Magnetic Morning (Adam Franklin and Sam Fogarino): Cold War Kids

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

Swervedriver: Wrong Treats

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]
[Read my interview with drummer Jez]

Live:


Tour Dates:
Apr 27 2008 8:00P Coachella Festival, Mojave Tent (Time TBD) Indio, California
May 26 2008 8:00P Neumo’s Seattle, Washington
May 27 2008 8:00P Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon
May 29 2008 8:00P The Fillmore San Francisco, California
May 30 2008 8:00P Casbah San Diego, California
May 31 2008 8:00P Music Box at the Henry Fonda Hollywood, California
Jun 3 2008 9:00P Emo’s (on sale 3/28 @ noon CST) Austin, Texas
Jun 5 2008 8:00P The Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 6 2008 8:00P Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina
Jun 7 2008 8:00P Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 8 2008 8:00P 930 Club District of Columbia, Washington DC
Jun 10 2008 8:00P Paradise Club (on sale 3/29 @ noon EST) Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 11 2008 8:30P Bowery Ballroom New York, New York
Jun 12 2008 8:00P Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York
Jun 13 2008 8:00P Lee’s Palace Toronto, Ontario
Jun 14 2008 8:00P Metro Chicago, Illinois

The Wave Pictures: The Airplanes at Brescia

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]

Talk Talk: April 5th

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Wiki]
[Read Alan McGee's Blog Post about Talk Talk]
[Read My Special on Talk Talk]

Los Hermanos: Condicional (Repost)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Wiki]

Promo:

The Notwist: Gloomy Planets

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Glasvegas: I'm Gonna Get Stabbed

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Website]

Thoughts On: Ida Maria--Stella (Single)

In indie rock, there is a perpetual false choice: innovate or write a song that people can actually sing along to. Blame it on The Beatles: while they seemed capable of doing both, bands with lesser talent have since felt compelled to pick sides. Thus from the same record label in the same decade you had a band like Ride, heavy on the innovation but lacking in the memorable tunes department, alongside Oasis, a band forever doomed to share royalties from their greatest hits with songwriters from the 60s and 70s.

There's no mistaking there's something a bit classic about Ida Maria's "Stella". Now perhaps, as astute youtube commentators have pointed out, that's due to its similarity to "Jimmy Mack" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. "Stella"'s unabased Motown influences make the song instantly recognizable, and even more impressive than the band's formidable single, "Oh My God". And while it's short on groundbreaking sounds, "Stella" will no doubt dig itself into your subconscious by the second listen. Definitely worth tracking down.

"Stella" Live:

[Ida Maria Myspace]

Listen to "Jimmy Mack" by Martha Reeves and The Vandellas:

[Download the MP3 Here]

Oasis: Stand by Me

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

pacificUV: Need

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
(Thanks Clay)

Ivy: Thinking About You

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]
(Thanks Big Boots)

The Wannadies: Friends

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

Thoughts On:Mystery Jets--Twenty One

In rock, it's always the same old story. How do a bunch of guys with guitars make songs about girls sound fresh again? It's a task easier said than done, to be sure, and even when bands seem to stumble upon the right formula, it only lasts for an album or two. The latest band to get it right is the Mystery Jets, for in "Twenty One" they have created exactly half of a brilliant album.

For a band with such inauspicious beginnings, half of a brilliant record ain't (pardon the pun) half bad. The Mystery Jets' first UK album was "Making Dens", the bulk of which was repackaged for their first proper American record, "Zootime". Whichever album you consider as their debut, it's pretty slim pickings. Heavy on novelty factors like the guitarist's dad playing in the band and kitchen-sink arrangements, in the bulk of their early material the band come off as the bastard offspring of The Coral and Hot Hot Heat (no, that's not a compliment).

That being said, there were a few reasons to be optimistic about the band's future, such as a mastery of their own quirky sense of rhythm, and the use of exuberant harmonies more focused on capturing a feeling than on hitting all the right notes. Single "Diamonds in the Dark", which made its way onto both "Zootime" and "Making Dens", is absolutely great, with some eccentric lyrics about love gone bad and a tune that Elvis Costello might have crafted in his golden period.

Listen to "Diamonds in the Dark":

[Download the MP3 Here]

To be sure, on "Twenty One", the Mystery Jets have developed both as songwriters and musicians. The question is whether they're quite done evolving. Lead-off single "Young Love" has all the makings of a classic, an odd jangly little tune that's so simple even a child could sing it: 'One night of love, nothing more nothing less; one night of love left my bed in a mess. Is that you on the bus? Is that you on the train? You wrote your number on my hand and it came off in the rain.' Yes, guest singer Laura Marling's reformed Eliza Doolittle crooning seems a bit overdone, but that's a small complaint. Elsewhere, 80s homage "Two Doors Down" has a chorus that's pure Whitney Houston (pre-Bobby Brown) and a closing sax solo that Huey Lewis would trade his best beige blazer for.

