October Wrapup

MINE

Scraping through the remnants of our collection has both of us wondering - will we make it to the end of the year without repeating any artists?  Well, I figure we can get through at least November on our own.  Maybe December will be all compilations - goodness knows we have enough littering our shelves.

This month is Spring in Sydney - time to get some sun on our faces and mess about in the garden.  Time to see Paul Weller - who was fabulous again.  Time to look at the end in sight of this year-long journey that, I can't help but say, has been alternately exciting and draining, thrilling and wearying.

What will we do next?  Delve into the vinyl?  Move over to DVDs?  Get the iPod to select a random song to review?  Any ideas?

YOURZ

I'm a happy chappy.  We've just booted another winter away and the days are officially longer thanks to Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time.  Mine has got the veggie garden flourishing again (for a girl who always said she had a brown thumb, the garden is doing very well).  I can't wait for the days when the weather is warm and the smell of BBQs hangs in the air when I'm walking home from work.

As Mine said, we got to see Paul Weller live, making it the second time for me.  He was every bit as good as the first time, if not better.  It was a top night.  Next up is tickets to see Gorillaz in December.  I can't wait!  And the line-up for Big Day Out 2011 includes Deftones, The Black Keys and Iggy & The Stooges.  Heck, I couldn't see all three as side shows for the price of a ticket, so we might just have to gets ourselves along to one of the shows.

This month, we've decided to give our freebie to our friend know as Cape D'Avenger.  We have a little inside knowledge so are hoping he will enjoy The Eels.  So if you're reading this, Cape D'Avenger, while we know where you live, we don't know your exact address, so send us an email with it and we'll send you a padded bag of musical goodness.

Not long to go now, folks...

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul

MINE

Mmph.  I really thought I was going to love this, given my previous delight at anything Dangermousy in the world.  I'll admit the songs are prettily composed and well played and everything, but it just didn't grab me.

I'd recommend it for dinner party music, though - there's lots of inoffensive melodies beautifully done.  I just didn't find it compelling.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN and pass the hors d'oeuvres 

YOURZ

It seems as though anything Brian Burton, aka Dangermouse, touches has an undeniable appeal to me.  His work with everyone from Damon Albarn, Beck and The Black Keys have become firm favourites.  Then he teamed up with Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous and an eclectic roster of singers and contributors, including film producer David Lynch.

The opening track Revenge, featuring the beautifully strained vocals of Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, sets a great benchmark for the rest of the album but only for the first three tracks.  It leads a trio of gorgeous alt-pop before changing gears with Julian Casablancas taking the lead in Little Girl, a bouncing dubby track complete with bass drops.

The following two tracks, the chugging Angel's Harp featuring Black Francis and Pain with vocals by somewhat subdued Mr Iggy Pop, add the rock quotient to the track listing.  After what could only be described as a Lynchian hommage to the psychedelic pop of everyone from The Beatles and Beach Boys to the Lips in Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It), is my favourite track of the album, Everytime I'm With You, voiced by Jason Lytle, formerly of Grandaddy.

However, I can't help feeling a sense of loss.  The death of Linkous prior to its release was a tragic blow.  If only as a testament to his abilities, Dark Night Of The Soul is as fine a document as any.  Vale Sparklehorse...

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.dnots.com/

The Black Keys - Attack & Release

YOURZ

Produced by the 'he's everywhere, he's everywhere' producer (and a personal favourite of mine), Danger Mouse, Attack & Release is The Black Keys' fifth full length album.  It's also the first album of theirs I bought. 

Like a lot of the new millenium bands, this duo slipped by me while I was squirrelling away in my home studio, writing beats and rehearsing the little hip hop band I was producer for at the time.  Another part of my avoidance issues (and this was true with my problem with The White Stripes as well) was I wasn't convinced a two piece band could sound 'proper'.  I'm such a fan of fat bass and drums, the idea of reducing the formula to vocals, guitars and drums didn't really sound like it would work, at least not in a way that would interest me.  But I am nothing if not willing to be proven wrong.

