Somehow, that Ground Control's Holiday Gift Guide coverage begins now — several weeks before Christmas, still feels a little late in coming. Standing back from it, the whole thing actually began with a dark pall (it was black and came on Friday, November 23, even) and saw normally sensible shoppers raiding department stores like the end of the world was nigh, so it was the perfect time to stock up on just about everything one could imagine or dream up.
Did you go? Were you there crashing doors with the mob? Maybe you were, but some planning problems endure, regardless. Every year, people plan for Black Friday mania because, "There's so much stuff [I] want to get! I could get all my Christmas shopping done!" but, when they get inside the store which they believe will solve all their purchasing problems, they freeze. They forget what they walked in for; and hopes of Christmas shopping completion in one day begins to flag, or (like the model for our photo above), shoppers get a tremendous amount of shopping done, but still come up short and are obliged to do more.
What did you forget shopper? Whom did you forget on Black Friday? This is definitely why Saint Nick has a list and checks it twice.
In many cases, the stuff which gets forgotten on Black Friday is a series of smaller things. All of the hardware and tools of everyday life (dishwashers, refrigerators, televisions, DVD players, stereos and so on) as well as other such big dollar items tend to get snapped up on Black Friday, but the little things come later. Little things like CDs or records to play on that mammoth new stereo, DVDs to play in that new player and action figures and dolls for the kids are the things which tend to bring shoppers out en masse after the darkness of Black Friday, but then the question becomes which ones are the best ones to purchase?
That, shoppers, is where we offer some assistance because, if you don't have a clue, you might buy something worthless and no one wants that.
This first installment, we'll look at CDs; those wonderful little, reasonably indestructible stocking stuffers that are omnipresent on virtually every Christmas list. There have been a tremendous number of good ones this year, and we've assembled a quick set of titles definitely worth consideration. Check it out, and maybe your imagination will be spurred!
Aaron Freeman
Marvelous Clouds
(Partisan)
A soft, contemporary dynamic dynamic dominates songs like “Jean,” “The Beautiful Strangers,” “One By One” and “The Lovers,” and each stays its course with meticulously clean guitar performances, perfectly level melodies and soulful vocal exhortations on this, Aaron Freeman's first solo album following his departure from Ween. That the songs were only written by Freeman in part (Marvelous Clouds is being marketed as a tribute to the work of author/singer/songwriter Rod McKuen, but some of this music was arranged and composed by Freeman)is irrelevant; Freeman pours himself into these songs as if they were his own, and gently presents them with love and care. Such a change in form from Ween's governing dynamics is breathtaking; in listening, Ween fans will be forced to wonder if they might have been mistaken in what they assumed to be true about the band for all those years they excited awaited new albums from that band. That food for thought is very engaging as listeners find themselves enjoying Marvelous Clouds more and more because of the sheer beauty of it – not the chance that it is some new form of satire. That chance and the music which promotes it on Marvelous Clouds is very illuminating and could easily find a happy home in many record collections.
Tweaker
Call The Time Eternity
(Metropolis)
Right from the beginning, listeners will be floored to discover that, while all of the sounds in “Ponygrinder” (the track which opens Call The Time Eternity) are familiar, the results sound fresh, vibrant and brand new for 2012. The tenets and structures which inform the song are exactly the same as those which wowed listeners about The Attraction to All Things Uncertain a decade ago (the dramatic synthetic orchestrations and trip hop vibes combined with the tidy and urbane jazz overtones), but they flourish beautifully instead of seeming musty. The chilly vibes and demeanor of the orchestration conjure colors (violet, periwinkle) which sweep over and easily overtake listeners, and those listening will be surprised to discover that they're completely fine with that; the sort of beautiful, vaguely malicious twilight cast is hypnotic. It is similar to what Vrenna has done before with Tweaker, but that familiarity gives an incredible level of comfort to listeners, and they'll find themselves indulging in “Ponygrinder” happily – like an old friend they haven't seen since they took their eyeliner off years ago.
