Album Review: Girls and Weather (Rumble Strips)

This is with out a doubt the second best album I've enjoyed all summer. Well, maybe not best, but second most enjoyable. So Many Nights by Cat Empire is still better.

Regardless, this album is really truly great. It's got a garage rock sound that doesn't trade melody for noise (like so many other garage rock bands) and really brings in a lot of soul influence. The band finally manages to prove that Britain can supply the modern world with a sound that's not Oasis, U2, Amy "How the hell are you still alive and who still cares about you" Winehouse, and whatever the Britpop flavor of the month is. They're upbeat, but not fast upbeat. They have horns, but stay away from ska (thank god- more ska is the last thing the world needs. I mean seriously, what "wave" are they on now? And what's the difference between the waves? And who wants to call dancing skanking? And why the plaid?)

Ahem. It's fun music. Meant to be played loud. Possibly while driving. They're not particularly deep songwriters, but are a hell of a lot of fun. Great example, Motorcycle. It's a song about how the singer's life would be better if the bike he was riding on was a motorcycle. And it basically says he'd be a mad cool pimp. And he'd be halfway home.


I already posted a couple songs before, but that post is getting deleted and the songs will be reposted here.

Girls and Boys in Love, my favorite song from the album.


No Soul, the album opener. A great example of the horns.


Alarm Clock, another fun one. A great example of the sheer fun and cheerfulness of their lyrics.

Looong Album Review: Pretty. Odd. (Panic At The Disco)

I'm embarrassed. Really seriously embarrassed. To review this album I had to listen to it, which would normally be embarrassing enough. But it gets worse: I like it.

But the thing I'm embarrassed about the most is that I'm embarrassed about liking/listening to it. Because it's good. Damn good. But there's this idea that Panic can never be good, and even listening to this as I type and loving every second of it I get a bit confused.

I mean, let's face it. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out was a joke of an album. I'm sure you could listen to the same album by buying Fallout Boy and playing it at 2x speed. And there's no reason to expect Panic's sophomore release to be this good. The lyrics on A Fever... were trite and contrived, the music was, well, basic and written by 12 year olds. They wore top hats, makeup, and were generally mocked by the music world.

So here comes Pretty. Odd and it gets, weirdly enough, good reviews. Like, really good reviews. I hear about it everywhere.

I ignore all of this. I mean, Fallout Boy's second album got good reviews, yeah? And that was more of the first album. Then one night, I'm watching SNL and Panic comes on. I reach to mute it, but my remote dies and so I'm stuck in bed ready to be terrorized. And I'm mesmerized.


I don't know what happened, maybe the band heard a real album that wasn't written by Pete Wentz. I don't care. THIS IS GOOD.

So it's not the best thing since Pet Sounds. It's still really really good. There are a couple of weak spots, like the album opener We're So Starving, which is rather arrogant in that they apologize for being gone to write songs for "you". When they sing that, a crowd cheers. It's not a bad song, but annoying. Since I never missed them.

But most of it is, well, fantastic. Even if the lyrics are possibly pure nonsense (Do You Know What I'm Seeing is a great example of this).
One of the best songs is Folkin' Around, a Byrdsish (I hate comparing band sounds, but it's unavoidable here) track.

Another great song is Northern Downpour. It's quiet, soft, and sweet. Everything this band seemed to avoid on the first album.


My personal favorite though, for no particular reason other than it has a great chorus, is She's A Handsome Woman.

Album Review: Modern Guilt (Beck)

Oh Modern Guilt. I have no idea how to describe you. You have this 60's psychedelia thing going on, you have this funky thing going on, but most of you have this Beck thing going on. And at your heart, that is what you truly are: a Beck album at its finest.
You are beautiful through and through, whether you're being a serious song or a fun song, it manages to be atmospheric and danceable.

Your opening track, Orphans starts simple and builds so well and flows so nicely into everything else.

Everything that follows is beautiful. No one song stands out, they all have the same feel but manage to be different.



Honestly, this is the best Beck album since Odelay. It's lyrically sharp, fun, dark, well produced, and always interesting. I don't really know what else to say about it.

Here's my favorite track, Profanity Prayers.


Tomorrow I'll post about my newest love: Charlotte Sometimes.

Album Review: The Information (Beck)

The Information was the first (and until Tuesday) only Beck album which I was aware of at the release date, which makes my thoughts on it a little different than most Beck albums. Basically, it feels tired. At no point did I sit and think "Wow- this rocks", just occasionally "Hey, that's not too bad."

