MUSIC

Album Review: Broadcast – Berberian Sound Studio

Broadcast: Berberian Sound Studio

Score: 7.5/10

Similar Artists: The Caretaker, The Focus Group, Philip Glass

Genre: Hauntology, Soundtrack, Musique Concrete, Collage

I will begin this review by saying what must be said: This is Broadcast’s first release since vocalist/instrumentalist Trish Keenan’s untimely death. She had been working on this soundtrack along with James Cargill before she was hospitalized due to pneumonia in 2011. Due to both artists being multi-instrumentalists, it is unclear how much of this album was worked on by Trish. However her influence is felt throughout and the music is made that much more sorrowful because of it.

Although this is a soundtrack, and stands alone in Broadcast’s discography, it can be considered a progression of the themes presented on 2010’s “Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age”. On that album, the band, along with collaborators “The Focus Group”, reached the culmination of their avant-garde tendencies. Although the band’s sound was always progressing, this was the first time where they could no longer be even remotely compared to their sister act, “Stereolab”.

Not surprisingly, due to this being a film score, “Berberian Sound Studio” is mostly instrumentally based. Although the album has a whopping 39 tracks, this number is in no way representative of the album length in total, which clocks in at only slightly over 30 minutes. Only a handful of tracks are over a minute, and the longest is 3 minutes. This leaves any kind of track-for-track analysis out of the question as many tracks are reliant on their antecedents and consequences. The album eventually does work well as a whole through the reemergence of themes and the occasional standout track. For the record, I listened to the album 10 times and not until the later half did certain pieces come into being.

Broadcast has always been known to be perfectionists, and despite the progression away from identifiable “songs”, that status is no different here. I have not seen the film this work is based off of, but the synopsis seems reminiscent of early Cronenberg, so it is not surprising that this release sees the band at their most “Hauntological”. The sounds range from ominous keyboard melodies, vocal snippets, organ drones, 80’s synthesizers, the clicking of old film reels, blood-curdling screams, and Trish’s looped, echoey vocals. There are a few instances where the whimsicalities of early Broadcast from “The Noise Made by People” or “Haha Sound” can be heard, but these moments are few and far between. Don’t expect to come away from your listening experience humming anything in the vein of “Come on Let’s Go”.

This album is a difficult one to give a score. Broadcast’s work has always been the type whose greatness has taken a while to shine. When first released, no one called Broadcast’s early work as classic, but when the end of the last decade rolled around they were reevaluated and deemed masterful. As hypocritical as this sounds, “Berberian Sound Studio” is not going to be deemed a classic; however, it feels like something is missing to this album that will fill itself in as the sounds enters our subconscious and we revisit them years down the line. For now we will have to be happy that this album exists at all, for the tragedy surrounding it could have been fatal to what is surely music that is worthy to the band’s legacy.

Track Listing:

1.) A Breeze Through The Burford Spur

2.) The Equestrian Vortex*

3.) Beautiful Hair

4.) Malleus Maleficarum

5.) Mark of the Devil

6.) Confession Modulation

7.) Monica’s Fall

8.) Teresa’s Song

9.) The North Downs Dimension*

10.) Collatina is Coming

11.) Such Tender Things

12.) Teresa, Lark of Ascension*

13.) Monica’s Burial (Under the Junipers)

14.) Found Scaled, Dound Drowned

15.) Monica (Her Parents Have Been Informed)

16.) The Fifth Claw

17.) Saducismus Triumphatus

18.) The Gallops

19.) They’re Here, They’re Under Us

20.) Collatina, Mark of Damnation*

21.) Treatise

22.) A Goblin

23.) The Equestrian Library

24.) The Serpert’s Semen

25.) Burnt at the Stake

26.) All Chiffchaffs

27.) The Curfew After The Massacre

28.) Poultry In Mind

29.) The Sacred Marriage*

30.) Valeria’s Burial (Under the Fort)

31.) Edda’s Burial (Under the Clumps)

32.) The Game’s Up

33.) It Must’ve been the Magpies

34.) The Dormitory Window

35.) Anima De Cristo

36.) His World is my Shed

37.) Collatina’s Folly

38.) Here Comes the Sabbath, There goes the Cross

39.) Our Darkest Sabbath*

* – Album Highlight

Steve Porter and “Orange Peanut”. Read on.

by Ryan Shea

I have had the great fortune of interviewing Steve Porter in the recent weeks. I got to know him on a much more personal level and saw how seamlessly he transitioned from EDM king to master of the viral video world.

Although his plans are to go back to his roots this year, he is still focused on doing what has made him even more successful now- making viral videos. His most noted one is the “Slap Chop” video. Now he is back and already garnering a bunch of attention for yet another amazing remix he created.

