Once upon a time, I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and it blew my mind. One of the main reasons it was so great to me was the music in it that so helped set the tone of the movie. So I did a little research and found out a fella named Jon Brion composed the soundtrack. Thanks to the great Wikipedia, I found out a lot more about him than just that, like that he has done a bunch of other soundtracks for movies that have been equally or almost as good as Eternal Sunshine, such as Punch Drunk Love, Magnolia, and I Heart Huckabees. Damn, what a record!
After sufficient time spent reveling in his soundtracks, I decided it was time to check out his solo musical outing, Meaningless. Disappointed, I was not. This guy's extensive career backlog, including the aforementioned movies (as well as like four more), a presence in multiple indie bands, and role as producer for an array of musical acts, including Aimee Mann (his one-time girlfriend), Kanye West, Spoon, Rufus Wainwright, Brad Mehldau, The Crystal Method, Keane, and Dido, amongst others, has honed his songwriting and producing skills to a ridiculous level, to the point that every song is fully fleshed out and atmospheric, which compliments well his already excellent songwriting ability. With a voice that often recalls his late friend, Elliott Smith, Brion croons, serenades, and falsettos his way through expertly crafted songs with seemingly filler-less lyrics that have obviously had a lot of time and thought put into them.
'Gotta Start Somewhere' is an upbeat, catchy album opener that sets the tone for the rest of the album, lyrically, and somewhat musically, though about half of the songs on this album are more downbeat. But if 'Gotta Start Somewhere' is upbeat, then I don't know how to describe 'I Believe She's Lying'. It's fast, energetic, and fun, with a great chorus. In it, Brion uses the same super awesome vocal effect that Imogen Heap uses in Zach Braff favorite, 'Hide and Seek' (if you don't already know that song, do yourself a favor and check it out). I've chosen a sample of lyrics from this song that I think are indicative of Brion's clever writing style, and I think they're a good example of what one can expect from this album in terms of quality.
"As sure as she is sitting here, she's sure that she's awake
And as soon as we're committing we're admitting our mistake
So of course it's only fitting, that the course we're going to take
Is drawn and whereupon I'm slamming on the brakes
I believe she's lying,
I trust her to undermine my faith in her, in time
I have every confidence that she'll dismantle mine,
Given time"
'Meaningless', the titular track, is a rock track that finds Brion thinking about the little things in life that are 'meaningless before we'd seen them together'. 'Ruin My Day' is a song that sounds like its writer was downtrodden and depressed, but through these things has become empowered. The droning, withering strings that blossom by the end of the track help set the regretful tone of the song. The ballsy, Beatles-esque drive of 'Walking Through Walls' sounds like 'Revolution' raped an Elton John song, then the proceeding child sought therapy to get his head right, then decided therapy was for the queers, bought a guitar, and took lessons from Lennon himself. 'Trouble' is one song where his composer background is directly noticeable, especially in the main musical hook. Another one of the slower songs, 'Hook, Line, and Sinker' is a lamenting song about how we get stuck in certain roles in life, especially in relationships, and how we often revert to those roles in times of uncertainty, even though we know it won't help us in the long-run. 'Dead to the World' is a bipolar song; the first half is happier, bossa nova-esque, while the latter half is a sad, acoustic ballad. 'Her Ghost' is a very atmospheric song, slow and sad, about a love triangle, and the losing sixty degrees that brion seems to have been on. 'Same Mistakes', a short song in which Brion explains his faults to someone, and proclaims that he doesn't want to make the same mistakes again, is followed by the closing song, 'Voices'. It's the longest, saddest, falsettoest song on the album. It's a softer piano song in which Brion openly retracts the rest of the albums messages, simply telling the object of his lyrics, "Hey, it's me again. I'm so in love with you again. Please can I see you every day?" After an album of songs dedicated to proving that he has moved past an old flame and has regained his independence, with the tension and heartbreak mounting and the memories resurfacing, he finally relapses, and it's absolutely beautiful to behold.
The only complaint I have about this album is that basically every single song is about a girl, but Brion handles it pretty maturely, and the quality of the songs themselves more than make up for this small note. Throughout all of Meaningless, Brion proves that he is ridiculously good at evoking through music the moods that tend to accompany the lyrical subject matter, a master of sentiment, feeling, and emotion. He knows just how to accentuate and nuance every song, imbuing them with unbelievable atmosphere so you'll always have something to catch onto in every song, whether it's a musical hook, the generous amount of catchy vocal melodies, or the seriously quote-worthy lyrics. In short, the production is amazing, which is not surprising. On top of all that, he plays all the instruments on the album with the exception of 'Trouble', on which he had some friends back him up. All in all, the album has not a sour note, nor a floundering track. A remarkably solid collection of songs that each have their own personality.
