The Spin, Nashville Scene: Lambchop at Cheekwood Nights 6/3/11

(photo: Steve Cross)

When The Spin arrived at 9 on the dime to see Lambchop perform at Cheekwood's inaugural Cheekwood Nights show, a ritual inspection of our sonic sanctuary revealed welcoming bathrooms and expertly set up bars. Dignified urinations and prompt libations often elude The Spin, so with a capital A-OK, we traversed the sizable lawn to realize we should've brought a blanket. Yes, the cicadas were abuzz, but a brook's babble drowned their drone, and the atmospheric din of nature rather suited the affair. Cheekwood Nights is like if Bonnaroo got into Harvard.

Lambchop — endearingly but inaccurately introduced by Cheekwood president and CEO Jane Offenbach as "The Lambchops" — already immortalized their song "Give It" as the grand finale for Merge Records' 20th anniversary a couple years back. But they opened with it Friday, thus pumping up The Spin. But debut songs dominated the night, such as "Kinda," with flourishes of spritely sci-fi keyboards, and "Gone Tomorrow," a soulful rock ditty that was steadily rollin' on the river with a blistering psychedelic outro.

The Spin dug "Nice Without Mercy," a post-rock lullaby, and relished "The Good Life Is Wasted on Me," when Lambchop finally hopped on their horses, firing off some serious Seger bullets. Next came "Sharing a Gibson With Martin Luther King Jr.," a choo-choo of a song that rolls on the drums, toots friendly keys and sparkles with guitar licks: a sublime product of soulful mechanics. True, this analogy might have something to do with the gigantic outdoor toy-train exhibit at Cheekwood right now.

Bugs of various scientific names misted the light show, and before launching into "If Not I'll Die," Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner quipped "the beetles love me," his facetious braggadocio making for a funny pun. (Not to mention — The Spin thinks — a credible hypothetical were George and John still with us.) After the trumpet-accompanied "Mr. Met," Wagner cracked, "How we doin' on that Belle Meade egg timer?" teasing the tranquil crowd that we might actually be terrorizing the manor. The 'Chop then launched into another of their finest flock, "National Talk Like a Pirate Day" a solid piano-rock jam that might have moved The Spin to dance in less exalted environs.

Egg timer running low, Wagner & Co. debuted "Buttons," a slower number of Motown motivation. The Spin seems to remember Wagner saying that the song laments a girl from his past who dated his buddy — "a real prick." "Of course," he said, "I couldn't help her because so was I at the time." Feeling decidedly not prickly thanks to Lambchop, the Spin abandoned the Gatsby-esque environment with its "consoling proximity of millionaires" by 11 p.m. Now that's what The Spin calls a first-class Friday (in the traditional sense).

Nashville Cream: American Masters: LENNONNYC and Nashville's Steve Marcantonio

There are many good reasons to watch American Masters: LENNONNYC tonight, two of which involve American pride and Steve Marcantonio. If the first rationale is confusing, well, Lennon loved New York City, wistfully wishing he had been born there, and if the second explanation fails, then allow me to elaborate.

According to an NPT interview with Marcantonio celebrating the documentary, Nashville resident Steve Marcantonio is the 2010 recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Engineer of the Year Award and has worked for mega-stars such as George Strait, Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire. However, Marcantiano's most impressive recording arguably went to tape 30 years ago, when he worked for the Record Plant in New York City. There, he and John Lennon spent a week in December 1980 mixing Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice," a tropical and New Wave ditty, the sound of which evinced Lennon's recent sailing trip to Bermuda. Bermuda also inspired Lennon to name his and Yoko's Double Fantasy (a flower that, to Lennon, symbolized the artists’ relationship). Marcantonio would have worked full-time on Double Fantasy had his workload not been tyrannized by obligations pertaining to the Blues Brothers Soundtrack.

During their time together, Lennon and Marcantonio engaged in recreational activities such as walking and air-guitaring. Lennon was so interested in a device described by Marcantonio that produced artificial clapping noises (the Clap Track), that he put two Benjamins in Marcantonio’s hand so that he might procure it for future — perhaps New Wave — uses. When Lennon was shot, his hand clutched the final mix of “Walking on Thin Ice,” put there by Marcantonio hours earlier.

American Masters: LENNONNYC, about Lennon's life in NYC beginning a year after The Beatles' 1970 breakup, airs tonight at 8 p.m. CST on NPT.

Nashville Cream: South By Southwest Does Nashville at The Basement

Pre-party for SXSW (that stands for South By Southwest in case you forgot) at The Basement March 13 and 14 by catching some Austin-bound acts. Next, skip the Actual Event because that's what you did in college before the overrated frat parties. Didn't go to college? You cannot skip because you're actually playing the festival! (Kidding.) Partake in this easily justifiable opportunity to see high-caliber bands of relative anonymity (like at the SXSW of yore) by catching 'em on their way to Austin and beyond. ... There is an alternative to traveling 750 miles to join a pungent, muy caliente sardine-can crowd whose smell is part Queens of the Stone Age fan, part Duran Duran fan. (Kidding again; you'll have a great time.) To hear proof that these bands are up to snuff and a pinch above it, check out some choice tracks below and go to The Basement for the full schedule.

