Having expended this band's tragically short, criminally underappreciated discography, I turned to this, a double-album posthumous retrospective/rarities collection/best of/hodgepodge.
This is kind of a mess, featuring album tracks (reminding me Tin Soldier is a glorious, lost gem), assorted non-album singles (My Mind's Eye and The Universal are the highlights), a smattering of live tracks, and some random B-Sides and oddities. Those latter two categories account for some pretty jarring changes in sound quality, and this even the album stuff has some weird, raw stereo moves here and there.
On one hand, it provides a certain lofi GBV charm. On the other hand, its kind of a scattered listen, only occasionally gaining any kind of flow. And I like flow. Plus, most of these songs are readily available elsewhere, in better context. This is certainly not the place to start, and I can't see putting it on as an album over either of the previous two releases.
But...back on that first hand, there are some great bits hidden in this 20+ song mess. And I'm reminded how good this band is; they're up their with The Kinks as far as bands with a mastery of hooks, prettiness, and raw rock energy. Compilations are funny. This would be a high-scorer if the other albums didn't exist, but they, you know, do. As far as my impression walking away? I really value overall album flow, and the live bits in particular kill it here. Despite the good songs, lets say 3.5/5
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
#305 David Bowie - Heroes
I know! You'd assume, given how into Ziggy, Hunky, Oddity, MWStW, etc, I am that I would have heard all the Bowie albums by now. Fact is, I'm much better at hearing the best by a given act and I'm crap, oftentimes, at following up on the rest. Fact is, Bowie has a lot of albums, and his wild variety is a double-edged sword, denying any assurance of quality from a given album. But AMG liked this one, and at some point I endeavored to hear the remaining 2/3rds of the Berlin trilogy. For the record, my take on the Bowie oeuvre:
All-Time Holy Shit Classics: Ziggy, Hunky Dory
Great: The Man Who Sold the World
Damn Good: Space Oddity, Diamond Dogs
Just Good: Aladdin Sane, Low
Actually Pretty Bad: Lets Dance, Heathen
Haven't heard the rest.
Low was (inexplicably!) Pitchforks #1 album of the 70's, and the first of the aforementioned Berlin trilogy. It never moved me all that much. Here, Heroes is the 2nd, and I generally like it better.
Both albums consist of a first act of jagged, erratic, tin pop songs, followed by a second act of ambient Enoism. This album's first half is stronger; Joe the Lion is a rocker, and Blackout and Beauty and the Beast are masterfully, if somewhat unlistenably, erratic. And Heroes is a bonafide classic, doing everything U2'a Zooropa (which I loved!) did, but better.
Other bits don't move me. Sons of Sound is a bit too plastic soul, The Secret Life of Arabia pulls a similar stunt, but fares slightly better.
Then there's the ambient bits. The track 7-9 run of Enoism that mushes together for me. Its better than Low's I think, I like the vaguely Lynchian vibe on Sense of Doubt, but then I couldn't hum a note off Low's second half if you put a gun to my head, so what do I know?
On a track level, I don't like the ambient section any better than the corresponding bits on Low. But on an album level, the whole thing works better for me, than Low. The serrated pop bits flow into the ambient bits better thanks to the straddling V2-Schnieder, and the comparatively short span of ambient bits doesn't maraud the momentum quite so severely. It's kind of like The King of Limbs in reverse, the traditional stuff up front, with the ambient hoo hah to follow.
Ok, this is all awfully relative. As an album? Its kind of brilliant, if not that fun to listen to (Heroes excepted). It's grown on me across 2 listens, and it has a Berlin-i-ness that I find somewhat exotic. Maybe I just like it because I like it better than Low, which maybe I only didn't like because it was so overhyped. Apparently, its reflexive, infinite doubt spiral night on newnewnewnew. I think this probably falls, in the long term, above Space Oddity and below Diamond Dogs, in the Damn Good category above, which is good for about 4/5
All-Time Holy Shit Classics: Ziggy, Hunky Dory
Great: The Man Who Sold the World
Damn Good: Space Oddity, Diamond Dogs
Just Good: Aladdin Sane, Low
Actually Pretty Bad: Lets Dance, Heathen
Haven't heard the rest.
Low was (inexplicably!) Pitchforks #1 album of the 70's, and the first of the aforementioned Berlin trilogy. It never moved me all that much. Here, Heroes is the 2nd, and I generally like it better.
Both albums consist of a first act of jagged, erratic, tin pop songs, followed by a second act of ambient Enoism. This album's first half is stronger; Joe the Lion is a rocker, and Blackout and Beauty and the Beast are masterfully, if somewhat unlistenably, erratic. And Heroes is a bonafide classic, doing everything U2'a Zooropa (which I loved!) did, but better.
Other bits don't move me. Sons of Sound is a bit too plastic soul, The Secret Life of Arabia pulls a similar stunt, but fares slightly better.
Then there's the ambient bits. The track 7-9 run of Enoism that mushes together for me. Its better than Low's I think, I like the vaguely Lynchian vibe on Sense of Doubt, but then I couldn't hum a note off Low's second half if you put a gun to my head, so what do I know?
On a track level, I don't like the ambient section any better than the corresponding bits on Low. But on an album level, the whole thing works better for me, than Low. The serrated pop bits flow into the ambient bits better thanks to the straddling V2-Schnieder, and the comparatively short span of ambient bits doesn't maraud the momentum quite so severely. It's kind of like The King of Limbs in reverse, the traditional stuff up front, with the ambient hoo hah to follow.
Ok, this is all awfully relative. As an album? Its kind of brilliant, if not that fun to listen to (Heroes excepted). It's grown on me across 2 listens, and it has a Berlin-i-ness that I find somewhat exotic. Maybe I just like it because I like it better than Low, which maybe I only didn't like because it was so overhyped. Apparently, its reflexive, infinite doubt spiral night on newnewnewnew. I think this probably falls, in the long term, above Space Oddity and below Diamond Dogs, in the Damn Good category above, which is good for about 4/5
#304 Bill Wells and Stefan Schneider - Pianotapes
Dusted, I think it was, said something good about this, so I picked it up and never quite had the stomach for it, until finally a long car ride with only over-familiar alternatives finally convinced me.
Ok, so one guy plays the piano, the other guy manipulates recordings of said piano playing to make some interesting music. Sounds good to me! In theory, I'm into this stuff. Except. Sigh. This is the kind of stuff that makes people start The Shiteasters. How do you ruin this concept? How do you let this basically sound like a guy aimlessly playing the piano, while some guy occasionally rubs on a balloon or closes a hi hat? There isn't enough structure, sounding too indulgent, too formless, and simply not adventurous enough to sound interesting. Why bother having a guy manipulate these sounds if all he's going to do is make a piano player that played a line once sound like he has a mind to play it over and over and over again arhymically? Couldn't you more easily just find a piano player with a mind to just do that?
I'm being a bit harsh. But this too me is the classic example of music that has only a passing interest in actually being listened to. And dammit, my time is more valuable than that. I could have listened to a David Bowie album I've never heard instead!
Perhaps most damningly, most fuck-you-ing-ly, the last two "bonus" songs sound like what I wanted the rest of the album to sound like. On bonus 1 we get distortion, Disintegration Loops desolation and Mogwai epic buzz and fade, on distortion 2 we get more ambient mess (though I may have been more amicable to the latter because the former snapped me out of the daze caused by 40 minutes of aimless piano).
After I dumped 1000 words or so on Radiohead for their pseudo-ambient meanderings, here I so quickly dismiss what might be a rich, subtle work of post-post-everything genius. Guess that's the chance you take.
Maybe I'm a lazy reviewer. I wasn't even supposed to be doing reviews.
2/5
Ok, so one guy plays the piano, the other guy manipulates recordings of said piano playing to make some interesting music. Sounds good to me! In theory, I'm into this stuff. Except. Sigh. This is the kind of stuff that makes people start The Shiteasters. How do you ruin this concept? How do you let this basically sound like a guy aimlessly playing the piano, while some guy occasionally rubs on a balloon or closes a hi hat? There isn't enough structure, sounding too indulgent, too formless, and simply not adventurous enough to sound interesting. Why bother having a guy manipulate these sounds if all he's going to do is make a piano player that played a line once sound like he has a mind to play it over and over and over again arhymically? Couldn't you more easily just find a piano player with a mind to just do that?
I'm being a bit harsh. But this too me is the classic example of music that has only a passing interest in actually being listened to. And dammit, my time is more valuable than that. I could have listened to a David Bowie album I've never heard instead!
Perhaps most damningly, most fuck-you-ing-ly, the last two "bonus" songs sound like what I wanted the rest of the album to sound like. On bonus 1 we get distortion, Disintegration Loops desolation and Mogwai epic buzz and fade, on distortion 2 we get more ambient mess (though I may have been more amicable to the latter because the former snapped me out of the daze caused by 40 minutes of aimless piano).
After I dumped 1000 words or so on Radiohead for their pseudo-ambient meanderings, here I so quickly dismiss what might be a rich, subtle work of post-post-everything genius. Guess that's the chance you take.
Maybe I'm a lazy reviewer. I wasn't even supposed to be doing reviews.
2/5
#303 Neil Young - Tonight's the Night
AMG'd.
Man, am I going soft? After weeks for 3s and 3.5s, suddenly I'm medal-happy.
I know of Neil Young. Duh. You know, that guy in CSN&Y when you add the Y; that guy Skynard doesn't like (or something); that guy that led my Dad, years ago, to say, about the (oppressively depressing) Bonnie Prince Billy album I See a Darkness "they sound too Neil Young". That latter association, along with this album's reputation as a morose, desolate work, lead me to expect something far different than I got.
That first track tells you all you need to know. The sloppy/precise playing, the ragged feel, the live feel, the immediate feel, the vocals overloading and fading out, so much that you can hear, viscerally, Young's movement towards and away from the mic. You feel like a band is playing, and that you are there, and that they are doing something special.
