The Days of Lore

Electric Company

Friday, November 11th, 2011 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

LIVE: Wild Flag and Drew Grow & the Pastor’s Wives at Doug Fir, 11.9.11

Supergroups are never super. Therefore, Wild Flag can’t be considered a supergroup. The former Sleater-Kinney/Minders/Helium members have formed a great American rock band—incredibly fun songs, endless energy—I almost forgot what it’s like to experience a real rock show. Rock ‘n’ roll mythology seems to be what fuels Wild Flag. They unabashedly celebrate it in their songs. They act it out onstage. And I love them all the more for it. So did the sold-out crowd at the Doug Fir, which on this night might as well have been Budokon … save for the fact audience members stood rather than sit and clap politely.

Drew Grow & the Pasture’s Wives led things off with an eclectic, slightly overwrought set of strummy rock jams. The energy was there, but the songs weren’t all that memorable. Then again, I need to be beaten over the head … which is where Wild Flag comes in.

I’ve always thought the best bands were the ones in which you could pick out the individual personalities. And Wild Flag has plenty of it. Former Helium axetress Mary Timony’s controlled guitar lines and (comparatively) prim stage presence were met with Carrie Brownstein’s Joey Ramone hiccup and Jimmy Page-meets-Pete Townshend flash (complete with lots of leg kicks and windmills). Basher Janet Weiss and keyboardist Rebecca Cole make up the concrete-slab rhythm section, and occasionally exchanged wide smiles while providing the bulk of the grrrl-group harmonies.

Musically Wild Flag is somewhere in the neighborhood of Cheap Trick meets Sonic Youth meets The Supremes—gloriously tight and sloppy all at once, compact power-pop songs occasionally giving way to extended noise freakouts (most notably on the terrific “Glass Tambourine”). Wild Flag ran through the entire record, hitting on eternally endearing songs like “Boom” and “Electric Band.” These old-hands tap into the primal innocence and reckless abandon of teen punks with more conviction than any of this week’s hot blog’s yesterday’s news. Probably because this is no act.

It remained that way right on through the encore, which led off seamlessly with The Ramones’ “Judy Is a Punk.” The only lapse of the evening was when Brownstein slipped into Portlandia mode. It seems the ladies of Wild Flag had received coupons for free acupuncture. Brownstein explained how she thought she would have to cancel because of prior plans, only to realize that those prior plans included an acupuncture appointment. “Only in Portland,” she said. I feared Fred Armisen might appear onstage in a dress at any moment. That surely would have been no rock ‘n’ roll fun.

Photo by Mark Lore

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Tags: Carrie Brownstein, Doug Fir, Drew Grow & the Pasture's Wives, Helium, Janet Weiss, live review, Mary Timony, Portland music, Rebecca Cole, Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag

Battles won

Thursday, October 13th, 2011 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

I can’t say I’ve actively followed Battles … more like remained aware of their presence through my peripheral (I think they’re after me), and that came more from my love for drummer John Stanier.

But, I’m liking this new(ish) release Gloss Drop. Battles trudges on minus the zany vocal stylings of Tyondai Braxton, who all but took over 2007’s Mirrored LP. Instead, they bring in guest vocalists like Boredoms’ Yamantaka Eye and new wave cool-as-shit grandaddy Randy Numan. Needless to say their contributions are highlights.

Battles proves that music that is both zany and mathy can also be listenable. And that a drummer that uses a 6-foot high cymbal stand is still the best in the biz.

“Wall Street” - Battles

Battles perform Thurs., Oct. 13 at Wonder Ballroom.

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Tags: Battles, Gary Numan, Gloss Drop, John Stanier, Mirrored, Yamantaka Eye

The Zoltars’ dark daydream

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 | musiX | No Comments

There’s a pretty darn good chance you’ve never heard of The Zoltars, but they’re starting to make a little noise (sort of a lo-fi rumble). The Austin trio just made an appearance on Matador honcho Gerald Cosloy’s Casual Victim Pile II comp, and they’re mere days away from getting a turn over at Daytrotter. And now this.

