The calendar is kind to the party-minded this year, on the cusp of 2008. A long weekend of music began Friday night, carried through yesterday evening ... and now it's New Year's Eve. As you rest up for tonight and prepare to swear off drinking forever (again, and not until morning), check out a few dispatches from events of the past three days.
Conor Oberst and his Not-Bright-Eyes Band
Contrary to the rumors, Portland's M. Ward was not part of the new band Conor Oberst brought to 400 Bar for two shows Saturday and Sunday. But the prolific practitioner of indie rock still packed the house for two concerts, though they were shrouded in mystery -- he wouldn't answer questions about what type of backing band he'd have, and would only say that it wouldn't be a Bright Eyes show. And it wasn't, as his group played 10 new songs before "covering" three from the Bright Eyes canon. See the slideshow with photos by Daniel Corrigan.
Let's get one thing straight right out the gate: these are my favorite releases from 2007. The list below reflects nothing more than personal taste.
My feeling is, if you try to represent that your list makes up the quote, "Best Music of 2007," unquote, then you end up with problematic entities like the Onion AV Club's list or the amalgam of NPR lists, which purport to be objective but fall victim to the same vagaries of individual preference that every other list does.
(Onion people, are you seriously trying to tell America that not a single hip-hop record is among the Top 25 Best CDs of 2007? See, this is the problem with flagging a list as "Best Of" anything. Music's subjective, and that's fine. This is Stuff You Like. If you're a lily-white indie rock nerd, you're probably not digging on UGK. If you're a devotee of Norse black metal, you probably don't see the big deal about Radiohead. So it goes.)
None of that "objectivity" here. Other than the overarching this-is-stuff-I-like rule, I had a few other guidelines. First, only music actually released for the first time in 2007 is eligible. Charles Mingus is still really great and Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" is a classic landmark that listens well even today. Those are old records that were re-released, so they don't make the list. Also, I'm not going to make you endure my thoughts on any obscure free jazz or Japanese noise bands I was listening to just to show you that see, I listen to music you've never heard of. No one cares, not even me.
A bunch of my favorite bands (Wilco, The Weakerthans) released material that just missed this list. Why? In terms of Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky," I liked but didn't love it, and found it less interesting than the group's more experimental releases. The Weakerthans' "Reunion Tour" came out late in the year, and just hasn't had time to grow on me, as John K. Samson's story-songs inevitably do. I also feel plain awful leaving Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings off this list, but I didn't know where to slot, them, so ... I'll just say "you should really buy that record." You won't be sorry.
These are the releases that have already crawled their way inside my skin.
Ah, the New Year. Time of transformation, time of bubbly-spawned magic, time of awkward passes and resolutions you mean at the time. While you're preparing for the long sled ride down Hangover Hill, here's some topical listening material.
5. Death Cab for Cutie, "The New Year"
"So this is the New Year ... and I don't feel any different." Who among us cannot identify with these sentiments? The ennui associated with arbitrary calendar-flippage? We've all been there at one point, and this captures one aspect of the nouvelle annee experience: sitting around and waiting for life to start. Some years are like this, running in place while holding a drink. Try not to spill.
4. The Zombies, "This Will Be Our Year"
A delicious pop nugget from decades past, this track isn't explicitly about the New Year, but about starting a new romantic relationship with an old friend. The words I'm looking for to describe it are "thoroughly charming." Share it with someone you love -- or ensure that it's playing when a longtime pal you have a crush on walks by. More recently, OK Go covered this song, and that version is also well worth listening to. You can find it here. But I think the video below, with decades-old footage of somebody's parents shot with a Super 8, fits the tune's feel.
Cecilie Surasky is no stranger to being misunderstood, having her faith questioned, and giving the world her two cents. The Philadelphia native was raised in the city of brotherly love, and now she’s in the business of joining two seemingly irreconcilable peoples by stopping historically unchecked hatred and some of the worst violence human beings have committed.
For this edition of "Five Songs About," we decided to double our pleasure. Christmas is a special time of year, and we found way too much here (and way too little we could justify leaving out) -- so you get 10 songs for the same low, low price.
Moreover, we tried to go a little further off the beaten sleigh path in most cases. Anybody can tell you to go buy White Christmas or the Love, Actually soundtrack. We delved a little deeper for these tracks.
Don't like 'em? It's the holidays, so kindly forgive me my trespasses. Leave anything out? Of course I did. Tell me all about it in the comments. And be sure you get all the way through, for a special appearance by local heroes, and the song that has been determined by science to be the finest Christmas carol of all time.
10 and 9: Two from Tom Lehrer
My uncle would never forgive me if I didn't mention Tom Lehrer's scathing, brilliant "Christmas Carol." Unfortunately, only the lyrics are available on-line, and the only performance of the song is a dreadful reading performed by the even more dreadful Christopher Hitchens. Do Not Want. On the brighter side, we can do a different-denominational holiday Lehrer experience with the peppy "Hannukah in Santa Monica."
8. Harvey Danger, "Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas."
In a nod to my current personal activities at this time of year, I must mention this track from Seattle's Harvey Danger. Permit me a little lyrical alteration: "The restaurants are closed/so are the banks and bars, the Wall Drug and so's the lefty book store/But City Pages is always open. And I always have to open."
7. Of Montreal, "Christmas Isn't Safe For Animals"
Kevin Barnes has a penchant for odd Christmas songs. Besides this preciously weird, violin-backed indie tune, his band has also produced two goofy Christmas-themed songs on their early record "The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower." But this is the most accessible of the three, and features a bizarre radio montage in the middle. Excelsior! Get the lyrics and the MP3 download here.
