Album Briefs: Kanye West, The Rolling Stones, Sleepingdog

Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

[Roc-a-Fella, Def Jam 2010]

8.5/10

There's no telling where the melodramatic saga of Kanye West will go from here, but My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, his magnum opus, is the culmination of all the hubris, all the contradictions of image, all the public meltdowns, and all the inner demons and paranoia made public from life under a magnifying glass.  As someone who was not particularly enthralled by West's antics or music until buzz tracks for Twisted Fantasy started dropping, this album has floored me in its excitement, honesty and boundary-bending ambition.  "Power" indulges West's self-glorifying tendencies to startling impact, "Devil in a New Dress" gorgeously samples Smokey Robinson's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", and centerpiece "Runaway" closes on several minutes of auto-tuned, destroyed vocals that is riveting in its opaqueness.  West raps with a confidence reflected in his music and the guest appearances shine brightly, especially Nicki Minaj's scorched-earth verse on "Monster", John Legend's graceful piano and singing on "Blame Game", and the numerous contributions of Bon Iver's (?!) Justin Vernon, which includes the generous donation of his song "Woods" for West's re-imagining in "Lost in the World".  You could say Dark Fantasy is a game-changer in hip hop, and it should be, but perhaps it's not.  Instead maybe it's just a stand-alone masterwork from an artist in a league all his own.

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls

[Atlantic 1978]

 9/10

I'm far from a Rolling Stones aficionado or completist, but all I can say is that recently I've fallen in love with Some Girls, after sitting on it for several uneventful years.  When I'm in the mood for a real man's album, I'll turn to the testosterone-fueled swagger of songs like "Miss You", "Some Girls" and "Respectable".  Aside from being a really tight set of catchy classic rock, they include some of the Stones' funniest songs, namely "Far Away Eyes" in which Mick Jagger does his best redneck, and the title track, where Jagger recounts the peculiar generosity of his assembly line of lovers (Most rock 'n roll line: "Some girls give me children I never asked 'em for").  Some Girls is basically the sound of classic rock superstars being exactly who they are and singing about what they know.  Rock n' Roll excess and daily debauchery was the Rolling Stones experience, and in this line of work they were more than comfortable.

"Beast of Burden":

Sleepingdog: Polar Life

[Gizeh 2008]

4.5/10 

The quality standards for music strictly designed as serene or calming seems to be lacking.  How hard is it to mess up the sound of soothing?  Go out to the forest with a tape recorder and you're likely to come back with the easing ambient of birds chirping, the wind rustling, and the rest of the natural world doing its thing.  Polar Life was an underground favorite in 2008 for its supposedly beautiful minimalism.  But in the serene, I see the sterile.  Each track is designed to be sharply sparse, with little more than piano, humble strings, and whispery female vocals.  But the few elements that are there are so thin and chilly they don't provide a welcoming appeal.  Chantal Acda's clean singing isn't pushed to any limits, but rather stays in a barely expressive whisper.  Calm becomes tedium on most of Polar Life, with an exception being "The Sun Sinks in the Sea" in which the music accomplishes tension in its negative space.  Without the intrigue though, you're left with music so quiet and slow it's really only meant for an unadventurous Sunday morning headphone listen.

"The Sun Sinks in the Sea":

Album Briefs: Miami Horror, Guster, Bibio

Miami Horror: Illumination

[EMI 2010]

7/10 

Miami Horror is (at least half) an excellent moniker for this Australian electropop outfit, in that their debut LP Illumination sets the vibrancy and glitz of South Beach to disco-indebted dance music.  "Horror"...well, creative license.  Anyways, these Aussies deliver an impressive set of warm synthpop tracks with nuances of indie rock and more experimental soundscapes.  The focus, nevertheless, is on songs designed to have you moving physically rather than mentally.  The super-catchy beach party "Holidays" is a standout here, featuring Alan Palomo of Neon Indian, who seems like a natural contributor here.  "Imagination (I Want You to Know)" is an innocent dance-pop pleasure rollerblading down the boardwalk.  What's particularly refreshing about Illumination is that while a number of tracks don't manage to accomplish a distinctly memorable legacy, altogether the band clearly has no intention of cornering a narrow demographic.  Rather, all of Illumination has an inclusive gravitational pull.