This one is called “Orange Peanut” which is a remix of the “Bad lip reading” that tends to happen a lot in the NFL. The “Orange Peanut” one comes from a memorable slip up from Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson. There are several others in it that are absolutely hilarious, and Steve does an amazing job at putting it together. Take a look at the video yourself and let us know what you think! 5 star quality in my book!

Take a look at the video here!

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis top, J Tim gains on Billboard

by Ryan Shea

Two hip-hop songs emerge as victorious on the Billboard Hot 100 in a rather stale and non-movement week otherwise.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” featuring Wanz shot to number one this week, dethroning Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven” which spent a total of six weeks in the top spot, according to Billboard today. This is the first number one song for the duo, and it only took sixteen weeks to get to this spot. This is a relatively short time for an artist largely unknown in the typical top 40, poppish type songs that always seem to carry the number one spot, and a unique song as well. This is the first time also where a song about a thrift shop is number one. Yes, that is accurate.

Much of the reason why this song has hit number one is it’s gain in digital sales and that it currently sits at number one on streaming songs with 1.68 million in one week. Streaming pretty much means being placed on apps like Spotify and Rhapsody to name a few. This was a problem for Taylor Swift, where her record label refuses to put her song “I Knew You Were Trouble” on streaming. It sits at number five even though it was a huge success in radio and digital sales.

Justin Timberlake, who has had a triumphant return to music after a seven year hiatus, sees his song “Suit & Tie” skyrocket from number 84 last week to number four this week. The song features hip-hop legend Jay-Z and has been met with quite mixed reviews since it’s release. It opened on the digital songs chart with 315,000 copies beating his previous best for “Sexyback” by nearly 100,000 copies. Expect it to linger in the top ten for quite sometime.

Album Review – Burial: Truant/Rough Sleeper

by Rio Toro

Burial: Truant/Rough Sleeper EP

Score: 9/10

Similar artists – none (only cheap imitators)

Genre – Dubstep, Vocal Manipulation, Abstract Ambient

Most EPs don’t leave the lasting impression that Burial’s last few have. With 2011’s “Street Halo”, last year’s “Kindred”, and now this, London’s finest producer has released the best material of his career thus far. Personally, i have always been an album man, but with the quality of these EP’s I wouldn’t mind if Burial never released a full length LP again! With each release, William Bevan has continued to evolve his distinctive sound. While he is certainly a dubstep producer, Bevan’s music sounds like nothing else in that genre, and I often find myself describing his music as being emotive ambient music disguised as dubstep.

The two tracks here clock in at around 25 minutes, which is considerably shorter than Kindred, but this work is arguably more dense. Kindred closed with the revolutionary “Ashtray Wasp”, which was the longest and most surprising Burial track to date. The form of these two tracks is similar to the multi-part suite of that track, and they continue to explore the unexpected turns that his music can take.

“Truant” is the first of the two tracks. It opens the way you’d likely expect a Burial track to (foreboding ambiance, trademark vocal warble [a female voice saying “I Fell In Love With You], thumping bass), but then the track cuts out completely, giving a 1-2 measure of suspensful pause before the sounds re-enter and the momentum is turned up a notch. This is a trick being used by many these days, including “James Blake” and “The xx”, that is used excellently throughout this release. It is great to be reminded of how masterfully meticulous the vocal samples are in Burial’s music. Plenty of followers have attempted to adopt the ghostly vocal samples that permeate Burial’s work, but always fail in comparison. The track is riddled with other surprises as well, such as sudden rising chord sequences, but the main surprise is that the best is yet to come.

I will come out and say it, “Rough Sleeper”, is the track of the year thus far, and it’s going to be a tough one to beat. The first third of the track is led by an organ, which contains a specific tone that is so deep and affecting I could spend the rest of this review talking about it. I swear, it would be impossible for anyone to get bored with music this labored over. After a dozen or so miniature sections of bass and ambience, a new voice emerges stating, “Lights surrounding you”, when we are greeted by a heavenly bell section that carries the track for the remaining minutes. Describing all of this sounds like the track would be chaotic, or a take on maximalist electronic music recently popularized by “Rustie” or “Lone”, but the 13 minute length and the extent of this artist’s talent assures that all these components are in their proper place.

It should not be taken as an exaggeration when people say that Burial is the single greatest electronic producer of the time. He has clearly established himself as an unimitatable artist who is restless in his inventiveness and the extent at which he will challenge himself. While he clearly could have made a career out of repeating what he did on his “Untrue” album, he finds that making us scratch our heads is much more fun. We should be grateful.

