ESSENTIALLY: Bears, hailing from Ohio, play gentle bedroom pop that flows seamlessly through heartbreaking minor chords, lo-fi production and enough tambourine to hush Christopher Walken. “Bears” was self-released last year (available on iTunes and Bears’ website), and their new EP, “Shortest Day Of The Year” comes out in April (on cassette, too. That’s freakin’ awesome.).
HIGHLIGHTS: “Goodbye Song,” “Still Alright” (MP3), “Things I Should Say” (MP3)
It’s long awaited, already highly acclaimed, and probably the best album I’ve heard in quite some time. These Canadians have released a virtually flawless record with the most over-the-top music and perfectly coinciding and relatable lyrics.
REAL QUICK: Heartbreaking, life-changing(?), indie chamber rock. Recorded in various churches, the organ sounds alone will rock your world. And then Win’s lyrics will make you re-examine said world.
HIGHLIGHTS: Intervention, Black Wave / Vibrations, Antichrist Television Blues
Originally printed in Jan 12th’s Daily Nebraskan
Politics. Blame. Sex. Drugs. Break beats.
That’s a strange combination of words to describe “A Weekend In The City,” the sophomore release from English rock outfit Bloc Party, but each is fully applicable.
Following 2005’s “Silent Alarm,” and a few strikingly similar singles in 2006, Bloc Party was expected to release another hook-heavy guitar rock album with an uncontroversial amount of social commentary. However, “Weekend” portrays the exact opposite.
Charged with political messages and guitarist Kele Okereke’s emotions, struggles and blatant opinion, the record is much more powerful and deeply intimate when compared with “Silent Alarm.”
Musically, it’s just as different. Bloc Party has abandoned their clean, concise sound and moved to a more live, natural sound while experimenting with the spatial aspects of music. Synths and atmospheric noise dominates the record, cutting down on guitars and allowing a much fuller and more complicated structure.
Album opener “Song for Clay” begins slowly with Okereke’s gentle singing, which is at its strongest. In crescendo fashion, the track moves from section to section seamlessly. The 1979 style bass lines and forceful, fast- moving drums in “Death From Above” prevail over countless layers of sound and lyrics of longing for competence, reiterated throughout the record. Synth-heavy first single “The Prayer” asks “Is it so wrong to crave recognition?”
“Hunting for Witches,” a beat-heavy track with guitars similar to 2004’s “Staying Fat,” discusses the worldwide hunt for terrorists with a vivid image of terrified citizens.
Okereke’s search for a home and his widely discussed sexual orientation also appears in the record’s lyrics.
“I Still Remember,” a simple pop song similar to “New Order,” tells of a love for a boy and asks what could’ve been. On “SXRT,” a slow, spacey lament reminiscent of Brian Eno’s “By This River,” he sings, “They say it’s not becoming for a boy my age,” speaking of his situation and the pressure it has caused.
The anti-“Silent Alarm,” “Weekend In the City,” is the album Bloc Party needed to release. In only 51 minutes, they have managed to avoid any sophomoric slump and have completely redefined themselves in a mostly positive way that their fans should love. A move like this was unexpected but ultimately worthwhile.
Originally printed in Jan. 12th’s Daily Nebraskan
Kevin Barnes isn’t holding anything back anymore. After several years of releasing “difficult” psych-pop albums as Of Montreal, he went electric and accessible with 2004’s “Satanic Panic In The Attic,” and 2005’s more danceable “The Sunlandic Twins.”
One step at a time, he came out of his shell and became a major indie rock icon known for turning rock halls into dance clubs, and “Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?” Barnes’ latest effort, is just another step forward, combining the best of each style he’s ever sported.
“Suffer For Fashion,” the first single and album opener, is an in-your-face kick-start for the record, setting the scene of drum machines, saw waves, Prince-style falsettos and an amazing combination of dance and psychedelic pop music.
“Hissing Fauna” is, without a doubt, Of Montreal’s most over-the-top release. Yet the reeling factor is the beauty found in its subtleties. The songs are already thick with layers of electronic instruments, but Barnes has the ability to add more, little by little up to the breaking point without causing any destruction.
Though most songs are danceable, “Hissing Fauna” lacks repetitiveness, each song sounding fresher than the first. “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse” sounds like it should be blasted in a convertible in the early ’80s, and “Gronlandic Edit” is bass-driven disco infused with amazing Zombies-esque harmonies.
“The Past Is A Grotesque Animal” is a 12-minute chorus-less rant over driving beats while Barnes shouts nonsense like, “The mousy girl screams, ‘Violence! Violence!'” The lack of structure and no repeated lyrics render this one of the more listenable tracks.
The strongest track, “Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider,” begins with bass and shy vocals singing about a boring night at a club and the people inside, but it quickly bursts into a vast landscape of grating synths and Barnes repeating, “You ain’t got no soul power!”
After listening to “Hissing Fauna’s” quirky lyrics, insane harmonies and relentless attitude, there is one feeling that continues to linger: it’s fun. Just listening reveals that Barnes had fun making an honest record that he loves, which shows up equally in its quality.
