Song of the Week

So let's get married . . . but only for the citizenship.  Ah, yes, it can only be Jens Lekman.  Hard to believe it has been five years since his masterful album, Night Falls Over Kortedela.  Lekman's first proper album, When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog, established the Swede as the go-to troubadour of pop earnestness and romantic melancholy.  How many times has he fallen in love since then without ever quite getting it right?  

Lekman's witty, sample-laden tracks are unforgettable, and his Morrissey-esque voice carries tunes to exquisite little epiphanies.  His early efforts contained a wistful majesty to the lo-fi production, while his subsequent output is arguably better in terms of melody and polish.  Indeed, his ear for melody is impressive, bringing magic to the small (and funny) stories of heartbreak and misunderstanding.  Meeting chicks at anti-war demonstrations.  Cutting his finger while slicing avacadoes.  Visiting an Iraqi barber in her apartment salon.  Singing with the perspective of Rocky Dennis from Mask.  There is very little that Jens can stay silent about.

The D Man is giddy over the title-track from his forthcoming album, I Know What Love Isn't.  Call it emo for people with graduate degrees in melody and heartbreak.  Of course, listeners with dark, cold hearts may find this too much (I'm talking to you, Harrington), but others will revel in the humor, pathos, and sweetness that Lekman reveals in his clever songs.

Out of the Blue and Into the Black: Stark's Night with Neil

(Stark the Vinyl Shark taking in some Neil Young)

Attending a large, multi-day music festival has been on my musical bucket list for quite some time. I’m happy to announce to the readers of The D Man’s Music that I’ve just returned from attending the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. 

The reason I chose this particular festival, besides the great location, is because Neil Young & Crazy Horse were headlining (along with Jack White, Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica). I’ve been a fan of Neil Young for many years, including his work with Crazy Horse, Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.  So I jumped at the opportunity to see him play Outside Lands. 

I was anxious going into the festival for a number of reasons.  First, because it is huge – 65,000 people per day were expected (the festival officially sold out a few weeks prior to opening day). Second, it would be my first music festival experience. Third, it would be my first opportunity to see Neil Young play live, so I was constantly calculating the odds of obtaining a decent spot for the main event. 

Friday proved to be cool and overcast. I began the day at the Sutro stage watching White Denim and Sharon Van Etten before moving to the main stage to watch Beck and the Foo Fighters, both of whom played a great festival set of mostly “hits” with some rarities thrown in to mark the occasion. The Foo Fighters did their best to remind the huddled masses that they are the best rock band in the land, while constantly reminding the audience of who was playing next. By the time the guys were through with “Everlong,” my fleece and ball cap were on (undoubtedly the only Twins cap in a sea of Giants gear). The temperature had dropped and the fog rolled in – it was like the ghosts from Sun Kil Moon’s “Lost Verses” had decided to linger over the festival’s main stage above the thousands of fans below. 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse started with a twenty minute rendition of their early 1990’s track “Love and Only Love” off Ragged Glory before transitioning to older material like “Powderfinger." Neil seemed to be in good spirits, taking every opportunity to indulge his musical whims – including extended jams and lengthy feedback experimentation. “How many of you were conceived in a Ramada Inn?” Neil asked before launching into the new track “Ramada Inn” – which should give you an idea of the feel of the evening. 

Skipping material from their latest effort Americana, Neil Young & Crazy Horse blended brand new, soon-to-be-released material and classics with relative ease - a wise decision in my estimation. Let's face it, who wouldn’t want to hear Neil go crazy during the Ragged Glory classic “F***ing Up”? It’s a favorite and showed his playful side when gesturing to an engaged audience. While transitioning to his acoustic guitar only once (for Harvest’s “The Needle and the Damage Done”), the set was loud, loose, and always exciting. 

Though only a 13 song set, the band played for more than two hours, finishing the evening with “Mr. Soul” and “Roll Another Number." While not the Greatest Hits style set many might have expected, Neil proved he can still perform at a high level and that he is one of the more unpredictable artists in his class.

While I’ll remember my first Outside Lands for many things, I’ll mostly remember it as the time I saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse for the first time. He rocked, he rolled, he shook the earth…Everyone (including the fog) left feeling enriched and fortunate to have spent the evening in a park with one of the world’s most revered musicians.

Song of the Week

Grizzly Bear is back. "Yet Again" is a splendid-sounding track from the band's forthcoming third album, Shields.  It seems to have everything you could want: the prolonged, uncanny electric strums, the crackling, off-kilter drums, and the haunting, harmonic hums.  Vocal prominence and instrumental breakdown, of course.  You may recall that Veckatimest was the best album of 2009.  If this track doesn't get you excited for its follow-up, you must prefer this kind of grizzly experience.

