David J - Live 2019.10.11 Chausseestraße 131, Berlin, Germany

Artist: David J

Venue: Chausseestraße 131

Location: Berlin, Germany

Date: 11 October 2019

Setlist:
01. Not Long for This World [a capella]
02. The Auteur
03. Clandestine Valentine
04. Blue Eyes in the Green Room
05. Copper Level 7
06. Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh
07. Feel Like Robert Johnson at the Three Forks Saloon
08. Missive to an Angel from the Halls of Infamy and Allure
09. Shelf Life [originally performed by Love & Rockets]

Encore:
10. The Dog-End of a Day Gone By [originally performed by Love & Rockets]

This was a weird show for many reasons. First of all, David was originally scheduled to perform the following day at Bi Nuu (where I saw ChameleonsVox two years ago), but that show was canceled for unspecified reasons. However, I subsequently caught wind of this show at a much smaller venue. There was no mention of tickets or a price anywhere, just a claim that David would play at 10pm followed by a bunch of DJs. I arrived early and the place was fairly empty, without anyone at the door. David arrived, did a soundcheck, and then just hung out. 10pm came and went. Finally, at least 45 minutes late, the show began.

The venue was small and lacking any sort of stage. There was a DJ booth in the back but not much else. The space was dark and sickly smoky. Getting the sound in a decent state was clearly a challenge, although in the end it was fine. The crowd was sparse and an odd lot. Most seemed like dedicated fans, and yet several kept talking or coming and going during the set.

David didn't seem to mind, though, and he started his set with a dramatic flair by singing "Not Long for This World" from the 2011 album of the same name a capella. The rest of his set was just him and his acoustic guitar in the typical folky singer-songwriter style. I was hoping for some accompaniment, but David's songwriting and performing skills are strong enough such that even when unadorned, his songs are clever and varied enough to keep things interesting.

Half of the set came from David's new album, Missive to an Angel from the Halls of Infamy and Allure, officially released on October 18, but already available at his concerts. A highlight of the album (and the concert) is a new version of "The Auteur", originally a b-side of "The Guitar Man" from 2002. Where the original is country-inflected and pleasantly lilting, the new version is sinister and foreboding. The subtlety of the original may have been easily overlooked at the time, but this version, particularly with Rose McGowan's vocals, is an even clearer damnation of predatory Hollywood figures.

In plenty of other regards as well, the new album hearkens back to Estranged, David's superb album from 2003 (one of the first albums I ever reviewed on this blog!). In much the same way, Missives is rather accessible and yet full of surprises. It's folk-oriented, but features rich, lush instrumentation. It makes for a beautiful listen even if you don't focus in on it. The only downside is that many of the lyrics continue David's tiring trend of treating women only as sexual muses. Many of the songs are nonetheless clever, humorous, or earnestly thoughtful, like "(I Don't Want to Destroy) Our Beautiful Thing", "Pre-Existing Condition", and "(I Walked Away from) The Girl in Yellow". But others are less subtle and lack that level of depth. Unfortunately, those are the ones that David focused on at the concert. I wish I could've instead seen the meticulously crafted soundscape of "Mosaic" live, but recreating that level of complexity was probably infeasible.

The rest of the show came from across David's substantial back catalog, including his classic "Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh" (always a pleasure) and two Love & Rockets songs: "Shelf Life", a personal favorite from the latter-day Sweet F.A. (1996), and "The Dog-End of a Day Gone By", originally a pummeling rocker from Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven (1985). Naturally, these were highlights, even if neither was perfectly performed.

The context of this concert makes judgment difficult. The circumstances were obviously far from ideal, and if I take all of that into account, it was disappointing in comparison to what I was hoping to see at the originally scheduled show at Bi Nuu. However, I appreciate that David adhered to the notion that the show must go on, and although it was a short set, he put on a good show for those 45 minutes. He clearly wanted to make the most of it, regardless of the limited financial gain to be had from such an intimate show. With a strong new album in tow, and considering past experience, my bet is that the rest of his tour will be even better.

Scores:

The performance itself: B-

The entire experience: D

The album (Missive to an Angel from the Halls of Infamy and Allure): B+

David J - Who Killed Mister Moonlight? (2014)

Title: Who Killed Mister Moonlight? Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction

Author: David J. Haskins
Publisher: Jawbone Press
Year: 2014

I have what feels like a long history as a fan of David J, which can perhaps be ascertained by perusing some of my reviews of his work dating back to 2007. He was always my favorite member of both Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, and his solo albums, while quite unlike his band efforts, drew me in like I had found some sort of private, forgotten treasure. I appreciated his artistic sensibility and aesthetic; I liked that he was a weirdo, a contrarian, an outsider; and I prized his ability to rock, be it with a blissfully fuzzed out bass or with an unaccompanied electric guitar.

But over the last few years, I've begun to wonder if the paths of our interests have diverged. Reconsidering his debut solo album, Etiquette of Violence, upon its reissue in 2013, I couldn't help but feel like it was less refined than I'd remembered. His first solo album in eight years, Not Long for This World (2011), I found to be overburdened by the weight of its morbid subject matter and arrangements. His latest album, An Eclipse of Ships, is musically superior, but lyrically and stylistically a turn for the worse.

When J announced the publication of a memoir, my curiosity was naturally piqued, although I couldn't resist some skepticism, especially with the current trendiness of alternative rock star memoirs. Furthermore, after both of J's major bands reformed in the last decade, it is well known that both split apart (again) under terms that were less than amicable. Hence, I was concerned that J just had an axe to grind.

In the first section of the book, which covers his youth and the original lifespan of Bauhaus, my fears were allayed. Rock star cliché is mostly avoided, and J actually speaks quite highly of his bandmates as well as other musicians, writers, artists, engineers, and music businesspeople that he encounters. He doesn't shy away from speaking ill of those that deserve it, or for criticizing the failures of those of whom he perhaps expected more, but more often than not, the target of such remarks is himself. He might be a little hard on Peter Murphy, but he contextualizes the situation well, and provides just as much approbation as critique.