The icy, chilly and purple backdrop set up with “Ponygrinder” remains on the walls as Scarling chanteuse Jessicka Addams takes the mic for the serenely dark impression of “Nothing At All” (which manages to drag Vrenna's darkness into a perfectly “pop” light without changing the shade of the song one iota – it's worth noting) and remains in place even as “Hoarding Granules” begins to teeter on the brink of sanity and “Grounded” flies clean off the handle into full-blown goth. As the record progresses too – while it proves to not be without its flaws (“This Is Ridiculous” lives up to its name as it attempts to resuscitate 1997) – it is an excellent return which proves that the sound and style can indeed hold up. After the succession of sloppy dreck which has come from his peers over the last few years (really think about it – how many gothic and industrial bands are still making good new music? Even Trent Reznor closed the door on Nine Inch Nails because it was in danger of becoming irredeemably stale), Vrenna and his production style may indeed be the only things about the goth renaissance which have aged well over the last fifteen years. Call The Time Eternity is proof that there is still life after goth.
2:54
s/t
(Fat Possum)
The sense that a new evolution or initiation or development is taking place right before a listener's ears will be unmistakable for those who get aboard 2:54's self-titled album with “Revolving." There, a sort of warm and dense sensory deprivation begins which is both dark and elating. Listeners will find themselves swallowed up whole by the rich warmth of Hannah Thurlow's guitar and the constant, seemingly inevitable drive of the rhythm section manned by Alex Robins and Joel Porter. It's dark and hypnotizing and beautiful, but the real pearl at the center of “Revolving” is the sense of trepidation incited within listeners by singer Colette Thurlow. In her, the sum totality of a series of classic Brit-pop lyrics including “There's too many people planning your downfall,” “Take me down – six underground,” “Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, your tongue's like poison” and “I know what I need/ When my heart bleeds” are combined, personified and given the breath of life. That voice is a slippery, beautiful thing which offers listeners a vivid portrait of longing and trepidation all at once and effortlessly.
With the tone and standard of the album set by “Revolving,” 2:54 has a tall order to fill certainly – but they handily continue their path brilliantly through this run-time and even throw in a few shocks to make sure those who were won over by the basic sounds and structures the band is working with here will keep coming back. Songs like “Easy Undercover,” “Scarlet” and “A Salute” keep up the emotionally articulated arc begun by “Revolving” with solid results that will compel listeners to delve even more deeply into the darker reaches of the longing and uneasiness expressed by this record, but the grand, epiphany-inspiring moments like “You're Early,” “Circuitry” and “Creeping,” which Thurlow's misgivings, the icy but epic and perfectly carved guitars and the rolling, mammoth rhythm section – comes together and produces a divine chime instead of a harrowing (but no less welcome) serge. Those are the moments which will win fans for life.
With all that praise and dissection made a matter of public record now, this critic has begun to realize that some readers might scoff and call his prose overwrought. “The music can't be that life-changing,” they'll say dismissively. That's fair enough for the uninitiated to contend, but those who try 2:54's debut will understand and won't argue when I contend that this record could change your life. Buy it for the one you love this season, and watch them light up.
54-40
Lost In The City
(Smilin' Buddha Enjoyment Complex/Maple Music)
Fans will be floored right from the get-go as “Let Me Be Your Wheel” leads the charge into Lost In The City with a swagger that betrays the band's experience, but also with enough power to imply that the band feels like it has something to prove. Here, singer Neil Osborne EASILY overtakes listeners and leaves them staring doe-eyed as the band follows with the sort of soulful country rock that won fans over as early as Set The Fire but, rather than sounding like “same old thing,” the delivery sounds spry and magical. The plot gets thicker when the band shifts gears at the two-and-a-half-minute mark and hits on a methodical but understated grandeur. Right then, 54-40 has the undivided attention of everyone listening; right then, longtime fans will start getting excited just as they did the first time they heard the band and a few new ones will be won for the ride too.
Ani DiFranco
¿Which Side Are You On?
(Righteous Babe)
While some listeners may be surprised at the changes Ani DiFranco has made to her style and forms for her new album, ¿Which Side Are You On? (her seventeenth album in twenty-two years), it's easy to forget some of the events which have affected the singer over the last few years may have rendered those changes necessary – and they aren't the ones you'd immediately think of. Yes, DiFranco became a mother in 2007 and, true, many aspects of her sound changed after Hurricane Katrina forced her to abandon both the initial sessions for Reprieve as well as the New Orleans studio where she had been working on it – but the most significant reason why something had to change for Ani DiFranco was because of the “severe tendonitis” diagnosis she received in 2005. For a guitarist who made her name as a finger-picking player, such a diagnosis qualified as career threatening and, conspicuously, it has been the thing which has kept her trying to adapt ever since. All of the aural alterations which Ani has made in the last five years are attributable to it.
