Drugs

The final record from the Hold Steady on my listening list is Separation Sunday.  (If the number of albums isn’t indicative enough, you need to check out this band if you haven’t already.)  Separation Sunday received a final Metascore of 86, making it the highest-rated album of the three I have heard.  Separation Sunday is also the oldest of the records I have heard, having been released in 2005.  Musically the band performs the same straight-ahead rock they played on the other records.

The challenge with any Hold Steady record is connecting the stories from album to album.  Separation Sunday is another record linked to other records, first to their debut record Almost Killed Me and later to Boys and Girls in America and finally Stay Positive.  In retrospect, I wish I had listened to these albums rather than taking them individually.  I think I would have understood a little better.  The characters are the connection here.

On this record Craig Finn writes about three characters: himself as the narrator, Holly, and Charlemagne.  Holly is the primary character, though.  She is a troubled woman, struggling with religion while battling drug addiction and having to prostitute herself to get a fix and stay alive.  Through the record she battles her demons, trying to have a conversation with God while at the same time trying to find that fix she’s needing.  Craig as the narrator travels from place to place, party to party, running into Holly but never connecting with her, ultimately feeling sorry for her.  Charlemagne is Holly’s pimp who gets deep into business he shouldn’t have.  In the end (“How a Resurrection Really Feels”) Holly returns to her home church to try to atone for everything she had done wrong.

Finn’s writing abilities are extraordinary.  He’s fantastic at incorporating references to many, many different people/places/activities/things in his songs.  ”Cattle and the Creeping Things” references the bible in different places of the Old and New Testaments.  He references a high school in Minnesota in “Hornets! Hornets!”  He references Jane’s Addiction and Lionel Richie.  The density of references in his songs and puns and word plays makes multiple listenings necessary to capture everything.  Finn’s lyrics are what make the Hold Steady such a fascinating band to hear.

I am torn on this record.  Musically Separation Sunday doesn’t move me the way the previous two did.  Lyrically, though, it has to be the strongest of the three.  This has to be Finn’s best writing job.  I think the Metascore is fitting given the music is not as exciting but still lyrically strong.

The Last Letter in the Alphabet

I can’t remember when I first heard My Morning Jacket even though it was very recent.  I can’t recall if I had heard “Off the Record” or “I’m Amazed”, but I’m pretty sure it was “I’m Amazed” that finally provoked me to listen to one of their records.  The band hails from Kentucky and is fronted by Jim James, the principal singer/songwriter and guitarist.  Other members include “Two Tone” Tommy on bass guitars, Patrick Hallahan on drums, Bo Koster on keyboards, and Carl Broemel on guitars and steel guitars.

The band is known mostly for their extensive live shows, which have gone as long as four hours (see their 2008 set at Bonnaroo) and feature a number of original and cover songs. Commercial success with their records has slowly grown since their first major label release, It Still Moves.  In thinking about it, I believe the first song I remember hearing from them was “I’m Amazed”, and little did I know how different their sound was from that single’s record (Evil Urges) compared to their earlier material.  From articles I have read, fans have been torn between the material on albums such as It Still Moves and Z compared to Evil Urges and perhaps their new record Circuital.

Most of their records have received favorable reviews (Evil Urges apparently divided critics, too), but their most well-received record was Z.  Produced by James and John Leckie, Z was the record that propelled the band to more commercial fame while also receiving a lot of critical praise.  Z is the topic of this post.

#27 – My Morning Jacket, Z (Metascore = 90)

“Wordless Chorus” is entitled just as it is—there are no words in the chorus other than “aah’s” and “ooo’s”.  The song also has a soul vibe to it, somewhat contrary to the country rock sound they had on older records.  They pull this sound off really well, too; I forgot how much I liked this song when I first heard it.  While I’m thinking about it, My Morning Jacket is another band that uses a lot of harmonies in their songs, similarly to Fleet Foxes.  Their use is not as prominent as in Fleet Foxes’ records, but they do use harmonies effectively.

