mrfuriousrecords.com – DARKER DIMENSIONS crossover event happening now!

  • Free shows

    I discovered podcasts this week.

    I needed a soundtrack (well, news, actually) for my new exercise gig, and went searching.  The BBC is up and running now, but in the course of finding that I also found some gems in the music section.

    Many of NPR’s “All Songs Considered” live concerts are available, including a stellar Radiohead show and sets from Spoon, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, The Hold Steady, and a bundle of other indie-ish heroes.  Also, several “song-of-the-day” options are available from sources like KCRW in California, KEXP in Seattle, and The Current in Minneapolis.  (I’m counting on one of these to feed my appetite for new jams after my Paste subscription runs out; their monthly sampler is kind of tame for me.)

    THE PROBLEM IS that this stuff shows up in iTunes’ “Podcasts” directory, not the main music library.  !!!  So I figured out how to fix it:
    IF YOU WANT CONCERTS/SONG-OF-THE-DAY DOWNLOADS TO DISPLAY IN YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY, RATHER THAN YOUR PODCAST LIBRARY…

    1. First download some stuff or subscribe – in iTunes, go to the iTunes store / podcasts / music / NPR / NPR: Live concerts from All Songs Considered podcast

    2. Click “Get episode” for a show you want
    3. When download is complete, go to “Library / Podcasts” in left bar of iTunes – change the view to “View as list” – and expand “NPR: Live Concerts…”

    4. Right-click (control- or command-click for some Mac users) the concert and click “Convert ID3 tags…” Select v1.0 and click OK.  (This is the critical step; iTunes puts podcasts in the podcasts directory based on tags in the higher versions that don’t exist in v1.0.  So, when we are deleting that part of the tag, and will then be able to re-import to iTunes.)

    5. Right-click the concert again and click “delete” – click “remove” from the iTunes library – click “keep file.”

    6. File / add to library – navigate to the file (unless you’ve changed how your iTunes keeps your library, it’s under YourLoginName / Music / iTunes / iTunes Music / Podcasts / NPR… – click OK
    7. Now it’s in your music library! You’ll probably want to edit the tags so it shows up as an album with the artist’s other stuff. It’s one long track, so you might also think about checking the “Skip while shuffling” option.

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  • MR|Review – U2, "No Line on the Horizon"

    “No Line on the Horizon” realizes a nearly-complete synthesis of “The Unforgettable Fire”’s aching, open-skied soundscapes and the amped-up, cut & pasted “…Atomic Bomb.”

    u2noline.jpg Must-hear!
    Recommended
    Good
    Fans only
    Skip this
    Owww! My ears!

    Walking a middle line critically, I find “No Line…” to be a good album both in context of the band’s discography, and the current state of rock music. It hits the right touchstones and pushes some boundaries, though individual listeners seem to be hearing more of either one or the other.

    The opening title track matches an ominous “Achtung”-ish verse with a neo-classical-U2 chorus organically, sounding vastly better than it looks on paper. “Magnificent” succeeds almost in spite of demo-level lyrics and melody – a bit more revision would have gone a long way – yet this is the familiar story of much of U2’s best work. Producer Brian Eno’s famous preference for early takes and spontaneous performances shines through, and generally works, the fact that it’s been five years since U2’s last album notwithstanding.

    To the record’s vast credit, seven of the eleven songs have lodged in my mind for whole days in the week or so since I picked it up. Nothing galvanizes a universal moment quite like “Beautiful Day” did; nothing tries; “No Line…” generates its glimmers of infinity in the particulars. “Moment of Surrender” finds its connection standing at the ATM, “I’ll Go Crazy…” in self-deprecation, and the impeccable “Breathe” in simply surviving from one second to the next.