Not all of the concessions to fate and adaptations DiFranco has made to it have been the easiest things to hear but, on ¿Which Side Are You On?, the singer has arrived at her best, most solid and sustainable solution to date. This time – rather than simply trying to substitute similar sounds in for the busy and bracing acoustic guitar figures she's no longer able to produce as she had on Reprieve, or simply trying to bury her old muses in new ones as she had on Red Letter Year – DiFranco has chosen to start layering some new and vibrant sounds alongside the conventions longtime fans know and let them feed, brace, bolster and inform each other. The results are a fantastic new creature that is all fans who found the last couple of albums lacking could have asked for and brings the possibility of exciting new forms into focus as well; it is truly remarkable.
METZ
s/t
(Sub Pop)
METZ will have listeners' interest piqued from the moment the band punches them in the head with the drum salvo which opens “Headache.” The grainy, slightly frayed and almost desperate sound of those drums is joined in a perfectly methodical manner by a torrent of furious guitars which only adds to the sense of chaos about the song before singer/guitarist Alex Edkins pushes the band, the album and anyone listening off all moorings and into METZ with the sound of his voice. The strains of post-punk, hardcore and even grunge manifest in this brilliant amalgam; the almost secondhand screeches of feedback, the crack of Edkins' voice and the spiraling sensation implied by the presentation sound directly descended from the DIY beginnings of each of those sounds and the sheer power of the performance here, and the results are line a mainlined shot of pure adrenaline. From this beginning, listeners aren't given the impression that anyone is coming back in the same condition they left, but it's going to be an epic ride.
After “Headache” sets the bar and tone for the album, METZ never allows that energy to dip and just rips through ten more slabs of the thickest, most ferocious hardcore with reckless abandon. After each track in succession too, listeners won't be able to deny that the band actually ups their own levels and further fleshes out a perfect assault; tracks like “Get Off,” “Sad Pricks,” “Knife In The Water,” “Nausea” [no, it's not a Germs cover –ed], “Wet Blanket” and “Wasted” all exceed expectations as the band rips itself apart for the sake of each song only to do it over again for the next. True, it's not always easy to pick out lyrics in the songs other than to note they're there (basic samples include “I can't see/ I hear you breathing and you're standing right in front of me” from “Headache,” “Don't wanna go” from “Sad Pricks” and “Fall down/ Fall down/ Fall down/ Fall down” from “Knife In The Water”) but the overall impression left by each is just so potent and hypnotic that listeners will still find themselves feeling as though each song was written both for and about them. Not in years has such a seemingly blind, confused and inchoate sound resonated so powerfully – even within someone (like me) who has never had any introduction to the band before. METZ is just magnificent.
Dinosaur Jr.
I Bet On Sky
(Jagjaguwar)
The first thing that long-time fans will notice about Dinosaur now on I Bet On Sky is how much leaner the band presents itself as being – compared to the sounds once expressed on albums like You're Living All Over Me, Bug and Green Mind. Here, J. Mascis' guitars have some pretty searing bite rather than simply steamrolling over listeners with a solid mass of sound, as was often once the plan of attack. Instead, songs like “Don't Pretend You Didn't Know,” “Watch The Corners,” “I Know It So Well” and “What Was That” all use a more spry, distinctively “modern indie” and “punk” tempo rather than the more “classic rock” pacing which was stock on all of Dinosaur's previous albums. In that “change is good” corner, particular prizes like “I Know It So Well” (which speeds close to Meat Puppets' “Backwater,” actually) and “Watch The Corners” shine brightest; with an almost poly-rhythmic skip Dinosaur easily sheds a few years in their delivery and, because it seems less labored, the results are refreshing and feel adventurous. Likewise, because songs like “Almost Fare” and “What Was That” run a little lighter, they punch harder and faster – and listeners will have to actively resist the urge to cheer the band's ambition. Those sudden shifts in tempo and arrangement prove to be exhilarating and will have listeners coming back to revisit them regularly.
All that said and it certainly won't need to be re-iterated that I Bet On Sky isn't a complete departure for Dinosaur Jr., it's just a fantastic example of refined approach. Those refinements are both excellent and important though, and they've clearly rejuvenated the band on I Bet On Sky; this isn't a “new Dinosaur Jr.,” but it is certainly an exciting rethinking of the band's core designs.
