np: "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" - Them Crooked Vultures
Before taking off to enjoy lots of food and the long holiday weekend, I thought it would be a good time to get a few thoughts out on some recent-ish releases before we get well into year-end wrap up season when December rolls around.
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures (DGC/Interscope)
We all know by now that rock supergroups rarely, if ever, live up to the hype and potential. The better ones serve as entertaining detours from the members' main projects and the worse ones are understandably lost in the sands of time. As fantastic as this particular project sounded on paper, Dave Grohl + Josh Homme + John Paul Jones = OMG, my instincts were telling me to brace more for the latter when the album finally came out. Mainly because, well, the combination sounded too good to be true and that usually signals the death knell for supergroups. As it turns out, however, this is actually pretty good. Essential? No. Definitive? No. Best mainstream rock album of the year? Possibly. Things definitely rotate more around the Homme/Queens of the Stone Age axis than anything else, but Grohl and JPJ certainly make their distinctive marks. If you have no problem with meandering riff-fests featuring thunderous drums, huge bass lines, and the odd mandolin solo - you'll probably get a kick out of this.
Weezer - Raditude (DGC/Interscope)
I've long ago made peace with the fact that we're never going to get another Blue Album or Pinkerton, I'm fine with that - those particular albums meant a lot in a particular time and place that can never be recreated. But now I need to accept that these guys aren't even going to give us another Maladroit or Make Believe. It's just not in them, Rivers has moved on to a different place entirely. Not sure exactly where that place is, maybe a universe where he considers himself king of the Top 40. Last year's Red Album gave us about three decent to kinda good songs and a huge pile of steaming crap. Ditto for this year's Raditude. And, surprisingly, the song featuring Lil Wayne isn't the worst. I think I'll save that particular distinction for Patrick Wilson's "In the Mall". Download "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To", "Put Me Back Together", and bonus track "The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World" and save yourself from the rest of the mess.
Converge - Axe To Fall (Epitaph)
Just how good can one band get? Converge could have called it a day after 2001's genre-defining Jane Doe (a cathartic napalm blast of an album that should already be in the collection of any fan of heavy music) and cemented their reputation as one of the decade's best. But no, they followed that up with two albums (You Fail Me and No Heroes) that damn near as good, particularly the latter. Still wasn't enough for these guys. They had to go and ring out the decade with an album even better than Jane Doe. Seriously. The band is as ferocious as ever, but spent much of the album spinning off into multiple different genres and proving that they can excel at nearly every single one of them - sludge, doom, shoegaze, buzzsaw metal solos - they're all here. Of particular interest are the final two tracks, both stylistic departures that are no less successful than the rest of the disc.
Nov 23, 2009
Nov 22, 2009
np: "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven" - Yo La Tengo
At this point it seems Yo La Tengo have settled into a steady groove of releasing albums that are good enough, but aren't quite as mind-blowingly awesome as this trio can be. That is, as good as the band was back in the 1990s. I mean, look at that run of albums from 1993-2000:
Painful (1993)
Electr-O-Pura (1995)
I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (1997)
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000)
On just about any given day I could argue any one of the four as my favorite YLT album of all-time. It's a pretty noteworthy run of albums, one that cemented them as one of the leading lights of indie rock. Unfortunately the band hasn't quite scaled the same heights since. Both 2003's Summer Sun and 2006's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass were frustratingly inconsistent, the latter ending up the stronger of the pair by far. Each had moments and the tour around IANAOYAIWBYA was wonderful, but I never find myself reaching back for either very often.
So I was disappointed when this year's Popular Songs ended up being just as frustrating - albeit for a slightly different reason this time around. Song for song, this is probably the band's best long-player since 2000, but is crippled by a horrible running order. It was a bad idea to dump all three of the 10 minute plus tracks at the ass end of the album, wearing out attention spans and detracting from three strong compositions. By the time you reach the 16 minute closer, "And the Glitter is Gone", it becomes a downright challenge to finish things. I think it would have made for a much better flow and more enjoyable listening experience to juggle these tracks with the poppier front section. When the songs come up on shuffle, I enjoy most of them, but sitting through the album is a chore. I don't think this is a problem of an overlong run time either, because ATNTIIO ran five minutes longer and never felt like it was overstaying its welcome.
