Ray Davies, Supper Club, NYC, November 28, 2005

Ray Davies, Supper Club, NYC, November 28, 2005
by Jason Gross

Oh Ray... even after all these years, disappearances, failed comebacks, family and band spats, you are still the consummate entertainer when you want to be. Just like Macca and Mick, you can even put out a respectable record now but who would have thought that we'd see you do a small club show and manage to wow us all again?

Granted that you're my mom's age by now and many of the crowd looked even older than her or you, but you looked so damn youthful and sprightly- did Dick Clarke lead you to some Faustian pact to forestall aging? And yes, you did that Yo La Tengo gig not too long ago but now you actually have a new record to celebrate. And no, I can't imagine any of the '90's Brit-pop without your tunes as a cornerstone or know anyone else who's been covered by David Bowie, Van Halen, the Raincoats, the Pretenders, the Jam, Herman's Hermits, Blur, Big Star and the Fall.

And don't you know how to play us like a book? I mean, starting off with a B-side that's become a concert staple and an anthem for independence and individuality like "I'm Not Like Everybody Else"? Did you know how loudly we'd be singing along with the chorus, finding not just ourselves there but also bolstering your position as a perennial outsider in the biz? My god man, you had us by that first song.

We expected some tunes from your recent EP, "Thanksgiving Day" and you had them in there but they didn't sound bad and didn't break the momentum of the oldies much. But such an English chap like you celebrating a Yank holiday? How perverse!

And no opening act, just two hours of you, plus your new trio- a good old guitar/bass/drums line-up like your old band. And while these youngsters weren't the Kinks (though guitarist Mark Jones did shred nicely), what are the Kinks anymore or are they anymore? There would be you, your brother Dave plus... a rhythm section you put together. We know you're the lead man, the brains and such but you heard people should out for your errant sibling 'cause he's the heart of the band.

But no matter 'cause you know how to bring a house down yourself. You could have just run through the hits that the radio keeps spewing out but after the opener, you kept stepping up with these wonderful little gifts to us real, old fans like a... set of songs all from the "Village Green" album! Yes, we did want to hear "Picture Book" and not just because of the recent commercial but the nice readings of "Johnny Thunder" (who you called your hero) and the touching "Animal Farm" more than made up for it. Or chestnuts from the very cult album "Muswell Hillbillies" like "20th Century Man" and "Oklahoma USA." And wasn't it lovely to hear you dig up other little favorites like "Dead End Street" (a natural sing-a-long) and "Tired of Waiting For You" (one of your most beautiful songs)?

And how you teased us with "You Really Got Me," telling stories about the song (how a record exec thought Dave's guitar sounded like a barking dog) and then doing a lounge version before roaring into the real thing... And leaving "Lola" for the inevitable encore where you know that all of us were going to shout along with you... Or how you stopped to let us all sing the verses to "Sunny Afternoon"... Or how you waited to the end to unfurl your most heart-warming tunes like "Days" and "Waterloo Sunset"... Or the Harry Belafonte "Banana Boat" call-and-response you had us do on "All Day and All of the Night"... And yes, you knew how to get our sympathy with a touching observation about the biz: "(We) couldn't get a deal in the beginning... (it's the) same now!"

But ending off with "Low Budget"? Yeah, that was your late '70's comeback and it's always good to tie it to hard times but it ain't up to your other classics or even some of your new tunes. But all's forgiven- you nicked us for sixty-five bucks and we got every penny's worth out of you for it. And right back at ya- we thank for the days...

