Saturday, December 17, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Suck It and See
Oh, an abundance of lewd puns won't stop spinning around in my head on this one. But all I can say is that I don't have to think of any clever ways to expend the english language because we have Alex Turner to do that for us and that, my dears, is one of the grandest things about this, the Arctic Monkey's 4th album. Released six months ago, I hurry to write the review so it can be at least current to the year and I wish I had listened to the album earlier quite frankly. I have always enjoyed the Arctic Monkeys (particularly fond of Flourescent Adolescent and Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not)but it is this latest album that truly sent me under the spell of the Sheffield gents once and for all.
Black Treacle is simply perfection and is smartly the second song on the album just after She's Thunderstorms. One of the reasons why it took me so long to fall under the hypnotic voice of Alex and the magnetic pull of the Arctic Monkey's music is because the lyrics are so male-centric. You know, men waxing on about their frustration, obsession and tribulation surrounding the female sex. It was Man's Music.[insert beer propelled burp here] I admit that John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland" is a good song, for example, but I don't want to listen to it. I know my body is a wonderland and I'm glad you find it mesmerizing, as it should be. A song about it is nice but really, not necessary. Mayer's "Daughters" is a thoughtful and poetic description of a certain woman's state and it goes even further by declaring a deep truth about women in general that is rarely seen in a pop song. It's beautifully done but really, I don't need to peer into the sometimes perplexing window of a womans' psyche because, well, I am a perplexing window, I mean (cough, cough)...a woman myself. Again, this is for others not me. I bring that up because She's Thunderstorms, although very different in an Arctic Monkeys kind of way, is similarly a poetic metaphor waxing on about the female psyche, something that other men,confirmed bisexuals or frustrated lesbians could certainly form entire Psychological Associations on trying to understand. And considering John Mayer's track record with women, he doesn't understand very much at all. But my disinterest in the entire subject is perhaps point proof that I am inherently heterosexual.
Having said all that, Black Treacle's lyrics are the best lyrics I have heard in a single song in years. It's an art putting together good lyrics and Turner may hitherto be called the Master of Metaphor as far as I am concerned. The listener is simultaneously baffled by and yet completely understands his metaphors, case in point being the first three described in just the first stanza.("Lately I've been seeing things...bellybutton piercings, in the sky at night when we're side by side.And I dont mean to rain on anybody's cabaret, one of those games your gonna lose but you wanna play it just in case.") And that's just the first stanza, people! Even the title of the song is genius. The word 'treacle' immediately summons up the conversation between the dormouse and Alice in Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite books of all time. Whenever else do you hear the word 'treacle' used in everyday language?
I have understood over the years that there are great melody makers (Paul McCartney, for example, is certainly this) and there are great lyricists. The two gifts aren't usually manifested in the same person or, unfortunately, even in the same band. "It is now to time to make it unclear" Cobain confessed in his song 'On a Plain' because sometimes the unclarity of it is what makes the lyric mysterious and compelling. Fortunately, Cobain never muddled the meanings enough for it to get annoying and I consider him one of those rare artists who was both a great lyricist and melody maker, a rare combination of gifts shared by only an exclusive few musical geniuses the world has had the pleasure to serve up, such as Lou Reed, John Lennon [all bow] and now Alex Turner. On the other hand, if you're really lacking, and you can't at all wow them with beautiful and compelling lyrics , you can always confuse the listener with sheer indecipherability. This is lame, of course, something Brad Pitt would do in Guy Ritchie movies to make up for the fact he can't do a British accent worth donkeyshit. I am laughing right now and if you have seen 'Lock, Stock and Two Barrels,' then I am sure you are laughing too. All I can do is echo the famous line, "You can fool some of them some of the time, but you can't fool all of them all of the time!"
Another beloved lyric on the Arctic Monkey album that I just have to mention because it is a favorite is "I heard the news that you're plannin', to shoot me out of a cannon" from Piledriver Waltz, track 9. This is an overall great song with unforgettable imagery and metaphor. I have to laugh with glee every time Turner sings it. I think I'm in love.
Another track which finds a special place in my heart is "That's Where You're Wrong" because it could have been made in the 1980's during the New Wave era and no one would be the wiser. It's a fantastic and perfect New Wave tune that brings me straight back to art student collegiate days where despite looking like the missing fifth member of Bauhaus, I was actually a very happy goth once I was with my friends and properly medicated. My friends and I would listen to The Church, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order and Modern English...bands that this song reminds me of immediately. All of a sudden I'm 20 again...and that's a wonderful thing in small bytes.
