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- teecomb in Pitchfork Leaks Some of the 2008 Lineup Animal Collective rocks so hard. It’s has great melodies and most people who hate on it have only heard one era of them that didn’t...
When I think of DFA records, I immediately associate the label with people dancing,
drinking, and essentially acting like retards with poor decision-making skills. Not that those are bad things. At all. I don’t need my music to be all deep and emotional or whatever. Sometimes (often) I just want to dance and not think about, well, anything at all. DFA fulfills this need, and I consider the label to be almost entirely responsible for this whole indie-dance-punk-revolution thing that has happened in recent years. DFA bands like LCD Soundsystem and the Rapture (to name the well-known) exemplify the label’s philosophy – the music is all about having fun, and that’s cool with me, because fun is like, totally enjoyable. Doesn’t everyone want Daft Punk to play at their house? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Anyway, I say all of this simply to point out that New Zealand’s Shocking Pinks is not a typical DFA band. Sure, the beat is still there. Sometimes. But mostly it’s just one guy (Nick Harte) making a lo-fi racket with all of my favorite instruments and singing glum, earnest lyrics about how he feels. And it’s not even annoying.
Quite the contrary.
Perhaps the only DFA-esque quality to the 17-track record is the percussion, which is
front and center on most of the tracks. As the ex-drummer for the Brunettes, it makes sense that Harte would use rhythm and the drums to carry his music. “Smokescreen” is probably the closest Shocking Pinks gets to the rowdy and frivolous; the track is pure dance-punk, DFA-style. The loud and lyricless “Cutout” also brings the dancefloor to mind.
However, tracks like “End of the World,” which is the obvious standout on the record, are of an entirely different stock. The drums are still lively, but all I hear is the saddest synth in the world and Harte’s scruffy, gloomy voice. “I Want U Back” is so reminiscent of Psycholand-era the Jesus and Mary Chain that it’s hard to tell whether it’s a blatant rip-off or just an homage, but either way, it’s my favorite track on the album. And “Emily,” with it’s drumkit racket and synths, may be a song about jealousy, but jealousy has never been so fun.
Because the album is essentially a compilation of two previous Shocking Pinks records (released in 2005 on New Zealand’s Flying Nun label), it makes sense that the sound is sort of all over the place. On one track Harte will be all haze and drone, the next he’ll sound like early-era New Order, then back to the standard dance-punk of DFA, then he’ll make all sorts of lo-fi electric guitar noise, and then back again. What is constant is Harte’s attention to lyrics and the emotion behind them. Just think of Shocking Pinks as the sensitive kid brother in the DFA family. Sometimes it’s ok to have feelings, even when you’re dancing.
Release Date:
Label: DFA Records
Rating: 7.5/10
Neo-shoegaze. It’s happening all around us, and seriously, I couldn’t be more thrilled. Not
that shoegaze ever really died completely – there have been plenty of bands capitalizing on reverb and fuzz since 1991, but within the past few years there has been a slew of bands making high quality shoegaze that absolutely deserve attention. Bands like Fleeting Joys, Daysleepers, Screen Vinyl Image, Rumskib, Asobi Seksu, and the now defunct (but still totally awesome) Alcian Blue - just to name a few of my favorites - are putting their own unique spin on the genre, and making a seriously awesome cacophony while they’re at it. A Place to Bury Strangers is among this group of neo-shoegazers, and it would be very unwise if you didn’t start paying attention to them. Now.
(No, seriously. Right now.)
This is what you need to know about APTBS (I’m not typing the name out every time, so get used to the acronym): There was once a fucking awesome band called Skywave that made lots of nerds upset by breaking up and ruining all their fun. Luckily, the members split and created two separate bands out of Skywave’s ashes – APTBS and Ceremony (who is really good in their own right and who is also about to release a record that I’m very much looking forward to). Whereas Ceremony went the way of slightly (but only slightly) more traditional shoegaze, APTBS have created the loudest, dirtiest, bleakest shoegaze I’ve ever heard – ever – thanks to frontman Oliver Ackermann.
If Ackermann’s name sounds familiar, it may be that you’ve heard of his company, Death by Audio, which is, along with being a recording studio and music venue, a place where he dreams up, designs, and custom-builds his own effects pedals. It’s basically a laboratory of feedback and fuzz (sweet!), and the name of one of his more widely known pedals, Total Sonic Annihilation, gives you an idea of the volume Ackermann prefers.
