SONG OF THE WEEK: “Burn One Down” — Ben Harper

So I keep it loud and I change it up often; Never lettin’ one sound, one band, one singer get burrowed down too deep, where the chance of slippin’ off of the thin road to musical Valhalla and onto the fat, slippery cobblestones of fascination street rises immeasurably. New stuff comes and goes, flitting through my ears and across my resin-soaked brain like migrating musical notes, winging through memory lane long enough to leave an impression, then swooping off into the ether to reappear at the strangest moments or never again. So much information. Sports scores? New car ratings? The stock exchange? War? Famine? Pestilence? Please. I’m trying to dig up the lyrics to Pantera’s “Cemetery Gates” inside my head right now (RIP Dimebag Darrell), and they’re stuck between one stanza of Alice Cooper’s “Dead Babies” and a horrific extra scene to Pet Semetery 2 that I dreamed up one night after watching a late TV re-run of the movie and eating a whole can of those idiotic little cocktail wieners on Ritz Crackers. Ack.

And yet, people continue to expect those ridiculous, annual Year-End Lists of shit I really liked more than all the other shit I heard during the year (which they don’t realize includes positively STACKS of shit from around 1912 to the past week that doesn’t fit in their neat little categories of “New” or “Hot” or “Next Big Thing”), and that’s assuming I even remember all the shit I heard in the past year. Sure, I could go back through the Pulse Archives and refresh my memory on everything I reviewed, good or bad, over the past twelve months. But then, so could you, or anybody else who gave a damn about old reviews. Naw, like I haven’t in the past several years, I’m not gonna print an “official” Year-End Best-Of List of albums for 2004, either.
What I will do is jump in the ol’ Way-Back Machine (one more time, hope the ol’ cerebral cortex can stand the strain) and try to illuminate some of the highlights I can recall from the past year in music, entertainment, etc., as well as drop a few hints about things to come- good or bad—in 2005. You’re welcome to tag along—you might even find yourself or somebody you know (and love or hate) somewhere here. And maybe—just maybe—you might find a nugget or two of info you can use. Either way, this is what ya get:

Hallett’s Top 5 Musical Experiences of 2004

1) Hanging around and helping program and modulate Earwig Radio, that mysterious little LPFM station I’ve told you all about (see KILL UGLY RADIO pts. 1, 2, & 3 in the Pulse Archives for the story and how you, too, can start your own pirate station) over the past six months or so. In an era where even the top money dogs like Stern and FM power jocks are continually fucked with by an ever-more-zealous FCC, free radio is running for the satellites, and hip NPR and Radio K programs are cancelled or going off the air, there just can’t be a bigger thrill in the world than stringing together two hours or more a week of kick-ass new and vintage music, interviews (this writing gig comes in handy in more ways than one, heheheh), and info with no regard to genre, label pressure, or pussy program directors. Not to mention Michael Powell and his mob of modern-day Inquisitors. Throwing in sound clips from the Simpsons, South Park and classic movies just sweetens the pot even more. Put it this way: I used to get visits from the cops, nasty notes from neighbors and even a few court dates, all because of my love of loud, loud music. Now, I can just put on a pair of headphones, crank up the transmitter, and people—the RIGHT people—can hear my tunes up to 15 miles away. That ROCKS! And yes, if I’ve written about your band, you’re probably on the air there. Coming in 2005: More live, on-air performances and phone interviews, music specials, and maybe—just maybe—a streaming web-cast. For a free copy of a show on compact disc, send your address and $2 for shipping costs to: Tom Hallett, 13104 Silver Rod Street, N.W., Coon Rapids, MN 55448. Make sure to write “Earwig Radio Request” on the outside of your envelope.

