Bon Iver & Wilco were enough to convince me.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Get Glad
Song: "So Glad to See You"
Whole song:
"Like all birds together we will squawk and we squeak
the joy comes from all our beaks
and ringing bells is our fun
now our ass is moving as one..
if we are forgetting all the rules that we learnt
when all the rule books are burnt
and just like a follows b...
our chorus will always be...
So glad to see that you came...
..we hope you come again 
Artist: Hot Chip
Album: The Warning
From: Putney, London
Year: 2006
The Warning reached #34 in the UK in 2006, but it's my jam right now! "So Glad to See You" is so many things combusting at once. Brilliant playfully dirty lyrics and electro pop beats make this song inevitable for replay.
"Like all birds together we will squawk and we squeak
the joy comes from all our beaks
and ringing bells is our fun
now our ass is moving as one..
if we are forgetting all the rules that we learnt
when all the rule books are burnt
and just like a follows b...
our chorus will always be...
So glad to see that you came...
..we hope you come again
Please come and seek the sea...
I have but one true friend
she sings to me
in my solitude
and i know her name
i tried to know her..
in all her changes
but i don't know her..."
I love "I tried to know her in all her changes", so clever these British boys. Little chimes clink lightly in the background all the while a mix of beats pulse and pulse like Postal Service on E. Synthesizers on Taylor & Goddard's voices are AHmazing. Hot Chip doesn't overdo the synths but instead places them during key points in the song- just when you think it's getting sappy, you're transported to Mars.
I have but one true friend
she sings to me
in my solitude
and i know her name
i tried to know her..
in all her changes
but i don't know her..."
I love "I tried to know her in all her changes", so clever these British boys. Little chimes clink lightly in the background all the while a mix of beats pulse and pulse like Postal Service on E. Synthesizers on Taylor & Goddard's voices are AHmazing. Hot Chip doesn't overdo the synths but instead places them during key points in the song- just when you think it's getting sappy, you're transported to Mars.
In my opinion this song is better than any Amplive track, and right on par with Justice. The beats are less dancy and more chill-in-a-nook-smoking-a-cigarette with bass player numero two. "The Voice" reminds me of an alien, a friendly alien who swoons with robotic mannerisms and clever anthems. If I were to make a video I see a wind tunnel/vacuum with red lips passing through syncing the lyrics the fast-paced emotions this songs emotes.
Yay, play it.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Booty for the pirates
Song: "Rick Rubin" & "Backyard Betty"
Artist: Spank Rock
Album: YoYoYoYoYoYo
From: Philly
Year: 2006
Artist: Spank Rock
Album: YoYoYoYoYoYo
From: Philly
Year: 2006
^ i just got spank rocked [in 2006] too!
^and Columbus, Ohio's own Backyard Betty
It was all a dream.
Song: "Requiem"
Artist: M. Ward
Album: Post-War
From: Portland, Oregon
Year: 2006
"Sometimes when he got into talking, man he could rattle on and on."
Yep. That's right. I know that man. Hey man, shut up! M. Ward, also known as Matt Ward, is jiggling away on the guitar to his requiem. A requiem is often noted as prayers for the salvation of lost souls. Is little Matty's soul lost?
No, I think he found it in this song. Or at least he's trying to help that "man" find it. Or at least he's hiding it pretty well under the steady rhythm of his fingers. "Requiem's" intro sounds distorted, like it was recorded in some old factory next to Harrison Ford's cheating ass. The far away-distance on the track gives me the vibe that M. Ward is referring to someone far away. "He's gone", Ward sings, and for that I will echo the missing through muted noise.
"He suffered all of his joy when he cried." Clearly this man, whoever he was, (father, brother, bully, bro?) was emotional- as are other requiems. Obvs I can't help but think of my favorite movie, Requiem for a Dream when I hear M. Ward's little prayer rendezvousing to the holy land. Jared Leto and Ellen Burstyn are two of the creepiest characters I've ever seen portrayed in a film, and I fucking love them for it. Most people cringe at the sound of this movie title "just because it's so fucked up dude!" I grin like a cat at the pure genius of Mr. Aronofsky. If we take Aronofsky, (the once) Coney Island, and M. Ward, what would we end up with? I would guess some addict jumping off a pier with a stogie and harmonica- but it's all for the greater good. It has to be.