At any rate, these character judgments are merely secondary matters to the primary story of the struggles Bauhaus went through to prove themselves, to grow and develop, and to carve out a scene and a name for themselves. He tells many great stories of the era, and provides some welcome insight into some of the band's creative processes. This section was just what I was hoping for: very little obnoxious melodrama, but lots of detail about specific songs, recording sessions, and live performances.

The second section of the book is a rather sudden departure in style and content. J hardly mentions his immediate post-Bauhaus activity with the Jazz Butcher or his various solo albums and singles. (Much of his output isn't even mentioned at all until the discographic appendix!) Nor does he leave much ink on his many years with Love & Rockets, although he does at least cover a few aspects of that band, such as the fire at Rick Rubin's house that destroyed their gear and left Genesis P-Orridge badly wounded.

The primary preoccupation in this section is the occult, i.e. the pursuits of magick (sic). Perhaps if I was interested in such things myself, I might find these descriptions more fascinating, but I was not impressed by J's long tales of messing around with drugs and incantations with Alan Moore. His visit with William Burroughs in Lawrence, Kansas is a little more compelling, but most of his meetings with mystics and famed figures of yore seem a little bit too much like oversharing or just self-indulgent name-dropping. His story of meeting and recording with René Halkett (from the first section of the book) is fascinating, but few of his other similar stories have much of the same poignancy or relevance.

Ultimately, after all his adventures in magickal practice, he suddenly shifts to living in LA, estranged from his wife of 20-some years, and somewhat arbitrarily undergoing two spiritual transformations. However, he hardly provides any sense of closure in these matters. He never follows up with how he gave up on magick nor where his newfound spiritualism took him. In fact, these matters are entirely untouched in the last section of the book.

There is one chapter in the second section about the Bauhaus reunion tour of 1998, and the third and final section is dedicated entirely to the Bauhaus reunion of 2005-2006. However, all of the technical detail, honesty, and pleasant reminiscence of the first section is replaced here by accusation, disappointment, and bitterness. He paints Ash and Murphy in rather unflattering lights and unashamedly blames them for poor performances, a basically unfinished final album, the loss of a promising record contract for said album, and ultimately breaking apart. (He also blames "rampant illegal downloading" for the album's poor sales, which is never a good look.)

While some of the latter-day Bauhaus stories are interesting, and he occasionally has something worthwhile to say about his bandmates (or anything at all about his underappreciated drummer brother Kevin), the last section feels like a set of second-hand rock-n-roll clichés that I was hoping to avoid. Drugs, sex, and ego don't actually always make for a good story. Whereas the first part of the book found J admitting his own weaknesses and admiring the strengths of others, by the end, he seems nearly faultless, while his bandmates make all the bad decisions. It doesn't help that the title of the book, while of course the name of a song he wrote and sang with Bauhaus, also appears to be a blatantly pointed finger at Murphy and Ash.

I can't help but feel like the book lost its focus. The first section is great, but the rest is mostly off the mark. I'm disappointed that J ended up using his memoir as an excuse to vent his grievances of his former working partners at the expense of telling more worthwhile stories of his career. I also found the end rather abrupt, and since it cuts off in mid-2006 yet wasn't published until 2014, one is left wondering what happened to the intervening time. Was there nothing worth telling about the Love & Rockets reunion that came together right as the Bauhaus reunion fell apart? Where did his spiritual quest take him? Why does it feel like the book was written in the heat of anger after the Bauhaus reunion, and he couldn't get a publisher until now?

Score: C+

South by Southwest Music Festival 2014, Day 4

Event: South by Southwest Music Festival 2014, Day 4
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: 14 March 2014

Introduction: After an exhausting long Day #3, I decided to plan my next day even more carefully – and also take it down a notch. Thankfully, I had an easier time getting around and getting in my desired venues.

Initially, I was hoping to see Mutual Benefit a second time at a better venue (Red 7), but I was slow getting ready and realized it probably wasn't going to happen. It was a 1:30 show, so on the off-chance that there wouldn't be a line, I still checked it out, but of course, as was beginning to seem the norm for the free, unofficial shows in the SXSW core area, there was a line even at that time. So I instead moved along to my next destination.

I got to Ginger Man, just barely out of the way of the center of the action, and of course, there was no line. I walked right in and saw a few songs by The Defibulators (sic). They played a country/bluegrass blend, complete with washboard. They had some clever lyrics, but for the most part, I wasn't in to it. After them came Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, a hornsy, bluesy rock band with a powerful lead vocalist. I liked the idea, and the dedicated harmonica player, but I didn't actually think they were very good. The singer, despite the strong voice, wasn't doing it for me (in lyric or in style), and the music just wasn't very adventurous.

Finally, my patience paid off and David J hit the stage. I couldn't resist seeing him twice. (He actually played a third set on Sunday at Joe's Crab Shack, but I don't think I could enter the premises on principle.) As was to be expected, he played a very similar show to the one two days before at Valhalla. He did make one small change to the setlist, though, as you may observe:

1. I'll Be Your Chauffeur
2. Dust in the Wind
3. Hot Sheet Hotel
4. You Suit a Rainy Day
5. Where the Bloodline Ends (Vasectomy Song)

6. The You of Yesteryear
7. The Dog-End of a Day Gone By (originally performed by Love & Rockets)

8. No New Tale to Tell (originally performed by Love & Rockets)

9. Waiting for the Flood (originally performed by Love & Rockets)

In case you don't feel like cross-comparing yourself, I'll just tell you the change: he dropped "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" from the end and instead opened with "I'll Be Your Chauffeur", his lone solo #1 hit (on the then-recently created US Modern Rock chart). Beyond that change, the two shows were quite similar, and thus I will mostly expound the differences instead of repeating the commonalities.

[David J at Ginger Man.]

I suspect that David's setlist change was an attempt to aim for a higher chance of recognition from a crowd that probably barely, if at all, knew who he was. While the crowd at Valhalla was thin, those that remained were almost certainly longtime fans; who else would stick around until after 1am to hear some arbitrary eccentric singer-songwriter and his pseudo-country band? At Ginger Man, at 3:15 in the afternoon, I suspect most of the patrons were there for the more conventional country/rock bands (or the delicious and wide array of beers on tap). I could be wrong, but other than myself and the handful of goths in the crowd that I recognized from Valhalla, I think most members of the crowd were not there specifically to see David J.

