The Glovebox Tapes

Wankers Bollocks Up Clinic Gig

2006-12-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

A Clinic-headlined show, scheduled for the 14th at Central St. Martin's College in London, has been cancelled due to "pressure from a small minority of students, who saw the show as a perceived disruption to their studies and were threatening to stage a sit-in protest," according to Domino's website. Also slated to perform in the label showcase were Archie Bronson Outfit, These New Puritans and some DJs.

The Liverpudlian Art rockers have been officially rejected by CSM, adding to the long history of legitimate brilliance snubbed by the university. Really, though, which term is the greater oxymoron, "art rock" or "art school?" Art students who already bought tickets are invited to see the band somewhere else in London in February, still to be decided, but they are advised to finish their art homework first. Blimey.

If you're not sure what the school is, think back to Jarvis Cocker's Greek girlfriend in Common People or that building right across from my old flat in London. If only I still lived there, we could all get together and throw eggs from my balcony.

Rudolph Tonight

2006-12-04T18:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight marks the 42nd anniversary of the first broadcast of animated classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It comes too early in the christmas season to be noticed by the adult world, so I'd like to take a moment to remind the world that it's on.

It's worth watching for Burl Ives' Sam the Snowman alone. Sam is, after all, the greatest singing snowman ever.

VU & Nico Acetate on eBay Auction

2006-12-03T18:24:00.000-05:00

"In September of 2002 Warren Hill of Montreal Canada was perusing a box of records at a Chelsea, New York street sale when he happened upon a nice Leadbelly 10" on Folkways, a water damaged copy of the first Modern Lovers LP on Beserkely, and a brittle 12" piece of acetone-covered aluminum with the words "Velvet Underground. 4-25-66. Att N. Dolph" written on the label. He purchased the three records for 75 cents each."

And until the end of December 8, every man, woman and child with access to Nazi gold and the internet has a chance to make it their own.

As I write this, the bid has raised to over $100,500, making it already the third most valuable record in existence, just passing the infamous "butcher" sleeve alternate version of The Beatles' Yesterday and Today. Its value is rapidl y gaining weight, approaching a 1958 Quarrymen acetate of That'll Be The Day ($180,000) and the astronomically valuable pressing of John and Yoko's Double Fantasy ($505,000), autographed less than 5 hours before Lennon's assassination.

The record is so valuable because of its rarity--it's the only one--but its story is even more remarkable. It's likely that the record's true history will never be known, which is a fortunate case for the extremely unfortunate, who were completely unaware of their possession and essentially threw away what could possibly become the most valuable record of all time.

This record's future, and more importantly, its content's, is currently uncertain. It contains alternate versions and mixes of nearly every song on the Andy Warhol produced album, including a "much more poppy" version of Femme Fatale, completely different versions of European Son and Heroin, as well as other great stuff. In other words, we might see some lost Velvet Fucking Underground tracks come to light but it's also just possible that David Bowie will buy the record and only play it for members of Arcade Fire.

Dec Releases

2006-11-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

This December promises a total lack of interesting rock releases. Use this time to reflect on the year to date and save your cash for January, which will be loaded with new cds to get. Clinic, Deerhoof, Of Montreal, The Shins, Lily Allen, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, just to name a few, all have new albums planned for January.

In the meantime, I'll be planning my Top 10 of 2006, which luckily won't be interrupted by any remarkable new releases.

Thanksgiving Part II

2006-11-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

I am also thankful for this video.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T14:32:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for this video.

Sufjan Stevens' Songs For Christmas

2006-11-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

My review for The L Magazine... and beyond!!

Dean & Britta Plan

2006-11-20T17:28:00.000-05:00

Of the three major incarnations of Dean--that is, Galaxie 500, Luna, and simply Dean Wareham, chronologically--you might suppose that the latter is the least remarkable. After all, when artists revert to the name's their parents gave them, it's a kiss of death, a sad and slow deterioration into obscurity. Will this be the beginning of indie rock 'n roll retirement? No, silly!

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are still relevant after all these years. Which brings me to my point (besides reminding you of their general brilliance). They're planning more work. An EP, Words You Used to Say, was just released to promote an upcoming LP.

