Rihanna?

Here are the results of this week’s poll:

Awesome. One of my favorite artists. (7%)

A guilty pleasure. Fun to dance to. (21%)

Fun to look at, but I try not to listen. (28%)

Who? (42%)

So as was the case last week, I’m not too terribly surprised by these results. I asked the question because the media is leading me to believe that she’s this giant megastar that everyon adores. While that may be true for the general non-thinking crowd, I wanted to know if my readers were into that shite as well. As it turns out, most of you either don’t know who she is or wished that you didn’t. Again, no real surprises, but I needed to be sure that this blog’s audience was exactly what I thought it was.

Discuss the poll results below. How did you vote?

A new poll is up right now!

The Top 40 Songs By Of Montreal (Songs 20-16)

Please you to visit 4 weeks previous before path you continue?  This beneficial to you, undoubtedly.

Week 1  |  Week 2  |  Week 3  |  Week 4

#20:  “The Actor’s Opprobrium” from the album, The Sunlandic Twins Bonus EP (2005) – If there was ever a reason to reach deep into that Sunlandic Twins case of yours and pull out the bonus EP that’s tucked away nicely, this song would be it.  The story of a poor chap who is honored to star in the great master’s snuff film, only to find out that all blessings come with a consequence.  The line of, “I want to be a star, but that’s going to far,” could probably be slapped on the t-shirt of every young hopeful out in Hollywood who wants to be taken seriously as an actor, but is probably more suited for pornography, or snuff as the case would be.  Semantics, really.

#19: “Suffer for Fashion” from the album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007) – Of all the danceable songs that Of Montreal has made over the past 5 years, none fit the mold better than “Suffer for Fashion,” the lead-off track to their most recent album.  The first time I heard it was at a show about a year before the album came out and – whoah – totally blown away.  Keep that click clicking at 130 bpm, guys.  I wouldn’t have it any other way!

#18:  “Oslo in the Summertime” from the album, The Sunlandic Twins (2005) – Containing what is arguably one of the catchiest, most endearing basslines of the last decade (at the very least), “Oslo in the Summertime” is the audible embodiment of “cool.”  Linguistically, that may not make a lick of sense, but I think long time readers ought to be able to follow.  The simple truth is that this song just makes you want to slick your hair back, throw on your shades and leather jacket, shove that comb in your back pocket and point at random people in tempo.  Or maybe that’s just me.  Either way…great song!

#17:  “Lysergic Bliss” from the album, Satanic Panic in the Attic (2004) – Let’s go back, once again, to right around the time that I first heard Of Montreal.  Satanic Panic in the Attic was my very first album of theirs to own, and I bought it without ever hearing one of its songs (I was more familiar with The Gay Parade).  So at the time, I still wasn’t completely sold on the band.  But by the time this song came around (Track 2, I believe) I was completely sold!  More specifically, it Kevin Barnes playing the role of dozens of schoolchildren and harmonizing with himself that sold me on the band.  The rest is history.  Boring, boring history.

#16:  “Chrissy Kiss the Corpse” from the album, Satanic Panic in the Attic (2004) – In 2004 I was driving back from the ghetto, where I had just received my first tattoo, and a friend was in the back seat – completely high if I recall correctly.  Suddenly, this song starts playing on my stereo and I hear a faint voice from the back seat, “There’s soooooo much going on.”  I turn around to see my tranquil friend wide-eyed in amazement.  That’s what I think about every time I hear this song.  Strange sure, but I always love how we can connect certain songs to different moments or times in our lives.  That’s the magic of music, I suppose. 

Dieter Schöön: "Lablaza"

Take Beck and send him to Sweden, make him listen to equal parts German techno and Sonic Youth, get him really baked and put him in a studio; do all of these things and you might have a good idea of what Dieter Schöön sounds like.  Even then, though, actually defining Schöön’s music is a lesson in futility.  Though almost entirely electronic, he often mixes in guitars, trumpets and saxophones to create music reminiscent of The Notwist.  His voice lies somewhere between the cool demeanor of Beck – to whom, I believe his music is most-comparable -and the lazy stylings of The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas.  Too many names to keep up with, right?  I suppose it would’ve just been easier to say that Dieter Schöön is wholly original in a world where such a thing is a rare trait.

