New Music: Barr, Dälek, Tiny Hawks

Barr - The Song is the Single (5RC 2007)

Barr - Summary / 5RC

At some point we had to come to this. Any good hipster's Friday night out should rightfully be dampered by the thought that, yeah, 5 Rue Christine has evaporated (even if Gertrude Stein's Paris residence remains, which I guess is some consolation). Contrary to popular belief, it was not absorbed by big sister Kill Rock Stars; Slim Moon's departure to Nonesuch was not something I saw coming, and living in a post-5RC world won't be easy... But mourning its "dormancy" so soon seems a bit premature and melodramatic. After all, their final releases were literally three days ago: February 20th marked the conclusion to one of the underground's most esteemed labels with Barr's sophomore album and what I believe is 5RC's final "official" release. Sorry about that remix record, Xiu Xiu.

Brendan Fowler never looked so epic with Summary. Actually, that's only partly true: Fowler's speak-sing-near-rap (or, as AllMusic likes to call it, "post-rock / alternative-rap / comedy rock," which I had a hearty chortle about) is a pretty pedestrian way of getting his message of everyday life-via-poetic substitution, so listening to Summary doesn't quite get the message of "epic" across. It's just that Fowler's songs are always so jam-packed with information (The booklet accompanying this album is literally filled to the edges of the fold-out with words on one side) that you can't help but play along to his deceptively simple jams. It took me a few listens to get into Barr partly because, as a listener, playing along at home to my own expectations just doesn't work. You have to accept that, yeah, Fowler is actually singing these words in his own way. There is a certain natural cadence that he finds and you begin to follow by the third or fourth track. In fact, there's nothing comedic about it; the beauty of a simple piano line or a steadfast drumbeat is at times heart-wrenching and at times amicable. When Fowler's talking, it feels like he's talking with you rather than to you. You feel like you're in the album, just hearing him out. This is music where you become the shoulder to lean on, but you're okay with it because you see that Summary, like life, is only human. And just as 5RC was, Fowler is at first a bit offsetting and endearing but quirky... But just as you're getting comfortable, just as you're settling in and finally getting it, "Context Ender" stops. This was surely the best way to go out.













Dälek - Tarnished (Ipecac 2007)

Dälek - Abandoned Language / Ipecac

I don't like to lie, so here's how it is: My affectations for Dälek are not unknown. I've already mentioned them twice in some capacity via Fulton Lights and Minus the Bear, but the real pleasure was in discovering Abandoned Language was suddenly upon me and I hadn't even realized it. I was so busy worrying about everywhere else MC Dälek and Oktopus were appearing that I'd been totally distracted by their core effort. For several days now, I have been listening to nothing else. This makes it extremely difficult to be a music director, but fuck it: Sometimes you just gotta like what you like.

And even though they've got a bunk umlaut in the name that I never understood, Dälek has definitely been that for me recently. The idiosyncratic New Jersey duo have come a long way from naming themselves after Time Lord's greatest adversaries. What unites their nine year-recording career is the music's sublime ability to capture the mood of the streets in the grittiest way possible. When I think "underground hip-hop," Dälek takes what I think and translates it literally: The grime and filth of an urban soundscape accumulates throughout Abandoned Language as MC Dälek leads us down back alleys we'd never dare in daylight as bricks crumble, water stagnates and the only constant is Dälek never abandoning the language that's made his flow so sublime. By the time you reach "Tarnished," you're struggling through sewage in the subterranea of New York or Chicago as Oktopus does some shoving of his own down the manholes and into the labyrinth. The grit, man. This ain't no Constantine bath-water running underneath the streets in Istanbul. This is the real thing.

Why do I believe it? Have you ever ventured around Newark? Abandoned Language has. And like its predecessors, it captures that big city style better than any 50 Cent record ever could. Fuck the rap game, anyway: Dälek may be the last hip-hop group you'll ever need. I can't remember who was calling us a Ghostface-loving blog this past year - maybe it was Idolator? - but if that last statement was anything to go by, they'll be singing a different tune next year. Hopefully "Tarnished" is it.













Tiny Hawks - Maker of Magic Wands (Corleone 2006)

Tiny Hawks - People Without End / Corleone

Now I don't like to assume anything, but the more astute among you probably raised an eyebrow at the fact that I'm featuring Tiny Hawks here. And you're right, I'm not going to bluff or anything: This album came out last May. But when something good comes to my office and the label sends it and it looks official, I can only play dumb and hope it isn't a reissue. Of course, it turns out that People Without End isn't new in the bullet-quick world of rock... But allow us to look at it in the grand scheme of, um, history. So in terms of Klemens von Metternich or Tell Hassuna or something, this is pretty bloody fresh. I'm actually not sure why Corleone got People Without End to us, but I'm glad they did because I probably would not have paid much mind to it if I hadn't realized that, hey, this is the same thing I almost bought last year.

What I'm saying (and I hate using first person because it's distracting, so sorry about all this) is that I want this to act as a kind of refresher course for those of you who either got the LP last year and then put it away to collect dust when you thought your "Providence duo" phase was over... Or for those of you that didn't catch Tiny Hawks the first time around, hope springs eternal.

There's a decent amount of literature out there about how wonderful Rhode Island is for young bands on the fringes looking to make a break. Blame that on the Providence School of Design or the aura of Fort Thunder or the Olneyville evictions or whatever other folklore you've come across on the numerous forums, but the bottom line is that great things are happening and Providence is one of this country's greatest musical assets. Tiny Hawks, in all its Fugazi-inspired glory, is a good representation of this. Not too far out there but certainly less than hospitable, Art's guitar prowess and throaty vocals an early-90s post-hardcore throwback one can never go too long without. Gus does some singing too, but his greatest contribution is the drumming and double bass work which is totally enthralling.

"Maker of Magic Wands" is a good example of the two of them at their best, a punctual song with a dash of melody, a decent amount of in-the-moment screaming, a ton of time signature shifts, and clean production. I hope you enjoy Tiny Hawks because good bands like this are a bit difficult to come by now that New Rave and Institutionalized Indie have become all the rage. I know that, after barely giving People Without End the time of day last year, I've come around. But there's that first-person pronoun again. Time to let second-person plural or singular do the work from here. Enjoy that Friday night out after all, okay?