Album Review: "The Hazards of Love" by The Decemberists

Anyone want to hear about some music? Remember when I used to write about music regularly on here? Those were the days. It's not like I haven't been listening to new stuff or thinking of old favorites that I'd like to share with my friends on the interweb. I just got it in my head that I didn't want elispersonalstash to be a music blog. But when I wrote about other stuff, I ended up getting some crazy people all riled up about what God told them to tell everyone else they can and can't do. Those people are lost causes, so I'm back to writing for my people: music nerds, plus my friends and family.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to the album most played on my ipod in 2009: The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists. I'd never been a huge fan, though I liked the song they wrote about me, "Eli the Barrow Boy." This album changed my perception of the Portland indie rockers, led by Colin Meloy. They managed to put together a concept album that tells a clear story that actually also sounds good. In fact, it rocks out at some points.

The story of the album is about two lovers, Margaret and William, and the attempts to keep them apart by William's crazy jealous adoptive mother, the Queen of the Forest. Yes, there's magic. Yes, there are ghosts. Yes, there's a dealmaking river.

The story is good enough that it would totally hold up as a musical or rock opera or something. But that's not what makes it a great album. Meloy and company weave a few recurring melodies and themes throughout the album, which makes it flow better than most albums these days, which are more collections of singles. The instrumentation is really creative... banjos and slide guitars one moment, buzzy reverb and shredding the next. The guest vocalists on the album are superb, and Meloy can sing too. His singing is almost as good as his unabashedly nerdy lyrics (pull out your dictionaries!). 

The album starts off kind of slow, and definitely focuses on exposition more in the early going, sacrificing on the musical end a bit. The album really picks up at track 8 and never looks back. What's track 8, you ask? It's a little ditty called "The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid." OK, so the title isn't great. But the song really is. If this song was played out on the stage, William would be on one side singing about his longing for Margaret, and the Queen would be on the other side singing about what an ungrateful pain in the ass William is. William's song is folksy and very Ren-faire-y. The Queen's song is badass blues. The transitions are smooth, and the track works quite well, though probably better in the context of the whole album. 

Track 9 is a little guitar interlude, which just calms you down for a bit before they blow your mind with track 10, "The Rake's Song." The Rake is the nasty villain of the story, and this song is our introduction to his evil ways. It's kind of odd to listen to a singer going on about killing his children, but since it's in the context of a fictional story, it works, and it's richer for its provocativeness. There are some awesome rhymes in this track, and Meloy is at his best vocally too. You can download "The Rake's Song" for free from the Decemberists' site.

If you are even the slightest bit inclined to enjoy the musical theater format, and if you like good rock music, then get this album. Read the lyrics as you listen so you get the whole story. Enjoy!

Album Review: "The Crying Light" by Antony and the Johnsons

At first listen, Antony and the Johnsons' The Crying Light probably isn't for anyone but the most morose among us, freshly off being dumped by the loves of our lives. After subsequent listens, it probably still isn't for most people. It's so very unconventional. But for those open-minded enough to allow Antony Hegarty's irresistably weird voice to do its magic, there's the bountiful reward of a stunning collection of songs making up his third full-length album. His quivering, almost operatic singing style is unlike anything else out there on the rock scene. It might even be a stretch to call this rock music. That's neither here nor there. The only classification that matters to me is that it's beautiful music.

The Animal Collective album is the 2009 release getting all the attention so far, but this one is my pick for album of the first month and six days of year. Not that Merriweather Post Pavilion isn't very good. It is, and deserves any attention it gets. But The Crying Light is so direct and sincere in its appeal to the sad boy or girl in you without being cheesy that you have to recognize it as a rare piece of art.

Video for "Epilepsy is Dancing" 

Top 25 Albums of 2008

This was hard. Much harder than I thought it would be. I listened to about 75 albums from 2008, but there were so many more that I thought I "should" listen to, to be fair. Well, time ran out, and here's what I ended up with. I'm happy with it. I'd really appreciate your comments. Also, see my FULL list of reviews of all of the albums I listened to.

