Emotional Listening #3

Neon Golden – The Notwist (Domino, 2002)
My long-time pal Abbott had been pushing The Notwist on me for a while, since my sophomore year in college, I believe. When I moved into a house with him, his wife and some buds after I graduated college, I just couldn’t avoid them anymore. Why I wanted to avoid them in the first place is beyond me. I eventually purchased Neon Golden at Used Kids in Columbus in August 2007, and to be frank, I still haven’t really listened to it all that much. I’m not going to deny that it is gorgeous and completely original. The last several songs are just really really boring (though, am I correct when I say that they are bonus tracks for the U.S. release?). All of this to say that there are some outright jam-diddles within the first nine songs. “One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand” is so beautiful and its off-kilter rhythms are the album’s top highlight. “Trashing Days” is a badass pop song. Neon Golden is filled to the brim (well, at least the first nine songs are) with subtle, indistinguishable intricacies that combined with the deadpan vocals and sort of ahead of their time laptop-isms make for a pretty, groundbreaking electronic folk record.
Top jams: “One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand,” “Pick Up the Phone,” “Trashing Days,” “This Room,” “One With the Freaks,” “Off the Rails”


Q & A – Office (self-released, 2005)
Scott Masson, the head honcho behind Office, has gone through a lot of changes over the past couple of years. A while back, the project had inked a deal with James Iha’s record label. That deal has since been destroyed. Also, more recently, Masson has relocated from Chicago to Milford, MI, I do believe (which is an interesting move, if you ask me). What kind of effect has this transition had on his output? If anything, it is a positive one: his latest, Mecca, is chock full of memorable hooks, catchy choruses and topnotch production. But, this is not the focus here. Let me take you back to 2005’s self-released Q & A. I won’t go into it, but let’s just say the album randomly fell into my lap and stayed there for a few months. I took an extended break, and kind of forgot about it until somewhat recently. I can basically describe Q & A exactly as I described Mecca, but they are not the same record. Where Mecca is subtle but loud and totally a grower, Q & A is louder and more instantly accessible (though, not by all that much). There definitely is an Of Montreal feel to the overall sound, but aside from that, it is a really solid pop record that more people should know about.
Top jams: “Wound Up,” “Oh My,” “The Big Bang Jump!,” “If You Don’t Know by Now,” “Q & A”


Synchronicity – The Police (A & M, 1983)
I’ve loved The Police’s singles for many years now, and I’m not sure why I waited until the summer of 2009 to purchase my first proper album of theirs. I feel like I picked the right one to start off with. The mix of obviously 80s style pop with reggae and maybe even a little bit of art punk makes for quite an original album, even if things end on a string of forgettable notes. And, Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are fantastically tight and talented musicians (in case you didn’t know). “Synchronicity I” and “Miss Gradenko” were pleasant surprises, “Synchronicity II” is badass, duh, and “King of Pain” is by far the band’s best song. A point of interest: I never liked “Every Breath You Take” until now. The song hits its wonderfully high point when the nice backup vocals enter for its outro. A choice move.
Top jams: “Synchronicity I,” “Miss Gradenko,” “Synchronicity II,” “Every Breath You Take,” “King of Pain”