Doom & Gloom Dispatch #34: Beautiful Plateau
Highlife, Emergency Group / Zachary Cale / Seawind of Battery, Sparklehorse, Myriam Gendron, Sonic Youth
I hadn’t heard of Gang Gang Dance / White Magic member “Sleepy” Doug Shaw’s solo work as Highlife until a friend tipped me off recently — and though it is quite different from those groups, it is absolutely great and well worth your time. This live solo recording up at Tubby’s in Kingston, NY, is packed with gorgeous guitar tones, wonderful vocals and a generally sweet vibe. You might hear some John Martyn echoes here and there — the more FX-ed out playing is a bit “Small Hours”-ish — but Shaw sounds like an original to my ears, finding his own distinct musical language and generously sharing it with the rest of us.
And hey, I recommend you follow up Sleepy At Tubby’s with this killer Weak Signal set, recorded the same evening. As Sleepy says, “It’s about to get fuckin’ fun on a Friday night!”
Emergency Group / Seawind of Battery / Zachary Cale + Robert Boston + JR Bohannon - Tubby's, Kingston, New York, May 16, 2023
Let’s hang out at Tubby’s for a little longer, shall we? I've never been, but judging by the shows the club books, it’s an extremely cool spot. Last month, Island House Records hosted a little showcase situation featuring three excellent acts. Thanks to Kliked for taping!
First up, the always wonderful Zachary Cale, who plays a laid-back but quite elegant set with Robert Boston (keys) and J.R. Bohannon (pedal steel); Zach is a marvelous singer-songwriter, of course, but he’s also a killer guitarist; the mostly instrumental stuff he plays here bodes well for whatever he has up his sleeve next. The Neil Young cover is aces, too.
Next! Seawind of Battery delivers some very dreamy soundscapes, with Mike Horn looping his shimmery guitar masterfully around Jarrod Annis’ beautiful lap steel work. SoB's Clockwatching was a favorite from last year, but if this set is anything to go off of, Horn is just getting started.
And finally! Emergency Group, whose radical debut on Island House has been playing constantly in my house for the past couple of months — as I said in my review, it’s a “massive slab of Electric Miles-inspired jams.” And as a live act, they certainly don't disappoint, stretching out and digging in, making magical moments happen with frightening regularity.
Sparklehorse - Bowery Ballroom, New York City, November 5, 1998
A new Sparklehorse album ... in 2023? Impossible but true. Of course, Mark Linkous tragically passed away over a decade ago, so Bird Machine isn’t exactly new.
The details: “Following Mark’s death in 2010, his brother, Matt Linkous, began to oversee his Estate and archive his recordings. To his surprise, this nearly complete album was found among the tapes. Mark was famously perfectionist about his work and the question of whether to complete the album weighed heavily on Matt. ‘It’s the hardest decision I’ve ever made,’ says Matt. ‘It’s difficult making a choice about someone else’s art, even if you’ve known them all your life and worked with them, even if they were your brother and best friend. We had long conversations about not wanting to take this into a different direction. We wanted to bring out what was there.’”
I’ve been lucky enough to hear a promo of the “new” album, and it’s no stain on the Sparklehorse legacy — far from it. No spoilers, but I will say that the Robyn Hitchcock cover is a delightful surprise.
In the meantime, how about checking out this nice SBD of a Sparklehorse gig from way back in the fall of 1998? They were a tricky live band, kind of veering wildly from slower-than-slow dirges to furious rockers — but somehow it all works nicely. I saw Linkous and co. in NYC the following summer (on a great double bill with Mercury Rev) and his quiet but steadfast presence held everything together.
Myriam Gendron - CKUT’s Montreal Sessions, May 30, 2023
The mighty Myriam Gendron has some live dates coming up later this year with Will Oldham — if you’re in the Lone Star State, you should probably just quit your job and follow these two around on tour.