2) Working in and around a recording studio in Northern Indiana. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past year in the vast cornfields near Royal Center, watching and learning from one of my fave producer/engineers, Big As A Barn’s Jamie Rouch. Jamie’s been a master of the board (he’s got a 32-track Mackie set-up) since I was in about seventh grade, and his magic touch can be heard on such classics as Jack Logan’s Bulk, as well as albums from The Dashboard Saviors, Spikedriver, A Failed Escape, N8, The Roach Brothers and loads of Indiana artists. It’s been an immeasurable help to begin understanding the ins and outs of playing music and the recording process itself. After seeing and hearing the things I have recently, I’d go so far as to say that if you’ve never seen an artist or a band record in the studio, you can’t completely, honestly review a piece of music. Period. You can review lyrics, or artwork, or personalities, but you won’t truly understand the music or how to convey its beauty—or lack of it—without understanding how it’s made. And yes, I recorded an EP of my own crappy songs with a great backing band just to go through the entire process myself. No, you can’t hear it. Ouch. But if you’re interested in seeing the place and possibly recording your album there, drop me a line. Word up.

3) I spoke with some of my top musical faves of all time this past year, some of them insanely famous icons (Al Green, Randy Newman) as well as some great, newer artists that are only beginning down the paths that will surely lead them to heights as great in the future. People like Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, N8 (a one-of-a-kind, Chicago-based singer/songwriter/musician who’s so original and beautifully strange that the only worthy musical comparisons of him I can make would maybe be a cross between Tony Bennett, Ben Folds, Syd Barrett, and a drug-free Iggy Pop—he’s working on his official full-length debut now, so you’ll be reading more about him here, fret not); the young members of Indiana punk/thrash rockers A Failed Escape; Martin Devaney; and the scads of folks who make up the army of band members, back-up singers, engineers, producers, road-eyes and fans that stand behind every great artist have all added their own unique input. The absolute coolest part of this job, besides the obvious perk of free advance copies of albums, is meeting and getting to know the people who labor so hard to bring us their art, music and visions. I salute all of you, and thank you.

4) Road tripping. I’ve been fortunate(?) enough to go on a few ‘cross-the-Midwest rock’n’ roll tours—van tours, ya dig—and though I’ve spent the better part of my life traveling, I found a whole new world crammed into a cramped, smelly little shack on wheels full of equipment, baggage, fast-food detritus, leaking coolers and musical madmen. You may have some concept of your favorite indie bands shagging from town to town on the highways and byways of America, but you’ll never truly know how it feels until you’ve experienced the depressive lows of a four-way post-bean-dinner gas-fest, a driver-navigator temper melt-down that leads to a rear-view mirror vision of some poor bastard standing on a dark, cold roadside with middle finger held high, or the special, sinking feeling you get when you see flashing red lights behind you and remember you’ve got a fat, stinky hooter of ‘Dro in your right shirt pocket. Or the manic highs of spotting the perfect small-town BBQ joint in the middle of nowhere, big red OPEN sign blinking like a beacon, the mysterious kismet of flipping the radio dial at just the right moment to catch your favorite band—or, once in a great fucking while, YOUR band—playing on some college or public radio station, and the great, sweet flood of relief when you pull into a strange town and find a crew of rock-friendly, open-armed real PEOPLE waiting for you—like the folks at St. Paul’s Turf Club or Birdy’s in Indy or a hundred other safe havens across the land. No, you’ll have to pile in with the band and live through that one to really get it—me, I have a whole new respect for traveling minstrels these days. Skoal!!

5) You. That’s right, cheesy as it may sound, writing this column and doing interviews and special projects throughout the year would just be a plodding exercise of self-serving futility if I didn’t wake up to the e-mails, phone messages and groovy little packages I do almost every day. And no matter whether the messages are back-patting, good-show-old-chap notes of thanks, simple factual corrections, minor disagreements of opinion, or plain old, nasty, rude, pissed-off jabs, I really and truly welcome and love them all. I try to answer in person as often as possible (or through this column if what you’ve got to say is cool or crazy enough), but if you’ve dropped a line and I haven’t, be assured I read ‘em all. Same goes for the music—I listen to everything I get, review what I either really like or really detest, and pass the rest on to people I think might dig it. If the shit’s really good, it gets played on the air, as I mentioned earlier. So keep ‘em coming—and a sincere thank you to everyone who reads this wacked-out word-fest every week. Or even some weeks. Or once a month. You all rock!!

