Headline news

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fortlander
on April 8, 2009
in Cashville
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From this week’s Tennessean (and one from the NYTimes)

Murfreesboro, Metro teacher filmed kids’ sex, police say
But for real, bearded dude’s holding a snake and has a rat on his shoulder. In his myspace profile pic.

House passes bill allowing guns in restaurants
Kill your dinner.

Tenn. House will vote on abortion amendment
A proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution to place more restrictions on abortion picked up speed. Voters could see the amendment on a ballot by 2014. Specifically, the proposal says that women wanting abortions would have to wait 48 hours before the procedure, and all abortions besides first-term abortions would have to take place in hospitals. Republicans argue that these measures would make the state’s constitution more neutral toward abortion than it currently is, and Democrats say the proposal is politically charged and doesn’t help women. As usual with emotional political issues, the comments in the Tennessean are hilarious and frightening–people’s survivalist tendencies are really showing these days. One commenter links to a how-to book on self-induced abortions and suggests that everyone buy it because “you or someone you know may need it someday.” Another opts for simplicity: “Save the Babies.”

Rutherford County faces $11M suit for rejecting Bible park
The family in Rutherford County who owns the land where Bible Park USA was supposed to be built before the city rejected the project is suing the county and city attorney for $11 million plus attorney fees. Plaintiffs contend that the city cost them the land deal. But I think it just wasn’t God’s will.

Firm Acted as Tutor in Selling Towns Risky Deals
Lewisburg, tiny town south of Nashville, was convinced by its financial adviser, Morgan Keegan & Co., to invest in risky bond derivatives that went sour: interest in January had quadrupled to $1 million annually, adding to the shrinking town’s woes. Morgan Keegan pitched the bonds, offered seminars explaining the benefits with very little focus on risks, and then processed the transaction. When discussing the company’s involvement in all steps leading to investment, John G. Morgan, the former State Comptroller who held this rank when all this was established, said, “I didn’t think there was a problem.”

Top Three Collaborations of the Past Decade

Published
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fortlander
on March 29, 2009
in Best Of and Music News
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Almost ten years into the twenty-first century, I decided it’s ok to start thinking of best-of’s for this decade. First up for consideration are musical collaborations. These things are usually boring marketing ploys (Everyone + Sinatra), unnecessary strokes to enormous egos and table scraps for their fans (Plant + Krauss), or cute compilations put out by famous (or famously?) beautiful people (She + Him). I’ll be fair and say that some such efforts produce good tunes or have value simply because they’re weird pairings. Sticking Ol’ Blue Eyes in a sound booth with Bono, for example, is hilarious! But more interesting are collaborations that achieve something beyond kitsch and storied meetings.

To narrow this down a bit and because I’m an indie rock fan, I’m focusing on smaller-label collaborations in which two or more musicians who have other main projects came together for a one-off recording project. So I’m excluding supergroup-type bands like, say, Wolf Parade or Broken Social Scene, who continue to put out material. A few examples that came close but didn’t make the top three are Calexico + Iron and Wine, The Postal Service, and Animal Collective + Vashti Bunyan (a CLOSE number four). You get the idea.

Below are my choices for the top three collaborations to date of the twenty first century, plus streaming selections from all three:

Top three plus streams after the jump.

Jack White’s New Nashville Studio

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fortlander
on March 12, 2009
in Cashville and Music News
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Third Man Records

Third Man Records

Nashville resident Jack White recently gave a physical address to Third Man Records, the imprint on which he releases all his music. He designed the building in downtown Nashville to include a recording studio, a vinyl shop, a darkroom, and a stage. And his newest band, The Dead Weather, featuring the vocal stylings of Allison Mosshart from The Kills, The Raconteurs’ Jack Lawrence on bass, Queens of the Stone Age’s Dean Fertita on guitars, and White on drums, will be releasing their debut on the label in June. They recently hosted a listening party at the studio for family and friends at which the guests were given a 45 of the band’s first single. (You can stream those two songs–one is a Gary Numan cover–on the band’s site and buy them on itunes.)

