Monthly Archive for December, 2010

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AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #8. Goldfrapp – Head First

Published by almostaghost on December 20, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .
Goldfrapp - Head First

shiny and warm

#8. Goldfrapp – Head First

Head First is yet another addictive album from Goldfrapp. Their string of records is getting pretty impressive! I find that when I listen to them, I end up listening to them a ton. And sometimes when I do that with other artists, by the time I’m done, I’m thinking, “that’s enough, I’m sick of this artist now.” But with Goldfrapp, I get hooked, and keep wanting to listen to more. Head First is no exception!

While their last album, Seventh Tree, was pretty chill, and showed off the sometimes-strange creativity of their songs, Head First leans back to Black Cherry or Supernature. It is energetic and bubbly, but with their occasional slight touches of darkness or menace. That’s not to say they are repeating themselves. Most press about Head First notes the heavy ’80s influence of the album, mainly in the sound of the keyboards/synthesizers. That is true, but misses some of the subtlety of what they are doing. Jazzercising to it would hardly be out of place, though, that’s for sure.

On “Dreaming,” for example, all the sounds and layers of synthesizers are there to enhance the chorus. Everything is there for that moment: “I, I am only dreaming…” Similarly, “Alive” hangs there, revving up, until the chorus soars in, “feeling alive again!” This is what Goldfrapp does in all their best songs of the past (from “Strict Machine” to “Oh La La” to name two), dropping razor sharp choruses into a relentless groove. They continue to do that on Head First, continue to do that better than anyone.

One new angle on Head First is that Alison Goldfrapp is singing fairly straightforward love songs. In the past, she used a lot of sexy innuendo and surreal language; here, she is using her seductive voice to sing of clearer and more immediate feelings. For instance, on “Shiny And Warm,” she is anxious: “shiny and warm / head in a storm / I’m driving home to you.” She sounds pretty exhilarated, and it’s pretty clear what will happen when she gets home (“you’ll play with my cheek / whisper something in the dawn”). She recognizes sometimes that the feelings might be a dream or temporary. On the title track, she sings “I am your visitor / I’m on the other side of your world.” She’ll deal with that later, but for now she’s “head first in love.” This immediacy certainly makes Head First one of the more romantic albums of 2010.

Goldfrapp “Dreaming”

Goldfrapp “Head First”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #9. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

Published by almostaghost on December 19, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
Yeasayer - Odd Blood

everybody clouds up in my head

#9. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

With their second album, Yeasayer started to turn their undeniable creativity into funky funky songs. I use “funky” twice, for both meanings of the word: the music has strong groovy beats, and is also slightly strange.

Odd Blood starts with the dark and swampy “The Children,” before kicking into some of the strongest cuts on the album, “Ambling Alp,” “Madder Red,” and “O.N.E.” These songs show off their style perfectly. All are filled with deep percussion, swirly guitars, catchy harmonies, and just a hint of a sensual groove. The long intro to “Love Me Girl” sounds like Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack,” except all warped. Heck, deep down, a lot of the beats sound like they could have been influenced by Timbaland. Needless to say, the production throughout this album is pretty amazing. Everything fits together, creating a unique musical space.

Turns out, Yeasayer uses a lot of experimentation in making their music, such as plugging samplers into a television to create a wall of sound, sampling found Moroccan music, or singing harmonies through a fan. Never has experimentation sounded so catchy! I say “turns out,” because I had no idea about these strange tricks until I read about it on Wikipedia. Listening to Odd Blood, and having seen them live (Coachella again), I had no idea. The tricks never sound avant-garde, never sound like prog rock. (Thankfully.)

So yea, I have no idea what to call Yeasayer’s music. They borrow from all over. The hiphop comparisons from earlier were subtle, because this is by no means an R&B album. Or is it?! I get the sense, and I really hope I’m not wrong, that Yeasayer is still figuring it out themselves. Like, hey, we can make great recordings and do this right! When bands come to that realization, they often return with an epic. (Radiohead, for example, did that after The Bends.) I fully expect an epic of a third album from Yeasayer. But for now, I’m digging on Odd Blood and it’s odd collection of songs.