7/7
10.01.2008
9.30.2008
Group Hug
Have you ever wanted to know what a random person is thinking deep, deep down? Do you want to know people's dirty little secrets? Do you ever wish you could spy on people while they're confessing at church? If so, you're a sick person, but hey, me too. My friend, this is why Group Hug was created.
Group Hug was the original anonymous confession site when I found it about five years ago, and it's still going strong today. It's surprising, the enormous amount of people that actually use the site for confessions. Every once in a while there are some that you know are totally fake, or the person's just messing around, but those just add spice to the mixture. Often times, the confessions are hilarious, poignant, and/or deep. Then again, sometimes you'll find racist, hateful, and awful confessions. However, thanks to the internet, you can read it without worry, completely detached from the situation! You can browse the newest confessions, read random confessions, or confess something yourself, and you used to be able to moderate confessions, I.e. read them before anyone else and choose whether they're awesome enough to go on the site, but I don't think you can do that anymore.
Group Hug is bigger than just laughing at some kid who says he wishes he would get shot and live just so he could have a cool story to tell. Each confession acts as a looking glass, through the lens lies another point of view, another life, another story to tell. People have found inspiration in the pages of this site. There was even a book published, featuring many of the best (however they qualify that) confessions. The real point is, though, that if you start reading this site, you probably won't stop before a few hours have passed. Or maybe that's just me.
5/7
Group Hug was the original anonymous confession site when I found it about five years ago, and it's still going strong today. It's surprising, the enormous amount of people that actually use the site for confessions. Every once in a while there are some that you know are totally fake, or the person's just messing around, but those just add spice to the mixture. Often times, the confessions are hilarious, poignant, and/or deep. Then again, sometimes you'll find racist, hateful, and awful confessions. However, thanks to the internet, you can read it without worry, completely detached from the situation! You can browse the newest confessions, read random confessions, or confess something yourself, and you used to be able to moderate confessions, I.e. read them before anyone else and choose whether they're awesome enough to go on the site, but I don't think you can do that anymore.
Group Hug is bigger than just laughing at some kid who says he wishes he would get shot and live just so he could have a cool story to tell. Each confession acts as a looking glass, through the lens lies another point of view, another life, another story to tell. People have found inspiration in the pages of this site. There was even a book published, featuring many of the best (however they qualify that) confessions. The real point is, though, that if you start reading this site, you probably won't stop before a few hours have passed. Or maybe that's just me.
5/7
9.25.2008
The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale EP
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the newest hip hop superduo - The Cool Kids, two kids from Chicago, Antoine "Mikey Rocks" Reed and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll. Once upon a time, Mikey called Chuck about purchasing a beat he'd made, and they ended up recording for a few hours. Thus, the Cool Kids came to be. And thank God they did, cause these guys have a refreshing new take on hip hop.
Chuck's beats have a very signature style to them. The majority of them are slow, minimalist beats, often with clips of people talking looped to match the beat. The Cool Kids use vocals for instruments a lot, actually; the beat for the first song, "What Up Man" is made from onomatopoeia, a clip of a guy saying 'bass' for the bass drum and so on. It sounds pretty good and it's a cool concept, but it can get a little distracting, listening to two tracks of vocals at once. When rapping, they have a relaxed style with a noticeably natural flow and an unbelievable way with words. Indeed, the lyrics are the focal point of the album, as the Bake Sale EP has universally great lyrics. My favorite moment on the album comes right in the first song (What Up Man):
"That ice cream truck just left, if you run you can catch but it's out cause I got the last one. But I got a box of cones that I'm willing to sell, I'll sell the ice cream too, two scoops for a bill, I could bulid a sandcastle without bringing a pail and go catfish fishin' and come up with a whale."
The Bake Sale EP is full of clever and witty lines like those that will leave you smiling, and likely thinking about them while the rest of the song plays out, forcing you to rewind to get the rest of it. Another great thing about the Cool Kids is that they don't take what they're doing too seriously. They don't rap about serious things, really, they rap about everyday life, keeping it fun and enjoyable. Not that this is music for kids, or anything. For example, take this line from A Little Bit Cooler, a song in which they muse about how people will do anything if somebody "cool" does it: "I'm in the crib saturday night with my sega - that's right - playing a game of that street fighter."
