Thanks to MixPod.com, I'm starting a new thing where, every once in a while, I will post a playlist of some of my new favorite music that I haven't talked about on the blog. Below is the tracklist for this installment:
1. Warm Heart of Africa (feat. Ezra Koenig) - The Very Best 2. Be My Girl - Smith Westerns 3. Dominos - the Big Pink 4. Gold & Warm - Bad Veins 5. Remember Severed Head - Clues 6. Zero (Animal Collective Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs 7. Summertime Clothes (DamFunk Remix) - Animal Collective 8. Psychic City - YACHT 9. No Hope Kids - Wavves 10. Chemical - Stardeath & White Dwarfs
Now, album reviews will have special music players at the bottom where you can listen to my favorite track or tracks on the album, thanks to Mixpod.com! Later on, after I put in some more of those fancy-schmancy Mixpod music players, I might do some reviews of albums I just got from the Dirty Projectors and Discovery, and maybe others. So, umm, yeah. See you later.
Sometimes I buy music that isn't new. If I like it or dislike it, what am I supposed to do? I couldn't review it, could I? Well, yes. Yes I could. Right here. In my first edition of my new little segment thing, "Stuff I Just Bought That Isn't New". This opening edition is the Electronic Music Edition, as I've been purchasing a lot of electronic music recently.
First, there's the songs "11h30" by Danger and "Escape (Bloody Beetroots Remix)" by the Toxic Avenger. These tunes sound like some popular French techno like Justice and Daft Punk and sound amazing if you play them really, really loud. I also just recently bought some music by a techno band called Heartsrevolution. I am familiar with some of their other work, such as the first single they released, "C.Y.O.A.", and "The Prince and His Rose", the song that appeared on a Kitsune record label sampler. I bought the Dubka remix and the Chateau Marmont Remix of "Ultraviolence"...the Dubka remix reminds me of 80's metal, and the Chateau Marmont mix adds a nice beat and a new rythym section to the song, creating a very nice techno tune. I also purchased their "Switchblade" EP. The title track has a haunting but catchy chorus sung by the band's vocalist, Leyla Safai. That leads into the ubeat track "Wolves and Libertines", which may be my favorite track on the EP. The next is "Dance Till Dawn", which, I suppose, is the most clubby-sounding one. It was featured in the last season of the television show "Gossip Girl". The next song is "Digital Suicide", a slow, moody track that is proof that feeling exists even in the lyrics of shred electronic music. The last track is "Take It or Leave It", another suspect HR song, and a good way to finish off the EP. I recommend this band, as it is one of my favorite new techno bands right now.
On the player below, you can listen to "11h30", "Escape (Bloody Beetroots Remix)", "Ultraviolence (Chateau Marmont Remix)", "Switchblade" and "Wolves & Libertines".
This morning, I bought the new Fiery Furnaces record, "I'm Going Away", and I listened to it this evening.
It becomes evident from the first few tracks that "I'm Going Away" is not your average Fiery Furnaces LP. This album is softer, more piano-driven. Electric guitars are used merely to create an accent, not to shred your brains out. Also, the songs are slightly more constructed and easier to follow, making it a more listenable record, but the Furnaces still keep their quirk. On their first single, "The End is Near", Matthew and Elanor Friedberger show off their mellow vocals with a piano melody section and a solid bass line. After this comes what is probably one of my favorite tracks on the record...a lively, jazzy rock song entitled "Charmaine Champagne" That mixes the piano with a distorted guitar riff in a near perfect way. Before "The End is Near" is another solid track, "Drive to Dallas". Heartfelt but still very FF, it's a standout for me. My other favorite tracks are the surprisingly catchy, "Even in the Rain" and "Lost at Sea". There's also a faster, more vocally exploratory reprise of "Charmaine Champagne" entitled "Cups and Punches". I was almost disappointed when I heard that FF were going in a different direction with this record, because I'm a pretty big fan of "Widow City" and "Bitter Tea", but "I'm Going Away" has, overall, more outstanding tracks than not. It's a great album, while it's also the Fiery Furnaces that you can take home to your mother. An amazing effort, and an LP that I would recommend to anybody.
Key Tracks: "Drive to Dallas", "Charmaine Champagne", "Even in the Rain", "Roy Bouvier", "Lost at Sea", "Take Me 'Round Again"
I'm sorry that I haven't been on in a few weeks. I've kind of slipped out of the routine, but I'll try to do a few more reviews this week.
I recently bought the new Horrors record, "Primary Colours", at the suggestion of a friend, and I listened to it earlier tonight.
What an album. The Horrors explore their sound a lot more than they did on the mediocre precedent record, "Strange House". The Horrors' sound, in short, is fuzzy, off-kilter rock, stirred with abnormal chord progressions and some interesting-sounding loops. On this record, the Horrors throw in some synths and the like that were absent on "Strange House" A lot of the tracks on "Primary Colours" are quite dark, including the bleek love song "Who Can Say", which just so happens to be one of my favorite tracks on the album. Some of the other songs are brighter and poppier, more reminiscent of some eighties rock bands such as Echo & the Bunnymen and the Jesus & Mary Chain, like on another one I like, "You Could Never Tell", the closing track. The first single, "Sea Within a Sea", is nearly eight minutes long, making it the longest track on the LP, and it's broken into two sections seperated by a long, slightly prog-like interlude. Before this is the title track, which, once again, has that eighties rock feel that I really like.
I enjoyed "Primary Colours" from beginning to end, this is a great effort from a band that seems to go nowhere but up.
Key Tracks: "You Could Never Tell", "Primary Colours", "Sea Within a Sea"
Next time I log on, tomorrow or Thursday, I'm going to do Regina Spektor's "Far" and I might take a [late] look at Mos Def's "The Ecstatic". Check back soon!
-- UPDATE --
Okay, well obviously that didn't happen. I still haven't gotten "The Ecstatic" in its entirety, but I could probably do "Far" sometime. Just gimme a little while.
If you read my Black Eyed Peas review, you will know that I'm not a rap fan. Disregard that for a moment.
This review is late because I didn't buy "Relapse". My friend burned it for me, and I just popped it in for a listen. I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. Eminem tells stories with the beginning songs of "Relapse"...of drug addiction, abuse, assault...in "My Mom", Em talks about how his mom got him hooked on prescription drugs. "Insane" is about being sexually abused by his stepfather. "3 A.M." is about the consequences of doing drugs. But behind all these dark life stories, Eminem includes some of his trademark humor, including breaking the musical fourth wall in "Medicine Ball" (He says a few slightly offensive lines about Christopher Reeves and then apologizes for the fact that so many words rhyme with Reeves).
This album is produced quite well by Dr. Dre. He makes a couple cameos as well, one of which is the song "Crack a Bottle", which, despite the assinine lyrics, is very catchy.
Overall, the beats and rythyms of all of the songs are great, but Marshall Mathers' lyrics are too contrived to be considered great. This is why I don't recommend you buy the whole thing, but you might want to invest in a few tracks.
Key tracks: "3 A.M.", "We Made You", "Crack a Bottle", "Medicine Ball", "Beautiful"
