| Listen to Shane (home) February/March '06 past editions here This is some stuff I've been digging. Even as a new parent you can still listen to music that isn't made solely to anaesthetize children. Portastatic "Bright Ideas" Superchunk front man Mac McCaughan's formerly side-project-sounding side project has rather suddenly made the leap from Triple A and delivered the best song for song album of 2005. Really, this is just a great 'Superchunk' album and oh, how I've missed them! Catchy, exuberant hooks abound - "The Soft Rewind", "Through with People", "I Wanna Know Girls", interspersed with the understated, hand in pocket pop Mac has become so good at in the last few years - "Registered Ghost" and "Truckstop Cassettes". New Pornographers "Twin Cinema" Finally, a reason to like Vancouver! Neko's the pinup (great voice, but sorry beyond that I don't really get her sex appeal) and Destroyer's Dan Bejar has the indie cred, but Carl Newman is the master of ceremonies here. And he is responsible for 6 or 7 of the best power pop releases of the last dozen years - Zumpano, A.C. Newman and this Canadian supergroup (before every Canadian band was a supergroup). Twin Cinema explodes all over the place and gets stickier with each listen. I see Carl at the old Pop Shoppe with Eddie Shack shaking up the cream soda. He's a madman, obviously. There are plenty of highlights: the head-on pop of "The Jessica Numbers", the championing chorus of "Use It" and especially "The Bleeding Heart Show" where the band's strengths are on full display - Neko and Carl share vocals and the band slugs it out toe-to-toe with some inspired drumming by Kurt Dahle. As good as this album is, NPs hint here that they could actually surpass the greatness of the first 3 albums. On each album the Bejar songs are a welcome and cool, glammy break from the over the top Newman hooks. But his voice sometimes grates, especially juxtaposed between Neko and Newman. On the iTunes EP, Carl sings "Streets of Fire" in his stead and improves it to one of my faves on the album. Maybe just reduce his role to song contributor / cheque casher. Spoon "Gimme Fiction" Pretty much the best band in rock and roll right now. In their youth, Spoon wore Pixies sleeves and were given to guitar noise over actual song craft or subtlety. As they matured, each album found leader Britt Daniel and his Austin pals bringing something new and wondrous. They have turned a cheek on the clamor and brought the confident, soulful voice of Daniel front and center where it belongs. "Gimme Fiction" continues the band's hot streak - hitting 'Miss You' style disco on "I Turn My Camera On", insistent pulse of "The Delicate Place" and the perfect pop tambourine shaker "Sister Jack" is song of the year. Thank God for Spoon Wolf Parade "Apologies to the Queen Mary" Lotsa hype (I mean, aren't they from Montreal??) and though I have slagged Broken Showerhead Scene in the past (mostly because they just don't write any songs I want to hear twice) Canada has at least one truly great (New Pornographers) and a few more really good bands (Dears, Arcade Fire, Death from Above 1979, Stars et al) at the moment who have gotten some deservedly good press. Screw the backlash and the fact that Arcade Fire is featured on a MIX 99.9 radio ad alongside Nickelback. Sorry, back to the Wolf Parade album which is KILLER - like the young, rough Spoon mixed with the best of the Constantines. "Apologies…" is a triumph of substance over style, and the style is vital - drums shuffle then stomp along, twinned with subtly warm, and then desperately worn vocals. "Modern World", "It's a Curse" and "Shine a Light" are highlights on an album you need to hear. This is insidiously catchy stuff and the lyrics may actually mean something. "Shine a Light" is a lament for the urban drone: 'you know our hearts beat time out very slowly / they're waiting for something that'll never arrive', but superb closer "This Heart's on Fire" offers hope like a second cup of coffee: 'sometimes we rock and roll / I'd rather stay at home and build a life / this heart's on fire / it's getting better all the time'. If I'm at home with this record, count me in. Robert Pollard "From a Compound Eye" This double album, long awaited by Pollard standards, pours the last shovel load of dirt on the Guided by Voices coffin (and hopefully box sets). And oh, by the way, it's really good. It is decidedly different from GBV as producer Todd Tobias has developed a flexible palette, getting past the somewhat muted, mid-fi tones of the last couple of full band albums.Yes, there are keyboards on board. There are snippet songs and freakiness, but also catchy full bodied rockers that deliver all of the charm of the minor-league arena rock faithful Pollard fans have come to love. This is a double album and there is a lot to like. Standouts include the bouncy "Dancing Girls and Dancing Men", "U.S. Mustard Company", "Lightshow" and "Blessed in an Open Head". "The Right Thing" marries the low to the high fidelity Pollard with a simple childlike riff that never loses steam. Thematically he shifts back and forth from the innocence of early GBV 'teacher Bob' on the brilliant "I'm a Strong Lion" to drunken creep on "I'm a Widow" with its refrain 'I'm a widow and I'm hot to do you'. If you're a fan like me, you embrace all of his kooky characters and this album proves the future bodes well. STQ And hey - I am 'demoing' lotsa great songs and promise a release when 2006 gets warm. |