YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS by the flaming lips

by Gordon

 

Pitchfork: 8.4           Rolling Stone: 4/5           Metacritic: 84           Spin: N/A

 

Released: July 2002

Tracklisting:

1. Fight Test

2. One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21

3. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1

4. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2

5. In the Morning of the Magicians

6. Ego Tripping At the Gates of Hell

7. Are You A Hypnotist?

8. It’s Summertime

9. Do You Realize?? [LISTEN]

10. All We Have Is Now

11. Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)

   The Flaming Lips are a band and more than that, a musical identity, that I find intimidating to even attempt to categorize or judge. Like Picasso or any other great (modern) artist, there’s the part where everyone agrees that the artist is pretty much a genius, and then the part where no one can agree on the when, why or what for. With my stab at this band I start with what I see as the easiest of roads…Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, an album that even I can’t believe is now eight years old.

   For me (and not at all for any true Flaming Lips fan), the album was my eye-opener, my first and benchmark listen that would interest and propel me into the sound and knowledge of the band. My story isn’t completely unique, of course. The album’s been lauded as “a lush and haunting electronic symphony” by Fortune magazine, “as strange as it is wonderful” by Billboard, “ambitious” by the ever-critical Rolling Stone, and, most flatteringly, Uncut declared it the greatest album released in the magazine’s lifetime. No wonder it made an impression, and mid-high school was just barely a ripe enough age to experience the wonder for myself.

   Opening in what I only later discovered as the brilliant chord progression to Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son”, is “Fight Test”, which, though a near-copy of the 1970 classic, is distinct, funky, and altogether amazing enough to stand alone as a fine song achievement nonetheless. Still electronic through and through, it still, like much of the album, comes off as comparatively tame for the band with respect to their penchant for straight-up off-the-wall musical compositions…and I won’t deny that this works in favor of the album for me and arguably the general listeners’ experience. Frontman Wayne Coyne, though perhaps no genuine prodigy in terms of songwriting, instantly won me over with the song’s enchanting chorus: “I don’t know where the sunbeams end and the starlights begin/ It’s all a mystery/ I don’t know how a man decides what is right for his own life/ It’s all a mystery.”

   The album’s title track (Pt. 1 at least) is another knockout, somehow combining simple acoustic guitar strumming with a steady beat, Coyne’s personable vocals, and contemporary, robot-inspired electro to create an über-catchy tune, one that allows us to forgive and even soak up a chorus like “Oh Yoshimi/ They don’t believe me/ But you won’t let those robots eat me.” The song is brilliantly incapable even of comparison in its standalone choreography, a healthy benefit to the band itself, intended or not, for steering clear of any and all in the realm of sameness with the bulk of their contemporaries. Pt. 2 to the “same track”, while not at all equal in greatness, at least welcomes old visitors and introduces new visitors to the oddities of The Lips with at least some level of mainstream respect.

   “In the Morning of the Magicians” was one to shine through after a few listens, but with its catchy, spacey ambience and semi-serious, ominous synthesizers, it’s up there as one of the greater of the lesser songs on the album. But the third truly genius and nearly timeless song is the now easily-recognized “Do You Realize??” Four brilliant chords, pounded on the obvious choice of acoustic guitar, and aided by the echo-y and passionately-sung lyrics by Coyne, make for the feel-good hit of what may be the band’s lifetime. In one of the most honestly-driven songs I’ve ever heard, he sings, “Do you realize/ That you have the most beautiful face?/ Do you realize/ We’re floating in space?/ Do you realize/ That happiness makes you cry?/ Do you realize/ That everyone you know someday will die?/ And instead of saying all of your goodbyes/ Let them know you realize that life goes fast/ It’s hard to make the good things last/ You realize the sun don’t go down/ It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.”

   Don’t get me wrong. Yoshimi isn’t without its in-between and unwelcome moments of confusion and ill-advised, drug-induced psych-trips to outer space. But the simple brilliance behind this, their tenth release, might just be that they broke all that up with the handful of beautiful arrangements that I now choose to assimilate with my own mental image of the band. These easier-going-down tracks may, for all I know, have been accidents in the songwriting process, but make Yoshimi just perfect enough to happily take the rest of the record down with them too.

