Let me preface this by saying I found Feist's debut Let it Die enjoyable, but by no means impressive. What was impressive was seeing her live. Dressed in all white she sang like a goddess and firmly put to sleep any doubts as to whether her talents were a fluke or accident. On The Reminder she has achieved something truly special, something to be cherished. The ghosts of many greats (and not so greats, (but still great in their own way)) float in and out of this record making their presence known only to slip away and take on some other form. On "Brandy Alexander" which starts out with reverby kick and some snaps slowly takes on more instruments piano and strings whose placement Van Morrison would certainly deem great. Feist's lyrics fit so well it hurts sometimes when she sings "It goes down easy," pretty much effortlessly.
If there is something wrong with this record it's that it feels like shes still hiding something, like she is telling the truth but leaving out the part that might get her into trouble. On "I Feel It All" Tom Petty shines through but never enough to be considered a rip-off. This song's feeling of vastness exemplifies the same feeling that can be found throughout the entire album. What at first seems to stick out like a sore thumb "My Moon My Man" containing a typical ABBA chorus "Take it slow, take it easy on me" floats effortlessly into flourishes of some kind of wind instrument only to be to quickly stripped down again to the bare bones drums and bass of the song which are so infectiously headnod inducing one might just start dancing in public.
The album floats between pop and folk always maintaining an expansive sound, and just like it will make you dance, songs like the "The Park" better damn well make you at least shed one little tear for this beautiful songbird. The title of this album hits the nail on the head The Reminder is just that, a reminder of moments good and bad in the past but also that they will come again in the future.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Feist - The Reminder
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Live Review - Shaky Hands@the artistery
If facial hair is an accurate way to measure talent/indieishness of a band these guys would get an 11. Lets just say they are hairy. Either way these guys are good which is actually saying a lot. The whole two guitarists, one bassist, one drummer setup has severe consequences for most bands: simply that, they sound like most bands. However these guys manage to do what should be nearly impossible these days, and that is to take that line-up and come up with something sprite likes to refer to as "cool, crisp, and refreshing" (just wait until I actually get paid to write, hoh boy). Anyway, to make short story even shorter, the up-tempo half-the-time-happy-in-a-flaming-lips-sort-of-way band can rock and make you smile and jiggle around which is usually a good recipe for success.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
While Laura Veirs has yet to explode onto the scene like Regina Spektor or Joanna Newsom, she’s quickly become one of the finest singer-songwriters of the last few years. Saltbreakers, her third full-length on Nonesuch, is full of warm, honest songs fluctuating between barebones folk and full-on rock mode. Veirs’ vocals are at once accessible and memorable and her enthusiasm is palpable. The album features a fantastic reworking of the song “Cast a Hook in Me” originally released on a 2006 Kill Rock Stars compilation. I like this album, you’ll like this album, old folks will like this album, errbody will.
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
This is a bit of an exaggeration of distaste. I wrote it for the "Reeks" half of a Rocks Vs. Reeks column. Enjoy.
Modest Mouse aren’t so modestly mousy anymore, with a number one album and expensive music videos to boot. Its just a shame that one of their worst albums is already their most popular. The band, still floating on the success of their last album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, released the single “Dashboard” weeks before the new album dropped. Teeny boppers tuned into their local top 40 station to hear a toe-tapping dance track with (the self-mutilating?!) Isaac Brock doing his usual mumbling and shouting. I’ll be honest, I like the song. All you Moon and Antarctica stalwarts need to lighten up and shake your asses. As for the rest of the album, I’ve nothing but criticisms. The first track, “March into the Sea”, is reminiscent of a Unicorns b-side. And the vocals sound like a surly boozehound being hauled off to the drunk tank. I can only assume the song “Fire it Up” is tongue in cheek, as the band crafts one of the most boring songs of the year. On “Missed the Boat” (ooh, the album has a nautical theme!!), the boys appear desperate in their attempts in incite a feel-good sing-along. There are a handful of moments on the album that hint at the now-latent greatness Modest Mouse is capable of, but these moments are few and far between. With all the hype, money, Johnny Marr, and James Mercer being stirred into the pot, I assumed the result would be something tastier than this. I was wrong.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
"How you gon be broke and your last name Price?/Thats like, sweatin bullets and your nickname ice."
