Monthly Archive for August, 2010

Ben Folds, Nick Hornby, & Pomplamoose – Things You Think

Published by ianthewalrus on August 31, 2010 in news. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

YouTube, although full of videos of kids tripping and kids tripping, is also increasingly becoming a fantastic and immediate way for independent musicians working out of their homes to release new “VideoSongs” (not to be confused with music videos.)  One such home-based, independent musician using YouTube to its advantage is the pop duo, Pomplamoose, who actually go as far as to define “VideoSongs” on the descriptions of their videos as:

VideoSong [is] a new Medium with two rules:

1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds).

Pomplamoose’s Jack and Nataly have steadily, and relatively quietly trickled out fantastic chamber pop originals and quirky, chamber pop covers of Top 40 hits for what seems like a few years now.  Furthermore, they’ve done it with a jaw-dropping consistency worthy, especially for the whole home-brew nature of their project–just look at the number of awesome “VideoSongs” on their YouTube channel.  Their latest only reinforces their emerging tradition of home-brew, charming pop-music excellence.  “Things You Think” is a wonderful collaboration with not only piano-pop virtuoso, Ben Folds, but also book-writing virtuoso, Nick Hornby.  Apparently, this will appear on Ben Folds’ next album Lonely Avenue (due out September 28), which is entirely co-written by Hornby and seems to also include four new short stories by Hornby.  But if you can’t wait, you can get the song now via iTunes.  I’m not sure how much more involved Pomplamoose in the rest of the album, but hopefully it’s a lot.

- ianthewalrus

AlmostAGhost’s August 2010 mix

Published by almostaghost on August 30, 2010 in mixes. 0 Comments Tags: , .

At the end of every month, I make a mix of music that I’ve found that came out this year. They’re usually a little longer than the minimum 8 tracks, and I hope you can use it to find some new music. This one in particular is kind of a bizarre mix of music! I guess it was a weird month.

- almostaghost

Philip Selway – Familial

Published by almostaghost on August 28, 2010 in review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

hear the drummer get wicked

Pretty much any drummer’s solo album will be a curiosity, but when the drummer’s main gig is in Radiohead? Is he going to go all Tony Allen and jam wildly for 30 minutes? Is he as haunted as Thom Yorke? Is he the new Phil Collins?

Turns out, Selway is nowhere close to any of those. I guess that’s not really a surprise. The surprise is that Familial is a folky, quiet whisper of an album. I’m not blown away by anything, but neither is anything in any way bad. Let’s just say, I’m probably going to use ‘nice’ an awful lot in this review.

Musically, Selway’s songs are all folky and warm. Some other musicians, most notably Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansome from Wilco, help add little touches to the songs. Little things show up from time-to-time, a bit of bass, a little organ, a background vocal loop, but mostly from song to song, these tracks sit in that Nick Drake world of hushed, delicate acousticness. Phil’s voice, as well, matches that exactly–it sounds like he is whispering. It works, but lacks any distinction. Few melodies will stick in your head for very long, but are all pleasant.

The songs themselves are well-written, but again, I really don’t imagine any ever being anyone’s favorite songs or anything like that. There’s nothing bad here though. Many of the songs seem to be about looking and moving forward from the past, and doing it, not alone, but with a partner or family. (Hence, the album’s title.) “By Some Miracle” hints at depression, and climbing out of it (using a Nick Drake-y allusion to the “black dog down in the basement / barking out my name / snapping at my heels when I falter”), and I believe this is a common theme throughout the record. The beautiful “Don’t Look Down” also compares life to a tightrope, and not to let your fears and doubts bother you. This angle is a stark difference from Radiohead. Yorke finds his songs within the fears and doubts. Selway, however, finds his songs in getting past them.

I know that “nice” can be a somewhat insulting word when it’s used in a review. The album definitely has enough going for it, especially in its consistency. There are no weak points, but no very high ones either. Because of this, it should be seen as more than a curious gimmick (Radiohead drummer sings!), even if the end result is merely nice.

- almostaghost

Electronic Baths

Published by betweenthesound on August 26, 2010 in review. 1 Comment

This is a gem. The Cerulean titled Baths album has kept my hope alive that electronic music isn’t falling into a “same-old” trap. They capture elements of “toro y moi” as well as “the books” but when I sit down to wonder what this sounds like I come up with a blank and then I simply just don’t care. I like this band quite a bit. Some songs are strictly ambient and others such as “Lovely Bloodflow” will keep the lyric loving listener happy.

I’m not one to drone on about a musician. So with that I leave you a music video. Also they are touring. Maybe you will be lucky enough to see them live.

Lovely Bloodflow from BATHS on Vimeo.

Lovely Bloodflow from BATHS on Vimeo.

- betweenthesound

AlmostAGhost Minimix: Germs

Published by almostaghost on August 25, 2010 in mixes. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Hi, I’m new to this blog, I wrote about the Sufjan EP first. But also I occasionally make mixes on 8tracks, so I thought I’d share them here as well. Sometimes I just make short minimixes of 8 songs I want to share, some are more involved and longer, based on a theme of some sort.

This new one is just a short one.

- almostaghost

Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP

Published by almostaghost on August 22, 2010 in review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Album review: Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP

Late last week, Sufjan Stevens unexpectedly dropped a challenging and mostly grooveless EP on his Bandcamp page (only $5!). Highlighted by the joyous gospel epic 17-minute track “Djohariah,” All Delighted People is a difficult listen. Either the songs are bogged down by too much going on (such as the 11-minute original version of “All Delighted People”), or there just is not enough to latch on to in the first place (like “The Owl And The Tanager” or “Heirloom”). “Enchanting Ghost” is pretty, and I mostly enjoyed the classic rock version of “All Delighted People,” but “Djohariah” itself is the only song that really stands out.

Regardless, the album did get me wondering: what exactly is an EP anymore?

EPs in the past have had different connotations. Usually, they are short. Sometimes, they’re just a small batch of throwaway songs or b-sides. Other times, they’re used to put out a bit of work simply to share where the artist might be at that moment. With All Delighted People, I have no idea. Why isn’t this one of his main albums?

First, while it has only 8 songs, it still lasts for an hour. There is no way these songs were quickly made, the most impressive thing about them is how much care has gone into them. Does Sufjan intend this to be taken outside the realm of his long albums? There’s as much going on, both lyrically and musically, that this piece of music has as much to delve into as any of Sufjan’s albums. Why was this delegated to EP status? Does “EP” still indicate a side project of sorts? I don’t imagine that Sufjan meant that here. What exactly does EP mean anymore? By calling this an EP, what affect should that have on the listener? On the critic? On the artist?

I don’t have the answers, but I can say, if you’ve never heard Sufjan Stevens’ music, start with one of his non-EPS, this one is too much work.

- almostaghost