The Trouble With Sweeney - "Evelyn Rochman". There's an Ottawa band called As The Poets Affirm. Isn't than an awful name? If it was emo satire, it would be genius. But it's not, so it isn't. "The Trouble With Sweeney" reminds me of that. One wonders what the band was thinking: "How about we name it Sweeney?"
Happily, however, this is the case of a poorly named band turning out a highly listenable piece of indie rock, chiming electric guitars that gather round tunesome backing vox and Joey Sweeney's Tweedy-esque singing voice. It's hard to hate anything that opens with a lyrical reference to the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, following up with the Modern Lovers and Richard Hell. It's like Mrs Robinson, or, I guess, the mum at the end of American Pie. But with more cred. "I know you're my dad's wife's friend / ... / but you're giving me this crazy kind of confidence / I don't know why." [from Fishtown Briefcase, which isn't quite out yet]
"That's your name, dude."
"Yeah, but it's kinda cool. Kooky, you know, but not too kooky."
"Like us."
"Exactly."
(the serious one) "I don't like it."
"What? Why not! What's the trouble with 'Sweeney'?"
(chortle) "Dude - let's call the band that!"
(all, save serious one, in unison) "YEAH!"
David Byrne - "Glass, Concrete and Stone". Because a lot of people (like me) might have written Byrne off a while ago, here's the stunning opening number from his new album. It's pretty wonderful, quick-footed and melodic, with toothsome jumbles of lyrics and a terrific arrangement. Byrne plays capably with classical, world and rock instruments, but rather than falling into the rocker-emeritus tendencies of Peter Gabriel, say, the arrangement doesn't sink too far into its own concept; everything's delivered with aplomb. The strings, hand-drums and xylophone (as well as the Magnetic Fields-like "oo-oo-oo-oos" around 3 minutes) seem dedicated to the song's altpop hook, the rising crest of the chorus. [buy]
A great new mostlyfolk blog, kittytext.
The Streets are coming to Montreal (can I persuade myself to pay the $43 bus ticket?), and Wilco's coming to Ottawa (can I persuade myself to pay the $2.50 bus ticket?). Thanks to Aaron and Frank for the heads' ups.
Gmail Swap stuff: articles in the Washington Post and at Wired News. The lunacy continues. (4,301 swaps have been posted since Monday morning.)
Posted by Sean at May 21, 2004 3:31 AMLooks like we were on the same wave tonight Re: Byrne.
I went with the Opera though. Novelty value and whatnot.
Posted by Keith at May 21, 2004 3:34 AMMust be something going around because I also posted "Glass, Concrete & Stone" last night on my blog. Spooky.
Posted by Mark at May 21, 2004 7:31 AMJoey Sweeney used to write for Philadelphia Weekly, which has a sporadic column called "The Trouble with Spikol." Fuse the two and ther'es the name.
Posted by Anonymous at May 21, 2004 12:13 PMGreat songs. I've been meaning to do some David Byrne listening for quite a while, and this is just the impetus I needed. Thanks!
Posted by Michelle at May 21, 2004 3:26 PMnice david byrne song, sean. me too i had totally given up on him. everything i heard from him after the talking heads was disappointing. the lovely warm tune (esp. the strings and xylophone) reminds me a lot of the penguin cafe orchestra. i just see that you mentioned them concerning the other song which has nothing to do with them except the lyrical reference. did you unconsciously realize that the byrne song has almost exactly that pco vibe?
Posted by alex at May 22, 2004 6:41 AMYou're right, Alex - there's a warm whimsy there that's like something from the PGO. It must have been unconscious, though!
Posted by Sean at May 24, 2004 3:00 AMGreat information here. Just what I needed to complete my essay. Thanks. In my opinion the internet is the key to success!
Posted by Susani at April 26, 2005 8:21 AM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
