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(11/12/09 10:00am)
Britney Spears’ supposed fall from innocence seems awfully imaginative. Even her first single in 1999, “...Baby One More Time,” presented the barely legal star in a fetishized school-girl fantasy.
In 2009, she might be even more gratuitous—check “If U Seek Amy”—but the decade-long narrative has consistently been sex. Her newest offering, The Singles Collection, offers a fairly compelling retrospective of America’s favorite transgressive pop star.
(10/29/09 8:00am)
Weezer has spent the last 10 years trying to make us forget that they produced a classic in The Blue Album, a record offering an escape route from grunge that would come to be known as “alternative rock.”
(10/22/09 8:00am)
The Hood Internet, a mash-up duo of Aaron Brink and Steve Reidell, will play Cherry Bounce in Raleigh, a week-long music festival showcasing regional and national talent. Brian Contratto talked to Reidell (DJ name STV SLV) about the blog-project-turned-Internet-sensation.
(10/15/09 8:00am)
The opening track off Embryonic is a relief, if only because it’s nothing like the Flaming Lips’ last album opener, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.” Instead of a grating ploy for commercial radio, “Convinced of the Hex” introduces Embryonic as a throwback to the fuzzy, blissed-out jams championed by a series of great and prolific ’90s bands, including the Lips themselves.
(10/01/09 8:00am)
This Saturday, Raleigh will play host to a stadium full of U2 fans for a spectacular live show—but for those as interested in intellectualizing as listening, there is an alternate option.
(09/10/09 9:58am)
Formed in 1984, Yo La Tengo is the quintessential indie rock band, still on independent label Matador after 12 solid LPs. Still, the title of their newest album, Popular Songs, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s lack of mainstream success. The magic of Yo La Tengo lies in nuanced emotions and a rare sense of pacing and equilibrum—not exactly the precursors of widespread popularity.
Popular Songs displays the delicate craftsmanship of its skilled creators, husband and wife duo Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley and bassist James McNew. “Here to Fall” begins in a recognizably Yo La Tengo fashion. Reverberating wa wa-pedaled guitar, crashing cymbals and somber string accompaniments create melodrama, though Kaplan sounds self-assured when he sings, “I know you’re worried/I’m worried too/But if you’re ready/I’m here to fall with you.”
The distinctive crooning of Hubley counterpoints the opener, floating airily amid jangly guitar and organ on “Avalon or Someone Very Similar.”
A dynamic balance is masterfully extended throughout: “By Two’s” gives Hubley’s voice breathing room, allowing it to glide along gently, before “Nothing to Hide” picks up the pace with a crunching guitar stomp akin to Yo La Tengo’s noisier side project, Condo F—s. The last three tracks, clocking in at nine, 11 and 15 minutes respectively, allow Kaplan to exercise his guitar prowess—though the effect of 35 consecutive minutes is definitely numbing.
The album is executed so effortlessly it may appear underwhelming, or at least unassuming. Truthfully, it doesn’t carry the emotional heft or sparkling beauty of some of their greatest work, at least not throughout the entire album. Popular Songs is, however, consistently good, and often very good—one of the great bands of today honing their craft with sophistication and grace.
Perhaps all that popularity business is immaterial for a band like Yo La Tengo. As the title of one of their prior compilation albums asserts, Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo. That will be their musical legacy—one more lasting than fleeting chart success.
(09/10/09 9:48am)
...Us by the Trail of Dead, henceforth the band you will know as impossible to find in the alphabetized album shelves, plays the Cat’s Cradle Sept. 15. recess writer Brian Contratto talked to lead vocalist and guitarist Conrad Keeley, who also contributed original visual art to the tour, about moving to New York, the Austin scene and his art.
The press release for the new album, The Century of Self, calls it “a return to form” and then references Source Tags and Codes, your most critically acclaimed album. Is that accurate, or just an annoying comparison?
I hate that thing. It’s stupid. I usually write some creative essay as a press release. I don’t know really, I guess that Source Tags and Codes was just good timing. Our music has always sounded like us.
Obviously, critical reactions are hot and cold since then.
Yeah, well I’m at a place in my life where I’m making music for myself, not really with what people want in mind. I mean, I’m definitely grateful for their support though. But when I was younger being well-received was a big priority, As you get older you get more in tune with your inner voice, and make what it wants to create. It gets more important. If you don’t follow your own intuition, your desire, it’s very damaging psychologically.
