Welcome to the first installment of “Quick Five.” Each week five new records will be reviewed from mainstream and indie artists. Some of the artists featured will be ones you’ve already heard plenty about. Others wll be “under-the-radar” selections, introducing you to great music that you won’t hear on the radio. This week’s selections come from Feist, Aching Wings, Crowded House, Annie Stela, and Art in Manila.

1. Feist: The Reminder (Interscope/Cherry Tree)

Alright, so we’ve all heard “My Moon, My Man” on that Verizon commercial. But Leslie Feist is no sell-out; she’s just selling great music. Though this album has been out since May, it’s never too late to pick up what is sure to appear on plenty of “Best Albums of 2007” lists at the year’s end. Feist has it; and her latest album is a pleasant “reminder” of this.

But what is “it”? That’s a question I cannot answer directly. I can, however, offer an illustration of “it”. Listening to The Reminder feels like falling in love and getting dumped all at once. A star-lit walk hand-in-hand through the city, and a lonely drive down a road of dead leaves. How can Feist evoke such poetry and paradox? Because she has it.

The Reminder is, after all, about love and heartbreak. Yet, it’s more complex than “Top 40,” radio-friendly notions of the two. Because foundational to each track of the album is a philosophy of relationships that’s thoroughly human, and unabashedly honest. And, equally important, is the tremendous musicality of Feist’s latest work. As a result, she challenges our understanding of love, loss, and each other, refining them in the process.

Take, for instance, the opening track “So Sorry.” Colored by brush-drum jazz and images of the everyday, Feist graces the woes and regrets of heartache with vocals as beautiful as they are sincere. Thematically she may not be covering new ground. Yet she cultivates this familiar ground with such care and precision that the forgotten complexities of “breaking up,” long buried under the hardened ground of not-a-few “it’s all your fault” pop cries and The Real World melodrama, are unearthed. Quite the contrary, “So Sorry” take a humbler, more difficult route. As she sings, “We’re so helpless/We’re slaves to our impulses/We’re afraid of our emotions/And no one knows where the shore is/We’re divided by the ocean.” In an industry of love songs centered exclusively on “I,” it’s refreshing to hear one make room for “we” instead. The only time Feist uses the former referent is to sing “I’m sorry”.

The opening track is followed by the foot-stomping guitar rocker “I Feel It All.” This song, like its predecessor, has a heartbroken pulse. As Feist sings, “Oh I’ll be the one who’ll break my heart/I’ll be the one to hold the gun.” Putting two songs about the same thing may sound redundant. But the song itself sounds so cool and delightful, with its bluesy strums and xylophone notes beautiful as magic, that revisiting heartache kicks ass.

Add too the aforementioned songs the mellow Joni Mitchell-like atmosphere of “Brandy Alexander.” Spice up the mix with the folksy grooves of “1234” then finish with the pleasant final track, “How My Heart Behaves.” Then listen to the whole album again and again. The Reminder is a music lover’s treasure. One of those albums where every single song is outstanding, even after repeated listening. I can think of few contemporary artists with as much promise, even talent, as the woman beautifying the album’s cover with her silhouette.

Influences: The Kinks, Marvin Gaye, P.J. Harvey
Standout Tracks: “So Sorry,” “Past in Present,” “I Feel It All,” “This is How my Heart Behaves”
Point-and-Click: www.listentofeist.com; www.myspace.com/feist

2. Aching Wings: Why All the Armor (Independent Release)

Even without the comfort of major label popularity, Zach Vinson, a young troubadour from Sheboygan, Wisconsin who plays under the moniker Aching Wings, has weaved together a phenomenal debut. Though barely a half hour in length, Why All the Armor is a compelling collection of piano-driven gems (an instrument Vinson excels at) that poignantly depict humanity’s less “fashionable” qualities.

