Summer Lions Video

My favorite band from New York, frankly the only band from New York in damn near two decades that exists that I think matters has a new video out. That’s right, New Idea Society  have a new, totally beautiful video for there equally beautiful song “Summer Lions” from their new album Somehow Disappearing (which you can get here from Amazon). The video has a great photographic quality and a young kid all dressed up in a young kid, homemade costume being all Where The Wild Things Are in it. It’s gorgeous. Check it out here:

New Idea Society have been getting a little more attention lately. The New York Times even interviewed Mike Law about their last video for “Thorns” which you should totally read. That video is below:

And who of course can forget there utterly cute video from their amazingly catchy song “Don’t Sleep” off of The World Is Bright And Lonely on Exotic Fever Records. Yup, I got that one for you too:

If this doesn’t inspire you to pick up these records and make your day better, well I don’t know what to tell you. New Idea Society is amazing. I don’t know how often I have to say it to convince you of that. If you don’t feel this music, there is probably cause to launch accusations that you do not have a soul. And that just makes this blogger very, very sad.

Mike Law/New Idea Society Interview From 2009

This interview was originally published in issue #3 of the Korrupt Yr Self  Zine. I interviewed Mr. Law while he was working on music that would become  New Idea Society’s Somehow Disappearing. As you know doubt know by now, it was one of my top five albums of 2010. New Idea Society make rich, beautiful music and I am compelled to share them as much as possible with anyone who will pay attention.

KYS: My first question, what I’ve been thinking about in terms of New Idea Society is the transformations it’s had since it’s inception. The project started out as an outlet between you and Steve Brodsky to explore more traditional song writing and has now become a full fledged band with a fairly solid line up. As the consistent creative force how have you felt about all the changes?

MIKE LAW: Well it has all been very natural.  We were roommates right as we moved out of our parents houses for the first time and moved to Boston.  We both loved cassette 4trks and recorded in our apartment so it was only natural we would record together.   I guess the thing is that the songs we released were always my songs so when I moved to NYC and he stayed in Boston it wasn’t so strange to play without him.  That being said I think we would both agree the tours we did together and the album we made was just a fantastic experience.  I have more respect for Steve as a musician than almost anyone.  He has also been one of the most caring and reliable friends I have ever had.  Making a record with one of your best friends is really special.  Our idea was to take these kind of standard songs and record them in an interesting way.  I feel pretty good about how they came out seeing as we didn’t even own a compressor or have any real knowledge of recording gear.

I suppose what you are getting at is that the band could have changed its name…  I often think about that, but not for those reasons.  I just never really liked the name that much.  If I had known this would become my main musical outlet I might have planned it more carefully.  But as EULCID ended, NIS just became my main thing.  Music just exists in your head at first anyway.  The way in which it is applied to the world outside ones head is kind of arbitrary isn’t it?

KYS: How have you managed to find an “identity” through all this change? Against a very fickle and fast changing climate, where being a musician is increasingly more difficult has it been hard to find an audience?

MIKE LAW: Well, once again these are things that I just don’t think about.  I never felt lacking of an identity.  The audience I have had listening to the things I make has fluctuated and I am not sure I could really control it even if I did want to.  I mean think about it.  The first Violent Femmes album sold a million copies and their most recent one probably didn’t sell a thousand.  Most of us aren’t making music for other people… I mean, I am just not interested in trying to control how someone thinks of my music or me.  Some people probably think I am great, some people don’t think I am any good and the overwhelming majority of people in the world don’t know anything about me.  The majority of the people in the world don’t know who Elton John is!  I never think about how people are going to hear something except when I sequence an album and even that is arbitrary these days as most people don’t even listen to albums in order.  I mean, I have recorded hundreds of songs for myself that I never had any intention of releasing.  I mostly make things I want to hear and even when I sequence an album it is mostly for me, but that is one of the examples I can think of where I consider the listener.  But… it is not in consideration of finding an audience.  I realize 90% of finding an audience is being in the right place at the right time and I have only ever been where I was and I am not sure that was the right place.

KYS: As you moved from Eulcid to New Idea Society it seems that the lines got blurred a little bit. When I first heard Hope: And Songs to Sing I couldn’t help but think of New Idea Society. How much of the similarities were coincidental and how much of the differences were intentional?

Mike Law: It took me a few minutes to even remember what the time line was on these.  OK, by the time we finished Hope: And Songs To Sing I had already completed You Are Awake Or Asleep.  I really don’t remember comparing the two at all in my head.  But I can say this much.  A few of the songs on that EULCID album were never played live with the band and probably should have went toward some NIS project, probably not The World Is Bright And Lonely though.  They wouldn’t fit that.  My thinking at the time was only about how to make the best EULCID album, the one that fit the theme and concept I was going for.  “Checkbook”, “(I Heard It) On the Radio”, “Big Heart”, and “Word Of Mouth” were all songs that I had written after EULCID played our last shows with Fugazi.  I chose to include those songs and not to not include one other full band song because I thought it fit the album better.  “The Peoples Grocery Company”, which is partially inspired by Ida Wells, “Clip”, and “The Cost of Profit” were my benchmarks for that album.  These other songs told the rest of the story.  I just really wanted an exciting album that wasn’t difficult to hear after what seemed to me like a challenging listen of the first EULCID album, The Wind Blew All The Fires Out.  So… the lines are always blurred in my head.  I think that the application of a song to a certain name or project is kind of arbitrary.

KYS: I also wanted to ask about your more private output. As New Idea Society morphs and changes, you said you also have a lot of songs that never reach the public. Why is that? What is your editing process like?

MIKE LAW: I decided the best thing for me is not to edit what I create at home.  If I do that I drive myself crazy wanting everything to be perfect, or a special song.  I have found that if I let myself write as much as I feel like and record it to whatever quality I have time for I am much happier.  Then, I find what songs I have ideas for that the entire band might be able to play in a unique way and go from there.  For example on the new NIS album it was very important to me to try to create songs that will weave around multiple melodies and sounds.  It was all about how the songs were mutated.  I was profoundly tired of playing chords.  There is nothing on the new album with a strummed chord progression on guitar.  I have had enough of that.  As for was what I record at home my rough count would be around 700 songs.  I have slowed down a bit lately.  I am getting tired of recording everything that comes in my head.  I need a break from it sometimes.