In short, ladies and gentlemen, the LP is a true classic despite having the built-in anti-promotion feature of a seriously unspeakable title. I can't exactly run around town yelling "Suck It and See!" now can I? Despite this, it is indeed one of those albums where every damn song on the entire disk is a winner. Like the first time I heard The Strokes 'Is This It', The Libertines 'Up the Bracket'or every Beatles album that ever existed. If you don't own this CD, you should.
The band has matured and it's a beautiful thing. What other gems are forthcoming from these epic troubadours, pray tell? I bask in the possibilities. But meanwhile, I am quite happy to gaze up at the black treacle...as long as the Arctic Monkeys are playing in the background. [end]
Black Treacle is simply perfection and is smartly the second song on the album just after She's Thunderstorms. One of the reasons why it took me so long to fall under the hypnotic voice of Alex and the magnetic pull of the Arctic Monkey's music is because the lyrics are so male-centric. You know, men waxing on about their frustration, obsession and tribulation surrounding the female sex. It was Man's Music.[insert beer propelled burp here] I admit that John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland" is a good song, for example, but I don't want to listen to it. I know my body is a wonderland and I'm glad you find it mesmerizing, as it should be. A song about it is nice but really, not necessary. Mayer's "Daughters" is a thoughtful and poetic description of a certain woman's state and it goes even further by declaring a deep truth about women in general that is rarely seen in a pop song. It's beautifully done but really, I don't need to peer into the sometimes perplexing window of a womans' psyche because, well, I am a perplexing window, I mean (cough, cough)...a woman myself. Again, this is for others not me. I bring that up because She's Thunderstorms, although very different in an Arctic Monkeys kind of way, is similarly a poetic metaphor waxing on about the female psyche, something that other men,confirmed bisexuals or frustrated lesbians could certainly form entire Psychological Associations on trying to understand. And considering John Mayer's track record with women, he doesn't understand very much at all. But my disinterest in the entire subject is perhaps point proof that I am inherently heterosexual.
Having said all that, Black Treacle's lyrics are the best lyrics I have heard in a single song in years. It's an art putting together good lyrics and Turner may hitherto be called the Master of Metaphor as far as I am concerned. The listener is simultaneously baffled by and yet completely understands his metaphors, case in point being the first three described in just the first stanza.("Lately I've been seeing things...bellybutton piercings, in the sky at night when we're side by side.And I dont mean to rain on anybody's cabaret, one of those games your gonna lose but you wanna play it just in case.") And that's just the first stanza, people! Even the title of the song is genius. The word 'treacle' immediately summons up the conversation between the dormouse and Alice in Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite books of all time. Whenever else do you hear the word 'treacle' used in everyday language?
I have understood over the years that there are great melody makers (Paul McCartney, for example, is certainly this) and there are great lyricists. The two gifts aren't usually manifested in the same person or, unfortunately, even in the same band. "It is now to time to make it unclear" Cobain confessed in his song 'On a Plain' because sometimes the unclarity of it is what makes the lyric mysterious and compelling. Fortunately, Cobain never muddled the meanings enough for it to get annoying and I consider him one of those rare artists who was both a great lyricist and melody maker, a rare combination of gifts shared by only an exclusive few musical geniuses the world has had the pleasure to serve up, such as Lou Reed, John Lennon [all bow] and now Alex Turner. On the other hand, if you're really lacking, and you can't at all wow them with beautiful and compelling lyrics , you can always confuse the listener with sheer indecipherability. This is lame, of course, something Brad Pitt would do in Guy Ritchie movies to make up for the fact he can't do a British accent worth donkeyshit. I am laughing right now and if you have seen 'Lock, Stock and Two Barrels,' then I am sure you are laughing too. All I can do is echo the famous line, "You can fool some of them some of the time, but you can't fool all of them all of the time!"
Another beloved lyric on the Arctic Monkey album that I just have to mention because it is a favorite is "I heard the news that you're plannin', to shoot me out of a cannon" from Piledriver Waltz, track 9. This is an overall great song with unforgettable imagery and metaphor. I have to laugh with glee every time Turner sings it. I think I'm in love.