I suppose I should clarify: it's not a bad album by any means. If it were any other artist, it'd be the album of their life. But it never really lives up to Beck's discography. It has a lot of the Odelay feel, but none of the energy or momentum. And it's not a quiet Sea Change album either.

However, there are a few bright spots. The first is the atypically sweet song called I Think I'm In Love. It's not so much the music that's strong here, but rather the lyrics and subject. He's singing about being nervous about his own feelings. Honestly, who besides Beck would think to sing about something that true?

The other high spot is the slower Movie Theme. This is probably the strongest song on the album. I almost feel like this was the sort of album he wanted to make but didn't for whatever reason. It feels like it's the song he cared about most, it has the most real emotion and feeling.


I dunno, The Information isn't awful. But in comparison to, well, everything else, it's just not worth more than a few listens.

Tomorrow: Sea Change.

Album Review: Odelay (Beck)

If I fell in with Beck through Guero, then it was Odelay (buy on Amazon here)that made me want to get on one knee and propose to him and his beautiful music. Odelay is the seminal Beck album. It's upbeat, danceable, ridiculous, quirky, but not without social satire. It has a party feel. It's fun.

Released in 1996, it's his fourth album, and first major one, earning him a Grammy (and rightfully so).

The album starts up with Devil's Haircut, which helped solidify Beck's, well, strangeness. Even he makes fun of the bizarre song lyrics/name in an episode of Futurama.
Here's the quote:
Beck: You know, when I'm upset, I write a song about it. Like when I wrote Devil's Haircut, I was feeling really... what's that song about?
Bender: Hey, yeah! I could write a song! With real words, not phony ones like 'odelay.'
Beck: 'Odelay' is a word! Just look it up in the Becktionary!

Anyways, after that song comes what is the most overlooked song on the album, Lord Only Knows. Honestly, it starts off weird. With a scream. But then it hits this jam. And it's smooth. And catchy. And fun. And the lyrics are near perfect. And you can listen to it right below.


The other two highlights (though the whole album is exceptionally strong) are Sissyneck and Where It's At. The latter is especially fun. To say the least. It's
got a fuzzy sound, some organ/synth going on, and that delicious Beck rap dealio that I don't know he pulls off.

Basically what I'm saying is Beck needs to get back with the Dust Brothers, who produced this album.

Album Review: Guero (Beck)

Guero (available on Amazon here) was my first introduction to Beck. Now, a lot of people would consider this a tragedy, nay, sacrilege. Or would that be Beckrilege? The point is, I was a kid when everything previous by him was released, so this was the first thing I had exposure to. A friend gave me a mix CD with Que Onda Quero, E-PRO, and Girl. These songs blew me away. They changed how I saw music, heard music, and thought about music.

Anyways, the album is great. Well, not great in a Pet Sounds great way, but pretty good. It definitely starts strong too with E-PRO, Que Onda Guero, and Girl kicking off the album and being the catchiest, most fun, upbeat songs. The album gets a little less fun after that, but no less enjoyable.


Que Onda Guero is probably my favorite track, aside from maybe Girl.

What I love most about the album is the Spanish influence. It really feels like it was written in and for some barrios in LA, Vallejo, or, hell, just about any California city that's not Oakland. It's got that tejano feel, while still being Beck.
The last half of the album is infinitely less catchy, but no less good as I said before. There's just nothing worth pointing out on it really.

Beck! Beck! And more Beck!

In honor of Beck's new album, Modern Guilt, being released on this Tuesday, the 8th, I'm going to be reviewing my favorite Beck albums. Tonight I'll cover Guero, my first introduction to Beck, then I'll hit up Odelay, Seachange, and The Information. Basically my favorites. I'm also going to start setting up this blog for submission to The Hype Machine eventually, so that means with each album review I'll have mp3 download links, and links to buy the albums on Amazon.

In the mean time, enjoy the first single from Modern Guilt.

Album Review: From Every Sphere (Ed Harcourt)

I don't know where I picked Mr. Ed Harcourt up, but I'm glad I did. Anyways, From Every Sphere was his second album, released in 2003 on Astralwerks Records (Heavenly Records in the UK). It's a melancholy album, to say the least, but fantastic in so many ways. I guess it's nothing original, but the songwriting is incredibly strong, and Ed has this way of making every song memorable.

Anyways, to start, the album is immediately, well, melancholy. I can't think of another way to say it really. From track one, Bittersweetheart (how is that not a melancholy name even?) it's sad. But not in that incredibly frustrating poor-me-my-life-sucks way. It's sweet-sad. And with some exceptions the music swells with orchestral instruments behind it.

