A review of Thom Yorke's "Tomorrow's Modern Boxes"

Thom Yorke is a pretty innovative guy, yes? We can agree on that?

Good, so I’m going to skip over the part where I remind you of how Radiohead chose to distribute In Rainbows and the whole “releasing this surprise album through BitTorrent so he can see if it might serve as a viable method for artists to etc.”.*

Cool?

Excellent.

Overall, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes could be considered to pick up right where The Eraser left off in 2006. Probably not AMOK**, as TMB isn’t as intricate; not that that’s a bad thing. I find Yorke’s voice works best when it has empty spaces to fill and bounce around in. The album’s opener, “A Brain In A Bottle”, is probably my least favorite track here, which is good, because I like it. The dark waves of “Guess Again!” are fantastic, Yorke is a goddamn gloom sculptor. The warbly, NES dungeon feel of “Interference” is downright chilling, finding a grudgingly repentant Yorke sitting in his sunken ruins, the One, True King of Gray. Things get a little brighter on “The Mother Lode” (on which I could see Waronker or Refosco lending some skitters)***, but it’s a nervous brightness, you’ll want to squint or you might hurt your eyes. The hyper jitters of “The Mother Lode” are juxtaposed nicely with the syrupy, almost-lazy, faux-hip-hop beat of “Truth Ray”. Then, the last three tracks evolve from percussive, glitchy boink into blurred, saturnine rivers into, finally, dolorous etheria. The second of those last three, “Pink Section”, makes me want to wonder what a full instrumental release from Yorke would sound like…

Whether people consider Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes a "real" album or not, it's a good album; lacking only the months and months of costly promotion real fans don't want or need. It becomes an even better album when you consider that Yorke could have used anything to test out this method of distribution. More artists should surprise their fans with flowers and candy made of new music more often. They'd probably get more head.
Keep it up, you groundbreaking, space alien trendsetter, you.

* As far as the question of “will this manner of distribution work to revolutionize blah blah blah”, I’m leaning towards no, as a lot of (uninformed) people do not and most likely will not ever trust anything with the word “torrent” in the description…the filthy Luddites.

** If you’re not familiar with AMOK is…why are you reading the review of a Thom Yorke solo album? P.S. Here’s my review of AMOK.

*** Drummer and percussionist (respectively) who’ve both worked with Yorke.

A review of A Winged Victory For The Sullen's "Atomos"

I can't think of many artists whose name better reflects their art. Everything Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie and contemporary classical composer Dustin O'Halloran have released under the moniker A Winged Victory For The Sullen (AWVFTS) has the feeling of a costly achievement, a balance of triumphant glory and infinite sadness; a warm, sun-drenched lake in a quiet woods just within sight of a graveyard. They explore the true, exquisite beauty of melancholy.

I had the pleasure of experiencing Atomos in its intended setting: as the accompaniment to Random Dance Company founder, Wayne McGregor's new work of the same name*. Something interesting I noticed while going through the album divorced of its original setting was that the simplistic, tragic splendor inherent in the music was far more present. 

The instrumentation leans heavily towards piano and strings, although there is a strong electronic presence as well. Atomos opens with "Atomos I" and its breathtaking lunar swells, "Atomos V" is underscored by a watery pulse that, while a touch jarring, adds a welcomed layer of texture. "Atomos VI", with its gentle throbs and waves of light, and subdued explosions of color, is my favorite piece here. One of the themes explored in the dance piece as well as the music is technology, and its potential destructive capabilities, as exemplified, perfectly, by the distinct future-as-viewed-from-the-past feel of "Atomos VII", the disturbing blur of truncated, jabbering voices floating underneath the troubled ocean of "Atomos IX" and "Atomos X", which could be the sound of the very end of human civilization, brought on by information poisoning. The album closes with "Atomos XII", which centers around a five note phrase, repeating throughout, cold and lonely.

Atomos is more focused than AWVFTS's self titled debut, utilizing a richer palette of sounds in more varied environs, and, although it was created to accompany the gorgeous Wayne McGregor dance piece, the music undeniably stands on its own as an emotional masterpiece, shining darkly, like tears at night.

* You might know his work from the Atoms For Peace video for "Ingenue", which he also choreographed.

A review of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' "Gone Girl" score

It's clear that someone is lying...

From the first mistrustful, tentative, unsure waves of "What Have We Done To Each Other?" all the way through to the final, grinding, menacing throbs of "At Risk", the one thing we know for certain is that something is wrong, something is being hidden, someone is lying. About what and to what end, we can't be sure, it's just...a feeling; gooseflesh on the back of your neck and arms, a faint, almost imperceptible noise you can only hear when you aren't listening for it.

This is Reznor and Ross' third foray into scoring the films of David Fincher, and Gone Girl is their most subtle work to date. The main themes of the music perfectly reflect those of the relationship between the two main characters in the film, Nick and Amy Dunne; specifically those of suspicion, distrust and a bright, brittle veneer obscuring a darker, perhaps deadly, truth. While the Dragon Tattoo score worked wonderfully at lowering the temperature of the film and the Social Network score was excellent but as incongruous as...well, a Nine Inch Nails album at a Jewish fraternity party, the score for Gone Girl actually informs us of the characters and their hidden motives.

Rather than break down every single track, as I did with Reznor and Ross' score for Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo*, I'll just focus on some of the standout pieces, which consist of about a third of the twenty four track, eighty minute album: "Clue Two" is steeped in sinister mystery with some excellent strings emerging from the crunching thump about three quarters of the way through. The soft, feverish warmth of "Something Disposable" is utterly horrifying, especially once the choking, gasping noises kick in. The feel of "Technically, Missing", with its chugging yet subdued guitars rising and falling in crescendo could fit in on The Fragile. "Background Noise" is a straight up piano piece with a whisper of menace hiding in the light, it also shares elements of "Perihelion" from the Dragon Tattoo score. "The Way He Looks At Me" is, basically, the sound of the Dunne's relationship decaying and dissolving right in front of us while "Strange Activities" is the sound of some entity constructed from electric wheelchairs chasing you. Finally, "Just Like You" starts out sounding like a combination of something from Silent Hill, "A Warm Place" and Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place", then, about halfway through, becomes the most standout moment on this album: an almost loungey piano solo from Reznor, literally unlike anything he's done before.

