Category Archives: Friends

Mar 02 5 comments
Boo Radleys, Cocteau Twins, Echo & The Bunnymen, Friends, Indie Music, Interpol, Joy Division, Rock/Pop, Shoegaze, The Soft Pack, Velvet Underground

For A Friend #005

Stereolab taps into the Pulse

Stereolab taps into the Pulse

Tonight’s post is for an old friend of mine named Thad. He used to play guitar on stage with me back in ye olde salad days. We influenced each other quite a lot musically. From him, I got a general openness to musical delight. I credit mainly him and Kurt Lightner for that. They showed me that you can be a sponge, sucking up any old muck, and at the same time you can have standards. I was so stuck on a twisted definition of what was “cool” and what wasn’t.

What did Thad get from me? Ultimately you’d have to ask him, but I will relate one thing he once said in mixed company. He credited me for being the conduit to the appreciation of the Sacred Eighth Note. I suppose it really took off with the Velvet Underground (and someone – Crozier? – please chime in with a half-remembered quotation … was it Lou Reed who first spoke of this?), but it’s a hallmark of the post-punk era, it has resurfaced like clockwork every ten years or so, and it has remained my heartbeat ever since the teenage years. It’s a monotony, it’s a haze, it’s the sound of getting lost in music. It’s the Eighth Note Pulse. All hail.

I asked Thad what he remembered most about our shared musical experiences, and he mentioned some of the music posted below. So to Thad, then…

Thad, I had great, formative times with you. Thanks for helping me embrace my cool and for sharing in it. Tonight, I’ll post some songs that conjure up that aesthetic, and later, anytime after tonight in fact, you can check in on this blog, and chances are I will be posting some marvellous shapes and colors that I might have remained closed to had it not been for your generous spirit.

I’ve attempted to trace this religious rhythm at various touchpoints through recent years, starting with the Velvet Underground (the original?), and on to Joy Division (perfectors of the post-punk signature, and suitably, they carry the Pulse on the bass), Echo & The Bunnymen (close echoes and a seminal example in “Back Of Love”), the Cocteau Twins (progenitors of the ’90s shoegaze swell), the Boo Radleys (the most inventive of the shoegazers), and ending with Interpol (the original resuscitators of the ‘Aughts). From Interpol onwards, it just gets crazy, as do many things, with the profileration of ideas brought on by the Information Age. Further below, I’ve posted a fine example of the mantra in the Soft Pack’s double-sided package of bliss. And anyone who has ever namechecked the Arcade Fire will testify that the Eighth Note beats on. Much to our delight.

And please, let us all know what I have overlooked.

Velvet Underground: I’m Waiting For The Man
Joy Division: Transmission
Echo & The Bunnymen: The Back Of Love
Cocteau Twins: Cherry-Coloured Funk
Boo Radleys: Skyscraper
Interpol: Obstacle 2

Feb 25 0 comments
Friends, Indie Music, Kurt Lightner, Tindersticks

A Night In

I had shoes full of holes when you first took me in...

Tindersticks: emotional connect the dots

“El diablo en el ojo” convulses to its end, the strings like caged sirens, the confusion palpable. It screeches out a last whimper, just contained, just able to bring it down to nothing, and then:

Clarity. A bass line. A more focused, but weathered character, relating to us how he got here:

I had shoes full of holes when you first took me in

It’s the second song on the second album by the Tindersticks, and it’s called “A Night In.” Kurt hadn’t heard anything like it before. Even though the experiences differed from his own, “it was emotional connect the dots; I could feel this character.”

This is the song that first introduces, through the bass croon of Stuart Staples, the persona of Tindersticks II. A man of the world, rough and classy, full of the scars of risk. “I had calluses, not sores,” he claims. He wears as a badge of honor his ability to “walk right through” unscathed. He’s kidding himself, of course.

Kurt had always inspired others, entertained others, sustained others. How would he, now, be sustained? Tindersticks was a new type of entertainment for him, for Kurt was living through that pain of a lost love. He had loved a woman, and she had loved him, and then she left. The scars of risk, seen everywhere all the time. Look on the street now and you’ll see it.

The narrator of “A Night In” gets far too close to it for his liking. Who can blame him for “running from the feeling of waking?” How far can we actually allow ourselves to become immersed in suffering? And what do we do when the wave breaks on us?

