Even Worse Than the Real Thing?

What is the difference between influence and imitation?  The question seems essential to both artists in this installment of the Deathmatch.  On one hand, Wolf Parade, a band that sounds almost identical to its fellow indie band Arcade Fire.  On the other, Moby, whose work after the groundbreaking 1999 Play never quite got away from its wildly successful formula.

Both Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire are from Quebec, and from what I can gather, they cross-pollinated there in the early 2000s, sharing clubs and even swapping band members on occasion.  The similarities do not end there: they are both fronted, primarily, by voice-cracking singers who part whine, part sing, a la Robert Smith and David Byrne.  Arcade Fire has a bigger lineup, but both bands have full, ambitious sounds, with lots of ragged guitar riffs and falsetto choruses. Arcade Fire has a greater dynamic range; Wolf Parade is less sophisticated and a little rougher around the edges.  But if I weren't a huge fan of Arcade Fire, I would have a hard time telling them apart.  Here is one of my favorite tracks from Apologies to the Queen Mary, a track called "Modern World."

And here, for the sake of comparison, is "Modern Man," a song from Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, which post-dates Queen Mary, but you'll get my point.

It's not just the musical similarities: it's the lyrical sensibility, too.  Nostalgia, disquiet, and perhaps above all, a feeling of displacement permeate the songs of both bands.  I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with Quebec, but both Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug and Arcade Fire's Wim Butler ain't too happy there.  Here's the refrain of "Modern World": 

I'm not in love with the modern world 

I'm not in love with the modern world

It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees 

Modern world has more ways 

And I don't mention it since it's changed 

Butler's "Modern Man" is more wistful and more ironic, but essentially, it's the same gripe.  Something just don't feel right about modern existence:

  
So I wait in line, I'm a modern man
And the people behind me, they can't understand
Makes me feel like
Something don't feel right

Like a record that's skipping
I'm a modern man
And the clock keeps ticking
I'm a modern man
Makes me feel like
Makes me feel like

For Arcade Fire, the suburbs of the 1970s seem to represent the alienation of modern life; for Wolf Parade, the dominant metaphor is ghosts--ghosts of ex-spouses and children haunt the album and give it a kind of unity.  

Of course, there are far worse things than being an Arcade Fire sound-alike. In fact, Queen Mary is a very good album. The songs are memorable, the melodies stick, and, there is an emotional intensity to many of the tracks,  especially the raw ""This Heart's On Fire."  Krug shares lead vocals with Dan Boekner, whose voice is rougher and more muscular, providing a welcome change on several tracks.  All told, I liked this album very much, if not for its originality, than at least for its similarity to Arcade Fire.

When I first heard Moby's Play in 1999, it struck me as completely original, despite Moby's heavy use of samples. In fact, after nearly wearing out the disk, I searched around in vain for another artist who sounded like Moby--not Fatboy Slim, not the Chemical Brothers, and not earlier electronica such as Kraftwerk.  There was something so refreshing and cool about the arrangements: a spare drum machine loop, a blues vocal, cut from Moby's extensive archive and tightly sampled, and a lush chord sequence to flesh out the sound--these were the Moby trademarks, perfected on Play. 




Moby found a huge audience for this formula--I remember my 60ish aunt saying she loved the album.  And I'd be hard-pressed to find a better album for driving.  So it's not surprise that Moby returned to this same formula for his follow-up albums, 18 and Hotel.  The problem, according to many critics, is that Moby didn't just revisit the formula--he cut and pasted it.  18 sounds like a weaker, more sanitized version of Play, and it made all  his earlier innovations seem stale.  Today, Moby has kind of fallen off the radar screen: his veganism and his politics get more play than his music.

What it comes down to is an absolutely original, brilliant album (Play) against a very good but less-than-innovative one (Queen Mary).  I'll vote for the sui generis work every time.

Decision: Moby, Play.  

All the things you left behind vs. Elephant.

I like the White Stripes.

This pairing however, made them sound like hacks.  The album is messy and thrown together when you put it next to the artistry and precision of craft that U2 mustered with this effort.

All the things you left behind (with the exception of the track ‘new york’?) is an old band at the height of their game.  The songs are clean without being boring.  There is balance between anthem and rock tracks.  Sadly, this just wasn’t that hard a decision.

Decision: U2, All the things you left behind

In versus In

Radiohead’s In Rainbows vs. Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

What we have here is a battle of masterpieces. One, the largely solo output of an iconoclastic musical genius; the other, a standout work from a group on the shortlist for the “world’s greatest band” badge.

