Takk...

Today's Music From Jason's Dreams is Takk... by Sigur Ros. I think this is their fourth album, but I'm not going to give you a history lesson on Sigur Ros today. Some other day, perhaps; let us talk about the music today.

This album is probably more accessible than their previous work, at least as accessible as Agaetis Byrjun. (Suprisingly, Blogspot doesn't think 'Agaetis Byrjun' is misspelled.) I think the best word for this album is 'ethereal'. It absolutely sounds like something from a dream: strings, piercing soprano vocals, sparse but effective use of driving piano, maybe even drums, everything in its right place. I don't understand a word of it, and neither will you, to be honest, but that won't stop you from enjoying the music. It isn't cheery and playful like, say, your Architecture in Helsinki albums, or even as bittersweet as some Yo La Tengo tracks. It's very much post-rock, not for people who like singer-songwriters, but more for people who like minimalist music and atmosphere. Still, the songs have enough movement and interplay between the various elements to keep most people interested. If you aren't familiar with Sigur Ros, this is probably a good place to start; I wouldn't say this album 'rocks' but it's certainly worth listening to.

In other news:
Some ordinary stuff happened this weekend. I'm still in something of a foul mood but better today.

Drive XV

Today's Music That Kind Of Wasted Jason's Time is Stereogum Presents Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic For The People. It is what it looks like - an all-cover version of R.E.M.'s super-delicious 1992 album. Now, initially I was fairly excited about this. Then I downloaded it and forgot about it for a couple months. Then a few days ago I was cleaning my computer's desktop up and found it, and decided to give it a shot.

Well, I was fairly underwhelmed. Some of the songs were okay but nothing really stands out as being a track that I'd listen to again. In particular, I didn't care for Rogue Wave's cover of 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite', which is one of my favorite tracks on the original album. The Shout Out Louds' 'Man on the Moon' was equally mediocre. I would probably only recommend Catfish Haven's cover of 'Monty Got a Raw Deal' out of all the songs on this album, sadly.

Some other albums I've been listening to:
The Dandy Warhols (self-titled debut): pretty good, this one grew on me right away.
American Analog Set - Promise of Love: despite the bad, bad title this is a pretty great album. It's depressing to no end but I liked it anyway.

Rounds

Today's Music That Doesn't Suck is Rounds, by Four Tet. In addition to having one of the best band names I can think of in recent memory, Four Tet makes interesting music. It's almost completely void of vocals, sometimes electronic, always busy, never dull. Strings and piano are prevalent, drums show up as well, but other instruments/devices make cameos too. The music is neither as melodic nor as ominous as Mogwai, who I would probably consider to be a Four Tet peer in some respects. Four Tet is maybe a little mysterious though, just not full of the impending doom that some of the Mogwai songs I like are.

I guess you'd just have to find out for yourself; I don't know exactly what I would consider Four Tet to be good music for. Probably blogging about music.

In other news:
Today hasn't sucked, so far. It's only about halfway over though.

Apologies to the Queen Mary

Today's Music That Jason Has A Crush On is Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary. This is a CD that I finally bought after having legally downloaded a few tracks from the old BetterPropaganda website that I really liked. And now, having listened to the album a couple times, I am kicking myself for having waited so long. This is an album well-regarded by one of my more respected music sources, and for good reason.

I don't know that I can sum up the sound of Wolf Parade in one or two words, but I'll try to explain it as best I can. It's well-composed indie rock; I don't think it has quite the poetic cache of the New Pornographers or the storytelling of the Decemberists but it's quirky. The band sounds like they are influenced by The Clash, maybe The Cars. I would consider Cold War Kids to be the closest thing to them I can think of, though CWK is probably a little more pop than WP. In any event, the vocals on this album are kind of a polarizing aspect, the lyrics are interesting, the sound is marvelous. There's a really good build to a lot of the songs. In particular, I like "I'll Believe in Anything" and "Shine a Light". So check this album out. It is in my car's CD player right now, maybe I'll write more about it as I have a chance to listen to it some more.

In other news:

I had a decent weekend. Need more sleep, as usual.

Why, nothing, nothing at all.

Today's Music of the Day is nothing. Nothing at all. I'm working in silence today.

Apparent silence, anyway. Tuesday's New Pornographers concert was so great that I still have many of their songs in my head. They played songs from all of their albums and were wonderful. The only thing that even attempted to mar the show was that Dan Bejar was apparently quite drunk, though he still sang very well. Well, that, and the fact that they didn't play "Chump Change" despite my screams to the contrary.

