Posts Tagged ‘Jay Reatard’
Reports of Rock & Roll’s Demise at the Hands of Pro Tools Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Yesterday, Douglas Wolk—whose byline I recognize and who, according to Beaujon and this online encyclopedia thingy, is sort of a dude—published an item on NPR’s Monitor Mix blog to the effect that, dammit, AutoTune and Pro Tools and click tracks and, you know, Twitter are conspiring to kill rock & roll.
Holding up the 48th second of the Beatles‘ “Rain” as an example, Wolk claims that, “if some band of 25-year-olds with radio aspirations wrote and recorded ‘Rain’ today…that take would probably be thrown out, or at least digitally edited to fix the screw-up.”
With respect to Wolk, this strikes me as a hollow, distinctly codger-y argument. (And one that cites exactly zero contemporary acts by way of illustration.) Couple points here:
Jay Reatard @ Black Cat
Last night’s Jay Reatard show at the Black Cat was supposed to take place on the club’s large Mainstage, but was moved to its smaller downstairs area—probably due to low ticket sales, thanks to the holiday weekend. Still, the Black Cat’s Backstage was crowded, and those who ventured out were treated to Jay Lindsey (aka Jay Reatard), along with bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes, in an intimate setting.
Weekend Music Round-Up
Friday
- Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra. Blues Alley. $25.
- L.A. Guns w/ Mis-Fit, Tilt, Sinner’s Trail, Bitter Pill. Jaxx. $18/$20. +21.
- Sheryl Crow, Ari Hest. Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $30-$48.
- TheoryCast, ReVeL, Fight The Bear, Conshafter. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
- DC Summer Extravaganza w/ Tittsworth, Nadastrom, Will Eastman, Bobby Jae & Ken Lazee, Dmerit. 9:30 club. $10. All ages.
- Canda, Bobbie Allen, Mila Levine, Michelle Murray, Treevibes, Lulu Fall, Vox Pop, Lux Operon, Peter S. Pinocci, Liberated Muse, Rob Wolcott. Artomatic. (For more info, see our Artomatic Manual)
Leak Proof: Magnolia Electric Co., Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Jay Reatard, Eels
Magnolia Electric Co.: “Josephine”
You’d think that Jason Molina, lead songwriter of Magnolia Electric Co., would be pretty close to writing the perfect break-up song by now. After all, he’s had roughly 14 records (between Songs:Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co., and solo, not including live albums) worth of them to work out his approach. But he’s pretty close on “Josephine,” the title track from his group’s upcoming album. At the very least, he knows exactly where to get started. “I turned your life so upside down/ I don’t know how you stayed or why,” he sings over melancholy guitars and heavy barroom piano chords. Indeed, several lessons from Molina’s decade-plus of sad-music-making are put to good practice here. Namely, “You don’t have to play super-slow,” and “It’s ok to love Bob Seeger.”
Sa-Ra Creative Partners: “Bitch Baby”
Los Angeles-based production group Sa-Ra Creative Partners’ contributions to Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part One (4th Wold War) met or exceeded that singer’s propensity for weirdness, which was no mean feat. “Bitch Baby,” from the forthcoming double-CD Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love, proves that when left to its own devices Sa-Ra is just as, if not more, bizarre. There are slithering group vocals, suggestive lyrics, and fuzzy nods to vintage Funkadelic, all floating randomly through a flowing stream of off-kilter samples.
Jay Reatard: “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me”
Jay Reatard is, if nothing else, one of the last true purveyors of the punk-accent. On “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” he places the emphasis on the brattiest syllable of each phrase with such an artful touch that even The Dead Milkmen should be jealous. “All is lost there is no hope for me,” he repeats over the song’s final throes, giving it all he’s got, singing as if the vocal were being recorded into a giant lollipop instead of a microphone.
Eels: “That Look You Give That Guy”
As the ’90sde came to a close E, the brain behind Eels, grew a unibomber beard, locked himself indoors, and holed up while the tornado of boy band-mania swept away Matthew Sweet, Grant Lee Phillips, and a generation’s worth of alt-rock crooners. It worked, though. He’s still here, setting soft, melancholy melodies to hip-hop beats. “The Look You Give That Guy,” currently streaming on the Eels’ myspace, along with the rest of new album Hombre Lobo, dusts off that formula and, pleasantly, it’s no worse for the wear.
