I just got back from a Baltimore business trip where I purchased a ridiculous amount of new music:
- Metallica - Death Magnetic: Admit it, you've missed them. I think just about everybody is in denial about how much they like Metallica. Even though this album is not a classic or might even be forgotten in two years, it's just a fun metal record and it's the best thing they've done in 15 years. It will probably be the first album ever remembered more for how it sounded on Guitar Hero or Rock Band than how it sounded on a radio or CD player. Whether that was a compliment or not is up to you.
- Opeth - Watershed: I love this band on paper, I'm just not sure if I enjoy listening to them. That undoubtedly qualifies them to be the new torch-bearers for prog rock (sorry, Dream Theater, your days are numbered). This is a beautiful album with amazing twists and mind-blowing instrumentation, but I'm not sure if I can remember a single song from it. Catchy melodies aren't really their thing, but then again, they are a metal band. If you like metal or prog, you aren't going to do better than this.
- Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound: This might be the mindless feel-good album of the year. Nothing special really, just a catchy, uncomplicated pop album (the complete opposite of that Opeth record). The singer is a combination of Bruce Springsteen and Paul Westerberg, so every song he sings sounds like a dying battle cry. The title track is so catchy it should be on every radio station, while "Miles Davis & The Cool" is the best jazz legend tribute I've ever heard from a punk band (OK, it's the only one). Play this one at a summer party if you want to feel young again.
- Beach House - Devotion: Is "folk drone music" actually a genre now? There are some weird things coming out of Baltimore right now. This album is so airy and light, its 45 minutes might go by without you noticing. The flourishes of church organ and atmospheric guitar sweeping in and out make it a beautifully layered and romantic sounding album. The slightly atonal singing can be grating at moments, but it usually blends as just another instrument. This is great dinner conversation music or great music to do drugs to, depending on who you are.
- Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue: I'm still not sure if I love or hate this. I'll get back to you....
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
TV On The Radio's Dear Science
When I heard the new TV On The Radio album, "Dear Science", I got to the point where I am completely satisfied with this year in music. I have no complaints; 2008 has had everything. We've had great albums by elders (Tom Petty, Nick Cave), a new band actually worth its buzz (Fleet Foxes), a successfully challenging pop record (Coldplay), a great band revived from the dead (Portishead), and a sleeper classic that nobody heard (Bon Iver). It doesn't even matter if anything good comes out in the next three months. Now, for the second time this year (the first being the Hold Steady), we have a band following up a masterpiece with another masterpiece.
What's really impressive is that TV On The Radio do it completely different this time. In 2006, Return To Cookie Mountain was brooding indie rock that had flourishes of soul and funk, but it relied much more on its David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails influence. Dear Science (I know, horrible title and horrible cover art) is Brooklyn's update on Prince's Sign O' The Times; it might stray into other areas, but it's purpose is to make you dance.
On the opener "Halfway Home", they take an unexpected shot at stadium rock with soaring guitars and a "ba ba ba ba" Beach Boys chorus. Then on "Crying" and "Dancing Choose" they bring the funk and soul; the latter even has rapping that is so frantic you almost don't realize how bad the rhyming is. "Stork & Owl" is a beautiful ballad with dubbed voices and plucked strings; at this point, they sound like they could be the next Coldplay (I mean that as a compliment). It's very rare that a band can cover this much ground in four tracks.
The rest of the record doesn't match the intensity of the first four tracks, but nothing can. "Family Tree" is a great soul ballad that probably needs to be a minute shorter. "Shout Me Out" probably could have been left off the album. However, the last two tracks bring it all home: "DLZ" is as dark and intense as Nine Inch Nails recent work, and "Lover's Day" is an epic that sounds like an end-of-the-war march with kitchen sink instrumentation.
Will this album take them to the mainstream? Probably not. There isn't room on the radio for anything this challenging. There is no band alive right now that crosses genres and races like TV On The Radio. You could list the influences for hours: Prince, Outkast, Marvin Gaye, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, the Pixies...they are all part of this band's world.
What's really impressive is that TV On The Radio do it completely different this time. In 2006, Return To Cookie Mountain was brooding indie rock that had flourishes of soul and funk, but it relied much more on its David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails influence. Dear Science (I know, horrible title and horrible cover art) is Brooklyn's update on Prince's Sign O' The Times; it might stray into other areas, but it's purpose is to make you dance.
