Archive for October, 2009

Here are some very good songs from albums I’ve recently given so-so reviews on Pitchfork. Please click through for the full reviews.

Spiral Stairs “True Love”

Kannberg’s new music mostly takes its cues from Neil Young and mid-period Bob Dylan, and to a certain extent, the ragged yet expansive sound suits his strengths as a guitarist and his weaknesses as an often aggravatingly nasal vocalist. “True Love”, the album opener, is confident and sharp despite feeling more than a bit generic, and tracks like “Maltese T” and “Cold Change” are minor works, yet successful on their own terms. (More)

Buy it from Amazon.

U.S.E. “River Of Love”

The band, who wisely shortened their name from the rather unwieldy United State of Electronica in the five years since the release of their debut album, specialize in evoking delirious bliss and positive vibes by melding the style of post-Daft Punk house music, twee indie rock, and a sort of “Sesame Street”-esque funk. Their formula can produce some truly outstanding and uplifting tracks– “Emerald City” and “La Discoteca” from their debut, “All the World” and “River of Love” on this album– but the catch is, you have to already be in an upbeat mood to appreciate the full effect of the music. (More)

Buy it from Amazon.

Telekinesis “Tokyo”

As much as its songs can fit comfortably in the background, several tracks on Telekinesis! reward closer attention. “Tokyo”, a perky rocker about having dreams so vivid they feel like actual memories, stands out as a prime example of songwriter Michael Benjamin Lerner’s gift for conveying a feeling of relaxed urgency. (More)

Buy it from Amazon.

There are some occasions these days when I write about a song that I love for Pitchfork track reviews instead of this site. In case you do not follow my work over there, you really ought to pay attention to these songs, as they are both absolutely brilliant. These are only pull-quotes, by the way — click through to Pitchfork for the full reviews.

Sleigh Bells “Crown on the Ground”

It’s like the final world-shattering salvo of the Loudness War; a deeply unsubtle scrape of metal-on-metal tones so abrasive that it’s almost shocking to discover that the song isn’t actually some kind of Wolf Eyes-inspired noise experiment, but rather a ridiculously poppy club banger. (More)

Visit the Sleigh Bells MySpace page.)

Frida Hyvönen “Jesus Was A Cross Maker”

Whereas Sill backed away from sentimentality in favor of a cool precision, Hyvönen’s take is devastatingly emotional, with much of its power coming from the contrast of her confident voice and the fragility of her accompaniment. (More)

Buy it from Amazon.

Matias Aguayo “Rollerskate”

The impressive thing about “Rollerskate” is that it doesn’t immediately announce itself as being basically an a cappella number, even if nearly all the sounds are in fact chopped-up bits of the human voice. Matias Aguayo’s arrangement is a slippery, bouncy thing that builds up a nice pile of hooks without getting heavy or over-done. I don’t really connect the sound of the song with actual rollerskating, though. Yes, there’s a nice glide to the piece, but the skip in the beat is more evocative in my mind of jumping rope.

Buy it from Amazon.

Weezer “The Girl Got Hot”

I like late-period Rivers Cuomo because he’s basically like Martin Short in Clifford trying to make faces like a “human boy.” He is a deeply bizarre man who is going far out of his way to be “normal” and make music for “normal” people, but his attempts at banality are so affected and deliberately dumb that he comes off seeming much weirder than he would if he was writing total nonsense. The lyrics and music on Raditude are all signification and no meaning, and push the willful vacuity of his last few albums to an absurd extreme. Interestingly, the only tracks that outright fail on the album are the ones that display some degree of self-awareness, as in the dreadful club pastiche “Can’t Stop Partying” featuring Lil Wayne. This sort of thing can only work with a glassy-eyed, poker-faced commitment to ridiculousness, and that’s certainly in evidence on “The Girl Got Hot,” a cheery pop tune that comes across like a long-lost collaboration between Gary Glitter and The Gas Station Dogs.

