Wireless - U92 - West Virginia University

Wireless
U92 Music and Culture Fall 2008
In this issue:
a chat with Nakano
an interview with Eric of Wild Zero
Cook (and eat!) to the Beat!
U92 Metal Director Jesse Novak speaks!
tons of reviews
Jukebox Jury
& more!
;
Wireless
U92 Music and Culture Fall 2008
In the last issue of the newlyresurrected Wireless, we told you
“if everything goes as planned,
look for another edition of Wireless
in fall 2008.” Here at U92, we’re
nothing if not consistent: you can
count on hearing a Classic U92
Favorite at the top and bottom of
the hour, you can be certain we’ll
play the new Sonic Youth album, and
yes, when we say we’ll put a zine
out, it will come out. Of course,
it’s nice that “fall” encompasses
three months.
Big thanks to: Kim Harrison, Alex
Gavula, and Darlene Johnson at
U92; LJ Giuliani and 123 Pleasant
Street; WVU Printing Services; Wild
Zero Studios; Cafe of India; The
Daily Athenaeum; The Venerable
Bean vegan baking for donating
to our bake sale (venerablebean.
blogspot.com); and to Francy
Jones, Andy Pickens, Nikki Rotunda,
and Billy Wolfe for their photos.
Also thanks to the following for
providing us with giveaway items:
Jimmy John’s, AAM, Terrorbird,
Beggars Group, Hardly Art, and
Pretty and Nice.
So here we are again. We’ve
traded in shorts for sweaters,
and we’ve got a full-color cover The opinions expressed in Wireless are those
and more writers on board. We’re of the individual writers or, in the case
psyched to present this issue with of interviews, are those of the interview
a release party at 123 Pleasant subjects. They do not necessarily reflect
Street, featuring performances by the opinions of WWVU-FM or its staff, or the
One Hundred Hurricanes and Pretty opinions of the West Virginia University, its
and Nice, as well as great sets of students, faculty, staff, or administration,
music spun U92 DJs. We’re happy nor should they be construed to do so.
you’re reading, hanging out, and
of course, listening to the station. layout by Sage Perrott and Sandi Ward;
We hope you’ll continue supporting Justin Channell and Derek Rudolph
our mission to bring you the best in drawn by Bryn Perrott
college radio. After all, we’re the
New Music Pioneer: U92!
(right) U92 DJ Derek Rudolph and U92 Music
Director Rupam Sofsky throw on some
records in front of a packed house at the
Wireless pre-release party on October 15th
at 123 Pleasant Street. Those in attendance
got to hear three hours of music played by
U92 DJs, and four lucky winners took home
prizes from Sub Pop and Morgantown’s
Black Bear Burritos.
Rupam Sofsky
by U92 Music Director
Moose Musings
I want to tell you that the first song U92 ever
played was The Ramones’ “We Want the Airwaves,”
but that wouldn’t be true. The truth is our first track
was the same as MTV’s: The Buggles’ “Video Killed the
Radio Star.” In August of ’82 the Moose’s forthcoming
debut had Morgantown excited. People waited around
their radios for the transmission to come through. In
typical college radio fashion, though, we didn’t go on
air at the projected time. Equipment problems kept
U92 silent an extra day or two. During that time many
people waiting to hear the station’s first broadcast
died of alcohol deprivation.
While some college radio stations started
back in the sixties, college radio as a mission began
in the early eighties. What is college radio? College
radio is somewhat synonymous with punk. Not punk in
the sense of piercings. Not punk in the musical sense.
Punk in the sense of operating differently, outside of
norms: apart. Those are the roots of most college radio
stations. “College radio” is a nice way of saying “I’m
not into what you’re doing” without offending anyone,
and “Morgantown’s only alternative” means just that:
an alternative to what other stations offer.
And just what do other stations offer? Really
there are only two kinds of radio: commercial stations
and non-commercial stations. The former are owned by
gigantic companies like CBS, Clear Channel, Cumulus,
and Citadel, who own over one thousand stations in
American cities of all shapes and sizes. Lumped into
this category are satellite radio providers like XM and
Sirius. While commercial stations don’t exclusively
play pop, oldies, or classic rock, most do choose a
narrow genre and stick to it. The difference between
most of these stations and U92 is soul. Commercial
station broadcasts are usually pre-recorded. On the
other hand, except for two prerecorded programs, all
of the DJ voices you’ll hear on U92 are live. Yes, that
means you’ll hear more uh’s and um’s with us. Yes,
the chance of nervous monotones and overconfident
ramblings is higher. But isn’t it worth it? Again: yes.
On U92 you won’t hear cheesy radio voices rising and
falling as rhythmically as someone punching your ears.
Most U92 DJs go unpaid, which means it’s their passion
for music that brought them here, not a desire for
dollars. The same can’t be said for other stations.
While
the
differences
between stations are important,
it’s the contrasts between U92 DJs
that make listening beautiful. The
DJs who are guitar fans whine about
drum machines, the electronic kids
hate solos, and the weirdo noise
kids wander around not knowing
where they are half the time.
All these things mashed together
make the Moose what it is. No one
individual is more important to
what we are than any other. Our
identity is a collective identity, a
bunch of reflections that hopefully
add up to something bigger and
better than the sum of its parts.
U92 has a unique identity
that comes from the relationships
amongst DJs, and their relationships
to the station itself. Like most
college radio stations, our music
comes from record promoters with
whom we’ve built relationships.
Nowadays record labels pay
promotion companies to not only
send college stations their albums
but also to convince the stations to
play them. That means many other
student-run stations have the same
options of what new music to play
The DJs who
ns whine
are guitar fa
achines,
about drum m
nic kids
the electro
and the
hate solos,
e kids
weirdo nois
und not
wander aro
re they
knowing whe
ime.
are half the t
[At U92]
as U92 does. The music comes
to us, but when we first started
we only had a few records. Some
dedicated U92 people repeatedly
called record labels in places
like L.A. and Manhattan. Most
companies hadn’t heard of a state
named West Virginia, let alone
U92. Because of diligence, hard
work, and harassment, though,
new albums began to trickle into
the station. Eventually, because of
our focus, WWVU became one of
the most respected college radio
stations in the country. It still is.
Despite that, and despite our many nominations and awards [see
Kodi McKinney’s article in this issue], even in Morgantown U92 remains
somewhat marginalized. Every few years someone’ll complain that the
Moose doesn’t cater to the listening interests of students, and every time
this happens we prove ourselves as being on the cutting edge. The last
bro complained that
we didn’t play enough
Coldplay. But we had
But we
had play
played
Coldplay…
ed Coldp
Months b
Months before most
lay…
efore mo
st comme
commercial stations
stations
rcial
had hear
had heard of them.
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L
o
a
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ear the st
Last
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the
ation’s DJ
M.I.A.’s a
station’s DJs voted
s
voted
lbum Kala
M.I.A.’s
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d
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t
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ed to pla
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y
t
h
s
ong “Pape
e album’s
stations had just
r Planes.”
started to play
the album’s song
“Paper Planes.” College radio, to
us, is synonymous with being an outsider. If being on
the cutting edge also means being a marginalized outsider, the Moose is
content with that.
In 2007 WWVU FM had its 25th anniversary, and in celebration
a variety of people from the station’s past, present, and future met
in Morgantown. Twenty-five years may seem young, but only in human
years. Sometimes I worry that a little gray might be creeping into the
Moose’s fur. For one, the advent of music downloading has diminished
radio’s popularity. Everyone owns an iPod, but we’re fine spinning vinyl.
We may not offer the most professional DJs, but we do offer programming
unavailable anywhere else, all thanks to those same DJs. It’s the nature
of college radio that people come and go. So many great people move
through U92, many of them leaving a unique mark on the station, and all
of them leaving a saddening absence when they’re gone. Regardless of
these problems the Moose remains optimistic. People leave U92, but new
people come too, because we’re Morgantown’s Only Alternative, U92.
Not Your Average Tattoo Shop
I
n Morgantown one of the places
to provide you with a large
variety of tattoo choices is Wild
Zero Tattoo located downtown
on Pleasant Street. Wild Zero
has been providing the area with
quality custom tattoos since 2006.
Owner Eric Carlson, who has been
tattooing
professionally
since
1994, opened the shop with the
goal of having it be more than just
the average tattoo shop. “I wanted
it to be more of an artistic space
as opposed to just a tattoo shop,”
says Carlson. That goal lead to the
shop hosting monthly art openings
that showcased talented local, as
well as out-of-town artists. And
while Carlson plans to scale back
on the quantity of art shows that
the shop holds, he does plan on
making sure that they continue.
His intention now, he says, is to
be sure that they are, “more of
an event and not watered down.
They’re not as special if you have
them every month.” The shows,
it should be noted, have been
a resounding success thus far.
Carlson, who first began to learn
his craft in 1992, never had any
intention of actually becoming a
professional tattooist. He wasn’t,
as he says, “a tattoo guy.” He did,
however, have lots of friends who
were. While working in a limited
edition sculpture shop in Florida
during the early ’90’s he became
friends with someone who had
formerly tattooed as a profession.
His curiosity, he says, was piqued
because he likes “learning how
stuff is done.” After bothering
his friend for over a year to
teach him the specifics of the
skill, his friend finally relented
and showed him how to tattoo.
When asked about the relationship
between tattoos and rock’n’roll
(rock’n’roll is the impetus for this
zine, after all), Carlson responds,
“rock’n’roll and tattooing have
a huge connection. To have a
soundtrack while you’re tattooing is
generally pretty important. Silence
doesn’t work as well. Whether that
means loud rock’n’roll, Morrissey,
or anything else; it sets the tone
for what you’re doing. I like
mellow music when I tattoo. I can’t
listen to Mastodon while I tattoo.
