Great Album, Bad Blogger: The Strokes – Angles

For starters, this isn’t a Tweet.  I’m still not on Twitter.  It’s a blog post, my first of this year.  It’s partially being prompted by the fact that I gave Twitter/Facebook/Foursquare up for Lent.  It’s also partially being prompted by the fact that I’m watching a Freaks and Geeks episode, mostly sober, on a Friday night.  This is giving me something to do, that isn’t work, whilst still not breaking my Catholic obligation of abstinence.

I’ve always been a fan of music in one fashion or another.  My mother finds humor in occasionally reminding me that I used to oddly gyrate to Michael Jackson vinyls as a child.  My Christmas and birthday wish lists often included requests for cassettes and eventually CD’s.  Albums by every group from Genesis to Boys II Men, Simon and Garfunkel to Live, I was just obsessed with collecting discs, tracks and sounds.  This of course has carried on into my current days.  I’m skipping the high school and college years because frankly I don’t remember a lot from them.  I recall being referred to as the “White Usher” at a mixer circa ’96 and spun records for three years in undergrad.  That about covers it.   This all has a tie in so please bear with me.  I’m a bit rusty on the blogging front.

Music in modern times has become terribly calculated, washed out and under appreciated due to the frequency at which we as fans are able to access it, digest it and replace it with the next pre-release leak.  I’m listening to The Strokes new album as I type this.  Angles will enjoy its formal US release on Tuesday, March 22^nd, 2011.  This album surfaced on Google Blogs early last week.  Eleven years ago I had to wait 2 hours in a dorm room at Iowa to download Jagged Edge’s “Let’s Get Married” over a University Ethernet connection, and I did so with pleasure.   To me Napster still represents one of the single most ground breaking and influential Internet services ever conceived.  Peer-to-Peer file sharing, go frucking figure.

I’m off topic, so let me take a few steps back.  This rant was sparked by the desire to blab about The Strokes.  If you know me then you know I get giddy for The Strokes like an airheaded bimbo gets giddy for Ke$ha.  They are the only band I want to own a t-shirt of.  Which is saying a lot because I think band t-shirts are about as corny as it gets.  I saw a guy at the airport yesterday proudly sporting a Mumford & Sons t-shirt.  A fine band but get real, they have one album out and have been popular for less than 18 months, you can’t like them that much.  Sorry, digressing.  Angles is the fourth studio release by The Strokes and after ten listens or so I can confidently say it is quickly shaping up to be my favorite of their catalogue.  Is This It? will likely still remain near the top purely based on the fact that I feel it has achieved a “classic” status.  First release, developed a blueprint for most of the rock bands/albums that became popular in the 2000’s, NME’s album of the decade, etc.  Staying true to form for a band is key, but evolving is what helps one solidify a legacy.

So, what was meant to have been a simple album review morphed into an excuse to inadvertently post something on Twitter, revisit my childhood, provide a commentary on the history of Internet piracy and knock Mumford & Sons’ t-shirts.  I fail at every effort to be succinct.  If you happen to read this in hopes of finding my thoughts on Angles, then this part’s for you.  “Under Cover of Darkness”, “Two Kinds of Happiness”, “Taken for a Fool”, “Machu Picchu”, “Games”, “Gratisfication” and “Life Is Simple in the Moonlight” are all fantastic songs.  The first three mentioned are highlights of the album.  The Strokes channel The Cars, The Stones and possibly even a Michael Jackson hook in the tracks of this album.  I love it, it delivered what I wanted after almost five years of waiting.  Now if you’ll excuse me I have to finish this post now so I can jump sites and buy a t-shirt.  Angles – 4.25/5.

A Review: Mike Posner – 31 Minutes to Takeoff – 6.9/10

It is impossible for me to hate on Mike Posner considering he’s 22 years old (younger than me), a recent Duke graduate (better/more expensive education than me), good looking (we’re deadlocked here) and about to blow up (I’m a blogger for Christ’s sake). In my book, the dude is pretty much amazing.  The only real downside is he claims Detroit, MI as his hometown.   (My man Chris at Dailybeatz is going to hate me for that one!)

