I liked Vox.

Anyway, here’s Cee Lo’s new song, “Fuck You!” It is delightful.

Of all the shooting stars I knew
I never felt at ease with anyone but you

2. The National | “Slow Show” | Boxer

Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can’t I get a minute of not being nervous
And not thinking ’bout my dick

3. The Court and Spark | “Rooster Mountain” | Bless You
Listen at last.fm

I’d like to call big mama
Trade a pistol for some grain
Up on Rooster Mountain
We’re all sopping wet with rain

4. Great Lake Swimmers | “Your Rocky Spine” | Ongiara

I traced my finger along your trails
Your body was the map
I was lost in there
 
Floating over your rocky spine
The glaciers made you and now you’re mine

5. Hefner | “The Greedy Ugly People” | We Love The City
Listen at last.fm

I had her on the carpet twisting and squirming about
Trying to guess what she needs
Trying to guess what the fuss was about

The Stand Ins

Okkervil River

So I guess it is a thing now to record a bunch of extra songs when you go in to make your album, knowing full well that you're going to make the crappy songs into a follow on album? Is that a thing? Sufjan Stevens is doing it, and now Okkervil River has done it twice. I guess in the past all of that music would have sat around on master tapes for years, until anthologists resurrected it to put on greatest hits records as the "never before released" tracks, and I guess that always sucked, if you were a hugs fan of a band, but by and large, people are releasing records that don't come close to the maximum run-time of a CD, so you have to figure the stuff that doesn't make the record is probably better off unreleased.

But anyway we have this thing now, and I blame the internet for it, and here is Okkervil River's latest record, The Stand Ins. In discussions with other Okkervil River fans, the words "5th best Okkervil album" have been bandied about, which is not how they would like to bill the record, I am morally certain. I think that's not true (I think it's probably 3rd best), but I also think that's not fair. This is a record that should be compared with one and only one other Okkervil River album, and that album is Black Sheep Boy Appendix. And in that comparison, I think The Stand Ins is the clear winner.

So, highlights:

"Lost Coastlines" is the real intro to the record. I always like Okkervil's up-tempo work a little more than their quiet songs (notable exception is "A Girl In Port")

"Starry Stairs" is the follow-up to "Savannah Smiles" from The Stage Names, which I think benefits from a little interpretation. If you don't know what these two songs are about, they are less remarkable, but once you do a little reading, they make a lot more sense.

"Pop Lie" is another good up-tempo number.

Major disappointment:

When I saw that Charles Bissell (of the Wrens) was credited for guitar on "Singer Songwriter," I was excited. Listening to the track was a big let down. I assume that Charles Bissell is playing the obnoxious guitar sting in the verses, but that's unremarkable at best, and the song is one of the worst on the record.

Overall: You'll like it if you like Okkervil River, but remember, these are the songs that didn't make the cut for The Stage Names.

Mountain Battles

The Breeders

Continuing the "ex-Pixies members releasing a record in April" theme, The Breeders dropped Mountain Battles three weeks ago. If you haven't been following the Breeders (maybe you don't even remember "Cannonball"), I will recap for you here: Pod – Fantastic, but badly mastered; Last Splash – Wonderful, see esp. "Drivin' On 9"; Title TK – I almost cried.

Quick test to see if you would like the Breeders (assuming you have some real basic Pixies material): Listen to "Gigantic" and ask yourself "would I like to hear this voice singing inside my head?" If the answer is yes, you're in.

So, Mountain Battles. Title TK is a hard act to follow. It is a record-that-lives-in-my-car. Mountain Battles is not Title TK. It's a little less like having Kim Deal singing softly into your ear at night and a little more like going to see an obscure but well regarded band at one of the few venues in San Francisco that has parking figured out. It's a treat, but it won't make you shudder.

There are several songs that sound like The-Breeders-and-no-one-else-ever, and there are a few songs that explore new sounds and ideas (at least in the Kim Deal / Kelley Deal idiom, which includes the Amps and The Kelley Deal 6000 and a few others). It's well produced, in the sense that you can put the record on and let it run, with no jarring interruptions. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, but I have a generally pretty good feeling about the record. Perhaps you will like it.

Some Highlights:

"Overglazed" – the first song on Title TK was different and kind of memorable. The first song on Mountain Battles has been described as "not a song" by at least one other Breeders fan, but I enjoy it. I think it's a good lead into the record, whether or not you believe the lyric "I can feel it" constitutes a song.

"Night of Joy" – classic Breeders. If you liked anything on the first three Breeders records, you will probably like this. If this adverb even modifies this adjective, then it is even "slightly spooky."

"German Studies" – One of the harder tracks on the album, appropriately in German. But the vocals on this track are pure, pure Breeders. If you don't like this… it is possible that we can't be friends anymore. I just have so much less time for people than I used to. You have to draw your lines somewhere.

"Spark" – Could have been on Title TK and would have fit in pretty seamlessly. If this came on when I was out on the highway, it would calm me down.

