If you've learned anything from reading my blog, it's that I am obsessed with Swans. Well, they released a collection of live songs to raise money for their upcoming studio album, and my excitement level is through the roof. Not only because Swans will soon be recording their follow up to the excellent The Seer, but because the new songs on here are really good.
I went back and listened to We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head (the live album released to raise money for the recording sessions that produced The Seer), and I reflected on how the already stellar performances became so much more once they were given additional instrumentation and structure. I can only imagine how amazing the songs on Not Here / Not Now are going to sound with 100% more dulcimer.
In addition to all of the new songs, there is a rehash of an older song, "Coward", that is jaw-dropping. I didn't think it was possible to get any better than the version on Public Castration is a Good Idea, but this version takes the cake.
Listen below. And remember, it's just a song. It can't really hurt you.
I don't like it when I feel like I am obligated to listen to an album. It's only happened twice this year: once with The 20/20 Experience, Part 2 and now with Reflektor. I wasn't too crazy about The Suburbs. That is not an indictment on the album or the band, it was a fine album full of songs I really liked. But it was very "Arcade Fire". I had pretty much got what I needed from this band with Funeral; you can't anxiously await a band's masterpiece when it was the first thing they released.
But Reflektor is one of those "music moments" where everyone comes together to listen to an album and talk about it for a few weeks, and then talk about it again with your mom after the Grammys are over.
So, here we go...
The big thing everyone is anticipating with this album is Arcade Fire's "shift in sound". I think for the most part, Arcade Fire play to their new sound really well. It's got a lighter, bouncier feel to it that I think really jibes well with Arcade Fire's established aesthetic. However, I feel like they may have spent too much time focusing on their sound and not enough on songwriting.
There are three songs I really dig: "Reflektor", "We Exist", and "Porno" are all excellent tracks. The bassline on "We Exist" is simply killer. Aside from these three... I like elements of many of the songs. But when you look beyond the fancy new synths, where the songs are not formulaic, they are boring. One big impression I am getting from this album is how self-aware Arcade Fire feel on this album. It's as if they sat around and said "You know, our anthems with bombastic choruses are always a big hit. Let's be sure to do that a lot." Or, "We should put in an ambient synth part here, that's totally artsy." Everything feels a little less organic and a little more planned on this album.
Another change I have noticed is the lack of Regine on this album. She plays more of a backup role, whereas I had always thought of her as "the other lead singer". This bums me out, because I adore her voice.
All in all, I like the new direction Arcade Fire have taken. I think that once they are settled in with this "new sound", they will feel a lot more comfortable writing excellent songs again that better fit their dancey attitude. In the meantime, we can hope and pray for a Regine solo album.
So, I guess I have a bit of a confession to make... I've been listening to a lot of metal recently. Typically when I think of metal fans, the coolest people don't really spring to mind.
Me right now.
Regardless, here are some albums I've really been into lately.
Inter Arma - Sky Burial
This album is extremely slow, muddy, and altogether heavy. At times they sounds like an extremely heavy Pink Floyd singing about Cormac McCarthy's world in The Road. I use the term "singing" pretty loosely here. Screamed vocals with a ton of reverb is the norm here, really blending in with the music nicely. The vocals stand out to me a lot more now that I've looked up the lyrics, but I kind of preferred how I heard them before as just another instrument in the mix. Inter Arma uses a technique familiar to those who fell in love with The Seer last year in seemingly endless repetition to pummel the listener into submission. The comparison to Swans really ends there though, as the repetition used here is that of a single riff, Swans prefers the "single chord over and over again" approach. I feel like this might be a really great introduction to "nu-black metal", especially if you're a Pink Floyd fan. Inter Arma - The Long Road Home
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
I think I have a thing for really slow, heavy, doom-laden metal. Pallbearer follows in Black Sabbath's footsteps and takes doom a step further, creating 12-minute epics full of awesome riffs and never breaking the 80 bpm barrier.* The singer has an excellent voice that fits the music perfectly. It's got a tinge of Ozzy, but lends itself to a more "singing about wizards" vibe. If this is more you're style of headbanging, definitely check this album out.
*Disclaimer: I have no idea how accurate this statement is. "The music is slow" is the point I'm trying to make here.
This album is not slow, nor muddy. If I were to describe this album succinctly, it would be "evil as shit". I'm not 100% sure a true guitar chord is ever played on this album. It is fast, aggressive, dissonant, and I don't think the singer is singing about wizards. Again, in this case, "singing" refers to maniacal screaming about who knows what. I'd rather not look up the lyrics to this one, mostly because I can assume it's some variation of "I'm angry. God sucks. Death and decay." in as many different colorful ways as possible. Reading metal lyrics is usually pretty silly, as the music conveys whatever emotions far better than actually saying "I'm angry" ever could.
Altar of Plagues - A Body Shrouded (I realize I just talked about how abrasive Altar of Plagues is, but I'm posting the song that got me into them in the first place, which is fairly melodic)
What can I say, I'm a sucker for sugar-coated dream pop. Ever since I heard -Feedbacker- by Boris, I've been listening to a lot of intense stuff. Everything from Drone Metal, to Black Metal, to Swans' Public Castration is a Good Idea (which is just as brutal as it sounds). And here I am, going from Altar of Plagues to the sweetest, catchiest music I've heard all year.
Candy Claws sounds as if Cults took heavy inspiration from My Bloody Valentine, and also hired that Winnie the Pooh illustrator to do their cover (which, by the way, is awesome).
Some of my favorite music is that where the artist's voice is indiscernible to the point where it feels more like another instrument in the mix. The vocals on Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time are whisper-sung, but it never sounds like she is holding back anything. Typically, I feel like the whisper-singing aesthetic is left only to those shoegaze acts who are immeasurably sad about the leaves changing colors or some other shit. Candy Claws is instead extremely playful and cheery. For all I know, through the buzz and fuzz, they may be singing about killing themselves, but at least they sound extremely optimistic about it.
As of late, I've been listening to a lot of different things, many of which probably don't fall into my readers' demographic (all two of you). So if the blog has bored you, fear not! I bring variety! This is an album everyone should be able to enjoy. It's like "Orange is the New Black": at it's core, it's chick music. But I'll be damned if we all don't enjoy it anyway.
I have been meaning to write about a few things on here, but I am on my first listen through Boris' At Last -Feedbacker- and the second track just floored me. I literally had to stop everything I was doing for the entire 14 minute duration as this song played out. It's truly incredible. The album (what little I've heard of it so far) is also very good.
This may be the beginning of a week-long excursion into drone metal...
This album is really blowing me away right now. I think a large part of that is how much this album took me by surprise. I heard Smoke Ring for my Halo when it came out and didn't really think anything of it. When this one came out I never even gave it a listen. However, I was watching Anthony Fantano's top albums of 2013 (so far) and Kurt Vile made the list. So, I figured I'd give it a spin and I immediately fell in love upon hearing the first track.
Wakin on a Pretty Daze sounds to me like Destroyer's Kaputt with a western flair, which is an awesome combination.
I've only listened to this album all the way through twice, so I don't have much else to say aside from: "Wow."
Be sure to check this one out, even if it is a whole two months old.
When you think about Vampire Weekend, what adjectives come to mind?
Musty? Sparse? Swampy?
If not, then you obviously haven't heard their newest album yet.
To me, Vampire Weekend has always been that fun indie band that cute girls also like to listen to; I've never given them the credit they deserve. Even after Contra, which I was not anticipating at all, and came as a real surprise that this band was not a one-album-wonder.
A couple weeks ago I heard Vampire Weekend had a third album coming out, and I just shrugged it off, consumed by the Daft Hype of the past month. Once it was released, it didn't show up on Google Play, so I figured "eh, no loss".
However, I kept reading online how great this album is. The fans of this album seemed in awe, with superlatives stating that this album should win a grammy, and they seemed almost a little annoyed that Daft Hype had kind of covered this album up.
