Last Night... Or What I Remember of It

I saw a good number of bands this weekend, two on purpose and about five others collaterally. Not all of them were good, but some of them impressed.

First off, as I wrote earlier in the week, The Divorced came down from Boston Saturday to play the Annex. Definitely a good show and it was great to see the continued evolution of the band. The last time I saw them, their lineup was a bit different and original member Juliet Nelson was not with them. Her presence, as it turns out, was sorely missed. Her cello adds a nice texture to the songs, but it's her singing that really makes the difference. Her clean delivery offers a nice counterpoint to JR Gallagher's impassioned, grizzled vocals. I liked some of their songs more than others, but some really hit their mark, most notably "I Miss My Home." Good stuff. Hopefully a longer set, next time.

The other bands I saw Saturday night were all solid. Red Datson, despite a great name and some real talent on stage, wasn't quite my style. Their frat-punk sound was polished, if uninteresting to me. Still, many thanks to their Timothy Hutton lookalike lead singer for the drink ticket. The final band, Bella Noir, was much more my speed. Very spacey, atmospheric music and the lead singer has a great voice. She really owned the stage. I wasn't totally focused on their set, but I will be next time.

On Friday, I had a very different musical experience. I went out to Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick to see Nattahnam. Nattahnam is an "experiment in avant-garde," according to their website. Basically, it was four guys playing deliberately unpracticed free jazz that hit more often than missed, but had plenty of moments of each.

I saw three other bands that night, of which I only remember the name of the last: Hollow Jones. Hollow Jones is a jam band that plays a fantasy-based rock opera. They clearly have backgrounds in theatre and weren't tremendously courteous to the other bands. Now, I'll fully admit that they can play their instruments and do a decent job of incorporating the familiar sounds of Phish, the Dead and other like-minded bands of that scene. The problem is, they have no soul. They stripped out the bluesy roots of the genre and replaced it with D&D inspired cheese. I suppose I can respect their efforts at invention, but the invention itself we could do without.

All told, good musical weekend, despite getting shut out of Phish tickets. If anyone has an extra, send it my way! And don't forget, Bruce's new disc comes out on Tuesday.

(Full disclosure: JR Gallagher of The Divorced and Bjorn Roche of Nattahnam are friends.)

Update: 1/29/08 12:47pm

In fact, JR and Bjorn are both friends of mine. However, although they have never met, I suspect they would be fast friends should that occasion arise.

My Year in Music

I didn’t hear every album this year. That’s a 30-year streak I have intact. Same for seeing every concert, even the ones in my town/city/region. It’s a shame. There were so many albums and shows that I missed. Good ones, even. For instance, I’ve still never heard Deerhunter. I also didn’t see the Fleet Foxes when they came though town.

But this post is not my occasion to lament. The fact is, between 23 shows and 36 albums, I’ve had a year filled with music. So without further ado, here’s my list of bests.

5 Best Albums:

1. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
2. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
3. Jamey Johnson – That Lonesome Song
4. Counting Crows – Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
5. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges

5 Tracks:

1. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band w. Tom Morello – “The Ghost of Tom Joad”
2. The Ting Tings – “That’s Not My Name”
3. Fleet Foxes – “Oliver James”
4. Jamey Johnson – “In Color”
5. Old Crow Medicine Show – "Methanphetamine"

5 Best Shows:

1. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – Giants Stadium – 7/27
2. My Morning Jacket – Radio City Music Hall – 6/20
3. Okkervil River – Webster Hall – 10/6
4. Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s Revue – Avery Fisher Hall – 7/12
5. David Crosby and Graham Nash – William Paterson University – 10/11

5 Memorable Live Experiences:

1. Hearing Crosby & Nash sing “Cathedral,” while sitting next to my parents
2. Standing in the first row for Bruce Springsteen
3. Death Cab for Cutie fleeing the stage during a crazy lightning storm
4. Jim James climbing to the rafters at Radio City
5. The communal spirit of Damon Albarn’s Revue, where eight groups sat on stage and played along with each other, regardless of whether they came from London, Mali or Chicago.

Bruce Springsteen - "The Wrestler"

Disclaimer: I love Bruce Springsteen. His songs and albums have determined several paths in my life. Therefore, if you are looking for objective criticism of his work, this may not be the place.

So, it's a crappy weather night and I'm spending the night at home, watching the Knicks suck and nursing the beginnings of a cold. On the walk home, I managed to fully submerge both of my feet in the type of Manhattan cocktail that involves plenty of liquid and ice, but not a drop of booze. My jeans currently hang from my deadbolt, my shoes reside in the shower and the best thing I had to look forward to was an old HBO special featuring some young comedians named Jon Stewart and Drew Carrey.

Not much of a night.

That changed rather fortunately when I checked my Hotmail and found a little pre-Hanukkah miracle. Bruce Springsteen released his song The Wrestler on iTunes. He wrote the song for the movie of the same name. Here’s what Mickey Rourke had to say about it:

"I wrote Bruce a letter, because we've known each other over twenty years, and he knows what I used to be, or whatever. Where I went. What I'd been reduced to. I told him how I felt lucky now and didn't have to end up being this guy, being Randy (character from The Wrestler). A while later, I got a call in the middle of the night: he said he'd written a little song, for nothing. It's fucking beautiful, right? I was honoured he took the time, because he's a busy cat. I mean, I'm so goddamn proud of this magical movie and to have Bruce's input… ain't nobody in Hollywood with all their millions can just ring the man and he'll do a song, y'know?"
— Mickey Rourke

Well here’s what I have to say about it. Sometimes artists write songs for movies that attempt to tell the story. Sometimes, a movie just grabs onto a song with a similar enough theme. In “The Wrestler,” Springsteen speaks to the very soul of Rourke’s character. It’s as simple a song as you can find; a basic structure with rather forthright imagery. Yet, there’s an earnestness to the narrator. His life hasn’t quite worked out how he’d envisioned and soon, he will no longer even be welcome in the place he’s called his home. He’s broken down, but knows fully that he’d offered his best and had the scars to prove it. He’d offered up his body and his life, but retained his pride.

The song begins with haunting strings and light piano, before Springsteen counts in and brings his acoustic guitar and voice to the fore. In recent albums, we’re heard Springsteen experiment with his singing style. On “The Wrestler,” there’s no falsetto or western twang, just simply acoustic Bruce, like you’d expect on Tom Joad, Nebraska or any of his recent Obama performances of “The Promised Land.”

He never ceases to amaze and this time he even made it look easy. One more month until Working on a Dream.