Xiu Xiu - The Air Force ADVANCE

Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
Release: September 15, 2006 - 5RC
Please forgive me for repeating myself, but Xiu Xiu is an important band. Primarily a moniker for Jamie Stewart and whoever he wants to play with him, Xiu Xiu is not only prolific in their output, but they're consistently interesting. What some people call a 'train wreck', others (like myself) call beautiful.
Xiu Xiu make beauty from the most amazing sounds and textures. Comparing Xiu Xiu to Talk Talk is like comparing Oasis to the Beatles, it requires a hearty dose of 'no shit'. It seems, however, that Xiu Xiu is creating these things from scratch. The unlistenable musical segments are still, somehow, compellingly listenable. Stretches of noise are, for the most part, left behind before you can't tolerate it any more.

The first track 'Buzzsaw' intimately introduces the record with Xiu Xiu's patented awkward beauty. 'I'm not like that...' rings in your ears, and somehow gets stuck in your head. Like a cracker in your beard. Songs like 'Boy Soprano' and 'Vulture Piano' include more instrumentation, while reminding us of the most accessible tracks from A Promise and Knife Play.

Halfway through the album, however, The Air Force seems to hit a reef. The first few cohesive tracks are then followed by five songs which have no tempo or chorus. Until finally, track nine ('Save Me') gives you something to move to again.

This latest effort from Xiu Xiu is, all in all, right in line with their previous efforts. Great, moving tracks are offset by formless musical beauty. All of this is, of course, par for the Xiu Xiuic course. While Xiu Xiu haven't exactly progressed lightyears since last year's outing La Foret, it is still a great album, and is perhaps one of their best.

Cursive - Happy Hollow ADVANCE

Cursive - Happy Hollow
Release: August 22, 2006 - Saddle Creek Records
In a 2006 independent music world, where bands from Omaha are becoming less and less important/good, Cursive will attempt to follow up 2003's brilliant The Ugly Organ. Happy Hollow, Cursive's new record which comes out August 22nd, seems anemic and bloated, and finds lead singer/songwriter Tim Kasher playing to everything but his strengths.
Similar to how The Ugly Organ displayed its thematic melodrama through recurring themes and musical devices (aka, the organ... duh), happy hollow starts and finishes with variations on 'Hymns for the Heathen'. Furthermore it lyrics center around a grown up 'Dorothy' (presumably from the Wizard of Oz) who is a disillusioned and failing to cope with the pressures of modern day life. The whole record, therefore, seems to laugh in the face of the 'happily ever after' ideal.
Musically, Happy Hollow too closely resembles Kasher's side project The Good Life, with bouncing choruses and twangy riffs and chord progressions that have never been seen on a Cursive record. This latest version of Cursive, of course, hits harder than the Good Life ever could, mainly because Cursive's drummer Clint Schnase is light years better than everyone that Kasher has enlisted to drum for the Good Life (they all seem to suck balls). Most pronounced, however, is the loss of Cursive's wicked cellist Gretta. Her presence is dearly missed, as she brought unique depth and textures to both of Cursive's finest achievements; 2002's Burst and Bloom EP and the aforementioned Ugly Organ. Her parts are now replaced by unfortunate horns (see track 1 of Modest Mouse's Good News for People Who Love Bad News). The result is terribly disappointing.
The lyrical content of Happy Hollow is also a let down. The themes, while appreciated, are not at coherent or compelling as they have been in the past. The common thread of Dorothy being older and worn down by the daily work routine is interesting, but far from being as weighty as in, say Domestica or The Ugly Organ. Also interspersed throughout the record are pointed stabs at organized religion, preachers, and god him/herself.
This is where I see the greatest weakness of the record: Kasher's jaded view on religion.
In 'Rise Up! Rise Up!' Kasher proclaims 'Please forgive me for questioning divinity, its an ugly job, but I think I'm up for it...' No Tim, you're not. His blanket statements of not knowing where to find god, or people who live like they believe in him/her are overdone and hardly why we listen to Tim Kasher. In the song 'Big Bang' Kasher whines, "We need a purpose in life, a survival guide, we need explanations for how we arrived, there was a big bang once... but the clergy man doesn't agree..."

