tuning note.

A Tribe Called Quest - "Vibes and Stuff" (The Low End Theory, 1991)

You feelin' the vibes?

This is that great period in hip-hop when sampling good jazz became a thing. Such a smooth and tight instrumental that's reflected through the flow of Q-Tip and Phife. These guys are flawless and always fun to listen to, in an almost satisfying way. Hearing them rap puts me in a good mood. Very chill.

Seriously though, in terms of flow and timing this is textbook. I can guarantee you any MC that's anything has heard and studied this stuff. We're talking what Bach is to composition. What van Gogh is to painting. What Scorsese is to film making. You just gotta know.  

Pissed Jeans - "False Jesii Part 2" (King of Jeans, 2009)

The epitome of not caring. I'm on a skateboard to nowhere going through an endless loop of weekday house parties. Digging the angry-drunk weekend warrior aesthetic. I'm so cool and better than everyone else at this place but I'll keep that to myself. It's the gangster rap of noise rock. Punk rock divas armed with 6-packs. I hate everyone around me so I'll just stay at home. The lead singer looks like Anders from Workaholics which is perfect. This song reminds me of buying variety packs of plain t-shirts. I'm so angry I don't feel like doing much of anything. I can write anything here, I don't care. asdnasjkdbzxzcuhquhwdhqdbasdbnbznmbxcnmzmnxbcbawbcuabisacjkocaowd2jdnqnjd2benq77777777777. Anyways

This band really drains me. I mean, it gets me pumped, but then takes it all away. It's pretty wild. Like getting punched in the stomach, or watching someone die.

I could've made a post on Thursday but I didn't bother.

Beach House - “Other People” (Bloom, 2012)

There are way too many good artists on the Sub Pop label to talk about, I don't know what I was thinking. Spoiler: I probably won't be covering Nirvana (sorry).

Beach House is pretty chill. With a name like Beach House it shouldn't really be a surprise. Just some laid back synth pop kinda stuff with dreamy vocals. Like I'm sitting at a house on the beach, weird. There's definitely a hint of sadness underlying the whole track though. It's cool, doesn't kill the vibe or anything. Something comforting to it in fact. Sort of a sweet pain, standing by the ocean late at night. The sand's a little too cold to be barefoot. For a song called Other People, it sure does make me feel alone. I think that's the idea though, other people wanna be in your life when you just want to be alone. Huh.

Well this has been therapeutic. Hope you enjoyed my stream of consciousness.  

Jeff Rosenstock - "HELLLLHOOOOLE" (WORRY., 2016)

I really struggled just picking one song off this release.

Following up We Cool? from 2015, Jeff knocks it out of the park again. This time he's back with a more conceptual album about lots of different things. Most of the tracks (including this one) blend into each other, so definitely try giving this one a full listen through.

This track specifically is quite short and sweet - mostly because it leads right into June 21st. In such a short time though, Jeff puts in so much energy and emotional dynamic into it. The chorus is in his usual fashion, explosive and loud. Nothing new there if you've listened to his past releases. I'm kinda using this track as an excuse to talk about the whole album to be completely honest. This one in particular because it does a good job of representing the entire LP. Lyrically, Jeff reflects on the woes of being in an unfair and horrible position but being unable to do anything about it. Being at the mercy of the more rich and powerful, a common theme throughout Jeff's work. He's a martyr for millennials, a voice among the crowd.

I think that Jeff makes a personal connection with a lot of listeners. Along with his musical abilities, a big reason for his success is the agenda that comes with his DIY attitude. Maybe we're all living in a hellhole, I don't know.

Good stuff.

Vulfpeck - "1 for 1, DiMaggio" (The Beautiful Game, 2016)

This track is hilarious. Packed to the absolute top with character and humor, and still super funky and tight. Seriously the most fun song I've heard all year. The little dialogue interlude in the middle that's just a bunch of baseball jargon kills me every time. Really, it's just one big joke on sports culture.