White claims the label may be interested in recording and expediently pressing vinyl for good local bands.

Bible Park USA: All over but the shouting

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fortlander
on March 12, 2009
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Rob Wyatt

Rob Wyatt

Bad news for Middle Tennesseans looking for an “edutainment” experience! :( Bible Park USA’s developer, Rob Wyatt, released a statement saying that the Christian theme park was suspending “all further work on the development of the Bible Park USA project in Lebanon, Tennessee, pending the City Council and the Mayor resolving internal political differences over the project.” The Tennessean reported on some of the issues surrounding the city government’s pull-out of the project. One of the main problems, according to city council members, was BPUSA’s unwillingness to disclose financial information. My guess is the Council was unsatisfied with BPUSA’s likely statement that “God will provide.” What’s gonna happen?? Maybe we should look to Kirk Cameron’s inspiring film for answers.

Costco Sells Caskets

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fortlander
on February 21, 2009
in Uh
. 1 Comment

WTF? They’re under the category “Funeral,” which is between “Food & Wine” and “Furniture.” Perhaps you’d like The Lady of Guadalupe? Or The Kentucky Rose? Everyday lowest possible prices.

Now what?

Published
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fortlander
on February 21, 2009
in Music News
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We all found out this week that one of the bastions of independent music, Touch and Go Records, is changing drastically. While it’s not closing shop entirely, it is reorganizing and cutting jobs. Thanks to the murderous economy, the historic and important indie label will no longer distribute and manufacture releases for other, as-important labels like Merge, Drag City and Jade Tree. (Stereogum has a list of other labels affected plus the official press release from TAG owner Corey Rusk.) And that sucks.

Touch and Go will, however, continue to act as a record label.

Most everything’s been said about how the album is dead or dying and what putting out “records” will look like in the future, so rather than wax on all that, we’ll just say this: we like the trend of releasing records only in vinyl and digital formats. Buy the vinyl and get a free download, or skip the vinyl and simply download the album. Pleases the snobs like us who want the vinyl sound quality, the pretty, tangible album art, but also portability, and it also satisfies little Jimmy Next Generation who only needs mp3s, singles and Adderall.

Rusk summed it up sadly but sweetly: “It is the end of a grand chapter in Touch and Go’s history, but we also know that good things can come from new beginnings.”

Headline news

Published
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fortlander
on February 16, 2009
in Cashville
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These were actual headlines this week in Nashville’s big newspaper, The Tennessean. While mostly this periodical is a reliable outlet for local and national news, sometimes reading The Tennessean is like reading the Onion. Except not funny.

From Valentine’s Day 2009:
Darwin Still Divides Believers in the Bible
First two lines: “The Rev. John McCullough believes in God. He also believes in evolution.”
ZING!

And related from 2/7/09:
Clergy seek reason in creation vs. evolution fight
Apparently there’s still a fight.

This is one from Friday, 2/13/09:
Four Tennessee legislators want Obama to prove citizenship
Speechless.

Luckily, there was this editorial Sunday, 2/15/09:
Lawmakers look dumb for reviving Obama hoax
Finally a reasonable person. But still! First it was the English-Only thing, and now this. Some filters somewhere need replacement.

George Duke’s Follow the Rainbow (1979)

Published
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fortlander
on February 11, 2009
in Music Reviews and Wax from the Stacks
. 1 Comment
***Wax from the Stacks is a column that reviews vinyl picked up at garage, estate, and stoop sales, thrift stores or record stores. Typically, they’re older albums, and many times reviews are based on first-time listens. We sort through our stacks in search of gems, and we let you know whether these records are worth searching out.
Vinyl front cover

vinyl front cover (click to see larger pic)

George Duke’s 1979 release (rereleased in 2001), Follow the Rainbow, drew us immediately because of its glorious, chromatic cover. Duke, polyester shirt open to reveal a wooly paradise, points us past tropical shrubs toward a moonscape over which float neon Moogs, trumpets, Flying V’s and bongos. In fact, Duke’s album covers are always sorta crazy. This is funk.

