REMin' with JT Part 2

Part 2, Major Label Success: 1988-1996

Green (1988)

JT
Fave Song: Pop Song 89
Least fave: Untitled
Discovered Gem: Turn you Inside-Out


A definite return to form after the disappointing Document, REM proves that they are capable of releasing an album of radio friendly yet 'indie' songs. The singles on this album are amongst the finest "alternative" hits of the 80s and where Document failed this album has amazing album tracks as well. (A-)


Me
Fave Song: Orange Crush
Least fave: Hairshirt
Discovered Gem: Untitled


Even though Reckoning and LRP are certainly disjointed, Green is the first (but not last) REM album to be a true mess. But what a charming mess! This is the very best of empty pop and heartfelt balladry. From Stand to the Wrong Child you hit every single emotion and it's a thrilling ride. I think what holds it together is that the dark vibe from Document has bled over and never quite leaves, even on the upbeat numbers, and some of their most sinister moments (Inside Out) are disguised as fun sing alongs. For me Green is like a snapshot of a lifetime, all the highs and lows of living, joy and disappointment and regret and fear and hope and the secret, quiet ponderings of the inner self. I remember a lot of folks seeing this as a sell out 'cos of the WB label, and I think REM were aware of that and attempting to not take the next logical step towards back to back pop, but pulling out all the stops to showcase everything they were capable of at the time; so to me it was a step ahead and the culmination of five years of brilliance. And then... (A)

Out of Time (1991)

JT
Fave Song: Country Feedback
Least fave: Radio Song
Discovered Gem: Half a World Away


While this album is the one that launched REM to superstardom on the strength of its singles, it is a surprisingly weak effort all around. While there are some fantastic album tracks (Low, for example—which more than anything pointed in the direction the band would head with Automatic for the People) there are also some terrible songs (Belong and Radio Song). Boo for breakthroughs. (B-)


Me
Fave Song: Country Feedback
Least fave: Belong
Discovered Gem: Near Wild Heaven


It's story time… I remember when this album was about to come out and I'd already heard Losing My Religion, and sitting in my second period Math 5 class thinking, "How could the rest of the album possibly be any better than that song?" and yet fully expecting it to be great. In some ways Losing My Religion is the highlight of the album, 'cos there's just so much going on there musically, lyrically and emotionally, but it does have some rivals. Anyway, back to my story... The local radio station played OoT in its entirety the day before it came out (unprecedented in PC at the time) and a bunch of us got together after school and tuned in. It was basically the greatest thing I'd ever heard up to that time and I fully embraced it because I was absolutely riding the wave. Looking back I can certainly see its faults, which we've discussed, and the production is extremely bubble gum overall, which makes some of the stronger songs (Texarkana, Near Wild Heaven, Half a World Away) sound a bit watered down, and yet enhances other songs, basically the more radio ready pop ones (Losing My Religion, Shiny Happy People). But there are a few that don't seem to be mired by the gloss, and Low, Me in Honey and of course Country Feedback are some of the most superb moments in REM's catalog. Why I can't give this an A rating, even for nostalgia, is because the bad songs are just really awful, and even though there are only three (Radio Song, Endgame, Belong), they're so "strategically" placed that they really bring me down from the highs of the previous tune. That's why I usually start at track 8 and ride it out until the end. (B+)

Automatic for the People (1992)

JT
Fave Song: Nightswimming
Least fave: Ignoreland
Discovered Gem: Find the River


Unlike any REM album up until this point, Automatic is best when listened to from start to finish. The album contains no (obvious) singles (ala Stand, Losing My Religion, End of the World) but contains their most consistently good songs since Murmur. (A)


Me
Fave Song: The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight
Least fave: Everybody Hurts
Discovered Gem: Nightswimming


