New Music – Showbams

New Music: tUnE-yArDs – Nikki Nack

May 6, 2014 by The Bam Team Leave a Comment

tUnE-yArDs – Nikki Nack

Top Tracks:
“Water Fountain”
“Real Thing”
“Hey Life”

Album Highlights: “Oh my God I use my lungs – soft and loud, anyway feels good.” Merrill Garbus returns with Nikki Nack, the third Tune-Yards album and follow-up to 2011’s critically-adored W H O K I L L, and it’s those lungs that are again the star of the show. Over 13 tracks of playful and percussive art-pop, Garbus wrestles with self-doubt & rootlessness, and engages her social conscience through the jubilant and explosive power of her voice.

Nikki Nack excels when Garbus is focused on personal inspiration – as on the meditative opening track “Find a New Way”, about getting herself out of a creative rut, and the buoyant “Hey Life”, where she struggles with feeling overextended and unable to slow down. In lesser hands this kind of subject matter could feel trite, but Garbus’ exuberant spirit and giddy talent for genre collages make the songs feel genuinely life-affirming. It’s exhilarating to hear her belt out lines such as “I’d like to smell the roses but I’m running running all of the time,” and “I come from the land of slaves, let’s go Redskins let’s go Braves” for the first time, a sensation that is then topped on successive listens when you’re singing along at the top of your lungs with her.

Garbus’ voice once again handles the lion’s share of the melodic elements on Nikki Nack, while bass, percussion and kitschy synths provide most of the rhythmic and harmonic support (her ukelele sits on the sideline for much of the duration). The crackling eclecticism of W H O K I L L has been reigned in ever so slightly on Nikki Nack, and while Tune-Yards’ music now sounds familiar in a way that it didn’t before, there are still moments that feel genuinely fresh for this project, as on the rousing “Time of Dark” and the serene, R&B-tinged “Wait for a Minute”.

But Garbus doesn’t have to surprise in order to dazzle. Lead single “Water Fountain” is quintessential Tune-Yards – the song marries a exuberant jump-rope rhyme with lyrics about dying cities and Haiti’s food crisis, and pulls it off with aplomb. She’s at her most sassy on “Real Thing, an afro/synthpop/doo-wop/hip-hop hybrid that plays with the inherent contradiction of trying to find our true selves. And then there’s “Why Do We Dine On the Tots?” a Swiftian interlude about food ethics that provides some twisted comic relief before the album’s home stretch.

Album Lowlight: When Garbus shifts her attention on Nikki Nack to social issues, the results are mixed. “Stop That Man” attempts to address white guilt in the aftermath of Treyvon Martin/George Zimmerman, but the plea in the song’s chorus falls strangely flat. Bouncy album closer “Manchild”, takes on date-rape with the memorable refrain “I mean it – don’t beat up on my body,” and although it’s a rallying cry worth supporting, the song ultimately feels like a missed opportunity. But the album’s single certifiable dud is “Sink-O”, a busy, sugary number that wouldn’t be out of place on an irritating children’s TV show, and is only redeemed by the fact that it provides greater appreciation for how often Tune-Yards does this kind of thing right.

Takeaway: The acrobatic physicality of Garbus’ voice is, once again, complimented on Nikki Nack by songs that fully inhabit the corporeal and spiritual worlds. “There will be always something to lean your weight into,” she sings on “Look Around”. It’s a declaration of loyalty and interconnection, and it’s an act of the body. Everywhere on Nikki Nack these two concerns meet in songs that feel therapeutic – both for the listening audience and, I’m sure, Garbus herself – because of the sense of spiritual innocence, wonder, optimism and love for life manifested through her voice (and the beating of her drums). Tune-Yards will likely still remain a cult favorite, as Garbus’ unconventional femininity and outsized personality can strike some as garish and off-putting. But for listeners who are able to tune in to her wacky frequency, Tune-Yards leaves one feeling stimulated and edified, and hopefully inspired. Nikki Nack is idiosyncratic soul music, and though not without its missteps, it’s alive in a way that little music today is.

~Karl Kukta

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: New Music, Nikki Nack, tUnE-yArDs

New Music: Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots

April 29, 2014 by Josh Herwitt Leave a Comment

Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots //

Top Tracks:
“Everyday Robots”
“Lonely Press Play”
“Mr. Tembo”

Album Highlights: It’s been quite some time since music fans have had a reason to pay attention to Blur or Gorillaz, but that doesn’t mean Damon Albarn has fallen off the face of the earth. In fact, over the last two years, the English singer-songwriter has collaborated with some big names: Flea and Tony Allen for starters (on 2012’s Rocket Juice & the Moon), and later the legendary Brian Eno, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, members of Metronomy and Django Django, as well as a host of Malian musicians for his Africa Express project — the result being 2013’s Maison Des Jeunes.

But Everyday Robots marks Albarn’s first official solo album, following a venture into the film and opera worlds for a short time. On the 12-track LP, he channels a slight folk-soul sound that may be best characterized by the record’s title track and first single, a deliberate social commentary on technology’s adverse effect on modern-day humanity. “We are everyday robots on our phones,” Albarn croons over hauntingly beautiful strings to open the song, setting the mood for a relatively sleepy album highlighted by other such dreary numbers as “Lonely Press Play” and “The Selfish Giant,” the latter featuring Bat for Lashes’ Natasha Khan on background vocals.

If there’s one outlier on Everyday Robots though, it’s the playful “Mr. Tembo,” which recounts the story of a baby elephant Albarn met in Tanzania to the tune of a joyful, ukulele-based melody. While Albarn’s experiences traveling the world serve as lyrical fodder for a large chunk of the record, he also makes a point of continuing his working relationship with Eno, joining forces with the fellow Brit on a couple of cuts, including the extensive, yet soothing, “You and Me” in which he ponders his own existence.

Album Lowlight: As seldom as Albarn’s songwriting chops require questioning, there are moments on Everyday Robots when not everything falls perfectly into place. “Hostiles” continues where “Everyday Robots” leaves off, but it doesn’t offer anything different from what we hear just minutes prior. In the meantime, “Hollow Ponds” issues a similar sentiment, leaving the listener longing for something more. And with tracks like “Parakeet” and “Seven High” serving more as filler than substance, it’s not totally surprising that Albarn’s solo debut feels short despite spanning a total of almost 47 minutes.

Takeaway: It’s clear from listening to Everyday Robots that Albarn has a lot on his mind and he’s spent a lot of time thinking about the bigger picture. That said, this isn’t an album that you’ll want to throw on before a night out on the town. These are contemplative offerings that we get from Albarn — a man trying to come to grips with the current state of society, for better or worse. As we quickly come to find out, it’s not all roses and sunshine for the 46-year-old Londoner, but this latest material shows just how insightful he still can be.

~Josh Herwitt

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Damon Albarn, Everyday Robots, New Music

New Music: Death – Death III

April 24, 2014 by Scotland Miller Leave a Comment

Death – Death III

Top Tracks:
“North Street”
“Restlessness”
“First Snowfall in Detroit”

Album Highlights: Not very often does something come along and completely re-write the annals of music history in quite the same way as the discovery and release of …For All the World to See in 2009, an album from of the early 70’s trio named Death. Perhaps one of the most important revelations in recent musical lore, the commitment of showcasing the recordings done by three brothers from Detroit is now complete. Death III is a collection of songs recorded over a nearly three decade-long career, which for the most part, went unheard.

The best part about the discovery of Death is the raw guitar playing talent of David Hackney. The album begins with an instrumental track that features David and some of his six-string prowess. The next track, “North Street”, sounds like it just missed making the final listing of their feverish and now legendary full-length first album, and is an instant proto-punk classic. It makes you just want to get up and flail around the room to Oingo Boingo’s Who Do You Want to Be like Tom Hanks in the film Bachelor Party.

“Restlessness” provides the droning head bob that any fan of rock ‘n’ roll, of the heavier variety, is looking for out of their music. A vintage drum line opens this track, followed by a killer guitar lick that seems to birth the well-known, three-chord punk progression. David’s guitar solo speaks with the best of them and accompanies the storyline of a “poor man’s” blues by crying it’s way through the fills.

Album Lowlight: Due to the lack of popularity from big recording studios at their height as a band, many of Death’s recordings are a bit lackluster in terms of quality. It can be tough to get a bedroom or garage recording to sound good without the monetary help required for mastering. There are a few vocal segments that are tough to make out, and a few drum beats that get washed out by an over-milked guitar amp, as evidenced by “Free”. But overall, these tracks sound clean.

“We Are Only People” and “Yes He’s Coming” take the listener down a different path, a bit more of a Pink Floyd psych-rock path, almost as if they were experimenting with their own spirituality as well as their instruments, simultaneously.

As this is a collection of recordings and not a proper album release, there is no real flow involved when listening. The track listing is well put together with what there was to work with, but it’s missing a few uptempo songs in the latter half of the release.

Takeaway: Music is deeply rooted in emotion and feeling, and more often than not experimentation. The Hackney brothers of Detroit were full of all of these. Death III gives the listener insight into the minds of a young group of musicians in the 70’s transitioning out of the Flower Power era of the 60’s and into what would become the birth of punk music by bands like The Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Not only has this band been overlooked by the history books, but David Hackney’s guitar playing has been missed. Listen to “First Snowfall in Detroit” and try to not let your soul weep like it does when you listen to “Little Wing”.

~Scotland Miller

Filed Under: New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Death, Death III, New Music

New Music: Chet Faker – Built on Glass

April 15, 2014 by Josh Herwitt 1 Comment

Chet Faker – Built on Glass //

Top Tracks:
“Talk Is Cheap”
“Melt” feat. Kilo Kish
“Gold”

Album Highlights: Nicholas James Murphy, aka Chet Faker, broke onto the scene in 2011 when his cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” went viral, reaching No. 1 on the Hype Machine charts almost a year before the release of his initial EP Thinking in Textures. Since then, the 24-year-old Australian singer, songwriter and producer has worked with fellow countryman Flume — putting out their collaborative, three-song EP Lockjaw late last year — as well as dream pop duo Say Lou Lou. Thus, it should come as no surprise that there has been plenty of anticipation surrounding his full-length debut Built on Glass on Downtown Records/Future Classic.

More importantly, though, the 12-track record has all the makings for it to be considered one of this year’s best. Minimal, yet soulful, it opens with “Release Your Problems” as the Melbourne native croons about relationship heartache with lines like “I will never know / no good mind / won’t take my / I should see the break in your way / release your problems.” The song, although only a little more than three minutes in length, sets the tone for the rest of the album, which boasts hit single “Talk Is Cheap” and “Melt” — the latter featuring New York vocalist and model/actress Kilo Kish. On the ensuing “Gold,” meanwhile, Faker takes things up an octave to tell us “You gotta know / I’m feeling love / Made of gold / I’ll never love her,” pairing a simple quarter-note chord progression on his keyboard with a groove-oriented bass line to create absolute sonic gold (pun intended). It’s in these instances where Murphy channels his inner Chet Baker, meshing old-school jazz and R&B melodies with his production expertise, that make him one of the most intriguing artists to watch in 2014.

Album Lowlight: The lowlights are few and far between here, in part because Murphy varies his sound just enough that every song retains its own uniqueness. While music fans in search of an upbeat album may not find what they’re looking for on Built on Glass, that shouldn’t take away from what Faker has assembled for his first LP over the past two years. Recording on a limited budget with lo-fi equipment, Murphy not only reveals a sensitive side when it comes to addressing his subject matter, but also an appreciation for the many soul and jazz legends that came before him.

Takeaway: If you haven’t heard the name “Chet Faker” until now, you will be hearing a lot more about him quite soon. There’s a reason why he won “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” and “Best Independent Release” in his homeland a couple of years ago, after all. Built on Glass may not end quite as strong as how it starts, but that doesn’t mean tracks like “Blush” and “1998” are total throwaways. If anything, Faker shows that he’s more than capable of changing tempos while still achieving similar results. So, with Murphy’s first full-length album now finally out, it may only be a matter of time before we hear him storming the U.S. airwaves.

~Josh Herwitt

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Built on Glass, Chet Faker, New Music

New Music Tuesday: John Frusciante • The Faint • SOHN • EMA

April 8, 2014 by The Bam Team Leave a Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

John Frusciante – Enclosure

Top Tracks:
“Crowded”
“Clinch”
“Run”

There’s no better way to put into words just how “out there” former Chili Peppers savior John Frusciante is other than to tell you the way in which he launched (quite literally) his latest album Enclosure.

Frusciante is known for his peculiarity, but took things to another level by sending his album into space on March 29 attached to a satellite called Sat-JF14. Fans could then download a tracking app that would tell them when the album was in their region, when it would then be unlocked.

Album Highlights: Lyrically, Frusciante is as out of control as ever. In the context of his music, it doesn’t manage to matter. His excellent guitar work and the production he tasks himself carries Enclosure along as one of Frusciante’s finest solo masterpieces. His strength as a vocalist is missed by the Chili Peppers, who Frusciante carried a lot of songs behind lead man Anthony Kiedis with his beautiful harmonies. Frusciante’s vocals aren’t as understated on his solo albums and he takes some chances, most of which pay off. Frusciante gives off a bit of an 80’s vibe on this album due to the heavy synth that is featured throughout. The way Frusciante builds up to his guitar solos is pretty brilliant and he does it as good as anyone out there. Check out the song “Stage” to get an idea.

Album Lowlight: A lot of the songs are rather heavy on guitar solos, so you have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Sometimes, they can feel like they drag on a bit too long, as well. As mentioned above, this album features a fair amount of synths. Most times, it sounds pretty good and gels with the rest of the arrangement, but at times it can sound like music that belongs in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the original Nintendo.

Takeaway: As with all of Frusciante’s solo work, if you came to it from being a Chili Peppers fan first before anything else, it might not suit your needs or expectations. If you are a big appreciator of Frusciante’s multi-faceted chops, Enclosure is something you can enjoy, especially if you recognize it for what it is. The release isn’t as far out there as some of these previous projects, nor is it as close to mainstream.

~Mark E. Ortega

The Faint – Doom Abuse

Top Tracks:
“Help in the Head”
“Dress Code”
“Lesson from the Darkness”

Album Highlights: Not that long ago, there was a point in time when fans of The Faint didn’t know if their beloved band would ever make another record. Yet, the Nebraska quartet reunited in late 2012 following a two-year hiatus not just to start touring again, but also to create new music. As frontman Todd Fink explained to me, The Faint needed to take a different approach for its sixth full-length album after overthinking the writing process when it came to 2008’s Fasciinatiion. But for an outfit that put Omaha’s growing indie scene on the map with electro-punk hits like “Agenda Suicide” in the early 2000s, Doom Abuse doesn’t even come close to touching 2001 paradigm Danse Macabre. Other than the album’s opening single “Help in the Head,” there aren’t many standout tracks for Fink and his bandmates to hang their hat on, unfortunately. While they make a concerted effort to strip things down from start to finish, that only works some of the time on Doom Abuse. The frenetic dance vibe that we get on instrumental cut “Dress Code,” for example, is one of just a few shining moments, even though The Faint save some of its best work — “Lesson from the Darkness” and the ensuing “Unseen Hand” — for last.

Album Lowlight: The Faint have never been known to write albums that extend past the 40-minute mark, so it should be no surprise to see Doom Abuse follow suit on that front. But at just over 39 minutes in length, the 12-track LP undeniably lacks depth — after all, half of its songs span less than three minutes. That’s only part of the problem with The Faint’s latest studio effort, however. Fink, keyboardist Jacob Thiele, guitarist Dapose and drummer Clark Baechle also don’t come off sounding all that imaginative on “Evil Voices,” “Animal Needs” and “Scapegoat,” failing to create distance between most of their songs.

Takeaway: It’s hard to tell what has changed for The Faint from its last release to this one. Longtime followers of the band may not take issue with what they hear on Doom Abuse, but it’s far from the four-piece’s best work. At the same time, it’s sad to see a band come out of hibernation to assemble an album that doesn’t strike the same chord as its previous offerings — because that’s ultimately the reality here. The Faint, though, still know how to put on one hell of a show, so it may just take a live setting for certain tracks on Doom Abuse to come to life.

~Josh Herwitt

SOHN – Tremors

Top Tracks:
“Artifice”
“Paralysed”
“Lights”

Album Highlights: SOHN is a London-born songwriter, producer and musician. He has made some noise in the electronic scene by remixing Disclosure and Lana Del Rey, as well as producing Banks’ “Waiting Game.” His debut album, Tremors, was recorded at night in Vienna. As SOHN states, “Every night I worked finished with a cold sunrise and a walk home … and to me that’s what Tremors sounds like.” And that late-night vibe is definitely captured on this album. The minimalist and intricate production make this a great album for a night drive; this album is a beautifully depressing soundscape. While single “Artifice” is the most radio friendly track, SOHN has created some very interesting and moody songs with “Paralysed” and “Lessons” and “Lights,” which all build slowly and ever so gently from a mellow track to a track with some edge, before coming to an alluring close. In fact, that somewhat describes the way the album itself progresses. The second half contains much of the moodiness and depth, it is almost flawless.

Album Lowlight: This album is a bit much to listen to in one sitting from start to finish. And maybe not many people listen to a record in that way anymore. While there are some surprises along the way, much of the first half blends together. The opener, “Tempest,” takes awhile to build and then is over too quickly. “The Wheel” is too repetitive and jerky for me, but the production is still good. I prefer the depth of SOHN on his subtler songs.

Takeaway: If you listen to this album from start to finish, there is a chance you will begin to wallow in your own misery and forget where you are going or what you were doing before you played the album. But hey, sometimes that’s necessary. And if walking home alone at 4 a.m., Tremors is a great soundtrack to have for that walk. The production of Tremors is so beautifully done. After the opening tracks, it’s easy to find yourself getting lost in some of these songs. This is a promising debut, and it will be interesting to see where SOHN will go from here.

~Krystal Beasley

EMA – The Future’s Void

Top Tracks:
“Satellites”
“Cthulu”
“Smoulder”

Album Highlights: Future’s Void is the third full-length album from South Dakota native Erika M. Anderson, more commonly known as EMA. This release brings to the table a risky mixture of genre crossing sounds that combine with a spellbinding voice to create a vast, audio experience. This is one of those recordings best heard through a pair of good brain clamps.

“Satellites” begins this journey with radio static and a bass rattle that becomes a recurring theme in some of the thicker sounding tracks featured later in the album. Released as a single, “Satellites” has a very enticing opening beat and a vocal melody that is built to last. Heavy use of distorted synths creates the feeling of a dark, industrial soundscape full of digital noises and electrical sounds that almost suck the listener down the digital rabbit hole. Tracks like “Smoulder” and “Neuromancer” use loads of vocal effects and fuzzed-out screams to further Anderson’s already haunting qualities, serving to pull us further and further into this album. She has one of those voices that is equally comforting as it is frightening which she uses brilliantly in “100 Years.”

Album Lowlight: Future’s Void album is an enjoyable listen but it lacks a consistent amount of energy and overall feel from the beginning to the end. Immediately after a great opening song (“Satellites”), “So Blonde” and “3Jane” shift gears to a more traditional guitar and drums-type track. The same thing happens in the middle of Future’s Void when the best string of tracks is halted by the slow tempoed, and folky “When She Comes.” The rest of the album kind of fizzles out after “Neuromancer,” much like when the air gets sucked out of a balloon and all that is left is a wrinkled piece of rubber. There was a lot of promise to this album, and there are many redeeming qualities that if were focused on, could really make for a more appealing sounding project.

Takeaway: I feel like I might hear this album while catching an Uber ride in cyberspace. During some songs I wanted to smash an acoustic guitar against the wall like Bluto from Animal House. But during others I couldn’t help but hear Nine Inch Nails-influenced space-beats with a wormhole-like rip of industrial fuzz that took hold of me and didn’t let go until it spit me out on the other end of the galaxy. Anderson’s guttural screams and growls are continually distorted and twisted into glitchy echos that had me wanting for more. EMA has a surprisingly fresh sound in a musical world of shifting talents, where music can be more about pushing buttons than plucking strings. If only they could decide between being a folk-based band or a synth-rock band.

~Scotland Miller

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: EMA, John Frusciante, New Music, SOHN, The Faint

New Music Tuesday: Metronomy • Elbow

March 11, 2014 by The Bam Team Leave a Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Metronomy – Love Letters

Top Tracks:
“I’m Aquarius”
“Boy Racers”
“The Most Immaculate Haircut”

Album Highlights: Metronomy’s fourth album is strikingly less electronic than prior efforts, taking wonky pop toward the doo-wop, soulful rock and roll of the 70’s. The group’s prior effort, English Riviera, found success in its swirling layers and sophisticated production. This time, Metronomy founder and frontman Joseph Mount uses lyrical repetition to the point that the vocal loops become mantras, driving home the point of confessional simplicity.

For example, album single “I’m Aquarius” repeats the song’s title for about one-third of the song, but that’s not why the song works. Sparkling melodic undertones enriched the track, allowing the mantra to take hold. “The Most Immaculate Haircut” is slightly deceptive in it’s form, which makes it interesting. It dies down, feigning the song is coming to an end, only to revive stronger than before with “Oh hush now” becoming the vocal center-point. “Boy Racers,” an instrumental that inspires a cinematic detective feel is the first song that shifts the tonal attitude of apathy, suitably without lyrics. The dynamic nature of this song, along with no lyrics or mantra, helps it to stick out, in a good way.

The best songs on the record are the ones that diverge slightly from the Metronomy’s consistent approach.

Album Lowlight: This simple approach reduces instrumentation in favor of a measured pace and homogenous tone, therefore making it feel bland. Under a throwback, soulful rock aesthetic, the album’s title Love Letters drips in irony. More of a makeup letter, or a breakup letter, there isn’t much love to be found lyrically. Hell, in the first two tracks, Mount sings about relationship apathy, taking rings back and threatening to leave.

The lyrical mantras are so repetitious that they can become meaningless at times. “I keep on writing love letters”, “We can get better / We can do anything” and “Does it get better?” on the final cut “Never Wanted” does tell a basic, ongoing tale about the pains of love. In the end, Metronomy’s record feels monotonous, both lyrically and in its overall production.

Takeaway: Love Letters has a handful of memorable songs, but as a whole, it doesn’t inspire much feeling or a need to replay. Lyrics from the album’s best song “I’m Aquarius” say it best — “I can love it, or I can leave it.” A forgettable, permeating aura of apathy does Metronomy’s latest no great service.

~Mike Frash

Elbow – The Take Off and Landing of Everything

Top Tracks:
“Charge”
“Fly Boy Blue/Lunette”
“New York Morning”

Album Highlights: After a three-year layoff, the British indie rockers are back with their sixth full-length album and their third on UK label Fiction Records. The last five years, after all, have been as rewarding as they come for the Manchester band. Its last two albums were both nominated for the Mercury Prize, with 2008’s Seldom Seen Kid edging out Radiohead’s In Rainbows as well as Adele’s 19 to take home the prestigious honor. And even though 2011 follow-up Build a Rocket Boys! would fall short to PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, such critical acclaim in such a short span set quite the precedent for the quintet.

Still, as tough as those albums are to follow, The Take Off and Landing of Everything isn’t a total dud by any means. Lead singer/guitarist Guy Garvey’s soothing voice sounds as good as it ever has, while the rest of the band — Craig Potter (keyboards, piano), Mark Potter (guitar, vocals), Pete Turner (bass, vocals) and Richard Jupp (drums, percussion) — shows an urge to experiment more than in the past.

With almost eight songs over the five-minute mark, The Take Off and Landing of Everything has plenty of meat to it. “This Blue World” opens the 10-track LP with seven minutes of balladry, but it’s the ensuing “Charge” where things start to click for Elbow, as Garvey immediately tells us how he really feels when he has more than just a few drinks in him: “I am electric with a bottle in me / Got a bottle in me / And glory be, these fuckers are ignoring me / I’m from another century.” Though it’s clear that Garvey has a thing for the sauce — he proclaims “What can be said of the whiskey and wine / Random abandon or ballast for joy” on the subsequent “Fly Boy Blue/Lunette” — he also can be heard professing his love for the Big Apple on new single “New York Morning.” The other tracks, meanwhile, follow suit in continuing at a rather deliberate pace, highlighted by Garvey sharing memories during “My Sad Captains” and later waxing poetic on “Colour Fields” when he offers a young, attractive woman some words to live by.

Album Lowlight: Living up to its past two records wasn’t going to be easy for Elbow to accomplish, and there’s no question that The Take Off and Landing of Everything doesn’t deserve the same praise as either. That’s not to say it isn’t worth listening to more than once or twice, but it also doesn’t carry the same sort of repeatability that some of Elbow’s previous albums maintain. Part of that has to do with the overall lack of tempo we get from start to finish — the nature of Garvey’s lyrics often overwhelms the musicianship. Yet, part of it also has to do with the fact that some songs just don’t hold up as well as others. “Real Life (Angel)” and the album’s title track, for instance, meander along for quite a while without ever reaching a climax, and the spaced-out finale “The Blanket of Night” could easily lull you to sleep after the first two minutes.

Takeaway: There may not be a lot of standout songs here to speak of, but this is still solid work from a band that is trying to push boundaries and test itself. Sure, Elbow could merely have taken the easy way out by filling up an album with conventional, three-minute pop hits, but this band — the same one that was named “Best British Group” at the 2009 Brit Awards — is a lot better than that. There is plenty of thought and reflection that can be heard in Garvey’s lyrics, and Elbow has certainly spread its wings between working with the Hallé orchestra and exploring an interest in minimalistic electronica.

~Josh Herwitt

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Elbow, Metronomy, New Music

New Music Tuesday: Pharrell • The Men • Drive-By Truckers • Real Estate • Eagulls • Kimono Kult

March 4, 2014 by The Bam Team 1 Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Pharrell Williams – G I R L

Top Tracks:
“Brand New”
“Happy”
“Come Get It Bae”

Album Highlights: It’s been eight years since Pharrell delivered his first solo effort, In My Mind, though he has been plenty busy in the meantime. Whether it’s his falsetto contributions to “Get Lucky” or backing Robin Thicke on his breakout single, Williams really has had the best year out of anyone in music. We all know and love (for now) the lead single off of G I R L, “Happy,” but the other nine tracks on this release will be new gems as we push into springtime.

Obviously this is a feel-good album, playing heavily on Williams’ pop neo-soul sound that he has been cultivated after his time with alternative hip-hop act N.E.R.D. Musically, nods to Jamiroquai, Jackson 5 and Prince are distinguishable while Hans Zimmer’s string arrangements add elements of sophisticated disco. Pharrell’s presence in the industry combined with his understanding of contemporary pop-music lend to a ton of standout tracks that really feel different from one another. Miley Cyrus guests on the funk banger “Come Get It Bae,” and is disgustingly infectious, sure to be a fan favorite. Though Daft Punk was officially left off the track list, “Gust of Wind” is the song they are featured on as Nile Rodgers-esque guitar sections lead to the manipulated vocals we have come to love from these French robots. Another standout appearance comes from Alicia Keys on the girl-power, reggae tinged track, “Know Who You Are.” Her sultry vocals do offer a nice respite before the auto-tuned closer “It Girl.”

Album Lowlight: Though the album is admirably considered to be a slight concept album, focusing on a more positive outlook on females in music (slightly motivated by “Blurred Lines” backlash), it really doesn’t need agenda. Also, the lyrics Pharrell penned don’t shine brightly, especially compared to the music that accompanies. One wonders how long Pharrell had been working on the production side while he should have been spending some time with pen and paper.

Takeaway: Pure, unadulterated enjoyment at it’s freshest and finest. Seems like we should start calling him Midas as Williams has the golden touch these days, so it’s no surprise that G I R L is sure to be a success on multiple levels. Pharrell is still rising stock after 2013, and he’s likely doubled his fan base in 12 months whether it was the 24-hour music video to “Happy” or even, dare I mention, his now-owned-by-Arbys Grammy headwear. Williams has also seemed to further his popular falsetto singing, and really shines alongside, equally falsetto-heavy singer, Justin Timberlake on “Brand New.” With that said, this may be the final piece in what will be dubbed the ‘Pharrell Williams sound.’

~Kevin Quandt

Drive-By Truckers – English Oceans

Top Tracks:
“Grand Canyon”
“When Walter Went Crazy”
“Pauline Hawkins”

Album Highlights: The Drive-By Truckers did something they never do for their 10th studio album, English Oceans — they split song-writing duties between long time band members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. Generally, Hood has been the primary songwriter of all the Truckers’ material. The results of this shared duty is a contrasting album ripe with vivid lyrics and story-telling. My favorite part of the record comes in the final two minutes of the album, during “Grand Canyon,” when the band finds a great psychedelic groove to close out the record.

Album Lowlight: The lyrics shine on this record. However, there is much left to be desired in the instrumental department. Most of the songs are straight up alt-country rock songs that struggle to capture listener attention. The storytelling, however, makes up for the pedestrian musicianship. I think this is more a product of their genre and style than their actual musical ability, because it is quite apparent the Drive-By Truckers are extremely comfortable and accomplished musicians.

Takeaway: Fans of the Drive-By Truckers, and alt-country rock fans in general, will probably love this album. As great as the storytelling is on this record, I simply get bored by the musicianship. The Drive-By Truckers have been around since the 90’s and are clearly trying to mix things up — the dual voice quality to this record give it a very interesting perspective that many of the previous DBT albums lacked.

