3/30/10
3/29/10
album of the week: 3.5
The Weakerthans
Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre
ANTI (2010)
why you'll love it: The Weakerthans are just as strong live as on record
why you'll hate it: nothing new or special to bring live
The Weakerthans has gone down in my memory as one of the most "true to studio" live performances I have ever seen. Either I was being too kind, or this live album was recorded on an imperfect night. It's still a great performance though.
Performing in their hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, this album serves mostly as a greatest hits of their past two albums. Not many of my favorite old songs are present here, but my newer and overall favorites like "Sun in An Empty Room" and "Reconstruction Site" make an appearance.
Unique performances of a few songs have given me a newfound appreciation for them. It's easy to get swept along with the hometown crowd during "One Great City!"; and as a comment I read on youtube notes - it does indeed take stones to exclaim "the Guess Who suck" in the Burton Cummings theater. I've never really given the song "Benediction" much of a shot until now either.
One peculiar thing about this album is the lack of fluidity. There is a an obvious fade-in/out on many of the songs. I realize that the intent must be to edit out the talking and tuning bits in between songs, but usually a live album would make some attempt to use the crowd noise to bridge the gaps. It's not a big deal at all, just an oddity.
This isn't much of a treat for long-time fans, unless you've never seen them live. A fine introduction to newcomers though. Samson is the best songwriter around today, and the hi-quality capture allows you to hear all of his lyrics for the first time clearly.
3/26/10
NEU!!!! 2
A few years ago, Polysics frontman, Hayashi, hosted his own music television program called NEU!!!! A lot of it ended up on youtube, and it was pretty fun to watch. Hayashi basically had his own music tech demo floor. He would play with and explain various effects pedals and modulators; and also do skits, indterviews, and exclusive live Poly clips.
Fast forward to January, 2010. NEU!!!! 2. A one-off special. It's all on youtube right now. Catch it, before Space Shower takes it down!
3/23/10
album of the week: 3.4
capsule
PLAYER
contemode (2010)
why you'll love it: hi-tech electro-pop. insanely catchy
why you'll hate it: terrible guest vocals, a played out genre to Western ears
I've found a big part of growing up is letting go of cool. I don't know if it's more of the accumulation of common sense, finding your own self-confidence, or just getting burnt out; but there comes a point in adulthood where you just go "fuck it" and get on with life. I kinda went about things backwards. Growing up, I HATED cool; and now music like capsule is just making me go "fuck it."
Trendiness has been part of capsule's m.o. since day one. I can usually take their fashion in stride because the music itself is hardwired to the brain electronic pleasure, as simple as it may be. 2008's MORE! MORE! MORE! was a continuation of previous shaky attempts at overseuxualized dance club pop, but the melodies were so colorful and exciting, it didn't matter how repetitive or simplistic the lyrics were, or even if one of the songs featured a dreadful rap. Total guilty pleasure album.
For PLAYER, Yasutaka Nakata has benched his partner in crime, Toshiko Koshijima, for a few of the songs, and they really suffer from it. When Toshiko's vocals are brought into the mix, her English lyrics are quite innocuous, and carry along the songs well. These guest performers on the other hand... I have no idea what two-bit club Nakata picked them out from, because they are awful... I don't know rap very well, but I know that these are piss poor rhymes, and its uncomfortable to listen to.
In PLAYER, Nakata's melodies are quite simple. I may come off as arrogant; but give me a few hours on a KORG, and I can come up with loops like this. Don't get me wrong, I'd still be really proud of them if I made them, but I don't see them as anything spectacular, like on the last few albums. The big problem is that these simple synth lines don't distract enough from the awful rapping on songs like the title track or the closer "Love or Lies".
It's funny how last year, I used Mademoiselle K to bring up a point that lyrics in a forgien language create an attractive bubble because I don't know how terrible they may be. It seems Nakata is experiencing this phenomenon here. Only he is producing the song, not listening to it. Someone please get in contact with this guy and tell him his English guest performers are a complete joke! PLAYER is otherwise another awesome guilty pleasure for me. It's music so trendy, it makes me blush a bit, but I have to give it credit. "Hello" is an absolute treat, despite its short stay; and as simple as the big electro-disco numbers like "The Music" are this time out, they still bounce around in your brain long after you've turned the album off. Not as unique as the last album, but still a fun trip.
3/22/10
I AM ONLY A SOUNDTRACK
The Bit.Trip:Core soundtrack is now on iTunes! Get on that!
Core is the most intense Bit.Trip game yet, and the music is thus a bit more aggressive than in the Beat soundtrack. Great stuff. Also, I can't get more than 45 seconds into Growth; so its nice to hear the song.
3/16/10
album of the week: 3.3
Sambassadeur
European
Labrador Records (2010)
why you'll love it: strong Swedish pop harmony genes. peaceful music
why you'll hate it: fails in company of its peers. doesn't stand out
I don't think I love Sambassadeur as much as just plain love Labrador Records. Labrador has been the home to the best Swedish indie and twee pop for the last ten years. Some of my favorites being Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and The Radio Dept.
