Month: June 2006

psychos, love, murder and loss

murder ballads

I’m sure it’s safe to say that’s it’s probably been 9 years since I last listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Murder Ballads, and man, I had forgotten just how morbid that thing is.

And graphic too. Each song on the album tells a distinct story, exploring the very dark aspects of violent death, from both the perpetrator’s perspective and that of the the victim.

In no way is this album easy listening and making it through all 59 minutes requires a fair amount of fortitude. In fact, it’s only made palatable by some smooth songwriting, such as the jazzy, downtempo groove on O’Malley’s Bar that lulls you into complacent head-bobbing while listening to descriptions of the most atrocious acts.

lawrence of arabia

great film. great soundtrack (particularly the overture).

a freakin bear

reason number 32 why bears are the number 1 menace to the nation: i was late to work because of one. you see, this particular bear decided that this morning was a good time to go on a shopping spree. as a result, traffic on my interstate route backed up about 12 miles. well, it’s always backed up, but this morning was far more dense, thanks to the closing of a lane and exit so that bear apprehension tactics could be performed.

on the plus side, i got to listen to alice in chains acoustic ep, jar of flies. i was into the chains pretty heavy in high school, enjoying their grunge-soaked, pop-friendly version of metal music. over the years though, i had grown tired of the group’s abrasiveness and by the end of the 90s, i had cleared out most albums, except for that 1993 out-of-character ep.

jar of flies is a fantastic collection of somber, meditative music that avoids indulging itself in balladry. the 30 minute record is only seven songs long (yet two singles were released, which makes it more of a mini-album), and i think it shows that, under the hardened metal exterior, alice in chains could actually put together some very good songs.

Foo Fighters descent into wuss rock?

I’m currently listening to Foo Fighters 2005 double-album, In Your Honor, and for some reason, it feels like a chore. Foo Fighters has been a perennial-favorite band around these parts, but, starting with There’s Nothing Left to Lose, each album gets increasingly more disappointing. and that’s ironic, because the band’s popularity and mainstream success seems to be inversely proportional to its slide toward mediocrity.

I don’t know if Dave and company are simply having a shortage of ideas or if it’s a matter of production values. My general feeling is that it’s the latter. The songwriting is generally on the up-and-up though there’s nothing like everlong or oh, george or even stacked actors, but In Your Honor, much like One by One before it, gives off the strong impression of being over-produced. Not so much on the acoustic second disc, but the first “hard rock” disc reeks of it. The mixing just plain smells bad and dave’s vocals are lost in the mud.

The first few Foo Fighters albums benefited from the rough edges provided by Dave Grohl doing all the work himself. Those records have an caution-to-the-wind, do-it-yourself spirit, and were even released on Dave’s own label (Roswell records). but most importantly, they were a little bit quirky and a lot of fun.

Somewhere during the There’s Nothing Left to Lose era, however, it seems that the band somehow earned corporate credibility. It even won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. I’m not the kind of person who cries "sellout!" when someone finds success, but it’s around this time that Foo Fighters’ sound and attitude changed, becoming more polished and increasingly likely to be the "go to" band for "mainstream media" rock events. In 2006, it’s really not that hard to imagine Foo Fighters splitting the bill with Aerosmith to headline a Superbowl halftime show. Oooo, I know that’s cold, but think about it, would you be surprised by that?

If i were a meaner person, I might suggest that the band has intentionally watered-down its sound in order to court commercial success (c’mon, a duet with norah jones??). But I’m not that guy. I’d rather just listen to the music and hope that the band turns it around.

Pizzicato Five – Made in USA

pizzicato five

Stopped by Pizzicato Five’s 1994 american debut, Made in USA this morning. it’s a compilation of the better songs that had already been released in japan during the group’s 8 year existence. In fact, combined with the excellent Five by Five ep (released around the same time), this is P5’s first stab at greatness. Pizzicato Five is a group that can take a simple idea and toy with it, remix it, play with it, re-arrange it and reference it in so many divergent ways, but somehow keep it accessible, cohesive and interesting. Plus, the group is so seemingly happy in its approach to chic enthusiastically detached, as i’ve said before, that being cool was never this much fun.

Danny Elfman – Men in Black

The score to the first Men in Black motion picture features the usual trademark quirkiness one would expect from composer Danny Elfman. This soundtrack is good, with stellar opening and closing title suites as well as good thematic material and interesting action cues. The score also noteworthy in that it’s one of the earliest examples that I can think of that mixes electronic percussion with a full-scale orchestra.

the plan, man

For a brief time in early 2002, the dismemberment plan may have actually cracked its way into the much coveted position of current-favorite-band, and i think i was just reminded why: ‘the ice of boston.’