It's been 906 days since we started here. Wow. Bob Pollard would shake his head in disappointment.
Since the last post all the work on the album has been towards editing, aligning, and mixing tracks and coming up with ideas to change things in production, which have resulted in some pretty great final products. If I don't say it anywhere else let it be known, here, that I think Anthony Jackon's contribution to the final product of this album is gigantic and awe inspiring. He is a visionary and a craftsman and deserves more credit than we will be able to give.
Which, speaking of, is the other item of business we've (ie mostly just Anthony Jackson) been working on. Art, layout, notes--all of it is being worked on as we speak and I've seen some of the drafts and it's really mind blowing. We're creeping to that point where things are all coming together and we're starting to see the Squigglevision™ version the final product we've only been visualizing in our heads and it's better than we could have hoped.
All of that said we still have a ways to go. I have a punch list of items that I have to do musically, and a couple of verses that I've decided needed to be re-recorded and/or re-written. We still have a couple of tracks waiting for Anthony to go over and we have to finalize a lot of the art and notes and layout. I'm really looking forward to arranging the release and getting the final decision on whether we'll do a physical release, so stay tuned for that. Most people who care about physical releases generally only care about the vinyl release but a couple of us are die-hard CD fans so we expect a vigorous debate over which mediums we release Monstrosity on, if we release it physically at all. Please let us know on twitter or Facebook if you have an opinion!
Thanks for sticking with us. I promise it will be worth the wait, even if it's another 906 days.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Review: Ben Folds Five - The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind
Almost two years ago I went to Best Buy and bough the newly reunited Ben Folds Five album The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind, took it to Forrest Jameson's house, and put on an impromptu listening party with him and Scurvy D. We listened, we laughed, and we talked and we had a lot of fun. We also disagreed with a few things which kind of got to me.
The first play-through did not blow me away, but then again I wasn't sure what I was supposed to expect. Was this supposed to be the follow-up to the under-appreciated The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner, finally? Was this supposed to be a snapshot of two-week get-together Ben was able to squeeze in, between solo albums and The Sing-Off episodes?
Eventually I would play the album a couple of more times and finally gain some more reasonable perspective. As such I have finally decided to make my case publicly, if only for the review of Scurvy D and Forrest. But even if you're not them, please enjoy!
1. "Erase Me" - An operatic, all-the-stops opener that takes the Ben Folds Five harmonization and performance to the edge. The first three listens I was not huge on this song, but for some reason, on this play-through, it stomped my ass. I always had a problem with how Queen it was (that stretch to the high note on the phrase "eRASE ME"), but now I see that this song, and this album, is distinguished from Ben Folds solo albums by using a lot of harmonies. It makes sense: the harmonies were a big part of basically their entire body of work, so when they reunited of course there was going to be harmonies. Because I'm dumb it took me a few times to think about that. Duh. My favorite epiphany about this song though is how fucking Reinhold Messner it is. I like Reinhold Messner a lot and this is sort of a "Wow, this should have been on Reinhold Messner" type song. More on that later.
2. "Michael Praytor, Five Years Later" - Here's another Ben Folds Five specific trope: the song about and named after a person someone in the band presumably knows. I'm not 19 anymore which means I'm too lazy to look up the minutiae as to whether this Michael Praytor actually exists, and like the rest of their person-named songs, it hardly matters. It's pretty great and again, very Ben Folds Five-y. The beginning of this song is musically a perfect Track 2. The bombast of the beginning picks up the laconic fall-off of "Erase Me" without hesitation. This is a winner for sure.
3. "Sky High" - This is my favorite on this album for several reasons but probably mostly because it's like "Brick" and "Magic" and "Don't Change Your Plans." (Coincidentally perhaps, the video is the biological cousin to "Don't Change Your Plans")
If we look at who wrote these songs, counting "Sky High," the obvious correlation here is that I like the Darren Jesse songs in the Ben Folds Five catalog. They're usually about the wake or the aftermath of a girl and they're always terribly pretty sounding, while being sort of sad without being over-the-top (see "Thank You For Breaking My Heart"). In my opinion this is one of the songs--this one especially--that benefits from having Robert and Darren in the band.
4. "The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind" - This one is a great example of how I would describe a reunion-era Ben Folds Five to someone who loved BFF in their heyday and was uneasy about listening to the new album. It has the name drops, and the big piano driven bridge, a little fuzz bass, and those goddamn harmonies everyone is so damned keen on. It's like a Whatever And Ever Amen b-side they never finished until now.
5. "On Being Frank" - Forrest Jameson informs me that this based on the real-life story of Frank Sinatra's personal assistant. That's cool. It's an interesting concept you might expect a band like Ben Folds Five would take on and they do it well. I like this song a lot but I don't love it, despite the fact that it could have easily been on WEAEA or TUBORM. We can't love them all.
6. "Draw A Crowd" - The "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces" of the album. Forrest (playfully) gives me shit for not liking this track and I can understand his points. This is the classic Ben Folds Five sense of humor, delightfully twisting an empowering message of "stand up for yourself, FUCK THEM!" with emphatic, good natured perversion. You like "For Those Of Ya'll Who Wear Fanny Packs" but you don't like this?
I get it and here's the thing: in order to understand this album, and by extension this song, much less get into it enough to like it, I had to abandon a lot (ie everything) I understood about Ben Folds Five pre-reunion, because, not only are they different people, grown up with different lives, but so am I. I'm not the really 19 year-old kid I was when I adored them so much I wore the stupid Stick Head shirt every week (right now I'm wearing a Call Of The Void shirt,
something 2001 Wyatt would be baffled by) just like they're not really the guys who wrote and recorded the chorus "Give me my money back, give me my money back you bitch." We're the same people--we definitely did those things--but different. The humor employed here is no longer capable of reaching me at this point of my life. I think that's why a song like this which relies on the humor of a dick joke to make it's point, seems like a step-backwards to me, or at the very least a step sideways they didn't need to make. I appreciate their humor and always will, just not this.
7. "Do It Anyway" - This song is sort of a continuation of "Draw A Crowd" in that it has an inspiring message (carpe diem!) only without the dick reference. So what animosity could I possibly have with a positive, uplifting message without the nasty cursing? I think my problem with this song is that it's just too on-the-nose, too direct. I'm a big Polyphonic Spree fan so I can take a lot of things on the nose. But on "Do It Anyway" it's too transparent, like I'm being forced to read a chapter from a self-help book. My only counter-point to that is that if I were 19 and heard this album for the first time, this song might be super inspiring and I might take from it what they intend. In that case I'm glad this song exists; otherwise I think because of my life experience I don't "need" this song, in a manner of speaking.
8. "Hold That Thought" - A likable song--not my favorite and not my least favorite. This is kind of the "Selfless Cold, And Composed" or "Mess" track in that it carries a lot of weight but you never think of it until you hear it. If you think about this album as a direct follow-up to Reinhold Messner (which I don't think you can), this song makes more sense, and is pretty great. By itself, on this album, it's great, just not extrodinary.
9. "Away When You Were Here" - This song sounds like it would have been on a Ben Folds solo album had the events lined up, and I say that because it sounds extremely Rockin' The Suburbs, down to the production. It sounds like a B-Side to "Not The Same" and I don't think you could argue that I'm totally off base. Seriously, this song makes me long for RTS. I think it's most obvious in the vocal melody. Despite it's "on-the-nose" sentimentality, I really like this song and glad his dad gets another song (see "Your Most Valuable Possession").
10. "Thank You For Breaking My Heart" - The "Boxing" of this album: it's laconic and theatrical and could easily be covered by Bette Midler. Not that that's bad. I love "Boxing" and I like this song a lot. Again, not to repeat myself into redundancy, I just think it's a little too on-the-nose. The sentiment is fine but since it's left uncovered by metaphor or analogy it ends up kind of stilted. It's like a song to a musical Folds hasn't finished yet. I'm fine with that. I'm GREAT with that. But I think it limits the impact of THIS song on THIS album just a little bit. That's all.
All in all, I think this album is great, especially now that I've listened to it about five times over the last two years. The biggest thing from me was separating both Ben Folds Five and myself from 1999 and thinking about them and this album on it's on terms now. This album doesn't deserve to be judged in the vacuum of my own nostalgia. That's completely unfair and coincidentally completely un-enjoyable. I would say that this album is excellent considering making a reunion album is next-to-impossible to do well, but that's fucking bullshit. This album is great because they made a great album. I think they could make a better one and I hope that they do. But until then I will appreciate this album as much. if not more so, than their previous ones.
The first play-through did not blow me away, but then again I wasn't sure what I was supposed to expect. Was this supposed to be the follow-up to the under-appreciated The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner, finally? Was this supposed to be a snapshot of two-week get-together Ben was able to squeeze in, between solo albums and The Sing-Off episodes?
Eventually I would play the album a couple of more times and finally gain some more reasonable perspective. As such I have finally decided to make my case publicly, if only for the review of Scurvy D and Forrest. But even if you're not them, please enjoy!
1. "Erase Me" - An operatic, all-the-stops opener that takes the Ben Folds Five harmonization and performance to the edge. The first three listens I was not huge on this song, but for some reason, on this play-through, it stomped my ass. I always had a problem with how Queen it was (that stretch to the high note on the phrase "eRASE ME"), but now I see that this song, and this album, is distinguished from Ben Folds solo albums by using a lot of harmonies. It makes sense: the harmonies were a big part of basically their entire body of work, so when they reunited of course there was going to be harmonies. Because I'm dumb it took me a few times to think about that. Duh. My favorite epiphany about this song though is how fucking Reinhold Messner it is. I like Reinhold Messner a lot and this is sort of a "Wow, this should have been on Reinhold Messner" type song. More on that later.
2. "Michael Praytor, Five Years Later" - Here's another Ben Folds Five specific trope: the song about and named after a person someone in the band presumably knows. I'm not 19 anymore which means I'm too lazy to look up the minutiae as to whether this Michael Praytor actually exists, and like the rest of their person-named songs, it hardly matters. It's pretty great and again, very Ben Folds Five-y. The beginning of this song is musically a perfect Track 2. The bombast of the beginning picks up the laconic fall-off of "Erase Me" without hesitation. This is a winner for sure.
3. "Sky High" - This is my favorite on this album for several reasons but probably mostly because it's like "Brick" and "Magic" and "Don't Change Your Plans." (Coincidentally perhaps, the video is the biological cousin to "Don't Change Your Plans")
4. "The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind" - This one is a great example of how I would describe a reunion-era Ben Folds Five to someone who loved BFF in their heyday and was uneasy about listening to the new album. It has the name drops, and the big piano driven bridge, a little fuzz bass, and those goddamn harmonies everyone is so damned keen on. It's like a Whatever And Ever Amen b-side they never finished until now.
5. "On Being Frank" - Forrest Jameson informs me that this based on the real-life story of Frank Sinatra's personal assistant. That's cool. It's an interesting concept you might expect a band like Ben Folds Five would take on and they do it well. I like this song a lot but I don't love it, despite the fact that it could have easily been on WEAEA or TUBORM. We can't love them all.
6. "Draw A Crowd" - The "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces" of the album. Forrest (playfully) gives me shit for not liking this track and I can understand his points. This is the classic Ben Folds Five sense of humor, delightfully twisting an empowering message of "stand up for yourself, FUCK THEM!" with emphatic, good natured perversion. You like "For Those Of Ya'll Who Wear Fanny Packs" but you don't like this?
