Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer

A.C. Newman
Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
Saturday, March 21, 2009

Going to see an A.C. Newman solo show is kind of like having your favorite cake, only with a slightly different frosting. It had many of the things you'd expect from a New Pornographers show, just with a slightly different texture. There was a slightly oversized band, infectiously catchy pop songs, and even a red headed singer/violin player that if you squinted really hard looked a little bit like Neko Case. Even if you had shown up expecting Vancouver's pop laureate to play a Pornographers track or two, it was hard to walk away disappointed. Opening with Get Guilty's "There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve" and closing with The Slow Wonder's "Town Halo," the setlist was culled exclusively from his two solo albums. The show may have been slightly shorter, slightly more eclectic, and slightly less raucous than your typical Pornographers concert, but it certainly wasn't any less fun.

It was also the first concert I've ever been to in Nashville where I didn't recognize a single soul. But even with a lot of the usual suspects being in Austin for SXSW, it was a good sized crowd, if not a full house. In fact from a fan perspective, it was perfect. There were enough people there that you didn't feel bad for the band, but there was still plenty of elbow room, even down in front.

A.C. Newman - "Submarines Of Stockholm" (mp3) from Get Guilty

photo by Tanya Wright, lovingly stolen from Nashville Cream

17 Horses

Anyone who's been to this blog more than once knows how much I love Cortney Tidwell. Her last album, Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up, was my absolute favorite CD of 2007, and her shows are absolutely mesmerizing. She will be releasing a new album, Boys, later this year, and she's been kind enough to share one of the new tracks with us. So dig in to a sneak peak of what is sure to be one of my favorite albums of 2009. And if you need visual stimulation while you're listening, check out her new website.

Cortney Tidwell - "17 Horses" (mp3)

I Was A Teenage Rush Geek

I've mentioned before that I used to be a huge Rush fan. Since I talked in that post about how they fell off my musical radar, this time I'll talk about how they got on it.

When I was about eleven, I was at summer camp talking about music with one of my friends. Moving Pictures has just come out, and "Tom Sawyer" was all over the radio. It was my first exposure to the holy trinity of Canadian power trios, so my friend lent me his Walkman and told me I had to listen to the first side of 2112. I laid in a dark tent on a cool eastern Washington evening and for the first time took in the dystopian art rock epic. I won't bother talking about the music... if you've heard it, you either get it or you don't, and if you haven't, you probably don't care to. But to this day it was one of the coolest listening experiences of my life.

So why the walk down memory lane? Because this weekend I saw I Love You, Man. I figured going in that I'd dig it, since it starred both my man crush (Paul Rudd) and one of my top five female crushes (Rashida Jones). And I know I said this about the last Paul Rudd flick I saw too, but seriously... it was one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. And the scene where Rudd and Jason Seigel are jamming in the man cave to "Tom Sawyer" was definitely the hardest I've ever laughed in my life. The GF told me she was afraid people were going to start throwing popcorn at us because I was laughing so loud. I was actually in tears and borderline hyperventilating by the time the scene ended. But anyone who's ever been the slightest bit into Rush probably had the same reaction I did. The movie is as chalk full of Rush references as Role Models was full of KISS jokes... only this time it features a cameo by Geddy, Alex and Neil themselves. I really can't recommend this movie highly enough to everyone. And if you're a Rush fan, past or present, you absolutely NEED to see it.

And so on that note... prepare to be Rushified (note - not my joke).

Rush - "Limelight" (mp3) from Moving Pictures

No Line On The Horizon

U2 - No Line On The Horizon

This review was going to be vastly different from what it had ended up being. When I got a copy of the album three weeks ago, I figured it would be more of a preview. Anyone who's been familiar with my schedule over the past couple of weeks shouldn't be surprised that didn't happen. Then when I failed to get it loaded onto my ipod until last Monday morning, I figured it would be a track-by-track "first thoughts" style review. That idea fell apart when I didn't jot down any notes during said first listen, and subsequently listened to the album five or six more times over the past week. So I guess we'll be going with a more traditional review.

Just about everything I've read about No Line On The Horizon states two things. First, that U2 are "experimenting" again, and second, that the album takes a few listens to grow on you. I've pretty much decided that the first thought is bunk. Sure there are a few more keyboards and programing than their last two albums have had, but these are all things that have been part of the U2 sound ever since Achtung Baby came out eighteen years ago. Really, the only real experimenting came about in the songwriting process. For the first time, producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois are credited as co-writers on seven of the album's eleven tracks. The other somewhat new approach is that after tiring of singing in first person, Bono wrote many of the lyrics through the eyes of different characters.

As for the thought that the album is a grower, not a shower, I'd probably have to agree. I'll admit that there wasn't a whole lot that really jumped out at me on first listen, other than the title track and "Breathe," but it seems to reveal itself a little bit more on each successive listen. I've gone on record repeatedly that I wasn't sure how I felt about the first single, "Get On Your Boots," but the song definitely seems to work better when taken in context of the entire album. For all the talk about going in a different direction with this record, there is actually quite a bit of old U2 evident. "No Line On The Horizon" sounds a bit like "The Fly" after taking a couple of Valium, and you can also find bits reminiscent of "Mysterious Ways" (the solo on "Moment of Surrender" ) and "The Three Sunrises" (the intro of "Unknown Caller"). "Stand Up Comedy," with a riff that's already been used by a thousand mediocre jam bands, is probably one of the weakest tracks the band has ever included on an album, but they make up for it with the gorgeous "White As Snow." There is something of a recurring theme of our interaction with technology in the lyrics, which is counterbalanced by extensive use of organ on several tracks, especially on the hymn-like "Moment of Surrender." But you have to wonder how well those references are going to hold up over time. This album won't go down as one of the best of U2's career, or even their best album this decade (I'd have to give that honor to All That You Can't Leave Behind), but overall it's a solid effort from four guys who have arguably managed to maintain the title of biggest band in the world for over twenty years now.

Fall On Me

A few months ago I finally upgraded my cable tv service to digital. Not only did this solve my reception/interference issues on the local channels, but it also finally introduced me to the wonderful world of on demand television. The first thing I did was watch the entire first season of Mad Men over the course of a week, prior to the start of the second season. Then I started finding out what I had been missing by catching up on the awesomeness that is Coupling.

My most recent on demand discovery has been Concert.tv. A few weeks ago I caught a fantastic Sigur Ros performance that was filmed at the Museum of Modern Art last summer. And last week they were showing a 1985 R.E.M. concert that was originally televised on the German television show Rockpalast. The concert was heavy on Fables Of The Reconstruction tracks, but they also played an embryonic version of "Fall On Me." The musical structure, chorus, and bridge of the song were already fully intact, but the lyrics for the verses are completely different than what ended up in the final product. Of course, the clip has been available for quite some time on youtube, so check it out above.

R.E.M. - "Fall On Me (Live)" (mp3)

Apparently 17 years later Stipe still hadn't quite worked out his lyric issues on this song. This version was recorded on November 19, 1992 in Athens, GA at a benefit concert for Greenpeace, and was released on the Crush With Eyeliner single three years later.