I've said it before and, here I go, saying it again: a lot of Reznor's score work (not so much his work as Nine Inch Nails), has a very Akira Yamaoka feel to it.** In fact, about a third of the Gone Girl score would fit in perfectly (and perhaps better?) that some of Yamaoka's original compositions. Why am I bringing this up? Because I want Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to score the new Silent Hill game. Listen to "Consummation" while watching some of the more nightmarish footage from any Silent Hill game and tell me that this pairing wouldn't be perfect.
Go on.
I'll wait.
...

Sorry. This is something about which I feel very strongly.
Anyway, when I first heard that Reznor was going to get out of his musty little studio and actually utilize a traditional orchestra for Gone Girl, I was thrilled, as I've wanted him to do so for years. While there's not as much as I would have liked (should have guessed the majority of the instrumentation would only be manipulated and perverted to serve as his tools), seeing him step into the arena of crusty composers like Zimmer, Williams and all the other fossils who get dusted off every time Hollywood needs to ram something down our throats or up our asses, and using their tools in ways they'd never think to was fantastic and will, hopefully, serve to both garner Reznor and Ross the regard they deserve and light a fire under those other guy’s asses. That being said, I feel as if something is lacking on this album; perhaps that was the intention or at the behest of Fincher, or, perhaps, Reznor took on more than he could handle, conducting a nationwide tour of the States while working on this project at the same time, a tour which wrapped up exactly a month before the release of the album. Both of Reznor and Ross' earlier scores were much more involved.

Ah, look at me.
Complaining.

The Gone Girl score is something similar, yet completely different from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The addition of a traditional orchestra, and seeing in which brilliantly horrible ways they use and misuse it, adds a new dimension to their work, something not yet seen. I'm very interested to see what Reznor takes from this and how he applies it to Nine Inch Nails and How to destroy angels in 2015.





* Which you can read here, if you're mad / bored enough.

** Composer and sound designer for the majority of the Silent Hill survival horror game series since the late 90's.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - September 2014

Nine Inch Nails

Just a few days ago, Reznor & Ross released their latest score for the latest Fincher film adaptation of a popular literary work, namely, Gone Girl.
Still sitting with it, but, overall, it's a lot more subtle than their previous work on The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, for better or worse. Planning on seeing the movie as soon as it's out as I'm curious just how much of the score will be utilized. After the weirdness with Dragon Tattoo (the fact that, of the 39-track, two hour and fifty-four minute score, I'd say less than a quarter of it was actually in the film), I find myself pensive.
Here's the whole thing on NPR.
Should be a review up soon.

All my other bands are either touring, recording new stuff, in post-tour hibernation or douchebags, so I'll leave it at that.

As I'm now doing reviews for SoundBlab, I have experienced some new stuff this month: the first is the new album by the band Maxi Bacon. The album, Maci Baxon, is what a lot of people would call unlistenable.
Those people are cowards.
Read the review and then listen, if you dare.

Then, there's the latest from industrial noise artist/pretty, blonde New Yorker, Margaret Chardiet aka Pharmakon. While the story of her new album, Bestial Burden, is pretty amazing, the flatness of the album itself doesn't really do it justice. Review just went up on SoundBlab.

Finally, the brand new, not-as-amazing-as-Drukqs Aphex Twin album, Syro was released as well. This is Richard D. James' first album as Aphex Twin in thirteen years, and I didn't love it. REVIEW HERE.

Over the next few days or so, aside from the Gone Girl score review, I'll also be reviewing the new A Winged Victory For The Sullen album, Atomos, which accompanied the Wayne McGregor dance piece of the same name and the brand new, completely out of the blue Thom Yorke album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (from which you can check out the darkly hypnotic video for "Brain In A Bottle" as well as see how Yorke is, yet again, trying to revolutionize how music is distributed to the fans, here).

And, if you thought this was a bit of a lackluster month, don't blame me, blame the bands I like for not spacing out their release and touring schedules to better suit my writing goals.
Twats.

A review of Aphex Twin's "Syro"

Richard D. James has fucked himself in the ass.

How was he supposed to top Drukqs?

How could he?

I was actually left breathless the first time I heard "Mt Saint Michel+Saint Michaels Mount" and the simple, raw, sorrowful beauty (not to mention the object lesson in juxtaposition) of "Avril 14th" was just unmatched. Then, of course, there's the nightmare soundscapes of "gwarek2".
Following up Drukqs was going to be insanely difficult, but following it up after thirteen fucking years?
Shit, man.

Syro is, undeniably, Aphex Twin, but a lot more subdued that I would have hoped for his return; I don't want Aphex Twin appropriate for Sunday morning tea consumption, I want microscopic lacerations all over the surface of my brain. To put it another way: "Come on, you cunt, let's have some Aphex acid". The restrained feel of Syro could stem from the fact that a lot of it might have been created over seven years ago. Rumor has it that, in his absence, James crafted anywhere from six to more than a thousand albums, and that Syro is twelve tracks selected from this wealth of unreleased material. That would certainly account for the lack of cohesion.

For me, I didn't start actively enjoying the album until about halfway through, when "CIRCLONT6A (Syrobonkus Mix)" came on. It has a nice, thick, blurred wall of sound which I most closely associate with AT. Things continued to be good with "Fz pseudotimestretch+e+3", which, with its elasticized beat and that particular strummed chord progression, has a touch of both something from Coil's "Love's Secret Domain" and Gorillaz "El Manana". Way too short though. The mid-way nugget of good stuff extended into "CIRCLONT14 (Shrymoming Mix)" and its soft, eerie opening sinking into its splintered electro jizz and concluded with "Syro u473t8+e (Piezoluminescence Mix)". "S950tx16wasr10 (Earth Portal Mix)" has some interesting stuff as well and the album closer, "Aisatsana", is very nice, a simple piano piece that would feel at home echoing through some long abdicated fairytale kingdom. Based on the track titles and the rumor of Syro's cut and paste origins, I think I want more from CIRCLONT, if that is, in fact, one of the lost albums and not just some of James' buzz gub.

Am I the biggest Aphex Twin fan in the world? Does James’ twisted, demonic slash of a grin confront me every time I look into a mirror? Do I think in circuitry? No, but I am a fan and would be surprised if someone could convince me there's a better AT album than Drukqs...unless that someone is Richard D. James.

