Dead Man's Bones @ The Triple Door

Here's the follow-up to my previous blog on Dead Man's Bones. This was originally published on KEXP 10.23.09

I had a pretty killer Friday, October 23, 2009. This is probably news to you but I am once again unemployed! As a result I spent the greater part of my morning drinking coffee, listening to music, trolling ebay (anyone willing to donate an LCD monitor in support of the arts? How about a Hasselblad? Pushing my luck?) and Craigslist (this one for JOBS), all the while completely forgetting to eat solid food. So by the time I met my ridiculously lovely date for a drink or two — well, I sort of went tits–up on the alcohol. So without further ado, I give you:

NEVER LET A LACK OF TALENT GET YOU DOWN: DEAD MAN’S BONES PLAYS THE TRIPLE DOOR!

Or

It’s the t-r-i-p-l-e DIZOOR, t-r-i-p-l-e DIZOOR, t-r-i-p-l-e DIZOOR…

So after the wine we made our way down the hill to Seattle’s famed The Triple Door for a show I’d been looking forward to for quite some time. I was a touch worried as I’d gotten a call the previous night notifying me of Ryan Gosling’s contraction of Swine Flu and subsequent cancellation of the band’s morning in-studio performance. Just kidding about Swine Flu (back off, TMZ) but he was supposedly feeling pretty sick which could in theory put a damper on the kind of spirited monster-rock extravaganza myself and the staff of Forever 21 were hoping for.

In case you missed my review last month — the Seattle show marked stop #8 of Zach Shields and Ryan Gosling’s “monster-ghost-love-story” for the masses in which each performance would feature a local talent show opener and band support from each city’s hometown children’s choir. By the time we’d found our seats (front row — thanks, Triple Door) I’d completely spaced the whole talent show thing and was in turn a bit surprised by the emergence of guitar-playing ghost MC — taking the stage to announce the evening’s participants. Now I’m not trying to sound like a jerk but the guy had a seriously thick, vaguely Latino ghost accent that made the mental notation of names somewhat challenging. The ghost was clearly talented — but not unlike the first few episodes of The Wire — I had no idea what the hell was being said until damn near close to the end the talent show. The pre-show entertainment was certainly terrifying — and not in the Halloweeny, spookadelic manner intended. There were only 3 acts (not 5-8 as advertised, but by the end I was okay with that); 2 of which had me flashing back to a traumatic outing with the parent’s to see Blue Man Group. What can I say, audience participation is not really my deal. Check that, not at all my deal. Neither is human-skat-jazz-poem-Tourettes-theatre. COME ON, SEATTLE, we could’ve done better than this. We produced Sir-Mix-a-Lot and Brandon Roy. Hell, we produced Kenny G and Doug Christie! As a side note: the first act, a young woman from the choir (ghost accent), sang, played piano — and was amazing. Stevie Wonder’s “Masquerade” never sounded so soulful. I was wishing for her return about 90 seconds into the second act. Shoulda batted cleanup, kid.

As Gosling and Shields made their way out onto the stage the sold out crowd let loose an odd mixture of screechy screamies and exuberant claps not heard since Blake Schwarzenbach’s heyday. One young lady even let Gosling know that she’d be drinking at Tavern Law after the show. He looked confused. To be expected, I suppose.

I have to admit I’ve sort of been wondering, since the release of their somewhat subdued studio album, how this would all pan out: for me the most stirring moments put forth thus far by Dead Man’s Bones have been in live moments (recounted via YouTube) of spontaneity — the vocal cracks, mistuned instruments, timing (unpredictably tentative and hyper) all mash together in a way that outshines an album of even the most hastily recorded/mixed songs.

Shields and Gosling clearly understand dynamic at play here. Accompanied by members of The Seattle Children’s Chorus the King County incarnation of Dead Man’s Bones at once harnessed the dark power of the unknown. As the band/kids choir (in costume w/ white-faced zombie make-up) made its way through their first several songs, it became clear to me that Shields and Gosling were subtlety shaking off complacency, switching instruments erratically, speaking to the crowd, directing the children, adjusting tempo, at times even surprising each other. Shields and Gosling rarely seemed to break eye-contact with one another. Clearly, these two were playing a sort of musical cat and mouse that kept the crowd and children guessing — this uneasiness fans the flames and makes inherently dramatic songs like “In the Room Where you Sleep” and “Lose Your Soul” thicker, richer and creepier live than they could ever hope to be on wax (no wax available BTW. WTF, Anti-?). Another high point was the hugely catchy synth-pop-stand-out of the album, “Pa-Pa-Power,” which saw singing, clapping and dancing in every corner of The Triple Door. “Dead Man’s Bones,” which honestly never grabbed me until now (theme songs always feel like filler), featured some of the most convincing crying I’ve ever heard — even Gosling was moved to compliment the kids mid-song. It’s amazing what a little impromptu theater can bring to a song.

