Kensington Blues

I haven’t even finished listening to the first song on the New Pornographers’ latest album, Together, and I’m bored. This is a band that once inspired me to do that least cool of things — join the band onstage to dance — way back in 2001 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Man, that was fun. Has it already been five years since they played a preview of Twin Cinema at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA? It has, hasn’t it?

It sounds like a snide, elitist thing to say, but the New Pornographers weren’t built to last. They were that rarest of animals: a supergroup not only didn’t suck, but actually produced two classic albums and a passable third before becoming adult contemporary claptrap.

You see, it would’ve been wonderful if they never really formed a band as such, just produced Mass Romantic, toured, and then went their separate ways. Sure, Electric Version is a spectacular album and I wouldn’t want to forget how fantastic it was to see them play those songs, too, but it’s just that it’s hard to look back on those albums and see them in the same light as they were made. Together, and it’s predecessor, Challengers, are shockingly boring mid-tempo affairs that make you wonder how the New Pornographers ever packed so many hooks into “To Wild Homes.”

The pace of their career makes me think they released those great albums, split briefly, and then reunited to produce two more lackluster albums, only to disappear into obscurity. Maybe it’s for the best. That way future generations might discover the unbridled joy when they first hear Neko Case wail on “Letter From an Occupant.”

I’ve been reading about this set all over the web, most recently at An Aquarium Drunkard. Unsurprisingly, understandably, everyone’s fallen in love with one of the greatest albums ever all over again.

I got the deluxe remastered edition for Father’s Day and I’m still working my way through it, but something really struck me as I listened: do we have the Stones to blame for Blueshammer and their ilk? I mean, would Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang have been possible without the Stones paving the way for guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan?

There are plenty of albums Pitchfork likes that I never bother checking out. It’s a longstanding practice that goes back to my days at Stylus. Not necessarily contrarian for the sake of being different, but realizing that there’s so much more ground to cover that it’s not really worth adding my two cents to most Pitchfork-approved releases. Let the rest of the blogosphere chime in.

I’m eating crow this morning thanks to my friend Marc Masters. He’s mentioned them a few times in his Twitter feed (follow him here) and I’m finally getting around to check their Daytrotter session out. I’m also loving eMusic’s Best Albums of the Year…So Far list, which takes me once again through the musical underbrush to discover stuff I haven’t even heard about until now. Which is all to say that I do sometimes miss the manner in which I was exposed to a frightful and delightful amount of music when I was a struggling freelance guy that I just don’t hear now that I’m paying more attention to the tabloid news media.

As an aside, I have to admit that since Lala.com shut down May 31st, I’m coming around to the various legitimate ways to hear new music. Everyone’s recording people now, whether it’s places like Daytrotter or it’s an NPR stream and I’m okay with that. Instead of feeling as I once did that putting a full album stream at MySpace was an invitation to piracy, I’m hopeful that more people are okay with the idea of just listening and enjoying what’s out there and supporting the artists they truly enjoy.

Helen and I are going to see Erykah Badu June 8th at the Tower Theater. Janelle Monae is opening. Am I excited? Hell yeah! Just picked up Erykah’s latest LP at AKA Music. Love her music so much. She’s also one of my favorite entertainers these days. Doesn’t hurt that she’s playing fast and loose with the great sounds Parliament Funkadelic introduced either.

I know I haven’t posted anything music-related here lately. I got myself wrapped around the axle there for a bit about the future of music and couldn’t find a way to unwind. Pretty sure I’ve put that behind me and will happily be posting more stuff that I like here.

So Free Energy? I’m really into their lead single, “Bang Pop.” I know it got a whopping 8.1 on Pitchfork, yet it’s failed to really catch fire online, at least from where I sit. Does it reinvent rock music? Nope. Is it still a ton of fun? Yup! If I weren’t on baby duty tonight I might’ve snuck over to the First Unitarian Church tonight to see them in person. If you were looking for a summer jam that’s not by Ludacris or Katie Perry, you’ve probably found it in this gem.