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music monday with PLC : The Men

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

The Men : New Moon

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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I am not sure exactly how it got to be such a pink and blue world.  For whatever reason, it was just passed down through the ages that pink is for a girl and blue is for a boy.  Sometimes things are truly different, and sometimes the only variation is merely the color.  As any desperate husband has discovered when he is stuck shaving his face with the pink razor as a last resort.  One great example of this xy, xx world was the television show “The Other Half”.  After “The View” was such a big success on daytime television, someone had the sinister idea of creating a show that would have the same concept but with men.  I know, I can’t believe that it was not a huge success either.  Maybe it was the casting, the show was hosted by the unholy triumvirate of: Dick Clark, Danny Bonaduce and Mario Lopez.  Or maybe it was the fact that it was just a really bad show on so many levels.

Women - 1, Men - 0.

This week we look at “New Moon” the fourth full length album from Brooklyn rockers The Men just released on Sacred Bones Records.  Much like “The Other Half”, when one wonders what put those three hosts on the same stage, the same concept applies to some of the songs on this album.  The Men seem to hop around from having a laid back country influence on a few songs to jumping into being a full on power punk band thrashing their way through many of the other cuts.  Granted, this is not without precedence, after all their once was a world where “Gary’s Got a B***r” could live side by side next to “Sixteen Blue."  But, just as the Replacements transitioned out of this phase, I seem to think The Men will also.  I mean, it is not that I dislike Dick Clark or Mario Lopez individually, but together - not so much of a fan.

How about some Monday Moshing, check out The Men’s song “Electric” -

The album has a great garagey, low-fi production that seems to give some cohesiveness to the many styles at work here.  But I can’t help feeling that The Men could be an even better mid-throttle rock band or an even more punishing full-throttle rock band if they choose to pick a lane.  Me, I am a sucker for the slow jams, like their song “I Saw Her Face” -

Whichever path they choose to go down in the future, The Men certainly put out an album filled with tons of passion.  And that is something you can’t fake. 

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - Local Natives
• last season - PLC's Workout Mix
• last year - Boz Scaggs
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

 

music monday with PLC : Local Natives

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

Local Natives : Hummingbird

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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All hail the mustache.

This seemingly simple bit of facial hair is a true game-changer in the world of popular culture.  It says, “I’m a dude.  I got a stache.  Deal with it.”  And in this world of scruffy beards and goatees, it makes a real statement which sets that man apart.

Local Natives have just put out their second album Hummingbird on French Kiss Records, and they have a guy in the band that is sporting a full-on rock-stache.  And it is stache-tastic.  The mustache has always held an important place in rock, from Sgt. Pepper era Beatles to Frank Zappa to Freddie Mercury to Greg Norton; all have worn their soup strainers with pride.

Check out Local Natives song “Breakers” -

Sometimes a mustache can become an icon.   If you have a mustache and strap on a guitar, see how many people throw a “Hey, what’s up, Oates!” your way.  Mustache and hawaiian shirt, and suddenly any guy can be Magnum P.I.  Mark Spitz won seven gold medals all while sporting a thick porn-stache.  Or maybe it was because of it?

Here are Local Natives performing their song “Heavy Feet” -

Be it a Chevron, Dali, Fu-Manchu or Imperial.  The choices are endless but the message is always the same.  Loud and clear, the mustache is the choice of the Dude’s Dude and the Dude’s “Dude” everywhere.  Oh, and if you are a fan of dramatic indie-art rock in the vein of Radiohead and Arcade Fire (and I know you are), you are gonna love the Local Natives’ Hummingbird.

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - Foxygen
• last season - The Jezabels
• last year - Guided by Voices
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

 

music monday with PLC : Foxygen

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

Foxygen : We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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Names tell us a lot about a person, and many times they tell us even more about their parents.  It can be a family name, sometimes it is a Biblical or religious name, and many times it can be a celebrity or fictional character that it is a big part of that parent’s life.  My wife used to be a high school teacher and she once knew a student, “Fallon, that is a beautiful name.”  Do the math, and about sixteen years prior that girl was born at the time Dynasty was a top rated show starring none other than one Fallon Carrington.  It is a fun game to play at your kid’s next open house.  So to all the future Beyonces and Sawyers of the world, we salute you.

Straight out of California comes a psychedelic pair with a fantastic name: Foxygen.  Let this be a lesson to you, one letter or one decimal point can sometimes make all the difference in the world.  Their second album We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic has just been released on the Jagjaguwar label and it is one trippy trip of sonic trippiness.  C’mon let’s party like it’s 1969.

