Introducing...Clockwork Radio

CLOCKWORK RADIO are a five piece band from Manchester (apparently by way of Egypt according to their website.) The band plays a pretty straight ahead form of rock with some nice flourishes of guitar and an odd bass line here and there. They have released their second ep, "The Soul Harmonic", for free download off their bandcamp page.

The ep's four tracks highlight the bands eclectic approach. "Desire" has a bit of a middle eastern blues feel to it in the open before finding a nice groove for the rest of the track. "Please You" takes the band into a slightly more epic place similar to say THE TEMPER TRAP. "Solitaire" opens with a great bass line that makes the this the most upfront rock song on the ep. This is also the song closest to their Manchester Brit Pop roots. The closing title track takes advantage of the piano line to come off very Beatle-esque.

The ep gives me hope that they could definitely grow into something worth keeping an eye on.

Download the record for free here.

Teen Daze & the bedroom pop movement

I have always marveled what can be accomplished with home recording equipment these days. Sounds that are fully formed and seem more polished than ever before are emanating from singular recording sessions with small groups of musicians. Take TEEN DAZE, a Vancouver collective (or is it one guy, I can't really tell) who make sunny, shimmery pop music that is reminiscent of THE BYRDS and THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS in the layered vocals and clean guitar lines. Their latest ep, "Beach Dreams", is the kind of lo-fi wonder that makes me wish I had learned to play the guitar myself.

You can almost feel the sun basking on the shoulders of the singer as he intones to his love that they should fall into each other's arms on "Let's Fall Asleep Together." "Beach Dreams" sounds as if it's using the rhythm of the ocean as its metronome as it recalls the end of summer and all the lost opportunities that come with the end of the season. "Cliff Jump Love Song" has that fevered pace that comes with the adrenaline rush of diving into the unknown. "Water" sounds as if it is drowning in on itself and yet still has that childlike love of the ocean in it's spirit.

This is a marvelous piece of pop confection that will last those of your battling winter wonders (like six feet of snow) with the promise of sunnier days to come.

Visit the Bandcamp site here to pay what you like for the ep...

Examples of the Perfect Pop Song (Part One)

No commentary with this just an example of a perfect pop song. Sit back, relax and enjoy this (especially Harriet Wheeler's almost perfect vocals...)

Kanye West and his Magical Autotune

Say what you will about KANYE WEST. Is he an arrogant blowhard? Yes. Is he an insecure narcissist who needs attention constantly to feel appreciated? Yes. Is he a creative force that changed the course of hip-hop like few others? Hell, yes he did. Kanye could have gone the path of so many of his colleagues and churned out club banging hits about sleeping with strange women and taking stranger drugs (or vice versa). Instead, he chose to explore his musical boundaries and has slowly taken his music away from rote hip-hop to something altogether different.

Two songs from his newest album, 'My Dark Twisted Fantasy", highlight just how much his music has changed. Starting with the previous album, "808's and Heartbreaks", Kanye has added vocoders and autotunes to his vocals and distorted the beats and synth lines warping them into almost unrecognizable sonic tapestries. Now he extends that to "Runaway" to include strings and other instrumentation to create an orchestral song of defiance for his critics. "Runaway" is cinematic in scope and sound and from his live performances of the song, almost cathartic in nature.

Then there is "Lost in The World" where our mercurial one teams with another tortured soul, folk troubadour BON IVER. Now rap crossovers are not new, but even this paring seemed odd at first. But you can see why they work so well together. Both write songs about despair and loneliness and both favor their material with a bit of macabre sense of humor. Here the song comes off as part appeal for understanding and part cry for salvation. I think I have played it four times writing this and still find new things about it that I enjoy.

So yes, West is all the things described above but what he is not is another boring MC.

(mp3) Kanye West -- Runaway (courtesy of TSURURADIO)

Introducing...Trophy Wife

TROPHY WIFE are a band out of Oxford, England who recently unveiled their debut 7' single (which by the way is still a great invention in my mind). The two songs on highlight the best of what the band is about. The A Side, "Microlite" is a summery piece of pop pie with a nice acoustic strum to it. If you hunt a bit there is even a pretty in it's own right acoustic version floating around.

