As an incurable music junkie, it pains me somewhat that this self-described "geeky media blog" has gone for such a long time without any direct musical discussion. Not that there's anything wrong whatsoever with movies (in fact, I'm going to go watch one after I post this), but sometimes it's good to be diplomatic and give some face time to other interested parties. It makes me feel more well-rounded in my rabid obsessions. (Just wait until summer when I have actual free time; I'll even be writing about books. I swear. I have an epic summer reading list. But I digress.)
So I decided to do something of an overview of 2009 so far. It's a quarter gone, believe it or not, and this saddens me because it's already aptly proven itself a hell of a lot better than 2008. In terms of everything. I don't want to jinx myself and have the next nine months be terrible, of course, but so far it's been quite good. The music scene in particular seems to have awoken from its yearlong siesta (after the party that was 2007, I'd be exhausted too; so it's understandable why it had to take a year off, but it's also nice that it's showing some initiative again). There's been great stuff from old favorites, great stuff from newbies and heretofore undiscovered bands, and the ever-lingering promise of more great stuff in the not-too-distant future from both aforementioned parties. It's been good.
Let's break this down.
I Find These Songs Especially Awesome:These are the standouts among standouts thus far. As the year goes on, the list will undoubtedly grow. As it stands, it's a formidable start. My absolute favorite, which can always change at a moment's notice, is italicized.
Animal Collective, "My Girls"
Apoptygma Berzerk, "Asleep or Awake?"
Franz Ferdinand, "No You Girls"
Harlem Shakes, "Strictly Game"
The Juan MacLean, "The Simple Life"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, "Young Adult Friction"
Pure Reason Revolution, "Deus Ex Machina"Silversun Pickups, "Panic Switch"
Telefon Tel Aviv, "The Birds"
White Lies, "Death"
Specific Comments About Stuff:Now with more specificity.
That's it. Hell has frozen over. The most irritating, overrated band in all of indie-rock has made an album I legitimately enjoy. But seriously, it's good stuff. I mean, is anyone really going to argue that "My Girls" is far and away the best track Animal Collective has ever produced? It's a hard song to dislike, and the good news is that if you like it the rest of the album basically sounds the same. It's sort of an amalgamation of the what-the-fuck nature-noisemaking of their early albums and the what-the-fuck "pop" songcraft of Strawberry Jam. The result mysteriously manages to factor out most of the "what the fuck" and leave us fortunate souls with a dreamy, unique, and mostly enjoyable electronic "mood" album. Which isn't to say I'm apeshit about it. It's still irritating and overrated (with all due disrespect to Pitchfork, that 9.6 is beyond fucking insane), but it's also pretty okay. To be honest, it's still not the kind of thing I can see myself listening to that often, but I do like it. And for these guys, that's a hell of a step forward.
I don't have anything interesting to say about Antony and the Johnsons, and neither does anyone else.
Apoptygma Berzerk is no longer the pulsing EBM/industrial/future-pop band I fell in love with back in high school. 2005's still very good You and Me Against the World openly suggested that they were headed in a more electro-rock direction, and now Rocket Science -- which comes across largely as an undercooked medley of You and Me leftovers -- confirms it. I guess I have a huge reserve of goodwill for these guys, though, because I'd still rather listen to this than a lot of other stuff. And Groth is still a talented songwriter: occasionally, something awesome like "Asleep or Awake?" slips in and really rocks out. Nothing matches the heights of, say, "In This Together" (one of their best songs, regardless of genre) or "Love to Blame," but it's not terrible or anything.
Burning Hearts do cutesy, female-voiced Scandinavian twee pop. It either works for you or it doesn't. It works for me.
I am convinced The Decemberists can do no wrong. Of course, I've been convinced of this since 2005, but their continuance of not doing any wrong really strengthens my argument. Their latest, the ultra-geeky The Hazards of Love, is immensely satisfying because (A) it's not like anything they've done before; (B) it's one the most ambitious and even slightly risky albums by anyone in some time (they are on a major label, remember, and this is uncommercial to the extent that it's nearly impossible to even separate the individual tracks from one another); and (C) it rocks really hard. Emphasis on (C). Even in a very musically generous year, this will be a highlight. Not that I ever expected anything else.
The chilling debut from Fever Ray amply proves which half of The Knife was primarily responsible for Silent Shout's indelible creepiness. In other words, yeah, it's good stuff.
