Milestones: 'Resigned'

MICHAEL PENN
Resigned
[57 Records/Sony – 1997]

Brendan O’Brien is best known as a top-tier producer whose credits include everyone from AC/DC to King’s X and from Springsteen to Stone Temple Pilots. But for a while in the mid-‘90s he entertained the idea of running his own label, the Sony-distributed 57 Records, whose roster included such talented singer/songwriters as David Ryan Harris and this gentleman right here.



Sean and Christopher’s older brother (and Aimee Mann’s husband) won an MTV Best New Artist award for his single “No Myth” in 1989 but hasn’t made much of a name for himself with the public at large since. (He’s a well-known composer around Hollywood, tho: he’s got Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights and the HBO show‘Girls, among other credits.) For his third and arguably best album, he joined 57 and had his boss produce and play some tasty bass parts, resulting in some of the most satisfying guitar pop of the ‘90s.

Presumably busy with soundtrack work, he hasn’t released an album of new material in a decade, so it’s hard to discern where his solo career is headed at this point. Regardless, the man's catalog is worth exploring, with this particular release sure to reward all who deign to give it due attention.

Highlights: “Try”, “Me Around”, “All That Implies”, “Selfish” (feat. Mann on backing vocals), “Cover Up” and “Figment”.

Third Time is a Different Charm

NOEL GALLAGHER's HIGH FLYING BIRDS
Who Built the Moon?
[Sour Mash/Universal-2017]

Just as he did with his previous band on album number three, Gallagher mixes things up and ventures into a slightly different musical approach on the third installment of the High Flying Birds adventure. But while Oasis’ Be Here Now [Creation-1997] didn’t stray too far from the band’s formula, Who Built the Moon? delves into a variety of styles and motifs, starting with a track that wouldn’t be out of place on a ‘90s Middle Eastern-influenced dance compilation (“Fort Knox”), horn-inflected glam (“Holy Mountain”), Jam-style Motown homage (“Keep on Reaching”), mid-tempo, light electronica (“It’s A Beautiful World”), ‘70s disco/rock (“She Taught Me How To Fly”), and a slice of Pink Floyd meets The Beatles' “Come Together” (“Be Careful What You Wish For”). And that’s just the first half.

Alas, the album’s second half covers more familiar terrain yet still departs a bit from the more mature Oasis type fare of HFB albums one and two. (The Stones-y "Black and White Sunshine" is quite engaging and "End Credits" is particularly breathtaking.) While it's all probably a tad unusual and maybe disconcerting to a chunk of his loyal fans, this is Gallagher being restless and expansive, a condition which, in addition to collaborating with electronica artist/composer David Holmes, who produced the album, results in an alternate take on the Gallagher blueprint. For those expecting the man’s classic and charmingly direct songwriting, Who Built the Moon?, with its colorful panoramic sonic canvas, might take a little getting used to at first—it’s his most “produced” release, solo and otherwise and definitely a grower—but it's a rewarding step forward, nonetheless.

Ultimate Guitar Hero

Drown In This

QUICKSAND
Interiors
[Epitaph - 2017]

Comparisons are frequently made when discussing music, whether it’s critics giving readers a point of reference or the audience using elements of an artist’s sound or style as shorthand in an effort to dissuade or entice fellow listeners.

In an admittedly superficial way, this came to mind when taking into account the similarities between ‘90s favorites Quicksand and My Bloody Valentine. While the latter exploited a new formula and ended up with a masterpiece, the former made the best of an established format, with some great moments along the way. But then there’s the shared circumstances: difficult followup recording sessions; crippling internal tensions; stopgap reunions; and of course, the 22 year gap between albums two and three.

Conversely, while the return of MBV, third record in tow, was treated as a major event, it can be argued that only the most diehard and faithful among the followers of the influential NYC post-hardcore unit led by the great Walter Schreifels were patiently awaiting the third installment of this particular saga. But in an interesting twist, Quicksand’s album is the one truly worth the wait.

With Interiors the band has attained that elusive duality of having one foot in an illustrious past while expanding the horizons of their sound. It’s quite evident that Schreifels’ stint in Rival Schools during Quicksand’s breakup and his brief foray into the singer/songwriter realm have informed the melodicism of this collection of songs. But the wallop that anchored their first two albums is ever-present across the board, even in Interiors’ most ethereal moments. Yes, indeed.

If Quicksand can manage to keep their past internal dissonance in check and go for the long haul, their future is most certainly one worth looking forward to. Welcome back, gents.

Highlights: Lead off track and first single “Illuminant”, “Under the Screw”, “Warm and Low”, “Cosmonauts”,  “Feels Like A Weight Has Been Lifted” and the title track.

Mossy Elixir: Rolling Stone at 50

"You're probably wondering what we're trying to do. It's hard to say: sort of a magazine and sort of a newspaper. The name of it is Rolling Stone which comes from an old saying, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’. Muddy Waters used the name for a song he wrote. The Rolling Stones took their name from Muddy's song. "Like a Rolling Stone" was the title of Bob Dylan's first rock and roll record. We have begun a new publication reflecting what we see are the changes in rock and roll and the changes related to rock and roll."

So stated publisher Jann Wenner in the November 9, 1967 inaugural issue of his magazine.  A lot has transpired over the subsequent five decades. For much of that time it was incredibly powerful and influential, anointing stars and prolonging careers, while nurturing a small army of talented writers who left their stamp on topics ranging from pop to politics. (A couple of whom, particularly Matt Taibbi, rescued the magazine from total irrelevance in the ‘00s.) When it was good, it was very good. And for a long stretch the magazine deserved its exalted reputation as the mainstream's go-to source for rock and pop culture with a splash of politics. But, along the way, the missteps piled up and at times in a seemingly tone deaf and almost deliberate manner. That its online comments section—regardless of the topic at hand—has become a nest of often disgusting vitriol-spewing for a significant number of reactionary conservatives, is as far removed from its hippie, San Francisco origins as one can imagine.

Rock and roll’s diminishing stature as youth culture’s lingua franca, not to mention physical publishing’s economic woes have sent many other competitors to their graves. Yet Rolling Stone lingers on. How much longer? “We’ll see”, said the blind man.

[Above: Rolling Stone no. 980, Aug. 11, 2005]