Damn, I hate to say it but this Babyshambles shit is worth the hype. Like most of you I’ve been burned by plenty of British imports promising to be the next big thing. Lead singer Pete Doherty has been running around with Kate Moss, doing lines of coke off six-pack abs –livin’ the rock & roll life. He’s been a central figure in a couple next big things including The Libertines and now Babyshambles. From what I could gather from the 5 songs here, Babyshambles have a sound that should punch its passport and catch on.
I picked up the Babyshambles EP The Blinding at Barnes & Noble, and immediately discovered a band I want to know more about. Call me curious enough to dig all the way back to The Libertines days as well.
On The Blinding EP Babyshambles sound like Sublime with a bloody lip Arctic Monkeys vocal. There’s even hints of Nirvana – not sure what it is and realize those are strong words but it’s true. There music here is equal parts reggae and street. Very cool vibe.
The Blinding EP is a joy to listen to, here’s a track-by-track breakdown:
“The Blinding” is pouty and British in the spirit of Arctic Monkeys. While more plodding there is a nice spiral guitar riff that pulls it through. When Doherty riffs “what would you do, has it run out of time for you” and screams “on with the show!” the music un-tucks its shirt and starts to feel comfortable. There’s something special happening on the entire disc. The music feels live, raw, and layered. Doherty’s presence adds recklessness to the music that is a perfect fit.
“Love You But You’re Green” brings even more of an island vibe. We get a nice chill steel drum pace to this one. The sound owes a lot to Sublime. But like most of the music on the record, “Love You, But You’re Green” is multi-faceted. When Doherty sings, “when she goes” he’s letting you know he can do the big anthem (Oasis) thing too (he can btw check “Fuck Forever” for your new favorite song), but maybe it bores him. A lot of the music on The Blinding EP is sort of slumped over like most of us at our company holiday parties. The Babyshambles sound is tweaked, it’s very drunken and blurry. What makes “Love You But You’re Green” is the layers. Throughout the entire 4:37 the band keeps adding little details, new interest, new instrumentation, and the song continues to build bit by bit. The result is pretty intoxicating. The sound is a rare combination – almost like wearing flip-flops on the tube.
The steel drum vibe continues on the more spirited and upbeat “I Wish.” I can picture Doherty running around on stage with the pockets of his dirty jeans turned inside out crooning “got no money in my pocket you see.” While the most fun song on the EP, it’s also the simplest. But it’s a nice light number with fun guitar and a nice little “oh oh oh oh oh” sing-a-long at the end.
“Beg, Steal or Borrow” starts with drums before bringing in the chime of big guitar. Those of you that have frequented this space know that chime (think Edge) guitar is the quickest way to my heart. Maybe it’s a Minnesota thing, but there’s just something very Carhartt hat about this style of guitar. It very quickly starts to sound like Lee’s Liquor Lounge in the winter. It’s my cozy. The guitars here remind of recent Razorlight singles.
“Sedative” gets moodier and dark, and I’m guessing Doherty is drawing from personal experience. The ebbs and flows are like dark waves on the beach and the end result on “Sedative” is another enjoyable track. The guitar gaps with Doherty asking; “Who is my hero” are awesome when combined with the tidal rhythm of the song. “Sedative” sounds like a person in detox sitting next to their bed shaking and scratching their skin. But the music is optimistic enough to make you think they’ll probably figure it out especially the end section where they add more strumming guitar and almost an internal monologue to the lyric.
Babyshambles did not disappoint. Listening to this five song EP only made me want to own the rest of what they’ve put out. Either Doherty is a true maestro or he has some great people around him. The texture to the record is fascinating. The biggest compliment I can give Babyshambles is the music doesn’t appear to repeat itself. Every song is like one long build, with new unexpected and exciting twists around each corner. The music reveals itself the more you listen to it. And it sounds pretty great the first time you listen as well. Of all the stuff I’ve reviewed I’d say the Babyshambles are closer to a hip-hop disc in terms of how complex and how much depth there is to the sound. Be sure to check them out.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Jay-Z Delivers Sonic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup on American Gangster Soundtrack
On the news the other day they were talking about how American Gangster was Jay-Z’s 10th #1 album tying him with Elvis and second only to the Beatles nineteen chart toppers. This fact reinforced in my mind the almost larger than life status of the east coast icon. Jay-Z’s latest effort is the soundtrack to the Ridley Scott film American Gangster. What’s unique about the sound on the album is the unlikely cocktail of Marvin Gaye style ‘70s R&B with Jay-Z’s signature clip.
I had an interesting revelation the first time through American Gangster. You know how hip-hop records jack up your iPod and iTunes listings because every song title is featuring or presenting somebody. My first time through the disc was on the treadmill at the health club. I was excited to bring Jay-Z to the human gerbil wheel as I figured it would give me some scratch. When I searched Jay-Z on the iPod I found American Gangster listed—but what I ended up listening to were just the songs where Jay-Z is solo as the collaborative tracks were under different headings. The surprise was that the solo tracks are some of the weakest on the record.
I guess that makes sense, as hip-hop is the musical equivalents of leapfrog as one after one people bring each other up to the top. You get your shot when someone features or presents you and the understood arrangement is when you make it big you bring someone else up and out. But only a few in hip-hop ever make it to icon status: Dre, Jay-Z, Kanye is knocking on the door. The icons get to work with riches every album and Jay-Z has that here with guest appearances from Beyonce, Kanye West, Pharrell, Nas, and Lil Wayne to name a few.
American Gangster starts with an intro track with lots of movie dialogue clarifying for a gangster it’s what’s on the inside that counts. It’s your genes not your jeans. It’s about being outside the law and making your own rules, and it’s American at its core.
After the movie clip intro the album really starts to kick with hot track “Pray” featuring Jay-Z’s lady Beyonce and some pretty low-fi Knight Rider style sound effects. At his best Jay-Z sounds like patent leather, like looking out of a plane window as you land in Manhattan at night. “Pray” has that with the fight the power style retro sample and the classic Jay-Z rap. “Pray” is basically the song that tells you where you are. “Pray” firmly establishes the setting in Gotham, but waits to reveal the album’s sound.
“American Dreamin” is the first we hear of the signature sound of the American Gangster album taking a killer ‘70s groove and layering it with the staccato Jay-Z clip. The result satisfies like a Snicker with the R&B groove providing the caramel and Jay-Z bringing the nut.
That’s the biggest compliment to the record as a whole. Somehow Jay-Z has managed to deliver groovy rap—something I wouldn’t have thought possible. American Gangster delivers street licks mixed with SNL’s Ladies Man Leon Phelps. It’s got the rap cred but it’s wearing a maroon turtleneck and the sideburns are long enough to curl.
I guess what brings it all together is the pimp factor. The music is rich. It sounds like something a dude with a bearskin rug and some Courvoisier would put on. At its best American Gangster is Scarface, mixed with Teddy Pendergrass, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye
But just when you think Jay-Z is going to stick to that sound you get an interesting song like “Hello Brooklyn 2.0” with Lil Wayne bringing crunk to our ‘70s theme party. Kanye brings the horns and the optimism on “Roc Boys (and the winner is)” extending our membership to the mile high club and doing his best Urkel impression, “We in the house!”
A song like “Sweet” with Jay-Z going solo has the Starsky and Hutch factor, but we’re missing the velvet groove.
Like “American Dreamin’”, “Party Life” has both groove and street. Jay-Z is solo on this one rappin’ “gangster effortlessly” and that’s exactly how it sounds with a wicked sample underneath. The lyrics are also classic Jay-Z, “She’s my little quarterback because I’m all that in the sack” as well some funny Jackson 5 stuff all pulled through with the silky ‘70s sample.
Jay-Z deserves credit for pushing things forward on tracks like “Success” and “Hello Brooklyn 2.0.” He doesn’t need to do this, but he keeps pushing. While the result doesn’t hit quite like the cocktail on “American Dreamin” and “Party Life” it’s clear Jay-Z’s creative spirit is alive and well as he rhymes about Google Earth, Jacob the Jeweler, De Niro and Pacino. The last song “American Gangster” is equally epic even finishing with a string section as Jay-Z marries funk with upbeat mid-90s glam rap.
Hip-hop records are some of the toughest to review because there is so much layer and diversity to the sound that the great records take some time to reveal themselves to you. For instance, the Kanye West record is something I’ve kept in heavy rotation in my car since I gave him a very average review many weeks ago.
Overall American Gangster is at its best when Jay-Z takes a smooth ‘70s track and adds his snap crackle pop over the top. That’s when 1+1=3. Trouble is this combination happens on less than half of the 15 tracks leaving several air pockets in the hour-long album. But Jay-Z remains an iconic and his willingness to push the envelope is the reason his albums continue to debut at #1.
At least that’s what I think this week, but you might want to check back in a month.
I had an interesting revelation the first time through American Gangster. You know how hip-hop records jack up your iPod and iTunes listings because every song title is featuring or presenting somebody. My first time through the disc was on the treadmill at the health club. I was excited to bring Jay-Z to the human gerbil wheel as I figured it would give me some scratch. When I searched Jay-Z on the iPod I found American Gangster listed—but what I ended up listening to were just the songs where Jay-Z is solo as the collaborative tracks were under different headings. The surprise was that the solo tracks are some of the weakest on the record.
I guess that makes sense, as hip-hop is the musical equivalents of leapfrog as one after one people bring each other up to the top. You get your shot when someone features or presents you and the understood arrangement is when you make it big you bring someone else up and out. But only a few in hip-hop ever make it to icon status: Dre, Jay-Z, Kanye is knocking on the door. The icons get to work with riches every album and Jay-Z has that here with guest appearances from Beyonce, Kanye West, Pharrell, Nas, and Lil Wayne to name a few.
American Gangster starts with an intro track with lots of movie dialogue clarifying for a gangster it’s what’s on the inside that counts. It’s your genes not your jeans. It’s about being outside the law and making your own rules, and it’s American at its core.
After the movie clip intro the album really starts to kick with hot track “Pray” featuring Jay-Z’s lady Beyonce and some pretty low-fi Knight Rider style sound effects. At his best Jay-Z sounds like patent leather, like looking out of a plane window as you land in Manhattan at night. “Pray” has that with the fight the power style retro sample and the classic Jay-Z rap. “Pray” is basically the song that tells you where you are. “Pray” firmly establishes the setting in Gotham, but waits to reveal the album’s sound.
“American Dreamin” is the first we hear of the signature sound of the American Gangster album taking a killer ‘70s groove and layering it with the staccato Jay-Z clip. The result satisfies like a Snicker with the R&B groove providing the caramel and Jay-Z bringing the nut.
That’s the biggest compliment to the record as a whole. Somehow Jay-Z has managed to deliver groovy rap—something I wouldn’t have thought possible. American Gangster delivers street licks mixed with SNL’s Ladies Man Leon Phelps. It’s got the rap cred but it’s wearing a maroon turtleneck and the sideburns are long enough to curl.
I guess what brings it all together is the pimp factor. The music is rich. It sounds like something a dude with a bearskin rug and some Courvoisier would put on. At its best American Gangster is Scarface, mixed with Teddy Pendergrass, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye
But just when you think Jay-Z is going to stick to that sound you get an interesting song like “Hello Brooklyn 2.0” with Lil Wayne bringing crunk to our ‘70s theme party. Kanye brings the horns and the optimism on “Roc Boys (and the winner is)” extending our membership to the mile high club and doing his best Urkel impression, “We in the house!”
A song like “Sweet” with Jay-Z going solo has the Starsky and Hutch factor, but we’re missing the velvet groove.
Like “American Dreamin’”, “Party Life” has both groove and street. Jay-Z is solo on this one rappin’ “gangster effortlessly” and that’s exactly how it sounds with a wicked sample underneath. The lyrics are also classic Jay-Z, “She’s my little quarterback because I’m all that in the sack” as well some funny Jackson 5 stuff all pulled through with the silky ‘70s sample.
Jay-Z deserves credit for pushing things forward on tracks like “Success” and “Hello Brooklyn 2.0.” He doesn’t need to do this, but he keeps pushing. While the result doesn’t hit quite like the cocktail on “American Dreamin” and “Party Life” it’s clear Jay-Z’s creative spirit is alive and well as he rhymes about Google Earth, Jacob the Jeweler, De Niro and Pacino. The last song “American Gangster” is equally epic even finishing with a string section as Jay-Z marries funk with upbeat mid-90s glam rap.
Hip-hop records are some of the toughest to review because there is so much layer and diversity to the sound that the great records take some time to reveal themselves to you. For instance, the Kanye West record is something I’ve kept in heavy rotation in my car since I gave him a very average review many weeks ago.
Overall American Gangster is at its best when Jay-Z takes a smooth ‘70s track and adds his snap crackle pop over the top. That’s when 1+1=3. Trouble is this combination happens on less than half of the 15 tracks leaving several air pockets in the hour-long album. But Jay-Z remains an iconic and his willingness to push the envelope is the reason his albums continue to debut at #1.
At least that’s what I think this week, but you might want to check back in a month.
VHS or Beta delivers citizen’s arresting sound as junior police officers
Call them the poor man’s Police. A poor man’s Bloc Party. A poor man’s Cure. It doesn’t really matter because what VHS or Beta tends to sound like is some pretty good music. There’s nothing wrong with being the little brother of good especially when you’re a trio from Kentucky.
Bring on the Comets has a confident title, and the first track succeeds in building anticipation. While only a minute ling, instrumental “Euglama” sounds like another car puling up next to you at a stoplight and their party is better than your party. It’s equal part disco and party guitars.
After the groovy “Euglama” we get right into a strut with “I’ve Got Your Love in my Pocket.” Ax max and lead singer Craig Pfunder takes charge of this one from the start with a guitar riff as jagged as a jackolantern mouth. “I’ve Got Your Love in my Pocket” will have you walking on your toes as the guitar cuts up and down.
“She Says” sounded so much like old U2 at the start I was looking for the cover of the album to see if Anton Corbin took the photograph. But just when you hoist your white flag and start marching around the stage the music changes again back to a much more driving sound with some guitar bolts by and a weepy vocal by Pfunder. Sounds like a party in the ewok village.
The high point of Bring on the Comets is without a doubt track four “Can’t Believe a Single Word” with its big guitar and frothing chorus. What it lacks in imagination it makes up for in pace. This is where VHS or Beta sound precisely like, well, VHS or Beta. At least I think that’s what they should sound like. “Can’t Believe a Single Word” takes VHS or Beta out of the club and into stadiums. This one could give more than a few of us speeding tickets if it ever makes to radio as a single. Pfunder takes charge of the vocal stomping through the track as the guitar snakes around and some nifty keyboards make it a full on party. If it’s a sonic appetizer you’re after, this one is the water chestnut wrapped in bacon. There’s something ‘80s about “Can’t Believe a Single Word” and the entire album really. It songs like this one that leave you wanting to sit in detention with the rest of the breakfast club.
“Burn it All Down” is much more Bloc Party and is second best on the album. “Burn it all Down” sounds like letting go with lyrics that say, “sick and tired of feeling. . . .easy come and go” there is an awesome release to this one. VHS or Beta systematically “burn the flags burn the house burn the churches burn it all down.” And you know what, it feels good to let go. “Burn it all Down” will be great on the dance floor especially with benefit of a remix. The last supper vibe is very cool as Pfunder says “you bring the bread I’ll bring the wine.” It’s an intelligent lyric and the kind of song that makes an album.
Trouble is “Can’t Believe a Single Word” and “Burn it All Down” are the two-standout tracks on Bring on the Comets. As a whole VHS or Beta turn up a few songs short of getting their names on the marquee and come off more like the cousin of some really great music.
None of Bring on the Comets is hard to listen to, and even an average song like “Take it or Leave It” will feature some effected spiral guitar work. Overall there’s still too much noise and arcade sounds in the music and it can get in the way. VHS or Beta is at their best when they can get on top of the music and the noise.
“Alpha Theta” starts with whale mating sounds. But once you get passed the Discovery channel intro it’s an ambitious little track.
Overall Bring on the Comets runs out of gas about midway through. Like the rookie with no motor by the second half of the season the last several songs are completely forgettable. So much so I had to keep going back in iTunes to see if I was missing something.
I’m not sure VHS or Beta will ever amount to much of anything but there are a couple nice tracks on here and they do sniff around some music you probably already like. Pfunder leans into some nice guitar, and a song like “The Stars Where We Came From” indicates the band likely has more range then I’m giving them credit for. I’m adding “Can’t Believe a Single Word” and “Burn it all Down” to my play list immediately and I’ll be curious enough to check out the next VHS or Beta release as well.
C
Bring on the Comets has a confident title, and the first track succeeds in building anticipation. While only a minute ling, instrumental “Euglama” sounds like another car puling up next to you at a stoplight and their party is better than your party. It’s equal part disco and party guitars.
After the groovy “Euglama” we get right into a strut with “I’ve Got Your Love in my Pocket.” Ax max and lead singer Craig Pfunder takes charge of this one from the start with a guitar riff as jagged as a jackolantern mouth. “I’ve Got Your Love in my Pocket” will have you walking on your toes as the guitar cuts up and down.
“She Says” sounded so much like old U2 at the start I was looking for the cover of the album to see if Anton Corbin took the photograph. But just when you hoist your white flag and start marching around the stage the music changes again back to a much more driving sound with some guitar bolts by and a weepy vocal by Pfunder. Sounds like a party in the ewok village.
The high point of Bring on the Comets is without a doubt track four “Can’t Believe a Single Word” with its big guitar and frothing chorus. What it lacks in imagination it makes up for in pace. This is where VHS or Beta sound precisely like, well, VHS or Beta. At least I think that’s what they should sound like. “Can’t Believe a Single Word” takes VHS or Beta out of the club and into stadiums. This one could give more than a few of us speeding tickets if it ever makes to radio as a single. Pfunder takes charge of the vocal stomping through the track as the guitar snakes around and some nifty keyboards make it a full on party. If it’s a sonic appetizer you’re after, this one is the water chestnut wrapped in bacon. There’s something ‘80s about “Can’t Believe a Single Word” and the entire album really. It songs like this one that leave you wanting to sit in detention with the rest of the breakfast club.
“Burn it All Down” is much more Bloc Party and is second best on the album. “Burn it all Down” sounds like letting go with lyrics that say, “sick and tired of feeling. . . .easy come and go” there is an awesome release to this one. VHS or Beta systematically “burn the flags burn the house burn the churches burn it all down.” And you know what, it feels good to let go. “Burn it all Down” will be great on the dance floor especially with benefit of a remix. The last supper vibe is very cool as Pfunder says “you bring the bread I’ll bring the wine.” It’s an intelligent lyric and the kind of song that makes an album.
Trouble is “Can’t Believe a Single Word” and “Burn it All Down” are the two-standout tracks on Bring on the Comets. As a whole VHS or Beta turn up a few songs short of getting their names on the marquee and come off more like the cousin of some really great music.
None of Bring on the Comets is hard to listen to, and even an average song like “Take it or Leave It” will feature some effected spiral guitar work. Overall there’s still too much noise and arcade sounds in the music and it can get in the way. VHS or Beta is at their best when they can get on top of the music and the noise.