As such, I think David was just a little more uncomfortable, a little less at ease. He seemed more at home in a place like Valhalla, and I think his stage banter and performance were slightly more relaxed and better there. His performance at Ginger Man was also good, but just not quite as solid. However, because it was daytime, I got better pictures! Also, someone was filming both shows with a handycam, and in answer to my request from my review of the other show, the complete footage of this show has been posted online! (Sadly, you won't get to hear "Heaven" and the line change about "the girl who works at Whole Foods", but so it goes.)

Instead of heading to the alley to try to bug on him again, I decided to move on after that. (Besides, I'd happened to catch him when he got in the bar and I'd already said hello then.) I hit off to the East Side for another unofficial showcase. It ended up being at the Owl, a small, low-key DIY space a little off the beaten path. I walked right in and caught maybe ten minutes of Pure Bathing Culture. They were playing a dancey synth/guitar rock thing, and while it was a little sample-heavy, it seemed interesting and bore some promise.

However, I was really at the Owl to see Hundred Waters. Thankfully, unlike my last attempt, this time I was not deterred. But of course things weren't so simple. Despite the 5:30pm showtime, they were running late due to a very complicated setup and problems with their sound. The house engineer did his best but reported that the venue was improperly grounded and thus there was a rather loud electrical hum inherent in the system. The band were frustrated, and when the singer finally took the mic, she asked the audience if we could hear it. We said "yes", to which she said, "You were supposed to say no!" Someone suggested that it was just bees. At any rate, about 20 minutes late, they finally began. Here's the setlist, as best as I could fill it in:

1. Caverns
2. [new song]
3. Thistle (Remix)
4. [new song]
5. Boreal
6. Are/Or

[Hundred Waters at the Owl.]

Yes, one of the songs performed was announced as a remix (I didn't catch by whom). I wondered a moment what that meant. But even if the band relies mostly on MIDI controllers and synths, I suppose there is no reason they can't choose to restructure and reorganize one of their songs. In fact, that sounds like something I would generally encourage live performers to do. And indeed, I enjoyed the result. Actually, I enjoyed the whole show quite well, even with the annoying hum and the delayed start. Live, the band shows a little less of their folk influence, and instead the electronic sound dominates. However, not everything was synthesized (such as most of the drums, as well as some bass and guitar during "Are/Or"), and you shouldn't get the idea that this is some sort of electro-dance or trip-hop band. Many songs employ unusual time signatures or syncopated beats, and the vocals are decidedly unusual. I like the nonstandard approach they have chosen; I think there is beauty to explore there that few other bands are interested in.

After a break for dinner, I biked back to the Rainey Street area just fast enough to see most of a set by Dråpe, a sort of dream pop band from Oslo, Norway. I hadn't specifically planned on seeing two Norwegian bands at separate nights of SXSW, but they both happened to draw my interest and fit my schedule, so that's how it worked out. (I recognized the members of Electric Eye at the show and said hello to their publicist/friend again.) While Dråpe was definitely floaty, dreamy, and maybe even a little spacey, they weren't nearly as psychedelic or prone to drone. The songs were more conventionally structured and less experimental. While I liked the instrumental work, and I thought the band could rock rather well, nothing stood out strong enough for me to call the music great. But it was good.

I then decided to head to Congress Avenue to see Imarhan Timbuktu (supposedly "Those Who Love Timbuktu") at the Speakeasy. The band, mostly comprised of a set of Tuareg siblings, come from Mali and speak more French than English. However, a few members of the band apparently had visa troubles and were unable to make it into the country for the show. To make up the difference, Sihasin, the Navajo bass-and-percussion duo I'd seen a few nights before, stepped in to back the available members. It made for quite a unique cross-cultural experience.

[Imarhan Timbuktu with Sihasin at Speakeasy.]

The bandleader and his younger brother both played electric guitar, but while the younger brother played very simple but highly rhythmic parts (never more than two chords!), the older played fluid riffs that dwelt somewhere between rhythm and lead. Both guitarists played with no distortion and no effects. (Quite a departure from most contemporary electric guitarists!) It was an impressive style; it seemed partially improvised and partially carefully planned. The older brother did most of the singing, but the younger joined in on choruses. Their sister played a hand drum (she was the one that had previously sat in with Sihasin) and also occasionally sang in the choruses; she would also wield powerful trills at seemingly arbitrary points during instrumental sections. Sihasin mostly kept to the back, filling in the arrangement but sticking close to the chords and beats set down by the primary members.

The music wasn't particularly dynamic, but it was captivating nonetheless. The overwhelming feel was that of a drone or a raga, which probably fit in surprisingly well with all the psych bands at SXSW! The highlight was certainly the lead guitar, which wrapped around the groovy syncopated rhythms and wielded an odd strength despite the clean tone.

Scores:

The Defibulators: C

Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds: D

David J: A-

Pure Bathing Culture: B

Hundred Waters: A-

Dråpe: B

Imarhan Timbuktu: B+

Final Thoughts: I had debated seeing Hundred Waters again at the Central Presbyterian Church, but it was the same time as Imarhan and I thought it would be best to diversify. I probably wouldn't have gotten the view I got at the Owl, but something tells me the sound would have been far better in the more reverberant (and probably better grounded) space. Either way, I was too worn down after four days of non-stop action to see anything after Imarhan, so I just went home. There were certainly more bands that I was interested in (Quilt, Temples, Dum Dum Girls, Dosh, etc.) but I just couldn't do it.

South by Southwest Music Festival 2014, Day 2

Event: South by Southwest Music Festival 2014, Day 2
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: 12 March 2014

Introduction: I worked during the day and thus missed any daytime showcases, but spent a long night running between venues to catch a variety of artists I was interested in. From this night onward, as I often found myself in the first or second row, I started taking pictures with my phone. While most didn't turn out well, I'll share a few anyway.

