http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/251 The daily organ of the Northeast Corridor Social Club Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:32:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/251#comment-14329 The Great Whatsit » Sounds: BW’s top 13 of 2006 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:12:23 +0000 http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/251#comment-14329 [...] If I were 22 all over again, Dan Bejar would be my Stephen Malkmus: as it is, I’m too late on the scene to be willing to unpack the dense web of references that make up most of his lyrics. No matter: I like the ones I get right off, playful little references that make you realize how fun the music is. (I’ve always assumed the band named itself after the KISS album, but a prophetic warning on “A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point” has me thinking otherwise now: “Those who love Zeppelin will eventually betray Floyd / I cast off those couplets in honor of the void.” What exactly would it mean to betray Floyd? And what relation would such a betrayal have to “the void,” let alone the impulse to honor it?) But the songs themselves convince you that there’s more going on here than just verbal fun and games. Gone are the early-Bowie-wannabeisms that sometimes plagued Destroyer’s first few records; there’s still a tendency toward the operatic, but it’s opera that rocks, not rock wanting to be opera, as I realized last spring when his live set bum rushed me and left me for dead. Infinitely more interesting than his New Pornographers bandmates, Bejar trades in a brand of smart rock that draws you in even as you realize he may be just as willing to drive you away. [...] [...] If I were 22 all over again, Dan Bejar would be my Stephen Malkmus: as it is, I’m too late on the scene to be willing to unpack the dense web of references that make up most of his lyrics. No matter: I like the ones I get right off, playful little references that make you realize how fun the music is. (I’ve always assumed the band named itself after the KISS album, but a prophetic warning on “A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point” has me thinking otherwise now: “Those who love Zeppelin will eventually betray Floyd / I cast off those couplets in honor of the void.” What exactly would it mean to betray Floyd? And what relation would such a betrayal have to “the void,” let alone the impulse to honor it?) But the songs themselves convince you that there’s more going on here than just verbal fun and games. Gone are the early-Bowie-wannabeisms that sometimes plagued Destroyer’s first few records; there’s still a tendency toward the operatic, but it’s opera that rocks, not rock wanting to be opera, as I realized last spring when his live set bum rushed me and left me for dead. Infinitely more interesting than his New Pornographers bandmates, Bejar trades in a brand of smart rock that draws you in even as you realize he may be just as willing to drive you away. [...]

]]> http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/251#comment-388 Nathan Waterman Mon, 03 Apr 2006 15:29:27 +0000 http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/251#comment-388 the sweeney todd cast looks like the <a href="http://www.concertshots.com/January%202005/cs-ArcadeFire20-Atlanta12605.JPG" rel="nofollow">arcade fire</a> 10 years from now. the sweeney todd cast looks like the arcade fire 10 years from now.

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