The reason I listen to Tim Kasher, and why have savored every moment of their last three records, is because of his incredible self-consciousness and avid description of his human condition. Mainly, I listen to Tim Kasher for the same reason I listen to Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers), because they put to words what your dark side feels and fears. The existential commentary coming from Kasher is, therefore, rendered rather pathetic. Not that I don't have great sympathy for his positions, I would just rather listen to these things from a Jeremy Enigk, or a Jason Martin, or a David Bazan.

All of this leads me to feel quite disappointed with Cursive's new direction, lineup, and record. There are songs that I reluctantly have to say are just bad songs. Musically, I fear he's strayed too far to the Good Life, and lyrically it seems Kasher has strayed too far from himself.

That isn't to say, however, that the album does not have its highlights. The intro for 'Dorothy at Forty' is, in fact, fucking rock. It is the kind of rock and roll guitar/bass/drum movement that made me fall in love with Cursive's Domestica all those years ago. The song, however, ends up breaking into a bouncy number which ends up too quirky to withstand the weight of the song.

Slower songs, however, like 'Bad Sects' and 'Into the Fold' are perhaps the albums best songs, as musically they are reminiscent of 'The Recluse'. It is actually in these quieter songs that Kasher's amazingly dynamic voice is displayed best, and it is in these few quiet moments where it sounds most genuine. Unfortunately, though, the quirky inauthentic moments overwhelm any of the sincerity hidden in Happy Hollow.

RIYL: The Good Life, Bright Eyes

Thom Yorke - The Eraser ADVANCE

Thom Yorke - The Eraser ADVANCE
Release: July 11, 2006 - XL Recordings
Having been immensely unimpressed with the last two Radiohead records (i must be the only one who thought Hail to the Thief was 90% crap), The Eraser comes as a breath of fresh air. What I expected was a guitar rock album, kind of like many of the live bootlegs floating around which feature Thom with only an acoustic guitar. I was expecting 'Killer Cars' and 'True Love Waits' but what has arrived is much different.
Instead of the singer-songwriter dribble out there which has been extremely and unfortunately influenced by Yorke (a la the Bends), The Eraser sounds like Kid A. The track, not the album. Thick electronic textures sound like they emminate from a woumb, not a drum machine. Thom's vocals sound a bit more interested than they have in years, and perhaps better. At the same time thick (like 'Pulk Pull Revolving Doors') and delicate (like Bjork's Vespertine), it seems like if you listen to it on your laptop you woud have a completely different experience than in your Hummer.
Familiar are Yorke's brooding and pessimistic lyrics, as well as melodies and basslines which could clearly pass as Radiohead's.
All in all, I'm extremely impressed and hopeful about what Thom Yorke is doing, which has not been the case since the monumental Kid A and its anemic little brother Amnesiac.

RIYL: Radiohead

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of the Country
Release: June 6, 2006 - Merge Records
Camera Obscura makes music that is appealing for one reason: great, amazing, beautiful MELODIES. The first track 'Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken' has litterally been stuck in my head for the last six days.
CO is a Scottish outfit which features deliscious female vocals which, at times, sound more Scandanavian (ie. the Cardigans). These perfectly compliment the lush 50's infused pop drone (see Belle and Sebastian). Let's Get Out of the Country is very much in line with their two previous full-length efforts, though perhaps eclipses them both with more grandiouse instrumentation, polished production, and adorable melodies.
I completely recomend this record for sunny Saturday afternoons and relaxing dinner making with your loved ones. Songs like the title track just leave you smiling, but don't leave the cheesy residue that many others in this genre would. You can not be sad while listening to this record.

RILY: The Cardigans, Belle and Sebastian, Isobel Cambell

Best of 2005

To start off this little blog, i thought it might be good to start with my favorite albums of last year, 2005. Here is the list which was published on www.tinymixtapes.com's Best of 2005 staff list, but I made a few modifications and a bit of explanation for each.

20. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock N' Roll
While this album is not all that mindblowing, or even musical for that matter, it is fun. I really only put this album on here because i couldn't think of any more good albums which came out in 2005. Except for the few exceptins below, it was a fairly slow year for music.

