Seal Beach

Today's Mercifully Goldfinger-free Music of the Day is the Album Leaf's Seal Beach EP with bonus tracks. This is actually a re-release of the original EP, with five additional live bonus tracks.

This album doesn't stray too far from the Album Leaf sound - dreamy and ethereal but not quite to the point of whimsy - and is fairly easy to listen to. It is an open soundscape, sometimes led by strings or a guitar, sometimes a piano, but the key element is space. There aren't many moments of silence, but the instrumentation is so reserved that there's very little if any overlap between the different aural elements.

In spite of the complete lack of vocals, and only minimal percussion, the album sets its mood fairly well. The word 'ambient' probably applies here - the number of instruments and relative stability of emotion are established early on and not really deviated from. This is perhaps the album's greatest strength and weakness: it holds steady throughout the tracks, but offers little in the way of climaxes or surprises. In this regard, Seal Beach isn't exactly remarkable, but it's hardly an abject failure, either. However, a lack of failure does not always constitute a success.

File this one under "good, not great" and maybe go pick up Into the Blue Again.

In Other News:
Maybe ambient music just isn't ever going to be my friend. Also, my apologies if you were hoping for a 500+ word post today.

I got a ticket for the Rural Alberta Advantage show on the 15th today! $8, and I would have paid twice that. Expect an excited review, sometime.

Goldfinger

Today, there should have been a post about a Sun Kil Moon album that I believe is called Ghosts of the Great Highway. Alas, I failed to give this album a dedicated listen - it's actually quite good, with a few songs that are much more hard-rock than I would have expected. But no! Instead there will be a post on the eponymous debut album by the band Goldfinger.

In the first of what will possibly be many apologies for the subject matter, I must apologize for writing about a band that is neither interesting nor challenging when better material is available. Goldfinger is very much an old friend who was comfortable working a low-rent job and drinking away its sorrows, something that remains tied to a period in my life that hasn't really existed for a decade or so now. For some reason, I placed this album in my car for listening during a drive this weekend. This proved to be a mistake, as the album was so primitive that making it through more than a couple tracks was difficult.

Goldfinger features occasional horns, a hallmark of the late 1990s for semi-punk bands to be certain, but it is very much an album by a band that is just that: a semi-punk band. This album is fairly crass and juvenile, with most of the lyrics serving as a musical tell-off for any number of anonymous failed relationships. The album certainly doesn't lack for energy, but this is misdirected energy towards low ambitions. With song titles like "My Girlfriend's Shower Sucks" and, apologies for the language, "Fuck You and Your Cat", it's not exactly Brian Wilson meeting Ken Kesey in an airport here.

True Story: I saw Goldfinger in concert once and it was fun. They played a bar show with Save Ferris and The Aquabats. I think my ears rang for three days.

I am a bit surprised that Goldfinger didn't become a more popular band in the late 1990's / early 2000's, especially with so many similar bands (Green Day, among others) sustaining popularity, and other similar horrible bands (let's say Sum 41, Good Charlotte) being thrust into the public eye for their fifteen minutes or so of fame. Perhaps Goldfinger was too profane and abrasive for radio, maybe the singer didn't wear enough hair gel and eyeliner, maybe there weren't enough references to cartoons and movies from 1985 for kids born in 1987 to relate to at the time.

In short, this album might be good as a motivational tool for high-intensity exercise, but it has more stock in being obnoxious than anything. Let us hope that better listening material prevails in the future!

In Other News:

Thank goodness for short weeks, and warm but bearable weather.

The Des Moines Art Festival was pleasant, and provided me with fewer sunburns than I had anticipated. I did eat more of the provided sugary snacks than I should have, though.

Manners

Today's Music of the Day is Manners, by Passion Pit. This is apparently the group's debut album (an EP having been released in 2008), and was just released in May of this year.

Manners is very much an extension of music such as Of Montreal or possibly a sugar-high LCD Soundsystem. It sounds perhaps closest to recent festival darling MGMT. Does it have merit of its own, or is this a second rate album by a band that only has a setting for 'cute'?

Personally, this album isn't going to make any 'best-of' lists that I have any say in. It's largely electronic, with a sprinkle of sampling, and voiced exclusively in falsetto. There are plenty of sound effects here, claps, chimes. The tenth track, "Sleepyhead" seems to be the most popular, but it's also one of the most grating, with a '45 record played at 78' warble droning through the backdrop of the song.

