The Voice Of Energy Is On The Air

November 6, 2009

I didn’t have time to announce this because, well, I didn’t know it was going to happen, but I had my inaugural broadcast on Radio23 tonight. Haven’t done the radio thing in a while but it was fun to put a playlist together on the fly and have it come out sounding relatively sweet.

You can judge for yourself how it sounded by downloading the audio of it here. No talking, just music. If you download the file, it starts with the Tune-Yards track (see tracklist below). I’m still getting my feet wet in this process, so bear with me.

From this point until I can’t do it any longer, I’ll be on the air online from 8pm – 10pm Pacific time. Please tune in if you so desire.

Below is a playlist from my first broadcast. Questions/comments – leave them here please.

(title | artist | album)

Erosion of Time | The Advisory Circle | Other Channels

The Dignity of Labour, Part 1 (instrumental) | Human League | Reproduction

Lions | Tune-Yards | Bird-Brain

Jisaboke | The Balky Mule | The Length Of The Rail

Lullaby | Moondog | Moondog

Hot On The Heels Of Love | Throbbing Gristle | 20 Jazz-Funk Greats

Tearing, Pt. 1 | 23 Skidoo | The Gospel Comes To New Guinea

Evenings | Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos | A Child’s Guide To Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos

From The Diary of Hermann Doubt | This Kind Of Punishment | Live ‘85

Mani Malaikat | Arrington de Dionyso | Malaikat Dan Singa

Hypochristmutreefuzz | Eric Dolphy | Last Date

Lester Leaps In | Lester Young | Live At Birdland

Little Rootie Tootie | Esbjorn Svensson Trio | Plays Monk

What It’s All About | The Bran Flakes | I Have Hands

Don’t Worry Mr. Bach (Preludium 12) | Carlos Futura | Bach For Computer

Cheeky | Stock, Hausen & Walkman | Oh My BAG!

Behold A Republic | The Tape-Beatles | The Grand Delusion

No Core Punk | Boredoms | Onanie Bomb Meets the Sex Pistols

Marilyn Buck | The Dicks | Kill From The Heart

Pc 1984 | The Crisis | We Are All Jews And Germans


Exile In Lizville

November 5, 2009

925751I’m eternally fascinated at the ways musicians twist themselves into pretzels to appease major labels and corporations and consumers all for the sake of the almighty dollar. I’ve griped about it on here plenty, argued with myself and others on both sides of this divide, and still not come to any firm conclusions or peace in my spirit about those moments when I flip through the pages of a glossy publication and see The Dutchess And The Duke shilling for Verizon.

There’s no other artist who I think exemplifies the desperation that musicians feel about trying to pay their bills and trying to maintain relevance in the public eye than Liz Phair. Her debut album Exile In Guyville was a masterful piece of confrontational pop that sizzled with ribald language, sex appeal and crackling production courtesy of Brad Wood. It thrust her (pun fully intended) into the public consciousness for good reason. It’s what happened next that felt so weird and devastating. Each successive album was filled with cloying song after cloying song after cloying song that practically begged to be taken seriously or, if nothing else, just liked by someone…anyone. And when she tried to capture the dirty energy of her previous work, well…the less said, the better.

I bring all this up only because as the Internet is the cornucopia for music geeks, turning up any and everything that you might want to give a listen to, I happened upon this site which offers up mp3s of two of the early demo tapes that Liz Phair did during her days in Chicago. Listening to them just made my heart sink and sing at the same time. They are raw, sometimes stupid, and entirely too rough around the edges. But they also have that touch of hunger and brutal honesty that so many young, talented musicians, artists, filmmakers, etc. carry with them. It’s the rare few that hold on to it without it getting chipped off or washed away or just torn out completely. Take from this what you will, gripe if you want, write me off if you must. But listen to the Girlysound tapes and then try out the pap that Liz Phair has been doing over the last five years or so and you tell me which you would rather spend time with.


Look Out There’s A Monster Coming

October 28, 2009

Here at The Voice Of Energy HQ, we like to throw a little audio spook in to the young trick or treaters when they happen to ring on our doorbell. The good folks at Resident Advisor have added to this collection with their perfectly creepy mix put together by the perfectly creepy Fever Ray, featuring tracks by the likes of Bruce Haack and Mercury Rev. Chilling and charming stuff.