Main man Jared Zoltar (née Leibowich) recorded a batch of songs last year called Broken Rimbaud, which his brother Alex Leibowich turned into a 28-minute short film—a “visual album” as Mr. Zoltar puts it. The clip’s dream-like passages go well with The Zoltars’ dark and Velvety songs. The band is working on a new record, but in the meantime, please. Sit down. Stay a while.

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Tags: Alex Leibowich, Broken Rimbaud, Casual Victim Pile II, The Zoltars, visual album

Oh say can you Oh Sees

Thursday, September 15th, 2011 | musiX | No Comments

I’m not going to go into my love affair with San Francisco (and its inhabitants, restaurants, bands). I’m not. But when the lights go down in the city, and the sun shines on the bay … do I wanna be there in my city? Oh ooh whoa. Whoa ohhh oh ooh whoa.

I’m slightly convinced that John Dwyer is insane (yet not as insane as I am for quoting Steve Perry). The leader of San Fran’s Thee Oh Sees has taken every project he’s been involved with to the far reaches and nether-regions of thee arty and thee unhinged. You never know quite what you’re going to get. And live? Thee Oh Sees simply demolish. And Dwyer continues his prolific ways. The band released Castlemania in May, and are already gearing up for the forthcoming Carrion Crawler/The Dream on November 15 via In The Red.

The new single “Carrion Crawler” is relatively straight-forward compared to the creepy vibes of Castlemania. Dig in. Trip out. Get back. Go forward. Move ahead.

“Carrion Crawler” - Thee Oh Sees

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Tags: Carrion Crawler/The Dream, In The Red, John Dwyer, San Francisco rock, Thee Oh Sees

TDoL gets Gringo Starstruck

Thursday, September 1st, 2011 | musiX | No Comments

I’ve had my eyes (and ears) on these gringos for some time. Now I’ve got my poison quill on them. Don’t let Atlanta quartet Gringo Star’s name frighten you—the joke will be on you. These guys write some damn fine pop songs, and they’re getting a little polish on their forthcoming platter Count Yer Lucky Stars (out Oct. 25 on Gigantic Music).

For their sophomore LP Gringo Star went with producer Ben Allen, who lent his knob-twiddling skills to a couple of big-sounding records in Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere and Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. The first single “Shadows” is just that—BIG—which makes that old-time garage pop all the more powerful. Oh, and the video? It definitely makes the song all the more visual.

“Shadow” - Gringo Star

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Tags: "Shadows", Count Yer Lucky Stars, Gigantic Music, Gringo Star

Home boy, Stephen Malkmus

Thursday, August 25th, 2011 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 2 Comments

I was recently asked by Spin Magazine to hang out at Stephen Malkmus’ house and talk to him about random objects that were ineteresting or held some sort of significance to him. I closed the e-mail, changed my underwear and schemed how I would call in sick to my day job in two weeks. “There’s something going around,” I schemed.

I rarely get starstruck these days—only Rhett Miller holds that distinction—but that’s only because he’s so darned good-looking. Malkmus is a pretty handsome fellow, too. And aside from a few more gray hairs, he’s hardly aged. But I wasn’t starstruck—this was more like, “I’m going to hang out with Stephen Malkmus. At his home. What?”

I walked up to his door, which was attached to a very large, very old house in a cluster of other very large, very old houses near a popular park in Portland. His wife, artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins, answered the door. “He’s on his way,” she informed me. The videographer and photographers were already there trying to decide which room had the best light. It was my job to scour the home for quirky trinkets that would lend themselves to even quirkier answers. While the photogs began setting up their elaborate gear, the videographer Aubree and I headed to—where else—the basement.

It was exactly what you would expect: Records, guitars, some recording equipment, old books, genius-at-work clutter. We noted the signed copy of Sterolab’s French Disko on the wall, which Malkmus would later explain: “We did a big, long tour with them in Europe—and at the end we signed records and there were tears and champagne.” Sadly, there were no half-eaten Twinkies I could sell on eBay for a couple hundred bucks. The best part about all this? I was (sort of) casing Stephen Malkmus’ home because that’s what I was supposed to be doing.