But it's the B-side that really grabbed me. "Take This Night" has a rubbery bass line that screams dance and a drum shuffle that is just soft enough to be a later in the evening come down off the dance floor type of song. This seems to be a direction other UK bands have taken (like THE STONE ROSES without the drugs and the attitude). The song just kind of rolls along until you don't realize it but it has infected your brain and your humming along. If they find a way to consistently split the difference between these two sounds then I have high hopes for their full length record.

(mp3) Trophy Wife -- Take This Night (link care of The Music Ninja)

Abe Vigoda (the band not Fish from Barney Miller)

It takes some guts to name your band after a TV actor and do it with no sense of irony or any real reason why. On top of that, if Abe Vigoda was attached to some form of music I can assure you it would not sound like this.

ABE VIGODA is a LA based band that specializes in slightly over the top rock that takes a heavy dose of stadium guitars and meshes it with 80's keyboard sounds and falsetto vocals to create a quite striking blend of rock music. Their latest record, "Crush", has elements of songs that could have been lifted from a John Hughes movie (the opener "Sequins" and the lead single "Throwing Shade to name a few). In many ways they remind me of THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS who specialized in this sort of melodrama.

When they take a more straight forward rock approach the results are just as appealing. The title track will play very well in amphitheatres as a sing along for all the boys and girls to pogo to. "Repeating Angel" is a Bowie knock off (which is a bit of a misstep in my opinion but at least they are true to their muses). But that is the only real odd song in the collection. Now, I don't think it's a record for everyone. The lead singer's vocals can slip from time to time. But if you are in the mood for some nostalgia then this might just do the trick.

(mp3) Abe Vigoda -- Throwing Shade

No Age keep the Indie Spirit Alive

I recently started listening to NO AGE when I saw that they opened for PAVEMENT and SONIC YOUTH. Now when two heavyweights in the indie/alternative world put a band on their bill, it makes me take notice. Their latest record, "Everything In Between" is so chocked full of goodness that it almost made me skip a beat when I listened to it for the first time.

For a mere two piece outfit to create such varied and creative music is a testament to their talent. It is no wonder that Dean and Randy met at famed LA Record Store Aron's since their records are rife with their influences. From the Jesus and Mary Chain drone of "Life Prowler" the the Peter Hook style bass of "Glitter" to the punk fuzz of "Fever Dreaming" it's like listening to a record collection on crack.

No Age have the unique ability to morph their sound without compromising the basic ideal of the music. It's as if their songs are celebration of the underground and the notion that if you have passion it doesn't matter what you sound like. Their is so much power in the drums, notably on the slightly poppy "Valley Hump Crash" and the balls out rock of "Shred and Transcend" that the whole thing threatens to come apart.

The more I listen to the record the more I find the nuances and the textures. With each listen I realize this is a band the be reckoned with; if that's even what they want.

(mp3) No Age -- Glitter

Down the Rabbit Hole with Mobius Band

It all started out so innocently. I was looking for something new to listen to and stumbled across a mention of MOBIUS BAND from Brooklyn and thought I would investigate. This has happened to me before. I start out listening to something and start researching the band's background and happenings. Occasionally I will find a band that is no longer around and has splintered off into various solo and new band projects. So I start looking into those records. Before I know it I have a whole new collection on my hands. Here is the tale of my trip through the labyrinth of MOBIUS BAND.

The original group was a three man collective who made one record and a ton of ep's that are all very, very good. Their first three ep's (entitled 1, 2 and 3) are mostly instrumental but when the vocals are added they are very reminiscent of THE DOVES. The songs have a grandeur that would have played very well live. They also put together a collection of cover songs that can be downloaded for free on their website.

But that is only part of the story. Once the band broke up the various members went off and did their own thing. Which changes the whole tone of the original work. When bands break up you can almost see the divisions in sound take form when the artists start to record separately.

As LOLFM, former drummer Noam Schatz takes the more ambient electronic approach to his music which manifested itself in Mobius Band's early instrumental work. Clearly influenced by KRAFTWERK and LUKE VIBERT, his album is available for free here.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN is the new incarnation of Peter Sax is probably the most straight forward pop of the three groups. Mixing his vocals with lush female counterparts and keyboards, the sound is similar to THE POSTAL SERVICE. His songs can be found here.

Finally, COOKIES is the pen name of Ben Sterling. The debut single introduces the band as a sing along male/female combo using dance beats and a staccato style keyboard line to push the song along. You get the sense that over time their sound will probably be the most dance hall ready of them all. They can be found here.

So for one night of goofing around I got four bands worth of good material. Not bad for a band very few ever heard of in the first place.

It's Peter Buck's World...The Decemberists Just Live In It

So earlier this year Mr. Buck lent his talents to TIRED PONY and we are getting word out of the REM camp that their new record is rapidly approaching us in mid 2011. But if that wasn't enough ole' Pete hired out his six string twang to the new single from THE DECEMBERISTS, called "Down By The Water".

Here's what funny. When I first listened to the song while working on something else I thought, "man, this sounds a lot like REM" and apparently for good reason. The song would be pretty non descript except for the recognizable plucking (along with some nice background vocals by Gillian Welch). What does this tell us about the new record from Colin Meloy and company? Probably very little, other then they are trying to apologize to their fans for the god awful last album. So sit back, relax and enjoy the guitar work of an old friend.

(mp3) The Decemberists -- Down By The Water

Music and Politics (Issue 2)

We are at the apex (or the nadir depending on your point of view) of election season here in California. I know this because every other commercial on TV is a campaign ad for a candidate or a proposition. Gubenatorial elections are usually sordid affairs but the one we are engaged in right now is particularly heinous in it's stench. Now, in the interest of full disclosure I intend on voting for Jerry Brown. This is in some ways an hommage to my first ever vote when I punched his ticket in the Democratic primary in 1992 in his failed attempt to wrestle the nomination from an upstart Governor from Arkansas you might have heard of. It is also because I have very little faith in Meg Whitman as someone who could Cali out of its economic malaise. It's not that I have much more faith in Brown but here he appears to be the lesser of two evils.

But I do not want to delve to far into my personal politics. People are entitled to their own opinions and their own political affiliations. What distresses me is the lack of true policy debate All they seem to do is lob attacks at one another and avoid any stance on the problems that face us. This in no way suprises me but it did remind me of the power of media to influence our feelings, especially as it relates to our votes.

So here is a video from THE BEATNIGS that seems to encapsulate my somewhat random thoughts. But whatever you do at least vote so you can say you had a voice...

Neil Young Brings The Acoustic Noise

Neil Young has been around so long that a new release just kind of happens. There is no fanfare or hoopla. No TODAY SHOW live in Times Square performance or a retrospective special on VH1 prior to it's release. It just comes out; no single or video. Such was the case with his latest "Le Noise". A few items you should know about this

1) The album was produced by Daniel Lanois.

2) There is no backing band or additional musicians.

3) It is perhaps the noisiest acoustic record ever made.

Let me explain. The album opener is a double shot of crunchy, thick guitar tracks entitled "Walk With Me" and "Sign of Love". Despite the guitar, Lanois recorded the song as if it had been played acoustically so the vocals are clear and straightforward. It gives the songs a worn, bluesy feel. Young is mining the same territory lyrically that he always does in his acoustic troubadour mode, namely lost love and regrets of opportunities past. But unlike "Harvest" or "Harvest Moon", Young's sound choices here change the dynamic. He does put down the electric guitar for the achingly plaintive "Love and War"; a meditation on the relationship between those that go to war and the loves they leave behind and wistful "Peaceful Valley Boulevard" which could have been an outtake from either of the "Harvest" collections.

This sound may be the closest to an amalgamation of his otherwise dual musical personality. When he plays with Crazy Horse, it's balls out rock and roll. When he is by himself, he is more somber and melancholy. Here the lyrics are the latter but the sound is the former (sort of). It's a confoundedly odd listen but after a couple of spins you begin to appreciate both Young and Lanois for their creation. It's a fresh take on both Young's patented sound and a reinvention of the old singer-songwriter format that he helped pioneer. It reminds me why I love his music so much in the first place.

