Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams

Destroyer – Trouble in Dreams

Merge, 2008

Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2008

Price: $20

I don’t think Dan Bejar can make a bad record. I just don’t. Maybe it’s the unbridled fan boy inside of me, but everything since City of Daughters has been a gem. Trouble in Dreams is fairly straight forward but it still feels like the logical follow up to the pretty much awesomely unhinged Destroyer’s Rubies. It has a couple of clear-cut pop jams (“Dark Leaves Form a Thread” and “Rivers”). It has a couple of beautiful ballads (“Foam Hands” (which almost made me cry the first time I heard it) and “Blue Flower/Blue Flame”). It has a really long, fucking weird song in the middle (“Shooting Rockets” is Trouble in Dreams’ “Looters’ Follies”). It has a fucking amazing, epic closer (“Libby’s First Sunrise”). The solo-electric videos of Bejar playing “Foam Hands” and “Rivers” at the Sled Island Festival blew my mind when I saw them months and months before the record came out. “Foam Hands” is incredibly simple but it might be Bejar’s most affecting song to date. “Shooting Rockets” is a reworking of a track from the first Swan Lake record, and it’s the one where the influence of Carey Mercer is most evident. Actually, one of the most interesting things about Swan Lake has been watching Bejar, Mercer, and Spencer Krug influence one another. For instance, Sunset Rubdown’s absolutely fantastic Random Spirit Lover had Mercer-esque sonic flourishes and Bejar-esque lyricisms. Krug’s mastery of pop-song craft seems to have influenced on Bejar on “Dark Leaves Form a Thread” and “Introducing Angels.” Anyway, it’s just fun to watch. Trouble in Dreams has elements of every other Destroyer record and I think that’s why I like it so much. At the same time it’s really fresh. I spent a good three months with it and every couple weeks I had a new favorite song (before settling on “Libby’s First Sunrise,” mostly for the synesthetic quality) and I’m sure now that I’m re-listening to it, I’ll have a new favorite soon enough.

Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies

Merge/Scratch, 2006

Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2006

Price: $19

My favorite Destroyer anecdote (yes, I have a favorite Destroyer anecdote) is the one where I’m playing “Rubies” on the radio (radio edited, of course) and an old woman call up and tells me why she really, really likes that song. “That Destroyer is quite literate,” she says. I tell her that’s one of my favorite things about Destroyer. Dan Bejar has long been one of my favorite lyricists. I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about half the time, but the fact that he can string together a handful of words and come up with something like “You disrupt the world’s disorder just by virtue of your grace” or “I was good with names, I had a way with faces/ I was a dominant theme in a number of places.” There’s something about the musicality of his word choices that tends to overshadow the musicianship, which I should mention is fucking top notch. On Rubies I’m pretty sure it’s most of the dudes that played on This Night, yet where that record was full of space, Rubies blends in some of the explosive pop-song aesthetic of Streethawk: A Seduction and Thief. Bejar’s career might be my favorite to track. The one that brings me the most glee upon a new release. Also, what the fuck is a jewel-encrusted roan?

In these tough tough times, friends like mine, would rather dash than dine

So, yeah. I've been lazy lately. Not lazy, per se, but kind of the opposite. Finding a job is apparently very, very hard in Lawrence right now. Assuming I can pass a piss test on Monday, I pretty much have one. Anyway, the lack of updates has been attributed to my pavement-pounding search for employment and the general malaise that's come over me upon realizing there are NO JOBS. I even had to sell off a few pieces of my record collection the other day! A bunch of 7"s I never listened to and records I didn't even want to listen to as part of this project. Although, Love Garden only offered me $10 for my copy of Sufjan Stevens "Illinois" and it's got the balloon sticker on it, and I'm positive I've seen that record for sale there for $50. Fuck that. Ebay, here I come!

I also decided to sell off most of my CD collection because seriously, who the fuck cares about CDs anymore? Granted, most of my CDs must have been scratched because the ones I reconciled parting with didn't even end up being purchased. So half.com, here I come! But yeah, getting a $140 check for a bunch of records I never listened to is comforting. The sad thing is that I know I'm going to see a couple of them marked up tremendously but whatever, gots to pay the rent.

The project will resume within the next couple of days, I think. I miss listening to my records. I planned to resume writing last weekend but ended up reviewing 18 CDs for KJHK music staff and that was pretty insane and completely burnt me out (to the point where I did not want to listen to another record again). I don't know why I keep putting it off, up next I have two awesome Destroyer records and Dirty Projectors "Rise Above." Anyway, this is all very funny because I'm blogging at a coffee shop (just like Perez Hilton!) and yeah, well, somehow this is very funny to me. I've also been contributing freelance gig reviews to KC's weekly the Pitch's music blog: http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/
Which is pretty much the most perfect job ever, although some nights are slightly bitchier than others. BUT YEAH. I've been asked to cut down my use of the word "Jam," which if you've read any of these LP write-ups, you will know it's a word I use obsessively. I am now actively trying to find another buzzword to replace "monster motherfucking jam," so let me know if you can come up with something more rad.