Sean Price aka "The Grimey Boot Man" aka "The Brokest Rapper You Know" has a new video on myspace for "Mess You Made" probably one P's most sincere, accessible and sadly funny songs to date. check it out.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Do What You Do
A couple of titillating news items:
- Talib Kweli goes gangsta-beefin Weird Al' all over Mims' "This is Why I'm Hot" with his version entitled "Niggas Lie A Lot". It would seem that Kweli is attacking easy prey in the hyper-boastful Mims, but he makes it clear that he's not interested in bullying, but policing. Protecting and serving the public from wack mc's making inflated claims of their "hotness" and "flyness".
Kweli and Mims aside -- this beat is SO filthy. PEEP IT
- Remixes are everywhere these days, but a quick roundup of the latest and greatest:
Bone Thugs N' Harmony - Ecstasy (Copy Remix)
The Bird and the Bee - Fucking Boyfriend (Peaches Remix)
Feist - My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix)
Clipse - Mr Me Too (Z.A.K. Remix)
Notorious B.I.G. - Party and Bullshit (Ratatat Remix)
- New Timbaland album means good things - one of which is the track "Oh, Timbaland" which samples Nina Simone's classic "Sinnerman". Tim isn't much of a rapper, but boy oh boy his production is butter. Also, I think Talib Kweli sampled "Sinnerman" in his song "Get By" a few years back. Aaaand we've come full circle.
**Be on the lookout for a Ratatat show review from both Dylan and myself sometime in the near future. **
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Remember the first time you heard "Daft Punk is Playing at my House"?
Remember how good that felt? Remember how it was on repeat for maybe a little too long?
Well, needless to say, the ante hath been upped with LCD Soundsystem's second full length album. What if I told you that you could now get an album of near perfect dance-rock proportions? Sound of Silver comes from a world where synths, guitars, drum machines, samples, vocals and many more live in perfect harmony with eachother swaying back and forth in the breeze but still to the beat. I would write more, but guess what?
I have to go dance, by myself. yeah. whoa. cya.
Cadillac Escapades
[NEWS FLASH]: Just a minute ago, I was sitting here surfing the internets and, as always, the constant hum of the television provided a comforting blanket of white noise in the background. This time, the banality was broken by a gem from The Album Leaf. Unsurprisingly, I was surprised and went to investigate. Turns out, the song was being used for a Cadillac commercial to adorn their claims of low APR's and dismal MPG's. I'm not going to rant about selling out or any of that biznezz, as the accusation has been previously oft cast, and the bands have already received many malignant and disparaging criticisms. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.
On a related note, I also recently heard an Animal Collective song on a Crayola commercial.
See Album Leaf?
There's a right way and a wrong way to do this sort of thing.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
PDX POP!
Yeah, it's that time of year again, time to get off your fixie, put down your vegan sandwhich and go to PDX POP's website and request your favorite rose city bands.
Last years bands included:
Copy
Strength
Small Sails
Were From Japan!
...Worms
Horse Feathers
Thanksgiving
Yacht
Wet Confetti
Nice Nice
whew!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
k-os - Atlantis (Hymns for Disco) 6.5/10
k-os is huge in Canada. His last album went platinum and he has received several Juno awards (Canadian equivalent of the Grammy). But his lack of widespread success in the U.S. can be attributed to his critique of the mainstream hip hop that all know and love so much. On his latest album, he’s done away with the lyrical dissention, but continues to defy traditional genres. k-os is a talented producer and a fairly proficient rapper, but he does a hell of a lot of singing on this album and the result is a slew of boring, lackluster tunes. Atlantis indeed, as not even special guest / Nova Scotian wunderkind Buck 65 can save this lost empire.
Air - Pocket Symphony 9.1/10
French electronic duo Air make soundtracks to accompany your mysteriously bizarre dreams. With the help of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Air has succeeded once again in creating a gorgeously conceived and crafted album. The 12 songs weave in and out of each other hypnotically with downtempo beats and delicate instrumentation. Pulp front-man Jarvis Cocker contributes breathy, self-assured vocals on the song “One Hell of a Party”, which, combined with Air’s new affinity for obscure Japanese instruments, highlights Air’s musical progression.
