Weekly Listening Roundup #3

This is a week late. Anyway...

I had skipped over two records in the 'Ds,' so I had gone back to them last week. I've also decided to start including albums that I've owned for a while, but that I haven't listened to in a long time or hadn't spent much time with in the first place.

So, here are six more albums I discovered or re-discovered last week.


American Don - Don Caballero (Touch and Go, 2000)
The first time I had ever heard the phrase "math rock" was in reference to this band. It's a silly name for a sub-genre of rock music, but it is sort of fitting. There are plenty of weird time signatures and changes. And, from my understanding, American Don is Don Caballero's mellow record, right? It is filled to the brim with looped clean channel guitars, really cool yet nonsensical bass lines and some jazzy, improvised and completely insane drumming. Definitely more in line with what I was listening to in the early 2000s, but my mind was still blown this time around.
Top jams: "Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex," "Ones All Over the Place," "A Lot of People Tell Me I Have a Fake British Accent"

Pink Moon - Nick Drake (Island, 1972)
My interest in Nick Drake began when I heard Bryter Layter's "Fly" in The Royal Tenenbaums. It then piqued thanks to the inclusion of "From the Morning" on a fall mix CD that my friend Danny made for me a couple years ago. I've spent the last year appreciating the raw and stripped down beauty of Pink Moon with its odd guitar tunings and intricate picking patterns. Now I have come to be fascinated with the darker moods represented within the songs, namely self-conciousness and despair. Nick Drake's story is tremendously unfortunate, and Pink Moon is an eerie and tragic, yet stunning document of it.
Top jams: "Pink Moon," "Place to Be," "Which Will," "Parasite," "From the Morning"

Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (MCA, 1967)
I've never really been a fan of the blues, or any blues-inspired band, for that matter. This changed ever so slightly a few years ago when I started getting into The Rolling Stones. Now I can chalk one more talley under the blues colume thanks to The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced?. My dad gave me this on CD at some point during college, I think, and I listened to it maybe once. I remember being in awe of Mitch Mitchell's drumming, and shrugging off the rest. This time around, I can tell you: Jimi Hendrix really is as good (and important) of a guitar player as everyone says he is. He's obviously got some impressive chops, and definitely was unique for his time. The record is a cross between blues and 60s psychadelia with some sped up tempos for the most part. There are hints at some nice grooves, but Mitchell doesn't stand for that for too long. He is AWESOME. The most shocking moment for me is that in parts, "Third Stone From the Sun" sort of sounds like Pavement. Weird!
Top jams: "Manic Depression," "Hey Joe," "The Wind Cries Mary," "Fire," "Third Stone From the Sun"


Make Up the Breakdown - Hot Hot Heat (Sub Pop, 2002)
Hot Hot Heat were one of those early 2000s hype bands that had perfect timing, like The Strokes. Perhaps HHH payed more dues (this wasn't their first release), and weren't nearly as popular, especially long term (their second record, Elevator, was BORING). But, Make Up the Breakdown, I believe their debut full length, is a little gem. Listening to it nowadays, I realize that it is indeed an obnoxious record, which back in 2003 I was able to neglect for some reason. In between all of what now I will admit to being kind of bullshitty are some sweet guitar and organ driven, new wavey indie pop jams.
Top jams: "Naked In the City Again," "Get In or Get Out," "Aveda," "This Town"

You'd Prefer an Astronaut - Hum (RCA, 1995)
What a bad ass album. I thank God for my old high school buddy, Bryan, for getting me into Hum. When I first started listening to You'd Prefer an Astronaut back in high school, I loathed the noisier, less melodic first half. Of course, "Stars," even though I'm over it, is awesome, and "The Pod" had that really cool backwards guitar effect, but other than that, I thought the band was just trying to sound huge for the sake of sounding huge. I don't feel so negatively about it now, but I still am of the mindset that the second half is where all the best songs are. "Why I Like the Robins" leaves a little more room between the instruments than usual, which is nice, and "Songs of Farewell and Departure" is an unusually mellow and pretty ballad to bring things to a close. I still prefer Downward is Heavenward, but You'd Prefer an Astronaut has its moments.
Top jams: "Why I Like the Robins," "I'd Like Your Hair Long," "I Hate It Too," "Songs of Farewell and Departure"

Antics - Interpol (Matador, 2004)
I feel that in spite of the critical acclaim their first record, Turn On the Bright Lights, recieved, Interpol got a bad wrap as "that band that just tries to sound like a modern day Joy Division." I don't understand this at all. Sure, vocalist Paul Banks kinda sorta sings in monotones like Ian Curtis (though Banks' monotone voice actually formulates some really solid melodies). And, at least on Unknown Pleasures, which is the extent of my Joy Division album knowledge, the band creates these dirgy atmospheres that are completely void of melody. It's stupid to deny that Joy Division are an influence on Interpol, but they are much more than a modern version of them. Now, Turn On the Bright Lights, without question, is far superior to Antics. And in a way, Antics really is just more of the same (2007's Our Love to Admire is even more so). This is a less dire sounding affair, though, with some really good pop songs. During this revisitation, I found that about half of it is more boring than I remember, but there are still some top notch jams.
Top jams: "Evil," "Narc," "Not Even Jail," "C'Mere," "A Time to Be So Small"