4/12: Carly Rae Jepsen's Tug of War: Lovely and folky indie pop akin to Jewel. Highlights:
"Tell Me" and "Money & the Ego"
Why? The album’s been in the queue since Todd In
Shadow’s review of “Call Me Maybe” piqued my curiosity.
Additional Thoughts: Even vocally she
reminds me of Jewel, like at certain moments in the title track. The main
weakness of the album is that Jepsen needs a better editor, because there are
some weird lyrical choices that can be distracting. “Money & the Ego,” for
example, “Going for money and the money and the ego,” which could be seen as
emphasis but it just seems like she couldn’t think of something else to add
that fit the melody line. Either way, it’s a solid album, solid enough to make
it disappointing that she didn’t end up growing in this vein and in some ways seemed
to regress.
4/13: Carly Rae Jepsen's Kiss: Cute and catchy. I feel like I just got hit by a cotton candy
truck driven by record execs.
Why? I wanted see how this album compared to her
debut.
Additional Thoughts: Tug of War isn’t exactly deep or groundbreaking, but
this? Jeez, man. I don’t oppose an artist changing their sound or “going pop” –
when doing so is their choice. I’m
not naïve enough to think it a coincidence that this record came after Jepsen
signed to a major label and I have a hard time looking passed that. What gets
me is that even with all these additional collaborators the sometimes weird
lyrical choices from Tug of War appear
here. You’d think someone would proofread these things or something. I mean, “Your
Heart Is A Muscle”? I get the metaphor the song is going for, but it doesn’t
work when the heart is literally a muscle.
4/14: Stealing Sheep's Not Real: Listening to this is like riding a wave of sweetly
sinister psychedelia. It's fantastic.
Why? New release. I nearly didn’t pick this
because one site listed it as “synthpop” which I think I’ve been doing too much
of lately. I’m glad I didn’t it anyway.
Additional Thoughts: I think I might dig
into this album in a post of its own, if not soon, certainly by the end of year.
This might even end up one of my favorites of the year. It’s great, especially “Greed”
and “Sequence.”
4/15: The War On Drugs' Lost in the Dream: Well-executed, dreamy Americana. Highlights:
"The Haunting Idle" and "Burning"
Why? A recommendation from LoadingReadyRun’s Best of 2014 podcast.
Additional Thoughts: This album
apparently came after a period of depression for the lead singer and it really
shows. The first portion of the album does a good job of feeling depressed. The
songs themselves aren’t depressing exactly, but they definitely convey how
being in the midst of, say, a winter depression can feel. As such, I don’t see
myself going back to it.
4/16: Tears for Fears' The Hurting: Open honesty of this magnitude takes a lot of guts and
yields a powerful work.
Why? Working through Tears for Fears’
discography.
Additional Thoughts: Not so much
enjoyable as much as it’s cathartic, if you allow it. Honesty like this can
make some people uncomfortable, as evidenced by the needlessly dismissive Rolling Stone review from 1983 that described the lyrics as “petty traumas.” To a degree, I can understand how
this kind of writing could get insufferable, but this is clearly coming from a
place far deeper than some high school the-girl-I-like-doesn’t-like-me angst.
This is someone cracking their ribcage open and letting out the deep
dysfunction and hurt that helped mold them. That’s by no means an easy thing to
do. Or to listen to, for that matter, so I can see why someone would want to
push it away or dismiss it. Still, as I said, it’s a powerful work and I
certainly respect it.
4/17: The Wombats' Glitterbug: Songs perfectly suited for an outdoor arena in the
summer. Highlight: "Give Me a Try"
Why? A recent release I’ve wanted to get to
because the title really caught my eye.
Additional Thoughts: I really like it. I
think it’s a good summer record. Opener “Emoticons” is another highlight; “Now
all my elephants are in the room.” One review says they aren’t as clever as
they think, but personally, I find them endearing.
4/18: Run the Jewels' Run the Jewels: Fierce in wordplay and delivery. Highlight: "A
Christmas Fucking Miracle"
Why? Run
the Jewels 2 is on the list of recommendations from LRR, but I thought I
should listen to this one beforehand just to get acclimated to their style.
Additional Thoughts: I’m used to
verse-chorus-verse and rap that’s very hook-centric, so this is a gear change. Where
there are a couple refrains throughout the record, the focus is on the verses,
which is where it ought to be, honestly. They’re dark, funny, and poignant; “A
Christmas Fucking Miracle” gave me goosebumps.