Attack & Release is a damned fine record of what could be called modern blues rock.  I should have trusted my ears instead of ignoring The Black Keys based on what I'd read about them.  I've listened to both this and their first album, The Big Come Up, many times over now and haven't gotten sick of either. 

Oh, and the whole debate Mine mentions below kind of negates itself when you read The Beatles admitted to openly pilfering riffs and licks from their favourite artists of the time.  The development of most modern musical genres has often involved magpie-ing bits from other artists and adapting them for new use, with the blues being the most prolific in this habit.  I'm eagerly looking forward to their new album, Brothers, to see what they've stolen this time.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

Blues-rock.  Meh.  I can see why this album's jumped into our collection as YourZ is both fond of  the genre and has a tendency to follow producers he likes, being a producer himself.  And this was put together by Danger Mouse, who we both think is shit-hot.  But that doesn't change the fact that the songs are generally what you'd expect from any old blues-rock band playing in Generic Pub, Anywhere.

That's apart from the closing number, which absolutely staggered me.  Not because it's better than the rest of the album, which it is, but because it so blatantly rips off the Beatles' Don't Let Me Down.  Which has been pointed out on numerous Black Keys forums in the past so I won't belabour the point.  (YourZ sez: yeah, but, no, but, oh, see above...)

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.theblackkeys.com/

In our collection we also have The Big Come Up

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

YOURZ

On another blog I write, I recently named Danger Mouse as my favourite producer of the decade.  Let's recap for the sake of the discussion: he started with the mashing of The Beatles' White Album and Jay Z's Black Album.  Whatever there is left to say about this, there is absolutely no denying its scope and genius. 

Then there's his production for The Gorillaz' Demon Days, undoubtedly a modern classic, The Good The Bad and The Queen's debut and for The Black Keys Attack and Release.  He rescued Beck's flagging career with his production of the under-rated but brilliant Modern Guilt.  He also added his weight to a staggering array of other projects.  His touch was not just golden, it almost guaranteed platinum success.  But it does make me wonder when he's had time to sleep in the last half dozen years or so?

St. Elsewhere came across as a breath of fresh air in pretty tired and hackneyed scene.  Like Katalyst, Gnarls Barkley paved their own way, relying on both fresh sounds and updates of old school ideals to bring something altogether new and uniquely their own but somehow also comforting and familiar.  Cee Lo continually hits the mark and astounds with his versatility.  From the gospel-on-steroids of the first track, appropriately called Go-Go Gadget Gospel (don't you just love a good piece of alliteration), the soaring chorus of Crazy, the loyal interpretation of Gone Daddy Gone, the pumping rhythm of Smiley Faces, the authentic modern soul of Online and so on, Danger Mouse pulls out all stops and Cee Lo meets it all head on.

I don't doubt Danger Mouse is going to continue to push himself and those he works with to achieve bigger, better and grander musical masterpieces, but as a standalone work, St. Elsewhere is a shimmering success and a constant delight.  Now, why don't we have The Odd Couple?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

Okay, YourZ has said it all here - hail, hail Danger Mouse.

And I love this album with its high-class bop and classy lyrics.  But it's one of the slow songs that makes it really stand out for me.  I understand why YourZ hasn't name-checked Just A Thought - we've discussed together many times the fact he doesn't really understand depression (YourZ sez: I think I do have an understanding of it - had too many friends suffer it over the years not to have some small understanding) he's never experienced it (lucky bastard).  This song expresses depression perfectly - and the final lines are just exactly how I've felt when I've had my deepest depression and yet have tried to shake it off when around my nearest and dearest.

And so I've tried/ Everything but suicide/ But yes - it's crossed my mind/ But I'm fine

Getting out of that deep "Great Depression" isn't easy, and happens in different ways for different people.  Me, I favour counselling, diet, exercise, avoiding alcohol and drugs.  Others take different routes, and I say - whatever works.

I didn't mean to be all down about Gnarls - this CD has so many great songs on it I'm also wondering why we don't have The Odd Couple.

VERDICT:TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.gnarlsbarkley.com/