“Alpha Theta” starts with whale mating sounds. But once you get passed the Discovery channel intro it’s an ambitious little track.
Overall Bring on the Comets runs out of gas about midway through. Like the rookie with no motor by the second half of the season the last several songs are completely forgettable. So much so I had to keep going back in iTunes to see if I was missing something.
I’m not sure VHS or Beta will ever amount to much of anything but there are a couple nice tracks on here and they do sniff around some music you probably already like. Pfunder leans into some nice guitar, and a song like “The Stars Where We Came From” indicates the band likely has more range then I’m giving them credit for. I’m adding “Can’t Believe a Single Word” and “Burn it all Down” to my play list immediately and I’ll be curious enough to check out the next VHS or Beta release as well.
C
Monday, December 10, 2007
Jimmy Eat World's power pop cuts to front of the line
I was standing in the music section of a Best Buy store the other day when I heard an irresistible new rock song playing over the PA system. When this happens to me I freak out and get frantic. It’s like passing a girl on the subway not knowing if you’ll ever run into her again. This might just be my new favorite song, but I need to get her name. When it happens I usually run around looking for a store employee to ask what song is playing. I’ll grab a pen and I’ll try to listen to the lyrics close enough to gather a snippet to plug into Google later. I’ve had this happen to me at coffee shops, at live shows when the soundboard guy is playing warm-up music, Hollister, even the Gap. When I hear something and it sounds great the first time I need to know what it is. If you’ve ever been with me you know I have a one-track mind. But I usually will get its name. I will get its digits. This particular song sounded like the The Killers or one of those really catchy new Christian rock songs that you wish weren’t Christian rock.
I got lucky this time as Best Buy radio came on the air and revealed the track as “Big Casino” by Jimmy Eat World. I immediately proceeded to the J section and grabbed their new disc Chase This Light. “Big Casino” is my kind of song from the signature guitar intro (you could put this one first on your mix CD right after the movie quite), the androgynous pretty vocal part Angels & Airwaves part Brandon Flowers. There was real pop sensibility to the glam guitar. This is my type of music. But “Big Casino” sounded like something, I couldn’t quite place it—but then it hit me. The story of “Big Casino” about the “New Jersey success story” sounds eerily familiar to ‘90s hit “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but it’s in there.
I remember as a kid there were often situations where my two brothers and myself would all draw pictures or color the kids’ menu at the restaurant. We always asked my parents what the “best one” was. OF course they remained neutral always calling it a draw. That’s how I feel playing catch up on the blog this week. I had picked up three spankin’ new CDs. The plan was to mix genres and go from Jay-Z to VHS or Beta to Jimmy Eat World, which admittedly was pretty similar to Angels & Airwaves. Trouble was I wanted to listen to Jimmy Eat World. And I did. It quickly became my favorite, the teacher had a pet. It wasn’t a fair fight.
Randomly I just want to say I love CD stickers. I don’t know what it is, but I love all the multi colored shapes calling out the prices and the songs they think you’ll like. There’s something old school about it like the starburst graphic in PowerPoint. I just picture some rock guy saying to the band, “and then we’ll put a red circle here with “Big Casino” in it and wham, bam!” Good stuff.
Interesting that the sticker on Chase This Light called out 4 songs –and they just so happen to be the first 4 songs on the record. And they might have been right. Chase This Light starts in a three-point stance and really never slows down. The start explodes with “Big Casino,” and “Let It Happen” which adds a little more twinkle and head nod. Lyrics like “Could have been a night like any other one of us has to drive, one of us gets to think”—makes the music extremely accessible.
“Always Be” gets a little more girly—finger snaps and all. If there’s a knock on Jimmy Eat World it’s probably that Jim Adkin’s vocal is more delicate like Tim Booth from James –and whenever you call to mind the softer pop sensibility of “Breakfast of Tiffany’s” there’s a group of people who won’t engage. But for the girly boys like me Jimmy Eat World make damn fine music. It’s the stuff for the music video playing in your head and Chase This Light will have even married guys on their riding lawn mowers feeling like they were in high school again.
There’s a tremendous optimism to the pop rock of Jimmy Eat World. The music sounds like a sunrise. It sounds like something you and your girl could listen to. It sounds like bare feet on the dashboard with just a faint smell of Drakkar left over from the ‘80s.
“Carry You” adds more acoustic and maintains the love. On “Electable (Give it Up)” Jimmy Eat World take the sound to more black leather pants. The riffs are more Green Day and the “Oh oh oh oh oh” chorus is a joyous romp. Chase this Light is just damn fun and the whole album is this way. Makes me want to see a live show. My sense is Jimmy Eat World would shred as they may be at their apex like a Matchbox Twenty show back in 1997.
“Gotta be somebody’s blues” is more moody like “Bullet in the Blue Sky” with a whisper. It’s not my cup of tea but it’s not out of place. If this is the concert I’m reloading my beers during this one. And to be honest with the pace of the rest of the record you almost need the break.
The CD sticker missed one. I dare you to find a more infectious sing than “Here it Goes.” “Here it Goes” is like “Mr. Brightside” meets “The Electric Slide.” It’s absolutely fabulous. I can already see the pretty girls roller-skating to this one. Awesome stuff. It’s sound like “Here it Goes” and previously “The Middle” that make me think Jim Adkins has a real gift for melody in almost a Rob Thomas I write the songs that make the world sing type way. Downloard “Here it Goes.” If they made cotton candy Q-Tips this is what it would sound like.
The title track brings back the crescendo. Most of the songs on Chase this Light are built on glam guitar, sweet vocal and the Some Kind of Wonderful bang of Zach Lind on drums.
Another pocket rocket off the album is “Firefight.” Overall Jimmy Eat World brings a steady stream of upbeat melodic rock. I guess the fault of the record would be they tend to sound the same and maybe Adkin’s vocal will wear on you after a few spins but I doubt it. Jimmy Eat World’s new disc is one of the more satisfying music purchases I’ve made this year. And good enough to cut to the front of the line during a busy week.
I got lucky this time as Best Buy radio came on the air and revealed the track as “Big Casino” by Jimmy Eat World. I immediately proceeded to the J section and grabbed their new disc Chase This Light. “Big Casino” is my kind of song from the signature guitar intro (you could put this one first on your mix CD right after the movie quite), the androgynous pretty vocal part Angels & Airwaves part Brandon Flowers. There was real pop sensibility to the glam guitar. This is my type of music. But “Big Casino” sounded like something, I couldn’t quite place it—but then it hit me. The story of “Big Casino” about the “New Jersey success story” sounds eerily familiar to ‘90s hit “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but it’s in there.
I remember as a kid there were often situations where my two brothers and myself would all draw pictures or color the kids’ menu at the restaurant. We always asked my parents what the “best one” was. OF course they remained neutral always calling it a draw. That’s how I feel playing catch up on the blog this week. I had picked up three spankin’ new CDs. The plan was to mix genres and go from Jay-Z to VHS or Beta to Jimmy Eat World, which admittedly was pretty similar to Angels & Airwaves. Trouble was I wanted to listen to Jimmy Eat World. And I did. It quickly became my favorite, the teacher had a pet. It wasn’t a fair fight.
Randomly I just want to say I love CD stickers. I don’t know what it is, but I love all the multi colored shapes calling out the prices and the songs they think you’ll like. There’s something old school about it like the starburst graphic in PowerPoint. I just picture some rock guy saying to the band, “and then we’ll put a red circle here with “Big Casino” in it and wham, bam!” Good stuff.
Interesting that the sticker on Chase This Light called out 4 songs –and they just so happen to be the first 4 songs on the record. And they might have been right. Chase This Light starts in a three-point stance and really never slows down. The start explodes with “Big Casino,” and “Let It Happen” which adds a little more twinkle and head nod. Lyrics like “Could have been a night like any other one of us has to drive, one of us gets to think”—makes the music extremely accessible.
“Always Be” gets a little more girly—finger snaps and all. If there’s a knock on Jimmy Eat World it’s probably that Jim Adkin’s vocal is more delicate like Tim Booth from James –and whenever you call to mind the softer pop sensibility of “Breakfast of Tiffany’s” there’s a group of people who won’t engage. But for the girly boys like me Jimmy Eat World make damn fine music. It’s the stuff for the music video playing in your head and Chase This Light will have even married guys on their riding lawn mowers feeling like they were in high school again.
There’s a tremendous optimism to the pop rock of Jimmy Eat World. The music sounds like a sunrise. It sounds like something you and your girl could listen to. It sounds like bare feet on the dashboard with just a faint smell of Drakkar left over from the ‘80s.
“Carry You” adds more acoustic and maintains the love. On “Electable (Give it Up)” Jimmy Eat World take the sound to more black leather pants. The riffs are more Green Day and the “Oh oh oh oh oh” chorus is a joyous romp. Chase this Light is just damn fun and the whole album is this way. Makes me want to see a live show. My sense is Jimmy Eat World would shred as they may be at their apex like a Matchbox Twenty show back in 1997.
“Gotta be somebody’s blues” is more moody like “Bullet in the Blue Sky” with a whisper. It’s not my cup of tea but it’s not out of place. If this is the concert I’m reloading my beers during this one. And to be honest with the pace of the rest of the record you almost need the break.
The CD sticker missed one. I dare you to find a more infectious sing than “Here it Goes.” “Here it Goes” is like “Mr. Brightside” meets “The Electric Slide.” It’s absolutely fabulous. I can already see the pretty girls roller-skating to this one. Awesome stuff. It’s sound like “Here it Goes” and previously “The Middle” that make me think Jim Adkins has a real gift for melody in almost a Rob Thomas I write the songs that make the world sing type way. Downloard “Here it Goes.” If they made cotton candy Q-Tips this is what it would sound like.
The title track brings back the crescendo. Most of the songs on Chase this Light are built on glam guitar, sweet vocal and the Some Kind of Wonderful bang of Zach Lind on drums.
Another pocket rocket off the album is “Firefight.” Overall Jimmy Eat World brings a steady stream of upbeat melodic rock. I guess the fault of the record would be they tend to sound the same and maybe Adkin’s vocal will wear on you after a few spins but I doubt it. Jimmy Eat World’s new disc is one of the more satisfying music purchases I’ve made this year. And good enough to cut to the front of the line during a busy week.
If you want a Hank Williams Jr. record don't buy Kid Rock
Here’s my excuse. Kid Rock was interviewed on Larry King. He was engaging. He was rock n roll. He seemed smart. He seemed interesting. He’s slept with Pam.
I guess I always hoped there was a little more behind the curtain with Kid. A little touch of Skynyrd by way of Detroit. With singles like “Picture (with Sheryl Crow)” in the past I felt Kid Rock one day would put out a nice little Southern fried rock record.
The reviews on Kid’s new record Rock N Roll Jesus talked about monster AC/DC guitar riffs. Producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day) was prominently involved, and there were hints that Kid pulled out the bourbon and did his best Waylon and Willie impression. I was excited to check it out if for no other reason than hoping I’d find one nice little tune that no one else would know. Finding a sneaky little Kid Rock song to for your party play list, is a bit like finding a great shirt at Target boutique. The closest we get to this is probably “Amen” which is acoustic Kid at his best sounding like his head hurts after a hard night and singing about soldiers, lawyers, and pastors. He keeps the lyrics simple and it reminds of Tesla (think their cover of “Signs”) back in their heyday. “Amen” isn’t a great song, runs a bit too long, but it’s as good as we get on Rock N Roll Jesus. “Blue Jeans and a Rosary” would run a close second to “Amen” as the best effort on the album. Kid seems to be comfortable in his own skin on these two.
The problem with Rock N Roll Jesus is at the end of the day Kid still has to pay the bills. He can do all the magazine interviews he wants claiming he’s done saying his name in every song – but there’s still plenty of bad Woodstock ’94 hick-hop on the new record. It’s clear Kid still has to pay homage to the 12 million people who bought Devil Without A Cause. And with lyrics like “I want to fuck your pussy ‘til it’s cold,” “fuck you in the nose” ⎯to name a few it’s pretty clear Mr. Rock is still sitting at the kids’ table.
“All Summer Long” basically takes a “Sweet Home Alabama” sample and tries unsuccessfully to turn it into an original song. The result while sweet to the taste has all the staying power of a stick of Fruit Stripe gum. Part “Crocodile Rock,” the result sounds corny. “All Summer Long” might sound decent at a Solo cup keg party, but Kid isn’t adding much here he’s basically leaning into a riff we already know. He’s cheatin’ and he still can’t win.
“Roll On” might be a decent track if it weren’t a complete theft of Jonny Lang’s “Breakin’ Me.” “Roll On” has that Todd Beamer, USO, American spirit that has become the Kid Rock brand. The backing vocal and piano are nice, but the similarities to the Lang track were too much for me to forgive. I’d suspect lawyers are involved here.
The rest of the album has Kid doing his metal meathead act on “So Hott,” “Sugar,” and his close circuit to his ex-wife Pam “Half Your Age.”
A lot of different Kid Rocks make an appearance on Rock N Roll Jesus and the result sounds like the audio equivalent of a major identity crisis. Some songs like “Sugar” even waver from an acoustic intro to rapping like Zack De La Rocha from Rage to dropping samples of “Cowboy” —all in one track. That’s a steep descent. Lyrics like “kiss my Anglo Saxon ass!” and “I’m watching porno on the TV” sound pretty junior varsity to my well trained thirty three year old ears.
I guess I can’t really blame Kid. He’s always been this way. He grew up a rich boy from Michigan who wanted to be Vanilla Ice. Next he wanted to be a hardcore rapper. Then he wanted to be Limp Bizkit. Now he wants to be Hank Williams Jr. After listening to Rock N Roll Jesus a few times I can assure you he’s nowhere close.
If I go back to the Larry King interview that lead to the unexpected appearance of Kid Rock on Music Martes I still think there’s something in the cupboard here. Trouble is Kid Rock needs to determine what type of artist he wants to be. He should either do the Southern acoustic thing in the vein of “Amen” and “Blue Jeans and a Rosary” for an entire album. If he did he might get some of the honky-tonk cred he clearly craves. He’s not going to be Hank Williams Jr., but he could probably pull off a sound like The Georgia Satellites or (maybe) even something like Guns N’ Roses Lies record.
Even with big ax tracks like “So Hott” I don’t think true hard rock in the spirit of AC/DC, White Zombie, or Buckcherry is realistic for Kid. There’s too much of a wink to him.
Another thought would be for Kid Rock to reinvent ZZ Top for a new generation and make some kick ass rock that doesn’t take itself so seriously. Might be a way for him to find a happy medium. He could sing about the girls, have the big riffs, and still live larger than the rest of us. At least he wouldn’t sound as confused as he does here.
I guess I always hoped there was a little more behind the curtain with Kid. A little touch of Skynyrd by way of Detroit. With singles like “Picture (with Sheryl Crow)” in the past I felt Kid Rock one day would put out a nice little Southern fried rock record.
The reviews on Kid’s new record Rock N Roll Jesus talked about monster AC/DC guitar riffs. Producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day) was prominently involved, and there were hints that Kid pulled out the bourbon and did his best Waylon and Willie impression. I was excited to check it out if for no other reason than hoping I’d find one nice little tune that no one else would know. Finding a sneaky little Kid Rock song to for your party play list, is a bit like finding a great shirt at Target boutique. The closest we get to this is probably “Amen” which is acoustic Kid at his best sounding like his head hurts after a hard night and singing about soldiers, lawyers, and pastors. He keeps the lyrics simple and it reminds of Tesla (think their cover of “Signs”) back in their heyday. “Amen” isn’t a great song, runs a bit too long, but it’s as good as we get on Rock N Roll Jesus. “Blue Jeans and a Rosary” would run a close second to “Amen” as the best effort on the album. Kid seems to be comfortable in his own skin on these two.
The problem with Rock N Roll Jesus is at the end of the day Kid still has to pay the bills. He can do all the magazine interviews he wants claiming he’s done saying his name in every song – but there’s still plenty of bad Woodstock ’94 hick-hop on the new record. It’s clear Kid still has to pay homage to the 12 million people who bought Devil Without A Cause. And with lyrics like “I want to fuck your pussy ‘til it’s cold,” “fuck you in the nose” ⎯to name a few it’s pretty clear Mr. Rock is still sitting at the kids’ table.
“All Summer Long” basically takes a “Sweet Home Alabama” sample and tries unsuccessfully to turn it into an original song. The result while sweet to the taste has all the staying power of a stick of Fruit Stripe gum. Part “Crocodile Rock,” the result sounds corny. “All Summer Long” might sound decent at a Solo cup keg party, but Kid isn’t adding much here he’s basically leaning into a riff we already know. He’s cheatin’ and he still can’t win.
“Roll On” might be a decent track if it weren’t a complete theft of Jonny Lang’s “Breakin’ Me.” “Roll On” has that Todd Beamer, USO, American spirit that has become the Kid Rock brand. The backing vocal and piano are nice, but the similarities to the Lang track were too much for me to forgive. I’d suspect lawyers are involved here.
The rest of the album has Kid doing his metal meathead act on “So Hott,” “Sugar,” and his close circuit to his ex-wife Pam “Half Your Age.”
A lot of different Kid Rocks make an appearance on Rock N Roll Jesus and the result sounds like the audio equivalent of a major identity crisis. Some songs like “Sugar” even waver from an acoustic intro to rapping like Zack De La Rocha from Rage to dropping samples of “Cowboy” —all in one track. That’s a steep descent. Lyrics like “kiss my Anglo Saxon ass!” and “I’m watching porno on the TV” sound pretty junior varsity to my well trained thirty three year old ears.
I guess I can’t really blame Kid. He’s always been this way. He grew up a rich boy from Michigan who wanted to be Vanilla Ice. Next he wanted to be a hardcore rapper. Then he wanted to be Limp Bizkit. Now he wants to be Hank Williams Jr. After listening to Rock N Roll Jesus a few times I can assure you he’s nowhere close.
If I go back to the Larry King interview that lead to the unexpected appearance of Kid Rock on Music Martes I still think there’s something in the cupboard here. Trouble is Kid Rock needs to determine what type of artist he wants to be. He should either do the Southern acoustic thing in the vein of “Amen” and “Blue Jeans and a Rosary” for an entire album. If he did he might get some of the honky-tonk cred he clearly craves. He’s not going to be Hank Williams Jr., but he could probably pull off a sound like The Georgia Satellites or (maybe) even something like Guns N’ Roses Lies record.
Even with big ax tracks like “So Hott” I don’t think true hard rock in the spirit of AC/DC, White Zombie, or Buckcherry is realistic for Kid. There’s too much of a wink to him.
Another thought would be for Kid Rock to reinvent ZZ Top for a new generation and make some kick ass rock that doesn’t take itself so seriously. Might be a way for him to find a happy medium. He could sing about the girls, have the big riffs, and still live larger than the rest of us. At least he wouldn’t sound as confused as he does here.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tom DeLonge Needs To Get Out More
I’ve followed the career of Tom Delonge ever since he extracted all of the talent from Blink 182 and went his own way. I enjoyed his first side project, Boxcar Racer, and would call myself a fan of his latest band Angels & Airwaves. When DeLonge got married and had kids it didn’t bother me either because I knew this guy was determined to make the big planetarium rock that would fit in a John Hughes teen drama. Angels & Airwaves is like “Salisbury Hill” with better guitar. And the newly minted family man DeLonge was bound to hit some themes I could get into.
Angels & Airwaves is starry sky rock at its best and when Tom has the guitars frothing at the mouth it can be pure bliss. Angels & Airwaves make the sort of music that scares the crap out of you when you turn on your car because you can’t believe how loud you let it get the last time you were in there. The trouble with Angels & Airwaves is Tom seems to have lost his ability to taper the music. He’s become indulgent and perhaps a bit out of touch. The music sounds like it comes from a guy who has a studio in his house and doesn’t have to answer to anyone –there’s no fit or finish. Case in point “True Love” is a nifty little song that takes two minutes just to get going.
Many of the songs on I-Empire include two-minute intros and lots of meandering guitar twinkle. If I was playing a video game and this was the score-it’d be fine. But I’m not. I bought an album and I expect the songs to have a little more discipline.
DeLonge always has killer pedals going on his guitar. The opener “Call to Arms” is classic, cinematic Angels & Airwaves and a good way to start. Track two “Everything’s Magic” adds some sound effects and a little pace to take us closer to a single.
A big problem with I-Empire is the first three tracks don’t bring much to the cake mix. It’s mostly whiney vocal, sound effects, and just a tease of guitar. “Breathe” has some cool 1980’s drum effect, but it sounds too unfinished.
“Love Like Rockets” starts the countdown as we hear the familiar walkie-talkie crackle and get closer to what makes Angels & Airwaves one of my favorite new bands. When DeLonge gets the guitar going like a helicopter, Angels & Airwaves music can have all the drama of Cape Canaveral. “Love Like Rockets” should get points for the title alone and is a fun little song. It sounds like the sort of thing you’d want playing on a hot summer night in a convertible. “The stars in your eyes light up the skies” chorus even has a little Bono thing going on. Angels & Airwaves has a heavy U2 influence from DeLonge’s guitar to the “oh ay oh” sing-a-long choruses.
But unlike the last Angels & Airwaves record We Don’t Need to Whisper which gave us “The Adventure,” “The War (theme from MTV’s Two-A-Days),” and “Distraction” –the only must have track off I-Empire is “Secret Crowds.” After a somewhat needless thirty-second intro, “Secret Crowds” leaves the atmosphere on the back of DeLonge’s power chords. This is a massive pump up song for your collection. “Secret Crowds” is straight up black t-shirt rock. The core idea of the album is here as DeLonge talks about his I-Empire (“If I had my own world”) where he world “spread love like violence.” And the “Let me feel you carry you higher . . .secret crowds rise up and gather” even has a little “We Will Rock You” beat that had me banging the roof of the Wrangler. This is the sort of song Jack Black’s character would have broke a piece of chalk telling the kids about in School of Rock. It’s simply that good.
Trouble is there isn’t much else here on I-Empire. “Secret Crowds” craps bigger than the rest of the record. Overall I worry about Angels & Airwaves. The music is so out of touch that I think DeLonge might be fading. We’ve reached the true fan-stage of his career. The hardcore like myself will be able to pull a great song out of every album, and not much more. And until Delonge hooks up with some other talent I don’t see much more happening. But with the right supporting cast DeLonge could make a big dent on the scene. Selfishly I’d love to see Delonge get picked up in some sort of rock and roll super group in the spirit of Audioslave and Velvet Revolver for his guitar and his mind. The man gets music. Otherwise he’ll just make six-minute songs like “Heaven” which sound like the distortion pedal version of a guy watching his life projected in Super 8 on the wall in the dark.
“Lifeline” is an interesting song if for no other reason that it makes the best use of DeLonge’s eternally 17 angst ridden vocal and pulls it across a nice wingspan. “If you wish it wish it now. If you wish it wish it loud” and the familiar “yo oh oh oh” anthem is solid. “Rite of Spring” starts out like a Poison guitar riff but ultimately disappoints as the glam is quickly replaced with melancholy. But it is a nice personal story and his “chance for a better life” gives a glimpse of a genuine nice guy in rock and roll.
The Target version of the CD comes with two bonus tracks including an acoustic version of Angel & Airwaves first hit “The Adventure.” It’s painful to listen to and I can’t imagine how this version made it onto the record. My only explanation is someone has Punk’d DeLonge. All it does is reinforce how much help DeLonge needs with his vocal in post-production because the raw track sounds horrible. It’s like tone deaf Violent Femmes, it’s truly awful stuff.
In summary, I’m a fan of Mr. Delonge. His music makes music videos in my head. But if the man doesn’t get some help I worry that’s about as far as Angels & Airwaves will go.
Angels & Airwaves is starry sky rock at its best and when Tom has the guitars frothing at the mouth it can be pure bliss. Angels & Airwaves make the sort of music that scares the crap out of you when you turn on your car because you can’t believe how loud you let it get the last time you were in there. The trouble with Angels & Airwaves is Tom seems to have lost his ability to taper the music. He’s become indulgent and perhaps a bit out of touch. The music sounds like it comes from a guy who has a studio in his house and doesn’t have to answer to anyone –there’s no fit or finish. Case in point “True Love” is a nifty little song that takes two minutes just to get going.
Many of the songs on I-Empire include two-minute intros and lots of meandering guitar twinkle. If I was playing a video game and this was the score-it’d be fine. But I’m not. I bought an album and I expect the songs to have a little more discipline.
DeLonge always has killer pedals going on his guitar. The opener “Call to Arms” is classic, cinematic Angels & Airwaves and a good way to start. Track two “Everything’s Magic” adds some sound effects and a little pace to take us closer to a single.
A big problem with I-Empire is the first three tracks don’t bring much to the cake mix. It’s mostly whiney vocal, sound effects, and just a tease of guitar. “Breathe” has some cool 1980’s drum effect, but it sounds too unfinished.
“Love Like Rockets” starts the countdown as we hear the familiar walkie-talkie crackle and get closer to what makes Angels & Airwaves one of my favorite new bands. When DeLonge gets the guitar going like a helicopter, Angels & Airwaves music can have all the drama of Cape Canaveral. “Love Like Rockets” should get points for the title alone and is a fun little song. It sounds like the sort of thing you’d want playing on a hot summer night in a convertible. “The stars in your eyes light up the skies” chorus even has a little Bono thing going on. Angels & Airwaves has a heavy U2 influence from DeLonge’s guitar to the “oh ay oh” sing-a-long choruses.
But unlike the last Angels & Airwaves record We Don’t Need to Whisper which gave us “The Adventure,” “The War (theme from MTV’s Two-A-Days),” and “Distraction” –the only must have track off I-Empire is “Secret Crowds.” After a somewhat needless thirty-second intro, “Secret Crowds” leaves the atmosphere on the back of DeLonge’s power chords. This is a massive pump up song for your collection. “Secret Crowds” is straight up black t-shirt rock. The core idea of the album is here as DeLonge talks about his I-Empire (“If I had my own world”) where he world “spread love like violence.” And the “Let me feel you carry you higher . . .secret crowds rise up and gather” even has a little “We Will Rock You” beat that had me banging the roof of the Wrangler. This is the sort of song Jack Black’s character would have broke a piece of chalk telling the kids about in School of Rock. It’s simply that good.
Trouble is there isn’t much else here on I-Empire. “Secret Crowds” craps bigger than the rest of the record. Overall I worry about Angels & Airwaves. The music is so out of touch that I think DeLonge might be fading. We’ve reached the true fan-stage of his career. The hardcore like myself will be able to pull a great song out of every album, and not much more. And until Delonge hooks up with some other talent I don’t see much more happening. But with the right supporting cast DeLonge could make a big dent on the scene. Selfishly I’d love to see Delonge get picked up in some sort of rock and roll super group in the spirit of Audioslave and Velvet Revolver for his guitar and his mind. The man gets music. Otherwise he’ll just make six-minute songs like “Heaven” which sound like the distortion pedal version of a guy watching his life projected in Super 8 on the wall in the dark.
“Lifeline” is an interesting song if for no other reason that it makes the best use of DeLonge’s eternally 17 angst ridden vocal and pulls it across a nice wingspan. “If you wish it wish it now. If you wish it wish it loud” and the familiar “yo oh oh oh” anthem is solid. “Rite of Spring” starts out like a Poison guitar riff but ultimately disappoints as the glam is quickly replaced with melancholy. But it is a nice personal story and his “chance for a better life” gives a glimpse of a genuine nice guy in rock and roll.
The Target version of the CD comes with two bonus tracks including an acoustic version of Angel & Airwaves first hit “The Adventure.” It’s painful to listen to and I can’t imagine how this version made it onto the record. My only explanation is someone has Punk’d DeLonge. All it does is reinforce how much help DeLonge needs with his vocal in post-production because the raw track sounds horrible. It’s like tone deaf Violent Femmes, it’s truly awful stuff.
In summary, I’m a fan of Mr. Delonge. His music makes music videos in my head. But if the man doesn’t get some help I worry that’s about as far as Angels & Airwaves will go.
Friday, November 9, 2007
I’ll take $10 on Band of Horses to Show.
As it turns out the band I was hearing good things about was Iron & Wine, not Band of Horses. But I stuck with the BOH review assuming it was akin to accidentally betting on the wrong horse at the track. When that happens you never, ever take the ticket back to the counter. You roll with the destiny.
Funny thing happened, my ticket was a winner. I like Band of Horses. I don’t love them. I’m not running around telling people to buy them or adding icons to my facebook page. But BOH has a nice little sound about them.
When I explained to a buddy here at work that I was accidentally reviewing BOH he assured me I would like them. Turns out he had an Amazon box on his desk with the same Cease to Begin CD. He described BOH’s sound as Southern, more specifically “Southern dudes with beards” ⎯which is never wrong.
This was all starting to sound promising. For starters my music was going back into the barrel, A lot of my favorite music is a little gamey, has a little woods in it, you need to check for bones before you consumer—Kings of Leon had that in spades and sadly seem to have gone away from it a bit recently.
The first track on Cease to Begin “Is There a Ghost.” reminds me a bit of “MLK” from U2. Even though it clocks in at nearly 3 minutes it’s not as much a song as it is a sleepy time vibe. But to their credit, it’s a nice album opener with a little rock guitar thump and an introduction to lead vocalist Ben Bridwell’s pretty voice.
One of the things I found a bit distracting about BOH was going from “Southern guys with beards” to the lovely vocal of Bridwell. I mean this guy doesn’t sound like a cowboy he sounds like the “you sure got a purdy mouth” guy the cowboys would want to share a cell with.
Track two “Ode to LRC” had me worried. The album was starting to sound like everything and nothing. This track reminds me of bands like Athlete that get the critics all excited and when you listed to them it’s just a good solid C+. Personally I’d rather listen to the best or the worst, the middle is what really hurts your ears and wastes your time.
Recovery was one song away with “No One’s Gonna Love You” where the boys got to me. “No One’s Gonna Love You” is a song about the phantom pains of love feeling like “a limb torn off.” You can hear the hurt in his voice as Bridwell goes out of his way to say “no one is ever going to love you like I do” to someone who has clearly moved on. “No One’s Gonna Love You” has a haunting effect as Bridwell pens one more love letter to the “ghost of what once was.” This one has all the moodiness it needs to toss it on top of the last 5 minutes of a Grey’s Anatomy episode.
I’m always going to be a sucker for the wind chime twinkle of a guitar because I grew up worshipping the Edge and U2. Band of Horses have some guitar chops featuring a guitar instrumental “Lamb on the Lam (In the City).” Bridwell’s vocal grew on me as well as at times he has a little Perry Farrell and he’s a real singer-which I appreciate.
Overall Band of Horses make lovely like the bell choir visiting your church around Christmas. What BOH lack in Adam’s apple grit, they make up for in gorgeous melody. The music tends to be a little bit too shoe gazer sleepy for my liking as it sort of wants to fade into a starry sky. But I think the band is capable of more. They have the guitar chops, but I’d like to see a little less twinkle twinkle and a little more asteroid coming from him.
Where BOH really won me over was by putting the belt buckle on and showing their range on “The General Specific” and “Marry Song.” “The General Specific” is a saloon stomp and a hot little song. It’s odd in sort of White Stripes way, at times sounding like a different band. The guitar is gone replaced with piano and a strong bass buzz. The eyes are no longer on the floor, and the feet are tapping. Bridwell’s voice changes, but it doesn’t sound forced. It’s almost as if the boys from South Carolina wanted to show us they could do it just to check the box. “Marry Song” is whiney whiskey country at its best. The sort of southern fried country that makes you want to drink until the sun hurts your eyes the next morning. It’s not for everyone, but if you like a good Western movie you’ll likely enjoy this 3:23 seat next to the organ. The keyboard work is key to both of these departure songs. Is there anything better than the sound of rock guys singing country?!
In short Band of Horses’ Cease to Begin ranks ahead of many other critical darlings (Interpol, Radiohead) I’ve reviewed in this space. I’d keep my eye on them. If they can stop counting sheep and get some of the music out of the evening and into the morning or afternoon—I think they could stick around for a while. I think they have too much personality not to do something interesting. Any band who can write a gorgeous ballad and name it “Detlef Schrempf” after the former 7’ awkward pasty German white basketball star has to be capable of making their mark.
Funny thing happened, my ticket was a winner. I like Band of Horses. I don’t love them. I’m not running around telling people to buy them or adding icons to my facebook page. But BOH has a nice little sound about them.
When I explained to a buddy here at work that I was accidentally reviewing BOH he assured me I would like them. Turns out he had an Amazon box on his desk with the same Cease to Begin CD. He described BOH’s sound as Southern, more specifically “Southern dudes with beards” ⎯which is never wrong.
This was all starting to sound promising. For starters my music was going back into the barrel, A lot of my favorite music is a little gamey, has a little woods in it, you need to check for bones before you consumer—Kings of Leon had that in spades and sadly seem to have gone away from it a bit recently.
The first track on Cease to Begin “Is There a Ghost.” reminds me a bit of “MLK” from U2. Even though it clocks in at nearly 3 minutes it’s not as much a song as it is a sleepy time vibe. But to their credit, it’s a nice album opener with a little rock guitar thump and an introduction to lead vocalist Ben Bridwell’s pretty voice.
One of the things I found a bit distracting about BOH was going from “Southern guys with beards” to the lovely vocal of Bridwell. I mean this guy doesn’t sound like a cowboy he sounds like the “you sure got a purdy mouth” guy the cowboys would want to share a cell with.
Track two “Ode to LRC” had me worried. The album was starting to sound like everything and nothing. This track reminds me of bands like Athlete that get the critics all excited and when you listed to them it’s just a good solid C+. Personally I’d rather listen to the best or the worst, the middle is what really hurts your ears and wastes your time.
Recovery was one song away with “No One’s Gonna Love You” where the boys got to me. “No One’s Gonna Love You” is a song about the phantom pains of love feeling like “a limb torn off.” You can hear the hurt in his voice as Bridwell goes out of his way to say “no one is ever going to love you like I do” to someone who has clearly moved on. “No One’s Gonna Love You” has a haunting effect as Bridwell pens one more love letter to the “ghost of what once was.” This one has all the moodiness it needs to toss it on top of the last 5 minutes of a Grey’s Anatomy episode.
I’m always going to be a sucker for the wind chime twinkle of a guitar because I grew up worshipping the Edge and U2. Band of Horses have some guitar chops featuring a guitar instrumental “Lamb on the Lam (In the City).” Bridwell’s vocal grew on me as well as at times he has a little Perry Farrell and he’s a real singer-which I appreciate.
Overall Band of Horses make lovely like the bell choir visiting your church around Christmas. What BOH lack in Adam’s apple grit, they make up for in gorgeous melody. The music tends to be a little bit too shoe gazer sleepy for my liking as it sort of wants to fade into a starry sky. But I think the band is capable of more. They have the guitar chops, but I’d like to see a little less twinkle twinkle and a little more asteroid coming from him.
Where BOH really won me over was by putting the belt buckle on and showing their range on “The General Specific” and “Marry Song.” “The General Specific” is a saloon stomp and a hot little song. It’s odd in sort of White Stripes way, at times sounding like a different band. The guitar is gone replaced with piano and a strong bass buzz. The eyes are no longer on the floor, and the feet are tapping. Bridwell’s voice changes, but it doesn’t sound forced. It’s almost as if the boys from South Carolina wanted to show us they could do it just to check the box. “Marry Song” is whiney whiskey country at its best. The sort of southern fried country that makes you want to drink until the sun hurts your eyes the next morning. It’s not for everyone, but if you like a good Western movie you’ll likely enjoy this 3:23 seat next to the organ. The keyboard work is key to both of these departure songs. Is there anything better than the sound of rock guys singing country?!
In short Band of Horses’ Cease to Begin ranks ahead of many other critical darlings (Interpol, Radiohead) I’ve reviewed in this space. I’d keep my eye on them. If they can stop counting sheep and get some of the music out of the evening and into the morning or afternoon—I think they could stick around for a while. I think they have too much personality not to do something interesting. Any band who can write a gorgeous ballad and name it “Detlef Schrempf” after the former 7’ awkward pasty German white basketball star has to be capable of making their mark.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Raise a glass to the Dropkick Murphys! Hey!
It’s usually a good sign when the first time you hear about a band you’re eating a peanut butter burger while sitting at a bar.
It doesn’t’ hurt that the next thing you hear about them is they contributed to the Departed soundtrack.
And the trifecta is complete when a rock & roll gal from work (let’s call her Carol), who you’ve had arguments about the specific definition of “punk” with over the ears recommends them. Yes, with Dropkick Murphys all the letters of recommendation were in before I even started listening.
The Dropkick Murphys had me from the school bell on opener “Famous for Nothing,” It’s the tale of St. Mary’s school where the only common ground between cliques is basketball and alcohol. “Famous for Nothing” is messy rock just how this high school mash up would likely turn out. “It wasn’t pretty at all” the lads go on to say.
When I first held the new Dropkick Murphys’ CD The Meanest of Times, I was excited. The pleather album cover look combined with the Celtic cross on the front album art felt provocative. The Meanest of Times felt like an album college guys would lift weight to. More importantly it felt like something absent from the world right now, some good punchy punk.
The music reminds me of a college roommate I had named Sam. I think he’s a lawyer now, but back in the day no one was more fun then Sammy. He was the guy you wanted to stand and scream through the sunroof and do shots of Jameson late night with. Sammy was straight up Boston, straight up passion.
The brief description I had on Dropkick Murphys going in was “Celtic punk.” And I guess that’s about right. Dropkick Murphy sound like Green Day with bagpipes. They sound like bloody knuckles with claddagh rings on. But mostly the music sounds like a big sweaty club filled with people raising their glasses to toast. Lead singer Al Barr has plenty of memorable one-line screams like “God willing,” “sailor coming home,” and “You said we’d die alone” that add to this effect.
The Irish stuff does come through loud and clear on songs like “The State of Massachusetts” and “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya.” There are plenty of fist pumping “heys!” throughout, and the entire record moves at a blistering pace. What I like most about The Meanest of Times are the stories. They sing about characters like Billy and Flannigan. And they sing about whiskey, war, suicide, and guns.
