Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)

4.0 ★/8.0 - 8.9

...or "Brian Eno Snatches up Coldplay from the jaws of arena mediocrity." Yes folks, after 7 years of pounding their cheap streamlined versions of U2 and Radiohead into the ground, Coldplay finally decides to make some artistic growth! Well...sort of. They're still basically easier-to-listen-to versions of U2 and Radiohead, but in and of itself, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. What matters is whether or not they deliver the pop goods and on Viva La Vida, they introduce enough new elements to recapture the guilty pleasure that was Parachutes, the biggest of which is Brian Eno's signature stamp of sound manipulation. His influence is apparent in every aspect of the album's making, whether you're looking at the heightened density of atmosphere, the wider variety of songs (something X&Y had virtually none of), or the new and interesting song structures ("42" moves from genuinely haunting to uncomfortably vicious and feral with stunning ease, and the middle section of the album from "Lovers in Japan" to "Chinese Sleep Chant" moves like a series of melodic sketches). Most important though, is the way that, for once, The piano or guitar isn't used as the main songwriting origin. "Lost" is primarily a triumph of production over substance, but the hand claps, gospel organs and hoove-clopping rhythm form a melodic tapestry of sound that is irresistible enough to overcome the simplicity of the song itself. This is typical Brian Eno behavior at work, where songs are based on sounds alone, as with the tripped out guitars on "Strawberry Swing" or the walls of piano on "Lover in Japan". In conjunction with the deal-breaking fact that Chris Martin's lyrics actually manage to resist obvious, gooey cliches, Viva La Vida prevails as a worthy spiritual successor to The Joshua Tree. Read more...

Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008)

4.0 ★/8.0 - 8.9

Often, Sigur Ros' music sounds like the stuff that gods might listen to. Their oozing symphonic excess and patiently paced crescendos enhance an unearhtly vocal performance that could only be that of an Angel's. But this reliance on divine weightlessness is not necessarily the element of Sigur Ros' music that makes them so good. ( ) seemed to pile on that formless atmosphere to no end, yet the album as a whole didn't quite reach the startling heights of their prior album, Agaetis Byrjun. Conversely, their new album, With A Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly (English Title), feels much more grounded, yet it's probably Sigur Ros' strongest work since their sophomore breakthrough. The down to earth qualities of the album probably comes from the fact that many of the tracks blatantly take cues from other modern bands. From the moment "Gobbledigook" bursts out of the door, parading through an Animal Collective drum circle, Sigur Ros seems to be finally showing a passion for music other than their own. Besides the 3-minute acoustic pop glory of the aforementioned single, "Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur" tacks a Sufjan Stevens-esque wall of glockenspiels and horns onto a driving, passionate rhythm. The combination of symphonic touches and rock-song structure makes it feel like a twin to Arcade Fire's "Keep That Car Running". Meanwhile, "Vi Spillum Endalaust" is a picture perfect ascending anthem that recalls Mercury Rev circa All Is Dream, and "Festival" wanders through familliar holy territory for it's first half, but very suddenly adopts a more earthly progression that is an exact replica of the outro for Titus Andronicus' "Fear And Loathing in Mawnah". This similarity is probably a complete coincidence, because the aesthetic here is completely different, enhanced by a more affecting build-up and bigger pay-off, but the fact that any connection can be made between the celestial Sigur Ros and a filthy bar-band that's pure Grassroots, is saying something about how far the band has come to do away with the pretentious qualities that's made them so hated by their dissentors. Admittedly, the songs gradually and completely return Sigur Ros to the sound that they're known for by the end of the album, with the breathtaking heights of tracks like "Ara Batur" and "Fljotavik", so this mainly feels like a transitional album. Nonetheless, the effect remains the same, and is only further established by the inclusion of their first english-spoken song, "All Alright". With A Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly borrows it's warmth from Takk... and it's creative layers of coos and voices from ( ), but the craft and accessibility of it's songs suggest something that their last two albums didn't (besides the post-rock friendly title) and that is tangible growth. Sigur Ros always tended to sound, on some level, like they were going through the motions just to maintain their heavenly reputation. But on With A Buzz... Sigur Ros' sincerity cannot be questioned. They've transcended their profile to become a magnificent, fun symphonic pop band. Read more...