    I fully expect these songs to gel further on tour, in the tradition of “Bad,” “A Sort of Homecoming,” “In A Little While,” and “New York.” “No Line…” isn’t as self-contained as the band’s essential “Achtung Baby,” with its de- and re-constructed edgy pop, or the eternal anthems of “The Joshua Tree.” It wrestles with uncertainty. It swaggers (“Get On Your Boots”) and stretches (“Unknown Caller”) and asks if that’s what we want from U2 in 2009.
    Can we stand it?

    Bono shapes insights like “The stone was semi-precious/We were barely conscious/Two souls too smart to be in the realm of certainty/Even on our wedding day,” vivid images (“She said ‘Time is irrelevant, it’s not linear’/Then she put her tongue in my ear”) then climbs up to the pulpit crying “Soul rockin’ people on and on/C’mon ye people/We’re made of stars… Stand up for your love” – do we need him to choose? Contradiction, imperfection; forces in a tension that, for the moment, produce magic.
    I was prepared to love this record and, accordingly, bought it on vinyl. It was the right choice; songs that variously soar, burn, and pummel are predictably over-compressed on CD and digital.

    “No Line on the Horizon” is a rewarding listen, becoming more substantial with time. It sits comfortably with “War,” “The Unforgettable Fire,” “Pop,” and “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” in U2’s second tier of studio efforts; perhaps, rather than the gushing of fans and griping of haters, the range of critical responses is a solid indicator of U2’s improbable relevance.

    MR|Review directs readers’ limited attention among works via ratings, and within works via prose, focusing on works where our opinion diverges from critical or popular consensus, or we have significant insight that compliments or challenges readers’ aesthetic experience.
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  • U2 Live on Letterman

    I haven’t assembled my thoughts on “No Line On The Horizon” yet, but I did record the audio from U2’s week-long stint on The Late Show with David Letterman these past five days.  They played:

    Monday – “Breathe”

    Tuesday – “Magnificent”

    Wednesday – “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”

    Thursday – “Beautiful Day”

    Friday – “Get On Your Boots”

    Anyone who would like a link to all five mp3s can leave their email address in the comments (Example: howie (at) theinternet (dot) come – this format will help prevent robots from picking up and spamming your addy); I’ll email out a .ZIP via YouSendIt a week from today.  They are 192 kb; I recorded the audio (sadly) not from cable TV but from the digital broadcast signal, so they’re not the cleanest ever, but if you’re either 1) a U2 fan or 2) interested enough to request the files, you won’t care.  They sound alright.

    Mostly, I’m always interested to hear how the band performs the songs live, without all the studio overdubbing and mixing tricks they have increasingly relied on.  I tend to like the live arrangements better. -h

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  • Rabin on Mediocrity, Bear

    The AV Club’s Nathan Rabin praising mediocrity:

    … As I get older I increasingly realize why people watch movies they know will not be any damned good. Great art generally challenges audiences. It makes demands. It upsets and provokes and confronts injustices we often would rather not contemplate after a long day at work. That is why I sometimes find myself thinking, “You know I’m in the mood for? A mediocre movie. Something’s not too good, not too bad but safely and comfortably somewhere smack dab in the middle.

    -“In Praise of Mediocrity“

    Does this generalize to music?

    Nathan doesn’t apply it to television in his experience, but does to books.  “There’s something lulling and soothing about genre mediocrities, movies that immerse us in the comforting, familiar realm of clichés and conventions,” he writes.

    It seems to me that some – more than half? – people listen intentionally to mediocre music, either by seeking it out (avoiding challenging music) or by accepting standards that tend reward mediocrity (FM radio play, top sales chart positions, etc.) as their arbiters of music-judgment.

    My iPod has taught me that I prefer a higher ratio of weird/awesome to mediocre music than I would have expected.  I’m downgrading artists I thought I really loved when they come up on shuffle (John Vanderslice except “Cellar Door,” nondescript punk music, virtually every singer-songwriter in my catalog) and assigning higher rankings to stuff that has a touch of the avant-garde or quirky about it (Squarepusher, The Mars Volta, Amandala! (soundtrack)).