The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to that standard, but its the basic feel. You'll know in the first 4:42 if you're going to like the rest, I can tell you that. Its a bit dark at times, but the standard is different now. I'm a veteran of Bright Eyes, Why? and Xiu Xiu - I can handle songs about heroin overdose and the vacancy of fame.
As I've said, there's something live and immediate and singular about this album that make its reputation well-deserved. Young's voice often doesn't move me (though its better than Dylan's) and some of the slower, folksier numbers don't move me (Roll Another Number, say, is just too polished for my taste), but across the board, the album moves me. It has the crunchy, ramshackle heart that bands like Songs: Ohia strive for (see Albequerque), and that give it a grace and presence that I respect. It's not quuuiite my scene somehow, which leads me, if I'm being completely honest, to a slightly stingy and eventually to-be-regretted-as-too-low-I'm-sure, might-regret-it-already 4/5
Man, am I going soft? After weeks for 3s and 3.5s, suddenly I'm medal-happy.
I know of Neil Young. Duh. You know, that guy in CSN&Y when you add the Y; that guy Skynard doesn't like (or something); that guy that led my Dad, years ago, to say, about the (oppressively depressing) Bonnie Prince Billy album I See a Darkness "they sound too Neil Young". That latter association, along with this album's reputation as a morose, desolate work, lead me to expect something far different than I got.
That first track tells you all you need to know. The sloppy/precise playing, the ragged feel, the live feel, the immediate feel, the vocals overloading and fading out, so much that you can hear, viscerally, Young's movement towards and away from the mic. You feel like a band is playing, and that you are there, and that they are doing something special.
The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to that standard, but its the basic feel. You'll know in the first 4:42 if you're going to like the rest, I can tell you that. Its a bit dark at times, but the standard is different now. I'm a veteran of Bright Eyes, Why? and Xiu Xiu - I can handle songs about heroin overdose and the vacancy of fame.
As I've said, there's something live and immediate and singular about this album that make its reputation well-deserved. Young's voice often doesn't move me (though its better than Dylan's) and some of the slower, folksier numbers don't move me (Roll Another Number, say, is just too polished for my taste), but across the board, the album moves me. It has the crunchy, ramshackle heart that bands like Songs: Ohia strive for (see Albequerque), and that give it a grace and presence that I respect. It's not quuuiite my scene somehow, which leads me, if I'm being completely honest, to a slightly stingy and eventually to-be-regretted-as-too-low-I'm-sure, might-regret-it-already 4/5
#302 Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh
I liked their best known one, and AMG liked this one too.
And I agree! It is more upbeat than There's A Riot Goin On. The dark, slinking, gutterey grooves come up a bit in songs like Frisky, and the borderline desolation come through in songs like I Don't Know and Que Sera Sera (of all things?). But in general, this is a more traditional funk album, more upbeat - and more traditionally cool, for better or worse.
While it's less powerful than Riot, its more listenable, from the erratic instrument bursts of the opener, into the precise funkiness of If You Want Me to Stay, to the popped out groove of Let Me Have it All - so funky that the chili peppers more or less directly stole it for If You Have to Ask. Skin I'm In has a curious, crate-weary production to it that makes it sound downright Tarantino-ready. And not in a bad way.
If I want the best Sly/Stone album, its probably still the predecessor. But if I want to have a good time, if I want to be happy while I feel cool, instead of riding the darkalley grooveside, this is the winner. Its a great album, still cool, diverse, burstling with energy. Will revisit 4.5/5
And I agree! It is more upbeat than There's A Riot Goin On. The dark, slinking, gutterey grooves come up a bit in songs like Frisky, and the borderline desolation come through in songs like I Don't Know and Que Sera Sera (of all things?). But in general, this is a more traditional funk album, more upbeat - and more traditionally cool, for better or worse.
While it's less powerful than Riot, its more listenable, from the erratic instrument bursts of the opener, into the precise funkiness of If You Want Me to Stay, to the popped out groove of Let Me Have it All - so funky that the chili peppers more or less directly stole it for If You Have to Ask. Skin I'm In has a curious, crate-weary production to it that makes it sound downright Tarantino-ready. And not in a bad way.
If I want the best Sly/Stone album, its probably still the predecessor. But if I want to have a good time, if I want to be happy while I feel cool, instead of riding the darkalley grooveside, this is the winner. Its a great album, still cool, diverse, burstling with energy. Will revisit 4.5/5
Friday, February 18, 2011
#301 Radiohead - The King of Limbs
I've never been explicit about this, but my model for this blog is to open each mini-review with a line about how I heard about an album or why I'm listening to it. I figured since this album needed no such introduction, I might as well spend the space explaining that little pattern.
First, an aside. As I finished listening to this album, suddenly several things clicked and I realized it was entirely possible that this is just part 1. The "newspaper" concept, the band's professed desire for a communal listening experience, the short album length relative to the two planned vinyl disc, the title and sentiments of the last song, etc. Further investigation reveals this is a common theory on the web, but no one knows for sure. Which is fun. Trying to evaluate a Radiohead album is a ponderous weight to start with, listening to their most narrative album without knowing if you've heard the ending is even tougher still. But lets firmly assume that this all there is, as I did through 95% of my first listen, and see where that takes us.
The first five songs are the sound of a band being eaten by a computer.
There is the feeling of movement through a space that is at once digital and organic and encompassing. The first line commands the mouth to open, and down we all go. Each of these first five songs is built on a single relentless, markedly artificial drum sample, around which parts surge in and out, most of them also relentlessly, powerfully digital. There are distorted, clipped, loops and buzzes that build and blossom and wither suddenly, and there are huge bass synth surges beyond instrument (most notably at the end of Morning Mr. Magpie and Feral). The latter sound like passing organs, pushing like tumors, affecting you on a subconscious level that is oppressive and intense. I've found electronic music lately that evokes movement through space (especially this), and this album does the same thing, in a different way. The movement is constricted, dense, slow and menacing.
The strongest human presence is the bass, and sometimes the guitar. These are the only sounds that evoke the band, instead of the environment. Morning Mr. Magpie is once again the best example, featuring subtly gorgeous bass runs that weave followable lines through the nanomachine internals.
Thom is here, but he is part of the body, part of the space. He is not part of the band, and he is not with us. The vocals rarely provide a focal point, but rather are an outside menace, the wolf at the door. Most of the songs feature multiple vocal lines: not doublings of the same line, but separate vocal parts, all ethereal and falsetto, on different paths, moving in difference stereo spaces, wolves circling. This comes to a head in the first part's climax Lotus Flower, where vocals pull around in every cranny, knives in the woodworld. These first five songs are inside-out. The beats and vocals, traditionally the backbone of the rock song, are a scattered flock of angry crows, they swoop in and attack and recede in the dark, with only the occasional bass/guitar line providing a cohesive path.
Then, we move to the second part, made up of Codex and Give up the Ghost. Suddenly we have piano. We have a simple clipped micro-bass thump heartbeat where swirls were before. It is the last vestige of the machine. There is a sense of being outside. Of having left the space of the first five songs, as Thom sings about dragonflies and water, as reverb bounces off the sky, pink and green borealic. The heartbeat continues as a memory of the space the album once occupied, as if the threat was still in the distance. The transition from those first five songs to this one is just striking. There is a sense of relief, but of lingering concern, especially as deep, dissonant strings take the place of the reoccurring digital bass surges of the past. I was left with the sense of a grisly horror movie victim, who has fled the shack, but who is still in the woods, and the killer hasn't been killed.
Give up the Ghost continues the theme of escape into uncertainty. Here, there is a beat not unlike the previous one, but now it is bigger, more real, no longer digital in the least, while nuanced acoustic guitar appears for the first time all album, and the reverb opens up like daybreak. We hear actual birds. And yet, we're still in the woods, the bird repeat like the loops in the machine, and we are just as likely to be dying as being reborn. The vocals swirl triple-plus, lurking in spaces all around, singing indeterminate phrases that ask that you "don't" do something, maybe a request not to hurt, not to haunt, not to hunt. It's a tense feeling. Still not out of the woods. The final skitter, skipping electronic noise is as menacing as the sound of a branch breaking behind you.
Then there's closer Separator, which seems like something of a third part unto itself. Here is the closest thing we have to a normal beat, but even it seems something of a simulacrum, hi-hats ending too fast, beats too clipped, its existence too relentless. Thom's voice still circles, doubled. "I'm a fish now, out of water." we're told, even as guitars chime in, and the pace quickens, hinting at cheer, there's still a sense of foreboding. "If you think this is over, then you're wrong" is a repeated line, and it spells the lack of resolution out in no uncertain terms; we could be breaking out of the woods to or we could be seeing the light as our pursuer finishes the job. There is a sense of relief, but what follows is an open sky. Thom asks "wake me up", as something ends, as the guitars harken to whiteness and light. On one hand, something has ended. On the other hand, as the last notes chime out, the ending is uncertain.
Assuming again that this is the whole of the album, its a deliciously unsatisfying ending. In my very, very first impression email to Robin I compared the album to a David Lynch (who I tend to like) movie, afterward it is over, but it has just begun. The movie was just the seed in your mind, and its up to you to decide what to do with it. When I finished Mullholland Drive, I literally put my head in my hands and spent 15 minutes puzzling it out until it resolved, as a work, in my mind. I have the same impulse here.
Again, it is Radiohead's most narrative album, and their most mysterious; the lyrics are more oblique than ever, the songs less solidly-formed. To clarify, I don't think its actually about escaping from a computer/killer/killer computer in the woods, but it changes over time; there is everything before Codex starts, and everything after, and there is Separator, and they make the most sense in order. Like a David Lynch movie, there are suggestions of connected parts, but the parts don't fit in any simple way. Themes reoccur and trigger half-conscious memories of their predecessors. It is troubling in ways you don't understand, and it's not particularly pleasant. Those who like Radiohead for the rock, or even for the beauty, or who otherwise liked In Rainbows, may well not like this album. It is not a fun album, it is "serious stuff", with all the chin-scratching satisfaction / stuffiness / pro / con that implies.
