Some pieces of music mean more to people than just some pretty melodies. Some music makes me unbelievably happy, others implausibly sad, but very few times has an album been more than just that to me. Rarely does a record revolutionize the way one sees society at the time it was released. Marvin Gaye’s What Going On, in terms of its impact on society, might be the most important album ever recorded. Jesus, for me, it is was the greatest anti-war album ever written, one of the greatest statements on our country’s social order in all of arts history, and just in terms of the sound of music minus the lyrics, it is one of the greatest albums ever. Basically, if you don’t like this album, you might be one of the most musically ignorant people to ever live (I know that was kinda harsh, but seriously… IT’S FUCKING WHATS GOING ON).
I will be honest; I have been swamped with work and really do not have the time to write a novel about why this album was so important. I will just say: YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM, PERIOD.
Below I have posted two videos from a PBS documentary about the life of Marvin Gaye. If you want to watch the thing, which I don’t blame you for because it is really interesting, just watch the whole thing, but if you just want to hear about What’s Going On just go to around 5:22 minutes into the first video and it continues on to the next video.
Ever since my constant checks on APW's facebook page started at the beginning of the new year for any little news on the festival, I became worried that nothing was being revieled. Then after seeing the NY times article, I realized that I shouldn't have been suprised. With the recent news circling slowly like hawks in my head, I can't stop thinking about it. The fact that the planners are lazy pieces of shit that can't sign bands to play for three days is just bullshit. If you think of it, All Points West is one of the BIGGEST festivals in the NJ/NY area. Now besides for the tourist filled NYC, the summer is boring. NJ really let us music fans down by (maybe, there's still a chance) pulling the plug. I can't bare to hear how amazing Bamboozle i going to be (although it's a shame MGMT and girltalk are perfoming there) anymore. Face it, Bamboozle sucks. The shitty smell of the meadowlands mixed with hot ass concrete would be the first thing that drives me away. Let alone the bands there that have guys that look like girls sing about how they wanna hurt themselves. All Points West was the festival-to-be for NJ. I just can't see how this slipped away so fast. I know recently NJ had cut budgets for the arts in the state but APW was the most important event to keep. It was the highlight of the summer. My mind is filled with a bunch of "Well why can't they..." Why can't they [the planners] sign the bands fast enough? Why can't they get the name out enough? Then my mind suddenly clicked. If you look on the official Facebook pages of these festivals (like Bonnaroo and Coachella), they all have on average around 40-50,000 fans. Now if you wobble your way to All Points West: 9,900. Bonnaroo has 75,000+, Coachella has 70,000+ and Lollapalooza in Chicago has 55,000+. APW used to be 9,905 a few days ago. It is slowly decreasing now that it's almost been pulled. But the point is, these big name festivals has a ton of popularity. I know physically and socially APW isn't as big as Bonnaroo, but APW can definitely have more than 9,900 fans. The big thing that I see missing is the promotion for the festival. The bands are good, but they won't be seen if the festival's not promoted. As of a few billboards along the NJ highways, there's nothing! The promotions gotta be everywhere. If the promotion's good, then the outcome will be good, and the people will bounce back for the next year (also including that the acts are top-notch). I'm guessing the "overhaul" needed for APW will come someday and it will fix all of it's major issues. I see no difficulty in trying to sign bands. There are tons of touring acts in the summer. The Flaming Lips are starting a spring/summer tour. The Black Keys are starting a small spring/summer tour. My Morning Jacket, a popular headliner of past festivals is on a highly anticipated spring/summer tour. The list just keeps on going. I would love to see Liberty State Park to be filled again to capactiy plus more. NJ and NY need the festival. It's a must. It's simply a shame that it's unlikely to happen this year.