"Flakes", given away as free download at the end of 2007, is "Earth Angel" on acid. It's a genuinely affecting ode to lost love and misspent youth. "Behind the Bunhouse" makes fine use of techniques perfected by The Smiths like arpeggiated guitar and that incessant shuffling beat. There's a distinct indie-disco vibe to "Half In Love with Elizabeth", the album's highlight:

I knew that you were thinking of him last night
'Cos I saw the blood seep down to your toes
Turn away if you must
But how can you put your trust
In a man who always sleeps in his clothes?

But as alluded to in previous paragraphs, the band aren't quite there yet when it comes to putting together a complete album. Opener "Hideaway" repeats all the mistakes of their first record, only with Erol Alkan's dancy production further muddying the waters. Mid-album cut "Hand Me Down" sounds tired, cliche and possibly unfinished."MJ" is an absolutely terrible remake of The Police's "Don't Stand So Close to Me"; it's a wonder that such a dreadful song could exist on the same album as the majestic "Flakes".

The best moments of "Twenty One" will almost surely stand among the best moments of 2008, but this reviewer is only half in love with the Mystery Jets. The less inspiring songs will be quickly consigned to the recycle bin. They almost made a classic album, but didn't quite get there in the end.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Correction 3/22: I've been informed in the comments section that "Half in Love with Elizabeth" was recorded by Stephen Street, not Erol Alkan. The relevant section has been updated. My apologies.

Listen to "Half in Love with Elizabeth":

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

Lou Reed, Nico, and John Cale: Live at Le Bataclan '72

With the enormous interest generated by the Velvet Underground bootleg I posted a few weeks ago, "Live at the Gymnasium 1967" (Link), I thought I would post another show. This one isn't quite as rare, but it's just as interesting. In it, Lou Reed, John Cale, and Nico have a semi-reunion and play VU songs alongside their own solo work. You could kind of say it's the VU "unplugged". Here's the tracklist:

1 I'm Waiting for the Man
2 Berlin
3 The Black Angel's Death Song (Reed, Cale)
4 Wild Child
5 Heroin
6 Ghost Story (Cale)
7 The Biggest, Loudest, Hairiest Group of All (Cale)
8 Empty Bottles (Cale)
9 Femme Fatale
10 No One Is There (Nico)
11 Frozen Warnings (Nico)
12 Janitor of Lunacy (Nico)
13 I'll Be Your Mirror
14 All Tomorrow's Parties (encore)

[Download the whole show]

Listen to "Heroin":

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Wiki]

Waiting for the Man:


Berlin:

Surrounded: Safe Tomorrow Sun

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]

Continental Divide: Golden Throats

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]
(Thanks Nathan)

Adorable Again

About a year ago, I interviewed Pete Fijalkowski, the lead singer of the early 90s band Adorable. Here's a small bit of it:

DF: In early interviews, you were painted as being incredibly arrogant. Was it an accurate depiction?

PF: It's hard for me to say. There's very few people who would admit to being arrogant. I was certainly very confident of what we were doing, and though I feel we were somewhat mis-labelled, the general perception is probably not without some merit. I remember when we came to the USA we were excited, because we felt it was a time when we could start anew. It had all gone wrong press-wise in the UK , and this was our chance to come somewhere with a fresh slate or so we thought- when we arrived we discovered to our horror that the label had decided to run a campaign dubbing us as "the band you love to hate". Cue heavy sighs as we spent half an hour each show tearing down posters with this slogan that had been painstakingly put up at each venue by SBK employees. Overall I'm quite glad from a personal point of view that Adorable imploded as it did, because I think I'm a far better person for it.

[Full Interview Link]

The interview got a decent amount of attention on the ol' internet, and I'd like to think that it introduced some new people to the band. Not long after the interview was posted, I got an email from Neal, who works for Cherry Red Records in the UK. He was asking if I could provide him with Pete's contact info. Neal, a longtime fan, had been trying for years to put together an Adorable compilation. I gave him the info, and long story short, the new compilation "Footnotes" is now available in stores.

Music fans should be thankful for Neal and his hard work, and to the band for putting out so many great songs in their short tenure. I'm happy that Dead Flowers could play a part, no matter how insignificant, in bringing this compilation together. That's always been the goal of the site--to expose people to great music that they might not otherwise hear.

