Lee DeWyze is the expressionless Chicago born and raised singer who won the 2010 show American Idol with a breathy, raspy voice and some fairly decent tones to boot. But the kid can’t seem to stay in tune – even on “Princess” the single from his aptly named album “Slumberland.” Is this it? This is the big opening to the Lee DeWyze canon? Some half-baked capital I indie semi lo-fi drum machine chorus-less attempt at songwriting?

Honest to God, it is nothing personal. I am sure the dude is mellow, and polite, and loves his parents. But that has nothing to do with anything. If this song is the best that America can squeeze out of its uncharted denizens, then it is just another fat black line under why MZ is here – to expose the true unseen talents to those who still care to discriminate between an experience and abject mediocrity.

That’s all. Again, Lee, nothing personal, and may you have a happy and healthy life. But your single is crap. Dig deep man.

ps. sorry for mentioning American Idol.

Tags: American Idol, Lee Dewyze, Princess single

We at MZ are saddened to hear about the passing of icon Malcolm McLaren and wanted to share some musings about his influence.  Here are some words from a musician remotely associated with the people that bring you this blog.

“I can’t overstate how much influence McLaren had on [Blue Dog Pict] – in fact we were less interested in mohawk and safety-pin “capital p” Punk than in pursuing the idea of changing things, shocking those falling asleep from stagnation and exploring new syntax, fashion, discourse, and even purpose for doing so. He was a big part of the equation, far more than Never Mind the Bollocks. Of course in the big picture we were nobody, but in our own little piece of the world, we changed things, because we refused to accept mediocrity, gatekeepers, convention. Again, this came from the sort of audacity and bravado transmitting from the energy at Glitterbest and the scene there.

“Before every show, I would read a passage, any passage, chosen at random, from Jon Savage’s book “England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond” to reignite and remind me exactly why it was we were doing what we were doing. And it worked. It never let me rest on my laurels. The Sex Pistols, were a great band, and the recordings were amazing – but the brains behind the operation came from McLaren. He was a rebel, a prophet, an entrepreneur, a svengali, a visionary and an irritating brat. May he rest in peace, I trust his influence will not be understated or undervalued.” – Keram Malicki-Sanchez, lead singer, Blue Dog Pict – from a post on Facebook.

Tags: death, England's Dreaming, Glitterbest, Jon Savage, Malcolm McLaren, obituary, Sex Pistols, svengali

There’s a moment in the 2008 documentary Man On Wire when Philippe Petit — the French street performer who improbably accessed the rooftops of the World Trade Center’s twin towers in 1974 to perform an illegal an wire walk between the two structures — describes removing his clothing and methodically splaying his limbs about in hopes of finding an arrow — the arrow — that his confederate had shot from the neighboring tower rooftop in the dark of night, to which was tied the monofilament line that ultimately bore the cable upon which Petit would perform his feat of daring some hours later.

Finally coming to find the arrow after feeling something brush against his naked thigh, Petit discovers it perfectly yet precariously perched upon a rail at the tower’s precipice, so vulnerable that even slightest breath of wind could send it tumbling 110 stories below, and with it — Petit’s dream.

That image — of an instrument impossibly defying the natural order of things, balancing against disaster, created for pain and yet intended to deliver beauty, is the first thing that struck my head upon learning late last night of the death of Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous.

While I can tell you I am an ardent fan of Sparklehorse, I’ve never read an interview with Linkous, never viewed their Wikipedia page and truly, until last evening, didn’t even know the whole tale of his previously successful suicide attempt, resuscitation and ensuing surgeries.  I’d long ago learned that the more dear an artist is to me, the less known about them, the better, so frequent the disappointment has been any time I’ve met or discovered too much about someone whose creations had acquired some kind of deeper meaning in my world.  Truth be told, if I were alive in the time of Schopenhauer, Hesse or Schiele, I would have avoided them with haste lest running the chance of ruining part of myself by being exposed to their assholisms (the same cannot be said for Nick Cave).  Even so, I owned a vague notion that Linkous was in pain and was challenged by his own existence, and therefore wasn’t wholly surprised by the news of his death.

Though I was an early adapter upon the release of 1995′s Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, the music of Sparklehorse never became so meaningful to me as it has in the few years since Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain came out.  Inside that record slept a Rosetta Stone which, once discovered, allowed me to access parts of  other Sparklehorse albums previously insignificant to me.  Perhaps it was in my getting older that every failed relationship stung slightly more, given the eventuality of the hourglass our lives are set against, and therefore I was learning a truer meaning of mortality, but somewhere between the near-simultaneous losses of a great love, a great friend and a parent, the warbling voice, obscured lyricism and oftentimes discordant tapestry that defined Sparklehorse suddenly felt a lot more like life to me than anything the gay buccaneers in Coldplay could ever vomit out.  Even the beloved Radiohead (the British Wilco) and Wilco (the American Radiohead) started to feel more artful than truthful when measured in the context of my life.  It didn’t really seem like spiders singing in the salty breeze or the pointless snide remarks of hammerhead sharks were meant to mean anything; however, looking in your face for a thousand years because it’s like a civil war of pain and of cheer certainly seemed like it might.

Many a night out of mine has begun with air-raid screenings of “Someday I will Treat You Good” and/or “Mountains” while just as many have languished to an end with” Sad And Beautiful World” and “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” (and vice versa).  I pushed my ears to damage this summer after listening to a bootleg copy of Dark Night of the Soul endlessly, and just 48 hours ago, right around the time Mark Linkous composed what would be his final message to this world, “Shade And Honey” spilled from my girlfriend’s tiny computer speakers after I thumbed through her laptop for just the right song as we roused ourselves from bed and dressed in a room heavy with the cologne of our lovemaking.

