It’s become painfully clear to me what this year’s music trend is.
Last year was marred by the over-use of Auto-Tune, which was somehow popular despite the fact that Eurotrance/dance music has been using it for years now. This year, numerous bands seem to be recreating music they made last decade. First there was Depeche Mode, next was Sonic Youth, and now you can add Wilco to the list.
Appearing on the scene in the mid-nineties with strong jam albums like Being There and A.M., Wilco set a bar for themselves and just continued to raise it. And since the release of their fourth (and greatest) studio album in 2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco have been the forerunners for experimental/folk/Americana music. Hell, they’re probably the only band that fits such a concise genre. The following two albums have been radically different in sound making it impossible to pin down where a Wilco album will take you next. Well, that’s not the case here.
Wilco (The Album), ultimately finds Jeff Tweedy and Co. rewinding their song-writing skills back to before 2000. The record starts off on a decent note with “Wilco The Song” and “One Wing” bringing in that comfortable Wilco sound. The fourth track, “Bull Black Nova,” comes on like a shot in the arm (hardy har!). It’s an excellent song that showcases the experimental side that Wilco has had on display this decade. It’s also the one of two tracks where uber-guitarist Nels Cline is even audible on the record. However, the sweet instantly turns to sour with the forgettable single, “You And I.” And from here on, it seems that Jeff Tweedy’s mind just simply fell asleep.
Honestly, the entire second half of the album sounds like retooled tracks from Being There. Tracks 6-10 had me thinking I had slipped into a Timequake. Not to say that these are bad songs. “You Never Know” and “Solitaire” are exceptional songs, just not the kind of Wilco songs I want to hear in 2009. It just makes me think that Jeff Tweedy’s tank has run dry for the time being. It’s too early to say whether or not Wilco have already passed their prime, but I can’t help but heed the warning signs.
Wilco (The Album) is by no means a bad record. It’s just not the record Wilco needed to make.
Moby definitely falls into the category of “love ‘em or hate ‘em.” It’s been this way since the release of the transcendent Play in 1999. Critics were either enthralled with his ability to form genre-busting electronic music, or angered at….well, maybe the same thing. Either way, ever since then, his music has been under tight scrutiny. He seemed to lose a lot of people with the sometimes pretty and other times flat release of Hotel, and his strictly dance album Last Night was largely ignored, despite being an overall strong cut.
Wait For Me finds Moby, alone his bedroom, stripped bare. Under the influence of David Lynch, Moby decided to create the album alone, at home, and pour all of himself into it.
What comes of it?
Wait For Me ends up as probably the most intriguing and important album Moby has put out this millennia. The music is largely ambient and highly personal. It would appear that Moby is in dire need of a hug. Tracks like “Shot In The Back Of The Head” and “Walk With Me” allow the listener to peer into Moby’s soul, which is a sad, but beautiful place to be. Actually, I can’t really limit that statement to those few tracks, the whole album feels like that. It’s not until the fifth track, the Wolf Parade-esque “Mistake” (which is also the first track he sings on) that the mood lifts a little bit….but only a little.
Wait For Me might also try your patience a little bit. The album never really swells up like Play did, minus the beautiful title track “Wait For Me” near the album’s close. The ambient tracks all flow together nicely, but never really change pace. To stress the feel of the album, it’s kind of a downer. Deep within the album, you come across the beautiful “A Seated Night.” However, you’ve heard it before…..earlier in the album. So, it may suffer from some musical anonymity, but it creates the consistent mood that holds Wait For Me together. So, it doesn’t have those musical peaks Moby is known for, but it doesn’t need them. Otherwise, the album just might be downright schizophrenic.
It’s a strong album, that is for certain. However, it might not be for everyone. It’s a emotional cocktail of the string instrumentation found on Hotel, the aural mood and sampled song/dialogue that lifted Play, topped off with a splash of Aphex Twin. But it’s not a cocktail that you have to drink alone to find out, Moby is always there with you. And he makes for some interesting company
I’d venture to say that most people who keep up with “the blogs” are already familiar with the Wallpaper remix of this Brooklyn duo’s tribute to fast food ego death. After you’ve recovered from — well, whatever that is — you’d be well advised to check out this equally bizarre cut, “Chicken and Meat,” which finds the ethnically ambiguous duo spittin’ about everything from Hannah Montana to black Republicans:
I apologize to my three readers for being so absent lately. Organizing the Happyland Music Festival Part 2 took up much of my brain-space for awhile (I’ll post some of those pics here soon).
Here’s a video that should blow you away, and perhaps momentarily distract you from thinking I’m a wretched blogger.
You might have a hard time believing how long I’ve been staring at this blank screen. I’ve gone catatonic in an attempt to write a review for Sonic Youth’s 16th studio release, and first on indie-haven Matador Records, The Eternal.
Writing a review for one of my favorite bands has turned out to be tough assignment. On one hand, I want to be fair and weigh in professionally on The Eternal. On the other hand……..I really love Sonic Youth.
Alright, let’s start with this: The press release that came with The Eternal’s first single (the blistering and powerful “Sacred Trickster”) announced that the album was a true successor to SY’s previous album from 2006, Rather Ripped. That is so very true. The experimental spirit behind The Eternal is the same one that haunted every track on Rather Ripped. Fact is, they’ve been musing that experimental side since the release of A Thousand Leaves over a decade ago. But, I feel that with The Eternal they’ve come to perfect it. And this is exemplified all throughout the album with tracks like “Walkin Blue,” “Antenna,” and “Massage The History.”
