The Electric Six: a Short History

2oo1: The Detroit six-peice new wave-discosex supergroup release Danger! High Voltage and an accompanying video, coming from seemingly out of nowhere. Rock ensues. Enlisting the vocal talents of fellow Detroit rocker Jack White, the song makes people want to dance (albeit in a dark house filled with animal heads), and the video makes people want their pants to light up, too. The video stars a librarian sort of female (White's stand-in), and Dick Valentine himself, the band's slightly crazed frontman, with fake everything.



2003: The debut album isn't released until two years later; the entire record seems to be focused on the concept of sex, mixed up with a little bit of dancing and pure, unadulterated rock and roll, with disturbingly fantastic lyrics being spewed and growled from Dick Valentine's dirty mouth.

The album introduced us to Gay Bar, and said song's obvious relationship to our 16th president and his aerobic habits.



Then, as if we hadn't already had enough, we got Dance Commander, and it would be awesome if we could dance.



2005: Señor Smoke is released. More of the same, except this time, Valentine does an incredibly disrespectful yet not bad at all version of Radio Ga-Ga.

Oh, and dresses up like the ghost of Freddie Mercury for the video. I think he would have been slapped if Freddie was alive. He still may be slapped by the Village People.



2006: Switzerland is released in November. One song has been released, and it is by far their best. Yes, better than Danger! High Voltage. Yes, better than Dance Commander. Yes, better than Rock 'N' Roll Evacuation. It's called I Buy The Drugs, and it's a complete homage to the Talking Heads, for some reason.



And here's the mp3, just for good measure.

Electric Six - I Buy The Drugs (mp3)

Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther

Midlake is no stranger to this scene. Their 2004 debut Bamnan & Silvercork was said to channel the Flaming Lips, which it did, alot. Quirky, weirdo-rock with electronic blips and bloops, synthesized choirs, and even the patented Wayne Coyne whine. The reviewers took their time in recognizing the album, but when they did, they hailed it as mildly genius, a young band lucky enough to have their debut album mentioned in a sentence next to Neutral Milk Hotel and the Flaming Lips. Two years later, Midlake returns with a completely different sound. To begin with, they appear to have traveled back in time.

Despite their own electric guitars, synthesizers, and black turtlenecks, the men of Midlake seem to be quite certain that they themselves hail from somewhere (somewhen) around the medieval times. Chopping firewood, gathering in spring, fetching water from a well. Images of a forest commune, frozen trees, and mountains. The Trials of Van Occupanther is a concept album, a character piece, following the life and times of one Van Occupanther, whoever that is. And they never tell you, other than in "Van Occupanther," where Smith repeats, "I'm Van Occupanther," which is no help at all, really.

But it doesn't really matter who Van Occupanther is, because Midlake has created a mood, centered on the idea of time. The story is about the past, however murky, whether it happens to be the middle ages or "1891" (as in album opener "Roscoe"), and the music makes this very clear without the lyrics having to help out too much.

Van Occupanther is content, though a bit melancholy; self-deprecating in a gentle way. He is faced with unrequited love for much of the time: a second subject, a nameless "she," is observed from afar as she completes daily tasks.

"We won't be married,
Because she won't have me.
It's hard for me,
But I'm trying."

For the past few months, nearly everybody has been enamored with the album's first single, "Young Bride" (see video below), which is, unfortunately and easily, the most accessible song on the album. It has a catchy speed that is very specific to it, and it alone, as it stands in this lineup of songs. And yet, the rest of the album flows by beautifully without it, and seems to have a more calming, "you bought it, now listen" feel.



You have the basic guitar/bass/drum setup, and then you have piano, but then you have all manner of orchestral sounds that creep in without you realizing it. Violins back up the harmonies, and airy flutes reinforce the ancient themes. As the songs roll by, you catch glimpses of the Beatles, of Brian Wilson, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and tight three-part harmony cascades over Rickenbackers, Rolands and Korgs masquerading as archaic instruments of yore.

Singer/songwriter Tim Smith has lost his Wayne Coyne, and has picked up a little bit of Fleetwood Mac fronted by Thom Yorke (after Mr. Yorke has had a few conventional singing lessons). "Van Occupanther" recalls the opening two chords (and their vocal harmonies) of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," and "Branches" features vocal harmony that mimics Radiohead's major-minor chord resolutions, and yet as a whole, The Trials of Van Occupanther is such a finely adjusted piece of work, so original in its effect and so haunting in its mood, that it may be in the running for this year's Illinois.

Midlake - Van Occupanther (mp3)
Midlake - Branches (mp3)

(P.S. listen to the two-syllable "laugh" at 1:50 in "Van Occupanther." That always gets me, that two-syllable "laugh.")

[buy The Trials of Van Occupanther at Insound]

Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

The flickering needle jumps into red. New York crawls out of its bed. And the lamb lies down on Broadway. Early morning Manhattan, Ocean winds blow on the land.

The title of this blog is 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.' This is the name of a Genesis album, and also the name of the first track on said album.

The Movie-Palace is now undone, The all-night watchmen have had their fun. Sleeping cheaply on the midnight show, It's the same old ending -- time to go. Get out! It seems they cannot leave their dream.

'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' (the album) concerns itself with the story of a half-Puerto Rican juvenile deliquent named Rael, who is somehow transported into the New York City of an alternate reality, where he braves uncanny creatures and frightening twists of fate in order to rescue his brother John.

The un-paid extras disturb the Sleeping Broadway. WALK to the left DON'T WALK to the right: on Broadway, directions don't look so bright. Autoghosts keep the pace for the cabman's early mobile race.

There's something moving in the sidewalk steam.

The fact that this blog is called 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway,' though not quite coincidence, is due to the simple fact that the song of the same name appeared on shuffle, and was a perhaps okay name for this blog. This blog really has nothing to do with the album, the song, or even with Genesis. It has nothing to do with Phil Collins. It may have something to do with Peter Gabriel. But not really. It's just a blog, trying to make its way in the world. That's all.

Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid wipes his gun - he's forgotten what he did,
And the lamb lies down on Broadway.

Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (mp3)