Reading through the lyrics while I’m listening, James writes around different topics:  love & relationships, religion, and death.  “What a Wonderful Man” reads like a tribute to someone he knew, and according to an interview with James, he stated that the song was for a friend who had committed suicide.  Mostly, though, the songs seem to revolve around love and relationships.  “Off the Record”, “It Beats 4 U” , and “Anytime” are all examples of the singer trying to reach out to the girl at some point in the relationship, whether it’s at the beginning (“Off the Record”) or at the end (“Anytime”).

The music here is the more notable characteristic.  Songs follow the soul format started with “Wordless Chorus” early on, then become rock (“Off the Record”), kitschy (“Into the Woods”), and back to rock again.  Other than “Into the Woods”, which I didn’t really like, all of the songs are well structured and performed very well, keeping the listener involved throughout.  “Lay Low” brings the band back to the sound most prominent in It Still Moves, though with a punch that makes the band sound more and more confident as the record progresses.  Some of the best songs on the record are at the end, though this record is so full of great songs it’s hard to narrow that to one area.  “Dondante” sounds like their version of the Led Zeppelin classic “Since I’ve Been Loving You”.

On this listen I really enjoyed Z.  Every song with the exception of “Into the Woods” is great to listen to.  Even “Into the Woods” would appeal to some people.  The Metascore appears very accurate for this record.

Throwback

When I think back to my days when I was 9 years old, I remember there were two bands that I liked quite a bit and a lot of other stuff that I thought was cool.  The two bands were Guns N’ Roses, who flamed out a few years later due to internal trauma (which I won’t go into since I’m still baffled by it), and the Beastie Boys, who still are going strong to this day (in fact they just released a new album, Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2, that has gotten good reviews and is a pretty sweet record).  Anyway, focusing on the Beastie Boys and the rap that was out at the time (LL Cool J, Run D.M.C., Public Enemy, etc.), the beats and sound snippets they used from older rock and R&B records was something cool to me.  I latched onto it because of its familiarity and for how the artists took the sounds and made it their own.

Those sounds, with or without the raps, were and have always been cool to me.  I never really got to know the DJs behind the sounds other than the few that were as big as their fellow MCs—for instance, Jam Master Jay, DJ Hurricane, Terminator X, and on—until I was older.  At one point in the late 1990’s DJs were releasing their own records with and without raps, and people were buying.  At some point, though, the market felt oversaturated with good but not great DJs, and the pioneers were starting to fade away.  Those pioneers still hold a certain air, though, and when one or someone releases material from those DJs, the music gets heard.  Such is the case with Steinski.

Steven “Steinski” Stein and his friend Doug “Double Dee” DiFranco were entranced by early hip hop records and started putting together their own records.  They became a hit in the underground scene for their mash-ups and dance records, though they never really achieved commercial success, a lot of which was due to copyright issues for the music they used.  Double Dee later on moved to a career in sound design for television, but Steinski has continued to put together records.  Their legacy has influenced a host of DJs, including big names such as DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist.  Illegal Art Records released a compilation of their records entitled What Does It All Mean?  1983-2006 Retrospective, which received critical praise.  What Does It All Mean is the subject of this entry.

#133 – Steinski, What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective (Metascore = 86)

With a retrospective, you generally get the best material that the artist released.  With these songs, you are getting many different songs “mashed together” into a song.  The key for any DJ is to string the songs together in a cohesive way that keeps the listener interested.  With Steinski’s mixes, you are hit with sounds and beats from so many sources that it’s hard to keep pace.  This reveals the remarkable creativity of Steinski; each sample is carefully linked to keep the pace going.  These songs also reveal the depth of knowledge Steinski had within the music; he had been attending rap clubs and concerts long before putting together his mixes, building his knowledge in hip hop to know how the songs should be.