I don't know why I've held such a grudge against this album, though lately it's just turned to indifference. I think it was because they were all over the radio and on the lips of every "you don't get it!!" idiot on the sidewalk. And while that was certainly the case with OoT, I was proud of their achievement then, caught up in the moment. But by AftP, I wanted them to go back to being the shining secret I shared with a few close friends and the complete opposite was happening. Basically, I was finally screaming "sell out!" And because part of me is still stuck back in 199-whatever, part of me still has a stigma against this album. Which is dumb even from the get go, 'cos Drive is hardly what you would call a single by mainstream standards, much less lead single material. Why would a radio station play this song? Because it's good? Well, for a brief, shining moment...yes!!! And I guess that's what is so awesome about this album, 'cos this is still pop music the way REM wanted to make it, the way only REM could, and it was the biggest thing in the world. Too bad I just sat back pissy and grumbling and didn't embrace it at the time. But better late than never, right? Right, JT? ...JT? Anyway, so while I'm now accepting this as a fully legit REM album, I will now scrutinize it as such. Basically, I think this is an album of brilliant singles (the biggest ones at least), some standout album tracks (Try Not to Breathe), some pleasant incidental moments (Nightswimming) and some clunkers (Ignoreland). It's sad though, 'cos I find my attention wandering after about three songs, and if I skip to various tracks I can say "Yeah, that's a good one," but it can't hold me from front to back. I think part of this is subconscious and I don't know what I can do about that. Sorry JT, you'll just have to champion this one with everyone else on your own. (B+)

Monster (1994)

JT
Fave Song: What's the Frequency, Kenneth
Least fave: King of Comedy
Discovered Gem: Let Me In


Another change in direction from the laid back introspective side of Automatic for the People, we find R.E.M. rocking us out. This album upon its release was a complete and utter disappointment to me and I’ve had a long journey with this album since then. I have finally ended that journey with an understanding that this isn’t a bad album in general, but just isn’t a great R.E.M. record. (C+)


Me
Fave Song: Crush with Eyeliner
Least fave: King of Comedy
Discovered Gem: I Don't Sleep, I Dream


Yes, in theory I hate this album, and any REM fan should. But if you approach it as not an REM album and instead as a rock album of the mid-90s, it's not half bad. So there, I’ve said that much. I believe this was the album where they wanted to pay tribute to their influences, and while there is some of that (and those are typically the stronger songs), they also seem to be influenced by those whom they influenced, and there are songs that sound forced, formulaic and just flat lazy. It's almost like planned inspiration at some point, "Oh, let's have a fat chords here..." But where it works, it works pretty well, and songs like Crush with Eyeliner, Bang and Blame or I Took Your Name show Jagger or T-Rex posturing but make it fun instead of attempting to have an attitude. Yet sometimes it's just really bad, like King of Comedy (sounds made up on the spot, like studio goofing), Tongue (horrible R&B ala U2 on Rattle & Hum), Strange Currencies (generic, 80s hair band balladry). Towards the end it starts getting more interesting and almost experimental, and I guess I never really made it this far or was so annoyed by the other stuff that I didn't pay attention, but Let Me In is a great, noisy anti-ballad and Circus Envy is almost like a Burning Hell part 2, only better...which shows that these guys always had an album like this in them, and this was their moment to go out and take advantage of their legit rock star status and play it to the hilt. And I guess that's what makes this album forgivable in hindsight, they were just having fun with where they were, playing characters in a play. So all the giant riffs and booming drums are about as good as can be expected for this type of music, and all Monster is really missing is some sweet guitar solos, of which there are few (which is truly surprising considering what they're doing here). Thankfully, they got it all out of their system and then they moved on to bigger and better things (creatively at least). So, when judging it overall, it's definitely in the bottom one or two of REM's albums, but if this were some other band without all the history and expectation of what they were supposed to provide, even though I still probably wouldn't have been a fan, I wouldn't have outright hated it either. I'm giving it a double rating. (C/B+)

New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)

JT
Fave Song: New Test Leper
Least fave: Be Mine
Discovered Gem: Binky the Floormat


This was my ‘great discovery’ of this experiment. I got this album when it first came out and was very underwhelmed. Perhaps it was the lingering let down of Monster that led me to dismiss this album or the fact that it was (and is) their longest record. Having revisited it I have to admit that I was very wrong, as this album ranks up there amongst their best and is another ‘start to finish’ type album, and their first truly great ‘headphones’ album. Considering this was the last original lineup album, it is fitting that they end on such a high note. (A-)


