Built to Jam

What is it with aging indie rockers and their incessant need to jam? I have always been aware of the jam possibilities when electric guitars are put in the hands of creative, artistic people, but sometimes the jamming can go too far. I've even been blown away by ten-minute flourishes out of what is a three-minute song on record now and again, but enough is enough.

First there was the Stephen Malkmus album. You may recall that I gave the record a rather unsavory review (well, it wasn't that harsh) recently. SM's Real Emotional Trash is riddled with classic-rock style solos and ten-minute opuses. This is coming from a man whose first band didn't practice, live in the same city, and rarely finished a song much less turn it into "Freebird".

Then, there was the show last night at the Blue Note. One of my other indie rock heroes, Doug Martsch, brought his army of guitarists to the stage. The set started off well enough. He mixed the old with the new and rarely veered too far from the songs' original structures. It was pretty business-like and was absent the Reggae vibe in their last show at the Note.

Martsch was never much of a showman and last night didn't change my opinion. I will say though that his personality comes out more in a small club, not a venue as large as the Blue Note. He mostly played through the set in a straightforward manner, pausing periodically to tune, thank the openers, and grab a drink of water.

What he does do, though, is play a mean guitar. He is maybe the only true guitar hero of the indie world, even if he is unassuming and somewhat shy onstage. He doesn't toss the guitar in the air or do bicycle kicks, but he plays the instrument like few other musicians can.

But with the good comes the bad.

I remember being pleasantly surprised that Built to Spill hadn't really gone into any extended jams through the entire set. Then, it happened. Without warning, the encore turned into a 15-minute-and-running, feedback-happy test of my patience. (I only wrote that the song lasted 15 minutes because I didn't stay to hear the end.) The song was so long that I had forgotten what it was when it started. This jam didn't ruin the night for me, but it did put a damper on the experience.

Why do aging indie rockers have to jam? Do they all have a little Jerry Garcia sitting on one shoulder urging them to extend the song into tomorrow? Conversely, is there a little Bob Pollard telling musicians to stop the song and get on with the next?

Indie rock evolving into jam sessions only sullies the genre's reputation. The ten-minute guitar solo represents the excess indie rock has always strived to stamp out. DIY doesn't stand for "Done In a Year". Let's get back to the perfect two-minute songs of Minutemen and Guided by Voices. Let's get economical and cram twenty-four songs on a thirty-minute LP. Aging indie rockers, you know you want to.

Other than my crabbiness over a concert-ending jam, the show was a nice diversion from my misery over tOSU not making the NCAA. The first band whose name escapes me (That long encore did a number on me.) was passable and played a concise yet effective set. Really old indie rockers Meat Puppets played all the songs I knew from their days following Nirvana around, hoping for some scraps. And I discovered that my new earplugs are the greatest inventions ever. I could clearly hear the music and not have to deal with ringing directly after the show.

The One Record With Which My Kid Should Grow

I once considered the music I would expose to my kid. As important as music is to me, it's even more important that I am able to pass it on to the next generation. Now that I will actually have my own kid to corrupt, I've had to carefully choose the album with which he/she will grow old.

When making such an important decision, one must consider several factors. First of all, the record must be solid from beginning to end. It has to be loaded with angst, regret, hope, and love. Since I will play the record from the beginning of this human being's life, the record must contain both a certain naiveté and at the same time a worldliness that will age like a good wine. The album must be a hidden treasure that not everyone has on their iTunes, but be a classic to a particular niche audience as well. It should speak to the child and his/her experiences while including a world view that goes beyond those limitations.

I have a lot of favorites and have tried on numerous occasions to quantify those favorites into top-5 lists or blog posts or whatever. This is not an easy task, especially when one is trying to narrow down a ridiculous obsession into one, quintessential example to pass on to one's offspring.

The one album I want to play first for my kid was finally revealed to me last week while flipping through my iPod for some driving music.

In the morning/Feeling half right
If it was more than just one day, I'd feel alright.

The twisting guitar chords feel so familiar, so hopeful. The sparse production makes it personal. The singer's voice is that of a "close" friend.

And so begins Built to Spill's 1994 release, There's Nothing Wrong with Love, the first record I intend on playing for our kid in its entirety. It's one of those perfect albums that doesn't do too much but takes you places you've never been and makes you see things in ways you never thought were possible.The album has a little bit of everything. There's that loud-quiet-loud aesthetic made popular by Pixies. There are love songs, songs about death, and songs about life. There's even a little comedy mixed in.

