Wednesday, July 26, 2006
LD & THE NEW CRITICISM
If you're a fan of Stephin Merritt/the Magnetic Fields/the 6ths/et al., you should feel right at home with LD & the New Criticism. For one thing, lead singer/songwriter LD Beghtol sang on Merritt's magnum opus 69 Love Songs - perhaps most memorably on the mega-charming "Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side."
Also like Merritt, Mr. Beghtol is a bit of a whore when it comes to sharing his talents with the planet - spreading himself thrillingly thin with Flare, Moth Wranglers, and the Three Terrors (with Merritt, natch).
Beghtol takes his latest roll in the hay with the rather collegiate-sounding LD & the New Criticism - a fluid group of like-minded, deep-thinking free-spirits forever torn between their twin obsessions of sex and death (I'm guessing). Also (and here I am again guessing): love and lies. War & peace. Paris. Nicole. Mary-Kate. Ashley. Etc. Ad infinitum.
LD & the New Criticism released their first album, Tragic Realism, on Darla Records last November. The sound? Well, Beghtol pegs it as "experimental countrypolitan deathpop." And, yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Actually... no.
Experimental? Not all that much in the greater scheme of things (upon hearing these 16 tracks, your grandma will not be scandalized; she'll just not get 90% of the references).
Country? Let's just say: "tinged."
Politan? You bet; this is an urban record. Not "urban" as in "Blood v. Crips/"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" "urban," mind you - but "urban" as in "West Hollywood," "the West Village," and... um... "the Pet Shop Boys' cover of the Village People's 'Go West'" "urban."
Deathpop? Well... that one might be right on the money.
(And no, you don't have to be queer to "get" this stuff; you just have to be as well-read, ironic, and just generally cabaret-centric as your average queer.)
(Whoever that may be.)
Truth be told, listeners WILL hear a lot of the Magnetic Fields in these songs - arch, clever lyrics paired with spare, playful instrumentation. (And yes, that DOES mean "ukulele." And "toy piano." "Glockenspiel." "Finger cymbals." "Etc." "Ad infinitum.").
Considering what a superstar Stephin Merritt is in indie circles, it's shocking to me (shocking, I say!) that LD & the New Criticism haven't been all-the-rage in the music blogs over the past eight months. The elbow-patch-on-tweed-sleeve band name probably hasn't helped a whole hell of a lot. Maybe not so much the "experimental countrypolitan deathpop" thing, either.
But only the most unhip of Middle-American, septuagenarian grandmas would be put off by such obviously "ironic" superficialities. The music's the thing. And LD & friends deliver it to the hilt.
[MP3] LD & the New Criticism/"Unpaid Endorsement"
[MP3] LD & the New Criticism/"Apathy!"
[MP3] LD & the New Criticism/"Always the Last to Know"
BONUS TRACKS >>>
[MP3] Moth Wranglers/"Never Said 'I'm Sorry'"
[MP3] The Magnetic Fields/"The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side"
Also like Merritt, Mr. Beghtol is a bit of a whore when it comes to sharing his talents with the planet - spreading himself thrillingly thin with Flare, Moth Wranglers, and the Three Terrors (with Merritt, natch).
Beghtol takes his latest roll in the hay with the rather collegiate-sounding LD & the New Criticism - a fluid group of like-minded, deep-thinking free-spirits forever torn between their twin obsessions of sex and death (I'm guessing). Also (and here I am again guessing): love and lies. War & peace. Paris. Nicole. Mary-Kate. Ashley. Etc. Ad infinitum.
LD & the New Criticism released their first album, Tragic Realism, on Darla Records last November. The sound? Well, Beghtol pegs it as "experimental countrypolitan deathpop." And, yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Actually... no.
Experimental? Not all that much in the greater scheme of things (upon hearing these 16 tracks, your grandma will not be scandalized; she'll just not get 90% of the references).
Country? Let's just say: "tinged."
Politan? You bet; this is an urban record. Not "urban" as in "Blood v. Crips/"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" "urban," mind you - but "urban" as in "West Hollywood," "the West Village," and... um... "the Pet Shop Boys' cover of the Village People's 'Go West'" "urban."
Deathpop? Well... that one might be right on the money.
(And no, you don't have to be queer to "get" this stuff; you just have to be as well-read, ironic, and just generally cabaret-centric as your average queer.)
(Whoever that may be.)