KYS: You also played a lot of solo, acoustic shows, especially between Are You Awake or Asleep and The World is Bright and Lonely. I personally love acoustic music and the intimacy shows of that nature provide. Hush Fest being an extension of that enjoyment. I felt like those were an extension of your music and songs that a lot of people don’t get to see with the more lavish production of your albums. What I’m getting at I guess is how did that time period fit into what you wanted to do musically and artistically?

MIKE LAW: For whatever reason I hadn’t put the band together… or it was in-between incarnations… or I thought playing solo was a good idea.  I can’t stand waiting around for people.  I just didn’t feel like I was a very compelling solo musician.  I have been thinking about trying again, but I never found it that satisfying.  I could watch Liza Kate everyday for a week, but I was bored of myself by the second song.  I think that as long as our piano player Chris is focused on music I will want to work with him. He is great and inspiring with his focus.

KYS: You have written some songs that are very stream of consciousness. For me it’s very unusual. I’m thinking mainly of “Part II: The World is Bright and Lonely” that sits in the middle of a lot of very catchy songs and a lot of very aggressive songs. Despite it’s length though, it’s very engaging.  How do songs like these come about? Are they approached the same way as your more straight forward songs?

MIKE LAW: Songs like that just happen.  Later I put thought into which key it should be in and how it should be presented, but those songs are even less planned than others.  They are moments where I am a conduit for something else, scarcely a participant really.  That song came in the form of a 30 page poem that I wrote on my typewriter over the course of a few hours one night.   Everyone tried to talk me out of putting it on the album because of its length (and that is the edited down version).  I knew that it should be there if not only just for me.  I recorded dozens of versions of it, but I think that one is close to where I wanted it to be.  “Drawbridge Kid” is another one like that, it just happened in two parts and that was it.  I started it in Japan on tour and finished it when I got back.  “Waking Dreams and Rooms” was also one of those songs that just seemed to appear… I mean, they all just appear, but it takes me longer to sort through what those type of songs should be.  It took me awhile to really figure out how to play “Part II” though.

KYS: Your lyrical diversity is also something I wanted to ask you about. Some songs like “dress shirt” or “(I heard it) on the radio” are fairly direct, but other sings are more abstract. In some cases I feel like you have a very free form style, Joyce and Ginsberg come to mind. But you counter those with some very blunt, personal stories as well. That’s very rare. Most lyricists stick either with allegory or metaphor or are more or less literal, you seem to stretch out between the two extremes.

MIKE LAW: So by fairly direct you mean that they state things in a way that is not metaphorical or simply imagery?  I think that “Dress Shirt” is somewhat allegorical although it does state things rather plainly, well, there are metaphors too…  And when I think about “(I Heard It) On the Radio” there are metaphors and imagery used even though to me I agree that it is kind of straightforward.  What I am trying to say by echoing those examples is that perhaps it is more of a scale and less a song being one thing or another.  “Drawbridge Kid” is not straightforward, but the aforementioned ones are in comparison.

On “(I Heard It) On the Radio” I was making choices to try and be very, very, very clear what I was trying to say.  Sometimes using a metaphor or imagery can make you feel more clear about something.  Other times it gets in the way.  On that song I was specifically trying to think about war from the three perspectives that might be the most important, the bystander in the country doing the attacking, the solider following orders, making the decision to press a button and drop a bomb, and the person whose house may be in the way of some political (that is code for financial) disagreement.  It was stirred by a memory of being a pretty young kid and listening to the DJ on a radio station say in a very sad voice that the U.S. had begun bombing Iraq during the first Gulf War.  Everyone else I knew was happy and felt as though they were getting what they deserved.  My family, town, everyone I knew, felt that way, but I realized that something didn’t add up, I just didn’t know how to articulate it.  The DJ only said a few sentences, he didn’t make an anti-war statement, but he sounded sad and then played “The Killing Moon” by Echo and the Bunnymen.  I knew what he meant.  That was a powerful thing for him to do.  It spoke to me more than a few anti-war sentences could have.  I just really wanted to finish the thought for myself.  I wanted to ask “When my body falls will it be worth its weight”.  NIS still plays that song live because I still want to know.  I still want someone to explain to me that answer in a way I can understand because right now I cannot.

Recently I was thinking about the words to the new album which you haven’t heard yet I don’t think?  I was a bit disappointed in myself that there was not as much imagery and exciting combinations of words as on the last record.  But it was by design.  I wanted everything more stark and lonely so I made the words that way too.  The working title was called Alone.  I wanted to really feel it in the songs so the words got kind of stark.  I am actually having a difficult time trying to think of something that is really straightforward in any good music.  It seems like most songs are more than a description of events without even allegory.  Maybe some old folk songs?  I think for me it is a scale but not really extremes… Well, I guess “Don’t Sleep” is pretty far to one end of the scale and even has some lyrics that I consider hokey.  But I love to play that song and try to forget that when I sing them because I think they are worthwhile.  Honestly, I could be wrong about the difference in the way the words are classified even though it is my own stuff.  I don’t have a lot of literary knowledge.  I have read some books… but I don’t have an understanding of classifications of these things.

KYS: Mostly what I want to talk about in terms of labels is where you see them fitting in regards to your music. I haven’t quite framed it, but largely these days labels that had a real strong identity seem to be acting conservative, taking less chances and becoming less risky. I was listening to an interview today with Mary Timony and she was talking briefly about Matador and how after her solo records didn’t sell that well she had to find another label. She said she didn’t want to run her project like a business. So I guess what advantages doe working with a label have these days as they become less risky? And I want to ask you this specifically because you said earlier that you largely create for your own satisfaction. But I also felt that your new music was reaching beyond just playing songs with friends. There felt to me like there was something bigger you wanted to convey. For me, your music with NIS felt more personal, what I heard felt like it came from somewhere more universal.

