Chicago, IL

* The first in a series of travelogue poems

I’m told


When the sun strikes the lake

So acutely

You might glimpse those held forcibly in Nature’s cruel grip—

Like black-suited businessmen, who race down State Street

     chasing gilded windmills, or

Quiescent beggars, who crouch on Cottage Grove

     searching through second-hand shopping carts, or

Bright-eyed dreamers, who crawl about on Damen & Milwaukee

     finding their colorful metropolis through a self-inflicted haze—

They’re all looming just above the surface,

Desperately struggling to break free

Into the swift, stunning air of Grace

By Jake Adams

Palo Duro

This eternal chasm between ephemeral desire and fettered need

     in which weary wanderers cleave desperately to well-trodden trails

     in which blue shadows eclipse relentless rays of longing

     in which fallow lovers lie on the craggy rocks of innocence

     in which anonymous streams of repentance flow from end to end

     in which newlyweds scout out cliff-dwellings of annihilated artists

     in which the violent erosion of time surrenders to sublime beauty

-by Jake Adams

Commentary: New Record Rundown July 2011

I’ve been spinning a lot of new records lately.  Here are my thoughts on some (fairly) recent releases:

Yuck, Yuck

Yuck, the repulsively-named, yet sonically delightful, quartet from London, have been simultaneously criticized and praised for wearing their influences on their sleeves.  There’s no doubt that they have listened extensively to Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, and Pavement.  However, this band is full of too much of their own personality to be labeled as simply “90s revivalists.”  They have created one of the most fun, emotionally resonant records of the year, and one of the most promising debuts I have heard in a long while.  The lead track, “Get Away” sets the record’s overall tone, with its crunchy guitar rhythms, despondent vocal delivery style, and frustrated lyrics (“Summer sun says get out more, I need you / I want to but I can’t get this feeling off my mind”).  Tracks like “The Wall” and “Holing Out” are distinctive in their infectious rhythms and inventive melodies.  The band executes slower grooves well too.  “Suicide Policeman” and “Sunday” are Eliot Smith-worthy ballads with great emotional appeal.  The group is less successful the cuter they try to become.  “Georgia,” in particular, is a bit too twee for my tastes.  However, this misstep is compensated for by “Rubber,” the album’s closing, seven-minute track.  This is the most atmospheric song on the album, one that hints at a possible future direction for this burgeoning band.  It’s a pure pleasure to get lost in the track’s droning, distorted wash of sound.  Indeed, in the words of Yuck, “I can’t get away.”         

Tyler, the Creator, Goblin

Let me begin by stating that this record is definitely not for the faint of heart. Tyler, the Creator, frontman for the L.A.-based rap collective Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All, is without a doubt bringing a fresh wind of creativity to the current rap scene. He and his friends create wholly original, soul-inflected beats devoid of any sampling. Tyler’s flow is full of skillful internal rhymes, unexpected wordplays, and an energetic sense of adolescent angst. These positives are often overshadowed by the rapper’s lyrics, a nightmarish collage of rape fantasies, ultraviolent imagery, and psychosexual paranoia. OFWGKTA’s upcoming appearance at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival has drawn controversy on various blogs and other media outlets because of the group’s perceived homophobic and misogynistic lyrics. At the end of the day, there are no easy answers to the tensions at the heart of OFWGTA, or Tyler, the Creator’s breakthrough solo disc, for that matter. Goblin is a concept album of sorts, one in which Tyler opens up to his therapist about all of his personal and professional problems. The violent fantasies evoked on the record are just that, fantasies that reveal the speaker’s troubled inner state. Unfortunately, the disturbing lyrical content isn’t the only barrier to me unabashedly loving this album. Tyler is also often in need of an editor, as many tracks feel overly repetitive and go on much longer than they need to. However, Goblin has spawned several deeply engaging tracks, “Yonkers” and “Sandwitches” most prominent among them.

TV on the Radio, Nine Types of Light

It’s easy to take a new TV on the Radio album for granted. The Brooklyn-based band has been performing at such a consistently high level for so long that it’s not surprising when they come out with a stellar record. Nine Types of Light, the band’s fourth full-length effort, is in danger of being underrated simply because it doesn’t insist upon its greatness as loudly as the group’s previous albums. Upon first hearing Return to Cookie Mountain, the second TV on the Radio LP, I remember thinking that I was hearing something completely revolutionary. The group’s unique blend of influences from electronica, free jazz, funk, neo soul, hip-hop, and more struck a chord with countless listeners. Being hip to TV on the Radio became a kind of litmus test for indie credibility. Dear Science, the band’s third record, added more pop influences and strong, soaring melodies into the mix, rendering the most accessible TV on the Radio effort to date. It’s not entirely clear yet what Nine Types of Light has added to the TV on the Radio legacy. No tunes reach out and grab the listener with relentless energy the way tracks like “Wolf Like Me” or “Dancing Choose” have done in the past. The new album is more mellow, more subtle, and more mature than past efforts. It clearly represents a group of seasoned innovators who are confident in their creative abilities. I haven’t had the immediate, visceral reaction to Nine Types of Light that I have had to past TV on the Radio records, but it has left me wanting to come back for more.

tUnEYaRds, w h o k i l l

Sometimes it’s kind of hard to know what to make of Merrill Garbus, the New England native and current Oakland resident responsible for the musical project known as tUnEYaRds.  Her music is a strange, intriguing mix of world rhythms, a DIY aesthetic, and aggressive, post-feminist lyrical content.  While the junkyard sound and lack of traditional hooks on 2009’s Bird-Brains left some listeners cold, Garbus applies her unique sound to more conventional song structures on her sophomore effort.  The result is an endlessly fascinating record, one filled with enough contradictions and ambiguities to keep music bloggers busy for the whole year.  The sounds of acoustic ukuleles and guitars are juxtaposed with dub grooves and jazz horns.  Underlying all of the fun, musical mess is a set of lyrics about raw desire, disturbing violence, and the complexities of modern geopolitical politics.  Garbus is right when she sings, at the close of the record, “I’m so hip I cannot take it,” whether intended ironically or not.      

