GnarWhal!!!!

PTA Music Video

Brothers, have you seen such splendor?

At once, this seems just another mood-drifting cover of the Lennon tune. But the video is a marvelous heaven, a spectacle of grace. It sucks you in, and then of course you remember just great the song really is and of course, Fiona Apple is a peach. It was all assembled by Paul Thomas Anderson, the Master maker of fine images. It translates beautifully to music videos. Just beautifully

Brian Eno - Another Green World (1975)

Most have heard this soundtrack-esque art pop masterpiece, so this post is a recommendation for those who haven't or those who wish to revisit it.
"Desert guitars" and a combination of organ and piano create a stunning, solemn landscape here, only interrupted by the focused pop songs of "Sky Saw" and "I'll Come Running".  Not feeling out of place, these tracks contribute to the arresting nature of the album with slick Eno/Bowie production.  The album invites deep, personal reflection in the way most successful soundtracks do, as each movement seemingly connects with feelings forgotten.  Brian Eno is an ideas man and this album is a truly magnificent example of his ideas realized.

Broadcast - The Noise Made By People (2000)

      I've never been able to nail down exactly why, but I tend to have a very polarized opinion in regards to vocalists, especially female vocalists. Broadcast, in my opinion, had one of the best female vocalists around, Trish Keenan. She had a mesmerizing, almost seductive, voice that seems to belong with the jazz vocalists. She doesn't get caught up in the frustrating overuse of vibrato and delivers crisp and piercing, yet simple, melodies over the ominous music of the band.

     The album begins with an eerie synth wavering in the foreground and the siren's voice becons to the listener,  "will you stay, now you're here," you want to stay, you want to keep listening. Much of the album bears the burden of the minor key with screeches from strings and synths which at many times are very uncomfortable. Such a juxtaposition with the comforting voice leaves the listener questioning whether or not to trust her. "Come on let's go," she pleads. It's in the comments if you need a taste.

Here's the fourth track on the album,

Obsession

Built around Atomic Forest's title track, "Obsession '77", from the 1981 lost treasure of Indian psychedelic rock whose vinyl rarity sells for thousands of dollars today (not that it should have anything to do with the album's actual quality), Mike Davis's psychedelic compilation brings to light an impressive collection of super-rare tracks.  The album displays music from all across the world spanning from the early-60s to mid-70s, bringing together a nice collage of different native instrumentation of psych rock. If you are like me and rarely fall off the well-worn path of Western psych rock, or if you can't decide if you like face-melting guitar solos more with native Argentenian drums or Turkish folk music, this one will most likely rattle those sneakers pretty hard.  Every track on here is a monster; I'd wager that never has so much fuzz been unleashed in one package. Come catch it in the comments, and leave one while you are at it.

Katrina Relief from The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

As everyone's aware of, 2005 brought the highest costing natural disaster in America's history with the Atlantic's Hurricane Katrina.  It claimed nearly 2,000 lives and turned a historic coastline to rumble.  With the government's untimely response and an unfathomable need for reconstruction, the nation, and city of New Orleans in particle, were left to criticize heavily, dwelling in a torn state of sadness and unifying hope.

As the victims looked into the ruins, the question of "What's Going On!?" must have come to the front of New Orleans' collective consciousness more than a few times.  It was this state of mind that brought Nawleans own Dirty Dozen Brass Band to aid.  The fiery brass funk group made a decision in 2006 to rework Marvin Gaye's classic, What's Going On? to both remind citizens' of their unified feelings of outrage, sadness, and hope, and to raise money for Katrina relief in the album's sales.  I've only played through it once thus far but it's right on!

