Triple J's Hottest 100

Triple J is the national radio station here in Australia and every year they do a "Hottest 100" countdown of the top 100 songs of the year based on listener votes.  It's a pretty big deal as they countdown the list on Australia Day every year, and a few days ago I had the opportunity to going to my first authentic Australia Day/Triple J Hottest 100 pool party/barbecue.  I won't bore you with the details (hint: lots of food and lots of booze), but I will share with you my thoughts on the Hottest 100 countdown.

• Even though everyone at the party adamantly denied it, I thought that since Australians primarily vote in the Hottest 100 countdown, they would be naturally biased to Australian artists.  I don't know the exact figures but there were a lot of Australian bands (including the #1 song, which was anti-climatic to say the least), just take a look at the breakdown of the list from last year and decide for yourself.
• The top ten was, in a word, controversial.  I didn't agree with it, and most of the people I have talked to didn't agree with it.  But people voted, so it is what it is.
• There was quite a debate as to whether or not cover songs should be allowed in the countdown...I was a bit on the fence myself, but since this was a countdown where people voted on their favorites, how can you say a cover can't be one of the most loved songs of the past year?

Anyway, if you didn't have the chance to listen to it live, you can check out the full list here and see what you think.

Some mp3 highlights:

#31 - The National Bloodbuzz Ohio (I thought this would've ranked higher)
#36 - Chiddy Bang Opposite of Adults
#38 - The Naked and Famous Young Blood
#51 - Yeasayer Ambling Alp

...and the #1 song of the year according to Triple J's Hottest 100...

Angus and Julia Stone Big Jet Plane (click to view official music video)

If you have any thoughts/opinions, be sure to put them down in the comments below.

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean review

I can only assume that the cat in the above video was only reacting to Iron and Wine's new album, Kiss Each Other Clean.  In a previous post I reviewed the first single off of the album, a mushy little slice of cheese that sounded as though it belonged in a Kate Hudson rom-com titled "Walking Far From Home" (you can read that review here).  I was less than impressed with that song then and my views haven't changed since, so my expectations regarding the rest of the album were shockingly low.

Kiss Each Other Clean is Iron and Wine's major label debut, and the man behind the moniker, Sam Beam, had gone on record to say that the sound of the album would be more "radio-friendly".  If by "radio friendly" he means that every track is encumbered by unnecessary cooing backing vocals and a ridiculous number of layered instruments (was that a train whistle I just heard?), I suppose his synopsis is well founded.  Almost every song that appears is the victim of being over produced.  Gone are the days of hushed, intimate vocals and delicate finger plucking on a classical guitar, the future is now.  And the future has a shit ton of instruments that I probably couldn't even name if I saw them.  Put it this way, if previous Iron and Wine releases were like a subtle independent movie, Kiss Each Other Clean is like a Michael Bay film, all style, no substance.

I will admit that there are some catchy songs present on this album that will probably end up on the radio, "Tree By The River", is a notable example.  That being said, despite all of the album's bells and whistles, most of the songs are just downright boring.  It's almost as if Beam was so concerned with playing with all of his shiny new major label studio toys that he forgot he actually had to put effort into writing credible songs.  "Big Burned Hand" is an atrociously bad song that sounds like it was a half-baked rejected song off of a Dave Matthews Band album back in the late 90's before Beam stumbled across it.

If Beam wants to take Iron and Wine mainstream, complete with videos that have heavy rotation on VH1, I would have to say that he probably accomplished that.  It will only be a matter of time before Iron and Wine is set to tour with Jack Johnson or secure a spot at the Brochella Music Festival.



mp3:
Iron and Wine - Naked As We Came

Listen to the entire album at the official Iron and Wine website.

buy:
Iron & Wine Kiss Each Other Clean

Cut Copy - Zonoscope review

I recently saw Cut Copy live at the Parklife Feastival in Adelaide and they were, in a word, phenomenal.  Stellar set and lots of energy for a band who dresses (and dances) like someone's painfully awkward father (I am almost positive that the lead singer was doing the robot at one point).  The setlist consisted of mostly fan-friendly hits off of their previous album, In Ghost Colours, peppered with some new material.  I will be seeing them again shortly at the Laneway Festival and I am curious to see how the arrange the setlist this time around now that their new album, Zonoscope, will be released in early February.

Zonoscope is the third LP from Australian band Cut Copy, and has been one of the most anticipated releases in recent memory.  Some have even lauded it as the singular most important release of 2011, at least until some other quasi-notable buzzband releases some new material.  With the release of first single, "Where I'm Going", there has been quite a bit of speculation as to how this new album would sound.  Many believed that the single marked a distinct change in direction, away from electro-pop and into the jangly guitar dominated world of indie rock.  While "Where I'm Going" is definitely a sing-a-long stadium friendly track (complete with a "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!" filled chorus), to me, it still sounded like the Cut Copy we've grown to know and love.

Zonoscope opens with "Need You Now", a slow burning thumper that builds with crescendos of twinkling synth accents and What follows is a perfect one-two punch of "Take Me Over" and "Where I'm Going", easily the most radio-friendly songs on the entire album.  From there you get a wide variety of songs ranging from tropical calypso music ("Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution"), to instrumental ("Strange Nostalgia For The Future"), to experimental introspective ("This Is All We've Got").  It seems to lack the overall cohesiveness that made their last album so enjoyable, at times coming across as uneven and disjointed, however tracks like "Alisa", "Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat" and "Corner Of The Sky" bring everything together at the albums close with strong melodies and dance-floor friendly hooks.