I’d rather listen to the Smiths or
Death Cab.” However, for Carlson,
the tie-in between music and
tattooing doesn’t mean listening
to WWVU. “I don’t have U92 in my
room, but Chris does have it in his
room,” he said. And the name of
the shop definitely has rock’n’roll
origins and connotations, as it was
inspired by the movie Wild Zero
by Japanese distortion-rock godz,
Guitar Wolf. Asked how he came
to adopt the title of the movie
as the name of his shop, Carlson
responded, “The movie had
everything I liked. It had ridiculous,
over-the-top, super cool, Japanese
rock n’ roll guys, zombies, guns,
things get blown up. It is just
super loud. When I was looking for
a name for the shop I made a big
list and I realized that Wild Zero
was perfect: wild tattooing but
at the same time you’re a zero to
society. So it has that whole mesh.”
Wild Zero is primarily appointment
only, so if you’re interested in
obtaining a tattoo from Eric or
from his partner Chris Trianthilou
don’t expect to stop by and get
something done that day. It might
take a few days. “We get booked
up relatively fast,” says Carlson.
By Jesse Novak;
photos by Sage Perrott
Five Cult Movies...
Geek Maggot Bingo
Also known under the title
“The Freak from Suckweasel
Mountain,” this ‘83 microbudget
film from infamous underground
director Nick Zedd (War is
Menstrual Envy) is mostly
notable for featuring Richard
Hell as a punk-rock cowboy
called The Rawhide Kid and for
opening narration from New
York horror host Zacherlie.
But what’s most impressive
about this weirdo homage to
‘60s sci-fi is the DIY aesthetic
under which it was produced.
Zedd shot almost all of the film
in his New York City loft and
practically all of the sets and
props are made of vibrantly
painted cardboard.
Unfortunately, Zedd is
a
relatively
incompetent
filmmaker (and highly abusive
towards journalists – here’s
hoping he’s not a Wireless
reader), so most of the charm
of Geek Maggot Bingo is in its
severe ineptitude.
Urgh! A Music War
5
Produced by IRS Records founder
Miles Copeland, this performance
film highlighted practically all of
the best new wave bands of the ‘80s
with glorious multi-camera 35mm
production quality.
Some of the performance highlights
include: Oingo Boingo performing
the rare track “Ain’t This the Life”;
Devo rocking a packed stadium to
“Uncontrollable Urge”; and Gary
Numan crooning “Down in the Park”
while riding a space age-inspired car.
The film also features a few bands
that are completely unknown outside
of the film. The band Invisible Sex
delivered a memorable performance
of the song “Valium,” punctuated
with giant foam and cardboard-cutout guitars and have never been
seen or heard from since the film’s
creation.
Sadly, exclusive non-VHS video
rights for the film were given to a
short-lived videodisc format – an
agreement that has kept the concert
film from seeing a legitimate release
outside of theatres or television for
almost two decades.
Luckily, bootlegs are available
(even one from a recent highdefinition broadcast) and practically
every performance from the film can
be found on YouTube.
4
3
Cannibal! The Musical
While it’s not necessarily in the same league as the
rest of the films on the list, this early film from South
Park creator Trey Parker is well-worth seeking out.
It’s an absurd comedic take on the tale of Alferd [sic!]
Packer, the only man in history to ever be convicted of
cannibalism, complete with toe-tapping songs!
And the music is what makes the low-budget 16mm
production value of Cannibal! The Musical such a gem.
Tongue-in-cheek tunes like “It’s a Shpadoinkle Day” and
“Let’s Build a Snowman” are hysterical send-ups that
would leave Rodgers and Hammerstein rolling in their
graves.
Plus, how can anyone resist a musical that would
interrupt its big climatic number for a cowbell solo?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Fabulous Stains
If you haven’t seen this movie,
you’re not alone. In fact, I would
bet that there are more people
who know the legend of Ladies and
Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains
than those who have actually seen
it.
Directed by record producer
Lou Adler (Up in Smoke), the film
has an incredibly interesting cast,
which includes a young Diane Lane,
Laura Dern, and the screen debut
of scream queen Debbie Rochon.
Members of The Tubes, The Clash,
and The Sex Pistols also make
appearances in the film.
Fans of the movie, such
as Courtney Love of Hole and
filmmaker Sarah Jacobson, helped
the movie gain a following in the
1990s. The film has been credited
as a major influence for the ’90s
Riot Grrrl movement.
After a disastrous test
screening, it was promptly shelved
by Paramount, though later saw a
very brief and limited run in arthouse cinemas in ’82.
Later on, Paramount
commissioned a new uplifting
ending for the film and sold it to
television markets – where most
fans discovered the film.
For years, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Fabulous Stains was only
attainable through VHS copies
recorded from television and a few
scattered festival screenings.
Luckily, Rhino finally cleared the
film for a reasonably priced DVD
release earlier this year, so the
curious no longer have to shell out
up to $30 for low-quality bootlegs.
2
continued on next page
...You’ve Probably Never Seen
By Justin Channell
1
Forbidden Zone
Forget about Rocky Horror. This
is the film that should be considered
mother of all cult music movies.
Featuring the music of Danny
Elfman and Oingo Boingo (who
were then transitioning from
being a musical theatre troupe
called “The Mystic Knights of the
Oingo Boingo”), this absurdist
‘30’s-inspired musical is one of the
most uniquely bizarre films ever
made.
The plot focuses on the
Hercules Family, who move into
a new home, only to discover the
basement is an entryway into the
Sixth Dimension, where the evil
Queen Doris (Susan Tyrell) and
midget King Fausto (Fantasy Island
star Herve Villechaize) rule with an
iron fist.
At least that’s the easiest way to
sum up the plot of Forbidden Zone
quickly. There’s a lot that goes on
in the film and the story is really
only there to string the musical
numbers together.
But the film has enough manic
energy that a plot really doesn’t
matter – it works completely by its
own rules.
Directed by “Mystic Knights”
founder (and Danny’s older
brother) Richard Elfman and co-
written by Freeway writer/director
Matthew Bright, the black-andwhite film plays like a live-action
cartoon, complete with cardboard
and paper sets and Python-esque
animated segues.
The music is heavily influenced
by the likes of Cab Calloway,
including the film’s most impressive
number: a re-imagining of “Minnie
the Moocher” featuring Danny
Elfman as Satan leading a big band
of hooded minions.
Adding to the insanity are
appearances
by
performance
artists The Kipper Kids, Warhol
superstar Viva, and Maniac star Joe
Spinell.
While the film languished in
VHS obscurity for two decades,
Forbidden Zone was finally released
on an incredibly well-produced
DVD from Fantoma Films in 2004.
The film was colorized and
released on DVD by Legend Films
earlier this year. I’ve yet to catch
this one, but I think the black-andwhite presentation is part of the
charm of Forbidden Zone.
Regardless of which version you
see, Forbidden Zone is a movie
that deserves a much bigger cult
following and comes very, very
highly recommended.
Cook(and eat) to the Beat!
I
n this issue’s “Cook (and Eat!) To The Beat”
we’re going to explore the world of dairy
alternatives and comfort foods! It’s starting to
get cold, and comfort foods are a great way
to stay warm in the blustery winter months to
come. One of my favorite dishes growing up
was my Grandma Angelilli’s Mac & Cheese…
but cheese isn’t so much my friend anymore
and I know there are lots of you out there who
struggle with this as well. Enter my new favorite
cold weather dish: Vegan Mac & “Cheese”! Yes,
it is vegan – and it’s not weird or gross! Cheese
substitutes can be terrible tasting and texturally
challenged, but this homemade vegan cheese
sauce recipe is both savory and delicious, to
cheese lovers and non-cheese lovers alike! Its
basic ingredient is nutritional yeast, which is a
good source of protein and vitamins – especially
B-complex vitamins – and is naturally low in
fat and sodium. Nutritional yeast has a tangy
cheese-like flavor to it, and is perfect for those
intolerant of that sometimes pesky lactose!
continued on next page
cute food tastes better! photo by Sage Perrott
by Jamie Arnold
A great autumn album to rock out to while you’re
cookin’ up something fun? Turn up Slowdive’s
1993 swirling gem Souvlaki! This record pairs
perfectly with a chilly November evening, spent
in or out of the kitchen. Turn this on, then put on
a pot of your favorite pasta to serve as the “Mac”.
While that’s boiling, make your “cheese”:
You’ll need:
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes (you can find
these in bulk at the Mountain People’s Market
Co-op! Cheap!)
1/3 cup flour
1 ½ tsp salt
2 cups water
¼ - 1/2 cup margarine
½ tsp garlic powder (it’s optional, but I think it
tastes best with the garlic)
2 tsp wet mustard (spicy brown mustard works
most awesomely)
Mix dry ingredients in a pan. Gradually add the
water while stirring with a whisk. Make a smooth
paste & continue to add water until it is all used
up. Place over heat & stir constantly until the
sauce starts to thicken and bubble. Let it cook
about thirty more seconds, then remove from
heat, and stir in the margarine and mustard.
Drain the pasta when it’s finished boiling, and
toss in the “cheese” sauce – Voila! Now you have
a new cold weather favorite to curl up and watch
Dexter with. Enjoy!
Into the Pit:
A Brief History of Jesse Novak
Jesse Novak DJs at U92’s DJ Night at 123
Pleasant Street on October 15, 2008.
Photo by Sandi Ward
W
hen Jesse Novak was in the
fifth grade, a family friend
that he knew through church
gave him two new records that
would have shocked almost any
congregation. One was Mötley
Crüe’s Theater of Pain; the other
was Slayer’s Hell Awaits. Though
the first made Novak a life-long fan
of the Crüe, the Slayer LP set more
fateful gears in motion.
“He handed it to me and
said, ‘Yeah, it’s crazy, you can’t
understand
anything
they’re
saying,’” Novak recalls. “It was
just f---ing scary to me. It’s still
the scariest thing I’ve ever heard,
I think.” The 1985 metal landmark
permanently altered the course
of Novak’s life, eventually leading
him to join U92 and become its
metal director.
The first live concert Jesse ever
saw, however, made an equally
intense impression. Thrash metal
stalwarts Testament and Nuclear
Assault played at the now-defunct
South Hills Theatre in Pittsburgh in
1989; the theater was less than a
mile from Jesse’s father’s house,
and so his parents allowed him to
go. “I don’t think they knew what
kind of concert it was,” Jesse
says. “I mean, to them it was like
this little movie theater down the
street. It wasn’t some place that
these crazy thrash metal bands
were going to be playing at.”