His songs range from the introspective rainy-day jazz of “Won’t You Be My Friend” to dark tales with characters that, at first, seem more lonely than lovable (“Perfect Blood”, Vinson’s tale reminiscent of Pedro the Lion and Flannery O’ Connor, is a fine example of this). The finger-snapping “Let’s Just Pretend” even shows a knack for some good ol’ fashion sarcasm as Vinson sings, “so let’s just pretend that the grass is green today/and we won‘t fight-no, we’ll all behave.” The most remarkable track on Armor is the raw, accordion-laced rocker “Ridiculous Pain.” Set at a child’s funeral, this particular track doesn’t so much explore death as stand dumbfounded before it. As Vinson sings, “Red and yellow, black and white/they all bleed and die the same/There are days I see the light, but most days its just grey/Ridiculous Pain.” And though this is at times a somber album, its honesty resonates so well that the light outshines the darkness. The result is an offering that’s musical, and never scared to face life’s unpleasant realities. But the album’s most remarkable quality is how much Vinson seems to care for the characters he sings about, scars and all. A terrific feat reflecting an equally terrific album.

Influences: Pedro the Lion, Over the Rhine, Ben Folds, Sufjan Stevens
Standout Tracks: “Ridiculous Pain,” “Let’s Just Pretend,” “Won’t You Be My Friend.”
Point-and-Click: www.myspace.com/achingwings

3. Crowded House: Time on Earth (ATO Records)

Consisting of Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mark Hart, and new drummer Matt Sherrod, these Australian and New Zealand-based rockers made it big in 1986 with their hit “Don’t Dream it Over.” And even in the face of grunge rock, Crowded House gained a resurge of popularity in 1994 with their single “Locked Out,” featured on the Reality Bites soundtrack. Unfortunately they disbanded in 1996, with each member taking up other musical pursuits. Now in 2007 Crowded House has reunited with their just-released album Time on Earth.

Whenever bands reunite, there’s always the worry that the expiration date of their music and style will prove to be long passed. Or, much worse, that they’ll try too hard to adjust and “fit in” with the current times and thus sound insincere, even tacky. Time one Earth escapes both worries masterfully. Seriously, this album is stellar.

Here, Crowded House mix together the decorative colors of 80s pop, the catchy & earthy acoustics of early 90s alt rock, and the atmospheric compositions of contemporary indie-artists, concocting a delicious musical brew. On their laid back opener “Nobody Wants To,” listeners swim with Finn to the bottom of the sea. As he sings, “Down on the ocean floor, that’s where I’m heading for./Hold onto a sinking stone, until the worst is known.” Though this location is a place of escape, it’s also where the narrator can look honestly at those long-forgotten shipwrecks and the “broken pieces on the ground”; the depths of which few would dare descend. What surfaces is a poignant critique of a culture that would rather forget the dark, unpleasant places than face them. As the chorus laments, “Nobody wants to think about it/Nobody wants to talk about it/Nobody protects you.”

The piano-based track “Pour Le Monde” (English: “For the World”) juxtaposes surreal imagery and down-to-earth poetry, in turn highlighting the hurtful divide between what is dreamt and what is lived. As the second verse sings, “and i wake up blind, like my dreams were to bright/and i lost my regard for the good things that I had/and the radio was sad, when you listen for good.” Here Finn, Seymour, and Hart pull off some of their best harmonies, crafting a sound akin to the Oasis’ Gallagher brothers.

But the most inventive track is the Pink Floyd-ish “Silent House.” Musically, Crowded House is at the top of their game on this song. Simple acoustic strums are gradually joined by almost tribal percussion. Distorted guitar fuzz, tight vocal harmonies, and even a subtle bagpipe melody join in, building up to a burst of psychedelic goodness. Lyrically, “Silent House” showcases the kind of tight-crafted songwriting for which Finn has gathered so much acclaim. The result feels like visiting the house you’ve grown up with after years of being away. As Finn sings, “These walls, have eyes/Rows of photographs of faces like mine/Who do we become, without knowing where we started from.” The chorus continues in this vein: “Everything that you made by hand, everything that you know by heart/I will try to connect all the pieces you’ve left, I will carry it on and let you forget./I remember the years, when your mind was still clear/ All the laughter and light, that filled up this silent house.”