The highlights of the show? Hard to say. Neko Case & Bejar don't normally tour with the NPs, at least to my understanding, so the fact that both of them were present was a real treat. Consequently, we heard more of the Bejar-written and/or Case-sung tracks than usual, which is good. I'll keep this blog from becoming a love letter to Neko Case, but her voice is absolutely incredible, electricity through my veins, a fire in the snow. I really enjoyed "The Bleeding Heart Show" though there wasn't a bad song the entire evening. Even the tracks from Challengers, which is growing on me a little, were great to hear.

In short, I enjoyed the show so much I thought about going to see them again on this tour, though I don't think I'll be able to make it. But if the New Pornographers come to your town, or at least somewhere close, you should go see them. They're amazing.

Castaways and Cutouts

Today's Music That Jason Knows Isn't For Everyone But Still Likes is The Decemberists' Castaways and Cutouts. This album was released in, maybe, 2001. Just a little background on the Decemberists: They sort of picked up where Neutral Milk Hotel left off, with a little more of a naval fetish. Their music doesn't suit everyone - I know Colin Meloy's voice grates on some nerves - but for the most part I enjoy it. I guess I'd describe their music as 'nerd-folk', though not quite 'geek-folk', in that it's literate but not about wizards and dragons and such. Most of their songs tell stories, about escaping from prison or being a sailor or things like that, very ribald turn-of-the-century blue-collar sort of escapades.

There's a good personal story that goes with Castaways and Cutouts - specifically the song "July, July!" - but I'm not going to take the time to type it here.

Castaways and Cutouts is a pretty good album. It gets a little melancholy towards the end but has a number of wonderful songs. Some are upbeat ("July, July!" or "A Cautionary Tale") though most tend to be darker ("Odalisque", "Leslie Anne Levine") or just very mellow ("California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade"). Still, it's a smart album with a good dynamic songlist. There aren't a ton of instruments here, including (I think) a well-placed accordion on a couple songs, but the simplicity works in the album's favor. I think The Decemberists work best as a group when they allow the lyrics and uncomplicated music to stand alone, rather than using elaborate, multi-layered song structure. I prefer this album to some of their other enjoyable work (namely Picaresque or Her Majesty) simply because the moods and tempos are more varied.

I do appreciate that The Decemberists aren't really concerned with being 'cool', but make their kind of music without being ironic. That is, if anything is truly unironic anymore, or at least not overly self-aware.

In other news:
I can't believe I went this long without a Decemberists blog. Shame on me.

I'm still a little sick but better today. This weekend wasn't much fun.

I'M GOING TO SEE THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS TOMORROW. HELL YES I'M EXCITED.

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

Today's Music That Jason Has Mixed Feelings About is I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes. I know there are other people in Bright Eyes besides Conor Oberst, but since he is the singer/songwriter, I'm going to write this blog as though they are one and the same.

I want to like this album. Well, sort of. There are some clever, well-written songs on it. But they're all sung by Conor Oberst, who has the voice of a crying 14 year old emo boy. Really, he sounds like a crying teenager. But he can write songs. Maybe he should just write some mellow songs for, say, DeVotchKa or Gogol Bordello. The songs here are generally simple arrangements, just Conor and his guitar, though a few other instruments show up. The lyrics aren't terrible but sometimes a little too cute to have any real poetry. Still, when Conor has the decency to push a song's tempo a little, it tends to not suck so hard. So, while I can't recommend this album in good conscience, it isn't completely devoid of worth. I do listen to it from time to time, though I generally wish I had listened to something else afterwards. So, Conor, when you decide to sing with a little bit of fortitude, and not make so many mopey songs, let me know. Until then, I'll keep putting Nick Drake and Cat Power albums where yours would go.

In other news:
I have a cold today! That isn't so great, but it is nice to be able to sleep at night. I hope it's gone in a day or two though. Vitamin C is my new best friend.

The Hydrox Blog

Today's blog is 'The Hydrox Blog' because it's a cheap imitation of the original, since there isn't time for a real blog. But for the sake of including some music in here, let's talk briefly about the new Beirut album, The Flying Club Cup.

I like this album. It has even more instruments on it than Gulag Orkestar, and I think it's a more consistent and overall better album. However, none of the songs really grab me the way that "Postcards From Italy" and "Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)" do. I mean, there are some marvelous songs on this album - tracks #2 and #4 stand out in my mind already - but I can still hear the driving trumpet from "Postcards From Italy" in my head all the time. Well, I've only listened to The Flying Club Cup twice, though I suspect there will be more listens in the near future.

In other news:
My new car has a CD player. And now that I have one, I don't know how I ever survived without it.

Low, plus Misc.

Today I don't have an album review. I do have a little bit of music to talk about though.

