-
neumu
Saturday, November 2, 2024 
-
-
--archival-captured-cinematronic-continuity error-daily report-datastream-depth of field--
-
--drama-44.1 khz-gramophone-inquisitive-needle drops-picture book-twinklepop--
-
Neumu = Art + Music + Words
Search Neumu:  

illustration



edited by michael goldbergcontact


Joel RL Phelps: Bleak Songs Rock Hard

Joel RL Phelps' natural territory is a bleak one — desolate small towns and dead-end relationships, personal failure and the death of loved ones. Yet in his sixth album with the Downer Trio, he turns small-scale tragedies into triumphant rock anthems and rootsy laments.

Phelps has mastered the slow-rocking song, marrying viscous layers of guitar and propulsive rhythms with the kind of intensely honest, brutally emotive lyrics that often accompany ballads. Asked during a recent phone interview if it's difficult to maintain that kind of momentum and intensity in a downtempo song, Phelps gave a characteristically self-effacing answer:  "I guess like writing songs of any kind; it can be difficult to write a good one.

"Certainly Neil Young would be one of my favorites for that sort of thing," he continued.  "Silkworm [Phelps' former band] is also one of my favorites. They've done, in my opinion, stunning work on that front and on many others. So probably that's where my experience at trying my hand at that sort of thing comes from, was from playing with them. I still like to take a shot at it from time to time."

The son of a Methodist minister, Phelps grew up in small-town Montana, moving from place to place as his father was reassigned periodically. He took up guitar in junior high, fascinated at first by Kiss and Led Zeppelin. In 1985, he, Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen formed Ein Heit, a Missoula, Montana band that became the nucleus of Silkworm, founded two years later. Phelps appeared on Silkworm's first two albums before leaving in 1994.  

Phelps' next band was the Downer Trio which he put together in 1995 with William Hertzog (Citizens Utilities) on drums and Robert Mercer on bass. Initially intended as a one-time studio project, the Downer Trio took on an unexpected longevity. After recording Warm Spring Night in 1996, the band followed up with 3 two years later, and Blackbird in 1999. Inland Empires, released in 2001, is an album of mostly covers, including songs by Fleetwood Mac, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and Iris DeMent, as well as the wrenching "Now You Are Gone," which chronicles Phelps' sister's suicide.

Customs, now out on Moneyshot in the U.S. (and 12XU in Europe), is an almost unbearably intense exploration of loneliness, mortality, interfamily relations, war, peace and small town life. Phelps's vocals — ranging from a whisper to an impassioned howl — are a big part of the album's impact, almost too honest, too nakedly direct to absorb comfortably.  

Consider "Shame," one of the new album's best tracks, with its crashing guitar chords and cracking-at-the-seams delivery of lines like "Shame/ Lend me your weapons." "Shame can be a very motivating influence, and I think that ... because of that, I think shame has often been experienced, at a certain point, it starts to be almost an empowering sort of emotion," said Phelps. "One of the things that occurs to people, at least to me, when I'm ashamed, what I most want is to act in response. And that impulse is kind of thrilling in a way... though the experience of it is... I don't really like it. But it does kind of call on somebody and tap them on the shoulder and say, what are you going to do? What are you going to do now? There's a real strong pull to act."  

"Shame" has the same sort of call to action, its series of ending chords feeling exactly like the indecision and anxiety that can motivate a shamed person to make a change. The final chord, repeated for over a minute, has been controversial, Phelps explained, causing at least one critic to complain of a false ending. "Describing that as a long period of false endings, to me, sort of missed the boat... [it] describes a trick," he said. "At least in my mind, it wasn't a false ending at all. It was an ending and it took many minutes to accomplish it. Which doesn't make it a good ending. It could be a really terrible ending. But that was the idea. I've listened to every Swans record ever made a thousand times, and one of the things that I really enjoy about those records — and some things that Shellac has done and lots of other folks — is just sort of this idea of repetition and placement of an idea that just comes over and over and over."  

Whether traditional or rock-oriented, Phelps's songs are shot through with a spirituality that, perhaps, reflects his early religious upbringing. "From Up Here" envisions a dying soldier moving toward the light, while the lovely "Mother I'm Waiting" contemplates a dance in the afterlife of a dying woman. In shuffling waltz time, the song depicts the deathbed vigil, with Phelps plaintively whispering "Mother I am waiting for you to be well" and acknowledging how unlikely that is. What saves "Mother I Am Waiting" from utter bleakness is its uplifting chorus, where mother and child dance to "the most beautiful music ever heard."  

"That song arose out of an experience that I had when someone very dear to me spent a great deal of time with her mother, who was dying," Phelps said. "We just had been in communication with each other as the process of the ending of that woman's life came about. It was not too long after my loss of my own sister, who had died in 1999. And so it just started kind of a process of thinking about the end of people's lives."  

Customs also includes country-flavored tracks like "Darla Don't Go" and "When Will We Bury You." Phelps said he came to traditional music relatively late, but learned to love it. "Traditional music is really powerful and it really appeals to me, and I — for a long time, I wanted to dip my toes in that kind of thing," he explained, while admitting somewhat ruefully that lovers of alt.country have, in general, rejected his efforts in this area.

