Friday, November 30, 2012
Water Pollution in the Textile Dye Industry
The textile industry is considered to be one of the largest consumers of fresh water. Nearly all of the water used to make textiles and fabrics is utilized during the dyeing process. This is the manufacturing step in which color is added after the fabric is woven. On average, nearly 40 gallons of water is used to color about two pounds of most manmade fabrics. Globally, we dye 39 million tons of polyester per year, using over one and one half million gallons of water annually. This water is added to pigments, pigment compounds and chlorine bleach. In addition, the water needs to be heated within a conventional process, which requires fossil fuel.
Even in the most optimum of circumstances where in which waste water is treated before being released back to the earth, alarming levels of effluent discharge still exist. And in cases where uncontrolled and unsuitable conditions are in place, significant environmental damage is being cast upon our aquatic ecological system.
Specifically, the conventional dyeing process uses a variety of toxic chemicals including chlorine, sulfide, formaldehyde, ammonia, oils, and grease components that deplete oxygen levels in water. In China, where most of the textile dye industry exists, they are producing 70 billion tons of wastewater annually,causing severe damage to the environment. Genetically, animals and plant life risk irreversible alteration. Even within the most optimum of water treatment technologies in place, this is clearly an unsustainable practice.
In response to this problem, new technologies have emerged employing the usage of super critical carbon dioxide within a process to dye fabrics without the use of any water at all. By adding heat and pressure to CO2, it changes properties and when contained, becomes almost as dense as water. Experiments utilizing this process began about 25 years ago in Germany. Lack of funds and technological obstacles has prevented implementation on an industrial scale. Today, a company from the Netherlands known as DyeCoo has developed, built and brought to market the first waterless textile dyeing machine. Given the scale and scope of the problem, DyeCoo’s outstanding technical innovations combined with the subsequent environmental benefit are being heralded as major achievements. In February 2012, the company forged a business partnership with Nike, Inc. Reinier Mommall, CEO of DyeCoo heralded, “There is no water consumption, a reduction in energy use, no auxiliary chemicals required, no need for drying and the process is twice as fast.
The excitement of Dyecoo’s success is tempered somewhat given the fact that the process only works on polyester. Although polyester makes up for about 25% of all textile processing, the technology does not work on natural fibers such as cotton. In response to this, yet another company has emerged near Barcelona, Spain with a process that manufactures blue cotton denim while dramatically cutting water consumption. Known as Clariant, they have developed a more sustainable way to produce blue denim. Like polyester, traditional methods of dyeing cotton are wasteful and pollute the earth. Some 2 billion pairs of blue jeans are manufactured each year, and each one required 2500 gallons of water to produce. The chemicals used in tandem with this process rival if not exceed that of polyester. Indigo is not water soluble, so it cannot penetrate cotton fiber. Reducing agents, such as sodium hydrosulfate separate the dye molecules from indigo so that the color will take to the fabric. In addition, conventional dyeing of denim has to be repeated some 6 to 15 times per production run to achieve the desired color using vast amounts of energy and water.
Clariant has developed a sulfur based dye as a substitute for indigo. Additionally, by introducing other colors to the process such as black and gray, more design and fashion choices may be offered. These sulfur based dyes bond better with cotton fabric, eliminating wasteful rinsing and re-dyeing steps. A process that up until now had to be repeated up to 15 times on the same garment has been reduced to once, resulting in considerably less usage of water. The new dyes also allow for the finishing wash down process to be done with hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine bleach.
While making major strides in sustainability, these two companies have opened up new doors in the field of design and fashion. In addition to a broader spectrum of colors and shades, color fastness is easier to manage over longer production runs and designers can create previously unavailable effects on denim such as color gradients, shading, and imprinting. When an environmentally damaging process such as textile dye manufacturing can be improved on such a scale and create new fashion opportunities in the process, one wonders what other happy accidents are waiting to be discovered as we drive towards becoming more sustainable.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Double pack with a photograph...