Here's the tracklist:

1. Sunshine Smile
2. Glorious
3. Sistine Chapel Ceiling
4. Vendetta
5. A To Fade In
6. Submarine
7. Sunburnt
8. I'll Be Your Saint
9. Manina Suitcase
10. Homeboy
11. Summerside
12. Feed Me
13. Fallenidol
14. Crash Sight
15. Cut #2
16. Kangaroo Court
17. Lettergo
18. Breathless

Listen to "Sunshine Smile":

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

Bob Dylan: Just Like a Woman

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Live Acoustic:

Oasis: The Hindu Times

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

The Rolling Stones: I Just Want to Make Love to You

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

The Audacity of Mope

An interesting post from Morrissey Solo about The Smiths and Morrissey's album sales in the US:

Here are the Morrissey and Smiths album sales in the Soundscan era (i.e from 1992 onwards), which I received from a friend who works there.

Interestingly enough both in 2007 and in total sales since 1992 The Smiths outsell Morrissey, if only just.

In 2007 The Smiths sold 66,063 albums in the US and Morrissey sold 58,992 albums
Cumulatively The Smiths have sold 2,598,266 albums in the SoundScan era and Morrissey has sold 2,350,983.

The best selling Smiths albums from 1992 onwards are:

Best...1 : 432,907
Louder Than Bombs: 412,444
Singles: 396,150
The Queen Is Dead: 287,180
Meat Is Murder: 245,385
Strangeways, Here We Come: 230,794
Best...2: 208,357
Harful of Hollow: 133,809
The Smiths: 130,076

The best selling Morrissey album from 1992 onwards are:

Your Arsenal: 366,047
Bona Drag: 360,977
Vauxhall & I: 293,017
Viva Hate: 234,804
You Are The Quarry: 230,169
Kill Uncle: 221,293
Best of Morrissey: 179,746
Ringleader of The Tormentors: 97,502
Maladjusted: 88,554
World Of Morrissey: 69,357
Southpaw Grammar: 67,451

Listen to "Half a Person":

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Wiki]
[Link from Excellent Online]

Godspeed You Black Emperor: East HastingsHuman Bell: Outposts of Oblivion

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]

Jeff Buckley: Dream Brother (Live at L' Olympia)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Artist Website]
[Artist Wiki]

The Notwist: Good Lies

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]
(Thanks Kris)

Real Ones: Outlaw (Edited Version, Web Rip)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Guardian Feature on the band]

Glasvegas: Daddy's Gone

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Website]
[Alan McGee Blog Post about the band for The Guardian]

Promo:

Black Kids: I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

Screaming Tea Party: Death Egg

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]
(Thanks Christian)

10-Song Introductions: Pulp

Getting into an artist, especially an established one, is no easy task. There's often a daunting amount of material to sift through, along with the possibility of being called a bandwagon jumper. With this feature, I'll try to introduce you to the best aspects of an artist, with the hope that you'll hear something you like.

Pulp are (were):
Jarvis Cocker (vocals)
Candida Doyle (keyboard)
Mark Webber (guitar)
Steve Mackey (bass)
Russell Senior (guitar/violin)
Nick Banks (drums)

1. Common People
Truth be told, a "10-Song Introduction" to Pulp is a bit unnecessary given the undeniable brilliance of their released singles. The compilation "Hits" collects these singles into one incredible package and is a great place to start for any aspiring Pulp fan. Standing at the forefront of those singles is "Common People", which is not unlike "Like a Rolling Stone" in several ways--it's simultaneously one of the groups's best and most well known songs, and it tackles potent issues of class and identity:

Rent a flat above a shop, cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool, pretend you never went to school.
But still you'll never get it right
'cos when you're laid in bed at night watching roaches climb the wall
If you call your Dad he could stop it all.

Besides being a massive tune, the ability of people to relate to the story of an upper-class girl "slumming it" at an English art school is what made this a Britpop anthem. But the idea of class is not only a European concern--contrary to what American politicians might have you believe. As culture and the arts increasingly become an elites-only game in the US, Jarvis Cocker's diatribe against a posh girl from Greece only becomes more relevant.

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]

2. Disco 2000
Probably Pulp's second most recognizable song, this is a wistful, upbeat tale of unrequited love and nostalgia. Behind the narrator's longing is a deep sadness and even desperation. Cocker sings about how he and a girl lived very different lives--she was the beautiful girl down the street and he was the awkward kid who knew her through family. What's even sadder is how Cocker still longs for her even as a grown man:

What are you doing Sunday, baby?
Would you like to come and meet me, maybe?
You can even bring your baby.

This being Pulp, these stalker-ish sentiments are bathed in the warm glow of "Gloria"-aping pop, underpinned by a (what else) disco beat. On paper, it sounds terrible. Coming through one's speakers, however, it's a totally different animal: It's the kind of absurd amalgamation that only Pulp in their golden period were capable of.


3. I Spy
A lot of people have difficult childhoods. They live in fear and wallow in high school obscurity, seeing their obvious wit and brilliance go unnoticed by the pretty girl who is more interested in the school soccer star. Most of those people grow up and move on. Not Jarvis--he gets revenge.