Is it good? Yes.
Is it great? I'm not sure yet.
It is interesting, compelling even. It is a bizarre creation, cohesive in structure, that demands to be listened to as an album. There is no point in pulling out any of these songs on their own, except for maybe the oft-mentioned Morning Mr. Magpie, which has an absolutely killer bassline in its skittery beat skeleton, and Lotus Flower for its wheeling, swooping vocal lines. Pacingwise, it really reads as five parts in claustrophobia, two parts in escape, and a final, curious denouement that is blindingly aggressive in its unwillingness to resolve.
I'm also struck by its remarkable ability to evoke light. The first five songs are so dark, so closed, so at-best-glow-in-the-dark, and the last three are increasingly so bright that I almost think I see light when I listen to them. And yes, there are synesthesia bonus points in my book.
It's entirely possible that this album has an unfair advantage, as I gave this my complete attention, where other albums got a while-I-program first chance and were set aside forever. But the listen was certainly compelling, and thought-provoking afterwards, which is rare these days. Even now, it skitters around in my brain, unresolved. I don't even know if I liked it all that much, but I'm intrigued by it. And not in a Magnolia "glad I don't have to see it again" kind of way, in more of a Synecdoche NY "what the hell was that and what did it mean" kind of way that draws me back.
I've considered this album firmly from the perspective of rock music. As rock, it comes across as minimal, experimental and weird, slightly krautrock, very opposed to rock and roll traditions of all kinds. It is slow-paced, formless, and largely light on melody and hooks. All of those things are double edged swords. As electronic music, I'm not sure where it lays, maybe this is all terribly passe by the standards of this dubstep thing everyone can't shut up about. As music in general it is either interesting or boring, seemingly the sound of Radiohead seeing how far away from rock convention they can get and still have people like them, pushing as hard as they have since Kid A, and arguably pushing even harder. Which, again, is on the razor's edge of being a good or bad thing. If the whole album followed the model of the first five songs, it would be one thing, but the way that those set up the arc of the last three sure makes it a lot harder to dismiss.
I think that, in the end, so far I like this better as art, as a whole media object, than I do as songs. But that matters plenty. And even as I listen to it while writing this (unbelievably lengthy) (so-called) mini-review I find it growing on me, as the parts that were oppressive find homes in my crannies and other elements move to the fore. Maybe I'm talking myself into it, or I'm just a huge Radiohead fanboy, or I have aural death-cabin Stockholm, or I've been subconsciously tricked into hoping for a second half that's never coming, but for now my instinct lies at (the low end of) 4.5/5
First, an aside. As I finished listening to this album, suddenly several things clicked and I realized it was entirely possible that this is just part 1. The "newspaper" concept, the band's professed desire for a communal listening experience, the short album length relative to the two planned vinyl disc, the title and sentiments of the last song, etc. Further investigation reveals this is a common theory on the web, but no one knows for sure. Which is fun. Trying to evaluate a Radiohead album is a ponderous weight to start with, listening to their most narrative album without knowing if you've heard the ending is even tougher still. But lets firmly assume that this all there is, as I did through 95% of my first listen, and see where that takes us.
The first five songs are the sound of a band being eaten by a computer.
There is the feeling of movement through a space that is at once digital and organic and encompassing. The first line commands the mouth to open, and down we all go. Each of these first five songs is built on a single relentless, markedly artificial drum sample, around which parts surge in and out, most of them also relentlessly, powerfully digital. There are distorted, clipped, loops and buzzes that build and blossom and wither suddenly, and there are huge bass synth surges beyond instrument (most notably at the end of Morning Mr. Magpie and Feral). The latter sound like passing organs, pushing like tumors, affecting you on a subconscious level that is oppressive and intense. I've found electronic music lately that evokes movement through space (especially this), and this album does the same thing, in a different way. The movement is constricted, dense, slow and menacing.
The strongest human presence is the bass, and sometimes the guitar. These are the only sounds that evoke the band, instead of the environment. Morning Mr. Magpie is once again the best example, featuring subtly gorgeous bass runs that weave followable lines through the nanomachine internals.
Thom is here, but he is part of the body, part of the space. He is not part of the band, and he is not with us. The vocals rarely provide a focal point, but rather are an outside menace, the wolf at the door. Most of the songs feature multiple vocal lines: not doublings of the same line, but separate vocal parts, all ethereal and falsetto, on different paths, moving in difference stereo spaces, wolves circling. This comes to a head in the first part's climax Lotus Flower, where vocals pull around in every cranny, knives in the woodworld. These first five songs are inside-out. The beats and vocals, traditionally the backbone of the rock song, are a scattered flock of angry crows, they swoop in and attack and recede in the dark, with only the occasional bass/guitar line providing a cohesive path.
Then, we move to the second part, made up of Codex and Give up the Ghost. Suddenly we have piano. We have a simple clipped micro-bass thump heartbeat where swirls were before. It is the last vestige of the machine. There is a sense of being outside. Of having left the space of the first five songs, as Thom sings about dragonflies and water, as reverb bounces off the sky, pink and green borealic. The heartbeat continues as a memory of the space the album once occupied, as if the threat was still in the distance. The transition from those first five songs to this one is just striking. There is a sense of relief, but of lingering concern, especially as deep, dissonant strings take the place of the reoccurring digital bass surges of the past. I was left with the sense of a grisly horror movie victim, who has fled the shack, but who is still in the woods, and the killer hasn't been killed.
Give up the Ghost continues the theme of escape into uncertainty. Here, there is a beat not unlike the previous one, but now it is bigger, more real, no longer digital in the least, while nuanced acoustic guitar appears for the first time all album, and the reverb opens up like daybreak. We hear actual birds. And yet, we're still in the woods, the bird repeat like the loops in the machine, and we are just as likely to be dying as being reborn. The vocals swirl triple-plus, lurking in spaces all around, singing indeterminate phrases that ask that you "don't" do something, maybe a request not to hurt, not to haunt, not to hunt. It's a tense feeling. Still not out of the woods. The final skitter, skipping electronic noise is as menacing as the sound of a branch breaking behind you.
Then there's closer Separator, which seems like something of a third part unto itself. Here is the closest thing we have to a normal beat, but even it seems something of a simulacrum, hi-hats ending too fast, beats too clipped, its existence too relentless. Thom's voice still circles, doubled. "I'm a fish now, out of water." we're told, even as guitars chime in, and the pace quickens, hinting at cheer, there's still a sense of foreboding. "If you think this is over, then you're wrong" is a repeated line, and it spells the lack of resolution out in no uncertain terms; we could be breaking out of the woods to or we could be seeing the light as our pursuer finishes the job. There is a sense of relief, but what follows is an open sky. Thom asks "wake me up", as something ends, as the guitars harken to whiteness and light. On one hand, something has ended. On the other hand, as the last notes chime out, the ending is uncertain.
Assuming again that this is the whole of the album, its a deliciously unsatisfying ending. In my very, very first impression email to Robin I compared the album to a David Lynch (who I tend to like) movie, afterward it is over, but it has just begun. The movie was just the seed in your mind, and its up to you to decide what to do with it. When I finished Mullholland Drive, I literally put my head in my hands and spent 15 minutes puzzling it out until it resolved, as a work, in my mind. I have the same impulse here.
Again, it is Radiohead's most narrative album, and their most mysterious; the lyrics are more oblique than ever, the songs less solidly-formed. To clarify, I don't think its actually about escaping from a computer/killer/killer computer in the woods, but it changes over time; there is everything before Codex starts, and everything after, and there is Separator, and they make the most sense in order. Like a David Lynch movie, there are suggestions of connected parts, but the parts don't fit in any simple way. Themes reoccur and trigger half-conscious memories of their predecessors. It is troubling in ways you don't understand, and it's not particularly pleasant. Those who like Radiohead for the rock, or even for the beauty, or who otherwise liked In Rainbows, may well not like this album. It is not a fun album, it is "serious stuff", with all the chin-scratching satisfaction / stuffiness / pro / con that implies.
Is it good? Yes.
Is it great? I'm not sure yet.
It is interesting, compelling even. It is a bizarre creation, cohesive in structure, that demands to be listened to as an album. There is no point in pulling out any of these songs on their own, except for maybe the oft-mentioned Morning Mr. Magpie, which has an absolutely killer bassline in its skittery beat skeleton, and Lotus Flower for its wheeling, swooping vocal lines. Pacingwise, it really reads as five parts in claustrophobia, two parts in escape, and a final, curious denouement that is blindingly aggressive in its unwillingness to resolve.
I'm also struck by its remarkable ability to evoke light. The first five songs are so dark, so closed, so at-best-glow-in-the-dark, and the last three are increasingly so bright that I almost think I see light when I listen to them. And yes, there are synesthesia bonus points in my book.
It's entirely possible that this album has an unfair advantage, as I gave this my complete attention, where other albums got a while-I-program first chance and were set aside forever. But the listen was certainly compelling, and thought-provoking afterwards, which is rare these days. Even now, it skitters around in my brain, unresolved. I don't even know if I liked it all that much, but I'm intrigued by it. And not in a Magnolia "glad I don't have to see it again" kind of way, in more of a Synecdoche NY "what the hell was that and what did it mean" kind of way that draws me back.
I've considered this album firmly from the perspective of rock music. As rock, it comes across as minimal, experimental and weird, slightly krautrock, very opposed to rock and roll traditions of all kinds. It is slow-paced, formless, and largely light on melody and hooks. All of those things are double edged swords. As electronic music, I'm not sure where it lays, maybe this is all terribly passe by the standards of this dubstep thing everyone can't shut up about. As music in general it is either interesting or boring, seemingly the sound of Radiohead seeing how far away from rock convention they can get and still have people like them, pushing as hard as they have since Kid A, and arguably pushing even harder. Which, again, is on the razor's edge of being a good or bad thing. If the whole album followed the model of the first five songs, it would be one thing, but the way that those set up the arc of the last three sure makes it a lot harder to dismiss.
I think that, in the end, so far I like this better as art, as a whole media object, than I do as songs. But that matters plenty. And even as I listen to it while writing this (unbelievably lengthy) (so-called) mini-review I find it growing on me, as the parts that were oppressive find homes in my crannies and other elements move to the fore. Maybe I'm talking myself into it, or I'm just a huge Radiohead fanboy, or I have aural death-cabin Stockholm, or I've been subconsciously tricked into hoping for a second half that's never coming, but for now my instinct lies at (the low end of) 4.5/5
#300 The Mekons - The Mekons Rock'n'Roll
Another one off the AMG. Have heard of these guys but never really heard them.
This is about as good as a punk band could be expected to sound in 1989, sounding smoothed out, more Everclear and late Green Day than anything truly confrontational, mixing in country sounds, which is about as far from punk as you reckon you could get. There's an offhanded British menace that evokes Gang of Four and the Fall, but its alongside some moments of actual melody and prettiness; the closer even breaks out the accordian and mellotron to go with the boy-girl crooning and reverbed-out guitar solo.
Despite the identity crisis, it mostly works. It's a little too pretty and arty to work as punk, not quite arty or pretty enough to work as art rock, but it works somewhere in between. The vocals are the main problem here, the male vocals sound worn out, and not in a good way, and the girl vocals sound a little too X, a little too Vaselines, which is to say, I don't love them. I think this is worth another listen. It didn't blow me away, but its curious instrumentation and general unpidgeonholability suggest it deserves closer consideration than these first-blush half-reviews tend to lend 3/5
This is about as good as a punk band could be expected to sound in 1989, sounding smoothed out, more Everclear and late Green Day than anything truly confrontational, mixing in country sounds, which is about as far from punk as you reckon you could get. There's an offhanded British menace that evokes Gang of Four and the Fall, but its alongside some moments of actual melody and prettiness; the closer even breaks out the accordian and mellotron to go with the boy-girl crooning and reverbed-out guitar solo.
Despite the identity crisis, it mostly works. It's a little too pretty and arty to work as punk, not quite arty or pretty enough to work as art rock, but it works somewhere in between. The vocals are the main problem here, the male vocals sound worn out, and not in a good way, and the girl vocals sound a little too X, a little too Vaselines, which is to say, I don't love them. I think this is worth another listen. It didn't blow me away, but its curious instrumentation and general unpidgeonholability suggest it deserves closer consideration than these first-blush half-reviews tend to lend 3/5
#299 James Blake - James Blake
From Pitchfork, haven't done that in ages! Plus, I did mostly like his 3 E P set from last year.
This is sure spare stuff, and I think it generally works in his favor. The basic formula is a vocal line or two, repeated again and again, in slightly different ways, distorted in different ways, sped, slowed, bent, auto-tuned, distorted, pitch-bent and rendered part of a glacially shifting landscape. Underneath the vocals, a large buzzy synth sound or two moves in and out, while a simple beat undergoes a series of breaks and variations, serving as an inconsistent, slightly broken, backbone. And that's it. These aren't really songs in any real sense, more studies of the vocal line, draped over digital soundscapes that evolve from minimistically spare to minimalistically rich, and back.
In some cases (especially on Wilhelm Scream and Lindesfarne 1 and 2) the effect is chilling and hypnotic, as the lack of macro-level variation lets you focus on the particular digital/production/sub-move moves Blake is making, and the sentiment of the repeated line gains force.
In other cases it doesn't work. Take I Never Learnt to Share, where the sentiment of the vocal line ("my brother and my sister don't speak to me! but I don't blame them!") falls flat, and the specific delivery is lazy, messy, dissonant and generally uninteresting.
Its a funny thing, the album that has basically one trick, especially when that one trick is being really single minded. It can either be consistent, atmospheric, singular, powerful, etc, or it can just be one-note and boring. This album flirts with both. At times I found it really annoying. And I don't think I like James Blake himself, who seems to think a bit much of himself. I put up with a lot of pretentiousness in music, but this album's pretentiousness is of a variety that I find particularly annoying. And yet, it worked on me often enough, wormed its way into my brain enough, that I think I overall liked it, at least enough for 3.5/5
[oops, out of order. For full obsessive record-keeping sake, I heard this before #300, wrote after #301]
This is sure spare stuff, and I think it generally works in his favor. The basic formula is a vocal line or two, repeated again and again, in slightly different ways, distorted in different ways, sped, slowed, bent, auto-tuned, distorted, pitch-bent and rendered part of a glacially shifting landscape. Underneath the vocals, a large buzzy synth sound or two moves in and out, while a simple beat undergoes a series of breaks and variations, serving as an inconsistent, slightly broken, backbone. And that's it. These aren't really songs in any real sense, more studies of the vocal line, draped over digital soundscapes that evolve from minimistically spare to minimalistically rich, and back.
In some cases (especially on Wilhelm Scream and Lindesfarne 1 and 2) the effect is chilling and hypnotic, as the lack of macro-level variation lets you focus on the particular digital/production/sub-move moves Blake is making, and the sentiment of the repeated line gains force.
In other cases it doesn't work. Take I Never Learnt to Share, where the sentiment of the vocal line ("my brother and my sister don't speak to me! but I don't blame them!") falls flat, and the specific delivery is lazy, messy, dissonant and generally uninteresting.
Its a funny thing, the album that has basically one trick, especially when that one trick is being really single minded. It can either be consistent, atmospheric, singular, powerful, etc, or it can just be one-note and boring. This album flirts with both. At times I found it really annoying. And I don't think I like James Blake himself, who seems to think a bit much of himself. I put up with a lot of pretentiousness in music, but this album's pretentiousness is of a variety that I find particularly annoying. And yet, it worked on me often enough, wormed its way into my brain enough, that I think I overall liked it, at least enough for 3.5/5
[oops, out of order. For full obsessive record-keeping sake, I heard this before #300, wrote after #301]
Monday, February 14, 2011
#298 Premiata Forneria Marconi - Photos of Ghosts
Mentioned in the Allmusic guide as a golden age prog album of note. And here I thought I'd heard just about everyone out there.
Wow, these guy have heard them some Genesis. I know that Genesis was unusually popular in Italy, and generally were influential, but these guys really specifically have the early The Knife / Watcher of the Skies, jammier Genesis sound down. The particular guitar and organ sounds, the guitar arpeggios, the stop-start moves, the build-and-recede 9-minute structures - they don't just sound like any prog band, they sound very much like Genesis in particular.
Now, Genesis remains my favorite prog band of all time, so do these guys work effectively with that sound I'm so found of? Mostly. The good news is, these guys really nail the jammiest, rave-upiest bits of the Genesis thing, and don't bother with the wispy folksiness that sometimes tries my patience. Its all arpeggios and energy and full speed ahead - sounds like Genesis, paced like Rush.
As you might have guessed though, that's also the bad news. There's a saying in film that nothing is as boring as constant action, and the same basic principle applies here. Genesis knew that complex runs and jams only worked if they created contrast, if they were earned and portioned out and used to create interest piquing peaks. Too many prog albums are like Michael Bay movies, just charging at you with time changes and runs and dueling solos over and over and over again unrelentingly, and this album kind of falls into that category. There's not many memorable hooks that really rise above the masses, and the vocals are mostly in English, but are delivered awkwardly and forgettably, so it all becomes a bit of a mush.
There's an interesting parallel to my previous review here: Colouring of Pigeons was so joyous because it wasn't lost in a sea of similarly massive swooping and keening songs.
All this theory aside, the particular actual music, when you pull it out, is pretty good - its interesting as long as you have the energy to listen to it closely, and there are interesting, interlocking moves about every 30 seconds or so.
Maybe I'm just tired lately. All these albums that I think are just too exhausting. Well, this is the time, and this is the record of the time. As with so many recent listens, this one falls roughly in the middle, though at least on the high end with what I'm gonna call a 3.5/5
Wow, these guy have heard them some Genesis. I know that Genesis was unusually popular in Italy, and generally were influential, but these guys really specifically have the early The Knife / Watcher of the Skies, jammier Genesis sound down. The particular guitar and organ sounds, the guitar arpeggios, the stop-start moves, the build-and-recede 9-minute structures - they don't just sound like any prog band, they sound very much like Genesis in particular.
Now, Genesis remains my favorite prog band of all time, so do these guys work effectively with that sound I'm so found of? Mostly. The good news is, these guys really nail the jammiest, rave-upiest bits of the Genesis thing, and don't bother with the wispy folksiness that sometimes tries my patience. Its all arpeggios and energy and full speed ahead - sounds like Genesis, paced like Rush.
As you might have guessed though, that's also the bad news. There's a saying in film that nothing is as boring as constant action, and the same basic principle applies here. Genesis knew that complex runs and jams only worked if they created contrast, if they were earned and portioned out and used to create interest piquing peaks. Too many prog albums are like Michael Bay movies, just charging at you with time changes and runs and dueling solos over and over and over again unrelentingly, and this album kind of falls into that category. There's not many memorable hooks that really rise above the masses, and the vocals are mostly in English, but are delivered awkwardly and forgettably, so it all becomes a bit of a mush.
There's an interesting parallel to my previous review here: Colouring of Pigeons was so joyous because it wasn't lost in a sea of similarly massive swooping and keening songs.
All this theory aside, the particular actual music, when you pull it out, is pretty good - its interesting as long as you have the energy to listen to it closely, and there are interesting, interlocking moves about every 30 seconds or so.
Maybe I'm just tired lately. All these albums that I think are just too exhausting. Well, this is the time, and this is the record of the time. As with so many recent listens, this one falls roughly in the middle, though at least on the high end with what I'm gonna call a 3.5/5
#297 The Knife - Tomorrow, In a Year
Chad also recommended this one with reservations. Duly noted.
The Knife isn't a straightforward band or anything, but after five minutes of aimless noise I started to wonder what the story was and looked this up. Apparently this was a soundtrack for an opera about Charles Darwin, and that helps the otherwise fragmented vocal snippets make a bit more sense. A bit.
Where to start on this. On one hand, its kind of brilliant. It's certainly experimental, in sound, in instrumentation, in structure, in pacing. It is full of field recorded noises, vocal crooning across octaves, ominous drone and buzz, keening electronic scree and chirp, and other ambient whatnot, eschewing any kind of beat for 10, 20 minutes at a time. The main backbone is the lyrics, which, while disjointed and repetitive and unpredictable all at once, circle around themes of science, uncertainty, struggle and insights lurking just out of sight, painting a picture of a mind unmoored.
And it goes on and on, formlessly, across two discs, never really settling into anything resembling an album structure*, but it's strangely compelling if you're in the right mood. This was good flower arranging music.
The real moment, fuck, especially now that I listen to it again now though, is Colouring of Pigeons. It is just an amazing song, surging with strings, vocal chirps and swoops, and an actual cohesive, chorus-like harmonized hook, whoosing, winding helixical for 11 minutes, evoking interlocking, wheeling slashes of birds in flight. It's especially powerful as a payoff for all the aimless noise that came before, as everything gels, as the previously suggested seeds sprout all at once. Its a patience-reward up there with Dusk at Cubist Castle's transition from Green Typewriters 8 to Green Typewriters 9. I wish that there was more like on the album, but maybe it wouldn't have had the same power if there had been more of it.
That song aside, I can't say I really feel a need to endure this again. Its another one of those "glad I heard it, won't hear it again" types that I never know how to rate. I think as those things go, my once-through was a pretty damn compelling experience, and that one song is really an ass kicker. Heck, 11 minutes is 4 songs for some bands. It's either stingy or generous, or both, to say 3.5/5
* Which, right, makes sense, given that this was meant to accompany visual stimuli that the listener isn't privy to, but I gotta evaluate it for what it is if its getting released as a standalone entity.
The Knife isn't a straightforward band or anything, but after five minutes of aimless noise I started to wonder what the story was and looked this up. Apparently this was a soundtrack for an opera about Charles Darwin, and that helps the otherwise fragmented vocal snippets make a bit more sense. A bit.
Where to start on this. On one hand, its kind of brilliant. It's certainly experimental, in sound, in instrumentation, in structure, in pacing. It is full of field recorded noises, vocal crooning across octaves, ominous drone and buzz, keening electronic scree and chirp, and other ambient whatnot, eschewing any kind of beat for 10, 20 minutes at a time. The main backbone is the lyrics, which, while disjointed and repetitive and unpredictable all at once, circle around themes of science, uncertainty, struggle and insights lurking just out of sight, painting a picture of a mind unmoored.
And it goes on and on, formlessly, across two discs, never really settling into anything resembling an album structure*, but it's strangely compelling if you're in the right mood. This was good flower arranging music.
The real moment, fuck, especially now that I listen to it again now though, is Colouring of Pigeons. It is just an amazing song, surging with strings, vocal chirps and swoops, and an actual cohesive, chorus-like harmonized hook, whoosing, winding helixical for 11 minutes, evoking interlocking, wheeling slashes of birds in flight. It's especially powerful as a payoff for all the aimless noise that came before, as everything gels, as the previously suggested seeds sprout all at once. Its a patience-reward up there with Dusk at Cubist Castle's transition from Green Typewriters 8 to Green Typewriters 9. I wish that there was more like on the album, but maybe it wouldn't have had the same power if there had been more of it.
That song aside, I can't say I really feel a need to endure this again. Its another one of those "glad I heard it, won't hear it again" types that I never know how to rate. I think as those things go, my once-through was a pretty damn compelling experience, and that one song is really an ass kicker. Heck, 11 minutes is 4 songs for some bands. It's either stingy or generous, or both, to say 3.5/5
* Which, right, makes sense, given that this was meant to accompany visual stimuli that the listener isn't privy to, but I gotta evaluate it for what it is if its getting released as a standalone entity.
#296 Cut Copy - Zonoscope
Chad recommended this one, and while In Ghost Colors didn't move me as a whole, there were enough high points to get me to try this one.
This is roughly like their previous stuff: vaguely dancey (though not really dancable) songs with anthemic choruses and some hints of pop structure that leaves them sounding a little new wave, and more than a little DFA. This one seems a bit more experimental than the last one; some of it works (the Beach-Boys-via-Manitoba sunshine bliss of Where I'm Going and upswing stomp of This is All We've Got), some of it doesn't (the vaguely African Peter Gabriel / Eno-isms that crop up here and there).
The songs are more uniformly long, and at times I found myself missing the short-song interludes that broke up their previous album - the one exception is the gorgeous two minutes of Strange Nostalgia for the Future, which serve as the album's mini-centerpiece. Speaking of length, then there's that 15 minute closer that I'm not quite sure what to make of. I don't think it quite moved me the way it wanted to, but the structure is squirelly and compelling somehow.
I think the problem is the same as with their previous one - I like the songs, but on an album level I get a bit numb to it. Too busy, the vocals too crooney and ethereal, the instrumentation to undistinguished, it gets exhausting. Something about the production perhaps. Good in small doses, which is probably how I'll listen to it, don't see a lot of full-album runs in its future though 3/5
This is roughly like their previous stuff: vaguely dancey (though not really dancable) songs with anthemic choruses and some hints of pop structure that leaves them sounding a little new wave, and more than a little DFA. This one seems a bit more experimental than the last one; some of it works (the Beach-Boys-via-Manitoba sunshine bliss of Where I'm Going and upswing stomp of This is All We've Got), some of it doesn't (the vaguely African Peter Gabriel / Eno-isms that crop up here and there).
The songs are more uniformly long, and at times I found myself missing the short-song interludes that broke up their previous album - the one exception is the gorgeous two minutes of Strange Nostalgia for the Future, which serve as the album's mini-centerpiece. Speaking of length, then there's that 15 minute closer that I'm not quite sure what to make of. I don't think it quite moved me the way it wanted to, but the structure is squirelly and compelling somehow.
I think the problem is the same as with their previous one - I like the songs, but on an album level I get a bit numb to it. Too busy, the vocals too crooney and ethereal, the instrumentation to undistinguished, it gets exhausting. Something about the production perhaps. Good in small doses, which is probably how I'll listen to it, don't see a lot of full-album runs in its future though 3/5
Sunday, February 13, 2011
#295 Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights
Finally off all this modern stuff and back to looking into the alleged classics. Liked their other one pretty good, checking out this one too.
This album was released around the time that Richard and Linda separated, and whether the beginnings of their breakup were present during these recordings, or just post-hoc, hindsight pattern-finding, you can feel regret and sadness and tension here, especially on the first two songs.
But for whatever reason the 8 years separating these albums watered their sound down, with only Walking on a Wire really bringing the fire. Back Street Slide is emblematic of the problem, sounding derivative and limp, like a midi version of itself. The rest just generally sounds a bit..80's, a bit too aimlessly bouncy, a bit too gated snare Born in the USA beat, a bit too repetitive. Didn't, as a whole, move me 2/5
This album was released around the time that Richard and Linda separated, and whether the beginnings of their breakup were present during these recordings, or just post-hoc, hindsight pattern-finding, you can feel regret and sadness and tension here, especially on the first two songs.
But for whatever reason the 8 years separating these albums watered their sound down, with only Walking on a Wire really bringing the fire. Back Street Slide is emblematic of the problem, sounding derivative and limp, like a midi version of itself. The rest just generally sounds a bit..80's, a bit too aimlessly bouncy, a bit too gated snare Born in the USA beat, a bit too repetitive. Didn't, as a whole, move me 2/5
#294 The Vaselines - Sex with an X
Another one Adam liked. This is how desperate I am for recommendations, you post one comment on here and I'll listen to everything you ever liked. I seem to remember liking one of their previous ones OK, but then again, it would seem I don't remember it so good.
I wish that I could get away from comparing this to Yo La Tengo, but I can't. Man/woman, vaguely noisy, bouncy pop. This is poppier by far, goofier, looser, but the sound is not dissimilar. More generally, its kind of repetitive, 90's indie kind of stuff, but strangely compelling, winning me over as it went on. There's a good, simple bounce to it, evoking what I want to say is Rockabilly, but that's not a term I don't feel wholly qualified to use correctly just yet. Should fix that.
In the meantime, yes I liked it more than I expected to, but its also not really my scene - not quite exciting enough, not quite novel enough, not quite new new new new enough for better than 3/5
I wish that I could get away from comparing this to Yo La Tengo, but I can't. Man/woman, vaguely noisy, bouncy pop. This is poppier by far, goofier, looser, but the sound is not dissimilar. More generally, its kind of repetitive, 90's indie kind of stuff, but strangely compelling, winning me over as it went on. There's a good, simple bounce to it, evoking what I want to say is Rockabilly, but that's not a term I don't feel wholly qualified to use correctly just yet. Should fix that.
In the meantime, yes I liked it more than I expected to, but its also not really my scene - not quite exciting enough, not quite novel enough, not quite new new new new enough for better than 3/5
#293 Roky Erickson with Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil
Another of Adam's favorites that I checked out, an easy pickup because I tend to like Okkervil River, if nothing else.
The album starts off great with the first two songs. The opener is the hissy, classic, Guided by Voices model, sounding impossibly tiny and faraway, a stark contrast to the layered, perfect mellotron and piano and everything crush of huge that comes later. Its probably the finest moment on the album, and its a trick reprised effectively on the closer. The second song once again defies genre and sound, coming out ancient and simple, evoking Johnny Cash and his influences.
After that, things are a bit more conventional. Still good, but disappointing after such a strong opening. Then the songs get more structured, and longer, and Roky has a nasty habit of repeating the same line over and over again, hanging the entire song on a given mantra. Maybe if you really buy into that line, its repetition gives it growing, euphoric power, but it mostly made each song sound like it was outreaching its substance.
Most of what I like about this lies in its atmosphere. The way it evokes Cash and other weathered souls (John Lawman evokes idiot-era Iggy Pop more than you might guess), the production tricks on the opener and closer, and the Roky-taking-a-break intermission in the middle. The playing is solid and exciting too. The real letdown is in that structure, the excessive repetition, which didn't keep me from enjoying the once-through, but that will probably keep it from seeing too many future spins. Just didn't quite suck me in the way it seemed to have been designed to - further proof, perhaps, that I don't listen to music the way one theoretically should, so obsessed with the new new new new am I. Then again, this is what you get for doing these after one listen. Did you know I didn't even plan to do reviews when I first thought of this? Just to track when I heard albums. And here we are. 3/5
The album starts off great with the first two songs. The opener is the hissy, classic, Guided by Voices model, sounding impossibly tiny and faraway, a stark contrast to the layered, perfect mellotron and piano and everything crush of huge that comes later. Its probably the finest moment on the album, and its a trick reprised effectively on the closer. The second song once again defies genre and sound, coming out ancient and simple, evoking Johnny Cash and his influences.
After that, things are a bit more conventional. Still good, but disappointing after such a strong opening. Then the songs get more structured, and longer, and Roky has a nasty habit of repeating the same line over and over again, hanging the entire song on a given mantra. Maybe if you really buy into that line, its repetition gives it growing, euphoric power, but it mostly made each song sound like it was outreaching its substance.
Most of what I like about this lies in its atmosphere. The way it evokes Cash and other weathered souls (John Lawman evokes idiot-era Iggy Pop more than you might guess), the production tricks on the opener and closer, and the Roky-taking-a-break intermission in the middle. The playing is solid and exciting too. The real letdown is in that structure, the excessive repetition, which didn't keep me from enjoying the once-through, but that will probably keep it from seeing too many future spins. Just didn't quite suck me in the way it seemed to have been designed to - further proof, perhaps, that I don't listen to music the way one theoretically should, so obsessed with the new new new new am I. Then again, this is what you get for doing these after one listen. Did you know I didn't even plan to do reviews when I first thought of this? Just to track when I heard albums. And here we are. 3/5
#292 The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
Their first one is probably one of my top 10 favorite albums of the 00's, and the second one was good enough to keep my interested in the new one. 2011 ho!
This is really what the second album should have been. Proof of Youth was too much of the same, but not as well-paced as the debut. This branches out a lot more, bringing DJ Ninja more to the fore, making songs that are more harsh, more fun, more unpredictable, in turn, if not at the same time. Its probably going to be my second favorite of their albums just because it differentiates itself a bit more.
That said, its still the go team sound. Still the same horns, the same big guitars, the same basic beat that is getting a little bit tired. I don't know how they can really keep making albums without betraying their sound when their sound was so consistent on the debut, but if you liked their previous ones, you'll find more of the same here, for better or for worse. I found it enjoyable, but unspectacular as a listening experience, leading to a pretty generous 3.5/5
This is really what the second album should have been. Proof of Youth was too much of the same, but not as well-paced as the debut. This branches out a lot more, bringing DJ Ninja more to the fore, making songs that are more harsh, more fun, more unpredictable, in turn, if not at the same time. Its probably going to be my second favorite of their albums just because it differentiates itself a bit more.
That said, its still the go team sound. Still the same horns, the same big guitars, the same basic beat that is getting a little bit tired. I don't know how they can really keep making albums without betraying their sound when their sound was so consistent on the debut, but if you liked their previous ones, you'll find more of the same here, for better or for worse. I found it enjoyable, but unspectacular as a listening experience, leading to a pretty generous 3.5/5
Friday, February 4, 2011
#291 Cage the Elephant - Thank You Happy Birthday
My brother said he was digging this one, so I did what I always do in that case. Always.
Wow, that first track is really something. Its so overtly technoed out and buzzed out that it makes me nervous. A little bit too Nine Inch Nails. I kind of think that song might be terrible, now that I've listened to it a couple times, even though I kind of like it.
The rest of the album is kind of similar; it's trying to do a lot of things, and I think its trying a little too hard to do a lot of them, even though some of them are things I like. It sounds like late Modest Mouse here and there (Aberdeen), late Okkervil River in some places (2024), late Green Day in others (Right Before Your Eyes). In short, like a lot of bands that used to be legit, but that have tried to stay relevant, and in doing so have come across as a little unnatural.
Also, a prize to the first person who tells me what song Rubber Ball sounds exactly like. It sounds so much like another song I know that I thought it was a cover, but I can't figure out which one.
Also, the indie kid hating in (cringe) Indie Kidz falls utterly flat for me, its all been said a thousand times before. See also the electronic commands on Sell Yourself.
If I could get my head out of my ass, I would like these songs. They're exciting, I'll bet they're big fun live (where the band has a real reputation), and the combination of electronic flourishes, shouts, stompy anthems and ragged bass remind me favorably of Tokyo Police Club (Shake me Down in particular). There's a great variety on the album, lots of changes in tempo, lots of buzzy guitars, lots of pretty bits, complex bits, simple bits, all paced pretty well. I always mean this a little backhandedly, but not as backhandedly as it sounds: I would have loved this album when I was 23. I just seem to be a little too jaded for it now. Some drunken night, this will probably spend an hour as my favorite album ever. In the meantime? I kind of love and hate it.
I think one thing that gives this album a little boost is the fact that I don't think these guys are doing these things because they think they'll sell, I think they actually think this is the best way to rock. That goes a long way, and is at least good enough to give them the benefit of the doubt up to 3/5
Edit: In the days since, I have to confess, some of these songs have totally been in my head. The perils of the first-impression review.
Wow, that first track is really something. Its so overtly technoed out and buzzed out that it makes me nervous. A little bit too Nine Inch Nails. I kind of think that song might be terrible, now that I've listened to it a couple times, even though I kind of like it.
The rest of the album is kind of similar; it's trying to do a lot of things, and I think its trying a little too hard to do a lot of them, even though some of them are things I like. It sounds like late Modest Mouse here and there (Aberdeen), late Okkervil River in some places (2024), late Green Day in others (Right Before Your Eyes). In short, like a lot of bands that used to be legit, but that have tried to stay relevant, and in doing so have come across as a little unnatural.
Also, a prize to the first person who tells me what song Rubber Ball sounds exactly like. It sounds so much like another song I know that I thought it was a cover, but I can't figure out which one.
Also, the indie kid hating in (cringe) Indie Kidz falls utterly flat for me, its all been said a thousand times before. See also the electronic commands on Sell Yourself.
If I could get my head out of my ass, I would like these songs. They're exciting, I'll bet they're big fun live (where the band has a real reputation), and the combination of electronic flourishes, shouts, stompy anthems and ragged bass remind me favorably of Tokyo Police Club (Shake me Down in particular). There's a great variety on the album, lots of changes in tempo, lots of buzzy guitars, lots of pretty bits, complex bits, simple bits, all paced pretty well. I always mean this a little backhandedly, but not as backhandedly as it sounds: I would have loved this album when I was 23. I just seem to be a little too jaded for it now. Some drunken night, this will probably spend an hour as my favorite album ever. In the meantime? I kind of love and hate it.
I think one thing that gives this album a little boost is the fact that I don't think these guys are doing these things because they think they'll sell, I think they actually think this is the best way to rock. That goes a long way, and is at least good enough to give them the benefit of the doubt up to 3/5
Edit: In the days since, I have to confess, some of these songs have totally been in my head. The perils of the first-impression review.
#290 The Corin Tucker Band - 1000 Years
Adam from www.shortwaverockin.com posted a comment on #286 that got me curious enough to check out his site. I'm not sure we have the same taste in music, but we both really liked the Screaming Females album, so lets see how I like the other stuff he liked from last year. Always looking for recs people. Always.
My progression on this one went:
- This sounds like some girl band I know, but which one.
- Oh, this sounds like Sleater-Kinney
- You know, I'll be this girl was in Sleater-Kinney
- [Google]
- Yep
I like SK pretty good, favoring One Beat, though I don't think that's generally regarded as their best. This is not wholly different, with the same kind of driving rock and angularisms in place. The oddest thing about this album its restless approach to production. Check out the ways that the mix drops in things in and out of Half a World Away, Riley and Doubt in particular. There's a weird stereo move at 1:18 of Doubt that seems too overt to be an accident, but I can't decide what role its supposed to serve. I can't tell if this is just amateur, or if its an artistic move or what. Its subtly disconcerting, sometimes Tucker is all up in the face of the mix, singing right in your ear over a distant band; sometimes she seems to be across the room, shouting to be heard.
On some songs, the production is a strength. The lurking, noisy, stereo menace in Handed Love is a compelling presence that is built on the way that it moves around your headphones, poking in and retreating during the song's extended buildup.
Ok, ok, what about the actual tunes? The fast songs are good, lots of hooky bits, some deft guitar work, some nice bass moves, but when the songs get open and slow and pianoey, they get a bit too Cat Power for my taste. I think part of the problem is that I don't have the patience for traditional rock any more. I don't listen closely enough to lyrics (especially not over the course of the first-listens that lead to these posts) and I don't get moved by one guitar part over another unless its really doing something overt (Black Fuzz on Wheels, Dye it Blonde, Riposte). This album is fine, perfectly good, without faults (other than being a bit slow and weirdly produced). The side of me that loves Girl Talk demands more maximalist sucker punches and precarious swerves than this has to offer. Its not you Corin Tucker Band, its me 3/5
My progression on this one went:
- This sounds like some girl band I know, but which one.
- Oh, this sounds like Sleater-Kinney
- You know, I'll be this girl was in Sleater-Kinney
- [Google]
- Yep
I like SK pretty good, favoring One Beat, though I don't think that's generally regarded as their best. This is not wholly different, with the same kind of driving rock and angularisms in place. The oddest thing about this album its restless approach to production. Check out the ways that the mix drops in things in and out of Half a World Away, Riley and Doubt in particular. There's a weird stereo move at 1:18 of Doubt that seems too overt to be an accident, but I can't decide what role its supposed to serve. I can't tell if this is just amateur, or if its an artistic move or what. Its subtly disconcerting, sometimes Tucker is all up in the face of the mix, singing right in your ear over a distant band; sometimes she seems to be across the room, shouting to be heard.
On some songs, the production is a strength. The lurking, noisy, stereo menace in Handed Love is a compelling presence that is built on the way that it moves around your headphones, poking in and retreating during the song's extended buildup.
Ok, ok, what about the actual tunes? The fast songs are good, lots of hooky bits, some deft guitar work, some nice bass moves, but when the songs get open and slow and pianoey, they get a bit too Cat Power for my taste. I think part of the problem is that I don't have the patience for traditional rock any more. I don't listen closely enough to lyrics (especially not over the course of the first-listens that lead to these posts) and I don't get moved by one guitar part over another unless its really doing something overt (Black Fuzz on Wheels, Dye it Blonde, Riposte). This album is fine, perfectly good, without faults (other than being a bit slow and weirdly produced). The side of me that loves Girl Talk demands more maximalist sucker punches and precarious swerves than this has to offer. Its not you Corin Tucker Band, its me 3/5
Thursday, February 3, 2011
#289 Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde
First album from Pitchfork in ages, and first 2011 album reviewed.
Off to a good start, 2011. This is a poppy, joyous, stompy run, evoking a touch of 60's, plenty of Supergrass, some of Arcade Fire's anthemic starreaching, and even a roundabout touch of the maximalist crowdrousing of late The Hold Steady. On paper, it shares a lot with that watery, domestic indie rock I'm always complaining about. Lush production, wimpy vocals, repeated chiming guitar backbones. The key is that the songs actually bother to lift and surge, actually rise to become large and try. And most importantly, the songs exist only as a playground for this one guitar sound, this everpresent, savage, gorgeous distored guitar line that romps all over every spare moment, giving it guidance and power. Think the finest guitar lines that Ratatat and the Pumpkins ever had, that guitar line polished to perfection, with every ragged edge perfectly considered and placed in place, like a serrated samurai sword, so well-executed you can see its overengineered lack of texture as a strength. That guitar line, and that general willingness to rock, is what elevates this.
I'm a sucker for the big gorgeous riff, and if you want to plow it through big gorgeous structures, I'm hooked. This album makes me regress, makes me turn into my 90's music self, where I get swept up in big pop rock moments, where a guitar line takes my heart out. Plus, it's well paced,with a good opener, a great track 3 follow-up, and a great anthemic closer.
I don't know that its all that good. I don't know that its all that inventive or worthy or what, but it works. I feel a little sheepish 5-ing this up when I've so recently 4.5-hedged on so many long-loved classics of the 60's, but the fact is, something that sounds new and immediate stands a better chance of getting access to that irrational section of my mind that holds the keys to the 5's. I don't think any album deserves a 5, its only the albums that get into the idiot emo center that trick me into giving one that get one anyway 5/5
Off to a good start, 2011. This is a poppy, joyous, stompy run, evoking a touch of 60's, plenty of Supergrass, some of Arcade Fire's anthemic starreaching, and even a roundabout touch of the maximalist crowdrousing of late The Hold Steady. On paper, it shares a lot with that watery, domestic indie rock I'm always complaining about. Lush production, wimpy vocals, repeated chiming guitar backbones. The key is that the songs actually bother to lift and surge, actually rise to become large and try. And most importantly, the songs exist only as a playground for this one guitar sound, this everpresent, savage, gorgeous distored guitar line that romps all over every spare moment, giving it guidance and power. Think the finest guitar lines that Ratatat and the Pumpkins ever had, that guitar line polished to perfection, with every ragged edge perfectly considered and placed in place, like a serrated samurai sword, so well-executed you can see its overengineered lack of texture as a strength. That guitar line, and that general willingness to rock, is what elevates this.
I'm a sucker for the big gorgeous riff, and if you want to plow it through big gorgeous structures, I'm hooked. This album makes me regress, makes me turn into my 90's music self, where I get swept up in big pop rock moments, where a guitar line takes my heart out. Plus, it's well paced,with a good opener, a great track 3 follow-up, and a great anthemic closer.
I don't know that its all that good. I don't know that its all that inventive or worthy or what, but it works. I feel a little sheepish 5-ing this up when I've so recently 4.5-hedged on so many long-loved classics of the 60's, but the fact is, something that sounds new and immediate stands a better chance of getting access to that irrational section of my mind that holds the keys to the 5's. I don't think any album deserves a 5, its only the albums that get into the idiot emo center that trick me into giving one that get one anyway 5/5
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
#288 Beach House - Teen Dream
Completely by accident, I went a month without listening to anything off of Pitchfork, Dusted, or any of the music sites or blogs. I think it was a combination of getting the Allmusic Guide and those sites being on holiday hiatus, but its been nice to get into some classics and away from some of the whispy cleverness of the modern indie rock world. But now, back to reality. This seems to be the 2010 album getting the most buzz among those I hadn't yet heard, so I figured I'd give it a try, even though I wasn't so hot on the debut.
This is very Detroit. A few of you know what I mean. Very Fielding. Very watery indie, with prettiness in place of fire, with a willingness to ride a chiming arpeggio and a wheeling vocal line all the way to the coda. A spare beat, a simple guitar line, repeat with minor swells and subtle swerves here and there, and that's your song. I think in theory I get caught up in the emotion of this, and I can see that maybe happening once you get used to it, if you let it in your heart. Maybe.
I find the chiming guitars mostly annoying, the structures too boring, the atmospherics underwhelming, the vocals cloying. That all sounds really negative, and I don't hate it as much as I sound like I do. Actually, it is pretty in places. The last track is moving, and I suspect becomes more so with further listens. And each song has a moment when it crystallizes that the rest of the song seems to have been reverse-engineered to scaffold.
But its a no for me. I listened to this while I watched unexplained shit tons of crows wheel and pitch over dead trees in sunset to dusk. By all accounts, this should have been the perfect soundtrack, but it didn't live up. Underwhelmed, at least for now. I'm bothered, as I write-enough to warrant more than a slightly stingy 2.5/5
This is very Detroit. A few of you know what I mean. Very Fielding. Very watery indie, with prettiness in place of fire, with a willingness to ride a chiming arpeggio and a wheeling vocal line all the way to the coda. A spare beat, a simple guitar line, repeat with minor swells and subtle swerves here and there, and that's your song. I think in theory I get caught up in the emotion of this, and I can see that maybe happening once you get used to it, if you let it in your heart. Maybe.
I find the chiming guitars mostly annoying, the structures too boring, the atmospherics underwhelming, the vocals cloying. That all sounds really negative, and I don't hate it as much as I sound like I do. Actually, it is pretty in places. The last track is moving, and I suspect becomes more so with further listens. And each song has a moment when it crystallizes that the rest of the song seems to have been reverse-engineered to scaffold.
But its a no for me. I listened to this while I watched unexplained shit tons of crows wheel and pitch over dead trees in sunset to dusk. By all accounts, this should have been the perfect soundtrack, but it didn't live up. Underwhelmed, at least for now. I'm bothered, as I write-enough to warrant more than a slightly stingy 2.5/5
#287 Nirvana - The Story of Simon Simopath
Nope, not that Nirvana. The one making psycadelic, vaguely proggy music in the UK in 1967. I think I must have heard of these guys when I was reading about The Small Faces, and thought I'd check out their best-known album.
Its kind of a great one. The opening song is fraught with mystery and innocence, with pre-LO symphonic pop gestures, and when it breaks into a double-time catchball jam, you know something interesting is going on. Then the waltzy lurch and Zombies organs creep in on track 2 and you're off and running. There are some positively brilliant moments here, and the whole thing is a lot more fun than you might expect for something so complex and proggy. The obvious comparisons are psychedelic contemporaries like the aforementioned Zombies and The Small Faces, though this sounds much more polished, much more ahead of its time, and generally less hard-rocking. Decide where that leaves you, given your particular tastes. The other obvious point of comparison is Sgt Peppers, which came out the same year. There is a similar loose narrative feel, a similar blending of styles, a similar use of varied instrumentation and tempos, a similar mastery over melody and structure. It's not as good as the Beatles' classic, but on one listen, it comes close more often than you might guess. Can you tell me Pentecost Hotel would be altogether out of place on Sgt. Pepper's? That outro, with its dododoos is as joyous as it comes.
This feels like an album that, in another world, would have been a huge hit. There's an alternate universe where some of these songs are classics. It's whispy and wimpy and overproduced, so if you have no stomach for such things, take that under consideration. But if you like elaborate, inventive, joyous pop music that will keep you on your toes and crystallize once a song or so, do go find this one and give it a listen.
Have I gone soft? All these high scores. Then again, I'm specifically seeking out all these alleged classics. Plus, I really like good 60's rock, and I'm finding I've missed a bunch of good albums that don't quite make the classic rock radio. Chalk up another gold, boys 4.5/5
Its kind of a great one. The opening song is fraught with mystery and innocence, with pre-LO symphonic pop gestures, and when it breaks into a double-time catchball jam, you know something interesting is going on. Then the waltzy lurch and Zombies organs creep in on track 2 and you're off and running. There are some positively brilliant moments here, and the whole thing is a lot more fun than you might expect for something so complex and proggy. The obvious comparisons are psychedelic contemporaries like the aforementioned Zombies and The Small Faces, though this sounds much more polished, much more ahead of its time, and generally less hard-rocking. Decide where that leaves you, given your particular tastes. The other obvious point of comparison is Sgt Peppers, which came out the same year. There is a similar loose narrative feel, a similar blending of styles, a similar use of varied instrumentation and tempos, a similar mastery over melody and structure. It's not as good as the Beatles' classic, but on one listen, it comes close more often than you might guess. Can you tell me Pentecost Hotel would be altogether out of place on Sgt. Pepper's? That outro, with its dododoos is as joyous as it comes.
