2020 Album Preview Series Part 4: To Vet During the Threat

Previews of upcoming 2020 listening, including: Field Music – Making a New World (2020) DIIV – Deceiver (2019) Craig Armstrong- The Incredible Hulk Original Score (2008) Deerhoof – The Runner’s Four (2005) The Aristocrats – You Know What…? (2019) Shana Cleveland – Night of the Worm Moon (2019)


Relevant Links
Previous review of Field Music’s Plumb Previous review of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless
Introduction to the Superhero Theme Project
Recalling a cold night with Deerhoof The 2020 Playlist grows:

Unsure of What Day It Is, Full of Cheese: 2018 Honorable Mentions

The posting that accompanied the 2018 top ten was more anecdotal than is usual for year-end postings. Narratives that surround these postings are traditionally reflective, with one eye looking at
the past year and the other looking forward to the potentials ahead. There is a subtext in that post, however, that serves as a microcosm for what I would like to address in 2019.

I recounted how my kid's nutritional standards have slowly eroded over the past five years, but I refrained from admitting that these looser standards stretch into my personal nutritional choices.  Not too long ago, I was in the best shape of my life and was balancing my personal interests, my family, and my career in an unprecedented way. The profound and rapid changes that I have endured since them however, has necessitated changes in that precarious balance that I have not been able to correct.  Despite having a great year at school so far and really enjoying my family's growth, I am not playing music for myself in any form, nor is my fitness where I would like for it to be, nor am I in the dojo as much as I would like to be. 

I hope that in the coming year I can find ways to regain that equilibrium. I am trying to let go of the idea that it will look exactly like it did then, but devoting energy into figuring out what it could like to feel as good about my personal musicianship and fitness as I do about my career and family is unarguably a worthwhile path forward.

Below I have included a few albums that I really wanted to get into 2018's top 20, but just got edged out for one reason or another. Still, they are generally compelling enough to deserve mention.

Soen - Lakaia: I showed up for the Tool references, but the melodic overlap with Opeth’s more progressive tendencies got me to stay. Lakaia has been gaining momentum on a slow simmer since this summer, but didn’t quite crack the top 20.

Tangerine Dream - Zeit: This album was in no way what I expected, but as a prototypical pre-synth ambient album it continued to pique my curiosity for the better part of 2018. It unfortunately suffered the fate of having no appropriate venue - too atmospheric for the car, but too sinister for late nights in the house.

Big Big Train - Folklore: A very good progressive rock album that just barely got edged out due to a couple of lyrically goofy moments. This album was followed by several other positively reviewed releases that might warrant further investigation.

Alcest - Kodama: Described as “black metal” inspired by Miyazaki, Kodama ended up confounding my expectations. While there are a few extreme moments on the album, these are carefully placed for musical effect, resulting in a largely melodic and engaging experience.

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children: Yes, I am very late in the game to this classic album of 90s electronica. Well worth it, and a difficult decision to leave it off the final 2018 list.

Field Music - Open Here: The first inconsistent album from Field Music that I have encountered. It has some of the best songs and grandest orchestrations in their oeuvre, but also some less inspired moments that are more apparent due to the greatness of the stronger material.

February/March Roundup: Spring Cleaning

Where did February go? It seemed like just yesterday that I was pledging to get caught up on my blog and maintain it consistently. Now look where we are. A month and a half has gone by and despite best intentions, I haven’t posted a word. It’s not because nothing has happened – in fact, quite the contrary! Life has been astoundingly complex since that last post in January, and many episodes have attached themselves to music both new and old:

I took my band to Pre-UIL concert and sightreading contest with less than desirable results. I went on leave and became the father of two. My MS band subsequently went to UIL in my absence and got greatly improved marks. I’ve wrestled with lack of sleep and keeping my eldest entertained. I played a great gig with Ethnos. Keith Emerson died. Previously mentioned eldest daughter broke her collarbone in a freak chair-spinning accident. Plus, there’s that Star Wars soundtrack project I have been mapping out since last Fall.

It’s no wonder that I have felt overwhelmed with documenting all that. Seriously, any free time I have had has been spent fighting to stay awake while I watch samurai movies and John Oliver clips. I am going to try to make a push in the coming days, however, to try to get caught up. For the time being, however, here’s a roundup of the post-birthday stuff that has passed through the player in the past month and a half:



Toe – Hear You: Hear You is significantly more mellow and jazzy than I have heard previously from Toe. It retains the band’s signature mathy undercurrents, though.

John Williams – The Force Awakens OST: The recording quality and performances on The Force Awakens breathes new life into familiar themes. There is also some standout new material, as well.

Riverside – Love, Fear, and the Time Machine: Despite identifying as a prog rock fan and liking a broad range of music within the genre, I also have a myopic aspect that is pretty critical of contemporary prog. Riverside has evolved into a band that balances all of the variables in just the right way for my tastes.

Jean-Michel Jarre – Equinoxe:  Jarre was around a lot when I was growing up, and I could have sworn that somewhere along the line I got acquainted with Equinoxe. When I recently got ahold of a used copy, however, it seemed gloriously unfamiliar and quite captivating.

Esperanza Spalding – Emily’s D+Evolution: It’s comforting to know that albums like this are still being made. Spalding’s experimental side recalls the heyday of 70s jazz, rock, and prog crossovers and brings it into startling relevancy.

MuteMath – Vitals: I have come to accept that none of MuteMath’s releases will ever touch me like their self-titled debut did. Vitals, however, is a bit of a departure and as such, it favorably resists comparison to that excellent album.