There are a couple songs which I'm not completely against here. "Swimming in the Flood" and "Let Your Love Grow Tall" seem to be more in touch with the emotions they attempt to convey than the rest of the album. Specifically, "Swimming in the Flood" decelerates the general pace of the album from Mountain Dew to, say, lemonade, and it's a welcome change of pace and infusion of introspection that the rest of the album lacks.

This album review comes with a fair number of concessions. Yes, I'll concede that I prefer my music more morose and well-read. I'll also concede that this electronic / synthetic music is not what I prefer, having come to enjoy a more traditional / organic sound from music. I'm sure that Passion Pit would be fun to see at a festival or even just a bar large enough for some bouncing around near the stage. However, this album failed to endear itself to me over the course of four or five listens, and I have serious doubts about its ability to change my opinion over the course of another few weeks.

In Short: This is a fun, "summer" album that will probably be heard at shopping malls everywhere in the coming months. There are plenty of good electronic albums out there that don't equate to a chorus of caffeinated birds.

In Other News:
Art Festival this weekend! Somehow, I hope to avoid eating a funnel cake or something equally unhealthy.

Is it bad if I'm already looking forward to the four-day work week next week? Does anyone who reads this have plans to go to 80/35?

Hometowns

Today's Music That is Pretty Rad is Hometowns, by the Rural Alberta Advantage. Somehow, inexplicably, this album came to me via eMusic. RAA is apparently a relatively new band, having released an EP prior to this album, but not much else. Anyway, I got this album on a whim, basically because I hadn't heard of the band before just now.

Hometowns is none too polished an album, and thank goodness. It's not hard rock, but definitely indie rock, and it's nice to have something with a fair ramble to the sound. There are still plenty of falsetto 'oooh's in the tracks, but even on the songs that would give Kings of Leon a run for their dirty money, these 'oooh's don't sound out of place. There are two primary vocalists, a man with a gruff wail and a woman with a sweet warble, but the two styles work together quite well. Instrumentation is also a plus here, as the traditional instruments reign, but keyboards and strings make welcome appearances.

At times, it's easy to wish for more complex lyrics. Still, the simplicity of the lyrics is balanced by the raw emotion; the vocals are heartfelt and personal enough that they convey their message well enough without really giving, say, Colin Meloy anything to worry about. No, the RAA has its roots more firmly in the Neutral Milk Hotel camp in terms of message and mood. The compositions aren't as old-fashioned or complex, but on a more personal level, the comparison seems apt.

The point is that while the sound is a bit lo-fi, it works extremely well. The album title is very apt; this album is full of dusty roads and heartbreak, and it's hard not to relate to. Solid tracks abound, though I'm fond of "The Dethbridge in Lethbridge" and "Drain the Blood". "Luciana" sounds like it came from NMH's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. "Frank AB" is simple but powerful.

This is probably the most pleasant surprise I have had in terms of music this year; if I was forced to keep score, Hometowns would be running neck and neck with Elvis Perkins's In Dearland for my favorite album of the year, with apologies to A.C. Newman and Neko Case. Perhaps this album isn't slick enough for some, but it should find plenty of fans.

In Other News:
Where were all the nice ~80 degree days that June is supposed to bring?

The RAA is playing in Omaha on July 15! Try to talk me out of this!

The Charm of the Highway Strip

Today's Music of the Day is the Magnetic Fields' The Charm of the Highway Strip. This music came to be a part of my library via eMusic, after having A) enjoyed Distortion to a fair degree and B) also having heard some Magnetic Fields on the radio last weekend. There is something of a minor travesty here, in that the only radio stations in this entire state that would likely play songs by the Magnetic Fields are underfunded college radio stations. Unfortunately, this blog has its roots in musical opinion, much more so than championing causes, however irritating, that are minor in the face of any sort of social injustice.

Anyway, Charm of the Highway Strip was released in 1994, and probably was neglected due to the remnants of grunge still dominating popular music. Charm is very much out of its time period; some of its songs have a wistful-yet-synth-heavy 1980's sound, something that would probably seem to be derivative of, say, Simple Minds, were the vocals and lyrics less contrasting with the overall sound. Other songs seem to be more in line with cheery, electronic dominated indie-pop (perhaps 'twee' in some cases). Thankfully, the instrumentation is moderately diverse - there's plenty of synth here, but strings are sprinkled, and a banjo even shows up - and, more importantly, Stephen Merritt's lyrics and vocals carry the album.

