CD Review - Blitzen Trapper, Furr

This album has been severely hyped. Everybody's raving about Blitzen Trapper in general and this album in particular. That effectively sets up the review: either I'm supposed to buy the hype and jump on the bandwagon or I should cop a superior attitude and shred it as something lame being pushed out to the masses. Given that choice, I'll take the middle path. My bottom line is that I like this disc but I don't think that I like it for the same reasons as the other reviewers.

The biggest love/hate aspect for this for me is that it's incredibly derivative. They have a set of influences that stand out almost in tribute. The Kinks are the most obvious, but there are plenty of Wilco, the Band, and Bowie kind of moments. Even the occasional bits of Oasis, T. Rex, and XTC. I'm not just talking about voices or snatches of familiar tunes; it really is a matter of harmonies, arrangements, writing style, and production values. This all works because this odd set of artists is kind of interesting to mix together. Despite the derivation, they've created something artistic and original. Now, with so many disparate influences, the album jumps around a lot stylistically. They're billed as an experimental folk-rock band but this album is roughly split between pop, folk, and some rock.

Furr has a seriously retro sound that goes way beyond the influences but it still has a foot in the modern age. They've intentionally made the whole album a little bit compressed and lo-fi, giving it some of that 70's kind of overall sound. Not so far off from what Beck has done in the past, for example. On most of the tracks, they've built up relatively dense, thick mixes without a lot of separation between the various parts, which you'll either love or hate. The downside is that it can be hard to pick out individual instruments but it also makes it stand up to repeated listenings a little better as you pick up on different details with each listen. They also mix up a lot of odd instrumentation for pop music, with banjos and melodica. On the whole, their arrangements are fairly solid.

The two songs that get the most raves are the title track, Furr, and Black River Killer. I'll split the difference here, too. I hate Furr. I don't mind the folky main section of the song that reminds me of the Band or the lyrical theme of drifting into animal nature and back. The problem is the production decision to throw in the sound effects and Wilco-like noise on the bridge. This makes no sense to me and it detracts from the feel of the song. In contrast, the noise stuff in Echo/Always On/EZ Con totally work for me because it fits the feel of what they're doing.

Black River Killer, which also gets props, is one of my favorite tracks. It's a heavy dark folk blues, with moody, pointless, amoral lyrics that clearly paint the title character. This time, the main influences are Tom Petty playing with the Band, but the reedy synth they add is a perfect touch. Creepy feel -- perfect. My other favorite track, War on Machines, digs into the Wilco style and sound, with a hint of 70's rock. I love the retro guitar sound. Jeff Tweedy wishes he wrote this song.

More notes about some of the influences, Sleepytime in the Western World, Fire and Fast Bullets, and the Echo section of Echo/Always On/EZ Con have that Ray Davies/Kinks feel. God and Suicide sounds a lot like Michael Penn (Freetime) with a hint of XTC or Matthew Sweet. Not Your Lover ressurects some Harvest-era Neil Young. Love U, a grindy trainwreck, has a Black Crowes vocal sound. They're not trying to deliberately copy those artists, it's just the nature of what they've absorbed. In any case, you should give this disc a listen and make up your own mind.

A good American brown ale, like Brooklyn Brown, would go perfectly with this disk. Then turn the lights down and shift to Sheaf Stout during Black River Killer.

More history: out of suffering, into joy

From nowhere to cool runnings

So, I already wrote about the Nowhere Band. As I mentioned, we painfully faded away and finally broke up. Now my friend, Bob Rogers (the drummer in the Nowhere Band), decided that I really needed to get into another band and he set his mind to finding one for me. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because misery loves company but, more likely, it was to keep me from drifting back into just playing in my bedroom. Every once in a while, he'd call to tell me about a band I should check out because they needed a guitarist.

I even went to an audition, which was a nightmare. They wanted a lead player (great!) but they were more interested in flailing around than making music. The last song, I just turned it up to 11 and played as obnoxiously as possible -- There's a singer? Can't hear him, don't care. It turns out that this was my best song of the night from their point of view, even though I finished about 45 seconds after the rest of the band. They were happy enough but I wasn't interested. Even my earlier forays into punk were more interactive and (at some level) musical. I asked Bob to give it a break.

