Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Weekly Whiskey Episode 36
Drum roll, please...
(Note: I was having a bear of a time getting blip.tv to work last night, so if the video is still screwed up, I'll fix it when I get home from work today)
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Best Of 2011 Nominees & Review Links
Look for a video AND a text post officially ranking these albums in a few days. For now, though, here's the alphabetical list of nominees and links to my reviews of each.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Weekly Whiskey Episode 35
Apologies for the lateness of this post. Technically I did have this posted to blip.tv last night but didn't have time to put it here, too. Ah, holidays...and local experimental music shows that keep me out late on work nights!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Blackout Beach- Fuck Death
Whether or not you're as a dedicated
fan of his as I am, I'm no longer sure if metrics of “good” or
“bad” apply to Carey Mercer's solo project, Blackout Beach. Like
Scott Walker's modern music, it has few precedents or points of
comparison and so it's hard to tell how good or not it is. You like
it because it's successful at what it's trying or because you find it
interesting, and you sure aren't going to put it on at a party.
Anyway, I don't think it's possible to like Blackout Beach on an
album-by-album basis; by now, you're either all in or all out, and
Fuck Death will do nothing to
change anyone's mind.
Mercer's
last two releases, Frog Eyes's Paul's Tomb: A Triumph
and Blackout Beach's Skin Of Evil,
felt like they belonged in the same headspace even if they sounded
little alike. The same dark, intense atmosphere permeated both, many
of the same characters haunted both records, and they were made
around the same period of time. Naturally, Fuck Death has
much more in common with Skin Of Evil,
though it does feels of-a-piece with both albums.
Still,
this is not Skin Of Evil Part 2 even
if the constituent parts sound similar. Mercer is pushing himself to
his greatest extremes yet on Fuck Death:
at more than 12 minutes, 'Drowning Pigs' is the longest track he's
ever made. Similarly, there are very few traditional guitar sounds on
Fuck Death as Mercer
decided to focus on synthesizers and atmospherics. Perhaps he was
inspired by Spencer Krug's Moonface release from earlier this year,
Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped,
where Krug limited himself to
primitive organs and drum machines. Or maybe the influence was the
other way around. But I digress.
In a
press release for Fuck Death,
Mercer took a few swipes at the chillwave scene in between explaining
that the record focuses on themes of war, beauty, and cowardice. All
of this, somehow, makes sense to me after listening to this album off
and on for a few weeks. One could make the argument that Blackout
Beach is the opposite of chillwave, forcing the listener into
discomforting thoughts and environments, like a Lars Von Trier film.
After all, there are no hooks or melodies, or anyway, no intentional
ones. The way 'Be Forewarned, The Night Has Come' peaks at the end
is strangely addictive to these ears, though it's worth noting I
genuinely like the No New York
compilation, so perhaps I'm skewed as to what is catchy and
addictive. As for the war, beauty, and cowardice...I assure you, it's
there in the lyrics and the sounds, you just have to keep working at
it.
And
you'll have to trust me that the work is worth it, because despite
the extremes that it goes to, Fuck Death is
perhaps the most successful Blackout Beach album yet. Which is my way
of saying, it's perhaps the best
Blackout Beach album yet. The lengthy, demanding 'Drowning Pigs'
seems like pretentious, slapped together dreck until you've heard it
a few times with patience in tow. To be honest, it has most of the
weakest moments of Fuck Death
and lacks the visionary progression of previous Mercer epics, though
it still manages to be interesting and also has, yes, some of the
album's strongest moments. The bit around the 8:00 mark when he's
singing over himself made me realize just how pretty and traditional
his voice can sound when he wants it to.
Fuck Death
is desolate, lonely music and by extension, it only makes sense when
heard on headphones or perhaps curled up in front of the record
player with a cigarette and some wine. If any of the above sounds at
all compelling, this is the album for you. If you don't always
qualify music in terms of 'good' or 'bad', but how 'interesting' or
'successful' it is, Fuck Death
may be for you, too.
