Page 28 - the NOISE August 2013

b Ugh
bb Eh
bbb Solid
bbbb Gold bbbbb Total Classic
The tune that I wrote in fallen dreams
Anthem to creator of all that had stopped
And there was no doubt at all, no maybe about it
Was the day Disney’s dream debased
In The Fall’s 35-year history, the mid-’80s period with Brix Smith is widely considered their most successful, artistically, and oth- erwise. They had hit singles and critically- acclaimed LPs in Britain. They made clever videos and more TV appearances. They got (minimal) exposure on American radio. They performed live with a ballet troupe.
Brix and Mark E. Smith were divorced in 1989 and Brix left The Fall to start another band, The Adult Net. She rejoined The Fall in 1994 and left again in 1996. She remarried
and opened a successful boutique. Recently, Brix has appeared on British television as a fashion commentator.
Mark E. Smith continues to make music and be an ornery and contrary bastard. He was the subject of a 2006 BBC documentary. In May 2013, The Fall released Re-Mit, their 30th studio album.
— Tony BallZ
ReVieW’d
Jackson Scott Melbourne Fat Possum
jj
Jackson Scott
man, I guess.
“Never Ever” is kind of cool, like an “Eight
Miles Low” rather than “Eight Miles High.” “That Awful Sound” is a simple anthemy song- Weezer’s “Sweater” on helium, and weed of course. Not that Weezer weren’t on weed, but this one is like, hazy, or just a little distorto, or whatever. It doesn’t make me
hungry for anything except for maybe an ac- tual Weezer record. That first Weezer album is kind of a classic, much as I hate to admit it. They’ve kind of had one of the vastest falls in rock n roll, perhaps, if I can piggyback on Tony’s Rod Stewart piece from last month, if anyone is paying attention. Weezer’s riffs get stolen all the time, and they claim to be stealing KISS’s riffs, which makes sense, in its own kind of way, Weezer is like if KISS were introverted nerds, maybe. Jackson Scott is also probably an introverted nerd, which is definitely a plus, but not when it comes to actually selling records, which he’s actually probably talented enough to do, if he actu- ally wrote a whole song, or at least saw his ideas through, rather than just went, well, that sounds really cool, I think I’ll put that out. The good thing, perhaps, is I don’t think anyone will be stealing these riffs. It would just be impractical.
I’ll bet Jackson Scott could be a good hip hop or dance producer, not that he’d have much interest in that, or there’s really any job openings in that regard. He is able to create a nice vibe though. You hear that phrase, or cliché, ‘ear candy,’ and that’s kind of what’s going on here, if you can take such a term like that as literally as you can. There’s not a whole lot of substance here, it just sounds/ tastes good. Which really the same point I keep making over and over again, so I can just stop doing that now.
Custody Battle/Dragons/Them Savages/ ROAR/Andrew Jackson Jihad
The Orpheum
June 29 2013
jjjjj
Flagstaff in the summer, man. It’s super hot, but not really. It’s sort of ghost towny, except at Martanne’s, and then there’s the rain and the hail. Just magical. And then there’s that rare great show at the Orpheum. And by that
The amount of people that listen to this first track and think, “Wow, that was amaz- ing!” are between few and zero. Most likely zero. It does get quite a bit better as it goes along. It all fits squarely in that early Deer- hunter/Animal Collective/late Black Dice for- mula of, well we might not have great songs, but we’ve got all these effects and pedals and it sounds really cool.
Songs don’t even really bother to end or have much structure other than to have sweet parts. Which is really nice to share with your friends and maybe play a show or two. I can’t really blame it on a generation gap, be- cause I feel like I know where this is coming from, I’m just feeling like a curmudgedy old
28 • AUGUST 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us