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Recently:
Missy Elliott - "This Is Not a Test"
Gustav Mahler - "Das Lied von der Erde"
Leonard Cohen - "The Best of L.C."
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A.R. Kane - "i"
Best of 2002:
Bob Drake - "The Skull Mailbox"
Astrobotnia - "Pt. 1"
Sonic Youth - "Murray Street"
Blackalicious - "Blazing Arrow"
Rovo - "Tonic 2001"
Wilco - "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"
Yohimbe Brothers - "Front End Lifter"
Musica Transonic - "Hard Rock Transonic"
Apples in Stereo - "Velocity of Sound"
Anthony Braxton & Taylor Ho Bynum - "Duets (Wesleyan) 2002"
John Zorn - "IAO"
Fenn O'Berg - "The Return of Fenn O'Berg"
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Friday, July 9, 2004
Well it's July now, and the N.E.R.D. album is still the best I've heard so far this year (though there have been many worthy runner-ups, including efforts by Magnetic Fields, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, A.C. Newman, the Streets, Dave Douglas, and others), so in honor of that, here is a link to the best and most descriptive review of "Fly or Die" that I've yet found on the web (courtesy of PopMatters).
- o. nate
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
N.E.R.D. - Fly or Die
I didn't expect to like this album as much as I do. On a whim, I gave it a spin at the listening station at Tower, and a few minutes later I was in line to buy it. Since then, I haven't gone a day without listening to it.
On paper, it doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would be my cup of tea: funk metal anyone? I enjoyed the odd Fishbone song, but I was never a true fan - certainly, I never bought any of their albums. Same with Faith No More. And I've always loathed the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Yet for some reason, when I spin Fly or Die, I just can't stop listening to the damn thing. For one thing, it has massive hooks. I mean humongous. Hooks you could park a couple of Hummers in. Choruses that you have to actively restrain yourself from singing along with. Melodies so infectious that Richard Clarke has a task force to study them.
Furthermore, these guys know something about songcraft. In the 60's they would have been the kingpins of the Brill Building (move over Bacharach and Sedaka). These songs are as tightly constructed as a Swiss timepiece. Verse, chorus, bridge - whatever all those other sections are called - they've got em all. And each section is so inventive that in the hands of a lesser songwriting intellect, it would be a whole song. I can easily imagine Stereolab, for example, spinning a 70+ minute CD out of the melodic material in just one of the songs on Fly or Die.
Some may quibble about the merits of Pharrell's voice. It's true that he wouldn't have a shot on American Idol. But in my book, that's a plus. Give me the earnest amateur over the trained professional any day of the week. If sappy histrionics and larynx gynmnastics are your thing, don't bother with N.E.R.D. But if you think that attitude and personality count for more than octave range, then keep reading, because Pharrell has got the stuff that matters in the vocal department.
And the lyrics! Ohmigod, the lyrics are great. By turns, comical, lustful, political, pointed, thoughtful, empathetic, or just plain weird - they lead your brain on logocentric journeys while your ears bob amongst the soundwaves. The song about the baby that falls in the ocean has got to be the strangest maternal ode ever committed to wax. "I was waiting for YOOOUUUU!" I get chills just thinking about it.
Anyway, I fear my enthusiasm may be getting the better of me. But really, if you like and care about music, you owe it to yourself to go listen to this record. If you're like me, it will kick your ass!
- o. nate
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Fiery Furnaces at Northsix, Brooklyn - March 26, 2004
If you've read my list of favorite 2003 albums on this site, then you'll know that I'm a big fan of the FF's first album, Gallowsbird's Bark. However, since I missed their NYC area show last year at the Mercury Lounge, I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing them live until last night at Northsix in Williamsburg. In summary, they did not disappoint.
After two ho-hum opening acts (Holy Ghost and the slightly more interesting Prosaics), the FF's took the stage fairly promptly. I don't know if the show eventually sold out, but the good-sized Northsix space was pretty much full to capacity by the time the FF's came out. I was standing over on the right side of the stage, where I had a nice side view, and was not subjected to the direct frontal blast from the club's capable sound system. The sound was actually quite good: very clear, loud, and balanced, without noticeable distortion or unpleasant harmonics.
