Addressing My Absence!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. There's been a ton of awesome music out there that I've been really into and I really have wanted to share my thoughts here but just haven't had the time. If you haven't heard, I recently moved down to Decatur, Georgia (its just outside Atlanta) where I've been doing an internship with Paste Magazine for a few days now and will be here until mid-December. Check out the site, as I'll be posting news articles, reviews, and others articles on a daily basis!

Until I find some time to write some reviews, check out a few of these albums that I've been listening to (some I like, some I like less):

Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Little Dragon - Little Ritual
My Morning Jacket - Cirtuital
Canon Blue - Rumspringa
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
The Throne - Watch the Throne
The Antlers - Burst Apart
Cults - Cults
Washed Out - Within and Without
Jhameel - The Human Condition

Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys

7.5

Atlantic
05/31/11

Let me just say this first: I'm not a huge Death Cab fanboy. Their earlier albums (Transatlanticism in particular), really had a special place in my high school-aged music collection, but I never got fully into their later releases. I've got a ton of respect for both Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla as musicians, producers, and songwriters. However, how that has played out in their "post-mainstream" era of albums hasn't really gotten my attention. In fact, how I feel about Codes and Keys seems to be familiar to how I originally felt about their last relase, Narrow Stairs.

Narrow Stairs found the band indulging back in electric guitars and moody atmospherics, something the previous album, Plans, had shied away from. Death Cab seemed intent on proving to us that they hadn't sold out or gotten old. There are some great moments on the album, but it definitely took me awhile to get past the direction of the whole thing. Codes and Keys follows up Narrow Stairs in a way that attempts reasserts their "prog-pop" credibility with some experimental songwriting and piano-led instrumentation.

The album opens with a quiet and unnerving song entitled "Home is a Fire". The rhode keyboards and ride cymbal sprinkles give the verses of the song a great sonic instability that accentuates the lyrics as well. Other highlights of the album would definitely include "You Are a Tourist", the first single. In classic Death Cab form, this upbeat single includes an infectious melody and guitar hook that fits great along singles from other albums like "No Sunlight" from Narrow Stairs. Meanwhile, the clear standout of the album for me is "Unobstructed Views", the piano-led song with an extended instrumental intro. The atmospheric keyboards, soaring melody, and quiet patience are Death Cab for Cutie at its best and prove that they still are the best at turning what have been a completely standard pop song and changing its structure to create something much more beautiful.

However, I had a number of problems with the album, mostly to do with Gibbard. In most of these songs, he seems to have gotten overzealous and written a bit out of his vocal range. Almost all of the songs sit at the top peak of his range, leaving most of the songs with the same, slightly whiny feel. As Gibbard has gotten more confident in his vocal delivery over the years, the more and more contrived it feels to me. Furthermore, his lyrics, which have consistently become more focused on getting older, usually leave me a bit unconvinced coming from the 34-year old rock star. The track "Some Boys" exemplifies both of these qualities and might be the only song on the album that I just can't stand.

Overall though, Codes and Keys is a solid followup to Narrow Stairs and for fans it will offer enough standard Death Cab goodness and experimental switching up to satisfy big expectations. To me, in "Unobstructed Views" they've offered what might be their best song since "Marching Bands of Manhattan" from Plans and a totally enjoyable album through and through. Despite some of my gripes with Gibbard as a singer and lyricist, I found myself still quite often enjoying many of the songs and can definitely see myself returning to the album later on.

Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall EP

7.0

06/26/11
EMI Records

The Every Teardrop is a Waterfall EP is the seemingly spontaneous release of three new tracks from the stadium-sized British rockers. After significantly shifting their sound toward more organic and holistic mixes in Viva La Vida, the band is attempting to followup that incredibly successful album from 2008.

In what frontman Chris Martin called the end of "Oldplay", Viva La Vida marked a distinct change in the populist band's sound and image. Much thanks to the addition of producer Brian Eno, gone were both the sensitive acoustic strumming of albums like Parachutes and the synth-heavy, brit-pop of X&Y. Instead, Coldplay was embracing influences from across the musical spectrum: everything from world music and Spanish folk music to pop, indie rock, and dance music. In what was truly an effort to be as inclusive as possible, Viva La Vida was more mainstream pop than any previous albums, but also more experimental as well. The album had enough singles like "Viva La Vida" and "Lost?" to please the masses looking for a big beat and enough experimentation in songs like "Death and All His Friends" and "Violet Hill" to please indie fans and critics alike.

