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homesickalien
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I like his perversity. He clearly enjoys the shock factor and it’s clear he could give a shit less about climbin up the top 40 charts, as was proven with his mixtapes. Ya know, Prince was worse, he just had more unique methods in raunchy singing, ya know, while wearing his bikini briefs under his trench coat.
…or singing songs that carry lines like “Here’s a toast ta all the assholes”, at Hurricane benefits concerts to raise money for those whose homes washed away. Good points Crania. This pompous temper tantrum boy is joke and frankly, as a listener, I’m sick of his bullshit. It’s to the point where art is imitating reality and I can’t separate the person & warped opinions from the music when listening to him. Indeed, how many times do we have to witness this child stomp his feet like a 3 year old while he thinks what he’s saying is relevant.
This chooch would be left for musical dead and pure has been material if it wasn’t for the fact that he put out quite possibly the greatest album of the last decade. I wrestle with this hard realization every time I run into one of these horrid examples of ignorant human behavior.
Albums a straight up hot mess, but nonetheless an engaging listen. Don’t know what all the hoopla is around being this great big radical change in musical direction. It’s certainly a change of pace for them, but Daft Punk still drips through the pores of these songs. They just went a little retro imo.
Damn you iTunes. Damn you to Hell!
*cat not cap. Damn sticky keyboard. Damn Pornhub.
Spot is basically a hybrid of LaLa which Apple (The Evil Empire) swooped in and bought when it remotely threatened their efforts for world domination a few years back. With LaLa, the only difference was that you could only stream it once, then you’d have to buy it in order to continue listening to it, and even then it’d go into some ghetto LaLa library that you could only listen to on site. It’s all great, but I gotta say, my music purchasing has slowed down tremendously since Spotifys inception. We as listeners have things like NPR givin us First Listens, Pitchforks Advance, iTunes pre release streams and Christ, even some bands stream their upcoming albums on their own websites. And, lest not forget the occasional mixtape that can sometimes bring unpredicted joy. By the time the actual albums get released I’ve already played it as much as I want which ends up being the death blow to what used to be very exciting Tuesday release days for me. Even worse, I really don’t need to end up paying for the damn thing cuz I’m tossing a mere $10 a month to listen to, well, everything I want to on Spotify! It’s almost silly for me to go buy it at that point.
The only thing I could see working with this new Google service is if it gave ya the ability to synch with your Gmail, Samsung/Android phone and maybe tie it into some sorta purchasing ease which I’m sure it’ll do – maybe even does for all I know, I’m having trouble keepin up these days. If that’s the case, then I’ll switch cuz I’m already drinkin that Kool Aid. Amazon currently does that whole purchase/file transfer well on phones along with iTunes which is pretty much the only way I buy these days, and why not? Goes right to my phone, heads to the Cloud, synchs to my car or my cpu when I USB it and let’s me run with my whole music library in my hand. I can plug and play virtually anywhere and without the clutter of scratched CD’s boggin me down. Even worse, I can streamline the whole process and just live off Spotify. Only downer is that I can’t burn a physical copy. Musicians have finally gotta realize the whole stream thing is costin them serious coins (literally) and fight back.
On a side relative side note, It’s actually been a little refreshing waiting impatiently for The Nationals album to come out next week because they haven’t (legally) leaked it, which is cool, and the first time that’s happened in a long time with bands new releases that I’m excited to hear. I’d be curious to see how that translates into sales for them as opposed to the way most bands are doing it these days.
I like Doe, loved a majority Slow to Love and thought at the time of that release she had a shot to break through to a larger audience, but I gotta say, every so often in the middle of some of her extremely great songs, she sounds like a screaming fisher cap trapped in a burlap bag.
When I start classifying my album listening by seasonal categories, I’ll be takin my ascot wearin, bougie ass to the local coffee shop and be the one over in the corner complainin that my sumatra is too bitter while dissecting Kerouac. Bleh. The National sound warm and sunny in the summer, quiet and rainy with the windows open in the spring, reflective and relaxed in the Fall and ambient and snowy in the winter. Don’t get me wrong, there are surely times of year that are more conducive to particular albums more than others, but if I ever opt out of an album based on time of year then I got bigger issues to contend with soon after..
Whether there was too much Premature Eval, Comment Partyin, First Listens, iTunes streams or banjo playing cover bands that love playing music from singers that are named Ezra, Vampire Weekend is by far the album of this week.
Love, love, love this album and yeah, you absolutely need to submerge yourself into the entire thing. From a lyrical standpoint the payoff ends up being great nonce you let it run over you. Not sure why, but I’m getting a Perfume Genius vibe to it with the emotional weight of subject matter and negative space he uses.
Why? Because you’re not getting the standard beat to death ‘doosh doosh’ of overwrought techno-cinema-disco slop? This is pure ear candy.
I need a margarita, my deck and a nice 78 degree day with this, right now. Now this is a summer album!
MBV, Youth Lagoon, The Knife, Kurt Vile and even just this week alone with Deerhunter, Cronin and Savages make that a tough statement to swallow, not to mention high percentage shots from Vampire Weekend and Daft Punk on the way. And, we haven’t even gotten through May yet.
If The National and The Walkmen with continue making just “very good” respective albums for the rest of their days, I will always have a happy pair of ears.
Silence Yourself personifies the quintessential idea of what surrounds the typical Stereogum AOTW personality. It lies just beneath the radar of immediate popularity, yet once you expose yourself to it becomes the rather obvious choice.
Now, Monomania is a great album, for sure, and anything Deerhunter does could be worthy of this almighty weekly honor, but there is no mistaking the fact that Savages are by far the charismatic pick of the week. If anything, based on the AOTW parameters, I’d even put it behind Mikal’s album, too, which is also obscenely good.
Great week of music.
Was especially waiting for your AOTW selection this week for some reason, and knew the obvious choice was going to be Savages. It’s as striking a debut as The xx album was, and its antichrist at the same time. The influences run rampant, from the obvious Souxsie/Sonic Youth to even early U2 & Boy, and at the most surprising moments throughout the 11 tracks. It’s a wound up post punk album that rolls out like a concept album rather than the typically isolated, pounding, individual track style associated with the genre. Deeply arresting to an almost uncomfortable extreme, each band member contributing so uniquely to the swirl of bottled rage that when blows, it feels overdue. It’s guttural rage paired with dark, brooding contrast. Needless to say, a must buy. I’m already excited for what their second album will give us. I just hope they can handle the pressure of what I’m sure will be a speed train to popularity.
Take note also…this week was the beginning of a insane amount of mind blowing albums to be released over the next month or so!
The last third of the album is unique with them, I think…there’s a ominous vibe mixed into their normally cheery approach. It’s a nice little blend for them. Sorta like epic pop!
There’s never anything wrong with Vampire Weekend. They succeed at giving us immensely accessible pop candy. There’s nothing new goin on here, or much different that what anyone should expect. It’s Vampire Weekend. We’ll enjoy it and not judge it because their next album will be just as much fun, take ya through another memorable summer then drift into what will be considered, at the end of their careers, as a magnificent collection of albums.
It’s really hard not be be completely enamored with these guys. So easy on the ears.
BTW….it may have yet to fully sink in, but next week I believe we have the Gatsby OST, Deerhunter and Mikal Cronin all being released. Quite possibly my entire summer listening library bestowed upon me in one epic blast. I’m as giddy as Quagmire trapped in a strip club.
Been givin this thing the heavy rotation over at NPR all day. It’s respectfully all over the place but at the very least made me pumped to see this flick. Some really great stand out tracks. Let it be known that Florence and the Machine were born to be on this soundtrack. Good stuff.
SG’s album of the week 5/7 & P4K’s first 10 of the year (easily 9.5) I know, I know…I should slow down.
It’s that good.
There’s a lot of guttural emotion here that obviously generates most of this bands force. These girls gotta lot to say and back it with an intensity unmatched since, I think, Arcade Fires debut. Its an album that sounds like repression finally bubbling to the top and being able to just come out without a leash..
And, when they dim the lights a little on some of the tracks, their venom really takes front and center. Once you reach ‘Waiting for a Sign’ you almost feel as bloody knuckled as they do and that’s extremely refreshing to experience.
I was extremely anxious to finally hear this album and the payoff is as suspected, a raw yet really well built, great sounding album. A post punk album thats almost easy on the ears. At first, there was a part of me that wanted the albums production to be more raw and unrefined which I thought may have even further heightened the songs emotional payoff, but then I selfishly concluded…fuck it, this thing sounds great.
Knew this would be your pick and I spose we need to accept this as the right choice even if the two other elephants in the room are so good that we’ll be referencing back to this exact date when we wind down and discuss albums of the year.
I mentioned earlier that Majical Cloudz comes off in a similar fashion that Perfume Genius’ albums exude…most of the emotion is strongest within the negative spaces.
And, I cannot leave without mention of RAM. I have now logged in 5-7 listens of this thing and realize each time I do that this thing is simply 10 years ahead of its time while 35 years behind, simultaneously. It’s a mind blowing listen. Its like Girls Father, Son Holy Ghost captured with their album by being a collection of a whole bunch of great songs from years ago that you know so well yet cannot entirely put your finger on.