I was looking back at my blog posts as of late and realized that it's been a while since I've done a straight-up music post. I did post the Gungor YouTube clip (which you absolutely must check out if you haven't already), but that was really more about the theology than the music. Although I really dig the tune.
No, I'm talking about album reviews; a "here's-what-I've-been-listening-to-as-of-late-and-what-you-should-be-listening-to" kind of post. I found my opportunity in what has become a great month for new releases. Two of my favorite musical acts released albums today, and a third is coming in a week - all of which I've had the pleasure of previewing beforehand at NPR Music's "First Listen," where they provide streaming audio of selected albums prior to their release date. It is, in a word, simply awesome. Okay, that's two words. But you get the idea.
So, the disclaimer I've mentioned before: I'm no music critic, so don't expect terribly insightful commentary. I'm simply a fan of great music and like offering my two cents. Also, I'm writing this after only a few listens, where for the most part I was doing something else (like writing a sermon or typing emails) while listening to it. So it didn't have my full attention. Feel free to add your comments below.
I got introduced to Guster by my fellow Mediocre Bad Guys bandmate Doug Davis, when we were recording Feet & Hands & Stuff. He thought their sound was something I ought to explore as I was trying to discover mine. I liked what I heard, especially their 2003 release, Keep It Together. Wonderful songwriting and some killer melodies made the record. I continued to collect their stuff and found, for me at least, that no other album quite measured up.
The Massachusetts alterative pop band, after a four-year hiatus, has returned with Easy Listening, following much the same forumla that has defined their sound for over a decade. And this isn't a bad thing. Their acoustic guitar-driven style lures you in to some catchy melody and subsequent harmonies, and before you know it you find yourself humming along. "Architects and Engineers" is a perfect lead-off song, with "Do You Love Me" hearkening back to some 60's pop feel that has you bopping your head from side to side. The occasional banjo and ukelele adds texture, while on the down side the fake strings that open "This Is How It Feels To Have A Broken Heart" amount to a form of subtraction. Still, it's a solid album - not quite on par with Keep It Together, but pretty darn close. And right now it's a relatively cheap $7.99 download over at Amazon.
We North Carolinians are proud of our Avett Brothers for taking their bluegrass-pop-rock-punk-country-honkytonk-ragtime sound from little Concord to the national stage. Like Guster they've developed quite a cult following, although they've compiled it in a much shorter time. To listen to their studio albums is to be entertained; to see them live is to be moved. "High-energy" apparently doesn't quite describe it, so I hear.
The Avett Brothers have a habit of releasing live albums to attempt to capture this element for those of us not yet privy to the experience. Live Vol. 3 is the first since their debut on the national stage and their major-label release I And Love And You. Columbia did a fantastic job on that album of preserving their rootsy sound (not a small feat for a major label looking to make a quick buck off the next big thing).
There is a slightly higher-quality recording sound with this live album that you don't get from their previous ones. At the same time, you wouldn't call this slicked-up, either. It's all-out, all the time. And a good mix of old and new tunes, too. "Talk on Indolence" tears it up, while "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" and "The Perfect Space" will have you wrapping your arms around your neighbor on either side and swaying away. And you'll never tire of the crooning harmonies from brothers Scott and Seth.
I never thought I'd hear an act that so seamlessly integrated acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, piano, strings, and the (more than occasional) primal scream. That's tough to pull off in the studio; even tougher live. But The Avett Brothers pass the test with flying colors. Which is why you should download it right now, and even chip in a little extra to get the accompanying DVD.
So much of music today is same old-same old. You listen to the radio and you hear the same song four times in an hour. And then you realize that two of those times it wasn't the same song; it was a different song that happened to sound exactly like the first one. It's sad and depressing.
That's why we should all thank the good Lord for Sufjan Stevens. The opening sentence of his website bio pretty much says it all: Sufjan "mixes autobiography, religious fantasy, and regional history to create folk songs of grand proportions." I guarantee you those combination of descriptive words do not appear in any other musician bio. Whether he's creating his own work on albums that follow a state theme (Michigan, Illinois) while incorporating an intoxicating mix banjo, group vocals and orchestra, or producing one of the many groups on his Asthmatic Kitty Records label, he is always up to something good and unexpected.
Stevens' latest project, The Age Of Adz, pretty much embodies that "unexpected" part. You don't quite see it coming with the first track, "Futile Devices," with a lulling guitar arpeggio that sounds familar. But when you hear the opening of the second tune, "Too Much," which contains an odd assortment of electronic drumbeats and something that resembles the sound an old-school Fender amp makes when you bump into it, you know he's being all Sufjan again. There are the strings and brass/woodwinds and choral vocals that have always been a staple of Stevens' sound, but there is no doubt a new stone has been turned. Electronics rules on this album, all the way down to the 25-minute epic "Impossible Soul" that comes complete with - yes, it's true - autotune. Major autotune. Which I'm not a fan of, by the way, as it has polluted so much of popular music these days. But somehow Sufjan makes it work.
As opposed to Guster or The Avett Brothers, this is not an easy album to listen too. One of my work colleagues, upon entering my office to hear the dissonant choir singing away on "Now That I'm Older," exclaimed, "That's not even music!" Well, it's certainly not music as we know it. But that's why we listen to people like Sufjan - because they yank us out of our comfort zone and show us what else is out there. Come October 12, you can download Sufjan's latest from Amazon for $7.99 and boldly go where very few have gone before.
And because you're so awesome, a bonus review....
My boys love Weezer, and it's not surprising why. Their songs are fun pop/rock and Rives Cuomo's voice is neat to listen to. If music is a soft drink, Weezer is like a Diet Cherry Coke. Lots of fun for the pallete; no harm done. The critics have not always been kind to the boys from Los Angeles, but that hasn't slowed them down. Ever since "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)" back in 1994 (off what my kids, and I imagine many others, refer to as "the blue album), folks have been paying attention.
Their latest album, Hurley, follows the same format that has worked for them over the years. There's a great story around the album's title and cover. Cuomo met the actor Jorge Garcia, who played Hurley in the noted television series Lost. Cuomo had a picture of them taken for posterity's sake, and later he liked Garica and his television alter-ego so much that he cropped out everything but his face. Voila, you have yourself an album cover and title. Hey, it's better than simply calling it "Weezer," as they've done three times before.
If you're only into music evolution (like good ol' Sufjan), this may not be your cup of tea. But that's because it's a Diet Cherry Coke, remember? Keep your beverages straight. It's light and fun, and good songwriting to boot. And sometimes that's all you need.
So there you go, folks. Happy downloading and listening!
Recent Comments