But it’s not the Irish thing I like best about Dropkick Murphys. While I think that’s a reason to check them out, my two favorite tracks “Echoes on ‘A’ Street” and “Surrender” have a lot more guitar than they do shamrock shake. “Echoes on ‘A’ Street” is an epic track with a vocal that sounds like Neil Diamond at the start (a good thing by the way) before turning into a cinematic stomp down the block. The “Sailor Coming Home!!” chorus is the sort of thing to have you screaming alone in your car. Great rock & roll indeed. “Surrender” is more guitar hero with monster riffs that remind me of the best of Green Day, Blink 182, and Angels and Airwaves. “Surrender’ is leaner and more of a single. The guitar is kick ass especially when James Lynch melts your mind about two minutes in. The last track on the record rounds out my medal stand, as “Never Forget” is an anthem about the importance of love and family.
“(F)lannigan’s Ball” almost sounds like a continuation of “Surrender.” While not as strong a track, I’m glad we’re still rocking. While most of Dropkick Murphy’s songs are similar to the punk of Green Day, on “I’ll Begin Again” they show they’re capable of a more straight ahead big rock sound.
Guitarist James Lynch can straight shred and he pops off for the first time on “Tomorrow’s Industry” as does drummer Matt Kelley. “Tomorrow’s Industry” is a nice little band showcase, if not a great song.
In many ways Dropkick Murphys are the opposite of the other band I reviewed this week, Radiohead. If Radiohead sounds like a synthetic, empty, urban apartment –Dropkick Murphys are more like one of those little bars on the shore where the crab fisherman drink all night after getting off the boat for the entire summer.
I can only imagine how great Dropkick Murphys would be live. I picture a crowd full of brothers swaying back and forth, arm and arm, raising their glasses. The Meanest of Times is a nice little record with a half dozen promising tracks. Now if I could only find Sammy and some Jameson.
It doesn’t’ hurt that the next thing you hear about them is they contributed to the Departed soundtrack.
And the trifecta is complete when a rock & roll gal from work (let’s call her Carol), who you’ve had arguments about the specific definition of “punk” with over the ears recommends them. Yes, with Dropkick Murphys all the letters of recommendation were in before I even started listening.
The Dropkick Murphys had me from the school bell on opener “Famous for Nothing,” It’s the tale of St. Mary’s school where the only common ground between cliques is basketball and alcohol. “Famous for Nothing” is messy rock just how this high school mash up would likely turn out. “It wasn’t pretty at all” the lads go on to say.
When I first held the new Dropkick Murphys’ CD The Meanest of Times, I was excited. The pleather album cover look combined with the Celtic cross on the front album art felt provocative. The Meanest of Times felt like an album college guys would lift weight to. More importantly it felt like something absent from the world right now, some good punchy punk.
The music reminds me of a college roommate I had named Sam. I think he’s a lawyer now, but back in the day no one was more fun then Sammy. He was the guy you wanted to stand and scream through the sunroof and do shots of Jameson late night with. Sammy was straight up Boston, straight up passion.
The brief description I had on Dropkick Murphys going in was “Celtic punk.” And I guess that’s about right. Dropkick Murphy sound like Green Day with bagpipes. They sound like bloody knuckles with claddagh rings on. But mostly the music sounds like a big sweaty club filled with people raising their glasses to toast. Lead singer Al Barr has plenty of memorable one-line screams like “God willing,” “sailor coming home,” and “You said we’d die alone” that add to this effect.
The Irish stuff does come through loud and clear on songs like “The State of Massachusetts” and “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya.” There are plenty of fist pumping “heys!” throughout, and the entire record moves at a blistering pace. What I like most about The Meanest of Times are the stories. They sing about characters like Billy and Flannigan. And they sing about whiskey, war, suicide, and guns.
But it’s not the Irish thing I like best about Dropkick Murphys. While I think that’s a reason to check them out, my two favorite tracks “Echoes on ‘A’ Street” and “Surrender” have a lot more guitar than they do shamrock shake. “Echoes on ‘A’ Street” is an epic track with a vocal that sounds like Neil Diamond at the start (a good thing by the way) before turning into a cinematic stomp down the block. The “Sailor Coming Home!!” chorus is the sort of thing to have you screaming alone in your car. Great rock & roll indeed. “Surrender” is more guitar hero with monster riffs that remind me of the best of Green Day, Blink 182, and Angels and Airwaves. “Surrender’ is leaner and more of a single. The guitar is kick ass especially when James Lynch melts your mind about two minutes in. The last track on the record rounds out my medal stand, as “Never Forget” is an anthem about the importance of love and family.
“(F)lannigan’s Ball” almost sounds like a continuation of “Surrender.” While not as strong a track, I’m glad we’re still rocking. While most of Dropkick Murphy’s songs are similar to the punk of Green Day, on “I’ll Begin Again” they show they’re capable of a more straight ahead big rock sound.
Guitarist James Lynch can straight shred and he pops off for the first time on “Tomorrow’s Industry” as does drummer Matt Kelley. “Tomorrow’s Industry” is a nice little band showcase, if not a great song.
In many ways Dropkick Murphys are the opposite of the other band I reviewed this week, Radiohead. If Radiohead sounds like a synthetic, empty, urban apartment –Dropkick Murphys are more like one of those little bars on the shore where the crab fisherman drink all night after getting off the boat for the entire summer.
I can only imagine how great Dropkick Murphys would be live. I picture a crowd full of brothers swaying back and forth, arm and arm, raising their glasses. The Meanest of Times is a nice little record with a half dozen promising tracks. Now if I could only find Sammy and some Jameson.
I paid too much for the new Radiohead
I love the innovation of Radiohead. Their pay what you want online distribution deal was killer for their new record In Rainbows. Despite the technology involved what I really loved about it was at the core it’s the exact same premise as the street musician playing with an open guitar case for people to put in what they think the music is worth. While there have been all sorts of rumors (1.2 Million sold, $10 average price) regarding the success of the new model – none have been verified. One thing is for certain, Radiohead are trailblazers. And with Madonna and Nine Inch Nails following suit and opting out of their own major label deals expect to see all sorts of creative ideas for music distribution in the near future. Frankly, I’m excited.
Here’s my deal with Radiohead. I think people want to like Radiohead and I think more people like the idea of Radiohead then actually dig the music. If you put In Rainbows to the test, it’s not really much of an album. A promising start with the up-tempo “15 Step” and “Bodysnatchers” meanders into the ether. There’s no warmth to Radiohead. The sound is all zeroes and ones. I want my Rock & Roll to be a lot more whiskey and beer – to spend some time in a barrel someplace. Instead Radiohead’s sound appears to marinate on the motherboard inside a computer.
A couple guys here at work recently did a presentation on Virtuality featuring web environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft. As people assembled for the presentation they played some tracks from In Rainbows over a loop of Second Life imagery playing on the big screen. It was the perfect soundtrack; equal parts pretty, haunting, synthetic and sterile.
Radiohead’s music purchase site www.inrainbows.com had a very retro MS DOS feel to it with text boxes seemingly in the wrong places and nearly no explanation as to how the purchase process was supposed to work. The entire time I was punching in my info I wondered if it was going to work or if I was even on the “official” site. I decided to pay 5 British Sterling (or about $10 U.S.) what I thought was a fair price for In Rainbows
Having listened to In Rainbows, I’ll say the album for me is worth less than half that. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” a trippy little space coaster of a song held together with strumming and falsetto is the high point of the disc. While most of the music I review in this space is rollercoaster straight, Radiohead’s sound is more like a Tilt a Whirl . . .on morphine. But what works on “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” is the song actually spins enough to leave the ground. It sounds like something that could have been on U2’s Pop, or maybe their side project Passengers. “Reckoner” is similar in sound but lacks the structure of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and the result is forgettable.
In Rainbows just doesn’t seem to have enough blood running through its veins. It sounds like a stack of Wired magazines in an impeccable urban apartment. It sounds like a stylish place, a catalog, but without people. The main problem with In Rainbows is it sounds like no one lives there.
It’s hard for me to even talk about specific songs, as there wouldn’t appear to be a single on here. While In Rainbows may sound good blasting from the speakers of a downtown advertising agency, I’m at a loss as to where I would ever listen to this CD on my own? I can’t listen to it in my car because In Rainbows is way too moody for that. I’d have to drive around flexing my jaw muscles and sliding my sunglasses up and down my nose making faces in the rearview if In Rainbows was in the Wrangler’s 6-disc changer.
Radiohead are able to warm up their morgue table sound to room temperature on a few tracks. “15 Step” has a nice little guitar riff and intro before giving way to sound effects and drum machines. “Faust Arp” is folksy and “Videotape” starts with big promise and an actual piano intro but fails to build to anything but noises. Overall, In Rainbow sounds like an album the machines will make once they figure out how to be smarter than us humans. And I suppose that’s part of the appeal. While In Rainbows does have some nice Verve-like vocals and a few cool guitar riffs – I’m afraid I wouldn’t throw much change in the guitar case.
Here’s my deal with Radiohead. I think people want to like Radiohead and I think more people like the idea of Radiohead then actually dig the music. If you put In Rainbows to the test, it’s not really much of an album. A promising start with the up-tempo “15 Step” and “Bodysnatchers” meanders into the ether. There’s no warmth to Radiohead. The sound is all zeroes and ones. I want my Rock & Roll to be a lot more whiskey and beer – to spend some time in a barrel someplace. Instead Radiohead’s sound appears to marinate on the motherboard inside a computer.
A couple guys here at work recently did a presentation on Virtuality featuring web environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft. As people assembled for the presentation they played some tracks from In Rainbows over a loop of Second Life imagery playing on the big screen. It was the perfect soundtrack; equal parts pretty, haunting, synthetic and sterile.
Radiohead’s music purchase site www.inrainbows.com had a very retro MS DOS feel to it with text boxes seemingly in the wrong places and nearly no explanation as to how the purchase process was supposed to work. The entire time I was punching in my info I wondered if it was going to work or if I was even on the “official” site. I decided to pay 5 British Sterling (or about $10 U.S.) what I thought was a fair price for In Rainbows
Having listened to In Rainbows, I’ll say the album for me is worth less than half that. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” a trippy little space coaster of a song held together with strumming and falsetto is the high point of the disc. While most of the music I review in this space is rollercoaster straight, Radiohead’s sound is more like a Tilt a Whirl . . .on morphine. But what works on “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” is the song actually spins enough to leave the ground. It sounds like something that could have been on U2’s Pop, or maybe their side project Passengers. “Reckoner” is similar in sound but lacks the structure of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and the result is forgettable.
In Rainbows just doesn’t seem to have enough blood running through its veins. It sounds like a stack of Wired magazines in an impeccable urban apartment. It sounds like a stylish place, a catalog, but without people. The main problem with In Rainbows is it sounds like no one lives there.
It’s hard for me to even talk about specific songs, as there wouldn’t appear to be a single on here. While In Rainbows may sound good blasting from the speakers of a downtown advertising agency, I’m at a loss as to where I would ever listen to this CD on my own? I can’t listen to it in my car because In Rainbows is way too moody for that. I’d have to drive around flexing my jaw muscles and sliding my sunglasses up and down my nose making faces in the rearview if In Rainbows was in the Wrangler’s 6-disc changer.
Radiohead are able to warm up their morgue table sound to room temperature on a few tracks. “15 Step” has a nice little guitar riff and intro before giving way to sound effects and drum machines. “Faust Arp” is folksy and “Videotape” starts with big promise and an actual piano intro but fails to build to anything but noises. Overall, In Rainbow sounds like an album the machines will make once they figure out how to be smarter than us humans. And I suppose that’s part of the appeal. While In Rainbows does have some nice Verve-like vocals and a few cool guitar riffs – I’m afraid I wouldn’t throw much change in the guitar case.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Let’s Make Eric Hutchinson Famous.
I’m a music scout. I love following the breadcrumbs to the next big thing. I love leaving in the morning with my spear to discover new music and bring it back to the tribe. Through the years I’ve asked plenty of baristas, bartenders, busboys, etc. “What song is this playing right now?” A question usually met with “Would you like me to go in back and check.” Of course I would.
I’m particularly excited about my latest find, Maryland singer songwriter Eric Hutchinson. I can’t take all the credit as I first noticed him when he had a cup of coffee atop the iTunes charts (thanks to a Perez Hilton mention) before returning to obscurity. I can speak firsthand that his CD Sounds Like This is not an easy find. You won’t find it at Target, Best Buy, or the bookstores. If you’re interested (and you should be) check www.awarestore.com as they have the CD for $10.
Yes, Eric Hutchinson is a major score. Sounds Like This is one of those CDs that is immediately familiar. At first listen most people will suspect they already know the songs. What is that Terence Trendt Darby? J Timberlake? Michael Jackson? New Jamiroquai?
Hutchinson emerges on the music scene like Bo Jackson did on the sports scene a few years back – with the patience of a comet. A “just because I can” attitude abounds on the album with Hutchinson playing the confident chameleon throughout the entire record. If you’re looking for Maroon 5 without the radio saturation, check “Outside Villanova.” If you want something Clive Davis can tap his wand to? Check the Gavin DeGraw like opener “OK, It’s Alright With Me.” Or maybe you want to get your Bill Cosby dance on with something that sounds like vintage Stevie Wonder –check “You Don’t Have to Believe Me” for some power pudding pop.
If that wasn’t enough range, Hutchinson dresses up a Jason Mraz-like sound in a grass skirt with a groovy little island beat in “Rock & Roll” complete with sing-a-long “nah nah nahs.” Or maybe it’s a little Jack Johnson sex wax you’re after, hit play on “Back to Where I was” just before you slide the lime down the neck of your Corona.
Simply put Eric Hutchinson’s Sounds Like This is a rock solid blue-eyed soul debut. Nearly all of the ten tracks are extremely radio friendly and completely listenable. More than that, the entire record has soulfulness you wouldn’t expect from a 27-year-old suburbanite.
Yes I dig the Hutchinson, and my sense is this is a CD that will slowly find its way into your wives and girlfriends’ cars. My favorite track on the record is the haunting “All Over Now” which sounds like something off Flight of the Concords if it was a Zach Braff show. “Rock & Roll” is also infectious. Even the stuff I didn’t specifically call out earlier like “Food Chain” are well crafted little tunes.
Buy stock in Eric Hutchinson immediately, this kid is going places. Get the disc.
I’m particularly excited about my latest find, Maryland singer songwriter Eric Hutchinson. I can’t take all the credit as I first noticed him when he had a cup of coffee atop the iTunes charts (thanks to a Perez Hilton mention) before returning to obscurity. I can speak firsthand that his CD Sounds Like This is not an easy find. You won’t find it at Target, Best Buy, or the bookstores. If you’re interested (and you should be) check www.awarestore.com as they have the CD for $10.
Yes, Eric Hutchinson is a major score. Sounds Like This is one of those CDs that is immediately familiar. At first listen most people will suspect they already know the songs. What is that Terence Trendt Darby? J Timberlake? Michael Jackson? New Jamiroquai?
Hutchinson emerges on the music scene like Bo Jackson did on the sports scene a few years back – with the patience of a comet. A “just because I can” attitude abounds on the album with Hutchinson playing the confident chameleon throughout the entire record. If you’re looking for Maroon 5 without the radio saturation, check “Outside Villanova.” If you want something Clive Davis can tap his wand to? Check the Gavin DeGraw like opener “OK, It’s Alright With Me.” Or maybe you want to get your Bill Cosby dance on with something that sounds like vintage Stevie Wonder –check “You Don’t Have to Believe Me” for some power pudding pop.
If that wasn’t enough range, Hutchinson dresses up a Jason Mraz-like sound in a grass skirt with a groovy little island beat in “Rock & Roll” complete with sing-a-long “nah nah nahs.” Or maybe it’s a little Jack Johnson sex wax you’re after, hit play on “Back to Where I was” just before you slide the lime down the neck of your Corona.
Simply put Eric Hutchinson’s Sounds Like This is a rock solid blue-eyed soul debut. Nearly all of the ten tracks are extremely radio friendly and completely listenable. More than that, the entire record has soulfulness you wouldn’t expect from a 27-year-old suburbanite.
Yes I dig the Hutchinson, and my sense is this is a CD that will slowly find its way into your wives and girlfriends’ cars. My favorite track on the record is the haunting “All Over Now” which sounds like something off Flight of the Concords if it was a Zach Braff show. “Rock & Roll” is also infectious. Even the stuff I didn’t specifically call out earlier like “Food Chain” are well crafted little tunes.
Buy stock in Eric Hutchinson immediately, this kid is going places. Get the disc.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Springsteen Turns Wine Into Beer. It's Magic!
It took me four stores to finally find Bruce Springsteen’s new one, Magic, in stock last week. When I brought it up to the counter, the woman working the register at the downtown Borders looked at the CD and marveled, “Ahh, the new Springsteen.” I felt like I was buying a cabernet.
Springsteen records tend to be a lot like a cabernet. Full bodied, complex, hints of oak (OK that’s a stretch). The problem with Magic is it goes down a lot more like a Michelob Golden Light. It’s still good but not much to taste. I’ve listened to the entire CD dozens of times and all too often I’ve forgotten it’s even playing in my car. The thoughts in my own head are drowning out the music, and that’s usually not the case with a Springsteen disc. Magic does nothing to command your attention. There are precious few songs from Magic that will stay on the E Street set list for years to come.
Make no mistake I’m a Springsteen apologist. I’ve traveled to see him play live in New Jersey. I’ve sent my in-laws to see him. And his 2002 9/11 inspired album The Rising is the only record to ever make me actually cry (the song was “You’re Missing” to be specific – check it out-crazy powerful). But it’s never a good sign when the first single is the best song on the album, and that’s precisely what “Radio Nowhere’’ is. “Radio Nowhere” is such a promising start to an album. It’s a put the top down sort of song that stretches across your hood just the same way “Thunder Road” did years ago.
But from there it’s pretty much downhill. The second track “You’ll be Coming Down” starts out in classic Bruce fashion. You’re waiting for him to yell “hep!” to start the march. It sounds like “I’m Going Down” from Born in the USA remixed for his more synth flavored Tunnel of Love record. But at best “You’ll be Coming Down” is very average background Bruce filler.
After song two we really go into the desert for a bit. “Livin’ in the Future” will sound nice with a dozen people in their 60s dancing around on stage at Springsteen’s live shows, but it feels old to listen to on CD. Sounds like the sort of thing a guy with “Sparky” for his pet name would listen to. But perhaps at 33 my body is still rejecting the saxophone.
The real low point of the record is “Girls in their Summer Clothes” which has the Boss doing a husky Thurston Howell III voice as he watches all the girls pass by undeterred in their summer dresses. Hearing a master like Springsteen this far off his game and not using his natural voice leaves no wonder why the girls aren’t bothering to stop.
Springsteen makes a modest recovery on “I’ll Work for Your Love,” one of the few songs that will stand the test of time on Magic. The second the Boss blurts out “Pour me a drink Theresa in one of those glasses you dust off” the beer is suddenly a darker color. “I’ll Work for Your Love” is just the sort of tough, honest songwriting that has made Bruce a legend. Another gem to add to your collection.
