The Somersaults - Come Home: The Carterco Sessions

Indie-crunk rockers Somersaults have finally released their long-awaited CD-R. I first heard the band way back in 2005 when they opened for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists in the Lafortune Ballroom. Over the next few months, I had the privilege of seeing them a couple of more times, until the inevitable post-graduation hiatus. These guys were a huge part of the campus music scene for me for the brief time such a “scene” existed for me. I’d offer my own limited knowledge of the band’s history, but instead, Dav González gives us his own words on the band and their new album.

Somersaults formed in the summer of 2004 after the dissolution of the Mondays, of which Kevin and Nathan were a part. Spurred by a need to have fun and to create, I approached Kev and Nate, asking if I could play with them. They agreed, and after a game of freeze tag I worked up the nerve to ask to play music with them. Again, they agreed, and for the better part of a year we thrashed about, making noise, engendering tinnitus, and soaking ourselves in sweat. In our furor, Nathan broke his “drum stool,” I went through 10+ packs of strings, and Kevin broke his glasses and the door handle of our practice space. (Many thanks to Maggie for getting us out, and for putting up with us in general.)

After some time we decided to buckle down and play some shows, which involved distilling our memorable themes into manageable pieces, especially the 40-minute beast that became “Iowa.” After some distillation and performance, in the spirit of seriousness, we recorded four of our songs for the unreleased Songs of Travel EP, and decided to add a member. Come Fall of ‘05, decked in tight girl pants while making hooker and dead baby jokes, Jason sprung into Somersaults. We began to practice and perform regularly, birthing a good group of songs, and eventually recording most of them over two sessions at Carterco Studios in Chicago.

In terms of artistic intent, I think it is safe to say that there was none. This is not to say that the music was not cared for, or crafted. What I’m trying to say is that there was no conceptual end for which we were striving. Somersaults was purely emotional and reflexive.

Somersaults became a constant in my life, one that allowed venting of frustrations with relationships, school, work, family, and miscellaneous life events. There were times when the thought of practice, whether it be to introduce a new idea or to get really ****ing loud, was all that got me through the week. It is something that I was glad to be a part of, and am proud of looking back.

I mixed and mastered this collection to the best of my ability, which was limited considering I have no experience mastering audio. Mixing was also hard, given that our two Carterco visits were very rushed live recordings, played with substantially different equipment. Also, some data was lost, and I had to rerecord a few sections, including the complete replacement of Jason’s voice with Kevin’s on “Surgery.” Despite all this, I’m content with the results (for the most part) and hope that these songs can come to play a part in your life as they did in mine.

Somersaults @ Myspace

Pretty. Odd. Review

 

            If you want to sing about whores and harlots, go ahead. If you want to insert a random folk song into your pop/alternative rock album, I guess I can live with that. Make up a fantastical world where 9 p.m. is still the afternoon, and I’ll play along. Do what you want, Panic at the Disco, but don’t lie to me.

            I’ve stuck with you through the years—all three—and the least you could do is be honest. I watched as the concept album you were working so hard on fell apart. I made it through the disappearing exclamation point in your name. I was even fine with your new sound. It was upbeat, refreshing, and, as most critics are saying, a little reminiscent of The Beatles. Who doesn’t love The Beatles?

            Yes, you are bold, brave, experimental, and I respect that. But where-oh-where do you get the nerve promising me, “You don’t have to worry, ‘cause we’re still the same band”? Let me tell you, boys, I sincerely hope this is a joke.

            Ever since this new album dropped, I’ve felt like I don’t know you anymore. That fever you said couldn’t be sweated out? Gone. The crazy techno beats of 2006 have been replaced with guitars, trombones, trumpets—instruments I didn’t even know you knew. I know that, in many ways, you are still the same band, so maybe we can still work things out.

            And if it was all just a joke, Panic at the Disco, I beg that you please stop toying with my emotions. It’s the least you can do after what we’ve been through together.