Again, it kicks off with Bittersweetheart (I like plays on words) which sets the tone for most of the album. It's chamber-popish, which strings, pop melodies, and just a good feel. And the album keeps that feel pretty consistently, until about 3/4 of the way through. In those first 3/4 even the supposedly upbeat songs have a sadness about them, something truly haunting. But track number 8, Watching The Sun Come Up changes that. It's uplifting, expanding, and absolutely gorgeous. It's one of those songs that just builds and builds until the symphony just explodes behind him (like a dawn, I assume was the intention).




The only misstep on the album I think is track number 3, Ghost Writer. It's a prog track, and really just not very listenable. He abandons all pop feeling, all melody, and leaves the listener with a dark gross dull track. However, deleting it from iTunes immediately fixed the problem for me. The album (and by extension, my ears) doesn't miss it at all.


This is All Of Your Days Will Be Blessed, another great song from From Every Sphere.

Non-Music Reviews: Books, TV, and more!

Book 1: So last week I read a book that just blew me away, The Raw Shark Texts by Stephen Hall. It's his first novel (unfortunately this means there aren't any others by him to read) and it's probably the best book I've read in years.

Everything about it is perfect. It's got just the right touch of tragicomedy that you'll be laughing at one page and crying at the next. It's got the perfect sense of absurdism. Enough to make the book ridiculous and fun, but not so much that it's unreadable or dense. And even more awesome was the typography. The author used sentences to make pictures. Kinda like ASCII art, but with actual words and sentences, as opposed to dots and slashes. For instance a fish with be "drawn" with the word fin filling in its fins and beak filling in its beak. Crazy, yeah?

But what Mr. Hall is most effective at is building empathy for the main character, Eric Sanderson. Eric Sanderson wakes up with no memory and a note from his old self giving him a person to get in contact with. I'm not going to ruin the story, because I want everyone to read it, but the way the book deals with loss, grief, love, and memories is incredible. I wish all books made me feel this way.

Book 2: Unfortunately, this book proved that that won't happen. Based on Amazon.com's recommendation, I checked out Remainder by Tom McCarthy. This book had potential, a lot of potential. And it was poorly used. It's about this guy who has an "Accident" which he can't disclose because he won a lawsuit where the company pays him money and he keeps his mouth shut about it. Anyways, he's rich now. And his memory is fragmented. So one night this guy has a vision with a memory he can't place. So he pays lots of money to have people reenact it for him. Again and again.

Now this book has a great opportunity to explore his memories and all sorts of cool stuff. But it doesn't. Instead the main character starts reenacting random everyday encounters he has. It's stupid, pointless. And by the end of the book the main character is a selfish boor who's entirely unlikable.

That's not even what bothered me the most about the book. The author goes to great extent at the beginning to introduce a girl named Catharine. They knew each other before the accident and something romantic was blooming. After the accident she comes to visit, and nothing happens between them. Then that's it. She's gone from the book entirely. Mentioned maybe once again.

Basically, Remainder by Tom McCarthy is a waste of time.

TV Show: Pushing Daisies. Alright, I ignored this when it was new. I ignored it for several months after. I ignored it all the way up until tonight when I watched an episode (Smell of Success) online. And it will never be ignored again. I've seen it described as a forensic fairytale, which is spot on. It's about this baker named Ned who's a twentysomething that can bring people back to life by touching them. When he touches them a second time they die, and for good. If he brings them back for longer than 60 seconds, someone or something of equal value has to die instead. And his next touch still kills them for good. Kind of a mixed bag.

Anyways, the show has a truly magical feel to it. Like Oz plus Seuss plus Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with some mystery solving. Oh right, because he can bring back the dead, he can talk to them and ask murder victims "Oh hey, since I have you here, who stuck that knife in your gullet?" So he's basically a pie baking Sam Spade.

I can't tell you how much I love this show. In fact, I'm going to go watch another episode right now.

Guess who's back (back again)

Alright, so half of my crap sorted itself out and I'm back to doing some writing. Tonight we have a three-way album battle between three of G. Love's best albums.

First up is Coast to Coast Motel.
Coast to Coast is G. Love and Special Sauce's second album, released in 1994. This was the first release by the Philadelphia group that brought them to the front of critical love, though it wasn't quite as popular as the self-titled debut.

Coast to Coast Motel has a much smaller hip-hop influence than, well, almost every other G. Love album. It's more groove and jam based which makes for a much different sound. Unfortunately, this vocals sometimes come across as lo-fi, which ruins the enjoyment of G. Love's . But the instruments are perfect, and ever melody and harmony fits just right making a weirdly retro sound. It's good. Here's my favorite song off of the album, probably one of the catchiest, Kiss and Tell.

