MGMT

Nobody should really expect MGMT to be profound or complex. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they aren’t good live, but I decided to decide for myself and scored seventh row center tickets to the show.

The band came out and opened with Flash Delirium, which in my opinion was easily one of the best tracks on this year’s album. As it was also the first single, it was relatively well received. The audience had been pretty quiet throughout the set of openers Violens, and leading off the set with a popular song, rather than one of the more abstract ones, really set the pace and got everyone on their feet. Staying true to character, they strayed from convention by playing “Destrokk” next, which I had never actually heard before. As it turns out, it’s a song from the Time to Pretend EP that came out way back in 2005, before I had ever heard of the band. While they played it well and I enjoyed it, I got the feeling that a lot of people were in my situation and didn’t recognize it. It may have killed the vibe a little. But they picked it right back up and started blazing through older hits like “Electric Feel,” “The Youth,” and “Time To Pretend,” as well as newer highlights “Brian Eno” and “Song For Dan Treacy.” The lights stayed pretty dim most of the show, with dark blue lights prevailing over most other colors. The cool, dark vibe was helped by the strange tie-dye and kaleidoscope-like designs flashing on the screens behind the band. After throwing in a seemingly-random cover of The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner,” (Yeah, I haven’t heard of them either,) they finished strongly, although predictably, with “Kids.” As you may imagine, “Kids” got the best reaction, with the entire crowd dancing and jumping and singing along as loudly as possible. While the band had tried to stay straight-faced and serious for the majority of the show, they came out of their collective shell for this one. Laughing and jumping around and just having as much fun with it as possible, which I actually thought was a little strange. I would’ve thought that they would be sick of playing it, since it is their most popular song, and they seemed to stray away from making pop songs on the second album, like they didn’t want to be famous. Either way, it was definitely the highlight of the night. It almost felt unnecessary for them to come out for a subdued 3-song encore, ending the concert the same way they ended their new album, with “Congratulations.”

I wasn’t blown away, to be honest. But I didn’t want to be. I understand why people say that they are bad live, but I disagree. I think it’s all about perspective. But even though they take their music in new and very different directions than most popular bands, I still don’t think they are really all that complex. You go to let loose, get lost in the layers of their music, and just have fun. Dance your ass off. While the show wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it was still a great time, which is what you should expect from these guys.

Arcade Fire

So I went to see Arcade Fire lastnight. My first time seeing them.I don't know where to start. I'll lead off with my only complaint. They didn't play my favorite song on the new album, "Suburban War". (Full Setlist below.) But it really didn't matter, in the end.

The openers, Young Galaxy, were alright. Some songs were good, and I might check out their albums since it seemed like they'd be the kind of stuff that would sound better all mastered and whatnot.

Arcade Fire came out and played for a little over an hour and a half. The set was awesome (see videos below). I love their music, but didn't know too much about them, so it was surprising to see 8 people on stage, all switching instruments every song. Some members switched between violin-piano, or drums-guitar-keyboards. It was kind of awesome seeing how talented they all are, even though they seem like a pretty odd bunch of people. Especially Regine, who does this weird ballerina-robot dance the whole time, and although she sings great, when she tried to speak in between songs (introducing Sprawl II) she sounded like she was either coked out or half retarded.

Regardless, the most impressive thing, to me, was how much energy and passion they put into playing these songs. It's amazing how mellow you would think some of the songs are, particularly off of Funeral, but somehow they just go nuts and jump around and rock out playing them, without taking anything away from the song. With no audio, you'd think they were playing something more upbeat and hardcore-sounding the whole time. It was great to watch.

They opened with Ready To Start, which works really well as an opener, and warmed up the crowd well. What surprised me is how they stepped into high-gear right away with "Month of May" second, which is probably the fastest, most upbeat song that they have. They just absolutely destroyed it (in a good way). It was great live, and basically let everyone know that they weren't messing around, they were gonna give us a hell of a show. About two-thirds of the way through, after playing "Deep Blue", I thought it was funny that Win said "sorry for confusing you with all of these new songs", as if almost everyone there hadn't been listening to the album for the last week straight. We were all singing along to almost every song. Of the last 6 songs after that point, including the 2 in the encore, the only new one was "Half Light II" (which sounded great live). The other five were perfect, fan-favorite placements that had everyone going nuts the whole time. "Keep the Car Running" sounded particularly spectacular live, from a vocal standpoint, while the seamless transition from "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" into "Rebellion (Lies)" was really spine-tingling. And, while predictable, finishing with "Wake Up" just works perfectly, with everyone shouting the chorus at the top of their lungs. I think the only song that gave me chills to sing along with live more than "Wake Up" was "Hey Jude" when I saw Paul McCartney about a year ago at Fenway Park.

