diary 12.11.14- polar waves

Diary 12.11.14- polar waves by Shalloboi on Mixcloud

My normal holiday-themed mix failed. Completely. Instead I ended up with this wintery, dreamy mix of songs that I've been obsessed with lately. It works.

song- artist- album

1. polar bear- ride- 'live at the roxy'
2. starfire- low- 'secret name'
3. days, weeks and moths- the brian jonestown massacre- 'revelation'
4. silver angel- helium- 'the dirt of luck'
5. hot and cold- ex hex- 'rips'
6. polar waves- lightfoils- 'hierarchy'
7. del rey mar- the stargazer lilies- 'we are the dreamers'
8. ocean- lush- 'spooky'
9. shriek- wye oak- 'shriek'
10. one more time- the cure- 'kiss me, kiss me, kiss me'
11. disappearing- the war on drugs- 'lost in the dream'
12. tell everybody that i love them- mogwai- 'rave tapes' bonus track
13. sing- slowdive- 'souvlaki'
14. soma- smashing pumpkins- 'siamese dream'
15. leaving on a train- mazzy star- copenhagen, loppen 2000 bootleg
16. traveling through a sea- grouper- 'dragging a dead deer up a hill'
17. lord can you hear me- spiritualized- edinburgh 1999 bootleg

best of 2014: part one of four

Biggest Disappointments

Real Estate—‘Atlas’

I guess disappointment might be a little strong of a word for this album, but considering how much I loved 2011‘s ‘Days‘ and their self-titled debut I couldn't help but feel let-down by the very placid nature of this album. It lacks that vibrancy and electricity that made ‘Days‘ such an engaging listen, plus Real Estate‘s particular style of indie guitar pop has always paired best with wistful reflection and introspection, so for whatever reason the bright, sunny nature of these songs seems to fall a bit flat here. It‘s a shame, too, since the production on ‘Atlas‘ is so bright and lush. The songs themselves could just use a little more spark and glow.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow—‘Sea When Absent’

I was sure this one would be a safe bet-I loved A Sunny Day in Glasgow's debut ’Scribble Music Comic Journal,’ ’Sea When Absent’ was gloriously funded through the band’s kickstarter campaign and then, upon release, it scored them their first Best New Music rating on Pitchfork. Then I listened to it and, for whatever reason, I found nothing on it that drew me in whatsoever. I guess I should’ve given it another listen, but of everyone I talked to who was gaga for it every single one of them claimed they loved it from the moment they started playing it. Not sure what happened there, seemed like a no-brainer, and yet... I have noticed people are awfully quiet about it now.

Best New Discoveries

Beach Fossils—s/t

It only took me four years to finally hear this album—but at least it finally happened. This album has a refreshing vibrance and melodic richness that enriches the wistful nature of the songs. It’s also a nice touchstone in the development of Captured Tracks, which has become a go-to label for dream pop of this caliber.

DIIV—‘Oshin’

Speaking of Beach Fossils the debut album from former Beach Fossils guitarist Zachary Cole is pretty special as well. It was fascinating watching DIIV go from opening for Wild Nothing at the Empty Bottle to headlining at the Vic in a little over a year. ‘Oshin’ weighs in as dreamier and more in the late-80s shoegazing area than the Beach Fossils debut. It‘s a shame that I missed DIIV's set due to a transit delay on my way to Pitchfork festival this year—it would've rounded out an already great day of live music.

Lost Gems of 2013

The Stargazer Lilies—‘We Are the Dreamers’

I really wish I’d heard this album last year—it would’ve made the list without any problems and would’ve been in very good company. This record is one of my favorite examples of a new band exploring the classic ’shoegaze’ sound and building upon it admirably by taking some familiar sounds and injecting them with some new life and vitality.

Lumerians—‘High Frontier’

Not sure how this didn't make it into the incredibly crammed list last year, especially considering how much I listened to this record. It almost seemed that Lumerians were able to pick up the torch from Cave and carry it off into even stranger territory—where Cave seems to be more concerned with grooves than psychedelic exploration, Lumerians have the two switched which means I’m looking forward to where they go next all the more.

