The Fool, Warpaint's debut LP (they've already released an EP, Exquisite Corpse, produced by former Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante), is out today. There's nothing as kinetic as "Elephants" (from the EP); instead, the band paints a hypnotic, moody, and pensive tapestry of sound across these nine songs. Heavy on bass and dreamy atmospherics, Warpaint do not really sound like any other active band. Imagine a female-fronted Radiohead circa "There, There" with emphasis on interwoven guitars and bass. Mind-altered college kids are gonna love this one.
You can stream the entire thing via the Hype Machine. Or, ya know, here:
I'm almost disappointed that this wasn't called something like Fifth of Whiskey, after Yorn's last (and I'm sure coincidentally fourth) album was called Back & Fourth. Sigh. (By the way, I'm not counting his duet album with Scarlett Johansson, Break Up. If I was, we could call this The Sixth Sense. But, given that Break Up doesn't have anything to do with the number five, I suppose the numerical nomenclature fad is truly dead. Sad, I think.) Anyway, this was actually recorded over 5 days in 2008 during the B&F sessions. Produced by Black Francis/Frank Black (of Pixies fame), the album is Yorn at his most raw. It's somewhat interesting that, after calling his first three albums a trilogy, Yorn's latest three barely resemble each other. Ya know, if you find that sort of thing interesting...
My job is not physically demanding, but it is exhausting nonetheless. Nearly every day, I fall asleep around 5:00 on the car ride home. I have a new home and plenty of things to fix in it, but I spend most of my evenings in front of a television or a computer monitor, because to stand up just takes too much energy. I've put in a full day, after all. And of course, when the weekend comes, who wants to work? I put in a full week, after all. Right?
Every day, I see ugliness of all shapes and forms, often in unintentional ways. (I like to assume it's unintentional, at least; because if it wasn't, some people are really fucked up.) I see fathers unwilling to take responsibility for their children. Mental health agencies unwilling to help the seriously mentally ill. Youth protection agencies trying to escape protecting youth. Mothers looking to get paid (and paid well!) for taking care of their kids. People who spend more energy working the phones to complain than actually working on their problems.
"We hear our lives inside these sounds..."
So, I've been a little bummed out lately. I don't know if it's job-related, state-of-the-world related, or just my man-time of the month. Still, I need a soundtrack to self-doubt and moodiness. It's like I know when I need (want?) to be gloomy, but I can't fully get there without a morose tune to take me the rest of the way.
This has led me back to Voxtrot.
Their music is about the ugliness of human interaction, wrapped up in an often cheery exterior. It's much like how we pretend we're fine, when everything is really, really falling apart. Lead singer Ramesh Srivastava's lyrics unfold like journal entries, at times scribbled in rage, but always with the incisive precision of a scalpel.
In business (and incidentally, in Diablo 2 - which isn't related, but I'm just saying), I think they call this "synergy." Mid way through "Kid Gloves," Srivastava bursts into self-awareness: "Cheer me up, cheer me up, I'm a miserable fuck / Cheer me up, cheer me up, I'm a tireless bore." And all I can think is: Yeah man, I am a miserable fuck. And cheering me up is the last thing this is doing. But in a weird way, it's comforting.
"Come steady my shaking knees..."
Still, even among all this reality-based pessimism, I think Srivastava found something positive in our relationships, as in songs such as "Every Day," a highlight of the band's lone full-length release (and from which all lyrics in this post were taken). At a time when it'd be so easy to just let the disappointment and frustration wash over, this song gave me pause. There is strength to be found in each other. I see it in a woman who's beaten back cancer before, and still finds the courage to do it again, even when a doctor tells her there's nothing more he can do. And every day I find it in my wife, who, watching me come home after another day of dealing with human ugliness, always finds a way to make me smile.
"And these things come rushing from behind
Life is changing so fast and there's nothing I can do to stop it
But when I crane my neck to kiss your head, I know
That there is something that I can rely on
And when I strain my thoughts to push this thread I sew
Some kind of future that I can be sure of
Because I love you, because I love you
Because I love you, because I love you"
Well, friends, we have reached the end of the road...or at least a road. I had been using Google Sites to host song files, apparently unaware that I had a 100 MB maximum. I exceeded that threshold with the previous post, and now have no more room to host files unless I start deleting old ones.
Furthermore, I've been advised that Google may not be the best place to host a music blog, since it's been known to shut them down without warning. I was aware of this when I created Given and Taken in Ink, but I had experience with Wordpress for a previous (non-music) blog and wanted to try something new. I think, in the back of my mind, I always knew I'd have to switch back at some point in the future. Now may be that time.