Sihasin (at Javelina): A Navajo duo out of Arizona. Both members sang; one played bass and the other percussion. Amazingly, that was enough. The bass player had a great tone and played with creative skill. The percussionist too was quite innovative with his mix of rock and traditional instruments. They traded vocal parts and complemented each other with simple but strong harmonies. Between songs, the bassist encouraged us to respect each other and fight for rights for all. She was particularly vocal against usage of the term "illegal" to describe humans, which I appreciated. Before one song, they invited a percussionist from the Malian band Imarhan Timbuktu to (literally) sit in with them; she played a water drum considered rare but yet shared by both the desert cultures of Mali and the Navajo.

[Sihasin at Javelina.]

The Great Wilderness (at Javelina): A shoegazing band from San José, Costa Rica, fronted by two women singer/guitarists. They had a definite My Bloody Valentine vibe, but were a little heavier and less concerned with the carefully crafted high ends. I liked the guitarwork, but the vocals were indecipherable and a little too aggressive and heavy for me.

[The Great Wilderness at Javelina.]

Mutual Benefit (at Hype Hotel): First, a note on the venue. It isn't actually a real venue, but rather a temporary, artificial space in some dirty old building downtown. To get people to fill it, they offer free drinks, but the lines at the bar were long and I wasn't impressed by the tenders' arts, so I didn't even try. Most of the crowd was clearly more interested in the drinks and each other than any band on the stage. Hence, my attempts to get a good view and listen of Mutual Benefit were marred by tall dudes milling around talking about boring things. Despite a delay due to feedback and mixing issues, I did eventually get to see the band (mostly). On record, the band is one person and a large cast of guests. Live, they act as a seven-piece, complete with strings and keyboards. The set was short, there were a couple feedback explosions, and I hated the venue, but I thought the band did a good job of reinterpreting the material. I even wrote down the setlist (basically most of their impressive debut album, Love's Crushing Diamond):

1. Strong River

2. Golden Wake

3. Advanced Falconry

4. C.L. Rosarian

5. Strong Swimmer

[Mutual Benefit trying to get decent sound at Hype Hotel.]

Sisu (at Valhalla): It was getting late (midnight) and I was getting tired, so I didn't pay very good attention during their set. I was mostly there to see the "headliner" of the night. Nonetheless, their clever cover of The Magnetic Fields' "If You Don't Cry" was unexpected and caught my attention. Their sound was fairly dark and heavy but sadly didn't stand out much to me.

David J (at Valhalla): Perhaps best known as the bassist for Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, he also has carried along a solo career in between and after his other projects. Despite his goth rock roots, his solo work is much more in the vein of singer-songwriter territory, maybe a little folk, and recently, even country. His current band features a standup bassist (Tony Green), a violinist (Aubrey Richmond), and a mandolin player (Lisa Salloux) alongside a keyboardist (Susan Costantini Green), a percussionist with a rather unusual set (Raven), and David on acoustic guitar. Not quite what you'd expect from the man who wrote "Bela Lugosi's Dead". Anyway, to the setlist:

1. Dust in the Wind
2. Hot Sheet Hotel
3. You Saved a Rainy Day
4. Where the Bloodline Ends (Vasectomy Song)
5. The You of Yesteryear
6. The Dog-End of a Day Gone By (originally performed by Love & Rockets)
7. No New Tale to Tell (originally performed by Love & Rockets)
8. Waiting for the Flood (originally performed by Love & Rockets)
9. Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (originally performed by Love & Rockets)

[David J at Valhalla, with Lisa Salloux and Raven behind him.]

The first five songs are all new and soon to be released on a forthcoming album, The Eclipse of Ships. While initially not excited about the project due to supposed theme ("a paean to Woman as muse"; ugh) and the preview video (featuring women in lingerie), after hearing some of the songs, I'm reconsidering my initial opinion. After all, David is not usually one to let himself be wrapped in gross cliché so easily. Now I take note that David paid no notice to the women in the video and that his lyrics betray a deeper story of personal and interpersonal growth. And of course, "Where the Bloodline Ends" is rather hilarious and bold.

Gifting us with countrified renditions of four choice Love & Rockets tunes is no small matter, either. I wish I had recordings of these versions; they were actually quite enjoyable and well-arranged. The rather small but dedicated audience begged for more but were let down. I made up for it by chatting with David briefly after the show. When I thanked him for trusting me and sending an extra copy of an album years ago when the first apparently got lost in the mail, he said I "looked like an honest guy". I hardly knew what to say.

Scores:

Sihasin: A

The Great Wilderness: C+

Mutual Benefit: B-

Sisu: C

David J: A

Final Thoughts: This was the night of the accident that made many headlines. It happened during David J's set, and Valhalla is on Red River Street, just a couple blocks away from the site. I was safely inside, but it was the word on the street as soon as I left the venue.

David J - Embrace Your Dysfunction (2003)

As I said before, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase a copy of David J's Embrace Your Dysfunction, actually credited to David J's Cabaret Oscuro (meaning "dark cabaret" as well as I understand... but I don't speak Spanish). The album was originally released as a limited edition bonus to Estranged, but despite the low price ($10) and cheap container and liner notes (a mere paperboard sleeve), it stands on its own well enough as an album, especially considering the hour-long running time (when including the video track). The album contains two remakes of classic J songs, two remasters of recent EP tracks, four covers, three new originals, and one live take of an Estranged "song". Somehow it all works together fairly well.

I wish I knew more about Cabaret Oscuro, but it's rather hard to come by information about them. It hard to say if they are more of a side project or a backing band for J. Best as I can tell, the main collaborative force is Joyce Rooks on cello (and other instruments), but a few others seem to show up a lot, such as guitarist Mark Miller and percussionist Kris Krull. J, as per normal, provides vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, samples, and some synthesizer. Again, as far as I can ascertain, Cabaret Oscuro is a more recent assemblage – I think these songs were written and recorded after Estranged even though they found release at the same time. The band played along the West Coast quite a bit, and I think they are still active in some regard. I could be very wrong about that.