I'll stake my credibility on it being very good, probably even better than L'Avventura. Why? A hunch. Geraldo Rivera twice bet his mustache on miracles, once on Bush regaining the White House and another time on a not-guilty verdict for Michael Jackson. Maybe I should bet something a little more substantial than my credibility, like my Member's Only jacket collection.
The EP has one new song, which you can hear on their myspace page, and some covers.

They're known now simply as Dean & Britta, fittingly, because their first names enough. If you're, like, "Dean and Britta who?"... Seriously.

Get your wallets out

2006-11-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

This tuesday will see the release of the new Sufjan Stevens 5 cd set, Tom Waits 3 cd, and Swan Lake. 9 cds. Although, between you and me, you can skip the Sufjan release.

CMJ Coverage 2006

2006-11-16T22:10:00.000-05:00

The award goes to... Deerhoof.

In case you missed it, it was a blast. You should have come. Thanks a bunch to The L Magazine.

Halloween was more important than those assholes playing on day 1.
The Absolutely Kosher Showcase
In Which Ted Lattis Doesn't See The Shins
One, two, skipafew...
This Is The End, Beautiful Friend

(From The L Magazine).

Joanna Newsom Recognized for Greatness

2006-11-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

Less than 3 days have passed since the release of Joanna Newsom's new record, Ys. By now, Earth's foremost critical sources have offered their assessments. She is receiving universal acclaim and I couldn't be happier. It ties with The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America as Pitchfork's highest rated album. Only Rolling Stone seems to view it unfavorably, which, in some circles, is actually a good thing.

Still, there's no reason to expect a full-scale blow-up. After all, the album is nearly an hour long and only 5 songs. Just about everything about her is unconventional, her voice, her arrangements, her lyrics. How can so many people be expected to grasp something that is entirely unfamiliar. There is little about the first impression she makes that will stick in a positive way to the listener and no amount of positive media saturation will get people past that.

But I would say she's even less accessible. Even after careful listens, one isn't guaranteed to become a fan. But there's hope for those who hate it, too.

I never really believed that you could "warm up" to an album just by listening to it more and more. Maybe you just weren't hearing some aspect of it, or you're not focusing, or you weren't in the right mood when you first heard it. Perhaps you didn't give the new Bright Eyes' a fair chance at first because Fevers and Mirrors was one of your most regretted purchases ever. The Milk-Eyed Mender changed things.

The very first time I heard Joanna Newsom, I was in my bedroom with my headphones. I knew exactly what to expect from Milk-Eyed Mender's cover art of and the song titles: a newly graduated liberal arts major with a penchant for Virginia Woolf, vegetarianism (turn's out I was wrong about this one), and the harp. I got the entire album upon a trustworthy recommendation. What I didn't expect, however, was that she would have Lisa Simpson's voice.

My flatmate in London put a ban on her voice where we lived as long as he was around.

But it was a very trustworthy recommendation and I kept listening to the album in its entirety. There were things that I loved about the album. Engaging song structure, sophisticated melodies, brilliant storytelling, etc. At the very least, you must give credit to an amazing vocabulary. Did you know that a "lateen" sail is triangular? Something that is "bedraggled" has been dragged through mud. But the vocals were still rough.

By the second time through, the album started to take shape. You already know what she is all about but it isn't until that second listen that you can really appreciate it. You'll cease to be frightened by the frequencies of her range and start to personally connect with her playful, appalachian folk allusions. You might even learn all the words and look up the ones you don't know. You might even start a project to remix the album and you might call it "Peach Drums Pear."

I wouldn't prefer anybody else's voice. It's still embarrassing to play the cd with windows open in strange places, not because I dislike her voice but because I know others won't know how good it actually is just by hearing it.

Years later, a new, brilliant record has arrived and we I needn't live in such fear anymore. The fanbase is not so small anymore. Few can pack Webster Hall twice in a single night.

Having listened to it for a while now and having the time to digest it more, I've realized more about the lyrics, too. They're not just colorful, they're meaningful. While maintaining her oddball literary aesthetics, she's grown into more coherent ideas. She still tells stories in metaphor rather than a linear narrative and also continues with the charming and personal content that her lyrics always had.

But what's remarkably different lyrically is that she's broken out of mere cuteness or sorrow-sympathy, she's become a master of her subjects, singing in a way that does not polish but really penetrates into her metaphors.

