Ear on TV: Week of July 23

This week, to make things simple, just set your digital video recording device to record Letterman every night, as Paul Shaffer and the Late Show Band will be hosting a must-see act every night, bookending the week with two acts I'm particularly excited to see: Grinderman and Buffalo Tom.

First up tonight is the Nick Cave-led Grinderman, which is essentially a stripped-down version of The Bad Seeds. It's driven by the raw sounds of Cave playing electric guitar for the first time in his life, and is a sort of return to the post-punk roots of his early eighties band The Birthday Party. His lyrics and delivery are more off-the-cuff and like his guitar scratches, completely raw, which almost always translates into a great live experience.

Tuesday night, Letterman welcomes critic darlings The National, featuring the lyrical poetry lead singer Matt Berninger, who's baritone delivery is understated magic. Wednesday night, country legend Porter Wagoner stops by and shows how country music should be done, even at 80 years of age. Thursday brings the garage-punk sounds of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Karen O's stage presence will surely produce beads of sweat on Paul Shaffer's balding head.

And ending the week in style, the Boston-based trio Buffalo Tom return after nine years with a new album (Three Easy Pieces) and easily join the upper ranks of the indie rock reunion circuit. Funny to think that the last time they played a talk show (in support of 1999's Smitten,) it was closing out the final show of The Jon Stewart Show on MTV (see video.) Bringing it full circle, one of Stewart's guests on that final show was David Letterman.

Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention that PBS is re-airing the infamous Guided By Voices appearance on Austin City Limits, documented on DVD in full earlier this year. That their cohorts in the episode are Modest Mouse only adds to the necessity to tune in (again.)

Picks for the week
Monday, July 23
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Grinderman
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Common
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Dr. Dog (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Dolores O'Riordan (REPEAT)
Tuesday, July 24
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The National
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Wednesday, July 25
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Editors
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Porter Wagoner
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Stephen Stills
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Ben Kweller (REPEAT)
Thursday, July 26
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: T.I. (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Massive Attack, Dr. John, LeAnn Rimes
Friday, July 27
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Buffalo Tom
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Cribs
IFC: The Henry Rollins Show: The Good, the Bad & the Queen
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Silversun Pickups (REPEAT)
Saturday, July 28
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Snow Patrol
PBS: Austin City Limits: Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices

tags: music, television, soundtrack, talk shows, grinderman, buffalo tom, the national, gbv,letterman, indie rock, rhapsody

Ear on TV: Week of April 30

Of all the bands reuniting in the past few years, the one that surprised me the most is Dinosaur Jr. Frontman J Mascis' firing of Lou Barlow fueled some of the most inspired vitriol in his songwriting through the 90's with his band Sebadoh, and it seemed like there existed impossible chasm between the two. Tomorrow they release their first album together (Mascis, Barlow and drummer Murph,) in twenty years, (Beyond,) reminding us all that they helped draw up the blueprint for alternative rock of the 90's. When they play Letterman tonight, look for some awkward smiles, furtive glances, and Mascis' long grey mane bobbing as he tears through a solo.

As if that isn't enough excitment on Letterman, Tuesday night sees Modest Mouse making their tv debut with Johnny Marr (The Smiths) on guitar. Elsewhere on Monday night, The Noisettes' performance that I profiled a ways back finally gets aired on Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson after getting bumped from it's original intended airing, and Arctic Monkeys are back again this week (this time on Conan.)

Speaking of back again, if you missed The Stooges last week, I sure hope you have IFC, because they rip it up on The Henry Rollins Show on Friday (here's a video outtake performance of "I'm Fried" to wet your whistle.) All in all, it's a week that doesn't bode well for sleep.

Playlist: Picks of the week
Monday, April 30
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Silversun Pickups (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Dinosaur Jr.
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Noisettes
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Kaiser Chiefs
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Arctic Monkeys
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Silversun Pickups (REPEAT)
Tuesday, May 1
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kaiser Chiefs
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Modest Mouse
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Patti Smith
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Format
Wednesday, May 2
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ben Kweller
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Fountains of Wayne
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Stevie Nicks
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Teddybears, Alice Cooper
Thursday, May 3
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Macy Gray
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Tori Amos
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Alice Cooper
Friday, May 4
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Ozomatli
IFC: The Henry Rollins Show: The Stooges, Iggy Pop
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Tom Waits, Snoop Dogg
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Nightwatchman
SYNDICATION: Live With Regis and Kelly: Tori Amos

tags: music, television, soundtrack, talk shows, dinosaur jr, modest mouse, the noisettes, iggy pop, the stooges, arctic monkeys, indie rock, rhapsody

Just like Tango & Cash

This month's Spin has a feature on the team-up of Johnny Marr with Modest Mouse and in support of that, lists the 25 greatest team-ups in popular music history. Starting chronologically with the Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins) and ending with Modest Mouse's latest, the list is full of great albums that prove egos can mesh.

