Another year in music and we find ourselves reflecting on
an exorbitant amount of music throughout the flipping calendar pages. What will
we remember years from now? What blended in? What changed YOUR life?
As always, I feel if you truly seek out music, you will
find enough mind-blowing shit to keep your thirst quenched. Rock isn’t dead;
it’s just a bit of a scavenger hunt! This year is no different and good stuff
continues to emerge everyday.
A quick look back at my previous spotlights, putting
everything in perspective…
2011
Foo Fighters – Wasting
Light
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness
Blues
Halos – Living Like
Kings in Confined Spaces
Feist – Metals
MuteMath – Odd Soul
2010
Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders – Red Light Fever
Punch Brothers – Antifogmatic
The Black Keys – Brothers
Minus the Bear – Omni
Ben Folds – Lonley
Avenue
2009
I didn’t compile a list in 2009.
2008
Fleet Foxes – Fleet
Foxes
Punch Brothers – Punch
Raconteurs – Consolers
of the Lonely
Girl Talk – Feed the
Animals
Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow
Stairs
2007
I also didn’t compile a list in 2007.
2006
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium
Foo Fighters – Skin
& Bones
Ben Folds – SuperSunnySpeedgraphic
Mute Math – Mute
Math
Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders – Self Titled
2005
Ryan Adams – Cold
Roses
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
Foo Fighters – In
Your Honor
The Decemberists – Picaresque
Anberlin – Never
Take Friendship Personal
Drum roll for 2012…
1. Grizzly Bear – Shields
This is my JAM! I know, I know…I shouldn’t seriously say
it like that, but I can’t help myself. True giddiness knows not the sensation
of self-awareness. A smile that unequivocally lets loose, without remorse, and
transports the mind into greener pastures. Vast tracks of land, where bears are
free to dance to electronic progressive vocal harmonized pop music as if Mug
Root Beer was served so freely to these mammoth creatures, in their inner
circles, they refer to it as Root-BEAR. Grrrr. Snarl. Fizz to the brain.
This was the best album of 2012.
Brooklyn’s own Grizzly Bear has been on the rise, building
themselves up for the release and execution of this album all their lives.
Before I heard Shields, I thought
this apex was achieved with Veckatimest (2009)
as it seemed previous years of mellower soundscape sonnets had given way to a
masterpiece of pop persuasion. It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. I typically
describe it as if the Beach Boys inherited a gothic church and funneled their
purist multi-part harmonies through the sunny tresses of brightly tinted stain
glass windows.
The opening chords of “Sleeping Ute” obliterated
everything I thought I knew about Grizzly Bear. That opening synth riff just
SOARS. The vocals on the album retained their majestic soundscape nature, yet
are able the harness the accessibility of pop hooks. The words seem to urge
importance far greater than their previous efforts. One can more easily
identify with what’s being said, which hasn’t really been part of the Grizzly
Bear experience for me until now. Everything came together and solidified
itself like a fruit smoothie glacier.
“And those figures through the leaves
And that light through the smoke
And those countless empty days
Made me dizzy when I woke
And I live to see your face
And I hate to see you go
But I know no other way
Than straight on out the door”
This is a segment of “Sleeping
Ute” the opening song on the album. I love the imagery as the beat and lyrics
walk you literally right down a path of righteousness. All I can say to
highlight my point…game changer.
“You've fallen once, you'll fall again
And lean on
Your tired hands that crawl and grasp
The soft ground
By the look on your face
You set out on a path
Never to arrive
By the look on your face
The burden's on your back
And the sun is in your eyes”
This is from “Sun In Your
Eyes” the epic closer of the album. It’s such a beautiful song it’s painful. I
sometimes have to squint, as I, again, feel the imagery so live and vivid. The
song is 7:11 minutes long with revolving percussion and the decadence of a full
orchestral piece.
Throughout the album the
percussion of Christopher Bear (coincidence…) is varied and persistent,
seamlessly integrating measures of hip-hop, jazz, orchestra, rock and wispy
backbeats keeping the momentum as magnetic as gravity. The blended vocals of
lead singers Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen are dynamic, fluid and unpredictably
assorted.
Enough to keep Brooklyn’s
reputation for being trendy going another year or so at least, eh?
