album of the week: 11.4

AFRICAEMO

Power of The City

(2011)

why you'll love it: high-energy, fast singing

why you'll hate it: annoying backup vocals, kinda predictable

Nearly anywhere else, Africaemo would stand out. Not in Japan, though. Their funk-rock approach would lead most people to draw comparisons to Mr. Bungle, or early Red Hot Chili Peppers. Since they are from Japan, and have a keyboard player, I only see them referred to as not Polysics, Vola, or the telephones. It's a real unfair comparison, because Africaemo doesn't seem to be trying to do the same thing as those bands. They're not as gimmicky, or easy to define. They have youthful energy, and Hiroshi Kishi sings at 100mph; but there seems to be a deliberate restraint, as if maybe staying out of that "race to the asylum" competition makes them stand out.

I can't tell if that restraint is a good or bad thing yet. Their 2010 debut, squatter, did not blow me away, but I saw a lot of potential in it. Power of The City doesn't build off that potential at all. These songs feel like they were written at around the same time. A quick youtube search finds performances of these songs dating back as far as 2008, so I guess they were. Newcomers to the band may get the same buzz I did last year, but I've experienced some diminishing returns with this release.

Although, production could be to blame as well. Structurally, "After The Millennium" gets a bit dark. "Cheers" and "Night Man" have strong crescendos. Unfortunately, thorough all of this, the mixing keeps everything at the same volume and depth. Some more variation in sound, and maybe some flow between tracks rather than hard stops would have made the experience more engaging. As high-speed as they can get, it's easy to peg them for what they are about halfway through, then begin to zone out .

I love this band's energy, and feel they get an unfair shake, but they don't leave me much to defend; aside from my personal preference to energetic music and a killer lyrical pace. Still waiting for that breakout moment, but until then, this band is pretty much only a quick fix. Good sugar rush music.

ki-yaaaa

This past week, Giant Bomb had a live Kinect marathon. Aside from the usual discovering how boring, limited, unresponsive, and uncreative the Kinect is, Self Defense Training Camp was definitely the highlight of the day.

album of the week: 11.3

Thomas Tantrum

Mad By Moonlight

(2011)

why you'll love it: cute, really nice sounding guitar

why you'll hate it: abandons the fresh and manic pace of the debut

Whenever a band promotes their upcoming release as "mature" or sort of discrediting their previous style, that is a sure-fire sign they're about to go wishy-washy mainstream. It's sad to say the once hyperactive and catchy Thomas Tantrum has done just that.

Megan Thomas is still singing about the same things (depression, insomnia...) she was on the first album, but being a lot less coy and quirky with it. It's sort of like how Hello Saferide took a more serious turn with her sophomore album. In this case, at least they're still trying to stay catchy. It's the unhinged vocal delivery and unpredictable shifts in pace that have been scrapped on this release. Basically all the things that made this band stand out.

Now they don't stand out. They're supermarket rock. As disappointing as that is... it's not terrible music. While I don't remember a moment of what I heard, I least I know it was ok while it was playing. I didn't want to turn it off, I can say that much. I know "Hey, it's not shit!" is no great praise, but I was absolutely certain this album would be shit. It's... passable. I'd just rather them sound like they did, and be criticized for sounding too much like Life Without Buildings every once and a while, than sound like this.

happy something

Here are three things this media blog writer is thankful for this year:

- I'm thankful Valve exists. There is an impressive amount of Steam titles on my mac. Valve also made Team Fortress 2 free to play this summer, which I have poured literally hundreds of hours into over the past six months. And Valve made not only possibly the best game of the year - Portal 2 - but the only laugh out loud funny game not to be about dick jokes.

- I'm thankful that Dexter hasn't jumped the shark yet. I actually am enjoying this current season quite a bit.

- I'm thankful that there have been a few albums this year that defied the odds, and turned out to be ok. Two turned out to be surprisingly awesome (Battles & Polysics), but I'm happy with a few that turned out to be not shit, such as The Get Up Kids, Destroyer, and the next review...

album of the week: 11.2

Destroyer

Kaputt

(2011)

why you'll love it: less snobby than most Destroyer albums. Chill music

why you'll hate it: weak jazz for boring people!