Sunday, March 13
Elephant Stone: who tactfully take more than just their name from the Stone Roses. Check out the Jackie Wilson bass line introducing the paisley gem "I Am Blind."

Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion: who, like Man ... or Astroman? before them (and the Spotnicks before them), play full-throttle surf rock with a science fiction and horror shtick. You can listen to their latest album for free.

Monday, March 14
Reptar: whose excellently named — not to mention significantly catchy — dance-rock track "Houseboat Babies" was produced by Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, Bad Boys).

High Dials: whose imminently polished mod-meets-psychedelic rock opened up a Brian Jonestown Massacre tour (bet they have some good stories) and is driven by The Dears' ex-drummer. (Grimey loves the Dears, for what it's worth.) Here's a song: "I'm Over You (I Hope It's True)"

Nashville Cream: Pitchfork Reviews KORT and Jessica Lea Mayfield Today 2/11/11

Pitchfork writer and Tennessee native Stephen M. Deusner reviews KORT's Invariable Heartache and Jessica Lea Mayfield's Tell Me today, and the results are a 7.6 and 7.7, respectively; in other words, three-quarters as good as fellow country music-tinged Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Not bad.

Deusner appreciates Mayfield's "eloquently analytical love songs," observing that Tell Me is "as musically assured as it is romantically conflicted," which is a recipe for great music, am I right? Deusner mentions The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach twice, once for producing the album's "snappy immediacy" and also for his guitar work, which "crashes brutally against Mayfield's delicate vocals" — a ravishing affair, not unlike when Zeus, disguised as a bull, raped Europa. Anyways, Auerbach's guitar work is noteworthy on Tell Me, flipping the channel from his usual Junior Kimbrough station to the Chris Isaak network. I know this because I listened to it for free.

Deusner takes a biographical approach to reviewing Invariable Heartache; his first two paragraphs explore the history between Chart Records and Connie Eaton (Cortney Tidwell's mother), a story with which we are all very familiar. Deusner describes Kurt Wagner's voice as an "eccentric take on a cowboy croon," whereas Tidwell performs "a robust, breathy version of a traditional starlet," and the author reverently reduces the effort to "one of Lambchop's more countrified albums." Dude also name-checks Grimey's and The Basement, the former because its crates might be the last sanctuary for Chart Records' original output and the latter because that's where Tidwell and Wagner first sang together (an impromptu cover of Don Williams' "I Believe in You").

P.S. Remember Pitchfork 10 years ago? I do. They used to give out some high scores to some mediocre bands. Incubus' S.C.I.E.N.C.E received an 8.7 and Save Ferris' It Means Everything received a 9.5. Any other hilarious hindsight you'd care to share?

Kurt Vile Preview for the Nashville Scene 4/9/11

“Yeah.” It’s an important word in rock ’n’ roll. Ask Lou Reed, Eric Burdon and, more recently, Kurt Vile, perhaps this generation’s finest Yeah-sayer, whose languid yet amber enunciation of the word embodies cool detachment. But Vile (his actual surname) is also an American guitar genius, strumming out clear guitar strokes and layering riffs intricately until his multi-faceted composition cycles kinetically like electronic music, yet is as rooted in our American heartland as Springsteen’s Nebraska. Written off as too alien initially, Kurt Vile’s career orbit has gained proximity to his audience with each album. In 2009 he released Childhood Prodigy, which oscillates between the clean-riffed, ad infinitum motorik-boogie of “Freak Train,” to the pensive and cyclical acoustic ruminations on “Blackberry.” This year Vile released Smoke Ring for my Halo, which scraps the previously prevalent effects pedals for deeper and more organic roots. Do I think Vile shouldn’t be missed? Yeah.

— William Hooker

Live Review for American Songwriter: Beach House @ Mercy Lounge, Nashville, 4/28/10

By William Hooker May 5th, 2010 at 8:53 am

Victoria Legrand at The Mercy Lounge (L) [credit: Steve Cross] and the show poster (R)
In 2007, a crowd of two dozen attended Nashville’s last Beach House show where the up and coming buzz band opened the Basement for the Clientele. At the time, the group’s belt barely bolstered a self-titled debut. So it’s praiseworthy that the Baltimore band’s latest jaunt to Music City attracted maximum capacity to the Mercy Lounge. Beach House deserves this credit which is based on the strengths of two subsequent, stronger releases, Devotion and Teen Dream. On the other hand, good for Nashville youth filling the venue, however, at times, watching the audience seemed like witnessing an audition for lead roles in the movie version of Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day. Then again, a 6’4” 230 lb audience member attempting to maneuver his self closer to the stage past scrawny, bed-headed shoe gazers inevitably provokes dejected demeanors. C’est la vie…

