The Beach Boys' The Smile Sessions Review

The Smile Sessions

Artist: The Beach Boys

Released in 2011 (Recorded 1966-67)

I am not sure what the act and art of writing can achieve - my young mind has seen much yet so little to conclude: “a lot” - but to communicate the perfection of “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys is out of its grasp. Yes, the lyrics are as central to its wonder as any other detail. The language is so simple and honest, with its pledge to love’s vitality only that much stronger by surviving past that questionable opening line, “I may not always love you....” But those surging horns and harpsichords, that abrupt transition to the bridge resolving into wordless chants of euphoria, the layered calls to god that might as well repeat forever ... every element equals the other to an effect that can only be expressed through song. That I contradict myself to attempt to describe it just underlines my fawning admiration. At the time, “God Only Knows” was praised for its unique arrangements. It speaks today for the value between those lines. The Smile Sessions, recorded 45 years ago but properly released just this month, bears both sides of praise. 

The struggles leading to this day are legendary, for Smile was the album that never was. When The Beatles released Rubber Soul in 1965, their American counterparts, or more accurately bandleader Brian Wilson, summoned all their might to top them. Pet Sounds was the result, and in the opinion of many, including yours truly, they succeeded. Well, in response landed Sgt. Pepper, which threw plans for their followup Smile, at least to Wilson, in chaos. Wilson’s mental collapse - he believed his music was responsible for a number of local fires - cancelled the ambitious project. In 2004, Wilson finally completed the album as a solo act, though about 40 years past his prime. But now the remaining Beach Boys have agreed to release what they did record all those years ago, mixing and mastering the tracks after the fact, but the long lost work is here.

The Smile Sessions may not contain Wilson’s exact, original vision, but it is the closest anyone will ever hear. “A teenage symphony to God,” Brian calls it, with adolescence and faith as the two dominating themes. “Our Prayer” opens, an a cappela hymn rift with beautiful harmonies and a divine presence. A far cry from the “Fun, Fun, Fun” days of the past. 

That is not to say Smile lacks those innocent, fresh-faced ditties, for they are here and many. The difference is in perspective, a much more somber tone and experimental approach. The titles are blatant and playful: “Wind Chimes” contains more shifts in instrumentation than the simplistic name would suggest, and “Vega-Tables” sounds like The Beatles’ “Piggies” on acid --- or I guess even more acid (McCartney apparently chomps celery into a mic here for the sound effects; wouldn’t surprise me if he was tripping). Tracks like “Child Is Father of the Man” though, with lyrics simply repeating the title over and over and ominous trumpets setting a rather frightening atmosphere, suggest Wilson and writing partner Van Dyke Parks have reached a new, serious appreciation for the youth they have passed. The scariest rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” I have ever heard attests to this. Many young bands dedicate an album to looking back at what they have left behind. Perhaps it is due to the liberal LSD use, but never has a tribute to youth sounded so solemn and, even, desired. Wilson was battling some demons of his own at the time. 

While many of these tracks never saw a proper release until now, when the studios saw single potential, they released the best of the bunch independently. Thankfully, this release contains extended, rare versions of even these hits. “Heroes and Villains” still churns like a baroque candy assembly line, but with an added verse endorsing good ol’ inebriation. The original single now feels rushed - and with too few drunken verses - compared to the flow of this version. “Good Vibrations” closes the album, and its avant-garde style sounds at home amongst such odd company.

“Surf’s Up” stands tall as the best song on Smile, and among the greatest of the band’s entire catalog. Written in one night on the piano Wilson situated on a sandbox, “Surf’s Up” moves freely from one sound to the next, grand pauses here and there to best even the madness of “Good Vibrations.” How serene the song is really, with Brian’s beautiful falsetto - admirable but lacking in his 2004 effort - peaking on the equally gorgeous but ambiguous line “Columnated ruins domino.” Decoding all the images of Van Dyke’s aesthetic lyrics takes the insight of a Heraclitus scholar, and even then you’re throwing darts at a dictionary. Enjoy the song like a natural wonder, grateful to witness and bask in the grandeur beyond your cognizance. As Wilson swoons, “I heard the word/wonderful thing/a children’s song” (I believe we have struck a theme!), and descends into a fading “na na na” spiral, even he fails to find words for its beauty. 

You will never be this happy.

You can will purchase The Smile Sessions in two main formats. The first is a two CD collection that contains all of the above and much more. The other option is an exhaustive five CD collection, complete with an additional two LPs and 7 inch singles, each. The latter befits its high asking price with a unique look into the creative progress of The Beach Boys’ most notorious effort. Hear Brian Wilson cut into the harmonies of Mike Love when his line was off, or ask his fellow Boys, “Do you feel the acid yet?” before kicking into song. The later tracks are rough, stopping irregularly for Brian to instruct or improvise. It makes for an atypical listening experience, but shows the creativity, and struggles, of Brian Wilson uncensored, uncut. When choosing between the two different versions, though, ask yourself if you need a full CD of “Good Vibrations” demoes. If not (I don’t know where even I stand), go for the basic edition. There are plenty of behind-the-scenes tracks even for the average consumer. 