I get it and here's the thing: in order to understand this album, and by extension this song, much less get into it enough to like it, I had to abandon a lot (ie everything) I understood about Ben Folds Five pre-reunion, because, not only are they different people, grown up with different lives, but so am I. I'm not the really 19 year-old kid I was when I adored them so much I wore the stupid Stick Head shirt every week (right now I'm wearing a Call Of The Void shirt,
7. "Do It Anyway" - This song is sort of a continuation of "Draw A Crowd" in that it has an inspiring message (carpe diem!) only without the dick reference. So what animosity could I possibly have with a positive, uplifting message without the nasty cursing? I think my problem with this song is that it's just too on-the-nose, too direct. I'm a big Polyphonic Spree fan so I can take a lot of things on the nose. But on "Do It Anyway" it's too transparent, like I'm being forced to read a chapter from a self-help book. My only counter-point to that is that if I were 19 and heard this album for the first time, this song might be super inspiring and I might take from it what they intend. In that case I'm glad this song exists; otherwise I think because of my life experience I don't "need" this song, in a manner of speaking.
8. "Hold That Thought" - A likable song--not my favorite and not my least favorite. This is kind of the "Selfless Cold, And Composed" or "Mess" track in that it carries a lot of weight but you never think of it until you hear it. If you think about this album as a direct follow-up to Reinhold Messner (which I don't think you can), this song makes more sense, and is pretty great. By itself, on this album, it's great, just not extrodinary.
9. "Away When You Were Here" - This song sounds like it would have been on a Ben Folds solo album had the events lined up, and I say that because it sounds extremely Rockin' The Suburbs, down to the production. It sounds like a B-Side to "Not The Same" and I don't think you could argue that I'm totally off base. Seriously, this song makes me long for RTS. I think it's most obvious in the vocal melody. Despite it's "on-the-nose" sentimentality, I really like this song and glad his dad gets another song (see "Your Most Valuable Possession").
10. "Thank You For Breaking My Heart" - The "Boxing" of this album: it's laconic and theatrical and could easily be covered by Bette Midler. Not that that's bad. I love "Boxing" and I like this song a lot. Again, not to repeat myself into redundancy, I just think it's a little too on-the-nose. The sentiment is fine but since it's left uncovered by metaphor or analogy it ends up kind of stilted. It's like a song to a musical Folds hasn't finished yet. I'm fine with that. I'm GREAT with that. But I think it limits the impact of THIS song on THIS album just a little bit. That's all.
All in all, I think this album is great, especially now that I've listened to it about five times over the last two years. The biggest thing from me was separating both Ben Folds Five and myself from 1999 and thinking about them and this album on it's on terms now. This album doesn't deserve to be judged in the vacuum of my own nostalgia. That's completely unfair and coincidentally completely un-enjoyable. I would say that this album is excellent considering making a reunion album is next-to-impossible to do well, but that's fucking bullshit. This album is great because they made a great album. I think they could make a better one and I hope that they do. But until then I will appreciate this album as much. if not more so, than their previous ones.
Thursday, July 03, 2014
Dave Matthews Band Album Covers Ranked
8. Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up
You couldn't walk 5 feet on a college campus in the late '90's and early-00's without seeing this on someone's Fourunner and now it's an album cover. The fact that this gross-looking, Burning Man-reject "logo" still exists is enough to make me never want to give this band a chance. That they used this as a album cover perfectly encapsulates the complete lack of ideas on the album. So I guess in a way this is the best album cover?
7. Dave Matthews Band - Crash
It's not that it makes no sense. It's that it wants soooooooo fucking bad to NOT make sense while having some aesthetic relevance or import. Unfortunately it's just fucking hideous and that makes it fucking idiotic.
6. Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff
The amount of work it took make something this lazy would probably shock us all. If you're going to do a "peel back the layers" analogy you've got to do better than throwing a guy in front of a wall with a bunch of shitty band photography run through a bunch of shitty Photoshop filters.
5. Dave Matthews Band - Away From The World
Hollywood Squares in the '70's was reallllllly trippy.
4. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey And The Groo Grux King
For such a terrible title, and terrible album, this cover is actually pretty fun. It looks like a Caldecott runner-up for the Cirque de Soleil set.
3. Dave Matthews Band - Everyday
The band-photo cover is almost always the safest way to go, even more so when you make it greyscale. I'm not sure why these guys are out on someone's dad's lake dock, dressed like they're going to Seal's birthday party but somehow it works. And by works I mean it doesn't totally suck ass.
2. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
I like how '90's "modern urban" this picture is with the slow exposure of the lights. What I don't understand is the fucking coffee cup stains. Goddamn it! Get a fucking coaster you asshole!
1. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
Though this is their best cover it's too incongruent with the album itself. The world music influence on their debut makes this sort of idyllic, rural, almost-fall type of sunset appear out of context. I think this would better make for an Explosions In The Sky album cover, though from a more "artistic" angle of course.
You couldn't walk 5 feet on a college campus in the late '90's and early-00's without seeing this on someone's Fourunner and now it's an album cover. The fact that this gross-looking, Burning Man-reject "logo" still exists is enough to make me never want to give this band a chance. That they used this as a album cover perfectly encapsulates the complete lack of ideas on the album. So I guess in a way this is the best album cover?
7. Dave Matthews Band - Crash
It's not that it makes no sense. It's that it wants soooooooo fucking bad to NOT make sense while having some aesthetic relevance or import. Unfortunately it's just fucking hideous and that makes it fucking idiotic.
6. Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff
The amount of work it took make something this lazy would probably shock us all. If you're going to do a "peel back the layers" analogy you've got to do better than throwing a guy in front of a wall with a bunch of shitty band photography run through a bunch of shitty Photoshop filters.
5. Dave Matthews Band - Away From The World
Hollywood Squares in the '70's was reallllllly trippy.
4. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey And The Groo Grux King
For such a terrible title, and terrible album, this cover is actually pretty fun. It looks like a Caldecott runner-up for the Cirque de Soleil set.
3. Dave Matthews Band - Everyday
The band-photo cover is almost always the safest way to go, even more so when you make it greyscale. I'm not sure why these guys are out on someone's dad's lake dock, dressed like they're going to Seal's birthday party but somehow it works. And by works I mean it doesn't totally suck ass.
2. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
I like how '90's "modern urban" this picture is with the slow exposure of the lights. What I don't understand is the fucking coffee cup stains. Goddamn it! Get a fucking coaster you asshole!
1. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
Though this is their best cover it's too incongruent with the album itself. The world music influence on their debut makes this sort of idyllic, rural, almost-fall type of sunset appear out of context. I think this would better make for an Explosions In The Sky album cover, though from a more "artistic" angle of course.
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Top 9 Versions of "#41" By Dave Matthews Band Available On Spotify
Before I started this article I really liked "#41". It's like "Crash Into Me" in that it's a rich hippie's version of a smooth-jazz song about sex, only it's so specific it's actually told from the perspective of a penis, singing to the various genitalia and orifices of, presumably, a woman. The studio version provides the skeleton to every version after it, most of which follow a standard pattern:
1. "#41 (Live At Wrigley Field - 09/11/2010)" from Live At Wrigley Field - Sounds lethargic at the beginning, like they're playing in a fog of molasses. Not too keen on all the extra horns at the beginning of the "jam"--this isn't Tommy fucking Dorsey! But fortunately the drums and bass are what make this song what it is. Around 8:18 it gets damn near metal with the rhythm section which I think Dave could always use more of. This is the best version just because of that.
2. "#41 (Live At Radio City Music Hall In New York, NY - 04/22/2007)" from Live At Radio City by Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds - I think these acoustic versions with Tim are more enjoyable because they don't jam for so long that you forget the original song you actually like. This song should be no longer than six minutes unless there's just cause (of which there usually isn't).
3. "#41 (Live At Mile High Music Festival In Commerce City, CO - 07/20/2010)" from Live At Mile High Music Festival - For the most part a solid version up until they throw a phaser on the sax solo. Ugh. No thankey!
4. "#41 (Live At Luther College In Decorah, IA - 02/06/1996)" from Live At Luther College by Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds - The "original" acoustic version is more by-the-book than any of these versions except the original on Crash. This is okay because it means the crowd doesn't do that stupid-as-fuck "EVERY DAY" chant and Dave and Tim aren't comfortable with spacing out to Pluto yet. Also it's not the worst thing in the world to hear Tim shred on acoustic, if only for a few seconds. Also, #datAdamSandlervoice at the end.
5. "#41 (Live From The Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ - 09/11/1999) from Listener Supported - This rote, straightforward, guitar-solo-less version could stand to be 4 minutes shorter. If you don't go big, go home.
6. "#41 (Live at The United Center in Chicago, IL - 12/19/1998)" from Live In Chicago 12.19.98 At The United Center - This version benefits from Tim Reynolds softly telling LeRoi to fuck off during his sax solo. Then, right when you want Tim to melt your face, Victor Wooten comes in with a thin, diminutive bass solo that's impressive but not what you wanted. It's like getting a hand job after being set up to do a2m.
7. "#41 (Live From Scranton)" from Crash: Spotify Live Series - Weaves in and out of different jazz variations without getting so "jazzy" that people start turning over their lawn chair to go get more Sierra Nevadas. I love when Dave gets to the "I wanted to stay, I wanted to play..." section because he doesn't always hit the notes flush the first time. Like this version, he sounds like a teenage boy trying to sound like a man and failing at both. Halfway through the guitar shredding--a much welcomed addition to this song!--there's that fucking horn section again. Goddamnit, turn it down guys, this isn't Count Basie!
8. "#41 (Live At Red Rocks Amphitheater In Morrison, CO - 09/11/2005)" from Weekend On The Rocks - What's with all these 9/11 shows? What's the connection?! Dave is Illuminati!!!! This version has a trumpet in the jam section which is a total waste, especially considering they had a pedal steel player at these particular shows. I do kind of like how the Rhodes underneath in the jam makes it sound like they're trying to turn this into a quiet storm but of course it falls way way short of that. Then there's the crowd response yelling "every day"--no thanks guys. How about "fucking play"?
9. "#41 (Live At Piazza Napoleone In Luca, Italy - 07/05/2009)" from Europe 2009 - Tim pulls out his dirty tone and breathes a heavier breath into what is typically a smooth song. I think it works but I could see people in the crowd biting their thumbs at the band. They still bite thumbs in Italy, right? In the jam after the brief violin section they bring out the Weather Channel Local On The 8's horns, which probably drove the crowd in Italy out of their minds. Then LeRoi digs himself into a hole a has to have Carter and Stefan pull him out with the standard #41 go-to ending. The double-kick pedal comes out. It feels dead inside. Finally Tim comes back with a Guitar Center tone and an echo pedal only to beinterrupted backed up by the Weather Channel horns. Um, yay?
- intro crescendos into singing section
- singing section
- normal voice
- falsetto
- normal voice
- big falsetto
- normal voice
- violin jam
- saxophone jam
- slower-than-it-needs-to-be outro
Two and a half hours later I'm kind of sick of it at this point but it's still one of the best songs in their catalog. Even now it will still always be #3 in my heart.
1. "#41 (Live At Wrigley Field - 09/11/2010)" from Live At Wrigley Field - Sounds lethargic at the beginning, like they're playing in a fog of molasses. Not too keen on all the extra horns at the beginning of the "jam"--this isn't Tommy fucking Dorsey! But fortunately the drums and bass are what make this song what it is. Around 8:18 it gets damn near metal with the rhythm section which I think Dave could always use more of. This is the best version just because of that.
2. "#41 (Live At Radio City Music Hall In New York, NY - 04/22/2007)" from Live At Radio City by Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds - I think these acoustic versions with Tim are more enjoyable because they don't jam for so long that you forget the original song you actually like. This song should be no longer than six minutes unless there's just cause (of which there usually isn't).
3. "#41 (Live At Mile High Music Festival In Commerce City, CO - 07/20/2010)" from Live At Mile High Music Festival - For the most part a solid version up until they throw a phaser on the sax solo. Ugh. No thankey!
4. "#41 (Live At Luther College In Decorah, IA - 02/06/1996)" from Live At Luther College by Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds - The "original" acoustic version is more by-the-book than any of these versions except the original on Crash. This is okay because it means the crowd doesn't do that stupid-as-fuck "EVERY DAY" chant and Dave and Tim aren't comfortable with spacing out to Pluto yet. Also it's not the worst thing in the world to hear Tim shred on acoustic, if only for a few seconds. Also, #datAdamSandlervoice at the end.
