Sorry for the lack of interesting things to blog lately, but I’ve just been super busy at the Day Job and trying to get more writing work done on Theadia. Because of that, my blog schedule for Walk in Silence might continue to be a bit askew until further notice. Stay tuned!
Anyway, here’s Wonderwall.
It was only a matter of time after the brilliant Get Back documentary that they’d polish up the footage and sound that would become the official movie Let It Be, and it’s finally here and officially available for the first time in who knows how long.
I’m looking forward to watching it partly because my copy is definitely bootlegged with muddy and grainy sound and visual. I mean, they shot it on 32mm to begin with on the original idea that it would be a TV show and not a full-blown theatrical release, so it’s going to be kind of need to see it as clear as the documentary was.
(It drops tomorrow on Disney+, by the way.)
And will I own it in my movie collection when it becomes available? Of course I will!
Here we go, once more unto the breach.
I was reading some random posts on Threads the other day and someone mentioned how when some people talk about ‘the 90s’ (specifically about music), a lot of what they mention really started in the 80s, like Jane’s Addiction and their amazing 1988 album Nothing’s Shocking.
To which I responded: “I always say the truly formative alt rock years were really ’84-’89. It just happened to reach wider popularity in ’91.”
Which of course made me think that I really need to get my act together and finally write and complete that Walk in Silence book project. I think at this point it would be less a historical book and more of a personal memoir in which I write about the important albums and singles that influenced and inspired me during that time. And I’ve kind of been doing a very abbreviated version of it with my daily 750Words, so perhaps I’m a bit further ahead on this than I think I am…?
We shall see.
It’s been an interesting month here in Spare Oom, listening to a lot of great new releases alongside some older favorites, and somehow squeezing all that in between the Day Job and writing! Here’s the latest on my playlist…
Khruangbin, A LA SALA, 5 April. This band is kind of hard to categorize, as they tend to waver between Latinx pop, laid back jamming, maybe a bit of southern folk and maybe even a bit of jazz. Their new album is quite an enjoyable listen.
Garbage, Bleed Like Me Deluxe Edition, 5 April. After 2001’s synth-heavy Beautiful Garbage and failing at a follow-up they were happy with, they chose instead to return to their guitar roots and made a badass heavy record and regained their fanbase. This new deluxe edition features several b-sides and remixes.
The Black Keys, Ohio Players, 5 April. This duo is back with a sound that fuses their trademark indie blues with heavy funk and creating a wildly fun album. A lot of the critics and fans are really digging this one right now.
Vampire Weekend, Only God Was Above Us, 5 April. It’s been three years since their odd experimental release 40:42 and five since their last album Father of the Bride, but it’s well worth the wait. They’ve fully moved past their twee indie pop and gone straight into Flaming Lips-like weirdness yet still maintaining their pop sensibilities. Weird yet great.
Bad Bad Hats, Bad Bad Hats, 12 April. This album is so much fun!! On par with the oddball indie pop sounds of Wet Leg and beabadoobee, I instantly fell in love with the earwormy single “My Heart Your Heart” (which is one of my favorite songs of the moment). I highly recommend checking this one out!
cruush, Nice Things Now, All the Time EP, 12 April. If you love the sounds of early 90s 4AD like Lush and Pale Saints, you’ll probably love this band as well. I’ve been a big fan since hearing their single “bckwards 36” a few years back, and hope to see more from them soon.
Nia Archives, Silence Is Loud, 12 April. I heard of her via KEXP of course, and I love that she’s used the classic drum ‘n bass beat on this track as a way to balance the up-down moodiness. The whole album is an interesting trip.
English Teacher, This Could Be Texas, 12 April. Another oddball indie pop band with super catchy songs. This one’s all over the place sonically and lyrically but that’s its charm: you never quite know where it’s going to go next. Highly recommended.
The Reds, PInks & Purples, Unwishing Well, 12 April. Glenn Donaldson’s latest somehow manages to be even better than his last RP&P album, which was amazing in itself. As always, recommended if you love the dreamy echoey sounds of 80s college radio.