GO by jónsi

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 8.1          Rolling Stone: 3.5/5          Metacritic: 77          Spin: 4/5

 

Released: April 2010

Tracklisting:

1. Go Do [LISTEN]

2. Animal Arithmetic

3. Tornado

4. Boy Lilikoi

5. Sinking Friendships

6. Kolniður

7. Around Us

8. Grow Till Tall

9. Hengilás

   For any fan of Iceland’s Sigur Rós, the arrival of singer Jón Þór Birgisson’s (or more simply, Jónsi’s) solo album came with anxious anticipation. As a leader of a band that’s done a pretty good job at changing up their style over the last decade, almost always reaping good results, one couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d do the same when relying on his own devices. Turns out, as with most Sigur Rós records, it’s a little of both, at once a separation from the familiar and to-be-expected while simultaneously refreshingly recognizable as the sound that Sigur Rós fans have grown to love in the first place.

   “Go Do” is arguably the best offering from Go, and making it the first track may have been a good decision to draw wondering listeners in. It’s both a little more uptempo and happy than most of Birgisson’s previous work, though not too dissimilar from the vibe that was attempted with the band’s most recent, Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, and not without just the right amount of emotion (Jónsi’s lyrics never that straightforward, this comes from the music alone). Opening with fluttery flute and enough Sigur Rós vocal “noises” to seem satirical were they not actually from the singer himself, it becomes a thumping anthem, Jónsi’s vocals soaring to degrees previously shied away from.

   The thumping continues in the following track, “Animal Arithmetic” (and for much of the album). It becomes a bit repetitive and same-old, but still works for most songs. Full of chaotic drumming and whirling instrumentation, the track is a happy burst of energy from Birgisson, who this time steps perhaps out of his own comfort zone, switching to predominantly English lyrics.

   Fortunately the artist reverts to classic Sigur Rós morose and beautiful with “Tornado”. Beginning in sound and style much like Sufjan Stevens’ “Redford” from his “Michigan” album, it transforms from subdued, slow and string-heavy to bold, loud and cymbal-crashing. “Boy Lilikoi” switches back to happy, Jónsi now recalling what seem to be childhood fantasy and wonder. The last minute is particularly good.

   Skipping the less-memorable middle track “Sinking Friendships”, “Kolniður” is particularly dark and “Grow Till Tall” is particularly sentimental. “Around Us” is another gem, with playful piano more at center stage, reminiscent of past greats like “Starálfur” from Ágætis Byrjun. And he closes with “Hengilás”, comfortable and familiar in its throwback to earlier work from the band, like “Untitled 1” for example, from ( ).

   But while no song seems to offend the senses, Jónsi might have made more of an impression had he not relied on nearly all the same tactics and sounds throughout the album. Both he and his fans know what he’s good at, and he’s given it to them with Go, but giving us a surprise once in a while might serve the artist well. That said, this album should float well with both hardcore Sigur Rós fans and noobs who haven’t even heard of the band. While I’m not quite sure why he went off on his own to record what in many ways fits with the rest of the band’s work, there’s apparently not much reason to complain either.

HOT FUSS by the killers

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 7.3          Rolling Stone: 3.5/5          Metacritic: 71          Spin: N/A

 

Released: June 2004

Tracklisting:

1. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine

2. Mr. Brightside

3. Smile Like You Mean It [LISTEN]

4. Somebody Told Me

5. All These Things That I’ve Done

6. Andy, You’re A Star

7. On Top

8. Change Your Mind

9. Believe Me Natalie

10. Midnight Show

11. Everything Will Be Alright

   The Killers will always stand out in my mind as the band I so strongly changed my opinion to following the initial aversion I had upon my first listen back in 2004 when I was just a freshman in college. The song was probably “Somebody Told Me” and though in that dorm room my friend tried to convince me that they were the new and hip sound (something that seemed apparent to me whether I chose to agree or not), it was too chaotic, too cheap, too arrogant and too new for my taste. But avoiding Hot Fuss that summer would have been near impossible, with songs jamming up radio stations, TV shows, and CD players. And in the end The Killers prevailed and the music won…big time.

   Most fans would agree that the first half of Hot Fuss is considerably better and more memorable, more The Killers, than the second half, and what starts out the five-song run is “Jenny Was A Friend of Mine”, opening with raging guitar from Dave Keuning, a catchy beat from drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr., a mean bassline by Mark Stoermer, and finally the half-talking, half-yelling, all-confident frontman Brandon Flowers. Song structure-wise, they’re not writing anything new for the books. But it’s the rock anthem energy and part corny 80s, part badass dance-y synth solos from Flowers that separate the band from others like The Strokes that some critics had initially criticized them for copying, and it’s all evident in this opening track.

