Heartache With Hard Work

I’ve dedicated this week to covering albums that I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while but haven’t quite had the energy or motivation to try and give the coverage they deserve. First on the list is Saltbreakers the new record from Laura Veirs. I fell in love with her previous records about this time last year and have been waiting anxiously for another since then. And unlike some other bands who have let me down, she does not disappoint.

Saltbreakers delves far more into the realm of pop than her previous work, though the decline in feedback does not change the basic premise. Veirs has always dealt in music more elemental than social, and that remains true here. Nature remains the constant backdrop, with constant references to salt, water, waves, and the ocean (hence the title).

The clear standout track is “Don’t Lose Yourself.” If your only previous encounter with her is from her guest vocals on the Decemberists’ “Yankee Bayonet” this should be your introduction to her solo work. For someone familiar with her other work, this is the best example of how change can be for the better. It is one of her most lively songs, but just as beautiful as a “Magnetized” or a “Rapture” in its own way. It bubbles, dances on a quick drum loop and her voice is warm, rich, and tantalizing. It’s one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time.

“Drink Deep” is another highlight, with a thick, waltzy tempo and yet another demonstration of the organic wonder that is her voice.

If the record has a weakness it’s in the second half, with a number of enjoyable but unremarkable tracks that perhaps veer a bit too far into the realm of pop (“Saltbreakers” being the primary example), a sad-girl-with-guitar song that never quite manages to find a hook (“Black Butterfly”), and a dabble in grungy rock that feels too forced (“Phantom Mountain”). Still, “Cast a Hook” is a real barn-burner (and a noticeable improvement over the already solid version heard previously on The Sound The Hare Heard), and “To the Country” is being justifiably praised for its Celtic influence and folksy feel.

I’m not prepared to call this her best album (the simple majesty of Year of Meteors remains the pinnacle, I think), it is nevertheless a strong step forward, a willingness to embrace change. It is no simple thing to make a record that departs from your past themes and style yet which is still indisputably your own. Laura Veirs has succeeded at this admirably, and if the record does have some weak moments, they are more than made up for by tracks like “Don’t Lose Yourself.”

A final thought: I continue to read people making Sufjan references (usually in the context of “Sufjan-lite” or some such thing), which seems to totally miss the mark. Sure, either of them could have written some of the other’s songs and they are both immensely talented, but the broader aesthetic is so different that the comparison seems too facile to be useful. In fact, I would really like to hear each one cover the other, just to see how the differences would play out.

And speaking of those making unhelpful Sufjan comparisons, apparently, Pitchfork slagged the record, which frankly just goes to give me more proof that I haven’t been missing much for basically ignoring them lately.

MP3s:
Don’t Lose Yourself (highest recommendation)
Cast a Hook

I’ve talked about Ted Leo on a number of occasions, citing him as a great example of an artist who blends politics, a punk aesthetic, and great tunes. Plus, he’s a vegetarian, which as I’ve said in the past, pretty much makes you an automatic 10 in my book. Because of all that, I’ve been meaning to talk about his new record for quite some time, but things kept coming up. So finally (a month or two late), here it is: a record full of ambition, the closest thing to a London Calling for 2007 in style and scope, if not necessarily in song quality.

Let me first say that although the reviews have mostly been very positive, I have to say that for my money, Living With the Living has got nothing on 2004’s fantastic Shake the Sheets. This record has nothing that even comes close to the frenetic energy and heart-on-the-sleeve passion of “Walking to Do” or the blistering simplicity of “Me and Mia.” On a number of tracks, the traditional Ted Leo tactic of taking a simple guitar riff and draping a song around it goes on more than little too long (all six long minutes of “La Costa Brava” for example). I admit to a liberal use of the “skip” function at times because of this.

In addition, while the wide range of musical styles is a major part of the record’s strength, some tracks (the loose reggae of “The Unwanted Things” and the Queen-esque operatics of “The Toro and the Toreador” for example) fall a little flat if I’m not in precisely the right mood. And finally, while I appreciate the sentiment and can fully understand its appeal to others, I simply cannot handle listening to the punk stream of consciousness that is the majority of “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.”

That track also runs into a problem I would not expect from Leo: obviousness. Where most of his work is beautiful for how much it can say with how little, there is nothing subtle here. We bomb stuff because it makes killing antiseptic…it’s a good point, but perhaps could be made better by embedding it within something a little more complex.

