To the mainstream!
I feel like one day looking back, we're all going to realize that Kanye's Dropout Trilogy ("College Dropout", "Late Registration" and "Graduation") is one of the great achievements in Rap, and in popular music. Not only are all 3 albums sonically interesting (they are the cornerstone of the modern hip-hop sound), but each one carries a unique lyrical theme and sonic blueprint. "College Dropout" uses a neo-soul sound to back songs about rebellion and making your own way. "Late Registration" polishes up the sound to more pop friendly pallate to back songs about life at the top. And the synths and electronics of "Graduation" work with the theme of moving on.
So, after following all of that up with the huge letdown of "808's and Heartbreaks" (did we really need to hear Kanye try to sing?) along with several bad public moments, it was fair to wonder if Kanye's best days were behind him. Was he out of creative juice? Did he exhaust all his good ideas on the first 3 albums? Would he now become "that guy who everyone used to like who now just does a verse on whoever is popular at the moment's new song"? On "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" Mr. West responds by saying "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" After his public persona has become a model for petulance, egotism, and just general asshole-ish-ness, you would expect a grown up, somber, and reflective Kanye. And you would be dead wrong.
Lyrically, Kanye goes the opposite way and embraces all the dark parts of his personality. He turns the cockiness, anger and ego up to levels never before seen (even for a man who describes himself as a genius!). But it also seems he knows that this probably isn't a good thing. Songs like "Power", "Monster" and "Runaway" gives little hints that he realizes he's out of control. But he can't stop himself. Nowhere is this dynamic better examined than in the chorus of "Power" where he begins by remarking "No one man should have all that power" only to end with "til then f--- that, the world's ours!" The dichotomy of self-loathing and massive ego makes it a lyrically interesting album from start to finish. His rhymes are sharper, more focused and thrown out with a speed and viciousness that he's only hinted at in the past.
Sonically, this is Kanye's Sgt. Peppers. There are odd breaks. Choirs. Fuzzy keyboard solos. Lyrics rapped through what sounds like an oil can. Samples from King Crimson. Drums on top of electronic drum beats. Layered pianos and keyboards. And on and on and on. Consider the song "Gorgeous" that features a chorus sung by Raeqwan (an odd choice) and Kanye raps the verses through an old cruddy microphone to give his voice a distorted quality. All backed by an old school bluesy-funky guitar riff. Midway through the song, right before the chorus, there's a drum part added over the top of the beat just to give the song an added kick of momentum. Don't even get me started on the feedback and keyboard filled coda for "Runaway" which spans over 3 minutes long at the end of the song. It's either most self-indulgent or brilliant moment of the record, and I don't know which.
Is it all too much? Maybe. But for a man with so many character flaws (narcissism, anger, petulance, self-absorbtion, further narcissism, lack of respect for other people's acceptance speeches and of course, narcissism) one thing is clear of Kanye West: he is constantly pushing himself to be better. This album draws on all the things that make Kanye who he is, but also push him into new, more daring territory. It's like he constantly listens to his own music and says "I can do better" and that is, in it's own way, admirable. He refuses to rest on his laurels, he constantly innovates and strives to push himself further and further his craft. So maybe he's not such a bad guy after all....Nah! He's still a bad dude, but the man can rap!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sufjan Stevens- Illinois
Sufjan Stevens reminds me a lot of Grady Tripp, the main character in Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys (surprise! I'm a book nerd too!). Grady Tripp is a pot-smoking college English professor who is working on a follow up to his critically acclaimed best seller, which he wrote 7 years ago. Everyone thinks he has writer's block. He actually has the opposite problem, he can't stop writing. He is already well over 2,000 pages and, has several weddings, murders, catastrophes and calamities still to add to the book before it will reach it's conclusion. He has been working on the book for 7 years, he has included in it a genealogy of the major characters' horses, and their dental records. He simply can't stop himself.
Similarly, "Illinois" is, I believe, the second album in Sufjan Stevens' attempt to make an album for every state in America (there's 50 of them for those of you who struggled in American History). He has since abandoned the project, and released a new album "The Age of Adz" which I haven't listened to yet. The itunes version of "Illinois" has 26 songs on it. The normal version has 22. The majority of songs are over the 5 minute mark and have titles such as "The Black Hawk of War, or How to Destroy an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning", "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane but for Very Good Reasons", and my personal favorite "They are Night Zombies!! They are Out Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhh!!" He can't seem to stop himself from writing.
