today
9 a.m. T-ball Registration Boys and Girls Club Teen Center
read >9 a.m. Apple Solutions for Small Business See Event Description
read >9 a.m. Doris Niles Humboldt County Science Fair Humboldt State University
read >10 a.m. Annual Juggling Festival Humboldt State University
read >6 p.m. Americans for Safe Access Bayview Courtyard Complex
read >6 p.m. Apple Solutions for Small Business Fortuna River Lodge
read >7 p.m. Blondies Open Mic Night Blondies Food And Drink
read >7:30 p.m. A Midsummer Night's Dream Arcata High School
read >8 p.m. Karaoke at Bear River Casino Bear River Casino
read >8 p.m. Karaoke Blue Lake Casino
read >8 p.m. On the Wings of a Dove Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)
read >8 p.m. Moscow State Radio Symphony Van Duzer Theatre
read >8 p.m. Random Acts of Comedy Arcata Theater Lounge
read >8 p.m. Antigone College of the Redwoods
read >9 p.m. Lisa Baney Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >9 p.m. Wig-in-a-Box Karaoke at Aunty Mo's Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >9 p.m. Aftershock Thursdays w/ Da Foot Clan Nocturnum
read >9 p.m. Children of the Sun (blues) Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. Skerdio, Psy Fi Red Fox Tavern
read >9:30 p.m. Woven Roots, Monk (reggae) Humboldt Brews
read >10 p.m. DJ/Thirsty Thursday Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >previous columns
Feb. 21, 2008
Tim Catlin
Live performance Feb. 2 at the San Francisco Arts Institute ...
read >Feb. 14, 2008
The Nightfeeders
CD by Nudity. Discourage Records. Chances are that if you've ...
read >Feb. 7, 2008
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Book by Sherman Alexie. Little, Brown Young Readers A diary ...
read >Photos
Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
By Mark Shikuma
CD by Lightspeed Champion.
Domino Recording.
It is a surprise to initially hear Lightspeed Champion's debut, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, especially for those who may be familiar with the UK singer/songwriter (whose real name is Devonte Hynes) from his former band, The Test Icicles, whose jagged thrash punk was near-chaotic. Then again, this recording is full of surprises. From the delicate pedal steel of the opening song, "Number One," you realize that this is light-years from his original persona.
One could give credit to producer/multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis, one of the three principle members of Bright Eyes, who lends his Saddle Creek label sentiments. The record's alt-country sound is filled with pedal steel, strings, woodwinds, banjo and keyboards that comfortably surround the vocals. Mogis also worked as engineer/producer for Bright Eyes albums Cassadaga, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, as well as producing Rabbit Fur Coat, the recent solo effort by Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley.
What Hynes brings is his classic British pop song sensibility — reminiscent of Prefab Sprout or The Daintees, and songs full of parts — with time changes and chord changes that often arrive in a surprising place. His lyrics are full of ache, insecurity and fatalism. As he noted in a recent Mojo interview, he wrote all of the songs "in one go, on a long play journey, suffering from insomnia and having just broken up with my girlfriend. My stream of consciousness was just flying wild."
His sensitive "All to Shit" is a beautiful, melodic song of break-up, with only a string arrangement to accompany his vulnerable vocal. "Midnight Surprise" is a song that seems to have three parts seamlessly strung together slowly building to an Arcade Fire-like crescendo. Songs such as "Dry Lips" or "Let the Bitches Die" have oddly upbeat mandolin-driven, hook-laden melodies juxtaposed with Hynes' fatalistic lyrics as if they were joyous discoveries, enhanced by the lovely backing vocals of little-known British singer/songwriter "Emmy the Great" (Emma-Lee Moss).
It's also worth noting that Nate Walcott from Bright Eyes arranged the string parts for Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, which was recorded at the Saddle Creek studios in Omaha.
At first thought, this combination seems oddball, but it works. The production and arrangements enhance the songs, rather than smother them. And like the surprise of Bright Eyes' Cassadaga, one of last year's strongest records, it's filled with eccentric changes, textural elements and dark lyricism. Lightspeed Champion's debut release is full of depth, craft and dark beauty that allows you to notice numerous different layers upon repeated listening. While Lightspeed Champion has already turned in one of the strongest debuts of 2008, it is reported that he has already written songs for two more albums. One is curious what that material will sound like. Expect a bounty of surprises — good ones — if they're anything like this debut.


















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