The FF's had just come off a European tour, and they sounded like a very disciplined and rehearsed unit. Matt Friedberger seated himself behind a Rhodes piano at stage right for much of the performance, although occasionally he would stand up and don a guitar. Eleanor was behind the mike at center stage, also occasionally strapping on a guitar. At stage left was another band member whose name I don't know, who played keyboards and bass, and at the back of the stage was the drummer, who was notable for, among other things, playing most of the show shirtless. It was actually pretty warm in the club (as well as being a very pleasantly mild spring Williamsburg night outside).
All of the band members acquitted themselves very well in what was, technically, a very challenging set. The FF's like to run through their songs without pausing, transitioning one song into the next in a medley fashion. These transitions were without exception executed seamlessly. The overall effect was very impressive, and the high-adrenaline quality of the performance whipped the crowd into a high state of excitement.
Most of the songs from Gallowsbird's Bark made an appearance, as did a few new songs which are presumably from their forthcoming Blueberry Boat. The arrangements differed somewhat from the album and the songs were often restructured or truncated so as to lead into other different songs, but all of the songs were immediately recognizeable and were played at about the same level of refinement as the studio versions - not an easy task. Did I mention that the band sounded great?
On stage, both Friedbergers have fairly intense, serious, focussed demeanors. You can tell that they're having fun and enjoying the music, but there is an urgency and discipline about them as well - not too surprising, perhaps, considering the technical demands of what they were doing - but also a sign that they take their art seriously. Though she made little effort to chat up the crowd, Eleanor had considerable stage presence and charisma. She rarely stood still, and her physical energy focussed the crowd's attention into the kineticism of the music. As a singer, she is not given to histrionics. Shadings of emotion were subtle, but when she modulated into something rueful or sad, you felt it. When she sang something playful, you experienced the joy as well. In other words, she evoked a surprisingly broad range of feeling without ever seeming maudlin or melodramatic. Some of this can be attributed to the consistent sense of urgency and tension that she imparted to every song. Matt didn't sing very much in this particular show, but he seemed to enjoy his role as instrumentalist, breaking up his serious demeanor with frequent wry grins at Eleanor. All in all, the band seemed to be having a good time. This was a kind of homecoming show for them (in fact, their only NYC area appearance before going back out on tour in the UK), and I think that may have contributed to the happy atmosphere.
So to sum up again: it was a great, great show, and I would certainly recommend to anyone who likes the album even a little bit to go seem them live if you get a chance.
- o. nate
Sunday, January 11, 2004
2003 Late-Breaking Entries
I finally got around to hearing Ellen Allien's Berlinette, and since it was:
- released in 2003, and
- kicks ass,
I would have to make room for it somewhere on my year end list. But rather than unceremoniously dump one of my previous choices, I will just note it here. Probably the most creative electronic record I've yet heard from last year - it effortlessly spans the worlds of glitch-pop, micro-house, IDM and other stuff too weird to describe. Nitsuh Abebe's excellent review is here.
- o. nate
Monday, January 5, 2004
Best Albums of 2003 (Honorable Mention)
The next 10 albums (#11-20) not in order:
Jay-Z The Black Album
Sean Paul Dutty Rock
Prefuse 73 One Word Extinguisher
Donna Summer This Needs To Be Your Style
Nathan Michel Dear Bicycle
Calexico Feast of Wire
Matthew Shipp Equilibrium
Cat Power You Are Free
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell
David Banner Mississippi: The Album
Best Singles of 2003
My favorite singles of the year (not in order):
Outkast "Hey Ya"
Outkast "The Way You Move"
Bonecrusher "Never Scared"
Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz "Get Low"
Kelis "Milkshake"
Sean Paul "Get Busy"
Sean Paul "Like Glue"
Nas "I Can"
Dizzee Rascal "I Luv You"
Basement Jaxx feat. JC Chasez "Plug It In"
Fannypack "Cameltoe"
Jay-Z "Change Clothes"
Pharrell feat. Jay-Z "Frontin'"
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?"
Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z "Beware of the Boys (Remix)"
- o. nate
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Top 10 Albums of 2003
I realize that I am showing my old-fashioned ways by putting up an album list rather than a singles list, but the sad fact is that I still buy lots of albums, and I rarely listen to the radio (too many commercials) or download singles (no time). So, without further ado:
10. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Pig Lib. This one was a pleasant surprise. Pleasant in the sense that Malkmus seems to have averted the downward trajectory that he had charted on his previous two outings: the first solo Malkmus and Pavement's swan song, Terror Twilight. Not quite a comeback, this is still the first Malkmus album in some time that feels comfortable being itself. The first strength of a Malkmus album is ever the lyrics, and the seemingly tossed-off lines that stick in your craw are here in abundance. There is something uniquely Malkmusian in the pathos of the couplet: "Animal midnight/Shit for a brain" (trust me, it works in context). The tunes are also here, with some pleasantly offbeat proggy jams hearkening back to the early 70s - a bygone age when Malkmus was no doubt still in diapers - yet the Jicks handle them convincingly.
