Daily Album Digest: May 10 - 30, 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 (ideally) compile those tweets here with some extra thoughts.

Thanks to some unforeseen complications this Daily Album Digest is a) a week late and b) much shorter than usual. I apologize for that. I will try to make up for the lost time (and albums) in the coming weeks.  

5/13: Arca's Xen: Quite interesting. I wish some tracks were longer, but brevity is in keeping with its minimalism

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

Additional Thoughts: Apparently this is a concept album, of sorts, based around Arca’s female alter ego Xen. I’m not sure how that idea plays into or relates to the music itself (except for maybe some of the titles), but it’s an interesting idea. Arca also works very closely with visual artists, so perhaps the concept would be clearer with the aid of a visual. Regardless, the music is abstract and strange enough on its own and I mean that in a good way – it doesn’t need a concept to be intriguing.

5/15: The Weather Station's Loyalty: Like great singer/songwriters it focuses on stories and intimacy, not big arrangement.

Why? Recent release.

Additional Thoughts: The arrangements and melodies used in the album are beautiful, but they are there to highlight the stories, not overpower them. The songs also don’t really follow a traditional verse-chorus structure or contain hooks. There are a few refrains, but again, that isn’t the focus. The focus is on telling stories and evocative, emotional detail, such as the song “Like Sisters.” 

5/16: Aphex Twin's Syro: I'm torn. It's well-crafted and quite melodic, but mostly fades into the background.

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

Additional Thoughts: As I’ve said before, I’ve had difficulty getting into full-blown electronica. I feel like part of that is because my earliest exposure to it was mid to late nineties stuff like Prodigy or Aphex Twin (and those inspired by him) that comes off fairly cold. When I say it fades into the background I mean that it doesn’t make its presence known or felt. Of course plenty of electronica can express a variety of emotions and move, but I can’t find a way into this album.

5/17: Japandroids' Celebration Rock: Like the fireworks that bookend it, loud and explosive but predictable and fleeting.

Why? Saw it on the Needle Drop and it was also recently on Spin’s list of the 300 best albums of the last 30 years.

Additional Thoughts: I don’t know how this ended up on Spin’s list. I really don’t. There’s nothing much wrong with it, sure, but there isn’t much right or special about it either. It has great energy, but raucous and in-your-face energy can’t mask the emotion it lacks. Clearly I’m in the minority on that opinion, though. 

5/17: Brandon Flowers' Flamingo: Should've heeded his own words, "You're not ready, slow down and take the time to evolve."

Why? I wanted to give it a spin before The Desired Effect.

Additional Thoughts: One of my big issues with the Killers’ Battle Born was that there was no concept of pacing. All the emotion was turned all the way up and the album couldn’t sustain it. This album has the opposite problem – it’s dreadfully boring. Things pick up around the midpoint, but it never truly recovers. 

5/18: Mariah Carey's Music Box: Classics like "Dreamlover" and "Hero" overshadow the rest and make it feel like filler.

Why? I’ve always loved Mariah, but there are some gaping holes in my knowledge of her work.

Additional Thoughts: Yet another case of my tweet being harsher than I’d like. Still, the singles do stand out the most, which is why they were singles in the first place, of course. “Now That I Know” is a pretty fun early 90s r&b/dance track; I don’t know if it will ever be a favorite among deep cuts from Butterfly or Rainbow, but it’s good. 

5/19: Brandon Flowers' The Desired Effect: Doesn't quite stick the landing for me, but comes damn close. I dig it.

Why? New release I’d been looking forward to since I heard “Can’t Deny My Love.”

Additional Thoughts: Mr. Flowers and the Killers are often hit or miss, but “Can’t Deny My Love” is definitely a hit, at least for me. It’s one of my favorite songs of the year so far, so going into this album I desperately hoped that it would live up to the single. I got even more excited when I saw a review which said the record is Flowers’ best since Hot Fuss. For all its faults, I’m not ready to give up Hot Fuss’ spot in my heart to another album quite yet, but I will say The Desired Effect feels like Flowers finally coming into his own and not letting his ambition be hampered by pretention. Where Sam’s Town and Battle Born often felt like lame attempts to imitate Springsteen level sincerity, this album has the genuinely effecting and honest “Between Me and You.” It all works wonderfully well. I hope he keeps down this path.

5/19: Patrick's Stump's Soul Punk: This dude... if anyone ever doubts this man's talent this album should quiet them.

Why? I kept putting off this record, but since I also did another frontman’s solo effort, I figured I’d carry on with that theme.