There reaches a point in every music lover’s career when the surprises and hidden gems hit less and less. Little ground is left to cover. How pleasing, then, to hear a bonafide classic for the first time in 2011. The direct sincerity of Smile’s lyrics may be lost in our postmodern and ironic outlooks on the past, present and future. Be humble; The Smile Sessions presents songs dripping with equal cheer and melancholy. Wilson and Van Dyke’s compositions progress untraditionally even for a modern day Sigur Rós and Flaming Lips fan. But it is that awe, that inner essence behind the bar lines that resonates to this day, still defying words. The mythical Troy you heard from blogs, books and bards does exist, and it is downloadable through iTunes.

Final Verdict:

5 Stars out of 5




This review was originally written for The Cornell Daily Sun and can be viewed at its original location via this link. 

Björk's Biophilia Review

Biophilia
Artist: Björk
Released in 2011

Iceland needs your help. Their economy is in worse shape than ours and their most recent export was a volcanic plume that managed to piss off the entire volcano-less Western world. Sigur Rós, pioneers of music existing beyond the infinite, should have ended their hiatus and released another album of spacey extraterrestrial speak to get their country back on track. Jónsi and co. won’t budge. We thus turn to the most popular statesman in Icelandic history: Björk. The proprietor of the swan dress that your mother remembers from the Oscars  returns after four years off with a eclectic LP that consists of individual iPad apps for each song, and they are, according to her, expressions “of the music, the story and the idea.” The entire project is one potpourri of science, nature, technology, geology, love, bedlam and the bizarre from one crazy mind. Uh-oh. 

Well, I build up the insanity of the album yet forgo mentioning its much-deserved qualifier: it works. Björk is an agent of chaos as well as beauty. She deftly clashes the two to find that beauty shines within chaos and chaos boils underneath beauty. Her peculiar (a platitude of a word here) 90s hit, “Hyperballad," consisted of lucid, intimate lyrics of a girl dreaming of throwing all she owns - and even herself - off a cliff only to find solace in her lover’s arms upon waking up. Not a typical approach to love, but more than effective with her puling delivery and the internally resonating bassline. The instrumentation of her songs always contains curiosities, and especially so on Biophilia. Four harpists layer the gentle opener “Moon," and demented spurts of church organ haunt “Hollow."  She even customized a Tesla coil (the dramatic lightning generator David Bowie walks through in The Prestige) for additional sound effects in the aptly-titled “Thunderbolt."  Better yet, she  - or, more accurately, her poor roadies - is lugging that mad device around for her tour. 

No matter how many machines creak underneath, her voice still reigns as her supreme asset, a beautiful instrument unleashed with her polarizing manipulation. Björk has gotten flak for decades now from those who do not care for her pipes, and this album will not convert the disenchanted. At the very least, you must admire the craft she endows in every syllable or hushed utterance. She sings dynamically, moving up and down the register and dipping into perfect harmony or shocking dissonance as quickly as she pulls away. Peruse pictures of Iceland, and her take on vocals may even resemble the oscillating terrain of her homeland. She scales icy mountains like the wind only before plummeting off a plateau the next moment. Her venomous rebuke of a lover, rift with such winning geological images as “as fast as your fingernail grows/the Atlantic ridge drifts," “Mutual Core” harbors a contempt best emoted through her triumphant delivery of “you didn’t know I had it in me.”  That voice which sounds so grand also feels tender, vulnerable on other tracks as “Moon."  In a harsh landscape of cold, she is alone wishing to “once again be reborn.” She receives her wish, finding warmth in the multiple dubs of her own vocals she cushions around herself, declaring herself “all birthed and happy.” Bizarre yes, though beautiful in its abstract confessional style that doesn’t self pity but throws all on the table, daring the listener to digest it all.

Compounding such an idiosyncratic style is Björk’s curiosity with the cosmos, a theme in every track here. She whispers gibberish in the nonsensical “Dark Matter,” composed in free time to convey the struggle of codifying that elusive medium. “Cosmogony," the title of which refers to the study of how existence came to, well, exist, is a very Björk track, as she sings without much accompaniment. Some may not dig, but her connection between being, faith and music as the ultimate source of all makes for a heartfelt study. This all culminates to the standout track of Biophilia and front-runner for Song of the Year, lead single “Crystalline." Innocent xylophone strains prance underneath a vocal line that sounds like it is sung from a solitary confinement cell until reaching the limitless expanse of the universe, and returning back again for the microscopic fury of an atom splitting. The jaw-dropper of an ending packs its punch from the machine gun barrage of beats and out-of-sync moments of silence that are the fitting moments of calm before the firestorm. Show me a dubstep artist who matches this euphoria. 

