Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus

With Pavement reformed and touring this year, I thought of posting on my favorite Stephen Malkmus solo release (well working with The Jicks that is). This is the 2001 self-titled debut with The Jicks as his backing band, released on Matador Records in both LP and CD form. Pure indie rock in presentation, the group created enough variety within its songwriting avoiding any boredom that might typically arise from trying to write an album's worth of rock songs. There's also an edge to the music, not readily apparent from initial exposure perhaps, but its there. I mean the music is generally on the lighter, catchy, side of things, both in sound and in lyrical approach. But, most notably in some of the guitar parts and segments, you get that dirty, groovy, feel that keeps the band from falling to far toward the "popy" end of things. I find myself content after re-listening to this album. Each song has enough personality giving it character, they don't blend together, rather stand out individually well. For this type of music, being able to do that, I would say is a songwriting strength .


Stephen Malkmus - "JoJo's Jacket"

Okay, this one gets points in the book of point totals that I keep right off the bat because it opens with a clip featuring the actor Yul Brynner and goes on to reference Brynner, the movie The King and I (1956) and particularly his role in Westworld (1973), which is pretty obscure, considering it was a movie where Brynner played a robotic cowboy in a future amusement park, where he ends up killing the vacationing patrons after his programming goes haywire. So anyways, back to the song. The piano intro exemplifies the band's use of different instruments in limited manner to spice up and compliment each song, which also adds to that ability to personalize the songs. Malkmus' vocals carry the load initially, supported by the guitar and drums. Singing through the chorus accents the guitar rhythm, while the drumming does a fine job of accenting at all the expected spots as well. Malkmus covers some ground vocally throughout the song, and creates plenty of good vibes in doing so. The guitar playing is a hidden little gem in this song, be sure to pay attention to it upon repeated listening. The build-up at the end of the song steers toward a big finish, that presents as the perfect juxtapose to the slower more somber intro of the next song "Church On White".


Stephen Malkmus - "Deado"

Straight into it off the top. Its not long before the soft chorus is being sung, one of the most comforting and pulling moments on the the whole album. The lyrics for the chorus are as follow:

Jen, you took me far into a long line.
Divine divine divine divine
Jen, you took me far into a long line.

Acoustic guitar, keyboard/synth and and vocals compose the bulk of the mainline of the song. Electric guitar and additional quirky sounds and vocal parts are added in as well. The electric guitar and keyboard/synth support the soft chorus and add an almost dark driving through the middle of nowhere feel. The song is short, only two versus, a guitar driven bridge/part, and a final return to the chorus. After a brief silence, an organ sound and acoustic guitar play off the rest of the record.

You can find information about Malkmus and The Jicks at there website stephenmalkmus.com. There's alot of information and updated news about the band at the Matador Records, and you can purchase this album from their online store.

Three Mile Pilot - Chief Assassin To The Sinister

Three Mile Pilot is an indie rock band from San Deigo, California with the principal members being Armistead Burwell Smith IV (aka Zach Smith from Pinback) and Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession), with Tom Zinser on drums. Because of the success of their other bands, Three Mile Pilot has rarely played out much, much less recorded much since 1999, although they have released a couple songs on a 7" this past year and have supposedly finished a new album to be released sometime this year. Chief Assassin To The Sinister was originally released on Cargo/Headhunter Records in 2004, then re-released in Three Mile Pilot's short major label stint on Geffen in 2005 with the inclusion of one more song entitled "Inner Bishop" (which I have not heard yet, but have read is very good). This review is of the 2004 release on Cargo/Headhunter Records.


Three Mile Pilot - "Shang Vs. Hanger"

Three Mile Pilot have been known to incorporate diverse instrumentation in support of the primary instruments of the band (guitar, drums, bass). Here we hear bagpipes along with a beat consisting of bass plucks and soft guitar. Drums start building with vocals and bagpipes...untill Smith's distinct bass play leads into the chorus. It's Smith's bass work and Jenkins' strained vocals that really attracts me to Three Mile Pilot's sound. I also believe the songwriting is fairly strong and though exploratory in regards to sounds, does not stray from good builds, chorus, and overall composition. "Shang Vs. Hanger" breaks down into two almost symmetrical halves, with a lull in the middle, not uncommon within other songs they have written. This is as good of a song Three Mile Pilot has ever written. Here's a video of a live performance of this song at Touch & Go Records 25th Anniversary Festival.


Three Mile Pilot - "97-Mt"

Here we hear Smith on bass again, building up with the vocals right into one of the faster and more energetic songs on the album. Smith's constant slapping/playing heads straight into the eire soaring guitar solo by Jenkins, and distant vocal calls are heard out over a steady drum quarter-beats. There is calm before a returning to the soaring guitar and bass building again, back into cohesive playing, together like a gathering storm, before relenting into spoken word over bass and drums.

