I never thought I would write this post.
I have looked for this record for years, passing it up because of the price, hoping that their (ill-advised) reunion would bring a reissue with it. Then, Tooth and Nail Records was bought by big bad EMI Christian, dashing any hopes of T&N reissues against the rocks. Continue reading
Record #239: As Cities Burn – Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest (2005)
I recently stated that I haven’t cared about hard music in something like eight years. While that’s true, there is one exception.
Even as I dismissed the more fist-in-the-air tastes of my youth in favor of more cerebral tastes like folk, electronica, Krautrock, and the like, As Cities Burn’s debut has always been near the top of my favorite albums.
Record #238: The Arcade Fire – Reflecktor (2013)
You could pretty much guess what this album would sound like from the narrative of its making of: an Arcade Fire album produced by James Murphy with a lead single that David Bowie threatened to steal if they didn’t release it in a timely manner.
Record #237: Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)
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?
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