Carlton Melton—‘Always Even’

Since there wasn’t room for the Lumerians record in last year’s list there wasn’t any for this album by Carlton Melton either. I like the way that this record juxtaposes the loud, heavier side of psych with the weightless, dreamy mass of ethereal soup that it can be as well.

review: grouper- 'ruins' (kranky)

Somehow Liz Harris’ newest Grouper record, ‘Ruins,’ has managed to convey an unbelievable otherworldliness and abstraction without any of the elements that she has used on previous Grouper records. It’s mostly made up of piano and voice arrangements with some subtle field recordings. The closest it gets to affected atmosphere is tape hiss serving as texture. It would be easy to say that her earlier output owed most of its mystery and magic to the dense curtains of reverb she would cloak her songs in, but ‘Ruins’ would suggest otherwise. When I saw Grouper at Constellation for the Kranky Records 20th anniversary celebration last December she opened with one, possibly two songs from ‘Ruins’—it’s difficult to remember clearly as I’d never heard the songs before and each one seemed to melt into the next so seamlessly it was difficult to think of the performance in terms of specific songs—specifically ‘Clearing’ (and possibly ‘Call Across Rooms’ as well). She played the song on an electric piano with a decent amount of reverb and barely sang above a whisper, but the song seemed like the most straight-ahead thing I’d ever heard from her. Here it’s in an even more unadorned state, which does nothing to detract from its dreaminess. You can make out most of the words if you listen carefully enough, which is rare in Harris’ back catalog.

Last year’s ‘The Man Who Died in His Boat’ had a few moments that had a similar unadorned-yet-dreamy quality that were based around acoustic guitar-based arrangements (the title track and musically and emotionally stark closer ‘Living Room’). Isolation and inwardness has always been where the magic could be found in Grouper’s music and in that sense ‘Ruins’ succeeds even more effortlessly than ‘The Man Who Died in His Boat.’ There are a few instrumental pieces that serve to keep an overall emotional and textural continuity—opening track ‘Made of Metal’ is mainly just the pounding of some type of drum-like sound building quietly into the sound of frogs chirping until there is the sound of a tape machine being switched on and footsteps walking through a room before the start of ‘Clearing.’ In a recent New York Times interview Harris says that she’s been trying to use silence to create atmosphere and it appears to be working beautifully. Before these silences were filled with a sort of vacuum-like deep, ominous hum that would fill the gaps of slowly-decaying musical phrases. No matter how much of a pitch the music would reach you were always aware of this ominous, atonal hum. Here it’s been replaced by gaps of the type of silences that seem deafening in their demand for your attention.

Just as the flow of the album seems straightforward and established over the next few tracks the aching beauty of ‘Holding’ kicks in slowly—notes are played on the piano cautiously, as if they’re being heard by the person playing them for the first time until they slowly grow into hypnotic, spare patterns that are then augmented by Harris’ distinctive self-harmonies. The lyrics are so clear that a narrative can almost be made out—a desire to disappear into the embrace of someone else. It’s a beautiful sentiment that’s almost perfect in its impossibility and clarity. While the song stretches on for nearly eight minutes, culminating in the sound of lightly falling rain it almost seems like it’s receded too quickly. What’s most surprising to me about closing track ‘Made of Air’ is that it was recorded by Harris a decade ago and while it seems to resemble her older material on a superficial level it works perfectly to close ‘Ruins.’ It’s difficult to tell what instrument is disguised underneath all of that inky reverb—it could be anything, really, but the track works perfectly to play you out of the tiny single-room world that ‘Ruins’ has created in its 40 minutes. I’m constantly amazed by how Harris is able to put together coherent releases from pieces that she’s had lying around for years—‘The Man Who Died in His Boat’ was made up mainly of outtakes from the time of 2008’s ‘Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill’ and ‘Ruins’ was recorded mostly while Harris was staying in Portugal in 2011 (it’s easy to assume that she was staying in an empty room with nothing but a piano and a 4-track). Being able to pull seemingly disparate parts together to create a fluid selection of music with such carefully attuned emotional resonance is what has been garnering more and more attention for Grouper’s music over the past few years.

diary 10.15.14- we're a yard apart

Diary 10.15.14- we're a yard apart by Shalloboi on Mixcloud

very autumnal. also a lot of sad, wistful and dreamy songs- many of them about breakups (for some reason) and several from self-titled albums. not sure what that's about but whatever.