So, Google-be-damned, I pirated this album as I could wait no longer.
And guys, this album is really really fucking good. On first listen, I was immediately struck with the catchy-as-hell melodies. The melodies are familiar enough to sing along to, but still inventive enough to sound fresh. The song writing is really the core of what makes this album so damn good. But on top of that, Vampire Weekend uses some really interesting recording techniques that give this album a certain flavor.
The album sounds like the band is playing for an art show in a large, mostly empty warehouse, and the guests are neither interested in the art or the music. There are moments where there are actually sounds of a crowd talking over the band playing. The microphone sounds like it is in the middle of the room between the band and the crowd, so neither are picked up like they are the foreground of what we should be hearing.
I am sure I could try to go in-depth on how this lends towards Vampire Weekend's desire to return to a time when they were 4 dudes making great music that no one really wanted to hear. And I did read a Rolling Stone article that hinted towards Vampire Weekend's own surprise toward their popularity, but that kind of shit makes for boring articles (take note, Rolling Stone. Kyle's blog is the wave of the future).
Instead I will just talk about the snare drum. In "Step", we have muted harmonizing open the song (white noise in the background) and then the snare cracks in at full volume like an exclamation point, followed by a quaint harpsichord line. This contrast in volumes and energy really makes this song stand out for me. The whole thing has this motion to it that you can not help but sway to. And in "Hannah Hunt", easily the moment in the record where you realize you are listening to a masterfully written record, you have the almost restrained singing from Ezra, followed by a leading piano riff, and BAM--snare drum! Ezra comes back, screaming desperately the same lines he's been singing the whole song, but this time there are tears streaming down my face.
It's really hard to describe why this pop album is better than others. It's like The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, or Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues: what is it about the melodies on these albums that make them "good" pop songs? Is it all just a matter of opinion, or is there some mathematics at play here that makes certain combinations of melodies just a nose above the others?
I hope you didn't want an answer to that, because I sure don't know. I can tell you to listen to Modern Vampires of the City, though. Perhaps we can better understand what makes a perfect pop record by listening to one.
Bibio released one of my favorite albums of 2009 in Ambivalence Avenue. That album was full of so many surprises, it was one of the most enjoyable first listens I've had with an album. Each song felt like it had been recorded in a different decade by a different artist. One minute, it's 60s pop-rock, the next it's 70s funk, then some Dilla-esque beats for good measure. That album is the best mixtape that is actually not a mixtape at all.
With Silver Wilkinson, Bibio has taken all of his disjointed styles and melded them together to create a sound that is unique to his own. On the surface, an album with a singular sound should sound better than one that is all over the place stylistically from one song to the next. However, I think one of the reasons I liked Ambivalence Avenue so much was because of how fun the genre-jumping was.
That's not to say this is a bad album, it's pretty good! There are a few filler tracks that kind of meander about, but on the whole, it's a solid album.
It's biggest problem is the greatest song on here, "À tout à l'heure". This song is so damn good, it really makes the rest of the album sound kind of boring. I've started this album from the beginning, and I've started it from random tracks, but no matter where I start, I am just waiting for this track to come on, and when it's over I listen to the rest of the album on a loop anticipating the return of this song.
This song is easily the best pop-rock song I've heard this year, and I really think it's gonna be tough to beat. When I heard this song earlier last month, my expectations for this album skyrocketed. But this song is just too good for the album's use.
I encourage you to listen to this album, if only for Bibio's unique style. But if you only listen to one song from this album--hell, if you only listen to one song for the year so far, do yourself a favor and listen to "À tout à l'heure".
You know, I almost liked this album. I was driving home after working late one night. I was tired, I was stressed, and I was hungry. This was maybe the fifth or sixth time I was listening to the album, and it felt like it was finally clicking. But then I got to track 5, "The Terror", followed by "You Are Alone". It felt like I was listening to the first four tracks again, but this time with worse vocals.