Field Music – Commontime: With several album titles that harbor musical double meanings, it’s clear that Field Music wears their musicianship on their sleeve. The potential for pretentiousness is high if they were unable to back it up, but their incredible musical skills always stand in service to their amazing songs and compositions.

Pink Floyd – Saucerful of Secrets: The final Pink Floyd studio album that has been missing in my collection finally finds its way in. It’s a necessary document of the group at its most unstable as they headed away from Barrett’s psychedelic pop towards the cerebral soundscapes Pink Floyd would later perfect.

Field Music's "Plumb:" It's Bigger on the Inside

Towards the end of February, most teachers are looking forward to Spring Break. For me, however, the time leading up to the break was bittersweet and tempered with anxiety. The week before the break, my middle school band competed in the UIL Concert and Sightreading contest. For a superior rating, the students have to exhibit that inexplicable confluence of instinct, feeling, detail, and tradition that we sometimes bundle within the catchall term “musicality.”

I have the sometimes daunting task of teaching students to access their musicality. It can be taught superficially through description and imitation, but ultimately, it is cultivated in an inner awareness through practice and reflection. Some argue that there are levels of musicality are the result of talent and instinct, and therefore just can't be taught. I don't fully ascribe to this theory, but some musicians do seem to have a natural ease that is perplexing. One such case is David and Peter Brewis, the creative core of the band Field Music. On their newest release Plumb, they push their musicality even further than on their 2011 favorite Measure, perhaps with no limit in sight.



Field Music’s sound bears an undeniable resemblance to XTC, a band that I usually backhandedly describe as “clever.” Field Music is far, far beyond being merely clever. Like that classic 90s band Jellyfish, the Brewis Brothers have incredible chops and a distinctive musical concept, but these qualities are always employed in service to the song. At times, their musicianship rivals that of 70s prog stalwarts like Gentle Giant and Happy the Man, but their distinctively English emphasis on accessible melody allows them to avoid holding the listener at arm’s length. For lack of a better term, Plumb could be conveniently described as "prog-pop."

Plumb is a bit short, but it’s like the TARDIS – it’s bigger on the inside. It seems mathematically impossible that fifteen two to three minute songs should fit into its half-hour running time, but not a moment is wasted. Although Plumb’s stream-of-consciousness exploration of power pop is certainly nonstandard, it is certainly not non-sequitur or random. There is a connection and flow to its vast array of ideas. The experience is a bit like listening to the second side of The Beatles' Abbey Road, when several succinct tracks miraculously cohere into a singular statement. My only complaint is that using the single track (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing as the closing song sort of lacks a feeling of finality. Still, if I ever wrote a song half as successful as this one, I would be pleased to put it anywhere.



The kind of musicianship found on Plumb probably can’t be taught. It’s far too creative to be learned in an academic setting. It can, however, be learned through experimentation and reflection after a certain musical foundation is established. These basic concepts could take many forms, but once in place a musician can potentially bootstrap themselves into unique and idiosyncratic musical expressions. I would be beyond proud to find out that one of my students had the initiative to eventually find a creative outlet like Field Music.

They will, however, have to make it through contest first.

Depth in the Details: Field Music's "Measure"

In the mid-90s, I had a short foray into the popular music sphere, an experience I treasure for many reasons.  Although I often wish that I had pursued the performance aspect of my musicianship more aggressively, I developed an appreciation for songcraft that I still value today.  During this time, and for some time after, I was on a steady diet of power pop, particularly by independent and unknown bands.  Some of the albums that I discovered during this time still rank among my favorite.

By the end of the 90s, though, the market seemed saturated with lots of bands with pretty good songs backed by lifeless guitars, and sifting through them all looking for magic moments seemed like more work than it was worth.  I became acutely aware by the overall sameishness of the genre and my perhaps obsessive interest faded to an extent.

I still keep my ear to the ground, though, for innovative and musical power pop, and Field Music’s Measure clearly fits this description.  I have been listening to this album in a multitude of settings since it came in the mail: going strawberry picking with the family in Massachusetts, doing a little extra driving in Austin, and hiding behind a plant before a wedding in Denton.  In every case, Field Music’s ingeniously playful approach to songwriting and arrangement consistently brings a smile to my face and a spring to my step (sometimes even a tear to the eye).  It one of the best albums of its type I have put in rotation in quite awhile.

Their songs are impossibly melodic and catchy, but also harbor cleverly virtuosic details.  Unlike the jangly strumming accompaniment that epitomizes the mean in a lot of songwriter-style music, Field Music’s instrumental aspect has its own compelling voice.   The cool “discussion” that occurs between the stereo-separated guitars in Them That Do Nothing, for example, is indicative of the kind of detailed arranging that happens all over Measure.  Brilliant harmonies, rhythmic turns, expansive atmospheres, and impassioned vocals indicate more than just good songwriting, but a deeply musical concept.

Measure is twenty tracks long, which is a pretty ambitious length when each song is about two to four minute long.  Nevertheless, very often I just can’t seem to turn it off - the album’s overall flow and variety commands my attention.  Judging from these clips, Field Music superficially sounds a bit like XTC, but they gather a much wider variety of influences onto the whole of Measure.  Field Music often navigates sharply contrasting transitions in such a convincing way that, from another, more “proggish” standpoint, Measure could almost be viewed as a single piece of music.  Each song, however, has enough integrity to hang together on its own.

As far as albums go, Measure is positioned to hold its own rank amongst my favorites.  Although I sometimes examine more mainstream releases, it is the more ostensible goal of this blog to raise the visibility of bands that perhaps rely more on word of mouth than hype.  Field Music is one of these latter bands.  Their musicianship is inspiring but not alienating, and therefore broadly appealing, in my opinion.  I highly suggest checking them out.