Saturday, May 25, 2013

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

I first became aware of The National from the Boxer album. I didn't love it at all, but "Start A War" was a personal anthem for me during a break-up. So I'll give them a chance again, but am wary that Matt's vocal and lack of dynamics will again keep from getting too close.


"You didn't see me, I was falling apart
I was a television version of a person with a broken heart"

The album starts with some relief to my reluctance, because while "I Should Live in Salt" is a mellow, fairly monotonous sounding tune, there's something about the lyric that I really love. "Don't make me read your mind". And even better than that is the follow up, which may end up on the year's best of list. "Demons" has a mellow groove that conjures memories of this year's Nick Cave record. But instead of slow-jam sexy, it's a bitter, resentful reflection of self. "I am secretly in love with everyone I grew up with" and "When I walk into a room, I do not light it up... fuck." are both brilliant examples of a lyric that draws me like a mosquito to the bar's neon.

That same kind of aesthetic follows through another favorite, "Graceless", which could be a full on party jam if someone remixed it. ...And if the audience didn't quite focus on the complete self-destructive, sad nature of the lyrical content.

"I'll be a friend and a fuck-up and everything
But I'll never be anything you ever want me to be"

I was right in my prejudice that The National do not project any variation of styles. I think it would be great to be the drummer in this band. You get your share of the publishing royalties and you barely have to show up. And Matt's vocal range goes from deep moan to deep lilt. He seems almost asleep most of the time.

Having said that though, the writing of Trouble Will Find Me is brilliant. The lyrics, the pacing, etc. are as good as your favorite U2. I can't believe that I blew them off live this year, but I've found a contender for album of the year. (5 of 5 stars)



Saturday, May 18, 2013

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

I've never listed to a VW record before. Knowing who they were, they seemed too twee and sweet to me. Imagine an Iron Maiden fan in 1982 picking up a Haircut 100 album. Doesn't fit. ...And the leader's name is "Ezra" for fuck's sake. He makes John Mayer look like Lemmy. But I admit that they made a pretty impressive showing at Lollapalooza this year, so I'm putting on my deck shoes, tying my sweater behind my neck and giving them a spin.

"Step" is a good example. A slow beat with some harpsichord ramblings would generally be entirely too ridiculous to add to my collection. Especially when sir Ezra kicks over a stack of encyclopedias and reads random words with a calm white-reggae-rap over it. But something about it works. I'm sure it would work more for me if those same lyrics were being cockneyed over by Alex Turner, but I can still take it.

Down the line, "Hudson" is another one that totally surprised me. A morbid matter-of-fact gothic march which is mourning something, painting a hell-scape war-torn landscape while not explaining anything concretely. Still- put me in the right mood.

Other than those, only a couple of other tracks matched my expectations from the live show in terms of excitement. "Diane Young" and "Finger Back" are hyper-kinetic blasts of energy. But other than the break of of fun, there wouldn't be a lot for me to connect to. Especially the latter, where the vocal rap is not anymore decipherable than it is interesting.

The remainder of the album is filled with some mid-tempos and rich-white-kid-polyrhythms (see:"Ya Hey") that betray their Paul Simon influence without having ever gotten their hands dirty in city soil, much less African. I can see the modern vampires benefiting from experience. They have a collective head to find something interesting, even if they don't quite perform it yet. (2.5 of 5 stars)



Saturday, May 11, 2013

Savages - Silence Yourself


Savages are an all-girl noise rock band from London. While I make it a point not to listen to all-girl groups very often, Savages get the respect of living up to their name. There is a ferociousness about this music that deserves to be heard.

There is a dance-able rhythm underneath the noise that would not be out of place in a Bloc Party block party; instead of BP's romantic wistfulness, singer Jehnny Beth and guitar player Gemma Thompson come on like a hateful Sleater-Kinney. While Rolling Stone has compared her to Siouxsie Sioux or even Ian Curtis, concert goers around this writer's part of town would be reminded of We Are Hex.

The only drawback to this album is a common one among debuts. There is not a lot of dynamics in the songs. Track one will hit you hard and most of the other tracks will follow the same structure. Twice does Savages venture outside of their comfort zone. "Strife" slows the tempo just a bit to an awesome Soundgarden-like dirge. Less successful is the album closer, "Marshal Dear" which brings piano and clarinet into a slow blues-jazz lament, which feels like an experimental Patti Smith.

But the album is still a twisted distorted ride that has a very live feel. And there discernible sing-song, crowd-rallying choruses here to get behind. And if there was a strong melody, you probably wouldn't understand what the lyrics are to sing them. But the projection is powerful. (4 of 5 stars)



Saturday, May 4, 2013

LL Cool J - Authentic

To be clear, I am only listening to this album because I am a huge Van Halen fan, and for some reason, Eddie decided to play as a guest on two tracks. My focus will surely be on those, but yes- I'll listen to the whole record. Even if, gosh darnit, it does NOT include his recent Brad Paisley collaboration "Accidental Racist". Boo-hoo.

The first track is "Bath Salt" though... which is an odd deadly ugly drug to make a dance track out of. But I'm mostly okay with it. Kind of like a little faster, rawer version of Usher's "Yeah" "Hand on my nuts, that's product placement"

"Not Leaving You Tonight" is one of the EVH tracks. A romantic dedication with Fitz of the Tantrums taking over chorus duties. Eddie keeps the flow of the solo simple, straying from the hammer-on hummingbird and instead sustaining on a whail with distortion to see him through. Why he failed to make this a single is beyond me.

While his liner notes would have you believe that the album will be a hodgepodge of different styles that reflect his many (20+) famous collaborators, the rest of the album is really just varied styles of hip-hop. "Give Me Love" for example, could have been a soulful R&B classic, with Seal's pained chorus and the introspective verses about fear and loneliness. But LL can't still restrain himself long enough to turn it into a sex jam. "Give it to me, baby" being recited over and over again makes no sense here.

Travis Barker brings the beats on the other Van Halen track, the "Lose Yourself"- like "We're The Greatest". Eddie mostly follows the pre-defined melody, but it's chunky and he gets to noodle around really quickly. I'd love to hear the isolated track.

Other tracks that benefit from its collaborations, LL seems to be missing on. Or at least, not making the best of the jam. Barker quite awesomely brings the funk on a pair of songs. One with Bootsy Collins called "Bartender Please". And another with Tom Morello called "Whaddup". Both would be valiant club powerhouses, but LL brings nothing close to "Mama Said..." It seems like instead of hosting a great party and inviting a ton of interesting people, LL let some folks run rampant in his house while he stayed on the porch. (2.5 of 5 stars)