Overall, Zonoscope lacks a lot of the instantly likable songs that were present on In Ghost Colours.  While the new album still has a handful of tracks that seem primed for festivals and stadiums, the majority of the album lacks the flow of their previous releases, which was ultimately what made them so easy to listen to.  This is not to say that this album is inferior, in fact I think quite the opposite.  Zonoscope is a rewarding listen and incredibly enjoyable, as long as you're willing to give it a few spins all the way through before you make up your mind. 

mp3:
Cut Copy - Where I'm Going

buy:
Cut Copy Zonoscope

Starfucker - Reptilians review

Reptilians, the new album from Portland, Oregon band, Starfucker, is most likely going to be labeled a dance album.  I have certain reservations about going as far as saying that the album is deeply rooted in the dance genre, but I will say that Starfucker definitely borrows elements of dance music, and any other buzzworthy fictitious genre you can think of that was popular last year.

Synths and sequencers dominate virtually every song on the album, which, depending on your taste either cheapens the album or does it a favor.  Every track is polished to a high gloss and not a single second of any song is wasted.  With an average song length of about three minutes, Starfucker gets to the point, and quick.  The songs often bombard you with a heavy bass line or a thumping drum beat, before building up with carefully placed synth accents and swirling organs and strings.  There are a lot of layers on these tracks and I found it difficult to sort through them all on my first listen, which is why I found myself coming back to this album again and again, trying to catch something new that I had missed.

This dance-pop-house fusion is certainly not new, and if you're a fan of Passion Pit or Miami Horror, then you'll find a lot to love about Reptilians.  It is an unrelenting barrage of sound that is so accessible you wouldn't be surprised to hear it at your local night club or over the loud speakers of your local department store.  That being said, if you are a fan of Passion Pit, Miami Horror, Daft Punk, et al, you may find Starfucker to be a bit repetitive as they by no means break any new ground on Reptilians.

Peppered throughout the album are short, introspective spoken word bits, mostly dealing with themes of life and death and philosophical what-ifs and what-does-it-all-means.  It doesn't cheapen the album, but it certainly doesn't do it any favors.  When I listen to bubblegum music like this, I don't expect to do any heavy mental lifting, rather I just want to sit back, relax, and let the music immerse me in a cotton candy machine from the land of rainbows, sunshine and lollipops.

Reptilians is a dance album.  It is chillwave.  It is pop music.  Whatever you want to label it, one thing is for certain, Starfucker has made a highly enjoyable album, and even though it isn't entirely original, it is produced beautifully, making it an album that is equally enjoyable while hanging out with friends at the beach or sitting in your bedroom with your headphones on, which is no small feat.



mp3:
Starfucker - German Love

buy:
Starfucker Reptilians

Tanlines - Volume On review

Let me just start off by addressing what I know is on everyone's mind.  Yes, that is a Mini Disc on the cover of Tanlines' debut album Volume On.  I am not entirely sure what possessed the Brooklyn duo to use it as their album cover, and the fact that the hand written label reads "Lauren Hill" does little to offer any insight, rather it makes the mystery even more confounding.

Mini Disc or not, Tanlines have made a name for themselves as an experimental Afropop, electro chillwave hybrid, and if you put as much stock into genre names as I do, that probably means very little to you.  The album itself has a distinct quality to it, shimmering guitars and the use of non-traditional percussive instruments offer a very tropical vibe, which, given the fact that it is the middle of winter, will either cheer you up or depress you immensely.

There are a few standout tracks here, most notably "Real Life", which has become the bands signature track, however the entire album operates on a very simple formula.  It is a barrage of color, each song working to transport you to some sort of island getaway.  Normally I would say that this is welcome, the instrumentation is fun, but different enough to seem refreshing without being so foreign as to alienate its listeners.  The problem I have with the album is just that, it is an album.  With a run time that creeps past the one hour mark, it starts to become difficult to differentiate between the songs.  Especially when each song tries so hard to deliver that feel of escapism that it begins to seem as though someone is using your head as a percussion instrument along with the steel drums and wood blocks.

Tanlines are an interesting band for the reason that they are creating music that isn't just a cardboard cutout of every other Brooklyn-based buzzband.  The difficulty in listening to Tanlines is the fact that one can only handle it in small doses.  After the first few songs, the tropical vibes that permeate the album begin to flow into one another almost too easily, making the album seem like one really long elevator ride in the Caribbean.  That being said, Tanlines show a lot of promise, and Volume On is not only a daring piece of experimental pop music, but it is a solidly composed, catchy and fun collection of material.  The only problem that keeps rearing its ugly head when I listen to this album is the feeling that, aside from a few tracks, I probably won't be listening to Volume On as a whole unless I am having some sort of island-themed house party.



mp3:
Tanlines - Saw

buy:
Tanlines Volume On

Gorillaz - The Fall review

It is amazing to consider how far technology can improve in just a few short years.  Damon Albarn, the mastermind behind cartoon superstars, Gorillaz, recently released the band's fourth full length album, free of charge, on Christmas Day.  The album, titled The Fall, was recorded and produced entirely on Albarn's iPad during Gorillaz North American stretch of their world tour in support of their stellar third album, Plastic Beach.

