Introducing: Chris Kiehne

One of my favorite records of last year was The Dead Will Walk, Dear, the gentle and haunted folk debut from The National Lights. Lead singer/songwriter Jacob Berns’ songs about love and murder had simple and sublime arrangements that seemed to purposefully contrast the startling beauty of the music and the shocking violence of his stories. The production ear behind the album belonged to Chris Kiehne - who produced, arranged, and played many of the instruments on it. Kiehne also produced the debut from Sonya Cotton last year, Out Of The Ocean, which was another album filled with pretty folk songs and gorgeous harmonies.

After so much work helping to record his friends, Chris has finally decided to focus on his own music. He has been planning his debut album for about 5 years now, writing many of the songs that were intended for Pray For Daylight way back in 2003. Unfortunately, as he was finishing up the recording process a few weeks ago his hard drive crashed, leaving him with completed versions of only half his intended 10 songs. Not wanting to start over on a batch of songs that were so old already, Kiehne decided it best to take what was left and release it as a free EP on his myspace before looking forward.

So, Pray For Daylight has essentially become his lost record. Not many artists can claim that for their debut. The songs themselves recall the work he has already done with his friends - as you’d expect being that Cotton once again delivers some beautiful harmonies, and he and Berns have practically grown up together as songwriters. But where The Dead Will Walk, Dear was essentially a very pretty record about killing your girlfriend, Pray For Daylight acts almost as its opposite - here there is a sense of trying to protect her from something. While it surely would have made for a terrific full length, the 5 songs saved for this EP satisfy nonetheless as a seamless collection, introducing the world to another special talent in the Americana genre.

MP3 :: Diomedea
MP3 :: A Special Providence
(from Pray For Daylight. Listen here)
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The Hold Steady get Stay Positive ready

But forget to include "Ask Her For The Adderall"?



So by now you’ve probably heard (via Pitchfork or Stereogum or wherever) that, in addition to being called Stay Positive, the new Hold Steady album has a tracklist (see below) and a street date (July 15, Vagrant). It’ll be interesting to see if the band can continue their string of great records after releasing one of the decade’s best rock albums (Separation Sunday - 2005) and a damn fine follow up that catapulted them to the indie-rock A-list (Boys & Girls In America - 2006). I don’t mean to be negative here, but by a quick first look at the track list I’m not sure if Stay Positive will be quite as great as it potentially could be. No “Ask Her For The Adderall”? They’ve been playing this song live for a while now and it kills (I know, I was there) - so how could it not make the cut? Has it got a new name? Someone, please fill me in….

Stay Positive:

Constructive Summer
Sequestered in Memphis
One for the Cutters
Navy Sheets
Lord, I'm Discouraged
Yeah Sapphire
Both Crosses
Stay Positive
Magazines
Joke About Jamaica
Slapped Actress

And yeah, that Craig Finn press release is pretty great: Possibly the most exciting aspect of our band is the community of fans that have followed us around the country. In talking to them, we have found that no matter their ages, they are so much like us as people, that they seem at times an extension of the music. A great American philosopher named D. Boon once said "Our band could be your life." I think that is true. But "Your Life could be Our Band" is also a true statement. I know this because we have lived it. These are our lives. These are your lives. This is our fourth record. Stay Positive.
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Here are more videos of new songs to keep you positive until July:

“Lord, I’m Discouraged”



“Joke About Jamaica”



“Sequestered In Memphis”


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MP3 :: The Swish
(from Almost Killed Me. Buy here)

MP3 :: Your Little Hoodrat Friend
(from Separation Sunday. Buy here)

MP3 :: Stuck Between Stations (Live on the Current)
(originally from Boys & Girls In America. Buy here)
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PHW Songs of the Month - 4/08

February was all about the ambient folk of Beach House and Samamidon, and March belonged to the electronic adventurists in Fuck Buttons, but April was about dudes with electric guitars and their amps turned up. Case in point - Frightened Rabbit, Constantines, The Black Keys, Centro-Matic, Ladyhawk, King Khan & The Shrines, etc. I could go on. Here are some of my favorite tunes released (or heard for the first time) in April.

