previously obsessed with being ahead of the cultural curve & now severely behind it. BUT INDULGE ME: current life- grizzlybeachwknd.bandcamp.com/ http://youtu.be/g53lIgq2a_E & med school, i guess. (whatevzzz) past life- www.dukecoffeehouse.org this tumblr's mostly my means of expressing the denouement in regards to my social capital. y'know - no bigs!
i first watched this a few months back
and was dazzled by its beauty.
after watching it
i spiraled into a maria kochetkova
youtube frenzy, rapidly growing enamored with her,
rekindling my sporadic love for ballet.
i mean, can you blame me?
and then furthermore
the dancing in this video
exemplifies the strength, grace, and beauty
inherent to incredible ballerinas
while breaking the intensity with
occasional bouts of playfulness.
it’s just so incredibly stunning
and it demonstrates so clearly
how movement can be language.
mothers - when you walk a long distance you are tired
i'm not so great on deadlines
so even though there were two other albums
that i wanted to write about
i'll just get along with it
and write about my favourite album of the year.
so, i'll say
i'm not particularly plugged in anymore.
my means of finding new music
became culling through spotify's new releases section
or using their discover functionality
(which, had spotify been out when i was in college
when i was obsessed with finding
the next new thing
i would have cast disdain upon spotify users
without doubt, deeming them lazy.
whoops, i've joined the leagues.)
anyways, when mothers came up under
my recommended new releases
i thought, okay, pretty cover art
let's see.
(yep, i judge a book -
or an album
by its cover.
whatever)
we've all been there before -
in a venue with loud chatty cathys
whilst an acoustic act tries to
quiet them with futility,
trying first to shame the guilty
and then attempting the alternative tactic
of playing the softest of songs
hoping for a group initiated bout of shaming.
"too small for eyes" seems to be
exactly that sort of track
for the latter tactic.
so delicate, a gossamer.
and with that fragility
lies this raw quality -
everything laid out to bare
as there's no shelter
no means for anything to be ensconced.
..."i don't like myself/
when i'm awake"
yes dear,
i’ve felt that too.
i fell in love with the triangle music scene
over my college years in durham
and the formative bands for me
in my relationship with the local scene
included lost in the trees,
the physics of meaning,
des ark, and mount moriah
(among others).
"too small for eyes" is reminiscent
of joanna newsome in the vocals
overlayed with
des ark meets
subtle cues from lost in the trees.
then in "it hurts until it doesn't"
the tempo picks up,
exhibiting their southern rock influence,
calling to mind mount moriah.
(they're from athens, ga.
although, they don't really exude
the elephant six sound that i think of with athens
but i'm not upset.)
in "nesting behavior", the abraded raw
orchestrally buttressed sensibility
from "too small for eyes" is revisited -
the brief bit of spunked fun preceding
clusters back down into a vulnerable hush.
i mean, with lyrics of
"you've been giving me away"
being doled out in a protracted moan of a whimper,
you have to be heartless
not to be consumed.
further down, "blood-letting"
is a majestically woozy waltz
transporting one to a dizzied haze.
in short,
the album is triumphantly melancholic
and truly, just outright depressive
but done with such beauty
making every moment seem precious
in a heart-wrenching sort of manner.
the real thrill is in
hearing how kristine leschper's vocals
weave so beautifully into the mostly sparse
yet layered instrumentation.
if you want to feel honest with yourself
and convene with your darkest secrets
it’s time to listen to this album.
to start: any of the first six tracks, but particularly too small for eyes if you feel like a good heartstring tug
ahhh the blissful days of college.
romping around, carefree
and i went to college in the south
so essentially it was always sunny -
oh, the good days.
of course, to accompany good times
must be good tunes
and one of my favourite ones
was "carmensita" by devendra banhart
(wild to realize that track
is almost a decade old)
me and my junior year roommate babs
would holler out the lyrics
in multiple keys
with cacophonous glee,
shaking our limbs
in an uncoordinated flurry.
anyways,
here we are,
10 years past since
my first days of college.
and far past the era
of devendra banhart avec natalie portman
(was too beautiful to be true, rly)
anyways,
this current album
isn't quite full of carmensita's
but it has its charms.
a good bit of the album is sedate
with devendra's soothing voice
hypnotizing you into tranquility.