The back half of Magic is also relatively uninteresting with the exception of hidden/bonus track “Terry’s Song (not on iTunes)” where Bruce laments the loss of his one of a kind brother. Very good stuff here with great lyrics like “.Gone into that dark ether where you're still young and hard and cold.”
In between there are clearly some anti-war messages (“Devil’s Arcade,” “Last to Die”), stories, and ideas. Trouble is the music doesn’t have broad enough shoulders to carry the ideas into the world. It feels like a record Bruce rushed together because he wanted to get back on the road. I just hope Magic isn’t too big a part of the live show this Fall because he won’t get much audience involvement unless he seriously reworks the material. Bruce is too good, and has far too many songs in his head for this to be the start of Michael Jordan wearing a Wizards jersey –but Magic is clearly not his best effort.
Springsteen records tend to be a lot like a cabernet. Full bodied, complex, hints of oak (OK that’s a stretch). The problem with Magic is it goes down a lot more like a Michelob Golden Light. It’s still good but not much to taste. I’ve listened to the entire CD dozens of times and all too often I’ve forgotten it’s even playing in my car. The thoughts in my own head are drowning out the music, and that’s usually not the case with a Springsteen disc. Magic does nothing to command your attention. There are precious few songs from Magic that will stay on the E Street set list for years to come.
Make no mistake I’m a Springsteen apologist. I’ve traveled to see him play live in New Jersey. I’ve sent my in-laws to see him. And his 2002 9/11 inspired album The Rising is the only record to ever make me actually cry (the song was “You’re Missing” to be specific – check it out-crazy powerful). But it’s never a good sign when the first single is the best song on the album, and that’s precisely what “Radio Nowhere’’ is. “Radio Nowhere” is such a promising start to an album. It’s a put the top down sort of song that stretches across your hood just the same way “Thunder Road” did years ago.
But from there it’s pretty much downhill. The second track “You’ll be Coming Down” starts out in classic Bruce fashion. You’re waiting for him to yell “hep!” to start the march. It sounds like “I’m Going Down” from Born in the USA remixed for his more synth flavored Tunnel of Love record. But at best “You’ll be Coming Down” is very average background Bruce filler.
After song two we really go into the desert for a bit. “Livin’ in the Future” will sound nice with a dozen people in their 60s dancing around on stage at Springsteen’s live shows, but it feels old to listen to on CD. Sounds like the sort of thing a guy with “Sparky” for his pet name would listen to. But perhaps at 33 my body is still rejecting the saxophone.
The real low point of the record is “Girls in their Summer Clothes” which has the Boss doing a husky Thurston Howell III voice as he watches all the girls pass by undeterred in their summer dresses. Hearing a master like Springsteen this far off his game and not using his natural voice leaves no wonder why the girls aren’t bothering to stop.
Springsteen makes a modest recovery on “I’ll Work for Your Love,” one of the few songs that will stand the test of time on Magic. The second the Boss blurts out “Pour me a drink Theresa in one of those glasses you dust off” the beer is suddenly a darker color. “I’ll Work for Your Love” is just the sort of tough, honest songwriting that has made Bruce a legend. Another gem to add to your collection.
The back half of Magic is also relatively uninteresting with the exception of hidden/bonus track “Terry’s Song (not on iTunes)” where Bruce laments the loss of his one of a kind brother. Very good stuff here with great lyrics like “.Gone into that dark ether where you're still young and hard and cold.”
In between there are clearly some anti-war messages (“Devil’s Arcade,” “Last to Die”), stories, and ideas. Trouble is the music doesn’t have broad enough shoulders to carry the ideas into the world. It feels like a record Bruce rushed together because he wanted to get back on the road. I just hope Magic isn’t too big a part of the live show this Fall because he won’t get much audience involvement unless he seriously reworks the material. Bruce is too good, and has far too many songs in his head for this to be the start of Michael Jordan wearing a Wizards jersey –but Magic is clearly not his best effort.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
You Had Me At Foo Fighters . . .
It must be tough to be Dave Grohl. Can you imagine growing up in a band like Nirvana, only to have the roller coaster fly off the tracks right at the top when it’s still all clicking noises and anticipation? While Foo Fighters have had modest success, to the outsider looking in they appear to still be a band seeking an identity.
Proof of this was their indulgent 2005 double disc In Your Honor, which featured, according to iTunes, one side of “bone-crunching rock” and another of “succulent acoustic.” Strange bedfellows wouldn’t you say? Personally I don’t mix my bourbon with Sierra Mist.
The Foo Fighters new one Echoes Silence Patience & Grace remains schizophrenic in that some songs sound like The Beatles namely “Statues” while others sound like Jack Johnson including the pretty but weepy acoustic instrumental “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners.” But the best stuff on the album sounds like (gasp) the Foo Fighters. That’s the issue I have with the Foo Fighters. I don’t understand the identity crisis when I can truly say there is such a thing as “vintage Foo Fighters.” And while the band may not reach the heights of single “Everlong,” they do have several great songs on the disc including “Erase / Replace,” “Long Road to Ruin,” “Cheer Up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running),” and “But Honestly.”
It’s interesting to remember that Dave Grohl was the drummer in Nirvana. This may be the ultimate compliment to current Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, who is the chassis of the band. The peak of the new album is the killer track “Erase / Replace.” It’s the sort of song you would turn on just as the skaters hit the ice for their pre-game warm-ups. It’s vintage Foo Fighters with the circular guitar alongside pulsing drums that carries us home. Taylor Hawkins is like an animal on this one taking us round and round specifically when Grohl breaks out his “Oh no don’t talk about it, No please don’t talk about it” pleas throughout the vocal. Be sure to check out “Erase / Replace” if your workout has hit a rut because from the first line “Attention. Pay Attention” it will have you doing just that. And it could be even better as a single if they give it a bit of a staccato remix to lean on Hawkins and keep up the pace a bit.
While I commend the Foo Fighters for continuing to explore new sounds and define their turf, there’s a part of me that really wants to see them just put together a rock solid Foo Fighters album. If it sounds anything like “Erase / Replace,” I think it would be a welcome relief in a world where Hannah Montana is the hottest concert of the year.
The intro to the first single “The Pretender” borrows from “Stairway to Heaven,” but overall sounds like a single and is nothing much new. “Let it Die” has glimpses of greatness but can’t overcome lyrical apathy second to only, maybe “Tequila.” Grohl seems to have some limitations in that he’ll often resort to screaming or just saying the same few words over and over and over again. The result can sound like a rock & roll brain freeze. See “Let it Die” and “But Honestly” for proof.
“Long Road to Ruin” has a little country flare mixed in and should be welcomed by the Southern rock set or at least by people who like Kid Rock more now that he’s trying to be Hank Williams. I specifically like the mid-song acoustic breakdown (the 2:15 minute mark); it’s all very Nickelback. Yes, that’s a compliment. I think. Hold up your lighters gents.
“But, Honestly” should be noted because it’s proof that bone crunching and acoustic can fit together in a right sized cocktail glass. It works here because the song builds throughout and Hawkins plays a prominent role. “Cheer Up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running)” has a fantastic guitar intro and should receive bonus points because I assume it’s a shot at the emo set.
All in all I’m a fan of the Foo Fighters. I just wish they would embrace being the Foo Fighters. Otherwise they’ll just be a recycling bin band (Audioslave, Velvet Revolver) with something missing. On Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace the band spends too much time playing ‘70s style AM radio soft rock. There’s too much WKRP, sad piano, too much emphasis on showing their range. It’s as if they’re saying, look we can make music like this and that. When all I want to hear is the Foo Fighters. Luckily, the boys did save a little time to put together at least 4 or 5 vintage Foo Fighters tracks. And by my math that’s worth the price of the album.
Proof of this was their indulgent 2005 double disc In Your Honor, which featured, according to iTunes, one side of “bone-crunching rock” and another of “succulent acoustic.” Strange bedfellows wouldn’t you say? Personally I don’t mix my bourbon with Sierra Mist.
The Foo Fighters new one Echoes Silence Patience & Grace remains schizophrenic in that some songs sound like The Beatles namely “Statues” while others sound like Jack Johnson including the pretty but weepy acoustic instrumental “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners.” But the best stuff on the album sounds like (gasp) the Foo Fighters. That’s the issue I have with the Foo Fighters. I don’t understand the identity crisis when I can truly say there is such a thing as “vintage Foo Fighters.” And while the band may not reach the heights of single “Everlong,” they do have several great songs on the disc including “Erase / Replace,” “Long Road to Ruin,” “Cheer Up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running),” and “But Honestly.”
It’s interesting to remember that Dave Grohl was the drummer in Nirvana. This may be the ultimate compliment to current Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, who is the chassis of the band. The peak of the new album is the killer track “Erase / Replace.” It’s the sort of song you would turn on just as the skaters hit the ice for their pre-game warm-ups. It’s vintage Foo Fighters with the circular guitar alongside pulsing drums that carries us home. Taylor Hawkins is like an animal on this one taking us round and round specifically when Grohl breaks out his “Oh no don’t talk about it, No please don’t talk about it” pleas throughout the vocal. Be sure to check out “Erase / Replace” if your workout has hit a rut because from the first line “Attention. Pay Attention” it will have you doing just that. And it could be even better as a single if they give it a bit of a staccato remix to lean on Hawkins and keep up the pace a bit.
While I commend the Foo Fighters for continuing to explore new sounds and define their turf, there’s a part of me that really wants to see them just put together a rock solid Foo Fighters album. If it sounds anything like “Erase / Replace,” I think it would be a welcome relief in a world where Hannah Montana is the hottest concert of the year.
The intro to the first single “The Pretender” borrows from “Stairway to Heaven,” but overall sounds like a single and is nothing much new. “Let it Die” has glimpses of greatness but can’t overcome lyrical apathy second to only, maybe “Tequila.” Grohl seems to have some limitations in that he’ll often resort to screaming or just saying the same few words over and over and over again. The result can sound like a rock & roll brain freeze. See “Let it Die” and “But Honestly” for proof.
“Long Road to Ruin” has a little country flare mixed in and should be welcomed by the Southern rock set or at least by people who like Kid Rock more now that he’s trying to be Hank Williams. I specifically like the mid-song acoustic breakdown (the 2:15 minute mark); it’s all very Nickelback. Yes, that’s a compliment. I think. Hold up your lighters gents.
“But, Honestly” should be noted because it’s proof that bone crunching and acoustic can fit together in a right sized cocktail glass. It works here because the song builds throughout and Hawkins plays a prominent role. “Cheer Up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running)” has a fantastic guitar intro and should receive bonus points because I assume it’s a shot at the emo set.
All in all I’m a fan of the Foo Fighters. I just wish they would embrace being the Foo Fighters. Otherwise they’ll just be a recycling bin band (Audioslave, Velvet Revolver) with something missing. On Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace the band spends too much time playing ‘70s style AM radio soft rock. There’s too much WKRP, sad piano, too much emphasis on showing their range. It’s as if they’re saying, look we can make music like this and that. When all I want to hear is the Foo Fighters. Luckily, the boys did save a little time to put together at least 4 or 5 vintage Foo Fighters tracks. And by my math that’s worth the price of the album.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Eddie Vedder isn’t sure the Joneses are winning. Maybe we shouldn’t spend all our time trying to keep up.
Be warned. In the true spirit of Into the Wild I’m going off the grid for this review. Going philosophical. Going free-wheeling. Maybe even going (a little bit) crazy.
I love Eddie Vedder’s voice. If I were putting together a dream band, I’d be hard pressed not to have Vedder involved. Bono can be the frontman, the entertainer, the big giant head – but we’ll let Eddie do the singing. He has one of those voices I like to hear stretched over songs. His own songs, cover songs – it doesn’t really matter.
When I first heard that Sean Penn was doing the film version of Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild, I was immediately curious. Sean Penn is one of my favorite directors, and while I hadn’t read the book about Christopher McCandless wandering death in Alaska– it sounded epic. When Eddie Vedder signed on to do the soundtrack as a solo artist it was almost too good to be true.
The Into The Wild soundtrack contains eleven tracks, but seven clock in at less than three minutes – a handful closer to one minute in duration. Hell, maybe Vedder is redirecting his energy away from Ticketmaster and towards the new music goliath, Apple’s iTunes. Must be hard for them to sell a $0.99 download when you can nearly hear the entire track in the :30 preview. At least they didn’t shorten to :15 previews or something although they did split up the last track “Guaranteed” to be sold as both the singing version and the humming version, nice. The casual music or even Pearl Jam fan won’t find much here. But Into the Wild is a welcome pleasure for the few of us who believe music should tell a story, make us think, affect the decisions we make in our lives, and change the world.
Sure there are some songs like “Rise” where Vedder makes the journey of Into the Wild a breezy one. You can find yourself barefoot on the dashboard riding the wave (where it takes me!) with outstretched hand out the window on a song like “Rise.” There’s something very campfire in Vedder’s voice. It’s got that REI, frontier range. His voice wouldn’t sound small in big places. That’s why he’s perfect for the Into the Wild soundtrack. But the real magic doesn’t come from passively listening to this disc, it comes from opening your mind to the debate and the magnetic pull of the Into the Wild story – here told in its music form.
While doing the business travel thing early this week I found myself sitting in a lot of airport lines. I would listen to the flight attendants as they announced, “At this time our Sky Team Elite members and people seated in Exit rows may begin boarding.”
After you notice that everyone on the plane is apparently a member of the Sky Team, you can watch the herd move towards the gate agents like cattle. Sure some of the travelers have a little more fashion, downtown glasses, more interesting luggage to carry. But it’s really a sea of slightly overweight corporate men shuffling their way around the country. As I sat there in line holding my Into the Wild soundtrack, it seemed appropriate to ask, and to what end? What are we all really doing anyway? If at the end of the day it’s about being good to your wife, your kids, there’s probably a simpler way to do this. And best I can tell we certainly spend most of our time chasing other things.
I remember a few years back Kare 11 news here in the Twin Cities did an investigative report on the nightly news where they had discovered that some of the guys who work the assembly line had been smoking pot on their lunch break at the Ford Ranger plant in Saint Paul. The news crew hid and filmed these big burly, Deadwood style men sitting at picnic tables smoking a joint on their lunch break. The men they showed were real men. Men who own a thermos, men working a job that means they’re probably missing a finger or two. Men who sneak a puff just to make the grind of the day go by faster.
At the end of the report the investigative TV news crew got right in the faces of some of the guys as they were leaving their shift and busted them on film for smoking pot on their lunch. I’ll never forget the footage of this one guy yelling back at the news crew. He just kept saying, “Yeah, I make stuff. It’s what I do. I make trucks. That’s what I do. What do you do? What do you make?”
I was always haunted by that. I thought he brought up a wonderful point. What in the world is a news report like that doing for the world? What are they making? What is their product, their craft, their trade? Makes me wonder if people who do something, the people with a tangible craft aren’t happier in life.
This life riddle has been on my mind for a long time. It’s the reason I fell in love with the parable of The Angler and the Executive when a buddy emailed it to me years ago:
THE ANGLER AND THE EXECUTIVE - Working for a Living
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, "Only a little while, senor."
The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, but a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to middlemen you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then, senor?"
The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, senor? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
It seems better to be the Angler. And to focus on what matters (clue: it’s not stuff). As I started listening to Into the Wild I asked myself what do I make? What lifestyle would make me happiest and most fulfilled?
I think Eddie Vedder gets this riddle in spades. You can see it in the way he’s managed or maybe mismanaged Pearl Jam’s career to expertly balance fame and authenticity. As Bono put it “every mission bites the nails of success.” Think about it, Pearl Jam didn’t make videos for their songs, took on Ticketmaster, and released a CD of every live show they did one year (the labels love that!).
While studying abroad I went to see Pearl Jam live in Australia on St. Patrick’s Day once. I only remember a few of their songs before I woke up in my dorm room with a torn t-shirt next to my bed. But the one thing I do remember is how they opened their set playing the five minute epic “Release” completely in the dark. There’s something in that simplicity that shows power in the underdone.
Vedder’s solo stuff on Into the Wild addresses the little debate I know many of us have in our minds: Is it better to . . . 1) bust our ass to get the addition on the house, the right cars, the right life 2) live above the game (or below) and just focus on what matters or find a career that’s a bigger contribution to society or 3) do we try to get filthy rich before we’re 40 so we can “afford to” become the high school teacher the kids always ask to speak at graduation –perhaps the best of both worlds. I don’t know the answer. I just know the Into the Wild soundtrack makes me think it’s very important to figure that out and to set a course even if that course is a very bohemian and shaggy choice number 4) to begin life where the road ends like McCandless did.
Truth be told the music on Into The Wild is nowhere near as compelling as the lyrics. And Vedder’s lyrics are masterful in their simplicity. This is the sort of stuff a college English class could dedicated a full week to on the syllabus.
Here is a song by song breakdown of the musical companion piece Vedder has created to McCandless’ famous journey:
“Setting Forth” is the untethered tale of letting go as well as the beginning of a journey moving “forward in reverse.” Maybe the thing that feels most real today is the pain of your knuckles scraping on the ground again. Maybe it feels better to get all Siddhartha and just look around and listen. To paint the face, play the bongos naked, and just smell the air, man.
“No Ceiling” shows that true wisdom comes from “believing more than I had.” Vedder seems to say it’s not the stuff you accumulate that matters it’s the experiences. When you’re in love with the intangibles, “this love has got no ceiling.” A statement flying in the face of the corporate ladder for certain.
“Far Behind” is where the protagonist goes further than I’m comfortable. We still see the central tension of the rat race with lyrics like “empty pockets will allow a greater sense of wealth” and “why contain yourself like any other book on the shelf.” A human truth especially today when you think of all the people that collect music and DVDs and books for their homes. Time spent accumulating stuff for their walls. I’ve always found it better to just pass a book on to someone else. Feel like stuff should go through you not be buried with you. That’s where the energy really is passing on the juice like that.
But on “Far Behind” we also hear a story of a person ready to leave all companionship and spend the rest of his life one with only nature and maybe his shadow. Not speaking directly to me anymore, but I’m sure it makes for a hell of a book/movie.
“Rise” is one of the fuller songs on the record with that familiar Pearl Jam sound (two minutes of it anyway). Lyrically exploring similar what does it all add up to themes clearly warn us that if you’re not careful the race against time can quickly turn into a life spent “turning mistakes into gold” and “burning black holes in memories.” As a dad and a husband all this makes me want to call a family meeting and ask what it’s all about. What’s our family plan? Mission? What are we here to do? What do we make? I used to think that sounded scary sort of pyramid scheme-ish, like I was “living the principle” or something. But now I’m not so sure that the alternative of not having a plan isn’t more frightening.
I suspect the Into the Wild soundtrack follows a similar story arch to the movie, and on track five “Long Nights” the lights continue to go out with our narrator slowly fading into the wilderness. The music has turned to night, but when Vedder sings “I am Falling” and his downy voice actually goes up in pitch, somehow we actually believe it will all be OK.
Instrumental “Tuolumne” provides the Ms. Pacman “They Meet” intermission we somehow need. It’s a little one-minute strum reminiscent of “Dust in the Wind.”