I twiddled with the iPad app and played a surprisingly intuitive game built on the beats and vibe of “Crystalline." It is solid and even fun, like some psychedelic inverse of Tempest. As for advancing the theme of the album, I am not sure if that is apt, but the focus is already clear. Björk gazes at the stars and marvels at the unseen expanse of it all.  Not unlike this year’s Terrence Malick film The Tree of Life. She wonders aloud of the truths that evade us all, only through eccentric, occasionally kick-ass music. Iceland, your hero has returned! Good luck finding the answers to your worldly problems though.  We just want to stare into space.

Final Verdict:

4 Stars out of 5

This review was originally written for The Cornell Daily Sun and can be viewed at its original location via this link. 

The Modern Age - Music Reviews

2010 has been a phenomenal year for music. If you are still operating under a false, hidebound mindset that music created since the inception of this new millennium is not worth your time, then you are missing out (and simply behind the curve). Below are my reviews for a number of exceptional albums that have been released over the past 12 months and, with the exception of the first, all of them are from this year, 2010. All of these are worth listening to, but it is safe to say that some rise above the rest, so typical ratings will be assigned. 

Phrazes for the Young
Artist: Julian Casablancas
Released in 2009

I have not found a proper venue to really proclaim it yet but let me say it: I love The Strokes. As far as modern rock bands go, there is no better, and they successfully found a way to evolve the rock sound while maintaining its garage rock roots. The brains behind the band is Julian Casablancas, a rich kid with rich parents raised in a rich part of New York City. He did not rest on his laurels for long, however, as he was the chief songwriter for The Strokes as well as the iconic voice behind it all. While the band plans on releasing a new album by next year, Julian was busy during the hiatus they have had since 2006. This solo album, Phrazes for the Young, named after an Oscar Wilde work, shows that this time was put to good use, as this album puts a greater emphasis on the man's voice while exploring a different sound.

The rough garage rock style of The Strokes is eschewed in favor of a more pop-oriented record that has some political undertones in its lyrics but really just wants to provide a pleasant listening experience. That it provides. On the opening track, "Out of the Blue," smart, witty lines like, "Somewhere along the way, my hopefulness turned to sadness/Somewhere along the way, my sadness turned to bitterness" provide a humorous progression of connecting ideas that seems to touch upon the basics of human communication: love, politics, afterlife, etc. His voice ranges from a sardonic baritone in the verses to a higher, clear sustained pitch during the chorus ("Sooo-ooo-ooo"). It may not contain the original brilliance of "Last Nite", but "Out of the Blue" may be Casablancas' best showcase of his voice, undoubtedly one of the best pipes in modern music. "Left & Right in The Dark" and the hit single "11th Dimension" also continue this rock/pop sound with some more political lyrics (11th Dimension's "Where cities come together to hate each other in the name of sport/America, nothing is ever just anything") and both showcase his songwriting. In particular, I liked the syncopated rhythms of "Left & Right" that culminate in its great outro. There is some 3/4 country swagger on "Ludlow St." and a Sam Cooke-inspired R&B gospel with "4 Chords of the Apocalypse." The sweeping "Glass" seems to be a tribute to his newly-married wife, Juliet, and a vow to protect her from harm (Paparazzi, jealous fans) as well as to always care for her. This song in particular is quite beautiful, and stays personal while still serving as a grand vocal showcase. The same can be said about basically the whole album in the end. It may not be as conceptually brilliant or innovative as Is This It? but this is Julian's most personal album yet, and with lyrics and vocals like this, this will please fans and bring plenty more to the cause.

Final Verdict:
4 Stars Out of 5

Contra
Artist: Vampire Weekend

Released in 2010

"Ivy League, Afrobeat indie rock" is as sensible a phrase as the words Shaq tries to play in Scrabble, but this style has been precisely the draw of Vampire Weekend. They suffered no sophomore slump with their second album, and it ends up more polished and tighter than their excellent debut. The album starts innocently enough with "Horchata," a quintessential Vampire Weekend track, capturing their strange mix of eclectic auxiliary percussion and Ezra Koenig's diaphanous tenor (echoes of Paul Simon's Graceland can be felt throughout). "White Sky" and "Holiday" both feature some high notes sung by Ezra (really high in the case of White Sky), while the lyrics seem to offer disparate outlooks to the jovial melodies, which in this case clandestine sex and war seem to be the topics, respectively. The polarizing track here is "California English", featuring Auto-Tune and furiously fast verses. It is my favorite track on the album but is as nontraditional as their songs come. "Giving Up the Gun" and "Cousins" are the two singles built for radio play, and for a band as original and talented as this, it is comforting to see them enjoy this overwhelming commercial success on top of their critical acclaim (Contra debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, a rare feat for an independently-released album). "Diplomat's Son" is another favorite of mine, as Ezra tells the story of a girl who falls in love with a boy while also attempting to use him for personal gain. The varying "oh-oh-ohs" that run throughout this album are particularly defined in this track, almost angelic in a way. The lyrics on this track are the best the band has composed yet, and it shows there is still much substance in their music once the initial curiosity of their anomalous sound dissipates. Vampire Weekend is two for two, and they are only getting better.