   And of course everyone knows the now old news but still catchy as ever “Mr. Brightside”, the fast-paced, guitar-heavy frustrated love ballad that thrives off of the never-ceasing but never annoying lead riff from Keuning. “Now they’re going to bed/ And my stomach is sick/ And it’s all in my head/ But she’s touching his chest now/ He takes off her dress now/ Let me go.” We love the visual imagery enough to have no problem with the second verse being nothing but a repeat of the first.

   “Smile Like You Mean It” is my personal favorite, same Killers sound so far but somehow still unique enough in its own memorable synthesizers and style, the chorus harmonies just perceptible but just right. The attitude from Flowers still makes me wonder if the title isn’t meant to be a bit sarcastic. Works either way. “Somebody Told Me”, the song that first brought the band widespread recognition, is a thumping, bass-y powerhouse with “killer” synth and guitar interruptions. And who would dare frown upon a chorus as fresh and bold as: “Somebody told me/ You had a boyfriend/ Who looked like a girlfriend/ That I had in February of last year”?

   “All These Things That I’ve Done” (awesome video below…very attracted to the Asian) was a bit of a late bloomer for me and probably others, but its monumental scale and epic evolution from “soft” ballad to gospel arena rock have made it one of the more memorable songs from the album, and recently most played as well.

   What follows are all the songs that, were I the producer, I would have strategically placed in-between the five previous greats, to make sure all the gold wasn’t wasted upfront. But it turns out that by now, we’re so enamored by what we’ve heard (if you’re into the previously-mentioned sounds I’ve tried to describe), that we gladly greet and in most cases come to love what’s left on Hot Fuss. I found the back-to-back “Change Your Mind” and “Believe Me Natalie” particularly catchy, while “Everything Will Be Alright” makes a nice closer as an offbeat, half-fun, half-serious, semi-Beatlesque ballad.

   To appease Killers-haters out there, I’ll give the album one negative offering by saying that “Midnight Show” is kind of weak, more raw and better suited for dimly-lit Vegas bars perhaps. And Vegas really does seem to be the primary inspiration for the album…its energy, its youth, its bright lights and showmanship, all come through blaringly well on Hot Fuss (one of the more recent albums to make Robert Dimery’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die), and I love it.

RIOT ON AN EMPTY STREET by kings of convenience

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 7.3          Rolling Stone: 3.5/5          Metacritic: 71          Spin: N/A

 

Released: June 2004

Tracklisting:

1. Homesick [LISTEN]

2. Misread

3. Cayman Islands

4. Stay Out of Trouble

5. Know-How

6. Sorry or Please

7. Love Is No Big Truth

8. I’d Rather Dance With You

9. Live Long

10. Surprise Ice

11. Gold In the Air of Summer

12. The Build-Up

   In some ways I’m surprised by how few people have heard of Kings of Convenience, and in some ways I’m not. Word of mouth only goes so far for the kind of music the (mostly) duo create, and I certainly wouldn’t have known about them had a friend in college not sent me the tip. But then I listen to an album like Riot on An Empty Street and wonder why when I ask people if they’ve heard of the band, their reply is so often in the negative. As something like a modern-day Simon and Garfunkel, members Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe mix similarly beautiful, acoustic melodies with powerful, introspective lyrics to produce music magic that for them is most clearly present in this album (granted I have yet to truly soak up 2009’s Declaration of Dependence).

   The dreamlike album opens with “Homesick”, the Kings’ most vivid reincarnation of the previous two greats, almost purposefully so with lines like, “…I can’t stop listening to the sound/ Of two soft voices blended in perfection/ From the reels of this record that I’ve found.” Present listens still amaze me at how the combination of nothing but guitar plucking and their two voices can make such a beautiful song. It’s been a necessary inclusion on mix tapes for great friends for years.

   Though it’s their slower songs that really speak to me personally on the album, it’s nice to have a change of pace with more uptempo songs like “Misread”, “Love Is No Big Truth”, and “I’d Rather Dance With You”, most favorably the latter(est?), whose pretty great video speaks to the fun these guys have making their tunes. These songs introduce some nod-your-head strumming, catchy piano riffs, and groovy string accompaniment time to time.

