Because new music can be intoxicating.
And people sometimes call me Drunk.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Best of the Rest
or
88 Lines about 44 Songs
Part Four 11) Minus the Bear - Lies and Eyes
Like Matt Scheidler, I am a child of the 90's. That means strong guitars in the alternative style will always work for me.
10) Jack White - Sixteen Saltines
I was a little let down by this Jack White album. This song, however, is representative of almost everything that Jack White does well.
9) Tanlines - All of Me
I guess this is 80's-ish? I just think it is crazy danceable.
Part Three 22) The Royal Concept - Gimme Twice
Yes, this does sound just like Phoenix. But Phoenix didn't release an album this year, and this is quite capable of filling the vacuum.
21) Atlas Genius - Trojans
Not much to say. It is catchy indie pop though.
20) fun. - Some Nights
Yes, I don't understand the need for auto-tune, and the "whoa-oh-oh-ohs" do kinda sound like "Oh Cecilia." Still, this song is, well, fun.
Part Two 33) Dirty Projectors - Offspring are Blank
This is kinda a weird song (although not really by Dirty Projectors standards). But even weird songs can kick ass.
32) El P - Oh Hail No
El P is a very good producer and a competent enough rapper. The reason this song is ranked where it is though is because at the 1:40 mark, Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire gives my favorite rap verse of the year.
31) Kelly Hogan - We Can't Have Nice Things
Is it enough to say I find her voice pretty? Because that's all the analysis you're going to get.
(In order to go easy on internet browsers, this will be broken into four parts)
Part One
44) Adam Arcuragi - Oh I See
Gospel-infused folk that manages to build to a spiritual crescendo. Having never heard of the guy before this year, I can't wait to see where he goes from here.
43) Yuna - Someone Out of Town
Brooding and haunting, this is one of my favorite chill songs of the year. Reminds me of that one Imogen Heap song.
42) Lightships - Sweetness is Her Spark
I was likely to enjoy anything by a former member of Teenage Fanclub. Airy pretty guitars will get me every time.
Best 13 Albums of 2012
It sure felt like it was an awful good year in music this year. It's been interesting compiling this list after paying so much closer attention to new releases on a week to week basis: some of the albums released in the first quarter of the year feel like they came out a decade ago. Still, these selections have managed to stay at the forefront of my mind, and I fully expect to be reaching for these albums often in the years to come. 13) Tribes - Baby
I listened the hell out of this album at the beginning of the year. Old-school 90's Britpop with plenty of singalong choruses.
We Were Children
Sadly no music update this week. I'm going to blame Taylor Swift's new album not being available on Spotify and a lack of other interesting releases, but we all know it's just laziness on my part.
I'll be back next week. In the meantime, enjoy the following video for "Baddest Man Alive," which is a Black Keys RZA collaboration. The song itself is enjoyable, but the video features RZA hitting Dan Auerbach in the face with a fish.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
New Music Roundup 10/17
Matters of real life pushed this back later than normal, but better late than never, I guess.
Revolt Revolt - Latah Nights
I was unaware of this band until recently, but they're pretty darn good. They've spent a lot of time opening for Built to Spill, and that pairing makes a lot of sense: they specialize in that 90's alternative guitar-led genre and manage to touch upon a lot of the giants: not just Built to Spill, but The Pixies, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr. as well. Interestingly, some of their slower songs have a psychedelic feel that more than a little brings to mind Jane's Addiction. Additionally, the album is only eight tracks long, and there is definitely something to say about not wearing out your welcome.
Jason Lytle - Department of Disappearance
Jason Lytle's previous band Grandaddy is something of a musical blind spot for me, but hearing this recent album, which is Lytle's second solo effort, makes me want to explore Grandaddy's back catalog.
Lytle's music is an interesting amalgamation: he uses plenty of synthesizers and strings, but he usually grounds the music in driving guitars, and he definitely knows how to craft a song. This means he can do just about any style: driving rock, mellow folk, spacey prog, or straightforward pop rock. Lytle's offkilter raspy vocals are kinda reminiscent to me of The Thrills (sidenote: remember The Thrills?), but they are similarly versatile in their mood, sounding at different times apathetic, whimsical, melancholic, or spaced-out.