MIKE LAW: Labels really are the ones that decide where I fit in with them I suppose.  It doesn’t really matter what I think.  If one does work with the right label they can potentially be very helpful and organize things for you in a way that many musicians (myself included) are not good at doing.  OR… they can be just as useless.  If you are asking about trying to become more well known most musicians that do are in the right place at the right time.  Maybe 10% of them are so overwhelmingly talented it would be difficult to ignore them.  Prince might have had a difficult time NOT getting popular.

Being friends with the people in the band is nice, but I am there to play music and so are they.  I mean, it wouldn’t really work if we were not friends but music is my only interest so they need to be focused and they are.  I respect each of them for different reasons.  What do you mean that there is something bigger that I want to convey?  Bigger than what?  I am not sure what you mean by that.  It is all NIS so I am not sure what you are referring to?  Which songs felt more universal and which more personal.

KYS: In part I think it has to do with two things. One is your approach to the music. You said earlier you were tired of playing chords, so you are relying on playing scale progressions or even playing within single notes. It seems to have created a lot more space. I agree that chords can really seem stifling. I went back and listened to the Euclid records today and I was pulverized in a sense. They are very dense songs. But even some of the more straight forward songs are built on structure and that structure can be limiting, no matter how catchy it is.

The other part, for me, may just be my own reaction. Hearing the new songs I instantly thought of the Cure. I don’t mean to say it sounded like The Cure, but that space created was reminiscent of Disintegration for example. It also reminded me of Ida. It was both intimate and yet opening. Breathless and stark and yet comforting. I wonder if this has to do both with your new approach and working with other people consistently over a period of time?

So what I mean when I say I feel you are trying to communicate something bigger, the music itself is more open, less confined. For me, as a listener, The World is Bright and Lonely is a very personal, singular perspective.  The new music I heard just felt like it came from a desire to communicate something more abstract. It’s hard to articulate this. Oddly enough this all is relates to the music itself. Not having any recollection for the lyrics, I can’t speak to that. This may all be a moot point in that regard.

MIKE LAW: OK, I think I understand what you are getting at now.  The World Is Bright and Lonely was more centered around the lyrics.  These new songs are in fact trying to say more without words thus making them more ambiguous and perhaps more universal…?  Words mean something to everyone individually even though they don’t mean the same thing to everyone.  Music without words is even more undefinable and maybe even more universal as you said.  The World Is Bright and Lonely could very well have been me and an acoustic guitar for many of the songs.  The new album we just finished is trying to make a different kind of statement and spaciousness is a huge part of it.  These would sound like different songs if I played them on acoustic guitar.  Since Chris is so good and Alan is such an unselfish drummer we can get away with all kinds of things that other bands cannot as far as space.  No one in our band overplays.  That is saying a lot.  There is reserve on display at all times.  In fact we are going into the studio next week and the newest of our songs are truly minimal.  Even more than the ones you heard live.  It is a complete antithesis of most of the EULCID stuff.  EULCID was total chaos in my mind.  It has more in common with Converge than New Idea Society at times.  I don’t even know how I physically played and sang that stuff at the same time.  That was a whole different thing.  Someone told me once at a show in Chicago that we were like an evil three piece orchestra written by William S. Burroughs in cut up form.  I agree, they are super dense to an extreme degree.

So yes, I am tired of the bulkiness of chords for the moment and I like all the space we have on these new songs.  I don’t know scales or music theory so I can’t speak to if I am playing scales, but I am trying to have our three instruments that play notes, create the songs without guitar chords.  I like letting those implied notes hang in the air.

So you think the new songs sound like The Cure… I mean Pink Floyd, I mean Brian Eno, I mean Joe Meek’s space stuff?

KYS: With this new chapter in NIS, how do you want to present this next batch of work?

Mike LAW: I am interested in releasing these songs digitally and on vinyl.  I enjoy listening to records so I assume other people might.  I suppose I actually still prefer listening to things on CD more than MP3 because there is no debate that it sounds better, or closer to the original but I don’t think that people like dealing with CDs anymore.

KYS: So are you optimistic about NIS future?
MIKE LAW: Well, I just arrived home from the studio.  We have the basics done for four NIS songs.  I also feel pretty good about a new song I was thinking about on the way home, so since it is only 1 AM I still have time to demo it on my 4trk before I go to sleep.  In that sense I have no reason not to feel optimistic.

No 3. New Idea Society – Somehow Disappearing

New Idea Society
Somehow Disappearing
Shiny Shoes Records

I’m not going to lie to you dear readers. I say that quite a bit on this blog, don’t I? Anyway, I am biased towards this record. I fought really hard with myself as to where to position this record in my top five for 2010. Ultimately I decided that the middle of the five records I picked to focus my year-end review on was the best place. Not because this is some middle of the road best of the best record. It’s just that I love Mike Law, singer, guitarists and main shaker and mover of New Idea Society. Seriously, the man is a kind-of-heart, beautiful, nice guy who I find endearing and he’s also a better musician the most of the other musicians out in the world and this album totally rocks my brain out of the damaged skull that has helplessly tried to hold all the madness in.

The true fact of the matter is, even though I’ve been wanting this album for a while and even though I am much endeared to the life and times of Mike Law, Somehow Disappearing is just a great album. There is no disputing this statement. I don’t say it lightly and I don’t say it just because I want it to be so, I say it because in all honestly I feel it is true. The music crafted here is Mike’s best and the band that went on this adventure are totally amazing.

New Idea Society has been a rather odd band. Their first proper album, You Are Awake or Asleep was a Beatlesesqupade of quirky pop rock, informed by Mike Law’s great song writing and then musical partner Steven Broadsky’s pop sensibilities. This was followed up by the raw The World Is Bright and Lonely which was filled with so many of Mike’s personalities, that despite the crisis of cohesion was a pretty excellent album with great and diverse song writing. But none of these albums can be held to Somehow Disappearing for this is the greatness that Mike Law has been only hinting at since his days in spazzcore band Eulcid, which was all things powerful and melodic and schizophrenic and pounding. But right here and now we have a totally fantastic collection of great music that is open and breathing and totally engaging.