The Strokes, Angles

Angles, the fourth record by New York messianic figures The Strokes, has been getting undue criticism simply because it doesn’t measure up to the standards set by 2001’s masterpiece Is This It. It’s a bit like saying that Orson Welles made one of the greatest movies ever with Citizen Kane, his first effort, so his later films should be held to a ridiculously high standard. Welles’ Touch of Evil and The Lady From Shanghai, though not Citizen Kane, are perfectly good films in their own right. Similarly, Angles is a fun, albeit inconsistent, chapter in The Strokes’ history. The band finds themselves relying less on the leadership of frontman Julian Casablancas and instead making the record in a more “democratic” fashion. While many have criticized this move, it seems to me that this method has allowed the group to explore some interesting textures that have not been a part of their sound in the past. When a Strokes record opens with a reggae-inflected tune and ends with a song that could have appeared on the last Steely Dan record, you know the band has moved beyond the Velvet Undergound/Television influences they wore proudly on their sleeves on their first couple of records. By my estimation, Angles contains two pop masterpieces that deserve to be mentioned with the best tracks on This is It (“Under Cover of Darkness” and “Taken For a Fool”), four pretty good songs (“Machu Picchu,” “Two Kinds of Happiness,” “Gratisfaction,” “Life is Simple in the Moonlight”), two interesting sonic experiments (“You’re So Right” and “Games”), and two outright duds (“Call Me Back” and “Metabolism”). To me, the numbers add up to a solid effort.

Smith Westerns, Dye it Blonde

The sophomore album from Smith Westerns, a band of Chicago teenagers, is filled with such enthusiastic, unbridled joy that it is almost impossible to resist. The group captures the innocence and beautiful naivety of young love in a spirit reminiscent of early Beatles or Beach Boys songs. There are fewer than six degrees of separation between a lyric like “And when I touch you I feel happy inside / It’s such a feeling that my love I can’t hide” and “No doubt it’s you I think and dream about / And oh could it be possible for you to be with me?” The music is just as exuberant as the lyrics, with tuneful lead guitar lines bolstering the soaring, sugary main melodies. The group has also really stepped up the production values on this second record. The entire project is covered with a polished pop sheen. This record might be too syrupy for some. While it is true that a steady diet of sugar is unhealthy, who doesn’t like a sweet treat on occasion? Dye it Blonde stands in contrast to some of my other favorite, more weighty records of the year (see Radiohead’s King of Limbs, for example). As a prominent line from the album states, “Love is lovely when you’re young.”

Paul Simon, So Beautiful or So What

After about fifty years in the music business, you would think Paul Simon would run out of things to say. Indeed, many would assert that his best work is behind him, whether his legendary late 1960s collaborations with Art Garfunkel or his late 1980s forays into world music (Graceland and The Rhythm of the Saints). While some of his more recent records have felt forced and sentimental, So Beautiful or So What represents a great step forward. Simon is firing on all cylinders here, injecting his latest batch of songs with a warm dose of humanity. He’s dealing with the nature of love, God, and mortality in a non-ponderous manner, frequently injecting humor into his exploration of potentially weighty topics. The lyrics are often more stream-of-consciousness than might be expected. For example, the track “Love and Hard Times” begins with a narrative about God and Jesus paying a courtesy call on earth and ends up being a meta-love song about the nature of love songs. Simon’s occasional penchant for sentimentalism is balanced by his equal interest in realism. The opening track “Getting Ready for Christmas Day” is in danger of coming off as a maudlin holiday number until Simon includes a creative spoken-word sample from a 1940s Christmas sermon and references to the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. The result is an adventurous record that rarely ends up where the listener expects.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Belong

Belong, the sophomore LP from New York indie-pop outfit The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, is about the often gaping chasm between the things we desire and the things we can actually have. The band’s name is aptly chosen, given that a majority of the songs on this record, as well as the group’s debut effort, deal with the utter agony of lost connections, sexual frustrations, and unrealized dreams (“And your friends don’t understand that the world could end, / And it would feel no worse than this”). At the same time, though, the album deals with finding a place of acceptance, despite the feeling of social isolation reflected in much of the record’s lyrical content. The lyrics “we just don’t belong” and “You can drive around all night with the radio on high / And wonder what it’s like to be liked” lead to the line, found on the album’s final track, “Don’t tell me that a day will come / When we dress like everyone / Cuz I can tell you’re strange like me.” The record’s title, then, reads as a virtual command to the listener: find a place to belong. This lyrical directness—the use of the 2nd person “you” is frequent—comes off as a bit simplistic at times. I could use a bit more gritty ambiguity in some of the song’s sentiments. Nevertheless, the occasional lack of lyrical bite is offset by the record’s complex sonic texture, an intriguing mix of fuzz, syrupy synth sounds, and energetic grooves. It makes the pain a bit more bearable.

My Morning Jacket, Circuital

“Victory Dance,” the first track from the new My Morning Jacket record, starts with a gong and a trumpet/vocal line that sounds like a cinematic, military bugle call. Don’t let MMJ frontman Jim James fool you, though, with all the pomp and circumstance. Circuital, the Louisville-based band’s sixth full-length record, does not represent an innovative leap forward for the band, nor is it a complete 360-degree return to the supposed glories of Z or It Still Moves. Circuital, like many My Morning Jacket releases, is a varied record. The band strikes a nice balance between Americana, psychadelia, and straight up rock n’ roll, especially on the first side. The Fender-Rhodes driven “Victory Dance” and the spacey, contemplative title track speak of childhood and the ways of yore, yet manage for the most part to avoid drippy sentimentality. I’m even with James and company on the Brian Wilsonesque confessional “Outta My System” and the soulful “Holdin On to Black Metal,” an apology for an oft-derided musical genre. My attention wanes with “You Wanna Freak Out,” an odd pairing of aggressive rhythms and soaring, tinny melody that could have been penned by the likes of Tiny Tim. The title of the penultimate track, “Slow Slow Tune,” is like a warning flag for the listener of its relentlessly mawkish quality. By the time James speaks of “moving away” in the final track, we wonder what he might be moving towards. Hopefully it’s something resembling the first half of this record, and not the second.