It seems that the record industry is reissuing old tunes with glossy new packaging now more than ever and given their sorry state of affairs who can really blame them? The tapes are in the vaults, nostalgia is always orbiting around the fringes of any scene, and the “vintage” craze has been expanded to include anything released before 1994.
In 1987, UK artists “The Smiths” released their last studio effort, entitled “Strangeways Here We Come”. 25 years later, the entire Smiths catalog is being reissued by Rhino Records in multiple box set formats, on both vinyl and CD. After reading about this, I decided to plop my original vinyl copy of “Strangeways” down on the turntable. As I listened, two thoughts came to mind. First and foremost, this was an amazing record by an incredible band. Secondly, I got to thinking how listening to music (at least during my lifetime) has come full circle. I started out with a transistor radio and one single earpiece. The sound was tinny, crappy, and interrupted by static, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I would adjust the tuning knob with the precision of a surgeon while rotating and twisting that little solid state box in order to try and get the best reception.
No matter what you tried it sounded like shit, but who really cared? We certainly didn’t, because this was the ultimate in entertainment. The only way to top it was to grab a record, place the needle on the groove and then sit down in one place and listen to it without doing anything else. My, how times have changed. Today, music is constantly droning on in the background of our collective lives, and other than the lack of static, today’s mp3 players and portable devices don’t really sound all that much better than those cheap transistor radios.
Getting back to The Smiths, there was a song on that last album of theirs called “Paint A Vulgar Picture”. The song included among other things a bit of a backhanded swipe at the music business, and how they recycle the songs of days gone by. The lyric goes “Reissue, reissue, repackage…re-evaluate the songs…double pack with a photograph…extra track and a tacky badge..”
These lyrics ask the question, “Is all this necessary?” Well, it depends. In the case of The Smiths, it’s all about availability. At some point over the last 10 years or so, most of the record buying public has come around to realizing that most CD’s released since the birth of the format sound like complete garbage. Shrill, over compressed, treble heavy hunks of plastic that work better as a drink coaster than they do as a listening experience. The digital files don’t sound much better because they are being mastered to be played on mp3 players and tiny computer speakers. I’m no vinyl purist, and I have plenty of CDs and digital files. So I completely understand and for the most part am willing to trade sound quality for convenience. Still, when I played that “Strangeways” vinyl over good headphones, I got a sonic kick to the gut that nothing else in any other format even comes close to achieving.
So unless you’re lucky enough to already own Smiths records on vinyl, these reissues will be welcomed as superior alternatives to the CDs sold in stores and online. Even the new CDs will probably be an upgrade as the trend in re-mastering now tries to emulate the vinyl experience instead of pushing everything in the mix up so loudly. The movement towards flat mastering began in Japan, as miniature replicas of classic LPs are being reissued in limited quantities on CD format.
These rare collectibles feature incredible attention to the most minute details involving packaging, artwork and most important, sound quality. A Japanese reissue of Led Zeppelin 3 comes with the original “spinning wheel” album jacket complete with die cut holes in the cover. More importantly, the sound kicks the collective asses of anything else you can find domestically.
There are other instances where even the original vinyl never made the grade. Elvis Costello and the Attractions 1980 release “Get Happy” had 10 songs crammed onto each side of the record, and the sound quality suffered as a result. Earlier this year, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab re-issued the record as a double 45 rpm vinyl collectible, and the difference is like night and day. Even the Ryko and Rhino CD re-issues cannot match it. Comparing them side by side, every version released up till now is plagued with muddy bass, tinny vocals and no discernible midrange to speak of.
Another fortunate occurrence taking place with the resurrection of vinyl is the growing appreciation of mono mixes over the stereo ones. There is no hard and fast rule here and the better mix is ultimately the one that just plain sounds better. However in many instances, the mono wins out. Although stereo technology hails back to the late 1950’s, it was initially utilized for recordings of large orchestras. Pop music for the most part would be primarily mixed for mono for another decade or so. The records that were mixed for stereo in the ‘60’s were often done quickly and without much thought put into what should go where . Mono was the preferred format so it obviously took up the most time and effort into getting the blend just right.