25. Beach House - Devotion
Very nice Nico-esque sound they have. It's retro, for sure, but not the same kind of retro everyone else seems to be ripping off lately. These Baltimoreans have done my home state proud.

24. AU - Verbs
I heard these guys open for the Dodos, and it took a few songs, but I eventually got into their sound. For some reason, I end up comparing a lot of bands to Animal Collective, but I think it's apt here. They have that same sense of how to make the bizarre beautiful.

23. Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
Not consistently good through the whole album, but there are a few outstanding tracks. Their old-school folk/soul lo-fi sound feels comfortable from the moment you hear it.

22. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
As much as I dislike the guy for his attitude, there's no denying his ear. Yeah, maybe he isn't a very good singer, but he knows it, and makes up for it with some appropriate effect-work.

21. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Fun and dancy, this record doesn't take itself too seriously like a lot of electronic music. The synths and beats make for perfect party music that owes plenty to Depeche Mode and other earlier electronic groups, but still sounds modern. I think the singer could use some voice lessons though.

20. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
All quality songs. This mellow folk rock rookie in the Iron & Wine mold has some stellar melodies and a haunting sound that will touch your heart and be appropriate for the soundtrack to Gray's Anatomy (woops, too late).

19. Deerhunter - Microcastle
This album has multiple personalities. Its ambient, spacey, trippy side makes it pleasantly groovy. Its power pop melodies and hooks give it a familiar feel. "Never Stops" is a really good track.

18. Santogold - Santogold
Hopping back and forth between new wave, reggae, hip hop, and hard rock, (even a taste of country) this exciting new artist is fresh and filled with the funk. Can't wait to hear what she has to give us next.

17. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White's "other band" is better than his regular band (The White Stripes). Yeah I said it. This isn't his side project. This is the real deal. Unlike White Stripes albums, this one keeps moving the whole time, not pausing to marvel at Jack's virtuosity. This is about the songs, not the man. The rest of the band must bring out the more practical rocker in him.

16. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
Blind husband-wife duo mix traditional and modern sounds with soulful song-writing. I have no idea what they're saying, but they've got me convinced.

15. The Dodos - Visiter
This duo, sometimes trio, is downright nasty with the skills. Acoustic guitar, drums, and singing (and sweatpants). That's all you need, apparently. Their music is a frenzy of activity that you should be shocked to learn comes from just two young dudes from San Francisco. Full review.

14. Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
When I first listened to it, I thought it would surely be one of my top 3 albums of the year, but it didn't take too many spins before I realized it's just a very very good album. The multi-instrumentalist from the nation of my birth did the homeland proud with a little gem of an album. It's fun, trippy, airy, and concise. Full review.

13. Sigur Ros - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
The Icelandic group's most accessible album to date. Mosts of the songs are single-length and of fairly standard song structure, unlike much of their more ambient catalog. A good listen for sure, even if it seems to cater more to the masses. They're still near the top of the active psychedelic music scene.

12. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
It took a long time for me to appreciate this album. It seems to be on everybody's top ten list, and I just didn't see it until I listened to it in the morning. Some albums are night-time music. This is morning-time music, for me at least. My beef with it for a while was that it's not very original, as it borrows a lot from the 60s and 70s era psychedelic and folk scenes, especially the Beach Boys. I know everyone borrows, but it just seemed too similar. But I realized that regardless of whether the style is new, the songs are great, and the melodies are timeless.

11. Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
What is he? Indie? Punk? Who cares, it sounds so good to me. It's defiant, angry, paranoid, confident. Everything he seems to be as a person.

10. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Another innovative electronic group making beautiful sounds with blips, beeps, and buzzy beats.

9. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
This Mancunian group have been one of my favorite bands for a while now, but this album seems like their best, most confident work so far. Also, their show at 6th & I historic Synagogue was my favorite show of the year, and I went to a LOT of good shows this year.

8. Dr. Dog - Fate
They might be higher if not for a weak final three tracks. This band has been one of my favorite music discoveries of the year. They're awesome live, and this album, an indie/blues/folk fun-ride, complete with great vocal variety and harmony. Full review.

7. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Midwest hip-hop duo lay witty, self-deprecating rhymes over minimalist, old school beats. My favorite hip-hop album since Madvillainy. Ok, so I don't listen to that much hip-hop, it's true. But this has fulfilled my undernourished taste for it for '08, and I think '09 will be a year of hip-hop exploration for me.

6. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
The future of music? This electronic group put together a great effort filled with hard beats, dramatic buildups, and a fascinating mix of melody and noise.

5. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
"I am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick / I might not want you back, but I want to kill him." These are the kinds of raw emotional lyrics, sung with a wobbly, earnest voice, that make this album great. It's produced by the same guy who produced Boxer by the National last year, and the two albums share the quality of breathing new life into the conventional rock style with just good song-writing and production.

4. The Walkmen - You & Me
Roommate Ed proclaims, "Sounds like Bob Dylan" and dismisses it. Whatever, he does have that great-singer-that-can't-really-sing kind of sound to him. There's so much more though. You feel like you're in some grainy independent film that's vaguely set in the past, but feels particularly timely, if that makes even a lick of sense.

3. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
This album occupied my top spot for a good portion of the year, and might have suffered from being the first of these top 3 that I heard, and therefore, the least fresh. It's amazing. They deserve all the praise they're getting. I think they finally put it all together on this record, where in their previous efforts, there were good tracks, but not a good album. Also, read my full gushing review.

2. Portishead - Third
Wow, who knew a band could go away for so long and come back with an album this good? I guess it's not unheard of. These alt-electro-rock-ish veterans know how to make some amazing sounds with their instruments, machines, and voices. To use a cliche term, the songs take you on a journey, and all the stops on that trip are beautiful and strange.

1. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
First off, props to Brooklyn for putting out so many good records this year (this one, TVOTR, Santogold, The Hold Steady, MGMT, Vampire Weekend). Nicely done. This one takes the cake though. It's a full album, stunning from start to finish. They ditched their out-and-out electronica sound and humor (which were good too) and focused on making a spooky folktronica masterpiece. Daniel Rossen, also from Grizzly Bear, has a beautiful and earnest voice that colors the album with vivid, pained strokes. Also check out my full review.

Album Review: "In Ear Park" by Department of Eagles

We're coming up on the end of 2008. I decided that this year, I'm finally going to actually try and listen to as many "significant" albums as possible and put together a "best of" list. So the new stuff is hitting my iTunes fast and furious, and there's a lot to like.

Department of Eagles' second album, In Ear Park, is one of the ones to like. In their follow-up to 2003's The Cold Nose (a lost gem of an album), they've really come up with a formula for beautiful music. Nose, brilliant as it was, was disjointed and immature. Each individual track carried some completely different idea, and the album as a whole suffered for its lack of cohesion. Park has no such problems. The indie experimentalists from Brooklyn have found their musical voice; it's simultaneously chilling and warm, tight and free.

The original band-members, Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen, welcome members of Rossen's other band, Grizzly Bear, to the mix and form a sort of hybrid of the two bands. The engine of ideas for DoE remains with its original members, but the tightness and psychedelic melancholy are influenced by Grizzly Bear.

The album is emotional and haunting, and strikingly beautiful. Have a listen to some of the sweet sweet magic here:

This is a pretty faithful live performance of the opening and title track. The album stays thoroughly interesting from beginning to end despite never rising to the playful energy of Nose. Other highlights include "Phantom Other", "Herringbone", and "Floating on the Lehigh", but the album is best appreciated as a whole. Not to spoil a surprise, but this album will surely make that top 10 list I'm working on.

Album Review: "Exit" by Shugo Tokumaru

I think I might forego doing numerical ratings for my album reviews here, because clearly, I'm only writing about the ones I like anyway. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that I liked Exit by Shugo Tokumaru quite a bit. Maybe even a 10. I didn't think there would be an album to challenge TV on the Radio's Dear Science for my favorite album of the year, but here it is. (Stay tuned for the results of that contest.)

Shugo Tokumaru is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist who has shockingly little biographical information on his Wikipedia page. After this album, he deserves to be a star. Even though I'm Japanese, most Japanese music doesn't appeal to me. This album is different. Way different. It has  opened my mind to a whole new kind of rock music that is exciting to say the least.

