Ray LaMontagne loses the magic touch

I really loved the first two albums by Ray LaMontange: Trouble and Till The Sun Turns Black. Unlike so much that passes for "folk" these days -- someone stroking an acoustic guitar, the kind of stuff you can find in every neighborhood coffee shop and pub in the world -- there was more to LaMontagne, a man who had quit his sneaker factory job in Maine to become a singer/songwriter while in his 30s.

First, the guy has a pretty incredible voice. It's almost hollow and raspy yet big and melodic. Unlike other "folkies," LaMontagne knows how to sing with a certain, for lack of a better term, soul. In early LaMontagne there is an awful lot of the same kind of gutsy singing that made early Van Morrison records -- Astral Weeks, Moondance, Tupelo Honey, etc. so great. You know the singer believes every word.

But a great singing voice is not always enough.  LaMontagne was paired with producer Ethan Johns for his first three records and Johns, who has done great by artists ranging from Ryan Adams (Heartbreaker, Gold)  to Kings of Leon (Youth and Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times),  knew how LaMontagne's songs should be recorded. Under Johns' direction, LaMontagne was recorded alone, just guitar and vocals, when it best suited the song (see the remarkable "Burn" from Trouble) or he'd back him with strings when it seemed the right thing to do (The title track on my favorite of LaMontagne's albums, Till the Sun Turns Black). On both albums, the backing was often minimal: drums, bass maybe a bit of extra guitar.

Autolux: Transit Transit

Autolux

If you can imagine Eliot Smith fronting a trio that swings between Sonic Youth guitar noise and Radiohead knob twiddling, you'll hear in your head the latest from Autolux, an L.A. trio that counts Trent Reznor and Thom Yorke as superfans.

Now that may not sound liker a recipe for success, but Transit Transit is a fun record to listen to.  Only those music listeners who never adapted to Sonic Youth's discord and Radiohead's more experimental electro moments will be puzzled. For the rest of us, Autolux manages to pull the diverse elements together into a coherent style.

Late to the party again: LCD Soundsystem

I'm often late to the party. Particularly when it comes to electronic music. There's always been a high hurdle between me and electronic for some reason. Drum machines and casiotones rarely grab me the way good old-fashioned guitars do.

So I didn't join the legions to the latest LCD Soundsystem record, This is Happening, when it was released in May. I just didn't get around to it. But then I saw the crazy, Clockwork Orange-like video for "Drunk Girls" and I was hooked.

If you've read about this record, you've probably read great things. It's been universally praised, praise that I think is well deserved. The album's 9 tracks bubble and bounce through indie guitar rock ("All I Want") and electro-key jams ("Can Change") in an inspired post punk stew. There's a lot of late '70s sounds here that often recall Eno and Bowie. But all with an unmistakable, contemporary studio polish.

Check the video

I'm keeping a video page... some interesting stuff I come across. Just added a live video of Arcade Fire playing "We Used to Wait" from The Suburbs. Check it out. 

Rated R: Reissued

Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri 

At 36, there are a lot of things that begin to make you feel old. You might find you manage to hurt yourself doing minor yard work. And then you don't heal very quickly. In fact it might take months before that shoulder sprain finally goes away... Yup.

Like learning that your body is beginning what will be a long decline, the anniversaries of landmark records from my 20s are signposts that time is slipping away. This week's release of one of my favorite records, Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R is a perfect example.

It's hard to believe that the Pixies' Doolittle is more than  20 years old. But the Pixies feel like history (they've felt like history for a long time, actually. Very good history, but history nonetheless). That Rated R is 10 years old is altogether different. Queens of the Stone Age do not feel like history. They're still around. Just last year, Queens leader Josh Homme was part of Them Crooked Vultures. The Pixies are the past. The Queens are now.

Arcade Fire & the slow burn of The Suburbs

The Suburbs

When I first downloaded Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs"/"Month of May" single earlier this summer, I was underwhelmed by what I heard. I was certain, though, that like most Arcade Fire songs, they needed to be heard in the context of the whole album. Well, I have the whole album now and I'm happy to report that my optimism was rewarded. The Suburbs is a huge, ambitious work that, like most great albums, offers things to discover with every listen.

In the aughts, Arcade Fire managed to secure a position as perhaps the most important indie rock band in this hemisphere on the strength of of its first two albums -- Funeral and Neon Bible. Each album was a treatise on social decline and modern alienation told in a series of rock songs. While most bands write albums that are collections of tunes, Arcade Fire compose song novels. Each song is little more than a chapter of the larger work. It might contain greatness, but it lacks outside the whole.

This is especially true of The Suburbs, which finds Arcade Fire without its usual bombast. Arrangements are not grandiose. Tempos shift, but never break into that end-of-the-universe groove of Funeral. Lead singer Wim Butler's voice is as melodic as usual, but never hits the hell-is-coming pitch of Neon Bible. The initial listen will likely leave the experienced Arcade Fire fan puzzled. The songs are catchy, well done, but unlike Arcade Fire songs of the past, they don't seem to sound like a whole lot.

Best of 2000s list -- new and improved

So I reconsidered a lot of what I posted as "Best of 2000s" at the end of last year. Came up with 40 records I'm a lot more comfortable with. I'll blame the original list on my rush to get the post up. Some great records I just forgot. Others, I've more recently discovered are better than I originally thought. So, I just changed my mind.

The new permanent page is listed in the right sidebar. Lazy people can click here.