Here is their song “San Francisco” -

The young duo of Jonathan Rado and Sam France have certainly uncovered the tomb of 60’s psychedelica.  But combined with the skillful production of Richard Swift (now a member of The Shins), the album becomes a pastiche of sounds and styles as much as songs.  Acoustic and organic instrumentation, vocals and sounds; all recorded with great stylized miking techniques and mixed with an ear to the vinyl.  This album  blissfully floats along at its own pool full of Jell-O pace.

So what’s the rush man, chill for a minute and give “Shuggie” a listen

Foxygen:  they are the self-proclaimed 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic.  No arguments here.  And who among us does not need a little more peace and magic in their lives.

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - Lee Fields & The Expressions
• last season - Glen Campbell
• last year - Toro y Moi
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

 

music monday with PLC : Lee Fields & The Expressions

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

Lee Fields & The Expressions : Faithful Man

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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I sometimes wonder if Freud was a fan of soul music.  Let’s not get bogged down with the time and space specifics of late 1800’s Austria.  I just mean, at its very essence, soul music is the perfect embodiment of Freud’s structural model of the psyche. Id, Ego, Super-Ego all rolled up in one nattily dressed package.  Most soul music can be broken down accordingly: from the Id - “I Can’t Turn You Loose”, to the Ego - “This is a man’s world, but it wouldn’t mean nothing without a women or a girl”, to the Super-Ego “Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on.”  Funky Freud:  now there is one for the Soul Train scramble board. 

It’s now time to up your cool quotient a little bit and let some Lee Fields & The Expressions into your life.  Mr. Fields has put out a solid album called “Faithful Man” on the über-cool Brooklyn-based Truth and Soul Records label.  This album combines some talented young players joining forces with the real-deal soul sounds of Mr. Fields.  And what could have easily digressed into a failed urban gentrification experiment, soars instead as a faithfully recorded traditional soul album from a legitimate soul survivor.  Turn back the clock and perk up your ears, here is their great song “You’re the Kind of Girl” -

(And no, you hipster jerks; he is not the guy from the Black Keys “Lonely Boy video.  Geeesh, show some r-e-s-p-e-c-t.)

Lee Fields is a man who has been singing and releasing music all his life, and for   one reason or another never got the call up to the big leagues by the fickle and sometimes cruel Lady Music.  But, as the title states, Mr. Fields has always been a Faithful Man to the music.  One can only hope that this effort gets him some love overdue.  Now do your part, just swap this album out for the new Cee-Lo disc in your friend’s record collection.  You will be a better friend for doing it.  And they will be able to enjoy a great man and a great band testifying.

You can bet your last money that it has been a stone gas.  And as always in parting, I wish you Love, Peace and Soul.  

 

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - PLC's Workout Mix
• last season - Kelly Hogan
• last year - Wild Flag
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

 

music monday : PLC's workout mix

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

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PLC’s Workout Mix 

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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Welcome to 2013.

That means it is once again time to dust off our New Years resolutions.  A recurring theme is always the vow to workout more and get in better shape.  Well, I am here to help.  If my late night television viewing has taught me anything, it is that workout dvd’s are very popular.  Whether you decide to “Sweat to the Oldies”, “Tae Bo” or “P90X” your way in to a new you:  the choices are limitless.  And can also be very expensive.  So allow me to pull the back the curtain and share with you all my personal, proven workout program that uses the free-to-all You Tube.

Ready...

Set...

GO!

I start by selecting my workout clothes and getting the blood pumping -

I then move on to some cardio with a solid treadmill workout - 

Since I like to add some variety to keep my workouts interesting, I use a combination of rock climbing, floor exercises, boxing, sword-play and surfing to keep myself in peak physical shape - 

Then I wind it down with a slow-motion jog through the neighborhood - 

And finally, I end it all with a contemplative moment of zen - 

And there you have it:  my personal path to a new you for 2013.  And if for some crazy reason this regimen does not work for you, may I suggest a Thighmaster and some C & C Music Factory.

 

You can do it.  Good luck.  And you’re welcome.