One thing I noticed about the Bake Sale EP is that a bunch of the songs sound the same, the beats are very alike. In fact, I was trying to find a song with some lyrics I remembered and I couldn't, even after having heard the album about five times. Another place they're sometimes lacking is in the choruses. Sometimes they seem out of place and detract a little bit from the song, and the verses are what stays with you. But overall, The Bake Sale EP is an unbelievable first somewhat serious effort by this Chicago duo. They have a full length album slated for sometime this year, too, so watch out for that. I think I'll let the guys sum up their album with a line from "Mikey Rocks" - "I don't use bad grammar so please excuse this, I'm just tryin' to let rappers know who I is."
6/7
Chuck's beats have a very signature style to them. The majority of them are slow, minimalist beats, often with clips of people talking looped to match the beat. The Cool Kids use vocals for instruments a lot, actually; the beat for the first song, "What Up Man" is made from onomatopoeia, a clip of a guy saying 'bass' for the bass drum and so on. It sounds pretty good and it's a cool concept, but it can get a little distracting, listening to two tracks of vocals at once. When rapping, they have a relaxed style with a noticeably natural flow and an unbelievable way with words. Indeed, the lyrics are the focal point of the album, as the Bake Sale EP has universally great lyrics. My favorite moment on the album comes right in the first song (What Up Man):
"That ice cream truck just left, if you run you can catch but it's out cause I got the last one. But I got a box of cones that I'm willing to sell, I'll sell the ice cream too, two scoops for a bill, I could bulid a sandcastle without bringing a pail and go catfish fishin' and come up with a whale."
The Bake Sale EP is full of clever and witty lines like those that will leave you smiling, and likely thinking about them while the rest of the song plays out, forcing you to rewind to get the rest of it. Another great thing about the Cool Kids is that they don't take what they're doing too seriously. They don't rap about serious things, really, they rap about everyday life, keeping it fun and enjoyable. Not that this is music for kids, or anything. For example, take this line from A Little Bit Cooler, a song in which they muse about how people will do anything if somebody "cool" does it: "I'm in the crib saturday night with my sega - that's right - playing a game of that street fighter."
One thing I noticed about the Bake Sale EP is that a bunch of the songs sound the same, the beats are very alike. In fact, I was trying to find a song with some lyrics I remembered and I couldn't, even after having heard the album about five times. Another place they're sometimes lacking is in the choruses. Sometimes they seem out of place and detract a little bit from the song, and the verses are what stays with you. But overall, The Bake Sale EP is an unbelievable first somewhat serious effort by this Chicago duo. They have a full length album slated for sometime this year, too, so watch out for that. I think I'll let the guys sum up their album with a line from "Mikey Rocks" - "I don't use bad grammar so please excuse this, I'm just tryin' to let rappers know who I is."
6/7
9.23.2008
Miicharacters.com
Now that Microsoft's pursuing their little 'avatar' endeavor, I've been jonesing. Jonesing for some Mii. I recently read an interview where a Microsoft higher-up was asked why Microsoft's product unveilings are usually more of a reaction to something else somebody has already done than an original announcement. I'm not trying to make a point with that statement or anything. I just thought it was funny and true.
If you have ever messed with the Mii channel on your Wii, you obviously know how fun the Mii editor can be. You can make famous people, make yourself, or make unbelievably retarded looking people. Yes, friends, the Mii channel has no moral bounds, take advantage! Uh, anyway, almost as fun as actually making a wild and crazy Mii is looking at Miis that other people have made. And the best part is you don't even have to have a Wii to do it. All you have to do is shuffle on over to the ever-fantastic Miicharacters.com website, and all your cartoon-y little dreams will come true.