Additional Thoughts: Despite its title this album definitely favors soul over punk, which isn’t a bad thing by any means. I mean, one of my favorite Fall Out Boy tracks is the Chicago-esque “I've Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers,” so I’m all about Mr. Stump getting his soul on. Now, I love his voice so much I’d probably listen Patrick sing the phone book, but the album impressed me, especially when I find out he also played every instrument on it. A big highlight is the funky “Cryptozoology,” which is hidden in “Run Dry (X Heart X Fingers)”; in other hands that trick would come off smug and overly impressed in one’s own cleverness (as Fall Out Boy often does), but Patrick makes it work. But, of course, as already established, I’m severely biased in Patrick’s favor. I make no apologies for it. 

All albums available to stream on Spotify. 

If you'd like to suggest an album, comment on this entry or tweet me. 

There’s Only One Song I Know: Sparks’ “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’” (Singled Out)

As I plowed through Sparks’ discography the last few months, one of the albums I loved the most yet said the least about was Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins. When a song or album doesn’t work it can be easy to figure out and expound on why, or, at least, easier than trying to pinpoint what makes a great song or album great. There isn’t one set thing that guarantees a piece will be great music, but when you hear greatness, you know it. But I also hate how vague that explanation sounds. Perhaps a better way to explain what I mean is with James Joyce’s concept of aesthetic arrest; the idea is that when all parts of a piece of art work harmoniously the work will have a certain radiance, a glow that will transfix and, well, dumbfound the observer. Basically, in the presence of such enchanting beauty we can only sit in awe – and that’s how I feel about Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins. It’s not perfect album, by any stretch, but man, is it exquisite and for me the song the most embodies that is “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way.’”

Before diving into Sparks’ song it’s key to dig into “My Way” first. Paul Anka wrote the lyrics while much of the music and melody came from Claude François’ “Comme d'habitude.” At its core “My Way” is a song of triumph, the triumphant swan song of someone who knows without any doubt they kicked life’s ass. They did all they wanted and any regrets pale in the knowledge that even their regrets belong to them. Every action and word was their choice and “not the words of one who kneels.” Anka wrote the song specifically with Frank Sinatra in mind, at times trying to imitate the way Sinatra spoke, and well, no one would ever call the Chairman of the Board a pushover – at least not to his face.

In stark contrast, “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’” drips in regret and desperation after the life of “one who kneels.” Sparks’ narrator has gone through the motions in the hope that attaining all they were told to want would eventually be worth it when, in the end, all they got was a life of screams and “flying plates and shoes.” Unlike Anka’s narrator who blazes their own trail, this narrator decides to “be gracious and wait in the queue.” They put themselves aside to wait their turn, but it never comes. Furthermore, they’re so resigned to a life of passivity that asserting their individuality isn’t a viable option. The song opens with, “No, no use in lecturing them or in threatening them they will just say, ‘Who are you?’ Is that a question or not when you see that the plot is predictable not new?” These lines not only indicate a fear of seemingly inevitable dismissal, but also the fact that the narrator may not even know the answer. This loss of self proves the narrator of “My Way” right when they say, “What is a man? What has he got? If not himself then he has naught.” By far the biggest regret expressed by Sparks’ narrator is the lack of self-assured nature exemplified by a figure like Sinatra; “When do I get to feel like Sinatra felt?”

Over the years so many artists have covered “My Way” that it ranks near the Beatles’ “Yesterday” as one of the most covered of all time. However, of all those covers only one is mentioned in “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way,’” that of Sid Vicious. Not only does genre change make the Vicious version notable, but also the fact that he changed the lyrics. He made it his own and spat in the face of pop traditionalists with every sloppy, sneering “fuck” as he did it. While the narrator of “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’” may question tradition to an extent, they certainly don’t do anything to rock the boat. “It’s a tradition, they say, like a bright Christmas day and tradition must go on.  And though I say ‘yes I see,’ no, I really don’t see. Is my smiley face still on?” They engage with the tradition, but not out of genuine attachment or belief in its importance. Those bright Christmas days mean about as much to the narrator as Sinatra appears to have meant to Sid Vicious – not at all. The only difference is that Vicious had no qualms about making his disregard apparent to all, while Sparks’ narrator keeps on a fake smile and secretly envies him. Of course, in reality Vicious is no one to envy; as with Frank Sinatra, the envy is not about the real man, but what he represents – rebellion. The second verse ends with the line, “Sign your name with an X, mow the lawn.” Earlier I noted the narrator’s passivity and loss of self, which run so deeply the narrator can’t even muster up the desire to write their own name before quickly going back to their routine. They may envy rebellion in others, but they have never and can never engage in it.