No excuses for this early 2011 release. I've been deliberately avoiding until I came across a low risk deal for it. Destroyer won me over in 2006 with Destroyer's Rubies. My attraction turned into impatience just as quickly with the release of Trouble in Dreams (2008). Dan Bejar's songwriting suddenly became predictably rote. His European quirks quickly turned to annoying affectations. This is coming from someone who likes The Mars Volta, and Animal Collective… Bejar sounds hella pretentious. Intentional or not, he sounds more like a character than a person at most times.

So why am I reviewing his 2011 release, Kaputt? I was promised a change in style. That style turned out to be… smooth jazz. This sounds like a damn Kenny G album. I feel like an old man when I listen to this. A rich old man, at least. Like I'm driving a Bentley at night. These are very well produced, long, deliberate, planned out songs. It's high quality work. Not, something I would call outstanding in any way though. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you how this… elevator music is a breakthrough release. But I'll tell you what; it solves most of the problems I've had with Destroyer.

These songs do away with a lot of Bejar's faux-European cliches. No more pointless "ba-daa-baaa-laaahh"s. There are still a few arbitrary name dropping of European nations and the occasional backhanded "uncultured American" remarks which seem to serve no purpose but to make himself or the listener seem smart. Only in the closing song does he fall into his old trappings, but that's excusable, I guess. The old fans deserve to have a bone thrown to them.

… Maybe I overthink Bajar's quirks too much, but regardless, that stuff that gets under my skin isn't found so often on Kaputt. It's just a nice album. It's vey good background music, aside from that lingering fear that it may turn you into a Michael Bolton fan.

Arkham City's fatal flaw

I finished the "really good, but at the same time not really as good" sequel to 2009's Arkham Asylum last week. Of all the small changes they made, one irked me the most...

The original game played like a Metroidvainia. It was a more condensed, but more detailed play area. The best part was that you could live the superhero fantasy of literally ridding the entire game of crime! When you beat a dude up, you never saw him again. In Arkham City, it's respawning enemies all over the place.

This loading screen lies! You don't lie to Batman, you swear to him! The same 4 dudes are in front of the Iceberg Lounge every single time. When all you want to do is look for the hidden items around the map, having to deal with gun weildling thugs every other block becomes a pain in the ass.

Rant over.

album of the week: 11.1

Laura Stevenson And The Cans

Sit Resist

(2011)

why you'll love it: Very lovable and relatable songwriting

why you'll hate it: a bit one dimensional

The rest of the year looks pretty dead for new releases. The last thing to come out that caught my ear was a Jens Lekman EP in September (forthcoming), and the only thing I see on the horizon is a Mighty Mighty Bosstones album in December (which probably won't be that good). So the rest of this month, I think I'll be doing some great stuff that I passed over in the first six months of '11.

Most impressive of my findings has been the sophomore release by Laura Stevenson And The Cans, Sit Resist. So much, that I feel guilty for ignoring this talented artist right under my nose over the past few years. Laura is from my general vicinity, Central New Jersey, and I've seen her aligned with bands I really enjoy, like Fake Problems, Screaming Females, and Bomb The Music Industry! Yet, this had always been an act reduced to the "maybe check out someday" pile.

Sit Resist is such an enjoyable album. It's folk music, kinda like Elliot Smith or Laura Veirs, but more playful. There is a very rich sound, with a lot of instruments. Laura has a versatile delivery that can switch from humble and fragile to bombastic in a heartbeat. "Master of Art" proves this point well. It's already one of my favorite songs of the year. With such a strong voice, and deep background band; Laura is free to make any kind of song she wants. These songs are quaint when they want to be, fun when they want to be; reflective, catchy, sweet… Everything they tried here was successful.

The gripes are minor. Some of the songs feel a bit incomplete. Not to the point where they feel like filler, but with more depth, could have been as good as some of the best songs on here. Also, there is nothing that will turn heads. If you never got into the whole "catchy modern take on folk music" sound before, this won't win you over. I'm singing the praises of this album over execution alone. But that execution… man. I'm totally smitten by this album. Give it a shot.

MAOR PODCASTS!

If you're like me and enjoy podcasts more than television, here are two podcasta about TV shows

The Twin Peaks Podcast - A podcast where two megafans and two Twin Peaks newbies recap an episode of the cult series every week.

Losing The Sheen - A couple who has never watched Two And A Half Men before, decide to watch the series starting with this post-Sheen era. This is a recollection of the unfunny horrors they witness.