Me
Fave Song: Leave
Least fave: Binky the Doormat
Discovered Gem: Electrolite


I love this album. It's super ambitious, not at all the 'proper' or 'expected' follow up to Monster, and for me a return to form…which is not the signature REM sound, but instead making unique, interesting and believable music. What’s really great? Nobody got it, and it is certainly the most underrated album in their roster, even from fans. This album completely slipped by the radar and it took them losing Bill for the band to get back on the scope again. There are really no obvious singles on NAiHF and some pretty long songs by REM standards. The overall length of the album is a drawback (in my hectic work/kids life), but if you have the time, it's very worth it. Really, in some ways it picks up from where the end of Monster left off and also points to Up, so very experimental, but, most importantly, it's also the closest they ever came to the same feel as Murmur (prob without trying to) by creating a sound like no other. They were making a record THEY wanted to make and the results are the ultimate payoff. Monster was mindless fun, but Hi-Fi was back to business, and business is goo-oo-oo-ood. (A+)

REMin' with JT Part 1

REM, those godfathers of indie-college-jangle-mumble-pop-rock, are back with a new album, Collapse into Now, and in “preparation” for its release, JT and I first started discussing the pros and cons, the woes and joys, the ups and downs of these lads from Athens, GA…and then decided to listen to all of their previous albums…and then decided to make an Excel spreadsheet listing favorite songs, our thoughts on the album as a whole and finally giving it a grade.

Dorks.

The process took forever…well, a good six weeks or so, but it was truly a labor of love, as REM is a band that we have both loved longer in our lives than we haven’t, and despite a few falling outs over the years, have always come back to them. I wish I could reproduce here the (likely) hours we spent discussing this truly fascinating band, but I can’t. However, I can sum up a good bit of it with a few conclusions.

1) REM is a band so unto themselves that you really can’t compare them to anyone else, and so you can only compare them to themselves…which means they have higher standards to live up to, and criticisms may at times be harsh.

2) Almost always, even a bad REM song/album is better than 90%+ of whatever else came out that year.

3) REM is likely the greatest American band…ever.

Also, a few things to keep in mind:

1) As always, though I started off short, I got very long-winded, while JT kept his thoughts brief and to the point.

2) These were written as if in conversation, so if it doesn’t flow like a professional write up or makes references that seem “inside,” well, you know…

3) We’re naming our favorite song, least favorite and a newly “discovered gem” that stood out to us; but even when we name our least favorite song on an album, it doesn’t necessarily mean we dislike the song…though sometimes it does. (Let’s face it, 7 Chinese Brothers sucks.)

4) We often use abbreviations for the albums, which is probably obvious, because some of these album titles are a bit wordy, and because we’re lazy.

5) Because of #1, I’m breaking everything down into three posts/distinct sections of REM’s career, which ironically (and thankfully for my OCD) breaks down nicely into five albums each. Winning!

So, without further ado…Part 1, the IRS Years: 1983-1987

Murmur (1983)

JT

Fave Song: Talk About the Passion

Least fave: 9 - 9

Discovered Gem: Perfect Circle

Probably the greatest Debut Album ever...EVER. Stipe is at his mumbling best and the band sounds like they never would again. If you have to own just one this would be it, but why own one when... (A+)

Me

Fave Song: Shaking Through

Least fave: Radio Free Europe

Discovered Gem: Sitting Still

No other album sounds like Murmur, either by REM or any other band before or since. The approach in songwriting, structure, delivery and production are unique, timeless and other worldly. Sometimes it's joyous, sometimes it's chilling, but it's never threatening in its dark delivery. It's the type of album that makes you want more of the same, while also realizing that another attempt at such an effort would come off lacking. Perfection personified. It's that short and simple. (A+)

Reckoning (1984)

JT

Fave Song: So. Central Rain

Least fave: 7 Chinese Brothers

Discovered Gem: Camera

…you could own 2....while William doesn't agree, this is a fantastic sophomore album and sees the band adding a little 'country' element to their jangle pop greatness...this album, more than the debut, points in the direction that REM would ultimately take to lead them to super stardom and world domination. (A-)