The day after the concert, his
family read about “all the damage
and destruction that was done
to the venue” in the morning
newspaper.
“People were ripping
seats out, and just
thrashing,” Novak says.
“But that basically just
opened the doors in terms
of that kind of music and
everything.”
From there, Novak parlayed his
metal fandom into an interest in
broadcasting. He interned at the
University of Pittsburgh’s WPTS in
high school; he would later attend
Pitt before dropping out, switching
to a community college before
going into the professional world.
At the age of 28, Novak realized
he wanted to go back to school,
and his subsequent search for the
right college brought U92 to his
attention.
“I knew when I was going back
to school that I wanted to do radio
again, so I looked around and found
out [WVU] had a radio station,
and I listened a couple of times,”
Novak says. “I applied pretty much
as soon as I could, and that’s that.
It sounded like a cool station. I’d
listened to No Remorse once or
twice.”
No Remorse, U92’s metal show,
was the logical next step for Novak
after he joined the station as a DJ
in fall 2005. His diverse musical
tastes – Band of Horses are one of
his current favorite indie rock acts
– and approachable demeanor led
him to be tapped as music director
for the summer of 2007. When
the previous metal director left,
Novak was the clear choice to fill
the vacancy.
Novak’s expertise and prior
director experience helped to
make an immediate impact on No
Remorse. “I just tried to make sure
that there was more of an influx
of music coming in more often,”
Novak says, and the rotation for
No Remorse began to shift quickly.
New records were added to the
show a few at a time instead of in
large clusters; devoted listeners
could hear new music nearly every
night.
When picking rotation, Novak
tried to ensure that metal’s myriad
subgenres were well-represented
on the show. “I know that there
are people – listeners and DJs
– who like all kinds of different
metal, whether it’s metalcore or
death metal, hardcore, or thrash,”
Novak says. “So I know that there’s
a place for a lot of different stuff,
whether there are DJs here that
like it, I like it, or listeners like it.
You know, there’s a wide range of
metal, so I try to represent that.”
Also, to further broaden No
Remorse’s appeal, Novak allowed
his DJs to pick an album of the week
each week. This gave metal jocks
a chance to give a spin per hour –
not just per show – to an artist that
they felt deserved extra airplay.
The new concept, mixed with the
frequent rotation changes, helped
to make No Remorse one of the
biggest specialty shows on U92.
The spike in overall quality was
likely noticed by College Music
Journal (CMJ), which named Novak
as their 2008 Specialty Director
of the Year. Novak beat directors
from a national pool of college
radio stations.
“I don’t know who
nominated
me
or
anything,” Novak says,
“but yeah, it’s great for
me obviously, it’s great
for the station, and I was
probably more shocked
than anyone that it
happened.”
Novak didn’t even know about
the nomination until other DJs and
friends found out and congratulated
him. “I don’t want to take it too
seriously, and I also don’t want to
blow it off. It’s a great honor to be
thought of in any capacity amongst
like a couple hundred people.”
But this is only the beginning
for Novak, who is not yet sure of
where to go from here. “There
are a handful of opportunities
that have presented themselves;
it’s just a matter of choosing the
right one,” Novak says. “Right
now, I don’t want to jinx anything
really by talking about it. I hope
to be doing something musicrelated, preferably radio-related
in some sense, whether it’s DJing
or production or promotions.
“Ultimately, to do any of those
things would make me really
happy. And also, if it was in metal,
it would make me even happier.”
Jesse’s Favorite Albums
(in no particular order)
Metal:
The Obsessed – The Church Within
Metallica – Master of Puppets
Trouble – Trouble
Electric Wizard – Dopethrone
Sleep – Sleep’s Holy Mountain
Kyuss – Sky Valley
Slayer – Hell Awaits
Other:
Bad Brains – Bad Brains
The Stooges – Raw Power
Listen to No Remorse Tuesdays and Fridays from
midnight to 3 AM only on U92FM (91.7 FM)
For
this issue of Wireless,
metal director Jesse
Novak asked U92’s
staff one crucial but simple question:
What are your favorite Saturday
night and Sunday morning albums?
Below, a sample of the results.
Jesse Novak
Saturday:The Jesus Lizard-Liar
Sunday:Neil Young-After the Gold
Rush
Daniel Conway a.k.a. Mongoose
Saturday:Eightball & MJG-In Our
Lifetime, Vol. 1
Sunday:Two Gallants-The Throes
Ed Etzel
Saturday:Allman Bros-Live At the
Fillmore East 1971
Sunday:Miles Davis-Kind of Blue
The Legendary Aaron Hawley
Saturday:Beck-Midnite Vultures
Sunday:John Hartford-Aero-Plane
Kelen Conley
Saturday:Cam’ron-Come Home
With Me
Sunday:Stevie Wonder-Songs in
the Key Of Life
Ryan Edsall
Saturday:Arctic Monkeys-Whatever
People Say I Am
Sunday:The Beatles-Abbey Road
Amanda Gribble
Saturday:Zao-Legendary
Sunday:Pedro the Lion-Control
Liz Toler
Saturday:Girl Talk-Night Ripper
Sunday:Paul Simon-Graceland
Erica McDermott
Saturday:Every Time I Die-The Big
Dirty
Sunday:The Good Life-Novena On
a Nocturn
Kim Harrison
Saturday:Jeff Buckley-Grace
Sunday:The Beatles-Revolver
Kodi McKinney
Saturday:Electric 6-Fire
Sunday:The Avett BrosEmotionalism
Jeff Orsburn
Satuday night-Parks and
Wilson:Painting on Silence
Sunday morning:Anything by Andy
Mckee
Bryn Perrott
Saturday:Death From Above
1979-You’re A Woman I’m a
Machine
Sunday:Nakano-Nakano
Lexie Lundy
Saturday:Lady Gaga-The Fame
Sunday:Joy Wants Eternity-You
Who Pretend to Sleep
Rupam Sofsky
Saturday:The Strokes-Is This It?
Sunday:Grizzly Bear-Yellow House
Derek Rudolph
Saturday:Daft Punk-Alive 2007
Sunday:The Who-A Quick One
Anthony Fabbricatore
Saturday:The Sonics-Here Are the
Sonics
Sunday:Codeine-Frigid Stars
Casey Liston
Saturday:Quicksand-Slip
Sunday:French Kicks-Two
Thousand
Sandi Ward
Saturday:Saint Etienne-Tiger Bay
Sunday:The Zombies-Begin Here
Curiouser and Curiouser:
Listening to Broadcast’s
Tender Buttons in Taiwan
by Sandi Ward
Broadcast’s album Tender Buttons begins with a tinny, distorted synth
descending a scale. My friend Jen brought me the album in October
2005, when I was living in Taiwan – a place where it’s possible to make all
kinds of descents: down long escalators into subway stations; down from
highway overpasses; down from twenty story apartment blocks; down
and down still from skinny houses crowded onto hillsides, and of course,
down from the top of the tallest building in the world.
It’s coincidence, all this descending. Even so, Tender Buttons provided
a perfect soundtrack for my life in Taiwan. Not that I was descending
emotionally; the experience was too thrilling for that. But descent
implies direction, and with that, precision. My life had gone in an exact
direction to take me to Taiwan, but my life there often felt haphazard and
unstructured. Still, instances of orderliness grounded my days. Tender
Buttons reflected that insistence on order – well-mannered basslines and
calculated fuzz guitar anchoring synthesized squeals and buzzes. The
album employs a familiar palette – the almost-oriental guitar noodling
of the title track; the lullaby vocals of “Tears in the Typing Pool”; the
passive politics of “America’s Boy” – but the parts are not the whole. The
same could be said for the palette of Taiwan: the food, the TV shows,
the fashion, the way everyone says “byebye” – small familiarities and
recognitions, like thinking you see your best friend crossing the street,
then realizing she’s in another hemisphere.
The simple bass line of “Corporeal” descends, rises, and retreats again
over drumming so plain it almost seems bored. Do that to me / do that
to my anatomy / classify me / the strings of my autonomy. In Taiwan, I
hoped to escape my own body and its relationships to places and people –
and to time in general. This song felt like disorientation, like getting lost.
Inorganic space guns buzz in battle while Trish Keenan, undistracted,
oohs and aahs. Listening to “Corporeal” while walking along a Taiwanese
street, it was hard to decipher which noises were outside and which were
in my headphones, and I preferred it that way. The noise bleeding in and
the sampled conversation buried in the song heightened all strangeness.
It helped me feel apart from myself; feeling apart from the place was
inevitable. Broadcast’s music amplified my chance to actively experience
this unknown place, while also observing it from a remove.
On “America’s Boy,” the relentless left-hand synthesizer riff always
seemed to match my pace, whether I was walking along the twee murals
of elementary school walls on a Sunday morning, or rushing home past
nighttime street hawkers selling custom deep-fried snacks, stewed
innards, or barbecued corncobs. The song’s insistence proved an even
better match to my many bus rides. A bus ride in Taiwan is rarely smooth
– too many taxis, delivery trucks, scooters, and bicycles cutting in and out
of traffic – and yet the pulse of “America’s Boy” made me feel like I was
riding along in a time lapse video of nighttime highways where the cars’
headlights smear into streaks. Time and space blurred. Maybe that’s why
I was able to listen to the same song every day walking the same streets
under the same hazy, early evening Taiwanese sundown, and never tire
of it. A steady soundtrack brought order to the disorientation of life in a
hectic place.
Nearly a cappella vocals saturate the sparse “Tears in the Typing Pool”
like dust glistening in the air of a sunny yellow room, or like the dust that
cloaks Taiwan’s skylines when the sun rises, and again at sunset. Midway
through the track, another retro synth pours in behind the doubled-up
vocals. It made the perfect soundtrack to warm, slow fall days of walking
back and forth from apartment to work, across gray marble sidewalks
and into a tiny office where the sun filtered through the boss’s plants
overgrowing the balcony.