At any rate, Popular Songs gives us another batch of quality tunes, just a shame that the album isn't all it could be. I highly recommend you check out their set on Pitchfork.tv's Don't Look Down though, really makes these songs sound great.
At this point it seems Yo La Tengo have settled into a steady groove of releasing albums that are good enough, but aren't quite as mind-blowingly awesome as this trio can be. That is, as good as the band was back in the 1990s. I mean, look at that run of albums from 1993-2000:
Painful (1993)
Electr-O-Pura (1995)
I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (1997)
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000)
On just about any given day I could argue any one of the four as my favorite YLT album of all-time. It's a pretty noteworthy run of albums, one that cemented them as one of the leading lights of indie rock. Unfortunately the band hasn't quite scaled the same heights since. Both 2003's Summer Sun and 2006's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass were frustratingly inconsistent, the latter ending up the stronger of the pair by far. Each had moments and the tour around IANAOYAIWBYA was wonderful, but I never find myself reaching back for either very often.
So I was disappointed when this year's Popular Songs ended up being just as frustrating - albeit for a slightly different reason this time around. Song for song, this is probably the band's best long-player since 2000, but is crippled by a horrible running order. It was a bad idea to dump all three of the 10 minute plus tracks at the ass end of the album, wearing out attention spans and detracting from three strong compositions. By the time you reach the 16 minute closer, "And the Glitter is Gone", it becomes a downright challenge to finish things. I think it would have made for a much better flow and more enjoyable listening experience to juggle these tracks with the poppier front section. When the songs come up on shuffle, I enjoy most of them, but sitting through the album is a chore. I don't think this is a problem of an overlong run time either, because ATNTIIO ran five minutes longer and never felt like it was overstaying its welcome.
At any rate, Popular Songs gives us another batch of quality tunes, just a shame that the album isn't all it could be. I highly recommend you check out their set on Pitchfork.tv's Don't Look Down though, really makes these songs sound great.
Nov 20, 2009
np: "Wrong Answer" - Municipal Waste
The retro thrash movement is several years and hundreds of bands old by now, but we may now just be getting to the part of the trend that reveals which bands are in this for the long haul and which ones are going to disappear back into the ether. 2009 has seen releases from three of the standard bearers, as far as I'm concerned. Warbringer's Waking Into Nightmares and Skeletonwitch's Breathing the Fire both showcased tremendous growth for each band and are among my most listened to metal albums of the year. My favorite retro thrash release, however, came from Virginia's Municipal Waste. They came to my attention via 2007's The Art of Partying, which was decent enough retro thrash but the overload of songs dedicated to partying and beer drinking never really sat well with me - even though the riffs were powerful as hell. I much prefer my thrash metal lyrics to trend towards the dark and supernatural, thankfully Municipal Waste moved in that direction with Massive Aggressive. Song titles like "Wolves of Chernobyl", "The Wrath of the Severed Head", and "Mech-Cannibal" show where their heads were at this time. The riffs are even better this time around and I fully appreciate that band realizing the inherent silliness of this micro-revival and the way they keep tongue planted firmly in cheek. Just check out this suitably cheesy and gory video for "Wrong Answer":