The War On Drugs
MP3 :: Taking The Farm
(from the forthcoming album Wagonwheel Blues. Info here)
Previously on PHW :: [mp3] The War On Drugs - “Taking The Farm”
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Tall Firs
MP3 :: So Messed Up
(from Too Old To Die Young. Buy here)
Previously on PHW :: Tall Firs - Too Old To Die Young
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My Morning Jacket
MP3 :: Evil Urges
(from the forthcoming album Evil Urges. Info here)
Previously on PHW :: [mp3] My Morning Jacket - “Evil Urges”
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PHW Album of the Month - 4/08

Frightened Rabbit released my favorite album of the month of April. There’s little question about that as it has dominated my personal listening for the past 3 weeks, although I did give some thought to Attack & Release and Kensington Heights as well. After February and March’s favorites it’s nice to see the rock bands getting some love again.

The Midnight Organ Fight is a pained documentation of the “frustrated male” - which is the one recurring theme that ties this expansive, but never long, record‘s 14 tracks together. The “organ” of the album title doesn’t refer to a musical instrument by the way, but some combative contact between the male/female fun parts, as “Fast Blood” makes perfectly clear. Sexual references abound throughout - “The Twist” is a sad, desperate cry for some female attention (and again, the title isn‘t referring to the dance), and “Keep Yourself Warm” recognizes that that kind of disposable Mclovin’ is only a short term cure for loneliness. Other highlights include “The Modern Leper” - a thesis statement in self-loathing, “I Feel Better” - it’s mirror image, and “Head Rolls Off” - the sparkling first single. But every song on Frightened Rabbit’s sophomore album bristles with real emotion, memorable hooks, and tight musicianship. 14 songs and not a bad apple among them. Loud guitars and a singer who means it. Go get this one.

MP3 :: The Modern Leper
(from The Midnight Organ Fight. Buy here)
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And here’s that official video again for “Heads Roll Off”:


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And another great album track, “Old Old Fashioned”, performed acoustic in a radio session:


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Band pic from Lazy Eye Photos
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New Sounds Goin' Round....

The Pedaljets first intended to release their self-titled second album way back in 1989, but weren’t happy with how it came out so didn’t. Now, nearly 20 years later and with the help of some modern studio manipulations, the record has been dusted off and is set for release on May 6 through OxBlood Records. “Agnes Mind” is the first single and recalls both the 80s underground it was originally intended for as well as modern Americana.

MP3 :: Agnes Mind
(from Pedaljets. Buy here)
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“Autobahn” by Sinkane has no relation other than name to the Kraftwerk song. It is though a musically fluid and hypnotic track that’s meant for widescreen listening. It’s easy to imagine the singer walking through a vast open space, alone, with the cliché of shooting stars streaking the night sky overhead.

MP3 :: Autobahn
(from Color Voice. Buy here)
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Pitchfork recently bestowed the title of Best New Music to The Airing of Grievances, the new one from New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus. So that should help them out. “No Future” is a cracklin’ epic that matches the bleakness of its title with a whirlwind of grimy electric guitars doing battle with lead singer Patrick Stickles’ gruff vocals.