~Kevin Raos

Real Estate – Atlas

Top Tracks:
“Had to Hear”
“Past Lives”
“The Bend”

Album Highlights: Real Estate are still one of the best purveyors of breezy, chill rock that is perfect for a day at the beach or a drive down the coast. Unlike Days and Real Estate, this day at the beach has a few clouds hanging overhead as the New Jersey crew begins to mature lyrically and look more inward. Though the subject matters have shifted, the sound has stayed true to their roots as swirly guitars are still the ‘king of the beach’.

“Primitive” is one standout track that features a slightly adventuresome guitar romp towards the end. “Horizon” is a late gift on Atlas as it features a more-catchy, upbeat vibe, and likely would have benefitted from an earlier spot on the album. In true Real Estate fashion, there is one instrumental “April’s Song,” as well as one song sung by bassist Alex Bleeker entitled, “How Might I Live.” One aspect of Real Estate which is different this time around is the addition of Girls’ keyboardist, Matt Kallman. This latest member is subdued in the mix, adding subtle elements and figuring his place in this once string-oriented act. An added density of sound is also present which will add to sustained replay value, hopefully long enough to reach those sunny months ahead.

Album Lowlight: I suppose if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Real Estate have crafted an empire off their laid-back sound years ago, and though the sound hasn’t really progressed it’s still entirely enjoyable. Basically, they are good at what they do, however this writer has to wonder if, and when, this trend will break to display an evolving sound and maturing musicianship that isn’t afraid to take a chance once in a while.

Takeaway: Fans of the group are sure to be thrilled to have another 10 tracks of lazy tunes to toss on during an early afternoon BBQ or an exodus to some body of water. Maybe it’s a surprise that there are really no surprises in Atlas, even if the lyrical content has moved towards something more personal than benign. Real Estate make great records, and Atlas continues this trend as they continue to break from the underground to something viable to a larger audience.

~Kevin Quandt

Eagulls – Eagulls

Top Tracks:
“Tough Luck”
“Possessed”
“Nerve Endings”

Album Highlights: This English quintet get down and dirty in their self-titled release, delivering one hell of a rock album. The sheer grittiness of each song makes you eager to hear what the next one will bring to the table. “Tough Luck” is the standout song that pairs an extremely catchy hook, colossal guitar work, and a thunderous bass line. This song is a straight rocker that leads its way to a different, slower direction by the time the song ends, which worked perfectly. The next highlight is the swirling guitar work and the gritty snarls of George Mitchell belting out the lyrics to “Possessed.” This song is extremely catchy, but still brings that certain edginess that these guys are going to be known for.

Album Lowlight: There’s not a whole lot that I would call lowlights, but the album seems to melt together, so its hard to pick out songs. Many of the chorus’ are just the repetition of a single word, but there’s a side of me that likes that simplicity, so that could go either way.

Takeaway: These rockers from across the pond made a very solid and concise album that is sure to catch momentum, and I’m sure I will be playing this album quite a few times this year. This release makes me want to catch these guys live as it’s sure to be an energetic, raucous show. If you’re a fan of gritty English rock, or Brooklyn’s own Parquet Courts, then I highly recommend this album. BAM!

~Pete Mauch

Kimono Kult – Hiding in the Light

Top Tracks:
“Todo Menos El Dolor”
“La Cancion De Alejandra”

Album Highlights: Any die-hard fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or The Mars Volta likely knows that both bands were tied to one another in the past. Former RHCP bandmates Flea and John Frusciante, after all, were key contributors during the recording sessions for TMV’s De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) and Amputechture (2006), and the two outfits spent quite a bit of time together on the road. So, it should be no surprise to see Frusciante, who left RCHP in 2008 to focus on his solo career, hooking back up with fellow axe man Omar Rodríguez-López, who put TMV on hiatus in 2012 (despite the band dissolving four months later) to start Bosnian Rainbows with Le Butcherettes vocalist/guitarist Teri Gender Bender.

While Frusciante and Rodríguez-López provide Kimono Kult with the star power most new bands dream of having, the project is really Swahili Blonde drummer Nicole Turley’s baby. Turley, who recorded and produced the sextet’s debut EP Hiding in the Light on her own label Neurotic Yell Records, has described the record as “four songs of electro/dub/afro-beat/avant-freak/jazz-like conversations of instrumental ecstasy.” If that means sounding like a more electronic version of TMV, then she might actually be on to something. With Gender Bender on board, it’s pretty easy to see the similarities. Between her Spanish lyrics and high-pitched vocals, you could easily mistake Gender Bender for former TMV frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala. That’s about where the comparisons end, though. With the longest song on Hiding in the Light clocking in at 3:23, these aren’t exactly the 25-minute sonic explorations that many longtime TMV fans grew accustomed to hearing.

Album Lowlight: After Turley cooks up a groovy backbeat on the opening track “Todo Menos El Dolor,” the ensuing “Las Esposas” is where things start to get weird — the kind of weird that we’re used to hearing from Rodríguez-López by now. Unfortunately, a lot of times that can also be Rodríguez-López’s biggest downfall when it comes to his songwriting ability, and in Kimono Kult’s case, sounding weird just for the sake of sounding weird doesn’t work all that well. Consequently, most of Hiding in the Light lacks much of the same listen-ability that “Todo Menos El Dolor” retains, making it easy to understand why it was the first track the band released.

Let’s also be honest — it’s not easy to make a rock band that sings almost entirely in Spanish accessible to a U.S. audience. But it’s not just the language barrier on Hiding in the Light that presents a challenge for listeners. The jangly organ line that overwhelms the beginning of “La Vida Es Una Caja Hermosa” grows tiresome rather quickly, and although the Latin guitar effect offers a nice twist on ballad finale “La Cancion De Alejandra,” the song is too short for it to build any momentum. If Hiding in the Light is only a slice of what Kimono Kult has to offer, it may just be one of this supergroup’s early growing pains.

Takeaway: It’s hard to say anything definitive about a band that only has four songs to its name right now, so it’s probably best to take the wait-and-see approach with Kimono Kult — it just might require a bit of your patience. With Frusciante and Rodríguez-López bringing on board other talented musicians like instrumentalists Dante White (Dante Vs. Zombies) and Laena Geronimo (Raw Geronimo), you’d like to think that there’s bound to be some magic made in the studio. Still, there are no guarantees that will happen.

On the whole, Kimono Kult feels very much like an experiment at this point, and that’s probably fitting considering that all of these songs sound quite experimental at their core. Yet, by the same token, that’s also how Rodríguez-López has been looking at all of his endeavors lately, which means there’s no way of knowing what Kimono Kult’s lifespan will be.

~Josh Herwitt

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Drive-By Truckers, Eagulls, Kimono Kult, New Music, Pharrell Williams, Real Estate, The Men

New Music Tuesday: Beck • Schoolboy Q • St. Vincent • Wild Beasts • Mike Gordon • The Notwist

February 25, 2014 by The Bam Team 1 Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Beck – Morning Phase

Top Tracks:
“Heart Is a Drum”
“Country Down”
“Blackbird Chain”

Album Highlights: As indicated in the title, Morning Phase acts as a slow opening of ones eyes into a sunny bedroom on any given morning. Slow and sensual, each song ebbs into the next without a moment’s hesitation. It feels inherently Beck, touching on all his sensibilities without driving any of them home. The single, “Blue Moon,” is the most assertive track, naturally being featured as the debut single and showcases intensively audible lyrics. Other standout tracks are “Heart is a Drum” and “Country Down.” They are different from one another, but both highlight Beck’s ability to straddle genres, though he coins Morning Phase as “California music.” “Heart Is a Drum” is soft and comforting with twinkles of piano, portraying an ambient feel. “Country Down” shines with harmonica and acoustic guitar play, we see a glimpse of Beck in his younger years, if only briefly.

Album Lowlight: As mentioned previously, the album acts a slow opening of the eyes into a sunny bedroom. But, one couldn’t assume we would get something along the lines of Midnite Vultures, or even Guero. Songs like “Wave” really lay on the Zen moments pretty thick, and at times you want to shake the man and serve him a strong cup of coffee. Alas, as Beck, and we all, mature, we can’t come to expect music videos with kitchen appliances humping anymore as he turns more inward and lovely with age.

Takeaway: Beck is now a grown-ass man, and he is coming to accept this cruel fact, as demonstrated in Morning Phase. It fully carries similarities to Sea Change, or rather its ‘companion’ as stated by Mr. Hansen himself. Hearing this influence is undeniable while lowering the general feeling of gloominess that came with that emotional release in 2002. Yes, it’s slow, but its contemplative, it’s personal. The range that Beck has exhibited is impressive, but the focus he can bring is uncanny, drawing comparisons to legends of yesteryear. There are moments of string and brass, written by his father, David Campbell, that add another reason to simply fall in love with this album. The album feels highly emotional at times, but it also retains a certain lightheartedness that will lend to its replay value. Beck is confidently striding with his career and sound, building on all that has past while looking forward to the next step.

~Katy Meacham

Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron

Top Tracks:
“Collared Greens” feat. Kendrick Lamar
“Blind Threats” feat. Raekwon
“Break the Bank”

Album Highlights: One quarter of the Black Hippy collective, Schoolboy Q has returned with a follow-up to his 2012 release Habits & Contradiction, equally impressive and oozing with tales of all-things-gangsta. Let’s not beat around the bush and call this album what it is: gangsta rap. Quincy Hanley grew up a Crip in Los Angeles, pushing Oxy and a little crack and weed, so it’s only natural that he rhymes about his life and past experiences.

Oxymoron is well-rounded in it’s shifting vibe, polished production and healthy roster of guests, while not relying on star power or other gimmicks to try to make this album compete with Drake or other mega-MCs.

One surprise that Oxymoron does present is a handful of (more) radio-friendly, club anthems that weren’t present on Habits. “Hell of a Night” is a prime example as the obvious lyrical content paired with trap drums and sensual overtones are sure to equate to repeated play at hip-hop clubs across the country. Out of the club, Oxymoron is simply an enjoyable slice of West Coast rap that sustains its enjoyment, throughout.

Album Lowlight: Some of the guest MCs on Oxymoron are massively talented, and in the case of “Collard Greens,” you can’t help but focus on Kendrick as Q’s vocals can leave a little to be desired when stacked against the unofficial Black Hippy leader. Songs like “Hoover Street” come off overly produced and overworked at times, especially when trying to be dark and brooding. Tyler, the Creator should also limit his guesting, as his oddball antics fit best in the confines of one of the dozen Odd Future acts.

Takeaway: Black Hippy have restored faith to West Coast hip-hop over the past few years, and now that the honeymoon has wrapped up, it’s nice to see where its respective members will go from there. Q carries the torch confidently into the darker side of the streets for us, re-emerging full of urban tales of sexual conquest and narco-life. His honesty in this realm is what makes this genre of the 90’s sound so fresh, 20 years after B.I.G and Pac.

~Kevin Quandt

St. Vincent – St. Vincent

Top Tracks:
“Rattlesnake”
“Bring Me Your Loves”
“Huey Newton”

Album Highlights: Annie Clark ups the electronic ante on her fourth studio album and self-titled debut on Republic Records, St. Vincent. Branching out of her typically experimental indie pop compositions, she embraces more cohesive arrangements in which she focuses her creativity on deconstructed production and sound obstruction. Her ethereal vocals remain at the forefront of her songs and are complemented by the elements of distortion and reverb she plays with through the use of predominantly analog instrumentation. Annie hits you hard with her new sound right off the bat, fiercely unapologetic in the first two tracks, “Rattlesnake” and “Birth in Reverse.” Both equally impressive in sound quality and sass, these opening tracks set the tone for the rest of the records’ exciting stylistic shifts and the intriguing unveiling of Annie’s gritty rock goddess persona.

Album Lowlight: It’s difficult to find much wrong with this album, which undoubtedly is one of Clark’s most ambitious efforts to date. Filled with beautifully searing vocal tracks, robust beat-driven compositions and impeccably funky pop gems, Clark truly knocked this album out of the park. The weaker songs on the album aren’t even bad necessarily, but just lack the transitional effectiveness into the graduated St. Vincent sound that make the record so utterly impressive. Although beautiful in their own right, songs like “Severed Cross Fingers” and “I Prefer Your Love” follow suit more with Clark’s previous work and subsequently lose the edginess this album delightfully brings to the table.

Takeaway: Annie Clark has always been a captivating artist, pushing creative boundaries and taking risks most would deem too dicey for any generic pop songstress. Her delicate vocals and theatrical soundscapes have deceivingly kept her compartmentalized in this type of fringe-pop genre and unfortunate state of limbo that has yet to allow her to fully breakthrough as the powerful female artist she is. She has had a successful career in respect to most of her indie-pop counterparts, enhanced by last year’s collaboration with creative giant David Byrne, amongst others, acquiring a dedicated fan base amidst her creative journey thus far. Clark is continuously growing as an artist, now with an incredibly impressive body of work, highlighted by this pivotal fourth album which will undoubtedly put her on the mainstream radar. Unapologetic, raw and addictively genius, St. Vincent is going to make Annie Clark the star she has always been and deservedly should be recognized as.

~Molly Kish

Wild Beasts – Present Tense

Top Tracks:
“Wanderlust”
“Sweet Spot”
“Daughters”

Album Highlights: With co-producers Leo Abrahams and Alex “Lexxx” Droomgoole hopping on board, the members of Wild Beasts — childhood friends Hayden Thorpe, Ben Little, Tom Fleming and Chris Talbot — spent last year methodically piecing together its fourth full-length record that “was built on computers rather than played first,” according to Talbot. And that’s pretty evident from the very beginning of Present Tense, as synthesizers replace guitars on the album’s opening track “Wanderlust.” The beat of a drum machine pulsates behind Thorpe, who repeatedly delivers his ghoulish message of “Don’t confuse me with someone who gives a fuck / Funny how that little gold can buy a lot of luck,” setting the mood for the rest of the album. But even though gloom and despair also fuel the band’s vocals on ensuing tracks “Nature Boy” and “Mecca,” Present Tense doesn’t grow stale amidst its melancholy disposition. For as dreamy as the 11-track LP gets, Wild Beasts refuse to lull you to sleep before Present Tense comes to an end. There are clearly some intriguing resemblances here, not only to their fellow Brits of Elbow — Fleming, who shares singing duties with Thorpe, does his own Guy Garvey impression quite well on “New Life” for example — but also when it comes to the eeriness that George Lewis Jr. exudes as Twin Shadow. On “Sweet Spot,” carefully-plucked guitars pave the way for an opening verse that sees Thorpe waste no time revealing his heart ache to the world, crooning “The sweetest spot / When it’s gone, it’s gone / Don’t make me suffer for that / Just to love me / A final dividend.” The tone isn’t all that different from what follows it shortly thereafter, but it’s hard to say there’s another song on Present Tense that conveys as dark of an image as “Daughters.” It isn’t until we catch Thorpe’s patented falsetto colliding with Fleming’s contrasting baritone on “A Simple Beautiful Truth” that things start to turn around. So, by the time “Parade” closes out Present Tense with lines like “We may be savage and raw but at the core / We’ve higher needs,” there’s still a sliver of hope left. This is Wild Beasts at its best, a sobering exploration into human emotion without all the sappiness that one dreads hearing.

