Blogcritics Author: Ben Gott

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Music Review: XTC - English Settlement

Ben Gott — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:05:27 EDT

The first piece in my "Blast from the Past" series was a review of Scritti Politti's album Cupid & Psyche '85. Today's review is of an album released three years earlier by another British group. But this album, a jangling, complex masterpiece, is about as far away from the synthpop that Green Gartside and Co. so expertly produced. This album is XTC's English Settlement.XTC fans are a passionate -- indeed, some might say "rabid" -- bunch. Whether we've been listening since 1977's White Music or since the middle of last week, we tend to act protectively toward Andy, Colin, Dave, Terry, and Barry. A few weeks ago, I wrote a overwhelmingly negative review of Andy Partridge's most recent project, an avant-garde improvisational album called Monstrance. Even though the album has nothing at all to do with XTC, I was, to put it mildly, burned at the stake by my fellow XTC fans. I was attacked for being a musical moron; for not having any taste; for not having an open mind. I rebutted those attacks by saying, in effect, that my love for great music is evidenced by my love for XTC.This is a love that has stretched for more than 10 years, ever since the first time (early evening) on the first day (July 19, 1994) that I listened to my first XTC song ("The Smartest Monkeys") off my first XTC album (Nonsuch). It has stretched through purchases of every XTC album on CD (sometimes more than once); of various bootlegs on CD, vinyl, and cassette; of t-shirts and fleeces and hats; and of promotional posters, one of which hangs, framed, in my living room. It has stretched through the band's punk albums, like 1979's Drums & Wires all the way to the orchestral pop of Skylarking and the alt-rock of Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2). It has stretched through the departure of keyboardist and guitarist Dave Gregory and the current "freeze" of the band. It has stretched through Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding's seven-year strike against Virgin Records. It has stretched through high school, college, and two jobs. For more than 10 years, XTC has been my favorite band. But, with the exception of Andy Partridge's ten-volume set of demo recordings, XTC hasn't released any new material since 2000. So, after putting Monstrance to the side, I figured that it would be time to remember why I loved XTC so much in the first place.There are many good XTC albums and a few great ones; English Settlement fits very comfortably into the latter category. Produced and engineered by the legendary Hugh Padgham, the album marked a significant change of course for the band. Two years earlier, in 1980, they had released Black Sea, an album that merged their punk and new-wave styles. Now, for English Settlement, they scaled back the loud guitars and hiccuping vocals and replaced them with soft acoustics, electric 12-strings, and drums that seemed ready to take over the world. (Drummer Terry Chambers left the band after English Settlement, and this was a perfect note -- no pun intented -- for him to leave on.) From the psychedelic jangle that begins "Runaways" to the wintertime jingle that ends "Snowman," each song on this album is, simply, a masterpiece. Bass player Colin Moulding's contributions are the finest of his career; indeed, "Ball and Chain," the second cut on the first side, was one of English Settlement's early singles.Despite Padgham's stellar production and the band's exceptional playing (see pretty much all of "Jason and the Argonauts" for an example of both), this album clearly belongs to lead singer and songwriter Andy Partridge. Although his songs on the band's previous efforts range from the stunning ("Complicated Game" and "Respectable Street") to the silly ("Sgt. Rock is Going to Help Me" and "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty"), English Settlement marks a significant breakthrough for both his music and his lyrics. The biting social satire "No Thugs in Our House" fades into the airy, complicated "Yacht Dance." XTC fans will argue until the end of time about our favorite song on English Settlement, but my picks are both "Jason and the Argonauts" (seriously, go listen) and "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)." (Yeah, I know it's a tie, but c'mon!) Both songs are perfect pieces of intelligent pop, each with a message and a melody unmatched by the output of most other songwriters of the era. As Dave and Andy weave lead guitar lines in and out, Colin keeps pace with the bass and Terry uses both acoustic and electric drums to create a foundation that is intriguing, unsettling, and absolutely perfect. Each song on English Settlement -- from the amusing "Leisure" to the trippy and zippy "Fly on the Wall" -- acts as a chapter in a musical novel about love, loss, hope, and heartache. Whether the song is about razing buildings ("Ball & Chain"), celebrating womanhood ("Down in the Cockpit"), or destroying modern civilization ("It's Nearly Africa"), XTC presents each topic without condescension, sarcasm, or haughtiness. Sadly, English Settlement did not provide XTC the commercial success they had been looking for. Soon after the album was released, Partridge suffered a nervous breakdown while performing in France; soon after that, the band stopped touring altogether. While there were some minor hits along the way -- "Dear God," "The Mayor of Simpleton," and "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" being the biggest -- the world, by and large, never quite caught on. This is a damn shame. Oftentimes, know-it-all music reviewers like myself talk about the musical moment that changed my life, man. For some, it's the first time they heard The Rolling Stones on the radio or watched The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. For others, it was hearing the sounds of Joni Mitchell or Marvin Gaye during that summer when __________ happened. For me, though, this moment didn't happen under such earth-shattering circumstances. It was simple, really: it was the moment, sitting in my dorm room in high school, when I put English Settlement into my roommate Jon's CD player and pressed the "Play" button. It may not have involved fireworks or a glimpse of God, but I will never forget sitting in the chair at my desk and closing my eyes; skipping history class and hitting "Repeat" so I could listen again. And again. And again.

