Early word has most agreeing that, despite Veck's muddy, trandscoded rip, this is easily the most accessible work GB has done to date, if not their finest. The first twenty minutes of that sprawling composition remain my all-time favorite stretch of music.ĭownload: The super-early leak of Grizzly Bear's new Lp, Veckatimest, has left indie music fans with both a marginal copy of the album (decent on louder moments, washy in the quieter ones) and a long wait to hear what most people think about the effort. A love-it or hate-it concept album that involves a found diary and the search for one's roots, Frances is a 75-minute cycle of only five tracks (the concluding Cassandra Gemini is a single 32 minute epic divided into seven movements). This album was an important stepping stone for me, bridging the gap between the guitar-driven classic rock I had previously been into, and the contemporary, experimental music I find myself currently engrossed in.
However, always keeping the listener guessing, Black Dice avoid the usual post-rock climax and leave the the track's remaining minutes to the refreshing sounds of crashing waves.įrances The Mute // The Mars Volta (2005)Īfter dazzling many with their full length debut (and Rick Rubin-produced) Deloused in the Comatorium, guitarist/composer/all-around band leader Omar Rodriguez-Lopez controlled every aspect of this sophmore effort and has yet to relinquish his grip four years later. "Endless Happiness" is a perfect example of this intense/meditative dynamic, introducing a wobbly electronic pulse for a few minutes before crashing drums join the mix and build towards a head-on collision with some indeterminate place off in the distance. Canyons finds them wailing away in their neo-tribal mode, guiding their lengthy pieces through unchartered waters and usually hitting both spectrums on the intensity level at least once in each journey.
Like many of their Brooklyn, NY peers, Black Dice typically prefer to inhabit radically different sonic spheres from album to album. Check out the infectious rhythm section that marches through standouts "Lake Somerset" and the title track, not to mention the record's more abstract moments including "Octet" and "White Ink". Strikingly divided into what plays as essentially two long tracks, Deerhunter open with their difficult side and close with their more approachable, a brave move which somehow works well. Their second full-length album, Cryptograms is a great showcase of this young band's impressive versatility, consistently finding themselves in grooves that most bands can only hope to stumble upon until much later in their creative careers. Not all of it is great but Boards of Canada, El-P, and Islands all hit their respective turns out of the park. Meanwhile, Guerolito is a star-studded and overlong remix album of Beck's highly successful 2005 album. Equally condusive with headphones or beach boom boxes, Information is a glossy and spacey journey that features a dead-on Rolling Stones B-side ("Strange Apparition"), and a ten minute closing medley of three suites. Both Guero's follow-up The Information and the remix album Guerolito are not only solid albums but great summer listening. Although Guilt is still my favorite Beck album that I have come across so far, he has a great back catalogue and many of his more obscure and recent releases have been in high rotation for me lately. Produced by Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse, Beck's politically infused pop tunes inhabit the trademark feel of Mouse's slick, late sixties sensibilities.
That same quality of directness is now what draws me to that album, as it quickly grew to be one of favorites of 2008 (number three behind only The Dodos and TV on the Radio). The songs were short and simple and the whole thing seemed to fly by with few memorable moments. Last year Beck's Modern Guilt was an album that didn't impress me much upon first listen.