Day 209: Wilco – The Whole Love

25 Sep

I Might

*note* I’m currently being attacked by a cold of monstrous proportions.   In that previous sentence alone, I misspelled 5 different words.  One of them was “by.”  I’ll clean this post up and add a song tomorrow, as the nyquil is quickly going to worhuiiiiiiiiewU;EF

I’m not going to try to hide anything.  I’m a huge fan of The Wilcos.  If you’ve been here for a while, you already knew that—I welcomed in Day 100 with an entire week dedicated to the band.  More recently, I gathered my entire family around our laptops in a quest to snag tickets to Wilco’s upcoming Chicago show at the Civic Opera House.  We got ‘em, and will be laughing at all of the suckers that got sold out from our seats in the third row from the back in the upper balcony.

Just figured I should let you know that this post will be anything but unbiased.  Now, it should not come as a surprise to you that I believe that The Whole Love is yet another fantastic record by a fantastic band.  However, I understand why some fans have been a little disappointed after listening to the record’s stream.  The Whole Love will be the first record released on Wilco’s own label, and they did take a few “artsy” liberties that they might have stayed away from in the past.  Songs are a bit longer than usual, with a little static and fuzz finding its way in every now and then.

None of that should keep any fan of Wilco from finding something to like about this album.  The Whole Love acts as a  summation of everything that Wilco has ever done.  They go back to their countrier-than-recently roots, hit on some of the more abstract stuff from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and there’s plenty of the poppier stuff that they’ve leaned on over the past couple of records.

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Day 208: Calories – Adventuring

24 Sep

Adventuring

The guys that make up Calories don’t mess around.  Adventuring, the trio’s debut record from 2009, is a great example of what I look for in my music.  At only 23 minutes in length, this record showcases some great tunes from the harsher end of the indie spectrum, and then ends before you know what hit you. While this album may not be as polished or pretty as some of its indie-brit-rock competitors, its got heart, something that lots of these other albums are missing.

It’s obvious that these guys put everything they had into this record.  The voice cracks and miss-hits (that would have been edited around on an album with a little higher production value) actually add to the character of the piece. There’s no denying that these guys cannot sing, but the front man’s attempt does sound pretty cool.  You’ve got to respect him for putting his terrible vocals on the front line, announcing to the world that he is aware that haters gon hate.

I always seem to find myself gravitating toward music with a DIY sound to it.  There’s just something appealing about it to this teen that has always wanted to play in a band, but has never taken the time to get good at an instrument.  I think that’s why most fans of “crappy” sounding music are attracted to it.  Sure, there may be a little bit of the “screw the pigs at the major labels” ideology going on, but really, it sounds like stuff that we could actually make ourselves.

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Day 207: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Pershing

23 Sep

Think I Wanna Die

Let’s flash back to 203 days ago.  Just beginning this impossible project, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.  But that didn’t stop me from realizing that I couldn’t waste time on picking records.  I needed an album for Day 3, and I decided to check where I found most of my music pre-Swole.  Back then, my last.fm homepage gave me some pretty solid recommendations—this was before I had completely ruined the algorithm by breaking my listening habits and playing music of every variety under the sun.  Swole Ear may have significantly broadened my musical horizons, but it has also significantly effected my musical recommendations.   Last.fm, I’ve had enough under-produced folk-punk for now, thank you very much.

Anyway, I saw a band on the list called Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. How could I not check them out?  It’s been love ever since.  I’ve listened to Broom a million times over the past seven or so months.  Today, I decided that I wanted to hear more, so I listened to the group’s second album, Pershing.

I was not disappointed—there was no sophomore slump for SSLYBY.  Yes, the band still sounds exactly like Wilco, but I’m willing to overlook some statements that I’ve made in the past 203 days regarding my dislike of non-innovative bands.  There’s no denying that this is some good alt-country, regardless of whom they may be influenced by.  Plus, this is Swole Ear, so I’m sure that I could find half a dozen of my previous statements that would back up my current position. Haters gon hate.

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Day 206: Washed Out – Within and Without

22 Sep

Eyes Be Closed

Perhaps one day, I’ll grow tired of chillwave.  The reverb-heavy vocals may begin to wear, the dreamy, drawn-out synths might grow tiresome, and the sappy, ’80s beats may become annoying.  That day is not today.

Yes, although there is an astonishing lack of creativity and invention amongst the fairly new genre of chillwave, I still love that gimmicky, new-wave-on-acid sound.  From Blackbird Blackbird to Neon Indian, the sound has not yet started to grow old.

I say this because today, I listened to yet another hyped chillwave artist. Ernest Greene, the man behind Washed Out, brings absolutely nothing new to the table.  But hey, Within and Without is catchy as hell, and I just can’t bring myself to hate on it.

The repetitive and uncreative nature of this genre isn’t going to fly for much longer, though.  Artists are going to have to start branching out, and incorporating other things into their releases.  There’s going to come a day when we won’t buy yet another record full of only fuzzy-buzzy-bleepy-bloops.  The recent popularity of Washed Out shows that we’ll have to wait a little longer for that day, but mark my words, it’s coming.

That’s pretty exciting to me.  Chillwave is cool, but I can’t wait to see it updated.  How sweet (and oxymoronic) would chillcore be? How about chill-punk, anybody?  I’d stay away from chilldrone, but I’m sure it would  find an audience.

But for now, we’ve got to stick with the wave.  And I don’t have a problem with that yet.  Just disregard that post on Toro y Moi from a few months back.

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Day 205: The Postelles – The Postelles

21 Sep

White Night

Sometimes, we’re a little hypocritical here at Swole Ear Incorporated.  I realize this, I try my best to avoid it, but sometimes it’s impossible.  Over the past seven months, I’ve ragged relentlessly on standard indie rock.  It’s often boring, uncreative, and a huge pain to listen to.  I’ve also hated on music that doesn’t know what it wants to be—both music with all kinds of ridiculous, poorly meshed influences, and records that change genres ever other song.  Sometimes I have to eat my own words.

The Postelles have put together an album that draws from every corner of the rock n’ roll world.  First of all, the lead singer (who I can’t refer to by name, as this band doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry or list of members anywhere on the internet) sounds just like Buddy Holly mixed with a bit of Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone.  Musically, the band draws from The Stones, The Clash, and just about everybody else that’s ever picked up a guitar.

Somehow, it all comes together in a record that’s a lot of fun to listen to.  This self titled piece sounds pretty happy throughout, which may explain a bit of my attraction to it—I love me some happy music.  It’s pretty light lyrically, as the bands sticks mainly with the indie rock standby of love and relationships, most of which end up working out.

Honestly, if I had listened to this record tomorrow, I may have ended up hating it.  So many of our (well, my, at least) opinions of music depend on our (my) mindset at the time of listening.  This record could have been subjected to the same ridicule as The Drums if I had been in the mood for something complex.

At the end of the day, it’s not Radiohead.  That’s something for which we all can be thankful.

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Day 204: James Brown – Live at the Apollo

20 Sep

I’ll Go Crazy

When I saw that my dad picked a live record for this week’s Dad-Rock Tuesday, I admit that I was a little skeptical.  In order to appreciate a live recording, one usually needs to be a fan of the band, as well as the material being played.  I know that the Hold Steady’s A Positive Rage would sound awful to an ear unfamiliar with Craig Finn’s “singing,” And I couldn’t possibly imagine listening to a live White Stripes record without knowing that Meg White is supposed to be bad at playing her instrument.

Then he told me that it’s just over half an hour in length, and I stopped worrying.  Brown’s Live at the Apollo is apparently an iconic and important record anyway.

Not that I’m basing this off of something factual or anything—this is Swole Ear after all— but this record may be considered “great” because Brown is showcased in his natural habitat—the stage.  Even though I haven’t heard a full studio album by the guy, I’m well aware of his legendary live performances.  This record almost places you in Harlem that night in 1962.  Brown is always improvising and interacting with the crowd, it’s easy to hear why his live shows are loved.

The key word there is “almost.”  Live at the Apollo has the same problem that pretty much every live record has: concert recordings cannot duplicate the concert experience.  What was it that James Brown did that led to the sudden collective scream of approval from the audience?  How great was the anticipation of the crowd, who possibly had been waiting weeks for the show?  Something is lost when a concert is only listened to after the fact.

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Day 203: Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights

19 Sep

Obstacle 1

Gaps. We’ve all got them.  Sometimes, it’s because we were out of the country for a few months.  Perhaps we were in a coma for a year or two.  Personally, my musical gap spans from the beginning of time to 2008, the year that I first really got into music.  That’s a big reason that I started this blog; I couldn’t hold a music-related conversation that went outside late 00’s buzz bands and The White Stripes. That’s a pretty big problem for someone who considers himself a fan of music.  The Swole has helped with the gap, but it’s also taught me that I’m fighting an unwinnable battle.  I can’t listen to it all, no matter how hard I try, and I’d say that I’ve been trying pretty hard.

There are some spots in my gap far more glaring than others, though.  For example, a beloved indie rock record from the early 21st Century gets a higher priority than all of the afro-dub-acid-house that I’ve missed out on.

So why it has taken more than 200 days to get around to Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights, I couldn’t tell you.  What I can tell you, however, is that this record is fairly overrated, and possibly seen through a glowing aura of nostalgia by its fans.

Bright Lights is never bad.  Its biggest issue is that it’s never good.  This may be partially due to the fact that I’m listening to it ten years later and completely out of context, but that can’t possibly explain all of the blasé.  The White Stripes and The Strokes, bands of the same era, still sound great today.  I have a nagging suspicion that Interpol’s generic indie rock has always been boring.

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Day 202: Foster the People – Torches

18 Sep

Pumped Up Kicks

Live shows are extremely important for small bands.  If an up and coming group can’t hold its own live, then it won’t last another month.  Conversely, if a band with bad studio material puts on a fun show, they may be able to find some success (see Best Coast).  But once a band gets past a certain level of notoriety, all of that goes out the window.  Foster the People have gotten so big, so quickly, that the fairly boring concert that I saw them put on at Lollapalooza has done nothing to deter their rise to the indie top.

All I had heard of Foster the People before I saw them at Lolla was their massive single, Pumped Up Kicks.  I thought the song was good enough, but not nearly as innovative as everyone else seemed to think.  There’s no denying that it’s catchy, though, so I decided to give their live show a try.  What happened next is why, no matter how good an LP Torches may or may not be, I will never be a fan of Foster the People.

Their midday set on a side stage was one of the most lackluster performances I have ever seen.  The guys just seemed bored up there, and quite possibly extremely hung over.  Listening to Torches brought me straight back to that moment.  I just can’t find anything good about this generic indie pop, as all I can think about is that terribly unenthusiastic show, and how annoying it was to be sweating profusely and dying of dehydration, all to see a band that obviously didn’t care about me.

Foster the People don’t need to care about me anymore.  That show was absolutely packed.  They’ve established a fan base, and for the time being there will always be a million other people who want to see them play.  Good for them, I guess.

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Day 201: First Aid Kit – The Big Black & The Blue

17 Sep

Heavy Storm

In a manner fitting for the day after 200, Jack White Week will go out with a whimper.  The big 201 sees us listening to First Aid Kit, a calm folky duo from Sweden.

But, Mr. Ear, what does this group have to do with Jack White?  This is White Week, after all.

Well, I’ll tell you.  According to my best friend the Internet, after a Nashville show last year, Jack approached the duo and asked them to record a couple of songs for his label’s single series. I really have run out of Jack White music to listen to.

So no, there is no insane distorted guitar or screechy falsetto on this record.  In fact, Jack had absolutely nothing to do with this piece, but I’ve got to listen to something.

And here’s what it boils down to: this music is not for me.  Yes, there were a couple of tracks that had me nodding my head and twisting my metaphorical ankle-length skirt with the beat, but for most of this record, I was closer to nodding off than anything.

I don’t blame the music.  I understand why some could call this beautiful.    This is just a case of personal preference, and I prefer stuff that’s a little heavier.  If I’m going to listen to folk music, I still need it to be suffixed with “punk.”  But, by all means, if you consider yourself a fan of the genre, then this is a record for you.  Even I could get behind the delicate harmonies in Ghost Town and Heavy Storm.

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Day 200: Dolly Parton – Jolene

16 Sep

Jolene

Anyone familiar with Jack White knows that Jolene is an obvious choice for both White Week and Swole Ear’s 200th album.  A staple of The White Stripe’s live performances, Jack’s rendition of the heartbreaking title track is one of the greatest live performances in history.  White’s version is so good, in fact, that I always find the Parton version a bit disappointing.  Its tempo is too fast, and Dolly just doesn’t put as much into it as Jack.

The rest of this record follows suit.  I just can’t get into Jolene as a whole.  Yes, part of that is due to my dislike of the vast majority of cliché country music, but there’s something else going on here.

After listening to the album, I find myself tempted to give Dolly Parton the same advice that I gave to Bethany Cosetino of Best Coast.  Don’t let dudes control your life!  From the title track, where she begs a prettier woman to stay away from her man, to Highlight of My Life, which is about exactly what you’re thinking, nearly every song is about Parton’s doomed relationships, heartache, and even more obnoxiously, the stories where love actually works out in the end.

However, I must say that for a cliché country record, the instrumentation is about as good as you can get.  There’s plenty of good ol’ twangy guitar, both acoustic and steel. That stuff is irresistible regardless of your musical preferences.

Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough redeeming about the record for me to give it another listen.  The fact that I Will Always Love You is on it certainly doesn’t help its cause.  I’m glad that I gave it a listen, though—this is an important piece of Jack White-lore.

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