I know you’re now living in New York, but Trail of Dead graduated from the heralded and still terrific Austin music scene. Does a scene denote any source of artistic collaboration or community, or is that a myth?
I wish that there was. Maybe it was like that in the past. I think that music now is not nearly as communal as it has been or maybe could’ve been. Sometimes I feel like the music I make isn’t as influenced by musical peerage as I would like it to be. I think we live in a very isolationist time. Mass media in general—the fact that we’re being bombarded by so much information at our fingertips—makes us not rely on old forms of communication. If people want gossip they go to some blog. Creatively, I think I need to be stimulated by new environments.
Hence the move to New York.
Yes.
Well do you at least hang out with people in other bands from the area?
We’ll sometimes collaborate [with other Austin bands], but we don’t really hang out together. Unless we’re on tour, in which case we’ll be with them all the time. Nothing’s the same as being on tour with somebody, it’s really quite special. And that’s one of the reasons to keep going with music—to go to some exotic locale.
You recently left major label Interscope to self-release on your new Richter Scale Records. Was the goal there just a method that would give you full power and creative control or is there a hope to sign other bands in the future?
I want to put out Austin bands on it. There is no label in Austin that really represents that place. If I could do that for a young band starting out—it doesn’t have to be that expensive—I would love to distribute an album for a new band.
I know you’ve always drawn your own album covers, and that you’re a visual artist as well. I’ve heard a visual art element of the current tour mentioned, does that tie in with the themes from The Century of Self?
This artwork reminds me of the art I enjoyed when I was young. It was inspired by a Moody Blues album, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. It’s meant as an allegory for knowledge, or you know, the potential for knowledge. Those themes are an illustration of things I was really drawn to as a child. And there’s always a theme behind the record. This one’s about my family, metaphysics—even prophesy pops up. “Insatiable Two” [from The Century of Self] is about Orang Pendek, sort of the Bigfoot of Indonesia, or some other close relative of the human race observing us from a safe distance and seeing what we’ve done to the planet....the destruction of it.
What’s exciting about coming to Cat’s Cradle, and what kind of show can interested students expect to see?
Well, when I go to Chapel Hill, I plan to go to this electric violin shop. I’ve been studying viola and cello for the past six years. We’re trying to hopefully have an art exhibit at venues that have a space where we can mount the album artwork and my other pieces. If there’s a gallery nearby where we can display original album artwork—we could have a one night art exhibit.
As for the music?
If we’re in a bad mood, we’ll play a chaotic or noisy show. If we’re in a great mood... well, it’ll still be crazy. Really, I don’t even know what to expect when we play, so I tell people not to have expectations.
(09/10/09 8:00am)
Formed in 1984, Yo La Tengo is the quintessential indie rock band, still on independent label Matador after 12 solid LPs. Still, the title of their newest album, Popular Songs, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s lack of mainstream success. The magic of Yo La Tengo lies in nuanced emotions and a rare sense of pacing and equilibrum—not exactly the precursors of widespread popularity.
(09/10/09 8:00am)
...Us by the Trail of Dead, henceforth the band you will know as impossible to find in the alphabetized album shelves, plays the Cat’s Cradle Sept. 15. recess writer Brian Contratto talked to lead vocalist and guitarist Conrad Keeley, who also contributed original visual art to the tour, about moving to New York, the Austin scene and his art.
(09/03/09 9:38am)
The hole-in-the-wall Mexican taco shop has long held its spot as the dominant point of access for authentic, flavorful Mexican food. Middling restaurants followed suit, but tend to sacrifice the essential basics of Mexican food for inessential tourist kitsch. But the advent of the Mexican fine-dining destination, an idea that initially left me skeptical, accustomed as I was to the slew of nondescript, low-rent, yet delicious establishments I grew up with in Southern California, challenged my culinary comprehension
New Durham restaurant Dos Perros fits adequately into this niche. Fortunately, the design concept avoids the trappings of fine dining and embraces simplicity. A clean color palette neither over- nor underwhelms, delightfully avoiding gauche Mexican decor. A concise menu divides the platos principales (entrees) tersely into chicken, meat, seafood and vegetarian options.
Several entradas (appetizers) piqued my interest. The tostadas de ceviche were, in fact, quite appetizing, though seafood lovers might find that strong lime accents mask the taste of the fish. Ensalada de sandia y pepinos seemed curious—a watermelon and cucumber salad infused with onion and chile powder. Surprisingly, the salad was more bland and unsavory than it was distinctive.
