The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Every Tuesday, the Sounding Board is a space for a short-ish review of a recent-ish release and conversations about new-to-you music. I’ll get things started with a write-up about a newer, likely under-heard album, and invite you to share your music musings in the comments.
Don’t let the coarse name fool you. Folk Bitch Trio, an Australian three-piece band composed of Gracie Sinclair, Heide Peverelle and Jeanie Pilkington, is responsible for what is likely the outright prettiest album of the year. Now Would Be a Good Time, the trio’s debut album, is filled with gorgeous three-part harmonies, folk instrumentation that’s by turns delicate and surprisingly textured and diaristic lyrics that often manage to be a writerly combination of poetic and funny.1
Now Would Be a Good Time is a weeping wound of an album wrapped in fine gauze held together by a cartoon character Band-Aid. It’s a striking blend of hurt, healing, resolve, delicate cover, crassness and overt goofiness. That mix makes the album’s strongest songs absolutely beguiling and ensures the LP remains interesting even when flagging energy can make it feel a bit bloodless.
“Cathode Ray” is one of those highlights. It’s a sweeping, sprawling vista of a song with a horizon filled with heavy gray clouds ready for a torrential release. The song opens with acoustic strumming punctuated by Stephen Stillsian pings. They’re distant lightning flickers that illuminate the spacious arrangement and emphasize the track’s kinetic potential. Soon, wordless harmonies emerge, an “ahh” of far-flung sirens that ratchet up the atmosphere and epitomize the rich vein of harmony through the LP. When proper lyrics do arrive, they fully serve the song’s swollen sense of anticipation through some artfully unsubtle repetition. “But everybody needs somebody/ To make their body come undone/ Come, come/ Come undone,” is barely entendre, but it gets the point across. Despite some feints toward musical intensity, the rushing rains and rolling thunder never come.2 Folk Bitch Trio seems fully capable as musicians and vocalists of tearing a roof off, but they choose not to, leaving the song’s smolder unresolved.
“Moth Song,” which Folk Bitch Trio describe as the album’s centerpiece, is another high point. True to its title, it’s a delicate, fluttering track with bright-burning but unreciprocated love on its mind. With some assistance from Anita Clark’s violin, it gradually ascends to become one of Now Would Be a Good Time’s highest-flying tracks. This perfectly suits a brilliant vocal performance from Sinclair, who by the end of “Moth Song” taps into an urgent, slightly ragged tone that’s reminiscent of Bury Me at Makeout Creek-era Mitski.3 The way she delivers the words, “What I saw,” to conclude the song’s ultimate chorus — quivering with intensity, holding the moment and melding into a rich harmony across three short syllables — is the kind of thing that manages to stand out even on an album bursting with exceptional singing.
While “Moth Song” wrings stakes and drama from its spare arrangement for maximum impact, not every song manages the same feat. Every track on Now Would Be a Good Time is well worth hearing, especially with song lyrics open in front of you. However, the ample virtues of interesting lyrics set to pretty folk music aren’t quite enough to overcome the somniferous totality of the album. It’s an LP that’s fantastic in bursts and admirable on a song-by-song basis, but it doesn’t change tempo, instrumentation or intensity enough to keep eyelids from getting heavy by the end of its 10-song run.
Those with access to good coffee, a high appreciation for folk music or who are simply willing to listen in bursts, are in for a gorgeous ride. Any residual sleepiness will be cured by the excited thoughts about what Folk Bitch Trio might come through with on subsequent albums.
About the writer
Ben Hohenstatt
Ben Hohenstatt is an Alaska-based dog owner who moonlights as a music writer and photographer.
For more information, consult your local library or with parental permission visit his website.
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The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Department of
Conversation
What Did We Watch?