Law moves your feet and your heart. His desire to get people’s bodies in motion is as tuned in as his want to convey sweeping emotional tides. If it’s a sock hop you want, put on “Sing It Right”. If you want warm, romantic waves, “Autumn You” will do you just right. If you want quirky, cute and infectious, “Summer Lions” is the song you’re looking for. All of this is created by the same band and it all sticks together so perfectly well. New Idea Society puts on big, dark sweeping sounds too. If you love the best of the Cure, you’ll love “Desolation Tongues” or “Disappearing”, which are tracks moved with resonating bass, soft, but playful drums, and fantastic piano work crafted by Chris DeAngelis. In truth, it is the pairing and obvious trust between Law and DeAngelis that truly brings New Idea Society it’s  just due. Law’s guitar takes a backseat on much of this album for DeAngelis to take lead as the melodic driving instrument. The resonance of bass and treble from this instrument perfectly propel Law’s beautiful, lispy vocals into brand new heights, giving it the sonic space that his clangy chords often took away from in the past.

New Idea Society is a reinvented beauty on Somehow Disappearing. Law has left me breathless since day one that I encountered him. He continues to craft and create and consider carefully not only what he wants to say, but how he wants to say it. The teaming with DeAngelis has only exemplified and enhanced an already wonderful foundation and we can only hope that this is a musical collaboration that continues for many more albums and many more years to come. It is criminal in my opinion that this album is not getting more attention. I feel a twinge of guild even now for holding back. It’s the reason why I don’t like adding numerology to music at the end of the year. But Somehow Disappearing and New Idea Society have gotten a lot of words dedicated to them from me this year. I am not sad at all about dedicating more space to them, in hopes that maybe a few people will use their iTunes gift cards this holiday/capitalist season and show Mike Law and New Idea Society some love. You need this album in your life. The music contained within is moving, fascinating and beautiful. You’re ears and soul will thank you for it.

If You Aren’t Writing About Your Friends Music On The Internet You’re Not Doing Your Job

Trophy Wife
Patience Fury
307 Knox Records

I think the best thing that punk rock has done for the world is seperate the wall between artist and observer. Any casual reader of this blog or my zine (issue #4 currently available, email yr address to goodgovernor@yahoo.com for a copy) is by now, well aware of a long and wonderful friendship between yours truly and the amazing Katy Otto. I’ve been watching this lady play drums since I was a teenager and for close to 15 years now, she is one of my absolute favorite musicians on this planet. It’s because of the nature of punk rock that I have been lucky enough to be friends with this incredible and inspiring woman. And so it is with great pleasure to once again hear her behind the drum kit. And what a sonic pleasure it is.

Along with her co-conspirator Diane Foglizzo, Trophy Wife creates a stuning and sharp sonic explosion. Being introducted to the guitar playing of Folizzo has been quite an adventure and treat. Her stunning, crisp and cutting chords are augmented by the most jagged riffs and scales, that walk with a vicousness across the fretboard. They are dangerous tones and they challenge you.

I have commented before about a style I have noticed amongst women guitar players that I have never heard from men. I think this is important because it’s a very individual approach, but has stunningly linked results. “Five” has a guitar mastery that is remenicent of the great Aimee Argote when she lays down the law. The attack and bight pays compliment to a blanket of sounds rarely heard or explored. And for a little DC post punk reminder, check out “Whitesburg, KY” it’s Hoover/Regulator Watts openersounds right at home to these ears. Album closer “Repetition” is equal parts Unwound and Refused, Diane’s choppy chord hits supported by a classic marchers beat from Katy.

For her part of the equation, Ms. Otto has never sounded better. She has developed an crushing mastery that is raw and powerful while mainting her distinct drumers voice, playing the instrument not as a time keeper but as a musician. She compliments and co-mingles within the tight spaces made by the guitar work and hits harder and louder then she has in the past. I love the new sound of sticks clashing against the skins of those drums. All the while Katy maintains the artful rolls and fills I have come to love from her, placing beats, hits and fills where they are not expected.

I would be reporached if I didn’t mention the vocals in this gushing review. While largely allowing their instruments to make their arguments, Trophy Wife are not ones to shy away from making a fantastic vocal statement. So much loud and aggressive music lacks a good, learned vocal approach and this is where Trophy Wife really does seperate themselves. There are actual vocal parts in these songs, where both Otto and Foglizzo combine their voices and much like the instruments, play off each other. Credit must be extended to Engineer Devin Ocampo for his masterful work in turning these performances into such a solid presentation.

Music crticism is supposed to be objective and I have always found that practice trite and boring. Pop music isn’t the study of music theory, it is the creation of passion and persistance. My relationship to the people in Trophy Wife does not predispose me to my passionate feelings about my love for this band. In fact, it enhances my experiences. To suggest that one has to have that kind of a relationship to the music is a bit of an unfair expectation I realize, but in no way am I going to appologize for that. I became friends with Katy because we have a shared love of music and music making and grew up in a music scene that we both loved and respected.  Even if I could take that out of the equation, I wouldn’t. I recomend for you dear reader, you slap down the cash, put on some headphones and get your head exploded.

New Idea Society
Somehow Disapperaing
Shiny Shoes

My musical taste lineage by way of the people introduced to me by the afformentioned Ms. Otto extends to a soft spoken, mild mannered, insanely tallented and grossly overlooked gentleman (in the New England sense of the word, which is important because, despite being born out west I consider myself a Southern Gentleman) by the name of Mike Law.  I love Mike Law. Like the best and most cherished of my friends, Mike Law has a special place in my cold heart, in no small part because his being and therefor the knowledge of his continued existance warms that dirty, brown ice sludged organ that begrudgingly beats in my chest.

Mike Law has a direct cosmic string to my soul that he plucks so beautifuly. When New Idea Society’s last album The World Is Bright and Lonely came of age I was totally blown away by it. It was a constructed, dirty and raw pop masterpiece. Like I am now, then I gushed over the album and begged everyone I knew to check it out, because the record was on top of the world. Law displayed a penchant for and an homge towards the great pop rock song. So Somehow Disappearing comes not as a suprise, for it’s catchy as hell, but it’s pop music in a totally reimagined and challenging way.