Comedy aside, I love everything about this. Vulfpeck is a ridiculously unique band - from their overall aesthetic to their actual practice. Everything is done (really well) with purpose. For a band that considers themselves primarily live performers, they sure do make some magic in the studio. I can't confirm but I'm pretty sure this music video is the actual studio take... and there's only one take. Basically, beastly musicians (callback to debut track ha). Also Antwuan Stanley kills it on the mic, obviously.  

Go Yonkles.

American Football - "I've Been So Lost for So Long" (American Football (LP2), 2016)

They're back! After some 17 years or so, American Football finally releases some new stuff. The whole album retains the same sound we all heard on the first LP - but much cleaner and even heading down a more pop-rock path. The twinkly guitars, jazzy drums, and melodramatic lyrics (with a little more age) are all still here, making a triumphant return.

This track caught my attention more than others on my first listen. It takes a rare step for American Football into some minor tonality and straight-ahead rock feel. Everything about it makes me think of the long road traveled to get to making this 2nd LP - a very prominent feeling of purposelessness and not belonging. But then the band reunited for new material, hooray. It’s really cool to hear them explore new territory after all this time, and I think they were much better off this way than sticking to their guns throughout the whole album. Not to say that this is a huge step from comfort for them, but you know, baby steps. Gotta crawl before you run, even if you started off flying. 

Honestly, it's difficult for me to talk about this new album. The first one holds a special place in my heart as it does for so many others, and I had a lot of mixed feelings after hearing the announcement. I put off listening to this until the very last minute when I realized I should probably talk about one of the tracks here. Basically, I got caught up in worrying about how it would live up to the debut, when really, it's just awesome that these guys actually got back together to make new stuff. Sometimes it’s important to remember to not take a band for granted, especially a band as elusive and influential as American Football.

So, thanks guys, it's been a long time coming.

Wolf Eyes - “The Driller” (Human Animals, 2006)

(Obligatory acknowledgment of this post being late. Sometimes Saturdays can blend into Sundays though).

The sound of discomfort and excruciating pain. If your dentist was a sadist. I always feel a sense of pain in my jaw when listening to this track specifically.

Wolf Eyes is a really cool project. I know this because Henry Rollins and Thurston Moore think so too. Their whole discography is really unsettling and explores some extreme soundscapes and atmospheres. It's abrasive, aggressive, cold, claustrophobic, loud stuff. Really gets you in the spirit for Halloween. It's the soundtrack to violence, or descending into hell or something. Following the song title, that high-pitched drill noise really gets to me. Because of that, the song just barely teeters towards too unsettling to listen to for me. But hey, I like pushing my own boundaries and stepping out of my comfort zone. Goes without saying that this is definitely not for everyone, along with the rest of the tracks this week. Don't use that excuse as a write-off though, try it out. Expand your ears and minds, readers.

Listening to this puts me in a really bad mood. I just saw Enter the Void for the first time last night and I'm really feeling the connection here. All these avant garde and anti-genres are pushing me into an existential dread. It's depressing and liberating at the same time, so it's all good.

Anyways; happy Halloween!

Suicide - “Frankie Teardrop” (Suicide, 1977)

A warning if you're going to listen to this: there are audio jump scares - you have been warned. Frankie Teardrop is probably unlike anything you've ever listened to. It's more of a narrative than a piece of music really, not that that’s a bad thing. We're definitely stepping into the performance art realm with this track, so be prepared.

Suicide tells the story of Frankie Teardrop, a young factory worker who goes insane, resulting in his suicide after killing his wife and child. Already, the concept is in a dark and disturbing place. What's worse is the song continues long after the suicide, and even follows him into hell. We are literally given a sonic interpretation of hell. Obviously this is some pretty heavy stuff, and the backing synths and drum machine only emphasizes the horrifying story. The tension built is extraordinary, with the minimalism of it all creating such suspense along with the banshee screams of Alan Vega. The screams just get worse and worse by the way, eventually taking a demonic turn. Everything about Frankie Teardrop is so powerful, from the energy and passion put into the performance to the political message brought with it. This is a track that will stay with you, as it has certainly left an impact on me and my interpretation of music and art in general. I appreciate this for what it is so much, but after this post I'll probably never listen to it again. 

