The new album by the Low Anthem, titled Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, has gotten buzz as the latest folk/Americana indie record. Don't believe the hype.
Not that this is a bad record. The title track is a nice falsetto sung acoustic track with beautifully hummed backing vocals and a lead even more high-pitched than Bon Iver. "To Ohio" has a low horn accompaniment; it sounds like a great opening for a romance movie. "Omgcd" follows the Fleet Foxes template of making songs that sound like they were written at a bonfire at summer camp.
Where this album runs into problems is the louder songs. They sound somehow contrived and uninvested, like they were forced onto the album to break up the quiet moments. "Home I'll Never Be" is the worst offender, all noise and yelled vocals that make me wonder how somebody can screw up a Tom Waits song so badly.
If you want Americana, look at new releases by Grizzly Bear and the Felice Brothers. File this one under mildly intriguing.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
A great lost hip-hop classic?
Back in 2002, about 4 years after the breakup of A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip recorded an album called Kamaal The Abstract. The record company deemed it "too noncommercial", it was shelved and only a few bootleg enthusiasts ever heard it. Many great albums have had a similar story (see Pet Sounds, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, What's Going On, etc.), but they had happy endings: they were all released anyway and all became classics. In Q-Tips case, seven years have gone by without us hearing about this project again, although its follow-up was released to great critical acclaim last year (the brilliant Renaissance).
What's more interesting is the reason why this one was denied: there is no way a jazz/soul/rap record can sell copies. Oddly enough, the next year Outkast put out Speakerbox/Love Below and sold 12 million copies. Oops. In this decade, you probably shouldn't doubt the possibilities of what hip-hop can do or what will sell.
This September, Kamaal The Abstract is being released to the masses. I can't help but feel like this album has been cheated out of its place in history, but nevertheless this is one of the most bold, innovative, brilliant albums in the history of hip-hop. Spanning 9 tracks and 41 minutes (short for a rap album), this album sounds like more of a continuation of Stevie Wonder's 70s work or Prince's 80's soul/pop explorations than anything A Tribe Called Quest or Q-Tip was doing.
Some songs contain barely any rap at all. "Do U Dig U?" contains an occasional sung chant but mostly revolves around electric keyboard lines and flute solos - not so much a rap song as a composition. "Abstractionisms" gives time for a jazz piano, a saxophone, and driving guitar lines to play with each other. I can see why they never imagined this one on the radio. "Caring" is a touching piano ballad that forgoes a beat whatsoever.
If you have any interest in the possibilities of hip-hop or modern pop music in general, you need this album. Bootleg it now or wait until September when it is formally released (I'll believe it when I see it). I'm glad the great lost hip-hop classic will no longer be lost, just great.
What's more interesting is the reason why this one was denied: there is no way a jazz/soul/rap record can sell copies. Oddly enough, the next year Outkast put out Speakerbox/Love Below and sold 12 million copies. Oops. In this decade, you probably shouldn't doubt the possibilities of what hip-hop can do or what will sell.
This September, Kamaal The Abstract is being released to the masses. I can't help but feel like this album has been cheated out of its place in history, but nevertheless this is one of the most bold, innovative, brilliant albums in the history of hip-hop. Spanning 9 tracks and 41 minutes (short for a rap album), this album sounds like more of a continuation of Stevie Wonder's 70s work or Prince's 80's soul/pop explorations than anything A Tribe Called Quest or Q-Tip was doing.
Some songs contain barely any rap at all. "Do U Dig U?" contains an occasional sung chant but mostly revolves around electric keyboard lines and flute solos - not so much a rap song as a composition. "Abstractionisms" gives time for a jazz piano, a saxophone, and driving guitar lines to play with each other. I can see why they never imagined this one on the radio. "Caring" is a touching piano ballad that forgoes a beat whatsoever.
If you have any interest in the possibilities of hip-hop or modern pop music in general, you need this album. Bootleg it now or wait until September when it is formally released (I'll believe it when I see it). I'm glad the great lost hip-hop classic will no longer be lost, just great.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sunn O))
Finally, a record for those of you who felt like even Scott Walker's The Drift was too commercial and uncomplicated! Fans of prog rock, classical, metal, goth, or any kind of drone ambient noise have a reason to rejoice this year. Sunn O, in conjunction with an orchestra, a choir, guitar virtuosos, and even some jazz trombonists, have made a masterpiece with Monoliths and Dimensions. With only 4 tracks that tally to over 53 minutes, this is a mood piece that demands your undivided attention and rewards you for it.
The beauty of this album isn't immediate, but in the way each track builds and flourishes over what seems like an eternity. The stunning closer "Alice" involves slow guitar strums over subtle blares of horns. The fragmented tones is reminiscent of the last Stars Of The Lid album (for the five of us who bought that one) with its subtle fragile beauty. Around the 13 minute mark, the guitar fades out to leave violins, a harp, and a breathtaking trombone solo.
