Deerhoof

I wonder where the bursts of creativity comes from for me. There are times that I can make progress on writing here, move a programming project along, contemplate starting a new project, and even get a game moving ahead. And there are times where I do none of that. It’s unclear exactly what it is. Some of it is times of stress (or freedom from stress), of course. But work isn’t noticeably different now than it was six months ago, say. So, who knows?

Pinegrove, “Darkness (acoustic)”

After a very good and well-received second album (Cardinal), Pinegrove ran into some serious problems that derailed the band after accusations surfaced about Evan Hall. It was a messy situation that Hall and the band tried to handle head-on, eventually going through mediation with the accuser and leaving their label willingly when another band objected to their presence. Overall, they seemed sincere in their attempts to handle things, and it seems like the accuser was satisfied by their steps. Anyway, all of this delayed the release of their third album by a couple years, and it eventually came out self-released. For all that, Skylight is actually a good album, and it came accompanied with an acoustic interpretation (called Skylight II). That’s where this track came from, and it’s a nice little listen.

Deerhoof, “Department of Corrections”

I don’t buy every Deerhoof record, because that would probably be too much Deerhoof. But I do own five of them, because it’s all delightful stuff that I enjoy listening to. It’s a balance, and I feel pretty good about where I landed.

Whiskeytown, “If He Can’t Have You”

This is good. I like this. I should listen to more country.

Descendents, “Good Good Things”

While I know that people mostly love and remember the hyper-caffeinated juvenile stuff, which of course I enjoy as well, I think that I might enjoy when they recorded more serious songs more. Yes, part of that is just the contrast, but they really could do melancholy quite well.

Yo-Yo Ma, “Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: III. Courante”

I don’t know shit about any of this, but I have to say: that song title looks like something from a prog-metal band’s record.

Built To Spill, “Aisle 13”

If I played the first ten seconds of this to you, I wonder how long it would take for you to guess that it’s a Built to Spill song? By a minute, of course, it’s obvious, but still.

The Dramatics, “In the Rain”

Oh baby. Listen to that reverb! Those strings and horns! I don’t think I’m cool enough to listen to something like this, frankly. The Suede Denim Secret Police are going to haul me off.

Deerhoof, “Department of Corrections”

There’s something really uplifting about the alchemy of Deerhoof. The contrast of the spastic guitar lines, powerful drums, and sprightly vocals is genuinely irresistable. It’s just really fun stuff, and the fact that Deerhoof is still out there cranking out tunes like this is really reassuring. We’re almost twenty years out from Reveille, the first great Deerhoof record, and they’re just chugging along.

Jan Jelinek, “John Cage, I’ve Been Told To Ask You The Following Question: Where Are You Going?”

Jan Jelinek, expiremental sampling wizard, is best known for creating glitchy, minimal electronic work. Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records is a masterpiece, one of my favorite electronic albums. This, however, comes from a much later album, Zwischen, distinguished by being more avant garde, with more vocal samples. Also, the song names are something else. This is not remotely the longest song title.

Jay Farrar, “Different Eyes”

If you’re wondering what the difference is between a Son Volt record and a Jay Farrar record, the answer is “not much”. This album (Sebastopol) was recorded after the very good Wide Swing Tremelo, and honestly, you could scramble up the track listings between the two and not really think anything was off. That makes this album also very good, just so I’m clear.

Deerhoof, “Son of Sorn”

You can see where Deerhoof earns the name “noise pop” on a song like this. It’s about a third aimless noise, a third pounding rhythm, and a third sweet but fractured pop song. They don’t always explore all three of those in the same song, but this is a compact little package of what Deerhoof is about.

Yeah! Old Primus! Soul! Kid music?

Labradford, “WR”

The other day, we had Kranky labelmates Jessamine, but here’s the band I associate most with that label, Labradford. Post-rock-y, drone-y, sometimes very experimental, Labradford had a very interesting run of a half dozen albums on Kranky which were all very interesting. Most of the time, they were working with instrumental stuff, and I find it to be really pleasant stuff to put on when I’m working. That sounds like a backhanded compliment, but it’s not intended to be.