Antony and the Johnsons/ Town Hall/July 28, 2005

caryn: Why, Amy Phillips, are people questioning the fate of this spazzy site? Tell the people.
amy: because us girls have gone and got ourselves jobby-jobs
caryn: True that. Amy, you are moving on Monday to Chicago to become the news editor at Pitchfork. Is that accurate?
amy: indeed it is. and you can fact-check that!
amy: and caryn, you are staying right here in nyc, and you have already become arts and entertainment editor at the associated motherfuckin press???
caryn: Yes, it also proven that I have been hired by that venerable newsgathering organization to be the arts and entertainment editor of a new line of content aimed at the kids.
amy: damn
amy: we run this writing game!
caryn: I am now The Man and you are now Da Boy.
amy: but we are both competing for the kiddies' attention
caryn: I wanted to auction off MITM to the lad or lassie who wrote us the best letter convincing us that they would care for our baby. I wanted to go out with a bang. But you boged. Why?
amy: because i'm not sure i want to sell this baby to the black market just yet.
amy: i might want to keep it alive, if only via a feeding tube and IV
caryn: Do you really think that you'll post from Chicago?
amy: yes, i really do think
amy: we can both see the same band play and then compare notes on their shows in the different cities!
caryn: It's possible that we could change the format of the blog and make it just our musical ramblings rather than show reviews. But then it will be like so many other blogs. Perhaps we could make it about the various songs we sing to ourselves in the shower.
amy: pearl jam's "alive" all the way, baby
amy: but i still love writing about live music
amy: and i probably won't get much of a chance to do that as news bitch
caryn: Ok, so MITM is *not* dead. Just in a coma for a while. So people shouldn't delink us?
amy: most definitely not!
amy: they should also check the pitchfork news section every day. and, uh, their local paper?
caryn: Actually, the AP project will also consist of a hosted web site, so I will link to it when it goes live. Wow, I feel like it's 1999 when I write "go live."
amy: of course, it will never be as "live" as more in the monitor
caryn: But, it's safe to say that people will not get a C+A IM live review such as the one that we're about to offer for a long, long, loooong time. Correct?
amy: correct-- unless we end up at the same CMJ shows, which could happen
caryn: And isn't it appropriate that this review is of a show filled with the wan longing of a schoolboy who forgot his lunchpail, yes?
amy: indeed it is
amy: i'd say the wan longing was a bit more intense than that though
amy: more like that of a desert missing the rain
caryn: hahahahahah.
caryn: We're speaking, of course, of Antony and the Johnsons LIVE at town hall last night.
amy: i personally was shocked, shocked! at how FUNNY antony was. were you?
caryn: No. Tragedy + comedy = DRAMA.
amy: yea, verily. last night was all about drama
amy: girls dressing up as boys, boys dressing up as girls
caryn: What kind of schmata was he wearing? Huh? It was like something on special at Lane Bryant (not that there's anything wrong with that...)
amy: maybe it was a lane bryant special in a former life, but it had been thoroughly mutilated.
caryn: The underneath stuff was Lane Bryant, the over wrap was David Bowie.
amy: i dunno, i was feeling more of a stevie nicks vibe from it
amy: (for those playing along at home, it was a gauzy, ripped-up black shawl)
caryn: Yeah, that too.
caryn: Is that his real hair or a wig?
amy: i was going to ask you that!
amy: it looked like a wig
caryn: From our vantage point behind his head, it was clear that a random chunk was just missing from the back. I think it was a wig.
amy: he looks a lot like robert smith
caryn: Same shoulders!
amy: his movements at the piano reminded me a lot of stevie wonder
amy: stevie wonder meets a seal wiggling across an iceberg
caryn: Someone at work asked if he speaks in falsetto (or, to mine a Pavement song: What about the voice of Antony? How did it get so high? I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy?)
amy: he does speak like an ordinary guy
caryn: I would say he speaks like an ordinary guy...sort of.
amy: that was kind of disconcerting, actually
amy: i was expecting his speaking voice to be more... flowery
caryn: Is it even possible to describe his singing voice? When you find the right words, perhaps then you must die from the effort. Let's describe his voice using only food as descriptors.
caryn: Butterscotch.
amy: black forest cake
caryn: anise.
amy: what's that?
caryn: a licorice-like spice.
amy: i learned something new today
caryn: truffle oil.
caryn: And truffles.
amy: you know what? his body language is kind of like a pig nudging its snout through the forest looking for truffles
caryn: ganache
amy: what's ganache? pardon my food ignorance
caryn: a rich mixture of chocolate and cream often used on cakes. Now that we both have jobs, we should go out to eat more and I can school you. Oh yeah, you're moving AWAY on monday.
amy: yeah, i'm going to have to find someone new to be my restaurant top!
caryn: Charoset.
amy: hahaha
amy: good one
amy: so i guess we could conclude that antony's voice is rich, decadent, expensive, slightly sickening?
caryn: yeah, that about does it. Seemed like the place was sold out. Or at least very full.
amy: yeah, i was surprised. i didn't know antony had that many fans
caryn: What did you think of the whistle routine?
amy: i loved it. but i think there was some recorded whistling being piped in.
caryn: I think the whistling was piped in, too.
amy: same with the humming
caryn: yeah.
amy: i was also surprised that there weren't any special guests!
caryn: I think Lou Reed was in the house although I didn't see him; when A played that Lou Reed song he made a dedication that seemed to be to be him.
caryn: What was your favorite song?
amy: for today i am a boy
amy: that's my favorite song on the record, too
amy: you?
caryn: I liked when he sang about being a cavewoman. he really looks like a cavewoman.
amy: oh yeah, he definitely does. and the bassist looks like a caveman.
caryn: What song would you most want Antony to cover?
caryn: I am voting for Girlfriend in a Coma.
amy: hmm. something by pj harvey
amy: i want him to do "oh my lover"
amy: gf in a coma would be cool too
caryn: Hmmm, both intriguing choices.
caryn: Anything else you'd like to say about the show before we sign off?
amy: those cocorosie girls are hot stuff
caryn: As I stated whilst watching them, if they were my age, when we were their age, they totally would have been Deadheads. I am so pleased to see how the culture has moved forward.
amy: and i said, i think they ARE deadheads. the one girl had a big silver pot leaf necklace!
caryn: But she was wearing a Tupac t-shirt.
amy: what, deadheads can't like tupac?
amy: you should see the outfits they're wearing in the album art
amy: tie-dye fantasia
caryn: the deadheads of my era literally only listened to the dead. and maybe Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. It was pathetic.
amy: well i guess culture has moved forward then
caryn: Amy, as I prepare to sign off, let me say this so that it may be put into public record: you are the sister that I've never had and your brain pleases me to no end. I will miss you.
amy: aww shucks caryn. i will miss you too, and you are also the sister i never had.
amy: but i have the feeling that our paths will cross again.
caryn: Cue Green Day's "Time of Your Life." Fade out.

