Tragic: Jay Reatard's death found to be drug related

For those of you who haven't been reading my blog (99.99999% of the Internet), I've been following the developing details of my favorite garage-punk rocker's, Jay Reatard, death. At first, no one knew what caused the sudden death of such a young, active, seemingly healthy musician when he was found dead in his Memphis home last month. I was really upset especially because I saw Jay preform in December, met him before the show, got his autograph and got to chat with him briefly. He was a really nice guy and the show was superb. Here's a link to the original blog entry and here's the review I wrote of the last album he released before he died, "Watch me fall".

It's been discovered by the coroner that unfortunately, Jay died from toxic levels of alcohol and cocaine in his blood. We'll all remember him for his excellent music and kickass performances
RIP Jay, we hardly knew ya.

Breakfast in America: vinyl review no. 1

Breakfast in America is the Supertramp album containing the most hit songs out of their studio albums but unlike most popular albums that contain multiple hits, there's not a bad song on the album. The four popular songs got just enough press to conjure memories of past listenings without making the listener hate the songs. Even today the songs still live on, some songs in better ways than others. I think we've all heard that dumbass Gym Class Heroes song "Cupid's Chokehold" and it's criminally banal use of a riff from the title song of Breakfast in America and I think even people who barely listen to music can say that they've heard "The Logical Song". Then there are the two less popular but still recognizable hits "Goodbye Stranger" and "Take the long way home" which are some of the album's highest points.

It's pretty amazing what Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson can do with their wonky little Wurlitzer pianos. Songs like "Goodbye Stranger" are carried more by their piano playing and falsetto vocals than any guitar, drum, or bass that might be playing alongside. This album seems to me to embody the sound of Supertramp better than any of their others. There are plenty of songs dominated by keyboards and others that include more wind instruments and guitar, giving other band members chances to shine. The thing about Supertramp, and this album in particular, is the ballad style they choose which unlike lots of 70s rock places vocals and songwriting over elaborate guitar solos. Don't get me wrong, I love me some guitar solo but when I'm in the mood for more mellow, lyric-driven music, I've always got a friend in Supertramp.

I'd rate Breakfast in America high on any music-lover's list because even if you don't enjoy Supertramp as much as I do (especially the still excellent but less accessible albums like Even in the quietest moments and ...Famous Last Words...) you should at least find something special for you on this album.

I picked it up, in good condition, for five dollars US.

Yo La Tengo 2010

I had the fortune to see that Yo La Tengo was playing this past Thursday night and snatched up some tickets to what turned out to be one of the best live shows I've ever seen, period.

When I read some concert reviews I was a little but uneasy since there were a lot of negative ones but then again, when have I ever let someone ELSE tell me what is good and what isn't? I mean, I don't like 95% of what the Beatles did and *gasp* I like Joy Division's first album Unknown Pleasures, a little more than their second album, Closer, the one critics tell me I should like more. People complained about Ira Kaplan's use of feedback which is something I'm normally a proponent of but still I was scared.

It was a bitch to find parking since my friends and I were a little late and I was worried that we might be missing another band opening for Yo La Tengo that I really like called "Times New Viking" but we entered Warehouse Live just in time. TNR rocked very hard. The lineup consisted of a drummer, guitarist, and organist; the first and last provided vocals. They were very loud, fast, and interesting. I really heard a lot of Velvet Underground and Modern Lovers in their punky, feedback-laden playing just as I did in their studio recordings. They weren't perfect but they definitely didn't suck.

Then Yo La Tengo came on and they opened with a cool, very spacey, progressive-rock-sounding, yet strangely minimalist number called "Nutricia". They played lots of songs from their newest album "Popular Songs" and a lot from their preceding album "I am not afraid of you and will beat your ass" and even a few I'd never heard of before. The variety of songs, tempos, volumes, and styles they played totally lived up to the eclectic nature of the entire YLT discography and made for an extremely lively and engaging show.

Pretty early on in the show, like three songs in, Kaplan said to the audience "this one is going to be a long show, whether everyone likes it or not!" to which we all replied with cheering and whistling and hooting and clapping. That's when I knew that the show was only going to keep getting better.

One of the funnier moments, albeit infuriating as well, was when some drunk dickhead yelled out "play sugar cube!!!" loudly enough for everyone to notice his drunkness and dickheadedness. The reason this outburst was funny is because YLT had already played "Sugar cube" a few songs earlier. I swear, these people are at every concert. They come to hear one song because it's popular and it's the only damn song they know. These idiots refuse to do there homework or delve into a band's discography. Why they pay 20 dollars to hear one song when they can simply pick up the album and learn at least to or three more songs, the day of the concert, is perplexing to me. It's sort of like when I saw the White Stripes and some bratty, liquored-up, yuppie girl kept yelling "fellinlovewithagirl!" over and over again. These stunods should just stay home and listen to their favorite one song looped over and over again while they drool on themselves.

Even though the whole set was all incredible, some of my favorite songs live were: Periodically Double and Triple, All your Secrets, If it's True, Here to Fall, Hankypanky Nowhow (this is a John Cale cover), More Stars Than There Are in Heaven, Nothing to Hide, and "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind".

