Musical Moments In TV/Film: Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power

Every guy from our generation remembers the feeling of uncontrollable anticipation coursing through our boring human veins when we found out that our favorite animated heroes were being brought to the big screen.  I won't go into the significance of the movie in this post, as I am known to ramble about things close to my heart.  However, I will take this moment to revisit the song that blared from the theater speakers as the credits rolled.

Morning Drive - November 14, 2011

Until a recent search told me so, I did not realize that Midlake is comprised of former members of the now defunct Cornbread All-Stars.  I distinctly remember seeing that kooky band name on a flyer that had been plastered almost apologetically among a sea of other brightly colored papers on a bulletin board post that looked as if it would crumble at any minute under the weight of the hopes and ambitions of hundreds of talented bands in Denton, Texas at the turn of the millennium.  Much like many of the budding young musicians at the University of North Texas, jazz was the influential art form of choice for the All-Stars in the beginning.  And as the transformation took place to the more traditionally titled Midlake (named for the geography of Denton County), the sounds of Herbie Hancock gave way to the sounds of Thom Yorke.

The stunning Trials of Van Occupanther sounds like a more straightforward Jethro Tull, minus the moments of medieval monotony.  Don't let the conceptually heavy-handed videos fool you, this stuff is great.  It's perfect for a brisk autumn jog; or even more appropriately, a chilly morning drive.  It's like guitar driven Radiohead sewn into the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot.  It's not overly immediate, mind you.  But with repeated listens, the rewards unfold exponentially.

Morning Drive - October 27, 2011

As the garage door lifted this morning, I was treated to something I hadn't felt in quite a while:  cool, brisk air.  With temperatures finally hovering in the mid 50's, it's time to revisit some of my favorite albums for this awesome time of year.  First up, Belle & Sebastian's masterpiece If You're Feeling Sinister.

This was my first exposure to the beloved Scottish band, and it still tops their consistently impressive catalog to this day.  The subject matter here is fairly typical at times, but the tunes drift by effortlessly.  A relatively modern showcase of Smiths and Nick Drake inspired song craft, Sinister does not venture too far from its main path of mid-tempo harmonized pop that endeared so many to the group from the beginning.  The vocals fit perfectly for this style and have spawned quite the series of imitators.  At least the accents here are legitimate!

Morning Drive - October 17, 2011

Review: Wilco - The Whole Love

September 27, 2011
dBpm


Rating:  8.9/10

As a keeper of a meticulously sorted iTunes catalog, I attempt to rate each song on a scale of one to five stars.  Granted, this is a continuously evolving process that does have its merits when it comes to compiling playlists, making recommendations, etc.  In a collection of over 12,000 songs, however, roughly 300 or so have received the elusive five-star rating. 

These are the tunes that have blown my music-hungry mind at one point or another.   These are the songs that I will listen to throughout my entire life.  Not just reserved for obvious choices such as “God Only Knows,” “The Boxer,”and “A Day in the Life,” the five-star tag has also been placed on more recent and relatively obscure anthems like “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks,” “Passing Afternoon,” “Fake Plastic Trees,” etc.  Two of the most recent inductions into this personal hall of fame serve as the bookends on Wilco’s impressive new album, The Whole Love.

“Art of Almost” lures you in with its slightly off-kilter droning before blasting you into rock and roll oblivion with some of the best shredding to ever come screaming off a Wilco record.  I found myself drumming on the steering wheel so hard that I bruised the palms of my hands.  Well, almost.  That’s how you earn five stars.

The hauntingly beautiful closer, “One Sunday Morning,” achieves instant classic status for completely different reasons.  Don’t be put off by its length, as this song simply surrounds you and drifts by in the fastest, most care-free twelve minutes you’ll ever experience.  The vocal performance is subdued yet astounding, and the sparkling and distant piano lines here are otherworldly.  The repeating eight note riff that is so aptly strummed, plucked, chimed and played will follow you around throughout the day.

But let’s not forget the wonderfulness that falls between these two numbers.  Here, you’ll find some outstanding vintage Wilco pop rock (“Dawned On Me,” “Born Alone,” “Whole Love”) mixed in with experimentally tinged bits of acoustic glory (“Sunloathe,” “Black Moon”).  Leaning closer towards the latter, one of my favorite interior tracks is the absolutely stunning “Rising Red Lung.” 

Found a fix for the fits,

Come listen to this.

It’s buried under the hiss,

And it glows.

If I could give four and half stars, it would be appropriate here.  Another standout, “Capitol City” takes the listener down a bouncy lane towards the fabulous pop music of the past.  Something tells me I’ll still love this one when I’m 64.

As a whole, this album shines unlike anything we’ve heard out of Wilco in quite some time.  It’s consistently brilliant and measures up track for track with anything they’ve done since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.  Undoubtedly, this is the best new music I’ve heard in 2011.

Wilcoworld.net

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Morning Drive - September 28, 2011

R.E.M. announces break-up.

"Hey, kids, rock and roll.  Nobody tells you where to go, baby."

Earlier this month, R.E.M. announced that they were amicably going their separate ways and calling it quits as a band.  As a fan of their many solid contributions to the rock world over the past three decades, I found this news fairly disheartening. 

While some of the most recent material has left something to be desired, the band from Athens, Georgia created what I consider to be a spectacular run of albums between 1983 and 1996.  Fortunate as I was to grow up around family with good taste in music, I was exposed to their influences from a fairly early age.  My dad long claimed them as one of his favorite bands, and my step-mom shared a home town with Stipe and the boys.  My mom and my brother took me to one of my first concerts, Radiohead opening up for R.E.M.  That experience helped shape me as a (self-proclaimed) connoisseur of good music. 

As is the case with many R.E.M. fans in their late 20’s/early 30’s, I was introduced to the sounds of R.E.M. through the commercially successful hit singles of the late 80’s/early 90’s.  Songs like “Losing My Religion,” “Man on the Moon,” “The One I Love,” and “Shiny Happy People” dominated the alternative airwaves and flashed continuously across the MTV dial on our faux-wood side-paneled 19-inch picture tube television sets.

The true genius to this band, as I would later discover, lies in the earlier indie-slanted college rock albums of the early and mid 80’s.  The jangle and buzz of a rock band realizing its unique place in music can be heard throughout an amazing span of records including Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, and Life’s Rich Pageant.  I invite any music fan that only knows R.E.M. through the staples to start back at the beginning and let these albums grow.

For a brief retrospective, take a look at some of the videos below.  R.E.M. will be missed.

The Dogwood Bark Gets a New Look.

After tiring of the gray and green scheme of the past two years, I decided it was time to spruce things up a little bit.  Hopefully the blog is easier to read and navigate.