MP3 :: No Future
(from The Airing of Grievances. Buy here)
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[bootleg] The Replacements - "Simply Unacceptable"

To follow up the recent Gold Soundz post on The Replacements I thought I’d share this widely circulated bootleg from 1985. Commonly known as Simply Unacceptable, it was recorded in the band’s hometown of Minneapolis, MN on July 1, 1985, right at the crossroads that separated the early years (Twin Tone/Bob Stinson) from the later years (Sire/Slim Dunlap). Of course, not much changed about The Replacement’s live shows over their careers. I was too young and got into them too late to ever see a show, but I know people who did who say the shows were either rock and roll epiphanies or the band’s “dysfunctions” made you want to walk out. This one would fall under the former. Simply Unacceptable is the band in top form playing reckless, inspired versions of their own songs along with a handful of choice covers. Enjoy…

MP3 :: Never Been To College
MP3 :: Bastards of Young
MP3 :: Gary’s Got A Boner
MP3 :: Color Me Impressed
MP3 :: I’ll Buy
MP3 :: Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out
MP3 :: Unsatisfied
MP3 :: Punk Poop (aka 1977)
MP3 :: Jean Genie
MP3 :: Can’t Hardly Wait
MP3 :: Dose of Thunder
MP3 :: The Man Who Invented Himself
MP3 :: I Wanna Destroy You
MP3 :: I Will Dare
MP3 :: Little Mascara
MP3 :: Left of the Dial
MP3 :: Take Me Down To The Hospital
MP3 :: Takin’ A Ride
MP3 :: I’m In Trouble
MP3 :: Rattlesnake
MP3 :: Hitchin’ A Ride
MP3 :: Customer
MP3 :: Kids Don’t Follow
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[video] The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer"

Heretic Pride was a welcome return to form for The Mountain Goats after the disappointing Get Lonely. It finds John Darnielle back on top of his game with a collection of emotionally bruised songs almost as direct as those from The Sunset Tree. Like that album did in 2005, Heretic Pride is finding itself slowly rising among my favorite albums released thus far in 2008. Lead single “Sax Rohmer #1” is a tense declaration of intent - I am coming home to you if it’s the last thing that I do. Don’t forget to leave the light on.

But with the white suits, scribbled lyrics on the walls, and lines like every moment points toward the aftermath that make up this dizzyingly circular video, Darnielle’s earnestness can easily be mistaken for a slight emotional imbalance - this welcome return leading to its own sad end.

MP3 :: Sax Rohmer #1
(from Heretic Pride. Buy here)
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Gold Soundz: "Favorite Thing"

No other band has influenced my tastes over the past 17 years more than The Replacements have. They are, without a doubt, the reason I am the music fan I am today.

That being said, the brand new Rhino re-issues of the first 4 Replacements albums have a lot to offer any fan - the casuals who may need to fill in their collection’s missing pieces, the hopelessly devoted die-hards looking for unreleased gems (like myself), and those who fall somewhere in between. Documenting the period prior to the band’s signing to Sire Records in 1985, the recordings capture the band at their wild, careening best - quite realistically the most exciting American rock and roll band of the past 3 decades. Many of the newly unearthed rarities on these discs are actually songs I’ve loved for years (“Perfectly Lethal” especially), others are nice surprises I never knew existed.

I first heard The Replacements driving in an older friend’s car sometime in the winter of 1991. “Waitress In The Sky” and “I’ll Be You” were on a mixtape and I was taken immediately. I think I started with buying the tapes - Let It Be and Don’t Tell A Soul originally and I filled in the gaps from there. I was a little taken aback by Let It Be at first - it thrashed more than I expected compared to the shuffling folk-rock I’d already heard. Soon enough though the songs started making sense and I had a new favorite band.

There are countless Replacements’ songs I could include in a Gold Soundz post, but if pressed I think “Favorite Thing” truly captures their early spirit. Even though Westerberg did some of his best writing post-Let It Be, I’ve always felt that the Twin Tone years were the band in their prime (not revelatory, I know) and once they were on a major that the studio albums lost the drunken punk spirit that set them apart. “Favorite Thing” catches the band absolutely ripping to shreds, but also a typically inspired lyric from Paul, which, when he wanted them to be, were becoming more and more insightful (“Gary’s Got A Boner” notwithstanding). Stone classic.

