Saturday, February 23, 2013

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away

This will surely go down as the quietest album of the year. There is still a romanticism in the void, if you're into the rhythmless folksiness.
 
Many of the songs deal with the boys and girls of this world coming out into nature - down to the pines, down to the shore - to take their chances with each other. There are some string sections to swell the heart, but it's mostly in the lower trenches of first E string that feels like a lone candle in a dark room.
 
If this were on the background, I might have felt completely bored with this. But paying attention, it really does settle into a groove and swelters. "Wide Lovely Eyes" feels like a Tom Waits' "Hold On" kind of hopefulness. "We Real Cool" is simply hot. It's bass underlay feels like Twilight Singers' "Waves" except it never explodes. It stays even until its a sweat puddle on the sheets. There's even an epic. "Jubilee Street" feels like something taht Lou Reed would base a play around.

There are some to possibly push away. At eight minutes, "Higgs Boson Blues" is basically as fine as Jubilee, but overstays its welcome by about double. And the curious "Mermaids" for some reason starts out with "I was the match that would fire up her snatch / I was fired from her crotch, now I sit around and watch".

But those are small issues in a record that would have been a perfect fireside winter record. Nonetheless, will heat up your spring. (4 of 5 stars)


Saturday, February 16, 2013

Foals - Holy Fire

When I see an "alternative dance" label next to a band, I may get some negative connotations. Some techno-with-guitars image like Jesus Jones. But on their third album, Foals show more of a Depeche Mode influence than something bouncier like Franz Ferdinand.

The "alternative" part of the dance will start in the lyrics, which are mostly self-loathing fears about a guy who cannot trust or be trusted. So, on the dark side of things. But also much more oblique than DM, who was rarely happy-go-lucky but generally completed a thought process.

The "dance" part too is also not obvious. The beats are there, but they're often muted. There are exceptions, like the single "My Number". But this is no Radiohead either. Time signatures don't stray from classic.

Picking a favorite would be the most dynamic of the tracks. "Late Night" builds from a quiet lullaby to a frantic disco, complete with a funky scratch guitar solo. It really does feel like 1979 by the time you get to three minutes. I wish singer Yannis wasn't screaming for his mommy, but the song still works.

Other than that, I was left mostly flat by Foals. Again, probably not my top genre. And I'm glad it's wasn't Muse, but I still can't say that the record moved the holy anything in me. (2 of 5 stars)


Sunday, February 10, 2013

Eels - Wonderful, Glorious

Having made myself a fan of Eels but a couple of years ago, I highly anticipate this effort - which is rumored to rock more than Mark has done in the previous albums. And he starts it off with the point - "Nobody listens to a whisperin' fool". The opening track makes no other declaration than that Mark is in the mood for declarations.

And it's on these types of tracks, the ones that rock, where there's a faint hint of Tom Waits' Bone Machine. Especially in the way the drums were recorded. Of course, Mark keeps it way simpler than the lyrical poetry of Waits, but its easy to find a home here.

When he's not rocking, E can still spin out plenty of desolate despair ballads and lilting romantic slow jams. On the former side, you'll hear "On the Ropes" and "The Turnaround" which are way more hopeful than anything on the crushingly down End Times. On the latter, we have "Accident Prone" and "I Am Building a Shrine" which are less-sexy than my last-album favorite, "This Is Where It Gets Good". Play that for pants-off preparation. Play the new ones for post-coital sweetness.
 
On the whole, this is album is more Glorious with the time he spends with friends. The full-band rockers. I love me a good ballad, but too often on these, Mark takes care of the process himself, drum programming and all. It has an unwarranted corporate feel that is incongruent with the songwriting intent. I would have appreciated something more acoustic. A good mix of indie pop and indie rock, though. (3 of 5 stars)


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Adam Green & Binki Shapiro

PAdam is that guy you know from The Moldy Peaches. His newest collaboration with Little Joy's Binki Shapiro seems like a move out of Beck's or M. Ward's playbook of getting close to hot chicks. Not to belittle the singers, but historically, men do some crazy stuff to woo for beautiful women.

In this new collective, Adam strays from his too-precious "anti-folk" and does a retro garage-pop series of duets with lots of lilting piano and echo chambers. And with some exceptions, the songs are straightforward mellow romantic pop. ("What's the Reward" does include a pretty awesome surf break.) The addition of harpsichords, organs, bells (and in the case of "Pity Love", a great walking bass line) give the album a fireside Christmas feel. As if Brian Wilson grew up in Minnesota.

At 28 minutes, it's a perfect record to play while cooking a romantic meal for two together. It's going to bore the tears out of some people who strive for more challenging music, but there's something to be said for quaint beauty.

The exception to all of this is the single. The glorious sunshine pop "Just to Make Me Feel Good", which could be The New Pornographers covering "Heroes".  It's the biggest sounding song on a record full of minature songs, but it fits. (4 of 5 stars)