This song can't hold a finger to the Kronos Quartet's soundtrack in the film- but it's a nicer, upbeat, version of things fucked up...or at least a complicated cover for introverted men.
Take a listen.
Artist: M. Ward
Album: Post-War
From: Portland, Oregon
Year: 2006
"Sometimes when he got into talking, man he could rattle on and on."
Yep. That's right. I know that man. Hey man, shut up! M. Ward, also known as Matt Ward, is jiggling away on the guitar to his requiem. A requiem is often noted as prayers for the salvation of lost souls. Is little Matty's soul lost?
No, I think he found it in this song. Or at least he's trying to help that "man" find it. Or at least he's hiding it pretty well under the steady rhythm of his fingers. "Requiem's" intro sounds distorted, like it was recorded in some old factory next to Harrison Ford's cheating ass. The far away-distance on the track gives me the vibe that M. Ward is referring to someone far away. "He's gone", Ward sings, and for that I will echo the missing through muted noise.
"He suffered all of his joy when he cried." Clearly this man, whoever he was, (father, brother, bully, bro?) was emotional- as are other requiems. Obvs I can't help but think of my favorite movie, Requiem for a Dream when I hear M. Ward's little prayer rendezvousing to the holy land. Jared Leto and Ellen Burstyn are two of the creepiest characters I've ever seen portrayed in a film, and I fucking love them for it. Most people cringe at the sound of this movie title "just because it's so fucked up dude!" I grin like a cat at the pure genius of Mr. Aronofsky. If we take Aronofsky, (the once) Coney Island, and M. Ward, what would we end up with? I would guess some addict jumping off a pier with a stogie and harmonica- but it's all for the greater good. It has to be.
This song can't hold a finger to the Kronos Quartet's soundtrack in the film- but it's a nicer, upbeat, version of things fucked up...or at least a complicated cover for introverted men.
Take a listen.
Dead and Alive!
Song: "Dead and Gone"
Artists: T.I. & Justin Timberlake
Album: Paper Trail
Year: 2008
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Though this album broke through the speakers in fall 08, I was waiting until people would get a good listen of this song on the radio before I wrote about it. This is one of the best songs on T.I.'s album, and it may be just because of Timberlake. The beat just can't be ignored, it's like a swoon- message through T.I.'s alluring raps and rhythms; and all the while J.T. is moaning. Gotta love his moans ("Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" [Madonna's Hard Candy])
Take the "bridge", and I put bridge in quotations because there are so many breaks in this song, a bridge-defined may be difficult:
"I turn my head to the East I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the West still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the North swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me's dead and gone but the new me will be alright"
It's like out of the slums of T.I.'s rapping pain comes this wake-up call from J.T. The songs ignites in this moment, back to the "Oh!" in the opening 15-second marker. Give it up for J.T. on this track, I don't think many people can incorporate sex sounds into a "had-one-of-them-days" rap song. I turn my to the east! Where do you look? Sometimes I swallow that pill, but it doesn't work- sometimes it does, depending on anxiety levels. I'm rambling and relating, not really rapping.
get it boys.
Artists: T.I. & Justin Timberlake
Album: Paper Trail
Year: 2008
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Though this album broke through the speakers in fall 08, I was waiting until people would get a good listen of this song on the radio before I wrote about it. This is one of the best songs on T.I.'s album, and it may be just because of Timberlake. The beat just can't be ignored, it's like a swoon- message through T.I.'s alluring raps and rhythms; and all the while J.T. is moaning. Gotta love his moans ("Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" [Madonna's Hard Candy])
Take the "bridge", and I put bridge in quotations because there are so many breaks in this song, a bridge-defined may be difficult:
"I turn my head to the East I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the West still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the North swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me's dead and gone but the new me will be alright"
It's like out of the slums of T.I.'s rapping pain comes this wake-up call from J.T. The songs ignites in this moment, back to the "Oh!" in the opening 15-second marker. Give it up for J.T. on this track, I don't think many people can incorporate sex sounds into a "had-one-of-them-days" rap song. I turn my to the east! Where do you look? Sometimes I swallow that pill, but it doesn't work- sometimes it does, depending on anxiety levels. I'm rambling and relating, not really rapping.