It seems as though Albarn's muse just might be the United States of America, as he has previously toyed with the surge of creativity that one can get as a result of touring back in 2003, culminating in the rather underwhelming collection of demos, Democrazy.  Democrazy was a collection of demos that Albarn had recorded during the US leg of Blur's Think Tank tour, and consist primarily of plinking Casiotone leads, clunky drum beats and a melodica.  The songs, if one can even call them that, are snippets and scraps of half baked ideas, stillborns that chronicle the songwriting process (at least one of these ideas "I Need A Gun", was returned to and given a proper treatment as "Dirty Harry" on Gorillaz Demon Days album).  The problem with Democrazy was that the songs were demos and ultimately made people wonder why they were even released, especially since Albarn is the type that seems to be constantly churning out new music.  I have to admit, when I first heard that Albarn and company were going to release another album of songs written in hotel rooms, I was skeptical to say the least.

The Fall, however, is the real deal.  Recorded over thirty-two days, the album is so slick, that if Albarn hadn't told us, there is no way anyone would know if that the album was recorded "non-traditionally".   The album weaves seamlessly from track to track, immersing the listener into an auditory journal of the United States with the help of snippets of local American radio shows and even announcements made over PA systems at train stations.  The album is deeply routed in electronic production, which seems only natural considering the absence of a studio.  This is not to say that the album sounds like someone playing with GarageBand.  There are a number of traditional instruments including the guitar and (you guessed it) synthesizers galore.

Out of the fifteen tracks that appear on the album, there are a number of stellar songs, most notably "Revolving Doors" and the absolutely beautiful "Amarillo".  There are a few throw away tracks sprinkled throughout The Fall, the most obvious being some of the instrumental songs that pepper the album.  They aren't necessarily bad, it's just that they are forgettable and almost eerily similar to the half baked ideas of Democrazy.  What is most interesting about this album is the absence of the studio and the numerous musical guest stars (although it should be noted that Bobby Womack and Mick Jones appear on The Fall).  In the studio, Albarn and his Gorillaz pull out all of the stops, but in the hotel room, on a tablet computer, you see a more intimate Gorillaz, stripped of the bells and whistles.  Overall The Fall is a complex, yet subdued album.  It is a compelling listen, and works as the perfect companion piece to the superb Plastic Beach.



buy:
Gorillaz The Fall

Merry Christmas (courtesy of Gorillaz)

As promised, Gorillaz have released their new album, The Fall, as a free Christmas gift.  The Fall was recorded during the American stretch of their recent world tour, and has been described as an auditory journal of their experience touring America.  I'll have a review of the album up in a few days, but until then, go grab it at the Gorillaz website.  Merry Christmas!

The BIG End of the Year List: The Best & Worst of 2010

So another year in music has come and gone, and along with every other music-related website, I am going to give you a list comprising of the albums that I thought were great in 2010, along with some of the more disappointing listens of the year.  Each album mentioned has a concise review to go along with it, along with an mp3 just in case you missed out on the record when it came out * Someone complained about the mp3s so I had to take them down...sorry*.  So sit back and take a look at the list after the jump and feel free to voice any concerns you have in the comments section below.

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010

1. The National High Violet

The National followed up their breakthrough album Boxer, with High Violet, a collection of hauntingly beautiful and often times heartbreaking songs.  High Violet is a masterpiece of middle-class turmoil, a perfect assembly of songs focused on the plights of the everyday modern man.

2. The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt

With a voice that commands attention, whimsical arrangements and absolutely jaw dropping skills up and down the fretboard (not to mention occasionally tickling the ivories), the second album by Sweden's Tallest Man on Earth, The Wild Hunt, was an engaging and fun listen that had me coming back for more again and again.

3. Crystal Castles Crystal Castles (II) 

Crystal Castles came back in 2010 with an album that was more coherent and less gimmicky than their debut album.  Crystal Castles managed to bring back all of the elements that made them memorable on their debut and excise all of the frilly stuff that made them seem like a novelty act (almost).

4. Twin Shadow Forget 

Twin Shadow came out of nowhere (for me at least).  I picked up his debut album and was pleasantly surprised to find a unique blend of dreamy pop, 80s new wave and introspective lyrics.  Despite my initial apprehension to the album due to all of the blogger buzz, I found this album simply too good to ignore in 2010.

5. Gorillaz Plastic Beach

For some, Gorillaz constitutes a guilty pleasure.  Admitting you like a "fictional" band comprised of cartoon caricatures of self-indulgent celebrity is difficult to justify.  Fortunately, however, the music speaks for itself.  Gorillaz third album is easily their most cohesive and accessible work.

6. The Black Keys Brothers

The Black Keys are the perfect example of rock & roll revival.  An impressive and gritty album that conjures the spirit of any number of blues rock legends from Muddy Waters to Jimi Hendrix, easily one of their strongest offerings to date.

7. Spoon Transference

Transference saw Spoon focus on their instruments after the "indulge-every-studio-whim" of their last album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which was a critical and commercial success.  Transference was a return to their roots, with simpler arrangements that saw an increased tension between instruments, which made for a compelling listen.

8. The Radio Dept. Clinging to a Scheme

A more refined album than their shoegaze origins proved to be the right move for the dream pop band from Sweden.  With a larger emphasis on synths over fuzzy buzzy effects pedals, Clinging to a Scheme was a fun, unabashed pop record and an incredibly welcome surprise in 2010.

