Tonight on VH1 is the premiere of a VH1 Rock Honors concert celebrating those 60s and 70s bad ass rock behemoths The Who. A bunch of stupid bands are getting together to cover some Who jams, including Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Incubus and Tenacious D.
Thankfully, there is some wonderful icing atop this cake though. The concert also features The Flaming Lips! Come again?
Thanks to a video that Stereogum posted of the Lips practicing their song for this tribute gathering, I'm assuming they are performing a medley combining "Pinball Wizard," "Rael" (from The Who Sell Out), and something else I didn't recognize. AWESOME.
Water Curses EP Animal Collective (Domino, 2008) Rating: 89%
Animal Collective, what a band, right? They're like North America's Radiohead. Maybe even Generation Y's Radiohead. By the way, is no one throwing around that phrase anymore? Generation Y?
Animal Collective is like Radiohead in the sense that they are constantly creating something entirely new, fresh and original. They definitely don't sound anything alike, which is a good thing, and maybe even furthers my argument. I don't know. I guess it doesn't matter, as I'm writing this to myself.
AC aren't original because they are the only other band that sound exactly like Radiohead (that feat will never be accomplished). Both bands' talents and unique ability to sound weird, pleasant and just AWESOME, align perfectly. That's what does it. I cannot think of one other band, when all is said and done, that truly sounds anything like these guys. That is quite an accomplishment.
Anyway, this is pointless. What am I saying? I don't really know. Maybe I'm just trying to sound like I know what I'm talking about? AC, I'll stop stroking you guys and start talking about your newest EP. It's called Water Curses. Did you know that?
Water Curses is phenomenal. My love for this band has been growing exponentially with each album since Sung Tongs, and this afterthought to my third favorite album of 2007, Strawberry Jam, is no let down. Not even close. If it was a full length and all the songs had this vibe going on here, it would probably be my favorite AC record. All four tracks are weird, pleasant, just awesome and fantastically beautiful. In other words, IT IS A DOOZY.
The title of this EP is so appropriate, as the songs are eerie, much like I would imagine an actual curse to be. But also really pretty. Also, there is a definite underwater vibe throughout with bubbles and other sounds that help emulate this underwater atmosphere.
Let's talk real quick about the opener, "Water Curses." If you hadn't noticed already, it shares a name with the title of the EP. This is the one upbeat track that was included here. It brings the band back to their good ol' acoustic days, like Sung Tongs, but is much more poppy, like Strawberry Jam. It still has those nice synths and weird noises, as well as those incredible melodies members Avey Tare and Panda Bear are known for. It definitely is a great opening track, and the only instant hit on the EP.
However, my favorite song is a toss up between "Street Flash" and "Cobwebs." "Street Flash" is a conundrum. It is so pretty and mellow, but so far from subtle. The chord progression is done by this nice tremolo guitar. At some point the vocals and guitar and other sounds are joined by this loud, insane sounding cackle. Weird, right? Well then a little later on, a bunch of crazy people join Avey Tare for this screaming match. What the hell, guys? Why are you trying to ruin this beautiful song? Well, after about 10 listens I got really into this particular event of clashing beauty with chaos.
"Cobwebs" is a sweet and subtle jam. Very sparse with this crazy low-end synth groove. The beat is the most interesting part, it sounds like an 8-bit Nintendo bubble. More specifically, it reminds me of the Mega Man 2 villain Bubble Man, perhaps. It is a sweet sweet song with an interesting structure and progression, for sure.
"Seal Eyeing" (what does that even mean?) closes the record, and it is a straightforward and utterly BEAUTIFUL tune. No contradicting ideas here, it is what it is.
Water Curses is the perfect follow up to Strawberry Jam, in spite of its switching gears to a slower, quieter version of Animal Collective. I am totally into this mellowed out version though. In fact, I will state that I just really love this band.
Alright, I'm back. Who remembers the band The Anniversary? Those ex-pals of The Get Up Kids who in my eyes seemed to either be hailed as better than their Vagrant Records brethren or bashed for blatantly ripping them off. At least amongst my circle of friends. I am in neither crowd, as I love The Anniversary, but will embarrassingly admit that Something to Write Home About takes the cake for emo/post-emo/whatever records not titled Frame and Canvas.
Anywho, I was surprised to find that the band partnered up with the very label that shunned and erased them from memory back in 2003 (Vagrant, I'm not even going to get into it) to release their two-disc b-sides and rarities collection, Devil On Our Side at the end of June. The first disc captures them pre-Designing a Nervous Breakdown, when they played messy emo-pop with an 80s new wave twist. These particular tunes lean a little more to the emo side of things though.
The second disc is where the true jams are. The first few tracks represent the awkward in-between stage, before the band made the jump into 70s stoner-pop territory. Some of these songs are their absolute best. The second half of the disc is pretty much all post-Your Majesty (their second and final full length) tracks, and these are pretty hit or miss. There are some hidden gems, namely the song in focus here, "Let It Slip." If I had to take a guess these dudes and lady-dude got a little more playful, drank deeper of the drugs, and got WAY into dub music. "Let It Slip" isn't dominated by the dub, but just check out that middle section. There are two other songs where it is more prominent. They are all demos too, and they sound great.
I'm pretty stoked these songs have been officially released now, and "Let It Slip," with its great tempo and melodies, mature grasp of subtlety (sans that crazy freakout in the middle) and overall spirit of fun, was the most pleasant of surprises.
I've been neglecting music stuff on this blog for too long. I promise, next week I'll start posting again starting next week. This is a promise to myself. I just couldn't pass this article up, it is amazingly hilarious.
