Artist: Wolf Parade
Album: Expo 86
Genre: Alternative (Indie Rock)
5-Starred Songs: 6 (out of 11)
Wolf Parade has for quite some time now been one of my all-time favorite bands. Their debut album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, while not perfect, was quite impressive and got my hooked. Their second album, At Mount Zoomer, is as close to a perfect album as I can imagine existing: every song was great, and I had no complaints, and it still sits as one of my personal "best albums of all time." Therefore when they released their third (and probably final) album, I had some trepidation. Could it possibly match At Mount Zoomer, or was I bound for disappointment?
The answer to both queries, weirdly, is no. It wasn't quite as good as At Mount Zoomer, but it was still a great album nonetheless. It opens with the rollicking, catchy, and upbeat Cloud Shadow On The Mountain, and cycles through a number of other upbeat, powerfully strumming-along songs such as Cave-o-sapien and Yulia. Overall the album is probably the upbeat of the trio of albums, and probably comes closer to pop in some ways, but it's still very thoroughly a Wolf Parade album even with the shift of emphasis. Although not a perfect album, overall it still did not disappoint, and is a great listen.
Artist: Maximum the Hormone
Album: Bu-iikikaesu (Rise from the Ashes)
Genre: Metal (Japanese rock / nu metal)
5-Starred Songs: 6 (out of 11)
Maximum the Hormone is easily the weirdest thing I've ever listened to and also throughly enjoys. It feels very genre-defining, and in a number of ways resembles bands like Rage Against the Machine in that it mixes a bunch of different music genres in ways you would not expect, but nonetheless work. They also remind me a lot of Rammstein, in that they are extreme and over-the-top, but in a very knowing and tongue-in-cheek manner. They also seem like they're having an absolutely blast making this music, and I enjoyed hopping on the ride and having a blast alongside them.
The album features songs like the titular track, which is just an excellent, straight metal song. You also get the themes from Death Note, the fantastic Zetzubou Billy (Despair, Billy) and wild What's up people!?. Kuso Breakin nou Breakin Lily (Shit breakin of breaking lily) starts out as a catchy pop song, delves into a rock-style chorus, into a death metal segment, and all back again-- and startingly, it works. Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura Purin Purin Boron Nurururerorero (just look it up) is another pop-metal fusion consisting of mostly onomonopia, whereas Koi No Mega Lover, with its opening line of "Beach, europe, vanish, catch, swimming" seems to perfectly capture the high-energy spirits of a summer day at the beach.
The album isn't perfect by any means, but it's such a high-energy blast of awesome that I can forgive the songs that don't live up to the rest. I'm sure the album is not for everyone by any means, but if you can deal with the weirdness, Bu-iikikaesu is simply fantastic.
Artist: Four Tet
Album: There Is Love In You
Genre: Electronica
5-Starred Songs: 7 (out of 9)
Four Tet is just something else. Technically electronica, it's relatively unlikely any other electronica I'm familiar with. He takes basic beats and slowly adds elements until you have this brilliant combination of noise, but in the best way. The occasional addition of not-quite understandable (with one exception) voice sampling at key intervals just heightens the prettiness of the music. From the hauntingly slow build-up of Angel Echoes, the reserved passion of Sing, to the calm expression of This Unfolds, this is definitely a hard album to describe but it's totally worth listening to. Give it a try.
Artist: Handsome Furs
Album: Plague Park
Genre: Alternative (Indie Rock)
5-Starred Songs: 3 (out of 9)
The Handsome Furs is a very interesting duo, and in my mind represents half of Wolf Parade + a bit more electronica (since it is, to a certain extent). I actually really like the album as a whole, and the sound they're going for, but for whatever reason some of the songs just don't quite hit it. With that said, the album still has a number of excellent songs: Handsome Furs Hate This City has a strong emotional undercurrent that speaks to me very strongly on some level, while Sing! Captain captures an aura of hopefulness that is quite uplifting. Overall it's a solid album; not fantastic, but with some excellent points that make it a worthwhile listen, if not necessarily a first choice.
Artist: Japandroids
Album: Post-Nothing
Genre: Rock (Punk)
5-Starred Songs: 3 (out of 8)
Japandroids were a weird experience for me. My first listen I dismissed it as mostly unenjoyable, but upon further prompting listened to it a second time, and came out appreciating it. Given that it's a duo, in retrospect it's amazing how much energy, heart and soul they manage to put into their songs. You have to readjust your expectations a little, because unlike some other modern bands they're not relying on electronics to make them sound like more than just two people. What you hear is something they're able to replicate live, and that by itself is fairly impressive. Once you get past that gap, as I said before, lies some songs with a lot of passion behind them. Wet Hair perfectly replicates the strong emotions of suddenly and instantly falling in love, whereas Young Hearts Spark Fire captures that sense of lost youth in a very tangible way. Behind that is a strong drummer and intense guitarist in the best punk tradition. In a sense, it's almost an expression of minimalism; minimal instruments, relatively minimal effects, minimal lyrics, but it all becomes, not be clichéd, stronger than the sum of its parts. It's definitely an album that has to grow on you, but if you're willing to make the effort it can be quite rewarding.