   Two more greats that much be mentioned, both occurring back-to-back and near the album’s end: “Surprise Ice” begins with a throwback, intentional or not, to “The Sound of Silence”, and though perhaps only half as timeless, contains moments that truly pull on your heart and stay with you for those few minutes following. For me, this occurs when the melancholy chorus draws both of their voices together in an almost out-of-nowhere emotion. “Gold In the Air of Summer” is one of those unbelievably chord-simple songs that so easily lends itself to timeless melody and harmonies. It stands out on this otherwise largely same-sounding album by adding a combination of fluttery piano and regal trumpet.

   An added bonus is that we get to hear contributions from the great Feist on a few of the songs, too. For those that need a bit more beat and shuffle in their headphones, Riot On An Empty Street may not suit you so well. But it’s beautiful for what it is: a relaxing, even-tempered escape from an otherwise stressful, uneven-tempered existence

INFINITE ARMS by band of horses

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 5.3          Rolling Stone: 3.5/5          Metacritic: 69          Spin: 4/5

 

Released: May 2010

Tracklisting:

1. Factory

2. Compliments

3. Laredo

4. Blue Beard

5. On My Way Back Home [LISTEN]

6. Infinite Arms

7. Dilly

8. Evening Kitchen

9. Older

10. For Annabelle

11. NW Apt.

12. Neighbor

   Sometimes a piece of art needs to be judged, in part, by the artist behind the canvas. Just as we may give more credit to a handicapped runner over an able-bodied runner for finishing a marathon, so we must scoff at DaVinci if he were to draw a stick figure.  Band of Horses is a good band. They proved that with their first release Everything All the Time in 2006, its anthem, “The Funeral”, one of the best rock songs I’ve ever heard. 2007’s Cease to Begin, though arguably a small step back in terms of progress, made a solid mark on U.S. charts and put the band on the map for the masses.

   Despite faring far better than Cease to Begin in terms of performance (I do not know to what this phenomenon is owed), their most recent, Infinite Arms, comes in at just C+ material. All things considered, it could stand alone with at least a B grade if the band were debuting. But just as we’d chide The Beatles if they’d given us only a “good” album, we can’t feel satisfied with Band of Horses giving us a “decent” album. It’s too bad, too, because, as frontman Ben Bridwell sees it, the album marks the first time for the band in finally feeling as one cohesive unit, with previous members coming and going as if the line-up were an always-vacant motel stop.

   “Factory” opens the doors with a lull of a string intro (overdone in its more-than-enough repetition throughout), Bridwell, though still pitch perfect, giving us little in the way of excitement, unlike the first tracks to their previous albums, “The First Song” and “Is There A Ghost”, respectively. Though the Western theme stays alive and well in composition, the tired pace does little to get your blood moving. I confess my discovery, however, after coming back to the album a few weeks after first listens, that I had missed the sound to some extent.

   Single “Compliments”, though not at all epic, at least utilizes the echo-y guitar and harmonies that draw fans to the band in the first place, though not enough unfortunately. “Laredo” offers the simple happy-go-lucky though mild-mannered sound that makes for good road trip noise, Bridwell opening, “Gonna take a trip to Laredo/ Gonna take a dip in the lake.” Again, no shock or surprise here.

   “Blue Beard” opens in a Fleet Foxes-esque “Aaahhh”, drifting into a night-timey cadence of a song, a melody that, though drawing off of few chord changes, is one of the more charming melodies to be found on Infinite Arms. The band display a more acoustic side in “On My Way Back Home”, a light and pleasant tune that gives Bridwell a nice platform on which to show off his trademark sky-soaring vocals, at least intermittently. 

   The album’s title track, coming in halfway through, seems too dull to deserve the extra attention as such. Follow-up “Dilly” at least picks the pace up a bit, though not nearly enough for a Band of Horses-size spectrum, offering merely repetitive rhythm guitar atop a steady beat.

   To save time, and due to a lack of zest for the remaining material, there’s the quiet “Evening Kitchen”, the twangy “Older”, the sleepy “For Annabelle” (though it does possess a short and catchy guitar lick, as far as sleepy songs go), the rocker “NW Apt.”, and the unsurprising six-minute long farewell tune, “Neighbor”, aiming for “epic anthem”, and coming up short in terms of the aim. Though no songs insult on the newest from these guys, whom I still reserve considerable respect for, I must conclude that they could have done better, but, whether by fault of their own or not, the time wasn’t right. I just hope that next time it is.

