Oh man, what a smooth jam, right? I have my housemate Julian Wettlin to thank for becoming obsessed with this incredible example of subtlety and brilliance. The chord progressions for both the verses and choruses are smart as hell, but especially awesome and a little sexy during the verses. The drumming sounds like Mick Fleetwood at his tightest and simplest, and when the second drum track comes in with that marching snare... God, I just love that shit. McCartney's voice and melodies are nothing short of perfect. And, lastly, the usage of brass and wind instruments is some of the best around, from the marching band flutes to the doubled trombone solo to the soulful saxophones. Even though the record that "Let 'Em In" is on, Wings at the Speed of Sound, came out in 1976, obviously post-Beatles, it's moments like this that remind me why McCartney was my favorite Beatle.
Here's this jam of jams I'm raving about for your listening pleasure:
(30) Home Acres - Aloha (Polyvinyl) Distanced even further from their jazzy, experimental beginnings, Aloha have crafted yet another quality indie pop LP. (7.5/10)
(31) Jerusalem Mall 7" - Eat Skull (Woodsist) Woodsist's shitty new band and their shitty, shitty new 7". The worst of the hip new lo-fi stuff I've heard yet. (2/10)
(32) jj n゜3 - jj (Secretly Canadian/Sincerely Yours) Subtle in all the right ways, but otherwise a really bland and boring electronic pop record that is way too safe. (5/10)
(33) Permalight - Rogue Wave (Brushfire) Another interesting, very solid, over-produced pop/rock album from these dudes. The title track is fantastic. (6.5/10)
(34) Joan of Arc Present: Don't Mind Control - Various Artists (Polyvinyl) Compilation curated by Joan of Arc that over time got more interesting and much better. (6/10)
(35) Nitetime Rainbows EP - A Sunny Day in Glasgow (Mis Ojos Discos) A pretty awesome collection of shimmering, ambient, shoegazey pop songs. Even the remixes are cool! (7.5/10)
(36) Eznovah 7" - 52 Week High (Five Three Dial Tone) Dude from Electric Six/Johnny Headband + friends release a psychedelic pop record that is nothing special. (5/10)
(37) Something in the Way 7" - Best Coast (PPM) Three fantastic songs of mid-tempo garage/punk with Beach Boys harmonies. Like a slowed down Vivian Girls. (8.5/10)
(38) The Desert of Shallow Effects - Miles Kurosky (Majordomo) Beulah main dude basically does another Beulah album under his own name. Totally good, but nothing sticks out. (6/10)
(39) We All Got Out of the Army - Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices, Inc.) Yet another album from ex-GBV leader and indie rock god. Superfans should love, I am only somewhat impressed. (5.5/10)
(40) Fight Softly - The Ruby Suns (Sub Pop) Ruby Suns ditch the tropicalia vibe and sound like a cross between the new Yeasayer and chillwave. Totes good. (7.5/10)
(41) Causers of This - Toro y Moi (Carpark) More chillwave! If you can ignore how annoying fads can get, then this is a damn fine lo-fi electronic pop record. (7/10)
(42) High Places vs. Mankind - High Places (Thrill Jockey) Hip boy/girl duo add layers to their sparse, cultured electronica, leading to more consistency, but less gems. (6.5/10)
I have decided that I am going to start including streaming audio of my favorite track from each album on these Emotional Listening posts, thanks to LaLa.