Th opener "Aghartha" is as straightforward as the album gets with its dark guitar drone and spoken/growl vocals. "Big Church" features harsh guitar strums with gothic choir vocals that fade in and out, making way for multi-voiced chanting. This album is terrifying in its beauty, but once it starts you won't want to go anywhere until you've completed the journey.
If you are in the mood for something completely different, original, and unmatched in modern music, try this out. If you like your music is catchy three-minute form, please look elsewhere.
The beauty of this album isn't immediate, but in the way each track builds and flourishes over what seems like an eternity. The stunning closer "Alice" involves slow guitar strums over subtle blares of horns. The fragmented tones is reminiscent of the last Stars Of The Lid album (for the five of us who bought that one) with its subtle fragile beauty. Around the 13 minute mark, the guitar fades out to leave violins, a harp, and a breathtaking trombone solo.
Th opener "Aghartha" is as straightforward as the album gets with its dark guitar drone and spoken/growl vocals. "Big Church" features harsh guitar strums with gothic choir vocals that fade in and out, making way for multi-voiced chanting. This album is terrifying in its beauty, but once it starts you won't want to go anywhere until you've completed the journey.
If you are in the mood for something completely different, original, and unmatched in modern music, try this out. If you like your music is catchy three-minute form, please look elsewhere.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Yeah Yeah Yeah's It's Blitz
There is a very good reason why I didn't buy this months ago when it came out. I used to by a huge fan of two other New York City bands that were part of the "garage revival" the media created: the Strokes and Interpol. Let's follow their careers:
Strokes - Classic debut, decent but unmemorable sophomore release, third album was a disaster.
Interpol - Classic debut, decent but unmemorable sophomore release, third album was a disaster.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Classic debut, decent but unmemorable sophomore release, third album ...
...is amazing! The trend is broken! I love being completely wrong.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs abandoned being a raunchy blues-punk band for doing danceable synth pop. Doesn't that sound horrible on paper? Like me, you will be surprised. In fact, the first two songs ("Zero" and "Heads Will Roll") could show up on rock radio or next to Lil Wayne and Kanye West on hip-hop/club radio, and either one of them could be among the year's best singles. Karen O is an actual singer now with pitch and rhythm; I guess she decided the shrieking and yelling couldn't last forever.
The ballads on It's Blitz are stunning, particularly the driving mid-tempo "Soft Shock", which feels like a cleaned-up improved version of "Maps". The piano lines in "Runaway" keep rhythm until soaring guitar lines come in. Even with keyboards trying to take over, Nick Zinner puts in another outstanding effort on guitar - he's been studying the Edge instead of Jack White this time out.
It's Blitz makes a case for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs being the NYC punk band that are going to stick around for a while. Good, we all need some Karen O in our lives.
Strokes - Classic debut, decent but unmemorable sophomore release, third album was a disaster.
Interpol - Classic debut, decent but unmemorable sophomore release, third album was a disaster.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Classic debut, decent but unmemorable sophomore release, third album ...
...is amazing! The trend is broken! I love being completely wrong.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs abandoned being a raunchy blues-punk band for doing danceable synth pop. Doesn't that sound horrible on paper? Like me, you will be surprised. In fact, the first two songs ("Zero" and "Heads Will Roll") could show up on rock radio or next to Lil Wayne and Kanye West on hip-hop/club radio, and either one of them could be among the year's best singles. Karen O is an actual singer now with pitch and rhythm; I guess she decided the shrieking and yelling couldn't last forever.
The ballads on It's Blitz are stunning, particularly the driving mid-tempo "Soft Shock", which feels like a cleaned-up improved version of "Maps". The piano lines in "Runaway" keep rhythm until soaring guitar lines come in. Even with keyboards trying to take over, Nick Zinner puts in another outstanding effort on guitar - he's been studying the Edge instead of Jack White this time out.
It's Blitz makes a case for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs being the NYC punk band that are going to stick around for a while. Good, we all need some Karen O in our lives.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thriller
No, I'm still not over losing Michael. I won't get over it for a long time. He still had great music and tours left to do.
I've been playing Thriller basically non-stop for about two weeks now. This album stands with Pet Sounds, Kind Of Blue, and Highway 61 Revisited as the one of American music's greatest landmarks. I remember being a kid and hearing "Billie Jean": it was dark, hypnotic, paranoid, angry, joyous, fun, danceable... actually, it's still all of these things. The emotions in this song are inexplicable. Blender magazine (unfortunately now defunct) called it the greatest song of the last 30 years. I have a hard time arguing against that.
Even the "deep cuts" on this album are perfect. Everybody remembers "Beat It", "Thriller", "Wanna Be Starting Something", and "Billie Jean". Slightly less memorable are "PYT" and "Human Nature", but even the "deep cuts" were top ten hits and some of the best songs of the 80s. "Human Nature" is the standard against which all pop ballads should be measured: catchy, soaring, perfect mid-tempo pacing, and with a brilliant mix of falsetto vocals and shimmering layers of keyboards. Slow dances don't get better than this.
