I tried. Well, I guess I didn't try hard enough... I get on a plane in 24 hours. I simply cannot get my _____ of The Year lists all presented and formatted in a way I'd like them before the new year starts.
I've got everything reviewed. Have my list in the order I want it to be. I just don't have time to make it pretty.
Why you'll love it: Pretty music with lots of atmosphere
Why you'll hate it: boring and forgettable
"Tries way too hard" is one of my most hated phrases of criticism. I’ve seen lots of acts go for something and not convince me, but the idea of scoffing at somebody for trying really gets on my nerves. It’s one of those few things that actually brings out a brief "how dare you?" reaction out of me.
You know the kinds of bands that generate criticism like that… Ten years ago, I LOVED The Mars Volta. I enjoyed At The Drive-in for its unpredictable delivery, and ridiculous vocabulary. Mars Volta was even more of that, and with a lot of guitar solos. What’s not to love? A lot, apparently. Because Mars Volta made one too many weird songs, and eventually became vilified by the internet for “trying too hard”. Casually mentioning the Mars Volta in a positive light painted a picture of myself as pathetically vying for attention. Something not too far apart from the stereotypical eccentric art student, bullshitting some deep meaning out of irrelevant garbage.
The truth was, I was just a normal everyday dork, in my Bad Religion t-shirt, and getting maybe a few questions right watching Jeopardy. I liked Mars Volta lyrics because they sounded like a crazy man on a subway platform. It’s just entertainment; not to feel smarter or more hip than other people. It’s beer & fireworks. A simple pleasure.
If you change your perspective just a bit on these “tries too hard” bands, you may forget what the big deal is. There is no pedestal, no agenda, or scheme to create a personality or culture. Sometimes bands do what they do because it’s fun, even if it sounds like “art”. This is the impression I get from Warpaint. After racking my brain spinning their self titled LP over and over, trying to figure out what they’re trying to achieve, I changed my perspective a bit. Maybe they just think this echoey, mellow, electronic/acoustic nebula sounds pretty, and that’s it. The point is pretty music. We get caught up in terms sometimes of what an art band, experimental band, or indie band has to be, when it can be simpler than that.
Warpaint is a pretty album, with emphasis on album. I’ve tried plucking out samples to go back to, single tracks, and they don’t hold up without the context of the other 45 minutes. I listened to this album a lot while playing The Binding of Isaac, and that’s when I really started to warm to it. Just like a well used moody video game soundtrack, you don’t realize how good it is until you catch it creeping up on you when you’re not paying full attention.
Depending on your patience, you have the option. You can look at Warpaint as trying too hard to sound like this meaningful emotional crooning art piece, but in the end says very little; or you could say it’s just a group that enjoys slow and soft music. I’m not enamored by Warpaint, but totally get it, and I think I’ve found the right way to enjoy it.
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[END OF THE YEAR UPDATE] - I had a lot to say about music in general in this article, but not much to say about the actual album. It's good! Just... doesn't stick with me all that much. Great background album. Doesn't do that much more for me, personally.
Why you'll love it: An interesting mix of electronics
Why you'll hate it: Lacking in every way to old material
Biggest disappointment of the year. I probably shouldn't spend that much time on this. When TV on the Radio last released something, it was my second favorite album of 2012. They did the impossible, made me genuinely enjoy love songs. Nine Types of Light was a triumph in perfecting their indie-rock soul infusion. I really was excited for them to do it once again on Seeds. The experimentation of electronics were interesting at first. But after a while, I sorely missed the simplicity of their previous albums.
Seeds' more forefront problem is that it is too busy. Songs like "Careful You" and "Seeds" are just plain oppressive. Beneath the surface is the song content, which is rather simple. The electronic effects start to feel like compensation when the lyrics under deliver. I called out Dave Grohl for being too predictable with his songs, but TV on The Radio takes simple lyrics and predicable delivery to a whole new level on "Ride", "Could You", and "Right Now"
Digging deeper, I'm sad to say Seeds just hasn't penetrated my cold exterior the way Nine Types... had. The way the songs on that album were put together, it dug its way into me. "Test Pilot" was the only song on here that I have kept coming back to. It has a chorus that is easy to get swept up in, and a more modest attitude than the rest of the album. One more nice thing to say is that I really enjoyed their performance of "Happy Idiot" on Letterman. It's not a song I like otherwise, so it's nice to think they have more of a presence live. It also got me thinking how much more I might have enjoyed these songs without the overbearing studio effects.
This is TVoTR's first album in 3 years, as well as the first since losing bassist, Gerard Smith. Hopefully they're just trying to find their way into a new era, and their next effort won't take as long. I was going into the end of the year expecting to have a lot of great things about this album, but it's just not doing anything for me.