5 Successful Stars Out Of 5
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Atlas Sound- Parallax
Though the album begins with the
ringing sound of feedback, Parallax
is actually the most accessible and pop oriented release of Bradford
Cox's career. However, this doesn't mean it's an easy or mainstream
record; it's all a matter of degrees. After all, the last Deerhunter
album was the most accessible and pop oriented thing that group has
released to date but it's still weirder and more experimental than
anything you'd hear on modern rock radio. In the same way, Parallax
may lack the abrasive/off-putting elements of Cox's past work but it
still manages to be a meaty and eccentric record, moving from classic
rock/retro influenced pop songs to dreamy/spacey daydreams with
surprising ease and coherency.
As
de-facto leader of Deerhunter and solo artist under the Atlas Sound
moniker, Cox has quietly become one of the finest songwriters of his
generation. A track like 'Angel Is Broken' would be the clear
highlight of most other artists' careers but it wouldn't even make my
top ten favorites by him. While even I still primarily think of him
as the guy who uses lots of effects pedals and always has a druggy
bent to his music, the reality is that underneath all that adornment,
his songs (at least most of them) boast memorable hooks and affecting
lyrics. True, like all of Atlas Sound's recordings, Parallax
sounds best on a pair of
headphones but this doesn't stop it from also being an album that
sounds great in the car or on a stereo. 'Te Amo' is packed with
detailed touches that are lost without said headphone listening
though it still sports a strong enough hook to trap you on first
listen when heard out loud.
After
I was left a little cold by Logos,
I began to wonder if Cox would continue getting more—for lack of a
better term—accessible in his two projects. And I don't mean
“accessible” in a good way. True, the main failing of Logos
was its lack of focus and the spotlight stealing guests, but it also
didn't help that the songs were sometimes too stripped down for their
own good. It gave one the impression Cox still wasn't sure what the
Atlas Sound project would be. I began to think of it as his tinkering
space for where he wanted to take Deerhunter. Parallax,
then, represents both a return to spacier/dreamier pastures as well
as finally nailing down why Atlas Sound was a separate affair from
Deerhunter.
Whereas
Deerhunter is more about a full rock band approach, stopping off to
try out shoegazer, garage rock, and psych-pop, Atlas Sound as
codified on Parallax
toes the line between full band, retro influenced pop/rock songs like
the title track and 'Mona Lisa' and the
staying-in-bed-and-spending-the-day-alone spacey ambient/pop of Atlas
Sound's first album. Not that they're always separated. It
effectively mixes the two styles, too: the aforementioned 'Te Amo'
may be one of the poppiest tracks but there's also all sorts of
little flourishes and electronic sounds in the background.
Indeed,
the last half of Parallax
spends more time drifting off into the ether than it does rocking
out, giving the record a sense of progression that makes it a more
cohesive listen than the scattershot Logos.
The two part finale, 'Quark', is actually more
experimental than anything on even Let The Blind Lead Those
Who See But Cannot Feel, the
first part a seven minute collage of clattering percussion, spacey
looped sounds, and, near the end, some pretty xylophone lines. The
shorter second part, meanwhile, blooms beautifully with the sort of
bright, gleaming acoustic guitar loops he often uses when playing
live as Atlas Sound (check
out this performance to see what I mean).
Parallax
isn't as special to me as the first album yet I would say that it's a
more complete album, succeeding where Logos
nearly-failed despite having a wider variety of sounds. It's tempting
to call it his most accomplished work to date, but perhaps a better
way to think of it is that it's his most finessed and committed work
to date. If Atlas Sound always sounded like a sideproject with songs
leftover from Deerhunter recording sessions, made on a whim alone by
Cox, this should be the record that proves he is putting his all into
Atlas Sound, too.
5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Thee Oh Sees- Castlemania and Carrion Crawler/The Dream
Castlemania
One of the nice things about prolific
bands is that, if you don't like the record they put out this year,
all you have to do is wait a year or so, and something new will come
out to scratch your itch. In the case of Thee Oh Sees in 2011,
however, that wait was a matter of mere months: the recently released
Carrion Crawler/The Dream trailed
its predecessor by less than half a year. Anyway, let's talk
about the first one first, as is accepted custom.
Castlemania
sports a more stripped down, recorded-at-home sound than most
previous Thee Oh Sees releases, so much so that it wouldn't surprise
me if John Dwyer recorded it mostly on his own. So, yeah, it sounds
different but that isn't the problem. The weakness of this release is
inherent in its production and vibe, which trades the rollicking
psych-garage of what I associate with this band for a more
song/melody oriented style, Dwyer twisting his voice in a
borderline-bratty, nasally direction and simultaneously playing more
acoustic guitar. This means the title track and 'Corprophagist' are
kind of awesome but also kind of annoying, the mid-fi production
working against the band for once. The more song oriented direction
also means that the focus is put more on Dwyer's vocals, which aren't
really up to these songs. Or anyway, don't always fit them well.
And
the songs also kind of don't sound like Thee Oh Sees, which isn't a
good or bad thing. Well, it's not a good or bad thing for your
average band, but when you're as maddeningly prolific as Dwyer, it
makes you seem restless and indecisive. He certainly has never had a
problem putting out releases under other names, so why not this one?
After all, the few stabs at full-band garage rock on Castlemania
sound like half-cooked leftovers from the preceding Warm
Slime, almost like he was
throwing us a bone to prove it really is an album from Thee Oh Sees
and not solo stuff. All of this combined with the acoustic psych-pop
tracks like the excellent 'I Need Seed' and the weird stuff like
'Idea For A Rubber Dog' means this album is a mess. Ultimately it's
an enjoyable mess yet it's also exhausting and only partially
satisfying.
3 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
Carrion Crawler/The Dream
Since
this release was originally going to be two separate EPs, you might
assume it would be even more messy and all-over-the-place than
Castlemania. Yet with
the full band in tow, including a propulsive two drummer backbone,
Carrion Crawler/The Dream
ends up being one of the best records Thee Oh Sees have ever put out.
With
the emphasis firmly back on recorded-live-style production and
energetic dynamics, this record may not sport as many memorable
melodies as Castlemania
but the hooks and playing more than make up for it. Try listening to
'Wrong Idea' or 'Chem-Farmer' and not wanting to get up and groove,
or at the very least, nod your head along. Even though they're
primarily instrumental, the pounding drums and choppy guitar lines
make these songs some of the most memorable on this album, not to
mention some of the finest in the band's catalog to drive or rock out
to.
It's
those moments of a great rock band in full flight which define
Carrion Crawler/The Dream,
from the way the band sort of jam their way into the opening of
'Carrion Crawler' to Dwyer's scorched guitar solos and exclamatory
screams to the way 'Robber Barons' sounds like Wooden Shjips mixed
with White Fence. Dwyer's Castlemania-style
vocal delivery is mostly absent on this record, though when it does
appear, as on the bass driven 'Crack In Your Eye', it works far
better in this context.
Prolificacy
doesn't always mean spreading yourself too thin (just ask Robert
Pollard), and if anything, Carrion Crawler/The Dream
makes the preceding Castlemania
all the more interesting because of how different it is. As far as
I'm concerned, this band (or even Dwyer alone) could put out two
records a year and I'd never get bored because there's always some
unique wrinkle going on, whether it's the lengthy title track of Warm
Slime or the sparing use of
psychedelic effects on tracks like 'You Will See This Dog Before You
Die.' Anyway, this is classic Thee Oh Sees all the way, and easily
one of the best things they've ever done.
5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Quasimoto- The Unseen
Still,
I know my weird music, and I know some weird hip hop via MF DOOM. His
Operation: Doomsday
preceded The Unseen by
a year, and in many ways they feel like long lost cousins. That
Madlib would work with DOOM on 2004's Madvillain project speaks to
this, sure, but it's also the eccentric style, beats, and samples
that both used which make this connection stronger. Well, I mean, the
two albums do sample
Scooby Doo, so the connection is already strong...though I didn't
mean it that literally. It's more like how Madlib's stoned flow and
his I-just-inhaled-some-helium voice as alter ego Quasimoto are a
perfect foil to DOOM's sleepy and congested style. But I digress.
While
Doomsday may have a
higher percentage of classic hooks and beats, The Unseen
is better overall. It's safe to say, you've never quite heard an
album, hip hop or otherwise, that sounds like this. 'Return Of The
Loop Digga' is like a miniature epic, stopping in a record store for
a skit halfway through before the beat is switched up and the song
continues. Sure, Madlib may also showcase some killer beats in a more
traditional way, like the addictive organ loop of 'Discipline 99 Pt.
