Faster than a speeding bullet, 23 Small Disasters has appeared on our collective word-playground at the lovely Ideomancer. It features little interconnected pieces by Ben Rosenbaum (The Editor), Christopher Barzak, Mehgan McCarron, Greg van Eekhout, Kinii Ibaura Salaam, and Tim Pratt.
Please check it out, give it a read, and tell us what you think. I'm quite proud of my contributions to the piece, but prouder still to be in such great company.
It’s been a little less than two months since I posted
my most anticipated albums of early 2007 and I’ve
gotten quite a few already with a lot more
forthcoming. Some early thoughts:
The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
A few tracks are reminiscent of the best Funeral
had to offer, but with a double dose of layering and
crazy time changes. Notably, “The Well and The
Lighthouse” shines like a wonderful beacon in a murky
sea. The country-themed-anthem “(Antichrist Television
Blues)” is a great, memorable, song, although the
sudden ending is a surprising choice for such a
nuanced band. The subtle “Oceans of Noise” is
hypnotic.
Arcade Fire aren’t in the business of wild
experimentation or plunging brand new depths of sound.
Funeral was amazing because it seemed to be a
culmination of years of indie rock from a wide
spectrum of artist. Neon Bible is a worthy sequel, but
may not surpass its predecessor. Then again, I’ve only
had it less than a week.
Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
This album has some moments of utter brilliance, but
overall, it’s not as loaded with new ideas and new
directions as the sublime Silent Alarm. A lot of
complaints around the web are focused on the
production which seems to be very pop-friendly with
waves of screeching guitars underlying wild choruses.
I agree. Another major attraction of the debut was the
assured production stylings that made such brilliant
songs like “Banquet” possible. This album doesn’t
reach for these heights, but is satisfied with calmer
fare.
I think Bloc Party need to decide what kind of band
they want to be. Are they an indie rock band, always
experimenting and striving for new heights? Or are
they simply a brit-pop band more interested in radio
airplay than pushing boundaries? This album reflects
that indecision and suffers for it.
On the plus side, though, Bloc Party has released a
bevy of B-sides in the last month, a few of which are
definitely of the more experimental tinge than a lot
of the album tracks. So, there’s still hope!
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder
This is definitely going to be the most controversial
album of the year. The first track alone has sparked
loads of talk on the blogs and the music sites. It’s
the title track, which I first heard at their
Langerado performance and fell in love with on a
recording from French radio. It’s a sweet, simple,
song. On the album, though, they decided to up the
volume on the vocals past a, well, listenable
clipping, so that it comes out muffled, crunchy, and
thundery. It’s a strange decision. It definitely puts
you off the first time you listen to it. After a
while, though, it starts to grow on you (reminds me of
Alec Ounsworth’s voice) and the beauty of the song
shines through.
Other tracks have a boozy, drugged-out, rhythm that
feels very Clap Your Hands. The band sound more like
what they sound like live than the surprisingly clean
production on their debut. The choices they make are
extremely daring (far from the pop-friendly Bloc
Party) and they don’t always succeed. But there are
moments when the guitars flare up and the vocals chug
along and the drums echo and it’s truly an amazing,
original, sound. I look forward to more time spent
with this album.
Still waiting on new albums by Earlimart, Air, and The Shout-Out Louds.
Finally!! The Arcade Fire's new album, Neon Bible, just leaked to the Internet. Mark your calendars, Feburary 9th 2007. A good day.
(and in case you forgot...)
As mentioned elsewhere in far more active blogs, an experimental fiction wiki I was involved in creating was bought (!) by the wonderful folks at Ideomancer and will take over an entire month's issue. Soon-ish, hopefully. Ben Rosenbaum, who is great!, conceieved and edited the thing and deserves a lot of credit. Everyone else attached to the project are wonderful and creative people and I hope everyone who reads the thing, which is called 23 Small Disasters, enjoys it and takes something original from it. Stay tuned for updates!
PS. I like the new version of Blogger.
It's your lucky day, music fans. The incredible new album by a bunch of computer nerds from Portland is available in its entirety (entirely legally, i might add) online three weeks before its release. With a spiffy website too.
