"I have seen the brighter side of the roads that lead to hell..."

I can safely say that Damien Jurado scares me. But I mean it in the best possible way. He scares me the same way that Rasputina and Black Heart Procession do; they are all emotionally frightening. It seems odd to lump Damien Jurado in with those other two bands, since those bands use different methods of "scaring" listeners. Rasputina use cellos and morbid imagery. Black Heart Procession use piano, saw (it is, in fact, an effectively creepy instrument) and intense heartbreak. The most impressive thing about Damien Jurado is that he uses nothing but a guitar and the common despair that we can all relate to. I know that any one of Jurado's songs will probably make me cry (or at least feel like I want to). That in itself is quite frightening.

Jurado has been compared to John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) and I can see the similarities; but I don't see Darnielle as particularly frightening. He can be playful at times, mostly to ease the tension of his songs, but that's never been the case with Damien Jurado. I remember hearing "Johnny Go Riding" on a mix from a friend (several years ago when I was on Art Of The Mix regularly) and by the end of it, I didn't even realize that I was starting to cry. The same thing continued when this same friend sent me a mix of songs from all his albums. Even if the situation isn't technically relatable to any one person, Jurado has the ability to evoke a heart heartwrenching but simple sadness that at least someone you know has experienced. All of us have experienced being heartbroken at one point or another. Jurado does an excellent job of reminding us that we all have that in common, in a variety of ways. There is nowhere to run and no escape in his songs. He writes vignettes of characters troubled by the heartache of daily life and he makes you care about them, and in some way, mourn for them. But unlike, say, the "down and out" characters that Craig Finn creates (at least with The Hold Steady) in his songs, there are no happy endings for Jurado's folks. There is no redemption or second chances for these people.

Going back to John Darnielle for a moment, he can do the same thing on certain albums - try listening to "The Sunset Tree" all the way through; it is an emotionally brutal experience. But Jurado always gets down to business, whether he occasionally adds a full band or is by himself. However, much like Darnielle (and Pall Jenkins of Black Heart Procession), he uses his voice to further effect the listener. With everything he sings about, he sounds timid yet self-assured; his characters might be lost causes, but there's nothing mysterious in his songs. A lot of times singers can seem to truly sound this way but come off as manipulative or like they are showing off; such is not the case with Jurado.

I like to think that Damien Jurado is in a class by himself - he has been consistently releasing gut-wrenchingly yet realistically sad albums for over ten years, without changing the game plan too much, and yet still able to pull at the heartstrings. He just released "Maraqopa" earlier this month. Despite the stability of his personal life (a pre-school teacher who is married with a young son), this album proves that he's still got plenty of heartbreak left in him. And, as Pitchfork points out in a Jurado album review, maybe there will be a divorce album in his future - we know that if there is, it will be an absolute treat. Even if it is in a terrible way.

Where I rail on Bon Iver after winning some Grammys...

I don't want to dislike Bon Iver as much as I do; I don't feel good about it. Some people I really respect and like are big fans of his. But I thought last night's Grammys was a good opportunity to point out some inconsistencies about them (well, Justin Vernon, really). Usually I start these kind of rants at the beginning, but today, I will go backwards: I remember thinking Justin Vernon's refusal to play the Grammys based on having to collaborate with someone (likely someone terrible) was justified and sensible. However, after he showed up to accept his Grammy awards and said he refrained from saying how ridiculous the Grammys are, I changed my mind. What stopped him from doing that? Or what stopped him from not going at all? If you snub performing at the Grammys, why even show up at all? I find that very inconsistent and disappointing. Maybe it's because I'm mostly such a black-and-white person, so all-or-nothing. Perhaps. It still really bothered me either way.

Now I will take a few steps back to when I first heard Bon Iver. Once again, like with every band it seems, I heard their second album first. In fact, I was pretty impressed with the two songs I'd heard ("Perth" and "Calgary"), so I went ahead and bought the self-titled album not long after it came out. I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't now. And from what few scant reviews I can find, I'm not alone in this assessment. Then again, I went back to listen to Bon Iver's first album, and didn't find that really impressive either. Sometimes I listen to my suspicions about a band that Pitchfork adores, and I should have done that this time. The self-titled album came off as trying too hard; trying way too hard. Music can be quiet and subtle, but it all too easily comes off as boring. Sometimes quiet and subtle really works - listen to anything by the Mountain Goats (and early Iron & Wine) for confirmation of this. But Justin Vernon is no John Darnielle. It's obvious to say that the best music usually comes off as natural, or at least effortless, but that's really the problem with this album - there is nothing natural or effortless about it. It's as if aiming for simple led him to achieve the opposite, with too much going on musically. It's not his lyrics that suffer, necessarily - it's everything else that does.

I know there are a lot worse bands/songwriters to praise. I just think that Justin Vernon has a long way to go before he earns the acclaim he's already been given. And don't get me started on Fleet Foxes. I feel pretty much the same way about them too. I'm still offended they got top billing over The Walkmen at a show in Big Sur last year. But that's for another day.

"Me and my friends are like double whiskey, coke, no ice..."

So it's only a week and a half before I see Craig Finn's show in San Francisco. For those unaware, he is the lead singer of the Hold Steady and recently released his first solo album, which I've been listening to pretty obsessively since it came out. Where do I start with Craig? Every story has to begin somewhere and not surprisingly this one started out at the local library. I happen to really like libraries. Anyway. Whilst browsing the library's CD collection, I came across the Hold Steady's "Stay Positive" album. I had heard of them by this point, but was not familiar with their music. So I popped it into my car's stereo on the way home that day and well...I loved it. I can't recall how many times I played "Sequestered In Memphis" and "One For The Cutters" in the following days. Let's just say it was a whole lot. I was hooked (and feeling stupid for having just discovered them recently).