Final Verdict:
4 Stars Out of 5

Plastic Beach
Artist: Gorillaz
Released in 2010

The Gorillaz are safely the most successful cartoon band of all time, but, as the previous work by former Blur lead man Damon Albarn shows, they are more than a cheap gimmick. Their latest LP, Plastic Beach, is a motley collection of songs that try to unify themselves under some anti-materialism theme. That does not succeed. What does work, however, is supplying the listener with a whole batch of new, groovy, polished tunes. "Stylo" is a bass/synth-heavy track that is far from the best on the album but just what the iTunes singles crowd is looking for. Two other songs, "Empire Ants" and "Glitter Freeze," are not, but are ambient, rich tracks that may lean too heavily on their circuitous loops but nonetheless have an intriguing sound. My personal favorite on the album is "Some Kind of Nature," sung by the Master of Cool himself, Lou Reed. He pronounces most of the words with a jagged, rough conviction that he has mastered over his long career, and the robot-like beat makes this one of the few songs on this album that achieves the environmentalist message in both the music and lyrics. 


All of the aforementioned tracks feature guest artists, and this somewhat makes this less of a true Gorillaz album and more of a "Gorillaz Plays With...". Tracks like "Superfast Jellyfish (feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul)" and Snoop Dogg's intro make good use of their talent, while "White Flag" and "Sweepstakes" feel nothing like the Gorillaz and could easily belong on each respective artist's own album. "White Flag" in particular is an irritating, clawing song that I always skip. Perhaps it is the bombastic vocals or overly political lyrics, but it should never have been included on this disc. The Gorillaz tracks sans-guests are all bright, though "On Melancholy Hill" and "Rhinestone Eyes" are the strongest. Rhinestone's instrumental bridge, with female backing vocals, is Gorillaz at their best, and ideal played real loud. Melancholy's lyrics live up to the name, as they are about someone fantasizing about an absent love in depressed solitude. This song in particular has the most staying power (you gotta love that synth opening) and 2D's vocals have a heartfelt soul that is not present in the rest of the album. It is a disparate collection of songs, some fantastic, some less so, but Plastic Beach is still an album that goes above and beyond the necessary standard of quality for an "animated band."


Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars Out of 5

Congratulations
Artist: MGMT
Released in 2010


With Oracular Spectacular, MGMT opened to both critical praise and huge sales, and their hits "Kids", "Electric Feel" and "Time to Pretend" immediately formed a wide fanbase. Their debut was excellent in its own right, but the fame and stardom that they experienced as a result of it, the exact life they poked fun at in "Time to Pretend", seems to have captured them by surprise. Their new album, Congratulations, is a radically different sound, more reminiscent of "Weekend Wars" and their core 60s and 70s psychedelic influences than the hits that made them favorites of college radio and soccer moms alike. And they are only better as a result. "Pretend" was one of the greatest songs of last decade, and there are no hit singles of the sort here, but this is a complete, mature album that is a significant step forward in the careers of these talented musicians.

I have listened to this album over a dozen times now, and each time I am appreciating it in one or two more ways. They delve into humorous tribute (hey it's "Brian Eno"!) and the weird ("Lady Dada's Nightmare" is the bizarre equivalent of David Bowie's "Warszawa" from Low), but the focus is mainly lyrical. 