Alla - Es Tiempo (2008)

3.5 ★/7.0 - 7.9

While Stereolab's past two or three albums have proven that Tropicalia-tinged, Electronica leaning, polyrhythmic groove-oriented indie pop will probably never die, the acclaimed French super-groop has been known to fail in the past. And in the event that this year's Chemical Chords turns out to be one of those unfortunate instances, a practically unknown Chicago three-piece with latin origin is already prepared to take the reigns. But even if Stereolab finds enough of a variation to keep their style sounding vital, there's still something distinctive about Alla that makes them equally enjoyable as, rather than overshadowed by, the highly regarded band that they'll undoubtedly be compared to. While Es Tiempo begins in the same polyphonic, hook-laden ballpark with "Una Dia Otra Noche," the album soon breaks apart and reforms in tangles of soothingly narcotic instrumental stretches. They become more post-rock in terms of song-structure and more prone to jam out, clear from tracks such as the spiraling "Tu y Yo," the druggy "Sazanami," and the relaxing "La Montana Sagrada." On tracks like "Tu Vida!" and "El Movimiento" they reveal a fondness for trip hop with touches of samples, scratching and high energy drumming, like their Chicago neighbors, Tortoise. The Sea and Cake makes a similar cameo apperance on ""No Duermas Mas," which adopts jazzy chords to induce an inescapable tranquilizing warmth. The end result is that, compared to the usual desensitization of emotion and exhaustion that comes out of listening to too much Stereolab, Alla's psychedellic washes of sound leave behind a startlingly fresh, subtle and substantive mark. There's variety here, and an attention to album craft that is usually lacking even in the "Krautpop" godfathers' best albums. Read more...

Opeth - Watershed (2008)

2.0 ★/4.0 - 4.9

You can be rest assured that a band that's developed as devoted a cult following as Opeth has, hardly needs to worry about their latest being received as anything less than monumental. It's not even out yet and bloggers have already begun to lob it excessively ecstatic praise. But here's just hoping that Opeth doesn't listen to their listeners, because after the irrational fandom that so many have for Opeth settles, the bottom line is that they're really gonna need to focus in order to bounce back from the disappointment that is Watershed. Essentially, Watershed retreads the balance between brutality and beauty that Ghost Reveries achieved, except with half the inspiration. "Heir Apparent" and "The Lotus Eater" form the meat of the first half and they're depressingly typical for Opeth, filled with all the expected death metal chops and progressive structures but none of the heart. If a song is gonna waste 9 minutes of your life, it should at least be sincere and coherent, but these songs never come together as much more than demonstrations of dexterity. It's volume and misplaced intensity without any memorable dynamics or soul. The slow-paced "Burden" is much more basic, but probably even worse. Opeth have always hinted at their dreams of being featured on Monster Ballads, but they've usually had the sense to reign in their hair metal urges by balancing them with a sense of the arcane and attention to composition. "Burden" throws this rule completely out the window for an extremely predictable and cheesy power ballad. The solos are admittedly, accomplished, but hardly are enjoyable thanks to how easy it is to imagine Steve Vai jamming along. It's after the dissonant Spanish guitar noodling that separates the two halves, that the possibilities of Watershed become apparent. "Porcelain Heart" is the first song on the album that stops messing around and takes Opeth's legacy seriously, with consistent quiet-loud dynamics that are continually breathtaking for the full 8 minutes. The hair trigger riffage of "Hex Omega" and beautiful landscapes of "Hessian Peel" are even more exciting and both rank among Opeth's finest. But since the album is only 7 tracks, it picks up the pace a little too late to save itself from mediocrity.

