My Music: 2005
Submitted by Marty2 on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:37
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- NOTE: Not all the CD's I list will be from 2005, but they will all be recent.
- The Arcade Fire Funeral *****
- Elliott Smith From A Basement On The Hill *****
- Rilo Kiley More Adventurous ***1/2
- The Zutons Who Killed The Zutons ****
- Bright Eyes I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning ****
- Bright Eyes Digital Ash In A Digital Urn ****
- The Bravery The Bravery ***
- Kasabian Kasabian **1/2
- Queens Of The Stone Age Lullibies To Paralyze ***1/2
- Eels Blinking Lights & Other Revelations *****
- The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan ****
The Arcade Fire Funeral *****
All the rage on the indie circuit, it didn’t take long for me to catch wind of this new band out of Canada. This CD is everything a music lover could ever want. The band combines a vast array of instruments without ever sounding crowded or pretentious. The have an odd rhythm that is impossible to explain. Win Butler commands it all with a great howl. There is nothing about this CD I can complain about, except that there are only ten songs. Can’t wait for the follow-up to this masterpiece.
Standout Songs: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Crown Of Love, Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies).
Elliott Smith From A Basement On The Hill *****
The final full-length album from the punk-folk originator, Smith’s death was met with lots of questions and few answers. This album was set to be a grand 2 disc artistic adventure. Sadly, Smith only stuck around long enough to record around 20 songs. Some of which are absent. No problem there, because the 14 here are each amazing. More instrumentation, harder guitars, fuzzy soundscapes, and some of the same old lovely acoustic songs we’ve come to expect from Smith are all here. The centerpiece is “King’s Crossing,” an amazing fit of frustration unleashed incredibly by Smith. Though this album has it’s share of beauty, it also has that feeling that the man singing these songs isn’t going to be around much longer. I mean, a line like, “I can’t prepare for death anymore than I already have,” sounds about as straight forward as can be. But while “King’s Crossing” is mostly loud frustration, the quiet beauty of “Twilight” is superb. That’s just the kind of album it is.
Standout Tracks:Coast To Coast, Pretty (Ugly Before), A Fond Farewell, King’s Crossing, Twilight, Memory Lane, A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free.
Rilo Kiley More Adventurous ***1/2
This is the first piece of music I’ve heard from Rilo Kiley, so I’m unsure whether or not they have made more than one album. “More Adventurous” is a worth while buy if you ask me, though every song is not as strong as the next. It’s heavy-hearted experimental music that can really be a joyful listen if you let it be one. The big gripe is mostly that some songs just don’t measure up to others, but the great songs are really something else. I do look forward to their next offering.
Standout Tracks: It’s A Hit, More Adventurous, It Just Is.
The Zutons Who Killed The Zutons ****
Remember that Levi’s commercial? “Pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure…” yeah, that’s the one. An interesting note is that the band who’s song was featured in that commercial actually released an excellent debut. This is an album that is not “difficult” or “an artistic statement.” It’s a nice long break from both the pop of the radio and the overly ambitious music of pretentious MTV stars. It’s in that middle range where anybody can enjoy it, really. If marketed right, this band could become greatly famous in the US.
Standout Tracks: Pressure Point, Remember Me, Moons and Horror Shows, Don’t Ever Think To Much.
Bright Eyes I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning ****
If you haven’t heard of this band led by Conor Oberst, you must have something stuck in your ears. All the press calls him the next Dylan. If you ask me, him being the current Conor Oberst is just fine. This is the return to roots for Bright Eyes, the music they’re most noted for making. Bright Eyes plays a mostly folk/alt-country set here in these ten songs, very much influenced by Elliott Smith, though swinging more towards an alt-country direction. The attitude Oberst sings with makes it something totally different, however. Singing about the state of the world, the war, and just about everything a young man can be disgusted with these days, Oberst says what so many must be thinking. The album finishes off with it’s true masterpiece: Road To Joy. Political, yes. It goes from roots rock to hard rock an instant after Oberst utters the lyrics, “Well I could have been a famous singer, if I had someone else’s voice. But failure’s always sounded better… let’s fuck it up boys, make some noise.” Now that is a way to end a record.
