New ZZ Top

I hope I am this on top of my game when I am as young as these guys. Hot damn they are sharp.

Mixtape - Super Alchemy

This is a kinda wordy music nerdy post, so if you aren't in that kind of mood, just listen to the songs. Last post I mentioned making single-disc albums out of multi-disc releases. The first one up is Thrice's Alchemy Index, released as 4 different EP's (two at a time), each representing an element (Fire, Water, Air, Earth). I tried to make the tracklist work in order as well, which means some of the songs I really liked were left out, as they didn't have a home amongst the other ones. I had a really hard time deciding which of the sonnets to include(the last song of each EP was written in the style of an English Sonnet, was the personified voice of each respective element examining the shortcomings of humans, and every one ended with the same 3 chords and melody). I almost put the fire sonnet "The Flame Deluge" in, but I felt I couldn't do that without also putting in the earth sonnet "Child of Dust", and I just couldn't fit 4 sonnets in a single album. So other than totally bad scrambled egging the whole elements theme, I think this first try is pretty not bad. I was surprised at how few of the loud, heavy rock songs I put in though. Maybe that stuff was just stronger on other albums.

Dos en La Rosa...

I was wondering today if Green Day had been working on anything new. Turns out they are releasing 3 albums over the next few months. Too much? The preview for the first one makes it sound like there will be some musical variation, although their trademark punk downstrokes will likely make a prominent appearance.

I predict it will be like many multi-disc albums (or multiple albums released in a short period of time). With increased track-space to experiment, they can explore a broader range of sounds and reach a broader range of listeners, but to many ears, there still may be an increase of suck or meh in between. More songs = More Good + More Bad + More Blah I guess.

I have often thought about distilling one of these mega-albums down to a single album, or even just an EP, and wonder how other people would assemble theirs. Maybe that will be the next few mixtapes. Likely candidates for such surgery are: Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins, Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Alchemy Index - Thrice, and/or Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake It's Morning - Bright Eyes.

Mixtape side K

Chairlift - Something

I was made aware of Chairlift's existence listening to what we thought was an 80's new wave internet radio station at work. I heard "I Belong in Your Arms", thought it was a great song, and went about investigating the band. I was surprised to find out that the album was released this year, although the recording did sound a little too slick to be from the 80's. Turns out the station was based on that time period but included songs from any era that fit in with the sound.

According to Wikipedia, the original intention of the project was to make music for haunted houses. Apparently sometime after they had decided to make pop music instead, their song Bruises was used in a commercial to launch some new iPod model. I have not heard that album at all, but here are my thoughts on Something, filtered through Chairlift-virgin ears.

OVERVIEW
Something has a very heavily 80's influenced feel, with lots of atmospheric and bleepy synths, and super airy vocals with sweet melodies, although there are moments of rock intensity and darker moods. Maybe that's some of the spookiness held over from the haunted house phase. It's almost like The Eurythmics meet Imogen Heap. The vocalist doesn't necessarily draw directly from Annie Lennox or Ms. Heap, but I feel there are healthy doses of both in there, with maybe just a little early 90's r & b slowjam, minus the over the top vocal acrobatics. What really defines this album are the atmospherics and the melodies, the first getting the feeling just right, so when that amazing melody jumps out, sometimes unexpectedly, you are primed for it, and its like someone just put a blood pressure cuff around your heart and inflated fast.

HIGHLIGHTS
Sidewalk Safari - Starts off sounding a little wacky, but once you listen to it a few times you get used to that bendy melody, and it does relate well to the keyboard line chorus hook (it's kinda interesting that it is the keyboard line that sticks in your head and not the vocal in this chorus). The beat sounds a little like an audio heart arrhythmia. Party heart. The bridge takes us on a twilight adventure in an electric jungle. That sounds like an MGMT video.

I Belong in Your Arms - Pulse pulse pulse. This song is audio butterflies. I dare you to not like it. Unless you don't like airy female singers, or the 80's. Then it wouldn't be much of a dare.

Met Before - The start of this song could have easily come from the Stone Roses side of the Madchester Music scene. Guitar bang wiggle. The chorus would go well with a fast forwarded montage section of a Brat-Pack movie.

MUSIC NERDERY
Many electronic keyboards are equipped with a pitch-bend wheel. It's kinda like a big knob turned on its side and spring loaded so it always returns to center, and when you roll it forward or backward it moves the pitch of the notes you are playing up or down a preset amount. It's a keyboard trying to be like a guitar player bending strings, but much more accurately. Not that there is anything wrong with that. What? You will find liberal use of a pitch-bend wheel in the intro to sidewalk safari.

RECOMMENDATIONS
If you smile when 80's pop or new-wave comes on the radio, either because you are joyful or just amused, give this album a listen. Also if you have liked any of the more recent wave of electro-pop like the Sounds, Imogen Heap, or less Rock-y Metric, give it a go. If you are generally just kinda uptight and serious, this might not be your bag. Not to say that if you don't like it you have a stick up your ass, but you do and I can't hear you protesting because the stick is coming out of your mouth.

Squishing Pumpkins

This could be so great, if only he sang like he had any passion anymore.




These were the good old days, and not even that old.



Am I crazy? Does anybody else hear the difference?

Shichyeaaaaaaa new No Doubt!