After intermission is where the snippets turn into songs on Into the Wild. The story has changed, something has happened, he’s strong again – or at peace anyway. “Hard Sun” must be the song when the credits role. We go from poetry to music here. Vedder cheats a bit using a mother earth metaphor to have nature become a female companion probably so he can get a song on the record that has a shot for radio play. “In the big hard world” even sounds like a march, makes me wonder if it’s cattle. Or people in line to board the airplane. Interesting to note while “Hard Sun” is called out on the album sticker on the cover, it’s one of only two songs on the album that Vedder did not write himself.
Vedder didn’t write “Society” either, but it’s a lyrical masterpiece of the riddle of life. It’s a last call song, a checking out song as our protagonist . . .Hell, lets call him our hero at this point says “I think I need to find a bigger place.” He asks Society to please not think less of him it’s just that the math simply didn’t work out. Irish folkie Jerry Hannan wrote “Society” and also provides background vocal and guitar here.
“The Wolf” is another spirit horse style instrumental transition taking us to chapter three where we finish with a bit of filler in “End of the Road” which is a better headline (“For me it begins at the end of the road”) than it is a song. “End of the Road” is one of the only spots where Vedder seems a bit fatigued, but perhaps this song is used as more of an instrumental score in the film –I’ve yet to see it.
“Guaranteed” is a bad ass finish with Vedder adding a little strut and certainty to his message. With lyrics like these:
“half their lives they’ll say goodnight to wives they’ll never know”
“everyone I come across in cages that they bought”
“I knew all the rules but the rules did not know me”
“Guaranteed” is the punctuation point as if to say I told you so, and the finish to an album that’s a wonderful series of little points that all adds up to one big story.
Into the Wild is a tough disc to recommend. It’s not something you’ll want in your car everyday. Vedder fans will like tracks like “Society,” a great modern American folk song. They’ll also like songs like “Hard Sun” and “Guaranteed.” But the real magic is in the writing. I’ll need to read Krakauer’s book to confirm how much are Eddie’s words here vs. his. But if half of the prose belongs to Vedder he’s done an amazing job here of being true to the story that I know of it while adding a new dimension through the music. Not to mention he made me think. So for the few of us that like to sit with the liner notes and dissect music –you will love Into the Wild, but this record won’t appeal to the Pearl Jam Ten masses.
I’ll post the full “Society” lyrics later in the week for those of you still curious after 2,700 words.
I love Eddie Vedder’s voice. If I were putting together a dream band, I’d be hard pressed not to have Vedder involved. Bono can be the frontman, the entertainer, the big giant head – but we’ll let Eddie do the singing. He has one of those voices I like to hear stretched over songs. His own songs, cover songs – it doesn’t really matter.
When I first heard that Sean Penn was doing the film version of Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild, I was immediately curious. Sean Penn is one of my favorite directors, and while I hadn’t read the book about Christopher McCandless wandering death in Alaska– it sounded epic. When Eddie Vedder signed on to do the soundtrack as a solo artist it was almost too good to be true.
The Into The Wild soundtrack contains eleven tracks, but seven clock in at less than three minutes – a handful closer to one minute in duration. Hell, maybe Vedder is redirecting his energy away from Ticketmaster and towards the new music goliath, Apple’s iTunes. Must be hard for them to sell a $0.99 download when you can nearly hear the entire track in the :30 preview. At least they didn’t shorten to :15 previews or something although they did split up the last track “Guaranteed” to be sold as both the singing version and the humming version, nice. The casual music or even Pearl Jam fan won’t find much here. But Into the Wild is a welcome pleasure for the few of us who believe music should tell a story, make us think, affect the decisions we make in our lives, and change the world.
Sure there are some songs like “Rise” where Vedder makes the journey of Into the Wild a breezy one. You can find yourself barefoot on the dashboard riding the wave (where it takes me!) with outstretched hand out the window on a song like “Rise.” There’s something very campfire in Vedder’s voice. It’s got that REI, frontier range. His voice wouldn’t sound small in big places. That’s why he’s perfect for the Into the Wild soundtrack. But the real magic doesn’t come from passively listening to this disc, it comes from opening your mind to the debate and the magnetic pull of the Into the Wild story – here told in its music form.
While doing the business travel thing early this week I found myself sitting in a lot of airport lines. I would listen to the flight attendants as they announced, “At this time our Sky Team Elite members and people seated in Exit rows may begin boarding.”
After you notice that everyone on the plane is apparently a member of the Sky Team, you can watch the herd move towards the gate agents like cattle. Sure some of the travelers have a little more fashion, downtown glasses, more interesting luggage to carry. But it’s really a sea of slightly overweight corporate men shuffling their way around the country. As I sat there in line holding my Into the Wild soundtrack, it seemed appropriate to ask, and to what end? What are we all really doing anyway? If at the end of the day it’s about being good to your wife, your kids, there’s probably a simpler way to do this. And best I can tell we certainly spend most of our time chasing other things.
I remember a few years back Kare 11 news here in the Twin Cities did an investigative report on the nightly news where they had discovered that some of the guys who work the assembly line had been smoking pot on their lunch break at the Ford Ranger plant in Saint Paul. The news crew hid and filmed these big burly, Deadwood style men sitting at picnic tables smoking a joint on their lunch break. The men they showed were real men. Men who own a thermos, men working a job that means they’re probably missing a finger or two. Men who sneak a puff just to make the grind of the day go by faster.
At the end of the report the investigative TV news crew got right in the faces of some of the guys as they were leaving their shift and busted them on film for smoking pot on their lunch. I’ll never forget the footage of this one guy yelling back at the news crew. He just kept saying, “Yeah, I make stuff. It’s what I do. I make trucks. That’s what I do. What do you do? What do you make?”
I was always haunted by that. I thought he brought up a wonderful point. What in the world is a news report like that doing for the world? What are they making? What is their product, their craft, their trade? Makes me wonder if people who do something, the people with a tangible craft aren’t happier in life.
This life riddle has been on my mind for a long time. It’s the reason I fell in love with the parable of The Angler and the Executive when a buddy emailed it to me years ago:
THE ANGLER AND THE EXECUTIVE - Working for a Living
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, "Only a little while, senor."
The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, but a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to middlemen you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then, senor?"
The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, senor? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
It seems better to be the Angler. And to focus on what matters (clue: it’s not stuff). As I started listening to Into the Wild I asked myself what do I make? What lifestyle would make me happiest and most fulfilled?
I think Eddie Vedder gets this riddle in spades. You can see it in the way he’s managed or maybe mismanaged Pearl Jam’s career to expertly balance fame and authenticity. As Bono put it “every mission bites the nails of success.” Think about it, Pearl Jam didn’t make videos for their songs, took on Ticketmaster, and released a CD of every live show they did one year (the labels love that!).
While studying abroad I went to see Pearl Jam live in Australia on St. Patrick’s Day once. I only remember a few of their songs before I woke up in my dorm room with a torn t-shirt next to my bed. But the one thing I do remember is how they opened their set playing the five minute epic “Release” completely in the dark. There’s something in that simplicity that shows power in the underdone.
Vedder’s solo stuff on Into the Wild addresses the little debate I know many of us have in our minds: Is it better to . . . 1) bust our ass to get the addition on the house, the right cars, the right life 2) live above the game (or below) and just focus on what matters or find a career that’s a bigger contribution to society or 3) do we try to get filthy rich before we’re 40 so we can “afford to” become the high school teacher the kids always ask to speak at graduation –perhaps the best of both worlds. I don’t know the answer. I just know the Into the Wild soundtrack makes me think it’s very important to figure that out and to set a course even if that course is a very bohemian and shaggy choice number 4) to begin life where the road ends like McCandless did.
Truth be told the music on Into The Wild is nowhere near as compelling as the lyrics. And Vedder’s lyrics are masterful in their simplicity. This is the sort of stuff a college English class could dedicated a full week to on the syllabus.
Here is a song by song breakdown of the musical companion piece Vedder has created to McCandless’ famous journey:
“Setting Forth” is the untethered tale of letting go as well as the beginning of a journey moving “forward in reverse.” Maybe the thing that feels most real today is the pain of your knuckles scraping on the ground again. Maybe it feels better to get all Siddhartha and just look around and listen. To paint the face, play the bongos naked, and just smell the air, man.
“No Ceiling” shows that true wisdom comes from “believing more than I had.” Vedder seems to say it’s not the stuff you accumulate that matters it’s the experiences. When you’re in love with the intangibles, “this love has got no ceiling.” A statement flying in the face of the corporate ladder for certain.
“Far Behind” is where the protagonist goes further than I’m comfortable. We still see the central tension of the rat race with lyrics like “empty pockets will allow a greater sense of wealth” and “why contain yourself like any other book on the shelf.” A human truth especially today when you think of all the people that collect music and DVDs and books for their homes. Time spent accumulating stuff for their walls. I’ve always found it better to just pass a book on to someone else. Feel like stuff should go through you not be buried with you. That’s where the energy really is passing on the juice like that.
But on “Far Behind” we also hear a story of a person ready to leave all companionship and spend the rest of his life one with only nature and maybe his shadow. Not speaking directly to me anymore, but I’m sure it makes for a hell of a book/movie.
“Rise” is one of the fuller songs on the record with that familiar Pearl Jam sound (two minutes of it anyway). Lyrically exploring similar what does it all add up to themes clearly warn us that if you’re not careful the race against time can quickly turn into a life spent “turning mistakes into gold” and “burning black holes in memories.” As a dad and a husband all this makes me want to call a family meeting and ask what it’s all about. What’s our family plan? Mission? What are we here to do? What do we make? I used to think that sounded scary sort of pyramid scheme-ish, like I was “living the principle” or something. But now I’m not so sure that the alternative of not having a plan isn’t more frightening.
I suspect the Into the Wild soundtrack follows a similar story arch to the movie, and on track five “Long Nights” the lights continue to go out with our narrator slowly fading into the wilderness. The music has turned to night, but when Vedder sings “I am Falling” and his downy voice actually goes up in pitch, somehow we actually believe it will all be OK.
Instrumental “Tuolumne” provides the Ms. Pacman “They Meet” intermission we somehow need. It’s a little one-minute strum reminiscent of “Dust in the Wind.”
After intermission is where the snippets turn into songs on Into the Wild. The story has changed, something has happened, he’s strong again – or at peace anyway. “Hard Sun” must be the song when the credits role. We go from poetry to music here. Vedder cheats a bit using a mother earth metaphor to have nature become a female companion probably so he can get a song on the record that has a shot for radio play. “In the big hard world” even sounds like a march, makes me wonder if it’s cattle. Or people in line to board the airplane. Interesting to note while “Hard Sun” is called out on the album sticker on the cover, it’s one of only two songs on the album that Vedder did not write himself.
Vedder didn’t write “Society” either, but it’s a lyrical masterpiece of the riddle of life. It’s a last call song, a checking out song as our protagonist . . .Hell, lets call him our hero at this point says “I think I need to find a bigger place.” He asks Society to please not think less of him it’s just that the math simply didn’t work out. Irish folkie Jerry Hannan wrote “Society” and also provides background vocal and guitar here.
“The Wolf” is another spirit horse style instrumental transition taking us to chapter three where we finish with a bit of filler in “End of the Road” which is a better headline (“For me it begins at the end of the road”) than it is a song. “End of the Road” is one of the only spots where Vedder seems a bit fatigued, but perhaps this song is used as more of an instrumental score in the film –I’ve yet to see it.
“Guaranteed” is a bad ass finish with Vedder adding a little strut and certainty to his message. With lyrics like these:
“half their lives they’ll say goodnight to wives they’ll never know”
“everyone I come across in cages that they bought”
“I knew all the rules but the rules did not know me”
“Guaranteed” is the punctuation point as if to say I told you so, and the finish to an album that’s a wonderful series of little points that all adds up to one big story.
Into the Wild is a tough disc to recommend. It’s not something you’ll want in your car everyday. Vedder fans will like tracks like “Society,” a great modern American folk song. They’ll also like songs like “Hard Sun” and “Guaranteed.” But the real magic is in the writing. I’ll need to read Krakauer’s book to confirm how much are Eddie’s words here vs. his. But if half of the prose belongs to Vedder he’s done an amazing job here of being true to the story that I know of it while adding a new dimension through the music. Not to mention he made me think. So for the few of us that like to sit with the liner notes and dissect music –you will love Into the Wild, but this record won’t appeal to the Pearl Jam Ten masses.
I’ll post the full “Society” lyrics later in the week for those of you still curious after 2,700 words.
Pint of Foo in Boston
I had an amazing music experience today. An amazing marketing experience as well. I found myself in Boston on business and had a chance to sneak away to Newbury comics. Shamefully I must admit, while in college in Boston I did more of my music shopping at the big box Tower Records (then Virgin . . .now Best Buy) right up the street – I have since grown to appreciate the indie flare of Newbury Comics. It’s the sort of place that barely exists anymore, a true drive-downtown-in-the rain-just-to-check-out-the-late-night-record-shop. They’ve got comics, the McFarlane dolls, the pins for your jean jacket, and of course loads and loads of music.
I picked up the Foo Fighters new disc Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and the sales clerk asked me if I wanted my free pint glass to go with it. I didn’t think he was serious, but I said sure. So he starts wrapping up a nice heavy pint glass with the Foo Fighters logo on one side and the Newbury logo on the other. Then he asks me if I also want the free 7” vinyl of the first single off the album “The Pretender.” Of course I did.
Confused I asked the guy if the pint glass and 7” promo was only a Newbury Comics thing. . .
“Yes,” he said.
“Why, does Dave Grohl love you guys or something?” I asked.
To which he replied simply, “No, he loves you.”
That ladies and gentleman is the best music buying experience I’ve had while banging on the blog for ya, perhaps my best ever. If ever in Boston be sure to check out Newbury Comics.
I picked up the Foo Fighters new disc Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and the sales clerk asked me if I wanted my free pint glass to go with it. I didn’t think he was serious, but I said sure. So he starts wrapping up a nice heavy pint glass with the Foo Fighters logo on one side and the Newbury logo on the other. Then he asks me if I also want the free 7” vinyl of the first single off the album “The Pretender.” Of course I did.
Confused I asked the guy if the pint glass and 7” promo was only a Newbury Comics thing. . .
“Yes,” he said.
“Why, does Dave Grohl love you guys or something?” I asked.
To which he replied simply, “No, he loves you.”
That ladies and gentleman is the best music buying experience I’ve had while banging on the blog for ya, perhaps my best ever. If ever in Boston be sure to check out Newbury Comics.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Graduation 3rd best for Mr. West. But it's Kanye, so he's still on the hip-hop medal stand
For me hip-hop has different expectations than other types of music. I always think of hip-hop in a more disposable way. In many ways the have it now appeal of the genre is the exact opposite of the album focus I tend to favor here on the blog. If album orientated rock & roll is the TV commercial, the film, or my favorite pair of old boots –hip-hop for me is a lot closer to a headline, a movie trailer, or an Old Navy tee I’m OK tossing in the bin after one wear.
I guess it makes sense that hip-hop dominates in today’s ring tone, single driven, digital music world. Like all of the impulse buy colorful candies and cleverly packaged gums and mints next to the checkout register, hip-hop is impulsive and irresistible. It delivers the right now sound.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. For every Montell Jordan, Dangerous Minds soundtrack, or Nate Dogg record –there is a Paul’s Boutique, The Chronic, or The Low End Theory. And for the past few years, no one has been more reliable than Kanye West churning out solid hip-hop discs. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Kanye’s first two records. At his best Kanye brings a lethal combo of brains and bounce. For me Kanye is like A Tribe Called Quest meets Diddy. His music is Lacoste brite with the popped color of late ‘90s Bad Boy with the added dimension of a heavy lyric like vintage Tribe.
Truth be told I feel like Graduation is the worst Kanye offering to date. It must be hard, when you emerge on the scene with a song as hot and smart as “Jesus Walks” where do you go from there? His second record Late Registration did a nice job of running a narrative through the entire disc while delivering punchy singles like “Gold Digger,” “Touch the Sky,” and “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.”
I’ll say this, if the appeal of hip-hop is as immediate as a movie preview, then the first single off Graduation “Stronger” would be the Transformers movie trailer on the 4th of July served with a large popcorn with butter in the middle and on top. Toss in a gigantic Cherry Coke for good measure. Damn, there’s a lot of sound in there. This killer single alone gave 50 Cent no chance in the battle for hip-hop supremacy. I spent one entire weekend blasting “Stronger” [Dads, if you start at the 1:30 mark you’ll miss most of the language] for my 6 and 9 year old kids. They straight up love it. When Kanye is at his best it’s like he’s sparring with the music. He’s having as much fun on the ride as you are singing, “Hey. . .hey. . “ “Stronger” is the perfect example of Kanye’s Crayola colored stomp. It’s awesome. I’m sure ESPN will be scoring an Ultimate Highlight to this one. I particularly love the stairway to heaven lyric where he steps from “Kanye likes” to “Klondike” to “blonde dyke” to “limelight”-awesome stuff right there. “Stronger” makes me want to lose my mind. If I were a high school football player listening to this pre-game I might not even make it out under the Friday night lights—I’d probably run headfirst into my locker or throw a garbage can at the chalk board. It’s that good, and you have to like any song with a prominent shout-out to both Prince and O.J.
It wasn’t until late last week that I finally found Graduation still in stock on a sunny morning as I stopped into a Target on my way into work. When I popped in the disc, “Good Morning” started to play and I heard the familiar “uh” of Mr. West –It sounded like a Polo shirt still warm from the dryer. Like hip hop Prozac. “In the Morning” isn’t a mix tape song necessarily but it sure is a great way to start the day. Kanye says early into the track, “Welcome to Graduation” and I was happy to be there.
“Champion” has a nice upbeat vibe to it, but with a title like that it reminded me of that old grey sweatshirt IT TAKE A LITTLE MORE TO MAKE A CHAMPION. And while “Champion” has a nifty sample it won’t bring home any hardware at the big game.
“I Wonder” has a unique heartbeat pace and is pretty interesting in combination with an awkwardly slow pace to Kanye’s rhyme. With the sample it sounds fresh—just not all that appealing. I’m guessing this abnormal rhythm will sound better to the critics listening on their stethoscopes than it will to the masses on their stereos.
It’s hard to punish a song that I first heard on Entourage when Vinny Chase and the boys grabbed a lift off Kanye’s jet to get to Cannes and blasted “Good Life” on the way. But there’s not a lot here once you get past the Jacko “P.Y..T” sample and a few nice “I, I go for mine. I got to shine” lyrical jabs. Yes, it sounds like the good life but I’d rather be “Big Pimpin’” any day of the week. On “Can’t Tell me Nothing” Kanye continues to break down the price of fame and his aggression sounds more natural.