"Holidays":

Guster: Easy Wonderful

[Aware, Universal Republic 2010]

 6/10

On 2006's Ganging Up on the Sun, Guster suited up when we wanted them dressed down, releasing a super polished, meticulous pop rock affair that succeeded in parts but was altogether a rather lackluster effort.  It's a shame then that on Easy Wonderful, Guster overcompensate to deliver an easygoing, cloyingly friendly album that is their most unimpressive release yet.  It's hard to hate on Guster, because even here you want to be friends with these guys and have their optimistic pop songs soundtrack your young adult life.  "Do You Love Me" is a beaming chorus surrounded by jovial but less necessary song parts, while "Well" is a rather creative folk story delivered in a quirky hush.  But just about all else on Easy Wonderful is certainly easy, but disappointingly forgettable.  The more laid-back vibe that is seemingly the bent here turns into song after song built on the same old guitar strum and half-baked chorus that quickly goes stale.  The album is also lyrically corny and perhaps a bit to watered down by an aiming for the Christian Rock demographic ("Stay With Me Jesus", "Jesus & Mary"...enough with Jesus!).  The album isn't enough for me to break up with you, Guster, but it's fair to say things are on the slide.

"Do You Love Me": 

 Bibio: Ambivalence Avenue

[Warp 2009]

7/10

While there are plenty of vaguely classified indie rock bands that dip their toes, or go waist high, into the vat of electronica in all its forms, I find less familiar to be the electronica producer making an indie rock album, which is sort of what Bibio does with Ambivalence Avenue.  Bibio (England's Stephen Wilkinson) has crafted a calming electro-acoustic aesthetic over five albums, but Ambivalence Avenue introduces vocals and weightier song structures to give his music more inertia.  The result is a eclectic but cohesive statement incorporating a groovy faux-funk ("Jealous of Roses"), urgent electro ("S'Vive"), strongly affected R&B ("Fire Ant"), and soothing, all-the-time-in-the-world acoustic tracks like the innocent "Lovers' Carvings".  Ambivalence Avenue is a smartly executed work, but despite its broad palette, like its cover art, it lacks color to really impact emotionally and sonically on multiple levels.  In a gorgeous, perhaps Parisian streetscape, a dash of red mysteriously marks an alcove in an otherwise grayscaled world.  Wilkinson should let more engaging tones and hues color the rest of his sonic landscape.

"Jealous of Roses":

Album Briefs: Delorean, Ween, R.E.M.

Delorean: Subiza

[Mushroom Pillow 2010]

8/10

There's not a single cloud in the sky when Subiza is spinning.  Full of club-ready beats but sun-drenched with airy Mediterranean charm, Delorean's third but indisputably breakthrough LP is a dreamy summer dance record living on nothing but good vibes.  A focus on rich atmospherics and recognizable pop structures makes Subiza too smart for the standard night club, but the strong Balearic influences keep intact the warm ecstasy of beachside dance parties.  While the formula becomes a bit repetitive, with many of the tracks filling similar four-and-a-half minute frames, the music suggests that you're not meant to be fully conscious, but rather blissfully lost in the haze.

