[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick-measuring contest, but it usually turns out that way. This week’s installment commemorates Big Country, whose brilliant but troubled frontman Stuart Adamson committed suicide Dec. 16, 2001. Um… e-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds?]
Records: Big Country’s The Crossing (1983), Steeltown (1984), and The Seer (1986), all on classic black.
Place of Purchase: Crossing came from the late, lamented Disc World in Conshohocken, while the other two came from Siren Records in Doylestown.
Thoughts: I got into Big Country on a whim – I saw The Crossing for like $3 at Disc World, remembered being really into their big hit “In a Big Country,” and figured I might as well take a looksy at their rockitude. Produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, The Smiths, and, uh, Evanescence), the record is rife with Celtic-tinged highland rock. Guitarists Adamson and Bruce Watson used effects to make their guitars sound like bagpipes. It was such a simple trick, but a genius one – The band managed to honor Irish/Scottish folk while maintaining a solid rock edge. They don’t sound anything like The Pogues, but they somehow cover similar territory. Crossing was a revelation for me, pretty much because of that hit single, and I played it constantly when I got it.
That said, I honestly prefer Steeltown. None of the tunes quite top “In a Big Country,” but as an overall album, it flows nicely. This is also where the band figures out its formula, going from just a group with a gimmick (that one guitar trick) to a more fully formed sound. There are plenty of moments where the group recalls its biggest hit (like the “hah!” on “Where the Rose is Sown”), but they also lock into place. “Country” is good because of the guitar, but here there’s an interplay between Adamson and drummer Mark Brzezicki that’s just killer. And while “Big Country” will always be the band’s best song, “Flame of the West” is certainly a solid second place. Very few ’80s records “rock,” but Steeltown sounds amazing. It’s one of those albums that probably would have killed had it come out 20 years sooner or later.
The Seer is where the band’s formula starts to get a little worn. The lyrics are sometimes awkwardly self-conscious in their political leanings, and there a couple of moments where they blatantly rip off “Big Country.” But hey, it’s still Celtic rock. I don’t play The Seer nearly as much as the first two Big Country records, but it’s still solid, all things considered.
Shit son. John Darnielle gave away another free song via Twitter. Click here to check out "Tyler Lambert's Grave." Dude is single handedly justifying Twitter's existence.
Don't forget to check out "You Were Cool," the song Darnielle gave last month. Bless him.
Six by Seven is an ambient drone band from the U.K. with some indie rock touches, which means that as ethereal and noisy as they get, there's a pop sensibility that brings them back to earth. My favorite album of theirs is 04, which the group just so happens to be giving away for free right now. Click here to check it out.
[myPod is an attempt to edit down my CD collection as I import my music on to my brand new 160 GB iPod.]
Back From the Grave
I had developed an interest in ’50s and ’60s garage rock – proto-punk at its most proto – from hanging out at the Philadelphia Record Exchange. The owner there plays the loudest, greatest early rock I’ve ever heard. While I’m still a novice to the genre, the Back From the Grave series has filled in the gaps. The compilation series collects rare seven-inches from obscure bands from the era; some bands’ scant discographies are completely represented by these comps. Some of it comes off a little misogynistic (The Painted Ship’s “I Told Those Little White Lies” is a little too stoked on ruining an ex-girlfriend’s life), but overall it’s a pretty great series, and I look forward to completing the set.
Verdict: Keep.
Band of Horses
I’ve been a BoH fan ever since I saw the video for “Funeral” on Subterranean. I was obsessed with their first two records of country rock in the vein of My Morning Jacket in college, and while new album Infinite Arms is a step down, I still spin it on occasion. Frontman Ben Bridwell has a knack for crafting haunting melodies and pulsing road-ready anthems. Cease to Begin has been my favorite release for about a year now. One day I realized that most of that record reminds me of my girlfriend… besides “Is There a Ghost.” But “No One’s Gonna Love You,” “Detlef Schrempf,” and “The General Specific” form a nice triad of cuddles, so to speak.
Verdict: Keep.
Bane
In another life, I was straight edge. Since then I’ve adopted a more casual attitude towards alcohol but maintain a pretty strict aversion to other drugs. I still hold on to straight edge hardcore band Bane, though, just because the music is dang energetic. Holding This Moment is one of my pick-me-up albums. For whatever reason, it’s soundtracked a few of my failures and speed bumps, and in doing so made me want to try harder. Sounds corny, but these guys keep me going.
Verdict: Keep… except for The Note. That one was a little too mallcore…
The Bangles
Here’s a guilty pleasure for you: The Bangles’ best songs were almost always written by other people (“Manic Monday,” for example, was Prince’s futile attempt to get Susanna Hoffs to sleep with him), but their knack for ’60s melodies a la The Hollies made them better than most ’80s pop acts. I think the band would have been better off forming either 20 years before or after they did – get passed the hammy production of the era and there are some great songs on their greatest hits collection like “Hero Takes a Fall” and, uh, “Walk Like an Egyptian.” Shut up; don’t judge me.
