synthpop

Record #972: The Knife – Silent Shout (2006)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Music is very tied to memory for me. Records dot my memories like snapshots of specific times and places. However, since I do most of my listening through physical media—which costs money—I can’t memorialize all of those snapshots. Invariably, some of the stuff I’m listening to at any given point ends up slipping through the cracks of my limited record budget.

But occasionally, a forgotten record will rear its head years after the fact. In this case, that record is Silent Shout by Swedish brother-sister duo The Knife, a record that was included in the deluge of new music I was exposed to by my roommates in Chicago. While I loved the record from first listen, it was crowded out of my to-buy list by bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Kraftwerk, New Order, Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear, and so much more.

Then this past year, my dear friend Bryan ordered me a copy for my birthday, rectifying its absence on my shelf.

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Record #947: Depeche Mode – Violator (1990)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Speaking of gaps in my collection…before a few weeks ago, I’m not sure I ever intentionally listened to a single Depeche Mode song. Yes, I know this was a foolish move on my part. Yes, I know they’re regarded as one of the best bands of all time, casting a long shadow on pop culture that stretches from Marilyn Manson to Johnny Cash and beyond.

Fully aware of the huge mistake I had spent my life making, I bought Violator without hearing anything beyond the singles. It was a great decision.

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Record #905: The Cure – The Head on the Door (1985)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

If there’s one thing Robert Smith hates, it’s being pigeonholed. After releasing a gloomy trio of goth rock classics in the early part of the decade, Smith began to feel like his band was misunderstood as producers of monochromatic dourness. With a slightly shifted lineup, they released a trio of standalone pop singles that shattered the conception that they were one note.

And while that same pop perfection failed to infiltrate their following album, The Top, their 1985 record The Head on the Door was a masterpiece of hook-laden pop songs that didn’t forsake their mastery of dark atmospheres.

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Record #847: Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost—Part 1 (2019)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

A trip to the record store used to be spontaneous. I would usually walk out with a small stack from bands I had never heard of before, or at least albums I had never listened to. These days, I’m far more intentional with my budget. I have a to-buy list that is constantly revisited and revised with repeated listens, organized by some careful calculus of how much I enjoy it and how inexpensively I can get the record.

Sometimes though, the old tinge of spontaneity will spark again, and I’ll take a calculated risk. In this case, I had been familiar with Foals for many years—Holy Fires still gets a decent amount of play time, but I’ve never ventured into the rest of their catalog. At least, until I found a sealed copy of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost—Part 1 (a title borrowed from the warning screen from the original Legend of Zelda) at a local shop for a price I couldn’t ignore. And as gambles sometimes do, this one paid off.

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Record #836: Janet Jackson – Control (1986)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Have any of the Jacksons been as unfairly treated as Janet?

Sure, Tito has been the butt of the joke since the Jackson 5 days, and La Toya has been remembered more for being the spokesperson for the Psychic Friends Network, but neither of them were ever regarded that seriously.

Janet on the other hand…Before the Super Bowl incident turned her into a punch line (and brought the term “wardrobe malfunction” into the vernacular), there was a time when Janet wasn’t just poised to live up to Michael’s star—it looked like she might pass it.

Control, her third record—and first after firing father Joe Jackson as her manager—is a massive statement that established her as a megastar in her own right, kicking off a run of five straight Number One debuts, and serves as a reminder to anyone who has diminished her place in pop culture to Nipple Gate.

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Record #811: Cold Cave – Fate in Seven Lessons (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

Let’s get one thing straight. As a subgenre, modern dark wave’s chief aim is to bow at the altar of New Order. The scene’s aesthetics pay homage to the British new wave pioneers with unflinching fidelity.

Throughout their career, Cold Cave has always been one of the most devout pilgrims. But nowhere is that more clear than on Fate in Seven Lessons, an album that, from the sonic palette to the album art, is largely a celebration of New Order’s classic second album Power, Corruption, and Lies.

Don’t get me wrong though: this isn’t derivative schlock. While it’s clearly referential (and feels like it was intended to be), enough of Wesley Eisold’s own voice comes through for it to be a rich and rewarding disc.

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Record #766: Kate Bush – Hounds of Love (1985)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

The art world is filled with archetypes. Take for example how every precocious pop starlet from Britney to Lady Gaga to Ariana Grande has garnered comparisons to Madonna.

On the other hand, it’s almost impossible to overhear any discussion about quirky art pop femme fatales (see: Bjork, St. Vincent, Regina Spektor) without the name Kate Bush being dropped somewhere.

But for all my love of the inventive artists often compared to her, I hadn’t actually spent any time with her work until a few months ago when I decided to spring for (what I understand to be) her seminal record, Hounds of Love. That leap of faith was rewarded tenfold.

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Record #742: Beck – Hyperspace (2019)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Since scoring the megahit “Loser” nearly thirty years ago, Beck Hansen has established himself as one of the most inventive—and inconsistent—musicians in the mainstream.

His prolific career has run the gamut from Technicolor hip hop to cartoon funk to sparse singer-songwriter ballads to trippy electronica to psychedelic ring leader to fuzzy alt-rock (he wrote all of the Sex Bob-Omb songs in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), grabbing elements from dub reggae, punk rock, jazz, and country music. The term “chameleon” is thrown around to a lot of artists, but Beck truly embodies that.

While he usually hits more than he misses, his extensive catalogue is not necessarily perfect. Identities are shed and revisited with varying success. But when he does it well, he really does it well. 

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Record #698: Gorillaz – The Now Now (2018)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

At some point in the mid to late 2000s, Gorillaz founder Damon Albarn decided that leading the world’s best cartoon band wasn’t enough, and started to aim a bit higher.

After three massive statements filled with star-studded collaborations, Gorillaz became icons in the music world. Each release was a zeitgeist, heralded by a massive web presence.

But then in 2018 they quietly released The Now Now, an album as subdued as its marketing. That doesn’t stop it from being just as rewarding.

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