It was a great night. I go to a LOT of concerts, so it's rare that I see someone that I haven't seen before and they really blow me away, but last night was one of those nights. I will go see them live every single chance I get from here on out. I can't wait to watch the MSG show in a couple of days and relive the whole experience. Amazing.

Check out the stage set-up in this video. A "billboard" screen, streetlight post, and the back screen looked like they were under a highway overpass. Really went all out with the suburbs theme, but it was awesome. The video sums it up pretty well, even if the audio is a little off (i didnt take it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfXtf9-WlRs

Here are a couple of really good HD videos people took (you should click through and watch them big):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycSaZQZ0gHs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU4-sOWqmQc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-jPwAJ34_k

Setlist:

Ready to Start

Month of May

Neighborhood #2 (Laika)

No Cars Go

Haiti

Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

We Used to Wait

Intervention

Modern Man

The Suburbs

Deep Blue

Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

Rebellion (Lies)

Half Light II (No Celebration)

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

Encore:

Keep the Car Running

Wake Up

Kele - The Boxer

7.5/10

I was introduced to Bloc Party just a couple of years ago, and ended up really liking their stuff. I haven't listened to them in a while, though. This album, the lead singer's solo debut, didn't get too much hype or promotion (at least not that I saw) and I had a feeling it might end up being really great. Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it all that much.

The album is 10 songs, about 45min long, and instantly much more electronic-sounding and slow-paced than a lot of Bloc Party's stuff. The synthy/electro vibe kind of reminded me of Thom Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, and how much more laid back and electronic that was than a lot of Radiohead stuff. But, as the album progressed, I ended up seeing the album as more of a bad attempt at being Kele's own Eraser album than something different and unique. Lyrically, there were too many songs with almost no verses. Several songs just had a repeating chorus, with the production seeming like the forefront, which didn't make sense to me since this is supposed to be the singer's solo album. With that said, I did really like a lot of the production. It was really catchy at points, and kept me moving along with the music. I just expected something more. Track 2, "On The Lam", has a great, catchy beat and chorus, but there are hardly any words outside of the chorus, which is really disappointing. The single, and third track, "Tenderoni", is also a good song and really catchy, except the part where they shout/spell out T-E-N-D-E-R-O-N-I, which is just incredibly lame and cheesy. My favorite track is Everything You Wanted, which falls right in the middle of the album. There are finally real verses with good lyrics. The main thing that stood out about the song, for me, was the emotion that was clearly behind it. You could feel the heart in the song, which I really liked. "All The Things I Could Never Say" is also really good, yet somehow helped to show me how weak the album was at points. The second to last track, it's the first one where I really felt like the production was secondary and helped to highlight the singing instead of the other way around. Overall, I just felt like it was a very mediocre/average album. There were definitely a few really strong tracks, but I just think it fell short as a whole. It is definitely still worth listening to, for anyone interested.

MGMT - Congratulations

8.5/10

This album was definitely a grower. It took at least 5 or 6 listens before I was really able to get into every track. Abstract albums like this generally seem to be that way. After the surprise commercial success of their last album, Oracular Spectacular, MGMT went in the opposite direction that everyone expected them to. There are no tracks on the new album anywhere near as catchy and poppy as Kids or Electric Feel. While this might be a little disappointing, I still really like the album. It's not supposed to be catchy and mainstream. The band specifically didn't want to release singles to encourage people to listen to the full album rather than just a couple of songs. As someone who never puts his iPod on shuffle, and really values the "full album" experience, I loved this about them. Sure they could have taken the easy way out and made a few more Kids-esque songs without much thought and made a ton of money. But they really care about the music and didn't want to do that. Instead, they made an abstract, more psychadelic album with no real standout singles or catchy choruses. Sure it made it a little hard to get into, but it was worth it. I think it's a great album.

