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… those freaky Germans really made a form of sports out of J – reviews <img>
Here’s the translation:
****"Everybody Let’s Me Down" by "J. Mascis & The Fog"
J. Mascis, the expert of an excessively scrubbing guitar sound and a slowly mumbling singing, rediscovered a quality of live, that drove him to a maximum output in his new Song: Freedom! Felicitousness! Yeah!
"Peace, joy and egg cake" [a well known German saying to describe an unreliable state of happiness <img> FC] – we won’t believe that J Mascis found to these values. After all, the junior-dino workaholic is rather well-known for his melancholic, depressive and noisy rock songs. But his new album "Free so Free" keeps dealing with the luck in life, freedom, happiness and so on. Correctly! we can we go elsewhere to speculate, grumble, gripe and lament. Although: "Everybody Let’s me down", sings the tall guy with the guitar, not really a happy analysis, but it rather sounds, as if he has shaken some unpleasant, annoying flies off his solid body. And there’s J.Mascis & The Fog written on the cover, but you’re reminded of something, what you’ve adored in the 90’s: Dinosaur Jr.! J.Mascis found back to his earlier high form and he chases us with guitar cascades from one height to the next. (os)
wow, Iggy did a Stooges revival gig, himself?! <img> <img>
With J it would have been even cooler… but Watt did it well, too, I’m sure <img>hey dB, not bad at all, thanks <img>
I bought and read the Spex magazine over many years (not that regularly anymore, nowadays).
I have many good memories to it as they always wrote about the weird music, that no-one else seemed to like…
there must be at least one J interview out of the early 90’s, too. Should look for it on the attic…hey Bonerack, welcome <img>
I’m sure, more than one cool Canadian member of this site would be excited if J decided to play some shows there <img>
… but the current tour dates which are known so far (until mid December), are European ones – at least as far as I know.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed, that he will come over to your part of the world, soon <img><small>[ 11-04-2002, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Flying Cloud ]</small>
here are two other short German reviews <img>
planet.tt (scroll down)
****J MASCIS + THE FROG [sic!] – Free so Free – (City Slang): J MASCIS has finished his second post Dinosaur Jr solo album. Since the mid 80’s, Dinosaur Jr have been a flagship of the legendary SST label, and the album ‘Bug’ with the hymn ‘Freakscene’ still counts as a milestone of independent music. In the beginning of the 90’s, the band moved to Warner Music and published 7 albums, which manifested Dinosaur’s reputation as a prominent US Indierock band until the late 90’s. J MASCIS’ wealth lies in his talent to write beautiful, unmistakable and affectingly melodious rock music, which is really singular in its genuine authenticity and its purity of composition. [wow. FC]
Numerous rock bands refer to his records. Like already with the predecessor album ‘More Light’, Masics worked on ‘Free so Free’ to a large extent alone, comparted in his studio ‘Bob’s Place’ in Massachusetts. Nevertheless he isn’t only a great songwriter and an unmistakable singer, but at the same time a fantastic drummer and guitarist, as well as a respectable bassist and keyboarder. ‘Free so Free’ spreads this typical Mascis melancholy, packed in beautiful and elaboratively arranged rock music and spiced with a surprisingly positive basic tendency ********One could nearly think that J Mascis finally separated from that particular woman after a difficult relationship, as often as he sings about "freedom" on "Free so Free". His new album could nearly be taken as a concept album about freedom. Stop! J Mascis? Hasn’t there been something? Yes, Mascis has been the leader of the alternative legend Dinosaur Jr.. On his third solo album the old rock dinosaur and multi-instrumentalist proceeds again rather unorthodox, like in old Dinosaur Jr days: Terribly diagonal vocals, screeching guitars and marvelously dreamful melodies with a catchy character. J mascis can convince fully and completely as a solo artist as well. And therefore, this CD isn’t not only an item for an old Dinosaur Jr fan, but also for everyone else… MD ****
the Hamburg Logo told me in an email, that the reschduled date for Hamburg is on Sunday, Dec. 15th. Maybe you’re talking ’bout the Hmaburg gig, then?
hey vic, these pics are great, thanks a lot for sharing them <img> seems, you were standing in a good spot <img>
It’s the show, when the gallbladder attack started, btw <img>It’s an affirmative review, lyrically overboarding then and when, but well, that seems to be due to mere enthusiasm… <img>
****Lessons to fly
J Mascis dedicates his new post Dinosaur Jr. record to freedom. Due to his notoriously overslept appearance and the interviews, where he isn’t said to be eloquently talkative with an urge to communication, one could think, his freedom begins with getting up some time after 1:00 p.m. After having breakfast in bed, the prototypical slacker would shuffle leisurely with his guitar and some bagels with marmelade to the studio, in order to convert the tardiness from reality into into musical outpours à la "Feel the pain", "Freak scene" or "Green mind". Perhaps that was the case in former times, however – today Mascis sings of freedom and he means his new passion, he has in common with "belly-landing-Möllemann": the parachuting. [like I said before, Mr. Möllemann is an extremely luckless German politician, who is a hobby parachuter and landed on his belly politically… <img> FC]This kind of hobby apparently directs fresh wind into the music center of the Mascis’ brain. Of course Mascis doesn’t treat himself with helium, in order to hide his unmistakably nasal grouch. But the songs breathe, pulse, respire. [wow, poetically insired, hm?; FC] In "Free so free" for example the simple, but warm hearted chord sequence over the clouds is capturing the listener. In addition, there are chin-fall-down solos and the seemingly lamenting poetry-lecture which stream around the ears like the flight wind.
The dreamful "Someone said" – performed with acoustic guitar besides flute and gentle keyboard – is recalling the experience of the free fall again in slowest motion with angel wings. […; FC]But also those fans will be satisfied who love the hard rock guitar sound of the Godfather of all slackers: In the unusually melodious single "Everybody lets me down", and also in "Set us free" Mascis chops into the strings. "Boppin" [sic!] turned out to be still even more violently and beneath the expected tone, while "Freedom" and "Say the word" come along with fresh drum beat. Of course Mascis has been heard with more fire and better songs [ <img> ! FC]. But nevertheless he manages to age with dignity, without losing his status as a legend. With fog this solo effort can’t be associated, once again, Mascis beats most of the instruments himself.
File of under J Mascis + The Sunrise. [ <img> FC]****Mr. Möllemann is an extremely luckless German politician, who is also known for parachuting.
Here he was described to be landing on his belly in more than one regard…I’ll translate tomorrow <img>
… something’s happening: The score rose overnight to 64, and went into the green Zone (=good) <img>
<small>[ 11-02-2002, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: Flying Cloud ]</small>
rambleon mentioned it recently, and I checked the BBC 6 website for it:
It’s true, you can still listen to the charming BBC 6 interview ("My life in CD") <img>
Much better than the ‘transcription’ I made, then … <img>I’ve been shopping on the Amazon site …and they just sent me:
Built to Spill – There’s nothing wrong with love
Sleater-Kinney – One Beat
Ugly Casanova – Sharpen your TeethAs far as I’ve listened to the albums, yet, I like them very much. Sleater-Kinney rock <img>
</font><blockquote><font>quote:</font><hr><font>Originally posted by Gabel II.: nö ist auf den 18. dezember verschoben….</font><hr></blockquote><font>…so, the Frankfurt gig is rescheduled, too <img>
Wednesday, Dec. 18th. (it’s the Mousonturm venue again, they confirm the new date on their website)Munich: Tuesday, Dec. 17th <img> venue:Feierwerk again.
<small>[ 11-02-2002, 07:00 AM: Message edited by: Flying Cloud ]</small>