This record is everything a first favorite record should be. And I will play it for my kid until it wears out.

Of course, I can't guarantee that the Dingo-Early spawn will love Built to Spill, but it will be a part of his/her consciousness. My brother, sister, and I used to moan and groan over the Willie Nelson and Stones records my parents played for us, but none of us would ever deny our appreciation for those artists and the many others our 'rents shared with us.

So, our child will grow up with There's Nothing Wrong with Love, and there's nothing wrong with that.

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Blogger's Note: I'll see Built to Spill this Sunday at the Blue Note with Meat Puppets, a band I haven't seen since 1993 in an opening slot for Nirvana. Most likely there will be a post about it. Also, this is my 200th post on this blog. The funny thing is that it took me more than a year to reach the first 100 and about 6 months to reach the second.

This Moment Indie Rock

I realize that I've been writing too much about jock straps and the politic lately and need to get back to some good old (indie) rock 'n' roll.

I received two new Matador releases in the mail yesterday. One was Columbus, OH heroes Times New Viking with their lo-fi coming out party. The second was Cat Power's latest collection of covers. I liked my review format from December so much that I've adapted it for these two new releases.

Times New Viking - Rip It OffTwo Hundred Forty-Three Words: The title of Times New Viking’s Matador debut, Rip It Off, implies that they have ripped off their sound from somewhere. That somewhere is indie rock lore. The band’s lo-fi aesthetic summons the ghosts of Guided By Voices (pre-Ocasek) and early Pavement. To complete the Matador holy trilogy, the band takes on Yo La Tengo in the aptly titled “Times New Viking vs. Yo La Tengo”. The naiveté of the riot grrrl movement and anything touched from Calvin Johnson to Daniel Johnston are present in the constant, back-and-forth, riotous boy/girl hollers throughout the record.

I used to hope that the band’s Matador signing would expose the band to better sound equipment, but as I listened to the hiss of tape and static due to too much treble, I realized it would just sound as crappy as Lou Barlow did once he stepped out of the bedroom had TNV discovered a real recording studio. The band’s sound is too harsh for lo-fi disciples and too poppy for those of the hardcore set, but it’s place somewhere in between makes it stand out in an era of sleek, iMac-recorded MP3’s.

I know this band is difficult for some, but isn’t that what makes it important? Don’t the best bands insight hatred from some listeners while their fans love them? Isn’t that what punk is all about? Times New Viking is the most punk thing to hit the music world in a long, long time.

The one song that makes it worth $17.95: "Drop-Out"

Pitchfork Says: 8.4

Cat Power - Jukebox
Two Hundred Twenty-Three Words: Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) has released her second collection of covers to commemorate her rebirth…I guess. Anyway, after reading the Pitchfork review, I expected the record to suck. It actually doesn’t. I just think the music is far beyond the scope of the typical Pitchforker. Usually the blogging hipsters of the Windy City demonstrate a decent amount of music knowledge and historical perspective, but they missed the boat on this one.

The disc opens with “New York, New York” (yeah, the one by Sinatra) in a form that makes the cheesy standard sound downright soulful. From there, Marshall takes the listener through her various musical influences from jazz to country to soul with a little folk mixed in for good measure. The best song is “Song to Bobby”, a tribute to Bob Dylan. The song sounds like that Bob Dylan song he didn’t write.

Speaking of Dylan, the album almost makes a case for Cat Power as being the anti-Dylan. I’m not knocking her songwriting ability. What I mean is that Dylan songs always sound better when sung by someone else. Maybe Chan Marshall sounds better singing other’s songs. Maybe.

My only real complaint is that the record did not include the Cat Power covers featured on cell phone and diamond ads. But I guess you can’t have everything your way.

The one song that makes it worth $17.95: "Song to Bobby"

Pitchfork Says: 5.7

In other indie news...

I am attending some shows in the near future. There's Band of Horses in St. Louis on the 31st. I'm still waiting for Billy to get back to me on whether he wants my extra ticket, but if he doesn't want it...

Then, the other band that sounds like Band of Horses but was doing it a long time before that and will eternally have a place in my heart despite a detour through jam-band-Reggae-purgatory, aka Built to Spill, is coming in mid-March.

Lastly, I'm really excited to announce that we will be traveling to the cornhusker state to see the late, great Daniel Johnston. Of course, I owe R big-time for this one since it's on her birthday, but we're going anyway.

That's all from my corner of the indie universe. Hopefully something else will come up soon. (Stephen Malkmus?)