5. "#41 (Live From The Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ - 09/11/1999) from Listener Supported - This rote, straightforward, guitar-solo-less version could stand to be 4 minutes shorter. If you don't go big, go home.
6. "#41 (Live at The United Center in Chicago, IL - 12/19/1998)" from Live In Chicago 12.19.98 At The United Center - This version benefits from Tim Reynolds softly telling LeRoi to fuck off during his sax solo. Then, right when you want Tim to melt your face, Victor Wooten comes in with a thin, diminutive bass solo that's impressive but not what you wanted. It's like getting a hand job after being set up to do a2m.
7. "#41 (Live From Scranton)" from Crash: Spotify Live Series - Weaves in and out of different jazz variations without getting so "jazzy" that people start turning over their lawn chair to go get more Sierra Nevadas. I love when Dave gets to the "I wanted to stay, I wanted to play..." section because he doesn't always hit the notes flush the first time. Like this version, he sounds like a teenage boy trying to sound like a man and failing at both. Halfway through the guitar shredding--a much welcomed addition to this song!--there's that fucking horn section again. Goddamnit, turn it down guys, this isn't Count Basie!
8. "#41 (Live At Red Rocks Amphitheater In Morrison, CO - 09/11/2005)" from Weekend On The Rocks - What's with all these 9/11 shows? What's the connection?! Dave is Illuminati!!!! This version has a trumpet in the jam section which is a total waste, especially considering they had a pedal steel player at these particular shows. I do kind of like how the Rhodes underneath in the jam makes it sound like they're trying to turn this into a quiet storm but of course it falls way way short of that. Then there's the crowd response yelling "every day"--no thanks guys. How about "fucking play"?
9. "#41 (Live At Piazza Napoleone In Luca, Italy - 07/05/2009)" from Europe 2009 - Tim pulls out his dirty tone and breathes a heavier breath into what is typically a smooth song. I think it works but I could see people in the crowd biting their thumbs at the band. They still bite thumbs in Italy, right? In the jam after the brief violin section they bring out the Weather Channel Local On The 8's horns, which probably drove the crowd in Italy out of their minds. Then LeRoi digs himself into a hole a has to have Carter and Stefan pull him out with the standard #41 go-to ending. The double-kick pedal comes out. It feels dead inside. Finally Tim comes back with a Guitar Center tone and an echo pedal only to be
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Things I Liked A Lot This Year: 2013
Half of 2014 is almost over and that means it's the perfect time to release my famous annual Things I Liked A Lot This Year list from 2013. Remember 2013? Now you can, by checking out some of the fun things I liked a lot, a year ago!
Enjoy (after the break hahaha tricked you!)!!
Enjoy (after the break hahaha tricked you!)!!
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Top 15 Songs Named "The Ocean"
- Tegan And Sara - "The Ocean"
- Sunny Day Real Estate - "The Ocean"
- Manchester Orchestra - "The Ocean"
- Led Zeppelin - "The Ocean"
- Noah Gundersen - "The Ocean"
- The Dodos - "The Ocean"
- Against Me! - "The Ocean"
- Mae - "The Ocean"
- Tonight Alive - "The Ocean"
- Savatage - "The Ocean"
- Richard Hawley - "The Ocean"
- Paul Van Dyk - "The Ocean"
- The Bravery - "The Ocean"
- U2 - "The Ocean"
- Everlast - "The Ocean"
Monday, November 25, 2013
New Album Production Journal: Day 575
A couple of weekends ago we wrapped up a very successful #RW4 weekend, sort of a Bohemian Grove*-type get together we arrange to work on projects as a group, in person. How successful were we, you ask? We have almost all the vocal recordings done now, which was a biggest check box we needed to complete for getting this album finished. That alone took most of the day on Saturday and was easily the most extensive stretch of recording in 40PF history.
We also talked a lot about the release and production of the album, album covers, and track names though those results were less concrete. Still I think we all consider the weekend to have been a huge success given the amount of recorded material we completed.
(As far as how the album sounds with all the vocals recorded, I'd like to wait before commenting on this specifically. This is only because I want to wait to hear everything again through speakers before I judge it based on what I have in my head from memory.)
Now all the tracks will go to Anthony for mixing while the rest of us start work on design and release specifics. There are still about a couple dozen super-crucial decisions that need to be made in the way of release dates, printing, pressing, and marketing and it's my own personal goal to have those things nailed down by the end of January of 2014. This means we could finally have a release date within the next couple of months.
I'm kind of speaking out-of-school by saying this so don't hold me to any of this (not like you would given our great track record of releasing things on time!!!!). Like the rest of America late November is a tough month for 40PF in that we're all super busy almost the entire month with social events (read: tons of fucking parties) so getting work done over the next few weeks will be almost impossible.
But we're working hard and will continue to work hard to get this album released for everyone to enjoy. Thanks for hanging on!
* - Bohemian Grove reference made possible thanks entirely to Anthony Jackson
We also talked a lot about the release and production of the album, album covers, and track names though those results were less concrete. Still I think we all consider the weekend to have been a huge success given the amount of recorded material we completed.
(As far as how the album sounds with all the vocals recorded, I'd like to wait before commenting on this specifically. This is only because I want to wait to hear everything again through speakers before I judge it based on what I have in my head from memory.)
Now all the tracks will go to Anthony for mixing while the rest of us start work on design and release specifics. There are still about a couple dozen super-crucial decisions that need to be made in the way of release dates, printing, pressing, and marketing and it's my own personal goal to have those things nailed down by the end of January of 2014. This means we could finally have a release date within the next couple of months.
I'm kind of speaking out-of-school by saying this so don't hold me to any of this (not like you would given our great track record of releasing things on time!!!!). Like the rest of America late November is a tough month for 40PF in that we're all super busy almost the entire month with social events (read: tons of fucking parties) so getting work done over the next few weeks will be almost impossible.
But we're working hard and will continue to work hard to get this album released for everyone to enjoy. Thanks for hanging on!
* - Bohemian Grove reference made possible thanks entirely to Anthony Jackson
Friday, November 08, 2013
New Album Production Journal: Day 558
1. #RW4 is coming up next week and I'm beyond excited. I can't wait. There are so many things we have to do but I don't care. I lub it.
2. Real quick, amazing writing tip I figured out recently (if only for myself in the future): if you write everything down on the computer, then never delete anything. I mean don't ever delete a line, or even a word unless it's spelled incorrectly. Anything you don't want to use just space it down to the end of the document or paragraph. Change the style to strikethrough, whatever, just don't delete it! Ever!
I say this because in writing the last four or five songs I have used and discarded hundreds of lines, phrases, words and it has led to some rewarding outcomes. Like all artistic processes, almost all of this work is thrown out and never used. But the things that I have written down and never deleted that end up getting used have been really fun and extremely helpful. Had I deleted these things I may still be writing from scratch, which can be daunting.
3. Speaking of writing, I've finally gotten verses written for everything now but every day I'm finding something not necessarily wrong but not exactly right about a different verse every day. So I'm constantly rethinking things, going over songs in my head, rearranging, and editing and it's as fun as it is frustrating. Fortunately this means that this album will feature some of the most extensive writing that I've done so far, without question.
4. After next weekend I hope we can announce some final plans and start rolling out some release dates. Stay tuned to @40PF on Twitter starting next Friday and on for any immediate news.
2. Real quick, amazing writing tip I figured out recently (if only for myself in the future): if you write everything down on the computer, then never delete anything. I mean don't ever delete a line, or even a word unless it's spelled incorrectly. Anything you don't want to use just space it down to the end of the document or paragraph. Change the style to strikethrough, whatever, just don't delete it! Ever!
I say this because in writing the last four or five songs I have used and discarded hundreds of lines, phrases, words and it has led to some rewarding outcomes. Like all artistic processes, almost all of this work is thrown out and never used. But the things that I have written down and never deleted that end up getting used have been really fun and extremely helpful. Had I deleted these things I may still be writing from scratch, which can be daunting.
3. Speaking of writing, I've finally gotten verses written for everything now but every day I'm finding something not necessarily wrong but not exactly right about a different verse every day. So I'm constantly rethinking things, going over songs in my head, rearranging, and editing and it's as fun as it is frustrating. Fortunately this means that this album will feature some of the most extensive writing that I've done so far, without question.
4. After next weekend I hope we can announce some final plans and start rolling out some release dates. Stay tuned to @40PF on Twitter starting next Friday and on for any immediate news.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Looking Back: 10 Years After "Haunted Hell"
10 years ago, 200 miles away in Asheville, NC, on a night almost exactly like tonight (muggy and almost kind of cool at night but too humid to really feel it) Forrest Jameson and I sat down with a bottle of Ciclon and recorded a call-and-answer Halloween themed narrative song called "Haunted Hell." In it we describe ourselves getting lost from the rest of the "40PF crew" inside a haunted house full of your typical haunted house cliches. Only in our haunted hell there's the ghost that looks like Goldie Hawn (who we dance with!?), and then of course the zombie who apparently used to pitch for a Dodgers farm team ("zombie threw a baseball, hit Wyatt in the balls"). It's a pretty standard haunted house story but there's a sort of odd humor to it that keeps you from dismissing it completely. But that's not why I like it.
"Haunted Hell" to me is great because it recalls the reckless experimentation of our early years. Forrest starting writing, then I started writing a continuation of his verse and it suddenly became a single storyline told by two people, which at that time hadn't been done by us before. Granted we were still pretty new to things back then but it still shows a level of innovation that I admire about us at that time. We didn't second guess it, ever, we just did it. There was a nervous, excited energy that just came from the idea alone where we would be writing and would get anxious to hear what the other person wrote. It was electric and impulsive. It came out of nowhere.
After 10 years that giddy, almost childish impulse to follow your gut and say "fuck it!" goes away because it has to. We force ourselves to re-think our first thoughts because, unless you're a genius, you find out very quickly that your first idea isn't always the best. Like the Milton Glaser etching reads, "Art is work". You have to write a thousand drafts, paint a trillion strokes (sometimes) before you can achieve a meaningful piece of work. Over time you lose the balance between instincts and intellect--between feeling and thinking--and sometimes the work suffers. "Haunted Hell" is refreshing because it worked in spite of this imbalance of head and heart. It was impetuous and succeeded, however mildly, as a result. Having hindsight can damage your opinion of early works, but for me, I never have a negative thought about "Haunted Hell". It's stupid, and silly and fun and I'm glad we made it.
Every Halloween I play this song and every year it makes me smile, and makes me grateful. Forrest has gone on to use the call/answer device we attempted in this song on other songs he has written and performed on and they have resulted in some of the best work any of us has ever produced. Selfishly I can't help but think that this song we wrote and recorded that "halloween night 2003" had something to do with it. Even if it didn't I'm still glad we made something special.
Please enjoy "Haunted Hell" found on our wiki page using the link below.
"Haunted Hell"
Happy Halloween!
"Haunted Hell" to me is great because it recalls the reckless experimentation of our early years. Forrest starting writing, then I started writing a continuation of his verse and it suddenly became a single storyline told by two people, which at that time hadn't been done by us before. Granted we were still pretty new to things back then but it still shows a level of innovation that I admire about us at that time. We didn't second guess it, ever, we just did it. There was a nervous, excited energy that just came from the idea alone where we would be writing and would get anxious to hear what the other person wrote. It was electric and impulsive. It came out of nowhere.
After 10 years that giddy, almost childish impulse to follow your gut and say "fuck it!" goes away because it has to. We force ourselves to re-think our first thoughts because, unless you're a genius, you find out very quickly that your first idea isn't always the best. Like the Milton Glaser etching reads, "Art is work". You have to write a thousand drafts, paint a trillion strokes (sometimes) before you can achieve a meaningful piece of work. Over time you lose the balance between instincts and intellect--between feeling and thinking--and sometimes the work suffers. "Haunted Hell" is refreshing because it worked in spite of this imbalance of head and heart. It was impetuous and succeeded, however mildly, as a result. Having hindsight can damage your opinion of early works, but for me, I never have a negative thought about "Haunted Hell". It's stupid, and silly and fun and I'm glad we made it.