The songs all flow together really well, regardless of how different they are. It shows how serious they were about stressing the album as one big work of art rather than just a collection of songs. While I do like a lot of the lyrics, most of them aren't particularly noteworthy. They aren't bad by any means, they just don't stand out. The real treat is the music: the guitars, the drums, the synths. They're great. The way that the 12-minute Siberian Breaks can totally captivate you, and transition between 3 different sections, is a testment to this. It's hard to keep someone's attention for the entirety of a 12-minute song. Lady Dada's Nightmare is an instrumental, and I think one of the best tracks on the album. It's so much darker than anything I've ever heard from MGMT, but I think it worked really well. And to transition that into one of the brightest, happiest songs on the album, Congratulations, seems difficult, but they make it look easy.

I guess I do miss the catchy, irresistable songs from the last album, but at the same time I also love it when artists try something totally different and succeed. While I know this album won't have the same replay value or lasting qualities of the first, I think its more consistent as a whole. They definitely succeeded in creating one large body of work. I can't even bring myself to pick a favorite track. They are all really good in different ways. I suppose I would go with "Brian Eno" and "Congratulations", but to say that those 2 are "better" than the others would be unfair.

New Jack Johnson and Gaslight Anthem Singles

The first single from Jack Johnson's sixth studio album, To The Sea, out June 1st, just came out, and is called "You And Your Heart." It's pretty awesome, so check it out:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/7486352146bfa0c7/

Also, here is the album cover and single cover (click for larger):

One of my new (in the last year or two) favorite bands, The Gaslight Anthem, also released a new single, from their forthcoming third album, American Slang, out on 6/15. The song is also called "American Slang," and is also awesome. Here's the song and album cover:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/7486378895bb4f6d/

Vampire Weekend

My sister and I went and saw one of my new favorite bands last night (in Boston) at the Orpheum. SO good live. The music is just so fun and lively and it totally translates to the crowd. Everyone's just dancing and having a great time. They play really well live, and you can tell they have a lot of fun playing. Ezra talked quite a bit and was actually a really funny guy. They talked about how much they like Boston, partly why they have 3 Massachusetts-based songs on their debut album, all 3 of which were played. Apparently they don't usually play all 3. At least not "Ladies of Cambridge", which is technically a bonus track. Conveniently enough it's one of my favorite VW songs (at least top 3) so I was really really happy that they played it.

Also, to make the show even better, I upgraded my tickets at no extra cost last minute. The show had sold out in like an hour or something when it went on sale several months ago, and I managed to barely get tickets, last row on the lower level. I was a little disappointed, but figured it was better than the balcony. So last night, about an hour before we left, this family friend who owns a ticket agency calls me and offered me 7th row seats at face value, so I took them and put my crappy seats on craigslist at face value, got a call within 5 minutes, and met a kid at the venue. So it was amazing! I brought my camera, which I rarely do at concerts, and got a few good ones... check them out (click to view full size):

Been a While

So I haven't posted in almost 3 months... I've been busy with work and stuff, and just haven't had too much time to write up stuff. Just to catch up on 2010 so far, this is my current running list of albums, a quarter of the way through the year:

1. MGMT - Congratulations
2. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
3. Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring
4. Vampire Weekend - Contra
5. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
6. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
7. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
8. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
9. Spoon - Transference
10. Flobots - Survival Story
-----------------------------------------------------
11. RjD2 - The Colossus
12. Meth Rae Ghost - Wu-Massacre

The order is VERY subject to change... maybe I'll go back and write up reviews on a couple of them if I have time. The only album I've listened to that isn't yet placed is "Go" by Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi. (Both Sigur Ros and Jonsi have crazy Icelandic accent marks on some of the letters, but I don't care enough to figure out how to do that.) It's hard to rank an album like that because it's just SO different from everything else that I listen to. In general, 2010 has been really consistent, musically. There hasn't been an album that really blew me out of the water the way Merriweather Post Pavilion did, but there have been so many really solid 8.5 to 9 /10 albums, in my opinion. I don't like to officially assign scores out of 10 until further into the year, but right now I'd say that everything in the top 10 is at least an 8.5/10, with the top 6 being at least a 9/10. I'm really excited to see how the rest of the year turns out.

