Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials

Florence Welch, knows how to sing an epic. Her powerful voice is distinct as it is emotional. This serves her very well on the new album Ceremonials. She has described this album as being joyful. Hmmm, okay perhaps with the lyrics that would be an apt description. I mean it is her words after all. The music however, is anything but. From the trip hop inspired Remain Nameless, a clear highlight, to the tribal chants of What the Water Gave Me. The music is as eclectic as you'll find for an artist that can get airplay on top 40 radio. This variety of music makes the album and songs much more interesting and deserving to be heard. Compared to her previous effort Lungs, this album is much more focused and less varied in direction. On Lungs, Florence was much more interested in exploring every one of her influences and had a song for each one. The songs felt disjointed and didn't feel like a cohesive whole. On Ceremonials there is much more focus. Most of the songs tend to dwell in same chamber/gothic music well of Lungs highlight, Cosmic Love. In fact, the leading track is a clear response to that lovelorn plea. Only if For a Night, tells the story of to lovers meeting but only for a brief period of a night.

Some are going to hate this record. That usually happens when you have a powerful women that is unapologetic about singing stadium filling epics. They would be wrong to dismiss this record. This is the right kind of emo. She risks singing too earnestly but never crosses that line that so many artists can't resist crossing (You hear that Coldplay).

One thing must be said about Florence, she believes in what she sings. There is a truth to her singing that is rare ability indeed.

Florence + Machine - Ceremonials - B+

Release Date: November 1st, 2011

Listen to Remain Nameless here!

Wilco - The Whole Love

The past two albums for Wilco, the Jeff Tweedy led alternative-country outfit well into their second decade, have not had the same impact as previous albums like the complete game-changer Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Critics and fans alike were concerned if the band had lost, ambition isn't quite right, but motivation for what had made their band great. Previous effort, Wilco (The Album), certainly was more direct and simplistic in nature when compared to their experimental past but was certainly lacking in energy. This isn't to say that the album was a bust or even 2007's Sky Blue Sky, but what had made Wilco the most interesting was how they could take pop songs and deconstruct them into something foreign and alarming, without losing the melody. That desire to confront the nature of a traditional song is what was missing. Tweedy recently defended those albums saying that "something straight-forward and direct was a goal on both of those albums." In that respect they were both well executed if rather uninspired ideas.

Fear not Wilco fans, the band and it's experimentation have returned with outstanding results! Opener Art of Almost have the band sounding the most Radiohead they ever have. First single I Might, is their best pop song since Kamera nearly a decade ago. For most listeners the temptation to compare to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot will be hard to resist. However, a key difference in both the albums is the attitude. Foxtrot always felt as if the band was fighting and pulling against something. Their label perhaps? The claustrophobic feeling of Foxtrot was fitting in a time so close after September 11th. The Whole Love differs greatly in that even though they are playing with the notion of conventional songs the attitude is much more relaxed and acceptance is a theme throughout these songs. Tweedy, the great songwriter he is, has always been concerned with trying to make sense of the world around him (see Ashes of American Flags). Here he sings, "I can't help it if I fall in love with you again / I'm calling just to have you dawned on me," on the song Dawned on Me. Set against the drop of an upbeat and hooky guitar melody you can hear the unrequited love this man has for a woman and the acceptance that it'll never be reciprocated, but that he's accepted this fact.

I would say that Wilco sound at ease. Perhaps that's because their running their own label and answer to no one or, it's the simple clarity with age. Whatever it is Wilco leave us with a comforting and terrific album. Where has this Wilco been?

Wilco - The Whole Love - A

September 27th, 2011

Hear first single "I Might" Here!

The Rapture Return!

If I was to say to you, "Hey did you hear about the rapture?" The odds are that this year, you'd automatically assume I was talking about the crazy cult who posted billboards telling the world to prepare for the actual ascension of worthy souls. The actual rapture I would be referring to would be the dance-rock outfit releasing their third album and the first since their debut for dance label DFA. The Rapture have always had the punk rock side to their music and when done correctly have had killer results. Tracks like Sister Savior, Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh, and the classic House of Jealous Lovers sound like punk songs dismantled and rebuilt for the dance floor. Now, The Rapture have come back with an unapologetic dance record that has obvious influences from the Chicago House scene and have nearly removed all rock/punk tendencies from the songs.

This isn't a bad attempt to reinvent a sound that seemed to run it's course in the mid 2000's when we last heard from The Rapture. Lead-off track Sail Away is the perfect starting point for the new form of The Rapture. The shimmering synths, the steady propulsive drumming, and even the psychedelic instrumental ending all work. The best songs on In The Grace of Your Love are all when The Rapture put down their guitars and build layered melodies from other instruments. Songs like Come Back to Me, Never Die Again, and lead single How Deep is your Love? highlight the best of the album.

The album isn't without it's problems however. The overly sensitive and well, downright embarrassing Children slow the album down and damper the albums energy. Another problem is as good and mature The Rapture sound on this they still don't have the songwriting chops of contemporaries Cut Copy or label mates LCD Soundsystem. Comparing them to these two acts may seem unfair but all three burst on to the scene around the same time and hidden deep in all of The Rapture's songs they are still trying to re-write House of Jealous Lovers.

Overall I found In the Grace of Your Love an engaging listen that benefits from listening straight through and not just the singles. Perhaps the best allure of the record is that The Rapture have grown and are writing some of the best songs of their career. I know I'll be interested in seeing just how high they can go in the future.

The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love

September 6th, 2011- B-

Listen to Lead Single How Deep is Your Love Here!