Every Halloween I play this song and every year it makes me smile, and makes me grateful. Forrest has gone on to use the call/answer device we attempted in this song on other songs he has written and performed on and they have resulted in some of the best work any of us has ever produced. Selfishly I can't help but think that this song we wrote and recorded that "halloween night 2003" had something to do with it. Even if it didn't I'm still glad we made something special.
Please enjoy "Haunted Hell" found on our wiki page using the link below.
"Haunted Hell"
Happy Halloween!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Tweet Of The Year
Regis is wearing his Wu Tang shirt home. @Raekwon @GhostfaceKillah pic.twitter.com/3RnK23shey
— Crowd Goes Wild (@CGW) October 22, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
New Album Production Journal - Day 529
(Let's skip the 1000 words where I apologize profusely and lament about how I haven't kept up with this like I should, and how not posting more defeats the purpose of this blog. Okay?)
Writing for this album has always been a problem for me and now that most--maybe all?--the beats are done I've been putting a lot more energy into it, and so far it's worked out great. Early on I realized that I wanted to go really hard at this project with everything I had, and I think I've done that with the beats, or as least as good as I could. But it wasn't until about six months ago where I felt like I could finally put that same energy into lyrics. Now that I'm here thinking about words rather than song strucutres it's great and I'm seeing things totally different than I ever did in 220.
That change in perception, how there's this newfound clarity at looking at lyrics, and even music, instrumentation, beats, makes me think that in a lot of ways I hope that this album will fucking destroy everything we've done before it because I feel like those past experiences have held us back in making this album. And not that that's our fault either. When we started this we really didn't know what to do, exactly. We knew what needed to be done--record these vocals to this beat, edit them, etc.--but we had no process for doing. We still don't have the process down, probably won't have it down by the time we finish and I think that's directly a result from having never done this before. In 220 we would get the urge, find the beat, write, record, listen and that was it. It was quick and it was self-contained, which is the exact opposite of making this album. There has to be a constant dialogue. There has to be a firm, steady, easily accessible organization system. There has to be honesty. Everything needs to be readily available at all times and everything has to be done in a timely manner. Everything has a "need by" date, even if that date is a long way away. These are things that are hard for any band or group so I don't think by any means that we have failed ourselves. I just think we have learned a lot, possibly at the expense of inexperience, which okay.
I don't want you to think I regret our times in Baird, or 220, or in mobile studios, or The Rail or Georgia or Asheville or anywhere else because I don't. Nothing can take away the best and worst of times we had 10 years ago. I don't regret anything from the past, and I never will, but that doesn't mean I don't want the future to be better. We didn't know how to do this--we're still figuring out! But I think we're having a great time and I think the payoff when we release the album (FINALLY) will be more rewarding than we could imagine. I hope it's that way at least.
Here is where I would describe where we're at, except that things are still too discombobulated to properly articulate. Besides that it would be boring to read, much less write. If I had to sum up our current progress I would stay it's "slowly but surely coming along" or some other contrite cliche that bands always give magazines when they're a year away from releasing a new album . That does NOT imply that we're a year away from final release, although full disclosure, we still don't have a final release date. That's just where we're at.
I can tell you that you should be on the lookout in mid-November for #RW4 hashtags. This is for our big semi-annual/annual get-together which we call Reclamation Weekend. During that time we'll try to post vauge, confusing, mostly uninteresting news from it on twitter. So yay for that!
Rather than showing off things we've finished recently and giving you, the reader, dare I say the fan?, something substantial to consume relating to this album, please take a look at the "Money In The Bank" video, or listen to the "Blood In Your Throat" song again, won't you?
Writing for this album has always been a problem for me and now that most--maybe all?--the beats are done I've been putting a lot more energy into it, and so far it's worked out great. Early on I realized that I wanted to go really hard at this project with everything I had, and I think I've done that with the beats, or as least as good as I could. But it wasn't until about six months ago where I felt like I could finally put that same energy into lyrics. Now that I'm here thinking about words rather than song strucutres it's great and I'm seeing things totally different than I ever did in 220.
That change in perception, how there's this newfound clarity at looking at lyrics, and even music, instrumentation, beats, makes me think that in a lot of ways I hope that this album will fucking destroy everything we've done before it because I feel like those past experiences have held us back in making this album. And not that that's our fault either. When we started this we really didn't know what to do, exactly. We knew what needed to be done--record these vocals to this beat, edit them, etc.--but we had no process for doing. We still don't have the process down, probably won't have it down by the time we finish and I think that's directly a result from having never done this before. In 220 we would get the urge, find the beat, write, record, listen and that was it. It was quick and it was self-contained, which is the exact opposite of making this album. There has to be a constant dialogue. There has to be a firm, steady, easily accessible organization system. There has to be honesty. Everything needs to be readily available at all times and everything has to be done in a timely manner. Everything has a "need by" date, even if that date is a long way away. These are things that are hard for any band or group so I don't think by any means that we have failed ourselves. I just think we have learned a lot, possibly at the expense of inexperience, which okay.
I don't want you to think I regret our times in Baird, or 220, or in mobile studios, or The Rail or Georgia or Asheville or anywhere else because I don't. Nothing can take away the best and worst of times we had 10 years ago. I don't regret anything from the past, and I never will, but that doesn't mean I don't want the future to be better. We didn't know how to do this--we're still figuring out! But I think we're having a great time and I think the payoff when we release the album (FINALLY) will be more rewarding than we could imagine. I hope it's that way at least.
Here is where I would describe where we're at, except that things are still too discombobulated to properly articulate. Besides that it would be boring to read, much less write. If I had to sum up our current progress I would stay it's "slowly but surely coming along" or some other contrite cliche that bands always give magazines when they're a year away from releasing a new album . That does NOT imply that we're a year away from final release, although full disclosure, we still don't have a final release date. That's just where we're at.
I can tell you that you should be on the lookout in mid-November for #RW4 hashtags. This is for our big semi-annual/annual get-together which we call Reclamation Weekend. During that time we'll try to post vauge, confusing, mostly uninteresting news from it on twitter. So yay for that!
Rather than showing off things we've finished recently and giving you, the reader, dare I say the fan?, something substantial to consume relating to this album, please take a look at the "Money In The Bank" video, or listen to the "Blood In Your Throat" song again, won't you?
Friday, October 04, 2013
Thursday, September 05, 2013
In The Meantime: Music Of 2013 Mid-Year Review Past/Present Future
Before we get back to whatever it is I think I'm going to get back to I recently caught up with our old friend Wes Delaney (WD) of Ear Infections to talk about the year of music in 2013. We did this a few years ago and it was pretty fun so we gave it another shot for no reason in particular. Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
INSIDE THE MUSIC - "Double Deuce"
WYATT:
Yo, Brutus Buckeye, you've got little brains and small thighs, but you're cooler
than most of all the other guys who deal drugs, get high, kiss their families
goodbye (arranging drive-by's since you were the age of nine...nine..nine)...
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
New Album Production Journal: Day 371
Ugh.
Work on my side of things for this album have been hideously slow and unproductive. For a while I couldn't focus. Then nothing sounded good. Then I just didn't have time. Then I would get back into things and I wouldn't be able to focus. Things sounded horrible. Then I wouldn't have any time, for weeks and weeks on end. And then when I would get back into things, I wouldn't be able to focus. Things sounded horrible--etc. etc. etc. etc.
There's no excuse really but that's part of what led to my post last week: announcing our anniversary (YAY!) and, unfortunately, also that we weren't able to finish things in time. Instinctively from day one I never thought we would make the deadline, because it's easier and more natural for me to focus on negative things. These people are called pessimists but you'll rarely hear anyone call themselves that. They think that because they can embrace the bad that somehow that's more realistic, which is why they call themselves realists instead. The logic that this kind of thinking requires is insane and yet it's so omnipresent we never think about it. So think about that, man, while you suck on the teat of corporate America, carefully crafting your brand because you are the commodity, man, you are the reason we--
Ugh.
So while I didn't think we would make the deadline originally, I always maintained a modest level of hope. Of course to me, hope is used as a false positive, as in, "I hope I get this beat in time because I don't want to sound like a shit head by saying 'Fuck, there's no way I'm going to get this beat done in time.'" I tried staying positive and maintained a thin veneer of a gungho disposition, but it wasn't for the right reasons I don't think. To his credit Scurvy D was always headstrong and positive, a decisive boost to the group's morale, all the way up until about a week before the deadline. Despite his efforts and my own futile "BE POSITIVE" ethos (what a success!!) I sit here dejected that we have not finished in time. Even with suspicion that we wouldn't make it, I'm still disappointed in myself. It weighs on me a great deal and I hope everyone can forgive me.
From here on out though things will be different. We have regrouped. We have restructured. We have reorganized. We have altered our priorities. We have delegated. We are on a track that is somewhat more smooth than when we first started so in a sense we're doing fine.
On 03/22/2013 I started work on four new beats: one for Sample Pages and three for the new album. (Side note: from here on out I'd like to start using "sketches" in place of beats. In my mind "beats" are more of a fully realized product with some semblance of structure and will mostly remain in tact for the final version. Everything else is a "sketch," or a "draft," but I prefer to maintain the painting/drawing analogy because it's my fucking choice. There are lots of sketches on my computer and there always have been, since the very beginning Most are no longer than eight bars and most suck complete fucking ass. They are so horrible that I'm afraid that when I die someone will waste part of their life listening to them and will be able to empirically conclude that I did in fact suck complete and total fucking ass. That said, I have to make a bunch of shit to get to something serviceable, much less good, which is why I'm only half joking when I say that I suck complete and total fucking ass (I just suck fucking ass). Over time working on abandoned sketches helps to flesh out the track that they eventually, hopefully become. Maybe I pull an instrument or a setting or I steal a riff from one of these shitty sketches, and when that happens and I can make it work, it was all worth it. My problem as of late has been getting to the point where I can be happy with a sketch. There have been times where I tried and tried to be happy with something shitty but I get so disgusted with myself that I just close it out and hit don't save. Ugh.)
I've also been working with Anthony some trying to provide input for some of his ideas during the mixing/editing process. (Anthony, by the way, is working his ass off while I'm crying on a blog.) I don't want to begin to think about how insane that project is but he apparently loves it. I was thinking today that I need to send him more real world examples to help maybe articulate what I'm trying to say. I don't do that enough. I need to do that more, goddamn it. Standby while I send him this Aaliyah video just for the hell of it (shhh don't tell him, let it be a surprise)..........
Ok.
Other than all of this I think we're going to be fine. Right? Tonight I believe I'm going to be working with Scurvy D and Forrest and maybe finalize some takes on something and maybe finalize a beat, maybe. I don't know. But from here on out, nothing but positive thoughts. Positive, positive, positive. Positive positive, positive, positive, positive, positive...
Wyatt
Work on my side of things for this album have been hideously slow and unproductive. For a while I couldn't focus. Then nothing sounded good. Then I just didn't have time. Then I would get back into things and I wouldn't be able to focus. Things sounded horrible. Then I wouldn't have any time, for weeks and weeks on end. And then when I would get back into things, I wouldn't be able to focus. Things sounded horrible--etc. etc. etc. etc.
There's no excuse really but that's part of what led to my post last week: announcing our anniversary (YAY!) and, unfortunately, also that we weren't able to finish things in time. Instinctively from day one I never thought we would make the deadline, because it's easier and more natural for me to focus on negative things. These people are called pessimists but you'll rarely hear anyone call themselves that. They think that because they can embrace the bad that somehow that's more realistic, which is why they call themselves realists instead. The logic that this kind of thinking requires is insane and yet it's so omnipresent we never think about it. So think about that, man, while you suck on the teat of corporate America, carefully crafting your brand because you are the commodity, man, you are the reason we--
Ugh.
