Review: Fall Be Kind by Animal Collective

Animal Collective
Fall Be Kind (EP)
Domino Records
Release Date: November 23, 2009 (Digital)
December 15, 2009 (CD/vinyl)

Haven’t you done enough already, Animal Collective? You released one of the year’s best (if not the best) and oft-discussed albums of the year…and you can’t leave it at that? Most bands would be content with releasing the best album of their career in a given calendar year. Animal Collective are not most bands. A little-known album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, was officially released this past January, but its monstrous impact (such as Pitchfork naming it #14 on its list of albums for the decade) makes it seem like it has been around forever. Regardless, a scant ten months later, fans are treated to five new songs in 2009 by the successfully experimental band.

Fall Be Kind is a bit more of a cohesive (and better) EP than Water Curses, both of which sound influenced by the LP that preceded it. In other words, maybe that opening statement comes as no surprise (nothing against Strawberry Jam or Water Curses, both were fantastic.) Album opener “Graze” begins like it should be on the latest Disney soundtrack or something, with lilting, slow strings and Avey Tare’s hypnotic vocals. It is a pretty typical A.C. track, along the same pace as MPP opener “In the Flowers.” While the latter erupts into transient euphoria, the former does something completely unexpected. At around three minutes in, everything sort of stops…and a Renaissance Faire-type flute chimes in. Um, what? When I first heard this, I almost called “Shenanigans!” Of course, though, A.C. almost truly can do no wrong. They pull this twisted 180 into something that works, as the rest of the track gels nicely.

The clear standout is “What Would I Want? Sky”, the awkwardly-titled, six-minutes-and-change “My Girls” of the EP. It opens so light yet persistent, propelled by the background drums that sound as if they don’t want to wake the neighbors, the spiraling synths, and the repetition of “Good deeds!” It is an intoxicating three-minute introduction, until the rest of the song kicks in, with the first-ever licensed Grateful Dead sample repeating “Sky! What would I want?” Animal Collective seem as though they want to try and twist anything they can get their mitts on into a pop gem, and once again, they succeed. The song continues so peppy and poppy, it is hard not to smile a little bit. The constant chime flourishes, the as-usual amazing harmonies, the foot-stomping drums, the tambourine: All of these ingredients add up to a near-perfect out-of-left-field pop jam, where the only flaw is that it has to end.

“Bleed” changes gears and slows things down for the remainder of the EP, leading into “On A Highway”, an interestingly introspective song detailing what sounds like scatterbrain thoughts from the tour bus, backed by a considerably more sparse sound (flashes of A.C.’s past work come to mind.) “I Think I Can” rounds out the album, rather impressively, with lots of different tricks coalescing into a solid closing trip. It opens and closes almost eerily, but the song picks up and builds to the titular chant. As is usually the case, Animal Collective’s best instrument is their heavenly vocals, which is consistently top-notch here and throughout the album.

Animal Collective have had quite an eventful decade, bursting onto the scene as literally nobodies near the beginning, and riding high on their magnum opus and its offspring EP at the end. They have built such a sturdy reputation that they seem like they can do no wrong at this point in their career. Of course, this is quite pretentious to perceive, especially considering that the band experiments on every album and could very well go the opposite direction. Somehow, though, I have a feeling they will do wonders and make it work. Certainly makes anticipating their next album interminable. At least there is Fall Be Kind to hold us over until then, everything an EP should be and miraculously not a letdown in the least from MPP. There are a lot of great albums this year, but 2009 was Animal Collective’s jam.

Animal Collective - "What Would I Want? Sky"


Rating: 4/5

Review: Raditude by Weezer

Weezer
Raditude
DGC/Interscope
Release Date: November 3, 2009

It is on the verge of unthinkable that Weezer have been strumming power chords in our eardrums for fifteen years now, but alas it is the case. The Blue Album and Pinkerton seem eons ago, two albums that forever cemented Weezer’s importance in the music landscape for the time: The former an exercise in memorable, near-perfect power-pop, the latter a sophomoric seismic shift in sound dismissed by many initially, but later rediscovered as a cult classic and the potential ground zero for the birthplace of that genre they call “emo.” The 21^st century hath wrought a grab bag of efforts by the band, from downright awful (Make Believe) to passable (last year’s The Red Album) to decent (Maladroit and The Green Album). With all of the frustrations that have come, every new Weezer album is still an exciting possibility for the prospect of a return to glory, or perhaps the unthinkable: Artistic development. Instead, we have Raditude, one of the most frustrating to decipher, polarizing albums of the year.