Yeasayer – “O.N.E.”

Yeasayer – “I Remember”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #10. M.I.A. – /\/\ /\ Y /\

Published by almostaghost on December 17, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
MAYA

down like your internet connection

#10. M.I.A. – /\/\ /\ Y /\

Initially, I was confused by /\/\ /\ Y /\. My favorite aspects of M.I.A.’s earlier albums, Kala and Arular, seemed to have been stripped away: the international politics, the world music beats. Do I want to hear M.I.A. using Autotune? Singing about how much tequila she drinks? A song like “XXXO” sounded very much like pure pop music, and I could easily hear a Christina Aguilera or someone singing it. Is this what I really wanted from M.I.A.? But a funny thing happened, even with this initial hesitation. I couldn’t stop listening to it.

The hidden aspects of many of the songs began to reveal themselves. Take the aforementioned “XXXO” which is ostensibly about a hookup. The chorus begins with, “you want me / XXXO” but is followed with the real chorus, “you want me to be somebody who I’m really not.” It is not the mindless situation it may appear at first. Similarly, at first I found “Teqkilla” despicable. But once I got around the the pun-filled lyrics about alcohol, I found it blown to bits by an insanely wild electro-jam. The end of the song is totally drunk on sounds and beats, and is completely awesome. Once I started to get into this song, the whole album started to click. If you start looking into the hearts of the songs, M.I.A.’s intelligence, creativity and lo-fi experimentation are still at their prime. The utterly bizarre echo-y gospel beat of “Tell Me Why,” the rock guitar back-to-back of “Born Free” and “Meds And Feds,” the trippy groove on “Story To Be Told”–they all started to work as clever, catchy tracks. (I still don’t like the Autotune though.)

And while /\/\ /\ Y /\ isn’t as explicitly political as her other albums could be, it does reveal itself too with more familiarity. Many of the songs are about freedom, never being caught. Instead of world politics, M.I.A. is focused on the politics of being an artist. (But it works as an analogy to the world too.) On “Lovalot,” she starts, “I feel cooped up / I wanna bust free / Got nothin’ to lose if you get me.” Later on “Space,” she sings that “gravity is my enemy” as she’s flying around in space odyssey (“I’m ahead of time so you’ll never lose me”). Is she staying one step ahead of expectations? Of authority? She’s out “living on the edge,” which is where the fight is, where the freedom is. It’s a great place for an artist to be.

So in the end, I consider /\/\ /\ Y /\ a great album. It is not showing up on many end-of-the-year lists that I’ve seen, and I reckon in the future it will continue to be overlooked, forgotten. Heck, I’m probably underrating it myself, even at #10 on my list. It is something that I will keep listening to, more and more. It’s not Kala, but it’s not trying to be.

M.I.A. – “Story To Be Told”

M.I.A. – “Teqkilla”

and for fun, here’s a great song M.I.A. threw on the web, after she got in a little pseudo-controversy with a journalist who wrote a less-than-flattering profile about her.

M.I.A. – “Haters”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #11. Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea

Published by almostaghost on December 16, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
The Sea

put her records on

#11. Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea

Corinne Bailey Rae made a giant leap with her second album. Unfortunately, tragic circumstances led to it. But The Sea ended up one of the most soulful and emotional records of 2010.

After the quiet success of her first album, Rae’s husband died of an accidental drug overdose. When she returned to record The Sea, she clearly channeled her feelings into her songs. Don’t get me wrong–The Sea is not a downer of an album. It reflects on love and loss in an emotional way, but never reaches the level of Harrowing. “It’s hard to recall the taste of summer / when everywhere around, the chill of winter,” she sings on “Are You Here,” probably the most nakedly emotional song on the album. In “Paris Nights/New York Mornings,” she remembers “love filled nights,” but with the caveat that they are running out of time. And while “the sea breaks everything,” she also realizes that it “cleans everything.” Wiki says she wrote about half the songs after her husband’s death, and I can’t speculate which ones were or weren’t, but all the songs tie in: she looks at love, the good and the bad, the memories, the struggles.

