For the past few days I’ve been listening to Heaven, the new album by The Walkmen, and I have to say I am definitely in love with their 7th studio album in the last 10 years. I will be purchasing on vinyl asap. I was really surprised that Heaven is as good as it is because when they played their set late last year for Austin City Limits, including a lot of new material, their performance was bland and flat. I heard a handful of songs and walked off disappointed. Prior to that I had seen them in early March 2011 during their tour for Lisbon and they were dynamic and killed it.
If you have followed The Walkmen through their career, you will notice that their sound, lyrics, and production continues to progress. With age The Walkmen have grown with their music. It has moved from a dab of angst in their lyrics and a loud brash sound to darker, more cohesive, rich sound with lyrically happier connotations than you usually get from this band. You can even say it’s a little hopeful. Even vocally lead singer Hamilton Leithauser seems to be more in control of his vocals with a lot of clear range instead of that raspy scream-o voice that lingers throughout previous efforts. The opening track “We Can’t Be Beat” is a very strong, soft lullabying track, the production of the track is beautiful. It is a slow song but track-by-track the album picks up speed musically. The climax is the 3rd to the last song, “Heaven,” and it really highlights the changes and growth that The Walkmen have made in the last 10 years.
Key Tracks: We Can’t Be Beat, Heartbreaker, Southern Heart, and Heaven
Listen to “Heaven” below:
Better late than never. Last week Kanye West released his music video for “Lost in the World,” featuring Bon Iver off of 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasty; better know after the Grammys as Bonny Bear. Apparently it took months to get it done, which should not be surprising if you’ve read anything about West’s recording processes - he demands perfection. I’m glad that the music video was made for this song because “Lost in the World” is such a dynamic song both in the way he uses the samples (from Bon Iver and Gil Scott-Heron) and juxtaposes it with the strong beats that almost demand for some call and response. The video is black and white and features Kanye West with some dancers leaving the clips open to interpretation.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not usually a fan of remixes but M83 will be releasing remixes of “Reunion” off of their hit album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is one of the bands featured in the remix EP. The remix plays more with creating a relaxing veg-out state of mind sound. The remix has an extra layer of sound that is nice on the senses. It is something the original missed.
Remix:
Original:
I have been addicted to Tanlines debut album, Mixed Emotions for the past few months. Mixed Emotions was released in mid-March and the band has released two music videos for the album. Their sound is familiar which does not leave room for uniqueness. The duo does not present anything that is not currently out there, however, that is not necessarily a bad thing because their album is catchy and maintains that electric-dance appeal. Their sound is warm and ‘80s-like; it is inviting while moving back and forth from an upbeat sound to a more mellow sound. As a whole there is just something missing from Mixed Emotions. I am not sure what it is other than the overall production. It’s not a a disappointing because lyrically I am in love and the title track is solid and catchy. Not to mention the music video is pretty awesome as you can pan around with its 360-degree view.
Key Tracks: Brothers and Not the Same
I can’t get enough of good records on vinyl. This album is one of my top 60 albums of all time. Elvis Costello’s 1977 /78 US release of My Aim Is True is one of those rare debuts that pack a lot of honest guitar sound under 35 minutes. Though my favorite Costello album will always be Imperial Bedrooms as musically it’s style is all over the spectrum.
It isn’t a bad day for rain when you have this as the record you purchased for the week. 12 Greatest hits of Patsy Cline released in 1988. Cline is one of the most influential vocalists of her time and I have always had a soft spot for her lush sound. And with great musicians like Willie Nelson pumping out masterpieces like “Crazy,” her short-lived life and music career is filled with some great hits. Though, I’m still in search of her album Showcase on vinyl, either the ’61 release or ’63 re-release in good condition and preferably not from some shady Amazon seller. But if nothing else buy this album on CD OR Vinyl.
Track list: 
[video]
I usually don’t post things that I do not like unless it is part of a live music review but for the past week I’ve been trying to understand the hype behind “Of Monsters and Men.” I have heard their debut album My Head is an Animal a few times and their current single “Little Talks,” which I like. Trust me, I really want to love them but I’m not too sure if I even like them.
Maybe it’s because there are a few other bands who do the chanting, call-response, storytelling folk sound a lot better than this band (i.e. Grouplove, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Noah and the Whale, Alexander, earlier albums of Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s, and even local Austin band, East Cameron Folklore). Maybe it’s because there is nothing captivating and lyrically, I hate to say it, it is glazed with wordy and pretentious undertones.
I love this type of music but honestly track after track they lay out not-so-memorable songs besides their single. To be blunt, they bore me into a vegetative state. Don’t get me wrong, co-singers Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson have beautiful voices but I think I would appreciate the music more without the voices/lyrics. I know I am in the minority opinion about this group so enlighten me as to why you like them.
Music video for “Little Talks,” the one song I do like and everyone else when mentioning this band. :
[video]
I have been following Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (Orlando Higginbottom) since early last year. He does not have a lot of music readily available but I have listened to remixes that are on iTunes, Household Goods, Prehistory, and Prehistory II over and over again. Wednesday he was in Austin playing at The Mohawk.
Unfortunately because it was on a Wednesday, the show was held inside so T.E.E.D did not have his dancers on stage or his lighting setup. It did not leave anything to be desired, though, because T.E.E.D does what he does so well that after the first song, you do not miss the gimmicks. Still, I would be lying if I said some light tricks would not have been fun to dance with. Nonetheless, T.E.E.D went on stage with his signature feathered outfit.
His set was just under 90 minutes and there were minor pauses and a little stage banter. Each track faded into each other, creating a continuous flow of thrashing dance beats. T.E.E.D blends your conventional electronic synthesizer styles but pairs it up just enough with vocals, drum beats, and some stark bass. He is a magician behind 3 full tables of equipment. He has formula for making music people love, no gimmicks needed, just some tenacious beats. Try playing his music at home, or in the car, or even walking down the street. I guarantee everything else would just be background noise because his music invokes a powerful even sublime set of emotions.
No disrespect to The Mohawk because I absolutely love their venue but their indoor stage is not made to accompany tons of people who went there to dance. I would have liked to see T.E.E.D in an indoor venue like The Parish. (I saw Digitalism, another electric group there and it was a great dancing experience.) It would have also been nice to see T.E.E.D. on the outside stage of Mohawk where people can comfortably dance with the visual effects (some people were upset if you danced into them, can you believe that noise?) Granted, though pitch dark, constant camera flashes did make for an interesting “dancing” atmosphere.
T.E.E.D has a heavy fan base in the UK, with his first album dropping early June.
Music Video of Tapes & Money with live footage:
Live Version of Closer/Space Ballad/Trouble in London: