PICTURE OF THE DAY: SNAKES EATING EDITION

Kangaroo.

Sheep

Alligator

Big Fish.

Underwater Fish.

The Family Dog.

Mouse.

And after all that, Snake needs to go potty.

NEW FROM JAGJAGUWAR/SECRETLY CANADIAN

Two releases from one of the best indie labels in the business . . .

BOWERBIRDS-“In Our Talons”

The Bowerbirds make the kind of folk music you’d expect from this label: Low-key and anything but bright and hopeful. “In Our Talons” has all the vocals you’d expect from an old-fashioned folk tune (think Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell), complete with “dee dee dee” harmonies, but over it all is a churning menace—an acoustic guitar recorded low and gravelly. Take a listen: If you like this song, you’ll love this album.

In Our Talons

LORD DOG BIRD-“Lord Dog Bird”

The mystical moniker that serves as both the name of the band and the name of their debut album is no coincidence: Lord Dog Bird is strange and medieval. It is the product of guitarist Colin McCann, who wrote it while his band Wilderness (on the Jagjaguwar label) was on extended hiatus. It sounds like most of what you’ll find on his band’s label: Emotionless, slightly sad, drone-y, and somewhat creepy. Although McCann is a guitar player by trade, and the guitar work is the star here, you’ll also find plenty of good keyboard work. An interesting work from an always interesting label.

The Gift of Song in the Lion’s Den

PICTURE OF THE DAY

THE CLASH: 5/21/81

I’ve been lax on my Clash posts of late, so maybe this will make up for it. As far as I know, this is the whole show, a rare Italy live performance from the greatest band in the world.

ZIP FILE

Set list:

London Calling
Safe European Home
White Man In Ham Palais
Train In Vain
Lightning Strikes
Junco Partner
The Guns Of Brixton
This Is Radio Clash
Complete Control
The Call Up
Ivan Meets GI Joe
The Leader
Charlie Don’t Surf
The Magnificent Seven
Bankrobber
Wrong ‘Em Boyo
Somebody Got Murdered
Career Opportunities
Clampdown
One More Time
Brand New Cadillac
Janie Jones
Armagideon Time
I Fought the Law
Milano’s Burning
Jimmy Jazz
White Riot

WAR ON DRUGS-“Wagonwheel Blues”

It’s easy to dismiss War On Drugs as another Sonic Youth soundalike band, but if you do that, you’ll be doing them, and yourself, a big disservice. On this,
the band’s debut full-length, the unfortunately named band breaks out some of the best Americanapsychedelia I’ve ever heard, making tough, druggy rock that’s as classic as it is contemporary. If there’s any justice, the band will be discussed alongside My Bloody Valentine, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Pixies, Ryan Adams, and all the other indie greats.

What exactly is the album like? Well, “A Needle In Your Eye #16” sounds like Winn Butler covering
Springsteen’s “Working on the Highway.” “Arms Like Boulders,” like many of the songs on the record, has a strong Bob Dylan feel (from his mid-to-late ‘70s electrified period—the best Dylan out there). Even the instrumentals like “Reverse the Charges” and “Coast Reprise,” which some might call filler, fit nicely here—establishing mood and focus between songs that seem to be about everything and nothing at the same time. Indeed, War On Drugs have created an album—that elusive creature that has a beginning, middle, and end, and wasn’t made for this world of iTunes and mp3 downloads. “Wagonwheel Blues” is best listened to in its entirety, from track one to the end, so that you can bathe in its brilliance.

It is one of the best albums of the year, hands down.

Taking the Farm

PICTURE OF THE DAY

LIL WAYNE-”Tha Carter III.”

You know what I love about writing hip hop reviews? I’m guaranteed to have at least one commenter telling me I don’t know shit and another saying the artist in the post is dope. People who listen to rap have opinions, and opinions are what bloggery is all about. So here’s a review of the most anticipated rap album of the year . . .