(mp3) Neil Young -- Walk With Me

A Record for a Dreary Day

We don't get much of a winter here in Southern California. Usually, we have to wait until mid November for the temperature to drop below 60 degrees and that usually only lasts for about three months. (I know, I know, bitching about the near perfect weather to people who could very well find themselves is a Noah level rainstorm or a wall of snow the size of the Great Wall of China is probably a bit insensitive, but I digress)

Anyway, when the weather does actually start to turn I start to drift to records that I normally don't during the summer months. This leads to heavy doses of RIDE, MY BLOODY VALENTINE and other shoegaze type bands. One of the curiouser choices is TEENAGE FANCLUB's excellent "Bandwagonesque". On the surface this would seem to be a summer kind of record, given the Byrds-like harmonies and pop hooks and big guitars, but I've always sensed the melancholy bubbling just underneath the surface that makes it more of a dreary day sort of record. Whether it's the lost soul quality of the female protagonist of "The Concept" or the superstition debunking of "Star Sign", the record seems to try to be happy when it really wants to wallow in misery. (or maybe I'm just reading into it since I want it to match the weather...). The best example of this odd sort of dichotomy is in the album closer, "Alcoholiday", which sets these lyrics to a big pop hook and "oooh, oooh"choruses

"Went to bed but I'm not ready

Went to go but it's all hazy

Falling into line but I'm doing nothing

We've got nothing worth discussing"

Anyway, if you don't have this record then get it...right now. Don't worry I'll wait. Drive in the rain or the snow or whatever meteorological challenge awaits you. It's an absolute must for your collection.

(mp3) Teenage Fanclub -- Alcoholiday

Introducing...Jose Delhart

Like something out of an old western movie about a drifter crippled by the loss of a love and abandoned by his faith in mankind, along come JOSE DELHART. In many ways Delhart is a kindred soul of BON IVER and BECK (in his folk troubadour guise) in that he doesn't just record songs as creates atmospheres for stories to live in. Delhart recorded his latest album, "Little Red Buddha", in a collection of rooms and houses on a 4 track recorder which gives the primarily acoustic songs a worn and tattered sound. Accompanied by a plaintive cello and a banjo, "Broken Hearted Chant" in reminiscent of Damien Rice in it's tale of lost and broken love. "Rusty Nails" has a saloon at 2 am feel with a picking strings approach to mandolin and the great image of "rusty nails in my cross, and I'm crying for you.." as the centerpiece lyric of another love gone bad recount. You can almost see him sitting in the corner of a bar, head down, singing into a whisky glass hoping for his luck to change.

Delhart's debut does suffer a bit from the lack of a tonal shift that would break up the despair but it's hard to argue with his artistic vision that is so fully realized. By the time the sing songy "Trails of Gold" comes along there almost seems to be a light at the end of this particular tunnel. Here's actually hoping Delhart has enough in him to take another trip down that long and dusty path...

(mp3) Jose Delhart -- Broken Hearted Chant

Introducing...Jonah

This band was shot to me by a label rep and sat in the old inbox for a while (my apologies for that btw).

Jonah are a Portland, OR collective who just released second full length album, "The Wonder and The Thrill" and are now running around the US in full tour mode. Jonah specialize in a kind of clean guitar pop that is not unlike britpop run through an Americana funnel. Fans of bands like TRAVIS, KEANE and other new wave of britpop bands will most likely enjoy this record based on the two songs sent my way. The first, "Please Let Go" has a lazy, laid back feel to it with a nice little guitar line that allows the harmonies to be the driving force of the song (not unlike what THE JAYHAWKS used to do at their peak). The other song, "Bees" is a little more uptempo (although one thinks a heavy dose of caffeine might invigorate the band a bit). After a jaunt over to their myspace page other songs off the record have a more experimental feel, including the cachophonous multi vocal drum bash that is "No One Left To Blame", which hints at maybe a darker sound lying underneath all the commercial shimmer of the released songs. It appears that their sound has deepened from their last release and the band sounds tighter and more accomplished, which is always a good thing when it comes to bands making pop music. It's an interesting listen and a band that I will certainly keep an eye on.