Later, when I’d leave the office in the evening, the burning skies would
quickly burn out to darkness. I’d buy dinner in the fluorescent glow of
a noodle shop and listen to the same scale that opened the album now
closing it. Strange sounds, but a comforting, snug finale to another day
lived in an unfamiliarity that now, paradoxically, had become my home.
Colin Yarck of Walter Meego at 123 Pleasant Street
T
he usually uneventful Mondays in Morgantown had a change
of pace on September 8th. Walter Meego added a stop to their
current U.S. tour to play at 123 Pleasant Street. Pittsburgh band
Donora opened up the show. Walter Meego consists of Justin Sconza
(vocals/vox/guitar), Colin Yarck (beats/synthesizers), and Andrew
Bernhardt (guitar). The trio ran through the tracks from their first
full-length self-titled album including fan favorites like “Forever”
and “Keyhole”. The guys in the band decided to stay in Morgantown
after their set and hang out with some of the locals and get a feel
for a Monday night in our college town. They were real good guys and
hopefully we will be fortunate enough to have them play here again.
text by Daniel Conway; photos by Nikki Rotunda
Justin Sconza of Walter Meego at 123 Pleasant Street
R
emember Mad Libs -- those steno-book-sized pads of half-empty poems
and stories meant to be completed by asking your friend, who had no
idea of the poem or story’s content, to fill in the nouns, verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs? When we were kids, little did parents and well-meaning English
teachers know that most of us were filling in the “verb ending in -ing” spaces with
“farting” and the “proper noun” slots with “Greg’s mom.”
Now, we’re all grown up. And so we present the first in a series of our own Mad
Libs based on classic college radio favorites. Grab a friend and get out your
pencil, because here for the butchering are the lyrics to “100,000” Fireflies” by
The Magnetic Fields.
I have a
I
present tense verb
someone else might not
NOUN
it all night long
it makes we want to
present tense verb
have made this so
but this is the worst
a
present tense verb
made in some
noun
adjective
seems like a
noun
adjective
without
the
noun
noun
close to me
noun
and
as they
present tense verb
round my
they
noun
present tense verb
adjective
with me
eyes
me of your
noun
anyway
adjective
why do we still
here
in this
town
adjective
are in
plural noun
name of a city
why do we keep
plural noun
noun
close to me
adjective
you won’t be
all our
present tense verb
100,000
noun
present tense verb
name of person in room
I went out to the
without
noun
I’m afraid of the
of the
adjective
but give me one more
present tense verb
on my
cause I’m
you won’t be
in
noun
abstract noun
but when I
noun
I’ve ever had
person’s name
I also
adjective
when we mean
–ing verb
adjective
we should be
-ing verb
all the time
noun
I
f you know me, then
you know how I feel
about this music scene.
I’m happy it’s here, and I’m happy
to be a part of it. That never, ever,
changes. However, once in a while
something happens that crystallizes
in my mind just how special this
scene is. Most recently, it was
Morgantown Does Marinelli.
When
J
Marinelli
announced that he was moving to
Kentucky at the end of the summer,
people knew something should be
done to celebrate a guy who has
done so much for so many local
musicians. Walt Sarkees, who
played a large role in mastering
the final disc and stirring the pot
when it needed stirred, said that he
“thought it would be a fitting parting
gift to throw down in pure guerrilla
fashion and assemble a full CD of J
covers that he could listen to on his
ride out of town.”
Sarkees also lauded the
group effort that it took to put the
CD together. “Everyone went off on
their own, many helping each other,
to record the tracks. A month later
we had something we are all really
proud of.”
Brian Spragg of It’s Birds
thought it was a real community
builder, scene wise, “It was a really
good experience to get everyone
who’s great in Morgantown together
for something that’s productive.”
Marinelli
is
a
true
rock’n’roller whose tastes are deep
and diverse, which is clearly evident
in his work. It also helps that he’s
a helluva nice dude, and one of the
first people in this town to support
Morgantown Does
Aaron Hawley discusses a new tribute album
my band, ’85 Flood, back when we
were a fledgling and floundering
“bluegrass” band. When we found
out that this was going on, we knew
we had to drop everything and do
what we had to do to see that we
were a part of it.
We weren’t the only ones.
Billy Matheny, who shared
the stage with J in the short-lived
group Peter & the Pets, said, “J is a
great friend and one of my favorite
musicians. I’ve loved all his projects,
from the one-man band to all his
different groups through the years.
It was a real no-brainer, really. I was
on the phone arranging musicians
and booking studio time within
about fifteen minutes of hearing of
this project.”
The final product is an
amazing testament to the unity of
the musicians in this town and their
mutual love and respect for James
Michael Marinelli. Sonically, it’s
extremely diverse, from Sandra
Black’s accordion-infused version
of “Pomade Years” to Todd Burge’s
acoustic take on “Pity the Party”
to the screamy lo-fi rendition of
“Honey Where You Been” turned
in by Rifle Camp. No two tracks are
alike. Each and every musician on
the record went above and beyond
the call of duty. If you claim to be
a fan of local music, this record is a
must-have for your collection.
Morgantown
Does
Marinelli! can be downloaded for
free at morgantowndoesmarinelli.
blogspot.com or listen to the
streaming audio at virb.com/
morgantowndoesmarinelli
photo by Andy Pickens
Marinelli
be best demonstrated by the
title of the closing track, “Sing
A Song for Them.” Singing out to
others, Jenny Lewis’ latest release
is marked by a shift from the
personal to the performance.
From its title alone, one could Grade: B
assume that Jenny Lewis’second solo
recording, Acid Tongue, would mark
a clear departure from her first fulllength release without Rilo Kiley,
the well-received 2006 release,
Rabbit Fur Coat. While Rabbit Fur
Coat (warm, fuzzy) was characterized
by
intimate
settings
and
s e m i - a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l Women
narratives,
Acid
Tongue Women
(acerbic, biting) sounds like a (JAGJAGUWAR)
confident singer-songwriter who is Reviewed by Daniel Miller
developing a character, stepping
into the Rock’n’Role spotlight, and
The debut album from
inviting her posse to come along.
Canadian artists Women was
Some
moments
on recorded with “old tape machines”
the
record
are
fragile
over four months in artist Chad
and distant; others reach out for the
audience with countrified electric VanGaalen’s basement (keep that in
guitar swagger, but Lewis’ penchant mind). Pop music is only good when
for wordplay and her familiar pushed and Women shove. The onemusings on life, love, faith, and minute album opener “Cameras”
frailty couple with her unmistakable catches you with pounding drums,
voice to provide the album with a synths and monotone vocals (with
faint commonality despite the wide lots of reverb). The atmosphere
stylistic variation from track to changes from catchy to hypnotic on
track. Fans of the last solo record tracks “Lawncare”, “Woodbine”,
and its cohesive quality may find the and “Sag Harbor Bridge”.
I’m
record uneven and be surprised at
pretty sure cigarette smoke has
the
genre
jumping
that
occurs
throughout
this infiltrated the bass line now.
“Black Rice” and “Group
release, but those acquainted
with Rilo Kiley’s catalog should Transport Hall” are the two most
be familiar with the pop, rock, poppy songs. They reassure that
country, and folk influences that Women are not a noise band…but
emerge throughout the album.
a junk pop band. “January 8th”
Highlights
include: and “Upstairs” touch on dissonant
“See Fernando,” “The Next No Wave aesthetics. The album
Messiah,”
“Acid
Tongue,” ender—a four-minute avant garde
and “Carpetbaggers,” an Americana jam entitled “Flashlight.” And
sing along between Lewis and Elvis
that’s it—an amazingly beautiful
“King of America” Costello.
The
tone
and album in less than thirty minutes.
Let me get this straight,
character of the album might
Jenny Lewis
Acid Tongue
(Warner Bros.)
Reviewed by Alex Belden
Reviews
though; bands do not usually hit this
hard on their first release. You can
feel the paint of the basement in
this album. You can taste dampness
on the reel-to-reel. The fluorescent
lighting has saturated the guitar. I
feel sleep depravation. Ambience
and drone textures are frequent
throughout the album, but are
not overused. The beauty of the
1960s pop sensibility is the album’s
strongest element. I keep thinking
of The Byrds while listening to this
record. All the similar artists you
can think of are nowhere close to
this band; that is the beauty of good
music. This album will most likely
be very underrated and that’s sad
because it screams in ways bands
that actually scream could never
do.
Women are what I wish
Health could sound like…but not
anymore. Grade: A+, Great Job!
Department of Eagles
In Ear Park
(4AD)
Reviewed by Rupam Sofsky
Instead of focusing on this being
a Grizzly Bear side-project, on
how records that start quietly are
growers, on how this was written
after the death of lead singer
Daniel Rossen’s father, let’s stick
to the music. Generally there’s
banjo, piano, claps, and an intimate
laidback feel.
The choppy yet steady
rhythm of single “No One Does
It Like You” evokes fifties pop.
Everything has a nice reverby
sheen. Gorgeous harmonies fill this
track.
The true gem, “Phantom
Other,” opens with quiet acoustic
chords.
When Rossen intones,
“Alright, we’ll do this your way.
/ Alright, we’ll make it anyway,”
it’s heartbreaking.
Moments
later, though, the music hints at
an underlying anger. Rossen asks,
“What would it take to make you
learn? / What would it take to
make you listen?” A vocal harmony
leads to the entrance of spare
drums. There are also odd warbles
low in the mix. Out of nowhere,
after a minute, the song reveals
and rears its huge head, music
building dramatically.
Rossen
almost shouts, “My GOD in heaven!
/ What were we thinkin’? / My GOD
in heaven! / What were we thinkin’
of?” As quickly as the song crests it
suddenly crashes. The song ends as
millions of songs do, with one last
major chord.
There are some great tunes
here. Unfortunately, though, the
best songs sandwich a fair amount
of okay-but-not-great stuff in the
album’s middle. Some tracks feel
very wooden. If you’re into Grizzly
Bear, buy this. If you’re not, don’t.