get it boys.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Show Me The Money
Song: "Lump Sum"
Artist: Bon Iver
Album: For Emma, Forever Ago
From: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Year: 2007
The beginning of "Lump Sum" sounds like a church choir warming up in some religious abbey in Romania. It turns into brilliant 1,2's of acoustic melodies swooning like Grizzly Bear or Beach House.
"Sold my cold knot/A heavy stone
Sold my red horse for a venture home/
To vanish on the bow --
Settling slow/
Fit it all, fit it in the doldrums/
(Or so the story goes)/
Color the era/Film it's historical"
Bon Iver is clearly one of the breakout bands of 2008, even though this album was released in 2007. I love: "Color the Era". How would we color this era? It can't be black, white or grey because those are shades. We need something with pigments, something dense and thick and saturated. How about a sauvignon-red wine? No, too cliché. I'd say a muted yellow, for all uncertainties and relating to the shit we're so deep in. Jungle yellow.
So I take it Bon Iver goes from church abbey to valley/forest/Shrek-land (red horse) to a boat. After all they're "Settling slow" [In lyric analysis]. In our lives we HAVE to fit it all "in the doldrums", no matter how exciting, humdrum, or expensive it all may add up too. Life is a lump sum, but what is its net worth? What do we value our daily ventures without actually totally our real life expenses? What does travel time and phone catch-ups and bars equate to?
This whole folkie/neo/indie sound is not new, yet Bon Iver plays so elegantly-simplicity within complexity- it's like a new era...breaking dawn. Thanks, Stephenie Meyer. The image below is picturesque. The dollars and cents and ATM's I see in my mind when I hear this song equate to this simple snapshot of a human, wood, nature, and a saw. Is this all we need? Please say YES.
Bon iver, in French, translates to: the coldest winter. Bon Iver is traveling in and out of seasons with graceful hums and la-de-da's. Wooden, unshaven, and the perfect red flannel.
Artist: Bon Iver
Album: For Emma, Forever Ago
From: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Year: 2007
The beginning of "Lump Sum" sounds like a church choir warming up in some religious abbey in Romania. It turns into brilliant 1,2's of acoustic melodies swooning like Grizzly Bear or Beach House.
"Sold my cold knot/A heavy stone
Sold my red horse for a venture home/
To vanish on the bow --
Settling slow/
Fit it all, fit it in the doldrums/
(Or so the story goes)/
Color the era/Film it's historical"
Bon Iver is clearly one of the breakout bands of 2008, even though this album was released in 2007. I love: "Color the Era". How would we color this era? It can't be black, white or grey because those are shades. We need something with pigments, something dense and thick and saturated. How about a sauvignon-red wine? No, too cliché. I'd say a muted yellow, for all uncertainties and relating to the shit we're so deep in. Jungle yellow.
So I take it Bon Iver goes from church abbey to valley/forest/Shrek-land (red horse) to a boat. After all they're "Settling slow" [In lyric analysis]. In our lives we HAVE to fit it all "in the doldrums", no matter how exciting, humdrum, or expensive it all may add up too. Life is a lump sum, but what is its net worth? What do we value our daily ventures without actually totally our real life expenses? What does travel time and phone catch-ups and bars equate to?
This whole folkie/neo/indie sound is not new, yet Bon Iver plays so elegantly-simplicity within complexity- it's like a new era...breaking dawn. Thanks, Stephenie Meyer. The image below is picturesque. The dollars and cents and ATM's I see in my mind when I hear this song equate to this simple snapshot of a human, wood, nature, and a saw. Is this all we need? Please say YES.
Bon iver, in French, translates to: the coldest winter. Bon Iver is traveling in and out of seasons with graceful hums and la-de-da's. Wooden, unshaven, and the perfect red flannel.
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