The album (recently named Paste Magazine's Best Album of the Decade) is a sprawling work. There are choirs, horns, strings, banjos, wurrlitzers, pump organs, droning sound effects, guitars and more choirs. All of it is built around Sufjan's quiet whispery voice. Lyrically the songs all focus around some aspect of Illinois' history or notable people and incidents from the state. Most of the songs have a slow mournful sound to them and fall into the mid-tempo ballads category. Occassionally, he mixes it up: the slow funk of the Zombies song (I'm not going to re-write all of that!), and the guitar rock of "The Man from Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" or the big piano chorus of "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!". This isn't to say that all of the slow stuff is bad, "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." is a great song as is "Decatur, Or, A Round of Applause for your Stepmother", "Casmir Polaski Day" and the anthemic "Chicago".
I like the record. It doesn't fit nicely into one category. It sprawls between folk music, classical, operatic, and pop. But it sprawls a little too much. There are too many noise interludes, too many choirs singing the chorus' and few too many slow ballads. If Stevens could reign himself in a little, and edit himself, it would be a better, more consistent record. After a while it begins to seem tiresome to listen through another musical interlude, or another women's choir singing the chorus to a song that has gone on for 6 minutes. I normally like songs that are a bit longer, but for whatever reason, this record seems to drag on. It's not just that it's long, it's that it feels long.
Stevens is certainly an interesting song writer. And I think there is something to be said for aiming high and trying to make something big and bold rather than something that just tries to fit in. I just wish he could stop himself once in a while. There's nothing wrong with a song not having a 3 minute noise track intro, or just having 5 slow ballads instead of 10 on a record. In Wonder Boys, a character remarks after reading most of Tripp's novel, that it feels like he didn't make any choices. Instead of choosing what to include and what to leave out, he just included everything. "Illinois" is kind of the same thing. Stevens just included everything, and while the good stuff is really really good, you have to wade through some mediocre music to find it.
Similarly, "Illinois" is, I believe, the second album in Sufjan Stevens' attempt to make an album for every state in America (there's 50 of them for those of you who struggled in American History). He has since abandoned the project, and released a new album "The Age of Adz" which I haven't listened to yet. The itunes version of "Illinois" has 26 songs on it. The normal version has 22. The majority of songs are over the 5 minute mark and have titles such as "The Black Hawk of War, or How to Destroy an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning", "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane but for Very Good Reasons", and my personal favorite "They are Night Zombies!! They are Out Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhh!!" He can't seem to stop himself from writing.
The album (recently named Paste Magazine's Best Album of the Decade) is a sprawling work. There are choirs, horns, strings, banjos, wurrlitzers, pump organs, droning sound effects, guitars and more choirs. All of it is built around Sufjan's quiet whispery voice. Lyrically the songs all focus around some aspect of Illinois' history or notable people and incidents from the state. Most of the songs have a slow mournful sound to them and fall into the mid-tempo ballads category. Occassionally, he mixes it up: the slow funk of the Zombies song (I'm not going to re-write all of that!), and the guitar rock of "The Man from Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" or the big piano chorus of "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!". This isn't to say that all of the slow stuff is bad, "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." is a great song as is "Decatur, Or, A Round of Applause for your Stepmother", "Casmir Polaski Day" and the anthemic "Chicago".
I like the record. It doesn't fit nicely into one category. It sprawls between folk music, classical, operatic, and pop. But it sprawls a little too much. There are too many noise interludes, too many choirs singing the chorus' and few too many slow ballads. If Stevens could reign himself in a little, and edit himself, it would be a better, more consistent record. After a while it begins to seem tiresome to listen through another musical interlude, or another women's choir singing the chorus to a song that has gone on for 6 minutes. I normally like songs that are a bit longer, but for whatever reason, this record seems to drag on. It's not just that it's long, it's that it feels long.
Stevens is certainly an interesting song writer. And I think there is something to be said for aiming high and trying to make something big and bold rather than something that just tries to fit in. I just wish he could stop himself once in a while. There's nothing wrong with a song not having a 3 minute noise track intro, or just having 5 slow ballads instead of 10 on a record. In Wonder Boys, a character remarks after reading most of Tripp's novel, that it feels like he didn't make any choices. Instead of choosing what to include and what to leave out, he just included everything. "Illinois" is kind of the same thing. Stevens just included everything, and while the good stuff is really really good, you have to wade through some mediocre music to find it.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Rap v. Country Music
In the wake of the CMT Awards and Taylor Swift dominating every conceivable music sales record there is, I thought it would be a good time to bring up an interesting thought I had the other day.
Hip-hop takes a lot of heat for the content of it's lyrics. And rightly so. There is a lot to not like in hip-hop. The music is often misogynistic, and focuses on things like violence and drugs. Now, I've always said that rap is a PRODUCT of life in the streets, it does not cause it. Music is a reflection of culture, it does not cause culture to exist. We like to blame music for the ills of our society but more often then not, musicians tend to write about what they see around them, not what the wish they see. Rap takes a lot of heat for "glorifying drug dealing and using". While there is definitely some validity to that, if you're going to kill rap music for their talk of drug use, you have to kill country music as well.