My Suggestions for APW 2010 ( these are just only a handful of bands touring through the season) My Morning Jacket The Flaming Lips Pearl Jam Kings of Leon The Black Keys The Dead Weather Wolfmother MGMT Yeasayer Animal Collective Phoenix The Avett Brothers Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Cymbals Eat Guitars Friendly Fires The Hold Steady Noah and The Whale Of Montreal Dirty Projectors The Cribs Blakroc Dungen (even though they're not touring) Beach House GirlTalk
In 2008, the Tri-State Area unveiled a summer music festival that would hopefully last for years. Now, in 2010 and with two All Points West festivals past, their future does not look promising. All Points West is (or was) a summer music festival started by the promotors of the popular California festival Coachella. All Points West is sought as the Coachella of the East Coast because of the surrounding enviornments of each festival. In Liberty State Park, NJ, All Points West has stunning backgrounds of the NYC skyline across the Hudson River, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. With headliners Jack Johnson, Radiohead, Coldplay, Jay-Z, and Tool, APW was sure to be an all out success. According to an article on the NY Times website published on Feb. 23rd, the future of APW is "in doubt." The article explained how it might and likely be simply, too late. Festival planners apparently have become frustrated in finding headliners for the festival and now might not even be able to sign other acts because their sets have already been confirmed. In the past two years, there have been troubling obstacles to overcome for the festival. In 2008, festival-goers complained that ferries from Manhattan and other travel options were either too slow, or not organized well enough. In 2009, deciding even whether to continue the festival (because of financial reasons of the year before) the festival was in the bull's eye for a huge rainstorm for two of the three days. The rain forced the festival to cancel early acts, but never the less, the show went on. The fans got a dose of mud dancing as well, but fans made the best of it. This year the festival is in question simply because there are no acts signed. No headliners and no other acts. Only dates were picked but not yet confirmed. Promotors said that it is very unlikely that there will be a festival this year because there is simply no time to plan. It may seem dim for the APW fans, but there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. NY/NJ needs APW because we can't deal with the shitfest called Bamboozle.
Maybe APW 2010 was simply not ment to be. But there still is a chance. It sounds plain lazy and an excuse that the planners couldn't find headliners and no other acts (although Bonnaroo and Coachella are releasing their entire line-ups). APW can happen but the planners are going to have to work extra hours and weekends to make it work. APW might just be postponed, but not dead like the past NY festivals. The only insight to any other APW festival is that the planners are going to give it the "overhaul" it needs to work. APW isn't dead. Or is it? Only time will tell.
When I often listen to music I see colors. For example, 2008’s Dear Science, by TV on the Radio brought explosions of vibrant colors like red, yellow, and green to my mind. Conversely, Efterklang’s Magic Chairs left afterimages, grays, and deep, bleak blues. This is no way to say that the album is not good or will make you sad. It just means that one must sit on this record (no, not psychically) and give it some time.
“Modern Drift” kicks off Magic Chairs with a charming, lovely piano tied to a drum part that attempts to match the vocal melody. However, “Modern Drift” never truly has a glamorous moment, which is not too good considering it is probably the catchiest song on the album. It never reaches out as a “pop” song, which is similar to the sound of Sigur Rós (a band Efterklang is constantly compared to). To some, this makes the album rather difficult to listen to, but for me it makes me want to dig down and find the essential elements of the songs.
One must be patient with this album because while you obviously can’t just find the obvious “pop” on the album, it is also actually rather difficult to find, as I said, the essential elements. For example, the next song on the album, “Alike,” is persistently growing in textures. For me it is what I like about this album most, but I can certainly see why these textures make it difficult for listeners to excavate a “pop” song.
The major problem with the album is that there are no singles. I write “pop” because on Magic Chairs there really isn’t much of any pop music at all. It is not bad, but it is quite a yawn at points. Like the album art, which is great, Modern Chairs is modern, sleek, and dwindles here and there, just as the ribbons on the cover are randomly sprawled out. For example, “Harmonics,” a Neil Peart fan's wet dream and “Raincoats,” which mixes the whistle of Andrew Bird with the staccato harmonies of a band like Dirty Projectors, are fantastic songs, but I am not convinced if everyone will think them with such high regard. I did like this album, but for most, I couldn’t imagine people loving Magic Chairs.
Some bands are defined by a singer; others by a guitar player, while others are defined by a distinct sound. Local Natives, a new band out of LA, combine sweet harmonies, whipping percussive parts, and vivacious chants to create Gorilla Manor. The name of the record comes from the place in which they recorded it, a place that denotes this idea of our ancestor’s domiciles, but yet something far more sophisticated than just some caveman’s dwelling (sorry if the Geico guys are reading this). The title of the record is the perfect name for the sound that you hear on the album. Gorilla Manor is tribal, but yet urbane.
The album begins with the primitive thud and dissonant guitar of “Wide Eyes.” It immediately conjured up thoughts of The Dodos and Fleet Foxes, but what surprised me was that it did not continue on this route, which I certainly would have enjoyed. It goes on to the rather pop sensible piano of “Airplanes,” which sounds rather similar to the most recent Avett Brothers record, I and Love and You. Unlike what many critics argue, the album never sticks to one exact band's sound.
