2007 in reissues/compilations/live albums

Neil Young- Live at Massey Hall 1971


Neil Young, like a lot of great artists, has taken a lot of career detours in his time, some bad and some good (others downright terrible, but that's another matter for discussion), but always intriguing. While it's great to hear him rock out with Crazy Horse, some of the songs lend themselves to a more simple arrangement, and this live album, sandwiched between the behemoth After The Goldrush and Harvest LPs, is in that very vein of intimacy. Recorded at Toronto's Massey Hall, it's quite apparent that Neil felt right at home singing in front of his fellow Canucks, and the audience response to these mostly new songs was rapt. Hearing "Old Man" in its incarnation here is just as good as the Harvest version, and "Cowgirl In The Sand," "Tell Me Why," "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and "See The Sky About To Rain" are other highlights. There's just something so comforting about hearing that whiny voice sing these beauteous songs.
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Leonard Cohen

Songs of Leonard Cohen
Songs From A Room
Songs of Love and Hate
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Leonard Cohen's first three albums, reissued this year by Columbia/Legacy, have a timeless, unshakable quality about them that quickly established him as one of the premier songwriters of the 60s and 70s, although he was far exceeded by other contemporaries like Bob Dylan in terms of record sales and critical reception. While Cohen's voice has been a cigarette-stained "come hither" baritone for the past 30 years or so, (with a lot of his recent records being a mixed bag) these first three records are the devil's business. Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs From A Room are the best of the three, with the former's hushed, beautiful melodies and dark lyrics standing in contrast to the latter's numerous biblical references ("Story of Isaac"), allusions to Vietnam ("The Butcher") and comparitively upbeat mood. Songs of Love and Hate is plenty dour, but still has some strong songs like the foreboding "Avalanche" and "Famous Blue Raincoat." All albums include previously unreleased tracks, the first with the unheard tracks "Store Room" and "Blessed Is The Memory", the second with alternate versions of "Bird On The Wire" and "You Know Who I Am" and the third with a different take of "Dress Rehearsal Rag."
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Elliott Smith- New Moon


You just never know with these posthumous releases. Thankfully, since Elliott Smith's untimely passing in 2003, those in charge of his music and preserving his legacy have shown a considerable amount of restraint in what they've decided to release. This is the second album since his death, the first being the uneven From a Basement on the Hill, and while there are more than a few throwaway tracks, the recordings from this particular time, 1994-1997, show him at his most creative and intimate. Smith was constantly saddled with the depressing sad sack tag, and while a good number of the songs on Moon display a tragic beauty, there are others that show him in a different light, like the playful "New Monkey." The strongest song of the set, "High Times," builds to an emotional peak that threatens to completely collapse on itself, and his cover of Big Star's "Thirteen" adds a layer of sadness not heard in the original. It's also interesting to hear works in progress, such as an early version of "Miss Misery" and "Pretty Mary K," wholly different from what ended up on Figure 8. Just as renowned patriot and car-sellin' madman John Cougar Mellencamp said, Smith made it hurt so good.
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The Traveling Wilburys- The Traveling Wilburys Collection

What do you get when you cross an ELO sheepdog, a cantankerous folkie, a gentle Beatle, a velvet crooner and Chryssie Hynde's long lost brother? A lot of body and facial hair. The Traveling Wilburys Collection is long overdue, especially considering that the main albums in question, Volume 1 (with Roy Orbison) and Volume 3(post-Orbison) have been out of print for years. It's good to finally see it all in one place, and the Wilburys were a rare supergroup that didn't suck. Part of the reason these songs still sound so fresh is because you could tell that these guys, despite being mammoth rock icons, were just having a hell of a time and not taking things seriously at all. The first record benefits tremendously from having Roy Orbison, (who died shortly after its release), but the second album is just as fun, what with the "Wilbury Twist" and Jeff Lynne's production also in full focus. The Collection includes a DVD with a making-of documentary and all of the band's videos, and each of the two records come with bonus tracks, including a cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway." If you're a fan of any of the respective Wilburys--that is, Lucky-Boo (Bob Dylan), Otis-Clayton (Jeff Lynne), Charlie T. Jr./Muddy (Tom Petty), Nelson-Spike (George Harrison), or Lefty (Orbison), it probably won't take you too long to realize that you need to own it.