The real reason Graduation doesn’t measure up to previous Kanye records is a sequence of major misses in the middle of the record. On “Barry Bonds” Kanye does clear my throat crunk and it sounds about as natural as when Hammer went gangsta rap. To be perfectly honest I would rather have heard Kanye’s take on the actual Barry Bonds debate, it’s a more interesting story with race, celebrity, and truth as key themes. Instead “Barry Bonds” is the start of a dreadful three song pit stop. “Flashing Lights” is basically a inferior and slower version of Justin Timberlake’s “LoveStoned/I think She Knows,” and only reinforces that J.T. may have made more progress than Kanye himself over the past couple years. This creative caul-de-sac also includes the low point on the record, “Drunk and Hot Girls” a predatory, misogynistic, and actually scary take on coaxing some ladies to have another “sippy sippy” off the whiskey even though they can’t keep their heads up. Brutal. When you hear lyrics like “Suck my fat bitch” delivered in a Macy Gray drawl by ‘Lil Wayne it makes me want to say to Kanye, “come on, you’re better than that.” And he is.
Kanye gets back on track (barely) for the last three tracks starting with “Everything I Am” which has professor Kanye back in the classroom, but still with not much to teach. “The Glory” has a sweet Jackson 5ish sample. And “Homecoming” has a guest appearance from Chris Martin that is a great reminder that the Coldplay frontman’s vocal has reached a “We are The World” level of distinction. It’s just one of those voices that gives unexpected joy and plays nicely with others like Colin Hay or even Sting. I should mention a friend of mine recently proclaimed “Homecoming” the best running song since Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” so I’ll need to pop it on the iPod for my next sweat. Seems like a stretch but Martin’s voice over an urban soundscape makes for beautiful graffiti.
Graduation finishes with “Big Brother” a love letter slash apology to Kanye’s mentor Jay-Z with a nice message to tell people how you feel before it’s too late.
At one point on Graduation West longs for Lauryn Hill to return to rhyming, before volunteering to pick up the slack himself. He falls short on Graduation. He still has nice party moments on the Diddy side of things but he’s missing the thoughtful “Jesus Walks” Tribe style manifestos which ultimately makes Graduation the 3rd pace finisher for Kanye’s solo career.
I guess it makes sense that hip-hop dominates in today’s ring tone, single driven, digital music world. Like all of the impulse buy colorful candies and cleverly packaged gums and mints next to the checkout register, hip-hop is impulsive and irresistible. It delivers the right now sound.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. For every Montell Jordan, Dangerous Minds soundtrack, or Nate Dogg record –there is a Paul’s Boutique, The Chronic, or The Low End Theory. And for the past few years, no one has been more reliable than Kanye West churning out solid hip-hop discs. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Kanye’s first two records. At his best Kanye brings a lethal combo of brains and bounce. For me Kanye is like A Tribe Called Quest meets Diddy. His music is Lacoste brite with the popped color of late ‘90s Bad Boy with the added dimension of a heavy lyric like vintage Tribe.
Truth be told I feel like Graduation is the worst Kanye offering to date. It must be hard, when you emerge on the scene with a song as hot and smart as “Jesus Walks” where do you go from there? His second record Late Registration did a nice job of running a narrative through the entire disc while delivering punchy singles like “Gold Digger,” “Touch the Sky,” and “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.”
I’ll say this, if the appeal of hip-hop is as immediate as a movie preview, then the first single off Graduation “Stronger” would be the Transformers movie trailer on the 4th of July served with a large popcorn with butter in the middle and on top. Toss in a gigantic Cherry Coke for good measure. Damn, there’s a lot of sound in there. This killer single alone gave 50 Cent no chance in the battle for hip-hop supremacy. I spent one entire weekend blasting “Stronger” [Dads, if you start at the 1:30 mark you’ll miss most of the language] for my 6 and 9 year old kids. They straight up love it. When Kanye is at his best it’s like he’s sparring with the music. He’s having as much fun on the ride as you are singing, “Hey. . .hey. . “ “Stronger” is the perfect example of Kanye’s Crayola colored stomp. It’s awesome. I’m sure ESPN will be scoring an Ultimate Highlight to this one. I particularly love the stairway to heaven lyric where he steps from “Kanye likes” to “Klondike” to “blonde dyke” to “limelight”-awesome stuff right there. “Stronger” makes me want to lose my mind. If I were a high school football player listening to this pre-game I might not even make it out under the Friday night lights—I’d probably run headfirst into my locker or throw a garbage can at the chalk board. It’s that good, and you have to like any song with a prominent shout-out to both Prince and O.J.
It wasn’t until late last week that I finally found Graduation still in stock on a sunny morning as I stopped into a Target on my way into work. When I popped in the disc, “Good Morning” started to play and I heard the familiar “uh” of Mr. West –It sounded like a Polo shirt still warm from the dryer. Like hip hop Prozac. “In the Morning” isn’t a mix tape song necessarily but it sure is a great way to start the day. Kanye says early into the track, “Welcome to Graduation” and I was happy to be there.
“Champion” has a nice upbeat vibe to it, but with a title like that it reminded me of that old grey sweatshirt IT TAKE A LITTLE MORE TO MAKE A CHAMPION. And while “Champion” has a nifty sample it won’t bring home any hardware at the big game.
“I Wonder” has a unique heartbeat pace and is pretty interesting in combination with an awkwardly slow pace to Kanye’s rhyme. With the sample it sounds fresh—just not all that appealing. I’m guessing this abnormal rhythm will sound better to the critics listening on their stethoscopes than it will to the masses on their stereos.
It’s hard to punish a song that I first heard on Entourage when Vinny Chase and the boys grabbed a lift off Kanye’s jet to get to Cannes and blasted “Good Life” on the way. But there’s not a lot here once you get past the Jacko “P.Y..T” sample and a few nice “I, I go for mine. I got to shine” lyrical jabs. Yes, it sounds like the good life but I’d rather be “Big Pimpin’” any day of the week. On “Can’t Tell me Nothing” Kanye continues to break down the price of fame and his aggression sounds more natural.
The real reason Graduation doesn’t measure up to previous Kanye records is a sequence of major misses in the middle of the record. On “Barry Bonds” Kanye does clear my throat crunk and it sounds about as natural as when Hammer went gangsta rap. To be perfectly honest I would rather have heard Kanye’s take on the actual Barry Bonds debate, it’s a more interesting story with race, celebrity, and truth as key themes. Instead “Barry Bonds” is the start of a dreadful three song pit stop. “Flashing Lights” is basically a inferior and slower version of Justin Timberlake’s “LoveStoned/I think She Knows,” and only reinforces that J.T. may have made more progress than Kanye himself over the past couple years. This creative caul-de-sac also includes the low point on the record, “Drunk and Hot Girls” a predatory, misogynistic, and actually scary take on coaxing some ladies to have another “sippy sippy” off the whiskey even though they can’t keep their heads up. Brutal. When you hear lyrics like “Suck my fat bitch” delivered in a Macy Gray drawl by ‘Lil Wayne it makes me want to say to Kanye, “come on, you’re better than that.” And he is.
Kanye gets back on track (barely) for the last three tracks starting with “Everything I Am” which has professor Kanye back in the classroom, but still with not much to teach. “The Glory” has a sweet Jackson 5ish sample. And “Homecoming” has a guest appearance from Chris Martin that is a great reminder that the Coldplay frontman’s vocal has reached a “We are The World” level of distinction. It’s just one of those voices that gives unexpected joy and plays nicely with others like Colin Hay or even Sting. I should mention a friend of mine recently proclaimed “Homecoming” the best running song since Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” so I’ll need to pop it on the iPod for my next sweat. Seems like a stretch but Martin’s voice over an urban soundscape makes for beautiful graffiti.
Graduation finishes with “Big Brother” a love letter slash apology to Kanye’s mentor Jay-Z with a nice message to tell people how you feel before it’s too late.
At one point on Graduation West longs for Lauryn Hill to return to rhyming, before volunteering to pick up the slack himself. He falls short on Graduation. He still has nice party moments on the Diddy side of things but he’s missing the thoughtful “Jesus Walks” Tribe style manifestos which ultimately makes Graduation the 3rd pace finisher for Kanye’s solo career.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Old Crow Medicine Show May Not Make Bluegrass A Thing - But Someone Will!
Old Crow Medicine Show sounds like a hardware store. The music smells of metal and the music crinkles as the clerk writes the cost of your nuts and bolts on the little brown paper bag.
A few years ago I predicted to a buddy that bluegrass music would be the next big thing. I had just seen a band called King Wilkie perform in Charlottesville, VA. My premise was simple. There is no music that sounds better while drinking than bluegrass music. The swinging doors of bluegrass can make anyone want to dive into the brown goods (or beer) and howl at the moon. There’s music that sounds great when you are drunk (hair metal for instance), but bluegrass is drinking music.
I deduced there were enough people who like drinking to make the bluegrass thing happen. I fully expected college kids to do their part. They were bound to love the authenticity of the musicianship required with bluegrass. I could see it all playing out. The Grand Ole Opry would be the new Red Rocks.
Needless to say it never happened.
But it’s funny that Old Crow Medicine Show was recommended to me when I asked a guy who does college tours what music the kids were listening to these days. He shot back Old Crow Medicine Show with sort of a “I know it sounds weird, but that’s what they’re into” disclaimer attached.
And it makes sense. If I were back in college sitting in the muddy backyard of our modular apartment preparing for a college football game I would love to have the Old Crow Medicine Show fading into the tailgate. It’s cool that way. Bluegrass sets a nice vibe; it sort of says you’re above the game of the popular stuff.
But that’s the problem with bluegrass; it’s too damn weird for the mainstream. Bluegrass is sort of like those old fashioned Union Suit underwear with the opening in the back. It’s cool as long as you don’t have to put it on everyday.
Today’s entry is more an endorsement of bluegrass then it is Old Crow Medicine Show specifically. If you don’t know the sound I encourage you to check it out, preferably when you’re on the verge of having a big night. If I were having a house party this fall, Old Crow Medicine Show would make the playlist.
Bluegrass is even better live. There’s just something awesome about seeing that many musicians playing all the instruments (from harmonica to slide guitar to upright bass to banjo to guitjo), and all taking turns coming to the front of the big old fashioned silver microphone at the front of the stage to play their part. The live bluegrass format reminds me of the Catholic mass of my youth, it’s like each guy is taking his turn making his prayer of the faithful. And the yahoo hee-yaw! result makes me want to echo right back like I did then, “Thanks be to God!”
The issue I have with Old Crow Medicine Show’s Big Iron World album in specific is it just sounds like an OK bluegrass record. In fact, it would have made a better EP. Of the few other acts I’ve listened to in the bluegrass genre, most of them have a catchier sound. Old Crow Medicine Show aren’t all that distinct, which I suppose is OK if we’re reducing bluegrass to atmosphere music -but I’m not ready to concede that it can’t be more just yet.
A great track on Big Iron World is the harmonica driven opener “Down Home Girl.” If Activision ever comes out with Harmonica Hero, I’m sure they’ll consult Ketch Secor for tips. His harmonica carries multiple songs on Big Iron World. Lead singer Willie Watson is best when he goes all Johnny Cash vibe with his voice. He does this to great effect on the storytelling number “Bobcat Tracks.” Not to mention Willie Watson is just a rock solid name for a bluegrass front man. When you name your kid Willie Watson does the nurses in the OB/GYN just hand you a pair of overalls and a bottle of bourbon or what?
I’m typically not huge into religion in my music, but Big Iron World really starts to take shape with the spiritual couplet of “God’s Got It” and “I Hear Them All” towards the end of the album. “I Hear Them All” preaches of a democratic theology as the narrator seems to hear all the voices (from Buddha to Elijah) equally in his head. There’s some nice southern fried Zen in there for sure. For the Ryan Adams, alt-country crowd you’ll find something to like in tracks 9-12. If I could re-cut Big Iron World as an EP I would tack the opener “Down Home Girl” onto the last four songs to deliver the highlights of the record.
Another thing that holds Old Crown Medicine Show back for me is the total preoccupation with cocaine as a central theme. I’m fine with sex and drugs in my rock & roll but when nearly every song has a cocaine shout out it starts to make me feel like an enabler for just listening. It’s hard to completely enjoy a chorus like “Take a whiff off me! Take a whiff off me!”
Big Iron World is an OK little bluegrass record. It reminded me that I’d still like to see the day bluegrass gets massive, but if Apple or Gap are looking for the killer bluegrass score for their new commercial—they won’t find it on this record. It’s out there somewhere, and I hope to find it. Old Crow Medicine Show isn’t ready for prime time quite yet, but they’ll sound just fine in my backyard and I’m cool with that too.
A few years ago I predicted to a buddy that bluegrass music would be the next big thing. I had just seen a band called King Wilkie perform in Charlottesville, VA. My premise was simple. There is no music that sounds better while drinking than bluegrass music. The swinging doors of bluegrass can make anyone want to dive into the brown goods (or beer) and howl at the moon. There’s music that sounds great when you are drunk (hair metal for instance), but bluegrass is drinking music.
I deduced there were enough people who like drinking to make the bluegrass thing happen. I fully expected college kids to do their part. They were bound to love the authenticity of the musicianship required with bluegrass. I could see it all playing out. The Grand Ole Opry would be the new Red Rocks.
Needless to say it never happened.
But it’s funny that Old Crow Medicine Show was recommended to me when I asked a guy who does college tours what music the kids were listening to these days. He shot back Old Crow Medicine Show with sort of a “I know it sounds weird, but that’s what they’re into” disclaimer attached.
And it makes sense. If I were back in college sitting in the muddy backyard of our modular apartment preparing for a college football game I would love to have the Old Crow Medicine Show fading into the tailgate. It’s cool that way. Bluegrass sets a nice vibe; it sort of says you’re above the game of the popular stuff.
But that’s the problem with bluegrass; it’s too damn weird for the mainstream. Bluegrass is sort of like those old fashioned Union Suit underwear with the opening in the back. It’s cool as long as you don’t have to put it on everyday.
Today’s entry is more an endorsement of bluegrass then it is Old Crow Medicine Show specifically. If you don’t know the sound I encourage you to check it out, preferably when you’re on the verge of having a big night. If I were having a house party this fall, Old Crow Medicine Show would make the playlist.
Bluegrass is even better live. There’s just something awesome about seeing that many musicians playing all the instruments (from harmonica to slide guitar to upright bass to banjo to guitjo), and all taking turns coming to the front of the big old fashioned silver microphone at the front of the stage to play their part. The live bluegrass format reminds me of the Catholic mass of my youth, it’s like each guy is taking his turn making his prayer of the faithful. And the yahoo hee-yaw! result makes me want to echo right back like I did then, “Thanks be to God!”
The issue I have with Old Crow Medicine Show’s Big Iron World album in specific is it just sounds like an OK bluegrass record. In fact, it would have made a better EP. Of the few other acts I’ve listened to in the bluegrass genre, most of them have a catchier sound. Old Crow Medicine Show aren’t all that distinct, which I suppose is OK if we’re reducing bluegrass to atmosphere music -but I’m not ready to concede that it can’t be more just yet.
A great track on Big Iron World is the harmonica driven opener “Down Home Girl.” If Activision ever comes out with Harmonica Hero, I’m sure they’ll consult Ketch Secor for tips. His harmonica carries multiple songs on Big Iron World. Lead singer Willie Watson is best when he goes all Johnny Cash vibe with his voice. He does this to great effect on the storytelling number “Bobcat Tracks.” Not to mention Willie Watson is just a rock solid name for a bluegrass front man. When you name your kid Willie Watson does the nurses in the OB/GYN just hand you a pair of overalls and a bottle of bourbon or what?
I’m typically not huge into religion in my music, but Big Iron World really starts to take shape with the spiritual couplet of “God’s Got It” and “I Hear Them All” towards the end of the album. “I Hear Them All” preaches of a democratic theology as the narrator seems to hear all the voices (from Buddha to Elijah) equally in his head. There’s some nice southern fried Zen in there for sure. For the Ryan Adams, alt-country crowd you’ll find something to like in tracks 9-12. If I could re-cut Big Iron World as an EP I would tack the opener “Down Home Girl” onto the last four songs to deliver the highlights of the record.
Another thing that holds Old Crown Medicine Show back for me is the total preoccupation with cocaine as a central theme. I’m fine with sex and drugs in my rock & roll but when nearly every song has a cocaine shout out it starts to make me feel like an enabler for just listening. It’s hard to completely enjoy a chorus like “Take a whiff off me! Take a whiff off me!”
Big Iron World is an OK little bluegrass record. It reminded me that I’d still like to see the day bluegrass gets massive, but if Apple or Gap are looking for the killer bluegrass score for their new commercial—they won’t find it on this record. It’s out there somewhere, and I hope to find it. Old Crow Medicine Show isn’t ready for prime time quite yet, but they’ll sound just fine in my backyard and I’m cool with that too.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Am I chewing tin foil or listening to Against Me!?
So I went out on a limb on the Against Me! album this week. Just like sports teams are faced with trap games (Appalachia St. for instance), music lovers are faced with critical trap albums. As I’ve mentioned in this space before, the more music you listen to, the more you appreciate the stuff that sounds different. And music critics are the ultimate freaks that way--they listen for a living so anything that stretches out the edges will naturally have more appeal to them.
The best compliment to Against Me! is they sound different, trouble is they don’t sound very good. They’re not fun to listen to.
I couldn’t wait for this week to end so I could move on to my next selection. Many of the things the critics probably love about Against Me! are the things that start to wear on you after repeat listens. Lead singer Tom Gabel has a voice you would never hear in other screamo bands. Gabel has a deep, thick vocal more Bob Mould or Henry Rollins or god forbid Crash Test Dummies—than standard emo fare. And for that reason the music takes on a whole different sound. But the more I listen to Against Me! the more I think Gabel isn’t singing in his natural pitch. He’s using his “singing voice” –and I’ve never been a fan of vocalists masking on the microphone and forcing things. Not to mention it’s just hard to listen to his voice for a long period of time.
Unlike most of the emo stuff, Against Me’s lyrics are more high school counselor than teenage angst. “Stop!” sounds like a straight edge cover of High School Musical with its “Stop! Take some time to think, figure out what’s important to you” chorus. I think they actually added the F-bomb to the lyrics at the end just so it wouldn’t sound like a straight edge show tune.
The only song worth mentioning on New Wave has the long emo title, “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart.” It’s a great little hot pocket of a duet with Tegan Quin from Tegan and Sara. “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” is like an old school metal ballad - you could see Lita Ford turning up here. The guitar is great and the song ebbs and flows so much the lyric “This room feels like it’s going to explode” could just as easily be talking about the ballad itself busting at the seams. We see the lyrical maturity here as well. “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” is basically a summer fling song about two people who know going in that they’re making promises they can’t keep. As a whole there’s a lot more head than heart to Against Me’s version of emo rock.
Another reason I was interested in checking out Against Me! was Bruce Springsteen turning up at one of their live shows and saying they had soul. I can see what the Boss liked here, these kids certainly have something to say. The lyrics are mature and they take a stance on songs like “Americans Abroad.” Clearly these guys are not apathetic youth, and are left leaning like Bruce himself. I think what Bruce probably liked about the band is that they’re not afraid to take a stance unlike a lot of their eyeliner emo peers.
In short, Against Me! didn’t compute for me at all. Gabel’s vocal gives the band a meat-head edge which I couldn’t handle for any extended period of time. It’s like the music has no neck to it. And the mature lyrics really felt too preachy and responsible when I was just looking to have a good time. Therefore New Wave finds itself in the Music Martes ghetto alongside Velvet Revolver’s Libertad. Yuck.