The D Man

The D Man is a commercial litigator and has too much iron in his blood.

Among other things, The D Man enjoys music, the Chicago Cubs and Boston Celtics, Sufjan Stevens, Mark Kozelek, poets, lists, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, Cormac McCarthy, Harold Bloom talking about Cormac McCarthy, concert posters, South Africa, sons (Dylan, Colin, Evan), theology, Adam Miller, Terryl Givens, and Truth with a capital T.

His blog is dedicated to sharing the best in contemporary music.

Consider this Bloomian rip-off: we have but one life, and cannot listen to everything.  If we choose to listen, and I believe we should, as it allows us to enjoy or contemplate our mortality, what shall we listen to?  The "popular" music shared on this blog is an attempt to answer this question.  Because you value life and what you listen to enough to visit this blog, The D Man thanks you for your participation.  Listening to great music is a pursuit that can augment your consciousness in ways that only reading can rival (and arguably even trump).

Perhaps music's prime concern is similar to reading, which Bloom suggests is to discover, in the words of Samuel Johnson, "what comes near to ourself, what we can put to use." We may likewise apply Sir Francis Bacon's solemn recommendation for reading to the realm of music: "Listen to not contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk or discourse, but to weigh and consider."  Finally, we may paraphrase Emerson regarding the best books, and argue that the best songs also "impress us with the conviction, that one nature [sings] and the same nature [listens]."  Pragmatically, all of this means the following: learn to listen deeply, not to believe, not to accept, not to contradict, but to learn to share in that one nature that sings and listens.

Song of the Week

Chicago's precision post-rock musicians, The Sea and Cake, somehow just keep getting smoother.  Helmed by Sam Prekop's lush and unhurried vocals, the new single "Harps" from the soon-to-be released tenth album, Runner, is the band at its comfortable best.  Trading in the guitars for even more synths, the band is apparently finding new but ever-welcoming ways to dazzle.

My Morning Jacket

(Jim James from My Morning Jacket)

My Morning Jacket ring the guitar-driven sweat out of songs.  The Louisville band builds songs up, only to punish them with joyful, explicit shredding.  They just can't seem to leave a song without a defining, soul-stamped moment, whether it be a perfect groove, a soaring yelp, or a thrashing instrumental breakdown.  Hands down MMJ is one of the best live rock'n'roll bands on the planet.

Jim James skulked around the stage, his hair melding into his beard, or vice versa, playfully leading out on his flying-V guitar with untold swagger.  The poncho didn't hurt.  A royal purple poncho slung over his shoulders like he was some regal guitar-slinger sent from the lands south to pillage and burn.

The set list was curated by local fans via Twitter, and The D Man thoroughly enjoyed the wide-ranging selection.  Few bands can open up their entire catalog for a potential spot in their set, as it speaks volume to their talent as musicians, in addition to their genuine willingness to embrace their fans.  The D Man even received a shout out from the band for providing one of their selected tunes.

To the set list!

• Evil Urges.
• Off the Record.
• Circuital.  Simply a great acoustic jam.  Like many of their songs live, it builds into a killer groove, and shows off each musician's strengths, in the pocket and getting somewhere.
• The Way That He Sings.
• Outta My System.  Did anyone complain that they shared this wisdom from their latest effort, Circuital?
• First Light.
• Lay Low.  Track 8 from the perfectly-sequenced Z.  How did I forget about this gem?  The back-end shredding went to another level, lifting everyone in the park with it.
• Holdin' On To Black Metal.  Stark the Vinyl Shark correctly pointed out this song was much better live.
• Phone Went West.  Showing off some of their reggae-tinged psychedelia.
• Golden.  A feeling in my bones, I've never felt before.  Pure steel-guitar bliss-out.
• Evelyn Is Not Real.
• I'm Amazed.
• War Begun.
• Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part II.  The audience turned into a glowstick wonderland.  The band turned into a dark, groovy club reveling in dance music.  One of the best moments of the night.
• Mahgeetah.  The D Man requested this favorite twice over Twitter.  And he got it.  A few years ago, I took a few liberties and rated "Mahgeetah/Golden" as the #16 song of the decade, and rightfully declared the tandem as two of the best driving-on-the-open-road songs ever recorded.  If you had just one song to explain My Morning Jacket, this might be it.
• Dondante.  Aural, raging, guitar-explosions. Awesome.
• Gideon.
• Encore
• Victory Dance.
• Wordless Chorus.  No need for words.
• One Big Holiday.  I told everyone that this song enjoys one of the best guitar-intros of all time.  Did not disappoint.  Not. One. Bit.

Rizzo, Rip, J, The D Man, and Stark the Vinyl Shark.  

J even said something interesting last night, but I can't remember what it was.