Category: Alternative (Page 51 of 155)

Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense

October 8, 2009 /

One of the best concert films of all time gets its hi-def due with this lovingly curated reissue “Stop Making Sense.” Directed by Jonathan Demme, “Sense” captures the Talking Heads at their squirrelly best, spasmodically jumping between new wave, funk, and arty Afro-pop with a crack band of ace sidemen that included Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, and Lynn Mabry. The Talking Heads found their footing slowly, evolving from willfully experimental Rhode Island hipsters to a merry band of world music vagabonds, and Demme frames their journey with a stage setup that opens slowly; for the opening number, “Psycho Killer,” David Byrne comes out with nothing but his guitar and a boombox. He’s joined by bassist Tina Weymouth on the next number, they’re joined by Chris Frantz next, Jerry Harrison follows Frantz, and so on and so forth, until the whole entourage is under the lights, making the most joyously paranoid racket of the ‘80s.

The Blu-ray transfer doesn’t scrub every last scratch or speck of dust from the frame, but knowing the Talking Heads, that may very well have been intentional; in any case, it makes for fine viewing at 1080p, despite periodic minor problems with the picture, and the sound – presented here in a pair of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes that let the viewer choose between the equivalent of audience and soundboard recordings – more than makes up for any visual flaws. The special features include audio commentary from the band and director (everyone’s tracks separately recorded, natch), along with other bonus content ported over from the DVD version (bonus tracks, storyboards, a few minutes of Byrne interviewing himself), plus Blu-ray exclusive footage of the 1999 press conference that reunited the band for “Stop Making Sense’s” 15th anniversary screening. There’s a short list of concert films whose contents justify a $34.99 list price, regardless of format. This is one of them. (UMVD)

Click here to buy “Stop Making Sense”

Alternative, Concert DVDs, Concerts, DVD Quicktakes, Pop, Rock

Sea Wolf: White Water, White Bloom

October 7, 2009 /


RIYL: Iron & Wine, Conor Oberst, Jeremy Fisher

Sea Wolf, a band of Alex Church plus friends-as-needed, has returned with the sophomore album White Water, White Bloom, expanding their folk-infused, intimate indie rock into a larger, more orchestral sound that is both richly textured and a touch disappointing. Whereas the original Leaves in the River carried a dark, chanting, old world feel throughout, White Water… layers in several more musicians and instruments, and Mike Mogis’ production punches everything up to a lush and sweeping cascade of sound. One side effect of this is that Church’s vocals, still slightly warbling and dry, sometimes emphasize his limited range, rather than capturing the quiet intimacy that is his strength. The title track is the best example, where pianos, multiple strings, drums and synths all vie for attention, becoming heavy and ponderous with the vocals dragged down by the weight of it all. Or, as on the opening track “Wicked Blood,” where the pop elements overwhelm and it can occasionally sound like a cover of a Roy Orbison track circa Mystery Girl. Lyrically, it seems that Church tried to keep pace with this expansion and this resulted in a rambling feel on some of the longer songs. His writing is missing the concise, insistent quality that made Leaves… tracks like “You’re A Wolf” and “The Cold, The Dark & The Silence” so powerful.

This could be considered quibbling, as the album has its share of gems. Middle tracks “Orion & Dog” and “Turn the Dirt Over” have all the power and simmering energy to make you listen intently and repeatedly. Here you feel that the music serves the song and story as folk demands, rather than the other way around. When “Oh Maria!” really rocks out, it is not just the pounding drums and angular guitars that drive it, but the passionate personal quality of lyric and vocal delivery. It is unfortunate that this beautiful strength gets lost in the complexity of the larger, denser tracks that are pretty, but inevitably fall a bit flat. Church and company made a clear bid for “more” on White Water, White Bloom, and definitely succeeded. But the uneven results show that more isn’t always a good thing. (Dangerbird 2009)

Sea Wolf Myspace page
Click to buy White Water, White Bloom from Amazon

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Folk, Indie Labels, Pop

Lou Barlow: Goodnight Unknown

October 6, 2009 /


RIYL: Nirvana, Folk Implosion, Foo Fighters

Lou Barlow’s music may sometimes seem to defy definition, but one thing can be said for certain: As one of the more prolific figures of the post-punk generation – if not one of the more deliberately obscure – he’s maintained a steady presence through a variety of guises for the better part of the past 20 years. Starting his musical journey with the influential and irrepressible Dinosaur Jr., Barlow subsequently plied his talents through several high-profile indie outfits, Sebadoh and Folk Implosion among them. Each incarnation has found him mining a sound that’s as daring as it is defiant. Regardless, absolute devotees will testify that it’s in his role as a solo performer that he’s at his most articulate and expressive, and happily, this latest outing proves to be no exception.