Interview with Steve Albini of Shellac

SHELLAC have proven to be pillars of integrity within the underground music community over the past 14 plus years, releasing records on their own terms and touring whenever it fits their schedule, be it Iceland, Italy, or your own backyard. Excellent Italian Greyhound, their first full-length LP since 2000's 1000 Hurts, is quite possibly the best of their career so far. Never for a lack of words or rapier wit, I spoke with guitarist/vocalist Steve Albini over the phone at his studio, Electrical Audio in Chicago, having recently gotten back from the Tape Op conference held here in Tucson, Ariz.


(photo courtesy of Ryan Russell)





In your own words, how would you describe Shellac's music?

It sorta depends on who's asking the question. When I'm talking to my Mom, I would say, well you know, rock music. Kinda like that. If I'm talking to somebody who's involved in the music scene in some way, I would say, if they aren't familiar [with our music] we're kinda a minimal band, a minimalist band. If it's, you know, someone from another planet, I would say that we're trying to express, through sound, ideas lodged in our consciousness--sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant, but we're...for reasons that we can't articulate, we feel compelled to express them.

Has it been easier or harder to operate in the method that Shellac operates over the years?

Easier than what? Harder than what? It's all we do, it's all we know, so I'm assuming that it's incredibly easy, because I'm lazy and I wouldn't do anything difficult.

So really, how you guys have decided to operate hasn't affected touring, or...

Oh, sure it has, but I think it's affected it in ways that are positive. I think it's given us a very low burden of responsibility, it's given us a maximum window of freedom of expression and experience and it's given us a pretty strong foundation in what we do and don't like.

We're in a musical climate now where albums are constantly being reissued/repackaged or bands release albums every two years, whereas you guys tend to release albums whenever the hell you feel like it.

Exactly. When we have an album worth releasing, we'll release it, and if we don't, we're not gonna press the issue and try to come up with something.

Do you feel that's allowed for more creativity?

Well, we work on songs individually until they become performable, and then we'll start playing them in the set, and then over time other things come to mind that we want to try and we'll try building up a vocabulary of new songs. Almost all the songs that make their way to records are songs that we play live. Sometimes we don't play them live as a significant part of the set, like we'll only play them a few times and realize that we're not that fond of them in a live setting but still be worthwhile for recording, and sometimes they'll work great live but when we try to record them, they'll be lame.

Was that the case with [unreleased song] "Hang On"?

Yeah, we had a song called "Hang On" that we were doing for a couple of years, actually, and it seemed to work well live, but whenever we tried to record it seemed like the missing element, that is the live sensation of being there with an audience, that kept it from being any good. Just doing a recording of it seemed like it wasn't doing the idea justice. We tried recording it several times, and it just sucked every time so we blew it off.

I'm not gonna ask the question that everyone else seems to be asking, which is: why the hell it took you guys so long to release the album...

Well the short version for why it takes us a long time is that we work very slowly. The long version is that there are institutional delays as well. The record came out this year in June, we had it finished the previous May, it's just that it takes a very long time for the record company [Touch & Go] to get all the parts together. The packaging was relatively complex, there were multiple parts, we had to source all the parts, we had to get everything printed and assembled and shipped. All the stuff other than making a record that goes into making a record can make it hang on for like a year, and that's what happened with this record.

With everything that's happened politically since your last album came out (2000's 1000 Hurts), how do you feel about the current state of affairs in the U.S.?

Well, clearly we've lived through the worst presidential administration of my lifetime. I mean, I lived through Nixon, I saw how ugly it can get, but there are things you can say about Nixon and foreign policy that are not embarrassing. There aren't that many, but there are some, like for example, he began the process of normalizing relations with China. Whatever happens there, that was a necessary step. I can't think of a single fucking thing, say, in George Bush's defense. When people come back to us in 50 years and say, "Why did you let this go on?" there won't even be that much of a caveat to say, well, you know, there was a little something there that was a valuable element of his administration. There's nothing. So our political persuasion is probably the same as anybody else that lived through this. If you're a bajillionaire, then you probably think it's awesome. If you're not a bajillionaire, then you probably think it's the worst thing you've ever seen.