I really do not enjoy comparing bands to other bands, but yet it is hard to escape this notion with Local Natives. Every review I have read of Gorilla Manor has connected them to some other band. However, what I like most about this album is that Local Natives have this ability to stick themselves between all these bands that get thrown around.
I feel that the best examples of where one can see the band work as a mop soaking up these ridiculous, dirty, comparisons is on “Warning Sign.” It was actually quite hard picking out what song specifically pinpoints this idea of an amalgamation of different bands involved on the album because you could honestly throw a dart and pick any song off the album. Gorilla Manor is very unique in that, like the album title, has this ability to be ancestral, but also just exceedingly polished in the song writing and the instruments being displayed on the record.
I will admit that it gave me a couple tries for me to really like this album. Perhaps this is because of all these assumptions placed in my mind by music reviewers who constantly compared Local Natives to other bands. However, when I took out these preconceived notions of the way I thought the Gorilla Manor should have sounded, I really started to like it… a lot.
Along with everyone who has ever heard MGMT's Oracular Spectacular, I love MGMT. Their new album, Congratulations, which will be released April 13th, is perhaps one of the most highly anticipated records of the year. When I first heard the title of the album I knew that it was going to be interesting, to say the least, but now, after seeing the cover, I know it will be just... well... weird.
As of recent, it looks as though the West Coast is single handily dominating the indie world. The Soft Pack, a new band out of San Diego, got their start in 2008 as The Muslims, but changed the name after receiving comments that the band name was racist and ignorant. Their new self-titled LP, released earlier in the month, has gotten pretty respectable remarks in some major publications. I will admit that I put the album off to the side because of a chaotic work load, but I am giving it another chance as I write.
Below is the video for the first single on the album, “C’mon.” I just can’t get enough of this song. Enjoy!
I was like a fat kid in a candy store when I first read Stereogum’s anticipated albums for 2010. There are many things that I am looking forward to this year. With anticipated new releases by The Avalanches, The Strokes, and Radiohead, this year seems quite promising. There is no question that the heavy hitters of the music industry are going to produce some serious projects this year, but what I like most about music is when I hear a brand new band’s album for the first time. I have no expectations when I start to listen to a new album; I simply just listen.
The Morning Benders is an emerging San Francisco group that merges retro, a.m. pop with Phil Spector-like production reminiscent of early 70s British R&B. The video I found of them is awe-inspiring. The song in the video is called "Excuses" and it might just be one of the greatest songs of year. Singer Chris Chu recruits at least 20 of his closest musician friends to pay homage to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound theory. Mike introduced me to the video telling me, “Dude, you gotta listen to this.” Next thing you know I listened to it 10 times over and over again. I am really looking forward to Big Echo, the band’s debut album, on March 9th.
In 2008, three standout bands were brought to the limelight: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, and most notably, Vampire Weekend. All three of these band’s debut records I put in my top 10 albums of 2008, but without a doubt, I saw Vampire Weekend as the band that could have the most significant impact on music in the future. They created this remarkable mix of Paul Simon’s classic Afro-pop sensation Graceland with preppy, upbeat pop music. I really treasured Vampire Weekend’s debut album. However, I will say out front that I was very disappointed with the new album. If Yeasayer, who also recently released a sophomore album after a critically acclaimed debut (check out Mike’s review below), threw caution to the wind with Odd Blood, Vampire Weekend threw one of their testicles to the wind with Contra.
I will start with the good. For one, the album is spectacularly produced. It’s certainly the most well produced album that I have heard this year. Two, the second half of the album is just out of this world. This is why I said that they threw only one of their testicles to the wind. From the spaztastic (I know it’s not a word, I don’t care) drumming of Chris Tomson on “Cousins” to the uncharacteristic, melancholy vocals of Ezra Koenig on “I think Ur a Contra,” the last four songs on Contra are everything I wanted to hear on the new Vampire Weekend album.
Now I will move to the bad. Okay, the first six songs are lyrically pathetic. I mean give me a break, who the f*** rhymes horchata and balaclava or horchata with orxata? Really? Seriously? You really just rhymed horchata with orxata? “Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of traditional beverages, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernuts,” according to Wikipedia. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. THERE THE SAME THING! Another example of the superb lyrics in Vampire Weekend’s Contra: “Funny how the other private schools had no Hapa Club.” I’m sorry, what the f*** is a Hapa club? Like, I get the concept of boarding school. At one point I thought it was pretty cool, but I am getting sick of Vampire Weekend songs that have to reference boarding school. Write about something else PLEASE!
