Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Metro, 8/25/06
In today's Metro weekend: More Invincible coverage, from my interview with Vince Papale (page 16); a piece on the latest offering from Exhumed Film, a double feature of Italian giallos featuring maestro Dario Argento's rarely-screened (and unavailable on video short of lousy-looking bootlegs) Four Flies on Grey Velvet (which I, sadly, had to miss - page 17); and a profile of local experimental prog-new music mindblowers Normal Love (page 19), prior to an incendiary show at LAVA.
Citypaper, 8/24/06
In today's Citypaper: No music again, but reviews of the Iggles-fest Invincible and the, well, beer-fest Beerfest.
Metro, 8/24/06
In today's Metro: an interview with Deep Purple lead vocalist Ian Gillan (page 15). Yup, I chatted with the metal forefather about all things "Smoke On the Water," not to mention Pavarotti and still-simmering tensions (12 years later) with Richie Blackmore, as he vacationed at his villa in Portugal. All this in advance of an endearingly ridiculous show at the World Cafe Live. Not only were there more amps and equipment crammed onto that little stage than are usually there in a month; not only was there a drum riser that seemed to dwarf the room - all the better for the "Smoke" lead-in drum solo; but there was a local model who shimmied across the stage from time to time with hand-lettered cards announcing song titles like the round cards at a Vegas boxing match. Gillan himself was in fine scream - odd hearing that enormous voice emanating from such a human-sized body.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Metro, 8/18/06
In today's Metro: coverage of the 45th (!) annual Philadelphia Folk Festival (page 22); Bubblyfish, aka Haeyoung Kim, an interesting experimental music composer who plays her work on the Gameboy (page 23); and the Festival of India, which celebrates India's Independence Day with song, dance, and plenty of food (page 27).
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Citypaper, 8/17/06
No music this week (August is a dead month for jazz), but a good bit of film: the faux-Philly ganster derivative 10th & Wolf and the faux-Bill Murray nerd-revenge derivative Accepted. And I inaugurate a new column for CP called Cold Open, wherein we review films that weren't previewed for critics and the crowds they nonetheless attract. This week, sounding like a Tom and Jerry cartoon: Pulse and Zoom.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Metro, 8/16/06
In today's Metro: a preview of this weekend's show by the originators of "Wizard Rock," Harry and the Potters (I kid you not). Point your wand to page 13.
Metro, 8/11/06
In this weekend's Metro: an abbreviated preview of Secret Cinema's AIDS Law Project benefit screening of Elvis' Easy Come Easy Go (page 16); a piece on Puppet Uprising's Cooler Cabaret (page 18); and a swinging number on retro girl-group The Dansettes (page 19).
Citypaper, 8/10/06
Most importantly this week, a memorial to the late, great Philly jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley, who passed away last week at the age of 70. I'll also be writing an obit for the next issue of Downbeat.
Also this week: a preview of guitarist Pete McCann's show at Chris', a brief mention of a bizarre experimental trio, and reviews of the impotent OH in Ohio and the enthusiastically formulaic Step Up.
Also this week: a preview of guitarist Pete McCann's show at Chris', a brief mention of a bizarre experimental trio, and reviews of the impotent OH in Ohio and the enthusiastically formulaic Step Up.
Metro, 8/10/06
Two pieces in today's Metro: one on International House's weekend of Swiss documentaries (page 13) and one on the ill-fated Pointless Fest (page 14), which was cut off early after some attendees got into a confrontation with the police, compounding the miseries that Tony Pointless mentions in my piece and most likely doing what he threatened to do - kill the Fest.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Grant-Lee Phillips interview, 8/1/06
The 8/9 metro was initially slated to include a Q&A with singer/songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips to preview his show that night at the Tin Angel, but it got bumped for an ad. (Which goes to show where my stuff falls in the line of Metro priorities.) So here is a transcript of the complete interview, which I thought was fairly interesting, covering his new album, "Nineteeneighties," comprised of covers of '80s alt-rock. My questions, which I usually don't transcribe when working on a piece, are roughed in. You'll get the drift.
