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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
White Denim (already!) makes an appearance on a year-end top 10 list.
The folks at the influential British record store Rough Trade Shop have put Austin buzz band White Denim’s album “Workout Holiday” in at no. 4 on their (really kind of early) year end top 10 list.
“Workout Holiday” is a Europe-only album, an expanded version of the “Workout Holiday” EP, also known as the “Tour” EP.
The LP version of “Workout” has rerecorded versions of some “Workout” EP tracks. Many of these songs also show up on “Exposions,” the band’s U.S. full-length debut.
Got all that?
Above it are Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago” at no. 1, Fleet Foxes’ self-titled album at no. 2, and Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut at no. 3.
It should be noted that all four are debut full-lengths albums.
Check out the whole list here
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Texas Music Group, Inc. files for bankruptcy on eve of Walser trial
Embroiled in a lawsuit with the estate of Don Walser, which asks that master recordings, as well as money owed from royalties, be given to Walser’s heirs, Antone’s Records (the record label, not the store or club), Texas Music Group, Inc. and Texas Clef Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday. The case, which charges those three corporations and individuals Randy Clendenen, Heinz Geissler and James Heldt with fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, was to go to trial in state court Dec. 1. The bankruptcy filing puts an automatic stay on the proceedings.
“The Walser heirs are saddened by this turn of events where the individuals behind the corporate shells continue to exploit their father’s work for financial gain,” reads a press release from Walser family attorney Craig Barker.
Neither Clendenen, Geissler, nor Heldt have filed for bankruptcy, just the corporations. Geissler Wednesday confirmed the Chapter 11 filings, but said he hasn’t seen Barker’s press release. He didn’t want to talk on the record.
This lawsuit was filed in March 2005 while Walser and wife Pat were still alive. Don Walser died on Sept. 20, 2006. Pat Walser passed away on July 30, 2008. Their four children are now plantiffs in the case.
The past Walser recordings in question were originally released on Geissler’s Watermelon Records, which declared bankruptcy in Dec. 1998. Texas Music Group has reissued many of those tracks on “best of” compilations.
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CD review: Guns n’ Roses, ‘Chinese Democracy’
Guns N’ Roses
“Chinese Democracy” (Geffen)
So, let’s review: The United States elected an African-American president. The Phillies won a World Series. And “Chinese Democracy” is in stores.
Let’s not kid ourselves: The first two were going to happen sooner or later. The latter… well, this is an album that has been discussed, debated, anticipated and consigned to the realm of myth for 15 years.
Bill Clinton was in the middle of his first term the last time G n’R put out a studio album (the 1993 covers album “The Spaghetti Incident”).
George H.W. Bush was president the last time the last time the band released a studio album of original material (1991’s “Use Your Illusion” I and II).
Tens of millions of dollars have been spent in the past decade and a half. Eleven musicians are credited. Fourteen studios were used. The album’s been promised and delayed more than, well, the Second Coming.
So how is it?
Um … not bad.
Seriously, how good could it possibly be? It is the most anticipated album of all time. Unless it does your taxes, comes with stock options and cures cancer, folks are going to be a little disappointed.
As for the music (which does seem weirdly secondary at this late date), you can’t say ol’ Axl has been sitting on his hands the past 15 years.
Every song here seems to have about 900 tracks of sound on it. Jumbles of guitars, weird voices, drums, mechanical rhythms, piano fills and ballad butter run all over the place. Every song feels worked over and refined and added to and subtracted from. Riffs and parts collide like a freeway pile up. More often than not, the song is the victim, any sense of true forward motion is stuck in the stacks o’ tracks.
Remember the opening moments of “Welcome to the Jungle,” the wrecking ball swing that turned that song from solid hard rock to a freight train that changed the world?
There’s nothing like that here. Even the fairly solid rockers (“Shackler’s Revenge,” “I.R.S.,” the title track) can’t approach that astonishing groove.
Axl Rose seems to have spent even more time on the ballads, virtually all of which can be tagged with the prefix “power” or “epic” or “overblown.” “Street of Dreams” is Axl at his most power ballad emo (“All the love in the world couldn’t save yoooooooo”), “This I Love” is his most straightforward, “Catcher in the Rye” is, well, called “Catcher in the Rye.” And the man still seems to be able to sing just fine.
Speaking of crazy, there’s also plenty that’s just plain weird (other than Axl’s cornrows, it-must-be-Botox looks and, well, taking 15 years to finish this thing). “Madagascar” samples Martin Luther King’s “Free at last….!” and the world may never quite know why. “Sorry” sounds beamed in from Pluto. The opening 28 seconds of “Better” sound for all the world like the avant-pop of underground faves Deerhoof.
Every song has at least three or four parts fighting for attention. And Axl probably lavished his love and time on all of them, saying what he must have said to countless hot tub companions: “Girls, you’re all pretty.”
Even being sold exclusively at Best Buy, “Chinese Democracy” is going to sell through the roof; curiosity alone will drive plenty of purchases.
Which isn’t all that surprising. Rose and company have delivered a monster — misshapen, strange and sometimes very, very powerful.
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Live Chat With Statesman pop critic Joe Gross at 2 p.m. today!
Join Statesman pop critic Joe Gross and Austin Live Music Task Force chairman Paul Oveisi for one final live chat before Oveisi brings the task force’s recommendations before City Council at 2 p.m. Thursday.
