Thao and Mirah (2011)

http://www.mediafire.com/?t3beltd62y1onp3

Estrogen overload? or TALENT MADNESS!!!

I was greatly looking forward to Thao & Mirah, a collaboration of two totally talented, quirky, innovative, experimental, and versatile singer/ songwriters who defy that categorization. Gone are the days--at least I hope so--of the Sarah McLaughlan/Sheryl Crow Lillith Fair aesthetic. *shudder* Welcome to the new generation of women who make great music. In fact, how about this slogan-- GIRLS DON'T JUST MAKE MUSIC FOR GIRLS ANYMORE.TM .

The album is pretty all over the place. Ended up being a bit dancier than I would have expected, which maybe came from their ridiculously wild producer Tuneyards. I'm not sure yet if it's an instant classic, but I'll say it's one of the coolest records I've heard in the last month or two. 
Besides the range of styles, my absolute favorite part is how Thao and Mirah trade off the lead in the middle of the song. I love LOVE LOVE groups that do this. It's not exactly a new trick (See the Beach Boys, circa 1960) but it's so effective when it's employed well. Also love how the songs really defy any easy categorization. Not only is it hard to tell what genre each song is, but it's hard to tell who is writing which song. Not a lot of ego involved.

My one critique: The only Tuneyards-written piece, Eleven, appears first and it KILLS. The rest of the cd doesn't quite reach that level of sheer adrenaline.

Listening to this album makes me feel that young indie women are finding a great niche in music--some kind of a dance/indie/quirky/songwriter space that was blazed by weirdo alt-divas like Bjork Sinead O'Connor decades ago. When I was younger, women were always either the singers, the keyboard players, or the bassists. And they were either sexy and quiet or sexy and brash. It's so nice now to see more women stepping forward who are much more complex, diverse, and physically "honest." It makes me so elated to watch someone perform with weird makeup and flowers in their hair, or cowboy boots. Why the hell not!

I wonder if this last generation's work didn't directly allow this new wave of subtle and interesting female artists, whose music i generally prefer to their male counterparts (Andrew Bird, Bon Iver). ? I also wonder if the ladies don't feel a little more freedom to be as bizarre, eccentric, and wild as they want to be?

Shut the f*ck up, men! I'm awesome!

Big Star- Sister Lovers (1974) {CF Edit}

http://www.mediafire.com/?tm12klsl5gzcpmo

There was an American band in the late 60s and early 70s who made quite a name for themselves by playing rock and roll. Their records were good, but they never quite reached the critical mass that The Byrds, The Beatles, or The Rolling Stones did.

By the time their third album was coming around, they had signed to Stax Records, which was falling apart and going bankrupt. The band was splitting up, and the singer Alex Chilton was having his own personal issues to deal with. He did what every musician should do, which is deal with his stuff openly and on tape.

Sister Lovers (so-named because he and the drummer were dating two sisters; this cd is also known as "Third") was Big Star's third record, though many consider it Chilton's solo outing, recorded with session musicians, the band's drummer, and an ambitious producer who wanted to carry the session through to fruition.

Sister Lovers is a bizarre collection of songs that ping-pong between sheer bliss, caustic sarcasm, utter detachment, total loneliness, and tongue-in-cheek. In a way, it was indie rock way ahead of it's time, and Sister Lovers nails the sonic experiments, loose arrangements, and sheer coolness that a lot of homemade rockers tried to sound like. Even in 2011, it sounds like it was recorded last month, which says a lot!

A lot of crazy-huge bands (R.E.M., Yo la Tengo) refer to as one of the most influential of all time.

I could go off on how I like each song, but everyone in the world has beat me to it. So there.

Rykodisc finally released the "official" version of Third/Sister Lovers, including bonus tracks, in 1994 or so with a setlist picked by Chilton. I have to say that i liked and didn't like it. For one thing, it's very hard to cobble any kind of cohesion together out of the songs, that make Pet Sound's diversity sound relatively tame. For another, it is 17 songs long, which is far too many, in my opinion. It also includes a handful of cover songs that range from campy to utterly atrocious.

So-called purists will get all huffy, but i made my own tracklist that has a more natural listening arc to it, and i also made my own album art (since the reissue is pretty fugly). To me, it's the strongest tracks put in an order that a skeptic would really appreciate.


(A little aside: This is Chilton's year, as people are performing Third live all over the place. This poster was from North Caroline, i believe, but a superstar cast was doing this in New York City also. Flattering or self-serving?)

Rural Alberta Advantage- Hometowns

http://www.mediafire.com/?iujv5ydu15r9iwt

Do you remember in the early 2000s when everyone was gaga for Neutral Milk Hotel? Nothing really touched Aeroplane Over the Sea, and they pretty much dropped out of public view.