As far as upcoming albums that I can't wait for, we have a few leading that pack. And I'm just talking about 100% announced and confirmed albums, Detox doesn't count, nor does Kanye's new album, although I am pretty sure the latter will be out by the end of the year. Anyways, I really can't wait for these 4 albums:

- Reflection Eternal - Revolutions Per Minute (out 5/18)

- Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives (out 5/18?)

- Jack Johnson - To The Sea (out 6/1)

- The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang (out 6/15)

My Favorite Albums of 2009

Finally... all done, and confident in my list. I think this is the first time since I've been making these (so like 4 or 5 years) that there is not one single hip-hop album in my top 10. But 11, 12, 13, and 15 are all hip-hop, so they came pretty close. Overall, I thought 2009 started out with a dull outlook as far as music, but I now think it was one of the best years, musically, of my adult life. I listened to 60 new albums that came out this year, and don't regret a single one. Albums in the 30s on my list are albums I really liked and continue to listen to, which is more than I can say about most albums in the 20s on last year's list. I can only hope 2010 can come close to matching it. Feel free to leave comments with thoughts and questions. I'd love to discuss my thoughts.

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion 10/10

2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix 9.5/10

3. Phish - Joy 9/10

4. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug 9/10

5. John Mayer - Battle Studies 8.5/10

6. Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed 9/10

7. Pearl Jam - Backspacer 9/10

8. John Frusciante - The Empyrean 9/10

9. Brand New - Daisy 9/10

10. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King 8.5/10

---------------------------------------------------------------

11. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II 9/10

Mos Def - The Ecstatic 8.5/10

Brother Ali - Us 9/10

Girls – Album 9/10

Eminem - Relapse 8.5/10

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown 8.5/10

Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream 8.5/10

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 8/10

Wale - Attention: Deficit 8/10

20. Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: The End Of Day 8/10

State Radio - Let It Go 8.5/10

Billy Boy on Poison - Drama Junkie Queen 8.5/10

Eyedea & Abilities - By The Throat 8.5/10

Rx Bandits - Mandala 8.5/10

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! 8.5/10

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca 9/10

The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die 8.5/10

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest 8.5/10

Passion Pit - Manners 8/10

30. K-Os - Yes! 8.5/10

Chester French - Love the Future 8.5/10

Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez 8/10

Doom - Born Like This 8/10

Asher Roth - Asleep in the Bread Aisle 8.5/10

U2 - No Line on the Horizon 8/10

Blakroc – Blakroc 8/10

K'Naan - Troubadour 8/10

Yusuf (aka Cat Stevens) - Roadsinger 8.5/10

Gift of Gab - Escape to Mars 8/10

40. Clipse - Till The Casket Drops 8/10

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic 8/10

MSTRKRFT - Fist of God 8/10

Discovery – LP 8/10

The XX – XX 8/10

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns 8/10

Third Eye Blind - Ursa Major 7/10

Method Man & Redman - Blackout! 2 8/10

Chali 2na - Fish Outta Water 8/10

Buju Banton - Rasta Got Soul 7.5/10

50. Matisyahu – Light 7.5/10

Monty Are I - Break Through The Silence 7.5/10

The Fray - The Fray 8/10

Taking Back Sunday - New Again 7.5/10

P.O.S. - Never Better 8/10

Mr. Lif - I Heard It Today 8/10

CunninLynguists - Strange Journey Vol 1 8/10

311 - Uplifter 7.5/10

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love 8/10

Ben Kweller - Changing Horses 8/10

60. Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing 7.5/10

Michael Jackson's This Is It

So lastnight I watched the documentary/movie "This Is It". More than anything, it was just depressing to watch realizing that all this work that all of these people put into the project would never come to fruition. So many people were involved in the project, and everyone was so happy to be there and so excited to get on stage, it's just really sad that it never happened. Also, from the looks of things in the movie, the show was going to be amazing. Absolutely incredible.

MJ looked like he was in better shape than I expected. While he was moving kinda slow in the early songs, it looks like that's just because he didn't want to waste all his good moves right at the beginning. He dances and moves great, and still has a voice, too! Most of the songs that they show him rehearsing, he is actually singing, and sounds almost exactly like the recordings, even those that are from over 30 years ago. It was kind of amazing.