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Sleeping
Ute” 2) “Sun In Your Eyes” 3) “A Simple Answer”
2. Andrew Bird – Break
it Yourself
Andrew Bird is about as stoic and consistent as an artist
can be. I own many of his albums, yet I cannot pinpoint more than a handful of
songs that truly stand alone. I believe this to be a curse and a blessing.
Everything he does is SO GOOD, but there is a tendency to blend together with
their own self aggrandized uniqueness. There’s just nothing else like him. A
whistling renascence man. A mad scientist with a violin. A veteran songsmith. A
genius, gentleman and a scholar. Call it however you want to, but simply put: He kind of killed it this time around.
For his ninth album, he decided to record in a more
“communal” fashion taking his renowned professionalism and band to a barn in
western Illinois. According to an interview with Billboard.com, "It was the band in the barn,
just playing live to an 8-track tape. That's exactly what you hear. There are
no studio checks, no overdubbing. The album is the sound of the room."
The relaxed
atmosphere is transparent as his already ultra chill sound popped itself a cold
one and put its collective feet up on the easy chair, letting the dogs rest. Much
like Grizzly Bear, the lyrics and singing seem to make way to the forefront,
granting the package as a whole a slice of accessibility previously not
accomplished.
At the very
least, you have an entire album of whistling breeze and orchestral delights to
fill any precarious backdrop you may have. Best-case scenario, this is the strongest
Andrew Bird album and the standard aspiring professional whistlers who dream to
make violin driven pop music will use to keep themselves focused.
Three Key
Tracks: 1) “Luisitania” 2) “Near Death Experience Experience” 3) “Fatal Shore”
3. Carina Round – Tigermending
“Pick
up the phone
I’m
pregnant with your baby
I
wanted you to know
The
dreams I’ve been having lately”
This is the opening line to Tigermending, a riveting, scathing bastion of regret told with the
candor and humor of Kelly Kapoor, but through the thrift store palate of one of
music’s lesser known treasures. Carina Round is without a doubt the Foo
Fighters of female artists for me. I love everything about her, more than
anything else I have been able to find. She is an independent artist, funding
pretty much everything she does through creative fundraising on her website,
creating an active relationship with her fans.
To fully grasp this album, I think you have to start with
the title. It’s derived directly from a painting of the same name by an artist
named Amy Culter. So, I’m going to quote a review by www.artpractical.com
written by Randall Miller, because I think this blurb so perfectly catches the
aura of what Round created, cited and sold.
Three women sit in a field
dutifully stitching up the bellies of a heap of prone tigers. The cats are
large and clumsy loads; they appear no more ferocious than a streak of
tiger-shaped beanbags. The real intensity lies behind the knitted brows of the
women, whose ruminative psychology seems to spy objects light-years away from
their skilled hands and the helpless bodies of such absurd tigers.
Basically it’s almost absurd to me how Round is able to
weave intricate moments of intense rage with moments of delicate dialectic
majesty. It shouldn’t be possible, but it is, was and it’s sealed, signed and
delivered. Is she ripping the tigers apart with her sheer raw rock or singing
them to sleep with her tender balladry? Yes and yes.
She took her time making Tigermending as there spanned at least five years between it and
her last LP, which was a “major label” outfit Slow Motion Addict. After that, Round returned to being an
independent artist and was discovered and employed by Tool’s James Maynard
Keenan for his side project. She was a part of another side project called the
Early Winters, which also released an album in 2012. Paired with extensive
touring, Tigermending is the benefit
of such maturity and growth. If anything, the cinematic glee of the production
and percussion found on this album are insanely evocative. There’s straight up
Celtic rockers like “The Girl and the Ghost” to Ennio Morricone style closings
to a ballad (let that marinate…) in “You Will Be Loved.”
If you’ve ever seen Carina perform live, you know she’s
razor sharp, foul-mouthed and absolutely able to awestruck an audience with her
vocal prowess. Space and time stop for me when she takes the microphone. It’s
nuts. If you listen to me about one thing throughout this piece, I would say
download ANY of her albums. They are all difference experiences, and a
worthwhile wander.
The Tigermending
experience is paralleled to seeing the girl of your dreams walking into a
thrift store, the sun is giving her a radiant backdrop, warm rays like strobe
lights, and you know for a fact she’s listening to better music than you. It
doesn’t matter now, because your life is spoofing itself as a scene in a movie.