Speaking of size, the main attraction, French-born female lead singer Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scally (joined by a touring drummer), loomed large in front of a fitting set design: four three-foot, tinfoil-tiered octahedrons that reflected magenta and turquoise light, not unlike the set of an Ed Wood alien arena, especially since they wobbled on pole bases at a measly 5 RPM. Beach House remained mostly backlit and Legrand’s viscous, slow-creeping melodies were pretty well personified by these eerie geometries that served as the stage’s primary light source. The band opened with “Walk In The Park,” one of the finer moments on Teen Dream and evidence of Scally’s penchant for sped-down New Order riffs, and reinforced by Legrand’s simple synth poundings. After a few more songs, including “Better Times” and “Norway,” it was becoming increasingly evident that Legrand was winning the dance-off between herself and the audience. Her curly, frizzed hair and head-banging Cousin It impersonation easily outmatched the typical indie-rock crowd posture that is less like Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah and more like Cross My Arms and Say No Thank You.

Beach House’s unique combination of lush, funereal organ and morose, sultry guitar licks converts well to the stage, and detectable was a sense of professional momentum. Where will Nashville’s next Beach House unfold? The Ryman could do a lot worse…

Album Review for American Songwriter: TORO Y MOI > Causers Of This

By William Hooker February 2nd, 2010 at 11:06 am

TORO Y MOI
Causers Of This
(CARPARK)
Rating:
Toro y Moi is the moniker for Columbia, South Carolina-born Chaz Bundick, an African-Fillipino electronic rock musician whose penchant for woozy and amiable synths married to an innocuous although captivating hip hop beat packs his debut: Causers of This. If recent, dizzy-to-the-core songs by artists like Animal Collective, Beach House, Neon Indian or Washed Out don’t eventually make you more spew-likely than sitting bitch in Wayne and Garth’s “Mirth Mobile,” then the swirliness of this release promises to add more welcome glow to your cerebrospinal fluid.

Sonically, the concept behind Toro y Moi is similar to the visual appeal of a Polaroid photograph: by blurring the details, an otherwise mundane scenario can portend meaning, authenticity, and nostalgia; no track in recent memory demonstrates this concept more than first track “Blessa.” Part J-Dilla, part My Bloody Valentine, “Blessa” starts with an intriguing introductory guitar and vocal loop, a casual and experimental warm up with subtle momentum. After an impeccable half-second total fade-out (like a split second of airplane turbulence) the song is reborn concisely with a tight, digital beat and a diamond of a guitar riff: simple, precise, and elegant. Fans of the Polaroid formula might enjoy Causers in its entirety despite Bundick’s inability to glorify the whole chill formula with more than one dose; queasier listeners needn’t listen past the first track.

Profile for American Songwriter: The xx

By William Hooker November 30th, 2009 at 7:00 am

The xx make dark, tightly composed and sensually delivered pop music, a unique result that sounds a bit like Interpol or Young Marble Giants, certainly in the indie rock tradition; therefore, in slight contrast to bassist Oliver Sim’s claimed influences: TLC and Aaliyah. That The xx embrace ‘90s r&b artists without a hint of irony is believable when (bassist and singer) Sim remarks, “I enjoy the melodies from those artists, but that’s about all I take from mainstream music,” rejecting the band’s propensity to sell out.  Claiming disinterest in mainstream appeal used to be code for artistic purity; however, considering the meta-genre that indie rock has become lately, who’s to say one can’t embrace the highway and the road less travelled without confusing everyone in the process?
It’s clear that the band has had a lot of time to share ideas with each other; according to Sim, “Romy and I have known one another since nursery [school], and we met Baria and Jamie in secondary school when we were 11… all our houses were about five minutes from one another growing up.”  The band immediately became fond of playing shows at venues rather than playing at school, “We could have played talent shows at school but we avoided them; we were kind of secretive about the band, and it’s a lot easier playing to people you don’t know than the ones you go to school with.”  Possibly, this secretiveness has something to do with the highly personal, sexual and discernable lyrics prevalent on their self-titled release; if the band is comfortable letting us in on their personal lives, perhaps that’s because we don’t have P.E. with them Monday morning.
According to Sim, these lyrics serve as the foundation for the band’s catalogue, and, when asked to reflect on a trend in their writing process, the bassist states “the songs start with lyrics, what Romy and I have written, and we come together and collage… adding bass and guitar to that. Baria and Jamie fill it out after that into a proper song.”  When these songs possess beauty, it is always a dark charm, a characteristic Sim chalks up to influences: “A lot of my favorite songs are very dark. Whether intentionally or not, that darkness has made it into my songwriting,” he says, adding, “However, many of the lyrics are not dark and I like how you can be singing a pretty optimistic song and deliver it in a dark way.”  These favorite songs include Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” (whose influence is very obvious on the slow and shadowy ballad “Infinity”) and the Cure’s “Lullaby,” which he calls “very dark but quite fun at the same time.”
Sim admits that the band’s parents (most of whom are also big Cure fans) enjoy the band, and if they don’t enjoy their children’s professional path, then they at least tolerate it. According to Sim, “All our parents are friends; they sort of chose us to be friends, actually.” At this point in the conversation, talking about elders, I relate an anecdote I heard recently about U2’s guitarist, Edge, who once said he disliked telling his grandmother that he was a guitarist, since someone her age wouldn’t respect that sort of profession. Asked about his own granny, Sim relates that he has “a younger granny who checks my MySpace and she’s down with the band, got the album and everything and is quite on it. Whereas, I have a great aunt who is like 94 and I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m,  like, in an orchestra or something so… as long as she’s happy.”  On the theme of age and taste, I ask Sim which he’d prefer attending:  the symphony or a really good horror movie? “Probably a symphony just because it would be a first and I’ve gone to many a horror movie in my time.” We agree that this would make his great aunt proud.

