In retrospect Depeche Mode comes off as terribly dated music – let’s not kid ourselves. But with the existing retro synth/eighties trend of the past few years, that works in the Mode’s favor, and none more so than their1987 album Music For The Masses. I came on board as a fan with the it’s follow-up, Violator, which also brought the band mainstream success in the form of a slew of Mtv-ready videos and promo spots. After digesting Violater I worked my way backwards and came to know Music For The Masses, which I received a reissue of a couple of weeks ago (complete with additional notes/photos/packaging//DVD w/ b-sides/etc).

How does the album hold up fifteen years after I first heard it? Actually, very well in all it’s painfully awkward glory. I can’t say I didn’t wince re-visiting the lyrics: “make my heart smile(??)” but then again no one ever accused Gahan and company of being master lyricists.

The extras, while nice, will mostly appeal to the already converted fan—personally, the big win here is the improved sound which for electro-synth based music is absolutely essential.
Note: Rhino has also released a re-issue of the Violator album which I have yet to hear, but would expect similar results.
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Amazon: Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses

“Phoenix ... kind of f---ing rules!”
– Ben Bridwell
Band of Horses singer
June 29, 2006

If the increase in size of the crowd at Thursday night’s show compared to a March appearance at the same venue is any indication, Band of Horses is growing in popularity exponentially. Last night’s gig at the Rhythm Room drew roughly 300 people, compared to (and this is a rough guess) about 75 for a date in March. For Phoenix, that’s saying something. The buzz was palpable, and I’m still trying to figure out where it originated (magazines? radio? MySpace?).

The place was so packed we tried to wedge out a little spot for ourselves off to the side. Somehow, we ended up smack dab in the front, close enough to put our finished drink glasses/cans on the stage (sorry, Rhythm Room). Also close enough to get good shots of frontman Ben Bridwell’s neck tattoo. (I’m pretty sure it’s a liger.)

I gotta admit: I was a little disgruntled. Where was everyone in March?!? Ah, but that’s just indie-rock snobbery. A band like this deserves whatever sold-out crowds it draws. There’s not a more amiable and engaging frontman than Bridwell. His chatter in between (and sometimes during) songs is priceless, and he exudes a carefree feeling that there’s just no other place he’d rather be than playing for you.

His gratuitous use of the word “dudes” – ”Thanks, dudes!” after about every song – is both humorous and endearing. “We’re just gonna have a good time together, dudes,” he said at the start of the show. And the overwhelming applause from each song made him jokingly cover his ears, as if he didn’t just get the same response the night before. No matter. For one night, Bridwell boasted on Phoenix and took a jab at his former hometown of Tucson, where they played to an apparently lackluster crowd on Wednesday night. (Memo to touring musicians: Phoenicians eat that up every time.)

Whatever, his “dudes” and thumbs-up and hang-loose hand gestures (seriously, hang loose?) make the touring rock-star life seem so appealing. If you don’t wanna be the lead singer of Band of Horses after you see Band of Horses, there’s something wrong with you.

Perhaps predictably, the group saved Funeral (mp3) for last – at least prior to the obligatory encore, in which Bridwell played a new tune solo. He warned that it was still rough: “So don’t go write about it on your blog. I know you have a blog; I can tell from the look in your eye.” What? Who, me?

For Funeral, Bridwell encouraged the crowd to sing along on the “ooooh, ooooohs” leading up to the song’s climax: “Come on, dudes. Stay in tune.” So when he botched a guitar note later on in the tune, he jokingly reminded us mid-song: “Hey f--- that; you guys f---ed up the vocals!”

Better were two versions of Wicked Gil: the album version (if you will) and a slower, more romantic rendition for the encore. My wife loves this song, even if she has no clue what the lyrics are (“they’ll be eating people to safety”?) so to have it played twice was gravy.

I bought Everything All the Time on vinyl last night, and I’m convinced it’s going to take a real strong showing from someone to supplant this as my Album of the Year. (And The Great Salt Lake (mp3) as my Song of the Year.)

(Originally published at So Much Silence.)

Related:
Band of Horses on KEXP.
Song of the year (so far): Band of Horses “Funeral.”
(FYI: This selection has since changed to Band of Horses’ The Great Salt Lake.)

Grayson Capps’ bluesy, soulful, Southern literary storytelling has been a welcome treat whenever his album pops up on shuffle as we drive cross-country these past 2+ weeks.