RIYL: Dismemberment Plan, The Strokes, beer parties





19. Dirty Three - Cinder
The first time I saw this band was when they opened for Beck in 1996. Their setup has not changed since: guitar, violin, and drums. The instrumental compositions on Cinder are not a decade more mature than where they were the first time I saw them, but they are, nonetheless, still a great band. Dirty three are not as grandiose as Godspeed, and not as hardcore as Mogwai, though their stripped down nature appeals to me consistently. Being a big fan of the bass guitar, it is surprising to me that I can forget its absence.

RIYL: Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Do Make Say Think, A Silver Mt. Zion



18. Low - The Great Destroyer
It is this album that will mark the great change in Low's magnificent career. Up to this point the slowcore champions of the world kept the beats slow and the instrumentation subtle. With The Great Destroyer, however, they have uped the volume as well as the intensity. Now, with songs like California they begin to sound more like the Beach Boys than the same band who made Things We Lost in the Fire. This is a great album, though I know many a Low fan who has been turned off by it.


RIYL: older Low?, Pedro the Lion, stoner rock


17. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
It is really hard to follow up an album like 2003's You Forgot it in People. Not only did that album win every indie hipster award in the world, but it was a fantastic album. It blended the musical awareness of Tortoise with the agressiveness of the post-punk world they come out of in Toronto; and on top of all of that the vocals touched everyone just in the right place. That brings us to their self-titled album which came out last year.
It is not as instantly likable as the previous effort, though its charm grew on me over time. The first few listens left me feeling how I feel after a BSS show: bored with classic rock. The songs on the new album tend to go in the long-ass-epic-classic-rock category of the BSS repitoure. They aren't as exciting, though they do seem to burrow their way into your ears until you can hear nothing else. All in all, though, this is a good album from a great band.

RIYL: You Forgot it in People, Stars, Animal Collective, Brittish Sea Power


16. Make Believe - Shock of Being
If you know me you know that I have a healthy obsession with anything that the brothers Kinsella release. From Joan of Arc, and the Owls, to American Football, and Owen. I eat that shit up.
Make Believe is Tim Kinsella, the more boisterous of the two brothers, and cousin Nate Kinsella on drums. This is, perhaps, one of the harder to listen to of Tim's catalog (and that's saying a lot). Also, it's not near as good as the self titled EP they released in 2004, if the songs had been better it would have been a lot higher on the list. Overall, however, Shock of Being is the next page in Tim Kinsella's prolific musical catalogue, and because of that I listen and listen and listen.
RIYL: Owls, Friend/Enemy, Tim Kinsella, noisy math rock




15. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Stars are like kittens or Tegan and Sara. This latest effort is a more accessable version of Broken Social Scene or My Bloody Valentine. Coming from the ultra-hip scene in Toronto, this is recent, current, indiep0p at its finest (and ugliest). While this isn't as instantly accessable as 2003's Heart, it is much more cohesive as a whole. Every song eventually weaves its way into your head, leaving you feeling a bit happier and more hopeful than you did before. This coming from an album entitled Set Yourself on Fire.



RIYL: Track 7 on You Forgot it in People, Metric, Broken Social Scene, hugs and kisses


14. Sleater Kinney - The Woods
I'm a fairly recent convert to the Sleater Kinney bandwagon. Surprisingly, it wasn't the critically acclaimed Dig Me Out, or All Hands on the Bad One that wooed me into the fold, but their debut self-titled release (which is sometimes called Chainsaw because it came out on Chainsaw records). Until The Woods came last year, it was the most rocking and raw of the SK catalogue. The Woods, however, came along and rocked everyone's socks off. Who knew three girls (with no bass guitar) could hit so hard and make so much noise? Most of these songs aren't as good as their previous albums, and the album is almost impossible to get through in a single sitting, but it is an important change in the SK phenomenon.