Vitalogy - Pearl Jam (Epic, 1994) In early elementary school, I was listening pretty exclusively to Christian music. Then sometime around fourth or fifth grade, my brother Jason helped me get into the whole grunge craze. Embarrassingly enough (though probably not nearly as embarrassing as having once been a fan of Christian pop music), Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots were my personal favorites. I wasn't huge into Pearl Jam, but I liked a few of their hits. My memory may be foggy, but I think I remember my brother getting Vitalogy for Christmas one year from either my sister or an extended family member, and my parents were not happy about this. Regardless, somehow I semi-recently acquired that particular record, and forced myself to give it a shot. I was shocked to find that it actually rules quite a bit. There weren't really any obnoxious hits, and most of the songs were actually quite good. "Last Exit" was the perfect way to open the record up, as it is quite bad ass, and is in a 5/4 time signature, which is unheard of in popular music. It is easily the best song on the album. "Corduroy" is a great pop tune, and "Whipping" and "Satan's Bed" join "Last Exit" in the bad ass category. And, that's not all. Most of the songs here are solid. Color me extremely surprised. Top jams: "Last Exit," "Not for You," "Nothingman," "Whipping," "Corduroy," "Satan's Bed"
Black Phantom Crusades - Red Animal War (Deep Elm, 2002) Red Animal War started out as a mathy, pop-punky emo band, like maybe a cross between Braid and old Alkaline Trio, or something like that. However, on their second record, Black Phantom Crusades, they already started to really switch things up and make things more interesting. Sure, there are still some brilliant and actually tough sounding emo jams, namely in "When Fat Pigs Fly," "When I Get the Feelin' (Back in My Hands)," "And So It Begins With Bombs," "Jambalaya," and "Right Now, Today, I Don't Believe in Hell." And, those are the best tracks, but beyond all that, Black Phantom Crusades is a fascinating and surprisingly mature (mostly) record. Most notable is "Straight Lines for Construction Workers," which is a Springsteen-ish number with swanky, blaring horns. During the verses, "And So It Begins With Bombs" has a funkier Fugazi feel to it, and then the choruses feature a standard rock 'n' roll ascending guitar line over a single, dirty Braid emo chord (those are my favorite parts on the album). The only low point on the whole record is "Gattaca," which is a really shitty pop punk song. I have no idea why it was even included. Otherwise, Black Phantom Crusades is totally solid. Top jams: "When Fat Pigs Fly," "When I Get the Feelin' (Back in My Hands)," "The Day After Yesterday," "And So It Begins With Bombs," "Jambalaya," "Right Now, Today, I Don't Believe in Hell"
Murmur - R.E.M. (I.R.S., 1983) It took long enough, but about a year ago, I finally got into R.E.M.. I started with their debut full length, Murmer, and to this day, it is still by far my favorite, and quickly has become one of my favorite albums of all time. Their sound here is not too far off from what The Smiths were doing in the mid and late 80s, and R.E.M. do that even better (sorry, Matt Rickle). The guitars are chorusy and jangly, the bass and drums are locked in and driving and Michael Stipe's voice is actually sort of buried in the mix (which I personally like). There are two things that The Smiths have over Murmer, and those are that (1) Morrissey's melodies are definitely more memorable (though he is much more obnoxious, so I guess that balances out) and (2) Johnny Marr's guitar lines are usually quite a bit cooler than Peter Buck's (Buck's are still cool, don't get me wrong). Those things being said, I still prefer Murmer, as, unlike any Smiths record I've ever heard, it is pretty much perfect. "Laughing," "Moral Kiosk" and "Catapult" are ULTIMATE jams. Top jams: "Radio Free Europe," "Pilgrimage," "Laughing," "Moral Kiosk," "Catapult," "We Walk," "West of the Fields"
In Reverie - Saves the Day (Dreamworks/Vagrant, 2003) I know it's not cool to like anything after Saves the Day's 1999 breakthrough album, Through Being Cool (and actually I don't think it's considered cool to have ever liked Saves the Day at all in any hipster circles), but FUCK THAT SHIT. Their third record, and first for Vagrant, 2001's Stay What You Are, is a fantastic power pop record with some slightly emo and pop-punk tendencies along with some incredible songs (and also full, awesome guitar chords as opposed to power chords and octaves). But, I think their fourth, In Reverie, might take the cake. By this point, these youngsters had completely shed themselves of anything emo and pop-punk, and instead decided to write really wussy, peculiarly original guitar pop songs. They still use those beautiful, full chords from Stay What You Are, but expound upon them into jazz chord territory, which is weird, and really nice sounding. A number of the songs, opener "Anywhere With You," in particular, even have a Pinkerton-era Weezer sense to them. Most of the songs are a little light and airy in really good ways that make for a very pleasant listen, but the especially jazzy moments, as well as the Pinkerton ones, are by far the highlights of the record. It also helps that Chris Conley's melodies are masterful throughout, ESPECIALLY on the chorus of the title track. Stop making fun of me. This album totally rules! Top jams: "Anywhere With You," "What Went Wrong," "Driving in the Dark," "Rise," "In Reverie," "Morning in the Moonlight"
