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.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - June 2014

Nine Inch Nails
It occurs to me that, if Reznor doesn't want NIN live to be seen as a nostalgia act, something he's said numerous times in recent interviews, then maybe going on tour with another band that was really huge in the 90's and who is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of their biggest albums might not be the best way to avoid that.
Unless, of course, he doesn't play anything from The Downward Spiral.
Picture it: a Nine Inch Nails show without "March of the Pigs", "Closer"* or "Hurt".
Aside from the shows they did before the album came out, has that ever happened?
I'll just answer that right now: no, no it has not.
Just like hardly a show has passed since With Teeth was released that didn't feature "The Hand That Feeds" right before "Head Like A Hole".
If Reznor wants to completely avoid his upcoming live shows been viewed as such, he would have to reinvent what Nine Inch Nails live is. He did a pretty amazing job with Tension; even if the tools he used to craft the experience were a bit well worn, it worked. Switching the duties and number of people sharing the stage with you while you play "Terrible Lie" isn't reinvention though.
I guess we'll see in a few weeks how Trent Reznor is redefining "reinvention" this summer.
Frankly, I wish the tour were already over so he can focus on the stuff for Gone Girl.

Also, "someone" from the NIN camp confirmed that the Tension Blu-ray is still happening, but that they're making it bigger and better etc. by putting footage from other legs of their recent tours on it.
I'm cool with that...after they've re-released The Fragile.**

Eels
The new video for "Lockdown Hurricane" appeared online and, in my mind, has a whole lot in common with their video for "Spectacular Girl", specifically just how much the song and video have nothing to do with one another and that both star a superhot girl. 
And guns.
Enjoy?

They Might Be Giants
A pleasant surprise from TMBG this month. Just yesterday, they released their entire first album played live. Consider me mollified regarding the release (and inherent concept) of Idlewild.
Here's the link. It's totally free and won't result in any spam.
Something fun, if you're interested: listen to the first album, and then see how much (or how little) it's evolved in their minds over the past 28 years.
Crazy stuff.

Beck
Seeing this fellow tomorrow night amidst a crowd of hundreds of sweaty mooks.
Predictions: several guitars, a tiny bit of breakdancing, nothing at all from Midnite Vultures, and for him to close with the seven minute version of "Where It's At", which will include him cajoling the audience into yelling "Oh la la Sassoon!"
How can someone so funky be so predictable?


And, in an oddly Coil-related turn, this month I spent some time with the new Electric sewer age release, Bad white corpuscle, and should have a review of that up soon, as well as Peter Christopherson's Time Machines II, which wins the award from most baffling and awesome packaging of an album that I have ever received.
Review (and, probably, pictures) coming soon.

Now scoot.





* Yes, yes, I know he cut it from the setlist for NIN/JA and Wave Goodbye.

** YOU HAVE SIX FUCKING MONTHS TO GET THIS OUT IN TIME FOR THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GODDAMN ALBUM. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER FUCKING FIVE YEARS.

A review of "Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes" on the PS4

First things first: yes, it's incredibly short, but I'm one to take my time, so I'm all right with that.

There's nothing bad about it, it's a perfect evolution of the series and if The Phantom Pain is going to function like a next gen Peace Walker (with a huge amount of small, modular missions), then I'm more than happy, as long as there aren't any of those goddamn filler missions, like taking down the chopper, okay, now take down the GREEN chopper, okay, now, take down the GREEN chopper with brown spots).
I don't think I've spent more time on anything more frustrating in recent memory.

However, I loved hunting for the different POWs and building and expanding Mother Base.

I still think Snake Eater is probably the best game in the series and Peace Walker goes right up there with it, it's basically Snake Eater 2. So, another continuation is fine with me...if this is the last. Things are getting a bit crowded. I mean, I know that Big Boss is supposed to be a legendary mercenary and that we need to establish this legend...but they're running out of years in which to do it.

Back to GZ; the issue for me isn't the length of Ground Zeroes, but, rather, the length of time between it and Phantom Pain. Kojima has promised the game will be out "before the end of 2015".
Yes, there were tears.

