Archive for May, 2010

Hot Chip still hot all grown up

May 18, 2010 · Filed under CD Review · Tagged , , ,

My working knowledge of Hot Chip isn’t very encompassing. A couple summers back I bought Made in the Dark, and I listen to it from time to time without a whole lot of musical thought. The band makes cool dance hits, but for some reason it didn’t catch the way the Scissor Sisters or LCD Soundsystem did.
Of course, when I sat down to review this British electro-pop band’s newest release, One Life Stand, I went back to Made in the Dark and realized how much I did like the album I had neglected for two years. It’s fun and sexy and exactly what a dance album should sound like.
More importantly, One Life Stand follows suit pretty successfully. But this album has a mature twist that I didn’t notice in Hot Chip’s previous work. It makes sense—I mean, the band has been putting out albums since 2003, so it figures its music would grow up with it—but the maturity does take some of the raw edge off its sound.
Opener “Thieves In the Night” is indicative of this fundamental change. Raucous beats have slowed and the drum and synthesizer combination hits a mid-tempo pace and levels out. “Happiness is what we all want / May it be that we don’t always want” sings Alexis Taylor. It’s an adult wish and becomes a sentiment that is continued throughout the rest of the album.
“Hand Me Down Your Love” and “Brothers” follow this pattern of more restrained dance tracks, but that doesn’t affect the quality of the sound. They are all solid tracks, and they sound more like a band here than anywhere else.
“I Feel Better” has beats and effects that rival today’s radio hip-hop and retains a club feel all its own. “One Life Stand,” kicks up the sexy factor, but Taylor’s message is one of a more grown-up kind of love: “I only wanna be your one life stand / Tell me, do you stand by your whole man?” It’s affectionate and cute and refreshing to hear in this genre of music.
But these tracks aren’t without neat little caveats, like the sing-song, humming intro to “Slush” that continues through the rest of the track or the bareboned singing in “Alley Cats” that gathers strength with a slow instrumental increase.
The track “We Have Love” is definitely the most reminiscent of the band’s old flavor. With a faster drum beat and the electro backing vocals, this one will make a listener want to get close to someone. Along with closer “Take It In,” these tracks are the most club-friendly of the album.
Alexis Taylor told interviewers before the album dropped that One Life Stand would be a calmer creation than previous releases. So we knew it was coming. But what Hot Chip has done with this album is not wussing out by any means.
It’s a soundtrack for intimacy, but for a more mature intimacy than the basement dance floor of a frat house.

-Liz

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Saying Yea! (or Yay!) to Yeasayer

May 17, 2010 · Filed under CD Review · Tagged , ,

Any band who hangs with koalas is okay in my book.

When I heard Yeasayer’s “I Remember” off the experimental rock band’s latest album Odd Blood, I immediately asked for the album.

It was the first time in awhile a band I’d never heard of had caught my attention, but I loved the beat and the nearly dance-like quality of the track. It was a synthesizer-driven, melodic song, very pretty and very well put together.

Little did I know that the rest of the album would be radically different track to track. But folks, don’t let that deter you from this album. If you like synth, catchy beats and vocals that are easy on the ears, Yeasayer is a solid bet. Just bear in mind that these guys are an experimental, psychedelic rock band, and some of the music they make is pretty peculiar.

Opener “The Children” is a little bizarre right from the start, with a voice modulator skewing any sense of normalcy the vocals could have had. A simple piano beat repeats in the background, and it would almost turn me off from the album for sheer creepiness if I didn’t know how much fun the rest of the songs sounded.

“Ambling Alp” is a prime example of that.  A short glock rhythm leads into a poppy little jam about sticking up for yourself. The song has goofy little psych-pop interludes of abstract sounds and synth chords, but they don’t detract from catchiness of the track. Singer Chris Keating jumps from solid tenor lines to crazy, Scissor Sisters-like falsettos, but somehow it all works.