SB: Here's the question you're probably already getting tired of: You're known primarily for your songwriting. Why tackle an album of covers?
GLP: Oh, goodness. I don’t know that that’s a question I’m getting tired of – [laughs] – I don’t know that it’s one I’ve been asked that much, to tell you the truth. It’s really a case of just sharing some of the music that I grew up with and some of the songs that vaguely influenced my writing, and sort of a snapshot of what it was like for me, coming up as a writer. Nothing more than that, really, you know? I suppose as a writer I’ve always found a lot of inspiration in taking songs apart, you know. Sort of how some people do with old radio sets and toads. I get a similar thrill out of performing an autopsy on an old song.
SB: How did you approach the song selection?
GLP: You know, there’s a fair amount of them that I played in the course of touring over the last couple of years. A lot of them were things that were just sort of being stored in my unconscious, sort of like the hard drive of my brain. Way back there among the fold there’s a New Order song and a Joy Division song, and a Nick Cave song and so in the case of this album I kind of dug my heels in and learned the chords and learned the rest of the words. They were the kind of songs that I did sing along to, and so I put the extra effort in so that I could make them my own. But, nah, you know, I think it’s probably just a natural fit. It’s more like my recollection of the song than a true representation. More than that it’s just kinda like, here’s my memory of the song around the campfire.
SB: Did you choose any songs that you couldn't make work?
GLP: Uh, not really. I sort of gravitated towards the things that felt most natural. I mean it’s very much that kind of record, it just kind of goes on feel alone. There might have been a few songs that didn’t necessarily fit into the sequence. Mostly, everything I recorded made the grade, but there were a couple that I wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it. I mean, there was a Siouxsie and the Banshees song I’d still like to record, and I’ll probably get around to it eventually, this song called “Spellbound.” But I think it’s probably more of a solo acoustic kind of thing. Which some of this material is, but I don’t know, for whatever reason, an album demands to be what it’s gonna be, and sometimes I have only so much say about that. It just sorta comes out in a certain fashion.
SB: Instead of doing older songs that influenced you growing up, you chose songs in the direct lineage of your own songwriting.
GLP: Well, you know, I’m aware of certain influences. For instance, in the case of Joy Division, the bass lines in particular were quite melodic, and sometimes it was like the hook of the song was being played on the bass, and that is sometimes indicative of certain approaches we took with Grant Lee Buffalo. Being a three piece you tend to exhaust all modes of experimentation quite quickly. You know, it’s like, guitar player becomes the string wash or whatever and the drummer is basically doing what the bass should be doing, and the bass is doing what the guitar should be doing, and you tend to slump around in that setting. I think some of that can be probably attributed to the influence of some of these earlier bands that were pretty experimental. I think the other thing that was sorta captivating about this grouping is that they, with the exception of Robyn Hitchcock, most of this original material was produced by groups. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, that was still kind of a group endeavor, even though he wrote the song, “City of Refuge,” that I covered. So that sort of captivated me, tackling material that was put forth by a group and recorded by a group, and trying to get to the real seed of it. Assuming or fantasizing that it might’ve began with a voice and a guitar. That in and of itself kind of immediately shifts the material quite a bit.
SB: Despite your CD's title, these artists were not the public face of the '80s.
GLP: No, that’s really true. That’s true, and yet I think I was probably slow to recognize that. I’d been searching for a title, and everything was just too darn long that I was coming up with, and I settled on that. And then it kinda hit me that wow, this was in fact my 1980s, but it’s quite a bit different than the face of the 80s in terms of the mainstream. Today we’re hitting the 25th anniversary of MTV, and as I recall it was quite different. You know, Whitney Houston, and Billy Joel and all the rest of it, you know. But having said that, a few pioneers like Bowie were also part of that scene as well, and were really important in terms of shaping the fringe of that era. “Ashes To Ashes,” come to think of it, was one of those songs that I had hoped to put on this album that, for whatever reason, just didn’t take shape to my liking. I’ve since gone in and recorded it with a string quartet, and that’s something that’s gonna come out as a download. But funny enough, that had been one song I had been playing in my set for a while. A few years, actually, before I even had the notion to record this album.