You’re in a state of shock, yet your mind is processing more succinctly than
ever. Everything slows down like The
Matrix for a nanosecond. You take a deep breath…
…And hit play.
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Set Fire” 2) “You Will Be Loved” 3)
“The Girl and the Ghost”
4. Punch Brothers – Who’s
Feeling Young Now?
I’m not even really sure how to classify the Punch
Brothers anymore. They’re so proficient with their instruments they bend the
boundaries of bluegrass/progressive-bluegrass into something inanely unique. I
read somewhere, someone branded them as the “Radiohead of Bluegrass,” which is
iconic, due to their ability to properly cover Radiohead without using
electronic instruments. How ironic?
For instance, on WFYN they cover “Kid A” in a way that
makes one scratch their head with disbelief to what’s coming through the
headphones. They channeled their inner MacGuyver and created preposterous
sounds without clunking the space up with duct tape residue.
Who’s
Feeling Young Now? is the sweet spot sound on a bat when you hit a
home run—seems effortless, light on the hands and bafflingly easy as you watch
one after another sail over the fence. Compared to a 42-minute bluegrass opera
a couple albums ago on Punch (2008)
and some of the experimentation toggled with on Antifogmatic (2010), WFYN has the feel of a bunch of friends
finding their space with one another and shooting the breeze with unparalleled
intellect.
Given the roots of the music, some of the songs roll off
the line like pop sensations. Songs like “This Girl,” “Hundred Dollars” and
“Soon or Never” flutter and float through moments of Beatlesque catchiness. At
other times songs like “Movement and Location,” “New York City” and “Flippen”
seem like ancient-modern teachings of music theory. Almost intentionally absurd
in execution and torrid in virtuoso grandeur, each signifying something real,
refined and dignified.
If you’re not feeling young and possibly a tad helpless
when listening to musicians this good, you’re not taking the music serious
enough.
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Soon or Never” 2) “Who’s Feeling
Young Now?” 3) “Don’t Get Married Without Me”
5. The Congress – Whatever
You Want
This is a badass band!
If you want a sound that merges the simplicity of an ol’
fashioned hook, with a complex to find their space and jam: The Congress are
your guys. They are a three-piece band that works the inside-out;
loud-soft-jam-groove game like this year’s version of the New York Knicks.
They’ve been around for a few years perfecting their sound at open mic nights
in Virginia and most recently out west in Colorado. I feel you will sense the
scent of the regal colonial Southeast soldering together with the wild
freewheeling Silver Bullet Rocky Mountains. Grab a cold one, throw this on, and
tell me it doesn’t rev your engines like a freight train to the soul.
I covered this album extensively for The Steam Engine.
Read HERE.
My nominee for best new band in 2012.
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Jonah Gideon” 2) “Oh Babe” 3)
“Walls”
6. Shearwater – Animal
Joy
Shearwater goes pop rock! I’ve always thought of
Shearwater as a trippy, Earthy, kind of delightfully kitschy hippie
experimental folk band. Somehow, I missed some of the hardcore riffs they’ve
had over the years. When I recently saw them live, I couldn’t help but say to
myself, “hey, this is actually a ROCK band. Wow.”
I think of their album Rook (2008) as one of my favorites all-time, but it’s meant to be
digested as a whole. Kind of like a pig roast during a thunderstorm, you’re not
packing any of that meat up. It’s raining hard, bro. Eat up. Hey, that’s a
great idea for a party, I should write that down.
Anyway, they really found a melodic, accessible pop
groove on this album, without shaking loose from their foundations. The rain
comes crashing down, animals take shelter, faces are melted with bone curdling
vocals and everyone makes it home in time to churn some butter.
I couldn’t ask for more, more importantly, I think the
doors that seemed to be closing for “nature rock” are now open to “whole grain
nature synth pop.”