Grade: BMiniature Tigers
Tell it to the Volcano
(Modern Art)
Reviewed by Nicole Welty
The Miniature Tigers are
not revolutionizing anything. They
are not reinventing music as we
know it. They have not made any
genre-defining progress in the art
that is indie pop. Rather, on the
band’s first full length album, Tell
it to the Volcano, they perfect
it and create an album that is
catchy, happy, and upbeat while
managing to avoid all of the things
that can go horribly wrong when
creating pop music. The Miniature
Tigers take elements of all that is
delicious in the genre—such as the
quirky-catchy-endearing acoustic
and keyboards of The Shins; the
slightly socially awkward singa-long choruses of Weezer; and
the vocal harmonies of the Beach
Boys—and blend and bake them
into a delicious indie cake that is
Tell it to the Volcano. High points
of the album include “Hot Venom,”
the playfully keyboard-infused
gem with a chorus so sweet it will
give you instant cavities, and “The
Wolf,” a track that is a masterpiece
in the art of sing-a-long (complete
with handclaps). Also noteworthy
are “Cannibal Queen,” the album’s
upbeat opener, and “Last Night’s
Fake Blood,” a satisfyingly simple
piano rocker. “Haunted Pyramid”
is a bit of a miss, as it lacks the
bouncy sweetness that makes the
band any good. Overall, though,
Tell it to the Volcano will leave you
clapping and singing and bouncing
to its pop perfection. The Miniature
Tigers may not be making leaps
and bounds in the progression of
indie pop, but they do a great job
reminding you why you listen to it.
Grade: B
to an industry of overproduced
studio-made albums. They don’t
overcomplicate things and keep it
simple and clean. It’s a gritty sound
without any sacrifice of quality. For
their second studio album they use
catchy lyrics alongside pure funk
bass lines to keep you interested,
and successfully blend retro
synthesizers with whispers and
occasional trilled R’s. The hardest
part about listening to this album
is sitting still. You feel the need
to nod your head or at least tap
your foot a majority of the time.
Being bored while listening to this
is simply not an option. Grade: B
Pelle Carlberg
The Lilac Time
(Labrador)
Reviewed by Sandi Ward
Never mind that “Pelle”
and “Belle” aren’t homophones;
I’m going to make the obvious
comparison, anyway: Pelle Carlberg
makes music for people who wish
Belle and Sebastian had stopped
Rap music has The Roots after Tigermilk. Even diehard Belle
and electronic music has Fujiya & fans could be forgiven for mistaking
Miyagi: they bring an organic sound a few bars of Carlberg’s dulcet
Fujiya & Miyagi
Lightbulbs
(Deaf Dumb & Blind Recordings)
Reviewed by Daniel Conway
for that of Stuart Murdoch. Pelle’s
lyrics are sincere but not quite as
disaffected as those awkward Scots,
with the guitar jangle harkening
toward The Smiths, lending Pelle’s
music a sweetness missing from
B&S’s latter-day albums. The lyrics
are wry but never self-pitying; fans
of Aussies The Lucksmiths should
find a kindred wordsmith in Pelle.
The opening track, “Pelle and
Sebastian” is obviously an obvious
homage to Murdoch & Co., right
down to the spoken-word midsection
and the idioms. I’m penalizing
him just a little for writing a song
that references Facebook (aren’t
our lives overmediated enough
without adding another layer of
commentary?). However, he’s won
my heart with his straight-ahead
disdain for modern youth on “Tired
of Being PC”, and for copping
a melody from fellow Labrador
artists The Legends on “Fly Me To
The Moon”. Grade: B
Kimya Dawson
Alphabutt
(K Records)
Reviewed by Derek Rudolph
The
sweetheart
voice
behind the hit 2007 movie Juno and
its successful soundtrack is back
with her latest solo album since
2006’s Remember That I Love You.
If you took a melodic, fingerpicked guitar, a mumbling newborn
baby, a kazoo, a fart, a children’s
book about pooping, a loose tooth,
any annoying baby toy that makes
cheap xylophone sounds, and a
sample from a Kidz Bop CD and
threw all of that into the Telepod
from that Jeff Goldblum movie The
Fly, this album is what would come
out the other end of that pod. Be
afraid. Be very afraid. No longer is Kimya Dawson
singing about corporate greed and
angst; the main songwriting topic
for Alphabutt is the less universal
motherhood. Let Kimya Dawson
show your kid the process of
pooping. Yes. Pooping. This album
is made up of lullabies for children,
so don’t expect to hear “Fuck Bush
and Fuck This War,” as on her last
album. Alphabutt is more for the
kiddies, although I think the only
thing that would appeal to that
demographic is the overt use of
words like “fart” and “pee-pee,”
especially on the title track. There
is a tremendous amount of words
like this in the 26 minutes of the
album. In about half of the tracks
there are mumbling baby noises that
completely throw off the rhythm of
the song off while providing highpitched noises straight into your
eardrum. On one track, “Wiggle My
Tooth”, there is a loud kid yelling a
backup to the chorus and screaming
“Yo,” over and over again, which
seems appropriate only on one of
those terrifying Kidz Bop albums
advertised on TV. The whole album
is just an inaccessible mess up of
music, aside from the last two
tracks, “Little Panda Bear” and
“Sun Beams and Some Beans.” They
don’t provide the ear-shattering
clanking noises or terrible baby
giggles, while hinting at the
songwriting you used to know and
love. No longer is the songwriting
of Kimya Dawson speaking to you as
it did. She’s a mom and she loves
her daughter Panda. Grade: D is for
doodoo.
Metallica
Death Magnetic
(Warner Bros.)
Reviewed by Derek Rudolph
Back in 1990, if you weren’t
on the football team and not in the
school band, most likely you were
into Metallica. One of the biggest
bands of the early ’90s is back and in
their mid-forties. Death Magnetic
provides an attempted reunion with
their former selves. The thrashy
hard rock “gods” of yesteryear
have created a very loud album.
The album is so loud fans are angry,
because the mastering on the album
has everything turned up way too
high. The album is overly distorted,
and has caused fans to grab their
torches and pitchforks and take
to the forums. Listening to the
whole album without headphones
is potentially dangerous—the first
time I listened to the album I got a
brutal migraine. Rumor has it that
the songs that appear on the next
Guitar Hero soundtrack are mixed
as the band originally intended
them to be.
There are two main ways
look at this album: mainstream
and underground. Misinformed
mainstream
crowds
will
go
absolutely crazy, for what good
corporate rock album has come out
this millennium? The music industry
today has been overwhelmed with
American Idol pop stars. No matter
what anyone says, people will buy
a new Metallica album every time.
This one has already sold over
800,000 copies.
The underground metal
heads who have been into metal
for a while will take in a few songs
with respect, mostly “That Was
Just Your Life,” “All Nightmare
Long,” and “The Day That Never
Comes,” but Metallica hasn’t
been doing it for the underground
since the mid-1980s. Lots of fans
of metal will be wary of the s***
storm that was St. Anger. Bands
the same age as Metallica, like
Slayer, are making albums so much
better than Death Magnetic right
now. This is Metallica’s best album
since 1991, yes. But if your kid
s***s himself instead of s****ing all
over the house, you still shouldn’t
be proud. Also, if you would like
30% satisfaction with your hard
earned money in tough economic
times like this, go ahead: buy the
album, unless you have already
downloaded it. Grade: CDavid Vandervelde
Waiting For The Sunrise
(Secretly Canadian)
Reviewed by Daniel Conway
He says it best himself in
his song “Lyin’ In Bed”: “When I’m
lyin’ in my bed / I hear music in
head / I haven’t heard before / Too
good to ignore.” That’s pretty much
it. This album is, start to finish,
just too damn good to ignore. The
obvious comparisons can be made
to the sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash,
and Young, but the uniqueness
of this record sets it apart from
anything from that era. David calls
on his six-piece supporting band,
The Lickedy Splitz, to provide bass,
drums, piano, and vocal harmonies
and also the sounds of tambourines,
organs, pedal steel and “space
guitars.” This supporting cast
provides Vandervelde with a
developed sound that exceeds all
other singer/songwriters out there
today. This new trend of musicians
writing songs reminiscent of music
made thirty years ago doesn’t seem
like it’s going away, but as long as
they are making albums as good as
this one then that’s fine with me.
Grade: ADeerhunter
Microcastle
(Kranky)
Reviewed by Anthony
Fabriccatore
Despite Microcastle’s lush,
delayed textures and reverbed,
Crimson-and-Clover-over-and-over
spaceship hangar vocals, the album
isn’t just something to enjoy in a
comfy microcastle of your own.
The follow-up to last year’s
Cryptograms explodes from 0:01
with the giant slowcore chords and
twinkling Frigid Stars fingerpicking
of “Cover Me (Slowly)” into a
nighttime driving anthem with
“Agoraphobia.” The tight pounding
of bass-and-drum duo Josh Fauver
and Moses Archuleta continues into
“Never Stops,” while guitarist and
vocalist Bradford Cox’s voice soars
in and out of the mix, making the
band live up to their self-described
“ghost rock” sound.
The album moves in
Loveless waves as the the opening
lines of the title track call to
mind the golden harmony of an
“Unchained Melody,” while next
few tracks float around pleasantly
in orbit.
That is, until Microcastle’s
most
straight-up
rock’n’roll
track, “Nothing Ever Happened.”
Throughout the first couple versechorus phrases, the bassline
punches through a wall of sound
as Cox harmonizes with the guitar
melody and croons “Nothing’s easy
/ Nothing’s fair / Nothing ever
happened to me.” Just after the
quick major-key bridge around the
2-minute mark, the noise drops
out briefly before returning with
dueling fuzzed-out guitars over
a steady rhythm section. The key
subtly changes right before another
buzzing lead—this time tapped
out on the fret—carries the song
through the rest of its repetitive,
but psychedelically glorious end.
“Saved by Old Times”
is a bluesy number with a soggy
reverbed guitar joining the rhythm
section, while the jangly nylon
strings and ethereal backup vocals
of “Neither of Us, Uncertainly”
could’ve sat comfortably next
to any of the tracks on classic
Whirlpool’s and Fakebook’s of the
early 90’s. Microcastle closes with
the “Sleepwalk” of our generation:
“Twilight at Carbon Lake,” a
slowdancing 3/4 track that builds
with hissing percussion and a
hypnotic melody until its absolutely
massive climax, with earthquaking
drums and phased-out guitars that
elegantly wrap up a dynamic and
gorgeous album.
