Saturday, October 24, 2015

Geezer Goes to Rock Show, Gets Money’s Worth

When we last left off, Old Geezer Jaybee (a doubly redundant appellation if ever there was one) had a less than great time at a rock show. Less than great is still very good but Old Geezer Jaybee (heretofore labeled OGJ) spent good money on those seats and, dammit, he’s going to get his money’s worth. Every. Single. Dollar.

And woe be it to him or her that gets in his way, like that couple who were sort of necking (is that what the young folk call it these days?) and thus theoretically blocking Mrs. Jaybee’s view. Mrs. Jaybee was fine with it but that’s not the point! “Money’s worth” encompasses any and all members of the attending party. Luckily Mrs. Jaybee persuaded OGJ that she had an unobstructed view, thus preventing a scene.

The main problem, of course, was that OGJ hadn’t (notice how I’m talking about me like it’s some other loser?) familiarized himself sufficiently with the artist’s latest release. Plus, he had a beer, which, at his age means he’s going to fall asleep shortly. or get very cranky.

Even though he’d already spilt half of it on the brand new carpet at the beautifully restored Kings Theatre (even without going there you can tell it’s nice by the fancy way they spell theater) trying to navigate those elongated steps that no one can walk down gracefully to begin with,

This time around, he got water, and navigated those steps by avoiding them altogether. And most importantly, getting sufficiently familiar with Yo La Tengo’s latest album, as well as the earlier record it commemorates, and another one from 2000 for good measure.

And Yo La Tengo didn’t let him down.

But first, let’s talk about opener Nick Lowe.

It’s been about thirty five years since Nick first burst upon the scene. Oh, he’d been around far longer than that as part of Brinsley Schwarz. That’s when he wrote “What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding”.  He made some classic solo records, like Pure Pop for Now People
and Labour of Lust, play with Rockpile and produce several Elvis Costello albums.

But since that time, he’s moved away from the fast, witty pop music he’s known for, opting for a slower, more acoustic sound.

And although his new music is less compelling than the old, Nick was always a charmer and could have gotten by on that alone. Luckily he mixed in new versions of some old songs, and was more than good enough. He was the perfect opener, actually.

And how about Yo La Tengo?

They were wonderful.

I was afraid that going acoustic might mean that everyone would be sitting down in a circle. It sounds nice and intimate, but it gets boring real fast.

But there they all were, standing right at the front of the stage. Even drummer Georgia Hubley, with the simplest drum kit possible - a la Maureen Tucker of the Velvet Underground. But unlike Tucker, tonight Georgia would be using brushes more than sticks, and singing.

I’m beginning to think Ira Kaplan only owns one T-shirt, since he seemed to be wearing the same one from the release party and the bio picture on allmusic.com. His noise guitar was totally absent this night. He was content to stick to acoustic and let Dave Schramm do the electric heavy lifting

And Dave Schramm - the prodigal son returning - was brilliant, providing the touch that would give these acoustic songs reach depth and punch.

Bassist James McNew - like he told me at the release party - played stand up bass and managed to sing fantastically while doing so. He was worried about doing both. You did great, James!

You don’t expect such great music from such down to earth people, but the band was totally committed to both the sound and spirit of the new record, About 75% of the show came from either Fakebook  or Stuff Like That There. I wasn’t familiar with the other 25% but it all sounded really good.

The highlight was “Deeper into Movies” - a rouser from I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One - done with quiet intensity. I could tell they were loving what they were doing. The crowd was loving it too.

I spent the whole time grinning like an idiot. I even knew it, but didn’t care.

The show ended with Nick Lowe joining YLT for a two-song encore. Nick picked one, and YLT the other. Ira dared the crowd to guess which was which but that was easy.

First came a slow mournful “Walk Away Renee”, which had to be Nick’s pick. Modest to a fault, of course he’d do someone else’s song. One that fit his current style well.

And the closer, picked by YLT?  Why, a Nick Lowe song, of course. “The Rollers Show”. Not done in the ebullient style of the original. It was slower, but joyful nonetheless. It was like a great big thank you to Nick for all the inspiration he’s given over his career.

The crowd walked away very satisfied.

And Old Geezer Jaybee, for once, was one with the crowd.



“The Roller Show”

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Tengo!

Tengo!

Okay, so And Then Nothing..  is excellent and Fakebook is very good.

How’s the new one?


This is Yo La Tengo’s Harvest Moon. And in the same way that record commemorated Harvest, this one commemorates Fakebook, which brought together covers, remakes of Yo La Tengo songs and new originals.

It’s more muted and consistent in tone though. There’s nothing very fast or loud. The production is better because even though they sing and play quietly, the sound is sharp and clear.

It lacks the highest highs of the former. The difference between these two records is youthful exuberance vs. older contentment.  

The covers range from Hank Williams, Sun Ra, the Cure, the Lovin’ Spoonful and the Parliaments. Is that enough for you? And they manage to bring all of the disparate styles of the originals together into this very unified sounding record.