  
Chief Assassin Of The Sinister, being the band's second release and containing numerous good songs, remains my favorite of their albums. There's something very distinct and belonging to Three Mile Pilot that although I can listen to, enjoy and understand how one would choose either of the the band member's other bands (Pinback, The Black Heart Procession) as better bands or by personal taste, simply like either band more, I find myself returning to this band over and over again. The styles of all three of these bands are quite different, each with their own enthralling characteristics. I think there's an urgency within their sound that doesn't particularly show through regularly in either of the other bands. I'll point "Shang Vs. Hanger" as an example of this, both in the vocals and in the instrumental sound. Also, I just simply enjoy the sound Smith creates on bass.

Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge

I'm jumping into reviewing this album a bit prematurely as I just heard of Kaki King recently, from my father actually, who had seen her play at the House of Blues (eh) in Cleveland this past year. Did some reading up on her and saw that this album is a moderate departure for her in that she branched out toward more electric guitar, less solo based songs, and perhaps a indie/pop leaning. The Atlanta born singer/guitarist has been releasing material since at least 2003, and has appeared with the Foo Fighters and Tegan and Sarah in the past. Dreaming of Revenge was released in 2008 on Velour. She has put out a five song EP entitled Mexican Teenagers since then and has a full length due to be ready in April of this year called Junior. Her guitar picking immediately stands out in the first song on the album, "Bone Chaos In The Castle", along with her use of the guitar as percussion through occasional slap beats. Her play on on the frets is also intriguing as it includes similar tapping and slapping at times. Here's a video for "Playing with Pink Noise" , from the album Legs To Make Us Longer (2004) that demonstrates her musicianship on the guitar fairly well. On Dreaming of Revenge she uses both acoustic and electric guitar. There are a good number of instrumentals tucked within, but a fair balance of songs with vocals too.


Kaki King - "Pull Me Out Alive"

Probably the most indie/pop song on the album, also features less intricate guitar playing, but with a close listen there's still some interesting guitar picking going on there, and the song is simply well written for what it's going for. The intro seems a little forced, but once the snare drum starts up and the vocals are blended I think it starts working. The chorus features King's soft voice stretched out over the rest of the music. A return to the vocals and drum beat before the second and more powerful chorus, then turning to guitar leading rhythm that switches from one part to the next. You can check out the music video for the song here.


Kaki King - "Air and Kilometers"

I'd be amiss if I didn't include a song that showcases some of her wonderful guitar playing. "Air and Kilometers" showcases the range her abilities extend like stars stretched out across an evening sky. Starting off with some picking and chords that jump out and back, only moderately played, then following a short trail off, returns with more intensity and layers are built with stringed instruments and numerous guitar tracks. The second half of the song includes some echoed/reverb chords surrounding soft steady guitar picks. There many facets to this song that I find myself enjoying upon multiple listens, all the way up to the single guitar play at the end of the song.

 

There are some emotionally evocative instrumental songs towards the end of the album such as "Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person?", and its a compliment to Kaki King for being able to elicit these types of emotional responses without the use of vocals in this particular song. There's a few moments of "sing-song" in the final track 2 O'Clock that is more endearing than I would have expected, it also helps that it is followed by some more fine guitar playing, this time at a faster pace.

Devo - Hardcore Devo Vol.2

Following my previous post on Devo's Hardcore Devo Vol.1, a collection of Devo demos released in compilation form, this is the second volume. It contains more songs than the first and runs longer overall. Vol. 2 came out in 1991 and is currently out of print. In my review of the first volume I noted that Devo fans of their first few albums wouldn't have trouble digesting the demos because although stripped down and weirder sounding, they were still quintessentially Devo at the roots. The second volume takes the band's early musical experimentation much further. Unlike the first volume, I don't think any of the demos on this album ever develop and reappear on later albums. Amongst the experimental exploits found within, are some truly straight up Devo rock songs, with relatively normal song structures and writing. "A Plan For U" is a good example of this.


Devo - "A Plan For U"

The guitar flies around a bit looser than you'd typically expect from a Devo song, and you can hear the rock influence while the bass and percussion keep one tempo and beat through the entirety of the song. Vocals singing short lyrical lines, nothing earth-shattering. This is an example of how well the band can yam up the rock sound when they feel like it despite their penchant for pushing and experimenting with sounds.

There's songs like "Fountain of Filth" that with a few touch ups, would fit right in on their third album the 1980 released Freedom of Choice, and considering that most of these songs were written around '74-76, its easy to see why the stuff on these albums is so good, its all right around the band's peak years. "U Got Me Bugged" appeared on old video (dvd?) I saw awhile back, its got to be one of the weirdest, yet awesome songs within.