Our usual soundtrack for All Hallow’s Eve tends to sit with Silver Apples or the soundtrack to Eraserhead, but we could always use more suggestions. What are the albums that provide a soundtrack to your personal Halloween eve? Leave a comment with your recommendations.


Oregon Music News

October 26, 2009

As I mentioned before, I’m going to be busying myself as a writer/editor at Oregon Music News for the foreseeable future. I’m happy to announce that the site was launched today and can be found here. You can find all of my work under the Indie heading, a section that will be updated every week. I hope you think well of it and the writing that you’ll find on there.


Videosyncrasy: Lou Barlow

October 23, 2009

If you were introduced to Lou Barlow as I was in the early ’90s, there were two threads that were always connected to him: the raw, emotional lyrics that marked much of his work with Sebadoh, The Folk Implosion and his own solo material (released under his name or as Sentridoh), and his acrimonious split from Dinosaur Jr. (a subject he has addressed in songs like “The Freed Pig” on Sebadoh III).

Though softened a bit, the former is still with Barlow and can be heard most clearly on his latest solo effort Goodnight Unknown (out now on Merge). The latter thread has been snapped completely with the reunion of the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup, a reconciliation that has spawned some fiery live performances and two stunning new albums, including the most recently released Farm (found on Jagjaguwar).

Lou Barlow took time out of his busy schedule playing in both the headlining and opening acts of the current Dinosaur Jr. to look at some videos for The Voice of Energy.

Promotional video for the Dinosaur Jr. song “Over It” (found on their latest album Farm)

Who came up with idea for this video?

Mark Locke, an English video director. He did amazing work for the Jeffrey Lewis song, “Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror”.

Is this tapping into a bit of your youth as a BMX rider or a skateboarder?

Not for me…for J maybe, though I only saw him carrying his board back in the day. I tried jumping off a ramp with a bike once when I was 12 and flew over the handlebars. My parents were risk-averse. So am I. That was the first time I had ridden a bike in years. It was a blast.

Almost all the reviews that I have read of the two albums you’ve recorded since reuniting talk about how you are one of the few bands that are making albums as good as the work you did in the past. Is it gratifying to hear those sort of comments?

Of course. We haven’t changed the formula at all. Murph and I have an idiosyncratic way of playing together. I’m not sure how it happens. It’s ingrained.

Did you have any idea that this would turn into a full-time gig for you again?

I didn’t think it wouldn’t last. Making new records was a surprise. I’ve been taking it one tour at a tiime. I don’t feel particularly secure in the band, but I don’t feel insecure either. I’m cautiously optimistic, which is how I try to take everything these days.

Does it feel good to have all the past anguish gone and to be playing music with J and Murph again?

I love the music, playing it live, especially. We are the same people essentially so I don’t know if the anguish is gone. It’s muted. The music is the focus whereas we may have been overly self-conscious as kids.

How does it compare with the first time around?

It’s 100 times better. Nothing is cooler than a bunch of 20-year-olds making new music, but this isn’t bad either.

Read the rest of this entry »


Interview: Pete Bernhard

October 21, 2009

6451aAs the front man and guitarist The Devil Makes Three, Pete Bernhard spins yarns of gamblers, murderers and the devil in all of us, using the raw material of folk, blues and bluegrass as his guide. On his solo efforts, Bernhard takes inspiration from the second and third waves of country music that followed, with songs that shuffle, songs that stomp, and those that simply lay back and drink in the California sunshine. Just last month, Benhard released his second solo effort, Straight Line, a record that is earning him much-deserved accolades among critics and country fans alike. Bernhard spoke to The Voice of Energy from his home in Davis, California.

What inspired you to want to make another solo album?

I don’t know exactly. I’d say I wasn’t necessarily inspired to make a solo record. I just had a bunch of songs that I liked and they became a record accidentally. I had wanted to make another solo record since the last one. It was in the cards, I guess. I got together with some friends to try them out and when I played songs with drums they sounded great. And I had the time to do it. I don’t usually have a lot of free time to so I took advantage of it.