(Missed April 19th, so I did two albums on the 20th.)
4/20: Tears for Fears' The Seeds of Love: While I appreciate the social consciousness
aspect, it can come off patronizing
Why? Working through Tears for Fears’
discography.
Additional Thoughts: Yeeeah. I appreciate
that Roland Orzabel wanted more “human” sounding music and
you’d think with all the psychedelia I’ve been into lately I’d be all about
this, but… no. Frankly, I think Orzabel’s writing is at its strongest when he’s
spilling his guts, not trying to recreate “All You Need is Love.” It’s not that
I find the attempts insincere, I just don’t think it’s the best use of his
talent.
4/20: Tame Impala's Innerspeaker: Enveloping without being an oppressive wall of sound.
Hazy without sacrificing detail.
Why? I’ve been meaning to check them out for a
while and they were also included in the LRR 2014 recommendations.
Additional Thoughts: The album showed me
that I need to figure out some different ways to describe psychedelic music. I
usually describe it in terms of waves, but this album isn’t like floating on a
wave, it’s being submerged completely. Kevin Parker’s voice has been compared
to John Lennon’s, but the sweet edge to it reminds me more of Sean Lennon.
Neither comparison is a bad thing, of course.
4/21: Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color: Brittany Howard's captivating, gritty, soulful
vocals are the album's biggest asset.
Why? New release. I chose this because I know
next to nothing about Alabama Shakes and wanted to educate myself.
Additional Thoughts: What got me more
than the album itself was this baffling review from the Guardian. Apparently not being influenced by
hip-hop or dubstep somehow counts as “lack of originality,” despite the bulk of
the mainstream constantly doing just that. That sort of twisted logic is why
the concept of “originality” is so sticky to me. I get the desire to eye-roll
so-called rock purist who still bristle at hip-hop’s continued existence, but
come on, not every act needs to jam rap verses or bass drops into their work
and not wanting to shouldn’t count against them.
4/22: Television's Marquee Moon: Much of this was recorded live and/or in one take,
which shows clarity of vision.
Why? A recommendation from LoadingReadyRun’s Best of 2014 podcast.
Additional Thoughts: I ran into similar
issues with Is This It by the
Strokes. It’s a seminal record, so it’s nearly impossible to attempt to hear it
with fresh ears. Even though I’ve never listened to Television before I have listened
to post-Television post-punk (and just rock in general), so I’ve heard stuff influenced
by this. Another issue? It’s on the Rolling Stone 500, so any further digging
must wait.
4/23: Tears for Fears' Elemental: The big stand out is "Fish Out of Water,"
about conflicts and strain within the band.
Why? Working through Tears for Fears’
discography.
Additional Thoughts: Like I said, Orzabel works best when spilling his guts and that’s why “Fish
Out of Water” works. It’s honest and real. “Power” attempts to be social consciousness
(in a way) and it works because there feels like a personal connection to it.
It’s advice from personal experience, not some vague notion of let’s-everyone-love-each-other
or something similar. At other times, the albums feels like it’s trying too
hard to be clever (what’s a “pessimister”?) and that can grate.
4/24: San Fermin's Jackrabbit: I can't tell if it's meant to be a concept album, but
either way it's utterly gorgeous.
Why? Recent release and I had no clue what I was
getting into.
Additional Thoughts: With the contrast of
Allen Tate’s baritone and Charlene Kaye’s sweetness this album is like a prettier
Sons & Daughters as conducted by Patrick Wolf. I just love it. Something I
find interesting is that it sometimes feels like Celtic music without sounding
much like it. I’m sure there’s a music theory explanation for that, but I can't, I just know that I dig it.
4/25: Stealing Sheep's Into The Diamond Sun: Dazzling overall, though the three-part
harmonies stand out the most.
Why? I really enjoyed Not Real, so I wanted to check this out.
Additional Thoughts: More acoustic than and
perhaps not as atmospheric as their follow-up Not Real, but that doesn’t mean bare bones. It’s still a full
sound, especially when the three-part harmonies kick in. I have such a weakness
for harmonies like those on this record. “White Lies” and “Genevieve” are some
of the album’s stand outs.
All albums available to stream on Spotify.
If you'd like to suggest an album, comment on this entry or tweet me.
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