31.7.12

In Rotation
The contrasting fates of neo-psychedelia’s heaviest hitters



Author’s note: The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols are two of my all-time favorite bands. It’s only fitting that they once worked closely together and began to hate each other. To learn more, download or rent the documentary “DiG!” which also features sweet interviews by the Black Angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and more. Of course, like most documentaries, it’s misleading and irrelevant to the music. Anyway, these two groups released new albums relatively close to each other and that’s what we should talk about.


The cover of the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s 12th studio album, Aufheben, is taken from the plaque attached to the space probe Pioneer 11. So, if extraterrestrials ever stumble upon the drifting, obsolete NASA probe, they can learn a little something about earth and humans. Why is it an album cover? Maybe BJM’s founder and incoherent rambler Anton Newcombe wants his music launched into space. Or maybe it has something to do with how it was initially released—scattered on the Internet via torrents and YouTube, hoping the right ears find it.
Newcombe wants his music stolen because he can get away with it and because in his opinion, pure peer-to-peer sharing is where the recording industry is headed. Plus, Newcombe is doing well in album sales lately, as he’s said in interviews. He gleefully laughs at how major record companies are struggling, a spite that comes from a DIY mentality and a strong aversion to “The Man.”
Aufheben is a fitting title then. In German it means any of three contradicting terms: “abolish,” “preserve” and “transcend.” Aufheben doesn’t really abolish much, but there’s plenty of preservation of BJM’s “old sound,” that was notably absent on their last two experimentally focused albumsMy Bloody Underground andWho Killed Sgt. Pepper?
The best word to describe BJM is “pastiche,” meaning “open imitations of art, compositions or periods.” That explains why titles such as “I Want to Hold Your Other Hand” and “Stairway to the Best Party in the Universe” will remind you of some of the best music in history. Somehow, Newcombe still seems plugged into the magic from the ’60s and ’70s and every great episode of music since, even if he can’t write lyrics to save his life.
But finally, Aufheben transcends the current trend of BJM with mind-blowing tracks like the Middle Eastern chase music on “Panic in Babylon” or the Icelandic phantasmal sound filled with French lyrics on “Illuminomi.” Everything in between enhances with each listen.
Surely it all means something mystic, because obfuscation is another trait from BJM that makes their listening experience so metaphysical. Unlike many bands with a discography this massive and a career stretched this long, the Brian Jonestown Massacre just seem to get better with time.


The party never stops with the Dandy Warhols and they continue jamming with their eighth album, This Machine, but the heart isn’t there. This is what an obsession with Bauhaus and a so-called “gothic” sound brought them—their slowest, most drawn-out album since …The Dandy Warhols Come Down. There’s no interconnection here either. These tracks were as off-handedly recorded as when the band covered the Beatles’ “Blackbird” because Michael Jackson croaked (a promise from Welcome to the Monkey House.)
Speaking of covers, they do a pretty nice, short version of “16 Tons,” but this is a song about being totally enslaved by your corporate masters, back when that was legal in coalmines. Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor just can’t express a breed of hardship that particular—it just doesn’t come as naturally as it did for Johnny Cash or Tennessee Ernie Ford.
At least what does come natural for the Dandy’s is freedom, as overtly expressed on “I Am Free.” It sounds like bragging, like every inspirational tune they’ve done before, from “I Am Sound” to “Mis Amigos,” but more introspective, indicative of the band’s age.
There are more smuggish stabs at humility on “The Autumn Carnival.” The fuzz of ghostly guitars balances between catchy pop and subdued shoegaze, making it a memorable favorite. A rare shot of instrumental madness, “Alternative Power to the People,” only needs more depth, but it’s the only spacey treat given out.
There’s an extra level of satire, typical of the Dandy’s weird humor, on “Enjoy Yourself,” as Courtney Taylor-Taylor yells at you to be more open-minded and relaxed. The sentiment has been reworked a hundred times by the Dandys, but never as weird as this. That’s not good or bad—it’s neutral, like This Machine is as a whole. These above-average tunes are only dragged down by purely awful songs like “Rest Your Head,” or “Slide.” Don’t even start with “SETI vs The Wow! Signal.”
The title itself is a reference to what Woodie Guthrie once scrawled on his guitars: “This Machine Kills Fascists.” But what does the Dandy’s Machine kill? Nothing? Either way, the Dandys can do better than this and this disorientated attempt at refocusing didn’t work too well.