Bands or Artists New To Me in 2004

1) My Morning Jacket. Man, I love these guys. The singer sounds like Paul Rodgers of Free/Bad Co. fame (who, in Rock News Of The Weird, just signed on to take the place of deceased singer Freddie Mercury in a revamped Queen. Now there are two dudes whose voices are absofuckinglutely the opposite of each other’s. How will it work? I can’t wait!), whose voice I always dug, and the music is as dreamy and soulful as anything that ever came out of Memphis. Check ‘em out!

2) Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irions. I just got the duo’s advance EP promo for their upcoming, New West-released debut full-length, Exploration. This stuff is so good I’m just gonna tease you with it and wait to review it next month. Think of it as a late Xmas gift ...

3) (all great) Interpol, Halloween, Alaska, Alva Star, Worm Is Green, and a baker’s dozen more electronica-based rock bands turned my head, at least momentarily, away from my usual fave sound of guitar/drums/bass/vox—I not only learned something but developed a real crush on the grooves. Buy any albums you can find from those artists.

Favorite Local Band/ Album of The Year

This is a tough one, because I loved four or five records like they were my very first fave album of all time every month this year, but bottom line, the album I keep going back to and finding new treats and favorite songs on has to be Ol’ Yeller’s Sounder. Despite band upheavals, day jobs, constant cross-country touring, and scads of local gigs, band leader/singer/guitarist Rich Mattson put together not only the greatest album of his career to date, but one that hands-down beats anything I’ve seen on the “major” year-end lists. Kudos to Rich and the Ol’ Yeller gang!!

Gigs of the Week

In the midst of all the greed, drunkenness and incredible waste of the American holiday season, there are a couple of great local gigs going down. If you can escape the yearly family dinner table argument long enough, check out:

*Somerset, Small Towns Burn A Little Slower, and Honest People at the Triple Rock on Mon., Dec. 27. This all-ages showcase of killer indie rockers is a perfect opportunity to take your bored younger sister, brother, cousin, niece or nephew to. Get ‘em out of the house and into the ROCK, man!! Believe me, someday they’ll thank you for it. 5 pm. $6, All-Ages. Call the Triple Rock (612-333-7399) for more info.

**And get yer tickets in advance for this one, folks, because it’s gonna sell out ASAP!! On Fri., Dec. 31, that’s NEW YEAR’S EVE, the one and only MARK OLSON, founding member of The Jayhawks, will perform a special gig at The 400 Bar with fellow ‘Hawks alumni Tim O’Reagan (drums, vocals, guitar) and Karen Grotberg (vocals, keyboards). Now that’s a reunion eve I’d like to see. As you might imagine, there’s sure to be gaggles of local and national celebs on hand, so the people watching will be almost as entertaining as the music. Well, maybe not, but try to keep a good attitude as you stare at the back of some bald guy’s skull while straining to see Karen croon “Last Cigarette” or Tim and Mark duet on “Bottomless Cup” or some other chestnut. Sigh. I’ll be out of town and I’m so jealous. Enjoy it for me!! 8 p.m., $8 in advance, $10 at the door (good luck!), 21+. Call The 400 at 612-332-2903 for more info.

And now I must go wrap gifts (funny, they’re all exactly the same shape and dimensions as compact discs and vinyl albums...hmmmm), brew up my own special brand of egg-nog (yes, there’s NyQuil involved, adds a lovely, festive green holiday hue to the brew), and get ready to play my fave Christmas song in the world (hint: It’s by Fear and it’s less than a minute long—all the Christmas music I can take) on the radio. I wish all of you the very best for the Holidayz and the coming New Year. Whatever it may bring, thanks to those advance CDs I told you about, I can assure you it’s going to be chock fulla great tunes. Check back here for the latest and greatest, same place, same time, next week. Until we meet again—make yer own damn Holiday news. ||

If you have local music news, gigs, CDs you’d like to see mentioned in this column, or you’d just like to send me your own special egg-nog recipe, send replies to: (temporary e-mail) jamescrouch_1@juno.com.