Ben Gott is a teacher, musician, and all-around nice guy. He calls Loquacious Music his home on the web and Connecticut his home on the range.

Music Review: Jason Falkner - I'm OK... You're OK

Ben Gott — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:52:19 EDT

Jason Falkner's new album, I'm OK...You're OK, is the best album that Falkner has ever made.This is quite a claim, I know, so let me back up a bit. His two previous full-length albums, Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel?, were better than almost anything released by any alt-rocker in the 1990s. Full of gorgeous melodies, pop hooks, and unique arrangements, Falkner proved himself a capable, confident, and extremely talented young musician. (A member of Jellyfish for only one album, Bellybutton, and of The Grays for only one album, Ro Sham Bo, Falkner had already proven himself both as a songwriter and as an exceptional bass player.)Both ...Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel? showcased an artist who was both unique and comfortably consistent at the same time. His rich voice and vocal phrasings carried from one song to another, and his instruments were always played and mixed with both considerable attention to detail and an extemporaneous feel. As a friend once remarked to me, "I've never heard a musician try so hard to sound like he isn't trying so hard." Songs like "I Live," "Don't Show Me Heaven," "Nobody Knows," and "My Lucky Day" raised an already high bar: in many ways, Jason Falkner had to outdo no one but Jason Falkner.Such pressure surely takes its toll. Except for a five-track E.P. released a few years ago, Falkner's solo album kept getting pushed back and pushed back. He played bass for Paul McCartney, Aimee Mann, and Beck; his skills as a session musician are unequaled. But, sadly, Jason Falkner himself stayed in the shadows for much of the last six years.So what, then, makes I'm OK...You're OK such a remarkable comeback? Partly, the album is enhanced by the sheer technical aspect of its recording; with the exception of drums on one track and backing vocals on another, Falkner played all the instruments himself. He also wrote all the songs and produced and engineered the whole thing. (Again, the songs benefit significantly from his casual precision.) The melodies are intact, too: "Stephanie Tells Me" has a beautiful, rousing chorus, and the opening track, "This Time," loops and weaves as Falkner builds guitars, basses, drums, and vocal harmonies. There is always something surprising in every Falkner song, and this album contains twelve tracks with dozens of places where you, the listener, will perk up your ears and say, "Woah! I didn't see that coming! I wish I'd thought of that!" (The Japan-only bonus track, "I Don't Mind," is a perfect example, beginning as it does with piano and vocals and then breaking into a mind-bending climax of both vocal harmonies and instrumental flourishes.)The most wonderful aspect of I'm OK...You're OK, however, is that Falkner brings an intimacy to his songs that we simply don't hear nowadays. These tracks, put together, are true, real, and beautiful, alternating between moments of pure joy and pure sadness. Like Beck's Sea Change, on which he played, the emotions of this album are not manufactured to sell records or to impress everyone with his "lo-fi" credentials. (This album was, incidentally, recorded without the aid of a professional studio -- not like you could tell, as the instruments are pitch perfect and the lower fidelity adds to the charm and warmth of the songs.) Jason Falkner isn't trying to prove anything. He is simply trying to share his songs with us. His stunning, complex, rich, and eminently enjoyable songs.I might as well save my money. There won't be another album like this in 2007. Jason, you have restored my faith in music. Thank you, my friend. Thank you.

