PIXIES
Produced by Gil Norton
Released January 3, 2014
The musical year of 2014 began with exuberant, brute force but don't let the power chords and insistent cowbell in the opening moments of the Pixies' "EP2," fool you for the skies of the new year are darkening indeed. For those who felt that 2013's "EP1" was perhaps a tad too sedate, I feel that "EP2," the second in a series of planned digital/vinyl releases, should do the trick nicely as the first track, "Blue Eyed Hexe" is precisely the roaring Pixies track that should bring a sense of familiarity to the proceedings while also blazing a new path forwards. Bandleader/songwriter/singer/guitarist Black Francis immediately returns to his status as one of the most unhinged sounding men in alternative rock as he intones about "vivisection" and a "goat of lust" at the beginning of the song and ends the track with his patented primal screams. The four track "EP2" continues into those menacing corners with the spooky, witchy "Magdalena," and the gloriously sorrowful farewell of "Greens and Blues." But it is the apocalyptic warnings contained in the closing track "Snakes" that truly get under your skin. "Snakes/Are coming to your town/In tunnels underground/Some travelling overground/A plague for our mistakes/They'll be right next to you/Snakes up against me too/There'll be nothing to do/When the rattle shakes," goes the chorus and if the metaphorical end times are imminent, then the Pixies have provided the soundtrack.
BROKEN BELLS
Produced by Danger Mouse
Released February 4, 2014
The sophomore full length album from the two man collective made up of James Mercer from The Shins and producer/Gnarls Barkley member Brian Burton, otherwise known as Danger Mouse, is another piece of 2014 music that is seemingly designed to represent a societal hangover from the high partying atmosphere of 2013, as represented by the likes of Daft Punk and Justin Timberlake's mega selling albums. "After The Disco" sounds precisely like its title, a collection of melancholic songs filled with downbeats and the feeling of many sad late night walks home as resented through Mercers empathetic vocals and the richly warm synthetic sheen. That said, the album is not a depressing affair as all of the songs themselves are highly melodic, tuneful, completely ear catching and all filtered through crisp, clean production and a hybrid of hip hop/indie rock/New Wave and 1960's girl group references. Most certainly, there are elements of 1970s disco, which can be head in the vaguely Bee Gee's nod "Holding On For Life." But I think the real sonic surprises can be found in the album's six minute plus opening track "Perfect World," the slinky "The Remains Of Rock And Roll" which curls around your ears luxuriously and the more forceful and almost Black Keys' influenced "Leave It Alone."
"ATLAS"
REAL ESTATE
Produced by Tom Schick
Released March 4, 2014
My introduction to the band Real Estate arrived through an impulse purchase of the band's second album "Days" (released October 18, 2011) at a local record store three years ago. I cannot even begin to tell you what album I had planned to purchase initially as Real Estate's dreamy guitar pop launched itself to the forefront of my attention, and each year since, every Spring, I tend to bring the album out of the archives as the music sounds like a new warmth arriving on the breeze and grass begins its gradual shift from dormancy to lushly green. With the arrival of the band's third album "Atlas," the once three man band has now expanded to five full members, yet none of the sound has grown to become remotely bloated. Quite the contrary, "Atlas" warmly occupies that very head space that exists between the states of waking and dreaming, the precise mid-point when you realize that you are falling slowly into slumber but you are still somewhat aware of the world around you. That is not to say that Real Estate is a band that can be called "boring." Despite its very relaxed sound, the songs are intricately composed and performed with interlocking guitar lines that suggest a considerably less aggressive/avant garde King Crimson and also make me think of the band as an updated version of the type of mesmerizing guitar work you might hear in The Byrds, early R.E.M. or through some 1980's British alternative pop. At the time of this writing, I have listened to the album in full just two times so far but the effect is instantaneously appealing and just awaiting the next warm, sunshine filled day for me to allow the music to flow from my car windows out into the Springtime air.
No comments:
Post a Comment