Track Listing

1.) Truant

2.) Rough Sleeper*

* – Album Highlight

Album Review – Vatican Shadow: Ornamented Walls

by Rio Toro

Vatican Shadow: Ornamented Walls

Score: 7/10

Similar artists – Pete Swanson, Demdike Stare, Andy Stott, Ital

Genre – Noise Techno, Hipster House, Dark Ambient

Dominick Fernow has been a lead contributor to the highly prolific noise scene through his many aliases (most notably “Prurient”). As opposed to his peers in the genre, such as Wolf Eyes or Black Dice, Dominick’s music has always been more harsh, more disorienting, and certainly more damaging to the eardrums. This is an artist who is not kidding around. His music is relentless and unforgiving, and many of his tracks have featured high pitched alarms and sirens that scrape and gnaw at your mind for dozens of minutes on end. This most likely does not sound pleasant, and it certainly isn’t, but there is also a not-so-easy-to-write-down aspect of his music that is rewarding and addicting; mark my words, after you have listened to one of his releases you will want more.

His newest release compiles nine highlights from a new military inspired alias. These tracks were previously released as singles/EP’s on his own “Hospital Productions” label, but in this collection they are being put out through the much-loved, and very modern “Modern Love” label. If you haven’t heard of this label, dark might be one word to describe its output, but a more apt phrase would be suffocatingly bleak.

This release’s sound fits right alongside label mates “Andy Stott”, and to an even greater degree – Manchester’s, “Demdike Stare”. Both acts craft harrowing soundscapes out of buzz-saws and dozens of other non-musical entities, as well as embracing influences from various cultures. These sounds are conjoined to create a morphed, and entirely un-danceable form of ambient-leaning techno/house. The difference is that Vatican Shadow does this at higher on average, bpm than Demdike Stare. Still, many of Dominick Fernow’s previous releases have seemed to exist in a category all their own, and this one seems easy to corner in comparison.

One could also lump this into the newly cited “Hipster House” tag (meaning no disrespect), which speaks of techno/house music being created by artists pertaining to non-house backgrounds. Fellow noise brethren “Pete Swanson” recently made his first foray into the techno scene with the fantastic “Man with Potential”, and his results were similarly un-danceable. For these reasons, Ornamented Walls is somewhat more accessible and predictable when compared to his earlier material – although clearly not in the traditional sense of these words.

As I’ve stated before, this is a compilation, not an album. I mean this in the truest sense, as this release has no discernible flow, and the highlights are all front loaded. Here lies the release’s main flaw, as this leaves for a very uneven listening experience. Despite this complaint, Ornamented Walls remains a successful and well done direction for the artist. When the project gets a proper, fully developed full length it will be much more deserving of our attention.

Track Listing

1.) Operation Neptune Spear Part 1 (Live Rehearsal Mix)*

2.) Operation Neptune Spear Part 2 (Live Rehearsal Mix)*

3.) Operation Neptune Spear Part 3 (Live Rehearsal Mix)*

4.) Cairo is a Haunted City (Mythic Chords)

5.) Nightforce Scopes

6.) Yemeni Telephone Number

7.) India has just Tested a Nuclear Device

8.) Church of All Images (Church of the NSA)

9.) Boxes Were Wired to Batteries then Loaded into a Brown Toyota Cargo Truck

*- Album Highlight

Album Review – Yo La Tengo: Fade

by Rio Toro

Yo La Tengo: Fade

Score: 8.5/10

Similar Artists: The Modern Lovers, Low, Sonic Youth, Arcade Fire

Genre: Indie Rock, Husband and Wife, Dream Pop

Few of the great 90’s bands have transcended their 90’s band status to include the subsequent decade(s). Through Yo La Tengo’s continued elegant songwriting, subtle tweaks in craft, and sonic adventurousness they have done what most of their peers could not. With 2000’s monolithically somber “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out”, 2006’s relentlessly diverse “I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass” and 2009’s enthusiastically pop-laden “Popular Songs”, Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew easily reached the highs of their previous opuses.

It is now 2013 and it now seems clear that YLT seem intent on conquering the next decade as well. At a conspicuously short (in YLT standards) 46 minutes, some may believe the 4 years since their last outing has left them withered and dry of inspiration. Alas, this album has no track that runs past the 6 minute mark; which means no 15 minute jam sessions that we have become accustomed to on YLT’s previous albums. Some may miss the bad-assery offered by tracks such as “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Mankind”, or “And the Glitter is Gone”, but this album is focused on representing another side of the trio’s talents. “Fade” strips away the more disparate elements of their compositions to reveal an album where each track flows seamlessly into the next. It is not a far cry to call this their most consistent and concise release to date; not too shabby for a band’s 13th release and 4th decade in the industry! Listening to Fade’s beautifully layered, rich composition and heart wrenching guitar lines begs the question…are Yo La Tengo immortal?

