Doom & Gloom From The Tomb

The Royal Arctic Institute - From Coma To Catharsis

The only problem I had with the Royal Arctic Institute’s previous release, From Catnap To Coma, was that it was too short. Now, with its follow-up, From Coma To Catharsis, that problem has been solved. As its title implies, this one picks right up where the NYC-based “cinematic jazz quintet” left off with a gorgeous mini-album’s worth of dreamlike compositions, like Tortoise covering Santo & Johnny. Once again recorded with pristine delicacy by Yo La Tengo’s James McNew (hey, they’ve got a new album, too!), the six instrumental tracks here are intricate without being fussy, lovely but not without a slightly restless undercurrent, glacially paced but with plenty of forward momentum. All very nice contrasts! Catharsis awaits.

the royal arctic institute bandcamp monday

R.E.M. - Tyrone’s SBD Compilation

Was R.E.M.’s first bootlegger … R.E.M.’s guitarist?! Allegedly, Peter Buck made this compilation of early live recordings and gave them out to fans and friends back in the early 1980s. Thank you, Peter! This Tyrone’s material is well-traveled, but I always love revisiting it, as it neatly showcases the band’s first burst of creativity — they had been together just a brief spell, but already had an extremely unique sound and a repertoire packed with bangers. They were definitely rekindling youth’s pop kick!

I’ve always liked Charles Aaron’s evocative description of the scene surrounding R.E.M. in Athens at the time:

“At one point, the band played every three weeks for two dollars at Tyrone’s, a run-of-the-mill bar that started a new wave night in 1980-81 because of Pylon’s popularity and lucked out as R.E.M. packed the place. Instead of thrusting out at you from the stage, R.E.M.’s songs subtly swept you forward. The rhythm section’s melodic swirl and Stipe’s lulling vocals were immediately intriguing. As a result, everybody danced, but in this introverted, twitchy way I’ve never really experienced since, except maybe at raves. It was the spectacle of uptight white kids trying to feel good about their bodies, and succeeding.

"What Athens brought to rock'n'roll was this non-macho, non-confrontational, communal stance. It was not punk. Nothing sucked and hostility was in bad taste. Lead singers didn’t beg you to fuck them or hate them. R.E.M.’s guitar-pop aesthetic was influenced by a scene enamored with European new wave, funk, ‘70s soul, and glam rock, plus the liberating groove of the New York gay club scene. Compared to most other American rock bands at the time, R.E.M. was practically disco—all bass lines, nifty beats, and superfluous, sensual lyrics. I figured the band was too specific to Athens’s subculture for anybody else to get it. Guess not. Everybody got it, or got something about it.”

r.e.m.

Guiding Light :: A Tom Verlaine Appreciation

More Verlaine! Doom & Gloom hasn’t turned into an all-TV-all-the-time blog … but there’s this bit of necessary reading over on Aquarium Drunkard. Over the past week, I bugged a bunch of favorite musicians/writers/etc for their thoughts on Tom, and to my surprise, lot of them responded! Ilyas Ahmed, Stephen Malkmus, Dean Wareham, Alan Licht, Glenn Mercer, Chris Forsyth, Horsegirl … and many more.

A heartfelt thanks to all of the contributors. Selfishly, this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to read in the days following Verlaine’s death — tons of insight into what made the guy a guiding light for so many artists over the past several decades. (Oh and hey, if you need a soundtrack, my little mix of Television covers has been re-upped at AD, too!).

tom verlaine television

Philip Glass - New Sounds San Jose, Montgomery Theater, San Jose, California, July 2, 1978

I’m seeing the Philip Glass Ensemble down in Denver this week. They’re playing the hits! Selections from “Glassworks,” “The Photographer” and “Einstein on the Beach” — and for one of the first times in almost 50 years, “Music In Eight Parts.” Hell yes. Phil himself won’t be there, but to get hyped, I’m checking out this performance from way back, when Glass was performing at the first New Sounds San Jose festival. Awesome, occasionally freewheeling stuff here; at about the 15 minute mark of the opening tune, things start to get quite cosmic, inventing at least five future music genres. New Sounds, indeed!

