Here's a few releases from the past few weeks that critics have been raving about:
Girls' Album: Every review I've read of this record has made mention of the fact that the members of this band (neither of the duo are girls, by the way) grew up with parents in the California cult Children of God. That information hardly matters when listening to the drugged out emotionally lost lyrics of this record. The singer is a less in-tune version of early Elvis Costello and the music is bright 60's California pop. The building sing-along ballad "Hellhole Ratrace" and the distorted burst "Morning Light" are well-written and fun, but most of this album isn't something you'd want to hear more than once or twice. Maybe this is a band to look out for a few records down the road.
Fuck Buttons' Tarot Sport: Message for electronic music - please go away. Just go away. Every year, I listen to an electronic album just to make sure I still hate it. Yes, I do. And why would you name your band this? Let's just move on.
The XX (self titled): There has been a lack of bands this decade taking on that spare, late-night London sound that Portishead perfected a decade ago, which is probably why this band is a breath of fresh air. Staccato guitar riffs, spare beats instead of a real drummer, and the interplay between two hushed vocalists (some perfect male/female chemistry) make for one of the most innovative and relistenable records of the year. There are some standout tracks, particularly the single "Basic Space", but this entire record flows as one piece and sets a dark yet romantic mood made for after-hours intimacy. This band has hype worth believing in.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The Flaming Lips' Embryonic
It's been an interesting decade for the Flaming Lips. Especially considering they peaked commercially in the mid-90's with "She Don't Use Jelly" and peaked artistically in 1999 with the Soft Bulletin, which turned out to be one of the touchstones of indie rock music this decade (even though it was released on Warner Bros.). They took a dive into electronic music and made another masterpiece, Yoshimi Battle's The Pink Robots, before trying to make a perfectly balanced Lips record that would satisfy everybody. The result was At War With The Mystics - a disappointment that showed why they should never try to do anything conventional.
About ten seconds into their new record, Embryonic, all of this becomes unimportant. This album is so different and so unexplainable that any track from it wouldn't fit on any of these other records. "Convinced Of The Hex" starts off with nonrhythmic loud guitar jabs that sound like a band messing around in the studio - a huge departure from the layered production and perfected accuracy of their past three records. The track that follows sounds like 70's psychedelic funk in fast-forward. The second track gets even weirder - "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine" lets us imagine a collaboration between John Lennon and Joy Division. Wayne sings "What does it mean to dream what you dream" and I'm already dreaming about the possibilities of what the next 16 tracks on this record could contain.
"Evil" is a dark mood piece featuring some of Wayne's best vocals (his singing seems to get better and more versatile every album). After that, things get loud again - "See The Leaves" has a fun bouncing bass rhythm with guitars and drums crashing around it before the song stops and rebuilds around creeping keyboards.
This is an album where every track is a highlight, but every track relies on each other. "I Can Be A Frog" is a playful joke that features Karen O making animal noises - it's not going to be a single, but it works perfectly in the context of the album. "Worm Mountain" proves that no matter how experimental they get, they are always a rock band first. The buzzing bass and driving drums would fit onto a Led Zeppelin album, but the ringing electric pianos come from Miles Davis' acid jazz era. However, the orchestral space-out at the end is pure Lips.
Seventy minutes and not a wasted second, Embryonic is the Flaming Lips best record since the Soft Bulletin (and even then, it's close). If you mixed Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti with Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Pink Floyd's Animals then threw in the reckless playfulness of Captain Beefhart's Trout Mask Replica, you would be close to this.
And this was released on Warner Bros.? In 2009? Really?
This is too good to be true.
About ten seconds into their new record, Embryonic, all of this becomes unimportant. This album is so different and so unexplainable that any track from it wouldn't fit on any of these other records. "Convinced Of The Hex" starts off with nonrhythmic loud guitar jabs that sound like a band messing around in the studio - a huge departure from the layered production and perfected accuracy of their past three records. The track that follows sounds like 70's psychedelic funk in fast-forward. The second track gets even weirder - "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine" lets us imagine a collaboration between John Lennon and Joy Division. Wayne sings "What does it mean to dream what you dream" and I'm already dreaming about the possibilities of what the next 16 tracks on this record could contain.
