J. Mascis + The Fog – More Light

 

J. Mascis + The Fog – More Light

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

 

You’ve led a successful indie/alternative band for 14 years. You’ve toured with your heroes, and inspired legions of young musicians with your guitar heroics and slacker aesthetics. And then you decide a change is needed.

So was the story of J. Mascis in 1997. His band Dinosaur Jr. had just released Hand It Over, an album which Mascis still considers to be one of his best. But problems with their label, Blanco y Negro/Sire – they were dropped – meant that the album was under promoted.

As a result, very few copies were sold, and fans seeing them on the tour – now featuring bassist Mike Johnson and drummer George Berz – were surprised to find out that a new record was even out. With Mascis being the only original member left, and an overall loss of interest in alternative rock, the writing was on the wall.

So, after a show at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA in November 1997, J. Mascis quietly put the Dinosaur Jr. name to rest. To paraphrase the track “Gettin’ Rough” from Hand It Over, the charm was gone, and it was time to move on.

Mascis coped with the change the only way he knew how – he retreated to his home studio, Bob’s Place. Named after his beloved bulldog – the same one which graced the cover of Dinosaur’s Whatever’s Cool With Me album – it was a sanctuary of musical equipment and inspiration.

Mascis built the studio in the mid-90s after, in his words, “staring out the window [of a recording studio] and realizing how much money [he] was wasting.” It was better to spend the recording budget on something to own and be able to spend as much time as the songs need.

Some of the new songs sounded like they could’ve been on late-period Dinosaur Jr. albums, while others were written on keyboards instead of the guitar – Mascis’ trademark instrument. And like those late-period Dinosaur albums, Mascis once again handled most of the instruments – Johnson and Berz only played on a few Dinosaur Jr. studio tracks.

Mascis did however receive some help along the way. Longtime engineer John Agnello was again handling the technical aspects. A talented producer in his own right, Agnello can be credited with helping Mascis and Dinosaur discover a cleaner sound during their 1990s major label period.

Engineer Andy Wilkinson was also on board the project. As engineer for shoegazing bands My Bloody Valentine and The Boo Radleys, Wilkinson built up a reputation as a mixer who could sort through layer and layer of instrumentation to see the bigger picture of what the song needed to sound best.

Speaking of My Bloody Valentine, Kevin Shields played his signature glide guitar style on three tracks. The tortured, reclusive guitarist had been through the ringer, trying – and failing – to create an album to follow up 1991 masterwork Loveless. He had only recently re-emerged as a member of Primal Scream when the Mascis project gained his involvement.

Shields also worked on Hand It Over, but his thumbprints are all over the three tracks he contributed to here. His woozy guitar tones gave the songs a distinct dreaminess, in contrast with Mascis’ warm, major key leads played at ear-splitting volume.

Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard was also involved, singing co-lead vocals on three songs with Mascis. Pollard’s melodic vocals worked wonders with Mascis’ playing and gave the tracks a poppier appeal.

The resulting album was billed to J. Mascis + The Fog. Titled More Light and released in October 2000, it was a long time in the works and had a lot to live up to, given the status of the players involved.

The album opens with the exuberant, optimistic “Same Day.” One of the more distinctly Dinosaur Jr. sounding tracks, It was no doubt picked to ease fans into the new style. Pollard joins in the chorus, after Mascis plays one of his most complex leads in the bridge.

The overall sound has all the marks of an Agnello production job, with big bold drums, stereo panning, and plenty of room for the guitars. In this sense the record sounds halfway between 1993’s Where You Been – the first Dinosaur album with Agnello’s involvement – and 2007’s reunion of the original trio Beyond, which featured an even more direct, in-your-face feeling.

More Light splits the difference by including mellow, graceful numbers such as “Ground Me To You,” which features Mascis on keyboards sounding his coziest. The melody rises steadily and falls throughout the verse, making the song a slightly different kind of Mascis earworm. With the gentle whirring of Shields’ tremolo guitars in the chorus, this is musical comfort food at it’s finest.

Shields also pops up on “Does The Kiss Fit.” He again uses his tremolo/glide guitar sound, but in a different style. His playing mirrors the melody line Mascis performs on a mellotron. With the magic of mixing, Shields’ guitar fades out in the bridge and is replaced by a rip-roaring Mascis solo. The track is a sonic masterpiece and one of the melodic highlights of the album – as well as Mascis’ career at large.

Not everything on the album is as focused on melody, however. The title track – and album closer – is much more like the sonic experiments found on side two of My Bloody Valentine’s eventual follow up to Loveless, 2013’s MBV.