But I find the pairing an apt one in that both of them are real album albums, rather than collections of isolated tracks. The songs flow meaningfully from one to the other. Heck, In Rainbows not only flows on its own, but as Tim noted, it fits into OK Computer like a zipper. Aeroplane is full of interrelated tracks — “King of Carrot Flowers Part One” without Part Two is like a chocolate chip cookie without a glass of milk.

They are both albums that I know and love. They are both albums that I have listened to while laying down on the couch, doing absolutely nothing else but listen. How then can I choose between them?

First, a bit more about Aeroplane. Whatever I decide by the end of writing this about album versus album, those first three tracks on their own are one of my favorite song arcs from any era. Back when space on one’s portable music player was a consideration, I kept only those three tracks from the album on my iPod, and played the hell out of them any time I had an approximately ten-minute window getting from point A to point B.

There are two types of tracks on this album: the “just Jeff Mangum and his guitar” tracks, and the ones with what the band’s wikipedia article refers to as “eclectic instrumentation.” My preference is definitely for the latter. Mangum is a gifted songwriter, but it is the quirky ambiance and the raw drive of the instrumentation that makes for the album’s strong points. Give me “Holland, 1945” over “Oh Comely” any day. In fact the worst things I can think of to say about the album are that the first half kicks the second half’s ass, and that “Oh Comely” is a dud.

And maybe the best thing I can say, at least in this match-up, is that I do have strong opinions about the songs, and which ones are best and worst, and know the order they come in. None of that is really true for me with In Rainbows. Radiohead’s album is a whole, one that I listen to in its entirety or not at all, preferably with headphones. It’s the band’s third best, but perhaps the one most suited for that sort of intense listening. Mangum can sometimes lose me on those acoustic tracks with endless verses, no matter how hard he strums that guitar, but Radiohead can repeat a simple vocal melody or bass riff or piano progression ad infinitum, and with the slow build of the arrangements around it — or sometimes not even build, more of a ululation — make it seem endlessly fresh. Neutral Milk Hotel’s “eclectic instrumentation” calls attention to itself and is rough around the edges, but if you’ve ever seen Jonny Greenwood at a Radiohead live show tinkering with his arcane sound board, you start to appreciate how much wacky shit is going on in those songs that you don’t even realize.

It’s coming down to heart versus head for me. Rainbows is superior technically, but I can remember specific times and places when Aeroplane came on and just hit me like a ton of bricks. In a good way.

A final consideration, perhaps a quibble, but I’m not sure if it should weigh in here or not. This is Music Death Match ’99. Aeroplane was released in 1998. That’s the only reason I didn’t put it in my top ten. The rules lawyer in me wants to punish it for this. And yet, the part of me that wants to give it the win takes comfort in the fact that, if so, Radiohead will still have a strong contender in the tournament with OK Computer. But that was released in 1997 — an even worse offender! Only someone with a crueler heart than mine could jettison both Aeroplane and Computer on a technicality, and so …

… I will make peace with my quibble, and follow my heart. This round goes to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Make my next choice be less difficult.

What's lost has been found!

We finally have new assignments. I've tried to set things up so that 1) no one reviews an album he or she submitted (unlike last round when I torpedoed one of my own...oops) and 2) no one reviews an album that she or he reviewed in the last round. Please let me know if I've made a mistake.

Leftovers:
Tim: Mezzanine vs. Michigan
Anne: Who Killed Sgt. Pepper vs. Sigh No More
EE: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot vs. Hail to the Thief

Last pairing of Round 1:
Steve: Suburbs vs. Comfort Eagle

Round 2:
Steg: OK Computer vs. Give Up
EA: Forth vs. Songs from Christmastime
DAG: All That You Can't Leave Behind vs. Elephant
Nate: In Rainbows vs. In the Aeroplane, Over the Sea
Sara: Grey Album vs. Mule Variations
Rob: Apologies to Queen Mary vs. Play

XTRMNTR vs. Demon Days

Well, I already wrote a nice showdown between Demon Days and a different album, but that turned out not to be the match I was actually assigned. Whoops!

Then I kept forgetting to do the proper review. But Eric Arnoys is coming to my town, literally, and I'm sure he'll have a big can o' whoop-ass with him, 'cause that's just how he rolls, and so I figured I should at least have this out of the way before he gets here.

You may refer to my other review for impressions of Demon Days. Primal Scream's XTRMNTR is actually a better comparison to it than Kanye -- it's more of an apples to apples thing, with both albums ranging far and wide stylistically, such that you're never quite sure what the next track is going to have in store. That also makes them harder to compare. I enjoyed them both but Demon Days takes the edge because, well, it's funkier. And I like me the funk.

Winner: Demon Days