The Go – Summer’s Gonna Be My Girl.
Ryan Adams – Love is Hell, Pt. 1
Ryan Adams – Love is Hell, Pt. 1 (Lost Highway)
What are we going to do about this guy? Seriously. Not only does he put out two records in one day, but the one I get stuck reviewing is his foray into 80s light rock? I’d rather have the dirty stick, thanks very much.
Love is Hell, Pt. 1 (thanks for the warning of the coming Part 2) starts out strong, actually. The lead-off track, “Political Scientist,” is a spooky tune about chemical plants and all that dark grimey shit that is so in fashion during this Bush administration. The bass playing is fantastic and melodic like that of McCartney’s best post-Rubber Soul. The song launches into some nice soundscapes toward the end and can’t help but draw comparisons to bits of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (a band for which Adams is forever linked because of his constant disingenuous distancing). And while the lead guitar hovers too close to later day David Gilmore for my likings, it quickly recovers to a jangly mess that touches more on Mind Bomb-era Johnny Marr and continues Adams’ fascination with all things Smiths.
That, of course, brings us to the Mozzer-like “Afraid Not Scared,” which would be a fine song if not for the annoying layers of reverb all over the place. It’s like Ryan just discovered the Alesis Quadraverb that musicians everywhere first got their hands on in 1986. Most of this EP is stuck in 1986, in fact.
Produced by John Porter (yes, of the Smiths and Roxy Music fame), Love is Hell reeks of 80s polish and echo. It seems Adams cannot let his songs come through these days without drenching them in the putrid stench of bad production. For someone with all the bravado of a street fighter in print, he seems too afraid to let his songs stand on their own.
Even the Oasis cover “Wonderwall,” a song by two loud-mouthed mother fuckers who could teach Ryan a thing or two about being a ponce, falls flat with the use of a fretless bass. Fretless bass! Christ, even Sting has steered relatively clear of this soul sucking instrument since that crap Blue Turtle record that let us all in on his diabolical plan to soften rock.
Ah, but it seems our boy is a bit of an anglophile. Sure, good music lovers everywhere owe a debt to that tiny island nation for the wealth of great pop they’ve ponied up. But Ryan Adams seems to be turning into that annoying girl on foreign study who adopts a British accent two weeks into the semester. Yes, Ryan even screams out “love is ‘ell” on the title track. Need I say more?
Sad to say because I love a lot of what Ryan Adams has done, but what made his earlier work so compelling was his reliance on good songwriting and loose production. This album has neither and is better left for the WLHT crowd.
Charmed: The Soundtrack – Various Artists
Nightmares on Wax
The Charmed Ones power up a disc of would-be P3 performers
Charmed: The Soundtrack – Various Artists (Private Music)
Back in the day, before her interdimensional marriage to a Whitelighter and the resulting arrival of a baby boy, Piper Halliwell was quite the swinging sister. While Prue stalked the halls of Buckland’s auction house like a couture gothic raven, Piper was dating the aw shucks bachelor next door, cowing the hippie tendencies of her college-going sister Phoebe, and holding down management of a Bay Area nightclub called, naturally, P3. All the Wiccan weirdness in the world couldn’t stop this witchy woman from huddling with her sisters at a comfy corner table lit by the purple light of P3’s curious airport lounge décor. It was a nice device for the Warner Bros. Each week, the Charmed Ones would wrap up the witching hour with a few minutes to spare, allowing for a brief appearance by a demographic-friendly musical guest like Michelle Branch, Dishwalla, or Barenaked Ladies. Once, a leprechaun helped Piper book Pat Benatar into the club! Nowadays, in the sixth season of Charmed, Piper has given up P3 to watch over Wyatt, her son with Leo, the sisters’ Whitelighter, who has now become an Elder, and bequeathed his position to Chris, a junior Whitelighter who has darkworld machinations of his own. (Pay attention – there’s a quiz later).
