I’ve sat staring at the blinking cursor for about twelve minutes trying to decide how to start this post off. Because what can you say about Grace?
Reviews
Record #236: Janelle Monae – The Archandroid (2010)
Janelle Monae is a chameleon of the finest form. She has been leveled comparisons to James Brown, Prince, David Bowie, and Jack White, and trekking through the monolithic The Archandroid, each one of them stands up to scrutiny.
Monae sets her feet firmly in funk and soul and gropes wildly in all directions grabbing a bit of hip hop, a bit of garage rock, a bit of disco, a bit of MPB, all dashed with a healthy dose of afro-futurism.
And the most telling of Monae’s talents is that such a disparate sounding record not only works, but excels, even with such a goofy premise behind it. Because let’s be honest: a genre-spanning concept album about a robot who is also the Messiah who falls in love with her maker in a city where dancing and love are outlawed should be ridiculous to the point of being unlistenable. But it’s actually one of the best records to come out of the last ten years.
Record #235: Deafheaven – Sunbather (2013)
Since my second or third year of college, the surest way to keep me from listening to something has been to drop the word “metal” in its description. Metal (and by extension, hardcore) was something I had enjoyed while I was following the scene, but I had grown out of it and moved on to the greener, more mature pastures of folk, electronica, and art rock. Continue reading
Record #234: James Taylor – Sweet Baby James (1970)
I spent the summer after my freshman year of college driving all around Michigan in a Chrysler Town & Country minivan with a busted CD player, leaving me nothing to listen to except a cassette tape of the Greatest Hits of James Taylor, who I considered the greatest singer-songwriter ever (an easy claim to make when everything you listen to has a -core suffix).
Record #233: CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe (2013)
There’s always been a weird sort of relationship between the independent music scene and Top 40 pop. Often, indie often derides pop for lack of artistic integrity, separating itself from the cheap tricks of pop to make serious music. But there are other times where indie tries to beat pop at its own game, shoving even more hooks and dance hooks into three minutes, which always ends up dripping with irony.
Then, there’s CHVRCHES.
Record #232: BRAIDS – Flourish // Perish (2013)
2011’s Native Speaker was one of those albums that snuck up on me without much fuss, but it crashed onto my year end list like a whirlwind. It was a bipolar affair, slipping from vulgar to tender within the same verse as the tracks jumped from manic exuberance to serene atmospherics as the record progressed. And with the announcement that their keyboardist had stepped down, it seemed like Flourish // Perish would spend most of its time in the chirpy, bouncing art pop portion of Braids’ repertoire.
But that’s not the case at all. Rather, Braids merged their two extremes into one beat-ridden, ethereal whole.
Record #231: David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
As much as I love David Bowie, I’ve never spent any time with what is widely considered his definitive album and one of the seminal albums of the Glam Rock movement. Continue reading
Record #230: Iceage – You’re Nothing (2013)
Punk’s not dead. It’s just been hiding in Denmark, where four teenagers found it in the streets of Copenhagen in 2008 and unleashed its fury back upon the world.
Record #229: Built To Spill – Keep It Like A Secret (1998)
As a snot nosed fourteen year old, I had a discman with the Ataris’ End is Forever album set to “repeat all.”
On this album was the song “Mixtape,” which featured the lyric, “there was Jawbreaker and Armchair Martian / Built to Spill and the Descendants.” Amazing as it may seem, through my years of trolling through CDs thank you notes to find new bands, this litany somehow escaped me until recently.
Hipster music junkie that I am, I somehow didn’t listen to Built to Spill until just this summer (and I still haven’t spent much time with Jawbreaker).
And the loss was all mine.
Years I have wasted, unaware of some of the most blissful guitar rock ever churned out by three human beings with recording equipment. Decades spent deaf to the sweet melodies of “Carry the Zero,” the max-capacity riffs of “The Plan,” the gentle softness of “Else,” the classic rock homage that is “You Were Right.” Years of my life spent depriving myself of the biggest guitars and sing alongiest pop songs 90s indie rock had to offer.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to send a note saying “BUILT TO SPILL” back in time to 9th grade me.
Record #228: Fugazi – Steady Diet of Nothing (1991)
On their second full length, Fugazi decided to keep control of the boards to themselves. The way they tell the story, none of them wanted to offend any of their bandmates by turning their parts down or suggesting second takes, resulting in a very democratic mix and a very safe album.