Truth be told, listeners WILL hear a lot of the Magnetic Fields in these songs - arch, clever lyrics paired with spare, playful instrumentation. (And yes, that DOES mean "ukulele." And "toy piano." "Glockenspiel." "Finger cymbals." "Etc." "Ad infinitum.").
Considering what a superstar Stephin Merritt is in indie circles, it's shocking to me (shocking, I say!) that LD & the New Criticism haven't been all-the-rage in the music blogs over the past eight months. The elbow-patch-on-tweed-sleeve band name probably hasn't helped a whole hell of a lot. Maybe not so much the "experimental countrypolitan deathpop" thing, either.
But only the most unhip of Middle-American, septuagenarian grandmas would be put off by such obviously "ironic" superficialities. The music's the thing. And LD & friends deliver it to the hilt.
[MP3] LD & the New Criticism/"Unpaid Endorsement"
[MP3] LD & the New Criticism/"Apathy!"
[MP3] LD & the New Criticism/"Always the Last to Know"
BONUS TRACKS >>>
[MP3] Moth Wranglers/"Never Said 'I'm Sorry'"
[MP3] The Magnetic Fields/"The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side"
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
I have this memory - which may or may not have much to do with reality - of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and the Go-Go's' "We Got the Beat" both getting huge radio airplay at around the same time back in '81 or '82. I would have been about 11. For me, at least, it's been all downhill since.
Of course, it couldn't have been a picnic for Joan, either. After all, having a monster hit like "Rock 'n' Roll" often sounds the death knell for even the most promising of young artists. But Joan Jett was anything but a babe-in-the-the-woods even then, having been a member of the jailbait-as-marketing-tool band the Runaways for three years - a band that was (dare we say it) "big in Japan" and producers of the hit song "Cherry Bomb."
Post-"I Love Rock 'n' Roll," Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have released records somewhat sporadically (though 1988's Up Your Alley went platinum on the strength of the Top 10 single "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and 1994's Pure and Simple served as something of a comeback album). And, yet again proving her resiliency, Jett survived the 1987 cinematic debacle Light of Day with Michael J. Fox.
Which finally brings us to 2006 and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' latest CD, Sinner. Peering out from the cover with a bit of kittenish come-hither, the now 45-year-old Jett still looks like she could carve out a man's kidneys with one expertly finessed stiletto. More importantly, the music still packs the hard-rock heft and tough-chick riffs that have always defined her sound with the Blackhearts. So... call it another comeback if you must, but Joan Jett has been making this type of music for a full two/thirds of her life, not to mention inspiring the next generation(s) of riot grrls to strap on guitars and make just as big a racket as the boys ever did or ever could. She empowers them also with her stature as founder and leader of Blackheart Records for the past 25 years and as host of her own Sirius radio show, Joan Jett's Radio Revolution.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are currently on the road with this summer's Warped Tour. Check out their MySpace page [here] for a list of upcoming shows.
[MP3] "A 100 Miles Away"
[MP3] "Everyone Knows"
Of course, it couldn't have been a picnic for Joan, either. After all, having a monster hit like "Rock 'n' Roll" often sounds the death knell for even the most promising of young artists. But Joan Jett was anything but a babe-in-the-the-woods even then, having been a member of the jailbait-as-marketing-tool band the Runaways for three years - a band that was (dare we say it) "big in Japan" and producers of the hit song "Cherry Bomb."
Post-"I Love Rock 'n' Roll," Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have released records somewhat sporadically (though 1988's Up Your Alley went platinum on the strength of the Top 10 single "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and 1994's Pure and Simple served as something of a comeback album). And, yet again proving her resiliency, Jett survived the 1987 cinematic debacle Light of Day with Michael J. Fox.
Which finally brings us to 2006 and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' latest CD, Sinner. Peering out from the cover with a bit of kittenish come-hither, the now 45-year-old Jett still looks like she could carve out a man's kidneys with one expertly finessed stiletto. More importantly, the music still packs the hard-rock heft and tough-chick riffs that have always defined her sound with the Blackhearts. So... call it another comeback if you must, but Joan Jett has been making this type of music for a full two/thirds of her life, not to mention inspiring the next generation(s) of riot grrls to strap on guitars and make just as big a racket as the boys ever did or ever could. She empowers them also with her stature as founder and leader of Blackheart Records for the past 25 years and as host of her own Sirius radio show, Joan Jett's Radio Revolution.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are currently on the road with this summer's Warped Tour. Check out their MySpace page [here] for a list of upcoming shows.
[MP3] "A 100 Miles Away"
[MP3] "Everyone Knows"
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