Spectrum Culture Roundup

 

I have been quite busy at Spectrum Culture these days. So much so that I haven't even had time to post links to all of my reviews, features, etc. So, here are just a few of the highlights from the past few weeks:

• My review of newish British indie-rock band Alt-J's debut LP. Most people seem to either love 'em or hate 'em. I lean towards the former category.
• Coverage of Brookly-based indie-pop band Hospitality's fun show at Chicago's Schubas. They sing a lot about the problems of post-graduate liberal arts majors. Something I relate to ... believe it or not.
• My review of a pretty decent new book about why The Beatles' Revolver is the most influential, most accomplished Fab Four record, not the overrated Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• My take on one of my favorite records of the year, The Mountain Goats' Transcendental Youth. Listening to this collection of twisted tales about drug dealers and losers is guaranteed to brighten up your day. I mean that.
• My review of a disc I was a bit lukewarm about, the new one from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I mean not everyone can be Japandroids or Cloud Nothings, right?
• A review of a book I truly enjoyed, one that made me revisit the music of a band I have always had the upmost respect for. The Velvet Underground are more than just a banana on a cover. Author Rob Javanovic demystifies it all. By the way, check out the Velvets' 3rd LP if you haven't. A true masterpiece ... especialy Side One.
• An admittedly personal take on Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, as part of the Revisit/Rediscover series.
• My coverage of another very good, slightly profound, show at Chicago's Schubas, of Montreal member Kishi Bashi with the Connecticut-based folk-rockers The Last Bison. It was elevating.
• My noble attempt to say something new about the new Bob Dylan record.
• My review of an interesting book about one of the most important records of all time. Producer Ken Caillat tells us what really happened during the making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.

Dang! I've been working harder than I even thought. I don't know about you, but I need a break. Happy reading!

 

 

 



Signs and Stars

Like anyone,

I don’t suspect

We’ll live through this.

 

Left with

just enough hope

to build bridges                              

out of wood chips 

 

It turns out

The wind itself

is the greatest detriment

to freewill

 

We are pulled

like orchard apples

 

We are sung by

Auto-Tuned pop stars

in padded rooms

 

We want to turn out

to not be  blades of  grass

scorched on cloudless afternoons

in the suburbs

 

The sky erases

all understanding.

 

 

By: Jake Adams

Spectrum Culture: Woody at 100: The Centennial Collection

Woody Guthrie is still as relevant as ever, and this collection is a good introduction to his work. I review it on Spectrum Culture:

Singing along with Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” is a childhood memory for such a large percentage of American adults that it’s almost a cliché to mention it in a discussion of Smithsonian Folkways’ new collection of archival Guthrie recordings. The anthology gives us the “standard” version of the American classic, the one that so many schoolchildren have internalized alongside “The Star-Spangled Banner” and The Pledge of Allegiance. But, we also hear the “alternative” version, the one that, unremarkably, isn’t taught in schools. We get that extra verse, the one fraught with ambiguity, anger and optimism, the one that sums up what makes Guthrie Guthrie and why he still resonates so strongly 100 years after his birth. Near the end of this alternate rendition, Guthrie sings, “There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me/ Sign was painted, it said private property/ But on the back side it didn’t say nothing/ This land was made for you and me.”

Click here to read more.



Spectrum Culture: Espen Eriksen Trio, What Took You So Long?

New on Spectrum Culture, I review underrated Norwegian jazz group Espen Eriksen Trio:

It’s fair to say that the piano trio format is alive and well on the contemporary music scene. Browse the “new music” section of your local jazz record store—if you’re fortunate enough to live in one of the few cities that has one—and you’ll find discs from the likes of the Bad Plus, Jason Moran and the Vijay Iyer Trio, all vital, forward-thinking artists who mix together the styles of such masters of the format as Red Garland, Bill Evans and Chick Corea with rock ‘n’ roll attitude and occasional covers of both underground and mainstream pop tunes. College kids from Toronto have even interpreted Tyler, the Creator and Kanye West through the trio lens, under the self-deprecating name BADBADNOTGOOD. All of this to say that the North American jazz market is somewhat saturated these days with gifted, energetic 21st-century trios.

Read more here.





Spectrum Culture: We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash

New on Spectrum Culture, I review a pretty nifty Johnny Cash tribute DVD/CD:

Calling Johnny Cash a “country singer” is as limiting as labeling Miles Davis a “jazz trumpeter” or the Rolling Stones a “rock ‘n’ roll band.” Cash’s music, uncompromisingly accessible yet subtly sophisticated, has an almost universal appeal. His legions of fans extend far beyond those who typically gravitate towards country music. His life, imbued with darkness and light, tragedy and triumph, earthly struggles and spiritual longings, has inspired and fascinated people from all walks of life.

Click here to read more.

Respiration and Revelation

There are only so many ways to be alone.

A perverse sort of pleasure holds each solitary breath hostage,

As if anything—up to and including the silence under my own skin—

Could replace raindrops melting on our backs,

Half-lines whispered in tentative candlelight,

Or second-hand hip-hop played

In another’s used kitchen.

Who can face the impossible future, quietly, comfortably,

By one’s self?


By: Jake Adams

Spectrum Culture: Monthly Mixtape July 2012

New on Spectrum Culture, our monthly mixtape. I contribute a blurb on a tune from Neneh Cherry & The Thing's steallar new record. Click here to read/listen.