Several motifs tie the five songs together in a way that make her previous material seem more anthologized than conceptual. I hope that someday I'll be able to write at greater length about the content of her music, analysing it more academically. Ys itself is a fabled Breton city that according to legend was drowned in a flood so that two lovers could be with each other. We'll start from there.

At War with the Mystics leaks (old news)

2006-02-28T17:50:00.000-05:00

At War with The Mystics is the most challenging Flaming Lips album to date (albeit a date that hasn't quite come yet) since Zaireeka and perhaps the least rewarding since In A Priest Driven Ambulance. But coming from one of the greatest bands of our generation (and the generation before), that's not such a bad thing. As a follow-up Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2003) and a sporadic release of b-sides and novelty children's recordings, it is long overdue (and it's not even out yet!). And for Lips fans everywhere, there is a lot riding on this album. Will it be as good as Yoshimi? Will it be better? Will it be different? Does this mean Christmas on Mars is never coming out/ is going to suck?

Roughly speaking, it's yet another showcase of Wayne Coyne's brilliant song-writing and Drozd's clever arrangements but they're often too clever and the end result is a mixed bag of experiments of varying success. But for an album with so much riding on it and so many bold moves, it remarkably manages to please the fan and even incorporate the band's entire career, or at least since Hit to Death in the Futurehead came out nearly a decade and half ago, when Wayne Coyne still worked at a Long John Silver's. In fact, it seems a natural progression for the band. AWWTM recalls the guitar-driven intensity of the band's earlier days when Ronald Jones was still in the band, it shares more aural space with Clouds Taste Metallic than Yoshimi, and it still revolves around psychedelic interludes of faux-orchestra synth pads and phasing drum solos.

What has The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi taught the band? Well, for one thing, it gave lots of time for producer David Fridman to work out a crucial relationship with the band. Moreover, the band has found success in experimenting, even if it means alienating fans. This time around, though, it's the Yoshimi fans that might be a little disappointed to see the band experiment with things like awkward, sexualized throat pinching a la The-artist-formerly-known-as-The-Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Prince (See Free Radicals). Songs such as "The W.A.N.D.," "It Overtakes Me," and "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" might not interest someone looking for acoustic-driven hits like "Fight Test," or "Do You Realize??." The best songs on the album, however, are interestingly the ones the band isn't talking about yet: "The Sound of Failure/ It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark??," My "Cosmic Autumn Rebellion," and "The Stars Are So Big, I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?"

So hear it is... At War with the Mystics

Juana Molina

2006-01-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

Deep and sincere strangeness lie in singer/songwriter Juana Molina. The former comedienne hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and those from there will know her as the star of the very popular Spanish-language television show, Juana y Sus Hermanas. In other parts of the world, indie-folk enthusiasts with discerning taste may know her for strange and beautiful melodies and her haunting but subdued demeanor. The single off of her latest album, Tres Cosas, is Salvase Quien Pueda.

MTA Blues

2005-12-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

"As I rode the 7:09 Metro North train from New Rochelle to Grand Central station this morning, I wondered how the MTA strike (which had kicked in at midnight) would affect New Yorkers' moods today. Everywhere, people had put on their hats and scarves (it was 23 degrees but the wind chill factor made it feel like 11 degrees) and with their pink cheeks and alert expressions (versus the dreary, tired, resigned look of the typical subway rider), appeared to enjoy the forced exercise. I walked down Madison Avenue humming "You Belong to Me," a 1962 hit by the Duprees that my husband had recently introduced me to, and realized I was enjoying my morning commute, too"

-Penny Crosman

What Kind of Country Devil?

2005-12-15T01:36:00.000-05:00

I'm convinced that within every American, somewhere, deep down, there is a part that begs to work with the hands. A part that begs to hustle at pool and smoke a hand-rolled cigarette. For there is something very human about creating music and something very American about doing it with a guitar, riffing and defiant. It's high time we all embrace the inner country devil. Strum on, soldier.

"Chainsaw Preachers" by David Dondero.

"I Found a Reason [demo]" by The Velvet Underground.

p.s. That's Woodie up there.

A Handclapper for Wednesday

2005-12-13T23:35:00.000-05:00

And then there was "Mushaboom" by a new Canadian solo act, Feist. The song plays easily like Melanie Safka with a foot forward. This song has been welcomely stuck in my head all evening. It really helps me get through the things I gotta do tonight. I like the clapping because it makes me feel like I'm being applauded. It's empowering. You can seriously clap me through just about anything. On a side note, the lady in question, Ms. Leslie Feist, is quite loverly and apparently she used to be in Placebo, too.