I’ve got to be honest with you: this kind of thing — do-wop infused rock n roll theater — is not generally something I’d envision myself latching onto (I’ve been muttering the words “I’m not usually susceptible to shooby-do-wops” for weeks now), but by the time Dead Man’s Bones played their first encore song, “Name in Stone,” I was hypnotized by the perfect storm of organized chaos on the stage in front of me. The thing that really gets me about Dead Man’s Bones is the attitude. Never once did ANYONE on that stage stop smiling. It’s amazing to think about the potential brimming beneath the positive impact of each kid’s experience with Dead Man’s Bones. In their way, Gosling and Shields are doing for these children (12 local kids choirs) what was not done for them. They’re showing these kids what’s important: have fun first. Make music second. While the symbiotic nature of this relationship is clear, the band’s rejection of the mundane (see: playing the album on stage) and emphasis on the moment (random talent and structure) radiates above all else a sincere appreciation of those inexplicably pure feelings wrapped inside of music — the joyous discovery of something intensely beautiful, unique and fleeting.

I’m glad I got to be there.

Elliott Smith Re-issues on Kill Rock Stars

Elliott Smith. Well, where to start?

You’d be hard-pressed to find a musician, an artist, a singular voice, that means more to me than Elliott Smith. Like so many others, Elliott’s music affected my insides with the kind of emotional force that made me an instant fan for life. Each of his whispered words a razor-sharp secret, Elliott’s compositions hang between speakers like stories spoken in confidence. I owned everything in his catalogue within weeks. I still remember the first song of his I heard (“Clementine,” from his self-titled release on Kill Rock Stars) and where I was when he died (blowing dust from the lens of an IMAX projector). Even though I’d never met Elliott or even seen him play a complete set (I was late to a show once and caught his encore — it wasn’t my fault, ugh) I used to look forward to his records like a proud best friend or brother. I think a lot of people felt that way about him. I guess the point that I am struggling to hone is that Elliott Smith was a special human being whose contributions to music can not be overstated.

On April 6th, Kill Rock Stars will rerelease Smith’s first and last records, 1994’s Roman Candle(originally on Cavity Search) and 2004’s From a Basement on a Hill (completed posthumously in 2004 by Rob Schnapf and Joanna Bolme for ANTI-). This will in effect bring the majority of his catalog (barring his two Dreamworks albums XO & Figure 8) home to the Northwest.

Often overlooked, Smith’s hushed Roman Candle is one of the most beautiful and telling records of his short career. Smith’s debut offers clues about the artist’s troubled childhood with the transparency of a young man that never expected to get his record made. Among his very best, these first three songs — “Roman Candle,” “Condor Ave,” and “No Name #1” — are the ultimate introduction to themes found throughout Elliott’s entire catalogue (Charlie, mom, withdrawal).Roman Candle is one hell of an honest record that showcases the primordial talents of a brilliant artist to be.

The new Kill Rock Stars version of Roman Candle has been re-mastered by Tape Op Editor and official Elliott Smith archivist Larry Crane. According to Crane, the updated version will be…

“more listenable. I felt that a lot of the guitar ’squeaks’ were jarring and very loud, and that many of the hard consonants and ’s’ sounds were jarring and scratchy sounding. I felt by reducing these noises that the music would become more inviting and the sound would serve the songs better.”

Important to note though is that 2010’s Roman Candle will not deviate from Elliott’s original mixes. Also important to note: this release also marks the first time the album will be available on vinyl.

In celebration of these recent additions, Kill Rock Stars has offered today’s featured song, “Cecelia/Amanda,” as a free MP3 download. The song, recorded by Larry Crane in 1997, is a lovely gift and elegant bridge between Elliott’s debut and final recordings. In 1997, Kill Rock Stars had just released Either/Or and Elliott was in the midst of what would become his highest level of mainstream exposure, beginning with his musical contribution to fellow Portlander Gus Van Sant’s film Good Will Hunting and culminating with an Oscar nomination (and performance) for his song “Miss Misery.” At this time, Elliott was working on the tracks that would become the shining apex of his discography, his Dreamworks debut, XO. It is with this fourth record that Smith’s transformation from thinly produced lo-fi singer-songwriter to multi-instrumentalist baroque pop master would come into full bloom.

