The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: Autumn and the End of 2010, Part 1

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Every year it seems the Indie Rock world gets one representative to the big dance - the top of the charts, the Grammy awards, etc. The Arcade Fire appear to be the perennial delegate for as long as they release something. When The Suburbs debuted at number1, it arguably spelled the moment where the number one record in the country was heard - or even heard of - by the fewest number of people yet. That's the bittersweet rub in the Arcade Fire's success. And it makes tracks like "We Used To Wait" and "Month of May" ironic.

Atomic Tom - The Moment
The hard working boys in Atomic Tom hit pay dirt while yours truly was away in London being locked out of the 20-20's show in Islington. Taking advantage of modern bits of technology - namely Iphones and YouTube, the band made a video, the world went wild, and now they are living it up on the television and the charts. But they are the still the work-incensed band that was slugging it in New York City in the last couple of years.

Augustines - "Book of James"
With a flair for the dramatic and a voice to give you the shakes, this song made me think "it reminds me of the late, great Pela". Well what do ya know?! It IS Pela! Sort of. I should have recognized Billy McCarthy's voice in an instant. In fact I did. But I didn't think it was actually the man himself. Pela lives! Sort of.

The Capstan Shafts - "Quiet Wars"/Massy Ferguson - "Long Time, No See"/Poison Control Center - "Being Gone"
A trio of songs that got a lot of Ipod play that fall into a family of country/bar band mixes. The college rock anthem style of the Capstan Shafts is slightly different from the more twangy Ferguson and the jammy PCC, but together they make for a steady stream of Americana.

Cee-Lo Green - The Ladykiller
"Fuck You" - the song that dare not be named - would have been a scandal just ten or twenty years ago. Now it is an automatic hit and no one bats an eye. That's a victory. The Glee treatment was sort of a defeat (we're not on that bandwagon). The Goodie Mob half of Gnarls Barkley is still too dangerous for Ma & Pa America but he's too mainstream for Pitchfork, which makes him the King of the Sonic Parthenon Universe. If "Fuck You" wasn't enough, "Satisfied" and an unbelievably fantastic re-do of Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You" bring home the bacon. If Soul Train was still going, Cee-Lo would be doing it on there, with Ben Bridwell probably helping him out.

The Colourist - "Oh Goodbye"
For a good run there, NPR's Second Stage podcast was delivering songs-to-notice as good as any of the big boy podcasts. This one sort of boggles the mind as being obscure. It is catchy, well-structured, and made for a hit. One of the best songs of the year.

The Corin Tucker Band - "Doubt"
The haunting voice of Sleater-Kinney finally got back into the mix in 2010 with a very natural record. She's sounding great and feeling great and doesn't seem to have lost any time since those first days when Sleater-Kinney made their mark. As if on cue, Carrie and Janet are now working together again as Wild Gift (with Mary Timoney no less). Could it be possible that 2011 will spell the return of...? A fella can dream can't he?

Diamond Rings - "Something Else"/The Hundred in the Hands - "Commotion"
The 80's are back. They've been back for a few years now. In fact, they are too back. Synthesizers are as prominent now as they were when George Michael and Mister Mister were breaking hearts (god help us). Throw in the auto-tune for good measure, and it appears the robot dystopia has finally come to pass. But it's not all doom and gloom. These two songs reflect what works. The Diamond Rings song has that dark side of the New Order tone to it, with a revved up rift to boot. Hundred in the Hands are building a lot of momentum, taking more of the club tack that Ladyhawke rolled with last year - in other words, the lighter side of the New Order tome.

Eliza Doolittle - "Skinny Genes"
A sweeter, friendlier spin on the saucy British ingenue, Eliza Doolittle has a nice, almost too-catchy, too-sweet ditty here. But this isn't what matters. What matters is getting her and Holly Golightly together for a tour.

Fight From Above - "Between The Curves"
Another NPR Second Stage winner - from a concept album about the City of Angels.

Fol Chen - "In Ruins"
If I was to think of what constitutes the music a trendy hipster would listen to in 2010, this is it. Making use of samples (including, yes, 80's samples), bubblegum pop melody, and a sassy female voice, what's missing? Feedback and distortion? I realize I am actually trashing all of this - but I still like this song.