Kaplan jumped around from Keyboards, to guitar, to drums throughout the show and reminded us all how talented he is at each one and how dynamic each band member is (Georgia Hubley left her drums and played guitar in some songs and James McNew left the bass and played guitar and keyboard for other songs).

They were so passionate and obviously cared very much about pleasing the audience and playing a good set which, unfortunately, is a lot more than I can say about a lot of bands I've seen (even some of the best ones I've seen). I've never seen another musician live besides maybe Thom Yorke, who displayed as much passion and feeling while playing as Ira Kaplan did. You could see it in his face, his belabored movements, and the way he caressed his guitar and closed his eyes while playing. I was so lucky to catch them.

After the show I watched a cool local oldies band play in the other room and let my ears recover from the YLT set which was pretty loud at times. They're called the Allen Oldies Band and they played a pretty respectable set of cool oldies tunes like Woolly Bully and the like. After watching them play I had the privilege of meeting up with Ira Kaplan as I was walking out of Warehouse and let me tell you, he is a great guy. He was really nice and approachable and gladly answered my questions about YLT. I've even got the proof above. Apparently, just minutes after I left they played a set with the Allen Oldies Band though and continued on until 2 (doh!).

All in all, EXCELLENT show. One of the best live shows I've ever attended.



Beginning of "Here to Fall"^



Some sweet feedback from I forget which song. Watch Ira go!



A chunk of "Periodically Double and Triple"

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Jay Reatard death might involve foul play?

I know the blog's been kind Jay-centric the last couple posts but I really enjoy his music and his death is truly a tragedy for the independent music community. I've been researching the circumstances surrounding Jay Reatard's death just because it's so weird for a lively twenty-nine year old musician, with seemingly no history of drug or alcohol abuse, to just drop dead and today I churned up a troubling article on NME. Apparently there's an potential homicide investigation going on now and I really hope that's not what happened. I'll keep you all posted but here's the article.

Jay Reatard: found dead in his home at age 29

I can't even begin to express my grief about the passing of garage-punk rocker: Jay Reatard(or by his birth name, Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr.) I saw him last month and, as I wrote in one of my more recent blog entries, he was phenomenal in concert. I got there early and got talk with him briefly, one on one; I got his autograph and shook his hand. Now he's gone. What a complete shock.

They say he died in his sleep and I hope his passing was painless. He brought so much energy and originality to his recordings and his performances. I'll always remember this cool, quirky rocker and listen to his music.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Looking forward to seeing Girls play in January

I spied Girls on a bill for a concert at Walters on Washington last time I was there and I remembered that I'd seen the same band name on the Pitchfork top 100 of 2008 so I was immediately intrigued. A couple days ago I bought a copy of their most recent offering, their first full album, "Album" haha. That still looks awkward to me after proofing it a few times but anyway, "Album" was pretty decent and had a nice minimalist, indie sound to it that I rarely find without the oft present pretentious indie self-indulgence (which was thankfully absent). The sound can be described as maybe a little bit of Blur, a little Iggy Pop, a little Strokes, a little Walkmen (but a bit more upbeat) and lots of gratuitous but tasteful feedback and spring reverb. They also receive from me, an award for one of the best song names since Beck's "Truck Drivin' Neighbors downstairs" with their catchy, 50's sounding, "Big Bad Mean Motherfucker". It's got cussing and double alliteration hahaha. Hopefully I'll get to go listen to them play on the 31st. Do yourself a favor and check out the simple yet interesting "Album" by Girls.

'Tis the Season to look at the Pitchfork Top Hundred

Pitchfork E-Zine is always a great place to look for the absolute best in current music. Unlike many "serious" music websites that only focus on the most exclusive, obscure, and esoteric artists, songs, and albums Pitchfork seeks out the best music regardless of whether it's mainstream or not. I'd heard from a few people that the website was pretentious yet I when I viewed the yearly Pitchfork Top 100 I noticed artists like Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Lil' Wayne. I'm not hating on those artists or anything but they're definitely what would be considered pop in their genres. They get played on the radio frequently and aren't going to attract the attention of thick-framed-glasses-wearing-vinyl-collecting-hipsters (like myself haha) but they've proven that they can write catchy, complex, and lasting songs and sometimes deserve just as much attention as more obscure cult bands like Joy Division or the LCD Soundsystem.

Every New Year, Pitchfork releases a list of the top 100 songs of the past year as selected by staff and it spans all genres and levels of popularity. There's a noticeable lack of bias and favoritism in their top 100 lists (they've got other lists than the regular yearly as well) unlike the lists you find in bullshit, poser, hack, music publication like Rolling Stone. I can't even tell you all how many new bands and artists I've discovered or how many popular artists I know are good because of their annual list.

I'm not going to review the whole list for you but some of my favorite songs on the list are:
-Blood Bank by Bon Iver
-Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
-Paparazzi by Lady Gaga
-Watching the Planets by the Flaming Lips
-Daniel by Bats for Lashes
-Glass by Bats for Lashes
-11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas
-Moth's Wings by Passion Pit
-My Girls by Animal Collective
-1901 by Phoenix
-Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear
-Lust for Life by Girls

I can always depend on Pitchfork to direct me to all the coolest songs I might have overlooked during the past year.