Maayan Nidam – Nightlong

So the story goes something like this. Tokyo-based PowerShovelAudio travels to Cuba and records some local jazz musicians there. Then these recordings are delivered to Maayan Nidam, who more frequently performs under the name Miss Fitz, in Berlin for remixing.

The results, collected on this album called “Nightlong,” are at once soulful, funky, elegant, and refined. In fact, the only other way I could imagine creating sounds like these would be to put Ricardo Villalobos in a time machine and send him back 50 years to produce that Art Blakey-Horace Silver Jazz Messengers’ lp with Nica’s Dream on it. And, as you can see from above, the cd package is illustrated with wonderful photos by Daido Moriyama.

All of which makes “Nightlong”  a uniquely brilliant work of art that succeeds at along every dimension.

Sister Suvi – The Lot

last night on my bike i went for a long long ride

i went to the edge of the island so so wide

at the edge the ground runs out and it all turns to black

when you hit the dark st. laurence there’s no more turning back

last night on my bike i went for a long long ride

i went to the edge of the island so so wide

at the edge the ground runs out and it all turns to black

when you hit the dark st. laurence there’s no more turning back

Pray for Polanski – The Death of Dennis Patrick Robbins

Pray for Polanski have a new full-length out on F Nice Records. Called “The Death of Dennis Patrick Robbins.”

Overall, the style isn’t too much different from that displayed on “The Ghost and Bones,” their 6-song ep that was one of my favorites from last year. You might say it’s one part rockabilly, two parts country gothic, and seven parts straight-ahead rock and roll. But the production is a bit more polished on the new album, which suits the music well. And the songwriting, though certainly a strength on the ep, is even better and more consistent on this new disk.

But, as fans of Pray for Polanski know, the very good turns to great for this band when Aviv Rubinstein and Anne Warnock’s vocals join together. Just like John Doe and Exene’s used to. And best of all, there are a lot of those moments on the new album.

You can download several of the songs from “The Death of Dennis Patrick Robbins” here for free, courtesy of the fine folks at F Nice.

Tristan da Cunha – Irrevolution

You know that guy sitting in the back row of your math class, who works through proofs with style and ease, who can can tell you the difference between what’s in Rudin‘s “Principles of Mathematical Analysis” versus what’s in “Real and Complex Analysis,” AND who can tell you where the best parties are this Saturday night? Probably, he’d also tell you that Tristan da Cunha are one of his favorite local bands. And guess what? They’re one of my favorite local bands, too. They play what I call “serious music that doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

Two years ago, the band put out an album called “Instanter,” which became my favorite of 2007. Now, they’re back with this new one, “Irrevolution.” Ten songs, written between 2002 and 2008, all of which sound like what you’d think the Minutemen’s might sound like if they went on for 4 minutes instead of just 90 seconds.

For more on Tristan da Cunha, see this article from the Phoenix. Then check out their Myspace page, where you can hear “Four Selected Screenplays” from the old lp and “Bless the Beasts (Not the Children)” from the new.

Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

Bibio's "Ambivalence Avenue" - Warp Records (2009)

Summer of 1979. Chic’s “Good Times” ruled the charts and rightly so. A great summertime anthem about outdoor parties, clams on the half shell, and roller skates.

But what I always found most interesting about that song was the irony that I thought I detected not far underneath its glossy surface. For a long time I wondered whether this might just be my imagination, but Nile Rodgers confirms that the intention was there in this interview. Unemployment and inflation both on the rise, but “leave your cares behind” as the composers tell us. And of course the worst was yet to come ….

Exactly thirty years later, I hear Stephen Wilkinson/aka Bibio’s new album in the same way. Blending together elements of folk, electronic, and even hip-hip and R&B, this is the perfect summer album: breezy, cool, and danceable, perfect for outdoor parties. But what makes the record really interesting for me is the feeling of unease — or should I call it ambivalence? – that seems to lurk just underneath the music’s surface. Profits are up at the big banks, and we’re told that the economy’s starting to get back on track, so “let’s put an end to this stress and strife.”  But why do I still have the feeling that the worst has yet to come?

