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I can't remember the last time I got a music recommendation from Uncut magazine.
I only bring this up because 20 years ago or so at the British music mag's inception, I bought it religiously.
Still, spending ten bucks a month for a magazine is a luxury even in the best economical times. So, I don't pick it up but more than a few times during the year; and then I am as likely to pick up one of the similar rags.
There's Mojo of course and the slightly misnomer-ed Classic Rock (which is more about the genre, and while the emphasis is on the classics, they cover a lot of new bands and new albums). Even the '77 Punk-centric (and new wave and UK glam)Vive le Rock often looks like a better choice on any given month.
I've gotten over the fact Uncut's cover story will always be about the same people (Clash, Smiths, Stones. Floyd, Bob Marley, etc) and you'll hardly ever see anyone under 50 on the cover (last couple of months have focused on Big Pink and Dylan's Self Portrait). I have come to terms that Bowie or Gram Parsons or Hendrix on the cover sell more copies than say, the thermals or the yeah Yeah Yeahs.
I do always appreciate the free 'Best new music" disc that comes with it and Uncut's ability to spread new music this way. It's just thta I can't remember that one last I got from them. Sure there have been artists I have liked who I didn't realize had new music out, so I might pick it up for a new Richard Thompson or Calexico track, for example, if they have new music releases. It all doesn't mater of course, and I am lucky to be able to listen to a lot of community and public radio right now, so that's where I am drawing from.
In any case, where I am heading with this is that I have pulled an artist off a recent compilation that I really like- Scott and Charlene's Wedding- which essentially is Australian born Brooklynite Craig Dermody- and he's one of the next true heirs to the legacy of Modern Lovers-era Jonathan Richman.
His music follows the "I'm Straight" prototype of Richman- nervous, neurotic, and self-doubting.
Outside of Richman, it seems every critic wants to compare S&CsW to Pavement and Stephen Malkmus. I don't quite get that. Certainly, there are similarities in each band's formula, but pavement isn't in the first handful of names that come to my mind, at least on the new album Any Port in a Storm (which was streaming here in full last I knew, and at least if it still isn't, has some MP3s)
Still, musically, there's a lot of Velvet Underground influence, and maybe more than that, the influence of late 80s/early 90s indie rock that was made by bands that listened to the Velvets 24/7. The Lemonheads are another band that constantly crops up in comparison. Again I can get there, but it's not one of the first bands I think of. Instead, when I hear full-of-teenage-angst-and anxiety Dermody (especially when the Velvet-inspired noise dies down), I hear a bit of gordon Gano of the Violent femmes.
In any case, S&CsW are one of my favorite finds of this year, and it's really a gem of an album. Well worth it.
I only bring this up because 20 years ago or so at the British music mag's inception, I bought it religiously.
Still, spending ten bucks a month for a magazine is a luxury even in the best economical times. So, I don't pick it up but more than a few times during the year; and then I am as likely to pick up one of the similar rags.
There's Mojo of course and the slightly misnomer-ed Classic Rock (which is more about the genre, and while the emphasis is on the classics, they cover a lot of new bands and new albums). Even the '77 Punk-centric (and new wave and UK glam)Vive le Rock often looks like a better choice on any given month.
I've gotten over the fact Uncut's cover story will always be about the same people (Clash, Smiths, Stones. Floyd, Bob Marley, etc) and you'll hardly ever see anyone under 50 on the cover (last couple of months have focused on Big Pink and Dylan's Self Portrait). I have come to terms that Bowie or Gram Parsons or Hendrix on the cover sell more copies than say, the thermals or the yeah Yeah Yeahs.
I do always appreciate the free 'Best new music" disc that comes with it and Uncut's ability to spread new music this way. It's just thta I can't remember that one last I got from them. Sure there have been artists I have liked who I didn't realize had new music out, so I might pick it up for a new Richard Thompson or Calexico track, for example, if they have new music releases. It all doesn't mater of course, and I am lucky to be able to listen to a lot of community and public radio right now, so that's where I am drawing from.
In any case, where I am heading with this is that I have pulled an artist off a recent compilation that I really like- Scott and Charlene's Wedding- which essentially is Australian born Brooklynite Craig Dermody- and he's one of the next true heirs to the legacy of Modern Lovers-era Jonathan Richman.
His music follows the "I'm Straight" prototype of Richman- nervous, neurotic, and self-doubting.
Outside of Richman, it seems every critic wants to compare S&CsW to Pavement and Stephen Malkmus. I don't quite get that. Certainly, there are similarities in each band's formula, but pavement isn't in the first handful of names that come to my mind, at least on the new album Any Port in a Storm (which was streaming here in full last I knew, and at least if it still isn't, has some MP3s)
Still, musically, there's a lot of Velvet Underground influence, and maybe more than that, the influence of late 80s/early 90s indie rock that was made by bands that listened to the Velvets 24/7. The Lemonheads are another band that constantly crops up in comparison. Again I can get there, but it's not one of the first bands I think of. Instead, when I hear full-of-teenage-angst-and anxiety Dermody (especially when the Velvet-inspired noise dies down), I hear a bit of gordon Gano of the Violent femmes.
In any case, S&CsW are one of my favorite finds of this year, and it's really a gem of an album. Well worth it.