SB: So are you now sitting on a backlog of your own songs?
GLP: Yeah, I mean, I’m involved with a whole new whole album of material at the moment. I’ve kinda been bringing it along little by little over the last year. And it’s likely that it could be something that I release early next year sometime. This album, 1980s, was kind of intended to be put out a good six months ago or more, and I wound up taking a little more time with it than I had initially imagined. But I don’t know, it’s the kind of thing that I had always hoped to do, make a number of albums in addition to my own original songs, to tackle projects like this. As a singer or an interpreter, and along with that, collaborative projects, songs in different genres, and all of that. I’m always intrigued by artists who cash in that coupon to experiment, like Bowie or Bjork or Elvis Costello for that matter.
SB: Were you worried about people's reaction to a covers album? It's often seen as a desperation move.
GLP: It wasn’t really anything that went through my head. I think it’s probably the kind of thing that would’ve went through my head ten years ago, something like that. But these days I’m kind of arriving at a place where I’m quicker to jump into the fire and less apt to overthink. These kind of things, I’m less apt to see it as a chess move. As a singer and as a songwriter – as a fan of music, it would make less sense to hold off. I don’t know how many of these we pressed up, I think it’s probably a small amount that Rounder/Zoe licensed. And really that’s sort of what it’s intended for, a very hardcore, die-hard fanbase. I don’t know. Whether it trickles out to a few more ears is something that I’ll wait and see, but nothing that I’ve been holding my breath for. It’s really kind of like a labor of love project.
SB: Are you planning to stick with solo shows, or would you like to tour with a band again?
GLP: Well, you know, I’ve gone out in all sorts of configurations. This particular tour is being done semi-acoustic, I guess. Maybe it’s entirely acoustic. It’s me on the guitar, but I’m being joined by Kevin Jarvis on drums and various percussion, and it too is pretty intimate, although we can go bombastic with the slightest coaxing. So it all depends. I’ve gone out with larger groups in the past, and I don’t know, I think I get a different payoff from either situation. It is nice to turn up and let the guitars feedback and all of that. It’s a different kind of thrill. But it’s probably true of a majority of my songs that they work most effectively in a one-on-one kind of way. Sometimes it’s a hard one for me to accept because I really do love turning up to eleven when I get the chance as well. Sort of dual motives at odds there.
SB: Have you had any reaction from the people you’ve covered?
GLP: Yeah, I actually was in the northwest recently, last week, performing in Seattle, and Portland, so Peter Buck, who’s based in that area came out and did some playing with me, and it was then that I realized, wow, I’m playing entirely different chords, aren’t I, on So Central Rain. And he was cool about it, he said that’s ok, that’s ok. It’s cool. It’s just totally different. And so now I have to relearn my new version, because I’ve soaked up Peter’s original version and now my head is at a crux. But yeah, I think generally it’s been a good reaction all around from various friends who I’ve covered on this album. Robyn Hitchcock is another one. He’s heard the track that I covered. Funny enough today, I walked into a Starbucks and saw an album of 80s songs, some of the very songs that I covered. Like Age of Consent, you know. So I think it must mean that these songs, although they were a bit more obscure, probably made a more lasting impact on a lot of us than we might be able to quantify. I don’t know, it’s a funny thing like that. Especially when you’re searching out your identity and carving out your place in the world, music means a whole lot in that way. And if you feel kind of like an outsider, then this is your music and there’s always gonna be another generation that has that, that’s going through that. I don’t know, I think it’s probably this music is just as valid for a younger generation as it was for my own.
SB: Through the influence on younger bands, this music has sort opf been retrofitted as the 80's identity.
GLP: Yeah. I like that. Retrofitted.
SB: Here's the question you're probably already getting tired of: You're known primarily for your songwriting. Why tackle an album of covers?
GLP: Oh, goodness. I don’t know that that’s a question I’m getting tired of – [laughs] – I don’t know that it’s one I’ve been asked that much, to tell you the truth. It’s really a case of just sharing some of the music that I grew up with and some of the songs that vaguely influenced my writing, and sort of a snapshot of what it was like for me, coming up as a writer. Nothing more than that, really, you know? I suppose as a writer I’ve always found a lot of inspiration in taking songs apart, you know. Sort of how some people do with old radio sets and toads. I get a similar thrill out of performing an autopsy on an old song.