Musically, though, is where The Sea is the most impressive. Rae’s self-titled first album was more or less pop music. Except for some touches, the music does not sound organic — drums are created, vocals and lyrics clear and romantic, rhythms perfect and predictable, her voice warm and inviting. I say this not to demean it, I enjoy it, but to contrast with The Sea, which, upon listening close, is absolutely nothing like it.

First, she recorded The Sea with a band. The energy that comes from a band performing is perfect for her voice, and they combine to create atmosphere and a bit more drama. She shows more skill in singing, as well. Instead of pop clarity, she purrs more, like a real soul singer should. Soul music is about passion and feelings, and she finds that, ironically, by pulling her voice back. You don’t have to go big to get there. Her natural voice is big anyway, so to keep things slightly mysterious does nothing but enhance the emotion and ambience.

As I have mentioned a couple of times on this countdown (and will a couple more, I’m sure), I went to Coachella this year. Rae was one of the acts, which was a great and welcome surprise. I was stoked, and made sure I didn’t miss her. She did not disappoint, and I even stood near her in the crowd later as we watched Sly Stone have a crazy meltdown. If people skipped her, wrote her off as one of the “pop” acts Coachella sometimes adds, they really missed out.

They also would be missing out on The Sea, if they wrote her off after her debut.

Corinne Bailey Rae “Paper Dolls”

Corinne Bailey Rae “I Would Like To Call It Beauty”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #12. Adam Haworth Stephens – We Live On Cliffs

Published by almostaghost on December 14, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
We Live On Cliffs

this living ain’t for the faint of heart

#12. Adam Haworth Stephens – We Live On Cliffs

Unfortunately, much of my countdown this year consists of artists I already knew before. There were a few who were new to me (Pterodactyl Plains, Flying Lotus, Sleigh Bells), but mainly it was a good year for people I already liked. There were, though, some debut albums, by artistst who decided to step out and go solo. Adam Haworth Stephens is one of them. Stephens is the lead singer/guitarist in the intense and atmospheric blues duo, Two Gallants.

I cannot quite figure out why, but I’ve been having trouble coming up with much to say about We Live On Cliffs. (So I’ll just ramble.) It isn’t like the music is terribly extreme. Nor is it bland. There is a complexity to Stephens’ songwriting here, which I guess can make it hard to process. With Two Gallants, Stephens taps into the blues and comes up with new songs that feel amazingly authentic. It is quite a skill for a modern songwriter to have. On We Live On Cliffs, though, the blues influence is much more subtle, and the songs are much more laidback. The rawness of Two Gallants feels like it has been smoothed out, which as a description, sound terrible. But once you get into the songs, it is still there.

I reckon that the “cliff” metaphor used in the title of the album is key to many of the songs. The idea that taking a step will cause a sheer drop. Living on the edge can also leave you directionless. These are but some of the themes buried in Stephens’ songs here. On the stunning “Heights Of Diamond,” Stephens sings “‘Cause your touch still lingers on my shaky fingers / As the feeling fades away / And the bells are chiming / In the heights of diamond / As I’m trying to find my way.” Here he is, at a very particular moment, and he is not sure where he’ll go. Off the cliff? It’s possible. There are different cliff edges throughout, as well: reality vs. dreams, night vs. morning, life vs. regret. On “Southern Lights,” Stephens writes, “you know the sweeter the candy, the bitter the aftertaste / So don’t let the morning catch me here / I’m not the man that I appear.”

Anyway I feel like I just have a pile of random thoughts about these songs, which I’m sure undermines the complexity of his language, the chill melodies, the talented band. We Live On Cliffs is a skilled work by one of the top songwriters around. It is as if Stephens dug around in the blues with Two Gallants for a few albums, processed all he could, and now is finding his own style. Perhaps it is a natural progression for a songwriter to go from exploring a favorite old genre to absorbing it into your own style. Many great artists follow a similar path, like Bob Dylan or Beck. High comparisons, I know. But Stephens is moving forward in his songwriting, and I can’t imagine it dropping off a cliff.

