The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips 2011: Gummy Song Skull
Self-Released
2011
Rating: 6.5 day-glo worms out of 10
The Flaming Lips have been EP crazy this year, and this one is the craziest. Four songs stored on a USB drive inside of a gummy skull. As it says on their website "Eat your way to the new music!!!". Oh yeah, and it costs a hundred and fifty bucks...so obviously I stole these songs online. While I love both gummy candies and this band, I'm not that gullible. To their credit, this gummy skull appears to be actual skull sized, so at least you get a shitload of gummy.
Hopefully the other fans out there are as resourceful as I am though, because these songs are pretty damn good. The opener "Drug Chart" is a quick favorite, and as close to a "Soft Bulletin" type pop song as they've released in some time. The rest of the songs are a little more out there, almost ambient and atmospheric but still plenty weird in that Flaming Lips sort of way.
And now I have a strong urge to eat some gummy worms.
(Also, I can't figure out who technically released this - I highly doubt Warner Brothers had anything to do with it, but who knows with this band.)
The Fresh & Onlys
Secret Walls
Sacred Bones
2011
Rating: 7 sliding glass doors out of 10
Maybe it's me getting older, but I really love the path The Fresh & Onlys have taken, from jangly garage pop band to their current state of mature pop with the slightest hint of western twang...and I say that as a lover of jangly garage pop. It's just that there aren't many bands out there playing this sort of music, much less doing it as well as the F&Os are doing it right now. If their debut album was akin to early Kinks or some of the Nuggets bands, this EP comes in wearing more of a Zombies guise, only sung in a much deeper voice. It vaguely psychedelic in places, and a hair dark (I'm no musician but I think a lot of minor chords are getting played here), but mostly this is a nice set of five pop songs clocking in at under twenty minutes that is well worth searching out. The track "Wash Over Us" is particularly good, and recommended.
My Morning Jacket
Circuital
ATO
2011
Rating: 3 sad crying clowns out of 10
I'll say this much - this new My Morning Jacket record isn't as awful as their previous release, 2008's "Evil Urges". But I really, really don't like it. Yeah, I could probably give it more of a chance, but when my first instinct is to skip every song 45 seconds in, that's a pretty bad starting point. Never has a band gone from so high on my list of favorite bands to completely disappearing from it. I still listen to "At Dawn" ALL THE TIME. If there was even a hint of that sound on their new material, I'd probably tolerate it...but the only similarities between that music and the current output is a band name. Hell, Jim James doesn't even sing the same anymore. I think aliens or bigfoots might be responsible for this tragedy.
The Dodos
No Color
French Kiss
2011
Rating: 7.5 transgendered terns out of 10
It felt as if The Dodos were getting more and more professional, more and more polished with each release, which in turn was driving some fans (myself included) away from the band because it was sorta contrary to what brought us to love them in the first place. Well, "drive away" is a bit strong, but let's say I hadn't been feeling as excited about the group as I had in the past. In fact, their new album "No Color" has been sitting on my for a couple of months because I just wasn't that eager to start listening to it.
And as is often the case, I was a damn fool for putting it off so long. This is a great, great record. They seemed to have re-found that immediacy and intimacy their early music had, the very sound that got me excited about the band the first time I heard them at some random afternoon show at Thee Parkside in SF many years ago. The music still sounds well produced though not overly so. And most importantly, there are hooks and catchy songs for days.
Maybe this will serve as a lesson to stop sleeping on groups I love just because they've grown their sound. I highly doubt that happens, but I'll definitely not let a Dodos album sit around for so long again.
Lower Dens
Deer Knives 7"
Sub Pop
2011 Rating: 6 Bodymore Murderlands out of 10
This was the Lower Dens addition to all of the exclusive Record Store Day releases, and it's not a bad addition. Not as quirky as other music they've put out, both songs sound like the band might slowly be morphing into Beach House, or a non-electronic version of Stereolab. They're good songs though...maybe not crucial, but if you happen across them they're worth a listen. I still haven't decided how big of a fan of this band I am, but they seem to be building a decent foundation.
TV On The Radio
Nine Types Of Light
Interscope
2011
Rating: 5 little TVs sitting on top of big TVs out of 10
I keep waiting for TV On The Radio to release another record as good as their first, "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes", and it keeps not happening. And a big fat "goddammit" to that. It's hard to be mad at the band though - they keep growing as musicians and artists, but my heart is still stuck in those sounds they produced over seven years ago. This isn't a bad record, it just isn't what I want to hear them doing. More than anything, to put it crudely, it doesn't "rock out". I want them to rock out, cause they do it really well. I've "outgrown" a lot of bands over the years, but I think this is an example of the band outgrowing me.
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter
Marble Son
Fargo
2011
Rating: 6.5 LSD-laced grilled cheeses out of 10
I listened to the ever-loving shit out of the second Jesse Sykes record "Oh, My Girl", but I honestly hadn't given her a ton of thought until coming across this newest release by her called "Marble Son". To be honest, it didn't grab me as instantly as "Oh, My Girl", but few things in life have. All of the same root pieces are there but the songs aren't as immediately catchy. No, this album is a slow burner, one that slowly seeps into your psyche, burrows in there like some of those house eating bees, and just eats away at your brain...but, you know, in a good way. Imagine having your brain slowly eaten away by bugs in a positive fashion, like, if they were smiling the whole time or something.
The more I listen to it, the more this record sounds like a female-fronted Grateful Dead album. The double vocals, the intertwining, noodly guitar lines...you can just see a girl in a sun dress and a ton of armpit hair spinning in circles to these songs. The song "servant Of Your Vision" might be the most perfect example of this sound on the record, but all of the songs roughly fit this description. Some may find this description off-putting. Hell, I probably would if I wasn't the one making it, but I'm enjoying the album, hippieness be damned.
Handsome Furs
Sound Kapital
Sub Pop
2011
Rating: 8 full-on boners out of 10
I'm sure there are probably reviews out there that don't talk about how hot Alexei Perry is, the non-Wolf Parade half of the duo Handsome Furs...but it ain't going to be this review. I don't think the above naked picture on the cover of their newest record "Sound Kapital" is her, but take one look at this photo and try not to feel a little tingly in your nether regions:
As much as I love Dan Boeckner's musical abilities, I'd prefer he weren't in this photo, as he's just obscuring my ability to gawk at her. And a recent viewing of the band live proved that she might be even hotter in person. I found it impossible not to stare at her like a perv the entire show.
Now, on to the music, and specifically this new record. Let it be stated that I didn't even know there was an amazingly hot woman in this band when I first started listening to them, so my love of the music is not based purely on superficial desires. No, that love is based on them putting out one song after another of the catchiest electro-pop heartland rock. Because Boeckner is singing, it's impossible not to compare them to Wolf Parade, but I've got to be honest - I like Handsome Furs even more than Wolf Parade, and I'm not sure it's even close. The middle section of this record - "Bury Me Standing", "Memories of the Future", and "Serve the People" - are three of the best songs Boeckner has ever been involved with, and easily some of my favorite music of the year. This will definitely make my top ten list for 2011, and in the top half of it probably.
David Bazan
Strange Negotiations
Barsuk
2011
Rating: 7 silky manes out of 10
It seems like all the talk over the last couple David Bazan (aka Pedro the Lion) solo records is how he's turned away from God-Christianity-religious business. And no doubt that religiosity brought a lot of listeners to his tunes, but it wasn't the be-all end-all. I'm about as far from religious as you can get and I've loved the dude's music for well over a decade. Because his lyrics were never hit-you-over-the-head with their higher power praise like most all contemporary christian music, Bazan also gathered a rather healthy roster of secular fans, so to that group this talk of change doesn't add up to much. All that really matters is one thing - are the songs any good?
Yes. Yes the songs are very good. They're very David Bazan/Pedro the Lion. Old fans who don't really give a shit about lyrics (aka myself) aren't even going to notice much of a difference. It's mostly introspective electrified folk music, with the occasional upbeat rocker (the track "People" fits this description nicely, and is a great track). Bazan's mostly monotone voice is still there leading the way, and you could easily stick one of these songs on an older record and never miss a beat.
Oval / Liturgy
Split
Thrill Jockey
2011
Rating: 5 cheerleader competitions out of 10
This was one of those "Record Store Day" releases that I didn't actually buy but instead "found online" because that shit was (a) not available at my local store or all copies had already been bought when I got there and (b) is sold out now so I'm not feeling guilty for "finding" it.
So, this is five songs total, and the first four belong to Oval. I can't say that I've ever cared for Oval's experimental electronic bleep blop bloop music. I honestly don't know enough about this sort of music to know if it's good or bad in the grand scheme of things, but I know it brings me no joy to listen to.
Liturgy ends the release with a nearly twenty minute long untitled song that walks this fine line between metal, math rock and experimental wankery. At their best they sound like the love child of Don Caballero and Mogwai. I know they are a polarizing band because supposedly they play black metal without really being black metal, but in my personal opinion they are kinda off on their own trip musically, and I don't really give a shit if they don't look the part of black metallers anyways. Those people need to stop taking themselves so serious. And on the off chance any of those overly serious folks read this, please don't murder me or my family.
DJ Shadow
I Gotta Rokk
Island
2011
Rating: 7 friendly ghosts out of 10
FUCK YES NEW DJ SHADOW MUSIC. And more to the point, new DJ Shadow music that sounds like "old" DJ Shadow music aka it don't sound like "The Outsider". Not that I hated that record, it was decent, but not the sort of music by Shadow that gets me excited. But this EP is, oh boy is it ever.
So he has a new record coming out in September, and the first three songs are all going to be on that record - call this a preview if you will, something to tide the die-hard fans over for a few months. In addition, there is a remix of each of these songs, giving you six songs total (I'm a math major, so please trust my addition), and over 35 minutes of new Shadow. He ain't getting hyphy here, there are no guest hip-hop vocals, this is straight diggin'-in-the-crates electro-rock, and it delights me so.
The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian
The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian
Warner Bros
2011
Rating: 6 packages of wax lips out of 10
I don't know dick all about Neon Indian, but when the Flaming Lips put out something new I listen to it no matter what. I don't care if they're collaborating with Kenny Rogers, I'm down. Actually, an Lips/Kenny Rogers collabo would be awesome...maybe a spaced out cover of "Coward of the County" would kill.
So I did a little reading, and apparently Neon Indian are some sort of electronic pop duo out of NYC and Texas. Is it still a duo if one of them just does visuals? I personally would lean towards "no" on that one, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority there. Not that I don't like visuals, it's just pretty secondary to the music when we're talking about a musical group. Granted, as I've said I've never seen the band so maybe the visual person also plays music. Or maybe the audio from the visuals has a place in their music or some such shit. I clearly don't know what I'm talking about here.
Anyways, what you've got here is an EP of four songs that sounds like remixes of Flaming Lips songs you've never heard. This is exactly what I expected the record to sound like, and I was neither disappointed or pleasantly surprised. None of the songs are particularly catchy or what I'd call "top shelf" Flaming Lips' product, but it's all decent enough and certainly very listenable. I'm not a druggin' sort, but it seems like the sort of record that it would be good to listen to while stoned. But maybe not on speed.
TV Ghost
Mass Dream
In The Red
2011
Rating: 6 episodes of "Viva Laughlin" out of 10
If I read a description of a band as being a mix of Pere Ubu, Rites of Spring and the Doors, I don't know whether I'd run and hide or shriek with excitement like a small child. But that's pretty much the best description I've come up with for TV Ghost, a quartet of musicians out of Lafayette, Indiana who may or may not need psychological help. Perhaps a more modern comparison would be a more damaged version of the A Frames, a person favorite of mine. Nearly all of the songs have a very nervous, anxious feeling to them...you're not putting this on and taking a little nap on the couch. It's the sort of music that sounds great if you're in the right mood, but catch you off guard and you might be cursing it's very existence.
I'm not sure I love this record, but I'm very intrigued by it. And I'm not sure this is an album that opens itself up after just a few listens...it might take a while.
Telekinesis
12 Desperate Straight Lines
Merge
2011
Rating: 7.5 late night television psychics out of 10
There's no substitute for a great pop song, and god knows this Telekinesis record is awash with them. It's only fitting that Merge has released both of their records, because if a band could give birth this is what the offspring of Superchunk would & should sound like. Especially Superchunk at their most power pop - the late nineties with "Indoor Living" and "Come Pick Me Up". "12 Desperate Straight Lines" just hits you over the head with one catchy song after another, barely letting you come up for air - just hook after hook for nearly 33 minutes. The album hits it's high point with "Car Crash", as catchy a song as I've heard in years and one that will certainly be stuck in my head for the foreseeable future.
This album is going to go two directions for me, and it's way too early to know which direction that is. It's so sugary-saccharine sweet and addictive that it's entirely possible I burn myself out on it quickly, like eating too much cake*. Or it could be something I visit often for years to come, like a good chocolate milkshake from your favorite ice cream parlor. Because there is nothing better in this world than a good chocolate milkshake**.
*This is clearly a theoretical proposition, as I've yet to reach the point of "too much cake". I'll keep trying though.
**And when I say "chocolate milkshake", I mean a proper one made with chocolate ice cream; none of that black-and-white bullshit with the vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.
U.S. Christmas
The Valley Path
Neurot
2011
Rating: 9 piles of deer scat out of 10
To put it simply, USX have outdone themselves. Fully. Right now this is the easy frontrunner for album of the year in my mind, and some folks are really going to have to step their game up if they hope to top it.
For starters, the album is just one song, around 38 minutes long. That's no "Dopesmoker" by Sleep, but it's a damn long song. The song ebbs and flows like the tide, with multiple discernible sections held together by an overall ascetic of...doom maybe? Or depression? I dunno, I've never been much for meaning, but this record would make a perfect soundtrack for the most bleak post-apocalyptic movies...certainly the recently released "The Road" would be a good fit. So if you're starving, wandering a barren land, and being chased by cannibals, I'm pretty sure something similar to this could, would or should be playing.
Another point, maybe the main point that makes this record stand out - it's not metal. Not in the typical sense certainly. USX are generally considered a metal band, but this record is so much more than that. As a non-metal person, most of my comparisons for this would draw from a non-metal world - the first portion reminds me a lot of Black Mountain; just after the twenty minute mark, there is a heavy Dirty Three vibe; and I'd have to think most any Mogwai fan would enjoy their more upbeat sections. There are also moments that make me think of Black Heart Procession, Hawkwind (you can't have a USX release without mentioning Hawkwind), and maybe more than anything, mid-to-late seventies Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
At this point this review is a jumbled fuckin' mess and I'm not sure what else to say. This is an absolutely stunner of an album. It's barely left my car CD player for the last two weeks. As much as I've loved USX's previous work, this is now their gold standard.