Verdict: Keep.
Banner Pilot
I almost always disagree when bands get compared to Jawbreaker, The Cure, and Bruce Springsteen. Those names get tossed out a lot, but they’re rarely earned. Banner Pilot is one of the few groups I’d actually give the Jawbreaker tag to, though, circa Unfun. Well, that and Dillinger Four. The group bothers to write really catchy songs and really personal lyrics. Frontman Nick Johnson crams each song with images, even though you can’t always tell through his gruff vocals. At this point, my only complaint is that Banner Pilot hasn’t released more material – last year’s Collapser was such a breakthrough that I need another album ASAP.
Verdict: Keep.
Barenaked Ladies
My Canadian girlfriend hates Barenaked Ladies. She makes a big stink about having Canadian pride – she even cheered on Team Canada during the Winter Olympics – but she can’t stand “If I Had $1000000” or “Be My Yoko Ono.” Which is why I usually get death glares when I shout “It’s been!” in her ear. Or maybe it’s because I’m screaming at her. I don’t know. Our relationship is weird. Anyway, I’ve got All Their Greatest Hits, which is pretty much all the BNL I need. It’s got “One Week;” I’m good. The songs are kinda catchy (“Lovers in a Dangerous Time”), kinda silly (“Pinch Me”), kinda nonsensical (The one that goes “Shoebox of lieieieieieieies!”).
Verdict: Keep.
Baroness
Dave Peisner wrote an article for Spin about a year ago about Savannah, Ga.’s metal scene. It was a well-written scene analysis that introduced me to Baroness, Kylesa, and Black Tusk, and I still return to it every few months hoping for more wonders. Us music journalists love labeling any gaggle of bands part of a movement, but Savannah really is the source of today’s best metal bands. These groups write heavy, sludgy jams that just rock so dang hard. Baroness arguably has the most diverse sonic palette, dropping classic metal (“Grad”) and Alice in Chains-style alternative (“Steel That Sleeps the Eye”) into the mix. At this point, I almost have their complete discography. Or, I will once their split with Unpersons comes in the mail. I haven’t loved a metal band like this since Tool circa Lateralus.
Verdict: Keep.
Batman Forever soundtrack
I’ve gone back and forth over this album since its release 15 years ago. I loved Batman Forever when I was a kid, but then I got older and got into punk and kind of started to hate “Kiss From a Rose.” Apparently, I didn’t pay much attention to the track listing, since it also features choice cuts from The Flaming Lips, The Offspring, PJ Harvey, and Sunny Day Real Estate. Method Man contributes “The Riddler,” a fucking rap song about the got-damn Riddler! Never has the tag “Music from and inspired by” been more accurate! The Flaming Lips’ “Bad Days” was used quite well in the film, specifically when Jim Carey’s Riddler kills his boss right after hearing the lines “In real life you hate your job and your boss / But in your dreams you can blow his head off.” Come to think of it, The Riddler might have the best music taste of any Batman character…
Verdict: Keep.
Beach Boys
In a sense, The Beach Boys are the biggest cult band of all time. They were never the most popular band of their era (That would be The Beatles), their best album was a commercial flop (Pet Sounds), and their best period occurred long after the public stopped paying attention (Sunflower, Surf’s Up, and Wild Honey are so good!). Unlike The Beatles, whose best songs almost always ended up as singles, The Beach Boys have a slew of deep cuts on par with any of their hits, like “Salt Lake City” or “All I Wanna Do.” Yeah, sometimes they get a little square – Friends is too hippy-dippy and they wrote way, way too many songs about surfing – but overall The Beach Boys turned out an insane amount of smartly crafted pop songs. Pet Sounds really is their best work, and listening to anything else after it is a little bit of a bittersweet letdown. Brian Wilson’s melodies and arrangements are at their richest, and he never again matched their beauty and dexterity, as Smiley Smile and Wild Honey clearly shows, but the records that followed are still mighty catchy, foreshadowing a lot of what’s going on in indie music right now. Now I’m seriously considering pushing even further into their ’70s discography, as I’ve just read some pretty great things about Love You.
Verdict: Keep, although some of the bonus tracks on the re-issues aren’t worth my time. I love “Good Vibrations,” but how many alternate cuts do I need? Same goes for the pre-Pet Sounds material. I’ll keep the singles and ditch the deep cuts. Have you heard “Farmer’s Daughter?”
NEXT TIME: TERRRRRROOOORRRRHAAAAWWWWWWWK, MMMMMMEEEEETTTRRRROOO, and Chuck Berry.