ODD BLOOD by yeasayer

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 6.1           Rolling Stone: 4/5           Metacritic: 78           Spin: N/A

 

Released: February 2010

Tracklisting:

1. The Children

2. Ambling Alp

3. Madder Red [LISTEN]

4. I Remember

5. O.N.E.

6. Love Me Girl

7. Rome

8. Strange Reunions

9. Mondegreen

10. Grizelda

   Yeasayer describes their sound as Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel. Their second full-length album, Odd Blood, carries with it a “pop” additive that blends, believe it or not, quite snugly with the previous descriptor. The Brooklyn-based band had every intention of this, the proof of which, though found amidst their own quotes surrounding the album’s buzz, can be plainly experienced over one sit-down listen of the ambiguously modern release.

   For me, the proof came in the form of multiple rough-shot listens that transpired over many a drunken hangout under my friends’ city dwelling (not at all a bad way to discover Yeasayer). Their genre-bending combination of emotion and sound at first baffled me, but the initial indifference I felt over their melodies, which at first seemed second-rate, was with time transformed into something of an obsession for the sound, which, though perhaps through bias, signified for me a feeling of upbeat togetherness that ranged from relaxed to downright dance-y. It was no surprise for me to learn that the album was inspired by an LSD-infused trip to New Zealand.

   Odd Blood starts with “The Children”, an oddball track of haphazard electronica and muffled vocoder. As far as first impressions go, they could have fared much better opening with something more along the lines of second track, “Ambling Alp”, which captures the fun and energy of the album far more successfully. Lead singer Chris Keating has a sound all his own, deep but often operatic, with melodies that seem to hark back to the cheesy heyday of the 80s, only it’s not the 80s anymore, and no longer cheesy. “Stick up for yourself, son, nevermind what anybody else done,” he beckons, as funky synthesizers and high-pitched secondary harmonies back him up.

   “Madder Red”, a personal favorite, lends itself as evidence that, though all for fun, the band isn’t just about happy pop, with minor and major swings bouncing back and forth. Impressive “oohing” in the form of background vocals support a more subdued Keating in this modern rock ballad. “I Remember” follows with something akin to the same sound that Passion Pit has begun to latch onto with audiences, featuring spacey synths and an equally spacey Keating who reminisces, “You’re stuck in my mind, alllll the time,” a nod to his chance meeting on a plane with his now wife. It makes for a nice break on the dance floor, good to close your eyes and swing your head back and forth to.

   “O.N.E.” kicks things back into pop powerhouse as perhaps the biggest standout on Odd Blood, and ironically sung by second-in-command, Anand Wilder. Initially cowbell-dominated, the percussion transforms into pure dance rhythm, a groundwork for the layers of synth-pop and echo-y guitar. It plays like a breakup anthem, with lines like, “No, you don’t move me anymore/ And I’m glad that you don’t/ ‘Cause I can’t have you anymore,” though the sentiments are actually a jab at addiction, specifically alcoholism. The video’s at least as funky and bizarre as the tune, and certainly as fun (see below).

   The second half of Odd Blood proves a little less mesmerizing. “Love Me Girl” is half serious, half quirky, Keating’s voice reaching erratically in all directions, not unlike that of Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes. “Rome” is somewhat annoyingly bass-y throughout, the Middle Eastern genre emerging in the form of complicated “Indian-sounding” synth solos. “Strange Reunions” is a soulful, trance-y, not too memorable two-and-a-half minutes. With “Mondegreen”, Keating attempted to recreate the “late 1970s drug-fueled paranoia of David Bowie”, but all I got out of it was the paranoia bit, without much catch. “Grizelda”, though still no gem, is, as bassist Ira Wolf Tuton puts it, “a nice way to close an album. It lulls you into sitting back in your chair, puts you in a trance a bit, although the subject matter might be a bit dark.”

   Weather hit or miss (mostly hit seems to be the consensus), Odd Blood showcases a band that’s willing to try just about anything to make their mark, and they seem perfectly at ease in the process, giving in little to the pop expectations of the present.  Using pitch shifters, effects pedals, unconventional beats, samples and time signatures, and never committing to a defining sound or genre, there’s something to be lauded for their experimental musical journey.