Next up is Electric Mile, released in 2001 on 550 Music (once part of Epic Records).

This album is really sort of bizarre. It's almost impossible to predict what sort of music or sound will pop up next. GLaSS play around in soul, funk, rock, folk, etc. In fact, you'd have a shorter list writing down what sort of sound they don't use. Here's a song called Free at Last. Weirdly enough the usual G. Love funk isn't here. And I miss it. I mean, it's still good, but not quite as good, y'know?

And thirdly, we have Lemonade.

This is G. Love at his truest. Released in 2006, this is the quintessential summer album, full of relaxed funk-filled melodies. I can't praise this album enough. Everything about it is great. The lyrics are smart, but don't revel in their own cleverness (Mraz- I'm looking at you and your smarmyness). Every song has the same general sound, but feels completely different from the last one. Here's Hot Cookin, one of the best on the album.



Overall:
Electric Mile, Coast to Coast Motel, and Lemonade are exceptionally different from each other, but only Lemonade provides a consistent sound. And that sound is sweet.

Album Review: Move By Yourself (Donavon Frankenreiter)

SCENE: Warm summer evening. Lemonade in the right hand, book in the left, sun hasn't quite set allowing the man in the lawn chair to read.

ARIK: Ah, this lemonade is delish, the fireflies are beaut, and I can't stop talking in abbreves. What I need right now is some chill relaxed music to enjoy while I read this Peter Pan book which was definitely not written for people eight years younger than myself.

A tune drifts through the air alighting upon Arik's ears.

ARIK: What's this? A song? Something that reminds me of my warm California years in the sand and ocean? Why- I must know what it is!

UNKNOWN VOICE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE: It's Donavon Frankenreiter, now shut up!

Okay, so it didn't really happen like that. But the feelings of warmth, crickets, fireflies, and lemonade are all pretty strong in this album. Donavon Frankenreiter's second solo album is really wonderful to listen to, and was a real joy to find. And to be honest, finding it was more like:
ARIK: I need more summer music. Hm. I'll look up summery on allmusic, maybe that'll help.

But that's much less exciting. Anyways, this album really just feels good. It's a strong album all the way around. I mean, there are a few missteps, but it's definitely good. There's a lot of a funk type feel with that Sly Stone synth sound coming in on every other track. This would normally make it sound like a funk revival, but avoids that with some smooth singing. The album opens on one of the more uptempo songs, the title track Move By Yourself (sorry, embedding was disabled for this video, so I'm linking it instead), which at first listen sounds a little preachy, but it's easily overlooked in view of the foottapping beat and guitarage.

After this the album mellows out a little bit more and continues with a more soul/jazz oriented song called The Way It Is (same here). It's got more of that lovely synth, but still keeps the album Donavon's. In fact, Move By Yourself continues this lovely starry sky night sound almost the entire rest of the way. He doesn't get cheesey again, just relaxes and sings about life and love and that whole gang.

Okay, I lied. The last track is well, very cheesey. But it's also quite beautiful. It's got the whole soul singer in the background dealio going on and everything.


Anyway, the album is worth a listen, if not a buy. The Way It Is is probably my favorite track, and worth a buy, if nothing else. I really can't think of a single weak point other than the subject matter of the opening and closing tracks.

Album Review: Grand National (John Butler Trio)

More summer music!

I picked up this album in a quest to listen to as much Australian music as possible this summer, and I really was not disappointed. John Butler (and his trio) have a laid back lemonade sippin sun on your cheeks sound. There's a hint of reggae, but not in that annoying "put on a fake Jamaican accent" way. Just in the basic rhythms and beats. I mean, it makes sense. Can you see a guy with hair like this making music without reggae influences? Anyways, I'd kinda put off listening to it for a while because A) I'm lazy and B) I'm forgetful. That is until one song came up on my iPod, Good Excuse.

I put the official Good Excuse video up last week so here's a live performance on some Australian TV show.



That song is a great example of the feel of the whole album, especially the first 2/3. There's great use of harmonica, the guitars have hint of blues and funk, and the overall sound brings in some reggae. Here's another song, Daniella.

I'm a fan of songs with guitar solos that don't feel like they have to be completely over the top or detract from the main melody. Honestly, if it weren't for one particular song, it'd be a perfect summer album. The song Devil Running is a complete shift in tempo and style about 2/3 through. It's not so laid back. It's rock. And not even fun rock. It's serious. Boringly and annoyingly serious. It loses all the fun that the rest of the album has an is loud with electric guitars and distortion. There's a time and place for these things, but this wasn't it.


