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bob drake - 13 songs and a thing one of my favorite albums of last year was max tundra's mastered by guy at the exchange. while bob drake sounds nothing like max tundra, the same kind of sound schizophrenia can be found here, albeit in the form of acoustic avant-garde theatrics. most of this album sounds like an inspired captain beefheart/tom waits collaboration, and it's damned good. as soon as you latch onto something, it's immediately decapitated or replaced by some wild tangent. it's not for everyone, but for those willing to explore it can be immensely rewarding. |
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deerhoof- apple o' this album hit me like a left hook. i don't know where it came from, nor can i really explain why i love it so much. the vocals, courtesy of female japanese singer satomi matsuzaki are over-the-top kindergarten cute, which sounds gimmicky or just annoying. however, the vocals are used effectively - more in a repetitive, staccato, musical punctuation type of way. does that make sense? no? anyway, she wonderfully counters the tight, crushing pop that is the substance of this album. i'd imagine that if the vocals were removed and the guitars lowered an octave, this album wouldn't be too far removed from the most melodic fugazi moments. the percussion, the hooks, the timing, and yes, the vocals....it's all put together perfectly to make one of the catchiest albums this year. |
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four tet - rounds consider the opening track, "hands": it starts out with what can only be described as a retarded heartbeat that dissolves into a nice keyboard riff/loop with light, brassy percussion before formulating into a nicely solid beat. the whole album flows incredibly well; even at different paces you can hear four tet's magnificent sense of timing. here's a good blend of late-night free-form jazz vamps and loose, beautiful hip-hop. |
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grandaddy - sumday grandaddy's fourth album starts off promising enough with "now it's on"; a charging declaration displaying all of their signature guitar rhythm and instrumentional laptopery. unfortunately, when the second track begins "i'm rolling down a well-worn road," you realize that granddady has blown their proverbial load in the first track. sadly, the rest of the album drones on in the same maudlin tone. wallowing in the overdone theme of technological boredom (i spy irony!), grandaddy insists on reminding us that the flaming lips did this exact same thing last year with yoshimi battles the pink robots, with more interesting results. while this album isn't intirely a failure, it is a disappointing misstep for what could have been an increasingly inventive band. |
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loose fur - loose fur loose fur is a side-project of wilco; the three-piece is composed of frontman jeff tweedy, drummer glenn kotche, and yhf producer jim o'rourke. free from the constraints and drama of wilco and yhf, tweedy and o'rourke are more than willing to casually fool around, resulting in a beautiful experiment. with the average track length at about six minutes, loose fur give themselves room to slowly build through each song. initially the simple guitar melody is laid out and the vocals begin. eventually lyrics and verse are abandoned in favor of layers of guitar, piano, and beautifully cluttered acoustic krautrock. for all of wilco's previously documented brilliance, loose fur shows that tweedy and o'rourke have ideas to spare. |
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madlib - shades of blue the concept is a simple one: an experienced hip-hop producer/artist rummages through the back-catalog of a distinguished jazz label, picks out some of his favorite sampes, and reinvents these classics into modern-day hip-hop gems. thus madlib (aka quasimoto aka the beatmaster) was privledged to sift and sort through the extensive collection of blue note recordings. considering the respect that the storied blue note label deserves, it's unfortunate that madlib sacrificed reverence for reputation. pretty much every track is littered with some useless shout-out, whether it be one of madlib's crew or an old, curious blue note musician calling in to check in on the project. also, the album is cluttered with songs that madlib did himself that barely feature blue note samples. a few of his true interpretations really stand out though, most notably the centerpiece, donald byrd's "stepping into tomorrow". other tracks like "montara" and "slim's return" are so well-done that it's hard to imagine how it could not have been originally recorded that way. in fact, it would have been interesting to have the original source material attached on a second disc to allow comparison so that the breadth of madlib's revision could be seen. as it stands, this album comes off as a brilliant concept that was only partially realized. |
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songs:ohia - magnolia electric co. i really wanted to like this album. i'd read that songs:ohia, now known as magnolia electric co., were heavily schooled in the ways of neil young (both his quiet, introspective solo side and his louder crazy horse side) and the first song on this album definitely lived up to that comparison. "farewell transmission," a seven-plus minute epic, is an outstanding opening track that sets a high standard for the rest of the album. the next two songs are far from terrible; it's easy to see how the band has garnered comparisons to mr. young's best work. so it truly is a tragedy that the fourth track "old red hen" is unbearably godawful. for whatever reason, they opted for guest vocals on this one, resulting in a song that reeks of tear-in-your-beer depressing drawl. it's so repulsive that i've barely managed to listen to anything after that point. even if i could get past it, there isn't much left to listen to; the album's running time would've been more appropriate for an EP. this disappointing brevity is also apparent in their live show--playing seven or eight slow (boring) interpretations of their songs before calling it a night. who told these guys it's better to burn out than to fade away? |
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unicorns - who will cut our hair when we die? for some reason, certain bands send out warning signs that say "please stay away from this album." for example, they'll name themselves after fictional animals, use cover art with crayoned rainbows and clouds, and then come up with a ridiculously silly, pretentious title like "who will cut our hair when we die?" or something like that. even if you have the stubborn sense to NOT judge a book by its cover (or its title or author), and god forbid you actually try to listen to an album, often your dismal expectations are sadly confirmed within the first few seconds of the album. that's exactly the way i approached this album, and...well, the unicorns indeed confirm what they advertise. they sound like a garage band in middle school. they ignore traditional song structure, they sing out of key, their instruments aren't tuned half the time, but that's what makes them so great. these unicorns are not merely carrot-topped donkeys. they have tremendous knack for writing refreshingly catchy songs and quick melodies with pretty unique instrumentation. more importantly, their 'fear of death'-themed lyrics make them sound more like dylan thomas and less like dora the explorer. these elements combine to make one of the best releases this year. so the lesson learned today, kids, is that it's what's inside the CD case that really counts. |
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coming soon deadly snakes - ode to joy polysics - neu sufjan stevens - michigan why - oaklandazulasylum !!! - me and giuliani down by the schoolyard EP |
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