Korallreven: An Album By Korallreven - Album Review

Korallreven
An Album By Korallreven
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

The Swedish duo Korallreven, made up of Marcus Joons and Daniel Tjäder, the latter moonlighting from his day job with The Radio Dept., arrived on the scene a couple of years ago with the blissed out, acoustic brushed track "Loved Up," and have taken their sweet time coming out with the full length. The resulting album is full of hushed/whispered vocals, woozy, hazy synths, Balearic rhythms, and chillwave/shoegaze textures. It is a nice antidote for cold weather days, the rush of sound enveloping you in its warm glow. I am supposing the brutal Scandinavian winters makes artists do anything to conjure up visions and feelings of warmer climes. While An Album By Korallreven doesn't quite equal or surpass the brilliance of "Loved Up," the album itself works more as a collective whole, the parts summing up to something greater.

"Loved-Up" is included here, and still retains its rush of synths and gauzy vocals.



Follow up single, "The Truest Faith" is a notch below the perfection of "Loved-Up," going for a more traditional pop structure, the beat not as insistent, but still overlaid with a gorgeous covering of strings, angelic synths, and acoustic guitars.



"As Young As Yesterday" has a lovely, layered sound, reminiscent of the more poppier tracks from Animal Collective, but more shoegazy.



"Honey Mine" even works a lilting, reggae vibe, that fits well within their aesthetic.



But too often on An Album By Korallreven, the texture of the track takes over the melody, and all you are left with is a long, meandering instrumental. "Sa Sa Samoa" builds on beds of cloudy synths with African chants and choral notes, always threatening to build and release, but falls always short.



"Keep Your Eyes Shut" repetitively loops its vocal sample in what appears to resemble a mantra, but ends up more annoying than transformative.

An Album By Korallreven (Hype Machine Exclusive) by Acéphale

"Comin' Closer" comes across as an 80s synth pastiche, that lacks any drama or sense of purpose.



However, closing track "Comin' Down" hints at what might have been, a 9 minute track that builds from analog synths and rain forest flutes, but still has ebbs and flows, creating a sense of tension and propulsion.



An Album By Korallreven works either as chill out music or as a sunny, Balearic accompaniment to a beautiful summer day, it mutates and takes on whatever guise is needed. There is something so inviting about this album, that even its missteps seem more charming than off-putting. At any rate, the duo are obviously making music they want to make, and as long as they continue to hit those highs sometimes, it doesn't get much better than this.

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 peaks 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.

Non-Sequiturs

Finally got to see one of my music heroes live this week. Kurt and I went to the IDentity Festival here in Atlanta. The festival is a traveling electronic music festival with three stages. Most of the artists are DJs, however, there was a smattering of acts that performed somewhat live. The last artist we saw was DJ Shadow. Have loved his music ever since Endtroducing.... Was a real thrill to see him as every other time he has been in town, I have had a conflict.

He played inside this sphere that had all sorts of cool videos and images projected on it and a big screen behind. The visuals matched up perfectly with his music and was a great audio-visual experience. He's such a nice guy, and also very cute.

Another highlight was finally seeing Hercules and Love Affair. Andy Butler and crew performed a DJ set with their three vocalists who, despite the heat and dismal crowd support, put on an energetic set. Andy is absolute adorable.

Rusko also put on an amazingly high energy set. He was dancing like a Tazmanian devil the whole time, and the crowd (whose drugs must have kicked in) was really into it as well.

Overall the festival was fun, however, the crowd was full of typically obnoxious 20 somethings that were rude and high as kites, the concessions were ridiculously overpriced, and it was brutally hot and even worse on the second stage which was out on a blacktop parking lot. I was able to see a lot of people I haven't seen, including Nero, DJ Chuckie, and Crystal Method. For the price, it was a good deal.

Interesting shuffle segue on my iPod, Burial's "Southern Comfort" bleeding into Jamie Woon's "Night Air" which was produced by Burial. Just sounded like a natural transition. Sublime.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"You said only a back page
Will get as read as the first page
Now you're observing the corners
And showing the first signs of aging
I'm not trying to read you anymore
Just keep on turning me through the days
Until the latest chapter unfolds

You look aroused
You look awake
You are the light
Turned on"

Tom Vek
"Aroused"

"You got me so riled
How can I ever deny
You got me so high
So high I cannot feel the fire
And you keep telling me
Telling me that you'll be sweet
And you never want to leave my side
And long as I don't break these
Promises
And they still feel all so wasted on myself"