(mp3) Jonah -- Please Let Go

(mp3) Jonah -- Bees

My Missed Opportunity with The Grateful Dead

A few days ago I posted about a Counting Crows show that I went to. One of the songs that they played as a cover of THE GRATEFUL DEAD'S "Friend of the Devil". As they played the song I started to reminisce about a lost opportunity that I chalk up to naive youth.

When I was in college I DJ'd at the local radio station. I was the Program Director for a spell so it was my job to build the schedule and find dj's to fill the hours we were live. This also meant that I often had multiple slots to fill myself. One day I was in the office and this older guy walked in. He introduced himself and said he was an adjunct professor in the math department. I was a bit skeptical to say the least. First off, most of the school was unaware we even had a radio station. Second, he was dressed in a ratty t shirt, shorts and Birkenstocks (I have a great memory for these sorts of encounters). Anyway, he said he was interested in picking up a show where he could play some of his favorite music. Ever desperate not to be on the air for 6-10 hours every other day, I agreed to give him an evening slot after my show.

The next week rolled around and sure enough the guy (whose name I forget) showed up wearing a similar get up and slinging a bag of tapes around his shoulder. He had little clue how to operate any of the equipment so I gave him a quick once around the building and set out for the evening. I never even stopped to ask what music he was playing.

The next week he returned, same bag and same blank, yet serene expression. This time I asked him what was on his playlist for the evening. "The Dead" he said, as if that was the only conceivable answer. "Really, never really heard to much of their stuff", I replied. (It should be noted that I am clearly a moron and if I had a time machine I would now go back and punch college me in the jejunum.)

After a couple more weeks, the professor started coming in a little earlier. He would dive into his bag and fish out a tape with scribbling on it. Usually a location and a date. "Try this, I think you will like it." he would say, almost as if the tape was some form of narcotic. Again, moron college me would take the tape, not listen to it and most likely record over it with some crappy college band that no longer exists. (I will now take a moment to let you the reader mentally join in the commensurate ass kicking I deserved.)

What is the moral to this story. Well, clearly the professor knew something about me that I didn't. That my musical landscape was very small and lacked depth and character. Also, that had a been smarter I would have realized that these tapes were bootlegs he had recorded of all the time he had seen the Dead and he was sharing a piece of himself with me. Maybe he thought I would enjoy these tapes. Maybe he thought I wasn't just like every other poser, indie rock kid (although I was). Maybe he just thought they kicked ass and he wanted to share. Maybe he was just a bit weird from all the drugs and the math problems he had done and didn't really know anything about me at all. In any case, I regret not saving any of those tapes. Not because I ever really fond a love for THE GRATEFUL DEAD, but because I might have had I given them a chance...

Here is a link to a live performance by THE GRATEFUL DEAD in 1979 courtesy of the outstanding blog Troubled Souls Unite.

I Forgot How Much I Love Counting Crows

Some bands come and go in your musical conscience. Bands that were once staples of your play lists (or mix tapes if your my age), seem to vanish and are replaced by newer bands with fresher sounds. It's the nature of our listening tastes. Those of us who enjoy the collective nature of music are always looking for the next great sound. But then something happens to remind you why you fell in love with a band in the first place.

COUNTING CROWS will always be the band of my early 20's. I was first exposed to them in college (I can remember digging out "August and Everything After" out of a stack of CD's with my friend Scott, pressing play and being in awe from the first strum of the guitar) and stayed with the band throughout my post college wanderings through the music industry. They were not an especially cool band (often thrown in with THE GIN BLOSSOMS and DAVE MATTHEWS BAND) but had a certain level of success to the point where they are still alive and kicking to this day. I have dutifully purchased all their albums but over time their place on the old iPod has dwindled to just a few songs.

