Final Fantasy’s New Beginning

Owen Pallett – Heartland

I like how Colin does some serious posting so John and I immediately have to push him off the front page. There’s at least one more album worth talking about that I’ve listened to this year, and that’s the latest release from Owen Pallett, a.k.a. Final Fantasy. He decided to use his real name this time because the album’s coming out in Japan and he doesn’t want to get the shit sued out of him.

This is like the most indie album to which I’ve ever listened. Pallett, if the name doesn’t ring any bells, is like the go-to guy for alternative music string sections. He’s done arrangements for albums like Arcade Fire’s Funeral and Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House. As a solo artist, he is most famous for his use of his violin with one of those fancy pedals that lets him loop his performance as he goes, building essentially a whole orchestra by the song’s ending. Yeah, I don’t think I’d ever heard of him before either.

Well don’t worry, it’s not just violin on the album (maybe it’s not live either, don’t really know). Pallett uses plenty of electronic beats and synths along with more classical instruments. But the violin definitely comes to the forefront more often than not. I also found Pallett’s voice interesting, he sings so softly that most of the time I struggle to understand what he’s actually singing. The result was his voice becoming just one of the many noise-makers I was listening to, which is just fine.

Pallett is pretty ingenious when it comes to harmony and melody, and he imbues his music with a gentle energy that is quite a pleasure. The music is poppy, but at the same time feels almost classical. It’s pretty cool.

Favorite Tracks: “Midnight Directives,” “Lewis Takes Action,” “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”

Stone Cold Groove


Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune

With the amount of posts this week how could I resist reviewing yet another album? We’ve already beat our personal best for posts in a week, so why not extend the record with a look into the latest from a late great rock icon? Valleys of Neptune is the name and contains 12 previously unreleased Hendrix recordings, including the title track, which is said to be one of Hendrix’s most sought after unreleased recordings.

I would of done a retrospective if I hadn’t just found out there’s already been a few posthumous releases from the Hendrix estate and by “a few” I mean like eight. For Hendrix literally recorded 100s of songs and fragments of songs before his untimely death in 1970. Here we get different versions of more familiar recordings like “Fire” and “Red House” mixed in with some more obscure material, like this sweet instrumental of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” I’ve never delved into Hendrix’s posthumous catalog so most of this is new to me.

The track “Valleys of Neptune” is the main attraction here and it’s got all the style and swagger you’d want to hear in a classic Hendrix composition. The rest of the material boasts a predominately traditional blues sound. Naturally it has it’s share of psychedelia but this just feels like a more bluesy Hendrix than usual.

Unfortunately there are times where I feel like I’m listening to a bunch of rehearsals. That’s kind of the problem with posthumous releases they feel incomplete because well, they are incomplete. Jimi wrote some swanky stuff here but this isn’t his vision. It’s basically a 60 minute something jam session that wouldn’t be worth your time if it wasn’t for the guitar god involved. All in all it’s a nice little bonus feature to the legacy of Hendrix but not much more than that.

Favorite Tracks: “Bleeding Heart”, “Stone Free”, “Valleys of Neptune.”

The Devil Can’t Write No Love Song


Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat the Devil’s Tattoo

My interest in Black Rebel Motorcycle has been waning since about 2007 and here I’m reminded why. Howl was the album that originally caught my ear with it’s catchy single “Ain’t No Easy Way.” After that was the so-so followup Baby 81 and then the only album to ever receive a half star rating on this blog The Effects of 333, if you can categorize that as music.

BRMC made a name for themselves in the early 2000s rocking out with a unique take on the alternative country genre. Songs about “deals with the devil” or “guys going to shoot other guys” were popular subjects but what’s really changed since then? It’s my opinion that bands should evolve overtime. Growing with each album and exploring new territories and ideas. Beat the Devil’s Tattoo isn’t a bad album but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. The same kind of subject matter, familiar arrangements, mood… I understand they have their trademark sound but don’t they ever get tired of being all moody and depressed?

Looking past the fact that this is nothing new I’m still reminded of why I originally became a fan of these boys from the Bay City. Peter Hayes (Vocals/Guitar) and Robert Levon Been (Vocals/Bass/Guitar) provide some excellent bluesy riffs, though I still can’t tell them apart vocally or musically they’re like the exact same person. Drummer Leah Shapiro replaces Nick Jago after his second departure and does an adequate job providing Bonham like beats. The tunes are predictable but I think we all need a little dose of mindless rock from time to time.

So nothing special, which means I may have to move on from these guys. I can only take so many more lengthy albums of same old, same old. Sounds weird to say the album is alright but I’m now done with this band but that’s the truth and I’m sticking to it.

Favorite Tracks: “Bad Blood”, “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo”, “Conscience Killer”

Plastic Bitch

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

I’ve been hovering around getting into hip hop for a while now. Colin knows I’ve always appreciated artists like the Beastie Boys and Jay-Z, despite not really knowing their work, and there certainly has been rap elements in the music I enjoy before. So I guess this was some excellent timing on Gorillaz’s part, because this is the most rap-heavy of their albums yet.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s always been a strong element of a Gorillaz album. But there’s also usually been more poppy songs to balance that out, like “Feel Good, Inc.” Instead, Platic Beach is much more laid back. No one is going to be dancing to this, the most I could expect is maybe some head bobbing. Damon Albarn frequently lets guest artists take the mic, relegating himself to just the chorus or not at all in many of the album’s tracks. Ultimately, I missed the Demon Days approach, but am growing to appreciate this new release.