"Evil" is a dark mood piece featuring some of Wayne's best vocals (his singing seems to get better and more versatile every album). After that, things get loud again - "See The Leaves" has a fun bouncing bass rhythm with guitars and drums crashing around it before the song stops and rebuilds around creeping keyboards.
This is an album where every track is a highlight, but every track relies on each other. "I Can Be A Frog" is a playful joke that features Karen O making animal noises - it's not going to be a single, but it works perfectly in the context of the album. "Worm Mountain" proves that no matter how experimental they get, they are always a rock band first. The buzzing bass and driving drums would fit onto a Led Zeppelin album, but the ringing electric pianos come from Miles Davis' acid jazz era. However, the orchestral space-out at the end is pure Lips.
Seventy minutes and not a wasted second, Embryonic is the Flaming Lips best record since the Soft Bulletin (and even then, it's close). If you mixed Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti with Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Pink Floyd's Animals then threw in the reckless playfulness of Captain Beefhart's Trout Mask Replica, you would be close to this.
And this was released on Warner Bros.? In 2009? Really?
This is too good to be true.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Miranda Lambert's Revolution
In 2007, Miranda Lambert released one of the catchiest and most memorable country records in years with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The singles were rowdy brutal man-hating, but the insecure ballads were the real gems that made her one of country's most acclaimed artists before she even turned 20. Her eagerly awaited follow-up, Revolution, stretches out and finds her trying to do everything in 15 tracks, and most of it works.
The leadoff single, "Dead Flowers", is a soft but bitter kiss-off to an ex-lover with a gorgeous tear jerking chorus. Tracks like "Airstream Song" shows that she can still write traditional country, but other songs have some inventive flourishes: "Maintain The Pain" starts with a synth-guitar lead that sounds stripped from an 80's hair metal track. The Dylan-esque blues of "Time To Get A Gun" is the highlight of the disc - it's humor and catchy melody showcase everything Miranda does best.
Revolution rivals Eric Church's Carolina as the year's best country album and it has only started to grow on me. You get the feeling that after three solid records, she still has plenty of ideas of where country can go.
The leadoff single, "Dead Flowers", is a soft but bitter kiss-off to an ex-lover with a gorgeous tear jerking chorus. Tracks like "Airstream Song" shows that she can still write traditional country, but other songs have some inventive flourishes: "Maintain The Pain" starts with a synth-guitar lead that sounds stripped from an 80's hair metal track. The Dylan-esque blues of "Time To Get A Gun" is the highlight of the disc - it's humor and catchy melody showcase everything Miranda does best.
Revolution rivals Eric Church's Carolina as the year's best country album and it has only started to grow on me. You get the feeling that after three solid records, she still has plenty of ideas of where country can go.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II
I've said it before and I'll say it again - 2009 is a great year for hip-hop. Sure, it's hit a few snags: Jay-Z's new record was a train wreck, Kanye further ruined his reputation by being a moron at another awards show, and the Beastie Boys' new record was delayed indefinitely due to Adam Yauch being diagnosed with cancer. Despite these setbacks, we have a solid Mos Def album, a stunner from The Dream, and a long-delayed masterpiece from Q-Tip. Not too bad.
But now it gets better. Raekwon finally released the long-awaited sequel to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, one of the most fondly remembered underground rap records of the 1990's. With so many delays and so many hands in the pot (almost every track has several guest rappers and a different producer), it seems almost impossible that this album would be as good as the first, but somehow it's better.
After a brief but haunting intro, "House Of The Flying Daggers" sounds like a 120 mile-per-hour thrill ride with no less than four Wu-Tang Clan members pitching in. Ghostface Killah is on most of the album's tracks and is often the star of the show - he gets the most unsettling verse in the emotional orchestral highlight "Cold Outside". Some of the more upbeat party tracks are produced by Dr. Dre, who makes beats that could be Chronic (has it been almost 20 years already?) outtakes work with the Wu-Tang's sound - "Catalina" has an island "Big Pimpin" vibe to it but still sounds dark.