Walls of overdriven guitars and Mascis’ distorted vocals keep the track going for an earsplitting five minutes, chugging along to a motorik drumbeat. While not typical Mascis fare – save for the volume – it is well executed, and worthwhile listening for any Dinosaur or MBV fan.

Another weird track that appears towards the end of the album is “Can’t I Take This On.” Featuring an off-kilter piano melody, funky start-stop drumming, falsetto vocals, and a guest “vocal” by Bob the bulldog (yes, really), it is likely to leave listeners scratching their heads. However, it is a fun diversion, and may also elicit a smile.

Overall, More Light is a fun departure from the usual Dinosaur Jr. fare from Mascis. What it lacks in consistency is more than made up for in sonic textures, diversity of style, and collaborative inspiration. While Mascis may have had the final say on the resulting work, the inclusion of Shields and Pollard make this more than just a Dinosaur Jr. album in disguise.

Ultimatum Music/2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Bloody Valentine – Ecstasy and Wine

My Bloody Valentine – Ecstasy and Wine

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

You’ve led a relatively unsuccessful gothic/post-punk band for a few years now. Your records have failed to make an impact critically or commercially. Conventional wisdom would suggest packing it in. And then you get a new lead singer who helps to change everything.

So was the story of Kevin Shields and My Bloody Valentine in 1987. The Irish-via-Queens, NY guitarist named his group after the 1981 slasher film about a miner who stalks a group of young adults. None of the characters led particularly successful lives, and it was an apt metaphor for Shields’ music endeavors – albeit an unintentional one.

None of the groups albums singles and EPs from up to this point show much of anything to write home about from Geek! to This Is Your Bloody Valentine to “Sunny Sundae Smile” – a bizarre song about necrophilia – My Bloody Valentine looked to be stuck in second-rate mode.

That is, until Bilinda Butcher joined the group. Having relocated to London, Shields found Butcher like a ray of sunshine in a rainstorm. It was discovered very quickly that Butcher and Shields could harmonize incredibly well.

Her soft, airy vocals offered a nice contrast to the fuzzed-out guitars that the band was know for. And Shields was adding new influences to his sound. From The Byrds to The Jesus and Mary Chain to the twee indiepop of the C86 compilation and 14 Iced Bears, Shields was concocting his own sound which would later influence bands such as Slowdive and Ride.

While “shoegazing” hadn’t formally been invented yet, it was this period which would define what the genre would sound like. The music on the band’s first two Eps with Butcher - Strawberry Wine and Ecstasy – would be compiled into an album, aptly titled Ecstasy and Wine put out by Lazy Records in 1989.

By then MBV had moved onto even more experimental territory, fusing their hard-charging post-punk sound with a method of guitar playing known as “glide guitar.” Shields would use the tremolo arm on his Jazzmaster while strumming barre chords so that the strings were constantly fluttering in and out of tune.

The groups 1991 album Loveless was a sonic breakthrough, going into even dreamier territory. It was their last for 22 years. Shields has since distanced himself from Ecstasy and Wine, not performing anything from the record live since 1989. But how does this early material with Butcher hold up? Does it deserve a second look?

“Strawberry Wine” starts the album in jangly fashion with layers of dreamy guitars and Shields harmonizing with Butcher on every line. The C86 influence is out in full swing, with ethereal textures and soundscapes. It evokes the end of a beautiful summer day as the sun sets on a beach with fireworks in the distance. And of course, plenty of fruit wine.

“Never Say Goodbye” is even more powerful, with fuzzy rhythm guitars, jangly leads, and Keith Moon-inspired drumming by Colm Ó Cíosóig (whose name I can’t pronounce, despite my Irish heritage.) The call-and-response vocals by Butcher and Shields describe a perfect day where they “never say goodbye” and they “chase the clouds away.” The effect is again evocative of the free spirit of summertime.

“Can I Touch You?” is The Beach Boys via The Mary Chain in the best possible way. Shields sings this one alone in a voice highly reminiscent of Jim Reid. The majestic backdrop of an ascending guitar riff and Ó Cíosóig’s tribal drumming gives the song a primitive 1960’s pop feel.

“The Things I Miss” features hellish keyboards and fuzzed out guitars contrasted with Butcher’s sweetest cooing vocals. It’s largely different from the later work of MBV, but unlike their goth period, it holds up really well.

Strangely absent from the majority of the record is the sound of Deb Googe’s bass. Her thundering, metallic sound was a hallmark of latter MBV records. Here her work is buried deeply in the mix. Which is ironic, because she contributed lyrics to “Never Say Goodbye,” a trebly sounding recording with almost no audible bass.