The Mountain Goats, All Eternals Deck

Taking inspiration from such diverse sources as 70s horror movies, death metal bands, and Hollywood stars (Charles Bronson, Judy Garland, and Liza Minnelli, specifically), indie stalwart John Darnielle brings us his latest collection of literate, immaculately constructed songs.  I use the word “song” deliberately here, since Darnielle has been acknowledged by many as one of the most talented, consistently engaging songwriters of his generation.  Listening to this record, it’s easy to see why.  Darnielle constructs impressionistic narratives out of diverse personal and pop culture fragments.  Each song has a central concept, although the record’s themes are hinted at more than explicitly stated.  Oblique imagery coexists with lines of intense emotional bluntness, like “felt your name burning like a tattoo in my skin” and “anyone here mentions ‘Hotel California’ dies before the first line clears his throat.”  Some of Darnielle’s long-term fans have been disgruntled with The Mountain Goats’ recent heightened production value.  Darnielle has gone from recording scratchy demos on vintage low-fi boom boxes to recording in an actual studio with an actual producer.  In my view, though, the results are splendid.  Darnielle’s trio plays with impeccable taste, supporting rather than overpowering the songwriter’s inventive lyrics and caustic vocal.     

Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean

There’s one thing I’ll say for Sam Beam, the singer-songwriter known by the stage name of Iron & Wine: he’s not content to stand still as an artist. Whereas his earliest records like The Creek Drank the Cradle and Our Endless Numbered Days established Beam as a prominent indie folk musician, the latest record finds him experimenting with a more synth-driven sound. Beam has supplemented his normally modest band with saxophones, pan flutes, and atmospheric keyboards. The result is an inconsistent, yet often engaging record. Whereas the music on this album sounds more adult-contemporary, the lyrics have clearly been inspired by early Bob Dylan songs. Tracks such as “Walking Far From Home” and “Your Fake Name is Good Enough For Me” feature a cataloguing technique, juxtaposing striking, and often contradictory, images with one another. The most obvious earlier analogue for such a strategy is Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall.” While this “list poem” strategy is intriguing at first, it becomes a bit tedious by the end. While it might be tempting to long for the days when Beam’s primary focus was weaving complex personal narratives in his songs, it has become clear that no work he ever produces can be accused of being uninteresting.

The Head and the Heart, The Head and the Heart

The Head and the Heart, a folksy Seattle-based group, self-released their eponymous debut record in 2010.  After much Internet success, Sub Pop re-released a remastered version of the same album in April of this year.  Listening to this record is a simultaneously pleasurable and frustrating experience.  On one hand, the band clearly has great potential, mixing its Americana roots with a keyboard-driven pop sensibility.  It’s kind of folk music for people who don’t like folk music.  The result, though, is that they sometimes aim for the lowest common denominator in their audience.  The group is especially trite lyrically, with such lines as “my family lives in a different state.  If you don’t know what to make of it, then we will not relate” and “darling, please come home.  I’ve cleared out the fridge, wiped the counters off, and put away my clothes.”  The album’s best tracks, though, like “Cats and Dogs” and “Coeur D’ Alene” are harbingers of the magic to come if the band’s songwriting chops catch up to their pleasant, distinctive sound.

The Go! Team, Rolling Blackouts

If ever there has existed a band whose perceived quality on my part is directly proportional to my mood at a given moment in time, it would be The Go! Team. I have always found their music either blissfully joyful or maddeningly overblown, depending on the context in which I am listening. Rolling Blackouts, the group’s third full-length effort, is no exception to this rule. While they have done much to expand their sound, including a greater focus on 60s girl-group pop music, the staples of their sonic texture remain garage rock, blaxploitation soundtracks, cartoon music, and marching band arrangements. Their new record isn’t likely to convert nonbelievers. If this odd witches brew of low-fi sounds seems like a good idea to you, chances are you’ll find infinite joy in this latest effort. If it sounds contrived and artificial—which it arguably is—you’ll probably want to avoid this album like the plague. The lyrics here are as banal as ever, with severe weather and casual relationships forming the songs’ main plot points, but a song like “Ready To Go Steady,” with its Phil Spector-inspired drum fills and pencil-thin lead vocal, almost makes me, an avid sand-hater, want to go to the beech and blare this music through a cheesy boombox picked up at a vintage pawn shop. If this sounds at all appealing, you should probably check out Rolling Blackouts.

Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues

The Seattle-based indie folk sensation’s sophomore effort is even more subtle, ambitious, and emotionally resonant than their 2008 debut. Helplessness Blues evokes that strange moment in young adulthood when one realizes one is far from childhood, yet equally far from what one ultimately wishes to become. The record’s contemplative, personal lyrics speak of standing before the realities of life with simultaneous astonishment and uncertainty (“And now after some thinking / I’d say I’d rather be / A functioning cog in some great machinery, serving something beyond me. / But I don’t know what that will be! / I’ll get back to you someday soon you’ll see … If I know only one thing, it’s that everything that I see of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak”). The emotional nakedness of lyrics such as these is matched by other lines that are much more abstract and impressionistic. Musically, the band is expanding their sonic concept far beyond what they have done in the past, experimenting with a more complex texture (including avant-garde jazz horns on one song), multi-movement structures, and warmer harmony vocals. Helplessness Blues is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year thus far.

The Dodos, No Color

There’s a beautifully subtle moment about halfway through “Black Night,” the opening track from the San Francisco indie band The Dodos’ latest record, in which the song’s rhythmic base shifts substantially. For the first half of the tune, the percussion part consists simply of two repeated syncopated eighth notes. During the second half, drummer Logan Kroeber adds a sixteenth-note, machine gun-like accent on the rim of the snare drum. The result sounds nothing like the rhythm of any rock song in recent memory. Such are the charms of The Dodos. Nobody else sounds exactly like them, and there’s not a conventional pop song to be heard on No Color. The group’s often melancholy lyrics are accompanied by music full of such vitality that it is nearly impossible not to smile wildly even as vocalist Meric Long sings such lines as “this ship is going under.” The Dodos are one of the few bands in indie rock who have become well-known primarily for their unique musical technique. Meric Long’s fingernail-pick acoustic guitar style and Kroeber’s drum set sans kick drum and frequent use of complex rim shot patterns bring a fresh and distinctive sound to the group. These innovations would all be moot, though, if it weren’t for the band’s supreme songwriting chops. Having Neko Case contribute some guest vocals doesn’t hurt either.