Another track which finds a special place in my heart is "That's Where You're Wrong" because it could have been made in the 1980's during the New Wave era and no one would be the wiser. It's a fantastic and perfect New Wave tune that brings me straight back to art student collegiate days where despite looking like the missing fifth member of Bauhaus, I was actually a very happy goth once I was with my friends and properly medicated. My friends and I would listen to The Church, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order and Modern English...bands that this song reminds me of immediately. All of a sudden I'm 20 again...and that's a wonderful thing in small bytes.
In short, ladies and gentlemen, the LP is a true classic despite having the built-in anti-promotion feature of a seriously unspeakable title. I can't exactly run around town yelling "Suck It and See!" now can I? Despite this, it is indeed one of those albums where every damn song on the entire disk is a winner. Like the first time I heard The Strokes 'Is This It', The Libertines 'Up the Bracket'or every Beatles album that ever existed. If you don't own this CD, you should.
The band has matured and it's a beautiful thing. What other gems are forthcoming from these epic troubadours, pray tell? I bask in the possibilities. But meanwhile, I am quite happy to gaze up at the black treacle...as long as the Arctic Monkeys are playing in the background. [end]
SUCK IT AND SEE review.
Ah, that Alex Turner. He's laughing all the way to the bank at this one. But this album is so doggone good, I feel morally obligated to write a review about it. It's in the works now. So Check Back and See.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Strokes fourth album "ANGLES" in stores now!
As is the pattern, Angles, the Strokes' fourth album, is the farthest departure from their debut lp, "This Is It," which riveted the hearts and ears of millions when it was released in 2001. Most of us consider "Is This It" their 'defining' album and "Room on Fire," First Impressions of Earth," and "Angles" as follow-ups to their initial masterpiece. We fans hang on like a devoted spouse, looking back at the honeymoon with reverie and longing because we're not sure who it is we are with anymore.
On the other hand, isn't it unfair of us to call "Is This It" their defining album when the Strokes have clearly been trying to slip out from under this style brand like an ox trying to slip out of its burdensome yoke? Furthermore, a band can hardly define itself with one album. The Formula** is to produce four albums minimum that sound more-or-less the same in order to firmly define a 'signature sound' [the public are slow learners] and in the interim, conquer the entire world from Katmandu to Kuala Lumpur where I am sure there is a guy right now wearing an AC/DC t-shirt.
Like confused tourists, The Strokes drive right by the Taj Majal and stop at a greasy spoon three buildings past, not realizing the greatness that had been right there before them. But if you were on court-ordered house arrest in the Taj, even that would feel like a prison. In other words, perspective is reality. And that's all each of us has to go by.
" Under Cover of Darkness " is the best song on the album in my opinion but I can't shake the image of Julian thinking placatingly, "Let's just put this track on Angles to make all those "Is This It" junkies happy." What is it about the fan base that makes us want to hear just more of the same? Do we have one track minds because we are mindlessly myopic or because we appreciate the subtle nuances of a focused study? Can you imagine Monet if , after the first couple waterlily paintings, he said to himself," Bah humbug with the waterlilies," and henceforth decided to paint a different piece of furniture with each subsequent painting until the end of his time? My feeling is that although this may have fulfilled some unnamed artistic personal mission, it would have surely plunged him into obscurity. Part of the beauty of his body of work is in the disciplined study of recapturing the same thing; the commitment and dedication to the capture itself. It's like when I saw the Who in Maui in 2004 and they were playing "My Generation" and the other same songs that they've been playing for 40 years. I thought to myself, "They must be so doggone sick of playing these songs. How do they do it?" But there was obviously such love in the work, meaning, the love for the fans and all the rewards that go with it. We all went absolutely wild. It was such sweet satisfaction. "Give the people what they want!" as Red Skelton, The Kinks and even Jimmy Cliff have famously said. But not everyone wants to play the Super Bowl......or do they?