This feels like an album that, in another world, would have been a huge hit. There's an alternate universe where some of these songs are classics. It's whispy and wimpy and overproduced, so if you have no stomach for such things, take that under consideration. But if you like elaborate, inventive, joyous pop music that will keep you on your toes and crystallize once a song or so, do go find this one and give it a listen.
Have I gone soft? All these high scores. Then again, I'm specifically seeking out all these alleged classics. Plus, I really like good 60's rock, and I'm finding I've missed a bunch of good albums that don't quite make the classic rock radio. Chalk up another gold, boys 4.5/5
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
#286 Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat
I recently read the 33 1/3 book on Double Nickels on the Dime (which has about 5 pages-worth of really great trivia in it that are totally worth the price of admission alone) and got curious about Mike Watt's solo career after The Minutemen. Sounds like this is the one to hit.
I don't even know what to do with this. The Minutemen were a pretty unpredictable lot, but swerved within a particular part of town. This is all over the map, pulled asunder by countless big-time guest stars, seasoned by a thousand cooks. Its pretty much impossible to take in in a single listen, or describe in a single mini-review. Basically it sounds like a lot of pretty good, slightly weird 90's rock songs, largely high-energy, mostly catchy, generally fun. It sounds like a B-sides album, or like a collection of the second-weirdest song off every album I bought in my 20's. That is to say, these aren't the truly experimental songs, just the ones that are slightly off-center. I tend to like songs that really do something new, or do something in particular really well on an album level. This is sort of just a bunch of weird, seemingly unrelated, pretty good songs, that despite my claims of diversity, aren't all that far afield. It's all over the map, but it never leaves the map.
Then again, this was pretty inventive for the 90's. A cover of Maggot Brain? A song complaining about the over-influence of the 70's? "Intense Song for Madonna to Sing"? Its that kind of twistiness that I associate with more-modern bands.
I could go back and forth like this for days.
I think that the B-sides album holds, it reminds me of Pisces Iscariot or the Singles soundtrack, both good, varied collections of 90'sey songs. If you like that sort of thing, check it out. I feel like I'll certainly hear it again, and will come away with a collection of favorites and auto-skips, just like I had in the mid-CD era 4/5
I don't even know what to do with this. The Minutemen were a pretty unpredictable lot, but swerved within a particular part of town. This is all over the map, pulled asunder by countless big-time guest stars, seasoned by a thousand cooks. Its pretty much impossible to take in in a single listen, or describe in a single mini-review. Basically it sounds like a lot of pretty good, slightly weird 90's rock songs, largely high-energy, mostly catchy, generally fun. It sounds like a B-sides album, or like a collection of the second-weirdest song off every album I bought in my 20's. That is to say, these aren't the truly experimental songs, just the ones that are slightly off-center. I tend to like songs that really do something new, or do something in particular really well on an album level. This is sort of just a bunch of weird, seemingly unrelated, pretty good songs, that despite my claims of diversity, aren't all that far afield. It's all over the map, but it never leaves the map.
Then again, this was pretty inventive for the 90's. A cover of Maggot Brain? A song complaining about the over-influence of the 70's? "Intense Song for Madonna to Sing"? Its that kind of twistiness that I associate with more-modern bands.
I could go back and forth like this for days.
I think that the B-sides album holds, it reminds me of Pisces Iscariot or the Singles soundtrack, both good, varied collections of 90'sey songs. If you like that sort of thing, check it out. I feel like I'll certainly hear it again, and will come away with a collection of favorites and auto-skips, just like I had in the mid-CD era 4/5
#285 Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
This is probably the most famous album I've never heard all the way through. I've had it forever, and just never wanted to keep listening to it whenever I put it on. Finally decided enough was enough.
I like Bob Dylan good enough. I mean, his songs are often structureless and insufferably long, his voice is fairly unbearable and utterly limited, and I generally think he speaks for a generation that I don't much associate with. But. But! When he's at his most sun scorched and infinite (Highway 61 Revisited) or his most starkly tortured (Blood on the Tracks) I actually like him a lot. This album never seemed to fit either of those roles though.
Upon making it through, I can see the appeal. The songs are actually pretty inventive, keeping you on your toes, swerving hither and tither, sounding utterly unconcerned with keeping you on board, but following a predictable enough path that you might be able to cut it off at the pass. I actually think its a pretty brilliant album that I just don't much enjoy. I just don't really have the patience for his voice on this album, is what it comes down to. Its just a deal breaker. I don't even know if I have the patience for his albums that I previously liked any more, I'll have to revisit them. This might have to be, at least for now, one of those albums that I respect without liking it, but at least now I've heard it and can regain some degree of respectability as a student of rock and roll 3/5
I like Bob Dylan good enough. I mean, his songs are often structureless and insufferably long, his voice is fairly unbearable and utterly limited, and I generally think he speaks for a generation that I don't much associate with. But. But! When he's at his most sun scorched and infinite (Highway 61 Revisited) or his most starkly tortured (Blood on the Tracks) I actually like him a lot. This album never seemed to fit either of those roles though.
Upon making it through, I can see the appeal. The songs are actually pretty inventive, keeping you on your toes, swerving hither and tither, sounding utterly unconcerned with keeping you on board, but following a predictable enough path that you might be able to cut it off at the pass. I actually think its a pretty brilliant album that I just don't much enjoy. I just don't really have the patience for his voice on this album, is what it comes down to. Its just a deal breaker. I don't even know if I have the patience for his albums that I previously liked any more, I'll have to revisit them. This might have to be, at least for now, one of those albums that I respect without liking it, but at least now I've heard it and can regain some degree of respectability as a student of rock and roll 3/5
#284 Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
AMG'd!
Its moments like this that I love this project - I would have so much less perspective on this album if I hadn't heard the Fairport Convention album. Richard was in FC, so this album's similarity isn't surprising, but the British folk rock model is just generally such a useful frame for this album, and I appreciate it more than I would have if I had come across it out of the blue.
And it works forward too, this sound surely inspired bands like Songs: Ohia (see The Calvary Cross) and The Decemberists (see The Great Valerio), and Okkervil River (see Withered and Died): there is a languid, stretching, wondering, mournful sound here that permeates a lot of the soulful, acoustic indie rock of the last 10 years. I mostly like it: it's peaceful, pretty, with spikes of energy and just enough twists and angles. The title track even has whiffs of arty new wave, though I suspect I'm hearing associations that aren't actually hearable.
I don't love her voice, and some of the folkier, more-narrative songs drag for me, and I generally don't think this kind of music (my affection for Okkervil River and Songs: Ohia notwithstanding). But I can see the appeal. I'll probably check out their other well-liked one, Shoot Out the Lights, at some point. For now 3.5/5
Its moments like this that I love this project - I would have so much less perspective on this album if I hadn't heard the Fairport Convention album. Richard was in FC, so this album's similarity isn't surprising, but the British folk rock model is just generally such a useful frame for this album, and I appreciate it more than I would have if I had come across it out of the blue.
And it works forward too, this sound surely inspired bands like Songs: Ohia (see The Calvary Cross) and The Decemberists (see The Great Valerio), and Okkervil River (see Withered and Died): there is a languid, stretching, wondering, mournful sound here that permeates a lot of the soulful, acoustic indie rock of the last 10 years. I mostly like it: it's peaceful, pretty, with spikes of energy and just enough twists and angles. The title track even has whiffs of arty new wave, though I suspect I'm hearing associations that aren't actually hearable.
I don't love her voice, and some of the folkier, more-narrative songs drag for me, and I generally don't think this kind of music (my affection for Okkervil River and Songs: Ohia notwithstanding). But I can see the appeal. I'll probably check out their other well-liked one, Shoot Out the Lights, at some point. For now 3.5/5
#283 Link Wray - Rumble! The Best of Link Wray
Allmusic had good things to say about this one, and some later reason confirms this to be something of a guitar history missing link. I'm normally against compilations, but some of these older groups didn't necessarily put out album albums of particular note.
You probably know the languid bwaaaa-bwaaaa-bawaaaaaaaah of Rumble from about 4 seconds in. If you like that, there's plenty more for you here, lots of stripped down guitar work with more edge than you might associate with the 50's and early 60's. Like a lot more. This is some garagey, near-punk stuff, and from what I can piece together it was way ahead of its time. Surf rock on jagged coasts, greaser rock with daggered jackets. Some of it is just bluesey, which is the least successful stuff for me, and some of it peppers in vocals that largely don't move me, but the best tracks are overloaded instrumentals that still totally bristle with nervy energy today - see Jack the Ripper, Hang On and Deuces Wild.
A lot of this has been done before, but this has a roughness to it that largely works for me. It sounds spontaneous and dangerous, like the cops are gonna bust in on it at any minute. It's not much for variety, there's some clunkers there, and eventually the songs starting bwaah-bwaaah all run together, but its good fun, with plenty of highlights 4/5
You probably know the languid bwaaaa-bwaaaa-bawaaaaaaaah of Rumble from about 4 seconds in. If you like that, there's plenty more for you here, lots of stripped down guitar work with more edge than you might associate with the 50's and early 60's. Like a lot more. This is some garagey, near-punk stuff, and from what I can piece together it was way ahead of its time. Surf rock on jagged coasts, greaser rock with daggered jackets. Some of it is just bluesey, which is the least successful stuff for me, and some of it peppers in vocals that largely don't move me, but the best tracks are overloaded instrumentals that still totally bristle with nervy energy today - see Jack the Ripper, Hang On and Deuces Wild.
A lot of this has been done before, but this has a roughness to it that largely works for me. It sounds spontaneous and dangerous, like the cops are gonna bust in on it at any minute. It's not much for variety, there's some clunkers there, and eventually the songs starting bwaah-bwaaah all run together, but its good fun, with plenty of highlights 4/5
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