9. Clone Defects - The Shapes of Venus. It is albums like this one that make us want to say silly things like, "Rock music was meant to be sung off key." Listening to the wobbly vocal exertions of the Defects' snarly singer, Tim Vulgar, one discovers the new life in this old cliche. In the midst of a sound as boldly go-for-broke as the Defects' stomping, soulful garage trash, any effort to maintain pitch would seem effete. The gritty guitar of Wild Mid Wes cuts like a rusty blade, while the frantic drums and bass lay down a suitably gonzo backbeat. When the Defects fall into a groove (which they do often and somewhat unpredictably) they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, on the lyrical front, Vulgar's tales of youth gone bad, dogs playing poker, the wonders of extra-terrestial females, etc., are smarter and funnier than they have any right to be.
8. Postal Service - Give Up. All that is old becomes new again, and so it is with the retro-futurist sounds of the Postal Service. While tipping their hats to the many developments in drum programming and synth sounds that have taken place in the past couple of decades, the Postal Service makes songs that would not sound out of place on an 80s Pet Shop Boys or Human League LP. The Service steals the girl-boy dialogue trick used to such great effect on the League's smash single, "Don't You Want Me?", for their "Nothing Better", and while nothing on this album is as good as "Don't You Want Me?", what is? There's something slightly smug in singer Ben Gibbard's manner that grates, but I find myself liking his lyrics almost in spite of myself. There is real warmth and emotion in these songs, which belies the old-fashioned notion that electronic music must be cold and heartless.
7. New Pornographers - Electric Version. For their second album, the New Pornos have scrubbed and polished their winning power-pop formula to a glistening AM-radio-ready sheen. This is one of the most relentless albums that I heard this year: the hooks come fast and furious, each song vying to be the one that will lodge itself permanently in your brain. Neko Case's charismatic and full-bodied vocals provide a nice foil to the ineffably wimpy indie nasality of the band's male singers. The lyrics are witty and engaging, though perhaps a bit self-conscious in places. Nevertheless, this is an accomplished piece of popcraft that begs repeated listening.
6. Masada Anniversary Edition: Voices in the Wilderness. If you're not familiar with John Zorn's ongoing Masada project, it started out as a traditional jazz quartet, and has since taken on a variety of guises: string trio, electric surf band, chamber group, and so on. The material - all penned by the prolific Zorn - could be very briefly described as klezmer-meets-Ornette. On this double CD, released to celebrate the 10th(?) anniversary of Masada, we are treated to a generous sampling of Masada covers - ie., Masada tunes performed by musical acts of various stripes. These types of cover albums on a theme (typically tribute albums or charitable one-offs) are usually dull affairs, but in this case the bands have been chosen judiciously, and they outdo themselves. There are too many noteworthy tracks to note in this brief space, but among the standouts are tracks by the Cracow Klezmer Band, Rova Saxophone Quartet, the Tin Hat Trio, Peter Apfelbaum, and Jenny Scheinman.
5. Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland. For a guy with no voice, it's amazing how well Robert Wyatt can sing. Listening to his breathtaking version of the Jobim-DeMoraes standard, "Insensatez", included on this disc, one is impressed by the weight of feeling that his reedy, seemingly fragile voice can accomodate. One is also impressed by how well the smoky jazz-noir shuffle of the accompaniment complements this material. Among the original pieces on the disc, "Old Europe", with lyrics by Wyatt's wife, poet Alfreda Benge, is equally successful at conveying a mood. When Wyatt sings the line, "Paris at night", you instantly step into a dimly lit basement jazz club in the heart of the Rive Gauche. Elsewhere, Wyatt conjures the horrors of war and reminds us that for him, music is always a deadly serious business.