It’s perhaps fitting, given the equine imagery that is pervasive in Linkous’ lyrics, to describe experiencing Sparklehorse as not wholly unlike viewing the birth of a foal — an arresting, grotesque display that ends in something awkward and beautiful.  While that might not resonate with everyone as a revelation, it certainly seems more truthful than the short-attention-span, black-and-white consumerist orgy that Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers insist we should inhabit instead.  It’s therefore no coincidence the music of Sparklehorse has found its way into misunderstood, below-the-radar indie films such as The King and Laurel Canyon; in both, Sparklehorse songs are covered by characters who are undergoing something of an awakening with no easy remedy against their otherwise storybook backdrops.  It’s not so much that Sparklehorse is a alternative for the mainstream as much as it is a soundtrack for those in the minority who are struggling to acknowledge that everything might not be alright, but that in and of itself is in fact ok.

Perhaps therein lies a lesson that Linkous was too close to experience for himself.  Though only his family and loved ones will truly know, it seems that whatever his pain, whatever his displacement, every moment he spent searching and creating was a victorious acknowledgement of life.  That there are no more Mark Linkous compositions forthcoming to baptize our days would be disheartening if he hadn’t already blessed us with so much.  Still, for the sake of all the sunlight and starlight I’ve burned listening to Linkous’ music, Sparklehorse will ever be in my mind a cloudburst of radiant if uneven watercolors, undefined by the final action of one man.

In the silver morning hollow
trembling and getting old
smelling burnt oil of heaven
about ten years, too big to hold

Truffle Jones filed this report from the set of Hardcastle and McCormick: The Movie.

Tags: Dark Night Of The Soul, Don't Take My Sunshine Away, Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain, Hesse, Laurel Canyon, Man on Wire, Mark Linkous, Mountain, Sad And Beautiful World, Schiele, Schopenhauer, Shade And Honey, Someday I will Treat You Good, Sparklehorse, suicide, The King, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

Tragic Josh is back to curate another list of goodness to stuff in your ear and eye holes. The January 14th, 2010 edition.

1. Twin Berlin – Kill this Low

Very Strokes, but very good.




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2. Small Black – despicable dogs (washed out remix)

Very 80's Brat Pack. Lovely and blissed out.




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3. Angus and Julia Stone – and the boys


Just an incredible voice, otherworldly.




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4. Penguin Prison – A Funny Thing

Amazing song, amazing sound, amazing groove. Nice. Been around for a while now, but I had to put it in.




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5. Cold War Kids – Audience of One




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6. Whitley – Poison in our Pocket

Listen to Whitley at elbo.ws




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7. Darwin Deez – Bad Day

This is just really fun and imaginative, keeps you guessing.



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8. Pixie Carnation – When Did the Lights Go Out




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9. Hockey Night – Rebel Fever (Who We Are)

Apparently they've already broken up and become free energy. Just goes to show how quick I am.



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10. Lee and Willbee – Love’s Not Worth It




Direct link to Lee and Willbee mp3




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11. The Da Vincis – Paper Planes


I really think this is a genius cover version, it removes all the elements of MIA's original that takes herself SO seriously, and just keeps the joyous and bouncy feel. It makes you laugh too.




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12. Lixian Hantover – Rachel’s new apartment

Beautiful voice. This song has really just stuck to me, can't get rid of it. No mean feat.




*burp.*




Tags: Angus and Julia Stone, best new music, Cold War Kids, Darwin Deez, Hockey Night, Lee and Willbee, Penguin Prison, Pixie Carnation, Small Black, The Da Vincis, Tragic Josh, Twin Berlin

After disbanding in 1999, alt-rock monsters The Jesus Lizard are reuniting for a series of dates in 2009 including the Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park in Chicago July 17th – their first hometown gig in eleven years. What’s more the band’s full lineup, consisting of David Yow, Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, and Mac McNeilly will be back to wreak musical havoc to the sordid delight of those in the know.

Jesus Lizard is the unsung evil step twin, musically speaking, of The Pixies; wrapping devilishly rich poetry loaded with acerbic wit and grim post-modern fairy tales around a taut, sinewy and often sparse rock arrangements. They will share the opening night bill for the Chicago music fest with other 90′s alternative faves Tortoise, Built To Spill and Yo La Tengo. The gimmick here is not that Kurt Cobain will be exhumed for the encore but that each of the bands will play a set handpicked by fans. One can only hope that the band is asked to play such devilish leids as More Beautiful Than Barbie and Too Bad About The Fire from their album SHOT.

For whatever reason Touch and Go is re-issuing much of the band’s back catalog. Maybe it’s out of print or time for new cover art, or time to unload some bootlegs – likely nothing that can’t already be found online, but hey, if it puts some change back in the band’s pockets, then it can only be a good thing.

Jesus Lizard, Girls Against Boys, Dirty Three, Shellac – let’s hope the pendulum keeps swinging in this direction so that it can introduce a new generation to an amazing era that flew too far below the radar.

Tags: back catalog, built to spill, chicago music, david wm, david yow, dirty three, duane denison, eleven years, fairy tales, faves, Girls Against Boys, hometown gig, Jesus Lizard, kurt cobain, mac mcneilly, music fest, pitchfork music festival, rich poetry, rock monsters, touch and go, yo la tengo