Scripted Failures

Friday was a show I won’t forget. The Ataris played at the Multiplex in north Madison, which, despite it’s name, is a very small venue in a strip mall attached to a Texaco station. The show had been moved from Crossroads Music Hall in Huntsville about a week beforehand, so the turnout was a little smaller than expected. Honestly, I never thought I’d get to see the Ataris with a room of about 50 people. Opening for them were local acts or the Children’s Crusade, The Arrival (their last show), and Eyes Around.

Eyes Around were pretty good, but there were problems with the mix that were never fully reconciled by the end of their set. The Arrival brought out the teen girl crowd, most of whom didn’t stay past their set, unfortunately. They were solid as usual, and I got to pick up their last EP for super cheap. otCC featured former members of Married in a Fever and was a pleasant surprise. I had never seen them before, but their sound was unique and the songwriting was strong. They seemed genuinely starstruck to be opening for The Ataris (as I would be).

The Ataris put on a pretty amazing show. It was heavy on their older material (not a single track from Welcome the Night), so it was as if I was seeing them back in college right after So Long Astoria. Highlights were “Summer Wind Was Always Our Song,” “Unopened Letter to the World,” “I.O.U. One Galaxy,” and of course, “San Dimas High School Football Rules.” Despite playing to such a small crowd, they gave it their all and weren’t just going through the motions. Talking to Kris after the show, I apologized at the lack of people that showed up, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. I’m glad we were able to give them an extra stop on their way through the southeast. Hopefully he’ll be coming back by on his solo tour. Look for The Ataris’ new album, “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” later this year (he said around the August timeframe).

All in all, it was my favorite type of show: a couple of good local bands, awesome headliner, being a part of a small, dedicated group fans, getting to banter with the band, request songs, talking afterward at the merch table, etc. If every show was like this, I’d be a happy guy.

Thanks to Nathan Carter and 256 Booking for putting on the show.

Links:
The Ataris
or the Children’s Crusade
The Arrival
Eyes Around
256 Booking

I heard stirrings about Fleet Foxes over the last year, but until relatively recently, I hadn’t heard them. It wasn’t until their SNL performance in January that I even knew what they sounded like. I’ve come to realize that their self-titled album is easily one of the best albums of 2008.

The performance itself was flawless, with every vocal harmony intact. It was one of the most impressive performances on SNL in many years. I’ve since obtained a copy of their full-length (as well as the previous Sun, Giant EP) and it hasn’t left my iPod (I’m one of those people that doesn’t have one big enough for their entire library).

I can hear a lot of other bands in their music, including (obviously) The Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and newer acts such as Maria Taylor, Band of Horses, and Iron and Wine. I find the best time to listen to Fleet Foxes is in the evening, when you’re winding down to go to bed. And while I’m not a morning person, I would imagine waking up to it would be pleasant as well. It’s certainly a relaxing record, yet it maintains the necessary energy to keep from boring the listener.

Standout tracks “White Winter Hymnal,” “He Doesn’t Know Why,” and “Blue Ridge Mountains”) are interspersed at even intervals, which makes it hard not to listen straight through.

Watch their performance of “Blue Ridge Mountains” on SNL

SmashingPumpkins.com announced the departure of Jimmy Chamberlin, the only remaining member of the original line-up other than Corgan. Corgan is going to continue to release material under the SP moniker, and will be heading into the studio this Spring. Here’s what Chamberlin had to say about the split:

By now you have heard the news of my departure from the Smashing Pumpkins. I will say, without going into any unnecessary details that this represents a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don’t fully possess. I won’t pretend I’m into something I’m not. I won’t do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can’t just, “Cash the check” so to speak. Music is my life. It is sacred. It deserves the highest commitment at every level and the Pumpkins are certainly no different. I’m sorry but it really IS that simple. There is no drama, bad blood, or anything else but a full commitment to music. My best goes out to Billy and I’m glad he has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right. I will continue to make music with the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex as well as pursuing other musical interests. I feel that I have a long way to go and a lot to give. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and support through all of this. I am constantly humbled by all of you! It is an honor and a privilege to play music for a living and I don’t take it for granted not even for a second.

Stay tuned……. JC

And here I was, thinking they had chosen their Twitter username SmashingPumpkin because the full name was too long.

Alkaline Trio is having a contest to remix “I Found Away” from their latest album Agony and Irony (which is phenomenal). It’s hosted by Indabamusic.com.

The winner gets his/her mix put on the upcoming Remix CD and there are a bunch of other cool prizes on the contest page. Check it out!

I’m going to try to do a mix myself this weekend. “I Found Away (Scripted Failures Mix)” Be on the lookout for it on the listing of recent entries.

No one will likely argue that music is mood-dependent, to be sure. What can be amazing in one mood can seem so boring or uninteresting in another mood. It’s in this light that I write this review.