What I'm taking from Syro is that Aphex Twin is back and, hopefully, he'll soon have something amazing to show us.

A review of Maxi Bacon's "Maci Baxon"

You know those albums of classical music made for in utero babies? This eats those, shits them out and then eats them again. Some of my most uncomfortable listening experiences have come courtesy of Mindless Self Indulgence, Coil and Error, to name a few. But even those artists had BPMs.

I don't want to spoil the surprise for you or color your time with Maci Baxon, so I'll just touch on some highlights. A lot of this album sounds as if someone stomped on a bunch of CDs and then stapled the bits together. The first track alone contains some hip hop, some Looney Toons  and some circus music. Over the course of the nine track, twenty-six minute album, crafted lovingly/hatefully by Scott Sinclair (aka Company Fuck) and Freeka Tet (aka Sgure), you'll encounter total eradication in the jaws of an inexorable metal mouth, robots having diarrhea, an old car with whooping cough, tape decks vomiting, the death throes of a handful of small kitchen appliances, and, finally, Frank SInatra telling you that he's going to love you.

Standouts include "analchemy"*, which, in whatever nightmare world this is considered pop music, would be the radio single, "a666 tamagotchihunter 
pikootee raper gnochi cooker pouik wheeler kuchipatchi trasher" and "careless
 sniffle", which centers around someone with a cold singing George Michael's 
"Careless Whisper" while, in the left channel, we hear some creature 
gleefully eating a watermelon...or performing cunnilingus** before suffering 
a grand mal seizure. The right channel stars some tiny things farting. This is the longest and most hilarious track on the album.

One thing I can say without a shred of doubt: Maxi Bacon are the finest crafters of robotic bodily functions I have ever experienced. I have never heard anything like this and never want or need to again. What would be the point? I've seen the singularity, and it's scored by Maxi Bacon.





* A fantastic and horribly intriguing elision, no?

** Or performing cunnilingus on a watermelon, I suppose.

A review of Alessandro Cortini's "Forse 2"

I'll save you some time: if you liked Forse 1, go get Forse 2.
For the most part, this is a much colder album than its predecessor, just in time for winter.

Forse 2 starts in space with "Canta" (perhaps where we left off after Forse 1? ). The instruments are cold and old, but the notes are warm and reassuring, until something goes wrong; a change in trajectory? Meteors? Interference.
Bursting through the atmosphere and bearing witness.

"Cerca" feels a bit like "Canta" with the (almost) alert noise which starts off smooth and then gets distorted.

"Conta", at the very start, sounds like a variation of "A Warm Place". Nice. Evolves into questing through huge ice caverns. Then, the caverns start to glow. Reds and oranges, but they are still ice. And there is something alive in these caves.

"Grigia" is sharp and piercing, the light reflecting off the ice. Blinding. Movement in the motes in ones' eye. A melody emerges, high and stinging, then distortion and dissolution. Melting ice / snow.

"Lenta" sounds like something from Forse 1. Plodding, deep, contemplative. Emerges from its own shell and then grows large enough to swallow you whole.

"Luna" is another reminder of Forse 1. Again, there's a strong sense of emergence. At just the right moment, I happened to come out from the sticky, muggy subway and into the chill of an early fall evening. The music reflected that perfectly. Odd abrupt ending.

Something about "Marcia" feels dated, nostalgic.  The record scratch and hiss in the background. That and the delay work very well together. This becomes mesmerizing. Words for the end: photon array.

"Menta" is one of the softest tracks on here. Freezing to death in your sleep. False warmth. The fuzz in the background adds an excellent texture.

The very beginning of "Salta" reminds me of Goldfrapp but then evolves into something that sounds like an early Doctor Who theme...which makes me want to hear Cortini cover the Doctor Who theme. The Who-ness actually takes me out of the flow of the album. The second half of this track is great, supplanting and then obliterating the first half, becoming regal, the rising of a pitch black sun. It's interesting to hear what the removal of a beat can do. The second half of this is my favorite part of Forse 2.

"Strada", which clocks in at just over three minutes, serves as a playful denouement to the massive climax of "Salta"; the perfect counterpoint to its world ending finale. Everything is mellow until all the knobs get turned up and the controls start to smoke and fizzle and explode, leaving us drifting, once again, in space.

Something that keep occurring to me in regards to Cortini's Forse, is how much it has the same quality of some of Coil's instrumental releases, namely, the quality to tell (or, at least, allude to) epic stories without containing a word.

While Forse 2 absolutely sounds like it's in the same galaxy as Forse 1, it's a far less inviting and habitable world; whether it's still and beautiful and sad, like a body found in the snow, or rough and frozen and heavy, like a thick slab of ice, it's always cold. Going along with that drop in temperature, I found Forse 2 to be less dynamic than Forse 1. There are glimpses of dynamism here, but not enough for me, although some might simply call it more subtle.

A review of Alessandro Cortini's "Sonno"

I identify Alessandro Cortini as the sonic equivalent of Neil Gaiman's Dream; his creations run the gamut from soothing and beautiful to amniotic and alien to frigid and terrifying to pure chaos.

To the uninitiated, he is the multi instrumentalist who has worked with Nine Inch Nails since the mid-2000's, both in the studio and on stage, as well as on Trent Reznor's recent side project, How to destroy angels. He's also been known as modwheelmood, blindoldfreak, SONOIO and, most recently, by his own name, specifically on a series of albums entitled Forse 1 and Forse 2, with the third installment coming later this year*.

So what the fuck does this sound like already?

The key difference between the first two Forse albums and Sonno is how dusty it sounds. Things feel blurred and frayed, rusty and even unsafe at times. Underneath the decay, the music ranges from sounding quite a bit like Forse, as with "Passatempo" (which is sincere and earnest, and replete with Cortini’s inherent warmth) and "Voltaggio Solitario", though the latter is, maybe, Forse heard through an infected ear, to Nine Inch Nails, namely "Dell’influenza", which could find a place on 2008's Ghosts I-IV and  "Rovine", which shares shadows with Broken's "Help Me I Am In Hell", its cold, electronic sibling.
Then, there's the sound of a lake with objects being dropped into it from great heights  ("Rinascimento"), an aural tour of the ocean's floor ("Variabile") and a whole lot more texture than one might be comfortable with.