Quick, write down 5 songs by 5 different country artists. It's ok, I'll wait. Got it? Good. Now, I'm willing to bet that 4 out of those 5 songs all contain some sort of reference to alcohol (1 is probably a Taylor Swift song and she's squeaky clean). Alcohol use (and abuse) is probably mentioned in 9 out of 10 country songs, period, across the board. Think I'm wrong? Just listen to country radio and count how many times someone mentions "a bottle of whiskey" or "a cold beer". Yet, parents would much rather have their children listen to country music than rap. Country music has that family values feel to it, but it's not. Alcoholism is a LOT more prevalent in America than crack cocaine usage by a wide margin (I don't know the exact stats and I'm way too lazy to look them up). So if we're going to give rap hell for talking about drugs, we HAVE to give country music hell for glorifying alcoholism. Period. Jack Daniels is as a country as cowboy hats and belt buckles. And in a country where alcoholism is rampant, and DUI's kill almost as many people as heart attacks (I'm guessing), that's not a good thing.
Sure, rap has other issues (the n word for example), but if you don't like a style of music because of it's subject matter, you need to be consistent and not just pick and choose what problems you want to ignore. If you want to lash at Kanye for "We Don't Care" then you need to remember Toby Keith's "Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses".
SIDE RANT THAT IS SORT OF BUT NOT QUITE RELATED: I'm sick of hearing that rappers aren't talented. Rap has, without a doubt, the best collection of song writers there are. Do you really think "Honky tonk ba-donk-a-donk" required more talent to write than "Big Pimpin'"? Go back and listen to them both and try and tell me otherwise!
I'm not saying you should burn all your country records in protest. I'm not saying Nicki Minaj is a better role model than Carrie Underwood. I'm just saying "Call it both ways!" I'll step down from my soapbox now.
Hip-hop takes a lot of heat for the content of it's lyrics. And rightly so. There is a lot to not like in hip-hop. The music is often misogynistic, and focuses on things like violence and drugs. Now, I've always said that rap is a PRODUCT of life in the streets, it does not cause it. Music is a reflection of culture, it does not cause culture to exist. We like to blame music for the ills of our society but more often then not, musicians tend to write about what they see around them, not what the wish they see. Rap takes a lot of heat for "glorifying drug dealing and using". While there is definitely some validity to that, if you're going to kill rap music for their talk of drug use, you have to kill country music as well.
Quick, write down 5 songs by 5 different country artists. It's ok, I'll wait. Got it? Good. Now, I'm willing to bet that 4 out of those 5 songs all contain some sort of reference to alcohol (1 is probably a Taylor Swift song and she's squeaky clean). Alcohol use (and abuse) is probably mentioned in 9 out of 10 country songs, period, across the board. Think I'm wrong? Just listen to country radio and count how many times someone mentions "a bottle of whiskey" or "a cold beer". Yet, parents would much rather have their children listen to country music than rap. Country music has that family values feel to it, but it's not. Alcoholism is a LOT more prevalent in America than crack cocaine usage by a wide margin (I don't know the exact stats and I'm way too lazy to look them up). So if we're going to give rap hell for talking about drugs, we HAVE to give country music hell for glorifying alcoholism. Period. Jack Daniels is as a country as cowboy hats and belt buckles. And in a country where alcoholism is rampant, and DUI's kill almost as many people as heart attacks (I'm guessing), that's not a good thing.
Sure, rap has other issues (the n word for example), but if you don't like a style of music because of it's subject matter, you need to be consistent and not just pick and choose what problems you want to ignore. If you want to lash at Kanye for "We Don't Care" then you need to remember Toby Keith's "Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses".
SIDE RANT THAT IS SORT OF BUT NOT QUITE RELATED: I'm sick of hearing that rappers aren't talented. Rap has, without a doubt, the best collection of song writers there are. Do you really think "Honky tonk ba-donk-a-donk" required more talent to write than "Big Pimpin'"? Go back and listen to them both and try and tell me otherwise!
I'm not saying you should burn all your country records in protest. I'm not saying Nicki Minaj is a better role model than Carrie Underwood. I'm just saying "Call it both ways!" I'll step down from my soapbox now.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Avett Brothers- Live Vol. 3
The blog got a facelift!! This means it's time for more music!
There is a delicate balance in live music. At what point does technical perfection (i.e. making sure every note is correct) hinder the performance? Classical music puts technical perfection first and instead of a lively and entertaining show, you get a group of people, seated, totally unaware of the audience and completely focused on nailing every single note. The inverse of this idea is something like punk rock: turn up the amps, who cares if you mess up, or if the drummer is a little off, just jump around and go nuts and the people will love it. Ideally, I guess you would want to be somewhere in the middle, a lively performance to excite the crowd, and a technically proficient performance. The Avett Brothers tend to ere on the side of the performance.
