Sinking Death's Battleship

I heard about Ingmar Bergman's death via the radio in the ladies room of Uncle Bill's Pancake House in Cape May, New Jersey. Later that day, having lunch on the way home at Snappy's Bar and Grille in Denton, MD, we told High School Girl and her pal a bit about Bergman's work, and they knew about the Death Playing Chess scene - from its parody in the Bill and Ted movie. Grace drew a picture of Death playing chess against Snappy the Turtle, the scary bar mascot, on her placement, titled: "Upon the Passing of Ingmar Bergman."
I think he would have liked it.

And now on to the music...

Seen with my Own Eyes (Thursday, July 26th):
1. GREAT NORTHERN – Trading Twilight for Daylight (Eenie Meenie Records)
I’d never been to the Backstage the Black Cat before, but it’s a great little space for about 100 fans or so to enjoy an intimate show. This CD has been in heavy rotation since I got it some weeks ago, and I missed an earlier opportunity to see the band play live, so I jumped at the chance – even though it was the night before the early AM departure for Cape May – and I was glad I did.
As in my previous experience with Fields, the band surprised me live, with much more volume and energy than the mellow vibe of the CD, but it was quite good. The guitarist had power, the dual female presence (keyboard/vocals and bass) was inspiring, and the addition of a few of the members of Comas at the set’s end made for a party vibe.

(BTW, since I mistakenly counted a different CD twice in the YTD total, I will only count one copy of the Great Northern CD, for which I received a duplicate).

At the club, I scored a freebie:
2. The BEANSTALK LIBRARY – selections from America at Night (self-released?)
At the freebie table, stocked mostly with postcards and flyers of upcoming shows, I found this 3-track homemade disc, with a postcard touting the band’s upcoming show at IOTA, on August 7th.
The band will be celebrating the release of its full-length debut that night.

My Own Cash Money:
3. Tribute to JONI MITCHELL – Various Artists (Nonesuch)
I’d been hoping to get this one as a promo, but took matters into my own hands when Best Buy sent me a 10% off coupon (so it was $13.50). I had to have Prince’s version of “A Case of You,” done in his very best soul-seducer falsetto. The rest of the album is also effective, tho’ a few of the choices are from the later, more obscure JM catalog, and I wish Elvis Costello had chosen to do so something more upbeat than his intense bo-ho reading of “Edith and the Kingpin.”
4. The WHITE STRIPES – Icky Thump (Third Man/Warner)
Another Best Buy discount ($12.70). Wish I could have been there when Meg and Jack rocked the Patriot Center, though I comfort myself with having seen them years ago at the 930 Club, when the buzz was just beginning. Did you see the great etched red vinyl single the pair gave away with issues of NME last month? Gatefold cover, too. JW knows how to appeal to the fetishists among us.
5. PRINCE – Planet Earth (NPG/Columbia)
Didn’t expect to buy this one, but when I saw the lenticular cover winking at me in Target, for a sale price no less ($10), I had no choice. Good first impression, but I can’t cite any songs by name because the purple prankster doesn’t give titles anywhere on the package! Actually, when I load it into iTunes, the songs claim their identity.
6. LIVE FROM GLASTONBURY – Q Magazine
Nice collection of concert tracks from Killers (“Mr. Brightside”), Franz Ferdinand (“Matinee”), Doves, Keane, Zero 7 and more. As such, a chance to find out who can reach the notes outside the studio and who can’t. I love the disc design – graphics of fresh, high, ready to be stomped on grass.
7. VARIOUS ARTISTS – When I Fall in Love: Women of Jazz (Universal)
Another Target cheapie ($2.25!) pulled from the clearance end-caps, where I do much of my best bargain hunting. Bought it in upstate NY while on vacation and it made an excellent companion on the drive from Ossining to Virginia on a Sunday morning with tracks like “A Sunday Kind of Love” (Etta James) and “That Sunday That Summer” (Betty Carter) and choice swinging tracks from the likes of Ella, Billie (spelled Billy on the cover!) and other fine ladies. The only song I had to skip over – “Love Dance” by Diane Schuur, - which had inspid lyrics no proud vocalist could save.
8. SPOON – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new contender for the Next Big Band, a stalwart indie favorite about to smash into the upper tier. Gimme Fiction was a winner, and “I Turn My Camera On” is a track that never ceases to call me back, and now “Underdog” which I trust has nothing to do with the upcoming movie, is coming up as this album’s perpetual favorite. Another sign of the breakthrough – hubby has become smitten, leaving the CD on random repeat with a special fondness for “Cherry Bomb.” Oh, how I wish I had braved the rain for the free show in lower Manhattan during my early July visit to NYC. The Target edition also came with a bonus disc.
9. INTERPOL – Our Love to Admire (Capitol)
Yeah, those bonuses work – this CD came with 3 free iTunes downloads (I passed them on to my brother as part of his birthday gift) and was also a Target sale ($10). While I don’t doubt Interpol’s inherent cool, there’s a chill to the attitude and a sameness to the sound that comes when I listen to the whole CD in one sitting.
10. MEW – And the Glass Handed Kites (Columbia)
This month’s top-of-the-queue selection from yourmusic.com, the automatic monthly $7 online service. I had forgotten it was there, but it came as a pleasant surprise, despite the hideous album design. (Slightly unnerving and just badly done). The music is a bit grand, but the reach rarely exceeds the grasp.