SB: How did you approach the song selection?
GLP: You know, there’s a fair amount of them that I played in the course of touring over the last couple of years. A lot of them were things that were just sort of being stored in my unconscious, sort of like the hard drive of my brain. Way back there among the fold there’s a New Order song and a Joy Division song, and a Nick Cave song and so in the case of this album I kind of dug my heels in and learned the chords and learned the rest of the words. They were the kind of songs that I did sing along to, and so I put the extra effort in so that I could make them my own. But, nah, you know, I think it’s probably just a natural fit. It’s more like my recollection of the song than a true representation. More than that it’s just kinda like, here’s my memory of the song around the campfire.
SB: Did you choose any songs that you couldn't make work?
GLP: Uh, not really. I sort of gravitated towards the things that felt most natural. I mean it’s very much that kind of record, it just kind of goes on feel alone. There might have been a few songs that didn’t necessarily fit into the sequence. Mostly, everything I recorded made the grade, but there were a couple that I wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it. I mean, there was a Siouxsie and the Banshees song I’d still like to record, and I’ll probably get around to it eventually, this song called “Spellbound.” But I think it’s probably more of a solo acoustic kind of thing. Which some of this material is, but I don’t know, for whatever reason, an album demands to be what it’s gonna be, and sometimes I have only so much say about that. It just sorta comes out in a certain fashion.
SB: Instead of doing older songs that influenced you growing up, you chose songs in the direct lineage of your own songwriting.
GLP: Well, you know, I’m aware of certain influences. For instance, in the case of Joy Division, the bass lines in particular were quite melodic, and sometimes it was like the hook of the song was being played on the bass, and that is sometimes indicative of certain approaches we took with Grant Lee Buffalo. Being a three piece you tend to exhaust all modes of experimentation quite quickly. You know, it’s like, guitar player becomes the string wash or whatever and the drummer is basically doing what the bass should be doing, and the bass is doing what the guitar should be doing, and you tend to slump around in that setting. I think some of that can be probably attributed to the influence of some of these earlier bands that were pretty experimental. I think the other thing that was sorta captivating about this grouping is that they, with the exception of Robyn Hitchcock, most of this original material was produced by groups. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, that was still kind of a group endeavor, even though he wrote the song, “City of Refuge,” that I covered. So that sort of captivated me, tackling material that was put forth by a group and recorded by a group, and trying to get to the real seed of it. Assuming or fantasizing that it might’ve began with a voice and a guitar. That in and of itself kind of immediately shifts the material quite a bit.
SB: Despite your CD's title, these artists were not the public face of the '80s.
GLP: No, that’s really true. That’s true, and yet I think I was probably slow to recognize that. I’d been searching for a title, and everything was just too darn long that I was coming up with, and I settled on that. And then it kinda hit me that wow, this was in fact my 1980s, but it’s quite a bit different than the face of the 80s in terms of the mainstream. Today we’re hitting the 25th anniversary of MTV, and as I recall it was quite different. You know, Whitney Houston, and Billy Joel and all the rest of it, you know. But having said that, a few pioneers like Bowie were also part of that scene as well, and were really important in terms of shaping the fringe of that era. “Ashes To Ashes,” come to think of it, was one of those songs that I had hoped to put on this album that, for whatever reason, just didn’t take shape to my liking. I’ve since gone in and recorded it with a string quartet, and that’s something that’s gonna come out as a download. But funny enough, that had been one song I had been playing in my set for a while. A few years, actually, before I even had the notion to record this album.
SB: So are you now sitting on a backlog of your own songs?
GLP: Yeah, I mean, I’m involved with a whole new whole album of material at the moment. I’ve kinda been bringing it along little by little over the last year. And it’s likely that it could be something that I release early next year sometime. This album, 1980s, was kind of intended to be put out a good six months ago or more, and I wound up taking a little more time with it than I had initially imagined. But I don’t know, it’s the kind of thing that I had always hoped to do, make a number of albums in addition to my own original songs, to tackle projects like this. As a singer or an interpreter, and along with that, collaborative projects, songs in different genres, and all of that. I’m always intrigued by artists who cash in that coupon to experiment, like Bowie or Bjork or Elvis Costello for that matter.