Member	Age	Role	Influences
Oliver Sim	20	Vocals, Bass	TLC, Aaliyah
Romy Madley Croft	20	Vocals, Guitar	Distillers, CocoRosie
Baria Qureshi	20	Keyboards	Electro-clash
Jamie Smith	20	Production	Future Hip Hop

Album Review for American Songwriter: KINGS OF CONVENIENCE > Declaration of Dependence

By William Hooker November 2nd, 2009 at 12:46 pm

KINGS OF CONVENIENCE
Declaration of Dependence
(ASTRALWERKS)
Rating:
On the surface, the artful and sensitive music of Kings of Convenience seems reserved for dilettantes, thirsty for music ripe with aesthetics. Their entire catalogue, of which Declaration of Dependence is the third installment, delivers a dense dose of exquisite Nordic accents, Brazilian guitar arrangements and flourishes of classical music. Although the group’s album sales might benefit from the dilettante demographic, their tunes are equally accessible to the same listeners who enfranchised fellow library-voiced harmonizers Simon and Garfunkel into the pages of the American Songbook for their whispering, folk-pop three-and-a-half decades earlier. Flowering from these roots is a modern pep, a sensitive joie de vivre with which Declaration dignifies today’s youth by reaching out to older styles.

To many, however, the intimacy of KoC’s slow ditties can almost yield discomfort. During these Indian-style-on-carpet-square jams, Erlend and Eirik’s mouths can seem mere millimeters from the microphone that picks up their fingers heard scraping against the strings during chord changes. Fortunately, the majority of Declaration operates at medium to half-medium speeds, a carefree tempo that is their forté. But despite this agenda to soothe, KoC never openly imply that happiness should be directly attainable (unlike Jack Johnson or Bobby McFerrin). The themes on Declaration involve existential dilemmas like relationship indecision and suffering caused by individuality. Like a Wes Anderson film, KoC intertwine a bleak narrative into a colorful and intricate overture.
For instance, the single “Mrs. Cold” describes a girl behaving frostily, because, Øye tells her: “When I step too close to your boundaries/You feel vulnerable about me.” Accompanying this melodrama is a simple, affectionate and impeccable guitar line running through the chorus as singer Øye asks goofily, “Hey baby, what’s going on?”

A similar formula pervades “Boat Behind,” a buoyant gypsy-jazz number about couples refusing to commit, their obstinate reason being, “I could never belong to you.” The group continues to contrast melancholic truths with mellifluous delivery on “Rule My World,” where Øye stretches out this erudite, hopeless manifesto to womankind, “Only/Someone’s who’s morally/Superior could possibly/And honestly deserve/To rule my world.”

On Declaration of Dependence, the band plays with the title of the 1776 American-document that divorced the colonies from the British Empire, clever for a band with “King” in the title. That Øye and Bøe call themselves Kings of Convenience and, for 10 years, have maximized the convenience of listening, makes the band legitimate and close to genius.

Album Review for American Songwriter: JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD > Heavy Days

By William Hooker October 14th, 2009 at 9:56 am

JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD
Heavy Days
(INFINITY CAT)
Rating:
In 2004, Nashvillian brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall formed Be Your Own Pet whose kicked-out, teenage jams, led by a mouthy, female singer, eventually impressed legendary Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore enough to include them on tour. However, Jake was never actually crowned with these laurels because he quit the band to visit Iceland, before BYOP even really Pitchfork-ed its way to critical surface. Oddly, perhaps brotherly, younger brother Jamin quit BYOP during their career pinnacle, shortly after Jake’s U.S. reentry. The Brotherhood then played multitudinous Nashville shows, moved to Chicago, but returned to Music City and played countless more. Purely, dually masculine, JEFF’s live-show rivals BYOP’s: hyperactive—nevertheless in-sync—psychedelic rock. After three years of five-buck gigs, JEFF have released Heavy Days, a culmination, but also somewhat unexpectedly, an accreditation of pop-rock. “Heavy-Krishna” embodies their penchant for rubbery-riffed layers of upbeat repetition, but quintessential “Bone Jam” demonstrates the band’s two-chorded capacity to hum, drum and capture the listener’s soft spot.