Album Lowlight: If there’s one drawback more obvious than any other, it’s the change of pace that’s lacking between songs. As unique as Present Tense sounds, there’s an accessibility factor that’s missing altogether. Is this the newest chapter in new wave music or just your typical indie rock flair? In reality, it’s neither. On the one hand, Present Tense is a record that’s uniquely Wild Beasts — one that doesn’t sound like it’s ever been made before. But on the other hand, it’s also an album that you would be hard-pressed to discover through mainstream radio even months from now. That’s certainly not always the mark of a good record, but with little to no pop element to speak of, Present Tense most likely won’t be headed for any major commercial success stateside.

Takeaway: Though almost five years passed before Wild Beasts ever earned critical acclaim back home, it wasn’t until a Mercury Prize nomination in 2010 that had music critics outside of the UK taking note. Since then, the big question for the London-based quartet has been whether its morose tunes can carry the same weight among listeners across the pond. But on Present Tense, it remains determined to finally break that trend. Compared to their three previous offerings, Wild Beasts makes a conscientious effort to show that its interests extend into the realm of electronic music — one that certainly passes the ear test after a couple of listens. This album may not end up on any “Best of the Year” lists in December, but it’s one that still deserves to be commended.

~Josh Herwitt

Mike Gordon – Overstep

Top Tracks:
“Say Something”
“Ether”
“Peel”

Album Highlights: Everyone’s favorite Phish bassist is back for his 4th studio album, titled Overstep. Mike Gordon brings back long-time guitarist Scott Murawski for an even closer collaboration than past projects. For Overstep, the song writing process was a true collaborative effort as Gordon and Murawaski wrote many of the songs together on writing retreats in the north east part of the States. What results is a very loose and light album that encapsulates everything from grunge to reggae.

Gordon takes a “less is more” philosophy with Overstep. In a recent interview with billboard.com, he spoke about giving the notes room to breath, and wanting to peel back layers of the music. It’s not “simple” he says, but “specific.” This philosophy can be heard both literally and figuratively with one of the most interesting songs on the album “Peel”.

Phish fans will recognize a few of the tracks. Both “Yarmouth Road” and “Say Something” made their live debut with Phish last summer. It will be very interesting the hear how these songs are different when the Mike Gordon Band hits the road Friday.

Album Lowlight: This album makes me thirsty to see this band live. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Gordo said Overstep “is not an album of long jams or anything like that. I like to be kind of song-y on albums.” As great as that is, I can’t wait to see how these songs are performed in a live setting. Gordon’s desire to give songs more room to breath can be ultimately realized when they are jammed out in a live setting.

Takeaway: It might be still too early to say where this lands in the hierarchy of albums in Mike Gordon’s solo portfolio, I’m a big fan of his first output, Inside In. However, I think some his strongest songs of his career are on this record. “Say Something” is an instant classic that will be spun for ages.

Overstep is a very deliberate record. It is very simple, filled with Gordo’s trademark bass and quirky lyrics. For a man who is only a couple short years away from 50, and having the comfort of a musical giant with Phish, it is refreshing to hear an effort like this. Mike Gordon is not afraid to do something different, and on his own terms, and for that, you must respect it.

~Kevin Raos

The Notwist – Close to the Glass

Top Tracks:
“Kong”
“Run Run Run”
“7-Hour-Drive”

Album Highlights: For their 25th anniversary, German indie group The Notwist have produced a wonderfully addictive record, one that could only be created by artists that have constantly kept busy reinventing themselves. They’ve always strived for an evolving sound; first the Notwist were heavy metal-dominant, then foreboding indie rock became their hallmark — now electronic music is at their core with their eighth long player, a record that blossoms with a perfect balance of experimental gusto and melodic restraint.

While the record mixes and mashes many styles of music from drone to indie rock to shoegaze, the ethos of electronic music is the centerpiece. The future-forward production balances out mostly through Markus Acher’s grounding voice, but the record is also sequenced masterfully, allowing acoustic-based numbers like “Casino” and “Steppin’ In” to change the pace and offer peaceful transition to help break the tension. While a proclivity toward electronic music dominates sonically, it’s the idea of being confined, stuck, boxed in (read “Close to the Glass”) that is messaged through lyrics.

The first two tracks set a bouncy, drone-filled soundscape that inspires brooding imagery through Thom York-like voice-used-as-instrument background vocals. Immediately it’s clear everything is leaning more towards the digitized than the organic, that is until “Kong,” a song that would be a radio hit single if there was justice in this world. It’s a big, bold song that’s upbeat in it’s tone and lyrics, accompanied by orchestrated elements —- it wouldn’t be crazy if someone thought it was a new song from the Strokes.

“Run Run Run” wholly signifies the the marriage of tense electronic sounds and structure to express the idea of confinement. “Run run run till the alley comes …” sets the stage, only to morph from an ominous existential sounding track into one that flourishes into house-driven, pulsating excitement, mimicking the fleeing feeling of sprinting away while being hunted. “7-Hour-Drive” drives the point home with a shoe-gaze approach, using power-chord wailing wall-of sound urgency to convey love that was never meant to be, certainly a situation that can feel restricting.

Album Lowlight: This is electronic noise-pop at it’s finest, and one must be willing to listen to drone-filled music that wallops the space between your ears into submission, just to the point that some kind of right turn with a pleasant release or a peaceful transition track shifts the mood. Accessible to everyone it is not.

Takeaway: Close to the Glass thrives in its intensity, allowing the softer, more intimate moments to shine brighter. A roller coaster ride in tone and volume, it’s a must-listen headphone album, yet it’s one that is plenty good from viable speakers too. The instrumentals and digitized sounds work together to create tension and anxiety, but always with the point of some auditory payoff. The Notwist will have a big year now that they’ve delivered their masterpiece, Close to the Glass.

~Mike Frash

Filed Under: Featured, New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Beck, Mike Gordon, New Music, Schoolboy Q, St. Vincent, The Notwist, Wild Beasts

New Music Tuesday: Phantogram • Shocking Pinks

February 18, 2014 by The Bam Team 1 Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Phantogram – Voices

Top Tracks:
“Black Out Days”
“Fall in Love”
“The Day You Died”

Album Highlights: Almost exactly four years after dropping Eyelid Movies, the upstate New York duo returns with its long-anticipated, second full-length album. Lead singer/keyboardist Sarah Barthel and guitarist/producer Josh Carter, of course, haven’t slowed down since then, releasing two EPs — Nightlife (2011) and Phantogram (2013) — and collaborating with such big-name artists as The Flaming Lips and Big Boi of Outkast over that stretch. But as the band’s major label debut, Voices proves that Phantogram is ready for the big leagues. While singles like “Nothing But Trouble” and “Fall in Love” have taken the airwaves by storm over the past month, “Black Out Days” stands as arguably the album’s top track. With Barthel’s haunting vocals fluttering over one of Carter’s subtle trip-hop beats, it may not be long before the song is running up the Billboard charts, in fact. There’s also the gloomy, yet airy “Bill Murray,” which could foreseeably find its way into a Wes Anderson flick someday — he does have a knack for casting the award-winning actor in his movies, after all. As good as it gets, Voices is more fitted for a particular mood, one you might feel when you’re lying in bed on a lazy Sunday morning with a hangover. These definitely aren’t the LMFAO party bangers you heard at the club the night before, but there remains a certain dance-ability to them, too.

Album Lowlight: Voices peaks early with three of the album’s best offerings to start, but it eventually hits a speed bump on “Never Going Home.” Featuring Carter on the mic, the tune takes a page out of Phil Collins’ early Genesis days, yet never quite hits the right notes. It’s not the only one. “I Don’t Blame You” lacks a melody hook, falling flat from the very outset, as Carter’s distorted vocals wear thin before not too long. Maybe there’s a trend here when it comes to singing duties, although it’s hard to say that all of Barthel’s work is spot-on, either. “Celebrating Nothing” and “My Only Friend” help pick things up back before it’s all over, but Voices fails to regain the momentum it conjures up toward the beginning. Though the lowlights stand few and far between on Voices, Barthel and Carter certainly don’t knock every song out of the park.

Takeaway: When Phantogram left Barsuk Records and signed on to Universal Republic last year, you knew there was a good chance that the band’s sound would offer even more mainstream appeal than 2009’s Eyelid Movies. And while that certainly is true here, Voices still manages not to come off as contrived or shallow. Sure, the beats are catchy — take the one Carter draws up on “Bad Dreams” for instance — but it’s the band’s lyrical content that remains genuine, as Barthel tackles difficult topics like loneliness, breakup and death over nearly 45 minutes.

-Josh Herwitt

Shocking Pinks – Guilt Mirrors

Top Tracks:
“Love Projection (Dedicated to Jerry Fuchs)”
“St. Louis” featuring Gemma Syme
“Beyond Dreams”

Album Highlights: It’s been one helluva long wait for fans of New Zealand’s king of off-kilter dance-punk, Nick Harte. And those who call themselves fans of Shocking Pinks got not one LP worth of material to delve into, rather a triple album full of his skewed creations. Yes, I said triple album. Even more insane is the fact that Harte said he surfaced from this lengthy recording session with over 300 demos, all products of a tumultuous time dealing with repeated earthquakes in his hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand (even claiming you can hear them in certain songs).

As a whole, this release is really impressive, and it’s somewhat easy to see the genius which lies in Harte. His dedication to both his craft and his sound is something to admire, not to mention his pentient for doing things his own way, even if it takes 7 years to get it in the public’s hands. What Harte has made is a expansive, and conceptual, dance-punk album that feels better suited for a pair of audiophile headphones than the club or a venue. The first LP, Guilt Mirrors I, is a great acclamation into this mammoth recording, showing off dancey beats, shoe-gazesque guitar sections and industrial elements piled on top of each other neatly. A few guest appearances (Designer Violence, Arkitype and Ashlin Frances Raymond) scattered throughout help to shift in some varied influences and sounds. From there, the subsequent albums retain a similar feel, with a few noise opuses, “Beyond Dreams,” tossed in for good measure.

Album Lowlights: Sure, this release isn’t for everyone, but I imagine you already know that. Fans of legendary old New Zealand act, the Bats, part of the Dunedin sound, will already be familiar with Harte and Shocking Pinks, and will subsequently be playing Guilt Mirrors for a week, even month, straight. I have little doubt that this act will attract a newer generation to appreciate the darker, shoegaze aura that accompanies. The resurgence of My Bloody Valentine last year could bode well, too. I suppose what I am trying to say is that this music is not or everyone, as it broods and slugs along in it’s avant-garde nature. Some of the filler, like “Hardfuck,” is extreme and will likely be skipped over after a few listens, as well.

Takeaway: In a nutshell, an entirely satisfying aural experience by a true, under-the-radar artist who takes no prisoners in his creative process. There are questions of the effectiveness(physical release and touring) of this release and Shocking Pinks, but it’s clear that is not this acts intention, so we should just sit back and listen. Standout single, “St. Louis,” is one of the gems that will be singularly gleaned by some listeners, as others will worship this massive suite of tunes for a long time to come.

-Kevin Quandt

Filed Under: Featured, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: New Music, Phantogram, Shocking Pinks

New Music: Earl Sweatshirt – Doris

August 19, 2013 by Kevin J Quandt Leave a Comment

Earl Sweatshirt – Doris

Top Tracks:
“Chum”
“Sunday” ft. Frank Ocean
“Hoarse”

Highlights: It’s been a long time coming for Doris, and Earl has rightfully graduated from gory themes to a more matured sound that evaluates some of the horrors of everyday life while never compromising his preternatural phasing skills. However, it’s still raw and shocking, but for better reasons than the prolific Earl mixtape from days when he couldn’t even legally buy Swishers. This release is also boosted by the characteristic down-trodden beat type that Earl thrives on, mainly produced by Earl himself, though under the pseudonym randomblackdude, and Christian Rich. Flying Lotus, the Neptunes, Samiyam and RZA are just a handful of beatmakers who lent their hand to this release.

One highlight track which has been garnering attention is “Sunday”, a organ-driven churner aided by Odd Future soul-wonder, Frank Ocean. Earl spits “All my dreams got dimmer when I stopped smoking pot/Nightmares got more vivid when I stopped smoking pot” to a lurching back beat while Frankie’s distorted vocals paint a similar picture. Other banner guest spots are held down by Vince Staples, Domo Genesis and Mac Miller to name a few. Even with a laundry list of helpers, it really is Earl who shines brightest, a young MC who is calculated and at MENSA-level mastery of wordplay.

Album Lowlight: It’s been a long few years for the young underground rapper, and it feels like a piece of the puzzle is missing from his first mixtape, to his time at Samoan boarding school and eventually returning to fame back in LA. Even after turning 18 and being released from his international “prison”, Earl has been relatively quiet. Talk about hype for a sophomore release, am I right?

Some hardcore fans may feel slightly let down with it’s shift from NC-17 to R-rated themes and lyrics, but that shock factor could only be short-lived for the widely considered rhyme champion of Odd Future. Nonetheless, the profanity is more veiled and less blatant on Doris.

Takeaway: With a new era of hip-hop being ushered in by the likes of the Odd Future crew, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Chance the Rapper and so on, Earl has staked his ground as one of the most exciting wordsmiths in the past decade. Many listeners were originally drawn in by the deadly effective mix of obscene and smart, simultaneously. On Doris we witness a few notches of maturity being whittled into Earl’s belt, and listeners can’t help but think about the bright future this kid will have if he keeps up his clever writing coupled with one of the most unique phrasing styles being spat into a mic.

Filed Under: Featured, New Music Tagged With: Doris, Earl Sweatshirt, New Music

New Music: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Self-titled

July 29, 2013 by Molly Kish 1 Comment

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Top Tracks:
“Country Calling”
“Remember to Remember”
“When You’re Young”

Album Highlights: Far from the ‘janglin’ days of their Up from Below debut, Edward Sharpe and his merry band of Zeros offer a melancholy insight to their band dynamics on the group’s self-titled third album. Although marketed as a band emanating love, friendship and spiritual bliss, ESMZ have obviously hit some emotional potholes over the past four years. Amidst a rigorous touring schedule supporting the release of back to back albums, it’s natural for such a large group of musicians to encounter difficulties within their internal structure. Sometimes this type of turmoil can lead to exceptional musical developments and serve as a creative catalyst. On the other hand, it can result in a contrived cluster-fuck like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ third album.

