Murderecords Re-Launch (Part 1 of 2)




Murderecords – the label, the myth, the legend. Starting
way back in 1992, it was a dream of Chris Murphy, Jay
Ferguson, Patrick Pentland and Andrew Scott to start up
a label that promoted good independent music and, more
specifically, musical talent within their immediate
community of Halifax. At different times, the label
featured such omni-talented acts as Eric’s Trip, The
Inbreds, Jale, Hardship Post, Thrush Hermit, The Super
Friendz and of course Sloan, themselves. Whilst running
their ‘utopian’ business, however, Sloan came to a few
dastardly realizations:

1. Money wasn’t really coming in…at all.
2. The market was limited to Canada.
3. By giving bands (friends included) the option to leave
your label, they always will.

Even when things were looking up for Sloan and the
Murderecords saga, and Murphy and his men were able to
partner with the American label The Enclave (which released
‘One Chord To Another’ in the U.S.), things went further
downhill as The Enclave was shut down a few short months
later when its parent company decided to sell itself. Post
1997, Sloan decided to keep Murderecords alive only as a
vehicle for Sloan alone. And so it seemed the Murderecords
saga had ended and the book was closed for good.

Over a decade later, Murderecords has decided to
re-launch within Sloan’s new and much larger home field –
Toronto. They have already signed a few friendly and
talented acts to the lonely roster; Will Currie and The
Country French, Pony Da Look and the possibility a
few more (who are apparently ‘in talks’). I write the
word ‘apparently’ because there is limited and somewhat
mysterious information as to why Sloan and friends are
re-attempting to run an active record label. In an
interview with the National Post that can be read here,
Chris Murphy stated "I just want it to be a safe place for
our friends so they don't get ripped off…I want to smash
the guy in his mouth who pats himself on the back in
print about how indie he is. I just think it's going to be
cool-that's all."

Hopefully, a safe place is what the new
Murderecords will be – oh yeah – that and a label that
actually does well at selling, promoting and releasing
its artists. From a skeptic perspective, it could be a dicey
move for Sloan and friends but kudos to them for taking
this new step into somewhat familiar territory with a fresh
perspective. This time around, hopefully they won’t be
burned.

I’ll be interviewing Jay Ferguson of Sloan later this
week for Thick Specs about the re-launch of Murderecords.
Hopefully, the interview (which I’m looking forward to)
will help to shed some light on the topic and dispel some
nasty rumours. Stay tuned.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Real Emotional Trash


If I could write music the way Stephen Malkmus does,
in his raw, original and multi-faceted form, I would.
The problem is I don’t have the musical abyss of a mind
that he does…and I wasn’t a History major in school.
For many, the first time they heard a Pavement or
Stephen Malkmus track was most likely a traumatic
experience. I can vividly recall the first time I heard
the song ‘Cut Your Hair’ by Pavement from the Crooked
Rain, Crooked Rain album. I wincingly thought the song
was weird and was annoyed by Stephen’s songwriting
style and chaotic, ad-lib vocalizing. Unfortunately for
me, ‘Cut Your Hair’ sounded nothing like the rest of
the album, or any other Pavement song and was, in
fact, their closest brush with the mainstream. Oddly
enough, something changed in my heart along the
way and today I celebrate Stephen Malkmus’ entire
catalogue, both with and without Pavement.

In the truest sense of the term, Stephen Malkmus is a
freestyle musician who transcends borders, categories,
boundaries and demographics in order to convey the
weirdness and simplicity of his art. His newest release
‘Real Emotional Trash’ is no exception to that rule. As
Stephen’s fourth major solo release since the demolition
of Pavement (with his band The Jicks), the album
conveys the tensions and oddities that Stephen holds
dear within his own strange and fragmented world.
‘Dragonfly Pie’ opens with an attitudinal guitar riff that
sounds like it could be the main lick of an early Mudhoney
song, coming out of a blown amp. The lyrical theme
overrides the musical burn as Malkmus echoes the
deep realization of the refrain over and over:
‘Can’t be what you want to be /
Gotta be what your oughtta be’.