Me

Fave Song: So Central Rain

Least fave: 7 Chinese Brothers

Discovered Gem: Time After Time

Sophomore slump? Not really, but sorta. Not that I wanted Murmur 2, but I think this is a case of good songs that don't really flow well together, which honestly REM has often been guilty of by throwing a bunch of different sounds on one album. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. However, of these 10 songs only one is really flat out bad, and that's 7 Chinese Brothers (though not as bad as its Voice of Harold counterpart). Most of the rest are from great to excellent, so maybe it's just me being difficult in “not liking” this album. Also, this here is where the 'classic REM sound' was born, esp on Harbor Coat. Honestly, this is one that I think could grow on me (and it only took two decades!) if I gave it a proper chance, and I think the reissue might do the trick. I can see these songs benefiting from a cleaner sound. It's funny how some stuff you want the grit and other times you want it pristine. But Reckoning definitely proved that REM had multiple tricks up their sleeve, it's just not the one I reach for in an old school mood. (A-)

Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)

JT

Fave Song: Life and How to Live It

Least fave: Feeling Gravity's Pull

Discovered Gem: Good Advices

Still amazingly strong three albums in and even further from the shimmering indie rock that was Murmur. The songs don't seem quite as focused and a bit of the pop edge of "Reckoning" has been dulled. Perhaps this is due to the production, which for the first time isn't being handled by Mitch Easter & Don Dixon. (B+)

Me

Fave Song: Good Advices

Least fave: Kohoutek

Discovered Gem: Auctioneer

For years this was my favorite REM album, and it's still in the top three. Fables is all about vibe and atmosphere, which are both moody and at times almost oppressive, but not to the point of stifling, 'cos there's (almost) always air and room to breathe in an REM album, which is one of their true charms, the light filtering through even when the night is blackest. Essentially, this is hope. I think this album is a step above Reckoning 'cos the songs are more cohesive in sound, style, lyrical content and production. This is the first (of several) REM albums where it feels like they're struggling to prove something, and mainly to themselves, which is the type of internal pressure that makes for great creative inspiration. Lesser bands would break under this sort of pressure, or give in to mainstream posturing or fall back to previous sounds or see what other folks are doing, but REM was looking to do their own thing, and while this album certainly bears their signature sound, it's a step forward from what they were doing with Reckoning. They were building momentum here for sure. (A)

Life’s Rich Pageant (1986)

JT

Fave Song: Cuyahoga

Least fave: Underneath the Bunker

Discovered Gem: What If We Give It Away

The songs are more focused and hard punching. 'Begin the Begin' and 'These Days' that start the album off are true rockers and seem to indicate the band are heading in a rock direction and gone are some of the strummy guitar parts. This is their most focused release since Murmur. (A-)

Me

Fave Song: Swan Swan H

Least fave: Cuyahoga

Discovered Gem: Begin the Begin

The thing with LRP is that while I know it's a fantastic album, like Reckoning, I never want to listen to it - yet, unlike Reckoning, when I do I always find it rewarding. This probably has to do with overkill, 'cos this one got spun A LOT in younger days. Another thing about this album, much like every REM album, is that it doesn't sound like anything else they had done. I guess part of both the kill and appeal of LRP is that it feels like a true stab at pop, but despite some ridiculously catchy songs and tons of hooks, etc, nothing is really radio ready. Like they were saying, "We can write a pop song, but we're gonna do it a new way." Score!! I guess this is a statement to the possibilities of what popular music could be, should be, but usually isn't, which is fine, but the more pop moments of Document certainly feel as if they sprung from the same spring as LRP. Also, as a side note, the track listing being off on the album cover drives me nuts. (A-)

Document (1987)

JT

Fave Song: The One I Love

Least fave: Lightnin Hopkins

Discovered Gem: Welcome to the Occupation

The singles are incredibly strong and there are some really nice album tracks, but this is the first album where there are some truly bad songs. ‘Lightnin Hopkins’ is amongst their all-time worst ever. (B-)