Another spirit that seems to be all over The Eternal is the Ghost of Sonic Youth Past. Apparently, Thurston Moore and Co. remembered that they made records like Goo in their lifetime. But, instead of just simply re-treading those successful waters, SY decided thrash it all together in a whirlwind of greatness. Sure, “Sacred Trickster” could be confused with a B-Side from the early nineties. But, nearly every song on The Eternal manage to mix both sides of SY together to conjure up a rock album thats unrivaled today. The best examples I can offer up would be “Anti-Orgasm,” “Calming The Snake,” “Poison Arrow,” and “Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn.”
If you want to find a flaw with The Eternal, I suppose that you could argue that maybe it’s not a groundbreaking as previous albums. I would say the mixing of the two sides of Sonic Youth’s musical expertise is a winning and fresh combination. After all is said and done, Sonic Youth have failed to let us down after 16 records now. Like Morrissey did earlier this year, they manage to prove, yet again, why they’re important. And unlike Depeche Mode, they manage to make a “Sonic Youth” record, and still have it be revolutionary.
Once again, feedback is more than welcome! If you’re a fan of reggae, and felt like I missed some crucial tracks, let me know! I’d love for a valid excuse to have and 2nd Reggae Edition…..not that really need a good reason to do so anyway!
Have a great week guys!
Tracklist
“Slavery Days” by Burning Spear
“Legalize It” by Peter Tosh
“No More Trouble” by Bob Marley & The Wailers
“Is This Love” by Bob Marley & The Wailers
“Marcus Garvey” by Burning Spear
“Rat Race” by Bob Marley & The Wailers
“The Mummy’s Shroud” by Scientist
“Heartless Dub” by King Tubby
“Your Teeth In My Neck” by Scientist
“Reggaelation (Resting Place)” by Burning Spear
“Black Panta” by Lee “Scratch” Perry
“Ghost Town (Extended Mix)” by The Specials
“Revolution Rock” by The Clash
“F**k It” by Revolucian
“Snoop Dogg Vs. The Cure” by Hollertronix (bootleg)
“Love Stoned (Kaskade Remix)” by Justin Timberlake
“Four To The Floor (Thin White Duke Mix)” by Starsailor
“Fire Fire Fire (DFA Loving Hands Mix)” by Dappled Cities
“Dare (Soulwax Mix)” by Gorillaz
“Let It Will Be (Paper Faces Mix)” by Madonna
“I Can’t Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head (feat Ulterior Motive)” by Kylie Minogue
“Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes)” by Beck
“Slipping Away (Axwell Vocal Mix)” by Moby
“With Every Heartbeat (Voodoo and Serano Remix)” by Robyn
“Paper Planes (DFA Remix)” by M.I.A
Well, music blogs and review sites were set on fire yesterday.
No, I didn’t do it.
Grizzly Bear did it.
The release of their third proper LP, Veckatimest, finally came upon us. We were teased with a barely audible leak of the album in mid-March, which set up promise for what sounded like a fantastic record. Well, send that crap to your recycling bin (don’t act like you didn’t “get it off a friend” aka download it yourself!) You’ll need to erase anything you decided about the album, and listen to it properly. Because Grizzly Bear just put themselves in the running for Album of the Year, along with Animal Collective and Dan Deacon.
Those familiar with Grizzly Bear will find the band evolving from where their 2006 album, Yellow House, left off. For all the new Grizzly Bear listeners out there: Welcome! You’ve picked a great album to start on! Veckatimest (yeah, I don’t know how to properly pronounce it either) is Grizzly Bear’s most upbeat album to date. But, fans of the band’s more melancholic atmosphere shouldn’t be scared off at the sound of that. Grizzly Bear have the wonderful ability to create albums that feel like a trip through the woods. A vision quest of meticulously-crafted “chamber pop.” Well, Veckatimest still takes you on that journey, but now it occasionally has some sunny spots along the way!
These “sunny spots” (the blissful “Two Weeks,” “Cheerleader,” “While You Wait For The Others”) are scattered throughout the album with expert pacing. Like I said, Grizzly Bear are very meticulous when it comes to crafting their songs. And yes, I mean song-crafting, not just song-writing. Every song on Veckatimest is filled with acute instrumentation, orchestrated swells and wonderfully brooding atmosphere. This really becomes obvious when the album serves up the one-two punch that is “All We Ask” and “Fine For Now.”
Veckatimest truly is a great record. It’s atmosphere is perfectly sustained throughout. And the musical highs and lows are pulled off with ease. My only issue with the album lies within the second-to-last track “I Live With You.” Not to say that it is a bad song, not by a long shot. I just feel like it’s in the wrong place. My first listen, I had no issue with it, but having gone through record several times, I really feel like it belongs elsewhere. As it stands, it wedged in between the album’s final high (”While You Wait For The Others”) and it’s most beautiful low (”Foreground”). I really feel like putting these two side by side would render the listener utterly be-smitten. So now, my mind anxiously wanders during “I Live With You,” awaiting the album’s angelic close.
So, if you have yet to traverse through Veckatimest, I’m more than happy to send you own your way now. If you’re just getting back from it, I’ll ask you to just sit tight for a second. Let me finish typing this up, I’ll grab my headphones and we’ll take that trip together.
Good luck getting “Two Weeks” out of your head this summer….or year….or lifetime.
Silence in Architecture is a blog about transient gumbo recipes (and salsa!).
It is written by three guys who pretend to know what women look like. We love country music, football, pork, and America.
The artwork used to create this blog's header was created by Chris Piercy, so don't front.