Last night, my girlfriend and I were talking about what items we're going to leave behind when we move in together next year, when it occurred to me that I will no longer need my mix tapes. It made me sad.
I attended La Salle College High School from 2000 to 2004, in that last gasp before the iPod revolution. Mp3 players were around, but they weren't really all that great. Filesharing was certainly going on, but kids would burn those illegally ripped tunes to CD-Rs. There was still a slight physicality to listening. Like many an unhappy white middle class American youth, I spent a lot of my free time in my car, driving around and brooding. I dubbed mix tapes for myself, agonizing over the song selection, making sure to pick songs that I loved but knew I wouldn't get sick of, and even tossing in a few potential new favorites. I still have most of those tapes.
In later years, I became obsessed with things like energy flow, making sure each song segued into something complementary. I also just got sucked into the act of making a tape. I would stay up all night perfecting a cassette, play it in my car for a couple of weeks, then make another one. I think you can tell when I hit the a.m. mark in each dubbing session, because suddenly the song selection drifted towards more atmospheric fare like My Bloody Valentine and Autolux. But the intros were always punk rock.
There are rules for making mix tapes - Open strong, dial it down a little, then kick ass again. Only use an artist once per tape. Have a good closer. Oddly enough, I never thought about that stuff on my first tape. I just recorded songs I liked.
I have always been reticent about upgrading my technology. Because it's expensive. Because you never know what format is going to survive. Because my old stuff still works. But once I finally upgraded to an iPod, I was pretty much done with tapes. I've kept my collection around, in my closet, for those rare moments when I drive my dad's car, which still has a tape player, but now that I'm moving out, I doubt I'll ever use these tapes again. I'd give them away, but who even uses that format anymore?
I shouldn't be this sad, though. I mean, I still own The Smith's "I Know It's Over" - on compact disc and vinyl, no less. I can listen to these songs whenever I want. I could even recreate the mix tapes as playlists on my iPod. I think it's just that the format afforded me an escape from the mundane and the depressing when I was 17. It gave my friends and I something to sing along to. It meant so much when I was at an age where everything meant so much. Now, it's just more clutter in my closet.
Here's the tracklisting for the first mix tape I ever made:
Mix of Joy + Shouts?!
Side A 1. Yellowcard - "View From Heaven," Ocean Avenue [This is embarrassing, but whatever. I still love this song.] 2. Jawbreaker - "Save Your Generation," Dear You 3. Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven," Diary 4. The Reunion Show - "New Rock Revolution," The Motion EP 5. The Cure - "Just Like Heaven," Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me 6. The Jealous Sound - "Hope For Us," Kill Them With Kindness 7. Eisley - "Marvelous Things," Marvelous Things EP 8. Death Cab For Cutie - "The Sound of Settling," Transatlanticism 9. Simple Minds - "Don't You (Forget About Me)," New Wave compilation 10. The Sounds - "Seven Days a Week," Living in America 11. Foo Fighters - "Everlong," The Colour and The Shape 12. Allister - "Somewhere in Fullerton," Welcome to the Family compilation 13. Allister - "Love Song," Dead Ends and Girlfriends [I ran out of room on my tape and decided to blast through a couple short songs. Can you tell?] 14. Fizzy Bangers - "Short Attention Span," Short Music For Short People 15. Less Than Jake - "Anchor," Short Music For Short People 16. Bigwig - "Freegan," Short Music For Short People [I went vegetarian about a year later]
Side B 1. The Von Bondies - "C'mon, C'mon," Pawn Shoppe Heart 2. Johnny X and The Conspiracy - "Delivered Vacant," Buy, Sell, Trade 3. R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," Document 4. Against Me! - "We Laugh at Danger (And Break All the Rules)," Reinventing Axl Rose 5. Brand New - "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades," Deja Entendu 6. Rival Schools - "Used For Glue," United By Fate 7. Lostprophets - "Last Train Home," Start Something 8. Without Parachute - "A Song Before the End," Here's Without Parachute 9. A Perfect Circle - "Judith," Mer de Noms 10. RX Bandits - "VC3," Progress 11. Strike Anywhere - "Sunset on 32nd Street," Change is a Sound 12. The Distillers - "L.A. Girl," The Distillers 13. The Bouncing Souls - "The Ballad of Johnny X," Maniacal Laughter 14. Rancid - "Don Giovannia," Rancid (2000)
Sometimes, for brief moments, it must suck to be Daft Punk. Generally regarded as one of the best electronic acts around for the last decade or so, the group has entered a cycle in the last five years of having their projects overhyped, critically savaged, and then redeemed. This happened to their last album, Human After All, which didn’t receive the love it deserved until nearly two years later, following a series of brilliantly staged live shows documented on Alive 2007. It seems like Daft Punk might have to go through the cycle all over again with their work on TRON: Legacy, a film in which Jeff Bridges (Starman, Big Lebowski, freakin’ Iron Man) and some young pretty people get trapped inside a computer.
