Greatest. Video. Ever. Period.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHwlP0oEaF8]
Happy Post-Valentine’s Day. You’re welcome.
Stars’ last album, Set Yourself On Fire, is not only the band’s finest effort it’s also a classic album. Released in 2005, it still sounds just as fresh, just as gorgeous – just as heartbreaking – in 2007. Two years may seem too soon to call an album ‘classic’ but trust me: Set Yourself On Fire will stand the test of time. It will go on to be considered one of the greatest break-up albums ever made.
I’ve had Set Yourself On Fire as part of my iPod shuffle (the only iPod I need, in my opinion) playlist for the past couple weeks and every time a song from the album comes on it just…digs into me. On every track the horns, violins, pianos, drums, guitars are all perfectly placed and the lyrics – oh, the lyrics – are almost too good. At the end of album opener, “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” when Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell both sing, “I’m not sorry I met you, I’m not sorry it’s over, I’m not sorry there’s nothing to save,” it’s evident you’re in for an emotional rollercoaster. And you most certainly are; from breaking up, to holding on, to letting go, to moving on, to remembering, to the sadness, to every convoluted emotion you go through after a serious relationship – Set Yourself On Fire captures it all, eloquently.
Lately, I find myself immersed in individual tracks from the album. For awhile, I’d been listening to “Reunion” on repeat when I accidentally let it carry into “The Big Fight”. Before I could switch back Amy’s voice had risen from the horn’s descent and I was hooked. I spent the rest of the night enthralled in Amy and Torquil’s exchanges:
A: The clothes in the wardrobe?
T: Just send them to me.
A: There are bills here for you.
T: That’s ‘cause nothing is free,
Later in the song:
A: Did I build you a prison?
T: Please don’t let me go.
A: I’ve unlocked the door,
A&T: but you can’t walk away from me.
The dialogue between the two – working through the aftermath of breaking up after living together – is so identifiable for anyone who’s done it. And the chorus, “He doesn’t want her but he just can’t let her go. She started breaking but she just won’t let it show,” – I’ve never heard it laid out as perfectly as the “The Big Fight” does it. Currently, “Celebration Guns” is the Set Yourself On Fire track to play over and over in my headphones. I seriously get chills every time I hear Amy sing, “So tomorrow there will be another number, for the one who had a name.”
Now, I could go on and on about how flawless and dead-on Set Yourself On Fire is but this isn’t an essay paper and I think you get my point: when it comes to capturing the aftermath of a failed relationship, Stars’ Set Yourself On Fire has no equal. You might argue another artist – like sensitive-songwriter Teitur – has better “oh, baby, I miss you,” tracks but do douchebag’s songs contain lyrics like, “I had six too many drinks last night, yes, and that’s why I made you stay,” or “when she’s breaking his heart she still fucks like a tease,”? I don’t think so. Nor do his songs present both sides of the coin – another reason Set Yourself On Fire is so much better than anything else(i.e. Stars provide both male and female perspectives on their tracks).
Damn it, I shouldn’t have mentioned Teitur – now I’ve got one of his shitty songs stuck in my head. “Something, something, something, to meet you…” No wonder he’s all alone, crying into his guitar – what a pussy. You know, for years I thought his name was pronounced ‘tet-ur’ only to find out it was ‘tite-er’. How about pronouncing it: ‘you suck’. God, I hate that fucking guy.
Teitur sucks. Picture taken by Lars Hoye Overland – altered by Me.
EDIT 1: It just dawned on me, you may not know who Teitur is. Here’s his official website.
EDIT 2: Oh yeah, forgot to mention – I tried to get Stars to do Bands and Booze and although they initially said yes, they have since fallen off the face of the earth. Or my earth, at least. Bummer.
More and more it seems the artists I enjoy listening to and want to interview aren’t necessarily hard-partiers or binge drinkers however; that doesn’t make them any less interesting or desirable to talk to. That’s why I’ve decided to do a new interview series – to accompany Bands and Booze – called Headphone Favorites.
Today’s interview, the first Headphone Favorites ever, is with the extremely talented Hrishikesh Hirway, better know as The One AM Radio. Aside from releasing the acclaimed A Name Writ in Water in 2004, Hirway recently signed with my favorite record label of 2006, Dangerbird Records, and is getting ready to put out his third full-length album, This Too Will Pass (see Chris Walker Vs. Dangerbird Records).
Much like The One AM Radio’s music, the man behind it is very thoughtful and genuine when answering questions. Today, Hirway talks about how he came to sign with Dangerbird Records, what’s in a name, and the mis-adventures of getting stopped in South Carolina.
