I'm not really sure if I want to commit to this again, but if I'm going to do it at all, the time to start - if I want to be done by at least this time next year - is now.

So if you'll indulge me again here...


Vampire Weekend - Contra (CD purchased 1/19/10)

Vampire Weekend seemed to have learned a lot of things since their debut, and they're pretty intent on demonstrating this on Contra. It's not that they really sound a lot different, but there's a lot more going on. The rhythms and compositions feel more complex, and the instrumentation in general doesn't sound as obviously like the work of a guitar/bass/keyboard/drums four-piece. It's not necessarily a better or worse thing, just different. Of course that unfortunately means that it's not really an improvement, and considering that this album lacks some of the light briskness and immediate catchiness of their debut, I really think they needed to improve something. It would be nice if the songwriting picked up the slack, but I don't really think that's the case.

There are some questionable moves here, and the lines that open "Horchata" (and the album) have always made me cringe. The cutesy percussion that goes along with them certainly doesn't help, but musically it's not bad, especially when things briefly kick into high gear between some of the verses. "White Sky", the first song I heard from this album - as a live performance on some TV show - never really impressed me or grabbed me like some of the singles from the debut. "Holiday" is probably the only song here that really recalls the refreshing energy of that last album, and it's pretty damn good. I remember reading a lot of complaints about "California English", but the only thing that really bothers me about that one is the Auto-Tune (really, guys?). "Taxi Cab" and "Run" are typically middling mid-album tracks, I think. "Cousins" is a definite highlight, and one of the only tracks that's really managed to grow on me here. They actually manage some intensity on that one. "Giving up the Gun" and "Diplomat's Son" I could take or leave. And finally, "I Think Ur a Contra" is easily their best slow track and a solid closer. So it's an uneven album, to say the least, and all in all, it's making it clear to me that this is a band that, while I enjoy do them, will never quite make the leap from good to great.

Rating: 6.5/10

Good review, and I agree with almost all of it. Except, I think "Taxi Cab" is laughable bad and "Diplomat's Son" is better than you're giving it credit for. But that's just quibbling. Overall, I think you're right on the mark.

We briefly discussed this in the top albums thread...but I really like the album a lot. You're right that they don't sound all that different, just with some added instrumentation and dressing (the auto-tune is a little puzzling, but I think its fun). I dig almost all of the songs on the album but if I picked the weakest it'd be "Horchata." However, I'm definitely in the camp that likes this album more than the average Obner.

your What's a Hipster thread was a better idea.

I thought this was the answer thread.

One more for today:


Spoon - Transference (emusic download 1/19/10)

Spoon is a band that I learned to like several years ago but that I've never really loved. That could gradually be starting to change. This new album, while it's been oddly divisive, helps to nudge them into my "dependable favorite" category. I doubt they could have a made a better move right now than turning a little more inward, more moody and atmospheric, as they did here. I tend to think of Spoon as being a little shallow - professionals but not risk-takers. While this isn't some crazy experimental record or anything, it shows them getting a little dark at the expense of having much in the way of catchy, commercial-ready, obvious standouts. It stands to reason that people who loved "The Underdog" and "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" but thought "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case" was bullshit off of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga might be a little unenthusiastic about this one.

The highlight for me here is "Who Makes Your Money". It not only has an excellent deep groove, but it also operates on a great, subtle tension. More than maybe any other track to date, it really has me appreciating Spoon's much-lauded "attention to detail". Elsewhere the album exudes a darkness, edginess, and depth that I haven't really detected on most of their previous stuff, and I like it. "I Saw the Light" and "Out Go the Lights", much like "Who Makes Your Money", have a great progression and dynamic that culminates in a cool instrumental breakdown towards the end. Somehow by loosening up and stretching out like this, I feel like their songs carry more weight. And I like every single track here a lot, with the possible exception of "Mystery Zone" although even that is still pretty good. I didn't think much about "Got Nuffin" when I heard it as a single last year, but it makes much more sense in context of the album, both as a continuation of its lyrical themes and a brighter contrast to its musical vibe. Closer "Nobody Gets Me But You" is flat out excellent, my second favorite on the album and a wonderful summation and ending. It's a uniformly good album, and I think it's unfortunate that a lot of longtime Spoon fans aren't into it.

Rating: 8/10

You liked this idea last year.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43970&hilit=drinky%27s+indulgent&start=25



ARE WE NOT FWENDS NO MOAH???

I dig this tune as well.

Have you gotten into Girls Can Tell, it's my favorite of theirs and has a melancholy vibe.

Yeah, I like that one a lot. For whatever reason, it doesn't strike me as being quite as melancholy as this one.

Really the only albums of theirs I haven't listened to much are Telephono and Gimme Fiction. I mean I listened to GF several times, but I wasn't really into it and eventually gave up, possibly too soon. I've never heard Telephono.

I haven't heard Telephono or Series of Sneaks. GCT was my entry point with them after seeing the video for "Everything Hits at Once" on MTV2's Subterrenean

Series of Sneaks is great. Don't sleep on that one.

telephono is often panned, I think it sounds like a decent pixies album.

Series of Sneaks is fucking fantastic, but GCT is the best and most consistent.

DL'ing now




Telephono -

Agreed. Telephono is a lot of fun, but it's extremely derivative (of Doolittle in particular). Spoon may have just been written off as Pixies imitators if Series of Sneaks hadn't been such a large leap forward.