    I’ll cop to enjoying mediocre novels on a regular basis, along with a consistent-but-lower-than-expected amound of mediocre music in my library.  Movies and TV, I’d much rather see something good.  -h

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  • Are We Anti-Edgy?

    A tiny post by Robin Hanson from Overcoming Bias, quoted in its entirety:

    In the art world something is “edgy” if it might well shock ordinary folks, but of course not in-the-know folks. The idea seems to be that ordinary folks are shocked too easily by things that should not really be shocking.

    The opposite concept, which I’ll call “anti-edgy”, is of something that does not shock ordinary folks, but should. In the know folks are shocked, but most others are not. Why does the world of art and fashion emphasize the edgy so much more than the anti-edgy?

    Robin crystallizes an idea I’ve pondered in fuzzy-form for as long as I’ve been writing songs; how is it that I can find my stuff pretty weird (h&s’ “near and far”) and others find it pleasant background music?  How did we manage throw classic rock guitars and cheesy keyboard drums together (Sally M/S Ride’s “It’s A Trap”) to nary a “meh…”?Maybe we’re anti-edgy?  Shocking only to those (musicians, mostly) who have the ears to parse out what’s going on?

    Even if we’re not, anti-edgy is something I aim for.  Music that functions well enough on the surface to get a person into it (whether that’s through rocking out, or catchiness, etc.) but will warp your mind a bit if you start taking it apart.

    You know, like Chicago.  Or Mastodon :-)

    -h

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  • Fifty Bears in my house

    Matt and Drew came up yesterday to set up drums for Fifty Bears in a Fight recordings.  We’re not sure if we’re making a rough demo in order to get some local shows, or our first record.  Or anything in-between.

    The drums sound great, though.  We’re going with a minimal mic setup – kick, snare, overhead – augmented by Matt’s MIDI triggers.  Not sure what it will sound like when it’s all done, but we want to have options.

    Matt and I are going to record rhythm tracks live, then I will record my guitar/bass synth direct and re-amp later.  For the most part vocals will come next, and Drew last, covering everything in a layer of weird shredding and noise.

    No timeline, of course! -h

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  • CALLA LILY ep / The Golden Age

    (more…)
    Cory

  • Process

    New music for the next two weeks; Arturo Got The Shaft’s acoustic b-side “Blame It On The Beer” on Furious Instance next week, and the re-release of The Golden Age’s “Calla Lily” EP following! -h

    ==================
    Cory and I had an email conversation about our writing processes this week, excerpts below.  It started when I told him I’d written a couple new tunes in past weeks.

    To: corykibler@trivialpursuitfan.com
    From: howie@laundry.org
    … I was pretty on edge a couple months ago.  I’m a lot better now; only looking back can I see how edgy I probably was.  Starting to write new music again is the final sign of being healthy.  I’ve never been able to write out of suffering/angst/etc.  I write out of an abundance of energy…  sometimes writing about painful/angsty things, but only after the fact, you know?  In real time, I’m too tired to write anything worthwhile.

    When do you write your breakup songs and stuff?  Right then, or later?

    I put our old coffeehouse show on the ipod.  I had forgotten the hilarious cover, with the literal coffee-house and our balloon heads with our initials for noses and tucci winking.

    -h
    To: howie@laundry.org
    From: corykibler@trivialpursuitfan.com

    … I never pick up the guitar unless I’m feeling pretty content.  If I were stressed/pissed/etc., playing guitar wouldn’t be fun for me.  Usually I’m doing pretty well when I go through a chord/melody-writing burst.

    Lyrics, on the other hand, are usually written when someone or something in my life is just bugging the shit out of me; it’s a really good way for me to complain without complaining to any one person, because it wears people down, but it’s necessary sometimes.  And when I write a song regarding something or someone that’s bothering me, I can take my time and write in such a way that it’s kind of hard to tell, so it’s never like, “Oh, Howie: you came and you pissed in my gravy, then you kicked it away!” or whatever. I can make it a vague, poetic thing, so it’s not straight-up explicit bitching : )

    Once in a while, I’ll write a song about something totally awesome, but it’s hard for me to make that interesting.  Darker/sadder stuff is just easier for me.  Not that I’m a dark/sad guy, but it’s the stuff that’s obvious to write about.  And it does make me feel a lot better when I write lyrics to a song like “Nature vs. Nurture,” because I’m saying it exactly how it needs to be said, and I feel better for being honest.

    You need to get me a jpeg of that coffee-house album cover!  -Uncle Corky

    To: corykibler@trivialpursuitfan.com
    From: howie@laundry.org
    … thanks for sharing about your process!  can i blog parts of this conversation?

    i need to scan the Golden Age covers, so i’ll do coffeehouse while i’m at it!  (snap, if i can find the original disc!  all my CDs are in milk crates now!)

    -h

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  • Killigans Live – Check out their new disc

    I’ve had the pleasure of mastering the last two discs for Lincoln, NE’s own Killigans: “One Step Ahead of Hell” and their new “Live at the Zoo Bar.”  They play melodic, beer-soaked, story-telling Irish-immigrant punk rock and there’s no one quite like ’em.
    The Journal-Star’s Ground Zero entertainment section had this to say about “Live;” hat tip to Chris for sending it along.

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  • THE SLEEPOVER EP / The Sleepover

    DOWNLOAD ALL via .zip from archive.org

    1- A Bag With A Money-Sign On It
    2- Built For It
    3- Island of Terror (House of Pain)
    4- Always the Liar

    Cory

  • Best Records We Heard in 2008

    19. Nine Inch Nails “The Slip” – Reznor edges onto my list with his free, web-based distribution method and some solid additions to the NIN catalog. -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    18. The Republic Tigers “Keep Color” – If you secretly (or unabashedly, like me) love Coldplay, but would like to hear something with a few more surprises in it, hear “Keep Color.” Last year’s OxBlood Records comp included “Made Concrete,” still my favorite song, but I spun the Tigers’ major-label debut in heavy personal rotation for a lot longer than I ever expected to. -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Artist page via Wikipedia

    17. No Age “Weirdo Rippers” – This is the weirdest record I own.  The production is lower than lo-fi, the vocals are dissonant and buried, and the song arrangements don’t make any sense.  But it’s fun to kick yourself in the face with someone creepy once in a while. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    16. The JV All Stars “Take Me Back To Spectre” – JVA is better than your favorite punk band. Following a hiatus I was afraid would become permanent after their domain name expired, the All Stars toured through Kansas City, slept on my friend Jill’s floor, and gave me the smart, poppy, and lyrically specific (God bless ’em) “…Spectre.” It’s like punk-pop swallowed a Mario mushroom; the melodies are more creative, the textures change at breakneck pace, the barbs are sharper and the joy is brighter. -h | JVA on MySpace

    15. UUVVWWZ “9 Songs” – These dudes (and gal) are from Lincoln, and they put out one of the coolest, most unique art-rocky records I’ve heard.  There’s nothing too weird about the record, and they don’t use a crumhorn or anything weird like that.  It basically sounds like dirty experimental blues rock with female punk vocals.  “Shark Suit” is my favorite, as well as “Blackberry Can.” -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr

    14. TV on the Radio “Dear Science” – TVotR blessed us with an unstoppable rhythmic tour de force this year (and they play C&C drums!). Like some holy alliance of technology and soul, hooks and experimentation, “Dear Science” is a supremely moving and emotional record precisely because of the fractures and contraditions it exposes. They seem to have a reputation as a band it takes time to get into, or may even be “difficult” – myself, I don’t understand whey the public doesn’t move 5 million copies for them and make radio requests 24/7. -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    13. Billy Joel’s entire New York discography (1976-1983) – 2008 is The Year of Joel in my book; I enjoyed his “Greatest Hits” so much last December at my folks’ for the holidays, I began tracking down his vinyl during trips to Half-Price Books. Turns out the overwhelming majority of his worthwhile stuff (and it is eminently worthwhile) comes from the time he spent rocking New York, after a stint as a LA-based singer-songwriter and before he sucked* – “Turnstiles,” “The Stranger,” “52nd Street,” “Glass Houses,” “Songs from the Attic,” “The Nylon Curtain,” and “An Innocent Man.” Catchy as hell, tight and limber backing band, unparalleled songwriting; there’s no going wrong here. And it turns out “Greatest Hits” overlooks all the best songs, like “All for Leyna,” “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),” and “Easy Money.” -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Artist page via Wikipedia

    *To his immense credit, he knew when he started sucking, and basically stopped making pop music. And there are a few late-period gems, such as “And So It Goes” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

    12. Bon Iver, “For Emma, Forever Ago” – This weirdo-folk record is like nothing I’ve ever heard before.  I don’t know how one could dislike “Skinny Love,” for example.  My one complaint is that Justin Vernon has a great chest-voice, but he sings in falsetto basically the entire record, which gets old and makes the songs blend together.  But a great record. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    11. “The Musical Tales of…” Pat Bradley – In our biggest coup to date, Mr. Furious Records secured and released Pat’s solo recordings in March. Known around Lincoln for his work with Tangelo and The Amalgamators, Pat possesses an enviable Neil Young-like gift for making simple fingerpickings and melodies sound fresh and beautiful. I’ll admit I took an extra-long time mastering the album and double-checking every last detail on unfinished CD burns as I drove around KC, simply enjoying tracks like “Sunny Farm” and “Two Days in the Valley.” -h | mp3s via Mr. Furious Records

    10. Missy Elliott, “The Cookbook” (2005) – I don’t know; you can’t go wrong with this shit.  every track sounds like a major club hit, while simultaneously being totally inventive.  Missy Elliott is a fantastic rapper.  Get the party started. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    9. Architects “Vice” – Kansas City’s own Architects are tuffer, deffer, louder, and Boss-er than The Gaslight Anthem, another classic rock/punk hybrid band that a ton of people discovered in ’08. “Vice” is the perfect blend of sin, storytelling, volume, anthem, redemption, and the beefiest snare sound imaginable. For extra pleasure, get it on vinyl. -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Artist page via Wikipedia