Many critics will probably cop out and blame the drop in quality on the departure of guitarist, Peter Lindgren, but that's just laziness. Mikael Akerfeldt is the main songwriter and he shows he hasn't lost anything on the album's second half. Maybe the near-perfection of Ghost Reveries set a standard that was too intimidating. Or perhaps writing songs between the nearly 200 performances of the tour are what resulted in the rushed feel of the album's first half. Critical analysis aside, Watershed is quite simply a listening experience that frustrates as much as it thrills, made all the more infuriating by the fact that it's come from one of the best death metal bands of the decade. Read more...

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (2008)

3.5 ★/7.0 - 7.9

Despite the fact that Nine Inch Nails has ceased to be relevant in any musical sense, Trent Reznor's rampant support of the modern digitalization of music has kept his music thriving. From online alternate reality games, to releasing his albums for free on the web, one gets the sense that his attack on music industry commercialism has revitalized his efforts, and it shows both in the frequency with which he's released his last few albums (three in little more than a year), as well as their quality (Year Zero and Ghosts I-IV were probably his first great albums since The Downward Spiral). The Slip continues this trend, lacking the conceptual coherence that charged its predecessors, but making up for that with Trent's most concise collection of tracks since Pretty Hate Machine.

The album makes its two halves very distinct from one another. The first half contains all the usual industrial influenced, rage ridden dance-pop that Nine Inch Nails has made itself known for; in other words, 4 straight reprisals of "Bite The Hand That Feeds". Yes, the proto-industrial grind of "Head Down", high-octane energy of "1,000,000" and club-ready single, "Discipline", are all very entertaining. But one can't shake off the feeling that Trent watered down the striking Bomb-Squad-esque production of Year Zero leaving behind, artless angst-rock. A full album of this stuff would have been a disappointment. Thankfully, The Slip, makes a 180 degree turn on the remaining songs. The first track of the second half, "Lights in The Sky" blows away everything that came before it. Stripped down to its emotive core, Reznor's songwriting talent is finally given the treatment it deserves. No more pedestrian, overtly-distorted anger overflowing his composition; just Trent and a spacious piano, with haunting results. After a soothing ambient piece, two hypnotizing near-instrumentals with buzzing layers of synth-pads, de-tuned guitars and unsettling layers of noise function as even more evidence that Reznor should consider following through with a sequel to Ghosts I-V. Admittedly, the off-the-cuff nature of the album release makes it feel like it's not quite the proper sequel that's been promised by Year Zero, and if there's any other fault to be had, it's the same complaint that could be given against Trent's mid-career material - an unwillingness to move forward. But The Slip is still yet another brick in the ever-building wall of anticipation for Reznor. Only time will tell if he decides to follow through with these inspired tendencies or just linger in a point of transition, still fatally attached to his younger years of misplaced angst. What's definite, however, is that the past two years have marked a much stronger revival than the With Teeth years did. Read more...

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (2008)

3.0 ★/6.0 - 6.9

Secretly, nobody likes change. It's inherent in Humans to gravitate towards our comfort zones. But who knows where the world would be if people didn't evolve, grow, move on and move out. Death Cab For Cutie understands this well enough. Scenesters still decry this once-loved Indie guitar-pop band for turning their backs against the underground and entering the major-label studio. But ultimately, two of Death Cab's most financially and critically successful works (Transatlantacism and Plans) came from this career trajectory. So for a band whose style (and gross income) has benefited so much from change, you'd think they'd be happy to welcome it back with open arms. But Narrow Stairs shows that, in reality, Ben Gibbard and co. are as apprehensive towards transformations as the next person.