Is he “best rapper alive since the best retired,” as both he and Jay-Z agree on “Mr. Carter”? No. Is he one of the best? Yeah. Not because his flow is the sickest (like Rakim or Andre 3000); not because his rhymes are shockingly original (like Eminem); not because he has an uncanny ability to match beats with verses, so that his every sound makes music (Jay-Z); not because he breaks new rhetorical ground (like Nas proclaiming that hip hop is dead) or is hilariously funny (Ludacris); not because he turns hip hop inside out by making the beats follow his lines, instead of the other way around (MF DOOM); and not because he can take tired old themes like bling or gangsta-ism or being a d-boy and make them sound fresh (Kanye, The Game, and Clipse, respectively). No, those are the skills of some of the other greatest living rappers. Wayne’s talent takes a little bit of all that, and mixes it together in a raspy, drunken haze. For a guy who releases a new mixtape every five minutes, it’s astounding that he was able to save so much material for an official release. Yeah, there’s a little too many tossed-off bars here, and half the time he sounds like he’s barely trying, but after getting so much from him for free in the past few years, you owe it to him to buy “Tha Carter III.” Weezy hits every genre sex rhymes to boasting, from hardcore to hipsway, and he ends on a long, 10 minute ramble about the justice system that proves that he’s as compelling as anyone, even when he’s (obviously) stoned out of his gourd. Is this the best rap album of the year? Absolutely not. But it may be the most interesting.

Fire It Up-Lil Wayne vs. Modest Mouse

Bonus:

So careful readers of this review can maybe figure out who some of my 10 favorite (living) rappers are. Again, these are living rappers. Don’t drop me a comment and tell me how great Pac and Big are. They’re not alive, y’all. Accept that and move on. And before you drop a comment and tell me how Talib, ?love, Mos Def, and Common are better than these folks, lemme just say: I’ll listen to anything they spit, once. But twice? I’m just not a huge fan. I recognize their skills, but they just don’t crack the top 10 for me.

In no particular order, the 10 best rappers alive in the game right now . . .

1. Jay-Z
2. OutKast (when they are together, they’re the wonder twins, apart, not as good)
3. Scarface
4. Eminem (but he may be past his prime)
5. Kanye West (whenever he can’t think of a word to rhyme, he makes a word up, but nobody can make songs like him, matching beats to rhymes)
6. Masta Ace
7. The Game (a true violent poet)
8. Ghostface Killah
9. Nas.
10. Lil Wayne

A little of the best:

Never Snitch-Scarface and The Game

Run Part 2-Ghostface, Lil Wayne, Raekwon

Brooklyn Blocks-Masta Ace and Buckshot

Super Ugly-Jay-Z dissing NaS

Freestyle-Nas (dissing Jay-Z)

Bombs over Baghdad (OutKast cover)-Rage Against the Machine

And get some Em here.
Honorable mentions: Buckshot, Boots Riley (The Coup), Brother Ali, Clipse, Raekwon, Missy Elliot, Joe Budden.

Up-and-comers: Joell Ortiz, A.C.

To those who say I left out LL Cool J, Reverend Run, E-Z E, Ice Cube, Chuck D., Ice T, Rakim, or KRS-1, they’re not the best in the game today. They were at one time, but not anymore. To those who say I left out 50 Cent, you’re right. He’s a good hitmaker, but his rhymes haven’t been brilliant except on a few mixtapes and one album. To those who say I left out Lupe Fiasco, he’s made one fantastic album and a few great mixtapes, but The Cool wasn’t all that. And as for Luda, I love the guy, but he makes songs, not records.

NATALIE PORTMAN’S SHAVED HEAD-“Glistening Pleasure”

What the hell? With a name like this, you’d expect dance-y electropop, and that’s exactly what you’ll find on Seattle’s Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head’s debut LP, “Glistening Pleasure.” Song after song, the album is high-energy without being high-fructose: It’s dance music for adults, and there’s no good reason not to like this record. “Me + Yr Daughter” is all about dating a girl’s parents, and it’s funny and fun. You can check it out as one of the two mp3s below. They’re touring with CSS, and one listen makes it easy to see why.

