Today's Music That Jason Likes But Can't Quite Decide How He Feels About is Neon Bible, from the Arcade Fire. This is the group's second album, released earlier this year.
It's difficult to talk about Neon Bible without mentioning it in terms of Funeral. Whereas Funeral is a very intensely personal album, about life changing and loss, Neon Bible is a much broader album and more political. It took me a few listens to really get into it; the album didn't grab me right away. The songs are more layered and complicated, still very emotional and, dare I say, beautiful. It probably is more accessible than Funeral, even if it doesn't have quite the impact; this is a fine album and doesn't represent a radical departure from the Arcade Fire style. One criticism, though, is that Win Butler (the primary songwriter) does almost all the lead vocals on this album. On Funeral, Regine Chassagne (sp) had a number of vocal duties, but she is almost completely absent here, sadly. Still, I would recommend this album to almost anyone. Lots of good songs here, in particular "Intervention" and "Ocean of Noise". "Antichrist Television Blues" is another very good track, and probably has the best title of any song I can think of released in the past year.
So I guess I really can decide how I feel about this album. It is a letdown, but only in comparison to its amazing predecessor. Compared to almost anything else, it shines.
In other news:
I bought a car, a pretty nice one. I can't wait to drive it around a little bit.
I also sprained my foot today. It's painful, but nothing that will keep me from my regular routine.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Cleaning out the attic.
Today, rather than give you one semi-detailed entry for an album, I thought I'd give you some quick thoughts on music I've been listening to lately.
Be Your Own Pet: Be Your Own Pet - This seems to be like Goldfinger if they were a little more punk and had a rowdy female singer. It might not ever be my favorite, but I like it for what it is. Plus it's great workout music.
Slint: Spiderland - This is very interesting. I wasn't really able to form an impression of it because I was running all over the place at work and listened to it in pieces, but it seems to be good early post-rock. Probably warrants a more in-depth entry in the future.
The Beatles: Rubber Soul - This is a really good album, a number of wonderful songs appear here. If you were to pit it against other Beatles albums, I don't know if it would beat out Revolver, but it certainly would push Sgt. Pepper's. I like how simple so many of the songs are; they're clever but don't clutter the air too much, so you get to enjoy everything that happens. This is probably the greatest step forward for the Beatles in terms of songwriting, the album that really made them a band.
Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother - fun, interesting early Floyd. Sort of pretentious, but without the alienation and despair that would define the later and greater Waters-heavy Floyd works. I can't say I prefer it over the better-known Floyd albums but it's certainly worth a listen.
In other news:
I bought a car today. Straight cash, homey.
Be Your Own Pet: Be Your Own Pet - This seems to be like Goldfinger if they were a little more punk and had a rowdy female singer. It might not ever be my favorite, but I like it for what it is. Plus it's great workout music.
Slint: Spiderland - This is very interesting. I wasn't really able to form an impression of it because I was running all over the place at work and listened to it in pieces, but it seems to be good early post-rock. Probably warrants a more in-depth entry in the future.
The Beatles: Rubber Soul - This is a really good album, a number of wonderful songs appear here. If you were to pit it against other Beatles albums, I don't know if it would beat out Revolver, but it certainly would push Sgt. Pepper's. I like how simple so many of the songs are; they're clever but don't clutter the air too much, so you get to enjoy everything that happens. This is probably the greatest step forward for the Beatles in terms of songwriting, the album that really made them a band.
Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother - fun, interesting early Floyd. Sort of pretentious, but without the alienation and despair that would define the later and greater Waters-heavy Floyd works. I can't say I prefer it over the better-known Floyd albums but it's certainly worth a listen.
In other news:
I bought a car today. Straight cash, homey.
Friday, September 28, 2007
You Don't Like It? Tough.
You don't get a blog today because I'm far too busy looking for a car. Don't hassle me. Maybe this weekend.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Twin Cinema OMG
Today's Music That Jason Is Badly Smitten With is Twin Cinema, by the New Pornographers. Well, if you've read any of the other NP-related blogs of mine you kind of know what to expect. This is the album where A.C. Newman & company slowed things down, some, but really made some great songs.
There are ballads on here, Neko Case ballads mind you ("These Are The Fables", "Bones of an Idol"), and they're excellent. There are also some more traditional-sounding NP songs ("Jackie, Dressed in Cobras", "Stacked Crooked", "Use It"). There's even an epic song ("The Bleeding Heart Show"), a cheerful almost cult-happy song ("Streets of Fire"), and some bizarre falsetto ("Three or Four"). This album is all across the board but all the songs work. The Bejar songs seem to fit even better with the Newman songs than on the previous albums; also, Kurt Dahle's drumming comes to the forefront of a lot of songs and it seems to be a change for the better. It's clever Canadian indie-pop, probably about as good as it gets.