The Practice, “The Pursuit of Dignity” – Three cases. 1) Ellenor and, for some reason, Rebecca challenge a public school’s expulsion of a very bright girl with Tourette’s. I think this is setting up the reveal down the line that Rebecca has been secretly going to law school. The high point is guest judge Armin Shimerman’s decision in favor of the girl and against pragmatism as an acceptable alternative to ideals. Shimerman rarely got to speechify on DS9 and never on Buffy, but he’s good at it. 2) Bobby’s high school prom date is arrested for solicitation, and desperate to avoid anything that would let her kids know the truth. Bobby tries to convince the arresting cop to help, but tha only gets the cop to extort the woman for sex in exchange for him dropping the case. Some interesting moral gray areas, but it gets overwrought. 3) A woman sues the surgeon who saved her leg after a car crash for using maggot therapy without her permission. The woman, already in therapy, now cannot stopping thinking about how gorss this was. Harriet Sansom Harris (better known as Frasier’s agent Bebe) is solid as the very disturbed woman, and look for Harry Lenix as the surgeon’s lawyer.
Frasier, “The Show Where Woody Shows Up” – By this point, Woody Harrelson was something of a movie star, but I suspect he didn’t mind playing Woody Boyd one last time. The “Woody is both dumb as dirt and more perceptive than we realize” routine still works, and ties well with the discovery by both Woody and Frasier that six years later, they have nothing in common. Weirdly, the script ignores that last we saw Woody, he was elected to the City Council. And also forgets that Frasier told everyone at Cheers his dad was dead. Oh, and Niles’s facial reactions to Woody are priceless.
Fun fact: Armin Shimerman comes back in Boston Legal and has exactly one scene with BL regular and former DS9 sparring partner René Auberjonois.
Not related but if I had a TV show, I’d totally cast the actor playing the incredibly weird “dirty man” gay stereotype who was in those episodes just for the hell of it.
Nine Queens – had never heard of this Argentinian conman film until it popped up for some 25th Anniversary screenings at my local cinema, but it totally had that “crossover foreign-language indie hit” vibe and I’m sure it must have been on the DVD rental shelves back when I was getting into world cinema in the 2000s. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was great to go in unspoiled as inevitably the “who’s screwing who?” plot is full of twists. I really enjoyed it, there was a point where I thought the plot was crossing a line that it would struggle to recover from but the ending was a slam dunk for me that erased any earlier concerns… I guess I can imagine it being a little TOO neat for some viewers but it left me with a big grin.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Breakdown” – will say more on this week’s article but thoughts and prayers go to any actor presented an acting “challenge” like this one, haha.
“I think of myself as a really physical actor–”
“Uh, yeah, that’s gonna be a problem.”
Hey, we’re up to THAT episode of AHP! Might have time to watch it, not sure I will be around to talk about it, but IIRC that’s a good one.
King of the Hill – Dale is up there in the funniest sitcom neighbor rankings and the episode where he tries to sue the tobacco companies and inadvertently nearly sinks his marriage has many classic Dale scenes. Do not want to hand it to Woody Allen but representing yourself in court and switching positions on the witness stand is always a funny gag. “Are you a homosexual?!”
The Kids In The Hall, Season Three, Episode Seventeen
– “No ma’am. That’s not the flying pig. That’s just one of those unshaven, scurvy-ridden, quarter-mooching street performers that are plaguing the city.”
– “Just to sum up, I’m most worried, you’re second-most worried, and in last place is Pete.”
– “Dogs are furry little creatures that live ten to fourteen years.” Struck by this line only because almost every dog my grandfather has ever owned has always lived over sixteen years.
– “We call up the National Guard to protect us from a border collie, we’re gonna look like – what was that expression?” / “Fucking morons.”
– “So you’re Irish.” / Yes.”
– “These are just plain glass, but I’m going to get used to them while I’m young.”
– “Show seven genital, and everybody go crazy.”
– “It’s the Son of Flying Pig!”
– “Thank you for that hip advice. Not advice that was cool, but advice about my hip.”
– “Somebody stole my bike!” / “Stole your bike?” / “Yeah, I chained it to your lawn mower, they took that too!”
Darcy Pennell’s crappy talk show, especially the theme song and her inability to properly pronounce her guests’ names correctly, always cracks me up.
The X-Files, “End Game” and “Fearful Symmetry”
Two very different episodes!
