The National: Trouble Will Find Me

    It's only been nine days since the release of The National's newest album, Trouble Will Find Me (May 17, 2013). Already it reveals a complex underbelly of warm and thoughtful, though sombre and similar to their last studio effort, High Violet (2010). But, here is one example of where a band has not compromised their values or sold out to the latest fads! Congrats to The National, they continued to do what they love and what makes them unique. I still remember how when I first listened to High Violet I was not sold on the vocals, with their deep and brooding timbre (with occasional higher, almost falsetto singing). Now, I have come to fully appreciate and love the unique baritone sound of singer Matt Berninger. Not only is The National at the top of its game again, they've been around since 1999, when they finally came together as The National--after the bands they originally derived from split up. One precursory band was called Nancy, formed by Matt Berninger and Scott Devendorf and three other friends from the University of Cincinnati. That led to one album, Ruther 3429; while another was made up of the other three then soon to be members of The National, Aaron and Bryce Dressner and Dave Devendorf--who were involved in Project Nim. Interestingly enough, they have kept the name of their website americanmary.com up to now, though it was the name of their first song on their first self-titled album back in 2001. They followed The National with Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003), Alligator (2005), and Boxer (2007) before High Violet.
    The National has been signed to 4AD Records since High Violet and was on Beggars Banquet prior to that, which I believe is the parent company to 4AD along with Matador, Rough Trade and XL Recordings. There's a wonderful write up on the 4AD website about the album, just a bit about the process of writing this time around and the thoughts behind some of the songs as well as themes and critique of Trouble Will Find Me. Check it out here. The most telling quote, I've seen thrown around numerous times on several websites already is what Aaron Dressner said: "...our ideas would immediately click with each other. It’s free-wheeling again. The songs on one level are our most complex, and on another they’re our most simple and human. It just feels like we’ve embraced the chemistry we have.” What I appreciate is a band that is just enjoying making music and not feeling the pressure to produce or create something new and interesting to please themselves or their fans. We already love what you do, why change it?
    Some of the highlights of the 13-track Trouble Will Find Me are:
(1) "I Should Live in Salt", the opener, which is like a herald to the rest of the album, just leads in like a slow march beautifully.
(4) "Fireproof", wow, I just wish it was longer or I could just put it on repeat over and over. It has such great acoustic guitar playing that is smooth and melodious. It's just a simple tune with elegance and beauty that is perhaps unsurpassed by anything else on the album.
(6) "Heavenfaced", has such an interesting beat, it kind of keeps you off kilter for a while, before it normalizes the second half of the song. The chords have a great tension to them, creating a really nice atmosphere.
(8) "Graceless", is an up-paced song with alternative sensibilities that hums along. I just like how it builds even though the melody is a bit repetitive.
(10) "I Need My Girl", is probably my second favorite song. The solo acoustic guitar with the high pitch that keeps appearing is a tender touch. I love the drumming underneath that is so tasteful.
(11) "Humiliation", such a great song, with almost this really long ostinato or pedal tone type feeling to it (though neither are technically used), just so much tension and great use of suspension and dissonance in the chords and vocals.
(12) "Pink Rabbits", also a great song, expansive with the deep expanding synth as well as the off kilter drums and higher almost falsetto vocals. Great contrast.
(13) "Hard to Find", just a pleasing ending song that ties things up nicely.
    I guess I tend to gravitate towards the slower and more melodic songs, but I just think that is their strength, while they contrast nicely with the faster or more upbeat songs throughout the album to keep things interesting. I do miss the brass on this album, but I'm not super disappointed--they just added great touches to High Violet. In saying that I probably would keep High Violet higher up on the list than this, but it could grow on me as much as that album has to where it's now one of my all-time favorites. Check out the song "Don't Swallow the Cap", the only one I could find streaming to link here, over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. It's itself a great song too. They did have the whole album streaming on iTunes prior to the release. Sorry, too late! Also, check out the 4AD link, it has the song "Demons" on the main page, here. Enjoy!