Album Review for American Songwriter: THE GOSSIP > Music for Men

By William Hooker September 1st, 2009 at 2:46 pm

GOSSIP
Music for Men
(COLUMBIA)
Rating:
Beth Ditto could refresh American Idol’s vocal-visual dichotomy since the singer has deft pipes and a proneness to be pictured, proudly overweight, on magazine covers. Instead, the Arkansas native beat obscurity through indie-rock with a mixture of Patti Labelle, dance-punk, and humor (e.g. eating pizza while performing) on Standing in the Way of Control. Opening the Rick Rubin-produced Music for Men, “Dimestore Diamond” applies post-punk chops to a soul model, a successful if superfluous hybridization. On single “Heavy Cross,” a disco track that pendulates between a verse of Blondie-glitz and a chorus of enraged vocals/angular guitars, Ditto irately bemoans this “cruel cruel world.” Previous to this release, Ditto had fun with her big girl image; the fun is over on Music for Men, and so, too, is the allure.

Album Review for American Songwriter: AIR > Love 2

By William Hooker September 1st, 2009 at 2:46 pm

AIR
Love 2
(ASTRALWERKS)
Rating:
Air is famous for transforming new age music people used love to hate into top-shelf kitsch hipsters love to love. Love 2 marks the first recording at their very own Atlas Studio and, despite cementing a comfort zone therein for Air-like jams, this recording possesses some anomalies to the band’s usual aesthetic. For instance, the drumming, this time undertaken by an American Joey Waronker, often ticks rather speedily, thus transferring action from bedroom to dancefloor. Also novel are the guitar accoutrements, from the heavily psychedelic “Do the Joy” and “So Light is Her Footfall” to the surf-rock riff on “Be a Bee.” That the band is the ambassador of modern French pop says as much about the French as it does the millions of non-French who’ve elected them: we all like France sounding like this.

Profile for American Songwriter: The Features

By William Hooker July 13th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

Songs are not always what they seem; never confidently infer meanings of a lyric from a band’s bio. For instance, on the sensitively swinging boogie “Off Track,” the 12th song on Nashville band The Features’ Some Kind of Salvation, vocalist and primary songwriter Matt Pelham sings “we’ve been told/that we’ve been close/that all is won/but mostly lost.” Salvation is the first release since their abrupt separation with Atlantic Records, and Pelham’s words seem mindful of being off-label, but also hopeful, when he sings: “We gotta get back in line/We’re off-track again.” Explaining the song’s significance, Pelham tells us, “It’s definitely not about the record label at all… it’s more of a relationship thing.” Whether or not being with a label can resemble the wavy, peak-trough pattern commonly marked by a romantic relationship, Pelham admits, “I suppose…with any type of relationship, one with a label can be as trying as one with a girlfriend.” Pelham validates my question politely and I understand clearly that Some Kind of Salvation is no poison dart aimed at label chiefs. Not that there’s no danger in his songs, the menace is just not in one precise direction; “Foundation’s Cracked,” “G.M.F,” and “Temporary Blues” rock diffusely, power pop that neither exploits nor hides their Southern, rural roots. Asked whether or not the band might venture into darker, more experimental directions in the future, Pelham informs me that “most of these songs are five- to six- years old and when making the record we just wanted the songs to fit together… ultimately it comes down to being cohesive.”

Another six-year-old track, “Temporary Blues,” recalls Pelham’s soul-crushing experience as a Pillsbury factory worker; on it he sings, “An occupation… they say it should be something you like/But hard times don’t allow a poor boy to choose how he provides.” Asked whether or not ex-co-workers might be listening to the new record now, Pelham suspects not: “I highly doubt any of them have ever heard it; when I left I kind of never looked back… although I imagine the feelings on the song were mutual for lots of the workers.”

Pelham’s focus on how he provides stems from his family. Despite living near Nashville, seeing local shows is not a priority. “I’ve always kind of wanted to get out more and see a lot of local bands and support the scene but I’m always extremely busy with work [as a printmaker], our band, my wife and two kids. It’s always a juggling act to go out and see bands or even a movie for that matter; it’s not easy.”

Despite the hard work evident on Salvation, it’s often light-hearted and summer-appropriate due in part to Pelham’s falsetto-prone voice. This style, evident on the sunny chorus of “Lions,” Pelham “developed over the years from what I enjoyed listening to; when I was really young I liked John Lennon vocals so much… and he was imitating Little Richard so when I was younger I would overdo it, and do it all the time. Hopefully now I keep control of it.”

Another song on Salvation, “Baby’s Hammer” is a soft ditty that compares a destructive tool to “a significant other’s displeasure… trying to please someone and never quite doing that; the hammer is her temper for not making it to church or not making enough money.” Could this hammer possibly contain providence? “I definitely think it’s good to have someone to keep you in line, it’s not a bad thing.”