Artist: Sunset Rubdown
Album: Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Genre: Alternative (Indie Rock)
5-Starred Songs: 2 (out of 10)
Similar to their first album, Snake's Got A Leg, I like the direction Sunset Rubdown is going, but a lot of the songs don't quite hit the mark. With that said, when they do get it right, they blow it out of the water. Us One In Between and The Empty Threat of Little Lords are incredibly emotional, deeply moving songs that make the rest of the album worth listening to, if nothing else. Beyond that, I don't have too much to say; it's a solid album for the rest, and the album doesn't have any real flaws as far as I'm concerned, it just doesn't overall quite rise to greatness.
Artist: Neon Indian
Album: Psychic Chasms
Genre: Electronica (Indie electronica)
5-Starred Songs: 3 (out of 12)
Neon Indian was another very interesting artist. Again, his brand of electronica is very unique to him, and I'm not really sure how to describe it or compare it to. The best I can say is that "Psychic Chasms" seems a very appropriate name, and songs like Terminally Chill and Mind, Drips kind of bounce around in a quirky, lighthearted and endearing way (I know these are weird adjectives for music, deal with it). If you want something different, definitely try it out, and I'm not really sure how to deal with it otherwise.
Artist: The Antlers
Album: Hospice
Genre: Alternative (Indie Rock)
5-Starred Songs: 6 (out of 10)
Hospice is a deeply interesting album. At face value, without listening to the lyrics, it's pretty standard indie fare; mix of slower and faster songs of varying happiness levels. However, if you listen closely and pay attention, you get an album that is all kinds of depressing on various levels; the fact that its titled Hospice should indicate something. The slow, haunting build-up of Kettering leaves you feeling like you've witnessed something both beautiful, whereas deceptively pretty and seemingly happy songs like Bear hide a much more troubling and deeper message. The album as a whole is almost a concept album, in that it tells a story, but it works surprisingly well as individual songs as well. It manages to combine beauty and depression in an excellent way, and although it's definitely not an album to listen to if you're already feeling down, it's a fantastic piece of art that deserves a listen.
Artist: Handsome Furs
Album: Face Control
Genre: Alternative (Indie Rock)
5-Starred Songs: 7 (out of 11)
The potential that was hinted at in Plague Park finally comes out in Face Control, a triumphant declaration of that synthesis of electronica and indie rock. Opening with the catchy, upbeat Legal Tender, Face Control manages to keep the energy high and the songs imaginative throughout the entire album, with songs such as All We Want, Baby, Is Everything and Radio Kaliningrad. It's an excellent example of indie rock, a great listen, and I'll admit it's nice to see noticed potential be realized.
Artist: Gojira
Album: From Mars to Sirius
Genre: Metal (Trance Metal)
5-Starred Songs: 4 (out of 12)
Gojira continues to be the band I feel like I shouldn't like, but I do. With deep, death-metal type vocals, odd pronunciation owing to their Frenchness, and strong, repetitive power chords, it's something I would probably reject from description alone. However, despite the weirdness, there's something deeply compelling and musical in what would otherwise be just awful noise. Songs such as Flying Whales and Global Warming intermix calm moments of tranquility with heavy, strong aural assaults. It probably takes a special kind of person to appreciate this, so I can totally understand how most people will probably pass, but give one of the aforementioned songs a try-- if you find yourself enjoying it at all, try out the album as a whole and you might find it growing on you.
-HTMC
Next: The Way of All Flesh.
ReplyDeleteI definitely know what you mean about Sunset Rubdown. I will admit, I didn't quite get their first two albums until a listened to them with some "assistance."
ReplyDeleteAs an side note; I think one of the biggest problems I have with Wolf Parade is that Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug have both shown that they produce far superior work when they aren't collaborating (Face Control & Dragonslayer come to mind), which is why its so disappointing for me to see Wolf Parade keep churning out pretty-good-but-not-incredible albums (As I've mentioned to you, I'm not a fan of post-debut Wolf Parade, but to each his own and I'm not looking to start a fight about it). Now that I think about it, pretty much every collaboration that Krug does is pretty "meh" in my book (Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, Moonface, etc; guy has a metric shit-ton of bands).