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - The Jezabels
• last season - Bob Mould
• last year - The Black Keys
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

music monday with PLC : The Jezabels

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

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The Jezabels : Prisoner

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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It was the week of the big football game back in high school, and apparently the organizers decided that nothing would psych-up a thousand some Catholic school boys more than seeing one of their own wrestle a huge black bear.  And so, during the middle of the rally, in comes a very muzzled, very woozy looking “Ceasar” wearing the rivals colors.  The biggest football player then stepped into the middle of the gym to “wrestle” Ceasar the Bear.  What followed was about ten minutes of watching what appeared to be this football player slow dancing with a big-boned, fur-coat wearing, slightly wine-coolered prom date.  I found myself rooting for the bear, and the unfortunate predicament he found himself in.  I am not sure what bears do all day, but this is probably on the no-fly list.  I don’t quite understand this need for some people to go up to wild animals and “wrestle” them.  I mean crikey, Steve, that crocodile seems to be doing just fine without you running over there to grapple with him.  And then by throwing the camera into the mix and filming the whole thing, it is like “Punk’d - Wild Kingdom.”  I don’t know, maybe some guys are just wired that way?  Or maybe it is an Australian thing?  By the way, we lost the big game.  And years later, Ceasar’s owner died in the midst of a bizarre misadventure of a "personal" nature.  Just saying.         

The Jezabels are a great group out of Sydney, Australia that recently put out a solid debut album called Prisoner (Waterfront Records).  They are a four piece (2 girls + 2 guys) rocking in The Doors mode:  singer, drums, guitar, piano/keyboards.  They describe their genre as “intensindie” - and I would agree with that; you judge for yourself.

Here is a their video for the song “City Girl” -

The sound seems rooted in guitar effecty, keyboardy English indie 80‘s music updated for these times. Many adjectives come to mind:  cinematic, atmospheric, rhythmic and moody.  This format is great because the guitar and piano always stay in the mix, but it allows either the piano or guitar to take the lead in certain parts of the song, thus totally changing the feel.  Add to this drumming and percussion that always keep the song moving, but wisely follows the band’s aesthetic of “what you don’t play is just as important as what you do play.”  And last but certainly not least, say hello to Hayley Mary, the Jezabels lead singer/front-woman.  She can croon-it or belt-it with the best of them.  Dynamite.

Every great band needs a summer song, so check out their song “Endless Summer” live in London -

You have already worn out that Florence and The Machine album of yours, so give The Jezabels’ Prisoner a spin.  You will be glad you did.

And here's to a great 2013.

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - Glen Campbell
• last season - David Byrne & St. Vincent
• last year - Smoking Popes
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

music monday with PLC : Glen Campbell

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

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Glen Campbell :  Ghost on the Canvas

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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I guess there is no good disease to have.  The very nature of the word and concept itself just screams, “Here comes a challenge.”  Some are easily manageable, some not so much.  And some are not manageable at all.

To my knowledge, Casey Kasem never made the definitive “American Top 40, Disease Edition.”  So it is really hard, and almost silly, to try and debate which is the worst disease to have, but we all know one will effect each and every one of us at some point in our lives.  It is like the old debate of whether you would rather be blind or deaf.  The only answer is:  I guess it depends what you were looking at, or what you were listening to at the time.  So what is the worst disease to have?  The answer:  the one that you or a loved one has.  Here is to the challenge:  to defeat, to manage, to accept.  

“Good Times, Bad Times, You Know I’ve Had My Share”.

The old strategy of war says, “Take away the head and the body will die.”  Unfortunately, somebody told this secret to the Alzheimer’s disease.  And most unfortunately, Glen Campbell has Alzheimer’s.  With this knowledge, he recorded and released his final album Ghost on the Canvas (2011, Surf Dog Records).  And it is one truly great album.  A poignant farewell gift to his fans, to his family, and to this world.  All done beautifully through the power of music.  The album’s title track is a phenomenal song written by the one and only Paul Westerberg (The Replacements).  He even makes a guest appearance in the video giving a tip of the hat to a ghost on his canvas in the beginning as well.  (Added bonus of Glen’s musician kids being his backing band.)

This is one of Westerberg’s best new songs, and harkens back to some of the great work he did on The Replacements Don’t Tell a Soul album.  A catchy song musically (I especially love the call back to Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” in the beginning), but it is the lyrics that make this song a classic.  Westerberg - the guy who wrote some of the greatest songs ever about the pains of growing up - now writes a classic about the pains of growing old.  The “ghost on the canvas” seems to be as much Paul as it is Glen.  Two people with the soul of an artist.  And, truth be told, in 2012 if Paul was to have done this song himself with this musical production, the poor S.O.B. would have had to hear people comparing it to the Goo Goo Dolls.  Like the man says, “People don’t know when they are looking at soul.”

