Ty Segall on Thursday at Walter's

The title says it all. I know the show info is out there. This post isn't going to be incredibly insightful or novel, but I wanted to personally take the time to introduce you all to Segall's music if you haven't gotten the chance to listen. Segall, member of many bands, now a solo musician, has perfected the art of making 2-3 minute gritty garage rock tracks, much in the tradition of the late Jay Reatard sans the fake British accent.

Segall's ethic and recordings are an example of lo-fi done well. By that I mean: a) these songs would still be good even if they weren't bathed in an foggy sonic mist of fuzz and hisses b) they actually sound like they were recorded  with lo-fi techniques, not recorded in a multi-million dollar sound lab and piped into a plethora of plugins to give the veneer of lo-fi-ness. The music has a lot of integrity and is raw as hell. Sometimes the words are really hard to make out but the groove is never lost.

Cambridge-scene pastiches like "Fuzzy Cat" sound like they're being played off a dusty record from 30-40 years ago. The strange, child-like lyrics on this one only make it better, making it sound like Syd Barret was somehow involved.

Black Lips-inspired (forgive me if they're not but I sure hear some echoes!) Houston rockers Mikey and the Drags will be opening. Come early. They're good too. Thursday night at Walter's. Ten bucks.

Jandek on Corwood

I ordered five more Jandek albums recently: two classic studio albums from his reclusive period and three live albums. The more I listen, the more I get sucked into the mystery; the more I also realize that Jandek has a lot to say. My first plunge was an uncomfortable one. Listening to the music by myself at night gave me goosebumps. Now I'm a little more at ease when listening.

Before getting to album reviews I have to talk about the only Jandek documentary out there, "Jandek on Corwood". I bought it with the idea that it might shed light on the cryptic crooner but instead it consisted mostly of people talking out of their asses and implying that Jandek was a sociopath. It did include some useful parts, like some people who actually had phone and mail contact with Jandek. It also included some footage of an interview with the guy who had an actual phone interview with the representative. Also, the honorable Doctor Demento had some cameos, which I think is very appropriate given all he's done for outsider music.

However, the bulk of it was people speculating about Jandek and maligning his character by going on the assumption that the man is a looney-tune nutcase, something that I disagree with highly from what I've observed. I had the privilege of shaking his hand and thanking him for playing at Big Star Bar and he didn't scamper off into the shadows or try to bite me, something that the documentary would almost have you expect. He was nothing but kind. Just because someone creates unusual, arcane music does not mean that the person is psychotic. That also goes for his love of privacy. Maybe he has social anxiety, maybe he has another role in life such that he wants to keep the two separated. I know that I'm speculating too but only to prove that there are other possible explanations for his behavior. To jump to the most sensational theories will sell DVDs but I don't think it helps us understand Jandek any better.

The other irritating maxim put forward in the documentary is that without being reclusive Jandek would have no fans and no appeal. How unfair! I know his music is not for everyone but come on, that's a glib comment if I ever heard one. It was some lady who works in a record store. Whatever. Rant finished. There were parts of it I really liked but too many things pissed me off to give it an A. That and it was shot only a year or two before Jandek started making live appearances all over the world. I think that blows a pretty good size hole in the sociopath theory. It would have definitely changed the nature of the discussion.

Dwarr at Walter's

Black Bananas were outrageous, Magic Markers noisy and brash, but the whole of last night I was anticipating the arrival of the very last act, the elusive Duane Warr. Writing under the name Dwarr, Duane has played solo since the 80s but never toured until his first gig in Austin, Saturday night. After Bananas finished, Duane could be seen pacing around, sporting a big smile, clad in a pair of intensely elevated black leather boots. He had no roadies to help him so I assisted him in hoisting his giant Marshall cab onto the stage. 

Duane's vocals borrowed from bluesy the baritone of Ozzy Osbourne but left out the shrill highs. His voice never cracked once which is pretty remarkable given the intense concentration he also paid to his white hot lead guitar playing while singing. He melted every face in the room with energy to spare.

Although this is a solo project and most of the songs were written on a four track with nothing more than a session drummer, Duane did have help from two other younger musicians. Between each song, the muscular metal-head revealed himself to be a warm, avuncular, Southern gentleman, never missing an opportunity to tell us all background on a song's history or a personal story. I've read certain critics referring to Duane's style and content as antisocial but nothing could be further from the truth. He is probably one of the nicest performers I've ever had the pleasure to observe.

At this point, Dwarr's set list consists mostly of older material Duane wrote in the 80s and some stuff a little more recently but this tour isn't to promote anything brand new. Drag City did however, recently re-release his dramatic debut "Starting Over". The show's highlight was clearly a soulful and foreboding rendition of fan favorite "Gates of Hell" in which Warr reminds us all to keep on the straight and narrow. Who knows when or if he will tour again, given his history. I don't see why he wouldn't though, he's in better shape than I ever will be and has the pipes of someone half his age.

Duane Warr plays first dates ever

Dwarr (Duane Warr) is an enigmatic figure to say the least. Rumors float around the web about his turbulent past as a reformed drug user but I haven't discovered too much to back that up. Similarly to our city's beloved Jandek, he's been active for decades without performing a live date (or at least that's what I've come to understand from his publicists). Tonight at Houston's Walter's on Washington, Dwarr will be performing the second gig of his first tour ever.

"Starting Over" is his first record (recently re-released by Drag City) and it is a cornucopia (no Sabbath pun intended) of gloom/doom metal with very phased-out Ozzy-like vocals. The title track in particular reminds me of possibly one of my favorite Sabbath tunes, the jazzy, genteel, but also very baron and haunting "Planet Caravan" off "Paranoid". While plenty of metal performers are able to match the technical abilities of Sabbath's classic lineup there are almost none, save Warr, who can contemplate loneliness, darkness and desolation in a similar fashion. That and the guy's got serious guitar chops.You can get this re-released gem through Drag City. Be there tonight if you can. It will rock for sure.