Along the way Larry Crane recorded “Cecelia/Amanda,” a near complete lyrical reworking of a track entitled “Time is Ours Now,” originally recorded by Smith’s high school band Stranger Than Fiction. Despite its origins, this rework sounds like middle ground between Either/Or and XO. XOmarked the first time Elliott, a proficient pianist since an early age, chose to bring the pop-mainstay of his idols to the forefront of his own compositions. Suddenly, Elliott’s doubled vocals and skillful finger-picking found their perfect counter-part in colorfully upbeat piano arrangements. “Cecilia/Amanda” is a lost example of this musical big bang — a precursor of sorts to the brilliance of “Waltz #2,” “Baby Britain,” and “Independence Day.”

I realize I’ve said very little about From a Basement on a Hill. This may sound completely ridiculous, but I have listened to it very little over the years since its original release. Like most of his other albums, I think I bought it on the first day it was available, on LP, but decided to save it for a time when I really needed some new Elliott. I guess on some level I wasn’t ready for Elliott Smith’s last tracks. Sitting here tonight, listening to “Cecilia/Amanda,” Roman Candle, Elliott Smith, Either/Or, XO, and Figure 8, I think it’s finally time to dust off Elliott’s final gift.

XO

*all images Autumn deWilde

Dead Man's Bones

Here's a piece that originally posted to kexp a month ago today. Dead Man's Bones plays The Triple Door tonight!


BluetoothFriend:
“He is an asshole. The video is evidence enough.”

Phoenix0929:
“Dude. He’s so sexy playing piano.”

DubbedVideoDubbed:
“What’s wrong with you? YOU’RE the asshole. You probably like Miley Cyrus or something. You are just a crap person.”

Cokkiepartylennon93:
“I love this. It’s so Gothic but not annoyingly Gothic. It’s real interesting. Iove it and I love their voices.”

Montgomc:
“It isn’t horrible but I’d rather see Ryan Gosling act than listen to him sing.”

Heyyounewave:
“Ryan marry me. Please.”

Have I told you about my new favorite way to not work at work? You guessed it, youtube commentary. If you’re like me you need something to distract you from the fact that you sit at a desk 40+ hours a week burning your eyes out on spreadsheets containing data you really couldn’t give two turds about. I do declare that youtube commentary may just be your savior. Simply dial up the interweb and start searching. Before you know it you’ll be totally LOLing coffee into your keyboard. It’s amazing really, when you consider the whole thought process behind creating the user name coupled with the energy required to initiate and maintain arguments with people you’ll likely never meet. To quote Gwen Stefani, this shit is BANANNAS. B-A-N-A-N-AY – ES!



Dead Man’s Bones is the thus-far astonishing musical side-project of actors Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, The Believer, Half-Nelson [Academy Award nomination, best recanize), Lars and the Real Girl) and Zach Shields (The Most Beautiful Thing, Fox 7 at Fifty). Regarded as one of the most dynamic and talented actors of his generation Gosling’s potential as a songwriter is unsurpassed. All zombie’s aside there is a certain terror that takes hold when faced with the work of actor/musicians – but I assure you - Dogstarr this is not. Gosling (on guitar, piano and vocals) and Shields (percussion) have put forth something special here.



With just 4 songs floating around the internet some may remain skeptical of Dead Man’s Bones (hey, it’s your right) but the way I see it, even if the rest of the album is corpse shit (doubtful) these songs and videos can stand alone in this space and time as something unique, energetic and moving.

Port O'Brien - Threadbare

You may remember a post from last year when I first experienced Port O'Brien...

Here is a new post - up today on kexp.org:

Earlier this month California natives Port O’Brien released their third full-length album Threadbare – on TBD Records (Radiohead, White Rabbits). Quite possibly my favorite record of 2008 this follow-up to the highly acclaimed All We Could Do Was Sing (City Slang Records) sees new emotional movement in the Port O’Brien camp. Those of you impacted by the boisterous, fun-loving, free-spirited anthems of last year’s breakout will immediately notice a shift in tonality, pace and subject matter within the hushed walls of Threadbare. I did. In fact I’m almost certain that after the first listen I turned to Kate and said “this sounds so different…almost muffled.” Indeed the sounds nestled amongst the grooves of this latest effort seem uniformly confined by overcast skies and high tides. These new songs are wrapped inside the kind of introspection that walks hand in hand with unexpected sadness - specifically the tragic loss of founding member Cambria Goodwin’s younger brother. Described as a freeform process, the early stages of Threadbare’s sessions soon gave way to the solitude of life’s slower moments. Recorded in large part with San Francisco’s Jason Quever ( Papercuts) the lion share of the record inhabits a space not much larger than the living room studio in which it’s tracks were laid. A longtime friend and tour-mate, Quever’s quiet contributions are palpable. He deserves a lot of credit for manning such a risky departure. While it may not soar to the erratic heights of it’s predecessor - Threadbare ratchets-up the humanity in a manner that solidifies it’s emotional impact and accessibility. Focused and deliberate Threadbare sheds the limitations of successful formulas while retaining the true essence of the band’s sound.

