forthcoming soon, but let’s hope one arrives without too much delay.  Check out “Against the Day” here:

Next comes a track from a Scottish band I recently discovered (unsurprisingly at the show of another Scottish band I love, that of the Jetpacks), Catholic Action.  It’s off their 2017 debut, In Memory Of, which is a pretty flawless batch of songs (along with a handful of equally solid B-sides off their singles). They’ve got a new album coming out soon, which hopefully will continue the quality from their previous outings — check out “New Year” from the debut to see where the bar is.

Last up comes an entry from the fan mail (both fan, and mail, singular), an occurrence so rare pogs were cool the last time it happened, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight it now.  Thankfully it (unlike pogs) is a good one, coming courtesy of Dead Sara, a three piece from LA.  It’s off their debut album (2012’s eponymous outing), which writ large is a hit or miss affair, but this one’s a certified ripper.  Frontwoman Emily Armstrong’s voice is an unstoppable wail as the riff of guitarist Siouxsie Medley blazes around it — it’s an absolute bomb.  Crank it up and roll:

We’ll close with three readers, first from Esquire, which recently ranked every U2 album released to date. I don’t entirely agree with their ordering (seriously, Rattle and Hum is the second worst thing they’ve ever released?  Have you been listening the past ten years?!?), but they get most of the top entries right in my opinion.  See what you think and let me know. Next comes a solid article by Stereogum on NIN’s double disc gem The Fragile turning 20.  I wasn’t tracking that most people didn’t like the album — I’ve thought it was pretty incredible from the outset (“Somewhat Damaged,” “We’re In This Together,” “Even Deeper…?” and that’s just a few from the first side!) — but glad to hear others are finally catching up.  Lastly Stereogum did an exhaustive retrospective on Bob Seger and why he matters. As someone who grew up hearing his huge hits on the radio (and TV eventually) it was interesting to realize the ubiquity those brought came after nearly 20 years of failing to break through and almost giving up several times.  It’s an interesting history and his early garage tracks are pretty solid — give em a listen and revel in that singular voice in some unfamiliar surroundings. (Though nothing will ever top the drums at the beginning of “Ramblin Gamblin Man,” a guaranteed rump shaker…)

That’s it for now — until next time… –BS

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Terrible Human Beings –Rightfully Ignored or Wrongly Exiled?

After another fun week of service and subsequent spiritual satisfaction, wanted to revisit the topic of a post from a few weeks ago, that of my beloved Orwells’ quietly dropping a new album, and what the right response is in light of the serious allegations against three-fifths of the band. The reasons for revisiting are twofold — 1) it’s a good album, one I’ve listened to dozens of times since that post, including this morning when I woke up with its “Silver Medal” in my head. (That one’s opening lines — “Not a fan of making up this time, got a lack of training. Go ahead and keep me out of mind, no one hears what you’re saying” — sports a clever homonym possibly referring to the broader allegations, indicating “no one here’s what you’re saying.”) That one’s almost beside the point, though — good, bad, love it, hate it, those feelings are almost irrelevant because of 2) the double standard regarding how we handle these artists and situations, as we partly discussed before.

This latter one feeds off the first and reared its head as the weeks passed with me waiting for reviews from the various blogs and magazines. In addition to discussing the music, I hoped they might have additional information on the broader situation to help me figure out the “what’s the right response?” question. Unfortunately, despite over six weeks elapsing I have yet to find a single review on any of the normal outlets — nothing on Allmusic, Pitchfork, or Stereogum — or anywhere else for that matter.  This is the part that I find slightly annoying — the opaque, inconsistently applied criteria for how they (and we as a broader society) handle these things.

It’s almost certainly not attributable to their not knowing about the release — these sites regularly catch such hard breaking news stories as Moby’s new neck tattoo, the Twitter beef between Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and Justin Bieber, and the time David Hasselhoff covered the Jesus and Mary Chain. And those are just some of the ridiculous ones I noted this month — so there has to have been a conscious decision made to not acknowledge and/or review the release, which is where the frustrating double standard comes in.  These sites continue to cover similarly troubled/accused artists — R Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Chris Brown being but three giant examples, each accused, tried, and/or convicted of sexual abuse. (Repeatedly.) And yet they remain acceptable topics to cover and/or play — why?

What’s the line for who gets talked about and who gets shunned?  Allmusic has reviews on each of those artists’ albums, as well as questionable/convicted scumbags of yesteryear (who also happen to be incredibly talented musically).  There’s a lot of them — Ike Turner (beat his wife, the inimitable Tina), James Brown (beat his wives, possible rape), Miles Davis (beat his wives), Elvis (questionable relations with young girls, including his future wife Priscilla who was 14 when she met him (he was 24) and was subsequently left for another 14 year old after the birth of their first child), Chuck Berry (went to prison for sex with a 14 year old), Jerry Lee Lewis (married his 13 year old cousin, attempted murder).  There’s plenty more, but all of these remain “safe” in the eyes of broader society — both to listen to and/or write about.  (Oh they’re also OK to reward with accolades, as all of them have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, among other honors.)