Number 13 begins with “Ohm”, which opens with eerie drone pulses and morphs into what is surely one of YLT’s more anthemic songs. Existential lyrics and tight vocal harmonies make this one of the most memorable on the album. “Is That Enough” brings back their tender side and introduces the album’s orchestral section which is featured prominently on the album thanks to John McEntire’s glorious production work. “Well you better” might be the catchiest thing on the record. It establishes a funky keyboard/bass line that embraces the band’s eccentricities as well as their innate ability to craft a Perfect 3 minute pop song. On the more experimental side, “Stupid Things”, combines melodic guitar lines, dreamy production and an almost krautrock backdrop. However, the centerpiece remains “Cornelia and Jane” which begins with melancholic opening chords and Georgia Hubley’s understated voice at it’s most serene. The lyrics represent the album title as they evoke a strained relationship on it’s last legs, slowly fading away. “Before we Run” is a effective album closer despite only being 6 minutes long. It is held together by it’s grand orchestral components and stands alone in YLT’s discography.

While I’ve certainly been dolling out unbridled praise for this album, the trio have certainly dished out offerings that are more raw and exciting than this one. Not unlike Radiohead’s “The King of Limbs”, “Fade” exists as a kind of culmination of what we have come to expect to hear from the band, whilst still pushing themselves forward in slightly new directions. Hoboken’s Finest have certainly made their mark on indie music’s consciousness, and their inspiration is one thing that will certainly not fade for quite some time.

Track Listing

1.) Ohm*

2.) Is That Enough

3.) Well you Better*

4.) Paddle Forward

5.) Stupid Things*

6.) I’ll Be Around

7.) Cornelia and Jane*

8.) Two Trains

9.) The Point of It

10.) Before we Run

* – Album Highlight

Dance Music at the Grammy’s

by Ryan Shea

Dance music has come a long way in the past decade. From music you could only hear at 5 am in NYC at clubs like Sound Factory and Crobar, to now being played out by commercialized mainstream radio. Dance music is beats and vocals dubbed together by artists who can hear melodies where others do not. Having said this, it is amazing to see these artists being honored, as musicians, at the Grammy awards.

The nominees for Best Dance Recording are all very talented DJ’s. Avicii is a great DJ who brought dance music to the mainstream when Flo Rida remixed his song Levels. Although he should be recognized for helping bring dance music to the forefront of American radio, I don’t think he deserves the Grammy this year. The Best Dance Recording, in my opinion, belongs to Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin, Don’t you Worry Child. This song mixes beautiful vocals and lyrics with genius melodies and beats. Not only can you sing along to this track but you can also get lost in its atmosphere. Swedish House Mafia is a trio of talented DJ’s and ingenious producers. They mix just the right amount of commercial feel to get radio air time and still keep the respect of dance music lovers around the world.

The Grammy for the Best Dance/Electronica Album hands down belongs to Kaskade Fire and Ice. Kaskade is one of the few American DJs and producers to draw followers around the world. In 2011 Kaskade was voted America’s Best DJ 2011 by www.djtimes.com. The Fire and Ice album peaked at #17 on the US Charts and #1 on the US Dance Charts. Kaskade brings together different artists and other DJs in this album and still manages to keep his authentic sound. The album includes two discs’ (Fire and Ice) which contain the same tracks but mixed in two completely different ways. Fire is smooth and alluring, while Ice is loud and hard. Although the same songs, each disc feels and sounds completely unique. Kaskade deserves this award, in my opinion, and I believe will take home the Grammy this year. Although the other albums in this category are all great none has the originality and range of skill like Kaskade Fire and Ice.

A Taste of Fine Country

by Pamela Gordon

A Taste of Fine Country
January 2013

This years country nominees truly gives a look at what this genre is, what it was and what it can be. The groups and individuals compiling the country genre all have the talent, soul and passion, but for the Grammy’s, to win, they have to stand out and have that “something special”. Although it is close, the Grammy SHOULD go to….

Carrie Underwood – Blown Away will likely take home the Grammy “Best Country Solo Performance” category. The song is epic, theatrical and emotional. The lyrics are powerful and her voice makes it magical like you’re in the middle of an Oklahoma tornado. The strings in the song, although not typical country fiddle, give it that epic sound and makes an impact on listeners senses. The other nominees are all great, but for me, they lack that “wow” factor. Dierks Bentley’s “Home” is beautiful, Eric Church’s “Springsteen” makes me think about being a teenager again, Blake Shelton’s “Over” touches the starry eyed lover in me, and the others all having parallel themes.