Maybe I’m simply reading between the lines too much. Maybe I so desperately want to find legitimacy in Raditude. I’m not entirely sure, but this is what Rivers and Co. have provided us this year: Ten tracks of mostly typical, mostly simplistic power-pop from the guys who basically own the blasted hyphenated subgenre. Rivers Cuomo is a damn Harvard graduate, yet instead of lyrical masterpieces, we get some of the most vacuous content this side of the Top 40. To recap thus far: Nothing groundbreaking.

Negative much? Well, here’s where the frustration starts to come into play. It is no secret that Cuomos loves pop music, and it would be ridiculous to think the power-pop sound of Weezer would just up and go away. That being said, going into the album cognizant of this, Raditude is pretty up to par. In fact, it is pretty sharp. The lengthily-titled “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” is a fantastic example of this, pulling out all the stops to deliver a quite humorous tale of teenage romance (I mean, look at the title), all set to foot-stomping drums, light and breezy guitar strumming, and an effectively infectious chorus. The overwhelmingly emotional inability to pull the proverbial trigger has never seemed so fun and funny.

After this, the opening track, things get a little less certain except for one simple fact: Almost every song immediately sticks with you. Power-pop tends to do that. The song titles and subject matter are a bit questionable at best (“The Girl Got Hot”? “In The Mall”?), but amidst all of this simplicity and borderline inanity is some humor and some legitimate humming to be had. “Put Me Back Together” is a halfway decent attempt at sincerity without sounding too cheesy or forced, as is the apropos closer “I Don’t Want To Let You Go”. There are no major attempts at grandiose this time around (à la “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived”) but Weezer dared to try something different by doing something that literally every current musical artist in existence has done: Have a song featuring Lil’ Wayne. The result is “Can’t Stop Partying”, a definite head-scratcher to say the least. Obviously, there is some sarcasm and irony being thrown at us, but it’s not like it’s even that amazing. On the other hand, I can’t get the damn song out of my head. Catchiness should never, ever be mistaken for quality, but maybe at the very least this can be considered a hyper-guilty pleasure. The only other break from the typical is “Love Is The Answer”, what with its Indian influence on a slow jam that sounds like something U2 might do in ten years. The cheese factor is too great to ignore here. To recap thus far: A few legitimate good Weezer-type songs, some okay ones, and a few groan-inducing ones. Or, nothing surprising.

The whole mindfuck comes into play when the following is considered: Is this all a joke? Is there something bigger at play here? We are hearing a near-40-year-old man sounding like a pubescent boy on half of these tracks, using words like “homie” that when you hear them, it is all too reminiscent of that one older relative that tries too hard to be hip and fly, too, son. Is there some riding metaphor here or is this just pathetic? Is this actually album through the lens of a teenage boy? Considering the artwork, the lightning-bolt album title font, the album title itself and its songs, it would not be a shocker. Better yet, is this an album of an über-intelligent middle-aged man realizing his dissatisfaction with the prospect of his newfound outlook on life, and the only way he can cope is to act and think like a child? That would certainly put a hell of a spin on it.

Whatever it is that I can’t put my finger on, this album just doesn’t seem like a big “fuck you” to its listeners. It just feels like there is something more than meets the eye. In the end, it has me coming back to it again and again. There is something to be said for that ability of an album. Raditude can be thought of as a complete entity way more than Weezer’s past efforts, at the very least. It might not be spectacular, it might not be the most sonically or lyrically complex album this year, and it might not be easy to defend, but dammit…it is a decent slice of, dare I say, fun, something Weezer always seem like they’re having. Put it on with the right set of mind and enjoy some solid pop jams and a few laughs.

Weezer - "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" - YouTube

Rating:
/5

Just a quick couple things ...