Still another element to consider is the inferior quality of much of the vinyl manufactured in the US during the 1970’s. During the energy crisis, the industry attempted to cut its costs by mixing the petroleum based vinyl with other raw materials. This would sometimes detract from sound quality, and almost always affect the products durability. Many music fans as a result, gravitated towards vinyl imported from the United Kingdom and other countries.
Inevitably, it would seem that no matter who your favorite artist is or what era floats your boat, there’s a re-issue out there for you. Completists will moan and groan as their self proclaimed status forces them to shell out coin again and again for what is basically the same music. Meanwhile, the record industry can capitalize on their unfortunate history of not getting it right by offering sonic upgrades of all kinds for future generations. The most amusing aspect of all of this is how they are now being delivered in a format that they themselves had once proclaimed to be dead and gone.
In 1987, UK artists “The Smiths” released their last studio effort, entitled “Strangeways Here We Come”. 25 years later, the entire Smiths catalog is being reissued by Rhino Records in multiple box set formats, on both vinyl and CD. After reading about this, I decided to plop my original vinyl copy of “Strangeways” down on the turntable. As I listened, two thoughts came to mind. First and foremost, this was an amazing record by an incredible band. Secondly, I got to thinking how listening to music (at least during my lifetime) has come full circle. I started out with a transistor radio and one single earpiece. The sound was tinny, crappy, and interrupted by static, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I would adjust the tuning knob with the precision of a surgeon while rotating and twisting that little solid state box in order to try and get the best reception.
No matter what you tried it sounded like shit, but who really cared? We certainly didn’t, because this was the ultimate in entertainment. The only way to top it was to grab a record, place the needle on the groove and then sit down in one place and listen to it without doing anything else. My, how times have changed. Today, music is constantly droning on in the background of our collective lives, and other than the lack of static, today’s mp3 players and portable devices don’t really sound all that much better than those cheap transistor radios.
Getting back to The Smiths, there was a song on that last album of theirs called “Paint A Vulgar Picture”. The song included among other things a bit of a backhanded swipe at the music business, and how they recycle the songs of days gone by. The lyric goes “Reissue, reissue, repackage…re-evaluate the songs…double pack with a photograph…extra track and a tacky badge..”
These lyrics ask the question, “Is all this necessary?” Well, it depends. In the case of The Smiths, it’s all about availability. At some point over the last 10 years or so, most of the record buying public has come around to realizing that most CD’s released since the birth of the format sound like complete garbage. Shrill, over compressed, treble heavy hunks of plastic that work better as a drink coaster than they do as a listening experience. The digital files don’t sound much better because they are being mastered to be played on mp3 players and tiny computer speakers. I’m no vinyl purist, and I have plenty of CDs and digital files. So I completely understand and for the most part am willing to trade sound quality for convenience. Still, when I played that “Strangeways” vinyl over good headphones, I got a sonic kick to the gut that nothing else in any other format even comes close to achieving.
So unless you’re lucky enough to already own Smiths records on vinyl, these reissues will be welcomed as superior alternatives to the CDs sold in stores and online. Even the new CDs will probably be an upgrade as the trend in re-mastering now tries to emulate the vinyl experience instead of pushing everything in the mix up so loudly. The movement towards flat mastering began in Japan, as miniature replicas of classic LPs are being reissued in limited quantities on CD format.
These rare collectibles feature incredible attention to the most minute details involving packaging, artwork and most important, sound quality. A Japanese reissue of Led Zeppelin 3 comes with the original “spinning wheel” album jacket complete with die cut holes in the cover. More importantly, the sound kicks the collective asses of anything else you can find domestically.
There are other instances where even the original vinyl never made the grade. Elvis Costello and the Attractions 1980 release “Get Happy” had 10 songs crammed onto each side of the record, and the sound quality suffered as a result. Earlier this year, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab re-issued the record as a double 45 rpm vinyl collectible, and the difference is like night and day. Even the Ryko and Rhino CD re-issues cannot match it. Comparing them side by side, every version released up till now is plagued with muddy bass, tinny vocals and no discernible midrange to speak of.