The mole poblano was the highlight of the platos: the mole, a tantalizingly difficult sauce to perfect, blends the right amount of Mexican chocolate and chile to create an unusual, richly flavorful chicken dish. The carne asada legitimizes its premium markup by forgoing the usual crispiness for a more tender, bloodier preparation similar to filet mignon. The garnishing queso fresco helps to sell its authenticity.
The meals were accompanied by fried rice, pinto beans and fresh batches of corn tortillas that were replenished often by an acutely attentive waiter. Gourmet as a Mexican restaurant may claim to be, it is no better than its basics, and here, Dos Perros does not disappoint. I found myself as attracted to rice and bean soft tacos as I was to the more complex dishes.
The dessert menu doesn’t stray far from the classics. The custard-like vanilla flan and candied orange-topped Mexican chocolate ice cream offered a solid finish to a three-course meal.
The owner stopped by in casual clothing to greet patrons, among them, Duke faculty. With this casual cool atmosphere, Dos Perros just makes sense in downtown Durham, continuing the new streak of quality urban dining executed with effortless style.
(08/27/09 7:00am)
Jay Lindsey currently releases solo albums under the stage name Jay Reatard, though former iterations of his work have been produced as the Reatards. The eyebrow-raising self-deprecation of this pseudonym is telling; his music deals in the dry witticism, morose lyrics, and tongue-in-cheek humor paramount to British punk bands like the Sex Pistols.
(04/16/09 7:00am)
What do zydeco, koras and gypsy violins have in common? They're all being featured at Shakori Hills.
(04/09/09 7:00am)
Dance-punk is so 2003, but dance-pop is so now. With Cut Copy, Crystal Castles, M83 and practically anything coming out of Sweden, 80s-sounding music is better today than it was in the 80s. Even now, with the release of their third album, the Junior Boys have never been catchy enough to fit into this group of up-and-comers. Their signature electronic formula, which carries over to LP number three, Begone Dull Care, synthesizes the values of house, dance and pop. The result is a collection of eight slow jams that sound like they've been refracted through a disco ball. The pace is always mid-tempo, meaning these cuts won't make it to the dance floor until the after-after party.
(03/19/09 7:00am)
Some UNC and Duke students might have their eyes focused on Greensboro this weekend, but the best battle will be taking place on East Campus.
(03/05/09 9:00am)
I was surprised to find it has been nearly five years since U2's last album. But as long as there is still war and poverty and Africa, it seems a safe bet that Bono and company will continue making music. Meanwhile, offerings by Radiohead and Coldplay, two bands who owe much to U2, have filled the niche for moody music with strong production standards and aspirations for world dominance. In this musical landscape, it comes as no surprise that Brian Eno doubles as producer for both U2 (alongside Daniel Lanois) and Coldplay's latest releases. With No Line on the Horizon, the result is an album that is sonically interesting, but not more so than anything else in Eno and Lanois' remarkable back catalogues.
(02/12/09 9:00am)
The writer and original narrator of Well, Lisa Kron, calls the play a "theatrical explanation of universal issues," and wonders, "Why are some people sick and others well?"
(01/29/09 9:00am)
Amanda Wingfield captures the mood of The Glass Menagerie best when she warns her son Tom: "The future becomes the present, the present becomes the past and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don't plan for it."
(01/22/09 9:00am)
Andrew Bird is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, but his greatest strength is his command of the English language. Bird is an adept whistler and glockenspiel player who has the poise to pull off lyrics like, "I see a sea anemone/The enemy, see a sea anemone/And that'll be the end of me." It is this unusual approach to music that has made Andrew Bird's work interesting and full of surprises-his instrumentals are more like compositions, and his lyrics are crafted rather than just written.
(01/15/09 9:00am)
God's Pottery is a comedy duo akin to Flight of the Conchords. Wilson Hall and Krister Johnson play outre Christian zealots Jeremiah Smallchild and Gideon Lamb in their musical acts and were contestants on Last Comic Standing Season 6. recess' Brian Contratto recently spoke with them about religion, bullies and tricky women.
(11/13/08 5:00am)
Sweden is the new Canada (which just a few years ago became the new U.K.), churning out dozens of upstart indie-rock groups that have music bloggers buzzing. Case in point: Love is All, a five-piece band hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, released their debut album Nine Times that Same Song stateside two years ago to much critical acclaim. The work consisted of pop that had just enough raucousness to please the punks and enough rhythmic, driven guitar-rock to please clubgoers.