Philip Says: The kind of music I was doing in the Seventies was very radical. The structure became the music itself. It became identical. In that way it was closer in a way to maybe Jasper Johns was painting and I was very influenced by his painting — when Jasper Johns did a painting of a flag, he painted a flag. So the question is: is it the flag or is it the painting of the flag? In the same way when I did a piece, I had reduced everything to scales and to a few simple notes. The process of the music became the structure of the music. So what was interesting for me was that the content and the form were identical — that was a very radical idea in music and in many ways it may still be a radical idea.

philip glass

Tom Verlaine - Cooky’s, Frankfurt, Germany, April 6, 1987

More Verlaine! I’ve posted this one before, but it was at least a decade (or more) ago, and it deserves a little more love. Any of the 1987 Verlaine shows I’ve heard deserve a little more love, really — I think of that year as the culmination of Tom’s musical searchings up to that point in his career. There should be an official live album from ‘87, I think it would blow a lot of minds.

For one thing, the band here was a real band, as much as Television ever was. Patti Smith’s drummer Jay Dee Daugherty was behind the kit, Fred Smith was on bass, and Jimmy Ripp filled in ably on second guitar, adding rich textures behind Verlaine’s flights of fancy. This recording doesn’t sound like a solo artist with an anonymous group — it sounds like a cohesive unit, the songs often blending into one another, seamless and sleek.

The first half of the set is focused on tighter-than-tight rhythmic interplay — guitar riffs bouncing off one another, bass and drums locked in a death grip. Verlaine’s guitar sounds gorgeous here — much more melodic, playful and lyrical than the Television days. The second half sees the Verlaine Band loosening up a bit, stretching out on “Kingdom Come” and the old warhorse “Marquee Moon.” Tom’s solo on the latter is something to behold! Things finish off with blazing renditions of “Glory,” “Psychotic Reaction,” and “Red Leaves.” Not sure if Verlaine says more than a few words to the crowd throughout, but he’s said enough.

tom verlaine

Tom Verlaine - Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, November 21, 1997

Tributes have been pouring out since news broke of Tom Verlaine’s passing last weekend — Patti Smith’s emotional remembrance, Dean Wareham’s lovely writeup and Chris Forsyth’s appreciation have been wonderful so far. As for over here, well, Verlaine has been a Doom & Gloom favorite since before the beginning.

I got heavily into Television / Verlaine live tapes back around the turn of the century via a very active internet mailing list (at some point, my wife had to tell me she could not/would not listen to “Marquee Moon” ever again). Compared to, say, Dylan or Neil, it’s a slimmer catalog, but it was endlessly fascinating to me — not just Verlaine’s incredible guitar stylings, but his wildly idiosyncratic singing and songwriting, too. An original in a sea of same-ness, to say the least.

Anyway! I’ve shared a LOT of Verlaine rarities over the years, but I’m going to spend the rest of the week digging through some things that haven’t made it to these pages just yet (at least I think, hey, I’ve been doing this a long time). First up, we’ve got this terrific duo recording of Tom and his longtime guitar foil Jimmy Rip opening for Sonic Youth in late 1997. They did this instrumental stuff off and on for many years, letting us bask in the unadorned beauty of Verlaine’s guitar work. It seems to me that here he’s enjoying the larger space at Avery Fisher Hall, letting the notes float out over the crowd. When he and Rip drift into a long, luminous version of Warm & Cool’s “Spiritual” at the end … well, it’s about as gorgeous as it gets.

(And hey, we can’t check this tape out without checking out the subsequent Sonic Youth set from the same evening, can we? No! This was one of those great primarily instrumental pre-Thousand Leaves sets. Guitar Futurism!)

Photo: Jimmy Rip

tom verlaine sonic youth

Bob Dylan - Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan, February 10, 1997

Like many of you, I’ve been digging into the latest Bootleg Series over the past few weeks — and no surprise, I’ve been really enjoying it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s a golden age for Dylan fans. Just imagine 10 years ago if you told anyone how many archival treasures (many of which were unheard even by the most die-hard bootleg sicko) would see official release by now … they’d almost certainly say: “I don’t belieeeeeeve you. You’re a LIAR.” Believe it: we’ll be sorting through the Bootleg Series’ riches for decades to come.

Fragments is another winner. Do we need that Time Out of Mind remix? Well, maybe. I like it, anyway — though the 1990s Dylan album that most needs a remix is Under the Red Sky, if you ask me. In a weird way, the de-Lanois-ed mix of TOOM gives me a deeper appreciation of the sonic environment that Dan created for the album; all those instruments and players and overtones blending together, not always totally harmoniously but always totally interesting. However he ended up mixing the finished product, that environment coaxed some astounding performances from Dylan; one of the biggest pleasures of Fragments is just luxuriating in the awe-inspiring crag and grit of Bob’s vocals, getting to hear his various approaches to songs, like an actor trying out different accents, different rhythms, different vibes. In a weird way, it makes me think of the Basement Tapes, when Dylan would disappear into his own voice, time slipping way way way out of mind.

