Good Listeners

album/day

[goodlisteners]

Del tha Funky Homosapien, aka Zartan Dreadnaught COBRA - Iller Than Most

Consistently-creative rapper Del uploaded new LP "Iller Than Most" as a free online album.  This indie ethic move is the latest in a career characterised by willful ignorance of bullshit trends and major-label pressures.  Quirky as usual, Del lyrically attacks his enemies with unusual vocal inflections and a vocabulary that would send many mainstream rappers off in search of a dictionary.  The album is littered with scifi references to The Matrix and Star Trek Voyager, which comes as no surprise given Del's history.  The pace on "10 Paces" is fantastic and might be the gem of the album.  Keep 'em coming Deltron! 

3/5 Solid indie rap from a modern legend.

[goodlisteners]

Brute Heart's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Brute Heart recorded this album as film score for the 1920 film Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  Spooky, moody, subtle - they get the job done.  As might be expected for a film score, there aren't shining moments of musical genius.  The album is a sequence of musical shades intended to subconsciously guide the listener's emotional state to match that of the film.  Without watching the film, it's hard to assess how well they've accomplished their goal.  However, as stand alone analog ambient music they do a fine job.  It won't drive you wild, but if you want some quiet background music while you staff your shift at the coffeehouse it'll do.  Fucking hipsters.

3/5 I can identify this as music.

[goodlisteners]

Esta - Paradise

Continuing an unplanned theme of hip hop selections this week, today's listen is a mix of eclectic beats and smooth samples from Esta.  Paradise is a sequence of explorations in rhythm, characterized by classy production, creative instrumentation, thoughtful atmosphere, and no-frills attitude.  I was on the fence about the whole thing until "ycarT", after which I realized I could definitely move to this.  However, many of the tracks are more downtempo - I might actually refer to Esta as Film Score Hip Hop.  At times the R&B influence really shines, and tracks like "For You (&Her Too)" could easily serve as canvas for a suite of vocal harmonies.  

Overall, if you're in the mood to have some background music that strays off the beaten path, Esta is a good place to start.  3/5 Didn't hate it.  

[goodlisteners]

Kid Ink - My Own Lane

On the Road Of Life, Kid Ink demands his own lane.  But does he earn it?  His recent album is punctuated with head-bobbin' gems like "No Option", which features sick flows and good production values without overdoing it.  "No Miracles" begins with the beautiful smoky voice of Elle Varner, and boasts the type of kinetic beat that would be perfect for driving in Your Own Lane on the highway into the city at night.  But not every track on the album provides so well.  Drawbacks include more than one guest appearance by high-profile asshole Chris Brown, as well as beats that fall right in line with the status quo.  The song "Tattoo of My Name" encourages a type of cringe-worthy mistake that isn't even ironically funny. Final verdict?  Kid Ink better count on waiting in traffic like the rest of us.  

3/5 Would dance to in tha club.  

[goodlisteners]

Pixies - EP2 (2014)

Remember how you never got into the Pixies when you were growing up because you just listened to classic rock radio like a regular dumbshit teenager, but then you went to college and were like "holy shit this band is amazing" and then later that one song was in that one movie and suddenly everyone loved the Pixies and you were all "yeah, pshh, i've been into the Pixies since before Fight Club, man"?  

And then remember how they got back together and it was kinda meh because the magic was gone, and there was that really awkward footage in loudQuietloud where Lovering just wouldn't stop drumming because he was on drugs but denying it and you pity them and think "just give it a rest fellas" and then hate yourself for thinking it? 

Yeah, me too.  Anyway, listen to their album.  It won't be the worst thing you've ever heard.  2/5 disappointing when an old great just isn't great anymore.

[goodlisteners]

Warpaint - Warpaint (2014)

Hypnotic and enticing, a blend of flame and frost, Warpaint's second full-length is 51 minutes of rhythm and expanse.  The self-titled LP starts off gradually turning up the heat with the instrumental intro track.  Driving beats and enchanting melodies characterize "Keep It Healthy" and the temperature stays hot through their single, "Love Is To Die".  The quartet begin to cool things off by the midpoint of the album, "Biggy", where mechanical beats and synth melodies combine with spaced-out vocals to evoke the likes of Bjork.  The trend continues, until the cryogenic pace of "Go In" leaves the listener writhing for release.  Folk and indie meet here, a la Feist.  The remainder of the tracks coast smoothly toward the end of the album.  3/5 definitely solid.  