It was also great to see how involved he was in the whole process. He was there at the dancer auditions, for filming of backdrops that he wasn't even in, and just about everything else. He's such a perfectionist, and that's what made everything he did great, but it's great to see that someone as huge as him that could've just shown up for the shows and collected his check still really cared about it all. Overall, I thought the film gave a great behind-the-scenes look at the concert process and the hard work that goes into making a show as big as this one would've been.

So, really, it's bittersweet. It was awesome and fun to watch, but really depressing and unfortunate when you think more about it.

A Few New Songs

2009 has been an amazing year for music, in my opinion. A lot of great great albums have come out. 2010 is shaping up, though, and it's looking great, too. So, I thought I'd post a few songs/singles that have been released for albums slated for early 2010 releases.

Spoon - Written In Reverse

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69507442b7a4f2ce/

This is the first single off of the new Spoon album, Transference, which will be out 1/19/10. Spoon is a great band, if you haven't heard them, listen to the albums "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" and "Kill the Moonlight". I just saw them this past Friday night, and I'll probably post a show review later on tonight if I have time. Great indie band. Check out the new single, and look back here for an album review in a month or so.

Vampire Weekend - Cousins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e0u11rgd9Q

One of my favorite new bands of 2008 is going to be back in 2010 with their second album, Contra, out on 1/12. Cousins is a fast paced, fun song, kind of similar to what "A-Punk" was on their debut album. Make sure to check out the video for it, because it's even better than the song (which is why I posted a youtube link instead of zshare, haha). Also, I'll post the other song released so far, Horchata, which is a little more laid back, yet equally as good, in my opinion: http://www.zshare.net/audio/69507370acbb5ea6/

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have to Die

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6950757436d61879/

I love Ted Leo. 2007's album, "Living with the Living", didn't really live up to what I wanted it to be, but "Shake the Sheets" will always be a classic in my book. His sixth album with The Pharmacists, "The Brutalist Bricks" will be out in March. This is the first single, and I love it.

The Roots - How I Got Over

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6950772079017c3b/

This one has been out for a while now, since the album was supposed to be out a while ago, but got pushed back about 12 times. The album, of the same name as this track, is now supposed to drop in February, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see if it gets bumped yet again. The song is good, though. Not as good as it was live when they debuted it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but still good. I love the chill, jazzy vibe. Can't wait for the album.

John Mayer - Battle Studies

8.5/10

Damn. Just when I was starting to doubt him, he drops this album and does it again. Battle Studies is John Mayer's 5th album, and I'd probably say its his second best, maybe third. Sorry, but I don't see anything beating out Continuum, it was just too perfect. He went for a more mellow vibe on this album, which I was skeptical about at first, but it ended up really working well.

The album is trimmed down perfectly. At 11 tracks, 46 minutes, you get your fix and then it's over before you get bored. Lyrically, John still knows how to write some great songs. I love the whole war theme in "Battle Studies", with tracks like "Heartbreak Warfare", "War of my Life", and "Assassin". He said he was going for a Tom Petty style approach to the music, and wanted to make something that would last forever, and I really think he did. Instrumentally, he's still one of the best guitarists alive right now, although he doesn't show it quite as often as I would've liked. As I mentioned in my album preview on here a few weeks ago, I really wanted more upbeat fast songs that would set up crazy guitar solos, but that didn't happen. There are a few short solos, which do enough to show that he's still got it, but really leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to see what he will do with these songs live. The only other letdown, for me, was "Crossroads". I thought for sure that a John Mayer cover of a classic Cream song (actually a Robert Johnson song that Eric Clapton/Cream decided to cover) would be amazing. But it was kind of awkward. The Cream version of the song is already basically perfect, so I didn't think it could be better, I just wanted it to be different. I wanted to see what John could do with it, and it was kind of boring. It sounded overly synthy and weird. Oh well, can't win them all. So even with the flaws, I think the album really flowed, and after giving it a few listens to grow on me, I couldn't put it down for weeks. Definitely one of my favorite albums of the year.

