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october 2013
10.1.13
I've been relistening to Talking Heads' Remain in Light over the past couple of months, and I can't tell if it's the most brilliant thing they ever did or the band at their most pointlessly arty. This is the same opinion I've held since roughly 1987. |
10.2.13
Amazon reset it's 100 MP3 albums for $5 deal on the first of the month, and here are the recommendations from this crop.
Must-haves: The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, Kanye West's Graduation, and Nine Inch Nails' Broken.
Recommended: Modest Mouse's No One's First and You're Next. I considered adding Arcade Fire's Neon Bible to this list, and maybe by mentioning it at all I kind of am, but I have some ambivalence about this band right now. Still, most of the songs on Neon Bible I rate at 4 or 5 stars, so it probably does belong here.
I'm considering Pearl Jam's Yield and Rage Against the Machine's self-title debut. I also notice that there's a record called Beta Love from Ra Ra Riot that I don't have, but I've mostly soured on that band, so I'm going to need to give that a listen on Spotify before I think about paying even $5 for that one. |
10.3.13
I've spent some time revisiting That Petrol Emotion's catalog over the last week or so, and in evaluating the five studio albums they released between 1986 and 1993, I've come to the conclusion that their career is an inverse bell curve, with the strongest work coming at either end, the low coming right in the middle.
The wrinkle to this is the first part of their career, Manic Pop Thrill (their 1986 debut) followed by 1987's Babble (which is the record that got them firmly established on the college rock scene, especially in the US). Manic Pop Thrill has some great moments, and it sets the tone for their sound (in some ways it is more indicative of the variety they would produce over the course of their career than Babble, which had a more singular focus), but Babble is clearly the superior record. (Many would argue that Babble is their peak, but after a lot of consideration, I have to give that honor to their swan song, Fireproof).
The low point, 1988's End of the Millenium Pscyhosis Blues, was meant to be their possible mainstream breakthrough, and it seems like the band was aware of that expectation from their record company, because there is a real weight to these recordings that the songs themselves can't get out from under. The debut single, an accordian-based ballad (really) called "Cellophane", and the goofy "Candy Love Satellite" (which would be more at home on their next record, Chemicrazy) are highlights, but they're not that high, and they can't carry the plodding dullness of the rest of the tracks.
On 1990's Chemicrazy, they rebound strongly, making a record that is a lot more upfront about being hook-oriented without abandoning their signature sound. This one doesn't sound like an attempt to sellout or make it to the next level; instead, you can feel almost palpably that the expectations from Psychosis Blues are gone, and the band just tried to make a record they thought was great without worrying too much about what the wider record-buying public might think.
This wouldn't bring them the wider audience they needed to survive, however, and they would produce only one other record, 1993's Fireproof. It might normally be tempting to wonder if Chemicrazy's best single, "Sensitize", would have brought theym wider acclaim had it been released in the aftermath of alternative rock becoming mainstream, but we don't have to wonder, because both "Last of the True Believers" or "Infinite Thrill" are just as strong and pop-oriented, and they were released in 1993, a perfect time for this band to pull a Dinosaur Jr. or Soundgarden (or any of any number of other guitar-oriented bands) and turn the street cred from their early releases into major mainstream success. But it just didn't happen for That Petrol Emotion.
Chemicrazy and especially Fireproof are probably the albums that would sound best to today's ears——I feel pretty confident that if Fireproof was released as a debut album from a band with no previous history today, Pitchfork would be all over it. I judge Fireproof as their best work, but I still have a real soft spot in my heart for Babble (the first record I heard from the band), even though I think the production lets it show its age a little more. |
10.4.13
I know it's not realistic to expect that Lauryn Hill will ever release a proper follow up to her brilliant solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill——an album that is now 15 years old, believe it or not——but still, I had to listen at least once to "Consumerism", a song she released as she was being released from prison on a three month sentence for tax evasion:
It's as bad as you would think a strident, lecturing attempt at pedantic politicizing from an artist who seems to have lost her mind (and her ability to write music) after becoming a huge global star from her solo record and her work as a member of the Fugees. There's nothing redeeming about this track for me, and nothing that makes me want to hear more from her. |
10.7.13
The anniversary of this site is coming up, and I'm putting in some serious time trying to get at least a few of the track write ups for the 1989 mixtape done. I know myself well enough to know that this is a project that I'm unlikely to make as much progress on as I'd like, but I really am trying. |
10.8.13
Once upon a time, of Montreal designed a board game called Songun that was only available to purchase at the merch table on a couple of tours, and in the throes of my of Montreal obsession, I probably would have paid $100 on eBay to get one. Every now and then, a couple would show up on the Polyvinyl web site (that's their record label), but they would be snatched up by the time I saw the email and went to purchase one.
