The Days of Lore

Say yes to Yep Roc and BARB

Monday, June 21st, 2010 | musiX | No Comments

If you keep up with The Days of Lore, which at last count had just inched ahead of the Joneses, you know that I am a strong backer of Liam Finn. His pops, too. Last year the younger Finn talked to TDoL about a side project called BARB, featuring longtime collaborator Eliza Jane Barnes and fellow New Zealand musicians Lawrence Arabia, Connan Mockasin and Seamus Ebbs. As Finn explained: “It did start out of the fact that probably all of us were doing things on our own for so long that we were kind of craving that band experience again. It was all a very collaborative record. It was quite refreshing.”

The new single “Leo” is a hazy pop tune devoted to our pal Leonardo DiCaprio, accompanied by a video that may leave you scratching your head, or relishing its wacky artiness (or arty wackiness). BARB’s self-titled debut is out now in New Zealand and will be released in the States Aug. 24 on Yep Roc Records.

If that’s not enough, Yep Roc just dished up Songs From the Vault: Volume One, a free (!) sampler featuring unreleased songs from their roster including Liam Finn, Robyn Hitchcock and a sweet li’l gem called “Atom Bomb” from The Apples in stereo. Needless to say your/my/the Joneses Monday playlist is set.

“Leo” - BARB

“Atom Bomb” - The Apples in stereo

“I Will Explode” - Liam Finn

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Tags: BARB, Eliza Jane Barnes, Liam Finn, Robyn Hitchcock, Songs From the Vault: Volume One, The Apples in Stereo, Yep Roc Records

Liam Finn: No place like home

Monday, December 7th, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX | No Comments

At a recent Portland performance Liam Finn was a man possessed, bouncing between guitar and drums while his own looped beats and guitars blasted alongside him. Musical partner Eliza-Jane Barnes provided sort of a calming elegance with her sweet harmonies and delicate percussion.

That chemistry and energy is difficult to catch on wax. And while Finn’s recorded output is tame in comparison, it does capture one thing—his knack for blending pop sensibilities with fearless noise experimentation. It’s good stuff, and his debut I’ll Be Lightning easily made TDoL’s 2008 Year-End List.

Of course, I was drawn in before hearing a single note due to my unrequited love for his father Neil Finn, whose bands Split Enz and Crowded House are embedded deep into the soundtrack of my youth. The 26-year-old Liam occasionally tours with Crowded House (which also includes his uncle, Tim Finn) and has worked with his father on the 7 Worlds Collide project, a collaboration with musicians including Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Cribs/Modest Mouse/Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

With his numerous projects and constant touring it’s amazing that Finn found the time to record Champagne In Seashells. The EP—his first with Barnes—continues with Finn’s ear for melody as well as an itchy finger for using the studio to its fullest, adding plenty of white noise and mutant electronica. As with his debut, Finn recorded the five songs at his father’s Roundhouse Studios in New Zealand, many of the songs reflecting life on the road (”Long Way To Go”). As Finn explains: “It’s been a crazy few years where we haven’t been anywhere for longer than a few days or a week here, a week there.”

The Days of Lore caught up with Finn during his recent U.S. jaunt, as he discussed new projects, his old man and what to expect in 2010.

TDoL: I wanted to ask you about this instrument you recently acquired called the Tafelberg.
Liam Finn: It’s quite funny, actually, I didn’t even know it was called the Tafelberg until someone asked about it in an interview recently and I didn’t know what they were talking about. We know it as the drum-guitar. Basically it’s this thing that this man called Yuri Landman made for me. I got introduced to him through a friend from a band called the Luyas, and she had this weird, experimental instrument called a Moodswinger made by him. She told me all about how he’s this crazy mad scientist kind of guy. He’s really into making weird atonal, sort of Sonic Youth-y noise instruments. So I got in touch with him and told him that I wanted an instrument that I could hit with drumsticks, and he had already been talking to the band the Dodos about making something similar. And he designed this thing for me and I ended up with this crazy 24-string drum-guitar … what the hell was it? [laughing] Tagernaffel? Tafelberg!