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Believing Makes it Easy” 2)
“Pushing the River” 3) “Breaking the Yearlings”
7. Norah Jones – Little
Broken Hearts
It’s official, Norah Jones is more than a heartbreaker who
writes weepy elevator piano ballads. Granted, I happen to be a rocker who
enjoys waking up on Sunday morning, throwing her catalogue on shuffle and going
back to sleep. Nothing really beats that, aside from Norah singing them to me
herself, with a plate of bacon. The legacy of this album is, I will now have to
make a playlist separating Little Broken
Hearts for this purpose, due to the upbeat nature of the beats, and the
beat-down disposition of the lyrics. Again, that’s a double whammy. I don’t
want to hear about heartbreak to pulsating Danger Mouse rhythms when I’m trying
to get my second wave of weekend sleep on.
I do, however, have many other uses for this kind of
music. I love the odd couple pairing. It plays out very similar to what Broken
Bells did for the Shins’ James Mercer.
This should open doors for those who haven’t been able to open up to
Norah’s delicate nature in the past. The backing music at times borders on
bluesy rock anthems and/or western tribal dance riffs that compliment Jones’ trademark
smoky vocals to applewood perfection. The raw pain of the lyrics puts your
heart through a ringer, but the honesty of it all is like an endearing tight
hug for your soul.
I’ve always thought a career gets serious when you’ve
completed your 5th album. Everyone knows Jones is uber-talented, but
even with knowing that, this is a pleasant surprise worthy of a double take.
Haters better recognize.
In “I can’t help myself” news: Does anyone else take
guilty pleasure when Norah sings emotional, heartbroken material? It makes me
feel like I have a chance. Ha.
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Happy Pills” 2) “Travelin’ On” 3)
“Out on the Road”
8. Ben Folds Five – The
Sound of Life and Mind
“Taste my vanilla thunder!”
After a 13-year hiatus, BFF returned with their 4th
studio album and it’s really fucking good! The biggest surprise to me is it’s
almost obnoxiously upbeat. It’s like if you put “One Angry Dwarf” into BFF
Pandora and let the pippin’ hot piano scorch your face off. I’m a big fan of
“Boxing” and “Evaporated,” but it was a really nice gesture for these
middle-aged rockers to turn back the clock, and not deliver a bunch of “boo
hoo, this is what happens when you get old” ballads clamoring for increased
maturity and the ascending costs of AARP memberships.
As you’d expect with BFF the musicianship is impeccable,
and for those that continue to rock the Ben Folds solo catalogue, it’s
refreshing to hear that nostalgic backing trio. It takes me back to the snow
days I spent driving in my ’87 Ford Mustang trying to harmonize with Whatever and Ever Amen wondering what it
would be like to ask a bitch for my black t-shirt back.
13 years later, I’m 31, and can fully appreciate how
awesome it is to hear grown ass men singing about drawing dicks on the wall in
perfect pitch, with palpitating piano pizzazz.
My iPod still fits perfectly in my fanny pack,
y’all!
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Draw a Crowd” 2) “Sky High” 3) “The
Sound of Life and Mind (lyrics by Nick Hornby)”
9. The Lumineers – The
Lumineers
Some things are just beautifully simple. Some times things seem even simpler when
hipsters wear mobster hats.
In some ways you wonder how long this “Americana”
movement will last and if the tide will take bands like the Lumineers away, but
through the eyeglass of simplicity is an album charged with enough emotional
sentiment to grow roots in your hearts. The music is full of heart, which I
believe puts it a step ahead of bands like Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers,
Low Anthem, etc, etc. Not that those bands don’t have heart, I just think the
Lumineers story, and the way they infuse themselves into this album, the
aesthetic of their live showmanship and omniscient Meg White percussion—take
them a level above.
A level that will make them last.
This is one of those albums over the course of time that
about seven songs have been my “favorite” on the album. Some of them are great
sing-a-longs, others are punchy piano jabs, but they all grasp for you
affection. You can’t shut out the Lumineers. Love and heartbreak are complex
beasts, but the feeling, at its core, is so simple.
Drummer Jeremiah Fraites (yeah, the hipster in the
suspenders), take us out with a quote…
"We’re not reinventing the wheel or doing
anything that different, the songs are super simple. The ideas themselves are
very simple ideas. Anyone who can play an instrument can play a Lumineers song.