Glen really lays it out best on the opening song “A Better Place.”  An eloquent song to the Lord and to us at the same time.  It is Campbell’s “My Way.”  A song that looks back and forward at the same time with honesty, gratitude and hope.

Glen Campbell: he was a member of the “Wrecking Crew;” he was a Beach Boy; he hosted his own prime time network show back when it really meant something; he starred alongside “The Duke” in True Grit; and he was The Rhinestone Cowboy.

His music will live on forever.  Thank you, Mr. Campbell.  Well played.

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - Kelly Hogan
• last month - Bob Mould
• last season - Elvis
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

Thanks also for hipping me to this album goes out to a high ranking member in the Music Monday with PLC cabinet, Mr. Center Square himself, Dave Hill. And check out his great book Tasteful Nudes available wherever fine books are sold.

music monday with PLC : Kelly Hogan

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

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Kelly Hogan:  I Like to Keep Myself in Pain

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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Confession time:  what follows is a true cautionary tale of a sad day for a lonely guy and an ice cream cake.

We’ve all had those days when we are kind of bummed out - rainy days, relationship problems, an argument with a friend, a bad day at work - the list goes on and on.  Whether it be the blues or the mean reds, it happens to us all.  The people close to us keep us in check.  Well, what happens when there is no one to keep us in check?  My wife and the girls were away for the week and I was on my way home to an empty house.  I turned into the Dairy Queen.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  I went to the freezer case and picked out the medium sized ice cream cake.  When I brought it up to the counter they asked if I would like anything written on it.  I contemplated asking them to put “Atta Boy, Fatty!” but instead I said I would just take it the way it was.  I brought it home and fell asleep on the chair.  I woke up about 2 AM and remembered the cake.  Like a thief thinking “I better get rid of the evidence,” I grabbed a fork and started eating.  Looking at cakes through the years, I always wondered, how much of that could I eat.  Well, the answer is:  half.  By the end of my sugar adventure I threw the rest out deep in the garbage and threw the bag outside the next day.  Whether it be shame, or good sense, we all need someone in our life to sometimes say tomorrow will be a better day, things aren’t so bad, or that it probably isn’t a good idea to eat the whole thing.  Here is to our loved ones.  And to scratching another one off the bucket list.

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Kelly Hogan - she looks kind of like the Go Go’s Jane Wiedlin and has the voice of an angel.  She is mostly categorized in the alt-country category, but she is just as much soul and blues.  And she has just put out a phenomenal album I Like to Keep Myself In Pain (June 2012 Anti Records)  With an album title like that, there is no mistaking the musical mood contained within.  Country songs have always had the best lyrical stories, and combined with a talent like Hogan’s, the songs come alive with character and emotion.

Feel the pain in Hogan’s “I Guess We Just Can’t Have Nice Things” -

This is Hogan’s first solo album in 11 years.  She is originally from Atlanta, but now makes her home in Wisconsin and spent much time in the Chicago music scene.  One must also imagine that her time spent there as a bartender (at the Hideout) gave her a front row seat for many a cry-in-your-beer inspirations.  Even though Hogan is a  songwriter herself, she contributes only the song “Golden” and instead uses her platinum pipes on interpreting songs of other writers including M. Ward, Vic Chesnutt, and Robyn Hitchcock among others.  And she has a first rate musical band backing her up, most notably the one and only Booker T. Jones on organ.  Even though Hogan may make her bones these days as the backup singer in Neko Case’s band, her voice is front and center here, and she is killin‘ it.  Giving us one of the best recorded tortured screams on the album’s title track, to making it smooth and sweet for “Sleeper Awake” - she can do it all.  Check out this Robbie Fulks’ song in the vein of Bacharach/David; and from music to lyrics to execution one of the absolute best songs I have heard in a long time.

Here is “Whenever You’re Out of My Sight” -

In the words of Elton John, “Sad songs say so much”... or was it Sassons?  (I always get those confused.)  Either way, sad songs and a good fitting pair of jeans each say so much in their own way.  And Kelly Hogan's I Like to Keep Myself In Pain is saying something also:

“Buy me and play me because I am awesome and the real deal.” 

For the full story (and it is worth it) check out this great promo video done by Anti Records for this album.

