food, drink, monkeys, and beats from the dairy air of mondovi, wisconsin, the streets of minneapolis, and the sands of bondi beach, australia

SPEAK...

AIM is pntyrdr1
Email Seppo: kris dot sipe at gmail dot com
EAT ME!!!

Beef Bourguignon
Bitchin' Baked Paella
Risotto Magic
Stuffed Salmon
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Chili Prawn Penne
3 2 1 Spatchcock!
Tomato Basil Fettuccine
Chili Con Seppo
Blueberry Boat Roast
Marinated Buffalo Mozzerella
Grilled Swordfish with Mango Salsa
Miss. Highco's Creme Brulee



ON THE IPOD...

Sufjan Stevens - Come on Feel the Illinois

Tegan and Sara - So Jealous

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday

Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die


FOR THE BOOKCLUB...

John Irving - Until I Find You


PREVIOUSLY ON...

I Wanna Live in Southern California....
Natural Science
Knew a Girl Named Nicky...
Risotto Magic
Very Unfortunate At Best
My Coco Volume II
Salsa Verde!!!
Bushy...
Blog Effing Et. Al.
Seppo's Bitchin' Baked Paella



WHEN?




WHERE?

blogger
all music guide
college music journal
internet movie database
slayage
urband legends archive
tripple j
all zone 4 dvd
grimsey records
britneyfreak
Blogger Boobiethon
Starlight Foundation
Sydney Morning Herald
Apple
Torrentspy
MacRumors



Favs, Fads and Friends

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

This year as been an amazing treat for us music fans. There have been fantastic new releases by artists such as Stellastarr*, The Killers, The Streets, Pedro The Lion, Kacey Chambers, Snow Patrol and many others. There have also been much hyped releases that have been embraced by many a hipster, but have completely deluded me in their appeal. If I was an angry man, I would be constantly berating my small audience with soliloquies devoted to my distaste for the drivel of Franz Ferdinand, but I will leave that up to the eloquent Uncle Grambo. There are other well received and reviewed albums that have come out this year that I don't dig at all, Modest Mouse and The Walkmen to name a couple, but I tend to ignore these albums, and just take the, "to each their own" attitude, when maybe I should be giving them more of a chance.

The legacy of the Baby Boomers has been lost in our generation, however. It is very seldom that epic albums come along. In the last twenty years, I can think of a handful, such as U2's "The Joshua Tree," Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville," My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless," Jeff Buckley's "Grace" and Big Head Todd and the Monster's "Midnight Radio." However, in the last 5 years, I really can't think of any. There are a few that come (very) close, Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlanticism" for one.

In the last month two albums have been released, however, that I found to be truly epic in their nature. Both of them seem to be taking a similar route, in moving from experimentalism, to epic jam session.

A Ghost is Born

The first of those albums is Wilco's "A Ghost is Born." Since Uncle Tupelo were one of the first bands to make me truly love music (March 16 - 20 IS an epic album), Jeff Tweedy's outfits will always have a place in my heart. Unlike the critical masses, Wilco's first album, A.M. is one of my all time favorites, and the rest of their catalogue has only held passing interests to me. I felt it moved to far into the experimental without grasping Tweedy's talent and interest in Americana. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot moved a bit closer, and had some classic moments, especially with Heavy Metal Drummer.

With A Ghost is Born, Tweedy truly embraces his roots in Country and Americana and brings in the instrumental experimentation he has been working with for the last ten years, to create a sonic masterpiece. The album starts with "At Least That's What You Say" which begins as a standard enough sounding ballad, and could easily be something off of Summer Teeth. The song is broken up with harsh bluesy electric guitar strums, which pull the song into the realms of the album. Piano begins to push the song forward, and then guitar leads the song back into melody. Truly genius. The standout track of the album is Spiders, which takes atmospheric shifts and sampling into the world of Alman Brothers, with a truly unforgettable jam session. It's one of those tracks that you can't help but replaying. It clocks in at over ten minutes, but it seems like half that as you drift into the song. "Muzzle of Bees" is absolutely delightful and dreamy. ...and in a truly bold move, somehow Wilco has made several minutes of feedback listenable in "Less than You Think."

Sonic Nurse

The second album is Sonic Youth's "Sonic Nurse". From the fist time I listened to this album I was blown away by it's melodic dischordant nature. While this is nothing new to Sonic Youth, who have been experimenting with these effects since 1976, but this is different. While Sonic Youth's earlier works were extremely challenging and innovative, they were often dischordant and emotionally inaccessible (see Nic Fit off Dirty). I mean, as fantastic as Daydream Nation is, can you really sit down and get lost in it? Sonic Nurse seems to be Thurston and Kim's resolution of their experimentation. This is the product of more than twenty years of work, and truly an opus. It seems to take the same path as Wilco's album, by mixing seemingly traditional jams with experimental sounds.

Seeing the band live last Friday, after spending three weeks purposely taking the long way home so I could space out to the new album, was awe inspiring. Firstly, how two people who started a band only a couple of years after I was born could look so young is beyond me, and how they could make the most amazing music of their careers while their contemporaries are trying to sort out their 401k packages is just plain mind boggling. Take a look at my short video of one of the show's highlights. Sadly, my pictures turned out pretty crappy, considering some bouncer kept trying to kick me out for taking pictures. I could, however, claim that I was being artistic.



I really see this as the next step in rock and roll maturity. While the whole retro movement, and the retro EUROPEAN movement of the moment have brought some good bands to light, I don't find they have staying power. I have been saying for the last 10 years that Alternative Country is the next punk, while people have laughed in my face. I was probably wrong, but what I am starting to see is the emotional commitment and power of roots music melting with the technology and experimentation developed over the last 20 years. Hopefully, the revolution will be televised.
... Seppo 12:39 pm...