“Manuel” begins the album wonderfully, with a new-wavey feel that will pull almost anyone into Schöön’s web.  His catchy electronic backing soon gives way to a freeform jazz saxophone solo in the vein of Stars’ “He Lied About Death.”  Layers and layers of electronics build on top of this to form a pile of sound beyond comparison.  The saxophone gives way to trumpet and acoustic guitar on “Mary Jane,” a dance song-turned mariachi romp.  The song’s breakbeat drums are miles ahead of Dieter’s slow, maniacal croon, but this turns out to be a recurring theme on Lablaza that doesn’t tire.

“The Harbour’s Cold,” for example, as one of the album’s most energetic musical compositions.  Still, Schöön’s melancholic voice goes at its own leisurely pace.  It is a very interesting aesthetic to say the least.  Listening to music my entire life, I am not accustomed to such an acceptable contradiction.  And as I stated before, this is something that Schöön explores throughout the album, like on the brief “Lot’s of Free Shoes but Nowhere to Run” or the absolutely mind-blowing “I’ll Go There.”  The latter happens to be my favorite track on Lablaza.  It is here where he sounds most like Beck, though I can never imagine that artist singing something like, “Astrophonic testicles in the corn flakes.”  The song’s high point, however, is when all the instrumentation drops out to reveal a luscious 3-part harmony singing, “I’ll go there/ because the freedom loves me.”  Simply phenomenal.

Despite these wonderful moments, Lablaza is not without its share of missteps. Schöön’s lyrics can sometimes be simple an repetitive, much like The Notwist.  However, where Markus Acher’s repetition is catchy enough to be forgivable, Dieter’s unique, plodding voice has the exact opposite effect.  On “Warm Hearts,” he repeats one line throughout the song’s 3 1/2 minutes and as a result, the song drags on for what feels like an eternity.  “Hogface” also features an annoyingly repetitive line, though the song changes its pace and style enough times to keep things mildly interesting.

These are small complaints, however, and for the most part, Lablaza is an absolutely mesmerizing listen.  I’ve listened to plenty of music in my life, but I can safely say that I’ve never heard anything quite like Dieter Schöön.  It took me a few listens before the genius of his unique brand of electronica dawned on me, but after it did, I just can’t stop listening to it.  To be sure, many will be turned off by his abstract approach to a genre that is usually severely structured, but to me, this just adds to the enjoyment of listening to Lablaza.  Passive listeners beware:  you totally won’t get it.  However, for those of you willing to give something several open and critical listens, Dieter Schöön’s Lablaza is one of the most inventive and complex things you’re likely to hear all year.

Key Tracks:

1. “Manuel”

2. “The Harbour’s Cold”

3. “Jethead”

4. “I’ll Go There”

5. “Everyone Must Leave”

8 out of 10 Stars

Buy from Amazon  |  Download from iTunes

Video of the Week – Week 83

You know, I think I’m starting to like this new, happy Conor Oberst fellow. Where’d he come from anyway?

“Souled Out!!!” by Conor Oberst, from his self-titled album.

Moods – Introspective

Hey, what is this feature?  Oh, it’s Moods, the feature where I pick a specific mood and then build a playlist off of that.  Nice!  I almost forgot it existed.

Ever get in one of those moods where you just have to sit back and self-evaluate; where you sit back and ask yourself those really deep questions that you try to avoid most of the time?  That, friends, is called “introspection” or “the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional process.”  It can be quite helpful in determining who you are, who you want to become, and what you want out of life.  

But introspection has it’s drawbacks too.  For example, I don’t think a person is capable of being introspective when an *Nsync song is playing in the background.  You’ll either a.) start dancing and singing along (guilty), or b.) jump up to turn that shite down!  Either way, you’re getting out of the zone.  To stay in the zone, I usually require a song with no words – an instrumental.  That way,  I’m not distracted by catchy hooks or someone else’s introspective thoughts.