“End Game” is a strong, if somewhat slow, closer to “Colony.” Samantha, the Alien Bounty Hunter, and the retrovirus don’t quite land for me as plotting, though the cascading series of Samanthas at the clinic is a great visual, as is the submarine stranded in the ice. The human side of the episode is a bonanza of major emotional moments, though, and they’ll all stick with me: Mulder saying he didn’t tell Scully about Samantha because she would never have let him set up the trade, Skinner vs. Mr. X, Scully storming into the treatment center to save Mulder, and Mulder not being able to look at his father as he starts telling him what happened with Samantha. (That last one is especially brutal: Duchovny really conveys how impossible and agonizing it is to have this conversation, to have to explain that the daughter his parents just got back is gone again, and it’s his fault.) Oh, and Mulder seizing a sense of purpose and hope again at the end! Fantastic Mulder episode all the way around.
“Fearful Symmetry” has a very cool invisible elephant rampage, and I like a fair bit of the setup (and the weird comedy of Scully doing an elephant necropsy and having to climb inside it). Then it goes on, and I can’t make heads or tails of the plot.
If there isn’t a death metal band called Elephant Necropsy then there damn well should be.
What Did We Listen To?
First two episodes of The Laser Age – Look, I like Blank Check and all, but it’s really nice to have a film podcast that can be consumed in an hour or less. Doesn’t hurt that Mr. Phipps started with one of my favorite Blank Check guests, John Hodgman, and then went to Noel Murray. I can tell this one is going to be one of my regulars. (I have a Blank Check lined up for the flight today in case I can’t find a good movie. It’s definitely longer than most movies.)
Made the surprising discoveries that: a) I really like Blues Traveler; and b) they’re still making albums. Not sure how to go about listening to them beyond concerts albums since there is a lot there, and I bet much of it stinks. But anyway…
Might have to give this a go, very much agreed on Hodgman being one of the best guests and I could do with freshening up my podcast rotation a little.
I know it was the first episode, but, if you’re gonna talk about environmentalism in Silent Running, and not mention Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, or Edward Abbey (the film could be interpreted as a SF version of monkeywrenching), I’ve got a few questions —
This is where a dossier could come in handy, but then you end up running longer, perhaps. (No mention either of Silent Running being a big influence on MST3K.)
1001 Albums, etc. – after only managing one album the previous week, I’ve jumped right back into the action this week.
Television – Marquee Moon: I’ve never been FULLY on board with the cult on this one but it’s definitely something pretty special. The guitar work is sensational, I guess I’m not the biggest fan of the vocals? But I feel like I enjoy it more every time I hear it.
Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell: I was a huge Meat Loaf fan when I was about 11-12 and the first gig I ever went to was on his Bat Out of Hell II tour at London’s Wembley Arena, so there’s a huge amount of nostalgia involved here. I still think this mostly rules, there are a couple of duff tracks but when the rock opera drama is fully hitting, this is so much fun. The title track still rules but “You Took The Worlds Right Out Of My Mouth” is my favourite these days.
Elvis Costello – My Aim is True: Elvis Jr. has a bit of a dubious reputation among people who embark on this listening project because he has SIX albums on the list which definitely feels like over-exposure even if you think he’s pretty good (which I do). I haven’t really explored beyond the big singles though and this was a nicely raw, lo-fi introduction. I don’t normally let the bonus tracks (which nearly all of these have thanks to reissue culture run wild) play but I did a little with this one and the super crunchy early version of “No Action” is an absolute gem.
Iggy Pop – Lust For Life: Can definitely hear Iggy taking more creative control over this one after the more Bowie-led previous album, and the results are pretty great. Obviously some iconic songs here but it’s generally strong from start to finish and the way it gets back some Stooges rawness while still feeling like a new thing is really enjoyable.
Ian Dury – New Boots and Panties!: Another artist where I only really know the big singles. I was impressed by the musicianship and production, this is a much richer-sounding album than the punk stuff it gets lumped in with. I do find Ian Dury himself just a little annoying after a while though.
Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks: Another one with plenty of nostalgia attached, I know there are a ton of punk albums with more depth but I still find this a pretty enjoyable listen and the songwriting is pretty punchy.
Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance: I’ve never really listened to these before, I found this quite exhilarating but a little TOO abrasive to feel like I’ll return to it really. Like the first Wire album, I admire the scratchiness and can feel the influence on tons of later stuff but I’m not sure how much I actually enjoy the music.
Kraftwerk – The Man Machine: A masterpiece, geniuses at the top of their game. One of the rare 10/10s on my nerdy spreadsheet, and it probably wouldn’t be the only Kraftwerk 10 if the book had more to offer (this is why the Elvis Costello haters get annoyed, I can see it).
Blondie – Parallel Lines: Absolutely killer singles (aside from “One Way or Another” which I find a little grating) but I’ve always found this to have a little too much filler to really consider it a favourite. Not much better than Blondie at their peak though and they get to showcase that several times here.
Elis Regina – Vento do Maio: Really slick Brazilian jazz-pop, not really my thing but a nice leftfield choice.
Pere Ubu – Dub Housing: Back on the list already! I would describe this album as more experimental but less abrasive, I really dug this one and I’m kinda sad it’s the last Ubu on the list.
Screen Drafts, Standalone Sci-Fi – yeah this was really fun! Such a broad topic that you could redo it several times and get totally different rankings, I’m a big fan of where they went with the #1 pick though.
Yeah, the pop sounds and harmonies on “You Took The Words” kill, great stuff. I know what you mean re: Marquee Moon, the title song is amazing but I’m not a dedicated fanboy.
Ahhh, Marquee Moon owns, you guys are… five dollars? Get outta here…
Maybe it’s the beer talking, but you’ve got a record that won’t quit.
It’s a great record, but I just couldn’t start a band over it the way REM or the Strokes clearly did.
I don’t think I could either because I’m not remotely that gifted at guitar.
I first discovered Television after reading an AllMusic blurb that R.E.M. cited Television and The Soft Boys as major influences on their own work, so your instincts are spot-on there.
(I also think some of Interpol’s dueling-guitar work– think “Obstacle 1”– owes something to Television, although they focus on being punchier and with less of Verlaine and Lloyd’s virtuosity.)
Nick Lowe is a better songwriter than Elvis Costello; check out his first album, Jesus of Cool.
For more on The Modern Dance and Dub Housing, consult an old website! https://www.the-solute.com/year-of-last-month-miller-of-pere-ubus-the-modern-dance-and-dub-housing/ I love them and generally prefer their rocking so Modern Dance is tops for me; if you want to explore them further their late 80s run of We Have The Technology/ Cloudland / Worlds In Collision is great weirdo pop and the live album Apocalypse Now, recorded on tour for the last record of that run, is a great intro/overview of the band to that point. One of the all-time great bands, RIP to their mad king David Thomas: https://www.mediamagpies.com/i-want-to-ride-the-baggage-car-of-your-old-mystery-train-david-thomas-1953-2025/
Nice, will check this out! I definitely want to explore more. My girlfriend’s band covered “Dark” a couple of times in tribute after David Thomas died* and I think that was kind of all I’d heard before checking these two out? Don’t want to depart from the list too far though, still another 700 albums to go…
* her other band actually supported Pere Ubu in London in 2019, did I mention she’s cool as fuck?
Covering Dark, one of their best songs? Supporting the band themselves? Buddy, she is a keeper.
I know, right? I’m living the dream here!
Going through Talking Heads album by album! Speaking In Tongues might be the biggest revelation here, the band’s take on a full dance record, which makes the switch to Little Creatures a bit of a come-down in comparison. A lot of bands would still kill to write a record this strong, but Byrne writing all the songs himself here is a big switch that results in a more mundane, strong avant-pop record. “Road to Nowhere” is the best song and not coincidentally is sweeping and full, the kind of epic they were mocking a bit in “The Big Country.”
