First off, I never really thought about what the bitrate of the mp3s I was listening to were, I’m a little surprised they were that high. Higher than iTunes or Amazon sells them at. There is some serious digital distortion in the music and now I understand that it’s meant to be there, artifacts from the processing and the samplers used. I don’t have a problem with this, just noting. That distortion is easier on the ears from the vinyl than it is from the mp3s. While I don’t have an audiophile setup, music from my turntable and computer essentially follow the same path to the speakers, so I feel it’s a fair comparison for me to make. In a blind test I honestly think I could hear the difference between the two easily.

So, why the eff do I need to write a blog entry about this specific record, when I bring home one or two records a week? Good question, jackass. Let me explain to you what hearing this record caused me to think about.

Records need to be mastered differently than digital delivery methods (CDs, mp3s). If they pressed a record with music mastered as loudly as a CD, the needle would jump right out of the groove. To keep that from happening, they don’t just turn down the volume on it, they apply a RIAA approved equalizer setting to it that is then reversed when it passes through your preamp or phono input on your amplifier. It’s my belief that because a master for vinyl requires more finessing to make it work in the medium, a good portion of why it sounds better is as much attributable to the careful processing that happens to it before it gets pressed into wax as it is to the medium itself. These have been my thoughts for years, and I’m sure I’ve written this paragraph at least once before.

What makes this interesting to me is the aforementioned digital distortion. There is a TON of it on this album. So much that I thought it was a problem with the download. I know nothing of what gear Kanye used in this album, and I’m ignorant to his production process. In the Runaway video he uses an Akai MPC-2000XL first made in 1997, which, looking at the stats, could easily offer up the sort of distortion that I hear. Ok, so “big deal”, right? Well, maybe. I honestly don’t listen to a lot of hip hop albums, but it would seem to me that a lot of the excitement I feel for this album comes directly from how raw the production is. I can already hear people arguing with me, “But this album is so slickly produced you dumbass.” I don’t think “slick” is the right word though. “Carefully” yes, but there is a specific LACK of slickness where it counts. Timbaland is a slick producer, Dre too. I think this album has more of Afrika Bambaataa’s DNA in it than either of those guys, and I’d call that guy precise, but not slick. Examples of so-called raw production: Ghostface’s lyrics are cut off before he finishes words, which makes them sound like they are a sample cut from another song, the crazy treble distortion on vocals (especially female vocals) and samples, these all make this album sound positively OLD SCHOOL. All of this, when pressed onto vinyl sounds very special to my ears. The harshness gets rounded out, makes it more musical, while keeping the lo-fi fun of it.

Anyway, back to the actual album. It’s on three records, which annoys me. I understand the reasoning behind it. Hip hop artists like doing splitting their albums up over many sides because it essentially makes their album a bunch of 12″s, which are much more DJ and scratch friendly. The reason I like this album so much is the seamless way the songs flow into each other, and this way of pressing it breaks it up. Who knows, maybe this will be my preferred method of hearing it. The songs do make for 6 good combinations. Monster has side 3 all to itself and I think it’s a possibility that the bass on that song was so fierce they needed to cut the grooves exceptionally far apart, which would make that the primary reason for the decision to press the album on three records.

Ok. Enough writing about this, I have my doubts that there is anyone out there that got this far in this post. I’m pretty much the only one who cares about this shit. Although, I’m sure there are others that care that the Phoenix artwork that was meant for the cover was pixelated even in the insert. Totally pissed about that.

This.

Is supposed to look like this.

Not Music, or as it looks on the sleeve, (while assuming Stereolab’s normal cheeky sense of humour) Snot Music is apparently off-cuts from Chemical Chords. Making this their Amnesiac.

Not Music is packaged as if it’s two 12″ singles. A few songs on side A of each, with remixes of Chemical Chords songs on B, each of the two records in their own no-frills sleeve.