Anyway! Soon after the TOOM recording sessions in early 1997, Bob was back on the road again, heading for another joint — in this case, the Tokyo International Forum. This recording of the second show on the tour is a good place to check out where Dylan was at during this point in the Neverending Tour; he had a new drummer, David Kemper, who would be with him through the Love and Theft days. Guitarist John Jackson was coming to the end of his Dylan stint. Bucky Baxter and Tony Garnier, well, they sound comfortable and groovy. It’s not a completely remarkable show, but that’s not a diss — Bob is very into it vocally and the setlist is nothing to complain about. That “Shelter From The Storm” re-arrangement is a jaunty pleasure and “Love Minus Zero” builds majestically. The crowd participation on the “Highway 61” rave-up is wild. And the “Girl From The North Country” in the encore takes us someplace very wonderful — Dylan’s guitar solos manage to be both heartwrenching and hilarious. As the snowflakes storm here in Colorado, it’s warming me up, anyway.

bob dylan

Stella Kola

A beautiful piece of Western Mass Britfolk. Masterminded by Beverly Ketch (Weeping Bong Band) and Robert Thomas (Sunburned Hand of the Man), Stella Kola nods heavily in the direction of such faves as Vashti Bunyan, C.O.B. and Pentangle but has its own dreamy flavor, occasionally leaning into the poppier, more delicate side of things. A throwback sound, for sure, but still fresh as the morning dew. With a selection of all-star guests including Wednesday Knudsen, P.G. Six, Willie Lane and more, the album feels kind of like an instant classic of its kind — timeless and lovely, a secluded corner of the world to nestle into.

stella kola bandcamp monday

Tom Verlaine - Bloomsbury Theatre, London, England, May 5, 1990

Television’s first stabs at greatness are well-documented, from the Neon Boys to the Ork Loft to the Eno demos. One thing that’s missing, however, is any trace of Tom Verlaine as a solo act circa 1973. After the Neon Boys dissolved, he played a few open mics at spots like Gerdes Folk City and Reno Sweeney. This wasn’t a folkie thing, though.

“I decided to play the sets like I had a whole electric band behind me,” Verlaine recalled. “So I just went in with an electric guitar and turned it up. They really hated it, [but] Richard Lloyd was there and he liked it.”

Tom didn’t really pursue this solo setting much in the years to come — except in 1990, when he embarked on a tour all on his lonesome, armed with just an acoustic guitar. It’s not like it was back in the East Village, but the live tapes from the era give us a tantalizing glimpse of Tom Verlaine: solo troubadour.

I think this London gig is the best quality recording I’ve heard, and it’s a very cool listen. He doesn’t bust out stripped down versions of old Television classics (I would like to hear him do “Venus” like that, though), instead concentrating on the then-new LP The Wonder and other assorted solo numbers. Unsurprisingly, he’s not exactly a chatty cathy onstage; his solo presence is enigmatic but warm, bringing the audience into a calm, but not-entirely mellow space. My favorite part is the dreamlike hush of “I Am Daylight,” an inner monologue accompanied by a simply strummed guitar figure. A peaceful piece. And stick around for Verlaine’s oddball rendition of “I Walk The Line,” a tip of the hat from one Man in Black to another.

tom verlaine

Evan Kindley - Return To Form

After a long absence from the music scene, Evan Kindley (formerly with The Pathways) is back with the fantastic, appropriately titled Return To Form. Kindley hadn’t gone into hiding a la Syd Barrett, he’d just taken a songwriting break that somehow stretched out 15 years. Time flies! Oh well, Evan hasn’t missed a trick; his debut solo LP is a start-to-finish winner, packed with pleasingly askew arrangements, delightful wordplay and winsome melodies. And though it’s a solo effort, the sound is often expansive, with Kindley drafting some ringers to help him fill in the frame: Franklin Bruno, Leo Goldsmith, Rebecca Schiffman, Max Bernstein, David Yourdon, Andrew Churchman and more all chip in (Full disclosure: I add my dulcet tones to a handful of tracks, too). The result is a 10-song collection that feels fresh and flowing, showcasing Evan’s unique pop sensibilities. A welcome Return!

evan kindley bandcamp monday

Doom & Gloom From The Tomb — Peter Laughner - Mr. Charlie 1969 / The Ann Arbor...

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

More you might like