The Every Teardrop is a Waterfall EP features three new songs: "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall", "Major Minus", and "Moving to Mars". Chances are you've already heard the single, "Every Teardrop is Waterfall", which follows the pop sensibilities of songs like "Viva La Vida", but unfortunately lacks any of the interesting lyrical ideas of that song. Nonetheless, the song is definitely the track on the album that marks the most distinct change in sound for the band, combining distinctly U2-esque guitar and vocal work with the synth-dance sounds of "Ritmo De La Noche".

The other songs on the album fit a bit more directly into the typical Coldplay canon with the upbeat "Major Minus" reminding me a bit of "Cemeteries Of London" and the piano-led "Moving to Mars", hearkening back to earlier albums. I really enjoyed the opening half of "Moving to Mars", as Martin explored some deep vocals and interesting chords. However, I can't help but wish the song didn't take the rather standard direction that it takes once the full band comes in. My guess would be that the song will end up being something of a B-side and perhaps not make the final cut of the next album.

Ultimately, as a big fan of Viva La Vida, this EP was a bit underwhelming to me. I could definitely pick up the clear direction that the band wanted to move in in "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall", but am not quite convinced because of the familiarity of the other two tracks. However, I still very much look forward to their forthcoming LP and am curious to see what musical trends the band picks up and lets go of.

For an article I wrote on Viva La Vida and how Coldplay took over the world, click here.

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

9.5

05/03/11
Sub Pop

Helplessness Blues is the newest album from Fleet Foxes, the folk group out of Seattle that helped put church reverbs, four-part harmony, and old-timey production back on the map with their self-titled debut release in 2009. Back in 2009 I think it was easy for some people to see Fleet Foxes as just another flannel-wearing, beard-growing, group of hipsters pretending like they actually had been alive in the 60s. However, there was always something special about these guys to me. Despite their playfully escapist lyrics about following packs of animals through the forest and singing to meadowlarks, there was a sense of youthful innocence about the whole thing that was delightfully refreshing. For the most part, Helplessness Blues continues a lot of those same vibes and keeps plenty of the band's signature free-loving folk pop around. However, it is also a decisively darker and more experimental album and finds the band confronting some their youthful idealism with harsh doses of reality and doubt.

The band sets the stage of the album with the opening track "Montezuma", something of an understated way to start an album of such huge proportions. Lead singer and songwriter, Robin Peckinfold, starts out the album singing about how quickly life has passed him by as a young adult: "So now I am older/Than my mother and father/When they had their daughter/Now what does that say about me?" Later on, the song even has him looking toward his own grave and simultaneously proving how much he has matured as a lyricist: "In dirth or excess, both the slave and empress/Will return to the dirt I guess, naked as they came/I wonder if I'll see any faces above me/Or just cracks in the ceiling, nobody else to blame".

Most of the album seems to revolve around the coming-of-age theme of aging and understanding your place in the world, highlighted by the centerpiece of the album: the title track. Although the track has been out for quite some time, I hesitate to not bring up the incredibly strong line thats worth the price of admission on its own: "I was raised up believing I was somehow unique/Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see/And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be/A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me". Peckinfold seems to have stumbled upon what feels like a manifesto for the twentysomething generation, him being only 25 years old himself. Honestly, I don't know many people around that age that aren't asking similar questions of themselves these days. Having so concisely spoken for their generation, in my mind the Fleet Foxes deserve the highest of lyrical accolades.

Working together in great harmony, the album's conceptual ideas about youth and searching for identity help push the album outside the familiar bounds of pop song structures. Because of this emphasis on looser or more experimental song structures, the songs here end up having much more room for a larger dynamic range and more interesting instrumentation. The song "Sim Sala Bim", for example, goes from a part of the song that is packed to the sonic brim with tremolo strings buzzing, three part harmonies, and what feels like an entire band of guitar strummers, to a single, gentle acoustic guitar and Peckinfold's almost whispered vocals. The songs with multiple sections like the 3-part, 8-minute long, "The Shrine / An Argument", open up the exploratory song structures even more. "The Shrine / An Argument" is a particularly experimental track with its first half exploring some of the more spine-tingling, harsher tones of Peckinfold's voice and its ending erupting in a strange interruption of Colin Stetson going at it on a bass clarinet. Despite how weird that sounds, as the album ebbs and flows with multiple instrumental tracks and multiple part songs, you'll find a lot of places to get lost in the spacious auditory environment that Fleet Foxes have crafted.