Adam Haworth Stephens – “Angelina”

Adam Haworth Stephens – “Heights Of Diamond”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #13. Sleigh Bells – Treats

Published by almostaghost on December 12, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
Treats

did you do your best today?

#13. Sleigh Bells – Treats

For a little background, Sleigh Bells started making some waves on the internet when their demo started floating around. They signed to M.I.A.’s record label, and then I saw them at Coachella before their album dropped. They showed up, blasted the packed tent in the early afternoon for about 20 minutes, leaving everyone blown away. I definitely bought into the hype after seeing them in person.

Similarly, the explosiveness of their debut album, Treats, lands it high on my countdown. Treats is a compact blast of razor-sharp riffs, modern in its simplicity and lo-fi arrangement. Alexis Krauss (the singer) subverts the hard guitar with her female energy, giving Sleigh Bells a more interesting sound. Krauss and Derek Miller’s guitar make up the entirety of the band, and their interplay is what impresses. (Live, they use a drum machine, I assume on the record too.)

The basic set-up is that Miller riffs like crazy, while Krauss goes all out too. She brings a slight pop catchiness to the mix. Imagine M.I.A. with an electric guitarist. There are a couple of tracks, like “Run The Heart,” where Krauss sings like she’s the guitar, riffing with her voice, while Miller plays more atmospherically behind her. Some songs they trade back and forth, like “Riot Rhythm” or “Crown On The Ground.” Subtle, but they are not doing the exact same thing in every song. It hints to me that they may be capable of changing things up as they move on.

The songs touch on a lot of young topics: best friends, straight As, cowboys & Indians, boyfriends, braces. However, the lyrics don’t take place in, say, high school, but from later on, looking back. Krauss seems to be using the act of remembering to remind that, hey it can be stormy when young. It’s nostalgiac, but looked at as sincerely and real as one should. That said, the lyrics are pretty much the last thing to focus on with Sleigh Bells. I hate to write that, I always like to give them the thought they deserve. They are entertaining, but for me, they get lost beneath the music.

While I definitely think Treats is a killer, I am left wondering about its staying power. This style of music could lose its draw when there’s a second album just like it. Or might it eventually sound dated? Right now, it works because Sleigh Bells is right now. Looking back at 2010 though, they were a highlight.

Sleigh Bells – “A/B Machines”

Sleigh Bells – “Tell ‘Em”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #14. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

Published by almostaghost on December 10, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

they wanna see me on my satellite

#14. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

Cosmogramma hits on a wide range of sounds. The prevailing bits are electronic, glitch. But as befitting the nephew of John and Alice Coltrane, Flying Lotus approaches his music with a jazzy outlook. Jazz can be made on a computer! I don’t know if Flying Lotus is at the forefront of this movement, or if he is the only one trying. But it sounds unique to me, and is pretty awesome.

“Clock Catcher” starts things off with some video game jazz. “Pickled!” is some glitchy bebob. All sorts of things keep coming at you, like bits of new age strings, scat singing, thick bass, Alice Coltrane’s harp. “Recoiled” has a beat that reminds me of an old chain gang blues. Thom Yorke shows up and murmurs his way through the best track on here, “…And The World Laughs With You.” “Table Tennis” uses a ping pong beat. Literally. Not sure what it really adds, but it’s a good example of Flying Lotus’ grab bag of tricks.

That description probably makes it sound as if the album is noisy and crazy. And in a way, it is, I guess. But all the different sounds fits together, and the end result is a long medley of sorts. The songs aren’t joined together, but listening in a row, they all just flow. You get the sense this was a fully conceived album. Since I really haven’t heard anything like Cosmogramma before, it really stood out for me.