“The Girl Got Hot” is about being out at a rock party and running into a girl who was homely in junior high, but has blossomed into a total babe. (If we’re operating on the logic of Hollywood, and it’s pretty safe to say that we are, she simply ditched her glasses for contact lenses. Whoa!) The interesting thing here — and a woman had to point this out to me — is that the scenario in the song is not at all a typical male fantasy, but it is something a lot of young girls imagine for themselves. That he makes a point of harping on the notion that all the other girls from school are now basically unfuckable hags only highlights the wish fulfillment aspect for insecure girls. It’s empty objectification, but a triumph all the same. There’s no subtext in this song, no perspective or criticism. It’s just “Hey, wow, the girl got hot! Awesome!,” and out. But the context adds some weight to this glorious fluff, because the whole time I just imagine this cable news ticker scroll in Rivers’ head reading “This is normal, right? Parties. Girls. Malls. Fun. Normal! Normal! Normal! Right?”

Buy it from Amazon.

Vampire Weekend “Horchata”

If you can get over whatever kneejerk class rage this band may inspire in you — UGH OH MY GOD HOW DARE THESE BLUE BLOOD IVY LEAGUE PRICKS BRAG ABOUT DRINKING RICE MILK WITH CINNAMON THOSE IMPERIALIST GENTRIFYING YUPPIE PREPPY HIPSTERS AND THEIR BOAT SHOES AND THEIR ASCOTS AND ARE THEY TRYING TO IMPRESS ME BY USING THE WORD ‘BALACLAVA’ IT AIN’T WORKING ON ME, RICHIE RICH!!!!!! — you just might notice that this is an extraordinarily sweet, sentimental, and empathetic pop song. There is so much kindness in the very sound of Ezra Koenig’s voice, and even more in the gentle, subtly shifting contours of his melodies. The arrangement is a collection of familiar, comforting sensations, but the sounds contrast in interesting ways, evoking a feeling not unlike noticing something new about an object or place you’ve seen almost every day for years of your life. When the chorus comes and Koenig sings “Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten,” it feels exactly like you’re getting something back, and discovering something new about it in the process. The song is sophisticated and carefully composed, but it’s all in the interest of expressing a feeling and a thought with clarity and precision. They aren’t being show-offs, they are just very articulate young men.

Pre-order it from Amazon.

Atlas Sound “Logos”

“Everything makes sense when you look at it from another way.” Well, yes, in theory. But what if you are dealing with someone who can’t do that? How do you deal with something like that? Bradford Cox could not sound more zonked out than he does on this track, and yet I’m sitting here waiting for answers from this song like he’s some sort of oracle. Bradford knows the answers, right? It certainly can sound as if he does, even if his reply is often a bit of muttering, a wobbly beat, and a wash of softened noise. He’s not even talking about what I’m thinking about, but I feel like he’s almost there, or giving some kind of hint. I need to pay closer attention.

Buy it from Amazon.

Electric Six “Egyptian Cowboy”

Dick Valentine of the Electric Six is obsessed with deconstructing, satirizing, and critiquing modern masculinity, and so it’s not a big shock that his band’s heaviest album to date pushes its masculine horror to its most absurd extremes. Whereas last year’s Flashy was overflowing with barely concealed insecurities and naked desperation for sexual power, the most harrowing moments on KILL showcase characters whose cynicism and hopelessness run so deep that they’ve entirely surrendered to the idiotic depravity of their base impulses. The riffs have an oppressive weight, and bear down on the grooves like giant feet stamping out the character’s last burning embers of self-respect and decency. Throughout the record, Valentine vacillates between his own smirking self-awareness and inhabiting the role of a clueless beta male in Ed Hardy drag, unconvincingly selling himself as a badass. KILL is their bleakest, most grotesque album yet, but somehow it still comes out feeling fun and funny, thanks in large part to Valentine’s dark wit and total commitment to his premises.

Buy it from Amazon.

Big Boi with Gucci Mane “Shine Blockas”

No disrespect to Gucci Mane, but I’ve heard this song at least two dozen times in the past week, and I can never remember anything about his performance, even when I’m actually listening to it. There isn’t even anything wrong with what he’s doing here, it’s just that his shine is so thoroughly blocked by Big Boi that his parts just feel like something to kill time while the star catches his breath for the next verse. As brilliant as this is, this is business as usual for Big Boi: Immaculately constructed and rhythmically complex yet extremely playful lyrics delivered with an effortless yet freakishly high level of charm. He has a great way of making everything he raps sound casual and conversational, as if he raps his way through virtually every verbal exchange on a daily basis. Gucci Mane can’t help but recede into the background — he’s exactly the kind of monochromatic rapper who seemingly exists to highlight the color and versatility in the voice of a guy like Big Boi. At least in this track he’s complementing his style, and not dragging it all down.