Artist: David J's Cabaret Oscuro
Album: Embrace Your Dysfunction
Release Date: 9 September 2003
Label: Heyday
Producer: Unlisted, but undoubtedly David J

Tracklist:
01. Sorrow Sleeps at Night (Song for Llana Lilla)
02. Ten Little Beauty Queens [Live]
03. Mexican Drugstore [Remastered] [With Roberto Mendoza] [Originally from the Mess Up EP, 2003]
04. Goth Girls in Southern California [Remastered] [Originally from the Mess Up EP, 2003]
05. Dress Sexy at My Funeral [Smog cover]
06. My Life in Art [KXLU Radio Session 2002] [Mojave 3 cover]
07. By the Time I Get to Phoenix [Jimmy Webb cover]
08. Streets of Berlin [Ute Lemper cover]
09. Tell Me, Henry Kissinger
10. Life in Laralay [Originally by Love & Rockets]
11. Embrace Your Dysfunction [Live]
12. The Trees in Silence Sing [Video]

Analysis:
Embrace Your Dysfunction begins with the ten-minute, jam-ish, electronic noise-laden "Sorrow Sleeps at Night (Song for Llana Lilla)", a piece that never really changes and keeps the same steady sound the whole time. I think the piece is a bit long, but I like that instruments drift in and out through the measures, and J sings the whole while about a murdered girl and the motion lights built to prevent another similar incident.

The next song is a live rendition of J's "Ten Little Beauty Queens", originally released on 1992's Urban Urbane. This version is dominated by eerie sounds, an electronic drumbeat, and Joyce Rooks' cello. The original version features prominent guitar, but this version seems intentionally darker and strange. This version's music matches the disturbing lyrical content about a creepy dude who dressed up girls and took pictures of them in nooses until one died in an accident and was convicted for murder. The other remake on the album, "Life in Laralay" is similarly significantly changed in sound from the original version, released on Love & Rockets' second album, 1986's Express. This version follows the original's structure, but the only instruments are Rooks' cello, J's vocals, and some backing vocals. The spareness treats the song well, mostly because the arrangement was cleverly put together. The lyrical indictment of Hollywood still holds true.

Two of the most developed songs on the album are actually remastered versions of songs that appeared on the Mess Up EP. "Mexican Drugstore", done together with Roberto Mendoza, is a sort of Mexican electronic song. The song sounds fairly light, and a variety of instruments make for an interesting sound. (My only qualm is the tone of the lead electric guitar, which sounds too close to an elevator music tone for comfort.) The lyrics simply concern the variety of people that go to the Mexican drugstore to "take away our pain". Apparently, "we all got the same prescription", as J sings over an extended relaxed-sounding outro. "Goth Girls in Southern California", made up mostly of guitar, cello, and drums, goes through every cliché of the goth subculture. The lyrics are fairly witty, not failing to reference Peter Murphy. A great choppy middle section breaks up the feel a bit, and at the end, a harpsichord enters to changes things up, and it works well. Despite running through all the stereotypes, J concludes with "oh, leave them alone!". It would be fairly hard for someone who (like it or not) was in one of the original goth rock bands to not defend the subculture he helped define, even if it has changed over the years.

The middle of Embrace Your Dysfunction is full of covers, all of which make for interesting choices. The first, "Dress Sexy at My Funeral", originally by Smog, is rather humorous. The semi-standard guitar and cello combo appears, as it does in a cover of Mojave 3's "My Life in Art", which also features some drums and backing vocals. The song is fairly slow, but I really like the sort of nostalgic sound to it all. The chorus of "Tell me 'bout your life in art / tell me 'bout the boulevards / because Europe always seemed so far" is just great. J's next cover choice is the Jimmy Webb song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", a classic-sounding slow and sad song about leaving a lover, but the most inventive cover is his interpretation of Philip Glass and Martin Sherman's "Streets of Berlin". The song has a definite cabaret feel, which is perfect for J's recent sound, and the electronics and cello fit right in. The song laments leaving Berlin, but seems more clearly about the harshness of the city and the streets.

"Tell Me, Henry Kissinger" is a biting piece about the eponymous person. Most of the instrumentation is just a few picked chords and a few reverb-drenched drum clashes, but organ, a snare reminiscent of J's V for Vendetta EP, and other instruments appear. The last song on the regular CD is "Embrace Your Dysfunction", a live version of the segue track found at the end of "Bright in Your Absence" on Estranged. It sounds nearly identical except for the crowd cheers.

The final part of the album is an accompanying video on the CD for "Trees in Silence Sing", a sort of tribute written after 9/11. I really like the lyrics, which lament that cassettes aren't allowed in Afghanistan and are ripped apart and strewn across trees. The song has a clear warning against extremism and also seems to indicate an anti-war sentiment. The video (and really the song too) are a bit over-dramatic, but I like them anyway.

Review:
Most of Embrace Your Dysfunction is a mix between a sort of dark electronica and an acoustic feel with cello. Really, cello just pervades the album all over, which perhaps is appropriate for a man who plays bass in two other bands. It's a rather different feeling than the general feel of Estranged, the album it accompanies. I don't really think the two are really supposed to be related – outside of the two remastered EP tracks and the live version of the title track, the two share little in common. I think the two deserve to be considered separate units (hence my reviewing them separately). Estranged has a certain theme of moving past a relationship, but this album has a variety of themes, mostly tied together under the general adjective "dark" (perhaps in part due to the prominence of the cello).

I haven't heard the rest of the Mess Up and Guitar Man EPs, so I don't really know what those songs sound like (although I've heard a radio session version of "The Auteur"), but the two remasters from the Mess Up EP presented here are both of high quality. They sound like outtakes from Estranged that just didn't fit the mood or theme. The covers are mostly simple arrangements, but they all work well, and they fit with J's personality, wit, and style well. The remakes are both interesting alternate takes of classic J songs. The new songs are a little bit weaker on average, just because "Sorrow Sleeps at Night" goes on a bit too long and "Tell Me, Henry Kissinger" is a bit too dark and biting without remorse (although that isn't necessarily a bad thing). "Trees in Silence Sing", though, is a great dedication to 9/11 without getting too heroic or sappy, and I really like the imagery of musical reference parts.

