My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges
(ATO Records; 2008)
9.0/10

So I’ve listened to it a couple times now and I’ve decided that this is My Morning Jacket’s “pop” album. I was expecting something alot weirder after the enigmatic “Z”, but the only evil urge My Morning Jacket exhibit on the album is the urge to hug you:P That being said, yes, the album is pretty awesome. While I do wish that “Evil Urges” were weirder, the album is damn good and will have you toe tapping and singing along in no time.

It begins with the Prince-esque “Evil Urges” which ends with a bit of a jammy-bit reminiscent of the songs off “It Still Moves”.

After that “Touch ME I’m Going To Scream” seems to begin fulfilling the promise of a weirder album with it’s computerized drum beat, “Yoshima” bass lines and weird synths washing or snaking all over.

Jim James goes Princetastic again for the uncharacteristic “Highly Suspicious”, in which his sexy squelling falsetto dances all around a cartoonish chorus that repeats the words “HIIIIGHLY SUSPICIOUS! HIIIIIGHLY SUSPICIOUS OF YOU!” the song is like “WTF?” at first but after a couple listens it’s kinda fun.

“I’m Amazed” returns to the southern rock of their early albums before “Thank You Too” weirds it up again with MMJ returning to their goal of being the next Radiohead. The song is beautiful with all kinds of weird sounds floating around in the background and that signature reverb that MMJ is famous for. It’s some kind of wonderful achievement in which MMJ combine the innovation of “Z” with the soul power of “It Still Moves” and somehow write one of the most accesible songs the band has ever written. The song’s a stone-cold classic and if any girl could resist Jim James after witnessing him sing something as gorgeous as this officially HAS NO SOUL.

No, the album doesn’t let up after that. Sec’ Walkin returns to the Southern rock of th….what? No, suddenly it’s a Motown song?!!? Yeah, seems like Lynyrd Skynyrd just found themselves in a Motown studio and somehow they’re backing Smokey Robinson but then ACID FLASHBACK!!!

It’s 1956 and they’re backing Roy Orbison on “Two Halves” in which Jim James shpeils philosophical about age.

Ok, time to chill out and listen to an acoustic story about a lonely librarian. “Since we got the internet these things hardly get used” so she checks herself out in the mirror, reads books and listens to the radio. Suddenly Jim James is marching in with band and yes, he’s here to seduce you honey (bowm chika wow wow)…oh, btw, he brought the orchestra along, hope you dont mind…

“Look at You” is weird southern music and “Aluminum Park” is a big-hearted rocker that’s friends with “Two Halves”. “Remnants” is weird hard rock.

“Smokin’ From Shootin’” is another gorgeous love song that’s in the same category as “Thank You Too”. The song slowly builds up and becomes more grand and more epic underneath a brilliantly simple melody. The damn thing becomes an anthem, a fucking powerhouse testament that’s bursting with emotion and powerful statements. Damn it’s fucking gorgeous!!!

and then it ends…winding down…could this be the end…

…no

…wait…

…it…can’t…be…

….

…but it is…

TOUCH ME I’M GOING TO SCREAM PART 2!!!

It’s starts slow with the creepy organ from “Into The Woods” like the begining to the greatest horror film ever before a nice little dance beat kicks in. Yes, MMJ has conquered the South, the 50′s, Motown, the library, Prince, hard rock and now they’re coming to the dance floor of the Goth Club. Turns out that the reason everyone’s pale isn’t because they’re goths wearing makeup, MMJ actually ended up at a ghost orgy and things get freeeeaaaakeeeeyyyy. After 8 minutes the orgy slowly arrives at a stop.

The 6 second album closer “Good Intentions” (get it? Evil Urges? Good Intentions? oh, MMJ, you rascals) is just an audience screaming and somebody saying “ok cool”. Then again. It was pretty cool.