But last night they were rocketed back into my listening galaxy. I went to a special screening of Adam's new movie FREELOADERS (which unfortunately was not very good). Following the movie my wife and I thought the band might play a song or two. Instead the boys brought an hour long set of songs mostly from their second album "Recovering the Satellites", which I personally feel is their best. Duritz still knows how to work a crowd with his speak sing approach to his singing. The band was tight and sounded great. To the best of my recollection the set was as follows:

Catapult

Mrs Potter's Lullaby

Mr. Jones

Goodnight Elisabeth

Angels of The Silences

Hard Candy

Friend of the Devil

Recovering the Satellites

Miami

A Long December

(there may be a song missing but I didn't jot it down like I normally do)

I couldn't resist playing their music throughout the day. It's earnest and true. It's pop and rock and classic in its structure. It is not ashamed to be lovelorn and simple in places. It is the very definition of classic rock and roll and it's brilliant. There was a time I was embarrassed for liking the Crows (they are about as un-indie as you can get), but that's in the past. I love this band and always will. And that is what being a fan is all about...

(mp3) Counting Crows -- Mr. Jones

**Still a great pop song about wanting to be a rock star. I cannot tell you how many times I have sung this in the car at the top of my lungs. You should to, you will feel better for it.

Music and Politics (Issue 1)

Music and politics seem to go hand in hand. Often mucisians will use their songs as vessels to put forth a given agenda or idealogy. From hardcore punk bands like BLACK FLAG to more mainstream acts such as REM, U2 or BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, political issues often find their way into song. Additionally, some artists use their fame to expose an issue or bring people to a cause. Avenues such as "Rock The Vote" have given artists the opportunity to connect to the youth and bring about change. These days, musicians are sought on for council by political leaders in areas of race and economic disparity as a way of showing that they are more in touch with the pulse of the nation than their predecessors. President Obama has listened to Jay-Z, Bono and other musical heavyweights on a wide range of topics.

Now we can argue the merits of this sort of blurring of the lines between entertainment and power till the end of time. We can question whether it is better that LADY GAGA is the most viable voice for the gay rights movement than someone with a more nuanced approach to politics. Sometimes to get movement on an issue a little shock value goes a long way. The goal of this post (and the subsequent ones I think will follow) is to highlight lesser known politically tinged songs and try to make some sense of the connection between these two powerful forces.

THE RADIO DEPT. are a Swedish band that makes pop music that is similar to the GO BETWEENS and THE PERISHERS. They deal in the swirling guitars, sunny melodies and longing for lost love lyrical arenas. However, they do have an opinion about the current state of Swedish politics which in some ways mirrored what was going on in the US in the early part of the century. They have made their latest song a free download in what I presume was an attempt to galvanize support behind the leftist part of the Swedish political spectrum. It's a really good song and has a very interesting take on the politics of fear and how mainstream politics can often warp a message to meet it's own needs.

LYRICS

Reallocating property

We engender transformation

We’re not concerned with poverty

Just the rebirth of a nation

No time for hesitation

Not even on occasion

This will be our legacy:

A vengeful population

It’s part of our conspiracy

And our motivation

And who needs integration

When we’ve got isolation?

It’s the rebirth of a nation

The rebirth of a nation

We don’t mind democracy

We have our ways around it

This new improved hypocrisy

Will help us to impound it

An old school education

Will show this generation

Download the mp3 here. While you are there you can get lots of other goodies from the band. They are well worth your time.

Sufjan Stevens channels Radiohead

It is always interesting to see how artists respond to fame. Some embrace the fame and seek to replicate the sound that got them to whatever plateau they find themselves at. Others run and hide behind a creative veil as they try to deal with the repercussions of people singing their songs in commercials. Whatever the response it is a fascinating study to see creative people respond to connecting with people and essentially getting what they want out of art.

Make no mistake, all musicians want to be famous. The ones that say they don't are lying. If they didn't want people to hear they music they wouldn't record and package it and then tour all over hell's half acre getting people to hear them. What does this have to do with Sufjan Stevens? Well, he is the latest of these "true musicians" to grapple with this conundrum. His last record, "Illinois", was a commercial and critical hit (rivaling the ascent of ARCADE FIRE as the lead for a voice of a generation tag). So it was always going to be a hard follow. Here we are now some 5 years later with "The Age of Adz" and their are going to be more than a few comparisons to the path taken by RADIOHEAD in their response to fame.