Another fortunate occurrence taking place with the resurrection of vinyl is the growing appreciation of mono mixes over the stereo ones. There is no hard and fast rule here and the better mix is ultimately the one that just plain sounds better. However in many instances, the mono wins out. Although stereo technology hails back to the late 1950’s, it was initially utilized for recordings of large orchestras. Pop music for the most part would be primarily mixed for mono for another decade or so. The records that were mixed for stereo in the ‘60’s were often done quickly and without much thought put into what should go where . Mono was the preferred format so it obviously took up the most time and effort into getting the blend just right.
Still another element to consider is the inferior quality of much of the vinyl manufactured in the US during the 1970’s. During the energy crisis, the industry attempted to cut its costs by mixing the petroleum based vinyl with other raw materials. This would sometimes detract from sound quality, and almost always affect the products durability. Many music fans as a result, gravitated towards vinyl imported from the United Kingdom and other countries.
Inevitably, it would seem that no matter who your favorite artist is or what era floats your boat, there’s a re-issue out there for you. Completists will moan and groan as their self proclaimed status forces them to shell out coin again and again for what is basically the same music. Meanwhile, the record industry can capitalize on their unfortunate history of not getting it right by offering sonic upgrades of all kinds for future generations. The most amusing aspect of all of this is how they are now being delivered in a format that they themselves had once proclaimed to be dead and gone.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Split Enz- "Time And Tide"
At the outset of the 1980’s there were several groups lumped into the “New Wave” category that rode to popularity despite having no real attachment to the movement.
One of them, New Zealand’s Split Enz, were actually more influenced by the UK progressive rock era that had taken place a decade earlier. By the time they achieved success outside their homeland, they were already grizzled veterans of studio craftsmanship with four long playing records under their belt.
The band would certainly not complain while singles like “I Got You” and “One Step Ahead” earned them enough attention and MTV airplay to tour the States and garner a positive buzz. However, the long playing records that these singles were extracted from (“True Colours” and “Waiata”, respectively) tended to be uneven in spots and gave the impression that they were consciously streamlining their sound to become more palatable. Some research through the band’s back catalog would confirm this, as earlier efforts were arranged and delivered in more of a progressive rock style.
The band’s 1982 release, “Time And Tide” would attempt to bridge these two approaches. In doing so, the band merged pop sensibility with melodic sophistication and ultimately delivered their best record. Hugh Padgham was signed on to produce, and in a bit of an ironic twist, proved to be a key element in helping the band achieve the heavier sound they were seeking. Only a year earlier, Padgham was the engineer for UK prog veterans Genesis on their album “Abacab”, a band that was a major influence on Split Enz’s earlier work. Genesis however, was looking to Padgham to deliver a more radio friendly sound like he did with Phil Collins’s mega seller, “Face Value”.
Brothers Tim and Neil Finn handled the bulk of the songwriting duties and like two sides of a coin, Tim’s jittery isolationist lyrics contrast starkly against Neil’s love lost/love longing melancholy. These contrasting styles work especially well on “Time And Tide” as it hits the ground running with “Dirty Creature”. Written about the demons and conflicts in all of us, the lyric exclaims “Dirty Creature’s got me at a disadvantage from the inside” , and the chorus laments “I don’t wanna sail tonight”. Devil on one shoulder , angel on the other.
Younger brother Neil’s “Giant Heartbeat” takes on the heavy topic of mortality, reminding us that “the time of yearning is the same at any age” and how “hearts and souls move together in time”. The rhythm track coupled with a jangling guitar figure lopes persistently to the finish, where it seems the end of life itself is examined. “Is anybody listening/A giant heartbeat is fading”.
