So hey, you like music? Pop hooks? Verse-chorus-verse a la Kurt Cobain and the history of pop music, or the kind of pop fodder you get on the radio? Then don't listen to the new album Shaking The Habitual by The Knife ... it represents the antithesis of that whole idea. That's what makes it so fantastic.
The eleven songs on the album are grounded in acoustic jamming that often venture out into astral electric (near) rave-ups. This guitar work is impressive and everything here sounds great. Why do I feel reluctance then to just saying, "dammit, this isn't boring - its plain awesome ..." and why can't I recommend this to all you out there searching for 2013's anthem?
Multi-instrumentalists and producers Matt Shaw and Nick Andre have no genre they fit into, or mold they confine themselves to. Their music and lyrics are filled with meaning, every track with deliberate, intentional contradictions between the music and the lyrics.
Who knew Mudhoney had another album in them? The original grunge kids have grown up but refused to turn their amps down. Mudhoney's new album, Vanishing Point, isn't a deviation or an exact return, but a set of tunes that make their point without fuss (just old garage-rock power). The fuzz is still super and the muff is still big.
Sometimes the right room and the right vibe can make an ok jam into a special listening pleasure. The best cut might be from Trent Reznor and his piece "Mantra," which also features Joshua Homme (QOTSA) and it makes me look forward to new NIN music. The rest of the album is sort of forgettable in that it sounds like a 90's retrospective. This isn't a bad thing, but the tunes blend together after a couple listens, without many WOW moments.
This is how modern songwriting happens ... Sit down with Google and find some fucked up subject matter. Its fascinating to think that Cave just sits around and follows links - bouncing around the Internet from sick disease pics, to the history of the Black Plague, to Robert Johnson, to dabbling in porno, reading the NY Times, and flipping though red carpet photos...is this rock 'n' roll?
Yo La Tengo's new album isn't likely to disappoint longtime fans, but it isn't the type of record that will excite too many critics or casual streamers. When it comes down to it, I love the first song and tolerate the rest.
Like a scratched 45 (though pressed in 2012), the young quartet from Cornwall, England have a head-swirling revivalist of an EP titled Chica available now on Loose Recordings and it is ...
Check out more music reviews of live shows and albums in the music review archive.
Spacelab Music Reviews Join the collective. Spacelab is looking for contributors and staff
writers to be part of the Spacelab Research
Staff to write music reviews for indie rock, alternative and electronic music.
Music reviews of albums and live shows are just one part of the writing ... it can include features as well as music news. Find out more
Creative Commons Copyright, 2013. Some Rights Reserved.
RSS
TWITTER
GOOGLE+
