The Jayhawks: As Good Now As They Were Then

Music Review: The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall (Remastered And Expanded Edition)

Back when it was originally released in 1992, the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall was just about as unlikely a candidate to become the sort of classic whose lasting influence continues to this day as you could possibly imagine.

At the time, rock music was still dominated by the post-punk sounds of Seattle grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and the adult-alternative radio format which would later embrace them was still very much in its infancy.

Yet, if you were to pinpoint a defining moment in time where the term "alt-country" was pretty much invented in the modern sense, the Jayhawks Hollywood Town Hall is probably it. The album is today regarded (at least by those in the know) as an alt-country classic.

A beautiful record both then and now, the Jayhawks' debut album for the big leagues with Rick Rubin's Def American Recordings (the Minneapolis based band had previously recorded albums for indie labels like Twin Tone), is as perfect a marriage between the country twang of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers and the elegant grandeur of Robbie Robertson and the Band as it gets.

It also serves as a crucial flashpoint for just where the so-called "alt-country" genre would eventually go with bands like Wilco and with such albums as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Although it could be convincingly argued that Jeff Tweedy and company eventually took it much further, it was in fact the Jayhawks who paved the way.



Continuing the recent revival of interest in this groundbreaking band that began with 2009's Music From The North Country anthology, and continued with last years reunion between principal songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson on the Ready For The Flood album and tour, Sony Legacy has this week reissued remastered, expanded editions of both Hollywood Town Hall and its equally brilliant (if initially slept upon) 1995 followup album Tomorrow The Green Grass.

Now, as then, songs like "Waiting For The Sun" and "Take Me With You (When You Go)" represent some of the most brilliantly constructed little slices of alt-country Americana you are ever likely to hear. From the sweet sounding, perfectly in-tune harmonies of Louris and Olson, to the occasional bursts of fuzzed-out Neil Young histrionics from Louris on guitar, this stuff is, honestly, just about as good as it gets.

The bonuses on the expanded edition are modest, but do include a trio of songs previously released only on the now rare Def American promo E.P. Scrapple, including the songs "Keith And Quentin" and "Up Above My Head." There are also extended liner notes from original album producer George Drakoulias.

If you are only just now discovering the band that pretty much wrote the book on modern day alt-country, get ready for a rare treat.

Because this stuff is as good now as it was then.



This article was first published as Music Review: The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall (Remastered And Expanded Edition) at Blogcritics Magazine

Obama And Palin: A Tale Of Two Speakers

The contrasts, both in style and in tone, were undeniable. Perhaps more telling though are the apparent motivations behind the two public statements made by Barack Obama and Sarah Palin yesterday, in response to the assassination attempt on the life of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Obama, speaking at the Arizona memorial service for the other victims of Saturday's shooting, did what presidents do. Looking and sounding more presidential then he has at any other point during his tenure at the White House, Obama served as the comforter-in-chief both for the families and friends in attendance, and for the rest of us watching the nationally televised speech, still trying to make sense of it all.

He eulogized the fallen, offered the support of the nation to the wounded and to the families of those who were lost, and praised those who helped prevent any further damage as heroes. Obama also wisely took the high road in choosing not to point fingers, place blame, or otherwise politicize the tragic events in Arizona at a time more appropriately given over to reflection and grieving for those who were lost.

If anything, Obama seized the moment to urge a return to civility in the political debate, and for a more rational, less inflammatory tone of unity in the national discourse seeking to find common solutions to the complex problems facing America in tough economic times.

Whether Obama's words continue to resonate by this time tomorrow or even next week remains an open question of course. But Obama's speech on Wednesday transcended partisan politics. This was a president doing what all presidents during a national tragedy do, much as Bill Clinton did after the Oklahoma City bombing, and yes, George W. Bush did after 9/11.

That said, in a lot of ways Obama also looked more like the rock star of the 2008 campaign than he has at any point since then. The memorial event at times seemed more like a campaign rally — there were several times when Obama's remarks were interrupted by spontaneous eruptions of cheer — than a somber memorial service. Obama's speech also served as a reminder of just how electric he can be as a speaker. You almost expected the crowd to start chanting "Yes, We Can" at times.