The retro thrash movement is several years and hundreds of bands old by now, but we may now just be getting to the part of the trend that reveals which bands are in this for the long haul and which ones are going to disappear back into the ether. 2009 has seen releases from three of the standard bearers, as far as I'm concerned. Warbringer's Waking Into Nightmares and Skeletonwitch's Breathing the Fire both showcased tremendous growth for each band and are among my most listened to metal albums of the year. My favorite retro thrash release, however, came from Virginia's Municipal Waste. They came to my attention via 2007's The Art of Partying, which was decent enough retro thrash but the overload of songs dedicated to partying and beer drinking never really sat well with me - even though the riffs were powerful as hell. I much prefer my thrash metal lyrics to trend towards the dark and supernatural, thankfully Municipal Waste moved in that direction with Massive Aggressive. Song titles like "Wolves of Chernobyl", "The Wrath of the Severed Head", and "Mech-Cannibal" show where their heads were at this time. The riffs are even better this time around and I fully appreciate that band realizing the inherent silliness of this micro-revival and the way they keep tongue planted firmly in cheek. Just check out this suitably cheesy and gory video for "Wrong Answer":
Nov 19, 2009
np: "Singing Joy to the World" - Fruit Bats
Sometimes a song can be really lovely in spite of itself. This is such a song. If I were to see the lyrics to this song printed out before hearing it, I'd probably have tried my best to stay far away from it. Loneliness cliches, Three Dog Night references, no thanks. But damned if it isn't a beautiful song that caught me totally unaware one night driving home from my former job. Here's a particularly lovely acoustic version from an in-store performance:
(for the record: this song's parent album, Ruminant Band, is all-around pretty lovely)
Sometimes a song can be really lovely in spite of itself. This is such a song. If I were to see the lyrics to this song printed out before hearing it, I'd probably have tried my best to stay far away from it. Loneliness cliches, Three Dog Night references, no thanks. But damned if it isn't a beautiful song that caught me totally unaware one night driving home from my former job. Here's a particularly lovely acoustic version from an in-store performance:
(for the record: this song's parent album, Ruminant Band, is all-around pretty lovely)
Nov 18, 2009
np: "Summer Jam" - Set Your Goals
Guilty pleasure admission time - I've always had a bit of a weakness for the right kind of pop-punk, even though I've drifted away from it over the years. There used to be a point about ten years ago where I was familiar with pretty much every band that appeared on the Warped Tour stage, even if I only liked about a third of them. I've long since given up on following that scene with any kind of regularity, but every now and than a band bubbles up and grabs my attention. A few years ago it was Paramore (whose Hayley Williams actually shows up with these guys to, er, rap), rightfully so - it seems quite a few had the same revelation about them. This year its a six piece out of the San Francisco Bay area, Set Your Goals. I'm not sure that they are really even that great of a band, but a few of the songs from This Will Be the Death of Us hit me in the right spot. They are certainly much better when they shy away from the hardcore shouting and breakdowns and stick to the meat and potatoes pop-punk. Not gonna top any lists and I'm not sure they'll be memorable two years from now, but for right now - they hit my pop-punk nostalgic soft spot.
Guilty pleasure admission time - I've always had a bit of a weakness for the right kind of pop-punk, even though I've drifted away from it over the years. There used to be a point about ten years ago where I was familiar with pretty much every band that appeared on the Warped Tour stage, even if I only liked about a third of them. I've long since given up on following that scene with any kind of regularity, but every now and than a band bubbles up and grabs my attention. A few years ago it was Paramore (whose Hayley Williams actually shows up with these guys to, er, rap), rightfully so - it seems quite a few had the same revelation about them. This year its a six piece out of the San Francisco Bay area, Set Your Goals. I'm not sure that they are really even that great of a band, but a few of the songs from This Will Be the Death of Us hit me in the right spot. They are certainly much better when they shy away from the hardcore shouting and breakdowns and stick to the meat and potatoes pop-punk. Not gonna top any lists and I'm not sure they'll be memorable two years from now, but for right now - they hit my pop-punk nostalgic soft spot.