Miicharacters.com serves a variety of purposes. First, it acts as a server on which you can upload your Mii, or any Mii you've made. While this will take a slight bit of technical finesse, it's a cool feature to be accessed, and it's totally free. Second, you can browse the shit out of Miicharacters.com. Some people out there are seriously good at making Miis look like people. Like, anyone. The site makes it incredibly easy for you to browse by offering a sidebar with categories such as Latest, Stars, Movies, TV, Music, Sports, History, Toons, Games, Politics, Miscellaneous, and Mii Artists, and I think that list covers basically everybody. Once a category is clicked, it brings up an enormous list of Miis that fit that category. If you're browsing and you find a Mii that you can't live without, all you have to do is click their link, and you get a complete, detailed list of instructions on exactly how to make said Mii. It couldn't be easier. The home page displays "featured Miis" and selections from a random category. Like for example, I just found an unbelievable Seth Rogen Mii (here if you wanna check it out). Now I can have my favorite stoner right on my very own Wii! I can make him do things I'll never see him do in real life, like play tennis or compete in Olympic games!
Even if you don't have a Wii, just browsing through the different categories is fun and often hilarious. Miicharacters.com Even if you find a character you like, but don't think the Mii looks particularly like him/her, you can click the "find friends" button to show different iterations of the Mii made by different people. They don't have every celebrity from every movie or show ever, so not everyone will be 100% satisfied, but the amount they do have is staggering, and it's only (quickly) growing bigger. So really, when you're looking at/for Miis, there's no alternative to Miicharacters.com.
6/7
If you have ever messed with the Mii channel on your Wii, you obviously know how fun the Mii editor can be. You can make famous people, make yourself, or make unbelievably retarded looking people. Yes, friends, the Mii channel has no moral bounds, take advantage! Uh, anyway, almost as fun as actually making a wild and crazy Mii is looking at Miis that other people have made. And the best part is you don't even have to have a Wii to do it. All you have to do is shuffle on over to the ever-fantastic Miicharacters.com website, and all your cartoon-y little dreams will come true.
Miicharacters.com serves a variety of purposes. First, it acts as a server on which you can upload your Mii, or any Mii you've made. While this will take a slight bit of technical finesse, it's a cool feature to be accessed, and it's totally free. Second, you can browse the shit out of Miicharacters.com. Some people out there are seriously good at making Miis look like people. Like, anyone. The site makes it incredibly easy for you to browse by offering a sidebar with categories such as Latest, Stars, Movies, TV, Music, Sports, History, Toons, Games, Politics, Miscellaneous, and Mii Artists, and I think that list covers basically everybody. Once a category is clicked, it brings up an enormous list of Miis that fit that category. If you're browsing and you find a Mii that you can't live without, all you have to do is click their link, and you get a complete, detailed list of instructions on exactly how to make said Mii. It couldn't be easier. The home page displays "featured Miis" and selections from a random category. Like for example, I just found an unbelievable Seth Rogen Mii (here if you wanna check it out). Now I can have my favorite stoner right on my very own Wii! I can make him do things I'll never see him do in real life, like play tennis or compete in Olympic games!
Even if you don't have a Wii, just browsing through the different categories is fun and often hilarious. Miicharacters.com Even if you find a character you like, but don't think the Mii looks particularly like him/her, you can click the "find friends" button to show different iterations of the Mii made by different people. They don't have every celebrity from every movie or show ever, so not everyone will be 100% satisfied, but the amount they do have is staggering, and it's only (quickly) growing bigger. So really, when you're looking at/for Miis, there's no alternative to Miicharacters.com.
6/7
9.19.2008
Special K Chocolatey Delight
Sometimes, there's nothing better than a good bowl of cereal. Doesn't matter what meal, either. Also, there are about a million different brands/flavors of cereal, so it's not exactly like it's hard to find something you like. AND cereal's pretty cheap! Especially when you buy it in bulk from Sam's Club, though they usually only have off-brand cereals, but hey, cereal is cereal. So basically, I like cereal.
As I've been growing older, I've been getting more and more into healthy cereal, rather than pouring myself a Fruit Loops + Trix hybrid bowl, I'll grab some Smart Start or Kashi. The crazy part is, sometimes that stuff is actually good. I'd encourage you to go ahead and eat some.
Today, though, I found something new to me. It was Special K - Chocolatey Delight. Sure, you've got your Cinnamon flavored healthy cereals, fruit is a fan-favorite, and oftentimes you'll see honey pop its sweet head in there somewhere, but chocolate + healthy cereal I have not seen. Though, whether it's actually real chocolate or not remained to be seen. And see I did. With my mouth.
The cereal is composed of "crunchy rice and wheat flakes with chocolatey pieces". The flakes vastly outnumber the chocolatey pieces, but who's counting, right? (Me, dammit.) The rice/wheat flakes are crunchy and fresh-tasting, but the chocolate is a bit waxy and fake. It barely even tastes like chocolate. The chocolate isn't really bad, it's just... different.
On a positive note, if you eat the chocolate WITH the flakes, as is intended, the cereal works. It becomes some sort of weird mix that tastes a bit like a warped version of Cocoa Pebbles. But I don't think Fred Flintstone has anything to worry about just yet.
Another funky thing about this cereal is the fact that when you pour it in milk, there are little black specks all throughout your cereal. Bearing in mind that they're little chunks of fake chocolate, I still had visions of little ants and bugs swimming in my 2%. However, if you're a cereal fan, and you're actually in it for healthy cereal, Special K's Chocolatey Delight might push your buttons the right way. If you don't care about healthy cereal, it's probably better to just get Cocoa Pebbles.
4/7
As I've been growing older, I've been getting more and more into healthy cereal, rather than pouring myself a Fruit Loops + Trix hybrid bowl, I'll grab some Smart Start or Kashi. The crazy part is, sometimes that stuff is actually good. I'd encourage you to go ahead and eat some.
Today, though, I found something new to me. It was Special K - Chocolatey Delight. Sure, you've got your Cinnamon flavored healthy cereals, fruit is a fan-favorite, and oftentimes you'll see honey pop its sweet head in there somewhere, but chocolate + healthy cereal I have not seen. Though, whether it's actually real chocolate or not remained to be seen. And see I did. With my mouth.
The cereal is composed of "crunchy rice and wheat flakes with chocolatey pieces". The flakes vastly outnumber the chocolatey pieces, but who's counting, right? (Me, dammit.) The rice/wheat flakes are crunchy and fresh-tasting, but the chocolate is a bit waxy and fake. It barely even tastes like chocolate. The chocolate isn't really bad, it's just... different.
On a positive note, if you eat the chocolate WITH the flakes, as is intended, the cereal works. It becomes some sort of weird mix that tastes a bit like a warped version of Cocoa Pebbles. But I don't think Fred Flintstone has anything to worry about just yet.
Another funky thing about this cereal is the fact that when you pour it in milk, there are little black specks all throughout your cereal. Bearing in mind that they're little chunks of fake chocolate, I still had visions of little ants and bugs swimming in my 2%. However, if you're a cereal fan, and you're actually in it for healthy cereal, Special K's Chocolatey Delight might push your buttons the right way. If you don't care about healthy cereal, it's probably better to just get Cocoa Pebbles.
4/7
9.18.2008
Kings of Leon - Only By the Night
The raspy voice with the Southern drawl is probably what catches you first about Kings of Leon; it's certainly surprising upon first listen. But it's part of what makes this band so damn awesome and unique. I first hopped on the Kings of Leon bandwagon when Aha Shake Heartbreak came out. Caleb Followill's voice aside, I liked the way they used their dual guitars in "King of the Rodeo", the latin feel that runs alongside "Slow Night, So Long", and the simple, radio-friendly catchiness of "Taper Jean Girl". I often go back to that album nowadays and it's still as good as ever.
Then, Kings of Leon put out "Because of the Times". It was received relatively well by the public, but I didn't like it much. It didn't have the same playful, happy feel to it. Aside from being named after a ministers' conference that the band often attended as kids, Caleb Followill said that he thinks an album does good or bad "because of the times." I'd have to agree, I think. If "Because of the Times" came out before "Aha Shake Heartbreak", it probably would've made both albums seem even better. Anyway, after a disappointing followup to Aha Shake... I'd lost my faith in the good ol' boys in Kings of Leon. However, I really do have to say that they've brought their music back full force with their new album, "Only By the Night".