To be fair, after "E Del Controllo", the longest and least dynamic track on Sonno, it was tough to get back into the album, but, luckily, that one is close to the end and doesn't do too much to interfere with the experience as a whole.

Sonno could serve as ambient background music, a sleep aid** or, if you were to sit with it and truly focus on what Cortini has made, something deeper and more intricate; something bright, broken, menacing, soft, and accepting, all at once.

This guy really knows what he's doing.

* All three composed, live, on a Buchla music easel.

** "Sonno" is Italian for "sleep".

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - August 2014

Nine Inch Nails

A scathing review, you say? Replete with blurry photos, you say?! Good lord! You've struck gold!!!!
Yes, I saw Nine Inch Nails TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW and was treated to the EXACT SAME SHOW BOTH NIGHTS. More about that in my pissy, unappreciative and yet completely unbiased review.
I have to say that writing for SoundBlab is, a least a little, reining in my more...fuckranty urges. For better or worse.

More bad news: I had (stupidly) assumed that, since the film was coming out October 3rd, that the soundtrack for Gone Girl would be out, at the very latest, October 7th, the Tuesday after the film's release date.
Ha.
Ha ha.
No.
Apparently, we're looking at a release date at the end of November. Which means TWO shitty things: first, more time for the hype machine to chew up and spit out the new Reznor/Ross music and, second, that there's not going to be a fucking blip about the uber deluxe Fragile rerelease this September, which marks the fifteenth anniversary of the album.
Time to buckle down for that 2019 release.
God fucking cunt damn it.

Beck

Go listen to Morning Phase some more.



Had a bit of a Bands-I-Got-Into-In-The-90's Music Concert Fest* this month. The first...well, you know all about that, but, seeing Tori Amos on the 13th at the Beacon made up for a lot of poisoned nostalgia. Here's the review (also replete with blurry photos). Nutshell: while she remains a fantastic force of nature to see live, I should have seen her the night before, as I was a lot more familiar with her set on the 12th.

Finally had a chance to sit down with Sonno, the most recent release from Alessandro Cortini, might have a review soon.

Did not have a chance to sit down with the new New Pronographers album, Brill Bruisers, this month, although I am very much looking forward to doing so.

And, finally, out of fucking nowhere, and through a series of odd marketing choices, one of which was a blimp, a new Aphex Twin album, Syro, the first in 13 years, has been announced. It's out September 23th.
If you don't know about how batshit insane Richard D. James (AKA Aphex Twin) is, you should treat yourself and do a little research. He's gloriously insane.
While I don't think it's possible for him to top his last album, Drukqs, I'm just glad to have him and his "thousands of unreleased albums" back on the scene...the fucking mad man.





* I figured when the title of the thing you're reading is "End of the Month Music Bitchfest", that you're expectations have already been sufficiently mitigated, so, yeah. I'm also not wearing pants as I type this.

A review of BoJack Horseman

I heard about BoJack Horseman by accident. I was sinking in a pit of ALS Bucket Challenge videos and saw Conan O'Brien's entry. At the end of it, instead of clicking on the next in the series of endless videos of random celebrities pouring ice water over their head so that they didn't have to donate $100 to RESEARCH AND CURE LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE, I clicked on a thumbnail depicting Conan and Will Arnett.

I like Will Arnett. Yes, sometimes I think he's a bit one note, but I like that note, so, I clicked. It was a clip that started with him talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Childhood Rapists and I was ready to tune out (Will Arnett was looking very orange in this particular interview and it was making me uncomfortable) when Conan mentioned Arnett's new project; an animated thing called BoJack Horseman, a new Netflix Original Series.
Considering how excellent a lot of Netflix's original stuff has been over the past few years and the fact that, since it was animated, I wouldn't have to see Arnett's jaundiced countenance, I decided to check it out.
I popped over to Netflix and saw the trailer: Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris and Alison Brie.
I was at least going to watch the first episode; I love all these actors and, although the trailer made it seem a bit low brow and repetitive, what's twenty two minutes taken from my already pointless life?
Exactly.
Nothing.
I watched the first episode and, yeah, it was kind of low brow and repetitive, but, the opening credits were fantastic (as was Grouplove's original, overly-referential song over the closing credits), Patton Oswalt played three characters and Kristen Schaal was in it as well, so, I decided to watch the next episode.
And so on.
Now, I was beginning to enjoy myself; there was more to the show than the trailer indicated and it was fun hearing Paul and Brie not do their normal thing, not to mention Paul F. Tompkins' boundless, grinning exuberance as Mr. Peanutbutter, a character whose name gets funnier every time it's said aloud. Then, around episode seven...things got deep...and real.
And it was weird.
Good weird.
Then, in episode eight, when we get a good look at the heart of this show and at the origin of BoJack's issues, things get even better: they get reflective and somber and the scene at the end between Herb Kazzaz (voiced, masterfully, by Stanley Tucci) and Horseman is so far away from where this show started that you won't believe it's from the same series.
I just finished watching the last episode (finishing the whole season in two sittings) and I'm already bummed that it's going to be at least a year before there are any new episodes to consume, if it gets renewed.
Way to go, Netflix, you've, again, made something ballsy as fuck, another triumph from the people who, only a few years ago, merely delivered DVDs to your house, introducing the concept and practice of binge watching.
Evolution is so exciting, isn't it?

#NoPantsAllDreams

Based on my lack of ascerbic, rage-fueled fuckrants over the past year, I think it's safe to say that my job was what was making me such an asshole.
The job which I left almost exactly a year ago today.
While I sure do hate having nothing to blog about, I'm totally okay with the fact that I am much happier since having left said job. Sure, misery is a great motivator, but, it also sucks. That's why it's called "misery" and not "puppies".

In the past year, I've had a whole bunch of acting stuff happen*, plus, I started working with and writing for and acting in Our Bar, that monthly original sketch theater-in-a-bar thing I mentioned before but that you didn't read about.
I'll admit that I'm not doing nearly as much stuff as I thought I'd be doing and, hopefully, I'll correct my deviant, pantsless behavior soon, although I wouldn't hold my breath.
Have I mentioned how often I am pantsless these days? It is absolutely glorious and, no, I don't think it adds to or subtracts from my daily productivity. I think I'm happier without pants. And a happy Paul is a productive Paul.
Or a sleepy Paul.

