And this is no surprise…
If you’re like me and are amongst the thousands that pre-ordered Conor Oberst’s latest effort under the Bright Eyes banner, you awaited with baited breath for the good folks at Saddle Creek to send you your download link via e-mail.
Unfortunately, the server company Saddle Creek uses (fortunately, not the same one TGML uses) had a major DDoS attack, which is presently making for huge difficulties in pre-order folks getting their digital advance copies.
Denial Of Service attacks suck to begin with, but in this case methinks the server company underestimated Conor’s popularity (not to mention the anticipation for this new album – this is the first major thing he’s done under the Bright Eyes name since 2007 (his past two long-players were done as solo albums under his own name and released by Merge).
Once e-mailed, the folks at Saddle Creek were quick to send links: a quickly-created update blog plus streaming links at the band’s YouTube page and at NPR. Hopefully all this should soften the blow until Saddle Creek’s webhosts get their shit together.
An article I wish I’d written…
While I get the next blog post ready (hopefully by the end of tonight), here’s a little bonus reading material: an article from Alternative Press on the current financial struggles of most bands. Think before you do that illegal download or choose not to buy merch at a show, people…
Thanks to Christopher Fuentes-Woods for the link.
A Humble Beginning…
Every record label has had its unusual beginnings. Had one label in particular not started out in another area, it’s likely that a lot of things we take for granted simply would not exist. Case in point, the advertisement below:
An impromptu bit of Googling revealed the above scan: a print ad in a ham radio magazine called Check-Off for a company called SST Electronics.
If that logo and their PO Box address look familiar, you’re absolutely right – that same logo and address would get a lot more exposure on a long list of punk, alternative, and indie rock releases that are now considered classics.
In brief, Greg Ginn had already been running a pretty good business selling ham radio equipment of his own design (if I remember correctly, he may even have a patent or two under his belt for some of that stuff). Around the time this ad was being seen by ham radio enthusiasts all over the country, Black Flag had already recorded the session from which their first EP Nervous Breakdown – and a few years later, the first half of Side A of Everything Went Black – would be derived. They were waiting on Bomp! Records to release it, but when delays proved too long, Ginn decided to put his business skills, some of the profits he had made from his ham radio products, and the PO Box he already had to good – soon to be better – use, found a pressing plant in the phone book, and, with a first pressing of about 300 to 500 copies (stories vary), SST Records was born.
Both SST Records and SST Electronics would exist side by side for a few years – according to Michael Azzerad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life, the Minutemen all even had jobs assembling some of SST Electronics’ products – but by 1982 SST would strictly be a record company, leaving ham radio enthusiasts in the dust but giving music fans a reason to live and then some.
For even having a small business of his own to help fund what would become one of the most influential labels in contemporary American music, music fans should be grateful. Had Greg Ginn not taken that first step, none of us would have ever heard of Black Flag, The Minutemen, The Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Saccharine Trust, Bad Brains, fIREHOSE, Sonic Youth, or Dinosaur Jr., countless bands of today that we take for granted would never have been influenced by artists like the aforementioned in the positive manner they were, and blogs like this one might not even exist.
Definitely something to think about.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, first to my generation’s Elvis – Mr. Costello to you – who turns 56 today:
…and to Miyabi Natsuyaki of Buono! and Berryz Koubou – she whose T-shirt on the “Yuke! Yuke! Monkey Dance” single cover inspired this blog’s name – who turns 18 today:
Apparently, it’s also Gene Simmons’ birthday today, but given recent developments on his part, I’d rather kick his mother in the cunt instead for what she did 61 years ago…
This Next Year Is Going To Be Crazy…
2010 is barely two days old, and already there’s new music to look forward to. Nothing on the Western music front yet, as far as I know. But by the time this post is less than a week old, a new Shonen Knife album will be on my desk. A new Koda Kumi album and new Buono! album will follow next month, followed by a new Morning Musume album the month after that – the latter just in time to define the final months of my bachelorhood. And there’s also singles from MoMusu, AKB48, Buono! and SCANDAL to deal with during that time period as well. The last time I recall looking forward to a new non-J-pop release at the beginning of the year, it was The Stooges’ The Weirdness album, which was scheduled within days of Morning Musume dropping Sexy 8 Beat – and those two albums dropping within weeks of each other early in 2007 made the rest of that year quite the anti-climax. By the end of the year, while I was trying to sum up the year in albums at MotokoAoyama.com, I was also planning to propose to my girlfriend.
Oh yeah, there’s that little interruption.
Truth be told, I’m already planning ahead, and not just for that. I’ve already anticipated that there’s going to be a short break in blogging action around the last week of June and going on for at least another week. Which only means one thing: I intend to stay as busy as possible, trying to post as much as possible here and at So Hot She Shits Fire (and whenever I can at My Sweet Meetan), while also going into final preparations for the wedding, getting the last scenes folded into Here Is The Wonderland in the immediate weeks to come, thus finishing that long-in-the-making first draft before plunging into the second, which should only take a minuscule fraction of the time it took to complete the first draft. And also upping my guitar skills.
What?