How about the songs themselves? What inspired those?

Inspired by the stuff I’ve been listening to all along. I love the roots of the music that we play in The Devil Makes Three, electric blues stuff like Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf and stuff that takes a more standard approach: oldies and pop sounding stuff. I guess, it’s more of a combination of those things that I listen to and those things that don’t work in an old time bluegrass set up. That cut time beat that just doesn’t work without a drummer.

How do you go about writing a song? Do you map things out pretty clearly or do you just jam with your friends and pound a song into shape?

I think it’s a little bit of both. The songs are mostly done by the time I start playing them with my band, but things change in the writing as well. For this record, half of them are songs that are finished and half songs that were written on the fly. I kind of like trying to write stuff under pressure. “Pray For Rain” was definitely written under pressure. I had the idea but didn’t have the song finished, so we finished it as we recorded it. Things don’t end up exactly as I imagine them to but it’s not like I’m aiming for perfection.

You play primarily electric guitar on this album. Are there things you like about playing one versus the other?

Electric guitar is a lot easier to fingerpick on. A lot people don’t do that and if they do, they use picks on their fingers, metal picks on each finger. I don’t do that so it tends to be really quiet. In Devil Makes Three, you often have to be loud enough to get all the songs across. The electric guitar cuts through a lot more without me having to be screaming loud. And in DMT, I’m rhythm guitar and singer. In this solo thing, I can be a lot more complicated with my finger picking and can be carried by the drums. It can be more complicated. With DMT, an acoustic feels more appropriate because all the stuff that inspired us was all acoustic. This stuff is a little different and it needs to be a little louder. And having a drummer there, the electric guitar is the tool for the job

Who did you work with on the album?

Jason Chase is a drummer that I know here locally, from the Sacramento area. Max Hart is another local friend and he also produced the record. He’s multi instrumentalist and plays pedal steel keyboard and bass and sings on the record. Keith Kerry loaned us a lot of instruments. He has this amazing collection of stuff like this B-3 organ that I played. There were a lot of people involved it was a fun record to make.

Was it an easy record to make?

It was. I mean, it’s not like there wasn’t work. We ran through stuff a lot and sometimes it just didn’t work. In my experience when I make records, it’s a lot of work. It’s hard. We worked and there were some long days, but it was fun. I was having a good time and everyone involved was having fun. All the songs came out better than I expected.

You covered a Townes Van Zandt song on this album and I know you’re a big fan of his. What attracts you to his work?

He has one of the best songwriters. He’s a poet, I think. And a great one, at that. And I love his singing and love the way he phrases a song and the simplicity of the songs. You can tell he put a lot of work into it, a lot of time and effort into trying to say what he’s trying to say.

Why did you choose to record “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold”?

It’s one of my favorite songs that he does. It’s such an epic song. The way he does it much more like a talking blues thing. There’s no break really, no rise and fall, no chorus, just a couple of short instrumental breaks. I figured if I was going to do a cover, you might as well do it differently. This one was the one I thought I could do most different than his version. It may make some Townes Van Zandt fans mad but who cares? It’s still a form of praise.

How did you end up moving from Vermont to California?

My mom lives out here and has for a long time. She was in Southern California the first time I came out. I stayed with her for a while, but eventually moved to the North Bay, to Sonoma County. So I was brought out here partially because my family was out here, but also because it was so far away. I wanted to go on a cross-country trip after high school and California was the destination end of the road.

What do you think it is about California that inspires so many country artists?

California itself has a great tradition of country music with Buck Owens and Merle Haggard and Gram Parsons even though he wasn’t from California. And it has that whole Western feel, but it’s definitely not Texas, you know? We breed a different kind of country music. That thing has become popular. Some people in California, though, look at country with some disdain. I remember, even I as a kid I wouldn’t listen to country music. I think that’s starting to change though, especially with young people.


End Of An Era

October 19, 2009

Well, folks, it has been fun pumping out the reviews, interviews, etc. on this site. But unfortunately this week will be the last that will feature said content as this is going to revert back to a regular blog starting next week.