What are some records you've been excited about in the past few years?

Let's see....very, very fond of [Chicago band] the Bitter Tears. I like every Dead Meadow record. They seem to be meandering a little away from their original archetype, which I think is healthy, but I still buy their records and I still like them. Um...what else is good? That's about it. [laughs]

From a recording point of view, how hard has it been to remain in the analog domain now that everyone has done digital wild?

I mean, it's super easy, it's totally normal for me. It gets difficult when things like the supply of tape tightens up or when you need to buy spare parts for tape machines. Those sorts of things cause consternation, but actual recording? Easy as pie. Running the recording sessions on analog tape? Super easy. Super duper easy for me.

Do you feel a bit exhausted having to defend recording analog, since it seems like everyone and their Mom who's an engineer is using [digital recording software] ProTools? Do you feel like a lot of people are trying to put it on you to do it?

No, in fact it virtually never comes up. When a band shows up, they're happy to get a record made, they don't particularly care whether I'm doing it on tape or not. Occasionally, they'll be surprised how much easier things are than they thought they'd be if they were recording on tape. In fact, people have crazy notions for what recording on tape means, like you don't get take two, for example, or you can't edit things, or you can't do punch-ins. They have crazy notions like that, and it's all based on ignorance of the history of the medium. I mean, that's where all that stuff was invented.

You've been recording for awhile, you just did the latest album for your longtime heroes The Stooges (The Weirdness). What are some albums you wish you had worked on or, if you had the opportunity, what are some bands you'd like to work with?

I don't really think in terms of "Boy, I wish I had done that record..." with the exception of historical situations where it would've been cool to have...like there are a few audio recordings of people like H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain, and that sorta thing, it would be nice to have hung around with those guys. I don't really think sort of wistfully about what records it would've been nice to have worked on. If it comes up, I would love to do a Crazy Horse record, or an AC/DC record or a ZZ Top record. Any of those bands that I think--whose aesthetic I think suits the way I do things. I would love to do a Willie Nelson record someday. Dolly Parton. Any of those people I think I could do justice to them working in their natural idiom.

Do you think it's possible that any of those people would call you up someday?

Oh no. I think that's crazy thinking. Yeah. I would've said the same thing about the Stooges, except the Stooges with Mike Watt involved are actually sort of moving into some of the same circles that I travel into, and so that seems less crazy.

Listening to Excellent Italian Greyhound, I was struck by "Genuine Lulabelle," because it really isn't like any other Shellac song we've heard so far. Could you give a little background on the song and the decision to have the voice-overs in the middle?

Well, we're actually being kind of coy about who it is that's on the record, but not for legal reasons. Mainly because the function of those voices is that they're supposed to trigger memories--you're supposed to hear those voices, and they're supposed to jar your memory and they're supposed to be identifiable. That song is about the different perspectives of memory on incidents of extreme behavior and how culturally, women are not encouraged to embrace their reckless past to the degree that men are, and specifically, how a lot of men, when they're eulogized, their misadventures are remembered fondly, almost as sort of capstones of their existence on the planet. Whereas women's indiscretions are generally never mentioned, or if they are mentioned, they're always mentioned in sort of a disparaging fashion.

The whole song is basically about the place of memory and what memories of an incident, or a series of incidents--what use they can be to other people. The reason we wanted to get professional voice-over people involved is partly because they have voices that are instantly recognizable and are likely to stir memory, and also because that facet of their voice--that it stirs memory--is a commodity to them, and that's yet another use of memory. That memory then becomes something that is valuable in a literal sense and you can charge money for it, you know? Those are all parts of the conversation that came into play when we were coming up with that song. I mean, there's more to it, but I would be boring you and there's very little likelihood that it would enrich your appreciation of the song.