IT’S BLITZ! by yeah yeah yeahs

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 8.1           Rolling Stone: 4/5           Metacritic: 82           Spin: 4.5/5

 

Released: March 2009

Tracklisting:

1. Zero [LISTEN]

2. Heads Will Roll

3. Soft Shock

4. Skeletons

5. Dull Life

6. Shame And Fortune

7. Runaway

8. Dragon Queen

9. Hysteric

10. Little Shadow

   In truth, I haven’t been much good in keeping up with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs since they started showing up in my Spin magazines I was issued back in high school. I make the confession because there’s a vibe to the band, a seemingly underground NY-hipster persona, suggesting that any self-respecting indie music listener would follow and likely even adore this female-led trio (keyboardist Nick Zinner and drummer  Brian Chase may share equal input with singer Karen O, but it’s her vocals that leave the dominating impression).

   I decided to be a late bloomer with It’s Blitz!, a decision I’m glad I made, as this third album probably worked to draw me in more than their first two albums could have. While Fever to Tell boasts the epic ballad “Maps” (recently voted #386 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time), I found the rest of the songs too grungy and chaotic to find much in the way of melodic joy. And while I don’t know much about Show Your Bones (on my soon-to-do list), It’s Blitz! is so progressively better than Fever to Tell in my mind that anything in-between the two just couldn’t be as good.

   The album’s best two tracks kick things off into high-gear, which, while perhaps not the most effective ordering, remains badass. “Zero”, named the best track of the year by both NME and Spin, is a confident and catchy song that builds off of persistent guitar and synth riffs throughout. Though I don’t find Karen O particularly attractive, I can’t help but be aroused when she lets her voice soar to reach impossible highs, or similarly when she brings it down for her karate-kick “Ha!”s atop the synth solos. In a similar vein, “Heads Will Roll”, though darker, sticks a dance-y beat to half-creepy, half-poppy strings, a 50/50 combination also evident in the vocals, Karen O commanding, “Off with your head! Dance ‘til you’re dead!” The amazing video can be viewed below.

   “Soft Shock” slows things down, but is by no means a dragger of a song. It’s bass-y, a bit spacey, and a little more thoughtful in nature. “Skeletons” follows, and at five minutes, is the album’s epic daydream anthem. Karen O sings about love and skeletons and other precious reflections, the background noise taking two minutes to progress into something more powerful and substantial, aided by the perfect marching band percussion by Chase.  This continues for some time, and is worth dragging out.

   “Dull Life” and “Shame and Fortune” seem somewhat fillers, not bad upbeat tracks, but nothing too special. “Runaway”, however, the other 5+ minute track, comes close to rivaling “Skeletons” in epicness, growing from simple and airy piano ballad (though not without tension) into a deep-stringed, percussion-heavy wall of sound, Karen O “oohing” up and down. In sharp contrast, “Dragon Queen” follows as the most oddball, funkiest, and dare I say disco-sounding tune. At first I avoided it, but the annoying guitar riffs get less annoying with time.

   “Hysteric” is another gem, O sounding the most un-badass I’ve ever heard her as her voice sweeps through a soft and then less soft pop tune. Appropriate ender “Little Shadow” gives us the emotionally-subdued singer contemplations combined with organ and deep, battlefield drums that have come to typify many an album’s closing vibes, and so far the method still works. All in all, It’s Blitz! was just what I needed to turn me onto the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and really, finally, feel welcome in their indie scene.

TRIPLE PLAY: spoon. local natives. the tallest man on earth

by Sean

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TRANSFERENCE by spoon

Released: January 2010

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I’m afraid Spoon’s consistent run of fantastic records has ended. With Transference, Spoon releases another Spoon record, just not as good as the group’s previous efforts. Opener, “Before Destruction”, lacks the immediate power of “Don’t Make Me a Target”, “Beast and Dragon Adored”, etc. The first single, “Written in Reverse” is the definitive highlight here, however there is nothing else that jumps out right away. Due to high anticipation I was initially extremely let down with Transference, but after several listens I can certainly say that this is a good album, just not as good as the high standards Spoon has set for themselves.

Best of Transference – “Written in Reverse” [LISTEN], “Is Love Forever”, “I Saw the Light”

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GORILLA MANOR by local natives

Released: February 2010

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Local Natives’ debut album has been compared to Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes. I wouldn’t look too far into those comparisons except for maybe the harmonies. Gorilla Manor is much busier and less folky than Fleet Foxes, but more accessible than Grizzly Bear. The scattering percussion is what sets Local Natives the most apart from these comparisons, building up to chanting choruses and transitions. With Gorilla Manor, Local Natives have begun what could be a very promising career ahead.

