Confessions of a Fanboy

“Traces” is the excellent second song from Built to Spill’s You In Reverse. It’s an easy song to overlook because of the dramatic way “Goin’ Against Your Mind” opens the record.

On “Traces,” Martsch’s the piercing squalls and elliptical layers are stripped away. Acoustic guitar and drums are the first sounds we here, cleansing the aural palette a bit from the sonic mischief of its predecessor. Here his playing rings and chimes. It’s not completely obvious, but it sounds as if someone is playing vibraphone underneath some of the notes. Even without the vibes, Martch’s guitar work has a bell-like quality.

The song has a more conventional structure, but that doesn’t inhibit Doug Martch’s ability to display his guitar prowess. His playing isn’t mindless shredding or derivations of standard American blues motifs but is something else altogether. Oh, sure, you can spot influences in what he does yet the way he synthesizes those influences and channels them into his music is unique.

The sound on this song isn’t quite as jangly as Roger McGuinn or Peter Buck’s classic Rickenbacker sound, but it’s in that same area code. There is a sophistication to his playing that reminds me of the way Nels Cline has integrated himself into the music of Wilco. The solo begins with Martsch repeating a figure from earlier in the song. As he repeats it, a rhythmic twang builds and undercuts the refrain until it completely overtakes only to surrender to it to end the song.

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I got some work done tonight, not that any of you lot are going to notice- well, not at first. I got another installment in my You In Reverse series finished, which pleases me. I started working on my (late) review of Ryan Adams’ Cardinology but didn’t get much further than listening to the record three or four times.

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I never forget a CD but I have been known to lose track of one from time to time. One CD I lose track of more than any other is Built To Spill’s You In Reverse. This album astonishes me every time I listen to it. Music of this quality is going to stagger a listener whether its experienced daily, monthly, or yearly, but I always shake my head in disbelief that I could let so much time pass between listens. The colors, shapes, and textures of the music and Doug Martsch’s inventive guitar work are priceless treasures of sound. Today we being a miniseries to appreciate the brilliance that is Built to Spill’s You in Reverse. Read more »

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Leeds was a marathon.  Edinburgh was classic.  Birmingham?  Not bad at all.  I’d probably give those other shows the edge, but there’s nothing wrong with this one at all.

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I had fallen down on the job with some of these Ryan Adams set lists but remembered last night as I was listening to Cardinology, etc.

We resume our trek with our lad RA now in Europe, specifically Edinburgh, Scotland.  This show drew heavily from the amazing Cold Roses record, with “Magnolia Mountain,” “Meadowlake Street” and “Cold Roses” being played in succession.    Not only that, but they finished with “Easy Plateau.”  That’s a great second half of the show.

As I sit her and look at it, the show really gets going with “Let It Ride,” also from Cold Roses and the gorgeous “Desire.”  Then we get the CR trifecta.  This is a really nice set. Read more »

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If you paid to go to the Newcastle show, don’t look at this set list until you’ve called your lawyer because you got fucked.  Newcastle got 18 fucking songs.  Leeds got 29, ending with “Desire.”  If that was the last song I heard at the end of this kind of marathon set, I’d have burned down the building and left the entire city in blazes.  Holy shit.  “Rescue Blues.”  “How Do You Keep Love Alive.”  “Mockingbird.”  I’d fucking slap somebody and burn down the city.  Stunning.
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Wow, this one is a bit of a disappointment, being trimmed down to a rather lean 18 songs.  Our boy had played the night previous in Manchester.  Maybe that took something out of him and the band, because this is really short on songs.
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Don’t you love it when some dope slaughters a language in an attempt at humor?  I hear you, Mexico City!  Wow.  This is a stout list!  Let’s skip right to the encore trifecta of “I Believe,” “Country Feedback,” and “Life and How to Live It.”  “Life” has only been played three other times on this tour, making it a real rarity.  I had to do a double-take when I saw that included in there.  This is one of those “something for everyone” shows.  Everyone was a winner in Mexico City. Read more »

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Okay, here’s a Cold Roses song I fuckin’ love that doesn’t get dusted off often enough.  Let’s hear it for “How Do You Keep Love Alive?”  That’s a good one.  Otherwise, this set draws pretty heavily from the fine Cardinology record.

“Fix It” is still my favorite song on that record.
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There are a lot of great songs on this set list and I’d have enjoyed it but there is only one song on here that stops me dead in my tracks.  The heavens would open and time would stop when “La Cienega Just Smiled” was played.    Okay, strike that.  They would have opened for “Desire.”  They would have… uhhhh… well, I’m running out of over-the-top metaphors and descriptions today so you’re just going to have to take my word for it that something cosmic would have happened when those notes were played and those lyrics sung.

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