"The Girl Is Mine" is so corny it manages to be hilarious and affectionate. This is the greatest thing Paul McCartney accomplished after the Beatles. "Baby Be Mine" sounds like a leftover disco gem from his first masterpiece Off The Wall. Both of these tracks would be overbearing if he tried these ideas more than once on this record, but the short nine track album has just the right amount of variety.
I could rant for hours on the genius of this record, but for once I don't need to try to convince anybody to buy it: it's sales are an estimated 100 million worldwide. If you've never heard it, life has literally passed you by. You are missing American culture completely.
This might be my last Michael Jackson rant, but it might not be. Anyway, rest in peace Michael.
I've been playing Thriller basically non-stop for about two weeks now. This album stands with Pet Sounds, Kind Of Blue, and Highway 61 Revisited as the one of American music's greatest landmarks. I remember being a kid and hearing "Billie Jean": it was dark, hypnotic, paranoid, angry, joyous, fun, danceable... actually, it's still all of these things. The emotions in this song are inexplicable. Blender magazine (unfortunately now defunct) called it the greatest song of the last 30 years. I have a hard time arguing against that.
Even the "deep cuts" on this album are perfect. Everybody remembers "Beat It", "Thriller", "Wanna Be Starting Something", and "Billie Jean". Slightly less memorable are "PYT" and "Human Nature", but even the "deep cuts" were top ten hits and some of the best songs of the 80s. "Human Nature" is the standard against which all pop ballads should be measured: catchy, soaring, perfect mid-tempo pacing, and with a brilliant mix of falsetto vocals and shimmering layers of keyboards. Slow dances don't get better than this.
"The Girl Is Mine" is so corny it manages to be hilarious and affectionate. This is the greatest thing Paul McCartney accomplished after the Beatles. "Baby Be Mine" sounds like a leftover disco gem from his first masterpiece Off The Wall. Both of these tracks would be overbearing if he tried these ideas more than once on this record, but the short nine track album has just the right amount of variety.
I could rant for hours on the genius of this record, but for once I don't need to try to convince anybody to buy it: it's sales are an estimated 100 million worldwide. If you've never heard it, life has literally passed you by. You are missing American culture completely.
This might be my last Michael Jackson rant, but it might not be. Anyway, rest in peace Michael.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Wilco will love you
Wilco (the album) starts off with "Wilco (the song)" where Jeff Tweedy asks "Are you dabbling in depression?" before getting to the chorus: "Wilco will love you". One minute into their new record, you have to ask if they are joking or not.
Are Wilco trying to make an album that defines their sound? Even their biggest fans, myself included, can't figure out what "their sound" is - that's why we love them. They've put out great alt-country (Being There), avant-garde pop (Summerteeth), dark electric folk (A Ghost Is Born), and a masterpiece that I can't even really describe (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot). What is their sound?
Despite the self mockery of the first track, it's a great song with a churning guitar that sounds like early Velvet Underground; I think this one will kill live. Most of the rest of the album is even better. "One Wing" is a building mid-tempo ballad with some inspired guitar work from Nels Cline. "Bull Black Nova" picks up where "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" left off with its driving staccato guitar rhythm - they just kept it short this time.
The ballads aren't the highlights here, but they are short and interesting and don't take momentum away from the record the way they did on Wilco's disappointing last release Sky Blue Sky. "You and I", featuring a nice backup vocal from Feist, is the cutest song Tweedy ever wrote (granted, he really doesn't do cute).
The album finishes on some good but not great country rockers. Overall, this isn't the best Wilco album, but it is a nice addition to the catalog and it sets them up to go in a dozen directions next. They've earned the right to put out an album with few experiments - it's a recap of their strengths, of which they have plenty. With six months to go in 2009, they are at least in the conversation for best American rock band of the decade, so they have laurels to rest on.
Are Wilco trying to make an album that defines their sound? Even their biggest fans, myself included, can't figure out what "their sound" is - that's why we love them. They've put out great alt-country (Being There), avant-garde pop (Summerteeth), dark electric folk (A Ghost Is Born), and a masterpiece that I can't even really describe (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot). What is their sound?
Despite the self mockery of the first track, it's a great song with a churning guitar that sounds like early Velvet Underground; I think this one will kill live. Most of the rest of the album is even better. "One Wing" is a building mid-tempo ballad with some inspired guitar work from Nels Cline. "Bull Black Nova" picks up where "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" left off with its driving staccato guitar rhythm - they just kept it short this time.
The ballads aren't the highlights here, but they are short and interesting and don't take momentum away from the record the way they did on Wilco's disappointing last release Sky Blue Sky. "You and I", featuring a nice backup vocal from Feist, is the cutest song Tweedy ever wrote (granted, he really doesn't do cute).
The album finishes on some good but not great country rockers. Overall, this isn't the best Wilco album, but it is a nice addition to the catalog and it sets them up to go in a dozen directions next. They've earned the right to put out an album with few experiments - it's a recap of their strengths, of which they have plenty. With six months to go in 2009, they are at least in the conversation for best American rock band of the decade, so they have laurels to rest on.
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