The album could probably use a little bit more uptempo songs - it sags a bit in the middle before picking up again with the excellent "Your Final Setting Sun" - but the beautiful moments are awful beautiful.
Here's the return of the (dare I say) incredibly buzzworthy new weekly (if I feel like it) feature where I talk about older albums I really like that have not gotten the attention I feel they deserve.
Today's going to be a little different: I'm going to be talking about two albums from New Jersey power pop band Fountains of Wayne because a) I was unable to choose between the two albums, b) I wasn't able to post anything last week and consequently feel I owe an extra album this week, and c) this is my blog, and I can do whatever the hell I feel like doing, ok? Now let's get to the writer-crutch headings...
Band: Fountains of Wayne
Genre thoughts: It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone reading this (unless I'm still getting Russian traffic, in which case за ваше здоровье!) that I am a big fan of the musical genre known as power pop. Taking a step back a bit, one of the great things about music is that it can be so many different things to a person, changing constantly with a person's current situation, their mood, hell even the weather. Because of this, I try not to disparage any artist or genre as being too mellow, or too sad, or too intellectual, or too aggressive, or too whatever, because I know there may come a time when that type of music is exactly what I want. To everything there is a season (I just came up with that).
Consequently meditations on mortality, loss, social injustice, or the trials and tribulations of the Tibetan people have their place, but if I'm reaching for them more often than every once and awhile, something may be wrong. The majority of my life I hope to be in a happy mood, and the music I'd like to listen to is something that matches that mood, namely something preferably upbeat and hopeful with a melody that's catchy and can get stuck in my head. And it is precisely here where power pop delivers.
Most here are probably at least somewhat familiar with Fountains of Wayne; I'd imagine everyone has at least heard their 2003 single "Stacy's Mom" (except again maybe the Russians; I don't really know how many years behind us you comrades are pop culturally). What a lot of people probably don't realize is that I consider Fountains of Wayne to be the best American power pop band of the past twenty years, provided Neko Case's American citizenship doesn't make the New Pornographers an American band (and it doesn't, by the way).
First Album: Fountains of Wayne
Year: 1996
Background: Made back when Fountains of Wayne only consisted only of the duo of Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood (they would later go on to add two more members), this album of tight catchy pop songs was recorded in only five days. Considering 1996 was right in the smack dab in the middle of the post-grunge phase (or grunge's second wave, or third wave, or whatever: it was when bands like Bush and Everclear were seemingly everywhere), Fountains of Wayne stood out for being comprised of straighforward angst-free pop songs. If you've encountered this album by accident before, chances are it was one of two songs: either "Radiation Vibe" or "Sink to the Bottom."
Is it any good?: Personally, I don't think Fountains of Wayne has ever been better than on their debut album. The one thing that has been consistent with all the Fountains of Wayne albums - in addition to Adam Schlesinger's writing of "That Thing You Do!" (arguably my favorite original song in a movie ever) and contributions to the soundtrack for Josie and the Pussycats (which may need its own underrated blog post: the album was produced by Babyface, sung by Letters to Cleo frontwoman Kay Hanley, and features writing contributions from Schlesinger, Adam Duritz, Matthew Sweet, and the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin) - is that they seemingly effortlessly write catchy hooks, and their self-titled debut is no exception. Any one of these songs can get lodged into your head for weeks on end.
A.C. Newman - Shut Down the Streets
This is New Pornographer Carl Newman's third solo album (I don't know why he goes by A.C. Newman for his solo efforts either). His first two solo albums, 2004's The Slow Wonder and 2009's Get Guilty are both quite good and almost entirely indistinguishable from The New Pornographers' official albums in a way that Destroyer's or Neko Case's solo stuff isn't: it's not hard at all envisioning songs like "Miracle Drug,'"On the Table," and "Prophets" appearing on New Pornographers' albums. In fact, if any of you like the New Pornographers and haven't yet listened to A.C. Newman, you really owe it to yourself to do so.
When I heard that Neko Case was going to be making guest appearances on Shut Down the Streets, I expected this third album to continue the trend of sounding very similar to the New Pornographers' work, but upon listening to it, I'm somewhat surprised to learn that this isn't the case. In many ways, this album is what you would expect from a solo album by the principal songwriter of a rock band: the mood here is much more subdued, mimicking the AM Gold vibe of the singer-songwriter era of the 70's, and songs are far more likely to meander lazily about. Make no mistake, this is still Carl Newman: the album still has its fair share of pleasing melodies, but if you're looking for something like the New Pornographers' more rocking numbers or soaring choruses, you're not going to find it here.
All in all, I still enjoy the album - I tend to just like the way Newman writes songs - and I really enjoy lead single "Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns," which has the bigness that some of the New Pornographers' best has. This won't top my list of favorite New Pornographers albums (that would be Electric Version or Twin Cinema, depending on the day), and this isn't even my favorite Newman album (the aforementioned The Slow Wonder), but it is a solid addition to the rotation.
Low Cut Connie - Call Me Sylvia
I was unaware of this band before yesterday, but I have to say that today I am an enormous fan. Everyone should support this band: they're just a no-frills, raucous, throw-back rock and roll bar band, the perfect kind of music to play from a (ideally coin-operated) jukebox when you're having a bourbon in a seedy dive bar at one in the morning. The music is suitably retro without relying too heavily on any one source; there's some dirty garage rock, doo-wop, more than a little honky tonk piano, and some R&B from the time when those letters actually stood for rhythm and blues. Over this the lead singer exudes old-school swagger, singing about such diverse topics as drinking, fucking, and longing for more drinks to drink and girls to fuck. If there's any act that they recall more than others, it's the Faces. What I'm saying is that this band has probably cracked my top ten of most wanted-to-see live acts.
Call Me Sylvia is actually the band's second album - their first was self-financed and came out in 2011 - and I also recommend checking out that album, entitled Get Out the Lotion. This second album is actually more contemplative than the relentless party of the first album (at least in that cry in my beer contemplative way drunks can get). Either way, this is definitely definitely definitely a band to keep an eye on.
And now, what the threes of you who read this blog have sorta desperately been clamoring for: more half-assed content. In an effort to switch it up a little bit, I decided it might be nice to do a second post each week, this one detailing an album I personally love that might not be quite as widespread in popularity as I believe it deserves to be. Whether this becomes a weekly feature, a monthly feature, or the first and last post in this vein ever is still up in the air and will depend on a myriad of factors, including but not limited to how long this post takes to write, whether I can think of another album I'm interested in writing about, and whether or not there's anything good on TV to distract me from writing. For now though, I'm excited about it: I enjoy bossing people around about what new music they should listen to and see no reason why that bossiness can't apply to albums released before January 2012. The first one up is a classic in some circles and completely unknown in others, Guided by Voices' album Bee Thousand.
Album: Bee Thousand Band: Guided by Voices Year: 1994
Reason for all these headings followed by colons: It's easier to write than forming actual paragraphs
Background: Prior to Bee Thousand, Guided by Voices was less a band than a loose collection of dudes from Dayton, OH who since the early 80's would sometimes hang around then-37 year-old 4th grade teacher Robert Pollard and drink beer, occasionally playing one of the thousands of songs Pollard had written when he wasn't going over multiplication tables or reading Maniac Magee or teaching kids whatever else they were supposed to learn in fourth grade (I don't remember the years too well, honestly). Their 1992 release Propeller, which only printed 500 copies, was actually supposed to be the final album for the "band" (again, really more of a fluid collective of musicians who Pollard apparently was nonstop hiring and firing), but the album somehow was able to garner buzz outside of Dayton (as everyone in the entertainment industry says: first you conquer Dayton, then the entire world), showing up on the college radio circuit. This increase in popularity also helped forge a more regular lineup of Pollard, Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell on guitar, Greg Demos on bass, and Kevin Fennell on drums, which would eventually be referred to as the classic Guided by Voices lineup. This lineup would release an album (Vampire on Titus) and two EPs in 1993 (Robert Pollard is nothing if not prolific), but it would be their next album that would take them to the next level.
Wonderful history lessons aside, reasons why this album stands out to me: Well, the history lesson is applicable in that there is something romantic to the idea of a bunch of part-time rockers in their late 30s gathering together to drink a lot of beer and mess around with instruments on home-recordings in their garages. In 1994 it was extremely fashionable in music to appear both authentic and as if you did not give a fuck, and the idea of Guided by Voices as accidental rock stars fit neatly within that paradigm.
But none of that would matter, and I wouldn't listen to the album near as much as I do today, were it not for the fact that Robert Pollard simply was the best songwriter of the 90's. Hugely influenced by a lot of British Invasion and garage rock bands that I personally love, the guy has an uncanny knack for writing a hook or melody that will stay in your head for days. In addition to that, as I mentioned before, Pollard is an incredibly prolific writer: Wikipedia says Pollard has written over 1500 songs, and just in 2012 he's released two Guided by Voices albums and a solo album. Hummable melodies seemingly drip out of Pollard's head.
The other strength of Bee Thousand is ironically the one thing that likely kept Pollard's populist songwriting from finding a truly massive mainstream audience: the production and sequencing of the album. Bee Thousand wasn't recorded in a studio, as several previous Guided by Voices albums had been; instead it was recorded on four-track recorders in the garages and basements of its members. Additionally, the album consists of twenty short tracks (only one is longer than three minutes and many are between one and two minutes) that bleed into one another and were often recorded in only a few takes.
Though structuring the album in this way made it an important touchstone in the burgeoning lo-fi movement of the 90's (and the best of the bunch, in my opinion), I have to believe it was alienating for a lot of people used to clean production and three-plus minute verse-chorus-verse radio-friendly songs (they would ultimately get that album eight years later on 2002's excellent Isolation Drills, whose lack of mainstream success has always baffled me: I've played the song "Chasing Heather Crazy" for at least a dozen people, and every one of them has enjoyed it). However, I think Bee Thousand's lo-fi trappings really elevate the entire album: to listen to it all in one sitting is to be exposed to a kaleidoscope of catchy power pop. There are some rough spots - which keeps up the slacker, amateur, lo-fi ethos - but the short length of all the tracks means anything that doesn't connect with you won't be staying around for long. And more than acting as a way of passing quickly by subpar material, the large number of short tracks helps craft the image of Pollard as a songwriter who actually has too many good songs: he'll write a hook that I would happily listen to twenty more times, only to completely change gears a minute later to something else I would happily listen to twenty more times (I guess that's what the repeat track setting is for). The guy knows how to come up with catchy moments.
Selections: Though I heartily recommend listening to the entirety of the album, if I'm going to boil it down to the best tracks to sample, these would be the ones I'd choose (oh, and I recommend listening to the album on headphones: the recording style takes some getting used to and I think translates a little better to headphones):
Tractor Rape Chain
Echos Myron
Gold Star for Robot Boy
I am a Scientist
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
New Music Roundup, 9/25
Green Day - Uno
Initially, I would say this album was a return to form for Green Day, but upon further reflection, I'm not sure that's really the case. For some reason, I've linked Green Day with bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers or Weezer, bands who have seemingly suffered a decrease in quality while bidding to stay relevant in today's music scene. Green Day has undoubtedly managed to stay relevant - it's still weird to see them on the music-playing portions of the MTV empire (usually MTV2 around 2 in the morning) right next to Katy Perry and Lady GaGa - but I do question whether that sustained relevance came with a cost in quality. Green Day's last album 21st Century Breakdown seemed a little underwhelming coming after American Idiot, but it still was a fairly solid album, and despite those two albums completing Green Day's transition from a snotty punk band to an arena rock band, the music never stopped sounding like Green Day, at least not to my ears.
All that said, their newest release Uno does seem to hearken back to pre-American Idiot days. Billy Jo Armstrong's voice does sound a little overproduced on this album, but the majority of the songs are the kind of driving three chord punk songs that wouldn't seem out of place on Dookie or Insomniac. We can debate whether at this point the band could write these types of songs in their sleep, but who cares about the difficulty of creation: the formula still works.
In honor of the veritable orgy of aural delights that was released yesterday, I'm not wearing any pants as I write this post.
alt-J - An Awesome Wave
I may be out on an island on this, but I absolutely love this arty, schizophrenic, occasionally just plain weird debut album from the British band alt-J. It's difficult for me to describe their sound, and that's part of the appeal: though you hear traces of other indie or folk acts in different parts of their songs, alt-J has more or less managed to create a sound of their own, which is one of the highest compliments I can give a debut album. This band manages to accompany folky guitars and vocal harmonies with off-kilter polyrhythmic beats that sparkle at times, bounce at times, and rock at times. Over all this the lead singer Joe Newman gives what I will call a quirkily affected vocal performance, singing out of the back of his throat in a way that reminded me several times of the lead singer of System of a Down. People's mileage may vary on the guy's voice, but unlike some other bad indie singers - the guy from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah comes to mind - it seems to be an intentional effort on the Newman's part: on a couple of the more straightforward songs, he sounds perfectly normal.
Anyway, this is my favorite album of a week filled with some great music. I will most definitely be tracking this band's career:
This week's post is pushed back a day because of Labor Day. And, you know, laziness.
The Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
A supergroup only under the loosest possible definition of the term, the Divine Fits combines Spoon's Britt Daniel with one of the guys from Wolf Parade and a drummer from some other band or something. This albums to me sounds extremely similar to a Spoon album: were I interested in more than just recommending new music, I would wonder what exactly were the benefits of this side project versus Daniel just recording another Spoon album.
But fortunately, I am really only interested in whether the effort sounds good. And if you like Spoon, as I do, you're bound to enjoy this album. Despite the presence of a higher number of keyboards than on the usual Spoon album (the thing that makes this side project unique from Spoon perhaps?), this album is reminiscent of Spoon's more rock-oriented offerings: there's plenty of those patented spiky angular riffs that Spoon has become known for. I'm still anxious for a proper Spoon release (and an honest attempt to follow up the populist leanings of Ga Ga Ga Ga, although perhaps that is a pipe dream), but this Divine Fits album is a good effort in its own right.
Been a while (been awhile? I always get the correct usage of a while and awhile mixed up), but the blog is back today after several fallow weeks with several compelling releases.
The Heavy - The Glorious Dead
I really enjoy this band: they mix soul, blues, rock, and occasional funk into an appealing package, all while displaying a weird fascination with spaghetti westerns. That right there is something almost uniquely packaged toward my tastes.
This new album is the first since their breakthrough album The House That Dirt Built, which had the ubiquitous hit "How You Like Me Now." While there wasn't a weak track on the previous album, at times it kind of felt like it had forced eclecticism: they were going to do their rock song, then they were going to do their soul song, then they were going to do their funk song, etc. This new album still has the eclectic spirit, but the tracks seem to me to fit together better, and there's more blending of genres within each track. I don't think there's a song here as catchy as "How You Like Me Now," so I'm not sure this one is going to be as big of a hit, but I do think it is a good step forward for the band and an album I will be listening to a lot in the coming months.
Well, not really. One thing I really wanted to avoid with this blog was becoming a music critic. I have no desire to be a critic: I don't care about placing an artist's work in context, I don't care about establishing canon, and I especially don't give a shit about grading music on some kind of faux-objective scale. I don't have the time to write a lot of words about stuff I don't like.
Instead, I want to be a music advocate, passing along stuff that I like and explaining my reaction to it. Unfortunately, that means that sometimes you get weeks like this week, where there really wasn't anything that caught my fancy.
Although to be fair, this week's lack of interest had more to do with the entirety of the recording industry ignoring today for the purposes of releasing new music than with me hearing a bunch of new stuff I didn't like. The only real notable release of the week was Rick Ross's God Forgives, I Don't, which I wanted to like (how can you not with that album title?), but unfortunately reacted to in a lukewarm manner (although the album is notable for being yet another album Andre 3000 appears on, which makes the continued lack of progress on a new Outkast album all the more frustrating).
Anyway, check back later in the week; I may put up a non-new music feature should I get the inclination. Why must I only write about new music, after all?
Oh, because "new music" is in the title of the blog? Yeah, I guess that's a fair point, self.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
New Music Roundup - 7/24
Three pretty solid releases worth checking out this week.
The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
If you look at the entries on this site as primarily consumer reviews, then the one for this album will be pretty short and simple: if you've ever liked The Gaslight Anthem before today, you should listen to this album. The Gaslight Anthem hasn't forgotten what about them their audience enjoys, and this album is a satisfying follow-up to their previous three.
Now, attempting to place this album within the context of the band's history is a little trickier for me. I simply like what this band is selling, and I have noticed that with such bands (most notably The New Pornographers, but there are several others), it usually takes me a while to really judge a new release. The fact that this album feels of a piece with the previous albums is both bad ("I guess this new thing isn't the most singularly great listening experience I've ever had") and good ("I like this band and what they do: why should they change?"). Further, I'm comparing these new songs to old Gaslight Anthem songs that I have listened to thousands of times, and there's always going to be a little incongruousness in that analysis.
So, what I'm essentially saying is that this album is just as likely to end up my favorite Gaslight Anthem as my least favorite. The sound, at first blush, seems to be a little more akin to the driving uptempo rockers on The '59 Sound than the more midtempo experiments on American Slang, but I don't think that similarity represents a regression. In the limited time I've had with the album, several of the hooks have already burrowed their way into my brain, so we're all good on the catchiness quotient. I would have maybe liked a little bit more experimentation, but I'm not going to complain too loudly about not turning over a new page when the existing one is so satisfying.
Slim pickings this week. Matter of fact, without Frank Ocean's new album, which was released on iTunes last week but everywhere else today, the new album release list would be a desolate wasteland (something something Ocean/desert wordplay).
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
If you care about pop music (meaning the zeitgeist, not any particular genre), then you owe it to yourself to listen to this album. Among a certain type of person, it's going to end up being incredibly over-hyped (if it isn't already): this album is certainly the current favorite for being the most common "Token Hip-Hop/R&B Album Added to Indie-Loving Critic's Best-Of Year-End List to Create a False Sense of Eclecticism." Think of how every music critic lost their shit over Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy": this album has a similar type of critic-baiting "depth" (although probably not the same type of radio crossover potential; more on that later).
Additionally, there is the important news story of Ocean being the first big-time performer in the hip hop community to come out as a gay man (or bisexual; it wasn't entirely clear), which he did only two weeks ago. Whether this announcement will actually help in album sales considering hip-hop's traditional... heteronormativity (to be charitable) is a very open question (although early sales reports have been promising), but there is no question that the announcement has at the very least raised the profile of an album by a singer who before this was known primarly as the dude who sang the hook on "No Church in the Wild."
Both of these facts mean this album will almost certainly be one of the more important ones of 2012 but does nothing to answer the question "Is it any good?", to which I answer, "Eh, I guess it's alright: feels like a B, maybe B+." I've been listening to it since it came out on iTunes last week, and it definitely has its moments, but it seems to fall short of being the singular work of genius that a lot of music critics seem to have anointed it. Personally, I think the album could have used more variety, particularly in the energy department: there are a few too many indulgent introspective songs with slow tempos, and they end up blurring together before long. Also, hooks are conspicuously absent from a lot of the songs, the notable exception being the almost ten minutes long song "Pyramids," which is a legitimately great song. Outside of it and the beautiful (if kinda by the numbers ballad-y) "Bad Religion," I'm not sure there's anything else on here that I can imagine hearing on the radio, although I guess no one really listens to the radio any more anyway. For the record, I think my favorite song is the 39 second long track "Fertilizer," which reveals a playful bouncy vibe that could have been better incorporated in the non-throwaway tracks of the album.
Don't call it a comeback (seriously, why would you? I was only gone two weeks and frankly, I wasn't exactly at the pinnacle before that).
Work necessitated that this would be a short entry, but there are two really good new albums this week worth being on folks' radar.
Twin Shadow - Confess
I wasn't as excited about this album as I should have been because I got this guy mixed up with the mediocre Scottish band Twin Atlantic. My bad: this is quite the album. Remember how we were discussing summer albums, and I was attempting to distinguish between summer day albums and summer night albums? If there was any question about what constitutes a summer night album, just listen to this thing. Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan of Grandland's Hollywood Prospectus Podcast called this album John Hughes rock, and I'm really jealous they came up with that before me, because it fits really well. I will instead call it the midpoint between M83 and Tanlines, which of course is a far more obscure descriptor. Anyway, this is really worth a listen.
This is the debut album from a tremendously fascinating act. For one, there's the Waterworld reference for an album title. That'll get you some points. Further, the lead singer was born blind and had his sight restored by doctors when he was 11, which is fairly interesting, to say the least. Oh, and this is another in a line of recent White bands from the last couple years: White Stripes, White Denim, White Rabbits, etc. The band's music is also difficult to describe: it's an amalgamation of pop, electro, garage, and world music. They sound like, I dunno, maybe if a more pop-friendly Animal Collective snagged Vampire Weekend's rhythm section and tried to write LCD Soundsystem songs? The pop-friendly part is important: I think this band mostly manages to avoid the esoteric nature of other genre bending acts like the aforementioned Animal Collective. Anyway, I like this album, I think it could grow on me, and I'm intrigued to see where this band goes next.
I had never heard of this band before today, when I read the AV Club's review today that said the group was equally influenced by Ben Folds, Fountains of Wayne, and Queen. Let me tell you: if you drop those three comparisons, it's going to get my attention. The group these guys actually remind me the most of is actually fun., but with the grandiosity turned down a little bit and the strange production decisions that dogged the back half of that band's album happily absent. This is a peppy little album, and I think I could end up listening to it quite a bit. I'm hoping this band gets some good exposure: this album deserves it.
Today was a good day, and I haven't even seen the lights of the Goodyear Blimp reminding me Ice Cube's a pimp (yet). Usually I have a clear cut favorite album of the week, and this week any of three could lay claim to it. On second thought, maybe there is a clear winner:
Kelly Hogan - I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Thank God for Metacritic; I might have missed this release otherwise. And holy shit is this a good album. Kelly Hogan has made a living primarily singing backup for a number of bigger acts: she's probably most famous as Neko Case's second-in-command on her solo efforts, and Hogan gets a lot of big names to help her on this album: M. Ward, Vic Chestnutt, Robyn Hitchcock, and Stephen Merritt wrote songs for the album, and somehow she got Booker T Jones to play keyboard and James Gadson to play drums for her. Hogan possesses an incredibly strong, slightly country twang-y voice, and on this album she shows she knows how to control it. Musically, the album plays like a cross between country and soul. I have to admit I was somewhat skeptical after listening to the pretty country-heavy opener, but once the Edie Brickell-ish second track "We Can't Have Nice Things" came on, I was sold and remained enthralled until the end. I strongly recommend this album.
A lot of quantity this week, although I'm less certain on the quality.