‘Cold Son’ is the first single off the album and nicely
displays Malkmus’ simple poppy side and penchant
for wordplay. The album title track ‘Real Emotional
Trash’ is an incredible 10 minute powerhouse of
augmented lyricism that focuses on Stephen’s salt
of the earth people adoration (‘Point me in the direction
of your real emotional trash’). The song features
everything from SM’s signature clean electric picking
to Piano to 70’s organ tones and changes tempo
three or four times.

Make no mistake – Stephen Malkmus is a
de-constructionist. This can be clearly viewed on
the well-crafted track ‘We Can’t Help You’ that
actually pokes fun at the ridiculousness of the
post-modern ideal:
‘There’s no common goal / There’s no moral action
There’s no modern age in which to run away
There’s no grace and love / without no projection
There’s no sky above for you to cry into
We can’t help you.’

It’s obvious that I’m a little biased here but being a
listener and a fan of SM for over 13 years, it’s
understandable to me that the common palate does
not jibe well with his musical and lyrical flavour. In
fact, his song-writing is often so slob-rocky and choppy
that it can sound amateur-ish when compared to the
sleek, shrink-wrapped musical markets of today.
Fortunately, SM has it where it counts and doesn’t
really care about his lack of radio play. He has an
adoring listener base that spans across many
generations and musical demographics. He has been
pegged (although Stephen himself denies it) as
possibly the pioneer of the ‘indie’ movement. He is
so well respected and known within the music industry,
in fact, that his voice can be currently heard as Cate
Blanchett’s singing voice in the new Todd Haynes film
about Bob Dylan entitled ‘I’m Not There’.

For an original musical ride and nice intro to the work
of Stephen Malkmus, I would suggest you pick up
‘Real Emotional Trash’ (and the ITunes version comes
with a bonus track) and then work your way backwards,
deep into the catacombs of his collection.

Foo Fighters
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace


It feels like I have been to this place before. The place
I speak of is one of distrust, malcontent and utter irritability
with the status of modern music review. I base this
hypothesis out of many modern reviews I’ve read but there
is one in particular I’d like to run up the flagpole. Before I
get to that, though, I will not (as a friend and colleague once
told me) let the review in question get any glory – I will
let them hang. I’m warning you now that this review will
be much longer than my usual writing but I feel that there
is much to be said on this subject.

In October of 2007, The Foo Fighters released their
newest offering entitled ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience and
Grace’. Before I get into the dough of that bread, however,
I feel it is necessary to briefly touch on the history and
saga of Dave Grohl. Being a fan of the Foos since their
pre-1995 humble beginnings (when Dave Grohl made
a demo tape to attract other musicians that ended up
being released as the Foos first self-titled album), I was
actually never a massive follower of Nirvana. I liked
them and I dug the raw feel of ‘In Utero’ but I was
never a huge believer. Since the haze of those Seattle
days, Dave has arguably been the most successful musician
that has moved from being a drummer to a front man
(with possibly the exception of Phil Collins. Okay, I’m
kidding).

Apparently, there are over a thousand people who
check out BWC on a daily basis. It’s awesome to think
that there is a readership out there that is devoted
to dissecting truth with a Jesus-based worldview.
Unfortunately, so many people who know no better
look to major magazines and releases to find the critical
truth – Rolling Stone, SPIN, Pitchfork, etc. If you are
a reader of the BWC or just a first time checker-outer,
I hope you get the sense that BWC folks write from the
heart within this publication. I hope that it’s understood
that when I write the phrase ‘ESPG is a solidly
constructed album and one of the Foos more diverse
works’, I write that from the heart and I am not getting
paid to type that. It just needed to be said.

On ESPG, Dave, Taylor, Chris and Nate take a varied
approach to songwriting. Though Dave is in the lead (as
per usual), you get the sense that the band is taking a
deeper philosophical breath as they rock hyper-ish at
times but kick back mellow-ish at others. ‘The Pretenders’
is nowhere near one of the best songs on this album and
honestly, I have no idea why Dave and the boys released
this as their first single. There are some amazing tracks
on this disc that gave me shivers the first time I heard
them and still do to this day. ‘Long Road To Ruin’ is a
great rock-pop anthem that speaks of the long road
ahead that we will all, most likely, make mistakes upon
while we drive on it (the video for this song is actually
pretty humourous and par for the course with Grohl’s
comedic persona). ‘Come Alive’ is one of the best songs
I’ve heard in years and though it gets a little edgy and
loud for modern trends (that mostly feature bands with
a token female singer and xylophone), there is hardly
a soul who can not relate to watching a friend or loved
one dwindle on the tip of his or her true potential.

