Lansing-Dreiden >> Private moons have been seen through the haze of a sky

Lansing-Dreiden - "A Line You Can Cross"

(Kemado Records, 2006 / Mexican Summer Records, 2013)

This is one of those songs that causes you to think "Okay, this band is gonna have a box set one day."  Just like the Wye Oak song in my last post, I heard this one on WTUL while driving around (in this case, on the Westbank), and just about flipped out and had to call in immediately to find out what band it was.  This was in spring of 2006.  I obtained the mp3 as a free download from their website probably the same day, probably with crazed drool issuing forth from my mouth and my eyes bugging out of my head.  Just last week, I finally bought the CD that it's on, The Dividing Island.  Befitting the band's artsy leanings, it comes in cool gatefold packaging with triangular flaps, all done in a black and white color scheme.

Right down to its puzzling name, Lansing-Dreiden has always shrouded itself in mystery, and I always heard that they do not actually appear in the official music video:

As one astute YouTuber said: "Lansing-Dreiden rule! Fuck Pitchfork!"  I swear, someday I hope to have "Fuck Pitchfork" on my tombstone.  Make it happen, someone... I'll have my sister make you a free mix CD.  (Pitchfork actually gave the album a 7.7 rating.)

The video was also available for free download on their site back in 2006 in MPG format, and I sent out its URL to all my online music buddies.  (This was at the dawn of the YouTube era.)  Yes, they simply gave away this song and its video for free, for many years in fact.  Incredibly, this song wasn't released as a single, though having a video qualifies it as a de facto single.  I was constantly haranguing people to check this band out, and I was sure they'd be the next big pop stars or something.  L-D seemed to pattern themselves after The KLF in many ways, and "A Line" could've been as big a hit as "3 A.M. Eternal", if not bigger.  (I bought the "3 A.M. Eternal" cassingle in 1991, a day before going to Cozumel!)  In my review of The Dividing Island on Rate Your Music in 2007, I said "Unfortunately, the rest of the album veers from quirky '60s pop to other genres, since I once read that the band's goal on this album was to make it sound like a compilation of several different bands in different genres."

In recent years, the post-L-D project Violens has been garnering a good amount of attention in the indie blogosphere. They released the dazzling, kinetic single "Acid Reign" in 2010, but have turned sort of boring since then in my opinion.  They're currently on Slumberland Records.

Mexican Summer (home of Best Coast, Tamaryn, No Joy, and others) is about to reissue L-D's first three releases.  Ariel Pink is quoted as saying "Lansing-Dreiden was a musical entity shrouded in mystery and a best kept secret to muso’s the world over in the early 2000's. With this highly anticipated and beautifully packaged reissue of the band’s most treasured ouvres, Lansing-Dreiden is finally set to gain the appreciation and attention they have always deserved."

(Note: The mp3 in this post is from the original 2006 CD, not the upcoming Mexican Summer reissue, which will presumably be remastered.  Remember that I always try to avoid giving away the highest-quality version of a song, because I want people to have a reason to buy the latest pressing of an album.)

Mon. 3/25: Went to the Baton Rouge Zoo for the first time, and my animal-snob self was pretty impressed.  Also went to the Cohn Arboretum right down the road, but my über-plant-snob self was not too impressed.  Lots of cheesy generic landscaping plants like waxleaf ligusturum, yuck.

Wed. 3/27: Went to the Hornets-Clippers game with Damion via free tix from Hector. The Hornets lost, but I did excitedly snap a pic of a young Chris & Cliff Paul as we were arriving.

Afterwards, I went to see Helen Gillet play a fun but poorly-attended solo show at the AllWays Lounge.  She did lots of covers of peppy French pop tunes, which came as quite a shock to me, since I had seen her doing strictly experimental stuff with her cello.

Those are copies of her two CDs for sale at the foot of the stage

Had a great 1AM conversation with a WTUL DJ, Calder King, in which we talked about shoegaze bands.  I was blown away when he immediately played my requests for Drop Nineteens' "Delaware" and Swervedriver's "Never Lose That Feeling."  And I pretty much decided to become a DJ there, since I now know of three WTUL DJs who didn't go to Tulane.

