Music!

Deerhunter – Cryptograms (Kranky Records; 2007)

Can I just re-post my initial review of this (from my old blogspot)? Edited, of course…

So there’s this choppy and churning, roto-Leslie effect on the guitar (its intent to possibly mimic a siren?) that signals the start of Cryptograms. It’s an ominous warning and Deerhunter wants you to take them serious. As in “dead” serious- it’s an album wrought with imagery of death, as their own bass player died in a tragic skateboard accident recently. It makes for a sad trip of an album, back and forth between light and dark until finally eschewing the grief and moving towards the light.

Track-by-track the same rotary effect is applied as a segue between (White Ink literally sounds just as it’s been named) with a few minutes dedicated to what amounts to white noise. But the ever-present theme of the album returns itself back to those densely layered, choppy delays to segue us away to Lake Somerset; which falls into a jam-band induced trance and drops you lightly into Providence with a toned-down reprise of that thematic and soupy churn of organs and guitar and finally into Octet-Stream.

Evoking both a psychedelic feel and emotive urgency, with that same disconnected lyrical and haunting musical recipe that worked so well in Grizzly Bear’s excellent Yellow House last year. Other bands that come to mind when listening to this album: Slint’s Spiderland, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, and last year’s debut album from I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness. (Side Note: albums I seem to give favor to often find themselves in company with other good albums.)

But at the halfway point of the album, that bubbling theme settles itself to a simmer with an ambient and atmospheric soundscape, and the album’s centerpiece is revealed with Spring Hall Convert and a nice segue into Strange Lights. So it basically took us about 25 minutes into this album before actual songs (as in rhythm, melody, hooks, riffs?) decide to make an appearance- to see if an actual album materializes. And it does quite wonderfully, after the aptly-named Tape Hiss Orchid gives itself into the arms of Heatherwood and its chanting chorus “was not seen again” playing us out of the album.

In short, a great achievement, musically, lyrically. This is where maximum creativity has been reached, definitely one of the better albums of the year. Deerhunter, as a band, has moved on and ultimately accepted reality, which makes for beautiful art.

There you go; my favorite album from one of my favorite bands- see them live when they come to your town.

Key tracks: Tape Hiss Orchid, Heatherwood, Cryptograms, Spring Hall Convert

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The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop Records; 2003)

Apparently the title of this record is a euphemism for anal sex; okay, I totally get it. Whether it’s an actual butt-sex reference or simply a metaphor (akin to “screwing the pooch” or “shitting the bed”, i.e.; any term for being a total fuck up) it’s gotta be the most successful album to sneak that one by the record-buying public. The Shins brand of radio-friendly retro pop (with tongue-in-cheek lyrics) really hit its stride on this album- whereas Oh, Inverted World’s standout tracks had their dreamy and ethereal imagery, this one has shiny vocal harmonies dressed-up with slick production values courtesy of Phil Ek (whose resume includes albums by Band Of Horses, Fleet Foxes and Built To Spill). The Shins could never be accused of being unlistenable, (your mom was probably humming the tunes she knows from the Garden State soundtrack) and that’s their mass appeal; the fact that every one of their tunes sounds as if its ready for a drive-time playlist. Even the songs that aren’t totally saccharine-sweet pop have an understated beauty to them- take the lyrics to Pink Bullets; they have such a trenchant and timeless quality to them it’s as if lead-Shin James Mercer was channeling Nick Drake’s ghost.

Key tracks: Pink Bullets, Kissing The Lipless, Gone For Good, So Says I

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Radiohead – Amnesiac (Capitol Records; 2001)

“I’m a reasonable man, get off my case…” implores Thom Yorke on opening track Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box; it’s funny because Radiohead was in the process of becoming a sort of a cultural Rosetta Stone based on the critical success of Kid A, a phenomenal record in its own right. All but one track on Amnesiac was recorded during those sessions, and stylistically they share a commonality unlike any other back-to-back Radiohead offerings. Because this record was released so close to Kid A (seven months apart), it was glossed over because it was less obtuse, it had more guitar songs, had more singles and videos, etc. All specious arguments; Thom Yorke later said (when pressed to answer the question “why not release a double album or two records simultaneously?”) that

“They are separate because they cannot run in a straight line with each other. They cancel each other out as overall finished things. In some weird way, I think Amnesiac gives another take on Kid A, a form of explanation. Something traumatic is happening in Kid A, this is looking back at it, trying to piece together what has happened. I think the artwork is the best way of explaining it. The artwork to Kid A was all in the distance. The fires were all going on the other side of the hill. With Amnesiac, you’re actually in the forest while the fire’s happening…”

