So, I guess I'm predisposed to like Dazzle Ships. I mean, I enjoy pseudo-totalitarian themes in art, synth pop, and baroque pop. (I once wrote about Heartbeat City as the epitome of baroque pop, but I think that article has vanished somewhere on the internet.) Regardless, I genuinely believe that Dazzle Ships is a very good album and is certainly better than anything OMD has released since. I really admire some of the more experimental-type tracks which are interspersed with the regular pop-type songs. Telegraph in particular might be as good as any song OMD has ever made, and that includes Enola Gay. I particularly enjoy the crazy tone that the multiple tracks give to Andy McClusky's voice.
Junk Culture is not a bad album but pretty much represents OMD beginning to atone for their more experimental side with a long series of pure pop albums. Architechture and Morality is clearly the best OMD album, but this one is more experimental while retaining a lot of quality tracks. Dazzle Ships deserves more love than it gets. Oh, and, Of All The Things We've Made is just as touching if not moreso than Souvenir. So mad points for that.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
December 25, 2008
Music I Enjoyed In 2008
In no particular order, with one exception:
- Fuck Buttons, Fuck Buttons: Two British DJs who want to be the Boredoms except with all the grit filtered out through a silicone and plastic sieve.
- Vivian Girls, Vivian Girls: They're the amalgamation of about eight different sub-cultural zeitgeists, but that's forgivable because they're catchy too.
- Wayne, Carter III: Yep, so the wait was worth it and his hipster icon-hood only enriches his multi-faceted ironic appeal.
- Wale, Mixtape About Nothing: I'd like almost any album that combines a Seinfeld concept with rapping about the DC area, but it helps that this guy has great flow, too.
- Stephin Merritt, Distortion: Dude's willfully evading repetition of 69 Love Songs, but still makes a pretty decent recording.
- T.I., Paper Trail: The two songs that have dominated everyone's life for the past two months or so speak well enough for themselves.
- Max Tundra, Parallax Error Beheads You: Welcome back, Mr. Tundra.
- Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles: Luckily, I, too, enjoy the music from Mega Man.
- Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst: Emo Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Nebraskan. This time, he's nearly legitimate.
December 13, 2007
2007 in music
Top ten albums of 2007 that I listened to:
10) Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline
Because it was [is] so useful during exams.
9) Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
Sonically, in full Elvis Costello mode but still a little too cute, cuddly, and edgeless for my taste. Yet, a handful of solid hooks overcome some seriously stupid lyrics.
8) Andorra by Caribou
This ostensibly electronica album [in as much as any song made by a single person on a computer constitutes electronica] plays like Brian Wilson [on his blissed out finest] finds his first circuit board but the live [I think] drums stun more than Dennis's ever did.
7) A Place to Bury Strangers [s/t]
I'm a sucker for anything fuzz and drone. Even though these guys bite Jesus and Mary Chain hard, they do it with such earnest adoration that they get a pass.
6) Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective
I really wanted to hate these guys, if only for their pretentious names, but it didn't quite work out that way. Not nearly as willfully weird as some would have you believe; solid pop tunes processed through an indie-fied lens.
5) I-Empire by Angles & Airwaves
More prog-emo guiltiness [last year I dug My Chemical Romance] but closer to U2 than Smashing Pumpkins on the sub-genre's spectrum. DeLonge is more interested in being catchy here than on his last album and huge hooks can compensate for many sins. The reverb and flanger go to 11 - and Blink goes to outer space. Oh and you can detect a strong hint of Appleseed Cast. Which is nice.
4) Wild Mountain Nation by Blitzen Trapper
Country for the pfork set and even though some guy from this band had a pretty moronic interview on the aforementioned fork, he can still write a tune or two. It's said these guys are like Pavement but I never really got the hillbilly vibe from listening to flux=rad! or anything. Kind of like a fun drive through the back hills in the familiar safety of your luxury automobile with a reservation at a nice hotel in a major city waiting for you.
3) New Moon by Elliott Smith
More Elliott Smith is good Elliott Smith and even though some of these songs are kind of inferior to the versions that ended up on his real albums, it doesn't really matter. His pain and passion come through his voice and his instrument, a tidy feat indeed.
2) Neon Bible by Arcade Fire
Apocalyptic tones for the most recent armageddon, but the end times worship of these lo-fi heroes from the north is warranted. Tragedy and, yea a bit of hope, rocking hard and histrionic.
1) Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
About three incarnations of Bowie, two Johnny Rotten neé Lydons, and loads of NYC inhabit this taut, streamlined ode to getting old and staying hip. Evocative to the point of being maudlin [dude's almost 40 after all] but it's postmodern pop that you can dance to.
Best pop songs of 2007:
Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston; Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne; Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani
Stand by Me and Mickey are great songs and I really liked them the second time around too. Vocoder is the new cowbell and pop is the new punk so it works. Oh and I love the crystal-clear tone of each incredibly articulated instrument on the Stefani track.
Miscellanea:
Graduation by Kanye West; The Big Doe Rehab by Ghostface Killah; 8 Diagrams by the Wu Tang Clan
I'm still trying to comprehend the Wu album but it, at least, will lead to a hopefully fun tour. Kanye deserves the major awards he will surely garner but the album lacks personality and the 'college' themes are wearing thin. Ghost's mini-renaissance continues and his album is 07's de facto best in hip hop.
Night Falls Over Kortedela by Jens Lekman
He's supposed to be like Stephin Merritt because he has a broken heart, formalist sensibility, and deep voice but the comparisons are not apt; Lekman lacks Merritt's cynical wit and his symphonic bombast rings false. Beloved because he's Scandinavian or something.