Playlist: Spin Magazine's 25 Greatest Team-Ups

There are a few team-ups missing that are pretty glaring. While they included one great Brian/David team-up (Eno/Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts) they missed the most important one with the album Low, where Eno teamed up with David Bowie to change the underground music landscape forever.

Other more recent oversights include the debuts from Gorillaz, New Pornographers, and The Raconteurs. I'd even include Robert Palmer's debut Sneaking Through the Alley, which featured the team-up of Lowell George (Little Feat) and The Meters.

What are some of the less memorable team-ups? HSAS (Hagar, Schon, Aaronson & Shrieve,) Planet Us (Hagar and Schon again,)Asia, GTR, and really, for that matter, the other Robert Palmer team-up The Power Station.

Think of any other great and forgettable team-ups?

tags: playlist, music, classic rock, spin, modest mouse, brian eno, david byrne, david bowie, robert palmer, gorillaz, new pornographers, indie rock, rhapsody

Now Downloading: New Releases 03.20.07

While LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver is clearly the cream of this week's (year's) releases (see yesterday's post,) there are more then enough other albums to go ga-ga over. Modest Mouse, Andrew Bird, The Ponys, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Panda Bear, Low and I'm From Barcelona top my 'must hear' list.

Playlist: New Releases 03.20.2007

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Album: Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

I was getting my teeth scraped last week when the song "Plasticities" (from Andrew Bird's latest Armchair Apocrypha) blared through the bland radio station playing in my Dentist's office. It burned brighter then the overhead light illuminating my mouth (which required big-ass sunglasses) and it reminded me of how bad radio is. It's liking taking a step outside a sewer you've been trapped in for an hour, and discovering the power of air. After the song ended, one of the on-air hosts called it quirky, and a bit too complicated for his liking, which probably says more about radio today then anything I can come up with.

Much like 2005's And the Mysterious Production of Eggs, his latest is a collection of intellectual musings backed by smart arrangements and catchy hooks that radio should hunger for. He's upped the ante on the orchestration, and the ambition of songs like the 7-minute opus "Armchair" and the long time live staple "Dark Matter." And don't forget the whistling...

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Album: Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Like Pet Sounds only with even more drugs. This is the third release from the Animal Collective co-founder (real name Noah Lennox,) and it's the smoothest, most accessible release of anything associated with AC (actual pop structures?) I recommend you plop in this sucker right now and put it on repeat (ad-infinity) and dream through your day. Or at least check out the 12-minutes of "Bros," which channels the Mamas and the Papas and makes it all sound much more then you'd think. Between this and the latest from the Besnard Lakes (reviewed 2/21/07,) Pet Sounds is back in again (was it ever 'out'?)

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Album: I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends

Released last year, this gem from Sweden finally makes it's way to our shores. The 29-member group is like a sunnier Sufjan Stevens, or The Boy Least Likely To (must be the glockenspiel) - definitely as twee as a bucket of kittens. Another reference is fellow Swede Loney, Dear, who actually appears on the track "This Boy". It's awfully precious at times, but the high you get from it is certainly more lasting then sugar.

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Album: Low - Drums and Guns

The Minneapolis slowcore veterans are back with Dave Fridmann at the helm again, and while the guitars aren't as brash as on The Great Destroyer, but they're still moving further from their signature sound. Looped and multi-tracked vocals, drum machines, sampling, hand claps (? !) ... it's a lot of new tricks for it being their eighth album, but it works amazingly well. The bands' promo stickers say "I'm sick to death of Low" and perhaps that's a sentiment the band is wrestling with themselves (see frontman Alan Sparhawks wildly different solo album and side project - Retribution Gospel Choir.) Longtime fans who derided the last album are probably further on the outs with this one, but I, for one, will be singing it's praises.

