SOTD - Sigur Ros/Gobbledigook

Well, here is something to see. I love Sigur Ros. This track isn't my favorite, in fact, I'm not even sure if I like it at all. But if you like naked people running through the woods, check out the video for Gobbledigook. As much as I like the idea of naked people running through the woods, I'm finding myself watching out of fascination more than connecting with the images. I guess I wasn't cut out for the whole hippy-earth child thing. If you are new to Sigur Ros, this is pretty far off from the bulk of their body of work. They typically sound more like this.

Mogwai - Young Team

Another fantastic album has joined the ranks of the "reissues as a double album." Mogwai's first proper album, Young Team, was just reissued with a bonus disc of b-sides and rareties. Released on Jetset records, this album hit the states in 1997. At the time I worked at The Disc and was in the throws of my undergrad work. Outside of my classes, I completely submerged myself in music. My job and my friendships were all largely centered on music. Therefore I can't quite remember who turned me on to this record, but I do remember listening to it with my friend Graham a great deal. We played it in the store almost as often as we were playing Portishead-Dummy. Both frustrated customers because they were on small labels that were hard to keep in stock. We would never get more than one or two at a time and they would sell quickly.
Mogwai have become one of my favorite bands and I have loved most of what they have done since this record. In fact, they have matured and focused their sound continuously over the past ten years or so and have been quite successful for an instrumental rock band.
Young Team is a wild ride that you need to commit yourself to experiencing if you are going to truly appreciate it. The songs move in many directions and borrow structures from early Smashing Pumpkins, Swans, and Cure records. Despite the influences of these groups, they maintain what has become a distinct Scotland rock sound. There are sonic qualities to their work that I have only otherwise heard in fellow Scottish bands such as Aerogramme and Arab Strap. At times they plod along and slowly build to a theatrical climax. They can also do the opposite and catch you off guard by whipping the gentlest melody into a pounding sprawl of heavy drumming and feedback. I still can get lost in it.
I did not buy the new double disc version. I did however purchase the songs from the bonus disc off of emusic. Does that count?

I may have to go anyway...

So, the Cure thing is haunting me. There are single tickets still available at very reasonable prices. Now the cost, in my mind, is just going to New York and driving back after midnight (gas, tolls, parking, driving late at night, etc.). I keep flip-flopping on the matter. I feel like John Kerry! Going is a bigger task than I want to deal with at the moment, but I am certain that if I don't go I will regret it. Any words of wisdom?

Countdown To The Cure

I am so bummed that I will be missing the Cure as they play through the states this year. I have not missed a tour since I saw them on the Wish Tour in 1992. I was too slow on the uptake to get tickets and the second hand dealers had prices that were not acceptable. That doesn't mean that there is nothing to look forward to. This Tuesday saw the release of the first of four pre-album singles to be released this summer. The album comes out in September and is rumored to possibly be a double album. That makes for a whole lot of new Cure songs when you factor in the b-sides from the four singles. So, all is not lost in missing the tour this summer. The .com era has helped keep me up with what I might be missing. Many of the shows have been posted on various torrent sights and there is all sorts of footage that turns up on you-tube. Here is a link to a very good amature shot of the new song The Perfect Boy. Here is a link to the video for the most recent single The Only One as well. Robert is as bloated as ever, but he can still rock pretty hard for a guy that will be 50 next year. They are playing three hour sets on this tour! And what is up with that tattoo on Porl's head?

SOTD - Beach Boys/Brian Wilson – “Heroes and Villains” and “Good Vibrations”

I can’t tell you the number of times that my Saturday mornings through the summer started with a sensory routine that will forever symbolize summer for me. Yes, I know, who doesn’t associate the Beach Boys with summer? Anyway, most warm Saturdays began early with the hum of the lawn mower outside my window. Seven in the morning is not too early to operate a very noisy tractor in my father’s eyes. He would spend the beginning of the day racing around the yard filling my nose with the smell of fresh cut grass as well as my ears with the oscillating rumble of the engine as he drifted towards and away from the house. Both of which worked as warnings of the inevitable wake up and work. Weekends in the summer often included some sort of manual labor, so staying in bed postponed moving rocks or digging holes or both. Eventually the tractor would stop and my dad would come inside.

Instead of coming to the door and waking me up, my dad would put on his stereo as he cleaned himself up from the lawn and got ready for breakfast. He had one of those record players that stacks three or four records and drops one at a time onto the turntable. The Beach Boys – Endless Summer always seemed to start the set. Despite the annoyance of being woken up to do yard work, it felt so good to wake up it such joyous harmonies.

At that point in my life, the Beach Boys were a household staple and the two songs I’m focusing on wouldn’t have been my childhood favorites. They do capture that otherworldly harmonies that made it good to get out of bed and ready to build a stone wall or deck. I am also struck by these songs as an adult because they are a true testament to the brilliance and insanity of Brian Wilson. These songs are so complex yet sound so easy and simple. Try to count how many times Good Vibrations changes directions and how many different melodies are going on in the song. It is amazingly dense, but sounds very lighthearted and fun. Heroes and Villains is just incredibly rich with texture and equally diverse.

I can’t wait to use them to lure Peyton and Sonja out of bed to do yard work for me.

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

As if the Ghost I-IV project wasn't enough for this year, there is a brand new NIN album available less than one month after the official release of the double album aforementioned. Trent has become so prolific you would swear Ryan Adams must have joined the band. The new album is more of a proper rock album in contrast to the spacious instrumental release from April. It is totally free as well. Yes, FREE. I was impressed with the lead single being free, but the entire album being free is completely unprecedented. Get it at nin.com