So — when I started listening to this, I wasn’t aware of the album’s place in the Stereolab’s oeuvre. (I’m allowed to use pretentious words like “oeuvre” in this because they’re French. Don’t mess with me.) I had a high hopes that there would be some real stand out tracks for me to get excited about because while I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever heard by them, Stereolab hasn’t made anything that I’ve been rabid about since Dots and Loops. As I did the cursory research I do — so I can sound somewhat informed when I write these things — and I understood the album on it’s own terms, my expectations didn’t exactly drop, but they smoothed out a little. By then I just wanted some good, new catchy Lab to listen to, I didn’t care if it blew my mind or not.

When a band announces it’s going on hiatus, especially when they are still putting out a quality product, it’s bittersweet. Is the fact that we are not able to look forward to new songs by a favourite artist a small price to pay for them not shitting on their legacy by putting out album after album of just going through the motions? When Pulp announced their retirement after We Love Life (an album I absolutely love) I was sad, but not so sad as I was the day I realized I hadn’t listened to Think Tank all the way through more than twice.

Anyway, there is also a Laetitia Sadier solo album for me to seek out and enjoy yet. The same way there are still Jarvis Cocker albums that I adore. I guess life goes on even if Stereolab doesn’t.

Download Sun Demon

I don’t usually read Pitchfork reviews, because they often give poor ratings to albums I like, and high ratings to albums I don’t, (I should probably read them more often to get differing opinions, but I don’t) but for some reason I did read this one. I really liked the last paragraph:

The Stereolab story for the last five years has been, “Yep, they still sound like Stereolab.” And if we’re disappointed that the band’s ever-experimental drive feels stifled by the brevity of this newer material, perhaps this hiatus is well-timed. While we learn to finally miss the quirky, stylish synth-pop that we’ve begun to take for granted, we’ll have to content ourselves with Not Music as the band’s final hurrah– at least for now. I suspect it won’t be long before we realize that the leftovers of a band like Stereolab are still better than main dishes offered up by many of their peers. And maybe by then, they’ll be back to recording.

I love this guy. Funk and hip-hop of course have a long history of social commentary but not a lot of it is a poignant as his. Only knowing as much of his history as I’ve learned through osmosis and Wikipedia, he’s always struck me as the sort of writer who uses music as merely a vehicle for his words. Meaning, he sings more to get his thoughts into more people’s ears, and not because he’s a musician who also writes great lyrics. I don’t want to say it “sugarcoats” his poetry, but it certainly makes the medicine go down easier.

This is also not to say that Gil doesn’t have a great voice, or that the music isn’t quality. It’s been my theory that the only reason that Gil Scott-Heron isn’t as big of a household name as say Barry White or Isaac Hayes, is that his lyrics and music are just that much more challenging. His voice is easily as sexy as either of those guys — if more vulnerable and less refined. The music is also more raw and jazz-influenced than more commercial soul artists, probably thanks to Brian Jackson, his long-time collaborator.

I found this album in the basement of a Mount Royal house during an estate sale. The other records in the piles were all yiddish folk music and classical 78s. It didn’t surprise me that it was there because the entire house was full of similar juxtapositions: modernist desks, turn of the century quackery instruments, mortar and pestle collections, japanese wall hangings, etc. The reason I bring this up is that I am not really sure who is reading this blog, so I might sometimes write as if the reader has never heard of an artist that many (most) of you are already well versed in. I don’t mean to be insulting, or for it to seem that I’m claiming some sort of authority that I’ve barely earned. I just get excited about music and I’m using this place as a way to explain the way I think about and enjoy it.

I’m obviously not a soul music scholar, and perhaps the fact that I’m a white guy talking about the “poignancy” of Gil Scott-Heron’s lyrics makes me all too aware that my footing is shaky at best 90% of the time. What I’m saying is that I’m acutely aware that I’m talking out of my ass, in case you were wondering. This post more so than others, I’m having a hard time writing something worth reading so I’ll just end it here.