‘Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)’ is probably
my favourite song out of the whole disc. It features
everything the Foos do well – the harder guitar and
drum edge but with a poppy, light tone that any listener
could bob their head along with. The idea behind the
song really speaks for itself – in an age where so many
musicians thrive on an image of being sad, gothic and
cosmetically downtrodden, Dave is speaking to the evils
of teenage influence that focus too much on the downside
of life:
‘Stop Using My Confusion
Wait…Wait…
There’s a world out there
Don’t you deny me’

The ill album review I referenced earlier is one that
surfaced directly after the release of ESPG in SPIN
Magazine. In this disgrace of a review (and really…I’m
being generous with that wording), the writer goes on
to sloppily compare a few new songs on the album with
older Foo hits from previous releases: “"The Pretenders"
is "Stacked Actors," even down to the lyrics decrying
phonies; and if you've heard "My Hero," you've got a
good idea what "Statues" sounds like.” Wow. The
comparison of those tracks is so far off kilter that’s it’s
almost as if this reviewer was listening to an entirely
different album. Though there are some lyrical
similarities between ‘Stacked Actors’ and ‘The Pretenders’,
the former is much more of a snapshot of the bleach-blonde
industry posers whereas ‘The Pretenders’ is about staying
power amidst one hit wonders. The songs, however, are
quite different from a sonic standpoint. As far as the
comparison of ‘My Hero’ and ‘Statues’…I’m somewhat
shoulder-shrugged. ‘My Hero’ is a song that begins with
a throbbing drum track and moves into a powerful blast
of bass and guitar-throttle. ‘Statues’ is a mellow ballad
that Dave croons upon while playing piano. I’m actually
being serious – I’m not making this up. Have a listen for
yourselves.

Finally, the reviewer actually makes a reference to Dave
Grohl’s career thus far as being ‘fantastically average’. I
might take that statement a little more seriously if I
believed the writer even had one decent listen-through
to the album in question.


The Foo Fighters don’t write the best songs ever made
and they would be the first ones to admit that. Amidst the
smoke and mirrors of the musical marketplace, though,
Dave Grohl has some depth and although it’s usually
only hinted at, it is still there. Unfortunately, since the
monster of Nirvana has been painted and pedestalized in
such an unfair and uneven light, Dave has had to live
with the burden of trying please old Nirvana fans and
critics from day one. As the Nirvana bassist Krist
Novoselic once said ‘Dave has had to find his way out
of the jungle of Nirvana with a machete…but I think he
has done pretty well.’

It would be ideal to find out more about the personal
lives of musicians and here on BWC, there is often a
moral undertone amidst all of the post-modern ramblings.
I don’t know if Dave Grohl knows God – maybe he does
in a way I’ll never understand or maybe he has chosen
another road. Though major magazines wouldn’t see
this as ‘good copy’ and usually don’t care, I care.

After years of listening to Dave’s music, what I can surmise
is that he is someone on a valid search - he tries to stay
out of the tabloids and believes in the value of people. In
fact, the one green marker that the SPIN review actually
got shallowly correct was the rating of ‘The Ballad of the
Beaconsfield Miners’ as a beautiful ‘bluegrass instrumental
that is an oasis’ of sorts. What the mediocre reviewer failed
to engage, however, is the story behind that song which
can be read about here. It basically speaks of Dave Grohl
helping two men who were stuck in the Beaconsfield Mine
Collapse, sending them mp3 players filled with Foo
Fighters music and other tunes, offering them free tickets
to a show and to meet up personally with them, and the
creation of that very song while Dave jammed later that
night and promised the one miner who came that ‘it would
be a song on their new record’. The new record would, in fact,
be one entitled ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace’. (But you
know – pretty boring, average story. No need to mention
that in a major magazine.)