The Walkmen - Heaven
For quite a while, the Walkmen had one song I liked - the truly enjoyable "The Rat" from 2004's album Bows + Arrows - and a lot of stuff I had zero interest in. Then in 2010 they released Lisbon, which was a big departure for the band. Whereas once the band was overbearingly jittery, Lisbon had a mellow minimalism, which made the entire album a much more listenable affair, even if it was a little too low energy for my tastes. In other words, it was a bit of a hangover album, but a little too much so. Their new album Heaven manages to split the difference between the band's earlier work and their last album quite nicely: it's still passes by easy enough, but there's a little more rock inserted into it than their last album. This results in quite a few songs I would consider catchy, particularly the jangly title track. I could see this album growing on me a bit.
First off, for those who use spotify, I have started a Drunk on New Music playlist there. This is going to be an ongoing rolling list of my favorite [number to be determined; right now it's 21] songs. It won't be an entirely new list of songs each week, but I think I'm going to stick to a set number, so that when I add a new song I'll be taking off an old one. If you subscribe to the list, I believe it will automatically update the playlist for you every time I change it.
Along those lines, not an album, but The Gaslight Anthem have released a new single called 45, and it's on this week's spotify list. It's about what you would expect from the band, which works perfectly fine with me. I suspect it will not be my favorite track on their upcoming album (due out sometime in July), but it's another catchy rocking song, and having listened to it several dozen times since finding out about it, I have to say it grows on me.
As I said before, the D is fucking back. I'm not sure how funny I find the band's relatively unchanged schtick, but when the actual music is this good, who cares? This collections of songs is easily the best they've had since their self-titled album back almost a decade ago, and this is just great rock music, made by comedians or not. The genres they dabble in are a little more varied here, with a pretty awesome Springsteen/Tom Waits impression on "39" and a flute-filled English folk take on "The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Cage." If I have any complaint, it is that a couple of their songs are a little too short, as if they're afraid that the joke is too one-note. Still, this is one of the best old-school rock albums I've heard this year.
This indie band's from the UK and this is their sophomore album, although it's the first I've ever heard of them before, and I have to say, I like what I hear. Since "indie" is essentially useless as a signifier, I guess I'd say these guys leans more towards an orchestral, melodic area. It's a pretty full sound, like something like the Editors, but unlike that group there's more of a variety to how they sound: at different times, Animal Kingdom can sound moody, bright, chill, or driving. Front to back, this is a solid indie release.
Selection (Unfortunately, the album is only out on iTunes, so I can't link spotify, and youtube only has one of the songs. If it's any consolation, it's a pretty fucking great song)
Strange Attractor
Get Away with It (Update: YouTube finally added some more Animal Kingdom songs)
First, a step back (warning: this will be a digression. Any "just tell me what the band sounds like" proponents should skip this paragraph). One thing that is becoming increasingly clear to me as I continue to listen to a half dozen new albums each week is how hard it is to actually determine what is good and bad. The myth of the internet is that a lack of borders should create a meritocracy. However, what really happens is that the infinitude of choices only muddies the water. There are more bands than ever due to less barriers to entry in music creation, and the technology means that these bands are only a couple clicks away. This means you can hear a lot of music that sounds incredibly alike. If it's a sound you like, but only in moderation (variety being the spice of life and all), how do you determine which of these similar sounding bands is worth your time and which aren't?
This brings us to the Lumineers, who are either going to be the Next Big Thing in indie-folk, or yet another thing in indie-folk. This debut album contains some very strong songs, but it's another in a long line of indie-folk groups. Unlike someone like Of Monsters and Men, the Lumineers are pretty firmly on the folk side of the indie-folk spectrum, and as such they pretty strongly recall groups like The Head and the Heart and the Avett Brothers (and Mumford; you can't have a -folk group and not compare them to Mumford). There's also a couple tracks (the strongest, in my opinion) that sound very similar to Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams (one of the stronger Ryan Adams eras, in my opinion). As I said before, I really like a lot of these songs, and I think their lead singer has a strong, confident voice, but I'm a little indie-folk fatigued. Should I hold that against these guys? Anyway, if you're a big folk fan, or at least a fan still riding the wave, you should definitely check out this group.
