Emperor X: Premiere of “Nap Time for Tom Coughlin” and Euro Tour 2012!!!!!!
Photos by Stephanie Gonot
From The Bomber Jacket:
We at THE BOMBER JACKET are happy to premiere a new song from Emperor X today for our tenth issue:
Stream ”Nap Time for Tom Coughlin.”
Emperor X is the moniker for Los Angeles musician C.R. Matheny. In the last ten years of his career in music, Matheny has released six studio albums, the latest of which is Western Teleport–a highly acclaimed collection of songs that marks the musician’s signing with the revered New Jersey label, Bar/None Records.
“Nap Time for Tom Coughlin” is a new song off the musician’s forthcoming album that will be released later this year. Thematically it’s a bit of a follow-up to the song “Canada Day” from Western Teleport, narrating a new nostalgic journey with an unknown romantic accomplice. The song premiere is tied to important news from the artist: Emperor X will be touring the United Kingdom and Europe for the first time, this summer. He will be playing a series of shows exploring cities in Norway, Germany, France, Slovenia, Belgium and England. Matheny says pursuing the tour was a no-brainer:
It was coincidence that my friends in Extra Life introduced me by e-mail to the rad folks in Berlin at Paper & Iron Booking, who are arranging this tour, right around when things were starting to pick up for me. And when someone says, ‘Hey, can you come play Europe this summer?’ the only correct answer is ‘Yes!’
Click here to read more and stream the track ::
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Check this routing out.
I’ll post a bunch of U.S. shows once I get a few things nailed down over the next few days, but for now I had to post these because we just got them confirmed and I’m little-girl-in-the-Barbie-section-of-Toys-R-Us stoked. A set at an
Cracking the Jandek Case
It has been nearly eight years since news broke across the Internet that the elusive and (as far as we knew) reclusive avant garde musician known as Jandek made his first-ever live appearance at a festival in Scotland. Even though that performance is now one of a few dozen that Jandek has taken part in around the world, the shock of his first steps onstage hasn’t really worn off
You could credit this to the fact that the show happened some 26 years after the release of Jandek’s first album (Ready For The House, originally credited to The Units). Or that, until that debut performance in October 2004, no one could really say for certain whether the music he had been self-releasing at a frightening pace was to be taken seriously or not.
The few interviews he has given have been cagey about his methods and the inspirations behind his jagged, unhinged blues/folk skronks and wails. And when Irwin Chusid, the WMFU DJ and outsider art expert, wrote about Jandek in the book Songs In The Key of Z, he was treated as something of a novelty, just another crazed dude who likely thought he was recording potential top 10 hits.
Nearly a decade later, there’s no denying that Jandek is for real, and the music he is creating on his own and in collaboration with whatever live band gets cobbled together to perform with him on stage is equally bona fide.
Still, no one really knows what drives the work that Jandek does either onstage or off. He hasn’t given a legitimate interview in many years. He doesn’t participate in stage banter or even seem to acknowledge the existence of an audience when he plays live. The only way we are going to get any sense of the man is through the people who have performed with him over the years.
To that end, I connected with five artists who have spent time onstage with Jandek to get some deeper sense of what drives him as an artist and, now, as a performing musician. Below are the recollections - edited for clarity - of these musicians about their experiences with Jandek’s music both as listeners and as performers.
Spencer Yeh, played with Jandek on October 10, 2008 at the Wexner Center For The Arts in Columbus, Ohio
I was aware of Jandek before I had actually heard any. I mean, the time in between hearing the tale and actually hearing some music was kind of short, but long enough to really imagine all sorts of crap about what it might sound like. I think I felt like it was going to be a bit more fucked up in a lo-fi way. Part of me was sort of startled by how “pro” it felt.
The organizer of the show got in touch with me. I guess the organizer submits a proposed band and then Jandek filters through the list. I’m guessing some research was done on his end in making the selections for the band.
By the time I met him, I had heard about his surprise appearance in Scotland and seen pictures; had friends who had performed with him. So of course there was a lot of talk along the “what/how” lines already. Despite that, meeting him in person, he immediately just has this sort of vibe. I mean, it’s sort of the ideal vibe anyone dressing in one color with a hat on is striving for. Even my girlfriend who was sort of, like, “What’s the big deal in meeting this person?”…boom, in person, whole different story.
