album of the week: 1.1

John Frusciante
PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone
(2012)

why you'll love it:  lots of weird computer sounds to rot your brain with
why you'll hate it:  poorly composed and mixed.  Inferior to previous releases.

This month is going to be mostly holdovers from last year.  Stuff that didn't really leave an impression on me; but hey, gotta do housekeeping sometime.  First to get to is the latest from former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, John Frusciante.  Like most solo efforts, Frusciante's releases are plentiful, and sometimes a bit more artistically ambitious than they are enjoyable to listen to.  Some of my favorites are the more straightforward ones like the rock driven Inside of Emptiness (2003) and ballad-filled Shadows Collide With People (2004).   

His latest LP straddles between entertainment and art.  Coming off the heels of the Letur-Lefr EP (something I probably should have reviewed instead, as I like it a whole lot more), Frusciante continuities to experiment with electronic noise, hip-hop, and trip-hop.  As much as I love bleep-blorps and amen breaks in music, that is pretty much the only thing keeping me coming back to this LP.  Letur-Lefer was snappy, unpredictable, and had a vibrant production.  PBX is definitely not that.  Almost everything sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom.  Even the electronics have this flat lifeless mix to them.  All the layers in the songs sound way too distinct from each other, especially the vocals, which sound like he's singing in another room with the door closed.

So despite having the coolest album title I've heard in a long time, PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone is not that special of an electronic album.  Even the way the songs are composed, there is no satisfying flow from melody to melody.  Unless you are a discography completionist, or an absolute sucker for any electronic music, I recommend you pick up Letur-Lefr instead.

LISTAMANIA 2012: MIXTAPE

2012 mixtape from roomrunner on 8tracks Radio.

LISTAMANIA 2012: Cover Art

   

LISTAMANIA 2012: Total bummers

I'm not going to order this shit pile, or offer sample links of songs.

Also, some of these I didn't find to be COMPLETELY deplorable, only massively disappointing.

Sleigh Bells

Reign of Terror

A lot of bullshit production on this.  The fake crowd noise and censored swearing gets on my nerves right away.  Their last album left me wishy washy because it was just high-gain production, not really noise.  This release just only sent them into a more synthetic direction.

Metric

Synthetica

Yeah, OK, this is the kind of band you want to be now, Metric?  Fine, whatever, I'll go listen to something else, anything interesting at all.  Cheers

Crystal Castles

Same to you, Crystal Castles.  Want to be a goth band with bad mixing?  Alright, bye then.

Reel Big Fish

Candy Coated Fury

Aaron, Turn The Radio off really wasn't that good.  Your fans don't want tired ska riffs from 1997 and songs about girlfriends. It was the three albums that came after TTRO that were brilliant.  This is just a sad cash in on idiots who still cling to late-90s ska.

White Rabbits

Milk Famous

So the only White Rabbits album I had before this was Fort Nightly.  It's got this cool lounge kinda vibe to it, like Hot Hot Heat does.  Finally got around to getting another by these guys, and hanging around with Spoon too much has poisoned their songwriting.  This is BLAAAAAAAND!

LISTAMANIA 2012: Fav albums of the year

Sample: Ice, Tights, Mike

NUMBER TEN
POLYSICS
WEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Number ten, as usual, was the hardest to choose.  Polysics just edged out Squarepusher, Hot Chip, and Screaming Females.

Sample: Wrong Opinion

NUMBER NINE

CHAIRLIFT

SOMETHING

I usually hate cheesy 80's synth pop, but this band does it seriously and artistically   Not in that boring ironic joking way.

Sample: Bonus Oceans

NUMBER EIGHT

JEFF ROSENSTOCK

I LOOK LIKE SHIT

This would have been much higher if it were given more of a proper album treatment.  This is a very well written album about descending into societal obscurity.  Both soul crushing, and fun to listen to.

Sample: 空腹と空白

NUMBER SEVEN

TSUSHIMAMIRE

SHOCKING

Probably the most ambitious album of 2012.  The indie noise rockers mellow out to make a "Ziggy Stardust" epic concept album about food based aliens (with a fake band to boot!).

Sample: Kicking You

NUMBER SIX
THE BIRTHDAY
VISION

Year after year, badass rock and roll from Chiba Yusuke and his cronies.

Sample: V.A.L.I.S

NUMBER FIVE

BLOC PARTY

FOUR

This album gave me a brand new sense of respect for this band, and their ability/fearlessness to always be trying new things.

Sample: Dildonics

NUMBER FOUR
WE ARE THE PHYSICS
YOUR FRIEND, THE ATOM

Waited four years for this album, and it's like letting a rabid animal out of a cage.  This is ENERGY in pure uncut form.

Sample: Good Things

NUMBER THREE

THE MENZINGERS

ON THE IMPOSSIBLE PAST

Good old jaded punker rock and roll.  Soaked in depression, failure, and introspection.  This album is worthy of all the praise it's been getting.

Sample: The Trouble With Candyhands

NUMBER TWO
DEERHOOF
BREAKUP SONG

Somehow both the most accessible and the most wacky Deerhoof album ever.  Amazing combination of their weirdness + catchiness.  Love the lyrics, the glitch, and the dance party vibe it gives off.

Sample: Octagon

NUMBER ONE

LIARS

WIXIW

The most compelling release of 2012.  This album will give you the heebie-jeebies.  It's strange, sometimes scary, maybe impossible to understand; and you won't be able to stop listening.  Yes, these are all good things.