Back in the day when country was still a dirty word on the American indie-rock scene (at least at the teenage level) these guys were raging away under the thin guise of grungy guitars and amp’d feedback. They’ve always had that sound though – that achey-breaky (I won’t say the rest) vibe that should be bad but feels so good. We’re talking the masters of late 90’s emo-core (as I always understood it to be – what the heck is that crap they call emo these days?) – Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, Jim James (or Yim Yames depending upon your orientation) of My Morning Jacket and M. Ward of himself, now known collectively as Monsters of Folk.
They’ve been playing as a unit since 2004 but until now were pretty much singly a gigging outfit. This oft-proclaimed supergroup has finally punted their first official indoor outing. The self-titled album is a goodie but in a grower-not-a-shower sort of way. By their own admission or at least according to their publicist, this album could have easily ended up sounding like three mini-EPs as these boys all sound so distinct. But on most of the tracks, they really used their differences to come up with the goods, a series of smooth, blending harmonies with all the twangy guitars you’d expect.
I’ve heard some reviewers say that it’s Jim James who steals the show or at least is scoopier (http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14665/reviews/4137925) but I have to disagree, though this may simply be a matter of vocal preference. I confess that I’ve never totally jived with My Morning Jacket which is arguably James run riot. For me the standouts come from M. Ward; he’s just too damned throaty to blend easily, though I think his husky sound is a sweet relief from some of the higher James-led vocals – Baby Boomer makes the most of him without a doubt. Other highlights include Lotta Losin’ (Ward again), and Map of the World (great ache from Oberst).
I agree with others who have said that Mogis has done one hell of a job gluing the whole show together and I like the fact that while Oberst is omnipresent on this album, it’s in a highly effective and un-showy sort of way; he hits the high harmonies that simultaneously lessen the saccharine quality of his own and James’ vocals while enhancing the overall feel of the melodies. Basically I think it’s one hell of an album and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. And as a result, the Times and the Guardian agreed on something. I conclude the same – four stars.
Recommendations from Lindsay and Gills – Miike Snow and Delphic
The thing I’ve decided about recommendations is that there’s not as much of an expiry date on reviewing them. Admittedly these will be things I’ve missed that you lovely people have been kind enough to help me rectify so while I’ll endeavour to review albums in the week they were released, the recommendations section can be anything from 2009 and beyond. So says I. And thank you for all the recommendations last week; I had a ball getting down to some of the suggestions and intend to make this a weekly feature. Can I ask that you pass this link/group around so that I can get more and more feed?
Ok so this week I checked out Miike Snow at Lindsay’s suggestion. The single “Animal” has gotten quite a lot of play on BBC 6Music and for this reason, I recognise that I came to the album with a bit of a preconceived notion of what it would/should be. I found it only slightly disappointing. By all rights, I should love it – it’s like Prince meets Gnarls Barkley and as I love both of those, what’s the problem? I couldn’t put my finger on it until I heard the mashup featuring him and Vampire Weekend’s “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance.” I felt that on his own he didn’t deliver that extra oomph but with the power of VW, unstoppable. His remix of Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” was wicked as well. And both are free as downloads http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Miike_Snow/track/Passion_Pit_-_The_Reeling_Miike_Snow_Remixor via Miike Snow’s MySpace page.
As for Delphic’s most recent EP, This Momentary (mainly remixes of their recent single), this also has had a lot of 6Music play but had a more positive effect on me both when I heard it there and the album in its entirety. The last time I went to the Limelight in NYC it wasn’t the Limelight anymore. It was called something lame like Industry or ComeGiveUsMoney or something and it was lousy with scantily clad models and overweight 50-something men in pinstripe suits. The funny thing was that I went to see Longwave play that night (this was like six years ago) and once they started playing, it was such a fantastic surprise, such a wonderful throwback to Limelight’s musical heyday, that I immediately felt transported. Listening to Delphic is like that. You see the album cover and you think, this looks like a Beloved album cover and if you’re me, you think, “promising.” Then you step inside and doubt creeps in. But as soon as you get involved in the music, it’s awesome. I mean this is music to get ready to on that rare Friday night when you’re actually released from your cage for a few hours. This Momentary was released on August 31st 2009 and is a thing to behold. I’ll finish by saying this: Seriously. Fun. Good. Stuff.
The iTunes free download of the week: “Old Man Chicago” by Alberta Cross
Who doesn’t like free stuff? Well I certainly do and this was a lovely discovery for me. I think the thing about music is that you need to have at least an hour in your day to do some exploring – read some reviews, listen to some MySpace pages etc and if you’re working constantly or cleaning noses/dishes/clothes/raking leaves or whatever, you can lose not only the will to live but also the desire to explore. So given this superb opportunity (thank you my lovely husband), I have uncovered a few things, one being the weekly free single from iTunes. Last week was Dominos by Big Pink which I was less enthralled with. It’s definitely one of those songs I’d leave the room to avoid. But this week’s Alberta Cross single is great and not a band I’d listened to before. “Old Man Chicago” is lovely stompy music. Think Ryan Adams and Jayhawks. Give it a download and listen. What have you got to lose?
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