Sambassadeur is admittedly not the best Labrador has to offer. They don't stand out on any musical, vocal, or lyrical fronts. That isn't to say European, or any of their albums for that matter aren't enjoyable and well done. The best thing I can say about this album is that it does not overstay its welcome, at only 9 songs.
This album is a fine introduction to the mostly flawless Labrador roster, if you prefer the warm bath approach. If you want to dive right in and be wowed this year... well, I've got my fingers crossed for what's forthcoming by The Radio Dept. and Club 8...
Welcome...to the wooooooorld of tomorrooooooow!
This image I picked up from a Reuters article this morning had me laughing all day. It's from the article found here about a prophesied land and sea hybrid layout for the future of coastal Australia, joined by a monorail system.
I had thought that "retro future" was a long dead art form until now. Glad to see it's still alive and kicking. How hilarious is this image? Firstly it looks like an album cover by some Fat Wreck Chords band. I'm sure you can pluck some kind of political message out of this image with a clever enough album title.
The idea that the sea levels of Australia have risen just enough to form a series of tiny islands - each of which get a singular building - is cute; as is the naivety that further rising tides will not occur. You thought having a first floor apartment was a raw deal in the now-past...
What got me the most though were the Shadow Complex like characters serving landscaping duty. Apparently hedge clipping will be future-task only to be performed by clones with state of the art armor protection.
3/10/10
album of the week: 3.2
Giant Drag
Swan Song
Roar Scratch (2010)
why you'll love it - Cynical and spiteful like rock should be
why you'll hate it - The better half of the EP is old material
It's been way too long since we've heard anything new from Giant Drag, which is a shame considering how well the debut album, Hearts And Unicorns (2005), stands up today. A couple things have changed in the last few years. Drummer, and 50% of the band, Micah, has left, or delegated himself to only studio contributions. The other half, Annie Hardy, has changed her hair... Other than that, thankfully all the distorted grime and lyrical snark that has made Giant Drag memorable, remains the same today.
Annie has spent the last few years delaying this 4 song EP (two of which being new recordings of older rare songs) citing illness and lack of funding. Although, the way she flippantly addresses the public, I have no idea what to believe. One day. I'll see her begging for donations on myspace so she can eat, and the next she's doing a video interview with two hired assistants present.
Whether it be one big joke or not (or most likely, both), I wouldn't have it any other way; because that is the same exact attitude that makes Giant Drag songs so interesting. It's great lo-fi, cynical rock. As said before, the first half of the EP are songs previously found on the Kevin is Gay single. It is old stuff, but to be fair, they were hard to find tunes in the first place, and these recordings are much better. Also, the whole thing was worth it to get the disgusting/freaky music video for "Stuff To Live For".
The second half of the album are songs that feel like b-sides. Good songs, but not so amazing. One has great lyrics, the other has killer guitar, but neither have both. Quite frankly, the most exciting thing about this release is the proof that Giant Drag is still kicking after half a decade of silence.
3/2/10
album of the week: 3.1
The Birthday
STAR BLOWS
Universal Japan (2010)
why you'll love it: possibly the best classic rock album of this generation
why you'll hate it: Cheesy English lyrics, no good if you hate long songs
I usually write these reviews a few days beforehand and give it a few proofreads; but since today is my birthday, I could not pass this theme opportunity up. So please forgive me for being even more amateurish than usual.
This album is fucking awesome. There. It may not mean a lot coming from such a big Chiba Yusuke fan as myself, but I've been blown away by this album with every listen. This is the fourth album by The Birthday. I think Thee Michelle Gun Elephant (same singer and drummer) was one of the best punk bands in the world - but, Rosso (another Yusuke band) never quite lived up, and neither have any albums by The Birthday, (despite them being very good - Rollers Romantics especially). I've got to say, with STAR BLOWS, they've managed to step outside the shadow of TMGE. I'm not saying they're as good, but they've certainly become something memorable in their own way.
There is a challenge at the beginning of this album. The first 15 seconds are quite an eye-roller. I'm not gonna lie. I even audibly went "uh-oh" when the first song started. The Birthday has always at least once per album oversteped their Western classic rock bounds, and create something that sounds like a fucking beer commercial. That's always been a problem. This time it only lasts for a moment, not an entire song. While the opening track starts out rough, it had won me over by halfway in, and I didn't stop bobbing my head throughout the entire hour+ album.
That's another great feature, over a full hour of rock. The shortest song on here is just over four and a half minutes. The songs are packed with guitar amazing solos. They all take their time to grow and become overwhelming. There are so many killer tracks that span over all of the band's strong points it's as if they'll never need to release a greatest hits album. This is it. It's the ultimate The Birthday album.
If you're not down with classic rock, this will be a meaningless album to you; otherwise, this is looking to be one of the best of 2010. Just go easy on it when you dive into that first song.
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