I first heard this just once 12 years ago and picked it up on emusic last night. I actually remembered "New Star Song" fairly well, and though I could have been loving this over the subsequent years I am happy to listen to it anew. Sounds like Phil Ochs stumbled over to Stephen Malkmus' and they knocked out some demos.
one of my favorite ep's of all time. it does not disapoint. if you're into old school mountain goats you'll be quite happy with this ep
Indie-rock in the '00s was hardly the same animal as indie-rock two decades before, and much of the blame should probably go to Nirvana. In the '80s, labels like SST and Touch & Go were built on testosterone. But when grunge went multiplatinum in the '90s, rock bands brandishing palpable physicality suddenly qualified as mainstream again, and the bigger indies started adopting a more effete and introverted aesthetic. So if you skim down a list… more »
James Joyce wrote that his weapons as an artist would be "silence, exile and cunning." Silence isn't generally useful for musicians, and cunning comes with the territory for anyone who wants to play the pop-music game of one-upmanship. In 2004, though, a lot of the best indie records latched onto exile as a weapon, or as a metaphor, or even as their central subject. The international political landscape had collapsed into a mess of lies,… more »