The album starts off with a fantastic opener in "Closer", a haunting, reverb-y tune that stays with you after you hear it, followed by "Crawl", a rolling song over-ridden by a fuzzy bassline. The third song is the highlight of the album, "Sex On Fire". I have no desire to know the story behind this phrase, but it doesn't change the fact that the song is unbelievably catchy. The verses have a vibe reminiscent of The Police, and the chorus is big (though lyrically short) and memorable. It's basically the "Taper Jean Girl" of "Only By the Night". After "Sex On Fire" comes "Use Somebody", which is much more pop-flavored than what we're used to hearing from Kings of Leon, but the Southern tinge and Caleb's crooning will win you over on this song. That, and it feels very simple and honest. "Manhattan" starts out with a classic Kings of Leon style guitar riff matched with classic Kings of Leon style lyrics. "Revelry" finds Caleb lamenting about a past relationship, admitting that it's his fault it ended, proclaiming that "the time we shared, it was precious to me / all the while I was dreaming of revelry." "17" and "Notion" are two shorter songs that are somewhat repetitive, lyrically and musically, and these two, while average songs, almost seem to be an intermission. The last few songs bring the album back to where it should be, starting with "I Want You", another song about young love and the experiences it endows one with; speaking of endowment, there's a particularly graphic few lines in this song, see if you can find 'em, shouldn't be very hard (no pun intended). "Be Somebody" has drum-driven, tribal-esque verses that give way to a softer hitting chorus. The album's final song, "Cold Desert", is a personal song in which Caleb talks about the various experiences that can leave one jaded, tired of life. The song begins to fade out then comes back in for another minute or so, almost like the album isn't done with you yet, the band needs you to stick around for just a little bit more catharsis.
While this album brings an exceedingly solid set of songs to the table, the stronger songs are at the immediate beginning and end, with interest taking a slight dip in the middle of the album. Within a few songs, I knew I'd be listening to this album for a while. I'm very happy to say that Kings of Leon have returned to form and released an album that almost rivals "Aha Shake". "Only By the Night" finds the band taking a page from the My Morning Jacket playbook, amping up the deep background guitars and vocals, dripping with reverb and echo. This album is more full of cacophony, cleaner, dirtier, and more mysterious than anything these southerners have done before, and it's much appreciated.
6/7
Then, Kings of Leon put out "Because of the Times". It was received relatively well by the public, but I didn't like it much. It didn't have the same playful, happy feel to it. Aside from being named after a ministers' conference that the band often attended as kids, Caleb Followill said that he thinks an album does good or bad "because of the times." I'd have to agree, I think. If "Because of the Times" came out before "Aha Shake Heartbreak", it probably would've made both albums seem even better. Anyway, after a disappointing followup to Aha Shake... I'd lost my faith in the good ol' boys in Kings of Leon. However, I really do have to say that they've brought their music back full force with their new album, "Only By the Night".
The album starts off with a fantastic opener in "Closer", a haunting, reverb-y tune that stays with you after you hear it, followed by "Crawl", a rolling song over-ridden by a fuzzy bassline. The third song is the highlight of the album, "Sex On Fire". I have no desire to know the story behind this phrase, but it doesn't change the fact that the song is unbelievably catchy. The verses have a vibe reminiscent of The Police, and the chorus is big (though lyrically short) and memorable. It's basically the "Taper Jean Girl" of "Only By the Night". After "Sex On Fire" comes "Use Somebody", which is much more pop-flavored than what we're used to hearing from Kings of Leon, but the Southern tinge and Caleb's crooning will win you over on this song. That, and it feels very simple and honest. "Manhattan" starts out with a classic Kings of Leon style guitar riff matched with classic Kings of Leon style lyrics. "Revelry" finds Caleb lamenting about a past relationship, admitting that it's his fault it ended, proclaiming that "the time we shared, it was precious to me / all the while I was dreaming of revelry." "17" and "Notion" are two shorter songs that are somewhat repetitive, lyrically and musically, and these two, while average songs, almost seem to be an intermission. The last few songs bring the album back to where it should be, starting with "I Want You", another song about young love and the experiences it endows one with; speaking of endowment, there's a particularly graphic few lines in this song, see if you can find 'em, shouldn't be very hard (no pun intended). "Be Somebody" has drum-driven, tribal-esque verses that give way to a softer hitting chorus. The album's final song, "Cold Desert", is a personal song in which Caleb talks about the various experiences that can leave one jaded, tired of life. The song begins to fade out then comes back in for another minute or so, almost like the album isn't done with you yet, the band needs you to stick around for just a little bit more catharsis.
While this album brings an exceedingly solid set of songs to the table, the stronger songs are at the immediate beginning and end, with interest taking a slight dip in the middle of the album. Within a few songs, I knew I'd be listening to this album for a while. I'm very happy to say that Kings of Leon have returned to form and released an album that almost rivals "Aha Shake". "Only By the Night" finds the band taking a page from the My Morning Jacket playbook, amping up the deep background guitars and vocals, dripping with reverb and echo. This album is more full of cacophony, cleaner, dirtier, and more mysterious than anything these southerners have done before, and it's much appreciated.