song- artist- album

1. sweetness and light- lush- s/t
2. youth- beach fossils- s/t
3. apple orchard- beach house- s/t
4. the singer- ty segall- 'manipulator'
5. swagger vets and double moon- white fence- 'live in san francisco'
6. lullaby- siouxsie & the banshees- 'downside up'
7. it's alright- spacemen 3- 'taking drugs to make music to take drugs to'
8. teese- warpaint- s/t
9. superstar- nina nastasia- 'run to ruin'
10. medication #4- the gris-gris- 'for the season'
11. i know they say- spectrum- 'highs, lows and heavenly blows'
12. suffering- the war on drugs- 'lost in the dream'
13. starla- smashing pumpkins- 'pisces iscariot'
14. atomos xii- a winged victory for the sullen- 'atomos'
15. la vie en rose- edith piaf- 'the very best of...'

diary 9.24.14- a secret you might know

Diary 9.24.14- a secret you might know by Shalloboi on Mixcloud

song- artist- album

1. under the pressure- the war on drugs- 'lost in the dream'
2. undo the taboo- spectrum- 'highs, lows and heavenly blows'
3. lo boob oscillator- stereolab- 'refried ectoplasm: switched on, vol. 2'
4. tall man, skinny lady- ty segall
5. i never loved her- the starfires- 'i never loved her' 7"
6. nero (has a lot to think about)- white fence- 'white fence/jack name' split 7"
7. the end of august- jacco gardner- 'the end of august' 7"
8. lights out- angel olsen- 'burn your fire for no witness'
9. caught beneath your heel- mojave 3- 'out of tune'
10. the golden age of bloodshed- rowland s. howard- 'pop crimes'
11. feeling yourself disintegrate- the flaming lips- 'the soft bulletin'
12. i think i'm in love- spiritualized- 'royal albert hall october 10 1997'
13. nowhere- ride- 'live at the roxy, LA, april 10th, 1991'
14. i need no trust- my bloody valentine- 'feed me with your kiss' EP

diary 8.25.14- it speaks of distance

Diary 8.25.14- it speaks of distance by Shalloboi on Mixcloud

this was supposed to be an end-of-summer themed mix. it turned into this weird, dreamy, atmospheric sad kind of thing- which i guess isn't that surprising, really. all vinyl rips too!

song- artist- album

1. deep blue day- brian eno- 'apollo atmospheres and soundtracks'
2. machine gun- slowdive- 'souvlaki'
3. already there- the verve- 'a storm in heaven'
4. dozen- alison's halo- 'dozen' 7"
5. melanie's melody- the black angels- 'phosgene nightmare'
6. unknown- the brian jonestown massacre- 'revelation'
7. raven on white cadillac- white fence- 'for the recently found innocent'
8. i got nothing- dum dum girls- 'end of daze'
9. sisters- the raveonettes- 'pe'ahi'
10. vital- grouper- 'the man who died in his boat'
11. take good care of it- spiritualized- 'fucked up inside'
12. biggy- warpaint- s/t
13. sad colored tears- the stargazer lilies- 'we are the dreamers'
14. mary is mary- wye oak- 'the knot'
15. awake- black rebel motorcycle club- 'live in london'
16. rollercoaster- spacemen 3- 'live at the new morning'
17. i'm less here- mazzy star- 'i'm less here' 7"

slowdive at pitchfork 2014

‘You’re here for Slowdive aren’t you?’ my friend Nick said almost immediately as I stopped by his Flatstock booth to say hello before heading to the green stage to stake out a good spot. Guilty as charged. If Pitchfork 2014 hadn’t been one of only two American appearances that had been announced (once Sunday sold out the band announced a comprehensive US tour in October including a stop at the Vic) by the newly reunited band I wouldn’t have been there. There were many others who I saw floating around in the crowd such as myself—someone in their mid-30s sporting some kind of late 80s/early 90s British indie band T-shirt (I chose Spacemen 3; one guy had a Ride shirt that looked pretty well-worn). While the mania behind my bloody valentine is easily understood, Slowdive remain an influential and top-tier band from the original shoegaze era that will probably never get their due. Their songs were the height of dreaminess, their fuzzy squalls more soothing than abrasive, they were never as concerned with quaking, overwhelming noise as they were with well-constructed songs. While their music was dreamy and hazy there was always a solid, clear foundation to keep it grounded. They were incredibly introspective even for an introvert-friendly genre like shoegaze—their transformation into acoustic-based, mellow, melancholic, country-inflected group Mojave 3 wasn’t much of a shock. The harmonic vocal chemistry between Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell was even deeper and more bewitching than Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher’s. They’re a band that I never realized I’ve had on constant rotation since first hearing them in 1997. In that sense it seems fitting that their legacy is a surprise as well.

