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CD Review, Music

CD Review: What Will We Be

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Band: Devendra Banhart
Label: Reprise Records
Release: 2009

1. “Can’t Help But Smiling” – 8.8
2. “Angelika” – 7.3
3. “Baby” – 8.4
4. “Goin’ Back” – 8.7
5. “First Song For  B” – 7.5
6. “Last Song For B” – 7.0
7. “Chin Chin & Muck Muck” – 7.8
8. “16th & Valencia Roxy Music” – 5.9
9. “Rats” – 7.5
10. “Maria Lionza” – 6.8
11. “Brindo” – 7.2
12. “Meet Me At Lookout Point” – 7.8
13. “Walilamdzi” – 7.9
14. “Foolin'” – 7.3

Comments: Banhart is a sell-out; he ditched independent powerhouse XL Recordings for mega-corporation Warner Group. Banhart’s signing brings out a fairly new market for Warner, as he’s equipped with a history of playing softie freak-folk (as opposed to the louder, noisier brand that has made Animal Collective a dime or two in the past decade) that appeals to a weird, but not all too unfamiliar demographic: WERS Daytime cronies, stoned Sam Roberts junkies (same thing as WERS Daytime cronies?), and wanna-be urban college students who desire some kind of “hipster” cred. Essentially Banhart hasn’t really changed his deal too much on What Will We Be. This time around, he will surely get more “mainstream-underground” air time (Album of the Month), but he’ll stay on the margins for just as long because he’s too folky for popular music. Listen to the first few tracks…he’s loosened up on the “freak” part of freak-folk, for whatever reason. The beat and style of a song like “16th & Valencia Roxy Music” is almost a joke that mirrors top 40 electro-pop.  I’m not here to criticize Devendra for not being “indie” enough, but it’s moments like that in an album that make me sit back and go “where the fuck did this come from?” He tries his best Grizzly Bear impersonation on “Meet Me At Lookout Point” and he succeeds (though, in my opinion, it’s of a really non-exciting Grizzly Bear Veckatimest track). In fact, a good part of the album seems like a really wishy-washy Grizzly Bear set. I wouldn’t go so low to call this thing an utter disaster, but a lot of the songs seem to be formula based, whereas the minimalism on his classics (“The Body Breaks,” “Insect Eyes,” etc) is what makes them work.

Grade: 7.6

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Smith Westerns

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Band: Smith Westerns
Label: Hozac
Release: 2009

1. “Dreams” – 9.4
2. “Boys Are Fine” – 8.9
3. “Gimme Some Time” – 9.2
4. “Girl In Love” – 8.5
5. “We Stay Out” – 8.8
6. “Tonight” – 8.6
7. “Be My Girl” – 9.3
8. “The Glam Goddess” – 9.5
9. “Diamond Boys” – 9.2
10. “My Heart” – 9.6

Comments: Love the band name! They sound eerily similar to their homosexual counterparts, Hunx and His Punx. What does that even mean? Well, if you are like Benny Boy Tan and don’t get the obscure reference, let’s just say lo-fi garage. If you listen to both bands, you’ll get a great idea. I don’t know if I just got a really crappy quality download or if this is the real deal, but if the vocals were clear this thing would be much better. We got some Herman’s Hermits in here! I would definitely see this guys live, so I better not forget them.

Grade: 9.1

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Them Crooked Vultures

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Band: Them Crooked Vultures
Label: Interscope
Release: November 17, 2009

1. “”No One Loves Me & Neither Do I” – 8.4
2. “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” – 6.3
3. “New Fang” – 5.5
4. “Dead End Friends” – 5.8
5. “Elephants” – 5.0
6. “Scumbag Blues” – 5.9
7. “Bandoliers” – 6.3
8. “Reptiles”  – 4.8
9. “Interlude With Ludes” – 6.7
10. “Warsaw…” – 5.5
11. “Caligulove” – 5.0
12. “Gunman” – 5.8

Comments: Hailed as a hard rock supergroup [Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)], I’m sure many music critics have big expectations for this album. Fact: I’m not really into this type of music. I was deceived by the first song, which isn’t that bad; it has the same kind of flair as a song by Rage Against the Machine (pretty good, but not something I’d listen to repeatedly). The rest sounds the same. I mean no disrespect by this, but it is truth. It’s stuff that I thought was way out there in sixth grade, but now I listen to and just shake my head.

