10/17 – 10/21:

Dessa, Castor, The Twin 

Castor and Pollox are, of course, the twins who became the constellation Gemini in Greek mythology, and the name of this album was chosen very deliberately. It is a collection of existing Dessa songs taken from her fine album A Badly Broken Code, her False Hopes EP, and various other Doomtree-related productions on which she featured (And one new song). But these versions are rearranged for live instruments, and played with a band and other singers. Dessa has performed a couple of shows like this, and they went so well they decided to make an album. Some of the arrangements are departures, while others mirror the originals pretty closely. Even though it’s nearly all songs you’ve heard before, the live aspect makes it feel very cohesive and even fresh somehow. It’s an interesting, successful experiment. 

Rather than finding a song off this album, I’m linking you to a whole concert performed with live instruments from back in March. This was one of the first performances to inspire this album, and several performers featured here also worked on the record. It’s very good.

Zola Jesus, Conatus 

Nika Danilova, the young lady who performs as Zola Jesus, grew up wanting to be an opera singer. Somewhere along the way, due to being too much of a perfectionist to be happy with her singing, she detoured into spooky pop music territory, and began recording music in her apartment. She may have abandoned (or just postponed) her interest in opera, but the high stakes and outsized emotions of her beloved musical style are still all over her work as Zola Jesus. Her first album and a slew of EPs to follow were in a decidedly goth-influenced mode. Dark, but dark in a big, expansive way, especially on her Stridulum EP last year. With Conatus, her second true full-length, she peels back the darkness a little, and even adds some danceable beats, but the outlook is still prrrrrretty serious. She still trades in fragile, intense, usually sad songs, but somehow they’re usually not as bleak this time around. The new layers and textures are welcome additions, and make it hard to guess where she might go next. 

Zola Jesus, “Vessel”

Wild Flag, Wild Flag 

The 21st century has been an interesting era for “supergroups.” They happen so often now, and some of them feature such obscure people, that the term is getting a bit worn out. But the collaborations and often surprising combinations of personnel never stop being interesting. There’s Future of the Left, The Company Band, Them Crooked Vultures, Spylacopa, The Dead Weather, The Damned Things, King Hobo, Slaughterhouse, Money Making Jam Boys, Gayngs, Hail Mary Mallon, Thao & Mirah, Blak Rok and United Nations, to name just a few of the team-ups and supergroups I’ve sampled in the past few years alone. Even Jay-Z & Kanye did a whole album together. This seems like an era of collaboration. 

And now comes Wild Flag. To make Wild Flag, mix two parts Sleater-Kinney (Carrie Brownstein & Janet Weiss), one part Helium (Mary Timony) and one part the Minders (Rebecca Cole), and serve an electrifying album of no frills, no nonsense rock’n’roll music. In an era where rock music has retreated to the fringe, where most bands are playing hipster music or metal or some other more obscure sub-sub-sub-genre in an ultimately fruitless effort to reinvent the wheel, this kind of more traditional approach actually feels rare, fresh and exciting. Wild Flag comes roaring out of the gate with the spectacular “Romance.” “Romance” may be too good, in fact. It’s so powerful, catchy and anthemic that the songs that follow never quite manage to recapture its energy. But don’t that that the wrong way. There’s not a dull moment on the record, it’s a great time from start to finish. They just maybe shouldn’t have opened with their knockout punch. 

Wild Flag, “Romance”

Mike Doughty, Yes And Also Yes

Half the fun of a new Mike Doughty album is just seeing what it will sound like. Sometimes, he applies a big, clean production with many instruments to his compositions, other times he strips it down to the bare essentials. While his basic approach to songwriting may not change drastically from album to album, you never know what those songs will actually sound like. Previous album Sad Man Happy Man was a very basic affair, but Yes And Also Yes finds him swinging in the other direction again. Not super-slick, AC Top 40 production like his sort-of-solo-debut Haughty Melodic, but a fuller sound with some interesting percussion and clear, crisp production. This album seems a little more melancholy than usual, but no less enjoyable as a result. Not outright sad, but a somber mood certainly seems to power songs likes the gentle “Russell,” the lovely duet with Rosanne Cash, “Holiday (What Do You Want?),” and even upbeat numbers like “Na Na Nothing” and “Strike The Motion.” The overall effect is a very cohesive set of songs and a fine listen. 

Mike Doughty, “Na Na Nothing”

Andrew WK, Mother of Mankind 

Last year's truly bizarre collection of outtakes spanning Andrew WK's three albums is, unsurprisingly, a mixed bag. Some really insane, essential songs, some really not-so-good songs, and some obviously unfinished ideas. But when it's good... it's weird. 

Andrew WK, “I will Find God”

Yup. --D