Saturday, May 17, 2008

Brain Notes
 

My brain is cluttered.  I’ve been pounding out lengthy columns each week and in truth, length isn’t exactly my strength.  Ask anyone who knows me, I have the attention span of an ADD-addled four year old.  Seriously, I can usually stay on one subject of conversation for a good eight seconds before breaking sentence and moving on.  I’m terrible with organization and unless repeatedly badgered I forget all but the most inane trivia.  I’m sort of a like a walking mental nursing home. Thus, on occasion a column can be a trying ordeal.  I keep writing down subjects I’d like to dig in to, but realize when I head back and try to write them in their entirety, that they’re not columns, they’re wispy ideas that’ll garner me a couple sentences at most.  But, there is something to be said about a fragment of a thought.  So I thought I’d share a few of the aborted brain farts I’ve had lately with you good readers of Side One: Track One.

- COLIN MELOY SINGS!  And kind of annoys me -

There’s a moment on the new Colin Meloy Sings! album, during perennial fan favorite The Engine Driver where as Mr. Meloy wraps up the song, the audience begins, campfire sing-along fashion, echoing his words.  And I can’t stand it.  I’m an unabashed fan of The Decemberists and all things Meloy, but for some reason this ardent fan adoration ticks me off to no end.  I don’t want my Decemberists to be loved in the same way say, Dave Matthews’ would be.  Sure, I’m one hundred percent happy these fine folks have made it, but I just don’t like sharing my love with everyone else.

Call me an asshole, but I hate the fact that a Decemberists’ ticket rings in at thirty five dollars and when they perform it’s in a massive concert hall where everyone’s seated.  I hate the next time I see them in a club, it’ll be an “Intimate Performance with The Decemberists” not just them, doing what they do. 

Honestly, the new solo disc by Meloy is good (built almost specifically for needy fans) but all of sudden the man behind some of my favorite music of all time is releasing the indie equivalent of Dave & Tim at Luther College.  I don’t want to share.  Not one bit.

:Colin Meloy - The Engine Driver:

- The Builders And The Butchers -

In my Colin Meloy related misery I stumbled upon this band, The Builders and The Butchers and if they don’t sate your old Decemberist-needs, you might be deaf.  This is ragged, busting-at-the-seams folk-rock accentuated by one of the more unique voices you’ve ever heard.  A raspy falsetto backed by a back alley chorus composed of bandmates and audience alike.  Their lyrics are full of crimes gone wrong and morbid deaths in towns built on iron.  Their instrumentation involves all acoustic instruments (banjo, mandolin, gee-tar and bass) as well as a ridiculously skimpy drum set (that I kid you not was mostly passed out to the audience by show’s end) and a tom.

A most pleasant discovery.

:The Builders And The Butchers - Spanish Death Song:

- Santogold VS M.I.A. -

Santogold just released her self-titled album (the one with her puking up glitter) and it’s already garnering praise and accusations of M.I.A. biting.  I’m here to dispel those rumors. Yes, the two female rappers certainly seem to have chosen similar musical styles, and yes their atonal style of flinging words does draw comparison, but, at the end of the day these are two very different musicians.

Each as obviously been heavily influenced by their geographical points of birth.  M.I.A.’s music is full of clatter, change, as if you can feel the color exploding out of the music.  I’ve never been, but I’m pretty sure Sri Lanka (at least the urban areas) has a similar chaotic nature.  Santogold on the other hand instills an almost typical New York urban feel.  Even on her reggae track Your Voice, her beautiful voice sort of strikes out against a very concrete wall of sound.  Both ladies came across as tough cookies, but from very different backgrounds.

Instead of picking apart the similarities, we should be applauding the fact that two artists are releasing albums this good right now.

:Santogold - Your Voice:

- Noah Sanders -

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