In the months that followed, I bought pretty much everything by the Hold Steady that I could get my hands on. That, of course, led to me joining the band's forum (officially called "The Unified Scene" after a lyric from "Stay Positive") and then all hell broke loose - I collected live bootlegs posted on the forum at breakneck speed. The people on the forum were genuinely nice and something of kindred spirits to me. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I wanted to see what the guys in this band looked like (aesthetics are important to me in music) and when I saw Craig Finn, I knew I was in trouble. He's my type of guy to a T - nerdy, disarmingly charming, literate and an amazing songwriter. While the Hold Steady's music is really wonderful (Tad Kubler is fantastic), it's Craig's lyrics that put it over the top for me. Any guy who writes lyrics like, "She said, I was been seeing double for three straight days/After I got born again/It felt strange but it was nice and it was peaceful/And it really pleased me to be around so many people/Of course half of them were just visions/But half of them were friends from going through the program with me" is automatically swoon-worthy to me.

Since joining The Unified Scene forum, I have watched pretty much every Craig Finn interview I could get my hands on, and bought their live album/DVD combo ("A Positive Rage"). I found Craig to be positively adorable. Then I discovered he was a big baseball fan (along with being a lapsed Catholic and stoner), talking about his team, the Twins, every chance he could get. Just recently he was interviewed about what song he would want to hear every time he walked into a room and his answer was The Replacements' "I Will Dare". Well, stick a fork in me, because I'm done. Seriously.

Craig finally put out a solo album at the end of last month and as expected, I was pretty impressed with it. Instead of sticking with the bar-style rock of his band, he decided to go the alt-country route. Now, alt-country has had a special place in my heart for quite a long time now. Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown (and most solo Ryan Adams material), Old 97's and Wilco (mostly"A.M." and "Being There" era) are among my very favorite bands. So you put Craig Finn with a pedal steel guitar and I'm there.

To put it mildly, I'm pretty damn excited to see his solo show on the 21st. It happens to be at the same venue where I met Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co. before their show and he gave me a birthday shout-out during the set - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can meet Craig then too. I can only hope.

Below is a link to a recent mini-show Craig did, courtesy of NPR:

http://www.npr.org/event/music/146574150....ert?ft=1&f=1039

Ten Year Anniversary of "Songs For The Deaf"

So in August of this year, it will officially be ten years since "Songs For The Deaf" by Queens Of The Stone Age was released. Like so many bands over the years, despite this having been their third album, "Songs For The Deaf" was the first QOTSA album I'd bought, though I'd heard maybe two songs off of "Rated R" (their second album) before then. But this was the first album of theirs that I'd listened to. This was also the album that my dad "borrowed" and then never returned. As annoyed as I was about this at the time, at least he had good taste. And no idea who Dave Grohl was. I digress.

It's easy to say that Dave Grohl being on drums is the best thing about this album, but I mostly disagree. Yes, the album wouldn't have been the same without him, but there's a lot more to it than that. It's a "concept album" and yet it isn't. It's brash but smooth. It was obviously created within its own universe. The "radio banter" spots interspersed between songs is something I find charming, unlike Pitchfork, who finds them disruptive. But let's be honest; when Nick Oliveri is in your band, you just have to go with it. And when he's not, you really notice a difference and wish he'd kept his act together, because "God Is In The Radio" is a brilliant song. Anyhow.

"Songs For The Deaf" is when Josh Homme really came into his own as a singer. While Nick sings a few of the songs (along with "God Is In The Radio") on this album, you realize how gifted of a singer Josh is, in addition to being an excellent guitarist (and very cute, but that's irrelevant). Most people think of singles like "First It Giveth" and "No One Knows" from this album; I think "Do It Again" and "The Sky Is Fallin'" are much more memorable. It couldn't have been sequenced better. And despite having been released ten years ago, I remember listening to this album a lot. Along with Wilco and Ryan Adams, this was mostly what I listened to in 2002/2003 (what does that say about me?). 

To me, its identity is much more distinct than their previous album, "Rated R". It's as cohesive as their first self-titled album, but varied and more interesting. For an album that's a decade old, it holds up very well. Unfortunately though, it's the kind of album you hear and know you'll never hear anything like it again. Which is, of course, exactly what happened. As much as I like the two albums Queens Of The Stone Age put out after "Songs For The Deaf" they just aren't the same. Nick was kicked out of the band, and Josh had a kid and got married (in that order, actually). Poor Joey Castillo playing drums on the next album was like when Eli Whiteside had to fill in for Buster Posey on the Giants - it's not fair and you shouldn't judge, but you do. It is what it is. We're only human. But no QOTSA album before or after "Songs For The Deaf" can compare to it. It's that simple. 

Despite my love for "Songs For The Deaf", I know that like many albums I love, it's not for everyone. Although for its genre, it is arguably a classic. It captured that brief moment in time when the band really came together and were brilliant.

A...somewhat triumphant return.

I won't even bother explaining why it has been almost six years since this blog was last updated. It was great at the time I kept up with it, but life is life, and it simply got in the way. However, since I started a baseball blog last November, I thought I would try and resurrect this one too.

I realized recently that I need a place where I can rant about Bon Iver and rave about Josh Homme (even if it's just to myself). Because I just can't keep most of these thoughts dormant anymore. And because it's just fun. So there you are. Speaking of Josh Homme, I got excited when I realized that the ten year anniversary of the album "Songs For The Deaf" by Queens Of The Stone Age is this summer. And hoping for a kick-ass reissue like QOTSA had for their first two albums. Also, a reissue means touring. I hope. So an entry on that is forthcoming. Yay!