This is getting ridiculous. Another guy just posted a set of 69, and I still have to get to a 12 set and a 15 set. Still, this is the kind of stuff that gets me through the week. I'll use it to survive classes next week. She battles on, etc.
The Whigs - Right Hand on my Heart There's a lot of potential in that drum line. In the abstract, it's bass heavy towards the beginning and snare heavy towards the end, creating a sense of imbalance and flow, but that's a bit out there, even for me. Moreover, it's a straight-ahead I-am-going-to-fuck-shit-up kind of drum beat. Letting the guitar line sometimes rest, and sometimes play in unison with that energy, is pretty brilliant. It's flow control; how hard are we going to rock this shit? Vocals sit nicely over everything, adding another level of sound. The interverse parts are just a culmination of everything we were building up to, but within the chorus they just get glorious meaning. I'm headbanging to this, and this isn't headbang music. Even if the verse parts aren't too different, there's such a sureness that we're going to flow back into this awesome fucking place that we get to in the chorus. The irony is that within the chorus are chords meant to resolve away, down to the 1 again, making it so much deeper. That bridge / extended jam (Right hand on my heart) is all the more awesome because of that. Fills and a sick guitar solo augment all of that. Such a wonderful sense of build. It breaks down and gets just straight-ahead, just restating and re-expressing all that fabulous energy that they built up in the first 3 minutes of the song...and then it fades away to another quiet verse with that same watery verse.. May I be the first to say holy shit, because that was amazing.
Doves - Sea Song Speaking of the ocean, Doves! Lessee how they do in another context. Great rhythm and chords across those two acoustics, and the piano rounds out everything really well. I like the intro so much...and then it gets percussion and ahhhing set over it. You get drawn in, and they vary the acoustic lines and it all makes sense, because they put all that effort into building up. When it goes into the minor, the ascending progression just makes perfect sense, like we're not just cyclical any more; we're trying to reach something. there's an abrupt, but still compelling, shift from that to the vocals. That's glorious. We go through it again, and to be honest it's not as good the second time. But the extra sonic goodness is really nice, and when the second ascending part comes in, there's a greater sense of meaning, now that all this prose about the sea and these atmospheric sounds have been thrown in. But again, that abrupt switch to the intro part, which isn't a natural progression from the ascending part. Nice solo over it, it fits together nicely. I wish they weren't afraid to introduce some more complexity under the vocals, but it does give a sense of clarity. The basslines under all this are hard to hear, but they work well at creating flow: not too complex, but just varied enough. There could be more acoustic variation. Third time through the whole damn thing, a few new things, and then another strange and exciting non-resolution. It's lagging in the complexity aspect a bit, but that's ok. It's clear, it's beautiful, it's soaring like a bird over the cyclical ocean that they've created. Fades out, like...echoes in an ocean? Cute. But I really like this cut.
White Denim - I Start to Run I love the crispness of the drums and bass, and the lines fit together really well...but is something up with the tempo? Anyway, percussion fills out and that's holy shit nice. Voice soars over it, helps create connectivity and build, and then the acoustic pops in with a few hits, but I'm not really getting a sense of build. STill, the groove is just hopping along and doing really well. The extra sonic stuff around the "chorus" is a bit unnecessary, and that guitar and bass part is still really groovy, wow. They're good, but I feel like they're throwing strange things in for interest. Yeah, that solo part but now with the wakawaka texture is great and all, and I love the use of drums under it all, but it doesn't really follow from any other parts. I don't know where the hell I ended up listening, and it was a fun ride...but I really don't know what hit me.
Akron/Family - There's So Many Colors Yes yes yes, I am excited to hear another Akron/Family track. Ok ok, here we go, um. Entrancing lyrics, I like the harmonies. It goes on and on, but that's ok. It's cyclical and all. Ok, guitar finally came in, as the harmonies fall away but wow that's pretty epic. It's just shining over everything and there's some trippiness in the background. It's playing a riff referencing that lyrical line and holy shit there's more of them! They're everywhere, and now the vocals are coming back, giving it real tonality and stuff. It's unfolding right in front of me. Now real unison, over that vocal line which faded away at some point and suddenly drums! Oh man oh man oh man. Beats not exactly fitting together, but bits of energy shot off, not yet resolved, but preparing, under this high-fret guitar solo and a bit of string wailing. And now the solo is referencing that vocal riff again and now there is an acoustic guitar and tamborines and it's sexy and totally different, just grooving along in a sort of bluesy way, far away from the chaos. Is that a banjo? Shades of purpose mainly. And a bit of drums, and something about mountains and plains and pictures of environments and the exact sense of reality that the vocal line was describing before, and there's not quite a clear link between that line and this very simple but very compelling lines. Very good guitar work, good lines, the drums are just perfect perfect perfect, sitting under everything. Gets more energetic, some good lines, but not too complex or repetative. Sunrise, sunset. They keep shifting the guitar lines to be more prominent, shouting louter, sometimes taking melody, sometimes not. As they go into a solo section which flaps all over itself like a thousand walruses on speed or something, and the drums follow through. I mean, you pick up a riff and you're like holy shit that's great, and then you listen to the vocals, and you come back and it's all different. They just all fly like birds around the main progression and now it's fading away to some acoustic strangeness? Nice harmonies. We finish in the dark, totally unlike the so many colors, right? Will you go back there? That chemical mountain chaser? Why reduce it all like this, why is there all sight? Or did that already happen with those wonderful guitar lines? God shit that was amazing.