A full realized, full band effort, New Idea Society greatly benefited from this approach. Built not around Law’s Guthrie/McCartney/Robert Smith guitar songs, Somehow Disappearing instead puts Mike’s vocals at the forefront and is backed by glorious piano work, dark and rich bass and a drum sound that sets such a great and subtle foundation. All of this is done that lets Law’s voice be playful and dangerous, while keeping it the most consciece performances he has made to date.

And the music is so dark and dense, it’s hard to truly absorb it at the same time as Law’s sweet vocals soar with it. But the deep emotions in the lyrics, the grand delivery of the voice and the tremendous space afforded to the musicians playing comes together so spectacularly that the music is emotionally consuming. It’s hard to be aware of the world outside of this resonant territory. It’s a sad fucking record. Mike’s always had a flavor for the melancholy, and he’s always done it with such beauty and grace, but even his previous efforts had moments of  carefree jubilation and joy. The only reprieve we get here is with “Summer Lion” which is such a playful song, it’s already become one of my favorites.

Writing about the music of my friends is important to me. In part  it is because there is so much more to Mike Law and Katy Otto then the music they make, though it is a great part of who they are and the bridge between me and them. But around that bridge I have been blessed with friends that are incredibly curious about the world, fervent in their beleifs and unwavering in their convictions. Yes, it is the music that drew me to these people, but it is the people themselves that I love. I want the larger world to hear Trophy Wife and New Idea Society. They make music unlike anybody else I have heard, drawing on a large pallet of influences, but like any great artists, shaping in their own vision. I am, unabashedly, a champion and cheerleader for the music made by the people I love. Objectivity can jump out of the window for all I care. This is beautiful, emotional, evocative music. If they were as estranged to me as my rock star crushes, I wouldn’t care. I would crush just as hard and badger you all with my inane ramblings. I’m just really lucky that some of my favorite rock stars are my friends.

On Ten Years With Exotic Fever Records

It’s hard to believe that’s it’s been ten years since that unusual summer day when Exotic Fever records first came into my life. I have told this story before, once, to great comedic effect and that’s good. Everyone likes to be funny and so, like an aging comic, doing the College Orientation Circuit on my way down to the bottom, I will quickly rehash that fateful day here, permanently and forever, on the Internets.

I emerged off the red line at Brookland, a stop I had never been to before. I am not sure why I decided to take the metro on this particular day, as a drive would have been quicker, and offered me a more immediate escape had I needed one. But never the less, there I was in a new part of DC, by the train tracks and desperately looking for an address that hardly existed. When I finally stumbled upon the domicile advertised on the flier I had in my pocket (this was the days before cell phones, internets, GPS and all that pesky crap you kids have forced upon crusty fucks like me), I could hardly believe what I had gotten myself into. What lay before me, at the bottom of some  hill was a single structure, a quasi-converted shop garage surrounded by junk.

Timidly, I walked down the hill in search of any familiar face to validate my arrival, the address and the wanting fact that I might still be on planet earth. I quickly found Bonnie Schlegel, guitarist and singer for Bald Rapunzel, the treasure of my adventure for the day. She was unloading a mini-van of her instrument and still managed to give me an energetic and welcoming, hello. We chatted briefly while she unpacked her weighty possessions and at some point, awkwardly I am sure, I left he to her devices. I almost quite literally ran into a lanky man with long hair, well-worn clothes and a lot of tattoo’s. The tattoo’s were unlike I had ever seen and I engaged him on conversation. He stated that he had them done overseas while he was on tour. I asked him what band he was in and he said, “The Spirit Caravan. My names Wino”.

HOLY SHIT. Okay, look I had only ever heard of Wino at this point from Henry Rollins book “Get in the Van” and a dozen interviews with Joe Lally going on and on and on and on about this band called The Obsessed. But I knew, looking into those wise, but road worn and intoxicant ravaged eyes, that I was in the presence of a legend. Wino was nice as shit and talked a good deal about the artist and The Spirit Caravan and Joe Lally, who I had mentioned like a buffoon (I was 23 at the time if we do the math and such as it is my character to be a shy awkward punk kid it was my manner then as well). I’ve met quite a few musicians who are well-respected and legendary to guys that are more famous and more successful than they are. Most of those dudes are pricks. Wino was really humble and nice and actually had a conversation with me that wasn’t one-sided or filled with some false ego. I’ve never run into him since then, but he left a lasting impression on me.

Suddenly, from somewhere in the beyond someone yelled something akin to “Fight” and a group of people rushed towards the shouted voice. Following suit, we emerged down the final hill. At the base, in front of the train tracks that ran directly adjacent to the garage-house, was a patch of mud and two very large men squaring up, both with shit eating grins on their faces. These two hefty boys thus proceeded to engage in the art of Greco-Roman style wrasslin’, in a mud pit, next to train tracks, next to a garage. It was by far the most thing I had ever seen in my entire life and did not, in any way, shape or form reassure me that this was the right place to be. I came to see bands play and then go home.

Eventually, Bald Rapunzel played. They were breathless. To hear Bonnie Schlegel sing is to be blessed by the angels. If you have not had the pleasure, and as she has not played to an audience in ten years I suspect you have not, ensure that you do so. You will not, as they say, regret it. Accompanying Ms. Schlegel is a lady who would effectively change my life many many many times over the next ten years. My dear friend Katy Otto set upon her drum set like a happy child who has found something sinister and wicked and is so pleased by this discovery she can’t help but light up with a smile. It is a face I have seen at least a hundred times and it never feels less than it did on that day. I was taken in completely. And, have not been unleashed since.

After their set, Bonnie set upon me (and I like to pretend in this moment that I was the only person that ever had this happen too, even though I witnessed her do this to about three dozen others after me) with a CD in her hand. Ah yes, my Kryptonite even to this day. With an abundant amount of enthusiasm and smiles of sheer adulation Bonnie gave her pitch. She had started the record label, called Exotic Fever records, it was meant to be sexy and she had put out a CD by her friend Clark’s band the Halo Project and she was going around telling everyone she knew about it and how she was really proud of it and how she loved the music and would I like to buy one. And really, how could I have said no to Bonnie in that moment? She could have told me to go wrestle the two fat guys in the mud by myself and I would have.