Destroyer, Kaputt

I have had a love-hate relationship with Daniel Bejar in the past. While I’ve always enjoyed his contributions to the super-group The New Pornographers, I’ve found his work with Destroyer inconsistent. His cryptic lyrics alternate between intriguing and maddeningly pretentious. I’ve connected with various songs from the Destroyer back catalogue, but until now I’ve never been able to fully get behind an entire Destroyer album. Kaputt, though, seems like a fulfillment of the ambitions Bejar has been hinting at his whole career. It is decidedly one of the year’s most atmospheric records. To say that Destroyer has been influenced heavily by 70s adult-contemporary pop is perhaps a backhanded compliment. Bejar, though, brings integrity to this music. With its complex chord structures, jazz-inflected horn lines, and sleepy keyboards and electric guitars, Kaputt establishes a dreamy mood and sticks with it for the whole record. It feels like we’re listening to the fog descend upon San Francisco or a light rain fall upon Seattle. While it would be tempting to call Kaputt the best Steely Dan record in years, Bejar brings a sincerity and maturity to the album’s lyrics. The sense of irony inherent in most of the Dan’s music, as well as many past Destroyer releases, is reigned in considerably. While Bejar still incorporates a plethora of musical and lyrical references, there is a newfound sincerity to much of his verse. Many of the songs deal with the destructive conclusions of hedonism. A line from the title track sums it all up: “Wasting your days / Chasing some girls alright. / Chasing cocaine / Through the backrooms of the world alright.” It all sounds like a dream to me.

Company of Thieves, Running From a Gamble

Company of Thieves, a rock band from Chicago, is one of modern indie music’s most well-hidden secret weapons. Specifically, frontwoman Genevieve Schatz has one of the most resonant, powerful voices that most have never heard. The group’s 2009 debut Ordinary Riches was equally accessible and adventurous, combining complex, jazz-inflected chord progressions with confessional lyrics and big melodies. The band’s sophomore effort rocks a little harder and is more blues-inflected than the first. Much of the record’s bluesy sound comes at the hands of keyboardist Mike Maimone, who employs the organ sound to great effect, especially on the slow-burning “Nothing’s in the Flowers.” If the rhythms and melodies are a bit more predictable this time around, Genevieve’s voice proves itself a more powerful instrument than ever, from the sultry subtlety of “Never Come Back” to the all-out wailing of “Modern Waste.” The band also continues to show great growth in their songwriting abilities. The record’s lead “single,” is called “Death of Communication” for a reason. Most of the songs are about the complexities and frailties of human relationships. Genevieve, the group’s sole lyricist, channels Liz Phair at her brightest when she expresses the frustrations (“I will paint your picture and post it in the street / And you can best believe / I’ll kill you like I want to / I will bury you in deep”) and surprises (“We struggle and we fight ‘cause it feels good to wonder why our lives are happening”) of love. The record is called Running From a Gamble because the lyrics deal openly with the random, unpredictable nature of pleasure and contentment. This band deserves to be more widely heard.

Bright Eyes, The People’s Key

Conor Oberst, frontman for the band Bright Eyes, has been both celebrated as a Dylanesque indie-folk prophet and vilified as a pretentious, politically simplistic poseur. Proponents of either classification could probably make a case for their side from listening to The People’s Key. At times, Oberst’s lyrics strike a remarkable balance of accessibility and philosophical curiosity (“Shell Games” and “Ladder Song” foremost among the album’s tracks). On the other hand, Oberst begins the record with a meandering, overly-long monologue by Texas musician Denny Brewer about the origin of humanity/possibility of extraterrestrial life/other pseudo-intellectual New Ageisms. Oberst’s decision to place this 2.5 minute sermon at the front of an otherwise superb track (“Firewall”) is simultaneously bold and annoying. Musically, Oberst is moving far from his acoustical, folky roots freely flaunted on 2005’s I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. His dabbling with sci-fi-inspired electronica renders the often personal lyrics more distant and generic than they would otherwise be. Still, a quick scanning of the lyric sheet shows that Oberst has grown over time as a poet. Whether reflecting on the nature of human existence (“If it’s true what we’re made of, why do I hide in the rain?”) or the realities of death (“You’re not alone in anything / You’re not unique in dying), it’s clear that Oberst still has plenty to say.

The Antlers, Burst Apart



Burst Apart, the latest record from the Brooklyn-based band The Antlers, is a perfect embodiment of the principle that melodies, musical textures, and rhythms can reinforce the themes being explored in a set of lyrics. I listened to Burst Apart six or seven times without really giving the words much consideration. When I eventually perused the lyric sheet, I found that frontman Peter Silberman was writing in the key of melancholia, exploring such themes as trepidation about intimacy, the failure of communication in relationships, and the realization of death’s inevitability. These grim topics are reflected in the unique sound The Antlers capture on this record. The falsetto vocals, mechanical rhythms, high-pitched synth pads, and minor-key modalities sound like a soundtrack for the moment on one’s death bed when the realities of one’s nonexistence fully sink in. If Ingmar Bergman were making films like Cries and Whispers today, he could very well hire The Antlers to compose the score. Most of the songs have a consistent, repetitive rhythm bolstering the persistent questions and existential concerns that come up on the album. For example, the speaker on “No Widows” states that “If I never get back home, / There’s no garden overgrown / No widows in the walls, / No widows left alone.” The speaker works through all the implications of his potential death, returning repeatedly to the notion that there would be “no widows” left to mourn his passing away. Burst Apart is to me the antithesis of a summer record, but it addresses questions we all must face eventually with depth of musicality and lyricism.