4. Steve Lacy - The Beat Suite. For this suite of songs, Lacy has taken poetry by Beat Generation poets, such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gregory Corso, and set it to spiky chamber jazz. The often atonal, serpentine logic of Lacy's melodies, played and sung in unison by Lacy's soprano sax and his wife Irene Aebi's somewhat imposing stentorian art-song voice (which reminds me of the esteemed Dagmar Krause of Art Bears and Slapp Happy fame), fits perfectly with the demotic rhythms and surreal imagery of the poetry. They are accompanied by Lacy's longstanding crack rhythm team of Jean-Jacques Avenel and John Betsch on bass and drums and the contrapuntal ingenuity of George Lewis on trombone. This may be the only time you'll find yourself humming lines like: "I'm going to roll up/A monkey and smoke it."
3. L'Ensemble Pierre Labbé - Risque et Pendule. Pierre Labbé is a saxophonist and composer who is active in the Montreal-based musique actuelle (literally "music now") scene and has played with members of the Canuck-prog band Miriodor. On this, his debut disc as a leader, he and his cohorts split the difference between avant-garde jazz, contemporary composition, and prog, while in the process forging a sound that is uniquely their own. There is a nice balance between the structured rigor of composition and the adrenaline rush of improvisation. The mix of instruments - tenor sax, violin, cello, double bass, electric guitar, and drums - hints at the stylistic breadth the band is capable of. They can sound like a string trio, a swinging jazz group, or an experimental rock band - all within the space of one song. Yet, thanks to Labbé's clever writing, the juxtaposition of styles is organic and seamless.
2. Fiery Furnaces - Gallowsbird's Bark. With this, their jaw-dropping debut, the Fiery Furnaces single-handedly bring fun and adventure back to the realm of rock. If I had to guess, I would say that the Friedberger sibs have been spending some time with Harry Smith's landmark Anthology of American Folk Music. Little snippets of traditional folk tunes peek out here and there. "I've played cards in England/I've played cards in Spain" is lifted from "The Cuckoo", a tune performed by Clarence Ashley in the Harry Smith Anthology. There is something very old and very American about these twisted little ditties, something that speaks to the old-fashioned pleasures of song-making - of singing around a campfire or an old family spinet. Anyone who grew up playing games of the imagination with a brother or sister or friend will feel right at home here. The folk elements are not played straight, rather they have been reconfigured as off-kilter rock, in the tradition stretching back from Pavement to Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, bands that evoked classic song forms while simultaneously re-imagining them. However, Eleanor Friedberger's earnest, fresh-faced vocals are miles away from Stephen Malkmus's lazy drawl or Captain Beefheart's Wagnerian Howlin' Wolfisms, and the music has a lighter touch as well, with cleverly deployed piano giving the proceedings an almost vaudeville feeling at times.
1. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. What is there to say about the new Outkast double-album that hasn't already been said, either for or against it? The haters hate, the lovers love. The album's detractors have been very efficient at pre-empting the possible reasons that its fans might use to justify their appreciation. You can't say that it stretches the boundaries of hip-hop, says this conventional wisdom, since the group is clearly going in the wrong direction, bringing in elements such as singing and guitars that hearken backwards, towards rock. You can't say that it shows a successful act braving the risk of commercial failure by taking an artistic risk, since the old dichotomy of art versus commerce is a rockist cliché. And whatever you do, please don't mention the word "genius". I have to ask myself, Would I like this record so much if it wasn't currently dominating the singles chart as it dominated the album chart a few weeks ago? While there is certainly something invigorating about finding out that lots of other people like something that you like, I honestly believe that this album would still be my number one choice for 2003 even if it was languishing at the bottom of the charts. The reasons that I like Speakerboxxx/The Love Below so much have very little to do with the hypothetical reasons that I laid out a few sentences ago. Is it stretching the boundaries of hip hop? Who knows? If it is, it certainly has plenty of company in that category. This was a year that saw a plenitude of innovation in the world of popular hip-hop. Was it a commercial risk? Again, I couldn't say. Though the André 3000 disc may be a departure from what the band has done in the past, it's hardly his Trans or Metal Machine Music. If anything, singles such as "Hey Ya!" seem like a brilliantly calculated missile aimed nowhere if not at the top of the charts. No, the reasons that I like this album so much are the same old reasons that I like any album: I love listening to it. No album that I heard this year was at once so danceable, so hummable, and so invigorating. In particular, on The Love Below, I hear the sound of a restless musical imagination that synthesizes elements of funk, r&b, hip-hop, rock, techno, and jazz into a lean, propulsive sound that is at once organic and completely natural. Whether you think this album looks forward to a brave new future, or backwards to a rich and varied past, the sound it makes is here in the present, and the sound is undeniable.
- o. nate
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