Dethklok - Dethalbum II

Dethklok -  Dethalbum II

Published in 2009

Wikipedia

What do you do when your joke band actually starts making some pretty awesome music?  If you're Brendon Small, apparently you just keep on rolling.  I think that metalocolypse is one of the most original and funny shows on tv but if you hate cartoons or something stupid like that, you need to listen to their album. Actually I'd suggest this album for one specific reason.

Comedy albums, as a rule have this tendency to include these things called skits. These are usually cute little asides that acknowledge tha their music is actually a joke and that they are meant to be funny. ( presumably they don't want to get confused with real bands like the guys who wrote 'bush was right'. Look it up. If it were a comedy, it would be the best parody ever. ). However, my favorite comedy albums never have this shit. It's something to add a little flavor, but a great comedy or anything album should be filled to the brim.

The Dethalbum I had these asides and they just didn't add anything to the procedings. They were just too jokey, which is weird for a comedy band. But, the fat has been trimmed, and the reward is awesome.

Metal music is inherently a bit of a joke. Anyone who takes themselves that seriously needs to have he amount of introspection to recognize that they are flawed and vulnerable human beings before they implode themselves. Metallica at the beginning had this then lost it. Dethklok was concieved as the band that exists both inside and outside of that bubble. This is what makes them so interesting to me.

Let it be officIal. Dethklok rules. They play some amazing fucking music. They exist to rock and the music that they make stands up to some of the best albums on here. There are incredible guitar parts. Great drumming. Awesome vocals and just all around proficency. They aim amazingly high and reach those heights well. They play some really melodic death metal and they really do shred.

It's a very simple album in many respects. Sometimes the songs sound similar but you don't even give a shit. You want them to keep going and going, because they are trying to not be just a joke band.  The desire to really invest themselves into the band is what is the most impressive part to me. It could have just been a little joke, but they committed to it and in seeing it through they made something amazing. The lyrics are joking sometimes and the music is as overmetaled metal as you will ever hear, but you wouldn't want it any other way.

Anyway, I'm currently trapped on a metal tube that is burning dead plant matter to throw itself through the air at something like five hundred miles an hour, and the acompaniment could not be more awesome. I have to thank everyone involved in making this album, and want to thank Peter for alerting me to it's presence when it came out.

Croooooooooooow!
Matt

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

Published in 2004

Wikipedia

First off, I'm writing this on my iPod so if I say anything that is really crazy or completely doesn't make sense, the iPod decided to go crazy on me and I didn't notice.

Pangloss would have us believe that this is the best of all possible worlds, however, I would have to disagree with him on several points.  One the world has a lot of things that are not the best they could be, and two, in the best of all possible worlds Franz Ferdinand would be much more greatly rewarded for being fucking awesome.  Pangloss would then say, "ah, but because they aren't, poor people like you can actually go see their shows," to which I would eloquently and gracefully rebuke with a casual "shut your goddamned mouth." Also, Kings was cancelled, which not only proved months before the conan shit that NBC didn't know shit, but also proved that if god exists, he's a huge prick who takes the good tv shows away and leaves american fucking idol, although that sinking ship has rats fleeing the shit out of it.  Also, you should be watching Archer.

I was going somewhere with that. I think.

Anyway, to the album. It's jus a solid beautiful peice of work. The band is sharp, the lyrics are incredibly charged with sex and seductive quality, and the songs are tight and interesting. It's so good that I don't have a ton to say about it. This is an album to open your eyes to an interesting band who is trying to just simply make some great music.

This is some sexy music too. It's obvious to me that these guys are fully aware that the purpose of being in a hand is to be awesome and make girls go crazy. Making great music is the most direct path to their other goals, so they slam the music out, with a huge amount of character and style.

It kind of reminds me of Star Wars, and not that prequel crap.  The reason that A New Hope was good was because it opened up this different world where adventures could take place and the world was what drew you in. This album is the best kind of first album, because it makes you want to listen to the next one, just to see what else they can do in this musical space.

The analogy can go further. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is another great album and is on the list for the future, much like The Empire Strikes Back follows and supercedes it's predecessor. You'll just have to read to see which FF album I think is better.

This is one of my go to albums when I just want to hear some good music. It's not paricularly long, nor particularly ambitious, but it is a pinnicle of it's particular musical space.