Alison Krauss and Union Station, Paper Airplane

After more than twenty years in the business, Alison Krauss remains one of the most respected, consistently engaging artists in acoustic music. Paper Airplane, Krauss’ first record with bandmates Union Station since 2004, is largely devoid of influence from 2007’s Raising Sand, the blues/rock-injected piece of quirky Americana with Robert Plant. Krauss and company are back to their old tricks, presenting lyrics about broken relationships, dreams deferred, and the stoical acceptance of death against a virtuosic, yet mostly understated, musical background. The work of dobro legend Jerry Douglas is particularly staggering in its subtlety of tones and textures. Dan Tyminski, known as the musical voice of George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou, brings not only his gruff, in-your-face lead voice, but also his softer, gentler harmony vocal abilities. The album contains a variety of cover tunes, including a mournfully slow version of Richard Thompson’s “The Dimming of the Day” and a spirited rendition of Peter Rowan’s “Dustbowl Children,” the most interesting track on the record. It’s hard to say exactly where this effort falls in Krauss’ prolific canon. The band is as technically brilliant as ever, though some songs perhaps lack the emotional immediacy of earlier recordings. There’s no doubt, though, that Paper Airplanes is one of the year’s most enjoyable country-bluegrass-acoustic records.

Abigail Washburn, City of Refuge

The fact that Abigail Washburn married banjo legend Bela Fleck in 2009 seems musically apropos. Fleck and Washburn have in common the fact that they represent the future and the past of the banjo in American music. Whereas Fleck has been most innovative in the way he has brought jazz and world music influences into his bluegrass-based playing, Washburn’s innovations are all about sound. On City of Refuge, her second solo effort, she sets her fairly traditional claw hammer style against a sea of sounds from Americana and around the world. We hear echoes of chamber orchestras, mariachi bands, and East Asian strings throughout the record. Tucker Martine, who has worked with such indie groups as The Decemberists, Spoon, and Sufjan Stevens, produces the record and is undoubtedly responsible for some of the disc’s sonic eclecticism. Washburn’s album is successful, though, because her songwriting, including collaboration with Nashville songwriter Kai Welch, is often as interesting as the unique sounds underpinning the songs. Washburn sings of heartache, spiritual enlightenment, and finding a refuge amongst a sea of troubles. Washburn was born on Chicago’s north shore, lived for a while in China, and has studiously taken in many folk traditions, including those of America’s Appalachia. City of Refuge is thematically a record about being “betwixt and between,” whether it be straddling cultures, relationships, or emotional states. This is a topic Washburn clearly knows something about.



Record Review: Bon Iver (Bon Iver, 2011)

Justin Vernon’s 2007 masterpiece For Emma, Forever Ago was famously recorded in a Wisconsin hunting cabin following a series of unfortunate losses and taxing life circumstances. The music was sonically sparse, quiet, personal, and inward-looking. For Vernon’s sophomore effort, it seems the artist has come out of the cabin. If the first Bon Iver LP was about un-stacking your load, coping with the losses and inevitable setbacks life brings, the second full-length record seems to be about starting anew. “Perth,” the eponymous record’s opening track, concludes with the lyric “you’re breaking your ground.” This line accurately describes the artistic project Vernon undertakes on Bon Iver, Bon Iver. Indeed, he is breaking new ground both musically and lyrically.

Whereas the dominant sounds on For Emma were acoustic guitars and falsetto vocals, Vernon’s sonic palette has expanded exponentially on this sophomore effort. Bass saxophones, French horns, steel guitars, banjos, distorted electric guitars, muted trumpets, Flamenco-influenced acoustic guitars, 80s Korg keyboards, xylophones, and military-sounding drums all serve as key ingredients in Bon Iver’s musical stew. Rather than sounding gimmicky or contrived, though, these textures suggest a world of their own, one that matches Vernon’s oblique, impressionistic lyrics.

Justin Vernon has been justifiably praised as one of the most significant songwriters of his generation largely because of his use of wordplay, poetic imagery, and ability to highlight the natural beauty of language. While Bon Iver songs have never been particularly known for their transparency, the For Emma tunes had a highly personal, introspective quality. Songs like “Skinny Love” and “Re: Stacks” served as narratives of the speaker’s internal life. The strong emotions expressed in these tracks were ambiguous, yet highly accessible to the listener. The lyrics from Bon Iver, Bon Iver, on the other hand, hint at personal themes rather than stating them explicitly. The songs’ geographically-based titles give us the impression that the songwriter is depicting specific events in precise locations. The actual lyrical content, though, often serves as more of a collage of people, incidents, and feelings that come together around some hard-to-define thematic concept. Many of the songs seem to be about transformative experiences, moments in which one comes to unique realizations about one’s self. These instances depicted on the album seem to revolve around friends, lovers, and family. Such epiphanies are reflected in lines like “still alive who you love,” “and at once I knew I was not magnificent,” “I could see for miles and miles,” “love can hardly leave the room with your heart,” “I was only for to die beside,” and “I ain’t living in the dark no more.” Lyrics such as these provide a solid grounding for his often abstract, yet always beautiful, poetry.

It is appropriate that the record depicts powerful incidents in one’s life, since the album is successful largely because of the memorable moments it creates, from the way the acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and xylophone harmonize at the opening of “Holocene” to the gentle depiction of sexual awakening in “Michicant.” All of the album’s divergent qualities come together in “Calgary,” a breathtakingly subtle and nuanced track near the end of the record. The song’s natural ebb and flow match its nautically-inflected lyrics (“so it’s storming on the lake”; “wake up to your starboard bride”; etc.). Vernon saves the most controversial song, though, for the very end. The final track, “Beth/Rest” has generated much discussion on the blogs, since it is a rather unabashed tribute to Bruce Hornsby and other perpetrators of 80s, keyboard-driven, adult-contemporary pop. While this song will undoubtedly be the hardest for the indie-centric portion of Bon Iver’s audience to embrace, it has been rescued from cheesiness for me after repeated listens. Although Vernon uses the ubiquitous Korg keyboard for this song’s sonic base, unique, subtle sounds are layered on top, including the pedal steel, atmospheric soprano saxophone, and some ghoul-haunted synthesizers. While it’s still the weak link in an otherwise virtually flawless record, its texture is anything but hackneyed. Surprisingly, one can see why Vernon would end the record with “Beth/Rest.” The album’s penultimate line is “danger has been stole away.” Lyrically, there’s a sense of contentment and acceptance. Vernon, having grown up with the music of the 80s and 90s, would naturally gravitate towards these sounds to express familiarity and “settling.”