Still, as always, it’s hard to get a handle on where Barlow is going with some of these songs. Layer upon layer of foggy melodies, cloudy atmospherics and vocals that sound like they were recorded in distant environs do little to encourage any hint of immediate accessibility. Nevertheless, he frequently connects almost in spite of himself. Shimmering set-ups like “I’m Thinking” and “The One I Call,” along with the lilting delicacy of “Modesty,” “Take Advantage” and “Too Much Freedom,” run headlong into the agitated sludge that blurs the more melodic prospects for songs like “Sharing,” “Gravitate” and “The Right.”

Happily, though, a more accessible sound does emerge as the 14 tracks wind down to their conclusion. Barlow segues into a mellower mode, and if there’s any comparison to be made at this point, it’s genuinely unexpected. “Take Advantage” and “Don’t Apologize” actually sound similar to…wait for it…Donovan, in traveling troubadour mode. Yes, it’s an unlikely shift, but then again, who better to pull off this chameleon-like transformation than an agile artist like Barlow?

Consistently intriguing at every turn, Barlow’s metamorphosis has always demanded a closer listen, and certainly Goodnight Unknown, as its title somewhat cryptically implies, isn’t any different. While Barlow may be edging towards accessibility, it’s clearly too soon to say he’s committed himself entirely to following a standard script. Still, Goodnight Unknown may be the closest he comes to earning any distinction as a higher profile indie rock god along the lines of, say, Dave Grohl, with whom he shares a certain renegade sensibility. Whether or not the current incarnation of Dinosaur Jr. grinds itself into extinction remains unclear, but one thing remains clear – Lou Barlow casts an indomitable shadow all his own. (Merge, 2009)

Lou Barlow MySpace page
Click to buy Goodnight Unknown from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

Mike Doughty: Sad Man Happy Man

October 5, 2009 /


RIYL: Soul Coughing, Beck, Cake

The press kit pegs Sad Man Happy Man as a back-to-basics return to form for Mike Doughty – and sort of intimates that this move was prompted by negative fan reaction to 2008’s Golden Delicious – but unless you’re one of the world’s most hardcore Doughty supporters, you aren’t liable to notice much of a difference between Sad and Golden, or, for that matter, 2005’s Haughty Melodic. The arrangements are acoustic-based, and most of them are more stripped down than much of what he’s done in the last few years, but the two most immediately identifiable ingredients of any Doughty song are his warm buzzsaw of a voice and his love of inane, infinitely repeatable phrases, and both of them are in plentiful supply here. Doughty’s lyrics (or the parts of them that make sense, anyway) have never shied away from bleak themes, and the same holds true here: Sad Man Happy Man’s tracks detail relationship problems (“Diane”), drug addiction (“Lord Lord”), and our current financial woes (“Pleasure on Credit”), all shrouded in the same deceptively goofy arrangements his fans have come to know and love.

mikedoughty photo one

It is, in short, a Mike Doughty record – and whether that thought fills you with anticipation or dread, none of these songs will do anything to change your mind. Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, though, they’re mighty easy to sing along with. (ATO 2009)

Mike Doughty MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews

The New Up: Better Off

October 2, 2009 /


RIYL: Stone Temple Pilots, No Doubt, Radiohead

San Francisco quintet the New Up abandoned the album format with 2008’s Broken Machine EP, the first in a series of three EPs the band began working on with producer Jaimeson Durr (Dan the Automator, Chickenfoot). Better Off, the second EP in the series, picks up where Broken Machine left off stylistically, while songs like opener “Dear Life” and the title track get some extra breathing room with looser, more swinging drums and percussion than before. While all five of the EP’s songs are solid, well-crafted tunes, the title track in particular turns out to be the real earworm on the disc. With a useful “be thankful for what you got” type of philosophy, a powerful vocal from Emily Pitcher, an unforgettable chorus and cherry-on-top flute melody from Hawk West, “Better Off” stands out as a formidable rocker and perhaps the best song in the band’s catalog to date. While it may overshadow the other four tracks on the EP, the remaining tunes nonetheless hold their own and maintain the New Up’s trend of favoring quality over quantity. (The New Up 2009)

The New Up MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Psychedelic, Rock

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