Time on Earth is the album longtime fans of Crowded House have been eagerly awaiting. And for those who’ve not yet hear them, it is the perfect place to start.

Influences: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Squeeze
Standout Tracks: “Pour Le Monde,” “Silent House,” “English Trees”
Point-and-Click: www.crowdedhouse.com; www.myspace.com/crowdedhouse

4. Annie Stela: Fool (Capitol)

ATTENTION: Mark your calendars, find babysitters, and request work off for August 14th. After too-long-a-delay, this fabulous release by the beautiful Annie Stela will be available through i-tunes and My Space in a few weeks, with the CD hitting stores on a forthcoming date. Stela strikes the piano with the kind of quick-chord aggression that made Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine such a masterpiece. And like Fiona’s orchestrations, Ms. Stela paints the song with child-like mischief, creating a sound recalling carousel rides and Roald Dahl books. Lyrically however, her songs stand firm with a mature “take it or leave it” wisdom differing greatly from the trembling ex-lover angst that Fiona does so perfectly. Her fine track “Keep Me Around” exemplifies this well, singing, “A list of my qualities to look over if you want, I’m trying to please ya/But if you won’t I guess you won’t.” And what are those qualities? As she lists, “My smile has its ups and downs, but I’m generally a laugh/And you can bet I won’t skip town, and leave you with the aftermath.” Now that’s the kind of honesty you won’t find on match.com.

Another fabulous moment on Fool is the soul-powered “Counting Backwards.” What makes this song so wonderful is its unpredictability. Stela begins with a lone and heartbroken piano progression, a mood mirrored by her vocals. She sings, “And the medal goes to you, my life is falling apart, my life is falling apart.” Love has left her lonely, angry. She’s left with only her confusion and a present dependent on the past for answers she still cannot find, singing “every time I turn around I’m backtracking.” Suddenly, a soulful female choir comes out of nowhere, gracing Stela’s confusion with the kind of “Woh’s” that would make Aretha Franklin proud. Violins and subtle “wah wah” pedal guitar grooves recalling the Bee Gees awaken listeners into a world that Stela, regardless of her confusion, has control over. Her vocals win back the confidence empowering her on earlier tracks. Freeing herself of the self-deprecating doubt and undeserved blame that the opening verses trapped her in, she belts out, “Oh just a couple streets away you sleep through the night/You’re all out of things to say/Honey that don’t feel right.” And though the subject matter of this song does not require too much lyrical depth (just a whole lot of attitude), Stela gets caught up enough in the emotion and poetry of past memories to pen such winning lines as, “My heart is going back to the choice I could have made/to the balcony at night and the blanket of black.”

“Counting Backwards” is followed by the clever piano-rocker “Lovesong.” Bursting with clever hooks and quick-paced vocal memories, Stela’s opening lines and chorus sing, “This is the lovesong you’ll never hear/just a warm breeze between my mouth and your ear.” It’s one of the most infectious lines I’ve heard since Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-lo asked, “Does that make me crazy?”

This is the Annie Stela album that her fans have, quite literally, been impatient for. But August 14th is fast approaching. So be excited; be very excited. This is one terrific album.

Influences: Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Nada Surf, Rufus Wainright
Standout Tracks: “Breathe Through,” “Lovesong,” “It’s You”
Point-and-Click: www.anniestela.com; www.myspace.com/anniestela

5. Art in Manila: Set the Woods on Fire (Saddle Creek)

Attention! Mark your calendars, skip school, reschedule dinner plans for August 7th. For on that date Art in Manila are releasing their debut album Set the Woods on Fire. Led by Orenda Fink (who’s also played with Azure Ray, Now It’s Overhead, and done her own solo work), this album has all the characteristics of a Saddle Creek release: musicality, intellect, and cultural poignancy. Moreover, it has some of Fink’s most gorgeous moments in a career spent mostly under-the-radar.