Nero
"Promises"

"Sleeping when the day breaks
Dreaming as the evening falls
He's got no more headaches
Leaving us with empty walls
The last of many efforts

I know it's not my place
But I don't even wonder why
What commitment
What grace
To just refuse to be alive"

The Radio Dept.
"Sleeping In"

"Got struck by the first volley
Of the war in the courts
Never held my serve
Send'em a wire, give'em my best
This ammunition never rests
No one serves coffee, no one wakes up

Stop breathin'
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me"

Pavement
"Stop Breathing"

"I've got too much energy to switch off my mind
But not enough to get myself organized
My heart is heavy
My head is confused
And my aching little soul
Has started burning blue

I can't give you up, 'till I've got more than enough
So infect me with your love
Nurse me into sickness
Nurse me back to health
Endow me with the gifts of the man made world

When desire becomes an illness instead of a joy
And guilt a necessity that's gotta be destroyed"

The The
"Infected"

Appealing Things

Nero DJ set
Seeing cute little DJ Shadow come out and introduce his set
Rusko's energy
Tom Vek
Cut Off Your Hands
Coupons
Skimpeez

Annoying Things

People who are so un-self aware they continually put their foot in their mouth
Girls who wear those really stupid furry boots to concerts
$11 beers
People who don't say excuse me
People who reheat fish at the office

Coachella 2011 Day Two

Day Two of Coachella was predicted to be the hottest. Temperatures on Friday hovered around the mid-90s but Saturday was supposed to be close to 100. Thankfully, it never felt as hot as it was, and it actually turned out to be a nice day. We went in early with one of our housemates to see Baltimore rapper/singer/dancer Rye Rye.

We got a spot in the Sahara Tent and caught the end of DJ Heavygrinder's set. She looks like an Asian Jennifer Lopez. I felt bad for her because the majority of the Sahara denizens were back home still sleeping off their drugs and booze. She played a nice mix of house and dubstep, and was a nice way to ease into the day.

Rye Rye played a very short thirty minute set, but she was thrilled to be there and really had a blast performing. She is so cute, you just want to pinch her. One of the highlights of Coachella, even though it was by far the shortest set of the festival.

We took a break afterwards and hit the beer garden and sat in some shaded bleachers and watched the crowds stream by.

Foals were another band high on my list of must sees, and they certainly did not disappoint me at all. Until Sunday, they were my favorite set (more on that tomorrow). Intense, dark, and brooding, they locked into an early groove and never lost focus or intensity. Playing most of their new album and some select tracks from their first, it was a good mix of songs.

Unfortunately, the Gobi Tent is the worst place to take pics during the day; there isn't a backdrop and the sun creates too many issues to get a good shot of anyone. I raced over to catch Sweden's The Radio Dept. after the Foals set. I love them on record, but live, there was nothing additional that added to the experience. They only had a keyboardist and two guitarists which created a lovely sound, but didn't change up the sound of the records. I waited until I heard the one song I wanted to hear, "The Worst Taste In Music," then left. Which put me on time to see the set from Two Door Cinema Club.

Two Door Cinema Club is what Coachella is all about: finding that one buzz band and seeing them bang out a killer set. They don't do anything special, it is proto-typical Britpop, but very catchy and infectious. The crowd, tightly packed as it was, was surprisingly great. Everyone knew all the lyrics and got into the set, dancing and having a blast. Sets like this really erase any bad experiences you had previously. Thanks to my housemate Dan Nero for letting me borrow some awesome pictures from their set.

I took a nice afternoon breather and went out to the Main Stage to see Toronto collective Broken Social Scene. I've always had a soft for them and it was a great way to move into the evening bands. They played a broad range of songs from their albums and worked a nice groove. The sun had just started descending and the breeze had picked up, cooling off the hot and dusty polo grounds. Everyone seemed to be put into a great mood.

Well, except for this gate-crasher. I was over by the merch tent looking at some t-shirts and ended up taking some photos of the gorgeous sunset, and behind me I heard a gaggle of girls (yes, they all travel in annoying gaggles at Coachella) screaming "Get him! Get him! Take him down!" I turned around and saw this guy getting tackled by security. There is always some amusing drama at Coachella.

Said gorgeous sunset.

After getting some food I was waiting around for my next band and ended up sitting in the grass and listening to Elbow. I love their first album, but increasingly they have been trying to be "important" and I kind of lost interest in them. The new album has some of their strongest songwriting to date, but the songs are still a little too snoozy for me. That aside, Guy Garvey has a beautiful voice and knows how to work a crowd. It was nice listening to them and watching the moon rise.