Embrace Your Dysfunction is considered just a limited edition bonus album to Estranged, but I think it's nearly as good and stands well on its own, especially since it has its own sound (and is even credited to David J's Cabaret Oscuro instead of just David J). Since J recently found an unsold box of the album, I recommend purchasing one while supplies last (go to www.davidjonline.com/ and click on "store merchandise"); they're only $10 (plus shipping). And while you're at it, go to J's Myspace page every month to listen to his "Tracks from the Attic", old outtakes and demos that have never found release. There's usually three a month, one of which can be downloaded. I think he should gather them all together and release them officially, but hey, a dream's a dream and I know it took a lot of effort for J to release Estranged and Embrace Your Dysfunction. [Edit 2014.06.18: Physical copies of Embrace Your Dysfunction are long since unavailable, but the album can be downloaded digitally from Bandcamp. Also note that the Tracks from the Attic were discontinued long ago and are now apparently forgotten and unavailable.] [Edit 2026.02.15: David J released a triple-disc archival album named Tracks from the Attic in 2024, but it only includes one of the MySpace tracks that I'd downloaded back in the day.]

Score: B+

David J - Estranged (2003)

When people ask me what my own music sounds like, I never know what to tell them. I like a lot of bands, but I don't quite sound like any of them. Then one day I realized that there was a man out there doing the same sort of thing I do – only he'd been doing it for about twenty years before I began. He isn't a big name, but he should be. After all, David J has not only had a long solo career with many a collaboration (Alan Moore comes to mind), but he was the bassist of Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, two of my favorite bands. (He also sang Bauhaus' "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight", wrote many of their songs, wrote and sang about half of L&R's, played bass on a few Jazz Butcher albums, and DJs.)

I love David J's work. Bauhaus is a fantastic goth-rock post-punk band and Love & Rockets is a fantastic psychedelic post-punk, semi-new wave, semi-goth rock band. And then there's his solo music, which tends to be subdued, acoustic or clean electric, with limited accompaniment and clever lyrics. His first album was rather dark and unpolished, but he quickly developed his own style and started releasing albums at the rate of one every four years or so between his other bands. After a long silence from his 1992 album, the breakup of Love & Rockets in 1999, and a brief Bauhaus reunion in the same time frame, J finally released Estranged, written and recorded around 2000 but unreleased due to lack of a label until 2003. It stands as his most complete, lasting, and solid piece of solo work.

Artist: David J
Album: Estranged
Release Date: 9 September 2003
Label: Heyday
Producer: David J

Tracklist:
01. The Guitar Man [Bread cover]
02. Mess Up
03. Pulling Arrows from Our Heels
04. Ruined Cities
05. Static Cling
06. In the Great Blue Whenever
07. Crashed
08. If Anything Should Ever Happen to You
09. The Ballad of August and June
10. Bring in Your Absence
11. Trophy Wife
12. Arc of Return
13. Estranged
14. Time in the Sun

Analysis:
Estranged starts with a cover of Bread's 1972 soft-rock hit "The Guitar Man". The song features Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction on lead guitar and several other musicians filling up the space of the song. It's one of the most composed pieces on the album and even has a touch of country. The song works well, in part since the lyrics are right up J's alley, about a rock star who stands as an icon and gradually fades from view, and although "the crowds are gettin' thin / ...he never seems to notice." Also relevant, considering the literate and witty nature of J's own words, is this bit: "You want to squeeze the meaning / Out of each and every song / Then you find yourself a message / And some words to call your own / And take them home."

"The Guitar Man" was released as the title track of an EP, as was the second track of the album, the lilting but catchy "Mess Up". The song pulls along with some swinging drums and a nice jumping bassline. The lyrics seem to be about a relationship that the narrator inevitably will ruin: "I'll mess up your life / Lead your pony astray," and so on. In the final bridge, though, J sings, "The last thing that I want to do / Is mess up your life".

"Pulling Arrows from Our Heels" is a fairly sweet song. A typical J acoustic-guitar-and-obscure-lyrics structure is combined with a fantastic string arrangement. The song sounds somewhat reminiscent or rueful, and I like it a lot. It is followed by "Ruined Cities", which is driven by an electronic drumbeat. The strong chorus melody and string combination work well, much like the subtle overdubbed picking pattern on some of the verses. The lyrics just rattle off cities that apparently have been destroyed in some post-apocalyptic landscape, but then a bridge crops up with a total Beatlesque melody with backing "la la la"s. The beat changes and it sounds like a twisted 60s song for 30 seconds. It's great.

"Static Cling" is somewhat more restrained also, consisting mostly of acoustic rhythm and a pedal steel lead. Somehow the traditionally-country instrument doesn't feel out of place at all, even when an overdriven guitar lead pops in. The lyrics concern a relationship that seems to remain inevitably together despite troubles, sort of like static. "But didn't we start some beautiful fires", J sings while a second vocal track sighs dramatically.

"In the Great Blue Whenever" has some more subtle pedal steel but also has a little shuffling drum sound here and there. Piano bits and wordless vocal overdubs add to the mix. The lyrics mix a bit of military and pilot imagery with the idea of flying off and leaving someone behind. It's sort of dramatic, though, since the chorus is the melodic "And I'll see you sometime in the great blue whenever." "Crashed" also uses some flight imagery about wasting around in motels and cars, presumably presenting a critique of concert tours or something. Hard to tell. The choruses again use backing vocals and extra little guitar parts and sounds, but the whole song is done with a fuller feeling, incorporating bass and restrained drums.

In "If Anything Should Ever Happen to You", J sings about relationship difficulties while accompanied by his acoustic guitar and some great tremolo guitar. The bridges have a great keyboard that's arpeggiated and a bit spacey. The choruses amp up for just a second with J singing the title and then "it would crucify me" while a slightly overdriven guitar chugs three chords. "The Ballad of August and June" doesn't stand out too much, but it's still a good piece. A pedal steel works great as both for small solos and lead parts. J sings about a relationship as it flows through the seasons and months.

"Bright in Your Absence" has much more of a folk-country piece due to the strong pedal steel, the melody and chord structure, the drumbeat, the guitar solo, and the lyrical theme of driving in to the town saloon. However, the lyrics deviate quite a bit. It starts with the weird "I embrace my dysfunction and drive into town" and chorus is equally strange: "You're bright in your absence / You shine in that place / That screams, there's no mercy / For playboys in space / Bright in your absence / You glow in that vacuum / Where no life can exist". It recalls the earlier J song, "Space Cowboy" but remains yet weirder. To top it all, it ends with a three-minute segment featuring weird spacey synthesizers, an electronic drumbeat, and J's repeated delivery of "I embrace my dysfunction".