Destroyer - Notorious Lightning and Other Works

Destroyer – Notorious Lightning and Other Works

Soft Abuse/Merge, 2005

Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2008

Price: $12

This record is half of the songs from Your Blues recorded as they probably would have been had Dan Bejar not abandoned his backing band for MIDI. While I adore Your Blues, my favorite Destroyer records are always going to be…well, all the other ones that aren’t Your Blues. But I still love that record, does that make sense? Basically I love Destroyer as a band. Here though, it’s extra weird, as Frog Eyes is his backing band. While I wasn’t sold at first, I’m now convinced (especially after how great Swan Lake has proven to be). The version of “New Ways of Living” on this record is FAR superior to the version on Your Blues and that’s why I bought the record. That and I was sure it would go out of print, like all Destroyer records, and given that I want to own his entire discography it was a safe bet. Now, if only I had an extra few hundred bucks lying around to pick up Streethawk: A Seduction or This Night, then I’d be in business. But alas, this is what I got. Well, this and the two Destroyer records that come after this. I should also say that I pretty much worship Dan Bejar and he picked the most perfect songs to remake for this record (though I would love to hear a full band version of “From Oakland to Warsaw,” I’d rather hear “Don’t Become the Thing You Hated”).

The Decemberists - Her Majesty, The Decemberists

The Decemberists – Her Majesty, the Decemberists

Kill Rock Stars, 2003

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2007

Price: $12

This might be the Decemberists’ masterpiece. Actually, no, it is. And in that last post when I said “Grace Cathedral Hill” was Meloy’s masterpiece, it’s not. It’s “Red Right Ankle.” It’s just so simple, it’s Meloy casting off all of the fancy and weird instruments that the Decemberists have built their reputation on and just singing something simple and straight. Of course it’s not simple, his words wind around that beautiful acoustic guitar and it’s like he’s speaking directly to you (or your girlfriend, when you put it on a mix CD for her or make her listen to it with you late at night when you are trying to tell her how much you love her). That said, the rest of the album is great. It’s like Castaways and Cutouts on steadier footing. It’s more refined and self-sure. They’ve figured out where they’re going. The sequencing though, that’s a masterpiece in itself. Opening with the bizarrely wonderful “Shanty for the Arethusa” and then busting out the pop jam “Billy Liar” which is like a more restrained version of “July, July!” (for better or worse). It’s more somber but the pop songs are poppier. “Song for Myla Goldberg,” “The Soldiering Life,” and “The Chimbley Sweep” (the song that got me into them in the first place) bring down the house in their own way, but “Red Right Ankle” is right there in the middle. Oof. My only complaint is that I wish it ended with “Of Angels and Angles,” the last track from Picaresque (an excellent album in its own right) because I always thought this album ended with that song, as the songs on Picaresque were much more standalone and I forgot that it ended with one of Meloy’s finest bits of tenderness. I wish I owned that album, because I always forget that it’s really fantastic. It’s them taking it to the absolute max before the wheels fell off on The Crane Wife (though I should note that “The Crane Wife Pts. 1 & 2,” “The Crane Wife Pt 3,” “Summersong” and “Sons and Daughters” were all super solid if not fantastic jams). Anyway, maybe I can’t really call any of their albums a masterpiece. I know it’s one of the first three because (goddamn) Hazards of Love sucks pretty hard (sorry dudes, you’re just over thinking it!). REGARDLESS, listening to this record makes me realize that the Decemberists aren’t a gimmick, or weren’t a gimmick (though they might be now). Sigh, I long for simpler times.

The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts

The Decemberists – Castaways and Cutouts

Hush, 2002

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2006

Price: $9

Oh how I long for the old days of the Decemberists. When I was weaseling my way out of exclusively listening to punk rock in 2003 (much to the chagrin of my high school lunch room tablemates) the Decemberists were there to teach me that they were basically ripping off Neutral Milk Hotel and led me to what is easily my favorite record of all time. Yet, at the same time, their old-timey flair worked its charms on me. Granted, it was Colin Meloy’s songwriting that got me. I’ve been a lyrics kid for as long as I can remember (deciphering the meaning of Dion’s “Runaround Sue” at the age of 7, realizing it was about a tramp) and Meloy’s words were fun to sing along to. Though they’ve basically been beating a dead horse since singing to Capitol (though you could say they were riding a very ill horse that was doomed to die when the shtick wore out after three records), the old records are still fun to listen to. Now I listen to them with a certain nostalgia and recognize exactly why I loved Castaways & Cutouts in the latter years of high school and the early years of college. It was fun while it lasted, but I mean, c’mon. I had a chance to see the Decemberists for free at the Uptown Theatre last week and declined because I could barely get through their latest record, The Hazards of Love. That and I’ve already seen them like, three or four times (and though the first at the Jackpot wasn’t the best (it was the second at the Granada), I’ll never forget when the fire alarm went off as Meloy was trying to cover “Ask” by the Smiths on a misty night in October of 2004). Regardless, I still think that “Grace Cathedral Hill” is one of the most beautiful songs ever written (along with “Red Right Ankle” on Her Majesty). “California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade” was one of the first long songs I heard in modern music (when I started listening to modern music) that made me realize that it is a gamble to try a 9-minute song and a triumph to pull it off. The latter applies to that song, which is a total jam. And while they’ll be best known for “Here I Dreamt I was an Architect” and a couple of ill-conceived concept albums, jams like “July, July!” and “Odalisque” will always be little known masterpieces. That and of course, “Grace Cathedral Hill,” which I can’t get enough of. It might be Meloy’s masterpiece.

