Fall Season

[obiwankobe]

Hi gang - Eric J. Lawrence here, back again with musical notes from underground.





Fall is always a busy time for new music. Consequently, there is an avalanche of new titles of note coming. Consider this week alone: new titles include the long-awaited return of Fiona Apple; Franz Ferdinand’s follow-up to their smash debut CD; the domestic release (finally) of UK favorites the Magic Numbers and the Go! Team; the latest from poetic French duo Les Nubians; highly anticipated new albums from indie favorites Ladytron, Broken Social Scene and My Morning Jacket; Sinead O’Connor’s reggae-flavored disc; another polarizing Liz Phair album; a new blast from funky electronic group Sa-Ra; and even Anita Baker’s Christmas CD and live albums from Happy Mondays and Twisted Sister, if you are inclined toward such things. Lots of good reasons to visit your favorite record store or on-line music provider!

Things are no different on the concert circuit. While many big tours come through during the summer, regular concerts are plentiful in fall, as artists make their rounds before the weather becomes too cold. I myself have seen a ton of great live music in the past couple of weeks, including: the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals; legendary Detroit rockers DKT/MC5, playing with free-jazz favorites the Sun Ra Arkestra; troubadours Steve Earle and Kris Kristofferson (who played for nearly 2 1/2 hours himself!); up and coming Australian band the Cat Empire; the return of gothic world music favorites Dead Can Dance; Swedish psychedelic rockers Dungen (pronounced “doon-yen” - despite blowing me off from introducing them from the stage, they still rocked); power pop supergroup the New Pornographers (this was a tough call, because the Fiery Furnaces were playing the same night, but the New Pornographers got the nod, mainly because I’d never seen them before, and hey, Neko Case!); and finally, the birthday celebration for avant-garde composer and keyboardist Terry Riley, featuring performances from electronic wizards Matmos and Japanese noise rockers Acid Mothers Temple. Whew! What shows have you guys seen recently? Anybody top my score of seven concerts in 17 days?

One final note: congratulations go out to Antony Hegarty, lead singer for winning band, Antony and the Johnsons, at this year’s Mercury Prize ceremony, held in London last month. This annual prize goes to the best British or Irish album of the year, as voted by a panel of artists, journalists and industry experts. The selection was somewhat controversial, as Antony and the Johnsons are based in New York City (Antony was born in the UK though). However, their latest CD, I Am a Bird Now, was striking enough to the judges to beat out such distinguished competition as releases from Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, the Go! Team, MIA and Maximo Park, among others.

EJL’S PICKS - Here’s what I’ve been listening to in between concerts:

THE FALL - FALL HEADS ROLL (Narnack) Despite their being my all-time favorite band, I promised myself I wouldn’t use this space to cite every new release of theirs, as that might appear excessive. But darn it if this isn’t their best album in years! While all of their CDs have some killer high-points, I find this one to be consistently good from start to finish. They are an acquired taste, but this is a good place to start for newcomers.

BROADCAST - TENDER BUTTONS (Warp) Acclaimed English indie electronic group Broadcast has been reduced to a duo, but their third full-length CD remains full of sonorous, eerie pulses, perfectly matched by singer Trish Keenan’s 60s-inspired vocals.

CHILDREN OF NUGGETS - various artists (Rhino) Inspired by Lenny Kaye seminal 1972 musical anthology of underground psych-pop and garage rock from the decade prior, Rhino released two boxed sets of the best of this genre. Their latest 4-CD set takes the concept and updates it to feature bands from the next generation of bands (i.e. 1976-1996) who were inspired by the original Nuggets sound, including the Soft Boys, the Cramps, the La’s, Teenage Fanclub, the Church, Flamin’ Groovies, the Smithereens, Primal Scream, and dozens of others. An important and tuneful history lesson.

That’s all for now see you in a couple of weeks. And, as always, if you have any questions or comments, please send them to librarian@kcrw.com. Thanks for reading!

ERIC J. LAWRENCE