"Trophy Wife" is also a bit more country-esque, somewhere between "Static Cling" and "Bright in Your Absence". The lyrics are again a sort of subverted country theme: J sings about wooing a girl but uses the metaphor of a trophy wife very literally. It starts with "I placed you on a pedestal / And that's an uncomfortable perch". It's fairly unclear if J is singing more about materialism (the "trophy" part) or an actual relationship (the "wife" part). The juxtaposition drives both in.

"Arc of Return" begins with a pleasant picking pattern and then becomes a sort of 3/4 shuffle until the chorus comes in, a driving 4/4 affair with a rapid strumming pattern, a dramatic piano part, and a dramatic chant under the lyrics. The bridges also change pace into a more straightforward 4/4 bit with a muted trumpet part and a bit of organ. I think the whole thing is something of a metaphor for trying to escape from a relationship but ending up right back where you started. The dynamics of the song keep it moving well.

"Estranged" is perhaps the most straightforward song, just J and his guitar, strumming nice little patterns. The lyrics seem to deal with trying to leave behind a relationship but being unable to: "Every time I turn away from you / I face you". Things can't have gone well, as evinced by the confused chorus: "How can the sea leave the shore? / How can the stars be rearranged? / How can soul mates become estranged?" The bridge is hilarious and beautiful: a warm sort of nature-reminiscent background sample with a full synth flourish welcome the emotion of a metaphor for how J feels about his former lover: "And your world is a green world / With oxygen and water / Suitable for evolution / Of a carbon based life form like me". What? I love J's lyrics (see also: "I am frozen peas / You are the sun". "Time in the Sun" is short conclusion where J sings "Every disease has it's time in the sun".

Review:
J (solo) has always liked his acoustic and clean guitars, and he often adds his own basslines and gets friends to add additional guitar parts and drums, but every once in a while in his past you can hear traces of classical, electronic, a little folk, and even a dose of country. Estranged actually takes advantage of the country elements, but does not abuse them at all – pedal steel parts can be found sitting comfortably in a few songs, and only one song has a standard country feel ("Bright in Your Absence") – and it's still done rather tongue-in-cheek.

A lot of sides of J come out on this album, but the common thread is his somewhat morose, thoughtful, and moving sort of ballad thing. Many songs fit into this category, from "Pulling Arrows from Our Heels" to "In the Great Blue Whenever" to "Estranged". Most of the songs can be described as beautiful, melodic, singer-songwriter things (only better than the image that might construct). Most of these more subdued songs seem to focus on relationships and the difficulty of getting past a broken one, making me suspect that J went through such a situation not long before (or while) writing the songs.

J is far from not willing to rock, though. "The Guitar Man" is a full-blown affair, and several others drive along with some electronic bits or stronger guitar or drums. More than straight-up rocking, though, J seems to have enjoyed playing with dynamics and sudden changes in this batch of songs. "Ruined Cities" sounds like a dark semi-electronic piece until the weird Beatlesque bridge crops up, "If Anything Should Ever Happen to You" picks up considerably a few times just for two lines, and even "Estranged" has the sudden romantic vision of a vast-sounding bridge.

Despite the dynamic nature of many of the pieces, I feel like this is J's most consistent record (by which I mostly just mean that the songs are all consistently good). His overall sound remains similar, but he has grown with his choices of accompaniment and arrangement since his first solo outings. It's funny to think that someone who contributed so much to the dark, gothic rock feel of Bauhaus and the trippy psychedelia of Love & Rockets could also make such melodic, restrained, largely-acoustic music, but clearly he can. "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight", the sole J-sung Bauhaus song, and the folkier tunes of Love & Rockets' Earth.Sun.Moon album help bridge the gaps, though – J has always had an eye for melody and complex, interesting structures. Estranged is probably J's most interesting album, and likely his best.

Score: A

P.S. Estranged was released with a limited edition bonus album, Embrace Your Dysfunction. After selling them all years ago, J recently found some more, so I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to buy one. I'll probably write a short-ish review of it soon. [Edit 2018.08.30: See here.]

Trent Reznor & Peter Murphy - Live Radio Shows 2006

I first got in to Nine Inch Nails in middle school, presumably from the influence of my sisters. The band and its core member, Trent Reznor, remained near the top of my list of favorite artists until mid-highschool, when I explored the post-punk scene that I now adore. That's not to say I don't like their/his old music; I still spin it now and then, it's just that other things have stolen my primary interest, such as Bauhaus, and by extension, their lead singer and later a semi-successful solo artist, Peter Murphy.

Then, in 2005, something wonderful happened. Bauhaus reunited to play a series of concerts (which I missed, but my old friend Julius did not, and he kindly lent me a recording of the Boston show he saw), and they had enough fun to do a second tour, sharing the bill with Nine Inch Nails. This wasn't the first time NIN had shared a bill with one of Reznor's favorite artists: in 1995, he shared the stage with David Bowie, who was touring his Brian Eno-produced album Outside.

I found that cool but didn't think too much of the NIN part until I started hanging out with Keagan, who reminded me about the band and their new records. My interest still wasn't entirely piqued until I caught word of a small set of radio shows the two bands did together.

I had heard rumor that during concerts the two lead singers would sometimes sing each others' songs, but I found no proof until I found a bootleg of the four radio shows the two did together. Sure enough, the two musicians sing each other's songs and play some oddball and/or fun covers on top of it all.