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Album: Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

It's truly weird to think about how far these plucky lads from Issaquah have come... you would've never even guessed they'd get a major label deal, let alone go platinum (as Good News for People Who Love Bad News did thanks to "Float On," which got slaughtered last week on American Idol.) Now Johnny frickin' Marr's in the group? This album will probably do just as well as the last thanks to the strength of two songs - "Dashboard" and "Florida" - with the latter being one of the better ones they've ever written (and one of the only ones that fully utilizes Marr's guitar strengths.) Portland neighbor James Mercer (The Shins) lends his vocals to three tracks (the aforementioned "Florida" and two of the weaker tracks "We've Got Everything" and probable single "Missed the Boat.") It's an album that has it's moments ("Fly Trapped in a Jar") which make it worth checking out, but on the whole, it's a sprawling mess (and not the charming mess of early releases.)

Free AOL album stream

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Album: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Living with the Living

I have to confess I've never been much of a Ted Leo fan. Can't quite put my finger on it... perhaps it's that I was introduced to him from vegan friends who are into ultimate frisbee and love Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams - you can see my suspicion. Listening to Living with the Living, however, is turning that association on it's head. If you smell deep enough, you can still taste the gluten-free granola, but the songs are great... protests in the tradition of Springsteen and Strummer. Rock and roll soldiers on, and in Leo, we have a fine field general to lead us to (but really out of) war.

Free AOL album stream

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More downloaded to the Sansa:
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
The Ponys - Turn the Lights Out (check out appearance on Daytrotter this week.)
Tracey Thorn (of Everything But the Girl) - Out of the Woods
J Dilla - Ruff Draft

tags: music, album review, lcd soundsystem, , modest mouse, andrew bird, i'm from barcelona, the ponys, low, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Now Downloading: New Releases 02.13.07

The week following the Grammys is typically a weak offering, with labels not wanting their releases to get stuck in the shadow of this typically weak event. Might've been a good time to roll the dice, though, as the Grammys were a non-event it seems. Folks have already moved on today, and what better way then profile some new releases.

This week sees the US release of both Field Music's Tones of Town, and Charlotte Gainsbourg's 5:55 along with new albums from Lucinda Williams, Anais Mitchell, and the first single from Modest Mouse's forthcoming new release.

Playlist: New Releases 02.13.07

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Album: Field Music - Tones of Town

Field Music's association with The Futureheads (drummer Peter Brewis was a founding member) has seemed to hurt them more then help, seemingly stuck in their shadow. With their sophomore release, Tones of Town, they've moved out of that shadow and are feeling the sunny glow of the California sun, ala Brian Wilson's Beach Boys. Think The Futureheads, but by way of XTC bowing to the altar the aforementioned Wilson, and you're getting closer. Might be the most perfect piece of indie pop we'll hear all year. The opener "Give It, Lose It, Take It" is a great example of the album - three-part harmonies woven through an unpredictable pop structure. The lead single "In Context" (see video below) starts off with a Futureheads-y riff and haromonies until the strings come in and sweep you off your feet. Probably a better example of their songwriting prowess is "A House Is Not A Home" which gets it's hooks in you by the time the George Harrison guitar lead brings you into the first verse. The only negative thing I can find about this album is that every song feels like it could be a single, and albums like that tend to fall off a bit after repeated listens... so time will only tell if it remains as one of my top albums of the year.

The video for Field Music's "In Context" is contextual genius:

Free album stream via AOL

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Album: Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55

This is essentially Charlotte Gainsbourg's first album, as a previous release was from when she was 13-years old, and was more a novelty release from a famous daughter (her parents are French legend Serge Gainsbourg and English actress/singer Jane Birkin.) While that first release had her father's hand guiding it, this one finds her leaning on some indie rock greats like Air, Jarvis Cocker, Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy,) and producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Air and Pavement.) Charlotte finally gets her big US introduction, not only thanks to this album, but also the beautifully weird film The Science of Sleep, which was released on DVD last week and features Gainsbourg's acting chops.

Gainsbourg's "Tel Que Tu Es" was featured on Episode 4.11 of The O.C. earlier this year.

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Single: Modest Mouse - "Dashboard"

A pretty tame offering from this normally beautifully jagged outfit... seems radio-friendly and ready for it's spotlight. Not sure where and how new member Johnny Marr contributes in this song, but it's certainly his best shot at charting in the US since The Smiths disbanded. I refuse to believe this is indicitive of the album as a whole (flipping blinders on now.)

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Other albums going into the Sansa right now:
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness
Lucinda Williams - West
Dr. Who - Original Television Soundtrack
Po' Girl - Home To You
The Soft Lightes - Say No To Being Cool, Say Yes to Being Happy

tags: music, album review, field music, charlotte gainsbourg, modest mouse, indie rock, album review, new releases, rhapsody