New Old Stuff

I just picked up Adele's debut album, 19.  By now, I'm sure that most of you have heard some/all of her ground-breaking, chart-topping, Grammy-winning album, 21.  You really can't avoid it.  I mean, if you haven't heard "Rolling in the Deep", you may need to pack your volleyball friend onto the raft and think about rejoining society.

Aside: if you haven't heard it, 19 is quite good.  It seems a bit more immature and more of an attempt to mimic the records she heard growing up, rather than developing her own, unique stamp.  There are shades of 21 in there, though.  "Make You Feel My Love" would fit nicely onto 21. 

Listening to her debut album, I'm struck by a few things.  One of them is that this young lady has such command and presence, even at such a young age, that, in my opinion, some of today's "divas" could stand to take some notes.  For one, Adele doesn't over-sing everything.  She crafts interesting vocal lines, sure, but the vocal acrobatics that are so prevalent today, and seem to be the benchmark for what makes a "good" singer, are completely absent.  This is a beautiful, "less is more" approach, and begins to undo some of the damage caused by all of the Whitney Houstons and Mariah Careys of the world.

"But...but..." you stammer. "Whitney could sing!".

You and I will have to disagree there.  Well, maybe not entirely.  She probably could sing.  To me, though, it just seemed like she was yelling on-key most of the time.  Tomatoes, to-mah-toes.  I really didn't come here to bash Whitney.

The second thing that struck me was the phenomenon that I've observed upon discovering a new artist, mid-career, and then delving into their back catalog(ue):

The first album you hear from an artist is, in your mind, their sound, regardless of how it may sound with regard to anything else they've done.

Let me clarify.  In the instance of Adele, 21 is what Adele's baseline sound is.  19 is a change from that.  IN MY HEAD.  For fans who started at the beginning, 21 is the departure.  If the first Pearl Jam album you heard was Vitalogy, Ten is going to sound strange to you.  Have you, readers, noticed this phenomenon as well?

I'd be curious to know what causes this.  Perhaps it's just simple familiarity.  Maybe there's enough nostalgia-weight with your first experience that you'll always hold a special place for that first taste of an artist.

Could you get around this by digesting a band's entire catalog(ue) in one go, thereby imprinting that nostalgia-weight to their entire works?

What artists have you experienced this with?

Oh, no. I don't buy it for a second.

I'm back!  I've had a lot going on, both at work and at home, and just haven't had time (or inspiration) to write anything.  I'll be honest: it's been a pretty stressful time for me, which culminated in something of a nervous breakdown this past weekend.  In fact, I started a post about that while it was still going on, but it read like a suicide note, so I deleted it.  No need to cause anyone any unintentional distress.

Thankfully, I have a wonderful, understanding wife, a fantastic best friend, and a great group of guys at the chapel that I was able to spend some time with, and I got through it.  I'm feeling pretty incredible right now, so that's a definite improvement.

However, that's not why I'm writing today.  As I stated before, I was going to share my new music with you.  I have a couple of new albums to talk about.

Fragrant World

by Yeasayer

Yeasayer are like that band that the cool, art-y kids were listening to in the 80s while you were trying to decide if Boy George would ever top "Karma Chameleon".  Sounding like a cross between Art Of Noise and Gary Numan, Yeasayer brings a deliciously retro sound to a modern audience. 

Their music is predominantly electronic, but the band eschews the trappings of most modern electronic music.  You will not find droning, repetetive beats here.  Instead, this is almost pure pop sensibility, but with so much experimentation and lush density that it feels more like prog than something you'd hear on the Top 40.  The music shifts and swirls, creating a new soundscape every few bars.  By relying on that pop sensibility, though, they keep the music accessible, never making it difficult to listen to.  In fact, the entire album is so utterly listenable that I find myself toe-tapping and head-bobbing right along with it.

Lyrically, the band hits familiar tropes like relationships, etc, but with an artistic flair that makes them more about mood than literal interpretation.  The only exception is the surprisingly mean-spirited "Folk Hero Schtick", which seems to be a diss track, specifically aimed at someone (I don't know who).  It's a step backward and takes away from the positive vibes that you'd expect from a band called Yeasayer (presumably, the opposite of a naysayer).