I write songs which have the voice of dead prophets masquerading as town drunks screaming ‘look at us we’re pretty, too!’ I’ve been playing guitar and singing for nearly twenty years now. I’ve played theaters, festivals, radio shows, t.v. shows, whiskey-beer crusted barrooms, living rooms, and camp fires. Some people call me a preacher others a poet, a singer, a guitar player, a landscaper, but I am only an actor strutting and fretting across the stage.””>“I write songs which have the voice of dead prophets masquerading as town drunks screaming ‘look at us we’re pretty, too!’ I’ve been playing guitar and singing for nearly twenty years now. I’ve played theaters, festivals, radio shows, t.v. shows, whiskey-beer crusted barrooms, living rooms, and camp fires. Some people call me a preacher others a poet, a singer, a guitar player, a landscaper, but I am only an actor strutting and fretting across the stage.”

DOWNLOAD:
MP3: Grayson Capps :: Get Back Up
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Amazon: Grayson Capps :: If You Knew My Mind
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http://www.graysoncapps.com

I had been waiting for Tuesday night’s DeVotchKa show for some time - well, at least since I posted on them last month, having spent a good deal of the interim listening to their latest EP Curse Your Little Heart and generally craving something different from the usual indie rock fare.

Continue reading "Such A Lovely Thing"

Warp Records artist Jamie Lidell will be at Amoeba Music Hollywood tomorrow.  The electro-funk soul brother is in town opening for Beck at the Wiltern on 6/27 and 6/28.  He got rave reviews for his set at Coachella so this in-store should not be missed. 

Lidell is know for his genre crossing performances.  XLR8R says, “A 21st century version of the one man band, he’s a bizarre amalgamation of Bobby McFerrin, Rahzel, Matthew Herbert and Prince—with the unhinged, wild-eyed manner of say, Iggy Pop or Darby Crash.”

Continue reading "Jamie Lidell - Amoeba Hollywood In-Store 6/28"

The Donkeys are a foursome from San Diego who play a type of indie rock that has Beach Boy-style pop elements crossed with a little soul, a little blues, even a dash of country and then a whole lot more fuzzy psychedelia.  They draw lines of influence and comparison to bands like The Velvet Underground, Curtis Mayfield, Television, The Kingsbury Manx, Of Montreal and The Radar Bros.  The songwriting is strong, the play is tight and I am loving this album more each time I listen to it...I think I’m on the 5th time through today!

Continue reading "The Donkeys - S/T"

DJ Never Forget - Team Summer Rations Mix


My homeboy DJ Never Forget is back with a butt-shaking summer mix for you cool kids.  You may remember my first post on his Enemy Infiltration Mix, which kicked serious shitake mushrooms.  I listened to that mix pretty much non-stop for a month.  I can all ready tell this is gonna be the same way.  Find out more about him and his DJ collective at Gothamist.  You can also catch DJ Never Forget on his Little Radio show - Fridays 7pm to 9pm EST.

Continue reading "DJ Never Forget - Team Summer Rations Mix"

I’m an unabashed fan of ‘90s female-fronted electronic-pop (the good kind: Massive Attack, Portishead, Mazzy Star, etc.) and the music of Sacramento’s The Evening Episode definitely recalls that aesthetic: organic, lush, sensuous, and impossibly warm. The band’s press materials draw valid comparisons to Portishead and The Notwist, and Teresa Eggers’ sexy/sweet vocals also bring to mind Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval. And I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I have a thing for hot vocalists/thereminists:

Continue reading "The Evening Episode"

Continue reading "Bouldercrest Singing Group"

So you say you like the music of Broken Social Scene but don’t care for their songs?  Or you dig Dinosaur Jr but wish there were twice as many members in the band?  Then by gum you should have been at the Mod Club this past Friday night for what was billed as “Broken Mascis Scene”, with J Mascis leading a core lineup of Broken Socialites on a romp through the Dino Jr catalog with undeniably awesome results.  The show, scheduled the night before both BSS and J Masics were scheduled to throw down at the annual Olympic Island fete, was a fundraiser for the Amma Foundation - a charity to which Mascis has not only written a song ("Ammaring") but also recorded an entire CD of devotional songs (J + Friends Sing And Chant For Amma).

Continue reading "Freak Scene"

Continue reading "The Coup: “Pick a Bigger Weapon”"

Continue reading "David Mead in Decatur, 5-27-2006"

Continue reading "The blues house that Clifford built"