The audacity and complete lack of concern about “indie cred” reflected in this final track bodes well for Bon Iver as an artist. Despite the fact that Vernon is now more in the spotlight than ever, given his crucial role on Kanye West’s 2010 blockbuster My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he has made the record he wanted to make with relentless energy and passion. Bon Iver, Bon Iver is the year’s most ambiguously challenging, viscerally moving, sonically intriguing, musical work so far.

Movie Review: Midnight in Paris (2011, Directed by Woody Allen)

As I wander around great American cities, I am often filled with a vague sense that I am somehow walking on the shoulders of past giants. Strolling through Greenwich Village about a year ago, I couldn’t help but construct an imaginary conversation between Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsburg, and myself at some subterranean coffee shop. Walking across the Midway Plaisance on the University of Chicago campus just yesterday, I was struck with the vibrant sights and sounds of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, all in my mind’s eye and ear, of course. I believe my tendency to romanticize the past is shared by many. This suspicion is given credence by Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, the most emotionally satisfying film he has made in some time.

Owen Wilson plays Gil, a Hollywood screenwriter with novelistic aspirations. As is often the case in Allen’s work, the protagonist finds himself in a creative and personal funk. He is engaged to Inez, a beautiful, yet relentlessly dull, daughter of an oil businessman. While visiting Paris, Gil becomes painfully aware of how insipid his life is, especially when cast against the backdrop of the romantic French city. Through a plot turn reminiscent of The Purple Rose of Cairo, Gil finds himself whisked back to the Paris of the 1920s, a time when such towering artists as Hemingway, Picasso, and Gertrude Stein walked the Parisian streets. The protagonist becomes involved in the lives of these intellectual giants, experiencing their philosophical discussions, romantic entanglements, and personal struggles firsthand. He falls for Adriana (Marion Cotillard), Picasso’s current beautiful, young mistress. As Gil immerses himself more and more into the culture of the Jazz Age, the modern world seems increasingly mundane.

Although this description might make Midnight in Paris seem like a sentimental nostalgia trip, it’s much more thematically complicated than this. While Allen clearly has a passion for the era of high artistic Modernism and is living vicariously through his main character, the film’s message has more to do with the present. In a profound scene near the film’s end, Gil has the realization that every generation longs for the vitality of an oft-imagined past. While it’s beneficial to look over one’s shoulder for inspiration, one is not truly living if one isn’t looking for the beauty and magic of the here and now.

One of this movie’s most distinct pleasures is enjoying the subtle performances from the skilled actors. While it would be so tempting to portray such heavyweights as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Salvador Dali via an over-the-top, larger-than-life approach, the players manage to inject these performances with a perfect dose of subtle humanity. Yes, we are watching Ernest Hemingway on the screen. Because Allen and company avoid obvious clichés, though, we get the sense that we see Hemingway as he might have existed, not as he has become in legend.

Woody Allen has been dutifully churning out film after film, year after year. Watching a new Allen film is often a bit of a chore, since it’s almost universally agreed that his best work is behind him. Midnight in Paris, though, represents a huge exception to this perceived rule. I want to avoid falling into the trap that ensnares Owen Wilson’s character. Rather than merely longing for some imagined golden age of Allen films from the past, I want to see the beauty and truth of those being made now. His latest effort makes this exercise extremely easy.

83rd Academy Award Predictions

2010 was, overall, a somewhat mediocre year for films.  Some of these mediocre movies have been nominated for Oscars, which will be presented on Sunday, February 27.  Because I don't want to be known as a grouch when it comes to the Oscars, here are my predictions for this year's Academy Awards.  There are a few bright spots after all:

Best Picture:
Nominees: BLACK SWAN, THE FIGHTER, INCEPTION, THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, THE KING'S SPEECH, 127 HOURS, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, TOY STORY 3, TRUE GRIT, WINTER'S BONE
Will Win: THE KING'S SPEECH
Should Win: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
I'll take David Fincher's tragic American tale of a postmodern entrepreneur over a stale, overacted piece of Oscar bait like The King's Speech any day.

Actor in a Leading Role:
Nominees: Javier Barden in BIUTIFUL, Jeff Bridges in TRUE GRIT, Jesse Eisenberg in THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Colin Firth in THE KING'S SPEECH, James Franco in 127 HOURS
Will Win: Colin Firth in THE KING'S SPEECH
Should Win: Jeff Bridges in TRUE GRIT
Sure, Jeff Bridges won last year for his peformance as a crusty old alcoholic in Crazy Heart, but he should win again this year for his performance as another crusty old alcoholic in True Grit.  He's one of our true national treasures, and he manages to live up to the hype of reprising a role made famous by John Wayne himself.

Actor in a Supporting Role:
Nominees: Christian Bale in THE FIGHTER, John Hawkes in WINTER'S BONE, Jeremy Renner in THE FIGHTER, Mark Raffalo in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Geoffrey Rush in THE KING'S SPEECH
Will Win: Geoffrey Rush in THE KING'S SPEECH
Should Win: John Hawkes' WINTER'S BONE
John Hawkes contributed to the eerie, norish tone of Winter's Bone through his symapthetic portrayal of a meth addict with a heart of gold.

Actress in a Leading Role:
Nominees: Annette Bening in THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, Nicole Kidman in RABBIT HOLE, Jennifer Lawrence in WINTER'S BONE, Natalie Portman in BLACK SWAN, Michelle Williams in BLUE VALENTINE
Will Win: Natalie Portman in BLACK SWAN
Should Win: Michelle Williams in BLUE VALENTINE
Blue Valentine is almost unbearably sad, and Williams' versatile depiction of a troubled young woman from her late teens through early thirties is relentlessly realistic and subtle.