10.5.12

Journey to the center of your mind

visit filthfiller.com
Portland’s Portugal. The Man delve deeper into indie-pop experimentation

By Troy Farah
Published on 05/03/2012 in Flag Live



April has been a rough month for psychedelic rockers Portugal. The Man. So far, the four Portland, Ore.-based professional weirdoes have fired a touring drummer mid-show for unknown reasons and founding member, Ryan Neighbors, quit to pursue a new project titled Hustle and Drone. Granted, Neighbors’ departure was probably done in good spirits and marks a new chapter in the band’s history—something every band seems to say.
Let’s just hope May is better for The Man, when they’ll be stopping in Flagstaff as part of the Jägermeister Music Tour with the Lonely Forest. This is actually kind of odd, given the history of Jägermeister’s tours, which has normally included acts like Slayer, Korn, Hatebreed and other blood-spilling routines. Sometimes the tour even poured over into ear-bleeding post-grunge acts like Hinder or Trapt, but showcasing meek, hipster dreamers? That’s kind of a new one.
But it’s hardly the weirdest thing regarding Portugal. The Man—to say nothing of the annoying period in the middle of their name. Their records are titled things like Waiter: You Vultures!, and all of their record sleeves are coated in stylish, bizarre, trippy water paintings. Their videos venture into Dadaism: “Do You,” has the quartet dancing around in homemade futuristic garments (bringing to mind the Heaven’s Gate cult); in “Sleep Forever” the band’s vocalist is eaten by his own sled dogs; and “People Say” cakes the faces of the band in Vaseline, blinds them with lasers and forces them to work in a call center.

Portugal. The Man keeps the strange close to heart and it comes naturally, as they toldRedefined Magazine: “We’ve always been pop kids. We like melody; we never do anything for the sake of being weird. We like the sounds of delays, we like synthesizers, and we love anything that can creep you out and hold you there at the same time,” frontman John Baldwin Gourley said, describing the band’s fourth release, The Satanic Satanist. If you haven’t already guessed, the title is a reference to the Rolling Stones’ drug-addled, experimental album, Their Satanic Majesties Request. That may have just been a phase for Mick Jagger and crew, but Portugal. The Man have made experimenting a full-time gig.While the sound of the band, a mix of pop rock and synth-lovin’ indie anthems, is a perfect testament to the psychedelic revival, surrealism is something largely overlooked by other acts. What would Pink Floyd be without inflated rubber pigs hovering over factories? What would the Moody Blues be without quasi-spiritual mumblings about dawn being a feeling? What would Jefferson Airplane be without … well, everything they’ve done?
Speaking of releases, Portugal has kept busy as an art-rock factory, issuing a record per year since their 2006 debut. And yes, that means they are recording a new album this summer. The band went through a period of completely independent releases, but signed to Atlantic Records to release their sixth studio recording, In the Mountain in the Cloud. The band explained to the online music magazine You Ain’t No Picasso their decision to sign to a major label saying, “We’re not even really worried about money, we just want more laser lights.”
Perhaps those laser lights aren’t necessary because the band throws a great show regardless of pizzazz. Portugal knows how to deconstruct their songs, unwinding them into fantastic jam sessions that last precisely the right amount of time. They must have a lot of practice, given that they perform around 250 times a year and are known to branch out, occasionally throwing in a decent cover from David Bowie or MGMT.
The workaholic mentality that Portugal. The Man puts forth has gotten them this far—it’s going to be interesting watching how much further they can go, no matter how many hiccups along the way.
See Portugal. The Man Thu, May 3 at the Orpheum Theater, 15 W. Aspen. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. Washington State-based indie-rockers the Lonely Forest will open the 18-and-older show. Tickets are $17 in advance and $19 at the door. For more info, see www.portugaltheman.com and www.thelonelyforest.com or call 556-1580.