Ween: The Mollusk

[Elektra 1997]

6.5/10

Ween is Ween. Despite this being the first Ween album I've gotten into, it's clear that for almost 25 years the experimental Pennsylvania duo have established a legacy of charting their own ultra-quirky, often hilarious brand of alt-rock. Considered by many to be their pinnacle, The Mollusk is a scatterbrained gem unified by a whimsical nautical theme. It's categorically all over the map, skipping from showtune ("I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight") to faux prog-rock (the uproariously satirical title track) to sea shanty ("The Blarney Stone") to fast-paced riff-rock ("Waving My Dick in the Wind").  The Mollusk is full to the brim with side-splitting one-liners, but the songs themselves are thoughtfully crafted and convincing (particularly "Ocean Man" of Spongebob Squarepants fame).  Still, The Mollusk is for a rather silly mood, and I haven't been able to get over this album as a (however accomplished) joke record that's disjointed enough for me to simply pick and choose songs of the moment.

 R.E.M.: Accelerate

[Warner Bros. 2008]

6/10

I've accepted that the R.E.M. that I most adore is not coming back (Murmur and Reckoning era, that is), but so it goes.  More propulsive alt-rock has been their angle for a while since then with some still fantastic hits... and a good number of misses.  And at this point, Accelerate was needed to stop the bleeding, and it did. Most of the tracks are melodic frazzled-edge rockers for the masses that don't have the endurance of R.E.M.'s best, but Accelerate is still competent and enjoyable, which signals the band on a modest rebound.  Judging from the excellent "Horse to Water", you could even say that, while perhaps not on the surface, deep down, they still got it.

Album Briefs: The Raveonettes, jj, Iron & Wine

The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control

[Fierce Panda, Vice 2009]

6/10

The shoegaze-pop (heavier on the pop) of the Raveonettes bares strong resemblance to the Jesus and Mary Chain but with a more feminine aura courtesy of Sune Rose Wagner handling most of the vocals.  The duo certainly knows how to craft catchy and innocent melodies, but In and Out of Control is ultimately let down by its lyrics.  Unlike JMC's signature sound, Wagner's words are clear and often weighed down by awkward pretentiousness.  The band wants to be as suave and winking as the music, and ultimately comes up with cringing lines like "lick your lips and fuck suicide" and seeking base attention-getting with the spelled out "D.R.U.G.S".  Such attempts at street-cred don't pass as authentic, and instead suggest the hipper-than-thou duo are singing down to us about their fascinating urban lives in...um...Copenhagen.  But nevertheless, if you're not hung up on the words, the sinister plots/bubblegum pop hooks of songs like "Bang!", "Last Dance", and "Breaking Into Cars" are cool sounding tunes.

 jj: jj nº 3

[Sincerely Yours 2010]

5.5/10

jj's "winter" album, ay? Okay, but whatever you call it, it's very similar stuff to the mysterious Swedes' first album jj n° 2, just not as memorable.  They still embrace a lighter-than-air breeziness as Elin Kastlander sings pristine over soft Balearic beats, delicate guitar plucks and piano, and the occasionally hip hop beat and broadcast sound effects.  But the charm of their debut is missing here, particularly due to jj n°3's lack of graceful, memorable melodies.  As pleasantly as it flies by, jj n°3 has minimal lasting impact outside of the attention placed on the enigmatic duo that created it.

"My Life"

  

Iron & Wine: The Shepherd's Dog

[Sub Pop 2007]

9/10

The Shepherd's Dog is an excellent success story of Sam Beam showing he could expand outside of his quiet bedroom guitar folk and incorporate true studio breadth with awe-inspiring results.  Our Endless Summer Days glistened with a lush production polish, but Shepherd's Dog brings in a plethora of new instruments that lend the tracks symphonic and yet still organic and intimate settings. The broader palette suits Iron & Wine incredibly well.

Album Briefs: John Mayer, Minus the Bear, Battles

John Mayer: Continuum

[Columbia 2006]

8/10

Who knew John Mayer was capable of this?  Agreeable, "Your Body is a Wonderland" pretty boy actually makes a strong record of emotional, non-derivative blues rock.  Now, he remains rooted in radio-ready, blue-eyed pop ("Waiting on the World to Change"), but he does make some serious statements with his brilliant guitar work ("Bold as Love" Jimi Hendrix cover) and intimate lyrics ("Gravity", "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room").  His confidence merits Continuum as not simply a characteristically commercial success for Mayer, but also a critical one.  It shows how caring and attentive craftsmanship still has a place in modern pop music, and when those rare examples of such show themselves, you step back in awe of exceptional talent.