Ok so, I know I've sucked at keeping in contact with all y'all, but fucking deal with it. Shit happens and such. I just wanted to bring a couple things to your attention and then I'll slide back into oblivion for the next few weeks/months like I'm supposed to.

Firstly, after not being able to download any new music due to the extremely Eastern European quality of internet in Austria, I finally managed to get my hands on one by resorting to McDonald's Wifi and holy shit. The new Converge album is a gem; You really need to check it out. It's DEFINITELY their best since 'Jane Doe' and I'm not just saying that to make an outlandish claim that will spark controversy. So far half of the album isn't even dented and I'm addicted. Simply put, do yourself a favor and download "Axe to Fall" because it will make you one happy mother fucker. One down, one to go.

Secondly, news has risen that Arcade Fire is working on their next LP since "Neon Bible." Apparently, inspiring the entire soundtrack to the upcoming film "Where the Wild Things Are" isn't enough for them. According to TwentyFourBit, the band, "... is hard at work recording the new Arcade Fire album. They will release the score at some point, when it does not conflict with their album release schedule for their record label." Just in case you want some more proof, Win Butler was also reported to say that, "None of us want to take three years making a record. It could be that we'll play [soon] and maybe we'll end up bashing it out fast. We're in the middle of writing, things are coming together, it's a great feeling."

Oh yeah, and Weezer released a new video for their song "If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)" a bit again. Check it here, http://www.babelgum.com/browser.php#play/SEARCH,channelID:179855,order:FEATURED,hint_editorial:home%2fshuffle/0,4005373(sorry for the the link text, internet sucks cock here.)

Thanks for hearin' me out, catch y'all in due time.

Troll of the Month Award

Props!

"Bye Bye Bayou"

New LCD Soundsystem song!!

Cover of the band Suicide!!

Sort of new; Sept. 11 09 apparently?

New to me at least!

To be honest, fair readers of the sexiest musical bloggary on the interweb, I know little of either band. Yes, this is correct, it is my introductory song to this wonderfully euphonic Soundsystem.

If you want me to compare this song to the rest of LCD Soundsystem, then I apologize for my large amount of homework preventing me to do so. I really would like to research this topic for you. Just uh, I can't now.

Still though, this song is straight G. Listen to it.

If you don't know LCD Soundsystem, it's kewl, do it anyway, all the cool people (me) are.

Oh and it's an epic 7:09 in length. If you convert minutes to inches... well... that's above average

Italians Do The Stanky Leg, Too

We did it again.

Considering there has not been a new post in well over a month, some people might consequently deem this blog “lazy,” “effortless,” “unintelligent,” “defunct,” “stupid,” or other derogatory descriptors.

Well, that’s not nice. Stop it.

Three-fifths of the current writing staff are currently studying abroad, whereas the other two are assuredly busy at work doing what college students do. Needless to say, this is reason enough for the abrupt and probably inevitable stoppage in posting.

Until now. (Cue the fanciful fanfare.)

Having been more or less immersed in Italian culture for the past five-plus weeks, I thought it would be an opportune time to answer the most burning question that everyone wants to know about my experience in Italy: How’s the tunes, brah?

It was certainly a mystifying topic that I pondered before departing for my semester abroad in Italy for four months. To be honest, I really was unaware of what to expect to hear over here. I mean, did this semester spell the end of all English-speaking tuneage for a whopping (almost) four months? Would Italians share America’s penchant for overplaying to-be-classic American tunes like “Poker Face” and Flo Rida’s ubiquitous “Low”?

No and um, yeah, sort of, respectively. Surprisingly, there has been an overwhelming amount of American music being played here. Perhaps it is the limited number of public locations with music that I have been to that has skewed my perception. However, just like with my lovely previous employer, here is a novel-sized dissertation on what I have discovered thus far.

In essence, the most adequate summation of the music here would have to be some combination of a small sample of recent, popular songs, coupled with arbitrary, sometimes forgotten pop gems from the past, spiced up with a dash of left-field gems to provide some pizazz. Let me explain.

The music should probably be divided into two categories: Nightlife and Not Nightlife. In the smaller Not Nightlife division, we have “21 Guns” by Green Day. That’s about it. Seriously, I must hear this song every place I meander around here. It could be a lot worse, but “21 Guns” is 21^st Century Breakdown’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”: Melancholy, extremely crossover, beyond over-played, and, um, not what I would call “Green Day’s magnum opus,” to put it über-lightly.

