Because new music can be intoxicating.
And people sometimes call me Drunk.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
New Music Roundup 4/30/13
The Computers - Love Triangles, Hate Squares
I find this album insanely fun. The Computers are a British band of Black Flag fans who have managed to infuse their punk music with rockabilly, 60's doo-wop, and other oldies sounds, all led by a lead singer who sounds more than a little bit like Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump attempting an Elvis Costello impression. That's a lot to digest there, so I'll say that the band's final product ultimately reminds me of the Hives: they rock bombastically, but it's always in service to a bouncy beat and a catchy chorus. This album is highly recommended.
Among a certain demographic, Daft Punk's forthcoming album Random Access Memories is likely the most anticipated album of the year (Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience is probably its only competition), so when the band finally officially releases (after numerous fake fan edits appearing on the Internet) the lead single from that album, they're going to have my attention.
It's probably not a good sign that the album is still several weeks away and I'm already tired of the increasingly deafening hype surrounding the album, but I'm going to attempt to divorce myself from that and judge the single on its own merits.
And those merits are numerous. Personally, the whole artificial robot sound that is so integral to Daft Punk's aesthetic, while occasionally interesting, tends to leave me a little cold, which makes this song's mid to late 70's R&B and funk influences so inviting. Nile Rodgers plays guitar on the track, and as usual he's awesome, bringing that warmth of sound that is sometimes lacking with Daft Punk. This is unquestionably a good look for Daft Punk, and the song makes you want to dance and gets in your head nigh instantaneously. Here's hoping the rest of the tracks on the album will continue to examine similar musical veins.
My only complaint (barring the omnipresent hype) is with Pharrell's vocals. I think he performs serviceably when in the higher register required on the chorus, but he sounds a little flat on the verses. In some ways it makes him sound slightly detached, which can be a noticeable problem when singing over such vibrant musical backgrounds. He doesn't ruin the song, but it's hard not to imagine what a truly accomplished R&B vocalist, like Justin Timberlake, Miguel, or Mayer Hawthorne, would have been able to do with the song.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
New Music Roundup, 4/16/13
Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die
There was a 0% chance I wasn't going to like this. Combining one of the most inventive rappers working today with the bombast of Adrian Younge, the producer behind the Black Dynamite soundtrack and the previously covered Delfonics album, is a strategy that just works. This album is actually the first concept album Ghostface has ever done, and the hyperviolent story of a mobster who returns from the grave to exact revenge upon his murderers is given a grimy, grindhouse-influenced aural backdrop by Younge. Here's hoping these two continue working together.
