Sunday, June 29, 2008
 

I hope you all read Noah’s post yesterday, which drove to the heart of some of the worse qualities of the blogosphere concept.  While I might not completely agree with him (do I ever?), I think he makes a great point.  When, as a pseudo-journalist, I’m searching for the next big thing to blog about, I shy away from things that have already been heard, sometimes even at the expense of the quality of music.  In times past (times I barely remember) we had established media outlets, handing down the Goods from on high; the symbol of true, lasting(ish) fame was having your picture plastered on thousands of copies of Rolling Stone.  Now it’s being a "Most Blogged About" artist on Hype (and Hype won’t even take your picture). The problem then, as Noah said, there is an emphasis on "breaking" the newest bunch of Brooklynites, even at the expense of making sure that they’re good.  Last week’s music is last last week’s music, and don’t even think about posting it here, no matter how much you like it. So today, feeling a little inspired as it were, we’ll do a little piece called "That Was The Week That Was," a collection of songs that still get me all excited, even though the collective taste making machine could care less.  Of course, there’s no emphasis on the tracks being a week old, the name just conveniently references a little bit of old pop-culture.

Bodies Of Water

Okay, Bodies of Water are semi-current, but I think everyone shat their pants enough a few weeks back when this track from the new album came out.  The new album is great and all (we might talk about that more in the future), but for me, Bodies of Water cemented themselves as "good" in my mind when I saw them for the first time playing SXSW this past year.  Talk about powerful!  Even when I wasn’t seeing Bodies of Water, I was seeing Bodies of Water: waiting around at the Mohawk for some band to come on, I could hear Bodies of Water playing outside next door almost as perfect as I could being right in front.  Speaking of up front, their live shows were absolutely stellar - all the complexities of their music shone through, including the multi-part male/female harmonies that still blow me away.  When the new album comes out, I think we’ll all get pretty excited again, but try this song on for size, if you haven’t already.

:Bodies Of Water - Under The Pines:

Graham Weber and Leatherbag

This past year, my two favorite local performers came out with new albums, and are now touring their way up the United States in support of them.

Graham Weber’s album, The Door To The Morning (which was produced by Leatherbag, actually), is the album the Jawhawks never made (and really should have).  It’s dripping in alt-country twang and the lyrics are some of the best I’ve heard in a while, local or national.  I’m not sure which one to quote for you, so just listen closely to this track, After The Boulevard (which I think I’ve posted here before, but that’s the nature of the game).

:Graham Weber - After The Boulevard:

Leatherbag’s new album, Love & Harm, wears on its sleeve all the influences that went into making it.  Some songs scream "Velvet Underground," others are brutally honest interpretations of the "Wilco" sound, but through it all Leatherbag manages to sway the album in his own direction, due mostly to the outright confrontation with aging that catches the attention of nearly every lyric. That’s no more true than on this song, It’s Over (I Ain’t Young Anymore).

:Leatherbag - It's Over (I Ain't Young Anymore):

Radiohead

Radiohead?  In Rainbows is so yesteryear.  Yes, true, but I want to make a confession: I can’t get into Radiohead.

Still reading?  Good, because when I try to talk to people about this topic, most immediately turn and leave.  The problem for me isn’t the music, I think most Radiohead albums are great, I’ve really have listened to all of them.  But I can never reach the same levels of obsession that everyone else has.

The problem for me I think is that Radiohead fans are like an exclusive club, and the only way to join is to fake having been obsessed with Radiohead since before OK Computer.  Well guess what, I didn’t know who Radiohead were before OK Computer, at least I didn’t know them as "Radiohead, Greatest Band Of All Time," just as "Radiohead, That Band Who Wrote Creep."  Now anytime that I mention that I’m "trying to get into Radiohead," people scoff like I forgot the required reading for Music 101.  But then, half the people who scoff at me were asking Santa for Now 2 for Christmas when Ok Computer came out...

The other problem is the Radiohead culture I’m afraid of joining.  As Noah said yesterday, bands try hard to make sure new music gets out because, realistically, if you don’t put out a new song every week, your spotlight moves on before you had a chance to even bow.  Radiohead aren’t a band who I find vying for the spotlight every week, but somehow half a million blogs find a reason to post something about them constantly.  Oh thanks Pitchfork News Department, I’m glad to know you blew your load today when you found out that Thom Yorke took a dump this morning.  That’s just so "relevant."

In sum: Radiohead music = good. Radiohead culture = daunting, and shameless.

Anyway, here’s a video now that I got you all worked up.

- John Michael Cassetta -

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