Live you’re pretty much a one-man band. Have you considered going out with a full band?
I think it’s definitely something that’s on the horizon. We’ve been doing this for a few years now, and as much as it still seems like it’s molding and changing, I really feel like hearing my songs in more of a band lineup I suppose. We actually just made a record down in New Zealand with some friends.

Is it the Having a Baby project?
Yeah, yeah, well that was kind of its working title. We’ve still yet to decide on a name. We’re affectionately referring to it as BARB, kind of a weird middle-aged woman’s name. It did start out of the fact that probably all of us—including Lawrence Arabia and Connan Mockasin—were doing things on our own for so long that we were kind of craving that band experience again. It was all a very collaborative record. It was quite refreshing. [Editor's Note: The new recording from BARB is due out in New Zealand in early 2010. No release-date has been set in the States.]

How much has your father’s songwriting influenced your own?
Melody-wise and harmony-wise I love what my dad does, and I think it’s actually rubbed off on me. Genetically it probably has as well—the way I hear music or the way I naturally make it. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to specifically make music that’s not like my father’s. So if it’s sounding like that, it’s not like I go “Oh god, I better fuck this up, put some noise on it.” That comes from my other influences, loving bands like Sonic Youth and more noisy kinds of things.

As a kid did you think your father’s music was dorky?
Not at all really. I’ve always loved it, being so immersed in it. It’s just different. It’s like when you grow up with you parents blasting music, and you just inherit the love for it like they do. I grew up with all that Beatles and Neil Young stuff, but also Crowded House. I was really, really interested in Split Enz especially—altered my life really.

Your first record I’ll Be Lightning was written about your time living in London …
Yeah, yeah, I spent about three years years over there, a couple of years before I wrote I’ll Be Lightning. I was confronting an intense time. Living in that country is intense enough with a band and a long-term girlfriend and stuff like that. And everything pretty much fell apart over there, so I think that it can be good for inspiration. I feel like I can speak about it, like it doesn’t bother me. It was quite a long time ago, actually.

Was there an underlying theme on Champagne In Seashells?
Again, it’s probably very—in hindsight—obvious to me that it’s kind of about whatever’s going on in my life. I suppose a lot of the songs have reference to traveling and being away from home and a certain nomadic life that EJ and I have taken on. And without sounding earnest about it, the effects it takes on relationships and normal life stuff you try to maintain while having this quite extraordinary life. It’s been amazing and incredibly stimulating, so once again—good for writing stuff.

I can imagine it’s an intense lifestyle, especially for any length of time …
Yeah, we only had three weeks to record that EP, and I had a few songs we had been writing backstage. But I wanted to write a few while I was back in New Zealand. It was just after the 7 Worlds Collide project, so I felt really invigorated by that whole experience.

What’s life looking like in 2010?
I’m really excited to have more time on my hands to make another record of my own and work on a few things, but ultimately the goal for the year is to make a followup to I’ll Be Lightning. [The EP] was a good way to keep things moving without feeling like you’re making your followup record. My ultimate goal is that every record sort of keeps changing with who you’re working with or how you’re doing it so that it feels like a first record every time.

“Long Way to Go” - Liam Finn + Eliza Jane

Tags: 7 Worlds Collide, BARB, Champagne In Seashells, Crowded House, Eliza Jane, I'll Be Lightning, Liam Finn, Neil Finn, Split Enz

You get 10

Monday, December 15th, 2008 | musiX | 9 Comments

I’ve been wrestling with the whole year-end list thing since I saw them popping up in November. Some makes lists of 50. Others try 33. Twenty-five is always a good number. So is 20. I’ve decided to go with 10 (plus a few honorable mentions) … any more than that would be five too many. And I’m pretty sure it isn’t going to resemble yours. Or his. Or hers. Or theirs. That’s probably a good thing. Click on the cover to buy the album. And let the civil discourse begin …

10. Yes No Yes No Yes No - The Girls: I grew up during the early days of MTV when bands like Missing Persons, Devo and The Cars were coming in loud and clear in technicolor. The five men who are The Girls take the innocence, and the excess, of ’80s new wave and power pop without resorting to kitsch—then they grind it up with giddy Blank Generation riffs. What can I say? It’s damn good fun. “Not I” is the immediate standout, but “Who Are the Forgetters” is The Girls’ secret weapon that will sneak up on you and threaten to wear out the repeat button.