Me

Fave Song: Welcome to the Occupation

Least fave: Finest Worksong

Discovered Gem: Fireplace

I'm officially on the fence with this one. When I was younger this was the "one to avoid" 'cos it had the early hits on it. So stupid. The One I Love and End of the World are amazingly awesome songs, one for the complexity of its machine gun wordplay and the other for the exact opposite reason...and they're back to back (well, on the CD...). But then about three or four years ago I had it on a work trip and it just struck me how enjoyable it was to listen to. And I think what's appealing for me about this album is that, like Murmur and Fables, there's a continuous mood, which is brooding, that links every song together, and I find it brilliantly ironic that the most musically festive number, End of the World, is one of the more lyrically poignant (if somewhat ambiguously so). Where this album suffers is the songwriting overall. While some of my favorite REM songs are here (Welcome to the Occupation, Oddfellows Local 151), there are also some songs that are borderline silly (Exhuming McCarthy, Disturbance at the Heron House). But what's more, it's not that any of these are bad songs (a subpar REM song in 1987 was about a billion times better than a lot of other stuff out at the time), it's just that they're not overly memorable. Whereas with LRP I can read down the track list and start singing every song, with Document, especially by side 2, I can't, and have to wait for the song to start before I go "Oh yeah, I like this one!" Also, it's very solo heavy by REM standards - not that that's a bad thing, 'cos Bucky is such a great player, it's just something I thought I'd point out. (Though I do hate the sax solo on Fireplace.) Really, it's an overall good listen, but not a challenging one, and I think that because it's from the IRS years I tell myself I have to love it and it has to compete with the other four albums from that era for top place overall...well, I guess I like it better than Reckoning…or do I? But really, while it's certainly a great album, it's only great by what other folks were doing at the time. But by REM standards, it's simply a really good album. (B+)

Three Off the Cuff

So Borders it seems has filed for bankruptcy. This is sad in a lot of ways, a big one being that I’ve picked up a lot of good music from them, mainly on lunch breaks, for the past ten plus years. While more recent releases were priced at the ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? level, you could get a lot of “classic” artists for $9-11, sometimes less, and so I fattened my collections of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and the Velvet Underground (yes, I got into them late because I HATED them until I was around 24) considerably from their shelves. Also, Borders is where I first took a chance with X, the Go-Betweens and Love. Bottom line, they’ve been good to me.

The one where most of this went down, over in the Brentwood Kroger area, discontinued the bulk of its musical selection quite some time ago (an early sign of trouble brewing). Thankfully, for nostalgia’s sake, it seems to be hanging in there. But the one in Cool Springs (all you out-o’-towners following this?) has begun liquidating merchandise at reduced prices. So, a few weeks ago JT and I went to go check out the deals when things were at 30%. I think JT got a Milli Vanilli remixes album and I picked up three CDs at a reasonable bargain.

They are as follows…

Phil Collins – No Jacket Required: JT has been praising this album in recent months, calling it good pop, etc, so this one came highly recommended by him. Even though he’s sort of a dummy, the price was right, so why not? Phil Collins is one of those musical enigmas. Back when I was a kid I knew him as the lead singer for Genesis, fronting the mega hits from Invisible Touch with a sappy sincerity that reached me enough to end up purchasing the album. I remember when I learned that he was also the DRUMMER for Genesis. WHOA, a drummer that sings?? My world just expanded... And then, a bit later, that he wasn’t the original lead singer, but that Peter Gabriel was (…the Sledgehammer dude, no way!!) and that their music back then was “really weird.” (These days I’m a decent fan of the Gabriel era stuff and I still think it’s “really weird,” even by prog rock standards.) So that gave PC some “skin cred” when heretofore (or maybe theretofore?) I’d just sorta written him off as another goofy pop singer. Of course later on when I got into Eno and saw that he played drums on cuts from classic albums like Another Green World, my mind was sufficiently blown and I had an a) newfound respect for Phil even though I b) lamented his nosedive into adult contemporary pop cheese (long before he was at an age where that was inevitable).

But having said all of that, No Jacket Required sorta is but really isn’t “pop cheese.” Yes, the big hits like Su-su-sussudio and Take Me Home are the kind of watered down New Wave that was topping the charts back in 1985 and, with the exception of Don’t Lose My Number, I was never a fan of any of those singles either then or even much now with nostalgia. What ultimately makes this album work are the non-single tracks, which prove that not only could Phil write a hit pop tune, but he was also still in touch with his more experimental roots. I would stand any of these cuts up against and ultimately above all of their sizable hit single siblings any day of the week. But what’s nice is, after a few listens, I began to appreciate the subtle nuances that even the hits have when taken in context of the entire album, which speaks volumes for the integrity of the music and for Phil as a “legit” musician, even as he was becoming a pop icon. Only in the 80s, kids, could you be balls out Top 40 cheese and still rather cool – though let’s face it, Phil Collins was a bit of a dork even back in 1974.