The common consensus is that this is Death Cab's "experimental" album. But if you've grown attached to their current stream of OC-friendly guitar pop, you don't have to worry. Narrow Stairs' perceived experimentalism is more obvious in idea than in practice. "I Will Possess Your Heart" is probably the main source of the talk. It opens with 4 instrumental minutes of Can-esque jamming and spacious atmosphere led by a soulful bass riff. Also, "No Sunlight" and "Long Division" carry dense, intricate guitar-play and driving Neu!-style rhythms that distinguish them from typical Death Cab fare, yet still fit perfectly with their sing-along qualities. Even though "Pity and Fear" falls flat in it's attempt at traditional tabla-driven Indian music, Narrow Stairs' boldest tracks point to what could've been a spectacular new chapter in Death Cab's career. But the biggest problem of the album is that the band seems so resistant to make the full-fledged leap into the unknown, even though they clearly have the capabilities. Too many tracks hide behind the same AM pop territory they hinted at with their last two albums. In particular, the mid-section spanning from "Talking Bird" to "Grapevine Fires" settles into a lazy lull of humdrum hooks. Even after getting back on track with the slinking beauty of "Your New Twin Sized Bed", "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" prevails as a completely underwhelming closer, filled with lifeless cliche that leaves the listeners asking themselves, "is that it?".

Any way you look at it, Narrow Stairs is a polarizing album. Death Cab's experiments are exciting enough to get previous detractors on board, but those people will undoubtedly be let down by the straightforward interior. Inversely, those who jumped on board with Transatlantacism and Plans probably won't welcome the new influences very nicely. And ex-fans of their first few albums, will probably fall in love with "Cath..." (which strongly recalls Something About Airplanes) but will be unimpressed with both their typical tracks and their new jams. If Death Cab had just applied to a single mode, they might've retained the focus that makes all of those aforementioned albums so great. Instead, they've made a strange transitional work that offers small snapshots of the band's strengths and wide-scale landscape photos of their fears. Read more...

Islands - Arm's Way (2008)

2.5 ★/5.0 - 5.9

So many other journalists have written about what causes the musical anomaly known as a "Sophomore Slump", that restating it would just be redundant. That said, if you don't want to hear about yet another band falling hard on the follow-up to their well-received debut, just walk away from this review right now, because Arm's Way is a frustratingly classic case.

Here's the deal: each track on Arm's Way is bursting with ideas, but very few of them actually materialize into worthwhile songs. First track, "The Arm" personifies the album best, opening with a beautifully delicate build up of ghostly voices and crashing cymbals, but quickly ditching it for a generic, dark indie-pop tune. Time and time again throughout Arm's Way, the band induces face palms of the highest order, with their decision to make the strengths that they exhibited so well on Return to the Sea (subtlety, playfulness and catchiness) an afterthought, in favor of a sound that's darker, more progressive, and ultimately more forgettable. This choice probably comes from a new-found love for The Who, and I'm not just saying that because of the reprise of "You Are Forgiven" that arrives at the end of "In The Rushes". Each song flows like a Rock opera with a capitol R, filled with misguided attempts at drama, Prog and capturing the over the top whine of Queen at their most sinister and "serious" sounding (serious is in quotations because even when Queen were serious, they weren't, really). But all the tempo changes and excess Muse-inspired melodrama (his blood is dirty, and he likes it that way, folks!) can't mask the fact that the parts of these multi-sectioned songs that focus on the whimsicality from their debut are the only reasons Arm's Way is worth listening to at all. Check out the tip-toeing bridges of "The Arm", the chorus of "Pieces of You", the funky mid-section of "Life in Jail" and observe how much more lively, original and true to the band they feel in comparison to the majority of the forced, bloated songs they're lazily tacked onto. Jamie Thompson boasted in interviews how much more dark and complex the new album would be. But he should have known better than to overlook the fact that that's precisely one of the main issues that leads to a sophomore slump: a band consciously ditches their strengths in an attempt to avoid an album that's tagged as "too similar to their debut". One might argue that changes are necessary in a band's evolution, but it's also important to note that a change should be natural. If it's too self-conscious...well...we get a baffling mess like Arm's Way. Read more...

Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances (2008)

3.5 ★/7.0 - 7.9

Can passion be substituted for virtually every other attribute that characterizes good music? Some would point to Conor Oberst as proof that it can, but just as many probably remain unconvinced by his albums; especially his more recent ones, which have tended to overlook the fact that if you're gonna make emotion be the core-attraction of your music, you shouldn't drown it out with string sections and excess compositional prowess. If someone's gonna stake out the claim that emotion trumps content, Titus Andronicus is perhaps a better example, whose dedication to fervor and fire is only further strengthened by their muscular, musical simplicity.

It's too appropriate that a review of The Airing of Grievances open with a mention of Conor, because the lead vocalist of Titus Andronicus has a raspy and emotive voice that recalls the indie boy-wonder at his most searing, longing and corrosively punk-damaged. Unlike Bright Eyes, however, which too often contrasted Conor's quavering voice with spotless pop, the enraged and implosive screams and gang-shouts on The Airing of Grievances are perfectly appropriate for the music. The bulk of the album is made up of Flogging Molly-esque bar anthems that recall Punk in terms of volume and energy, but bring to mind The Hold Steady's dedication to painting pervasive pictures of parties and recklessness. In other words, these songs are freaking loud. The band begins with their amps at 11 and get progressively louder, nearly falling apart under the weight of every member plowing a single progression into the ground. They milk anthemic hooks for all they're worth, riding them through enough repetition and hot-blooded delivery of notebook poetry to thrust you into nostalgia, pining for long lost urges of youthful abandon. And this album is nothing, if not a soundtrack for growing up, particularly in the Western World. You can hear the Fourth of July fireworks sparking off in the opening rush of "Albert Camus". The two sections of "No Future" reek from traces of American rooted pride and honor in their traditional structures and melodies. Matched with the band's bleeding angst, fury and disquieting readings of Albert Camus, it feels like a mean-spirited satire on whatever this country is supposed to stand for - an extension of the idealism and anarchistic rage that develops when you're young and just learning the world's unfairness. Perhaps I'm reading too deeply into what many will justifiably ingest as bar-rock, but the band's wonderfully cryptic and poetic nature invites these kinds of interpretations. And as easy as it is to be resistant to music like this that wears it's heart and mind on it's sleeves, nothing really succeeds without some sort of emotional backing. I hope that The Airing of Grievances manages to convince the more hard-hearted people out there to accept sincerity at face value. It's okay to have feelings. It's okay to be philosophical. And it's perfectly possible to write a bare-bones, vulgar, kick-ass drinking album in the process. Read more...

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (2008)

4.0 ★/8.0 - 8.9

Through the first half of the 2000's, DFA records struck upon something gold, even if they didn't realize it yet. The formula was simple: Live Rock instrumentation + Dance music = a good time. The result was what publications have gone on to call "Dance Punk", recalling the early 80's, but bringing in the modern dance renovations of Club music. Bands like !!!, The Faint and Hot Chip spread these forefathers' philosophy all across the country, revealing scenesters' silliness at refusing to get their asses on the dance floor and start moving. It's no surprise why someone would look back on this as the "golden era" for music in the 00s, but those people also face the undeniable fact that the genre didn't have nearly enough top-tier albums before dying down.

