there's a riot goin' on (sly and the family stone)
Nice. It's a nice, deep, low, fuzzy, dark funk record. An ambient funk sound. Many of the songs start in a nice, melodic, distinct moment of pop, and then glide towards less distinct funk jams. This is a mood album, a nice, low funk mood. My favorite track is "Family Affair," some other good ones are "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" and the casually cheerful, vintage coke commercial "Runnin' Away." Many of the tracks are cool but boring, to be honest. I mean, it's good as a funk record, the reputation of the record obviously is tremendous, but I'm not in love with it as music itself.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
album #96
another green world (brian eno)
Eno intrigues me, because I don't really know much about his solo career, but I do know that he's highly regarded for his collaborations with musicians I love, like Bowie and Talking Heads. That said, I wasn't in love with this album. It never turned me off, it was just so minimalistic. The only standouts are "Everything Merges With The Night," very pretty piano, nice vocals- there's a sense of cinematic casualness to this one, sweetly quiet, contemplative wintertime. And the other standout, my favorite, "I'll Come Running," which feels like it could be a Bowie song- a nice rhythm to it, fun lyrics, the piano tinkling nicely; this is the only song that feels like it has a direction, the rest seem to exist in a mild sonic statism.
Cool sounds, cool synths, the way he changes sounds, it's all interesting. But that's all it is. Interesting, cool. Rarely fully engaging. (That said, I still think I'll give him a chance, especially on his allegedly less-minimalistic earlier albums).
Eno intrigues me, because I don't really know much about his solo career, but I do know that he's highly regarded for his collaborations with musicians I love, like Bowie and Talking Heads. That said, I wasn't in love with this album. It never turned me off, it was just so minimalistic. The only standouts are "Everything Merges With The Night," very pretty piano, nice vocals- there's a sense of cinematic casualness to this one, sweetly quiet, contemplative wintertime. And the other standout, my favorite, "I'll Come Running," which feels like it could be a Bowie song- a nice rhythm to it, fun lyrics, the piano tinkling nicely; this is the only song that feels like it has a direction, the rest seem to exist in a mild sonic statism.
Cool sounds, cool synths, the way he changes sounds, it's all interesting. But that's all it is. Interesting, cool. Rarely fully engaging. (That said, I still think I'll give him a chance, especially on his allegedly less-minimalistic earlier albums).
Saturday, December 12, 2009
album #95
daydream nation (sonic youth)
"Declarative" is the word that comes to mind after listening to this album… every track bursts with confidence and force. It's a very distinct style that I'm trying to phrase… youthful, revolutionary, urgent but too cool to preach. I really like the vocal stylings of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon… not really singing so much as confidently declaring their lyrics. The closest parallel I can think of is Pavement… that assertive, distinctly 90's rock n' roll sound, with cool, smart lyrics.
Most of this record, although good, didn't stand out for me. Just three tracks that I particularly loved- "Teenage Riot," a great opener, perfectly driven melodic guitars, a true sense of promise. "Hey Toni" is solid- the clanging sparkle of guitars is what I really love in this one. And "Candle" is an instant favorite- melodic, nicely paced- it sounds like the single.
This is a record that may be more exciting to hear one track at a time, rather than as an album… as an album, I got a little used to their style… bored is unfair, but it's more like, I just couldn't hear it as anything but background music. But for instance, right now I'm just listening to "Eric's Trip," not even one of my favorites, but on it's own, full of energy, drama, great guitars, great lyrics… and maybe every track is this exciting, just one-on-one.
"Declarative" is the word that comes to mind after listening to this album… every track bursts with confidence and force. It's a very distinct style that I'm trying to phrase… youthful, revolutionary, urgent but too cool to preach. I really like the vocal stylings of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon… not really singing so much as confidently declaring their lyrics. The closest parallel I can think of is Pavement… that assertive, distinctly 90's rock n' roll sound, with cool, smart lyrics.
Most of this record, although good, didn't stand out for me. Just three tracks that I particularly loved- "Teenage Riot," a great opener, perfectly driven melodic guitars, a true sense of promise. "Hey Toni" is solid- the clanging sparkle of guitars is what I really love in this one. And "Candle" is an instant favorite- melodic, nicely paced- it sounds like the single.
