Friday, March 5, 2010

"Spinning" by Jack's Mannequin

"I lost my place, but I can't stop this story
I've found my way, but until then
I'm only spinning."


Andrew McMahon (using the moniker of Jack's Mannequin) is the former leader of Something Corporate, a favorite band of mine for a very long time. His story as he has gone through becoming a solo act is quite different from most.

With his debut solo album on the horizon, 22-year old Something Corporate singer Andrew McMahon expected big things in 2005. Leukemia wasn't one of them. 
Dear Jack chronicles McMahon on a rollercoaster year, through the highs of recording and releasing a solo album (under the name Jack's Mannequin) and the lows of being diagnosed with leukemia and breaking up with the love of his life. 
Using a DV camera Maverick Records bought him to capture the making of his album, Andrew shot everything before and after the crucial day in May of 2005 when he both finished the project and was diagnosed with cancer. The documentary is a raw look at the battle that is leukemia, from spinal taps to radiation, from using a lint brush to remove your hair to infusing your body with someone else's stem cells ( in the case, Andrew's sister Kate, coincidently on the exact date his album was released). 
 The film opens on the day Andrew is diagnosed and follows him through every scary, life-changing and intensely personal event that follows. It also flashes back to this childhood, the making of the Jack's Mannequin album and his collaboration with Tommy Lee, one of the last concerts he played before becoming ill, and his relationships with the two most crucial woman in his life, his sister and her best friends. 
Dear Jack is a breathtakingly emotional film, as well as a testament to family, friends and, perhaps more than anyone will ever know, a love of making music.
- From the product description of Dear Jack, available at Amazon.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

"Lisztomania" by Phoenix


Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was easily one of the most hyped albums of 2009, and deservedly so. You've likely heard "1901" in Cadillac commercials even if you didn't recognize the internet hit, so "Lisztomania"  provides another great introduction to the band's style.  Poppy without seeming packaged, the album is a combination of an alternative rock aesthetic underneath shiny production.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

"Alive with the Glory of Love" by Say Anything


Say Anything's ... Is a Real Boy is a great example of why I enjoy looking for new music so much. Originally planned as a musical, it brought a theatrical angle and unexpected influences to the sometimes insular punk scene of the 2004. Say Anything's songwriter & singer Max Bemis intentionally made the album highly autobiographical. This maintains an important air of authenticity dealing excitement and anxiety of youth, shining behind the masks and characters he puts on to tell a story within each song.

"Alive with the Glory of Love" is the best introduction to this album. Superficially it is a song about lovers in Europe during the beginning of World War II, though the setting quickly becomes irrelevant as the listener becomes a character in this drama. Group vocals beg a sing along and rhythms inspire fingers to snap along. Other songs on the album demonstrate a range of influences from Vaudeville to the origins of punk, but "Alive with the Glory of Love" does its job as the first single to engage new listeners.

Also recommended: "Belt," "Woe," "I Want to Know Your Plans," "Admit It!!!" and "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too" (from the collection of b-sides included with the reissue ...Was a Real Boy.)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

"Swim" by Surfer Blood

With music that seems familiar yet constantly unplaceable, Surfer Blood's Astro Coast. may end up making quite a few of the "top albums of 2010" lists we always see between Christmas and New Years Eve.

If you are a guitar fan you simply can't miss this album. A good preview of it comes in the numerous direction changes in "Swim"  that always seem congruent and engage the listener even further into the song.


(Also, exceedingly cool artwork can't hurt.)

Monday, March 1, 2010

"American Low" by Cassino


Nick Torres is the songwriter of Cassino, a project begun after his previous band (Northstar) engaged in battles with their label and called it quits. After the experience with their record label was not what they desired, Nick has determined the rest of his career will be independently produced to the point that he has funded the projects himself and shirked potential label support. This is a track from their first album that is the second version of a demo track released through the internet to keep Northstar's fanbase intrigued.