The reason being the new position that I have been given as an editor at Oregon Music News, a new web venture cooked up by my friend and fellow music scribe Tom D’Antoni. The crux of the site is right in the name: to provide a one stop spot for news and interviews and reviews of Oregon-based artists. I am going to be handling the weekly Indie content but they will also highlight straight ahead rock, blues, jazz, classical and beyond. It’s going to be a lot of fun seeing this site flourish but a lot of work too. So I won’t have the time and (ahem) energy to devote to this site as much as I would like to.

I will still be posting here as regularly as I can but it will likely be the occasional bit of pith and snark and/or YouTube clip. And I will link you to the interesting stuff that I am working on.

So enjoy the last bits of original journalistic type posts up here and do check back when you think on it. And stop by Oregon Music News when you can. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching that site flourish.


New content returns next week…

October 15, 2009

Until then…enjoy this:


Interview: Elin Palmer

October 7, 2009

ep_redhot291After years of lending her violin playing and her intoxicating vocals to the live shows of artists like 16 Horsepower, DeVotchKa, Crooked Fingers, The Fray, and Munly and The Lee Lewis Harlots, Elin Palmer is finally taking her place at center stage. This month sees the release of her first solo album, Postcard. The new disc (out October 17th) dreamy collection of songs that take as much inspiration from the worlds of folk and pop as it does from classical and traditional sounds from her native Sweden. Palmer spoke with The Voice Of Energy from her home in Denver about the new album and how the years on the road with other musicians and her dual citizenship helped shape its sound and direction.

What inspired your interest in music when you were growing up?

I have two fathers, which is a complex yet musical situation in that they both play Swedish violin music. This inspired me. Also, my grandmother is a horse-loving psychopath that plays the church organ.

How did you end up moving from Sweden to Denver?

My mother moved me to Denver because of a dashing American scientist who was doing neuropharmacological research at the University of Colorado.

What kept you there instead of moving somewhere else to pursue your music career?

I’m actually moving to Nashville, or rather to New York via Nashville for more music stuff. But, Denver has a really great scene. There’s a really supportive diverse group of musicians and a thriving musical community. So, what’s made me stick around is really the people and the music.

Why Nashville and New York?

Just to kind of relocate and to be in a new environment to work on music. I’m working on my next record in Nashville with Blake Chancey who did the Dixie Chicks’ albums. I’ll still be working and corresponding and working with people in Denver though.

I was amazed to learn that this is your first solo album. Have you been playing your own material this whole time and never recorded it or did you get get started with this album?

I just started. I had my own band where I was the singer and guitar player when I was 18 and I wrote my own material for that. I have been working a lot on other people’s material. Within the last year and a half, I starting working on my own stuff. A lot of it came from touring with Eric Bachmann and doing his solo tour. Watching him play, it inspired me a little bit to try my own thing.

The music on your album has a very ornate quality, as if it was painstakingly constructed and written – is that true or did it come together more naturally than that?

Some of the music did flow naturally and other sections were constructed with calculation and effort. A few of the more painstaking songs did not make it onto this record because they are still in construction and will take more time to come together for the next album.

Your lyrics also feel very abstract and poetic – are they referring to people or things from your own life or are they fictional?

The lyrics are often based around whatever rhythmical concept is being portrayed throughout the piece. I often draw lyrical inspiration from conversations or observations from my own surroundings.

One of my favorites on the album is the song “Paint”. What can you tell me about the inspiration behind that song?

It’s about a friend I have who is kind of an amazing fellow who changed from being a criminal to focusing on his art. A while ago, my violin was smashed by a flying electric guitar, which was devastating because I love my violin. I went to all the violin makers in Denver and none of them were able to put it together for a price that I could afford. So I thought I was just going to try to glue it together and hang it on the wall. But my friend who is a guitar builder and hadn’t worked on violins much before said he would try to work on it. And he put it together and it sounded better than it did before I broke it. The song is inspired entirely from a story that [he] told me about his life. He should for many reasons be dead or in jail. The thrills of his previous identity as a thief and gangster sent shivers down my spine. His narrow escape from doom and the abundantly creative life he has chosen, is a triumph of art.