Overall, Yeasayer have crafted a fine album.  Perhaps it's not quite so memorable as their last effort, Odd Blood, but definitely worth a listen if you enjoy some 80s-sounding synth pop.

Out Come The Knives

I love music.  I also have a huge appetite for new music.  I mean, of course, "new to me", and not, "recently recorded".  Amazon has a delicious mp3 store that frequently has albums on sale for $5 (or less).  This allows me to indulge my large appetite on the cheap, and I thank them for it.

I listen to many genres of music.  Mostly rock-based (of many stripes), but also jazz, folk, rap, swing, pop, avant garde, and whatever else may find its way onto my iPod.

So, I had this crazy idea that, in order to keep myself writing, I'd start doing reviews (for lack of a better word) of the new music I was picking up.  I don't plan on necessarily going into the back catalog, but we'll see what your feedback and my whims lead to.

Luckily, this idea coincided with a purchase from one of my favorite bands - one that I've mentioned on this blog and also on FB several times - The Paper Chase.

 

 

Hide the Kitchen Knives

by The Paper Chase

 

I started listening to The Paper Chase based on a recommendation from a like-minded, music afficionado, friend of mine.  The album that I heard first was their third, God Bless Your Black Heart.  I have since collected all of their albums.  Hide the Kitchen Knives was their second album and the fifth for me.

Musically, HTKK fits right in with the rest of their work, and is a step forward from their debut album, Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know.  The production is more refined, and the band is once again led by mastermind/vocalist ("singer" might be a stretch)/guitarist/songwriter/producer, John Congleton. 

Describing The Paper Chase in words is liked trying to describe the feeling of your first kiss or, more accurately, your first fistfight.  The music is an experimental combination of guitar, bass, drums, piano, and samples.  The band is very tight, but never sounds that way, because their music is so discordant.  It sounds as if the musicians might all be playing the same song, but aren't sure what key they're supposed to be playing in.  I can't tell if Congleton's just such a genius that he can bludgeon these disparate sounds into an overall vision, or if each part being wrong ends up sounding all right in the end.

The songs are arranged in such a way that they move from positively bludgeoning, to quiet and almost-beautiful.  The listener is never allowed to rest, though.  Something will keep upsetting any attempt to just float along with the music, whether it's an intentional, "bad" note, or the theme of the lyrics.  The Paper Chase are also not afraid to let various band members rest for a bit.  Instruments drop in and out of the music to suit the arrangements.  Songs blend together, making the work seem like a concept album, even when it isn't.  Samples are not loops of music bits or sound effects, for the most part, but snippets of voice recordings.  Most appear to be recordings of surviving relatives of crime victims.  They add a creepy layer to the proceedings, boosting the unease created by the music.

Lyrically, the Paper Chase craft an ugly world, giving the impression of a run-down Texas trailer park in mid-August, populated entirely by dysfunctional families whose members have nothing but utter contempt for each other.  Surprisingly, though, the lyrics are quite literate and contain some clever wordplay and dark humor.

All of these elements are in play on HTKK.  The Paper Chase defintely have a sound, and they stick with it.  The vocals lean toward the raw delivery that would fade a bit on subsequent albums.  The lyrics continue their penchant for dark wordplay, and are still painting a dirty, sweaty world.  The music is just as experimental and unsettling.  Basically, I got exactly what I wanted/expected from the album.  The band is in fine form, and the production sounds better than that on Young Bodies.

The highest compliment I can pay to The Paper Chase is that they don’t sound like anyone else.  At least, no one that I’ve heard of.  Most of the time, when you listen to a new band, I will compare the band  to another band (or bands).  “They sound like X, but with the vocals of Y”.  I honestly cannot draw any meaningful comparison.  For me, finding a band that has a wholly unique sound is automatically worth a listen.  Hide the Kitchen Knives, while not necessarily my favorite album by TPC, is certainly a great example of their sound for someone who would like to give them a try.