Daily Album Digest: June 28 - July 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.

6/28: The Rakes’ Klang: "The Light From Your Mac" and "1989" have their charms. I don't know about the rest of it though.

Why? Spotify recommended it to me because of the Strokes.

Additional Thoughts: I try my best to be constructive, find the good in things, and not sink into ranting and hate, but oh boy, was this album an unpleasant listen for me. One review recommended it for people who enjoyed pre-Tonight Franz Ferdinand, which would make me want to flip every table if not for the fact that it does sound like Franz – if Alex Kapranos couldn’t sing at all.

6/30: Radioactivity's Silent Kill: Great energy and flow. "No Connection" almost sounds like a punk rock Buddy Holly.

Why? New release. I’m not sure if the title was meant to be a riff on Silent Hill, but that’s my headcanon and why I chose it, so there.

Additional Thoughts: Some pretty straightforward punk with awesome energy. I like how many of the songs flow so well into each other, which is helpful since many of the songs are quite short (most are two minutes or less) and that flow makes the album feel cohesive. As for “No Connection,” I think it’s the vocal melody that reminds me most of Buddy.

7/1: Laurel Halo's Quarantine: The purposely ugly vocals make it unnerving and stand out, but I don't know if it works.

Why? A review on the Needle Drop made me curious.

Additional Thoughts: I would feel presumptuous calling the vocals “purposely ugly” if not for the fact that the album’s final track, “Light + Space,” proves Laurel Halo can carry a tune well. The juxtaposition of these often very pretty synth and electronic pieces with distorted, unconventional (if not, out of tune) singing and unnerving lyrics makes for an interesting listen, if nothing else. Personally, I don’t dig it very much, but she does have talent and ambition which I do applaud.

7/3: Son Lux' Bones: I like much of the atmosphere and beats, but it gets repetitive lyrically and drags a bit.

Why? 2015 release.

Additional Thoughts: Unfortunately, I feel that tweet about sums it up. The only thing I’d add is that the vocals remind me of Brandon Flowers, in a way. That isn’t a judgement call or anything, just an observation.

7/4: The Rolling Stones' The Rolling Stones: A wide stylistic gulf sits between the covers and the one Jagger/Richards track.

Why? I’ve mentioned on Twitter that I’m currently taking a course called The Music of the Rolling Stones. I listened to this not long after completing the corresponding lecture.

Additional Thoughts: Prior to starting my course of them, my knowledge on the Stones was quite limited. I basically know their prevalent image – the Bad Boys of Rock ’n’ Roll. Their debut certainly hints at that as well as showing their love of blues, but that’s mostly through covers. However, their one original track is so typical early 60s pop and as well as sticking out among all the early rock and blues, not what I would’ve expected from them at all.

7/6: Mini Mansions' Mini Mansions: There's much to like ("Crime of the Season"), but it's hard ignore a blemish like "Girls"

Why? I enjoyed The Great Pretenders and wanted to check out their debut.

Additional Thoughts: As I said, I really enjoyed The Great Pretenders, so I went into this one with kind of high hopes which was probably a mistake on my part. I try very hard to steer clear of making too many Beatles references, but this record, with its Lennon-esque lead vocals, harmonies, and psychedelia, invites those comparisons itself and most of the time it works. However, “Majick Marker” proves that for all the snide comments made about it “I Am Walrus” is very hard to replicate and I can’t help but cringe at “Girls,” particularly the line “Fond of fondling you, while you fondle me too.” It’s not sexy and it’s not funny (unless you’re in middle school), it just awkwardly and obviously sits there.

7/7: Hilary Duff's Breathe In. Breathe Out.: Decent ear candy, if you can ignore the often bewildering lyrical choices.

Why? 2015 release. A friend’s opinion on it made me curious, but I perhaps should’ve listened to them.

Additional Thoughts: Honestly, I should’ve run screaming from this record when the chorus of “Sparks” turned out to be just whistling. I wish I didn’t have to be harsh. I have no beef with Miss Duff; she seems like a nice person and I’ve liked singles of hers in the past, but yeah, I didn’t like this album. The music itself is passable pop, the melodies sweet, and her voice is pleasant to listen to. The lyrics are a big problem though. I’m not sure I can call the metaphors bad or even metaphors at all (see: “Confetti”), because that would imply the writers had a point to make beyond filling space with random words. I mean, look, I’m a big fan of Lady Gaga and she writes some pretty tortured metaphors, “Hair” for instance, but even when her metaphors don’t work you can at least see what she was going for with them. Or Gaga’s track “MANiCURE,” which has a fairly silly premise, but she throws herself in it and goes so hard vocally you can ignore that. Hilary Duff, by comparison, simply doesn’t have the vocal prowess or charisma to distract from lines like “Your television life couldn't channel this love” and “Hot sweats in cold sweaters.”

7/8: Pastel Ghost's Abyss: A beautiful mix of synths, chiptunes, and ethereal vocals that is wonderful to sink into.