So while I didn't think we would make the deadline originally, I always maintained a modest level of hope. Of course to me, hope is used as a false positive, as in, "I hope I get this beat in time because I don't want to sound like a shit head by saying 'Fuck, there's no way I'm going to get this beat done in time.'" I tried staying positive and maintained a thin veneer of a gungho disposition, but it wasn't for the right reasons I don't think. To his credit Scurvy D was always headstrong and positive, a decisive boost to the group's morale, all the way up until about a week before the deadline. Despite his efforts and my own futile "BE POSITIVE" ethos (what a success!!) I sit here dejected that we have not finished in time. Even with suspicion that we wouldn't make it, I'm still disappointed in myself. It weighs on me a great deal and I hope everyone can forgive me.
From here on out though things will be different. We have regrouped. We have restructured. We have reorganized. We have altered our priorities. We have delegated. We are on a track that is somewhat more smooth than when we first started so in a sense we're doing fine.
On 03/22/2013 I started work on four new beats: one for Sample Pages and three for the new album. (Side note: from here on out I'd like to start using "sketches" in place of beats. In my mind "beats" are more of a fully realized product with some semblance of structure and will mostly remain in tact for the final version. Everything else is a "sketch," or a "draft," but I prefer to maintain the painting/drawing analogy because it's my fucking choice. There are lots of sketches on my computer and there always have been, since the very beginning Most are no longer than eight bars and most suck complete fucking ass. They are so horrible that I'm afraid that when I die someone will waste part of their life listening to them and will be able to empirically conclude that I did in fact suck complete and total fucking ass. That said, I have to make a bunch of shit to get to something serviceable, much less good, which is why I'm only half joking when I say that I suck complete and total fucking ass (I just suck fucking ass). Over time working on abandoned sketches helps to flesh out the track that they eventually, hopefully become. Maybe I pull an instrument or a setting or I steal a riff from one of these shitty sketches, and when that happens and I can make it work, it was all worth it. My problem as of late has been getting to the point where I can be happy with a sketch. There have been times where I tried and tried to be happy with something shitty but I get so disgusted with myself that I just close it out and hit don't save. Ugh.)
I've also been working with Anthony some trying to provide input for some of his ideas during the mixing/editing process. (Anthony, by the way, is working his ass off while I'm crying on a blog.) I don't want to begin to think about how insane that project is but he apparently loves it. I was thinking today that I need to send him more real world examples to help maybe articulate what I'm trying to say. I don't do that enough. I need to do that more, goddamn it. Standby while I send him this Aaliyah video just for the hell of it (shhh don't tell him, let it be a surprise)..........
Ok.
Other than all of this I think we're going to be fine. Right? Tonight I believe I'm going to be working with Scurvy D and Forrest and maybe finalize some takes on something and maybe finalize a beat, maybe. I don't know. But from here on out, nothing but positive thoughts. Positive, positive, positive. Positive positive, positive, positive, positive, positive...
Wyatt
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
10 Year Anniversary
Today, March 19th, 2013, marks Forty Psychic Frames 10 year anniversary. 10 years together. 10 years of 40PF. Even though we are constantly looking back and referencing our past in almost everything we do, it's still hard to conceptualize what 10 years really means. It doesn't feel like ten years. The music doesn't sound 10 years old (shut-up). We don't look 10 years older (seriously, stop laughing).
Our history is very important to us and we see ten years together as 40PF as an amazing accomplishment. Sure, there is a large body of work we have together that is tangible and more than worthy of celebration. But more than that, this anniversary is indicative of how close our friendships are and how much we value our relationships with each other. It is in these relationships and interactions that which we treasure most. Maybe, hopefully, our music and our work will live on, but it was never about that in the first place.
We'd like to thank the fans for their continued and tireless support over the years. What we lack in volume we make up for in unrestrained enthusiasm. To reach one person outside of our group in a meaningful way is overwhelmingly awesome and we want you to know how much we appreciate it.
We have been working long and hard over the past year on a lot of new material and while we had hoped to have released it all today, sadly it's just not ready. Rather than release something we aren't completely and totally proud of we decided to wait until we can finish everything to our satisfaction. Historically this method of production is kind of new to us, as we usually try to write, record and release things as soon as possible. So in light of this exciting and rewarding new procedure we hope that you, our devoted fans, understand and remain patient. We promise we won't disappoint you.
Here's to 10 more years. All of us. Together.
Our history is very important to us and we see ten years together as 40PF as an amazing accomplishment. Sure, there is a large body of work we have together that is tangible and more than worthy of celebration. But more than that, this anniversary is indicative of how close our friendships are and how much we value our relationships with each other. It is in these relationships and interactions that which we treasure most. Maybe, hopefully, our music and our work will live on, but it was never about that in the first place.
We'd like to thank the fans for their continued and tireless support over the years. What we lack in volume we make up for in unrestrained enthusiasm. To reach one person outside of our group in a meaningful way is overwhelmingly awesome and we want you to know how much we appreciate it.
We have been working long and hard over the past year on a lot of new material and while we had hoped to have released it all today, sadly it's just not ready. Rather than release something we aren't completely and totally proud of we decided to wait until we can finish everything to our satisfaction. Historically this method of production is kind of new to us, as we usually try to write, record and release things as soon as possible. So in light of this exciting and rewarding new procedure we hope that you, our devoted fans, understand and remain patient. We promise we won't disappoint you.
Here's to 10 more years. All of us. Together.
Nondescript picture of us sitting is excessively nondescript
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Things I Liked A Lot This Year: 2012
Rather than bore you with summary of e v e r y s i n g l e thing I liked this year, like some sort of closeted narcissist, I'm just going to list them as I see fit. No bullshit, just a plain list, which is still bullshit. For any albums listed I've tried to include the Spotify link for that album for those of you on Spotify, and for any song I've included the link to the whatever the top YouTube result is. Anyway, enjoy!!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Things I Liked a Lot This Year: 2011
(EDITOR'S NOTE: It took me an entire year but I'm finally posting my Favorite Things list from 2011. While you're laughing I want you to know that I appreciate your patience and hope to have 2012's list done by...May of 2013. Kidding of course. December 2013. Kidding again. December 2012. That's it. That's the date. Mark it! Thank you.)
Second Favorite Music Video Of The Year
Battles - "My Machines"
When their first full-length album Mirror came out it was an istant summer classic for me. It's all fucking mathy, like Hella, and tightly arranged, like Hella, but it never gets so weird you get lost, like Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard by Hella. I didn't have time to check out their new album Gloss Drop but this video makes up for that. It it's a simple narrative (guy trying walk up an elevator) that is played up comedically, while approaching an almost horrific climax. And in contrast to my favorite video from this year (see below) the gimmick of one continuous shot also helps to sell the insanity of the situation. There's nothing more eerie-whilst-funny you'll watch this year than this video.
Favorite Movie Of The Year
Second Favorite Music Video Of The Year
Battles - "My Machines"
When their first full-length album Mirror came out it was an istant summer classic for me. It's all fucking mathy, like Hella, and tightly arranged, like Hella, but it never gets so weird you get lost, like Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard by Hella. I didn't have time to check out their new album Gloss Drop but this video makes up for that. It it's a simple narrative (guy trying walk up an elevator) that is played up comedically, while approaching an almost horrific climax. And in contrast to my favorite video from this year (see below) the gimmick of one continuous shot also helps to sell the insanity of the situation. There's nothing more eerie-whilst-funny you'll watch this year than this video.
Favorite Movie Of The Year
((Every movie you watched as a kid that had fantasy elements to it [Princess Bride, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story] + every movie set in ye olde England) x (1oz. of weed + David Gordon Green + Tim Orr) ) - anything serious = Your Highness
Ambient Album Of The Year
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
Woman sings non-descript phrases in a large room with a loop pedal. Add layers of loops. Add reverb. Add more layers of loops. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome!!!!!
TRY IT: Julianna Barwick - "Bob In Your Gait" (live)
Favorite R&B Song That Samples Coldplay Of The Year
Frank Ocean - "Strawberry Swing"
Get this mix tape if you don't already have it. Oh, you don't feel like it? Okay, well at least listen to the song. What? So, just because it sample Coldplay you're not going to listen to it? Right, because you're above them right? You know that Coldplay hatred is 90% social cultivated hatred of a perceived obsolescence, right? And you know that most people love Coldplay right? Because otherwise they wouldn't sell 2 million albums a year, and sell out stadiums, etc. But you already knew that.
Just listen to the fucking song, because you're better than that and you need a pleasant, unique song like this in your life.
Quietly Awesome Movie Of The Year
The Lincoln Lawyer
I try to be as open minded as I can about movies, and music and books, and art in general. But this movie had several highly questionable features working against it:
This last point is especially critical because the answer of course is there will never be enough crime procedurals Ever. There will always be crime and law dramas no matter what because the story of injustice is universal. (And when it's not, there's Matt McConaughey.) I know this and I hate it. So if we can't control quantity then we can at least expect quality and The Lincoln Lawyer is a great example of taking a rote genre and still telling a compelling story. This isn't a gimmicky movie either. This isn't Momento, or Vantage Point, where the director is actively challenging the limits of the genre. Those movies are more technical in the mechanics of storytelling, and are usually considered to be amazing as a result of the success of this technical execution. Sometimes though a movie is executed and structured in a very common, very popular way and succeeds on it's story alone, using the common, boilerplate tropes of filmmaking to enhance the story, rather than fight them. No, this is just a well told, well made, well acted story, and sad as it may be, this came as a complete surprise to me. There's noreason incentive for Hollywood to make a movie with a good story, only good publicity. This alone should be worth your time because who knows when it will happen again.
Favorite Sophomore Album Of The Year
Ambient Album Of The Year
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
Woman sings non-descript phrases in a large room with a loop pedal. Add layers of loops. Add reverb. Add more layers of loops. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome!!!!!
TRY IT: Julianna Barwick - "Bob In Your Gait" (live)
Favorite R&B Song That Samples Coldplay Of The Year
Frank Ocean - "Strawberry Swing"
Get this mix tape if you don't already have it. Oh, you don't feel like it? Okay, well at least listen to the song. What? So, just because it sample Coldplay you're not going to listen to it? Right, because you're above them right? You know that Coldplay hatred is 90% social cultivated hatred of a perceived obsolescence, right? And you know that most people love Coldplay right? Because otherwise they wouldn't sell 2 million albums a year, and sell out stadiums, etc. But you already knew that.
Just listen to the fucking song, because you're better than that and you need a pleasant, unique song like this in your life.
Quietly Awesome Movie Of The Year
The Lincoln Lawyer
I try to be as open minded as I can about movies, and music and books, and art in general. But this movie had several highly questionable features working against it:
- So this isn't about Abraham Lincoln?
- Matt McConaughey stars? Lemme guess, he plays a "hot lawyah'"?
- How many more fucking crime procedurals does the world need?
This last point is especially critical because the answer of course is there will never be enough crime procedurals Ever. There will always be crime and law dramas no matter what because the story of injustice is universal. (And when it's not, there's Matt McConaughey.) I know this and I hate it. So if we can't control quantity then we can at least expect quality and The Lincoln Lawyer is a great example of taking a rote genre and still telling a compelling story. This isn't a gimmicky movie either. This isn't Momento, or Vantage Point, where the director is actively challenging the limits of the genre. Those movies are more technical in the mechanics of storytelling, and are usually considered to be amazing as a result of the success of this technical execution. Sometimes though a movie is executed and structured in a very common, very popular way and succeeds on it's story alone, using the common, boilerplate tropes of filmmaking to enhance the story, rather than fight them. No, this is just a well told, well made, well acted story, and sad as it may be, this came as a complete surprise to me. There's no
Favorite Sophomore Album Of The Year
Adele - 21
Where 19 was playful and homemade, 21 is professional, and more soulful. Where 19 seemed lost and willing to wander, 21 is not so much sure of itself as it is confidant to maintain a consisten direction. Where 19 was catchy and so quick to give you goosebumps, 21 is pretty much identical. There's no doubt that there are better albums to come from Adele who, in my dumb ass opinion, is still somehow better than the five number one singles, and the other five that might as well be singles too. One of her best attributes is the ability to let. every. fucking. thing. go. and blast the shit out of the song, and one of these years she's going to release one that is even more cutthroat, more dynamic, and more her. Until then, I think we can all settle for mere brilliance like that of 21.