There's been a music video, some short films, some web series in various states of completion, a lot of writing, some music making, a lot of concerts and seeing friends and things and stuff...
Hm.
You know what?
Pants or no**, I'm not going to ramble on about how awesome it is to do what you were made to do and receive money for it, because you're either doing it and you know what I mean, or you're not doing it and this is making you sad.
Don't be sad.
Just take off your pants.
And smile.





* You can check out my web site if you go fuck yourself none of you are going to check out my web site.

** No.

Pepsi: The Official Drink Of The NFL...The Fuck Is This Bullshit?

These last few weeks, I've been to a lot of auditions for Pepsi. All of them have been tied to the NFL. Why?
Well, because Pepsi is the official somethingorother for the National Football League.
Yes. Because when one of these massively overpaid and performance-enhancing-drug-soaked meat things tromps off the field, the first thing they crave, the first thing for which they yearn...is an ice cold Not Coke.
They don't want to kill and eat a deer with nothing but their hands and teeth, they don't want to drink beer out of a prostitute, they want corn syrup laced with sugar.

I recently booked a Pepsi radio spot for the upcoming football season*. It's being produced by Mekanism, a company I've worked with before who are all awesome, and the spot is awesome. It's something along the lines of "football is a bunch of grown men in matching outfits chasing a ball around". The next part is something about how (for some odd reason) drinking Pepsi makes doing so exciting.
As funny and irreverent as the marketing is, it's still marketing and has to conform to the client's guidelines/requirements/demands and serve to show all us teeming, sweaty, retarded masses that Pepsi is what we need to get us closer to whatever we consider God, but, at least it's making fun of football and those who slavishly bow to it...on national TV, well played guys. But, this Pepsi radio thing I went out for yesterday?
Ugh.
I sincerely hope that Mekanism isn't responsible for it. It's abysmal**. It actually contains the line "maybe drinking Pepsi will inspire us". Unless that line is delivered in the most inbred, dumbfuck voice one can muster...I can't even finish the sentence.
"Maybe drinking Pepsi will inspire us"? Are you fucking kidding me?
Your company makes billions of dollars a year and the best you could afford is "maybe drinking Pepsi will inspire us"?

All right.
Wait.
Hang on.

I think I just got it as I was pounding out that last line...I get it now.
Pepsi...is happy being Pepsi.
They know they'll never be Coke, they know that no one will ever have both available and choose their corn syrup swill over Coke's...so they're perfectly fine with shitty advertizing like that.
Or, maybe, they were so happy with the witty stuff Mekanism came up with that they're content with just one commercial that doesn't make people want to die because of how stupid it is.
"Guys? Not everything we do completely sucks ass! WOOO!"
Good for them.
Know your place.
If you're Pepsi, then, by gum, be happy with who you are!

Whatever happens, no matter how stupid Pepsi ads get or how blindly people stumble after football players, gibbering and yanking at their sopping crotches, I will always have the moment when I saw the guy from Pepsi drinking Coke at that session.
I will hold that in my heart.
Forever.





* My first time serving as, ostensibly, a VO extra; you can hear me as the announcer on the TV amidst a crowd of fans and buried under a full on announcer guy. But, the money's green so the light is, also, green which means the trap is clean.

** For a soft drink commercial. As anything more, it's actual poison.

A review of Beck's Song Reader

Who's your favorite musician?

Think for a moment.

Now, what if they said, "I'm writing a brand new album, then releasing it, as sheet music." About two years after they do this, they announce, "That sheet music album I put out? I got a bunch of people to record it."
That is the experiment at the heart of Beck's Song Reader, and, I still can't tell what I think of it; not of the music, that was pretty easily quantifiable, but of this project as a whole.
I love Beck as an artist and I love his music...but what happens when one of my favorite artists releases music that I can't enjoy? I was pretty messed up over this. I wondered when he was going to admit that he was just fooling around and release Song Reader as a Beck album. On a disc. With him performing the songs. And he never did. Beck has written music that's been performed by other artists before, Charlotte Gainsbourg's stellar IRM and Pink's"Feel Good Time"*, but this was different: a whole, brand new Beck album...with Beck's involvement ending at the writing phase.

You know what? This is going to get pretty introspective pretty quick, so let's focus on the actual music on the album first, shall we? 

More than half the album is good, with about a quarter of it really shining. Once I got past Moses Sumney's coivy woids** (an affliction that's plagued pop music for a while now), I came to regard the album opener, "Title of This Song", as one of the best offerings here. This track, along with Jack White's rebel waltz-ballad-thumper-piano-jamboree "I'm Down", Swamp Dogg's gloriously soulful and heartrending "America, Here's My Boy" and the twangy, bluegrass stomp of Loudon Wainwright III's "Do We? We Do" make up that platinum quarter. And "Heaven's Ladder", Beck's contribution, of course, but that should go without saying.
Other solid standouts include Norah Jones' spot on Dolly Parton impersonation on "Just Noise", Jarvis Cocker's spot on Gavin Friday impersonation on "Eyes That Say 'I Love You'", David Johansen's spot on John DiMaggio impersonation*** on the humid swamp romp of "Rough On Rats" and the two instrumental pieces, "Mutilation Rag", with its sense of whimsy and madness, and "The Last Polka", which, although great, I wish had been an actual polka. I should also bring up Jack Black's epic and ridiculously theatrical take on "We All Wear Cloaks", which you will love or hate, depending on your feelings towards and tolerance of Tenacious D.

Back to the concept: Is this really as divisive as I'm making it seem or am I just overreacting?

Can it be both?
I dropped in on the unofficial official Beck fan forums and asked what the community thought of it and, while only a few people responded, their answers pretty much lined up with what I thought they would say: it was interesting, and a success, more for those who can read and play music than those who cannot, but, overall, it was a very Beck thing for Beck to do.
One aspect that people did differ on was whether or not Beck should release a Beck version; some thought that would defeat the purpose of the experiment while others, understandably, would like to hear Beck performing the album that he wrote.