Sorry that I have to whip out some of my music snobbishness but Contra has no real thematic direction. Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut had a beginning, middle, and an end and there was a driving theme throughout the whole record. I felt and understood the sound that was created on Vampire Weekend and I really loved this “x factor.” The sound on nearly every song on the record was unique and fresh to the music world. I don’t get this “x factor” on most of Contra. I get this factor on the second half, but not the first. The second “Cousins” comes on through your speakers after hearing the first six songs; you are going to be very confused. It took me right off guard in a bad way. This is not to say that "Cousins" is a bad song, but rather that I did not enjoy that Contra went from the Vampire Weekend of "old" to Vampire Weekend of "new" out of nowhere. It just doesn't make much sense for an album to do that. Either write an album that sounds like the first record (the first half) or step up an writing something interesting (the second half). Pick something! Don't just fence sit.
After listening to Contra, I really do not know what to think of Vampire Weekend. In one of the more recent Rolling Stone magazines there was an article taking a look inside the lives of two members of Vampire Weekend (Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij). While reading, I was really split with my opinions of the band. In some regard I saw a good group of guys. For example, Rostam Batmanglij, came off as genuine, sweet, guy who has recently struggled publically admitting that he was gay. Then, while reading about Ezra, I was really turned off. The guy is just such a tool. For example, while discussing the concept that Vampire Weekend writes only about “old money, old politics, old-guard high society,” Koenig says, “to me it’s really obvious that we’re using satire and irony.” Really? Because no one is buying it dude. He previously said, “My parents never had a lot of money.” Ok, c’mon man. You lived in Glen Ridge and went to Columbia. I can understand if your parents weren’t making $250,000 a year, but don’t tell me your parent never had a lot of money when you clearly had the money to have a fascination with Polo and you went to f***ing Columbia. It seems as if Koenig is trying to make the world view him as just a regular guy, when he really is not at all. I don’t know what to think of this band any longer and I really don’t want to spend any more time devoting my site to their pockets.
I am sure most people have heard Beck. However, I am not sure most people have heard a lot of stuff off of Sea Change, my favorite Beck album. The album was recorded right after he went through a horrible breakup with his girlfriend at the time, so if you can imagine the album is rather heartbreaking to listen to. My favorite song on the record is "Lost Cause," which is probably my favorite breakup song ever. I hate to be a Debby Downer, but I really suggest you give it a listen because it is just a gorgeous song.
I have to agree with Greg on this one; Valentine's Day is just a poor excuse to be thoughtful and nice to your significant other on one day out of the whole year. Why can't people be like this everyday? Why not buy your girlfriend flowers after you get out of work just for the hell of it? What about a nice, homemade dinner (put together by the guy of course) on a weeknight? Unfortunately, some people don't have the oppurtunity to do this because there is no significant other. Other times, it could just be a bad time in a relationship. Well this song goes out to all the good hearted guys out there who are either alone on Valetine's or are going through a bad fight.
Minneapolis musician Dan Wilson has been in the business of writing good love songs since the late 80's. Remember the late 90's band Semisonic (Closing Time anybody)? Yep, that was all Dan Wilson. On his 2007 solo album, Free Life, Wilson hits hard with a heartbreaking song, "Honey Please." When I first heard "Honey Please," I was at a point in a relationship that seemed to be hitting some bumps in the road. Call me cheesy, but when I heard this song, I felt as if things could work out in the end. "Honey Please" almost acts a certain narration. It has everything a love song is supposed to have; frustrated lyrical angst, a pouring of emotions, and a brutally honest confession. The music assists in guiding this longing. "Honey Please" almost takes the form of a forgotten swooner anthem with it's majestic, sweeping piano and an assortment of vibraphones. Wilson's voice was made for a lullaby. The man's falsetto is nothing but beautiful and matches the song perfectly. "Honey Please" wants to make things better, not just for the couple who are arguing with each other in the corner of a supposedly romantic candlelit restaurant, but for everyone who has ever felt malnourished by a love that may have never meant to be.
I have to say that I hate Valentine’s Day. I think Valentine's Day is a total joke and mockery to what true love actually is. However, I do appreciate that Valentine’s Day evokes memories of elementary school. Valentine’s Day conjures up thoughts of shitty cards, cheaply made lollipops, dumb decorated bags, and clay tasting candies that supposedly tell your future. You now may ask what this has to do with music. Well last night, I began to think about what songs evoked elementary /middle school crushes and one song came to mind.