“Who Are the Forgetters” - The Girls

9. Nevergreens Vol. 1 and 2 - Los Fancy Free: Mexico City’s Los Fancy Free has been at it for years. Martin Thulin (aka Menonita Rock) was born to Swedish hippies in a Scandanavian Mennonite community in Northern Mexico. It reflects in the music—a rock outfit that relies just as much on flower power as it does on stomp boxes, with lyrics in English and Spanish. This year, the band released a double-disc gem. It’s a long and winding trip through the desert aboard the Partridge Family bus with pockets full of peyote. And they do a 10-minute psych-punk version of “Sultans of Swing.” Rules.

“Money Money Money” - Los Fancy Free

8. Rising Down - The Roots: The Roots continue to do all the right things by pointing out the wrong in America. Rising Down is less organic than past albums, and it’s definitely one of the group’s feistiest, taking issue with, well, everything: global warming, school shootings and the black experience in general. The biting social commentary is given weight by the always-steady back beat of ?uestlove and a revolving door of guest MCs including Talib Kweli and Mos Def. Should have made more lists. I’ll take The Roots over Lil Wayne’s haughty ways any day.

“Lost Desire” - The Roots

7. The Airing of Grievances - Titus Andronicus: Jersey’s Titus Andronicus punched me in the face and then kicked me in the ribs. Then they barked at me about Camus’ existentialist ways. Guitars and drums clang together like they were recorded in a tin shed while frontman Patrick Stickles screams like Conor Oberst on a whiskey bender. It’s actually a near-exact translation of their live show. If the E Street Band hopped a train to CBGB and sat in with The Ramones, you’d get Titus Andronicus which, fittingly, takes its name from William Shakespeare’s most violent tragedy.

“Joset of Nazareth’s Blues” - Titus Andronicus

6. S/T - Vampire Weekend: I heard “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and, slightly annoyed, went on with my business. But a friend made me listen to the entire album. At gunpoint. I started humming “A-Punk” and “Oxford Comma” (which, sadly, I do give a fuck about). I began getting annoyed when critics focused more on the band’s Ivy League pedigree and its proclivity for sweaters and Sperry Top-Siders. Silly critics. It’s a smart, fun record—there, I said it. I hope Vampire Weekend keeps making decent albums; unless they’re willing to try new things, their Afro-indie pop could wear thin fast.

“Oxford Comma” - Vampire Weekend

5. Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: Stephen Malkmus still has a way with words. He also wields a mighty axe, and it’s evident that Malkmus is indulging himself here, experimenting with strung-out epics that are heavy on the guitar. But Real Emotional Trash is still a pop gem, made even sunnier by the warm production. Even if he goes for the hippie jam (the 10-minute title track), or the stoner riff (”Dragonfly Pie”) Malkmus returns to those shimmering pop melodies with “Cold Son” and “We Can’t Help You,” the latter on which Janet Weiss’ vocals melt me every time.

“We Can’t Help You” - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

4. Anonymous - Nothing People: This three-piece hails from a tiny sliver of land in Northern California. I always picture them as these sort of mad scientists that hole themselves up with an array of vintage gear and effects inside this fortress-like laboratory among the wind-swept olive groves. Anonymous is Nothing People’s first full-length after releasing a handful of excellent 7-inches. The band makes controlled chaos where echo-y vocals quiver over distortion and feedback and occasional drum loops and keyboards. In fact, if I didn’t know them better, I’d say they were not of this earth.

“I-5″ (live) - Nothing People

3. Blame it On Gravity - Old 97’s: Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the Old 97’s. Unhealthy huge. But, even I wasn’t too keen on this record upon initial spins; I selfishly wanted a full return to those glorious Bloodshot days. Then I began to notice Rhett Miller’s familiar bookish wordplay, which wasn’t quite there on 2004’s Drag It Up. And guitarist Ken Bethea’s leads and licks killed me. Blame it On Gravity essentially plays like a greatest hits album, tapping from the band’s 15-year history and all of their clear-cut influences—’60s Brit-pop, Replacements rawk, outlaw-country. How could it not be good?

