a mini mixtape baby!
R.E.M. - near wild heaven
besnard lakes - disaster
grizzly bear - he hit me
vivian girls - where do you run to
teenage fanclub - cul de sac
panda bear - bros
fleet foxes - he doesn't know why
animal collective - did you see the words
deerhunter - moon witch cartridge
Monday, December 15, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Man Hutan Returns Top 10 Albums of 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Music Review: American Music Club - The Golden Age (2008)
Places play a big role in most people's lives. It's not surprising that Mark Eitzel's hometown San Francisco is more often than not referred to in American Music Club's music including Golden Age.
"All My Love" is pleasantly gentle in every way. Mark Eitzel sings the words in this song with so much conviction. It has the same musical mood as "Fearless" from their 1994 LP San Francisco.
Golden Age contains some simple but noteworthy drumbeats that are heard in "The Sleeping Beauty", "Windows on the World" and "Decibels and the Little Pills". New drummer Steve Didelot surely made his presence felt here and there.
I find it perplexing that AMC manage to come up with ear-candy tunes such as San Francisco's "I Broke My Promise" and "Johnny Mathis' Feet" from the much darker Mercury. As for Golden Age, its gotta be "Who You Are".
When Mark sings 'Later on I said to Kid/Hey look at me' in "Windows on the World", he sounded more like Knopfler rather than Eitzel. Mark Eitzel quips 'Your magic power is to disappear before you leave me in your will/Is the only blessing that you don't fear the only prayer you know God is sure to fill?' in the engaging horn-accompanied "I Know that's Not Really You".
Every chorus from "On My Way" entails some psychedelic guitar. For me, this album ends with "On My Way". Final track "The Grand Duchess of San Francisco" could easily have been omitted.
AMC has a respectable longevity (entering their third decade in releasing albums) that may very well drown some senile musicians. Golden Age might hint at some wrinkles on their skin but it also signifies that AMC can age gracefully.
80%
Friday, September 26, 2008
Music Review: Peter Bjorn and John - Seaside Rock (2008)
Vocals with proper lyrics? Not checked. Cohesiveness? Unchecked. Peter Bjorn and John obviously wanna get WTFs in album reviews for their latest serving. Can't figure out what to do with some less dense or unattractive music? To my horror, they "solved" that by adding some people muttering about. And when traces of singing is heard in the otherwise sweet "Say Something", you can't help but snigger at the effort.
However, the true gems of this album are "Favour of the Season" (think a jazz number with scaled down bpm to great soothing vibes) and the calm yet epic "Barcelona". Opener "Inland Empire" makes you wonder if it is actually a tribute to a certain David Lynch flick.
You may be baffled or amazed that these Swedish folks would go up the wall to wanna audaciously construct this record. But c'mon, I'm sure they can do better than Seaside Rock. Gravitational force will drag the pebble down based on the cover art. The question is: How low can this album's rating go?
25%
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Music Review: Subtle - ExitingARM (2008)
In terms of melody, ExitingARM does offer plenty. Effects are scattered but inconsistently effective. Adam "Doseone" Drucker, Jordan Dalrymple and Dax Pierson have some neat tricks for vocal outputs. "The Crow" and a few other tracks possess pop characteristics here and there.
"Hollow Hollered" has a nice beat to it (think TV on the Radio's "I was a Lover" but with additional drum rolls). There is an obvious connection between "Hollow Hollered" and "Wanted Found": A hypnotic acoustic arpeggio towards the end (The latter contains Arabic flute tunes and garage drum trashing that further put listeners into trance.)
Subtle sure has a knack for human skull as evident in "Sick Soft Perfection" and the title track in which one of the vocalists sings "Would you skin your skull to draw its strength?".
However, it is a false siren. ExitingARM lacks a certain lasting musical chemistry with its listeners. It doesn't compell me to feel that excited or be moved. This record sure hits the right notes in drawing the attention of listeners initially but it scores low points in terms of relistenability.
65%
Friday, August 15, 2008
Music Review: Beach House - Devotion (2008)
To be honest, the record sounded a tad boring upon first listen. Then, a reverse of events after a few listens occurred, proving once again that good music sometimes need extra observation and time investment to be appreciated.
An essential component of this record is a special moment of every song, which can transform seemingly ordinary songs into good ones. "All the Years" has Victoria Legrand's heartfelt vocals resonating 'of all the years to come...' with 'All my devotion/Compelled by an ocean (emotion)' further proclaiming her undying love for something or someone, continuing from where she left off in Beach House's "Saltwater".
Hawaiian guitar riffs and licks often soak Devotion, giving it a sunnier overall mood than in their previous record. Legrand's vocals usually pull back the songs into sombre mode. However, her voice sounds more convincing this time around, albeit still achingly heartbreaking in even her happier tunes.
The delicate and Asian-sounding guitar riff in "Some Things Last a Long Time" backed by effective gong beats is rather addictive. And please do check out the effect of backward-like guitar towards the end of "Wedding Bell". The songstress also dishes out 'Oh, is your heart still mine to sail?' in that track.
"Gila" (pronounced as 'hila') is Devotion's answer to "Master of None". The other half of Beach House, Alex Scally, also contributed many amazing yet simple guitar leads for Devotion. Both he and Legrand still have twin haunting effects on listeners.
Suffice to say, this record's hidden melodies, sweet guitar, organ and slightly upbeat sounding vocals add new dimension to their transalvanian sound. Keep those haunting and seemingly heavy tambourines rattling for a dark Christmas, BH.
80%
Friday, August 1, 2008
Fleet Foxes (2008)
The fleet foxes might look like hippies but make no mistake about it, they are quite the opposite. Fleet Foxes's self titled debut is a journey into bewilderment filled with lush instruments and strong vocal harmonization that makes it sounds earthy yet like nothing you have heard before. The album start with "Red Squirrel" a late night bonfire singalong type tune with leads into the gorgeous "Sun it Rises" a track that pretty much kicks off the album much like the rising of the sun replacing the pale moon light. The album then flows smoothly onto the catchy "White Winter Hymnal". The momentum of the album stays constantly strong throughout with beach boys inspired accapella's to the huge megaton choruses of "Your Protector", but there are still surprises for the second last track of the album is what makes the foxes a band to watch. "Blue Ridge Mountain" is a like a trip back home, when you've been away far too long and all kinds of emotions hit you all at once. The album ends with a somber "Oliver James" which actually sounds more desolate that it actually is partly because of "Blue Ridge Mountains". Proving that sometimes the journey is much more precious than the destination itself.
Fleet foxes is an instant american classic, which reminds us that inspiring music can come from anywhere and sometimes its closer to our earthlier roots than you will ever imagine. This year with the bear and the monkeys in hiatus, this surely must be the year of the fox.
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