As of right now, I've played the main mission four times, once taking my time and clocking in at around 100 minutes, the second, going for all the XOF patches and cassette tapes, the third, a speedthrough, clocking in at just under half an hour (and scoring an "S" rank!) and the fourth time just to rescue the escaped POW in order to get Chico's 4th tape.
I also did the two bonus missions "Deja Vu" and "Jamais Vu" a few times because they were so goddamn fun. Anyone complaining about there not being enough stuff here hasn't been trying hard enough. The Foxdie freak out in the prison cell? The MGS quiz? The weird, little logo erasing challenge? It's a compact and delicious slice of pure MGS.

The other four missions start to feel a bit redundant, try as they might to mix things up. I mean, they're not awful, I love that Kojima's put himself in the game again, but, yeah, it does feel stretched thin.
By the time I out it down, I had "S" ranked all the normal missions and completed all the hard ones. I am only missing one trophy, which I'm not going to bother with. After finishing GZ, I picked up Peace Walker again. When I put that down, I had cleared all the missions with B's and A's not to mention a handful of S's, so I have the stealth camo and bandana...which means I am now God.
Let's see how long that fucking Chrysalis lasts against Invisible Snake with infinite rockets.
You fuck.

A review of "Watch Dogs" for the PS4

Finished Watch Dogs for the PS4.

Here's some thoughts.

The game designers must have been overjoyed when the whole NSA thing happened while they were making this game.

As a voice actor, I allowed to say this: dude doing Aiden Pierce is fucking horrible. I want him to just clear his throat and take a little sip of water EVERY TIME HE OPENS HIS DULL, FUCKING MOUTH. 

I am impressed with how he managed to sound both nasally and gravely at the same time. Must have been harder than Tuvan throat singing.

Facial animation and hair looks like top-of-the-line PS2 graphics.

Then there's Lisbeth Salander. Who is in the game. Because Ubisoft thought no one would notice?

Also, B-Real (from Cypress Hill) is in the game. With dreadlocks.

Driving: what is worse, drinving on a road made of ice in a car made o glassor vice versa? Whichever is worse is what it's like to drive in this game. In an open world game where you need to drive, make the driving good.

Regarding the soundtrack: why haven't we seen a GTA or Saints Row or Watchdogs where the player can use music from their hard drive as a custom radio station?

It's 2014.

I remember some games on fucking PSOne where you could take the game disc out and have your own CD playing instead of the game's soundtrack. How has this technology devolved?

The moment when "C.R.E.A.M." by Wu Tang starts playing though...I don't think I ever realized how much old school Wu mitigates things.

After getting past how it looks and diving head first into the side stuff, I had fun.

This game could have originally been the future Assassins' Creed we're never going to get. 

Like so much. 

The ctOS towers are the viewpoints, the maps are both just as choked with stuff, the pointless and interchangeable clothes, the different types of weapons, the number of times I tried to take someone down silently and ended up standing on the box I was hiding behind because THE FUCKING BUTTON FOR TAKING SOMEONE DOWN SILENTLY AND CLIMBING UP ON A BOX IS THE SAME FUCKING BUTTON.

I really liked the Gang Hideouts.  Since I'm bad at games, I enjoy being able to pure stealth. The camera puzzles are also a great touch

Jordi is fun. Should have been more Jordi.

Lucky Quinn's teeth are their own character.

The digital trips. You can feel the time and love put into them. If Ubisoft were more bastardy than they already are, I could see them releasing these as some separate thing.

While I don't know/love/enjoy at all a lot of the music, I love the way you obtain it, love it.

At one point, hours in, there was still a lot of stuff to do. Was it all fun or worth it? Meh. 

There's more I could say, but the overall feeling is as follows: some of the interactions and mechanics, the stealth and camera systems were great, a lot of fun, but most everything else was not.

And, while the credits did an admirable* job of planting at least a dozen seeds for the inevitable flood of yearly sequels, I want nothing to do with any of them.

I can't think of a more forgettable game.

Wu Tang can only ameliorate so much.

* Read "desperate".