This album is generally regarded as the best NP's album, and for good reason. It kept the energy of the prior albums but slowed things down a little bit. There's a reason why my name on Myspace was "Bones of an Idol" for the majority of my time there. I absolutely can't recommend this album any more.
I bought this album in early 2006, with the other NP's albums (at the time) as well as Cat Power's The Greatest and The Arcade Fire's Funeral. Is it the best album of this group? Maybe. I'd be hard-pressed to pick between Twin Cinema and Funeral, to be sure.
There are ballads on here, Neko Case ballads mind you ("These Are The Fables", "Bones of an Idol"), and they're excellent. There are also some more traditional-sounding NP songs ("Jackie, Dressed in Cobras", "Stacked Crooked", "Use It"). There's even an epic song ("The Bleeding Heart Show"), a cheerful almost cult-happy song ("Streets of Fire"), and some bizarre falsetto ("Three or Four"). This album is all across the board but all the songs work. The Bejar songs seem to fit even better with the Newman songs than on the previous albums; also, Kurt Dahle's drumming comes to the forefront of a lot of songs and it seems to be a change for the better. It's clever Canadian indie-pop, probably about as good as it gets.
This album is generally regarded as the best NP's album, and for good reason. It kept the energy of the prior albums but slowed things down a little bit. There's a reason why my name on Myspace was "Bones of an Idol" for the majority of my time there. I absolutely can't recommend this album any more.
I bought this album in early 2006, with the other NP's albums (at the time) as well as Cat Power's The Greatest and The Arcade Fire's Funeral. Is it the best album of this group? Maybe. I'd be hard-pressed to pick between Twin Cinema and Funeral, to be sure.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Plastic Ono Band
Today's Music That Jason Is Listening To is Plastic Ono Band, from John Lennon. Well, if you don't know who John Lennon is, I'm certainly not the person to tell you, so let's get right into the album.
There's no Yoko on this album, and unsurprisingly, it may be John's best solo work. This album has a number of songs that manage to be personal without being preachy, emotional without being whiny, political without polarizing. They're simply structured, but powerful. John gets a lot of range out of his voice, giving us the gentle "Mother" to open the album but going all the way to the absolute wail of "Do The Oz" to close. This is not an album full of radio-friendly singles, but more the kind of album meant to be listened to as a whole. The songs are great, though, to be sure. This is a genuine album, from a man full of talent and torment. If I had to pick a song to represent this album, I'd probably pick "Working Class Hero". There's plenty of piano, but it always accompanies John, who is the real star of the album. Other instruments appear, and there's even a choir on "Power to the People", but your opinion of John's voice will probably determine what you think of this album. But give it a shot.
John sings "don't believe in Beatles, just believe...in me." Well, John, I love a lot of the Beatles' music, but this album made me believe in you.
In other news:
My weekend was okay. Great at times but absolutely awful at others. Pictures forthcoming.
There's no Yoko on this album, and unsurprisingly, it may be John's best solo work. This album has a number of songs that manage to be personal without being preachy, emotional without being whiny, political without polarizing. They're simply structured, but powerful. John gets a lot of range out of his voice, giving us the gentle "Mother" to open the album but going all the way to the absolute wail of "Do The Oz" to close. This is not an album full of radio-friendly singles, but more the kind of album meant to be listened to as a whole. The songs are great, though, to be sure. This is a genuine album, from a man full of talent and torment. If I had to pick a song to represent this album, I'd probably pick "Working Class Hero". There's plenty of piano, but it always accompanies John, who is the real star of the album. Other instruments appear, and there's even a choir on "Power to the People", but your opinion of John's voice will probably determine what you think of this album. But give it a shot.
John sings "don't believe in Beatles, just believe...in me." Well, John, I love a lot of the Beatles' music, but this album made me believe in you.
In other news:
My weekend was okay. Great at times but absolutely awful at others. Pictures forthcoming.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
A Twin Cinema Tease
Today's blog entry was supposed to be about the New Pornographers' album, Twin Cinema. This album is wonderful in every sense of the word; however, I'm too tired to properly blog about it so this entry will have to wait. Maybe tomorrow.
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