Sparks have performed an orchestral version of “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’” and though it is very beautiful, I think the original has a desperation to it that gets lost in the rearrangement. (Of course, I’ve always had an affinity for dancing away bleakness and angst with a thumping beat so perhaps that has something to do with it.) The narrator’s desperation really crystallizes in the contrasts between the bridge and the final verse. The bridge feels like dream sequence wherein the narrator fantasizes of the life they want, one where “women seduce me and champagne flows.” Only for reality to come crashing back in during the final verse where they remember they “have no souvenirs of these crackerjack years, not a moment I could choose and not one offer that I could refuse.” They have no good old days to look back on and no bright future to look toward. They don’t even care if they end up “in heaven or hell.” They just have a vain hope that maybe there is a chance that they could turn things around and finally get somewhere on their own terms. Erase their regrets.

But they won’t.

“The plot is predictable.”

Daily Album Digest: April 26 - May 9, 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.

4/26: Vatican Shadow's Ghosts Of Chechnya: Minimalist industrial that loops more than builds. Highlight: "Peace Rage"

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

Additional Thoughts: Albums like this are pretty the reason I started to write these digests, because that tweet wasn’t really a judgement or criticism against the record, that’s simply what the music does. As another review put it, it only becomes a good or bad thing if one doesn’t like what’s looping. The concept around Vatican Shadow is very interesting though. It’s one of many projects by Purient (Dominick Fernow) and it focuses on political struggle and war. I feel like maybe if I knew more detail about the political aspect of this the music would then mean more and carry more weight, but since I don’t, not really. It’s a lot like what I said about Ben Frost’s Aurora, it’s hard for me to find a way into music like this but I want to try – if for no other reason than to broaden by palette.  

4/27: Tears for Fears' Raoul & the Kings of Spain: "Life is not a cake to separate"...what am I supposed to do with that?

Why? I have a list of discographies I want to get through; right now I’m going through Tears for Fears.

Additional Thoughts: I try my best to be constructive and not be a dismissive, snarky jerk, but… good grief, I just don’t know how else to react to this album. I was curious how this album was going to pan out, because it was said to be about Roland Orzabel’s family and Spanish roots with much of what I’d seen prior to listening to it making it seem like a concept album. It isn’t and even if I throw that idea away to take it for what it is, I still don’t like it. However, I will say that I like the lyric from “Sketches of Pain,” “Great wide stretches of canvas / Signed by a godless name,” which is likely a reference to the fact that Orzabel’s name was anglicized to Roland after he’d already been Christened Raoul. It’s clever, personal, and interesting and I wish the album had more of that and stuff like “Los Reyes Catolicos.” It’s disappointing as there are some cool ideas here, but they are few and far between and, well, precious little can make up for “God’s Mistake.” Spoiler alert: it’s love. Apparently. I… don’t know. 

4/28: Blur's The Magic Whip: I find it fascinating that the bulk of this was done in a few days. It doesn't feel like it.

Why? New release and I’ve been meaning for quite some time to dig more into Blur.

Additional Thoughts: So, yes, first off, this is my first full Blur album, so take my opinions with a grain of salt, if need be. If I’d known the recording process before listening to it, I would’ve assumed it to sound like a disjointed mess. I don’t know if the cohesion is a testament to the production work of Stephen Street and Graham Coxon, to Blur’s tightness as a band, or both, but it’s impressive nonetheless. While I don’t know if it harkens back Blur’s glory days like some say, I quite like it, especially “My Terracotta Heart.” 

4/29: Caribou's Our Love: While this album wants to be emotionally affecting, I'm not sure it is, which is unfortunate.

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

Additional Thoughts: One review describes this album as “downtrodden to the point of dreariness” and “drowsy torpor” and I have to agree, especially with the latter. The album is by no means lazy – the pieces are complex, intricate, and have some interesting ideas. There are some great grooves (“All I Ever Need”) and atmosphere (“Silver”), but there are few songs as a whole that I can get into. As I said, the album wants to be emotionally affecting and it sometimes gets there, but it’s still mostly locked in its head.

4/30: Tears for Fears' Everybody Loves a Happy Ending: Proves Sgt. Pepper is very hard to recreate, but can be enjoyable.

Why? To finish up Tears for Fears’ discography.

Additional Thoughts: As a young Beatle geek, it made me angry when I felt an act was imitating them. Now it tires me. Influence is one thing, imitation is another and it takes a certain amount of finesse and personality to not cross over into a carbon copy. Sparks, for example, clearly influenced by the Beatles, but are very much their own thing. This isn’t the first time Tears for Fears has attempted a Pepper riff either. I will give this album credit though; it’s a better at it than The Seeds of Love. 