Listen to my 2 favorite songs, "Perfectly Lonely" and "Assassin" here:

(Also don't forget that I posted "Who Says" and "Heartbreak Warfare" back in the album preview post)

Perfectly Lonely

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69506948f856abe3/

Assassin

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69506986f636c9bc/

Brand New - Daisy

9/10

This one took a while. It came out way back on 9/22, and I didn't feel right reviewing it until now. I really didn't like it all that much at first. Not that I thought it was bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting and it's not the type of music I usually listen to. Brand New is actually the only band I can tolerate with any sort of screaming. Anyways, after I got over the more heavy vibe and screaming on the album, it really grew on me. It's just the right length, not too long and not too short, and each song is really there for a reason. The tracklist was made perfectly, and the album flows really well. As a matter of fact, I think one of my favorite things about the album is the fact that it's so cohesive. The intro and outro clips are old, creepy music, and there are a few portions in the middle of the album, such as the beginning of the title track, daisy, that have the same type of clips. There is a really creepy feeling to the album, and I actually really love it. Instrumentally, it's Brand New. It's a little more intense and hardcore than their previous albums, and while it's not extremely intricate or anything, there are a lot of layers and pretty awesome riffs on the songs. Something that I still don't know how I feel about is the songwriting. The guitarist, Vin, took over lead songwriting duties on this one for the first time. While I don't think that he is nearly as talented of a songwriter as Jesse Lacey, I do think it gave a nice change to the usual Brand New songs. Kind of a breath of fresh air. The album just really clicks. There's not a single change I would make. I read something a while back where Jesse said that they were afraid the album might sound weird because they wrote the songs based on how they would sound live, which is hard to carry over to studio tracks. Well it worked. Everything sounds great.

I posted my two favorite tracks, "Daisy" and "Sink" below:

Sink

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69488866b653b8eb/

Daisy

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69488936109a893a/

John Mayer Album Preview

In the last couple weeks, 2 new John Mayer songs have come out, off of his upcoming album, Battle Studies. At this point, I'd say this is my most anticipated album for the rest of the year, so I wanted to post the two tracks, album cover, and track listing.

John Mayer - Battle Studies is out November 17th.

1. "Heartbreak Warfare"

2. "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye"

3. "Half of My Heart" (feat. Taylor Swift)

4. "Who Says"

5. "Perfectly Lonely"

6. "Assassin"

7. "Crossroads" (Robert Johnson cover)

8. "War of My Life"

9. "Edge of Desire"

10. "Do You Know Me"

11. "Friends, Lovers or Nothing"

Listen to the first single, "Who Says", as well as "Heartbreak Warfare":

Who Says

http://www.zshare.net/audio/694864696dd27723/

Heartbreak Warfare

http://www.zshare.net/audio/694865010f401912/

The album cover is lame. I like the design aspect of it, with the vertical type and the tracks listed, but that picture is awful. He looks like he's training to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. They should have used the "Who Says" single artwork as the album artwork, because it's pretty sick (see below). As far as the music goes, I really love both songs. The only thing that worries me is that they are both on the slow side. There's not much upbeat about them, and not much in the way of crazy guitar work or instrumentals. I really want some great technical instrumental work, like Continuum had. It's just two songs, though, so I'm hoping the album will have a nice balance.

Who Says - Single Artwork:

Phish - Joy

9/10

Wow. I really didn't expect to like this album as much as I did. I had the wrong idea about Phish. I always pictured them as being a dirty hippie band with long, disjointed jam sequences. Turns out I love them. "Joy" is their 14th studio album (first in 5 years), and I had never listened to any of the earlier stuff, but now I can't wait to. The music is so much more pleasant and melodic than I thought it would be. It's really catchy, but also really well written, well sung, and well played. There are solos and instrumental bridges, but nothing to drawn out. Everything works. It's almost perfect. Slower songs like "Joy" aren't too slow to bore you to death, but slow enough to provide a nice change of pace. I can't say enough about how catchy, but good, the music is. I always feel like catchy songs sacrifice quality; generally the lyrics aren't as thoughtful or meaningful. But that is definitely not the case here. It's also very rare that bands with great songwriting have great instrumentals, including some really great guitar solos. These guys are just so much more talented than I ever gave them credit for. The only song that does go a little too long is "Time Turns Elastic", which kind of loses me halfway through. The album is a little bit short, too, which is ironic for a band known for epic 3+ hour live shows.

Regardless, it's great, and definitely worth a listen. Check out the tracks "Backwards Down the Number Line" and "Joy", and let me know what you think.