Why? Spotify recommended it.

Additional Thoughts: I really like this album. My main criticism would be that the vocals are so low in the mix, which makes the lyrics barely audible. But I realize that’s likely the point. It forces you to pay attention since in order to catch the lyrics you need shut your eyes, lay back, and dive into the music.

7/9: Snow Patrol's Songs for Polarbears: The unassuming and open "Mahogany" stands out the most on this album.

Why? Front man Gary Lightbody has been tweeting up a storm lately, which made me track down whether or not I’d listened to this album. I hadn’t. It was time to rectify that.

Additional Thoughts: According to Last.fm, I “first scrobbled Velocity Girl on 13 Jun 2005” which makes my timing with this listen kind of funny to me. I can’t believe it took me a little over ten years to listen to this in its entirety. That said, I don’t know that I see myself going back to this album very much. Then again, Snow Patrol frequently takes time to grow on me. As debut albums go this does do a job of showcasing a lot of their qualities, for good and ill, which would become even more prevalent in time. Case in point, the straightforward lyrics of “Mahogany” remind me a great deal of Final Straw’s opening track, “How To Be Dead” and that song’s one of my biggest favorites in their catalog.

7/10: The Bird & the Bee's Recreational Love: From "Young & Dumb" to "Lovey Dovey" this record is simply exquisite.

Why? New release. Their Spotify bio intrigued me, especially the bit about jazz and “60’s tropicalia.”

Additional Thoughts: Some themes have definitely emerged among the 2015 albums I’ve loved the most; progressive rock/baroque pop, pyschedelia, sweet vocals, and echoes of R&B. Recreational Love contains those last two for sure. I just really love this record. I’m glad I took the chance to give it a listen and I look forward to checking out their other stuff.

7/11: The Rolling Stones' 12 x 5: So. The Stones did a faithful cover of "Under the Boardwalk" ...and I am confused.

Why? As with the previous Stones album this listen was influenced by my “The Music of the Rolling Stones” class. You all should probably expect a lot of Stones in the coming weeks/months.

Additional Thoughts: As I said earlier, I have very limited knowledge of the Stones and my image of them is definitely getting a shake-up. I never would’ve pegged them as fans of the Drifters, but right here is a very faithful cover of “Under the Boardwalk.” I don’t know that there’s much else I can say about this album, though, as it’s not very different from their debut. All I’ll say is this regarding their cover of "If You Need Me": Mick Jagger is no Wilson Pickett. Sorry, man.

All albums available to stream on Spotify. 

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

The Epic and the Lackluster: "Fallen Empires" by Snow Patrol (Cover to Cover)

Reviewing a Snow Patrol album is an awkward position to be in, because it seems like many people have long ago made up their minds about the band; either viewing the band’s singer/songwriter Gary Lightbody as a poet of his generation or seeing the band as a lesser version of Coldplay. The band’s latest album, Fallen Empires, shows that both camps are certainly justified in their thinking.

The album features quite a few guest appearances, such as Michael Stipe and Queen of the Stone Age’s Tony Van Leeuwen. However, the two most notable appearances come from the LA Inner City Mass Gospel Choir and folk singer Lissie. Both feature on multiple tracks and add a level of emotion and intensity that might be lost otherwise. This is particularly true of Lissie who essentially saves the tracks “The Garden Rules” and “Those Decent Bells” with her somewhat haunting voice that is often reminiscent of Stevie Nicks.

While the songs are all very beautiful and well-constructed, some suffer from flaws that have plagued the band for most of their career. The biggest flaw being a tendency to lean on one-line choruses that repeat far too much, such as in “The Garden Rules,” “The Weight of Love,” and “Life-ning.” It’s a shame, because it bogs down songs that are otherwise beautiful and sweet.

Though the album has its flaws there are also many moments of sheer brilliance. One such moment is the album’s third single, “New York,” which some might compare to the band’s well-known ballads “Run” and “Chasing Cars.” The swell of the chorus is epic and timeless, the lyrics heartfelt and genuine (“I miss it all from the love to the lightening / And the lack of it snaps me in two”), and there’s no other way to describe the overall effect other than that it twists your guts.

Another highlight on the album is the title track, “Fallen Empires,” which harkens back to the more “obscure” and “alternative” of their catalog, such as “Last Ever Lone Gunman.” The best way to describe this track would be: if flames could make music, this is what they would sound like. The bass line grabs you, the drums are tribal, the vocals hypnotizing and sinister, and the whole thing just commands you to move. If this song isn’t released as a single sooner or later that would be an absolute crime*. In fact, for any and all flaws the album may have, it is worth a listen simply for this track alone. Fallen Empires may not mark a big or lasting change in sound for Snow Patrol or change how some view them, but it is a beautiful and worthwhile album.

*Incidentally, it never was a single and yes, I do think that was a huge mistake.