Advance buzz on the project suggested the soundtrack would redefine music or whatever. Obviously, it won’t. There are only so many notes to play. Early reviews seem dismayed by the group’s use of an orchestra to perform their compositions, hoping for something more akin to Alive 2007. The problem is that they’re approaching the soundtrack as Daft Punk fans, and not as TRON fans.
I enjoy Daft Punk and TRON, which I think might explain why I love this record so much.
Let’s set up some parameters for discussing the album: First, TRON: Legacy hasn’t been released yet, so I don’t know how well it will handle as a score. In other words, I don’t know yet how successful the soundtrack is at is primary function. Sometimes brilliant soundtracks don’t do much for their films (Juno), sometimes they don’t hold up as independent works (Inception), and sometimes they’re perfect no matter what (Hans Zimmer’s work on The Dark Knight is flawless. This is not a debate).
It’s also important to take into account aesthetics. TRON: Legacy was never meant to be a sequel to Human After All, so it shouldn’t be regarded as such. But as a sequel to the original TRON soundtrack by Wendy Carlos (with some help from Journey!), it’s stunning. Carlos blended orchestral and electronic music to great effect for the original 1982 soundtrack, marking a milestone just as important as the early works of Kraftwork or the birth of post-punk. But Carlos herself was disappointed in the work, saying at the time that, “My music is simply difficult to perform… We were only allowed two days of orchestral recording, which for the sheer amount and complexity of music that I had written was inadequate” (Keyboard Magazine, Nov. 1982).
Daft Punk, by comparison, was able to organically create their score over the course of two years. They take Carlos’ original ideas and develop them further. For that reason alone, TRON: Legacy is a success. Sure, the duo gets help from Jeff Bridges on track two, “The Grid,” whereby he provides a spoken word explanation of the world inside a computer, but the score has plenty of rising/falling actions, divides up the orchestral-heavy vs. synth-heavy material, and generally creates a world of its own to get lost in.
TRON: Legacy is much more subtle than most people probably expected, as there are plenty of quiet moments, and even plenty of traditional orchestral movie moments. But that’s kind of the point – I know when I listen to the string swells of “Rectifier” that some serious bad guy shit is going down, because the tones used CONVEY BAD GUY SHIT GOING DOWN. These moments make the more Daft Punk-y tunes – upbeat, danceable techno – all the better, though. I’m not sure I would love “Derezzed” as much as I do if it wasn’t surrounded by mellower material. “End of the Line” is a midtempo electronic number, but it’s basically a primer for “Derezzed” to rock the party. Give and take. Tension and release. That’s how good music works.
This is not an album for Daft Punk fans per say, unless those fans also love science fiction and especially love TRON. Because these French robots totally get TRON. But I am excited for people to look back on this record in like a decade as an important document. Also, light cycles.
My buddy Nate just texted to tell me that The Mountain Goats announced details on their new album. The record is called All Eternals Deck, and it is due March 29, 2011 on Merge Records. I'm feeling strangely hopeful for the future.
Thoughts: I got into Big Country on a whim – I saw The Crossing for like $3 at Disc World, remembered being really into their big hit “In a Big Country,” and figured I might as well take a looksy at their rockitude. Produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, The Smiths, and, uh, Evanescence), the record is rife with Celtic-tinged highland rock. Guitarists Adamson and Bruce Watson used effects to make their guitars sound like bagpipes. It was such a simple trick, but a genius one – The band managed to honor Irish/Scottish folk while maintaining a solid rock edge. They don’t sound anything like The Pogues, but they somehow cover similar territory. Crossing was a revelation for me, pretty much because of that hit single, and I played it constantly when I got it.
That said, I honestly prefer Steeltown. None of the tunes quite top “In a Big Country,” but as an overall album, it flows nicely. This is also where the band figures out its formula, going from just a group with a gimmick (that one guitar trick) to a more fully formed sound. There are plenty of moments where the group recalls its biggest hit (like the “hah!” on “Where the Rose is Sown”), but they also lock into place. “Country” is good because of the guitar, but here there’s an interplay between Adamson and drummer Mark Brzezicki that’s just killer. And while “Big Country” will always be the band’s best song, “Flame of the West” is certainly a solid second place. Very few ’80s records “rock,” but Steeltown sounds amazing. It’s one of those albums that probably would have killed had it come out 20 years sooner or later.
The Seer is where the band’s formula starts to get a little worn. The lyrics are sometimes awkwardly self-conscious in their political leanings, and there a couple of moments where they blatantly rip off “Big Country.” But hey, it’s still Celtic rock. I don’t play The Seer nearly as much as the first two Big Country records, but it’s still solid, all things considered. 
