Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
What I've Been Listening To
This month is the fifteen year anniversary of taking over the Adv Club. That should make you all feel somewhat old. Anyhoo, I have been doing a series of best of shows so that's all I'cve been listening to. Stuff like...
RANCID
THE STONE ROSES
ELVIS COSTELLO
EDITORS
RANCID
THE STONE ROSES
ELVIS COSTELLO
EDITORS
Sunday, May 3, 2009
I'll Bite
This year has been a pretty exciting one for me musically. I'll be the first to admit that new music has not impressed me much over the last several years. I've spent much more money on older records and back catalog than anything contemporary. There have been some good tracks here and there, but great albums by established artists are rare, and up-and-comers are inconsistent, luring me in with a great track, but disappointing with the rest of the album. I've become a cranky old man ranting about "kids these days" with their illegal downloading and their lack of consideration for the album as a work of art.
However, the first half of 2009 has delivered some fantastic albums from new and classic artists:
Faunts - Feel.Love.Thining.Of - Their past releases (a full-length and an EP) have centered around one brilliant track followed with ambient, shoe-gazing tracks. Good stuff, but not even close to living up to the promise of the single. F.L.T.O., however, finally delivers the album I knew they were capable of writing. Start to finish, this is a truly amazing record and I'm not a good enough writer to describe its greatness. If I were rich, I'd buy a copy of this for each of you. You need to hear it.
U2 - No Line on the Horizon - Fantastic? Not quite, but after the career that they've had, they get a free pass in my book. You write an album like Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree, or Boy and you get lifetime credibility. However, I do applaud them for not writing another album just like How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. It would have been the easy thing to do. The new songs sound like they're trying a little too hard to remain relevant and it backfires. It usually comes so naturally to them.
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns - Again, another example of a new artist that, I think, is doing something interesting and exciting. I liked her first album a lot. The sparse instrumentation really showcased some great songwriting. Her follow-up sounds much more mature, with more textured arrangements with great choruses and melodies. She's got the most interesting parts of Tori Amos and Bjork, and, like them, she's definitely got a case of the crazies. Fortunately, unlike Tori and Bjork, I don't think Bat for Lashes would ever hurt anyone, and I wouldn't be afraid to be in the same room with her.
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe - I don't know how they do it, but DM has consistently delivered strong albums, even after the golden age of Music for the Masses and Violator (Ultra being the exception). Unfortunately, with the decline of radio and MTV, their relevance has waned and they haven't quite captured a new generation of fans. SOTU mixes some really amazing tracks with some pretty good tracks, and only one skipper (Martin's song, natch). The most notable thing about this album is the juxtaposition of the slick production of their recent albums with the return of analog synths (or at least analog modelers). The guitars are dialed way back (thankfully) and while I think that DM will never be the same without Alan Wilder, I do think they've managed to find a way to stand on their own.
A Camp - Colonia - According to Josh, I'm the only person in the country who still cares about the Cardigans. While he may have stopped paying attention after the success of Lovefool, he completely missed three records that are undoubtedly, and successively better and better. They may not have had the exposure or fame that they had in the late 90s, but their music continues to mature. While I wait patiently for another Cardigans record, I will gladly accept a new A Camp record. A Camp is Nina, her husband Nathan Larson (Shudder to Think) and some other dude, and Colonia is their second full-length. Other than Nina's voice, it sounds very different than the Cardigans, but it's very good.
However, the first half of 2009 has delivered some fantastic albums from new and classic artists:
Faunts - Feel.Love.Thining.Of - Their past releases (a full-length and an EP) have centered around one brilliant track followed with ambient, shoe-gazing tracks. Good stuff, but not even close to living up to the promise of the single. F.L.T.O., however, finally delivers the album I knew they were capable of writing. Start to finish, this is a truly amazing record and I'm not a good enough writer to describe its greatness. If I were rich, I'd buy a copy of this for each of you. You need to hear it.
U2 - No Line on the Horizon - Fantastic? Not quite, but after the career that they've had, they get a free pass in my book. You write an album like Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree, or Boy and you get lifetime credibility. However, I do applaud them for not writing another album just like How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. It would have been the easy thing to do. The new songs sound like they're trying a little too hard to remain relevant and it backfires. It usually comes so naturally to them.
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns - Again, another example of a new artist that, I think, is doing something interesting and exciting. I liked her first album a lot. The sparse instrumentation really showcased some great songwriting. Her follow-up sounds much more mature, with more textured arrangements with great choruses and melodies. She's got the most interesting parts of Tori Amos and Bjork, and, like them, she's definitely got a case of the crazies. Fortunately, unlike Tori and Bjork, I don't think Bat for Lashes would ever hurt anyone, and I wouldn't be afraid to be in the same room with her.
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe - I don't know how they do it, but DM has consistently delivered strong albums, even after the golden age of Music for the Masses and Violator (Ultra being the exception). Unfortunately, with the decline of radio and MTV, their relevance has waned and they haven't quite captured a new generation of fans. SOTU mixes some really amazing tracks with some pretty good tracks, and only one skipper (Martin's song, natch). The most notable thing about this album is the juxtaposition of the slick production of their recent albums with the return of analog synths (or at least analog modelers). The guitars are dialed way back (thankfully) and while I think that DM will never be the same without Alan Wilder, I do think they've managed to find a way to stand on their own.
A Camp - Colonia - According to Josh, I'm the only person in the country who still cares about the Cardigans. While he may have stopped paying attention after the success of Lovefool, he completely missed three records that are undoubtedly, and successively better and better. They may not have had the exposure or fame that they had in the late 90s, but their music continues to mature. While I wait patiently for another Cardigans record, I will gladly accept a new A Camp record. A Camp is Nina, her husband Nathan Larson (Shudder to Think) and some other dude, and Colonia is their second full-length. Other than Nina's voice, it sounds very different than the Cardigans, but it's very good.
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