Grinderman - Grinderman 2
The Fall of 2010 belonged to Grinderman, unopposed. With an album that actually sounded good from beginning to end, and a live show that spanked you red, it all seemed to flow easy and inevitably from the delirious "Heathen Child" video. After the smart roll-out, the sequel to 2007's glorious effort upped the ante with the best kick-off song in years - "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man" - a twisted slice akin to the first half of From Dusk till Dawn. As if that wasn't enough, "Worm Tamer" nailed it (especially as done by Warren on the Jools Holland program), "Evil" almost made Howlin' Wolf's song of the same name seem angelic, and "Halls of Montezuma" almost sounded from the U2 mold except in that much more derelict Cave sense of things.

Gross Relations - "You Don't Know Me"
While others are trying to sound 80's, this act is going for more 70's power pop. In fact, this song could be a dead ringer for Bowie's "Heroes".

Grinderman @ Best Buy Theater

Grinderman; Armen Ra
@ Best Buy Theater
New York, NY - November 14, 2010

Grinderman can best be described in the moment in which Nick Cave casually threw his tambourine behind him in a moment of rock n roll swagger...only to have that tambourine thwack Warren Ellis right in his face. That lovingly hilarious half-assed cockrockery encapsulates this glorious side project, the Id of the Bad Seeds that first reared its serpentine head in 2007. Back then, Grinderman only appeared at shows in New York and San Francisco. This time, in support of their album sequel, they are embarking on an actual tour and they began their American Sojourn back in the city where they stole the show out from under the White Stripes all those years ago.

The bawdy, delirious, rantings of Cave, combined with the tomfoolery of Ellis - who presumably is holding a family hostage in some Outback shack - and driven by the punk speed thundering of Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos - make for the fittingly disjointed, incongruous, malcontented sounds of Grinderman. Ellis is screaming "Evil" from the floor while Sclavunos is murdering his drums. Cave is changing (or forgetting - as middle aged men are known to do) his lyrics while Casey...well...while Casey discovers his new found beard.

The new record has a sense of epic about it - "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man", "Worm Tamer", and "Evil" sound big. Live, these songs were quick, bashed, and thrown at the audience. The same treatment was given to songs from the first record - "Get It On", "No Pussy Blues", "Grinderman", "When My Love Comes Down to Meet You" and "Love Bomb". But just when it seemed that Cave and co. were going to level you to the ground, they take "Palaces of Montezuma" and give it the Lanois/Eno-ish mystique (as in Joshua Tree) and prop up the extra cut "My Daddy is an Astronaut" with a shocking sense of grace - the kind of grace that adds a severe twist to the work of the Bad Seeds - the grace that keeps Nick from going back to the Birthday Party.

Armen Ra played the theremin for a half hour. He was the first act that I witnessed get heckled in quite a while. But then he played the theme from The Godfather and that seemed to appease the ruffled.

Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2007: Part 2

“Four Winds” by Bright Eyes
The best song yet from this frantic alt-country dynamo. Conor Oberst’s voice is still something to be desired but he made it work with this one.


Going Way Out With Heavy Trash by Heavy Trash

One of the best albums of the year. More bluesy than Blues Explosion ever is (was?), Jon Spencer’s collaboration with Matt Verde-Ray not only dodged the sophmore slump, it kicked its sorry ass to the curb and back again. “Outside Chance” and “Crazy Pretty Baby” are the two most shining examples of this little dollop of near perfection. Tom Waits gone rockabilly is one way to describe this whole thing and that’s a very good.
"Outside Chance"


Gogol Bordello

• Live Show
  
• Record: Super Taranta
• Song: “Wanderlust King”
  

Eugene Hutz’s Gogol Bordello would be the best band in the world if they weren’t so exhausting. The good stuff is so intense, so ferocious, so skilled, and so much, that after just a few short bursts, it’s enough already. Super Taranta was far from perfect, like their previous material, but the lead single got the job done. More important, the live show was historic. 3,000 intense maniacs from all walks of life turned Terminal 5 into a giant Eastern European wedding. All that was missing was the marinated herring. And it's going to happen again on New Year's Eve.


Grinderman

• Live Show
  
• Record: Grinderman
  

Nick Cave took the rump of the Bad Seeds, slapped some mustaches on them and himself, and churned out the top tier candidate for Best Album of 2007 (if the old system was still in place). If that wasn’t enough, Cave and the band went to Madison Square Garden, opened for the White Stripes, and stole the damn show. The raw, pounding concussion of the sound is matched bizarrely well by Cave’s rich lyrics, a poetic mess of Alvy Singer-like laments sung humorously in a confident, cocky manner. Being an aging hipster doofus never sounded so cool.
On Later, "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)":

No Pussy Blues
Depth Charge Ethel

The Hard Lessons

• Live Show
  
• Songs: “Hey Hey My My”; “See and Be Scene”
  

Those incorrigible Hard Lessons were at it again in 2007, sporting not one but two stellar singles that showcased on record what the band has been doing live. New York got tore up a bunch of times this year, including three times in the Autumn. It was a very good year for this very good band.
"Wicked Man" at Union Hall:

SPTV at CMJ


“Hate It Here” by Wilco
Well look at that. Wilco. After years of being found rather dull, this recalling of 70’s singer-songwriter pop finally made ol’ Pennypacker take notice for the first time since “Casino Queen”. Sky Blue Sky as a whole allowed for a new look at Jeff Tweedy and it’s looking good from here on out.

Wilco – Hate It Here

Recent Letterman Highlights

Grinderman


The National


Porter Wagoner


Gogol Bordello

Ten Years and Ten Days of Le Rouge, Le Blanc, and Le Noir: The White Stripes

The White Stripes (with Grinderman, Porter Wagoner)
@ Madison Square Garden
New York, NY - July 24, 2007

Ten years and ten days after 2 kids who nearly called themselves the Peppermints played 3 songs at the Gold Dollar in Detroit, Michigan, the White Stripes headlined a show at Madison Square Garden. Some could argue it was a double bill, even a triple bill, considering the weight and respect behind the first two acts, but at the end of the day it was the White Stripes atop the marquee, and it was they who brought upwards of 15,000-20,000 people to the Garden on a Tuesday night. It was they who brought the usual rabble of hipsters, punks, metal heads, frat boys, and classic rockers, tweens, teens, twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings, forty-somethings, and beyond. It was they who played for those who only knew "Seven Nation Army" and those who thought "Fell In Love With The Girl" was the signal that they had sold out. For those who thought Get Behind Me Satan was a classic and those who hated its very existence. And for those who think Icky Thump is the triumph of their aluminum anniversary.

A long way away from that Bastille Day last century, and a month removed from the greatest performance this writer has possibly ever seen by any band ever, the Stripes had a tough task before them. The acoustics of the Garden proved challenging to their sound, at least to those who have heard them in smaller places. They had to appease the most vanilla, mainstream, widespread crowd they've arguably ever attracted, while sticking to their signature ethic and etiquette. They more or less succeeded, but something was amiss - it wasn't firing on all cylinders. The band played well, in fact they played perfectly, but they didn't sound their best. It may have been beyond their control, in fact it probably was, but when even "Ball and Biscuit", the last song before the encore and when this writer left, doesn't sound like the best performance ever, it's not the White Stripes' greatest concert performance.

(This is the encore I missed: Blue Orchid // I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself // Little Ghost // We're Going To Be Friends // Little Bird -> Catch Hell Blues [DAMN!] // My Doorbell // Seve Nation Army // Boll Weevil)

Intriguingly, it was the first time I heard and saw Jack play songs straight through and move on to the next one. No stopping short, no returns, no medleys. It was as if Jack felt he had to give the arena crowd a straight up arena show. And while in the past this writer poo-poo'ed the frequent medleys because it would cut off some of the best songs, I sort of missed it this time. "Don't know what you got till it's gone", a hair metal band once sang and it's true.

Highlights included "Canon" and "Slowly Turning Into You" the latter of which may have been the best song of the night, especially aided by the lights show. But what was up with that elevated platform? Jack only went up there once during the main set, to strut across for a few seconds. We should have at least been treated to an Angus shuffle.

But above all, this night was about reflections, remembrances, nostalgia, and ultimately, looking to the future. Having just seen them play their most intimiate New York show in years, and hearing and reading all about those special "secret" shows for Canadians these last few weeks, the past and future of the White Stripes and their fans collided and exploded at Madison Square Garden. Having reached the pinnacle of rock n roll stardom (at least for this diffuse day and age), the White Stripes really can't go any further. They sit atop the rock n roll temple as the most respected critics band to be equally popular with the trend setters, the die hard rock n roll snobs, and the mainstream audience. They sit atop that temple with the Steeple of Jack White firmly in place as the man of the hour, of his generation, and all the good and all the baggage that comes with it.

Five years ago, this writer caught wind of "Fell In Love With The Girl" and over the course of a few months, the White Stripes took over as the band and they haven't really relinquished that spot. Perhaps it is because they are new and regenerate themselves with new records, perhaps it is because they are the nexus of blues, country, punk, rock n roll. For whatever reason, they are the top special. They are responsible for this writer seeing pretty much every single band he has seen over the last five years and every record he has bought. They are responsible for much in the way of personal affairs, private life changing things, and all the good and all the baggage that comes with that. That is some unknown burden (or is it unknown?) for a rock band to have. Especially for just a duo with a really hot drummer.

It's been quite a road traveled. From those 3 songs at the Gold Dollar, to the Great Biographical Lie, to the MTV Movie Awards, to the Pre-Tour Video, to the Hammerstein Ballroom with Loretta Lynn and Blanche, to jamming with Mick Collins on "Rated X", to those shows with the Strokes, to those four nights at the Bowery Ballroom, to a week's residency at Conan, to a Grammy Performance that blew the world away, to the internet message board that has stirred up lives and emotions not just of fans but of the band itself, to headlining Glastonbury, to being on The Simpsons, to playing every Canadian province and territory and every American state in one tour, including a one-note hullabaloo on the streets of a Podunk Canadian provincial capital, and one night with Nick Cave and Porter Wagoner at Madison Square Garden, this is a road not taken by any other band - neither popular nor respected.

When Jack sings about redheaded girls he shouldn't kiss, this sums it all up. Everything. From the 3 songs on Bastille Day to Madison Square Garden. People, places, actions, comments, scraps, babies, all of it. It's a sign that some things will probably be forever broken and never repaired, that things have to change for better or worse, that nothing ever lasts, that the circle opens and closes. People move on, people stay, there will be loyalty and gratitude (as assuredly as death, taxes, wristbands, and inchapones), and there will be drama. One could - and should - say that "it should just be about the music" and nothing else should matter. But eventually, even in this sometimes absurd road traveled, those things around the music become the music. And though it is not consequential enough for someone on the outside to look into, think of the survey of the land, of this inexorable relationship between this band and its fans, between this band and their peers who share the same fans, and the fact that some fans become more than fans...blame (or credit) the internet for it, blame (or credit) - or at least question - the mental health of all involved, bands and fans alike, take it all in, and map that road from 3 songs at the Gold Dollar to Madison Square Garden.

Is it time to look for the exit ramp?

Get It On!

Grinderman (with the White Stripes, Porter Wagoner)
@ Madison Square Garden
New York, NY - July 24, 2007

There were boos. Lots of boos. In the bathroom, some frat jock asshole said he wanted to find Nick Cave on the street and stomp his face in. People complained that the filthy, raunchy blues-psychedelic hard jam of the band wasn't tough enough, perhaps because Nick never fulfilled the legitimacy of a million jock frat boys' dreams of assaulting someone and getting arrested. The people around this writer did not even know who Nick Cave was, let alone Grinderman.

In short, Grinderman stole the show.

Grinderman doesn't play music to have sex by. It's music to fuck by. Dirty, grimy, full of muck and smell - Cave and his cabal are not here to mess around. Hanky-panky is for the weak. Unlike their fellow acts of the night, Grinderman's music fit the acoustics of the big joint, reverberating off the walls with an unmatched ferocity. "Get It On", "No Pussy Blues", and something called "When My Loves Comes Down To You" or something like that, particularly displayed this piledriving rock n roll. "Don't Set Me Free" was another highlight. But it wouldn't be Nick Cave without some depth. There are meanings behind at least some of these songs, which is probably what threw the barbarians in the crowd for a loop. Philistines try to ruin everything.
More thumpish (yes that word) than the record, live Grinderman seems to be right at home in the thunderous arena of the Garden, but would also be right at home on a Saturday night at the Roseland. Book them now. And then go screw.

Hey Porter, Hey Porter!