9. Sleigh Bells Treats

Noisy and abrasive, Treats had an interesting mixture of aggressive and menacing songs paired up against mid-tempo songs that were grounded in 70s pop.  The album definitely delivered on the ability to weave in and out of genres, and was unlike anything else I heard this year.

10. Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record

BSS has an uncanny ability to craft beautiful pop songs that sound as if they were recorded by a bunch of friends having the times of their lives.  Maybe that's because that is what BSS is, a collective of musicians who get together and can easily write songs about romance, forgiveness, and masturbation.

MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS OF 2010

1. MGMT Congratulations

10 songs.  All of them boring.

2. The Klaxons Surfing the Void

A couple of diamonds in the rough here, but overall a bombastic, auditory assault without much direction.  The album is messy and lacks focus.  Bonus points for space cat though.

3. We Are Scientists Barbara

I know, most of you probably had no idea that We Are Scientists even released an album this year, and honestly it's probably better if it stayed that way.  Supposedly a return to the sound of their breakthrough album With Love and Squalor, Barbara lacks the hooks to make it truly memorable.

4. Broken Bells Broken Bells

This album failed to impress me despite the strength of the singles.  Most of the tracks that appear are filler, causing me to lose patience in them and skipping forward to the songs I actually liked.  With all of the talent behind this album I was crestfallen to admit that it didn't live up to the hype. 

 

5. Arcade Fire The Suburbs

This was a tough call because I actually enjoyed this record, a lot.  I suppose I decided to include it on my "most disappointing" list was simply because it is their weakest album.  Arcade Fire had a brilliant debut, a slightly weaker sophomore album, and now, an album that is good, but hardly great.

HONORABLE MENTIONS OF 2010

The following are albums I liked this year that found themselves creeping into my playlists and mixes.  These albums aren't necessarily the best of what 2010 had to offer, but they were damn good, or at the very least, deserved a mention.

 Two Door Cinema Club Tourist History

One word: Infectious.  This album was so catchy I found myself listening to it quite often.  At roughly 30 minutes there simply isn't any room for filler songs.

The Drums The Drums

Much like Two Door Cinema Club, the catchy surf pop of reverb-ophiles The Drums made them instantly listenable.  It was hard to find someone who disliked this band in 2010.

Yeasayer Odd Blood

Aside from what is surely a contender for worst album art of the year, Yeasayer managed to meld synth-pop, world music and psychedelia into their own brand of indie music.  The album is a bit hit or miss at times, but is ultimately a rewarding listen.

Die Antwoord - $O$

This rap-rave group from Cape Town, South Africa may seem like a joke, but being signed by a major label isn't.  Say what you may about their music, and they may only be a passing phase, but one can't deny that Die Antwoord didn't do too bad for themselves in 2010.


 

 Band of Horses Infinite Arms

There are some really memorable tracks present, however there are a few which are mediocre at best.  This is the first record which was written and recorded by permanent members of the band, marking the first time the recording process hasn't been a "revolving door" of musicians, but somehow this seemed less cohesive than their previous albums, that being said, its still a great album.

Christmas Mix 2010

So here it is, the annual Insert Brand Name Here Christmas mix  available for download in a handy .zip file for your convenience.  Hours were spent compiling this mix, agonizing over track placement in order to make sure this mix could sound the best it possibly could.  Here in Australia, Christmas falls in the middle of summer, so for me it doesn't even really seem like Christmas.  Instead of shoveling snow and bundling up against the cold, I am getting ready for the beach.  It definitely doesn't feel like Christmas, but listening to this mix definitely reminds me that no matter where we are, it's still Christmas.  So break out the egg nog, gather 'round the Christmas tree and sit back with eighteen quality Christmas tracks!

tracklist:

1. Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today
2. Sufjan Stevens - Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time
3. Slow Club - Christmas (Please Come Home)
4. Low - Just Like Christmas
5. Band of Horses - The First Song
6. Ryan Adams - Hey Parker, It's Christmas
7. Snowden - White Christmas
8. Tiger Baby - This Christmas
9. The Raveonettes - Come On Santa
10. Kevin Devine - Splitting Up Christmas
11. Yo La Tengo - It's Christmas Time
12. Coldplay - Christmas Lights
13. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York
14. Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas
15. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - All I Want for Christmas
16. The Walkmen - Christmas Party
17. Gil Mantera's Party Dream - Brave New Christmas
18. The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping

Download the IBNH Christmas 2010 Mixtape here (link removed)

Gorillaz live @ Adelaide Entertainment Center 12/8/10

 

On Wednesday night I saw Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's long running collaboration project, Gorillaz, live and in the flesh.  For something that has existed for so long as a cartoon band, seeing everything that is heard on a Gorillaz album come together seamlessly in a live performance was something to marvel at.  This is the first time Gorillaz have embarked on a true worldwide tour as the last time they hit the road it was for a string of performances at the Manchester Opera House and the Harlem Apollo Theatre in support of their second album, Demon Days.  During those shows, the band played behind a screen, rendering them as silhouettes, however this time, Damon and company take center stage simultaneously with a massive video screen airing previously unseen Gorillaz artwork and film.  Damon and company had such a fervent energy in performing the songs that anyone in attendance was sure to recognize the performance as something exceptional.