When it comes to doing fresh work, this kid is a stone cold assassin, on point and getting more dangerous by the minute.  With two mixtapes (A Matter of Time, One Foot Out the Door) and his newly released studio effort, 31 Minutes to Takeoff, Posner has unloaded three legitimate records in just less than 18 months.  I think you’d be hard pressed not to define him as polished, his music as catchy and his style as suave, even at a young age.

With all this in mind, how could 31 Minutes To Takeoff be anything less than brilliant?  That my friends, is a damn good question.  While no particular track on the album is bad, some ooze with an over exaggerated yearning for poppy, top 40-radio attention.  “Déjà Vu” very well may be a single from some N’Sync/Backstreet Boys/NKOTB mash-up demo tape that has just now been plucked from between the stale couch cushions in Lou Pearlman’s office.   I’m not one to excessively bash an artist or album unless it truly sucks, and this one does not.  “Cooler Than Me” is about as cocky as a “you’re not as hot as you think you are” song can be.  Great lead single and jumping off point for him to launch a career.  With “Do You Wanna?,” Posner chooses to sample Ray LaMontange’s “You are the Best Thing” which was a fantastic move in my mind.  It works because it’s unexpected and beautifully done.  As the album winds down, we hear Posner doing a bit of internal assessment and soul searching. “Shooting stars leave no mark”, he croons in the song “Delta 1406”, pondering if he’s possibly gone too far too fast.  The final track “Falling” leaves 31 Minutes with a bit of a jagged edge, a tune about a love story gone wrong.  “Drive your high heel into my heart”, he sings over an airy piano melody.  Sounds painful.

While I would have much preferred Mike Posner take a less conservative approach with his first major studio album and lean a bit more on his relationships with urban artists such as Big Sean, Kid CuDi, and GLC, I think he’s done enough to establish himself as an artist to follow closely.   After all, he’s just a kid from the Midwest; we can’t expect too much from him right away.  Can we?

31 Minutes to Takeoff was released August 10, 2010 on J Records.

A Review: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs – 8.1/10

If you had never heard a single album, song or musical note in your entire life, and then asked me to describe to you what it sounds like to listen to Arcade Fire, I would fail epically. For this reason or that, they produce a difficult style of music for me to convert into text, which may not bode well for the health of this review. Thankfully as music fans we can enjoy a band without having to justify what draws us to them. For me Arcade Fire resonates that audible magnetism and not since their debut album Funeral, has their appeal been so prevalent.

In their third studio album The Suburbs, AF sticks to a script they’re fairly familiar with. While each track displays a slight measure of uniqueness, the album progresses from song to song without significant distinction from one to the next. However whether you realize it or not while sorting through this 16 song coming of age soundtrack, Arcade Fire is sharing a story with you, and as the tracks progress so does the inevitable crescendo that peaks at the end with “The Suburbs (Continued)”.

While The Suburbs is certainly not as emotionally infused as Funeral, it is without a doubt less murky than Neon Bible, an album that I’d always viewed to have an agenda impossible to grasp. Come to think of it, Arcade Fire isn’t as difficult to explain as I’d first thought. Their goal with each effort is to blow the lid off expectation and they do so with grandiose symphonic assaults, hypnotic vocal offerings and purposeful song writing. Personal highlights for me on The Suburbs include the title track, “Ready to Start”, “Rococo” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”. At the end of it all this album’s concept and effort absolutely hold water and if you get the chance to see Arcade Fire play their music in person, you better spend your lunch money on a ticket.

The Suburbs was released August 3, 2010 on Merge Records.  It debuted at #1 on Billboards Top 200 selling over 156,000 copies in its first week.

View this contribution on Dailybeatz.com as well!

Fresh Trip Honoree: Chiddy Bang – Pretty Much Amazing

Download Air Swell: HERE.

Right now I should be packing for my trip out to Philadelphia later this morning but instead I’m on the blog-spaces rambling like a fool.  Not sure how much time I’ll have this weekend to update the site so instead of fully going dark I wanted to get something up but also tie in a relative topic/theme and rep the boys with Chiddy Bang.  Chidera “Chiddy”Anamege and Noah Beresin, better known as Xaphoon “Bang” Jones, are killing it on the scene right now.  With two official mixtape releases, The Swelly Express and Air Swell, Chiddy Bang are at the forefront of sharp-tounged lyricism and phenomenally creative and flawless sampling.  With countless other single track leaks these two Philadelphia, Drexel University music majors are building a tremendous amount of buzz in the underground rap circuit and are poised to smash onto the major label commercial level at any moment.

Download The Swelly Express:  HERE.

Summer 2010 should feature the release of their first full length studio album, until then please indulge in and support their efforts by downloading their free mixtapes, watching the video for the single off their forthcoming album, “The Opposite of Adults (KIDS)” and spreading love via word of mouth respect to friends and other music fans.

Truth – Have a good weekend all, see you in Philly!!

NikeID Design – Monty Blu

Just some kicks I dreamed up.  Need to get on the design grind. Have a cleat in mind, some sneaks for Hawkeye football season. Things of that nature.  These are just the first step, no pun intended.

Stay off mine, but feel free to create your own HERE.

Mixtape Premier: Theophilus London – “I Want You”

Today Theo London releases his third mixtape (JAM! & This Charming Mixtape being the other two), a Marvin Gaye inspired release titled, “I Want You.” Shout out to Pigeons and Planes for publicizing it’s availability.  Just preparing to listen to it now so no thoughts quite yet, perhaps we should enjoy it together?

Download the mixtape, HERE.

Find other Theophilus London releases, HERE.

Download “Humdrum Town”, HERE.

Mix it Up: Travis Barker & A-Trak

After last year’s tragic loss of Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein to an unfortunate drug overdose, I thought the days of Travis Barker blowing people’s minds along side an incredible DJ were long gone.  Then A-Trak stepped on the scene.  No stranger to big arena shows and megastar collabo’s (Trak has served as Kanye West’s tour DJ among others) A-Trak fits right in to this tandem. The pair performed their first live set together at the Roxy Theatre in LA on March 9th.  Here’s to hoping they tour here in Chicago soon.

In the Flesh: Vampire Weekend

A quick little bit about a show I caught.  Vampire Weekend stopped through Chicago for a two-night set at the Riviera Theatre recently.  I took in Thursday’s (March 25, 2010) performance, which was lovely.  Aside from the generally younger crowd we had a great time.  The band played well, for the most part. Frankly, Rostam Batmanglij (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals) seemed a bit tuned out or disconnected from the task at hand. Not criticizing, just an observation.  Set list and a few snaps below.  Vampire Weekend have released to full-length studio albums, “Vampire Weekend” and most recently, “Contra”.

Setlist:  White Sky, Holiday, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, I Stand Corrected, M79, Bryn, California English, Cousins, Taxi Cab, Run, A-Punk, One (Blake’s Got a New Face), Diplomat’s Son, Giving Up the Gun, Campus, Oxford Comma.

Encore:  Horchata, Mansard Roof, Walcott.

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Short Film: I’m Here

Spike Jonze is a weird dude.  I fully mean that as a compliment. Much in the same way I feel that Kanye West is a weird dude, Michel Gondry is a weird dude, Stanley Kubrick was a weird dude, etc.  You get the point.  Weird can mean any number of different things to any number of different people depending on the context and color of a conversation.  It’s this weirdness that often leads to eccentric creativity.  Jonez is known for his film contributions (long & short, writing & directing) including such works as Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), Where the Wild Things Are (2009) and shorts We Were Once a Fairytale (2009, featuring Kanye West) and most recently, I’m Here (2010).

In any event, his latter work is phenomenal.  Very unique and heartfelt in a way that no robot’s love story should ever make you feel. Evoking romantic emotion through a story based on a shy librarian with a PC tower for a head takes a lot of vision and creativity.  If you have roughly 30 minutes for I’m Here, absolutely enjoy the film and soundtrack.  The interactive theater aspect of the website isn’t a bad touch either.

View I’m Here, HERE.  If the theater is full, come back another time.

All Tied Up: Pierrepont Hicks

Who doesn’t love a nice cravat?  I know I do, but not nearly as much as the folks at Pierrepont Hicks.  Kat & Mac, lovebirds who wed on Scotland’s Hebrides Isles, are the masterminds behind these kilt inspired gems (in fabric & in appearance).  Visit their website for various and rather dapper neckties in traditional and bow tie scent.