This is a record that may be more exciting to hear one track at a time, rather than as an album… as an album, I got a little used to their style… bored is unfair, but it's more like, I just couldn't hear it as anything but background music. But for instance, right now I'm just listening to "Eric's Trip," not even one of my favorites, but on it's own, full of energy, drama, great guitars, great lyrics… and maybe every track is this exciting, just one-on-one.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
album #94
endtroducing (dj shadow)
This is the music that I wanted Portishead to be… mysterious, fuzzy, hip, dark, ambient cool. Even the artist's name, DJ Shadow, fits with the theme of the music… the whole thing is an elusive, melodic, haze of hip-hop collage. These are also some of the best named songs I've listened to- "Building Steam with a Grain Of" carries an industrial intensity with a pretty melody; "Stem, Long Stem" is a long, narrow, slow song; "Mutual Slump" has got a hint of darkness, aggression, defeat in it; "Changeling" has a glowing touch of sci-fi mystique; and one of the tracks that I especially liked, "Midnight in a Perfect World," is sexy, spacy, hollow, ambient… a night of mystery and luxury, in slow motion. I wrote that description before I even noticed the title, that's how perfectly the title matches the mood.
Ultimately this is a cool album; if I'm in a coffee shop at midnight and I hear this music playing, I know that I'm living in a cool moment. But I think I may have overheard this album a little bit… the novelty and strangeness wore off for me a little, and I'm not sure I love this type of music enough to draw deeper into the meaning or the sound of it.
I tend to think of a lot of cultural experiences (reading certain books, hearing certain albums) as a 3-step process of discovery… from a distance, at the start, it seems pretty cool… then you're in it, and it's difficult and exhausting, the novelty worn off but the work still ahead of you… but after enough study and mastering, there's a renewed richness, understanding of the experience, and you love it even more than you did initially. My feeling is that I loved this record through the first stage, but now I'm in the second stage- where it sounds good, it's cool, but I'm not in love with it- and I don't think I have the discipline or the inclination to listen/examine my way towards the third stage. It's a good, cool listen, I like it, and I'd like to hear more of DJ Shadow, but I don't think I'll fully fall in love with this one.
This is the music that I wanted Portishead to be… mysterious, fuzzy, hip, dark, ambient cool. Even the artist's name, DJ Shadow, fits with the theme of the music… the whole thing is an elusive, melodic, haze of hip-hop collage. These are also some of the best named songs I've listened to- "Building Steam with a Grain Of" carries an industrial intensity with a pretty melody; "Stem, Long Stem" is a long, narrow, slow song; "Mutual Slump" has got a hint of darkness, aggression, defeat in it; "Changeling" has a glowing touch of sci-fi mystique; and one of the tracks that I especially liked, "Midnight in a Perfect World," is sexy, spacy, hollow, ambient… a night of mystery and luxury, in slow motion. I wrote that description before I even noticed the title, that's how perfectly the title matches the mood.
Ultimately this is a cool album; if I'm in a coffee shop at midnight and I hear this music playing, I know that I'm living in a cool moment. But I think I may have overheard this album a little bit… the novelty and strangeness wore off for me a little, and I'm not sure I love this type of music enough to draw deeper into the meaning or the sound of it.
I tend to think of a lot of cultural experiences (reading certain books, hearing certain albums) as a 3-step process of discovery… from a distance, at the start, it seems pretty cool… then you're in it, and it's difficult and exhausting, the novelty worn off but the work still ahead of you… but after enough study and mastering, there's a renewed richness, understanding of the experience, and you love it even more than you did initially. My feeling is that I loved this record through the first stage, but now I'm in the second stage- where it sounds good, it's cool, but I'm not in love with it- and I don't think I have the discipline or the inclination to listen/examine my way towards the third stage. It's a good, cool listen, I like it, and I'd like to hear more of DJ Shadow, but I don't think I'll fully fall in love with this one.
album #93
closer (joy division)
I liked this record a lot, more than I expected to. Based on my general sense of Joy Division, I expected this album to be droning, dreary and sad- and even though it's definitely dark, and certainly 'ambient' (the PC term for droning, it seems), this was still a musically rich, interesting, increasingly satisfying listen.
The general tone is one of dark, driven ambience, and despite a unity of tone, most of the tracks stand out in unique, interesting ways. "Atrocity Exhibition" is a great opener, with every element of the music sharing focus… the low bass leading the melody; the pitter-patter of drums contributing a dark, particularly catchy rhythm; scratchy, industrial guitars that, although engaging, seem to exist independently of the rest of the song, restlessly thrashing around in the background; and intriguing lyrics sung in that low, iconic Ian Curtis sing/monotone. It's one of the most engaging, most complete tracks on the album, a thoroughly compelling opener. "Isolation" crackles with high, brisk, catchy synth, much moreso than any other track on the album. The middle of the album mostly amounts to different shades of the central tone; my particular favorite of these tracks is "A Means to An End," with a great rhythm, low and dark, and that startlingly intriguing lament, 'I put my trust in you.' And then I love the closing track, "Decades"… a gasping, coughing rhythm, with a high synth, sometimes peppered, sometimes glowing, sometimes jagged… this song has special resonance for me, because it's the track that played along with grainy, haunting black and white footage of Ian dancing, at an exhibit at the Guggenheim. That visual, that moment, has always captured the sadness and the mystery of Joy Division for me. Lastly, as far as the individual songs go, I want to emphasize that even the tracks I didn't write about were good and interesting, and it's all worth a relisten.
