Album of the Week IV

I know it's been more than a week since i've done this, but i finally found another album worth talking about.

Modest Mouse - Autumn Beds 7"


Stream "Autumn Beds" here
and
Stream the B-side "Whale Song" here

The single "Autumn Beds" is kind of just a Modest Mouse attempt at making a folk song... it's nothing special and it's pretty repetitive. Personally, i'm not a fan of the song. It's definitely not one of Modest Mouse's better songs, but it gets stuck in my head now and then and it's a pretty chill song to throw on every now and then.

What makes this 7" good is the B-side, "Whale Song." I would simply describe it as Modest Mouse revisits Moon and Antarctica. The guitar is hectic and dissonant, but the bass line keeps it driving along for the entire 3 minute intro. The vocals are exactly what i've been hoping to hear our of newer Modest Mouse recordings: the megaphone vocals in the background with a catchy line or two that Issac repeats and drills into your head. It all builds up and then just lets loose at the end in a classic, old-school Modest Mouse style. Definitely worth a listen.

-Stephen
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Album of the Week III

So this may seem kind of boring, because i know pretty much everyone has this album by now and has been talking about it a good bit, but hey, it's what i've been listening to most this week.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca


This album came up out of no where for me. I had never heard a Dirty Projectors song in my life. I read some good things about this album, heard some friends say it was rad, and decided to get my hands on it. I threw it in iTunes and started off with "Cannibal Resource" and knew right away that i liked it. I don't know if it's folk or rock or pop, but whatever it is, it's good. Not only are the vocals intricate and hauntingly beautiful, the guitars sound so damn good! I don't know what they did, but someone was a genius when they recorded this band. I think my favorite examples of awesome guitar on this album are at the end of "Useful Chamber" (starting at 5:15) and throughout "No Intention." And "Temecula", my gosh, what is going on with the instrumentation in that song? Blowing my mind. It's sporadic but perfectly uniform at the same time. I know Austin was raving about the part in the song where he sings "There's a space for you in my basement. All you gotta do is help with the chores and do the dishes... and i know you will". Yup, i agree, that part rules.

What really keeps me coming back to this album pretty much every day is the unique way the voices of the three vocalist (one dude, two chicks) blend and harmonize. They seem to utilize the vocal talents they have just about perfectly. Some of the vocal patterns, harmonies, and octave jumps give me chills.

One word for this album. Beautiful.

-Stephen
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Album of the Week II

I know that most of you already have this album, but here it is anyway.

Dan Deacon - Bromst



--Click to Download Album--

After Last.fm kept on heckling me to listen to Dan Deacon, I finally did the good and ethical thing and torrented every album of his that I could find. As I do with most new albums, I put on Bromst and listened to it straight through.

It starts with the song "Build Voice" which takes a good 30 seconds just to build up to an audible level, but once it gets going it is both haunting and intense. But the song that totally blew mind was "Snookered." My gosh, I don't even understand how a song can sound that good. There are not many songs that I think deserve to be 8 minutes long, but "Snookered" defintely merits the time frame. The first half of the song is magical and gets more and more exciting as it move along... and then at 4:16 the song breaks loose. The drums, synth, and samples are all going full speed at this point. This is where I thought the song was incredible, and then it hit 4:48 and I have never heard anything like the type of vocal cutting that happens at that point. Totally rad. Another song I really enjoy is the last song on the album entitled "Get Older." The use of a vocoder near the end is pretty sweet.

another thing about Dan Deacon... i have no idea how he makes the sounds he does. just looking at his set-up is so confusing. i guess that's part of what makes it so good.



if you don't have this album yet, get it. it rules.
-Stephen
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Album of the Week

This is a bit belated, but here's my first "album of the week" review.

The Gaskets - Loose Change


--CLICK TO DOWNLOAD ALBUM--

The twins (Taylor and Jamison MacKillop) were the first ones to introduce me to The Gaskets. The Gaskets are no longer a band, and they never got really big, but I feel that the music they did make was a really fun twist on electronic pop. They were a duo from Richmond, Virginia that rocked it with just a microphone and a Yamaha RM1X sequencer. For some special shows they added a full band which was pretty rad (Taylor owns the live DVD if you ever want to see it).

The album Loose Change is full of catchy electronic funk and shout-out-loud lyrics. The first song that really got my attention is the the third track "Cold Busted." It's starts with an acoustic guitar loop that is intricate and yet easy to follow and then drops a beat with some fun lyrics about getting caught doing stuff you shouldn't do. Definitely a fun song. Recently my favorite song on this album has been "Eiffel Tower." This song is a straight rad danceable tune that has a chorus that gets stuck in my head and a breakdown/chant near the end that always makes me smile. The only song that I think is really weak on this album is "De Sunuke Sufain." Some chick guest sings on it and it just rubs me the wrong way.

here's the music video for "Eiffel Tower"


This is definitely a fun summer album to jam to and sing along with (which I've been doing a lot lately). So check it out and tell me what you think.

-Stephen


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