Let's Go Sailing - The Chaos in Order 8.9/10
Let’s get the name dropping out of the way. Courtney Love once joined them onstage for a song, and the Flaming Lips played their demos at their shows in between sets. Singer/songwriter Shana Levy has performed with Rilo Kiley and Dios Malos. Tanya Haden, member of Silversun Pickups and wife to the more famous half of Tenacious D, plays cello on the album. Now, Let’s Go Sailing. This delightful indie pop outfit make songs about love and loss and they do it with the greatest of ease. And, since it is chamber pop: Hark, the strings soar and the fair maiden’s wistful voice is layered in rapturous harmony; this is true splendor.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The Arcade Fire: Neon Bible 7.3/10
I often make the mistake of equating epic with grand, which then quickly leads me to great. Now if this little formula were to be applied The Arcade Fire's new album, it would end up being a 15/10 or something totally ridiculous. This album is epic to the point were it becomes a parody of itself. Somehow this is both a strength and weakness of the album. Neon Bible is what happens, apparently, when The Arcade Fire go out of their neighborhood for the first time and see the world with naive eyes. It seems that they realized the world is bigger than the 5 blocks they comfortably inhabited on Funeral. Songs like Intervention and No Cars Go are where The Arcade Fire truly shine. Releasing a barrage of organs, horns, choirs, strings (the works folks, the works). No Cars Go is Sufjan-esque indeed, but it is unequivocally their own which is what is great about this band: their ability to repeatedly and successfully incorporate a wide variety of influences into something wholly unique.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Still alive. Anyone reading?
So 2007 has been whoa... so far. Lets do a quick little recap:
Menomena's new album Friend and Foe is phenomenal.
Arcade Fire's Neon Bible is... good.
Sparklhorse's newest endeavor is 7/10
Copy's new album came out today, lookout for a review of that very soon as well as the new air album.
If you haven't already, checkout Strength, really good stuff.
If you have money go to coachella, if you have less money go to sasquatch.
peace.
-Dyl
Friday, January 26, 2007
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Review - Meek Warrior 6.7/10
The members of New York based Akron/Family have been working relentlessly since signing to Young God Records in 2003. The four gents have released two full length albums and a split LP with label mates Angels of Light while touring the country. The most recent of which is the exciting and challenging Meek Warrior. Akron/Family make it clear from the opening song that they are not attempting to simply rehash the successful formula used in their lauded debut. The frenetic guitar riff and ominous, insistent drums are a far cry from the melodic, understated finger-picking one finds on their previous record. The intensity slowly evolves into an amalgamation of hand claps, dissonant murmurs, and finally an impassioned chant. One could easily see a song like "Blessing Force" being separated into four songs due to Akron/Family's tendency towards progressive and constant variation. At times, Akron/Family sounds like a relative of Animal Collective due to their unbridled, exuberant sing-a-long style and eccentric campfire folksy sensibilities. Meek Warrior is organic, cosmic, and unrestrained all at once; it’s the kind of album that can grow on you.
Review - Into the Blue Again 8.6/10
The latest release from multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle a.k.a. The Album Leaf expands on the distinctive, ethereal sound established on his previous records. LaValle delicately crafts songs reminiscent of Sigur Ros in orchestral grandeur, but with abundant use of a Rhodes piano and programmed drum beats, Into The Blue Again is distinctively Album Leaf. Enlisting Pall Jenkins to help with writing lyrics, LaValle's vocals are more prominent than ever before. On the second track, "Always For You", LaValle sings "Through the cities I've walked / In castles I dream / On mountains I've climbed / When I called your name". Paired lush, layered sounds, the album evokes a cinematic quality in which the protagonist is a weary lovelorn traveler . Each song slowly builds into an inspiring crescendo and is resolved in seven minutes or less. In the iTunes era, in which singles take precedent over full albums, LaValle has succeeded in creating a cohesive, flawlessly integrated record. Recorded in Washington and mixed in Iceland, Into The Blue Again transports the listener to equally familiar and distant places. Tranquility never sounded this good.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Majesty, OH WORD?
For those of you lucky enough to have caught Mr. Stevens on his current tour, you'll be familiar with the EPIC new song Majesty, Snowbird . If you haven't heard it, or simply want an mp3 version, clickity clack on that there link and download the song. You won't be disappointed.