I've also been advised that it's probably safest for me to self-host this blog, which will probably happen as soon as I pick a host. If you have any suggestions about a good host, please leave a comment about it! I've heard DreamHost is pretty decent, although it's been frustrating that all hosting sites seem to have very little information available. I'm sure that has something to do with people's rush to get on the Internet; in our haste, we may neglect to read the fine print. I don't generally operate that way, and I'm going to take a little time to do some research.
What this means is that GTI will eventually have a new address, although I can't reserve one until I have a host. Stay tuned for more on that!
The Orchard is not as uniformly upbeat and joyous as Ra Ra Riot's debut The Rhumb Line, which is somewhat of a surprise, given that the band does breezy upbeat chamber pop so well. Still, there's something unexpectedly captivating about the band's new album, which represents not so much a change of direction as it does a commitment to exploring a greater variety of arrangements and moods.
In the pretty, melancholic opener "The Orchard," lead singer Wesley Miles is complemented by an achingly beautiful combination of Rebecca Zeller's violin and Alexandra Lawn's cello. The song serves to re-orient the listener's expectations: This is not going to be a rehash of the first record.
Still, it transitions perfectly into lead single "Boy," which sounds like it could have been lifted from The Rhumb Line. While this is Ra Ra Riot's bread and butter, "Boy" is the result of a more experienced, self-assured band. No matter what direction they pursue in the future, Ra Ra Riot will probably always have the ability to write a great song like this.
"Boy" is not the only upbeat song on the record. The hyper "Too Dramatic" augments the band's typical sound with retro synths. "Shadowcasting" bounces along before delivering a soaring chorus. In both songs, Miles sounds more confident and mature than ever. His growth as a front man is perhaps The Orchard's greatest accomplishment.
That being said, The Orchard also marks the first Ra Ra Riot record to feature cellist Alexandra Lawn on lead vocals (on "You and I Know"). It's always refreshing when the female singer in an indie band does not sound like every other female singer in an indie band (that is, sort of cutesy). One of the album's highlights, "You and I Know" smolders like Stevie Nicks at her most heart-wrenching.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive comments above, The Orchard is a bit of a grower, especially for anyone expecting the carefree joy of the band's debut. After repeated listens, though, it is clear that Ra Ra Riot have defied the so-called sophomore slump and crafted a record that exceeds its predecessor.
The characters in Arcade Fire's third album are suffocating. The Suburbs describes the disappointment of growing up in a modern, middle class life, forced to focus more on punching a clock than being alive. Much of the imagery is viewed through the driver's seat of a car, winding through well-traveled streets in search of lost youth, meaning, purpose...anything more than the stifling monotony of everyday existence. The album is pervaded by a serene melancholy, a yearning for the joy of youth mixed with a recognition that we can never go back to it.
Lyrically, the album is remarkably cohesive, with themes (and even particular phrases) introduced in the opening tracks recurring later in the album. The title tracks touches on many of the topics explored later in greater depth, acting almost as a table of contents for the rest of the album. This is a level of discipline that is largely absent from the works of Arcade Fire's peers.
Not all themes on the album are confined solely to the suburban experience. In "Deep Blue," lead singer Win Butler expresses apprehension about the dehumanizing aspects of modernity. Through a reference to the defeat of chess champion Garry Kasparov by the computer Deep Blue in 1996, the song ponders the impending uselessness of humanity in the face of increasingly sophisticated technology. Butler doesn't let us forget, though, that this is something we've brought upon ourselves, by our increasing preoccupation with technology that ultimately alienates us from the world and each other:
Hey, put the cellphone down for a while. In the night there is something wild. Can you hear it breathing? And hey, put the laptop down for a while In the night there is something wild I feel it, it's leaving me.
This loss of feeling is another recurring theme on The Suburbs, first appearing the opening title track ("I can't believe it, I'm moving past the feeling"). Butler wishes for a child so that he can "hold her hand, and her show some beauty, before this damage is done"; or, in other words, before adulthood steals it all away from him. In "Ready to Start," he'd "rather be alone, than pretend I feel all right." And in "Modern Man," he "feel[s] I'm losing the feeling."
Still, there are places when "the feeling" hasn't entirely been stamped out, namely in the darkness of sleep (as in Sprawl II: "but late at night the feelings swim to the surface"). In Half Light, "the night tears us loose, and in the half light we're free." And even though Butler claims to have moved past the feeling, he admits, "In my dreams we're still screaming."
It's a dark sentiment, but perhaps screaming is better than feeling nothing at all.
In advance of their second album, The Orchard, Ra Ra Riot have released an iTunes-exclusive EP for the album's lead single, "Boy." For the price of two songs, you'll get three: "Boy," a cover of the Sparks' "Saccharin and the War," and a stripped-down version of Orchard-closer "Keep it Quiet (Bear)."
Or, if spending money on music isn't your thing, you can download the song from the band's website for the price of your email address.
The Orchard will be released on August 24 via Barsuk Records.
Posts