Hot Chip - Look After Me Hot damn, more Hot Chip. I was interested in seeing these guys in a different setting, and this is more loungy and quiet, maybe a bit of a Latin percussion influence. The acoustic work is a bit spotty, but that's alright. Love the drums when it comes in, a very good understated percussion line with great bass supporting it. Great bass, great bass. Interverse part is just sonically beautiful with that synth and the hihat...I am drawn in. I'm noticing everything referencing and fitting with this line, from the vocals to that strange end-of-4-measures chirping. Nice harmonies. Pizzicatastic, man. They just keep the jam going, and throw things in, but it all makes sense over the course of the song. Like, in the second verse, how the violins play a greater and greater part, and the backup vocals and that synthed buzzing become greater parts. It all is restated in this really redemptive way in the chorus, look after me and I'll look after you. Love the vibes and organ and sparse guitar in the breakdown. They can change things up and still have the same momentum as 2 minutes before. It's the opposite of the quick changes of the Akron/Family song; you're listening to a growth on the same thing for however many minutes, not just a shifting panorama centered at the same point. Beautiful. I'm sort of into these guys now.
Elbow - Mexican Standoff More Elbow, cool. You've got a lot of repeats, Hiro dear. Oh, hello, clapping and things turns 3/4 groove that is really nice. Beat is kept along really well by tambourine and open hihat hits. Really good bassline drives everything along. Great chords, great chords, and acoustics in the background filling in the spaces. Vocal line floats by. This song feels sway-ey, with everything jumping in and around and off of that sick bass line and drum bit. Nice guitar solo, there's a wonderful sense of repetition in what they do, like they know to not be too shit-crazy. Buildup is even more awesome with vocals and guitar crunching. Breaksdown with holy shit the handclaps again! That's exciting, and it makes it...eh, a bit more linear, a bit less floating. But it's exciting, ain't it, especially in that rising bassline / chord part. Oh mexican standoff, I wish I was something bah dum badum and all. Growling / singing right through everything. I just realized that the drum part got more complex to support all this. It's pretty glorious and then poof! Stops. These guys are tight and their songs are like automobiles.
Caesars - Paper Tigers 3rd Caesars cut? Echoey guitar line paralells vocal line, while rhythm electric provides support. But even those noise additions and one-note lines can't support it until we get into every single one of us: oh. That's nice, that's really nice. Well put together, drives along well. Beautiful. I still don't...get...the verse, it just doesn't fit together for me. It's not just the looseness, it just sort of sits there, and nothing mixes. But the chorus is just great. Nice unison solo line, but still...this is not one of their better cuts, I think. I like the anthemic aspect, but it's too loose. The vocal line in the chorus really lends to it, in how often it's sounding. It's relentless, that's it. But towards the end the ride comes in way too strong, and I'm getting a greater sense that this song is just a detached sum of parts. I'm not excited, man. Sorry.
Ratatat - Shempi Heard you talking about these guys, what're they like? Sonic messarounding. I like the beat. Shows how you can create a steady backbeat with no kick, and then add the kick and have it be awesome. Noise swells and trills really fit and drive it along. The wailing lines...oh man, it feels like I'm going on this escalator and things just start swooping in and taking away some of the darkness over me. Those guitar lines are cycling across channels and I love it, such great repetition, really drives it forwards. That's a brilliant synth line, so brilliant. And now they're varying the beat! You've already showed me what the other side of reality is, now you change and build the ground I stand on. My words can barely keep up with this. It's so self referencing, the structure is just glorious. And then a no-drum synth line, then with that sick minimal percussion and now bass and great chorus again. Perhaps not as cool the second time. But still, oh man. I'm not just a sucker for percussion. This is sonic glory, pure and simple. Well engineered and planned and played and put together. That's just perfect. Bongos are a bit over the top, but it's forgivable. Synth line with the cycling guitar part already there, trying to find another way to fold us into that awesomeness that is the chorus. The bongos are just one bridge to that, as are all the trills and "OH"ing. I love it, I love it, I love it! Fabulous!
Iggy Pop / Teddybears - Punk Rocker This is pretty...generic synth punky stuff. It's...I mean the parts are introduced interestingly, but everything just sits there. That really simple synth line that was in the intro, and now is in the chorus, isn't enough to create flow. There's not much...going on. Skipped the rest of it.