Still, they are becoming better musicians as well, as Andrew VanWyngarden's voice has a wider range in this album, peaking at upper registers in "Someone's Missing" while solemnly muttering verses about the misunderstanding in life with "Siberian Breaks." The latter track, a 12 minute plus monster, is "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" meets Yes' "And You and I", where a bunch of incomplete song ideas come together in a prog rock epic that, in this case, focuses on the consequences of fame. It opens with an acoustic guitar ostinato behind some of the most harmonic vocals the band has recorded yet, where Andrew is describing a hazy reawakening and ultimate rebuttal of the fame they have received ("Wide open arms can feel so cold, so cold"). A muddled critique on American society ("Vote to decide who'll advance" is a jab at reality television) follows at a faster pace, and expresses a feeling of entrapment ("Running away isn't rough, but it's not enough").  An echoing segment with snare shots similar to Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer" is next, and then a beautiful, dreamy string sequence abruptly follows. A reworking of the infamous line from "My Generation" reads as "I hope I die before I get sold" in the nearly inaudible lyrics over this section that take sharp aim at the music industry.  A straightforward rock beat emerges from this, then a reprise of the opening acoustic style as Andrew accepts his fate to create more music but reminds he "can always go into hiding." A psychedelic outro closes this track, which is safe to say the best on this album and the most impressive piece of songwriting the duo has achieved yet. They are not interested in catering to dance parties or arena games as much as a core group of fans who can appreciate them more for their talents and creativity. They achieve that here. "It's Working" aims for a similar theme (the overrated drugs are "working in your blood/which you know is not the same as love/love is only in your mind and not your heart"), as does "Congratulations", which is a tongue-in-cheek pat on the back  for their previous success, as they believe they rose to fame for the wrong reason ("I save my grace with half-assed guilt"). All in all, Congratulations is a significant step forward for this enormously talented duo. They are attempting to hide from fame, but with stellar albums like these, their attempts to conceal themselves are totally failing, with us, the fans, to gain.

Final Verdict:
4 Stars out of 5

High Violet
Artist: The National
Released in 2010

A large margin of art today seems to appeal to the inner child in all of us. Both film and music, as Toy Story 3, Where The Wild Things Are, and Arcade Fire will attest, capture the innocent emotions, bewilderment, and just vibrancy that runs through any adolescent. The National aims for the complete opposite. If "Wake Up" is a charged celebration of youthful vigor, of the incandescent sun shining over the shadowed valley, The National's "Sorrow" is the casual nod to the gloom of the world, the pragmatic, grounded knowledge that life is not all rainbows and plastic smiles. This dark, gloomy record, High Violet, is an adult work of art, not idealistic in any way but totally and, shockingly, self-aware. It is also a modern masterpiece, written and executed with near perfection, and, in a doubly ironic twist, the best album since Arcade Fire's own Funeral.

Matt Berninger's defined baritone is the focus here; the instrumentalists are all fantastic but the distinct vocals give this band its appeal. "Anyone's Ghost" has Berninger croon about mad, twisted love ("I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through it/told my friends not to worry") that affects his social and emotional life, over guitars heavy with reverb. Even when in a relationship, love is difficult to interpret, the message seems to speak. This F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque disillusionment about love, the world around us and our place in life seems to permeate the lyrics in most of these songs. In "Lemonworld", Berninger seems to be the only gloomy soul around, as "you and your sister live in a Lemonworld/I want to sit in and die." As he describes a world of anguish and violence around him ("Living or dying in New York it means nothing to me"), he comes across as either an enlightened, apocalyptic harbinger or just a sad, pessimistic soul. Either or, he is not in the best mood, and the lyrics reveal a solemn, tortured soul.

However, taken with all the aspects together, High Violet does not come across as an emo confessional. The marching drum beat that propels my favorite track, "Afraid of Everyone", balances with the dark subject matter and creates, strangely, great summer music. "Sorrow" has a rolling acoustic part that accompanies the patterned drum beats with an almost enthusiastic air, despite the lyrics' theme. Berninger is not afraid to inject some humor as well, even if they are mainly metaphors to the images he is trying to convey. On "Conversation 16", easily one of the best songs on the album, he says "I was afraid/I'd eat your brains/Cause I'm evil." Zombies? This man is having too much fun. But he does not want to become an emotionally broken "zombie" in a society that takes control of his life, happiness and desires. I could run down the brilliance of each individual track but is best to listen to this album, listen to it a few more times, then read the lyrics along with it, and then listen to it for countless months, possibly years, to come. The members of The National are all older than what is usually seen on the indie scene (they are all in their late 30s or early 40s), and considering they are hitting their peak now, it makes them a different, refreshing success story. The years they all hold above most of their peers brought them a firmer understanding of life, something no 21 year old can even come close to grasping. High Violet is a masterpiece. Not of epic, earth-shattering proportions, but of the wise, harmonious honesty that bleeds through every second of this album.

Final Verdict:

5 Stars out of 5

This Is Happening
Artist: LCD Soundsystem
Released in 2010

LCD Soundsystem has nothing to prove, considering James Murphy (the sole key member) has already produced two superb albums, his eponymous debut and Sound of Silver. With tracks like "Losing My Edge" and "All My Friends", Murphy has blended his extensive knowledge of musical history and his quirky, uncool nerdy personality to create something, well, cool and a consistent standard for quality. He appeals to the rock kids, he appeals to the indie kids, he appeals to the techno kids. Murphy is a beloved asset to the music industry for his merging of genres and totally original approach to all the work he does. So, considering This is Happening is apparently the last album by the middle-aged maestro, fans may be downtrodden, but everyone should feel satiated because this is his finest work yet.