Something that truly surprised me about this record is just how modern it is, how inventive… that post-punk, synthetic, rock/ambient sound, it's really pretty awesome. Joy Division is one of those bands that almost perfectly defines the inventive spirit of that 1979/1980 renaissance, a musical timeframe that increasingly draws my curiosity. Anyway, even though I knew they were so revered, I guess I assumed that their work would be super flat, pitch black and droning… it's not like they're bouncing off the walls, but there's indisputably an energy and a spirit in the music that's absolutely captivating, and it just plain sounds better than I would have guessed. I need to hear more of them.
I liked this record a lot, more than I expected to. Based on my general sense of Joy Division, I expected this album to be droning, dreary and sad- and even though it's definitely dark, and certainly 'ambient' (the PC term for droning, it seems), this was still a musically rich, interesting, increasingly satisfying listen.
The general tone is one of dark, driven ambience, and despite a unity of tone, most of the tracks stand out in unique, interesting ways. "Atrocity Exhibition" is a great opener, with every element of the music sharing focus… the low bass leading the melody; the pitter-patter of drums contributing a dark, particularly catchy rhythm; scratchy, industrial guitars that, although engaging, seem to exist independently of the rest of the song, restlessly thrashing around in the background; and intriguing lyrics sung in that low, iconic Ian Curtis sing/monotone. It's one of the most engaging, most complete tracks on the album, a thoroughly compelling opener. "Isolation" crackles with high, brisk, catchy synth, much moreso than any other track on the album. The middle of the album mostly amounts to different shades of the central tone; my particular favorite of these tracks is "A Means to An End," with a great rhythm, low and dark, and that startlingly intriguing lament, 'I put my trust in you.' And then I love the closing track, "Decades"… a gasping, coughing rhythm, with a high synth, sometimes peppered, sometimes glowing, sometimes jagged… this song has special resonance for me, because it's the track that played along with grainy, haunting black and white footage of Ian dancing, at an exhibit at the Guggenheim. That visual, that moment, has always captured the sadness and the mystery of Joy Division for me. Lastly, as far as the individual songs go, I want to emphasize that even the tracks I didn't write about were good and interesting, and it's all worth a relisten.
Something that truly surprised me about this record is just how modern it is, how inventive… that post-punk, synthetic, rock/ambient sound, it's really pretty awesome. Joy Division is one of those bands that almost perfectly defines the inventive spirit of that 1979/1980 renaissance, a musical timeframe that increasingly draws my curiosity. Anyway, even though I knew they were so revered, I guess I assumed that their work would be super flat, pitch black and droning… it's not like they're bouncing off the walls, but there's indisputably an energy and a spirit in the music that's absolutely captivating, and it just plain sounds better than I would have guessed. I need to hear more of them.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
album #92
kala (m.i.a.)
This is a pretty badass record. Pretty thrilling sounds- worldly, hostile, eclectic, political hip hop. According to wikipedia, M.I.A. summed this record up as, "shapes, colours, Africa, street, power, bitch, nu world, and brave." Pretty much, yeah.
A lot of the tracks stand out… "Bird Flu"- intense, tropical, with some great lyrics ("when I get fat I'm gon' pop me out some leaders", "village got on the phone, said the street's comin to town"- the collision of third world village and consumer culture/hip hop… just a cool, intriguing lyric)… "Boyz," a bold single, love the sexy aggression and the chanting; "Jimmy," the lush disco ballad; "$20"… so fucking heavy. Such a heavy, intense song, with brilliantly political, fierce lyrics. "The Turn"… there's something very appealing about this one- an intrigue, a melodic plaintiveness… like a torch song at a jazz club, but according to the rules of MIA's world. "Paper Planes," the breakout single, hot, fun, intense, catchy as hell- it's the closest thing to a standard, ghetto bragadoccio American rap track. And "Come Around," another big single, closes out the record.
Every single track is memorable, distinctive, and assertive. It's a forceful record. Sometimes I like her voice, the slightest sneer of Britishness; other times her flat drone turns me off (though other times this carelessness brings a sultry, ugly power to what she says; and other times it creates just an interesting contrast with the kaleidoscopic energy of the music.)
Overall I don't Love it, but I like it a good deal, one of the best lyrical records I've listened to lately, and fun to write about it, no doubt.