Still, he called me again within a month and told me about this great reggae band that desperately needed me. Right. Then he told me he had already set up the audition and committed that I'd be there. I had listened to reggae and even knew the difference between reggae and ska but I hadn't really played it before. I had a couple of days before the audition, so I decided to listen to all the reggae I could. I wanted to better understand how the pieces fit together, especially how the guitar contributed. It turns out that it's not all chank-chank;-)

I showed up for the audition and met the band. I talked with them while I set up my rig. It was an interesting mix: a couple of long haired hippie looking guys on bass and guitar/keyboards, another guy on percussion, a female drummer. and a female singer. Dave, the other guitarist, also sang. All of them were pretty cool. First song. "What key are we in and what do you want?" I dive in and it all came together fairly well. Each song, I started with the same question and adapted. By the end of the night, I didn't care so much whether I was in or not, I just knew I had helped make some good music. They went out for a beer afterwards and asked me to come along. As we were heading out of the bar, I said something about looking forward to hearing from them once they made up their minds. "Oh, you're in already. We have another practice next Tuesday and we're playing a gig the Friday after that."

On Tuesday, I took feverish notes for each song: was I playing fills or rhythm? What kind of beat? what key? guitar sound, etc. I got to that first gig and I wasn't sure how it was going to go. We started out playing Guess Who's Coming to Dinner by Black Uhuru. My job: a simple chank beat with a typical flange guitar sound. About two measures in, I notice that Dave is playing my part. Oh, crap. So, I automatically shifted into fill mode -- finding the holes and throwing in some parts without dominating the mix or the space. Dave looked over at me and smiled. I had just passed my first (and really, only) test.

The key question was which is more important? Getting the part right or how the whole band sounded? Of course, it was the latter. I had played in plenty of jams where the idea is for everyone to follow the muse of the group. But this was the first time I had played specific songs where, if someone else screwed their part, your job is to help make that sound good. That first test was a trivial one but it's what we did every time. Dedication to the groove, the whole is more than the parts. We would often have people sit in with our band, which could be unpredictable. But the grounding philosophy held us true. Also, it wasn't an intellectual thing, it was all about feeling the music and instictively finding the right part.

Over the years I played with Cool Runnings, we had plenty of conflicts and occasional infighting but every time we took the stage, the music came first. I've had some of the hottest moments playing for an audience with that band and we formed a deep bond that I still feel. After all of this, I have to thank Bob because it was his effort that pulled me out of a suffering, failed band and showed me the joy I could have, too. I've made it back to Colorado Springs and jammed with Tom, Dave, Gary, Lisa, and Keith (another singer who joined us). Unfortunately, there have been other drummers, since Melanie left after I moved away, but it's still always been about the music.

The barely spoken motto "Dedication to the groove" is one I took to heart for myself and I carry it into every band, every jam I play. It's also what I look for the most when I catch a band. I look for that flicker of eye contact as the bass player shifts his part to cover and the drummer adjusts...

CD Review - The Squirrels, The Not-So-Bright Side of the Moon

Thank you, Cheesus. No, really. After I posted my entry about covers, Cheesus recommended this to me. He had already written his review at the Electric Lounge of Aural Ecstacy, where he compared three different covers of Dark Side. Anyway, I gave this a listen and now you can get my take, too.

The Squirrels are a band out of Seattle that make what I'd call "blender rock". They pull together a number of disparate pieces and mix and match them until it's art. Their myspace page has a wonderful stream of consciousness description of the band with great lines like, "It is what it is, and BOY what an 'IS' it is am be ARE". I'm going to have to get some more of their music. Should I Stay or Let it Snow? Brilliant.

So, let's move on to the actual review. The cover art alone should give you an idea of the band's sensibility. This is a warped, humorous take on a classic that's more of a tribute than just a cover version. And it begins with a hiccup. Instead of the heartbeat that begins the original version of Speak to Me, this version has various odd sounds to set up a similar but different loop. Between the hiccups, the mooing, and the Tickle-Me-Elmo impression that provides most of the conversational snippets from the original, you know that you're going to be taking quite the strange little jaunt.

The music flits along from style to style, with a nice upbeat jazzy groove for Breath, R&B funk for Us and Them, and bluegrass, disco, Zappa-like jams for Brain Damage. This is all well crafted music, too, although some sections are a little grating. The vocals in many parts remind me of Stan Ridgeway from Wall of Voodoo (although my guess is that it's Tortelvis from Dread Zepplin).

