vs















Senators over the Flames in the Stanley Cup Finals.

MY, OH MY. WHAT TO DO? OHH, WHAT TO DO?

June 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:

@ The Commodore Ballroom plays Built to Spill

@ Richard's plays The Fiery Furnaces

I have to hope their sets are staggered which is unlikely. But, I've seen Built to Spill three or four times and have yet to see The Fiery Furnaces. They haven't played Vancouver in nearly two years. Plus, it would be sweet to hear what the Friedbergers come up with live.

So, I'm pretty much convinced already to go the latter's show; but, if anyone can change my mind I'm listening.

West Coast Rules, Y'All




There's no justice in trying to tell you, in words, how good You In Reverse by Built To Spill is. But, I'll try.
The band is now a five-piece (Brett Netson the newest guitar player) but this album was done with a four-piece, which is one more than they began with. Doug Martsch, Scott Plouf, Jim Roth and Brett Nelson (not typo, different person) recorded this album. They recorded this album with what Huey Lewis belted out in front of The News in 1983: the heart of rock and roll.
The album starts off perfectly with the 7+ minute Goin' Against Your Mind, the first two minutes being beats and guitar. Then Doug Martsch kicks in with his voice and BtS is off to their best album in years. Of course they only release albums every few years anyways.
It gets a bit frightening on the second and third tracks, Traces and Liar, as they sound very 1980's to me, and I feel that is a decade that is best wiped out of all historic collections. Let's just pretend it never happened. Thankfully, despite the eighties sounds, the songs are actually quite good.
This band started off as a three-piece with short songs in the range of two or three minutes and has evolved to a five-piece rock orchestra. The majority of the songs clock in at over 5 minutes and they all take you on little rock journeys. Sometimes you think you've already been to the places that the music has taken you, but then there's a new bend and Martsch's guitar is off to another world. Wild stuff.
The definite standout track is Mess With Time. As advertised that's what they do. The song starts off with choppy guitar in a Latino fashion and continues to go SoCal on your ass. This sounds like what Martsch would bring out of a Desert Sessions. Three guitars and a bass can make some pretty sweet sounds with the right people playing. About half way through this song they mix up the rythm again and make it a west coast indie-rock ska/latin/reggae jam.
The Wait takes the album out on a softer edge and with more structure. It's as close to a rock & roll jam ballad as the rock gods will allow.
I can't wait till June 12 when BtS play the Commodore. That's where some of you may recognize the first track from as I distinctly remember them playing it. Oh wait, you likely weren't there as I couldn't get anyone to go and had to throw away three of four tickets I'd got free. Listen, just do yourself a favour and get a ticket to the upcoming show and save yourself some embarassment in about nineteen years when your kids find out that in the time of Built to Spill you were listening to The Killers and The Strokes. Or am I getting those two mixed up with Twisted Sister and Stone Temple Pilots? Suckers.







You in Reverse, by Built to Spill

SWEET ACTION, SIMPLY SWEET ACTION

I think it's a toss-up to say this album "starts off weak" or "only gets better from the first track", though I'm sure I'll grow to like these two songs. In any case, the opener and single is I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News) and the second track, I Got A Feelin (Just Nineteen), are pretty good, but they don't have the boogey or hot as hell heat as every other song. This album kicks ass.

Death By Sexy is Eagles Of Death Metal's second album though they've recorded for Desert Sessions past. Josh Homme plays drums and Jesse The Devil Hug(h)e(s) sings and plays guitar; JHo handles production. They run the gamut of rock & roll sound. You can hear early-era Rolling Stones, Blues Explosion, and even some sadhu's stoner sitar progression deep in the Indian forest. EoDM make dance rock music that is guaranteed to get you out of your seat and on the floor to do it however you want.

Things begin to really rock with Cherry Cola and hit a high that sustains the entire album with Solid Gold. Even spoken poetry with words like this make you dance: "Yes, we'll come & we'll make a scene/We are the stars of your sexy dream/We'll come dancin & we'll make you sweat/We're really rollin.../We're Solid Gold" (Solid Gold).

Other key tracks are: The Ballad of Queen Bee & Baby Duck (it's a story of JHo and Brody Dalle), Chase The Devil and Keep Your Head Up. Really, though, all the songs make a sweet album.

There are quite a few guest appearances (mainly for backing vocals): Jack Black, all of the current QOTSA members, Dave Catching, Brody Dalle and others. These are the type of guest appearances that only add to the song instead of take away selfishly. A writer recently wrote (about a Desert Sessions 9/10 song) that you could barely hear the guest's vocal mixed in with all the music and other voices. That's ridiculous. The guest is there at the time the song is written and/or recorded and that's what matters. There's way too many hack writers out there.

Anyways, it all boils down to that you should all go out and buy this album.

READ, YOU LAZY BUMS

Here's a list of what I've read this year so far. Peruse, discuss and enjoy.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Excellent. A movie based on this book is currently in pre-production with Jeunet (City of Lost Children, Delicatessan, Amelie) at the helm.