    8. Death Cab for Cutie, “Narrow Stairs” – I think that if I had never heard DCfC, this CD would have totally blown me away.  And it IS good, especially songs like Cath and No Sunlight.  But I keep thinking about records like The Photo Album, and so it’s hard for me to as thrilled about this record.  But if I were 18 and DCfC were foreign to me, I am sure it would change my life, just like The Photo Album did. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    7. Subtle “ExitingARM” – I’d been reading about Subtle for a couple years, and remembering Doseone’s standout track “Mannequin Hand Trapdoor I Remember” on Boom Bip’s “Seed to Sun” record, before finally checking out this year’s “ExitingARM.” Reviews built up my expectation for a real mindfuck, and I got it. The backstory – which isn’t necessary to enjoy the album – is that the protagonist of Subtle’s first two records, Hour Hero Yes, has been forced to record pop songs against his will in a world not his own; he survives by slipping subversive, revolutionary messages into the tunes, and the results are compiled on “ExitingARM.” The bottom line is that Subtle have made a collection of incredible music that stands perfectly balanced between abstraction and pop. It’s freaky and memorable; my favorite. -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    6. The Hold Steady “Stay Positive” – As with “Boys and Girls in America,” I didn’t get it right away.  Then, after a few listens, I learned to quit nitpicking and just rock out.  An enjoyable, ass-kingingly rock record.  The guitars are huge as always, and if you ever liked listening to songs about getting hammered, buy this record.  Also, if you like songs with lyrics like “Get hammered!” in them, buy this record. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    5. The Roots “Rising Down” – It’s strange at first, then exhilarating, and finally, fully awesome to hear a group as established as The Roots sounding as hungry as they do on “Rising Down.” Following their move to Def Jam they’ve released a string of under-appreciated records, and this year’s entry currently stands as the zenith of their later (post-“Things…”) career. In a way they’re doing for hip-hop what Wilco did for alt-country with “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” as noise, samples, and general abstraction bubble beneath the surface of an album full of bangers. -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    4. Panic at the Disco “Pretty. Odd.” – Another pop record!  An album of 15 or so songs that are just fantastic.  They manage to make you feel the way you do when you listen to the Beatles and ELO, only it’s new-sounding.  I’m glad they took this direction.  Classic psychadelic pop-rock done immaculately. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    3. Botticellis “Old Home Movies” (2007) – There’s a certain feeling that this record is able to sustain throughout.  It’s sort of this dreamy, adorable, jangly, holy, tender pop music.  The melodies and music are very well thought-out and constructed, and it sounds really intricately done to me.  After listening to this record, you’d swear they would sound totally dry and weak live, but they sound just as echoey, huge, and beautiful.  When the lead singer sings, it sounds like a well-produced studio recording. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Artist page via Wikipedia

    2. Vampire Weekend “Vampire Weekend” – This record revitalized my faith in simple, upbeat pop music.  There are a bunch of Paul Simon comparisons, but I don’t really hear it.  This record isn’t like “OK Computer” in that it pushes the boundaries of music or anything like that.  It’s just the most fun record I’ve heard in many years.  They manage to make a totally interesting record without ever being too emotionally involving.  I could listen to this record 50 times in a row and never get burned out. -Cory | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    1. Fleet Foxes “Fleet Foxes” – Last January, who knew that the secret weapon employed in the year’s best recording would be bearded young men singing in three- and four-part harmony? Fleet Foxes gently sung their way out of the Northwest with a blend of old-timey sounds and surprisingly un-folk, linear arrangements. The best thing about their album; it sounds even better *loud.* -h | mp3s via Skreemr – Album page via Wikipedia

    Catching up & getting into in 2009:

    Kings of Leon “Only By the Night” – I have only heard a couple of their songs, but “Use Somebody” and “Sex On Fire” will absolutely not get out of my head. -Cory

    The Cool Kids “The Bake Sale EP” – They rocked at Pitchfork in 2007, and I want more. -Cory

    No Age “Nouns” – It’s supposed to be more user-friendly than “Weirdo Rippers,” and I can’t imagine that No Age would ever be criticized for being “over-produced.” -Cory

    The Walkmen “You & Me” – Their opening set for Spoon was stellar, and I’ve heard that “You & Me” is the Walkmen being their best Walkmen selves, continuing to perfect their unique sound. -h

    M83 “Saturdays = Youth”- Everything I’ve heard from M83 is incredible, I just have to get around to picking up my own copy! -h

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  • 2009 Release Schedule

    While every other site, publication, and social media network is looking back at the best of 2008, we’re going to set our sights forward into a mega-exciting 2009. (Maybe we’ll take our turn next week on the new music we’ve discovered this year.) Here’s what’s coming in the new year from Mr. Furious Records, including:

    January – The Sleepover, “The Sleepover” EP

    February – Arturo Got The Shaft, “Blame It On The Beer” (on “Furious Instance”)

    February – The Golden Age, “Calla Lily” EP (re-release)

    March – The Golden Age, “LP” *Previously Unreleased*!!!!!1111

    May – Sally M/S Ride, “You Have To Wear The Boots” -or- “There is Something and not nothing” -or- a new release by Cory Kibler

    July – Something new from Cory or SR, depending on what was released in May

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