I went to see the Undertow Orchestra last night at the Iota Club and Cafe in Arlington VA. The “Orchestra” is an amalgamation of David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, Will Johnson of Centro-matic, Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, and the ever-enigmatic Vic Chesnutt. You could call them a mope-rock supergroup of sorts.

Iota is a small venue — I’d say not room for more than 100 to 150 in the main room. I saw Bazan before the show — he was mulling about, setting up, procuring drinks, etc. I smiled at him and got his attention. We ended up talking for a few minutes — mostly about his music (what else?). He was very forthcoming in his answers and sounded natural —very grounded. He confirmed my suspicions about the demise of Pedro the Lion but assured me that it was a death in name only. While Bazan will not be recording under that name, I wouldn’t consider the band’s breakup a great loss. The heart and soul of Pedro has always been Bazan — in fact his revolving cast of touring and session musicians can rightly be deemed Bazan’s band. Meaning no disrespect to said members, Bazan is Pedro the Lion. The others are simply his messengers. He may in fact employ a drummer and/or basist when he records his first proper solo album and tours. Nothing — save for the name — will have changed.

Singer/songwriter Jesse Harris opened for the band, and did a short seven or eight song set which consisted entirely of down-tempo ballads. During the set, I thought that his sound/intonation/lyrics were similar to Norah Jones’ debut album. I guess I didn’t put two and two together, because it turns out that he did indeed co-write Jones’ signature song “Don’t Know Why”, as well as a few others on the album. He even played guitar on about half the album. Bowl me over, why don’t you?!? Not only did he not perform any of the songs he wrote for Jones, but he didn’t even mention anything remotely pertaining to her during the set! The nerve of some people, I swear.

The Undertow Orchestra’s sound was more or less cohesive, considering that their first rehearsal was February 3, a mere eight days prior to the show. Will, David, Mark, and Vic took turns on lead vocals; all told, they did about six songs a piece.

Bazan’s sets consisted of “Bands With Managers”, “Priests and Paramedics”, and “Slow Car Crash”; then “Criticism as Inspiration”, “The Devil is Beating His Wife”, and “I Do”. “The Devil…” was a song from Pedro the Lion’s abandoned 2006 album sessions, originally recorded in demo form in fall 2005. I asked David about the song before the show; he said he liked it and would be incorporating it into his solo project. Hearing it live proved his was serious. It was also refreshing to hear “Slow Car Crash”, a standout synthesizer-infused song from Bazan’s side project, Headphones. It’s one of Bazan’s more “romantic” songs, albeit within the context of impending death.

However, the show ended on a high note of sorts, with Vic Chesnutt and the band singing his “In My Way, Yes”, a strong show closer. One would hope that this song exemplifies Chesnutt. But that’s just the optimist in me.

Lennon starts off the song with “If I fell in love with you…” Fell in this context is incorrect. He had two choices — he could have used the subjunctive mood: “If I were to fall in love…” or the implied future tense: “If I fall in love…” He chose the simple past tense — when coupled with “If”, it seems as if John is uncertain about whether or not he fell. Not the intended meaning, I’m sure.

The implied future tense of “If I fall in love…” make the most sense, both grammatically and rhythmically. Furthermore, it parallels the second and third verses, which start with the implied future tenses of “If I give my heart…” and “If I trust in you…”, respectively.

Many inconsistencies abound in the last verse:

So I hope you see that I
would love to love you
And that she will cry
when she learns we are two
If I fell in love with you

He uses the explicit future tense “will cry” with the past tense “If I fell”. Shouldn’t it be “..she will cry… if I fall in love”? The listener knows that John has already fallen in love with this new girl. But he has to temper his emotions and not reveal his new love to said girl. “If I fall in love…” would have made a good improvement, but “When I fall in love…” would have been the kicker, as would “When I give my heart to you…”, and “When I trust in you…” This makes sense because John predicts that “she will cry when she learns we are two.” Notice he said “when” and not “if”. Choose either the hypothetical “if” or the inevitable “when” and use it consistently throughout the song.

I have a Dr. Martens Music Sampler CD available to the first person who contacts me with his/her mailing address. It’s a promotional CD that I picked it up at the 1999 HFStival. It features 17 full-length tracks from artists on various labels.

Track listing: Primal Scream — Kowalski, Faith No More — Last Cup of Sorrow, Failure — Pitiful, BT — Quark, Gus Gus — Why?, Moloko — Fun for Me, Soul Coughing — Soft Serve, Cornershop — Candyman, DJ Kool — Let Me Clear My Throat, T.D.F. — Rip Stop, Arkarna — House of Fire, Drill Team — Peppermint, Kenickle — In Your Car, Wilco — I Got You (At the End of the Century), Cool For August — Don’t Wanna Be Here, Poster Children — 0For1, and Rockers Hi-Fi — 90° Fuzzwalk.

It’s mostly rock with a bit of techno and hip-hop thrown in for good measure. Released in 1997.