It is now ten years since that fateful day and I have had many experiences with Exotic Fever. I helped Katy run the web site for a few years (after much loving help from our friend April) and was privy to new bands, new people and generally give a tiny bit back to DIY music and culture. I became, in a way, a bit of a defacto historian on the label, the remnants of that web site still sleeping on a hard drive in my basement as I type this. I got to participate in a few Exotic Fever fests, playing with so many wonderful people, in no particular order, Pash, Mass Movement of the Moth, Liza Kate, Kathy Cahsel, des_ark, Rachel Jacobs, Sean McArdle and so many more. Two years ago Katy was even kind enough to invite me to play one of these shows at the Black Cat in Washington DC. A small, insignificant moment for some, but for me it was one of those once in a lifetime moments.

As Exotic Fever turns ten, it becomes important to me for a different reason. Regular readers of this FLOG will no doubt recall my memorial to our dear friend Clark Sabine. The same Clark whom I have since learned convinced Bonnie to start Exotic Fever records to put out that CD by the Halo Project. It is in this way that Clark continues to contribute to the world, even though his body and being are no longer with us. People always claim that they are filled with the spirit of those that have passed or that the memory of the dead is still here. I find that shit unnerving, because often it’s not true, the memories are doctored, and the contributions are not tangible. This is not the case with Clark. His spirit is still here, it is very much alive and well, and it courses through Exotic Fever records. He planted that seed in Bonnie Schlegel, who took it and nurtured it and grew it and then handed it over to Katy Otto who has turned over the soil with love and hard work and helped along the way by great people like April Harris, Sara Klemm and Kathy Cahsel and kept that seed alive. And while this sounds like it may all be too much when talking about a label, a label whom I have barely touched on, whose significance has barely been touched upon, it is all true. This is not just a place where commerce is exchanged for product. It’s a place where friends and people and ideas and music gather and are shared into the world. Exotic Fever is a community, the only tangible community I have ever felt apart of. That’s fucking important and that’s what Clark gave to us.

So when I say to the women (and it has been so many great women that I feel selfish grandeur  even mentioning my own small role in all of this) thank you so much for everything you have given me. and thank you for growing Clark’s seed into a mighty tree that has branched out and done so much good, I mean so much more. Exotic Fever, you are beautiful. May you be well and serve the future and be nurtured by it.

Fucking Marathon Review Time – Lets Get To It

Medications
Completely Removed
Dischord Records

So, before I actually start the Medications review, I need to lay the ground work here. I am going to attempt to review a bunch of shit here, all at once. A big blob of reviews. And not just little reviews. Reviews made of many paragraphs. The type of in-depth shit talking, muck raking, random ass bullshit you are so accustomed to you 8-20 viewers of this fantastic web blog. I intend to do this in one sitting, on a Tuesday night. Mostly because I’ve realized I am consuming a lot of music here in my empty house. All my other shit, other projects are all packed in boxes as I wait for somebody, anybody to buy my house. At which point I won’t have any money or time to think about music, let alone, buy, borrow, receive as a gift or steal from the world.

Yea, this Medications band, beloved by many here in DC and totally hyped for about as long as a band can be hyped for in this hyper consumptive music landscape we exist in. The history is Devin Ocampo and Chad Molter were in Faraquet, all hyper technical, kinda loud and a bit too cock sure for my tastes. I mean, the riff master over drive was intense and interesting, but I can’t say I fawned over A View From This Tower. Equally perplexing was when they rechristened themselves Medications that didn’t seem spiritually all that diverse from their former moniker. I don’t pass on much from the Dischord catalog, I am a pretty devoted fan. But Medications just went over my head.

Recently, they reappeared on the map, kind of surprisingly with a new album Completely Removed. Five years in the making, Devin and Chad have created a palatable, if not some what meandering version of past exploits. And while turning down the distortion and approaching the music with a bit more delicacy has done wonders for them, I still feel like they are too well-trained for their own good. The entire A side of the album fails to really saturated itself. The first track, “For WMF” seems to go on and on and on and when break out into these extended jams that, threaded in the middle of a four-minute song is somewhat intolerable. Side B however is a much more concise new exploration. They give you noodle riffs and guitar licks that are a treat and somehow do it with in the structure of a pop songs. There so good that both “Country Air” and “Home is Where We Are” could be radio hits if there was any radio left on the airwaves. And I have to say, I really like it when Molter gets on the mic. I appreciate his vocal approach to this music and brings an extra level that Ocampo doesn’t quite reach on his own. Though, it needs to be pointed out that as an engineer he understands the art of the layered vocal and executes it with precision. The addition of different tones and phrasing, especially on album closer “Tame on the Prowl” give the songs a vocal depth that 99.9% of the bands that make records don’t have. Probably because most bands have singers that don’t know how to sing and don’t care enough about what they are saying to emphasize it against the music. I can’t say I even care to “get” what’s going on lyrically on this album, but I enjoy the shit out of the vocals.

Make no mistake, Completely Removed is a breath of fresh air in a saturated music market. Does it deserve the hype it got, yea, I think so. Ocampo and Molter are musicians through and through. Yea, they know their scales and chords and progressions and all that technical stuff. But they are also keyed in on pop sensibilities and good song making. Do they get a little verbose sometimes, yea, they are guilty of that. Could they use even just a bit more tempered approach, sure. Could they learn something from the great Lungfish who could seemingly take one riff and make an entire emotion out of it, most definitely. Still, Completely Removed is a solid effort and well worth your time.

New Idea Society
Quiet Prism
Self Released

The tiny icon I just stole to add some beautiful visuals to this here web site for the brand new and FREE EP by New Idea Society does not do it justice. Full disclosure, I LOVE MIKE LAW. I mean, seriously, the man is beautiful in every way and can do no wrong. He is also the most under-rated musician operating in the city of Brooklyn, the state of New York and the country of the United States of America. I don’t just say this because I consider the man my friend and get on the guest list at the shows I am blessed enough to see. I say that because he’s fucking brilliant. With Quiet Prism, a teaser EP of material left of their forthcoming album, he shows another layer of this brilliance all stored up inside him.

