Worst Album Covers of 2009

On a lighter note, Pitchfork has posted it's 20 worst album covers of the year. Very funny.

R.I.P. Chris spacewolf Feinstein

Today Chris Feinstein was found dead in his apartment. Chris was a fine musician and will be missed. He was the final piece added that made the Cardinals complete. I'm glad that I got to enjoy your art in person on more than one occasion.

So tired

It has been like forever since I have made a post here. A new house and baby have not impeded my opportunities to listen, but have greatly impeded my ability to reflect. So tired, but here is what is going on...

I was very excited to unpack the music archive at our new house. Virtually all of my music had been packed away for a good 6 months. Having everything displayed before me is like being a kid in a candy store. The timing is especially good because there isn't an album that I can't stop listening to at the moment. I have been rediscovering all sorts of great stuff on my way to and from work.

The Sisters of Mercy have been a frequent flyer lately. Great early 80's goth! Really good late 80's goth. Spotty early 90's goth. Some Girls Wander By Mistake is such classic post punk goth.

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure found its way into the rotation. Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno at their best and most promising. This early 70's gem is such a great time capsule. Ferry's lyrics are absurd and even profane as he rambles them like he is almost making them up as he sings them in his crooning vibrato. And Eno just creates these complex and dense soundscapes that ride underneath every track. The album is this crazy blend of much of what was going on in music at the time. Self indulgent 8 minute stoner jams. Acid rock guitar riffs. Pre-disco boogie. Crooning balladry. A song about the complications of a romance with an inflatable sex doll. Awesomeness!

Low - The Great Destroyer. Just intense. One of my favorites from this decade.

Bob Mould - Body of Song. Circles is just amazing. I think I played this song eight or nine times while listening to this album this week.

The Cure - MSG '08. Pictures of You is the best song ever written. 20 years after its release it is still just as stunning as the first listen.

Goths In Hot Weather

A music culture side note here from one of my favorite genres. Have you ever wondered what goths do in the summer? Now is your chance to find out. Goths In Hot Weather is a humorous collection of photos and analysis of how goths survive the summer heat.

By Numbers : 1

Andrew Bird. What an unbelievable one man band. A one time member of the swing group, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Andrew has taken his talents to higher levels and defies categorization. His compositions are languid and flutter by like sweet melodies carried on a gentle breeze. (did I really just say that?) I haven't had the pleasure of actually seeing Bird live, but have witnessed various films of his solo performances where he plays all the parts of his songs and uses foot peddles to record and loop sections that he then accompanies. That and he is an awesome whistler.
Pitchfork has a series of songs performed live in a church that are worth a watch and listen.

Summer Tunes

Summer always has a been a time for fun and relaxation. There is a feel and vibe, but there is also a sound. It is not necessarily a genre or style of music, although some lend themselves more easily than others. The sound conjures that feel or vibe.

As a kid, I distinctly remember my dad playing his records more frequently in the summer and it was the one season when Christmas albums were cut from the rotation. The Beach Boys and Rolling Stones will ever conjure thoughts of the sun glistening off of the pool water, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the feeling of not having to do anything but relax.

Now that I am an adult with my own house and family, I am crafting that summer sound for my household. Hopefully my kids will carry the same summer feelings attached to our summer soundtrack as I have to the soundtrack from my youth. Here are some of the frequent summer tunes of our household...

Obviously the Beach Boys and Stones are worked in. I prefer Hot Rocks and Good Vibrations.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - any of the John Frusciante records (By The Way has a fantastic vibe with gorgeous melodies)
The Dandy Warhols - any
Toots and the Maytals - True Love
Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Hit and Run Holiday
Red House Painters - Ocean Beach
Josh Rouse - Nashville
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
U2 - Achtung Baby
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela
The Cure - Mixed Up / Standing On A Beach
Garden State and 50 First Dates soundtracks

Mark Kozelek Starter Kit

Mark Kozelek is an American song writer and singer that I have listened to on and off for years. His Red House Painters helped to create the slow core movement in the nineties. He has gone on to develop and refine his sound through a number of solo ventures and with his current band, Sun Kil Moon. Most of Kozelek's songs take some time to appreciate. At first they come of as simple and atmospheric, but upon repeated listens they reveal themselves. Brilliant lyrics, beautiful melodies, and sincere delivery. His career has many highlights including RHP's Ocean Beach, Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts of the Great Highway and April, and Mark Kozelek's Rock-n-Roll Singer. That's a lot of albums to venture into discovery so a made a list of some of my favorite songs that you could find on most music services.