Backwards Down the Number Line

http://www.zshare.net/audio/694867506d0cd1aa/

Joy

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69486766d3ff3c6d/

State Radio - Let It Go

8.5/10

State Radio is a Boston-based band featuring Chad Urmston (of Dispatch fame). This is their third studio album, and I just don't think they can ever live up to how much I loved the first, "Us Against the Crown". They're really political for the most part, although they do seem to stray a little more away from that in this album than in the other two, probably because of the way things seem to be turning around. The band does a ton for charity and did a ton of work campaigning for Obama. Anyways, the album is really solid. Like I said, I think its better than their second album, but not as good as the first. Its not too short or too long, and they still have this great mix of reggae/ska/rock going on. Too many bands ditch their reggae/ska influences when they are trying to make it big, and these guys are just always going to stick to their roots, which I love. Sure there are a couple of filler tracks, but most of them really made an impression. I'm hoping it grows on me a little bit. I've only listened twice as of right now. Good stuff.

The album was released 9/29, and is actually streaming free right now on www.myspace.com/stateradio . If you are even remotely interested, you should listen to "Arsenic and Clover" and/or "Doctor Ron the Actor." I've posted both below, so you can listen easily. So check them out and let me know what you think.

Arsenic & Clover
http://www.zshare.net/audio/69486826a03677d4/

Doctor Ron the Actor
http://www.zshare.net/audio/69486854fd5d1366/

More Album Reviews

Jedi Mind Tricks - A History of Violence 8.5/10
Brand new album from JMT that marks the return of Jus Allah to the group after a 3 album absence. The production was awesome. Usually I'm the one saying that production only hurts a record if it becomes distractingly bad, but this album is proof that great production can also really strengthen an album. Really complex beats with samples and a lot of strings, coming from DJ Stoupe, and sometimes accompanying scratches by DJ Kwestion. Vinnie Paz sounded great on the album. Lots of passion, great rhyming, and some serious topics. It was good to hear Jus Allah back, but his verses were actually forgettable, for the most part. Although I feel he is still important to the group for balance purposes. My only problem is that the best songs are the first, "Deathbed Doctrine", and last, "Death Messiah". While I enjoyed everything in between, I think the flow of the album could have been better. Great album though, definitely glad I checked it out.

88-Keys - The Death of Adam 8.5/10
At first I didn't like the album. But after I was done listening to it, I thought about it for 10 or 15 minutes and realized the genius. I hadn't just listened to an album, I had just listened to a movie. I initially thought the narration between songs was lame, but now I realize how important it was to the story. The beats were very well produced, which was kind of the meat of the album, I think. The lyrics/verses/guest appearances were all good, but nothing special. They did their part to tell a piece of the story. But rather than think of it as an album, like I did originally, you have to think of it as an audio movie. I can honestly see a real movie play before me as I listen to it. You know the whole plot and each scene and even some of the dialogue, and could elaborate from there. Someone should make this movie; it would either be great or terrible. So I'd say its a decent album, musically, but the ingenuity, creativity, and pure genius behind the concept really make it special. I'd love to see something like this about a more serious topic.

The Killers - Day & Age 9/10
Okay. I'm two listens deep, and to be honest I think I need more. But I'll give it a shot anyways. I had slightly different expectations going in, so the first listen threw me off-balance which is why I needed to go back. I was surprised to not hear any Guitar Hero worthy anthems like "When You Were Young". I was expecting the album to be more loud and dance-inducing. However, I didn't hold that against it. I went back and re-listened, knowing what I was getting into, and it resulted in a more enjoyable experience, not to say that the first listen wasn't. The songs are great, both instrumentally and lyrically. Brandon's voice sounds more crisp and clear than it has on any previous work. I think the "experimental" tracks where they tried to do something completely different, like "Joy Ride" and "This Is Your Life", sound a little out of place at first, but I liked them even more the second time around. I think the album is going to really grow on me and I'll end up loving it more than I do now. The only tracks that I don't really feel at the moment are "Dustland Fairytale" and "I Can't Stay". I feel like the most powerful tracks are the first 4 and the last (10th), leaving you wanting a little more "umph" in the middle, even though I love middle tracks like "Neon Tiger" and "This Is Your Life". The bonus tracks, "A Crippling Blow" and "Forget About What I Said", seem to be the louder more anthem-sounding tracks that I was looking for in the album, leaving me unsure of why they didn't want to include them. Overall, the shortcomings are little compared to the quality of all the positives. I had trouble choosing between an 8.5 and 9, but I can tell that this is the type of album that gets better with each listen, so I went for the higher of the two.

