Thursday, September 28, 2006  

Return of the Wild Bunch
Massive Attack makes trip-hop dangerous again

Washington Post Express, Thursday, July 28, 2006; Page E5

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When Massive Attack's debut album, Blue Lines, came out in 1991, the mix of hip-hop beats, soundtrack ambiance, and postpunk attitude turned the music world on its ear. It was sui generis statement coming in the middle of the grunge movement, and writers fumbled around to describe the English band's sound. Someone came up with the phrase "trip-hop," and within a few years fellow Bristol artists Tricky and Portishead joined Massive Attack as the faces behind this new sound.

The roots of Massive Attack are in a 1980s sound-system crew called the Wild Bunch, which included Tricky and gained renown for spinning catholic sets. "It wasn't so much dub based; it was a little bit more eclectic," said founding member Robert Del Naja. "It was more hip-hop in its center, but it went dub, it went soul, it went a bit New Wave, it went a bit retro film soundtrack-y—it was always a bit kind of strange, and I guess that's how the reputation spread because we were doing something nobody else was doing at the time."

As things got bigger, the sound system started to splinter, and three members of the Wild Bunch, Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Mushroom, formed Massive Attack. After cutting three well-received singles ("Daydreaming," "Unfinished Sympathy" and "Safe From Harm"), Del Naja said, "We got dragged kicking and screaming into the studio to make our first album. The idea was just to capture the history of our musical upbringing and a commentary on what it was to be a civilian in Britain at that time. We were writing stuff in a hip-hop way but, being youths in Thatcher's Britain, our angles were always slightly different."

After the massive success of Blue Lines, the group went through an identity crisis. "We hit this strange space afterward, where we weren't quite sure what it was about being a band," Del Naja said. "That same sensation has followed every record; we haven't really had a full-on game plan."

That might account for Massive Attack's seemingly lower profile the past few years, but the group, whose core now includes Del Naja, Marshall and producer Neil Davidge, has actually been very busy making records and scoring films. The follow-ups to Blue Lines include the equally great Protection (1995) and Mezzanine (1998) as well as 2003's 100th Window and the soundtrack records Danny the Dog (2004) and Bullet Boy (2005). Massive Attack's latest is Collected, featuring two CDs of hits, remixes and three new songs along with a DVD of the band's evocative videos.

The group is also working on a new concept album that Del Naja describes as "gothic soul," though work has been slow going. "It seems to evade me," he said with a laugh. "It's just really difficult; it's really something I want to do, but it hasn't quite come through. But I'm on a mission." --Christopher Porter

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Monday, September 25, 2006  

Roger Waters

Washington Post, Monday, September 25, 2006; Page C03

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A lot of visuals during Roger Waters' concert Saturday at Nissan Pavilion would have been perfect accompaniments to an acid trip or a marijuana marathon. Instead, light beer seemed to be the intoxicant of choice among the mostly middle-aged (and beyond) Pink Floyd fans who came to see the 63-year-old Waters run through his former band's hits ("Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)," "Comfortably Numb") and the entirety of the dorm-room favorite Dark Side of the Moon.

The concert brought back the grandiose arena atmospherics of days gone by, and Waters, as usual, did an expert job of pairing evocative images with his music. Grim war scenes and trippy space shots comprised the core of the backdrop, but it was particularly touching to see films and photos of Syd Barrett, the recently deceased leader behind Pink Floyd's first incarnation, during "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond."

The set included nothing from Waters' solo albums, though it did feature the horrible new song "Leaving Beirut." A rotten blues-based number that was inspired by Waters hitchhiking through Lebanon in 1961 as well as the recent turmoil there, the artless, didactic lyrics attacked war and President Bush in particular. But as underscored moments earlier by the great anti-war songs "The Fletcher Memorial Home" and "Southampton Dock" (both from the severely underrated Pink Floyd album The Final Cut), this new composition wasn't clever in any way.

It was hard to tell if the crowd was booing "Leaving Beirut"'s lame lyrics or the song's tuneless nature, though their wild cheers during "Sheep" for the slogan-laden inflatable pig ("Impeach Bush Now" was scrawled on its fanny) and for the line "Mother, should I trust the government?" in "Mother" seemed to indicate the audience was generally in sync with Waters' political sentiments. Or maybe it was just the light beer talking. --Christopher Porter
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Correction: There was one song from a Waters solo record: "Perfect Sense" from 1992's Amused to Death.

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Friday, September 22, 2006  

Nouvelle Vague: Contagious Fun at La Maison Francaise

Washington Post, Friday, September 22, 2006; Page C03

"Is there a doctor in the house?" Nouvelle Vague singer Phoebe Killdeer asked. "We're not kidding," confirmed fellow chanteuse Melanie Pain. A cold had worked its way through the band, and the crooners were offering a VIP backstage pass if a medicine man would step forward at the sold-out La Maison Francaise on Wednesday.

Usually, it is hard to tell whether Nouvelle Vague is kidding: The French group interprets new wave and punk songs such as the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love," New Order's "Blue Monday" and the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" as Brazilian-steeped lounge numbers. Nouvelle Vague's versions are certainly lovely, but are they necessary?

But after seeing the band in concert, questions of authenticity and necessity became moot: Nouvelle Vague might be making a joke, but it's a great jape -- and, illnesses be damned, it makes for an even better live show, filled with joy and expert showmanship.

While Killdeer's throat may have suffered, her voice didn't. Sounding a bit like Eartha Kitt, Killdeer used dance moves straight out of a "creative movement" class for kids. The equally wide-eyed Pain also shimmied like a child, but her dime-store dress and wispy voice were the perfect contrasts and complements to Killdeer. Together they tackled a Dead Kennedys song about drinking too much to love, leading the audience in a raucous singalong section of the unprintable title's chorus, but generally they traded off tunes, backed by acoustic guitar, bass, percussion, accordion and just a hint of laptop.

While the Dead Kennedys romp was good filthy fun, it was XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" that perfectly captured Nouvelle Vague's spirit. With Pain and Killdeer crooning back to back, accompanied by a gentle bossa nova beat, the band's accordionist stood behind them and blew soap bubbles. Kitschy? Sure. Fabulous? Absolutely. --Christopher Porter

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Tuesday, September 12, 2006  

Me on Brazilian Girls for NPR's Song of the Day.

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Monday, September 04, 2006  

Me on Favourite Sons for NPR's Song of the Day.
Me previously on Rollerskate Skinny & Kid Silver, Ken Griffin's great bands before Fave Sons.

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