There is a lot to say about this album, but so far, the more I listen to it the more I am getting out of it. Whether its the simple, effect-free (no reverb to be heard!) track "Blue Spotted Tail" or the sprawling, Jonsi-esque, epic of an album closer "Grown Ocean", I've found myself constantly finding reasons to return to almost every single one of these tracks. And while not being nearly as perfectly calculated and rounded as the band's first album, I think Helplessness Blues' ability to be just the opposite has resonated with me both musically and lyrically in a way that that the debut album just couldn't have. There is a greater sense of risk here and for the most part, it really pays off. Most importantly though, Helplessness Blues does a great job of tossing aside any speculations that the Fleet Foxes might have been merely a passing trend. These guys are here to stay.


Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean

Panda Bear - Tomboy

6.5

04/11/11
Paw Tracks

The infamous psychedelic synth group, Animal Collective, has always been a unique representation of the endless tug-of-war between the avant-garde and pop that currently dominates that which we call "indie music". What's been unique about Animal Collective is that the two sides of this tug-of-war have always been represented by the two vocalists of the group: Avey Tare and Panda Bear. Panda Bear has always been the voice of blissful melody and poppy nostalgia while Avey Tare has always represented the voice of untamable musical experimentation and production. Although you might never know it from listening to the unifying sound of Animal Collective, the idea that Animal Collective was some kind of a "collaboration" between the two artists had always been at the roots of the band. Unfortunately, to me, the collective sound of their collaboration has always left me feeling a bit underwhelmed by the solo work of these two musicians and Panda Bear's newest record seems to be no exception.

Following up his critically-acclaimed album from 2007, Person Pitch, Panda Bear adds some much appreciated fidelity to the mix in his newest release, but maintains many of the general vibes from his prior album. Tomboy finds Panda Bear diving even deeper into the depths of his laid back, surfer attitude. In one of my favorite tracks from the album, Surfer's Hymn, Panda Bear directly references surfing and finds philosophical consolation in the water and waves in typical Panda Bear style. The percussion rattles and bounces amidst the bubbling synths and soaring melody and creates a great flow Unfortunately, Surfer's Hymn is probably the most sonically dynamic track on the album with most of the other songs sitting on one sound or feel for the entire duration of the song. While I totally understand what he's doing here, many of the songs just doesn't appeal to me in the way that makes me want to return to them unlike more of the tracks from Person Pitch or the Animal Collective albums.

In fact, I really like some of the sounds Panda Bear is working with here. I love the sawtooth synth at the beginning of the title track "Tomboy" or even the quiet pianos in "Scheherazade". I also like that Panda Bear is experimenting with these different instruments and moods, expanding the washed-out guitars and samples that dominated Person Pitch. However, more than anything else, the lack of explosive production and dynamic songwriting here has made me increasingly aware of what makes the collaboration of Animal Collective so great. While this album lacks focused aggression and unpredictable sonic experiments to me, Avey Tare's solo release last year lacked the undeniable hooks and melodies that Panda Bear is known for. So while I appreciate hearing the differing perspectives between Panda Bear and Avey Tare, these solo albums mostly appreciate the collaboration even more and get me more excited for the next Animal Collective album.


Panda Bear - Surfer's Hymn

TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light

8.5

04/11/11
Interscope Records

I think its safe to assume we were all a little spoiled by TV on the Radio's 2008 release, Dear Science. To think that a band with an early discography as noisy and distorted as TV on the Radio's could go on to release something so instantly accessible, perfectly sequenced, and undeniably catchy was something of a strange, indie listener's guilty fantasy. While many of the songs from that album worked great as singles, Dear Science also had an amazing amount of flow and listenability as an album, easily making it both one of the best albums of the year and the best work of their career. "Family Tree", the beautiful string-led ballad from Dear Science, was perhaps the only track from the album that felt a bit out of place to me. The deeply personal lyricism and organic instrumentation of the track felt strange up against the punchy drum loops and aggressive lyrics of tracks like "Dancing Choose" and "Red Dress". Following up that track, their new album seems to set out to create a much more personal and emotional album that might have provided a better space for a song like "Family Tree".

After considering the actual sounds that make up this album, you'll notice that Nine Types of Light doesn't deviate much from the sonic groundwork of Dear Science. This, of course, is not a bad thing at all in my books. You'll still find the Prince-esque falsetto choruses in songs likes "Keep Your Heart" and "You". You'll still find killer bass lines in "Will Do" and the fanfare horn blasts in songs like "New Cannonball Blues". Furthermore, frontman Tunde Adebimpe sounds as good as ever, continuing to have his uncanny knack for writing melodies that are as catchy as they are inventive.