The sheer number of musicians employed for the show was something that was absolutely jaw dropping as well.  There was a string section, a brass section from Chicago, the Syrian National Orchestra, back up singers and musicians, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from The Clash, De La Soul, Bashy, Little Dragon, Bobby Womack, and of course, Damon Albarn.  As someone who is too young to have ever seen The Clash play live, who had no idea of Bobby Womack's 40 year career until he saw Jackie Brown, and who never got the chance to see Blur perform despite being a rabid fan, this Gorillaz show marked a truly special experience in my life.

Edit this setlist | More Gorillaz setlists

Moshi Moshi Records - A Christmas Gift For You review

Moshi Moshi Records have bestowed an early Christmas present this year, featuring some of their most talented artists covering Christmas classics.  I happen to be a sucker for Christmas music (be on the lookout for this years Christmas mix), and I love the idea of being able to listen to something other than the aborted fetus that is David Bowie and Bing Crosby's rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" or the abomination that is Paul McCartney's "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time".

That being said, my main complaint (but certainly not my only complaint) has to do with the compilation's short running time.  At less than eighteen minutes, you're going to be looking for something else to spin on the stereo to keep the egg nog flowing before Christmas is over this year.  That being said, let's take a closer look at the tracks present on A Christmas Gift For You.

1. Slow Club  "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - Easily the strongest track on this compilation, the jangly electric guitars and the backing vocals accentuating vocalist Rebecca Taylor's all mix together perfectly to create a fun interpretation of a classic Christmas song.

2. Summer Camp "Christmas Wrapping" - The original version by The Waitresses is an energetic, fun holiday romp, and is one of my personal favorites.  Summer Camp's version however, has stripped away the vivacity and spirit of the original, opting to replace the punchy guitars for a single little synth twinkle, turning the perfect Christmas party song into a boring, and slightly depressing, snooze fest.

3. James Yuill  "Winter Wonderland" - British folktronica artist James Yuill has churned out some great songs (e.g, No Surprise), but the downright weird and unneccesary vocal intonations he employs on this song ruin it.

4. Ingo Star Cruiser "Just Like Christmas" - Ingo Star Cruiser pretty much leave this song alone, however they do sprinkle a bit of optimism throughout the song in the form of a speedier tempo and some uplifting instrumentation.

5. Idiot Glee "White Christmas" - Clocking in at one minute, thirty seconds, I am expending more energy writing this sentence than Idiot Glee did in recording this song.

6. Hot Club de Paris "Will You Still Be In Love With Me Next Year?" - a painfully generic and boring song sung by a lead singer with an obnoxious, nasally voice.  Easily forgettable.

Overall, this compilation is way too short to warrant a purchase, however there are a few diamonds in the rough.  It's always fun finding original songs or reinterpretations of classics for the holidays, so check it out if you need to bolster up your Christmas playlist in iTunes this year.

mp3s:
The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping

video:
Homemade "Christmas Wrapping" video

Iron & Wine - Walking Far From Home (single) review

Iron and Wine, the moniker for singer/songwriter Sam Beam, is set to release his fourth studio album, Kiss Each Other Clean, on January 25th, 2011.  It will be the first Iron and Wine album released by Warner Bros. after leaving Sub Pop.  The first single from the album is "Walking Far From Home", the CD single being released a few days ago on November 26th.

The strongest traits of Iron and Wine's music is the fact that it is introspective, delicate, and haunting.  It is music that pulls at the heartstrings, Beam's hushed voice accompanied by deft finger picking and a minimalist approach make for intimate and endearing records.  Sadly, this single and it's B-sides are none of those things.

Beam has said that Kiss Each Other Clean will mark a change in direction to his sound, and if this single is any indication, it is the wrong direction.  I know that most people will contest that if an artist fails to mature or to progress, the stagnation that results will ultimately lead to career suicide.  I firmly agree with that, however what Beam has done is take everything that has made Iron and Wine distinct and memorable and traded it for a sound that is mediocre, and that's being generous.  In the three songs that appear on this release, Beam's signature instrument, the guitar, is totally absent.  Instead it is replaced by virtually every instrument that doesn't have strings.  The end result are songs that are muddled and ultimately forgettable.

"Walking Far From Home" contains snapshots of images that are supposed to be poignant, but since they are simply recited, one after the other without any sort of context, any meaning they would have is completely lost.

"Summer in Savannah" is riddled with various percussive instruments, a faint jangly electric guitar riff and a piercing horn that sounds like someone's cover band attempting a song by some kind of Latin-African funk fusion band.

"Biting Your Tail" sounds like it could have been a B-side from The Postal Service.  Beam's sincerity is questionable as it seems as though he's been hanging out in the "magical" bedroom of the lead singer of Owl City.

Our first taste of Iron and Wine's new album, Kiss Each Other Clean, is a bitter one.  The best thing for us to do now is hope that it exceeds my already very low expectations.

mp3s:
Iron and Wine - Naked As We Came
Iron and Wine - Boy With a Coin
Iron and Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
mp3s courtesy of Sub-Pop Records...grab some more here.

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (2010 remaster) review

Trent Reznor worked as a handyman and janitor at Right Track Studio, where he would use studio “down time” to write and record his own music. Playing all of the instruments himself and doing the sequencing on a Macintosh Plus (1 MB of RAM, expandable to 4 MB!), Reznor sent the demo to a number of labels until landing a deal with TVT Records.  In October, 1989, when Trent Reznor’s debut album under the moniker Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine, was released I was four years old, and like any four year old at the time, the album was unheard by my ears.