Best Song By A Band Featuring An Already Famous Singer/Musician
Pistol Annies - "Hell On Heels"
Another favorite from my unpublished 2010 list was a retrospective on the album Revolution by hit country music recording artist Miranda Lambert. (NOTE: I included it on the 2010 list despite being released in 2009 because I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!) To summarize: I never thought I would love a modern country album this much. I was surprised not because I dislike the genre. Nay, I'm on record (or did I not publish that one either) vehemently defending country music of all kinds, past, present and future. As much as I accept that country music has morphed (and is continuing to morph) into "Pop (with fiddle/mandolin/banjo)," and as much as I still love listening to "today's country hitzzz!!" on the radio, I never thought there would be an album that I love beyond its pop affectations. Revolution was everything that I never knew a modern country album could be, which is to say, completely jarring to me.
Naturally this sort of discovery obligates me to follow Miranda Lambert where ever she goes until the end of time. Because that's what people who don't think highly of themselves and invest too much energy into trivial meanings do, right? Pistol Annies is something of a supergroup if you prefer your supergroup members to be only known within Nashville writing circles. Instead of making three solo albums people may or may not listen to, they mashed them together under the name of a group. Accordingly it never finds continuity between all the members and all the personalities ("Lonestar Annie," "Hippie Annie," and "Holler Annie"). Still this album is far and away better than most everything released in the country genre this year, and certainly the closest thing to my dear sweet Revolution.
"Hell On Heels" is the most like songs on Revolution in how un-country-but-still-not-pop-sounding it is. Like the best Lambert songs seem to do, it subtly attempts to challenge the country genre in terms of instrumentation, and songwriting, while remaining very much in the throes of it. And unlike Revolution it succeeds further with the three distinct voices singing each their own verse. This also helps to characterize each "Annie" as a modern, cunning woman able to take advantage of the proclivities of rich men. Maybe that's nothing really new, but it still pushes the envelope of what we've come to expect from country music. I hope there's more where this came from.
Favorite Music Video Of The Year/Favorite Kanye Release Of The Year
Kanye West and Jay Z - "Otis" [MUSIC VIDEO ONLY]
If only I had posted my Wyatt's Favorite's of 2010 last year, you'd understand how much I look forward to new Kanye West projects like this. Off the heels of his masterpiece (though still not my favorite) My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy he teams up with his mentor and sometimes-nemesis Jay Z, flies to France, and puts out a really, really good collaboration. (Yes, really good. There are some great moments but its still just really good, not quite enough to compel me to include it on this list. Still, it's worth checking out).
As good as the album is, the best and strongest moments for me are found in the video for the worst song on the album. "Try A Little Tenderness" is one of the greatest Otis Redding songs out of hundreds of great songs, because he was far and away the best singer and the most soulful singer I think I'll ever hear. So for Ye to take a beautiful, incredibly impassioned song like "Try A Little Tenderness" and cut the sample down to 1 and a half seconds? That's insane and a huge disservice to the original song. There's so much material in that song, so much passion and soul, it's beyond me as to why it's so short.
Fortunately, and surprisingly, the video somehow changes all of that. All of my negative feelings about the song structure go out the window when I watch the video for it. The video is understated and incredibly simple for a Spike Jonze video in that there's no ulterior motive. There's no plot, no video gimmicks no twist at the end. It's just Kanye and Jay Z riding around in a ridiculous Maybach and rapping into the camera set on the ground like every other hip-hop video ever made. That's it. It's so incredulous, and un-self-aware that it comes off as totally badass to me. And the song makes complete and total sense with all the mayhem going on in the video that it renders my argument about the sample completely false. The samples make sense--how??? I still don't fucking know.
Favorite Dumb As Fuck Pop Song Of The Year
Avril Lavigne - "What the Hell?"
I'm finding a lot of comfort in knowing that once every year there's going to be a female lead pop song that kicks my ass into oblivion. I think K Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" still sits in the "Diamond Room" of my personal pop singles hall of fame, but "What the Hell?" will easily be in the adjacent "Post-Platinum Room" next door. But why? I'm tempted to say that "What the Hell?" is the fully realized version of the bratty-but-not-douchey young woman--no longer a girl--that you'd expect Avril to be at this age. This is yet another pop icon trying to re-imagine her brand in the light of her now slightly advanced age. What that line of thinking leaves out is huge: this is just a pop song. Whether we could extrapolate what it says about Avril as a person is as irrelevant as it is ridiculous. This is just a pop song. It exists solely to sell perfume and clothing lines and Kia Soul's in YouTube ads to 15 year-old girls. This will never change, and yet here I am, year after year, trying to justify that things have changed, that there is meaning beyond the melody! Never again. This is just a stupid, trivial pop song and god damn if I don't love it.
Favorite User Created Content YouTube Video
"Blake Griffin and Bill Simmons Review Bill's Dunks from His Childhood"
1. Slam dunks. Slam dunks are awesome
2. They're talking about slam dunk videos. If you're going to talk about slam dunks, which don't need narraration, you just need careful editing and this is edited perfectly. Absolutely perfectly.
3. Blake Griffin.
4. Grainy VHS footage from the '80's
5. White kids with the expensive basketball goals where the hoop can be raised and lowered.
6. These same white kids who lower it all the way down and film themselves for their own dunk reel.
7. Making fun of white kids who make their own dunk reel on a 6 foot hoop.
That's all.
Favorite Instrumental Album Of The Year
Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
I don't think I'll ever tire of Explosions In The Sky albums. Mostly it's because I don't think I'll ever truly understand them, but it's also because of how easy it is to allow to be transcendent. It's probably beyond a cliche at this point, but if you blasted this album while bowling, you'd probably find someone trying not to cry.
This new album is as amazing as all the others but it expands the sound slightly, adding voices, more keys, and tiny digital programming artifacts. As with all the other albums it will probably take me years to fully unpack its weight, but for now it's just plain ol' amazing. Ho hum.
Favorite Back In Time Album of the Year
Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Favorite Back In TIme Album of the Year will probably be a reoccurring category where the author highlights an album NOT released during the calendar year, but one in which he listened to a lot, rediscovered, just discovered, or just wants to discuss without having to worry about the restriction of the calendar)
For a band built out of one person, Christopher Carrabba, with the intention of adding a full band as he goes, this album may (unfortunately) be the peak of that vision. The solo period at the very beginning, marked by the simple and so-brutal and so-compelling debut Swiss Army Romance and the more popular, slightly more developed The Places You Have Come to Fear The Most, were meant to be temporary. As amazing as those two albums were it's hard to understand where Carraba wanted them to go and why they ended up recording a nearly-flawless concept album about living in a tourist town called Dusk And Summer. Maybe because he'd been around so many punk bands in Florida he ultimately wanted to be in his own. Maybe he wanted to lean on others when it came to writing. Maybe he just wanted to be on the radio and a Spiderman soundtrack. Whatever the reason it's worked, with varying degrees of success.
Dusk and Summer was and has proven to be the album furthest from his beginnings and succeeds because of it. This album is slick and begs to be placed on your favorite teen movie soundtrack but that's what works in it's favor: this is supposed to be a soundtrack to a teen movie because it is one. The narrative is understated and there are no names, but it's there. It follows the narrator in the middle of summer of a tourist beach town and shows us how futile romantic relationships are. They're so transient, so bittersweet because of the built-in expiration date. She's with her parents and they're only staying a week--it's a perfect excuse to pour on as much drippy, thick romanticism as possible.
The beauty is really in the details and he gets them all right, both in the lyrics and the melodies. The most refreshing element though is how confident it is. Where the early albums are uneasy and self-loathing and are successful for it, Dusk and Summer knows exactly what it is. And though I'm hard pressed to pick one favorite out of their discography I think this one may be the most interesting.
Back In Time Favorite Album Of The Year Runner Up: Lync - These Are Not Fall Colors
Favorite Unexpectedly Awesome Song Of The Year
Manchester Orchestra - "Simple Math"
At least once a month I will compulsively binge on playing tracks I've never heard by bands I've never heard about. Usually I'll read a post about a song, like, "This band sounds like Jeff Magnum started to write a musical about prohibition, gave up half way into it, and made it into a pop album!" There's always a very specific band or name reference, or two or three where possible, and then a smilie bringing together two unlike things, yes, but more importantly two unlike and irrelevant things together, as though the irrelevance carries more weight. This kind of writing is catnip for people who feel like they're slowly falling out of what's cool in indie music, as though the significance of indie music or culture lies solely in the hands of blog writers. It's stupid--INCREDIBLY stupid--but still part of the cold realism of aging. We're trying to quit smoking and drinking as much because we have to get real jobs and we just don't have the time like we used to. We can't just up and go to the Justice show in Atlanta, you know? We have an interview tomorrow! Right?
About 96% of the songs I "discover" this way I either skip after 30 seconds or I download never to be heard of again. I beleive this is supposed to be "sad" in that it shows how disposable music has become. This has been discussed adnauseum over the past two years and in fact, I'm feeling sick thinking about it right now. I understand that the internet is responsible for how easily it is to see and hear new things and how that's made it even easier to forget these same things a mere five seconds after viewing or listening. I get that and I'm in no position to dispute the extent of these effects. My problem is that there are those special songs, like "Simple Math" that transcends all of this. "Simple Math" kicked my ass upon first listen and then it kicked it even harder and more resolutely upon the second one. I played it based on a computer generated recommendation and somehow, this wacky bunch of code and recorded user data directed me to one of my favorite songs of the year. This is how things work now I guess.
Favorite Electronic Single
Where 19 was playful and homemade, 21 is professional, and more soulful. Where 19 seemed lost and willing to wander, 21 is not so much sure of itself as it is confidant to maintain a consisten direction. Where 19 was catchy and so quick to give you goosebumps, 21 is pretty much identical. There's no doubt that there are better albums to come from Adele who, in my dumb ass opinion, is still somehow better than the five number one singles, and the other five that might as well be singles too. One of her best attributes is the ability to let. every. fucking. thing. go. and blast the shit out of the song, and one of these years she's going to release one that is even more cutthroat, more dynamic, and more her. Until then, I think we can all settle for mere brilliance like that of 21.
Best Song By A Band Featuring An Already Famous Singer/Musician
Pistol Annies - "Hell On Heels"
Another favorite from my unpublished 2010 list was a retrospective on the album Revolution by hit country music recording artist Miranda Lambert. (NOTE: I included it on the 2010 list despite being released in 2009 because I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!) To summarize: I never thought I would love a modern country album this much. I was surprised not because I dislike the genre. Nay, I'm on record (or did I not publish that one either) vehemently defending country music of all kinds, past, present and future. As much as I accept that country music has morphed (and is continuing to morph) into "Pop (with fiddle/mandolin/banjo)," and as much as I still love listening to "today's country hitzzz!!" on the radio, I never thought there would be an album that I love beyond its pop affectations. Revolution was everything that I never knew a modern country album could be, which is to say, completely jarring to me.
Naturally this sort of discovery obligates me to follow Miranda Lambert where ever she goes until the end of time. Because that's what people who don't think highly of themselves and invest too much energy into trivial meanings do, right? Pistol Annies is something of a supergroup if you prefer your supergroup members to be only known within Nashville writing circles. Instead of making three solo albums people may or may not listen to, they mashed them together under the name of a group. Accordingly it never finds continuity between all the members and all the personalities ("Lonestar Annie," "Hippie Annie," and "Holler Annie"). Still this album is far and away better than most everything released in the country genre this year, and certainly the closest thing to my dear sweet Revolution.