Anyways, I'm going to be writing one review every day this week, and trying to stick with fun summery music. Tomorrow will be Donavon Frankenreiter, G. Love later, and maybe some O.A.R. We'll see.

Finally, the Jakob Dylan Album Review

So between allergies, working for my freeish housing, and job interviews, I haven't had time to get this done. Sorta. Part of the problem was the album itself. But first we need to talk about Dylans. Jakob Dylan is not his father. He avoids dealing with that very well, despite the album being a guitar and singing affair. In fact, Jakob Dylan can sing. I mean, he's not the next Pavarotti, but he has a pleasant voice. Unfortunately, he never does anything too interesting.

That's largely why I couldn't get around to writing this album. For something interesting, whether in a good way or bad way, I'd be interested in writing the review. With this, I was kinda "eh". And it kept slipping my mind or getting put off.

Now, it's not a bad album. In fact, it's pretty good. But it's not very interesting. I've heard it four or five times and I can't tell the difference between a bunch of the songs. The lyrics are smart, the guitar is well played, but nothing ever really changes. And that is the biggest failing of the album. It makes for good reading music though.


Other news:
My job interview went really well today. I might get hired at Best Buy.
Bugs like crawling on my blinds.
I found out 4 people are subscribed to my blog on Google Reader. This made my day.
I love the local library. Went there tonight, then read the entirety of Neil Gaiman's Eternals Vol. 1 in a nearby park over 2 hours.
I rode my bike to my interview today. My butt still hasn't forgiven me.

Next review will probably be of the John Butler Trio's Grand National.

Abum Review: Beautiful Freak (The Eels)

In case you don't know the days of the week, today is Monday, which means new album releases tomorrow and new album reviews. Hopefully I'll be writing about Jakob Dylan's, The Infamous Stringduster's, or Emmylou Harris' new album. Just depends on which of the three is easier/cheaper to get my hands on.

But for this review I'm going back in time about 12 years when Eels was a new band and this album, Beautiful Freak, just came out. In some ways, listening to it feels like listening to an old friend. The songs are smooth. Something you can ignore for good background music, or get really into. They're catchy, but not necessarily in an upbeat hooky way. The title track, Novocaine For The Soul is a prime example of this.



It starts with a "what the hell?" sort of intro. Then it launches into the real song. And it's like heaven. The way E sings Novocaine is blissful. The lyrics are a love supreme (Jesus and his lawyer are coming back). I mean, how can it get better than this? Easy: My Beloved Monster.



Yes, the Shrek song. I don't care if Shrek had it. I love that movie, and I love this song. It's amazing. Incredibly sweet.

Another highlight of the album is Susan's House. I guess I got a little out of order, as this is the second song. It's one of those songs where there's a sung chorus and the verses are spoken over a beat. What makes it amazing is how it deals with the things that we tend to look away from in society, such as the mentally ill. It does this without becoming preachy or admonishing. I mean yeah, it's a depressing song. But it's a damn fine depressing song.

That's really the feel for the whole album. It's not a very happy album, though a couple of the songs (My Beloved Monster, etc.) are sweet songs. Despite the generally somber themes, every song will stick with you, in a good way. The tight production makes every beat dance by itself. I'd recommend this album in a heartbeat.

Album Review: So Many Nights (The Cat Empire)

As I've mentioned, I am in love with this album. Everything about it is almost perfect. Given only word to describe it I would pick funky. And I don't normally like funky.

The album opens with a bass heavy, jazzy piano turntable scratchy super catchy title song, So Many Nights (video below). First time I listened I expected to be disappointed by the rest of the album, since it's so good. I was wrong.




After this song, the album slows down a little bit, with a track called Panama. But make no mistake, being slower be no means makes it bad or less of a good song. However, it's the song directly after that solidified my love for this album: Fishies. Very Latin influenced with a strong trumpet and a Cubano style piano.



I don't know how all the elements blended to make this song so great, but I don't really care. It's heaven. Thankfully, this band is not just strong musically. The lyrics are really well crafted and fit perfectly with the singing. Sunny Moon (my favorite track) is a great example of this.

You may forget the details and you can forget the dates but never
Forget the moment when the light revealed her face
To be poor by lack of money but by god be rich in prize
I found my youths desire dark within her eyes
And the tent kept breathing something and then she cried -
'Hold on we're going somewhere else tonight'

This band really does it all, and does it all well. Between this album and their older album, Two Shoes, I've found my summery music for the summer.