Musically, the album follows suit with the previous two ESMZ releases, chock full of pop centric choral arrangements and pseudo-revivalist grandeur. Opening with what I assume will be the bands’ single, “Better Days”, they continue to bank on the recipe that has catapulted the group to mainstream success. ESMZ has done what is most familiar and continue to spread neo bohemian bliss to the masses.

The strongest tracks on this album, however, are the songs that deviate from such manufactured joy and actually touch upon their obvious grievances. “Country Calling” and “When You’re Young” manage to keep things positively upbeat and are easily two of the best crafted songs on the album. Other standout tracks include “Remember to Remember” and “They Were Wrong”, where the band ventures out of their cheesy comfort zones and not only tap into alternate musical influences, but also into some real emotional space.

Album Lowlight: Not matter how ESMZ tries to sheath persisting band issues with bouncy melodies and choral reinforcements, every song has an undertone of depression, anxiety and a sense of deflated purpose. They have built themselves into such a positive powerhouse of an act so early in their career that they have plateaued. Having found comfort and success, they’ve pigeonholed themselves into an idealistic standard, and their songwriting capabilities have become stunted. Instead of fully immersing themselves into branching out and taking creative risks with their material, they instead fall back on what they are familiar with, taking their patented sound into abhorrently over-eccentric territory.

The worst offender is a terribly clichéd second track “Let’s Get High”. Encompassing every over-the-top aspect of this band all rolled into one, the feels more like a spoof of anti-establishment protest songs from the Vietnam era than a legitimate track. Other attempts that miss the mark include “Life is Hard”, and “If I Were Free”, both of which come off as pathetic attempts at conveying the bands’ commitment to free love and genuine spirituality — they simply fall short.

Takeaway: The lack of heart behind the songwriting keeps the listener from fully investing in this LP. It’s interesting that this would be the album the LA-based collective would stamp its name on as the title because it’s the least impressive body of music it has recorded. The overall sound is deflated, superficial and lackluster. Had they focused more of their attention on exploring how to convey the messages that are resonating with listeners without caging themselves within inherent limitations, they could grow as a group.

Filed Under: New Music Tagged With: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, New Music

New Music: Run the Jewels (EL-P + Killer Mike) – Self-titled

July 26, 2013 by Mike Frash 3 Comments

Run the Jewels (EL-P + Killer Mike) – Run the Jewels

Top Tracks:
“DDFH”
“A Christmas Fucking Miracle”
“Run the Jewels”

Highlights: Before Killer Mike brought on El-P to produce his bangin’ 2012 album R.A.P. Music, he was mostly known as a frequent OutKast collaborator on tracks such as “The Whole World” and “Snappin’ & Trappin'”. El-P released his 2012 LP Cancer 4 Cure the exact same day as Mike’s album last year — signaling a certain syncopation beyond MC competitiveness. Fast forward one year to the present, and El-P & Killer Mike have joined forces as the best hip-hop project in years dubbed Run the Jewels, touring on their landmark new album Run the Jewels.

El-P is the sole producer of Run the Jewels, and it’s safe to say this shit will be pumped in the future. The world of sound is incorporated into tight, aurally pleasing production that feels familiar yet completely original. El-P uses everything from classic organ to Nintendo glitch sounds to electric guitar to build epic beats. Contemporary dance elements can be found interjected into the beats most often, but in a micro-sampling fashion not akin to today’s trap movement. The most groundbreaking instrumental aspect of Run the Jewels is the sole producer’s use of vocals in beat production. The opening cut “Run the Jewels” contains an echo effect on accented words until they meld into the music track, blending parts of the rhymes into the instrumentals. “Job Well Done” & “Banana Clipper” feature instrumental melody stems that are really modulated vocal beats that loop and pitch-shift with ease. The effect of rhyming over modulated vocal-based beats is striking.

The lyrics constantly paint descriptive word pictures, and frequently celebrate wide ranging drug use — “No Come Down” is hyper-catchy with the chopped up refrain “I get so high, I close my eyes like I may die” contrasting with “and I won’t come down.” “DDFH”, the best track on the record, delves into aspects of police brutality, government surveillance & the US’s unbalanced prison system with ease within one Killer Mike verse. Killer Mike breaths fire as aggressively as ever, but with his patented wink and a smile.

Lowlights: Like the rest of hip-hop, Run the Jewels embraces Molly use — pure MDMA — without hesitation. And in “Twin Hype Back”, the duo include an over-the-top date rape skit with the help of Prince Paul about putting MDMA in a girl’s drink. Paul, playing “Chest Rockwell,” goes into cheesy-creep mode by crooning “You feeling relaxed? Maybe it’s that half a molly I put in your Mountain Dew. Ya works like a charm / I’ve got your glass of Beefeater, a pack of Uno Cards / OK, how about I come over tonight and pick you up on my Segway and we go to Long John Silver.” Seemingly, this is a song-long spoof about the Rick Ross controversy, where he rhymed about date raping a girl by using Molly.

There’s a bit of contradiction between the El-P & Killer Mike’s very real celebration of drug culture and the hip-hop date rape skit that is meant as social criticism in “Twin Hype Back”. It’s obviously lampooning Rick Ross and the controversy around it. And clearly, most people that enjoy recreational drug use don’t rape people. But it’s hard to take the intention of the spoof seriously after hearing about how dope Molly, shrooms, blunts & blow is the previous eight tracks.

Takeaway: One of Run the Jewels’ greatest successes is that it can be both funny and dead serious within the same song and often within in the same flow or line at times. El-P & Killer Mike are at their strongest when spitting rhymes with meaning — regarding oppression, government hypocrisy, racism — and this is the Killer Mike influence (the same guy that made the four words “I’m glad Reagan’s Dead” a catch phrase over the past year).

But this shouldn’t detract from how fun this album is to listen to — whether the topic at hand is dead serious or downright funny. Killer Mike broaches serious topics, bringing up the “elephant in the room” whenever possible, and EL-P is a hyperactive, light-hearted goofball MC. And that really is why El-P & Killer Mike are the perfect duo. Put these two together and you have the best hip-hop album of the year so far, and one of the best overall albums of 2013.

*Win free tickets to see Run the Jewels at The Independent in San Francisco on July 31st.

Filed Under: Featured, New Music Tagged With: El-P, Killer Mike, New Music, Run The Jewels

New Music: Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus

July 24, 2013 by Kevin J Quandt Leave a Comment

Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus

Top Tracks:
“Brainfreeze”
“The Red Wing”
“Stalker”

Album Highlights: After a lengthy 4 year wait for the third album from the Bristol duo Fuck Buttons, Slow Focus has arrived with all it’s droning brilliance. Right out of the gates, it’s not terribly tough to see that Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power have been busy collecting more circuit-bent gadgets and rare synths to create a whirling dervish of art-wave post-rock. Though trying to place this act in any genre is a bit of disservice, kind of like some of their influences like Aphex Twin and Mogwai. Alas, this sonic venture is full of exploration, easily demonstrated on the long-play opening track, “Brainfreeze”. Fans of My Bloody Valentine may eat up this thick, wall-of-sound style approach that is served up on this release, and the explorative tracks top ten minutes in some cases à la Kevin Shields, as well.

Comparisons aside, Fuck Buttons truly bring something original to the table, and the crossover nature of this release is one of the more dynamic aspects to dwell on while listening. Tracks like “Stalker” lurch close to a dance beat, but won’t allow for overt shoegazing as the song bends and limps towards a rising focal point. It’s uplifting in ways, while leaving the listener to decide if it’s the sound of apocalypse or a new beginning.

Album Lowlight: Much like their influences, Fuck Buttons won’t fit neatly into any category, therefore fans of the avant-garde will eat it up, while others may not appreciate the pioneering aspect of these two experimental Brits. Closing track “Hidden Xs” is formatted very similarly to the prior song in song structure, length of track and overall feel. “Hidden Xs” does have a more distinct “rock” feel with it’s relatively clear guitar tones, almost reminiscent of jamtronica purveyors such as The Egg. It remains to be seen whether this album has a ton of replay value, but the depth of the songs tend to make one think it will.

Takeaway: If not familiar with this act, Slow Focus is a perfectly acceptable jumping off point before burrowing into their back catalog. It’s likely that their recently announced Fall tour will garner buzz and sell out in many key demographics, so don’t sleep on Fuck Buttons in the later summer.

Hung and Power are masters of their craft, and truly sculpt aural landscapes with the best of them. One standout track, “The Red Wing”, could be a stand-in for a more ruckus take on Boards of Canada, an act that shares the same envelope-pushing ethos. All in all, these rising stars bring something truly unique to the table, a table that is increasingly overflowing with new takes on the state of electronic music, even if hidden under the moniker of post-rock.

Filed Under: New Music Tagged With: Fuck Buttons, New Music, Slow Focus

New Music: David Lynch – The Big Dream

July 19, 2013 by Molly Kish Leave a Comment

David Lynch – The Big Dream

Top Tracks:
“Star Dream Girl”
“Last Call”
“Say It”

Album Highlights:Naturally one to push creative boundaries, renaissance man David Lynch gets surprisingly lo-fi on his new 2013 album, The Big Dream. Notwithstanding his flair for the experimental, he pairs many contrasting elements that would have had the compatibility of oil and water if the album had not been a David Lynch production. On his eighth studio album — a stark contrast from his electro pop 2011 release Crazy Clown Time — Lynch takes a turn for the opiate, churning his signature synthesized vocal narratives into molasses paced rhythm and blues sections. Possessing the quality of a ketamine induced honky tonk, Lynch plays with elements of doo wop, country and blues while incorporating drum machines and ear drum rattling bass, because well…he can.

Vocals remain at the forefront of the each track and speak more as monologues rather than lyrics. Similar to that of Lou Reed, Les Claypool or Gibby Haines of Butthole Surfer fame, Lynch talk-sings through the entire record in his vaguely auto-tuned staccato-paced drone. Ranging from provocative on standout tracks like “Say It” and “Star Dream Girl” to nearly incomprehensible on the bluesy freak out jam “Sun Can’t Be Seen No More”, Lynch keeps the journey interesting, yet cohesive. Considering the inclusion of curve ball tracks like the bass heavy “Last Call” that almost have a trap vibe to it, the unified nature of this album is impressive. It Proves yet again that the artistic stamp of David Lynch is something that’s poignant enough to genre-bend with incomparable ease.

Album Lowlight: Although The Big Dream does accomplish a great feat in finding an audio space to combine such abstract musical elements, it also conversely detracts from the listening experience a bit. The album transitions effortlessly from one track to the next, however at points becomes convoluted due to Lynch’s staple vocal style. The Big Dream has a charming garage rock appeal and is unique in its production quality, but at times can be boring due to how consistent it remains throughout. The title track does little to pull in the listener and sets an indifferent pace for the rest of the record. This album has great moments that invoke a sense of nostalgia for fans of Lynch’s early work and rock purists alike, however it won’t be blowing the minds of music critics anticipating a characteristically ostentatious David Lynch.

Takeaway: At this point in his eclectic career, Lynch knows he can do just about whatever he wants successfully, a trait that allows him to take such creative risks with reckless abandon. It’s also a key element in how cohesively this album actually comes together despite its abstract musical content. In The Big Dream, we see a rather reserved effort by David Lynch, bringing his Midas Touch to the world of rhythm and blues. Incorporating contemporary bass lines and drum machines, Lynch makes a conscious effort to remain relevant enough for airplay but without compromising his integrity as a master of kitsch. Bringing old school fans back to awkward scenes in the Twin Peaks roadhouse, Lynch keeps things entertainingly cryptic in a way that only he can do.

Filed Under: New Music Tagged With: David Lynch, New Music, The Big Dream

New Music: Thundercat – Apocalypse

July 16, 2013 by Kevin J Quandt Leave a Comment

Thundercat – Apocalypse

Top Tracks:
“Tenfold”
“Oh Sheit It’s X”
“Lotus and the Jondy”

Album Highlights: The intergalactic, funk spaceship piloted by the virtuous Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, continues to plunge the depths of the galaxy with his latest release Apocalypse. Ever wonder what a more contemporary version of Jamiroquai with vocals by Pharrell Williams would sound like? It would sound a good amount like Apocalypse. Alright, now that you have a general idea of what this Los Angeles native sounds like, let’s delve into what makes this album such a blast to listen to while being a sonic success.

One aspect of this release that lends to it’s greatness is the co-production of one Stephen Ellison, popularly known as Flying Lotus. Both artist have been longtime members of the Brainfeeder label and cross pollinate regularly, as Thundercat lent his skills to Until the Quiet Comes in a big way. The sublime combination of sultry space-funk and off-kilter beats creates something familiar but uniquely fresh and dynamic. Furthermore, this album isn’t trying to be a Billboard top-seller or something more than the sum of it’s parts. It’s avant-garde, futuristic, and left-leaning while projecting a massively wide range of appeal to a varied audience.

Songs like “Oh Sheit It’s X” combine funkified disco grooves that would light any dance floor in the 70’s on fire with it’s bubbly, complex bass lines and flying synths. Some could dismiss it as campy, but the track’s strength in arrangement and production would disprove any naysayer in seconds. “A Message for Austin” closes the album on a rather sad note, as Bruner pens a song to the recently deceased Brainfeeder artist and longtime member of Thundercat, Austin Peralta. It’s a truly touching track dedicated to a talented young musician taken all too soon.

Album Lowlight: Thundercat’s previous release, The Golden Age of Apocalypse, showcased Bruner’s bass playing mastery a bit more. This is minor, especially as the song-writing skills of Bruner have grown considerably stronger over the past few years. But, overall, there are few flaws with Apocalypse, in fact it’s ultimately refreshing to see a creation that isn’t trying to be anything more than Thundercat’s true vision.

Takeaway: In an era when virtuosic instrumentation doesn’t mean as much as one’s ability to twist knobs and hit buttons, it’s refreshing to hear albums like Apocalypse. Thundercat is an artist who dances to beat of his own drum, er, I mean bass. His dynamic live show has been winning accolades for years, as his set at Coachella 2012 drew this writer in, hook, line and sinker. Whether leading his stellar band in mind-blowing instrumental grooves or belting out one of his soul-funk tunes to the ladies in the front row, Thundercat is a competent musician all around who deserves more attention.

Filed Under: New Music Tagged With: Apocalypse, New Music, Thundercat

New Music Tuesday: Kanye West • Sigur Rós • Empire of the Sun

June 18, 2013 by The Bam Team Leave a Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Kanye West – Yeezus

Top Tracks:
“Black Skinhead”
“New Slaves”
“I’m In It”

Album Highlights: West’s most avant-guarde effort to date, Yeezus explores the pulsating bass-lines of trap music, glitch electronic beats and experimental noise. In taking some of the largest creative risks of his career, West enrolled a dream team of collaborators to keep the album cohesive and provoking. Executive produced by Rick Ruben, the album boasts a contributing roster of industry heavyweights both past and present. Beyond the tracks crafted by the likes of Daft Punk or featuring West’s handpicked protégé Chief Keef, “Yeezus” is filled with an impressive collection of samples from musical innovators both past and present. A collision of contemporary tastemakers and musical archetypes best exemplified on the standout track “Blood on the Leaves”. The track hits hard with quintessential trap horns and the paralyzing bass of TNGHT’s “R U Ready”, paired with vocals appropriated from Billie Holiday’s classic “Strange Fruit”.