The Avett Brothers are a country, folk, bluegrass, rock group from North Carolina. The band, composed of two brothers, their friend on bass and a few other musicians (cellist and drummer) who come in and out. The band's newest album "I and Love and You" and its title track both favor much less banjo and more piano ballads. But live, the Brothers tend to go with the tried and true formula of banjo, acoustic guitar, and upright bass at full volume sung/screamed with as much energy as they can possibly muster. Their new live album is borderline exhausting, if not for the few slow ballads hidden throughout the set, you get the feeling they would just drop mid-song from exhaustion.
The live album captures a concert they did in their native Charlotte, NC after the release of "I and Love and You". The band is ecstatic to be home and you can feel it through the speakers. After wrecking the beginning of "The Ballad of Love and Hate", guitarist Seth Avett apologizes saying "I'm so happy I can hardly stand it right now" and starts the song again. It's that kind of a sloppy performance. They play so hard and so fast that they tend to drown each other out, guitars and banjos aren't balanced and they scream until it sounds like their throats bleed. But damn if it isn't fun!
You can hear them trying to catch their breath between words, their throats sound strained, the minimalist style of instrumentation is pretty bear bones, but still, it's a rollickin' good time (so good in fact that you want to leave the 'G' off the end of words and replace it with an apostrophe!). On their records (Emotionalism is my personal favorite so far), that sound doesn't always translate. They just don't seem to fit well in a recording studio, but on stage, it's what the Brothers are made for. They are at home, in their element, and all those songs that seem to be missing something, or just a little bit rough around the edges, sound perfectly at home when being played at full volume in front of a raucous crowd.
The song selection leans heavily on old favorites the oddly sweet "Murder in the City", a crowd and personal favorite "Shame" and "Talk on Indolence" the beginning of which must be heard to be believed. "Paranoia in B Flat Major" and "When I Drink" are other favorites. Some of the new stuff: "Kick Drum Heart" and "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" also fits in well. The change from banjo rock to piano ballad isn't as weird as you would think it is. All in all, it's a hell of a lot more fun than a night at the opera.
There is a delicate balance in live music. At what point does technical perfection (i.e. making sure every note is correct) hinder the performance? Classical music puts technical perfection first and instead of a lively and entertaining show, you get a group of people, seated, totally unaware of the audience and completely focused on nailing every single note. The inverse of this idea is something like punk rock: turn up the amps, who cares if you mess up, or if the drummer is a little off, just jump around and go nuts and the people will love it. Ideally, I guess you would want to be somewhere in the middle, a lively performance to excite the crowd, and a technically proficient performance. The Avett Brothers tend to ere on the side of the performance.
The Avett Brothers are a country, folk, bluegrass, rock group from North Carolina. The band, composed of two brothers, their friend on bass and a few other musicians (cellist and drummer) who come in and out. The band's newest album "I and Love and You" and its title track both favor much less banjo and more piano ballads. But live, the Brothers tend to go with the tried and true formula of banjo, acoustic guitar, and upright bass at full volume sung/screamed with as much energy as they can possibly muster. Their new live album is borderline exhausting, if not for the few slow ballads hidden throughout the set, you get the feeling they would just drop mid-song from exhaustion.
The live album captures a concert they did in their native Charlotte, NC after the release of "I and Love and You". The band is ecstatic to be home and you can feel it through the speakers. After wrecking the beginning of "The Ballad of Love and Hate", guitarist Seth Avett apologizes saying "I'm so happy I can hardly stand it right now" and starts the song again. It's that kind of a sloppy performance. They play so hard and so fast that they tend to drown each other out, guitars and banjos aren't balanced and they scream until it sounds like their throats bleed. But damn if it isn't fun!
You can hear them trying to catch their breath between words, their throats sound strained, the minimalist style of instrumentation is pretty bear bones, but still, it's a rollickin' good time (so good in fact that you want to leave the 'G' off the end of words and replace it with an apostrophe!). On their records (Emotionalism is my personal favorite so far), that sound doesn't always translate. They just don't seem to fit well in a recording studio, but on stage, it's what the Brothers are made for. They are at home, in their element, and all those songs that seem to be missing something, or just a little bit rough around the edges, sound perfectly at home when being played at full volume in front of a raucous crowd.
The song selection leans heavily on old favorites the oddly sweet "Murder in the City", a crowd and personal favorite "Shame" and "Talk on Indolence" the beginning of which must be heard to be believed. "Paranoia in B Flat Major" and "When I Drink" are other favorites. Some of the new stuff: "Kick Drum Heart" and "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" also fits in well. The change from banjo rock to piano ballad isn't as weird as you would think it is. All in all, it's a hell of a lot more fun than a night at the opera.