Grade: 5.9

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Wall of Arms

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Band: Maccabees
Label: Fiction Records
Release: May 2009

1. “Love You Better” – 9.2
2. “One Hand Holding” – 9.4
3. “Can You Give It” – 9.6
4. “Young Lions” – 9.8
5. “Wall of Arms” – 9.5
6. “No Kind Words” – 8.9
7. “Dinosaurs” – 9.2
8. “Kiss and Revolve” – 8.9
9. “William Powers” – 9.6
10. “Seventeen  Hands” – 9.5
11. “Bag of Bones” – 8.8

Comments: I guess The Guardian already wrote what I was going to say: “If this all sounds a bit Arcade Fire, note that production credits go to Markus Dravs, who worked on Neon Bible. Thankfully, though, the sound of cynical bandwagon-jumping has been edited out of the mix. In its place are a collection of atmospheric, heartfelt pop songs that frequently fly off at unexpected angles.” The comparison is uncanny and frankly a little disheartening, because naturally Arcade Fire is so awesome that, for lack of a better word, ripping them off is going to make you sound pretty damn good. I try my best to think of Maccabees as a completely separate entity that just happens to sound like Arcade Fire. Doing that makes this album fall in place among (sort of) the greatest of the year. Oh yeah and you know how sometimes you listen to a song and then one minute later forget that you were listening to it? That’s happened to me with this album. What should I make of it?

Grade: 9.3

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

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Band: Franz Ferdinand
Release: 2009
Label: Domino Records

1. “Ulysses” – 9.2
2. “Turn It On” – 9.7
3. “No You Girls” – 9.7
4. “Twilight Omens” – 9.5
5. “Send Him Away” – 9.1
6. “Live Alone” – 8.8
7. “Bite Hard” – 9.4
8. “What She Came For” – 9.1
9. “Can’t Stop Feeling” – 9.3
10. “Lucid Dreams” – 9.6
11. “Dream Again” – 8.8
12. “Katherine Kiss Me” – 9.8

Background: Everyone remembers “Take Me Out.” Unfortunately, I never got the chance to listen to any more of Franz Ferdinand since they released that in 2004. The band stayed on independent label Domino even after that song exploded. Listening to “Take Me Out” for the first time in five years reminded me that this band is like many other video game soundtrack, slightly-below-the-mainstream bands (Hot Hot Heat, Louis XIV, The Bravery) with their fun dance punk.  Case in point for their quick breakthrough: they went from playing the teeny T.T The Bears in 2004 to playing the newly built Agganis Arena in 2006?

What’s On This Album: “Turn It On” is awesome and so is “No You Girls”! Check those out for sure. It’s almost hard not to enjoy listening to Franz! I’d even argue that this is more likable than something slightly similar (and on the same label) like Humbug by Arctic Monkeys, although Tonight has a lot of the same beats/bass lines that make these songs so good, but inevitably individually forgettable. “Can’t Stop Feeling” might be an exception to what I just said. It’s got this really heavy synthesizer and general swagger that isn’t easy to forget. Franz, I conclude, prides itself on anthemic choruses and bridges for survival. They don’t sell themselves out by doing this, but you got to admit that they probably work off a very limited number of song structures to create their musical goodness. They change it up for the last song “Katherine Kiss Me,” which is an acoustic The Veils-esque power ballad. They couldn’t make an album out of songs that sound like this, but this has to be easily one of the best on here.

Grade: 9.3

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Embryonic

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Band: The Flaming Lips
Label: Warner Brothers
Release: October 13, 2009

1. “Convinced of the Hex” – 8.8
2. “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine” – 8.4
3. “Evil” – 8.5
4. “Aquarius Sabotage” – 7.7
5. “See The Leaves” – 8.0
6. “If” – 8.5
7. “Gemini Syringes” –  7.3
8. “Your Bats” – 7.5
9. “Powerless” – 7.5
10. “The Ego’s Last Stand” – 7.2
11. “I Can Be A Frog” – 7.4
12. “Sagittarius Silver Announcement” – 8.3
13. “Worm Mountain” – 8.6
14. “Scorpio Sword” – 7.4
15. “The Impulse” – 7.9
16. “Silver Trembling Hands” – 8.4
17. “Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast” – 6.3
18. “Watching The Planets” – 8.8

Comments: I can reason why this album is getting great reviews. The Flaming Lips have been around since 1983. They’ve been making pretty good music over the years. Initially it sounds sort of boring…at least in contrast to what it’s hyped up to be. Yay, space rock. It’s not exactly a surprise to me that Flaming Lips are covering Dark Side of the Moon. “Evil” sounds like a leftover track from that classic. I don’t know maybe this album is too far out for me, but I don’t see a lot of replay-ability in any of these songs. Somebody answer me this: is there anything on here as awesome as “The W.A.N.D” or “Do You Realize?” Please inform me if there is because I might have missed something.