After Elbow, I was going waiting on post-punk legends Wire. It turned out there was an almost bar band playing before them in the Gobi Tent. I felt bad for them seeing as there were only about 50 people seeing them, but of course, I saw this as my opportunity to grab a prime space on the rail in front. Wire blistered through a tight set of oldies and new songs. There was only a modest crowd for them, so I felt honored to be able to see them in such an amazing setting.

Final act I saw on Saturday was the reunited London Suede. For some bizarre reason, I was able to make it up to the rail for this show as well. It used to be, the closer you were the more douchebags you had to deal with; this festival, the closer up the better experience you had. Aside from the two zaftig gals next to me trying to out-indie rock one another, the fans up at the rail were a lot of fun, knowing all the lyrics and singing their hearts out. Suede was phenomenal as I knew they would be. Brett Anderson is the consummate showman, kicking out all the stops and mesmerizing the crowd with every hip shake and arm movement. Storming through their catalog, they touched on all the major hits and put on a wonderful show. Sometimes you know when to leave on a high note, and that is how I left Saturday.

Non-Sequiturs

Sweet baby Jebus!

He's even hot when he's a bit doughy in the off season.

Hmmm, strangely my page views have increased dramatically in the past few weeks. On a good day my blog is usually viewed about 50-60 times. I've noticed the number usually rapidly increases when I have a pic of a half naked man as the lead in. But this week I haven't had anything and the views for the past three days are averaging 250 views. So, whoever is looking at my blog, I thank you.

Two things I have no resistance to are Kit Kats and sour cream and onion potato chips.

I really have no problem with Lady Gaga. She has some catchy songs and she is definitely not boring, but that is about it. I wish I understood what her great appeal is. She is really great at appropriating what others have done in the past and tweaking it, just slightly, so that it doesn't appear to be outright infringement. Her latest video for "Born This Way" opens with some malarky about the birth of good and evil, steals from Jodorowsky's images in El Topo and Holy Mountain, then loses whatever plot it started and becomes like any fashion ad from the mid-1980s. I've watched it three times and still have no idea how any of it goes together.



I have such a man crush on Tyler Labine. Such a cute bear of a guy. He is a "supporting" character on the new CBS sitcom Mad Love, but to be honest, the main characters (played by Jason Biggs and Sarah Chalke) are so boring and uninteresting, they should make the show more about Tyler's character and Sarah's roommate, who are way more personable. Oh well. Luckily, he seems to get as much screen time as the lead couple, so I will have to see how things play out.

To the floor coordinator at my firm, when you smile and tell me you would be happy to help, don't sigh after I tell you what I need help with. Giving me the name of the person I will contact myself is neither a strenuous nor arduous task.

Thankfully my pretty Cowboys made it through the first leg of The Amazing Race, coming from last place to end up finishing in third. Good thing they are cute, because man, they are dumb as a bag of hammers.

I have to admit I enjoy cleaning my loft. My Sunday ritual is hanging out with Kurt in the morning over coffee, then, if we have no other plans, going to the gym, then cleaning my place in the afternoon. It is so nice to put on some music and do something I don't have to think about it.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"Don't haunt me
Don't hurt me
Don't haunt me
Don't hurt me
Gather up the lost and sold
In your arms
In your arms
Gather up the pitiful
In your arms
In your arms
What seems impossible
In your arms
In your arms
I think I have had my fill
In your arms
In your arms
I think I should give up the ghost
Into your arms
Into your arms"

Radiohead
"Give Up The Ghost"

"Rather die in your arms, than die lonesome
Rather die hard, than die hollow
The higher that I climb
the deeper I fall down
I'm running out of time
So let's dance while we're waiting"

Lykke Li
"Love Out Of Lust"

"He can't forget you
You're quite a find
In my mind I see how he gets you
To close your eyes
Kiss the skies

You race down the stairs in the morning
A kiss in half promise, half warning

Why would you bother to hang around?
Even for some time, now
There will be others to frown upon
If it turns you on

But he's got the worst taste in music
If I didn't know this I'd lose it"

The Radio Dept.
"The Worst Taste In Music"

Appealing Things

Lykke Li
Jeremy Shockey's abs
This amazing weather we've been having lately
Lorn

Annoying Things

Passive-aggressive/whiny/crybaby people
Duran Duran playing a small venue here in Atlanta and charging $60 a ticket
Another work project ending