COMING TO TOWN:
This week’s Post preview, to appear Thursday, is a fine triple bill with three up-and-comers:
11. ROCCO DeLUCA and the BURDEN – I Trust You to Kill Me (Ironworks)
12. The MIDWAY STATE – Met a Man On Top of the Hill (Interscope)
13. The LAST GOODNIGHT – Poison Kiss (Capitol)
Out August 28th
All three will appear August 8th at the State Theatre.
14. SAW DOCTORS – The Cure (Shamtown Records)
Coming to the Birchmere on Thursday, August 9th.
15. BIFFY CLYRO – Puzzle (Roadrunner)
New buzz band from Glasgow, Scotland, the geographical location that rivals Austin, Texas for spawning cool new music. The CD comes out on September 18th but the band is opening for Editors at the 930 Club on Tuesday, September 4th.
16. MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE – You’ll Rebel to Anything (Metropolis Records)
Headlining the second stage at the upcoming Projekt Revolution tour, coming to Nissan Pavilion on Sunday, August 19th.
17. MADINA LAKE – From Them, Through Us, To You (Roadrunner)
Also on the Projekt Revolution tour.
18. SUZANNE VEGA – Beauty & Crime (Blue Note)
Playing the Birchmere Tuesday, September 18th.

New Music Advances:
August 4th (usually new albums drop on Tuesdays, but this is what the PR says):
19.COLIN LINDEN – Easin’ Back to Tennessee (True North/Red Eye)
20. STEPHEN FEARING Yellowjacket (True North/Red Eye)
Solo albums from two founding members of BLACKIE & The RODEO KINGS.

August 7th:
21. The WARRIORS – Genuine Sense of Outrage (Victory)
One of the creepiest CD covers in recent memory – a guy with a wolf’s head bursting out of his stomach, Alien-style, and some red goblin-types scurrying about. I gave it the 3-song trial and it was pretty much what a expected – music you might hear as the Death Eaters march on Hogwarts. (I finished the book at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, so I need not fear the spoilers!)
BTW, features a vocal by Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister (I never knew his last name until I just read it in the PR sheet).
22. TESTA ROSA –S/T (Latest Flame)
23. The HOTTEST STATE – soundtrack (Hickory Records/Sony)
New songs by Norah Jones compadre Jesse Harris performed by Willie Nelson, Ms. Jones, Cat Power, Bright Eyes and Feist, among others.

August 14th
24. TURBONEGRO – Retox (Cooking Vinyl)
Norwegian Rockers known for “faux-mo-erotic” lyrics and a sense of gay Spinal Tapian humor.
25. IAN MOORE – To Be Loved (Justice/Yep Roc)
Got two copies of this one, from yet another Austin-based musician. What’s in the water down there?
26. TWO LOONS FOR TEA – Nine Lucid Dreams (Sarathan)

September 25th
27. MIDTOWN DICKENS – Oh Yell! (307 Knox)
28. WAYNE WONDER – Foreva (VP Records)

29. PRENUP – Hell to Pay (Yep Roc)
This trio features Cait O’Riordan, a.k.a the former Pogue and onetime Mrs. Elvis Costello, which is a double dose of meritorious service in my book. The other two players are members of Hothouse Flowers, so you know the whole thing’s gonna kick with a Celtic vibe. Release date still TBA, but due sometime this fall.

Good First Impressions:
30. MARK RONSON – Version (Sony/BMG)
I was chatting with High School Girl and a friend on the day they sat, laptop by laptop, exchanging favorite tunes. We got into a discussion of Amy Winehouse and I mentioned how I wanted to track down the remix CD by her producer. Friend had it! I don’t use peer-to-peer services online but if fate puts me in the direct path of such a gift…call it a Burnt Offering.
31. SUPHALA – Blueprint (Suphala Productions)
This is the Indian/American tabla artist’s third recording, a pleasing blend of traditional and modern sounds, featuring a range if guests like Edie Brickell, Vernon Reid and King Brit. The song titles set the gentle tone: “Music Like a Memory,” “ Seventeen Birds Outside My Window” “I Feel Awake Even Though This is a Dream.” She wrote and produced most of the CD in her Brooklyn basement studio.
32. ANDRE PREVIN – Alone: Ballads for Solo Piano (Decca/Universal)
I put this on during a family dinner on the lake porch and it made a perfect fit – melodic and gentle without slumping into cloying MOR as the old school master plays standards like “It Might as Well Be Spring,” “Night and Day” and “Second Time Around.”

33. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (Artists’ Addiction)
Soundtrack to the critically acclaimed but audience-challenged football series, featuring an exclusive (they say) remix of the Killers’ “Read My Mind” alongside songs from Iron & Wine, Whiskeytown, OutKast, a previously unreleased Jose Gonzalez track and the ever-appealing Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On”! Here’s a trivia bit – the score for the film that inspired the TV show, and much of the music for the series, comes courtesy of Autin’s latest band-to-watch, Explosions in the Sky.

O/CD YTD Total: 637