“My Will Is Good” is perhaps the apex of Threadbare’s likeness to last year’s All We Could Do Was Sing. The song – while surrounded in sombre(and elegantly arranged) acoustics and cello fog - finds Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin momentarily parting the clouds of loss with a beautifully softened burst of their uniquely of folked-up sing-along sound - all of the best bits are still here kids: toe-tapping intro followed up with a wonderfully catchy beat; Pierszalowski’s newly reserved voice (really maturing nicely, think of Conor Oberst’s transition from Letting Off the Happiness to The Story Is In The Soil…) humming (not enough of this in the world, anyone can sing back-up here) and lyrics that make really make you think.

All this is a good sign for Van, Cambria and the rest of the boys: with just three LP’s under their belts – Threadbare illustrates the band’s propensity for change. With change comes longevity. Sure All We Could Do Was Sing reached out, grabbed me by the neck and demanded my attention– but Threadbare – well Threadbare is really more like the arm of a sincere old friend – setting you down on the crappy old couch for some catching up.

PS – see them live.

catch with my favorite little amigo.

it's a whole hell of a lot easier for an adult to save a kid's life than vice versa. at best i've probably saved you from a broken bone or a few lost teeth.

this dude has your back for life.

if you're gonna scream, scream with me.

me and high-school really didn't get along. god, i hated that place. and that time. i graduated from the ironically named Elmira Free Academy a full year early - june of 1993 - and in the 16 years (uhm, wow) since have annihilated or overwritten most of those memories. lately i've been thinking about that shithole again. about the kid i was, the music i listened to and how it got me to where i sit today*. as the youngest of my three upstate siblings tries to find her way to the light at the end of study hall alot of the weird memories of high-school have been flowing back in.

by the time i became one of elmira's finest achievers i was WAY into collecting punk tapes. do you remember that gigantic waterproof sony walkman that was YELLOW with the locking mechanism on the side? why was it YELLOW? why, when cassette tapes were tiny and light as feather did this thing have to be a goddamned dictionary in your pocket? why was it YELLOW? yellow is basically the worst color on earth (fresh pee) and somebody at sony thought, let's make that shit YELLOW and way way bigger than it needs to be! let's make a PISS BRICK! i wore the most enormous pants back then and i can still remember straight struggling to get that thing out of my pocket. luckily it had cutting edge AUTO-REVERSE technology so tape-flipping was less of an issue but still - can you imagine kids on capitol hill using one of these? i think the yellow would go over fine, but actually getting it into a pocket of the modern trendsetter would be a physical impossibility. perhaps an ironic fanny pack is the answer. i dunno. i can't help you.

the thing i remember most about that walkman was the way it looked loaded up with my misfits Legacy of Brutality cassette. while most cassettes were that weird metallic clear plastic this shit was BLACK. you know what else is black? DEAD STUFF. man the misfits were my favorite band right around the time i had this stupid ass yellow walkman. thinking about it now, the thing probably looked like a goddamn bumble-bee but i remember thinking it looked so completely badass. I would listen to Static Age, Legacy of Brutality, Walk Among Us and Earth A.D. over and over until the AA's died or the tape got eaten.** I had at least 3 Misfits t-shirts including the classic skull shirt and an Earth A.D. shirt with several bloody wolf-man- zombies hanging from a nooses. ***

nowadays cassettes are long gone and i'm not sure why this happened but the misfits never transitioned into the CD/record collection for me. i thought for a while that maybe i had lost or let someone borrow my misfits CD's but i'm realizing now that i never had them. just the cassettes. i guess i just started getting into other stuff around the time CD's came out / i got into records and i just never replaced these formative classics.

over the years my taste has really expanded. to think that i really only listened to punk for years and years is pretty astonishing. I often make the mistake, when thinking about my own experience with music - changing tastes etc. - of thinking that i'm the only one that spent his childhood feeling songs like MOMMY, CAN I GO OUT AND KILL TONIGHT?, HYBRID MOMENTS and BULLET - despite a real inability to understand what the fuck Danzig was actually singing. Seriously, could you tell me the lyrics to those songs before Google existed? I don't think so. The misfits were ferocious and full of attitude; exactly what i needed at the time.