Grade: 7.9

==Track listing==
<!– THESE TIMINGS ARE BASED UPON THE ORIGINAL VINYL RELEASE – DO NOT CHANGE OR YOUR EDITS WILL BE REVERTED –>
{{tracklist
| headline        = Side one
| all_lyrics      = Roger Waters
| music_credits   = yes
| extra_column    = Lead vocals
| title1          = [[Speak to Me]]
| music1          = Mason
| extra1          = [[Instrumental]]
| length1         = 1:30
| title2          = [[Breathe (Pink Floyd song)|Breathe]]
| music2          = Waters, Gilmour, Wright
| extra2          = Gilmour
| length2         = 2:43
| title3          = [[On the Run (Pink Floyd song)|On the Run]]
| music3          = Gilmour, Waters
| extra3          = Instrumental
| length3         = 3:30
| title4          = [[Time (Pink Floyd song)|Time]]
| note4           = containing “[[Breathe (Reprise)]]”
| music4          = Mason, Waters, Wright, Gilmour
| extra4          = Gilmour and Wright
| length4         = 6:53
| title5          = [[The Great Gig in the Sky]]
| music5          = Wright, Clare Torry{{#tag:ref|All post-2005 pressings including “The Great Gig in the Sky” credit both Wright and Torry for the song, as per her successful court challenge.<ref>{{Harvnb|Povey|2007|p=161.}}</ref>|group=”nb”}}
| extra5          = Clare Torry
| length5         = 4:15
}}
<!– THESE TIMINGS ARE BASED UPON THE ORIGINAL VINYL RELEASE – DO NOT CHANGE OR YOUR EDITS WILL BE REVERTED –>
{{tracklist
| headline        = Side two
| music_credits   = yes
| extra_column    = Lead vocals
| title1          = [[Money (Pink Floyd song)|Money]]
| music1          = Waters
| extra1          = Gilmour
| length1         = 6:30
| title2          = [[Us and Them (song)|Us and Them]]
| music2          = Waters, Wright
| extra2          = Gilmour and Wright
| length2         = 7:34
| title3          = [[Any Colour You Like]]
| music3          = Gilmour, Mason, Wright
| extra3          = Instrumental
| length3         = 3:24
| title4          = [[Brain Damage (song)|Brain Damage]]
| music4          = Waters
| extra4          = Waters
| length4         = 3:50
| title5          = [[Eclipse (song)|Eclipse]]
| music5          = Waters
| extra5          = Waters
| length5         = 1:45
}}
CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Alice and Friends

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Band: Box Elders
Label: Goner
Release: 2009

1. “Jackie Wood” – 9.6
2. “Alice & Friends” – 9.1
3. “Stay” – 9.5
4. “Dave” – 9.2
5. “Necro” – 9.3
6. “Atlantis” – 9.5
7. “One Foot in Front of the Other” – 9.6
8. “Talk Amongst Yourself” – 9.0
9. “Hole in My Head” – 9.4
10. “Ronald Dean” – 9.3
11. “Isabella” – 9.1
12. “Cougars” – 9.3
13. “2012” – 8.8
14. “Death of Me” – 9.4

Comments: This band! The one with the awesome drummer who stands up. Yeah, you know! Spoken by the Chris DeCarlo machine at one point a month or so back were the following words:  “[Box Elders were] probably the only opening band that I’d listen to again.” That’s some deep shit. You know why they offered CD a rare experience? Because they play quick garage-pop numbers. These songs are over before you know it. But they are (usually) awesome while they last. They are a part of the “bring-back-the-good-times” scene that includes Black Lips, King Khan, BBQ, Strange Boys, and all the fun bands of the like. It’s hard to not like Box Elders. Yeah, there isn’t much variation in their sound, but they know what is up for them. And that’s all that matters. They channel The Beach Boys, The Idle Race, and all other similar minded groups. It’s a bum that these recordings aren’t more hi-fi, but that would kind of defeat the purpose. I actually wrote a song called “Isabella,” so I got a little chuckle. I’ll hand it to these guys and scrap my version all together. Overall…this thing kicks a lot of ass. Quantity over quality. None of the songs on there suck. They are all pretty damn good. There aren’t any over-the-top best of 2009 kind of tunes. So yeah! Check this thing out.

Grade: 9.3

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Still Night, Still Light

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Band: Au Revoir Simone
Label: Moshi Moshi Records
Release: May 2009

1. “Another Likely Story” – 8.3
2. “Shadows” – 7.2
3.  “All Or Nothing” – 8.9
4. “Knight of Wands” – 8.9
5. “The Last One” – 7.5
6. “Trace A Line” – 9.3
7. “Only You Can Make You Happy” – 8.7
8. “Take Me As I Am” – 8.3
9. “Anywhere You Looked” – 9.5
10. “Organized Scenery” – 8.9
11. “We Are Here” – 8.0
12. “Tell Me” – 9.0

Comments: One has to expect a band with the name Au Revoir Simone to be artsy and have at least two girl members. Right? When it comes down to it, this is the kind of obscure pop act that’s sure to be considered rather household in that genre, comparable to toned down electro-pop outfits like the German  quartet Lali Puna. Whereas bands like Handsome Furs, Editors, and most recently Clap Your Hands Say Yeah offshoot Uninhabitable Mansions (of which ARS’s Annie Hart is a member) have embraced elements of this genre in putting together instantly catchy tunes, Au Revoir Simone requires some patience on the part of the listener. The best songs that ARS has on this album are infectiously dreamy and fast paced. I’d be lying, though,  if I said that there is a lot of lasting appeal to these numbers. They are great if you want a quick mix of quirky electronics and attractive female vocals.