Context: Duke made his name as a piano/synth guy in the 60s and 70s. A funk pioneer, he’s collaborated with everyone from Jean-Luc Ponty to Cannonball Adderley to George Clinton to Frank Zappa. He’s also produced records and has dabbled in Brazilian-influenced jazz. Notable popular song: “Dukey Stick.” On his Website, he says Follow the Rainbow was influenced by Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Worth seeking out? Yes.

How much should you pay? Up to $6 for the vinyl at a garage sale or used record store, or you can buy the CD on Duke’s Website for about $10. Then again, you could pay a lot more for it at Amazon.

Best to listen when: Nice mood music for a party, but better to listen when you’re feeling down or cleaning your house. This record grooves, hits hard with moving bass lines, positivity, and synth sounds from another dimension. These elements plus song titles like “Party Down” and lines reminding you to “Don’t forget to party down / Get your feet back on the ground / ‘Cause you owe it to yourself / To have some fun” make for an uplifting experience.

Highlights: While Duke’s lyricism is magical (”Dukey stick blastin’ on a show and tell / with the funk and a street of dreams”), the best parts of Follow the Rainbow are its instrumentals. Particularly “Festival.” It’s like a soundtrack for a Showcase Showdown! A new dining set! His and hers jet skis! An all-expense paid vacation to Bucharest! Enter oddball synth sounds, wicked acoustic guitar scales, and a laissez-faire notion of being. This track also evidences Duke’s move toward Brazilian-influenced chord structures and rhythms.

Another highlight is the funk philosophy from the precursor-to-hip-hop track “I Am For Real,” in which the whole band pitches in vocally for some group rapping:

Continue reading for samples of funk philosophy

John C. Kelley weighs twelve pounds and has mental disorders. THE BALCONY

Published
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fortlander
on January 29, 2009
in Chat Rock and Interviews
. 1 Comment

John C. Kelley fronts Austin-based The Balcony, which is also the title of the recording he made. Below is an excerpt from a g-chat I had with John before writing a bio for the band. The chat produced some waxing about bands recording and touring and playing live. John also tried to explain the confusing notion of what The Balcony actually is (band or record or both?). I still don’t get it. But I do get the music, and it’s terrific. Hear the record/band for yourself.

Johns the dude in the middle. Also pictured (left to right) are Topher Hyink, Jonathan Standefer, Joshua Huck, and Cody Ground. Photo by Justin Cox
John’s the dude in the middle. Also pictured (left to right) are Topher Hyink, Jonathan Standefer, Joshua Huck, and Cody Ground. Photo by Justin Cox

jkelley: okay, here’s the idea. ha.
“the balcony” is that specific group of songs that appear on the record, the record is “the balcony” as interpreted by me. like, how i made them. and the band is named after these songs, and interprets them to their best live representation, whereas the record is interpreted as a record…esoteric i know

FORTLANDER: hm…yeah. this next question is tough because it’s entirely stupid: do you have any goals for the album?

jkelley: WORLD WIDE FAME!

FORTLANDER: Hooray!

Continue reading the interview

A Sad Day for Music in Nashville

Published
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fortlander
on January 28, 2009
in Cashville
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Around Thursday, January 22, 2009, even as the good people of Nashville showed the rest of the world that we’re not all xenophobic racists, Nashvillians received some terrible news. Silver Jews are calling it quits. Band leader and maniacal wordsmith David Berman sent out a note on the Joos’ bulletin board, saying, “I’ve got to move on. Can’t be like all the careerists doncha know.” He also dropped a bomb about his dad in his next entry. Yikes. SJs, you gave us many musics to remember, and we’ll always love you to the max. May you please be trendy for once and play some reunion shows later. Amen.

Image at exclaim.ca

Image at exclaim.ca