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Matthew Pelham
Age 34
Favorite songwriter albums: John Prine, Sweet Revenge, Bob Dylan, Desire

Rollum Haas,
Age 29
Enjoys Randy Newman’s songs, particularly “Sail Away” & “Good Old Boys”

Mark Bond,
Age 28
Favorite Songwriters: Elvis Costello and Brian Wilson

Roger Dabbs,
Age 34
His Favorite Songwriting Duos: Rod Argent/Chris White of The Zombies and Dave Clark/Mike Smith of the Dave Clark 5

Album Review for American Songwriter: BILL CALLAHAN > Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

By William Hooker May 1st, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Label: DRAG CITY
Rating:
Any male whose voice dropped to Barry White frequency levels after puberty should appreciate Bill Callahan’s low croon, a modest and complacent baritone which stands behind Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, an album comprised of engaging tempos, purposeful orchestration and sagacious guitar lines. Like his contemporary Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, Callahan’s tracks pay homage to the speak-singing of Leonard Cohen. However, Eagle’s ingenuity also stems from Callahan’s backup band (primarily Callahan’s old band: Smog) and their emphasis on timing and beats differs from the more ethereal, legato nature of Cohen’s works. For instance, drums and bass (the two instruments Callahan does not play on this release) set a specific tone on “My Friend,” where Callahan chants the song’s title grittily like Tony Montana from Scarface amid an upbeat, metronomic rhythm section that resembles Dream Theater or Mannheim Steamroller. On “Too Many Birds,” the band eventually builds up to a moment of ‘70s piano-pop bliss when it seemingly imitates Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”

Callahan’s lyrics, in combination with his deep delivery, often engage the listener in some sort of word game, comparable to a Stephen Wright one-liner (see: the Callahan album Dongs of Sevotion). For instance, his pun in “Rococo Zephyr” goes: “I once was sort of lost/but now can sort of see,” updating “Amazing Grace” to say he sort of experiences Grace (or maybe he’s saying Grace is sort of Amazing). On the track “Too Many Birds,” Callahan again confuses a timeworn phrase, humming: “Too many birds/In one tree,” effectively robbing the bird in the hand of its long held, safe probability. One figures that Callahan dislikes clichés (like any basic artist) but he’s not at war with them.

Callahan’s capacity for darkness and brooding also emerges on this release. The gloomily melodic track “The Wind and the Dove” contains the lyrics “Somewhere in between…the wind and the dove/lies all I sought in you.” On the album’s closer, an existential hymn called “Faith/Void,” Callahan sings the verse, “It’s time to put God away” over and over before claiming in the bridge that “This is the end of faith/No more must I strive to find my peace;” bleak words indeed. However the track’s chorus features a joyous, sun-soaked, psychedelic guitar lick which invokes upon the listener the soul-satisfying sounds of Shuggie Otis. Who says atheists ain’t got no soul?

American Songwriter's SXSW: THE FEATURES

By William Hooker March 20th, 2009 at 10:20 am

Last year’s self-released Some Kind of Salvation proved that as long as The Features want to make music, we will listen. Having been in the game for 15 years, the Tennessee rock band are somewhat of an anomaly. While speaking with Matt Pelham, the band’s singer and primary writer, we discussed the distance between the Features and mainstream success, as well as the various hoops in between. Matt was neither supercilious of industry fickleness, nor eager to jump through our hoop (it’s OK, we like that); his band the Features play SXSW for their fourth time. Don’t expect to see Matt at the after parties.

