I guess this is just something to throw my thoughts down on. There will probably by no rhyme or reason to them, just what I'm thinking. It may be about music, it may be about life in general, it may be about current events, whatever.
So, as anyone who reads this blog will know (all two or three of you), I'm a fan of the Format / Fun.'s front man Nate Ruess. This weekend my girlfriend, her roommate, and I went to Minneapolis to see Fun. in concert. I enjoyed their segment. Unfortunately, they were opening for Jack's Mannequin. Now, there was a time in high school that I liked this band. It was during my emo days. I saw them in concert at Summerfest (I think in '06?). It occurred to me after watching Andrew McMahon that he is a giant tool. This weekend, older and wiser as I am, my beliefs were only affirmed.
Now, if any of you want to learn how to be a tool on stage too, I'll educate you in a segment I will call "Tool Rools". Mr. McMahon followed all of these.
#1 First thing you do when you get out on stage is yell "How the f*** you feeling tonight (insert name of city here)?!?!?! This question follows or is similar to other tool rools to follow, but it deserves it's own rule because it's so cliche and one that tool rockers will always follow. Naturally, Mr. McMahon was not an exception.
#2 Have two mics, a foot apart, with absolutely no difference in effect/volume, that you switch between constantly so you can make spastic dramatic movements.
#3 Spastic dramatic movements. Now, there is a right way and wrong way to do it. But McMahon makes ridiculous faces when he plays that in no way are necessary and are clearly meant to be emotive but just come off as douchey. Dude looked like he was having sex with his piano. He clearly was thinking, Yeah, I look awesome because it totally looks like I'm rocking out hard when I'm playing chords on a piano.
#4 Insert the name of the town you're playing in into the song. This is what you do if you're a cheer whore. And yes, it happened.
#5 Stand on the speakers and sing. Unless you take a dive into the crowd (which is only okay if your music is dive-worthy and not sappy ballads disguised as rock), you are a tool.
#6 Swear as much as you can when you talk. Especially if you're not angry about anything. Like, fine, if there's power behind your statements, by all means, exercise your Constitutional right. But come on, if you're saying "I'm quitting music to become an f***ing ice dancer" (actual wording from the concert), then save it.
#7 Have other tools in the audience. So many stories. The girl behind us that was singing at the top of her lungs horribly, the guy in front that would be like "DID YOU HEAR THAT SOLO? IT WAS SO F***ING AWESOME. HE'S THE BEST MUSICIAN EVER! READ MY SHIRT, IT SAYS JACK'S MANNEQUIN! I GIVE HIGH FIVES IF YOU LIKE JACK'S MANNEQUIN!" (Again, actually overheard from the concert. Another unrelated thing I heard was a guy say "I just did something with a man that I never want to do again...").
#8 Jump on your instrument. I'm amazed he didn't destroy his piano. There was really no need for it. I really hate being at concerts when people destroy their instruments. It's like, "Yeah, it's a crappy economy, and you paid $25 dollars to my show, and I really could have charged you $3 less if I didn't have to replace this instrument, but bah, it's so worth it right?" No. It's cliche and it was originally done by people way more talented and rebellious than you. Your music is about wishing someone knew how you felt about them and crying in your pillow, not a corrupt government.
#9 After each song make it look like you just ran a marathon.
#10 Announce to everyone that you're drinking alcohol on stage. Especially when it's a martini.
Basically, I've seen a lot of bad concerts (mostly in my high school days), but if I were the Pitchfork of concert reviewers I'd give a Jack's concert a 0.0 or probably even this.
So it's been a while since I've written (how many posts have I written this year starting off with this sentence?). Education has me constantly working and I think my lack of writing is a good sign. Right now, howeverm I'm practically the only person in Madison since most people will be coming back from Thanksgiving break tomorrow. Things will be busy for me again soon, so I figured I'd get a post in while I have time. So here's my Top 10 albums of 2009, a few honorable mentions, and some albums that were intentionally left off the list. Hit it.
1. Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear This is probably going to be the number one on a lot of lists, and deep inside I don't want to make it #1 just for that reason, but it's too good to not (I can feel better because #2 probably won't be on many people's lists). "While You Wait for the Others" is probably the song of the year as well (the original version, not the one where Michael McDonald sings). It's hard to believe they could top Yellow House, but they certainly did. Daniel Rossen's voice is amazing, the harmonies are great, and even though Ed Droste's "Two Weeks" received considerable airplay, it never gets old. And come on, people, if Jay-z thinks they're cool...
"While You Wait for the Others" at YouTube
2. Intuit - Ramona Falls Who? I'll tell you, calm down. Seriously, take a step back. I can smell your breath, and it's not charming. Ramona Falls is the side/solo project debut from Brent Knopf of Menomena. Yes, another Menomena band, but until they make a bad album you have no reason to complain. This is Knopf's first, and it's amazing. His angelic voice can get wicked at times. He can serenade you or rip your face off with words. He's always right, but willing to admit he's wrong sometimes (don't worry about the logistics of that sentence). There's not a single weak track on the album. It has not only held me over until the upcoming release of a new Menomena album (date still tentative...), it has furthered my confidence in each member's genius. PS the music video below is probably the coolest of the year in my book.
"I Say Fever" at YouTube.