Filed under: Annuals, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Fujiya & Miyagi, grizzly bear, Joanna Newsom, Lady Sovereign, Of Montreal, Personal, Record Review, The Shins, Trail of Dead, voxtrot, Will Oldham, Yo La Tengo
Album Of The Year:
Grizzly Bear- Yellow House
The Best of 2006: (Alphabetically)
Band Of Horses- Everything All The Time
Belle & Sebastian- The Life Pursuit
David Bazan- Fewer Moving Parts
Destroyer- Destroyer’s Rubies
Fujiya & Miyagi- Transparent Things
Ghostface Killah- Fishscale
Girl Talk- Night Ripper
Joanna Newsom- Ys
Malajube- Trompe L’Oeil
Peter Bjorn & John- Writer’s Block
Sunset Rubdown- Shut Up I am Dreaming
Tapes ‘N Tapes- The Loon
The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls in America
The Knife- Silent Shout
The Shins- Wincing The Night Away
The Thermals- The Body, The Blood, The Machine
TV On The Radio- Return To Cookie Mountain
Yo La Tengo- I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Almost As Good: (Alphabetically)
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead- So Divided
Annuals- Be He Me
Beirut- Gulag Orkestar
Bonnie “Prince” Billy- The Letting Go
Califone- Roots and Crowns
Camera Obscura- Let’s Get Out Of This Country
Cat Power- The Greatest
Danielson- Ships
El Perro Del Mar- El Perro Del Mar
Gnarls Barkley- St. Elsewhere
I’m From Barcelona- Let Me Introduce My Friends
Islands- Return To The Sea
Lady Sovereign- Public Warning
Liars- Drum’s Not Dead
Midlake- The Trials Of Van Occupanther
Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Ratatat- Classics
Swan Lake- Beast Moans
The Blood Brothers- Young Machetes
The Blow- Paper Television
The Mountain Goats- Get Lonely
Voxtrot- Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, & Wives
Voxtrot- Raised By Wolves
Voxtrot- Your Biggest Fan
Close Finishers: (Alphabetically)
Field Music- Field Music
Junior Boys- So This Is Goodbye
Matthew Friedberger- Winter Women
Oh No! Oh My!- Oh No! Oh My!
Sparklehorse- Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain
The Decemberists- The Crane Wife
The Fiery Furnaces- Bitter Tea
The Lovely Feathers- Hind Hind Legs
The Pipettes- We Are The Pipettes
The Walkmen- A Hundred Miles Off
Originally printed in today’s Daily Nebraskan
Voxtrot
“Your Biggest Fan”
“Your Biggest Fan” marks the third and final EP this year from Austin, Tex., natives Voxtrot. The “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives” and “Raised By Wolves” EPs landed the indie pop band critical acclaim for its straightforward, vintage style.
The first clamorous crashes on the title-track opener begin a journey through the band’s most dynamic sound yet.
Carrying the feeling of a musical or rock opera, the track bounces back and forth between countless overdramatic arrangements. If each part wasn’t so perfectly arranged, the grandiose nature of the song would seem cheesy and annoying, easily worth a skip on the disc changer.
However, vocalist/guitarist Ramesh Srivastava’s lyrics of confused and lost love perfectly complement the scattered song, as if each was crafted to, as he sings, “Strike the right lyrical density.”
“Trouble” could easily be off the “Mothers, Sisters�” EP, matching its sound with fast, choppy guitars and a more in-your-face attitude.
Srivastava sings over spacey pop accented with honky-tonk piano, adding to the vintage sound. Lightning-fast guitar perfectly synched with piano and violin adds sparkle to the bridge, summing up the track as a definition of a pop song.
The first two tracks are weak when compared to closer “Sway,” a dark lament about loss saturated in beautiful orchestration and vocals allusive to Ted Leo.
The epic track peaks as the Tosca String Quartet performs over the pre-chorus and a stunningly beautiful instrumental section, revealing that the song could be just as amazing without any lyrics at all.
Voxtrot’s ability to construct heartbreaking, relatable and dynamic pop music will hopefully remain to shine through new releases and as others begin to mimic.
Originally printed in today’s Daily Nebraskan.
The Shins
“Wincing the Night Away”
Through the large success of their first two records, “Oh, Inverted World” and “Chutes Too Narrow,” The Shins defined their signature sound. But instead of releasing what was expected, they brought us “Wincing The Night Away.”
Despite the horrendous album title (“Sleeping Lessons” was way cooler), “Wincing The Night Away” is the record The Shins needed to release. A step in a different direction, it’s more experimental and less repetitive.
Opener “Sleeping Lessons” begins with a quiet synth and singer James Mercer’s reassuring voice but slowly builds up and explodes. More and more is added every few seconds.
Things have changed. Drummer Jesse Sandoval is no longer hiding in the background. This record is loud, and the drums are in the front seat. Even Interpol would be proud.
The Shins haven’t abandoned anything; they’ve just improved and polished it all. There are more synths, stronger guitars, and the vocals are louder and more harmonic.
“Phantom Limb,” the record’s first single, and “Pam Berry” work well together, but they sound too polished with so many layers.
Strings shine on “Sea Legs,” a slow, drum-machine driven, acoustic jam with exquisite Smiths-esque harmonies.
“Red Rabbits” and “Black Wave” could have fit perfectly on “Oh, Inverted World,” but the studio improvements and additional percussion help blend them in perfectly as long interludes.
The strongest track, “Turn On Me,” and “Australia” work as timepieces to define who The Shins really are at this moment in time, and they are both sort of musical epitomes.
They aren’t the same band they were three years ago, and hopefully “Wincing The Night Away” is just one of many steps forward that are still to come.
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