JIMMY EAT WORLD - Chase This Light



The newest offering from Jimmy Eat World, entitled 'Chase This Light',
contains as many questions as it does answers. For just over a decade
now, fearless alt-rock bandleader Jim Adkins (who apparently created
Emo?) has crafted a sound that is unique, crisp and ultimately over
produced as it boasts ultra-tight stops and starts, power pop guitar
riffs and songs that have staying power within both the indie and
mainstream music scenes. How does old Jimmy do it?

'Chase This Light' is more of the same from Jimmy Eat World but
is still, and almost impossibly, taken up another notch. The lead off
track and radio hit 'Big Casino' has already jammed so many major radio
frequencies with its convalescent pop sound that it’s almost become
a certainty that you’ll hear it on a 10 minute drive (if you do, in fact,
drive with the radio on). ‘Big Casino’ showcases driving electric guitar,
throttling drums and Adkins' trademark jittery, passionate vocal
chords. Though the words of the song have been debated through
several zines as a first person story about Adkins, it is more of an
informed opinion that the song is actually a fictitious story about an
average joe character from Jersey who dreams of striking it rich
(as Adkins, himself, was born in Mesa, Arizona):

I'll accept with poise with grace/
When they draw my name from the lottery/
And they'll say "all the salt in the world couldnt melt that ice"/
I'm the one who gets away/I'm a New Jersey success story/
And they'll say "Lord give me the chance to shake that hand"/
They'll say/

The song, though, seems to be more layered than what a first glimpse
would indicate. Oddly enough, 'Go Big Casino' has been the title of a
somewhat secretive musical side project of Adkins for years. Though
there are some other decent songs on the album (i.e Let It Happen,
Gotta Be Somebody's Blues, Carry You), the standouts and possibly
thematic emblems of the album lie in 'Big Casino' and the title track
'Chase This Light' which speaks of the inevitable clock of life over a
bed of soothing guitar-scapes: “Tonight, Chase This Light with me...
my life is yours, in your gifted hands”.

It could be clearly stated that Jim and the boys are no longer just
rock icons screaming about injustice – they are thinking about and
dwelling upon the uncertainty of life. ‘Big Casino’ seems to be less
of a song and more of a theme for the album and perhaps the song
title, itself, refers to the wavering faith our society places within the
power of money. Perhaps the theme of the song was Jim’s original
idea in the creation of his musical side project – perhaps it’s totally
off the mark.

But what stands out about 'Chase This Light' in a time
where creative music is at its distributional peak? What will make
both fans and non-fans of Jimmy Eat World buy this album? One
word comes to mind; Integrity. Jim Adkins has stayed true to his
form and style of song-writing, (though lessening a little on the
experimental side since early JEW tracks like the 9 minute epic
'Sky Harbour') sticking more to the straight ahead values of
displaying a message through a highly accessible medium. In a
sense, it could be argued that 'Chase This Light' is representative
of Adkins and the band - they have never stopped chasing the
light that started all of them down the road of music. On the
album back cover artwork, the light is displayed in the form of a
lit match which may indicate, on an even deeper level, that
Adkins and crew know just how powerful that light really is...and
just how quickly it can disappear.

Matty's Top 10 Picks of 2007


10. Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
Many critics called this album a moneygrab but by listening to
tracks like 'Thats The Way (My Love Is)', it is evident that the
heart of SP is in this production, even though James Iha and
D'arcy didn't make the reunion. Highly touted and advertised
through MySpace blogs, this album actually has some depth
and as the term 'Zeitgeist' defined tells us, the Pumpkins are
back and not so introspective; they are taking notice of the
cultural climate of the United States.

9. Feist - The Reminder
Leslie Feist follows up her first major release by topping her
sundae of success with a cherry of musical delights. Though I
wish some of the tracks were less effects-heavy (i.e. sounding
like Feist is singing under a tunnel through a cardboard tube),
The Reminder shows us that Leslie is out to remind us about
the meaning of love, sacrifice and truth.