I think there’s a certain cinematic aspect of our music that I really like.” (The
Crimson White, September 14th, 2012)
Three Key Tracks: 1) “Big Parade” 2) “Stubborn Love” 3)
“Flowers in Your Hair”
10. The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
More and more I find myself going to Gaslight Anthem in
times of need. They are quickly soaring through old favorites and becoming one
of my favorite bands. In their fourth album, the boys all-to-famously from New
Jersey return their driving punk roots. American
Slang (2010) is my least favorite GA album (…I like the album a lot, just
not as much as the others), but it did venture into neat elements of swing and
Motown, which showed promise, diversion and maturity for a band otherwise
typically typecast.
Handwritten
sounds BIG. There are a dangerously excessive amount of songs that
use vowel chanting backing vocals, but is there anything more fun to sing live?
I’ve always thought Brian Fallon has a huge voice and am always surprised he’s
not something like seven-foot, 300 pounds of snarling beast. He’s a relatively
small, tattooed presence that seems genuinely nice, and when he sings it seems
like a never-ending batch of smiles. I’ve never seen anyone seem to enjoy their
job so much. It makes it hard not to LOVE the band to death. I think vocally, this is clearly the
strongest GA album, with unparalleled variety, complimenting the return to Clashesque
punk with the cleanest, crispest pipes imaginable. Check out, “Too Much Blood”
if you don’t believe me.
I can’t get enough of the “sensitive guy” lyrics…
Would you miss me if I was gone and all the simple
things were lost?
Would you ever wait on me to say
Oh that I'd just die if you ever took your love
away
--“Mulholland Drive”
or…
I will eventually haunt you,
Oh you eventually will be my queen,
And I'll be with you through
The dark so that you do not,
Go through the dark alone,
Or on your own
--“Biloxi Parish”
In a world of computers, technology and disingenuous
banter it’s good to know there are humble poets from New Jersey looking out for
our good friend…nostalgia.
The Key Tracks: 1) “Mulholland Drive” 2) “Biloxi Parish”
3) “Too Much Blood”
The
Next 10:
11. Cody ChesnuTT – Landing
on a Hundred
It’s been about a decade since we’ve seen a full LP from
Georgia’s Soul, R & B and a little Jazz mastermind Cody ChesnuTT. When you
listen to this album, you’ll see why it took so long to materialize. It’s very
deep, full and rich. I loved The
Headphone Masterpiece (2002), but at times some of the little nuggets on
there seemed slightly incomplete. Lots of great soul riffs, but in that double
disc, I felt like it was a short album, perhaps slightly incomplete. This is
NOT the case here. You see ChesnuTT with all the luster you craved back then
chock full of horns, mystic rhythms and Grand Funk Railroad brand bravado.
Older, wiser, more polished and ready to dominate your headphones again.
Great love-making music!
12. Gary Clark Jr. – Blak
and Blu
Hendrix. Clapton. Prince.
And then…
Kravitz. Mayer. Maxwell.
Amen.
13. Alabama Shakes – Boys
and Girls
So much soul, so little time. Lead singer Brittany Howard
is a majestic testament to shattering your internal temple with an array of
vocal weaponry that act like a game of angry birds for your soul.
You’re a pig. Oink now, because yours is coming, son.
14. Say Anything – Anarchy
My Dear
Everyone knows my favorite band. Many don’t realize Say
Anything over the last five years is probably my most listened to band. The
variety they use in their arrangements keeps me vested over and over again.
Most of their albums give you a little bit of anything you could possibly want
in music. Hip hop, metal, delicate balladry; it can all be found, sometimes,
even in the same freekin’ song!?
Anarchy
My Dear plays kind of light overall. It’s perhaps slightly
watered down with less variety compared to the previous SA efforts, but there
is a fun, Ali-in-the-ring lightness to the songs that make them devour able
like fresh popped popcorn. Dance. Have a glass of wine and revel in the
greatness of maturity written in crayon.
15. Further Seems Forever – Penny Black
Years ago, before I had ever set foot in NYC, I road
tripped out to Asbury Park, NJ (from Grand Rapids, MI) to see Further Seems
Forever play a set with Chris Carraba, reunited on lead vocals with FSF.
Inevitably, the chemistry works for a reason. They had to
come back to it.
It’s nostalgic to hear Carrabba rock so hard, and the
songs themselves are original and forthcoming. There is just something about the way Carrabba can write
lyrics that eat at your innards romantically. Not to mention, when the guy
grabs a microphone, there is no way to lose. The array of vocal techniques he
uses here are nothing short of a clinic. Even when it seems he’s missing, you
realize the intricate nature he chose to miss a note, and why that rocks so
damn hard. So Cold. SOooooOOOooooo cold.