Embellishing further upon audio elements explored in Cruel Summer, his most recent release with G.O.O.D. Music, Yeezus re-introduces us to West’s affinity for the abrasive. Lyrically he continues his legacy of controversial subject matter, with blatant misogyny, self-perpetuated deism and a “fuck the world” attitude dominating as themes. Touching upon the idea of modern-day slavery, within a society that feeds into and conversely scrutinizes his egocentric self-image, West angrily spits, screams and snarls his way through many of the albums tracks. “New Slaves” and “Black Skinhead,” the hardest hitting political tracks on the album bookend the aptly titled “I Am A God”, which will undoubtedly be a contentious track for most. Yeezus also has ample tracks in which West airs his relationship grievances and romantic dirty laundry. A signature trait of Kanye’s previous work, these private details are delivered this time around in a most uncensored manner, aggressively communicated and pornographically depicted. A sexually explicit manifesto, “I’m In It” may be the most NSFW track on the album with lines depicting unveiled racist foreplay with condiments and fisting. West let’s his freak flag fly in the albums’ most interesting collaboration, with vocals by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame and Agent Sasco.

Album Lowlight: Understandably, the album was not intended for airplay like his masterfully executed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which West makes sure to drive home with his blatant disregard for composition and lyrical structure. Although his choice of samples for this album is impressive and displays an advanced understanding of the contemporary music scene, they become convoluted within many of the songs. With his previous experience producing albums and tactfully paying homage to the artists he draws from, it’s jarring to hear certain tracks’ awkward incorporation of otherwise perfectly rendered samples. Splicing song structures to purposefully create a free form dissonance may ultimately be part of a larger-picture remix operation, but this ultimately leaves the album feeling raw and unfinished.

Takeaway: West set out to push buttons both literally and figuratively with Yeezus, embracing the idea of a gritty concept album over something he could have easily mailed in, ensuring commercial success and very immediate top 40 hits. Following in the vein of not only the collaborators he teamed up with on this album, but also a running theme present in many of 2013’s most successful new music releases, West went out on limb with hopes of producing something unique and game changing. Although Yeezus isn’t an entirely novel production, it undeniably will be an album that invokes reaction and causes discourse amongst industry professionals and fans alike. I commend West for his efforts to push himself creatively, and think he’s a genius for bringing on the talent he chose. Whether or not Yeezus will be a catalyst for a Kanye West 3.0 is still yet to be determined. Either way, I’m intrigued by how this new direction will play out and influence his future work.

~Molly Kish

Sigur Rós – Kveikur

Top Tracks:
“Brennisteinn”
“Rafstraumur”
“Bláþráður”

Album Highlights: Sigur Rós creates much more Godly material than Kanye West, evidenced with Kveikur, the second full length record the Icelandic trio has released in 14 months. The post-rock deities are pretty well-known for their grand live shows — they tour with a mini orchestra to recreate their layered sound — but between these two albums they lost core member and multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson. What they’ve gained between albums is a stronger sense of immediacy and urgency. Kveikur is a more upbeat continuation of their 2012 album Valtari, offering a heavier wall of sound approach with faster beats-per-minute compared to the 2012 effort. That stated, it’s not a massively large departure, as neither record is in a hurry to prove a point. Each song takes the listener on a journey, yet all cuts work together within the context of their respective album as a whole. Kveikur is simply louder, showcasing more chaotic builds and rooting itself in epic dissonance. The tone of the newer album is darker, even demonic at times; Jónsi and his cohorts channel their demons and come out on the other side, transformed with an added emphasis on ‘Von’. (for non-Sigur Rós fanatics, ‘Von’ means ‘hope’ in the faux language the group invented called “Hopelandic”)

Both albums are continued steps away from mainstream fare, yet at the same time Sigur Rós invite you to join their chaotic world of hope. Opening track “Brennisteinn” commands attention and delivers a foreboding feeling, utilizing bass bombs and ecstatic feedback blasts to introduce the album. As “Brennisteinn” begins to wind down into its ambient outro, the static feedback returns to contrast sharply with the supposedly peaceful finale. “Stormur” begins with Jonsi’s angelic euphoria, but the song only takes flight when the positively pitched, high energy percussion arrives a minute in. “Rafstraumur” uses a typical Sigur Rós song structure — building to a peak, then ephemerally retreating into the valley of calmness before building to a euphoric release point that successfully climbs higher than the previous peak. The long-lasting crescendos are driven by invasive drums on “Rafstraumur”, making the calm respite mid-song especially effective. Kveikur ends as strong as it begins, with “Rafstraumur” and “Bláþráður” leaving a distinctively intense, new taste on your tongue before finishing with the albums’ only mellow cut “Var”.

Album Lowlight: Title song “Kveikur’ is a racing demonic soundscape, but it isn’t one of Sigur Rós’ best songs. “Kveikur” contains punk-rock influences and is particularly hard and rough around the edges for the Icelandic outfit, and it isn’t a track that is particularly satisfying. Maybe it sticks out as a lowlight because it’s missing the beautiful ambiance that is present in every other song, at least in some way. It rejects the duality concept of Kveikur, that being euphoric ambiance versus moments and excursions into jarring dissonance.

Takeaway: Kveikur is Sigur Rós’ best album since 2005’s Takk… largely due to the rapid pace throughout and the sonically jarring jolts that strike like a viking on the attack. The cacophonous noises that contrast with the typical Rós ambiance makes the LP all the more memorable. The resulting effect of this cognitive dissonance is immersive, thought-provoking music. The group favors ‘stress’ over ‘release’ here, but there are enough release moments to help the listener avoid a nervous breakdown. While the sound of Kveikur is certainly heavy, it is less emotionally heavy than Sigur Ros’ classic early releases Agaetis Byrjun, ( ), & Takks… — the albums that made Sigur Rós a worldwide phenomenon, so don’t expect this output to be in the same vein as those classics. Though this is quintessential Sigur Rós, and a must listen for fans of post-rock.

~Mike Frash

Empire of the Sun – Ice on the Dune

Top Tracks:
“DNA”
“Alive”
“Keep a Watch”

Album Highlights: The pair of Aussie lads from Empire of the Sun have followed up 2008’s blazing Walking on a Dream with another striking dose of synth rock, full of shiny production and dance grooves. Ice on the Dunes took almost five years to arrive at our ears, and there are some truly positive attributes to glean on this sophomore release. First, the visual marketing of the group has not tamed down, as their music videos, imagery and basically all aspects of the act, actually, are over-the-top and cinematic, to say the least. The bombastic vision of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore is something to behold, as clearly demonstrated by their music video for “Alive” and subsequent tracks, and it appears to be the continuing vision of the duo. There was potential uncertainty for the future of this act as Nick decided not to tour behind Walking on a Dream, leaving Luke to span the globe a couple of times as the sole torch-bearer.

Now that the band is back together, it is able to create more pristine electro landscapes that could make Kylie Minogue weak in the knees. It’s maximal music at it’s best, so I suppose the five-year wait makes a bit of sense (see: Daft Punk) and comes through on the release, even if the strength of the songs do not hold up to the highlights on the previous release. Who would have thought that Australia would be such a hotbed for a unique brand of dance-driven synth-pop, but here we are. Songs like “Concert Pitch” epitomizes the EOTS sound with all it’s 80’s grandeur coupled with cute EDM-inspired, “feel good” lyrics that make the kids go a special type of crazy.

Album Lowlight: Over-production isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and no one should be surprised by this element from Empire. However, one can’t help but roll their eyes at certain spots where it’s simply too bright and shiny to be taken as something brilliant. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from an album I personally didn’t think would ever be made, but this is pretty damned close, even if it lacks multiple stand-out tracks. Lastly, a certain homogeneity of tracks is much more pronounced, especially when compared to the previous release.

Takeaway: What was once a side/pet-project by two well-established Aussie musicians has fully developed into festival headliner status and are gearing up for a sizable summer to growing crowds. Luke and Nick have a master plan for their most recent project, this plan includes a multifaceted approach to the music industry by cultivating both a sound and an image. It could be argued that both are equally valuable in drawing in new fans that yearn to experience the mega-production stage act or simply blasting their albums in a convertible cruising PCH.

~Kevin Quandt

Filed Under: New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Empire of the Sun, Kanye West, New Music, Sigur Ros

New Music Tuesday: Boards of Canada • Surfer Blood • CSS • Jagwar Ma • Gold Panda

June 11, 2013 by The Bam Team 3 Comments

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest

Top Tracks:
“Nothing is Real”
“Cold Earth”
“Palace Posy”

Album Highlights: Tomorrow’s Harvest is today’s feast as Boards of Canada return with their first album in 8 years. Scottish brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin are just as good as ever, whether this record was 8 years in the making or they were on an 8 year vacation (or somewhere in between). Better? That is still up for debate.

Tomorrow’s Harvest is an “environmental” album, and if you’ve ever heard Boards of Canada, you understand this description. Their lo-fi, dreamy electronic beats are cinematic – the atmospheric flow evokes visual accompaniment. Their sound derives from 1970’s science fiction soundtracks, incorporating reverb heavy ambience and glitchy mechanical beats, sprinkled with thousands of samples and sounds. The more you listen, the more you hear. Songs like “Reach for the Dead,” “White Cyclosa” and “Split Your Infinities” sound like your hypothetical space vessel is being boarded by an aliens in the far reaches of the galaxy.

The songs on Tomorrow’s Harvest (and all Boards of Canada music, really) thrive in various environments for the listener. Your opinion and perception of a song, or the album, is heavily influenced by your surroundings, both physical and mental. There are an infinite number scenarios where Tomorrow’s Harvest will “click”, and when it does, it’s marvelous. A song might not work one context, but will work well in another. I got the most out of this record while driving at night or while sitting in bed with all of the lights off. It’s up to the listener.

I hear something new every time I listen to this record. To an extent, that is exactly what Boards of Canada was going for with this record. Giving a rare interview to the Guardian, Boards of Canada revealed some of the thought behind Tomorrow’s Harvest. This record could be much deeper than one might think with only a handful of listens, and we are just beginning to tap into what Board of Canada had in mind with this album. According to the artists themselves, Tomorrow’s Harvest is “loaded with patterns and messages” and “there’s actually more use of subliminals on this record than on any previous album we’ve done, so we’re interested to see what people will pick up on.” The patterns and messages were laid out early with the promotional scavenger hunt; the record store madness and impossible clues that led to the album reveal mirrors the concept in the record itself.

If I had to contextualize it, I would split most of Boards of Canada’s songs into two categories: beats and interludes. When creating an atmospheric ambient album laced with beats and samples, you simply cannot string one beat after another – You’ve got to connect them somehow. Reset the musical palette, if you will. Boards of Canada accomplishes that with this record. There are several beats on here that will be remembered as “classic” Boards when it’s all said and done. Beats like “Cold Earth”, “Nothing is Real” and “Palace Posy”, are connected together with spacey interludes such as “Telepath,” “Collapse” and “Uritual.”

Album Background: The story of this record might actually be more interesting than the record itself. Here we are, in 2013, not having heard from Boards of Canada since 2006, when along comes Record Store Day on April 20th and a mysterious unannounced Boards of Canada vinyl appears in a record store in New York. This vinyl record simply had the band’s name and “—— / —— / —— / XXXXXX / —— / ——“ as the title. The record contained a brief clip of music and a 6 digit code. What could this secret code mean? Several more codes were released through various media outlets such as NPR, Adult Swim and BBC. Eventually all 6 of the codes were discovered and when Boards of Canada launched a new website the codes were used to reveal information about the upcoming album. This guerrilla marketing campaign gave this record a mystique that fits right in Boards of Canada’s wheelhouse.

Takeaway: Boards of Canada have certainly not changed from its abstruse way of doing things. They seem to marvel in the mystery of their own creation. Tomorrow’s Harvest is an incredibly deep album, one that is an auditory journey that stimulates all of the senses. I can’t help but think about visual accompaniment to this record every time I listen to it. It is a record that is proving to be more complex and fascinating with every subsequent listening. Granted, Boards of Canada isn’t for everyone, and it takes a specific mood and environment for it to really shine.

~Kevin Raos

Surfer Blood – Pythons

Top Tracks:
“Demon Dance”
“Slow Six”
“Blair Witch”

Album Highlights: The second album from Florida alt-rock outfit Surfer Blood, Pythons, is based in classic surf rock instrumentation and song structure, but the group laces this traditional sound with just enough sonic psychedelic undercurrents and punk-rock blasts. Power-pop refrains and catchy, singsongy lyrics dominate on the surface level throughout, but punk-rock screaming juxtaposes many of the early songs. In the first single and best track “Demon Dance”, punk-inspired group chanting pierces the track a third of the way through, signaling this isn’t your father’s surf rock. The modulated screaming shows up again in “Weird Shapes”, but here it’s so folded into the candy-coated melody that it’s hardly invasive. The psychedelic noodling is less obvious; for example, the droning high-pitched texture at the end of “Needles & Pins” and the reverbing alien helicopter sound in “Squeezing Blood” requires headphones and observant ears to notice. The subtle psychedelic layers and the in-your-face punk exclamations create a fairly unique sound aesthetic in Pythons.

Two other tracks left a lasting impression. “Slow Six” starts with fuzzy reverb, then feigns tame moments by building into a triumphant, banging wall of sound that peaks and melts into a warm guitar picking outro. “Blair Witch” is tame and soothing in it’s entirety, a tender introspective track, yet it’s also coo for love.

Album Lowlight: Pythons gets a bit repetitious – springy drums, tight-fisted acoustic guitar strumming, lyrics that linger, extended words with low toned Beach-Boy harmonies – it ultimately projects a uniform tone that smothers the record at times. This is especially true during the second half of the LP, where the punk-rock injections dry up and give way to pleasantness over chaos.

Takeaway: This was an odd “grower” of an album for me. Upon first listen it was hard to enjoy the contrasting sound of traditional rock versus the psychedelic/punk outliers. Then I grew to accept, then love, the throwback classic surf-rock sound mixed with the jarring punk-vocal interludes and psych layering. Upon even further listening, it’s a bit one-note. One of the biggest challenges a recording artist endures is creating a unified, cohesive album, but the individual songs need to stand out on their own as well. Pythons is certainly cohesive, yet song to song it is too homogenous.

