I haven't posted an actual thing here in a while, so in an effort to break the radio silence this is what I've been bumpin' this week.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney \\ Superwolf [just issued to streaming]
"I have often said that I would like to be dead in a shark's mouth."
By the time this was recorded in 2005, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (Will Oldham) had been putting out his folk-with-a-punk-ethic musings for over a decade. Matt Sweeney was at work having two revered records with Chavez under his belt (released by Matador), as well as a stint in Billy Corgan's post-Pumpkins one and done grunge-pop tangent, Zwans.
The two had been friends for some time and took the opportunity to record, leveraging each others strengths as much as possible. From Oldham, we get his wry, blunt, tongue in cheek lyrics through his thin and weary tenor paired with Sweeney's scuz fuzz fingerpicked guitar, with harmonies to boot. The result is very mirror-like, in that Oldham and Sweeney follow and mimic each others motions with their own style and voice. Like that mirroring, it's sometimes hesitant, other times in complete lockstep -- which adds to the immediacy and intimacy of the recording.
I think no better example of this is "Goat & Ram." The song starts of with Sweeney's slow, hypnotic riff with Oldham singing -- almost as if he's not sure its his time to come in -- "There is no god but god, god in your body, which is mine?" This call and response goes on, building only in intensity only in a palpably silent way until Sweeney opens up, and Oldham knows it's his turn too, "All is, all am, all is, goat and ram."
This is a great record, and I think it's a testament to both the universality of Will Oldham's style as well as Matt Sweeney's ability to accompany and complement another artist with such a distinct style, but without forfeiting any of his own sensibility or aesthetic.
[This record released on Drag City came out in 2005, but it's only been up on streaming services since last week. So since I've been giving it a lot more attention the past few days I figured I'd mentally treat it like a reissue.]
Choice tracks: "My Home is the Sea"; "Goat & Ram"
Death Grips \\ Year of the Snitch
Cooped up inside avoiding the heat this past weekend, I was watching Man on the Moon -- the 1999 bio-pic of comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman. There's a point in the film, after Andy has run with an extensive bit with wrestler Jerry Lawler, in which his fans have gotten tired of his schtick and seeming lack of regard for virtually anything of value to the people around him. I kind of feel that a lot of Death Grips fans had started to feel the same way after a string of canceled tour dates, concert and festival no shows, threats of hiatus, and a litany of other shun-worthy offenses to music fans.
For a group with such a cult following, it's actually kind of surprising the twists and turns that Death Grips have taken since their breakthrough albums, the near back to back releases of Deep Web and The Money Store in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Purely based on intuition and speculation, I'd be surprised if Death Grips garnered many more fans since those releases, somehow maintaining a strong dedicated base since that time.
That said, I don't want to call Year of the Snitch a return to form, or a redemptive album (if they even need that), but it is very good and it feels a lot more focused than what I've taken from Death Grips in a while.
This is less of an album recap as much as it's me being oddly surprised at how much I like this album, especially for the spotty output and how annoying it's been to be a Death Grips fan the past three or four years.
Choice tracks: "Black Paint," "Hahaha"
Other good spins:
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids \\ An Angel Fell
Grover Cleveland Jr. \\ Mister Magic
Roxy Music \\ Roxy Music
I went to a show at Connie's Ric Rac on Saturday night. I really enjoyed what I saw, so here are my lazy, oversimplified comparisons if one is curious to what they sound like to me without making an effort to actually listen.
S.T.A.R.W.O.O.D.
Theatrical, intergalactic synth-driven glam metal. A Philly staple but this is the first time I caught them.
Mage Hand
Rick Wakeman over blast beats.
Deeply Woven
If Joe Satriani played in Don Caballero.
(^^thanks for that last one, Michelle)
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