Sebadoh
Secret EP
(self-released)
The sense that Sebadoh is here in all its glory unchanged endures as Jason Loewenstein picks up the mic and manually shifts Sebadoh into a slightly punkier gear for “My Drugs” and, between it and “Keep The Boy Alive,” long-time fans who have waited so patiently will be in a state of euphoria. Again – as was the case for Barlow with “Keep The Boy Alive” – Loewenstein's authoritative voice (less methodical and measured than Barlow's, and more geared to rock abandon) blasts through with perfect clarity on “My Drugs” and has the perfect sort of raucous drive to put steam in any listener's stride. “My Drugs is the perfect counterpart to “Keep The Boy Alive” and it's hard not to hum along dew-eyed as lines like “Make the same mistakes/ over again/ I can't break the chain/ Going 'round again.”
With the poles of “Keep The Boy Alive” and “My Drugs” established, Sebadoh does another lap between them with “Arbitrary High” (another Barlow gem which begins with the prize line “I don't believe I'm good, but I can be adequate”) and “I Don't Mind” (which concedes “I know it's not what you wanted” – even though that's exactly what it is) before ending on a laughable, tossed off bit of rock genius in the form of “All Kinds” before abruptly cutting out. As it goes, listeners will find themselves stammering after it in protest that there has to be more but, when nothing comes they'll be hurriedly reaching to start it over; they'll feel compelled to do so until they're able to take it all in.
As often as a listener will replay this EP and as much enjoyment as they'll take from it, there's no question that what's here is insufficient – it's good and there needs to be more. This Secret EP is an excellent tease, but every fan will need a more substantial, full-length answer for it. There will be a lot of very interested fans waiting rabidly now, so here's hoping that it won't be too long in coming. In the meantime, go track down this EP and buy it; for the one you love or for yourself, just buy it. It's worth it.
Nouela
Chants
(The Control Group)
Noela's spell is cast the instant “Joke” opens the the album, leading off with a sound which is so hauntingly clean and pristine that it's possible to hear the natural reverberation of the piano being played bounce off the walls of Red Room Recording studios in Seattle, WA and the weight of the fingers hitting the keys and the speed at which the mallets are hitting the strings within the instrument. It sounds a little unsettling when it's spelled out like that, but listeners won't be able to stop themselves from being drawn in by this perfectly naked and candid introduction which feels like a stolen moment and, when Nouela Johnston begins to sing, they'll be perfectly and completely overtaken by the the heart-wrenching delivery of lines like “It's a cruel joke to play/ Honest mistakes will haunt you to the grave.” The crack in Johnston's voice can tear flesh from bone and listeners will feel compelled to fall to their knees sympathetically as they listen to this seemingly spontaneous outpouring but, when they do as “Joke” draws to a close, they'll be knocked ass over tea kettle unawares as “Buckle Down” crashes into them with drums and bass blazing, and piano sparkling above.
The pretty hits just keep coming too as Johnston shows listeners how harrowing a sound a piano can make and how well her voice can compliment it on “Fight,” how politely she can tell an unfaithful lover to pound salt before admitting that she hopes he'll come back again on “Home” (check out the contrasts between likes like “The best part of you is now long gone” in “Fight” and “Praying to anyone that you'd come home” in “Home”) only to retract it all immediately with “Suckers” (“Give us a rowboat and we'll drown in the river/ Give us a way out and we'll dig even deeper”) and just how fucked up she can make a composition sound without using words (the title track) only to immediately revert into far more urbane climes while still dripping venom (“Secrets” and the lines in it like “I won't call you a monster, 'cause I know that's what you want/ You always get what you want/ Don't want to give you a complex”).
By the end of the record as “Regrets” devolves into poetic misery and sweet, introspective melody, listeners will feel perfectly fine with the idea of collapsing, spent, next to the singer and watching the whole mess swirl down the drain. At the end of Chants, nothing is resolved, but it will seem perfectly reasonable to endure it all again and again to observe Nouela Johnston's playfully angry acts of artifice over and over too. Chants is a fantastic escape in that regard; those who hear it will find themselves waiting on the edge of their seats for when the singer returns so they can act out with her again.