Thu. 3/28: Went to the Iron Rail's new location to pick up a 12" by Arctic Flowers that I had ordered last Oct., but someone had bought it.  Bryan (Funck, the Ian MacKaye of the NOLA punk / indie scene) was playing a Duran Duran best-of album, and not for irony value either.  In fact, when it ended, he upped the ante by wordlessly putting on a Milli Vanilli album, again not for irony value.  They definitely don't make 'em like that dude very often...  Loyola represent.  Some of the crusty punks shopping inside seemed a bit bewildered, but I can report that I heard some people humming along.  I'd like to volunteer there or help out in some way, but I'm unfortunately not much of an anarchist.

Fri. 3/29: Continuing the theme of going to new places, I went to Pizza Delicious' new digs with Ashley (impressive art gallery inside, by the way), then showed her Euclid Records and Harold's nursery briefly.  Scored Blouse's debut LP on white vinyl w/ alternate cover art at Euclid; a pretty unexpected find.  I lent Ashley Wild Nothing's Nocturne and the Cure's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.  Went to the Defend New Orleans store for the first time and bought a mohawked-skull logo pin.  Finally made it to Stein's Deli for the first time, and was not disappointed by their beer selection, which was rumored to be amazing.  They were playing Tool's Undertow in its entirety, not the hipster stuff that you'd hear at, say, Dat Dog.  Gave the remainder of my pizza to two difft. thrift stores, since it was too spicy for me and I'm trying to cut way down on my dairy intake in order to clear up my sinuses.  I'm not religious, but this Good Friday really lived up to its name, right down to the breezy, NorCal-esque weather.  Sorry for all the details, but this was an eventful week for li'l old me.  The next post will be free of personal details because I will not do anything next week.

Planets with similar climates: Tears For Fears - "Head Over Heels" (1984), Simple Minds - "Promised You A Miracle" (1982), Depeche Mode - "Stripped" (1986), School Of Seven Bells - "Heart Is Strange" (2010), The Psychedelic Furs - "Heartbreak Beat" (1986).

Wye Oak >> You look over my shoulder, distant, abstract

Wye Oak - "Spiral"

(Williams Street Records / Adult Swim, 2012)

On August 3rd, while pulling into the parking lot outside the Saints' facility in Metairie to watch an open practice, I heard this song on WTUL and just about lost my shit.  I called in and found out who it was, then asked the DJ if he was sure that it was really Wye Oak, since this song is totally different from their normal rustic alt-country sound.  He and I talked about how 4AD-ish it was, and I mentioned that it sounded a lot like the album Euphoria by the band Insides.  He said he hadn't heard any Insides, but would check them out.  The next night, the Oak opened for the dreadful Dirty Projectors at the House Of Blues.  I almost went just to see them perform this song, but I couldn't justify the cost of around $30.00, plus I would've lost all respect for myself if I had stood in the same room with the Dirty Projectors or their fanbase.

Wye Oak are named after the state-champion (that means largest) oak tree in Maryland.  R.I.P.  This song premiered as a free download at Stereogum, which is where I downloaded it, and it is still available there.  Singer / guitarist Jenn Wasner said on Stereogum "This track was written specifically for this Adult Swim series, but they didn’t provide any thematic or sonic guidance for the song. A lot of the music I had been working on independently at the time sounded something like this — so I felt like the Adult Swim opportunity was, as a standalone track, a great opportunity to experiment with some of these new sonic and rhythmic ideas in a low-pressure context. The song revolves around the idea of repetition and rhythmic interplay — parts that are fairly minimalist and circular that come together to form an almost hypnotic wash."  The song's stuttering ambient marimba finale strikes me as a clear homage to Tortoise's genre-busting "Djed."  Check out the passion with which impending indie heartthrob Wasner belted out this song on the same day I first heard it, meaning the night before they played in N.O.:

After seeing that video, I was absolutely kicking myself for not going to the gig.  But I'll see them when they come back to N.O. or B.R. as headliners.  If they can continue exploring this type of sound, I'd say they'll instantly be the most compelling band in all of indiedom.  You could say Wye Oak pulled a reverse Slowdive with this song, considering how Slowdive suddenly went from an electronic dream pop sound to a country-ish sound under their new name Mojave 3 in the mid-'90s.  Well, folks, the Oak is the new sheriff in town and they're ready to right Slowjave 3's wrong.  My only complaint is that the vocals in "Spiral" are hard to decipher due to the massive amounts of reverb and Wasner's breathy, innovative phrasing, but that actually helps the music to more dreamlike and disorienting.  For a not-so-accurate stab at them, go here.  I think she sings "Hearts have signed for(?) a contract: Constant contact" and then she definitely sings "You look over my shoulder / Distant, abstract."