~Mike Frash

CSS – Planta

Top Tracks:
“Into the Sun”
“Teenage Tiger Cat”
“Hangover”

Album Highlights: CSS is back with Planta, a disco-laden new wave powerhouse of an album. Soldering out the rough edges of their three previous efforts, the Brazilian bevy continues to expand on their dance-pop success by introducing sci-fi synth loops and reggaeton hooks. A throwback to the dance halls of the late eighties, CSS utilizes the simplicity of drum machine beats and lazer cross-fades as a driving force behind this album. Especially evident in the songs “Into the Sun” and “Teenage Tiger Cat”, the influence of that era’s archetypes (New Order/Joy Division, etc.) is close to blatant.

Album Lowlight: Vocals remain at the forefront of Planta, per usual for CSS, but remain consistently in English as opposed to their normally bi-lingual recordings. Luísa Hanaê Matsushita undeniably delivers with her breathy semantics, yet the lack of Portuguese incorporation leaves Cansei de Ser Sexy fans craving a bit more of their Brazillian bravado.

Takeaway: Planta is a playfully crafted homage to an era of dance music that chose to look beyond the peripheral s of stale North American discos, branching out to the neighboring scenes across the pond and in South America. Although CSS tones down the riot-girl-rock this album, opting for a much more polished production, their infectious energy and pop tart personas remain consistent. A graduated effort resulting in a near perfect party album for the summer, Planta proves these ladies aren’t “tired of being sexy” just yet.

~Molly Kish

Jagwar Ma – Howlin

Top Tracks:
“Four”
“Come Save Me”
“The Throw”

Album Highlights: The first album from Australian duo Jagwar Ma sounds as if the psychedelic rock and dance music genres had sex and made the perfect baby. The best example of the inter-coursing between psych-rock and dance can be found in the twelve minute, 2-song punch of “Come Save Me” into “Four”. The two tracks stitch together as one and take the listener on a journey through recent music history – and it works magnificently. “Come Save Me” begins as a lovely, 1960’s Brit-Rock jam until muted lazer sounds, layered clapping, synth and vocal dubbing overtake on a super-extended bridge. Then the track repeats “Found my love looking on the ground”, preparing the ear for pleasurable, repetitious sound. When the clean bass beat and vocal sounds kick in seamlessly at the inception of “Four”, it’s both shocking and awe-inspiring. “Four” is simply one of the most powerful dance tracks of the year, especially within the context of Howlin. The clean beat in “Four” is extra effective due to the psychedelic fuzz that dominates much of the record prior to the minimalist jungle beat.

The record notably begins with a tripped out dance loop that defies traditional song structure. “What Love” only builds – it never trades off between verse and refrain – then after putting the song to bed (or so you think), the song reprises with a cacophony of sound from the same opening song, but it’s all jumbled up in a new way. This tribal outro is similar to what fellow Aussies Tame Impala do night after night on stage – yet Jagwar Ma have the intestinal fortitude to incorporate it into the the first cut of their first album. The premiere track signifies the unconventional, groundbreaking music that is to come.

“Man I Need” is as close as Howlin gets to pop music, as it doesn’t break into extended dance territory and it’s terribly hooky, especially when you consider the Kings of Leon-esque howls. Two other stand-out jams on this LP that must be heard are “The Throw” and “Exercise”.

Album Lowlight: The record ends with a couple mellow tracks in “Did You Have To” and “Backwards Berlin” – and even though they lowered the tempo, the tracks are still infused with psychedelic sounds. My only harp here is Jagwar Ma could have sequenced the end of the album a bit stronger by going out with a higher BPM bang. Still, the mellow final track “Backwards Berlin” mirrors the looping nature and lyrical content of the opening track “What Love”, bookending this excellent record.

Takeaway: Jagwar Ma have created one of the most successful first albums any new act has released this year. Fans of Tame Impala, the Stone Roses, Cut Copy and Django Django take notice: Howlin is a record that should be listened to immediately. Jagwar Ma’s vocal effects & guitar work are similar to Kevin Parker’s innovative treatment in Tame Impala, but even more critical to their forthcoming indie-cred success is how well they incorporate electronic dance loops into psychedelic rock – the two distinctive genres never contrast inappropriately.

Tracks on Howlin conform to conventional song structure at times, but it’s really all about the psych-dance party. It’s not until the fourth track “That Loneliness” that any kind of refrain is discernible – and even then there is fast paced clapping to spice it up. But even on this seemingly conventional cut, the Aussies build a Django-Django-like tribal beat based around repetition to create a dance song with rock sounds. San Francisco – do yourself a favor and buy tickets for their October show at Rickshaw Stop before it’s sold out.

~Mike Frash

Gold Panda – Half of Where You Live

Top Tracks:
“Brazil”
“We Work Nights”
“The Most Liveable City”

Album Highlights: Gold Panda’s newest album Half of Where You live takes the listener on a journey around the world with songs like “Brazil” that truly evoke the feeling that you’re at a nightclub in Sao Paulo. Songs like “Enoshima” take the listener to Japan and “The Most Liveable City”, which has bird calls throughout, sets us right in the heart of Australia. This album is a sonic soundscape to everyone’s traveling adventures.

Album Lowlight: “My Father In Hong Kong in 1961” and “S950” both just seem like transitional songs that the album could do without. I could see why the Gold Panda would want a couple songs like this on the album, but I think he could have spiced them up a bit more.

Takeaway: If you’re going on a long adventure to a faraway land that you’ve never been to before, than I highly recommend throwing on your earbuds and getting lost in this album. From the opening track of “Junk City II” to the last song “Reprise”, the listener is on a journey to the unknown, and I can’t wait to pack up my bags and have this album along for the ride.

~Pete Mauch

Filed Under: New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Boards of Canada, CSS, Gold Panda, Jagwar Ma, New Music, Surfer Blood

New Music Tuesday: Laura Marling • Mount Kimbie • Baths • CocoRosie

May 28, 2013 by The Bam Team Leave a Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle

Top Tracks:
“I Was An Eagle”
“Saved These Words”
“Where Can I Go”

Album Highlights: Sophisticated 23-year old folk troubadour Laura Marling has a remarkably prodigious output since her first record Alas, I Cannot Swim, which was released in the UK in 2008. Fast-forward to her fourth and best LP in five years Once I Was an Eagle, and it become less and less hyperbolic to declare Marling a virtuoso songwriter, a living legend in the making. The English performer’s distinct vocal range, including the gurgle-tinged Kermit the Frog voice on the baritone introduction of “You Know”, tees up the high notes, making them all the more effective. There are a handful of classics on the sixteen song (!) LP with “I Was An Eagle”, “Master Hunter” & “Where Can I Go?”, but Marling’s biggest success here is creating a cohesive piece that thrives as a whole, not a collection of individual songs. Once I Was An Eagle quickly establishes the illusion of a continuous performance, as Marling doesn’t allow the songs to fully end for the first four tracks, a span of 18 minutes. The tracks transition ever so smoothly to the next song, and Marling proved the first four tracks are meant to be ingested as a suite of songs by creating a breathtaking 18-minute music video to accompany the opening section of this album (view it above). This record doesn’t have too many over-the-top, standout moments – instead it’s steady and successful throughout.

Album Lowlight: A little trimming would have helped with excellent LP – some of the slower ballads like “Little Love Caster” and “Interlude” could have been cut to create a tight, 12 track classic. But hemming and hawing like this is trivial – Once I Was an Eagle is one of the best singer-songwriter albums of the year.

Takeaway: At this current pace, Laura Marling seems to be a name that can go to the top of the female singer-songwriter list with Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris & Joni Mitchell. Marling’s vocal stylings can be reminiscent of the three mentioned legends, but Marling’s messages of female empowerment, which could also be viewed as a strong feminist songwriting point of view, is common throughout her short career and even more prominent in Once I Was An Eagle. For example, in the track “I Was An Eagle”, Marling sings “When we were in love, if we were, I was an eagle and you were a dove… I will not be a victim of romance or circumstance…You were a dove and I rose above you and preyed.” In a striking analogous way, Marling reverses traditional gender roles, which is especially effective within the patriarchal world of contemporary music. Themes of regret and love lost dominate the songwriting in a more general sense; at the end of the opening suite in “Breathe”, Marling says “You wanna woman who’ll call your name, it ain’t me babe.” With such strong songwriting, lyrically and instrumentally, it should be noted how good Marling is now, not some time in the future.

~Mike Frash

Mount Kimbie – Cold Spring Fault Less Youth

Top Tracks:
“Home Recording”
“You Took Your Time” (feat. King Krule)
“Made to Stray”

Album Highlights: Mount Kimbie has delivered yet another beaming release that screams progression and forward thinking in a populous era for electronic-oriented music. Cold Spring is one beastly departure from an incredible first LP, Crooks & Lovers, shifting ever slightly more to instrumentation over programming, not to mention much more live vocals, primarily handled by fellow British heat-seeker King Krule. This release is also a perfect compliment to all the Boards of Canada buzz generated this week, as much like BoC, Kimbie craft sonic gold in a manner and way of thinking that is all their own. So many nods to a smattering of musical styles are just subtle enough to not compromise the Kimbie sound, but one can’t help but hear elements of Jazzanova, Artful Dodger, James Blake and many more.

Album Lowlight: Very few on my first half dozen listens. King Krule’s unique croon may not pull in first-time listeners with his quintessential cockney, teenage vocal style.

Takeaway: Cerebral music at it’s finest from two truly unique voices in the ever-changing landscape of post-dubstep music, Mount Kimbie won’t really ever fit neatly into a category, or even sub-category, with their ever-changing sonic approach. It really is hard to ignore the fact something special is being produced by Kai Campos and Dominic Maker while still being relatively unknown, especially in the States. The mood shifts and bobs with a whim on Cold Spring and is fully an album to lose yourself in. Pastoral feelings and minor transcendentalism are included, free of charge.

~Kevin Quandt

Baths – Obsidian

Top Tracks:
“Ossuary”
“No Eyes”
“Miasma Sky”

Album Highlights: Bath’s second album is a well-crafted juxtaposition of beautifully produced pop beats and tragically desperate lyrics. Obsidian highlights the vocal range of Will Wiesenfeld, which fluctuates between a tenor and baritone, whimsically playing off corresponding pitches through call and response structures showcased within the track’s choruses. A generally upbeat album filled with fanciful melodies and intricate BPM layering is presented, so it’s easy to get lost within the enveloping fuzz without paying attention to Weisenfelds’ melancholy verses. Subject matter depicting internal turmoil, anxiety and emotionally devoid casual sex rarely sound so buoyant. Accentuated in poignant tracks such as “No Eyes” and “Ossuary”, Weisenfeld indulges in pitting extremely dark and jaded lyrics against a mostly lighthearted musical soundscape. An idea he’s been entertaining throughout his musical career, Obsidian draws heavy influence from fellow warped songwriter Azeda Booth, whom Weisenfeld was introduced to through friends and previous tour mates Braids.

Album Lowlight: I can’t find much fault with this album beyond issues that may arise out of personal preference or audible favor. It’s beautifully produced, has a great variety of songs and all are equally as engaging and interesting. Even the slower tracks such as “Ironworks”, although somewhat stunting to the flow of Obsidian, are gorgeous in their own right. You could tell that Weisenfeld made a conscious effort to create a playing field that both audiophiles and lyricists could meet on, and he did so in a seemingly effortless fashion. I doubt that this album will get much attention outside of the indie/electronic circles, but it should.

Takeaway: Bath’s sophomore effort is one to be reckoned with, and it should be a testament to not only Wiesenfled’s future success, but it should also be a game changer in the arena of experimental electronic music. Obsidian resonates on two completely stark contrasts, marrying a mainstream genre with a taboo mindset, and he pulls this off triumphantly.

~Molly Kish

CocoRosie – Tales of a Grass Widow

Top Tracks:
“End of Time”
“Gravediggers”
“Far Away”

Album Highlights: Sister duo Bianca “Coco” and Sierra “Rosie” Casady, known as CocoRosie, are back with their 5th album Tales of a Grass Widow. The sisters’s “freak folk” style remains as evocative as ever in this album that tells tales of death and pain. Perhaps the most striking thing about CocoRosie’s sound is the vocal delivery of “Rosie”. Her voice is striking and subtle, with the kind of ferocity akin to Bjork, a definite highlight of this record.

CocoRosie’s sound is unlike anything else in mainstream music. They combine worldly elements, undoubtedly influenced by their Native American ancestry, with a beat-boxer providing a bulk of the rhythm section.

Album Lowlight: I love the beat-boxer, and think it works remarkably well on this record, but I would love to see what they could do with either a real drummer, or a DJ providing the beats. A beat-boxer can only knock so hard.

Takeaway: CoCoRosie is not well-known to mainstream music lovers, but that could soon change. Their style is unique and powerful and has been turning heads since 2003. The vocal delivery is some of the best I’ve heard in recent years, and that along makes this album a must-listen.

~Kevin Raos

Filed Under: Featured, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Baths, CocoRosie, Laura Marling, Mount Kimbie, New Music

New Music Tuesday: Daft Punk • The National • Majical Cloudz

May 21, 2013 by The Bam Team 3 Comments

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

Top Tracks:
“Doin’ It Right”
“Giorgio By Moroder”
“Instant Crush”
“Lose Yourself to Dance”

Album Highlights: Arguably the most anticipated album of the last five (perhaps even ten) years, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories departs from the group’s signature “robot rock” and brings listeners deeper into the production minds of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, the duo that has been at the forefront of electronic music since the late 90’s. Reviews have been scattered for this album, and many fans are disappointed with the departure from their “traditional” sound. Random Access Memories is much more a full band “roots” record for Daft Punk and an homage to the music that inspired them to create their own unique sound. The album is contemporary but with obvious nods to influencers such as Griorgio Moroder, while at the same time giving a throwback feel to the days of funk and soul, where dance floors were commanded by elaborate multi-piece bands and not a solitary DJ.

“Doin’ it Right” is a gem. The slightly odd voice of Animal Collective’s Panda Bear projects his Brian Wilson-esqe voice over a Daft robot voice, repeating words about ‘dancing’ and ‘doin’ it right’. While the lyrics are a bit cheesy, it’s the simplicity and catchiness of the song that hits home; it’s a track I could listen to for hours on end and not get tired of. “Giorgio by Moroder” starts with a monologue by Giorgio himself, which is an interesting choice that is sure to annoy DJ’s. Once the interview intro is done, the track breaks into one of the more traditional Daft Punk style songs with a Giorgio touch found in the synth and sequencer used. “Instant Crush” features The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas on vocals, filtered to give him a distant, robotic, over-the-phone appeal. Key parts of the song also sound similar to earlier Daft (especially “Something About Us” off Discovery), which adds to the song’s forlorn, distant-love quality. Finally, “Lose Yourself to Dance” brings in flashbacks of funk, building up over guitar, handclaps, and Pharell’s high-pitched vocals to set a groove that is built to move the masses.