0', but The Unseen is
defined by tracks like 'Return Of The Loop Digga' and 'Come On Feet',
the latter of which singlehandedly could justify hip hop to an
ignorant friend who thinks rap is all posturing, bragging, sex, and
violence (watch the video for even more oddness). No, Quasimoto is
not as outright weird as, say, Captain Beefheart, but like that
legend's most out-there moments, no one else sounds like this,
either.
And
make no mistake: you will have to go through a slight learning curve
to truly dig this record as you would with something by Beefheart.
Again, the comparison is as direct as their eccentric
learn-to-love-it vocals, but I refer more to how you don't know quite
what to make of this music right away. It's true that Madlib never
was and never will be a gifted MC, so there isn't an immediate draw
there, but his style is a brilliant match for the eccentric, spaced
out production. As with Trout Mask Replica,
The Unseen will take
some patience to unlock. Especially because, like most hip hop albums
of its era, The Unseen
is 10 to 15 minutes too long.
Hold
on, though. Unlike most hip hop albums of its era, The
Unseen has made this sprawl into
part of the appeal. Where skits become annoying tracks you skip over
by the third listen on, say, Ghostface Killah's Supreme
Clientele, Madlib as Quasimoto
incorporates them into his songs. Similarly, where there's two or
three tracks you could drop from MF DOOM's Operation:
Doomsday to make it a better
record, there is no obvious filler or weak material here.
The Unseen
was supposedly recorded over the course of a weeklong magic
mushroom binge, and while that may
help explain some of the weirdness going on here, it can't account
for the imagination and talent on display. From this 2000 release,
Madlib would go on to become one of the most prolific and influential
producers/musicians of his generation, and many of his projects would
gain greater recognition and praise. Yet The Unseen
is a perfect distillation of what makes him so compelling as well as
being a perfect case for how much can still be done with hip hop.
5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Tom Waits- Bad As Me
Thus
Bad As Me is his first proper
studio album in seven years and still somehow sounds rushed and
half-hearted. It's hard to imagine any fan of Waits being outright
disappointed by this record—he has long since become too consistent
a songwriter and too unique a performer to turn in a truly bad or
dull album—but at the same time, it's hard to imagine anyone truly
loving it the way people love Rain Dogs
or even Alice . This
is music which, at its best, is only good because it reminds you of
the past. Moreover, this is the sort of record which, at its worst,
is only tolerable because you remember
the past. If 'Pay Me' and 'Back In The Crowd' weren't by Tom Waits,
they would be amusing on-the-nose Waits parodies...except that they
were recorded by him,
and they're hollow shadows of what he's done before.
Bad As Me
makes consistency into a weakness instead of a virtue just as it
makes succinct song lengths into an issue. Much of this album either
mimics or mines Waits's past yet as a whole these songs sound less
distinct and unique because the production and overall aesthetic is
perhaps the most consistent since his jazzy crooner/barfly
pre-Swordfishtrombones
era. Where 'Big In Japan' was a unique stomping opener to Mule
Variations, its descendent here,
'Bad As Me', feels like an obligatory rocking song sandwiched in
between two slower, more mellow tracks. Were Waits not singing these
songs, they'd be as boring as any cover band playing standards and
hits on a Wednesday night in a Minneapolis biker/dive bar. It's his
performances that save this album and even then he seems barely
invested, as if he's going through the motions.
Waits has been
quoted as saying that this would be a collection of short, relatively
straightforward material, and perhaps that helps explain why all
these songs feel like first or second takes with unfinished, vague
arrangements. Waits has never been at his best when he's limiting
himself, and it turns out that self-enforced short songs, at least on
this record, were not going to help the subpar songwriting. If
'Chicago' were slowed down a bit and allowed to breathe, it could've
been a classic track. Likewise, 'Face To The Highway' plays like a
sequel to the languid lament of 'Sins Of My Father' yet tries to do
so in half the time.
It all
comes down to two things: 1) an artist can't release a safe record
like this after a seven year break, and 2) you can't spin consistency
into a virtue if the songwriting isn't top-of-your-game. As stated
above, it's hard to imagine anyone being disappointed by Bad
As Me, but it's also hard to
imagine anyone truly loving it.
3 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
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