You can download every digital single in the Adult Swim series for free here.

Jenn's new project, the hilariously-named Dungeonesse, is a full-on dance/synth thing, so hopefully they'll put out at least a few songs in the same vein as "Spiral."

View the best pic I took at Saints practice that momentous day here.

Tue. 3/12: Got an eye exam from a new doctor and then got contact lenses for the first time in a few years; had been wearing really scratched up old glasses.  It was like seeing the world in HD and I was somewhat in shock for the rest of the day / week.

Sat. 3/16: Went to the spring Record Raid and talked to the usual music buddiez but didn't see the person I hoped would be there, so I was pretty depressed the rest of the day.  In my haul: School Of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire (2xLP on swirly gray vinyl), Broken Water - Whet (LP on translucent green vinyl), Steve Reich - Reich Remixed (2xLP), Dead Leaf Echo - Truth (EP), Niki And The Dove - Instinct, Crowded House - Temple Of Low Men, Joan Armatrading - Greatest Hits, Frank Ocean - Channel Orange, Toro Y Moi - "So Many Details" promo single, Mary Timony - The Golden Dove, TEEN - In Limbo.  Bought some vitamin B-12.

Thur. 3/21: Went to the Alicia Keys / Miguel concert at New Orleans Arena with Em, Ashley, and Ashley's mom.  Was stunned at Em's new car that she bought a few days earlier.  Almost wore my Glish t-shirt, but donned a long-sleeve shirt at the last minute.  Only saw Miguel's last 3 songs due to a ticket snafu, so I dunno if he played my fav. song of his, the future #1 hit "Don't Look Back".  He finished with an extended rendition of his mega-hit "Adorn."  Saw Hornets star Eric Gordon in the drink line; probably should've shook his hand or something since he will surely leave as a free agent soon.  Alicia brought her A-game despite the fact that the arena was about half full.  (Everyone on the upper level got a free upgrade to the middle level.)  Seeing her perform "Un-Thinkable" while bathed in orange lighting was one of the top 10 concert moments of my life, and I was pleasantly surprised at how berserk the crowd went when she did an old fave of mine, "Diary."  Maxwell dueted with her via a pre-recorded video segment shown on the screen behind her.  She played for almost 2 hours, meaning about twice as long as when I saw her in '04.  Afterwards, I hurried over and absorbed the end of a hushed and beautiful Benoît Pioulard show at the Circle Bar by myself.  A rude bartender tried to throw shade when I mentioned the concert I had just seen up the street, but I still stupidly tipped her a dollar.

Fri. 3/22: Decided to do the "be a tourist in your own town" thing... Well, in my previous hometown at least.  Went to Barrister's Gallery at its new location on St. Claude (used to be inside of or next to Zeitgeist Theatre on Oretha Castle Haley) and saw some very impressive avant-garde stuff; got a poetry book at Maple Street Book Shop at the N.O. Healing Center; got some cool stuff at Euclid Records (Acetone LP, Cul De Sac 7", Lansing-Dreiden CD); got a thyme plant at Harold's; played basketball at Delgado for 2+ hrs until dark; watched March Madness.

Sat. 3/23: Went to Slidell on a whim and scored a book about Ani Difranco at Goodwill.  Man, I had forgotten how much she once meant to me, and how endearingly funny she was/is, but flipping through a few pages in this book brought it rushing back.

Planets with similar climates: Cocteau Twins - "Road, River And Rail" (1990), Insides - "Distractions" (1993), Beach House - "Wild" (2012), Lush - "Undertow" (1993), Twin Sister - "The Other Side Of Your Face" (2010), Grimes - "Be A Body" (2011).