"I guess it's hard to say exactly what the complaints are, aside from the enduring ones about all of the music that I've made... including with Silkworm, which is that my voice is screechy or something of that nature," he said. "So I don't really know what to make of that, but it doesn't really matter. I still find it appealing, and I get a big kick out of it. Out of that kind of music, so that's why I do it."  

Phelps said that he and his band are not currently touring in support of Customs, mostly because attempts to find a booking agent have fallen flat. Currently living in Vancouver, where his wife's family resides, he is concentrating, in his low-key way, on music. "I guess I'm just going to play and write songs as they come... same as always." — Jennifer Kelly [Thursday, August 26, 2004]


Alejandro Escovedo's Joyous Rebirth

John Vanderslice Kicks Genre

Paul Duncan's Elusive Pop

Stephen Yerkey's Wandering Songs

French Kicks Complete 'Two Thousand'

Spazzy Romanticism: Love Story In Blood Red

Brain Surgeons NYC Rock The Big Questions

Jarboe's 'Men' Charts Turbulent Emotions

Delta 5's Edgy Post-Punk Resurrected

Blitzen Trapper Spiff Things Up

Minus Five: Booze, Betrayal, Bibles and Guns

New Compilation Spotlights Forgotten Folk Guitar Heroes

Chris Brokaw's Experiment In Pop

Old And New With Death Vessel

Silver Jews: Salvation And Redemption

Jana Hunter's Beautiful Doom

Vashti Bunyan Finds Her Voice Again

Nick Castro's Turkish Folk Delight

Katrina Hits New Orleans Musicians Hard

Paula Frazer's Eerie Beauty

The National Find Emotional Balance

Death Cab For Cutie's New Album, Tour

Heavy Trash's Rockabilly Rampage

Help The Wrens Get Their Albums Released!

Devendra Banhart, Andy Cabic Launch Label

Lydia Lunch's Noir Seductions

Bosque Brown's The Real Deal

PDX Pop Now! Fest Announces Lineup

Sarah Dougher Starts Women-Focused Label

Jennifer Gentle's Joyful Psyche

Mountain Goat Darnielle Gets Autobiographical With 'Sunset Tree'

Mia Doi Todd's Beautiful Collaboration

Return of the Gang of Four

Martha Wainwright Finds Her Voice

Brian Jonestown Massacre's Acid Joyride

Solo Disc Due From Pixies' Frank Black

Heartless Bastards' Big-Hearted Rock

Mike Watt's Midlife Journey

The Black Swans Balance Old And New

Nicolai Dunger's Swedish Blues

The Insomniacs' Hard-Edged Pop

Yo La Tengo Collection Due

Juana Molina's 'Homemade' Sound

Beans Evolves

Earlimart's Songs Of Loss

Devendra Banhart's 'Mosquito Drawings'

Negativland Rerelease 'Helter Stupid'

Alina Simone Transforms The Ordinary

Sounds From Nature: Laura Veirs

Octet's Fractured Electric Pop

Sleater-Kinney Working With Lips Producer

The Cult Of Silkworm

The Evolution Of The Concretes

Devendra Banhart's Exuberant New Songs

Catching Up With The Incredible String Band

Gram Rabbit's Desert Visions

Three Indie-Rock Stars Unite As Maritime

Remembering Johnny Ramone

Jarboe's Many Voices

Phil Elvrum's Long Hard Winter

First U.S. Release For Vashti Bunyan Album

Incredible String Band To Tour U.S.

New Music From Lydia Lunch

Le Tigre Protest The Bush War Presidency

Joel RL Phelps: Bleak Songs Rock Hard

Time Tripping With Galaxie 500

Patti Smith Wants Bush Out!

Sharron Kraus: A New Kind Of Folk Music

The Fiery Furnaces' Psychedelic Theater

Harder, Heavier Burning Brides

Sonic Youth's Ongoing Experiment

The Dt's Do It Their Way

Poster Children Cover Political Rock

Rare Thelonious Monk Recordings Due

Uneasy Pop From dios

Beck, Lips, Waits Cover Daniel Johnston

Understanding Franz Ferdinand

The Truly Amazing Joanna Newsom

Mylab's Boundary-Crossing Experiments In Sound

Have You Heard Jolie Holland Whistle?

The 'Magical Realism' Of Vetiver

The Restless, Rootsy Songs Of Eszter Balint

The Sun Sets On The Blasters

Devendra Banhart To Tour U.S.

The East/West Fusion Sounds Of Macha

Destroyer Gets Mellow For Your Blues

TV On The Radio Get Political

Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse To Play Lollapalooza 2004

New Music From The Fall

Apocalyptic Sound From The Intelligence

Fast And Rude With The Casual Dots

'Rejoicing' With Devendra Banhart

New Album, Tour From The Polyphonic Spree

Shearwater Take Wing

Sleater-Kinney To Tour East/West Coasts

Resurrecting Rocket From The Tombs

Visqueen Want To Get A Riot Goin' On

Lloyd Cole Makes A Commotion

Funkstörung's 'Cut-Up' Theory

Waiting For Mirah's C'mon Miracle

Electrelane Find Their Voice

The Television Is Still On!