Even so, Nine Types of Light is indeed a different kind of album as a whole. Opening with three slower tempo songs, the guys seem to be less concerned with convincing everyone that they are energetic and creative and more concerned with representing themselves in an honest way. In fact, a large part of the album deals with the topic of relationships and love, something somewhat new for the band. Because of that, Nine Types of Light feels like a much more introverted album, both musically and lyrically. Songs like "You" and "Will Do" are written like love notes from the perspective of direct experiences and emotions. Whereas Dear Science felt a bit heady in its critiques of society and culture, Nine Types of Light turns inward and examines the self. Naturally, this makes the album feel a bit less "important" and intentional at times. As I mentioned before, as the album pushes on to its end it actually finds itself returning to more extroverted themes in songs like "Repetition" and "Caffeinated Consciousness". Unfortunately, to me this is where the album loses a little steam as well.

Because the album is in someways divided into two with most of the slower songs packed to the front and most of the upbeat songs packed toward the end, Nine Types of Light definitely does feels a bit uneven to me. This 'flow' problem is what a lot of critics have been calling Nine Types of Light's primary flaw and I think do now understand what they mean by this after taking a lot of listens. I would much have preferred for the album to have stayed closer the conceptual and musical themes of the first half of the album. After the heartfelt words of "Will Do" are sung, "New Cannonball Blues" feels almost like the startling beginning of a new album.

At the same time, I don't want to act like the album's lack of focus and strange organization has kept me from thoroughly enjoying the songs here. As TV on the Radio pushes forward into mainstream success, Nine Types of Light has plenty of hits on it to satisfy the masses. Even if am not necessarily really feeling the way they chose to lay out the album, Nine Types of Light still manages to take all the accessibility and sonic fidelity of Dear Science and use them to create another great set of songs with that distinctive afro-funk touch that we all know and love.


TV on the Radio - Will Do

Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some

7.0

Startime
03/28/2011

Poor Peter, Bjorn, and John. No matter how good anything they release will be after Writer's Block and their big single, Young Folks, they will always be labeled as a one-hit wonder. Gimme Some is the sixth full-length album from the Swedish indie rockers and finds them returning to the simple, pop/rock sound that got them on iPod commercials and the entire world whistling along. And while some will certainly call this album nothing more than PB&J attempting to cash in on their previous successes, Gimme Some has got enough sunshine pop tunes to keep even the toughest cynics smiling.

Starting with "Tomorrow Has To Wait", PB&J seems determined to show the world that they've got more where Writer's Block came from. The first few tracks are pure, indie bubblegum. The first track, "Tomorrow Has To Wait", has a catchy hook full of pentatonic goodness, even though the lyrics are laced with enough cliches to be a song that you might want to graduate high school to: "It's too late/But tomorrow has to wait/It's the time of your life/So tomorrow has to wait". Even still, the track is a sign that PB&J are serious about their return to fun and lightheartedness and has enough substantial hookyness to keep this one stuck in your head. Where their last album, Living Thing, featured non-traditional song structures, drum machines and synths, and general "more sophisticated than thou" experimentation, Gimme Some brings back the return of the punchy drums and singalong choruses that made Writer's Block so successful.

Their signature high-energy drumming and catchy bass groves are in full force here, proving how full their simple, three-piece band can feel, with the youthful energy of The Beach Boys with the added effect of Peter Moren's John Lennon-esque vocals. But you won't find any ballads or breaks in uptempo pop songs here. Gimme Some never lets up on the breakneck drums and hard hitting electric guitars, perhaps described most fittingly in the song "(Don't Let Them) Cool Off". But I couldn't help feeling a little overwhelmed by all the over-the-top energy of the album at points. Overall, the first half of the album, if not a bit one-dimensial, is a fun and catchy group of pop songs. Perhaps its just the obsessive attention I put on how albums flow, but most of the songs after the melodic wonder "May Seem Macabre" aren't really doing much for me. In the songs that find the band returning to some of their dirtier pop-punk roots, most notably "Black Book", the mix just feels cluttered and claustrophobic.

The problem isn't that there aren't enough hooks or big beats in Gimme Some, its just that once you get halfway through the album you begin to get the feeling that PB&J, despite their best intentions, are trying a little to hard to convince you of how fun they are. Luckily, there are enough memorable tunes here to put it above any of PB&J's more recent efforts and their return to straightforward pop rock turns out to really suits them well. A lot of these songs bubble and burst with joy and summertime bliss and I can totally seem myself returning to this one come July.


Peter Bjorn and John - Tomorrow Has To Wait