Pearl Jam, Dark Matter, 19 April. They can do quiet just as well as they can do loud, and when they do loud it’s always powerful. The new record might not be as heavy as 2020’s Gigaton, but it’s just as energetic as they were in their 90s heyday.
Lucy Rose, This Ain’t the Way You Go Out, 19 April. Somehow she reminds me of some of the 90s women of alternative rock I liked so much — she definitely reminds me of Jen Trynin’s work, but with a more Joni Mitchell style — but also those of today like Lucy Dacus. A fine songwriter worth checking out.
St Vincent, All Born Screaming, 26 April. Annie Clark is back once again being weird and quirky and sexy and strange, sometimes within the space of a single song. It’s a welcome return to her Masseduction sound.
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I’ve been busy focusing on Theadia and a few other things so I haven’t had the time or the brainspace to think too much about posting here. I’ll probably be back next Tuesday with April’s ‘what I’m listening to’ roundup.
See you then!
All the Beatles social media sites hinted at this yesterday and followed through today with this bit of interesting news: after so many years of the 1970 film Let It Be being out of print and available only as a bootlegged copy, it will be available in fully-restored-by-Peter-Jackson form on Disney+ starting next month.
I can’t say I’m surprised, considering they hinted at it when the Get Back documentary dropped a while back, and it’s been on the fan want list for decades. I remember seeing it at my cousin’s house back in the early 80s when they played it on The Movie Channel, and eventually owned it on a grainy and slightly unfocused dvd bootleg, but it’ll be really interesting to see it in a much cleaner and high-definition version.
It’s a lovely day and also my day off! The sun is out, the temperature’s hovering in the upper 60s, and to top it all off, the teens have been on spring break so it’s been relatively quiet at work as well. So I’m just going to kick back and relax, maybe get some writing done later this afternoon.
See you next week!
No, I did not stare at the sun yesterday during the eclipse. It came and went within a short amount of time and we only got a tiny partial one. I was too busy working!
Coincidentally, this particular U2 song has been on the playlist at the Day Job and every time it comes on, I’ve been wanting to listen to Pop. I know, it’s always derided as one of their worst records, but I still have a soft spot for it because it came out during my HMV years and got a lot of play during my writing sessions.
To celebrate the start of my major rewrite of Theadia, I created the fourth mixtape/playlist for it, and I think this one works exceptionally well as feels more cinematic and score-like than the previous three. I’m quite happy with this one and have already listened to it multiple times over the last couple of days! Hope you enjoy it as well!
Side A:
1. David Holmes & Raven Violet, “Stop Apologizing”
2. The Fauns, “Spacewreck”
3. Big Wreck, “White Lies”
4. Torres, “Collect”
5. Eluvium, “Vibration Consensus Reality (For Spectral Multiband Resonator)”
6. Brittany Howard, “What Now”
7. Sea Lemon, “3A”
8. Cast, “I Have Been Waiting”
9. Middle Kids, “Bend”
10. Calibro 35, “Apnea”
Side B:
1. Eluvium, “Endless Flower”
2. The Fauns, “Afterburner”
3. Trevor Horn & Seal, “Steppin’ Out”
4. Ducks Ltd., “Deleted Scenes”
5. Topographies, “Red-Black Sun”
6. Salt Cathedral, “Terminal Woes”
7. Torres, “Artificial Limits”
8. Horsegirl, “Anti-Glory”
9. Four Tet, “Daydream Repeat”
10. David Holmes & Raven Violet, “It’s Over, If We Run Out of Love”
[PS. I can’t seem to remember if I’ve posted the other three here or over at Welcome to Bridgetown, so I suppose I’ll have to follow up with those as well if I have not!]
Whoo! For so early in the year, there were a ton of great new releases that dropped this past month! Not only that, several are from some of my favorite bands! A lot of these are definitely going to be on rotation once I get started with writing Theadia.