Studio Album Rankings:
1. Remain In Light
2. Speaking In Tongues
3. Fear of Music
4. More Songs About Buildings and Food
5. Talking Heads ’77
6. Little Creatures
(Stop Making Sense would go at #1 probably in a full ranking)
This ambient album by Susumu Yokota is cool though I’d like to listen to it again, lots of textures and ideas floating around.
Looking forward to filling in some gaps in artist discographies if / when I ever finish this 1001 thing (hey, I’m over 1/3 of the way through)! There are three more Talking Heads albums to come but I’m intrigued by the Speaking in Tongues praise, which is not one of the ones represented. Definitely feels like there’s some strange witchcraft going on with Stop Making Sense, as much as I like a lot of their other stuff…
Stop Making Sense feels the most conceptually whole (full band joining over time, etc.) and it has the best mix of songs, right?
Yeah I guess to some extent it’s a Greatest Hits, but also with a cool concept and incredible visuals.
I wish Adrian Belew were on Stop Making Sense. This 1980 Rome Concert shows what’s missing from the full band sound on SMS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwWW742T0Wc
Gotta watch, I do like the Heads in Fripp/Belew mode.
Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Belle & Sebastian
Beautiful album with a playful, sexy opener in “Step Into My Office, Baby.” I was hit unexpectedly hard by “If She Wants Me”: “If I could do just one near-perfect thing, I’d be happy / They’d write it on my grave or when they scattered my ashes.” (There’s a redirect afterwards, but the longing of that first part really got to me.)
Echoes, The Rapture
“House of Jealosu Lovers” spontaneously generated a club around me, and the scream of “kick that fucker out the door!” in “Killing” was incredible.
C’mon Miracle, Mirah
Adored this, especially “Jerusalem” and “The Dogs of B.A.” (is that an accordion? I love it). There’s a wonderful intimacy to the whole album, and I listened to this one twice.
You Could Have It So Much Better…, Franz Ferdinand
Fun, hooky, and dance-y. I feel like I owe this another listen under better circumstances, because it got sort of short shrift, and that’s unfair. But I liked it a lot.
The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom (Night Falls Over Kortedala), Jens Lekman
I took an inexplicable dislike to this album cover and then loved the album itself, so what do I know? This is beautiful, and I was won over from the jump by the superb opener “And I Remember Every Kiss.” (“A Postcard to Nina” was another particular highlight.) Sincere and romantic without being treacly or going too broad. I should check out more baroque pop.
Evidently, this is an expanded version of the original album, and I was happy to have more of this to bask in.
In Our Bedroom After the War, Stars
Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff, especially “Personal,” which manages to be both poignant and gutting–you would think those two tones wouldn’t work together, that anything brutal enough to be gutting wouldn’t be spare and delicate enough to be poignant, but “Personal” manages it. Also loved “Barricade” and the cool, romantic calm of “The Night Starts Here.”
DJ-Kicks, Hot Chip
Great beats, cool tunes, and it’s impossible to overstate my delight at hitting “Mess Around” at the end.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips
Love the gloss and dreaminess of this album, although I think I agree that The Soft Bulletin is superior. But this is still fantastic. I even surprised myself by liking the title song, which I’d thought would be too self-consciously whimsical for my tastes, but my favorites here are “Fight Test,” “Are You a Hypnotist??” (beautiful ache to some of the singing here), and “Do You Realize??”
Discovery, Daft Punk
Daft Punk [was] playing at my house! My house!
Fun and catchy album: the bounce-up-and-down pulse of “One More Time” has been embedded in my head for years. I like the deliberate humor of naming your ten-minute song “Too Long,” and I also, childishly, liked that I kept mishearing a key line as “Tits! Been much too long.”
This wraps up part 2 of Nath’s list!
Jens Lekman is one of my favourite songwriters. The main reason for the reissues of these albums was that the originals featured uncleared samples, the re-recorded versions of those songs mostly do a good job of keeping the vibe but I can’t deny I still prefer the versions that come with a little crime as a bonus.
My old band supported Mirah once, a million years ago.
Oh, bonus crime definitely improves everything. But yeah, listening to this without knowing the previous version, I certainly didn’t feel like anything was lacking, and I’m looking forward to listening to more Lekman.