Some Album Reviews

After more than 2 weeks of listening to the same old crap on my iPod and becoming bored with it all, I finally downloaded a ton of new music, some old, some brand new.

Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman 9.5/10
I love Cat Stevens, but only ever had his greatest hits album. This album, which propelled him to fame in 1970, is supposedly his best, so I wanted to try it out. Coincidentally enough, 5 out of the 11 tracks appear on his greatest hits compilation, and after listening to the album, I don't know where the other 6 fell short. He was one hell of a folk singer. While I wouldn't say he is "better" than Bob Dylan, I can admit that I prefer him. (Voice is better, lyrics aren't). The album is all about living in the world, but disregarding everyday concepts and ideas in search of a more spiritual fulfillment. It's beautiful. "Father and Son" is one of my favorite songs of all time... I've heard it at least a hundred times and yet it still gives me chills. My only complaint is that its awfully short, at 36min, which may have been normal in 1970, I'm not sure. The two tracks that are barely over a minute long each leave you wanting so much more out of them, and had they been longer and on the same level as the rest of the album, it would be perfect (to me).

Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing: The Very Best Of 8/10
Greatest hits albums are supposed to be great (obviously). I feel like they should be 10/10s or else they aren't really doing their job. They need to include the best songs by the artist, but try and make them seem cohesive rather than just a collection of songs. I had never listened to Dire Straights before, but this album did all those things. They were good songs, and the flow of the collection worked really well for me. The reason I give it an 8 is because I just don't think Dire Straights are all that special. I really liked listening to them. Mark Knopfler's voice sounds kind of in between Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, to me, which I liked, and the instrumentation was cool and laid back but not too simple. They were good, just not great. They didn't stand out to me as a band that's any different from all the rest. Some greatest hits albums leave me wanting more so I go out and get the artist's actual albums (see: Cat Stevens, Steve Miller Band), but this one, while it was a good album and I'll listen to it again, didn't make me feel that way. I feel like the 16 tracks are all the Dire Straights that I will ever need. I guess this review turned more into an artist review than an album review, but maybe that's what a greatest hits album review really is.

Q-Tip - The Renaissance 8.5/10
I'm impressed. I didn't think he still had it in him, seeing as it's been 6 years since he officially released anything. I didn't expect this album to be good when I heard about it, but was still going to give it a shot. Positive reviews started pouring in and I began to wonder if it was really a good album. It is. As an album, its so complete, even though its just a little bit short for my liking. The songs work together well and couldn't be in a better order. Start to finish, it's kind of like taking a trip. I really enjoyed it. The beats, all produced by Q-Tip himself except one by Dilla, are fresh-sounding, not too-synthy and "new school" but not too old where you think its ATCQ. I've always been a fan of his unconventional voice and delivery, and they work well here, with some great lyrics on several songs as well. My only issue is that I don't know if the album has any replay value. While it sounds really great as a whole, I can't think of any tracks that stick out as catchy, possible singles, except for Gettin Up, which was the lead single. It's the same problem I had with Oasis' "Dig Out Your Soul". As an album, it sounds great, I just wish there were more catchy stand-out tracks.

Jay-Z vs. Coldplay - Viva La Hova (Mixtape) 7/10
I had to listen to this twice before I could really say anything about it. It's basically the same as all other Jay-Z mash-up projects (besides The Grey Album). There are some tracks that sound amazing, and some that are too forced and sound weird. It's what I expected. I really don't like tracks that just loop 10 seconds of a Coldplay songs or chop it up so that it is almost unrecognizable. Why does "No Love Coming Home" has someone that isnt Chris Martin singing the chorus from Homecoming? "Science is Ignorant" would be amazing if they could get the chorus to actually sound like Chris Martin; it's extremely frustrating. But on the other hand, when they find a Jay verse that works perfectly over a longer Coldplay instrumental with limited tempo changes and chopping, it comes out sounding so good. Unfortunately, the majority of the songs don't sound as good as I wish they did. Lost+ and Beach Chair, the two official collaborations between Coldplay and Jay, are the best tracks, which is unfortunate. But the other good tracks, like "Take the Hill", sound awesome, and almost make up for the bad ones.