Experimental Sounds From Hannah Marcus

The Ponys Play With Rayguns

Ex-Mono Men Leader Returns With The Dt's

Mountain Goats' Darnielle Adopts A More Hi-Fi Sound

Sun Kil Moon To Tour U.S., Europe

Nothin' But The Truth From The Von Bondies

Sultans Survive 'Shipwreck'

Sebadoh Reunite For Spring Tour

Xiu Xiu's 'Reality' Rock

Meet The Patients

Beth Orton, M. Ward Make Sadness Taste Sweet

Oneida's Pathway To Ecstasy

Radiohead, Pixies, Dizzee Rascal To Play Coachella

Young People Tour Behind War Prayers

Pixies Tour Dates Announced

Ani DiFranco Tells It Like It Is

Deerhoof Back For 2004 With Milkman

McLusky Set To 'Bring On The Big Guitars' Again

Pixies Reunite For U.S., European Tours

American Music Club, Decemberists To Play NoisePop 2004

Damien Rice Set To Tour U.S.

The Frames Accept Your Love

Punk Rock's A-Frames To Re-Record Third Album

Finally! Mission Of Burma Record New Album

A Solo Detour For Ladybug Transistor's Sasha Bell

Return Of The Old 97's

Spending The Night With Damien Rice

Tindersticks Reissues Due This Spring

The Evolution Of 'A Silver Mt. Zion'

Neil Young Rocks Australia With 'Greendale'

Poster Children Back In Action

'The Great Cat Power Disaster Of 2003'

Chicks On Speed's Subversive Strategies

Oranger At A Crossroad

Peaches On Tour And In Control

Jawbreaker's Complete Dear You Sessions To Be Released

Belle & Sebastian + Trevor Horn = Sunny Pop Nirvana

Von Bondies' Pawn Shoppe Heart

Descendents Are Back!

Modest Mouse Touring; Album Due in 2004

London Suede Take A (Permanent?) Break

Saul Williams Wants You To Think For Yourself

The 'Zen' Sound Of Calexico

Elliott Smith Dead AT 34

Debut Due From Mark Kozelek's Sun Kil Moon

The Hunches: Music That'll 'Fucking Live Forever'

Vic Chesnutt Speaks His Mind

90 Day Men Cancel Tour

Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor Highlight SF Jazz Festival

For My Morning Jacket, It's The Music That Matters

EP Due From The Polyphonic Spree

Bright Eyes, Neva Dinova Collaborate On EP

The Rise & Fall & Rise Of Ben Lee

Catching Up With Cheerfully Defiant Tricky

Hanging Around With The Polyphonic Spree

Sophomore Album Due From The Shins

Noise Rock From Iceland's Singapore Sling

Death Cab To Tour U.S.

Rufus Wainwright's Want One Is 'Family Affair'

Death Cab's Transatlanticism On The Way

Heartfelt Rock From Sweden's Last Days Of April

The Minus 5 Get Down With Wilco

Tywanna Jo Baskette's Southern-Gothic Rock

Xiu Xiu's Stewart Takes On 'Gay-bashing'

Portishead Producer Resurfaces Behind New Diva

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wire, Primal Scream On Buddyhead Comp

Yeah Yeah Yeahs To Tour West Coast

Sonic Youth, Erase Errata Kick Off 'Buddy Series'

The Locust Are One Scary Band

Damien Rice In The 'Here And Now'

Remembering Karp's Scott Jernigan

ATP-NY Postponed 'Til At Least 2004

The Soul Of Chris Lee

Gits' Frenching The Bully To See Re-Release

Stephen Malkmus Is In Control

Superchunk To Release Rarities Set; Teenage Girls To Swoon As A Result

Summer Touring For The Gossip

Babbling On About Deerhoof

Irish Song Poet Damien Rice's O Released In U.S.

Chatting With ATP's Barry Hogan

Former Digable Planets Frontman Surfaces With Cherrywine

ATP L.A. Festival Rescheduled For Fall

Freakwater's Janet Bean Takes A Solo Turn

Lee's 'Cool Rock'

Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Highlight YES NEW YORK

Mark Romanek's 'Hurt' Revives Johnny Cash's Career

The Rapture's Post-Punk, Post-Dance Sound

R.E.M., Wilco, Modest Mouse Highlight Bumbershoot Fest

Set Fires To Flames' Sleep-Deprivation Sound

Southern Gothic Past Shadows Verbena's La Musica Negra

The Subtle Evolution Of Yo La Tengo

Spring Tour For Jolie Holland (Plus A Live Album)

Liz Phair Still Pushing The Limits

Gold Chains Wants You To Dance And Think

Young People's War Prayers On The Way



peruse archival
 



-
-snippetcontactsnippetcontributorssnippetvisionsnippethelpsnippetcopyrightsnippetlegalsnippetterms of usesnippetThis site is Copyright © 2003 Insider One LLC
-