Standout Songs: At The Very Bottom Of Everything, Old Soul Song (For The New World Order), Lua, Land Locked Blues, Road To Joy.
Bright Eyes Digital Ash In A Digital Urn ****
The Second half in Bright Eyes’ two releases, this is the one that can easily be called “difficult.” Critics didn’t much like it and it most certainly didn’t sell as many copies. However, this album has very frequent highlights and is a great listen. It’s an electronic record from a band famous for their alt-folk music, so it will have some missteps. (Namely “Arc Of Time” and “Hit The Switch”) The big success of the album is in one track that is my undisputed favorite of the year so far, “Gold Mine Gutted.” The album as a whole works for me, but clearly doesn’t for many others.
Standout Tracks: Time Code, Gold Mine Gutted, Take It Easy (Love Nothing), I Believe In Symmetry, Theme To Pinata, Easy/Lucky/Free.
The Bravery The Bravery ***
On the their debut, The Bravery do get a few things right. They have a few songs with that cool dance rock flavor that the kids seem to go wild for these days. Songs like “An Honest Mistake” are definatley great listens, but there are very few of them. I have faith in the band, I’m sure they’ll be more polished on their next. For now, this is just a solid dance rock record that has a few pleasures.
Standout Tracks: No Brakes, Fearless, The Ring Song.
Kasabian Kasabian **1/2
This record I bought with The Bravery’s, and I liked it better upon first listen. Songs like “Club Foot” and “Reason Is Treason” are excellent. The first half of this record is four stars, but the second half is horribly disappointing. From “Test Transmission” on it’s just unenjoyable. But before that, the tracks are great. Maybe the next time out they can make a fuller record.
Standout Tracks: Club Foot, Reason Is Treason, ID, LSF.
Queens Of The Stone Age Lullibies To Paralyze ***1/2
After the big bang shakeup the Queens are back, with a pretty good record considering a rather large part of the band has disappeared. It’s mostly a catalog of solid songs with a few great ones here and there, but nothing overwhelming. It certainly doesn’t live up to “Songs For The Deaf” or even “Rated R” but it still is a good listen, especially for fans of the band. The album closer, “Long Slow Goodbye,” is probably one of the better tracks I’ve heard of the Queens. With the cool outro attached to it, it gives the album an excellent ending.
Standout Tracks: Burn The Witch, In My Head, Little Sister, Long Slow Goodbye.
Eels Blinking Lights & Other Revelations *****
Let’s see, is this my third five star review? Well, it deserves it. I can admit to never hearing of this band until one night watching Jay Leno and seeing them perform “Railroad Man.” I loved the track. Then they played another late night show, and I heard the even more amazing, “I’m going to stop pretending that I didn’t break your heart.” I can also admit to only buying this double-disc CD because it was used and only nine bucks. That said, it’s wonderful. Like the pictures in the CD booklet, seemingly of man at different times in his life, it is like a concept album of a whole life. At 33 tracks across two discs (some purely musical, and excellent) this album has countless highs and is hard to explain it’s undying pleasure. Just go get it.
Standout Tracks: Railroad Man, Suicide Life, Last Time We Spoke, Dust Of Ages, Old Shit/New Shit, I’m Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn’t Break Your Heart, To Lick Your Boots, Things The Grandchildren Should Know.
The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan ****
How do you follow up a album that’s been dubbed an instant classic? You expand. Too many bands try to re-create that which they did so well last time. Most of them fail miserably. This band doesn’t. Jack brings in the piano on most of the 13 tracks on this album, and it’s a very welcomed instrument. It had appeared sparsely over the past few albums, but was no a mainstay. It is here. The only true ballad White had sung over his past two albums was, “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known.” This time around you have several, all unique. The best is probably, “Forever For Her (Is Over For Me).” I like this expansion. Minimalist can only last so long. This band is reaching for longevity.
Standout Tracks: Blue Orchid, The Nurse, Forever For Me (Is Over For Her), Little Ghost, As Ugly As I Seem, I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet).
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