On the opener "Halfway Home", they take an unexpected shot at stadium rock with soaring guitars and a "ba ba ba ba" Beach Boys chorus. Then on "Crying" and "Dancing Choose" they bring the funk and soul; the latter even has rapping that is so frantic you almost don't realize how bad the rhyming is. "Stork & Owl" is a beautiful ballad with dubbed voices and plucked strings; at this point, they sound like they could be the next Coldplay (I mean that as a compliment). It's very rare that a band can cover this much ground in four tracks.
The rest of the record doesn't match the intensity of the first four tracks, but nothing can. "Family Tree" is a great soul ballad that probably needs to be a minute shorter. "Shout Me Out" probably could have been left off the album. However, the last two tracks bring it all home: "DLZ" is as dark and intense as Nine Inch Nails recent work, and "Lover's Day" is an epic that sounds like an end-of-the-war march with kitchen sink instrumentation.
Will this album take them to the mainstream? Probably not. There isn't room on the radio for anything this challenging. There is no band alive right now that crosses genres and races like TV On The Radio. You could list the influences for hours: Prince, Outkast, Marvin Gaye, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, the Pixies...they are all part of this band's world.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Richard Wright
Richard Wright, one of the original members of Pink Floyd, died this week at the age of 65. Any group who ever used spaced-out keyboards or psychedelic background effects in their music owe a lot to this guy - Radiohead, Wilco, Beck, Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket - I could go on for hours. I will remember his organ work on "Us & Them" as one of the transcendent life-altering moments of my record-buying life.
Rest in peace.
Rest in peace.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Okkervil River's The Stand-Ins
After a few days of listening to Scott Walker, I needed some cheering up: sorry about the bleakness of that last post. Fortunately, Okkervil River's new album is actually upbeat, which is difficult to image given their past albums.
After a short, pointless intro, The Stand-Ins sets the tone with "Lost Coastlines". A catchy melody and a danceable R&B rhythm are a perfect way for Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiberg (now of Shearwater fame) to duet. It's reminiscent of "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" from the Stage Names but even more fun; this band has definitely developed an ear for pop music. This leads to "Singer Songwriter", which takes several cues from Blonde On Blonde: the squealing organ, the driving roots-rock guitar, and the snarky kiss-off lyrics. These first two songs are catchier and more fun than just about anything they've recorded and are two of Okkervil River's best songs.
"Starry Stairs" and "Blue Tulip" are indie-rock versions of power ballads. The former boasts Memphis horns straight out of an Al Green album, the later builds on slow, drawn-out drama. "Pop Lie" is almost a Weezer tribute - this one hasn't grown on me yet, but it does have some cheesy 80s synths, so it is at least a good joke. The album's other highlight is "Calling And Not Calling My Ex", a mopey mid-tempo pop song that sound like what the Cure were trying to do in the mid-90s.
While The Stand-Ins isn't their best album, it's an easier introduction to them than Black Sheep Boy and it the perfect compliment to The Stage Names, which I suppose was the point. Put these three albums together with Down The River Of Golden Dreams and you have one of the best catalogues by an American band this decade. They don't need more fans and they don't need more critical acclaim: they just need to keep doing exactly what they are doing.
After a short, pointless intro, The Stand-Ins sets the tone with "Lost Coastlines". A catchy melody and a danceable R&B rhythm are a perfect way for Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiberg (now of Shearwater fame) to duet. It's reminiscent of "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" from the Stage Names but even more fun; this band has definitely developed an ear for pop music. This leads to "Singer Songwriter", which takes several cues from Blonde On Blonde: the squealing organ, the driving roots-rock guitar, and the snarky kiss-off lyrics. These first two songs are catchier and more fun than just about anything they've recorded and are two of Okkervil River's best songs.
"Starry Stairs" and "Blue Tulip" are indie-rock versions of power ballads. The former boasts Memphis horns straight out of an Al Green album, the later builds on slow, drawn-out drama. "Pop Lie" is almost a Weezer tribute - this one hasn't grown on me yet, but it does have some cheesy 80s synths, so it is at least a good joke. The album's other highlight is "Calling And Not Calling My Ex", a mopey mid-tempo pop song that sound like what the Cure were trying to do in the mid-90s.
While The Stand-Ins isn't their best album, it's an easier introduction to them than Black Sheep Boy and it the perfect compliment to The Stage Names, which I suppose was the point. Put these three albums together with Down The River Of Golden Dreams and you have one of the best catalogues by an American band this decade. They don't need more fans and they don't need more critical acclaim: they just need to keep doing exactly what they are doing.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Scott Walker's The Drift
Horrifying. Harrowing. Bleak. Terrifying. These are a few words that are going to come up whenever you hear about this album. I think it's necessary to mention it today since it better captures the dread and horror of its topic than any other album in the past seven years did: September 11, 2001.
