Music Reviews: Year Archives
2008 Releases
Cartography
by Arve Henriksen
It may be technically correct to label Arve Henriksen a “jazz trumpeter”, but it feels wrong. He does come from a jazz background, and he does play the trumpet. But he plays the trumpet in a manner that, to these ears at least, doesn’t conform to any usual notions of jazz.
Rather, Henriksen’s trumpet playing shows the heavy influence of the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute traditionally used by Buddhist monks as an aid for meditation and known for its breathy, otherworldly tones. Henriksen’s playing is often the model of restraint: he can kick up a whirling dervish of sound but his tone is often much more contemplative and stately, pulsing here and there amidst gasps and wisps of sound that can be surprisingly evocative given their slight structure.
Likewise, calling Cartography, Henriksen’s first album for the venerable ECM label, a “jazz album” may be technically correct, but it, too, feels wrong. As is the case with Henriksen’s playing, the term “jazz” just doesn’t do the music here justice. There may be moments that could fall under “traditional” ideas of jazz, but the album’s sonic palette is broader than that, venturing into the wide expanse of ambient and experimental music. The result is a record that is obtuse at times, loosely structured (if at all), and meandering, but is also very evocative and stirring.
The Sad Sea
by Hotel Hotel
In 2006, Hotel Hotel recorded their first full-length, allheroesareforeverbold. They then went on tour and got signed to drone/post-rock label par excellence Silber Records. However, shortly after arriving home from their tour, the band’s drummer disappeared at LaGuardia Airport (and has not been seen since). The band went into a tailspin and spent the next year trying to figure out where to go, when some guidance came from the strangest place.
As the story goes, the remaining members were holed up in a bar one night when a real, live, honest to God sea captain tried to convince them to join his quest to find the “Mary Celeste”, the ghost ship that was presumably found in 2001. The band declined the offer, but the encounter planted the seeds for what would eventually become The Sad Sea.
Tri EP
by Lansing-Dreiden
I know that I’ve written quite a bit concerning the struggles I’ve had to reconcile with the music of ultra-obtuse art collective Lansing-Dreiden—in fact, I’ve probably written more than I should. If anything, doing so has likely led me to fall into some uber-conceptual trap/artistic scheme cooked up by the outfit.
And as important as attempts, however puny they might be, at deeper criticism and whatnot might be, does it matter in the end if the music just does “it” for you, if it scratches that secret itch in your soul, gets your booty moving, makes you shake your head in awe/surprise/wonder, and so on?
I ask, because for all of their annoying artistic manifestos, Lansing-Dreiden’s mercurial music continues to do that. Their latest, the free-for-the-downloading Tri EP (visit their website), offers up three all-too-short tracks that shows off Lansing-Dreiden’s music in all of its glorious and maddening facets.
Dial M
by Starflyer 59
For some reason, I found myself reflecting on my “history” with Starflyer 59 when I discovered—a few weeks after the fact—that the band had released Dial M. I picked up their self-titled debut—aka Silver—shortly after it came out in 1994. Which means that I’ve been listening to their music for nearly fifteen years now.
That sort of longevity can lend itself to a sense of obligation, meaning you’ll pick up the artist’s album no matter what. And while such dedication is not a bad thing, it does mean that you have to prepare yourself for inevitable bouts of being underwhelmed (The Cure’s 4:13 Dream immediately comes to mind for me).
Such is not the case with Starflyer 59. There’s a workman-like quality to their music, to be sure. It’s not the sort of music that you listen to for wild innovation and experimentation, but rather to hear the tried and true (the innovation they do inevitably bring is just icing on the cake). For me, Starflyer 59’s music has become akin to an old, comfortable blanket or a sturdy oak desk: dependable and comfortable.
What’s interesting, though, is that Starflyer 59 has achieved that level of consistency despite constant personnel changes and shifts in musical direction throughout the years. Jason Martin has been the band’s single consistent player; at least a dozen others have joined him in the studio and onstage to date. And as for musical direction, Starflyer 59’s releases have dabbled in shoegazer, lounge, surf rock, ‘70s stadium rock, ‘50s pop, and electronica, ultimately settling into a brand of lushly produced indie-rock that incorporates elements from all of those aforementioned genres.
Exodus
by Alex Moulton
Let’s start this review off by stating the obvious, shall we? The album cover art for Alex Moulton’s Exodus is easily the most bitchin’ thing you’ll see all year. The Boris Vallejo/Julie Bell painting depicts a muscle-bound hero and a bikini-clad beauty soaring through the sky over a city being ravaged by fire, while a giant spaceship looms in the background.
In a word, “awesome”, the sort of artwork that Han Solo might paint on the side of the Millennium Falcon to celebrate the Kessel Run. What’s more, the artwork prepares you for something truly out-of-this world, a vintage, sci-fi, galacti-freakout so over the top that it makes albums like Daft Punk’s Discovery sound tame by comparison—which is almost certainly something that Moulton, with his background in the visual arts, intended.