Dark Meat - Universal Indians

Dark Meat – Universal Indians

Vice, 2006

Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2007

Price: $17

After seeing Dark Meat for either the first or second time, I immediately ran down to the record store the next day and picked this up on vinyl. It was right after it was reissued on Vice, whenever that was. Have you seen Dark Meat live? Surely you have, at least if you live in Lawrence. They’re here often enough to the point where they play the Jackpot and I go “Oh, Dark Meat is playing tonight, I’ll stay in and watch “30 Rock” and catch them next time.” And really, twice is fine with me because nothing is going to live up to that first time when 12 dudes and dudettes took the stage in white robes with crazy forehead facepaint and proceeded to melt my face off. I know, I know, everyone uses “melt my face off” to describe stuff these days, but that’s how it felt. Although that was like, 2007. Now I’m thinking maybe I should sell this record because I know I’m probably never going to listen to it. Don’t get me wrong, I dig it, but I mostly bought it for the monster jams “Freedom Ritual” and “Well Fuck You Then.” The rest of it is a little too jammy, too southern, and too hippy-psychedelia for me. It does come off as a communal effort though, which I like. Now, if only they were as tight as King Khan & the Shrines…

Damon & Naomi - More Sad Hits

Damon & Naomi – More Sad Hits

Shimmy Disc, 1992

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2006

Price: $6

This is one of the prettiest records I own and the one I used as a sleep aid the most between the summer’s of 2006 and 2007. I remember listening to this in my huge room at the duplex on Illinois St in the afternoon for naps and at night after taking a sleeping pill. I’ve said this before, just because it’s good sleeping music doesn’t mean it’s bad or boring! On the contrary, I think if a band can make good music to fall asleep too, that’s a +1 for them. It’s called dream pop for a reason! While the group lacks Dean Wareham’s charm and ruggedly handsome good looks (sorry, Damon, you have fish lips), musically they’re what made Galaxie 500 so perfectly sad without dwelling on it too much. Both Side A and Side B start off with sadcore jams (“E.T.A.” and “Astrafiammante,” respectively), and I like that a LOT. This is one of my top 3 most listened to records in my collection (along with Jim O’Rourke’s Bad Timing and Tender Forever’s Wider). Not necessarily the best record in my collection, but one that constantly finds itself on my turntable.

End of C

A + B = $333
C = $205
(A+B) + C = $541

This has really become an exercise in charting my irresponsibility. As of now I am jobless and pretty much wondering how I’m going to pay the rent for June (I’ll find a way I’m sure). I’ve been very, very good about NOT going to Love Garden and went for the first time in maybe three weeks to a month today (but only because I had some store credit and felt kind of low about being broke and my solution is to buy a record that I really like (I got the new St. Vincent, which is excellent)). Anyway, I’m thinking about selling the Bright Eyes record. Maybe just listing it for $300 on ebay and seeing if anyone bites. At least I know where the money went. Also, if anyone has a copy of Shining Hours in a Can by East River Pipe on vinyl and want to unload it, I WANT IT. I have a massive jones for “Make a Deal With the City” and have since been listening to that record on repeat. Also, if anyone out there in the KC/Lawrence area knows of a place where I could get a job, that would be better.

E.E. Cummings - E.E. Cummings Reads His Poetry

E.E. Cummings – E.E. Cummings Reads His Poetry

Caedmon, 1953

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2008

Price: $4

I adore reading E.E. Cummings poetry in books, but man, on record it’s very weird. Especially the first side, which is three plays written by Cummings. One is about Santa Claus. Really, it mostly sounds like a cluster of random words and phrases. The second side is a lot better, shorter poems, a few I recognize but mostly just beautiful, brief collections of words. I can’t remember why I bought this record. I know I got it fairly recently and I think the reason was that it was only 4 dollars. It’s nothing I would ever listen to frequently and really, I probably bought it just to have it. Although the one thing I don’t like about it is Cummings voice. It takes away from the sparse beauty of the words as they stand on the page. Here he sounds more pompous than I imagined. I mean, his language and diction is beautiful and he’s amazing at reading his poetry, but I just like the way it sounds better in my head. Not like I can sell it, it’s got a sticker on it claiming that it’s property of USD #302, so you know it’s cheap. Overall: Too hoity-toity! Although, I feel that there is a certain loyalty that I must uphold to EE, because his poetry subsequently led to me getting laid in high school. Score!