Album Reviews – Page 83 – The Light Appears

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City (2013)

Posted on July 7, 2013July 20, 2014 by Michael

A few weeks ago I went shopping for business casual shoes. You know, ones that you can wear to work on casual Fridays with jeans? After checking out numerous stores at the mall I soon discovered that those shoes don’t exist anymore, they’ve all been replaced by boat shoes. Even if my anger at this is misguided, I pin most of the blame squarely on Vampire Weekend. The Paul Simon Graceland indebted band burst out of New York in early 2008 with their self-titled debut and while song titles such as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” made them an easy target of cynical music critics, it was hard to ignore the hooks that drew in many fans. VW deftly sidestepped the sophomore jinx with the even better Contra featuring the undeniable single “Giving Up the Gun”.

A little over five years after their debut, Vampire Weekend is back with Modern Vampires of the City. Leaving behind some of the more worldly aspects of their sound, VW instead goes for a bit more atmosphere on tracks such as “Ya Hey” and “Hudson”. Thankfully they retained their pop smarts which are expertly shown in the string of songs “Unbelievers”, “Step”, and contender for track of the year “Diane Young”. This may be best run of songs on any indie rock album released in recent memory. Somewhere music critic Jim DeRogatis is cringing at the thought but in Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend has released one of the best albums of the year.

8.5/10

Review also found at UMFM.com

Album Reviews

The National – Trouble Will Find Me (2013)

Posted on July 7, 2013July 20, 2014 by Michael

Just before the release of the latest offering from The National, Stereogum.com printed a post listing the band’s top ten songs up to that point. Such is the devotion of the band’s followers that the list generated nearly 200 responses with fans listing virtually every song the band has released since 2005’s Alligator for consideration. That album was the start of the band’s climb into mainstream consciousness that has continued to rise with each successive release and reached critical mass with 2010’s acclaimed High Violet. Three years later the band has returned with their sixth release, Trouble Will Find Me.

The National decamped to Rhinebeck, New York in 2012 to begin sessions on the album that would prove to be a lot less fractious than the ones that famously plagued High Violet. One of the band’s fortes is the ability to create sing along anthems out of songs that contain the most dour of lyrics. First single “Demons” is a perfect example of this skill. “Every day I start out so great then the great light dims” and “when I walk into a room I do not light it up… fuck” are hardly thoughts that one wants to be heard whispering never mind shouting, however, as the music swells beneath Matt Berninger’s deep baritone it is hard not to get swept away on this new ship of woes.

While the lush production of brother’s Aaron and Bryce Dressner battle with Berninger’s lyrics for attention, one of the secret weapons of The National is the inventive drumming of Bryan Devendorf who provides a kick to both “This is the Last Time” and especially on mid album highlight “Graceless”. Devendorf manages to shine and add texture while Bessinger tells listeners “God loves everybody, don’t remind me”. “Slipped” and “I Need My Girl” follow but while both are good tracks in their own right (especially the former), they somehow feel like a letdown after the build-up in “Graceless”.

Piano driven, “Pink Rabbits” is reminiscent of Boxer’s “Slow Show” in that they are both quietly two of the best the band has ever written. “You didn’t see me, I was falling apart, I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park… I was a television version of a person with a broken heart”. Trust me when I say, if you need a song to have on in the background while you toss out old letters and photographs of those not in your life anymore, this is the one.

Trouble Will Find Me is somewhat hampered by sequencing but still shows off virtually all of the band’s many strengths. Berninger’s lyrics are always downcast but contain enough humour to never be depressing and the musicianship of the Dessner and Devendorf brothers continue to outpace most of their peers. Somehow Trouble Will Find Me sounds elegantly more mature than past releases which for a band like The National is saying something.

9/10

Review also found at UMFM.com

Album Reviews

Phoenix – Bankrupt! (2013)

Posted on July 7, 2013July 20, 2014 by Michael

In 2006, I got to see Phoenix play at the Austin City Limits Festival. Playing in the early afternoon on the first day, their set was a highlight of the festival. The band’s airy take on indie pop fit perfectly with the warm Texas sun and light breeze that blew through the French band’s hair like models on a runway. Flash forward three years later to the success of singles “Lisztomania” and “1901”, Phoenix were suddenly everywhere; from car commercial ads to festival headliners, they even managed to nab a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

Bankrupt! is the follow-up to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and it picks up right where that album left off. First single “Entertainment” starts things off with a blast, featuring some keyboard assisted Asian flair. This is quickly followed by the equally catchy “Trying To Be Cool” and later on with “Drakkar Noir”. The stellar seven minute title track is one of the few spots Phoenix slows things down for a breather. If you’ve heard Phoenix before, you know the formula. This is hardly life changing stuff but will sound magnifique on patio speakers this summer.

6.5/10

Review also found at UMFM.com

Album Reviews

The Besnard Lakes – Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO (2013)

Posted on May 17, 2013July 20, 2014 by Michael

The Besnard Lakes are a cross-Canada success story. In 2000 the husband/wife combo of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas met in Vancouver, moved to Regina, before finally settling in Montreal. Lasek runs Breakglass Studios in Montreal which allows him and Goreas to start working on material in the studio before guitarist Richard White and drummer Kevin Laing enter to help flesh out the songs. Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO is the band’s fourth album and third with Jagjaguwar Records.

The dreamy vocals and swirling guitars of “46 Satires” sets the tone immediately, recalling both the early 90s shoegazer scene as well as the prog rock of the early 70s. “People of the Sticks” is a love story of finding your kindred soul mate but it can go virtually unnoticed behind Laing’s driving beat and the band’s harder edged guitar sound. Lasek’s falsetto vocals add a bit of Beach Boys flair to both the atmospheric “The Specter” and the mesmerizing “Colour Yr Lights In”.

All of the tracks on Until in Excess… clock in at well over five minutes but never meander into sluggish jam band interludes, melody is always the main focus. It’s an amazing ability that The Besnard Lakes can sit just as easily on a shelf beside your dad’s 60s psychedelic albums as they do the latest My Bloody Valentine. You can hear for yourself when the band plays the Park Theatre on June 18th.

7.5/10

Review also found at UMFM.com

Album Reviews

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito (2013)

Posted on May 4, 2013July 20, 2014 by Michael

After forming in 2000; Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs shot out of the gate in 2001 with their self-titled EP. Just under two years later they delivered their signature track “Maps”, which to this day still forms lumps in the throats of the skinny jeans contingent whenever it is played. While “Maps” continues to be their most enduring song, the band has continued to evolve. The art punk of their early years gave way to the addition of electronic flourishes on 2009’s It’s Blitz. YYYs are back with their fourth album, Mosquito, once again produced by Nick Launay and TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek.

Within the first few tracks of Mosquito, it is clear that the more polished sound of It’s Blitz is not the road the band has taken. The soul baring first single “Sacrilege” starts the album off and comes complete with gospel chorus. This is followed by the minimal, early Cure sounding “Subway” that features Karen O looking for her lover in a subway station with the sound of a train travelling over tracks providing the beat. The title track is a return to the band’s more raucous early days followed by the dub reggae of “Under the Earth”.

While the first one-third of Mosquito is all over the map stylistically, the album comes to a close with its most consistent set of songs. The quiet “Always” gives way to one of the band’s most powerful moments in “Despair”. Over a clattering drumbeat, Karen pours her heart out. “There’s nothing to fear inside, through the darkness and the light, some sun has gotta rise”. “Wedding Song” could be “Maps pt 2” with Karen finally finding the love she had been looking for all these years. “In flames I sleep soundly with angels around me, I lay at your feet you’re the breath that I breathe”.

As always with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, nothing is ever easy. At times Mosquito sounds like a collection of b-sides and rarities rather than a cohesive album. So while not all of Mosquito works and can be very disjointed at times, Yeah Yeah Yeahs as a band continue to experiment and grow with each release. After 13 years they remain absolutely essential listening and at some point are going to release one hell of a singles collection.

8/10

Review also found at UMFM.com