Someone snuggle with me, now.
16. Future History – Loss:/Self
A grandiose concept album about technology,
relationships, fear, social nature, anti-social nature and how these things
interweave themselves among our ego vs. our true self. All presented with
serene guitar work and a voice that reminds me a great deal of Colin Meloy (The
Decemberists).
Man vs. Machine. Man vs. Himself. Mankind vs. Me.
Loss:/Self
is a wondrous experience. I’d recommend pairing it with a bottle of
Pinot Noir and an array of sliced cheese cubes.
17. The Early Winters – The
Early Winters
A side project of the earlier mentioned Carina Round (from
U.K.), with Canadian singer/songwriter
Justin Rutledge and multi-instrumentalist Zac Rae. What resulted was a
nice blend of warm, pop sensibility with some sprinkles of the jagged qualities
that make these artists unique. A couple of the Carina sung songs are some of
the favorite in her catalogue, “Spanish Burn” and “The Sweater.” In this case,
I would imagine the nature of the collaboration led to a quicker, more relaxed
writing process—especially for someone like Round, whom I know works on songs
for years, perfecting their distilled magic.
18. Fall Classic – Nerves
A five-piece Chicago band that sounds like an answer to
Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio. That’s the best comparison I can make. I reviewed the
album for The Steam Engine in October and there was a paragraph I wrote in
there, I don’t feel like I can top.
“Listening to their album Nerves
feels like an episode of “Gather Around” as the curly bearded man continues to
unveil new trees, bees, shrubberies and countless other Earthy delights with a
paintbrush. The soothing whispery vocals lead you down a gravel road to a log
cabin that manufactures strawberry pancakes and toasted almonds. It feels
relaxing, but I also feel the need to chop some wood for the fire while wearing
a puffy brown vest and bright flannel.”
19. Tenacious D – Rize
of the Fenix
The RETURN OF THE D!!!!!
They were able to find some of the magic from their debut
self titled album that rocked so many asses. Dave Grohl had a heavy hand
lending his studio and at times ridiculously over-the-top drumming to
compliment the preposterousness of J.B. and K.G. My only issue with the album
is it seems a little light on material, much like what I was articulating about
Cody ChesnuTT’s Headphone Masterpiece.
Some of the cuts that are there, are rock bacon, sizzling hot for consumption.
“The Roadie” is like the D’s nod to Sandler’s “Lunch Ladyland.” The opening
title track is a multi-faceted summary of the fall and obvious rise of the D
and “Deth Star” is a tribute to Star Wars, being a dork and having a good sex
romp on it. Yummy.
It’s a lot of fun to have the D back. All the soul and
concept albums on this “Next 10” can get kind of heavy.
20. The Crane Wives – The
Fool in Her Wedding Gown
A supreme folk band from Grand Rapids, MI that, you
guessed it, derived its moniker from The Decemberists—to whom they admire the
vast variety of influences shared and conceptualized. The uniqueness of the
band comes from the use of multi-part harmonies, and duo female lead vocals. In
that way, I feel comfortable branding them an upbeat folky Tegan & Sara
with a serenading stomp. Many of their lyrics seem to be as celestial and
Earthy as a woodsy West Michigan fishing trail. With music bold as Founders
Brewery, I really hope for the love of my hometown and attractive women playing
folk music propels this act beyond its current Michigan and surrounding states
roots. They are good enough to be a national act.
Disappointments
I hate to be critical of art, because I think everything
has a place for somebody. Who am I to critique people expressing themselves
with their particular talent? Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s
not meaningful to someone else: Fans, creators and critics alike.
With that said, here are a few grievances about things
that make me sad…
Mumford
& Sons – Babel
To be clear, I don’t think this is a bad album. Or a bad
band. It’s just a situation I’ve found myself utterly annoyed with how many
people push them down my throat. This kind of music is right in my wheelhouse.
It’s folky with a rigorous stomp. There are a lot of guys on stage playing the
shit out of their instruments and having a good time doing so. I should like
it. I kind of like it, but I don’t think they are as great as everyone says.