Malkmus arrived about 45 minutes later, which doesn’t really qualify as “on his way” (man, he is such a slacker). He was wearing black jeans, a pair of white Adidas and a blue-and-white flannel (yes!) shirt. Atop his head sat a Detroit Pistons cap. Malkmus disappeared into the kitchen, and I could hear him and Jessica chatting, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. It sounded like married-couple talk. He re-emerged and we all introduced ourselves. I think I was the only one who was really familiar with/enjoyed Pavement and/or the Jicks. After some small-talk, Malkmus and I decided to scour the house to find more what-nots and what-have-yous.

We headed back down to the basement. He rummaged through a closet and pulled out a few things, including a small plaster sculpture of his head as a young child. I pointed out the Stereolab record. We made our way back upstairs. His two kids were not there, but the tell-tale signs were: toys, a nook with children’s books, scattered Cheerios on the kitchen floor. Malkmus disappeared upstairs and came back down with a framed photo of his mother as a young girl, a Jamaal Charles Jersey and some tape reels that included demos from Pavement’s Terror Twilight. After we rounded up what we thought were enough “curios” as he called them, we ended up back in the kitchen to talk about the new Jicks record Mirror Traffic and, of course, working with Beck.

“He gave me a call about two and a half years ago and he was just getting started in producing, and he’s like, ‘I’m a producer now, and I’d like to work with you,’ Malkmus explained. “I ran it by the band because we were thinking of ideas, and everyone really wanted to work with a proper producer—I think they were getting tired of the sort of willy-nilly way we were doing it.” Malkmus was making himself breakfast—English style—a fried egg and tomato on toast. Prior to that he had managed to sneak out for a smoke, which truly made it an English breakfast. It looked delicious … the food, not the cigarette.

“We did recording of the basic tracks in five or six days,” he continued. “It was pretty painless, and [Beck] was positive emotionally about everything and pretty mellow like a musician. He said, ‘I might be better at this than judging my own stuff.’ That’s one of the keys, I think, from the standpoint of the band—you want someone who can be like that, that doesn’t want it to be their thing, and can see what’s good about you. I don’t think everyone would be right for it, but he definitely seems to have a talent for it. And I think he’s going to be pretty busy.”

It’s true. Beck’s touches aren’t ham-fisted. Mirror Traffic is far less bombastic than 2008’s Real Emotional Trash, but maintains a warm quality that Malkmus was shooting for. “I didn’t really know what I wanted, I just wanted it to sound good—have a good fidelity that we liked. That’s what I was more worried about—having it sound too digital or modern.” Best of all, Joanna Bolme’s bass is high in the mix—a good thing, as she’s truly a secret weapon (listen to Quasi’s American Gong for proof).

Recording stalled while Malkmus was out for a year on the Pavement cash-grab extravaganza. During that time he was getting antsy, as were the rest of the Jicks. We convened at the kitchen table, where he chatted between bites. (”Sorry I’m eating while we do this.”) The band finished things up this year and released the album’s first single “Senator” back in early June, a song with a memorable chorus that was accidentally timely in the wake of the Anthony Weiner political boner.

“The chorus is just what I sang for the part, and I just made that up—so, I don’t know, that just came from my subconscious,” he explained. “It wasn’t really like shooting fish in a barrel, to tease guys like that, or to be something that would be on The Daily Show.”

The Jicks released Mirror Traffic on August 23, the final album to feature longtime Jick/pal Janet Weiss, who will be focusing most of her attention on Wild Flag. Joggers drummer Jake Morris has joined the lineup, rounded out by Bolme and guitarist-keyboardist Mike Clark. The record is less jammy, filled with well-crafted pop that manages to keep Malkmus’ quirks intact. It might be Malkmus’ best, most Pavement post-Pavement release.

“For me I decided to make it a little more about melody. That could be what I’m better at. I can try to be a big shredder psych-rocker guy, but I’ll let the memorable vocal melodies be the thing you take from the song.”

Jake the photographer came in and told us they were set up and ready to go. I headed toward the bathroom. “Umm, there’s no toilet paper in there, but I can run upstairs and grab some if you need it.” As much as I wanted to tell Stephen Malkmus to grab me some toilet paper, I assured him it was only No. 1. When I entered the living room, he was seated, surrounded by his own artifacts—among them the plaster head, the Charles jersey (a gift from Pavement bandmate Bob Nastanovich) and his diploma from the University of Virginia, where he got involved in college radio and punk rock in a small city in an even smaller red state. (”It was sort of like a mini John Hughes movie—where you would find weirdos and freaks, and you’d be like, ‘Oh, you’re my people,’ amid the uniformity.”)