"Hell On Heels" is the most like songs on Revolution in how un-country-but-still-not-pop-sounding it is. Like the best Lambert songs seem to do, it subtly attempts to challenge the country genre in terms of instrumentation, and songwriting, while remaining very much in the throes of it. And unlike Revolution it succeeds further with the three distinct voices singing each their own verse. This also helps to characterize each "Annie" as a modern, cunning woman able to take advantage of the proclivities of rich men. Maybe that's nothing really new, but it still pushes the envelope of what we've come to expect from country music. I hope there's more where this came from.
Favorite Music Video Of The Year/Favorite Kanye Release Of The Year
Kanye West and Jay Z - "Otis" [MUSIC VIDEO ONLY]
If only I had posted my Wyatt's Favorite's of 2010 last year, you'd understand how much I look forward to new Kanye West projects like this. Off the heels of his masterpiece (though still not my favorite) My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy he teams up with his mentor and sometimes-nemesis Jay Z, flies to France, and puts out a really, really good collaboration. (Yes, really good. There are some great moments but its still just really good, not quite enough to compel me to include it on this list. Still, it's worth checking out).
As good as the album is, the best and strongest moments for me are found in the video for the worst song on the album. "Try A Little Tenderness" is one of the greatest Otis Redding songs out of hundreds of great songs, because he was far and away the best singer and the most soulful singer I think I'll ever hear. So for Ye to take a beautiful, incredibly impassioned song like "Try A Little Tenderness" and cut the sample down to 1 and a half seconds? That's insane and a huge disservice to the original song. There's so much material in that song, so much passion and soul, it's beyond me as to why it's so short.
Fortunately, and surprisingly, the video somehow changes all of that. All of my negative feelings about the song structure go out the window when I watch the video for it. The video is understated and incredibly simple for a Spike Jonze video in that there's no ulterior motive. There's no plot, no video gimmicks no twist at the end. It's just Kanye and Jay Z riding around in a ridiculous Maybach and rapping into the camera set on the ground like every other hip-hop video ever made. That's it. It's so incredulous, and un-self-aware that it comes off as totally badass to me. And the song makes complete and total sense with all the mayhem going on in the video that it renders my argument about the sample completely false. The samples make sense--how??? I still don't fucking know.
Favorite Double Album Of The Year
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Like My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy was for Kanye last year, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is for M83 in that it's EVERYTHING they've done up to this point. The patience and expanse of Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts and the pointed intensity of Before The Dawn Heals Us and the slick, almost-'80's style production of Saturdays=Youth are all packed into this album and it succeeds as a result. This is the M83 masterwork: everything you love about M83 is on here and in more than one place. The biggest change on this album is how direct it is. Usually there are spots where M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez is exploitative without placing a lot of concern how it works with everything else. These are the parts that people call "self-indulgent" but I never think they are. They're part of why I love M83. But on Hurry Up... there aren't any spots like this. This album is pure M83 concentrate, no pulp, so it makes sense that it had to go on two discs. I wonder where they go from here?
Favorite Dumb As Fuck Pop Song Of The Year
Avril Lavigne - "What the Hell?"
I'm finding a lot of comfort in knowing that once every year there's going to be a female lead pop song that kicks my ass into oblivion. I think K Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" still sits in the "Diamond Room" of my personal pop singles hall of fame, but "What the Hell?" will easily be in the adjacent "Post-Platinum Room" next door. But why? I'm tempted to say that "What the Hell?" is the fully realized version of the bratty-but-not-douchey young woman--no longer a girl--that you'd expect Avril to be at this age. This is yet another pop icon trying to re-imagine her brand in the light of her now slightly advanced age. What that line of thinking leaves out is huge: this is just a pop song. Whether we could extrapolate what it says about Avril as a person is as irrelevant as it is ridiculous. This is just a pop song. It exists solely to sell perfume and clothing lines and Kia Soul's in YouTube ads to 15 year-old girls. This will never change, and yet here I am, year after year, trying to justify that things have changed, that there is meaning beyond the melody! Never again. This is just a stupid, trivial pop song and god damn if I don't love it.
Favorite User Created Content YouTube Video
"Blake Griffin and Bill Simmons Review Bill's Dunks from His Childhood"
1. Slam dunks. Slam dunks are awesome
2. They're talking about slam dunk videos. If you're going to talk about slam dunks, which don't need narraration, you just need careful editing and this is edited perfectly. Absolutely perfectly.
3. Blake Griffin.
4. Grainy VHS footage from the '80's
5. White kids with the expensive basketball goals where the hoop can be raised and lowered.
6. These same white kids who lower it all the way down and film themselves for their own dunk reel.
7. Making fun of white kids who make their own dunk reel on a 6 foot hoop.
That's all.
Favorite Instrumental Album Of The Year
Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
I don't think I'll ever tire of Explosions In The Sky albums. Mostly it's because I don't think I'll ever truly understand them, but it's also because of how easy it is to allow to be transcendent. It's probably beyond a cliche at this point, but if you blasted this album while bowling, you'd probably find someone trying not to cry.
This new album is as amazing as all the others but it expands the sound slightly, adding voices, more keys, and tiny digital programming artifacts. As with all the other albums it will probably take me years to fully unpack its weight, but for now it's just plain ol' amazing. Ho hum.
Favorite Back In Time Album of the Year
Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Favorite Back In TIme Album of the Year will probably be a reoccurring category where the author highlights an album NOT released during the calendar year, but one in which he listened to a lot, rediscovered, just discovered, or just wants to discuss without having to worry about the restriction of the calendar)
For a band built out of one person, Christopher Carrabba, with the intention of adding a full band as he goes, this album may (unfortunately) be the peak of that vision. The solo period at the very beginning, marked by the simple and so-brutal and so-compelling debut Swiss Army Romance and the more popular, slightly more developed The Places You Have Come to Fear The Most, were meant to be temporary. As amazing as those two albums were it's hard to understand where Carraba wanted them to go and why they ended up recording a nearly-flawless concept album about living in a tourist town called Dusk And Summer. Maybe because he'd been around so many punk bands in Florida he ultimately wanted to be in his own. Maybe he wanted to lean on others when it came to writing. Maybe he just wanted to be on the radio and a Spiderman soundtrack. Whatever the reason it's worked, with varying degrees of success.
Dusk and Summer was and has proven to be the album furthest from his beginnings and succeeds because of it. This album is slick and begs to be placed on your favorite teen movie soundtrack but that's what works in it's favor: this is supposed to be a soundtrack to a teen movie because it is one. The narrative is understated and there are no names, but it's there. It follows the narrator in the middle of summer of a tourist beach town and shows us how futile romantic relationships are. They're so transient, so bittersweet because of the built-in expiration date. She's with her parents and they're only staying a week--it's a perfect excuse to pour on as much drippy, thick romanticism as possible.
The beauty is really in the details and he gets them all right, both in the lyrics and the melodies. The most refreshing element though is how confident it is. Where the early albums are uneasy and self-loathing and are successful for it, Dusk and Summer knows exactly what it is. And though I'm hard pressed to pick one favorite out of their discography I think this one may be the most interesting.
Back In Time Favorite Album Of The Year Runner Up: Lync - These Are Not Fall Colors
Favorite Unexpectedly Awesome Song Of The Year
Manchester Orchestra - "Simple Math"
At least once a month I will compulsively binge on playing tracks I've never heard by bands I've never heard about. Usually I'll read a post about a song, like, "This band sounds like Jeff Magnum started to write a musical about prohibition, gave up half way into it, and made it into a pop album!" There's always a very specific band or name reference, or two or three where possible, and then a smilie bringing together two unlike things, yes, but more importantly two unlike and irrelevant things together, as though the irrelevance carries more weight. This kind of writing is catnip for people who feel like they're slowly falling out of what's cool in indie music, as though the significance of indie music or culture lies solely in the hands of blog writers. It's stupid--INCREDIBLY stupid--but still part of the cold realism of aging. We're trying to quit smoking and drinking as much because we have to get real jobs and we just don't have the time like we used to. We can't just up and go to the Justice show in Atlanta, you know? We have an interview tomorrow! Right?
About 96% of the songs I "discover" this way I either skip after 30 seconds or I download never to be heard of again. I beleive this is supposed to be "sad" in that it shows how disposable music has become. This has been discussed adnauseum over the past two years and in fact, I'm feeling sick thinking about it right now. I understand that the internet is responsible for how easily it is to see and hear new things and how that's made it even easier to forget these same things a mere five seconds after viewing or listening. I get that and I'm in no position to dispute the extent of these effects. My problem is that there are those special songs, like "Simple Math" that transcends all of this. "Simple Math" kicked my ass upon first listen and then it kicked it even harder and more resolutely upon the second one. I played it based on a computer generated recommendation and somehow, this wacky bunch of code and recorded user data directed me to one of my favorite songs of the year. This is how things work now I guess.
Favorite Electronic Single
M83 - "Intro"
"Midnight City" is the ONE TRUE SINGLE from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming but I think the "Intro" sets the table for "Midnight City," and the album itself so well it accidentally steals the show. M83 is great at these intro tracks: "You, Appearing" from the woulda-been-coulda-been-a-John-Hughes-movie-soundtrack album Saturdays = Youth, works equally well and is equally as powerful.
Favorite Recently Reunited Band Album Of The Year
Blink 182 - Neighborhoods
It's hard to know whether your feelings about this album, whatever they may be, are actually justified if only because the length of anticipation has lasted for so long. Do I like this album because it finally came out? Is my like or dislike of this album directly affected by the fact that I'm thinking about this album in terms of "am I thinking about the context of this album too much"?
This is a patently idiotic line of reasoning although I admit I've flirted with these ideas early on. The reason I enjoyed this album is because I found it enjoyable, simple as that. I could read a hundred more Spin reviews and AbsolutePunk.net message board discussions and bounce back and forth on certain issues: "Is Blink 182 the new Angels and Airwaves side project?"; "If things are so great between them, why did they record everything separately?"; "Does Tom have to sing? Really?"; "Meh!" etc. There's incredible relief in being able to shrug these sorts of questions off, even though I still like thinking about them a lot. Ultimately though they don't effect my opinion because they can't. I like it a lot because I like it a lot. It's not their best album (Blink 182) and it's far from their worst album (Cheshire Cat (?)). Objectively it sounds like a band struggling slightly at trying to be everything they could be and had been up to that point, and that's a hard thing to do consciously. But maybe I'm wrong. I think maybe we're all thinking too much.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Even though I bought the "Special Edition" version of this album, I'm writing this based on the "Standard Edition" tracklisting. Overall the special edition sounds like they crammed a couple of b-sides into the track list, which is exactly what they did. I don't think there's a perfect sequence (not yet--see the now-defunct Stylus Magazine's "Playing God" feature) but I prefer to the the standard edition is the closest version to what the group probably debated about for three months.)
Favorite Song Of The Year
Favorite Recently Reunited Band Album Of The Year
Blink 182 - Neighborhoods
It's hard to know whether your feelings about this album, whatever they may be, are actually justified if only because the length of anticipation has lasted for so long. Do I like this album because it finally came out? Is my like or dislike of this album directly affected by the fact that I'm thinking about this album in terms of "am I thinking about the context of this album too much"?
This is a patently idiotic line of reasoning although I admit I've flirted with these ideas early on. The reason I enjoyed this album is because I found it enjoyable, simple as that. I could read a hundred more Spin reviews and AbsolutePunk.net message board discussions and bounce back and forth on certain issues: "Is Blink 182 the new Angels and Airwaves side project?"; "If things are so great between them, why did they record everything separately?"; "Does Tom have to sing? Really?"; "Meh!" etc. There's incredible relief in being able to shrug these sorts of questions off, even though I still like thinking about them a lot. Ultimately though they don't effect my opinion because they can't. I like it a lot because I like it a lot. It's not their best album (Blink 182) and it's far from their worst album (Cheshire Cat (?)). Objectively it sounds like a band struggling slightly at trying to be everything they could be and had been up to that point, and that's a hard thing to do consciously. But maybe I'm wrong. I think maybe we're all thinking too much.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Even though I bought the "Special Edition" version of this album, I'm writing this based on the "Standard Edition" tracklisting. Overall the special edition sounds like they crammed a couple of b-sides into the track list, which is exactly what they did. I don't think there's a perfect sequence (not yet--see the now-defunct Stylus Magazine's "Playing God" feature) but I prefer to the the standard edition is the closest version to what the group probably debated about for three months.)