8. The New Pornographers - Challengers
Though Vancouver natives TNP struggle to make true art in
the face of critics wanting so eagerly to define them as a
'supergroup', this album's climaxes seem a little premature
at times. Overall though, there are few on the market who
can construct such humm-able melodies as The New Porns.
This album also showcases the talent of Neko Case a little
more effectively than Twin Cinema.

7. Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
I can't even count the number of times I have read reviews
where critics (especially in Canada) complain about the
Arts and Crafts label having 'carte blanche' on Canadian radio.
My response is simply 'Show me another musical troupe that
rivals the passion and creativity of Drew and his band of
Toronto nomads'. Though Drew tends to drool on himself
with his stream of consciousness drivel, the end result of his
solo effort is satisfying and bright.

6. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Davey G and the crew are back for another multiple guitar
track laden effort...and it's really friggin good. Though SPIN
Magazine panned this newest offering and actually referred
to Grohl's career as 'fantastically average', I beg to differ
and suggest that SPIN needs to hire some new writers.
Dave bookends his passion on every corner of this album,
breaking away from the ultra-personal 'In Your Honour' to
more universal themes and never apologizing for rocking
the way he does.

5. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
It's really hard to hate a band from Winnipeg. It's even
harder to hate a hyper-talented band from Winnipeg who
can release albums almost four years apart and still command
such a massive listening audience. Reunion Tour is more
of the same from Stephen Carroll and the lads - vocal and
guitar-driven hooks framed around interesting character-based
lyrics - but still somehow oddly different. That's the magic
of The Weakerthans.

4. Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild Soundtrack
Though I'm not an Eddie fan, my wife asked me to download
this album and its bare-bones creative spool is incredibly hard
to resist. The simplicity of the songwriting makes you
understand the characters of a film without actually seeing
the end product (although I did see it). Songs like 'Rise Up'
pull you into the instrumentally eclectic and ever contemplative
feel of this hats-off creation from Vedder.

3. The Apostle Of Hustle - National Anthem Of Nowhere
I don't know if there is a band as original sounding as The
Apostle, these days, in ALL of music. I'm actually not kidding. I
just got a chance to see these guys live in the Nation's Capital
(that's Ottawa...not Vancouver or Toronto, folks) and they blew
the stage to bits with just three performers. Half Cuban and
Half Canadian, Andrew Whiteman writes songs that harness
latin rhythms and blend them into an indie soundscape. No
matter who you are, Whiteman will have you singing his national
anthem by the end of this disc.

2. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
My friend Jon Adams can attest to the fact that even my
placing Bright Eyes on a list of favourites is a testament to
Conner Oberst's genius. Determined to hate them from the
get-go, this LP won my soul over and displays the simple,
clairvoyant sounds of a man trying to change his way. The
arrangement is nothing short of epiphanal.

1. Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
Of course I HAD to end on another album from Arts and
Crafts (that's 4 out of 10 if you're counting. And NO - I do
not work for Arts and Crafts. They are hypnotists. I want
my brain back.) Torq Campbell and the lovely Amy Millan
pull us through the fourth major offering from Stars. Based
on fictional caricatures of a war-torn city, the listener is
drawn into an ethereal world of riots, bomb threats and
people just trying to define their existences. Stars have
managed to take steps where other musicians don't dare
and for that, I salute them. This album does not disappoint
from beginning to end.

Stars
In Our Bedroom After The War


Lately, it’s been somewhat bothersome to me that many
music reviewers are either washed-up, bitter ex-musicians
or elitist scene-kids. Let’s take a look at a recent review
from Pitchfork by one Ryan Dombal, shall we? This review
charts and graphs the newest offering by Stars (In Our
Bedroom After The War) at a meager 7.4/10. Without
getting too far into the semantics (and the idiocy) of rating
systems in and of themselves, I think it is urgent that we
delve into the currency of the actual review. Without
spoiling the cinematic ending, Dombal’s lengthy review
goes on to basically yawn over the newest Stars album,
criticizing it with containing ‘overt dramatic airs’ and
‘blubbering melodrama’. This is evident right out of the
gate as Dombal claims the title track ‘suffocates under
its own ticker-tape parade epic-ness’. Right. And…you
don’t see any hypocrisy within the very unglamourous
writing of your review, Ryan?