Just in...Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

  One electronic duo that I undeniably love is Daft Punk, or Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. Every time I listen, I find myself wanting to groove to their music, like perhaps no other band I know. If anyone could get me to dance without inhibitions on the dance floor, it would be Daft Punk. This their fourth studio release, behind such greats as Homework (1997), Discovery (2001) and Human After All (2005).  Yes, it has been eight years (with the Tron: Legacy, 2010, soundtrack in there as well; which is almost as good as an album in itself) since Daft Punk decided to release something new for us to groove to! They should be arrested for such injustice and forced to write music as their punishment. Just kidding! But seriously, musicians should be writing music and it I think probably what keeps them from doing so it all the live concerts and tours they put on. And that's part of the experience of course, but I don't really go to live concerts much, and would prefer just more music! Rant over.
    There's so much to learn about this album, namely what the title Random Access Memories is all about. It sort of has a dual meaning, the implicit form of computer data storage as well as the more appropriate to Daft Punk's individual approach to the album--the human side of how memories created and stored. Looking back to the 60's and 70's a lot for this album's inspiration, they drew from classic albums like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac; as well as artists like Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, The Cars and Michael Jackson. Sadly, ironically, I've only ever listened to Steely Dan intentionally, while avoiding others like Michael Jackson is somewhat impossible. Another facet of Random Access Memories is that initially most of the material Daft Punk started with was all from synthesizers, which they ended up deciding against, opting to use live musicians in the recording studio instead. They realized and wanted to pay homage to all the time and talent it used to take "back in the day" to create all the samples that come so easily and are used [flippantly] nowadays without thought for where they came from. A fantastic quote that gives better articulation to this idea, from Bangalter: "The idea was really having this desire for live drums, as well as questioning, really, why and what is the magic in samples? [...] It occurred to us it’s probably a collection of so many different parameters; of amazing performances, the studio, the place it was recorded, the performers, the craft, the hardware, recording engineers, mixing engineers, the whole production process of these records that took a lot of effort and time to make back then."
    There's an excellent wealth of information about each track on the Wikipedia page for Random Access Memories, here, look under 'Structure'. But, I can at least give you an impression of the album to get you started. First, there's a lot of featured acts, including Julian Casablancas of The Strokes; Pharrell Williams, from the soul hip-hop R&B group The Neptunes; Paul Williams, responsible for writing the Muppets song, "Rainbow Connection"; Todd Edwards, garage house producer; Italian producer, Giorgio Moroder; guitarist Nile Rogers, best known for his involvement in Sesame Street; and Noah Lennox (a.k.a. Panda Bear), one of the members of ever experimental Animal Collective. All this to name a few, there's a few others who had limited roles and aren't necessarily featured but aided in the production, music and/or writing of various songs.
    Overall, some of the criticism for Random Access Memories could be true (some positive, some negative): Negative first. As one critic described, "there's a creeping notion that every musical idea that's ever been so much as thought up is on this album."; and another, "though everything about RAM, from the session musicians to the guests to the means of production, is meant to sound more 'human,' the album at points sounds more sterile, almost too perfect."; finally, "At over 70 minutes, the album feels rather bloated. Quite a few of the songs are too long, or too empty of ideas, or too willing to repeat themselves, or too willing to play to type". The positive: "...a headphones album in the age of radio singles..."; Rolling Stone said, "this is Daft Punk conjuring the musical era that first inspired them, when disco conquered the world with handcrafted grooves and prog-rock excess magnified emotions in black-lit bedrooms"; another, "...Random Access Memories is also Daft Punk's most personal work, and richly rewarding for listeners willing to spend time with it." Can't say I don't miss their electrified previous album sounds at least a little. But, a few of the songs are good enough fill, while the others are interesting and original and an earful to keep most all listeners well occupied.
    Decide for yourself! It has been streaming on iTunes all week, here. Probably gone now. No other full streams at this time. Check out a the song "Get Lucky" over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy!