Grade: 8.5

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Real Estate

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Band: Real Estate
Release: 2009

1. “Beach Comber” – 9.5
2. “Pool Swimmers” – 8.7
3. “Suburban Dogs” – 8.3
4. “Black Lake” – 8.8
5. “Atlantic City” – 8.8
6. “Fake Blues” – 9.2
7. “Green River” – 9.4
8. “Suburban Beverage” – 9.3
9. “Let’s Rock The Beach” – 9.3
10. “Snow Days” – 9.4

Comments: For all you Boston area folk the best I can do in describing Real Estate is to say I hear Faces on Film. Real Estate is less minimalistic, heavier, and generally more accessible than Faces to the non “zomg I <3 folk” diehards of the world. I also hear a little Built to Spill here and there and I might as well throw in Cotton Jones as a similar band as well. I’m not going nuts over this album, but it doesn’t lack in the chill department. It’s soothing, depressing, and exciting. I like hearing songs called “Atlantic City” that remind me of the old boardwalk and the feel-good resort casino atmosphere. Speaking of feel-good, how can the “Fake Blues” riff not make someone smile?  “Green River” is almost a perfect tune for this time of year. It’s sad in a way, at least for me, because it reminds me of opportunities missed. The instrumentals make the latter part of this album. Just awesome stuff.

Grade: 9.1

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Invisible Girl

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Band: King Khan & BBQ Show
Label: In The Red Records
Release: November 3, 2009

1. “Anala” – 9.6
2. “Invisible Girl” – 9.8
3. “I’ll Be Loving You” – 9.7
4. “Animal Party” – 9.4
5. “Spin the Bottle” – 9.8
6. “Third Ave” – 9.8
7. “Tastebuds” – 9.7
8. “Truth or Dare” – 9.6
9. “Crystal Ball” – 9.8
10. “Lonely Boy” – 9.7
11. “Tryin’” – 9.8
12. “Do the Chop” – 9.7

Comments: This album rules! It doesn’t quite have the innate catchiness of most of the songs on What’s For Dinner? or The King Khan & BBQ Show LP, but it’s a lot more of the same great old-skool garage and doo-wop. “Anala” gets us right into things with King hollering his typical  “uhm-bau-wau-uhm-bau-wau” in the background of BBQ’s graceful ballad about making Anala (yes, Anal-a) cry. “Invisible Girl” is a bit of a change-up from “Anala” in that it is more modern garage-rock sounding, playful and as inviting as ever. “Purple, pink, and orange make me high as when the sky…” is the perfect line for a sing-a-long. A dirty sing-a-long at that; seemingly about fantasies of the cover-girl. “I’ll Be Loving You” is another powerful BBQ straight from the heart tune…different from the previous three because it is to a great degree innocent. “Animal Party” carries on the innocent vibe and could easily be played alongside children, provided it’s cleaned up slightly. Next is “Spin the Bottle” which really isn’t like anything KK+BBQ have done before. King’s “dirty” vocals fit perfectly in this raunchy-but-not-really-raunchy-at-all number. “Third Avenue” is probably the oldest sounding song on this album. Everything about it: the lyrics, the slow-strummed guitars and the light tambourine have a definite old skool vibe. “Tastebuds,” I imagine, will most definitely become a live staple for these guys. It’s so obnoxious and memorable that live crowds are bound to immediate recite the words like any old KK+BBQ classic. “Truth or Dare” is another party-game play-on that rocks. Just like “Spin the Bottle,” this song probably wouldn’t be the same without King on lead vocals. “Crystal Ball” wouldn’t be out of place on a Shrines record because it is so fast paced and feels like a complete experience…almost like there is a seven member back-up band. “Lonely Boy” is fast-paced too with a punk structure. I can definitely see this song as long-lasting addition to their set-list. “Tryin'” further exemplifies BBQ’s amazing vocal range as if you had any doubts before. The line: “The way you chew tobacco, baby, reading magazines/Makes me want to sit around and sow into your jeans” has awesome written all over it. “Do The Chop” isn’t really dancing music, but it’s definitely something to consider. I’d try to do the chop, if I could decipher what BBQ is instructing me to do. Stop, drop, and then do the chop? Damn, that sounds fucked up, but I might as well do it anyway.

Grade: 9.7