“Hello Sandy Allen”, is a song written by Neil Finn about meeting the world’s tallest woman while waiting to appear on a talk show. It is one of the few tunes here that departs from the albums many loosely constructed themes. So it sticks out a little, but it is still a fine song with a tremendous arrangement. Conversely, Tim Finn’s “Never Ceases To Amaze Me” is a bit of an awkward stab at funk, and the next song, “Lost For Words” is a herky-jerky jam session that seems like it was created in the studio on the spot.. If we were hard pressed to pinpoint a misstep on the LP, it would be right around this juncture.
The good news is that from here on out, “Time And Tide” fires on all cylinders right to the very end. “Small World” uses a lyrical twist to emphasize how small the world is in contrast to the vastness all around us, exclaiming how we are all “a drop in the ocean”. Musically, the vocal harmonies really take off in tandem with the exquisite keyboard work of Eddie Rayner. His contributions to these tracks are an integral piece of the band’s overall sound.
“Take A Walk” kicks off side two with swirling orchestral flourishes. An irresistible shuffle beat sneaks in through the back door and drops right in to create the groove punctuated by scat guitar and more piano textures. The impeccable vocal blend of the Finn brothers is also put to good use here.
The centerpiece of the record is a type of three movement suite. “Pioneer” is entirely made up of keyboards with some nicely understated windy sound effects. This links up directly to “Six Months In A Leaky Boat”, the single from the LP that was not a top 40 hit in America, but got steady play within the now deceased FM album format. The tune percolated in the lower regions of the hot 100, and an “American Bandstand” appearance also helped. Great upper register harmonies, anchored by a punchy persistent bass line drive this tune forward, and the sea chantey instrumental break that links back into the main melody is inventive and thrilling. As the second section completes, a lonesome final passage appears as the musical equivalent of the vast loneliness of the ocean.
We need a break from all that excitement by now and Tim Finn’s autobiographical “Haul Away” provides a small glimpse of the Finn family tree with musical backing that again draws off of the albums loose nautical theme.
The last two songs on the record is where things really heat up. “Log Cabin Fever” is a pensive abstract exploration of solitude with a side order of claustrophobia. The persistent tension that threads through the entire track is a complete contrast to the wild jubilation of the closing number, “Make Sense Of It”. This song ties all the musings and themes together, reminding us that life’s riddles will never be solved and we would be better served to keep our sense of humor and find comfort in friendship.
Although “Time And Tide” is based around a distinct concept, the themes and messages that exist within the record are never delivered in a heavy handed fashion. As a result the overriding musicality of the effort shines through. This is the main reason the album is an almost universal favorite among the groups fan base and critics alike.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
This blog
will be converted over to tumblr in the near future, because it's so much easier to post audio and video. Here's the link-cut and paste into your browser and head on over.
http://www.tumblr.com/tumblelog/heymusicfans
I may keep them both up for a while, we'll see.
http://www.tumblr.com/tumblelog/heymusicfans
I may keep them both up for a while, we'll see.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Looking Backwards and Pointing Forwards At The Same Time
Mitch Easter's magnum opus is a defining moment in the history of american pop.
If you listened really closely and filtered out all the fake drums and bad hair of the 1980’s pop scene, you would know that there were still some great buried treasures released that decade. I’ve spoken about them from time to time in this space, covering territory like Rockpile’s “Seconds Of Pleasure”, The Replacements “Let It Be”, and Husker Du’s “Zen Arcade”, to name a few.
I can’t think of another decade prior where there was such a vast chasm between what was popular and what was actually good. Music video bears much of the blame for this, because while it added the visual aspect it did so at the expense of the listener’s own imagination. As a result, we were bombarded with titillating images and colors, manufactured to appeal to the widest variety of people in order to maximize profits. This “boardroom” approach of treating music like margarine permanently blurred (and perhaps even wiped out for good) the fine line between art and commerce.
