They Might Be Giants
Dial-A-Song Round Up! pt. 6
A delightfully wobbly, fuzzy synth-driven Flans track about...things. Patti Hearst, Skeletor, Charles Manson and Ronald Reagan all make an appearance on "Sold My Mind To The Kremlin". What a perfect They Might Be Giants song that should never be on an album, ever. Something about the bass reminds me of Discovery's cover of "I Want You Back".
"Hello Mrs. Wheelyke" is yet another excellent kids track from the band's upcoming kids album. Although a lot less...fraught than "Thinking Machine", it's still a fun little exercise in storytelling and funny voices. Plus, it's accompanied by a delightfully simple video starring the Johns making silly faces.
YES. Over twenty years later, "Summer Breeze" (an original Dial-A-Song sketch) is finally fleshed out and fully realized! THIS is what I had been expecting from the resurrected DAS service; the Johns digging back into their weird closet and finishing jobs they started decades ago. When questioned about more stuff like this happening, Flans responded in the "maybe", so I can now start holding my breath for "No Answer", "Tumbleweed", "Cupid", and "Mrs. Cinderella"; or something really weird like "Bread Hair" or "King of Wingo". The only fear is that of disappointment!
After its debut on their recent U.S. tour, "Bills, Bills, Bills", performed live for the Onion's A.V. Club, gets its official release. While a proper studio version would have certainly been more polished and nuanced, Flansburgh's scathing intensity comes through nicely on this version. Also, Miller's guitar sounds faintly reminiscent of "Hotel California".
And, with the release of "And Mom And Kid" (in celebration of the Supreme Court's momentous decision a few days ago), we are halfway through They Might Be Giants' ridiculous musical experiment. So far, so good. I'm already dreading the inevitable drought coming in 2016.
Finally, wrapping up TMBG stuff, a review from their kids show on Sunday the 28th will be up soon.
Spoilers: there was a lot of confetti.
Beck
I sometimes hate myself as a person. The negativity flowing through my veins in place of blood causes me to take such great events, like the release of a brand new Beck track from a brand new follow up to Morning Phase only a year and a half after its release, and spoil it. My first god damn thought after listening to "Dreams" for the first time was: "well, this probably won't be out before 2016".
Asshole.
But.
Here's the upside to my downside: if you expect the worst, and I don't just mean, "looks like rain", I mean The Worst...as long as things don't turn out that way, you'll end up being pleasantly surprised. This. This is why most of my life has me stumbling through the streets either looking like the Apocalypse is about to hit and it's going to start in my colon, or smiling like a fashion model drowning in pussy laced with money and candy.
Hope for the best, expect the worst.
"Dreams" is real good and can be heard here.
(I) Expect the album (to be) out in Summer of 2016.
Nine Inch Nails
Much like he did with Beats Music, Trent Reznor is luring fans into his new Apple streaming music thing by posting instrumentals versions of With Teeth and The Fragile, the latter including alternate mixes and three unreleased tracks, two of which will sound familiar to fans of his work with Saul Williams on Niggy Tardust and the Fragile b-side "10 Miles High". Notable standout moments include "Somewhat Damaged", which now has some distortion and a very Silent Hill radio squall in the back, "Pilgrimage", which sounds less organic and more metallic (and, because of that, more interesting), "The Mark Has Been Made", which traded dynamism and volume for something far more sinister, and, most notably, there is a sleazy, little drum machine underscoring "Ripe (With Decay)". It's fantastic to hear all the intricacies of this album laid bare; the guitars in "We're In This Together" are so clear and crunchy, it's like listening to broken glass.
I'd say this would stoke the long dead embers of hope in my heart for that Fragile re-release Reznor's been teasing us with for a decade or so, but that would be a lie: I am an empty vessel, filled only with the hate and despair Reznor has put inside of me.
In other news, my Nine Inch Nails cover album, i am an empty vessel (filled only with the hate and despair Reznor has put inside of me) is set for release two weeks after that of the Fragile deluxe edition.
Ha!
IN OTHER NEWS!
I stumbled across Adam Green's Jacket Full Of Danger this month and, man, is that a solid faux-country record. I feel like the whole thing was recorded in that fashion as a joke and it resulted in a method of singing that suits Green more so than his off-key, stoner wheedling we'd been getting since his days* with the Moldy Peaches.
Spent a little time with the new Troyka album, Ornithophobia. It's weird and tallowy and jazz-like in a dreamy/nightmarish sort of way. At times, I found myself reminded of moments from Phish's Rift, specifically on the opener, "Arcades".
Lastly, in honor of They Might Be Giants performing their only kids shows this year in June, I sat down with Danny Weinkauf's kids album, No School Today. "Our Love Fits" (featuring Laurie Berkner) is less a kids song and more a song so totes adorbs that it stings, "The Ballad of Ben" is a great way to get kids (or anyone, for that matter) into Ben Folds, the title track feels a bit like Weezer, and "Whipped Cream" feels a bit like that creepy Olsen twins song about pizza. While No School Today doesn't feel as unique as TMBG's kids music, it shares their vibe of not talking down or simplifying things, which is the key both to raising smart kids and not annoying the piss out of the adults who happen to listen to this stuff as well.
* Go here for that.
** OR SHOULD I SAY..."DAZE"????????***
*** No, I shouldn't. And shall not.
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