Wolfmother - Mind's Eye I didn't know what to expect here at all. Shining synth line, unfolding tones and guitar lines unassuming, dragging us into that descending progression, in minor key. It's so pretty. The two toms just drive it on, and then the kit and bass makes it anthemic, but with the long holds, it still feels like the beginning, organic and radiant. They're not scared to use silence or just lack of movement, it's a part of movement, I like that. Vocals are ok, not exactly fitting with the rest of it, but that's alright. Synthy anthems driven back upwards (gloriously, and reversedly) by that bass and oh my god. Nice hits, nice hits. Come and see the mind's eye. Kit makes it even more anthemic and awesome. Great hits, damn. Then fades away again. Wails, bits of sound, still pushing back into the verse that we just came down from, like the worst comedown. They don't let it sit, they're ready to hop back into that hugely anthemic, shouting, bombastic, beautiful Mind's Eye part. This rivals Queen. Uh HOLY SHIT THAT SYNTH LINE in triplets, that's how you build tension and a beat. TIGHT HITS! That's great. Tension. Preparedness. Drive. Drive. Fill. YESSS YESS YESS YESS YESS YESS YESS Oh good Carl Sagan that is wonderful. It's everything that it was in the intro, that softness back into this total fucking glory. Oh man, yes. A little wrapup looks at the intro again, and fades out. Fucking amazing. Lovely.
Hot Chip - One Pure Thought More Hot Chip, ok. More lackluster guitar work, great production...this intro pre-beat impresses me a lot less. Again, this a great beat, wonderful to dance to and to just bop along to...the I'll help you on your way part is great, though. It hits the holes in the beat just right...damn, I mean it's a great groove, but there's not much to mine here. I could dance away the hours to this...and in parts there are moments of genius, like that first part of the first chorus, and the part right before the versey part (trip I'd never want to take again), but mostly I'm not impressed, man. They can do better than this. Skipped.
M83 - Teen Angst Awesome synth start. 3-part synth line, containing these strange intervals which just set everything else up. With vocals and kick, starts unfolding. Doubled kick and snare is over the top, but I like where they got. The soaring, the tonal, and the roughly noisy all fitting together. It's a bit, dull, maybe, but then they break it down again. It's exciting, preparing for something greater. New synth lines are added in, harmonies needing to find meaning and resolve and another pretty good buildup into this nice section. I decidedly like these guys, but I wish this was a bit more exciting. Great buildup, more kick, but a different approach; just tones, and rhythm, no catalyzing factor yet, until the silence right before the buildup. That's good stuff. Exciting. They can vary the beat, the texutres, and it's all ok. The muddyness of the sound works against them, but that's ok. Still really good stuff.
Louis XIV - All the Little Pieces Love the quiet tonality, of the piano and violin and tamborine. Understated, unfolding. Hehe, nice bit when the drums come in. It's quiet, but beautiful. The voice line drives it wonderfully. Why is it focused on one channel, though? Anyway, nobody knows. There's still tension when all the little pieces come back, with the violins, and still tentative drums, very much on the . When it shifts to center...it's a bit too loud, things fade away. Not well mixed, in that I can't hear everything. They're willing to make a buildup and take it away, that's good, and then put its elements back slowly. But there's...no fitting together. The lines on their own are nice, like when the violins get more frantic. Maybe it's the earbuds, but I want to hear these guys in a different context. I could really like this, maybe a tad reminiscent of Dresden Dolls in approach, or p'raps Rasputina. But this wasn't that great, sort of strange and floaty in its own world. No credit for artsy endings, either. Only Amanda can do that.
Mando Diao - Ringing Bells Another one, ok. The guy does great guitar work. Everything, all of the echoey parts, are contained nicely by the clear vocals and drum line. Acoustic line helps, that very slight rhythm electric muds things up. Nice shaker, sets it along nicely. Bassline is faint, but good I guess. This goes a few places, but doesn't excited me much. He does a great thing, but it's not my thing.
Flaming Lips - The Gash Fantastically amazing song is fantastically amazing, let me just leave it on so I can fangirl about it. The opening chords sketch the rest of the song (awesome descending line), just in minor modes. Wall of sound, vocal destruction and apocalypse comes down to one jaunty piano line. One of the best drum grooves I've ever heard in my life sits under the immense power of that voice. They know just when to put in those hits to drive everything forward. Such a powerful line, like a grand fucking church to awesomeness. Guitar hits frame it like a painting of said church. Drums make it awesome like the best fucking building which is hopping up and down because of the energy. When the solo line comes in, tension and unsurety arrives...can we really stick with all this glory? Is it ok? YEAH! Violins frame everything. Keep an eye on the piano, friends, for that is the key to the entire piece. I love the way the chords just pop along. And that wall of voices is so damn tight, and versatile. Battles on, battles on. And then...piano chord over ok awesome yes bye
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