Kaiser Chiefs, Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album, 1 March. Surprising that they’ve only released eight albums considering they’ve been on my radar since 2005! (I tend to equate them with my brief time in Jersey and our move to SF.) They take an interesting left turn into summery funk here, complete with help from Nile Rodgers himself on the above track!
Liam Gallagher & John Squire, Liam Gallagher & John Squire, 1 March. The sneery voice of Oasis and the excellent guitarist from The Stone Roses get together and the end result is intriguing…it’s a wild mashup of sounds from their previous bands and it works unexpectedly well. [I still say Noel’s the better songwriter, though.]
Yard Act, Where’s My Utopia?, 1 March. I love how hilariously nerdy and goofy this band is. James Smith delivers his lyrics in such an unassuming talk-singing way that you think he’s channeling The Fall’s Mark E. Smith or Art Brut’s Eddie Argos, but once you pay attention to his ramblings you’re laughing and wondering what he’s on about. A super fun band well worth checking out.
Torrey, Torrey, 8 March. Slumberland is becoming the new 4AD for me, in that I’m pretty much picking up and devouring several things they’re putting out. [It helps that they’re local and carry some of those super-local bands I love so dearly.] KEXP loves this one a lot and so do I.
FLOYA, Yume, 8 March. I didn’t know much of anything about this band other than they’re metal and from Australia…and chose to change direction on their new record by writing poppy upbeat music that could fit easily on pop radio. Their positive vibe kind of remind me of The Sound of Arrows in a way, and that’s pretty much what intrigued me.
crushed, extra life, 15 March. I’ll try out any shoegazey band that captures the same moods that Curve does, even if it’s less wall-of-sound and more like an aural blanket. Really good stuff here that I need to pay attention to.
Four Tet, Three, 15 March. I’ve known about this musician for a while and he’d gotten a ton of positive press over the years, but surprisingly this was the first album I’d picked up! His work is fascinating in that it’s not quite electronic, but not quite jazz either.
Hooverphonic, Fake Is the New Dope, 21 March. Somehow I’d completely missed that one of my all-time favorite bands of the 90s dropped an album, even though I knew they’d been releasing teaser singles from it since late last year! I’m really digging this one (no big surprise) as it leans quite heavily on their jazzy electronic style. Really great stuff, and I’m sure this one’s going to be on heavy rotation soon enough.
Elbow, AUDIO VERTIGO, 22 March. Another one of my favorite bands, this one from the early 00s, their sound has evolved so much over the last two decades that each album sounds slightly different from everything else they’ve done. This one expands on their previous two records by leaning more on the twitchier side of things. This one’s also getting a lot of play.
Salt Cathedral, Before It’s Gone, 22 March. Thanks to KEXP for this one as well, they’re that kind of moody indietronica I really like. They’re kind of an odd mix that reminds me a little of early Sarah McLachlan in her more obscure moments.
The Jesus and Mary Chain, Glasgow Eyes, 22 March. [C/W: lots of flashy in this video.] I am really liking this new J+MC record!! It’s got the mood of some of their best earlier works like Automatic but with the warmer sounds of Honey’s Dead baked in. I highly recommend it!
Ride, Interplay, 29 March. Loving this one as well, but then again I’ve been a Ride fan for decades now. Their version of shoegaze always had that bright and breezy feel to it, unlike the density of bands like My Blood Valentine. Definitely going to be playing this one.
The Church, Eros Zeta & the Perfumed Guitars, 29 March. This one snuck out on me unexpectedly, and I’m already fascinated by it. The band is essentially singer Steve Kilbey and whoever he’s hanging with at the time, so while it may not have their signature chimey jangle, it does have their reverb-drenched dreaminess they’ve always been known for. This and their previous record sees them going in a very odd direction indeed, almost prog-experimental, yet not without a sense of humor to it.
*
Stay tuned for April, with new releases from The Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, James, The Reds Pinks & Purples (yay!), and St Vincent!
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