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Monday, February 23, 2009
Meet the SXSW band: Glacier Hiking
(Photo of Glacier Hiking by Jesse Jenkins/Special to the American-Statesman)
Ross Golan of the Los Angeles band Glacier Hiking answers our questions:
Have you been to SXSW before?
Yes. My first trip, I opened for the Strokes at the Iron Cactus. The second one, I got interviewed by Wayne Coyne on the Tonight Show. And this time…
What do you hope to accomplish?
Accomplish? To finish our showcase with gusto.
What music can you not leave town without?
For the 11 beautiful hours from El Paso to Austin, we usually get in a book on tape about some celebrated politician whose legacy has pedagogically descended through scores of generations… That being said, once we listened to “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears for a six-hour drive from SF to LA.
Last song downloaded?
“Dance To The Music” - Sly and the Family Stone… researching some of their back ups.
Do you have a favorite hangover cure?
More alcohol.
What’s your favorite piece of clothing?
My gray hoodie.
What’s the best thing you learned in school?
Focus on you, not your social life. The cool kids are not the ones answering these types of questions. They’re home reading the answers.
Does your band have a pre-show ritual? Any superstitions?
Pleading the Fifth.
What’s your favorite restaurant back home?
I’ll go with Walker Bros Pancake House.
What was the concert or album that made you want to play music yourself?
I’d been playing and seeing concerts my whole life. But the OK Computer/Kid A tour made me an artist.
What TV shows are you recording back home while you’re in Austin?
“24,” “Big Love” and “American Idol”
What should SXSW audiences know about your music?
If you show up, you will be forced to sing along. It’s how it is. If you’ve seen us, then you understand. If not, I’ll see you in Austin.
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Last chance for $129 SXSW wristbands
South by Southwest has announced that they will keep selling the $129 wristbands online at wristband.sxsw.com until 9 tonight. Tomorrow at noon, 500 more will go on sale online for $165 to Austin residents only. All purchasers must use a credit card with a local billing address.
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Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending Feb. 22
1. Rob G/Trae, ‘Both Sides Of The Fence’ (Prez)
2. Charlie Wilson, ‘Uncle Charlie’ (Jive)
3. Trae, ‘Diary’ (Oarfin)
4. E.S.G., ‘Digital Dope’ (Gracie)
5. Lil’ Keke, ‘Loved By Few Hated By Many’ (TF)
6. SPM, ‘Last Chair Violinist’ (Dope House)
7. Jamie Foxx, ‘Intuition’ (J Records)
8. Z-RO, ‘Crack’ (Rap-A-Lot)
9. Keyshia Cole, ‘A Different Me’ (Geffen)
10. Plies, ‘Da Realist’ (Atlantic)
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CD review: U2 ‘No Line on the Horizon’
U2
No Line on the Horizon
(Interscope)
The operative words for decoding the new U2 album are: Brian Eno. The longtime U2 producer is having quite the comeback, collaborating with David Byrne here (last year’s “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”), producing Coldplay’s very own U2 record there (the Grammy-wining “Viva La Vida”).
Eno and longtime U2 co-helmer Daniel Lanois both get writing credits on all but two songs on “No Line On the Horizon” and the effect is more in line with Eno’s records with Byrne than something by those four blokes from Dublin.
Gauzy and proggy with spawling outros and angelic synths, think of “No Line,” which hits stores Mar. 3, as an Eno album with Bono belting and warbling over top. The other three are clearly playing - that’s obviously Edge’s guitar in there and Larry Mullen’s signature, militaristic semi-breakbeats abound.
But there’s a disconnect, like the band is playing the complicated songs and saving their creative juice for selling these songs on the road, which is what U2 does best, anyway.
The title track opener pops like the Big Bang, all widescreen atmospherics and some decent one-liners from Bono (“She said, ‘Time’s irrelevant, it’s not linear’/ Then she put her tongue in my ear” Ta-dow!). Bono’s gospel belt on “Moment of Surrender” contrasts nicely with the synth burbles and stealthy melodic lines, while “Magnificent” rhythms harken back to the band’s electronica-inflected 1997 album “Pop.”
In fact, “No Line” seems like a sequel to the much-maligned “Pop,” an album that had nothing to do with its title. Older and wiser now, the band is futzing with the formula, but there’s enough in the songs keeping with the sound of 21st century U2, Inc. that fans won’t run screaming.
“Unknown Caller” brings everything together - keyboard drone, rolling drums, bird calls, strings, interlacing star-light guitar lines, anthemic horns, a slightly goofy Edge guitar solo and Bono contrasting the natural (“Sunshine/sunshine/I was lost between the midnight and the dawning”) with the artificial (“Force quit!/And move to trash!”), a difference Eno has been playing with his whole career.
There’s also a terrible single (“Get On Your Boots”) and two high-octane non-Eno, Steve Lillywhite-produced songs (“Breathe” and the unfortunately titled “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”) that don’t make much sense with the rest of the record, but would have made a killer non-album single, say, eight or so months from now.
But for maximum Bono/Eno (Beeno?) effect, program your CD player 4-3-2-1-7-8-9-11, which carves a spotty 53 minutes into the best 41-minute prog rock album with Bono singing you’re going to hear this year.
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CD review: J.J. Cale “Roll On”
J.J. Cale
“Roll On” (Rounder)
About a year ago an editor for a respected music magazine (no longer publishing) pitched me on writing about some artist I wasn’t so hot on. “How about J.J. Cale?” I suggested as a substitute. Long silence, as all he heard was that I wanted to write a big article on the guy who wrote “Cocaine” and “After Midnight” for Eric Clapton. Man, is Cale underrated. He’s Gatemouth Brown in a B.B. King world.
It’s impossible to write about this Okie without using the word “groove.” On his new album “Roll On,” which hits stores tomorrow, Cale gets deep on in it, as the listener’s sway becomes a given and part of the percussion. “Down In Memphis” and “Oh Mary” are what Bob Dylan was going for on “Modern Times,” but without the weight of being Dylan, Cale serves the blues rock like the best $1.99 breakfast you’ve ever had.
First time I played this CD I was surrounded by unmoving traffic without feeling stuck. This is Chuck Berry rocking on the porch with his foot keeping the rhythm and his guitar stirring the night air. It’s pure music that just knows what’s right.
Playing most instruments himself, Cale was able to get out the music in his mind here, with all its simple majesty intact. Nobody can hit it hard and soft at the same time, and still carry a melody, like this 70-year-old boogie minimalist.