Quiet, pattering bongos behind muted vocals opens the album in "Dance Yrself Clean", a 180 degree turnaround from the sonic blasts of energy kicking off "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House", the first track from his debut. The repeating lyrics, plus some winning lines like "Talking like a jerk/Except you are an actual jerk/And living proof that sometimes friends are mean" add an ironic wit to the initial, almost droning first minutes. Once the 3 minute mark rolls around however, incendiary bursts of synthesizers and, what else, cowbell turn this peculiar novelty into a irresistible dance track that comments on everything from nagging girlfriends to Marxism. Or how about "Drunk Girls", the frat life send-off that is simultaneously parody and yearning tribute. "Drunk girls are unusually mild" he confesses, though he paradoxically states they are also "boringly wild." "I Can Change" is a humorous track that seems to comment on a man's desperate quest of love for a woman that seems to have nothing in common with him. While he believes "Love is a murderer" he also quickly appeals, "I can change if it helps you fall in love." The David Byrne-inspired "Pow Pow", with Murphy's always amusing spoken word lyrics, is a carefree track that is a hilarious commentary on his current state in life ("from this position...").  A mainstay in albums these days, the industry exec flipoff, is "You Wanted a Hit", not surprising considering the title. While the marketing heads are saying they "want it real," he asks, "Can you tell me what's real?". This 9-minute piece is layered over a pseudo-Far East keyboard part and driving bass line, and while the message is driven home often ("We won't be your babies anymore"), it remains a slow-jam dance track.


The best song on this album is "All I Want", designed in the same vein as "All My Friends" (which in turn was unmistakeably influenced by Bowie's "Heroes") in that the vocals slowly build to culminate in a emotional, dynamic ending. It is a song about longing, though for what is unsure. He seems to be after the one that got away, though by the conclusion he says "let's do it different/cause I just want what I want", and wails "Take me home!" over and over as the band around him crashes in whining guitar licks and dying synthesizers. Murphy is neither content nor totally dissatisfied by the end, only accepting what he has, shrugging, and moving on. The final reaction to this album is nothing of the sort. LCD Soundsystem's past albums have been consistently excellent, and this is his most complete, flowing record yet. Murphy may be 40 going on 41 but he's not losing his edge anytime soon.


Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars out of 5

Before Today
Artist: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Released in 2010

Bizarre, confusing, and strangely evocative of some unremembered past, Ariel Pink's Before Today is, like its title suggests, a time capsule of an era long ago, dripping with obscure nostalgia that few today will recall. The aim is 70s AM radio, and those songs, which Ariel Pink has dubbed part of the "chillwave" genre, feature a heavy use of filtered vocals, thick keyboards, and psychedelic, blurry guitars.  On top of all this, the recording sounds as if it was printed on a cassette, transferred to a VHS audio track, and then finalized on an 8-track cartridge. These recordings are rough and unpolished, but the incredibly unique sound is achieved. 

Instead of focusing on the lyrics of these songs like the rest of these albums, it is best to focus on the styles and musicality present. The lyrics are not total nonsense (though the perverse "Menopause Man" certainly qualifies), but they are clearly not the main area that Ariel Pink stressed over. The album opener, "Hot Body Rub", throws screeching automobile sound effects over a spacious saxophone solo that feels completely anachronistic on a 2010 record. This album takes you back to a time you may not be sure even existed. Case in point, the second track, "Bright Lit Blue Skies" is a cover of a 1960s deep cut from a garage rock band called The Rising Storm. This song, with its driving beat and harmonious chorus, is the most straightforward track on the album, and, thus, a good place to start on. Everything gets stranger from here.  The apocalyptic "Little Wig" and the raucous opening chords to "Butt House Blondies" (yes, that is a name to a song here) draw influence from artists like The Velvet Underground, Stooges and R. Stevie Moore (apparently a mentor of Pink), but the songs all have their own, warped psychedelic sound to them. "Can't Hear My Eyes" is an Alan Parsons-esque, keyboard-driven track that oozes nostalgia. The standout song is "Round and Round", a brilliant track with alternating time signatures and a somewhat prog rock feel that culminates in the sing-along chorus (the sustained "Hold onnnnnn" at the center of the song has now entered my everyday vernacular when I delay a chore or task). This album can sometimes be too eccentric for its own good, but "Round and Round" is a perfect example of what Ariel Pink can achieve, and in a way no one else can emulate. Before Today is peculiar but nonetheless an engaging listen. Often bands aim for the weird and end with a product that is completely unlistenable. No such problem is had here; that in itself is an accomplishment.