Tim, released by The Replacements in 1985, is one of my favorite albums of all time. One of several incredible songs on this album is “Kiss Me on the Bus.”Certainly the most pop accessible song on the record, “Kiss Me on the Bus” has the pop craftsmanship that The Beatles or The Beach Boys could have written, but also the coarseness of a typical Rolling Stones record. I just love this song so much and I hope you will as well.
Because Valentine's Day is on Sunday I figure we post some of our favorite romantic songs this weekend. For those who do not know of Elliott Smith I am sorry because his music is just breathtaking. He may be one of the most important songwriters of all time. The song I posted is the last song off of Either/Or. People have argued numerous meanings behind the lyrics to this song. I have heard it’s about drug addiction, alcoholism, and obviously just a love song, but what I found most interesting was Smith's explanation for the lyrics. In an interview he explained, "the song was to be for someone who didn't make it, but now they think they can." When I read this while listening to the song I nearly cried because, for those who don't know, Elliott Smith tragically died in October of 2003. The death was believed to be a suicide, but no one is 100% sure.
I don't know if you can call it a romantic song, but it has always seemed that way to me. The video below is Smith performing the song live for the last time before he died.
There's no doubt about it; Odd Blood is, to say the least...odd. But it's a good odd. It's the kind of odd that forces to ask oneself why this is the fifth time in row that I've listened to an album straight through. It's the kind of odd that questions an individual as to how the hell that sound just came out of that bass. But more importantly, it's the kind of odd that makes you rethink what music in our day and age is and what the future holds for generations of music lovers to come.
Brooklyn by way of Baltimore trio Yeasayer are in many ways, musical philosophers, posing questions such as whether or not music has certain musical boundries as to how far you can push them without losing control or by just making a load of indigestable racket. Odd Blood does just that; it takes the risks a sophmore album should take. Necessary risks that expose the listener to a multitude of landscapes, conjuring images of sound and textures that poke and prune the listener into, believe it or not, an individual of tolerance and change. With a group such as Yeasayer, one never knows what they'll get. Sometimes it can be a Native American chant with infinite amount of loops in the background or it can just be a clusterfuck of sound that fits and interlocks in perfect harmony like a puzzle.
With some sophmore albums, a number of groups fail to capture the attraction and creativity of their first album, which is also known to many as the "sophmore slump." If Odd Blood is considered a sophmore slump like big daddy music blog Pitchfork thinks it is, then dip me in shit and roll me in breads crumbs. It's a no brainer; any album that infuses new forms of experimentation takes more than one close listen to really appreciate what has been done on the album. To be honest, when Yeasayer's first single "Ambling Alp" was exposed early before the album's release date, it didn't catch me at first. As I started listening to it more and recognized certain rhythms or hooks hidden within the song itself, I was convinced that it was possible the album could be the same way as well. And its true--with every listen, there is something new to be picked out, dissected, probed, and examined again and again.
Yeasayer take a nice, comfortable leap from their debut album, All Hour Cymbals, in which live instrumentation mixed with pre-recorded samples were omnipresent throughout the album. Odd Blood continues to rely heavily on the pre-recorded samples along with a number of effects that trick the ear, such as Ira Wolf Tuton's bass sound in "Ambling Alp" as if a Korg keyboard was shoved into the body of his fretless bass. That sound you hear in the intro to "Ambling Alp?" Yeah, thats a bass my friend.
It's also no surprise that the album was inspired by a series of acid trips the band took while celebrating on tour in New Zealand. It's definitely an acid trip, but one that keeps your ears interested instead of wanting to pierce your ear drums with a pin like some other poor attempts at electronic psychedelia. Chris Keating coos a call of the wild-type falsetto that emits a hopeful tone matched with a Super Mario-like synth that descends in flickering notes that open the listener up to Keating's voice. Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian influence has a subtle, but substantial presence on this album, finding its way onto songs such as "Madder Red,"Love Me Girl," "Grizelda," and "Strange Reunions" in which Keating trades vocals with guitarist Anand Wilder for soft, trembling vibrato lyrics. The voices of all three members emit strong technological harmonies: Keating's wild yelp, Wilder's gentle, Bollywood-like bellow, and Tuton's nasally pitch perfect tone.