5/1: The Weepies' Sirens: Fittingly named, as it quietly lures you in then hits you with a track like "Fancy Things."

Why? Recent release. I can’t remember why I chose this specifically, though.

Additional Thoughts: The Weepies are an indie-ish, folk-ish husband and wife duo. Like I said, this album lures you in with relatively quiet, acoustic stuff like the beautiful “Sunflower” (though it is a bit later in the album, still, go with me on this!) and then “Fancy Things” and “Early Morning Riser” come out of left field. The former has a sinister and sixties spy movie sort of vibe, while the latter is a seemingly ska-influenced bouncefest.

5/2: Alabama Shakes' Boys & Girls: They're obviously talented, but this runs out of steam very quickly.

Why? Sound & Color made me curious about their debut.

Additional Thoughts: Sound & Color shows obvious improvement and growth. This album isn’t bad, exactly, it’s just oddly lifeless and a bit of a bore to listen to. Regardless, I won’t rag on them too much as the follow-up was much better. They needed to find their footing and seem to be on the way there. Besides, I think people put too much pressure on debuts and are too quick to dismiss people who just need time to grow and improve. 

5/3: Neil Cicierega's Mouth Sounds: Hilarious in concept and execution. Who knew "All-Star" could be so versatile?

Why? Graham from LoadingReadyRun mentioned it during a recent livestream and since my internet was acting up I figured I would go with this.

Additional Thoughts: In short, Mouth Sounds is a comedy/mash-up album that primarily plays with Smash Mouth’s “All-Star.” If I say anything more it will likely ruin a lot of the jokes, so really, just listen to it. 

5/4-5: Blur's Leisure: I don't know that I agree with Albarn's assertion that it's "awful," but it is, perhaps, uneven.

Why? I have a list of discographies I want to get through; after The Magic Whip I’ve decided to go through Blur.

Additional Thoughts: Not particularly remarkable. However, as I said with Alabama Shakes, this is only their debut and they’ve clearly improved with time, so there’s no need to get too uppity about it.

5/5: Ciara's Jackie: I wish "That's How I'm Feelin'" was just her and Missy. "One Woman Army" is pretty bitchin' though.

Why? New release and I really liked the video for “I Bet” when it premiered. She also appears have a cult following, of sorts, which made me curious to dig in more.

Additional Thoughts: As I tried to imply with my tweet, I don’t get why Pitbull and his lack of subtlety needed to be on “That’s How I’m Feelin’” – it would’ve been great without him soiling it. That aside, this album does have a couple of good songs, such as “I Bet” and “One Woman Army,” but as a whole it didn’t click with me. Maybe it just needs time to grow on me and who knows, maybe I’ll like her other albums more.

5/6: Clark's Clark: Don't let the pretentious genre label "intelligent dance music" put you off, this album is great.

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

Additional Thoughts: As you could probably guess, I’m not too thrilled with the label “intelligent dance music” – there’s just so much wrong with it – but the genre conversation is a separate thing. I really liked this record, which was a relief after some of my recent attempts to broaden my electronic/techno/noise palette fell a bit flat. I’m not sure why this one in particular struck a chord with me. I suppose it might be due to the fact that, despite the genre it’s lumped into, it doesn’t feel stuck in its own head – it has a primal, immediate, and physical nature. 

5/8: Mandolin Orange's Such Jubilee: The cover captures it well as the album manages to be both intimate and vast.

Why? Recent release and I liked their punny name.

Additional Thoughts: Mandolin Orange is another male-female folk duo, but more on the country and bluegrass side of folk than the Weepies. It’s a beautiful, relaxing record. It’s acoustic and minimal (for lack of a better term) in terms of instrumentation, but it still manages to sound as open as the sky depicted on the cover. 

5/9: Mac DeMarco's Salad Days: Like a hybrid Harrison and soft rock, but not in a bad way. Highlight: "Jonny's Odyssey"

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

Additional Thoughts: My first thought about listening to this album was, “Wow, this dude has listened to a lot of George Harrison and Bob Dylan.” There were even moments when it seemed like he was actively trying to make himself sound like George in terms of vocals. Overall, that’s not a bad thing, necessarily. It’s a bit more accessible than George could sometimes be, though. In a word, I’d call it “breezy,” because the album feels like a relaxing day sitting on a beach.

All albums available to stream on Spotify, except Mouth Sounds which can be streamed and downloaded from NeilCic.com. 

If you'd like to suggest an album, comment on this entry or tweet me.