…what are you going to do when I fly over you?…
Category: Album Reviews
Yo La Tengo – Fade (2013)
In the past few years, several celebrated college rock bands have decided to go their separate ways. Thurston and Kim broke up, Meg White’s anxiety got to be too much to continue with The White Stripes, and R.E.M finally called it a day 15 years after Bill Berry left the band to concentrate on farming. Operating in the shadows of those more famous bands, Hoboken NJ’s Yo La Tengo have continued to put out critically acclaimed albums once every few years. Fade, released in January of this year, is the latest from the husband and wife team of Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley along with long time bassist James McNew.
Fade starts off with the rollicking “Ohm”. The fuzzy seven minute rocker is quite possibly the strongest opening to any album released so far in 2013. This arrives before the quieter but no less catchy “Is That Enough” featuring terrific string interludes throughout. It’s not until track seven that Hubley takes the lead vocal for the hushed “Cornelia and Jane”. As lovely as that is, it’s just a prelude to the second track to feature her vocals, “Before We Run” which not only closes out Fade but is also one of the best songs YLT has ever recorded. The deadpan vocal delivery keeps the swelling orchestra at bay before it finally takes over for the final few minutes.
It’s not often one can be just as excited by a band’s release that comes almost exactly 20 years after their first great masterstroke, Painful released in 1993. Fade features all the hallmarks of that landmark release – the calm vocals, hazy guitar lines, introspective lyrics but this time around it is with a wiser, more confident outlook and delivery. With Fade, Yo La Tengo have just pushed themselves into the discussion of greatest indie rock bands of all time.
8/10
Review also found at UMFM.com
My Bloody Valentine – m b v (2013)
On Saturday February 2, 2013 the indie rock world was sent into hysteria as My Bloody Valentine suddenly announced that their follow-up to the classic Loveless was finally going to be released… that night! Twitter was abuzz with the news that sent thousands of fans to the band’s website only to see it crash with the amount of traffic coming to download their first offering in 22 years. After overcoming the website’s deficiencies, fans then discovered that a download of the 9 song album would cost $16 and a physical CD shipped to your door in Canada would be a staggering $27+. If people wanted it, they were certainly going to pay for the self-released album.
m b v starts off on the slower, murkier side of MBV’s trademark sound – a wall of woozy/disorientating guitar noise with buried vocals. Much like running through sand, the first three tracks (including first single “Only Tomorrow”) trudge along without much light shining through the first 18 minutes. “Is This and Yes” then breaks the mould. Perhaps Kevin Shields’ time spent in Primal Scream influenced this as the organ melody sounds like it could have come off of that band’s classic Screamadelica album.
From here, m b v really starts to shine. “New You” is an almost conventional indie pop song featuring Belinda Butcher’s finest vocals on the album. Several minutes later, listeners are bludgeoned with the thundering drums of instrumental “Nothing Is”. In between is the best track on m b v, “In Another Way”. With a lightness of touch missing from the first few tracks, the dense wall of guitars are back but the vocals are pulled a bit more into the foreground. Halfway through, an uplifting bagpipe-like melody is played off and on for the final four minutes which feels like they could go on forever and never get old.
The night that m b v was released will be remembered as one of the biggest musical announcements, and certainly the most welcome surprise of 2013. Much like what Portishead did in 2008 with Third, My Bloody Valentine added a very worthy addition to their discography. m b v is what it is, a good (sometimes great) album by a legendary band released 20+ years after their heyday. That in itself is reason to celebrate.
7/10
Review also found at UMFM.com
Passion Pit – Gossamer (2012)
In the lead up to Passion Pit’s sophomore release, Gossamer, much has been made about band leader Michael Angelakos’ mental state. Cancelled tour dates, stays in mental hospitals, addiction, talk of suicide and a bi-polar condition have all been discussed in various interviews. The seriousness of those issues are all explored in the lyrics which is in stark contrast to the giddy rush of the music contained on this album.
Working with co-producer Chris Zane and engineer Alex Aldi over the course of several months, Angelakos’ crafted the follow-up to the very popular debut release, Manners by writing all the songs and playing virtually all the instruments himself. The result is a very synthesized pop record. Tracks such as “I Take a Walk” and “I’ll be Alright” are sure to excite festival crowds while “Carried Away” sounds tailor made to soundtrack an iPod commercial.
Gossamer does not slow down until “Constant Conversations” which sounds like Dirty Projectors if they were produced by the Weeknd. The song features lyrics about drinking too much which is a theme also explored in “Cry Like a Ghost” where the singer makes the confession, “and yes I drank all those drinks on my own, my life’s become some blurry little quest”. As much as those tracks are highlights, Angelakos may have saved the best for the second half of the album. “On My Way” is a dead ringer for mid 90s period Mercury Rev and the confused romantic ponderings of “Love is Greed” have an anthemic quality as does “It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy” when it declares, “don’t call me crazy, I’m happy!”
A close approximation to Gossamer may be Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreaks. The main difference being that Kanye’s similar warts and all introspection is set over brooding synth lines which easily show the contemplative tone whereas Angelakos’ helium voice and production sheen belies the seriousness of the lyrics. So much of Gossamer sounds of the moment that it’s easy to not pay closer attention to what the album is actually saying. But once the rain washes away the pop candy castles, what remains is the concrete lyrics that hold these sugar walls together.
8/10
Review also found at UMFM.com
Julia Holter – Ekstasis (2012)
Back in the spring of this year, Julia Holter quickly released the follow up to her debut from 2011 entitled Tragedy which was inspired by Euripides’ Greek play Hippolytus. Taking time away from tutoring teenagers in her native Los Angeles, Holter recorded Ekstasis mostly at home and mostly on her own. At times recalling Kate Bush and more recent artists such as Grimes, Ekstasis sounds like it’s from another time both past and future.
Like walking through an old abandoned home with secret passages and hidden rooms behind bookcases, there is much to discover here. First track, “Marienbad” is a marvel in itself. At times feeling like it could all fall apart at any time; beats, strings, and a distorted bugle appear and disappear throughout. The dreamlike vocals of “Our Sorrows” with its “if you call out, call out, call out, call out I will follow you” refrain is then followed by swirling vocals that make it feel like you’re listening to someone drown. “In the Same Room” features an insistent drumbeat and handclaps, the lyrics being a back and forth between two people before it all starts to fade away as quickly as it came.
The challenging aspects of Holter’s work is balanced by featuring just as many melodic and catchy moments throughout. Not a conventional listen and quite abstract at times, Ekstasis is an album to get lost in.
9/10
(Review also found at UMFM.com)
The Light Appears 