When I finally got my hands on my own copy of Pretty Hate Machine (on cassette tape) from a second hand record store I was in the fifth grade.  To this day, I can still remember the apprehension I had felt before inserting the tape into my Sony Walkman.  Nine Inch Nails was an enigma to me.  Some of the older kids in my neighborhood listened to Nine Inch Nails, but they wore black, smoked cigarettes and were referred disdainfully by my father as “creepy goth kids”.  I was aware of the rumors that the name Nine Inch Nails was in reference to the spikes that were used to crucify Jesus, and being Catholic I naturally assumed that anything sharp that was used to impale the son of God was bad.  I knew that NINs music videos were highly controversial and heavily edited for rotation on MTV.  I knew that the songs were about sex and depression and death.  To be completely honest, I was scared of Nine Inch Nails.

There was something about Nine Inch Nails that, as a kid, I craved.  The music dealt with adult themes, but it seemed as though adults didn’t understand it.  This was both exciting and terrifying to me, since all of the adults I knew thought that Trent Reznor was some sort of menace, the embodiment of everything that was wrong with society.  It all began, really, with NIN’s first single off of Pretty Hate Machine that started it all.  “Head Like A Hole” had the lyrics, “bow down before the one you serve”; immediately accusations of Satanism and Reznor’s hell-bent intent on corrupting the minds of the youth were running rampant.  Thus began the persecution of the music of Nine Inch Nails by conservative Americans.

Being ten, I didn’t have much disposable income and so my Nine Inch Nails collection began and ended with that tape of Pretty Hate Machine.  The themes of desolation and suicide were heavy and dark, and in 1995 I preferred Britpop acts like Blur and Oasis, who had singles even my parents enjoyed.  It wouldn’t be until 2005 that I finally got my hands on a reissued copy of Pretty Hate Machine (a lengthy legal battle between Reznor and his old label saw Pretty Hate Machine out of circulation between 1997 and 2005).  Little memory remained of the album, my cassette tape being lost years prior.  So when I got around it ripping the CD into my iTunes, it came as a surprise to me to discover that despite the gritty title, Pretty Hate Machine was a dance record.  It was a synth-driven piece of electronica, complete with simple beats composed on drum machines.  The vilification of NIN and Trent Reznor was completely unfounded.  Listening to “Head Like A Hole” for the first time in ten years reminded me how the song wasn’t about Satanism, but about worshipping money, and all of the sexual themes explored on the album were fairly tame when compared to Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”.

Most of the songs on Pretty Hate Machine have stood up well since the albums original release over twenty years ago, and on the 2010 reissue, we are treated to an extra track, a cover of Queen’s “Get Down, Make Love”.  There are some missteps however, particularly the pseudo-rapping on “Down In It”, which seriously dates the album.  All in all, Pretty Hate Machine is a synth-pop record. Tracks like “Terrible Lie” and “Sin” easily could have been recorded by Depeche Mode during their Black Celebration/Music for the Masses/Violator period, if there were more explicit and overt references to sex and death.  So if that sounds like something you’d be into, definitely pick this album up.  If you’re looking for an introduction to Nine Inch Nails, I would suggest skipping this one and go for NINs masterpiece second album, The Downward Spiral.  Any way you slice it, one thing is certain, I guess the goth kids liked to dance after all.

mp3s:

Nine Inch Nails - Head Like A Hole (live Victoria, BC  12.5.2008)

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (download the 8th studio album here for free)

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV (36 instrumental tracks for free)

buy:
Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy review

Chances are you've already read about Kanye West's new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy somewhere else, and you're probably well aware that virtually everyone is praising the album as a modern masterpiece, even Pitchfork gave it a perfect 10.0.  I wasn't even aware that he had a new album out, so you can understand why I am a little late in churning this review out.  Aside from the fact that Kanye spent  over 3 million of Def Jam's dollars in recording the album (there are eleven guest vocalists on "All of the Lights") and the "controversial" artwork was supposedly "banned", I am failing to see what makes this record any more important than West's previous efforts.

I'll be the first to admit, I am not well versed in hip hop.  That being said, the first thing I noticed about this album is that it is sonically heavier, with distorted guitars, fuzzy basslines and grittier beats assaulting the listeners ears at every turn.  There is a lot of layering present that isn't normally found in hip hop music, lending a depth to the music that is both immersive and engaging.  Despite these things, I just can't agree to call this album a masterpiece of it's generation.  If you were to conduct a search on Pitchfork to see all of the albums that have received a perfect 10.0, you will find that almost all of them are reissues of classic albums by bands like Radiohead, The Beatles, Beastie Boys, The Rolling Stones, and Elvis Costello.  The reason these albums have received the elusive perfect score on Pitchfork is because the albums have withstood the test of time.  Will Kanye's new album do the same?  It is hard to say.  Despite the move forward, it doesn't seem as though this album does anything to be truly regarded as a breakthrough album, not for hip hop and certainly not popular music as a whole.