Tokumaru's sound is filled with acoustic instruments and organic sound effects accompanying his sweet, high pitched Japanese pop crooning. It's definitely aptly labelled as psychadelic, but it doesn't use the typical psychadelic techniques like trippy electric guitar and electronic sounds. It acheives its trippiness with haunting harmonies, droning acoustic instrumentation, lots of out-of-tune bells, and other natural-sounding effects that remind me of an acid trip in the woods of Bambi.

There isn't a loser on this album. The highlights are "Green Rain," with its complex rhythms and its use of all the instruments you'd expect to find in the closet of an elementary school music classroom; "Clocca," mystically dissonant pop song; "DPO," a dizzying romp that sounds like a punk song played with a ukelele and a Fisher Price xylophone; and "Wedding," which opens with a beautiful banjo (or steel guitar?) part that gives way to a frantically joyous refrain of the same melody.

This is one of those albums that makes me happy that I am a fiend for finding new music. It's not likely that I'd have found this if I was even slightly less obsessive about music. I can't imagine an album like this existing and my never hearing it. Sadly, there are probably many such albums, and I'm not obsessed enough to find them all. But Exit is the kind of prized find that will sustain my interest in digging through the obscure, because it is a true gem of an album.

Album Review: "Dear Science" by TV On the Radio

If you can't handle a praise-fest, stop reading right now. TV On the Radio's new album, Dear Science, is SO GOOD that it'd be impossible for me to write a balanced review of it. There's just nothing bad I can say about it. I don't say this lightly either. There are very few albums by even fewer bands that I think have made an album worthy of this treatment. OK Computer, Nevermind, Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not...maybe a handful of others in the last 20 years.

My point is, this is a fantastic album. I think TVOTR have forced themselves into the conversation of "best active band in the world" (with my personal criteria being: if every band in the world released an album tomorrow, whose would be the best?). Before I listened to Dear Science, I'd have said Radiohead without much hesitation.

This album delivers on the promise of the Brooklyn five-some's first two albums, which had some great singles ("Staring at the Sun", "Wolf Like Me", etc.), but lacked cohesion, direction, and got a bit boring at times. They've stuck to the same mix of instrumentation: distorted, buzzy guitars and synths, soulful and funky bass, driving drums, horns, sax, "loops", some strings, and the wicked wailing of Tunde Adebimpe.

Their sound is more mature now. They seem more confident. They've dropped the outright melancholy and added a touch of light and hope. It's not like they've turned into Belle and Sebastian; they've just breathed a new liveliness into their songs.

The result is a collection of gradually intensifying symphonic rock anthems, beautifully constructed electro-ballads, and furiously funky dance tracks. Everything they try on this album works. Adebimpe's voice is controlled chaos, laid over precise beats and intricately crafted melodies that actually go places, unlike a lot of other bands' songs.

Key tracks:

"Golden Age" - The album's first single. This funky little number with a funky bassline and retro brass chorus has the feel of an anthem while also moving airily and freely.  

"Family Tree" - Coldplay wishes they could write sentimental ballads with this much depth. This track features strings and synths, with subdued vocals pouring out syncopated beauty. 

"Crying" - A good example of their newly positive sound. The funky little guitar riff and Adebimpe's falsetto make the song light. It moves, it grows. It's the new TVOTR at its best.

"Dancing Choose" - This is my personal favorite. Its frantic rock-rap verses give way to a slick, smooth chorus, which gives way to even more frantic verse with saxophone harmonies that build in intensity throughout the song. It's an absolute instant classic.

"Love Dog" - This is stunning track featuring strings, synths, driving beats, syncopated falsetto, and some heart-wrenchingly beautiful chord progressions.