Last night I saw Low in concert. Now, I was very curious to see how their music would translate to a live show - they aren't exactly the most upbeat group I can think of. But their particular downtempo, ominous rock music really works well for a small to medium sized crowd. They played a number of songs, some of their more driving numbers but mostly the kind of mellow songs I've come to expect from them. It was a really enjoyable show, particularly after the socializing crowd settled down and/or left. I hoped to hear two songs, both from The Great Destroyer - "Silver Rider" and "Death of a Salesman" - though I only got the former. It was great. Low also opened with a cover of Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh?", the opening track from The Wall. I like a good cover tune now and again, and my affinity for Waters-era Floyd is no secret, so I was sold from the opening song. Good show, I'd easily go see Low again.

The opening act was a middle-aged gentleman named Charlie Parr. He seemed like a really cool guy, played a sort of old-time country music that was enjoyable and rootsy. I wouldn't mind having his job when I get older, if only the band I was supporting would let me bring some exercise equipment on the tour bus.

And then there's this:
http://www.coucoucircus.org/ost/generique.php?id=1163

This is the theme song to "Bokurano", the anime I've been watching lately. It doesn't seem to be my type of music, but I actually really like it. As for "Bokurano", I could tell you more about it but that seems like an entry for another day. It's probably as good as anything I've seen recently; it isn't the same as Cowboy Bebop, certainly not as stylish, but very mature and realistic.

In other news:

I need to get back to a normal sleep schedule. I'm kind of cranky due to lack of sleep but hopefully the work week will straighten me out a little bit.

Because of the Times

Today's Music That Jason Likes, But Just As A Friend is Kings of Leon's Because of the Times. The Kings of Leon are a band that I like more in concept than in execution, sadly. I bet they put on a kick-ass show, and I think they are genuine, which counts for a great deal. But I haven't been able to get into their music yet, not really.

I don't think Kings of Leon rock too hard for me, that's not it. I'm not from the South, and they're obviously a group of southern boys, though I don't know if that's it. Maybe there just isn't enough tension and release in their music. I mean, listen to a song like Pink Floyd's "Mother", when the electric guitar comes in and it just washes everything else away, and its entrance comes at the perfect point in the song. Kings of Leon make good use of their guitars, and some of their songs are almost anthemic, but I can't name one song of theirs that has that effect on me. So maybe that's it, that Kings of Leon make music which is good but doesn't hold anything special for me.

In any event, Because of the Times is a pretty good album, and has a great title. There are distorted, bright guitars here, laid-back dirty vocals, drums that build to a pretty good crash. It's bluesy, southern rock, though I can't say that I'd take this over, say, The White Stripes or even The Black Keys. I guess if you're really interested in Kings of Leon, you'd have to check them out for yourself. I don't know why Support Your Local Catgun is so melancholy and dissenting this afternoon; maybe it's just what you get on a Friday afternoon.

JEEBUS WHAT HAPPEN?

It occurred to me today as I was trying to decide what to blog about that I haven't actually blogged about an R.E.M. album here, ever. WHAT THE HELL JASON?

Well, without further adieu,

Today's Music That Jason Won't Let You Forget About is Document, by R.E.M. I decided to start with Document simply because it might be my favorite R.E.M. album, though Automatic For The People or even Reckoning would have something to say about that. Even Life's Rich Pageant could get in on this argument. Maybe the reason I haven't blogged about an R.E.M. album yet is that it seems unfair to talk about one and not the others. Well, anyhow...

Document represented a fair turning point in the R.E.M. discography. While the Athenians were certainly not political Luddites prior to 1987, this represented a major step forward in expressing their political views through their music. See, R.E.M. was ripping the Republican party before it was cool (and by 'cool' I mean commonplace for every whiny black-hair no-action attention-whore band to do it, System of a Down etc. I mean you. Did you really think your video calling Bush a warmonger or a megalomaniac was going to change anything? Why do you think a cheap shot from a liberal bottom-feeder is something new to a rich Republican?).

Politics aside, this is a straight-forward rock album, definitely an intelligent alternative to the hair bands that stank up the radio in the late 80's. Some of these songs are still receiving regular radio play ("The One I Love", "Finest Worksong", "End of the World"), which is nice. There are a number of other good songs on this album - actually, I can't really think of any bad ones. I particularly like "Disturbance at the Heron House", "King of Birds", "Welcome to the Occupation"..."Exhuming McCarthy" is simple but as bright and driving as anything on the album. Even the closer, "Oddfellows Local 151" is enjoyable. The fact that I can tell you the names of almost all the songs on this album (I think I left out "Fire" and one other track, which I can't name right now) should be enough of an endorsement for you, given that you don't completely hate my taste in music. Which, if you've actually read this far (i.e. through the small rant earlier), you probably don't. But then again, maybe you are just looking for someone to disagree with. Well, that's what I'm here for, generally.