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, has created something so vivid, exciting, and completely original with her third album that it'll be interesting to see where she goes from here. We can worry about the future later though. Strange Mercy, is full of her unique view of the world such as the song Cheerleader where she discusses the downside beauty and some of the ugliness that can accompany it. Her voice is so soft and light it feels as if her voice is a feather floating around these beautiful musical compositions. The best part that keeps the songs from falling apart is just when it seems the songs are going to crumble, her jagged and aggressive guitar rips into these carefully crafted seams of melody and grounds them only to allow the song to soar again.

Clark has a keen sense of how to have fun too. Her lyrics are sly and amusing and they can discuss topics that are dark, in complete contrast to the music, yet are song without a hint of irony. This underlying sense of contradiction, or tension, keeps drawing the listener in and really pays off with repeated listenings.

After three albums I have always wondered why she chose the moniker St. Vincent. Why not use your own name? I always thought that perhaps she was hiding behind the name and I felt she had nothing to hide. However I wonder now if perhaps she chose the name to avoid the usual cliche of women solo acts? She is much more than a coffee shop singer. If the point was to avoid labeling her and her music with other inferior acts it worked. As a musician she is confident, creative, and has her own voice. Who wouldn't want to listen to an artist like that?

What is clear is that Annie Clark continues to get better as a songwriter and is as exciting a musician today as anyone else you could name.

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

September 13th, 2011 - A

Click here for first video "Cruel"

The beginning and first review

So this is my very first post in what will be a daily and, I hope, an enjoyable read about all things music and whatever else I feel like riffing on. For someone to start a blog strictly about music there are a couple of things that can be taken for granted. For starters, yes, I am every much the music obsessive as you might think. My most favorite possession is my vinyl record player. My collection is consistently growing thanks to a local record shop that has a terrific selection of used LP's. I also am conflicted about the website pitchfork.com. As much as I hate reading the reviews and their idiotic system of rating albums, seriously who gives out tenths of points? I find myself looking at the news they post everyday. It's like their an ex that you don't want to see but you know they hang out in the same places, deep down you realize their cooler than you, and you have no other choice but to see them. (More on my feelings about pitchfork to come later on).

There was a time where I thought I knew everything about music and I felt like my tastes in music were the only thing that mattered. I know, I know that sounds a lot like pitchfork. It also was my early twenties and it was a weird time. After a few years of this elitist and know-it-all attitude I discovered to my great dismay that it was harder and harder to find music to listen to and enjoy. You may have had the same feeling but on a smaller scale. Have you ever found that you have been walking around a record store for hours and can't stop until you find something to buy? This is what it was like except all the time. So I made the decision to stop looking for reason

s to dismiss certain music and songs and rather find reasons to enjoy the music. This change of attitude was a revelation. No, I didn't become a top 40, clear channel loving brainless music fan. Instead I found a way to enjoy music 0n a deeper and more personal level. Why? I realized later that what I was trying to find in any song was a way I could relate to it on any personal level. Did this always work? Absolutely not. I still have strong opinions and a lot of dislikes in contemporary music but, my music collection grew and my appreciation of music that didn't fit into my tiny idea of good music was expanded.

Through this process of expanding my musical tastes I was able to find the best podcast I've heard. Sound Opinions. Please if you're a music fan go to soundopinions.org and listen for free to two of the most respected musical critics have a fun and thought provoking discussion on music, music news, reviews, and interviews with some of the most important people of music today. The one thing I love about Jim Derogatis and Greg Kot is their childlike enthusiasm for music they love today. In particular was their rule for end of year best of lists. Jim and Greg always say that this is a chance for them to shine the light on the albums they were most excited about and were eager for people to hear. As someone who was used to the pitchfork way, seriously who gives honorable mentions to their end of year best of lists anyway, this was a revelation. I was so excited to find professional people who shared the same excitement and joy for music as I did. I've been listening to anything I can get my hands on ever since.

So with that introduction here is my first review...

Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation

Release Date: September 27th, 2011

Trevor Powers, a 22 year-old, multi-instrumentalist from Boise, Idaho is already on par with the likes of The National and Arcade Fire for the ability of writing an epic. The soft drum kit keeps the steady driving beats, as Powers adds keyboards, layering guitars, and his soft and sensitive voice keeps driving the songs. This could have been an overly earnest, sappy, and horrible attempt at sensitive bedroom rock. But where Youth Lagoon stand out is with the keen ability of how to build a song. Powers knows exactly where that fine line of too much and not quite enough exists. On Posters, the second half of the song is the lifting climax of the song, and instead of dragging that out for another minute or so of the soaring chorus, he knows exactly when to end it. As you listen to this song you instantly want to hear it again to relive the heart wrenching impact of this powerful ballad. This is the secret strength of The Year of Hibernation. Knowing exactly when to let go and when to pull back.

Powers also has the ability to have the reverse effect of a normal epic and turn those outer worldly melodies inside out and attempt to connect with the only one that matters. Himself. This is not to say that he is selfish or egotistical, rather the opposite. The Year of Hibernation comes across as a young man in his early twenties trying to make sense of his childhood and his place in the world. On the centerpiece of the album July, the narrator is reflecting of a hard break-up on the evening of a 4th of July celebration. The last line, "little did I know that real love had not quite yet found me," gently reminds us that childhood is of the moment and it's not tell later to we realize that what we thought we had wasn't completely real. That's a hard lesson to learn and it's one that we all eventually do. This is the type of connection that Powers has crafted all over this dazzling eight song length LP. It's a soft and quiet bedroom record that soars on emotion and powerful melodies about coming to terms with ones youth. Someone once wrote, "great art risks sentimentality without ever achieving it," Youth Lagoon bravely bare their soul and we're the better for it.

The Year of Hibernation - B+

Click here to hear Youth Lagoon's July!