The weaker points on the album consist of some of the so-called "rhymes", which end up sticking out like a sore thumb.  On "Gorgeous", Kanye claims that "the same people that tried to black ball me/forgot about two things, my black balls".  Umm, right.  I also find it difficult to separate the album's themes and subject matter with how Kanye acts in real life.  This album is, essentially, a self-indulgent piece (just look at the video for "Runaway", which also marks Kanye's directorial debut) that explores the reasons why Kanye can be a complete asshole, whining about trivial shit on Twitter and getting drunk and causing scenes with other celebrities.  The reason he can do all those things, the reason why he can act like a spoiled child is the simple fact that people will buy his record and invest their own time and energy into his celebrity persona.  Throughout the album Kanye talks about how he doesn't care about people and what they think of him, and how he has somehow transcended "haters".  What he fails to realize is that all of the "haters" are the people who buy his albums.  So I guess that question that remains is, who is the bigger fool, us, or him?

The bottom line is that Kanye has successfully made a good record.  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a record that has all of the hooks that will make it popular, but the real reward is in listening to each song carefully, and more than once, to discover and appreciate all of the nuances that truly make it an outstanding hip hop record.  I just wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece.  Michael Jackson made better pop records, and even though Kanye desperately wants to emulate his idol, he is still falling just a bit short.

Kanye West - Runaway


mp3s:
Kanye West (feat. Kid Cudi & Raekwon) - Gorgeous

buy:
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Daft Punk - Tron Legacy (OMPST) review

Daft Punk hasn't released an album of new material since Human After All in 2005.  Since then, the French duo has dabbled with videogames and released a live album, a remix album, and a compilation album.  In March 2009 the wait for new material had ended with the announcement of Daft Punk being commissioned to score the upcoming film Tron: Legacy.

The highly anticipated album opens with a low, foreboding humming noise that gradually builds into a symphonic string arrangement that is epic in scale, however, it isn't anything you haven't already heard in a number of other film scores.  This sweeping introduction leads into the first truly original piece of music, "The Grid", which continues with the ominous tone via industrial beats that lumber along while a voiceover from film star, Jeff Bridges, recites a bunch of technojargon about circuit boards and of course, the grid.  All of this leads into Bridges' line about how he has dreamed of the world of computers until one day, he "got in".  It is at this point that the string arrangement that drives the first track morph into something wholly electronic.  It is the same melody, but instead of man manipulating instrument, machine has taken over.  Much like the characters in the film, we, the listeners, are immersed into the world of the computer.

It becomes clear from early on that this is not the Daft Punk we are used to.  The soundtrack is not simply composed with a pair of synths, a drum machine, and a bunch of spliced samples from the 70s.  This soundtrack marks a step forward in Daft Punk's sound as they use an 85 piece orchestra to help them create and explore an entirely new musical frontier.  There are so many high points on this album I could easily give each one of the twenty-two tracks (24 if you get it from iTunes) its own separate write up.  But even then it wouldn't do this score justice.  I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of film scores, in my opinion divorcing a score from the film that it was created to accompany causes it to lose some of the emotion that is initially attached to it.  With the Tron: Legacy soundtrack however, each track builds upon the next, creating a musical representation that could easily stand apart from the film.  It is so grand in scope that I would go as far to say that this will easily become one of those soundtracks that every music fan must own.

The string arrangements and the orchestra utilized in the soundtrack appear on almost every track, however what makes this soundtrack a compelling listen is the marriage of traditional instruments and electronica, and how the two intermingle to create a truly organic sound that is both impressive and epic.  Daft Punk have managed to craft each song with the mechanical calculation of a computer, without sacrificing the immediacy and intensity of human emotion.  If the film is half as fun as this soundtrack, then I think it will be well worth the cost of admission.

The Tron: Legacy soundtrack will be released December 7th, 2010.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving back in the United States and I have to admit that I am more than a little disappointed that I won't be around to partake in the festivities this year.  I am hoping I can have a sort of Australian mock Thanksgiving, but it won't be the same.  For those of you who don't know, Thanksgiving is an American holiday (there's a Canadian one too, but it's not as good) that originally gave thanks for a bountiful harvest but has since gone on to include expressions of thankfulness and gratitude for family, friends, etc.  Oh, and football (the American variety).  And parades.  Read about it here if you're really curious.

Anyway, I'll be brief today and just say that I made a little mixtape for everyone to enjoy this Thanksgiving.  There is only one "real" Thanksgiving song on the mix, the rest of the tracks are songs that I felt were appropriate in the honor of giving thanks.  I explain why each track was included below, so if you're curious, read up.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

1. Adam Sandler "The Thanksgiving Song" - self-explanatory.
2. Madness "Our House" - every year my entire family comes to my parents house to celebrate Thanksgiving so I felt this song was appropriate.
3. Mystery Jets "Flash a Hungry Smile" - Thanksgiving is the one holiday where it is expected that you stuff yourself with food, and most people are flashing their hungry smiles all day before dinner.
4. The Faces "Ooh La La" - this song reminds me of good memories with family and friends.  In slow motion, of course.
5. Kings of Leon "Taper Jean Girl" - My cousins and I always tend to have a few (heaps) of "adult beverages" throughout the course of the day, and this is a great party song.
6. Fang Island "Daisy" -no matter how we drunk we get, it's okay because it's a holiday.
7. Passion Pit "Sleepyhead" - supposedly eating turkey makes you tired because it has high amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid that breaks down protein.
8. The National "Mr. November" - Thanksgiving is always on the last Thursday of November!

Download the Thanksgiving 2010 mixtape here!