In the end, what I used as a guide while listening to the album was to ask myself if there were any songs that would not have benefitted or been improved, in any way, by Beck performing them. If we're going by that strict criteria, then I have to say, aside from Swamp Dogg's "America, Here's My Boy" and maybe "Do We? We Do", there are not.
Beck's genius manages to shine through on a lot of these, but, more often than not, the guest artist tends to get in the way, a cloud momentarily darkening the day, but water vapor is no match for the atom crushing power of the sun. It's Beck. Wearing a disguise at times, but it is Beck.
While this has been a hell of an interesting experiment and exploration of what it means to be a musician versus an artist and an active Beck fan versus a passive Beck fan, I'm hoping that the next release by Beck will be an album of music, written, recorded and performed by Beck.

I was expecting to only like Beck's version of "Heaven's Ladder", maybe Jack White's and possibly Jack Black's songs, and then to just be mad and pouty about the rest. Happily, that was not the case...although I would gladly give a toe for the Beck version of Song Reader.

Just saying.





* I'd be willing to bet you did not know that. Here's the original. It's a hell of a lot funkier.

** You know what I mean...warping words like "call" and turning it into "coyawl", and "nerves" into "noyves" etc. Ugh.

*** Voice actor who plays Bender on Futurama and Jake on Adventure Time.

A review of Nine Inch Nails Live, August 1st & 2nd - OR - copy of a (setlist)

copy of a (setlist)

Trent Reznor does not want Nine Inch Nails to become a nostalgia act. He’s said this numerous times in recent years, as he nears 50, Nine Inch Nails nears 30, and his breakthrough album, The Downward Spiral, hits 20. What better way, then, to combat those creeping feelings of obsolescence then by co-headlining a tour with Soundgarden, another band from the 90’s who, also, released their breakthrough album, Superunknown, twenty years ago this March? Perhaps Reznor could engineer the tour’s setlist to focus on a number of well-worn, radio friendly “greatest hits”? Or maybe reuse the stage set up and lighting rig from the festival tour he embarked upon just last year?

Hm.

I’m beginning to think that Trent Reznor doesn’t know what the word “nostalgia” means…

Something I should mention up front: I am spoiled. These most recent Nine Inch Nails shows were my 14th and 15th since I first saw them in 2000 on their Fragility v2.0 tour. I haven’t missed a tour since and try my best to see them more than once whenever possible. After every NIN concert, I say, out loud, “how the fuck is Reznor going to top that?”, and he always, always does. Either with the next iteration’s huge, mind-blowing production (Fragility, the 2005 Live: With Teeth arena tour, Lights In The Sky, tension) or a massively diverse set list (the 2005 club tour, the 2009 NINJA and Wave Goodbye tours), so my hopes were, understandably, elevated for these shows, although I was expecting a somewhat truncated set, as this was a co-headlining tour. What I got for my time, money and effort was this, plus or minus Joshua Eustis and a song or two. 

That show was recorded over a year ago.

There’s also the fact that the setlists for both these shows, one on the first of August and one on the second, one venue a 90-minute drive from the other…were exactly the same. Something which hasn’t happened since 1989, when Nine Inch Nails had only a dozen songs in their repertoire. There’s more I could say about this odd and heartbreaking snafu, but, I don’t want to bore you more than you’ve already been bored; I apologize for having done so.

So, rather than make this (more) personal and bitch about getting to see one of my favorite artists two nights in a row (who on Earth wants to read that?), I’m going to switch perspectives and assume that of a more levelheaded and objective writer.

The shows were fantastic. Technically, Reznor managed to take the grandeur of the 2013 tension tour and minimize it so that it fit into an amphitheater, yet still managed to stun with its visuals and scope, especially during moments like the three minute aural assault at the end of “The Great Destroyer”, which featured Reznor, alone on stage, working out all his aggression on a series of buttons and knobs while, behind him, a pocket galaxy exploded on the row of 10-foot LED panels. Those panels, used in almost every song, were the visual theme that tied the whole show together; sometimes, like in “Sanctified”, they merely stood, utilized as flats, other times, they were a source of video, either forming one large screen (as with “Hurt” and “Disappointed”), or broken into several, individual units (as with “Terrible Lie” and “Gave Up”), and, once or twice, their full potential was met, when they were positioned and repositioned multiple times in one song in order to create a sense of depth and movement, such as with “Eraser” and “Closer”.

Musically, the band attacked each and every song with a seemingly bottomless reservoir of energy, sometimes scrambling across the stage to play different instruments during the same song. Stand outs included “Disappointed”, which featured a modified and evolved version of its visuals from the 2013 tour and an excellent and shockingly funky bass performance from Ilan Rubin (normally on drums, or, rather, normally tasked with utterly obliterating the drums), “The Great Destroyer”, and “Gave Up”, which still retains its jagged, explosive heart after its introduction to the band’s live set over two decades ago. As a whole, the setlist was a strong representation of the span of Nine Inch Nails’ career, centering mostly on their first two albums, Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral, and their most recent one, the extremely well-crafted and nuanced Hesitation Marks.

The only element that was lacking was that of The Fragile, arguably one of the band’s best album, which turns fifteen in a little over a month; its absence was palpable.

While one could contend that this was a “greatest hits” show or that the band is venturing dangerously close to becoming a “nostalgia act”, Nine Inch Nails redefines these (usually derogatory) terms, and makes them something to be proud of, something to strive for, an accomplishment rather than a detriment. Nine Inch Nails is still vital and still has the ability to surprise, whether you’re a seasoned veteran or brand new to Reznor’s unique brand of sonic— 

Okay, enough objectivity, back to my meaningless and vitriolic personal opinions. A few months ago, Reznor announced that he was going to be scoring the next David Fincher film, an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. The film is slated for an October 4th release, which means the score has to be completely wrapped up several weeks before that. I attribute my disappointment to the fact that Reznor did something all us normal humans do…he overbooked himself. Sometimes, when you overbook yourself, you’re able to pull it off without anyone noticing, but, other times, it shows, and people notice you’re spreading yourself too thin. 

Trent, we can tell you’re spreading yourself too thin. It’s showing, now, plainly, on this tour. Casual fans aren’t noticing because they are just that, casual fans. But the obsessed fans, like myself and hundreds of others, are noticing, and they are bummed out by the fact that they aren’t utterly gobsmacked as they’re walking out of your shows. This is the downside to being an amazing performer who ups the ante and redefines what a live show has the potential to be every time he tours: eventually, you get distracted and divide your time and your hardcore, foaming-at-the-mouth fans notice and call you on it. But I don’t believe Trent Reznor needs people to call him on it. I honestly believe he knows, and, hopefully, he won’t de this in the future. I don’t think anyone is more disappointed in Reznor than Reznor himself.

