Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War (Arts & Crafts, 2007)

When it comes to overly-earnest pop of the best kind, Stars have the market cornered. With their excellent 2005 album - Set Yourself On Fire - the band wore their hearts clearly on their sleeves with tracks such as Your Ex-Lover Is Dead and the sublimely beautiful Calendar Girl. Now, with In Our Bedroom After The War, they have upped the emotional ante further still.
In Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, Stars has two singers, neither of whom is afraid to bring an emotional intensity to songs that may otherwise pass as simple exercises in pop-by-numbers. Millan's voice spills from the stereo like a warm wind blowing on a cool autumn day; it is a voice that carries care and compassion, while hinting that we live in a world in which those two commodities are becoming all the more rare. Campbell's voice seems more assured than ever on this album, and tracks such as Barricade and the rousing In Our Bedroom After The War share a similar feel to some of the finer moments in Morrissey's oeuvre.
Stars are at their best when Campbell and Millan share singing duties on songs such as the slow-burning, The Night Starts Here and the clamorous Take Me To The Riot. While the quasi white-boy soul of The Ghost Of Genova Heights is something of a misfire, the album recovers immediately with the somewhat disconcerting Personal, a back-and-forth exchange between two lonely souls seeking companionship in the personal pages.
Passionate, fragile, exuberant, disarming: In Our Bedroom After The War is all these things and more; yet another superb release from the excellent Arts & Crafts label.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/stars

Sounds A Bit Like: Morrissey and Cat Power fronting a Canadian pop band.

Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If... (Arts & Crafts, 2007)

As founder - and one of the core-members - of Broken Social Scene, a collective of Canadian musicians that includes the likes of Feist, Metric's Emily Haines, Stars' Amy Millan, and many others, Kevin Drew has spent the better part of the new millenium creating life-affirming albums full of sonic-pop experiments, beguiling lyrics, and often sweet and tender melodies.
In comparison to the group's previous albums, Spirit If... - a Broken Social Scene album in all but name - is a far more refined affair, and is all the better for it. While I am a big fan of Broken Social Scene, I find that on occasion, the impact of their songs is lost beneath the multi-textured layers of sound that are one of the band’s trademarks, but which can be distracting at times.
The focus of Spirit If… is squarely on Drew and his fine songwriting ability. Songs such as TBTF, F..cked Up Kid and Gang Bang Suicide all share a tender fragility that belie their somewhat provocative titles, and which seems to be a template for most of the album. Drew knows his way around a pop song and this album is littered with gems that will stay with you long after the album has finished spinning. The joyful spirit of the album is perhaps best conveyed in the celebratory Backed Out On The…, which features lead guitar and backing vocals from Dinosaur Jr. front man, J Mascis, and is one of the best sing-a-long songs of 2007.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/kevindrewspiritif

Sounds A Bit Like: The best parts of Broken Social Scene; hearts mending; one of the best albums of 2007.

In(High)Fidelity In Urbancode

As some of you already know, I recently wrote a feature article about Okkervil River for Urbancode magazine's September issue. If you would like a pdf-copy of the magazine, let me know and I will send it via email.

In(The)Flesh - Lucinda Williams, El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, 09/08/07

On the third night of a five night stand at L.A.'s intimate El Rey Theatre, Lucinda Williams was in fine form. With the novel concept of performing one of her five classic albums in its entirety each night, followed by a second set of songs spanning her entire career, each show promised to be special in its own right. On this night, much to the delight of the rapturous crowd, Ms. Williams performed 1998's brilliant Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.
Lucinda Williams is smart, sexy and sassy, and she knows how to entertain. Album cuts such as Right In Time and 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten sounded fantastic. Williams went into detail about each song's meaning, interacting with the crowd in her thick southern-drawl, and eliciting laughter and declarations of love from both the men and women in the crowd. Drunken Angel -dedicated to two Texan musicians - Blaze Foley (of whom the song was written) and Townes Van Zandt - oozed country soul.
The night was made all the more special by the revolving door of special guests that joined Williams on stage. Steve Earle's presence on stage had some in the crowd weak at the knees, and his guitar, harmonica and road-worn vocals were a welcome addition to the smoking-hot band that Williams had behind her.
The second set was made up primarily of songs from West - the fantastic album Williams released earlier this year - the highlights of which included Come On & Unsuffer Me. Williams seemed truly happy to be on stage - and said as much on many occasions; her happiness was reflected back by the many smiles in the crowd. Lucinda Williams is a very, very cool person; living proof that when the world tries to knock you down, you have to just pick yourself and keep on going. Luckily - for us - she has the continuing ability to write amazing songs as this process repeats itself.