Nov 17, 2009
np: "Song About A Man" - Deer Tick
Deer Tick was one of 2009's pleasant discoveries, an indie folk band from Providence, Rhode Island led by one of the greatest voices of the year - John McCauley. Despite the relative overload of bands milking similar territory right now (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, etc.) these guys certainly bring their own take well worth hearing. Theirs brings a bit more of the backwoods Appalachia feel to it than what you might find in that of their West Coast contemporaries. McCauley's croon drew me in immediately, he sounds like a young Steve Earle at times, but its the delicate melodies that kept me coming back for more. Here's a pair of songs they performed live on KEXP this year, both are great but its the second that has become my favorite track of theirs.
Deer Tick was one of 2009's pleasant discoveries, an indie folk band from Providence, Rhode Island led by one of the greatest voices of the year - John McCauley. Despite the relative overload of bands milking similar territory right now (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, etc.) these guys certainly bring their own take well worth hearing. Theirs brings a bit more of the backwoods Appalachia feel to it than what you might find in that of their West Coast contemporaries. McCauley's croon drew me in immediately, he sounds like a young Steve Earle at times, but its the delicate melodies that kept me coming back for more. Here's a pair of songs they performed live on KEXP this year, both are great but its the second that has become my favorite track of theirs.
Nov 16, 2009
np: "Thirty-Three" - Smashing Pumpkins
About fourteen years ago this month I was spending ridiculous amounts of time on the second floor of Flagg Hall, pulling all-nighters and generally trying to keep my head above the ever-rising waters that is the workload of a first year design studio student in architecture. Looking at its release date of 10/24/95, I can guarantee that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness served as the soundtrack to the balance of that Fall semester. I'm bringing this up now because I'm spending some time with the album again this week in anticipation of those new Pumpkins tracks I mentioned a few posts ago. If you haven't given this one a spin in some time, I suggest you do so, the entire thing stands up remarkably well. However, one small suggestion. Assuming you have the entire album loaded into iTunes or your other favorite mp3 player, I think you should queue the album up in the alternate vinyl tracklist Billy came up with. With each slab of vinyl given over to a different "feel" (for lack of a better word), it gives an entirely new impression of a classic album. You'll need to grab the "Tonight Reprise" from The Aeroplane Flies High and grab the "Infinite Sadness" rarity to complete the final side (not really essential to the experience, I don't think). Of course you may already have the vinyl, in which case just toss album one down on your turntable.
Album 1, Side 1 - Dawn
1. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"
2. "Tonight, Tonight"
3. "Thirty-three"
4. "In the Arms of Sleep"
5. "Take Me Down"
Album 1, Side 2 - Tea Time
6. "Jellybelly"
7. "Bodies"
8. "To Forgive"
9. "Here is No Why"
10. "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans"
Album 2, Side 1 - Dusk
11. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
12. "Thru the Eyes of Ruby"
13. "Muzzle"
14. "Galapagos"
15. "Tales of a Scorched Earth"
Album 2, Side 2 - Twilight
16. "1979"
17. "Beautiful"
18. "Cupid de Locke"
19. "By Starlight"
20. "We Only Come Out at Night"
Album 3, Side 1 - Midnight
21. "Where Boys Fear to Tread"
22. "Zero"
23. "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)"
24. "Love"
25. "X.Y.U."
Album 3, Side 2 - Starlight
26. "Stumbeline"
27. "Lily (My One and Only)"
28. "Tonite Reprise"
29. "Farewell and Goodnight"
30. "Infinite Sadness"
np: "Brownout in Lagos" - Oneida
Really just about any of the fifteen tracks that make up the latest triple-disc Oneida opus could be pulled out and positioned as a "highlight", but tonight this track is hitting me especially hard. A slight shift in direction from their typical output, this features a higher reliance on electronics and vocals, giving the track an intense dub feel that doesn't otherwise appear in their discography. A standout track from one of the year's standout albums.
Really just about any of the fifteen tracks that make up the latest triple-disc Oneida opus could be pulled out and positioned as a "highlight", but tonight this track is hitting me especially hard. A slight shift in direction from their typical output, this features a higher reliance on electronics and vocals, giving the track an intense dub feel that doesn't otherwise appear in their discography. A standout track from one of the year's standout albums.