Basically, you can understand what this album is going for by listening to lead single “Stylo.” Mos Def and Bobby Womack do most of the vocal work over a driving beat that seems somewhat reminiscent of like an 80s cop movie. At first I was really surprised and somewhat disappointed by that track, but after a couple days, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Also, weird Bruce Willis music video. Anyway, this is an interesting LP and it’s weird to think that this is coming from the guy from Blur. Do with that what you will.

Favorite Tracks: “Stylo (feat. Mos Def & Bobby Womack),” “On Melancholy Hill,” “Plastic Beach (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)”

Danger Shins

Broken Bells – Broken Bells

When I first heard “The High Road” either last year or earlier this year, I was totally hooked on the Broken Bells. But even if I hadn’t heard that single, I’m sure I would have been intrigued by this collaboration between James Mercer of the Shins and producer-extraordinaire Danger Mouse. Now that the album’s out, I’m happy to say the rest of the album supports that strong first track.

It might have seemed a little weird at first, but blending Mercer’s talented voice with Mouse’s slick pop production makes for a ton of really fun songs. I guess it is a little reminiscent of Gnarls Barkley, but gone are the dark elements of that collaboration. Some people say this is the new Postal Service, but that’s not quite an appropriate comparison either. The reality is that this is two talented musicians working together to make a bunch of fun tracks.

Basically, if you enjoyed what Danger Mouse did with Gnarls Barkley, Beck or the Gorillaz, there’s probably enough here to justify picking Broken Bells up. It probably won’t make your head explode because the sounds coming through your earbuds are staggeringly genius, but you will probably want to keep listening to it even after it ends. I know I did. In fact, this is probably my favorite album of the year so far. Well, that’s not really saying much, it is March. But still.

Favorite Tracks: “The High Road,” “Sailing to Nowhere,” “October”

A Quartet of One

Four Tet – There is Love in You

Everyone else doing album reviews makes me feel bad about not talking about some of the albums I’ve been listening to lately. Two albums I’m going to talk about actually just came out this week, but this first one, from British artist Kieran Hebden came out way back in January.

I feel like I should preface this by saying I don’t really know electronic music. Every once in a while I’ll hear songs that sound pretty interesting, and there certainly is some stuff that seems to fit the label in my iTunes library, but really, most of my exposure to the genre is Fat Sherman. So maybe this won’t mean as much to electronica fans, but I rather enjoyed Four Tet’s latest release.

It’s kind of hard to describe the appeal of these songs, the only thing I can come up with to say is that they’re beautiful. Four Tet is able to build an atmosphere and let sounds blend with wonderful results. One of my favorite tracks is the very first one, “Angel Echoes” that successfully samples a short piece of singing into an astounding tune. Another song, my favorite and the one that convinced me to get this album, “Plastic People,” is amazingly catchy, to the point where I’ll actually just let it play on loop a couple of times.

I don’t really know anything about the genre or Four Tet’s previous work, but I still really enjoyed this album and I would heartily recommend you at least check out some tracks on YouTube. I think it’s worth it.

Favorite Tracks: “Angel Echoes,” “Love Cry,” “Plastic People”

OK Go Just Okay


OK Go – Of the Blue Colour of the Sky

This album came out a few months ago but it took me awhile to finally sit down and give it a listen. So everybody’s favorite viral video masters OK Go are back with album number three. Being only a casual fan I didn’t have any real expectations for this release. To me OK Go is more of a “single ” band than an “album” band if that makes any sense. They could have a respectable compilation or greatest hits CD in the future but their albums usually leave me feeling well, meh. Of the Blue Colour of the Sky has a handful of amusing tracks but no big breakout tracks. Basically it evens out to be a so-so experience.

In the past OK Go have reminded me of something like an Elvis Costello inspired party rock band. Though this time I feel like something is different about this Chicago foursome. Lead singer/guitarist Damian Kulash uses far more whispery falsetto vocals than usual and there’s almost a disco-esque style to the arrangements. It’s like they’ve evolved from party rock to synthy dance rock but it’s only occasionally interesting.

It be damn impossible for Ok Go to achieve the same kind of success as on Oh No but there’s still some fun tracks here. “WTF?” is the leadoff number and it’s pleasant enough with it’s fuzzy bass, crunchy beat and funky guitars. Though it’s the track “This Too Shall Pass” that’s been attracting the most attention with it’s hook and awesome music video, they never disappoint in that department. “Back From Kathmandu” is a personal fav, I never thought this band could’ve had the potential to master the art of the acoustic ballad but they nailed it. When it comes down to it Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is just fine, not great, not bad, just fine or should I say… “Ok”? Nonetheless I’m still pumped that they’ll be at Sasquatch the same day as the crew and I.

Favorite Tracks: “Back From Kathmandu”, “This Too Shall Pass”, “White Knuckles”