Favorite Song Of The Year
Miranda Lambert - "Dear Diamond"
In the past four or five years I've keeping track of my favorite things there have been few things that have hit as hard as this song did. No Ghostless Place by Raised By Swans still takes the cake, and Miranda's album Revolution comes really close, but it's still not quite the perfection that is "Dear Diamond." On the surface it sounds like a continuation of Revolution, utilizing the slow tremolo high reverb electric guitar, and laconic timing like that found on "Me And Your Cigarettes" for example. This time though it's the strength of the story and the lyrics that really sets it apart from an otherwise lukewarm album, Four The Record. The nuance and characterization the narrator gives herself is so careful, and subtle and still so moving. It's depressing without being morose. It's careful without being too overt. It's like the best Larry McMurty short story never written, and not like that Lonesome Dove shit either. Upon further listening I realize that it sounds very conventional and I can live with that. But if there are unexplainable things in art and why we like what we like, then there's no better example than this song. Goddamn.
Favorite Album Of The Year
Wye Oak - Civilian
This album caught me completely by surprise. It didn't floor me/destroy me/change everything I know like Raised By Swans did last year with No Ghostless Place. It didn't move me like Takk... by Sigur Ros did in 2007. It didn't pummel me track after track so resolutely like Sir Luscious Left Foot by Big Boi. In fact, I was ready to call Hurry Up... (see above) by M83 my favorite of the year until I played this in early October.
Civilian is musically, lyrically and conceptually challenging which is both it's strong point and why I love it so much. It's difficult while still being completely tangible and thrilling when it needs to be. The guitar sounds on this album approach a unaffected rawness that plays into the melody and the lyrics. Jenn Wasner's voice is a fucking serrated blade going effortlessly through an oak tree trunk. More than anything unlike every other album this year this is the only one that rewarded me with every listen. It will probably always be above me, and better than even I think, and I'll never get my head all the way around it. And for that it's worth more than anything else I heard this year.
TRY IT: Wye Oak - "Holy Holy" - If you can listen to this song and it doesn't tear your ass up...fuck you.
Favorite Thursday Album Of The Year / Favorite Dave Fridmann Produced Album Of The Year
Thursday - No Devolucion
Big surprise. Surely the reader is tired of me showering praise on this band, release after release? Yes? No? Okay, I'll make it quick:
This is their most atmospheric album, and most electronic sounding album to date, which seem to have led reviewers to describe this album as being "dark." Maybe that's accurate. For me it's not as bold as War All The Time, it's not as progressive as City By The Light Divided, and it's not as raucous as Common Existence, but it's still deeply affected and sincere and resolute. In the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Jeff Tweedy describes his band Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as having "a lot of holes" in it, and that's a great description of No Devolucion. There's more space in this album than ever before and that space makes a huge difference. In the years to come I think this will be one of my most favorite of theirs. I can't wait.
Favorite Electronic Based Album Of The Year
James Blake - James Blake
Favorite Album Of The Year
Wye Oak - Civilian
This album caught me completely by surprise. It didn't floor me/destroy me/change everything I know like Raised By Swans did last year with No Ghostless Place. It didn't move me like Takk... by Sigur Ros did in 2007. It didn't pummel me track after track so resolutely like Sir Luscious Left Foot by Big Boi. In fact, I was ready to call Hurry Up... (see above) by M83 my favorite of the year until I played this in early October.
Civilian is musically, lyrically and conceptually challenging which is both it's strong point and why I love it so much. It's difficult while still being completely tangible and thrilling when it needs to be. The guitar sounds on this album approach a unaffected rawness that plays into the melody and the lyrics. Jenn Wasner's voice is a fucking serrated blade going effortlessly through an oak tree trunk. More than anything unlike every other album this year this is the only one that rewarded me with every listen. It will probably always be above me, and better than even I think, and I'll never get my head all the way around it. And for that it's worth more than anything else I heard this year.
TRY IT: Wye Oak - "Holy Holy" - If you can listen to this song and it doesn't tear your ass up...fuck you.
Favorite Thursday Album Of The Year / Favorite Dave Fridmann Produced Album Of The Year
Thursday - No Devolucion
Big surprise. Surely the reader is tired of me showering praise on this band, release after release? Yes? No? Okay, I'll make it quick:
This is their most atmospheric album, and most electronic sounding album to date, which seem to have led reviewers to describe this album as being "dark." Maybe that's accurate. For me it's not as bold as War All The Time, it's not as progressive as City By The Light Divided, and it's not as raucous as Common Existence, but it's still deeply affected and sincere and resolute. In the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Jeff Tweedy describes his band Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as having "a lot of holes" in it, and that's a great description of No Devolucion. There's more space in this album than ever before and that space makes a huge difference. In the years to come I think this will be one of my most favorite of theirs. I can't wait.
Favorite Electronic Based Album Of The Year
James Blake - James Blake
Thumb through every review of this album and you'll get: DUBSTEP, DUBSTEP, DUBSTEP, DUBSTEP.
While this may be technically true, this ain't DJ D's dubstep. In fact, throw the dubstep description out all together. This is just a soul album wrapped in Kid A/Amnesiac- packaging. Simple as that.
TRY IT:
While this may be technically true, this ain't DJ D's dubstep. In fact, throw the dubstep description out all together. This is just a soul album wrapped in Kid A/Amnesiac- packaging. Simple as that.
TRY IT:
- James Blake - "Limit To Your Love" - Most soulful and probably the best song on the album. Also includes your precious dubstep wubbawubba, you fucking baby.
- James Blake - "I Never Learnt To Share" - Wittle wubbawubba flourishes for wittle baby. Maybe my favorite song on the album.
- James Blake - "Wilhelm Scream" - Lead single and all around great song. Simple build up to simply kick your ass.
Favorite Country Single by Lady Antebellum Single Of The Year
Lady Antebellum - "Just A Kiss"
"Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum was amazing, easily one of my favorite songs of the year, and one of my most favorite country songs ever. Keep in mind I realize how pathetic that is, but I don't care. Have you played that song after you're 13 deep and you just ate half a frozen pizza and you're thinking about drinking three year old liqueur your girlfriend left in the freezer? No? Then you're hardly in a position to judge.
"Just A Kiss" is just about as good: it's not quite as brutal or visceral but the chorus has a hook that is razor sharp. Good luck getting it out of your head anytime soon. Lady Antebellum singles are, like all pop songs, transitory but that doesn't mean they're brilliantly written. So expect another blurb like this next year.
New Album Production Journal: Day 211
I'm finally starting to wrap my head around this past weekend and I think I'm happy with the way things turned out. Maybe that sounds crass of me to say, but the truth is I think we need a lot of the perspective afforded by the passing of time to objectively understand events like RWIII where a lot goes on during a short period of time. In the moment this weekend there were times where I was gravely concerned about our productivity and even the album itself. (And after I got home and found out my car is severely fucked it (irrationally) reinforced everything as being fucked. Fuck fuck fuck!!!!) But ultimately I think we got a lot done and did it well.
For me there were two extremely significant things that happened RWIII weekend:
So though I worried about time we (ie I) could have used better, I like to take Scurvy D's point of view, which he stated during our debriefing session on Sunday morning, that the expectation that we would work constantly for 12 hours was unfeasible and unreasonable. We were going to play NHL12 at some point, no matter what, and what's really wrong with that? Rather than focus solely on what we could have done I'm thinking about about what we did get done for once, which was actually a lot. We played and talked about every beat we have so far at length and narrowed down the beats that we are going to work on. We talked about the tone of the album. We talked about the direction. We talked about the first track. We talked about titles. We talked about the cover art. We recorded final takes for as many as three songs, which, compared to RWII is a lot. I can't wait for the next one.
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The weeks following RWIII I've done very little in regards to work on the beat. I've been thinking about different things to write about, puttering around in GarageBand when I can, but nothing substantive has really resulted. December is National Goof Off Month so there's a lot of obligations coming down the road for all of us that will leave us with less time than normal to work on things. I'm trying to be easy on myself and am allowing myself to be okay with this, but I know in a week or so I'm going to go back to freaking out. SAMPLE PAGES!!!! NEW BEATS!!! etc.
Actually the more I think about, the more I'm already kind of scaring myself. I better stop now while I can.
For me there were two extremely significant things that happened RWIII weekend:
- Beat-By-Beat Discussion - we sat down as a group and discussed every beat we had up to that date and discussed them until we all agreed on what to do with them. We've never had to do this before because we've never sat down to consciously make an album, so it was a little weird at first. What are we doing? here kind of awkward. It quickly proved to be extremely helpful as we hashed out a lot of ideas I wasn't expecting. We cleared things up. We planned things. We through hundreds of ideas out. It was incredibly productive and a lot of the credit should go to Scurvy D who did a tremendous job leading the discussion. One of the biggest reasons this was so significant was because it reinforced a lot of great assets we have in the group, such as Scurvy D taking on the leadership role, or Forrest's willingness to be more explorative. It set the tone for weekend too and I don't think we could have had a better start.
- Writing - Writing new tracks was a double edged sword and it was sharp as fuck on both sides. There were a couple of beats everyone hadn't written to, and then a couple where only I needed to write to--it wasn't pretty, logistically or in execution. Scurvy D, who has written and recorded to almost everything had a lot of downtown. Clearly this is something we need to be better prepared for next time (I'm looking at myself in a mirror as I'm writing this), but the other side of the sword was the huge break-through I had. Part of why I was so unprepared was because I couldn't write anything of significance. I don't like using the term "writers block" because it's a self-limiting belief and just thinking about it limits you, or justifies your excuse to not work on something. But fuck it: this was a giant ass writers block. I cobbled together the first song's lyrics with something I'd hacked at prior to the trip and I stumbled into a decent performance. It wasn't my best work but I got sort of a rush from doing it. The next one didn't come until late on Saturday but once it did, everything. fucking. clicked. And it wasn't really like old times either, where I was just glad to be through it. I actually liked what I was saying and how I was going to perform it. It was "Katherine Hunter." It was "Money In The Bank." It was fucking awesome. I immediately sat down and wrote another one after recording and by the time I was done it was 3:00am on Sunday. So, I let down the group by not having more prepared, but if the group only knew how huge it was for me to just have that time and be with everyone and just be, I think maybe they would understand. I hope.
So though I worried about time we (ie I) could have used better, I like to take Scurvy D's point of view, which he stated during our debriefing session on Sunday morning, that the expectation that we would work constantly for 12 hours was unfeasible and unreasonable. We were going to play NHL12 at some point, no matter what, and what's really wrong with that? Rather than focus solely on what we could have done I'm thinking about about what we did get done for once, which was actually a lot. We played and talked about every beat we have so far at length and narrowed down the beats that we are going to work on. We talked about the tone of the album. We talked about the direction. We talked about the first track. We talked about titles. We talked about the cover art. We recorded final takes for as many as three songs, which, compared to RWII is a lot. I can't wait for the next one.
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The weeks following RWIII I've done very little in regards to work on the beat. I've been thinking about different things to write about, puttering around in GarageBand when I can, but nothing substantive has really resulted. December is National Goof Off Month so there's a lot of obligations coming down the road for all of us that will leave us with less time than normal to work on things. I'm trying to be easy on myself and am allowing myself to be okay with this, but I know in a week or so I'm going to go back to freaking out. SAMPLE PAGES!!!! NEW BEATS!!! etc.
Actually the more I think about, the more I'm already kind of scaring myself. I better stop now while I can.
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