A review of Damon Albarn at Irving Plaza on June 8th, 2014 -OR- Damon Albarn Threw So Much Water At Me

Damon Albarn & The Heavy Seas

There’s something about being in the presence of Damon Albarn that’s even more exciting than being in the presence of Trent Reznor or Thom Yorke. I consider all three in a class of their own as far as musicality and innovation, but Albarn is taking more risks and just seems to be having more fun. And that’s what it should be about, in the end.

Damon Albarn + a melodica = Gorillaz

On the evening of June 8th, I saw Damon Albarn and the Heavy Seas perform so much more than just tracks from his melodic, melancholic debut solo album, Everyday Robots. I mean, technically, Blur, Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, and Rocket Juice & The Moon are all Damon Albarn, so, technically, they all fall under the purview of Damon Albarn. I guess what I’m saying is that no lawsuits were handed out? 

No, I’m saying that this was so much more fun than I was expecting. The same appeared to be true for Albarn, who had a smile on his face the whole night and, between tossing what seemed like several gallons of bottled water at the crowd (mostly at me), said how happy and grateful he was to be playing for us. He also reminisced about climbing on the lighting grid the last time he played Irving Plaza, with Blur, back in the early 90’s.

Albarn & Vic Mensa doing "Clint Eastwood"

Stand out moments for me included all the Gorillaz stuff (I’ve never caught them live), but specifically, “El Mañana” and “Kids With Guns”, the latter just exploded off the stage, “You & Me”, “The History Of A Cheating Heart”, one of my favorite tracks from Everyday Robots, which Albarn played lovingly on his guitar while sitting on a piano, and “Mr. Tembo”, during which a choir joined the band on stage, as I had been hoping. Even though over half the set consisted of tracks not from Everyday Robots, this was still, undoubtedly, a Damon Albarn show, replete with the quirk, dedication and energy he brings to all his myriad musical endeavors.

If you have a chance to see him, I would highly recommend it.

Damon Albarn, locking eyes with me and deciding exactly how much water to throw at me. 

Videos, album ordering options (the deluxe version has some cool stuff on it, including a track-by-track breakdown of the album and four songs performed with a string quartet) and everything else can be found on Albarn’s official site.

A review of "Witching and Bitching" ("Las brujas de Zugarramurdi")

Thanks to the largesse of one Philip Maniaci, I have just returned home from a screening of Álex de la Iglesia's Witching and Bitching*.

After a riveting and beautifully edited opening credit sequence, the film starts out as a slick and snappy heist romp, featuring a wonderfully choreographed and executed robbery which involves a disturbingly gratifying moment when Spongebob Squarepants gets utterly annihilated by automatic weapons fire, ** and then takes a pretty sharp left, transitioning into a genuinely freaky horror flick with a fantastic and epic third act, in which the chaos is palpable and truly unsettling. Did I forget the men vs. women metaphor that underscores the whole film? Because there’s that as well.

The casting is perfect: the Mother, Maiden, Crone trio of Carmen Maura, Carolina Bang and Terele Pávez (especially those last two), each terrifying and compelling in their own specific fashion, the cordial, well-spoken monster played by Javier Botet and the corrupted, chilling innocence of Enrique Villén’s El Inadaptado Socia. ***

Overall, Witching and Bitching feels like a funnier, smarter and more subtle From Dusk ’Til Dawn. It exudes a stylish feel as thick as blood or the fog in the forests of Zugarramurdi. If you’re a fan of the skillful combination of horror and humor (Shaun of the Dead, Drag Me to Hell, Zombieland, Army Of Darkness) then you should probably check this out. 

Witching and Bitching is coming to theaters June 13th as well as VOD and other digital outlets.

* Las brujas de Zugarramurdi in the original Spanish.

** Living in New York City and having seen such abominations cluttering up Times Square...well, you understand.

*** Literally, “the social misfit”.

A review of "Rigor Mortis"

Take elements of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, Jacob's Ladder, the Hellblazer comics, Silent Hill and put them into a blender with a healthy dollop of pure, original Takashi Shimizu and your resulting beverage will be Rigor Mortis.