In the years following my taste slowly morphed - from clearly punk music (dead kennedys, bad religion, misfits, sex pistols, black flag, minor threat, minutemen) into sometimes poppier emotional punk of the bay area (jawbreaker, green day, crimpshrine, mohinder) -into whatever the sam-hell it is today. along the way i discovered a guy named david pajo. mr. pajo is probably best known for his contribution to/creation of the post-rock movement as a member of Louisville band slint (Tweez, Spiderland) and later tortoise (the amazing Millions Now Living Will Never Die and TNT). even though i love and admire all four of those records it wasn't until i heard pajo play alone, stripped bare as papa M that i really fell in love with his music. Live from a Shark's Tank, Whatever Mortal, Papa M Sings, Songs of Mac and his six singles (entitled 1-6, all on drag city) are an exercise in delicate and deliberate song writing that is on the surface completely at odds with my early years as a connoisseur of punk rock. pajo's most recent release is a collection of misfits covers. listening to Scream With Me has filled me with such happiness. maybe it sounds dumb, HAPPINESS and MISFITS unlikely sentence mates - but this record, just feels like going home. it has forced me to contemplate where i came from***** in relation to where i am today. perhaps more importantly it reminds me that there are others out there that have traversed similar territory in terms of music and perhaps more importantly - in life. what's the goddamn dif i guess, right? the songs themselves are triumphant in their ability to transcend the inherent brutality of a misfits song to create something aesthetically beautiful. it's amazing what slowing the pace and tone of a song like I TURNED INTO A MARTIAN will do to the feeling it exudes. as each note crawls by pajo asks us to reexamine danzig's lyrics beneath the cold light of one's lifetime -

possession of the mind is a terrible thing

it's a transformation with an urge to kill

not the body of a man from earth

not the face of the one you love

i turned into a martian

i can't even recall my name

sometimes i never hardly sleep at night

i turned into a martian today

- there is newfound disaffection in the words as pajo sings:

i walk down city streets

in an unsuspecting human world

inhuman in your midst

- i still consider myself to be into punk rock. it's just another kind of punk i guess. another feeling. i think ray barbee sums it up pretty well****: "[punk is more of] a way of thinking...if you've got a heavy metal show and you book a jazz band in there, that's punk." pajo's fragile covers have gotten me thinking about what glenn danzig was trying to get across more than i ever did as a kid. in that way this collection of songs is a completely punk rock record and i am more of a punk now than i was then. fuckin' a.

it's the very best thing i've heard this year. I really can not recommend it strongly enough. It's a limited edition vinyl release (1000 pressed at 45rpm) and comes with free CD of the full record.

Here's the tracklisting:

Angelfuck

Hybrid Moments

Where Eagles Dare

Bullet

Teenagers from Mars

Devil's Whorehouse

I Turned into a Martian

Horror Business

You can and will buy it here.

*

**i was pretty proud of my ability to fix cassette tapes when i was a kid. i wore these fucked up thick plastic glasses when i was young and was always having to use the mini-screwdriver to tighten them and what-not - presumably due to the unnatural weight of the thick lenses. anyway i quickly discovered that this little tool could also be used to dismantle audio cassettes. i would repair a friend's damaged tape in exchange for a dub of some other album. i remember i would lay the tape on the table as if i was about to perform a triple bypass. i think i washed my hands first. i'd open it up and untwist the tape and even do splices with my mom's scotch tape. i remember one time i had this fugazi tape - it wasn't 13 songs because that wasn't on cassette - OH -margin walker it was - i had that all laid out and i need some scotch tape to repair it and i asked my mom - who sent me on this wild search through the basement for a mystery roll of scotch tape that was left over from wrapping christmas presents. i remember searching around, STRESSING that margin walker was splayed out all over the table (should've secured my surgical materials prior to making the first incision) - any old breeze could come by and blow everything all to hell. luckily that didn't happen and i believe the repair was a success. thank god, fugazi tapes were like 6$ and not available at sam goody.

***I also eventually owned a couple of danzig shirts including one from the 2nd record LUCIFUGE that had the outline of an upside-down cross on the front with the danzig skull inside it. On the back were big blood red letters that read GOD DON'T LIKE IT. hahaha, oh man, i'd wear that today if i still had it.

****

*****epicly later'd is a brilliant video series about skateboarders, created by patrick o'dell. ray barbee's episode is here.