The following track, “Madder Red” is slower, but still as intricate as the previous. It’s a pretty, heartbreaking number, one that uses smatterings of electric guitar and steady drums to add a darker shade to the melody. “Even when my luck is down / I take joy in knowing that our love grows / But if my vices are a burden / Please don’t let me off / Cast me from your home,” Keating sings, and even though it’s a simple song, he does a phenomenal job of pulling off the sincerity. And the humming intro and underlay is really neat, too.

For as different as each song sounds, none are long enough to be overly off-putting. Half the album clocks in at less than four minutes a song and a couple of tracks are less than three.

Keating’s wild falsetto comes back with a vengeance in “Love Me Girl,” but three minutes in the lyrics drop away for a lengthy instrumental interlude. The vocals pick up again in the last minute and the song skirts the edge of a major style change, throwing in snatches of new age sounds just to be confusing.

“Rome” takes the album in a whole new direction. Think a more electric Franz Ferdinand (from the newest album, anyway).  Romping bass lines juxtaposed with some almost horn-like synth tones and buoyant lyrics give this one a surprisingly jazz feel. And it totally works.

Echoing verses, light clapping and layered beats give “Strange Reunions” a world-music feel, running the gambit on psychedelic sounds.

And then Yeasayer is off again with a whole new sound in the pounding, clapping, bass-heavy “Mondegreen,” (which, on a silly aside, is a word that means the misinterpretation of a lyric. It may be because of this intimidating title that no one has tried to post the lyrics for this one online yet).  Your hands might get tired of clapping after the first couple minutes, but you will definitely want to dance through this song.

The back half of the album is definitely the part dedicated to excessive, clapping beats. But interestingly enough, each one is so varied that it’s a subtle repetition.

Closer “Grizelda” takes the sound back to the more lilting numbers like “I Remember” and “Madder Red” as Keating sings about running from a regrettable act. The lyrics and the vibe of the song don’t really match up, but it’s still an awfully harmonious song.

Though Odd Blood is Yeasayer’s second album since 2007, you don’t need to be familiar with All Hour Cymbals to appreciate the new album.

Every track has its own unique take on Yeasayer’s feel, and they all work as solid tracks both on their own and as an album.

-Liz

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There is nothing sexier than Timothy Olyphant in uniform

May 14, 2010 · Filed under TV Show Review · Tagged , , ,

Righteous fury has never been so attractive.

This spring break marked my third trip with Project Appalachia and the southern organization Christian Outreach For Appalachian People. Thirty-seven students spent a week painting, cleaning and rehabbing houses in Harlan, Ky. It was an amazing experience, and for many of us who attended, Harlan is a place of fond memories and hopes for a town still suffering from the ill-effects of coal mining.

But a strange thing happened on our return: instead of sighing when trying to explain our typically obscure destination, people began to nod emphatically at the mention of Harlan. “With the coal mining, right?” they would ask. “And the drugs and the skinheads?”

Though we did not encounter any of the latter during our stay, these statements weren’t far off. And my mother finally cleared up my confusion when she called to rave about the premier of an FX show called Justified, which features the always-attractive Timothy Olyphant as a U.S. Marshal who gets relocated after a public shootout in Florida.

Once she was done gushing over his big brown eyes and southern drawl, she explained that Olyphant gets shipped back to Harlan County, Ky., where he grew up.

And suddenly everything made sense, from the cursory references to the region when we had spent spring break to the allusions to Time articles about the area for the first time since the unionization attempts of the ’70s.

Justified has put Harlan back on the radar. Still riding the glow from the service trip, a bunch of us settled in front of our TVs to check out the place that had recently been our home.

And though it may not be an accurate representation of the county, it was still pretty kickin’.

The action-driven show is full of smart dialogue, references to the area’s history and eye candy for all. Raylan Givens (Olyphant) is sent to bust fugitives in Harlan, some of whom he knows from his youth. He tracks these goons to backwater abandoned churches that now serve as skinhead training centers and meets up with an old crush who just murdered her husband with his own shotgun.

