The Man Who Died In His Boat is a collection of outtakes from 2008’s Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill, which saw Grouper setting aside electronics for acoustic instruments and reverb. But none of that really matters, because knowing who Grouper is or hearing Dragging… aren’t prerequisites for enjoying this record.
Record #199: Grizzly Bear – Shields (2012)
So how exactly do you follow up a record that should go down in history as one of the greatest of all time? If you’re Grizzly Bear, you double down. Shields digs deeper into the elements that made Veckatimest great, with stellar results.
Record #198: Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)
If the future is kind to Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest will be remembered alongside Pet Sounds and Abbey Road as one of the most perfect records of all time.
Record #197: Graham Parker and the Rumour – The Up Escalator (1980)
I bought this record when I first started my collection in college for two reasons: it was twenty-five cents, and the cover was cool.
And after a disappointing listen, I kept it on the merit of its artwork and never listened to it again. But now, six years later, the record doesn’t sound as terrible as it did when I first heard it.
Record #196: Gorillaz – Plastic Beach (2010)
Somewhere after Demon Days was released, Blur essentially disbanded. So without another outfit, all of Damon Albarn’s creative outlet was directed to Gorillaz.
And that’s where the whole cartoon thing kind of shattered. Continue reading
Record #195: Gorillaz – Demon Days (2005)
When “Clint Eastwood” hit airwaves in 2001, Gorllaz were immediately pigeonholed as “that cartoon rap group.”
Four years later, “Feel Good Inc.” dropped, surprising everyone with just how good a cartoon rap group could be. But even the strength of that single couldn’t prepare us for the genius of the complete Demon Days.
Record #194: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)
While critics of post rock often hold up Explosions in the Sky as the face of the genre’s more overly sentimental tendencies, Godspeed You! Black Emperor is cited as its overly ambitious, abstract dark side. And while this is true, like most criticisms of post rock, it also can serve as great praise.
They have more in common with classical symphonies than movie soundtracks, their narratives are more abstract than visual. Likewise, their presence is closer to that of an orchestra than a rock band,
And on Lift Yr. Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven, the strength of the work matches the height of their ambitions. The record is two discs, and each side is a single work with several movements. While much of the album arranges and rearranges the same eerie, droning textures, guitar-based post rock, and vocal samples, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists… mostly showcases the vastness of GY!BE’s template.
The opening minutes present the some of the purest jubilance that post rock has ever offered the world. Later, mourning violins and a screwdriver-fretted guitar weep under a pastor’s homily. “When you penetrate the most high God, you will believe you are mad. You will believe you’ve gone insane,” he proclaims. And as the record traffics through neo-classical, downtempo guitar jazz, sludging stoner rock, thrash metal, it seems that perhaps GY!BE really has seen the face of God. And it is their duty as artists to show what they have seen.
And on Lift Yr. Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven, the strength of the work matches the height of their ambitions. The record is two discs, and each side is a single work with several movements. While much of the album arranges and rearranges the same eerie, droning textures, guitar-based post rock, and vocal samples, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists… mostly showcases the vastness of GY!BE’s template.
The opening minutes present the some of the purest jubilance that post rock has ever offered the world. Later, mourning violins and a screwdriver-fretted guitar weep under a pastor’s homily. “When you penetrate the most high God, you will believe you are mad. You will believe you’ve gone insane,” he proclaims. And as the record traffics through neo-classical, downtempo guitar jazz, sludging stoner rock, thrash metal, it seems that perhaps GY!BE really has seen the face of God. And it is their duty as artists to show what they have seen.
Record #193: The Appleseed Cast – Low Level Owl: Vols 1& 2 (2001)
The Appleseed Cast can be a strange beast to pin down. When I first heard them on various Deep Elm Records samplers, they were obviously an emo band. Then in college, when a friend sent me “Fight Song” off of Two Conversations, I put it on my indie rock playlist in iTunes.
Then most recently, the drummer in my band referred to them as one of his favorite post rock bands. And now, as I’ve rediscovered their magnus opus, a sprawling two volume opus on three discs, I’ve found that none of those are that far off.
Record #192: George Harrison – Living in the Material World (1973)
In the three years after their break up, it became obvious that none of the Beatles were going anywhere. John got over his weirdness and got back to rock music. Paul responded to the backlash of the homespun McCartney with the incredible Ram, then form Wings. Ringo released a country record (?!?). And after the releasing the sprawling deluge of All Things Must Pass and organizing and recording the massive humanitarian Concert for Bangladesh at the Behest of his mentor Ravi Shankar, George Harrison no longer had anything to prove.
Record #191: George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (1970)
The Beatles were over. McCartney had made a press release announcing it, followed a week later by his first solo record, which was derided as a disappointing, half-baked affair. The magic was over. The good days were all behind us. And while the Fab Four may all still be releasing music, nothing they made could have topped what they did together.
But for George Harrison, the dam had burst.