Posting just one song or two will probably defeat the purpose of Cosmogramma, but here’s a few tracks anyway:

Flying Lotus – “Satelllliiiiiiiteee”

Flying Lotus – “Do The Astral Plane”

Flying Lotus – “…And The World Laughs With You (feat. Thom Yorke)”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #15. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

Published by almostaghost on December 9, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
This Is Happening

LCD Soundsystem Is Playing At My House

#15. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

Many of LCD Soundsystem’s songs on This Is Happening are about moments. The moment you get lost in music, forgetting all your troubles (“Dance Yourself Clean”). The moment you make a connection (“One Touch”). In “All I Want,” James Murphy writes of another moment: “from now on, I’m someone different / ‘Cause it’s no fun to be predictably lame / From now on, there’s true indifference / ‘Cause I want what I want.” Like the lyrics, LCD Soundsystem’s music is also usually about moments. You ride through the amazing production of “Dance Yourself Clean,” as the instruments dance all around each other, waiting for that moment it breaks into a phat groove. Numerous moments slide in and out of the album, catchy harmony vocals, keyboard licks, beats, percussion.

It took me awhile to figure out what was happening with This Is Happening though. I had trouble placing it. Right now, maybe it’s overrated on the list. But next time I listen, it might be underrated. I’ve moved it all up and down and this is where it ended. I’m not sure why. It’s not as if James Murphy had any big change in style. In fact, if anything, he has expertly learned to trim the fat on his records, and now puts out strong, lean albums. Nothing is extraneous. His first album has some epic tracks but is at times a little goofy, a little hectic. He has an impressive ability to write music that is simultaneously locked-in tight and builds dramatically.

This Is Happening is his third album, and there’s less goofiness (though I’m not sure what to make of “Drunk Girls,” I could do without it). He’s also cut out the occasionally heavy electric guitar riffs that he used to use sometimes. What remains are the phat grooves building into dramatic release, and some notably emotional tunes (“I Can Change” and “Home”). If that’s what you like best in LCD Soundsystem’s music, you should dig This Is Happening.

LCD Soundsystem – “I Can Change”

LCD Soundsystem – “All I Want”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #16. Robyn – Body Talk

Published by almostaghost on December 8, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
Robyn - Body Talk

a single pulse repeated at a regular interval

#16. Robyn – Body Talk

There were a number of fascinating pop albums this year, like Nicki Minaj (bonkers) and Kanye West (huge) and Justin Bieber (kidding). But my favorite comes all the way from Sweden. Robyn released three EPs this year, Body Talk Pt. 1, Pt. 2 and Pt. 3. She also released Body Talk, which had five tracks from each part. All together, her Body Talks are an enjoyable and deep collection of songs.

Robyn’s music is built on the basics of pop music. There’s dancing, dancing alone, crying, boredom, heartbreak, dangerous love, robots. She hits on something primal, that when the body talks, listen. If you’re hurt, you’re hurt. Frustrations happen. Hearts break. Love kills. But through it all, she just keeps moving. “We Dance To The Beat” nails it all down: “we dance to the beat of continents shifting under our feet / We dance to the beat of false math and unrecognized genius / we dance to the beat of gravity giving us a break.” “Fembot” is the most poppy song here, and the main lines are “you split my heart in two / now whatcha gonna do?” Many of the songs have her reacting to this split heart, mostly by dancing. Other times by being sad. Other times by taking on the world.

A few songs show off Robyn’s sometimes dark and dry humor. “Criminal Intent” finds her pleading guilty to “lewd and indecent events” and is being incarcerated for getting “somewhat X-rated on the floor.” (“Would you pardon me for being inappropriately attired?”) This isn’t a surprise if you’re aware of Robyn’s raunchy and hilarious rodomontade from a few years ago, “Konichiwa Bitches.” Here, she and Snoop Dogg effectively write a sequel. On “U Should Know Better” the duo warn the French, the Vatican, Russians, the FBI, the CIA, the LAPD, and the Prince Of Darkness not to fuck with them.