Still, these complaints are minor and should not obscure an important, and quite enjoyable, record. If the lack of subtlety on “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.” bothers me, it’s in part because he is so deft on so many other tracks. For example, “Annunciation Day / Born on Christmas Day,” for example, touches on the relationship between faith and violence, and the way the horror of the latter can pose a serious challenge the former. Elsewhere, in a refreshing bit of misdirection, “C.I.A.” includes virtually no mention of the agency from which it derives its title, instead focusing on the personal. Calling attention to the way people lead their daily lives with the basic premise of openness makes his critique of the way power often operates in secrecy behind the curtains of government far stronger than if it were a simple anti-statist screed.

What these songs show is that Leo is at his best when he is dealing with microcosms. This is nowhere more clear than on the album’s finest track “A Bottle of Buckie” where Leo does his best to channel Billy Bragg (with a very Pogues-esque interlude) into the middle of a song that is both brooding and energetic. The rock song about good times with an old friend is such a mainstay that it’s almost a cliche, but it is rarely done with such tenderness or honesty. No grand themes are dealt with here, and if a wide array of social and cultural questions provide the background, he is happy to let them stay there. That they are working class with no futures (after all, they’re out drinking Buckie) is important, but only insofar as it gives strength to the narrative. The memory of those you have loved and the reckless abandon with which you lived is a powerful form of nostalgia, especially for one who has left it all behind. But at the same time, there is the reality of a dead-end life for those who never did escape. The return, the attempt to recapture even briefly the feeling of youth, this is bittersweet. As much as we reminisce, the past is gone and was never as beautiful as it might seem – you can’t help but realize that perhaps the only thing to do is simply escape. And this reality is what makes the nostalgia so touching.

I likened this record to London Calling, and I do mean that. Not that I think this is anywhere close to as good, but in terms of the attempt to bring together wildly divergent sounds, themes, and desires, it’s hard to think of a record in recent years that compares. No one will love every track, but if you have any interest in intense, indie rock with a brain, a pulse, and a conscience, you would be well served to give Living With the Living a try.

MP3s:
A Bottle of Buckie
Some Beginner’s Mind

I ended up getting distracted by a number of things (a great soccer game, the need to do laundry, a far more elaborate than planned dinner, etc.) so I don’t really have the time to do the post I meant for today. Instead, you’ll just have to settle for some links and my brief musings.

I’ve already complained about Glenn Beck in the last couple months, but this one just cannot go without mention. Yesterday, he compared Al Gore to Hitler. No, seriously, he did: “Al Gore’s not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however.” Read the rest at Media Matters. How does this guy still have a job?

The best quick summary of the ridiculousness of the recent Carhart decision on so-called “partial birth” abortion can by found at Lawyers, Guns and Money. I still find it astonishing and thoroughly depressing that this “women don’t know their own mind” canard found its way into the majority decision of a Supreme Court case. For the best takedown on this absurd justification for banning abortion, check out Reva Siegel and Sarah Blustain’s article from The American Prospect last year. Another great read on it is from Emily Bazelon in the New York Times.

The big news for today is that Reid and Pelosi finalized the Iraq funding bills and sent them to the president, on the four-year anniversary of the infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech. Bush promptly vetoed it, even while stating how important it was to get money to the troops. The symbolism is powerful, of course, but the best thing I read about it is from Think Progress, where they simply let the numbers speak for themselves.

Finally, it’s May Day, the real Labor Day. As a perpetually in denial Marxist, it’s worth recognizing. It’s less well-known that May 1 is also Law Day. From the New York Times: “President Dwight Eisenhower established May 1 as Law Day to co-opt the biggest day on the socialist calendar.” Isn’t that nice?

May Day – Elvis Perkins
I Fought the Law – The Clash

Oh, and that soccer game…the second leg of the semifinals of the European Champion’s League. After 180 minutes over two legs, Liverpool and Chelsea were tied at 1-1. 30 more minutes didn’t produce a goal, so it went to penalty kicks. I know it’s a rather silly way to resolve a hard-fought match, but you can’t deny they’re exciting. Especially when you’re watching with a big group of other people. The other semifinal match (Manchester United v. AC Milan) is tomorrow. Should be fun.

My friend Jonah, pretty much the biggest Okkervil River fan out there, sent me a fantastic live performance of one of their new songs: “Our Life Is Not Movie or Maybe.” I’d heard it before (thanks to the SXSW performance provided by KEXP), but the sound quality of this take is great and the song sounds absolutely fantastic.

Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe

It’s got all the energy of a “Black” or “The Latest Toughs” and that intro with just Sheff’s voice over the guitar crackles like very few things I’ve ever heard.

Their new record is tentatively scheduled for release this summer, and it’s my most-anticipated record of the year.