Brad's Mark Kozelek Mix
1. Rock and Roll Singer *
2. Metrol 47 *
3. Around and Around *
4. Carry Me Ohio #
5. Salvador Sanches #
6. Gentle Moon #
7. Lily and Parrots #
8. Heron Blue $
9. Moorestown $
10. Unlit Hallway %
11. Tiny Cities %
12. Summer Dress @
13. Katy Song +

* KM - Rock and Roll Singer
# SKM - Ghosts of the Great Highway
$ SKM - April
% MK - Lost Verses
@ RHP - Ocean Beach
+ RHP - RHP (rollercoaster)

Totally worth the money

The new Spinal Tap album is little more than rehashings of the soundtrack to the movie. Some of the songs have been reinterpreted and there are six new songs. That is all fun and worth the listen, but the real value is in the packaging. It is worth the money for that alone.

The package folds out into a stage with 12 inch cut outs of action figure versions of the band with a scaled version of stonehenge in front. There is also a DVD of the guys commenting on every song. It is a fantastic tribute to the spirit of the original film. One day one of my children will get to inherit this and get be the proud owner of a piece of rock and roll history.

Precious

...and deep in the bowels of Middle Earth, Phil "Gollum" Spector will hide away from from the spoils of life that no longer are his to be part of. Ever pining for the one ring of power that consumed him and once gave the powers of invisibility and to make kick ass records.

Another One Bites The Dust

Earlier this year Ryan Adams threw in the towel on his music career as he strolled down the aisle with Mandy Moore. Good for him. I mean, Mandy Moore? Not bad. If it makes him happy, great.

So now he is supporting her career and pursuing a career as an author. Poetic prose - snore! I have spent over ten years fanatically following his turbulent and prolific music career. This leaves a large gap in my personal time. I actually felt kind of lost and rejected for a while there. Being a Ryan Adams fan is a hobby unto itself. You never knew what he was going to try next or what trouble he would get into next. His music had gone in so many directions and he finally got a band together that gelled with him and they seemed to be hitting their stride. I feel that it ended before it was meant to. Now what I have to look forward to from him is poetic prose? Ugh.

I don't wish any ill will towards him, but I excitedly await the inevitable celebrity marital collapse and his return to life as a miserable artist that vents his demons through fantastic music. Hopefully the guys from the Cardinals will still be available to play with him when this happens.

To make things worse, on the tails of my current music hero calling it quits as he ties the knot, I learned that my music hero through my teens is doing the same thing. Trent Reznor is dissolving Nine Inch Nails after this summer tour and he recently got engaged as well.

The NIN news wasn't as big of a blow for me. I've seen them a number of times and they have enjoyed a resurgence of relevance lately and are bowing out right before the end of a fantastic second life. Most acts aren't so lucky to be able to strike gold twice. They have secured their place in music history and are taking a bow and exiting the stage before they misstep and blow it with another flop like The Fragile, an album that nearly destroyed the NIN legacy. They may come back still, but the pressure is off to follow up their recent successes. If Trent comes up with something creative for NIN he can make a comeback. If he doesn't, then there is no pressure to just slap something together.

It's a good thing that Robert Smith is already married.

Happy 50th!

In the very long shot that you may be reading this (hahaha)...


Happy 50th Birthday Robert Smith!

Near Beer

After the success of my fall beer making, I decided to take the process a step further, and attempt brewing beer from the raw materials. Barley, Hops, Yeast, and Water. A simple and amazing process and product.


The first step is to work the barley. I germinated the grain to begin the process and then slow roasted the sprouting seeds to dry them. The process took most of the day on Sunday, but the result was a golden roasted pile of pre beer goodness.




With the roasted barley on hand and a bucket full of dried hops collected from the vines in my neighbor's yard last fall I was ready to boil up my wort. To make the wort, the roasted barley is boiled to extract the sugars that feed the the yeast in the fermentation process. The hops were added into the mix to create the fruity bitter taste that most pale ails have.


Well... That's about when it all failed. The boiling process is supposed to last for at least an hour in order to burn off unwanted enzymes and release the desired sugars into the water. Two unexpected things happened. 1) The Barley swelled up and overflowed the water level, driving the bottom layer of barley to the bottom of the pot and proceeded to burn. The delightful beer smell quickly turned to a pungent burn odor. 2) The wort broth that I tried to salvage from the initial boil was unbearably starchy. It was thick like pea soup and colored like porridge. After various strainings and filterings, the first attempt had to be aborted.