6. Dean Martin, "Jingle Bells (Dan the Automator remix)"
Lounge never felt so cool as it does in this gentle remix that is (gasp!) true to the original. The beatmaker behind Del and Handsome Boy Modeling School does the Rat Pack proud, and I bet even your mom will dig. Download it here.
Despite a relatively thin slate of events this week due to the rapidly oncoming holidays, there was still plenty to find around town to entertain yourself. At least, there was if you were me. Which, as far as I know, you aren't. (And if you are, one of us needs to pay our parking tickets and get the starter in the car looked at -- so hop to it after you get done reading this, please.)
SOUL ASYLUM AT FIRST AVENUE
Nothing says Christmas like Soul Asylum. Dave Pirner and his merry band performed at First Avenue on Friday night. Pirner's brother, Paul, was not in attendance -- his band (the 757s) was playing elsewhere -- but for some of us music, like the holidays, is a family affair that works better when the relatives aren't around.
Van Morrison, who played last night at the Northrop Auditorium, has a long and storied history as a musician. He also can be a noted curmudgeon, and I mean that in the best possible way.
We all know the feeling of obligation. We all wish we could have responded like Van Morrison did, back in 1967. Forced by Bang records to fulfill a contractual demand to record a final album for the label, Morrison decided to crank out 31 improvised songs on the spot. Boy, did he deliver. And I thought Neil Young was bad-ass for "This Note's For You."
That link has all 31 tracks, which are a blend of ridiculous, vengeful, nonensical and fanciful. If you don't have time to check out all of them, start in the middle. The bile really starts to rise from Van's liver, and it spills out in surreal ways. Start with "The Big Royalty Check."
The real highlights of the record are "Ring Worm" (now I have a song for my next obscure-diseases-themed mixtape!) and "Dum Dum George," which contains a soundbite that -- an all seriousness -- will be my next ringtone. "You Say France and I'll Whistle" is nice, too. In fact, listen to them all. Tell me that's not time well spent, I dare you.
The meta-commentary offered by the titles is plenty amusing, too: "Freaky If You Got This Far," for one, is actually an amusing listen, while having two songs back-to-back called "Blow in Your Nose" and "Nose in Your Blow" is almost dadaist genius. Then there is the enigmatic George, featured on multiple tracks ... and not in a good way.
Kick back, enjoy Emily Utne's photos from the show last night, and be glad you aren't George.
It's a big week for local favorite Eyedea; he returns from tour tonight to play two shows with two different bands over the next three days. He spoke with us from the road home today.
City Pages:You've got two concerts this week, one an Eyedea & Abilities show and another with Face Candy. How do you go about transitioning from hip-hop to more rock-oriented music?
Eyedea:I just do whatever I want at the time, you know? I don't really think as much about how it's going to affect a career, or what it's going to mean. I just picked up a guitar and started writing songs on a guitar and that was that.
CP:Is there an adjustment from a performance perspective when you have two shows the same week on such different projects?
E:It's not that much of an adjustment. The way it breaks down, I have three different bands. I have Eyedea & Abilities, which is – whatever it is. It's the one that's been successful, that's been a staple in my life, thats helped take me all around the world. Then there's Face Candy, which is an all-improvised idea. There isn't much thought that goes into the actual preparation or anything, because it's all improvised music. Then there's Carbon Carousel, which are songs I write on guitar and piano, and then bring to the band, and we make a movement that way.
In each of their veins, they're so different as far as approach and aesthetic, it's easy to know what a Carbon Carousel show feels like, what a Face Candy show feels like, what an E&A show feels like. And they all for me fulfill different parts of what I want to do.
Steve Poreda lives something of a contradictory life. He owns a toy company, his nickname is Mr. Fun and he calls his home the 'Funhouse.' But he has a serious side too. And comes out on stage, lighted by fire. Poreda formed Illumination Fire Performance Troupe in 2000, and since then, he and his band of pyro-amorous performers have spread the art of fire dancing all over the Twin Cities. The way he talks about fire is the way a sailor talks about the sea: with great appreciation for such a beautiful thing and with a respectful amount of fear. He is says he’s spiritually connected to flames, and he wants others to see it the way he does. This Friday Illumination will perform a Winter Solstice celebration at the Cedar Cultural Center.
City Pages: How did you get into performing with fire?
Steve Poreda: I own a toy company, Mystik Toyz, and we would do a lot of festivals and events. In 1999, I was at a festival with staff, performing and teaching the toys. Some of my west coast friends working with me were performing with fire, and I was seeing them perform with fire for the first time. So as a result of my performing and juggling, it was just a natural fit to get into fire spinning and dancing. Over the past 7 years, we’ve created a fire spinning community that we’ve been harvesting through classes and events ever since. It’s something that once somebody sees, they never forget.
Andrew Bird
Dec. 16, Cedar Cultural Center
Review by Desiree Weber Photos by James Tran
“An Intimate Afternoon with Andrew Bird” is how the Sunday matinee at the Cedar Cultural Club was promoted – and indeed that’s how it turned out. After two sold-out shows at the Guthrie Friday and Saturday night, a crowd of about 400 were treated to a closer listen. Bird’s return to the Cedar stage was somewhat of a homecoming, this being the last show on a tour that started in the same space 136 shows ago, with the support of local heroes Martin Dosh (drums/keyboard), Haley Bonar (vocals) and Jeremy Ylvisaker (guitar/bass).
The ultimate (of three) Andrew Bird shows from the weekend. More photos by James Tran.
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