Merritt's yawning, semi-operatic vocals give the album something of a self-contrast. The bright instrumentation is balanced well by his dense baritone, which probably had even fewer peers in 1994 than it does today (not many, that is). The lyrics are fairly well-developed, and also earthy enough that the album's title seems apt (a theme that Merritt would carry through later years). A glance at some of the song titles would support this notion fairly well: "Crowd of Drifters", "Lonely Highway", "Born on a Train". This is electronic poetry for an open road, even if the emotions and the sound don't always seem to agree on a single direction.

Personally, I found this album to be fairly enjoyable. The sound doesn't lean on its 80's roots as strongly as many acts would a decade or so later, and the themes here are mature enough to warrant some attention. Would I recommend it to most people? I'm not sure. The Charm of the Highway Strip isn't exactly unforgettable, but it's certainly interesting.

In Other News:
It's the weekend and I don't even care if I do anything fun or am social. A little downtime is welcome, after all.

I still haven't decided if buying a digital television is worth the money or not. Maybe I'm just cheap.

If you haven't heard the Rural Alberta Advantage's album Hometowns, it's probably worth your time to look up. Full review is forthcoming, but my early opinion is very positive.

Rat Pants

Today's Music of the Day is actually a concert review. Over the weekend, I was in Minneapolis, and had the chance to take in a performance by Mark Mallman: local favorite, piano abuser, all-around wacky guy. He was promoting his new album, Invincible Criminal, and treated the audience to an 'unplugged' performance.

Mark Mallman himself was introduced with a reading of his life story by a local 'celebrity', the name of whom has escaped me. She did introduce herself as the host of her own show - something like 'Malibu Barbie's Slumber Party' - which may or may not be safe to search online for with children around. Anyway, the reading was somewhat humorous - particularly when Mallman chastised her from off-stage ("read it, it's all fuckin' true") - though it was lessened somewhat by the fact that Malibu Barbie's talents seemed to consist of showing off her legs and basically anything not involving words.

Finally, Mallman came out, drummer and bassist in tow. He was also flanked by two individuals in rat suits; these rats didn't actually have a direct presence in the show, but sat on the stage and watched The Wizard of Oz on an old-fashioned Zenith(?) television. Mallman, for his part, wore a white tuxedo jacket over a sleeveless plaid shirt, with some oddly blotched dark jeans, looking every bit like a younger Tiny Tim who dressed himself from a bag of clothes left at the Salvation Army.

For his part, Mallman was mostly focused on the music, playing a number of songs without much banter with (or from) the audience. The smallish crowd - probably between fifty and sixty - was appreciative of his music, though. Mallman was very active, generally standing to sing and play the piano, sometimes with one foot on the piano itself. He even played a song with an electric guitar, though not without taking a verbal shot at guitar players in general ("they know their place").

There was an amusing interlude midway through the show where Mallman shut off the television and told the rats that it was time for bed. He promised them a bedtime story and asked them to lie down on the stage; one of the rats was wearing jeans, having forgotten his 'rat pants', and Mallman told the two rats to switch places because of this. (Note: I'm not sure if Mallman was scolding the rat in jeans or not, but I suspect it will be a while before I hear the phrase 'rat pants' again.) The 'bedtime story' was about an incident in Portland, Oregon, where Mallman and his band had been 'partying' with a couple strippers. (Mallman: "I had written the word 'poop' on the window with hair conditioner; it was not one of my proudest moments".)

There was alos a brief encore, in which Mallwolf made an appearance! (Note: Mallwolf is actually Mark Mallman with a wolf mask.) This would have been the high point of most other (read: lamer) shows.

Overall, the Mallman show was very entertaining. It was somewhat unfortunate that he focused on his music so much, as the comedic bits seemed to be well-received by the audience. Still, Mallman is a more than capable pianist, and his vocals, while somewhat more dramatic than accomplished, were certainly a strength. I don't know that I could hang out with Mark Mallman, who is probably a nice enough guy if you remember the rat pants that you are responsible for, because he simply seems just unhinged enough. I suppose I feel the same way about him that the Dandy Warhols feel about the Brian Jonestown Massacre, as recounted in the film Dig!:

Eric Hedford: "...I will not have them anywhere near me again."
Peter Holmstrom: "I'll still buy their albums though."

Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, but the Mark Mallman experience is certainly not easily forgotten.

For reference:
http://markmallman.wordpress.com - some free music here! Enjoy.

In Other News:
The Bryant Lake Bowl is a pretty wicked place to hang out. Where else can you see a concert, bowl, and get Belgian beer (and mojitos!) all in the same place?

Actual album reviews coming later this week, I swear!

In a day or two, I might be back to normal, so long as I don't run out of peanut butter.

The Royal Tenenbaums

"I'm sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terribly attractive woman."

Today's Soundtrack of the Day is the soundtrack to Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. This is a complete cop-out for music of the day, and I'm basically justifying this blog entry by considering the soundtrack to be something of a playlist rather than an accompaniment to the film. It probably warrants a track-by-track analysis, though there isn't going to be anything of the sort today.

The Tenenbaums soundtrack is an interesting mix of classical instrumentation and late 1960's pop music. This is classic Anderson, who generally has film scores that are interesting if a bit grounded in his particular taste. Some major Woodstock-era fixtures are featured here: the Velvet Underground, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan (with a nice, vocal-light "Wigwam"). I will give him credit for branching out, ever so slightly, and including the Clash and the Ramones (!!!) here, and even sneaking in an Elliot Smith tune. (Side note: I don't dislike Elliot Smith, but the general fascination with him is something that I've never completely understood.)

There's a clear disparity of style and mood between the popular songs, and the score-exclusive instrumentals - some of which are written by Anderson's sometimes-collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh, of Devo fame - but the union of the two works well, in the same way that a sweet fruit and a buttery, crisp crust come together to make a delicious pie. (This is what happens when a post gets written too close to lunchtime.) This is best illustrated in the last track of the album, an orchestral version of the Beatles' "Hey Jude". (Ironically, I couldn't tolerate this track and deleted it from my music library. Nico works better as the closer.)

Also, the Rolling Stones are notably absent from this soundtrack, despite having their music used in the film (as they are in just about every Wes Anderson film), because apparently the use of their song on this disc wasn't going to provide them with enough money to get Charlie Watts addicted to heroin again. So sad!

While I like this film, I'd be somewhat ignorant not to compare the similarities between the pacing of the film and the soundtrack. While the film is a visual spectacle, and has some genuinely memorable characters, it sometimes feels like a series of interrelated shorts rather than a carefully plotted narrative, for better or worse. The soundtrack has a similar feel, in that the songs work well individually, but there really isn't a common thread, or any sense of scripting to the order of the songs. Still, in both cases, the quality is evident, even if the concept sometimes outweighs the execution.

Anyway, the songs are somewhat out of order here, so they don't exactly evoke the same emotions as the film, but the listening experience is still fairly rich. This album might have benefited from a couple more upbeat songs, like the Ramones' "Judy is a Punk", but it wouldn't really be faithful to do so.

Still, there are plenty of good tracks here - Nico's "These Days" remains a treasure, as does Nick Drake's wistful "Fly". "Wigwam" is an inspired choice from the Dylan catalogue, and "Pagoda's Theme" is a welcome change of pace, if only for a single track. This is classic rock with string interludes, and while it seems more like a playlist with transitional pieces, it stands alone very well.

"You wanna play some word games, or do some experiments on me or anything?"

In Other News:
I really didn't give credit to the actual The Royal Tenenbaums film here today, in spite of it being one of my favorites. If you haven't seen it, well, you're bad at life.

I need a nap. Maybe coffee will have to suffice. Either way, I'm looking forward to the weekend, mostly. There's just no way around hours of driving, that's all.

Country Was

Today's Music of the Day is the Avett Brothers' Country Was. This music came to me by way of eMusic, at the recommendation of a friend.

I'm not sure where the name Country Was comes from, but it's at least half accurate; this is a definite bluegrass album. It's short - only seven or eight songs - and pretty easygoing. The piano and banjo seem to be the most prominent instruments here; the vocal suit the pastoral instrumentation fairly well. The lyrics and song structure are pretty basic, just simple good-timey backwoods songs to be found here. Sometimes the instrumentation is nice, but the old bluegrass harmonies were not far short of grating.