Everyone should also check out Spoon's Love Ways EP if you haven't. I think it has some of their best tracks.

Love Ways is indeed awesome

Don't mind if I do pw:RapidRise.org

Who would have guessed a drinky listening thread would turn into a spoon lovefest.

Agree with this. Love this song.

I think its reasonable to suggest that every spoon record is listenable at worst and most are flat out fantastic

I thought your Vampire Weekend review was very good. I actually thing this one is less interesting than the first, in part because it's more ornate, dense.

Speaking of dense... I thought/think most of Spoon's past catalogue are more "atomospheric" than this new one. They older ones, especially GCT and GF seemed spacious in the soulfulness. This new one, which may grow on me, is too cluttered in its grove-centric pace and arrangements.

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast (emusic download 1/22/10)

There's a lot of hyperbolic praise and a lot of hate surrounding this band, and neither seems fully justified to me. As I think is often the case, people who are "sick" of this band are more sick of hearing about them than they are of hearing them, and the people who love them... well, I don't know what's going on there. They're pretty good. Yeah, they sound a little like Weezer without any overt personality, which in some ways actually makes them a little better than Weezer. (I think it's Cuomo's personality that holds Weezer back more often than not.) They also recall a whole lot of other recent bands, but it's perhaps that Weezer angle that sets them apart from the pack. And they're not really lo-fi nor are they as densely layered and polished as Grizzly Bear, The Morning Benders, Local Natives, et al., though they share some tonal similarities. They even get a little into a Joy Division/early New Order type of vibe on "Neighbour Riffs". They seem like reasonably skilled musicians, and they've got a slew of catchy and beguiling songs here. It's light, bright, and fun music that doesn't make much pretense toward being anything else. So at the same time that I'd ask what's to love?, I also have to ask what's not to like? Perfectly enjoyable but inessential album here.

Rating: 7/10

Four Tet - There Is Love in You (emusic download 1/26/10)

Four Tet has never seemed very interesting to me, and this album is no exception. He seems rather emblematic of what I think is wrong with the majority of electronic music in the past decade. It's safe and unadventurous, more focused on sounding cool and of the moment than on pioneering new territory or making truly moving or affecting music. And I could go on and on musing about whether or not this is related to advancements in technology that have pretty much removed all limitations from what is possible in electronic music production and composition, and how the technological limitations of the past are what gives so much electronic music of the '60s-'90s its charm and character. But all that would seem to suggest that there are no - or there cannot be - interesting electronic musicians anymore, and that isn't true. I just don't think Four Tet is one of them.

The worst moments on this record for me are the two opening tracks which, if you skim over a lot of reviews for this album, seem to be solely responsible for There Is Love in You being branded as Four Tet's "dance album". And they do pretty clearly evoke some '90s electronic dance music. Great job! Fortunately things get better after that. "Circling" recalls Boards of Canada but is at least a little more lively and less washed-out-sounding. "Sing" and "This Unfolds" might be best examples of a sound that Four Tet can call his own, the fluid cut-and-paste "folktronica" of which he's considered a front-runner. It's a nice sound with a pleasant, airy vibe. He layers all sorts of tonal and rhythmic elements together in a way that never feels muddy or cluttered and makes for a pleasing headphone experience. "Plastic People" is about as direct an homage to mid-to-late '90s Aphex Twin's softer, more melodic side as I've ever heard, which is a fine thing. Study from the masters. Closer "She Just Likes to Fight" returns to Four Tet's electro-acoustic side for a pleasant, wistful ride off into the sunset. Like the rest of the album (except those opening two tracks), it's tasteful and almost affecting. Elegantly and masterfully put together but ultimately forgettable. Four Tet is a very capable producer with a pretty sound palette, but creatively I just wish he brought more to the table.

Rating: 7/10

I really like the Four Tet album actually, despite and because of its subtlety, but I get what you're saying for sure, and might not have really thought much of it a couple years ago, except that I think my attitude toward this kind of production has changed recently. I rate this somewhat higher than the Caribou and Pantha du Prince, so I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about them. Pretty sure you prefer the PdP, if I'm not mistaken.



Go for it if you feel inclined. I'd be interested to hear it.

Beach House - Teen Dream (CD/DVD purchased 1/27/10)

So how do I go from chastising Four Tet for being boring and then turn around to gush over a band like Beach House? Well, I don't know. I don't have a good explanation for why Beach House's songs are able to take such a hold on me. And I wasn't sure it would happen with this album at first. I was already a fan (their debut was in my top 20 of '06, and Devotion was in my top 10 of '08), and what with all the hype and my own expectations, I was fully ready to be let down. But I have not been. At all. It's seems increasingly rare - and therefore increasingly gratifying - when a band actually delivers on their promise, even when their supposed masterpiece is showered with praise (see: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest, a disappointment for me), but I just couldn't be happier with this album.

Opener "Zebra" is of course great, but my current favorite isn't that or "Norway", but the one in between, "Silver Soul". It's here that guitarist Alex Scally really shines. The liquid, mournful, maybe somewhat de-tuned slide guitar gets me every time, and I never want the song to end. In general, Victoria and Alex both seem stronger and more effective this time out, and all of the arrangements complement them perfectly. These are 10 great, rapturous, majestic songs. They feel timeless. That just never happens anymore. Or I guess it's always been pretty rare, really. But what do I know? Beach House is just slow, boring, hipster music right?

Rating: 9/10