The best compliment to Against Me! is they sound different, trouble is they don’t sound very good. They’re not fun to listen to.
I couldn’t wait for this week to end so I could move on to my next selection. Many of the things the critics probably love about Against Me! are the things that start to wear on you after repeat listens. Lead singer Tom Gabel has a voice you would never hear in other screamo bands. Gabel has a deep, thick vocal more Bob Mould or Henry Rollins or god forbid Crash Test Dummies—than standard emo fare. And for that reason the music takes on a whole different sound. But the more I listen to Against Me! the more I think Gabel isn’t singing in his natural pitch. He’s using his “singing voice” –and I’ve never been a fan of vocalists masking on the microphone and forcing things. Not to mention it’s just hard to listen to his voice for a long period of time.
Unlike most of the emo stuff, Against Me’s lyrics are more high school counselor than teenage angst. “Stop!” sounds like a straight edge cover of High School Musical with its “Stop! Take some time to think, figure out what’s important to you” chorus. I think they actually added the F-bomb to the lyrics at the end just so it wouldn’t sound like a straight edge show tune.
The only song worth mentioning on New Wave has the long emo title, “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart.” It’s a great little hot pocket of a duet with Tegan Quin from Tegan and Sara. “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” is like an old school metal ballad - you could see Lita Ford turning up here. The guitar is great and the song ebbs and flows so much the lyric “This room feels like it’s going to explode” could just as easily be talking about the ballad itself busting at the seams. We see the lyrical maturity here as well. “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” is basically a summer fling song about two people who know going in that they’re making promises they can’t keep. As a whole there’s a lot more head than heart to Against Me’s version of emo rock.
Another reason I was interested in checking out Against Me! was Bruce Springsteen turning up at one of their live shows and saying they had soul. I can see what the Boss liked here, these kids certainly have something to say. The lyrics are mature and they take a stance on songs like “Americans Abroad.” Clearly these guys are not apathetic youth, and are left leaning like Bruce himself. I think what Bruce probably liked about the band is that they’re not afraid to take a stance unlike a lot of their eyeliner emo peers.
In short, Against Me! didn’t compute for me at all. Gabel’s vocal gives the band a meat-head edge which I couldn’t handle for any extended period of time. It’s like the music has no neck to it. And the mature lyrics really felt too preachy and responsible when I was just looking to have a good time. Therefore New Wave finds itself in the Music Martes ghetto alongside Velvet Revolver’s Libertad. Yuck.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Last Thoughts on Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight
My initial review failed to mention the last two tracks on Under the Blacklight. “Tell the Angels Hung Around” is a beautiful ballad with a gangly wingspan. It makes me want to feather my hair or put my hand out the window of a moving car. “Give a Little Love” has too much drum machine and effects which sound cheap next to Jenny Lewis’ stellar voice. The chorus is almost enough to save it, but ultimately I can’t get past the Wesley Willis bad Casio keyboard effects.
It's OK to buy Rilo Kiley, even the new one!
Before picking up Under the Blacklight I knew nothing of Rilo Kiley. I thought it was a person, perhaps mistaking them for Ike Reilly who I had checked out at various points due to Springsteen comparisons. Going in I wasn’t sure if Rilo Kiley was a he or a she.
Turns out they’re a band, or sort of a band. More like a remarkable lead singer who has people playing music with her. You might have seen Rilo Kiley on the cover of the new Spin magazine proclaimed as the next Fleetwood Mac. Wow, strong words indeed. That got my attention.
With the Rilo Kiley record I had something happen I hadn’t yet experienced doing the blog. Several people went out of their way to let me know that Under the Blacklight was nowhere near as good as Rilo Kiley’s previous efforts. Target didn’t stock Rilo Kiley when I went to buy it all I could find was R. Kelly which I thought was quite funny and actually considered reviewing just for the fuck of it. When I went down to Barnes & Noble (my Tuesday music Plan B), and told the clerk I was looking for Rilo Kiley, he asked me in sort of a panicked way, “Which one?” He then went on to try and steer me towards one of their previous records that he had displayed on his personal collection of cool music on a table in the corner of the store. At one point I had to actually ask him if he thought there was a chance I might actually like the new record if I hadn’t heard the band’s previous work and was oblivious to how far they had fallen. He wasn’t sure. He sort of washed his hands of the whole affair as if to say he couldn’t guarantee I would like that one like the others.
Having spent considerable time listening to Under the Blacklight I find these exchanges pretty funny now, because Under the Blacklight is really a nice little record., especially if it’s your introduction to Rilo Kiley.
The first track “Silver Lining” is my standout number. It’s a breath of fresh air songbird track. And lead singer Jenny Lewis should be huge. Wow, she’s like some sort of vintage female vocalist wrapped up in sexy Indie charm. Bet she blows minds live. I could listen to her all day long. Given the right opportunity I think Lewis can make music that we listen to for years instead of seasons.
“Silver Lining” is a cruising song that sounds like velvet. The apex is about 2:20 in where we hear the tingle of the triangle over “and the grass it was a ticking and the sun it was alive, and I never felt so wicked as when I willed our love to die” lyric. Killer stuff.
You’ll also want to check out the little disco ditty “Breakin’ Up.” It’s sort of a modern “I will survive,” opening with a great first person lyric, “it’s not as if New York City burnt down to the ground once you drove away.” “Breakin’ Up” sounds as fresh as starting over feels with a little groovy tossed in for good measure. Close your eyes and you’ll see Rene Zellweger singing into a hair dryer. The movies and Fall TV will be lining up to use this one. When Lewis sings “Feels good to be free!” from the other side of the relationship you can’t help but believe she’s telling the truth.
“Close call” is nothing special, a plodding number beyond the “funny thing about money for sex, you might get rich, but you die by it” lyric that is sure to stick to your ribs. “The Moneymaker” gets the band out front a little bit with a swanky guitar groove and will sound great under the colored lights live. The title track “Under the Blacklight” starts big before ultimately letting you down, but there are hints of Fleetwood Mac here for sure.
“Smoke Detector” is another fun Scissor Sisters type dance groove, and if someone hasn’t already come up with the silly dance that goes along with this song it will be on YouTube shortly. “15” is a great little country song but it’s tough to listen to the story of this ill advised hookup with an underage girl too loud or too many times before you start expecting Dateline to show up.
In short, there’s no reason to avoid Under the Blacklight. And you should check out Rilo Kiley the band for sure. Even if you don’t, you’ll likely hear from Jenny Lewis. She’s bound to get her Gwen Stefani groove on eventually and explode on the mainstream scene. Songs like “Dejalo” and lyrics like “He was deep like a graveyard, she was ripe as a peach” show her considerable range and potential. I’d like to see her spread her wings and fly, and that may or may not involve the rest of the band.
Turns out they’re a band, or sort of a band. More like a remarkable lead singer who has people playing music with her. You might have seen Rilo Kiley on the cover of the new Spin magazine proclaimed as the next Fleetwood Mac. Wow, strong words indeed. That got my attention.
With the Rilo Kiley record I had something happen I hadn’t yet experienced doing the blog. Several people went out of their way to let me know that Under the Blacklight was nowhere near as good as Rilo Kiley’s previous efforts. Target didn’t stock Rilo Kiley when I went to buy it all I could find was R. Kelly which I thought was quite funny and actually considered reviewing just for the fuck of it. When I went down to Barnes & Noble (my Tuesday music Plan B), and told the clerk I was looking for Rilo Kiley, he asked me in sort of a panicked way, “Which one?” He then went on to try and steer me towards one of their previous records that he had displayed on his personal collection of cool music on a table in the corner of the store. At one point I had to actually ask him if he thought there was a chance I might actually like the new record if I hadn’t heard the band’s previous work and was oblivious to how far they had fallen. He wasn’t sure. He sort of washed his hands of the whole affair as if to say he couldn’t guarantee I would like that one like the others.
Having spent considerable time listening to Under the Blacklight I find these exchanges pretty funny now, because Under the Blacklight is really a nice little record., especially if it’s your introduction to Rilo Kiley.
The first track “Silver Lining” is my standout number. It’s a breath of fresh air songbird track. And lead singer Jenny Lewis should be huge. Wow, she’s like some sort of vintage female vocalist wrapped up in sexy Indie charm. Bet she blows minds live. I could listen to her all day long. Given the right opportunity I think Lewis can make music that we listen to for years instead of seasons.
“Silver Lining” is a cruising song that sounds like velvet. The apex is about 2:20 in where we hear the tingle of the triangle over “and the grass it was a ticking and the sun it was alive, and I never felt so wicked as when I willed our love to die” lyric. Killer stuff.
You’ll also want to check out the little disco ditty “Breakin’ Up.” It’s sort of a modern “I will survive,” opening with a great first person lyric, “it’s not as if New York City burnt down to the ground once you drove away.” “Breakin’ Up” sounds as fresh as starting over feels with a little groovy tossed in for good measure. Close your eyes and you’ll see Rene Zellweger singing into a hair dryer. The movies and Fall TV will be lining up to use this one. When Lewis sings “Feels good to be free!” from the other side of the relationship you can’t help but believe she’s telling the truth.
“Close call” is nothing special, a plodding number beyond the “funny thing about money for sex, you might get rich, but you die by it” lyric that is sure to stick to your ribs. “The Moneymaker” gets the band out front a little bit with a swanky guitar groove and will sound great under the colored lights live. The title track “Under the Blacklight” starts big before ultimately letting you down, but there are hints of Fleetwood Mac here for sure.
“Smoke Detector” is another fun Scissor Sisters type dance groove, and if someone hasn’t already come up with the silly dance that goes along with this song it will be on YouTube shortly. “15” is a great little country song but it’s tough to listen to the story of this ill advised hookup with an underage girl too loud or too many times before you start expecting Dateline to show up.
In short, there’s no reason to avoid Under the Blacklight. And you should check out Rilo Kiley the band for sure. Even if you don’t, you’ll likely hear from Jenny Lewis. She’s bound to get her Gwen Stefani groove on eventually and explode on the mainstream scene. Songs like “Dejalo” and lyrics like “He was deep like a graveyard, she was ripe as a peach” show her considerable range and potential. I’d like to see her spread her wings and fly, and that may or may not involve the rest of the band.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
One Time At Band Camp . . .The Arcade Fire took us water skiing
I like The Arcade Fire. The feeling was good from the start from the low-fi bio-degradable packaging. Their 2004 debut Funeral contained no liner notes, which surprised me. But I did love the “MADE IN CANADA” sticker proudly displayed on the back of the disc.
The Arcade Fire has made quite a stir as of late. Their experiential live show is supposed to be quite the thing to see. And the band has kept it interesting even doing things like setting up to play in the middle of night on the sidewalk in Union Square, for no one.
I’m not quite sure what to make of The Arcade Fire. Perhaps my inability to classify them is the ultimate compliment. When people have asked me what they’re like all I can muster is something like “Rusted Root only cool” or “Talking Heads but not dorks.” I guess my only hesitation going into The Arcade Fire was that there was a bit of a “band-camp” vibe to them. Maybe they were a little too mousy, a little too Cedar Cultural Arts Center, 10-sided dice—for me. I could smell the incense.
I was told Funeral was a concept album. And I must say I’m not quite sure what the concept is perhaps it’s a funeral story? Something else? All I know is half the songs are titled “Neighborhood,” and I’m not quite sure what the story is. I owe it to myself to print the lyrics and try to figure this part out. But I must say I enjoy the CD.
The Arcade Fire has a very cinematic vibe to their music. It sounds like music from a commercial. I’m personally a huge fan of the wind chime epic guitar sound (Copyright The Edge), and songs like “Rebellion (Lies)” have this in spades with a nice drum beat from Howard Bilermon to pull you along for the ride. The Arcade Fire seem to be their best when plodding along,. My favorite stuff on Funeral is when it’s almost as if they’ve harnessed the music. Lush songs with a pulsating drum beat, the chime of the guitar, and even a little hint of rusty alt-country jangle in there. I could cut an iMovie or slide show to Funeral.
The only thing that surprised me is the music sounds very flat on CD. The promise of The Arcade Fire was this full-bodied sonic experience, and I must say it doesn’t come across on the disc itself. Suppose this is why the live show is such a big deal. Because on the CD the music sounds a lot more 2-D than it should. Specifically Win Butler’s vocal is pushed into the instrumentation too much. He rarely gets a chance to preside over tracks and for that reason most of his words are totally lost in the wake of the music.
The water ski wake of the music is probably the best description of what I really like about my initial discoveries on Funeral. You really feel that on tracks like “Rebellion (Lies),” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), and the last forty five seconds of the otherwise sleepy “Une Annee Sans Lumiere.” The Arcade Fire is at their best on these head bobbing songs where the music is in a hurry to go somewhere. It’s a ride. And I bet at a live show it’s an over the top magic carpet ride. I can see the Roy Wilkins crowd pulsating in my head when I listen to the last minute build of a song like “Crown of Love.”
The Arcade Fire do that a lot, take a song and give you a completely new song for the last minute. It’s pretty cool. Sort of like they’re saying, “don’t like this. . .will just stick around, it gets better.”
The only song I was familiar with off Funeral was “Wake Up” which U2 used to open their Vertigo tour. It’s a great song filled with anticipation. “Wake Up” may be the most complete, or should I say finished sounding track on Funeral. Butler’s lead vocal gets up on top of the music for once, and everyone and everything seems to be in the right place. Not easy when you have nearly a dozen musicians chipping in. Even “Wake Up” takes a turn at the end adding a ‘50s bee-bop groove for the last minute.
There’s something a little new age, spiritual, or maybe fantasy based about The Arcade Fire. The music has an evening, memory sound to it. The only thing similar for the blog has been Interpol. It’s a heavy sound.
Clearly The Arcade Fire is original. Just listen to a song like “Crown of Love,” a gem. The catchy sing-a-long “If you still want me, please forgive me,” the string arrangement, and the vocal build up to a passionate scream. Then for the last minute it turns into a disco explosion. Awesome.
Can’t say much for any of Regine Chassagne’s vocal. I basically would skip any of the songs she sings. And with nine off and on members in the band, I think The Arcade Fire could trim here. But that could be a problem as she’s married to lead singer Win Butler. When Regine is singing you should expect Mazzy Star, Natural Born Killers weird tracks, that don’t sound very nice.
I’m also less interested when The Arcade Fire slow things down (“Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)) or start sounding a bit like the B52s or even Talking Heads like they do on “Neighborhood #2 (Laika).”
In summary, The Arcade Fire is a band for the future. I do intend to catch a live performance. If I did, I suspect I would be completely hooked. But without that there’s still a hint of the weird lady doing the “drug dance” barefoot at the outdoor concert, and the dimension of the music doesn’t come through on the CD like it should. I’m guessing the budget wasn’t there for the big production in 2004. With this talent, I suspect The Arcade Fire will keep getting bigger and bigger –and the music will too.
The Arcade Fire has made quite a stir as of late. Their experiential live show is supposed to be quite the thing to see. And the band has kept it interesting even doing things like setting up to play in the middle of night on the sidewalk in Union Square, for no one.
I’m not quite sure what to make of The Arcade Fire. Perhaps my inability to classify them is the ultimate compliment. When people have asked me what they’re like all I can muster is something like “Rusted Root only cool” or “Talking Heads but not dorks.” I guess my only hesitation going into The Arcade Fire was that there was a bit of a “band-camp” vibe to them. Maybe they were a little too mousy, a little too Cedar Cultural Arts Center, 10-sided dice—for me. I could smell the incense.
I was told Funeral was a concept album. And I must say I’m not quite sure what the concept is perhaps it’s a funeral story? Something else? All I know is half the songs are titled “Neighborhood,” and I’m not quite sure what the story is. I owe it to myself to print the lyrics and try to figure this part out. But I must say I enjoy the CD.
The Arcade Fire has a very cinematic vibe to their music. It sounds like music from a commercial. I’m personally a huge fan of the wind chime epic guitar sound (Copyright The Edge), and songs like “Rebellion (Lies)” have this in spades with a nice drum beat from Howard Bilermon to pull you along for the ride. The Arcade Fire seem to be their best when plodding along,. My favorite stuff on Funeral is when it’s almost as if they’ve harnessed the music. Lush songs with a pulsating drum beat, the chime of the guitar, and even a little hint of rusty alt-country jangle in there. I could cut an iMovie or slide show to Funeral.
The only thing that surprised me is the music sounds very flat on CD. The promise of The Arcade Fire was this full-bodied sonic experience, and I must say it doesn’t come across on the disc itself. Suppose this is why the live show is such a big deal. Because on the CD the music sounds a lot more 2-D than it should. Specifically Win Butler’s vocal is pushed into the instrumentation too much. He rarely gets a chance to preside over tracks and for that reason most of his words are totally lost in the wake of the music.
The water ski wake of the music is probably the best description of what I really like about my initial discoveries on Funeral. You really feel that on tracks like “Rebellion (Lies),” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), and the last forty five seconds of the otherwise sleepy “Une Annee Sans Lumiere.” The Arcade Fire is at their best on these head bobbing songs where the music is in a hurry to go somewhere. It’s a ride. And I bet at a live show it’s an over the top magic carpet ride. I can see the Roy Wilkins crowd pulsating in my head when I listen to the last minute build of a song like “Crown of Love.”
The Arcade Fire do that a lot, take a song and give you a completely new song for the last minute. It’s pretty cool. Sort of like they’re saying, “don’t like this. . .will just stick around, it gets better.”
The only song I was familiar with off Funeral was “Wake Up” which U2 used to open their Vertigo tour. It’s a great song filled with anticipation. “Wake Up” may be the most complete, or should I say finished sounding track on Funeral. Butler’s lead vocal gets up on top of the music for once, and everyone and everything seems to be in the right place. Not easy when you have nearly a dozen musicians chipping in. Even “Wake Up” takes a turn at the end adding a ‘50s bee-bop groove for the last minute.
There’s something a little new age, spiritual, or maybe fantasy based about The Arcade Fire. The music has an evening, memory sound to it. The only thing similar for the blog has been Interpol. It’s a heavy sound.
Clearly The Arcade Fire is original. Just listen to a song like “Crown of Love,” a gem. The catchy sing-a-long “If you still want me, please forgive me,” the string arrangement, and the vocal build up to a passionate scream. Then for the last minute it turns into a disco explosion. Awesome.
Can’t say much for any of Regine Chassagne’s vocal. I basically would skip any of the songs she sings. And with nine off and on members in the band, I think The Arcade Fire could trim here. But that could be a problem as she’s married to lead singer Win Butler. When Regine is singing you should expect Mazzy Star, Natural Born Killers weird tracks, that don’t sound very nice.
I’m also less interested when The Arcade Fire slow things down (“Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)) or start sounding a bit like the B52s or even Talking Heads like they do on “Neighborhood #2 (Laika).”
In summary, The Arcade Fire is a band for the future. I do intend to catch a live performance. If I did, I suspect I would be completely hooked. But without that there’s still a hint of the weird lady doing the “drug dance” barefoot at the outdoor concert, and the dimension of the music doesn’t come through on the CD like it should. I’m guessing the budget wasn’t there for the big production in 2004. With this talent, I suspect The Arcade Fire will keep getting bigger and bigger –and the music will too.
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