Devo - "Be Stiff"

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better/harder beat in any Devo song. Another lyrically sexualized song with a steady rhythm and percussive beat. Vocals and synth accent the bass kick drum beat. Guitar is mixed way in the back unfortunately, but isn't really the lead instrument on the song anyways.

There's even a cover of Lee Dorsey's "Working in a Coalmine". The instrumental songs within range from atmospheric synth creations to warped up robotic voices with little melody. These types of songs tend to be fewer in number with the majority of songs feeling like true song in the traditional sense, just stripped down. The last song "Let's Go" is a goofy triumphant cheer that in its mocking of anthems closes this collection of oddities nicely. As I mentioned previously, this and the first volume of Hardcore Devo are out of print. At the time of writing this I was able to find a few copies here at Amazon and this site claims to have both albums for download (free?).

Devo - Hardcore Devo Vol. 1

Hardcore Devo Vol.1 and Hardcore Devo Vol.2, are a collection of the early demo's and basically about everything the group had developed prior to their first official release, the Brian Eno produced Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978). Obviously a fairly well known band, Devo's first few albums being primarily considered their best works. These two volumes of their earlier work should be well received by most of these fans. Though "weirder" and even more stripped down than their first couple full length albums, but lets face it, it's Devo. Weird and stripped down isn't going to chase away most that find Q:Are We Not Men?... and Duty Now for the Future a good listen. Vol. 1 contains some early versions of songs that turned up on the aforementioned albums. Songs such as "Jocko Homo", "Soo Bawls", and "Mongoloid" to name a few. The lineup at this time saw the Akron, OH band-members at their most numerous, with Mothersbaughs all over the place to say the least.


Devo - "Mechanical Man"

First song on the album, starts off with a minute of zooming sounds fading in and then out, not unlike one of those police cruisers doing a fly by from the movie Blade Runner. Robotic "mechanical man" voicing over simple guitar and keyboard/synths, but very catchy. Use of hard stereo panning, guitar to the left and keyboard/synth to the right.


Devo - "Auto Modown/Space Girl Blues"

"Auto Modown" begins with solid guitar, high-hat and bass drum, bass guitar rolls in and is given the freedom in the song to play around a bit, including some nice playing off each other between it and the guitar. Also throwing out some love to good ole' Youngstown, OH. "Space Girl Blues" kicks in about halfway through, and Mothersbaugh's distinct voice waxes on about those hard to get and rejecting space girls. Always slightly sexual, the Devo lyrics in these early works certainly reflect the same.

These early songs have really grown on me to the point that they're my first choice when going to listen to some Devo at this point. I found a few copies still available at Amazon.com. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as anyone's first exposure to Devo, but these 4-track recorded demos are nice little diamonds in the rough for Devo fans.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum

Fitting cover art for what can be described as trippy folk electonrica. Dandelion Gum was released in 2007, Black Moth Super Rainbow's third full album at the time with a couple of EPs as well. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania band combine drums, bass/guitar, analog electric instruments, vocoder vocals to create their niche sound. Their music is full of beautiful melodies, both soft and exploratory. The songs are relatively short in length, usually under three minutes, but number 17 total on the album. I've seen them perform once here in Cleveland last year, and their live show is pretty good, due in part to the use of video and creation of a fitting aural atmosphere through the lighting. In fact, Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric, did this funny little intro video before the band came on (well following the Juggalo intro that is), so apparently he's a fan. As an album Dandelion Gum packs plenty of good songs within, though maybe a few too many songs in total. The run length is about 46 minutes, so nothing above what an average recording length tends to be.


Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Melt Me"

This is the song that introduced me to Black Moth Super Rainbow, as I first heard it on last.fm, and had it really catch my attention. The bass and percussion set a perfect groove, with vocoder riding above it. Eerie electronic screeches lead into synth/keyboards that build on the main rhythm of the bass and drums. The band's song structures remain fairly simple throughout the album, as this song attests. Each song is typically built of a few parts, some repetition, and thats about it. This helps keep song length manageable, and avoids becoming too bored or lost in what is already a distinct sound.


Black Moth Super Rainbow - "They Live in the Meadow"

More of a drum 'n bass feel at first, with some manipulation reversing the percussion track. Simple vocals are repeated. The keyboard/synth produce a running melody that carriers the song. Added synth/electronics appear in replace of a chorus (a trend in their songwriting) and provides a nice break between the vocal passages.

The band appears to be really catching on in the past few years, playing SXSW, and touring with The Flaming Lips a couple years ago. The songs on this album are very much within the realm of these two songs presented here, so you get an idea of what to expect, but to be sure, there is enough good riff writing to keep things interesting and as I said above there are more than a few solid gems within the bunch. You can find this album and their other releases here at their website store.