Here’s how this segment works:
I’ll listen to as many albums as possible throughout the week, break down buzz worthy choices and then stamp them with either; Unripe (intriguing), Ripening (gratifying) or Ripe (choice of the week).
Albums I listened to that I didn’t feel warranted a discussion:
- Club 8 – Above The City
- Dean Blunt – The Redeemer
- Is Tropical – I’m Leaving
- Laurel Halo – Behind The Green Door
- Mykki Blanco – Betty Ruble: The Unitiation
- Scout Niblett – It’s Up To Emma
DAFT PUNK – Random Access Memories
- Released : May 21st, 2013
- For Fans of: Justice , Royksopp or Chic .
- The Harvest: Unripe
Ignoring the hype surrounding the slightly self indulgent promotional campaign and the smattering of comments questioning the state of electronic music leading up to Random Access Memories release, it is nice to note that the album at the center of the story has attempted to rectify past misgivings. What Daft Punk have given us here is a decidedly less half-ass effort than Human After All and they have taken advantage of having a larger studio budget than most artists by putting the laptops aside for real instruments. Unfortunately these adjustments have not served to produce the promised goods, but simply act as additional marketing fodder.
Daft Punk is well renowned for their Robot mystique and there is a particular emotional premise that comes hand-in-hand with this, but there is a reason why people connect better with Wall-E than the Terminato r .
On tracks such as ‘ Give Life Back To Music ’, ‘ The Game Of Love ’ and ‘ Within ’, one feels as though they are just going through the motions on a monotonous auto-tuned, autopilot.
When they bring in human vocalists, they don’t fare much better. Not that Daft Punk have ever been overly reliant on lyrics, but Pharell ’s year 9 rhyming input on ‘ Lose Yourself To Dance ’ and ‘ Get Lucky ’ highlight the flaws in the albums concept. When you force artists to quickly record guest vocals ( Panda Bear ), guitar riffs ( Nile Rodgers ) or keyboard melodies ( Giorgio Moroder ), they are going to be very basic, clunky and formulated in order to be flexible enough for Daft Punk’s eventual use of them. It’s also why these songs are so catchy; they are simple and easy for your brain to remember.
Another aspect they brought across from the Tron soundtrack is the “ epic ” tracks such as ‘ Giorgio By Moroder ’ and ‘ Contact ’, which dig up past, tired sounds and then throw them predictably on top of one another with the creative imagination of somebody impressed by a car’s engine revving.
They strike a balance, however, on the album’s surprising standout track ‘ Instant Crush ’ that has an unrecognisable input from Julian Casablanca using cringe worthy auto tune, except the end result is sweet, emotive and feels completely developed. The sequence of ‘ Motherhood ’ and ‘ Fragments Of Time ’ portray sharp organic progressions that don’t end in their typical “ all guns blazing ” predictable fashion. Whilst ‘ Touch ’ could easily have been recorded by Queen or David Bowie , there is at least a human pulse hidden within it.
At its core, the fundamental piece missing is the magic of organic cohesion. Despite being recorded with real instruments, the mastering couldn’t sound any more the product of software programs, where you can feel all the (lush) layers piled on top of each other, like filling a house with impressive expensive furniture that’s more visually appealing than practical to live with.
Dirty Beaches – Drifters/Love Is The Devil
- Released : May 21st, 2013
- For Fans of: John Maus , Suicide or Joy Division .
- The Harvest: Unripe
If you’re coming back for more singles along the lines of ‘ True Blue ’ or ‘ Lord Knows Best ’ from Dirty Beaches ‘ underrated debut album Badlands , you’ll be a little disappointed. Instead you’ll find dirtier songs along the lines of noises and sounds you’d find in a 1970s crime or art house movie, which shouldn’t really be all that surprising considering the debut was named after a 1973 crime movie.
Alex Zhang Hungtai - who has a Taipei background – has a distinct lo-fi voice which is unique in the current industry. His voice is the key to what makes Dirty Beaches an interesting cross over band from a lo-fi and noise act to a possible (fairly) straight forward song structured band, in the form of some of Ian Curtis ’s work with Joy Division .
If you close your eyes and listen to this double album back to back, images of black and white cut aways from movies based in New York alleyways regularly come to mind. I mean, there are moments such as ‘ Night Walk ’ with its strutting bass line, or the gripping French dialogue over the top of ‘ Aurevoir Mon Visage ’, or even ‘ Mirage Hall ’ which propels great texture and grit in its striking drumming, that carry all these tracks from old influences into intriguing and thought provoking modern sounds.
It’s just that too often (as great as this would have been for an old movie soundtrack), you’re constantly reminded more of the past and then challenged by a fresh new interpretation on tracks such as ‘ ELLI ’, which carries a ‘ She’s Lost Control ’ ticking drum beat. Almost the entire second album Love Is The Devil (except ‘ Like The Ocean ’) consistently achieves its goal of being a sonic escape, but it isn’t anything I haven’t heard before in movies like Le Samouraï , The Thousand Eyes Of Dr. Mabuse , Le Doulos , The Eye Of Evil or Le Trou .
This album isn’t a flop at all, in fact I’m sure he’ll receive a large quantity of offers to score art house movies this year. It’s just that it doesn’t play to Dirty Beaches’ strength – and that’s Alex Zhang Hungtai’s mysterious voice.
The National – Trouble Will Find Me
- Released : May 21st, 2013
- For Fans of: The Antlers , Local Natives or The Walkmen .
- The Harvest: Ripening
You can’t underestimate comradery between a group of brothers and friends that have been playing together since 1999 without any break ups or rotations of new members. The National are as uniform-sounding as a band can get without being entirely dull or predictable, largely thanks to the lead singer Matt Berninger (who was highlighted in a recent documentary Mistaken For Strangers for being the only member of the band without a brother.) His voice is the only layer in the bands production that’s ever output at a slightly higher decibel level, often placing unwarranted weight on his lyrics, which aren’t the most poetic at times. But as Trouble Will Find Me demonstrates, it doesn’t always matter because of the way he’s able to admirably deliver his reminiscent message, using his battle tested vocals that have come a long way from his screaming earlier days.
The band had also stated they didn’t feel as much pressure after the success of Boxer and High Violet , and could relax on Trouble Will Find Me. In my books that’s often a red flag for an under-cooked new release; at times this is evident here but the lack of pressure also allowed the band to identify and add an important piece that went a little missing on those previous two albums: progressive rhythmic drumming.
Not that the drumming is amazing, it just gives Matt a fuller landscape of sounds to work with which has mixed results, unrelated to the drumming. It’s complimented well on ‘ Sea Of Love ’, which builds with adequate backing vocals and is as close to a danceable The National song as they’ll ever come. The vocal interplay on ‘ This Is The Last Time ’ is far smoother and doesn’t end as abruptly as some of the miss fires in ‘ Don’t Swallow The Cup ’, which never quiet grabs the listener. Berninger’s weaker lyrical moments on ‘ Heavenfaced ’ and ‘ Graceless ’ tries to hide it’s meandering chorus (that sounds as if it’s read off a piece of paper) low in the overall mix.
At times Matt’s vocal delivery can sound a little too clean and your mind wonders “ are these brilliant songs or very simple songs? ” The difference is exemplified between the two stripped back songs ‘ Fireproof ’ and ‘ Slipped ’ – at least during ‘Slipped’ Matt has developed and evolved his contribution to the track and that’s really the key to the final four tracks of the album as well; he allows the album to breathe and come to him naturally.
Although the riff from ‘ I Need My Girl’ sounds a lot like ‘ I’ll Kill Her ’ by Soko , Berninger delivers the rest of the song in such a fragile and believable manor, to the point where he could be covering ‘ Barbie ’ by Aqua and you’d find a way to connect with him. Then there’s two tracks back to back that highlight how fitting the piano suits his mantra; the effortless and content ‘ Pink Rabbit ’ and ‘ Humiliation ’ are really the only tracks to change gears towards their conclusion, noticeably containing a little flare from the guitars. That’s another example of the bands unselfishness, because the album was actually mastered by the Dessner brothers on the guitars and yet their input is by far the lowest and most minimal on the final mastering.
There are many ways to pick apart any album, but the reason why this album will leap frog The National above The Strokes , Phoenix and Vampire Weekend when we look back in twenty years is because at some point during those other bands recent releases, the lead singer questioned their own potential limitations and forced themselves to desperately reach out to incorporate obvious influences. While the melodies and lyrics here aren’t as strongly developed as previous albums, The National and Matt Berninger never flinch from what made them special in the first place. They’ve now become that friend you’ve admired for so long, that despite their conversations not being as fresh as they once were, they still stick to their guns and you respect it.
Majical Cloudz – Impersonator
- Released : May 21st, 2013
- For Fans of: James Blake , Empress Of or Doldrums .
- The Harvest: Ripe
Impersonator is exactly what the new Daft Punk , Dirty Beaches and The National albums are not. Instead of trying to grab your attention by throwing everything at you like RAM does, Devon Welsh hits you harder with just his voice and a laptop. Where Dirty Beaches didn’t play to Hungtai’s vocal strength, Majical Cloudz focuses entirely on Welsh’s vocal strength, and where The National didn’t return with their most memorable melodies, Impersonator is just one memorable melody after another.
Although songs from his previous second full length were still drowned in heavy reverb, last year’s late EP Turn Turn Turn (that title track features on Impersonator ) served as the key turning point in channeling his strong, confident, almost- Harry McVeigh- from- White Lies type vocals.
Stripping back the arrangements to simple kick drums and light airy keyboard washes is a formula that has worked well for acts such as James Blake and Washed Out . Although Welsh’s minimal structures could feature slightly higher in the mix, it’s his commanding confidence and instinct for pop melodies (that aren’t confined to a formula) that highlight the power of simplicity.
Whether it’s his confident, layered vocal harmonies throughout ‘ Impersonator ’, the way he stamps his message “ If this song is the last thing I do, I feel so good that I sang it ” on ‘ This Is Magic ’ or the albums centre piece track ‘ Silver Rings ’, you’ll rarely question a melody or lyrical choice.
The only thing holding this album back from classic status is the lack of versatility in the composed arrangements; this is noticeable after the track ‘ Mister ’, which contains punchy rhythmic double kicks alongside Devon’s vocals, instead of hidden behind them.
Aside from the final track ‘ Notebook ’ (he should of closed on ‘ Bugs Don’t Bite ’), which at times feels as if his melody is reaching instead of coming to him naturally, on nine track out of ten Welsh nails exactly what he sent himself out to achieve. While he may be currently supporting his good friend from university Grimes on tour, I wouldn’t expect him to be an opening act for much longer.
WORDS BY Marcus Rimondini
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