The Year in Review, according to Shawn and Getting to Maybe.
Great post! Be sure to check it out.
2007 version:
Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City. new full-length for this busy band. lots of bonus material since we all first partyed to Silent Alarm, so i expect this one to be viewed pretty critically in the world at large. first single is good but not great. definitely no "banquet." i'm hopeful it'll surpass expections.
Earlimart - new one. (not sure what it's called) Love love love this little band out of Southern Cali. saw them a whole bunch in san fran. Three songs from the new album linked via Pitchfork. all reeking of greatness. "Everybody Knows Everybody," "Don't Think About Me," "Nevermind the Phonecalls." this one's gonna be the breakthrough.
Broken Social Scene - Live in Ft. Lauderdale. (I wish!!)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder. sounds fucking awesome! totally weird, totally cooky. produced by Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips and Mogwai fame, you knew it had to kill. so far, with three tracks leaked (the best on myspace), it sounds as weird as you'd expect. i recently called Arcade Fire "music from mars," this is music from Jupiter. can't wait for the full release.
Air - Pocket Symphony. Always a time of celebration when a new Air record comes out. Will they continue to be beyond-words-awesome? I'm sure they will.
The Postal Service - ? (it could happen. there's been murmurings.)
The Clientele - God Save the Clientele such a weird, moody band. seems like they're going to be in a good mood for this one. can't wait to hear the results.
This is the story of an island. This is the story of strangers thrust together by circumstance. This is story of violence and savagery at the last corner of the civilized world.
Am I talking about ABC's mega-hit series, LOST?
No, I'm talking about The Decemberists' incredible twelve minute opus, "The Island," off their brand new album, The Crane Wife. Ths song is broken up into three sections, a lesson learned from their 2004 EP, The Tain,a single twenty-minute track broken into a loose 4 part structure. The three sections of "The Island" are titled, "Come and See / The Landlord's Daughter/ You'll Not Feel The Drowning."
Come and See starts with a wordless two-minute musical prolouge that speaks volumes. It's a heavy-metal-inspired prog-rock statement that becomes a shout that becomes a scream. Close your eyes and you can almost see the pictures painted. An old-fashioned ship on a calm ocean. Swaggering sailors studying the sea. A roaring bassline bemoans a coming storm. And then things get weird.
The Decemberists have gotten very good at what they do. Their proggy influences are a new thing, notable from The Tain, yet infused with their preqrequiste nautical obsessions, this musical barrage says tons without actually saying anything. In 2005's Picaresque LP, their other big sea-shanty opus, "The Mariner's Revenge," was replete with things that go ding-ding and other things that make wave and crashing sounds. None of that here, it's all classic instrumentation played with the quirky irrevence we (all?) love from The Decemberists.
Finally, Colin Meloy's voice comes in at around the two and a half minute mark. His first words, "There's an island hidden in the sound," sound like smoke wrapping around a pillar, all sultry vowels and bright-eyed wonder. But before a third line is spoke, it gets all dark again when Meloy sings, "Affix your barb and bayonet," which also foreshadows violence ahead. (Much like when Sawyer and Kate found the case with all those guns.)
Soon after arriving on the Island, Meloy's characters find an abandoned harbor "in the reeds." There's a jetty and the bodies of some dead birds, but there's no evidence of human life. Much like some other group of quasi-invisible neighbors, they cover their tracks well.
The first section chorus kicks off soon after, with a rousing romp of screeching guitars, roaring accordions, and blasting drums. The Decemberists, who I use to like to think of my own personal little band, have definitely matured. Their emotional punch on these high notes is so perfectly pulled off, it's a testament to their skills and their producers. The final lines of the chorus, "We'll not go home again," hints at the impending doom so evident in the faces of those LOST characters, especially in the beginning, when their situation seemed hopeless and alone.
Meloy repeats the lines, "Come and see," often in the first section, sounding a little like one of those tourist-targeted ads for Aruba or Bermuda. One of those beautiful places... if you can forget about all the random dispearing blondes.