Like the best Wu-Tang alumni records - Ghostface Killah's Fishscale and GZA's Liquid Swords included - this album hits you with so many ideas so fast that it requires repeated listens. 22 tracks in 70 minutes is a lot to take in, but without any skits or bad tracks to break the momentum you can't get bored. This might be the decade's last rap masterpiece and it proves that hip-hop has a lot left to accomplish in years to come.
But now it gets better. Raekwon finally released the long-awaited sequel to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, one of the most fondly remembered underground rap records of the 1990's. With so many delays and so many hands in the pot (almost every track has several guest rappers and a different producer), it seems almost impossible that this album would be as good as the first, but somehow it's better.
After a brief but haunting intro, "House Of The Flying Daggers" sounds like a 120 mile-per-hour thrill ride with no less than four Wu-Tang Clan members pitching in. Ghostface Killah is on most of the album's tracks and is often the star of the show - he gets the most unsettling verse in the emotional orchestral highlight "Cold Outside". Some of the more upbeat party tracks are produced by Dr. Dre, who makes beats that could be Chronic (has it been almost 20 years already?) outtakes work with the Wu-Tang's sound - "Catalina" has an island "Big Pimpin" vibe to it but still sounds dark.
Like the best Wu-Tang alumni records - Ghostface Killah's Fishscale and GZA's Liquid Swords included - this album hits you with so many ideas so fast that it requires repeated listens. 22 tracks in 70 minutes is a lot to take in, but without any skits or bad tracks to break the momentum you can't get bored. This might be the decade's last rap masterpiece and it proves that hip-hop has a lot left to accomplish in years to come.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Pearl Jam's Backspacer
It seems like every year we get a comeback album from a band we thought were done years ago, but few are a memorable as Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album. PJ had fallen so far away from the grand stadium rock we fondly remember from the early 90's that it was a blast to hear them rip through "World Wide Suicide" and "Life Wasted". It made us forget that Riot Act ever happened.
Now is the tough part - where do they go from here? They've had their throwback, but can they sustain this energy? The first three tracks from there latest, Backspacer, answer this by pounding harder and faster than anything in the PJ catalog (except maybe Vs.). All guitar hooks and no texture with Eddie Vedder yelling like he's possessed. This is the way it should be.
When I first read that this album only runs a brisk 37 minutes, I didn't think PJ would take the time to make some risks. Even though Eddie got some slow folksy tunes on record with his Into The Wild soundtrack, I didn't think he give in to those urges here. Wrong and wrong: "Just Breathe" is the most surprising track they've ever attempted. This folk ballad could be sung by Dylan or Springsteen, but they probably wouldn't nail it like Eddie does.
The second half of the record moves more toward mid-tempo. "Speed Of Sound" (no relation to the Coldplay hit) builds a beautiful bridge off keyboards and pianos, two things I never expected on a PJ record. "Force Of Nature" does more of a Rolling Stones boogie without overdoing it and the guitar solos are solid as always.
If you are already a Pearl Jam fan, you'll be happy to know that their self-titled record wasn't a fluke, it was a rebirth. Pearl Jam was a more memorable record, but this one shows that PJ has the versatility, passion, and drive to give us at least another decade of great records like this one. I don't think we could ask for much more.
Now is the tough part - where do they go from here? They've had their throwback, but can they sustain this energy? The first three tracks from there latest, Backspacer, answer this by pounding harder and faster than anything in the PJ catalog (except maybe Vs.). All guitar hooks and no texture with Eddie Vedder yelling like he's possessed. This is the way it should be.
When I first read that this album only runs a brisk 37 minutes, I didn't think PJ would take the time to make some risks. Even though Eddie got some slow folksy tunes on record with his Into The Wild soundtrack, I didn't think he give in to those urges here. Wrong and wrong: "Just Breathe" is the most surprising track they've ever attempted. This folk ballad could be sung by Dylan or Springsteen, but they probably wouldn't nail it like Eddie does.
