Gravel vs. Air

I had never heard of Ray LaMontagne before Death Match '99, so I came into my first listen of "Gossip in the Grain" with an open mind. My initial thoughts were that the music was pleasant, but I didn't find it too memorable. So I gave it several more tries over the last few weeks.

The album kicks off nicely with the toe-tapping "You are the best thing," but then slows down a bit for the next few pleasant but pleasant songs. Lots of airy dreaminess, lots of songs to lovers (at least I imagined), lots of stuff that makes one think of sitting on the beach as the sun goes down, shared with that special someone (more on that in a minute) sitting close by. "I still care for you" was better than pleasant, with a nice change of pace in the middle...I imagine it has provided drama to a WB episode or two (and I mean that in a good way). Then I got to a song that did grab me: "Meg White." Interesting...beautiful...a little weird...and still airy. It took me a moment to figure out that it was indeed about Meg White (I don't always hear lyrics too well), rather than some generic Meg White. But I also had to wonder--how many different women does this dude sing about? There's a song "Sarah," and there are a few other romantic-sounding tunes that don't sound like they're about Sarah, and I couldn't get it out of my head that I was listening to a college kid hung up on a string of infatuations, and that took much of the charm away.

Ray, I think you have a wonderful voice, and the music is lovely, but nothing stands out.

Tom Waits is about as much of the anti-Ray LaMontagne as you could construct, and that filled me with hesitation and dread. Everybody loves Tom Waits. That didn't strike me as all that fair to Mr. LaMontagne or to me.

And I'm glad I held off looking at reviews until after I had a few times through "Mule Variations." There seemed to be two themes: 1) Tom Waits is really good, and this album isn't bad, or 2) None of you idiots knows good music, and if you're critical of this album, it's only because you know deep down in your soul that you could only dream of some day writing a song that is remotely close to his worst music. Lucky for me I didn't have to deal with jerks voicing 2).

Up to a point I can hear it with "Mule Variations," but not completely. It's clear that Waits is good...it just wasn't clear that I liked it. Waits employs tremendous variety in tunes, rhythm, instruments (they say he keeps mixing things up to challenge himself), and though I'm still not sure I'd be interested in hearing his voice for 50 minutes at a time, songs like "Cold Water" "Big in Japan" and "Picture in a Frame" are really good.

I have to admit that I don't know what to do with "What's he building in there?" I get what it's about...people worrying about and gossiping about someone who is different without bothering to talk to him...but after once through, I'm done with it. This song is the perfect reason to go digital--you could program things once and then never have to bother getting up to hit skip again.

So I suppose this is it, then. I found "Gossip in the Grain" easier on the ears than "Mule Variations," but I find MV more interesting and am fairly certain it would have more staying power in my collection.

Much to everyone's surprise, Tom Waits moves to the next round.

Regrets and updates

I give you the bracket as it currently stands:

Anyway else wishing you'd included a few other selections in your top 10, but not really sure what album you'd have bumped? After an amazing My Brightest Diamond concert this past Monday, I wished I'd included something from her, though I'm not sure she would have jumped in line in front of Death Cab for Cutie or Deer Hunter (and my favorite song of the last year http://grooveshark.com/s/Desire+Lines/3gkzmv?src=5), which I learned about in my first DeathMatch.

C'est la vie. It's about time I weighed in with my first showdown...I'd better get that posted soon.

Vampire Weekend: Contra vs Moby: Play

Vampire Weekend: Contra

I must admit that Contra is a bit wasted on me. Perhaps by not watching Buffy I've robbed myself of cultural expertise necessary to appreciate Vampire Weekend. Either that or the hint of ska underpinning most songs was, like wasabi on sushi, enough to render it indigestible to me.

Beyond that "Holiday", had me bending over my speakers in concern that I had damaged them. Fortunately for me (although not for VW...), it turned out that the speakers were faithfully representing the sound of broken speakers.

"Taxi Cab" is tender:

You stand so close to me

Like the future was supposed to be

"California English" makes obvious it's use of Auto-Tune. This was probably intentional, and somehow meta, but still sounds annoying.

"Giving Up the Gun" had me singing along on the first pass! Interestingly enough, it's melody sounds a lot like Moby, which bring me to my next review:

Moby's Play:

(Which, btw, seems to be free of the accursed Auto-Tune.)

This album is awesome. I had never heard the album before, but recognized pretty much all the songs from radio play, and in this case I do not mean that as an insult. This is chock-full of sweet sounds. Since buying the album for DM'99 I've probably listened to it 8 times. Every song is interesting enough to listen to intentionally, rocks when turned up loud when the kids are at school, provides nice background for a party, and as my wife proved to me is sexy enough to...