That makes perfect sense; if they did release Kid A and Amnesiac together it probably would’ve been the greatest album of the last 30 years anyway…

Key tracks: Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box, I Might Be Wrong, Knives Out, Pyramid Song

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Minus The Bear – Highly Refined Pirates (Suicide Squeeze Records; 2002)

I can’t give one good reason or even remotely explain why I love this album so damn much; it’s got everything that makes people wanna scream and leave the room- prog-type excesses, over-the-top guitar noodling, ProTools cut-and-paste production values, it’s the antithesis of lo-fi and/or heartfelt singer-songwriter stuff. But I’m not here to defend my taste, I’m here to explain why I love these records- and this record fucking rocks. It’s basically forty-two minutes of guitar-driven, technically proficient post/math rock with some of the most awful song titles this side of Ween. They’re either inside jokes that only the band gets or lines of dialogue from awful sci-fi flick Starship Troopers (seriously), but the titles are almost never mentioned in the songs themselves, they’re entirely different subjects contained within. One review I’ve read of this album bunches them in with The Dismemberment Plan and Built To Spill (two bands I can’t stand because they’re boring as fuck) and yet another review places them in a league with pre-Fear Of Music Talking Heads and Larks’ Tongues In Aspic-era King Crimson (two bands/albums I absolutely adore) so to the haters on this one: go cram it with walnuts. This record kills. But that’s only my opinion, and until you get a blog and start writing about music; it’s the only opinion that matters…

Key tracks: Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse, Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!, We Are Not A Football Team, Women We Haven’t Met Yet

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Madvillain – Madvillainy (Stones Throw Records; 2004)

You’re probably gonna give me a ton of shit that this record’s only #31 on the list. I can explain; I think hip-hop’s heyday was the actual heyday of hip-hop (’88 to ‘91); why else is that era referred to as “The Golden Age Of Hip-Hop”? I know that’s a weak defense; but in all actuality there’s been a ton of good “rock” music the last ten years, and not a whole lot of good “rap” music. This is a fact- turn on your radio or TV and this fact is indeed proven correct. That point is completely moot when talking about MF Doom and/or Madlib; they’ve never searched for mainstream ears- it’s obvious in the samples they use, ranging from such diverse influences as the space-freak jazz of Sun Ra, the shtick-rock of Frank Zappa, the minimalism of Steve Reich, the hardcore raps of Schooly D and prog wizards Gentle Giant; the common thread running through all of the aforementioned artists is their experimental and innovative natures, just like Madvillain. I would shy away from using the tag “experimental hip-hop” but if there is such a genre; Doom and Lib are at the forefront of that shit.

Key tracks: All Caps, Money Folder, Rhinestone Cowboy, Raid

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Vote, Vote, VOTE!

Jay-Z – The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella Records; 2003)

What the hell are you waiting for? Encore, do you want more? If this actually was Jay-Z’s farewell album, he would’ve went down as the Michael Jordan of rap. Wait, Michael came back to play for the Wizards and well… yeah. HOV dropped this banger, retired and… ugh. But this ain’t about Kingdom Come or The Blueprint 3, this is about L’album Noir- a game changer and what should have been the definitive statement from one of the best in the league. Every song has an old school aesthetic with a new school vibe; it’s as if Jigga handed the keys to his Bentley to the entire class of underlings and said “Drive it- if you can…” There was about a six month span from November of ‘03 until May of ‘04 when you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting one of the singles from this jam; especially 99 Problems- maybe the best thing Rick Rubin’s ever done (using a bad-ass hook from a Mountain song over a Billy Squier beat with some Ice-T samples thrown in for good measure). For Jay-Z to be at the top of his form and make such an outright and in-your-face career-affirming moment like this; it’s a shame he came back with such crap to close out the decade. You can’t be at the top forever…

Key tracks: 99 Problems, Dirt Off Your Shoulders, Threat, PSA (Interlude)

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Mastodon – Leviathan (Relapse Records; 2004)

My hands down favorite metal album of the decade- I’ve heard Mastodon labeled as “hipster metal” or “metal for people who don’t like metal”. Whatever. All I know is that this rocks; there was a good six months where every time I skated I listened to this on the pod. It’s aggressively progressive, isn’t full of that god-awful cookie monster singing that “metal” has stooped down to embrace, it’s hard and heavy yet not abrasive or grating, the riffs are pure power and thematically it’s about Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, so it goes wrong absolutely nowhere. It’s their most listenable record, it’s both a nod to their many influences (sludge, hardcore, southern rock, that whole school of second-wave British Heavy Metal aka Maiden & Priest, a wink in Metallica’s direction as if to say; thanks for the torch, bitches) as well as their coming out party. And it’s produced by the guy who produced the next record on the list!