They aren’t saviors of music. They aren’t THE BEST band ever. They’re just not.
The lead singers voice is boring and bordering on
irritating. I’m not buying the “emotion.” There really isn’t anything that
exciting going on musically. Sure, it’s fast and thunderous, but it feels like
when you make things spicy, just to be spicy.
Again, I get it. I like The Decemberists. I love Arcade
Fire. But, seriously, give me The Luimeers, Low Anthem, Punch Brothers, Avett
Brothers, Felice Brothers, Chemical Brothers, Chemical Sisters, Scissors
Sisters, Sisters of the Sledge, etc, etc, over Mumford and Sons ANY DAY OF THE
WEEK.
Not that great. I’m ahead of the curve on this one,
folks. You’ll come to your senses.
Frank
Ocean – Channel Orange
More like Frank River. It’s not that deep.
Jack
White – Blunderbluss
Jack White’s solo album reminds me of when Phil Hartman
first hosted SNL after leaving the cast. He did a bit about how he played so
many characters and impersonations, he had trouble grasping what his voice was.
It was a hilarious monologue and obviously satire. The Jack White album,
however, is not.
You have the same kind of syndrome going on. Listening
to Blunderbluss makes me see his
other projects as caricatures. I don’t really believe this, as I love
everything JW has done to this point. You have the de stijl arty band of
simplicity and passion in The White Stripes. There is the power pop paired with
high conceptual art of The Raconteurs. There’s the band where White plays drums
in The Dead Weather. There are countless albums produced by Jack White at Third
Man studio that all embark his…well brand. It has a sound. I like that sound.
I’m a big, raving fan of that sound.
However, this solo album is just bland. I was expecting
big, crazy things with everything I read about it and the first few cuts
released showed a shit-ton of promise. The songs kind of have a little bit of
everything he’s done in the past, only, it just seems watered down to me. There
shouldn’t be anything holding back all the CRAZIER ideas he’s had than what
he’s used in his bands. It just didn’t happen. I always tell people Jack White
is one of the best guitar players ever, but you don’t get any sense of that
here.
It’s good music by one of the best musicians of our
time. I just wasn’t impressed.
The
Shins – Port of Morrow
I’ve had many times in my life when I’ve been obsessed
with The Shins. When I first moved to NYC and around the time Wincing the Night Away (2007) came out,
life could not be more grand for me hitting the play button on ANY Shin’s
number. The sound here is just over produced and missing something. It seems to
just kind of blend together. It just doesn't snag me.
I don’t know what happened. I was hoping Broken Bells
would be inspiring, but I think the gas just ran out of the tank. I’m just
going to have to wince this album away.
Minus
the Bear – Infinity Overhead
Behind Say Anything, Minus the Bear is probably the
band I’ve listened to the second most over the last few years. I think every
one of their albums is a gem, all in such different ways. They have evolved and
changed their sound every album. Their last album was a variety show, hosted by
classic 80’s WHAM! It was a great trip down synth rock heaven. I wondered what
was next…
Apparently, their new band name is Minus the Hooks. I
don’t know what happened to the tapping guitar work Dave Knudsen fascinated the
masses with on Highly Refined Pirates (2002).
These songs have most of the things you’d expect from MTB: Complex time
signatures, thunderous drumming, flickering synthesizers, a cadence that makes
you want to float like a kite on a breezy beach, song titles that make you say,
“ohhhh yeahh…this is going to be good.” I failed to relate to the material.
I hope this faltering moment doesn’t cripple what has
become one of my favorite bands. You never want to see that 5th
album be the downer. Somewhere Ed
Kowalczyk is empathizing. I have faith they’ll shake it off and bounce back.
I must say, “Toska” is a GREAT song.
John
Fruciante – PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone
I get why John Fruciante left the Red Hot Chili
Peppers. It doesn’t mean I like it. Like any good breakup, you hope it’s
happening for a valid reason, and this album just isn’t it. In fact, I don’t
get it at all. We’re talking about one of my favorite musicians of all-time and
he made an LP that sounds like it was randomly cut and pasted together like a
mosaic of low-fi improv fucking around by people that have never played their
particular instruments. It’s comically awful. I can only laugh and hope that my
boy snaps out of it.
Seriously now…WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?!?!?