I have Marcus Meier’s CD One Spirit available to the first person who contacts me with his/her mailing address. It’s actually not a bad album — all instrumentals, very acoustic-driven, and reminds me of something you’d want to play in an antique store or boutique. It was recorded, mixed and mastered at Dwelling Place Studios. Players include Dave Wiens, Luke Hendrickson, Josh Davis, Anna Brinkman, Art Lindholm, and Steve Freeman. Tracks: “His Light on my face”, “One Spirit”, “New Beginnings”, “Waiting”, “Classic C”, “Interlude”, and “Leaping Over the Mountains.” Total time: 46:09.

Marcus is also a member of Merchant Band, a group with Brit-pop and American rock sounds.

I was sitting quietly at work last Tuesday afternoon when Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” came on the radio (a “classic rock” station, if you can believe it). I had somewhat of an epiphany, as if I were hearing it for the first time. It had probably been in the back of my mind since the mid-eighties, but Bon Jovi was never a band that I was really attached to.

I really didn’t listen to pop radio in my grade school years (mostly just oldies), and I have never been that big of a fan of eighties music. I was a teenager in the nineties — it was that decade’s music that provided the soundtrack to my life growing up. Hearing Bon Jovi again on Tuesday forced me to reconsider the cold shoulder I’ve been giving eighties music.

Oh, the irony: so I’m cruising down the road in my $3.79 gas blasting Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” with nary a care. A sampling of the eerie lyrics:

…If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
…Don’t it make you feel bad
When you’re tryin’ to find your way home,
You don’t know which way to go?
If you’re goin’ down south
They go no work to do
…
Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
When the levee breaks, Mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin’ ’bout me baby and my happy home.
…
Going down, going down now, going down.

Father, father, there’s no need to escalate…

For some reason, I think of my dad, standing at the bottom of an escalator, asking my sister if he needs to go upstairs. Then she tells him that “there’s no need to escalate” and he understands.

…for only love can conquer hate.

Actually, the total annihilation of the human race could also conquer hate. But hate is not something in and of itself that should be conquered, though. For instance, I hate ignorance. I don’t think that some formless “Love” can swoop down and conquer the hate I have for ignorance. It’s ironic that most people are ignorant of my hate for ignorance. (This too I hate.)

Don’t punish me with brutality

So there’s some mob guy named Tony Butali from the Bronx. As a front for his organized crime, he owns a tea-bag “company” which he has named Butali Tea. When Tony needs to put the pressure on a rival, he ties the rival’s hands and feet to a chair and starts slapping him in the face with tea bags. Hence, don’t punish me with Butali Tea.

I left work today with the intention of seeing David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion fame) perform with his new side project, Headphones. With three hours to spare, I killed time by walking what seemed to be like half-way across the city. Navigating DC can be treacherous, but to me, there is still a novelty of exploring the old neighborhoods and wondering about the histories of the row houses and businesses.

I arrived at the club on time, and asked one of the bouncers when Headphones would play. “11pm.” I was expecting 9:00 or 10:00. I left, knowing that I’d have time for only 1/3 of his set before I’d have to leave and catch the last Metro train out of the city.

I thought that, while I’m down here, I may as well walk around some more. I proceeded to walk west, toward the nearest Red Line station. Despite the downer of not being able to see David Bazan and Co., the evening wasn’t completely lost. I found a Day Pass ticket on the sidewalk and got to ride home for free! Such is life.

This is why I believe David Bazan is pure genius: [download mp3]

I went to see Pedro the Lion last night at the Black Cat. Talk about lack of pretension. Lead Lion David Bazan was out with the roadies setting up equipment for the band that opened for him. He seemed so unassuming and normal; it was scary. Bazan is now a married man with a child, thinning hair, a noticeable belly, and a quasi-truck-driver/logger appearance. But his sad, morose, sincere lead vocals had many in the crowd dropping their jaws. His songwriting frequently hit so close to home, that I came away learning things about myself. He told me things about myself that I was unaware of.

I started the night about five or six rows back, and by the end of the set, I was front and center and could not have been closer. Bazan looked over the audience — he sort of squinted and occasionally twitched his left eye as if he were using it to concentrate on a chord or a lyric. The band was competent but Bazan misplayed a couple of chords here and there, and there was infrequent improvisation. No frills, no gimmicks, no look-at-me guitar solos or dancing around. I guess Pedro the Lion can be considered a Christian Elliott Smith, but with an edge.

After the show (after I tried unsuccessfully to procure the set-list), I talked with Bazan’s sister, Rochelle, who was selling Pedro the Lion merchandise in the back. She told me Bazan uses a lot of fiction (parables, if you will) to get messages across in songs. I asked her about David’s like or dislike of the word Christian; she told me he struggles with the word, and its implications. Some media outlets have tried to give the word a negative connotation. The media promotes the small percentage of Christians who are controversial or hypocritical, or focuses on the sin(s) of a particular Christian, as if the failings of one person discredit a belief. What was I talking about? Oh yes, the enigmatic band/persona Pedro the Lion. An acquired taste, but I strongly recommend it. [ more concert reviews ]