Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: 'Mirror Traffic'
Out now!
We don’t shill for just any modern-day rock-’n’-roll stars. Go away, GaGA! Scram, Biebster! Take a hike, Tori Amos! Truly, only the best of the best musical artists of our time will get mention in your HiddenEntries Weblog posts, and here is one such musical artist: Mr. Stephen Malkmus and his backing band generally known as The Jicks.
The mature sensibilities that came through in his previous effort, Dragonfly Pie, do not retreat in Traffic. However, the desperate and dark HBO-drama-Sopranos–Wire mood that permeated Pie do give way to a much more accessible sound this time around.
Standout tracks include “Senator” (“I know what the senator wants/What the senator wants is a…”) and “Stick Figures in Love”, an eminently hummable New Order-meets-The-Eagles-Laurel-Canyon-Sound-meets-The-Byrds-revival anthem (or at least as close to an anthem as Mr. Malkmus can get). Also, where would the art of music review be without hyphens?
Good stuff. Free ones:
Rundown
Saratoga Race Course 1, 2, 10
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club 3, 4, 8
Good early double now at the Ancient Spa. Good enough at the Western Spa.
Pay-side
Rundown
Delpark 7, 8, 9
Suffolk 4, 6, 9
River 2, 6, 7
Woodbine 2, 3, 5
Remington 2, 7, 8
Uncharacteristically blah at Rexdale-Etobicoke International this evening. However, Remington never lets anybody down.
WMF Report:
Speed
Delpark 6f
Hastings 1 1/16m
Northlands 6½f
Suffolk 6f
Rally
Del Mar 1 1/16m (T) (WMF 17)
Rally (Honourable Mention)
Woodbine 1 1/16m (WMF 27)
Nocturnal Submission: All the way out to the ninth at Chas. Town (10:52 p.m. EDT / 7:52 p.m. PDT), and the comebacking #2 Rutledge Lion has as good a chance as anybody else. …
Thank you. Goodbye.