Microcastle is now out on
Kranky Records. Be sure to check out
the bonus disc from this release, an
extra, entirely full-length album,
Weird Era Cont. Grade: A
Mogwai
The Hawk Is Howling
(Matador)
Reviewed by Andrew Matheny
The Hawk is Howling is
the first full-length studio album
from Glasgow-based five-piece
Mogwai in two years. In the time
since 2006’s “Mr. Beast,” little has
changed in the band’s post-rock
sound. The major difference is
the lack of vocals this time around.
However, given the generally nonverbal focus of Mogwai’s music,
one can argue that it makes little
difference at all.
The tracks on the album
bounce back and forth from sparse
piano-led arrangements to playful
electronic bleep-bloop and back to
the loud, heavy-hitting rock rather
consistently, though the majority of
the music on this album will likely
put you to sleep with its hypnotic
lullabies (not to say that this a bad
thing).
The stand-out tracks are
definitely the ones that mix the
loud and heavy with the sparse and
quiet; tracks like “Batcat”, “I Love
You, I’m Going to Blow Up Your
School” and “The Precipice” are
the ones that really drive in that
sound. “The Sun Smells Too Loud”
is another track that definitely
stands out among the rest with its
upbeat and triumphant soundscape
wedged between the usual slow
and sparse, dark croons that make
up the majority of this album. All
in all this is another solid effort
from Mogwai, perhaps not their
finest, but still well crafted enough
to make you nod your head with
every voiceless beat. Grade: A-
Need more
opinions? All the
reviews that didn’t
fit will appear on
our website:
u92.wvu.edu
R
hythm and timing have been important in video games since timing
Mario’s jumps in Donkey Kong. Music games, such as Dance Dance
Revolution, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Karaoke Revolution allow
the player to experience the art of music with little experience and can
be a launching pad for creativity.
Aside from World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero may be one of the
most recognizable video game titles out today. There is probably a
Guitar Hero or Rock Band game on every single floor of every dorm at
this university. Guitar Hero and Rock Band have introduced the so-called
Internet generation to alternative bands like the Stooges, the Ramones,
and the Sex Pistols.
Those bands are amongst the many that have jarred me in
another direction about music. Guitar Hero won’t teach you how to play
guitar, but playing the drums on Rock Band does actually train you to
play drums. You won’t become Keith Moon by slapping a rubber pad at
the same time it appears on at TV screen, although you may get enough
confidence in your rhythm to grab your own drum set and become the
next Meg White. Other recommended music- based games include:
Have You Got the Rhythm?
By Derek Rudolph
* Audiosurf, for the PC, is
a rhythm game that takes
any mp3 in your library
and pulls it into a colorful
and fast rhythm and
puzzle game. Audiosurf
is downloadable off of the
Steam service online.
* Rez, for the Playstation
2 and Xbox Live Arcade,
is the pinnacle of musicbased games. The game
allows you to develop
the tune of trance music
through
shooter-esque
levels and amazing visuals.
Think Star Fox on ecstasy,
and lots of it. Rez has
topped
numerous
top
trippy game lists, and is
regarded as an overlooked
gem by the majority of the
gaming media.
What is in the future for
music video games? Harmonix, the
developer of Guitar Hero and Rock
Band has already trademarked the
name DJ Hero. Already major label
bands like Metallica have put their
new releases on Guitar Hero and
Rock Band as downloadable tracks.
You don’t need to get blisters on
your fingers playing real guitar to
rock out, all you need is a little
hand eye coordination.
Keeping Up With The Locals
By Aaron Hawley, Host of The Morgantown Sound
The Emergency – The Emergency
Wehrle, Crothers, and
Post held the high ground as
Morgantown’s premier local band
since the release of 2003’s landmark
How Can You Move? In the end,
they themselves moved, the band
members going their separate ways
at the end of the spring semester
2008. Thankfully for the rest of
us, they left one last parting salvo
before becoming a part of the
past. Their self-titled swan song,
at a svelte eight tracks, manages
to cram everything we’ve come to
expect from an Emergency record
into a brisk twenty-seven minutes
of bliss.
Despite its brevity, the
record manages to shift gears deftly
from track to track. Opening with
the psychedelic noise of “Soaking
Up the Scene,” we find the band
at its most experimental, with
the song slipping in and out of the
storm before coming to a calming
finish. From there, the band puts
its rock shoes back on and barrels
through the high energy tandem
of “Friends at the Factory” and
“Wicked Witch”. The pop anthems
that have become the band’s
trademark are well represented by
live-show staples “Not This Time”
and the blistering “1 2 3 4.”
By the time we enter the
homestretch we see the band do
some of its finest work to date.
“Misunderstood (Goddamn)” could
be the band’s finest moment,
coming complete with everything
we love about the Emergency:
fuzzy guitars, building choruses,
pounding drums, and Rob wearing
his heart on his sleeve. By the time
Rob is singing about all the “good
times we once knew” during the
closing track “Bring on the Good
Times” this listener couldn’t help
but be bombarded with all the
memories this band brought me.
The Emergency will be missed.
Suggested Tracks: All of them.
Big Right Hand – Greatest Hits
In the first five seconds of
“Ugly”, the first track on Big Right
Hand’s debut record Greatest
Hits, you know what kind of band
you’re dealing with: a rock’n’roll
band. Unlike many other bands
these days, Big Right Hand needs
no other qualifier to describe their
music; it’s pure simple rock’n’roll.
In the classic tradition of a dynamic
singer fronting a tightly-wound
power trio, Big Right Hand evokes
many memories of tried and true
rock bands of the past. They’re a
band that’s going to kick your ass
Drown Culture – Contest of
Human
If you ever wondered what
the bands of the future would
sound like, then look no further
than Drown Culture. This quartet’s
unique brand of space-aged dance
music relies heavily on pulsating
beats and sonic synthesizers
producing music that sounds like
a cross between the B-52s and
Futurama. The thirteen tracks
that make up Contest of Human
and have a blast doing it.
take the listener on a trip through
A veteran rock trio lays the everyday life of a fully galactic
the foundation for fireworks, the rock’n’roll band.
ferocious rhythm section of Woody
Drown Culture inhabit a
O’Hara and rockin’ Dave Cochran world full of space ships, stasis
driving each tune while allowing pods, wormholes, propaganda
Adrian Larry’s heavy guitar riffing and time travel, and their songs
and Mark Flanery’s vocals to ride represent that. Though it may seem
the wave. More than anything, like quite a bit to accept when
this band brings some great songs rocking out to a local band, the
to the table. Tunes like “Fall” and end product is a grin-inducing fifty
“Got No Place to Go” sound like minutes of fun. Contest of Human
they’ve already been included in is cosmic proof that what ever the
the classic rock canon, and if they future may hold, we can still dance
haven’t been they should be—and to it. Suggested Tracks: Stealing
soon. Suggested Tracks: Ugly, Fall, a Falchion Cruiser, This Corinthian
The Devil Went Down to Grafton
Alloy Just Saved Our Ass
“Contest of Human is cosmic proof that what
ever the future may hold, we can still dance to it.”
The album’s final track,
“’91”, transports the listener back
to Charlie’s youth. Capri Sun, Karl
Kani, Boyz II Men and Bel Biv Devoe
all make appearances, though Sid
Bream is noticeably absent.
Though I’ve made much of
the elder Wilmoth’s lyrics, the rest
of the band isn’t slouching towards
mediocrity as they provide a rock
solid sonic foundation to build upon.
Whatever the song requires, they
do it, often in the form of a tightlywound rhythm section and crunchy
FOX Japan - Hell
guitars. Despite my constant
FOX Japan’s newest disc,
raving about the lyrics, this is by
Hell, released this fall on Small
no means a “singer/songwriter”
War Records, finds the band hitting
record: this is a rock n’ roll record.
its stride with a great blend of
Geographical separation during the
tunefulness and literary lyricism.
school year means that FOX Japan
Frontman Charlie Wilmoth, backed
can usually only be found gracing
by brothers Pete and Sam, along
the stage at 123 once or twice a
with It’s Birds’ Andrew Slater, serves
year. Next time they do, make sure
up nine tracks that take the listener
you’re there, and in the meantime,
on a trip packed with vivid imagery
pick up a copy of Hell.
and stops in California, Denver,
Suggested Tracks: ’91, Divorce,
Vancouver, and Wheeling,WV.
Shut Up Private
What sets FOX Japan
apart is that Charlie Wilmoth has
something to say.
While many bands
seem content to simply
have some words where
lyrics should go, listening
to Hell one gets the
impression that Wilmoth
has deliberated on each
word to make sure it does
exactly what it needs to do
to paint the picture he’s
intended.
The Morgantown Sound
can be heard on U92 every
Monday night from 8 to 10
PM. Join your host, Aaron
Hawley, for two hours of
the best local music from
the past and present.
Exclusive live performances,
interviews, and chit chat:
hear all the best local dish
on The Morgantown Sound!
Morgantown Music Past:
Nakano
Interviewed by Sandi Ward
I
t’s stating a proud fact, and
being only the teensiest bit
reductionist, to say that
Morgantown loves to rock. But
once in a while, a band proves
that even the rock-and-rollingest
of towns can embrace something
more subdued, if not quieter.
“We
played
loud,”
said Joe Romanyak of
Nakano. “Morgantowners
love them some loud.”
From 2004 to 2007, five guys
from Morgantown—most of whom
had, at one time or another,
made some boys’ noise in other
Morgantown bands—offered an
antidote to the ruckus of the
Morgantown music scene. These
guys were Nakano, and they played
instrumental music with careful
arrangements, onstage stoicism,
and a sonic sense of exploration
that never seemed aimless. Paced
by Joe Romanyak’s snap-tight
drumming, the band—consisting of
John Lancia, Cooper Mackey, Joe
Romanyak, Tim St. Clair, and later,
Rich Johnson—simply compelled,
live and on their self-titled CD.