Also blood. Lots and lots of blood.

The residents we meet in the gray and eldrich apartment complex which serves as the backdrop for the film include a jolly yet nosy superintendent, a sweet old tailor and her cantankerous husband, the newest tenant, a washed up actor…and a necromancer, albino anime boy whose mother suffers from PTSD and a former vampire hunter turned cook.* You in yet?

Before things get overly dark, there’s a wonderfully refreshing edge of quirky, black humor that sets this apart from your typical American horror film where everyone is taking everything so seriously that the audience has no choice but to giggle. But, as I said, things do get pretty dark.

Every shot is arresting, an absolute portrait and there’s a moment or two of fantastic, horrific, nightmare imagery. Throw in a score and sound design that settles on the viewer like damp cobwebs and you have an atmosphere so thick you couldn’t cut it with an axe.

It’s not a perfect horror film though. They’ve trotted out the old “children’s scary drawings as plot devices” trope, one character who starts out sympathetic just ends up seeming evil, and, at times, I felt as if I were missing something, whether it was bad editing or just lost in translation, I couldn’t say, but only once or twice did I find myself actually taken out of the movie because of it. Perhaps if they had done a better job explaining the rules of this world/apartment complex.

Then again, the two lines: "Oh? So you know that vampires are afraid of glutenous rice?” and "The cigarettes I smoke are made from ashes of the unborn” probably should have tipped me off that this is a culture I will never fully understand. One thing is for sure: I have never seen a horror movie with as much martial arts in it. There’s some pretty spectacular supernatural combat in this, specifically towards the end.

If you’ve enjoyed the Ju-On films (yes, this film features creepy, stop-motion nightmare chicks, smoking and climbing on walls) and Shimizu’s other works, you’re going to enjoy this.

And now, I’d like someone to open a Kickstarter to raise money to hire Juno Mak and Shimizu to direct the next Silent Hill film. It makes too much sense, you guys.

There’s actually a part, towards the end of the film, where you can hear the air raid siren….

Anyway.

Rigor Mortis will be in select theaters and available for digital download on June 6th.

For more info, head to the Rigor Mortis official page for theaters, trailer and other stuff.

* The explanation for which is just delightful.

A review of Hamilton Leithauser's "Black Hours"

“Listen…the summer’s coming…”, a hopeful, forward facing lyric, juxtaposed by a slow and sorrowful piano and string section; nothing new here from the lead singer of the Walkmen…but then, the beat comes in, and things start to feel a bit like a cabaret.

This is the first surprise of many on Black Hours, a title that certainly doesn’t refer to the sound of this album.

Maybe half of Black Hours could be mistaken for Walkmen tracks, but the other half? Wow. Who’d have thought the words “jaunty marimba” would ever be used in association with Hamilton Leithauser? There’s the hand claps and honest-to-goodness harmonica of “Alexandra”, a track that’s almost too bright, the jaunty marimba of “The Silent Orchestra”, the ramblin’ Old West feel of “I Retired”, which actually features a “sittin’ ‘round the campfire” singalong portion towards the end, and “I Don’t Need Anyone”, which goes more along the lines of “I don’t need anyone…because I can accomplish anything on my own!” as opposed to “I don’t need anyone…because people will always let you down and, in the end, abandon you. I will die alone.” For the purists, though, there are tracks like “St. Mary’s County”, “5 AM” and “Self Pity”, which opens with a hollow, whistling sound, and then becomes the closet thing to a Walkmen song on here.  