Anyway, no one to thank today, so thank you Franz Ferdiand.

Potato, let me finish, salad,
Matt

Coheed and Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade

Coheed and Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade

Published in 2002

Wikipedia

First off, I want to thank Zach's friend Luke, who probably doesn't even remember suggesting this album or who the fuck I am.  As the first person who I don't know personally to suggest an album, I want to say thank you and hope that you will leave a comment or something.

This was written on my iPod just so you know, so if there are any crazily innappropriate mistakes, that is why.  Well, not the ideas, if those are bad, that is all me.

Coheed and Cambria is a difficult band for me to get into and an even harder one for me to write about.  It is a study in contrasts. They play some awesome rock and roll. They obviously know how to make a catchy song. They really like playing their instruments. And they remind me of the best parts of Rush (and if you hate Rush, you've got a severe mental block against awesomely cheesey rock).

Then there is the other side of them. The side that chooses to do the looney tunes interlude, just like Dream Theater, but actually more out of place than in that album.  They have the 'whispery breathy deep voices talking over our songs is awesome and not stupid' weirdness that just doesn't turn me on at all. And then there is the Cousin Jerry effect.

I feel like a prick for doing this, but I feel like I have to.  This is what I picture in my head. Coheed and Cambria are sitting in the garage that they practice in, between epic d and d sessions and listening to progressive rock. Then momma C&C comes out into the garage and tells them that they need to include their Cousin Jerry in the band, because he is not having fun, and she won't take no for an answer.  Cousin Jerry doesn't have any musical ability per se, but he really really likes screamcore and really really is being forced into the band by mom. So Cousin Jerry becomes the guy who screams in the background, behind the choruses and shit and drives me up the goddamn wall.

Just when I am getting into a song, just when I really am enjoying it, fucking Jerry comes in and pops a blood vessel in his brain by screaming. The fucking song is so good and enjoyable and that prick comes in and ruins it. It sounds like someone is just attempting to piss me off. Through my ear. It sounds how I must imagine syphilis must feel when you are just trying to take a nice long satisfying piss.

I'm listening to it right now, and it just stresses me out. Fucking every other part of the band, I am a hundred percent behind. But that prick makes me wish that I had a time machine so I could go back to the studio and fucking cut his mic and slap him around a bit for inflicting that scream-y shit on me.

The amount of vitriol in this post is probably a little overboard but I really want to enjoy this album. I just want the whole to be more like 33 where they attempted to use harmony instead of just fucking yelling. This is a really good album and the band has a ton of talent. If they could just dump Cousin Jerry, this album would definately be not optional, but that is the price you pay when you make my ears bleed with stupid decisions. And yes, I realize that this is probably someone's favorite part of the band, and that this is just like, my opinion, man, but it really did drive me up the wall that much.

Anyway, thanks again to Luke and I hope he'll suggest more albums that I'll he a complete and utter prick about and spew a bunch more words about.  Once again, I want to say I liked everything else about this album, so if c&c got rot of that guy, give me that album, and I'll sing it's praises.

It's two hundred miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack or cigarettes, it's dark out and we're wearing sunglasses,
Matt

The Who - Who's Next

The Who - Who's Next

Published in 1971

Wikipedia

I'm writing this album project from my iPod, so if I mess anything up, that is why.  There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. I have a four hour trip to Busan, South Korea, and if I can get some of these projects done on the trip, I'll not feel like a complete price of dirt.

However, there is the speed of typing issue, and catching up to these songs can be a bit hard. Especially when you are talking about a band as driving and great as The Who.

Who's Next is a classic for many reasons, and as a person who enjoys albums it's hard to not just gush all over it.  Listening to this album is like listening to your favorite classic rock station, because this is just a plain awesome classic album.

Interestingly, at least to me, it is not a incredibly hard album. I know, this was a simpler time, when a rock album could have things like feelings and ideas without being an emo scream cry whine fest.   What happened? Why did we leave this behind?  This classic has the same classic problem that most classics have, though, which is that it sounds a bit cliched. But, of course,  that is beacause it has been blatently ripped off and stolen from.

It's suprisingly gentle for a rock album. It's not about distruction and death, but it is about singing and finding. It's quiet and reflects some of their later experiments (ugh, nothing sounds as pretentious as saying 'experiments' when talking about music) with epic length stories and songs.  You never feel lostin these longer songs thoug, but whether that is because they stick to the formula well or because the quality of the songwriting leads you through the song.

I cannot tell if The Who are just an enigma or if they are actually what they appear to be.  What I mean is, are they actually as pensive as their songs would lead us to believe, or are they just trying to present themselves that way?  It's actually a question that I have about a lot of these classic albums.  Everyone says that the state of music has gotten simpler and dumber over the past 45? 50? years, and that when they were kids, the music used to mean something, man.  Which sounds like a huge load or bullshit to me, because some of these songs are very pedestrian in content, but would probably be hailed as 'better songwriting' than most of the modern music. I have a theory though.

What I think most influences a musical group is what is permissable in the culture surrounding us.  The role of the art, according to the eminent philosopher Douglas Adams said, is to hold up a mirror to the world and show it itself.  The world was less permissible in certain areas, so the band was reflecting a fundamentally different surface than the one that we see today. My point is not that The Who would be singing Linkin Park songs or something today, but that the classic rock that they perform is another form of nostalgia that we indulge in. We find the mirrors of the past to be smaller and easier to look at then he ones that are reflecting our own time, especially when we can see them as great.

This mirror is one of my favorite classic rock albums. Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again are two songs that can bring the house down, no matter where yuu are, and even CSI: Miami cannot ruin that scream for me.  It's a moment of glorious anticipation, feinting and darting, coming up and finally satisfying you.  Much like this album.

Anyway, this is probably a not optional album, but the not optional nature is implied by it's classic nature.  I don't have anyone to thank for this one, so I'll just link you to the Seoul Survivors website www.survivorsrfc.com and tell you how it goes.

We all know Sanchez was a loose cannon,
Matt

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Published - 10 minutes ago, 2010

Wikipedia

This one is going to be interesting.  I promise that I'll go fast.  I'm going fast because this is the first time that I've heard the album, and I kind of want to see what I can get out quickly while absorbing the music.  I'll probably come back to the Gorillaz at some point, because I love what they are doing, but this one is going to be all about the new one.

And I am literally listening to it right now.  The opening intro reminded me of the best parts of the Bioshock soundtrack, and we're opened into the "World of the Plastic Beach" by Snoop D O double G, which is always a good way to enter something.  As far as I can tell.  These two serve to show the eclectic styles that are going to be thrown into together.  A good solid intro.  However,

We're onto the next track now, and this motherfucking album is going to be on fucking fire for me.  We open with an orchestral intro, that is slowly developed and changed into the beat for some fucking flow.  Kano and Bashy, I bow down. It is an incredible start to what I hope to be an incredible album.  There is an amazing Middle Eastern style breakdown at the end of the song too.  Wild.

We've reached the next track, and here comes 2D, for the first really recognizable appearance.  This song, Rhinestone Eyes is a laid back dance track, a little down-tempo from Dare, but has a very nice late 70's feel to it.  This is a Gorillaz record.  It's not like anything else that you're going to hear this year.  A damn solid track.

Here we are, onto the big single, as far as I can tell from my perch across the Pacific.  Stylo is the only song on this disc that I have heard before, so I think I can process it better.  One: Go see the video.  I know that you guys love that new OK Go joint, but you should check out Stylo, just to see the new aesthetic that Gorillaz is working with.  Two, it's a weirdly downtempo joint, but I guess that is the style that they go for.  Just think a bit about Feel Good, Inc.  This song, however, is much more focused on the guests than FGI was.  It reminds me what sold them to me in the first place though.  As I said before, it's a completely different vibe than you'll hear on almost anything else.  I cannot name a band that in one album moves over more musical space.  

We're moving on to the next song, featuring the man himself, from FGI, De la Soul.  Another bumping rap track.  Superfast Jellyfish is some kind of crazy fast foodish advertising song.  What the fuck am I listening to?  This is amazing.  It's so different, I don't even know how to describe it.  It's a light poppy song that is also a bumping rap song.  So weird...

Aight next up, a song called Empire Ants.  You can really feel the beach theme coming through on the beginning of this one.  It sounds like one of those slow surf songs with the singing guitar.  Another slow track, a bit, God, do I say it out loud, Beach Boy-ish?  It sounds like that moment when the boardwalk closes in the evening right before a drizzle, when the beach is actually just a beach, and not just covered in ambient noise.  Then the track moves into a nightclub like dance track, which is sung by Little Dragon.  One thing that you need to realize about the Gorillaz is that they bring out great tracks because they work with great people.  I don't know who Little Dragon is, but I'm inclined to pick up their album just due to them working with Gorillaz.  

We're onto another track, one that sounds like a dubstep creation.  This album is full of songs that are just too weird to be described, and that is exactly what I love about the Gorillaz.  It takes so much to pay attention and listen to them that you're fully absorbed.  It might not be your cup of tea, but if you don't find at least one track on each album that you find fascinating, I think that you might not be real.  A lot of electronic distortion is used in this track, but it is not at the expense of music, but to make the music itself.  Very Dust Brothers.  Beautifully complex.

Jesus Christ!  It's Lou Reed!  From Walk on the Wild Side!  What the hell are you doing here Lou Reed?  Not that I am not appreciating it, but seriously, you've completely derailed my ability to write about this awesome song, because it just got like a 40 point bonus for having you on it.  I'm so incredibly psyched that Lou Reed is on a Gorillaz album.  I have nothing more to say about Some Kind of Nature other than if you don't listen to this album...

On Melancholy Hill is a haunting and beautiful track, that just sort of lasts.  It's beautifully simple and progresses wonderfully.  Listen to this album.  It'll do you some good.

Broken is another song that is a little slower, a little more beachy, than the other Gorillaz records.  However, the heartache vocals of 2D and the hurt that he expresses in his voice is pretty incredible.  The performances are quite amazing and wonderful.  This is a great slow walking, thinking album.  

Mos Def is a talented man.  In Sweepstakes he appears to be rapping over the most eclectic group of electronic instruments that will ever get together.  He's being distorted, changed, and burning the track up.  The sound is all encompassing, and slowly morphs into the sound of a big band playing the electronic instruments part.  This is giving me fucking goosebumps.  I write about music and try to give you some insight into my feelings about it and this is just too wild, I just don't know what I can say about it that won't make no sense to you.  This track will never be played in a DJ's set, and yet, it is the most incredibly fucking weird awesome mashed up wild song that I have heard in years.  Also, Mos Def just destroyed this album.  He fucking owned it completely, and that song is now over, and I don't even know where they go from here.

Now, we're onto the title track, Plastic Beach.  Another song that sounds a bit like a downtempo dance track.  However, I am enthralled.  I cannot turn my ears away, because I'm afraid that I am going to miss the next change and miss the next moment where it develops into another album entirely.  The chorus is amazingly beautiful and interesting.  I'm going to be obsessed with this album for a while after this.  

Another beachy track, called To Binge, featuring Little Dragon.  It's very pretty and I've been sitting back and just soaking up the song for the most of it.  So I'll be moving on quickly.  Very beautiful though.

Cloud of Unknowing is a lot like the two wrap up tracks of Demon Days.  If you like the sonic experimentation, and you want them to branch out, these are the kinds of tracks that you live for.  If you just want them to do more poppy stuff, this is going to be the part that might lose you.

Finally, we get to Pirate Jet, which is a bouncing track, somewhat reminiscent to me at least of Sgt. Pepper, where we hear the marching beat, and we've got the wrapping up of the message.  This is obviously an environmental record, but this is going to be a strange one for people to get into for that reason.  The music is just too good to overlook.  And they are playing some amazing tracks on this one too.

I'm going to write a brief conclusion, and save pontificating on the Gorillaz for later.  I want you to pick up this album.  This album is firmly in the Not Optional category.  If I had a category for Instant Classic, because I am reviewing it the day it came out in the US, this one would be all over it.  I'm listening to the bonus tracks at the moment, and I'm already hungry to get right back into the album.  I hope you'll pick it up, not because of my recommendation, but because you want to encourage artists to make new and interesting works, that draw you in and make you sit and consider them.  You so rarely get artist that constantly are expanding and trying new things, that we need to encourage them.  

I know that I have been quiet on the blog front recently, but fear not, more Album Projects are on the way.  I'm having trouble getting them off my iPod at the moment, but I have a bunch cued up on that.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my liveish blog of this one, and go pick up the album.

Listen up, and listen like crazy,

Matt