This morning, at work, as I trudged through a couple of software tests I needed to run, I plugged in my trusty iPod and tried to decide what I wanted to listen to. I eventually decided on the Cursive Mama, I’m Swollen bonus tracks, which I hadn’t listened to yet, but which came downloadable with the LP. It was fun to hear the demos of the original songs, and interesting to hear the songs that didn’t make it. But I found that I didn’t really care very much about it.

Next, I decided on The Fire Theft. I’d been hearing about this one for ages from fellow SF-blogger Justin, but I never managed to get around to giving it a full listen. I got about halfway through their self-titled album and found that I was getting bored.

It was then that I realized what I really needed. Comfort music. I’ve been feeling unusually down today (I blame it on Monday), and I tried to think of the last album that really made my smile. That was The Gaslight Anthem’s The ‘59 Sound (which I only recently discovered, as 2008 just had too much music to digest).

As I’m listening to it right now, it’s, unsurprisingly, making me feel a lot better. Like a warm blanket when you’re cold, The Gaslight Anthem delivers nostalgia, sadness, and hope, but you’re safely sheltered from the experiences by brilliant hooks, beautiful melodies, and (I mean this in the best possible way) predictably delectable arrangements.

Their hapless country charm shines humility on them, and that coupled with the 60’s-era spring vocal delay, it’s nigh-impossible not to feel the sincerity in Brian Fallon’s voice. Their hit single, “The ‘59 Sound,” is one of the saddest and yet most loving songs that’s hit me lately. I won’t bother to quote any of it out of context, because it works so much better as a piece.

The only negative thing I can say about this album is that thirteen tracks may have been a bit ambitious. It hurts to say, but by the end, I’m ready for it to be over. And the cardinal rule of music (and maybe of all arts/entertainment) is “Leave Them Wanting More.” Well, it may not be immediately, but when you’re feeling down (or even blissful), you’ll definitely find yourself crawling back into this record like a frightened puppy in a thunderstorm.

I was reading a nifty interview with Jason Kulbel of Saddle Creek records (once again from (d)NOT) and he let something slip that made me start. When asked if they might use Cursive’s $1-a-day model for any other releases, here’s what he said:

[W]e don’t have plans to do this with the Beep Beep record or the Tokyo Police Club records that come out later this month.

What new TPC records? It’s been a year since Elephant Shell, which was phenomenal, but I haven’t heard anything about a new release. Did he misspeak? I’m incredibly curious…

Robert Smith’s sentiments about the Radiohead Model have been reported pretty widely recently. I have to admit that, while I actually agree with him on a point or two, I’m pretty disappointed in his overall notion.

It’s true that the Radiohead model can’t work for everyone, and it’s true that it may be bad for the industry (if the industry is thought of as the record labels). But I disagree that giving your art away in some way devalues it. Rob Spectre at Dream Not of Today has a good take on it:

Ultimately, Radiohead is doing the best thing for Radiohead. Pay-what-you-want won’t work for the Jonas Brothers, won’t work for smaller independent artists and probably won’t work for The Cure. But both as artist and as businessman, Robert Smith should be at worst ambivalent to the release of In Rainbows. His criticism from both perspectives are hallow [sic] and coarse. Radiohead clearly valued their art sufficiently to bear the brunt of its writing, recording, mixing, mastering, and digital distribution entirely on its own.

Art is sacrifice. Radiohead put a lot of work into their art. I would go so far as to say that by doing art for the sake of art, even by giving it away, they are valuing their art at such a high pinnacle, they are willing to sacrifice money in order to give more people a chance to experience it. Of course, they made money, but it was a huge risk, and if they hadn’t made money, I don’t think Thom Yorke would’ve cried himself to sleep. Art for art’s sake.

Side note: I have to disagree with Rob’s assessment that The Wrestler is art and Madea Goes to Jail is not (and thus should not be valued as such). It’s a common conception that art has to be serious to be art, but I think that’s short-sighted (and maybe a little elitist). Being entertainment does not preclude a work from being art. Art evokes emotion; humor and happiness are emotions. And in the U.S., right now, humor and happiness are what we should expect to see from a lot of art, as is historically the case in hard socioeconomic times.

So I got the Wordpress iPod app. Maybe I’ll update more now that it’s so convenient. We’ll see.

Cursive’s new album, Mama, I’m Swollen, is selling for $2.00 digitally today at the Saddle Creek store. It was $1.00 yesterday, and it’s going to increase $1.00 a day until the physical release date on the 10th. I just bought it (even though I’m buying the physical one) so that I can hear it early legally. Sweet deal. Awesome band.

For those of you not into Cursive, a good entry point is probably The Ugly Organ, as it’s the album that got me into them.

Thursday is streaming their new split with Envy on Buzznet. Check it out right here. I’m impressed.