Best of Gorilla Manor – “Wide Eyes” [LISTEN], “Camera Talk”, “Stranger Things”

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THE WILD HUNT by the tallest man on earth

Released: April 2010

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The Wild Hunt is the second album from Swede Kristian Matsson’s moniker, The Tallest Man on Earth. Consisting of 10, almost all-acoustic tunes, The Wild Hunt is my personal introduction to The Tallest Man on Earth and I’m wondering why it took me so long to listen to this guy. Honestly there is not a weak track on this album. Listen to it now.

Best of The Wild Hunt – “The Wild Hunt”, “King of Spain” [LISTEN], “The Drying of the Lawns”, “Kids on the Run”, every other song

WORK by shout out louds

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 5.4           Rolling Stone: N/A           Metacritic: 70           Spin: 3/5

 

Released: February 2010

Tracklisting:

1. 1999

2. Fall Hard

3. Play the Game

4. Walls

5. Candle Burned Out

6. Throwing Stones [LISTEN]

7. Four by Four

8. Moon

9. Show Me Something New

10. Too Late, Too Slow

   Along with The Perishers and Peter Bjorn and John, Shout Out Louds completes a trilogy of good indie rock bands to hail from Sweden (for the size of the country, that’s not bad…and I’m sure I’m missing others). I was first turned onto their sound through a track that was shared with me from their first album, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff: “My Friend and the Ink on His Fingers”. The song really grabbed me, had that great mixture of charm that speaks to both old- and new-sounding eras of music, driven by jangly guitar, a mean harmonica, persistent tambourine, and a refreshingly new vocal style. I still love it. And it’s a damn shame it’s better than every song off their most recent endeavor, Work.

   The problem with Work lies not in the sounds, styles and melodies it offers (all of which come across with little to complain about at face value), but in its timing, the material, though perhaps with a sound that would have been a progressive step for indie music a decade ago, today translating to little more than good intentions gone creatively lazy. There’s little in their most recent endeavor in terms of next-stepness, either for relevant music today or the band’s career alone. The album, though pleasant and charming “enough”, serves up much of the same and expected for the sound it aspires to: simple melodies and chord progressions carried by driving electric guitar and bass, complimented by the occasional playful piano riffs. It’s not a convention I enjoy knocking, but for material this recycled and unimaginative, impossible to wholly embrace.

   The album starts finely enough with “1999”, opening with repetitive but largely enjoyable bass and Spoon-style piano, frontman Adam Olenius entering into a subdued verse that might hit harder should his vocals carry the punch of Spoon’s Britt Daniel. Louder guitar, tambourine, claps and energetic background vocals bring the first impression to a favorably-paced tone-setter, but one that at first is hopefully far shy of the album’s creative peak.

   Single “Fall Hard” taps into slightly more sophisticated material, some of the guitar even resembling Grizzly Bear-like chords, and background that borders on Midlake-esque. Olenius exhibits his same recognizable style of singing, and no complaints there, but his melodies in this one aren’t much more interesting than the sounds surrounding his voice. Other single “Walls” is a slightly more musically enjoyable affair, though nearly its first minute suffers from being too stripped down, a move no doubt intended to “up” its intellectual appeal. After recovering, however, with some driving guitar and playful piano bits, there are chunks that really get your head happy.

   “Throwing Stones” has become my favorite off “Work”. Not surprisingly, I realized that the reason lay in its closer similarities with Howl Howl Gaff Gaff’s “My Friend and the Ink on His Fingers”, only with less enthusiasm and barnyard grit. The melancholy chords lend nicely to the vocal melody chosen by Olenius, cascading between lows and highs between guitar riffs possessing the ever-so-slight sound of American twang.

   Nearly every other song, unfortunately, lacks either the artistic presence, or, when that’s not enough, just plain old upbeat excitement to constitute a favorable opinion of the entire album’s chemistry with itself or the bands which Shout Out Louds compare to, aside from track #9 which, although upbeat, is too generic to find much value in. Its title, “Show Me Something New”, I’m guessing to be the sentiment of most fans before sinking their teeth into this most recent release, and the title of the following and closing track, “Too Late, Too Slow”, the resulting conclusion.

   Higher hopes were only amplified by the fact that the album was produced by Phil Ek (who’s produced Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, and The Shins, all reaping more praiseworthy results). Their record label has stated that the album was trying to “strip away the bells and whistles of previous efforts”…sounds good on paper, but the finished product left me wanting the bells and whistles back. It’s a fine album for setting the pre-party vibe or counteracting indoor rainy-day moods with your groovy friends, but if Shout Out Louds hope to hold onto some legitimate lasting power, their next effort will require more “work”.

