Jesus Lizard Penultimate Performance

I have no idea what the Jesus Lizard were doing on ABC's Amplified a few months ago and I have no idea what Amplified even is. But I do know that it's totally hilarious to me that there's an obligatory sound bite newsroom edit job on the piece they did on the band. And I do know that I'll be at the penultimate performance this evening. I also know I'll be ordering room service tomorrow morning.

Blue Roses - Blue Roses

Too often, when an up-and-coming artist tries to mine Kate Bush territory, they focus on those big, panoramic records like Never For Ever and beyond. Never mind that those albums were adventurous even for Kate herself. It would make more sense to step back to examine some of her earlier work, when she was still a precocious teenager finding her voice (literally) and finding her place among a growing muse.
Blue Roses, the creative moniker for Laura Groves, is an organically derived debut that sounds more homespun than The Kick Inside, but it wonderfully shares that album’s obvious sense of exploration even when there’s no clear map to follow. It could easily be considered as the true offspring of that album since it shares so much of its unfettered vision and, on occasion, similar styles in arrangements. With one listen, you begin to ponder if Groves herself is about to embark on a journey of comparable success or, in a more cynical view, are we in a commercial market where we no longer allow the time and kid gloves to let such artists grow.
Blue Roses was built from Groves’ own blueprint, but it took a bunch of local generosity to really get off the ground. From the friends and acquaintances that contribute their own voice and instruments to the project, to the locales in which the album was recorded, this is an album of honest collaboration and admirable friendships. There’s the story of the wealthy owner of a Steinway concert piano who agreed-solely based on hearing Groves’ work-to allow her to use the expensive instrument for the recording of Blue Roses before being able to use it for themselves. Think of it this way: would you let the instrument of your dreams be played before you got your own hands on it? I certainly wouldn’t.
Then again, I haven’t been blessed with coming across someone with such inherent talent as Laura Groves. Lyrically, Blue Roses is full of wide-eyed songs of places yet visited, of relationships dreamed, and images built from imagination rather than experience. But musically, Groves shows an old soul at work, weaving complex piano arrangements over double-tracked harmonies that eerily evoke those first few Kate Bush albums. When other instruments are introduced, they’re of the acoustic variety, lending Blue Roses a rural feel where true escape comes in the form of learning a few chords from antique shop discoveries.
“I wish that I could photograph my moods/Show them to you” Laura sings on the album’s vast centerpiece “I Wish I,” but there’s enough imagery throughout the song’s six-and-a-half minute running time to put together a cohesive picture of what makes Laura Groves tick. More importantly, it points to the possibility that Blue Roses may be the beginning of a very worthy career, provided that she doesn’t stray from those beautiful visions in her head.

This review originally appeared in Glorious Noise.

All Will Be Carved...

The Church - Untitled #23

Admit it. You’ve totally neglected The Church’s post-Arista records output and the fact that they’re closing in on nearly two dozen records surprises you. I’m not sure what prompts a band to stay together as long as the Church, but I do know their chemistry is as such that they probably haven’t released a bad record in all that time and with their most recent-Untitled #23-they sound even better than just being consistent. Indeed, it’s an album that finds them curiously inspired, exploring the nether regions of seductive guitar textures and layers of high-altitude chill.
Above everything is Steve Kilbey’s unmistakable voice-slight, comforting, and eerily ageless. What’s curious is how his understated delivery belies a pretty capable lyricist. As a matter of fact, nearly everything about Untitled #23 is pretty understated, and it’s easy to let its greatness get overlooked.
Yes, it’s a grower. And yes, with each spin you move a little more towards the heaven that these purveyors of psychedelia keep reaching for.
On “Space Savior,” Kilbey actually allows his voice to break a bit. The thing only utilizes two chords for over six minutes, yet the band’s repetitiveness is almost trance-like, with Steve spewing out stream-of-consciousness, only giving us the line “And I gotta get up! And I gotta get off!” to serve as a makeshift chorus.
The lead-off single “Pangaea” is as least as dreamy and infectious as the band’s most famous song “Under The Milky Way,” but it’s also clear that The Church hasn’t been spending the time since then wallowing in nostalgia, trying to recreate the same song. While the voice may not be demonstrating the ravishes of time, his words are now born from life experiences. Gone are those dreamy layers of love’s optimism. They now have hints of regret and mistrust while still remaining as aurally infectious as ever.
The album’s defining moment may be “Anchorage” which may explain why the band continues to dish out record after record, more recently in near anonymity. Through years of failed relationships, declining record sales, and a fickle public, The Church has found common ground and reliable kinship with each other. “Darkness/Returning/My torch keeps on burning” as it’s written in the track’s chorus, yet the band uses the spark of one another to light a path ahead.
It took twenty-two steps before Untitled #23 to get to this point, and the road to it was obviously filled with its share of up and downs, twists and turns. In the end though, it sounds like the band has come to turns with it and will continue to forge ahead with rewarding material regardless of how many of us check out where they’re at on the map.

This review originally appeared in Glorious Noise.

Bebe Buell Seems Promiscuous

At some point in her life, the following men’s penises have been inside her.