Twin Peaks Theme

I’ve been meaning to post about Twin Peaks for a while, and what better time than now, when the long wait to get the second season on DVD is finally over? For my money, Twin Peaks is David Lynch at his finest, with the freedom to develop a plot over 10-15 hours instead of being limited to the confines of a movie. It also serves as the best vehicle to demonstrate that much of his genius has very little to do with plot at all – it’s about letting the bizarre and perfect strangeness of life unfold at its own pace. It is one of the best TV shows of all-time, and it frankly still astonishes me that something so strange was ever put on network TV at all.

The first season has been available for a long time, but until this year if you wanted to see the second, you had to find it on VHS (not an easy accomplishment). I first watched it in one long weekend. We rented the whole thing on tape and watched all 22 episodes. I also managed to finagle a copy on DVD from Spain, but it was an incomplete solution, so I’m happy that it is officially out now, in all its glory.

The first season is better, no doubt about that, but such a comparison doesn’t really mean a whole lot. They are different. The first is 7 episodes and a pilot, in all meaningful ways flawless, but also incomplete. The second is 22 episodes, with a number of meandering (even pointless) plots, and the ratio of pure brilliance to less-than-essential elements is far lower. Still, part of what makes Twin Peaks so fascinating to watch is the use of time. These 22 episodes are far more languorous and while it doesn’t always work (the horrible guitar-playing scene for example), the freedom to move slowly can be incredible.

For some interesting thoughts on it, check out a recent article from Slate.

I’ll resist the temptation to write a lengthy post musing on the meaning of the final episode. I will simply say that it was deeply disturbing, leaving me incredibly unsatisfied immediately afterwards, but feeling increasingly correct as more time goes by. I now believe that it is one of the best final episodes of any show – full of ambiguity, raising far more questions than it answers, suggesting something fundamental about human nature, destroying someone I had grown to love, but asking us whether it was worth it. It is truly maddening, which is really the point.

While I’m talking about Twin Peaks, let me post a few songs by a band named Logh who deliberately evoke some of what makes David Lynch so compelling. From their description:

You receive a fancy letter in the mail. An invitation to a cocktail party. A few days later you find yourself poolside with a colorful, yet not too colorful, drink in your hand. A bit too drunk, involved in a conversation a bit too deep about the new David Lynch movie; a documentary about the dark December days around a concert in Berlin, featuring a super group made up by Vangelis, Roy Orbison, Kate Bush and Jim O’Rourke.. Logh’s fourth record sounds somewhat like that. If you want it to.

A Sunset Knife Fight
Yellow Lights Mean Slow Down Not Speed Up
An Alliance of Hearts

Check out some more songs from them, and a bunch of other good bands, at Bad Taste Records.

Finally, for turning me onto this band, a hat tip to Hot Stof – where you can be guaranteed to discover at least one or two great new Scandinavian (and other) bands every week.

100,000 Fireflies – Magnetic Fields
100,000 Fireflies – Superchunk
Fireflies – Amy Cook

Unless traffic cuts off considerably, we should hit the 100,000th visitor mark sometime later today. That’s pretty exciting, I have to say. I know 100,000 is pretty small potatoes compared to the big blogs, but it’s still way more than have read anything else I’ve written before.

It’s also been almost exactly a year since I started tracking visitors, which means it’s roughly 300 a day (or a couple thousand a day when I was talking about The Beatles followed by a steep drop, and then a slow but steady increase in the daily average until it’s 300 or so now).

So thanks for stopping by now and again. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading (and listening) as much as I’ve enjoyed writing. And speaking of enjoying listening, how about one of my favorite Magnetic Fields songs, and a fantastic cover by Superchunk? And another song about fireflies, just for fun.

And finally, speaking of fireflies, how much a shame is it that Firefly got canceled after just one season? Joss Whedon doing a western in space…what’s not to like?

I’ve written many times before about my love for Beth Arzy and Trembling Blue Stars, so I won’t belabor the point much, except to say that you really must listen to this:

Idyllwild

This is the song Galaxie 500 was always trying to make (and I don’t meant that as even the slightest knock against Galaxie 500 – it’s just how good this is). It makes you shiver it’s so beautiful, with has more perfectly crafted lyrical bits and pieces than I can count. Try “a song on the radio makes you shiver, and wanna curl into a ball / makes you wanna be seventeen, and forget the future shrinking” or “one by one they’ve watched our dreams disappear” or “two girls against the world / summer nights warm and long” or the absolute best “a girl whose favorite thing is snow / snow and being alone.” I mean, seriously, how perfect is that?

Their new record The Last Holy Writer is out May 14th from Elefant Records (in the UK – the US release date will be sometime in June it seems like), and what I’ve heard so far has really knocked my socks off.