James Blake - Klavierwerke EP review

According to Dummy Magazine, James Blake's new EP, Klavierwerke, is supposedly "some of the best new music you'll hear today".  I beg to differ.  Of all the reviews that I have read about this EP I have yet to find one that says something negative about this collection of "songs".  I realize that in saying this I am welcoming an abundance of nasty comments from people who think, for some reason, that James Blake is some kind of mastermind.  They will belittle me and say that I don't "get it", or that the music "transcends" criticism.  I'm sorry to burst your bubble.  To me, the Klavierwerke EP is little more than the sounds of someone who needs to stop sitting in his bedroom fidgeting with sequencers and keyboards.

The British born Blake got some recognition with his last EP, CMYK, which showed some promise, using samples from 90s R&B tunes in a somewhat familiar U.K. dubstep manner to create catchy dancefloor singles.  On the Klavierwerke EP, however, Blake opts for a more minimalist approach, using little more than his piano and his own voice, which is fitting since Klavierwerke literally means piano work in German.  The title is a bit deceptive (maybe that's why he opted for it to be in German), since those expecting something like his cover of the Feist song "Limit to Your Love", will be gravely disappointed.  Instead of something more traditional, Blake takes a cut and paste approach with all of the four tracks that appear on this EP, single piano notes are looped over and over, sparse vocalizations are mechanically manipulated and elementary games of patty cake are arranged together in such a way that it evokes some kind of faux importance in the ears of listeners who just so badly want this EP to be good.

In regards to all of the reviews floating around in cyberspace that are praising this EP as being "the next big thing", I have to throw in my two cents and disagree.  Pitchfork asserts that "few artists are stretching the boundaries of dance music wider than he [Blake] is right now", which begs the question, who, exactly is dancing to this?  And of course, what, exactly does this "dancing" look like?  If you answered the really messed up girl/guy who dresses like a hobo?   The one who doesn't wash his/her hair?  The one swaying slightly from side to side in the club while a lit cigarette dangles precariously out of the corner of his/her mouth?  The one who looks as though they might pass out/projectile vomit at any moment?  I would have to say that you've probably already heard this record.

Overall, James Blake's Klavierwerke EP sounds like the tinkerings of someone who left his final project in his music production class to the last minute and spent the entire night before it was due recording a bunch of glitchy plinks on the piano and running his voice through a filter in Garageband.  It's experimental, ambient, pitchy, droning, twitchy, conflicted and full of incongruities.  Do yourself a favor, don't buy into the hype, and by all means don't listen to me either.  Listen to the EP (check out the embedded video below, go to youtube and go to James Blake's channel to listen to all four songs for free) and make the decision for yourself.



mp3s:
James Blake - Limit To Your Love (Feist cover)

Salem - King Night review

Salem is a Chicago-based band whose first official release, an EP titled, Yes I Smoke Crack, earned them recognition as a "bloggable buzzband", released their debut album, King Night, on September 28th of this year.  It seems as though this band has come out of nowhere and made a huge splash in the online music community for a number of reasons.  Let us take a moment and review these reasons in case you're not familiar:

1. The title track off of King Night is released/leaked, Pitchfork.com bestows a "best new music" tag on it, making hipster panties around Brooklyn suddenly go moist.

2. The Pitchfork review was incredibly positive, but more importantly, described the bands sound as "rape gaze", which understandably got some people angry and they retracted the "rape gaze" label and started calling it "witch house" (which, admittedly, is pretty terrible for a genre name).

3. A bunch of reputable music critics jumped on the Salem bandwagon, including the New York Times, giving their music "glowing reviews".

4. Salem is labeled the "worst modern buzzband" by Hipster Runoff after Salem's live "performance" at SXSW (see video below).

So, what do I think of the album?  It's hard to not be influenced by what other people before me have already said, but since pretty much everyone has been calling Salem misunderstood "geniuses", it's safe to say that you don't have to worry about me being peer pressured.  First thing's first, I don't hate the album.  I think that there are moments on King Night which are beautiful, haunting and intimate.  I think that, at their best, Salem succeeds in crafting music that seems authentic, which makes it deeply affecting and sometimes moving.

The problem lies in the difficulty I had investing myself into the songs.  The entire album is dark.  It is depressing.  There are no moments that twinkle beneath the murky water.  King Night is a difficult listen, as the hip hop drum machines skitter across each track and the low key ambient synth lines do little to lighten the mood, you begin to wonder if the way you feel is similar to what a heroin addict feels as he is going through withdrawal.  That being said there is something captivating about the music.  There is something that embraces you and pulls you into the void, and even though the album and lyrics embody virtually everything ugly in society, there is something comforting about the shared suffering of the human condition.

The lowest points on the album, for me, would have to be the tracks that are ruined by "frontman" Jack Donoghue as he "raps".  Thankfully this happens rather sporadically, since his voice sounds like an 11 year old kid using a voice filter while playing XBOX Live.

In summation, there are a handful of tracks that are ethereal and moody enough to provide some rather compelling listening, however it is hard to take this band seriously, especially when you consider their live performances (see video below) or their minstrel show-esque rapping "skills".  It seems to me that Salem has managed to employ some rather effective reverse marketing by making themselves seem like assholes who don't give a shit about making music or having fans (when asked about what they thought of getting booed off stage, the band claimed that they "totally don't care"), and that has resulted in massive media coverage.  Most reviewers are claiming that Salem makes music that just isn't accessible to everyone and that some people are simply unable to " get it".  I have to disagree with that logic, but I will admit that the game they are playing has worked pretty well for them so far.



mp3s:
Salem - King Night
Salem - Asia