This is what makes Cut Copy's sophomore album such a pleasant surprise. It so impeccably fuses dance music and indie pop that one would have trouble recalling a time when the two genres were at all separate. They're akin to a more poppy version of LCD Soundsystem, abusing all the arm-crossing, stand-still hipsters at a show with irresistible, hip shaking grooves, leaving them no choice but to move to the beat. But let's get rid of the modern cultural implications here; Cut Copy are just a ridiculously catchy Techno band. They aren't doing anything that Depeche Mode (or even more recently, The Rapture) didn't do before, and you'll be mistaken to think that there's any sort of cultural milestone hidden within In Ghost Colours' spinning keyboards and sharp rhythmic guitars. All they have are insanely catchy melodies and toe-tapping beats to match. But they accomplish it with so much charisma and fearlessness that you can't help but get caught up in their ever-swirling daze. "Feel The Love" is the mission statement, mixing Futureheads-style hooks with whimsical Disco breakdowns and shameless usage of a vox-box that seem to invite the listener to let go and embrace the cheese. If you do so, you'll be rewarded with the bass-led dance punk of "Feel The Music" and "Nobody Lost, Nobody Found" or "So Haunted", which glamorously fuses avant-noise with a rock-star arena chorus. "Hearts On Fire" meanwhile is a straight-forward club track with "uh" voice samples and layers of spacey synths. Between each of these 80's dance-offs are cloudy sound collages of vocal clips and samples that recall Animal Collective (see "Eternity One Night Only") and do away with any overbearing qualities that could've so easily plagued a retro-release like this. As a matter of fact, similar to M83's Saturdays = Youth, In Ghost Colours perfectly fits into 2008 despite it's dated influences. I think what we're seeing is a vigorous response to everyone who said in the early 2000's that all the bands bringing retro influences back to the forefront of musical consciousness was just a phase. The bottom line is that truly timeless music doesn't just stick to it's decade. It continues to inspire and be reinterpreted in an infinite number of ways, sometimes in a form that's just as fresh as the original was. In Ghost Colours is such a case. Read more...

Boris - Smile (2008)

3.5 ★/7.0 - 7.9

From what I've heard, the American version of Smile has a more clear, focused and direct feel to it. But when it comes to the Japanese version, it's contrasting styles, inconsistency, and unwillingness to edit makes it feel like a challenging collection of oddball leftovers from Pink. What's strange is how Boris makes what should be a scattered, short-sighted and hard-to-follow collage of unrelated tracks somewhat enjoyable. It opens with a striking duo of immediacy that hardly characterizes the bulk of it's inaccessible content. "Message" is Boris doing TV On The Radio, Hendrix style: fuzzy drum-machine driven Electronica with violently disorienting guitar-noise solos and playful doo-wop chants. The following "Buzz-In" makes an exhilarating and primal leap back into Pink territory: careening drums, garage riffage and background tape loops tossing in a psychedelic edge. From then on though, Smile becomes a tough cookie to crack. It doesn't fail completely, but on your first few listens, it does fall apart. I still can't understand how the underwhelming "Flower Sun Rain" has become a fan-favorite, constantly regarded as "wrongly excluded" from Pink. It's pace is mind numbingly slow, Takeshi's poor vocal attempts at balladry comes off as bad karaoke and the intended melancholia that this is supposed to be supporting doesn't even have a memorable progression. "Shoot!", meanwhile, is just too irritatingly fuzzy to retain any listening value. But Boris will still be your favorite Japanese Indie/Ambient/Drone/Psychadelic/Noise/Metal band by default. As difficult as it may be to get through their unpredictable albums, no one can deny them their distinctiveness, especially in the context of their homeland, where their closest living relative is probably Boredoms (and even they would only qualify as a half-cousin, twice removed). That realization alone makes all their albums worthwhile in some way. As confounding as Smile may be at first, it's got a personality that keeps you fascinated, making it a grower. Eventually, the initial incomprehensibility of "Dead Destination" begins to reveal an unstoppable decimation of apocalyptic proportions and the closing "You Put Up Your Umbrella" can never forgiven for it's lame first half, but soars and swoons through enough mind-expanding jamming and breathless ambiance in it's second half to impress.

The more you look at it, the more you realize Smile shouldn't be as good as it is. Pink was great because of it's cohesion and accessibility. It sounded like a work of labor and gave their experimentalism an aim and a recognizable identity. Here, the band sounds like they're once again shooting the shit, catering to no one and yet all the while, getting pretty close to Pink's greatness. Sure, it isn't very together, but taken as a collection of individual moments, it'll captivate. Read more...