Logan's Best of: 2013

We’ve been in the new year for a little while now and I may be a little late on this, but 2013 was a huge year for music and there’s so much amazing material to sift through. So here’s a short comprehensive list of the best music the year had to offer.

• Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap-

         This is the most original rap album I’ve heard in years. Imagine Andre Benjamin but as a 20 year old Chicago kid instead of a southern gentleman. He's had two mixtapes so far and both are available for free on his website. Acid Rap is both a tribute to Chicago's history and a leap into its future. 

• Eminem: The Marshall Mathers 2 LP-

            Don’t call it a comeback... because it's almost certainly his last album. It's definitely his best album since his real comeback in 2009. Unlike his more uplifting albums Relapse and Recovery, what makes the MM LP 2 stand out is that he's gone back to doing what he does best- being angry.

• Sunn 0))): Black One-

            Technically it was just an unofficial RSD re-issue, but this was one of my favorite records I picked up all year. Really good album to listen to if you don't want to go outside or if you don't believe in electric lights.

• Gubbey Records: Head Cleaner-

            This compilation is over two hours long and features fourty six Louisville acts. Read our Full review here.

• Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City-

            After a three year break, Vampire Weekend went back into the studio with producer Ariel Rechtshaid (known earlier in the year for Snoop Lion's album, Reincarnated). This was the first time they've ever brought in an outside producer since keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij usually produces their albums. It seems like a weird combination, but they're exploring a lot of new territory with this record.

• Portugal. The Man: Evil Friends-

            I was really excited to hear that Danger Mouse was in studio with Portugal. the man. Immediately I thought they'd go back to the synth-heavy styles of Censored Colors and Church Mouth, but this listens more like one of those collaboration albums Danger Mouse is known for. 

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Push the Sky Away-

            This has been a constant listen since its release in February. Push the Sky Away is mainly built on a set of loops Warren Ellis made that the Bad Seeds played over to bring structure and depth to the sound. Lyrically, it's some of Cave's most ominous work.

• Megajoos: Mega Deuce:

            Megajoos (pronounced: mega-juice) is an experimental drum and bass outfit from Nashville. Some guy flagged me down in a Post Office parking lot and gave me their CD, and judging by the cover I didn't know what to expect, but these guys bring the fuzz. They kind of remind me of the Pixies' good stuff.

• Zorch: ZZOORRCCHH-

            I'm not sure how they got the name Zorch, I'm sure there's some sort of agreement with the older band by the same name. As I said in an earlier review, Zorch has everything it takes to be America's next big two piece, but their psychedelic electronic prog style might be too much for the masses to handle.

The Flaming Lips: The Terror-

            The Lips turned a new leaf with their 2013 release. Since keyboardist Steve Drozd is 100% sober now, it seems that Coyne gave him the wheel and let him steer the ship. The happy go lucky "it's great to be alive" band that you've grown to love is still in there somewhere, but now they're saying something more like "it's terrifying that I'm alive." 

That's all folks. Enjoy the tunes and good luck out there in 2014.

Review: Halloween

Well, it was a long weekend, and hopefully for you filled with mountains of miniskirts and naughty nurse costumes. as you may well know, i spent most of the last 2 weeks dreaming of wedge heels and kitty ears, and i did indeed see plenty of the sort, though mostly they were waiting in long lines out front of nite clubs. 

My Halloween started at a coffee shop, trying to talk one of the baristas into some short shorts and heading off to a party with me. this did not happen.. but it did set me back an hour and by the time i made to The Cave, the show was over. The Cave is an underground cavern on Lexington Road owned by Artist Mike Ratterman, and occasionally has music and art events. On saturday Joe Manning, Joan Shelley, and The Spirit of the Red City played. and from all accounts, it was a fine time. 

After that i headed over to The Dead Bird Studios, run by Dave of Cabin. Cougar Express, Dangerbird, and The Bad Reeds played. well, by the time i got there the neighbors had punched someone and the show abruptly ended. but from what i hear, The Bad Reeds were on fire, this is the second time i barely missed them play, and will not make that mistake next time.  