Intense volume and distortion are the defining characteristics of this band. The combination is all-consuming, aggressive, and of course, good, because really, can it ever be too loud or too distorted? (For those that do not grasp the concept of rhetoric, the answer to that question is: no fucking way.) Within seconds of the first track, “Missing You,” you already know what you’re in for – extreme reverb, static, brutal guitar, feedback – essentially, everything that makes shoegaze so great, but exaggerated beyond belief. “To Fix the Gash in Your Head” (which is song about basically wanting to beat someone’s ass - but I mean, someone that totally deserves it) is the best example of this intensity, and also one of the best tracks on the record, with it’s primal drum beat and the loudest fuzz guitar your speakers will allow.
But it’s not all ass-beating and possible restraining orders. There are gentler songs here, as well, but only in attidude, not in actual volume, which never goes down. “Don’t Think Lover” could have been a Skywave track, as dark and pretty as it is. And a favorite of mine, “The Falling Sun,” although delivered in Ackerman’s I’ve-been-emotionally-dead-for-years vocal style, is simply beautiful.
This self-titled album is the band’s first proper release, although there has been a highly coveted CD-R floating around with a handful of these tracks on it for about a year. Needless to say, the people with the CD-R or who stumbled across them via myspace or live shows have been waiting anxiously for something official to be released. Well, we’ve finally got what we’ve been wishing for, but here’s the catch: there are only 500 copies of this extremely excellent record in the whole wide world, so you’d better act quickly.
Release date: Auguest 13, 2007
Label: Killer Pimp Records
Rating: 8.7/10
Very few bands have the potential to continually get better with each new release. We all
know how it is – a band releases an awesome demo and then never puts out anything to rival it (say what you will, but at the time, Turn on the Bright Lights was pretty damn good). Or a band puts out something really good, but the subsequent releases never get any better, it’s just the same recycled shit over and over again (hello Daft Punk. Hello Daft Punk. Hello Daft…oh I’m sorry, was I being repetitive?). Or an artist just sucks and they continue to suck until you are consumed with hatred (I swear to god, Devendra Banhart had better not procreate). It’s a rare quality, this continual evolution of talent, and one that I respect very much. And I respect next to nothing (seriously, ask anyone), so it’s kind of a big deal. My point is, Liars possess this quality. To put it accurately and eloquently, Liars are fucking awesome. Period.
Liars is the ultimate chameleon, in that the band can skillfully incorporate a variety of genres into the music without losing any uniqueness whatsoever. On this new self-titled album, you hear everything from a straight up homage to Psychocandy-era The Jesus and Mary Chain (“Freak Out”), the obvious influence of late 60’s/early 70’s Krautrock (“Pure Unevil”), some serious fucking metal (“Plaster Casts of Everything”), classic rock (“Clear Island”), and some sort of devil funk that makes me think of Beck with tons more testosterone (“Houseclouds”). Liars seem to absorb awesomeness from well-chosen influences, then mix in a heavy dose of their own touch (which could be described as, say, dancable noise punk with an attitude problem), add some glitch drone and feedback and there you have it. To me, this element of craft, combined with the constant evolution of Liars own unique sound, pretty much makes the band one of the more talented and interesting groups in the music scene right now.
Plenty of naysayers have condemned Liars for essentially ripping off other bands while simultaneously being purposely difficult and overly high-concept, but I don’t understand why that’s a bad thing. If anything, this record is more accessible than the previous three, with far more attention paid to song-craft. Programming the band members’ influences into the music is just something that has to be done. That’s how art works. It’s about paying attention to yesterday’s geniuses and using your own talent to build on what they’ve done, thereby creating something new. The future can’t happen without the past. This is called progress, people. Growth. Liars embody this concept, all the while making an abrasively awesome racket that only a hardcore music geek (i.e. a person with good taste) could love.
Release date: August 28, 2007
Label: Mute
Rating: 8.5/10
I do not like hippies. They smell funny, they eat weird food, and they listen to bad music. With the exception of some of the more experimental psychedelic bands from the 60’s (Can, Neu! and the like), I normally dismiss any music made within that time frame as patchouli-scented detritus. Call me narrow-minded, but I know what I can and cannot stand, and I cannot stand hippies.*
I preface this review with my hippie prejudice because, for all intents and purposes, this new Caribou record is something that I would normally catalogue as total hippie throwback crap. Unfortunately, because this record is one of the best I’ve heard this year, my ever-present self-righteousness has taken a massive blow. You are witnessing me overcome my prejudice against (a select few) filthy hippies. I am officially filled with less hate than this morning. I may even become a functioning part of society at some point, lacking all of my present resentment and derision. Give me fifty or so years. I’ll work on it.*
The best description I can give Andorra is quasi-pyschedelic 60’s-esque noise ( I realize that’s a ton of hypens, but I’m working within the constraints of the English language, bastard tongue that it is, so deal with it). The music has a classic 60’s pop sound crossed with more modern experimental elements and electronics, and the combination of the two on this particular record works. Really works. The vocals and harmonies are so smooth and sunny that the music almost sounds like 60’s surf pop, albeit taken down a notch (think: Brian Wilson on a fistful of quaaludes). Add in some seriously dreamy noise, random sleigh bells, epic choruses and sweet drum machines and that’s Andorra distilled.