Somewhere in the midst of all this, a groundswell of sorts was emerging in the southeastern corner of the United States. A musician by the name of Mitch Easter set up a record studio at his parents garage in Winston-Salem, NC, with the intention of producing pop records for all types of regional talent. In summer 1981, an Athens , GA band named R.E.M booked time at Mitch’s “Drive In Studio” to record a 45 titled “Radio Free Europe”. Despite its extremely limited pressing of only 1,000 copies, the disc achieved critical acclaim, most notably by The New York Times which named it as one of the year’s ten best.
This relationship would prove to be a watershed moment for Easter. Soon he found himself producing and/or co-producing R.E.M.’s first three releases for IRS records. The success of these efforts quickly led to a recording contract of his own, and he along with his then girlfriend Faye Hunter and drummer Sara Romwebber formed the group Let’s Active.
Their first EP, titled “Afoot” yielded the minor hit “Every Word Means No”. Its accompanying video, shot of the band against a mostly white backdrop earned enough MTV airplay to get IRS records to request a full-fledged LP release. “Cypress”, despite it’s accessible jangle-pop leanings couldn’t crack the mainstream market, and the band split up during a 1984 tour of the UK.
Easter however, would continue to work under the “Let’s Active” moniker playing the odd show with Hunter and other temporary members throughout 1985. He was also writing and recording mostly on his own what was to become the next “Let’s Active” LP.
“Big Plans For Everybody”, released on May 17th, 1986 was for all intensive purposes a Mitch Easter solo LP. Other than some bass parts plus a few drum and keyboard tracks he played all the instruments himself, as well as handling the production and mixing duties.
The record spent 11 weeks on the Billboard charts, but never cracked the top 100. However, amongst the burgeoning college rock scene, the record was extremely well received. Unfortunately though, college rock charts were still about two to three years away from becoming a more influential piece of the pop music market, mostly due to the groundwork laid out by Easter and co-producer Don Dixon on those early REM records.
“Big Plans” has plenty to appeal to most rock fans, which makes it all the more puzzling as to why it didn’t fare better upon release. Chalk it up to being stuck in a decade where style over substance was quickly becoming the norm. If the record didn’t have a video stuffed with partially clad women in it, then it had no chance for airplay. However, “Big Plans For Everybody” is a record that has gained respect over an extended period of time.
Rhythmically, it possesses the charm and straight forward percussion stylings of early Todd Rundgren. The melodic layering of several tasty guitar parts recalls the studio work of Jimmy Page, as well as Johnny Marr of The Smiths. The songwriting is taut and concise. Most impressively though, is how “Big Plans For Everybody” looks backward and points the way forward at the same time. It’s nothing less than a defining moment in the history of American pop.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The Replacements - Rock and Roll's last good "Dose Of Thunder"
By the time I finally saw The Replacements live, they were the opening act for Elvis Costello around 1989. Original lead guitarist Bob Stinson was kicked out of the group three years earlier, and the band had all but run it’s course. They still put on what I felt at that time was one heck of a show, but 45 minutes from a band known for playing three hour long alcohol fueled marathons was just barely enough to whet my appetite.
The band was touring to support its last album, “All Shook Down”. Originally intended to be lead man Paul Westerberg’s first solo album, the record instead came out under “The Replacements” banner at the insistence of their record company, Warner Brothers. Although the band had essentially broken up by this point, they agreed to do the gigs.
Having missed seeing this band at the height of its powers is one of my top ten rock and roll regrets. Fortunately, there are plenty of live bootlegs proliferating the internet which allow me to at least partially rectify this. One of them, recorded February 4th, 1986 at Max’s in NY, is not only an incendiary moment in the band’s performance history, but also one of the last times Bob Stinson would appear with them.
The show mainly consists of material from their then most recent record “Tim”, and their 1984 Twin Tone release, “Let It Be”. Songs like “Hold My Life”, “I Will Dare” and “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out” are aggressively delivered, with much more power and energy than the recorded versions. There’s no timing, no tuning, just raw instinct. There is no set list, perhaps a rough outline instead that ultimately gets cast aside as the show progresses. The band just wails.
