The Wheel's Still In Spin

Best Albums Of July 2007

1. Gogol Bordello – Super Taranta! | buy it at insound!

   Lead by Eugene Hutz, who co-starred in the film “Everything Is Illuminated,” this international group of musicians creates fantastic gypsy punk! This album has a great energy level and unique songs. I can only imagine that this band’s live show is even more memorable.



2. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga | buy it at insound!

   Another stellar release from this Austin band. The lyrics subtly comment on some modern themes, but with a hint of vague abstraction. Musically, the band delves into familiar pop realms. Overall, they create another distinct pop album.



3. Los Campesinos – Sticking Fingers Into Sockets | buy it at insound!

   With lines like, “Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop,” this band reminds me like a combination of Pavement and Bran Van 3000. All 6 tracks on this EP are catchy, intelligent, and upbeat. If only this album were longer. I need more. I need more. I’ve got my belt wrapped around my forearm. I’ve slapped the inside of my elbow. I’ve found a vein. But there isn’t enough. This EP is only 16 minutes long. I need more. I need more.



4. John Vanderslice – Emerald City | buy it at insound!

   Vanderslice is a fantastic songwriter. He seems to delve into the characters in his songs to create incomparable musical vignettes. With his newest album he deals with the issues of paranoia and war while trying to “see both sides.” He seems to create a view of the ideals that are currently separating America.



5. Bishop Allen – The Broken Strings | buy it at insound!

   This is very polished album by Bishop Allen. While the album doesn’t have a song as immediately catchy as “Things Are What You Make Of Them” from Charm School, this albums still solidifies this band as a modern pop machine.



6. Gallows – Orchestra Of Wolves | buy it at insound!

   My favorite loudest album so far this year. Gallows attack like Black Flag and Shellac. It’s loud, abrasive, aggressive, and melodic.



7. Ra Ra Riot – Ra Ra Riot | buy it at insound!

   This is another impressive, upbeat, debut EP this month. It’s well produced with diverse instrumentations. They are strong drums and guitars interspersed with string arrangements.



8. Alamo Race Track – Black Cat John Brown | buy it at insound!

   This album is full of a retro sounding pop sound. It sounds familiar and original. It’s got a mellow feel to the album, but somehow the disc steadily moves along.



9. The Icarus Line – Black Lives At The Golden Coast | buy it at insound!

   This album sounds loose and aggressive. It screeching punk with an edge.



10. Robbers On High Street – Grand Animals | buy it at insound and receive a free band t shirt!

    This is a pop record full of melodic guitar lines, sensuous keyboards, and affable vocals.

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Pitchfork Music Festival – Union Park, Chicago, IL – July 14th-15th, 2007

I traveled to Chicago this past weekend for the Pitchfork Music Festival. I flew in to town after work on Friday and wasn’t able to make it to the first day of the event, which was the Don’t Look Back day. It featured Slint, GZA, and Sonic Youth each performing one of their albums in its entirety.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with great bands from early afternoon into the evening. The lineup was a diverse set of indie musicians, from De La Soul to Grizzly Bear, from Yoko Ono to Of Montreal. Here’s a list of some of my personal favorite performances.

Eddie's Dada Dogma - A Manifesto For His Impromptu Dance Movement

Dada is not art. Dada was once anti-art. It’s not even that anymore. It’s a loose, free form idea. Its existence may be questionable, but it definitely can’t be denied.

Since the movement started three or four generations ago, it has transformed. It started as the opposite of art. But then it became art. How does the train of anti-art ride upon the tracks of art and still stay distant from both its starting point and destination?

Dada came to light when WWI broke out. People around the world collectively agreed the motives and reasoning of the people in power only lead to war, pain, and hostility.

True anarchists don’t need laws. They don’t even understand them. Good people are going to be good. The laws aren’t necessary to keep these decent folks in line. And criminals are going to break laws if they exist or not. They just hope they don’t get caught. Or that they have enough money to buy their way out of the punishment. So what’s the point to laws in the first place?

It is within the limitless arena that Dada exists. Maybe.

And now, again, we need it. It may not be Dada. It may need a new word to express its boundless irreverence. But now we need it. Our culture needs a complete rejection of itself in order to survive. Or maybe it’s best it doesn’t survive.

P.S. It’s all just a joke. Hopefully you get it.

Read the review of Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

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Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Release Date: 10 July 2007 (Merge)

For their sixth studio release, Spoon has created another music gem. With strong dynamics, the songs can volley from sparse to layered arrangements. Instruments can drop out, but the melodies and rhythms stay intact. Some songs are played with a similar style to previous Spoon tracks, while other moments on the album sound like the band is reinventing itself. Throughout the ten tracks of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga the band presents its miraculously mesmerizing indie pop.

The Underdog (wma)

DaDa DaDa Dancing

Suzy sat on the college green. She was reading her economics text as best she could. It rarely made sense to her. But if she wanted to graduate she had to complete the class.

The sun was shining. It had barely begun to head to the western part of the sky. It was summer session at the university. Not a lot of students enrolled for the summer, but those that did often sat on the green in the afternoon. Some of the students were studying on this clear day. Some were lying out, getting a tan, and avoiding their schoolwork.

It was somewhere between supply and demand that Suzy got the distraction she needed. Two stereo speakers were placed in the window of a dorm adjacent to the green. The music was turned up extremely loud. And it was Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

Guided By Voices – The Night The Buffalo Fell

Every year the Westword, Denver’s free weekly entertainment magazine, has a music showcase. It coincides with the magazine’s ballot for the best local musicians in each musical category. The magazine hosts a multi-venue showcase of some of the musicians on the ballot for only $5. There are also a few national headliners on the bill. On Saturday, June 21, 2003, one of the headliners was Guided By Voices.

Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life by John Sellers

When I was at the bookstore, I opened Perfect From Now On and read the first line. “I hate Bob Dylan.” Even so, I still bought the book. Dylan was the reason I started playing music. When I was in high school, I heard my first Dylan recordings – really listening to them – and was transformed. When Sellers explains his explanation for hating Dylan, it became understandable. His dad forced Dylan on him. I can relate. My parents did something similar, but not as conscious. They played nothing but Neil Diamond for the first five years of my life (to the best of my knowledge). For these precious developmental stages of my life I thought “music” meant “Neil Diamond.”

This is the story of how John Sellers went from listening to Journey and Queen as a child to obsessively dedicating his ears to indie rock, most notable Guided By Voices (read about the first GBV show I ever saw). He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where “you weren’t conditioned to seek out anything.” Luckily early 80’s MTV gave Sellers a glimpse of what else was out there. There was Duran Duran (Again, I can relate. The first tape I ever bought was Arena. It’s true.) and U2. (I still have the cassettes of Boy and War that I stole from my sister.)