Long story short, No Jacket Required was a great purchase (yes, JT was right…), and really works as an “all you need” from Phil Collins. Sure, there are some stray tracks here and there that are fine, but the only really, really good one is In the Air Tonight, and let’s face it, we’ll all hear that one in random retail stores about a billion more times before we die.

The Jayhawks – The Bunkhouse Album: Every established band has to have a first album, a starting point for the general public. Sometimes this is the best thing they ever do and sometimes it’s the seed of greatness yet to come. Still, other times it just is what it is and nothing more - a root, a footnote, a foundation. For the Jayhawks this is certainly not the former, and while it could arguably be lumped in with that middle bit, it’s really more of the latter type album – there, step one. They were still several years and licks away from the lush textures and rich harmonies that would create alt-country classics like Hollywood Town Hall and Forever the Green Grass, but that doesn’t mean The Bunkhouse Album (or Tapes as it’s often referred) isn’t a batch of well written and nicely executed songs. The problem here, if you want to call it that, is that these songs are good, sometimes great, but they’re not overly original in sound, as the Jayhawks are very much wearing their influences on their collective sleeves. In this case its Dylan channeled through Gram Parsons, which is especially evident in the prominent use of slide guitar and, to a lesser extent, vocal delivery. But that being said, this is an even set of solid rockers providing plenty of toe tapping upbeats, sing along choruses and countrified one-liners to make you snicker. The real issue is that several songs in things start sounding a bit the same, and there’s nothing to really break the monotony of verse, chorus, verse, guitar solo. Also, hearing this one after the aforementioned masterpieces, it’s sorta hard going back. Sure, in 1986 they were something of novelty, and probably sounded fresh and promising to a batch of like-minded folks who were tired of New Wave, had no interest in hair metal, but maybe weren’t familiar with the Flying Burrito Brothers (or simply appreciated the nostalgic nod). Essentially this is an album of the times and a stepping stone for some great writers and players to get “that” out of their system and start creating something original. If you’re expecting Forever the Green Grass in an embryonic form, then The Bunkhouse Album is not for you. But if you just like good music, then I think Borders still has another copy.

Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – Through the Devil Softly: I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the “cool” thing about alternative music breaking in the early 90s is that a lot of lesser known, cult status bands who had been slogging away in “you won’t find their albums at Target” obscurity finally got a bit of a mainstream pay off before either breaking up (as a result) or fading back into the ether. While Mazzy Star hadn’t been around too terribly long before Fade Into You was a sleeper hit in 1993, they had members who stretched all the way back to the Paisley Underground scene of the early 80s, a movement whose only chart success outfit was (if you can believe it) the Bangles.

But all of that is neither here nor there.

I was never a big Mazzy Star fan, though Fade into You is an undisputed alt-classic and So Tonight That I Might See an excellent album. This is really more a result of under exposure due to lack of time, ‘cos I certainly like what I’ve heard. So, with Mazzy Star on hold and vocalist Hope Sandoval pursuing a solo deal the past decade or so, I thought it would be cool to catch up on lost ground and see what she was up to…and of course, the price was right. Long story short, Through the Devil Softly (which is an awesome title) is everything you’d want and expect from a Hope Sandoval related release. Dreamy, atmospheric and understated, this is basically a warmer, even more subdued and generally less noisy version of what she was doing with Mazzy Star fifteen years before; not so much a step forward as a further fleshing of an already cultivated and wonderful sound, which is fine. While a perfect backdrop for quiet, relaxing evenings at home or an easy night drive (or while your kids are screaming downstairs), don’t attempt to jazzercise or run a footrace to these tunes, ‘cos you’ll get lost in the haze and wind up with the rest of us in some dusky, western desert town. All joking aside, Through the Devil Softly is a nice offering of delicate, transcendent pop, not intending to take the world by storm or trying to top any charts, and just as likely to snag the attention of an interested ear as So Tonight That I Might See. The similarities with each album are enough to attract a listener fully into the fan base, while the subtle, but noticeable, differences offer proof of a flower that continues to bloom.

No Need for a New Wheel

I’m always excited when a long lasting and long time favorite artist comes out with something new. With some artists (no names here) there’s the inevitable worry that said release is just another late career attempt at staying relevant or simply cashing in or whatever. But really, I try to keep faith in older artists, with the thought that a creative mind once can be so again.