Tindersticks: A Night In

Feb 25 1 comments
Brian Eno, David Byrne, Friends, Rock/Pop

FROM a Friend #001

Is this my beautiful house?

Is this my beautiful house?

I’ve decided that a central purpose of this blog will be this: the transparent and earnest exchange between friends.

So there you have it and here it is: the first recommendation from a friend here on Subanimal Sounds. This one comes from Julie Anne Reda (I remember her under an earlier name), whom I knew in college, and with whom I attended Gulf War symposiums, nature preserve lie-ins, and Saturday afternoon common room singalongs (often featuring U2′s “40″ and the entire oeuvre of the Waterboys). “Warm memories” are how I would describe those times.

Fifteen years of life later, together we look back one small year: one of Julie Anne’s favorite records of 2008 was “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” by Brian Eno and David Byrne. I happened to have “Life Is Long” in my iTunes library, so I will post it here. I hear a potential world to be drawn into here, and my interest is piqued (the names alone would do that), but I’m on the fence. I fear the song’s title promises more than the lyrics deliver. I remember a character from the movie Magnolia chanting “life is long” on his death bed, and depressives everywhere nodded in their guts… a little later I stole it myself and used it in a song. I hear a different message in this song. More measured, more instructional. Any thoughts out there? What does this album mean to you? Please share with us.

Brian Eno and David Byrne: Life Is Long

Feb 25 0 comments
Friends, Indie Music, Kurt Lightner, Tindersticks

El diablo en el ojo

I wouldn't turn the lights down yet...

I wouldn't turn the lights down yet...

We come here already emotionally spent. Outside it’s all exposed: vindictive heat, pitiless chill, always extremes.

But I wouldn’t shut your eyes, not yet…

When Kurt first heard this, the first track of the second Tindersticks album, “from the first note, it was a perfect match to my sorrow.”

What world was this, and where was the world around him? Kurt’s heart was heavy like never before.

This man, always so full of joy, now so heavy. If you had known him, you would have fallen to the ground.

But I wouldn’t say a word just yet…

Tindersticks: El diablo en el ojo

Feb 24 2 comments
Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Friends, Indie Music, The Annuals, The Apples In Stereo

For a Friend #004

“Brian” (not his real name) is a business contact in search of new music. He has a history of being in bands and chilling in dorm rooms and what not, but life’s path has led him down the more conventional route, where wives and kids lie, with mortgages and real stuff like that. Musos like me stay single. But Brian loves music all the same and I am happy if I can help enrich his life.

I have little to go on but I know Brian loves a good melody, a Beatle-ish (or better, Wilsonian) “hard” melody and a solid song structure (he like Fountains of Wayne). He also likes a tinge of Americana in the mix (he likes Wilco and R.E.M.). I would say the primary emotion driving Brian’s music would be glee, or better stated, just “feeling good.” He likes a little aggro, provided it’s couched in a glorious, giddy cacophony (he likes the ‘Mats and the Pixies). These are all things I like, and Brian is a blank slate these days, so this post was easy. (Gentle reader, please keep in mind Brian has not kept abreast of the deluge of indie buzz and nonsense that you so undoubtedly have been immersed in, so forgive us for treading the ad nauseum waters here, and hey, maybe we can both back up and listen with fresh ears.)

First, three songs from last year, one a critical landslide, one a sleeper, and one in between. Fleet Foxes topped almost every critic’s best-of list last year, and with good reason. It’s stunning stuff. The Annuals flew a bit more under the radar. No Age might give you some of the grit and gravel you’re looking for.

Fleet Foxes: Ragged Wood
The Annuals: Confessor
No Age: Teen Creeps

Then we have two songs from this year. First, a corker from an old stand-by, the Apples In Stereo. They’ve been around for years now but never misstep when it comes to a melody. Finally, there’s this year’s can’t-miss (the usual review reads “It can’t be as good as everyone says, but… it’s as good as everyone says.”), Animal Collective. I resisted at first, but then I got over myself.