Final Verdict:
4 Stars out of 5

The Suburbs 
Artist: Arcade Fire
Released in 2010


With college admissions coming up, I have been told that, no matter previous academic history, admissions offices love to see an upward trend in grades.  A logical viewpoint, as a steady improvement in one's studies displays maturity and growing intellect. Now, how about hitting the highest standard, and then sustaining it? Not many can hold claim to display that trend. Arcade Fire, Canada's greatest gift to the world since Wayne Gretsky, or maybe even Neil Young, released their first album nearly six years ago.  Its name was Funeral, and it was a shockingly profound, yet an ebullient and cheerful, meditation on the importance of family. The album was near perfect in every regard; I, as well as countless fans and critics, consider it one of the best albums of the last decade. Their anticipated follow-up, Neon Bible, did not match the immaculate quality that was their debut, but it came very close, and proved this was a special band that was here to stay. Now, in 2010, their third album, The Suburbs, is released. It is a departure in both theme and style to its predecessors, yet, in some inconceivable way, it matches the brilliance of their first album in an instance I can only call a miracle.


Upon the first listen, however, the reaction was not so laudatory. With 16 songs, the album felt almost too long, and it lacks any bring-down-the-house epic track like "Rebellion (Lies)" or "No Cars Go". After at least 15 listens, that opinion has drastically altered. The energy that this band is known for has in no way diminished, and it maintains for the full duration of this album. The approach to The Suburbs is not as stylistically uniform as their previous works; instead, it is constructed in a White Album manner. Creativity runs wild, even if some may nitpick that it is not consistent in tone. They are missing the point; Arcade Fire is here to provide us with stellar music, a goal they reach, and then some.

The album bursts open with an exultant piano riff in "The Suburbs", even if the song turns out to be a cry for a normal life ("I want a daughter while I'm still young...Before the damage is done"). The Suburbs, as an album, is actually a hipster takedown, bashing the pretentious nature of countless modern folks ("with their arms folded tight" as in the song "Month of May") who also happen to be Arcade Fire fans. They might not look to fondly on this twist, but this is just another reason for me to love it. Anyway, about the music. The opening lines "In the suburbs I, I learned to drive/People told me we would never survive/So grab your mother's keys we leave tonight," are repeated again in "Suburban War", a great song with a guitar riff that sounds like 90s Kirk Hammett and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck blended together. These specific lyrics, however, seem to give weight to the yearning desire for Win Butler, Arcade Fire's frontman, to break out of his devil-may-care attitude about life and finally settle down. The particularly doleful line, "All my old friends, they don't know me now," reveals a weary, melancholic Butler who finds the innocence of his youth absent, as well as those he shared it with. What he did to separate, we do not know, but these songs show how the title, The Suburbs, is not just a ploy at some concept album. It is more than a location as well; The Suburbs is a state of mind that the band is looking back at today with a certain nostalgia, yet also a conscious understanding that they are adults who may have to - the word that Liz Lemon despises so - "settle." 


As the members of Arcade Fire go through their realizing-they-are-in-their-middle-life crisis, they still produce a killer set of eclectic, beautiful songs. "Modern Man" is an excellent track with a Cars-esque guitar riff that is a biting critique at the conformity of today's society ("Like a record that's skipping/I'm a modern man"). "Ready to Start", the second track of the album and the real kick-off, has lyrics akin to a Bob Dylan song ("Businessmen drink my blood") with a low chorus that sounds like Let's Dance Bowie. Influences from other artists like Springsteen can be felt in "City With No Children", which seems to fit perfectly with the sunny summer weather despite its gloomy lyrics. A fan favorite already, "Rococo", is a venomous slam against the Pitchfork hipsters of the world, as they "use big words they don't understand" (I enjoy some of Pitchfork's criticism and features, but there is no doubt a thick layer of arrogance runs throughout that site). The repeating "rococo" provides an epic ending in only the way Arcade Fire can bring it. The furious violin intro to "Empty Room" sets the stage perfectly for Regine Chassagne, Butler's wife and second key member of the band. Her beautiful voice, which melted hearts and faces simultaneously on Funeral's "In The Backseat", supports some of the strongest tracks on the album. "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" has a surprising, heavy synthesizer part that, with Regine's aggressive voice, is redolent of a Blondie cut. Nonetheless, this song is a graceful ode to running from your troubles and living in bliss with your love. It is simply beautiful in every way; I keep coming back to this song and believe it may be my favorite on the album. 


This "fleeing your problems" theme runs through plenty of these songs, as "Half Light II" will attest. These problems are more than trivial personal conflicts, as lines like "When we watched the markets crash/The promises we made were torn," show Butler has a worldly concern for the terrible events of today. And while the foreboding fade-out of "The Suburbs (Continued)" suggests that he would give anything to return back to adolescence ("If I could have it back/All the time that we wasted/I'd only waste it again"), Butler has realized that those gray hairs on his greasy top are rapidly approaching. This reflection on childhood and reluctant adulthood forms the core of The Suburbs, an album that I may dare to call as flawless as Funeral.  That debate will rage endlessly between fans, so I will step my foot out of the ring; my mind has been made up. I never feel comfortable awarding perfect (or to be PC, "near perfect") ratings, and no less in the same blog post, but The Suburbs, along with the rest of the albums above and countless others (shoutout to King of the Beach), show that 2010 has been one of the greatest years for music in ages. With Arcade Fire's spotless track record, they would make even the most-hardened Ivy League admissions officer faint in awe.
 