Writer Elmore Leonard’s Harlan is a wild place, and though it is by no means the one we stayed and worked in, it makes for some excellent television.

Olyphant is experienced in the ways of the western from his protagonist role in three seasons of HBO’s Deadwood a few years back, and he carries the remnants of his time as a sheriff in the lawless town in South Dakota.

Givens is intimidating and scary and enthralling all at the same time, and the show really plays to that. Though his attire is typically dark, his weathered white hat stands as the symbol of the good guy, giving him the ambiguous vibe that is synonymous with the role. When he speaks with old friend Boyd Crowder, he says “Boyd” with just enough condescension in his voice that he could be saying “boy” as the two glare at each other. His fearless riffs as he stands in front of people pointing guns at him is breathtaking. He has clearly mastered this role.

What is accurate in the show are the surface allusions to the world of coal and the sense of unfulfilled potential that runs through the characters living in Harlan. Country songwriter Darrell Scott wrote a song called “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” and the show reflects that mentality.

The men with the swastikas on their chests are running from the mines and looking for some sense of purpose, however warped, to keep them out of there. Ava, the avenged wife, serves dinner in her dining room two days after cleaning up the blood from where she shot her abusive, miserable coal-miner husband. Givens is stunned that he is returning to Harlan, the home he tried so desperately to escape.

Justified is an amazing show, whether you like the idea of a modern western, are feeling nostalgic for eastern Kentucky or just don’t feel like moving from the couch on Tuesday nights after your Lost fix. It has action, emotion and beautiful, beautiful Olyphant. What more could you ask for?

-Liz

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Get Foxy (and just generally awesome) with these Philly garage rock boys

May 12, 2010 · Filed under Band Review · Tagged , , , ,

Foxy AND delicious.

Today I offer an ode to one of my favorite Philly acts.

Are you looking for some garage rock with some panache? Maybe some fun chant-along choruses and infectious drum beats? Turn away from your Web browsers. Close Pitchfork and R5 and look around you. The band you’re looking for is staked out right here in Philadelphia, and its name is J.Fox.

There is no band that acts or sounds quite like this threesome. They boast a low-fi edge that immediately calls to mind early Pixies or a teenage Isaac Brock screaming gibberish into a telephone. The guitar is raw, the drums are tight and the lyrics skirt the line between genius and nonsense (regardless of which, they sure sound way cool). The band’s fans are zealous, and its newest EP is a 7-inch split, appropriately titled Banana Split, with MATT = TANK, a side-project from fellow local band Algernon Cadwallader.

J.Fox’s 2008 release We’re Happy to Be Here is pretty indicative of this band’s prerogative. The songs are racy and fun, with tracks about everything from Brooklyn to girls and drinking to catching catfish down at the lake and frying them while listening to the Cure.  Sound silly? The band certainly is, but in a really spunky, smart way.

Singer Justin Miller has a mastery of lyrics that goes unmatched in the area. The songs are rough and typically on the shorter side of things, but they are chock full of character. Drummer Joey DeLorenzo lays down some of the most fun beats I’ve ever heard (and they are rife with tambourine, which gives me a personal bias from the start). Dan Weisberg possesses a stage presence that is simultaneously suave and affectionate.

Though the band has put out another CD since We’re Happy To Be Here, there was no better way to kick off the group’s solid career.  The more recent release, 5/6, has a darker sound overall, but still keeps the low-fi spirit that this band harnesses so well. Song “Bam Bam” is primarily that line over and over again, but who can’t love a song about the Trash Can Man?

And the best part? These are also three of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. At a show in South Philly last weekend they gave away free copies of its 7″ to anyone with a record player.

They banter with their audience and always seem to be enjoying themselves, whether they are playing in a bar or the back room of a warehouse.

Check J.Fox out at myspace.com/jfoxband for free tunes, silly cartoon music videos and news on these guys’ escapades. You won’t regret it.

-Liz

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