One of the more direct songs on the album is “House” – where did that song come from; from something happening in your life or your family’s life?

A mixture. But mostly it’s based on a girl I know going through a divorce and talking with her and feeling what she was going through. And seeing her strength as she got out of this relationship as she got out of this phase in her life and the desperate feeling of being stuck in that situation and as she discovers herself anew.

What is it like to be a citizen of two countries? Does that affect your music at all?

Being from two countries feels like you’re from neither country. Whenever I’m in Sweden, I feel very American, and when I’m here, I feel very Swedish. As for the music, it depends on what country I’m in and what language I’m thinking in and what i’m reading. So whatever song that I’m creating will usually be in that language. Sometimes it will be deliberate, that a phrase would sound better in one language than the other.

So what inspired you to sing the songs on your album that are in Swedish?

The songs are a little bit more personal for me because Swedish is more of a personal language. I speak it at home with my family, who are now mostly living in the U.S. For both of the songs on the record, they are about a romantic relationship, a new one. And, they are a little dirtier to be honest, so I thought I might as well sing them in Swedish.

You said before that you were inspired by watching and playing music with Eric Bachmann. Were you inspired by other people that you have toured with?

From a musical perspective, I am inspired by little elements of many different projects that I’ve worked with. For example, playing with DeVotchKa, I learned some new violin techniques playing with Tom [Hagerman] and really liking everything that he creates. Mostly from anyone that I’ve played with I’ve been inspired by the music and inspired to being creating my own thing and to have the courage for it.


Album Reviews

October 6, 2009

DJohnstonDaniel Johnston – Is And Always Was (Eternal Yip Jump/High Wire)
Daniel Johnston’s music tends to work best in its rawest form, with just a guitar or a piano accompanying his warbled songs of love, pain and Satan. But as he’s drawn more attention to his songs, Johnson has been paired up with musicians and producers that aim to fill in the cracks. Some collaborations work marvelously, like the dreamy landscapes of sound that Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) concocted for the 2003 album Fear Yourself. Other times, the pieces don’t fit together no matter how hard his co-authors try, such as with this strange album. The music here is the product of Jason Falkner and Joey Waronker, two great musicians who have done session and live work for folks like Paul McCartney and R.E.M. Together, they stuff Johnston’s songs in glam trappings (“Fake Records Of Rock ‘n’ Roll”) and spacey psych pop (“Lost In My Infinite Memory”). What gets lost, though, is the fragility of Johnston’s performing style. It only comes to light in the songs like the haunting “Tears”, where his vocals and melodies are left bare, and the instrumentation rests well in the background. Everywhere else, it is the aural equivalent of trying to colorize Johnston’s pen and ink cassette cover artwork.

RevEnsembleThe Revolutionary Ensemble – Vietnam (ESP Disk)
To a modern listener whose earbuds are constantly filled with instrumental combinations of every conceivable permutation, the concept of a jazz trio consisting of violin, bass violin and percussion might not be the most earth-shattering sound they’ve ever heard. But in 1972 when this album was originally released, the Revolutionary Trio more than lived up to their loaded moniker. It may not have been an album that tore a hole through the world of jazz, but it is one that is as fraught with importance as it is with some incredible music. The album consists of two 20-minute long improvisations given the pointed title of “Vietnam”. For a musical protest, you might anticipate an angrier tone to the proceedings, but instead, the songs are weighed down with sorrow, especially as expressed by Sirone’s low bass drones and furrowed brow wanderings. The late Leroy Jenkins, on the other hand, runs all over these tracks with a tone that borders on acid rock even as he throws in mocking nods to Civil War-era anthems. The most insistent energy comes in the second “Vietnam” (or side two for you vinyl enthusiasts playing along at home), a restrained fury driven by Jerome Cooper’s wild percussion solos. But, even then, Cooper moves in and out of focus, preferring to let a few choice rattles and hits speak on behalf of their collective discontent. A revolution doesn’t need to filled with bombast and violence to be powerful, and this peerless trio bears that out to a remarkable degree on this vital document.