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October 07, 2007
Quarterly Report: Third Quarter of 2007 Podcast
Looking up to realize that we could have brought new life to term in the weeks and months we've already left behind in 2007 was slightly depressing, but in terms of strict musical appreciation, this continues to be a banner year. Due to bi-laws of our own choosing, only songs given an actual commercial release in the last three months were eligible for out latest CD-R length mega-mix, once again. Imports are handled carefully, digital offerings considered in context, and well reasoned exceptions noted. No acknowledgment of sweet, sweet leaks are permitted, so pre-digested songs from Sunset Rubdown, the Fiery Furnaces, and, oh yeah, Radiohead, will wait for the next edition, when we'll all be really mourning the fallen year.
Despite the eroding sand castle that is the music industry at large, signs of creative life continue to pour in.
Album of the Quarter : M.I.A - Kala
Runners up: Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
"Merry Swankster Third Quarter Podcast 2007"
Tracklisting :
01: Prinzhorn Dance School - "Crackerjack Docker" (from Prinzhorn Dance School)
All of Prinzhorn Dance School’s songs are a minimalist high wire act, where one awkward note can completely derail a song, because that song is only going to contain, like 10 notes. But when it all lines up flawlessly, as in this instant classic, the end result is all the more thrilling for the feeling that absolutely nothing is wasted and even considering something so gauche as a second guitarist should result in immediate scorn and derision.
02: Magik Markers - "Taste" (from Boss)
Magik Markers fare better when they shoehorn their wild experimental impulses into a more conventional song structure. That’s only ever been true for like, every other outré noise band, for the last few decades, so who was to guess? Seemingly, Elisa Ambrogio is a bit of an indie rock fascist, but when her authoritative Grace Slick warble spits out gems like, “he shook her little bobby socks until the thrill was gone,” the jackboot becomes her.
03: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Down Boy" (from the Is Is EP)
Weird putting this on a list of songs released in late 2007, as embryonic versions of the old live favorite have been gestating online for at least three years. The gathered dust stops the track from feeling as revelatory as it once might have, but the band's 04 top form was too sexy to stay shelved forever.
04: Chromatics - "Running Up That Hill" (from Night Drive, Kate Bush cover)
Chromatics were easily the class of the rightly loved, After Dark compilation, and their follow up LP Night Drive is a real star turn. The sleek disco groove was always apparent in Kate Bush’s original, but the time stamped bluster of that track is really no match for this aloof, streamlined charm. Ruth Radelet sounds blissfully medicated, like she came up with this romantic hypothesis ten minutes before taking a Percoset to calm her down. Since she gave it all the thought earlier, she feels the need to explain it to you now that you’re home, but she’s actually sort of over it. This somehow makes her all the more devastating.
05: M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (from Kala)
Much of Kala is devoted to Maya empathically fleshing out the non western characters, or as she says, “putting people on the map who’ve never seen a map.” In contrast, the album’s best track allows itself to wallow in broad cartoon malevolence. A mob of faceless children just want to shoot you four times and take your money, and all you want to do is sing along. The chorus denies you even that.
06: Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist" (single)
I always appreciate it when a band does something counterproductive like releasing their best song on the sly as a limited vinyl single. It's like they’re saving their A game for the people whose minds are most likely to comprehensively and attentively blown by it. Of course, in this digital day and age, a cake can be had and eaten as well. I’m sure it’ll find its way to a proper release eventually, despite its physical scarcity now.
07: Late of the Pier - "Bathroom Gurgle" (single)
So this “new rave” nonsense might have a silver lining after all. I’m not saying that this restless brew of Gary Numan, Devo, and, shit I dunno, Zeppelin (?) could be called “rave” by anyone who isn’t an idiot, but if a misnomer helps market such spastic music to unsuspecting Brit teens, I guess it can’t be all bad.
08: A Place to Bury Strangers - "To Fix the Gash in Your Head" (from A Place to Bury Strangers)
For some reason its hard to homage the Jesus and Mary Chain without coming across as a complete tribute band. A Place to Bury Strangers avoid this pitfall by adding a hyperactive industrial beat, and simultaneously ratcheting up both the noise and the melodic vocal clarity in service of some gleefullly nasty lyrics. In a word: tough. Fans who come out to see them at After the Jump’s CMJ showcase should bring back up ear plugs in case your first set explodes.
