Scripted Failures

Band of Horses, “No One’s Gonna Love You”
Quite possibly the best song of 2007.

Death Cab for Cutie, “No Sunlight [Live]” from The Black Cab Sessions
They play the song while riding around in a cab.  A black cab.  It’s… different?

My first listen to this song was sitting on my girlfriend’s couch, both of us hearing the song for the first time.  I must admit on first listen my main thought was, “What the hell has happened to Death Cab”.  I was not impressed and frankly a bit let down.  My girlfriend expressed love for the song right off the bat.  I told her, “I’m not digging it, but given the fact that I hated ‘Plans’ on first listen, only to love it on repeated listens, I’m sure this will grow on me”.  Well kids, prophecy fufilled.

For the first four minutes or so, before the vocals come in, you might think you’re listening to a new Yo La Tengo track.  You might think of something like a less fuzzed out, more piano heavy “Pass the Hatchet, I think I’m Goodkind”, or other YLT slow burners that are escaping my memory right now.  This is due to the repetative bass groove, guitar noodles, and piano chords that come in and out.  I swear as I listen to it right now, I expect, at any second, for Georgia Hubley or Ira Kaplan to suddenly start their quiet singing, alone or together, about their married life or any other of the myriad topics they cover in their songs.  This is not a bad thing, or a bad sign, as I do love YLT.

Once the vocals come in, the YLT nuances fade a bit and things become a little more distinctly Death Cab, but a Death Cab you’ve never heard before.  That isn’t to say the YLT feel totally disappears but it does amp down a bit.  As Jim pointed out in the earlier post about this song, the lyrics are typical Ben Gibbard fare, which once again is not a bad thing, because he’s an accomplished lyricist, whom I respect greatly.

The song becomes distinctly Death Cab around the 6:45 mark, with a distinctly Death Cab breakdown.  How is it a distinctly Death Cab breakdown?  I can’t really explain it, but it just is.  I think it’s one of the highlights of the song.  It’s the part that wakes you up from the trance the rest of the song has put you in, because this is truly an entrancing song.

After the breakdown, though, things settle back into more YLT territory, but, don’t worry kids, I don’t think Death Cab is turning into a YLT tribute band or anything of that sort.  Anyone who’s followed Death Cab through their stellar career knows that each album is a new adventure in sound, and that Death Cab always follows their own muse.  I’ve read in interviews that “Narrow Stairs” is a reaction to the exceptionally layered production of “Plans”.  This entrancing 8 minute romp through YLT-esque territory is just one reaction to “Plans”.  I certainly don’t expect every song to be this way.  I feel heavily assured that there will be, as there always is, at least one, two, or maybe more immeadiate songs that stick in your head and grab at your heart from the first listen.

The main complaint I’ve read, at least in the reviews on iTunes of this song, is the fact that it takes four minutes for the vocals to come in.  This makes me wonder how much indie rock these reviewers have actually listened to.  After all, elongated intros are nothing new in indie rock.  They might be a bit new in the world of Death Cab’s music, but certainly not in the wide field of indie rock.  On that premise, I call bullshit on those negative reviews.  On top of that, it’s not like the first four minutes before the lyrics come in is filled with pointless noise.  Sure it’s based on a repetative bass line, guitar noodles, and coming and going piano chords, but it’s a good bass line, good guitar noodles, and good coming and going piano chords. So fuck those negative reviews, cause those reviewers just need to open their minds and let the new Death Cab shine in.

Everything that Death Cab has said about this album has been to the tune of “this is going to be a divisive record among Death Cab fans”.  This first single, right off the bat, proves to me that this is going to be true.  If this track is any indication, I think I won’t have any problem getting on Death Cab’s new musical train.  Seriously, this track makes me excited just to hear all the new avenues that will be explored on this record.  From the snippets of comments about the lyrical topics, I think there will be some real heartbreakers on this record, “Your New Twin Size Bed” I’m looking at you.

So if you’re freaked out on first listen, or tempted to write Death Cab off as totally fucking up their good name, relax, take a few more listens, and see if this doesn’t grow on you.  I bet it will.