In the email conversation forming
the basis of this interview, the
four original members of the
band—Mssrs. Lancia, Mackey,
Romanyak,
and
St.
Clair—
responded to the questions, and to
one another’s answers, with careful
consideration. The give-and-take
of their discussion mirrored the
fine crafting of Nakano’s music,
which itself had no words at
all. As Lancia noted of Nakano’s
sound, “To me, it was really
important that we had dynamics
and melodies that stuck in your
head as if they were hooks to songs
with lyrics.” Someone commented
to him recently that Nakano was
“the saddest music they had ever
heard.” That is a testament to the
band’s achievement of what Mackey
calls “our atmospheric, soundtrack
for an indie documentary about
melting glaciers, kind of sound.”
In the vinyl library at U92: (counterclokcwise
from front) Tim St. Clair, Joe Romanyak,
John Lancia, Cooper Mackey
(photo by Francy Jones)
“The music of Nakano was shaped
from a pulse,” Romanyak said.
“There was some noodling around
with pedals and noisy noisemakers
but for the most part the foundation
of a Nakano song was a nifty John
riff or something that Cooper
came up with while thinking about
how much he loves cats.” Noise
never entered arbitrarily into
Nakano. St. Clair observed that
“noise was used to embellish the
band’s cohesive sound and not as
a basis for the songs.” Dissonance
didn’t serve to replace melodies
or to self-consciously mask their
beauty, but “to take some of the
polish off the songs,” he said.
A definite advantage Nakano
held
in
the
Morgantown
scene
was
its
uniqueness.
“Nobody else in town
was doing [instrumental
music] so we cornered
the market, so to speak”
Mackey said. “Any time
another
instrumental
or experimental band
played
a
show
in
Morgantown,
Nakano
would be invited first to
complete the bill.”
a serious lack of competition and
I think that also stems from a lot
of ass-kissing,” he said, adding,
“This is the part where you
cite my uncomfortable laugh.”
Though the band was short-lived,
Nakano held a hallowed place
in Morgantown music; it was an
experience each member of the
band obviously reveres, regardless
of his feelings about the scene
as a whole. Each first mentioned
missing the people of Morgantown.
Lancia, Mackey, Romanyak, and St.
Clair have all left Morgantown—
Lancia to New York City, Mackey to
Chicago, Romanyak to Pittsburgh,
and St. Clair to Baltimore. Mackey
cited Morgantown’s “ability to play
every weekend if I so desired” as
a great aspect of the scene. For
him, the scale of Chicago makes
it hard to coordinate practices
with bandmates. Of his new home
base of Pittsburgh, Romanyak
observed, “The scene doesn’t
really stand up to Morgantown.
The dynamics are different…
groups in Pittsburgh seem to be
much more isolated when trying
to draw crowds. Also, Pittsburgh is
so rock’n’roll it’s ridiculous. Folks
want to hear dirty-sounding guitars
being abused and that’s about it.”
For St. Clair, his new home
of Baltimore, recently named
“Best Scene” by Rolling Stone,
Beyond
being
the
obvious offers more to musicians than
compliment to any such acts that Morgantown, though trendiness
happened through Morgantown, makes the benefits somewhat
Nakano’s contrast to most of harder to achieve. “There are a
the scene represents, for St. handful of decent and respectable
Clair, one negative aspect of the bands [in Baltimore],” he said,
Motown sound. “I feel there was “but a majority of it is art school
Tim St. Clair recording at Mark Poole’s Zone 8 Studios in Morgantown.
(photo by Billy Wolfe)
kids looking to make noise, both
literally and as media fodder. It’s
very discouraging that people have
to wade through such garbage to
find musicians with actual talent.”
But, he noted, there are talented
bands, such as Beach House and
Celebration, who, like musicians
in Morgantown, are respected
by their peers yet not treated
like rock stars. “To me, it’s like
living in Morgantown, only that
people get recognition,” he said.
Lancia noted that in Morgantown,
“as with any college town there’s
the impending graduation that
usually kills most good bands.”
However, he said, “Despite that
fact, there are people like Mark
Poole [of Moon/Zone 8 Recording]
(who recorded our full-length) who
have been doing their thing for
many years. I think those people
are the core of the [Morgantown]
scene.” This solid base beneath the
transience of the university sharply
contrasts to New York, where, as
Lancia put it, “there are a thousand
bands doing their thing and trying
to get noticed. That makes it
hard for there to be any cohesive
scene. I miss Morgantown because
everybody was so close-knit and
supported one another’s projects.”
The four original members of
Nakano are U92 alumni, and each
cites working at U92 as a direct
influence on his musical tastes,
and, ergo, on the band’s sound. “I’d
like to say that Nakano could have
existed without U92, but that’s a
lie,” St. Clair said. “I think [working
at U92] is how we communicated
to one another what our musical
tastes were…we didn’t have to post
something on a message board in
search of like-minded individuals.”
Mackey added, “[At U92] I was
introduced to so many bands that
proved to be influential in my
songwriting: Robyn Hitchcock,
The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine,
Explosions in the Sky, The Magnetic
Fields.” A diverse list, to be sure,
but a listen to the cello rumbling
beneath “End of the Revolution”
or the way the intertwining guitars
give way to blankets of distortion
on “Diamonds Are the Ocean’s
Sunset” yields proof of the band
members’ wide-reaching musical
tastes. (To further see how U92
influenced Nakano, note that the
title of “Matt, You Flatterer” comes
from a letter fellow U92 DJ Matt
Fedorko sent to U92’s Star Date
astronomy goddess, Sandy Wood.)
Romanyak also founded U92’s
Nonverbal Communication program,
a showcase of instrumental/
experimental music that can still be
heard on Monday nights at midnight.
“The music that I discovered during
[my time at U92] had a direct
effect on my playing whether I
was aware of it or not,” he said.
mine.” Rich can be seen and heard
in Morgantown as one half of The
Depresbyterians; he explains his
role in Nakano thus: “Those guys
were the band, I just was there
to help it pass away gently.”
Can we expect a gentle reanimation
of Nakano any time soon? “Check
the Myspace,” St. Clair said. “It’s
on there.” More seriously, St.
Clair mentioned that he would be
curious to see how the members’
expanding musical tastes would
mix were they to get back together
and write songs, adding that he felt
sure “Cooper’s love for cats would
still be a good source of material.”

For more on Nakano,
check out myspace.com/nakano

Nakano’s
self-titled
CD is available at cdbaby.com/
cd/nakano or locally at the
tea shop Bubble@Sikaku on
The four founding fathers of Nakano University Avenue in Suncrest.
have each taken a distinct path out 
John
Lancia’s
newest
of U92 and Morgantown: John to musical concern, Black Swan
New York, to play in several bands Green, is named after a book
before settling on Black Swan by the wonderful Irish writer
Green, shoegazers with echoing David Mitchell, and is not a
dreampop vocals, neopsychedelic lo-fi bedroom pop band from
guitar wail, and a debut album Raleigh, NC. Check them out at
that will be heard on U92; Cooper myspace.com/blackswangreennyc
to Chicago, to an as-yet-nameless and listen for their selfband that’s “a bit of a mix released debut album, The
between Feist, Slowdive, and The Ruin Gaze, on U92. The album
Smiths”; Tim to graduate school in can also be purchased from
Baltimore, where he studied music cdbaby.com/cd/blackswangreen.
production and has been “getting
back into Appalachian folk music”; And of course, as always, keep
and Joe to Pittsburgh, where “I’m listening to your source for
not involved in any musical outfit, local music, old and new—U92!
[but] discovering new records is
still very much an obsession of
and now...
The Honorable Tony
Bones Presides Over
The
Jukebox Jury
Court date:
October 11th, 2008
Welcome back. David, Evan and
Dylan couldn’t join us for this
round, so fellow s***-talkers Matt
and Jared stepped up in their
absence. If you’re joining us for
the first time, the jury is a panel
that collectively reviews pseudorandomly selected tracks from
records I kind of recognized and
picked up from the vinyl library
at the station...meaning that
everything you read about in this
article can potentially be heard on
U92! For just over three hours, we
lived the high life while drooling
over certain tunes and spitting
on others. I’m your host, Tony
Bones, and this will only hurt for
a second.
“Dropping Some NYC” (1990)
Blues Traveler. Blues Traveler.
[John Popper]: I’d tell a few lies
but my hunger is real.
[Matt]: Yes, it is. Your hunger is very
real, John Popper. And it shows.
[Jared]: John Jalapeno Popper.
[Daniel]: I hate that guitar sound.
Totally clean with a little bit of
chorus.
[Matt]: Sounds like Starland Vocal
Band.
[Tony]: Or Jimmy Buffett.
[Daniel]: He better start playin’
that harmonica or I’m about to
f***in’ flip out.
[Tony]: I think we found the one
track that doesn’t have harmon—
[Micky]: There it is.
[Tyler]: Wait... that’s sax. Soprano
sax.
[Daniel]:
What the f***?
F***
the
saxophone,
where’s the harmonica?
[Matt]: This is the kinda song they
play on a first date montage in a
s***ty movie.
[Tyler]: So for the back cover of the
album, they were all, “Okay, guys,
we’re gonna give everybody spray
paint. And you see, John Popper
ends up thinkin’ the spray paint is
Cheez Whiz.”
[Matt]: I... liked it.
[Jared]: You’re a goddamn liar.
[Matt]: I remember a friend of
mine went and saw Blues Traveler
at like... I don’t remember where
the f*** it was, anyway, he got up
front and got one of John Popper’s
harmonicas, like they threw it
into the crowd. And so he tells
me, “Yeah... I got John Popper’s
harmonica.”
[Tyler]: And there was a piece of
bacon in it!
[Matt]: Owning John Popper’s
harmonica just isn’t something to
brag about, buddy.
“Rock’n Roll Pest Control”
(1984)
Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific
Northwest. Young Fresh Fellows.
[Matt]: Hey, I thought we were the
young, fresh fellows.