With everything that I've ever listened to, nothing has terrified me more than Frankie Teardrop. When first discovering this piece many years ago, I couldn't even get through the whole thing without closing my browser in panic. I realize I'm hyping it up a lot, but I'm being serious when I say that Frankie Teardrop is deeply disturbing. You're gonna get spooked.

Krzysztof Penderecki - “De Natura Sonoris No.1″ (The Shining Soundtrack, 1980)

Boo! It's finally here! Less than a week til' Halloween, so let's get in the mood with some spooky and unsettling music!

We gotta start with a classic, and what better classic than Kubrick's The Shining. Such an incredibly diverse soundtrack for horror/suspense movie standards, and Kubrick's use of Penderecki's music is brilliant. You know, there are all these conspiracy theories about the creation of The Shining; from social commentary on the Native American situation to moon landing stuff (a la Room 237), but I'm pretty sure he chose to make the movie to use Penderecki's music. I mean let's be real here. The two just pair together so well, totally capturing the creepy and insane mood of the film.

De Natura Sonoris No.1 has some really interesting thick instrumentation and contrasting sections. We go from massive orchestral density to these hollow sparse sections that highlight the unpredictable nature of the film. It seems like every few seconds there's a new instrument highlighted, and it's really cool to hear these short horrifying solis played by saxophones, to bassoons, even some piano, and of course the quintessential avant-garde cascading strings that feel so right in the horror setting. To me, this is true orchestral horror music with integrity. All of these outsider ideas are utilized with taste and artistic license in mind, making for not only a successful piece of movie music, but art music in general. Go listen to more Penderecki stuff outside of film scores- definitely some pretty crazy stuff.  

Daniel Johnston - “Sense of Humor” (Space Ducks Soundtrack, 2012)

We're getting real abstract with this one. We went from blockbuster film, to indie game, and now a comic book created by Daniel Johnston. It was made as the soundtrack to his comic about space related things (and ducks), so you bet I'm counting it.

Obviously, this is something completely different from everything else this week. It doesn't exactly read "space music" upon first listen, but I guess that brings to question - what is space music? There's no set guidelines! Look at 2001: Space Odyssey, it used tons of classical and art music type stuff that is by definition "space music". This is the soundtrack to some ducks exploring space (I'm assuming, I know very little about the actual comic). Daniel Johnston is a fantastic song writer though, so please check out his other stuff. Lots of character and quirks throughout his material that make it fun to listen to over and over. It still retains a very DIY/garage rock aesthetic, which I think makes the track work even better as a whole. Reminds me a lot of Space Oddity and Ziggy Startdust stuff, which is great because those tracks make me think of space too. Excellent choice of instrumentation with the strings that occasionally appear and the echo on the lead vocals. Super fun track! How could it not be fun though? I want to read the comic on the premise alone.

Stay tuned next week for some spooky music! Halloween is coming. 

Ben Prunty - “Debris (Explore)” (FTL Original Soundtrack, 2012)

You know, finding space movie soundtracks that don't fall into the same cliches is really difficult. So I went searching into other mediums, and remembered that video games can have amazing sound tracks too.

So, here's a more ambient track from the 2012 PC title "FTL". There's a lot of cool retro/chiptune Tron inspired tracks in the game too, but I felt like something more atmospheric tonight. With a fitting title, the track is basically a soundscape of just that, debris. Metallic clanging, radio static, distant bleeps and bloops. All the usual you would expect in an outerspace wreckage. I just love the sense of mystery and exploration, like stumbling upon this massive space mess and asking "what the hell happened here?" Lots of interesting textures without going overboard and staying quite minimal and ambient. Space soundtrack done efficiently without losing the artistry, which I’m starting to appreciate a lot more than the over-the-top blockbuster movie scores. Sure, Debris still has strings and occasional typical upper-register piano twinkles, but they’re used in an actual subtle and intriguing way. The sounds inspire a true sense of vastness and depth - infinity. That’s what space is all about man. I want to feel small, the tadpole ripped from the pond and thrown into the ocean. 

