The Blacks bowled me over when I stumbled across them at SXSW a couple of years ago. The San Fran/NYC based band has one of the most raw, energetic live shows I’ve ever seen. Featuring guitar (Luisa Black), drums (Gavin Black) and wild-eyed tambourine player JDK Blacker, their sound has been described as the love child of Karen O. and The Jesus and Mary Chain. They flat out rock. And tambourine man JDK Blacker is a sight to behold. He plays like he’s exorcizing demons and it’s absolutely spellbinding.
In a bittersweet moment last week, The Blacks released their third and final album, Tiger Songs, on Tricycle Records. Turns out the band is calling it quits after two and a half years. Death by tambourine, they reported. They’re breaking up because tambourine man JDK Blacker is quitting and the band wouldn’t be the same without him. True that.
Tuesday night, San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop played host to quite a line up of music, featuring our very own Girls and Brooklyn’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I was there primarily for Girls and was pleased to see them pack the house. I’ve been smitten with this band for a while, (especially their drummer – he rocks!) so it’s nice to see them get their due recognition.
But I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the Brooklyn hipster quintet with the annoying name, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I hate even typing it and I could never quite make it through the entire album. Listening to it always felt like a game of name that 80s band. While I still stand by my opinion that their sound is a bit redundant, they definitely played a powerful and most enjoyable set.
Whew, I’ve been wanting to get this post up for about 3 weeks now, but you know how it goes – life prevails and hobbies sometimes take a back seat. Well, here it is. My mid-year Best Albums of 2009…so far. Out of all the music I’ve sorted through thus far this year, these are the albums that bubbled to the top, the ones I happily came back to again and again. They may not all be Pitchfork approved (or even rated for that matter), but they worked for me.
I’m not going to go through the diligence of ranking them, so I’ve listed them in alphabetical order. I’ll save the ranking exercise for the end of year round up. Until then, I hope you find some new music to enjoy!
Band of Skulls Baby Darlin Doll Face Honey “Death by Diamonds and Pearls”
It seems the Swedes have cornered the market on ambient electro pop. This latest track from JJ’s new album entitled, JJ No. 2, is yet another example of their mastery in the genre and has been stuck in my head all week. And no, I didn’t misspell the song title.
It seems The Dead Weather has launched a trend with the premiere of their ‘short film’ by Jonathon Glazer for “Treat Me Like Your Mother” on Showtime last week.
Then I found this crazy short film for The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Snakesweat”. Glamorous and weird only in the way Karen O can pull off. Who’s next? I’ll be watching to find out.
San Francisco’s Girls are paired up this week with New York’s Pains of Being Pure at Heart tonight for a great night of music at The Rickshaw Stop. Bonus prize, Girls are offering up their 10″ for free download. Get ’em.
Then this Sunday, July 26 features a repeat performance of one of my favorite bands this year, Band of Skulls. The hot UK trio will be rockin’ it at Cafe du Nord. Be there.
Sticking to the folk theme today, here’s a UK chamber quintet I quite like listening to, The Miserable Rich. I don’t know if they’re rich, but they look pretty miserable in this photo, don’t they?
All kidding aside, the band – whose name was inspired from an experience they had playing at the wedding of two ultra-rich aristocrats in Rome – has an orchestral folk sound that evokes qualities of Andrew Bird. It’s beautifully sweet, tender and easy on the ears. Their 2008 release “Twelve Ways to Count” is a home recorded gem and one of my go-to ‘wind down’ albums at the end of the day. “Monkey” is an acoustic version of the one of the tracks off the album released earlier this year. Enjoy.
Artist: The Handsome Family Album: Honey Moon File Under: Alt -Country Featured Tracks: “When You Whispered”
Recent reviews of The Handsome Family’s 9th release, Honey Moon, seem to suggest this record is a refreshing collection of uplifting love songs. Having enjoyed the dark tones of the previous 8 wrist-slitters, I was worried. I put Honey Moon on for the first time expecting an utterly new Handsome Family, one I wasn’t sure my unmedicated mind could handle.
The opener, “Linger, Let me Linger” does indeed mention “hearts (drawn on a dusty window pane)” as well as “a love note (lying in the road)”. Is that a love song? I suppose it could be… I grabbed some old Prozac from the medicine cabinet and washed it down with cough syrup. “Little Sparrows” begs to “take me with you when you go”. That is romantic. I finished off a bottle of wine. “Were you with me then my friend, are you with me now?” How sweet!! I am uplifted! And darned if there weren’t some other new things here. The tinkling computer chirps on “Love is Like” evoke Grandaddy. I never saw that coming.
I understand this release coincides with the couples 20th wedding anniversary and all, but love fest this is not. Thank goodness! Brett Sparks’ deep voice, and his unique phrasings are dependably depressing. Rennie Sparks’ magical tragic lyrics would be otherwise unavailable except to the wallpaper in the office of a pricey psychoanalyst. There may be some more “love” songs here, but make no mistake these are not your mother’s love songs. These are songs of ACTUAL real-life love, 20 year love, crying on the phone love. There is a load of beauty but it’s in the dark shadows like the beauty on all previous Handsome Family albums. Enjoy this record with whisky, enjoy it with Zoloft, but whatever you do, go see them July 23rd at the Bottom of the Hill. I bet ya’ 2 drinks they are wearing black.
One of the last standing Strokes members not to have a side project has finally caved in. Julian Casablancas is officially going solo with a full length debut entitled “Phrazes For The Young”. Looks like he’s getting all Dead Weather on us with his movie-style promotional trailer on YouTube. Hmm, can he live up to the hype?
the OCMD 