Well, anyway, I will not review specific songs because they are uniformly smooth except to say that nothing makes me want to buy a Glock like "South Side". Gangbanging sounds so pretty and fun!

There are valid critiques, the biggest being Moby's precipitous decline, but at least once in the late '90's he nailed it. No, it's not rhythmically complicated, and sampling still seems a bit like cheating to me, but this is house music at it's best.

Decision: Play

The Only Reason I Feel Secure vs The King is Dead

Pedro the Lion takes me back. I listen to "Criticism As Inspiration" or "I Am Always the One Who Calls" and almost feel like I am back on the Red Line, holding my discman and watching Chicago stream by on my way downtown. I am also incredibly fond of Bazan's take on "Be Thou My Vision."

However, I will always be drawn to the better signing voice, the male/female vocals (thanks Fleetwood Mac) and the overall grandeur of an album like The King is Dead. "January Hymn" is especially gorgeous.

It doesn't seem quite fair...Bazan sounding like he's recording alone in his closet against The Decemberists with their superstar guests and HD videos and guest spots on Portlandia...but Music Death Match isn't about fairness, right?

Winner: The King is Dead

Ain't No Such Thing As Indie

If Arcade Fire's best album Grammy last year and the nominations of Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver for best record this year don't signify the meaningless of the term indie rock, then I'm not sure what does. Like alternative before it, indie has become a catch all term for a large swath of music no longer separable from the mainstream, as it was in the past, by its unique lyrical sensibility, its small market distribution, its do-it-yourself production, or its devoted cult of followers. Everybody, in other words, lives in The Suburbs. Hipsters everywhere despair: the bands you knew were cool before anyone else are now taking home the industry's highest accolade (though Bon Iver and Mumford have absolutely no chance against Adele).

All of this to say that it is no longer possible to judge allegedly indie bands by a different set of standards: sorry Sufjan, it is no longer okay for your horn section to sound like a sixth-grade band concert. Indie bands need to be every bit as polished as the mainstream acts they are competing with. This is good news for The National, a very put-together "indie" band with lucrative commercial succeses, a dark, fully realized sound, and a fantastic baritone lead--Matt Berniger. Somehow or another, Berniger's reminds me of Leonard Cohen and David Bowie put together. The dark texture of his voice suits his subject matter well. In "Green Gloves," my favorite track, Berniger sings of love and loss:

Falling out of touch with all my
friends are somewhere getting wasted,
hope they’re staying glued together,
I have arms for them.

Take another sip of them,
it floats around and takes me over
like a little drop of ink in a glass of water

Not that the whole of "Boxer" is sturm aund drang. The last track, "The Gospel" at least hints at some kind of human reconciliation, perhaps in sharing small pleasures:

I got two armfuls of magazines for you
I’ll bring em over
so hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden
hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden and I’ll
I’ll bring a nice icy drink to you

Tracks like this one kept me coming back to "Boxer" again and again over the past two weeks. I wish the same were true of Rachel Ries and "For Only You." Ries may be a real indie musician--her record label, Waterbug, has a large catalog of folk singers/songwriters, but as far as I can tell, this is a pretty homegrown affair. That in and of itself did not make me dislike Rachel Ries. But I couldn't find anything original in her singing or her songwriting. She has a sweet, even beautiful voice, but I could hear a similar voice at any coffee shop on open mic night. The music did have a kind of comfort value, but in the end, remained anonymous and forgettable.

Note to both Erics: Eric A, don't make me diss another of Eric E's choices. Eric E: Sorry man.

Decision: The National, "Boxer."

The No Contest Contest

Blink 182's "Enemy of the State" vs. Telekinesis' "12 Desperate Straight Lines"

The Blink. I remembered a couple of the songs from back in the day. The album cover more so. (Pro tip: if you absent-mindedly google around wondering who that lady is on the cover, was she a famous actress or something, TAKE CARE WHICH LINKS YOU CLICK ON. She's an actress. Kinda.)

I believe I established in my initial top ten, and in the related descriptions, the fact that, in my doddering years, I have discovered, musically speaking, a Taste for the Chutzpah. That is to say, I enjoy Green Day far more than I ever would have guessed possible if you had asked me in the 90's, and I cannot bring myself to un-wish to punch Sufjan Stevens in the face no matter how hard I try. So Blink 182 should work for me -- they are gutsy and punk-infused. But it turns out that I am still a little bit more of a prissy elitist than I thought I was. The whole time I listened to the album -- I will not be giving it a second try -- I kept stacking it up unfavorably against Green Day. It seems strange to use "too simplistic" to criticize it in this context, considering both bands wield power chords like bludgeons, and yet ... too simplistic. Too -- dare I say it? -- immature. What does that even mean? I sound like a Decemberists fan. Wait ... I AM a Decemberists fan.