[goodlisteners]

Trophy Wife (live)

It was an unexpected surprise to have the opening band, local Philadelphia feminist rock duo Trophy Wife, completely steal the show last night.  Seriously rocking riffs, occasionally twisted time signatures, incendiary harmonies.  TW = DF + KO are a yin and yang of complements and contrasts that blend perfectly for a loud but not deafening show.  Their performance was punctuated by a handful of tuning errors and musical missteps that instead of detracting from the quality of the show instead brought the listener to a more intimate level.  Her politically charged banter and awkwardly shy demeanor give singer KO an endearing stage presence that belies her ability to shred.  Drummer DF pounds her kit with Swiss-watch percision and emotional explosiveness - wearing a huge grin half the time, while she stares intently at her musical counterpart.  A+ would recommend to a friend.

[goodlisteners]

Pusha T - My Name Is My Name

Pusha T's new album has track after track of head-bobbin' beats, spacious sounds, and gansta lyrics.  Some risks are taken and pay off: Pusha's guttural growling on "Hold On"; the vocal intro to "40 Acres";  dubstep influenced beats on "Who I Am".  However, the production team sometimes falls prey to one of my most-loathed traps of modern rap: autotune.  The track "Hold On" and "Pain" are layered with over-the-top meandering autotune melodies that would better be instrumented by an unconventional synth patch or anything more creative than autotune.  

Pusha's album is laudable for the things it gets right, but backs down from the challenge of innovation needed to be a great album.

[goodlisteners]

Sun Kil Moon - Benji (February 2014)

Sun Kil Moon's latest album is an emotional powerhouse of brutally sincere lyrics accompanied by perfectly matched instrumentation.  

Primary artistic contributor Mark Kozelek is an expert narrator whose songs had me weeping.  Death is an explicit theme of the album, as well as confessions of fear, guilt, lust, and love.  The lyrical honesty and sparkling vocal delivery bring the good listener's emotional state into synchronicity with Kozelek's.  

A work of stunning beauty.  Thank you.

[goodlisteners]

Purling Hiss - Lounge Lizard (2013)

Purling Hiss adds an unhurried psychedelic rock sound to the Drag City lineup.  Characterized by swirling riffs and a meandering backbeat, their groove is the modern incarnation of a decades-long lineage of rockers the likes of T-Rex, Television, and Dinosaur Jr.  The droning distorted guitars mask the more intricate details of the music, and some lyrics are completely buried.  This local Philly band makes music you can pay attention to, but lacks something special to make it truly enjoyable.  

[goodlisteners]

Erase Errata - Other Animals (2001)

Fun!  Dancy, too!   Archie MacKay's voice reminds me of Siouxsie and also of the Brazilian Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS).  Though, CSS was four years after this album was released so I'll say flip that sentiment reversed next time I compare Erase Errata and CSS?    

I'm recalling my white belt with a star for the buckle, with Cursive being one of my favorite bands.  This album fits right in those early 2000s.

[goodlisteners]

Erase Errata - Other Animals

Amid a backdrop of frantic chaos, a steady groove emerges; amid aimless discord, a melody shines through.  Erase Errata creates an album with a background jarringly chromatic and rhythmically abrasive, while offering a foreground of occasionally singular harmony and synchronicity.  

Other Animals is the type of album that forces you to ask serious questions about the nature of sonic art.  It's the type of album I'm supposed to like, but kind of don't.  Where is the line between inspired variation and contrived indulgence?  At the cutting edge of artist expression this question always lurks.  The line can't be drawn in any one place, but all that can be said is that it moves forward.  All innovations we find beautiful and satisfying today were once deviations startling to those mired in routine.  

On second thought, Other Animals is the type of album I want to like and definitely do.

[goodlisteners]

Perfect Pussy - I have lost all desire for feeling

Click. Explosion. Racing against the clock, Perfect Pussy layers enigmatic vocals over energetic postpunk riffs and beats. Guitars pull melodies out of seemingly atonal full-spectrum white noise, while distant vocals scream.

While only four tracks, the album "I have lost all desire for feeling" definitely provides. It is not a cheap listen - like many great artists, they demand attention from the observer. The vocals can be difficult to understand even with the lyrics ready in front of you. When you do read them, the poetry is refreshingly opaque. I'm not sure what these songs are about, but I'd rather be left with something to ponder than see right through them. There are themes of sex, death, bitterness, healing, and feminism. In approximately that order. Which is interesting in and of itself...

I think this is a concept album. In "I", the lyrics seem to be from the point of view of a man who is hurt by a woman's actions. He is coping, but grows hard and distant by "II". Track "III" has lyrics from two people's perspectives, and the instrumental breakdown at 2:38 is sick. The lyrics of "IV" viscerally point out the issues of victim-blaming in rape cases, and end with a poignant "Fuck you". Right fucking on.

[goodlisteners]

Perfect Pussy - I have lost all desire for feeling

Found here on bandcamp, their four track album took me back to the good ol days, when work didn't give me a migraine and I could actually enjoy this noise.  It was grating at first, but a couple listen-throughs,  I'm back on board and now revisiting other very much appreciated Ladies of Punk.  Creative band names, always a plus.  

Ancestors: The Petticoats - Allergy