Black Hours feels like Leithauser turning that smoldering, brooding energy for which the Walkmen are so well known outward; it’s just as intense and beautiful, but brighter: sunlight instead of moonlight. Fans of Walkmen will either love this because of how far from Walkmen Hamilton goes, or they’ll hate it for the same reason. Hopefully the former, because this is a really solid record. It’ll be interesting to see if the light on Black Hours makes an appearance on the next Walkmen album (if there is one), but, even if it doesn’t, there’s more than enough here to go around.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - May 2014

Nine Inch Nails

NIN began the European leg of their tour, added some new old tracks ("Closer" and one or two others) and a new intro combining "The Downward Spiral" and "The New Flesh". Plus, a new stage set up that resembles a portable Tension. The bits and pieces I've seen look very interesting and I hope they carry this over to the U.S., perhaps with some better song choices.
And, speaking of the US, it was announced that Soundgarden will precede NIN on their tour.
Which is good because it means I can skip them, but bad because of the clusterfuck exodus.
One thing is for sure: I will never see Death Grips perform live.
And I'm kind of okay with that, as everything I've heard from them sounds like either people or machines trying to poop.

Beck

Gearing up to start his "ALL OF THE GUITARS/NONE OF THE STRINGS"
world tour later this month.
In a month, I'll let you know how his Central Park set was.

They Might Be Giants

Well. They released Idlewild and mentioned, again, that they're working on those two new albums, so...more soon, I hope.

Cake
So, remember that thing about Cake releasing all their albums on vinyl, including their unreleased live album?
I put in my order for said live album and a t-shirt that was bundled with it. I never received an order confirmation so I sent the people distributing it a message informing them.
They sent back "ordr cnfrmd! thx!".
I took that to mean that everything was cool, so I sat back and waited for my record.
A few days later, a package arrived, but, it wasn't what I'd ordered, the single live album on vinyl...it was the whole set of all their albums on vinyl, including the live album and t-shirt. I checked my bank account to see if I had been charged for this thing that I hadn't planned on buying but, no, they'd only charged me for the single record.
Guys...if you want me to start writing about you again, while this is a really solid start, the best way to go about it is to write and release some new music.
I really, really appreciate the thought though.

Eels
Saw Eels just last night at the Apollo Theater *.
After a most intriguing and incongruous performance from the dark, electronic, and sullen Chelsea Wolfe, who performed songs (read "dirges") from her latest release, Pain Is Beauty **, Eels took the stage. While this was, again, not my favorite Eels show, the audience was treated to yet another original instrumental line up, featuring a xylophone, melodica, cello and upright bass and trumpet along with some guitar, drums and E on piano. The end result was like listening to a version of Daisies of the Galaxy from some alternate reality. A very beautiful, mellow show, which included E poking fun at himself for the darker tone of the songs he was playing at the start.
Highlights included excellent new interpretations of "Fresh Feeling","My Beloved Monster" and "I Like Birds", as well as It's A Motherfucker", "Last Stop: This Town" (I'd love to hear the original arrangement live some day), and "A Daisy Through Concrete".
And E going into the crowd and hugging individual people for a good minute or two.
This show also had one of my favorite openings I've seen thus far: E, standing in a lone spotlight, singing Leigh Harline's "When You Wish Upon A Star".
Absolutely. Heartbreaking.

After the show, I hit upon something explaining why I'm more excited about Eels' live shows than any of my other favorite bands: with Eels, nothing is impossible. With other bands there are certain songs they have to play and certain songs they will never play. Nine Inch Nails will never play "The Perfect Drug" live. They Might Be Giants will never play "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" live. *** Aside from "I Like Birds" and "My Beloved Monster" (each one different every time I've seen them), I don't think I've ever heard a single song played at every show, and never twice in a row. It's because Eels doesn't have a "Head Like A Hole" or a "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", or, rather, they do. It's "Novocaine For The Soul", but E made it very clear to folks that he's not planning on being restricted by what the audience wants to hear. If he plays "Novocaine", it's going to be on his terms, or not at all. The first and only time he's played anything closely resembling the original 1996 version was just last year. And guess what...hearing it live was fucking incredible. Because the song is amazing and because fans have been waiting for almost twenty years to hear it in such a fashion.
Who knew that patience really does pay off?


And that's about it.
I'm seeing Damon Albarn this Sunday at Irving Plaza, so that should be pretty amazing.
More on that after the fact.

* Am I required, by law, to say "world famous" after "the" and before "Apollo"? Because everyone who works there apparently is.

** Yes, my tongue was firmly in my cheek while typing that album title.

*** Except for the one time they played it in 1995.