“This is the last straw, she said…”

On Friday Jack’s Mannequin came to Stepan Center, and between screaming “I love you!” and fanning myself (don’t you wish I was kidding?) I managed to snap a few pictures, which I will get up as soon as possible.

Andrew played hits from Everything In Transit, and a few songs from his up-coming album, which was originally due this spring but has been postponed until the summer.

For an encore, fans were treated to Something Corporate’s “Me and the Moon” and Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s “American Girl.” During both, a few visiting high-schoolers and ND students looked slightly puzzled.

Andrew McMahon has been performing with Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin for about a decade , and he never fails to provide an incredible concert. His energy, piano skills, and voice never fail, and all Jack’s Mannequin fans left satisfied, though few tag-alongs were converted.

Saturday, Chicagoland’s Lucky Boys Confusion brought punk/reggae to Legends, resulting in the closest thing the club has seen to a mosh pit since Flogging Molly last year. They were preceded by a band who’s name and music I don’t remember, with an f-you attitude that the students returned.

LBC provided a great concert, earning new fans by the end of the hour.

Kaki King - The Empty Bottle (4/1)

On Tuesday, April 1, guitarist and singer-songwriter Kaki King will perform at Chicago’s The Empty Bottle ($15, 21+). Her current tour, which kicked off last Wednesday in Jackson, Wyoming, runs thru mid-April.

King’s music has evolved since her first two releases. Once a strictly solo acoustic musician, her last two albums have ventured into more electric territory, drawing upon influences such as post-rock and shoegaze. Nevertheless, King insists her songwriting process hasn’t really changed: “I still write songs the same way I used to. What I do to them in the studio, that changes.” She further discounts the notion that there’s a huge distinction between her earlier work and her more recent output, because, at their core, her songs still contain “catchy, strong melodies.” Listening to a variety of both instrumental and vocal music, King says she doesn’t “think of it as one or the other.”

How does a person even get into that style of guitar music? In her early teens, King started listening to artists like Red House Painters, Nick Drake, Michael Hedges, and Will Ackerman. At that point, King says she had reached a point in her guitar playing where she was “competent enough to go into new territory and didn’t really feel the jazz guitar route or the metal guitar route.”

Still, how exactly does one begin to play music like that? Don’t rush to get lessons. King says, “Initially, you have to venture on your own. Everyone has an instructional book, and there’s a lot of tab out there. You just have to let go. If you’ve taken many guitar lessons, it’ll be hard to do that.” King maintains that, for this type of music, “Pedagogy is not the way to go.”

Recently, King has collaborated with other musicians, notably appearing on the last Foo Fighters album and on Tegan and Sara’s The Con. For the latter project, King’s involvement wasn’t a huge formal undertaking — she has been friends with Sara for years. King explained to me these types of collaborations are “kind of an excuse just to hang out.” She notes, “It’s best when you’re friends, and you’ve been in touch. It’s so much easier when you’re not worried that, ‘Oh, my name is going to be attached to this project.’”

Before she made music for a living, King was a student, just like you and me. She studied music at NYU, focusing on what is perhaps better described as a literature-heavy “philosophy of music.” At the time, though she had been playing guitar, she never thought “this is the life for me.” On the topic of graduate school, King reveals that, if she hadn’t become a musician, she would have probably gone on to law school, following in the footsteps of her parents: “When you’re raised by two lawyers, your brain gets shaped a certain way.” In another life, King sees herself as “cuddled up somewhere, poring over books and research.” Lesson: if your band doesn’t take off, don’t dismiss law school.

Luckily for listeners, King’s music career did blossom. Check her out next week in Chicago and pick up her latest album, the stellar Dreaming of Revenge.

Bell X1

Bell X1 are an Irish rock band, which once featured Damien Rice. Rice left the group in its infant stages, but since his departure the band has gone on to release three critically-acclaimed albums. Their most recent Flock is the first to be made available here in the States. I had the pleasure of reviewing for WVFI and highly enjoyed it. Bell X1’s sound is not easily described, but I venture if you put Radiohead minus the computer/binary craziness and a more fun Coldplay in a blender, you’d get something pretty close. Think modern pop-rock with a soothing atmospheric texture accompanied by lyrics that amuse and amaze.