SB: Were you worried about people's reaction to a covers album? It's often seen as a desperation move.
GLP: It wasn’t really anything that went through my head. I think it’s probably the kind of thing that would’ve went through my head ten years ago, something like that. But these days I’m kind of arriving at a place where I’m quicker to jump into the fire and less apt to overthink. These kind of things, I’m less apt to see it as a chess move. As a singer and as a songwriter – as a fan of music, it would make less sense to hold off. I don’t know how many of these we pressed up, I think it’s probably a small amount that Rounder/Zoe licensed. And really that’s sort of what it’s intended for, a very hardcore, die-hard fanbase. I don’t know. Whether it trickles out to a few more ears is something that I’ll wait and see, but nothing that I’ve been holding my breath for. It’s really kind of like a labor of love project.
SB: Are you planning to stick with solo shows, or would you like to tour with a band again?
GLP: Well, you know, I’ve gone out in all sorts of configurations. This particular tour is being done semi-acoustic, I guess. Maybe it’s entirely acoustic. It’s me on the guitar, but I’m being joined by Kevin Jarvis on drums and various percussion, and it too is pretty intimate, although we can go bombastic with the slightest coaxing. So it all depends. I’ve gone out with larger groups in the past, and I don’t know, I think I get a different payoff from either situation. It is nice to turn up and let the guitars feedback and all of that. It’s a different kind of thrill. But it’s probably true of a majority of my songs that they work most effectively in a one-on-one kind of way. Sometimes it’s a hard one for me to accept because I really do love turning up to eleven when I get the chance as well. Sort of dual motives at odds there.
SB: Have you had any reaction from the people you’ve covered?
GLP: Yeah, I actually was in the northwest recently, last week, performing in Seattle, and Portland, so Peter Buck, who’s based in that area came out and did some playing with me, and it was then that I realized, wow, I’m playing entirely different chords, aren’t I, on So Central Rain. And he was cool about it, he said that’s ok, that’s ok. It’s cool. It’s just totally different. And so now I have to relearn my new version, because I’ve soaked up Peter’s original version and now my head is at a crux. But yeah, I think generally it’s been a good reaction all around from various friends who I’ve covered on this album. Robyn Hitchcock is another one. He’s heard the track that I covered. Funny enough today, I walked into a Starbucks and saw an album of 80s songs, some of the very songs that I covered. Like Age of Consent, you know. So I think it must mean that these songs, although they were a bit more obscure, probably made a more lasting impact on a lot of us than we might be able to quantify. I don’t know, it’s a funny thing like that. Especially when you’re searching out your identity and carving out your place in the world, music means a whole lot in that way. And if you feel kind of like an outsider, then this is your music and there’s always gonna be another generation that has that, that’s going through that. I don’t know, I think it’s probably this music is just as valid for a younger generation as it was for my own.
SB: Through the influence on younger bands, this music has sort opf been retrofitted as the 80's identity.
GLP: Yeah. I like that. Retrofitted.
Metro, 8/4/06
In today's Metro weekend section: pieces on the reunited Germs and chamber-rockers Tarantula A.D., both on page 21, and a small Q&A with Ukrainian-Irish hybrid Celtic/bluegrass bar band Scythian on page 19.
Citypaper, 8/3/06
In this week's Citypaper: a review of Susan Seidelman's seniors-have-sex-too "comedy" Boynton Beach Club; and show previews for Zs and Seductive Sprigs guitarist Charlie Looker's solo project Extra Life and now Oakland-based brutal prog band The Flying Luttenbachers, featuring my fellow ex-Dr. Wax Records employee from Chicago, Weasel Walter.
Metro, 8/2/06
Piece in today's Metro (page 11) on jazz/jamband hybrid Ripplegroove, a decently fun/funky young band playing Chris' Jazz Cafe tomorrow night.
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