The award for “Most Pleasantly ‘Popular’ Song of ‘09” may have to go to “Daniel” by Bat for Lashes. Not only did it infiltrate the otherwise stagnant Kohl’s playlist, but I have heard it in three different locales here in Italy, including the supermarket of all places. I always thought the song was just one degree away from being just another pop song with a female singer, but “Daniel” is still one big degree away from being lumped in with the rest of the scrap heap. Two Suns, and especially “Daniel” in particular, are some of my favorites of the year, and if weren’t for those pesky instant classics by those other hyped indie darlings, “Daniel” could have a shot at Song of the Year. It is such a strange feeling to hear such a good song in such a bizarre place (that is, anywhere but your iPod or iTunes.) I’m not going to complain, because it could be (pick your favorite Top 40 female pop artist), but it is almost like the song loses its extraordinary aura when it is played at a supermarket with the utmost nonchalance.

One of the cool things about living in Italy is I live with a host family, including a college-bound host brother and a 10-year-old one. On several occasions, the 10-year-old one has sung some American songs, despite knowing basically no English. The reverse situation would be kind of funny: What if your 10-year-old American brother started singing or was simply bombarded with all Italian music? Here, it is kind of expected, considering America’s surprising influence on almost all forms of media (a lot of the TV is just dubbed versions of American classics. I Simpson, for one.) Anyway, Katy Perry’s “I’m not just a one-hit-faux-lesbian-wonder” follow-up to “I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot N Cold”, has been uttered by my little host brother, as has the inescapable “Poker Face” by the ambiguously hermaphroditic Lady Gaga. It is a shame that this is the music that gets imported, but did I really expect Dominico to be humming “My Girls” by Animal Collective? Alas, only in a perfect world.

Most of the other instances of music in Italy have come at a variety of bars and clubs throughout the country. The trend seems to be the same, however: It’s the same shit you would find at a typical American bar or club. You’ve got your Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, you’ve got your Flo Rida and Soulja Boy, and so on and so forth. And that God forsaken new Pitbull song. If it was “Bojangles,” I’d let it pass, because it has a sick beat. But, instead, every 19.3 seconds, he feels compelled to count to four IN TWO LANGUAGES. How talented! Fuck Pitbull and fuck that song, especially because it has an infernal capacity to remain stuck in one’s head for hours. Also, for whatever reason, almost every place I have been has been treating DMX’s 1999 pop crossover classic “Party Up (Up in Here)” like it is going to go out of style. A random aberration among the otherwise typically recent music played, but it is definitely noticeable to a meticulous music nerd like me.

True story: One of the more popular rendezvous points for nighttime bar hopping is one bar that plays its music from a 24/7 music video channel. I have seen some videos multiple times in only a few visits (despite the song, Shakira’s “She Wolf” video is hot as shit) but most of them are “meh” at best. One time, Daft Punk’s “Around the World” came on, though. I was super-stoked. No one else seemed to have a clue who they were or what the song was. I died a little on the inside. True story. This is a microcosm of why Flo Rida will always be on the airwaves and a catchy-as-fuck band like Passion Pit will not. I might as well make this my college Honors Thesis.

I have cracked the 1,000-word barrier, which probably means I should stop furiously clacking away on my laptop. Whatever, this is the first entry since August. Savor it, because at this point, no one knows when the next one could be. Don’t think of us as “dead”, we prefer “consistently hibernating.” Until next time (?), stay golden, Ponyboy.

Review: Kohl's radio

What?

In an effort to have more posts in a single calendar month since the frigid, truncated month of February, I present to you, the hypothetical reader, an in-depth analysis of the music played at the department store known as Kohl's.

Exactly. What?

Re: Absurdity and obscurity of this post, consider me a recently-liberated employee of the reasonably-priced clothing store. Having just finished my last day before my next endeavor (i.e., studying abroad in Italy. i.e., if humanly possible, even less updates than now!), I couldn't help but reflect on the music that the store selectively played.

