September 2010

Tops at the Box: With his three films prior to this week’s No. 1 movie, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, director Oliver Stone went for the easy money and failed. Between Alexander, World Trade Center and W., Stone hadn’t made a decent movie since 1999’s Any Given Sunday. Money Never Sleeps, a sequel to his 1987 classic, Wall Street, opened strong, bringing in just under $20 million over it’s first three days in the U.S. and another $10 million around the world. Michael Douglas reprises the role of his Oscar Winning Gordon Gekko, joined here by Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Carey Mulligan. We’ve heard that the movie is “decent,” but definitely not a solid follow-up to the classic original. Meh. Sure, I thought about checking it out, then rented Harry Brown instead. 

More From the Box: Last weekend’s No. 2 film, Zach Snyder’s animated Legend of the Guardians, brought in a whole lot of praise and over $16 million over it’s first three days. The visuals do look interesting, but with Snyder at the helm, we have absolutely no interest in this movie. The weekend’s No. 3 film, Ben Affleck’s great The Town, upped its 10-day total to just under $50 million in the U.S. while the No. 4 film, modestly made comedy Easy A, continued to roll, upping it’s total to $32 million with another $11 million weekend. Rounding out last weekend’s Top 5 was chick-flick comedy You Again, which brought in  about $8 million over its first three day. Ugh. Also of note: Inception somehow remains in the Top 10 after 11 weeks, as does ScreenTime favorite The American, an artsy hitman flick that has brought in $35 million over its first four weeks.

It's late, and we at the Ze Cat offices can't get to sleep. So, rather than go running or do some pushups, we've been listening to the NPR preview of the new Deerhunter album, Halcyon Digest, which came out yesterday in the US. Damn ... what a great album and great band. Look for a review soon.

The other album we're guessing might make it into our Top 2 of 2010 is the upcoming Sufjan Stevens full length, The Age of Adz. We realized tonight that Amazon.com has 30 second samples up from each song ... and damn, do they sound good. We're familiar with a couple of the songs from live footage, but had no idea just how conceptual and deeply composed a Sufjan album could get. We're not going to listen to another note from this surely great record until we have a physical copy in our hands. And damn if we're not excited about the two new Ryan Adams albums still coming out this year.

"It's going great so far, aside from the air conditioning in our van breaking," Strange Boys bassist Philip Sambol told me in a recent interview. "But Gentlemen Jesse bought us a BB gun, so everything is okay," he added, giving a shout out to the much-buzzed-about GJ, who, along with Natural Child, will open The Strange Boys' upcoming show at the Brass Rail on Monday, September 27.

This is often how it goes, I quickly found, when talking to the aloof Philip, whose similar looking brother, Ryan, is the singer/guitarist for the Boys. Rounding out the Austin, Texas "garage rock revival" band are guitarist Greg Enlow, drummer Mikey La Franchi, backing vocalist Tim Presley and saxophonist Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt. Wait a minute, did I just type the words" garage rock revival?" Yikes!

On a Thursday afternoon, unemployed yet tired, I sat fidgety in the storefront window of 816 Pint N' Slice, watching the wind storm blow the businessmen around as I gummed away my last three dollars, perfectly satisfied by the glow of pepperoni grease. Earlier in the day I'd invested in the brand new EP from Sweeden's Tallest Man On Earth, Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird, certain that it would leave me as simultaneously impressed and bored as his recent LP, The Wild Hunt. But, instead, sitting in grease and wind as opener "Little River" flowed through my head, I felt alright. Still hungry but happy as the song played on, instantly my new favorite from the man so many were calling Dylan. The Skinny Little Man from far away who sang with an American accent and the power of a writer with a clear talent for melody and timeless verse.

For the unfamiliar, TMOE is Kristian Matsson, a normal-sized 27 year old songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden. Having earned a small but fervent fanbase while touring with Bon Iver (at the height of the Bon Iver buzz, no less), Matsson's star has been brightening ever since, his recent record, the aforementioned The Wild Hunt, earning some of the best reviews of 2010. Known foremost for his raspy-yet-joyful voice and spare, fingerpicked compositions, TMOE is two albums (and now two EPs) deep into his campaign for World's Best Young Songwriter. Me? Well, I was instantly impressed by the writing and vocals when I heard TMOE's debut, Shallow Grave, a couple of years ago. That said, I felt that the sparseness of the compositions - not to mention the similarities to early Dylan - proved to be limiting.