So this is sort of week old news, but we’ll pretend like we’re on the cutting edge and this news just surfaced today.  Everyone play along okay?  So here it goes!  Mates of States new record, “Re-Arrange Us” is due out May 20th on Barsuk Records. (You realize this means that May is going to have three straight weeks of killer releases with Death Cab’s “Narrow Stairs” out on the 13th, the aforementioned Mates of State out on the 20th, and then Joy Electric’s “My Grandfather, the Cubist” out on the 27th.  All we need now is something rad to come out on May 6th to have a whole month of badass music!)  Things in parentheses aside here’s the scoop straight from the album page on the Barsuk website:

“Though conceived as a duo, Mates of State have never failed to generate a trademark wall of sound built on dozens of varied voicings of keys, drums, and alternately lushly-layered and playfully-dueling vocals. On re-arrange us they move beyond these boundaries (their traditional organ sound is a distant memory, replaced with organic piano and synth sounds) with additional instrumentation — not to mention a quantum leap in songcraft apparent on instantly indelible gems like now, jigsaw and get better. Throughout re-arrange us, Kori’s piano and the emergence of both Mates’ lead vocals from their trademark harmonizing signal the next stage of Mates of State’s evolution.”

Sounds like this is going to be another curve ball in a month of curve balls, considering the new Death Cab is supposed to be quite the “divisive” record, and the new Joy Electric is supposed to be their most minimalistic ever featuring the truest recordings of Ronnie’s voice ever.  It’s gonna be a good curve ball though, since Mates of State have yet to disappoint me.  Here’s the tracklist for all you crazy Mates kids, like me:

01. Get Better
02. Now
03. My Only Offer
04. The Re-Arranger
05. Jigsaw
06. Blue and Gold Print
07. Help Help
08. You are Free
09. Great Dane
10. Lullaby Haze

The Barsuk website promises mp3s up soon.  Sounds good to me!  And, if you didn’t know Kori has an awesome blog called “Band on the Diaper Run” on Babble.  It’s hilarious and heartwarming.  You should all read it.  As a last odd aside,”Help Help” was also the title of a killer song, written by bassist Jeff Ament, on the Pearl Jam album “Riot Act”.

Death Cab revealed the art for Narrow Stairs.  I don’t know what to think, really.  Anyone else?

Death Cab for Cutie released (streaming from their MySpace) the first single from their forthcoming album, Narrow Stairs.  It’s an 8 and a half-minute jam called “I Will Possess Your Heart,” where the at least the first half is a bass-infused groove reminiscent of a more mid-tempo, jammier, “National Anthem.”  It’s pretty good.  The lyrics strike me as typical Gibbard fare.  I think it could’ve been shorter, but they warned us.  People are already preemptively calling this Album of the Year, which is a bit far to go after one single, but it definitely has promise.

Honestly, though, it’s not quite as much of a change as I was expecting, given the original promises/threats.  Take a listen:

Coming Home to Me(You)

Disc One: Finding One’s Heart a Home

Prelude: Hearts With No Homes
1. Yoko Kanno, “Stella By Moor”

Chapter One: A Love Found in Distance
2. Starflyer 59, “I Fell in Love at 22″

Interlude One: The Soldiers of Love
3. Yoko Kanno, “Cosmos”

Chapter Two: The Gnawing Ache of Distances
4. Mae, “We’re So Far Away”
5. Mae, “Someone Else’s Arms”
6. Bon Voyage, “I Just Wanna (Be With You)”

Interlude Two: Sometimes It’s Hard to Know Where Home Is
7. Yoko Kanno, “Road to the West”

Chapter Three: Letters from the Home Front
8. Bruce Springsteen, “Dancing in the Dark”
9. Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run”
10. Death Cab for Cutie, “Transatlanticism”

Interlude Three: There Could Be Grace and Beauty in this Life
11. Yoko Kanno, “Blue”

Chapter Four: Calling the Soldiers of Love Home
12. Joy Electric, “Buttercup Fairy Jamboree”
13. Joy Electric, “Birds Will Sing Forever”
14. Starflyer 59, “Your Company”

Postlude: Leaving the War for Home
15. Yoko Kanno, “Flying Teapot”
16. Yoko Kanno, “I Do”

Disc Two: Yr(My) Home is With Me(You)