But we're not talking revenge in the angst-y, Marilyn Manson/Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" sense of the word. No, Jarvis knows that the best revenge is returning to that small town and seducing that pretty girl (now middle aged) while the former soccer star (now fat and balding) is away at his office job:

You see you should take me seriously.
Very seriously indeed.
Cause I've been sleeping with your wife for the past sixteen weeks,
smoking your cigarettes,
drinking your brandy,
messing up the bed that you chose together.
And in all that time I just wanted you to come home unexpectedly one afternoon,
and catch us at it in the front room.
You see I spy for a living,
and I specialise in revenge,
on taking the things I know will cause you pain.
I can't help it,
I was dragged up.
My favourite parks are car parks,
grass is something you smoke,
birds are something you shag.
Take your "Year in Provence"
and shove it up your arse.

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]

4. A Little Soul
Another Pulp concoction of seemingly disparate elements--John Cougar Mellencamp guitar, lyrics about a dad telling his young son not to become a depraved bastard like him--that the band turns into a true thing of beauty. On the album "This is Hardcore", Jarvis has several tearjerker lines, but none as heartbreaking as this:

You look like me
but you're not like me I know.
I had one, two, three, four shots of happiness.
I look like a big man but I've only got a little soul.

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]

5. This is Hardcore
Late-period Britpop saw a host of troubling musical developments as artists tried to keep things fresh, one primary tactic being the introduction of long songs. The longer, the more poignant, they would have us believe. "This is Hardcore", however, is one of the few diamonds in that rough. Yes it's long, but it's long for a reason. Jarvis' epic analogy of fame and porn, accompanied by an excellent video, made this one of the best songs of the late 90s.


6. Razzmatazz
Nobody does the scorned lover routine quite like Jarvis. In his bitterness, he's not beyond waiting months or even years to see that ex-girlfriend lose her looks and fall on hard times. Come on, it doesn't get more petty than this:

You started getting fatter three weeks after I left you
Now you're going with some kid looks like some bad comedian
Are you gonna go out, are you sitting at home eating boxes of Milk Tray?
Watch TV on your own, aren't you the one with your razzmatazz
and your nights on the town?
Oh-oh-oh And your father wants to help you doesn't he babe?
But your mother wants to put you away
Now no-one's gonna care if you don't call them when you said
And he's not coming round tonight to try and talk you into bed
And all those stupid little things they ain't working
Oh they aren't working at all

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]

7. Babies
While this is far from this reviewer's favorite Pulp song, no introduction would be complete without it. "Babies" is Jarvis in storytelling mode, and represents perhaps the most engaging narrative he's ever committed to tape. The subject matter would seem trivial, if not downright sleazy: a teenage Jarvis watching his girlfriend's older sister make it with boys in her room. But Jarvis pulls the whole story off with wit and yes, innocence ("I only went with her 'cause she looks like you") so that he comes off as more endearing than perverted. Live versions of this song were often prefaced with one of Jarvis' lengthy monologues--an underrated aspect of Pulp's appeal as a live act.

8. Live Bed Show
Like "I Spy", this song represents the darker side of Pulp's defining album "Different Class", both musically and thematically. As Russell and Candida set a gloomy stage behind him, Jarvis sings about love gone wrong, cleverly wrapping the story around the couple's bed:

She doesn't have to go to work,
but she doesn't want to stay in bed,
cos it's changed from something comfortable,
to something else instead.

9. Dishes
According to Jarvis, he wrote this song after hearing the theory that men raised in the West go through a mid-life crisis at 33 because they realize they won't be Christ. Originally seeming like little more than an afterthought than a full-fledged song, "Dishes" blossoms into a beautiful climax:

And aren't you happy just to be alive?
Anything's possible.
You've got no Cross to bear tonight.
No not tonight.
No not tonight.



10. Sunrise
With Pulp having lost a good deal of their commercial mojo with "This is Hardcore", the British press falsely assumed that the band had lost most of their creative fire as well. That couldn't be farther from the truth: the band's final effort, "We Love Life", is remarkably consistent and just as artistically bold as its predecessors. Produced by legendary cult crooner Scott Walker, the album is full of big booming percussion and has a more acoustic feel than previous Pulp records. The album's closer, and high-point, is "Sunrise", an admission from Jarvis that he has squandered his youth:


I used to hate the sun because it shone on everything I'd done.
Made me feel that all that I had done was overfill the ashtray of my life.

It ends with a dizzying guitar freak-out led by Mark Webber and sometimes guest guitarist (and now bona fide solo artist) Richard Hawley. It's an exhilarating final glimpse of a band frequently misunderstood, yet unfailingly brilliant.

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]

[Band Wiki]

The Velvet Underground: Live at the Gymnasium, NYC

Furious Wank writes on the Libertines Forum:

The Gymnasium, NYC

I'm not into VU bootlegs really, but apparently this is a big deal. It's the ONLY available live stuff from 1967 and has only become a