First of all, congratulations on signing with Dangerbird Records; I think they’re a great label. How did the union between you two come about?
Hrishikesh Hirway: A friend of mine introduced me to Jeff at Dangerbird because he was looking for someone to come help out at the label. I’d just moved back to LA and was looking for design work. We got along really well, and around the same time, I was finishing up my album and looking for someone to release it. Over the next few months, I got to see first-hand what a great label they were and they got to know me and [my] music, and we all eventually decided that it would be very exciting and would make a lot of sense to have the record come out on Dangerbird.
Picture taken from Dangerbird Records website.
Will Dangerbird be re-releasing your back catalogue – A Cloud’s Fear of Kites: A Kite’s Fear of Heights, for example – in the future?
HH: We’ve talked about it, but there aren’t any immediate specific plans. I did put up that EP on iTunes, though, so it’s still available in some form, even though the actual physical copies are sold out.
Now, I’ve heard “In The Time We’ve Got” and it’s everything I’ve come to love about your music; what can fans of The One AM Radio expect from the new album? Will it be a progression of the sound we’ve come to associate with The One AM Radio or a departure into an entirely new realm?
HH: I’d say this record is mostly a progression, hopefully an evolution. The sound of it, I think, is bigger and darker than what I’ve done before, and I think it’s a little poppier, too, maybe.
I remember reading a while back on The One AM Radio’s official site you were done recording under that moniker and wanted to start making music – or art, at least – under your real name, Hrishikesh Hirway. What made you change your mind?
HH: A friend of mine, Nat, from the band Transistor Transistor, said something that I thought was pretty wise. He’d come to hang out at Godcity, the recording studio where I was tracking some drum parts for the album. We were talking about my then-recent decision to do away with the name “The One AM Radio”, which I came up with and had been using since I was 19. I felt like I’d outgrown it, that it no longer fit. He said that band names are much like babies’ names; you can never know how fitting or how well-suited a name will be at the beginning. As time passes, things might turn out to be different that what you’d imagined, and though the name might not always seem perfect, that’s part of the adventure of it all. That idea rang true to me, and I’d been finding it increasingly hard to sever myself from the history I’d had with the name and not feel like it was a mistake. So after some weeks of trying to lose it, I re-adopted it.
Picture taken from The One Am Radio’s MySpace profile.
Going back to art for a minute, I know you had an art exhibit at The Raven in Arizona, are you planning any new showcases this year?
HH: I don’t have anything set up. I’m making new work, but I’ll be touring for the majority of the year, and I’ll mostly be focused on that.
I can imagine that will dominate most of your time. Now, I know you’re not much of a drinker but I also know you’ve done a fair share of touring and traveling – with more to come, as you’ve said – do you have any outlandish, funny, or memorable stories from the road?
HH: One of my favorite memories from being on tour was getting stopped by the cops in South Carolina in 2003. It was just me and Joe Grimm (aka The Wind-Up Bird) in a sedan, with all our equipment. The cop asked us what we did, and when we replied that we were musicians, he looked at the gear in the back seat. He asked, “What’ve you got back there? Some guitars? A violin?” We confirmed, and he went on to ask us if, in addition, we had any of the following items: “Beer?” No. “Marijuana?” No. “Cocaine?” No. “Crack, angel dust, PCP?” No, sir. “Any knives?” No. “Guns?” The list went on. Somewhere in the middle there, without the slightest sign he might be joking, he asked us: “Any swords?” But luckily, we didn’t have any swords with us. That day.
Well that’s fortunate. Did you make any New Years resolutions this year?
HH: The usual ones: be healthier, call my mom more often.
Are you sticking to them?
HH: As usual, only somewhat.
Picture taken from The One Am Radio’s MySpace profile.
All right, one more question; which are better: Vikings, ninjas, or pirates?
HH: This is tough. I like the deadly stealthiness of a ninja. Ok, I’d say Vikings aren’t really in the running. I think Sir Francis Drake is pretty cool; he helped England defeat the Spanish Armada in the 16th century and was knighted and yet was also considered a pirate. Still, clichés though they are, the R rolling and the eyepatches, the scurvy and the peglegs, these are all strikes against the pirates. I’m goin
g to have to go with ninjas.
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For more on The One AM Radio, including tour dates, mp3s, pictures, and more visit the links below:
[Official Site] The One AM Radio.
[MySpace] The One AM Radio.
[MP3] The One AM Radio: In The Time We’ve Got