Or, too put all this a touch more bluntly: that Gone Girl  score had better blow my brain out of my skull.

If you aren’t an overprivileged, obsessed asshole of a Nine Inch Nails fan like myself, go see Nine Inch Nails on their tour with Soundgarden, you’ll enjoy it immensely.*

A note on the pictures: I am not a good photographer. At all. Not only are my pictures of low quality, they don’t do the majesty of this stage set up justice. So, I’ve attached links to some equally blurry yet demonstrative video clips for the sake of context. It’s hard to appreciate just how amazing a Nine Inch Nails stage show is without seeing it in action. 

Terrible Lie

Find My Way

Disappointed

Closer

The Great Destroyer

Eraser

* And, just to prove I’m not always a whiny, unappreciative tool, here is my glowing review of the last time I saw Nine Inch Nails; on their tension tour, in October 2013.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - July 2014

Nine Inch Nails

As of this moment, the 2014 NIN/Soundgarden tour has started. I know nothing at all about anything on the stage or the setlist* and I'm not going to do anything to change that before I see them tomorrow and Saturday.
So: I'm going to take a moment to make some predictions regarding what I'll be seeing in a matter of hours.

"Head Like A Hole", preceded by "The Hand That Feeds", closing with "Hurt".
"Terrible Lie", "March of the Pigs", "Closer", "Wish", "Burn", "Reptile", "Copy Of A", "Came Back Haunted" and not nearly enough from Year Zero or The Fragile.

Beck

Beck released a brand new song this month!
Seriously though, while I think the whole thing was an interesting experiment, I'd, obviously, much rather have had Beck record and release on a compact disc the entire album.
Hopefully, he'll wrap his (amazing) tour up soon and get back to slowly...painfully...releasing those 12" records until we have enough to constitute an album. About which I shall complain.
I should have a (completely fair and 100% unbiased or bitchy) review of Song Reader up soon.

Just when I thought he was done making them, Beck releases what might be the best music video I've seen in years. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and reflective and I'm crying. It's a perfect summation of his twenty plus years of being Beck.
Beck's "Heart Is A Drum" music video.

As I mentioned last month, I saw Beck perform at SummerStage on July 1st and my review (plus pictures) are up on SoundBlab, a UK-based music site to which I am contributing.
Weird, right?
Here's my fantastic review and here's more fantastic pictures.

Pretty slow month for my other favorite bands. Eels has just wrapped up their world tour thing, They Might Be Giants are selling a new t-shirt but should have a new album(s) announcement very soon and Cake is a band that, occasionally, plays music, though, not in front of people.

Because of this drought, I spent a little time this month with the new Sia album (more or less enjoyable, but sometimes her voice sounds a bit too wheezy, like she has a punctured lung and is leaking air), the new DEAD MOUSE album (mainly I checked it out because Pitchfork blasted it for sounding too much like NIN...which, if done well, is a not a problem for me as I usually don't care for DEAD MOUSE'S usual stuff, and, seriously, if an artist wants to do an album that feels like a nod to one of his favorite artists, who the fuck are Pitchfork to get shitty about it? They actually complained that one or two of the songs ended with "the audible sound of piano pedals and that that was 'lifted' from "Avril 14th" by Aphex Twin...who have worked with Nine inch Nails". Sometimes I think those cunts are just blasting shit to get whiny assholes like me to call them out) and, finally, the new Phish album, Fuego.
Man, is this a great album. So fresh and joyous and Phish-y. These guys know what they're good at and continue to be good at it. The title track, "Winterqueen" (which feels like something by Eels), "The Line" and "Wombat" are all standouts, that last one reminding me strongly of Moxy Fruvous featuring the Beastie Boys with some 70's funk dust on it. The horns and choir singers sprinkled throughout the album go a long way to making something already great even better. I'm envious of the potheads who listen to this while high; it must be amazing.

I had a chance to review the latest from Electric Sewer Age, an amazing, horrifying nightmare journey through infection entitled Bad White Corpuscle, but you'll never hear it or read the review I posted on SoundBlab, so why would I put the link to said review right here?
I wouldn't.
Tool.

Finally, August it nuts to butts with concerts; Nine Inch Nails two days in a row, then St. Vincent in Brooklyn and then Tori Amos at the fucking Beacon**.
I'll tell you more if I decide I like you.





* Except that "Disappointed" has been played, and that's only because Reznor tweeted about it...the vain fuck.

** Goddamn it I hate the fucking Beacon so much.

A review of Electric Sewer Age's "Bad White Corpuscle"

A corpuscle can be defined as an unattached cell, small mass or body. There are six of them here, each containing their own, specific, dark poison.

In one sentence: this is the sound of creeping disease.

We enter this suppurating, fleshy mess with "Grey Corpuscle", a dense and throbbing node which sets the infected tone for the first two thirds of Bad White Corpuscle perfectly. From there, the viscosity of the pus changes for "Corpuscular  Corpuscle", a place that sounds darker and lighter, thicker and thinner, at the same time. The fluid thins about halfway through, before warbling and shaking into "Amber Corpuscle"; here, you are drowning in it, it fills your eyes and nostrils, cloying, smothering. At one point, you succumb to Black Antlers Disease*. In "Rising Corpuscle", the situation degrades from discomfort and disease to danger, and the phage is revealed: it is mechanized and mesmerizing, the electronic sound of infection. It's maddening. From here, we discover a temple of filth, wherein we hear the sound of a cracked and dying heart. Then...the cleansing sounds of ocean, vast and forgiving...unless from its depths is where this plague originated.
The first four tracks serve as one cancer and toxin ridden entity, while the last two stand on their own: the fifth, the title track, carries with it the feel of a bad fairytale, something about the high notes and the chanting. The deep rutting noises are horrifyingly indicative, but when that jouncy beep beat comes in, things get less sinister and more funky. Head nod. It's still sinister, but in a clean, cold, metallic way. Measured. Restrained. Eventually, whatever energy that was powering this track dwindles as mottled voices choke it to death. Finally, we have "Black Corpuscle", the sound of a cycling, black heart along with the respiration of a Thing that should have neither. Jagged, electronic pieces, great texture.
 We also hear the first clear vocals on the album and they are reminiscent of a more dramatic permutation of "Is Suicide A Solution?". In the end, everything clots and scabs over.