• Todd Rundgren


• Iggy Pop


• David Bowie


• Mick Jagger


• Jimmy Page


• Steven Tyler


• Rod Stewart


• Elvis Costello


• Stiv Bators


• Jack Nicholson


• John Taylor


• Coyote Shivers
  

Fun Fact! She’s now married to Das Damen’s guitarist Jim Wallerstein. Did I stutter? Das Fucking Damen! That psycedelic rock band that recorded for Twin/Tone and SST in the 80’s!.Point is, there’s a big step between nearly everyone on that list who didn’t play in Duran Duran or have the first name of a member of the canine family. Now, as she approaches 60, she’s down to the dude from Das Damen and making a statement by snagging a younger dude
If it were me, I’d totally be intimidated by the fact that the lust for life in Iggy Pop’s once resided in Buell’s vagina. Not only would the dude who helped create Fun House been a member of Bebe’s vagjayjay club, he probably would have left the place a mess.

Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Starting Our Christmas Lists

Excuse the drool, but I'm completely hankering for another pointless reissue, if only for the fact that it's a great record.
Oh, and the packaging sounds totally awesome.
Check it:

Artist: Spiritualized
Title: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space Collectors Edition
Label: ATP Recordings
Cat No: ATPRCD36
Format: Collectors Edition CD Box set
Pre Sale Date: Monday 23rd November 2009
Release Date: Wednesday 16th December 2009
Label: ATP Recordings / Spaceman
Catalogue No: ATPRCD36
Format: Collectors Box Set / Strictly Limited Edition of 1000
Boxset Contains:

• 12 x 3" Prescription Pack CD’s packaged in a foil tray
• 2 x 5" CD’s containing 35 unreleased versions & outtakes
• Digital Download Code for the original album
• Individual Prescription Cards signed by J.Spaceman
• Strictly Limited Edition of 1000
• Brand New Artwork by the original designers Farrow & Spaceman
  

ATP Recordings / Spaceman are pleased to be able to offer the very limited collectors edition. This includes 12 x 3" Mini CD’s of the complete album track-by-track, a homage to the original release. This will be accompanied by 2 bonus discs.
For those who don’t wish to open the blister pack, each unit will come with a code to download the original album in MP3 format._
Limited to just 1000 units, each collectors edition will come with a prescription numbered out of 1000 and signed by J Spaceman.
Anyone who pre-orders the collectors edition before November 30th can have their own name, or name of their choosing printed on the prescription.
The Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space Collectors edition, will be sent out from the UK on December 16th. If you do not wish to pay postage and handling, there will be an option to pick it up from the Barbican shows on December 16th or 17th.
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space Collectors edition is available for £125 + postage and handling.
AVAILABLE FROM 3PM GMT MONDAY NOVEMBER 23RD AT http://www.blogger.com/www.lagwafis.com

O.K. So if I do my pounds to dollars conversion that makes this box set a cool $206.
And that's before shipping and handling.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are in a recession.
For that kind of bread, Spaceman should smoke a joint with me in my basement too while personally giving me song-by-song commentary as we listen to it.

They performed the album in its entirety last month at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Here's a nice audience shot video of "I Think I'm In Love" from that show. I've seen this band about three times and they've blown me away each time.

Grant Hart In Des Moines

My money was on Grant Hart after Husker Du broke up. He wrote some of the Husker’s best songs and may have even been a bit more consistent than campadre Bob Mould.
And then-within months, it seemed-he released the acoustic song “2541,” as in 2541 Nicolette Avenue, Minneapolis. As in the Husker’s rehearsal space. And it seemed a heartbreaking account of the band breaking up under the guise of a couple moving out of an apartment and moving away from each other. The line “things are so much different now/I guess the situation’s reversed/And it will probably not be the last time I have to be out by the 1st” ranks as good as anything that Mould ever wrote, but it’s Bob that gets all the critical accolades.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob too. In fact, I remember a fight I had with my ex-wife once after she called Mould a “sellout” upon learning that he was writing story episodes for WCW wrestling.
But Hart was completely off the radar; there were no verbal volleys about him, because he seemed to drop off the face of the Earth after Nova Mob’s The Last Days Of Pompeii.
I remember occasionally hearing stories about him, how he looked like he was struggling with addiction.
And there was little music to counteract those rumors.
Grant Hart recently made his way back to Iowa and visited Des Moines with a set. Our man in the D.M. reports, “He played my requests of “2541” and “Sorry Somehow.” That was cool.”
But damn if the dude don’t look haggard. And you would think the hipsters in the Twin Cities could add a buck to a fishbowl and chip in to buy him a leather jacket.
What’s with the getup? Did Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9” inspire it? Someone needs to call Robyn Hitchcock and tell him that we’ve found the jacket from his Fegmania tour.
For real, those All Tomorrow’s Parties folks need to waive a shitload of money in front of Mould and Hart and get Husker Du back together for a reunion show.
If Greg Norton plays hardball, just threaten his food joint with endless surprise visits from the health inspector or something.
And he had better still have that handlebar mustache too.
Getting back to Grant: he has a new record called Hot Wax, which will probably sell as many copies as the Husker’s first single.