So why do those artists get the pass while others like the Orwells are exiled and no longer acknowledged? The allegations, amount of evidence behind them, and legal repercussions faced as a result are similar, if not weaker, than most of those examples.  (There’s still no reports of charges being brought or evidence outside of that infamous, partly anonymous Google Doc.) And yet those artists remain in the light while the Orwells have been cast into the darkness, ghosts in an age where virtually everything seems acceptable enough to discuss on the internet.

This is not an attempt to dismiss the charges against the three band members or argue away their awfulness — if true they should all be prosecuted and do time for their crimes.  Nor is it an argument to say the value of the art outweighs (or excuses) the bad behavior. These guys were always a questionable cocktail of dickishness and mischievous — both were invariably in there, you just couldn’t tell quite what the balance was and how much was an act and how much was sincere. (The last time I saw them Mario spit on, and then wiped his ass with, my beloved Chicago flag, for example, which is enough to get pounded for on the best of days.)

This is, however, an argument for clarity and consistency.  I think we need to be clear in what our criteria are for handling these types of things — whether for bands like the Orwells, comedians like Louis CK, actors like Kevin Spacey, or public figures like Joe Biden, Al Franken, and the President (among dozens of others) — and consistent in their application.  All things being similar, if the allegations and evidence are comparable, then so should our response be to the accused. And there should be no question over why — because we’ve made clear what our standards are for handling these types of situations: what’s acceptable, what’s inexcusable, and what’s still in the gray in between.  To not do so creates confusion, a double standard, and an unacceptable acceptance of some people’s wrongdoings.

Alright, enough serious stuff — let’s lighten things a bit with some fresh catches from the previous weeks, first with a brief parody video starring the Black Keys.  It’s a spoof of the online MasterClass series that offers “online courses taught by the world’s greatest minds.” This one has Pat and Dan being deadpan pretentious rock stars and it shows they, like fellow rocker (and guy I’d love to have a beer with) Dave Grohl, have a pretty good sense of humor.  It’s a good palate cleanser from the above — check it out here:

Next we’ll shift to another long time face from this page, that of Austin indie legends Spoon, who recently released an outtake from their 1998 sessions for their second album, A Series of Sneaks. It’s somewhat surprising it didn’t make the cut — it’s in line with their more straightforward, rocking sound of the time and a solid song.  Makes you wonder what other gems they’ve got stashed away.  Check out “Shake it Off” here:

We’ll move to the land of hippity hop for a bit, first with the latest single from the relentlessly productive Drake (he just released a double album, Scorpion, last year).  This time he’s dropping a song for the British show Top Boy that he’s apparently a big fan of. (Season three is airing on Netflix now.) Unlike most of that last album, it’s a solid song — good beat providing a backdrop for Drake to talk about his usual fare of “Rs and Vs and Os” and his endless material vices (Versace, Nobu, Milan, etc).  Substantively might not break any new ground, but still a good listen.  See what’s “Behind Barz” here:

Next we’ll check in with the wildly eccentric (or eccentrically wild?) Danny Brown, whose new album (uknowhatimsayin?, due 4 Oct) is being produced by none other than hip hop legend Q-Tip.  I’ve cooled on Brown a bit since his debut (Old landed at #9 on that year’s list) and the pairing with Tip is curious, but this single does right by both parties, marrying Brown’s manic delivery with a vintage old school sample that easily could’ve landed on a Tribe album.  It’ll be interesting to hear how the rest of the album shapes up — give “Best Life” a try in the meantime:

We’ll end our trip through hiphoplandia with a surprise release, the first single from the legendary Gang Starr in sixteen years (!), which features a new verse from Guru (sadly gone for ten years now (!!) and a guest verse from J Cole, all over another vintage beat from DJ Premier.  Called “Family & Loyalty,” it doesn’t appear to be attached to any specific project (no box set or rarities album upcoming, sadly), but that doesn’t diminish the enjoyment in the slightest.  These guys remain a criminally overlooked outfit (their 1998 album Moment of Truth is but one of many classics in their catalog that I’ve worn out over the years) so it’s a thrill to get something new.  Give it a listen (and dive back into those old albums immediately after) here:

We’ll head back to indieville for our final entries, first a deep cut from the latest Lumineers album, III.  The album is a bit of a departure for the band — it’s the first since the departure of founding member Neyla Pekarek, whose cello and voice featured so prominently (and beautifully) on their first outings, and also the first to delve wholeheartedly into less than lovey dovey matters lyrically.  This one (the band’s third) tells the story of three characters over three song cycles (hence the title) — Gloria, Junior, and Jimmy Sparks — only instead of soaring, sunny songs, this time the tracks deal with things like alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling addiction.  Still, frontman Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites weave a lovely web without sounding maudlin or overly morose.  Case in point the closing “Salt and the Sea,” which showcases both the storytelling and songwriting well.  Give it a ride here:

We’ll close the same way we started this section, with a little levity to accompany a new find — this one from hometown heroes Wilco whose new album, Ode to Joy, is due out next week.  We highlighted the lead single, “Love is Everywhere (Beware),” a few weeks ago and the latest, “Everyone Hides,” is another solid outing.  What’s unique is that the video almost outshines the song — I hardly ever watch videos these days (I honestly couldn’t tell you the last one worth remembering), but this one shows a game of hide and seek as the band members comically spread out in my (our) beloved city by the lake.  Take a look here:

Until next time, amici… –BS