Beyond the typically pleasant adult alternative number floating over each episode’s initial San Franciscan exteriors, the WB has no surefire way to insert its musical arm through the front door of the Manor. Short of having Wayne Coyne appear as a rambunctious, precocious confetti cannon demon dedicated to saving the girls from Chris’ evil ways (wait, that’s a pretty good idea – alert Aaron Spelling!), Charmed must rely on this cheesecake soundtrack to attach the fortunes of a few lucky Hot AC rockers to the fates of three way hot witchy sisters. Coyne and his Flaming Lips contribute the irresistible “Do You Realize?” here – they’re joined by the likes of Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind (the surprisingly good “Danger Zone”), and Stereophonics, who continue their bizarre downward spiral with the atrocious “Maybe Tomorrow.” Goldfrapp supplies a little grit to the package with the fashioned-up electroclash blurt of “Strict Machine”, while the up-and-comers table is occupied by beguiling ex-Bumpus vocalist Rachael Yamagata, the lush electronic pop of Balligomingo, and a track from the perennially underlooked Andy Stochansky.
The soundtrack closes with Love Spit Love’s cover of “How Soon is Now”. Clunky and embarrassing, the song has found some footing as the Charmed theme song, accompanied as it is each week by gratuitous reaction shots of Alyssa Milano. And fans of the show will likely be happy it’s included here, since no one really wants to scraw for a cut-out bin copy of the Craft soundtrack, where it originally appeared in 1996. But Richard Butler’s death rattle aside, this collection does a pretty good job of replacing those happy-go-lucky show-ending moments that made Piper so proud of P3. Now, how about that Wayne Coyne guest appearance?
JTL
Glorious Noise is giving away an iPod loaded with the Charmed soundtrack. Enter by November 30, 2003, for your chance to win!
ODB @ CMJ: Dirt McGirt Hits Roc Bottom
Ol’ Dirty Bastard at the Knitting Factory with Dillinger Escape Plan
New York City, October 24, 2003
CMJ 2003 Music Marathon
“TEE-SHIRTS?! Alright, come on man. One step at a time. Do a few shows… start the ball rolling… see what happens…”
Huh?
The Distillers – Coral Fang
The Distillers – Coral Fang (Sire Records)
“He’s gone away / He’s gone away,” screams Brody Dalle at the end of “Drain the Blood,” the first track on Coral Fang. The Distillers’ third album opens with this quick street-punk anthem that recalls much of the group’s earlier work and teases to set the tone for more of the same.
However, as astute observers will note, the “Armstrong” is gone from Brody’s name, signifying her split with Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong, and much has changed. “He’s gone away” is not idle lamentation – it’s foreshadowing the next 45 minutes.
The second track, “Dismantle Me,” wastes no time in introducing a new sound. Singing like Courtney Love possessed by the spirit of Kurt Cobain, Dalle repeatedly moans in the chorus: “I want to bury you.” This is screaming punk with a rock and roll soul that follows a hard/soft formula atypical of the Distillers’ previously established sound.
As the album progresses, Dalle’s passionate and expressive singing takes over. Her simultaneously rough and well-trained voice has improved considerably since the Distillers’ self-titled debut. No matter what she’s saying, she demands attention. And her trademark screams still resonate like a chainsaw between the ears.
Although the Distillers remain rooted in street and gutter punk, they fearlessly explore other areas of punk and hard rock over the course of Coral Fang. Some of these attempts succeed and others fail. “The Gallow is God,” which operates on a much slower pace than traditional punk, feels Metallica-goes-acoustic awkward. On the other hand, the new-wave guitar riff that runs through “For Tonight You’re Only Here to Know” works surprisingly well. “The Hunger,” which lasts almost five and a half minutes – a startling departure from the one-to-three-minute cuts that characterized the band’s first two albums – falls somewhere in the abyss between.
Just like Iggy was the Stooges [Ahem, don’t say that around the Asheton brothers – Ed.], Dalle is the Distillers. Although her band does a decent job of backing the songs, Dalle’s singing and writing dominates the soundscape of Coral Fang. The only drawback to her taking all the songwriting credits for this album is that her breakup with Tim Armstrong seems to overpower its themes and stifle its intricacies. At times Dalle sounds like she’s overextending herself simply to make a statement. Hopefully more of a fad than a direction that the Distillers will choose to follow in the future, Coral Fang makes a strong argument that the only thing that’s inevitable, in both life and music, is change.
You can listen to the album and watch a video via the Distillers’ player.
Stone Roses Pedal Diagram
Guitar effects pedals used by The Stone Roses’ John Squire prior to 1990. Via TMN.