Despite what the world at large might think, Franz Ferdinand haven't lost it. Just listen to "Ulysses" and tell me you don't get even a slight adrenaline rush when that synth storms on at about 0:40. Really?
Grizzly Bear, on their most recent "how the hell did this leak already?" Veckatimest, continue their trend of being mind-alteringly beautiful without actually being all that interesting.
The second half of Handsome Furs' Face Control is much better than the first. Either half of Plague Park is better than the second half of Face Control. Let's just hurry up and get another Wolf Parade album out, shall we?
By all accounts, it seems like Harlem Shakes are poised to inherit Tokyo Police Club's underappreciated-indie-punk torch from last year. Despite an even more irritating vocalist, I still like 'em.
I have a horrible feeling that The Juan MacLean's sophomore album The Future Will Come is going to be ignored simply because it's not LCD Soundsystem. Truth is, it's a very strong (and very fun) album that's probably the best example of pure "indie dance" in some time. The lengthy opening and closing tracks ("The Simple Life" and "Happy House") are well worth the price of admission alone, but some of the shorter tracks like "The Station" and "A New Bot" are also great.
I still find Junior Boys boring as hell. Someone needs to tell these guys to lay off the quaaludes or something, I swear, 'cause their approach to synth-pop/dance music (a necessarily upbeat style) has all the zealousness of a coma patient. 2006's "In the Morning" remains their only genuinely interesting song because, oh my god, it actually has a pulse.
Barracuda by Mexican synth-pop band Kinky is by a Mexican synth-pop band called Kinky and is entitled Barracuda. This is all you really need to know.
Apparently Late of the Pier's fun, highly enjoyable debut Fantasy Black Channel didn't actually get released in the U.S. until 2009, which just gives me another chance to go on about what a spiffy, clitoris-stimulating song "Broken" is.
Matt & Kim's Grand is pretty grand. My history with it goes something like this: I listened to it a couple times and found I liked it all right. Then I saw them live. Then I listened to it a couple more times and found I liked it quite a bit more than all right. Something about holding a musician's shoe can do that to you.
Metric's Fantasies is so much better than I thought it would be that I actually feel like I need to go back and listen to it some more before I can pass proper judgment. It's the least I can do for Emily Haines, who actually probably would've earned it based on that really awesome lake picture alone.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's self-titled has one of the best songs of 2009 thus far in "Young Adult Friction," and is largely devoid of interest for its remainder. A shame, 'cause that song is really good.
The Prodigy shouldn't have quit their day job (smacking their bitches up), because this new stuff isn't all that great. It's decent, I suppose, but The Fat of the Land was so much more than decent that it's hard not to feel a bit let down.
Pure Reason Revolution's Amor Vincit Omnia is an elegant 45-minute amalgamation of, like, every musical style I have ever been into. For this reason, it's going to be very hard to keep this one off my favorites for '09. The way they mesh prog-metal and industrial on song-of-the-year candidate "Deus Ex Machina" is incredible, and the last two minutes of "AVO" are so perfect that they make me feel like all the best parts of my life are just beginning.
Neither shoegaze nor Smashing Pumpkins is really "my thing" at all, so I find it intriguing that Silversun Pickups are fast becoming one of my big favorite bands. I discovered only last September that their debut Carnavas is really one hell of an album, and that "Future Foe Scenarios" is one of the best damn songs ever written (though, contrary to popular opinion, I find "Lazy Eye" to be one of their weaker songs). Their new single "Panic Switch" is so good that I expect their follow-up Swoon to be nothing less than one of the best albums of the year.
I am as head over heels in love with Spencer Krug as any man healthily ought to be, but Swan Lake just doesn't do it for me. Sorry. It's a two-album condition now, so I'm starting to doubt the "it's a fluke" assumption I've been leaning on since 2006.
If "The Birds" by Telefon Tel Aviv doesn't end up as the most beautiful song of 2009, I have a treat in store for me somewhere down the road. There's always something eerie about a musician dying before an album even gets released, and that eeriness hangs over Immolate Yourself in sheets. It's a sold album, though, and moody as hell, so I suppose it's a good swan song. More than anything, though, I would've liked to hear another one. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut: "So it goes."
White Lies sounds like Editors sounds like Interpol sounds like Joy Division, etc. etc. And you know what? I still find the style compelling. It's an uneven album, sure, but it's quite listenable.
Mmkay. That's it for right now. I feel like I've taken up enough of your time already. Wouldn't you agree?
Yeah. Thought so.
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