Videos of the Week

Friday is gracing us with her presence once again. Let's celebrate with some killer videos:



Tame Impala as puppets in this "live" clip. You can never go wrong with puppets.



Haunting, abstract clip from Owen Pallett.



The adventures of a lonely drunk in Havana are the subject of this video from The New Pornographers.



Cinematic clip from The Weeknd.



Some epic spectacle from Taylor Swift.

Jam of the Day - Douglas Dare - "Nile"

London-based singer-songwriter Douglas Dare pairs his prose and poems with atmospheric backing consisting primarily of piano and whispered electronics. From his album Whelm, "Nile" is an evocative track that is propelled by Dare's unique voice. If you enjoy artists like James Blake, Owen Pallett, and Antony, you will likely also fall under his captivating spell.

Videos of the Week

Here are the videos that are jump-starting my weekend:



Cute, quirky, and strange Pee-Wee's Playhouse-inspired clip from tUnE-yArDs.



Colorful clip from Lily Allen.



This gorgeous track from Damon Albarn's solo record gets an iPad filmed travelogue video.



Almost one take clip for this simple, yet beautiful track from London Grammar.



Owen Pallett releases another track from his upcoming record In Conflict and gets Robert Binet, Choreographic Assistant of the National Ballet Of Canada, to choreograph this beautiful ballet.



Slightly surreal clip from Toronto synthpop group DIANA.

Videos of the Week

Here are the videos that gave me artificial resuscitation after a horrific work week:



Aussie duo The Presets imagine the dance floor as a violent world in this video.



Interesting, almost mini-movie like video from Owen Pallett.



Stark ballad from Lykke Li gets an equally stark video.



Abstract video from Hundred Waters.



Striking clip from new wave artpoppers CYMBALS.



Black and white performance clip from Esben and the Witch, showcasing a meatier sound.

Album Review: Son Lux - Lanterns

Son Lux
Lanterns
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Ryan Lott, who performs under the name Son Lux, is obviously fascinated with the tension created between use of electronic and more organic instruments. His first couple of releases straddled the line between the worlds of artists like Owen Pallett, Radiohead, James Blake, and Wild Beasts; never quite finding the right mix of the two. Lanterns, his third record, is perhaps the best culmination of his talents so far, showing that collaborations with Sufjan Stevens have given him new focus and purpose in his recordings. Alternating between interior leaning tracks and more maximalist cuts, Lanterns is a fascinating listen that, while not always reaching the heights it aspires to, shows that is heading in the right direction. Lanterns, while not exactly a concept record of sorts, definitely has a series of themes running through it, ostensibly a collection of tracks about not feeling quite one with the world and wishing for something different. But in this world, getting what you want doesn't necessarily mean being happy with the ultimate decision.

Launching the record with a chorus of voices, samples, and ukulele, "Alternate World," is a somber meditation on how hard this world is to live in, and wanting to move on. Lott plaintively sings "tear me away from this fight/tear me away/take me to an/alternate world/alternate age/alternate life." There is a beautiful interplay between the subtle electronics and beats with strings and ukulele.



Album highlight "Lost It To Trying" erupts out of the gate next, stealing a bit from Sujan's The Age of Adz, with its haunting mix of horns, woodwinds, blistering percussion, and electronic elements. While all the elements feel like they are spinning out of control, Lott is somehow able to keep it all in check, trying to figure out his place in the world, wondering if they "Give in and get out/We rise in the dying."



The record moves along its path of knowledge and discovery up through the final tracks, with our protagonist reaching the point where he, and his lover/partner wants to "Leave the wasting world behind us/We will make it out alive/Leave the waiting world behind us/We will not look back this time" on the penultimate track "Plan Our Escape," before subtly moving into the final track "Lanterns Lit," where he is now alone, haven't not made the leap realizing there is more to this world, but seeing that his lover/partner has left this life he sets out to truly live, singing, "And with all your grief in my arms/I will labor by singing light/I'll keep my lanterns lit."



This push and pull between succumbing to the stresses and harshness of this world and seeking solace in something else is mirrored throughout the record by Lott's choices of more minimalist electronic flavored tracks and the maximalist tracks that almost overflow with outsized arrangements. Some of the best tracks, for me, are the electronic leaning ones, such as the menacing "Ransom," with its steady bassline throb, that is kept in check by a steady rise of strings;



and the dark, alt-R&B influence of "Easy," which strains above a whisper and keeps you in its masterful thrall.



The album is a bit front loaded with its best tracks, with the back half straining a little under the weight it of all. I felt that the track "Enough of Our Machines" should have been the one track that tied everything together, but its meandering mix of organic instrumentation never really rose to anything memorable, its latter attempt to intertwine electronics in the mix was maddeningly incohesive, and the lyrics faded into the background rather than creating the emotive context necessary for the leap at the end.



While these small missteps took a little bit away from the overall feel of the record, they were not enough to truly derail the effort. There is enough on Lanterns to show that Lott is almost where he is ready to give us a classic work. It is heartening to see him at least shooting for the stars, when so many others are all too willing to play it safe.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Mini-Reviews

Another attempt to keep up with the constant stream of new releases on a daily basis has failed miserably. Once again, I must clear off space from my hard drive and take a quick stab at a bunch of new (and some a little bit old) releases that have been taunting me.

Brian Eno

Small Craft On A Milk Sea
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Art rock and ambient music pioneer and renowned producer Brian Eno releases his first new album of solo material in over 5 years on the latest release Small Craft On A Milk Sea. The pieces flow in one of two discernible styles: ambient pieces which recall his most well known 70s work, or densely programmed, almost tribal like electronic tracks. The album suffers from a lack of fluidity from one track to the next, and the ambient pieces really bring nothing much to the table. Where the album succeeds is largely from the more programmed tracks, which skitter and scrape and create an almost unbearable tension. If the album had been sequenced more in that vein, it would have been a greater success.

Glasser
Ring
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Working in an intimate style that recalls strong, quasi-mystical female artists such as Bat for Lashes, Fever Ray, Zola Jesus, and Florence and the Machine, Cameron Mesirow who performs under the moniker Glasser brings forth an excellent debut. While it is thin on originality, she owns the songs, which have delicate drum programming, odd, Asian-influenced percussion, swirling strings and keyboards, and her gorgeous, flexible voice, bringing forth a truly beautiful vision. Really looking forward to what she does in the future.

Killing Joke
Absolute Dissent
Rating: Meh

First album in 28 years from the original lineup of 80s punk and post-punk stalwarts Killing Joke is almost a relentlessly dour affair. The first half of the album is a murky slog with lengthy tracks pummelling the listener with a mostly monotone pallet of industrial strength drum beats, guttural vocals, and metal guitar. Finally towards the end of the cd, they relinquish their grip and let some texture and contrast seep into the murk with tracks like "The Raven King," "Honour The Fire," and the almost reggae-like "Ghost of Ladbroke Grove." Had Absolute Dissent strove for more balance, the impact of the songs would have been stronger. As it is, the grey pallor that haunts the album sinks it.

Owen Pallett
Heartland
Rating: Woof Daddy

I had no idea what to expect from Owen Pallett before I saw him open for The National a couple of weeks ago. Based on his name, I guess I thought he would be another acoustic, singer-songwriter that I would most likely sleep through. Imagine my surprise when a very slight, almost fey, Canadian gay man sauntered on stage with a violin and stood in front of keyboard and bevy of loop pedals and proceeded to create his songs step by step with only the loop pedals. It was an amazing experience. I immediately bought Heartland, and have been completely awestruck as to how he recreated his intricate and densely layered songs in a live setting. Heartland is ostensibly a concept record about an ultra-violent farmer named Lewis, who is overseen by a godlike narrator named Owen. According to Pallett, the songs are one-sided dialogues with Lewis speaking to his creator. You don't need to understand or even follow this premise to enjoy the record which is almost filled to bursting with creativity and originality. The songs are almost Disney-like in their melodic beauty, but tempered with a more adult, and cynical bent. It is a brilliant record, and I can't recommend it highly enough.



Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

This seemed like the longest week ever.  Thank heaven it is almost the weekend.  Here are the videos this weekend that made me holla!



Fun and funky video from Mumdance.  Makes me laugh; but also creeps me out a little. 



Glasser's first cd is really growing on me.  She is like a more accessible Fever Ray, Bat for Lashes, or Zola Jesus.  Trippy video.



Sweet little song, with an accompanying video which condenses the Star Wars triology into 2 minutes using only construction paper.



Really tight new song from Bryan Ferry.  His list of collaborators on the new cd is impressive: his former Roxy Music bandmates, Nile Rogers, Mani, Johnny Greenwood, Scissor Sisters, and Flea.



Was really impressed by his live show; he builds everything with loop pedals.  The cd can border on the twee, but it is still pretty wonderful.



Noise pop from No Age.  Never really cared for them much until this cd.



Although I was not overly impressed by their live show, The National is still a really good band.  This was a video for one of the singles off High Violet.  I still have a man crush on Matt Berninger.



Strange video from How To Dress Well.  The album is really good, but also frustrates me because it could have been brilliant.  It has more to do with some of his production choices than his songwriting.

The National/Owen Pallett

Last night finished up our final concert, at least for this week.  I drug Kurt to see The National with Owen Pallett opening.  Kurt is a good sport because I know he doesn't like them very much, but he attended anyway and didn't complain at all.

The evening started off right on time with Owen Pallett.  He is a slender, spritely gay man from Toronto.  He apparently used to record under the moniker Final Fantasy, but went back to his original name for copyright reasons from the video game of the same name.  He is a classically trained musician who primarily plays the violin.  I had not heard any of his music under either name and really didn't know what to expect, though I knew he was critically lauded.  He wandered out onto the stage, looked out of the crowd at the sparse crowd (Atlantan's are notoriously bad to the opening acts; majority of the time coming in late), and asked if he was early or if the crowd was late.  It was done jokingly, and it did not put any damper on his performance.  He basically plays some notes on the violin or keyboard, then loops them into the track.  It is definitely awe inspiring seeing how he creates his music; knowing that one false step can completely derail a song.

His music is very singer-songwriter like, but with more complexity in the arrangements.  I told Kurt he reminded me a little bit of Patrick Wolf, but without the over-the-top theatricality.  Here is a clip I found online from the show last night.



I will be looking for his work as soon as I get home from work.  I am really mad that he played Coachella this year and I didn't check him out.

The National came on afterwards and played a long, professional set.  There were no huge surprises, and the band is not the most energetic, owing to the fact their music is not as raucous as it once was.  Most of the songs are stately ruminations on middle class life.  I will say that after seeing them, I don't think I need to see them again, which is not a criticism of their performance or the music itself, merely that I don't think I would gain anything else from an additional show.

I will say that they began the performance with a very slow song, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.  I don't have a problem with quiet, slow music, I just don't want to begin with a song that doesn't get your blood pumping for more.



The show did pick up considerably after the first song, and I was surprised how many of my favorite songs were performed: "Mistaken For Strangers," "Fake Empire," "Squalor Victoria," and my favorite "Conversation 16," which lead singer Matt Berninger describes as being "about marriage and cannibalism."



They even found time to play some older material, "All The Wine," "Abel," "Mr. November," and "The Geese of Beverly Road."  I always abhor bands who refuse to play older material in favor of new.  I think with every show there should be a nice mix.

At one point in the show, Matt Berninger finally got animated and left the stage and sang a song well out into the seats.  I was close enough to at least get a picture, unclear as it may be.

The show ended with a brilliant rendition of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks."  Instead of performing the song full on, the band played acoustically and Matt sang without the use of a microphone.  It was pretty amazing way to end the show and really brought the audience closer to the band.  I think those sort of things would greatly increase the quality of their live shows, and hope they do things like that in the future.



I don't want my comments to make it seem like I didn't enjoy the show, because I enjoyed it a lot.  They were just criticisms that I think need to be addressed by the band in order to make them a more formidable live act.  I really love their music, and just wanted more moments of connection with them like the final song.

Finally tonight I don't have a show to attend, so I am really looking forward to a relaxing evening.  Need to get my energy up for the next onslaught of Massive Attack, Jonsi, Robyn, La Roux, Combichrist, and Dresden Dolls.