So with that in mind – you guessed it – here’s a playlist of instrumental songs that should keep you in that introspective mood long enough to figure out why exactly you’re still dating that rather annoying, though inexplicably hot girl that you just can’t stand, or why you constantly feel the need to be the center of attention.  Deep stuff, people. Don’t screw it up!

Darker My Love: "2"

As a musician you should always try to make an album as diverse as possible without sacrificing the style and sound of an album.  In other words, it’s okay to have songs with varying pace, themes, etcetera; but artists should always be wary of placing an alt-country song right next to an upbeat dance pop track.  It’s okay to dabble in different sounds, just do it on different albums (Lookin’ at you, Fountains of Wayne.  I don’t forget.).  At the same time, you also want your album to contain enough variety so as not to become stale and repetitive.  Unfortunately, I don’t believe Darker My Love got the memo on this idea.

2 is an absolutely awesome album for its first 2 tracks.  “Northern Soul” starts the album off with a bang.  It’s psych-rock at its poppiest, with an infectious, distorted guitar riff and equally infectious vocals.  There are some really cool harmonies going on as well; very reminiscent of Secret Machines in some ways.  “Blue Day” picks things up a notch with an actual drum beat and more cool vocals and harmonies.  It does sound a bit like the first song, but that’s okay right?  Wrong.

By track three it slowly started to dawn on me that this sounded exactly like the first two.  Track four sounds eerily similar to the three that come before it.  It’s not until the fifth song, “White Composition,” that the band makes an attempt at mixing things up.  A Beatles-esque pop song, it gets rid of all the fuzzy guitars and replaces them with a acoustic guitars, jazz drums, and a whole lot of reverb.  The first time I listened through 2, it was this song that immediately stood out to me.  That’s not just because it’s phenomenal, but also because it’s literally the only song that doesn’t sound like every other song on the album.

That’s right, after a quick ray of hope, Darker My Love goes right back to playing loud, distorted, psych-rock for the next six tracks.  Each track features the same phased-out vocals with wet harmonies, the same distorted guitar riffs, and the same loudness.  No thank you.  Honestly, if I hadn’t had an obligation to review this album, I probably wouldn’t have made it the whole way through.  Never has music this energetic been such a bore!  It’s not like the band is without talent either.  On the contrary, they’ve proven themselves to me to be extremely capable musicians.  But this album is so repetitive and uninteresting, that I can’t even give the band the respect (or the typically well-written review) that I think they deserve as musicians.  Hopefully the band can diversify their sound a bit for album number 3.  And maybe they could come up with a more original album title as well.  Just a thought.

Key Tracks:

1. “Blue Day”

2. “White Composition”

3. “Even In Your Lightest Day”

4 out of 10 Stars

Buy from Amazon  |  Buy from Insound  |  Download from iTunes

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 10

Sad but true; there are only 3 more weeks of this silly series (not to mention, your summer) left to enjoy. So let’s get on with it.

The Boy Least Likely To: The Best Party Ever

Recomended Activities: Hipster Parties, Road Trip, Biking, Frisbee-Tossing, and Running Through Sprinklers

There are parts of me every year that think, “Ugh, here comes summer again!” But I live in Houston where things can tend to get a bit steamy. Most people invite the sunny season like Scott Stapp (with arms wide open 😉 ). Why? Because when people think about summer, they think about fun! Even as we get older, we still associate the summer months with vacations, trips, and – though it hardly matters -no school!

And if this 2005 album by The Boy Least Likely To can be described by just a single word, it would be “fun.” Oh sure, there are bouts with insecurity and fear, but when your fear song is titled “I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes,” you can very well be certain that you won’t need to bust out your razors to get the full experience. It’s a wonderfully joyous album that will absolutely make for the best party ever, assuming that everyone in your party shops exclusively at vintage clothing stores. If they don’t, you might want to go ahead and dust off that Lil’ Wayne album you swore you’d never listen to again. That seems to be pretty hot with the kiddos these days.