The first track on Angles is Machu Picchu and might be described as a song with an 80's feel accompanied by flourishes. Track 3, Two Kinds of Happiness, starts out sounding a bit like a Cure era song but quickly launches into a Tom Petty sort of groove and then switches rapidly again into yet more metamorphosis. I even caught a few nuances of The Cars in both the chords and crooning in this song. The song could aptly be described as a very interesting journey. Your'e So Right and Taken for a Fool , tracks 4 and 5, follow the same line of experimentation and display Julian's breadth as a vocalist with Taken for a Fool being the better of the two. This good song somehow retains a nice consistency within the varied melody and styles. I loved their performance of this on David Letterman March 30. You can check it out on new.thestrokes.com. Awesome performance. Games, track 6, is an emo song hybrid, wrought with drum machine and synthetic sounds reminiscent of the 80's when artificial music was the thing. Call Me Back, track 7, has a Church/Bauhaus forlorn quality to the intro which is really interesting and surprising but then it switches abruptly and goes in another direction entirely, becoming much more complex. I really like Albert's art piece on the new.thestrokes.com website which accompanies this song. Very beautiful film short for this track. Gratisfaction, which has a Queen influence, feels like something Paul McCartney might have done post Beatles after finishing the 12 studio albums he did with the boys in eight years. Like a goat finally let out of its pen, there's something very Wings about this self-affirming celebratory jam. If Julian and the rest of the band are trying to prove their versatility as musicians, well then they've done that. And I can't help but compare the songs on Angles to other bands because if they're searching for an identity for themselves, then I am too. Especially if they haven't fully established, accepted or recognized their own. I have never felt compelled to do this with any of their other albums.
Metabolism is the least listenable song on the album. Can you even imagine this song ever being played on the radio? But clearly, that is not the end goal for The Strokes. I guess not everyone who can have it necessarily wants wax figures of themselves in Madame Tussaud's Gallery. I personally think it would be kind of cool.
"Life is Simple in the Moonlight" sounds just like themselves doing a bossa nova song. Different and definitely unusual.
DO go buy this album. It's worth it although don't expect to find a brick shaped confectionary in this Pez dispenser. If you're like me, you don't mind if the outside changes color and themes (it's fun to collect them all! ) , but you want the inside to look and taste pretty much the same. There's comfort in familiarity. You may ask the valid question, "How can there be familiarity in "Is This It" and "Room on Fire" -- that's only two albums in their colossal 'four album repertoire.' " The answer is that you play the songs over and over again hundreds of times, something I have done with their first two albums.
In other words, will Garfield eat something different you hand him after you've already introduced him to lasagna? Maybe. Maybe not.
I believe that this band's fan base has never even come close to reaching the full potentiality that it really deserves nor has it musically ever reached the heights of Music World acclaim that it has the ability and talent to pull off. Whose fault?To quote Gregory MaGuire from his best-selling novel 'Wicked,' " Perhaps every accidental cluster of people has a short period of grace, in between the initial shyness and prejudice on the one hand and eventual repugnance and betrayal on the other." Historically, that time frame for rock bands has been eight years on average. After that, you can fire Colonel Tom Parker and get as 'out there' artistically as you want. But let's face it, you can't fire The Colonel if you never even knew him. [end]
**see Elvis, Green Day, REM, the Cure, The Who, Van Halen, and countless other wildly successful and legendary bands....yes,even the Beatles whose first 4 albums, (1) Please Please Me, (2) With the Beatles, (3) Beatlemania! With the Beatles and (4) Introducing...The Beatles sound nearly identical in style.
On the other hand, isn't it unfair of us to call "Is This It" their defining album when the Strokes have clearly been trying to slip out from under this style brand like an ox trying to slip out of its burdensome yoke? Furthermore, a band can hardly define itself with one album. The Formula** is to produce four albums minimum that sound more-or-less the same in order to firmly define a 'signature sound' [the public are slow learners] and in the interim, conquer the entire world from Katmandu to Kuala Lumpur where I am sure there is a guy right now wearing an AC/DC t-shirt.
Like confused tourists, The Strokes drive right by the Taj Majal and stop at a greasy spoon three buildings past, not realizing the greatness that had been right there before them. But if you were on court-ordered house arrest in the Taj, even that would feel like a prison. In other words, perspective is reality. And that's all each of us has to go by.