Now they seem to have made a new run of the games and there are copies available for only $50. But I think I've fallen just out of love enough with the band that not only is this not an automatic purchase for me, but I don't even think it's one I'll pull the trigger on after some further reflection. I'm kind of curious to see what the game is all about, but it no longer holds that mystically allure for me, probably due to a combination of the band having lost some of their shine for me and, as loathe as I am do admit this, because it's suddenly become easy to acquire. |
10.9.13
Los Campesinos shared another track from their upcoming No Blues, "Avocado, Baby":
This is a pretty great song, especially the chorus. But there's only little part that just doesn't work, and it's unfortunately linked to the song's title. It happens in a weird little break in the middle of the second verse, and it finds lead singer Gareth half-shouting, half-rapping "A heart of stone/Rind so tough it's crazy/That's why they call me the avocado, baby."
Not only are those lyrics pretty terrible, but having them interrupt the flow of the song and be put so far forward in the mix further emphasizese their wince-worthiness. They repeat the lines later, but they are being shouted (by a group of cheerleaders, apparently——seriously) and they are more sonic texture than actual lyrics. Used like that, the words aren't so bad, but their first appearance, coupled with the link to the song title (which underscores how great Gareth thinks these lyrics are), really weakens the overall structure and impact of the track. |
10.14.13
Tim Kasher is streaming his new album, Adult Film, in its entirety on Soundcloud (no embedding, you just have to follow the link). It's been a long time since any one of his various projects (Cursive, Good Life, or his solo efforts) have been worthwhile——Cursive's 2006 concept album Happy Hollow is the most recent one that I really love——but after streaming this all the way through a couple of times, I'm ready to say it's his strongest, most consistent release since Happy Hollow.
I still don't know if it's really good or if it's just better than his other recent stuff, but I'm convinced enough to actually purchase and really give it time to sink in. |
10.15.13
Completely forgot to preorder Cults' new record, Static. I wasn't that taken with the track they shared pre-release, but I liked their debut way too much not to own this one. I know it's unlikely that I'll be as entranced by this one as I was by their debut, but if they're aiming for anything close to the sound they created on that record (and there's every indication that they are), this one should still have plenty of stuff worth listening to. |
10.16.13
Along with the new Cults record, I also ordered Tim Kasher's new album, Adult Film, and Chvrches' Bones of What You Believe.
I've been encouraged by various influencers to listen to Chvrches, HAIM, and Lorde, and from what I've heard so far, these are all variations on a theme: female singer with 80s inspired pop-electonica. I could see how people could easily love all of them,
but so far I think the only one I have a chance of really loving is Chvrches, for reasons that I can't define other than a stronger emotional reaction to their music. |
10.18.13
Time for the mid-month refresh to Amazon's 100 MP3 albums for $5 deal.
Must-haves: Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet.
Should-gets: Kid Cudi's debut, Man on the Moon, and Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare.
I will be buying: the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. |
10.21.13
Los Campesinos aren't due to release their new album, No Blues, until next week, but I preordered a copy from their web site a couple of months back and the band sent out download codes to preorders over the weekend.
I've only listened to it three or so times at this point, and although I still love this band, I'm not sure I love this album. There aren't really any bad songs on it——their production and songcraft have definitely improved over the years——but there's nothing that really grabs me. "Avocado, Baby", which the band streamed last week, is probably the most immediately catchy song, and it doesn't hold a candle to the best songs from their first three albums.
I'm trying to keep in mind that I usually like Los Campesinos albums much better six months after I first hear them, and that some of the things I feel about this album I also felt about the last album, which I grew to appreciate the more I listened to it. But my real hope at this point is that the record does well enough to allow them to do a substantial tour of the US sometime next year. |
10.22.13
Despite my affection for Okkervil River's The Stage Names, I had almost given up on the band. The follow-up, The Stand Ins, was billed as the second half of what was originally conceived of as a double album, but to me sounded like washed out, less vital versions of the same songs that had been presented on The Stage Names. And the first non-Stage Names release to follow that album, I Am Very Far, made almost no impression on me at all (which means it made a bad impression), despite the band taking several years to create it.
So I approached their latest, The Silver Gymnasium, with pretty low expectations, thinking that if I didn't see some spark, this would likely be the
last Okkervil River album I would buy. But I was pleasantly surprised, and not just because it is better than I expected it to be, but because is actually really good, worthy of sitting alongside their two strongest albums, The Stage Names and Black Sheep Boy. It's got that same loose concept album feel to it, where the ornate mini-stories contained in each song combine to create a much larger narrative.
Songwriter Will Sheff's inspiration was his hometown as it existed in his childhood, and that joyful nostalgia tinged with the sadness of knowing that you can never go home again pervades every track, every verse, virtually every note of the record.
Listening to this album feels like visiting your old hometown and being able to temporarily relive your childhood memories with a slight sense of forboding born from the knowledge of how those people and places would change years later. It's sincere and emotional without being too earnest or too sappy, and it's got everything that made me love this band in the first place.
Also, there's this: an 8-bit online game that's a companion piece to the album, which allows you to explore Sheff's hometown described in the album, complete with a MIDI version of "Down Down the Deep River". |
10.23.13
Sort of shocked that of Montreal's Lousy With Sylvanbriar is getting fairly good reviews, although it is interesting to note that there's a wide gap between the good and the bad reviews on Metacritic——the group drops from its lowest good review, 67 out of 100, all the way down to 40 out of 100, meaning that this seems to be a pretty polarizing album——either you think it's pretty good or you think it's pretty useless.
I still fall into the latter camp, although I'm sure I'm going to listen to it a few more times out of some combination of loyalty and stubborness. But it really just doesn't do anything for me, and I'm hoping this is sort of like a mild palate cleanser before Kevin Barnes gets back to making weird, complicated music again. |
10.25.13
I was going to link to a full-album preview of Arcade Fire's Reflektor that the band posted on YouTube, but they have since taken the video down. I listened to most of it and am still undecided about whether or not to purchase it. I probably have my answer given my lack of enthusiasm for what I've heard so far, but my love-hate relationship with this band is making me stubborn about ignoring this release. |
10.29.13
I have been wanting for a long time to get a Sonos Play:3, but now, with the introduction of the Play:1, I think I'm going to pick up two of those instead (especially because, until the end of the year, they come with a free Bridge that connects them to your WiFI network).
At this point, my wife would prefer that I wait and receive these as a Christmas gift, but I've been thinking about this purchase since the summer
and I'm not sure I can convince myself to wait another two months——I likely would have pulled the trigger on the Play:3 already if the Play:1 hadn't been introduced a month or so ago. But the reviews are in now, and I feel comfortable going with the Play:1 as the first component in a Sonos system. |
10.30.13
New iOS 7 music player seems to have a small bug: it forgets what playlist you were on when you pause playing and then pick it up later. Three or four times in the past week or so I've been listening to, say, an 80s playlist, and when I start playing it again after a break using the pop-up options (without actually logging into the phone and opening the music player app), it will finish playing the last song I was on, and then start playing a shuffle playlist of the entire library that has been downloaded to the phone.
It doesn't happen every time, and I'm trying to figure out what the pattern is. It could be related to when I plug the phone in to charge in between stopping and starting a playlist, and it definitely only happens when I restart the plays from the lock screen. |
10.31.13
For the past few days I've been listening to Chvrches' debut, The Bones of What You Believe, and I really like about every other song. Also: the ones with the guy doing 50% to 100% of the singing are never the ones I really like. |
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