Jeff Buckley exhumed

Our friend Daphne Brooks (no relation, I wish though...) will be reading/discussing her new amazing little book on Jeff Buckley this Thursday. Daphne is one of our favorite thinkers. Join us, won't you?

A Reading of Jeff Buckley's Grace
with author Daphne Brooks

Thursday, May 26
at 7:00 p.m.
Cake Shop
152 Ludlow
LES, NYC
(between Stanton and Rivington)
www.cake-shop.com

The power and influence of Jeff Buckley's Grace increases with each passing year. Here, Daphne Brooks traces Buckley's fascinating musical development through the earliest stages of his career, up to the release of the album. With access to rare archival material, Brooks illustrates Buckley's passion for life and hunger for musical knowledge, and shows just why he was such a crucial figure in the American music scene of the 1990s.

Jeff Buckley's Grace is latest in the 33 1/3 music series by Continuum Books. Copies of the book will be available at Cake Shop.

Daphne A. Brooks is an assistant professor of English at Princeton University where she teaches courses on AfricanˆAmerican literature and culture, performance studies, critical gender studies, and popular music culture. She is the author of two books, Jeff Buckley's Grace (2005) and Bodies in Dissent: Performing Race, Gender, and Nation in the TransˆAtlantic Imaginary (Duke University Press, 2006).

Dropping/kicking science

Not a show review, but a book review.

If you're reading this, chances are great that the Rock Snob's Dictionary will beckon more than a few heaving belly laughs from you.

I interviewed co-author David Kamp here. Kamp is the guy who wrote that stunning article on Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash that ran in Vanity Fair last year; one of the best pieces of music journalism in recent memory.

Martha Wainwright/Joe's Pub/ April 12, 2005

Anyone else here think that Joe’s Pub has the best sound in the city? I don’t go a lot, but almost every time the sound has been perfect, almost chillingly so. There was one marrow-melting Grant Lee Phillips show there about five years ago that I just don’t think you could even replicate anywhere else.

I hadn’t been to Joe’s Pub since the Dresden Dolls about a year and half ago, so last night I was sort of startled by what seems to be a new seat reservation policy. I got there plenty early and they asked if I had a seat reservation and I was, like, uhhhh. So they told me I had to stand at the bar in the back. I was not pleased. I was able to infiltrate the table of a splayed-haired guy who looked like a backup musician of some kind (you know that look, right?) by just being forward and asking if there was anyone else sitting there. He was nice. What’s up with this seat reservation thing? Is it for every show? Do you have to pay more?

But back to the topic at hand. Martha Wainwright. She looks like a 70s burn out, a delicate cross-pollination of Stevie Nicks and Cherrie Currie. Her new self-titled record has really started to grow on me. Her voice is this almost twee tremolo that rides into instant signature territory. A Martha Wainwright song can always be picked up out of an aural line-up. The only thing the songs on this diverse new record of hers have in common is her voice and her sticky phrasing that French kisses vowels.

This night the only appearance made by a famous relative was by her mom, Kate McGarrigle, who flew in from a gig in Amsterdam to play piano for a few songs and kiss “my favorite daughter.” Martha’s dad Loudon is known to be a bit of prick when it comes to competing with his kids in the musical ring; he had a record that came out yesterday, the same day as his daughter’s first full-length and he scheduled a show at Joe’s Pub the night after hers. Maybe it will help her out, who knows? It just seemed lame, like he is trying to pull some spotlight away from her. Not surprising, then, that Martha’s song “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” is about how her dad doesn’t treat her seriously (this ripe song is the most folky one on the record.) I guess he’s treating her seriously now. Where's this family's reality show? It would end up on PBS instead of Fox, but still.

I’m not sure if I was incredibly impressed or a little disappointed that her set, bulked up with songs from the new record, sounded a lot like they do on the disc (a perennial barometer for live music). In this case, I am leaning on the side of impressed. It was a record release show and it played homage to the studio work. As she stood on the stage wielding her simple acoustic guitar, I couldn't help but think: what would a Martha Wainwright/Andrew WK duet sound like? What can I say---the $11 G-n-T was particularly strong. But I actually think it would sound awesome.

Noise from the Underground/Columbia University/March 29, 2005

Amy and I were supposed to a do a blazing IM recount of last night’s throwdown*, but the girl is M.I.A. (and not in a galang way, either). Perhaps she’s too shy to recount her brief time on a stage filled with music journalism luminaries. Or maybe she’s been immediately whisked away to a containment center deep in the Rockies lest she reveal any more highly confidential blogging secrets.

But they didn’t get me. Here’s a list of not so secret secrets revealed.

1) Sasha Frere-Jones is a master moderator. Ha-ha-inducing, squabble-ready, hat-wearing and always with his hand on the control panel, he is a good argument for the rock critic as performer model. If you’ve been in a band, you’re cool with sitting on a stage in a packed, overly heated room serving up the banter. If you’ve hidden yourself away with your laptop and vinyl since age 12, well, you might not be so good at this kind of thing.

2) That guy Knox from the Fader is a trip. This is probably a litigious statement, but he seemed as though he baked and staked that night. A big brouhaha erupted when he claimed that professionalism in journalism serves to marginalize under represented groups. I actually think that he was misunderstood. I may be wrong, but I think that what he was trying to say is that the inverted pyramid traditional music crit style (this is what I think he meant by the term “professionalism”) blocks out things because of what it has to include in order to keep the professional style intact. So, a piece on Band A will have to include who, what, where, when, why in favor of some other fringe info and feel. Knox, you out there? Help us out, man.

3) Anthony DeCurtis was a brave fellow for volunteering to be the stand-in for The Man. He got pummeled repeatedly for being part of the establishment. You know what? He didn’t apologize. I have to respect that in a way.

4) I kept making thought bubbles appear over Tunde’s head. I wish that he had spoken more. It was interesting when he talked about getting stacks of clips about his band and how reading them one after another makes it abundantly clear how much biting goes on in the world of journalism. Cut-n-paste journalism = scourge of a nation.

5) I wish that there had been some representation by the Mp3 bloggers.

6) Amy yet again shamelessly promoted her mother. Amy’s mom has got it going on, but c’mon already. Uh, hi Mrs. Phillips. Amy was talking about when she writes for the Philly Inquirer, she imagines that she’s writing for her mother. I only imagine that I’m writing for my mother when I create my special poetry that I keep in my special place that helps me release my special feelings as advised by my Freudian analyst. Uh, hi Dr. Hammerichen.

7) I can almost completely visualize what Michael Azerrad was like in the 80s/90s, surrounded by stacks of seven inches and zines. Which is to say that he is cool. I mean, his name includes the word “rad.” I liked how he brought up the social climbing elements of links on blogs (not that there’s anything wrong with them, cough, cough…) as I don’t think people really discuss this kind of delicate old boy’s network nicking.

8) Mad props to Brandon Wall for keeping a day job in the j-biz and curating a professional looking music site. Not easy to do.

*In the spirit of full-disclosure (ain't that professional) I must mention that I am affiliated with the National Arts Journalism Program, the generous organization that put on this event. I was a NAJP fellow last year.

The Go! Team/Southpaw/ March 22, 2005

caryn (1:19:52 AM): It's weird to see a band and not really know the music. One of the weirder show going events in my life was seeing Tenacious D before I had ever caught the tv program. Everyone there was singing along. I felt like an alien.
amy (1:20:33 AM): oh my god you saw tenacious d live. i am so jealous
caryn (1:21:26 AM): Oh yeah, at this smallish club in Portland. When they were real culty. So, without a lot of pre-knowledge and some minor absorption of the Go! Team phenom, I have to say, I was not impressed.
amy (1:21:09 AM): the go team live experience is quite different from the album actually. the album sounds like a cut-and-paste dj record, like the avalanches
caryn (1:22:39: There seemed to be a total lack of cohesion with the stage show. Seriously, they reminded me of the dorky brother's band in Welcome to the Dollhouse. But not as good. And without the occasional sprightly sound of klezmer clarinet.
amy (1:23:10 AM): there was banjo, harmonica, melodica and recorder! surely that made up for it. yes, i agree they were sloppy. but i thought that made them endearing.
caryn (1:24:02 AM): I hated how the lead lady, as peppy as she was, tried to hype everyone with the most clichéd moves ever. Ye olde "Repeat after Me." Ye olde Battle of the Sexes. Ye olde wave yer hands in the air. Boooor-ING.
amy (1:24:32 AM): this is also true. it was quite cliché. but, once again, she was so cute it was endearing
caryn (1:25:23 AM): C'mon Amy. That's just weak. You usually don't let people slide just because they're cute. Or...maybe you do.
amy (1:25:56 AM): not just cute. endearing. getting over on pure charm.
caryn (1:24:45 AM): The bass player? He looked like those pictures of John Kerry from when he was in that garage band in his youth.
amy (1:24:57 AM): yeah! and he was wearing a springsteen-esque headband
amy (1:25:27 AM): as for the battle of the sexes, have you ever heard someone make the guys say "aahh-ooh, aahh-ooh" like dogs in heat
caryn (1:26:59 AM): Whatev. Some Brit lady came up to me and was like..."so, what do you think of 'em?" I wasn't sure if she was their sister or something. I was like, "Honestly? Not too impressed." She giggled and said, "Me either. I mean, they're from England, and I'm glad they're doing well, but..."
amy (1:28:36 AM): oh also, the mix was shit
amy (1:28:41 AM): made even worse by my earplugs
caryn (1:27:53 AM): I know that that record is likely much better and more complex and more cohesive. I will check it out before I delete Go! Team from my Buddy List.
caryn (1:31:34 AM): Ok, the two drummer thing. Trick or treat?
amy (1:32:00 AM): trick AND treat!
caryn (1:32:18 AM): Why?
amy (1:32:49 AM): well they obviously didn't need two drummers. and both drummers were playing along to backing tracks
amy (1:33:02 AM): so they weren't really adding to the music
caryn (1:33:05 AM): That's the trick.
amy (1:33:08 AM): yes
caryn (1:33:11 AM): What's the treat?
amy (1:33:26 AM): it seemed like they were like "hey, people will think it's cool if we have two girl drummers! let's do it"
amy (1:33:33 AM): the treat: it was cool!
amy (1:33:51 AM): i love watching female drummers
caryn (1:34:10 AM): Hmmm. Not buying it. A whole family in Africa could have been fed for a year just with the cost of transporting that second drum kit around.
amy (1:34:32 AM): oh come on. you think madonna shouldn't have backup dancers? kiss shouldn't use pyrotechnics?
amy (1:34:41 AM): it's the same thing. spectacle!
caryn (1:35:29 AM): I love a spectacle. Hooray the spectacle. This hardly was a spectacle. Maybe it their drumsticks were on fire. If Sheila E. can do it….
amy (1:36:01 AM): well, two girls, one of which is adorably pudgy, playing the drums with big goofy grins on their faces, is enough spectacle for me
caryn (1:36:23 AM): You are so gay Amy Phillips! I can see the movie now...Drum Fine XXX.
amy (1:37:05 AM): the boys in the band just weren't as cute as the girls
amy (1:37:37 AM): also, the show was very desexualized
amy (1:37:43 AM): it was like a children's birthday party
caryn (1:38:08 AM): That one with the orange t-shirt had a goofy rolling on X grin. Like Bez from the Happy Mondays.
amy (1:38:34 AM): according to my friends, that is the guy who made all the music on the album
caryn (1:39:30 AM): I think you're right about the total lack of sexualization. Maybe that's why I didn't like it. And why it reminded me of Welcome to the Dollhouse. It was a musical Special People's Club.
amy (1:40:02 AM): even when the lead girl started shaking her ass all rap-video-like, it wasn't sexual
caryn (1:40:31 AM): The audience (except for me and Lady Brit) were really into it, though.
amy (1:41:05 AM): a lot of people in the back weren't into it. but i was quite surprised at the enthusiasm. because, as the lead lady said, nyc is not known for its dancing audiences.
caryn (1:42:22 AM): Most of the audience seemed to know all the songs.
amy (1:42:30 AM): ah, the power of the internet. oh i saw that they were selling 13 piece button sets at the merch table for 5 bucks
amy (1:43:04 AM): 13 buttons!
caryn (1:43:12 AM): All Go! Team?
amy (1:43:16 AM): yes!
amy (1:43:26 AM): you could decorate the entire front of your shirt with that
caryn (1:43:34 AM): Or your ass.