From there it is only a hop skip and a jump to Zanzabar, so i headed over there. but apparently so did everyone, there was a line around the block, and it wasn't moving. I'm sure the PJ Harvey and Joy Division sets were very fun, as no one inside wanted to leave. 

So, i decided to pack it in, it was after two, and i successfully missed about half a dozen bands i wanted to see. on the way home i did happen upon a Sailor Moon pissing in a parking lot. So all was not lost.

A blurry Joe Manning with Jenny (Mullet Maker) and Payton (Arabian Horse Breeder) at The Cave.

The Cave (Actually a man made cobblestone cavern).

Artist Matt Weir with a stuffed Monkey and fake brain.

The stoic monk Brian Grey(of Dangerbird) with Shane poole (of The Two Timers) at The Dead Bird.

Dark Night Of The Soul revisited

a year and a half ago we reviewed a wonderful collaboration between Danger mouse and Sparklehouse called DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL. (read the review here). the full length album contains a mountain of guest musicians such as Iggy Pop, vic chestnut, Susan Vega, Frank Black and others. at the time of our review the album had not been formally released due to fears of a legal battle between Danger mouse and EMI. so the album creators leaked the album on file share sites and sold a limited edition book of 100+ color photographs inspired by the music created by cult film director David Lynch, and came with a blank CDR with the album name printed on it.
on July 15th the album finally got a proper release, which came too late for co-creator Mark linkous (Sparklehouse) who died under suspicious circumstances in March (see our obituary here).
it is a very worthwhile album to have, especially if you are a Sparklehorse fan, as this may be the last posthumous work of his we will get. the album is available here. and for any photographers out there, right now Hipstomatic is running a photo contest and the winners receive free signed copies of the album, as well as other stuff like iphones. read more about it here.


Susan Vega playing the man who played god from DNOTS.

RIP Mark Linkous

On March 6th at 1:20pm in Knoxville TN, Mark Linkous, better known in the music world as Sparklehorse, lost his life. witnesses said after a period of fighting depression and drinking heavily he was visiting friends when he walked into an alley and shot himself in the heart with a riffle. his family quickly backed up the suicide theory by releasing this statement "It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There's a heaven and there's a star for you."
Personally, the work of Mark Linkous has been an inspiration, with his work as Sparklehorse (it's a wonderful life being one of my favorite albums of all time), and his collaborations with masters such as Tom Waits and Danger Mouse. last year he released an album of collaborations with Danger Mouse and David Lynch called Dark Night Of The Soul.
read our review of Dark Night Of The Soul here. download DNOTS here (it's okay, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse released this album free to the public just because they love us.. it's a brilliant album and costs you nothing so go on already, you won't regret it).
-We Will miss Mr. Linkous dearly.

review: Dark Night Of The Soul (By sparklehorse & Danger Mouse)