Why you'll love it: World class ska band at its best
Why you'll hate it: ZERO snark or edge
We're closing in on 25 years of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, and I'm only counting from the date of the first LP. I've been singing their praises every year on this blog as the world's (not just Japan's) premier "big band" outfit. There has been a lot of mud tracked being the name of "ska" in the last 20 years; so let me once again state that this band transcends the genre tag. Only your social hang-ups can stop you from enjoying TSPO's records, because they are all, at the very least, solid pieces of work, where the talent just leaps out at you.
The last five years of TSPO have been just that. Standard appreciable big swing, soul, regaae, ska, rock, blues (they do it all) music done well. Nothing that makes a big impact though. SKA ME FOREVER feels different. Living up to its title, the songs of SKA ME FOREVER consistently make a strong impact, and feel fresher than most of their recent material. This can be firstly attributed a higher rate of guest stars, each brining a unique sound to the table. Takuma Mitamura of 10 Feet brings a surprisingly fitting punch to "閃光" with his reggae influenced rapping. Kiyosaku Uezu of Mongol800 classes up the album's strongest composition, "流れゆく世界の中で". Indie rock stalwarts, Asian Kung-Fu Generation slot right in to "Wake Up!" quite well. The guest star that leaves the strongest impression has to be one of the grandfathers of Shibuya-kei, Fantastic Plastic Machine. His chopped-and-screwed version of "Damned" is the most unique track on the album.
Well fleshed out, and laid back classy numbers like "Horizon" and "Chance" offer some nice relaxing breaks in the second half of the album, and do it a lot of service. Usually there is too much music like this on a TSPO album for most people's tastes, but alongside all the wacky guest stars and fun songs, these slow numbers do good on reminding you TSPO are after all true musicians, not just gimmicks. The fun songs may be the only things that turn some people off. TSPO are overtly positive songwriters. They cover lounge music classics ("Can't Take My Eyes Off of You") without irony. Some of the songs may sound a bit like a Five Iron Frenzy number (yeah, I'll admit it, I liked me some FiF back in the day). Nothing wrong with that, but let's face it. Being positive and full of love is not "cool". Some younger listeners may not be able to bear with that.
Only one song on here "One Way Punk" gets on my nerves. That's mostly because it's played so early, and its sloppy composition and shouty-Engrich leaves a poor first impression for new listeners. Maybe if it came later in the album I'd find some sort of appreciation for it, but I see it as the only dark mark on an otherwise flawless collection of songs. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra has always been a great band, but they usually only put out good albums. This is a great fucking album.
Of course this would happen. Disco rockers, the telephones has been slowly creeping into my circle of trust for years. You can look back on my reviews dating back to 2009. My thoughts on telephones have all had a main positive to them: loud, fun, crazy, enjoyably stupid; but always the position that perhaps this is all a guilty pleasure, or wont last. My progression of thought for each album has gone - "Well, the bubble is certainly going to burst on the next one." / "Ok, somehow they managed to do the same thing EVEN BETTER." / "OK, they've changed thing up just enough to keep it fresh..." / "Alright fine, I admit it, this band is great!" Laugh, Cry, Sing... And Dance!!! climbed pretty far up my top ten of 2013. It's about time I just shut up and enjoy the telephones. Then comes SUPER HIGH TENSION!!!...
In many ways, SUPER HIGH TENSION!!! is exactly what I always secretly expected the telphones to become; an underwhelming version of themselves. While there are still a few great tunes on here, they all have a "...but" qualifier, and are outnumbered by mediocre tracks. "Take Me Higher" and "Hyper Jump" kick off the album with a ton of firepower, but lack any unpredictable moments, or their trademark wacky humor. Some enjoyment i get out of them are accidental, in how much the songwriting lacks innovation. The vocal melodies are sung directly over the main beats. What it essentially sounds like are when you were a kid making up words and singing them over the music to Sonic The Hedgehog and Megaman stages. Yes, the way most of SUPER HIGH TENSION!!! is composed is not unlike "Barkerville"
The only song in here with that overt tongue-in-cheek telephones humor is the 80s influenced "Don't Stop The Move , Keep On Dancing!!!" (a single released last year). A couple more hard-hitting songs litter the tracklist, but just don't have that ridiculousness to make them special. There is an abundance of ham fisted ballads as well, which Akira Ishige's broken English delivery does nothing for. SUPER HIGH TENSION!!! closes out as most telephones album do, with a buttery goodbye that never quite hits the mark.
This is the telephones' worst album by far. It feels hastily thrown together, and lacks character. This hasn't soured me on past releases though. I gotta give credit to this band for slowly working their way into my heart. Their past three albums have been good damn fun, top to bottom.
