From: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org (jinglejangle-digest) To: jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Subject: jinglejangle-digest V7 #8 Reply-To: jinglejangle@smoe.org Sender: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jinglejangle-digest Friday, January 23 2004 Volume 07 : Number 008 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [MLL] 2003 Music Round-up [Michael Zwirn ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 00:11:30 -0800 From: Michael Zwirn Subject: [MLL] 2003 Music Round-up Dear friends, attached is my round-up of music in the year 2003 ... enjoy! Comments welcome. For me, the artist of the year was Joe Pernice. Not only did the Pernice Brother release a superb album, but their abilities as a touring ensemble proved that literate pop songs can provide abundant energy and drive to a crowd. The set the band performed at Lola's Room in Portland in July was my highwater mark for live performance in 2003. It's rare that four standards are met or exceeded at the same show: great songs, great performances, great sound and a great audience. The Pernice Brothers set met all these standards. In addition to the new Pernice Brothers, I acquainted myself with his rich back catalogue from the Scud Mountain Boys era, and read his entertaining and touching take on a classic Smiths album. ALBUMS 1. Pernice Brothers, Yours, Mine & Ours. From the alternately combative and self-defeatist songs from his Scud Mountain Boys days, Joe Pernice has absorbed the lessons of Big Star, the Zombies, and Brian Wilson most obviously, but perhaps less intuitively, the lessons of the Cure and the Smiths. For another thing, Joe and I agree on comma placement (and he's got a master's degree in English). 2. Decemberists, Her Majesty the Decemberists/Five Songs EP. Portland's great hope, lyricist and singer Colin Meloy, sets his anachronistic and historically-informed tales of betrayal, piracy, and vagabond ways to tuneful pop  with touches of alt-country, pedal-steel guitar, French accordion cafi chanson, and mid-tempo rock. Despite all the flirtations with European and even Middle Eastern tones, the Decemberists album find linkages between bands I'd never previously thought linked before: Fables of the Reconstruction-era R.E.M., They Might Be Giants, Jolene, and most strikingly, New Zealand's Mutton Birds. 3. Kathleen Edwards, Failer. Heartsick and bone-chilling when you listen to the words and sturdy mid-tempo Canadiana when you don't. 4. Go-Betweens, Bright Yellow Bright Orange. To my surprise, this is not only a fine revisiting of the attributes that made their best singles so worthy in the 1980s, but a genuinely engaging record that I've played more frequently than anything else they ever did. 5. New Pornographers, Electric Version. Less enthralling than their debut but full of great singles. "Introducing for the first time / Pharoah on the microphone" is one of the great sing-along couplets in ages. 6. Delgados, Hate. Swirling pop that refers matter-of-factly to its 60's roots but distances itself from its naivete. 7. Shins, Chutes Too Narrow. Their first album was replete with shards of the Kinks and the Creation and the early Who; this one takes elements of Cat Stevens and acoustic Neil Young and does the same thing. 8. Leona Naess, s/t. In a year without an Emm Gryner record, this was the subdued and unapologetically feminine album I played most. 9. Richard Thompson, The Old Kit Bag. Some are songs I've been hearing for years in concert, but "Gethsemane" and "A Love You Can't Survive" are welcome additions to his catalogue 10. Daniel Lanois, Shine. Even if this is one of the biggest disappointments of the year, it still has some loveliness tucked away. CONCERTS 1. Pernice Brothers, Lola's Room. A masterful pairing of songwriting and performance chops, and a sound system and audience that was more than capable of handling it. 2. Daniel Lanois, McCaw Hall, Bumbershoot. Superb acoustics, and the added muscle of a four-part band, gave the best songs from Shine and his previous albums a much-needed sonic boost. 3. Michael Penn, Dante's. In his shows, he manages to act clumsily and awkwardly in ways that only convey how articulate and sophisticated he really is. 4. Pedro the Lion, Meow Meow. Bazan's individual songs are mesmerizing and can transcend the limitations of just about any venue. 5. Tori Amos/Ben Folds, Hard Rock Casino. This would rank higher if Tori just ditched her rhythm section, and played the keyboards like Ben does. 6. R.E.M./Wilco, Clark County Amphitheatre. An inspired selection of songs, and a great showcase of the band's back catalogue, but the attendance was a shame. 7. New Pornographers/Cinerama, Aladdin. Glam posing, a seemingly unending supply of New Wave hooks, and more fun on stage than they probably deserve to be. 8. Neko Case/Buddy Miller, Oregon Zoo. A picnic dinner, sun-dappled lawn, and Neko ballads? Pretty decent afternoon. 9. Amelia, Alberta Street Public House. This is what the band in the film version of High Fidelity should really have sounded like. 10. Mary Lou Lord, Dante's. I see Mary Lou Lord about two or three times a year, but this was one of the better sets she's delivered in some time. FOUR NEW WAVE COVERS 1. Mandy Moore, "Senses Working Overtime" (XTC). I promise I'll be dancing to this at my wedding. 2. Marti Jones and Don Dixon, "Room With a View" (Let's Active). From the surprisingly engaging Every Word tribute, this is a startling Rasputina-meets-the-Loud Family hybrid. 3. Pernice Brothers, "Talk of the Town" (Pretenders) in concert. Just in case you were wondering where he gets that pairing of pop hooks and lacerating wit. 4. No Doubt, "It's My Life" (Talk Talk). A perfect sonic recreation of its era, but it's a pity that Gwen Stefani really can't sing. COMPILATIONS 1. Billy Bragg, Must I Paint You a Picture? 2. Lori Carson, Stolen Beauty. - --------------------- Michael Zwirn, michael@zwirn.com (t) 503-232-8919 (c) 503-887-9800 http://zwirn.com ------------------------------ End of jinglejangle-digest V7 #8 ********************************