Dirty Projectors-Swing Lo Magellan
Domino Records
Grade: 8.08 (B-)
Available At: emusic, Amazon MP3 & CD
My first introduction to Dirty Projectors was 2009's "Bitte Orca" mainly because of the hype it received and because of my insatiable appetite to find out what makes an album with so much acclaim...tick. I found it completely soulless on my first few listens. It was mechanical and even a little faceless. But time changed my feelings for it and I found quite a few charms with it. Acclaimed, I could see why. A favorite of mine? Not by a long shot. So I was mildly looking forward to their follow up "Swing Lo Magellan" to see if would win me over right off the bat and the answer again would be it hasn't. Main man Dave Longstreth tries to throw in a little more warmth and human feeling on the album that works well right off the bat. The first three songs are knockouts right out of the gate. "Offspring Are Blank" contains a phenomenal chorus with fuzzed out guitars, "About To Die" features great female backing vocals and a disjointed drumbeat that recollects a lot of their previous album's charms, and "Gun Has No Trigger" shuffles along with great energy on a danceable like backbone. By the time the title track shows itself the rest of the album reveals itself to be a meandering mess. The ideas are there and maybe after several more listens they can reveal themselves to be winners. But for an album that is being totted as the band's most accessible, I'm not buying it. If this is Dirty Projectors being accessible then I wish they would have thrown in some more quirks to make it more memorable. In trying to be more human they've lost the ability to thrill. The doo wops backing vocals are a nice showcase but the album is too smart for its own good. But then again, hasn't that always been Dirty Projectors calling card? Could impress more on repeated listens. That's also a Dirty Projectors calling card as well.
JHO Picks: Offspring Are Blank, About To Die, Gun Has No Trigger, Unto Caesar
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Fiona Apple-The Idler Wheel...
Clean Slate, Epic
Grade: 9.28 (A)
Available At: emusic, Amazon MP3 & CD
If you want an album where every album's attention to detail is nailed down to the core and where raw emotion takes the forefront on the stage, then by all means...you need to pickup Fiona Apple's latest album The Idler Wheel... Apple as at that point now where she can release something every six years and her adoring fan base can wait on pins and needles to see what she's crafted. The Idler Wheel won't disappoint them. You can hear Apple struggle with raw emotion on every one of the album's 10 tracks from the beginning Native American chants in the chorus of "Every Single Night" where Apple admits every single night is a fight with my brain to the closer "Hot Knife" where Apple's voice is overdubbed countless times along with her sister's guest appearance to accentuate the sensuality in her voice to great effect. In between she's out for blood with a troubled relationship on the raw "Valentine", she's throwing out her own personal disorder on "Werewolf" which out of nowhere children's voices screaming come in to heighten the mayhem and she lets her own voice shine in jazz standard fashion on "Left Alone". If the album's sparseness of Apple and a piano feels like it's leaving you in the parking lot on the first few listens, you'll soon be in for the show after repeated listens. Is is worth the hype? Probably. I enjoy it. But you'll have to be giving your devotion and attention to reap the benefits. Apple's raw emotional approach should win you over at that point.
JHO Picks: Every Single Night, Werewolf, Periphery, Hot Knife
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Frank Ocean-Channel Orange
Def Jam
Grade: 8.87 (B+)
Available At: emusic, Amazon MP3 & CD
This will be on many end of the year lists from critics far and wide as album of the year. I can't say that I disagree at all. What Frank Ocean has delivered is an album that is already being hailed as a masterstroke of contemporary R & B and comparisons to Stevie Wonder's "Songs In The Key Of Life" have been thrown around as well. Ocean has a commanding voice and his themes he touches on "Channel Orange" are way mature and thought out in a genre that has been begging for a new spokesperson for years now. But what makes Ocean stand out? To me, he's a natural story teller, willing to delve into topics but never beating you over the head to get the point across. It's true that the themes he's dealing with from love, social classes and money have been dealt with countless times before, but it's the way Ocean delivers his meassge across that makes "Channel Orange" a winner. And the music delivers a great soundtrack for Ocean's vision whether he's singing falsetto on the intimate "Thinkin' 'Bout You", talking to a taxi cab driver about his impression on life on "Bad Religion" or comparing the Egyptians to modern day prostitutes on the extended jam of "Pyramids", Ocean has kept things varied and exciting through the course of the album. A wide array of guest vocal spots heighten the bigness of "Channel Orange" lending a helping hand without ever overshadowing Ocean's well thought out songs. Perhaps the only thing that will keep me from having it as a forerunner for album of the year is that I'm not the biggest R & B fan around. But I continue to admire 'Channel Orange" for all of it's self assured swagger and emotion. I'll be listening to it for the rest of 2012. That's something I haven't said about an R & B release in over a decade.