P.S. The first time I heard it I wasn’t that impressed, it’s a grower.

check out the band performing the song “Evil Urges” on SNL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87mppgDPNHA

After weeks, months and years of waiting for it, it’s finally here. This week’s band of the week is…

Lettuce
Rage!
(Velour; 2008)
4.2/10

So, I’m not a big fan of spanish or latino stuff. This is mainly because my dad is from Argentina and he maybe doesn’t have the best musical taste, so all the bad latino music I heard growing up kind of turned me off of latino music entirely. I’m not actually of latino descent though, as his parents were both from Poland, they just stopped over in Argentina for a couple years before moving to Canada. I checked out this week’s band of the week because I heard that they/he were/was touring with Atlas Sound, the exceptional solo-project of Deerhunter singer Bradfor Cox. I figured that such an interesting and outspoken individual wouldn’t tour with just anyone so I checked out one of the guy’s albums and was really impressed. This weeks band of the week is…

El Guincho!!!

El Guincho is the laptop-based project of Pablo Díaz-Reixa of the Canary Islands. His debut album Alegranza came out this year and instantly attracted alot of attention due to it’s excellent fusion of tropicallia and newer indie sensibilities. If Panda Bear’s Person Pitch was an immersive headphone album to listen to alone in the dark then Alegranza is the album you fiesta to beforehand.

Even so, the greatest similarity between the two albums is the form and construction method used, rather than the actual sound of the album. Where Person Pitch is cold with a strange touch of humanity, Alegranza is like watching a brazilian dance party on youtube in which everyone is dressed up like they just came from the set of The Holy Mountain. It’s a little weird, a bit of cautious fun and pretty lively, but it’s a sort of computerized lively-hood which makes it strange again…

For me personally, it’s that weird computerized touch that makes it interesting as I’ve always thought of Tropicalia as a very down-in-the-street type music that I’ve always found too tan and empty-headed to get into. This album takes that and shoves a computerized brain into it. The results= GGGGGOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!

http://www.myspace.com/elguincho

Third night of this awesome May 2-4 weekend I wound up at Rancho Relaxo with all the other members of the crew I have dubbed “The Spiral Beach Kids” because I met most of them through Spiral Beach shows. This collective includes various artists, musicians, scenesters and other cool people. Bands like Spiral Beach, Boxes and Bags, Still Life Still, The Miles, Stop Die Rescusitate, Kaliedascope City (go see them btw), Dinosaur Bones, La Casa Muerte, Alphabot, Oscar Browne, Foxfire Forest, and various others are part of this scene and you can see members of each at shows around the city each weekend. It’s a great scene with tons of great, interesting people. I’m lucky to know them. They also happen to make kick ass music.

The show began with Skullians, a band I’d never seen before. They had a kinda punk-ish vibe and they took to the stage well, delivering well written songs that seemed to be wasted on the more indie-kid/Rosedalien crowd. Regardless, check out their myspace if you’re curious, http://www.myspace.com/skullians.

The show seemed to really kick off once Alphabot took the stage. Armed with a keyboard, acoustic guitar, violin and loop pedal, Jake Roels established his beat and proceeded to impress with his looped cheap syth melodies that really impressed. When he kicks in with lovely synth chord padding washes it’s absolute idiosyncratic bliss. His funny lyrics about Robots, Penguins, Cars and other stuff as well as his odd-ball stage presence were innocently endearing and you’d have to be a real grouch not to just seriously enjoy his set which was both fun and musically solid. For the myspace experience click here: http://www.myspace.com/jakeroels.

Still Life Still took the stage next and kicked ass as usual. There was dancing. There was singing. Epiphanies were had. Babies were concieved. A good time was by all. BUT, for once, they weren’t the best band of the night…http://www.myspace.com/stilllifestill

Oscar Browne was up next and for some reason I cannot remember his set. I just remember him getting up there and doing some crazy stuff…I think it was good…http://www.myspace.com/oscarbrown

Boxes and Bags ended the night unforgettably. You know that image you have of the perfect show? Stuff falling down, people screaming and jumping around, Jamez Burling covered in silver wearing nothing but tight silver spandex(?) underwear, etc. Well it was all that and then some. As I’ve said before, Boxes and Bags have decided that they don’t really care about “songs” anymore but more about creating a ridonculous musical experience that is just plain fucking awesome. They took the Best Band of the Night prize this time as they said “fuck that” to any sort of audience-performer divide and made good on their promise to “FUCK SHIT UP!” It was beautiful. It was terrifying. It was Boxes and Bags. Happy one year anniversey guys, and great, great, great fucking show. http://www.myspace.com/boxesandbags

Sorry, life’s been insanely busy for the last little bit. I know you were probably crouched over your computer screen pulling your hair out saying “where’s the band of the week!?!! where the fuck is it!?!?!” for the last week or so. I’m here to tell you…it has arrived.