and of course,
as you would expect
with a devendra album
there are those psych moments
(albeit, in a subdued manner)
as in "mara".
then there's that sort of
schizoid narrative quality
showcased in "fig in leather"
overall, the album is a beautiful melange of
swirling strings as in
"theme for a taiwanese woman in lime green"
and hypnotic clomping driving forward
"jon lends a hand"
to playful nonsense -
cue "fancy man".
and to bid us adieu,
he lulls us to slumber
with "celebration".
ahhhh good night.
most of us can attest to this -
music can be commanding,
evoking fond memories of the past
or calling forth melancholic remembrances.
when i listen to "intern" -
i'm transported to this stupidly pristine moment
of stretching out on a bed of heaven,
white pillowcases, white sheets, white duvet cover
in the perfect sort of disarray
with my FWB crooning at me
"i don't care what the papers say",
me giggling in response.
angel olsen possesses this
haunting yet erring on grating voice
with the country nasal whine.
it's really the lyrics that carry the album.
well, that and the well tempered pop sensibility
interspersed with country twangs.
sorry to be predictable but,
god,"shut up kiss me" -
i mean, c'mon.
this isn't my top album of the year
but that surely is my favourite track of the year.
i couldn't stop singing it
for at least 2 months straight if not longer.
something about it's simplicity
yet the successful build
the swell! the peak!
then that trough
the subdued threat
then we're back again!
plus, i’m pretty sure
that most of us
can relate to feeling psycho tendencies
with matters relating to love
(but suppression is an adult defense mechanism
it’s cool.)
also, shouting out
"shut up kiss me oh retard"-
it's like a guilty pleasure
(yes, retard isn't PC
i'm well aware)
that happens to be oh so cathartic
especially when chased with a
"oooooooh oh oooooooh"
oh yeah,
and the music video is
a simply perfect visual accompaniment
well, this album
is on most year end lists
so i'll spare you any more shoddy analysis
since you can find much more elsewhere.
to start:
shut up kiss me (what the hell, you haven't heard this track yet?!), sister, never be mine
it took me a long time
to warm up to spotify.
i like having files,
having albums on my hard drive,
but eventually, i succumbed.
i got into ye-ye back in 2011
i was flipping through cds
at the san francisco public library
and came upon "c'est chic!"
i checked it out
i fell in love.
i wanted more ye-ye.
flash forward to last year
maybe i searched serge gainsbourg
or jacqueline taieb
who knows
anyways, jacques dutronc pops up
and then from jacques came oscar
(i think, my memory may be slightly faulty)
but at that time
there were only a few tracks
but they were pure pop perfection.
then came "cut and paste"
and i still stand by -
pure pop perfection.
i mean, sure
if you don't like hooks
and pure joy
then you won't like this.
BUT
if you need feel good sunny tracks,
the kind that's so saccharine
that you can feel
the rebound hypoglycemia -
this is your guy.
resonant and haunting vocals
somewhat reminiscent
of jens lekman's vocals
yet in a reverb drenched way
that calls to mind 80s sensibilities
suck you (or at least me) in,
especially in daffodil days.
the above video
exemplifies that sort of
unabashed infectious twee undertone,
not ashamed with the
clearly absurd and over the top
if in the end maximal catchiness is achieved.
(also, shout out to wes anderson sensibilities)
in college
my penchant for blatant pop
that critics claimed is without substance
was subject to much mockery -
this would definitely be
one of those albums for which
i would be taunted
as it's definitely pure clean pop
no grit, no harshness, no surprises.
(the distortion is pleasant,
so i’m not gonna count that towards harshness)
whatever dude
sometimes i need that, k?
to start: daffodil days, breaking my phone, feel it too, sometimes, beautiful words
okay, so my friend amanda and i
started a band when i was in sf
called "boyz club"
(launch the assault,
i'm ready)
this was in 2011
so it was the heyday
of garage rock -
thee oh sees, ty segall, shannon and the clams, y'know
so the subconscious leanings
were as above
but sadly,
i moved for med school,
and we never really fully came to fruition
(but we did play a track at amanda's wedding!
yeeeee self-fulfilling weddings)
anyways,
the long and short of this is
i'll never be shannon
(i mean, that voice!)
but hinds is pretty close
to what i would have wanted us to be.