Kissy Sell Out “Go Explode”

Do you think this guy has actually accidentally lit a few girls’ hair on fire while attempting to flirt with them? I really hope this is not a case of “write what you know.” Then again, the clumsiness and anxiety in this song is so potent, it can’t possibly come from anything but lived experience. The lovely thing about this tune, though, is that he’s smiling cheerfully through his ridiculous awkwardness, and there’s a genuine optimism about his ability to overcome it, and actually have some sort of moment of triumph, even if that means making out with a girl without literally burning her.

Buy it from Amazon.

Lowell Brams “Dream About Vince Guaraldi”

Lowell Brams and Sufjan Stevens’ Music For Insomnia is a thing of jarring beauty that perfectly evokes varying states of exhaustion, restlessness, and distraction. Their more discordant compositions are the most immediate and unnerving in how accurately they simulate a sort of aggravated daze, but the more relaxed pieces capture the lovely moments in which waking life blurs into a dream world. The prettier bits are rather sleepy, but there’s never more than a few seconds of peace on the record. True to Brams and Stevens’ subject, the closer the music gets to a state of rest, the more inevitable it will be that noise and tension will jolt you awake, or just alert enough to not be asleep.

Buy it from Asthmatic Kitty.

Ghostface Killah “Stay”

Ghostface rarely sounds as vulnerable as he does on “Stay.” His guard is dropped, his voice is raw. He sounds like he’s in love. He’s doing everything he can to convince this woman to stay with him, to choose him over some other dude. He doesn’t sound insecure, per se, but he’s definitely unsure of his chances and working hard to prove himself. At this point, he’s just exhausted and bleary-eyed. He’s talked himself out, he’s right on the edge of giving up, but even if she’s putting him through hell, he knows she’s worth the effort. Maybe she’s just fucking with his head, maybe she’s just selfish. It hardly matters, and you can hear evidence of his steady, possibly stupid love in his every breath, and in the warmth of the bass, and the glowing timbre of the sped-up soul sample.

Buy it from Amazon.

Bröderna Lindgren featuring Britta Persson “Annan Sort”

I am used to hearing Britta Persson sing in English, but her vocal style can get so slurry that her words become a blur, so it’s not such a big adjustment to listen to her sing in Swedish. This collaboration with Bröderna Lindgren is intended to be a sort of children’s music, but to my ears it is indistinguishable from what I think most of us will recognize as carefully arranged upbeat Scandinavian pop. It makes me wonder if the Swedish have only given us access to the kid’s music all along, and they’ve been hoarding the grown-up music for themselves for decades. Maybe ABBA is just like Raffi to them, you know?

Visit the Bröderna Lindgren MySpace page.

Cold Cave “Youth & Lust”

There’s something very on the nose about the sound of this, as though on some level it’s actually a parody of Joy Division, New Order, and bored, sad, horny young people. It’s hard for me not to hear this as being at least somewhat deadpan, but at the same time, it’s not just some stupid joke. This is excellent icy synthpop, and the band’s apparent droll sensibility only serves to enhance the quality of the track. If they weren’t having a bit of fun, this wouldn’t be fun for me either.

Buy it from Amazon.

Stricken City “Killing Time”

Rebekah Raa sets up romantic ideas and then knocks them down as she attempts to reconcile the difference between idealized, dramatic love and the relationship she knows in real life. It’s not that she’s totally disappointed by her experience — it’s pretty clear that she appreciates moments of genuine, spontaneous connection — but it certainly seems that she is concerned that she and her partner are not invested enough in what they have and are simply killing time together. The sound of the song is appropriate to the subject matter: Relaxed and comfortable, but with a creeping restlessness and agitation that is never resolved.

Buy it from Amazon.