By no means is this perfect, but you can hear the dedication and hopefulness that was poured into this album. Secluded miles from the nearest bustling metropolis, the band holed up in Woodstock, New York where a little distance can go a long way. There's no question that Yeasayer have done something great; they've taken a formula that most fans have known them by for several years now and blossomed it into something awkwardly beautiful. Yeasayer continue to demonstrate and defy the standards that pop music calls for. And if one doesn't realize it, that's their problem.
I know what you're thinking. No, they are not Hispanic; they are British, so don’t worry about not understanding the lyrics. I was introduced to this band in 2008 after their sophomore release, We are beautiful, We are Doomed, which I originally thought was a bit too much. However, the more I listened to the album, the more I saw potential in this band. The band has everything you could ask for: they're hip (God, I sound like a lame dad saying that), can write cute pop songs when they need to, whip into songs that are nothing but kickass, and above all, they're talented musicians.
What I find most impressive about this band is that their songs can drop on the dime, ranging from frantic, pretty, tunes to an intense and heavy mess of sound. On Romance is Boring, the first track works as this epic overture for what is to come. There are a wide range of instruments, gorgeous melodies, sudden changes in mood, and awesome lyrics of teenage angst. The one thing “In Media Res” is missing is the crazy time signatures that get featured on this album, which puts drummers in a perplex position. This “over-cooked” sound, categorized by an unhappy Allmusic reviewer, actually made this album my favorite Campesinos record to date. I really enjoy when bands try to throw as many different styles into one album (perhaps why my favorite album is Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) but it is even more impressive when a band actually does this in just one song. I do admit that sometimes the band overdoes this concept, but for the most part this notion of pressure cooking a song works really well.
There are a few notable examples on Romance is Boring where one can clearly see that these guys have a very unique sound. “We’ve Got Your Back” hits you with this delightful keyboard part and really gets you hooked (I mean really, it’s like crack). Then all of sudden after a minute and a half of listening you get smacked with this explosion of sound. It’s fantastic. It might be my favorite moment on the record. Another instance of this combination of sweet, but yet powerful sound is “Plan A.” I know that it is a bit intense in the beginning, but what I love about these two songs right after one another is that they counteract each other. “We’ve Got Your Back” starts as really charming and moves to a more forceful sound, while “Plan A” does the exact opposite. The dynamics achieved on this record are what many bands strive for, but can never reach.
I really do not understand how this band is not huge. This album has three incontestable fantastic songs. In terms of direction, “Romance is Boring,” the first single off the new album is considerably the most straightforward song. However, there are certainly other songs on the album that I can see being huge. The next, chronologically on the record, is “We’ve Got Your Back,” which, as I said previously, is just a phenomenal amalgamation of two very different concepts that are at work. However, better than both these bona-fide hits, is the marvelous “Straight in at 101,” which you can listen to below.
I know there are certainly people out there who will listen to this record and immediately turn it off for sounding unauthentic and crass. I know this because I was once one of those people. When I would hear a little bit of yelling I though it as immediate rubbish, but it’s really not. Los Campesinos! definitely deserve some more lovin’.
According to Metacritic, Spoon was the most critically acclaimed band of the past decade. Transference, Spoon’s most recent release, proves exactly why they were easily the most consistent band of the last decade. Transference is cool, smart, cunning, and above all, honest. I have heard many people argue that Radiohead is undeniably the best band of the past decade, however with Radiohead comes this connotation of music elitism. Some people just do not get Radiohead, as hard as it is for me to believe. Radiohead is just too “confusing” to some people. Radiohead often strives towards the complex, while Spoon strives for simplicity. Their music is well crafted and just so blunt. When I listen to a Spoon record, I really feel the music more so than many other bands I listen to. It does not seem as if they are trying to impress anyone, rather just be content with the music they create. With 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga came a well deserved level of praise for the band. As a fan of the band before 2007, I can credit this most certainly to the great pop hooks that one can find on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Although I did enjoy many of the singles off of the album, for the most part I was disappointed with the album. It just did not strike me as truthful, which is the reason I loved the past Spoon records, in particular Kill the Moonlight. I just hope that Transference’s older and more authentic sound gets them the same level of praise as the poppy Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga did.
