Daily Album Digest: April 12 - 25, 2015

Carrying on February's Music Writer's Exercise (#MWE), each day I listen to a new album and tweet a brief review of it. Then every two weeks compile those tweets here with some extra thoughts.

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. 

Daily Album Requests

I was thinking of ways to open up the channels of communication with you all and not have everything always be what I choose to yammer about. So. As you may know, each day I listen to an album I’ve never listened to before and tweet my reaction/review. Then every two weeks I collect the tweets and expand on them here.

Now, I have a couple of pools that I pull from when choosing each day and started a vague schedule to go correspond with those pools. I wanted to add another pool and have it be made up of suggestions from you, readers. If there’s an album you’d like me to take a look at leave a comment on this post, tweet me, message/post on Facebook, wherever you’re most comfortable.

The only restriction: No Paul McCartney. I want to keep his non-RS500 work to Working Macca. I’ve crossed the project streams a little already with a couple of the Rolling Stone 500 albums cropping up in this daily album thing, which is fine by me. I know drawing the line at Paul probably seems rather arbitrary, but I use the daily album to expand myself and my knowledge. I figure my adventures in rounding out my Macca knowledge can run concurrently with my expansion of everything else. HOWEVER! If there’s a McCartney record you’d like me to work on faster, by all means let me know.

See ya Sunday. 

"The Molten Veins": Franz Ferdinand’s “40'” (Singled Out - Back Catalog Edition)

One of the marks of a great song is it allows for multiple interpretations that build with listens, over years, and across people. But then there are those songs that staunchly resist any solid interpretation, those songs that move you and mean something to you that you can never quite verbalize and that fact keeps you going back to it. While I’m sure many other songs fill this category, “40’” by Franz Ferdinand is a big one for me. I’ve been trying to get a handle on this song for ages, yet like the foam forty feet beneath the narrator’s feet it’s always out of my reach.

Early on in their collaboration, Nick McCarthy and Alex Kapranos planned to form two bands; a pop group (which became Franz Ferdinand) and a more folk-orientated group (which never really came to be.) However, a vestige of that folk group exists in the work of Franz Ferdinand in the form of “40’.” According to Kapranos, they “thought the other band would probably do that one” as the song’s main riff draws influence from rebetika (Greek folk music.) Kapranos also claims it’s about “trying to catch the emotions you feel when you’re faced with an incredibly immense decision” and I think that comes through in both the lyrics and music. Decisions can be paralyzing, especially when you build them up in your mind. The musical surges in “40’” perfectly encompass how that anxiety feels and the outro is the sweet calm that follows finally taking the leap.

My attempts to glean clear meaning from the song have over the years led to different lines holding most of my focus while obscuring the rest. Personal phobias are the likely reason behind my initial focus on the aspects of height and distance. More recently, though, the line that really grabs me is “Salt scales upon my drying arms.” Scales as a metaphor came up a lot in interviews Kapranos did during the promotion of Franz’ last album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. In the context of RTRWRA, the scales mask vulnerability and shedding them can allow one to find strength in that vulnerability. By contrast, “40’” appears to be about building them up, even if only temporarily. The image of salt scales implies that the narrator has been standing at that precipice for an extended period of time, because (and I could very well be wrong) salt would likely make skin raw first and then prolonged exposure would draw out moisture. Skin care and other logistics aside, the larger point is that the narrator waits for these scales to build before he leaps the forty feet (if he leaps) and the scales are protection from what comes after.

Another thing I find interesting about the lyrics are the references to “cold,” “cooling,” and “calm,” which stand in contrast to the surging nature of the music. The narrator says, “Burn my back beneath the sun, but I am cold beneath the burning rays.” One could take that literally, his focus is so concentrated on the impending decision that even the sun can’t affect him. Cold also denotes a lack of emotion, which could be seen as a negative. However, in this case, the “coldest calm” seems to suggest clarity and resolve. He’s stood long enough to know what he wants to do. Perhaps this is projection on my part, but despite my frequent anxiety and tendency to drag my feet, when I do come to a decision I tend to feel that matter-of-fact about it. Clear cut and cold; this is what’s happening.

Franz Ferdinand is loaded with contradictions and “40’” might be one of their starkest with its heightened and calm emotions. I doubt this analysis has fully bridged that gap for me (only time will tell), but I do think it’s been lessened at least a few feet. 

Daily Album Digest: March 29 - April 11, 2015

Carrying on February's Music Writer's Exercise (#MWE), each day I listen to a new album and tweet a brief review of it. Then every two weeks compile those tweets here with some extra thoughts.

3/29: Big Giant Circles' The Glory Days: Proof that chiptunes don't need nostalgia value to be affecting and awesome.

Why? A recommendation from LoadingReadyRun’s Best of 2014 podcast(s).