I'm so confused. I don't know what I like any more. But I know that it's not Blink 182.

And so on to Telekinesis. This deck was stacked: I have their other album, or should I say his other album, since it's basically one guy who hooks up with some cool talent when he goes on the road. It's not like he made my top ten, but TK is a seed in one of my favorite Pandora mixes, so I've been listening to a lot of telekinetic music lately, as it were. Love that clean sound. Stripped down, but also amped up. I have it on good authority that, in spite of being mostly a studio operation, his live shows totally rock.

I think I might actually put his first, self-titled album a hair above this one. But either way, it's an easy call as to who advances: Telekinesis all the way.

Two more assignments

Steg: Arcade Fire, Funeral (2004) vs. The Decemberists: Crane Wife
Tim: Massive Attack "Mezzanine" vs. Sufjan Stevens - Michigan (or Say Yes to Michigan)

The Indie Rock Olympics!

So here we have the first challenge. Its the make-or break moment between two Indie Rock champions from two separate nations. In one corner, we have Canadian leaders known as The New Pornographers with their 5th release "Together" versus the Elephant 6 collective heroes from the USA called Neutral Milk Hotel and their 2nd (and final) album graciously titled "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea."

Fortunately, my true Indie Rock listening collectivity has not wandered much into this ambiguous territory from my earlier days, so while I understand both bands have their own religious cult followings, I am a member of neither denomination.

As I began to listen to Aeroplane, I couldn't help embrace its raw, organic qualities. One reviewer online once said that trying to describe the album would be "like trying to describe what cologne smells like to a grasshopper." I concur. When you get used to thinking that an album that sounds folksy and raw and then suddenly burst into cacophony, you may just walk away from the experience, but thanks to Jeff Magnum's consistent vocals throughout, it perfectly melds the two opposites together.

When you first throw on The New Pornos album, you're suddenly asking yourself "where have I heard that song" before, and then you realize, its a T-mobile commercial. Like T-mobile, the New Pornos are reliable and have stuck with me for a while, but it has yet taken me over to the other side. Granted, Neko Case has the one of the best voices out there with a backing band that rivals any Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, but like Yo La Tengo, when I listen to them and their amazing talents, I feel like I'm being schooled rather than taught by these professors of rock. Oh, Canada...

With that, I choose Neutral Milk Hotel for this round. (U-S-A! U-S-A!)

Our Endless Numbered Days v. In Rainbows

I'll admit that Radiohead has been more prominent in my musical rotation than Iron & Wine. I own both albums, but for whatever reason, I've always treated I&W as background music: pleasant enough, with moments that occasionally bubble up into consciousness, but for the most part just hover "back there." I've no good excuse for treating it like this, though. And so this match-up was the perfect opportunity to sit down and give it the careful listen it deserved.

How did Endless Numbered Days fare? It's a well-crafted album; more than the nondescript soundtrack like I have often treated it. "Naked as we Came," a song I never really paid any attention to, is amazing ("one of us will die inside these arms/ Eyes wide open, naked as we came"). "Each Coming Night" held its own. Vivid images pop out throughout, complementing its hauntingly-beautiful melodies: "your mother is drunk as all the firemen shake/ a photo from father's arms" (cinder and smoke); "your brothers left here shaved and crazy" (sunset soon forgotten); "Love is a dress that you made/ long to hide your knees" (Love and some verses).

Other songs fared worse under careful scrutiny. "I want your flowers like babies want god's love"--no idea (fever dream). And I found the music of "free until they cut me down" to be entirely too bouncy for a song about lynching. A couple others just couldn't hold my interest, even when I was trying to pay attention. But all-in-all there were no major missteps. And overall, I have a greater appreciation for I&W than before.

But in the end, Our Endless Numbered Days couldn't overtake In Rainbows...at least to my mind. It's pretty hard to compete with an album that begins with "12 Step"--a song that I must have listened to more times than I want to admit and yet still want to hear again. (And how the heck do you manage to put "et cetera, et cetera" in a lyric and make it sound like it belongs in the song?) Same for "You are All I Need," demonstrating the genius of the classic layered build that is Radiohead's signature move. "Jigsaw Falling into Place," for me, demonstrates their ability to use repetition of relatively simple phrases--both music and lyrics--to create a nuanced and deeply textured whole. ("Just as you take my hand/ Just as you write my number down/ Just as the drinks arrive/ Just as they play your favourite song/ As the magic disappears.") Radiohead at its best. "Videotape" is positively haunting ("this is one for the good days/ and i have it all here in red blue green").

Not all is beauty and light on this album. "Faust Arp" has its moments, but I've never managed to get excited about it. Same with "House of Cards" ("The infrastructure will collapse From vaulted spikes" never rang authentic for me). These two songs form a sonic trough that bog the album down towards the end.

The bottom line: both are good albums, each with their great and less interesting moments; but for my money, In Rainbows' highs are higher and more numerous, and its lows are still interesting. (And bonus points for the OK Computer mash-up; it may be a figment of the imagination of Radiohead geeks, but it works--for me at least.)

The next pairings

Bored with your music? Ready to move on?



As promised, I'm serving up some new tunes once we've had a set of reviews posted. And I'm adding myself to the rotation.



Keeping with my rules of avoiding conflicts of interest as much as possible in the early going, here are the assignments:

Eric E.: Sufjan Stevens, Seven Swans vs. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Sara: Pedro the Lion - The Only Reason I Feel Secure vs. The Decemberists, The King Is Dead
Eric A.: Tom Waits: Mule Variations vs. Ray LaMontagne, Gossip in the Grain
Rob: The National – Boxer (2007) vs. Rachel Ries, For You Only -- 2005
Nate: Blink 182: Enema of the state vs. Telekinesis '12 Desperate Straight Lines'
Anne: Friendly Fires (2009) Friendly Fires vs. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary
Steve: Vampire Weekend--Contra (2010) vs. Moby "Play"

Bring it.

MeShell Ndegeocello vs. DJ Dangermouse

MeShell Ndegeocello - Bitter v. DJ Dangermouse - The Grey Album

This was a strange match-up for me. Neither album was exactly within my regular genre, so it made it even more difficult to make a comparison. I like MeShell’s voice – kind of hearkens back to Sade, but earthier, deeper – almost like Tracy Chapman. But ultimately, it didn’t have enough variety. I’d start listening, thinking: “hm, this is alright” Then 15 minutes later I’d check to see if we were still on the same song. The instrumentation at the beginning of the album is nice – lots of strings, but toward the end it goes into bad sax solos, long guitar riffs, and cheesy background singers. In the end, I wasn’t compelled to listen to it again.

The Grey Album, on many levels, is brilliant. But there was some difficulty in rating it as an album since it’s a mashup of two others. So to a certain extent, things I liked or disliked about the album were due to the original from the Beatles or Jay-Z. That being said, this is still a pretty impressive album. The idea is unlikely - combining the Beatles’ White Album with Jay-Z’s Black Album to create – you guessed it – the Grey Album. This is something that should have failed, but he pulled it off with finesse. I don’t like all the songs uniformly: “99 problems” is tiring and pretty offensive – same for “Dirt off my Shoulder”. But I love “Encore” and “Change Clothes.” I also love that it resulted in a huge battle with EMI, and both Jay-Z and Paul McCartney supported the mashup. Unfortunately, this will probably not become part of my regular playlist – the lyrics are too raw for the young ears at school or home.

So – for interest and originality, DJ Dangermouse moves forward.

Stars: Set Yourself on Fire vs the verve: FORTH

I had never heard either of these albums before last week.

Interestingly enough, I had only heard of The Stars because years ago I heard a less than 10 second filler clip from their song "Take Me to the Riot" as a musical interlude between 2 pieces on NPR's Marketplace Money. I liked the sound so much that I emailed the "music editor" to find out the song and she sent me a full page (yikes!) email reply. For those interested, she gets all the music interludes from her CD collection...

So, perhaps The Stars had an advantage going in.

Here are my impressions:

Stars: Set Yourself on Fire

Still catchy.

Loved the airy sound of the female lead, not so much the male.

Surprised by frequency of sex-with-girlfriend as theme. I kinda thought that had been thoroughly mined already.

Can't tell if the songs are aiming to be inconsequential (if so, bravo!) or if that was an accident.

The moment I knew the album was not going to advance: lyrics "and I was drunk as shit".

Come on!

the verve: FORTH

What a treat!

All songs very solid and lush.

Not afraid to explore beyond the boundaries of the 3 min radio-ready tune.

Could use more rhythm variety, and with it some more creative percussion.

Too many songs would benefit from having an actual ending... as is, they just keep fading until you can't hear them anymore.

Some delicate echos of Pink Floyd on "Numbness".

Rare to listen to a whole album and not want to skip ahead at least once.

Unfortunately, no songs where I want to sing along.

Verdict: the verve: FORTH advances!