The Apples In Stereo: Go
Animal Collective: Summertime Clothes

Feb 24 1 comments
Elbow, Friends, Indie Music, Kurt Lightner, Lee Mavers, Rock/Pop, The La's

For A Friend #003

This video actually comes from a friend. One of this world’s most enthusiastic souls, and sadly, one of beauty’s most bitter (but undeterred) enthusiasts, happens to be a former roommate of mine. I’m talking about Kurt Matthew Lightner, originally of Des Moines, Iowa. I got lucky that way, to run smack into this man. He is a brilliant artist, the kind that you set apart. He lives in Sweden and has two beautiful children there. Find out all you can, at least about his art, here.

The video above comes sight unseen from him, as a recommendation. There will be more on/for/from Kurt later. I have time tonight only for a superficial dusting. The Elbow video is from him. The La’s are from me. I will always post La’s here and I will never hear a word against it. Cheers Kurt. Back atcha later.

The La’s: Clean Prophet (Jeremy Allom Version; 2008 Remaster)
The La’s: Over (Liz Kershaw BBC Radio version)

Feb 21 2 comments
Bell, Friends, Howling Bells, Indie Music, Rock/Pop, Shoegaze, Slowdive

For A Friend; #002

This next one is for a woman I haven’t seen in over 10 years named Jody. We traded a few messages on Facebook, and she asked me for some recommendations. So here we are. My abiding memory of Jody is that she used to ride around campus in the coolest Range Rover. In spite of that she was still nice to me. In fact, once I sat in that Range Rover, parked, dark outside, a spring in the air, and we…

…listened to Slowdive. I was doing the squee thing before I even knew there was such a word. That music went straight to my melancholic soul. Jody kept laughing so naturally and delightfully, like she always did, just enjoying the sight of me being so blown away.

Well, Jody, for you it seems appropriate to share a couple of clear, peeling bells, which aren’t shoegaze, but which do follow up that shimmering Slowdive aesthetic rather nicely. The first is the Australian band Howling Bells, including a track off their brand new album released this month. The second is a Russian singer/New York resident named Olga Bell, who has a recent EP that’s extraordinarily hard to find but equally as rewarding. Oh, and as a bonus track, I have to include some rare Slowdive as well.

Howling Bells: Into The Chaos
Howling Bells: Setting Sun

Bell: Housefire
Bell: The Miner

Slowdive: Silver Screen (unreleased song)

Feb 21 2 comments
Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, Friends, Indie Music, Paula Frazer, Tarnation

For A Friend; #001

"Raindance" by Nicole Tori

"Raindance" by Nicole Tori

This will be the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series to customize my outpouring towards one or more friends in my life. I may or may not be sharing real names, depending on how likely they are to be embarrased. The first subject has inspired me with her force of spirit and determination to make it through. Her name is Nicole Tori, she works as an opera singer in New York City, and she does not mind seeing her name in print. She also takes marvellous photographs. She is a relatively new friend in my life.

Nicole, my first recommendation for you is the voice of Paula Frazer. I am most familiar with her earliest work, the spaghetti-western stylings of Tarnation, though her solo albums of the early- to mid-aughts are also well worth checking out. The song I’ve chosen for you speaks of a path “sharp and narrow,” and asks “which way can we go?” It’s a good evocation of those times when you take in your physical surroundings but wander along a different track spiritually, and then come back into yourself.
Tarnation: Your Thoughts And Mine

My second recommendation is the upcoming compilation Dark Was The Night on 4AD. It’ll be out next Tuesday, and it will include recordings from pretty much every band I’ve ever liked. Beirut will be on it. Here’s a sneak peak of the Bon Iver track. It puts me in mind of cold northern lanes, and the hesitation we might have in getting into our warm gear and plodding through. The thing about getting wet is once you’re wet, you’re wet, and there’s no need to worry about getting wet anymore.
Bon Iver: Brackett, WI

Finally, I recommend the spellbinding virtuosity of Andrew Bird. I first saw him open for Magnetic Fields in a big theatre in Philadelphia. My friends and I weren’t thrilled about the prospect of suffering through an opening act, but we had no idea what was in store. First he calmly gets his guitar out of its case and strums a D chord. Then he starts whistling. Then he steps on a pedal and the guitar keeps going, while he picks up a violin. Then he loops that, and begins harmonizing with himself. Then he comes out with some jaw-dropping lyric about frogs on a pond in Illinois or something. The man blew us away like no performer beforer or since. This track comes from his album Noble Beast, released a few weeks ago.
Andrew Bird: Tenuousness

Also, because I promised:
The Catbirds: When you had babies