Let me elaborate. Following the success of "OK Computer" many thought Radiohead would simply reproduce that sound over and climb to the heap of Alternative rock and be the biggest rock band on the planet. However, their follow up, "Kid A", was a challenge to their fan base as they explored new elements of their sound and tried to expand it artistically. What followed was a lot of hand wringing by mainstream media about whether to call it a masterpiece or a piece of unitelligble garbage. In hindsight, my sense was that the band simply wasn't prepared for the widespread fame and tried to make a record that would appeal to only the hardcore fans. Which is partially what I feel Stevens is doing here.

There is nothing on the new album as catchy as "Chicago". Putting that thought aside the record is certainly a departure from his more accessible work. Based on the work of schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson, the record is a smattering of baroque pop songs filtered through bass thumps, electronic fits and starts and orchestral flourishes. It does resemble Radiohead's Kid A in that sense. The songs seem almost like collective ideas rather than pop songs. It challenges the listener to weed through the songs to find the nuggets of melody and snippets of poetry.

Which makes me wonder, what is the point of this exercise? Should I have to work so hard to find enjoyment? Do I have a right to expect something from an artist or am I just to accept what they have given me and make the best of it? Is the satisfaction I get from "I Walked" worth the near unlistenable "Now That I'm Older"? And what the hell do I do with the 25 minutes that make up "Impossible Soul"? (And who has the time to listen to it in it's entirety?) Stevens seeks to confound our beliefs about him with this record and strip his fan base to the core. The question I cannot seem to answer is was I one that he wanted to keep or not?

(mp3) Sufjan Stevens -- I Walked

The Return of the Manics

I have never been super interested in the MANIC STREET PREACHERS. For some reason I was never really drawn to their music. This is a bit odd since I enjoy the brit rock sound and and usually taken in by bands with a political agenda that mirrors mine. But since they were never really a big sensation over on this side of the pond, they never held my attention. So I was surprised how much I like their new record, "Postcards From A Young Man". Now by their own admission this record is a stab at commercial sounding rock and seems to have abandoned some of the more punk rock stylings of earlier records. Is it a sign of maturity or a bit time sellout move to get records sold? Not really sure. I would usually argue the later but for some reason the genuine sound of the songs and the conviction of the singing makes it seem like the right move.

(mp3) Manic Street Preachers -- All We Make Is Entertainment

--I think this is the best example of the sound the band cultivates here. It's big and has the kind of chorus that sounds great when 50,000 people sing along...

Bring That Beat Back...New Underworld

Talk about a band that brings back fond memories! UNDERWORLD were supposed to take dance/trance/techno into the mainstream along with THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS, PRODIGY and all the rest. If the Chems were techno hip hop, and Prodigy were techno punk, then Underworld were the purest form of dance music to hit the mainstream. Aided by their ubiquitous presence in "Trainspotting" and the subsequent American love affair with house and techno culture, the band seemed poised to hit the pop mainstream with "Born Slippy NUXX". However, the releases that followed were not well received commercially, mostly due to the fact that pop radio couldn't justify seven minutes of air time each time a song was played. Like the others, Underworld slunk back into the clubs and started churning out interesting and creatively challenging music for the next decade.

So I was a bit surprised at how much I like their latest record, "Barking". Maybe because it appears that they have finally merged their techno leanings with pop song structure. "Always Loved A Film" could have been recorded during NEW ORDER's "Technique" era. "Scribble" is a vintage drum and bass song that has that upbeat feel that when played in a club would send the place absolutely bananas. "Grace" is a classic Underworld song that seems like a left over from their debut record. The only drawback is the ending two tracks, "Louisiana" which has a slower tempo and sounds dangerously close to a ballad and the instrumental coda "Simple Peal" which is a bit of a downer. But I can certainly see the intent of bringing the audience done from a very high octane ride.

There is so much to like about this album that it begs several listens. Each song unfolds at just the right length and none overstay their welcome (which can often be an undoing of some dance bands). This is certainly find a way on to my end of the year bests.

(mp3) Underworld -- Scribble (link Removed by request)