Coil fans: you will like this.
Danny Hyde, John Deek and Peter Christopherson are still managing to create some of the most terrifying and fully realized sonic landscapes out there, those last two, Deek and Christopherson, from beyond the grave.

Bad White Corpuscle is a soundtrack for sickness, one to which there is no cure.

* If you aren't familiar with that particular malady, you can read up on the symptoms here.

A review of Beck at SummerStage 2014

Kicking in the door with "Devil's Haircut"

While I was almost 100% certain going in that he would play the hits, including "Loser", "The New Pollution", "Devil's Haircut" and  close with the extended version of "Where It's At"*, I never expected to hear Beck play another track from Midnite Vultures live again, as he seems to have matured away from the trashy, electro sleaze-funk of that incredible record**.
But, I keep forgetting that he is the second funkiest white man alive, and, therefore, can be wily.
When he first spoke, he told the crowd that the band didn't know whether to come out fast or slow, and that they'd decided that the show would be a "W". The 23rd letter of the alphabet has never been so honored.

"One Foot In The Grave"

The slower moments included selections from Sea Change and his latest album, Moring Phase, and, although he played almost half of the latter, I could have done with more, as everything from it sounded tremendous live, even "Country Down", one of my least favorite tracks from the album. The three high points of the "W" were made up of bits and pieces from most of his eleven albums, with a leaning towards Guero, and everything was...Beck. It was Beck.
What else can I really say?
 Nothing.

Beck and Justin Meldal Johnsen engaged in Funky Telepathy

So, let's do standout moments!

"Que Onda Guero" - I find the album version kind of annoying, perhaps, because I used to live in Spanish Harlem which sounds kind of like the song, but without any of the music or Beck and with more shouting and whistling, but his sweat-pouring enthusiasm just completely nullified all the negative associations.

"Paper Tiger" - Although I would have given my kneecaps for a string section (which probably would have sounded like nightmare cats fornicating because of the goddamn humidity), this worked out beautifully, such an amazing translation of one of my favorite tracks from Sea Change.

"The New Pollution"

"Girl" -> "E-Pro" - While I was kind of expecting "E-Pro", I was not expecting "Girl". I still maintain that "Girl" could be one of the all time best summer songs ever. Hearing it live with the soft breeze and watching the last traces of the sun still in the sky was, for me, a defining summer moment. Plus, I don't think I've ever seen "E-Pro" tackled with such ferocity. You were unable to not sing along with the chorus.

"Blue Moon", "Waking Light", "Heart Is A Drum" - These were all exquisite, although, again, without the strings, they felt a bit flat. Also, some of the bridge was cut from"Waking Light" (the part with all the strings), which bummed me out; I could have listened to a 15 minute version of that song.

"Lost Cause"

"Sexx Laws" -> "Debra" - What can I possibly say? Justin Meldal Johnsen (Beck's go to bass master for over twenty years) screaming about laws? The goddamn banjo? And then, a sprawling version of Debra, one of my favorite Beck tracks. At one point, while he was on his knees, trying to relate to us just how lovely of a lady she was and just how crazy he was driven by Jenny, Sean Lennon (from opener The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger) came on stage and draped a cape over Beck's shoulders, to which he remarked: "someone has put a cape on my mantle of loneliness".

"Someone has put a cape on my mantle of loneliness..."

Looking back, I would have loved to hear more of the new album*** and more of Midnite Vultures, and I would have also loved it if the fucking sound system at SummerStage hadn't have sucked quite so many balls, but, what can you do? It's not like people have been playing live music outside for almost a century.
But, none of that is Beck's fault and I don't want any of this sounding sour. Bearing witness to Beck, one of my favorite artists, performing with men who have created some of my favorite Beck albums over the past two decades was a truly unique experience for which I am eternally grateful.
Even if you've seen them before, see them again, they will surprise you.

* Yes yes, "Ooh la la sassoon", whatever you say, Mr. Hansen.

** To my great and unending sadness.

*** Should have gone to his show at the Hammerstein the night before, which included a few more tracks from Morning Phase as well as "Hell Yes" and "Get Real Paid".

A review of Dalhous' "Will To Be Well"

My favorite track on Will To Be Well is "Lovers Of The Highlands". The decay and interference speak of loss and fear and malfunction. Then the blurry waves come in and lend a nightmarish quality. Not a "being chased by a mobster" nightmare, more like, I'm in the same place as a monster and must be very still, or it will chase me. The distorted and melting sounds that join the general sonic chaos do nothing but add menace to the piece. Eventually, a temple song emerges and solos, making everything we've experienced thus far ancient, undying. Endless.
That is the sound of dread, and it's only one of the places Marc Dall has created for you to discover.

Someone might listen to this album without paying enough attention and think it might be good music to have on while you're falling asleep. That would be a mistake. Not sure how the subconscious would react to direct exposure to this. "A Communion With These People" is the sound of a clock with a scythe for a pendulum, slicing time into brittle seconds, "Function Curve" is a anthem of uncertainty, and "Sensitised To This Area" feels both retro and post-robotic-future at the same time. Here, there be serpents. Almost every sound bed is dusty and adds a caul of discomfort, albeit beautifully textured discomfort, a mosaic of a glorious sunset, formed by tinted sheets of dead skin. "Four Daughters By Four Women" provoked the phrase "Silent Hill dance club" to pop into my head. Other standout tracks include "Transcendence", which starts out a bit yoga, but then goes beyond itself and into itself to find its core, one made of pure, dark crystals, a subconscious new age dream, and I mean that in the least snarky way possible, and "DSM-III", which is unlike anything else on here, bursting through the gate with a strong syncopated beat and rife with solid programming and more cold, future sounds.

While a few of the tracks tended to go on, perhaps, a bit longer than necessary, and, every once in a while, I found myself asking if a song was evolving subtly or not at all, Will To Be Well presents an array of fantastic sonic landscapes; everything is a touch damp, subterranean. Shrouded. But with a dark, glowing heart. Could there have been more continuity? Of course, I think the music of Dalhous lends itself perfectly to it, but I can see him trying to create separate caves in this underground system. If you want something dark and sprawling, full of deep explorations of places you might not want to explore, then there's a home for you here.