But perhaps the strongest tune is The Byrds via R.E.M. jangle of “(You're) Safe in Your Sleep (From This Girl)." With more prominent bass and sounding like one of Mike Mills’ compositions from Murmur or Reckoning, it is the poppiest song on the album.

Shields sings in an upbeat voice about a relationship that is fraying at the seams. It’s the mark of a great songwriter to be able to compose uplifting music to contrast melancholy lyrics. And Shields does so in stride here. What makes the song special is that MBV would never attempt such straightforward pop again, despite succeeding at it. Oh well.

In the coming years, Shields would disown Ecstasy and Wine. Part of this had to do with Lazy Records putting it out after My Bloody Valentine had signed to Creation to cash in on the success of the group’s 1988 album Isn’t Anything. Which is a shame, because – while not as experimental as their later work – the seeds of creativity were clearly sown here.

While their early records showed almost no signs of innovation, My Bloody Valentine proved the value of persistence. On Ecstasy and Wine, the group showed that they had a knack for original sounds. And they helped inspire an entire movement to follow them.

Lazy Records/1989

 

Moose albums

Moose albums

By

Jesse E. Mullen

If we’re going to talk about criminally underrated records, then we can’t go without discussing Moose. The band formed in Camdentown, London at the height of the “Shoegazing” movement in 1990. Fronted by singer/songwriter Russell Yates and guitarist/ songwriter KJ “Moose” McCillop, , the band also included various rhythm sections and at one point, a keyboardist. Active throughout the ‘90s to 2000 (with a break between 1996-99), Moose never achieved the success they deserved, despite having one of the most consistently great discographies of any of the big bands of the scene (Ride, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive), and the decade in general (Pavement, Pixies.) What follows are my assessments of every album Moose ever made, plus the Jack EP from 1991.


Albums:

…XYZ (1992)
Propelled by the bright, crisp production of Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Let’s Active) and would-be hit single “Little Bird (Are You Happy In Your Cage?)", …XYZ is an exceptionally strong debut for Moose. Highlights include “Soon Is Never Soon Enough” (a duet with Cranberries frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan), and the aforementioned “Little Bird.” Perhaps the strongest though, is the ballad “Polly.” A tender love song, with just enough ambiance to qualify as dream pop, Russell Yates tells a story of love that has possibly been led astray.

Honey Bee (1994)
Kicking off with the spritely “Uptown Invisible,” Moose’s first self-produced record is a strong affair. Going back to the more textured guitar tones of their earlier EPs, the band cook up some tasty concoctions for the ears of shoegazing fans the world round. “Uptown” is a definite high point, introducing the more prominent use of brass, something that would later become a hallmark of Moose’s sound. Featuring perhaps their best attempt at a Velvets style indie pop tune, “Around The Warm Bend” is gorgeous in every way.

Live A Little, Love A Lot (1995)
Moose continue their evolution on their third album, Live A Little, Love A Lot. “Play God” features Liz Frasier of Cocteau Twins on guest vocals, their second famous guest vocalist. “The Man Who Hanged Himself,” as in “I don’t want to be” is a definite highlight, along with “First Balloon to Nice.” The more urbane brass sounds continue to pop up, this time, on the wonderful “Rubdown.” And the record also features two of their most Mary Chain-esque numbers, “Poor Man” and “Old Man Time.” “Poor Man” is evocative of the indie pop that the Mary Chain perfected on Darklands, and “Old Man Time” is evocative of The Mary Chain’s biggest song, the majestic “Just Like Honey.” “So Much Love, So Little Time” is a springtime dream pop tune for the ages, complete with cooing backing vocals, light pianos, and tremolo guitars.

High Ball Me! (2000)
After a four year break, Moose returned to the studio in 1999 to record their fourth and final album, High Ball Me. The hip, urbane sounds that previous two albums only hinted at are out in full force here, particularly on “Can’t Get Enough of You,” “The Only Man In Town,” “High Ball Me Baby!,” and “Keeping Up With You.” “Keeping Up With You” in particular will be of interest to fans of the shoegazing genre, as it features Lush vocalist Miki Berenyi on backing vocals during the chorus for Moose’s final famous guest vocalist appearance. “The Only Man In Town” is another highlight, with it’s textured percussion and typically warm vocal from Russell Yates.

EPS:

Jack EP (1991)
The album that got them tagged as “Shoegazing,” a tag that would dog them for the rest of their existence. Despite only being four songs, the Jack release contains some of the finest moments of their early career. The title track has layers upon layers of noisy guitars, with enough FX to qualify as shoegazing. “The Ballad of Adam and Eve” balances pleasure and consequence with ambient guitars, and pounding drums. Clearly form and creativity were a balanced affair with this band from the beginning.