A Post-Punk DJ I Shall Be

My friend (and brilliant IDM artist) Pulse Rifle is setting up a weekly music showcase here in Houston and you are all invited. I will be DJing for the first time in my life but all I'll really be doing is playing a bunch of music I hope you've never heard and pray you're impressed by my selection.

I can promise that I will triumph over my music blogger tendencies and fight urges to play selections off of Pet Sounds or three hour Phillip Glass recordings.

The playlist I've compiled will be (surprised looks and spit-takes all around) composed mostly of post-punk songs each of which I hope has a strong enough dance component to distract people from dwelling on how self-indulgent my themed playlist really is. Here is the event page for any of you interested in coming out to our little soiree!

Plunging into more Jandek after his Big Star Bar blowout

After moving to a new place with my own mailbox I decided to finally solicit the mysterious Corwood Industries for my first fix of actual Jandek CDs. I've been back into Houston's man in black ever since his explosive April 1st electronic gig at Houston's Big Star Bar. He filled the room with stabs of sinister feedback, occasionally talking out mystical, lyrics about love and hate. I have high quality recordings of the first two songs. I promise I'll eventually post these for your listening pleasure.

A little background for those of you who have no idea who I'm talking about, Jandek is a Houston born outsider musician known for his dissonant guitar playing and more recently, his foree into post-modern free-jazz collaborations. He started making albums in the early 80s and has churned out over 50 albums since then, all distributed through the clandestine, Jandek-only, Houston record label Corwood Industries.

In order to get your hands on official, new, Jandek merch of any kind you have to send away via snail mail to p.o. box 15375, Houston Texas, 77220. The actual discography with prices of each item is posted on the hyper-minimalist label website. Recently, I sent away for four albums and about a week later they came in this inconspicuous brown paper package:

The albums that I got were as follows:

Khartoum (2005)

This one is extremely inaccessible for beginners. I've acquired the bizarre taste of Jandek so it wasn't that weird to me but this album is remarkably hard to approach in the sense that it is pure Jandek vocals plus rattling, jangling acoustic stabs. It doesn't even sound like there was any post-production. The lyrics are emotional and frightening, especially on songs like "I shot myself" but this one is hard to listen to all in one sitting. On many albums, Jandek breaks up his patterns by going back and forth between electric and acoustic, lyrics and no lyrics, accompaniment and no accompaniment. That brings me to the next album I ordered.

Chair Beside a Window (1982)

This early album does do a good job of providing an eclectic picture of Jandek and the different things he can do with his arcane style of music. On songs like "You think you know how to score" Jandek pairs his guitar with harmonica. "European Jewel" is a jagged but surprisingly tonal and satisfying electric number that sounds like it could have been an alternate take from the immortal "Sister Ray" sessions. The sound engineer left the booth during the recording of this 17 minute song, telling Lou Reed, "I don't have to listen to this". I wonder what he would have said to Jandek. Anyway, there also appears the unusual "Nancy Sings" which consists of a beautifully voiced uncredited female vocalist singing over Janky's quiet acoustic noodling. Fantastic release.

Manhattan Tuesday (2005)

This is a double live album recorded around the time of Jandek's re-emergence in the early 2000s. Jandek plays a Korg synth and gives cosmic sermons backed up by drums and electric guitar. This one is very atmospheric and a little less dissonant. It wouldn't be a bad beginning point for the very vanilla listener. Don't get me wrong, it's out-there in the sense that everything Jandek does is out-there, but it's still fairly accessible. No real song titles other than Part 1, 2, 3, etc. Very stream of consciousness.

Where do you go from here (2011)

Many of the critics who reviewed this one have dubbed it his "jazz record". There's lots of grand piano on this album played in a jazzy down tempo. Like "Manhattan. . ." there are no real track names but on the ninth track Jandek does some surprisingly normal and competent singing about the topic matter of the album's name. Spastic but musical drumming fills the backgrounds of these songs. Track two has a nice electric guitar jam. A very accessible and enjoyable album.

More reviews to come as I order more albums from Corwood. I strongly urge you all to do the same.

Delta Spirit 4/12 at Fitz: Study Guide

Delta Spirit started out their musical life as a quaint, folksy, Americana-laden, indie act. Most of the music off their first album (2006’s “Ode to Sunshine“) reminds me of Athens Georgia folk project Phosphorescent: heavy on lap-steel and country authenticity. However, over their next two albums they underwent a radical transformation.

On their sophomore LP “History from Below” they clung to their folk roots but embraced a slightly harder, more modern sound. This metamorphosis began to show on songs like “Bushwick Blues” where buzzing electric guitars and splashy reverb replaced soft folk crooning and acoustic jangling. Still, the mix was closer to 50/50 folk and modern rock.

As other critics have pointed out, their self-titled March release seems to be self-titled for a reason: acknowledging a kind of rebirth. “Tear it up” shows just how different the band sounds in 2012 with its quirky experimental percussion and growled Wolf Parade-like vocals. The music just sounds bigger, in general. More dramatic, more bold. The quaintness has largely evaporated and left in its place a spacey modern rock that somehow still retains warmth and familiarity.

CHEAT SHEET

Songs I hope they play but they probably won’t: “Trashcan”, “Strange Vine”

Sounds like: Lindsay Buckingham, Phosphorescent

You may also like: Cass McCombs, The War on Drugs, Dr. Dog

Songs they will definitely play: “California”, “Idaho”, “Parade”, “Timebomb”

Best album: “Delta Spirit”

GET TICKETS HERE