A stigma on many artists once they’ve hit the 10 year mark (or less) is that their new work is invariably compared to their “classic” output. That’s fair enough and only natural, but at the same time it’s often not fair. An artist must mature and grow or they simply stagnate. Sometimes the directions taken aren’t obvious or favorable, but the listener should try and appreciate the integrity of those decisions. (And even as I say this, I can think of loads of bad reasons to change a sound, but I’m pretending like it’s a perfect world where all musicians choose art over money, etc.)

With Brian Eno I never have that worry. And while I may not readily enjoy (and certainly don’t own) everything he comes out with, I can always appreciate whatever it is he’s doing (and with whomever) at the time.

Eno gets the “older stuff” bone thrown at him a lot, with critics (and fans?) expecting the second coming of Another Green World, Discreet Music or Apollo (to name but a few of his earlier classics). There’s a lot of “pressure” on him because, for all intents and purposes, Brian Eno (aka Brain One) is the godfather of ambient music and has broken much of the once fallow ground in the fields of experimental and electronic music, especially in regards to instrument manipulation and the creation of broad sound palates. (I think I know what I’m talking about here.)

Basically, he’s expected to reinvent the wheel with each new outing.

This is ridiculous, of course, and while many of his early albums have separate sounds and voices of their own, they also carry a unique personality that is distinctly Eno, with many of the same traits, tricks and mysterious studio magic he is so infamous for. And this can be said about many worthwhile artists from Bob Dylan to the Cure. (I’ll bet you that pairing will never happen again.) Just because an artist further explores already treaded (but not necessarily charted) territories, doesn’t make that release any less meaningful, significant or, where it really matters, enjoyable.

Eno got a bit of this lash from critics with his last proper solo release, his first foray in years into “pop” music, 2005’s Another Day on Earth. The basic idea seemed to be that it was adequate but uninspiring. Rubbish. It was fantastic, and while it may not have blown down any genre walls, it certainly proved that the creative juices were still flowing and quite potent, and I’ll honestly take it over Here Come the Warm Jets or Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). So take that, classic Eno.

Not that Eno pays attention to such things. He is a true artist focused on what he’s doing at the time and then moving to the next project. He certainly doesn’t care that I thought his latest collaboration with David Byrne was “nice but boring,” and likely (as with so many things out there) I will find the moment when that album hits me in the head like a hammer and then wonder why I didn’t “get it” the first time. (And no, I did not compare it to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, because frankly, how could you?)


With that said, enter his latest release, Small Craft on a Milk Sea, a collaboration with producer/composer Leo Abrahams and electronic musician Jon Hopkins (whose soundtrack for the 2010 indie flick Monsters, fyi, is awesome).

As with most Eno releases of the past 25 or so years, Small Craft on a Milk Sea has received mixed and often muddled reviews. Depending on the source will depend on how seriously I take either, and I’m not here to dissect them. I’m not even sure why I even mention it, maybe I was making a point. Or missing one.

Anyway, this album is basically broken down into three categories:

• Quiet, melodic vignettes
• Loud, atonal rhythm workouts
• Lush, atmospheric soundscapes

Of these, the second area is where he’s dabbled the least, and most notably during his 70s krautrock stints with Cluster, et al, so provides a bit more of a “new roll” if you will. 2 Forms of Anger is especially effective, punching out of the speakers like a race horse through the gate and building up layered intensity until everything ends with a rush of silence. The immediate follow up, Bone Jump, is a retro post-funk workout that would play nicely during the bizarre dream sequence of say a Dario Argento flick. And while there are the known elements of house and acid thrown in (Flint March, Horse), they are indelibly passed through the Brian Eno filter, with arcs of noise and planes of sheer sound uncovering near-melodic nuances your typical club DJ would never notice.

Meanwhile, the first and last bits will be the most familiar to fans of Eno’s work, and are excellent examples in both categories. This is simply pleasant and well-executed sound sculpting as only Eno and friends can provide it, touching back to albums like Music for Films, some of the Ambient series or his outings with Robert Fripp. There are moments of touching beauty and great, open distance, always harnessed and coalesced by the gentle, guiding hand of the master. Opening track Emerald and Lime creates the perfect platform launch with the floating sense of leaving on a voyage, encountering adventures both pleasurable and tremulous along the way and arriving at last in the twinkling star ether of Late Anthropocene, safe but mindfully stirred.