Upcoming...Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City

    Vampire Weekend has made a fairly concerted effort to distance themselves from their previous two albums, in terms of sound, with this their third studio release, Modern Vampires of the City, which delayed its release from May 6th to May 14, 2013 through XL Recordings. True Vampire Weekend die-hards shouldn't be too disappointed, however, after listening through once to get my initial impressions--while continuing to listen as I write. They are definitely trying some new things, and lean towards a minimal amount of noise, sparseness, on some of the tracks, while others are quite busy. That is what we've come to expect from Vampire Weekend, though, no matter what their sound is; they create a good balance between the upbeat and the laid back chill songs.
    Since their last release, Contra (2010), the members of Vampire Weekend have indeed been busy with other projects and took their time producing and recording when they did finally come back together to complete work on Modern Vampires of the City. Lead singer/guitarist, Ezra Keonig, moved to L.A. (from Brooklyn) for four months to try out the Hollywood atmosphere and collaborated with DJ electronica group, Major Lazer. Backup singer/guitarist, Rostam Batmanglij, did a little solo work and produced for hip-hop arists Das Racist. Already you can see how eclectic this group is. Dummer/percussionist, Chris Tomson, seems the only band member who didn't pursue anything in particular; while their bassist, Chris Baio, did some DJ-ing and scored the film Somebody Up There Likes Me. Modern Vampires of the City saw its inception while on the Contra tours, during sound checks. Eventually, after everyone took their respective breaks, the group came back together and spent time in a variety of recording studios (including Martha's Vineyard?), hiring an outside producer for the first time, former lead singer of the ska-punk band The Hippos, Ariel Rechtshaid (who is known for producing for Usher, Charlie XCX, The Plain White T's and their #1 Platinum selling, grammy nominated single "Hey There Delilah"; and others).
    Any material that Vampire Weekend felt sounded too much like their previous albums was thrown out and they would start fresh--apparently they didn't like the criticism and following that comes from two certified Gold albums, along with their Grammy Award winning Contra, for best Alternative Music Album. They also felt a lot of backlash against their Columbia University snobbishly wealthy rise in the ranks of the indie music scene (to paraphrase, not quote), along with allegations that they are at the forefront of creating a new music scene in Brooklyn along with bands like Yeasayers and Animal Collective (two bands I would fain compare to Vampire Weekend, sorry you're both overrated and second rate!). Instead, Vampire Weekend wanted to remind everyone how diverse they are and that they don't fit into any social norms. But, hey isn't that also what everyone always tries to do and by doing so end up fitting into some sort of social norm? It is honestly almost completely inescapable these days. But, I think this is also what the album cover and title is about: Modern Vampires of the City. The photo was take by Neal Boenzi in 1966 on the smoggiest day in New York history, on which 169 confirmed cases of smog related death were recorded. Basically, our efforts to fit in or be cutting edge are not always as grand and worthwile as the critics [or ourselves] make them out to be.
    Vampire Weekend experimented a lot on this album, with filters and pitch shifting and plugging their guitars into different amps and whatever. A lot of techincal stuff I don't pretend to understand, though I acknowledge it is cool and makes a complete difference in the sound they've come out with here. I just love Baroque Pop and wish they would stick mainly to that, but the days of bands not altering their sound completely and painstakingly record to record may be gone completely--at least after a debut and sophomore, then everyone it seems tries to conform to something.
   Well, I'll leave you with this, I hope you take time to listen to the whole album, I believe there is a stream on iTunes, here. I'm continually behind the ball these days with actual work and wedding preperations as opposed to part-time work that barely consumes my time and left me with lots of free time to write my blog. My favorite song, so far, is "Worship You", it has fun upbeat drumming and almost something like yodeling, but not really. I also like the next song, "Ya Hey", which is more Afro-Beat and has a nice piano countermelody. Over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks', take time to at least enjoy the single, "Diane Young", linked from the BIRP! April 2013 playlist.