The Flaming Lips have never been about the singing. It is no secret Wayne has a terrible voice. But you never care, because they always make it work. Whether it's a vibe that Wayne's voice fits into, or he's yelling to a rockin beat and quality of voice doesn't matter. But on this album, the poorly sung vocals really stand out. My initial thoughts on my first listen were that the album sounded like your buddy who lives down the hall in your dorm in college had recorded it in his dorm room and he didn't want to sing too confidently in fear of annoying his neighbors.
At times, the sounds the band produce are interesting and psychedelic. But I feel like they made this album and are like "here's where you are supposed to feel sad" and I recognize it, but I don't feel it. I feel very disconnected when listening to it.
Which is a bummer, considering how much I liked Embryonic, and this feels kind of like a companion piece to that album.
One good thing is, this album isn't bad because the band is sitting still and I am getting bored with their sound. Even in their 30th year as a band, they are still challenging themselves to make music they've never done before.
Speaking of which, I am really looking forward to Lip$ha... a rumored collaboration between the Lips and Ke$ha that would kick so much ass.
Ever since January, I have been trying to force myself into liking Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I'd say 50% of the reason I want to like this band so badly is because their name is so awesome.
Their name implies a force to be reckoned with. There is power oozing out of every word in it. The only word that would have lacked power was "You" but they added an exclamation point after it to fix that.
Then I look at their album covers, and I am struck with feelings of darkness.
I also get the general consensus that they are the best Post-Rock has to offer.
So, before even listening, I have the following expectations:
1) Power
2) Dark
3) Best of Post-Rock
Then you press play... and instead you get the wimpiest music ever. It's all so happy and uplifting and faux-artsy with their field recordings.
It always starts with slow, pretty, midrange to high notes on the guitar. Then drums or horns come in as it gets a little faster. Then I guess they start striking chords on their guitars, but these chords are so light. Like I expect an EXPLOSION or something after a timid crescendo lasting 10 minutes. Then their songs just kinda meander... throw in some field recordings from an airport... and the song fizzles out.
The other day, my friend Jake turned me on to a band called Rachel's. They have some really cool ambient/string driven songs, such as this one:
I immediately thought, "Hey, this kind of reminds me of the string parts in Godspeed's music. Maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind for Godspeed, since I was expecting something it wasn't. Ok, this time I'll listen to Godspeed with the expectation that it'll be beautiful music meant to be beautiful."
Listened again.
Sucked again.
Oh well. I guess Post-Rock just isn't for me. Maybe you'll like it:
If the song above seems wimpy to you too, maybe it's time to give Swans' The Seer a try. Now there's some powerful and dark music!
P.S. If you've listened to everything on this page, you've spent an hour on my blog. Thanks?
My most recent music obsession, and kind of the impetus for starting this blog, is Swans. I discovered Swans maybe a month ago after I heard The Seer for the first time.
I think if you are introducing someone to Swans, you need to approach it the way you introduce someone to Guinness. Yeah, the beer.
The first time I had Guinness, I was like "What the fuck is this burnt garbage liquid?" But then a friend told me not to think of it as a beer. "Think of it as a creamy dessert." After I changed my perception on what I was drinking, I immediately loved Guinness.
Swans is kind of the same. You can't approach Swans expecting a rock band. Instead, expect an experience in which you are presented with relentless sonic brutality. This is really the heaviest band I think I've ever heard. Now when I hear "heavy metal" bands, all I hear is wimps actually singing melodies like they are Bruno Mars with distorted guitars. Heh... melodies...
Swans gives no fucks. They will slam the same guitar chord for 5 minutes, and just when you think they are finished, they slam it even harder for 5 more.
The genius of Swans is they perfectly embody aggression, frustration, and anger one moment, but then they give you moments of beauty that on any other album might be "just ok". But in the context of this record, those moments are like a cathartic release of all that pent up frustration. It's really awesome.
After The Seer, I delved into their discography, and I'd say most of their stuff is good, but Children of God is unreal. It instantly jumped into my top 5 albums of all time.