Well, I had no idea that Shellac were feminists.

Well, it's a notion that's come up in the past. There are other songs that we have that have sort of feminist agenda lyrics or perspective, but if I go through the effort of explaining them I'll feel like an idiot.

No, I think it's cool, it gives a different perspective to the song. Some of the songs on the new album have been around awhile, like "Spoke." How much were the older songs reworked when you went into the studio?

Well, every time you play a song that's capable of being interpreted differently, you wanna try to make it fun to play on that evening, and so you're likely to do some things differently than you did the evening before. There's also the sort of drift that the song undergoes where it started out being kinda happy and its worked its way into sad and then we get fed up with it being sad and then you'll work it around back into happy again and that kinda thing. So I can't quantify it for you, I can't say that these songs are different by a value of 4 or anything [laughter]--but every time we play we make a conscious effort to move along so that the songs don't stagnate and petrify.

Is the songwriting pretty much still a collaborative effort?

Yeah, absolutely.

With this record and 1000 Hurts, you've added in different elements, and the band seems to be shifting ever so slightly into another direction...

I kinda think that our records are fairly consistent, like if you appreciate our band, then anybody who's a fan or knows our records will probably feel like this record fits in with the other records and anybody who's not familiar with our music...after the amount of time that we've been around and the degree of dissemination that our records have had, anybody that's not familiar with us by now is probably not gonna like it if they're exposed to it at this point. I kinda feel like we've found our natural audience, and we're perfectly comfortable with that natural audience. We're not trying to talk anybody else into liking us.

So it's pretty much just a natural progression?

Yeah, we still just play what amuses us. We literally have no agenda for what we're doing other than that we want to continue enjoying it.

As witnessed at Shellac's live shows, [drummer] Todd Trainer has proven himself to be a bona fide rock star and a sex symbol for our times...

I'm down with that idea. I mean, I'm certainly not gonna do it, so more power to him.

Has this created any clashing of egos within the band?

Oh, hell no! We're as amused by that as anyone else could be. All of us are really into the idea of Todd becoming super famous and being, like, a complete chick magnet, I think that's a fantastic idea.

Will Todd continue to contribute songs on Shellac albums?

God, I hope so. I think he's a genius.

I thought it was great that he did the "New Number Order" song [on 1000 Hurts].

Yeah, I'm very fond of that song. I mean, it's a bit of a novelty, and it's fairly slight, but I think there's a place for that sort of thing on all our records. We've had things like that on all our records, like songs that are not necessarily meant to be career-defining things, but they have serious intent to them. Like songs like that and "Boche's Dick" [off At Action Park] and on the new record there's a song called "Kittypants," which is fairly light, but I think they all have a place.

That's actually a song I wanted to ask about. Kittypants is the name of one of the cats at Electrical Audio, is that right?

Yep.

Is it sort of a tribute to the cat or was it just the first name that popped up?

I was talking to my girlfriend and she said it would be nice if I wrote a song for Kittypants, and I had this little instrumental bit, this little guitar part that I'd been goofing around with and I decided that the next song that I wrote, we would dedicate it to Kittypants, and turns out, that was it.

Great! Well, thanks a lot for taking the time to do this. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

No! My time is worth money! Gotta go!

A real Dutch treat

Zwartboek [Black Book]

(directed by Paul Verhoeven)

Oh, that slippery Paul Verhoeven. He's not content to just schlock it up a'la Showgirls or Starship Troopers. He has to go ahead and make an amalgam of half serious art film and big budget war drama called Black Book. And it's actually very, very good. The radiant Carice Van Houten plays a Jewish woman whose entire family has been offed on their way to freedom. She joins the Dutch resistance and in the process, also seduces an SS Untersturmfuhrer (sorry, it's just really fun to write) played by the excellent Sebastian Koch from The Lives of Others. They make with the hanky-panky as she tries to get information to help the resistance, but she also happens to fall in love with the charming, sensitive Nazi. Nothing is as it seems in Black Book, and Verhoeven seems to relish playing with convention, a refreshing change from other WWII films of recent years.