The second half of the record moves more toward mid-tempo. "Speed Of Sound" (no relation to the Coldplay hit) builds a beautiful bridge off keyboards and pianos, two things I never expected on a PJ record. "Force Of Nature" does more of a Rolling Stones boogie without overdoing it and the guitar solos are solid as always.
If you are already a Pearl Jam fan, you'll be happy to know that their self-titled record wasn't a fluke, it was a rebirth. Pearl Jam was a more memorable record, but this one shows that PJ has the versatility, passion, and drive to give us at least another decade of great records like this one. I don't think we could ask for much more.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Flaming Lips
Prepare yourself for this. Wayne Coyne did a track-by-track breakdown of his new album at this link (http://www.the-fly.co.uk/words/features/5825/the-flaming-lips-%27embryonic%27-//-first-listen ).
You can stream the whole thing this weekend at this link (http://www.colbertnation.com/home).
Our lives will never be the same.
You can stream the whole thing this weekend at this link (http://www.colbertnation.com/home).
Our lives will never be the same.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Jay-Z's Blueprint 3
Regardless of the fact that he is one of the greatest rappers of all time, Jay-Z's catalog sure has been inconsistent. After his debut masterpiece Reasonable Doubt, quality tailed off until 2001's Blueprint gave him his first career redemption. The Black Album gave him pop crossover hits, but Kingdom Come lost him some of that credibility he gained from it. 2007's American Gangster once again showed him at the top of his game, but can we count on this guy for two great records in a row?
Unfortunately, Blueprint 3 comes closer to Blueprint 2 than the original: too many guest spots, too much boasting, not enough memorable tracks. That's not to say it isn't worth buying for Jay-Z fans - the first five tracks find him at his finest for melody and experimental beat-making. The pair of radio singles are two of the best he's ever written. "D.O.A. (Death-Of-Auto tune)" is a hilarious send-up of pop music in 2009 where he draws battle lines with T.I. and Lil Wayne. It isn't as brutally mean as 2001's "Takeover" (his lash-out at Nas), but it is catchier and more fun. "Run This Town" with Rihanna and Kanye West is pop-rap at its finest with a catchy chorus and military drum rhythm.
However, things drop off around the middle of the album and never get going again. "Hate" is a waste of another Kanye guest spot with a sluggish beat and rhymes that struggle to gain momentum. "So Ambitious" couldn't be more mistitled: the beat sounds recycled from 1999 and makes you wonder if Pharell is even trying these days.
Jay-Z's new record will keep fans happy enough and it doesn't do anything to ruin his legacy or the great decade he's had, but it doesn't stand up to Reasonable Doubt or Blueprint (but then again, little does). If you want a daring, original hip-hop masterpiece, Q-Tip is finally dropping Kamaal The Abstract next week. The Blueprint 3 is more of a holdover until Jay-Z can come up with something better.
Unfortunately, Blueprint 3 comes closer to Blueprint 2 than the original: too many guest spots, too much boasting, not enough memorable tracks. That's not to say it isn't worth buying for Jay-Z fans - the first five tracks find him at his finest for melody and experimental beat-making. The pair of radio singles are two of the best he's ever written. "D.O.A. (Death-Of-Auto tune)" is a hilarious send-up of pop music in 2009 where he draws battle lines with T.I. and Lil Wayne. It isn't as brutally mean as 2001's "Takeover" (his lash-out at Nas), but it is catchier and more fun. "Run This Town" with Rihanna and Kanye West is pop-rap at its finest with a catchy chorus and military drum rhythm.
However, things drop off around the middle of the album and never get going again. "Hate" is a waste of another Kanye guest spot with a sluggish beat and rhymes that struggle to gain momentum. "So Ambitious" couldn't be more mistitled: the beat sounds recycled from 1999 and makes you wonder if Pharell is even trying these days.
Jay-Z's new record will keep fans happy enough and it doesn't do anything to ruin his legacy or the great decade he's had, but it doesn't stand up to Reasonable Doubt or Blueprint (but then again, little does). If you want a daring, original hip-hop masterpiece, Q-Tip is finally dropping Kamaal The Abstract next week. The Blueprint 3 is more of a holdover until Jay-Z can come up with something better.
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