Ben Gott is a teacher, musician, and all-around nice guy. He calls Loquacious Music his home on the web and Connecticut his home on the range.

Music Review: Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche '85

Ben Gott — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:25:41 EDT

Recently, I have found myself revisiting music that was released a long, long time ago. In many ways, this is disappointing; there seems to be little new music that interests me. However, in other ways, it is terribly exciting to discover something released 15 or 20 years ago that holds my interest even now. Even with a ton of CDs and a zillion digital music files, there's a lot out there that I've never heard before. Ever since I became a subscriber to XM Satellite Radio, I have been glued to "Fred," one of the station's alternative channels. While they play many songs with which I am familiar -- "Bluebeard" by Cocteau Twins, "Snowman" by XTC, and "The Love Parade" by Dream Academy, for example -- I am constantly discovering songs that I've never heard before and that I quickly grow to love.One such song is "Perfect Way" by Scritti Politti, from their 1985 album Cupid & Psyche '85. After a quick trip to Newbury Comics, I had the album in my hand. I'm not sure why Scritti Politti escaped my radar; as a huge fan of synthpop, I've been buying up whatever I can get my hands on for the past few years. My love of Prefab Sprout knows no bounds, and I think that Joni Mitchell's album Dog Eat Dog is as good (and sometimes even better!) than anything she wrote during her better-known singer/songwriter period. But, for some reason, Scritti Politti's music had been missing.Those of you who grew up with the album probably remember it fondly. How can you not listen to "Absolute" without tapping your feet? To "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" without scratching your head? To "The Word Girl" without wishing for another go 'round of that perfect chorus? Arif Mardin's production is immaculate, with the swooping synth sounds of the Fairlight CMI adding texture after texture after texture. Although Scritti Politti's follow-up album, Provision, is heavier on the synths (amazingly enough), it doesn't contain the warmth and enthusiasm that Cupid... does.And those melodies! God, those melodies! "Absolute" has, perhaps, the most perfect outro of any synthpop song -- a rollicking, rocking fusion of voice, guitar, drums, bass, and synth. "Perfect Way" is indeed a perfect song, melding complex lyrics with clanging guitar. I wish that the chorus (if it is indeed a chorus) of "Don't Work That Hard" would never end:Oh I'll be good, want you so much Give me the word, wrap it for love Oh I'll be true, oh I love you so much Give me the word, the word I'll honour and obey Yeah, I know. It doesn't look like much on paper. But trust me: it'll make you keep pressing "<<" on your CD player to hear it again. And again. And again.Cupid and Psyche '85 spent most of the month of February in my car stereo, only to be replaced (for a short while) by Lindsey Buckingham's new album and by Terence Trent D'Arby's Wild Card! Last weekend, though, I was having a rough time. I was feeling stressed out, overworked, underpaid, and tired as heck. So, at the beginning of a long trip, I stuck Cupid and Psyche '85 back in. I put the car in gear, started down the road, and wondered how I had ever lived without.

Ben Gott is a teacher, musician, and all-around nice guy. He calls Loquacious Music his home on the web and Connecticut his home on the range.