The Landlord's Daughterintroduces a first person perspective to the narrative, a lone sailor coming up on a girl referred to as The Landlord's Daughter, (perhaps a native?) The music takes on an almost gypsy ryhtym powered by accordion and piano. He approaches her menacingly, a human-shaped dark cloud, and sings, "Make no whistle or thou will be murdered!"
The caterwaul of the earlier chorus joins the accordion chimes and the song almost explodes in symphonic violence. A chase! A fight!
Laser-sounds straight out of scifi metal come out and join the swelling wave of music. Much like in Picaresque other non-sea-inspired epic track, "The Bagman's Gambit," The Decemberists ultra-musical moments reach almost abstract heights, but where in that track an ear-splitting minute-long noisefest engulfed the climax of the song, here, the song just breaks leaving tense silence and replaced by a gorgeous guitar riff.
The lone guitar strums purposefully as it was the last person or thing in the world on some important mission.
Another voice picks up in the third section. Though the same "I" is used, it's obviously not the same brute that attacked and killed (?) the girl. Through disturbing lyrics, often sincere but also sinister, Meloy sings, "Go to sleep now, little ugly, go to sleep now, you little fool," we're left with a sense of lingering unease, as if we ourselves were trapped on some island somewhere where anything can happen.
- It's Friday! Woohoo! And it's a long weekend. Rock! True, I have the day off on Monday for a not-so-happy Jewish Holiday (Yom Kippur), but I still got the day off and I'm thrilled.
- New Decemberists' record leaked to the Internet!! The Crane Wife so far sounds like a mishmash of all previous Decemberists goodness but without the random poppy sheen of Picaresque. Looks like another A+ from my good friends from Portland. (PS, guys, your website is in desperate need of a re-design. Seriously. Get on that.) (hey, while I'm making unprompted requests, how bout a South Florida show ?? Pretty please?)
- Visit from my Dad. He's a good guy going through a tough period. Hopefully some time in the sun, and the cool shade of my balcony, will unburden his heart.
- And finally, love. Love is the ultimate cause of celebration. I have my love. Her name is Shawn. Things are not always so easy for us, what with life and money and damn persistent plumbing problems, but we try our best to be happy. Sometimes we both act crazy and we make each other even more crazy, but more often, we find the peace and the solace in each other's presence that is lacking elsewhere. I've learned that relationships are harder than I ever imagined or even guessed, but in the end, they're worth it.
Woohoo! News:
Rumors Surface of SG-1 TV-Movies
Stargate SG-1 undoubtedly has a future after SCI FI channel cancelled the long-running series last month -- but what kind of future is it? A feature film? An eleventh season with another broadcaster? IGN reports this week that, according to unnamed cast members, the studio is currently planning to create a series of SG-1 TV movies.
This Pitchfork review of My Morning Jacket's brilliant double live-album, Okonokos, is extremely lacking. There's some interesting flourishes here and there, but the scope and grandeur of the album is not protrayed through the review and the writer seems to think MMJ is just another band with just another album. They could not be more wrong. This is an instant classic album - a rarity in the overly crowded market of the day - and an affirmation of sucess from a band that has transcended all genre and classifcation lines, beyond indie rock, beyond alt-country, and into mainstream consciosuness.
Maybe I'm a little biased. I saw MMJ at Lallapoolza recently and it was a truly transformative moment. I reconnected with some dormat ROCK portion of myself and, through the band, found a new apprecation of all music. This is an almost magical feat and they pulled it off effortlessly, in about an hour's time. Ever since that show, I have been listening to Okonokos almost non-stop and in its chords and lulls and highs, that same magical spark is reignited again and again.
And the magic will not stop! A film is coming out of the performance, from the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco (where I saw an equally transcendent performances by Mogwai back in the day). That film should be an incredible blast of a perfomance, apparently it's edited and directed very well. I can't wait!!
But, that's not out for another month. (*takes a breathe, relaxes). For the moment, I'm focusing on the album. It's coming out this week and a lot of other reviewers 'round the web have captured the spirit of the album a lot better than pitchfork. Some links and excerpts:
From their hometown paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal:
"Okonokos" is a true concert experience, its many transcendent moments sharing space with happily wrecked solos and the occasional splintered high note from singer Jim James. This is not a complaint. This is what live music is all about: a shared, human experience, imperfections and all. We're living in the moment here.