Dizzee Rascal “Bonkers”

Instead of thinking “Wow, Dizzee Rascal did a song with Armand Van Heldnen, how weird?,” why not come away from this track with the thought “Why isn’t Armand Van Helden doing more rap records?” While it is true that not every MC feels at home in dance music as Dizzee — his high water mark remains “Lucky Star” with Basement Jaxx — there are plenty others who would shine in this context, and sure the world could do with more of music of this variety, right? Van Helden and Dizzee both do their respective things on “Bonkers,” and without even really meeting each other halfway, they snap together perfectly. The song is a good time, but at its core Van Helden’s track and Dizzee’s vocal are stressed-out and manic, and the piece gets its weight and punch from the way the negative feelings clash with the goofy bits.

Buy it from Amazon.

Think About Life “Havin’ My Baby”

I’m not sure what song Think About Life are sampling here, but I love it, and greatly enjoy the effect of including a sped-up soul sample in a non-rap context. I’m not totally sure what kind of song this is, actually, but it’s a glorious, groovy musical mutant. There’s a wonderful optimism in the sound of this, this passion and desire that spits in the face of obstacles and pessimism, and dares to keep pushing higher and higher. Some songs bring the sunlight, and this one is a bit like someone grabbing the sun and tossing it at your head.

Buy it from Amazon.

Stakk Money “Dorkin'”

Would so many kids be willing to embrace nerdiness — at least on a superficial level — if “brain” was not a slang term for blowjobs? Who knows, but I love it. “Dorkin'” is about dancing and receiving oral sex, but it feels genuinely dorky. Part of that comes from the unapologetic poppiness of the track, but it is mostly conveyed by the vocal style, which comes off like a grinning, not-quite-wholesome version of the Clipse. When Stakk Money says “I get so much brain it don’t even make sense” in the chorus, he actually sounds a tiny bit surprised by his good fortune. Normally this would just be empty bragging from an overprivileged alpha male, and it still basically is, but something about this guy makes me think “Wow, good for you, kid!”

Visit the Stakk Money MySpace page.

A*Wall and Mi$Z Demi “Creative Recc”

This may be a case of writing what you know. Mi$Z spends the entire track discussing her fashion aesthetic, and the ways her over-the-top cuteness and style influence the men and women in her social circles. It’s adorable. My favorite bit is when she boasts that she’s the reason trends begin, which feels so charming and honest. She may have a lot of reasons to be fashion-forward, but the one that comes through loud and clear in that moment is the desire for validation from her peers for her creativity and personality on her own terms.

The Flaming Lips “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine”

At about 2:34 in “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine,” you can hear my favorite bit of sonic detail in any song that I have encountered in recent months. Though I am open to the possibility that it could be some kind of synthesizer, it is very clearly the sound of cell phone interference. I know that distinct sound mainly from being in my friend’s car — it’s the noise made when signals from his iPhone disrupt the music on the stereo. It’s a very evocative thing to hear, in and out of context. It’s like a sudden headache made audible, and it imposes on you like an unwanted guest. It’s mundane, but also sort of otherworldly, and I’m sure that if you were to look at a visualization of the sound waves, it would appear unusually jagged yet boxy.

Like the rest of the songs on Embryonic, “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine” seems as if it were designed to simulate a bad trip, or an otherwise deeply uncomfortable state of being. The bass looms especially large, lurching along at a frequency that pulls up memories of nausea and cramping. The beats mostly stomp and crush, as if the drums were just the feet of some gigantic monster. Bits of treble fire off, like tiny synaptic lasers in a sci-fi gun battle somewhere deep in the brain. This may all seem unlistenable in print, but the songs themselves are marvels of paranoid psychedelia, and even the most overbearingly grim compositions have a cool, calm center and elements of beauty amid the darkness and murk. It’s ugly and even a bit depressing, but The Flaming Lips have created a fantastically vivid musical nightmare.

Buy it from Amazon.

El Perro Del Mar “Change Of Heart”

The bass is what pulls this song together, and it’s certainly what carries it along, but it’s not necessarily what draws my attention. I’m more interested in the piano chords that seem to pass through the composition like some kind of sad, drunk apparition, and the way the drum fills seem overly stiff in contrast with the fluid grace of the bass parts. Sarah Assbring is singing about a crumbling, failed long term relationship and it makes sense in this context — the music feels exactly like the strange emotional space of a consistent, comforting pattern that has been gradually ruined by ongoing bitter conflicts.

Buy it from Amazon.