Like her previous work, Set the Woods on Fire has a spooky feel to it. This haunting effect comes, of course, from the music’s composition. Orenda Fink has a definite taste for minor-chord strums, ghost-like chants, and piano progressions that lurk. If that doesn’t clarify what I mean by “spooky” then just listen to her solo album Invisible Ones.

Yet, it’s the content of her songs that especially pull off this feel. Her solo effort covered such topics as Joseph Merrick (better known as “The Elephant Man”), vodou, and her first-hand confrontation with Haitian oppression. On Set the Woods on Fire, Fink continues to explore topics that frighten. Yet, while Invisible Ones was, as Fink stated, a conscious turn towards “the external world instead of the internal,” Art in Manila’s debut visits both worlds. And in doing so, Fink and her fellow musicians just may have made the album that gets more people listening.

“Time Gets Us All,” the album’s opening track, is a stark piano ballad where love is lost and gained under the same gray sky. As it begins, “Oh, time, time gets us all/Oh, time, time gets us all./There was a day/ when our love was all we had/One kiss and the ocean swallowed us in the abyss/But you, you had to turn away.” The song’s “heartbreaker” eventually turns back to her. Yet, by this time the narrator has “found another love…” In light of this, certainly the phrase “time gets us all” means something far different to each of the two characters.

Another notable track is the faster-paced rocker “Our Addictions.” Here Fink sings of perhaps humanity’s most threatening enemy. As she sings, “the war began but it’s a war at home/Were we ever free if it’s this easy?/Our addictions, break it hard
/Our addictions, make it hard.” In a similar vein, the ethereal vibe of “I Thought I was Free,” with slow electric guitars and a Fender Rhodes piano laced throughout, highlights the connection between internal and external worlds. As the verse sings, “There were wonderful moments, when i thought i was free./I would walk through the tall grass/Let the milkweeds pull at me sometimes.” This childlike joy and its sense of belonging to the world is contrasted by the lonely second verse. Here a less-liberated narrator sings, “Sitting alone at the table, there were times when i could not breathe/see your ghost in the corner/He never speaks so i have to ask him, “What do you want from me?” Like much of Set the Woods on Fire, this particular line has much mystery to it. Is the narrator being haunted by memories? In the face of loneliness, has a troubled mind created a “ghost” to fill the void? Or is it an actual “ghost”? It’s enough to keep us guessing and, best of all, keep us listening.

The most intriguing (and, of course, haunting) track is “Anything You Love.” The vocal harmonies of this song are breathtaking; like seeing a strange apparition peer into your window at night. Such vocals are the perfect delivery for the song’s dark lyrics, singing, “Anything you love can be saved, don’t you know/Believing in the living can be a dangerous thing/And now I’m down on my knees/They sting, they carried me here with a note.”

Set the Woods on Fire is not for the faint of heart. But for lovers of great music, Art in Manila’s debut is a must-hear.

Influences: Nina Simone, Dr. John
Standout Tracks: “The Abomination,” “I Thought I Was Free,” “The Sweet Descends”
Point-and-Click: www.myspace.com/artinmanila; www.orendafink.com

3 Responses to “Quick Five: Feist, Aching Wings and More”

1. On 08/6/07 11:43 PM, you said:

   

   nice reviews, i never put that much effort into it…mainly like this sucks or this is like nirvana only not as good

2. On 08/7/07 10:14 AM, Justin Stover said:

   

   Ha! That’s funny. I’ve done plenty of “this sucks” reviews as well.

3. On 09/9/07 10:11 AM, Cassidy said:

   

   Great job on including Aching Wings! I’ve seen him perform at coffee houses - he is true talent!

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