From Miami New Times: (huh? okay!)
The best live albums bring something new to songs that have been heard only in a studio incarnation, new performances that transcend the recorded versions and connect with striking immediacy. By that standard, Okonokos, My Morning Jacket's first concert set, is a stunning success.
From PopMatters:
Okonokos‘s structure is perfect for a live album—when the songs trip off into another world, they soon rock brightly back to life, often within the same song. The songs are stretched out, but without losing any of their impact. In fact, the impact of every hook, note, and solo is only accentuated. The band hammers each note exactly right, with absolute toughness but also sensitivity, so it isn’t bombastic but still kicks hard. James’ voice soars but also turns ragged, as the music flies light but also punches the audience in the face. An extra dose of intensity is added to songs, to keep the feeling of surprise, and those intense moments the audience is expecting—like on “One Big Holiday”, their most overtly rocking song—are delivered even better than promised.
From Barnes & Noble.com: (see what I mean by mainstream sucess?)
Even before their breakthrough, It Still Moves [and best album - elad] My Morning Jacket had built a buzz as a great live act: With their long hair swinging in circles, their penchant for dramatic shifts in dynamics, and their indulgence in epic guitar solos, the Louisville, Kentucky, band created an impressive spectacle.
Now, I can't say that My Morning Jacket will appeal to everyone. They have a sort of homespun rock sound that touches on Southern twang, indie exuberance, and even more traditional pop structures to their shorter songs, but there's something, definitely something, that makes this band appeal to more than just one target audience. They have a truly American sound bringing to mind long drives through empty highways or endless landscapes of mountains, valleys, or stripmalls all crowned by the same lazy clouds. That indescribable Americanness is part of what inspires and excites me about them. But at the end of the day, they're just a rock band. Maybe the last great rock band. Or maybe just the best.
Dear Ruth Gotian of the Kinneret Day School Almuni Assocation,
I don't care.
Sincerely,
Elad Haber
Man, where did this week go? Where did this summer go?!
I feel like it's been such a blur. A good blur, but a blur nonetheless. Alaska was incredible, seemed to be a calm nap before a busy evening. Before I knew what was happenning, Israel was at war and workload suddenly increased a thousand-fold. My calm summer where I was suppose to get back to my roots of writing and reading and relaxing was gobolled up, never to be heard from again.
And this week the offical "craziness" begins at work, with more and more work and responsibility and overtime (that demon of good and bad all moshed together).
Shawn and I are in a new apartment. Two weeks later and close to settling in. It's a wonderful place, full of good vibes, in an even wonderfuler (that should so be a word) location. It's going to be great to watch this neighborhood develop. Although it looks like our building might start looking like a messy construction project soon.
Everything hasn't been perfect, tho. I feel like I work constantly and yet am still undeniably broke. The stress of all that (work, brokeness, moving) has eaten away at my ability to relax and ponder, writing-wise. I'm picking away at this one little piece of story I got, very very slowly. One of these days, it may be something readable and good. Been a while since I had one of those. Wish me luck!
Thankfully, there has been some very good news lately, in the regards to live music in the area. That one thing I'm always complaining about? Yeah, well, someone wants me to shut the fuck up, cause there's four band incredible bands coming in the next two months to enterain me, personally. Gonna be great.
I think so, yes.
(those magicky mushrooms surrounding the little girl with the heart says it all, i think..)
(ps. what's with the christmas gnome ???)
Is there a word or term for the limbo between apartments? That gray time when you are running back and forth between two apartments? When half your stuff is in one place and the other half in the other (or at least it feels that way) And situations come up when you need something and you think, "Oh shit! It's in my other apartment!"
Something like "residence-confusion"? Maybe "living doubly"? How bout a cool "bohemian" ?
".. people would go into the pi room, and their brains would become quiet, and they would emerge relaxed.."
Image snatched from Doug Coupland's website via his nytimes blog.