Before any further desecration of Dombal, the actual
album in question needs some simplistic framework with
which to level the critical playing field. Torq Campbell
and Amy Millan have led Stars through four major full
length albums in just under six years. What sets IOBATW
apart from their former works (including the 2004
overnight indie masterpiece ‘Set Yourself On Fire’),
however, is its devotion to theme, plot and character
through all thirteen tracks. The stage is a non-descript,
war torn city that reveals an array of inhabitants who
are all trying to survive and seek the true essence of
their beings. From Torq’s drugged-out prostitute, living
for the pulse of excitement, in ‘Take Me To The Riot’ to
Amy Millan’s optimistic gleam in ‘Today Will Be Better,
I Swear!’, IOBATW is an homage to an all-too familiar
scene that is universally relatable. The splendid and
varied instrumentation is really only the canvas for each
song, splaying everything from horns to driving beats
and airy synths. Although the eccentricity drips from
every piece of album artwork, Stars have released a
work that will rival many forms of art for ages to come.

Any integrity within Dombal’s anti-glitz, anti-Campbell
review is really laid to waste in its length: almost 900
words – all of which utterly contradict what I squeaked
out in half of that. Really? Is this the sum of modern
art and music reviews? Never amazed, luddite writers
who formulate inaccessible, lofty pages of jargon that
an English major will need a dictionary to sift through?
Dombal even goes on to pan Campbell’s acting
background (which he probably googled quickly and
found on IMDB), inserting a jab about a made for TV
movie involving a sea monster and a boy in his early
acting career. What happened to just letting the
listener know what the album is all about? Despite
endless critical fallacy, there really is no substitution
for the genuine article and Torq, though soap-boxy
and breathy at times, sells himself and his band in the
urgency of every lyric of every song on this album. And
so, ending with the words of Dombal himself: ‘as any
Hollywood-type will tell you, an actor is only as good
as his script.’ I guess I’ll shop around for some more
scripts!

Kevin Drew
Spirit If...

Canadian Indie darling Kevin Drew, bandleader of Broken
Social Scene, offered the first taste of his solo fruits in ‘Spirit
If…’ in late September of 2007. For all of the chaos,
controversy and cacophony that ebbs and flows from the
very core of this ‘super-group’, and that which music critics
love to either salivate or whine over, I believe that despite
a few over-the-toppities, KD has something slickly original
to lend to the ears of his listeners here. The daunting, organic
opening track, Farewell to the Pressure Kids, starts as a
somber mellotron appetizer that breaks its belt into a
whimsical catastrophe of carousel-esque sounds, guitars,
reverb and percussion. It’s almost if KD, himself, is saying
farewell to the pressure of big band life, record executives
and the corporate music scene while delving into something
simpler:

‘Well the pressure kids…they own ashphalt, they won’t roll the die..’.

Despite driveling on himself from time to time, with his
constant stream of consciousness lyrical flow, Drew focuses
well on the two things he loves to write about most: sex and
society. ‘Lucky Ones’ is probably one of the most well
constructed songs that I have heard in years. The simple
opening of a distant, ringing guitar blends perfectly with a
Justin Peroff straight-gunning drum track. In true Kevin
Drew bleeding heart-artist style, lyrical sonnetry, he spills
his guts about the tension of loving someone he is close to:
‘All of your words came down like your spies/Trickled
through the morphine and tried to make a crime/I don’t
expect to suggest that we’re through/You know I can live
without you if you do…’

Aside from a few shiners, though, this album is not a
standout achievement by any stretch. Kevin Drew’s
constant clinging to a teenage era is accented by his constant
musical hero-worship of J Mascis who personally lends
his signature guitar tone to the album single ‘Backed Out
On The…’ The song itself actually lacks originality and almost
sounds like something Mascis himself would have released
in 1991 as a Dinosaur Jr. b-side. Overall, though, ‘Spirit If…’
still begs you to spin it more and more as you let it play
longer in your system. In the end, the good still outweighs
the mediocre and this album sounds different sonically
than most contemporary musical acts of today.