Deconstructing Jim - Chicago Innerview Preview

Well I'll be damned, if it isn't yet another reason to visit Joliet — the heavy rock trio known as Deconstructing Jim adds another layer of intrigue to the diamond-in-the-rough allure of Chicago's southwest. Combine syncopation, fuzz, distorted bass and full, strong vocals and you get the heavy sound of Jeff Julian (vocals/guitar), Matt Yeager (vocals/bass), and Brennen Chouinard (drums). You can look forward to a rhythm section that makes the Running of the Bulls sound like ants fleeing an anthill, and guitars that sound like frogs being crushed by the dozens. Pretentious solos are not the style of Mr. Julian, nor are lyrics about topics being covered daily on the WB. The songs I heard from their newest album, A Future Told By Swords, reminded me a lot of Queens of the Stone Age — some good riffs played loud with that sweet and spicy Joliet flavor. Who is Jim? Maybe someone whose head spontaneously exploded while listening to this band. - Billy Kenefick, ChicagoINNERVIEW

Deconstructing Jim

Lusine Concert Preview

From the dusty plains of Texas comes the Seattle area's finest abstract electronic innovator, Lusine (a.k.a. Jeff McIlwain). Makes sense right? But then again, a lot of electronic music thrives on not making sense in the traditional, pardon the pun, sense. Lusine's sound has bits of everything in it; ambient hums, record pops, obtuse bass lines, melody and of course, good rhythm. There's a variety in his sound, seeming to derive from the whole family of electronica, including distant cousins like hip hop. Lusine is a DJ that has not only done his homework, but paid attention in class as well. That being said, with all his learnedness he still respects the integrity of a dance song and won't nerd out with too many blips, screeches and pangs. Your best bet is to get a spot away from the bar so you can hear and appreciate the intricacies of his tracks instead of the constant sound of sticky vodka tonic glasses clinking together. (Appearing at Sonotheque on May 17) --text: Billy Kenefick-

http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/may07_previewD.htm

BUSDRIVER - RoadKillOvercoat

Busdriver is nuts. But in a good way, and I can explain.


After living in Los Angeles for four years, I learned about a special type of person that is most easily described as a “LA Person.” This has less to do with TV stereotypes (surfer, weed, blonde, gangster, hippie, skater etc), and more to do with a simple, yet important characteristic that I noticed. The “LA Person” to which I refer is someone that when taken out of their native habitat and placed in a foreign environment, will either flourish or perish instantly.


Case in point: I was driving through Venice one night with my friend, and his windshield started to get all foggy with condensation. I said “Hey _____, why don’t you use that (pointing at defrost) button,” and he said “No way man. This is an old car. I don’t want to start using those buttons now...” He proceeded to open his window more, letting in the nice sea breeze. Clearly, my beloved friend is an LA person that might perish outside of his home habitat/environment.


Busdriver (Regan Farquhar) has proved to be the other type of LA Person because since his music has brought him out of his home, he has not stopped flourishing. He is a native and veteran of the underground hip hop scene, performing at the open mic at the Good Life Food Store in South LA, as well as on his friends’ singles starting at age 13. Now, after a few underground albums that have steadily built his reputation for bringing an avant-garde and surreal approach to hip hop, Busdriver brings us his latest album, RoadKillOvercoat<|>. Released on Epitaph, a label that has been scooping up ‘underground’ hip hop artists for the past few years (Atmosphere, Eyedea, Abilities), RoadKillOvercoat shows you that hip hop can be labeled as ‘indie’ without mellow organs, standup bass and live kits or mellow beats. In fact, it can be flamboyant, bizarre, awesome and straight-up weird.


Such is the case RoadKillOvercoat’s twelve tracks; each completely unlike each other, except for Busdriver’s quick, emphatic and abberant delivery. The easiest track for someone to like would be “The Troglodyte Wins,” a slow moving dub is peppered with some dance-hall influences. The genius of other tracks, like space-ship synth of “Less Yes’s, More No’s” may be harder to understand. Pure freak hop that takes no prisoners.


This album, and Busdriver himself both prove that sometimes listening to thats weird little voices in your head is probably a good idea. We all have them, but maybe they are easier to hear in LA.

Richard Swift - Concert Preview

It's one thing to be known as a singer, but is it different to be known not only as a singer but also a ‘songwriter’? Sure, obviously most singers are songwriters, but I argue that to be known distinctly as a songwriter is different. Richard Swift's comparisons to Burt Bacharach serve as an example. Singer, songwriter and entertainer…good old Burt. What a guy. Richard Swift too; he has an undeniable creativity that is pervasive in his music, a quality that resonates alongside an intelligence that isn't annoying as much as it is appealing. His lyrics are funny, his songs are unique (often piano-based, although he is famous for his multi-instrumentalism) and his overall shtick could be consider artsy…but that would be oversimplifying. Swift could play a piano lounge on the Gold Coast just as easily as he could get the hippies and festival people on their feet during an afternoon campground show. You'll like him without even realizing it. (Appearing with White Rabbits at Schubas on April 24) --text: Billy Kenefick

Seen in Chicago Innerview
http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/apr07_previewD.htm

House Of Fools - "House of Fools" EP

I’m sorry, but I find this EP to be pretty much…lame. The self-titled product of House Of Fools, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based sextet isn’t doing it for me. That isn’t to say that they aren’t talented. I’d venture to say they are, and that their stage revue would be more rewarding than your average group of six or so dudes singing heartfelt, yet clever songs. The piano and keys of Matt Bowers make for some bouncy, melodic tracks and Josh King certainly is no squealing, near-death aardvark-sounding vocalist behind the microphone. It’s your typical, emotionally driven rock experience that sways more toward the Wilco crowd than your Dashboard kids. The five tracks on this EP, however, just don’t seem to crack the almonds for me.

Not to mention that it comes in the EP format. I find most band efforts falling short of success with the EP. At best, releasing an EP is gamble. Is it a statement? Will anyone listen? Will your fans consider it a collector’s item or a coaster? Or will they interpret it to be a part of a convoluted marketing plan? Was it just too hard to wait till the next six songs are ready?

Hell, with the ferocity of the internet music pirates these days, I guess I can’t blame the House Of Fools for releasing something now… before those ravenous bastards stick their sharpened USB drives into growing creative baby of an album in progress, only to suck whatever small amount of potential it had…the positive results of multiple musical gems existing in harmony of a complete album structure, belittled by the lightning-quick assault of heavy downloading…

What a dicey tangent, especially in this day and age of bands embracing the pirate culture and riding the wave of blitzkrieg publicity, and those fighting the transition to the death.

Back to the point: this EP isn’t horrible, I just don’t find it to be particularly enticing. It’s like being at a premium open bar, but not realizing it until you’ve accidentally paid for three Bud Lights. Not an entirely bad situation, but we all know the real deal should and will be much better.

The Comfies - "Close to Me"

My friends and I recently discussed something new in life: the soul hangover. It's not as common as a bodily hangover featuring chills, sweats, heaves and groans. The rare but potent soul hangover is a different beast altogether, a numbing mix of complete exhaustion and letdown from the end of a good weekend. Unfortunately, it cannot be cured by listening to The Comfies' new EP, Close To Me. The poppy, tightly arranged musical numbers beat on my brain as I try to shake away minor confusion. Who made these calls? What happened to my hat? Where's my money? The Comfies, try as they might, don't answer these searing questions. I hear the syncopated guitar rock of tracks like "That's What She Gets," and the bright balladry of "In My Room" and yet...the sun still shines a dull gray. Again, I find myself mindlessly cleaning my apartment to keep the old psyche occupied, unable to amplify their bright music through the pointless din clouding my ears or the incumbent thoughts of work tomorrow.

But on a second listen it's not all bad. In fact, the quartet's melodies are playful and bouncy and all seven of their tunes compliment each other comfortably. Later, when the thought of alcohol and the malignant odor of cigarettes wafting from my socks on the floor failed to make my spirits recoil (I don't smoke, but the rest of Chicago seems to), the slightly Spoon-esque sound of The Comfies helped me keep my identity grounded in positive reality ? or at least distract me until dinner. My weekend is over, Sunday was super boring but hell...life is still good. Thanks fellows, but next Sunday its back to Coltrane, Water and Skate-videos for my early morning soul therapy.

Originally featured on Staticmultimedia.com

Digital Democracy

Fresh off the presses of Chicago Innerview:

"The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East…The Iraqis have taken rightful control of their country’s destiny." — President George W. Bush, January 30, 2005.

President Bush said the above quote during a press conference on January 30, 2005 — the day of Iraqi legislative elections. A similar phenomena has befallen the world of independent and mainstream music, except without the multi-billion dollar price tag, physical and political division of the world’s countries and rising death toll. Yes, our capitalist music industry appears to be crumbling to an insurgent threat of, well, what exactly? Poor artists? Or wait, maybe it’s the other way around, and the cultural capital of music is being democratized. The good news is that the voice of freedom from thousands of musicians across the world is not being heard because of IEDs and M1 Abrams battle tanks. Instead, music seems to be making a safe transition to democracy — with a more peaceful arsenal of digital cameras, mp3s and Macbooks leading the charge.