as quiet as a casket, some of the largest names in pop music managed a milestone this month in the ongoing war between major music labels and artistic talent.
earlier this month the full length album "Dark Night of the Soul" written by Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous) was released to widespread criticle acclaim. the album features guest vocals by pop music icons including Iggy Pop, vic chestnut, Susan Vega, Frank Black and others as well as a limited edition book of 100+ color photographs inspired by the music created by cult film director David Lynch.
While this in itself, though impressive, is no great feat, the true amazement is that this album was not released by a major or even minor music label. in fact officially, this album has not been released at all. popping up on various pirate music websites for the last few weeks, this album can not be found in record stores or on pay sites. the only way to obtain this album is to find bootleg copies and take it, and this is by design and encouraged by the artists.
this collaboration has been in the works for quite some time, but the release was shelved In what has been described as an 'ongoing dispute' with the record label EMI and Danger Mouse. The album's website does not go into detail about the dispute, only stating "Danger Mouse is unable to legally release the recorded music for Dark Night of the Soul without fear of being sued by EMI." in fact all of the information on the site barely adds up to five sentences.
aside from anonymous posters without any information aside from the collaborators names appearing at select music events, it seemed DNOTS would fade into rock lore. that was until May 15th, when National Public Radio put up the album in it's entirety on it's website. in uncharacteristic NPR fashion, the website, which kept the cloak and dagger aire surrounding the release, offered little information about decision to premiere the album in this manor, or about the dispute with EMI or even the album it's self. NPR producer Robin Hilton wrote that promotional materials arrived with no return address and "an unnamed spokesperson" for Danger Mouse had contacted NPR Music saying that due to the dispute Danger Mouse will be releasing the photobook with a blank CDR, with the title of the album printed on the face, with the instructions "for legal reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."
the DNOTS website states "Danger mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night of the Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is."
in a time when Labels and musicians are struggling to control how music is distributed online and watching their sales drop, Danger Mouse became famous by turning his back on conventionalism and the lure of cashing in, by recording albums using samples of music he did not have the rights to, and leaking the albums onto the internet. his 2004 "The Grey Album" made by mashing up and sampling the music of Jay-Z's "the black album" and the Beatle's "the white album" became a household name when EMI famously tried to halt it's distribution.
the spotlight from this fight earned Danger Mouse a loyal following and "best album of 2004" by Entertainment weekly as well as attention by many music labels.
this time around EMI has seemed to learn not to rock the boat by keeping relatively restrained about the dispute, stating "Danger Mouse is a brilliant, talented artist for whom we have enormous respect. We continue to make every effort to resolve this situation and we are talking to Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) directly. Meanwhile, we need to reserve our rights."
The success of the Grey Album may have gotten Danger Mouse signed, but did not change his thoughts about the free distribution of music, or stop his creative and public displays against mainstream music and distribution. in 2006 he, along with british artist Banksy, replaced 500 copies of Paris Hilton's album Paris in British music stores with CDs containing similar artwork and a 40 minute instrumental containing quotes by Hilton.
But Danger Mouse isn't known solely as a defiant artist and prankster, he has created a name for himself as half of the International sensation, Gnarles Barkley, with hip hop artist Cee-Lo Green, and as a gifted Producer credited with producing countless albums from artists such as The Gorillaz, The Rapture, Beck, and the Black Keys.
in 2006 Danger Mouse produced the Sparklehorse album, Dreamt for light years in the belly of a mountain. by This time Sparklehorse had already gathered a cult following with the success of 3 studio albums and had already worked with many of the guest vocalists that would appear on DNOTS. With Sparklehorse' dexterity, allowing him to transform music, moving seamlessly from noise to experimental to pop all in the same song, and Danger Mouse's uncanny ability to adsorb and magnify an artists essence, it seemed to be a natural fit for the two to collaborate. with the familial sound of Gnarles Barkley's melancholy keys, and Sparklehorse's fondness for demented orchestral strings, DNOTS paints a portrait of an alien landscape, oddly familiar, like dark thoughts we would never dare tell anyone about. such as on Revenge, the album's opening track, Flaming Lip's Wayne Coyne sings "in my mind, i have shot you and stabbed you through your heart, i just didn't understand the ricochet is the second part."
keeping with the writers' affinity for collaboration, every track not only has a guest vocalist, but each vocalist co-composed and produced their tracks. this is very evident in songs such as Pain with Iggy Pop, which has the classic garage pre-punk vibe of the Stooges, and the poppy tinny guitar in Little Girl with the Strokes' Julian Casablancas.
The album's strongest tracks have vocals from the one guest collaborator who isn't a well known musician, David Lynch, who is the only guest vocalist with multiple tracks, and also supplied the visuals. His two tracks, the title track and Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It), are otherworldly explorations into a surreal daydream. Vibrato driven lullabies that would be right at home with the soundtracks of Twin Peaks or Blue Velvet.
this is not Lynch's first turn as musician, he has written music for many of his films, as well as for friend and singer, julee cruise, and has released his own full length album, Bluebob.
despite having over a dozen musicians co-writing and producing, DNOTS is a cohesive, strong album that brings together many different types of artists/styles and proves that sometimes musicians make music for the sake of music, wanting nothing in return.
in the past, the iron fist of the record industry has stopped artists from releasing work for good. in today's digitally motivated climate , where new formats are endless, confusing, and are turning the music industry upside down, DNOTS reminds us that in the end it's about the music, by any means necessary.