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)
Week 6 – The Elected: Sun Sun Sun (Road Trip)
Week 7 – The Bike Ride Through the Country Playlist
Week 8 – Incubus: Morning View (Skateboarding, Surfing, Beach Trip, Road Trip)
Week 9 – The Water Aerobics Playlist

How Often Do You Illegally Download Music?

Here are the results to last week’s poll, “How Often Do You Illegally Download Music?”

“Every time I want to hear new music.” (30%)
“Just when I want to preview something at my leisure before I buy it.” (38%)
“Occasionally, for hard to find or out-of-print albums.” (15%)
“Never. Piracy is wrong!” (15%)

I’m not really surprised by these results, and as I stated in my rant a few weeks back, piracy is a problem but it’s currently one of the only viable options for people who want to experience and discover music for free. As it turns out, most of you tend to feel the same way.

Feel free to discuss these results in the comments section, below.

There’s a new poll question up right now.

The Top 40 Songs By Of Montreal (Songs 25-21)

If you’re new to this 8-week countdown, please check out the last 3 weeks to catch up!

Week 1   |   Week 2  |  Week 3

#25 – “Vegan in Furs” from the album, Satanic Panic in the Attic (2004) – “Vegan in Furs” is probably the best album-ender in Of Montreal history.  With a catchy melody, crazy guitars, and a sing-along quality coda (I think that’s the second time I’ve used that phrase in the last 48 hours), this song is undeniably awesome.  It drips with Of Montreal’s trademark indie pop sound and Kevin Barnes’ usually strange lyricism.  It reminds me of the good times before Of Montreal turned into a group that 15-year old girls can dance like skanks to.  For that, this song makes it to #25.

#24 – “Butterscotching Mr. Lynn” from the album, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse (2001) – At under 2 minutes long, it would be easy for many to overlook this great song.  It perfectly captures Coquelicot’s whimsical feel while remaining sane enough (for the most part) for even the most casual of listeners to dig it entirely.  Again, I do tend to get a little sentimental when I listen to old classics like this one.  It’s so perfectly constructed, deep, and exciting, that it makes a fly beat and cool bass line seem like child’s play.  Not to completely trash Of Montreal’s newer work, I love that stuff too.  But there’s just something about songs like “Butterscotching Mr. Lynn” that absolutely does it for me!

#23 – “An Epistle to a Pathological Creep” from the album, Satanic Panic in the Attic (Japanese Bonus Tracks) (2004) – It’s a little known song, sure, but it’s an absolute blast to hear.  When I first got wind of it, I was in college, so Barnes’ rant about a guy who “speaks as if you should be taking notes” rang true with me.  So many arrogant d-bags in college, and Kevin manages to nail every single one with his characterization of this pathological creep.  Lovely!  And because it’s so rare, I’ve uploaded it for your listening enjoyment.

#22 – “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” from the album, The Sunlandic Twins (2005) – Ahh, the song that made Of Montreal into a household name.  While it’s true that the Outback Steakhouse commercials really ruined hope of me every liking this song to the same degree that I did when I first heard it, nothing can erase the first time I popped The Sunlandic Twins into my CD player and jammed to this song on repeat.  Hell, it was even on Cloverfield!  Yes, my favorite little band has grown up and starred in T-Mobile commercials, mostly due to this song.  Make no mistakes, it is a brilliant piece of pop music, and one that is oddly relatable.

#21 – “The Problem With April” from the album, Horse and Elephant Eatery (No Elephants Allowed) (2000) – This may or may not have been the first Of Montreal song that I ever heard, I can’t remember.  But what is important is that it’s an amazing song that captures the heartbreak and hopelessness of being dumped, but does so with an amazingly upbeat, parade-march song.  The lyrics are easily rememberable (Actual word?  Spell check thinks so.) and easily some of Barnes’ catchiest to date.  And hey, who doesn’t love New York in June?  Besides radical Muslims…

The Eastern Sea: "The Eastern Sea" EP

Matthew Hines has been writing and recording as The Eastern Sea for a few years.  More often than not, these recordings have been solo outings uploaded to a website or a MySpace page.  For this debut EP, Hines brought some friends along to form a band under the Eastern Sea name.  The added members – Thomas Garcia-Olano (Bass), Jess Graves (Keys), and Zach Duran (Drums) – predictably add a new depth to the music that has been missing in the past.  But does the fleshed-out instrumentation ruin the quirky, honest music that fans have come to expect from The Eastern Sea?