One of the weaknesses of Fakebook was Ira’s vocals, which sometimes weren’t up to the beauty of the songs. Here, Georgia is front and center and it works great! She sings just as softly, but it’s still singing, not whispering. She’s smooth as silk. Sort of like Astrud Gilberto.

I’m just now noticing now that the originals sprinkled throughout Fakebook are pretty great. The originals here are more of a piece with the overall tone and can fade into the background.  

And the highs of Fakebook were a little higher that the best stuff here, but that’s okay. There are no clunkers here.

And "Deeper into Movies" - a remake of one of their pounders from Heart is brilliant.  

Here are both of them:

Then vs. Now
Is this the same band? Is this the same song??  Yes and yes!

So you can choose which record to listen to based on your mood. I’ll probably choose Fakebook a little more often, especially in the morning. But that’s okay. I’m still glad this one’s around. And it’s better at night time.

If you picked up any of these records you could get a skewed idea of who YLT is and what they can do. I’m not sure myself anymore since I’ve only got five out of the sixteen or so albums I counted on allmusic. And aside from this one I’ve got nothing by them from the last fifteen years. But you can be damn sure I’ll be looking into it.

So aside from getting all those records (a very worthwhile idea in itself, I think) I’m as ready for the show as can be.

B+

Sunday, October 11, 2015

La!

I was keeping my ears open for when the new Yo La Tengo record would be coming out when I got word that they’d be having an album release party at my favorite record store!

I dragged Son Michael with me because that’s what kids are for.

And there they were standing in the middle of the crowd. If you didn’t know what they looked like, you could have walked right past them.  But a line was formed so they could autograph albums. By then even the most obtuse could figure out who was who.

So I bought a couple of records and got in line.

Guitarist and singer Ira Kaplan bore the brunt of my obnoxious questions with grace and kindness. Drummer and singer Georgia Hubley somehow balanced DJing, chatting and signing, Bassist James McNew was your pal who was happy to hang with you.

It turns out that their new album is a tribute to and re-visitation of an album they made twenty five years ago. So let’s start there.




Fakebook (1990)

"A fake book is a collection of musical lead sheets intended to help a performer quickly learn new songs. Each song in a fake book contains the melody line, basic chords and sometimes lyrics - the minimal information needed by a musician to make an impromptu arrangement of a song, or "fake it." The fake book is a central part of the culture of playing music in public, especially in jazz, where improvisation is particularly valued. Fake books are not intended for novices: the reader must follow and interpret the scant notation, and generally needs to have thorough familiarity with chords and sheet music. Fake books are often bound."
Wikipedia


Yo La Tengo have an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music. They often show up on WFMU marathons to play Stump the Band. I saw them in Prospect Park a few years ago where they did (I believe) an impromptu version of the Monkee's "Sweet Young Thing".

So it's no surprise that after only four years of recording original material, Yo La Tengo decided it was time to put together some obscure covers with some redone originals mixed in.

As as one would expect it can be hit or miss.

The advantage of picking obscure covers is that most of the time people haven’t heard the originals and so can’t compare them to the new versions.

Of the many I’m not familiar with that sound wonderful to me, the best are The Scene Is Now's “Yellow Sarong”, the Flaming Groovies "You Tore Me Down” and Daniel Johnston's “Speeding Motorcycle” and , “The Summer”. And they do quite a creditable job on Gene Clark’s “Tried So Hard”.

Other good ones are Cat Stevens’ “Here Comes My Baby”, John Cale’s “Adalucia” and Rex Garvin’s  (I told you they’re obscure!) “Emulsified”.

And the originals they sprinkle throughout are very, very good. Especially "The Summertime"!

The only ones that come up short are the Kinks “Oklahoma, USA” - one of Ray Davies’ greatest songs - which requires more than Ira’s fragile voice can accomplish.  Don’t believe me? Here’s the original - a masterpiece hidden on side two of a fairly unknown record. (By the way, Yo La Tengo was Ray’s backup band during his solo tour in 2000.  Ira loves the Kinks, so he must have been in heaven, since Ray is such a barrel of laughs..)

And “Griselda”, about a young man trying to persuade his girlfriend to have sex with him by the moonlight, is hampered by Ira’s earnest attempt to make it pretty. The original had a horny pervy vocal that suited the subject perfectly.

But otherwise they do a fine job.

The lineup includes guitarist Dave Schramm, who knows how to add just what the given song calls for.  He prettifies what Ira might otherwise bulldoze.

So it’s a bit scattershot, a little frustrating, but very often brilliant. I’m probably grading a bit harshly on principle. In practice it glides by quite gracefully.

B+

“You Tore Me Down”

Next: The New One

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Yo!

Mrs. Jaybee liked the Kings Theatre so much back in May at the Sufjan show that she took note of the fact that Yo La Tengo would be playing there in October, and got me tickets for Father’s Day.