“Lesson 1 – The Payoff Mix” introduced the masses to their style, but “Lesson 2 – The James Brown Mix” is the highlight for me here.  Mashing up James Brown hits with sound clips from movies and other music, Steinski and Double Dee created this sound barrage that sounds more cohesive and more exciting than “Lesson 1”.  When I listen to this record, I feel like I get a snapshot of the period that the song is trying to represent.  For instance, “The Motorcade Sped On” features clips from various John F. Kennedy speeches while also featuring sounds from his news media on the day of his assassination.  Much of Steinski’s work after the initial successes of the “Lessons” was to bring forward social issues through his songs.  The most poignant is “Number Three on Flight Eleven”, which contains sound clips from a flight attendant on United Flight 11 (one of the two airplanes to crash into the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11^th, 2001).  The song has such a dark tone that at times it is unnerving to listen to it.

Disc 2, entitled Nothing to Fear, should be listened to as one long song.  Sure, the disc says there are 28 tracks, but the listener should listen to the whole thing as one track since that was his original intention.  Nothing to Fear was created for BBC Radio in 2003 and reintroduced him to the listening audience.  Instead of the social issues that he addressed in other solo releases made after the “Lessons” mixes, he used Nothing to Fear to get back to basics.  It’s a great overall disc.

I feel that the album’s Metascore seems sufficient.  Overall it is a great dance record, but some of the experimental stuff can be tiring after a while (and “Number Three on Flight Eleven” is downright scary).  However, the good outweighs the bad, and the records serve proof that there would be no DJ Shadow, no Cut Chemist without Steinski.

Neon Bible

As I mentioned in a blog post back in late February or early March, the Arcade Fire won a Grammy this year for best album for The Suburbs.  My first introduction to them was actually “Intervention” off of their second long player, Neon Bible.  “Intervention” was an interesting introduction for me.  I latched onto the church pipe organ sound it had and the lyrics, which I found profound and could be translated different ways.  A few months later I heard “Keep the Car Running”, which I loved right away.

Neon Bible put the Arcade Fire on the map of popular music, helping to increase their audience size and to expand the reaches of their music.  Neon Bible is quite different from their first record, Funeral, which received a lot of critical praise.  Neon Bible also was critically hailed and is the topic of this entry.

# 92 – The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible (Metascore = 87)

This record is decidedly more edgy than the previous record.  According to online sources, Win Butler said the band looked at the world as an outsider looking in.  What they found was a world in turmoil—wars in different regions, greed, control in the arms of a few.  Butler purposely set out to fight these issues head on.  The name of the album itself speaks against one issue they studied while recording:  greedy televangelists embroiled in controversy.  This particular theme reappears in songs on the album (“Neon Bible”).  You can interpret this record in different ways, which makes the songs’ lyrics more intriguing; that ability to decide your own interpretation means more time to argue with someone else.

International war (particularly the United States’ campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq) was heavy on the band’s minds, too.  Songs like “Black Mirror”, “Intervention”, and other songs speak of how this imperialistic society and the individuals in power are destroying families, friendships, and society itself through greed and power.  One area the band is not afraid to address is poverty in Haiti, a lot of which is due to the individuals in power.  Régine Chassagne’s (Win Butler’s wife and bandmate) parents were from Haiti but migrated to Montreal during the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier; she frequently writes about the struggles there in her songs (“Black Wave/Bad Vibrations”).

Musically the band wanted a stripped down sound, but as they recorded they realized the lyrics demanded more than just guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards.  During the sessions, the band incorporated a number of different instruments to great effect.  The church pipe organ in “Intervention” is the best in my mind.  I think the sound does the best at capturing the heart ache that Butler sings about.

Overall, I enjoy Neon Bible, though not to the same degree that I enjoy The Suburbs or Funeral.  Unlike those albums, sometimes Neon Bible comes across as too over-the-top and occasionally preachy.  It is better than some of the other records I have heard, so I would agree with the Metascore (ok, maybe I’d knock it down 1 point, but that’s not much of a change).