If you have any last minute questions, now is the time to ask.
In related news, SaveAustinMusic.org and the Austin Music Foundation are organizing a “March to City Hall” that starts at 1 p.m. Thursday at Antone’s.
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Interview with Mike Kinsella of Owen (Thursday night at Emo’s)
As an integral member of bands like Joan of Arc and the now-defunct American Football, Chicago’s Mike Kinsella has long been part of an innovative and influential music community, but he makes some of his best music on his own. Behind the soft vocals and cutting lyrics of Kinsella’s solo project Owen lie lush instrumental arrangements, including acoustic guitar lines that would leave the fingers of most players in a tangle. In preparation for Thursday night’s show at Emo’s, Kinsella sat down to talk about his occasional heavy metal outbursts, as well as his creative process.
American-Statesman: How often do you play Metallica during a set?
Kinsella: It comes up more and more. The first time it came up, it was just like, “I’m bored. This show sucks. I admit it. I concede. I’ll play some songs that maybe you guys like.” Now it’s just a joke. People are like, “Play Metallica!” I sort of taught myself to play guitar by learning Metallica songs, so whenever I get into standard tuning, the first thing I go to is “Fade to Black.”
For the singer/songwriter music you play, your songs are much more intricate and layered than most in the genre. What kinds of influences do you draw on?
I list my influences as Red House Painters, which is acoustic with open tunings. Then My Bloody Valentine brings in the layers. Then the Sundays, who were a band that sounded just like the Smiths but with a girl singer, are sort of my all-time favorite. It’s just gorgeous. It’s acoustic, but there’s this 90’s, dreamy reverb electric guitar going on. I don’t listen to singer/songwriters for the most part, so I guess that’s why, hopefully, it’s different.
Being the sole driving force of this project, how do you write all the different instrumental parts?
Lots of sitting around at home alone. My wife goes to work early every morning, God bless her. She teaches high school history. She wakes me up, takes the dog out and I go back to bed for a few hours. I wake up and sit around, and I’ll pick up the guitar every day, but sometimes I just play Metallica songs, or sometimes if I finally find a part I’m working on, I’ll play it over and over. Then when I finally put it to a click track, it’s like, “How do I make this sound like the Sundays or My Bloody Valentine?” But when you hear it as a whole, when you put all the parts together, hopefully it sounds unique.
There are some bootleg videos on YouTube of you playing new songs. Are you releasing anything in the near future?
There’s a whole full-length started. I would say it’s two-thirds done. It’s over the hump, but I still have to go back and put strings on some and piano on some to make them stand out from each other.
(Image courtesy of polyvinylrecords.com.)
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A Coldplay concert upgrade: “It’s good karma”
(Editor’s note: The following post is from American-Statesman business reporter Claudia Grisales).
Houston — My two sisters, mother and I were headed to the nosebleed seats for the Coldplay concert at the Toyota Center in Houston Tuesday evening.
After several wrong turns and a lengthy escalator ride we finally made it to the top and our $49 seats in section 410. Suddenly, a man grabbed a hold of my youngest sister’s arm, and began quizzing her.
“Name three Coldplay albums, not including the current Viva la Vida,” asked the English-accented man wearing a black polo shirt and a two-way radio.
“A Rush of Blood to the Head, Parachutes and XYZ,” she excitedly said.
No, not quite, he responded.
“X&Y,” she corrected.
“Okay, now name a song on A Rush of Blood to the Head,” he asked, leaving me wondering — is this guy trying to pick her up or is this how they get fans amped up for the show?
“Politic,” said Susan, an encyclopedia of various albums.
“Name a top single,” he followed, while the rest of us stared in confusion.
“Yellow,” Susan said.
Next thing we knew, he was pulling out four fifth-row tickets on the floor.
“These are for you. We hold back a certain number of tickets to give to fans when they arrive to the show,” he said. “You just have to rock out down there.”
“Really? No, really? Why? Really?” we all asked as we all jumped up and down, and showered him with hugs. It turns out his name was Richard, and he would operate the camera just a few feet away from our fifth-row seats.
“Did you get an upgrade,” an excited fan asked in front of us. “We did, too!”
The fan next to us told a similar story, pointing to her original seats at the top of the stadium (my sister overheard another couple nearby say they paid $750 for their premium seats).
The upgrade fans later pointed out their Coldplay good samaritan, a man with black-rimmed glasses at the front of the stage who only identified himself to me as “Mr. Lo.”
The Coldplay crew helped give away 96 such upgrades at the Houston show. It’s something the band apparently does “in the states,” Mr. Lo said.
They look for fans wearing a lot of color and ready to show some serious energy.
“It’s good karma,” he said.
Richard, who we approached later, declined a photo or to give his full name. He said otherwise he would be stalked by Coldplay fans for free passes.
Shortly before Chris Martin and gang hit the stage, San Antonio Spurs and Eva Longoria hubby Tony Parker set off a scene when he walked to his seats. Further away than ours.
And the show was no disappointment. It was an adrenaline-rushed evening of songs off their new and past albums, a confetti drop of colorful butterflies and an acoustic version of “Mad Scientist” at the top of the first level at Toyota.
We were close enough to see Chris Martin sweat, the little blemish on the left side of his Adam’s apple and the elastic band of his white underwear.
He and his bandmates ran up and down the side runways, crooned into a mike on his famous piano and jumped around with their famous energy.
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