Moulton and his collaborators certainly delve into the same sonic territory as the Punk, namely funky, “the future as imagined in 1978” synthesizer jams inspired by the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Tangerine Dream, and Vangelis. Vintage analog synthesizer sounds abound, ricocheting back and forth like laser beams and starlight, and Exodus as a whole has a suitably spaced out, sci-fi backdrop… but in the end, it is Exodus’ space opera that ends up being on the tamer side of things.
Dark Enough For Stars
by Au Revoir Borealis
When it came out that Au Revoir Borealis was working on a new album, I immediately had thoughts that something special was brewing on the horizon. While it had been eight years since their debut, 2000’s Tienken EP, and the bandmembers had since drifted off to various side-projects (e.g., For Wishes, The Great Fiction, and Man’s Last Great Invention), those early songs still stuck with me.
The Tienken EP showed great promise, revealing a band in love with a sound close to my heart while also hinting that Au Revoir Borealis weren’t just interested in a mere genre exercise, but also brought to bear in their music an emotional and spiritual warmth that their peers can often lack.
And now that it’s here, it’s safe to say that Dark Enough For Stars doesn’t really disappoint at all. While the album contains the same love of shoegazer/dream-pop evident in the earlier material, there’s a darker sophistication at work, as one might’ve guessed from the title (itself a play on a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote); there’s a definite melancholy amidst the swirl of sounds that lends itself to a contemplation perfectly suited for this burgeoning autumnal season.
A Wingless King
by Writ On Water
It’s been 8 years since Writ On Water has released anything new, their last release being 2000’s Pelléas EP. But even back then, their music was stuck even further in the past, specifically in the halcyon days of 4AD Records, and artists such as Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil. Therefore, it should come as no shock that A Wingless King, the group’s newest full-length, sounds somewhat like a musical artifact unstuck in time.
A gloomily atmospheric post-punk/4AD tone permeates the entire disc, even on the more “relaxed” numbers such as album opener “Angie Swirls In Pastel Summer” and “Wondertime”. And on songs like “Dead Give Away” and the dreamy closing track “Things Only Heaven Knows”, it coalesces into something quite spell-binding. All of which was something I was more or less prepared for.
However, what I wasn’t necessarily prepared for was how experimental and left-of-center A Wingless King would be. Their previous releases, specifically 1992’s Sylph, revealed that the group wasn’t content with simply being clones, but rather, would venture out into left field from time to time. But that’s even truer on A Wingless King.
Imagining October EP
by Daniel Land & The Modern Painters
There are some folks who just can’t quite put the past behind them, who seem almost unhealthily fascinated and attracted to the trends, ideas, and styles of yesteryear. And while that can often increase one’s chances of embarrassment and foolishness, if nothing else, it can make for some pretty good music.
Such is the case with Daniel Land & The Modern Painters. The Manchester-based six-piece have a decided fixation on the sounds associated with the glory days of 4AD Records. Which means that, while listening to the five songs of the Imagining October EP, you’ll hear plenty of woozy, shimmery guitars that bring to mind the likes of Robin Guthrie (The Cocteau Twins) and Miki Berenyi (Lush).
By Hearts+Horses
by Park Avenue Music
Several years ago, a friend gave me a copy of Park Avenue Music’s For Your Home Or Office, and I found myself instantly enamored by the duo’s blend of atmospheric, slightly glitch-ified electronica and female vocals. True, it’s a formula that’s been used many times over on countless albums, but For Your Home Or Office did it incredibly well. Indeed, that little release still holds up remarkably well, four years after the fact, when it could be argued that the glut of similar acts has, in no way, diminished.
Well, it’s now 2008, and the Sacramento-based duo of Wes Steed and Jeannette Faith have released By Hearts+Horses, which finds them exploring moods and tones similar to those on For Your Home Or Office, only they’re exploring them in a slightly different fashion.
In Ghost Colours
by Cut Copy
Going into this past week, I was fully prepared to label M83’s Saturdays=Youth as the finest “shameless ‘80s appropriation album” that I’ve heard so far this year. But as much as I like Saturdays=Youth—indeed, it’s my favorite thing that Anthony Gonzalez and Co. have done to date—the simple fact is that Australia’s Cut Copy outdoes M83 at practically every turn.
However, one can really only describe the band’s latest—In Ghost Colours—as a “shameless ‘80s appropriation” at the most cursory level.
There’s no denying that Dan Whitford, Tim Hoey, and Mitchell Scott have a great and undying love for the likes of Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Yaz, Human League, and of course, New Order. You can hear said love singing out in every arpeggiated synth line, every gorgeous call out, every ghostly wisp of a vocoder, every perfectly programmed beat, and every time Whitford sings in that delightfully deadpan voice of his about unrequited love, youthful lust for life, and the joys of exorcising and fulfilling such things out there on the dancefloor.