Anything else? In case you don’t know, “chiptunes” are a form of electronic synth music. Also called 8-bit music due to its close association with (or attempt to recreate) old school video game soundtracks. To further drive this association home, Big Giant Circles an album called Imposter Nostalgia, which The Glory Days is a sort of sequel to (the album was Kickstarted with the subtitle Imposter Nostalgia 2.) Since I grew up with that era of video games, I do have a fondness for chiptune scores, which might make me more receptive to this album. However, I don’t think one necessarily needs that background to appreciate it. For one thing, while the songs have chiptune sounds they are very full and complex. It’s a lone melody like old game music. It’s almost orchestrating big arrangements with chip sounds. Each track is so distinct and the album covers so many emotions and moods. It can be very tense and exciting one track and very somber and beautiful the next (like “A Rose in a Field”.) I definitely think it’s worth checking out.

3/30: Sparks' Balls: Who knew a song called "How To Get Your Ass Kicked" could be sung so sweetly?

Why? Still plowing through Sparks in preparation for FFS.

Anything else? One of the downsides to the size of Sparks’ catalog is that some albums will eventually get lost in the shuffle and not always due to any of their own shortcomings. Case in point, this album happens to come after the one-two punch of Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins and Plagiarism and before the one-two of Lil’ Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers.  It’s almost a given that this will be overshadowed, but it has plenty of its own charm, such as the aforementioned “"How To Get Your Ass Kicked" and the drama of tracks like “The Calm Before the Storm” and “Scheherazade.”

3/31: Ringo Starr's Postcards From Paradise: Feels like friends getting together and jamming just for the fun of it.

Why? New release and it’s Ringo, so why not?

Anything else? I can’t necessarily see this converting anyone into a fan, but it’s a solid record. Ringo has well passed the point where he has to make music or, well, do anything really. It’s definitely made by people who want to make music and want to do it with each other.  I can always admire Ringo’s positive outlook, which comes through. And yet despite that (or maybe due to it) some of the most memorable moments are the more somber ones, like “You Bring the Party Down” and “Right Side of the Road.”

4/1: Sparks' Lil' Beethoven: The almost Python-esque absurdity of "Suburban Homeboy" is nothing short of magical.

Why? Still plowing through Sparks in preparation for FFS.

Anything else? Before anything else it must be said, this is not entry level Sparks. Even for Sparks this album is strange and I would not suggest most people wanting to get into the band start here. That isn’t a mark against it, it’s just not as accessible as some of their other work. After multiple albums of techno and synthpop, Beethoven’s heavy reliance on classical sounds (though not totally unprecedented in their work) feels like welcomed whiplash. And while the classical aspect could be alienating to some listeners, the lyrical content is what takes the album into avant garde territory. Much of album is built on constant repetition of minimal lyrics; the title of “My Baby’s Taking Me Home” repeats over a hundred times and opener “The Rhythm Thief” consists of a handful of lines that layer over each other. In any other hands it would be tedious or lazy, yet as AllMusic suggests “the mantras themselves become a pulse of sorts” in place of more traditionally achieved grooves and beats. Lyric-as-beat is quite an ambitious idea and I think it works for them.

4/2: Sparks' Hello Young Lovers: To call it a "rock opera" seems an oversimplification. It's fearless genius in action.

Why? Still plowing through Sparks in preparation for FFS.

Anything else? This album felt like Sparks took Lil’ Beethoven and mashed it with the glam rock of Kimono My House and Propaganda and then blew it all up as big as it could get. Generally, I’m not a fan of when people describe a piece of music “rewarding.”  It reeks of gatekeeping and almost makes the piece sound like a hazing or endurance test that reflects badly on one if they failed. Though I suppose it has a more positive connotation than calling a piece “difficult” or something similar. That said, I would probably put Hello Young Lovers in such a category, because it felt like getting chased by a runaway train. It’s an album that can take a lot out of you and much of it isn’t an easy or necessarily pleasant listen. For instance, the repetition of Lil’ Beethoven carries over onto this record, but instead of it serving as lyrics-as-beat it makes the songs’ narrators sound increasingly unhinged as the accompaniment builds in drama and hard rock ferocity (see “Dick Around” and “The Very Next Fight.”) Still, amid the craziness there are moments of fun (like “(Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country”) and beauty (such as “Waterproof” which is one of the loveliest songs about a total asshole since John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.”) Sparks themselves don’t like variations on the term “rock opera” used in regard to their work, which I empathize and agree with. Unfortunately, that’s the only term to even begin to describe and contextualize what they’re doing, though it can’t fully encapsulate it.

4/3: Ben Frost's Aurora: One listen doesn't feel enough to grasp all that goes on in this tense, menacing electronica.

Why? A recommendation from LoadingReadyRun’s Best of 2014 podcast(s).

Anything else? I’ll confess I’m not really sure how to write about this album. I get the chiptunes that Big Giant Circles works in, so I have a way into the work. Along with electronica, this album is labeled as industrial and noise, two genres that I don’t think I have the vocabulary to do justice to at present (especially the latter.) That’s just a shortcoming on my part, though. The album itself is interesting, intricate, and well-constructed. When I first started hearing “noise” used as a genre I figured it would be something that isn’t for me (given the connotations of the word), but this album makes me rethink that stance. I’m curious and willing to give it a shot now. Even if it takes some time for me to verbalize it properly.