A "Private" Screening

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

(directed by Gus Van Sant)

Of all the young actors in Hollywood in the early 90s, perhaps the most diverse and talented was River Phoenix, who in movies like Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho showed a vulnerability and dedication to his craft that is rare to witness. While Gus Van Sant has gone on to do good work since Idaho, (To Die For, Elephant), nothing has quite matched up to it--a bizarre, moving and wholly original story about two male hustlers on the road to who-knows-where. William Richert, who played the larger than life Falstaffian mentor Bob Pigeon in the film, dropped by the Loft in Tucson to discuss working on Idaho, as well as his other directorial efforts, such as the Jeff Bridges cult movie Winter Kills and A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, also starring Phoenix. Richert also played an unreleased song that Phoenix originally wrote for Reardon that the producers didn't want in the film.

Seeing Idaho on the big screen, I was struck by two things: first, what a great movie it is; second, how in the hell did it ever get made? This was a question that Richert addressed at the screening, a question that he himself didn't know how to answer. It seems even less likely nowadays that two major stars would commit to a movie rooted in homosexuality that's also loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry the IV parts I and II, as well as Henry the V.

River Phoenix, in the role of Mike Waters, gives a performance so subtle and incredible that you can't help but feel robbed of his gift as an actor (Phoenix died in 1993 at the age of 23) . While Keanu Reeves is generally thought to be on the other spectrum of acting talent, his peformance as the rich nitwit Scott Favor really isn't half bad.

Van Sant went on to do the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, as well as remake Psycho and the Sean Connery stinker Finding Forrester. He's since gone back to more small scale projects like Idaho, which I sincerely hope he sticks to, as it's clearly his strong suit.

The rise and fall of the Lynchian "Empire"

Inland Empire (directed by David Lynch)


Off the heels of one of the best films of Lynch's career, 2001's masterful Mulholland Drive, Signor Lynch decided to make a 3-hour-long film-within-a-film-within-a rabbit-world-within-Poland, shot entirely in digital, about a woman in trouble. To talk about the plot of the movie is to explain what seems to be a series of dreams, or at least a series of realities. You're not quite sure what is real or what is a dream, and at about the 1 1/2 hour mark, you're not really starting to care, either. Part of the allure of Mulholland Drive was that it was an enigma wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in Billy Ray Cyrus' mullet. You cared about the characters and there was enough startling imagery to carry you along for the ride. In Inland Empire, the intrigue is about as fleeting as the career of Jonathan Brandis.

Laura Dern stars as Nikki Grace, the aforementioned woman in trouble, and things get off to a peculiar start when a strange neighbor (Grace Zabriskie) makes a house call. You see, there is supposedly a Polish gypsy curse attached to the movie that Dern and her co-star (Justin Theroux) have signed on to do, called On High In Blue Tomorrows, and the cast and crew of the film are not quite sure what they've got themselves into. We the audience don't either.

There is a certain allure to the first act, which mainly deals with Nikki's Polish husband making dark threats to Theroux's character and a suitably creepy mood is set. I was anxious to see where Lynch was going with the gypsy curse, but unfortunately the director gets sidetracked with other possibilities, such as a rabbit family doing household chores or grim scenes filmed in Poland that are apparently attached to the main story somehow.

David Lynch is an immensely talented filmmaker, his last three pictures being quite possibly the best work he's done. Therefore it's all the more depressing to see him resort to something like Inland Empire, which rests somewhere between Wild at Heart and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me as his least satisfying work. Nonetheless, there are definitely moments that make Empire worthwhile--I can't think of them right at this moment but I'll definitely get back to you. It seems like no matter how bad a Lynch movie is, there are still fans of his lesser work (there's apparently a cult of Dune-heads but I still haven't yet mustered the strength to check that one out). You know you're in trouble when you're watching a movie and suddenly you start thinking about how badly the kitty litter needs scooping. Let's just hope Lynch has more Mullholland Drive's than Inland Empire's left in him.