Key tracks: Blood And Thunder, Iron Tusk, Seabeast, Hearts Alive

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Minus The Bear – Menos El Oso (Suicide Squeeze Records; 2005)

Oh, this album was like a kick in the face when I discovered it- a “blind” buy; my term for more or less walking into a record store and buying something not only completely unheard but completely unheard of. Mad props to Wes from the Main Line Repo Records in Rosemont (R.I.P.); that jawn was my favorite record store since high school until they closed down in ‘05. But alas; mom and pop record stores back east don’t enjoy the same loyalty that they do on the west coast (let’s start a dialogue on this). So yeah, this actual record review? Menos El Oso my intro to this band, and lo and behold this and their previous offering (Highly Refined Pirates, album #32 of the decade- review coming soon…) are the only two records in their oeuvre worth mentioning. Even this record, when I’ve played it for friends has brought sighs of derision and outright dismissal, but I love it. It’s techy and ProTooled to the max, a driving and danceable brand of indie rock for the jaded- the album’s main theme seems to be detachment; moments lost and never recaptured, that sort of thing. The fractured and staccato guitars scream over deep and funky basslines with tight, metronomic drumming pinning the whole thing down. It’s a formula that I wish they would’ve stuck to, but it’s hard to catch lightning in a jar and hold onto it.

Key tracks: Pachuca Sunrise, The Game Needed Me, Drilling, The Fix

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Girl Talk – Night Ripper (Illegal Art; 2006)

I was raised in the suburbs, five miles west of Philadelphia. My formative years (musically) were from 1984-1994. I can only think that Girl Talk (Pittsburgh’s Greg Gillis) was on the same shit I was on during this same time. Crunk rap mixed with 90s alternative? Grunge and soul? Boston and Ludacris together at last? Notorious B.I.G.’s Juicy mixed with The Pharcyde’s Passing Me By mixed with Elton John’s Tiny Dancer? Mike Jones‘ Back Then with Seals & Croft’s Summer Wind? Remember that song “whoa- oh, it’s magic, I knooow..” from those Time-Life 70’s albums? The band is Pilot and Gillis cuts that shit with Kanye’s Gold Digger. So hype, it’s just too much to process in one sitting- it’s a testament to our ADD-fueled childhoods mashed into our strobe-lit adolescence crossed with late-teenage psychedelic experimentation; a soundtrack to a culture that’s been playlisted to death.

Key tracks: Smash Your Head, Once Again, Bounce That, Hold Up

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Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (Kranky Records; 2008)

Microcastle would be the obvious direction that Deerhunter’s sound was headed after the Fluorescent Grey EP; I can hear how those four songs act as a natural bridge over the gap from Cryptograms to here. And Weird Era Cont. sort of works as a stop-gap between the afforementioned EP and Microscastle, even though it’s been packaged as a complimentary piece (I like how it works as a pre-cursor to the album instead of an after-thought or “extra” release). Either way, two albums put out simultaneously was a risky move- but it ended up paying huge dividends as the Atlanta quartet’s conceptual continuity remains undisturbed. All the hub-bub surrounding the release of these records (accidentally leaked by lead singer Bradford Cox, through his blogspot) completely makes up for any “bad vibes” Cox said he felt he was putting out by telling people not to steal his music, lambasting his fans but later retracting his outburst, offering an apology and putting out thirteen extra tracks and calling it Weird Era Cont. for no additional cost. What a rad guy. Anyway, back to the actual music- Deerhunter’s sonic architecture is par excellence, earning them much-deserved comparisons to such a vast array of their influences like Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, The Beach Boys, Electrelane- hell, throws those bands in a blender and set to puree and pour out today’s pre-eminent autuers in the self-created genre of ambient garage noise pop.

Key Tracks (from Microcastle): Nothing Ever Happened, Saved By Old Times, Agoraphobia, Never Stops; (from Weird Era Cont.): Vox Humana, Operation, Vox Celeste, Focus Group

Lotus Plaza – The Floodlight Collective (Kranky Records; March 23rd, 2009)

Lotus Plaza is Lockett Pundt’s side-project- after recently seeing Deerhunter, it’s safe to assume he’s the sober yin to Bradford & Company’s raging yang. As the other members of his day job’s outfit leapt and flayed about the stage, he played it cool; more often than not his back was to the audience. And if that’s any indicator of how aloof and reserved he can be, let The Floodlight Collective serve as his laid-back offering.