JHO Picks: Thinkin' 'Bout You, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Bad Religion, Forest Gump
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Ty Segall Band-Slaughterhouse
In The Red Records
Grade: 8.98 (A-)
Available At: emusic, Amazon MP3 & CD
Countless EPs, LPs, and other efforts have left Ty Segall as a man that releases so much that a casual consumer can not no where to start (really, I had no idea where to start as it seems like he's releasing something each season.) So after giving his latest effort with White Fence called "Hair" a few proper listens and seeing Mr. Segall at Pitchfork Music Festival last weekend, I decided to dive into his first album with Ty Segall Band entitled "Slaughterhouse." Working with his touring band, Segall capitalizes on "Hair"'s uncanny strengths of delivering just enough 60s garage punk to make you want to hear more. And with a title like "Slaughterhouse" you may expect a lot of blood on the floor which you do get in some places like on the opener full on assault of "Death" or the closing epic "Fuzz Out Wars" which is exactly what the title advertises...ten minutes of guitar fuzz and distortion. But in between, the listener will be delighted to find a hodgepodge of abrasive 60s inspired songs that recollect early MC5 and Blue Cheer in pure execution. "Wave Goodbye" is a mid-tempo power-driver that relentlessly churns forward on Black Sabbath riffs, "Tell Me What's Inside Your Heart" is 60s pop run through a filter of haze and undeniably catchy guitar riffs, while songs like the anarchic "That's The Bag I'm In" and the driving force powering "I Bought My Eyes" are uncanny gems that feel unprocessed. A lot of "Slaughterhouse" is a throwback to unbridled energy found in old classics from a time that time has forgotten. Where many bands or artists are creating their next big move in their bedroom with computers, there's something refreshing about the pure mayhem that Segall has harnessed here with a live fleshed out sound and band. It's not for the faint of heart and I may not always be in the mood for "Slaughterhouse" but it's something that just can't be denied. Put this on repeat for me for awhile. Exhausting mayhem.
JHO Picks: I Bought My Eyes, Tell Me What's Inside Your Heart, Wave Goodbye
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Beachwood Sparks-The Tarnished Gold
Sub Pop
Grade: 8.21 (B)
Available At: emusic, Amazon MP3 & CD
"Time rolls In, brings me back with my friends" is a line from "Sparks Fly Again" that pretty much sums up the return of California alt country act Beachwood Sparks. Time can fly by. Their new album "The Tarnished Gold" makes its appearance after a lengthy eleven year hiatus for the band. And it's a welcome return to breezy sun lit fall afternoons where enjoying the ride down the highway is more important than the car that you're riding in. If you've been missing pretty slide guitars and thoughtful harmonies in your alternative country music, then Beachwood Sparks is back to provide them. They all run their course through thirteen tracks of Neil Young "Harvest" era like California country music. The high points such as the opening "Forget The Song", "Sparks Fly Again" and "Earl Jean" are gracious enough to help you ignore some half baked mid section songs that never quite take full flight. If you're looking for pretty and carefree for the rest of the summer without much thought processing, then I recommend it. Then again, if you find "The Tarnished Gold" too lightweight and inoffensive than I understand this might not be your bag. Either way, it's a pleasant ride.
JHO Picks: Forget The Songs, Sparks Fly Again, Talk About Lonesome
Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2012/07/new-music-reviews-dirty-projectors.html
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