" Under Cover of Darkness " is the best song on the album in my opinion but I can't shake the image of Julian thinking placatingly, "Let's just put this track on Angles to make all those "Is This It" junkies happy." What is it about the fan base that makes us want to hear just more of the same? Do we have one track minds because we are mindlessly myopic or because we appreciate the subtle nuances of a focused study? Can you imagine Monet if , after the first couple waterlily paintings, he said to himself," Bah humbug with the waterlilies," and henceforth decided to paint a different piece of furniture with each subsequent painting until the end of his time? My feeling is that although this may have fulfilled some unnamed artistic personal mission, it would have surely plunged him into obscurity. Part of the beauty of his body of work is in the disciplined study of recapturing the same thing; the commitment and dedication to the capture itself. It's like when I saw the Who in Maui in 2004 and they were playing "My Generation" and the other same songs that they've been playing for 40 years. I thought to myself, "They must be so doggone sick of playing these songs. How do they do it?" But there was obviously such love in the work, meaning, the love for the fans and all the rewards that go with it. We all went absolutely wild. It was such sweet satisfaction. "Give the people what they want!" as Red Skelton, The Kinks and even Jimmy Cliff have famously said. But not everyone wants to play the Super Bowl......or do they?
The first track on Angles is Machu Picchu and might be described as a song with an 80's feel accompanied by flourishes. Track 3, Two Kinds of Happiness, starts out sounding a bit like a Cure era song but quickly launches into a Tom Petty sort of groove and then switches rapidly again into yet more metamorphosis. I even caught a few nuances of The Cars in both the chords and crooning in this song. The song could aptly be described as a very interesting journey. Your'e So Right and Taken for a Fool , tracks 4 and 5, follow the same line of experimentation and display Julian's breadth as a vocalist with Taken for a Fool being the better of the two. This good song somehow retains a nice consistency within the varied melody and styles. I loved their performance of this on David Letterman March 30. You can check it out on new.thestrokes.com. Awesome performance. Games, track 6, is an emo song hybrid, wrought with drum machine and synthetic sounds reminiscent of the 80's when artificial music was the thing. Call Me Back, track 7, has a Church/Bauhaus forlorn quality to the intro which is really interesting and surprising but then it switches abruptly and goes in another direction entirely, becoming much more complex. I really like Albert's art piece on the new.thestrokes.com website which accompanies this song. Very beautiful film short for this track. Gratisfaction, which has a Queen influence, feels like something Paul McCartney might have done post Beatles after finishing the 12 studio albums he did with the boys in eight years. Like a goat finally let out of its pen, there's something very Wings about this self-affirming celebratory jam. If Julian and the rest of the band are trying to prove their versatility as musicians, well then they've done that. And I can't help but compare the songs on Angles to other bands because if they're searching for an identity for themselves, then I am too. Especially if they haven't fully established, accepted or recognized their own. I have never felt compelled to do this with any of their other albums.
Metabolism is the least listenable song on the album. Can you even imagine this song ever being played on the radio? But clearly, that is not the end goal for The Strokes. I guess not everyone who can have it necessarily wants wax figures of themselves in Madame Tussaud's Gallery. I personally think it would be kind of cool.
"Life is Simple in the Moonlight" sounds just like themselves doing a bossa nova song. Different and definitely unusual.
DO go buy this album. It's worth it although don't expect to find a brick shaped confectionary in this Pez dispenser. If you're like me, you don't mind if the outside changes color and themes (it's fun to collect them all! ) , but you want the inside to look and taste pretty much the same. There's comfort in familiarity. You may ask the valid question, "How can there be familiarity in "Is This It" and "Room on Fire" -- that's only two albums in their colossal 'four album repertoire.' " The answer is that you play the songs over and over again hundreds of times, something I have done with their first two albums.
In other words, will Garfield eat something different you hand him after you've already introduced him to lasagna? Maybe. Maybe not.
I believe that this band's fan base has never even come close to reaching the full potentiality that it really deserves nor has it musically ever reached the heights of Music World acclaim that it has the ability and talent to pull off. Whose fault?To quote Gregory MaGuire from his best-selling novel 'Wicked,' " Perhaps every accidental cluster of people has a short period of grace, in between the initial shyness and prejudice on the one hand and eventual repugnance and betrayal on the other." Historically, that time frame for rock bands has been eight years on average. After that, you can fire Colonel Tom Parker and get as 'out there' artistically as you want. But let's face it, you can't fire The Colonel if you never even knew him. [end]
**see Elvis, Green Day, REM, the Cure, The Who, Van Halen, and countless other wildly successful and legendary bands....yes,even the Beatles whose first 4 albums, (1) Please Please Me, (2) With the Beatles, (3) Beatlemania! With the Beatles and (4) Introducing...The Beatles sound nearly identical in style.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)