It’s a study in dense atmospherics and ambient soundscapes; filtered vocals making him sound a million miles away. Stylistically speaking, it’s much closer to his band-mate’s side project Atlas Sound- the way things blend together, the fade-ins (as well as fade-outs), a washed-out echo here or there, reverb and delay acting as an instrument in and of themselves, staccato guitar strums enveloping around mesmerizing synths, softly delivered vocals; it’s a cacophony of indifference and reservation- yet so interesting and inviting.

Into the album now- Red Oak Way starts us down Lockett’s tunnel; he re-visits that mid-80s Jesus & Mary Chain drone-meets-jangle guitar pop with a shiny guitar line over top. The vocals on the following song, Quicksand, mesh perfectly into the denseness, give Xanax to Motown session musicians and this would be as close to the resulting track as that combination would allow. Then there’s the passage piece These Years with its wind-chime effects, acting as a segue into the next part of the record.

The album really gets into its mission statement with the next four songs: shoe-gazer anthem Different Mirrors (with Deerhunter’s Cox on drums); churning the guitars and vocals through rotorized Leslie speakers no doubt, there’s the lovely “aah-ahh-ahh-ahhs” before dying out. Whiteout and What Grows? expand upon Pundt’s pursuit of the elusive unification of 1950s vocal harmonies, 1960s Madison Avenue advertsing pop and mid-80s British post-punk; he does so with excellent results. Sunday Night has some programmed synth work that plays throughout the course of the song; (it was only mildly annoying because it sounds like my ringtone so I was constantly checking my phone) as well as the programmed drum clicks on the seven-and-a-half minute Antoine, a track that gets deep into rich, textural tones that ebb and flow into and out of the mix; I can’t tell which sounds are coming and which are going. Then the bass picks up, as well as the drums (at around 4:40) and the song morphs into an ambient dance track of sorts, there’s also a barely-audible piano in there somewhere.

The title track acts as an idiosyncratic homage to M83; genuflecting in Anthony Gonzalez‘ general direction with an elegiac ode to pure, slowly building ambiance seen all over his (accidental?) mentor’s debut album. The albums closes out on the more upbeat A Threaded Needle, the vocals are still low in the mix but more audible than the majority of the album. The albums ends on a harrowing helicopter-like sound, but gently fades into nothingness.

If I can remember back to my review of last year’s Atlas Sound record, I think I said Cold As Ice was my favorite track from that album; saying it was transcendent and sublime- I think because Pundt played guitar on that track (I recently discovered this fact reading another review of The Floodlight Collective), making it more like a Deerhunter track, therefore making it more amazing, therefore making this record transcendent, sublime and amazing…

…and in hindsight; that was probably the connection I was trying to make.

Tracklisting:

1. Red Oak Way
2. Quicksand
3. These Years
4. Different Mirrors
5. Whiteout
6. What Grows?
7. Sunday Night
8. Antoine
9. The Floodlight Collective
10. A Threaded Needle

Lotus Plaza

Real intro: Noise Pop ‘09 got off to a banging start last night with a free show at the Mezzanine featuring the aforementioned Atlanta quartet- who, for all intents and purposes, seamlessly blended noise and pop into a bubbling, seething cauldron of bombastic rock and roll delivered it at an excessive volume. Which was exactly what I wanted to see.

I had been wondering (never having seen Deerhunter in person before) how they’d translate their sound to the stage- I’ve described their studio efforts as creepy, melodic, brooding, ambient, dark, basically all over the place; so I was intrigued to say the least. Getting blasted in the face with a tsunami-like wall of guitar feedback; now that was nice.

If Deerhunter is coming to your town any time soon, I’d say get your ass there.

Setlist (from Hippies Are Dead):

Cryptograms

Never Stops

Rainwater*

Disappearing*

Spring Hall Convert

Nothing Ever Happened

Famous Last Words*

Saved By Old Times

Agoraphobia

Hazel St.

Microcastle

Encore:

Calvary Scars

* – brand new songs

Anyway; I can’t top that excellent review from Hippies Are Dead, that guy’s shit is spot on. He’s got some good pics up on flickr, but I’ve got mine right here: