This collection of live performances, mostly recorded at KEXP’s Seattle studio and all recorded to be broadcast exclusively by KEXP, will naturally be attributed to Various Artists, and seventeen tracks by seventeen performers does make it a compilation album. However, this is a Kevin Suggs and Tom Hall album, and that’s all there is to it. Suggs recorded all but three of these tracks and Hall mixed them all, to incredible sounding results
When Suggs is absent from a track, it’s obvious, as his tracks sound more present, more immediate…more here and now, in other words. As with any compilation album, mediocrity is present, and the occasional complete clunker, like The English Beat’s “Hands Off She’s Mine,” but there’s not a track here I didn’t give serious consideration to keeping just because it all sounds so glorious.
What’s most notable about Suggs’ recordings is that they are all so well tailored for each artist’s performance. This CD covers a wide array of bands and solo artists playing a wider variety of songs and showing up at the studio with instrumentation that may be right out of the studio recording or their live show or some setup that is completely different. Whether it’s the heavy electronic dosage of Ghostland Observatory or Cloud Cult, the stripped-down vocal-heavy-with-guitar-as-bass setup of Grizzly Bear, or Frank Black’s more traditional guitar and mic, Suggs spontaneously records it perfectly, putting his own stamp on every performance.
The discerning reader who is listening along will note that two of the three tracks Suggs didn’t record (“Yr Mangled Heart” by The Gossip and “And I Was A Boy From School” by Hot Chip) are two of the album’s three mix CD candidates and the third one he didn’t record (“Australia” by The Shins) is kept. I have to admit that this might be evidence that Suggs’ levels-high and customized approach is actually harming the output, but still, I’d like to have heard those tracks done by Suggs…I happen to think they’d be even better.
You get a longer intro than most compilation albums, due to the cohesion provided by Suggs, but I still do have a few track-by-track notes.
The Long Winters’ “Pushover” has that strident British vocals thing that hipsters have loved so much for the past thirty years going on, and it usually drives me nuts. This actually has a pretty good song underlying it, though, and as mentioned above, it sounds delicious, so it gets kept.
“Australia” by The Shins is the first non-Suggs track, and his absence is a bit painful here. This sounds a lot like The Cure and might be a very good song with better sound.
When “Move With Your Lover” by Ghostland Observatory starts, it sounds like somebody spent hours in the studio getting just the perfect dynamic mix out of their electronics or as if they’re about to light up a giant, full arena. Then they do their Ghostland Observatory thing where they don’t quite finish writing the song and rely on the early-hook crutch, but it’s still pretty damn good. It would have been a mixer if they could have kept up the momentum up.
Lady Sovereign’s “Public Warning” does that strident British vocal thing, but despite her best efforts, that doesn’t obscure that this rap song rocks it hard. Very reminiscent of M.I.A.
“Hands Off She’s Mine” by The English Beat is that strident British vocal thing over a horrible reggae/ska thing.
Grizzly Bear brings things down a bit for “Knife,” which starts off great, just like “Move With Your Lover,” only in a completely different way evoking pathos instead of triumph, and just like that track it sits in stasis for its remainder.
It’s not as good as Dylan’s version, and “Mr. Tambourine Man” isn’t my fave Dylan track anyway, but I do like to see Cloud Cult doing it here, keeping the Minnesota musician torch burning in the Minnesota family.
So few international acts sing in their native language, and it’s even crazier that the Danish Under Byen does it in theirs since Denmark is one of those countries where everybody aged 10-70 speaks crazy good English anyway. In addition, they reach farther afield from their neighbors Sweden’s and Norway’s traditional sugary pop hooks to Iceland, instead, for this very Björk-like track, “Den Har Sang Handler Om At Få Det Bedste Ud Af Det,” which Google Translate says means “This song is about getting the best out of it.” More interesting than good, it’s still damn good.
The Black Angels do a fine but non-keepable “The Prodigal Son,” due largely to them staying in their single riff for just about the entire song.
“Yr Mangled Heart” by The Gossip is the best track on here. It will move you to spontaneous ridiculous dancing, the best kind.
The Shackletons and Billy Bragg round out the strident British vocal thing. I usually really like Bragg, and this song isn’t terrible, but his banter here is absolutely cringe-inducing and sophomoric. You’re not a comedian, Billy, stick to the sincere.
The sugar-hook pop of “Young Folks” by Sweden’s Peter Bjorn and John gets mixed, but I bet it wouldn’t if I had the original (which I’m predicting would), which features a bit more punchiness from the studio and whose iconic opening whistle is a bit more in tune. It’s just such a good tune that it has to be considered for mixes.
Same goes for Hot Chip’s “And I Was A Boy From School”…it’s a great tune but could stand to be a bit punchier here. It’s very techno/electronica/dancey, but when you get bands like that that still know how to craft a song and include things like blue notes and other soulful elements, it’s so much more meaningful than the all-ecstasy-all-the-time syndrome that plagues most of the genre.
Rating:
Mixers: “Yr Mangled Heart” (The Gossip), “Young Folks” (Peter Bjorn And John), “And I Was A Boy From School” (Hot Chip)
Non-keepers: “Hands Off She’s Mine” (The English Beat), “Elephant Gun” (Beirut), “The Prodigal Son” (The Black Angels), “Your Movement” (The Shackletons), “Collarbone” (Fujiya & Miyagi), “Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards” (Billy Bragg)
Filed Between: Live (Secret Samadhi) and Live At Moe 1