The entire album is excellent, but highlights include “Sandy,” which has the loveliest chorus I’ve heard in a long time, “Eli,” with its charming noise, and “Irene,” full of dreamy keyboards and vocals that I can only describe as gorgeous. This is Caribou’s fourth full length, and the band just keeps getting better with each release. I consider this to be the mark of a truly talented artist, regardless of hippie status.
Release date: August 21, 2007
Label: Merge Records
Rating: 8.5/10
*For a detailed list of everything I detest, including most hippies, you may email me at xiuxiuvinyl@yahoo.com.
*Maybe.
Rejoice, hipsters! I present to you a brand new album of anthems for you and your friends, all perfectly suited to soundtrack your life as you snort cocaine off the back of a filthy toilet in a rundown bar and/or shop for ridiculously tight pants at Urban Outfitters. Surely the last Killers album must be wearing thin by now, so this new steaming pile by VHS or Beta has arrived just in time, no?
I’ve never understood this whole indie-rock-dance-band revolution thing that has happened over the past few years. I guess when the parties moved out of their parents’ basements and into crappy clubs and bars, the scene kids needed something with a beat in order to maximize the appeal of their fashion choices and poor health. And that, my friends, was the birth of indie rock dance music. This “dance music” is made primarily with guitars, the synths are drowned out by butt rock riffs, and the insipid lyrics are generally about being a sad and misunderstood asshole that’s still fun totally fun at parties.
VHS or Beta’s Bring on the Comets is a pretty standard addition to the artless realm of indie rock dance music. To be fair, the record does exactly what it’s meant to do – it’s mindless, catchy pop with shiny production and absolutely nothing going on beneath the surface, created for people with absolutely nothing going on under the surface. The songs aren’t really bad, per se, but so utterly basic and lacking in creativity that I’m somewhat intellectually insulted. Sure, the tracks are catchy, but so is that hemorrhoid jingle I heard on television yesterday, and I certainly don’t want to play that on my stereo. Well, maybe once, but just for kicks. You know how it is.
I would break down the tracks for you, but why put ourselves through such torture? Trust me, all the songs sound nearly identical. If you’ve heard “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, then you’ve heard this album, and I fucking know you’ve heard that song. Bring on the Comets is a lifeless and useless release from a band who caters to the lifeless and useless crowd. VHS or beta, you ask? I choose digital, thank you very much.
Release date: August 28, 2007
Label: Astralwerks
Rating: 4/10
Dear robot friends:
Please take a momentary break from defragging your C drives in order to learn about one of your new musical representatives. The information that follows will, regrettably, not be presented in binary. Please adjust your language settings appropriately.
Slap [unmodified] is the new solo project by the Canadian musician Thomas Sinclair. Sinclair, you may recall, is also one half of the electro outfit Black Turtleneck (the pun stays. deal with it), who released the excellent 2006 record Musical Chairs (the other half of Black Turtleneck, for those not in the know, is Jason Amm aka Solvent). This seven inch is also the first release from Sinclair’s new self-started label, Architecture of Sound, which I fully expect to continue releasing quality electronic music.
As a packaging nerd, I was pleased with the seven inch, as it also includes a bonus mini disc (I have an unnatural love of the mini disc format. It disappeared for awhile, it seemed. Please world, bring it back.) with two additional songs not included on the three-song EP. Score.
The music itself is equally as excellent, branching out from Black Turtleneck’s straightforward electro-pop sensibilities into more sparse, experimental dance tracks with an emphasis on machines rather than vocals. Listening to these tracks makes it easy to forget the years and years of bad electro [crapwave] that seemed to haunt the music scene in the not-so-recent past. It takes dance music back to its roots; unrelenting beats, synthesizers galore, and vocals in just the right place, its a record that does everything right. It has a definite back to basics feel, but that is simply the foundation upon which Sinclair crafts his own unique brand of electronic music. Fans of Solvent and Lowfish, people with good taste, and those that enjoy innnovative electronic music, take note. I highly recommend this release.
Thank you. This has been a robot public service announcement.
Release date: 8.7.2007
Label: Architecture of Sound
Rating: 9/10