Basically, where you’re being taken, they don’t need wheels.


All metaphors aside, there’s nothing really earth shattering going on here – unless you just like to be blown away by good music. I’m not saying you’ve “heard all of this before,” I’m just saying that these things have been done before, possibly better, definitely worse, but the end result is a meaningful, adventurous and highly enjoyable offering from one of contemporary music’s foremost (non) musicians.

But of course all of you Eno fans already know this.

Of Skins and Heart - 30 Years On

I’ve talked a lot about Aussie outfit The Church and some of the related off shoots in these pages. Today, April 13, marks the 30^th anniversary of their debut album Of Skins and Heart. (I guess technically that was yesterday in Australia.)

I remember picking this album up for $5.99 on cassette my freshman year in college, with a couple of newly acquired friends, at the Cool Spring Galleria. About five minutes later I met Alan Jackson. And I had green hair.

To tell you that I listened to this tape until the writing wore off and the reels got all loose and fidgety would pretty much indicate my die-hard devotion to this album, and for years it was my top pick of The Church’s catalog. In some ways it still is, and yet it’s really hard to compare the releases of those first few years to anything they’ve put out since the early 90s.

As far as debuts go, however, this one has everything:

· Obvious influences: A bit of a 60s psychedelic revival going on

· Indications of things to come: While this is undeniably pop, the cryptic lyrical imagery and unabashed guitar interplay (and the ability to solo) is an embryonic state of the extended, freeform “jams” of more recent efforts

· Youthful fervor: These guys truly believed in what they were doing and it shows

· Top notch songwriting: More on Kilbey in a bit

· Taut, well-executed yet relaxed playing: It’s called confidence

· An overall air of mystery that three decades later has not only stayed intact, but has only enhanced with age, despite their 80s mainstream success and recent accolades from the more knowledgeable portions of the music press

Musically speaking, this brand of Byrds jangle through a post-punk filter didn’t break down any genre barriers, or set a blueprint for thousands (though probably hundreds) of other like-minded young musicians to take note and follow, or start a revolution, or make much of a huge splash (initially) far outside its home country. It’s good enough to have, it just didn’t.

Cover of 1982 European/American Release

What it did do, however, was set the wheels in motion for The Church to begin their own distinctive musical journey, one unlike most any other act in rock history. And while there have been plenty of the typical high marks and pitfalls that pinpoint many a band’s career, everything was always played off in a way that was very uniquely The Church. This is proven by the fact that no matter what was going on, from label woes to personnel fall outs, the music always came first, reflecting the time, the place and the mindset of the band as they were at the moment (especially after 1990), and not that of the music scene either flourishing or collapsing around them (and often proving the latter with each successive musical triumph).

Steve Kilbey’s songwriting came to print full formed, and while it has grown immeasurably since the opening notes of For a Moment We’re Strangers, many a songwriter (including this one) would give his eye teeth to be half as mature, creative, insightful and ridiculously melodic as Kilbey was in 1980. And while he tackles more “rock recognizable” territory on this album than any other, even obvious relationship songs are littered with obscure, often puzzling imagery, and yet delivered so casually in that butter melting croon it all seems quite believable.

L-R: Marty Willson-Piper, Richard Ploog (he didn't play on the album, but was in all associated videos), Peter Koppes, Steve Kilbey

Equally as important as Kilbey’s songwriting (and of course bass playing) is the dual guitar force of Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper. Their shimmering interpretation of each song takes everything to the next level; both raw and elegant, boisterous and subdued, they state everything necessary by often remaining quite understated and overly unobtrusive, allowing each part to blend in with the rest to better enhance the overall quality of the song. While still far away from the dancing serpents that would create albums like Forget Yourself (Peter is still taking most, if not all, of the leads here), their ability to play off and compliment one another is especially evident on “the one that started it all,” The Unguarded Moment, and, personal favorite, Bel-Air.

And I would be remiss without giving Nick Ward, their original and practically unknown drummer, a nod for providing some of the best fills and emotional accents not only in The Church song list, but of rock music in general.

At the end of the day, Of Skins and Heart might not be the album I would steer a newly interested listener in (I think Starfish still holds that privilege), but it wouldn’t be a misstep either, as even Untitled #23 points to some of these more primitive moments, which in turn point right back into the present/future.