Southern Harmony & Musical Companion

Before I go any further, this entry is not about the Black Crowes.  While the title of this entry shares the same name of one of my favorite all-time albums, I actually am more referring to how I would describe today’s topic—the Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut.  The Fleet Foxes themselves are not from the Southern United States; in fact, they hail from Washington state and Oregon.  Their music, though, feels closer to the folk sounds of the Appalachians, with primarily acoustic sounds accompanied by rich vocal harmonies.  Their harmonies are what captured my attention.

I need to thank my sister for introducing me to Fleet Foxes.  I had heard of them in passing a few months before my sister gave me an Apple iTunes Store gift card with a caveat—I had to pick up one song from the Fleet Foxes.  By chance, I was at the library around that time and found their eponymous debut, so I borrowed it.  Needless to say I was mesmerized.

Fleet Foxes received critical praise nationally and internationally and launched the band in to the music cosmos.  It is the subject of this blog entry.

# 75 – Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes (Metascore = 87)

Initially the Fleet Foxes enjoyed more success in Europe than they did in the U.S., particularly in the United Kingdom.  Tours there were sold out, and they were hailed by the media for taking a music that was steeped in tradition and making it solely their own.  They parlayed their successes there to appearances in the U.S., which helped boost record sales and the band’s popularity.

I probably could write a track-by-track analysis of this album, but I won’t go that far.  I love this album.  It’s a soothing album to hear for me.  I am tremendously biased when I hear this album.  Musically it’s lush with acoustic greatness and splashes of electric guitars throughout.  When I hear the music, I feel like I’m back in North Carolina in my childhood, recalling some early hymns and songs I had loved when I was a child, only the music has been given a modern stamp.  Acoustic guitars and pianos ring in almost every track, while electric guitars provide greater depth in the music.  These are amply supported by the bass guitarist and drummer, who provide a steady beat in every song.

The driving forces for me that make this record so great are the lyrics and the harmonies.  Robin Pecknold—chief songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist—has an amazing voice and gift for writing.  The way “White Winter Hymnal”, a literal story about a group of kids on a walk in the winter when young Michael takes a fall, is sung blows me away!  Every single time I hear this song, with its rich harmonies and happy pace, I’m just floored how something so simple could be so amazing to hear.  Every song is this way.  Perhaps there are meanings within the songs—most songwriters would tell you that unless a meaning is direct that actual meaning to the listener is up to the listener—but the stories themselves evoke picturesque scenes that you could practically paint on a canvas.  When I hear “Your Protector”, I imagine an Oregon Trail type scene where a man, whose wayward ways have led to this dire finale, is giving instructions to his family to not follow the paths that he has traversed.

How this album isn’t higher scored blows my mind.  I recognize that not everyone is going to appreciate this sound, but by analyzing the lyrics and pairing them with the music, one could plainly see how strong this record is.  This is a tight record with many amazing elements to it.  I would recommend it to just about anyone.

Veckatimest?

The first time I heard a song from the band Grizzly Bear was on Alt Nation on Sirius XM, when they played “Two Weeks”.  I was immediately taken by the chiming piano sound that opens the song, so I thought I would check the band out.  The name of the album “Two Weeks” is on is called Veckatimest.  I thought to myself, “what the hell is “veckatimest”?”  Turns out that the band named the album after a small island off the coast of Massachusetts they visited while recording the album; the name itself is Native American in origin.

The band Grizzly Bear is an interesting band overall.  Originally a moniker for Ed Droste’s music in the early 2000’s, Droste recruited the other band members after releasing their first album Horn of Plenty (2004).  All of the songs on that record were written by Droste, so their second record Yellow House (2006) was a more collaborative record amongst the four members.  Yellow House earned the quartet top album honors amongst several local papers and media in the New York City-Metro area (the band is based in Brooklyn), and the band’s popularity began to grow more rapidly.  They received high regards from Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead at the end of Radiohead’s tour (of which Grizzly Bear opened on the second leg).

# 181 – Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest (Metascore = 85)

According to band members, Veckatimest is a more accessible record than their previous records.  Chris Bear (drums, backing vocals) described the record: “I think that it’s kinda clearer, clearer equals more accessible I feel like clearer equals more accessible in general as a rule.”  They deliberately felt they had to make the record differently since the previous records were developed from songs that had been written by the members of the band, whereas coming into Veckatimest they had concepts but no developed songs.  The collaboration seems to have had a grand effect.