The cover album stays relatively true to the original, maintaining the original track list and general soulful vibes, held down lyrically by a diverse cast from Guru and Chuck D to Bettye Lavette and G. Love.  However,  the heavy brass makes it pop like I couldn't have prepared myself for.  Chuck D opens the album dropping crisp lines to the album's title track.  He's in top form for this song.  Lavette has had quite a bit of notoriety doing covers these past few years, and she strikes gold on "What's Happening Brother", one of my favorite reworks on the album.  G. Love sort of struggled to find his voice in the context of "Mercy Mercy Me" but I suppose he still held up better than I expected him to.  A bold choice though for sure.  My favorite track on this disc has to be the cover of "Right On".  Dirty Dozen Brass Band truly has a knack for keeping true to the soul of a song while still tearing it apart and making it their own musically.  Guru closes out the album with "Inner City Blues".  I'm not incredibly familiar with Marvin's version of this song, and didn't pay much attention to Guru's rhymes, but his voice sounds great over the brass and he's always providing prophetic closing words to his many projects (RIP).  

Check it out here to support the cause.

Also I tossed the link in the comments if you want a run-thru before purchase or just don't have much cash.

No Trend - Tritonian Nash Vegas Polyester Complex (1987)

No Trend pissed people off. They pissed everybody off, even the sharp dressed punks who acted like all-time bad-asses, but in reality spent time in their rooms letting the mirror decide just how punk and black and sharp they really looked. No Trend played their name. They saw through how punk was in itself a trend, despite the very trend being "we're against trend". No Trend was as nihilistic as it gets, a harsh truth, they were really Against The Grain. When punk was amidst its Straight Edge fling, No Trend says "Mass Sterilization Caused By Venereal Disease".

The music is gold, too--loud lounge jazz, horns blazing perhaps, rock 'n roll, noir punk, and poetically cringing lyrics in which no matter who you are, you will find yourself in the cross-fire of their finger-points. And that was their deal I guess, their intention was a freak show, to say screw 'em to everybody.

Here's a video of their Big Hit "Teen Love", in which two plastic-eyed, algebra class lovers meet their end in a fatal car wreck. What a song. and grab Tritonian Nash Vegas Polyester Complex in the comments.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez -Telesterion (2011)

Supreme dictator of the unknown and steam-powered musical engine Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is "at it again" with what feels like his 30 or 40th studio release, Telesterion.  If you couldn't keep up with last year's 10 new albums like me, don't panic, as Telesterion is a much-needed compilation of 38 tracks spanning all across Omar's solo projects.  Over the course of his life, Omar has dabbled in all kinds of genres, nomadically discarding the musical approach taken in each previous album and playing with many different musicians, all the while retaining his signature melodic dissonance and unpredictability on guitar.  The dynamic of the album can seem a little weird at times, with jumps from heavy rock with spanish vocals to laid-back instrumental funk with real sexy saxophone work. Keep an ear open for the drums too, reigning great work from avant-garde powerhouses Deantoni Parks and Thomas Pridgen. Grab it down in the comments.

...as a baby's bottom: Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic

Just recently made the switch to vinyl! And the blog's back in session. Ya! So I'll be throwing up a few oldies records I've recently been throwing around.
Steely Dan are one of the pen-ultimate bands to collect on vinyl.  Rarely is something this smooth, with slick production and tight instrumentation, also capable of maintaining a cool factor.  Rock fusion groups like Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra, maybe, but....they're jazz fusion.  
The album is Dan's prime example of the marriage between studio professionalism and Fagen's vicious lyrics. The low to-the-ground funk of "Monkey In Your Soul" and tight jam on the self-titled track show the band sounding off like an actual rock "band" for the last time, as beyond this album Steely Dan became two dudes and a bunch of session musicians. This album deserves a more thorough review but I'm heading out to get a costume.  Enjoy your junk food.

"When the demon is at your door, in the morning he won't be there no more.  Any major dude will tell you..."
Wilco try to pay homage here, fairly successfully..

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum/ Outisdeinside

Thought I might open up this old shop again with a goody bag from Blue Cheer: their debut from '68 Vencebus Eruptum and the follow-up Outsideinside released later that year. A Hard Rock Trio.

Watch the video below of them playing what-might-be-the-best-song-of-all-time "Summertime Blues". They have the first heavy metal drummer in rock 'n roll, just look at his hair and the way he slackly bangs at the drums. No one is cooler than Blue Cheer.