There's all kinds of inspired madness, from looking behind the curtain for the synthesizer reboot on On the Run and the missing singer reference for The Great Gig in the Sky ("Okay, let's get the girl in there" "The girl didn't show up" "Ahh, sh*t. Well...okay, hey Joey, give it a shot") to the great sound effects. They blend it up good, too. Money uses music from the old Motown hit, Money (That's What I Want), with the original Pink Floyd lyrics. The Great Gig in the Sky includes a chunk of Zappa's The Torture Never Stops.

Bottom line, if you're a Pink Floyd purist who hates the idea of messing with greatness, then this album is a direct poke in your eye. You need to listen with a full sense of humor and appreciation of the odd to get the most out of this.

Pair this with some Nyquil and absinthe and strap yourself down. Headphones are encouraged.

Thanks again for the recommendation, Cheesus.

CD Review - Paul and Storm, Opening Band, News to Us, Gumbo Pants

I've already written about Paul and Storm opening for Jonathan Coulton last month, so I'll keep the rehash part of this short: they were part of a humorous a capella group called Davinci's Notebook and they currently do music and comedy. They were hysterical live, so see them if you get the chance. This review is for the three CDs I got at the show.

But before I get underway with that, I need to talk about comedy albums. As I was thinking about this, I thought I'd look through my discs and see what I had that was "comedy". It turns out that I have quite a few sort of humorous music artists, such as the Bobs, Tenacious D, The Austin Lounge Lizards, Flight of the Conchords, Three Dead Troll in a Baggie, and Shel Silverstein. Plus all kinds of funny songs. But actual comedy albums or groups? It's a very short list. Firesign Theatre. And I used to have some Richard Pryor on vinyl, back in the day. The problem is that most straight comedy doesn't bear up well to repeated listening. The music works for me because it's got a little more going on. Firesign Theatre works because it's very layered with stuff. And it's real funny. Now I can still watch Monty Python and laugh even though I know every word...so it can be worth having. But it ain't easy.

If I were a fancy-pants writer, I'd call that last paragraph foreshadowing. The short summary for this review is that there are some funny moments here, but my favorite bits are the more "song-like" songs. Let's step through these discs and you'll see, okay?


First up, Opening Band (2005). This disc has 4 types of material. They have a number of funny songs, a repeating comedy bit, rejected ad jingles, and commentary. The funny songs get a mixed grade: Opening Band is quite funny and holds up well to repeated listenings, but Six Guys, Ten Teeth or the Ballad of Eddie Praeger are fairly weak. Buffett Night and Find the Words are somewhere in between. The repeating comedy bit is a series of movie themes as written by Randy Newman, such as Seabiscuit, Passion of the Christ, and Citizen Kane. It's amusing but it gets a little old. The jingles are funny on the first listen, especially for Cheetos and Kleenex. Now that I've heard them, I don't really need to again, though. The commentary is mildly interesting. Once. So, the score here: reasonably funny on first play, 3-4 decent songs on later sessions.


Next up, News to Us (2006). So, the boys perform a lot on the Bob and Tom show. This show supports some great comedy and music, like Todd Snider and Kinky Friedman. This disc is a collection of material that Paul and Storm created for the show, all packaged up. This makes the first big mistake of recorded comedy: do a bit with a couple of guys there to laugh at it so we'll know how funny it is. The premise for a lot of these is that they were going to do songs inspired by the news. In practice, there are a lot of in-jokes, including their obsession with Kristi from the show. Hmm...if you can't say something nice...well, the song, Your Love is (Love Song with Metaphor) is actually pretty decent. And I did laugh a little at Hip-Shop, which is a barber shop medley of popular hip-hop and pop songs. Score: 3 (of 10) + cheese.


Okay, last up, Gumbo Pants (2008) takes us back to the earlier format: some funny songs, a little schtick, and more rejected jingles. The high points for songs: Your Town, which is similar to Opening Band, and A Better Version of You are both pretty funny (and I still listen to them). The Captain's Wife's Lament is really funny live and decent for a listen or two on the disc. The schtick is a little more interesting: some comedy impressions (If James Taylor Were on Fire) and one line songs (Very Two Best Friends) are pretty good and don't get beat to death like the Randy Newman thing. The jingles are similar to Opening Band's examples: funny once, but not much more with Olive Garden probably being my favorite. Final score: Opening Band +2.

So, this review is probably more about my tolerance for hitting the same comedy bits repeatedly than about Paul and Storm's collective sense of humor. Net result? I'd say see them live if you ever get the chance and go to their downloads page and listen to the stuff and pick the songs you really want to buy.

For a pairing here, I'll have to go for the cheap laugh and suggest Long Island Ice Tea with a side of nitrous oxide.