Hate’s probably too strong a word to describe my feelings on Wild Beasts’ Two Dancers — that would’ve required listening to more than half of it — but I can’t say the record impressed me. Smother has done the opposite. To be reductionist, the album sounds like the National fronted by Antony, or in this case, singer Hayden Thorpe. His quivering, flamboyant approach is tempered by co-vocalist Tom Fleming’s baritone, the timbre of which is so masculine you can practically hear his 5 o’clock shadow coming in. It makes for a shifting emotional dynamic that most bands lack, allowing for the music to avoid any particularly heavy lifting without its sameness becoming a chore.
That’s not to say there aren’t moments of catharsis: :55 of “Loop the Loop” will leave you catching your breath, and the steady rhythm of “End Come Too Soon” carries as much tension as most episodes of MI5. (It’s on Netflix Instant and will make you wonder why you ever bothered with 24.) These are sensual, lovely songs, the kind of surely unfolding rock album I keep hoping bands like Elbow will make. With Sky Larkin’s Katie Harkin, one of indie rock’s most incendiary guitarists, joining the group for their current tour, it’ll be interesting to see how the band chooses to bring this album’s moody ballads to life; in the meantime, let Smother take a feather pillow to your year-end list.
Spotify, the latest potential savior of the music industry, finally made it to the U.S. yesterday. I’m really enjoying it so far. As a collector of somewhat obscure music, it’s not going to replace my MP3s and iTunes/iPod library anytime soon, but it looks like the easiest possible way for me to 1) check in on mainstream pop that I wouldn’t bother pirating, much less pay for and 2) make streaming playlists without worrying about track legality, which will be nice for end-of-year lists, etc.
It’s got some gaps as of today: no Drag City, as far as I can tell, and weirdly, only the first Chad VanGaalen album. And no High Highs, which are songs that have only come out on Bandcamp anyway. If it can somehow keep pace with the myriad world of new indie tracks, it’ll be especially impressive (and useful) — and ethically, it feels nice to know that you listening to something means the band is making a little more money, even if you’ve actually paid for the album already. (I see you, kid in the back.)
It’ll be interesting to see if it does what Rdio, Rhapsody, etc. couldn’t and gains a serious following. For whatever reason, it seems to have that important air of cool about it, which could push it over the top — that and everyone finally has a smartphone. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ve made a Rawkblog Ongoing 2K11 Jams playlist: assuming people are interested, I’ll update it every week or two. I also have some invites to share, though you’ll have to sign up via Klout. (Sorry.)
It occurs to me that I’ve never posted this, a wonderful Ned Collette cover of the very best Broadcast song. It was recorded for a Cokemachineglow podcast and possibly topped within the Ned catalog only by absolute heartbreaker “The Laughter Across the Street.”
Ned Collette and Wirewalker – “Come On Let’s Go”: mp3
I reviewed the Fiery Furnaces singer’s very strong solo debut for the L.A. Times:
Given the Fiery Furnaces’ obsessively prolific career — member Matthew Friedberger is currently making his way through a multi-volume solo project — it’s a wonder that Eleanor Friedberger’s debut solo record, Last Summer, didn’t arrive many seasons ago. It took the brother-sister duo’s 2009 effort, Take Me Round Again, a collection of dueling covers of Furnaces originals, to reveal Eleanor’s solo ambitions; a surprisingly release-free 2010 finally gave her the chance to explore them.
Head to Pop & Hiss for the full review. Over on Vulture, Nitsuh Abebe has an interesting look at the album as a collection of New York-centric memories.
“It’s Real” picks up right where the sublime “Out of Tune” 7″ left off last year: breaking my heart, showing off flawlessly jangled guitar tones, boyishly melodic. I could listen to this song on loop for an hour (and probably already have). Real Estate’s album of the year candidate, Days, drops Sept. 27 on Domino.
With its caveman rhythms and melodic lady-lo-fi sound, U.K. act The History of Apple Pie fits neatly next to the U.S.-bred Seapony or Tennis — it’s just better. “You’re So Cool” adds mesmerizing harmonies and a Strokes-worthy lead guitar sound that pierces the proto-shoegaze production, simple touches that take the song from being another blog “jam” to thoroughly effective indie rock. We may not be so cool, but there’s no doubt about the band.
Iceage are a thing, whatever that means in 2011 (a half-dozen more blog mentions than not being a thing?). And a good thing: the Danish quartet’s debut is the sort of genuinely edgy rock effort that comes out every couple years and gets brief attention at best — Tiger Bear Wolf’s debut, Gentleman Jesse and His Men’s first single, etc. — so it’s nice, my initial Twitter snark aside, to see it getting recognition. On “Broken Bone,” the band crashes out of the gates with fearlessly trebled guitars and drums that start at 60 miles per hour and promptly head for the autobahn. The track’s dotted with surprisingly thoughtful production touches: the drums at the 2:13 mark before the final chorus pierce the distorto-fog like a light house, while the bridge’s tinnitus guitar tones would make the Exploding Hearts (or Liars!) proud. It helps that the chorus is more melody than ear assault, and the band’s heavily accented vocals provide an element of unintentional humor to lighten the stern-faced punk. We’ll see if anyone cares next week, but for the faithful, this will remain a jam for the ages.
The band plays Amoeba on Thursday, July 21, and at the Echo on Sunday, July 24. See more concerts on the L.A. show calendar.
Hate’s probably too strong a word to describe my feelings on Wild Beasts’ Two Dancers — that would’ve required listening to more than half of it — but I can’t say the record impressed me. Smother has done the opposite. To be reductionist, the album sounds like the National fronted by Antony, or in this case, singer Hayden Thorpe. His quivering, flamboyant approach is tempered by co-vocalist Tom Fleming’s baritone, the timbre of which is so masculine you can practically hear his 5 o’clock shadow coming in. It makes for a shifting emotional dynamic that most bands lack, allowing for the music to avoid any particularly heavy lifting without its sameness becoming a chore.
It occurs to me that I’ve never posted this, a wonderful Ned Collette cover of the very best Broadcast song. It was recorded for a 