On the album's best track ("Jesse"), Scott Walker imagines a conversation between the still-born brother of Elvis Presley and Elvis himself. They talk over horror-movie strings as "pow, pow" is whispered while they see "nose holes caked in black cocaine". The planes have hit the towers. You wait for a crash of noise, but there is only fading instruments and the phrase "I'm the only one left alive".
Considering the topics and destruction of song structure represented here, it's amazing how beautiful this album is. "Cossacks Are" starts the album with the illusion of convention: the driving bass and drums make way for that haunting voice. But on the second track, it all goes to hell. Swirling, detuned strings, thumping drums that sound like a violent beating, a song structure you can't predict the tenth time, and lyrics about a woman who insisted on being executed with Mussolini.
The album closes with "A Lover Loves", which has Scott whispering "psst" between phrases over a simple guitar rhythm. It's a perfect track to close a perfect album: it's haunting and uncomfortable, but you won't be able to turn it off.
If you are depressed and alone, don't buy this album. If you don't like the challenge of unraveling a complex masterpiece, don't buy this album. This one is not for the uninitiated. For the rest of us, it's an album to remember, and no better musical portrait of 9/11 was ever painted.
On the album's best track ("Jesse"), Scott Walker imagines a conversation between the still-born brother of Elvis Presley and Elvis himself. They talk over horror-movie strings as "pow, pow" is whispered while they see "nose holes caked in black cocaine". The planes have hit the towers. You wait for a crash of noise, but there is only fading instruments and the phrase "I'm the only one left alive".
Considering the topics and destruction of song structure represented here, it's amazing how beautiful this album is. "Cossacks Are" starts the album with the illusion of convention: the driving bass and drums make way for that haunting voice. But on the second track, it all goes to hell. Swirling, detuned strings, thumping drums that sound like a violent beating, a song structure you can't predict the tenth time, and lyrics about a woman who insisted on being executed with Mussolini.
The album closes with "A Lover Loves", which has Scott whispering "psst" between phrases over a simple guitar rhythm. It's a perfect track to close a perfect album: it's haunting and uncomfortable, but you won't be able to turn it off.
If you are depressed and alone, don't buy this album. If you don't like the challenge of unraveling a complex masterpiece, don't buy this album. This one is not for the uninitiated. For the rest of us, it's an album to remember, and no better musical portrait of 9/11 was ever painted.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Leftovers, notes, etc.
- Last week, I mentioned September's new releases, but I somehow overlooked the fact that one of my favorite bands have a new record on September 23. I don't know how I missed this one. TV On The Radio will put out Dear Science, and the first impressions are amazing. Look them up on myspace to hear clips from two tracks. I'm not going to say anything about them right now, because I will probably be ranting for weeks about how great this band it. I'll wait until the entire record comes out to do that.
- I heard some of the new Brian Wilson album and like everybody, I can't help but be disappointed. Instead of another collaboration with the great Van Dyke Parks, we get a Brian Wilson solo album where Van Dyke Parks pitches in a few "spoken narratives". So what we get is a rehash of a solo career nobody cared about before Smile and nobody will care about after Smile. Skip it. If you want to hear good Brian Wilson, listen to Fleet Foxes or Panda Bear, not Brian Wilson. How sad is that?
- Read Rolling Stone's review of the new Metallica album. They deliver the single funniest music analogy I've ever read: they compare Metallica's new album to Russia's invasion of the Republic of Georgia. My hats off to you. That's hilarious. Unless you are from the Republic of Georgia.
- I've heard two new songs from the new Okkervil River album; one was excellent, one was mediocre. Reviews so far are shaky. Come on, guys - don't pull a My Morning Jacket on us. I'll review this one in a couple of days...
- I heard some of the new Brian Wilson album and like everybody, I can't help but be disappointed. Instead of another collaboration with the great Van Dyke Parks, we get a Brian Wilson solo album where Van Dyke Parks pitches in a few "spoken narratives". So what we get is a rehash of a solo career nobody cared about before Smile and nobody will care about after Smile. Skip it. If you want to hear good Brian Wilson, listen to Fleet Foxes or Panda Bear, not Brian Wilson. How sad is that?
- Read Rolling Stone's review of the new Metallica album. They deliver the single funniest music analogy I've ever read: they compare Metallica's new album to Russia's invasion of the Republic of Georgia. My hats off to you. That's hilarious. Unless you are from the Republic of Georgia.
- I've heard two new songs from the new Okkervil River album; one was excellent, one was mediocre. Reviews so far are shaky. Come on, guys - don't pull a My Morning Jacket on us. I'll review this one in a couple of days...
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer
It only took this band three years to go from being the center of hype to being overlooked and underrated. That isn't surprising given the pace of indie music this decade. It only takes a few years for a band to go from the garage to "the saviors of rock" status to burnouts: if you don't believe me, look at the careers of the Shins, the Strokes, Interpol, Wilco, the White Stripes... I could go on.
In 2005, Wolf Parade's first album rode a wave of hype created by the Arcade Fire's Funeral (Wolf Parade actually opened shows for them that year). With that in mind, they seemed like a one-trick pony that didn't have another direction to go. Their second album, At Mount Zoomer, proves me wrong and might have been the most overlooked album of this summer.
This album relies on keyboards and synths more than anything by their peers: Wolf Parade aren't even trying to be a rock band. Their songs still have great choruses, but you have to wait for them to build to it. "Bang your Drum" has a wonderful, hummable chorus, but they opt to us it only once and bury it in the last half of the track. Twists like this are the reason it took me two months to love this album, but I'm there now.
"California Dreamer" is the highlight - a hypnotic, haunting epic that builds into extended keyboard solos. "Fine Young Cannibals" is a slow burner with an R&B rhythm that sounds stolen from a Spoon album. "Soldier's Grin" is a waltz-tempo prog rocker that makes lyrics like "this place here is no friend of mine" sound fun and danceable. Everything they try on this album works, even the extended solos on the eleven-minute "Kissing The Beehive".
Get this album and spend some time with it. Due to albums by Bon Iver, Shearwater, and the Walkmen, this seems to be the year of indie epic masterpieces that need time to grow on you. Add this one to the list.
In 2005, Wolf Parade's first album rode a wave of hype created by the Arcade Fire's Funeral (Wolf Parade actually opened shows for them that year). With that in mind, they seemed like a one-trick pony that didn't have another direction to go. Their second album, At Mount Zoomer, proves me wrong and might have been the most overlooked album of this summer.
This album relies on keyboards and synths more than anything by their peers: Wolf Parade aren't even trying to be a rock band. Their songs still have great choruses, but you have to wait for them to build to it. "Bang your Drum" has a wonderful, hummable chorus, but they opt to us it only once and bury it in the last half of the track. Twists like this are the reason it took me two months to love this album, but I'm there now.
"California Dreamer" is the highlight - a hypnotic, haunting epic that builds into extended keyboard solos. "Fine Young Cannibals" is a slow burner with an R&B rhythm that sounds stolen from a Spoon album. "Soldier's Grin" is a waltz-tempo prog rocker that makes lyrics like "this place here is no friend of mine" sound fun and danceable. Everything they try on this album works, even the extended solos on the eleven-minute "Kissing The Beehive".
Get this album and spend some time with it. Due to albums by Bon Iver, Shearwater, and the Walkmen, this seems to be the year of indie epic masterpieces that need time to grow on you. Add this one to the list.
Monday, September 1, 2008
September's new releases
Here are the albums that may or may not be worth getting excited over this month:
Okkervil River The Stand-Ins (September 9) - The sequel to last year's excellent Stage Names already has a great single on iTunes. One of my favorite American bands right now- do you think they will actually have some commercial success with this one?
Brian Wilson That Lucky Old Sun (September 2) - It already has terrible reviews from Blender and Q. But really, could Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks really do something bad together? Maybe my expectations are high because of Smile, but then again, he spent 40 years finishing that album.
Metallica Death Magnetic (September 9) - Are they really using Guitar Hero to showcase their new material? Forget I even mentioned this one. Sorry.
Ben Folds Way To Normal (September 30) - His last album featured "mature" songwriting, which was equally profound and boring. Hopefully he will loosen up this time and make something closer to Rockin' The Suburbs.
Well, that's it - Okkervil River is the only sure thing this month. Have a great Labor Day.
Okkervil River The Stand-Ins (September 9) - The sequel to last year's excellent Stage Names already has a great single on iTunes. One of my favorite American bands right now- do you think they will actually have some commercial success with this one?
Brian Wilson That Lucky Old Sun (September 2) - It already has terrible reviews from Blender and Q. But really, could Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks really do something bad together? Maybe my expectations are high because of Smile, but then again, he spent 40 years finishing that album.
Metallica Death Magnetic (September 9) - Are they really using Guitar Hero to showcase their new material? Forget I even mentioned this one. Sorry.
Ben Folds Way To Normal (September 30) - His last album featured "mature" songwriting, which was equally profound and boring. Hopefully he will loosen up this time and make something closer to Rockin' The Suburbs.
Well, that's it - Okkervil River is the only sure thing this month. Have a great Labor Day.
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