Some recommended tracks are: “Rocky Took a Lover”, “Eve, the Apple of my Eye” (video above), “Bigger than Me” and “Just Like Mr. Benn.”

For more about Bell X1 head to their myspace.

youthmovies

Their new album, Good Nature, coming out on Drowned in Sound Recordings on March 17, has me super excited. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to afford the international shipping costs, but maybe it’ll be available in some other form (emusic? itunes? something other website?). If you don’t listen to youthmovies, you should. They kind of mix a bunch of different genres together and employ lots of time changes and such. They used to be more of a frenetic hardcore/math-rock band and then mellowed a bit.

SuperChrist video

The Smashing Pumpkins have created a Myspace-exclusive music video for their unreleased song “SuperChrist.” The song is set to appear on a special Guitar Center compilation, which will be sold at select Guitar Center locations starting March 1. The compilation will feature music from employee bands. Click here for the music video.

Sasquatch Lineup

The Pacific Northwest music festival, which takes place May 24-26, announced its lineup for this year:

R.E.M. / The Cure / The Flaming Lips U.F.O. Show / Death Cab For Cutie / Modest Mouse / M.I.A. / Flight Of The Conchords / Rodrigo Y Gabriela / Michael Franti & Spearhead / The Breeders / Built To Spill / The Hives / Tegan & Sara / Ghostland Observatory / Ozomatli / The New Pornographers / Blue Scholars / The National / The Kooks / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Cold War Kids / Beirut / Rogue Wave / Okkervil River / Fleet Foxes / Kinski / Mates of State / Sera Cahoone / Crudo (featuring Mike Patton & Dan The Automator) / Battles / Destroyer / Dyme Def / The Blakes / Pela / Jamie Lidell / The Cops / Dengue Fever / Siberian / Say Hi / White Rabbits / David Bazan / The Little Ones / “Awesome” / Dead Confederate / The Heavenly States / 65daysofstatic / Grand Archives / Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio / Joshua Morrison / Throw Me The Statue / J. Tillman / The Shaky Hands / Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down / Matt Costa / The Cave Singers

That’s a sick lineup, if I do say so myself. Sometimes I wish that I were from a cool state like Washington.

65daysofstatic!

All Points West is awful.

Amplive remixes In Rainbows

..and it’s free.

You may remember that Amplive decided to remix In Rainbows without consulting Radiohead and got hit with a cease and desist. Radiohead realized that this was very un-Radiohead of them and the whole 8-track album is available here. It features vocals by Too $hort, MC Zumbi of Zion I, Chali2na of Jurassic 5, Codany Holiday, and Del The Funky Homosapien.

Amplive - Rainydayz Remixes

edit: Upon one listen, Video Tapez, Nudez and Faustz are pretty good.

Pitchfork is clever at times. Are they too clever?

Always one to push the boundaries of music criticism, Pitchfork has given the new British Sea Power album Do You Like Rock Music? the dreaded “U.2.” In other words, on their infamous 1-10 rating scale, Pitchfork decided to slot BSP’s new offering somewhere between “Echo and the Bunnymen” and “New Order.” I think. Who knows?

What’s next? Is the new Raveonettes album going to receive a “Velvet.Underground,” or was that so 2003? Does this signal that we can start a new scale that features a letter and a number, such as B.34 or GC.161? I mean, anything is possible now. Down with 1-10 rating index hegemony. Down the slippery slope we go!

I think the most important thing to note is that, amid the tumult of this crazy world of ours, with sup-prime lending meltdowns and Super Bowl upsets, we could always look to that one beacon of constancy — the P4k rating scale. Sure, it was arbitrary and always wrong, objectively, but at least it was consistently arbitrary (and consistently funny).

It’s a sad day, indeed.