The album kicks off with Jim Eno’s simple bass and hi hat groove on “Before Destruction.” This simplicity is one of the factors that follow you through the album. This straightforwardness in the song writing allows one to see the honesty that went into the making of this album. Transference is just so effortless in its hooks. One can see this not only in the tribal thump of “Before Destruction,” but also in the bridge of “Who Makes Your Money,” which is just so understated but fits so beautifully into Britt Daniel’s prettiest vocals on the record. The uncomplicated sound Spoon creates on Transference culminates on the beautiful piano ballad of “Goodnight Laura” (I read the piano was actually recorded in a basement with no effects on it at all) and the marvelous “Out Go the Lights.” The chords to this are something straight out of a Leonard Cohen textbook on songwriting. Daniel’s vocals actually sound strikingly similar to Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah.” Along with the trouble-free sound of Transference comes the confidence that I have always loved about Spoon.
One can see this poise in the crazy syncopation of “Is Love Foreverer?” Few bands have the cajones to write a song with such strange rhythm, but for Spoon it just works. This self-assured style carries on with the strut of “Written in Reverse,” the first single off of the record. I actually think that my favorite part of the album is the “wooooooo” at the end of the song. It is just so freakin’ sweet. As lame as it may sound, that simple “wooooooo” is the thing that I get excited to hear every time I hear the song. What might be the strangest thing on the album is the funky “Nobody Gets Me But You,” which sounds like an outtake from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but after a minute, hits you with this crazy piano part or whatever the hell that thing is. It’s just wacky, but makes me so intrigued to figure out what is going on in the music. Only Spoon would get away with such a wacky combination of different instruments on a rather simple bass and drum groove.
I must say that Transference is not Spoon’s best album, but it is certainly better than many reviewers are making it out to seem. The combination of simplicity and confidence on this record certainly makes is a great listen.
When Beach House's Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally released their debut self-titled album in 2006, the music community was slowly introduced to a group of the ethereal kind; a kind that harbored deserted yet connective songs, a saltier, more seductive wisp of a voice that strained to be heard, and musical arrangements that would convince even St. Michael to lay down his sword and ask the devil for a dance.
As 2008 rolled along, so did their second album Devotion, which paved the dream pop masters a fresh road toward much earned publicity and major positive exposure among a less than forgiving community. With Devotion came an even more devoted fanbase, which of whom naturally spread word of a sound that searched deep down in the untouched abyss' of the dream pop realm.
If the Book of Revelation is the Second Coming of Christ, then Beach House's masterpiece Teen Dream is the Second Coming (or Third Coming but whatever) of an innovative, powerful sound that will surely encompass all of humanity (or at least college students and all of Williamsburg/Brooklyn).
Teen Dream, the third and by far best album of all three, pleases the ears of the longtime Beach House fan, using all its sensitive, mellowness to construct an even larger following from which it once slowly bloomed. Teen Dream is also the first result from the Baltimore duo's recent joining of Seattle's SubPop, a move that collectively gave them the confidence to experiment with a more open sound as if there are eight people in the band rather than two. The approach to Teen Dream is minimalist, which seems to work perfectly. Using only keyboards, electric guitar and the occasional percussionist, it shouldn't come as any surprise that this is all it takes for Beach House to make an amazing album.
Legrand and Scally exhibit the best of their abilities for this album, ultimately coming together to form the better part of a whole. Guitarist Alex Scally serves as the back bone of the group, delicately forming crescending guitar phrases that emit a total emersion of Seventies soaked cool. "Zebra" shows classic examples of Scally's guitar playing using slowly sweeping riffs, bringing the listener back down to Earth with simple guitar lines. Legrand's voice is the perfect combination of silky and salty seduction. But what matters most is the consistency of Legrand's voice--a consistency many singers can't do with consecutive albums, and if they do, it never sounds exactly right. If you want perfect consistency of Legrand's voice besides Teen Dream, check out Legrand's vocal part in Grizzly Bear's performance of "Two Weeks" on Conan O'Brien.
Each song on Teen Dream is listenable beyond compare, ranging from one listen to three or four listens all the way through. "Walk in the Park" is the unquestionable gem of the album with a pairing of droning organ and a lazy, moping guitar riff. Scally's memorable tremolo part in the chorus is really, truly memorable and catchy. "Take Care" has Legrand leaping high and low for longing. "Lover of Mine" takes the listener back to the underground of discotechs before cocaine and a donkey was even an option. The one thing that's weird on the album is the listing of "Used to Be," which was originally released as a single on an EP which is in a totally different musical arrangement. The Teen Dream version is, undoubtedly good, but the first incarnation of "Used to Be" is much more favorable.