Yeah, I got a new electric guitar over the Christmas holidays. I don’t think I will be discussing it much here – this blog is meant for serious music discussion, and personal ramblings about trying to re-master the pentatonic scale or getting a better handle on sweep picking don’t really belong here, so there may be a little place somewhere where I’ll let those out of my system. (Updates about my personal life don’t belong here either, of course. I might refer to them in vague here or in “conversation” at SHSSF, but that’s another story, and I already have places for that.)
This, in a nutshell, is as personal as I intend to get, and I’m keeping it in topic: 2010 is going to see a lot more activity here. Beyond that, I’m not hard to find, as the list of “personal” links that has always existed here and at this blog’s predecessor will attest. With one of the series that I hinted at back in November (the Best Albums of 2009 series) out of the way, the other one will be starting next week to formally kick off blogging activity here at TGML for 2010. For now, I’m going to spend the rest of the weekend decompressing from New Year’s Eve/Day.
Other than that (and my wedding), I don’t know what’s going to take place in 2010. Hell, I didn’t know when 2009 started that Morning Musume were getting ready to announce their American debut and that Ron Asheton was going to be transferred from the Stooges to Rock N’Roll Heaven’s Helluva Band either.
Stay tuned. Things are only going to get insane here. But in a good way, of course.
BEST SINGLES OF 2009
Before I reveal the top two albums of the year, I figured I’d throw in something different to prolong the agony of revealing those two top albums… by throwing up a second list, and a first for this blog (and its predecessor): A top singles list.
#10) MILDRED AND THE MICE “I Like My Mice (Dead)” (Third Man)
Officially supposed to be a socially awkward goth chick from a small town in Kentucky, but more rumored to be the wife of Jack White playing a rather eccentric character, with a few Raconeturs/Dead Weather members posing as Mildred’s “band”. Either way, this is demented two-chord garage punk that makes The Cramps look like the Carpenters.
#9) BIF NAKED “I Won’t Cry (Fuck You 2)” (Her Royal Majesty)
Bif’s big comeback single after her cancer-forced layoff… and boy, did she come back swinging! Never before did a standard 50’s doo-wop chord sequence sound so menacing.
#8) WE ARE THE FALLEN “Bury Me Alive” (self-released)
Mistake this for Evanescence, and you wouldn’t be far off, as three-fifths of this group were the creative hub of Ev. Throw in a more fuller-bodied-voice compared to Amy Lee (courtesy of American Idle alumni Carly Smithson), and you’ll wonder why The Open Door didn’t sound like this. The band had planned to slip out leaked tracks every month or so, but fate – and a contract with Universal Music – intervened. Now this is just a teaser for next spring’s LP.
#7) CARL SAGAN “A Glorious Dawn” (Third Man)
This song – comprising of AutoTuned monologues from the late scientist/TV personality’s Cosmos mini-series – started off as an experimental pro-science viral video with a free download available to those who wanted it. Then Jack White heard and saw the video, wanted to put it out on his own label, and the rest is history – just like the Voyager Golden Record whose design is reproduced on the back of the one-sided single.
#6) AYUMI HAMASAKI “Sunrise/Sunset ~Love Is All~” (Avex)
Two ways (uptempo and ballad) of saying the same thing, and both done very well.
#5) KODA KUMI “3 Splash” [EP] (Rhythm Zone/Avex)
Three sides of Kuu-chin in one handy single: Upbeat pop-rocker (“Lick me”), heavy techno in the vein of “Taboo” (“Ecstasy”), and a solid foray into funk-rock (“Hashire!”) – and all with PVs to go with it. Sold.
#4) MORNING MUSUME “Kimagure Princess” (Zetima)
The opening high-register vocals notwithstanding, after three rather emo singles a more upbeat number was the perfect track to close out both one of Morning Musume’s most triumphant years as well as Koharu Kusumi’s tenure in the band.
#3) AKB48 “Namida Surprise” (King)
In my opinion, the best of AKB48’s four single releases this year. It was definitely the most memorable, both for the title track and for the solo cut by Team K member Erena Ono, “First Kiss”.
#2) MORNING MUSUME “Shouganai Yume Oibito” (Zetima [Japan]/JapanFiles [US])
Referring to this particular period of Morning Musume’s singles as their “emo” period should not be interpreted as a putdown, because it isn’t. The fact that this single took Morning Musume back to the #1 spot on the singles chart in Japan shows that they were on the right track at the time; it’s definitely the standout of the three “emo” singles.
#1) BUONO! “My Boy” (Pony Canyon)
The guitar riffs in this song alone are insane – putting the sweet voices of Airi, Miyabi and Momoko makes it sound even more insane thanks to the seeming clash of elements, but it works, big time.
Happy Birthday!
First, to Miyabi Natsuyaki of Berryz Koubou and Buono! (one of whose shirts inspired this blog’s name), who turns 17 today…
Then to Megumi Ohori of AKB48 (well, until October, anyway) and subject of our sister worship blog My Sweet Meetan, who turns 26…
…and finally to Elvis Costello, who turns 55 today.
