With the coming of the end, I've got the last reviews of the semester. It's always a surprise to see what's emerging. The new Grails album is probably the most powerful of the new releases, but that just be my bias toward all that post-rock tastiness. Lots of great releases in every genre thusfar this year. And anyone who has not heard Dan Deacon yet, definitely should. Check out some free tracks by him here.
Artist: Dntel
Album: Dumb Luck
Genre: Indie Rock / Experimental Electronica
RIYL: Xiu Xiu, Cursive, The Good Life, Pedro the Lion, Bright Eyes, Deerhunter, Neutral Milk Hotel, Onelinedrawing, Norfolk and Western, Sigur Ros, Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis, Grizzly Bear, Lali Puna, Mia Tai Dodd, Battles,
Dntel combines the work of artists Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis, Grizzly Bear, Lali Puna, and Mia Tai Dod in this third release. The production is wonderful, with the most accurate description being a cross between The Good Life and Norfolk and Western. All of the vocals, done by the various contributors, are softly sung; the strange accompanying synth experimentation and folk music provides a delightful contrast that holds steady throughout the record. The only fault is that the record goes by very fast, and so once you really get into the groove of its pace and tonal patterns, it is over.
Artist: Nurses
Album: Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down
Genre: Indie Punk Rock
RIYL: Muse, Radiohead, Wolf Parade, The Arcade Fire, Paloalto, Blood Brothers, RX Bandits, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, Q and Not the U, Dog Fashion Disco, Mr. Bungle
Nurses basically sounds like a combination between The Arcade Fire, Blood Brothers, and Mr. Bungle. The other obvious influences and similar sounds are listed above. While the band's instrumentation is fairly standard for a punk rock band, the whiney vocals and the great innovational sounds from the band as a whole (including structure, melody, rhythm) make this album very solid. There is anger, remorse, fun, and a plethora of other emotions that revolve from song to song. The album flows ceaselessly and seems the perfect length for an album of this nature. Interestingly enough, the later tracks in the album are the most experimental and the most fun to listen to, but the beginning of the album is just as enjoyable.
Artist: Secret Mommy
Album: Plays
Genre: Found / Experimental Electronica
RIYL: The Books, Venetian Snares, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Bjork, Radioboy, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Architecture in Helsinki, The Good Life, Mum
Secret Mommy is a group of uncountable musicians who have gotten together and made an experimental electronica compilation with a crazed assortment of samples. The music is similar to the Books in spirit, but has more a more electronica-based sound, something like Architecture in Helsinki mixed with Aphex Twin. The music is all entirely melodic and the experiments with tonal modulations and shifts works wonders for the ear. Although fans of mainstream electronica might not find it pleasurable to listen to, the music is well made and might grab many fans fast.
Artist: Frog Eyes
Album: Tears of the Valedictorian
Genre: Indy Rock
RIYL: Wolf Parade, the Arcade Fire, Interpol, Animal Collective
The whining cacophony of Frog Eyes brilliantly leaves you sitting there begging for more, wondering where the album went. The opening track sets the stage for the type of whiny, dark, chemical sludge of an indy rock album this is--imagine the Arcade Fire on hallucinogens--but quickly paces from track to track, featuring even tracks that are high in energy and the most accessible, while the odd tracks are aesthetically diluginal, unappealing, gross, yet in their latency, the odd tracks are somehow beautiful. Don't look for cohesive song lyrics here--the album is full of strange abstractions, but half the time you can't understand what the singer is saying anyway, and the album can only be approached sonically. When this happens, however, the CD turns into a marvelous wall of sound that can only be described as "incredible."
Artist: Feist
Album: The Reminder
Genre: Singer-Songwriter / Jazz / Folk
RIYL: Cat Power, Joanna Newsom, Broken Social Scene, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Bjork, Shearwater
Feist of Broken Social Scene acclaim, has been devoting her time with social projects under her own name. Following up last year's EP release, the Reminder is a full-length (fifty minutes) of captivating songs. Most of the tracks on the album are rather quiet, but stunningly beautiful, like Cat Power or Joanna Newsom; but when the music does find itself exploring louder volumes and more jazzy premises, the music breaches toward Bjork and Amy Winehouse, but never losing the authentic Feist style, consisting of numerous acoustic instruments, including piano, with a solidly built bass backdrop. On occasion, too, the traditional American jazz and folk transfer over to more African and European styles, that incorporate electronica whole-heartedly for a wild, fiery edge.
Artist: Grails
Album: Burning off Impurities
Genre: Psychedellic Prog-Rock / Prog-folk
RIYL: Godspeed You Black Emperor!, This Will Destroy You, Red Sparowes, Do Make Say Think, Russian Circles, Battle of Mice, Jesu, Faust, Hawkwind, Gore, Hendrix, Santana, Boris, Corrupted, Isis, Pelican, Moss, Deadbird, Aereogramme, Stars of the Lid, Mono, Mouth of the Architect, Set Fire to Flames, Battles,
The new album by post-rockers Grails is filled to the brim with psychedellic energy that twists, turns, distorts, contrasts, expands, and moves about your ears through 4-6-minute-long songs. The music is epic, but does not suck you in the way bands like Godspeed do; however, Grails's unique ability to fuse together explosive movements with folk and psychedellic rock is a force to be reckoned with.
(found under search in Google Images for "Nurses Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down")
Throughout the summer I will be taking small "retreat" sessions where I come back down to Rhode Island and help clean up the WQRI booth. The sessions will also be to promote my writing, visiting Jeff and others to work on manuscripts and larger projects, including the Picked Pockets, hopefully.