  

 Minus the Bear: Planet of Ice

[Suicide Squeeze 2007]

5.5/10

Instrumentally tight, sonically cohesive, produced with care.  Then why the low mark?  If a stopped clock gets it right twice a day (here they're "Ice Monster" and "Throwin' Shapes"), it's still off the rest of the day.  Planet of Ice sounds nice (in parts great, especially due to impressive guitar work), but it's so static and repetitive it resists the delineation of individual songs.  Few moments in the album break from a formula of dramatic guitar builds and Jake Snider's layered vanilla vocals.  For staying in one place, however, it's not a terribly bad one: the mood is serious but substantial rock, they can create solid chorus melodies, and no doubt the band knows how to play.  But variety is the spice of life, and production that paints ten tracks with the same brush is Planet of Ice's downfall.

Battles: Mirrored

[Warp 2007]

8.5/10

Mirrored is from the future, I'm convinced.  The band's precise math rock sounds like it was produced by machines being calculatedly operated by other machines.  The album is largely instrumental and thrives on paranoia and suspense, creating a futuristic, non-human world that's probably more dystopian than utopian.  The sparse lyrics are often indecipherable or decidedly opaque, so the album's "concept" comes from the flickering electronics, mesmerizing guitars, and pounding drums and cymbals which drive the action, altogether saying more than words could.  On "Atlas," the effect-ridden vocals of Tyondai Braxton tell us all we need to know: "People won't be people when they hear this sound."

Album Briefs: Lily Allen, Harvey Danger, Neko Case

Lily Allen: Alright, Still

[Regal 2006]

7/10

Whenever I think about why I really like Lily Allen and this album, I quickly end up on the defensive.  Allen has built her major celebrity status on being a rich London brat with a deadly swagger.  Naturally, tons of people completely hate her guts and her top-40 pop drivel.  But from where I stand, she's a genius, and Alright, Still is catchy, tight, and unique.  For one, although she's later regretted the immaturity of some of her lyrics on Alright, Still, it's a genuine Lily Allen recalling bad sex and fights at the club; she's not a record company construction, but rather she has built her image on her own sassy persona.  Her confidence sells songs like "Smile" and "LDN", while the Jamaican ska vibe (as on the underrated "Friend of Mine") keeps songs sunny and dripping with cool.

Harvey Danger: Little by Little

[Phonographic 2005]

6.5/10

If Little by Little had come out about seven years earlier, perhaps we would associate Harvey Danger with more than 1998's "Flagpole Sitta" and '90s nostalgia over it.  But from the beginning, Harvey Danger's mainstream success was inextricably tied to that song, and 2000's King James Version failed to produce a similar radio hit to keep the band on peoples' tongues.  But for loyalists to the band well into the 2000s, Little by Little rewards with well-polished, catchy pop rock (provided so nicely by the band as a FREE download).  While a number of tracks don't have sticking power, altogether, the band's cohesiveness and Sean Nelson's excellent voice make a strong argument for a beefier legacy for Harvey Danger than that of a one hit wonder.

 

Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

[ANTI- 2006]

7.5/10

You'd be hard pressed to find an indie critic that doesn't rave about Neko Case as a vocalist, particularly for her solo, alt-country work.  And indeed, as Fox Confessor Brings the Flood consistently shows, she has a great voice capable of light tenderness, sweeping romance, and fiery temper. Her songs are coated in a mystical melodrama that transitions smoothly from loose country ("John Saw That Number") to darker folk ("Dirty Knife").  Fox Confessor is immaculately produced, as the quivering guitar twangs and patient brush drumming tie the indie-flavored songs to old-school Nashville.  Despite several melodic flops, particularly the closing two tracks, at its best, Fox Confessor is riveting and beautiful alt-country.