6/7
9.12.2008
Noah and the Whale - Peaceful The World Lays Me Down
After looking at their album art, I couldn't help but wonder whether or not the members of Noah and the Whale were Wes Anderson fans, due to how strikingly similar their it is to the art for Anderson's movies. Unsurprisingly, I found that the band's name was taken from a Wes Anderson-involved project, entitled "The Squid and the Whale", a movie written by Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson - hence Noah and the Whale. That's where the similarities end, though.
Noah and the Whale's debut album, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down, is a good first effort, but the album falls slightly short in the end. The band plays their own mix of indie-folk and anti-folk, conjuring up a wide range of instruments and sounds to compliment them. The album has an organic feel that also touches on bluegrass, country, and fun, if that was a genre of music. Boasting the "song of the summer" (perhaps self-proclaimed?) with the song "5 Years Time", the band's fame grew until their song became one of the cliché soundtracks for a car commercial, which is totally a sign of success. While "5 Years Time" is a great, fun song, it's not entirely fair to base the band's sound around it, because not all of the songs, in fact almost none of them, are as fun and catchy as "5 Years Time." They're not bad, they're just not as catchy or cool.
Noah and the Whale employs a good variety of instruments, successfully making this album sound "pretty". This is due to the piano, xylophone/vibraphone, strings, ukulele, accordion and horns used throughout the album. I don't want to turn any guys off to this album, but it's definitely not the most masculine. The theme of the whole album seems to be "love", as it's specifically, directly, and repeatedly mentioned in just about every song. Not necessarily a bad thing, though!
The most memorable and recognizable part of Noah and the Whale is the lead singer's (Charlie Fink) voice. While it's cool that it's really recognizable and stuff, it's also kind of bad, because it makes the songs sound less fresh and more alike than they should. I like the guy's voice, though. Most songs have dual-layered vocals, Charlie Fink singing with a female. The unique mix of genuine indie music and the prettiness and the added feminine touch puts this album in a strange but enjoyable genre.
While the entire album isn't as catchy and fantastic as their breakout track, "5 Years Time", it's worth at least one listen through, and if you don't find a few songs on it that you'll want to keep listening to, I'd be surprised. If you liked any of the songs from the Juno soundtrack, you'll probably dig this album. It's not universally catchy and some songs fall a bit flat, but Noah and the Whale has created a genre that's mostly their own, and assembled a decent group of songs for your listening pleasure.
4/7
Noah and the Whale's debut album, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down, is a good first effort, but the album falls slightly short in the end. The band plays their own mix of indie-folk and anti-folk, conjuring up a wide range of instruments and sounds to compliment them. The album has an organic feel that also touches on bluegrass, country, and fun, if that was a genre of music. Boasting the "song of the summer" (perhaps self-proclaimed?) with the song "5 Years Time", the band's fame grew until their song became one of the cliché soundtracks for a car commercial, which is totally a sign of success. While "5 Years Time" is a great, fun song, it's not entirely fair to base the band's sound around it, because not all of the songs, in fact almost none of them, are as fun and catchy as "5 Years Time." They're not bad, they're just not as catchy or cool.
Noah and the Whale employs a good variety of instruments, successfully making this album sound "pretty". This is due to the piano, xylophone/vibraphone, strings, ukulele, accordion and horns used throughout the album. I don't want to turn any guys off to this album, but it's definitely not the most masculine. The theme of the whole album seems to be "love", as it's specifically, directly, and repeatedly mentioned in just about every song. Not necessarily a bad thing, though!
The most memorable and recognizable part of Noah and the Whale is the lead singer's (Charlie Fink) voice. While it's cool that it's really recognizable and stuff, it's also kind of bad, because it makes the songs sound less fresh and more alike than they should. I like the guy's voice, though. Most songs have dual-layered vocals, Charlie Fink singing with a female. The unique mix of genuine indie music and the prettiness and the added feminine touch puts this album in a strange but enjoyable genre.
While the entire album isn't as catchy and fantastic as their breakout track, "5 Years Time", it's worth at least one listen through, and if you don't find a few songs on it that you'll want to keep listening to, I'd be surprised. If you liked any of the songs from the Juno soundtrack, you'll probably dig this album. It's not universally catchy and some songs fall a bit flat, but Noah and the Whale has created a genre that's mostly their own, and assembled a decent group of songs for your listening pleasure.
4/7
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