Cat Power – Jukebox/Dark End of the Street

i had completely forgotten to review cat power’s jukebox, but was reminded by the more recent release of dark end of the street, an EP of cuts from the jukebox sessions which never made it to the final album. after the covers album, and jukebox— the early pressing of which came with a supplementary disc of even more covers songs— this new EP seems to be a bit much. the greatest was a strong release, so i’m not entirely sure why she’s been hiding behind other artists work to this degree. all i can do at this point is speculate and wonder if she feels her songwriting is lacking now that she’s in a much better place emotionally.

i despise cover albums almost as much as i despise remix albums. sure, there are always instances when such albums are great and completely warranted, but more often than not, they’re a cash-grab. that said, you won’t hear me crying “sell out!” quite yet. of all the covers albums that i’ve heard, the only ones i come back to for repeated listens are chan marshall’s (i’ve also been feeling rise above by the dirty projectors lately). the covers album in particular was a strong example of her songwriting and ability to make a song her own. in the case of jukebox and dark end of the street, while they are both consistent musically, the problem is that the recent stylistic choices marshall has been making are indebted to the same artists who she covers, making these songs less departures and more by-the-numbers, karaoke renditions of classics. in short, there’s no room for chan to do her thing. for the most part, chan’s performances throughout these songs are quite flat and lifeless, occasionally bounding back with a soulfullness and enthusiasm that recall the more tense, gorgeous moments of the greatest (“aretha, sing one for me,” “i believe in you”), and for that reason, i can’t just simply write these albums off.

too often do artists make drastic changes only to have listeners have a knee-jerk reaction to it without fully taking the time to try to understand what might drive the change, or what it might lead to. again, the notion of “sell out” comes up. any significant shift in artistic direction (especially towards pop) by a musician is often followed by a chorus of people decrying said shift, arguing that it is dishonest and fuelled by money. david bowie’s young americans comes to mind— while it’s not his best work, it still had the power to confound fans and critics for its emulative devotion to philadelphia soul, and now we know that it was a transitional album, demonstrating bowie’s enthusiasm for a style that would still be heard throughout his career, albums later. there’s also something to chan’s transformation that has “dylan” written all over it: going from praised, folksy, singer-songwriter to a blues-inspired rock ‘n’ roll star, and sufferring from a barrage of criticism for it. i don’t think chan’s material is the equivalent to a highway 61 revisited, but i can’t help but note the similarities between the two situations. it makes you wonder how far she’s taking her emulation, and what the result might be of such devotion.

Filed under: Album Review , 2008, cat power, covers, dark end of the street, jukebox

Q-Tip – The Renaissance

what’s most apparent on the renaissance is q-tip’s predisposition to step out of the spotlight, a move he’s been doing his whole career. there’s never a sense that he’s restraining himself though, his role is one that he’s comfortable with, even outside of a group-dynamic. on this, his second solo disc, which by logic should be a exploration or feature of oneself, there’s still a modesty to his rhymes and presence on his songs that act as a strong antithesis to the kind of empty ego-stroking that’s become commonplace in hip-hop. the songs are the focus here, not him, and without coming off as masturbatory or self-indulgent, he manages to sound confident. he knows he’s the shit, he just doesn’t need repeat it in every song; rather, it oozes from his diction, assuredness and self-effacement. with the renaissance, q-tip continues to be a source for an alternative to mainstream hip-hop. even after a 20 year long career, he remains a pillar of originality and it’s his demonstration of his agency on this album that really highlights him as a unique voice.

Filed under: Album Review , 2008, q-tip, the renaissance

it’s occured to me that i’m allowed to be serene

kayo dot/stephen brodsky/siberia @ wrongbar – november 20, 2008

two weeks ago i saw stephen brodsky play at wrongbar and aside from the minor setbacks (being kept outside in the cold by the wrongbar’s staff, the opener’s set going far too long) it was a great show. i didn’t stay for kayo dot’s set but that was due to the time they actually hit the stage and the fact that i really only cared to see stephen brodsky.

local band siberia started things off in a rather cliché manner: armed with v-neck t-shirts and dramatic poses (perfect for photography!!) the band played through what sounded like a number of explosions in the sky covers, interjecting them with odd moments of stop-start-punk riffs… maybe i’m just tired of the whole “post-rock” genre at the moment, or maybe i’m just done with the tired “slow-build” formulae that seem difficult for post-rock bands to really escape. either way, siberia didn’t show me anything new, and they really didn’t seem excited or energetic until the last song of their set, when the drummer started to pretend he was exhausted and started knocking over his drum kit as he played. that’s when they really started giving it their all and actually seemed worthwhile to watch. their set got noisy and chaotic, and had it consisted of just that one song, i would’ve loved it. too bad their set was actually an excruciating 50 minutes.

then stephen brodsky got on stage! with a microscopic set-list in-tow (the fact that i can remember all of it is a testament to how short it was) mr. brodsky played to a small group of devoted fans. promoting his new album the black ribbon award as well as the even-newer (with a bit of afterbirth still on it) thing or thong rider EP, he still managed to perform one song from each major project that he’s been involved with, save for kid kilowatt. “man of the mountain” set the pace for the evening, as he did a slower, more relaxed version of it— an apt choice given the lack of instrumentation. i kept itching to hear the songs at faster tempos, but he wouldn’t have really done justice to them, lacking a full band. regardless, it was exciting to see a survey of his catalogue and the energy in the room between the few of us who were there and brodsky reflected that. he regaled us with neil young anecdotes, a buddy holly cover, and a encore!! it was the first encore of the tour for him, and for me, it was the first time i’ve ever seen or wanted an opening band to play one. i really wish i was into bootlegging, because this show was a gem. please come back to toronto soon, stephen brodsky, because we clearly love you.

set-list:

man of the mountain
oh boy
new moon
rainbow no more
kid defender
lima bean
magnified

Filed under: Concert Review , 2008, hyrdahead, kayo dot, live, siberia, stephen brodsky, stove brodsky, thing or thong rider EP, toronto, wrongbar

Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy

my, my, my, i’ve been a bit slow to get this one done. apologies. i’ve been quite busy lately. too busy for the internets? no way.

well, was it worth the wait? … that seems to be a popular question to ask lately, but is it a relevant one? i mean, did we really think that this album would be worth the wait, that somehow the longer an artist takes to record an album, the better it turns out? of course not. well, i hope not. i think that fans of the band had hoped for the album to turn out really well, and that sentiment was definitely shared by those higher-ups who care about the album’s sales, but if this album’s gestation period has any bearing on my overall listening experience, i wouldn’t really know.

Filed under: Album Review , 2008, chinese democracy, guns n roses