Thanks for calling on your lunch break.
No problem.
What kind of work do you do outside the band?
Screen printing.
How has it been touring with Kings of Leon?
When we were touring it was always pretty good. When we first started as a band we were used to playing smaller venues and then Kings of Leon started jumping up and so we went from 400 person venues to 7000 people arenas.
So they’ve been cool to you guys?
They’ve been very cool.
How did you guys meet? Did they hear your music or were you friends before, seeing as how both the Features and Kings of Leon are from middle Tennessee?
We’d never met them before. We were playing a CD release show and their sound guy…used to be our sound guy [laughs]… and so he told them about us, they came to the CD release show and liked our music.
I’ve often heard it expressed that The Features deserve more acclaim. Is it ever appropriate to feel entitled to more success?
Yeah, I mean I think, I don’t know, I don’t think we deserve more than anybody else — it’s all a matter of, well, luck, and it sort of depends on how good you are as a band and how hard you work. It depends on what you want to accomplish. We’re not very outgoing with interviews and, I mean, certain bands seem to have every aspect of being in a band down — doing interviews, looking sexy and all that.  Some bands don’t have all those things in the eyes of publicity, and it can hold you back. But if you’re not like that, and I feel like we are not, you just do what you do because you like it. Because I think we’d all be uncomfortable doing that.
Are you guys still in contact with Matt Mahaffey, the guy who used to front the band Self and produce The Features, and now plays guitar for Beck?
Yeah, we see Matt once every year and a half. Last time was in L.A. and we played his birthday party.
That’s cool. Was Beck there?
No, he wasn’t there. Some of his band mates were but didn’t see Beck.
As the singer are you also the band’s primary writer?
Yeah.
Would you say you follow a songwriting formula?
I do in the sense that I bang out chords until I find something I like and something that has a decent melody and then lyrics always come last. I really dreads lyrics and don’t like writing them at all. I have tapes and tapes of chords matched with melodies sitting around.
As a songwriter, are your “receptors” always turned on or is it something you deliberately control and are able to turn off?
It depends whether I’m in the mood. If I’m not thinking about writing a song, I’m completely detached ,but if I do have an idea in my head or it’s something I keep thinking about and it bugs me so I have to write it down, that’s usually when I write.
I was thinking of the movie Dancer in the Dark where Bjork is constantly daydreaming at work due to a preoccupation with her song ideas…
Yeah, I’ve seen that. It is funny because I end up doing a lot of it at work as far as coming up with lyrics. I just tune out and do that at work because when I get home I don’t usually want to.
A lot of songs have some sort of bigger story to them not fully communicated in the song — do you have a favorite story for how one of your own songs came to be?
One that is often misinterpreted is “Temporary Blues” off the new album. It was actually written about an experience as a temp employee at Pillsbury here in Murfreesboro. I worked as a temp and what I did was make “toaster strudels.” I started writing it while I was working there.
Whereas the Pillsbury dough boy often giggles, you were definitely not?
I was not.
How many times have the Features played SXSW?
I think this year will be our fourth time.
Any bands you’re excited about seeing?
I haven’t seen the program but every time we’ve been I’ve actually never seen another band. I’m like that in Tennessee too — I kind of don’t get out at all.

American Songwriter's SXSW: THE HOWLIES

By William Hooker March 18th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

The Howlies delve into vintage rock sounds without any reservations that their old-school style might be underappreciated.  Perhaps this is because the Howlies possess an ability to find places where their talents are appreciated: Atlanta, where they made their name in “Cabbagetown” along with Deerhunter and Black Lips; Nashville, where they’ve played consistently after pleasing the ear of Grimey’s record store owner Mike Grimes; and California, where Kim Fowley (co-founder of the Runaways) agreed to produce their latest record Trippin’ with Howlies. Aaron Wood (drummer and singer), whose voice sometimes resembles James Mercer’s of The Shins, caught up with American Songwriter.

We’ve noticed you’ve made it up to Nashville a good bit in the past two years.
Yeah we‘ve sort of been lucky in Nashville, making friends with Grimey who runs the Basement and was able to hook us up.
I actually saw you guys play Grimey’s outdoor record-sale party two years ago.
Yeah that was back when we were getting started.
Wanted to ask you a bit about how you guys write songs — would you say you follow a songwriting formula?
No, there’s not really a formula other than the tried and true writing of a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge. I would say our songs begin with a melody, and then we try to match that to a beat that fits. Also, having a drummer write guitar parts shakes up the formula, because my ideas for a guitar part are less learned, played using basic bar chords, whereas a guitarist writing the song might bring something more complicated to the table.
As a songwriter, are your “receptors” always turned on or is it something you deliberately control and are able to turn off?
Definitely always on, I’m thinking about ideas for songs all the time. It’s like a radar that’s on constantly because I’m always jotting down notes to put in my wallet and you never know when it’s gonna hit, whether it’s a conversation you’re having or situation you’re seeing and you think, “that’s a good idea.”
So it’s probably necessary to write down an idea because you’re in bars a lot and there’s beer and you might not remember it the next day?
Sometimes bars because we’ve been touring for the past year and a half, but anywhere really, walking down the street…ordering fast food.
Like an idea might be, “This Wendy’s bathroom is super dirty.”
[Laughs] Yeah or “I love how clean this Wendy’s bathroom is.” You really learn to appreciate clean bathrooms on the road.
A lot of songs have a story about how they came to be. Do you have a favorite genesis tale for one of your own songs?
AW: Actually yeah, on our new album, the song “(Do the) Natural Thing,” there’s a two-part story. First, the song came about because of a date with a girl that ended badly and it didn’t go anywhere, and so I came home really mad and wrote an angry guitar riff and recorded it to my computer. A few days later I was thinking of lyrics and this Eazy-E song came to mind, “Nobody Move,” where he goes out with a woman and eventually they start to get intimate, until it turns out that she’s a transsexual which always cracked me up. I wanted to write an homage to Eazy-E because he always put me in a good mood growing up. The song is about going home with a tranny, although it might not be obvious just from listening to it.
You guys are playing SXSW this year, have you ever been to Austin?
Once.
Any bands you’re excited about seeing?
Absolutely, a really big show for me is Echo & the Bunnymen. I think they’re awesome. Also, this is weird, but on Billboard’s showcase they’ve got this band, Tinted Windows, and it’s kind of like a super-group with James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins, Taylor Hanson from Hanson, the drummer for Cheap Trick and the bass player for Fountains of Wayne, who also produced it. Their album hasn’t been released yet and I think this is like their first performance.
Wow, sounds like it could be really good or really bad.
I’m gonna be an optimist and say it’ll probably be good. I mean, how could it not be when you got James Iha playing up there next to a Hanson brother.

