Posts from — January 2008

The Beach Boys

Thoughts/Words/Reviews:
If you need some pointy-headed pundit to sell you on the merits of Pet Sounds, your money might be better spent on an ear specialist. Brian Wilson’s gift to 20th-century music elevated this pop album into a beguiling musical and emotional cogency that still operates outside pop culture’s fickle space-time continuum–and limited critical lexicon. There’s never been another record to compare (Rubber Soul, its inspiration, is close; Sgt. Pepper’s, its response, misses the point), and certainly no album has been as dissected, overanalyzed, and predigested for public consumption. In 1997 Capitol Records devoted an entire four-disc box set, The Pet Sounds Sessions, to its thorough deconstruction. The techno-marvel centerpiece of that project–the album’s first true stereo mix, painstakingly conjured out of multitape session sources by producer-engineer Mark Linett (under Wilson’s supervision)–was at once heresy and revelation. Now the label has gratifyingly seen fit to offer both mixes on a single disc (along with alternate versions of “Hang On to Your Ego,” the original title of “I Know There’s An Answer”), an idea that should please the orthodox and heretics alike. And while the album has always clearly been The Brian Wilson Show featuring the Beach Boys, David Leaf’s concise new notes attempt to be more inclusive of a wider band perspective. The result (three of the five band members claim credit for the album title) sometimes resembles Rashomon. If Pet Sounds forever crystallized the band’s various creative (in)differences, it also became Wilson’s grand karmic joke on his band mates; its burgeoning reputation (Mojo magazine’s panel of pop experts once elected it greatest album of all time) guaranteed they would sing its songs–and praises–until the end. And if putting two different versions of the same album on one disc seems like overkill, look at the bright side: it’s a perfect excuse to listen to the glorious Pet Sounds twice. –Jerry McCulley

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Vampire Weekend

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This NY four-piece draw on their diverse backgrounds and interests, experimenting with African guitar music, the Western classical canon, hazy memories of Cape Cod summers, winters in upper Manhattan, and reggaeton. “Equal parts shruggy New York indie strumming and groovy Afro-pop, Vampire Weekend’s organ-and-drum runs highlight narratives about relationships, punctuation, and sometimes both” - Spin. Named “Hot New Kids” in Rolling Stone’s “Hot” issue. Vinyl contains MP3 coupon.

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The Lemonheads

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Thoughts/Words/Reviews:
45tunes.com says:
Jingly-jangly pop perfection!

an amazon.com customer says:
all-time favorite feel-good album
Lemonheads-It’s a Shame About Ray (1992) My all-time favorite feel-good album, all songs are under four minutes long. The Boston-based band churns out the most catchy tunes I’ve ever heard. Singer/guitarist/lyricist Evan Dando’s songs have an air of innocence and wonderment that always leaves me feeling happy to be alive. Juliana Hatfield was a member of the band at this time, and Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway starred in the video for album’s title track. “Rockin’ Stroll” is sung from the perspective of a baby in his stroller: “People’s knees and trunks of trees smile at me.” “My Drug Buddy” is about scoring some dope and just enjoying a female friend’s company. Lyrics like, “Thrilled to be in the same post-code as you…/Smile at me, I’ll hold you really tight/Follow you into bed,” are practically irresistible. And “Rudderless” must be one of the most catchiest songs ever made. I pop this cd in when I’m feeling low, and it never fails to cheer me up.

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Nick Drake

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The options where Nick Drake is concerned are limited, but wholly appealing. The downhearted singer-songwriter released only three albums in his 26 years; the posthumous rarities collection, Time of No Reply, rounds out his abbreviated oeuvre. The whole lot is contained in the exemplary four-disc Fruit Tree box set. Way to Blue is a scaled-back option for those who are enchanted by Drake’s intricate yet cozy lamentations, but feel no need to join the ever-growing legion of Drake completists. But while the 16 songs included here provide a fine introduction to the ill-fated Englishman’s work (which seems to fit together no matter how it’s sequenced), Drake is one of those rare artists whose entire catalog is worth owning due to its excellence and, sadly, its brevity. –Steven Stolder

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Beck

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45tunes.com says: This is not like any of the other Beck records. Clearly this one finds Beck serious, mellow and pretty depressed. But it is great. Just great. Great for a cold rainy day while you’re sipping coffee and gazing out the window.