For that reason, it also reminded me again of just why I've become so disappointed with his presidency at times. Aside from the way he has all too often met the punches of his Republican detractors by opening up a bi-partisan can of compromise on them, Obama has also seemed detached from the populist movement that helped elect him. Obama is the sort of speaker who, at his best, can galvanize people from all walks of life into action. Which is exactly why I'd like to see him do a lot more speaking.

Sarah Palin's remarks on the other hand, have left me somewhat dumbstruck.

Made on a professionally produced seven minute video, and released — incredibly — on the same day as the memorial, Palin's remarks start on mostly a proper note. She offers a mix of outrage over the tragedy and support for the families of the victims. To her credit, Palin does do that much — well, for about one of the seven plus minutes of her presentation, anyway. From there, she also rightly defends the principles of freedom of speech, and the all-American contact sport of a vigorous, passionate political debate.

Incredibly, she then turns her remarks completely upside down and inside out by lashing out at those who would exercise the rights of others to do exactly the same — that is, challenge or otherwise disagree — by daring to criticize, guess who? If you guessed Sarah Palin, you win the Dancing With The Stars DVD.

The point where this crosses the line from being merely laughable, to somewhat disturbing, is when she invokes the words "blood libel" — a none too thinly veiled anti-Semitic reference to historically made comments about Jews killing Christian children for blood sacrifice.

Seriously, this woman wants to be president?



Aside from this, the "What About Me?" tone of her remarks come across as a pathetic attempt to turn what should have been a day of mourning into a pity party for the "real victim" — which would of course be Sarah Palin. This is simply astonishing, particularly coming from such a national political figure.

You can debate whether accusations from the left pointing blame for the Arizona shootings towards the inflammatory rhetoric of folks like Palin, Sharon Angle, and Glenn Beck is fair or not. In truth, a lot of that probably isn't either. But in turning the tragedy back towards herself, rather than the real, proper victims, Palin comes off as being just pathetically shameless.

I think a lot of us already knew in our hearts that Sarah Palin was a deeply narcissistic personality who is really more interested in the sort of celebrity that comes with shooting deer — and not very well, I might add — on her reality show on cable TV, than in the deeper sort of thought and commitment required of any real public servant.

But her performance on Wednesday, even as Gabrielle Giffords fought for her life in an Arizona hospital was embarrassing at best, and self-serving at worst.

In a word, incredible.

This article was first published as Obama And Palin: A Tale Of Two Speakers at Blogcritics Magazine

Music 2010: Merciful Goodbyes And An Uncertain Future

We're Back, and Happy 2011!

As the last few weeks of 2010 limped their way towards what, for my money anyway, was a mostly merciful conclusion, I came down with both a killer cold and a monster case of writers block.

The antidote for the cold was easy enough. Spent four days over New Years in bed, drank the usual heavy (and non-alcoholic for a change) fluids and chicken soup, downed the vitamin C, and missed a day of work at the job. All that, and damned if I'm still not nursing one mother-bitch of a cough. Still, five days into 2011, I'm happy to report I'm mostly on the mend, if not quite at 100% yet. It's enough to make me consider finally giving up the cigs. Well, almost anyway...

The writers block on the other hand, presented a more complicated problem. Usually around this time of year, like many of my music scribbling colleagues, I take stock of what just happened in music over the past year with a top ten list. The problem with 2010 — much as I hate to say it — is I'm honestly not sure I could fill such a list.

It's not that 2010 was so dreadfully god-awful or anything. It wasn't bad. But it also wasn't that good. There were plenty of decent records released this year, and you'll find many of the more noteworthy entries — by folks like Kanye, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, and even the unlikely Cee-Lo Green — on any number of the other lists making the rounds out there (both at Blogcritics and elsewhere).

It's just that I can't recall even five records in 2010, to say nothing of a top ten list, that flat out bowled me over this year. No In Rainbows by Radiohead, No Modern Times by Dylan, No Sky Blue Sky by Wilco, to cite just three records released in the past decade that continue to resonate with me even now.

Even the most oft-noted records this year (judging by the lists out there), don't strike me as classics I'll be going back to, say, ten years from now.

Arcade Fire's critically lauded The Suburbs for instance, is a decent enough followup to their universally acclaimed Neon Bible. But it didn't stay with me anywhere near as long as Neon did.