My day at the festival underwent a few hiccups on the way there—I’d planned to catch DIIV’s set at 1:45, but once I was halfway to the festival I realized that my phone was dead, which contained the email with my tickets’ barcode on it. I’d also forgotten to stop for two bottles of water. I ended up having to turn back and then not leaving until around 2:30 so that I could get to Union Park in time to catch Dum Dum Girls. I wasn’t expecting too much from their set, to be honest. I haven’t even bothered with their latest, ‘Too True’ as none of the tracks have really pulled me in enough to check out the whole thing. They fought through some sound issues at the start of their set, but pushed through it admirably and I was impressed by the ferocity of the whole thing—plus it was dotted with material from most of their releases. I liked the two tracks they played from the ‘End of Daze’ EP—‘I’ve Got Nothing’ and ‘Lord Knows’—the best. They also played two from the ‘He Gets Me High’ EP as well as one from their debut ‘I Will Be’ and two highlights from ‘Only in Dreams’—‘Bedroom Eyes’ (a song that somehow mixes ruminating about insomnia with emotional double entendre) and my favorite of theirs, ‘Coming Down.’ I’ve always found it admirable that they close with a mid-tempo slow-burner like ‘Coming Down,’ but it always works.

After wandering around the festival grounds and stopping for a few of Goose Island’s hourly offerings (the Rasselbock and the Kölsch were both fantastic), some affordable local food (I’m pretty sure that you can’t get a slice of Connie’s pizza at Lollapalooza for $4) I staked out a spot in front of the green stage in anticipation of Slowdive’s set. I had a mild desire to watch Real Estate at the Red stage, but they’re another band that I used to love whose new record I haven’t bothered with—plus I could hear it pretty well from where I was standing anyway. It was a more energetic set than they treated the festival to in 2012—they played ‘It’s Real’ from their 2011 album ‘Days’ as well as ‘Out of Tune’ (which is my favorite from that album along with the wistful beauty of ‘Green Aisles’). The main reason I haven’t been able to get into ‘Atlas’ (which I’ve heard several times now) is because it leaves behind that wistful beauty that was so evident on ‘Days’ and on several tracks from their debut.

Finally, it was time for the main event and Brian Eno’s ‘Deep Blue Day’ come on over the P.A., Slowdive came out and started with their eponymous debut single, including the B-side ‘Avalyn.’ Could there be a more perfect beginning? I had a great spot—much closer than I normally am willing to go at a huge festival, but the crowd was euphoric, the weather was nicer than can reasonably be expected in mid-July and it was all about as perfect as could be expected. ‘It sounds AMAZING!!!’ someone called out aloud after the first song. It did—definitely the best sounding set I’ve ever heard at Pitchfork. During ‘Catch the Breeze’ the band was incredibly dynamic lifting the song’s soothing cascades into some really crunchy loudness. It was LOUD and clear and heaven-sent. Halstead and Goswell’s vocals were effortlessly on-point and the rhythm section (drummer Simon Scott and bassist Nick Chaplin) were incredibly strong. They played a few tracks from 1995’s minimalistic ‘Pygmalion’ (‘Crazy for You’ and ‘Blue Skied an’ Clear’), then launched into ‘When the Sun Hits’ and ‘Alison,’ both of which were surprisingly emotional. After a fresh airing of ‘Just for a Day’ track ‘She Calls’ (which had the same dynamic power as the earlier ‘Catch the Breeze’) they ended with their cover of Syd Barrett’s ‘Golden Hair.’ It seemed like an odd choice for a festival set closer until they got halfway through the extended ending—it rose and swelled several times beautifully and loudly. The overall vibe in the crowd was electrifying as well—my disdain for crowds is well-documented, but this one was a pleasure to be a part of. It was the type of festival experience that I thought could only exist in dreams.

After that I stopped by the Goose Island tent for one last beer before heading home from a very satisfying evening. Do I wish that there had been a few more bands that I wanted to see? Sure. Do I wish that the ticket prices to the festival weren’t so expensive? Absolutely. Since it ended up being such an impossibly beautiful day weather-wise and since Slowdive had been the most ecstatic set I’d seen at the festival since I’d first gone in 2007 there was way more to be happy about than be annoyed with.