Artist: Trent Reznor and Peter Murphy, with guests

Session 1: 99x, Atlanta, Georgia, 7 June 2006
1. Head Like a Hole [originally by Nine Inch Nails]
2. Sanity Assassin [originally by Bauhaus]
3. Hurt [originally by Nine Inch Nails]

Session 2: DC101, Washington, DC, 13 June 2006, with TV on the Radio (the tour's opening act)
1. Dreams [originally by TV on the Radio]
2. Final Solution [Pere Ubu cover, previously covered by Peter Murphy]
3. Bela Lugosi's Dead [originally by Bauhaus]

Session 3: WBCN, Boston, Massachusetts, 23 June 2006, with Jeordie White and Atticus Ross (NIN's bassist and programmer/producer, respectively)
1. Reptile [originally by Nine Inch Nails] → Haunted When the Minutes Drag [Love & Rockets cover]
2. Warm Leatherette [The Normal cover]
3. Strange Kind of Love [originally by Peter Murphy]
4. Nightclubbing [Iggy Pop cover]

Session 4: First Midwest Bank Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois, 1 July 2006, with the full NIN touring band
1. Dead Souls [Joy Division cover, previously covered by Nine Inch Nails]
2. Twenty Four Hours [Joy Division cover]
3. Warsaw [Joy Division cover]
4. Atmosphere [Joy Division cover]

Analysis:
These shows rock. The performances are all solid and the song choice could not be better. Most renditions are cleverly redone, and the singers do indeed trade songs. This is a one-of-a-kind thing. I will discuss individual tracks at length.

"Head Like a Hole" is done much slower and electronically, and Murphy does lead vocals. The original recording is sampled a few times. This song is a bit disarming as an opener – I find it less impressive than most of the later songs they do. It's still very interesting, but I guess the whole first set just isn't quite as fascinating as the later three shows.

"Sanity Assassin" was originally a somewhat obscure Bauhaus song, but Reznor sings and does a very electronic rendition. Murphy sings backup, but I don't know what else he's doing in the performance. "Hurt" is done with no samples or electronics, just Murphy's voice and Reznor's keyboard. It's not too exciting, but it is yet another rendition of the now-famous song. [Edit 2016.05.12: This version of "Hurt" was released as a single by Murphy in 2009.]

I don't know much about TV on the Radio, but "Dreams" is a cool song. (Side note: when I saw The Faint live in 2004, TV on the Radio was the opener on every show of the tour except in Lawrence, Kansas, where I saw them. My sister lent me their Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes album around the same time.) It's fairly post-punk, with some shoegaze-like drones. The original features both of the band's vocalists singing in different octaves, and the version here keeps the original higher vocal sound, but the deeper singer shares his parts with Murphy and Reznor. The shift between all the vocalists only makes the song more dynamic and interesting.

"Final Solution" is a weird Pere Ubu song (but the band itself is weird), and Peter Murphy did a great cover version on his first album in 1986. The version here is somewhere between the original and Murphy's version, but features Reznor on lead vocals. The sound is great - it's full and heavy, which is closer to the original version in some ways. The structure is more like Murphy's cover but this version is just a bit more intense, which works well here. I love some of the song's lyrics, like "Buy me a ticket to a sonic reduction / Guitar's gonna sound like a nuclear destruction" (whereupon the music dead halts for a moment before breaking into the chorus) and "Mama threw me out till I get some pants that fit / She just won't approve of my strange kind of wit". The ending is an extended drone, where the higher TV on the Radio vocalist emulates the wordless vocalizations skillfully.

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" was Bauhaus' first single and typically considered the first goth rock song. The song was nine minutes long (making everyone wonder why it was released as a single), but an edit was featured in The Hunger, starring David Bowie. This version is shortened to about five minutes, but TV on the Radio adds just the right feel of instrumentation and throws in some extra backing vocals for good measure.

"Reptile" was a NIN cover, but this version is sung by Murphy. The bassline is more prominent, but otherwise the song is similar to the original, but instead of the extended instrumental outro, the bass and guitar suddenly start playing Love & Rockets' "Haunted When the Minutes Drag". I love the song, but it's an interesting choice, since Love & Rockets is composed of all the members of Bauhaus except Peter Murphy. This version is even more spacey and droning than the original and has some great e-bow work.

"Warm Leatherette" is a cover of one of The Normal's few songs: the band was basically just Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records, and he released one single (b/w "T.V.O.D.") and a weird one-sided live album. Murphy sings this version over some dancy electronic instrumentation. (Of note: the song was inspired by J.G. Ballard's Crash, but is not alone in that: The Creatures (a side project of Siouxsie & the Banshees) released a single titled "Miss the Girl" with the same source of inspiration. Grace Jones has done a reggae cover of "Warm Leatherette", to add to the weirdness.)

"Strange Kind of Love" brings a change in mood, as Reznor states; Murphy sings his own song while Reznor or one of his bandmates plays a solo electric guitar, straightforwardly emulating the original version. "Nightclubbing" is one of Iggy Pop's most well-known songs. Murphy sings lead here, which isn't surprising, since he once did a cover of Pop's "Funtime".

The final show is straight Joy Division covers, which ends up working quite well. All four songs done are fairly similar to the original versions, but hearing these musicians do such solid covers is really delightful. Both Murphy and Reznor are clearly fans; Bauhaus covers "Transmission" live these days, and Reznor once covered "Dead Souls". This version follows the NIN cover, but throws some extra e-bow in and is sung by Murphy. Murphy also sings the amped-up versions of "Twenty Four Hours" and "Warsaw" and the wonderfully aptly-named "Atmosphere", which tends to be the fan favorite Joy Division song. (I applaud the choice of overlooking the excellent but well-known and oft-covered "Love Will Tear Us Apart".) [Edit 2016.05.12: Murphy later released a live version of "Transmission" with his own band as a single in 2009.]

Review:
Peter Murphy and Trent Reznor are both great musicians; both have been a part of bands that I have considered amongst my favorites. These shows could not have been more skillfully done, with the possible exception of the first, which lacks only a degree of the inspired mood of the other three shows. The song choices are excellent, spanning each musician's career and some of their favorite covers. The renditions are mostly solid; the sound is always great and the concept of trading each other's songs works out very well. My only complaint is that "Hurt" and "Strange Kind of Love" are too plain and lack any of the rearrangement found in the other performances. The Joy Division cover set is a welcome surprise, and although fairly straightforward, nonetheless a worthy tribute.

I highly recommend acquiring the bootleg recordings if you like any of the people involved. They aren't hard to find and the quality and unique nature of the performances make them well worth it. Also, check out the NIN website for video of the second and third radio shows. [Note (2014.06.09): The videos are apparently no longer available on the official website.] [Edit 2016.05.12: The audio recordings are all available on ninlive.com.]

Score: A