The AMG liked this one. I can't say I've heard enough Elvis, and I haven't heard much gospel at all, so at very least this will get me into some underexplored territory.
It's strangely moving stuff. At least as described in these songs, being gospel and all, Elvis does love him some lord. And I don't know if all gospel is like this or what, but man, it is all really death obsessed. Dying and meeting god and all passed loved ones sounds like the greatest highest end that could ever come, like Elvis's fondest wish. The result is an album that is simultaneously uplifting and at least a bit morbid.
Musically, well, the man can sing. It almost doesn't register as singing to me, just passing directly into my brain as seniment, so smooth is his voice. On the slower songs, the backing vocals harmonize barbershopily, further lubricating the delivery. Silky, there's no other word for it, scarcely a rough edge in sight, and not from the overproduction I'm so used to, but just from it actually being that damn smooth.
There's also some stompy, spiritual rockers on there that bring some rough edges and keep the energy level from being overconsistent (in contrast, say, to some of the slower Sinatra albums).
I'm not sure what to take from this. On one level, as I am so prone to saying as a means of softening, it's not for me. My life is not of Elvis's era, and I'm not an especially Christian man, so it kind of misses on the two main selling points as far as the actual sentiments of the songs. But the music is actually, I have to admit, kind of uplifting, and I suspect that it will be more so the more I listen to it, as the repetition worms heartpaths. For that, given the uphill battle at hand, I have to at least give respect, and at least 3.5/5
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
#319 Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine
Pitckfork'd.
Man, this is so what pitchfork is into now. All very dense, lush, mega-reverbed production, quirky electronics, crooning harmonized vocals. All very Ariel Pink. For the most part it doesn't move me, but some of the simpler melodic lines (How I Know and instrumental, album highlight Divina) are actually really pretty. The problem is, I think the rest of that album thinks it's that pretty, and it just isn't.
It's all too mushy for me, too wrapped up in layers of ambient fuzz and reverb and doubling, nothing distinct, meticulously flecked with buzzy synths and glitchy flickers.
I need more clarity of vision. Have the confidence to just put a song out there without hiding behind making every note sound like every note at once 2.5/5
Man, this is so what pitchfork is into now. All very dense, lush, mega-reverbed production, quirky electronics, crooning harmonized vocals. All very Ariel Pink. For the most part it doesn't move me, but some of the simpler melodic lines (How I Know and instrumental, album highlight Divina) are actually really pretty. The problem is, I think the rest of that album thinks it's that pretty, and it just isn't.
It's all too mushy for me, too wrapped up in layers of ambient fuzz and reverb and doubling, nothing distinct, meticulously flecked with buzzy synths and glitchy flickers.
I need more clarity of vision. Have the confidence to just put a song out there without hiding behind making every note sound like every note at once 2.5/5
Monday, March 7, 2011
#318 Talking Heads - Remain in the Light
Another off the AMG trawl. I liked Talking Heads '77, but haven't heard this well-regarded one.
You're in for more or less what you'd expect if you know the Talking Heads at all, plenty of funk guitar, skittery beats and shouted, nervous lyrics, a bristling Gang of Fourey energy across the board. Over top of all the angular, busy instrumentation is a pretty expert set of vocal lines that are sometimes alienating/alienated and percussive, and other times simply soar over the chaos, a pattern particularly effective on Crosseyed and Painless and minor hit Once in a Lifetime.
Overall, its a curiously listenable album. The rhythms are complex, the playing stabby, but the songs make good use of repeated, rich melodic lines to give you something to grab onto as the scatter skitters by. Its almost dancable, at times, without giving up much adventurousness. Even the bizarre spoken word experiment Seen and Not Seen has a beauty to it that reminds me Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head (of all things). Still haven't quite gotten my head around the song structures, which always bodes well for repeat listening. I suspect there are mysteries worth exploring in some of these crannies 4/5
You're in for more or less what you'd expect if you know the Talking Heads at all, plenty of funk guitar, skittery beats and shouted, nervous lyrics, a bristling Gang of Fourey energy across the board. Over top of all the angular, busy instrumentation is a pretty expert set of vocal lines that are sometimes alienating/alienated and percussive, and other times simply soar over the chaos, a pattern particularly effective on Crosseyed and Painless and minor hit Once in a Lifetime.
Overall, its a curiously listenable album. The rhythms are complex, the playing stabby, but the songs make good use of repeated, rich melodic lines to give you something to grab onto as the scatter skitters by. Its almost dancable, at times, without giving up much adventurousness. Even the bizarre spoken word experiment Seen and Not Seen has a beauty to it that reminds me Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head (of all things). Still haven't quite gotten my head around the song structures, which always bodes well for repeat listening. I suspect there are mysteries worth exploring in some of these crannies 4/5
Saturday, March 5, 2011
#317 The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
Was on a roll on the same night, put on the previous Stones album, another well regarded one. Tickin' off the classics!
Again, you lead off with a well known, epic song (Sympathy for the Devil) and then follow it up with a lot of saltier, humbler tracks. Here they're even more slide guitared, more dylanesque in the delivery, and a lot more heartbroken, reaching on into blue land. The epic Jigsaw Puzzle with its punchy basslines is a highlight, writhing on for 6 minutes, always wrapping back around to the same desperate vocal hook.
There's something less consistent about this one, something less charming about its rough edges, that makes me not quite like it as much, something hamfisted about songs like Salt of the Earth and Dear Doctor. It seems like a transition album, though I'll have to work my way back to be sure. Not quite raw enough to beat you up, not quite polished enough to move you. That said, there's enough standout tracks, acoustic richness and guitar fireworks to at least be good for 3.5/5
Again, you lead off with a well known, epic song (Sympathy for the Devil) and then follow it up with a lot of saltier, humbler tracks. Here they're even more slide guitared, more dylanesque in the delivery, and a lot more heartbroken, reaching on into blue land. The epic Jigsaw Puzzle with its punchy basslines is a highlight, writhing on for 6 minutes, always wrapping back around to the same desperate vocal hook.
There's something less consistent about this one, something less charming about its rough edges, that makes me not quite like it as much, something hamfisted about songs like Salt of the Earth and Dear Doctor. It seems like a transition album, though I'll have to work my way back to be sure. Not quite raw enough to beat you up, not quite polished enough to move you. That said, there's enough standout tracks, acoustic richness and guitar fireworks to at least be good for 3.5/5
#316 The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
Another odd one. I was working on a song, knew I needed a series of chords I couldn't play, realized they were similar to some in Gimme Shelter, thought, hey, how about all those albums? I like Exile on Main Street a heck of a lot, but never really heard a lot of the other Stones albums in earnest.
My growing sense is that The Rolling Stones are a misunderstood band in the modern era. Their singles are a mix of overblown bombast and early-Kinks stripped-down stomp. But neither of those is a good picture of the workmanlike middle portions that I see in this album and Exile.
This album opens with the gospelled out, aforementioned Gimme Shelter and ends with the choir-featuring You Can't Always Get What You Want. These are the known songs of the album, and the biggest outliers. The meat of the album is all twang, country fried and blasted, with clear basslines, slide guitar, rattle, strum, dylanism and pianey. It sounds like a band tired, dried out, and more interested in making rock than being rock stars. Its weirdly grounded, curiously humble given the big blasts that bookend it. It is an album that is utterly different than the impression given by its best-known songs.
And I like it. I like the fried middle, and I like the grandiose buns on either end better when they buttress this particular sandwich. There's something respectable here that doesn't come out in the singles. They become a band I'd like to be in, which I've oft-argued is a key quality in a band.
There's some bands you can get a sense of from their well-known songs. You can pretty much figure out the essence of Led Zeppelin and The Doors from their best known songs, but I think that the stones are a different band than you might think. I don't think you'll necessarily like them any better, but if you haven't heard their albums, I think its worth a go just to get a sense of what kind of band they really were at heart: far simpler and more rustic and desperate than you might expect from all their swagger. For me, this isn't quite for me, but was a crunchy eye opener, worth putting on for poker nights and moments of grooved grit, good for the high end of 4/5
My growing sense is that The Rolling Stones are a misunderstood band in the modern era. Their singles are a mix of overblown bombast and early-Kinks stripped-down stomp. But neither of those is a good picture of the workmanlike middle portions that I see in this album and Exile.