“Here’s to the Halcyon” - Old 97’s

2. I’ll Be Lightning - Liam Finn: I wanted to hear this album because of my love for Liam’s pops. He definitely inherited Neil’s knack for writing a pretty pop song, even snagging some of his old man’s vocal phrasings in “Music Moves My Feet” and “Lead Balloon.” The young Finn plays most of the instruments here, and he isn’t afraid to throw some ugly on top of the pretty … in a very handsome sort of way. There’s always something lurking in the background to make songs like “Second Chance” and “I’ll Be Lightning” feel not-so Crowded House—not that there’s anything wrong with that.

“Lead Balloon” - Liam Finn

1. Furr - Blitzen Trapper: I gravitate toward melodies and dynamics, even production, well before lyrics begin talking to me. But Eric Earley can spin a yarn—whether it be a murder ballad in “Black River Killer” or the tale of a young man who, literally, follows his animal instincts in the title track. What’s most impressive is how naturally this band can traverses folk (”Furr”), country (”Stolen Shoes & a Rifle”) and even ramshackle garage (”Love U”). There’s even a weepy, Elton-inspired ballad in “Not Your Lover.” So good an album that I actually get a little sad when it ends.

“Black River Killer” - Blitzen Trapper

Even more to love (in no particular order):

Microcastle - Deerhunter

Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket

Dear Science - TV on the Radio

Alight of Night - Crystal Stilts

S/T - Fleet Foxes

Tags: Alight of Night, Anonymous, best of 2008, Blame It On Gravity, Blitzen Trapper, Crystal Stilts, Dear Radio, Deerhunter, Evil Urges, Fleet Foxes, Furr, I'll Be Lighning, Liam Finn, Los Fancy Free, Microcastle, My Morning Jacket, Nevergreens Vol. 1 and 2, Nothing People, Old 97's, Real Emotional Trash, Rising Down, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, The Airing of Grievances, The Girls, The Roots, Titus Andronicus, TV On the Radio, Vampire Weekend, year-end list, Yes No Yes No Yes No

Diss on my list

Friday, November 21st, 2008 | musiX | 2 Comments

It’s year-end list time already?! Everyone’s getting list-y, I tell you. Don’t you worry, I will soon. But not yet … not when there are releases by Fall Out Boy and Britney Spears still to come. Paste just came out with its Top 50 of 2008, which has already received some post-game commentary from Stereogum and Rawkblog.

I see a lot of the usual suspects in Paste’s Top 10 … the Vampire Weekends, the Fleet Foxes, the Shes, the Hims. I will only say this: Liam Finn’s I’ll Be Lightening (No. 27) should swap spots with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago (No. 4). And, done (in my mind’s eye) … oh, and take out Flight of the Concords and add The Roots’ Rising Down. I’ll stop now.

In other slightly related news, former VH1 cool kids Third Eye Blind have already found their new song “Non-Dairy Creamer” as a runner-up for Worst Song of 2008 according to one Stereogum reader. The post received a ton of response, including one from 3EB frontman Stephan Jenkins … you’ll just have to read it for yourself. I will say this: Attack Jenkins’ lyrics all you want, but he is the guy who got the line “coming over you” onto mainstream radio.

And in a slightly related anecdote, I remember purchasing Third Eye Blind’s first album at Tower Records … I actually looked around to make sure no one saw me … and I’m pretty sure I told the clerk I was buying it for my nephew … and I took it home … and I like(d) it. Don’t tell anyone I told you.

And bringing this back around to the topic of lists, I also like “Kiss On My List” by Hall & Oates.

Tags: "Non-Dairy Creamer", Bon Iver, Britney Spears, Fall Out Boy, Hall & Oates, Liam Finn, Paste, Rawkblog, Stephan Jenkins, Stereogum, Third Eye Blind, Top 50 of 2008