Album::Big Calm

Artist::Morcheeba


Released by Morcheeba in March of 1998, Big Calm does contain a calmness that the title suggests. This calmness though is built on pop guitar, driving beats and rhythms, and the smooth but sultry vocals of Morcheeba front Syke Edwards which provides a smooth energy that permeates the entire album. Built upon the core pop and dance type rhythms are an eclectic palette of accent styles including jazz, funk, soul, reggae, Indian, folk and country-western. These ranging accents give an interesting variety to the album all within a down-tempo framework that produces a robust and melodic lounge atmosphere.


Strong Track::The Sea
As a popular favorite not just for the album but for Morcheeba as a group, this track is exemplary of the melodic feel and usage of accent styles throughout the whole of the Big Calm album.

Desert Island Band::Hüsker Dü

While I celebrate these punk godfathers' entire catalog, I'll choose their cover of 'Eight Miles High' as a definitive song. To quote uncle Bob: "they've mastered the feat of yoking elemental noise and elemental melody". Surprisingly, it's Mould's vocal that clinches the noise and his guitar the melody; a reversal of the usual strategy. I like to play this loud and on repeat.


Lyrics: http://www.lyricsvault.net/songs/3845.html

Song challenge: No Children

Here's a song to listen to and admire: No Children, by the Mountain Goats from the album Tallahassee (track 7). A razor sharp character portrait, I believe this album is dedicated to all the tweakers out there ;-)

Lyrics:

I hope that our few remaining friends
give up on trying to save us

I hope we come off with a failsafe plot
to piss off the dumb few that forgave us

I hope the fences we mended
fall down beneath their own weight

and I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it's already too late

and I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
someday burns down

and I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
and I never come back to this town again

in my life
I hope I lie
and tell everyone you were a good wife

and I hope you die
I hope we both die

[break]

I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long

our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises
we're pretty sure they're all wrong

I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn't over

and I hope you blink before I do
yeah I hope I never get sober

and I hope when you think of me years down the line
you can't find one good thing to say

and I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out
you'd stay the hell out of my way

I am drowning
there is no sign of land

you are coming down with me
hand in unlovable hand

and I hope you die
I hope we both die

-mountain goats, no children, tallahassee

Album::Infolepsy EP

Artist::Venetian Snares

Venetian Snare’s “infolepsy ep” is a digital adrenal gland vigorously crushed into an espresso and drank repeatedly: Crush, mix, drink, repeat. After numerous cycles and a resulting lack of sleep you don’t feel quite right, but you don’t want to stop: Crush, mix, drink. There are some strong tracks on this EP that will serve as a good introduction for those new to the snares.

Strong Track::twelve
The first song, twelve, is a savage song about, the number twelve. Sesame Street comes to mind but I hesitate to picture the animals that would inhabit this digit teaching street and the children that would be glued to this particular set. The song is almost groovy, having more detectable rhythm than a typical Venetian Snare track; a very friendly introduction to our fiendish friend Aaron Funk.

Stand-out Track::where’s bill?
“Where’s bill?” takes clips from the movie Kill Bill and blends them up into a high energy drink that is invigorating and even a little refreshing. Listening, left me with fragmented images of our lovely Uma in yellow biker outfit, snow on the ground, and splashes of blood everywhere; flash, flash, flash. This is Venetian Snares at his best, not easy to approach but once the taste is acquired it will become a favored snack.

Album::OK Computer

Artist:: Radiohead

OK Computer marks the coming out party for Radiohead from pop band to actual musical artist. To date I believe it is their best effort. Thom Yorke, who can be quite whiney at times hits the mark here song after song. The album highlights their layered recording philosophy, where basically they lay down track after track until the original themes are reimagined.

Hot Tracks: Paranoid Android, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Karma Police
Sleeper Track: Electioneering
Dog: Fitter Happier (Computer voice gets old after 1000 or so listenings.)

p.s. I don't listen to alot of new stuff so consider this the start of my "essentials" series. "essentials" are by definition great albums IMHO.

Album by Sleater-Kinney: The Woods

One of two undeniable albums I've heard in the last year (see also 'Arular' by M.I.A.), this one digests the internalized tension of unsettling times (see google search: 'failure') and allows the results to be appropriately messy and challenging. In contrast to Arular's rise-above celebration of fun, these Woods seem to contain Twin Peaks' black lodge: an opportunity to confront something fundamental and, for better and worse, to be changed by it. The exceptional results offer pleasure and escape (thanks especially to Brownstein's standout guitar work) but mostly the inviting comfort of solidarity and the satisfaction of struggle.

Album by M.I.A.: Arular

Named for her Tamil Tiger absent father, Arular embraces funk, favela, grime and good times. Halfway between the Moldy Peaches and the Coup (and as good as either), she instructs by example. Playfulness to soothe the soul is grounded in a political reality the first world needs more of. She'll free your ass and I hope your mind will follow.

Album::Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid

This is quiet music that fills up a room, with that peaceful melancholy unique to the deep Fall; both chilling and invigorating. The Stars of the Lid show their best work on this album. If you know how to listen to ambient electronica then you’ll understand the beauty of this work on the first listen, and repeated listens just deepens the effect.

Artist::Stars of the Lid

Artist::Beck

Beck has come a long way since "Loser". He has a half dozen albums under his belt, all good and all different. He's gotten more polished and mature in his song writing which has taken some of the care free fun that characterized his first couple albums out but added back in is a depth of emotion that he did not have when he started.