That’s so cool about your old band!
I checked and it was literally 20 years ago, please excuse me now as I wither away into dust.
I feel like a lot of people prefer early Lekman but while there are some incredible high points (“Postcard to Nina” is so good, and the early single “You Are The Light” is one of my favourite songs of all time), I think his more recent albums “I Know What Love Isn’t” and “Life Will See You Now” are my favourites, they’re so consistently great and I love the contrast between them – “Love Isn’t” is a full-on break-up album and “Life” is the more positive flipside after he’s gotten things back on track a little.
Ah, so that explains why the original Lekman album was pulled off Spotify.
This Belle and Sebastian stop might be a good time to check out their contemporary Books EP, which has one of their grooviest songs in “Your Cover’s Blown.”
The Rapture is an instant party; “House of Jealous Lovers” is the deserved classic, but “Heaven” and “I Need Your Love” (which I think appeared on Erlend Øye’s DJ-Kicks?) also smash. “Sister Saviour” and “Love Is All” are pretty great, too.
Those are my favorite Mirah songs too!
You Could Have It So Much Better… isn’t the last time you’ll encounter Franz Ferdinand here, but while the debut album is tighter, the looseness of this one does lend to more variation, and it’s still got some great tunes. Would recommend a second listen.
I haven’t listened to the Jens Lekman in years, but I really loved it at the time, and that 1-2 punch that opens the album is still great. (I found some old writing of mine where I detailed seeing him live in 2007… apparently the rest of the crowd did not live up to my standards.)
That Stars album is really gutting. Besides “The Night Starts Here” and “Personal,” I like “Take Me to the Riot” and especially “The Ghost of Genova Heights.”
Hot Chip’s DJ-Kicks is my favorite of the series. “Nitemoves” and “My Piano” are my favorite contemporary songs; some of the other electronic tunes have really stuck with me, particularly the stretch of “The Stone That the Builder Rejected” / “The Man’s Got Me Beat” / “Love Affair.” And “Steppin’ Out” / “Mess Around,” what a great way to finish it. (And “I Got a Man” as the second track! Always a fun listen.)
Apparently the Lips had to pay some royalties to Cat Stevens for the melody of “Fight Test” and its similarities to “Father and Son.” Good album– and “Fight Test” and “Do You Realize??”, despite its relative overuse since, are my favorites– but I do think it suffers from being in the shadow of The Soft Bulletin.
Discovery is one I have little original to say about. Those first four tracks are unimpeachable, and especially “Digital Love” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” are two of the best singles of the decade.
Hilariously, when “Fight Test” started, I did actually think, “Huh, this sounds a lot like ‘Father and Son.'” I don’t have a great ear, so usually I assume I’m wrong about stuff like that! Vindicated! Anyway, both are beautiful songs.
I think I’m due to hit (the) Books when I get to the EPs list, where I’ll listen to it alongside a revisit of Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Definitely going to give You Could Have It So Much Better… a second listen with more focus.
Hot Chip’s DJ-Kicks was great, and knowing it was the last one on the list made me pull up who else had done these over the years. I should dig up the Four Tet one.
I didn’t listen to all the DJ-Kicks series, but I think I must’ve listened to the Four Tet one, and I remember listening to the Booka Shade one. There are… a lot more than I was initially aware of when I first learned of it.
Don’t care much for the Flaming Lips, but my dad was very fond of Yoshimi and I acknowledge “Do You Realize” is a beautiful song, fan or no.
The best part of the joke in “Too Long” is how the song closes on a fade out while the outro repeats itself, implying that the song is still going on someplace else, we’re just walking away from it.
Watched/listened to The Ultimate Ozzy. Remember this being a very popular video at the time and the soundtrack to more than one party in high school. Ozzy is of course the Ultimate showman here performing with 110%. Jake E. Lee was his best guitarist (I hope that’s the consensus!) and is a great and dynamic performer himself. It’s so wonderful and so silly with the Hammer horror and gothic storyline running thorughout.