Wrong

OK, so the whole music video concept can best be summed up in one word. Crap. Can you really remember the last time that you saw a good music video? Or even watched a music video?

Along the same lines as the Moby bit, comes Depeche Mode. They're another band that has just kind of been existing on life support beyond their prime. Again, much to my surprise, they have dropped a killer video for what has turned out to be a pretty good single. Two good music videos in one day! Hell must have frozen over. Absolutely, watch this one! WRONG

Shot In The Back Of The Head

Moby has been the soundtrack to commerce since his huge break through, PLAY, in 1999. Unfortunately, in spite of his ability to pitch cars and life insurance, most of what he has done since has been pretty forgettable. Most of which feels like b-sides to PLAY. For those of us who were Moby fans from the early to mid nineties, we have had to watch his artistic relevance dwindle on life support for ten years. How accurate Eminem seemed in his early millennium bashing of our little, bald, vegan friend.

Given that set-up, you could image that I wasn't too excited to read that he has a new album coming out in June. What did catch my eye and get me very excited was the fact that his first single off of the record has a video directed by David Lynch. David freakin Lynch! How cool is that? I read on to find that the new album seems to be avoiding a lot of the celebrity filled, commercial trappings that have cheesed up most of his recent work. Could it be something worth getting excited about? If this first song and video is any indication, then I am more than thrilled to welcome back the Moby of old.

Shot In The Back Of The Head

Middle Cyclone

In the shadow of U2's No Line On The Horizon another modern gem was obscured. Neko Case released Middle Cyclone, a collection of visually spectacular nature based metaphors for a disgruntled heart. I have never heard a better song about a tornado in love. She is just wonderful. Don't just take it from me, let her convince you. Check out Pitchfork's review and listen to it here.

No Line

Now that I have been listening to it for a few weeks, I feel that it is safe to claim U2's No Line On The Horizon as one of their best albums. I do believe that as a piece in its entirety, it is the best album that they have made. Listening to No Line has reminded me of listening to The Cure's Disintegration. The songs are good or even great, but put together they are heavenly.

Upon my first listen, I felt that it was a little slow and I had to work to find the groove. There is a simplistic feel to the record that slowly proves to be a facade. Each listen reveals some new layer of texture that wasn't at first apparent. The sound scape is so rich and dense, that it amazes me that it can come across feeling so simple.

Even though there are fantastic and larger than life songs buried in the play list that are sure to be crowd pleasers in the stadiums and on the radio, it is the context that makes this effort so noteworthy. The non-radio friendly songs are some of the most poignant marks on the album. Fez - Being Born sits in this bass groove, rolling drum part, and layered vocals create suspense and build to other worldly unchorus from outerspace (thank you Brian Eno). Then the next song drops you back to Earth in a quiet and haunting folk tale of a song carried by simply plucked chord progression on acoustic guitar. From there they launch into Breathe, a loud reminder that U2 are still the Irish rock band that once proved that mullets can rock.
I love the notion of a concept album. No Line has it down all the way to the art that it is wrapped in (see above). The whole package of an album has such potential to create mood, tone, and atmosphere. All of it can work together to create a larger experience. I strongly suggest adding this to your record collection if you are someone who has ever enjoyed music in a context larger than one song at a time.

Perhaps the music industry is floundering not only because of an obsolete business model, but because they have forgotten to make a product worth buying. Most albums today are a few singles, some filler songs and a generic, genre image cover art. Black guy looking angry with a logo that is all blingy = rap album. White dude with thumbs tucked in belt buckle under a wide rimmed cowboy hat in a picture that looks like it was taken at Glamor Shots down at the mall = country album. Attractive woman in a form fitting outfit with a some sort of "come hither" look on her face with partly open mouth and lighting that emphasizes her curves = any top 40 female artist. When the cover art is disposable and half of the music is disposable, why would anyone pay full price far an album. Even though music is a product, it only retains its value if it holds up it's artistic integrity.

Can you say overextended?

Crazy busy household changes = neglected blogs.

I have been listening though and there is so much I wish to share.

Since we are already into spring, I will be giving a very brief wrap up of my favorite albums last year.
It was a so-so year overall, but there were some albums that I really enjoyed.