[Daniel]: Well, I like it so far, it’s
got that jangly guitar.
[Tony]: Yeah, and it’s all surf rock,
too, without being annoying.
[Matt]: That guitar line’s familiar. I
can’t think of what song, though.
[Jared]: I mean, it’s very similar to
early rock, like Chuck Berry or any
of those dudes.
[Matt]: Oh, it reminds me of X.
Early, like Los Angeles X.
[Tyler]: Well I liked the ending... I
hate that band name though.
[Daniel]: They definitely look like
a bunch of f***in’ nerds. That kinda
makes me like it more.
[Tyler]: That looks like high school
art from the kid in the Sublime
T-shirt.
[Tony]: Dude it’s not even at that
standard. This is like a rejected
design from the people who make
Fuzzy Posters.
[Micky]: Especially for a song called
“Burning Down the Walls of the
City” this is disappointing.
[Tony]: Yeah, this is like what West
Side Story did for gang fights.
[Jared]: I hope this wasn’t really
meant to inspire people to get
angry about something.
[Matt]: Burn down the city... with
positive thinking! ...and then I’ll
crash at yr house.
[Jared]: Burn down the city with
patchouli and begging.
[Tony]: Did he really need to add
the nickname “Sunshine”?
[Matt]: Featuring co-producer
Frank Beeson. That’s Frank “Never
Turn Down a Beer” Beeson, ladies
and gentlemen.
[Tyler]: No, wait! I get it, guys. It’s
like, you’re burning down the walls
of the city... of your mind.
[all at once]: ohhhhhhhhhhhh
[Micky]: The picture on the back of
this sleeve explains how this album
happened. There ya go... cokehead
opportunist and LSD burnout.
“Burning Down the Walls of “Amusement Park” (1986)
the City” (1986)
This Ain’t No Outerspace Ship. Love
Destiny’s Children. Sky “Sunlight”
Saxon & Firewall.
[Tony]: Oh, boy... this definitely
ain’t The Seeds.
[Micky]: It definitely sounds like he
had a hard time leaving the ’70s
behind.
[Matt]: The album cover isn’t
making this any better.
Tractor.
[Daniel]: I feel like liftin’ some
weights, duuuuuude.
[Daniel]: Makes me think of a
motivational montage for like...
Young Einstein.
[Tony]: This is a song for driving
on the beach while your greasy,
moussed-up hair blows in the
wind and you nod and lower
your sunglasses at girls with
bleach blonde perms in bikinis at
stoplights. So I mean it’s basically
from the Miami Vice soundtrack.
[Jared]: Holy f***ing unibrow!
[The band members have glamour
shots on the back cover.]
[Daniel]: Oh wow.
[Micky]: Come on, guys, he shaves
very carefully to make it look that
way.
[Tyler]: I thought someone at the
station drew on his face with a
marker.
[Micky]: That’s the Flying V of
unibrows.
[Matt]: Oh christ, that’s real? It’s
like going down the bridge of his
nose.
[Micky]: It’s like having the
silhouette of a seagull on yr face.
[Tyler]: Yeah, an elementary school
artist’s picture of a bird in the
sunset.
[Micky]: Wait, guys. I think these
pictures are trying to tell us about
their personalities.
[Tyler]: So this guy likes... chairs.
[Micky]: And this guy’s into minigolf obstacles.
[Tony]: Well, wait, our hairy friend
here is next to the burning house
picture, though...
[Matt]: That’s cause he should’ve
burned that s*** off in a house fire.
died in like 1849, so it’s got that
incorrect view of how certain
animals look. This cheetah’s face
has like, eerily human qualities to
it.
[Tony]:
It
reminds
me
of
something... Maybe Camper van
Beethoven? It’s all like a sea shanty
or something.
[Jared]: The dude’s voice actually
reminds me of the dude from Sunny
Day Real Estate.
[Micky]: It almost reminds me of a
Spanish dirge or something, it has
this spaghetti Western feeling to
it.
[Tony]: I like the dude-lady
harmony, too. It works real well
with this style of music.
[Matt]: That was really good. The
Masonic temple on the back helps;
I think if Freemasons really ran the
world, that album would’ve sold
more.
[Tony]: wahhhnt-wahhh.
And now, the top 5 records
#4.
of the night:
“Planes Crashing” (1989)
#5.
The
Taller You Are, The Shorter
“Boxfull of Bones” (1988)
Donner Party. Donner Party.
[Matt]: Kinda sounds like Michael
Stipe.
[Jared]: The cover’s awesome;
it says the artist [Edward Hicks]
You Get. My Dad Is Dead.
[Matt]: Huh, kinda sounds like a
plane crashing.
[Tony]: It sounds like Joy Division
and you f***in’ know it.
[Daniel]: Yeah, they’re tryin’ to get
that disco-y drum sound, but it’s
kinda weird.
[Tony]: I mean, I’m pretty sure the
dude used a drum machine.
[Daniel]: So it’s just one dude?
[Tony]: Yeah not like one-man band
style, and he has dudes he plays
with live, but the records are all
him as far as I know.
[Matt]: This might be the best band
name ever.
[Tyler]: This is kinda mathy, man,
especially at the beginning. It’s got
that Dischord Records sound kinda.
I mean, I’d cover this song.
[Micky]: Yeah, it’s got a lot of
bitchin’ breaks and weird timings
without making it awkward.
[Tony]: I guess you can do s*** like
that pretty easily when you have
that disco drum beat. This song
f***ing slays though, especially the
ending where the two guitars just
kill each other.
[Daniel]: That bass is pretty f***in’
low.
[Tyler]: Yeah this is dark as s***.
[Jared]: Yeah, that was really
good.
#3.
“Private Hell” (1982)
Dig the New Breed. The Jam.
[Daniel]: I guess they’re privatizing
Hell now.
[Matt]: Great. F***in’ Republicans.
[Tony]: I’m glad you can still hear
that killer bassline even though
this was recorded live.
[Daniel]: Yeah he’s tearin’ it up,
that s***’s carryin’ the song.
[Micky]: I like the song, but on the
whole, it seems a little too cool.
[Tony]: Are you kidding? I mean, it
is The Jam. Of course it’s too f***in’
cool.
[Daniel]: I’m not a big fan of that
bridge, it goes all major key and
s***. The rest of the song’s great
though, it’s so creepy and still like
aggressive.
[Tony]: You gotta love British dudes
harmonizing with one another,
too. It sounds like a bar anthem no
matter what the song is.
[Tyler]: I like that the harmony’s
barely there. I mean, it is live,
but it’s just this s***ty out-of-tune
harmony. It’s awesome.
[Jared]: Yeah, that was the best
thing I’ve heard tonight so far.
#2.
“The Evil That Men Do (Pablo’s
Version)” (1989)
President Yo La Tengo. Yo La
Tengo.
[Matt]: Well it already gets points
for havin’ a f***in’ sweet Dodge
Caravan parked in front of a
pyramid on the back cover.
[Tyler]: That rhythm section’s
f***in’ sweet.
[Tony]: Those guitars are just goin’
off. Screamin’ feedback and outof-tune bends all over the place.
[Daniel]: Oh, f*** yeah, and then it
comes together and gets all tight
for when the vocals come in.
[Tyler]: Yeah, this is like... what
my favorite music is. Completely.
Traveling around in an ‘84 Dodge
Caravan, a tight rhythm section,
and everything else just goes f***ing
crazy.
[Tony]: I think I have a new favorite
Yo La Tengo song.
#1.
“Midget Submarines” (1979)
A Trip to Marineville. Swell Maps.
[Daniel]: That dude’s voice, f***
yeah.
[Tyler]: Yeah this is what I like
about Throbbing Gristle, basically.
Like I don’t give a f***, but I gotta
get this outta me.
[Tony]: It always reminds me of
John Lydon, all slurring and bein’
all sloppy.
[Daniel]: This is definitely my
favorite thing so far. When did you
say this was from?
[Tony]: ‘79-ish.
[Daniel]: Yeah I thought you were
gonna say at least like ‘84.
[Tyler]: This ending is some great,
psychedelic noise music.
[Matt]: These dudes are just going
crazy.
[Tony]: I love the way the cymbals
are mixed, it’s a total wall of
sound.
[Micky]: The ending of this song is
a great accompaniment to a night
where you smash everything in
your kitchen.
Lightning Round!
“These Boots Are Made for
Walking” (1989)
The Big Problem ≠ The Solution.
Crispin “Hellion” Glover.
[Matt]: Goddamnit, George McFly,
this is just f***in’ creepy.
[Jared]: Oh, here we go.
[Matt]: This sounds like f***in’ Adam
Sandler.
[Tyler]: Or broke-ass David Byrne.
Extremely broke-ass David Byrne.
[Jared]: Oh my god, this s*** is
awful.
[Tyler]: This is just the whiniest
bulls*** I’ve ever heard in my life.
Yeah, this is a 4-year-old throwin’
a fit.
[Daniel]: He’s basically crying.
[Micky]: To be fair, this is the
perfect mockery of a song that is
just begging to be mocked.
[Jared]: I don’t know, man. This
album offends every sense I have.
It actually wasn’t meant to be
recorded. The tape was just left
recording while he was singing in
the shower with a hangover.
[Matt]: Vocals by Crispin Glover.
Keyboards by Crispin Glover.
Recorded by Crispin Glover.
[Daniel]: I think this is like what
goes on inside Paris Hilton’s brain.
[Matt]: Yeah, leave that synthesized
trumpet on the end, buddy. Great
job.
[Tyler]: I say yes. Final thoughts?
That guy’s f***in’ insane and it’s
pretty awesome to listen to him
tearing apart a song like that.
[Matt]: I say f*** no, f*** no, f***
no.
[Jared]: I’m gonna say no because...
I just cannot condone how he acts.
[Micky]: I give him a massive f***in’
yeah! He bent that song in half and
hit it with a brick in the ear. That
dude’s crazy and a record is the
best place to show everyone how
crazy you are.
[Matt]: Yeah, but he’s...
He’s what?! For the full transcript of the Jukebox Jury, check
out u92.wvu.edu.