The quirkiness, yes, but the songs on this EP are just a earnest and heartfelt as they have always been.  If anything, the new members of the band have given the music a maturity that has always been absent.   “The Night” is classic Hines, with simple lyrics that mask their inner greatness.  He sings, “When you’re in my bed/ it looks like you’re dead/ but I’m too scared you’ll run/ so I won’t call 911,” and although the line is catchy and simple, it portrays Matthew’s insecurity beautifully.  The song begins with a simple jingle bell solo, but builds throughout its runtime.  It never explodes into some sort of cliche breakdown, opting instead to keep things rather simple and straightforward.

“The Menu” follows in much the same way.  It sounds as if Matthew is singing about a normal day in the city, wandering around and just taking things in.  He sings of a restaurant, a university, and a place that sells moonshine “cheap as hell,” and the lyrics are so vivid that it’s almost as if you’re right there with him.  On “The Floor,” the band departs from the Death Cab-ish roads they’ve traversed thus far.  It is a much darker song, about a night on the town with friends.  It’s slow, plodding movements are accentuated by Duran and Graves’ heavily-reverbed instrumentation.  Here, Matthew sings, “All of the lights/ seem out out of sync/ but they’ll move in time/ we’ll step to the beat/ the more that I drink.”  The song feels as if its brooding, plotting something sinister, yet great.  Sure enough, at the 2:40 mark the band explodes into pure rock awesomeness before quickly bringing things back down to a reasonable volume.  In all honesty, it sounds a lot like Built to Spill.  Hines, himself, even bears a striking resemblance to Doug Martsch (both vocally and in beard-ness).

“The Snow” finds the band toning things back down, with an airy composition and thick vocal harmonies.  The song tends to get a bit repetitive, but its lyrics make it a worthy addition to the EP.  The song’s opening line, is undoubted the best, reading, “I hope that the doctors in your town/ can give you the pills that you crave/ I hope they teach your mind how to behave/ and I hope that Jesus still saves.”  Matthew’s vocals are naturally a bit thin and boyish, and this tends to be an issue later in the song as it has trouble standing out amongst the dense instrumentation.  The EP’s closing track, “This is Holborn” is my absolute favorite; an upbeat, and hopeful indie rock song  that will melt any heart by the time the final second ticks off the clock.  The transition into the song’s coda is a bit weak, but I’m far too busy smiling and bouncing my head around to care.  I’m almost positive that the hand claps and sing along vocals will have the exact same effect on everyone else who listens to it as well.

Overall, The Eastern Sea EP is a very impressive debut from Matthew Hines and his bandmates.  Having been familiar with Hines’ solo work, I was expecting something completely different the first time I popped the album into my CD player.  The quirky, sometimes electronics-laden compositions of The Eastern Sea’s past have been replaced by three very talented musicians who have added so much depth and complexity to the group’s sound that it really does sound like a completely different project (The Western Sea?).  Perhaps the most-surprising feature of the EP is that it feels like a complete, well-rounded work of art while many other EPs are excuses to shovel an artist’s best songs on to a CD.  The Eastern Sea has distinct feel and a tangible resolution, making it play more like a mini-album than anything else.  Knowing that this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg for the band is almost as exciting as listening to them play and certainly leaves me wanting to hear more.  Please, make more.

Recommended for fans of Death Cab for Cutie, Owen, Built to Spill, and The National.

Key Tracks:

1. “The Night”

2. “The Floor”

3. “This is Holborn”

8 out of 10 Stars

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