Beck is bummed. Really bummed. And if song titles such as “Lost Cause,” “Lonesome Tears,” “Already Dead,” and “Nothing I Haven’t Seen” don’t make the point, his achingly sad lyrics and Sea Change’s unerringly downcast sound do. While 1998’s Mutations–arguably the singer-songwriter’s masterwork and Sea Change’s spiritual cousin–was filled with unflinching self-examination, moments of levity were found in songs like “Tropicalia.” Not so on Sea Change. Beck’s woozy, almost narcoleptic delivery seems to amplify the set’s sense of ennui. But sad isn’t necessarily bad, and despite the somber tone, there’s much to praise, not the least of which is the return of producer Nigel Goderich (Mutations, Radiohead), who wraps Beck’s gloom in a dreamy, warm blanket of soft strings and floating bleeps and gurgles. Like Daniel Lanois, Goderich is all about vibe, and even Beck’s most bare-bones songs benefit from billowy atmospherics. That’s especially true of “Paper Tiger,” a restless, slowly building epic improbably propelled by a languid orchestra and Beck’s expressionless drone. The inky black feel of “Round the Bend”–a glacially slow dirge with muffled vocals–may be the darkest thing Beck’s ever written, not counting the very grim “Already Dead.” Whatever’s going on in Beck’s world, at least we know he’s purging, which, all things considered, may be better for his soul than ours. –Kim Hughes

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Radiohead

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45tunes.com says:
“The Bends” is Radiohead’s first GREAT record (and they’ve had several more since then). Newer fans who’ve never heard “The Bends”, you’ve GOTTA get it!

amazon.com editorial review:
While Radiohead saw its stock rising in 1994, it wasn’t until 1995’s The Bends that it really became a blue chip band. And for good reason. The quintet honed its talent for bombastic Brit Rock, yet still preserved an edge of unpredictability. Even singles like the title track didn’t give in to the kind of swooning guitar clichés usually embraced by commercial radio. If the CD proved anything, it was that Radiohead could find solid ground between pop experimentation and the tradition of born-in-the-bone, balls-out rock. –Nick Heil

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The Beatles

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Revolver wouldn’t remain the Beatles’ most ambitious LP for long, but many fans–including this one–remember it as their best. An object lesson in fitting great songwriting into experimental production and genre play, this is also a record whose influence extends far beyond mere they-was-the-greatest cheerleading. Putting McCartney’s more traditionally melodic “Here, There and Everywhere” and “For No One” alongside Lennon’s direct-hit sneering (”Dr. Robert”) and dreamscapes (”I’m Only Sleeping,” “Tomorrow Never Knows”) and Harrison’s peaking wit (”Taxman”) was as conceptually brilliant as anything Sgt. Pepper attempted, and more subtly fulfilling. A must. –Rickey Wright

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Beastie Boys

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45tunes.com says: There’s something to love about all of the Beastie Boys records, but Ill Communication is nearly perfect. They strike the perfect balance between hip-hop and rock and roll, not to mention spices of funk and jazz. They are firing on all cylinders. The peak is the four song flow of “Bobo On The Corner” > “Root Down” > “Sabotage” > “Get It Together”.

Beastie Boys Photos

More from Beastie Boys

Paul’s Boutique	To The 5 Boroughs	Check Your Head
Sounds of Science	Awesome, I Shot That	DVD Video Anthology - Criterion Collection

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While Neon Bible was pretty good, it’s impossible to top their deservedly over-hyped debut Funeral. My vote for the best of the 2000’s (so far).
Arcade Fire

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Thoughts/Words/Reviews:
Montreal’s Arcade Fire brings a theatricality, an intensity, an insanity, and a penchant for amazing hooks to their debut full-length. You’ve never heard such energy, beauty, and emotion from such a young band. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Broken Social Scene, and Roxy Music’s first two albums will have a new favorite band.

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My Bloody Valentine

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My Bloody Valentine’s entire career has been aiming toward the perfect guitar noise that Kevin Shields has in his head: a pure, warm, androgynous but deeply sexual rush of sound. Loveless is overwhelming, with Shields and Bilinda Butcher’s guitars and voices blending into each other until they become a distant orchestra, the rhythm section striding in majestic lockstep, and occasional bursts of dance rhythms (as on the single “Soon”) buoying the live instruments’ warp and drift. Furiously loud but seductive rather than aggressive, the album flows like a lava stream from one track into another, subsuming everything in the mix into its blissful roar, and pulsing like a lover’s body. –Douglas Wolk

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