MP3 :: Favorite Thing
(from Let It Be. Buy here)
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Related :: The Replacements - Tim (Re-Imagined)
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Gold Soundz columns highlight some of my favorite songs of all time. “Gold Soundz” because I thought this blog would be cooler if I ripped off a title for a “column” from a not-at-all obscure Pavement song. Previously featured in Gold Soundz:

Slobberbone :: “Gimme Back My Dog”
The Jam :: “In The City”
World Party :: “Way Down Now”
Elmore James :: “The Sky Is Crying”
John Prine :: “Lake Marie”
The Band :: “Jawbone”
Neutral Milk Hotel :: “Holland, 1945”
The Velvet Underground :: “I Heard Her Call My Name”
Hank Williams :: “I Saw The Light”
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[video] Radiohead on Conan O'Brien

Radiohead performed a sublime version of “House of Cards” from In Rainbows last night on Conan. The video was prerecorded in London exclusively for use on the show in support of NBC’s week of green programming. And oh yeah, Yorke dropped the twat word on national television. Bleeped of course.
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Sun Kil Moon - April

Don’t make the same mistake as me with the new Sun Kil Moon record, April. The first 2 times I tried listening to it were in the car on my drive home from work. A 45 minute battle along the Belt Parkway with half the cars in Queens/Brooklyn trying to make your brain explode is not the way to take in Mark Kozelek’s gentle, swirling hymns. The obvious beauty of these songs was completely lost on me, and for the past few weeks I‘ve been ignoring them. Until today. Sitting here in the early-morning hours trying to shake off one of those perfect night sleeps when you don’t have to get up for work is a much better setting to hear an album that, more than most, is not meant to be heard under all conditions.

Those first 2 listens made me pretty vehement in my early negative opinion, but I‘ve since come around. April may not be quite the record Ghosts of the Great Highway was, but if you liked that record (and chances are if you did, you really did) then April is a must hear. It’s 11 more songs that have all the same qualities that made Ghosts such a pleasant surprise and a modern Americana classic - carefully plucked acoustics and piano; winding Crazy Horse-grooves; Kozelek’s sturdy, reassuring voice; and a hazy, sustained mood running from start to finish. The melodies again take time to settle in and show their faces, but once they do you’ll be helpless to them. Just make sure you aren’t driving in traffic when you first listen.

MP3 :: Moorestown
(from April. Buy here)
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Tall Firs - Too Old To Die Young

New York based Tall Firs recently released their sophomore record - Too Old To Die Young. Coming from his Ecstatic Peace label, the album has Thurston Moore’s fingerprints all over it. The partnership is fitting because if Tall Firs recall another band it’s the more melodic side of Sonic Youth (think “Candle” from Daydream Nation or “Incinerate” from Rather Ripped). If you counted the rings you’d find these firs date back to the era of vintage 80s/90s indie rock of bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, and Mudhoney. The vocals are a cross between Moore’s and the stoned drawl of J Mascis - furthering the connection to the alt rock heyday that the tossed off fluidity of the music easily conjures, and the songs feature a youthful nostalgia (see “So Messed Up’s” references to underage drinking and drugging - we were acid crazed teenage tweak-outs/those blues for days of pills and freak-outs/tonight we‘ll be alright/we‘ll make it through tonight/tonight we’re so messed up) that probably shouldn’t ring as true as it does. At 9 songs and just 36 minutes Too Old To Die Young (the title itself a sort of secret password into a club for kids of the late 80s and early 90s) is a concise and consistent listen - and one of 2008’s most unexpected and welcome surprises to date.

MP3 :: So Messed Up
MP3 :: Hairdo
(from Too Old To Die Young. Buy here)
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Johnny Karaoke Superstar

Sometimes John takes pictures for PHW. Sometimes I post pictures of him with real headwounds, drunk but not defeated. And now I post hilarious videos of him singing his heart out to 800 people on a cruise. This one is sort of Meatloaf meets Chris Farley. One need not have been friends with him since high school to enjoy. But it certainly helps. Royal Caribbean, you're beautiful. GOODNIGHT!
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