Like any democracy or political structure, there are of course downsides. For example, even though at the time everyone thought Lars Ulrich was an ass for complaining about Napster and mp3 downloads, I’m starting to see his point of view. I don’t really support his argument that people shouldn’t illegally download Metallica, but I am beginning to recognize that the digital/Internet renaissance is indeed a double-edged sword. On one hand you have the death of the record store (R.I.P., Tower Records) because people are buying fewer and fewer CDs. On the other hand, wonderful things are happening thanks to the Internet, with the primary and George Washington-esque veteran example of the cause being the increasingly influential Myspace Music.

Put all of the Forbes success stories, emo-kids, molesters and stripper crap aside and what is Myspace? A (currently still) free website template and database for bands. It hosts files for download, shares a concert calendar, displays photos, and publishes rants and ravings while being managed for free. Because it started in Los Angeles, Myspace truly hit the L.A. scene by storm.

"Myspace has had a huge impact on how we promote our music. We are literally able to reach thousands of people across the world and turn them into true fans. Some of our most hardcore fans live in Germany, the U.K., middle America, and the South," said Parker Stevenson, guitarist and vocalist for the L.A. band Wetbrain. "We've never been on tour, so how would we reach these people without Myspace? It also allows us to communicate with these fans and make them feel a part of the band." Thanks to the bankroll from Myspace owners/international media conglomerate News Corp (owners of, oddly enough, the often undemocratic Fox News, among others), bands like Wetbrain can finally put a website on their posters and let the people speak for themselves. Why wait for corporate radio to play their song once a day when Wetbrain could have 150 plays this afternoon alone?

This budding democracy has matured rapidly. The pubescent progression of the Internet began with words, moved on to colors, pictures and sounds, and has since begun to ‘peak’ with high-speed, streaming video. In the digital society of music, video hasn’t killed the radio star — it has made him stronger. To be seen, spending thousands of dollars to make a video for MTV to play once or twice at midnight is now happily considered a pipe dream. Bands are now opting to use a DV cam, editing software and their drummer’s girlfriend’s computer to upload their home-made footage to the glorious YouTube, while saving money for beer in the process. No longer do they need pioneers like Spike Jonze or high-speed yachts and champagne in order to attract attention, when a garage and a few treadmills will do quite nicely. Thanks to a democratic approach to video, one of the most coveted avenues of human attention, television, has been bypassed by the local alley shortcut. It’s been great for bands like OK Go, and it’s an interesting sign when heavy hitters like Beck record a new album and say:

"We filmed a series of very low-budget, homemade videos for all the songs on [new record The Information]. We got a bunch of cameras and a $100 video mixer off eBay and shot 15 silly, impromptu videos against a green screen…We're putting all the videos together right now with the idea of having a visual version of the record that we'll put on the Internet. I'm totally curious to see how the videos will add to the experience of listening to the album." (Beck, Wired, September 2006.)

So our new digital democracy can help both poor musicians get started and rich musicians try to retain their credibility, but how has it affected those embedded in the indie business? According to Aaron Rogers of Chicago’s Fresh Produce Records and Ice Factory loft space, it has made marketing easier on the wallet but hasn’t necessarily increased revenue.

"I don't think production sounds too different from five years ago due to any advances in technology,” says Rogers. “But as collecting money for recordings might be a little harder due to file sharing, recording has become significantly cheaper, and therefore, more egalitarian. It seems like the biggest difference is less money changes hands, but music still gets made — and made well."

As for the overall ups and downs of this new democratic philosophy? "The Internet doesn't level the playing field, but it gives more artists than ever a chance to win people over," Rogers explains. "More people can create and display their work. One result is that there is more content than ever for people to sift through, but the flip side is the Internet provides an increased opportunity for exposure to people they never had access to before."

Let’s take some more advice from our local expert on freedom:

"The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorist around the world, increase dangers to the American people, and extinguish the hopes of millions of people." — President George W. Bush, November 6, 2003.

In the context of our independent musical future, I think the Decider is dead on. If this budding musical democracy fails to take root, bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and that one noise trio your roommate likes may lose the hearts and minds of millions of people who listened, watched and loved them unconditionally. They earned these fans without the help of major record chains, ad sales or MTV. Failure is not an option and we must stay the course; it would leave a veritable breeding ground for the out-of-touch media moguls, who would come out of their caves while plotting to take the battle to our own turf. Wait! It may already be happening (Google buys YouTube...), so we need to adapt to win!

Spin or no spin, if our music loses its democracy in this powerful age of the Internet, we may never get it back.

CI Special Report #014

Billy Kenefick