Quick Update

Got a little busy this week so failed to keep up. In the coming days:

A look at the new Animal Collective (which everyone seems to love), the new Andrew Bird (which everyone seems to loathe), and the new Nobunny, which nobody has really talked about at all.

Looking Back at a Few 2008 Releases

MGMT-Oracular Spectacular: By all accounts, I should hate this. It's synth-pop, and it's another attempt to capture the "voice" of our "generation." But some of this is great (especially the opener, Time to Pretend), I mean really great: "Yeah it's overwhelming/but what else can we do/get jobs in offices/and wake up for the morning commute." This is like the TV on the Radio album + (Sunflowers and Rainbows). By the way though, what awful fucking cover art. It looks like one of the computer games I used to play in high school.

The reality is that if this was piano or guitar as opposed to synthesizers and the voices were more distorted/offkey, everybody would probably be proclaiming this an indie rock masterpiece. As is, it's a really good indie pop album--poignant yet also easily accessible. The duo of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden are at their best when most cheeky and pushing the tempo, especially on the aforementioned Time to Pretend, as well as on Electric Feel and Kids.

The album on really falters, mostly in the latter half, when MGMT slow things down a bit. This is not to say that this part of the album is bad, more that it is just hard to live up to the first 5 or 6 tracks. At they very least, everyone should get on Itunes and pick up the Time to Pretend, Electric Feel and Kids. This is probably the closest thing to 80s music that I will ever enjoy/write about on this blog.



Vivian Girls-Vivian Girls: Beloved by many, hated by Bob Boilan, ignored by me (or, at least until now). However, one track on here, Where do you run to, is so fucking good that I had to look online and make sure it wasn't a cover. It's the one track on the album that slows down enough for the band to really hit their stride. The rest is a 21 minute whirlwind of average indie girl/noise/pop. Skip this and pick up Sleater Kinney's The Woods or Times New Viking's Rip it Off. Oh, but pick up Where do you run to on Itunes.

Hmm...maybe that was too dismissive. This isn't a bad album...there's just better stuff out there.



Blind Pilot-3 Rounds and a Sound: I must credit NPR's All Songs Considered for this one. They mentioned it on their year end show and played a great track, One Red Thread, and it was one of the best things I hadn't heard yet. The rest of the album did not disappoint. In fact, it is probably one of those rare albums which is able to execute a certain mood throughout the entire album. 3 Rounds and a Sound is an album of daytime lullabies executed to perfection by singer and guitarist Israel Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski.

A lot of the singing is similar to the lyrical style of Andrew Bird, with Nebeker weaving his words together to create as much of a sound as a story. The tunes are affecting as well, even if they're a bit cutesy--on Two Towns From Me, he tells us "I had a dream you were two towns from me/got to sleep spent the whole night running." But, here as in other places, Nebeker pulls it off as his voice is able to convince us of his sincerity. And while the sound is similar throughout the album, the tracks do not sound the same, each one has its own distinct feel. Overall, perhaps the best album of the three.

Tomorrow: A few words on Nobunny and maybe a couple of other things.

My Playlist

What I've been listening to consistently over the past couple of weeks:

MGMT: Time To Pretend, Electric Feel, Kids

AC Newman: There are Maybe Ten or Twelve, The Changeling (Get Guilty)

My Morning Jacket: Dear Wife (live), Thank You too (live)

Blind Pilot: Oviedo, One Red Thread, Two Towns from Me, The Story I Heard

Nodzz: Is She There?, In the City (contact high)

Bon Iver: Blood Bank

Vivian Girls: Where do you Run To

NoBunny: Nobunny Loves You, Mess Me Up, Chuck Berry Holiday

The best of this bunch is probably Blood Bank, Where do you run to, Mess Me Up, One Red Thread, and the MGMT stuff. More on that later.

A couple of EP's

Two different but worthwhile EP's have been released in the past couple of weeks. The first is Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP, which may be the best clue as to what his next full length release may sound like after last year's phenomenal album, For Emma, Forever Ago. For those itching to hear this after having devoured For Emma, this may tide you over, as the title track has Bon Iver expanding on his already familiar sound. Woods has Bon Iver doing his best Kanye impression, with his vocals completely distorted by an auto-tune machine. If you like this, you can hope it's a preview of what's to come. The rest of us can always hold out that he's just getting his ya-ya's out before his next LP.


The second release is and iTunes only EP from My Morning Jacket, live from the Palms at Las Vegas. The email I received from the band implored me to listen to this on a candle-lit bench, in a secluded nook, or at a "sensuous" dinner party. Normally a "live" album wouldn't probably implore the listener in these ways, but this sounds like it was recorded in a studio--there is no crowd noise, feedback, or static here. It really is a "sensuous" listening experience. Jim James renews his takes on the old classics Knot Comes Loose, From Nashville to Kentucky, and They Ran. For serious MMJ fans, this is a must-have, not only because of these reprisals, but also for the new track Dear Wife. Others should probably stick to the band's previous LPs.

First Thoughts: A.C. Newman's Get Guilty

Much like the Shins' 2007 effort, Wincing the Night Away, A.C. Newman has released an album in Get Guilty that is most likely inferior to his previous solo effort, The Slow Wonder, and his work with the New Pornographers, but that is a step above almost everything else in the genre. And while we are doomed to judge artists in comparison to previous efforts, there is nothing on this record to prevent an above average listening experience, even if the album lacks transcendence.

Despite not hitting the highs of The Slow Wonder (most notably Miracle Drug and Drink for Me then, Babe), Get Guilty finds Newman at his most lyrical. To open the album, he quips "There are maybe ten or twelve things/I could teach you/after that, well I think you're on your own/and that wasn't the opening line/it was the tenth or twelfth." This assertion of a lack of new ideas or wisdom may be true at times, and it does show at points in the album. However, there are moments like on Changeling, wherein Newman summons his best Elvis Costello, where it is also apparent that Newman can still teach us a thing or two we though we knew about power pop. Prophets and Submarines of Stockholm sound like they could have come off of any New Pornographers album (and that is a good thing).

In the end, if you're a fan of the New Pornographers and/or A.C. Newman, this album will be a nice treat. However, for those curious about Newman, I would start with The Slow Wonder, or his work with the New Pornographers (namely Mass Romantic and Electric Version).

Upcoming

Start of the semester has made me MIA a bit. In the coming weeks I'll talk about the new releases from Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, A.C. Newman, Antony and the Johnsons, and other "A" artists. Also a bit about a few things I missed last year (namely Blind Pilot and MGMT).

Looking Forward to in 2009

Andrew Bird-Noble Beast: Jan 27
Dan Auerbach (of the Black Keys)-Keep It Hid- ebruary 10
Antony & the Johnsons: The Crying Light
A.C. Newman-Get Guilty: Jan. 20
Handsome Furs-Face Control: Feb 3rd
M. Ward: Feb 17-Hold Time
New Strokes--untitled, unknown
Wilco: Summer 2009
The National
Devin Davis: Unknown
Antony and the Johnsons: The Crying Light, Tuesday Jan 20
Animal Collective: Meriweather Post Pavilion, Jan 20
Neko Case-Middle Cyclone: March 3rd
The Boy Least Likely To-The Law of the Playground: March 3