09: Shocking Pinks - "End of the World" (from Singles)
Technically, these songs are a fair bit older than the last three months. But a quick show of hands from those who totally tracked them down on New Zealand export upon original release. Yeah. A D.I.Y. New Order; what more could you want? It’s O.K. to admit that the DFA is basically your impossibly cool older brother right now, mockingly handing you a mix tape and then grinning in secret as it radiates from you room on repeat for weeks later.
10: Caribou - "She's the One" (from Andorra)
Most of Andorra is flatly gorgeous, but this one, co-crafted by Dan Snaith and Junior Boys front man Jeremy Greenspan, is especially sharp and buoyant. Whether JG whipped Dan’s 60’s melody into modern fighting shape, or Dan held back his A-game for the collaboration with his successful childhood chum is unknowable for now.
11: High Places - "Head Spins" (from the High Places EP)
Since my Neon Lights recaps are always ridiculously slow in coming, I’ve not yet had a chance to articulate the joy of a High Places live show. The charms of the recorded work are basically the same. Namely, the experimental sounds married to catchy vocals that could never sound academic, the confidence to cut a song short rather than risk being repetitive, and the underlying sunny goodness of it most of all.
12: A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Hugs & Kisses (Theme From A Sunny Day in Glasgow)" (from the Tout New Age EP )
Finally, for a song, the intriguing production fog lifts, and it's all stunning melody all the time. Ma Daniels even sits in on the piano for maximum adorable. It’s relative clarity would have been the prime talking point for discussing an eventual sophomore record if it hadn’t been tucked away in this low profile digital EP. The point, perhaps?
13: Atlas Sound - "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)" (from the Deerhunter blog, Everly Brothers cover)
When the do a post mordem of the careers of Deerhunter the band and Bradford Cox the performer (aka Atlas Sound), the band’s blog may very well by the loose screw that finally unleashed a rising backlash flood. Hopefully, it’ll get some credit for the sheer quality of its free songs, such as this creepy fifties baby carelessly tossed out with the bath.
14: NO AGE - "My Life's Alright Without You" (from Weirdo Rippers)
Despite their defiantly scratchy D.I.Y. nostalgia, NO AGE has hit on something different. Their short songs meander, dealing with ambient washes or fuzzy distractions before bursting with life. As a result there’s a sense of urgency and suspense that shouldn’t be possible in such small boxes. Conceptually interesting, though just enjoying the bratty surf guitar is a valid option.
15: Liars - "Protection" (from Liars)
Though it’s easy to admire autobiographical song writers when they finally weird out and inch towards surrealism, it’s always more startling when it happen the other way. To shift from metaphorical battles between musical instruments and chest pain mountains to tender remembrances of adolescent summers, seems an almost unbearably intimate gesture. Like if the ranting lunatic on your street corner suddenly segued into a heartfelt monologue about his long departed puppy. How are you supposedly to feel about that?
16: Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green" (from Strawberry Jam)
It’s more of a tribute to / motivational speech for its lyrics' “wasted Brooklyners all depressed” than a discernible ode to Big Al. It makes you wonder if they are actually channeling the good Reverend at all, or if they aren’t alluding to the illegal self-medication that borrows his name in moments of cliched paranoia. Confused and giggling is a perfectly good way to describe the effects of the band’s best song to date.
17: the New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbour" (from Challengers)
Or, a Canadian in New York. After the decidedly shaggy Dan Bejar of Destroyer’s Rubies and Beast Moans, this is a bit of catchy bliss. The (likely minority) opinion that Dan is easily the New Pornos finest writer gains some strong supporting evidence.
18: Deer Tick - "Diamond Rings (2007)" (from War Elephant)
The last song to make this quarter’s cut, narrowly edging PJ Harvey’s “When Under Ether.” PJ’s track is braver and maybe more artistically admirable. But there’s something about the guitar tone here in concert with the rich vocals. It has a mid-career Kinks sound to it that has always been a personal security blanket. Polly Jean’s brainy chill couldn’t achieve the same base pleasure level.
19: Okkervil River - "Plus Ones" (from The Stage Names)
How could we continue to profess our love for musical Numerology, and spurn the field of study’s uncrowned theme song? Our heads would implode from the contradiction.
20: Spoon - "the Underdog" (from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
Spoon’s been evolving as a band so steadily and that this brassy pop bomb is both a bit of a shock and a completely natural progression, somehow. As universal as they've ever been, without sacrificing any sharpness.
FIN.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at October 7, 2007 08:55 PM
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Comments
I love Paper Planes but am not convinced it was the best song on the Kala album. It has a lot of the same beats and sounds to Hit That (which did not make the album final cut).
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at October 8, 2007 02:23 PM