Backed by a fairly steady line up, Quiet Prism represents the first material created under the New Idea Society namesake that is all in all more collaborative than most of the out put you will find in the back catalog. And though it still retains some of Law’s quirky pop sensibilities, it’s the most layered, lush music he has made to date. Law has always had a fairly dense and succulent  approach to making music. A lover of four track tape machines and a propensity for being prolific, Law has crafted songs. Having said all this, New Idea Society have created new songs that have a lot of room for the sounds to bounce around your personal atmosphere.

I interviewed Mr. Law about a year ago after seeing New Idea Society play a set of new tunes. Instantly I was struck by the structures of these songs. Mike said, to paraphrase, that he was sick of the bulkiness of chords and didn’t put a single guitar chord on this new music. Quiet Prism definitely displays that promise. The set opens with sonic rocker “Autumn You” which is full of delicate riffs backed by solid piano, drums and bass lines. It’s a powerful song that bounces and caresses at the same time. The electronic tinged “Iradell” is next up. It’s like an EL-P track without the bombastic slaps of a hip hop beat. Of course Law sings softly over it, but it caries that same haunting effect. Tucked in the middle of everything is the quirky “They Won’t Find Us”, which lyrically is a familiar to fans of Law’s past work. In fact, the vocal annunciation gives credence to the theory that this was once a pop rocker, originally penned on a an acoustic guitar. I have no proof of that, but it feels familiar.

Rounding out the short but beautiful set are “Magic Key”, heavily drenched in years of listening to The Cure. The song is so deep and resonant, it gives me the fucking chill. Law delivers such a sorrowful vocal it’s almost impossible to believe he got his start in a post-punk trio more akin to Converge than Smith and Co. And while this song is so obvious to me in its influences they do the Cure better that Cure has in a decade. This is followed by “Twilight, Dusk,Night”, an epic combination of all of these songs. I’ve been all Law, Law, Law this review and it’s completely unfair, because above all this music is clearly the culmination of four people. Keyboardist Chris DeAngelis adds such a new dimension to New Idea Society with such haunting chords, it’s hard to imagine this band without him. Bassist Trevor Watson is so solid and sure that he adds a structure to music that could so easily fall apart in to sad-bastard obscurity. The drumming too is delicate and handled with care by Marshall Ryan. He never lets the beat get ahead of the rest of the song. Knowing full well his instrument has the ability to over take such delicate music, he is instead subtle and yet musical at the same time, signs of a great drummer.

Have I hyped this record enough yet? No? What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously, why are you still reading this stupid bullshit. Go click on the link above and download this shit, FOR FREE. Because that’s just how nice a guy Mike Law is. He gives you music for free. But anyway, it’s dangerous to think that these songs are outtakes of a bigger piece of music, because they are fucking brilliant. I have not given this release nearly enough attention. As I listen to it now, I am totally over taken by how FUCKING AWESOME AND BEAUTIFUL Quiet Prism is. More please, as soon as possible.

The Dead Weather
Sea of Cowards
Third Man Records

I’m surprised as you are that I own this album. I would be remiss to not divulge you my dear reader that I also own The Dead Weather’s debut album Horehound as well. I can honestly say that both The White Stripes and The RAGAFALUTERS or whatever the fuck that terrible band is called left a less than welcoming taste in my precious ear holes. I can’t tell you what it is about the talented Mr. White that rubs me the wrong way. I just don’t find either of his other bands particularly engaging, interesting or, in the case of the RAFLUTEERS, very good. But I like me some Dead Weather.

I chock this up to the fact that it includes the lovely, intense, fiery Allison Mosshart. I have been tangled by her lyrical webs since her days in the much-lauded Discount. I also really enjoy the jury rigged sounds of The Kills. That band is so fucking twisted and fucked up that they’re hard not to love. So maybe, my appreciation for Dead Weather is coated with the fact that Allison Mosshart fronts this band and I can’t get enough of that rock singing.

Nothing on Sea of Cowards really jumps out at me though. It’s a solid record, much less lopsided then Horehound was to be sure. But this song lacks the punch of tracks like “Treat Me Like Your Mother”, “I Cut Like A Buffalo” or “3 Birds” which were cutting and intense. Sea of Cowards mostly just feels like over developed throw away tracks from the original session. It lacks memorability for the most part and is less daring and adventurous. Which seems counterpoint to the whole point of The Dead Weather who recorded two albums in the span of 16 months. And, from what I read, it’s just this kind of anonymous review and deconstruction of White’s work that this album is a direct assault against. But again, I don’t hate it, but not much on this album outside of opening single “Die by the Drop” is really freaking me out the way “Treat Me Like Your Mother” actually made me pay attention to this band.

Whatever though. I’m sounding like more of a hater then I really intended to with this review. After seeing this clip from the film It Might Get Loud, as far as I am concerned Jack White is pretty fucking cool and I don’t doubt that he is both sincere about what he does and cares about it. He toes that line of genius and mad scientist that makes for great art. The Dead Weather is a musical language that doesn’t completely speak to me, and I am okay with that. Theirs is full of enough quirkiness and fucked up sounds to keep me coming back. But I guess I want them to take a little bit more time and just push that shit over the edge into some serious rock and roll violence. Dead Weather is on the verge of scaring the shit out of me, the way the Who’s Live at Leeds does, but I’m still waiting for the extra push.

Black Tusk
Taste the Sin
Relapse Records

This album is why the recording industry can not die. I am a sucker for packaging. This goes farther than music too. Not too far, but, I will consume any beverage in any bottle or can that catches my eye. I once drank a soda that had little pieces of I’m not even sure what in it. I think it was called Orbits and it was fucking terrible, but the orange neon font and chunks of plastic inside caught my eye. Much is the same with Black Tusk’s Taste of Sin. I saw the cover, draped in a John Baizley (Baroness, cover artist for Baroness and Pig Destroyer) drawing and was like, “THAT IS A CD FOR ME”. Of course, on closer inspection I see that the drawing is a naked woman with pig fetuses snout’s covering her nips and she has horns on her neck and is drooling. That shit is kinda fucked up. And that’s pretty much what I think about my first experiences with Black Tusk.