"Walk It Off" – This is one of those songs where I like 90% of the song just ok, but every verse there is a run of about 5 seconds that I really, really like. I call these "Get Him Eat Him songs."

"It's the Love" – is not, despite the first 12 seconds, a Dinosaur Jr. song.

"Mountain Battles" – the title track, the last track on the record, and one of the most unusually instrumented songs on the record. But if you like Kim Deal's voice, you probably love this song. It's like she is standing behind you, singing into the back of your head.¹

Rating: You should probably buy this record. I am 80% certain you should buy it.

There are two kinds of people in this world: the kind who like 4AD record covers and the kind who don't. Please use the image provided to sort yourself out.

1: Kim, I am available any time you wish to do this.

Svn Fngrs

Frank Black

New this month from former Pixies frontman Charles Thomas is Seven Fingers… unless it's Svn Fngrs. It might be either. Also, you'll note that I didn't refer to this as a Black Francis record. It is, but at this point I'm so confused about what makes an album which… well, let's just say that it's easier to keep Stephin Merritt projects separate.

I was underwhelmed by the last record under this band name, Bluefinger, and I asked a lot of questions in that review about what made it a "Black Francis" record instead of a "Frank Black" record. I'm not going to coner that ground again. Instead, I'll just say that this record is definitely better.

It is only 7 songs long, and I got it for only $9, which is pretty good. Of the seven, we have, I think, 4 highlights:

"Garbage Heap," which is track 2, starts with some Pixies style instrumentation, and I guess you could even sell the verse as a Pixies song, but when you get to the chorus, we're talking about Frank Black, maybe even FB & The C's. But, as I've pointed out probably a hundred times, that's actually what I like best. So this is probably the second strongest track on the record.

"Half Man" is the shakiest entry on this list. It's about 2 and a half minutes long, and I like about 30 seconds of it enough to mention. It would have been the weakest song on, say, Dog In the Sand, but that's actually not terrible. I think anyone who doesn't like this is probably just going to say that it's boring.

"The Tale of Lonesome Fetter" took two or three listens to grow on me. The verses are weaker than the chorus, but I like this song.

"When They Come To Murder Me," the last track on the record, is probably the best of the seven songs. It's the one that should be a no brainer for Frank Black fans. If you like any of his other work since, say, 1998, you'll probably like this (I allow for the existence of a fan who liked everything through Cult of Ray but nothing since, who may not go for this one.)

So I realize that that's not the strongest review, and after you read it, you're likely to reach the conclusion that this is a record for completionists, and everyone else would be better off spending $0.99 on one song on iTunes. That's a totally justified conclusion. But I feel good about the record nonetheless.

Rating: I feel good about the record, despite some weak songs.

Distortion

Magnetic Fields

2008 Begins with a bang, as the Magnetic Fields release their latest full length album, Distortion. The sound is different, the sound is heavier, but the songs are fantastic. Sure, my friend and former lead singer Rick says he likes the record best through his living room wall, where the sound is less harsh, but he is quick to admit that the songs are great.

The other big shock for fans of recent Stephin Merritt releases is that he splits singing duties on this record, something that he did on 69 Love Songs, to be sure, but I suppose we all considered that record an exception. Otherwise, it has been a long string of Merritt-only Magnetic Fields records: i, Charm of the Highway Strip, Get Lost, Holiday. Shirley Simms does a lot of the heavy lifting on the record.

A quick run down of my favorites from the 13 song record include "California Girls," "Old Fools," "Xavier Says," "Too Drunk to Dream," "The Nun's Litany," and "Courtesans." "Zombie Boy" almost makes it, but there is one line that really makes me cringe, which I will leave as an exercise to the reader. No obvious misses here, but I don't really need "Three-Way," the instrumental first track.

Fans of the Magnetic Fields should definitely pick this up. Most people considered i a missed step, but after a couple of listens, I believe most people will also consider Distortion a fine return to form. Me, I liked a lot of the tracks on i, and I consider this another fine record.

Orchestra for the Moon

Jenn Grant

What: Jenn Grant's Orchestra For The Moon

How I found it: I saw a snatch of her song "Dreamer" on a documentary about the Weakerthans.

Why You Should Care: "Make It Home Tonight" is a perfect Jason Molina song… by someone else. Honestly, you will like this song. And "Dreamer." And the rest of it. Possibly the best debut record in a long time.

Where I have Been for the last month: Moving into a new apartment. Changing jobs. In Florida. The holidays. Not dead, not gone, not given up.

The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events

Gothic Archies

Title: The Tragic Treasury
Band: The Gothic Archies (see Stephin Merritt, The Magnetic Fields, the 6ths, Future Bible Heroes)

The story: Daniel Handler, who plays for the Magnetic Fields, is the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books. Stephin Merritt recorded a bunch of original songs under the Gothic Archies brand for the audiobook versions, and this is the compilation.