Eli Young Band – Even if it Breaks Your Heart should win the “Best Country Duo / Group Performance”. The song entails all the good eminence of a single AND it’s a quality track. It is immediately catchy and starts of with simple vocals and a guitar strum. The chorus makes you want to sing out loud at a bar with your friends. It is memorable and makes you want to listen to it again. Although I feel this song should win, I have a feeling it may go to Taylor Swift & The Civil Wars – Safe and Sound. This mysterious sounding song is featured in the film “Hunger Games” and demonstrates Taylor Swifts beautiful vocals. But aside from its beautiful, mysterious sound, the song seems, well, manufactured for a movie.

Carrie Underwood – Blown Away will take home “Best Country Song” for all the reasons listed above. Additionally, the people who made that magic happen, should be acknowledged as well.

Zac Brown Band – Uncaged will probably win the Grammy for “Best Album”. However, I say this with hesitance. I’ve repeatedly listened to each album, both in different mindsets and consecutively, and this was difficult. Zac Brown Band’s album was great to listen to and touches many emotions. It makes you long for someone to still love you during “Goodbye in Her Eyes,” relax on a beach during “Island Song,” and do a strip tease during “Overnight,” right before saying goodbye to your loved ones during “Day That I Die”. This album shows what the future of country can bring; classic country, a touch of rock, and even a little bit of soul. The album is genius and deserves a win. I must reiterate that the other albums are just as good in their own ways. Hunter Hayes’ Self Titled album, at first makes, it easy to say that he is the “Justin Beiber of Country” but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Regardless of your age, you can take the lyrics and easily relate them to your own life. And what is even more impressive is that he played every instrument on the album. The Time Jumpers Self Titled album is another great example of fine musicianship. All of the members are talented studio musicians who came together and made classic Western Country music. Jamey Johnsons Tribute, although a tribute, is a great album that demonstrates not only Jamey’s vocals and appreciation for Cochran, but several other well respected artists contribute to the wonderful sound. Last but not least the impressive Miranda Lambert’s – For the Record is strong; in the sense of being a strong woman with powerful vocals. She sings straight from the heart and empowers the listener. But at the end of the day, Zac Brown takes the cake with the “Fine Sampling of Country”.

Pamela Erin Gordon

Who will win Record of the Year at The Grammy’s?

by Ryan Shea

The Grammy Awards are a night that can be as unpredictable as the MTV Video Music Awards yet have a seriousness to it like the Oscars. The annual award show is broadcast on CBS February 10th at 8pm eastern time. So far there are a wide range of performers from Taylor Swift to Rihanna, The Black Keys to Mumford & Sons.

One of the highly coveted awards of the evening is Record of the Year, which in the past has gone to Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” and most recently Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”. This year’s contenders range from rock, pop, R&B and alternative. So who should win, who will win, and who got left out in the cold? Here are my predictions as to what will go down.

Nominees-

Taylor Swift- “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

The Black Keys- “Lonely Boy”

Gotye featuring Kimbra- “Somebody That I Used To Know”

Kelly Clarkson- “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”

Frank Ocean- “Thinking About You”

Fun featuring Janelle Monae- “We Are Young”

Who will win-

This one really is tough because each of these songs are strong in their own fields. Both Kelly and Fun are nominated in this and Song of the Year category, which puts them in the front of the list as ones that are nominated in both tend to win both. That being said, “We Are Young” will most likely be the winner as that song was gigantic and they seem to have gained quite a lot of Grammy steam since the announcement of the nominations last month.

Who should win-

I am so privy towards Frank Ocean as his freshman effort “Channel Orange” was the best album this past year, and this song was one of the many shining examples of that. Besides Frank, Gotye’s song should win based off of just how original and whimsical it really was. Taylor’s is a basic pop song, Kelly’s is too even though I loved it. “Lonely Boy” is great but not Record of the Year material, and “We Are Young” doesn’t compete in my mind with Gotye and Frank. If I HAD to choose, it would be Frank.

Who got the shaft-

There were plenty in my opinion. Sort of shocked that Drake and Rihanna’s “Take Care” didn’t get any nominations at all as that was the best collaboration this year by far. “The A-Team” by Ed Sheeran picked up a Song of the Year nod but I felt deserved recognition in this category as well, and even though it dominated the hip-hop categories, both “Daughters” by Nas and “Mercy” by Kanye West should’ve been strong contenders for this category.

Who is your choice to win? Sound off and let your voice be heard!

MUSIC

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