Monday, October 11, 2010
A New Music Crush: Rogue Wave
Apologies for the blogging hiatus. Life tends to get busy with things like work, bills, playoff baseball, college football and important things like music blogs tend to fall by the wayside faster than school funding in a tough economy. (Wow, went dangerously close to going political there!)
Anyways, let's start off with a story! A number of years ago I had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket and was walking through the local record store and not finding anything that interested me. Thus, I started looking at bands I had never heard of and finally decided to buy Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot which I had heard some good things about. It was love at first spin, and now Wilco is one of my all-time favorites. Thus, I decided to periodically invest in new music from artists who I've never heard. You never know who you might discover. It doesn't always work (I gave Yo La Tengo a fighting chance, but it's just not happening for me) but every so often, I find a band like Rogue Wave.
I started with "Asleep at Heaven's Gate", their 2005 album. Interesting side note: in researching the band there is a lot of discourse and argument over what is their best work. itunes loves Asleep at Heaven's Gate and Amazon thinks its their worst record hands down. Paste Magazine hates all their stuff except for the early demos. Spin loves "Descended like Vultures" but hates everything else they've done. And Rolling Stone refuses to acknowledge that the band exists. (Their website is horrible and whoever designed it clearly never wanted anyone who visited it to be able to find anything).
After listening to "Asleep at Heaven's Gate" a few times I started to wonder: "Why don't I own all of their albums?" Rogue Wave is a perfect mix of acoustic based pop-melody and screeching guitars, ambient keyboards and driving beats. They are simultaniously capable of unplugging and playing a simple song like "California" and then turning up the volume and getting a little avant-garde with a song like "Harmonium". I made it about a week and half before I bought "Descended Like Vultures". So far, I'm starting to lean towards "Asleep at Heaven's Gate" being the better of the 2, but that might be just due to familiarity. I guess you could say they fit in the same vein as The Shins and Modest Mouse, only not nearly as weird or depressing.
The one thing that Rogue Wave does best is creating melodies that do not leave your brain. I'm sure my office-mates will tell you that they're sick of listening to me walk around humming the chorus to "Like I Needed" over and over and over again. "Ghost" is probably my favorite song at the moment (and yes the chorus is constantly stuck in my head), although it took me several listens and finally a google search to figure out the lyrics. I could not for the life of me figure out if he was saying "Cause its you I wanted" or "It's here if you want it" it's the former not the latter. Is that the ultimate credit to a song's catch-ability? When you are singing along even though you don't entirely understand what is being said?
I also like Rogue Wave because when you can understand the lyrics, they are mostly incredibly positive and upbeat. My itunes was on random the other day and seemed to be picking up only sad songs, so it's nice to inject a little sunshine into it.
Here are some tracks I think you should check out. C'mon! Try something new:
Ghost
Like I Needed
Salesman at the Day of the Parade (it's a great song with a weird name, I promise)
Harmonium
Chicago x 12
Lake Michigan
California
Bird on a Wire
Anyways, let's start off with a story! A number of years ago I had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket and was walking through the local record store and not finding anything that interested me. Thus, I started looking at bands I had never heard of and finally decided to buy Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot which I had heard some good things about. It was love at first spin, and now Wilco is one of my all-time favorites. Thus, I decided to periodically invest in new music from artists who I've never heard. You never know who you might discover. It doesn't always work (I gave Yo La Tengo a fighting chance, but it's just not happening for me) but every so often, I find a band like Rogue Wave.
I started with "Asleep at Heaven's Gate", their 2005 album. Interesting side note: in researching the band there is a lot of discourse and argument over what is their best work. itunes loves Asleep at Heaven's Gate and Amazon thinks its their worst record hands down. Paste Magazine hates all their stuff except for the early demos. Spin loves "Descended like Vultures" but hates everything else they've done. And Rolling Stone refuses to acknowledge that the band exists. (Their website is horrible and whoever designed it clearly never wanted anyone who visited it to be able to find anything).
After listening to "Asleep at Heaven's Gate" a few times I started to wonder: "Why don't I own all of their albums?" Rogue Wave is a perfect mix of acoustic based pop-melody and screeching guitars, ambient keyboards and driving beats. They are simultaniously capable of unplugging and playing a simple song like "California" and then turning up the volume and getting a little avant-garde with a song like "Harmonium". I made it about a week and half before I bought "Descended Like Vultures". So far, I'm starting to lean towards "Asleep at Heaven's Gate" being the better of the 2, but that might be just due to familiarity. I guess you could say they fit in the same vein as The Shins and Modest Mouse, only not nearly as weird or depressing.
The one thing that Rogue Wave does best is creating melodies that do not leave your brain. I'm sure my office-mates will tell you that they're sick of listening to me walk around humming the chorus to "Like I Needed" over and over and over again. "Ghost" is probably my favorite song at the moment (and yes the chorus is constantly stuck in my head), although it took me several listens and finally a google search to figure out the lyrics. I could not for the life of me figure out if he was saying "Cause its you I wanted" or "It's here if you want it" it's the former not the latter. Is that the ultimate credit to a song's catch-ability? When you are singing along even though you don't entirely understand what is being said?
I also like Rogue Wave because when you can understand the lyrics, they are mostly incredibly positive and upbeat. My itunes was on random the other day and seemed to be picking up only sad songs, so it's nice to inject a little sunshine into it.
Here are some tracks I think you should check out. C'mon! Try something new:
Ghost
Like I Needed
Salesman at the Day of the Parade (it's a great song with a weird name, I promise)
Harmonium
Chicago x 12
Lake Michigan
California
Bird on a Wire
Saturday, August 28, 2010
MuteMath- Armistice
Armistice: (noun) a temporary suspension of hostilities by agreement of the warring parties; truce
See! You learn something reading this after all!!
See! You learn something reading this after all!!
I got MuteMath's first self-titled album about a year or so ago for the simple reason that I couldn't get "Typical" out of my head. The album was a mix bag. There were some really really good songs on there, but almost half of the album was instrumentals, and at times it felt like more of a jam session than actual album. All the music was good, it just kind of felt unfinished. So, when I had an itunes card burning a hole in my pocket the other day, I took a chance on their follow up album "Armistice" figuring it would probably be more of the same: 4 or 5 really good songs and then a lot of spaced out jams.
I was pleasantly surprised.
Armistice is really really good. It's got everything I loved about the first album: big guitar hooks, tons of energy, crazy skittering drum beats that defy logic, weird background sounds and good lyrics. But it's toned down a little, there aren't 9 minute instrumental jams between every song. The songs are more structured and fully realized. It's that great moment when you hear a band taking the next step. Going from a band who occasionally writes good songs, to a band that makes great albums. They manage to maintain their experimental side, but hone it in to songs that hold together. It's the thing most jam bands still don't understand: albums have to be made of songs. That 13 minute noise intro is really cool live, but on an album, it sucks.
Instrumentally, MuteMath still defies categorization. (SAT words galore in that last sentence!) Are they a rock band? A techno band? Or some kind of weird alternative hybrid? I'll go with option 3. Now, I'm not a techno guy. I don't like listening to the same beat played over and over and over again for 17 mind numbing minutes, but MuteMath is not a techno band. But they are a band who uses a lot of techno features (synthesizers, sound effects, lightning fast drum rhythms) to create a sort of rock music. Their way more U2 than Daft Punk, and you know what? that's a good thing! Because everyone loves U2 and only that weird guy on the 3rd floor who hasn't left his apartment in 10 days likes Daft Punk.
Lyrically, as the title suggests, it's album about conflict, resolution and the lack there of. Songs like "The Nerve", "Clipping" and "Armistice" are about a world where it seems like everyone is at each other's throats. It's about how we put that behind us, or don't. The first step to stopping all of that is an armistice. It's not a solution to all our problems, but it's the first step, a cease fire. (Woah! Got a little deep there! I should probably stick to making fun of techno fans)
My favorite track so far is "Electrify" or at least its the one I can't get out of my head. It's catchy enough to keep you singing along but still features an interesting mix of guitars and synths. "Spotlight" is a close second, with a nice guitar riff and good hook. The band's secret weapon is their drummer. Actually it's not so secret. Most MuteMath songs are based off the drums, it's sort of the defining aspect of their sound. "Goodbye" and "Backfire" are both really good too. Even though there aren't the long extended jams of their previous works, they still mix it up a bit. Notice the middle eastern strings on "Clipping" or the Maroon 5-meets-New-Orleans-jazz horn section on "Armistice". "Lost Year" is a break up piano ballad that, while still a good song, feels incredibly out of place. Overall it's a really solid album and well worth the extra 99 cents on itunes (it's 10.99 instead of the usually 9.99. Why??!!!! It's only 13 songs!).
Enjoy the headache inducing video for "Spotlight" below! More stuff to come, I know I've been slack lately. As always, thanks for reading!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
13.1 Songs for 13.1 Miles
Sorry for the delay, but I was on vacation and then there's this thing called "work" that has been taking up a lot of my time lately. Good stuff is on the way I promise.
You may have detected some mental instability while reading this blog. It's ok, I don't blame you. Especially a couple of weeks ago when my brother-in-law told me he was running a half marathon in October and I agreed to do it with him! (You can read his training blog, it's listed on the blogroll). Now, let's just say that I'm not what you would call an athlete. But I have been making a diligent effort to get into running recently, so it didn't seem that insane at the time. Thanks to my girlfriend's love of biggest loser (which has turned into MY love of the biggest loser), I have been trying to eat healthy as of late, and if Daris can run a full marathon in 4hrs, I can certain run a half marathon. However, as you try to wrap your mind around running 13.1 miles when the longest you've ever run is somewhere around 2... you start to question your own sanity. We're a few weeks in and to finish my 6 mile run today, I needed some help, so I created a playlist to help me through the pain. Thus, I decided to make a 13.1 song list for 13.1 miles.
*Note: This list will include 13 songs and a "cool down song" -the .1 if you will- but in reality, I will probably need over 3 hours of music to get through the race.*
1. The Black Keys- Strange Times: The first mile is all about setting an easy pace and if you follow the drum beat of this song, it will set a nice pace for you. Also, The Black Keys rock and I'm amazed you can make a song this cool with 2 people.
2. Weezer- Getchoo: During my last foray into running (which I think was 2005) I fell in love running to the darkhorse contender for Weezer's best album: Pinkerton. Lots of loud screeching guitars, angsty lyrics, just what you need to really get going. This is a good rocker to keep your pace up.
3. Kanye West- Champion: Hey, you're running half a marathon. You ARE a champion. It's all about confidence and Kanye has enough confidence for you, me and a stadium full of low self-esteem individuals.
4. The Raconteurs- Salute Your Solution: Take your mind off the pain and focus on trying to figure when Jack White is singing and when Brenden Benson takes over lead vocals. Focus, focus...see? Not as tired as you were. Also, Jack White makes the line "I'm like a trashcan, haulin' all the information" seem badass and logical (it doesn't really make sense when you think about it, but it does in the moment).
5. Jimmy Eat World- Big Casino: Most Jimmy Eat World songs are basically motivational speeches. Even their biggest hit "The Middle" was a sort of "come on kid! you can do it!" type song. It's mile 5, it's time to dig deep and believe in yourself. Come on kid! You can do it!
6. Pearl Jam- Life Wasted: Love love love this one! It's total guitar-riff-grunge-ain't-dead-yet glory! Pearl Jam's self titled album (which came out in 2007) is like a renaissance for the band. It's back to basics in the best way possible. Get all the art-house stuff out of here, just crank up the amps and let it loose. Good lyrics too.
7. Mute Math- Typical: Love running to this one. It's inspiring, the guitar riff is awesome and the pace it sets isn't too fast. There's nothing typical about running 13.1 miles, so it's time to crank that!
8. Jay-Z/Linkin Park- Jigga What/Faint: The best thing Linkin Park has ever done/will ever do is the mash-up album they did with Jay-Z. They mix and match their songs with some of Jay-Z's hits and somehow manage to elevate their music without watering down Jay-Z's (which is quite an achievement). This song mixes hip-hop confidence (essential for mile 8) and heavy metal anger (essential for getting through the pain).
9. Incubus- Light Grenades: Can you run as fast this riff? If so, you were probably born in Kenya. You gotta love running to any song with the line: "Wipe off your face, you've come this far, come on, remember who you are!" Especially at the end when Brandon Boyd screams it. Listen to the song and you'll know what part I'm talking about, it's tough to miss.
10. Old 97's- Time Bomb: If you can't enjoy this song, then your enjoyer is broken. I'm a big fan of how the Old 97's mix country and punk rock. It's a good fast song to help you pick up the pace. It's also the ultimate "This girl is driving me crazy song".
11. Jay-Z and Drake- Off That: I'm a big fan of the Blueprint 3 (more on that later) and I'm a big fan of any song that tells off Rush Limbaugh.
12. Jimmy Eat World- Bleed American: This song is really angry about...something. I don't really understand it. But the chorus "Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt" is appropriate. I don't know about sugar, but there's a ton of my salt and sweat on the asphalt... It's mile freaking 12!!! Time to dig deep!!!!
13. Rage Against the Machine- Sleep Now in the Fire: My legs will be on fire at this point, and I will be having fantasies of sleep. So, it's a fitting end. This is another good running song: good pace, loud, really gets the blood pumping. Al...most...there...
The point 1. "The Theme from Chariots of Fire" It's a classic! Cool down, vomit, drink some water, vomit some more, feel dizzy, call a medic, get hooked up to an IV and know that you have accomplished something great!
Ok, back to training. Next Saturday is 7 miles, so if you see a guy out running, who is sweating like a madman, and who's face is an unhealthy shade of red, just know I've got my headphones in and can't hear you honking at me.
You may have detected some mental instability while reading this blog. It's ok, I don't blame you. Especially a couple of weeks ago when my brother-in-law told me he was running a half marathon in October and I agreed to do it with him! (You can read his training blog, it's listed on the blogroll). Now, let's just say that I'm not what you would call an athlete. But I have been making a diligent effort to get into running recently, so it didn't seem that insane at the time. Thanks to my girlfriend's love of biggest loser (which has turned into MY love of the biggest loser), I have been trying to eat healthy as of late, and if Daris can run a full marathon in 4hrs, I can certain run a half marathon. However, as you try to wrap your mind around running 13.1 miles when the longest you've ever run is somewhere around 2... you start to question your own sanity. We're a few weeks in and to finish my 6 mile run today, I needed some help, so I created a playlist to help me through the pain. Thus, I decided to make a 13.1 song list for 13.1 miles.
*Note: This list will include 13 songs and a "cool down song" -the .1 if you will- but in reality, I will probably need over 3 hours of music to get through the race.*
1. The Black Keys- Strange Times: The first mile is all about setting an easy pace and if you follow the drum beat of this song, it will set a nice pace for you. Also, The Black Keys rock and I'm amazed you can make a song this cool with 2 people.
2. Weezer- Getchoo: During my last foray into running (which I think was 2005) I fell in love running to the darkhorse contender for Weezer's best album: Pinkerton. Lots of loud screeching guitars, angsty lyrics, just what you need to really get going. This is a good rocker to keep your pace up.
3. Kanye West- Champion: Hey, you're running half a marathon. You ARE a champion. It's all about confidence and Kanye has enough confidence for you, me and a stadium full of low self-esteem individuals.
4. The Raconteurs- Salute Your Solution: Take your mind off the pain and focus on trying to figure when Jack White is singing and when Brenden Benson takes over lead vocals. Focus, focus...see? Not as tired as you were. Also, Jack White makes the line "I'm like a trashcan, haulin' all the information" seem badass and logical (it doesn't really make sense when you think about it, but it does in the moment).
5. Jimmy Eat World- Big Casino: Most Jimmy Eat World songs are basically motivational speeches. Even their biggest hit "The Middle" was a sort of "come on kid! you can do it!" type song. It's mile 5, it's time to dig deep and believe in yourself. Come on kid! You can do it!
6. Pearl Jam- Life Wasted: Love love love this one! It's total guitar-riff-grunge-ain't-dead-yet glory! Pearl Jam's self titled album (which came out in 2007) is like a renaissance for the band. It's back to basics in the best way possible. Get all the art-house stuff out of here, just crank up the amps and let it loose. Good lyrics too.
7. Mute Math- Typical: Love running to this one. It's inspiring, the guitar riff is awesome and the pace it sets isn't too fast. There's nothing typical about running 13.1 miles, so it's time to crank that!
8. Jay-Z/Linkin Park- Jigga What/Faint: The best thing Linkin Park has ever done/will ever do is the mash-up album they did with Jay-Z. They mix and match their songs with some of Jay-Z's hits and somehow manage to elevate their music without watering down Jay-Z's (which is quite an achievement). This song mixes hip-hop confidence (essential for mile 8) and heavy metal anger (essential for getting through the pain).
9. Incubus- Light Grenades: Can you run as fast this riff? If so, you were probably born in Kenya. You gotta love running to any song with the line: "Wipe off your face, you've come this far, come on, remember who you are!" Especially at the end when Brandon Boyd screams it. Listen to the song and you'll know what part I'm talking about, it's tough to miss.
10. Old 97's- Time Bomb: If you can't enjoy this song, then your enjoyer is broken. I'm a big fan of how the Old 97's mix country and punk rock. It's a good fast song to help you pick up the pace. It's also the ultimate "This girl is driving me crazy song".
11. Jay-Z and Drake- Off That: I'm a big fan of the Blueprint 3 (more on that later) and I'm a big fan of any song that tells off Rush Limbaugh.
12. Jimmy Eat World- Bleed American: This song is really angry about...something. I don't really understand it. But the chorus "Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt" is appropriate. I don't know about sugar, but there's a ton of my salt and sweat on the asphalt... It's mile freaking 12!!! Time to dig deep!!!!
13. Rage Against the Machine- Sleep Now in the Fire: My legs will be on fire at this point, and I will be having fantasies of sleep. So, it's a fitting end. This is another good running song: good pace, loud, really gets the blood pumping. Al...most...there...
The point 1. "The Theme from Chariots of Fire" It's a classic! Cool down, vomit, drink some water, vomit some more, feel dizzy, call a medic, get hooked up to an IV and know that you have accomplished something great!
Ok, back to training. Next Saturday is 7 miles, so if you see a guy out running, who is sweating like a madman, and who's face is an unhealthy shade of red, just know I've got my headphones in and can't hear you honking at me.
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