Porter Wagoner (with The White Stripes, Grinderman)
@ Madison Square Garden
July 24, 2007

The grand ole country legend from nowheres, Missouri - who was the yang (or yin) to Dolly Parton's yin (or yang), got to play at the big old Madison Square Garden. And while it is a little disturbing to hear an old country legend essentially say he's honored to open for Jack White, the Wagonmaster did everything in fine style. Nudie suit in tow, Porter was backed by another venerable country musician, Marty Stuart and a band of good ol' boys. True hillbilly foot-stompin' at times, the rump of the short set consisted of those standard slow country laments which, if you are not a big fan of, did nothing to convert you. But on a night of both nostalgia, reflections, and looking ahead, it was a great way to start the show. This writer was once the only 11 year old in Brooklyn who liked country music and knew who Marty Stuart was (but admittedly only knew of Porter, not by name, as "the old guy Dolly worked with"). It was a nice trip down a very narrow memory lane.

Artist of the Week: Grinderman

Let's officially declare right now that Tuesday night's spectacular is as much about Nick Cave as it is about that other band. In fact, the anticipation, the excitement, let's officially call it right now as being most for Grinderman. DAMN!



Who would object to really thinking of Tuesday's show as a double bill or even a triple bill with Mr. Wagoner? This isn't Cold War Kids and Dan Sartain. This is NICK CAVE and Porter Wagoner. Am I right? I said, am I right? Can I get an amen?!

July 2007 Concert Calendar Highlights

-Friday July 6th is one of a few nights in July that has multiple options: Fuji &
Miyagi are at the South Street Seaport, A Sunny Day in Glasgow are at the Cake Shop, and the Violets will be at the Luna Lounge.

-Cat Power will be at the McCarren Park Pool the next night.

-Art Brut continues its tour of every venue in the Big Apple with a show at the Highline on Monday the 9th. The White Rabbits will be opening.

-Do do doo do do do dooooooooo do do do do do do doooooooo: Suzanne Vega at the Highline 3 days after Brut.

-The Decemberists return with a show at Central Park's SummerStage on Monday the 16th.

-The Fratellis leap frog over the successes of hundreds of other bands and will headline a show at the Roseland Ballroom on the 18th.

-It's a night of old and new as the Mooney Suzuki and the Muldoons perform at the Mercury Lounge on the 18th. You can also catch the Suzuki back on the 9th at Maxwell's.

-Electric Six does the Rocks Off Concert Cruise on the 19th and the next night do it again at Maxwell's.

-Speaking of the next night, Friday July 20th is huge, and so is Saturday the 21st. Arguably the most packed two days of the summer:

• Neko Case at the Central Park SummerStage.
  
• Battles, the band pushed on this blog, will be performing at Studio B.
  
• Gogol Bordello kicks off two nights at Irving Plaza.
  
• Wil Hoge at Southpaw.
• Electric Six at Maxwell's.

And Saturday the 21st:

• The Village Voice Siren Festival will rock out one last time at Astroland with the New York Dolls, MIA, We Are Scientists, Voxtrot, Matt and Kim, The Black Lips, Dr. Dog, Noisettes, The Detroit Cobras, Elvis Perkins, the White Rabbits, the Twilight Sad, and more.
  
• The Ponys and Jay Reatard at the Bowery Ballroom.
  
• Aimee Mann at Warsaw.
• Gogol Bordello at Irving, night 2.
  
• Dirty Excuse at Magnetic Field.

-Not enough Cobras for you? They're back at Maxwell's the next night.

As if that's not enough, Tueday the 24th thinks it's a weekend night out, or as we call it in New York, a night out:

• Some stupid band called the White Stripes will be playing Madison Square Garden and they get some losers named Nick Cave (hiding under the name Grinderman) and Porter Wagoner to help out. At least superstar Marty Stuart will be on hand to help out young Mr. Wagoner.
• Devotchka kicks off the first of two nights at the Spiegeltent at the South Street Seaport.
• The Comas and Great Northern will be at the Mercury Lounge.

-John Doe, himself no slouch, will be at the Merc on the 26th and Maxwell's on the 29th to promote his new solo record.

-Sonic Youth will be at the McCarren Park Pool on Saturday the 28th. The same night, Mondo Topless returns to Magnetic Field.

-TV on the Radio does a free show at the McCarren Park Pool on Sunday the 29th.

Well It Sure Ain't Battles...

Nope. The opening acts for the Stripes at Madison Square Garden are:

Porter Wagoner...as in the legendary country musician

and Grinderman...AKA...NICK CAVE.

Nick Cave and Porter Wagoner...opening...for the White Stripes.

A friend of mine recently joked that by about this time next year, the Rolling Stones would be opening for the Stripes. That doesn't seem far fetched now as it did a few moments ago.