Wikipedia has a quote from Robyn describing one of her songs as a “sweet and sour bon-bon wrapped in melancholy,” which sums her up better than I ever could. The melancholy wrapper around fun electro pop music and ideas makes Robyn’s Body Talk one of the tastiest albums of the year.

Here’s one song from each of the EPs:

Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

Robyn – “U Should Know Better (feat. Snoop Dogg)”

Robyn – “Stars 4-Ever”

- almostaghost

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2010 – #17. Record Club – Oar

Published by almostaghost on December 6, 2010 in almostaghost and review. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
Beck Wilco Jamie Lidell Feist

I could use me some yin for my yang

#17. Record Club – Oar

Beck’s superb and on-going Record Club project is my next choice for this countdown. Beck organizes a handful of fellow musicians and friends, and in one day, they cover an entire album. The tracks are recorded as videos, and then released on Beck.com weekly. He tackled Skip Spence’s Oar for the third project, which is an unbelievably good record. It is a sometimes strange mix of folk and jazz, but with the emotion of one man singing the blues. Skip Spence was an obscure genius, a lesser-known Syd Barrett-type who also went mad. His story is fascinating, but better saved for another post. Beck has been a long-time fan of Spence’s, and has covered him a couple of times prior to this as well.

The first couple of Record Clubs were a fairly random bunch of musicians. This time, the third project, Beck surrounded himself with a band, Wilco, who already have their own chemistry. This brought an added dimension to the proceedings, and the ability to go almost anywhere musically. Further, the other musicians (Feist, Jamie Lidell, Brian LeBarton, James Gadson) are all supremely-talented collaborators, who can easily fit in with whatever is going on. With Beck overseeing everything, this Record Club was set up to succeed.

And succeed they do. They all jump into Oar with unbridled enthusiasm and creativity, relishing the brilliant songs. They handle the project in two sections, basically. Eight of the tracks were done with all the musicians, and the remaining were done as a killer funk band of Beck, Lidell, Gadson and LeBarton (i.e., without Wilco). These two set-ups really complement each other, and make for a very well-rounded album.

The tracks with Wilco and Feist for the most part play the songs straight. Beck sings lead on “Little Hands” and “Diana,” sticking quite close to Spence’s original vocals. Wilco fills out the music in subtle and playful ways, like those lead guitar licks on “Diana.” Feist gets to sing the staggering “Weighted Down,” which was a perfect decision. I don’t think Beck or Jeff Tweedy would have been quite right for the song, neither’s voice has the necessary heft for it. Feist, however, brings it. Similarly, the band starts Spence’s slow and spooky “War In Peace” slow and spooky, but then drop a crazy guitar solo by Nels Cline. They never overdo anything, which is a perfect skill to have when doing an album in a day. For example, on “All Come To Meet Her,” they strip the song all the way down, and the entire group sings it acapella.

Meanwhile, the funk band lets loose with more abandon on the remaining songs. While the Wilco tracks are beautiful and tasty, after Wilco left (or before they got there, not sure), the other guys jammed. Jamie Lidell has a high soul falsetto, James Gadson is a legendary funk drummer on all the classics, Beck and Lebarton are groovy dudes. They must have realised, what else are we going to do here? “Books Of Moses” and “Cripple Creek” are the answer.

As you can see, this Record Club was up for anything-acappella barbershop, ’70s funk, acoustic guitars, rock, Ace Of Base (yep), whatever. That they were doing it from a template of Skip Spence’s songs is pretty inspiring. The project both stands on its own, and brings new light into the sometimes shady corners of Spence’s genius. If you’re not following Beck’s Record Clubs, you’re missing out. (It’s on hiatus at the moment though, I’ll certainly post when it returns.)

You can watch/listen to all of the songs on beck.com by clicking here.

Record Club: Record Club – “Grey / Afro”

Record Club – “Broken Heart”

Skip Spence:

Alexander Skip Spence – “Cripple Creek”

Alexander Skip Spence – “Weighted Down (The Prison Song)”

- almostaghost