Even now, I'd be hard pressed to name a single song from it. Sorry, just being honest here. I'd also bet money that if some of you reading this were being likewise truthful, you might suffer from a similar memory lapse. I passed on their show at Key Arena here in Seattle this past fall for much the same reason. Yes, I was also broke and unemployed at the time. But if the album blew me away anywhere the same way as its predecessor did, I probably would have found a way to make the gig, by hook or crook.

Kanye? Well, Kanye is Kanye. Definitely a brilliant guy who is making some of the most creative sounding, yet commercially accessible hip-hop out there. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is also a vast improvement over the rather limp sounding auto-tunes found on 808 And Heartbreak.

But Kanye West, for me at least, is still mostly a taste I haven't fully acquired. For me, his ego and his goofball antics at awards shows and such also still have a tendency to overshadow his undeniable talent. I guess Kanye West is kind of my own personal hip-hop John Mayer that way.

As for the rest of what went on in 2010?

Well, Justin Bieber is up for a Grammy and Lady Gaga became the years biggest selling and most buzzed about artist. Katy Perry continued to have excellent breasts and record songs catchy enough to make you look away from them (for about a minute, anyway) while even a bodacious set of ta-tas couldn't make me buy the crap that Ke$ha was selling. Those things alone speak volumes about the state of music in 2010.

In between the newsmakers on the hit parade, a lot of great new artists probably slipped between the cracks too (at least outside of the few hundred fans and friends able to download an MP3 on the bands website, or find it by sifting through the pile on MySpace or iTunes).

Incidentally, I understand MP3 files can degrade over time. So, if you cherish the drum track on that trance jam you just ripped for free enough to keep it on your playlist into 2012, you might wanna look into a file backup service like Carbonite. In the meantime, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the sort of song that uniquely defines its time — the way "Smells Like Teen Spirit" did, for example. You'll be turning blue before you know it. Just thought I'd mention that.

So, while I fully expect this column is probably going to buy me some trouble in the comments section, I gotta call it the way I saw it. And 2010, while not outright awful, was still largely just a so-so year.

Interestingly, the records I heard this year that stuck with me the most were made mostly by the veteran cats.

Neil Young's Le Noise, the Daniel Lanois produced album of Young's solo electric guitar looped with Lanois' trademark ambient soundscapes, was also one of the legendary rocker's bolder creative efforts in years, and proof positive that Young still has a few remaining new tricks up his artistic sleeve. If I were to name an album of the year for 2010, Le Noise would probably be it.

Johnny Cash's supposedly final posthumous volume of American Recordings made with producer Rick Rubin, was another 2010 standout, and among the best of the latter-day Man In Black's albums. It is a meditation on death recorded in the artists final hours, that is absolutely worthy of the title Aint' No Grave.

Bruce Springsteen's The Promise features music recorded thirty years ago during the 1978 sessions for Darkness On The Edge Of Town, that remained officially unreleased until now. The songs are as good, if not better, than anything on Springsteen's last several albums, and as a stand-alone album I'd rank it as one of Bruce's four or five best records ever.

Other stuff I heard and liked this year included albums by the Jayhawks' Mark Olson, Riverside's Mariusz Duda, Porcupine Tree (the live Anesthetize DVD), The Pineapple Thief, Jeff Beck, Nels Cline, Seasick Steve, and reissues by Paul McCartney and Wings, Bob Dylan, Badfinger, and Iggy And The Stooges. So, not a total loss by any means, but still not enough great music this year to credibly fill out a top ten of 2010 list.

As for 2011, right now the crystal ball forecasts new albums early on from U2 and R.E.M. (well, okay I guess those two predictions are derived more from common knowledge than any true psychic ability). Also likely to arrive in 2011 are new releases from Radiohead, Wilco and Coldplay among others. There's probably a better than good chance for a fall 2011 Springsteen release as well (though a solo album is more likely than something with E Street Band). So, there's at least a few good new things to look forward to in 2011.

The Rockologist will also be keeping his eyes on ticket prices (which may fall dramatically by the time of the big summer tours). The ever-evolving MP3 marketplace will also be a continued subject of interest, as traditional record companies keep chasing the elusive dragon, new business models come and go at breakneck speed, and the ever-changing music market continues to evolve.

It should be a very interesting year. Happy Bird Kill 2011.

This article was first published as Music 2010: Merciful Goodbyes And An Uncertain Future AT Blogcritics Magazine.