Songs to Obsess Over, Case File #2: The Decemberists - "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid"

 

They seem at home here, don't they? | Photo by Autumn DeWilde

It's almost halfway through 2009 and The Decemberists have runaway with my favorite album of the year. Their folk-rock opera The Hazards of Love runs the gamut from country twang to metal riffs while telling its tale, which involves a rake, an evil forest queen, a charming girl named Margaret, some dead children, and an ill-fated hero. As I said in my bit for the Internal Debate at Stereo Subversion on this album, it feels like the album The Decemberists were destined to make.

The best track on this album, though, is easily the 6:26 epic "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid". The pivot point of the narrative, where the plot goes from sleepy fairytale love story to complicated disaster, "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" is a dialogue between the hero, sung by Decemberists ringleader Colin Meloy, and the forest queen, sung by Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond). Part folk ballad, part metal bombast the track tugs between the two moods with suspense that heightens down to the last second. Arcade Fire approved "Oooohs" and supreme vocal performances are only part of the over-the-top, sonically delicious madness that ensues here. The entire album is superb from start to finish, but this is the track that really holds everything together.

In other Decemberists news, Meloy will be back on The Colbert Report for a remach April 27th. Too much awesomeness in one show! My TV may implode.

The Metric System

 

Making math cool: Metric | Photo courtesy Big Hassle Media

Oh, Metric, how I love thee. Although their new album, Fantasies, is certainly far more slick than anything else they have done to-date, it also boasts some of the group's best tunes. From the first chance I had to hear "Satellite Mind", "Gimme Sympathy" and "Stadium Love", I've been addicted. I've danced. I've cleaned. I've vacuumed. I've driven. I've partied. I've cooked. I've written. I've sewn. I've duct taped. I've rocked out Fantasies for all of it. 

And it seems that I'm not alone.  2009 just might be Metric's year. The disc just hit stores this past Tuesday, but it's already sitting pretty atop the Billboard Heatseksers chart, the result of an early iTunes feeding frenzy. This milestone is nothing to scoff at, especially when considering that the album is released independently via the band's own MMI label. Keep your eyes on this band. They're paving their own road, and seem to be on the right track.

I recently had the chance to interview Metric's leading lady (and one of my total heroes) Emily Haines for a feature over at SSv. I'm a fan of not just her work with Metric, but with Broken Social Scene and her solo albums as well, so it was a pleasure to speak with Haines. 

I also contributed to SSv's new series Internal Debate about this album, so in case you don't want to take my word for it, check out what we at SSv thought of the album.  And you can pick up the album directy from the band, here.

Perks of the Job

 

Sing it, Brody! | Photo courtesy Spinnerettemusic.com

Sometimes when I do interviews, I get the added bonus of a little bit of advice. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Brody Dalle, former frontwoman for The Distillers, on her new project, Spinnerette. Somewhere in the conversation she even gave me a bit of astrological advice and, seeing as my 26th birthday is fast approaching, assurance that growing up is, in fact, a good thing:

"And I’m not trying to scare you, but you have to grow up. You have to. You have no choice and if you don’t, then you’re fucked for life."

Pretty obvious, but Dalle would certainly know this to be true better than anyone. Having gone through her fair share of public scrutiny as well as personal and professional trials over the past few years,  the punk vixen sounds like she's finally found peace on the other side of 30.

The interview is certainly one of my recent favorites. Although it didn't make it into my write up,  Dalle even put me on hold breifly to give her husband (none other than Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) a kiss goodbye. It was unbelievably cute. The entire interview is now posted over at Stereo Subversion. Check it out, here. 

Fifty-two

Although in-person interviews are definitely the way to go, sometimes phone interviews certainly have their perks. This is definitely true for singer/songwriter and DIY pioneer Ari Hest. I had the pleasure of speaking with Hest twice this year, first in February for Stereo Subversion, and again in late October for the Sound Bites Dog E-zine and both times his surroundings made for some interesting conversation.

Ari Hest, rockin' DIY | Photo by Reid Rolls 

For the SBD interview, which recently went live, Hest called me up from one of my favorite places: The Container Store. Details, such as where the interviewee is calling from, can give a bit of a glimpse into that person’s life. Hest is obviously the type of guy who shops at The Container Store, a fun detail I was sad to leave out from the article.

Storage chatter aside, the real reason for the interview was to discuss his year-long project, entitled 52. One of my favorite stories from 2008, Hest sought to record and release one song for every week in the year. For those of you counting, that’s 52 songs for 52 weeks. Songs were then sold in a variety of formats via his website, either as a subscription, per song or in seasonal clusters. The best tracks from the year-long endeavor will be compiled for a proper album in 2009.

In some ways a continuation of the conversation he and I began earlier in 2008 over at Stereo Subversion, catching up with Hest for a Q&A for the Sound Bites Dog E-zine sated my curiosity for how well one of the year’s most interesting projects fared. Read all about it, here.

White turtley updates!

White Turtle Mochas are great on a Sunday morning, I must say.  This one certainly makes up for my getting up so early today. Woot woot.

Anyway, for those of you that follow my writing, my interview with The Presets went up this past week on Stereo Subversion.  Unfamiliar with The Presets? They're a dance/techno duo from Australia who recently finished up a U.S. tour alongside Cut Copy (who are pretty awesome) and, for you 90s grungeheads out there, the group also has some ties to Silverchair. Although not one of my best interviews of late--Kim Moyes was under the weather and I wasn't in top Natalie shape--we still managed a few laughs and it was interesting to feel out the group's dichotomies of fame and musical style. And they also have an interesting definition of "funky." Check it out.

Back to back...

Haven't seen me in awhile?  I've been a busy bee..

 

Back-to-back cover stories on Katy Perry and Kings of Leon for Athens Blur magazine!  For those of you not living in Athens who can't get your hands on copies of the mag, these stories are up on my portfolio. Both were a lot of fun to write and were interesting stories to tell. I'll cop to Katy Perry being a guilty pleasure (have you not heard "Hot and Cold"? I can't get that song outta my head!) and, I gotta say, I'm impressed with how far Kings of Leon have come. I caught the band live years ago opening for The Stokes (with an as-yet-unheard of Regina Spektor!) and although their live show was spot-on, it's not until their most recent albums that the band has really hooked me. It's interesting what trading in strong southern rock roots (and coifs!) will get you. 

Anyway, if you live out in UGA country, do pick up a copy of the mag. It's free, it's pretty and it has a lot of fun articles (besides mine *shameless grin*). 

Also, for those that follow the publications I write for, the folks over at Stereo Subversion just pulled off a snazzy site redesign. Go check out the goodness over there and wish them a happy belated 1 year anniversary! The editor there is a super guy and he's done a wonderful job with the site in such a short time. 

Nat-attack out!