Tell Us the Truth
Tell Us the Truth – a tour featuring Steve Earle, Mike Mills, Billy Bragg, to call for real media reform.
Interview with an Independent Tour Manager
You’ve probably never heard of Frog Holler. So why would you give up your evening and $7 to go see them? That’s a question that Lane Campbell, an independent tour manager, wants to answer for you. Or at least get you asking…
Unlike a professional tour manager, Campbell does not actually travel with the band, but he sets up the shows, arranges promotions, and helps with the travel plans. He does this in his spare time. From home. With a full-time job.
Glorious Noise wanted to demystify the whole idea of booking a tour for a fairly unknown band. Turns out it sounds like a shitload of work. But it’s not impossible. So if there’s a band that you love and you want them to come to your town, maybe you should help them set up a tour. Or at least offer them your floor to crash on.
Songs: Ohia – Magnolia Electric Co
Songs: Ohia – Magnolia Electric Co (Secretly Canadian)
Songs: Ohia has made a career out of channeling everything that was great about Neil Young into their music. Singer/songwriter Jason Molina crafts dark lyrics about regret, despair, and the struggles faced by small town Americans. This is the music you put on during long road trips through Indiana and Ohio. Rolling down the 80/90 Turnpike the songs on Magnolia Electric Co will cause you to stare with a little more sentiment at the pastures and farm homes. It is a story of losing love in an empty town, and realizing it can get even lonelier. The lifestyle once viewed as sad and distant from the perspective of an apartment soaking up the Chicago skyline suddenly becomes beautiful and genuine.
Magnolia Electric Co starts off with a rocker that ranks with the best anything Songs: Ohia have done to date. “Farewell Transmission” has Molina singing about the limitations and frustrations of small town America. When he gives you the lyrics “Now they’ll be working in the cold gray rock, in the hot mill steam… in the concrete/ In the sirens and the silences now all the great set up hearts – all at once start to beat” images of factory workers kissing their wives and newborns goodbye as they rise before dawn, creating a brotherhood that only they can understand comes to mind. Molina refuses to let up with “I’ve been riding with the Ghost.” Pouring his heart out to a lost love he confesses he’s running out of energy and ideas of how to change. He tells her he knows how to change, but can’t do it.
“Just Be Simple” slows down the pacing but becomes more introspective about lost love. Admitting “Everything you hated me for…Honey there was so much more/I just didn’t get busted.” Growing angry at his inadequacy he refuses to face his demons, and instead blames his plot in life. A lonely guitar chord at the end of the song represents a pair of slouched shoulders and an empty dinner table. He moves on in “Almost Was Good Enough” to a weak attempt at convincing himself it wasn’t meant to be, and segues into what could be considered the only flaw in the album
On the next two tracks Molina gives up the singing duties. “Old Black Hen” showcases Lawrence Peters and a deep country twang that becomes an acquired taste. On this track Molina sits down and delivers some of the most heart wrenching piano playing you’ll ever hear. Scout Niblett sings the only track that sounds out of place on this album. “Peoria Lunch Box Blues” succeeds in that the music is some of the darkest on Magnolia Electric Company, but the high pitched Niblett is so contradictory in delivery from that of Molina and Peters that the gray skies mood breaks and you become more annoyed than reflective.
All is forgiven with “John Henry Split My Heart.” The song starts off with a thundering guitar, slows for a moment to just a piano, and then becomes a whirlwind of screeching guitar and hard hitting piano and drumming. The 8-minute album closer “Hold On Magnolia” represents Songs: Ohia at their best. A clinic on proclaiming fault and exorcising demons it delivers the telling line of “You might be holding the last light I see/Before the dark gets a hold of me.”
Small town America is captured on Magnolia Electric Co. It can’t be labeled as rock, country, or blues. Just beautiful. “The real truth about it is no one gets it right.” If Molina ever does get it right, watch for traffic jams on the Turnpike.
Download “Farewell Transmission” via Secretly Canadian. There are tons of other Songs: Ohia mp3s available via Epitonic.
Elliott Smith vs. Ray Davies
Elliott Smith interviewed by Ray Davies from Filter Magazine.
[Interview conducted on March 26, 2003. Link updated 2010, via the Wayback Machine. -ed.]