On tour:

06.26 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
07.30 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue (w/ CSS)
07.31 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall (w/ CSS)
08.05 Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus (w/ CSS)
08.07 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero (w/ CSS)
08.08 Boston, MA @ Great Scott (w/ CSS)
08.09 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (w/ CSS)
08.10 Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues (w/ CSS)

Me and Your Daughter

Slow Motion Tag Team

THE BEATLES SOLO . . . A to Z!

Remember my recent series, the Beatles A to Z posts? Well, they were so unpopular (zero comments y’all!), that I’m gonna do another one! This time, it’s just the solo work of the fab four, covered. I’m not doing a zip file this time because nobody seems to care when I do one. (Or at least nobody says thanks.) Dig it! Or don’t.

A is for “All Things Must Pass,” the greatest solo album by my favorite Beatle, George Harrison. Isn’t It a Pity? (Harrison)-Elliot Smith

A is also for the Author of B, which is for Badge, a song by C, which is for Cream! Badge (Cream)-The Subliminal Criminals. This song was actually co-written by George Harrison. Presumably before Clapton wrote “Next Time You See Her,” in which he threatened to kill George Harrison if the man was audacious enough to date his own wife. Rock and roll diss records are so cool.

Three letters in one? Unforgivably lazy on my part. Let’s try another B. Isolation (John Lennon)-Britt Daniel (of Spoon)

D is for Double Fantasy, the classic John Lennon solo record, and the lead song therefrom. Just Like Starting Over (Lennon)-Flaming Lips

E is for Elliot! Jealous Guy (John Lennon)-Elliot Smith

F is for Jet (Paul McCartney and the Wings)-The Features. I love The Features, but I wish this was better quality.

G is for Grow Old With Me (John Lennon cover)-Postal Service

H is for hearing. Listen To What The Man Said (Wings cover)-Ron Sexsmith

I is for I’m a Loser (Lennon)-The Eels

J is for Every Night (McCartney)-Mason Jennings

L is for Let Me Roll It (Wings)-Drive By Truckers

L is also for Lanegan! Working Class Hero (Lennon)-Screaming Trees

M is for My Love (Wings)-The Bordellos

M is also for Monkberry Moon Delight (Paul McCartney)-Robbers on High Street

N is for Mother (Lennon)-Neutral Milk Hotel. This is my favorite Lennon song, but I much prefer his version. It’s so full of pain, so wracking.

O is for Oh No! Someone decided to mash up the idealistic Lennon song, “Imagine,” with the hookers-and-drugs tune, “Walk On the Wild Side” by Lou Reed. O is also for oddly compelling . . . Imagine a Walk on the Wild Side-Party Party.

P is for peace on Earth. Happy Christmas (War is Over)-Low (Lennon).

R is for the first name of two artists:

Jealous Guy (Lennon)-Ryan Montbleau

Mind Games (lennon) /W Sucks-Robyn Hitchcock

S is for Give Me Peace (George Harrison)-Ron Sexsmith

T is for tribute! John Lennon-Citizen Cope

U is for unable to find any Ringo covers. Thank You Ringo Starr-Johnny Vegas. So I’m settling for a Ringo tribute tune.

V is for Give Me Love (Harrison)-Dolly Varden

VW is for Vice Welnick! Watching the Wheels (Lennon)-Vince Welnick (of The Tubes and The Grateful Dead)

W is also for Isn’t It a Pity? (G. Harrison)-Wanderjahr.

X is for ex. As in, ex-girlfriend. Y is for you, the generic pronoun used to describe chicks in songs by men. As in ex-you. As in, losing you. Perhaps Lennon’s least interesting solo tune. I’m Losing You (Lennon)-Corinne Bailey Rae

Z, as I said, is not for zip file. Not this time.

PICTURE OF THE DAY