RIYL: older Sleater-Kinney, L7, Led Zepplin, gurlrock




13. Xiu Xiu - La Foret
Xiu Xiu is one of those bands who some people just can't listen to, like Joan of Arc. They (when I say 'they' i mean Jamie Stewart), they are effing brilliant. In the span of one record they can blend some of the most beautiful melodies, some of the heaviest concepts, some of the most gorgeous sounds, and some of the most unlistenable noise. Often, this all happens in the span of a three minute track.
Xiu Xiu is important. I really feel like they are pushing music. They are pushing what is considered beautiful and what is worth singing about. The comparisons to Talk Talk are easy to make, though noone else seems to have picked up on it.
While this album isn't as good as some of the previous efforts (A Promise, Knife Play, Fabulous Muscles), it is good music. It is art, and we need people like Jamie Stewart making music.

RIYL: Stratageme, Joan of Arc, Talk Talk



12. Pajo - Pajo
David Pajo reigns surpreme from indie-legends Slint, as well as involving himself with other interesting projects like Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Papa M, and Aerial M. This, however, put out simply under the moniker of 'Pajo', and it seems to simply continue where many of his past projects have left off.
Pajo leaves... well... Pajo, sounding more like Iron and Wine than anything else. Back are his familiar whispered vocals which at times seem forced, but which at times seem completely natural and beautiful.
There very little instrumentation, which is different as much of David Pajo's career has been scattered with complex, though often sloppy, instrumental passages.
Like most of Pajo's work, this album is hit and miss, but more often than not the 'hits' make the 'misses' seem intentional.

RIYL: Iron and Wine, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy,



11. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
Death Cab has been a guilty pleasure of mine for years. On their newest album, oversentimentality abounds, perhaps even reaching new heights. From beginning to end, however, this is musically a far superior album to its predecessor, Transatlantacism.
Tracks like 'Summer Skin' and 'What Sarah Said' are both emotionally implausible but musically stellar. The songs are catchy, and the production is flawless, though there remains the pattented Gibbard Human Touch. It is this 'GHT' that made the synthetic Postal Service colabboration so appealing, and it is this which turns so many pepole off to Death Cab.
While this is not their best album as a whole (We Have the Facts... hands down), it definately has some contenders for their best tracks.
Again, this is a guilty pleasure and should not, i repeat, SHOULD NOT be taken as a substantial musical diet. How can you have any pudding (Death Cab) if you don't eat your meat (see the rest of the list).

RIYL: Jimmy Eat World, Postal Service, being 'emo'



10. Stratageme - Mis Amis
I must say, I'm biased. I actually signed, produced, and put out this record on my own label. But it's freaking good. I mean it. This band of youngsters has made a 38 minute alternate universe. Emotional, synthetic, and completely natural. This album is dark, but at the same time refreshing. This is a unique band, and you will hear from them in the future, i assure you. Give it a try.

RIYL: Xiu Xiu, ???



09. Sun Kil Moon - Tiny Cities
What sounds worse than Mark Kozelek (from Red House Painters) covering Modest Mouse songs? As it turns out, everything. I must admit that I went into this record much less skeptical than everyone else as I adored Kozelek's What's Next to the Moon which was a collection of AC/DC covers translated to acoustic guitar and voice. The result was beautiful folk songs. Were you not a big AC/DC fan, which I am not, you would have no idea the songs were not his own.
This concept has now been applied to Modest Mouse tracks, but this time I knew every song. It was wierd to hear the songs coming out all wrong, but it seems that over half of these tracks are interpreted in a manner which I see as better than Isaack Brock and co. This is pretty music, and it makes Modest Mouse's songs sound like they have a soul behind them.

RIYL: Modest Mouse, Red House Painters, Patti Griffith, tiny cities.


08. Matt Sweeny & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Superwolf
This is perhaps my favorite Billy 'Prince' Billy album, as I've never been a huge fan of his instrumentation. This problem was temporarily solved when he teamed up with legend Matt Sweeny (Guided by Voices, Chavez) for this record. What came from it is what I would call BPB's best album to date.







07. Sigur Ros - Takk...
06. Greg Dulli - Amber Headlights
05. Silver Mount Zion - Horses in the Sky
04. Spoon - Gimmie Fiction
03. Maritime - We, the Vehicles
02. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
01. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now