Perhaps a slice of unimportant minutiae for some (read: typical) employees, also consider me an atypical employee. I took careful notice of the music every day I was forced into this working establishment. It really wasn't all that careful of notice, however, since the store recycles its songs essentially every day, just in some different order. Y'know, to keep shit fresh, yo.

YES, THAT MEANS I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HEAR NICKELBACK EVERY TIME I WORKED! Better yet, because of the seemingly randomized nature of the playlist, it was always such a pleasant surprise to hear Chad's dulcet tones out of the blue. Indeed, a breath of fresh air from all of the other shit.

Of course, I jest, I could never take a Nickelback joke quite that far. As expected for a family-oriented, PG-rated, well-established department store like Kohl's, all of the songs are inoffensive and relatively tame in both musical and lyrical nature. God forbid they offend any of their dedicated clientele, which could accurately be summed up as a majority of "middle-aged housewives in varying shapes and sizes." Alas, that means none of Nickelback's better cuts, like "Animals" or their more recent couldn't-be-more-obvious sexual romp "Something In Your Mouth", were played ad nauseum. It was more along the lines of their "attempt to be crossover and adult contemporary."

Think for a second. Nickelback, who can't even do their main genre any justice whatsoever, attempting to do adult contemporary. Let that sink in. Then, realize I had to hear one or two of these gems every fucking day. If you couldn't tell, I don't like them all that much.

Moving on, because God knows I could blab about those Canadians forever (they don't even have flappy heads, the assholes.) To sum up so far, yes, they played a share of generic, throwaway adult contempo shit that truly was forgettable and unnoticeable. I think it's a requirement. Can't have music that distracts the precious customer from the pseudo-deals over which they're salivating.

Although debatable, I'm not entirely a cynical asshole. There actually were some bright spots in the redundant radio. There were a few tolerable '90s jams, for one. Sugar Ray's breakthrough hit "Fly" could be heard in the store. Unfortunately, it was the utterly neutered version without Super Cat. Is a quasi-rapping black dude too offensive for Kohl's? Like, really? I guess this version is actually on the studio album, but I had never heard it before. Again, "neutered" really sums up the track well. As does flaccid. Other '90s songs making the presitigious Kohl's cut were Matchbox 20's ubiquitous "3 a.m.", No Doubt's "Just A Girl", Barenaked Ladies' magnum opus "One Week", and OMC's "How Bizarre." That last one there. What a treat.

In general, though, most of the songs were relatively recent, and a couple were actually solid. One of my favorite songs of 2009, "Daniel" by Bat For Lashes, for whatever fucking reason, infiltrated the monotony of Kohl's radio and truly and quite literally was a bright spot, considering the job and other songs. My Morning Jacket's "Thank You Too" was there too, but to be honest, it's not their best song by any means, and upon first hearing it, I did a double-take, thinking it was just another shitty AM radio classic. "Walking on a Dream", by Empire of the Sun, a random song I don't mind, is also there, and totally out of place, as well.

It's been shot, castrated and ripped apart for a few years now, but Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" is too classic to say it sucks, and clearly one of the best songs in Kohl's rotation. A brain dead DJ could think of "Crazy", but "Daniel"? Baffling, I really wish I knew the qualifications for songs played there.

A trifecta of Coldplay songs made its way to the Kohl's radio waves: "Yellow", "Viva La (fucking) Vida" and surprisingly "Life in Technicolor II". Like Gnarls, Coldplay is an obvious safe bet. "Life in Technicolor II" was certainly a pleasant surprise and choice among the Coldplay songs. The good news: Weezer is on there, too. The disappointing news: It's "Island in the Sun". I have absolutely nothing wrong with it. But, Jesus, could you imagine "We Are All On Drugs"? Although, considering the no-balls version of "Fly" eluded to earlier, it would probably be the awful music video edit.

In order to pass time (ahem), I utilized one of my favorite discoveries of the year: Verizon's Song ID app. It's a totally free application and it is free to use, and it tells you the title, artist and album of a song playing at any given moment. Impressively, it picked up the songs from the Bose speakers overhead, so I could put a name to the songs I loathed so much.