surfy, dreamy, poppy, punky, garagey
what else could a girl want?
and they're spanish
singing in english.
pretty badass, no?
all of the songs are excellent,
so c’mon
just do it.
blissy bop around
to the surf pop vibes.
year end fave albums list!
granted.
apologies in advance -
this has been a wild whirlwind of a year
which means that my grip on new music
has loosened even further...
but, anyways, here we go.
loosely in reverse order
but not exactly -
frankie cosmos - next thing
who doesn't love bubbly twee pop?
actually,
i suppose i know a fair number of individuals
who fall into that category
but regardless -
this album is essentially
a gem of bubblegum pop.
youthful naivete
or something like that
when i saw them play at king's in raleigh
i felt embarrassed by how infectious the music was,
embarrassed by how good it felt to be
surrounded by a crowd of seeming children
with their unbridled energy,
trying to start a pop pit
which, lemme tell you,
was far from a success.
i feel ya
but uhhh
i’m gonna bop along by myself, k?
but anyways,
it makes sense.
there's a universality to the music -
tried and trued themes.
i mean,
who honestly can't relate to "fool"?
don't lie to yrself.
we've all been played before
in some form or another
thus,
there were many days and nights,
windows rolled down,
i'd shout along the lyrics
“you make me feel like a”
then would melisma along to “fooooooool”
as if to exemplify the point.
there's just something.
perhaps the sedate nature of the vocals
or the simple song structures
(which, on average,
the tracks clock in at about 2 minutes
so, can’t get too complex.)
it's just so reassuring and comforting.
then, the lyrics -
on point:
i mean, take
"i'm 20/
washed up already/
i'd sell my soul for a free pen"
what a universal statement.
any 17 year old could relate,
and i know that there's moments
when that resonates with me
and i'm 27.
or in “is it possible / sleep song”:
"i'm be here all night/
feeling totally fucked"
(yep, been there.)
in short,
solid shoegaze
makes you smile
makes you sway.
fave tracks: fool, is it possible/sleep song, i'm 20, what if, if i had a dog
the summer of 2013,
after i saw young fathers open for baths,
i watched all of the videos of them
that i could find on youtube,
which included a recording of "i heard"
shot inside a chapel or church of sorts
in scotland, but i can no longer find that video
for some dratted reason
(which makes me more obsessively search for it...)
but through my scouring, came this video
which is also pretty mesmerizing
so i suppose i'm pacified for now.
flash back to the dark
step 1 studying days ...
kristin was playing a mix
of new releases,
the first of which was
lana del rey, as easily guessed
by the vocals.
she then asked me
if i wanted to hear the new
j lew song, to which
i obviously responded,
yeah!
it was "just one of the guys"
and after listening to it
i thought ... hmmm
i appreciate the sentiment
although i'm still conflicted.
is this going to veer more
towards the previous releases
with subdued country overtones?
but upon release of the album
i realized that she's drifted back
towards her pop rock rilo kiley roots.
the voyager explores
new territory regarding jenny's life.
i'm presuming she's writing
about her own experiences,
in which case,
she's evolving into a woman
who shall become married
and is settling into
the comforts of a stable relationship.
but there still are dark spots as well.
and then there are diversions
as with "aloha & the 3 johns"
this record finds jenny
returning to her playful
former indie rock starlet self
while still implementing
those country elements
that had become so prominent
in her two records prior.
overall, it's a varied record
and one that i quite enjoyed
listening to completely through
many a time.
"she's not me" especially
received repeated plays,
for hauntingly, it resonated with me
(albeit the punching through dry wall).
but the baby part
and deeming a former lover's
new partner as easy
really struck me,
bringing on the tears
on the stretch that i speed on and
on which i shout lyrics
with passion i daren't show elsewhere
on the drive to/from work.
clearly, it's an album
of great meaning to me.
thus -
fave tracks:
she's not me
late bloomer
aloha & 3 johns
head underwater
ok, so here’s where i throw aside
any guise of these year end reviews
being of critical worth
and i dive into its role as catharsis.
so, before i started dating rob,
we talked for a good while.
we communicated via text, e-mails, letters/cards
(for i fretfully scurried away from the phone
since i can’t compose long pre-meditated verse
when on the rapid fire telephone!).