REVIEW: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band “Outer South”
CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND
Outer South
(Merge)
Available on CD, 180-gram 2xLP with download code, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic
Rating: 
It is a little hard to listen to Conor Oberst recent solo output and not be reminded of Bob Dylan. Hell, with his self-titled 2008 solo release – his first recording for Merge after an almost lifetime association with Saddle Creek (the independent label he practically helped build thanks to his prodigious output under the Bright Eyes moniker) – had a lot of shades of Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited Dylan throughout.
Indeed, Outer South smacks incredibly of Dylan even more than Conor Oberst. Until now, it was unusual for Oberst to retain the same general musical style from album to album in a row, given that the past several years of his studio album output have ultilized electronics (Digital Ash for A Digital Urn), nu-country (I’m Wide Awake Its Morning), and a cross of Pet Sounds and Electric Warrior (Cassadaga). Then again, Conor Oberst the solo artist and his Mystic Valley Band are a wholly different beast than Bright Eyes.
The more consistent personnel of the Mystic Valley Band has brought in a new dimension to Conor’s world: The band is co-credited on the album itself, while several of the members contribute their own lead vocals and/or songwriting to the new album. On the front cover photo, Oberst has even gone so far as to deliberately obscure his eyes with a black marker smudge to divert attention to the rest of his bandmates. The presence of compositions from the rest of the band would explain why this album is appearing a mere nine months after the release of Oberst’s last full-length effort.
When I first sat down to listen to the album, I hadn’t given a glance to the credits and didn’t know that Oberst was sharing lead vocal and songwriting time with the rest of the band. When I was taking notes while first listening to the album (double vinyl edition), I had written “Conor’s singing voice [on “”Big Black Nothing”] is almost unrecognizable here, resembling a consistently on-pitch Dylan.” Nope – it was guitarist Nik Frietas singing his own composition. (Yeah, sorry for the Dylan comparison – I can’t help it with this album). Same with “Air Mattress” where I thought Conor was taking on a slightly more nasal voice – the band’s other guitarist, Taylor Hollingsworth, is the vocalist (and songwriter) there. (Frietas, Hollingsworth, and drummer Jason Boesel contribute two lead vocal/songwriting efforts apiece on the album; bassist Macey Taylor sings a song specially penned by Oberst; Conor co-wrote one song apiece with Frietas and keyboardist Nathaniel Walccott respectively and wrote the rest of the album himself.)
Again, the general musical tone of the album, like its predecessor, reminds me of mid-60’s Dylan, but there are other musical influences rearing their heads throughout Outer South. “Bloodline”, Nik Frietas’ other lead vocal/songwriting contribution, recalls George Harrison’s mid-to-late ‘70’s solo work – on first listen I kept expecting the band to go into “Crackerbox Palace” at any moment. “Roosevelt Room” channels louder Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Hollingsworth does some very Neil-esque electric guitar work not only on this track but on “To All the Lights in the Windows”). “Cabbage Town” finds Roger McGuinn 12-string leads, Phil Spector drum rhythms, and Roy Orbison-esque guitar strums vying for sonic space.
Some talk elsewhere on the internet (mainly early armchair reviewers on Rate Your Music working from leaked copies of the album) accuses the presence of the other band members’ songwriting contributions as actually weakening the album. This is not the case. The contributions of the other band members’ songs are equal with Conor’s, and Conor himself has definitely not lost a step songwriting-wise, given that he really hasn’t lost a step since at least Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to The Ground. Having a solid team behind him no doubt helps, but even with the rest of the band sharing the singing and writing duties, Outer South is still USDA prime Conor Oberst – you can consume with confidence.
When in Doubt, Spin the Black Circle
Some time ago, another blog covered by IW (I tried to find the link through IW itself but couldn’t locate it – if anyone knows what entry I’m talking about, let me know and I’ll replace this part of the text with that link) asked about the buying habits of fellow bloggers. Given that over a year ago I wrote an entry on Stuck In A Pagoda v2.0 that pretty much lambasted people who rely primarily on pirated mp3’s for their music, and that I practice what I preach, I started to calculate how my buying habits went for new music this past year.
Obviously, my intake of Japanese CD’s has continued at a steady rate this year – loyal grabbings of Morning Musume/Hello! Project releases, Koda Kumi’s most recent album and singles, EPs by The Husky and SCANDAL, the best-of anthology from The Possible, Mai Kuraki’s newest effort, and some initial forays into the world of AKB48 (which is going to be an article in and of itself soon) all come to mind. My interest in enka has also taken a turn towards mostly digital works (both CD and legal downloads – another reason to keep the account balance up on my Japanese iTunes account), which is a good thing.
Then I tried to think back to what non-Japanese CDs I’d bought this year. That was harder, as I tried to recall what was the last non-J-Pop CD I bought.
I kept trying to think it was Metallica’s Death Magnetic, given their having Rick Rubin replace Bob Rock and do some music that harkened, if not to their Ride The Lightning/Master of Puppets days, then at least to …And Justice for All. And kept thinking that I was wrong. It’s on my iPod – that much is sure as I went right to AmazonMP3.com for that one. Why am I thinking that the last American CD I bought was Hawthorne Heights’ new release?
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