The Rural Alberta Advantage, for better and for worse, is reminding a lot of people of those years. RAA has the sonics and raw energy of a lot of NMH's songs and almost captures that magic. The singer is often described as a "non-singer," someone who puts energy over phrasing, or other things that "singers" apparently think about. Seems a little bit like a derisive complement, to me. But then again, I like Fugazi as much as i like Nina Simone.

 Their lyrics aren't quite as jarring or imaginative, but there is something very immediate and punk about the simple delivery of each song. Imagine AOTS without the horns and religious reference, and you'd have a pretty good idea of what they sound like.

Definitely worth a listen.

Women- Public Strain

http://www.mediafire.com/?8yfmqd2wcls4ycf

A friend turned me on to Women's "Group Transport Hall," which i covered for a performance about jeggings. The song is really great-- weird, wobbly, beautiful, and catchy.

Public Strain could be described that same way. It has that uncanny element to it, where you recognize and don't recognize the music. It goes from sounding strident to blissful, and makes me feel like i'm underground looking at cathedrals when i listen to it. I read that it felt more like an "album" than most cds, and sounds best (*surprise surprise) when listened to on headphones. If you play it through speakers at work, like i did, people will just glare at you.

Recommended for fans of Deerhoof and Slowdive or Aaron Martin. *A disclaimer: it took at least 3 listens for me to really like this, which I think is a sign of a great album. One of my favorite discoveries of this new year.

St. Vincent- Actor

http://www.mediafire.com/?3yqdtb7gz9zspru

Probably a commonplace name at this point, but I am still really impressed by this album. I was especially impressed to learn that Annie Erin Clark (aka St. Vincent) wrote and arranged the CD, right down to the drum beats (which is contrary to the average singer-songwriter who simply writes tunes on a guitar, then has the pros come in and flesh them out until they sound like solid songs). She's more of a composer, in the classical sense, than a songwriter. But she's still composing songs.

There is an other-worldliness to some of her melodies, and they are sung in a delicate, lilting voice that is really strong. When singers like Bjork or Janelle Monae are able to impress by their sheer range and emotional range, St. Vincent does the opposite-- she impresses by possessing an incredible voice but refusing to show it off.

She's pretty theatrical, which turns a lot of people off. But i definitely appreciate the comprehensive approach: music, image, lyrics, production, execution. One could also call her narcissistic, but eh... what singer-songwriter isn't, really?

Definitely worth listening to, and recommended for fans of left-of-center indie pop songwriters, or fans of Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond, Neko Case, et al. 

Juana Molina- Un Dia

http://www.mediafire.com/?an515logjlf6l2v

The whole "single artist making a huge sound by using a looping pedal" phenomenon is pretty big, made popular by Andrew Bird, Zoe Keating, and Imogene Heap. And they're all pretty good at it in different ways. But one of my favorites is Juana Molina.

Her first two albums often get described as sounding somewhere between soft Brazillian bossa nova and Brian Eno, which is intriguing enough of a description to make me want to listen to a record. But Un Dia, her third, pulls out all the hush and slaps you in the face with weirdness: layers and layers of noises, vocal ticks, instruments, keyboards, and horns. It's just great, dense, weird, and beautiful. And most importantly, it really kicks-- all solid driving beats, so you don't have to sit and sip yerba matte in your yoga wear with your pretentious yuppie friends while you listen to it on your fair-trade hand-woven area rug. It's acid trip approved, crazy kids!

I was able to see Molina live at the Southgate House in Kentucky. She played loops with a live bassist and drummer, and of course, it was incredible. Her live set actually blew this recording out of the water, because I was able to see that all these loops on the CD were happening live-- I wouldn't be surprised if this CD had no overdubs.

I heard through the grapevine that Molina is Argentinian and had a previous career as a comedian?! Even if this is untrue, I love that idea.

Thao- We Brave Bee Stings and All

http://www.mediafire.com/?18673kcrsfv5pht

Get ready to throw rocks at me, but i'll go ahead and say it: i have never liked Cat Power. Ever. Besides being pretty inconsistent and self-absorbed, she is responsible for spawning a whole army of singer-songwriters who think that singing off-key and writing boring songs is somehow charming.

So, let me introduce you to Thao Ngyen. She's often compared to Cat Power, and i guess the vocals have a similarity, but she's far superior. She has personality, a sense of humor, writes great songs, and can rock when she wants to. Plus-- and say what you will about this-- the people who rule the singer-songwriter indie world tend to be white. So to see a Vietnamese American coming in and kicking ass in this genre makes me feel pretty elated.

She has a follow-up which is good as well (and has Andrew Bird on it! Oooo!). But for my money, i'll take We Brave Bee Stings and All.

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(By the way, i will admit that i like Cat Power's "The Greatest." But mostly because the musicians on it are so accomplished that they could play even MY songs and make them sound amazing.)