Final Verdict:
5 Stars out of 5

Oh Where Has The Album Went?

In this age of digital music distribution, iPods and quickly fading singles, there is an art form in music that has been lost: the album. No, not vinyl records (the big, black discs that your parents used back in the day), but the complete, structured music album. Classics like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and OK Computer are perfect examples because they demand the listener to hear the album uninterrupted, focused on the music playing.  The reason this form may be lost can be attributed to a number of things, whether it be shorter attention spans, different tastes in music, the relative ease of getting singles through iTunes or [yikes] torrents, or the iPods themselves, but there is no debating that we need to see more from it.

Here’s a quick history lesson for the unacquainted. Instead of being a bore giving tales of the origin of vinyl records, I am just going to throw some recommendations out there. For jazz, one of the first genres to truly exploit the art of structured music, players like Miles Davis and John Coltrane revolutionized the field with masterworks like Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme. These albums and many more are widely listened to today, and they laid the groundwork for many popular albums of the 60’s. From this decade, all of the Beatles’ work is worth noting for its artistic approach to continuous play. This is an interesting touch because many of their songs were widely popular singles but they managed to strike a balance between being solitary hits and part of a continuous work. Few artists can say that they can do the same, before or since.

The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper and The Beach Boys Pet Sounds relied on a unified theme throughout their entirety, giving the listener an immersive experience by basing all the songs around the same subject while freely changing the sound and style from track to track. During this same time, a man named Bob Dylan was changing the perception of songwriting and his two masterstrokes, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, changed music forever with their emphasis on thoughtful lyrics instead of disposable ditties that carry little emotional weight. The former album, my personal favorite of his, contains so many different musical styles, whether it be woozy bar band, rock shuffle or thoughtful poetics, that it is quite disorienting upon first listen.

In the next few decades, there were so many albums worth noting that I could ramble for pages on end, but I will give a few choice recommendations. Pink Floyd experimented with progressive rock and they reinvigorated the rock opera genre of music. Also popularized by The Who with the masterpieces Tommy and Quadrophenia, the rock opera is self-explanatory:  it is an opera with many rock elements, so guitar solos and riffs are plentiful. The Wall is one of the best examples of an album that must be listened to in one sitting; it is close to impossible to do it any other way.  Songs like “The Happiest Days of Our Lives” flow seamlessly into others, such as “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2”, that the album feels without edges; it just flows. Jethro Tull also tested out this field with Thick As A Brick, which is actually just one song, about 45 minutes long.  It is a very complex and wild piece of work and I still have no idea what it really means even after listening to it countless times.

Hopefully most of us are aware of the grunge movement of the 90’s with bands such as Pearl Jam and Nirvana and the later rise of Radiohead, so I won’t get into that. However, there is still the fact that albums are not nearly as popular today as they were years ago. It is quite sad because, as my explanations have shown, there is some great work that has been released over the years that shows how music can be appreciated without need for a “next track” or “shuffle songs” button. There has been no Sgt. Pepper or London Calling of our generation. Instead, we get Sean Kingston and Lady GaGa shoved down our throats until we think that music is meant for nothing more than providing a basis for grinding a significant other at a dance. Oh, and don’t get me started on the Disney crew. The fact is, look at the top albums being sold right now. There are occasional glimmers of hope (yeah! Dave Matthews is back…Kings of Leon!...Eminem?) but for the most part, it is not pretty. How long is the soundtrack for Twilight going to sit at the top of the charts? Until the next one, of course, when that will take its spot. And people consider Rihanna music? Well, I can lament about being a murderer with a non-existent melody too, so get me a record deal. My point is, we need a generation-defining magnum opus to arrive, especially in this time of economic recession. I have loved U2 and Metallica’s latest efforts, but they pale in comparison when the 80’s got Joshua Tree and Master of Puppets. I could just listen to old music all my life (and I would probably be content) but I want there to be something that will get YOU to listen to all this stuff. Something big and fresh, new and exciting, creative and innovative AND commercially successful so this new maelstrom of ingenuity will not cease. Only then can we have a run like any other previous decade did. Remember, Born To Run, Led Zeppelin IV, Who’s Next, Exile on Main Street and Electric Ladyland all came out in the same decade. What do we have to show for ourselves? And if you have no idea what any of those albums are, go look them up and get cracking. I will be waiting here, tweaking my time machine. Woodstock is approaching its 40^th year anniversary very soon.