- PLC

p.s.  if you are local, check out Kelly Hogan at the Beachland on 30-Nov-12
(full tour schedule here)

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MORE:

• last time - Bob Mould
• last month - David Byrne & St. Vincent
• last season - The Vaccines
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

 

music monday with PLC : Bob Mould

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

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Bob Mould:  Silver Age

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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Back in high school, a couple of the cool teachers started a record club.  Looking back, it was probably just an ingenious way to tap into school money to buy new albums, but it was set up so all the members would sign out albums like you would books at a library.  A very cool library.  I remember going up there one day and the teacher handing me Hüsker Dü’s New Day Rising - “Check this one out,” he said.  So I brought it home and slipped on my headphones.  The buzz saw guitar sound, clicky drums and overall cacophony.  I just didn’t get it.  I took the album off and put on Shabooh Shoobah instead.

Fast forward to college when I decided to give New Day Rising another listen.  Maybe it was my new “maturity”, the “worldliness” of a college man, or maybe....  All of a sudden it all clicked.  Like abstract art, it was all in the emotion.  Also, buried beneath the volume and noise were catchy pop songs.  Hüsker Dü remains one of my all time favorites to this day.

Who put the quarter in Bob Mould, because he is absolutely tearing it up like a man on mission to rock on his new album Silver Age (2012, Merge Records).  Recorded as a power trio, this album pounds through a tight 10 songs, all in 3 to 4 minute bursts of guitar-driven glory.  Maybe it was that time spent in Dave Grohl’s garage, but Bob Mould is back to remind us just why he is still one of the great ones.  And the lyrics are some of his best ever.  On the opening track “Star Machine” he lays down one of the best takes on the machina de fame since fellow Minneapolitan Paul Westerberg’s “World Class Fad”.  Check this one out -

Just as striking as the album is the great picture of Bob Mould in the CD/digital booklet.  After listening to his music all these years, given the passion with which he is laying it down now, it is kind of startling to see Mould wearing the greying beard and age lines.  Very Townshendesque.  Passion is ageless - Mould’s full throttle stance doesn’t come from a bratty punk or a bitter old man, rather he is a true veteran who paid his dues and was on the front battle lines of what is now the “alternative” music genre.   It is kind of funny to listen to this album in the context of Green Day’s Billie Joe meltdown.  One can just imagine Mr. Mould yelling at the mascara-faced Armstrong about how he has been here since the early 80’s and then tearing into “The Descent” to show him how it is done -

Bob Mould just put out a truly great rock record.  So what are you waiting for, a formal invitation.  The Silver Age is now.                          

- PLC

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MORE:

• last time - David Bryne & St. Vincent
• last month - The List
• last season - Bee Gees
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE

 

music monday with PLC : David Byrne & St. Vincent

Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .

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David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant

[photo by jennifer; review by pat]

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I used to love The Streets of San Francisco.  Sure, I loved all Quinn Martin Productions, but this one was a little extra special.  There was nothing quite like taking my bowl of Rice-a-Roni into the family room to catch the funky opening theme of this classic.  The old timer (Karl Malden) teaching the hip, young cat (Michael Douglas) about police life on the mean streets.  It was all hills and thrills, and a cool fedora to boot.  Experience and energy coming together into one solid crime fighting machine.

Experience and youth also work together in music as well.  This week I present to you a great album called “Love This Giant” (2012, 4ad records).  Saint Vincent (the stage name for multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark) meets the patron saint of alt/art rock David Byrne on Love This Giant, and the results are a heavenly collaboration that lays down a hip new groove for you to bop along with.

Dig the song and the David Lynchian video for “Who” -

The duo wrote many of these songs together space age style, using the computer and sending ideas back and forth over the miles.  A key part of their sound is that they employ a great use of horns: which sometimes pepper the songs with funky accent riffs and breaks a la James Brown, and sometimes draw it out low and slow to set a mood.  But the electronic drums and loops always keep it firmly rooted in a futuristic groove.

Enjoy their song “Optimist” live -

Although the album owes a big debt to the awesomeness of Kate Bush, it is great collaboration that keeps each artist’s individuality, while still letting them create something that is much more than the sum of the parts.  So check out Love This Giant, and make sure to play it for that friend who won’t shut up about Florence and the Machine.

Also make sure to check out David Byrne’s other great collaboration albums with Brian Eno and Fatboy Slim.  Really Good stuff.

- PLC

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MORE:

• last week - The Joy Formidable
• last month - Hal David
• last season - The Magic Numbers
• full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE