This week is going to have some reviews from this week, as well as some from last week. Whoo!
I've been drowning in work lately, and so I haven't been caught up on blog posts, so I apologize for that. This post will not include reviews of J Dilla, Deftones, Royce Da 5'9, or J Dilla; those reviews will all be scheduled for next week instead along with the A$AP Ferg review.
I've been drowning in work lately, and so I haven't been caught up on blog posts, so I apologize for that. This post will not include reviews of J Dilla, Deftones, Royce Da 5'9, or J Dilla; those reviews will all be scheduled for next week instead along with the A$AP Ferg review.
Vancouver experimental musician Tim Hecker has lately become one of my favorites in the electronic music world. He is known for taking these layered soundscapes and putting them into beautiful albums, as shown on his fantastic 2013 album Virgins. Really, it's hard to accurately (and non-pretentiously...) describe his music, as it stretches over many genres, including ambient and drone.
This album features a variety of sounds, such as guitar, flute, and synthesizer, but the percussion is very minimal, and what percussion is used her is used to provide--for lack of a better term--"percussive melody", meaning that the percussion includes marimbas and steel drums. Other ambient producers, such as Tycho and Aphex Twin, will use the percussion to provide some sense of rhythm. There isn't really any rhythm on this album, and that's okay. In fact, in Hecker's case, it works to his advantage.
You really get a kind of apocalyptic feel when listening to this album. It sounds like it could be a part of the film 28 Days Later, or some other apocalypse movie. But it doesn't have to be for that, either. You could listen to it as a way to just clear your mind and relax. The music and sounds made on this album are very relaxing. It's an experimental album that accomplishes everything an ambient album could do. It's not quite as enthralling as Virgins was, but it still hits the marks where it counts.
Overall: 8/10
There are no specific favorite tracks on here, though the first two sides of this record are incredible.
This album features a variety of sounds, such as guitar, flute, and synthesizer, but the percussion is very minimal, and what percussion is used her is used to provide--for lack of a better term--"percussive melody", meaning that the percussion includes marimbas and steel drums. Other ambient producers, such as Tycho and Aphex Twin, will use the percussion to provide some sense of rhythm. There isn't really any rhythm on this album, and that's okay. In fact, in Hecker's case, it works to his advantage.
You really get a kind of apocalyptic feel when listening to this album. It sounds like it could be a part of the film 28 Days Later, or some other apocalypse movie. But it doesn't have to be for that, either. You could listen to it as a way to just clear your mind and relax. The music and sounds made on this album are very relaxing. It's an experimental album that accomplishes everything an ambient album could do. It's not quite as enthralling as Virgins was, but it still hits the marks where it counts.
Overall: 8/10
There are no specific favorite tracks on here, though the first two sides of this record are incredible.
The Lumineers are a band that blew up during the middle of college for me, their success being driven primarily by the hit song "Ho Hey". Their first, self-titled album is ingrained into my memory, with beautifully simple tracks like "Flowers In Your Hair" and "Stubborn Love" being standouts. However, it did leave one question: Where do they go from here?
I spent a few years wondering that, as they were quiet from the middle of 2014 onwards. Finally, earlier this year, we got the first single from the album, titled "Ophelia". I liked the song, and while it didn't have hit single potential like "Ho Hey" did, I thought it was a better song.
Finally, Cleopatra was released on April 8. I was... pleasantly surprised. There wasn't a whole lot that was different from their first album, but it was a much bolder and improved sound from their self-titled debut. The group sounded much more confident in themselves as musicians and as songwriters. The earnest songwriting is still there, the production value is much better, and it's just a much more enjoyable album overall.
Overall: 8/10
Favorite tracks: Ophelia; Cleopatra; Gun Song; Angela
I spent a few years wondering that, as they were quiet from the middle of 2014 onwards. Finally, earlier this year, we got the first single from the album, titled "Ophelia". I liked the song, and while it didn't have hit single potential like "Ho Hey" did, I thought it was a better song.
Finally, Cleopatra was released on April 8. I was... pleasantly surprised. There wasn't a whole lot that was different from their first album, but it was a much bolder and improved sound from their self-titled debut. The group sounded much more confident in themselves as musicians and as songwriters. The earnest songwriting is still there, the production value is much better, and it's just a much more enjoyable album overall.
Overall: 8/10
Favorite tracks: Ophelia; Cleopatra; Gun Song; Angela
M83 are a French dreap pop band that is primarily the brainchild of main singer-songwriter Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez has experimented with his sound quite a bit over the years, going through ambient, electronica, and indie pop phases alike. The group is probably most well-known for their 2011 song "Midnight City", a song I first heard while I was a DJ at WASU. It was a very strange song, but it gave me chills when I listened to it.
After an absence from 2013 - 2015, we finally got news that M83 would be doing a festival run as well as a new album. I got pretty excited at the fact that we were finally getting a new M83 album after five years. When I listened to the album's lead single, "Do It, Try It" I wasn't as enthralled. The album however, was a totally different story, as it was even worse than the lead single.
The best way I've heard this album described is as "cheap nostalgia", and that's indeed what it is. Just look at the album cover. It looks like an elementary school student with some basic photoshop and MS Paint skills threw that together. But that's a superficial thing to note.
The album's music is, at best, boring. It's grown on me since the first listen, but it's damn near impossible to get through without wanting to switch to something else. I don't know if it's the bad nostalgia on the album or whatnot, but I have yet to actually get through this album in one sitting, and that, to me, makes you lose many points. I'd be able to review this album a lot better if I could get through it in a whole sitting, but I just can't.
To finish off this review, I'll leave you with a completely original joke: This album's title pretty much speaks for itself.
Overall: 3.5/10
Favorite track: Bibi the Dog
After an absence from 2013 - 2015, we finally got news that M83 would be doing a festival run as well as a new album. I got pretty excited at the fact that we were finally getting a new M83 album after five years. When I listened to the album's lead single, "Do It, Try It" I wasn't as enthralled. The album however, was a totally different story, as it was even worse than the lead single.
The best way I've heard this album described is as "cheap nostalgia", and that's indeed what it is. Just look at the album cover. It looks like an elementary school student with some basic photoshop and MS Paint skills threw that together. But that's a superficial thing to note.
The album's music is, at best, boring. It's grown on me since the first listen, but it's damn near impossible to get through without wanting to switch to something else. I don't know if it's the bad nostalgia on the album or whatnot, but I have yet to actually get through this album in one sitting, and that, to me, makes you lose many points. I'd be able to review this album a lot better if I could get through it in a whole sitting, but I just can't.
To finish off this review, I'll leave you with a completely original joke: This album's title pretty much speaks for itself.
Overall: 3.5/10
Favorite track: Bibi the Dog
Parquet Courts are a New York indie rock band that formed in Brooklyn in 2010. Since then, the group has released five studio albums, one of which was 2014's Content Nausea, on which the band billed themselves as Parkay Quartz. They are known for their old-school DIY aesthetic, with their music harkening back to late 60s rock bands such as Velvet Underground and 70s punk such as the Ramones.
I first got into the group through their track "Stoned and Starving", off their 2012 release Light Up Gold. It was raw, fast, and even kind of noisy. Since listening, the group has become well-known in indie circles for the aforementioned DIY punk aesthetic, even playing slots at festivals such as Lollapalooza and Coachella.
With this new album, Parquet Courts keep up the intensity, but add a little bit of subtlety to their music as well. At a couple of points on the record, such as on the songs "Keep It Even" and on "Already Dead" (digital only track). But it's cool how they can go from being a little quiet on "Steady On My Mind" to being noisier on the next track, to going faster on the next one. Very perverse.
As far as music goes, this is nothing original, but if you're looking for a good collection of indie rock songs, definitely give this album some spins.
Overall: 7/10
Favorite tracks: Already Dead (digital only track); Dust; Captive Of the Sun; One Man No City; Berlin Got Blurry
I first got into the group through their track "Stoned and Starving", off their 2012 release Light Up Gold. It was raw, fast, and even kind of noisy. Since listening, the group has become well-known in indie circles for the aforementioned DIY punk aesthetic, even playing slots at festivals such as Lollapalooza and Coachella.
With this new album, Parquet Courts keep up the intensity, but add a little bit of subtlety to their music as well. At a couple of points on the record, such as on the songs "Keep It Even" and on "Already Dead" (digital only track). But it's cool how they can go from being a little quiet on "Steady On My Mind" to being noisier on the next track, to going faster on the next one. Very perverse.
As far as music goes, this is nothing original, but if you're looking for a good collection of indie rock songs, definitely give this album some spins.
Overall: 7/10
Favorite tracks: Already Dead (digital only track); Dust; Captive Of the Sun; One Man No City; Berlin Got Blurry