My take: I haven't read the books, so I have no comment to make on how appropriate the songs are for the story, but i will say this: this is probably the best Magnetic Fields record in years. The arrangements sound much more like the main project than the earlier New Despair EP, so if you like the synthpop MF more than the I MF, you will probably like this. The lyrics are silly, but honestly, it doesn't detract much.

Last thoughts: It is weird to me to think that a Stephin Merritt record might be some little kid's favorite car CD. That kid has a strange life in store. Wait till he finds Holiday or Charm of the Highway Strip.

Bluefinger

Black Francis

This year, former Pixies frontman Charles Thompson put out a solo record–not, as was the case in the past ten years, as Frank Black–as Black Francis. As such was he known in the Pixies, and the claim that was widely circulating was that it was a return to that style that prompted the name change. Fans of the Pixies have been waiting, primed, for a new Pixies record since the reunion was announced a few years ago, and no doubt this got their attention. I come at it from the other side, because I like the Pixies, but I really like the work released as Frank Black (+ and the Catholics, + and Teenage Fanclub). So I was a little wary, but after all, he had been working with Joey Santiago on his recent records, and the reformed Pixies played all of those shows, so perhaps he had recaptured the spirit of the Pixies after all.

But then, of course, the first track on Bluefinger is "Captain Pasty," which, honestly, sounds like a Catholics-era B-side. The lyrics are slightly more nonsensical than regular Frank Black, but the singing is pretty straightforward Show Me Your Tears, not much at all like Trompe Le Monde (the last Pixies release, the last legitimate Black Francis vocals). The second track "Threshold Apprehension" is at least halfway Pixies-esque, and maybe it was the inspiration for the name change, but then there is a track that sounds like a Stray Cats pastiche, and another vaguely Catholics-y song, before "Tight Black Rubber" again half sounds like something that you would be willing to call  Black Francis.  Four songs later, "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It" is almost hard enough to be a Black Francis song, and he tries his best to scream it out. But that's it: 3 songs out of 11 sound anything like what you would expect the record to sound like after the name change.

I'm not sure that's a fair assessment. The man certainly has the right to call himself whatever he wants, and why can't Black Francis in 2007 sound different from Black Francis in 1991? He has aged 16 years, after all. And Fast Man Raider Man, his last Frank Black release, really doesn't sound a damn thing like Teenager of the Year, the iconic Frank Black record. But there you have it. We were expecting a Pixies record.

Is the record terrible? Certainly not. Is it inspiring? I would say no also. Honeycomb is still the best of the recent crop. Dog In The Sand is incredible. Pistolero was strong before it. Teenager of the Year is a classic. Bluefinger is merely good.

An addendum here: if you follow the links over to last.fm, you will see that my profile is reporting this record as being by "Frank Black Francis," an oddity of last.fm's database that awaits correction. I assure you I have my records properly tagged.

The Stage Names

Okkervil River

This year, Okkervil River released a record called The Stage Names. I'm sure everybody has Black Sheep Boy already, and I know a lot of people went out and picked up records from the Okkervil back catalog after BSB came out, so I won't bother saying to much about the band itself here. My experience with them has been principally this: on every album there is a song that makes you say "THIS! Why couldn't the rest of the album have been like this!" So when I think about Okkervil River after the fact, I usually think of them as a band that isn't living up to their potential somehow, but that's not fair. I never complain when I listen to them.

A number of years ago, Jesus, 98 or 99, I guess, Jets to Brazil put out a record called Orange Rhyming Dictionary, which made its way around in my little musical circle, being loaned from person to person, with each person eventually going out and buying their own copy. That album has an incredible first three songs. Sometimes I think that's the best way to get people into a record: stack the best three songs at the top. If someone is amazed for three songs in a row, they will buy the record.

I'm making the comparison here, but I'm not going so far as to say this is another Orange Rhyming Dictionary, which is a kind of top 10 record, but I am pretty sure that if you get to a music store where this is on a listening station, and play the first three tracks, you will walk out with the record. If you have the ability to find songs on the internet to preview, that is "Our Life is Not a Movie Or Maybe," "Unless It's Kicks," and "A Hand To Take Hold of the Scene." For the record, after that is the beautiful but much lower-key "Savannah Smiles," which makes 4 very strong songs to open. My favorite of the record, though, is number 6, "A Girl In Port," although as with many of my favorite songs¹ the lyrics probably don't bear printing out. 

The last three tracks are the weakest in my opinion, though I'm sure there is someone that they appeal to. 8 reminds me of "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" by Elvis Presley, or, for a small minority of you, UB-40. And 9, well, You will figure out what 9 reminds me of soon enough. So 6 good songs out of 9 (I know I didn't mention track 5, but it's good too), and in general, an album that is a worthy successor to Black Sheep Boy.

1. This does not apply to the Weakerthans (see my last review), who usually turn out songs that make absolute sense if you write them as prose. Try it sometime.