”Southern Point” and “Two Weeks” are my favorite songs from this album, particularly “Two Weeks”.  Both songs ring with rich harmonies and piano, lulling the listener into a trance.  Victoria Legrand of Beach House lends backing vocals to “Two Weeks” (if you know Beach House’s music, you know the voice she has adds to this lulling vibe).  Daniel Rossen (vocals, guitars, keyboards) and Droste share lead vocal duties, switching back and forth on the album and within the songs.  The songs at times sound like folk rock, pop, chamber pop, and lo-fi, sometimes mashed together, sometimes singular.

When I first heard the record months ago, I liked chunks of the album but not the whole thing.  I mentioned the lulling effect, and at times this record wasn’t transfixing me to the music or lyrics--it was putting me to sleep (sort of like the Bon Iver album before).  In this listen I have tried to take a fresher approach, and the album has grown on me some.  I don’t hold the record in as high of regard as critic sites such as Pitchfork or Under the Radar do, but it is much stronger hearing it now. 

Some songs work well for me here: obviously the aforementioned two, “All We Ask”, “Ready, Able”, and “While You Wait for the Others”.  Others just don’t draw me in emotionally to the magic of the lyrics and music.  “Dory” just didn’t move me the way the others did.  I admire the band for writing in a way that incorporates Veckatimest Island into personal relationships that blossom and fail during the record.  Musically this is a lush record, but at times the quiet sounds and beats seemed to lower my blood to a crawl.  Pitchfork reviewer Paul Thompson points out that while the album was probably conceived as a whole piece, the band still tends to meander as it did in earlier records.

Does the Metascore fit?  I would say so (despite my misgivings).  This record is strong thematically and musically, though their meanderings can be wearing at times.  They’re definitely a band to follow in the future.

Malian Blues Master

Having spoken in an earlier posting about Ali Farka Touré and his life, I won’t dwell too much on his life.  Towards the end of his life he and Toumani Diabate were working on a trilogy of albums that were dubbed the Hôtel Mandé Sessions for being recorded at the Hôtel Mandé in June and July 2004.  The first album from the sessions, In the Heart of the Moon, received a Grammy for Best Traditional World Album.  That album isn’t listed on Metacritic, but given its accolades I would imagine that it would have been given a high score and would have made the list.  As such, it is not, but I will investigate getting a copy.

The second record from the sessions, Boulevard de I’Indépendance, was released by Toumani Diabate and also was critically hailed as a masterpiece (another one to investigate).  The final record from those sessions, Savane, would be released shortly after Touré’s passing from bone cancer.  He had given his blessing on the final master, and the album was released by the awesome Nonesuch Records in 2006.  Savane is the topic of this entry.

# 5 – Ali Farka Touré, Savane (Metascore = 94)

Touré himself proclaimed this album as his best prior to his death.  He was extremely proud of the results, and the music reflects his belief.  Touré worked with a wide range of musicians during the session, several of which were non-African blues musicians.  Unlike Ali & Toumani, this record blends traditional Malian music with the blues of the Mississippi.  I would not be surprised if Bob Dylan ever attempted to try to recreate this music; it sounds right up his alley.

“Erdi” opens the album sounding straight from Delta, with Little George Sueref providing a straight-out-of-Muddy-Waters harmonica to the song.  Throughout his life Touré tried to take the music of his homeland and fuse it with other genres he encountered along his journey.  This album has a pulse to it that emanates from the best blues records.  “Yer Bounda Fara” also resonates with this Delta blues-via-Mali sound.  “Savane”, on the other hand, has a reggae sound to it.  To me “Savane” sounds like Touré took “Slave Driver” from the Bob Marley songbook and adapted it to his style.

