via @melanarchy/Twitpic

Better than: Being forced to go home any earlier, even with a book in each hand.

Halfway through Okkervil River's newest album I Am Very Far lies a song called "We Need a Myth." "We need a myth," Okkervil frontman Will Sheff sings, "a path through the mist." What that myth might be is never specified, and nor should it be. Instead of explanation—or the knowingly clever linguistic exercises found on songs like The Stage Names's "Plus Ones"—Sheff's songwriting on Very Far is more descriptive and abstract. The second line of "We Need a Myth," for instance, introduces the image of an "amethyst bridge"; the second verse presents a red ribbon "to reconnect/ The lady's head to her neck/ And to forget that her throat was ever slit."

photo by Adam Mandel

Will Sheff and Charles Bissell
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thursday, December 11

Rare are the days where you find yourself at a record release party--a true record release party, where you're celebrating an actual piece of vinyl, which is what Will Sheff of Okkervil River and Charles Bissell of the Wrens did last night. The event's pretense was a Jagjaguwar seven-inch, where Sheff covers Bissell and vice versa. At its peak, the room was maybe half full--which is a surprise, considering how well Okkervil has done here over the years. And Sheff's smart-guy, bookworm, troubadour persona is both likable and hard to resist. But again, it was nasty out, rain pouring down from all angles, cold and dreary; yet, the perfect storm for the type of songs he writes, especially Black Sheep Boy.

DISCUSSED: accelerated culture, Okkervil River, Webster Hall, Now That’s What I Call Indie Rock!, Radiohead, balloons, "Sloop John B," plus ones.

Will Sheff at Webster Hall by this guy

Okkervil River
Webster Hall
September 28

by Bret Gladstone

Earlier this year, there were scads of online buzz about the This is Next release of a Indie's Biggest Hits Vol. 1 Review compilation series. Naturally, bloggers found this incredibly funny and interesting. One reason for that was because the idea raised obvious questions about how to define an already laughably vague genre-distinction. Another topic was the irony of how most of the bands reportedly selected for the record had already traveled the undulating curve of e-hipster appeal several times over. Finally, the whole concept seemed to confirm what everyone already kind of knew: Given that the term “indie” is now a construction built on manufacturing cool and selling records, the genre really isn’t that different from pop music at all.