Anyways, cool track Ben. You reminded me why space is so awesome. 

Thomas Newman - “Define Dancing” (Wall-E Soundtrack, 2008)

I bet you all thought I'd be taking the spooky ambient route, but nope! Space is space! Maybe Thursday though.

Starting off soft, we get the sounds to a sci-fi love story between two sentient machines. How lovely. There's absolutely still a very present coating of romantic movie music cheese over this track, but a little bit of post-work allows the song to retain that space feel. Typically, space feel being light and effortless, as I'm sure I'll be using this term through the rest of this week. The plucked strings and piano are potently bouncy overtop of this reverby electric guitar cascade. Keep in mind too, this is a Pixar movie, so I wouldn't really expect any music that's too incredibly artistic; that doesn't mean we can't enjoy this however. It serves its purpose, the romantic strings and choir synths, the bubbly space-bass. Just go watch Wall-E dude, what are you waiting for.

Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau - “Old West” (Nearness, 2016)

We end off our recap of September 2016 with something a bit more under-looked because of the genre. This was actually my most anticipated release for last month, which is why I'm overlooking the popularity on this one. Besides, this blog was never meant to be about popular music, just good stuff.

What I love about Old West is it never feels too empty. With a minimal setup of only soprano sax and piano for a jazz tune, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to focus your ears on the microdetails and put the performers in the hotseat. Mehldau fills up the space beautifully in one of the more rhythmically sound pieces of the album compared to things like Ornithology or In Walked Bud. We're given a beautiful pastoral setting right off the bat, and soon thrown into a wild soprano solo from Redman that would probably be more fitting for a free-jazz epic. I'm usually quick to turn away from most soprano players, but for my first time hearing Redman on the instrument I was abnormally impressed. Following that, Mehldau's solo is prototypical Mehldau; painting an ethereal picture with piano soundscapes while occasionally straying off with a jazzy idea.

The piece leaves me wanting a more fully-fledged out arrangement. Composition-wise there's an incredible amount of interesting things happening between just two players, especially towards the harmonic deterioration at the end. I don't think any other group could create the same type of magic that comes with the chemistry between these two however. If you're a fan of jazz, or even chamber music, do yourself a favor.

Preoccupations - “Anxiety” (Preoccupations, 2016)

Well, it's the first week back and I'm already behind schedule. Whoops. I'll get back on track though!

Formerly Viet Cong, the band is back with the new self-titled Preoccupations. Don't let the name change fool you though, the band is back with their dark and cold, goth-apocalypse post-punk sound that won over an abundance of fans in 2015.  This time around, we hear more emphasis on brighter synth sounds that cut through the grimy instrumentals. This is especially the case on Anxiety, offering a nice contrast with the guttural sorta-singing of Matthew Flegel. It's the tiny bit of pleasantry that helps the listener escape from the vocal embodiment of anxiety. Keep in mind that I'm not trying to talk down on the vocals. Flegel relishes in the post-punk aesthetic and style, adding the icing on the cake with the colour brought from his timbre and texture.

Not only are we getting sonic anxiety, but also rhythmic. The song appears to be constantly switching between 6/4 and 7/4, only adding to the sweet sweet discomfort that is this track. Like earlier though, the lead synth ties the two rhythms together and gives us a sense of harmony. Maybe I'm looking a bit much into it, but it's a really cool effect that only makes the song better. So too bad, I'm saying it's intentional.

I give you, the anthem to midterm season. An-xi-et-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy