When Game Theory came out, I declared that if the band released another album of that quality their status as one of the top ten hip-hop acts of all time would be unquestionable. Here's the album I was asking for. Every bit as forward-thinking as Game Theory, but with a decidedly old-school bent to large chunks of the music, it sees the group aiming to recreate the kind of socio-political posse cuts common throughout hip-hop's golden age. Malik B, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dice Raw, Common, Jazzy Jeff, and Styles P appear on a frankly stunning guestlist, while Black Thought's reduced presence means his rhymes are more carefully formed. More crucially, though, this album just outright fucking rocks - even "Rising Down", a song underpinned by the kind of guitar arpeggios you might more expect to find on a Radiohead song, feels as heavy as Sabbath. It's only a couple of slower, less impressive tracks toward the record's conclusion ("The Show", "Rising Up") that stop this from clearly being the band's best album. Now let's consider that statement; how many other rap acts have peaked on their seventh and eight studio outings? The Roots are a special band, and this is a special album.
Maybe Trent has realized his masterpiece days are over, so he is just going to release a steady stream of solid albums from now on? One would certainly hope so, as this is his strongest traditional album since The Fragile, and perhaps even The Downward Spiral. It's almost what "Year Zero" should have been, a conglomeration of all of his past sounds that doesn't sound redundant and uninspired. Its a different, less angry Trent whose days of youth angst and bitterness are gone, replaced by a sense of uneasy acceptance. Not to say that the album doesn't have Trent's edge, or that it isn't as "aggressive" as his previous albums.
Stars of the Lid produced a soundtrack of elegance. 'And Their Refinement Of The Decline' is a breathtaking, beautiful journey through ambient landscapes all packed within a double disc album. The overall atmosphere is nothing short of incredible. Whether it is the soft, brood cello tones in "Tippy's Demise" or the haunting piano strokes in "Humectez La Mouture," the mood is captured in a flash of brilliance. 'And Their Refinement Of The Decline' is intriguing, lush, captivating, and most importantly, unforgettable.
Although I feel it's dangerous to describe diversity in terms of "a melting pot," Belgium's Oceans of Sadness brew something astonishingly fresh and unique with 2007's 'Mirror Palace.' Although avant-garde and somewhat unconventional at times, the record is easily digestible and accessible for newcomer and long-time listeners to the genre. Beginning with the slow introduction to album opener "Mould," the album quickly boils over with stunningly heavy guitars, keyboards, and aggressive percussion. The harsher vocals leave something to be desired, but interspersed in their concoction are eerie and soothing clean vocal passages. The guitars deliver an undeniably thick crunch, and the thoroughly-metal cover of Alice in Chains' "Them Bones" puts to shame every cover I have ever heard of this song, and I've heard many. Oceans of Sadness provide for a captivating listen: the album is very heavy, melodic, and atmospheric. Fans disappointed that Arcturus have broken up would do well in checking these veteran Belgians out. This record is far from a melting pot of random ingredients: each element, riff, style, and genre is incorporated and executed with obvious purpose and zeal. Check out "Mould," "Mirror Palace," "Intoxicate Me" (its false ending is frightening if you don't expect it!), "Them Bones," and "Sleeping Dogs."
Somewhere within the home recordings of Grizzly Bear lurks an untouched comfort zone. Enter Grizzly Bear's latest release, Yellow House, which is a complex, cohesive, and cozy lo-fi indie-rock album. With haunting vocal harmonies paving the way, acoustic and electric guitars meticulously create a challenging, jaw-dropping record. Songs like "The Knife" and "On a Neck, On a Split" are prime examples of Grizzly Bear's unique style, which is something so dark, yet so beautiful. This is an album to remember for a long, long time.
Dwell is a slick collection of anthems from Iowa indie-poppers Envy Corps. The hype's already begun to hit these guys, with comparisons to Radiohead and Modest Mouse already pigeon-holing them, but don't be fooled; Dwell is a record that stands on its own, taking the best work from its contemporaries and incorporating it into eleven tracks of euphoric bliss. Look out for tracks like "Story Problem" and "Sylvia (The Beekeeper)", as they're quite liable to stick in your head for days and look out for The Envy Corps, because they've made an album that should be listened to.
Portishead could probably have got away with just making a Xerox of Dummy; after all, that's probably what people were expecting, and it probably would have been eaten up a mainstream audience. That's not what they've done though; instead, they've offered up a 21st century update of Silver Apples, with a folk influence lifted from Beth Gibbon's extra-curricular excursions with Rustin Man. Its course takes it through territory that is alternatively heavier, lighter, more organic, more electronic, more futuristic, more pastoral, more abstract, and more direct than anything attempted by Portishead before, and anything attempted before by any trip-hop artist not named Tricky. "We Carry On", "Nylon Smile", "Hunter", "Machine GUn", and "Magic Doors" could all end up as cult classics. Frankly, it's a shockingly good album.
Not so much disco for the modern era as it is disco in the modern era, Hercules and Love Affair is Andrew Butler pretty much having a blast creating some of the catchiest music around. Sure to incite the occasional spasmodic Caucasian hump-dance, Hercules and Love Affair runs from start to finish unabashedly in groove-heaven, pimped out with horns, octave hopping bass-lines, and uhn-tiss-kaht-tiss beats out the wazoo. Featuring the more than capable voices of Antony (of "& the Johnsons" fame), solo siren Nomi, and seductive Kim Ann, Butler's record sports ten consistently charming tracks that prove monstrously entertaining. The opening quintet is absolutely dynamite, with tracks like "Hercules' Theme" and "Blind" providing quality dance music with more hooks than you can shake a stick at, and though the second half drags a bit, it doesn't lessen the overall value of the record. An extremely enjoyable effort.
Bright Blue Dream never makes any apologies for its anachronistic approach to psych-pop, but instead draws from a wider palette to catalyze new directions in sound. While the hypnotic nature of the songwriting rightly implies a repetitive theme in many or all of the songs, it is the sonic inventiveness and subtleties that keep the album from being negatively affected by this approach. While the album has a lot of fun throughout its course, it is never afraid to strip itself naked and show some real earnest vulnerability and it is in these moments that the album lets its guard down and transcends itself. It is the intermingling of a wide variety of sonic ideas into a cohesive and emotional package that makes the Bright Blue Dream a worthwhile listen, and one to mark down for 2008’s early successes.
Bon Iver's slow-burning and subtle masterpiece, For Emma, Forever Ago, has a lot to say and realizes it doesn't need a lot of time to say it. That's just one of the noteworthy points to the brisk, nine track album, and it's hardly the most important. No, this small, heartbreaking and heartwarming album packs a wallop in its running time, turning tricks beneath its frosted production and layered acoustics. Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon uses a broad landscape to shape his small scale theatrics, and it not only broadens the sound Vernon is going for (his high octaves are continuously layered, using the same technique on his chords) but keeps For Emma from ever becoming just "another acoustic break-up album." "Skinny Love," full of earnest voice cracks, and the understated acoustic number, "The Wolves (Act I and II)," are just two highlights in an album full of them. With bolder steps, Bon Iver could become a voice for our generation worth getting excited over. For Emma already is.
It all began with a diary that even its author had forgotten about. Written at the apex of his drug-addicted hell, Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries begins with its anti-hero at his lowest ebb, and charts his recovery-ish with brutal honesty and no little amount of dignity. Interspersed with surprisingly eloquent readings from the text, The Heroin Diaries soundtrack is a collection of thirteen radio-primed rock singles, a near-perfect cohesion of Sixx's perfect pop smarts and nose for a classic melody. He's helped by renowned producer/guitarists DJ Ashba and James Michael, the latter adding flawless and understated vocals to his extensive songwriting credits. If 'Dead Man's Ballet' and 'Van Nuys' recall the theatricality of Meat Loaf, singles 'Life Is Beautiful' and 'Accidents May Happen' soar with the weight and genuine intensity befitting the best effort in a decade by three of pop rock's underappreciated geniuses.
Our top album here at Sputnikmusic was Burial's Untrue. That album had a distinctively sparse, brittle tone to its atmosphere. Other than that though I found the album almost unlistenably boring. Imagine taking that one cool aspect of that album and fleshing it out in all regards. Then you'd have Son Lux's At War With Walls & Mazes, an album that blends a variety of genres and production techniques to create a glitchy, high personalized, trip hop masterpiece. At War With Walls & Mazes is a strong contender for album of the year. It is the best electronic release since Venetian Snares' Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett. It is nearly flawless, and the scary thing about all of this praise is that it's only Son Lux's debut album.
With their 5th album, A Silver Mount Zion hint that their new material will be rockier, more fun, and more bitchin than ever before. Though they don't consistently deliver on that front, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons rocks pretty damn hard for a post rock record. Though Efrim Menuck's voice is getting worse as he thinks it's getting better, the record still serves up its fair share of moments such as the dynamite "1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound" and the gorgeous "Blindblindblind". Thanks to intricate orchestrations, choral arrangements, and some overall slick tunes, you can look forward to seeing 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons on a best of '08 list coming this winter.
This was my first taste of Murder by Death. I've heard some say this is their worst, but I enjoy listening to it and think the bulk of the tracks are solid. While there are some throwaways, there are also flawless tracks like Fuego! and Spring Break 1899. The thing that is most appealing about this record are the violins, while the album may have worked without them, they add an extra thing to the music and makes it sound sickengly sweet. Red of Tooth and Claw may not be consistent, or anywhere near the best album of the year but it does it's job, and it does it's job well.
In Her Gentle Jaws is a beautiful record. Combining blissful shoegaze with nintendo noises, this is original fare and one that many people will take comfort in. The thing about this record is how consistent it is; every track keeps up with each other, never really dipping in quality. I suppose the negative thing to come out of this is the fact that there isn't really any standout tracks but who cares really, especially when everything is good. It would be a lie to call In Her Gentle Jaws a minimal masterpiece, the way it was created maybe minimal but the record has a distinct 'full' sound. You can obtain the album free from the band's website, so I suggest to go listen to it. You may enjoy it.
