WK6 - Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (10)

BLURB - An incredibly open and spacious journey, filled with interpretive storytelling. While this is a 'hard listen' at first, there is some real depth to be discovered. Unlike anything I've heard all year, it plays almost like an indie-folk film score. Upon further review, genius.

Rating - 10 out of 10

FULL STORY - I love all music. However, when music scratches at places other than your auditory system, then I really love it. The first time through this record, I listened to it kind of haphazardly. There was an incredible amount of buzz around the release of 'Veckatimest' and when I wasn't initially punched in the face with amazing-ness I was quick to write it off. After about 7 or 8 full plays, I am convinced the record is alive. I'm constantly hearing new sounds and lines and choruses and moods with every listen. More importantly, I cannot sit and listen to this album without being forced to think about something or someone. Grizzly Bear brings back the mystique of what music was always intended to be used for...................thought.

What really has captured my attention is the brilliant songwriting and lyrics. For whatever reason, it seems as if I can relate a time or event in my life to every song on this record. The lyrics and the music work as one unit to accomplish this task. Whenever there appears to be a shift in the mood or emotion of the lyrics, the music is always accompanying the shift perfectly. This helps in creating an extremely vivid and somewhat cinematic atmosphere. You can close your eyes and see the music in front of you. Everything on 'Veckatimest' is extremely visual. The best way to listen to this would be to turn all of your lights off, close your eyes, put on some huge headphones and see where it takes you. For a lack of better words, this record 'talks' to the listener.

The only thing better than the lyrics may be the music. At times there is so much going on, but it is never too much. The instrumentation coupled with Grizzly Bear's imagination and creativity take this record so many different places. For the majority of the compositions all that is needed is an acoustic guitar and a voice. So when massive string sections, percussion, well-thought out background vocals, muffled electric guitars, fuzzy keyboards and even some synth loops are folded into the recipe...it is perfection. With all of this going on you might think there would be chaos, but there really isn't. The album is simple when it needs to be, and complex when it needs to be.

One other aspect that cannot be left out of the conversation is the vocals. This album was constructed with, what appears to be, a substantial amount of importance and emphasis on the voicing of the songs. Every track is filled with countless beds of background vocals and choruses. I've never really heard a record like this. Grizzly Bear's interpretation of what a vocal should be is nothing short of brilliant. The backgrounds serve as an additional vehicle to drive the song, and provide sincerity and depth. The foreground vocals are performed with grace and civility, almost creating a religious tone. I'm quickly drawn to comparisons of a pastor leading an extremely moving sermon, where the service treads a fine line between conversation and song. It's remarkably thought-provoking and enlightening. Has my generation finally found their own Brian Wilson in Ed Droste? This is truly the music sophisticate's delight.

'Two Weeks' is the best song of the year.

Tracks

1.) Southern Point

2.) Two Weeks

3.) All We Ask

4.) Fine For Now

5.) Cheerleader

6.) Dory

7.) Ready, Able

8.) About Face

9.) Hold Still

10.) While You Wait for the Others

11.) I Will Live With You

12.) Foreground

WK5 - Eminem - Relapse (6)

Released: 5/19/09

Label: Aftermath Records

BLURB - Ah yes, the much anticipated, long overdue release by Marshall Mathers. From all accounts thus far, I am supposed to either love or hate this record. Predictably, I kind of fall somewhere in the middle. It really isn't bad, as this is one of the first rap records in a while that has a consistent flow and theme that links every track together. Despite releasing what seemed to be like half of the record as singles in the months leading up to the release, every song seems to fit nicely into the, 'Prescription Drug Abuse / I'm Fucking Crazy' theme that Eminem establishes. However, there is nothing that transcends the rap and hip-hop genre(s) on here...way too much hype. It's a shock-and-awe diary of drug abuse and psychopath behavior. I'll like this record this week and next week, and probably the week after that - but a year from now I'll forget this is on my iPod.

Rating - 6 out of 10

FULL STORY - I've always viewed Eminem as the bearded lady at the carnival. Every year or so when the traveling circus comes to town you see the bearded lady and just wonder about her life. How did this happen? Is it real? You become so intrigued and interested in their tent and want more. Upon realizing that she does indeed have a real beard, it almost validates her life. We could have all seen the bearded lady thirty or forty times in our lives, but it is always shocking and interesting because we don't see it everyday. You ask questions and for the first few weeks after the carnival ends, that's all you think about - but eventually you move on. Take Eminem. His rap is not the rap that is on radio. His lyrics shock us, because we don't regularly (or ever) discuss how we are going to kill our mothers or overdose on valium.

For the early years of his career, Eminem released albums probably every year or two and the public would go nuts. It was then and only then, that we could all go to Best Buy and for $11.99 take part in the Eminem circus. What would he say on the record? What would it sound like? How many times is he going to say fag? Is Eminem's Mom going to file another lawsuit? This is obviously why there was so much hype for 'Relapse.' We've all gotten used to the idea that every year or so, as soon as we get bored with all of the generic rap that floods the market, Eminem comes out of the shadows and throws us a bone. So after almost six years, we are finally seeing the bearded lady.

What I like most about this album is that it is, in fact, an album. There is a theme. There is a goal. Every song fits, and even the dialogues and skits don't throw off the momentum of the disc. On Eminem's first release, 'The Slim Shady LP' there was absolutely no flow. Even though, 'My Name Is' ultimately broke Eminem as an artist...that song was terrible. It was just zany pop culture satire, filled with expletives. So when you juxtapose that to a great song like, 'Guilty Conscience' not only does it further discredit, 'My Name Is' but it also discredits the record as a collection of songs. This happened again when, 'The Marshall Mathers LP' came out in 2000. 'The Way I Am' and 'Stan' were easily two of the best raps songs of the last ten years, but when they are sandwiched in between dumb, irrelevant songs like 'The Real Slim Shady' it gets frustrating for the listener. With 'The Eminem Show' and 'Encore' it was more of the same thing. A couple glimpses of brilliance, but holistically there was always a let-down. Every time you think you're getting somewhere and witnessing real substance, you're forced to wake up.

When I first listened to, 'Relapse' I got to 'My Mom', which was only the third track, and was about 5 seconds away from giving up and switching over to something, anything else. Possibly one of the most annoying songs I've ever heard. Basically it's just an anthem claiming that because Mather's Mom did drugs while he was growing up, he subsequently ended up in rehab. After one chorus, it's just like...ok...we get it. However, unlike, 'My Name Is' or 'The Real Slim Shady' this track does serve a purpose. As terrible and forgettable as the song is, I'm slightly more lenient because, 'My Mom' has a place on 'Relapse.'

The lyrical content of this entire record doesn't really appeal to me. I don't have a a drug problem and generally don't fantasize about killing and raping others. But hey - that's just me. So while this album is entirely unrelatable for me, how am I still listening? Well, as I said before, Eminem is not the rap that we hear every day. Whereas most emcees rap to the beat, Eminem generally raps around, over and through the beat. What this does is create two completely separate melodies (musical and lyrical) that weave throughout the song, which is quite enjoyable and often addictive. '3 AM' is a great example. The entire track is about killing people and choking down pills, not my forte, but for some unknown reason I can't stop listening to it. Also, contributing to the addictive nature of some of these tracks are some really great production efforts. Mixing both new and old school drum beats with some strategically placed background effects and instrumentation, in a fashion that is not overly complex, really gives Eminem alot of freedom to roam, lyrically. Dr. Dre produced the majority of this record and really did a superb job creating tracks that enhance Eminem's rhymes, rather than detract from them. 'Bagpipes From Baghdad' really sums up this process - straight, old school snare and hi hat, mixed with some screeching strings, a very catchy, middle-eastern bagpipe riff and for good measure...the outro has some brief vocal auto-tuning, a la '808's and Heartbreaks.'

So, the long and short of this is that I do like the record, for now. It's tight and well thought out. I think we'll all initially praise 'Relapse' because we haven't heard anything remotely like this in six years. I'll probably be blasting this throughout the summer, but I'll eventually move on and 'Relapse' will get buried in a cardboard box labeled 'Ryan's CD's.'

One more side note...can we please stick a fork in 50 Cent? His verse is completely regrettable on, 'Crack a Bottle.' I almost felt bad for him listening to it.

Tracks

1.) Dr. West (Skit)

2.) 3 A.M.

3.) My Mom

4.) Insane

5.) Bagpipes From Baghdad

6.) Hello

7.) Tonya (Skit)

8.) Same Song & Dance

9.) We Made You

10.) Medicine Ball

11.) Paul (Skit)

12.) Stay Wide Awake

13.) Old Time's Sake

14.) Must be the Ganja

15.) Mr. Mathers (Skit)

16.) Deja Vu

17.) Beautiful

18.) Crack a Bottle

19.) Steve Berman (Skit)

20.) Underground

WK4 - Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! (9.5)

Released - 3/17/09

Label - UMG Recordings

BLURB - I stumbled across this the other day while looking at some noteworthy releases of 2009. I listened to one song and thought there was a mistake, because this sounds like it is straight out of the '60's or '70's. Old school blues, R&B and soul just pour out of this thing in every direction. The record as a whole is amazingly clever and refreshing. The only downside to Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears though, is I can't really see any staying power. I think they could catch on and be a nice little story, but they are never going to rise to any sort of prominence or major fame. I don't really care about that though...this shit is awesome.

Rating - 9.5 out of 10

FULL STORY - Sometimes music is meant to be interpreted, translated and analyzed by the listener. Artists are often criticized for having a 'nice' release, but lacking any depth or layers to the recording. And while it is considered somewhat sophisticated to produce an album that really forces the listener to think, hear and observe the inner workings of the recording - sometimes I just want good music at face value. 'Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!' is so pure and original, it really makes me want to stop listening to Animal Collective. This record really doesn't need any elaborate review or explanation for being great, it just is.

The music on this album is easy to enjoy and filled with great blues riffs, tempo changes and peppered with flashes of motown and funk. I've never really been a big blues guy, I get bored with hearing the same I-IV-V progression and long-winded guitar solos. I get it. To me this has been done ad nauseam and is all too predictable. What's so unique about this record is it is 100% blues without the typical blues chord changes and solos. There is really only one song (Bobby Boshay) that portrays a resemblance to the standard blues number. However, this tune is full of energy and the solos are short and to the point, without becoming monotonous. I, like most people, have a short attention span and Black Joe Lewis really works to keep the listener involved. With the exception of jazz, I prefer music that has a higher ratio of 'riffs' to 'solos.' It's just easier on the ears. The riffs on this record alone on guitar and bass would be catchy, but there is also a full horn section and great keyboard work accompanying them. When this instrumentation gets locked in, it's almost impossible not to dance or at the very least, tap your foot to. To match this energy, the album is filled with amazing choruses that never wear out their welcome.

The other great part of this record is the lyrics. There isn't anything left to the imagination. It's like Joe Lewis is casually talking to the listener for about 35 minutes with a rhythm section. Topics range from being broke, to getting drunk, to forgetting the names of girlfriends. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the band went into the studio with no lyrics and just kind of 'winged it.' There seems to be several, what appear to be, impromptu dialogues and shouts going back and forth from Lewis and the Honeybears. Perhaps, the best track on the album (in my opinion) is 'Get Yo Shit.' Every aspect of this record that I just detailed is present on this number. The verses are varying, spoken conversations between Lewis, his girlfriend(s) and the Austin Police Department, all over a soulful, retro bass line. After each subsequent verse the entire band revs up and a chorus is belted out relating to that particular verse. Even though it clocks in at a mere 2:49, 'Get Yo Shit' captures the essence and raw nature of the band.

It's worth mentioning that despite being a noteworthy release, 'Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!' has received some less than glamorous reviews. Several writers have written the Honeybears off as a gimmick, trying too hard to imitate their soul and blues influences. In response to that I would just have to say, take Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears for what they are. The second you try to analyze and break down this band, you take away any objectivity that you entered room with. Don't think too hard about this one...crack open a PBR and enjoy it.

Tracks

1.) Gunpowder

2.) Sugarfoot

3.) I'm Broke

4.) Big Booty Woman

5.) Boogie

6.) Master Sold My Baby

7.) Get Yo Shit

8.) Humpin'

9.) Bobby Boshay

10.) Please Pt. 2

WK3 - Cage the Elephant - Cage the Elephant (9)

Released - 3/24/09

Label - RCA/Jive

BLURB - The reviews from South By Southwest were spot on. This record is bursting with energy and it's easy to see why this was one of 'the' concerts to attend in Austin. Don't be surprised if Cage the Elephant really takes off this year...they've conquered SXSW and have Bonnaroo, All Points West and Lollopolooza quickly approaching on the horizon.

Rating - 9 out of 10

FULL STORY - One of my favorite things to do every year is read all of the articles that come out of the SXSW trade show. Whether it's business related or artist related, I really don't care, everything seems to be so fresh, original and insightful. SXSW usually sets the scene for the year to come in music and provides us with what seems like limitless information and access. Compare it to getting insider information or confidential stock advice, but it's music - and it's not illegal. One article of such was published in Billboard Biz and described the rising 'Cage the Elephant' as the, 'Best Band That Met Pre-Conference Hype.' The article also references the, 'Best Celebrity Sighting,' going to Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno) for being right smack in the middle of the Cage the Elephant show. The Billboard Biz write-up briefly compared their sound to that of The Vines, but better. To me this is a fairly broad reference point.

Trying to describe this record is both simple, yet impossible. Let me preface this attempt to label Cage the Elephant, by characterizing their music as one simple thing - rock and roll. This description, though, begs the question...what kind of rock and roll? When I first listened to the record in its' entirety I tried mainly focusing on the Vines' comparison, and trying to see what was being done that was in fact, better. You can definitely hear The Vines and it is definitely better. If you keep listening, you can also hear The Rolling Stones. You can hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Mooney Suzuki. You can hear Sublime. You can hear The White Stripes. You can hear The Kinks, but also hints of Beck. The outro to 'Tiny Little Robots' sounds like something off of Pink Floyd's - 'Dark Side of the Moon,' while 'Free Love' sounds like a modern version of 'Fire' by Jimi Hendrix. It really is a harmonious blend of classic rock, pop, indie, blues, punk and soul, that when done correctly results in near perfection, namely Cage the Elephant.

The other area of this record that also is fairly obvious to point out is the energy and rawness that is present throughout all eleven tracks. Like a painting that jumps off the canvas, or a story that leaps off the page, 'Cage the Elephant' unassumingly blasts out of the speaker. The record looks, sounds and feels completely natural. This unforced, free flowing movement allows the listener to enjoy the music void of any disruptive or extraneous material. The lyrics aren't overly substantive or complex, and I really don't think they should be for this type of sound. It's your basic, 'we're here, if you don't like us - tough shit.' Throw in some sexual innuendos, chaos, and a handful of catchy hooks, and this stuff pretty much writes itself.

Tracks:

1.) In One Ear

2.) James Brown

3.) Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

4.) Tiny Little Robots

5.) Lotus

6.) Back Against the Wall

7.) Drones in the Valley

8.) Judas

9.) Back Stabbin' Betty

10.) Soil To The Sun

11.) Free Love