during those days of faceless conversation,
i would envision that he looked
somewhat like mac demarco.
that was my faint memory of his visage
after meeting him for a mere flighty few days.
besides, he, like mac, was goofy.
and he, like mac, had a gap between his front teeth
and … yeah, that was about it.
he looks vaguely like mac
(but with better kempt hair).
anyways, watching these videos
the macumentary and the q&a sesh …
i’m borderline spooked
by how similar their mannerisms are.
more or less, they’re like siblings
rob is 7 years mac’s senior,
paler, taller, a bit chubbier
more muscular and with
the most mesmerizing eyes.
but otherwise,
they both have soothing voices,
speak similarly about music
in their own goofy way
and well … rob initially
made all sorts of dumb
gross out/body humor jokes,
before i started consistently
shutting them down
(so i think that he saved them
for a more appreciative audience).
thus, all in all,
it’s a strange experience
to watch the interviews with mac
because they make me miss rob
and also just jar me
by the pure fact that
he isn’t rob, yet
they’re somehow so alike.
although, i suppose the one divergence
between the two
is the music that each produces.
so, i'll address that -
salad days finds mac more matured.
or rather, even more sedate than "2".
each of the tracks have their value
but none of them rollick or romp
or pace faster than an amble.
granted, this is mac demarco after all
and we all know that
pot can warp and alter
the perception of time.
and thus salad days offers
another album of pensive pieces
featuring pedal effects that
create an illusion of underwater composition
(with the increased resistance
explaining the songs' paces).
whatever, i'm worn out
from the first half of this post.
it's a great album, clearly.
fave tracks:
salad days
passing out pieces
treat her better
imagine best coast
but with lyrics that
span beyond a love of weed
and her boyfriend
and with more mellifluous vocals.
but the same pop hooks
that made us all fall in love
with bethany and bob.
alvvays could be simplified
to being construed as toronto
dreaming of california stylistically
granted, there's more than just
the classic hooks.
there's swells and drops
delivered via punchy jangling of electrics.
drama and unfulfilled desires
and also this particular sweetness
paired with a certain naivete
captured in this album.
"archie, marry me" got me thinking
long and hard about the role
of marriage in modern society.
and woman's relationship
with that construct.
"une femme est une femme"
came to mind in the internal conversation -
my ex bf hated the protagonists,
finding them unreasonable.
(that doesn't bother me,
i'm heedlessly in love with anna karina, duh)
he didn't understand her intransigence
regarding having a child
and he didn't understand
jean brialy's insistence
on not having a child and not marrying.
this song brought about that same thought-
the woman calling out for
something to in a way
define her relationship with a man.
part of me finds the song refreshing
because my long drawn mindset
is that women desire to be taken seriously
and to slough off the assumption
that we want to become accessories
in order for stability
but this song opens the conversation
(with myself, that is)
that it can be contrary
even in groups of women
which i would associate.
but then conversely,
i suppose it's more empowering
for her to insist upon marriage
and stake her claim.
anyways, enough stream of consciousness
and onto the tracks -
fave tracks:
archie, marry me
party police
atop a cake
next of kin
the agency group
adult diversion
the album has everything
that we both find so charming
about owen pallett.
suspense through tremolo,
soaring and then diving musical lines,
pierced by terse pizziccato.
and as always, the gem
pop drum machine line undercurrent to it all.
oh, and of course,
owen's infinitely mellifluous voice.
what a dream.
really, my commentary of this album
relates more to my experience with it,
so again, i'll just jump to recommended tracks ...
fave tracks:
the secret seven
in conflict
infernal fantasy
song for five & six
it's impressive.
spoon has had quite the run
and their successes appear
to be far from concluded.
they want my soul
is most definitely
nothing novel.
these are all tricks
that we've heard before,
now shape shifted
into a shiny new form
but truly just rehashed tricks.
i haven't much issue with that though
for really, it comes down to
these are all tracks of their own valor
in that they're catchy
(and only the falsely cynical can despise catchy
and i hope not to be that)
and of heartfelt lyrical content.
or so, i hope that it's heartfelt
lyrical content,
for in my letter
to a former lover
i referenced "let me be mine"
as descriptive of my state at the time
and that was a sincere sentiment.
this was just one of many
releases from this year
to which i bawled my eyes out
while woefully singing along.