This week’s band of the week is an artist I have always respected, from when my mom hated hated HATED him to when my mom would play his songs in the car for my little brother to hear. Oh moms, what are we gonna do with you…asides from shoving you in nursing homes…This artist felt it would be appropriate to express his feelings for his mother in song. Awww, he wrote a song for his mommy, that’s so sweet (tear). She responded with a lawsuit. This week’s artist of the week is…

EMINEM!!!

Yes, I have always liked and respected Eminem, even when he was the biggest pop star in the world and even now that he’s sorta retired or something. I’m not that big a rap fan (Public Enemy, Run DMC and Beastie Boys are the shit though) but Eminem’s combination of wit, emotion, bravado, self-awareness and intelligence won me over from the first time I heard “My Name Is”. When this guy is on, he is fucking ON. He takes rap to a new level on songs like “Squaredance”, “Without Me”, “The Real Slim Shady” and “My Name Is”.

Sometimes his stuff doesnt make much of an impact (ahem, “Ass Like That”) but I blame that more on what rap has become in popular culture than I do on him and his artistic decisions…He’s made some bad ones but he’s made infitely more good ones.

He cleaned up his image as he got more popular but he never sold out. He didn’t start rapping about bitches and ho’s, he never stopped being absolutely outrageous, obscene and egotistical but he made really smart decisions. Playin with Elton John at the grammys: that was brilliant.

The thing that truly seperates Eminem from other rappers and makes him so incredible is his vulnerability. I can’t think of any other rappers who reveal themselves and their history so completely and powerfully on record. Eminem gives us his heartfelt account of his troubled relationships with his mother and his ex-wife kim in great detail and never misses an opportunity to give shout-outs to his daughter Hailie. He also has that crucial artistic ability to emphasize and get into the heads of his characters in songs like “Stan”. In “Sing for the Moment” he sings about the kids who “don’t have a thing/ except for a dream and a fucking rap magazine/ who post pin up pictures on their walls all day long/ idolize their favorite rappers and know all their songs”. He really knows these kids – they often appear in his songs – who are the cause of all his success as well as all the bullshit he’s had to put up with undeservedly. After all, he was one of them.

I do have some problems with Eminem though and that is that sometimes he doesn’t live up to his enormous potential. All his albums are plagued by a couple songs that are cliche’d, overcommercialized and weakly produced. In these songs his turns into a lame white boy rapper who just wants his girlfriend to hear his “touching” lyrics on the radio. Hopefully when he comes back from his retirement he’ll make another incredible album and realize that these songs should just be forgotten.

At his peak, Eminem is absolutely mindblowing. He’ll combine everything that makes an artist great into a perfect 3 minute pop song that breaks across boundaries and his lyrics will hit home with Dylanesque force. “Squaredance” is possibly the greatest example of this with it’s incredible production, slap-in-the-face lyrics and a goofy chorus which only serves to make the message of the song more powerful .

Like all interesting individuals, Eminem has polarized people. Many now believe that he’s yesterdays news and just as bad as plenty of the forgotten rappers who were so popular only a couple years ago. Luckily, Eminem definitly isn’t forgotten and if he wanted to make news tomorow, he’d have no problem doing so. He’s just laying low now, enjoying life and working out his shit. Good for him, he deserves it. Yes, he was a pop star of the same caliber as Britney and Christina but unlike those talentless life sized sex-ads, Eminem is a true artist. In addition to that, he also happens to be the real slim shady. And that’s no small feat.

www.myspace.com/eminem