Yo La Tengo comprises three rather unassuming people - husband and wife team Ira Kaplan (on guitar and vocals) and Georgia Hubley (drums and vocals) and friend James McNew (bass). I think they live in New Jersey and keep to themselves. Such modesty doesn’t typically bespeak great music, but YLT have been at this for quite a while now.

By the way, the band name comes from a Met outfielder yelling “I got it.” in Spanish. Works for me.

And although I’m a big fan of the two YLT records I already owned - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
- one of my very favorite records of the nineties - and Electro-Pura - a loud/quiet juggernaut that I would play more often except that I got it right before 9/11 and it still brings back memories - both records are now about twenty years old. I’m sure at the show they’d get around to playing slightly newer material, so I’d better get up to speed.

Having been around for nearly thirty years, they’ve amassed quite the discography so I wasn’t sure where to continue. I noted that it would be an acoustic show and thought that getting one of their quieter albums would be a good place to go.

And Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000)

And quiet it is!  Quite a surprise after it’s predecessor, Heart from three years prior, which covered a wide spectrum of sounds from loud and fuzzy to samba to country to folk, with stops at electro-drone along the way,

It was relatively successful, for indie rock, anyway, so you’d think this time around they’d be poised for their next career step by polishing up their sound.

Instead, YLT doubles down on a rumbling, somewhat ominous, but definitely lower decibel sound, only ripping it up in the middle with “Cherry Chapstick”.  But in case you think they’re hedging their bets, they finish it all off with the 17 minute quietest-of-all “Hoboken at Night”, that says that they really mean it, man.

No one’s a great singer here, so the vocals tend to be low to the point of mumbling. You’d think this - combined with the overall approach they’re taking here - would wear thin after a while. And it does if you’re not willing to hang in there. But it makes perfect artistic, if not commercial, sense.

I’ll admit that my first listen left me underwhelmed. There didn’t seem to be any “there” there. (Oh wait, that’s Oakland.) One could reasonably conclude it’s a dud, throw it against the wall and move on with one’s life.

Especially in the middle of summer when the windows are open and the music is competing with the sounds of the city (which all too often resembles the sound of assholes).

But once the windows are shut and you get to really hear it, you find that there’s a real song behind each carefully crafted soundscape. Please excuse the critic-speak there. I just have to point out that they’re not coasting here. Each track is powered either by a great drum pattern, soulful harmony or subtle organ part.   

My favorite song is “Tears Are In Your Eyes” - a gentle but emotional lending hand held out to a depressed friend. And now that I can really hear it, I find that every song is at the very least worthwhile or way better.
Mostly the latter. And that commitment to tone seems less and less crazy and more and more brave.  

Lovely night music, and it would sound great out in the middle of nowhere

In fact, it’s a low-key, but definitely not mellow, tour-de-force.  Come on, this unassuming married couple and easy going bass player friend are saying. We dare you to listen.

A-


Oh, but hold the phone! It turns out that YLT has a new record coming out!  I better not repeat the mistake I made at the Sufjan show.

I’ll have to check that record out, too!

Next: La!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Sitting, Thinking, Rocking, Rolling

In my endless quest to appear cool I have been doing my damnedest to stay current and Actually Buy An Album That Came Out This Year.

Son Michael helped out with Sufjan but it was time I did my part. So I grabbed this $5 download from that awful company that exploits its workers. (But I won’t anymore.) Thank God I got this before I found out.


Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Just Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

This young woman got me from the first song. The first second, really. Right out of the gate, she sings the tale of the young man who may or may not be depressed, but who gets help from that older lady you thought was just a nasty bitch.  Heartwarming, uplifting, and you can dance to it.

She’s not afraid to dump a lot of words on you, and you don’t mind it because they’re all so funny or perceptive or both.

With her small, but very committed combo, she varies the pace and tone, going fast then slow, loud then soft. And she plays a mean guitar! She can go soft and smooth, loud and crunchy, or slow and bluesy as the moment requires.

These changes of pace and tone are crucial in holding your interest from song to song. Oh yeah, the songs. They’re kind of good, too.

She can be mean, as in:
I think you’re a joke 
but I don’t think you’re very funny

She stretches out the last word to fu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-ny. You gotta keep the beat, after all.

She can also be matter-of-factly self-revealing, like:
I used to hate myself
but now I think I’m all right

So she earns the benefit of the doubt that in the former couplet, the intended target deserves it, and in the latter, she means it as advice for us, too.

And by the time we get to the bouncy, funny, angry “Debbie Downer” I’m ready to jump up and down. And that’s quite the sight to see!

That sense of humor, that irresistible Australian drawl, those songwriting chops, that guitar, that band. They almost almost single-handedly rehabilitate the electric piano!

And all this rock and roll is more fun than sad, sad Sufjan. (Not better, mind you, but more fun.)

And even though she ends it with two slow ones, by then you need the rest.

She’s funny, smart, tuneful and a damn good guitar player, and her band follows her wherever she goes.

I don’t blame them a bit.

A

“Debbie Downer”