Listening through this record, you can understand Touré’s optimism.  When he sings, he sings with a strength befitting of a blues legend such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker or Howlin’ Wolf.  The performances are fantastic, and the decision to mix and match players works extremely well, particularly in how each song can take on a different musical personality.  While traditional Malian music serves as the strong foundation, the fusion of blues, reggae, and chant makes this a diverse record.  I only wish I spoke the language of the lyrics he sings; I’m sure the lyrics are as original blues as of those I previously mentioned.

Savane is a fantastic record to hear.  I would say that if you want to start a journey into listening to world music, start here.  This is a great crossover for those jumping from Western-influenced music to the sounds of Africa and beyond.

The Return of a Pop One-Hit Wonder

After a long vacation and work-related delays, I am returning to write for my blog.  I’m realizing this project will not be completed within a year, which is a bummer but also reflects the breadth of the project itself.  While I have heard a little over one hundred of the albums, there are still almost a hundred left, most of which I don’t own and have no easy way of obtaining.  Hopefully I have some friends out there that will help.

When I saw Robyn’s name on my list of albums to hear, I was a bit perplexed.  Had I heard this name before?  Wasn’t there a “Robyn” that had released “Do You Know (What It Takes)” many years ago (the year I graduated high school, as a matter of fact)?  Turns out she is the very same Robyn, who seemingly disappeared from the United States scene for many years.  While Robin Carlsson (aka Robyn) remained relatively popular in her native Sweden and in parts of Europe, the lack of support from her record label through 2004, when she departed Jive Records (formerly she was with BMG before the record company consolidation in the mid-2000’s) and relatively disappeared.

In early 2005 she decided she would start her own record company to release her own records in order to gain total creative control over her material.  She then released her fourth studio album, Robyn, in March 2005.  Like leaving Jive and starting her own record company, Robyn represented a change of her sound and style.  Robyn received strong critical reviews and sold fairly well.  It is the topic of this blog entry.

#115 – Robyn, Robyn (Metascore = 86)

Unlike her previous albums, which were steeped in pop, Robyn introduced new musical elements to her songs, including electronica, rap, R&B and new age.  While she still sings throughout the record, she also does a fair amount of rapping, which seems a little out of place for a former pop star.  “Curriculum Vitae” hypes Robyn’s accomplishments and the skills that she possesses (though I find myself largely doubting and ignoring this).  Robyn herself comes out like a prize fighter in “Konichiwa Bitches”, hyping her own assets while showcasing this new rapping ability.  She actually presents herself very well, sounding assured and confident like Eve or Gwen Stefani.

“Cobrastyle” I recognized from the version from the band the Teddybears, of whom Klas Âhlund collaborates with Robyn on lyrics and music.  “Cobrastyle” also sounds more reggae or ska, another element nonexistent in her pop work.  “Handle Me” is her first blatant pop offering, but unlike the pop of her earlier career, the lyrics are darker, more mature than before.  She harshly disses this guy that left her high and dry.  “Be Mine!” was the album’s first official single and, like “Handle Me”, is a pop offering from the record with a darker twist, but the music here is the compelling aspect of the song, with the orchestral pieces interwoven with the electronic beats.

Overall, I have been very impressed with the growth in Robyn’s style.  I like the creative depth she has made, showing off her abilities to work within contrasting styles such as reggae and pop.  The music here is very good (especially “Crash and Burn Girl”) and innovative considering when the record was originally released (in 2004 in Sweden up through 2006 in the U.S.).  I do have a few qualms, though.  Lyrically there are places that I felt the lyrics lacked depth.  “Who’s That Girl” seems cliché pop; it sounds like a Jennifer Lopez throwaway.  “Robotboy” is a joke.  The intermittent talk tracks (little to no music and altered voice tracks announcing something coming up) are annoying here, too.  Had she edited her track list a bit, this album would have been a lot stronger.  This is not to say that the record overall is weak; on the contrary, the album is pretty good despite its flaws.

Robyn is an entertaining record and a surprising record given the artist’s history.  I think the Metascore is a little generous given some of the flaws, but the record was innovative for its time and still holds up pretty well.