Our Love to Admire by Interpol
A step backward. "Sleep tight, grim right" or such nonsense can be ignored when the tunes are good, but with none of the energy and all the artifice of past albums, the lamely sexual musings on threesomes and choking (?) seem contrived.
Super Mario Galaxy OST
Every theme on this soundtrack is pervaded by nostalgia. Actual nostalgia in terms of Mario themes symphonically reconstructed and reconstructed nostalgia in terms of warm, full string sections that make the game an epic experience. Like a Disney soundtrack but better because there are no annoying lyrics and it's Mario.
MF Doom
Dude used to release like three albums a year but has since vanished. Time to expect the worst for the Ghost collaboration, if it comes out. Putting Master Shake & co. on the most recent album was a move of monumental desperation and ruined every track.
Sleater-Kinney
Eighteen months on, the brilliance of their vital catalogue persists; bypassing major missteps, yet pleasantly varied in tone. It doesn't hurt that Carrie Brownstein's new blog is endlessly charming and insightful.
10) Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline
Because it was [is] so useful during exams.
9) Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
Sonically, in full Elvis Costello mode but still a little too cute, cuddly, and edgeless for my taste. Yet, a handful of solid hooks overcome some seriously stupid lyrics.
8) Andorra by Caribou
This ostensibly electronica album [in as much as any song made by a single person on a computer constitutes electronica] plays like Brian Wilson [on his blissed out finest] finds his first circuit board but the live [I think] drums stun more than Dennis's ever did.
7) A Place to Bury Strangers [s/t]
I'm a sucker for anything fuzz and drone. Even though these guys bite Jesus and Mary Chain hard, they do it with such earnest adoration that they get a pass.
6) Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective
I really wanted to hate these guys, if only for their pretentious names, but it didn't quite work out that way. Not nearly as willfully weird as some would have you believe; solid pop tunes processed through an indie-fied lens.
5) I-Empire by Angles & Airwaves
More prog-emo guiltiness [last year I dug My Chemical Romance] but closer to U2 than Smashing Pumpkins on the sub-genre's spectrum. DeLonge is more interested in being catchy here than on his last album and huge hooks can compensate for many sins. The reverb and flanger go to 11 - and Blink goes to outer space. Oh and you can detect a strong hint of Appleseed Cast. Which is nice.
4) Wild Mountain Nation by Blitzen Trapper
Country for the pfork set and even though some guy from this band had a pretty moronic interview on the aforementioned fork, he can still write a tune or two. It's said these guys are like Pavement but I never really got the hillbilly vibe from listening to flux=rad! or anything. Kind of like a fun drive through the back hills in the familiar safety of your luxury automobile with a reservation at a nice hotel in a major city waiting for you.
3) New Moon by Elliott Smith
More Elliott Smith is good Elliott Smith and even though some of these songs are kind of inferior to the versions that ended up on his real albums, it doesn't really matter. His pain and passion come through his voice and his instrument, a tidy feat indeed.
2) Neon Bible by Arcade Fire
Apocalyptic tones for the most recent armageddon, but the end times worship of these lo-fi heroes from the north is warranted. Tragedy and, yea a bit of hope, rocking hard and histrionic.
1) Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
About three incarnations of Bowie, two Johnny Rotten neé Lydons, and loads of NYC inhabit this taut, streamlined ode to getting old and staying hip. Evocative to the point of being maudlin [dude's almost 40 after all] but it's postmodern pop that you can dance to.
Best pop songs of 2007:
Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston; Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne; Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani
Stand by Me and Mickey are great songs and I really liked them the second time around too. Vocoder is the new cowbell and pop is the new punk so it works. Oh and I love the crystal-clear tone of each incredibly articulated instrument on the Stefani track.
Miscellanea:
Graduation by Kanye West; The Big Doe Rehab by Ghostface Killah; 8 Diagrams by the Wu Tang Clan
I'm still trying to comprehend the Wu album but it, at least, will lead to a hopefully fun tour. Kanye deserves the major awards he will surely garner but the album lacks personality and the 'college' themes are wearing thin. Ghost's mini-renaissance continues and his album is 07's de facto best in hip hop.
Night Falls Over Kortedela by Jens Lekman
He's supposed to be like Stephin Merritt because he has a broken heart, formalist sensibility, and deep voice but the comparisons are not apt; Lekman lacks Merritt's cynical wit and his symphonic bombast rings false. Beloved because he's Scandinavian or something.
Our Love to Admire by Interpol
A step backward. "Sleep tight, grim right" or such nonsense can be ignored when the tunes are good, but with none of the energy and all the artifice of past albums, the lamely sexual musings on threesomes and choking (?) seem contrived.
Super Mario Galaxy OST
Every theme on this soundtrack is pervaded by nostalgia. Actual nostalgia in terms of Mario themes symphonically reconstructed and reconstructed nostalgia in terms of warm, full string sections that make the game an epic experience. Like a Disney soundtrack but better because there are no annoying lyrics and it's Mario.
MF Doom
Dude used to release like three albums a year but has since vanished. Time to expect the worst for the Ghost collaboration, if it comes out. Putting Master Shake & co. on the most recent album was a move of monumental desperation and ruined every track.
Sleater-Kinney
Eighteen months on, the brilliance of their vital catalogue persists; bypassing major missteps, yet pleasantly varied in tone. It doesn't hurt that Carrie Brownstein's new blog is endlessly charming and insightful.
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