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve had this album less than eight hours and only listened to it one and a half times so far. So you’re not gonna get a quality review here. I’m gonna be a little bit unfair and make some lazy generalizations about Black Tusk. Some of them should at least give you some idea what they are about. Some of this shit is simplistic, lazy journalism here. It’s a shitty move, but I am trying to give you a lot of content in one sitting. I should be, not so much excused, but permitted to do what I am about to do. I’ll try to be as fair as I can. Alright? Great.

Black Tusk are from Georgia and part of a lineage that includes the Mighty Mastodon, the Highly Regarded Kylesa, and the Critically Revered Baroness. That’s some serious fucking metal company to be a part of. Relapse’s own environmentally unfriendly cardboard banner included on the CD said that this album was for fans of the latter two as well as San Francisco’s High on Fire and North Carolina Stoner Sludgers Weedeater (who I just haven’t really grasped yet but they have suck a great name. Same goes for RWAKE. I don’t know. I think it’s me and not them). And look, I’m not even going to try to tell you that Relapse is wrong or that Black Tusk has such its own distinct voice that it’s really unfair to categorize them with these other bands. They sound a lot like their brethren from the dirty south. They just do. It’s not a bad thing, really. I love the fuck out of Mastodon, think Kylesa is fucking incredible and was reinvigorated so much by Baroness’s Red Album that I called it my album of the year for 2007. But unlike those bands or albums, Taste the Sin doesn’t blow me away. It rocks. It damn well should too. But I’m not dropping my job as it peels the skin from my face.

Maybe it’s because High on Fire gave me Snakes of the Divine this year which is such a great metal album I can’t even approach it on this blog full of shitty record reviews. I am enjoying sitting here listening to Taste the Sin, the crunchy guitars, the dual vocals, it’s all solid. But I am afraid I am going to forget about this record by the end of the year. And I don’t want to. Because I love me some metal. In fact the song “Twist the Knife” just opened and the opening is so swanky and rocking that I perk up a bit, but then it just kind of fades into something that could use a little bit more. This song shows immense promise and hints at the distinct voice this metal trio posses. Given time, they might fuck my shit up. Though it seems they’ve been around a hot minute, for now, I’m gonna temper my response and see what comes next.

Dan Higgs
Say God
Thrill Jockey

Okay, we are here at the end of this marathon review writing session. I feel like I’ve done pretty good so far. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve given you. Granted, I think I started out stronger and more objective and detailed then I pulled off there in the middle. I tried to give you some crazy information on some records, hopefully persuaded you to check out some new music and not be too much of a music snob jerk asshole with a blog like every other shit head. So of course I saved the most difficult record I wanted to touch upon for last. This is gonna be tough and I don’t really know where to start, so I will start with my first impression.

When I first read that Dan Higgs was releasing a new album called Say God and he was releasing it under his proper name, as opposed to like Daniel (Arcus Incus Ululat) Higgs, Interdimensional Song-Seamstress or Daniel “belteShazzar” Higgs I knew he was actually probably serious and that naming this album was not done tongue in cheek like I believe many might suspect. No matter what you think of Higgs and his amazing Lungfish, there always seemed to be a bit of a wink and nod associated with it all. It’s not that I don’t believe that Higgs is not a serious musician and artist, but weird ass shit always is suspect of a slight bit of camp.

After listening to Say God I am not surprised by the musical and lyrical content of this album. Further, I take this album as a sincere expression of his religious philosophy and practice. Each song is very much hymnal and meditative, not shocking from a guy who was part of one of the most hypnotic bands to ever exist. And while Higgs pulls no real new tricks out of his magic, musical bag, I do feel like this album is an expression of a spiritual side that he has hinted at for much of his musical career.

It’s very difficult not to put this album in context with Lungfish. In fact, I think it’s the first album he’s done that warrants such appropriation in a way. Say God even sits as an indication that Higgs probably had a lot more to do with Lungfish musically then previously assumed. In fact, in comparison with the short and prolific bursts his partner Asa Osbourne gave us with Zomes, I think the later reigned the former in, and the former pushed the later into greater territory. The albums alone are both genius, but they show how good Higgs and Osbourne truly were together.

The other thing is, people have compared Lungfish and Higg’s word play to a religious experience and sacred text. And while I understand the religious like devotion to Lungfish, and am a full participant in that praise, there are people who, quite literally worship them. This fact has been long suspected by me and recently confirmed by a dear friend who works at Dischord, the label who is responsible for the Lungfish catalog seeing the light of day. But, I speculate further, that Say God confuses this religion simply because Higgs for the first time attempts to utilize language that is immersed in familiar religious rhetoric. Which is exactly why I take this as a sincere expression of a belief in a higher, divine being or power or entity. He’s not hiding anything in world play or vocal alliteration. The lyrics and words are expressed in judeo-christian ideas, Jesus Christ being mentioned in name and delivered like sermon on the 10:42 track “Say God”. But the music is more reminiscent of Tibetan Buddhist “music” I’ve heard accompanying prayer. This fusion, found all over the west is not surprising, even from someone as unique and perplexing as Mr. Higgs.

I am not educated enough to assume that this is a fully christian god or gospel that Higgs is attempting to evoke. It could be the skeptical atheist in me who refuses to believe that this figure of intrigue and wonder is guided by these ideologies. But again, I think about Lungfish, the lyrics that were esoteric and mystical and couple that with the knowledge I do have about religion and recognize that these facets are not eschewed from these practices, even if they have been cloaked in millions of believers who don’t have a modicum of understanding into their own religious traditions. So, whatever Say God is, it has not been taken lightly by me. It is a beautiful piece of work, simple and relaxing. And while many of the tracks include breathless, unrelenting notes, that sit underneath Dan Higgs’ haunting drawl, it makes it no less engaging a work. Dan Higgs has always understood simplicity as a delicate art that takes such patience and care to render, that people often confuse it with sophomore efforts. But that’s where such generalizations fall short. Say God will not convert you to a life of religion, traditional or otherwise. It will not reel you in to the church of Lungfish, where minister on high Dan Higgs leads the choir. But if you are a believer and ardent follower, Say God is an important new gospel that you will enjoy in enormity.