Album Briefs: Vivian Girls, Coldplay, Guster

Vivian Girls: Vivian Girls

[In The Red 2008]

3.5/10

One would be pretty cool to be into Vivian Girls.  In that case, call me a square.  Lo-fi really grabs me when the fuzz can enhance quality pop songs underneath, but Vivian Girls doesn’t deliver on a number of levels.  First, the singing…ugh.  The plain-faced, moanful delivery, even when the Girls are in unison, is blunt and unwelcoming throughout.  Second, the songs themselves are rudimentary, riot grrrl-reaching pop songs with little personality and elementary school songwriting.  And lastly, fundamentally, the skuzzy production magnifies these problems, lending the album ugly guitars and plodding drums.  At least it’s all over in a measly 22 minutes.

 Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

[Parlophone 2008]
 

7/10

I never really bought that Coldplay had done much different with Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.  It still features sweeping epics meant for stadiums and a universal accessibility in the vein of U2 that shaves off innovation and risk-taking.  But I guess the thing is, Viva la Vida is everything that's made Coldplay monumentally big, only done better.  Just skip the grossly over-payola-ed "Viva la Vida" and listen to the wafting "Strawberry Swing" and the rallying cry closer "Death and All of His Friends."  They're still Coldplay songs, but they represent modern mainstream rock at its most meaningful.  It's Coldplay's best since Parachutes.

Guster: Ganging Up on the Sun

[Reprise 2006]

6.5/10

Ganging Up on the Sun is a pleasant pop rock album, but it's not quite the untethered Guster of old.  Sun finds the band succumbing to a sterile studio polish to lend gravitas to songs when they're more successful keeping their tunes light and carefree.  It no doubt sounds exceptionally produced, but the sheen also dulls the action.  "Satellite" and "Hang On" are excellent tracks, but the overall maturity of Sun is not as fun as the more joyous Keep It Together or its predecessors.  I prefer Guster sounding like they're playing out in the quad on the last day of classes.

 

Album Briefs: Girls, The Dodos, Live

Girls: Album

[True Panther Sounds 2009] 

 8.5/10

Perhaps Album should have snuck onto my top 10 of '09 list.  Because if anything, it is probably the most honest album I heard last year.  It's honest to a throwback '60s mentality, both in the "bubblegum rock" sound (with modern flourishes) and in lyrics about finding the forever kind of love.  And more than that, it's emotionally honest.  Listen to Christopher Owens' weathered-but-still dreaming voice on "Lauren Marie" and tell me it's not personal.

The Dodos: Visiter

[Frenchkiss 2008] 

 7.5/10

Visiter isn't what I would typically call "acoustic", with its forays into abrasive experimentalism, but that's the feeling I get from every second of it.  Meric Long is a young ace on the acoustic guitar, and each song is liberally guided by his steady hands.  Logan Kroeber's earthy rim drumming complements the strings, and together the Dodos accomplish an off-beat indie folk that charms in places (welcoming opener "Walking") and bites in others (the mental breakdown in "The Season").  The band's interplay of sonic elements is genuinely satisfying.  Just don't let your guard down.

Live: Mental Jewelry

[Radioactive 1991] 

 4.5/10

"Pain Lies on the Riverside" is an absolutely bitchin' song.  But it's after you've listened to the rest of Mental Jewelry that you realize why Live didn't hit it big until their 1994 follow-up Throwing Copper.  Aside from the aforementioned epic, you won't remember the rest of this, with "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" and "Brothers Unaware" being possible exceptions (and I'm being generous with those). Released only three months after Nevermind, Mental Jewelry shows Live had a headstart on the aesthetic that would make much of post-grunge so bland and forgettable.