This isn't a terrible album, in the sense that terrible albums are usually more soundtracks to bare-navel-and-cleavage walking music videos than actual music intended for interested listening. However, it's overly twangy, without much depth or change of mood. I'm willing to admit that the Avett Brothers are not getting much of a fair shake from me, as this EP might not be the best introduction to a band with a sizable back catalog. Truthfully, though, this made me want to listen to more Calexico or the Sadies more than anything.

So, Country Was, nice enough in its own way, but not something I could recommend.

In Other News:
The writing in this post was pretty lazy, but it probably reflects my enthusiasm about the subject matter. You'll have to forgive me if this post didn't have the energy that some of my recent entries (Explosions in the Sky, et al) had.

I'm going to the YMCA today for exercise, and I'm pretty excited. My 'office' gym is convenient, but it certainly doesn't have the free weights that the Y has. To be continued...

Hot Rail

Today's Music of the Day is Calexico's Hot Rail. Sadly, this is the first Calexico album I have acquired (not counting the collaboration with Iron & Wine, In the Reins, which is excellent), despite having enjoyed their music for some time. I believe I first became acquainted with the band due to their song "Alone Again Or" being included in Wes Anderson's somewhat underappreciated film Bottle Rocket. Now, let's get to the part about Calexico, so I can go find someone to call 'Futureman' for a few days.

Hot Rail has a very rustic, southwestern feel to it. The songs are generally brief, though the sound is more 'country' than anything, if it has to be given a broad classification. Some tracks are more of a hushed, acoustic near-folk, while others are straight brass and string instrumentals. There aren't really any burning athems here; even the instrumentals tend to have a reserved quality to them. The overall sound is something not quite dark but certainly dusty; it's no secret that one of the major influences of Calexico's sound is the music of Ennio Morricone, and this is plain for any listener here. The pacing of the songs here is very deliberate and cautious, as though the band isn't exactly being restrained but has set some firm boundaries with regard to tempo and volume.

The opener, "El Picador", is a lovely mariachi tune, something that sets the tone of the album fairly well; "Muleta" is another standout. Some of the vocal-driven tracks ("Sonic Wind", "Hot Rail") are pretty good, but I think I honestly prefer the instrumentals. Maybe I'm just a sucker for horns, and I appreciate how the guitar is integrated into the sound here. "Service and Repair" is a nice twangy tune, and probably the closest that this album comes to anything with a pop sound.

Overall, this album may be too rustic and mellow for most people who would be musically adventurous enough to find it. However, it's a fine work, something that sounds the way that watching an old, dusty western film feels. It's not exactly relaxed, but decidedly sure of its pace and direction, and the experience is rich if not immediately gratifying.

In Other News:
I had pie and cat time this weekend, and both were glorious.

Don't you hassle me, I'm barely keeping up right now.

The Way The Wind Blows

Today's Music of the Day is A Hawk and a Hacksaw's The Way The Wind Blows. I'm certain that this music came to be a part of my musical library in some sort of feverish moment after listening to Beirut for several consecutive hours as I drove out to Reno to shoot a man.

A Hawk and a Hacksaw is very much a peer to Beirut, or perhaps someone heard Neutral Milk Hotel's "The Fool" and decided that it might be a good starting point for an album. The song composition is decidedly less pop than Beirut, and there are not really any vocals to be found, but the horns and strings are out in force. The horns in particular are busy, and often seem to fit the score of a bullfight-themed episode of Tom and Jerry.

It's a pretty good listen, if somewhat less engaging than I would prefer. In particular, I'd like to see a more dramatic quality from some of the songs, as they tend to give away their elements without much of a build. Still, it's energetic and old-fashioned, two very positive qualities, and while it's not the monumental album that some are, the quality is certainly there.

In Other News:
There is no other news today! Just that I'm almost out of clean socks.

Not Dead YET

Today there isn't really a blog post. Just a short half-post to let anyone who actually reads this that I'm not dead, just busy. Don't start picking over my things just yet!

Maybe later in the week, there will be a post on Calexico's Hot Rail, which is pretty bitchin'.