From their very beginnings, their only intent was to have a good time, get loaded and play songs. Because of this, the live shows could sometimes deteriorate into an inebriated mess. The flip side of this coin though, is with just enough substance abuse, they could deliver a show that was beyond great. Like a tightrope wire act, it could go splat at any moment. This kind of tension only added to the excitement.
Added to this modus operandi is their collective attitudes which would ultimately ruffle the feathers of the people who’d hired them. Bob Stinson said it best when he exclaimed, “we’re not punks, we’re assholes”. One notable instance was during their SNL appearance in New York, when the band used foul language in a live televised setting, and then trashed the hotel room at the Omni Berkshire afterwards. This made the show’s producer Lorne Michaels so livid, that he vowed that if Warner Brothers did not foot the bill for the damages, no act of theirs would ever appear on his show again.
This reputation was just as important to the band’s legacy as their talent. Piece all these factors together , and you realize that The Replacements drew the dotted line from The Beatles to The Faces, and then even more importantly, onwards to the Sex Pistols and The Clash. They lived the life style, and they didn’t have to prove it (or anything else for that matter) to anybody. They didn’t dress the part, and they didn’t write songs that glamorized themselves. They simply got shit faced and played. If you didn’t like it , then they would be more than happy to spit right up the holes of your upturned nostrils.
No Replacement concert would ever be complete without their sometimes hilarious and often thrilling versions of other bands material. Cover versions of songs as diverse as Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” to Sonny And Cher’s “I Got You Babe” could turn up in these sets at any given moment. They might make it all the way through the song, or simply abandon it right in the middle, snarking and giggling as it all breaks down. When I saw them in Connecticut, they played an incredible version of The Dave Clark Five’s “Any Way You Want It”. On that February evening at Max’s it was a walloping triple punch of T -Rex’s “Baby Strange”, The Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” and one hit wonder Vanity Fare’s classic “Hitchin’ A Ride”. In every instance though , they are able to turn these songs into something very much their own while at the same time staying true to the original versions.
We may never see a band like this again. The Replacements were that all too rare combination of attitude , flippancy and spirit. Towards the end of their shelf life, it may have wavered. But at their peak, they were an unbeatable pop combo that produced some of the greatest records and live shows ever.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues" reviewed.
Any band that uses close harmony singing as part of their approach is going to invite comparisons to what preceded it. But if the songs are good , then that trumps everything else. In the case of Robin Pecknold and his band Fleet Foxes, these comparisons are more of a result of hard work and talent than they are an attempt to ape someone else’s style. Simply because the songs are good. Damn good. The melodic paths are taken so carefully that they often surprise, but nothing seems forced and I enjoy the underplaying that allows these grooves to just breathe.
The first two minutes of the first single and title track is so reminicent of The Everly Brothers in both spirit and execution it's uncanny. Also among the early favorites are "Sim Sala Bim" which I can only describe as Crosby Stills and Nash (or maybe even America) paired up with the bass and drum approach of XTC's "Mummer" LP. In fact, you could make that case for the whole enchilada (when you're not comparing it stylistically to SMiLE-era Beach Boys). "Grown Ocean" and "Battery Kinzie" are among the LP’s heavier moments and these collectively gallop out of the gate with the power and complexities of great early 1970’s progressive rock .
Having said this, to try and connect the music of Fleet Foxes with specific periods in the history of American pop is to ultimately miss the point. Because after you ’re done comparing it to its influences it still comes down to whether it‘s good or not. “Helplessness Blues” is good. Not because of what it sounds like, but because of how it plugs into an emotion. Of a time when people got together and sang songs because that was their only entertainment. From songs of oppression, to creaky front porches in the Appalachian Mountains to crowded holiday living rooms in the suburbs, it’s a feeling that exists in each and every one of us.
These songs reach out and ask you to hum along, or at least tap your toe. Grab a pot from under the sink and bang on it. That’s what exists at the core of this record, but it’s only the spring board. From there these humble folk songs are crafted into aerodynamic gliders of sound that are just as adventurous as they are accessible.
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