Download Better Days Ahead

but then an instant later, I think “fuck that guy, I’m no old man!” I mean, I make jokes about being one all the time, and I can be a grumpy bastard at times BUT I’m also prone to ridiculous dancing in my living room when no one is around and anyone who truely knows me knows I’m an old man who really isn’t a grown-up.

So I’m sorry, I didn’t mean fuck that guy REALLY. As far as I know John O (the artist who decided his first stage name wasn’t good enough for his recording project), is a very nice young man. (although Last.fm seems to be confused by his oh-so pretty face, because it’s tagged “female vocalist”. ha. ha.)

I can’t really write much more about it than what I have. You like MGMT or Empire of the Sun, or any other bands in the electro-pop-headdress-wearing genre then you will like this. It’s not challenging in ANY way, but it certainly IS fun. It probably should have been released in June rather than October, but then it’s target market probably downloaded it in June and was TOTALLY OVER IT by Oct.

Get it? Because hipsters are elitist.

Shit, I was hoping to get through this blog entry without using the word hipster.

Download Something Else

Also, I kind of want to hear a mashup of It’s Not My Party and Patio Lanterns by Kim Mitchell.

______________________________
November 22 16:43
Subject: Tron soundtrack
From: (redacted)

(link)

I think it’s real?

______________________________
November 22 16:51
Subject: RE: Tron Soundtrack
From: (redacted)

Hope you downloaded it already because it’s ALREADY down.

Luckily, I had.

Don’t expect a “real” Daft Punk album. This is a score, and it’s effing good. If you’ve listened to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ The Social Network soundtrack, then you’d have a good idea about what this feels like. Of course, there are banging chunes on this album (like Derezzed, which we all heard in that trailer) but it’s not an album full of them. My personal favourite tracks are the ones that combine the orchestra and electronics, and give me shivers that are only partially attributable to the -25 degree weather.

It’s really grand, it’s really sharp, it’s really without much sense of humour. It also sounds really, really good turned up really, really loud. Any time you need to say, “I will now take on the world” and really, really believe it, this is your album. Really.

I’m interested to hear what Daft Punk make after this, because while this album has a very different feel from their normal releases, I could see this informing future albums in very positive ways. I half-predict that they might remix this album themselves into something more dancefloor ready. I hope so, because many of the songs end just as I’m getting into them. (The average track is about 2:30.) At the very least there will be a ton of remixes of nearly every song on this score by other dance artists.

Here’s C.L.U. which was the song in the first trailer. (WRONG. That was The Game Has Changed. Whoops.) I fully expect to get a DMCA notice for posting this song.

Download C.L.U.

Postscript: One thought that hadn’t occurred to me until I started listening, I wonder how much they reference the soundtrack to the first Tron movie? I’ll have to check that out.

Post Postscript: My conversation with (redacted), that started above, ended with this show-stopper of a quote:

You should do both Kanye and Daft Punk for monm and just have a photo of a blown wad.

The Greenhornes released an album on my birthday, November 9th, just 5 days ago. This is not that album. Gun for You is their debut album, and man it’s pretty damn good. At least I think it is. I’m tired and grumpy and I spent most of the day hung over, so it’s hard for me to be genuinely excited about it right now. Tired, grumpy and hungover — in my head, that’s how I imagine every garage rocker to be anyway, so I’m in the right head space.

Ok, so if you like garage rock in any way (The Sonics, The Zombies, The White Stripes even, who are friends and collaborators to these guys) then you will enjoy this. Very well done, and more than just an exercise in pedagogy.

That’s it. That’s all you get. I was planning on writing a bit about Third Man, (Jack White’s label, which releases The Greenhornes’ records now) and how I thought what they are doing is interesting, but fuckit, this is all you get.

Download I’ve Been Down

I don’t know why I never got into these guys more than I did. The Cult has always intrigued me. No one needs to question why or how this band was accepted by the goth community, the hair rockers AND the “college” rockers (as was the vernacular of the late 80s). It makes sense the first time She Sells Sanctuary washes over you — that is, if it isn’t irreparably associated with Labatt beer commercials. And look at that cover. Native American Goth is not a design sensibility that you would think would look hip, but damn.