This album opens with the gospelled out, aforementioned Gimme Shelter and ends with the choir-featuring You Can't Always Get What You Want. These are the known songs of the album, and the biggest outliers. The meat of the album is all twang, country fried and blasted, with clear basslines, slide guitar, rattle, strum, dylanism and pianey. It sounds like a band tired, dried out, and more interested in making rock than being rock stars. Its weirdly grounded, curiously humble given the big blasts that bookend it. It is an album that is utterly different than the impression given by its best-known songs.
And I like it. I like the fried middle, and I like the grandiose buns on either end better when they buttress this particular sandwich. There's something respectable here that doesn't come out in the singles. They become a band I'd like to be in, which I've oft-argued is a key quality in a band.
There's some bands you can get a sense of from their well-known songs. You can pretty much figure out the essence of Led Zeppelin and The Doors from their best known songs, but I think that the stones are a different band than you might think. I don't think you'll necessarily like them any better, but if you haven't heard their albums, I think its worth a go just to get a sense of what kind of band they really were at heart: far simpler and more rustic and desperate than you might expect from all their swagger. For me, this isn't quite for me, but was a crunchy eye opener, worth putting on for poker nights and moments of grooved grit, good for the high end of 4/5
#315 The Cave Singers - No Witch
Dusted liked it, and the sample song piqued my interest.
I kind of like it. There's heart here, a touch of Songs: Ohia's deep folky twang, some Black Keys delta scorch, some Cage the Elephant half-false swagger, some Exile on Main Street gospelations, some Okkervil heartstutter stomp, all a bit reedy and wet and real. None of it strikes me as overly new, none of it is striking, none of the melodies struck me as major keepers, nothing changed my viewpoint, but its a satisfying amalgamation of a bunch of stuff I grudgingly-and-otherwise like. Its the kind of album that I want to recommend to people, without loving wholeheartedly myself. It's not exciting enough for me, but I respect its workmanlike exertions. I think that's probably a good solid 3.5/5
I kind of like it. There's heart here, a touch of Songs: Ohia's deep folky twang, some Black Keys delta scorch, some Cage the Elephant half-false swagger, some Exile on Main Street gospelations, some Okkervil heartstutter stomp, all a bit reedy and wet and real. None of it strikes me as overly new, none of it is striking, none of the melodies struck me as major keepers, nothing changed my viewpoint, but its a satisfying amalgamation of a bunch of stuff I grudgingly-and-otherwise like. Its the kind of album that I want to recommend to people, without loving wholeheartedly myself. It's not exciting enough for me, but I respect its workmanlike exertions. I think that's probably a good solid 3.5/5
Friday, March 4, 2011
#314 WIN WIN - WIN WIN
Dusted reviewed it, and it has the producer from Spank Rock (who I like), so lets see.
I wanted to like this. I expected to like this. But it just doesn't quite move me, it's not actually all that adventurous somehow. The moments I like sounded like songs by the people I like, and it makes me think I should just listen to albums by those people. The guy from Hot Chip does a song, and it sounds good, and it sounds like Hot Chip, and maybe I should just listen to Hot Chip, whose formula this does little to improve on. There's some squonky Deadmau5ey stuff that makes me want to listen to that. Some of it just sounds like shiny, repetitive, sub-LCDSS stuff. A few songs that sound like the best moments of Teddybears, but with less Iggy Pop, for the loss.
Maybe I'm just on a snarky, critical roll. This didn't impress me, but it did sound enough like stuff I like that I want to give it the benefit of the doubt, leaving me at a stingy/generous 2.5/5
I wanted to like this. I expected to like this. But it just doesn't quite move me, it's not actually all that adventurous somehow. The moments I like sounded like songs by the people I like, and it makes me think I should just listen to albums by those people. The guy from Hot Chip does a song, and it sounds good, and it sounds like Hot Chip, and maybe I should just listen to Hot Chip, whose formula this does little to improve on. There's some squonky Deadmau5ey stuff that makes me want to listen to that. Some of it just sounds like shiny, repetitive, sub-LCDSS stuff. A few songs that sound like the best moments of Teddybears, but with less Iggy Pop, for the loss.
Maybe I'm just on a snarky, critical roll. This didn't impress me, but it did sound enough like stuff I like that I want to give it the benefit of the doubt, leaving me at a stingy/generous 2.5/5
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