4/4: ABC's The Lexicon of Love: The band succeeds in their desire to be "danceable, memorable, intelligent."

Why? A blog I follow put this on a recent list of recommendations.

Anything else? What stunned me most about this was how many Greatest of the 80s/All-Time lists it’s been included in. Not because the album is bad by any means (it’s damn good), but because I don’t recall ever noticing this album on such lists before. Of course that’s probably due to most “All-Time” lists I’ve seen being US based and 60s heavy. Or it got lost in the shuffle because I didn’t recognize the name. Either way, I’m glad it eventually found me, because it positively sparkles. 

4/5: Sparks' Exotic Creatures of the Deep: Maybe more accessible than the previous two albums, but doesn't click fully.

Why? Still plowing through Sparks in preparation for FFS.

Anything else? I’m not thrilled with the tweet for this album. “Accessible” was the wrong word to use. As strange as they can be, Sparks have a pop sensibility that makes them immediate and their ambition not alienating (with the perhaps exception of Lil’ Beethoven.) And they’ve explored so many genres, I do think most people could find a way into them. I think this album was easier, in a way, to take in because it didn’t have whiplash gear change of Lil’ Beethoven or the hard rock-classical explosion of Hello Young Lovers. Exotic Creatures occupies a similar vein, so the previous albums prepared me well enough. I feel like Exotic Creatures is to Hello Young Lovers what Propaganda was to Kimono My House in expanding and refining some of what preceded it. Also like those two albums, which one you like more may depend largely on which you heard first. There’s a lot of great stuff on this record; the humor of “Good Morning” (“I hope it's just your laugh that is infectious”), the swagger and stomp of “I Can't Believe That You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song” and “(She Got Me) Pregnant,” and the divine harmonies of “Likeable” and “The Director Never Yelled ‘Cut.’” 

4/6: Foxes' Glorious: Some solid tracks like "White Coats" and "Echo." Great voice, but her enunciation can be muddled.

Why? This album’s been sitting in my Spotify queue since her feature on Fall Out Boy’s “Just One Yesterday” intrigued me.

Anything else? Though I stand by my tweet, I’m willing to give Foxes the benefit of the doubt and put some of the enunciation issue on lyric transcriptions possibly being messed up. Still. It was distracting at times.

4/7: All Time Low's Future Hearts: I don't really see the story said to be here, but it's some sincere pop-punk.

Why? New release and I don’t think I’ve ever heard their work before, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Anything else? According to ATL’s lead singer there’s a story being told on this record, but I didn’t pick up on it at all. If it does indeed contain a story, it’s not very overt about it, which can work. It’s often considered a strength for a work to unfold more with repetition. The songs themselves are fine overall. “Kids in the Dark” and “Dancing with a Wolf,” in particular, are quite good. I don’t mean this as any sort of knock against them, but it’s also quite apparent how much these guys have listened to Plain White T’s and Fall Out Boy. “Kids in the Dark” seems like it might be right at home on Save Rock & Roll.

4/8: Sparks' The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman: Gripping and moving. Some moments stand out, but it's definitely full piece.

Why? Still plowing through Sparks in preparation for FFS.

Anything else? The album is very much a musical that needs and deserves one’s full attention when listening. It’s funny; through a portion of it I didn’t think it was really grabbing me, until a Spotify commercial made me groan in frustration.  I was also surprised by how “Oh My God” and “Garbo Sings” gave me goosebumps. I wanted to enjoy this, but I still somehow ended up being surprised by how much it got to me.

4/9: Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair: The songs have been so enduring a true "first impression" is difficult.

Why? It was in the queue.

Anything else? I realize I pretty much bailed when it came to that tweet, but I really didn’t anticipate literally half the album containing songs I already knew well. (Hopefully the rest of their discography will yield more genuine first impressions.) That said, in spots it felt jazzier than I expected and I love the trio of “Broken” and “Head Over Heels / Broken (Live).”

4/10: Phoenix' It's Never Been Like That: Exudes a joyful feeling that can only be described in silly spring metaphors.

Why? I’ve been meaning to check out their other albums since I really liked Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and this was in my queue.

Anything else? Yeah, the best way I can describe this album is that it sounds the way breathing in cool spring evening air feels. It’s a subtle joy, not the take-off-down-the-street-“Dog Days Are Over” style of happy, but a subtle joy that stop you in your tracks if you let it.

4/11: The Strokes' Room On Fire: Disappointing. The vocals mostly sound bored or like he's singing through a sore throat.

Why? In the queue and I wanted to get through more of their material.

Anything else? I remember really digging Is This It, so I was disappointed by this one. Although, I’m not too surprised, since I have read critics say the Strokes are an example in diminishing returns. I’m not ready to count them out, though, or even this record. It could very well be that I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to get into it. Musically I can dig a lot of it, but the vocals often kill any affection I could possibly muster. I don’t know if there’s some kind of effect on Casablancas’ voice or what, I just know that whatever is going on doesn’t work for me. But “Reptilia” still kicks ass. 

All albums available to stream on Spotify.