Vocoders

2005-12-13T00:57:00.000-05:00

The vocoder is a very delicate thing, its price metaphysically far greater than it's approx. $400 tag. One of my personal litmus tests for a skilled electronic artist is the ability to wield it with taste. When used properly, it fills your headphones with rich, sonorous textures. Among those I condone being allowed to possess the technology are Air, Beck, Kraftwerk and Belgium-based electropop combo Vive La Fête. Among those who disturb me... Cher... Neil Young.

In conclusion, I give thee "Laisse Moi" by Vive La Fête. It's pure genius in three chords with sparing instrumentation. Of course, it's more interesting than the basic structure. The chords are voiced in a sequence that give the impression of rising and falling continuously. And the repeated lyrics are vocoded perfectly! If you own Republique Populaire, at the end of this song you'll enjoy a beautiful ditty after a few minutes of silence.

Sunday Morning

2005-12-11T15:49:00.000-05:00

The lord's day. A day of rest, a day of wearing breakfast by the sea t-shirts, watching cartoons with friends while eating pancakes and eggs off of your laps. Coffee. Black as midnight on a moonless night. On these occasions, I like to listen to songs that resonate faintly with monday's fanfare. A blissful coda, a stoic, desperate echo of the previous week's life. If I have to die, please, let it be on a sunday.

"Sweethearts on Parade" by M. Ward.

The New Strokes

2005-12-10T22:34:00.000-05:00

Though First Impressions of Earth is set for release in early January, the album has already been around on the interweb for quite some time. It's been enough time to know that I probably won't actually buy the album but it's also been long enough to know that there are a handful of really great songs on it. Of course, nothing ever done by The Strokes has been anything short of complete plagiarism but that shouldn't stop anybody from liking it.

Get with the program people. The reason The Strokes are so good is because they are a precise rip-off of bands like Television. Even stranger, the band is beginning to assimilate the styles of peers that are also known for hijacking the late 70's. Their new single, "Juicebox," for example, which is pretty mediocre (thus no link to download), reimagines Franz Ferdinand in the style of... Franz Ferdinand.

It's funny, I know. But... they're very good at it and once in a while they'll incant a great melody, happening upon some secret in the trans-atlantic leather jacket seam with enough self-assurance to pass it off as something rare. "You Only Live Once" and "Ask Me Anything."

p.s. My mp3s are now backed up on a proper server so hopefully there will be no more tragedies as far as downloads on this site are concerned.

Today John Lennon Died

2005-12-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

You know this. He was a good one. In honor of today 25 years ago and today and 25 years hence. Heyo!

"Born in a Prison" by John and Yoko

If only we still had casette players

2005-12-08T02:45:00.000-05:00

First post,

So, since I have no style of my own right now, I'll just completely nick my friend Marie-Claire's mp3 blog style. Henceforth I submit to the superiority of Addio Crociera--maybe this homage will earn one of her shirts. To her credit, her blog rules.

Anyways, welcome to The Glovebox Tapes. I name this blog in honor of the precious things I used to find in my toyota tercel. Old mixed tapes that you don't remember making, pixies on side-a breeders on side-b, 4-track recordings from grade-school, etc. Rare, sentimental things, like the contents of a dusty hope chest from grandmother's attic, ancient artifacts. I'm sure your experiences with your own gloveboxes have been similar.

"Feet of Clay" by Vashti Bunyan

I really don't have much to say about this track except that it's the reason I started this blog.

It's on Lookaftering, which is the kind of album you might play right after Nico's Chelsea Girl, when it's time to go to sleep or thumb upon the pages of a passive bedtime read.

Her music works in meditative canon. Like anything really good, it's as remarkably blissful as it is melancholy. Vashti Bunyan evokes innately familiar melodies and...um... saccharine(?) instrumentation. People like me might also appreciate the literate folksy rustic joanna newsom-like thing.

Which reminds me, I've been working with an equation recently:
(Vashti Bunyan - Devendra Banhart) + (Zeena Parkins - John Zorn) + (Lisa Simpson - Cannonball Adderly) = Joanna Newsom

Let's work on that together later!