   Props to the creative album promo below though, directed by Shout Out Louds bassist Ted Malmros, who also drew acclaim for directing Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” (video here).

SIGH NO MORE by mumford & sons

by Gordon

Pitchfork: 2.1           Rolling Stone: N/A           Metacritic: 65           Spin: N/A

 

Released: October 2009

Tracklisting:

1. Sigh No More

2. The Cave

3. Winter Winds

4. Roll Away Your Stone

5. White Blank Page

6. I Gave You All

7. Little Lion Man [LISTEN]

8. Timshel

9. Thistle & Weeds

10. Awake My Soul

11. Dustbowl Dance

12. After the Storm

   I like folk, I like rock, and I like England. So when I was turned onto Mumford & Sons recently, I liked them. Although, the sound these four London lads produce sounds less like England and more like America, specifically the folk America of olden days that I can only guess of. Toting vests and button-down shirts, they seem to pay homage to more than just the music, in the process drawing similarities to CSN&Y, and perhaps Fleet Foxes too for doing the same. Their harmony-enriched melodies further the comparison, lead singer Marcus Mumford’s voice, given the right emphasis, sometimes almost a brother to Foxes’ frontman Robin Pecknold.

   The “rock” categorization benefits the true definition of the genre, referring not to electric guitars and cymbal crashes, but to the true energy that exudes from an artist when passionately diving into their own music. The excitement of that energy doesn’t translate the same for every kind of music, but in this listener’s ears, it serves some of its best results in the folk arena. Most songs from their debut effort, meager as some begin, reach a place at some point where that passion takes over, causing a sort of anthemic overdrive from all four on their instruments in a display not far from that seen in one of the best folk-rock examples, The Avett Brothers.

   Sigh No More opens with its title track, a light guitar plucking entering in followed by full-bodied harmonizing led by Mumford singing, “Serve God, love me and men/ This is not the end/ Live unbruised we are friends/ And I’m sorry/ I’m sorry,” the last lines crescendoing into a heartfelt bellow that one hopes forshadows the aforementioned display of excitement. It does, as the second half of the song takes a lyrically powerful stanza and repeats it three times, each time the emotion and music, aided by organ, bass, banjo and percussion, pounding more forcefully: “Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you/ It will set you free/ Be more like the man you were meant to be/ There is a design, an alignment to cry/ At my heart you see/ The beauty of love as it was made to be.”

   Continuing in the theme of hope and meaning behind human improvement, upcoming third single “The Cave” (video below) sees Mumford mellowly attacking a catchy hook about empty hearts and barren harvests before the rest join in for the uplifiting chorus, guitar and piano taking a backseat to the often primary vocals. A short instrumental bridge showcasing some impressive banjo verifies the aggressive and heavy pace that’s yet to come. When it does come a bit later, the intensity is passionate and forceful enough to make you believe the floorboards are reverberating right there beneath your feet, the band singing, “But I will hold on hope/ And I won’t let you choke/ On the noose around your neck/ And I’ll find strength in pain/ And I will change my ways/ I’ll know my name as it’s called again.”

   Another powerhouse of Sigh No More, voted #1 on a 100 Hottest of 2009 list by listeners of a prominent Australian station, is “Little Lion Man”. Listen for yourself (above), and I’ll let Marcus Mumford describe the song in his own words: “I guess the sound of it grabs you a little bit by the balls – it’s quite an aggressive song, a bit more of a punch in the face. Or at least, for our stuff anyway – a lot of our stuff isn’t as hard-hitting as that. It felt like the right song to be the single because it represented the harder, darker side of what we do, and at the same time, the more folksy and punchy side.”

   There’s a larger handful to admire on this album than just the ones mentioned, notably second single “Winter Winds”. Truly, no songs seem out of place, or somehow unworthy among others. What works for this promising (relatively) new band is the sincerity and honesty behind the words they sing, a characteristic that shines through in the music too. Mumford explains the effect of lyrics on their songs: “For me, personally, it’s the lyrics that I listen to again and again in a song. I place specific importance on them. I can’t write lyrics unless I really feel them and mean them.” Whatever life experiences have brought Mumford & Sons the lyrics behind Sigh No More and the inspired music that followed, it’s certainly served them well so far.