The rest of us can enjoy this short-but-very-sweet radio session from a few weeks back, featuring Gendron playing a few wonderful renditions of tunes from her masterful 2021 LP Má delire - Songs of love, lost & found. The version of “Shenandoah” here? Très magnifique! And hey, Myriam mentions that a new album is well underway, which is of course good news.
More??? Sure — you can check out my little “We’re New Here” interview with Myriam over on Uncut's website now.
Sonic Youth - Elysée Montmarte, Paris, France, June 17, 1987
Come on, get in the car! We’re careening through the #SonicSummer, brothers and sisters! And speaking of sisters ... the band released Sister on June 1, 1987 — just a few weeks prior to this Paris gig, which was a double-bill with their former label mates Hüsker Dü. SY still had a long road ahead of them. The Dü would barely make it to the end of the year.
Like Sister itself, this set kicks off with “Schizophrenia.” The soundman, perhaps excited by what is pretty much the poppiest thing Sonic Youth has done so far, makes Steve Shelley’s drums sound like they’d be right at home on a New Order record. It’s cool! While the band has certainly been heading in a more straight-ahead direction since Shelley joined, the Paris show showcases just how righteous a rock band SY was becoming, all whiplash riffs and whirlwind energy, as they play most of the new album for the ravenous crowd.
Thurston says: We were getting more seriously into song structure. It’s not something we intended to do. It just became something we were getting more proficient at.
Don’t get it twisted, sister, this isn't AC/DC or anything, but it rocks mightily, whether Sonic Youth is ripping through “Tuff Gnarl” or finding a very beautiful plateau during the mid-section of “Pacific Coast Highway.” Things build up, the music swells majestically ... and then the quartet takes a wrecking ball to it, gleefully and with full abandon. Exciting stuff. And hey, Lee Ranaldo steps up to the mic on “Pipeline,” something he’d be doing increasingly in the years to come.
Once again, I haven’t tracked down the Dü set from this particular evening, but why not check out this recording from a few days later? Dü it, düdes!
Bandcamp | Merch | Concert Chronology
From the Doom & Gloom Archives
Big Star - Beale Street Green / Beale Street Breakdown
Even though the recent Big Star box set, Keep An Eye On The Sky, was jam-packed with rarities and unreleased tracks, I don’t think there’s any crossover with these two essential Big Star/Alex Chilton bootlegs. The strangest exclusion from the box set is the breathtaking instrumental track, “Another Time, Another Place, And You,” that kicks off the Beale Street Green disc. I guess there is some question as to whether this is actually Big Star, and not just Chris Bell solo? Whatever, it’s a gorgeous piece of music, all fluttering acoustic guitars and mellotron.
There are also some alternate mixes, a cool rehearsal session (with the band tearing through #1 Record/Radio City numbers), some 70s Chilton demos/outtakes and other fun stuff (including a to-die-for version of “Surfer Girl”). You need it! I’ve also included the Beale Street Breakdown bootleg, which is highlighted by the (in)famous Sister Lovers-era Chilton/Jody Stephens live radio performance. One of the more wasted/out of it things you’ll ever hear. But it’s great.
The disc is filled out by some very good Chilton live recordings from the late 70s in New York. I especially like his deadpan recitation of the Shangri-Las’ “Past, Present, and Future.” Shall we dance?
Currently Reading: Go Now by Richard Hell
Buried the lede! Really glad to scroll down and find Big Star!
Thanks for the additional info on the Sparklehorse release. Really looking forward to hearing the whole album and your review makes it sound all the better. Never heard of fellow Canadian Miriam Gendron before. Beautiful stuff. I don't speak fluent French but the music and singing are very nice. The first two songs on the newly released last American show of Sonic Youth are intense as well. That Death Valley 69 with Kim Gordon doing the Lydia Lunch part is like a sonic eargasm. Thanks for the great bootlegs as well. I burned and have been playing the Television 1978 show you put up a while back in my old car. I find that's what I do with a lot of Bandcamp stuff. Make these killer (to me) mix cd's. Some great listening today for a rainy morning here in rural Ontario.