Actress in a Supporting Role:
Nominees: Amy Adams in THE FIGHTER, Helena Bohman Carter in THE KING'S SPEECH, Melissa Leo in THE FIGHTER, Hailee Steinfeld in TRUE GRIT, Jacki Weaver in ANIMAL KINGDOM
Will Win: Hailee Steinfeld in TRUE GRIT
Should Win: Hailee Steinfeld in TRUE GRIT
Young Steinfeld captured the heart of America in True Grit.  There's no doubt that she'll pick up the trophy.  The only injustice is that she should have been nominated in the best LEADING actress category.

Animated Feature Film:
Nominees: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, THE ILLUSIONIST, TOY STORY 3
Will Win: TOY STORY 3
Should Win: TOY STORY 3
All three nominated films are strong.  However, there's no denying Toy Story 3's rare combination of critical success and populist appeal.

Directing:
Nominees: Darren Aronofsky for BLACK SWAN, David O. Russell for THE FIGHTER, Tom Hooper for THE KING'S SPEECH, David Fincher for THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for TRUE GRIT
Will Win: Tom Hooper for THE KING'S SPEECH
Should Win: David Fincher for THE SOCIAL NETWORK
The Best Directing award almost always goes to the director of the Best Picture.  Therefore, the award will go to Tom Hooper, although it should go to David Fincher. 

Documentary Feature:
Nominees: EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, GASLAND, INSIDE JOB, RESTREPO, WASTE LAND
Will Win: INSIDE JOB
Should Win: EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Exit Through the Gift Shop is one of the most fascinating, creative documentary features released in years.  However, the Academy, not known for appreciating mysterious sublety, will more than likely award the much more obvious Inside Job.

Music (Original Score):
Nominees: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, INCEPTION, THE KING'S SPEECH, 127 HOURS, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Will Win: THE KING'S SPEECH
Should Win: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
The score for The Social Network was written by industrial-rock legend Trent Reznor.  Enough said.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
Nominees: 127 HOURS, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, TOY STORY 3, TRUE GRIT, WINTER'S BONE
Will Win: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Should Win: TRUE GRIT
The scrips for both The Social Network and True Grit are among the strongest Hollywood has seen in some time.  While I slightly prefer the Coen Brother's comical nihilim, I wouldn't be at all dissapointed if Aaron Sorkin's screwballesque Social Network takes home the gold.

Writing (Original Screenplay):
Nominees: ANOTHER YEAR, THE FIGHTER, INCEPTION, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, THE KING'S SPEECH
Will Win: THE KING'S SPEECH
Should Win: THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
I have a feeling that The King's Speech might clean up on awards night in all major categories, but I much prefer to southern California regionalism of The Kids are All Right. 

Yeah, so there's several other categories as well.  I can't even pretend to be interested in most of them, so there you go.

53rd Annual Grammy Award Predictions

Discussing the 53rd annual Grammy Awards is, to some extent, an exercise in futility. Everybody knows that the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences rewards commercial success over artistic achievement and time and time again fails to recognize the diversity of music produced in a given year. Nevertheless, occasionally the Grammy nominations and awards can shed some light on the state of the current music industry, for better or worse. This year, Eminem is predicted by most to be the big winner in virtually every major category. While the Detroit rapper has previously won awards in the rap categories, he has never received the Album of the Year prize. The Academy has a history of recognizing artists who were once relevant but are now past their prime. Relapse is a truly mediocre record, but is likely to win simply because academy members may wish to award Eminem’s commercial success in the industry.

The other major piece of news this year is the prominence of indie rock back The Arcade Fire, nominated in not only the alternative categories, but also for the coveted Album of the Year. While their chances of winning the big award are slim, it is interesting to note the extent to which the line between indie and mainstream is being continually blurred.

For anyone who can stomach it, the awards ceremony airs on CBS Sunday, February 13. Performers will include Lady Gaga, B.o.B., Cee Lo Green, Mick Jagger, Miranda Lambert, Bruno Mars, Mumford & Sons, Janelle Monae, Katy Perry, and a bunch of other intolerably dull people. Below are my predictions on who will win—and who should win—in some of the least boring categories:



Record of the Year:

“Nothin’ on You,” B.o.B. Featuring Bruno Mars

“Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem Featuring Rihanna

“Forget You,” Cee Lo Green

“Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z & Alicia Keys

“Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

WILL WIN: “Love the Way You Lie”

SHOULD WIN: “Forget You”



Album of the Year:

The Suburbs, Arcade Fire

Recovery, Eminem

Need You Now, Lady Antebellum

The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga

Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

WILL WIN: Recovery

SHOULD WIN: The Suburbs



Song of the Year:

“Beg Borrow or Steal,” Ray LaMontagne And the Pariah Dogs

“Forget You,” Cee Lo Green

“The House That Built Me,” Miranda Lambert

“Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem Featuring Rhianna

“Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

WILL WIN: “Love the Way You Lie”

SHOULD WIN: “Need You Now”



Best New Artist:

Justin Bieber

Drake

Florence & the Machine

Mumford & Sons

Esperanza Spalding

WILL WIN: Drake

SHOULD WIN: Esperanza Spalding



Best Female Pop Performance:

“King of Anything,” Sara Bareilles

“Halo (Live),” Beyonce

“Chasing Pirates,” Norah Jones

“Bad Romance,” Lady Gaga

“Teenage Dream,” Katy Pary

WILL WIN: “Teenage Dream,” Katy Pary

SHOULD WIN: “Halo (Live),” Beyonce



Best Male Pop Performance:

“Haven’t Met You Yet,” Michael Buble

“This is It,” Michael Jackson

“Whataya Want From Me,” Adam Lambert

“Just the Way You Are,” Bruno Mars

“Half of my Heart,” John Mayer

WILL WIN: “This is It,” Michael Jackson

SHOULD WIN: “Whataya Want From Me,” Adam Lambert



Best Pop Vocal Album:

My World 2.0, Justin Bieber

I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle

The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga

Battle Studies, John Mayer

Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

WILL WIN: My World 2.0

SHOULD WIN: The Fame Monster



Best Dance Recording:

“Rocket,” Goldfrapp

“In For the Kill,” La Roux

“Dance in the Dark,” Lady Gaga

“Only Girl (In the World),” Rhianna

“Dancing on my Own,” Robyn

WILL WIN: “Only Girl (In the World)”

SHOULD WIN: “Dancing on my Own”



Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance:

“Run Back to Your Side,” Eric Clapton

“Crossroads,” John Mayer

“Helter Skelter,” Paul McCartney

“Silver Rider,” Robert Plant

“Angry World,” Neil Young

WILL WIN: “Silver Rider”

SHOULD WIN: “Angry World”



Best Rock Performance by A Duo Or Group With Vocals

“Ready to Start,” The Arcade Fire

“I Put a Spell On You,” Jeff Beck & Joss Stone

“Tighten Up,” The Black Keys

“Radioactive,” Kings of Leon

“Resistance,” Muse

WILL WIN: “Resistance”

SHOULD WIN: “Ready to Start”



Best Rock Song:

“Angry World,” Neil Young

“Little Lion Man,” Mumford & Sons

“Radioactive,” Kings of Leon

“Resistance,” Muse

“Tighten Up,” The Black Keys

WILL WIN: “Resistance”

SHOULD WIN: “Tighten Up”



Best Rock Album:

Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck

The Resistance, Muse

Backspacer, Pearl Jam

Mojo, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Le Noise, Neil Young

WILL WIN: The Resistance

SHOULD WIN: Le Noise



Best Alternative Music Album:

The Suburbs, The Arcade Fire

Infinite Arms, Band of Horses

Brothers, The Black Keys

Broken Bells, Broken Bells

Contra, Vampire Weekend

WILL WIN: The Suburbs

SHOULD WIN: The Suburbs



Best Urban/Alternative Performance:

“Little One,” Bilal

“Forget You,” Cee Lo Green

“Orion,” Carolyn Malachi

“Tightrope,” Janelle Monae & Big Boi

“Still,” Eric Roberson

WILL WIN: “Forget You”

SHOULD WIN: “Tightrope”



Best Contemporary R&B Album:

Graffiti, Chris Brown

Untitled, R. Kelly

Transition, Ryan Leslie

The Archandroid, Janelle Monae

Raymond V Raymond, Usher

WILL WIN: Raymond V Raymond

SHOULD WIN: The Archandroid



Best Rap Solo Performance:

“Over,” Drake

“Not Afraid,” Eminem

“How Low,” Ludacris

“I’m Back,” T.I.

“Power,” Kanye West

WILL WIN: “Not Afraid”

SHOULD WIN: “Power”



Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:

“Nothin’ On You,” B.o.B. & Bruno Mars

“Deuces,” Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall

“Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem & Alicia Keys

“Wake Up! Everybody,” John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common

“Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z & Alicia Keys

WILL WIN: “Love the Way You Lie”

SHOULD WIN: “Empire State of Mind”



Best Rap Song:

“Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z & Alicia Keys

“Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem & Rhianna

“Not Afraid,” Eminem

“Nothin’ On You,” B.o.B. & Bruno Mars

“On to the Next One,” Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

WILL WIN: “Love the Way You Lie”

SHOULD WIN: “Empire State of Mind”



Best Rap Album:

The Adventures of Bobby Ray, B.o.B.

Thank Me Later, Drake

Recovery, Eminem

The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z

How I Got Over, The Roots

WILL WIN: Recovery

SHOULD WIN: How I Got Over



Best Country Performance By a Duo or a Group With Vocals:

“Free,” Zac Brown Band

“Elizabeth,” Dailey & Vincent

“Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

“Little White Church,” Little Big Town

“Where Rainbows Never Die,” The SteelDrivers

WILL WIN: “Need You Now”

SHOULD WIN: “Elizabeth”



Best Country Instrumental Performance:

“Tattoo of a Smudge,” Cherryholmes

“Magic #9,” The Infamous Stringdusters

“New Chance Blues,” Punch Brothers

“Willow Creek,” Darrell Scott

“Hummingbyrd,” Marty Stuart

WILL WIN: “Hummingbyrd”

SHOULD WIN: “Magic #9”



Best Country Song:

“The Breath You Take,” George Strait

“Free,” Zac Brown Band

“The House That Built Me,” Miranda Lambert

“I’d Love to Be Your Last,” Gretchen Wilson

“If I Die Young,” The Band Perry

“Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

WILL WIN: “Need You Now”

SHOULD WIN: “Need You Now”



Best Country Album:

Up on the Ridge, Dierks Bentley

You Get What You Give, Zac Brown Band

The Guitar Song, Jamey Johnson

Need You Now, Lady Antebellum

Revolution, Miranda Lambert

WILL WIN: Need You Now

SHOULD WIN: Up on the Ridge



Best Improvised Jazz Solo:

“Solar,” Alan Broadbent

“A Change is Gonna Come,” Herbie Hancock

“Body and Soul,” Keith Jarrett

“Lonely Woman,” Hank Jones

“Van Gogh,” Wynton Marsalis

WILL WIN: Wynton Marsalis

SHOULD WIN: Keith Jarrett



Best Jazz Instrumental Album:

Positootly!, John Beasley

The New Song and Dance, The Clayton Brothers

Historicity, Vijay Iyer Trio

Moody 4B, James Moody

Providencia, Danilo Perez

WILL WIN: Moody 4B

SHOULD WIN: Moody 4B



Best Americana Album:

The List, Rosanne Cash

Tin Can Rust, Los Lobos

Country Music, Willie Nelson

Band of Joy, Robert Plant

You are Not Alone, Mavis Staples

WILL WIN: Band of Joy

SHOULD WIN: You are Not Alone



Best Bluegrass Album:

Circles Around Me, Sam Bush

Mountain Soul II, Patty Loveless

Family Circle, The Del McCoury Band

Legacy, Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band

Reckless, The SteelDrivers

WILL WIN: Family Circle

SHOULD WIN: Reckless