Malkmus has come a long way since then. He’s come an even longer way since the day his grandmother sculpted a plaster statue of his head. But not much has changed, and that’s a good thing. He’s still mindful of the DIY, punk aesthetic. He still reads poetry from obscure avant-writers like Louis Zukofsky and Tom Clark, who did the cover art for Mirror Traffic. And he still makes interesting music that means a lot to a lot of people. He’s not hip, but he’s not irrelevant either. Throughout the morning Malkmus joked that he’s too old for this or too old for that, or questioned his coolness. I think it’s something he must think about as he eases into middle age.

Of the dozen or so objects we end up talking about, it turns out that one of Malkmus’ most prized is a drawing by Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart.

“He is an inspirational musical genius,” Malkmus said. He wasn’t smiling, or even smirking when he said this. “You know, he played this really insane music that sounds like outsider music, but it was all planned out. He knew what he was doing, and he still made it sound like it was completely original. To me it’s an inspiration that somebody can be such a weirdo, but also be a calm artist.”

That statement right there speaks volumes. I think Malkmus is going to be around for a while. He’ll definitely continue to be one of the most relevant irrelevant artists of his generation. And he really is a cool dude.

“Senator” - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

“Tune Grief” - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

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Tags: Beck, Jake Morris, Janet Weiss, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Joanna Bolme, Matador Records, Mike Clark, Mirror Traffic, Pavement, Spin Magazine, Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Stephen Malkmus interview, Tom Clark

Hitchings, hackings, rockings and rollings

Thursday, August 18th, 2011 | musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

It’s officially been a couple of months since my last post—the longest drought in TDoL history. ”What gives?” so say you three avid readers. Well, among the many things keeping me away from this blog (including a hack), I got hitched, and kickass, rock ‘n’ roll weddings on California’s Central Coast don’t plan themselves. Needless to say the ceremony went off without a hitch. Life is back to normal. And I’m feeling rejuvenated. Expect good things from here on out.

So yes, there is a Mrs. TDoL … although I don’t advise ever calling her that unless you want your knuckles bloodied with a wooden spoon (it’s not fun). And married life is incredible. The other day we made tuna sandwiches for dinner while listening to KISS Alive! and I thought, “If I knew marriage was like this I would have done it 10 years ago.”

Of course, 95 percent of planning a good wedding revolves around the music … sorta like when I pack for vacation: I spend three minutes tossing rumpled clothes and a toothbrush into a small suitcase, and six days deciding which music to bring along. The real challenge, however, was cramming a full night of music into a small mix. But, here it is. Download the Zip file below. If you’d like the unabridged version, e-mail me at mark@thedaysoflore.com.

A couple things I took away from this mix: The Darkness are fucking awesome, and I do believe in a thing called love.

TDoL Wedding Mix
1. “Caught In a Dream” - Alice Cooper
2. “What I Like About You” - The Romantics
3. “Looking For a Kiss” - New York Dolls
4. “My Heart Skips a Beat” - Buck Owens
5. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” - The Beach Boys
6. “Sweet Thing” - Van Morrison
7. “Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More” - Mudhoney
8. “Save Me a Place” - Fleetwood Mac
9. “No Matter What You Do” - Love
10. “I’m the Man Who Loves You” - Wilco
11. “Question” - Old 97’s
12. “I Still Miss Someone” Johnny Cash
13. “I Believe In a Thing Called Love” - The Darkness
14. “When My Baby’s Beside Me” - Big Star
15. “Paris 2004″ - Peter Bjorn and John
16. “Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)” - Willie Nelson
17. “Some Kinda Love” - Velvet Underground
18. “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” - KISS
19. “Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World” - The Ramones
20. “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)” - Stevie Wonder

DOWNLOAD: TDoL Wedding Mix (146 MB ZIP)

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Tags: Love, marriage, TDoL Wedding Mix, The Darkness