In reality, I discovered three songs worth illegally downloading from the cyclical song list, and two of them are borderline "well, they're not awful" choices (Ben Lee and Jem). The third is pretty legit and another head-scratcher, Iggy Pop's "The Passenger", from all the way back in 1977, much more elderly than anything else being spun.

Then, there was Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry", essentially negating any positives that could have been ascertained.

To wrap this bullshit up, for every halfway decent song, there were about four bad-to-awful ones, and even the decent songs that you'd look forward to among the sea of horseshit would start to deteriorate in quality because you'd hear them every fucking day.

I do not anticipate ever returning to Kohl's as an employee, unless it is to specifically hijack their satellite radio. So concludes my mind-numbingly excruciating analysis on the most bogglingly random topic about which a music blog could babble. Sorry to waste your time. We return you to your regularly-scheduled hiatus, already in progress.

/Breaking the fourth wall in every post like it's my job

Rating:

New Weezer Album Gets Name

Raditude. Seriously ... Raditude. I don't know whats harder to believe, the fact that Weezer actually decided that Raditude was a solid title or the fact that they got the title from the dude who plays Dwight on The Office. Probably the first one.

Anyways, even when considering the album title and the Red Album, I gotta admit that I'm kinda lookin forward to their quasi-anticipated seventh offering. The reason being their new single "(If You Are Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To." Once again, awkward title but all-in-all the track is a pretty solid pop song. In my mind, quite a bit better than anything off of Make Believe. Check it.

The ridiculously named album should be makin' waves, for good-or-worse, on October 27th.

Let The Jean Creaming Commence: Them Crooked Vultures

Supergroups are nothing new. Every year some dudes from some bands get together and release some shit under a new moniker, and lah-dee-fucking-dah. Some are run-of-the-mill, a few are solid, but very few actually live up to the lofty expectations placed upon them to indeed be a "supergroup."

Hopefully there will soon be a new addition to the illustrious, latter-most classification. Consider this savory recipe for a potentially awesome supergroup:

1 part Dave Grohl on drums
1 part Josh Homme on guitar and vocals
1 part John Paul Jones on bass and keyboard
2 parts utter mysteriousness
1 dash of unclassifiable bad-ass machismo awesomeness

Certainly makes the mouth water. All three of these men have done more than enough to solidify themselves in the annals of rock history, but they are embarking on a project hoping that the end result is better than the sum of its parts. Ladies and gentlemen, Them Crooked Vultures.

At this point, almost nothing is known about Vultures. They performed live together for the first time August 9th at Metro Chicago in Illinois, playing a dozen songs featuring titles such as "New Fang," "Scumbag Blues," "Gunman," "Caligulove," and "Nobody Loves Me." Prejudging music solely on titles is absolutely insane, but is almost required considering the circumstances (I can't wait to hear how "Scumbag Blues" translates, for one.) The last of these selected titles is being carefully teased by the band on YouTube, and is pretty much the only musical evidence of the band's existence, unless of course you were one of the few lucky individuals at the show.

I don't think this needs to really be explained much further. Just look at the fucking guys in this band and the near-infinite potential that could be tapped for this project. Christ, don't let us down. In the meantime, give the rabid fanbase something with which to whet their collective appetite. 14 seconds on YouTube isn't even long enough to get blue balls, let alone full-blown jean creamery.

The Death of an Icon

On Thursday, August 13, Les Paul passed away at the age of 94 due to ongoing complications with pneumonia. As the inventor of the solid body electric guitar and multitrack recording, Paul basically helped bring about rock n' roll as we know today.

Since childhood, Paul found himself deeply interested in the world of music but believed that power and dynamic were somewhat unattainable with unamplified instruments. Artistically and emotionally, he recognized that a musician could only go so far with an acoustic guitar in hand. This is what brought about the creation of "The Log," a 4x4 piece of wood (which acted as a bridge and guitar neck), strung with steel strings, and attributed with a pickup. This invention gave way to the progression of the electric guitar as well as rock in general.

So how influential was Les Paul? Well, without him, the music of Gilmour, Townshend, Page, Clapton, and countless others would either be non-existant or completely unrecognizable. In short, the world of rock would have stayed a shell of itself for quite a bit longer without the likes of this iconic pioneer.