Rating: 10/10 - An absolute classic. This album will define this band and maybe even all of rock music for the decade, as OK Computer did for the 90s.

music recommendation: the dodos

kudos to my friend brian for pushing the dodos on me. i admit, i resisted this band of san franciscans at first, for no real good reason, but a few spins convinced me this is very much a worthwhile band.

the dodos' second album, visiter, has flashes of brilliance, mixed in with a few misses. their strength is their adventurous use of rhythm, melody, and texturing. their songs are pretty musically complex for an indie rock band, and might be challenging for some listeners, but they have a definite knack for mixing in clever, melodic hooks in a storm of changing key and time signatures. their songs blend furious percussion beats with overlapping layers of acoustic guitar, and psychedelic (read echo-y) vocals. although simplistic, i'd say they could be likened to animal collective, or better yet, described as "animal collective lite". fans of a.c. would probably like the dodos. they share similar psychedelic, experimental song structures, but are less cerebral and more accessible to an average listener. their primary tools to create this effect are tinny acoustic guitar riffs and some creative, almost tribal seeming percussion. they also layer in some fuzzy electric guitars, bells, banjo, horns, and keyboards to create a pleasantly trippy sound.

they do have one major flaw, though: they're not very good singers. bands have certainly recovered from such flaws. i've found that when charting the growth of a band over time, it's very often in the vocals that i notice the most improvement. but, then again, some people just don't have it. to steal a phrase from the randy jackson lexicon, "it was a little bit pitchy for me, dawg." it's difficult to tell if the moments where they are off-pitch in their singing are intentional or not, since their harmonies and dissonance throughout the album imply an understanding of pitch. it shouldn't be hard to tell if it's doing what it's supposed to.

the dissonance on the interlude track "it's that time again" is obviously intentional, and it has a pleasant effect. on tracks like "winter" and "park song", other interesting parts of the song distract (and make forgivable) the singers' shortcomings. but then there are tracks like "joe's waltz" and "undeclared" that don't have enough else interesting going on instrumentally to prevent the cringes, if you have an ear for that kind of thing anyway.

the hits on this album, however, are some pretty special pieces of work. "red and purple" starts off repeating the last guitar chord of the previous song before speeding up and welcoming a frantic drumbeat that continues through the otherwise mellow, catchy tune. the juxtaposition of the percussion and psychedelic, semi-poppy vocals makes a pretty rad sound. this layering is their strongest skill, and this track, along with "jodi", "the season", and "fools", exemplifies it best.

the dodos are a pretty interesting band, and a worthwhile listen for those of you with more adventurous music taste.

rating: 7/10 - pretty good. there's plenty to like about them, and good reason to expect better things from future albums.

fyi: they play at sonar (baltimore) on 9/28. i plan to go.

[note: i didn't give dr. dog's album a rating, and i feel strange changing it for some reason, so i'm gonna state here... dr. dog got 9/10]

music recommendation: dr. dog

i became aware of dr. dog through a mix cd from a girl i was dating who has since kicked me to the curb. i was none too happy about the dumping, but at least she introduced me to a good band. the philly-based fivesome's wikipedia page says they have five full-length albums, but i've only listened to their most recent one: fate.

my friend katie said that someone described the band to her as, "like the beatles, but better." that's taking the praise a bit far, but the comparison to the liverpudlian legends is not completely undeserved. they have a psychedelic pop sound that definitely borrows plenty from the fab four, but there are eleventy-billion other bands that you could say that about. but dr. dog are fresh and original in their take on rock and roll music. mixing frenetic piano riffs, simple but masterful guitar work, alternating bluesy and quivering-indie-y vocalists, unexpected melodic twists and turns, and appropriately psychedelic sound-effects, the group sounds like a farmhouse hootenanny from the 24th century.

key tracks on fate include "the breeze", a gentle acoustic diddy that grows into a harmony-filled mid-tempo groove, "the old days", a frenetic mashing of simple piano riffs and ironic, high-energy lyrics ("wrap up the money, save it for a sunny DAY DAY DAY") that's extremely catchy, and "the ark", a bluesy ballad with a funky baseline that alternately conjures CCR's raw emotion and the beatles' slick harmonies. there are no misses on this album, though, so just hit play and enjoy.

luckily for those of you in the d.c. area, dr. dog are coming to town to play a show at IOTA club in arlington on sept 5. seating is first-come-first-serve (no presale tickets). i will most certainly be there.