See what I mean: you can listen to one of the best tracks, “Fire Ant,” from this excellent new album on Bibio’s myspace page.

David Bowie – Stay (1975)

Broken Social Scene – Anthems (Live)

God Help The Girl – Self-Titled LP

God Help The Girl is a side project of Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch. All the details can be found here in an interview or here in a video, so there’s no need to repeat them all here.

But, just to summarize. Murdoch writes a bunch of songs that would sound better performed by a 1960s-era female vocalist than by Belle and Sebastian. So he runs a newspaper ad: “girl singer needed for autumnal recording project.” And auditions a bunch, several of whom appear on this delightful self-titled lp.

So, yes, the record sounds just like you’d think a Stuart Murdoch 1960s girl-group-inspired side project would sound. But leaving it at that fails to do the whole thing justice. Beyond the wonderful vocal performances and instrumental arrangements, what really makes this album great is the songwriting. The poetic stories that Murdoch has come up with, and the charming characters he introduces to help him tell us those stories, put God Help The Girl on par with the very best of Belle and Sebastian’s work.

Pernice Brothers – Somerville

Still love this one!

Dinosaur Jr – Farm

Lou Barlow, Murph, and J Mascis - Dinosaur Jr

In the informative and highly entertaining chapter on Dinosaur Jr from his book, “Our Band Could be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991,” Michael Azerrad introduces the three band members as follows.

(J Mascis) “… grew up somewhat aloof and self-absorbed. All the furniture in his room was arranged to create a wall around his bed, and there he’d lie for hours, listening to music. Green plastic curtains covered the windows, suffusing the room with emerald light, and the floor was literally covered with stuffed animals and records.”

(Low Barlow) “… found it difficult to make a new set of friends. ‘I retreated into my room and that was it,’ he says, ‘I never came out.'”

(Murph) “… had some doubts about the group; a self-described ‘hippie-punk,’ he was pretty seriously into partying, something the straight edge Mascis and Barlow turned up their noses at. ‘They always thought I was a pot-smoking jerk,’ says Murph. ‘They totally had that righteous, fascist attitude. I used to laugh at them and say, “Wow, you guys are really uptight to be so secular in your thinking.”‘”

And after recounting many stories about the “creative differences” that plagued the band both before and immediately after its initial existence, Azerrad concludes by suggesting that if the original trio had not broken apart after the release of their third album, “Bug,” in 1988, they might have been the ones enjoying the fame and fortune that Nirvana won instead just a few years later.

Perhaps. After all, Dinosaur Jr were one of the first bands to combine elements of heavy metal and classic rock with punk.  And they also kind of always were a singles-oriented band, with “Little Fury Things,” “Freak Scene,” and so on. And though I don’t know how many records he actually sold or how much money he made off of it, Lou Barlow/Folk Implosion’s “Natural One” from the “Kids” soundtrack did turn into something of a radio hit in the mid-1990’s.

But I for one am glad it didn’t work out that way. Almost certainly, the story would have been different from Nirvana’s in any case. More likely, based on the stories that Azerrad tells, the band members would have killed each other, instead of killing themselves like Kurt Cobain did. Or they would just have lost their creative edge as they got older, richer, and more popular. Instead, they went their separate ways for a couple decades before coming back in 2007 with the excellent “Beyond” and now in 2009 with the even better “Farm.”

So, yeah: it’s true. “Farm” is as good as if not better than anything else Dinosaur Jr has ever released, save for 1987’s “You’re Living All Over Me,” and that’s only because “You’re Living All Over Me” is probably one of the 10 or 20 best lps of all time. Lou Barlow’s song, “Imagination Blind” is my personal favorite on this new one, but there is plenty to enjoy from J Mascis as well, including “Plans,” “See You,” and “I Want You to Know,” all of which have stars next to them in my notes. Long live Dinosaur Jr!

“I Want You to Know” is a free download from the Jagjaguwar website.