He proposed three pieces with open-ended instructions. We worked out some ideas and made decisions on choices such as a general vibe of the jam, or the particular voices he used on the keyboards. It felt like he sort of he had to say “Yay” or “Nay” about what we were coming up with, from a “feel” standpoint. It was very much “show him what we can do” and see what worked. It was so long ago, but I recall it being pretty good. I definitely did appreciate that we were doing “songs”, that he did hit the mike. To me, that makes a big difference, just hearing his voice. We also did a radio session the next day, which was a blast, particularly when he pointed at a drum set and was, like, “I want to play THOSE.”
He did give me some open insights into Jandek. A piece of the puzzle lies in the fact that additional players aren’t listed in these recent live records. I’m wondering if a secret goal would be to absorb every person on Earth into Jandek at some point or other.
Regina Spektor’s first new studio album in three years, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats finds her scattering in several directions without losing sight of the sweet melodies that make her so accessible.
for more Bright Eyes goodness, check this article out: http://thebomberjacket.com/2012/05/15/descending-the-circles-of-bright-eyes-hell-the-early-albums-2/
Descending the Circles of Bright Eyes Hell: The Early Albums
Published on thebomberjacket.com
by Lee Stepien
There are videos on youtube of Conor Oberst, frontman of Bright Eyes and various other projects, from when he was in his tween years. One in particular comes to mind of a scrawny boy with a high crackling voice and round John Lennon glasses in a record store in Omaha, Nebraska, over-excitedly ranting about a record store he loved. There was this image of Conor Oberst with that trademark messy done-at-home haircut, moping in the basement of his parent’s house, surrounded by books and records, writing music and wailing through tear-stained and clenched eyelids. It’s a scene like a the lyric from Letting Off the Happiness’ “The City Has Sex,” which goes, “There’s a kid in the basement with a four track machine / and he’s been strumming and screaming all night down there / The tape hiss will cover the words that he sings / They say it’s better to bury your sadness.” It’s a charming image, but it’s one that Oberst has never really been able to shake, despite all his new sounds, solo or side projects and haircuts.
Even to this day, it seems like Bright Eyes has frequently been discredited and disregarded for being sad emo music made by a little boy, when there’s really much more to it than that. Now, looking back at those early albums twelve and then some years later, hopefully a more accurate perspective on Bright Eyes can emerge. The real relevance of the act is much more than just well penned sorrow. The music is a journey, a psychological adventure into deeply understanding oneself and one’s emotions like Jung or Freud’s methods or Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With A Thousand Faces“ (which relates mythology to psychology and is the basis for the Hollywood movie formula) or even Dante’s excursion into hell in “The Inferno.” It’s most obvious and practically perfected on Fevers & Mirrors, but it’s also present on every album. The lyrics may be extremely self-absorbed, but that’s what makes it universal, as everyone has to face the reality of themselves in the mirror at one time or another. It makes the music something that is helpful to listen to for anyone going through an emotional, existential or identity crisis…or maybe enabling those emotions is the worst possible choice. It’s always hard to decide. Yet, that’s another constant theme to Bright Eyes songs, the flexibility and confusion of truth.
May 1, 2012 saw the last round of reissues of Bright Eyes’ early releases; albums and EPs that were only previously available on vinyl compiled into a boxed set. The records represent some of Bright Eyes’ most inaccessible material and as such, this group of reissues is probably a bad starting point to dive into as a first exposure to the band. As the records get progressively easier to listen to, even going backwards through a discography mimics that inward adventure, with each record another descent into a deeper circle of self-inflicted hell. So, it’s probably better to start with a more recent release and work backward. The easiest way for the likes of casual listeners to get sucked in might be from the upright pop and conscious attempt at positivity of the most recent The People’s Key or the messy full member collaboration of Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band’s Outer South or maybe when his warbling voice is blended with Jim James and M. Ward on Monsters of Folk. Whatever the starting point, it’s better to let curiosity slowly tug you backwards, and downward, after that.
Continue reading for in depth reviews of all of the reissues, including Letting Off the Happiness and Fevers & Mirrors.
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The Bomber Jacket Issue #9
Check out The Bomber Jacket Issue 9, out this week!
Tunes for those who like traveling through interstellar clouds of sweet tropical fruits as digested by one Lee Stepien based out of Boston's Plains of Jamaica.