Album Lowlight: I really didn’t find many particular lowlights on the long-awaited Random Access Memories. I wasn’t a huge fan “Fragment’s of Time” at first, as it had a sort of yacht-rock adult contemporary vibe to it, but it has grown on me. I think it would be too early, even after about 30 plays, to pick a lowlight. I have considerations, but it’s a complex album and my choices for lowlight seem to shift with each listen.

Takeaway: Regardless of what Daft Punk was trying to channel in RAM, it’s hard for any group or DJ to deliver on such stratospheric expectations. Inevitably fans will feel either let down or ecstatic with the album, depending on their willingness to be influenced and where they are musically. I don’t think too many college-aged ragers are going to be digging this, as it’s fist pumping appeal is minimal, if even existent.

It should be noted though that prior to this album, Daft Punk had a much smaller mass appeal, with many fans only latching onto them during the start of the “EDM” craze. Most of these fans never realized that Daft Punk were using samples from old funk albums and putting them through filters, pitch bends, tempo changes and other signature French house effects in order to give credit to the songs that inspire them, while still stamping them with their signature “robot” sound (Justice does the same exact thing). Random Access Memories sounds much like an album that Daft Punk would want to sample from; nothing is pitch bent, filtered, or changed in order to take it back to where the sound truly originated – it’s almost all organic here.

I think the really interesting thing will be seeing which remix producers don’t just rearrange the parts, but use these songs just as Daft Punk did with older albums that inspired them, taking these samples, filter them, and make them their own tracks. I, along with others, feel this album is what the dance world needs right now: a return to real production, thought, and care when it comes to making dance music. So much of what’s been happening the last few years has become about getting louder and more commercially viable while sacrificing quality and care, and hopefully Random Access Memories helps press the reset button on this.

~Sean Little

The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Top Tracks:
“Don’t Swallow the Cap”
“Sea of Love”
“Humiliation”

Album Highlights: Being melancholy has never been so exciting! The Dessner brothers, the Devendorf brothers and Matt Berninger bring the dark joy of another album release, and they have kept on the same track they have steadily been building for over a decade. Trouble Will Find Me is a thick slice of the unmistakable baritone of Berninger coupled with the driving force of the pair of brothers, backing amazingly true-life lyrics dealing with the imperfections we all deal with in our lives. “Sea of Love,” the first single, is a prime example of the feverish construction the National pump out so consistently, and mirrors previous releases in this same manner. Their ability to bring contemplation to records, then transcribe the material to energetic intensity in a live format is one that few bands have continuously achieved over the past 14 years, and fully demonstrates that something special is happening here. Also, Berninger’s voice sounds smoother and richer than ever, apparently due to quitting smoking before recording.

Album Lowlight: The National have truly cultivated a sound and style all their own, and they achieve this without many bells, whistles or electronic elements. Some parts of this record, and the band’s overall sound, take on a simple characteristic as demonstrated through basic harmonies, chord progressions and even drums beats. It’s with this formula that some songs begin to sound familiar. My best example for this is when new track “Graceless” is stacked against Boxer’s “Brainy.” I suppose these likenesses are byproducts of members’ individual style. On the other hand, luckily the lyrics are more relatable and less violent than previous release, High Violet.

Takeaway: Trouble Will Find Me is truly just another brick in an immaculately constructed structure that is the releases of The National. It’s fair to say the masses didn’t expect much less from one of the most consistent acts in the business, and I for one cannot wait to see how these songs are blisteringly performed on the live stage. In the meantime, there is plenty of time to further pull all the meaning out of this batch of 13 new tracks, full of real world angst slightly veiled with optimism.

~Kevin Quandt

Majical Cloudz – Impersonator

Top Tracks:
“Bugs Don’t Buzz”
“Childhood’s End”
“Silver Rings”

Album Highlights: Majical Cloudz combines Devon Welsh’s clear vocals over minimalist organ/synth/piano-led beats from Matthew Otto, and the result is dreary, hanging-onto-hope emotional state of an album from the Canadian duo. The style of Welsh’s vocal-front arrangement fakes the listener into a literal interpretation of his lyrics. It’s all about the subtleties and what’s not being said behind the poetic phrasing. The inferences made while listening are more striking than what Welsh says; you can tell there is real pain, that Welsh has loved and lost, and that he’s only recently come to embrace his place in the world. What’s most inspirational is how Welsh’s vocals plow through the cloud of sad ambiance like a strong beam of light, searching for a permanent place away from depression.

“Childhood’s End” is a sad track that uses the simple refrain of “Went down, went down went down…” to establish an emotional, spiraling tone. The strings and vocal moans in “Silver Rings” contrast and question the lyrics “I don’t think about dying alone”, especially when shortly thereafter Welsh cries out “Stay with me”. “Bugs Don’t Buzz” is the most memorable, poetic track on the record, it’s essence summed up with the line, “It pays to be on the edge of existence, just riding the surface my love.”

Album Lowlight: The effect of Majical Cloudz is comparable to the feeling you get during the first part of a typical Sigur Rós song – but you don’t get the hopeful, transcendent payoffs the icelandic wonders give. Impersonator is dreary yet hauntingly beautiful, but ultimately one-note; it’s hard to see the replay value in this record going forward due to it’s super-somber effect. This is the kind of record that should get heavy play when a family member dies. Conversely, these intense, morose-minimalist power ballads like ‘I Do Sing For You” will fit perfectly into an appropriate cinematic moment or scene on the small or big screen, if they haven’t been used to score visual imagery already.

Takeaway: Welsh’s poetic waxing comes off like an endless soliloquy that’s best listened to in an immersive situation – being stoned with headphones on or live in concert – but I wouldn’t exactly plan your Friday evening around this experience. I saw Majical Cloudz open for Autre Ne Veut in March, and Welsh is somehow physically more intense and brooding than his songwriting in person. He blasts stand-offish stares into his front-row victims, moving from face to face looking deep into the eyes of each concert goer. I remember reading the following description of Welsh’s live performance before the show, and I’m still not seeing the “Fun loving” part:

Majical Cloudz is a music project and performance event. Negative and ecstatic. Fun-loving. Seeking relationships with audiences to share transforming experiences.

Welsh & Otto played most, if not all of this album at The Independent two months ago, and I can attest that Welsh and Otto have the intensity and drive to pull this project off, especially if the goal is to “share transforming experiences.” Just see this act on a random Monday or if you’re in the mood for lost-languid lyrics over morose music beds.

~Mike Frash

Alpine – A is For Alpine

Top Tracks:
“Gasoline”
“Hands”
“Too Safe”

Album Highlights: Alpine’s new album is anything but new. A is for Alpine was released in Australia in 2012, and after a long and tumultuous journey, it has finally made its way to the northern hemisphere. Dawning from Melbourne, Australia, Alpine has become a household name to many Australians and they are just now making a name for themselves in the States. Alpine’s sound combines the dreamy vocal harmonies of Phoebe Baker and Louisa James with post-punk, electro-laced beats. Highly danceable, A is for Alpine is filled with catchy hooks and driving beats that don’t get stale. This is a sparkling debut album from one of Melbourne’s hottest and upcoming bands.

Album Lowlight: What took them so long to get to the USA? The lowlight is that they’ve been depriving us of this magical album for almost a year.

Takeaway: A is for Alpine is a fantastic album, pairing Phoebe and Louisa’s vocals with the driving electro-surfy-synth to make an upbeat yet soothing record. The songs are catchy, engaging and stay fresh throughout the album. Alpine is still relatively unknown, but that might not last for long. They will be appearing at the Great American Music Hall June 8th, opening for Crystal Fingers.

~Kevin Raos

Filed Under: New Music Tuesday Tagged With: Alpine, Daft Punk, Majical Cloudz, New Music, The National

New Music Tuesday: Vampire Weekend • Wild Nothing • Wampire • Snowden

May 14, 2013 by The Bam Team 1 Comment

Every Tuesday, we focus on new music releases by naming our top tracks, album highlights, lowlights and important takeaways for select albums.

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

Top Tracks:
“Step”
“Hannah Hunt”
“Worship You”

Album Highlights: Vampire Weekend’s third album Modern Vampires of the City further cements their status as one of the preeminent indie rock bands in modern music. The band has grown up and matured with Modern Vampires, creating a vibrant and rejuvenating album that will likely be high atop many “Best of the Year” lists in 2013. Vampire Weekend has already established themselves as a veritable force in contemporary music with their highly acclaimed first and second albums Vampire Weekend (2008) and Contra (2010). Their distinctive baroque sound has aged and ripened with Modern Vampire in the City, blossoming into one of the freshest album of the year thus far. This album is littered with hits like “Ya Hey”, “Diane Young” and “Step”, which have already been making the rounds on local radio stations. It’s only a matter of time before these songs appear in another Honda commercial.

It’s the distinctive characteristics of the band’s sound that carry this record. Ezra Koenig’s playful and expressive vocals shine through this lyrically rich album. Every song on this record has captivating vocals that take the listener on a poetic journey, one of my favorites being “Step.” The shoutouts to San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda don’t hurt either. Perhaps the greatest emotional outpouring from Koenig comes at the end of “Hannah Hunt” when the song crescendos to a peak; this moment is an absolute highlight.

Album Lowlight: With little help from Steve Buscemi, Vampire Weekend has created one of the best albums of 2013. It is perhaps this cringe-worthy marketing campaign that is the worst part about the album, if it could even be considered that. Perhaps this was done to curb expectations on this record that was nearly 2 years in the making? Whatever the reason, it worked, because Modern Vampire of the City is an incredible record that will be listened to and cherished by music lovers for ages to come.

Takeaway: Without too much commotion, this LP has propelled Vampire Weekend from a quirky indie band to one of the most influential groups in contemporary music. Their distinct sound, songwriting ability, and musical diversity make this album one of the most compelling albums of the year. They’ll serenade you to sleep one moment, only to rock you awake the next. Modern Vampires of the City will transform the casual fan to a Vampire Weekend advocate. They have quickly climbed the power rankings for anticipated bands performing at Outside Lands Music Festival. I’ll be there.

~Kevin Raos

Wild Nothing – Empty Estate [EP]

Top Tracks:
“Ride”
“Ocean Repeating (Big-Eyed Girl)”
“The Body In Rainfall”

Album Highlights: Wild Nothing released one of the best records of 2012 with Nocturne, but Jack Tatum outfit has already returned with a seven-track EP that presents an interesting duality that is not foreign to these shimmering, dream-pop curators. The sounds and songs on Empty Estate vacillate between “traditional” Wild Nothing cuts and luscious, cinematic dreamscapes. Two of the EP’s highlights are the first two tracks, “The Body in Rainfall” and “Ocean Repeating (Big-Eyed Girl)”. These songs fit into this group’s synth-pop wheelhouse – they would have fit fine in either of Wild Nothing’s two long players. “Ride” sticks out as the best instrumental soundscape, channeling Philip Glass’ wild, sonic adventures.

Album Lowlight: It’s an interesting choice to put out another EP – maybe these were left over tracks from last year that were prettied up for this EP? It seems like they were half way to another excellent full length record. And while the dreamscapes here are interesting, they aren’t always perfect. The final track “Hachiko” wanders off so far that it suffers then dies a slow death – a stark way to end a mostly hazy-yet-upbeat record.

Takeaway: Wild Nothing continues to be a lead innovator of dream-pop indie music with inspiration. With involved dreamscapes like “On Guyot” and “Ride”, Tatum proves he has the chops for scoring cinema – at a minimum for films that deal in experimental, sonically-progressive audio. Overall, this new material gives the visceral feeling of wandering around as part of a journey, not a means to a destination. One device that enhances this feeling is seamless segueing between songs, which happens twice on this shortened record. This EP is another must-listen for fans of Wild Nothing.

~Mike Frash

Wampire – Curiosity

Top Tracks:
“The Hearse”
“Trains”
“Magic Light”

Album Highlights: Ever wondered what Arcade Fire might sound like if they got all new-wave? The answer would be something pretty damned close to the Portland duo which goes by the name Wampire, and they would make rocking music for dark, dark house parties. “Giants” features the semi-characteristic combination of heavy organ flourishes and artificial sounding drum machines, before dropping into a groovy section that even Boris Karloff would get down to. Rocky Tinder and Eric Phipps are the musical buds behind this project, and have been playing together for a length of time, freaking out the Portland party scene, before molding their sound into the more slick production thanks to help from Jake Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Album Lowlight: Curiosity can border on the novelty and kitschy at certain times, but it never really crosses the line, thankfully. Lead single “The Hearse” might have lead many to think this album would be a bit more dance oriented, but the mix of tempos is rather refreshing, in fact.

Takeaway: It’s a dead man’s party, and Wampire are playing said party. These guys have crafted a ghoulishly catchy album full of hook-laden goth dance romps and tenderly macabre ballads. Long anticipation has lead to a fulfilling release that will likely transcribe well to the live stage, even though Wampire seems to be a name blatantly missing from the lower throngs of festival lineups across the country. Children of the 70s and 80s can rejoice in the possibility of their new favorite release being Curiosity.

~Kevin Quandt

Snowden – No One Is in Control

Top Tracks:
“Hiss”
“Don’t Really Know Me”
“So Red”

Album Highlights: Snowden returns with No One Is in Control after a six-year hiatus since their first album, Anti-Anti, a break brought on by label fighting. While singer Jordan Jeffares was unable to create a new album, he was able to continue writing and he churned out some great songs that bring to mind Interpol with a bit more pop and indie rock energy to them. One of the tracks that defines this is “Hiss”, which brings out Jeffares’ down-a-hallway vocals with static filled garage guitars that build to create a insanely catchy chorus and breakdown that leave you moving your head and singing along. “Don’t Really Know Me” is another infectious track that takes the low-fi angle to bring the listener in and sing along.

Album Lowlight: Overall, the album didn’t have many lowlights. “No Words, No More” was a personal non–favorite as I found it a bit boring, but the albums still delivers as far as a sophomore effort goes. If anything, the albums seems to have not matured much from Anti-Anti, possibly due to the long hiatus in between and the log jam of songs it created, but for fans of Snowden I don’t feel they’ll be disappointed as No One Is In Control is Snowden through and through.

Takeaway: Crisp snare pops, low-fi guitars and distant vocals are Snowden’s hallmark and they don’t miss on their sophomore album. Some of the tracks stand out more than others in both song writing and mass appeal, but the album as a whole hits the mark for true fans and those looking to check in on what Jeffares (and Snowden) have been up to these last six years. I would also anticipate this album spawning a host
of remixes from various artists, as San Francisco’s own Lane 8 has already remixed
the lead single of the album “The Beat Comes”, so expect Snowden to follow in the
St. Lucia et..all vein and become a source of remix inspiration in the near future for a
variety of producers.

~Sean Little

Filed Under: New Music, New Music Tuesday Tagged With: New Music, Snowden, Vampire Weekend, Wampire, Wild Nothing

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