(which, perhaps that's indicative
that this year was one
of love lost for many.
i'm victim to trend, perhaps).
either way, the thing is -
britt daniels and the team
jim, rob, the lot -
they're just great at composing
solid rock n roll tracks with pop hooks.
there's little more than that
which i can meaningfully add.
thus, i won't.
fave tracks:
let me be mine
new york kiss
do you
inside out
if you know me relatively well
then you most likely already know -
my life aspiration
(besides becoming clara barton,
since that was my childhood aspiration)
is to become yelle.
she's tiny, spunky, beautiful, and bounding with energy.
why would anyone desire to be
anything but her? amirite?
so when i saw that they
were playing at 9:30 in dc
a rush of energy surged through me.
i hadn't seen them since 3 years past!
and it was amazing then,
so i knew it'd be amazing now.
fast forward to the show -
it was wonderful.
no ridiculous safari disco club
where the wild things are-esque furry outfit
but a big yellow sac was donned at least.
anyways, the trick about all of this -
i was so excited about seeing yelle
that i neglected to check
to see if a new album had been released -
which ... there had been.
so i grinned along madly to her entire set
but half of it i hadn't the slightest clue
as to what was being played!
(and per usual, i of course
had no clue as to what was being sung).
flash forward to now -
complement fou is yet again
another piece of french electropop magic.
(one wouldn't expect otherwise
from a veteran such as yelle).
not only that, but
yelle collaborated with pomp&clout
to create the yelle translator app
for "completement fou" and "bouquet final"
with the intention of advancing
english speakers' abilities to comprehend
the french language as is exquisitely utilized
by our friends in yelle.
(yes, i just made that into an advert
and i don't even know why)
anyways, if you're familiar with yelle,
this album maintains their signature style
of unrelenting vivacity paired with french flair,
as well as their special twist of bubblegum.
expect perky punky playful, y'know -
everything that i hope to embody.
needn't spend more time explaining/depicting
just listen to the tracks.
fave tracks:
moteur action
un jour viendra
ba$$in
completement fou
ps yes, i know that moteur action
sounds like a katy perry rift
but whatever,
they toured together
and they're both pop divas
in their own rights soooo
don't try to place blame on my choice.
i won't accept it.
pps the 2nd video allows for a glimpse
into the magic that is a yelle show.
(in retrospect, i too should have said
fuck it to going into clinic
and just followed yelle
on her east coast leg of the tour.
how foolish of me!)
imagine descending stairs
into a dark and dingy club
capacity 150
with only the stage lit.
that's the setting in which
i'd say tops would be best experienced.
sing song yet smokey vocals floating above
80s new wave setting guitars
and cheesy swooping keys.
"superstition future" would serve
as the perfect soundtrack for
the prom movie scene
or the moment when star crossed lovers
stumble upon one another
and make amends and unite as one
(more in the PG way
than that phrasing may suggest).
they strike the perfect balance
between creating spunky jams
whilst maintaining musical minimalism
and they even implement some
hints of funky elements
with tracks like "way to be loved".
yes, the intro to "blind faze"
veers a bit too much
towards the cheesy keys bit
and the intro to "outside"
seems well suited
to accompany a video
of an orca's majestic
and rarely seen leap
from the ocean's surface.
and the intro to "change of heart"
conjures up the image
of the band in grass skirts,
coconut trees swaying to the breeze
as the aloha crew hangs back
on standby for the incoming tourist group.
but in whole,
this album offers its pleasantries
and effectively served
to fill the void i felt
from the direction
that mr sister,
formerly twin sister
left me.
nothing earth shattering,
but pleasant!
i shan't complain.
especially because superstition future
is so damn catchy!
fave tracks:
superstition future
way to be loved
blind faze
2 shy
circle the dark
everyone who is of any critical worth
already has this album on their best of list
so i'll keep it short
this album is fantastic.
blurring lines of electronic influences
with prodigal shredding powers
all the while being one fly fox -
annie's really nailed it here.
scathing criticism of modern society
to accompany the musical ride, nonetheless.
this album remained with me
well into the fall months
even with its release in late february,
and i know that i'm not the only one.
fave tracks:
digital witness
bring me your loves
birth in reverse
rattlesnake
psychopath
