yours for the taking
dear friends,
1. a long time ago, a schoolmate of mine & I were discussing male indie albums vs female indie albums. that is, albums that indie rock loving men tend to gravitate to more than their female counterparts & vice versa. we decided to make an exchange. I gave him liz phair's exile in guyville* (like, duh.) & he gave me dinosaur jr's bug. I still remember his eyes drilling into mine as he passed it to me saying, "this. is. good." as if willing me to worship. I didn't. he didn't like the one I gave him either. thus endeth our exchange; no whimper, no bang.
why didn't I like bug? sure, it's not a perfect album, but I'm fond of imperfection. the guitar playing is choice. messy as sock strewn room, but with method behind it. a sock cathedral in the corner, perhaps. the songs were good. nice little models of noise pop. j mascis' voice is unusual...but I'd heard & gotten into odder singers. yet, ultimately, it WAS his voice. it's the croak of a man who can't be bothered to open his eyes to anything other than maybe the floor & that's only to check if it's still there & either way, it doesn't, like, matter or anything. apathy in extremis. & I couldn't invest in that. you don't care, so I don't care, so no one cares. nah ne nah nah.
eventually I came around. largely in part to hearing mascis cover richard thompson's sad bastard classic I misunderstood (as in, "I thought you were saying good luck, you were saying goodbye") with that same mentally challenged whine but this time, I thought I heard connection. I went back & re-listened & discovered it was always there. just muted under layers of feedback & deliberate rhythmic stumbles. better late than never, eh?
2. nate borgen from low lustre sounds like j mascis if j mascis suddenly decided to sit up straight & sing his little black heart out. the absolutely charming dancing blind from their self-titled ep starts off in a rather generic fashion but then surprises with an unexpectedly lovely waterfall-like guitar line. borgen's vocal rides right on top of that line until the chorus hits & he takes off into the stratosphere with an ah-ooooo & the high is beautifully unforced. bassist matt lein & drummer mark rode hold down their corners of the triangle providing further proof that nothing beats a power trio.
according to their my space page, low lustre's july 11-14 shows in new york city are currently TBA** - their schedule says "need help! band & venue!". anyone know any bookers? bookers are you looking? get on the horn, sort that out.
love, d
* yes, I know, I know guys listen to exile in guyville too. who doesn't love flower? I suppose what I was talking about were albums whose point of view are decidedly male or female & that's what makes them particularly attractive to someone of the same gender. then again, is a woman more likely to think about something like that than a man? hmmm...a topic for another time.
** I see that they've booked a show at trash on july 12, way to go!
album to seek: bug/dinosaur jr
song to seek: dancing blind/low lustre
posted by d @ 12:17 PM
2 Comments:
but then what do you do about coed bands? so many of my favorite albums are by groups of men and women sharing songwriting and performing roles. come to think of it, though, that nicely encapsulates my own attitude toward society - that both genders can live and work together without it necessarily being a sexual thing (but occasionally can be w/mutual consent).
I dunno it seems like a lot of male music fans are quick to label things as "chick music," & I find it funny, because I think there's a lot of "guy music" out there but no one calls it as such. male fronted music is just music regardless of topic, whereas female created/fronted music is always written about in relation to gender whether or not the women in question are dealing with "female" subject matter.
I like coed, that's my thing too. then again, the music I tend to gravitate to is always a mix in some way or another.
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