This is a pretty badass record. Pretty thrilling sounds- worldly, hostile, eclectic, political hip hop. According to wikipedia, M.I.A. summed this record up as, "shapes, colours, Africa, street, power, bitch, nu world, and brave." Pretty much, yeah.
A lot of the tracks stand out… "Bird Flu"- intense, tropical, with some great lyrics ("when I get fat I'm gon' pop me out some leaders", "village got on the phone, said the street's comin to town"- the collision of third world village and consumer culture/hip hop… just a cool, intriguing lyric)… "Boyz," a bold single, love the sexy aggression and the chanting; "Jimmy," the lush disco ballad; "$20"… so fucking heavy. Such a heavy, intense song, with brilliantly political, fierce lyrics. "The Turn"… there's something very appealing about this one- an intrigue, a melodic plaintiveness… like a torch song at a jazz club, but according to the rules of MIA's world. "Paper Planes," the breakout single, hot, fun, intense, catchy as hell- it's the closest thing to a standard, ghetto bragadoccio American rap track. And "Come Around," another big single, closes out the record.
Every single track is memorable, distinctive, and assertive. It's a forceful record. Sometimes I like her voice, the slightest sneer of Britishness; other times her flat drone turns me off (though other times this carelessness brings a sultry, ugly power to what she says; and other times it creates just an interesting contrast with the kaleidoscopic energy of the music.)
Overall I don't Love it, but I like it a good deal, one of the best lyrical records I've listened to lately, and fun to write about it, no doubt.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
album #91
bee thousand (guided by voices)
I really enjoyed this one, it's one of my favorites in a while. This album feels like a secret treasure… I can tell just in the sound of it that this was a big, influential album, underground. There's the fuzzy sound (an inescapable phrase in other reviews- "lo-fi pop"), funny, interesting lyrics, short, disparate songs that fit together in perfect harmony… this is absolutely an example of an album I enjoy more as an album, rather than the songs individually.
This songs on this album seem to emerge from a mysterious otherworld… there's a distance in that lo-fi sound, the way each song begins and ends so differently from the others, hurtling inward and fading away from spaces unknown. "Gold Star for Robot Boy" is one of the tracks that especially evokes this feeling.
There are so many cool, distinct tracks on this one. "Tractor Rape Chain" is the masterpiece… when that song emerges from the indie fuzz of the first two tracks, it truly feels like a revelation. Beautiful, urgent melody (same with the lyrics), and the chorus that evokes (and surely influenced) the high, echoed, barking vocal rhythms of the Shins. "I Am A Scientist" is another classic, nice low guitar, a lovely sing-song melody with smart, interesting lyrics. "Peep-hole" is nice and weird- funny, strange lyrics, a strange, high-lilting sound in the guitars and vocals. "Hot Freaks" wallows in a cool, smooth, sultry low-ness (Louis XIV-esque), and "Echos Myron" definitely reminds me of something Chris would play… maybe a sweeter version of a Pixies song or an influence on Weezer, with the upbeat pop sound and the high harmonies.
Very cool record, and pretty brief. Good one to relisten to now and then, and I'd love to hear more of their catalogue.
I really enjoyed this one, it's one of my favorites in a while. This album feels like a secret treasure… I can tell just in the sound of it that this was a big, influential album, underground. There's the fuzzy sound (an inescapable phrase in other reviews- "lo-fi pop"), funny, interesting lyrics, short, disparate songs that fit together in perfect harmony… this is absolutely an example of an album I enjoy more as an album, rather than the songs individually.
This songs on this album seem to emerge from a mysterious otherworld… there's a distance in that lo-fi sound, the way each song begins and ends so differently from the others, hurtling inward and fading away from spaces unknown. "Gold Star for Robot Boy" is one of the tracks that especially evokes this feeling.
There are so many cool, distinct tracks on this one. "Tractor Rape Chain" is the masterpiece… when that song emerges from the indie fuzz of the first two tracks, it truly feels like a revelation. Beautiful, urgent melody (same with the lyrics), and the chorus that evokes (and surely influenced) the high, echoed, barking vocal rhythms of the Shins. "I Am A Scientist" is another classic, nice low guitar, a lovely sing-song melody with smart, interesting lyrics. "Peep-hole" is nice and weird- funny, strange lyrics, a strange, high-lilting sound in the guitars and vocals. "Hot Freaks" wallows in a cool, smooth, sultry low-ness (Louis XIV-esque), and "Echos Myron" definitely reminds me of something Chris would play… maybe a sweeter version of a Pixies song or an influence on Weezer, with the upbeat pop sound and the high harmonies.
Very cool record, and pretty brief. Good one to relisten to now and then, and I'd love to hear more of their catalogue.
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