To kick things off this week, I have stolen a quote (unashamedly) from the Atlas Sound Wiki page: "People look at what’s successful, and what’s successful is what’s easy on the ears, things that aren’t challenging… Nobody wants to listen to something that sounds awkward and makes you cringe because it’s real personal or idiosyncratic. People just want to hear things that sound familiar already to them. I make really accessible pop stuff, but at the same time I have no problem making something creepy or just odd.” Bradford Cox, Atlas Sound.
Throughout my life, my musical taste has been shaped massively by the people around me, mainly men but everyone really. As a young child it was my parents’ collection of Beatles, Beach Boys, the Rascals, Bing Crosby and soundtracks. In grammar school it meant first Def Leppard’s Hysteria then Flood by They Might Be Giants within the same case of chickenpox. In high school it explained massive pendulum swings: the Cure and Depeche Mode, Ministry to EMF, Weezer, the Dave Matthews Band (a dark and misguided hour which I denied then and will laugh at now) Billy Bragg and even Public Enemy. In college: Yola Tengo, Blur, the Jaws (box and breaker), Jeff Buckley, Belle & Sebastian, the Beastie Boys, Astrid Gilberto. Early 20’s: Deathcab, the Shins, Ryan Adams. The result is a rather eclectic musical collection which I often think it is the best residue from an otherwise ill-spent singledom.
For so long, I listened to the things I thought I was supposed to know all along. My logic was that until I knew everything and could cite names, location of recordings, sing along to every lyric, had gone to multiple gigs etc, I would be branded the dreaded poser. It never occurred to me that in obsessing over knowing things, I might be missing out on liking or loving things. As a result, over the years I’ve learned to strike a balance between what I like and what others encourage me to try. Throughout the last ten years, I’ve gone more and more to the pop end of the spectrum because, yes, it’s easier, but it’s also the equivalent of musical sorbet; it has cleansed my pallet while I begin to determine what my taste really is.
If I’m being honest, it’s for this reason that I’ve really struggled with Atlas Sound this week. I generally find this particular brand of plinky-plonk a bit too plinky for my plonk and if I uncovered this album on my own, I might not have given it a real shot. It’s not that I don’t like this album, it’s that I tend not to have patience for the genre. Anything that is more experimental or even cacophonous is by its own definition less accessible and therefore a bit of a hard slog. Therefore, the moments when I find this album to be the most successful is when the weird is abandoned and it goes for the stripped back acoustic sound instead. On both the Rough Trade EP and the LP, Logos, I veer in and out of love and loathing. I really like the quality of Cox’ vocals and can easily see this album becoming something I explore more frequently, but then there are moments which are to me like nails on a chalkboard. The opening track on the Rough Trade EP is one of those. But then I remember that that is exactly how I felt the first time I heard “Debaser.” And this project I’ve embarked on is all about stretching oneself.
So most accessible? “I Know I Will Escape,” “Kid Klimax (acoustic)”, “Criminals (electronic)” from the Rough Trade EP; “My Halo,” “Quick Canal” (w/Laetitia Sadlier of Stereolab), and “Walkabout” (w/ Noah Lennox of Panda Bear) from the full-length. But most rewarding? Maybe “Washington School” or “Reminder.” To better understand how this current sound evolved, I went back in time to take on Deerhunter, Cox’ notorious Atlanta mainline. Until I did I knew I would have no idea what Logos was reacting to. The answer is that Deerhunter is infinitely more poppy in the mid-noughties vein of Bright Eyes and the like. And actually, I prefer it in a superficial sort of walk in and walk out sort of way. But Atlas Sound has a lot more depth and movement. It sounds at points like Sufjan Stevens then moves swiftly into Pet Sounds or even Radiohead. The music affects you before you can access the lyrics. There are many layers in this music and it means the listener is constantly running to keep up. This entropitous sound appeals to my scattergun taste in music and brings us closer together.
I guess in the end, it’s not my favourite album and I don’t think it will ever be. But I am still glad that I own it and not just because it means I have something random I can wax cool about. It’s a bit of a departure from the rest of my collection and is the kind of kick in the pants I sorely needed. Bring it on, I say. kkk1/2
ITunes free download of the week – “Edith” by the Hot Melts
It’s noisy, so noisy! I can barely think! Let’s break it down. First of all and to say it again, it’s very noisy and this masks whatever else is going on in terms of competency. It’s apparently about chicken. And there are choruses of “Ohs.” The song was over before I had enough time to digest what was happening and in stark contrast to Atlas Sound, it’s so so simplistic that it almost numbs you. The vocals sound a cross between 80’s hair band croon/screaming and Hootie and the Blowfish. I guess, in short, where Japandroids were loud and interesting, this song is just noisy and I think that’s the only reason why I didn’t hate it more. But no mistake, I did hate it. It gives free stuff a bad name. k
Recommendation from Paul and Steph: Bronze Radio Return
Bronze Radio Return had to be reviewed this week because wholly unconnected friends, one on the east coast of the US and one in London recommended them and I loved that a Hartford, CT band was also being recommended thousands of miles away. Bronze Radio Return has grown out of the Jason Mraz John Mayer school with a real country/blue grass kind of twang to them. And though my music has evolved further away from that realm, I would imagine that listening to them live with beers and a bunch of friends on the beach would be fantastic. Listening to these guys was like being back at college bringing to mind Clam Jam 1997. And if you like real American college music, Bronze Radio Return will rock your world (www.myspace.com/bronzeradioreturn) kkk
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