3. Two Suns - Bat for Lashes Natasha Khan knows she's good. She knew it before anyone else did. Pitchfork thought her first album was good, but nothing special. She likes glitter and sings about having split personalities. She's weird. It's amazing. Both everything that's good about a female vocalist and a bit of every good female vocalist is in Natasha Khan. You can hear Bjork, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, and PJ Harvey in her music. She's by no means a ripoff, she's a unique bird/flower/butterfly/anything that's beautiful (and maybe a little bit scary and unstable).
"Daniel" at Yahoo!
4. Eskimo Snow - Why? Despite having horrible pains from pneumonia at their show and having to go to the ER before they played, the amazing-ness-ocity of Why? is undeniable. Eskimo Snow is the calmest child in the Why's discography, but it's also the most introspective. Where Alopecia talks about jerking off in an art museum bathroom, E.S. asks its mother if its failing. If you love the mallet percussion, you'll love this album.
"These Hands/ January Twentysomething" at Pitchfork
5. Never Better - P.O.S. The rap I had in my collection before P.O.S. was limited essentially to Why? and K-Os. Why? is a Jewish guy who sounds like a cross between that dude from the Decemberists and that dude from Interpol, and K-Os raps about going to church. P.O.S. is still far from "gangster", but it was my first delving into an artist that was primarily a rapper and a little bit angry. I admit, I got this album initially just because The Velvet Teen's Judah Nagler guests on its title track. I had seen P.O.S. on tour with TVT and Minus the Bear, so I knew his stuff incorporated live band. P.O.S. is the epitome of indie rap. The music to his songs is amazing, and his rhymes are enormously clever. If you've never seen his cover of Pearl Jam's "Why Go", I feel sorry for you, and this injustice must be corrected quickly by clicking on this link.
I thank God everyday that He gave Isaac Brock a lisp. The band has had mainstream success, yet Brock's maintained his lunacy. They'll still put out 8 minutes songs even though the radio stations will search their music for a hit to play. This is a B side album, but it plays like a coherent thought (which might be the first time anyone's used the word "coherent" to describe anything Modest Mouse has done).
"King Rat" at Yahoo!
7. Upper Air - Bowerbirds Like Andrew Bird? Like Bon Iver? I have a friend that described Bowerbirds as the illegitimate child of those two artists. If that doesn't sound like a beautiful kid, I don't know what is.
"Northern Lights" from Pitchfork's Cemetery Gates
8. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix I've claimed to know a lot of bands before they made it success in the mainstream. You'll never hear me say this about Phoenix. Well, I shouldn't say that. I bought the album about two weeks before it started getting played on the radio and in commercials. But I can't say I was far ahead of the curve on this one. They're so infectious. And while their earlier albums are better, 1901 is probably the best song they've produced, and this is definitely their most mature album.
"1901" at Yahoo!
9. Wildlife - Headlights Depressing Headlights songs? Where are the four horsemen, cuz this has to be the Apocalypse. Maturity looks good on Headlights. I've heard comparisons of this album to Broken Social Scene's work, and there are definitely a lot more moving guitar parts. If you want them to be their usually poppy selves, then you might be a bit disappointed, but I now look at Headlights less as a "cute" band and more as a creative band.
"Love Song for Buddy" at YouTube
10. Aim and Ignite - Fun. When the Format broke up I needed a hug. It was just such happy and creative music. Luckily, Fun. is essentially a continuation of the Format, led by ex-frontman Nate Ruess. I'm going to see them in February in Minneapolis and I couldn't be more excited. Ruess has an amazingly pure and flexible voice. Freddie Mercury would approve, as some of their stuff shows shades of Queen.
"All the Pretty Girls" at YouTube
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Now We Can See - The Thermals This album didn't make it just because no album can ever measure up to The Body, The Blood, The Machine. That album was the right way to do political, societal, and religious commentary in a rock opera (I'm looking at you Green Day...). Now We Can See is a great album, it just doesn't have the venom and message that TBTBTM had.
"Now We Can See" at Youtube
Mean Everything to Nothing - Manchester Orchestra I think it's definitely a progression after I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child. It's not so one-dimensional. ILVLC was just so depressing. It was a good soundtrack to my sophomore year. But MEN had a great flow and explored a wide range of feeling. You could hear the influence the bands M.O. toured with had, as shades of My Morning Jacket, Colour Revolt and Brand New come out in many of their songs.
"Shake It Out" at Yahoo!
Ordinary Riches - Company of Thieves Gen has wicked pipes. The guitarist showed his skills on Live from Daryl's House, but he could use them in their music a lot more. I could not get enough of "Oscar Wilde".
"Oscar Wilde" at YouTube
NOTABLE OMISSIONS Time to Die - The Dodos Just to show you I don't always agree with Pitchfork (although that should be obvious from previous posts), I thought the new Dodos album was horrendous. Meric Long's interesting riffs died somewhere between albums.
"Fables" at YouTube
Daisy - Brand New Literally, just nothing special. They were going in a great direction with The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me, but it just seems Jesse Lacey's gotten lazy and gotten mental help, which makes for much less interesting music. TDGRIM was just so genuine. Daisy just seems like an attempt to quiet the people who said TDGRIM was too depressing and not hard enough. I do wish I could see them with Glassjaw, though.
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