Prelude: The Birds That Sing, They Sing for Us
1. Yoko Kanno, “Cyberbird”
2. Yoko Kanno, “Green Bird”

Chapter One: A Homecoming
3. Death Cab for Cutie, “Passenger Seat”
4. Dance House Children, “Once Upon Your Lips”
5. Goat Explosion, “Night Cranes”
6. Interpol, “Public Pervert”

Interlude One: There is Grace and Beauty in this Life
7. Yoko Kanno, “Space Lion”

Chapter Two: Walking in the Sun
8. Yo La Tengo, “Our Way to Fall”
9. Mae, “The Everglow”
10. Mae, “Ready and Waiting to Fall”
11. Starflyer 59, “For Us”

Interlude Two: One Day We Will Look Back and Find…
12. Yoko Kanno, “Waltz for Zizi”

Chapter Three: Our Memories, Forever Treasured
13. Bon Voyage, “On Your Side”
14. Dance House Children, “There Will Never Be”
15. Dance House Children, “Wisteria Time”

Postlude: …That Life Has Been Good to Us
16. Yoko Kanno, “Ave Maria”
17. Yoko Kanno, “Memory”

- Finding One’s Heart a Home - i fell in love at 22 with a girl that’s close to you find a job and find a life no more long days longer nights remembering everything about my world and when you came wondering if the change you’d bring means nothing else would be the same did you know what you were doing did you know did you know how you would move me well i don’t really think so but the night came down and swept us away and the stars they seemed to paint the most elaborate scene to date when the lights first came upon us and we saw the everglow and the moment’s magic swept us away and a young man’s dream was almost seen so plain when was the night that showed us the sign revealed in the ksy to leave all behind but where to begin throwing caution to the wind we reached for the stars everything was now ours it’s so close but we’re so far away i just want to wake up in someone else’s arms i just wanna be with you if you don’t mind i get up in the evening and i ain’t got nothing to say i come home in the morning feeling the same way i ain’t nothing but tired man i’m just tired and bored with myself hey there baby i could use a little help you can’t start a fire you can’t start a fire without a spark baby this gun’s for hire even if we’re just dancing in the dark they say you gotta stay hungry hey baby i’m just about starving tonite i’m dying for some action i’m sick of sitting around here trying to write this book i need a little reaction hey pretty baby give me just one look you can’t start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart this gun’s for hire even if we’re just dancing in the dark baby this town rips the bones from your back it’sa death trap it’s a suicide rap we gotta get out while we’re young cause tramps like us baby we were born to run amanda let me in i wanna be your friend i wanna guard your dreams and visions just wrap your legsround these velvet rims and starap your hands cross my engines together we could break this trap we’ll run till we drop baby we’ll never go back you walk with me out on the wire cause baby i’m just a scared and lonely rider but i gotta know how it feels i wanna know if love is wild baby wanna know if love is real together amanda we can live with  the sadness i’ll love you with all the madness in my soul someday girl i don’t know when we’re gonna get to that place where we really wanna go and we’ll walk in the sun but till then tramps like us baby we were born to run the distance is quite simply much too far for me to row it seems farther than ever before oh no i need you so much closer so come on you are loving i am faithful i’ll do everything i’m able be in love with me here forever king and country live forever birds will sing forever when we’re together so come on and be with me i want your company - Yr(My) Home is With Me(You) - with my feet on the dash the world doesn’t matter when you feel embarassed then i’ll be your pride when you need directions then i’ll be the guide for all time happy daisy sunshine berry bugs dandelion wreath rose verse and prose phlox sweet sap tinglings strawberry jam bloom holly hocks and once upon your lips holly jolly sweet tart harpsichord melodeon songs virginia riddles dwindles penny porcelain chimes so tell me that this is a time for our day dreams i wanna tell you how i feel i wanna hold you close again i want to look around the room and i want to see you in my life hold me in your arms like you do i wanna feel your warmth at night i want you in my arms again there is love to be made so just stay here for this while i remember the song you sang i remember the way you looked at night and i remember the way it made me feel so we’ll try and try even if it lasts an hour with all our might we’ll try to make it ours cause we’re on our way we’re on our way to falling in love here’s the night and it shines and it calls us on and on so be here by my side and watch the stars they’re ours so take it all the way oh and our hearts are on the everglow so just let go and fall into it it’s never been more perfect being alive i’ve never been so satisfied misery’s not company for us not for us you’d never say life’s just all bad when you think of times we’ve had there will never be another day like today where we can sit and smell the roses there will never be another time another place where we can dance in all the flowers kiss the flower that i gave to you to hold and love kiss the days that you gave to me to hold and love remember for me remember for me remember for me…

Friday Mixes is a weekly feature that showcases a mix of songs from various genres that usually share some common theme.  If you have an idea for a theme, email us at feedback@scriptedfailures.com and maybe we’ll use it.

As you may have heard by now, Death Cab for Cutie recently announced that their new album will be released this May.  This is in addition to Chris Walla’s solo endeavor, Field Manual, which should be coming out later this month (the 29th: excited about that one as well).  Plans was a pretty big departure from Transatlanticism, but was equally, if not more, amazing, and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.  According to Walla, the record will be “polarizing.”  I either absolutely love or absolutely hate the sound of that.  Also, they recorded on analog tape, with little overdubbing.

I’ve enjoyed almost every project Ben Gibbard’s had a hand in, so I’m sure this is going to be a quality record, but what to expect?  If you want a first-hand preview, head on over to their website where they’ve put up some video footage of them in the studio.  You can hear part of one song from the new album.  It sounds pretty cool, but you don’t get to hear much before it ends.

Walla stated that a track called “The Ice Is Getting Thinner,” “just breaks [his] heart every time.”  I can’t wait.  There were several songs one could say  that about on Plans,
but the most intense one that comes to mind is “What Sarah Said.”  I
freakin’ love that song.  If they pull out another one that
heart-wrenching and with that kind of emotional intensity, I’ll be a
happy fan.  Nick Harmer said about the same track: “It’s a really pretty, electric
guitar song … it’s somber like … ‘Brothers on a Hotel Bed.’”  Sweet.

Other interesting quotations:

Harmer: “a sampling of the most uptempo, upbeat Death Cab songs as well as some of our saddest”

Walla: “really weird. It’s really, really good, I think, but it’s
totally a curve ball, and I think it’s gonna be a really polarizing
record. But I’m really excited about it. It’s really got some teeth.
The landscape of the thing is way, way more lunar than the urban meadow
sort of thing that has been happening for the last couple of records.”

Walla: “louder and more dissonant and … I think abrasive would be a good word to use.”

Other track names we know so far:

“Bixby Canyon Bridge” (a likely opener)
“I Will Possess Your Heart” (a nine-minute jam)
“Casino Blues” (previously one of Gibbard’s solo songs)

Supposedly, the album features David Bazan from Pedro the Lion and John Broderick of The Long Winters singing on “a couple of choruses.”

Incidentally, I’m also wondering if “Walking the Ghost” might make it onto this album.  If you don’t know (or forgot), “Walking the Ghost” was a politically-charged song written right after Bush’s re-election (and purportedly about it), and was originally slated for Plans, but it didn’t make it onto the album.  Here’s hoping it shows up on their as-of-yet-untitled May release.  I actually made it to the Ashville, NC show on the Tour for Change when Death Cab open for Pearl Jam back in 2004.  That was a great show.  Here’s hoping they tour closer to home after the album’s release this year.

Read more about it from Billboard.com’s article.

The Color Mix

Prologue:

1. Red House Painters, “All Mixed Up”
2. Coldplay, “Yellow”
3. New Order, “Blue Monday”

Exposition:

4. Green Day, “Give Me Novacaine”
5. Tori Amos, “The Power of Orange Knickers”
6. U2, “Ultraviolet (Light my Way)”

Climax:

7. Azure Ray, “We Are Mice”
8. Umbrellas, “June, Summer, Rose”
9. Joy Electric, “The Burgundy Years”

Resolution:

10. The Goo Goo Dolls, “Black Balloon”
11. White Town, “Your Woman”
12. Felt, “Grey Streets”

Epilogue:

13. Death Cab for Cutie, “A Lack of Color”

Friday Mixes is a weekly feature that showcases a mix of songs from various genres that usually share some common theme.  If you have an idea for a theme, email us at feedback@scriptedfailures.com and maybe we’ll use it.