The theme, for me, seems to be getting old. Two of my favorite albums last year were from artists that I associate with being before my time. Yes, they started before my time, but they have been active ever since, yet for some reason I have held them captive in a pre to mid 80's quagmire that is not a pretty place to be. I am speaking of the Alison Krauss and Robert Plant album as well as Springsteen's Magic. Prior to these two records, my feelings on the gentlemen mentioned had been pretty indifferent. In my world, Plant had been the soundtrack to middle school dances and Springsteen had meant little more than American kitsch. I realize that I have alienated most music fans with that statement. No apologies. I have never been able to get into either Zeppelin or the boss. The huge followings and stereotyped fans put me off as a youth. As an adult, I haven't found anything to interest me from either. So I was very pleasantly surprised with both of these records and for very different reasons. The Krauss and Plant album is hauntingly beautiful, soulful, and unZeppeliny. It is the last thing that I would have expected to hear from Robert Plant. However, Alison Krauss is a pretty good stamp of quality. She spurred my interest in the album in the first place. As for Bruce... What blew me away about Magic is how hugely this album was what I had known him to be, but never discovered first hand. All the Americana, none of the kitsch. He is a powerful songwriter and even more powerful of a performer surrounded by a very talented army of musicians.

I am quite fond of the latest Ryan Adams and the Cardinals record. It is one Ryan's few records since his Whiskeytown days that works well as a whole. He is my favorite song writer and has made good albums with great songs. They tend to be disjointed most of the time. Cardinology works well together and ranks up there with Cold Roses and Heartbreaker.

My favorite album of last year had to be AA Bondy's American Hearts. I don't think I took it out of my car stereo at all last spring.

Portishead and Tricky dropped some wonderful albums that brought Trip Hop back from the dead.

Saul Williams dropped a fantastic album in 2007. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust is a sonic freakfest and the best thing produced by Trent Reznor since his Year Zero album.

A Few Things

1. I guess that the Ear Candy attracts quite the interesting fan base. Who knew that stating my excitement for an upcoming show would warrant the solicitation of a prostitute. Thanks for the offer Miss Hatfield (wink wink, I guess the music thing has been a little slow for you lately), but I'm doing alright without having to pay hourly for that kind of entertainment. I paid for that sort of thing up front with a wedding ring and a promise of forever. And with the rates that you were asking, I apparently got quite a good deal.

2. As a result of the post made by Miss Hatfield, the settings for making comments at the Ear Candy have changed. I still welcome comments from those of you who know me and hope that this will not deter any of you from participating.

3. Despite my bout with the flu, I did make it to the Ryan Adams show. I felt like hell throughout the evening, but it was a great show. There is a great recording of the show here that you can listen to or download. They were very chatty and funny between songs and played a great set list that spanned most of Ryan's solo career. The Heartbreaker songs stole the show though. Check out "Come Pick Me Up", "Oh My Sweet Carolina", and "Bartering Lines." "La Cienega Just Smiled" was pretty boss as well.

4. I have totally bought into the hype for the new U2 album. I have never been so excited for a U2 album that I have yet to hear. I can't wait for Tuesday. That, and week straight appearing on Letterman? Cool!

5. I need to get my favorites list from last year together.

6. What happened to my focus on all things goth this month? I guess a start at it is better than nothing.

Countdown to The Cardinals

My man is finally coming through Connecticut! As Ryan Adams reaches the point that he recognizes the nutmeg state as a viable tour stop, he announces that he is walking away from music and getting married to Mandy Moore. Mandy Moore?


So I am trying to work through his catalogue over the course of the week leading up to Friday's show. Even without the Whiskeytown, Patty Duke Syndrome, The Finger, Freightwailer, and all of the goofy internet alter ego stuff, I am up for quite a task. He has 10 official studio albums, a few eps and an album or two worth of b-sides from the last ten years. There are also at least five other albums that weren't officially released, but leaked. And then there are all of the songs that he wrote and played live, but never officially recorded and numerous covers. Also there are all of the live versions of songs that are so drastically different from the originals. If I were to listen nonstop, I might be looking at close to a 48 hour stretch, maybe even more.

I have been way into Mr. Adams ever since I discovered Whiskeytown in 1998. He has been profoundly prolific since then and has fed my interest with a steady flow of albums, bootlegs, media stunts, and various internet sites and blogs. He has been the voice of the broken hearted and the victim of one's own vices for over a decade and now having him claim to be walking away from music has been kind of a shock to my system. Any given day, there has been something new with this guy. Most of the time it has been for the better (flood of unreleased and live tracks that continue to fill my podcast folder), sometimes for the worse (the Jack White feud). Now the dude is sober, in love, and walking away from music. What am I going to do with all of that time I spent keeping up with Mr. Adams?