Tops at the Box: I’ve not seen any of the Resident Evil films, all starring Milla Jovavich (The Fifth Element), but know that they usually bring in about $50 million from theaters and another $70-$100 million via rental and DVD purchases. When you consider the production reasonable small budget (usually about $45 million or so per film) and the healthy overseas gross (about $70 million per film), these four movies, all directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas), are considered to be very profitable movies. The latest, Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D, released last week, came at the perfect time, taking the No. 1 spot last weekend with about $28 million and little competition. These are supposedly very fun movies, but with some very promising movies opening this week - and much better movies like The American, Machete, Inception and even Scott Pilgrim still playing wide - we’d suggest waiting for the DVD.

The rule goes that, if Jenny Lewis is to be on a recording, no one else need sing lead - or even backup - vocals. Not unless Tracyanne Campbell is for some reason in the room. The girl, known first for her work as a child actor (Troop Beverly Hills, The Wizard, etc.) and then as the fire-haired frontman of Rilo Kiley, can just flat out sing. There's something about her on-record work that's so cute and alluring and stylized, that, if you get a taste of it, is downright lovable. Speaking of lovable, for I'm Having Fun, Lewis' third non-Rilo record, Lewis teams with her longtime boyfriend, singer/songwriter Johnathan "Johnny" Rice for a duo album of power-pop fun. The vibe here is sunny California gloom; two lovers singing happy about how bummed or lost they sometimes are.   

The highlight here, without question, is Lewis. Her vocals on songs like "My Pet Snakes" are perfect and sweet, flowing effortlessly over the bouncy and fun composition. Even Rice, also known for his vocal talent (he played Roy Orbison in Walk the Line, if that tells you anything), shines in Lewis' presence, singing breezy verses that remind of the lazy grace of Evan Dando. The lyrics are simple and read exactly like something a boyfriend and girlfriend might come up with while laying on a picnic blanket or killing time around the house. The key word when speaking of I'm Having Fun Now, the duo's aptly titled debut, is fun, for sure. Unlike She & Him (who I also like very much), Jenny and Johnny don't rely on how cute and dusty and retro they can make everything. Another difference between the two bands is the obvious chemistry between Rice and Lewis, J and J working together in a way that only two people singing in cars and showers and beds together can.

There is no clear genre categorization for the music Portland, Oregon’s Blitzen Trapper make. Experimental folk? Pop? Indie rock? Post-emo-meets-alt-country with a twist of Malkmus and a dash of Sub Pop’s New Americana sound? We could go on but, lucky for us, we recently had the opportunity to ask the man himself, Blitzen frontman Eric Earley. 

“I don’t know,” Earley responded from a van somewhere in his America, as if not to be bothered. “It’s just American music. Back to when people weren’t so concerned with genre - Like how The Kinks were.” Right on, brother; way to not show your cards. All Music Guide calls the buzz band - Earley, guitarist Erik Menteer, drummer Brian Adrian Koch, bassist Michael Van Pelt, keymen Drew Laughery and marty Marquis - “raucous, lo-fi country rock.” Sure thing, but they also compare Blitzen Trapper’s artful-yet-rustic (and slightly adventurous) take on American music to Wilco and Beachwood Sparks. Nope. Double nope. Grateful Dead and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band?! What the fuck ever. If you must know, Blitzen Trapper make art-damaged indie-pop that keeps its foot in the alt-country door. Or that’s what we’re sticking with, at least when talking about the band’s just released fourth album, Furr (Sub Pop).

“We toured Europe and now we’re touring the States, you know ... [Continued]

“I used to describe us as ‘loud and awesome,’ but someone at least night’s show described us as ‘blazing,’” laughed Parts & Labor multi-instrumentalist DJ Warshaw in a recent interview with Nuvo.  

Described as “Brooklyn’s noise-punks,” Parts & Labor’s two core members, Warshaw and guitarist/vocalist Dan Friel, are as busy as scruffy art-rocker types come these days. In addition to operating Cardboard Records, Washaw and Friel keep a steady schedule of “blazing, loud and awesome” live shows while recording as regularly as anyone not named Pollard or Adams. They recently, for example, wrote and recorded 51 songs in one weekend, short pop songs full of, as Warshaw described, “blastingbeats.” Going on to describe it as the band’s “grind-pop record.”

Warshaw perked when asked to better explain what he - an artist known for raucous, electro-infused speed rock - meant by “grind-pop.” “Well, it’s the last full recording we did with our previous drummer, Christopher Weingarten,” he explained. “It’s raw and noisy, and surely a departure from our full-length album ... [Continued]

“Four records ago Craig and I had a band in Minneapolis called Lifter Puller that split in about 2000; Craig moved to New York, I moved to L.A. and then eventually New York. We were hanging out and just thought it would be fun to play music again,” explains Hold Steady guitarist Tad Kubler when asked about his band’s beginnings. 

