Photo courtesy of Katuwapitiya.com
In case you haven’t noticed, the tagline of this blog worships Neutral Milk Hotel’s wordsmith Jeff Magnum and his stellar In The Aeroplane Over The Sea which pretty much sorts out this blog’s blind faith over the shy Mr. Magnum. After over 10 years, Jeff Magnum performed live last August 13, 2011 at Trinity St. Paul’s Center in Toronto as the first of the concerts he will do for his tour. A Jeff Magnum tour that will last until December, that is he does not disappear over too much attention given by his comeback. It sounds odd to say that word “comeback” for most of serious NMH fans have been obsessing their records nonstop and has developed borderline kilter imagining that NMH is as present and around like say, Brandon Cox.
The sold-out show was described by many as worth-the-wait-but-must-not-happen-to-me-everyday-or-i’ll-kill-myself-out-of-too-much-pleasure sort of thing. It was huge that as early as June tickets were out and the infamous Ebay-bidding story came about where the ticket rocketed up to $5,600. Sadly that time, the one who took the bait had not known that Jeff had plans of a straight on tour, or he would saved it for all of the dates and stuffed himself to death of carrots. For the ones like me who were neither in Toronto nor had thousand of dollars sprouting in the garden, Southern Souls live recordings are like an epiphany. I listened, downloaded and gleamed in the dark since it was made available. Right-clicking took me years and years, backwards and beyond.
“What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me…”
Get “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea,” ”Oh Comely,” “Two-Headed Boy Pt.2,” “Naomi” and the rest here.
Filed under: Musicians: Profiles & Interviews, Wonderlings, Neuttral Milk Hotel Jeff Magnum Live 2011, Neuttral Milk Hotel Jeff Magnum Live Concert 2011, Neuttral Milk Hotel Jeff Magnum Live in Toronto
August 25, 2011 • 1:37 am 0
Vacation’s Locust Lane (Review)
While this may seem a year for cold wave/R&B dubsters, there is silent water running under the bridge hip-trodden— lo-fi folk. Few weeks ago, Sad Soul’s Precious Paragons was reviewed in this blog and from then on it seems more and more acts are emerging from this genre. One of the more prolific, consistent acts is the New Yorker band Vacation which have had four releases prior to Locust Lane, two of those are singles and the other two are EPs. While I haven’t had the privilege of going through their whole catalogue, Locust Lane can be regarded the most inviting introduction to the band.
Wayne Memmer’s six songs in this EP are like six people with extended arms reaching out to the next, each hand ending at the beginning of the other’s fate. The first song “Kingdom Come” with a killer of an opening “every train that you drive ends up in a wreck/ every plane that you fly ends up in a crash/ you’re the only one who dies..” headways to “Holy House” where Memmer sings in a raspy, dry voice singing about appeasing someone from crying as he leaves promising to return. The violin in “Deep Like Ocean” is one of the surprises Locust Lane has in its sleeves, as Memmer sings achingly “the last time I touched you/ you’re frozen to the core” the instrument blares. “Digging Up Flowers” and “Spider Brain” are decent tunes that are not as memorable like the others in Locust Lane, serving as breakers for the heavier ones though music on these two songs are quite impressionable especially with the presence of electric guitar in “Spider Brain.” ”Memory Box” seals the EP with Memmer sounding as if he is walking backwards, broken and powerless over the trappings of remembering as far afield violin and too-close-to-the ear piano accompanies his confession.
In an interview, Memmer joked about how his coworker labelled his music as “good music with not horrible vocals” and we understand his sentiment. For sticking a post-it on Memmer’s forehead calling his music under a specific genre is not an easy task as lending our attention to his private thoughts, we give in to lo-fi folk for now. Locust Lane is enough of a testament how much beauty there really is if an artist is given freedom and left alone with his guitar, though it may seem as if he is just under the bridge and dreaming.
Filed under: Album Commentaries, Vacation Locust Lane Bandcamp, Vacation Locust Lane EP, Wayne Memmer Vacation Locust Lane