Teen Dream proves that Legrand and Scally know what they were after. This labor of love will easily be one of the best albums of the year, making 2010 the year for tight competition already with the release of Surfer Blood's Astro Coast, Charlotte Gainsbourg's IRM and the coming of new album's by She and Him, Yeasayer, Gorillaz, and The Strokes just to name a few. But whatever the verdict, Teen Dream has set the bar for the 2010's future albums, making Legrand and Scally the true King and Queen of teen dreams.
I always have enjoyed putting together these senseless lists of albums for the fun of it. I figured this might help readers figure out what sort of stuff I have enjoyed in the past year.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
The Antlers - Hospice
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx Pt II
Dan Deacon - Bromst
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amedus Phoenix
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Clues - Clues
Dinasour Jr. - Farm
Visqueen - Message to Garcia
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
The XX - XX
Neon Indian -Psychic Chasms
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Known Better Learn Faster
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I must admit that I knew very little about Surfer Blood before reading Pitchfork’s Top Songs of 2009, in which the first single “Swim” off of Astro Coast reached #37. This rather high ranking of the song intrigued me to get the record. When I first looked at the front cover and heard the name of the band I expected a rather “heavier” sound that I would have maybe not enjoyed. However, what actually came out of my headphones was the first great record of 2010.
The album starts with the booming, fun, and very melodic riff of “Floating Vibes,” which immediately put me in the mindset of summer (something I certainly miss during these cold winter months). Lyrics like “If you're movin' out to the west, Then you'd better learn how to surf” confirm this concept of summer and keeps you warm while listening. The album continues along with this summer sound with the tsunami crash of “Swim” and the joyful percussion of "Take It Easy." The thing that really strikes me about the first half of the record is the fact that besides the rather unique chords of “Harmonix” the album remains rather linear in concept.
However, as the album moves onto the second half it hits you with something slightly different than the first half. The great college radio hum of “Twin Peaks,” a song that would not sound out of place on an album like Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins, is the highlight of the record for me. This is not to say that it is the best song, but rather that it is the greatest example of the fun sound and nature of this record. Astro Coast continues with the great pop of “Fast Jabroni” and then, obviously as one can see in the title of the next song, moves to a slower tempo on “Slow Jabroni.” The first time I heard this song I was a bit thrown off, but the fact that the songs leading to the rather strange “Slow Jabroni” made the boring first section of the song tolerable enough to reach the great end of “Slow Jabroni,” which has actually become one of my favorite sections of the album.
The ending of Astro Coast is the one part of the record that I did not love. I adore “Anchorage,” which hits you with this wave of distortion that reminds be a lot of a Sonic Youth album, but I wish the album actually ended with this song, however the album continues onto the final song “Catholic Pagans.” I do actually like the song, but it just did not strike me the way I was so impressed by the songs previously. Besides some minor flaws this album is fantastic and will most likely end up in my top 10 albums of 2010. I highly recommend it.
Hey guys! My name is Greg Saul and I am a freshman at Rutgers University. My best friend Mike Madden, a freshman at Fordham University, and myself, decided to make this blog for the hell of it because of a friend’s suggestion. We were hanging out in the city when our friend mentioned that he and a lot of people out there could benefit from a blog that suggested good new music to check out. While at Rutgers, I have come to realize that the "real world" (I really hate using that phrase) is no joke. People simply do not have the time to go out and listen to music all day on top of all the work that is expected to be done; however Mike and I try our hardest to listen to hours upon hours of music a day. There are few things in life that we are more passionate about than music.
Our goal in making this blog is not to say that what we listen to is better than whatever you listen to. We just want to put bands and albums out there that a great deal of people may enjoy listening to but might never have the opportunity to check out if someone like Mike or me weren't being the nerds we are and listening and suggesting it to them.
Some pieces of music mean more to people than just some pretty melodies. Some music makes me unbelievably happy, others implausibly sad, but very few times has an album been more than just that to me. Rarely does a record revolutionize the way one sees society at the time it was released. Marvin Gaye’s What Going On, in terms of its impact on society, might be the most important album ever recorded. Jesus, for me, it is was the greatest anti-war album ever written, one of the greatest statements on our country’s social order in all of arts history, and just in terms of the sound of music minus the lyrics, it is one of the greatest albums ever. Basically, if you don’t like this album, you might be one of the most musically ignorant people to ever live (I know that was kinda harsh, but seriously… IT’S FUCKING WHATS GOING ON). 