“We had little ambition back then aside from getting together to play. We didn’t have plans to tour but thought we might put out a record or something. The digital era had dawned and we realized that if we did record stuff we didn’t necessarily have to have a label. Bands have websites that offer music and shit like that. It all snowballed and we started touring, so now here we are, four records later, sometimes playing festival crowds with 40,000 people.”

So it goes for The Hold Steady, a band of 30-something rockers most effortlessly described as The Replacements of their abstemious (read: more controlled) times. Riding the buzz of their 2006 breakthrough, Boys and Girls in America, the NYC (by way of Minneapolis) band quickly recorded what has become one of this year’s biggest success stories, their fourth studio record, Stay Positive.

“There’s been a little bit made about our age because we’re all in our 30s ... [Continued]

Parker Gispert, Julian Dorio and Tim Deaux, an indie rock power trio from Athens, Georgia, just might be the buzz band of 2008. You won’t find their photos on billboards or magazine covers and, no, iTunes probably isn’t going to recommend that you but check out their just-released sophomore album, Mission Control, with every other purchase. Understated ethos and all, The Whigs seem bound for big stages and bright lights – and for all the right reasons.

“We were recording in this Southern mansion in Athens that wasn’t meant to be recorded in,” remembers drummer Dorio about the now storied making of his band’s first album, Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip. “We had to buy a little bit of equipment off the Internet just to make [the recording] happen, and then ended up selling it on Ebay once we were done because, you know, we needed that money back.”

That was nearly three years ago, back when the band was attending the University of Georgia, taking their brand of economical garage rock wherever they could on the weekends.

“We drove to a warehouse in North Georgia and picked up 17 cases of CDs ... [Continued]

Her laugh a warming howl and her bright-eyed smile made to melt, singer-songwriter Tift Merritt is, in many ways, an overpowering firecracker of a artist. Overpowering, that is, in the most pleasant of ways. Ask her a question, for example, and she immediately has an articulate, amusing retort that will only warrant further interest. Put her on a stage and she’ll break your heart with her words, voice and freckle-tinged expressions - again, in always rewarding ways. If some folks really are, as they say, “born to do it,” count Tift in as one of the few. 

“It’s always funny to me that I spend so much time in rock clubs in front of people when I’m really just an introverted homebody who’d rather be writing stories at the desk and typewriter up in the attic,” Merritt recently told NUVO when asked about the noticeable literary prowess displayed in a self-written press release accompanying her latest album, Another Country - the bulk of which she wrote after “accidentally” moving to Paris for a short time. “In the beginning, [writing] was what I really wanted to do,” she explained with a youthful snigger. “Maybe when I grow up I’ll still be a writer.

“Sometimes you have to go very far from home and get very lost to realize that life is all around you, shouting at you to take its many good things with you,” Merritt wrote in said press kit about the time she spent drifting through Paris streets, eyes stretched wide. “I cannot explain what happened in Paris except to say there were never enough hours in the day to write and there was always kindness at hand. It was the happiest I have ever been.

“I had been on the road so long that I didn’t really know which way was up,” Merritt said when explaining the circumstances surrounding her brief move to Paris. “I wasn’t ready to go home [after touring] so I thought I’d take a vacation. I Googled ‘Paris, apartment, piano’ and actually found a place. Once I got there I thought, you know, ‘this isn’t just a vacation.’”

From there things got interesting, Merritt said, going on to explain ... [Continued]

Todd Carey is very busy these days. Though currently still operating at the “breaking artist” level, Carey has seen an escalating amount attention – both from fans and the media – since releasing his official debut record, Watching Waiting, early this year. At first blush, the young Chicago-based songwriter appears to be just another golden boy with a guitar. He’s articulate, handsome, friendly and, of course, talented. But is he different from any of the countless young, talented songwriters who have come and gone over the years? 

“One of the things that doesn’t come through on my record is that I consider myself to be a guitar player. I like to jam. For example, a Ryan Cabrera doesn’t jam, but if you come to one of my shows you’ll get a jam element, which, for better or worse, sets me apart a little bit,” said a candid Carey, who seems clearly aware of being written off as just another cute songwriter. “I think people really respect you when they realize that you’re more than just a singer songwriter boy with a guitar, and that there’s sub substance behind it.” Sufjan Stevens couldn’t agree more.

Now on the road promoting his record, Carey will come ... [Continued]

“All the songs are the result of hearing about a war. I’ve never really lived during a time like this,” always mirthful country singer/songwriter Todd Snider recently told Nuvo while discussing his upcoming gig at the Murat on November 22. “Even though I still do have some political crap on my next record, I’m ready for all this war stuff to be over with.”

Like his previous proper studio release, 2006’s career-best The Devil You Know, Snider’s brand new effort, the eight-song Peace Queer, is focused on politics from the standpoint of an everyday outsider - a role Snider is fit as any for.

“I like interviewers to know that I’m a three-course stoner. At my core that’s what I’ll always ... [Continued]

I remember watching Richard Linklater’s retro-teen-comedy Dazed and Confused when I was 13 and thinking “that’s the life for me.” After exploring 70s music, growing my hair out and trying to become more carefree, I gave up on my new lifestyle and started playing baseball again. I also became a pretty big Warren G and Nate Dogg fan. Retro fads come and go, typically leaving very little of worth in their path. Two thousand and two and 2003 weren’t bad years for music; plenty of good albums came out, but overall we had two full years of complete nostalgia overload. Ben Kweller’s debut, Sha Sha, was released in the thick of it all. His music referenced early greats like The Beatles and The Kinks, as well as newer artists like Weezer and Ben Folds, all without attempting to be retro.

Sha Sha wasn’t exactly modern. Kweller’s affections for classic 60s pop-rock dominated the album but managed to do so without sounding too rehashed. Now, two years later, Kweller calls on Ethan Johns to help produce his anti-retro follow up, On My Way. I can imagine either Johns or Kweller saying something like, “the 60s were okay, but...” while working on their new 70s pop-rock gem. Fans of Sha Sha will notice the difference immediately; On My Way lacks the pop immediacy and accessibility of Kweller’s debut. Make no mistake though, On My Way is a very easy album to love.

Humble looks, a friendly voice and charming lyrics aren’t ... [Continued]

I used to think that Modest Mouse was just Built to Spill rehashed for Pixies fans. In fact, the attention surrounding The Moon and Antarctica made me nauseous. I couldn’t believe that Modest Mouse was getting so much acclaim, but their latest album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, has not only made me a believer, but also an avid fan. They still sound like the Pixies (that’s okay, a lot of bands do), but now, more than ever, Modest Mouse have finally come into their own.  

Did I mention that they have a hit song, over half a million album sales and one of the most pleasing-on-the-eyes music videos I’ve ever seen? Heading into Lollapalooza, Isaac Brock and the band are in the best shape of their career.

After a brief horn intro from The Dirty Dozen Brass band, Good News starts ... [Continued]

Twentysomethings of the world, look at current pop trends and consider yourselves lucky. The early 90s saw a sudden resurgence of good music in the mainstream. Nirvana was a household name. Soundgarden T-shirts were everywhere. Even The Pixies were getting some serious endcap time at music stores. Flannel will make a comeback. 

While both hip-hop and pop music have their place in culture, current trends have sacrificed creativity and quality for marketability. Post a “danger” sign. Kids are listening to “I’m into havin’ sex / aint into makin’ love” daily on their radios (IPods, whatever), and you, you twenty-somethings, are grinding too it every weekend. You know who you are. Music plays a different role for each generation. While it might not be as powerful as it was in the 60s and 70s, it still is a very large representation of youth and culture. 

In the past few years the garage genre has shown a glimmer of hope in pop ... [Continued]

Each album PJ Havey has released to date has rightfully earned acclaim unique to that of her preceding work. Such is now again the case with her latest album, the ingeniously titled Uh Huh Her. I’m not convinced. I’ve been circling around Uh Huh Her for weeks trying to find a genuine slant that makes the album inherently different from her other work and am just now, through this review, deciding to tap out. Uh Huh Her has elements of every past PJ album of past and, while that’s not fundamentally a bad thing (taking into account her reputation for steadily evolving her sound), it’s somewhat frustrating. 

Aside from longtime Harvey colleague Rob Ellis (drums), and an occasional backup vocal from uber-producer Flood, Uh Huh Her is wholly and utterly all PJ. That’s the hype: PJ played all the instruments, wrote and sang all the songs and, most impressively, joined Flood on production, recording, and mixing duties. As refreshing of an approach it may be, production methods and liner note semantics on their own are hardly enough to speak for Uh Huh Her‘s content. 

“Bad Mouth” sounds like a stripped down outcast from 2000’s Mercury ... [Continued]

Tops at the Box: Low budget horror flick The Last Exorcism surprised this past weekend, bringing in a solid $21 million over its first three days. Not bad considering the film is getting mixed reviews, stars no one anyone knows of and is directed by some dude named Daniel Stamm. Said to be a mockumentary, The Last Exorcism is produced by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) and produced in a style similar to The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. From what we’ve seen, the movie doesn’t really seem like much of a mockumentary, but, rather, another in a long line of modern movies shot and edited to appear real. We’ll probably check out this already-huge indie success in the dollar theater.

More From the Box: A huge number of movies hit the magic mark this past weekend, and by “magic mark,” we mean that their box total topped their production cost. Takers, in its first week, came in at No. 2 last weekend, bringing in $21 million, topping its $20 million budget. Looks kinda unnecessary to us. Stallone’s nostalgia trip, The Expendables, took the No. 3 spot last weekend, upping it’s 17-day total to $82 million - two million over its budget. Eat Pray Love took the No. 4 spot last weekend, upping its total to just under $61 million, a tad over its shooting budget. And last and certainly least, buddy comedy The Other Guys took the No. 5 spot, topping the $100 million mark - also a few bucks over its shooting budget. Other flicks to jump out of the red this past weekend include Lottery Ticket, Salt, Dinner For Schmucks, Step Up 3D and City Island. Oddly, all of these movies topped their production cost by a very small margin. Funny how even when the movies all seem to stink, people still go to the theater and keep the cycle moving. Sadly, a few great recent releases, Restrepo, Winter’s Bone, Get Low and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, aren’t doing so hot in theaters (though all but Pilgrim will still likely top their budget). Heckuva industry, huh?

Opening this Weekend: Finally, here it is, a week where there are almost ... [Continued]

Had Fort Wayne-based singer/songwriter Lee Miles been blessed with better physical health, I've no doubt he had have moved on to bigger things by now. Not because what he's doing isn't great or his hometown isn't a great place for musicians (it is), but because he probably would have done the things musicians with his amount of talent - and without his health issues - usually do: toured; signed with a indie label; played all the big markets and college towns; met some sweet talkin' beauty along the way; and last but not least, followed his muse (or maybe just looked for a change of scenery/inspiration). Anyone who has heard Miles' 2008 album, Heathen Blux, more than a few times would probably agree with this assumption. This because Blux is not just one of the best album out of Indiana I've heard, it's one of the best modern singer/songwriter records I know of. It really is that good.

I once heard Miles, standing on stage with guitar, call himself "the Poor Man's Neil Young." Likewise, I've heard similar stories about Townes Van Zandt calling himself a "Second-Rate Hank Williams" from his stages. The parallels don't end there: both artists are plagued by health issues; neither pay much mind to "selling themselves"; both write a whole lot of great songs that take a handful of listens to burrow in; and both seem destined to get their due, unfortunately, long after their most productive artistic period. For Miles, that artistic time is now; following Blux, Miles released a stellar EP last year, recorded an almost completed LP called Fought + Won and, most recently, released a six-song EP called Open Your Grievous Heart. Low key and uncompromising as they come, Miles great new EP just sort of appeared one day. Like anything he's released, you'll either have to hunt the guy down to get a copy or order it online. Yeah, I kinda dig that.

The first few times I heard Grievous Heart I wasn't in love. The songs were ... [Continued]

The hype surrounding Quasimoto’s 2000 debut album, The Unseen, rendered Madlib (aka Lord Quas, aka Otis Jackson Jr., aka DJ Rels, aka Monk Hughes) a forever stoned, 24-hour beat-head unable to function outside of his private basement studio. The albums’ curious, multi-personality design had much of the hip-hop press wondering if Madlib was okay; the rock press, however, loved it. Was this another case of the alternative press turning a hip-hop act into a novelty, or were folks really grasping what Madlib was trying to do while standing on stage dressed as a six-foot-tall yellowish, furry, snouted creature?

Eventually word surfaced that, while working on multiple serious projects, Madlib pieced together his Quasimoto concept on the side, never planning to release it. The story goes that Stones Throw owner/Madlib landlord Peanut Butter Wolf talked Jackson into taking a chance and releasing what was at the time perhaps the most daring hip-hop album to see widespread distribution. In the years since, Madlib has become arguably the most creative and prolific figure in underground hip-hop. And Lord Quas? He’s done a nice job of dividing hip-hop fans with his lunacy, and, believe it or not, he’s back for more mischief with his unimaginable sophomore album, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas.

Spread out over 26 tracks, Adventures plays out more like ... [Continued]