I’d like to say that this album is surprisingly good, but it isn’t. Surprising, that is. I knew this album would be good back when I was a kid, I just never got around to listening to it. There must be a hundred albums for which I’ve let the same thing happen. I didn’t own a copy of Siamese Dream until this summer. Pinkerton — never heard anything from it. Never listened to a Kiss album from beginning to end. Queen — the only album I’ve heard front to back is Flash Gordon. God damn greatest hits collections, (unless they are collecting songs that were only available on singles) they’re fit — for the pit.

Download Black Angel

Swamp Tech does a great job translating the energy of a Quintron live show into a studio recording. (probably because it was recorded live, all in one studio session) The Quintron Pussycat train barely stays on the tracks It’s so balls-out, full-tilt that it’s a wonder they keep it together. It’s a crazy blend of blues, punk, R&B and dance music that for all intents shouldn’t work, but totally does.

I’m not sure if I’d be as into this if my first encounter with them wasn’t a magical, memorable live show, but I’d like to think I would. If this is your first time hearing them, who knows, maybe you won’t be sold on God of Thunder, which I’ve shared with you below. But if I were you I’d hold off on making a final decision until after you’ve seen their show. It’s something special.

Download God of Thunder

Navigare is beautiful, but I know that there will only be one or two of the people who read this blog that would agree with me. Or at least that I could predict would. Melodies, beats and song structure are merely suggested in these songs. Finding words to describe this album is simple: droney, noisy, spacious, blah blah blah. I worry that anything I come up with will all synonyms for “boring” for most of you.

For those reading that are already interested in this album from that description, the rest of this “review” isn’t really for you, although you’re welcome to stick around.

I’m assuming that you’re assuming that this is really dark, moody music. I guess it can be, I won’t argue. But this groggy Sunday morning, with my plain yogurt and my crappy espresso, this soundtrack is actually quite warm and soothing. Even if this isn’t your normal type of music, I’d urge you to give this album a chance, maybe at a time in the day that you aren’t actually in the mood for music, or if your neighbours are annoying you with their noise, or if you have something heavy on your mind that you need to think through.

I know it’s out of character to come out and urge people to listen to an album, I’m not even crazy enthusiastic about this album in particular. I feel it’s important that everyone, even if only once in awhile, listens to something that defies the traditional notions of music. We are bombarded with music nearly every minute we are awake. A good chunk of what we listen to isn’t even of our choosing. It feels like a small act of subversion or defiance to put on something that sounds like it comes from a completely different planet, (never mind country — or genre). It’s my experience that “resetting my ears” with something like Navigare helps me better understand and appreciate the more traditional musics I consume.

While it may sound completely pompous and a little trite, I hope you give yourself a chance to have different relationship with an album than what you may be used to, you might find both something new to appreciate and a new way to appreciate everything else. I have to remember to let myself do it all the time.

Download Ashma

Outside, Earthling and “Hours…” are sometimes grouped this way; I’d say wrongly. Stylistically “Hours…” has more in common with Heathen and Reality, the two recorded after it. (Yes, I’ve heard the albums before and after “Hours…”, I’d avoided it because I’d heard bad reviews.) Yet, it’s not quite as memorable as those albums. It’s a good intro to them, but doesn’t feel like the main event. Despite having some very catchy songs on it, the production makes it sound much more adult contemporary MOR rather than rock. “Hours…” was producted by Reeves Gabrels, who also produced Tin Machine. Oh jeeze. Suddenly it all made sense. Had Bowie gone to Tony Visconti for this album — like he had for the BRILLIANT Heathen — then we would have had a much more compelling beast here.

Of course, Bowie’s worst turd of an album is ten times better than nine sixteenths of the crap out there, so who am I to nit-pick?