RA & The Cardinals -
myspace
On Letterman

Sanctuary Radio

The Goth movement is undead. It has simply branched and grown, much like any other living and healthy entity. Sanctuary Radio is a great resource for classic and modern Goth, Industrial, EBM, Electro, and Darkwave. I found it in my iTunes radio options under the alternative folder. You can also listen online at their homepage. Give it a listen for a little while.

If nothing else, starting and celebrating Goth History Month at the EarCandy inspires me to dig back into the music that was such a huge part of my past and reminisce about the times spent discovering and absorbing these tunes. Beyond that I am rediscovering what initially drew me to it and rekindling the hunger to seek out what is new.

Listening to Sanctuary this evening has been like reliving Thursday nights at Gotham, or Flux at the Webster Underground. Who knew sad music could make you want to dance?

R.I.P. Lux Interior

I'm glad I saw the Cramps when I did. Today their frontman, Lux Interior, passed away. How? I haven't found that out yet. Pitchfork covered it pretty well so far. Psychobilly Rock will never be the same without him. We'll miss you, you very strange, strange man.

Goo Goo Muck - Live '81
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?

Goth Reading and Listening

Reading:
1. Check out last year's Goth History Month posts. Somebody had a lot of time on his hands!
2. Another great read is What Is Goth by Voltaire. He presents a thorough, in depth, and humorous overview of goth culture.
3. Anything by E. A. Poe.

Listening:
One of my all time favorite albums is Disintegration by The Cure. It is sweeping and beautiful and just a perfect piece of art. I keep erasing what I write about the album, because I can't seem to do it justice. Just buy it and let it speak for itself.



Here are the videos of the singles from the album. It's not quite the same as listening the entire thing, but it's a start.
Lovesong
Pictures Of You
Fascination Street
Lullaby

Goth History Month

Here comes the second annual goth history month. 28 days of drab goodness.

Black Cab Sessions

And here comes reason number 364,298 why the internet is the bomb.

The Black Cab Sessions

Here is the concept. Stick musicians in a cab, take them for a ride around London, and have them play a song in the process. The internet is the only place that something like this could exist. Brilliant!
I have watched a number of the performances, and they are surprisingly good. I made the link to Death Cab For Cutie's session. I figured that they were quite fitting for the title.

New Tunes

There are so many posts that I am just putting off here. Rutneskiland has been busy contending with the reality of some of those New Year resolutions. The baby on the way is wearing Car out. There is a lot of prep work involved in preparing to sell a piece of property that you live in as well. All of my computer time winds up being a real estate hunt instead of music pontification.

However, I am due to post my Bradlee awards for the best music of 2008. There has been a lot of great music to look back on. I'll try to get that together soon.

Until then, I have been digging the tunes that my brother in-law set me up with this Christmas.




BRMC - Baby 81
Out of this world. This one may be making the list for 2008. I'll say more then.




AC-DC - Live
This brings me way back to my mullety adolescence. As a kid, I was all about the showy lead guitar playing of Angus Young. But as an adult looking back at these songs now, I am far more interested in Malcolm Young's rhythm guitar work. The guitar production and song structures are so solid.




Tom Waits - The Black Rider
The first and only time I heard this album was just before Christmas in 1993. There is a great radio station out of Western Connecticut State University. The DJ had decided to play the album in its entirety. I was driving to a friend's house on an extremely snowy evening. Here I am, alone in the stillness of this evening. There was not another car to be seen, not even tracks in the fresh powdery snow on the road. Christmas lights lined the still and sleepy houses. If you haven't lived in an area that is prone to snowy winters, you are really missing a magical effect that nature can have on geography. Snow can be treacherous, but it can also take spaces that you only know as being alive with human activity and turn them into the most serene landscapes with a fresh coat of white devoid of a single soul. It can be eerily otherworldly. For the duration of that ride, mine was a world that was one of slowed time, solitude, and breath taking beauty. On comes this album. This has to be the most abstract Waits album that he has ever made. It plays like the score to a musical set in a circus side show from the depression and directed by David Lynch. Perhaps even a companion to William S. Burroughs' "Naked Lunch." It is out there and random, but bazaarly cohesive. I wound up meandering the neighborhoods of Southbury for the duration of the album. The combination of my environment and its soundtrack were so surreal.




Martin Denny - Exotica
Awe Yeah!! Where are the tiki drinks?