Deception Point by Dan Brown - As usual with this author, the book is a total page-turner. However, also as usual, he goes too far over the top in the last 50 pages.

Memorial Day by Vince Flynn - This is a "rah-rah, go America" type of book that is a decent page turner. But beware, Bill "I wear make-up" O'Reilly has said every American should read this book. Can most of them actually read?

Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer - The final in a trilogy of human/neanderthal connection through a hole in time/space. What started out as a good trilogy ended on a slightly brighter note than the middle book.

The Davinci Code by Dan Brown - Great story. If Christianity was pursued the way this book posits Christ wanted it to be they would have many more followers today, including possibly myself. But not likely myself.

The Reality Dysfunction: Part 2 Expansion by Peter F. Hamilton - Amazing end to the first book in the Night's Dawn trilogy. Hamilton has created a quintessential space soap-opera. Great characters, worlds and technology. This is the work of an extremely creative mind.

The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons - End of a two book (broken into 4 physical books because of length) series. I had put off reading this book for nearly two years because I didn't want this series to end. Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion is the best story I have ever read. Great characters that spread the course of centuries and planes of reality. I would love to have a daughter some day, and I hope to name her Aenea. Last word (several years ago) was that Martin Scorcese had the rights to any movie made based on this series. He had wanted to do the last two parts with Leonardo Dicaprio as Endymion. I think Scorcese and Dicaprio (especially Leo) would both be wrong for this project. The care that Peter Jackson took with Lord of the Rings is what this series deserves. I feel I should play the role of Endymion.

I am currently, finally, reading Dune by Frank Herbert. I'm just barely over 10% of the way into it, but I can already tell this is also a very special series. Unfortunately, David Lynch made a mockery of this book with his rendition of Dune the movie 20 years ago.
Now go out and buy a book and read. If you want creativity go with science-fiction. The good authors are likely the most talented writers around.

THEY SHINE A LIGHT SO ALL CAN FOLLOW

Quasi is a band made up of former husband and wife Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. The two have other projects as well, the most well known being Janet's Sleater-Kinney. Coomes once played with Elliott Smith in Heatmiser many years ago. First, let me give credit to Prole for turning me on to the fantasticness that is Quasi.


This is a band that plays rock and roll like not many others out there right now. While most bands tend to get more "accessible" as time goes on, Quasi's latest "When The Going Gets Dark" goes in almost, almost I say, the opposite direction. I say almost (I said it again) because while the songs on this release have a bit less structure than some of their classic tunes (I can't get "I Give Up" or "Bon Voyage" out of my head) they are also based more in the traditional instrumentation of piano, guitars and drums.

Weiss's drumming has always had that extra kick to it that can send even the most weathered guitarist for a loop if he's not ready for funky timing. She's the thinking drummer's drummer. I've always been a fan of lady drummers, not just because they're sexy as all hell banging things with sticks. The likes of Hollis Queens (Boss Hog), Lynette Gillis (Plumtree) and Weiss have been keeping things interesting behind the kit for over a decade.

Coomes can put together the most awkward sounds in an arrangement that would make Picasso proud. Once he's finished smashing a pounding piano and thundering guitar riff together he adds his pleading vocals to the mix. The result, on top of the drums, is nearly always unpredictable and blissful.

This latest album is so odd at times that it took me a few listens before I understood how amazing it is. I've read some recent reviews that were overall positive save for the exception of some of the lyrics. Fair enough, there's not much interesting in "I'm Popeye the sailor man, I live in a garbage can!", but I think Quasi's making a point that I've stood behind for many years. Lyrics don't mean much in a song itself. I appreciate lyrics as a form of poetry, but I feel they take away from the actual music itself, unless viewed as solely an instrument. Take, for instance, The Beach Boys. Awesome music, including the way Brian Wilson used vocals as an instrument. But if you listen to the words only, it's quite dismissable as inane and ridiculous, unless you're a pathetic teenager.

Back to Quasi. There's so much soul and emotion on this album. Around the middle of the album it breaks down into about 7 minutes of instrumental music over two tracks, the first half of which is at times painful. I think that's the point in the set where the band retunes their instruments or downs a bottle of beer and smokes a joint. However, this just sets up the second half of the album that will take you to other places still.

Standout tracks are the opener "Alice the Goon", "When The Going Gets Dark", "I Don't Know You Anymore" and the extremely blues-based "Death Culture Blues".

Of all the amazing new albums out already this year I have to recommend this one the most because it makes you really listen and think about what good music is (I know this may hold you back Hold Steady, but try it three times in a week). I think good music is a good feeling. I can see the band having that good feeling as they play this music.

I've yet to see this band live as they rarely tour (especially outside of the US), but I'm thinking of getting a passport and heading across the border to the land of guns and hate for the first time in about 8 or 9 years just to check them out. Come with me.

Again, prole, thanks so much for introducing me to this band lo those many years ago.