Download If I’m Dreaming My Life

As an aside, Bowie was pumping out an album every two years up until Reality with was released seven years ago. I’m in dire need of a fix.

Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves, Friday’s first album, is like a slightly less ridiculous version of Shag. Gavin’s sense of humour doesn’t get shown off as much in this one, nor is there the hyper-sexuality I associate with Shag Tobacco. While I was listening to it I felt a little let down by this one, but about half way through I started getting into it. It feels more weary and retrospective, but only someone who heard Shag first, (or an idiot) could call this album “understated” though.

The album’s title and opening song is from an Oscar Wilde poem, about a man who slit his wife’s throat with a sword. The man was hanged in the same prison at the time that Wilde was incarcerated there for “performing homosexual acts”. If that’s any indication of what Friday is all about. (Not the misogyny part, the “holy shit life is a dramatic thing” part.)

There are magnificent cacophonies, messes of sound that I’d say took considerable engineering skill to not turn into an unlistenable sludge. There’s a Scott Walker cover, a Bob Dylan cover and a shout out to David Bowie’s Watch That Man, so he’s got a spectacular tripod of influences to prop his special brand of pop on.

I dig this album, it fits a niche mood where I’m feeling melancholy, yet cocky. Or maybe if I need a soundtrack to a particularly sad make-out.

Download Love is Just a Word

I was going to make some sort of clever-clever amalgamation of artists to describe FrankMuzic’s sound, but really it’s just pop music with a very self conscious nod towards the 80s. So much so that there are a few songs one could almost think that they were recorded 25 years ago. At one point there’s even a full scale ripoff of Golden Brown. (Think the relationship between Connection and Three Girl Rhumba)

The vocals remind me a little of Patrick Wolf at times, and sometimes the music sounds like A-Ha, so I guess you could say they are an amalgam of them, but I every time I use a combination of other bands to describe a third’s sound I feel like I’m being lazy. And really, there’s a bit more variety than that on the album … but fuckit, I’m tired, and it’s not like anyone paid to read this, so I’ll be lazy.

For my selection I’ve picked Time Will Tell because you can’t really go wrong lifting the same samples as Pump Up The Volume.

Download Time Will Tell

I’ll be honest, I’m not the person that should be reviewing this album. I’m not a big fan of low-fi bands, or the warbal-ly singing that the lead singer employs. I was annoyed by the first 5 of the 9 songs on […]Grievances, but then the song named after the band bought me flowers (it reminded me very vaguely of The Clash) and then the epic No Future Part One and Two, (almost 15 minutes long put together) took me out to dinner and then made-out with me. This all came as a huge surprise considering how much the first half annoyed me. This album and I are the Sam Malone and Diane Chambers of MONM. I’ll admit, the winks towards classic Springsteen at times helped a ton.

I gave the album a second listen, to see if I was wrong about the first half. I’m still not into it but I’m sure there are a ton of people that will say I just “don’t get it”, and they would be right. Enjoy the parts I liked from this album below.

Download No Future Part One
Download No Future Part Two

I enjoy Craig David. I enjoy Lil’ Wayne. I can handle a bit of Dizzy Rascal. If these guys annoy you, if you hate commercial R&B or if the words “over-produced” at all turn you off, you aren’t going to enjoy this album. I’m not saying this is quality R&B or Hip Hop, and I’m not even saying that if you like those other artists, you’ll like this. This is music that will blare out of cars that have more money put in aftermarket than they cost new, play in college dorms, and at every club in Brighton — while drunk kids slobber all over each other. It’s made for that, and I kind of love it for it.

There is enough going on here that that’s not ALL there is here, I mean there’s some sort of interesting sounds here. It’s heavily influenced by chiptune sounds and decent classic drum and bass rhythms. It also has enough 90s style lead stabs to speak to my inner 20-year-old. If I was 20, I’d totally be throwing this on all the mix CDs I was making this winter. And I’ll be looking for Tinie’s second album for sure.

Download