American Songwriter's SXSW: THE ETTES

By William Hooker March 17th, 2009 at 11:50 am

Stretched out, slowed down and fuzzy, the instrumentation of garage rockers The Ettes often shares more in common with Black Sabbath than the Ramones. Singer Coco Hames, like fellow newcomer Beth Ditto of the Gossip, possesses a southern, sultry drawl, and a large portion of The Ettes’ material displays Hames’ femininity, whether she’s embracing the scuzzy beats and bass of her compatriots, or striving for a beauty that is more ideal. Hames, not an idealist by her own admission, spoke to American Songwriter before venturing to SXSW. The band, including bassist “Jem” Cohen and drummer “Poni” Silver, relocated to Nashville last year.

Congrats on releasing your new EP today, Danger Is.
Thank you, glad it’s out there.
How’s Nashville?
Really good, everyone’s really nice here and we’ve had some good shows and a really good time finishing our 3rd album. Now we’re getting ready for SXSW.
Wanted to ask about how you guys write songs — as a songwriter, would you say you’ve followed a songwriting formula on all your output thus far?
We definitely do repeat a formula, for the most part. Like I’ll get a bare idea, then we get together and turn it into something more, like add beats that drive it the best way. So it’ll start out as a skeleton of the song that I come up with and then sometimes Jem our bassist will come up with riffs. It always starts our very small.
As a songwriter, are your “receptors” always turned on, or is it something you deliberately control and are able to turn off.
Oh I wish I could turn it off because it can be really distracting. I know that every writer should be regimented and I know it’s true that it makes it easier, would probably work and yield more songs, but I’m lazy and I write it when it happens. I envy people who can decide when to write because I’ll be like watching a movie and get interrupted…
A lot of songs have a story about how they came to be; do you have a favorite tale of how one of your songs came to be?
No, I don’t think so. My favorite song is always where a lyrical idea fits well with melody and it becomes a full communication, but it doesn’t always happen like that. Sometimes the sound of the music will be completely opposite from what the lyrics are saying…
I was just thinking about how you might hear Brian Wilson interviewed, telling some elaborate story as to what inspired a song off Pet Sounds or something…
Yeah sometimes I think a lot of those stories are made up or elaborated.
So you’re refusing to make up a story about one of your songs?
Yeah, sorry!
That’s ok, that’s a good thing. You guys are playing SXSW this year, have you ever been to Austin?We have been there a bunch. It’s our third time for SXSW, really looking forward to it. We’re always running into different people and seeing friends we have there. And I’m always reminded how crazy it gets.
Is there something in particular that you’re really looking forward to?
We love Cheapo Discs. Our friends run it and we’re doing a show there as part of a day of music where you just watch music and drink beer. It’s off the SXSW grid, an unofficial thing that we really enjoy and are looking forward to.
Any bands you’re excited about seeing?
I’m sure there are but I haven’t looked at the list yet. The list takes forever to form so I haven’t seen the final lineup yet.
I Heard there was a band that contains (ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist) James Iha and a Hanson brother called Tinted Windows.
Oh wow, that’s crazy. I was talking about Iha the other day, whether he wrote “Today” or if Corgan did. Tinted Windows sounds kind of like a super group.
SXSW has become pretty big.
I know, I’m always wondering when’s it going to reach critical mass and it won’t be fun anymore. But it’s definitely still great now.

Album Review for American Songwriter: LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO > Ladysmith Black Mambazo Live!

By William Hooker March 1st, 2009 at 4:22 pm

Label: HEADS UP INTERNATIONAL
Rating:

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, touted as the cultural ambassadors of South America by Nelson Mandela, needn’t much embellishment and rather than attempt to make documentary art, Live! relies on the group’s 45 years of renown. Inexpensive to make means inexpensive to buy and while this disc will unlikely spike on the cinematic spectrum it exposes LBM’s authentic and dynamic visual aesthetic, live from Akron, Ohio. Uniformed in traditional tunics in front of a Zulu tapestry, the group engages in light choreography and slapstick buffoonery which sometimes produces mild laughter from the audience. LBM sing infectiously, allowing for the viewer’s private accompaniments to their harmonious a cappella. However the disc’s middle contains a lesson in audience participation that puts the couch-viewing demographic in an awkward, foolish position. Although attempts at humor resonate mildly, a brilliant effect is revealed by their white shoes, 18 of which patter silently and buoyantly throughout the performance, a peaceful visual that is definitely lost on the ear.