Ayno Goze - Deep Bathtub Blues

Hey everyone, I'm very excited this week to be reviewing Ayno Goze's Deep Bathtub Blues.  Ayno Goze is an electronic producer from Stockholm, Sweden.  He has been producing music in a personal capacity for several years now, and his full length debut, Deep Bathtub Blues, is inspired by his time DJing and teaching english in South East Asia, and his love for taking long bathtub sessions after a busy day.  Structurally, his music draws on elements of dub and future garage to create very deeply textured and smooth atmospheres.  He often also combines found sounds with guest vocals, and deep, reverb soaked synthesizers to create oddly bright, but still heavy and spacy music.

This release stays pretty firmly in a slow dub-reggae tempo, rarely rearing its head with faster songs.  However, on songs like "Castle of Sand" and "Educaged"the percussion is really punchy and aggressive, which keeps the songs moving forward nicely.  These couple of songs really remind me old Gorillaz tracks like "Ghost Train".  For a song like "Killing the Ghost" though, it builds up nicely early on and then it doesn't really go anywhere.  As with most of these beats, it starts out on a really firm foot with some aquatic synth work and a nice reggae chord progression, but then it doesn't develop enough to stay involving all the way through.

Like trying to eat a three piece fish and chips dinner.  It can't be done.

I also find myself very mixed on some of these vocals.  I love the passion and intensity in Ayno's voice when he really belts it out on "Reload" before the interlude, but I also find him somewhat ineffectual on "SMOKE Night FIRE Day."  I also really love Emma's contributions to "Bleep" and "Killing the Ghost."  In "Bleep," her smooth voice really keeps the mood bright and hopeful while the backing instrumentation is so deep, and saturated with reverb.  The effect is akin to shining a light into the bottom of a lake.  Also, the lyrics on the close of that song are seriously catchy.  Just closing my eyes and imagining her singing "away, away, away, ow, ow, ow..." is nearly enough to send me to a contented slumber.

The synth work compliments all of these vocal textures nicely wherever they appear.  I find that none of it is especially colourful, but despite its deep aquatic vibe it has a strange sort of luminosity that keeps the album from being too dark or oppressive.  I like how dusty and sullen they sound on "Educaged," and I also like how serene and beautiful they sound on "Bleep."  Through a lot of the album as well, the synth lines kind of float away as if the sound was contained in air bubbles slipping away from you to the surface of the water.

I remember hearing that drowning was a serene experience

In closing, I thought Deep Bathtub Blues was a good debut album.  Ayno Goze has a very prominent command of the textures in his music.  The synths, the background noise, and the vocals are all blended very well, making for some solid atmospheric music (my personal favourites were the tracks with Emma).  Nothing really sounds out of place, or hastily put together on any of these songs.  However, the one major problem that keeps me from thoroughly enjoying it is the pacing.  If the beats had a tighter control of energy, maybe by introducing new elements and taking them away with a greater sense of purpose, then this could be a really great album.

You can listen to Deep Bathtub Blues on Spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/album/2AM2UiRAHuhvLbUNotxdGV
If you're in Canada like me, you will have to listen to the sampler on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/ayno-goze
Alternatively, you can purchase it now on Itunes.
https://itunes.apple.com/se/album/deep-bathtub-blues/id672720099

Thanks a lot for reading everyone!

Kanye West - Yeezus

Can you hear all that buzz?  It is still quite loud from where I am standing.

Kanye West has released another album into the world, and all of us are caught up in the swirling torrents of his ego that are spilling forth from it.  Personally, I haven't ever been interested in what Kanye West does.  I used to think that his voice sounded too clean and not expressive enough to mix with a lot of his beats.  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy did peak my interest, mainly because of "Power" and "Runaway" which I thought were both great tracks. On my first listen though, I remained pretty blase, until the line at the beginning of "Runaway" finally forced me to engage with what Kanye was doing.

"Find pictures in my email. I sent this bitch a picture of my dick.  I dunno what it is with females, but I'm not good with that shit."

I sent out thirty dick picks today! you tell me why I can't get a girlfriend!

What a ridiculous fool!  You don't know what it is? maybe start by analysing that thing you just said, Kanye.  How could you ruin such a heavy, emotional beat, and what is actually a very personal and revealing song, with such a terrible opening line?

Then my brain really tried to make sense of it, and I was left with a choice: either Kanye is completely bonkers for including this laughable and out of place line in an otherwise involving and tragic song, or he is a genius for divulging the true ridiculousness of his personality in a way that is so obnoxious and hilarious, you couldn't miss it.  Applying this dichotomy outwards, to the rest of Kanye's music, really gives an explanation as to why his music is so polarizing.  Kanye makes incredibly well produced rap music with lyrics as nonplus as Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock (It's been proven).  We as an audience have to fill in our enormous questions about what is going on in his music with our opinions of him as a person.  The gaps are so large, that anyone really taking apart his music would end up either thinking he was a moron or a genius.  When you look at his lyrics, there really seems like no other options.

or you may end up wanting sweet and sour sauce...

Yeezus is definitely no different on the lyrical side.  It might even be worse.  However, on this new album, the real change is in the production.  Kanye dives into the harsh, alienating electronic noise of artists like Death Grips, leaving behind his older soul inspired pop production techniques.

First off, the way the electronic beat rolls back in on itself in "On Sight" sounds highly similar to Death Grips' "Come Up and Get Me" but without any of the intensity or insanity, and part way through the song there is a highly out of place soul sample.  It might be a reference to his older work, but it is so jarring; it's hard to appreciate it.  The other time that this kind of smashing of genres happens is on the track "Blood on the Leaves."  In this song, the beat is much better blended, but this combination of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" with Kanye's ridiculous autotuned voice and frankly stupid lyrics is just tasteless.  It's uncommon for me to stop a song, but there is a first time for everything...

In this song, and in "New Slaves" it seems like Kanye is trying to make a strong statement about racism, or something, but he gets quickly sidetracked by his bravado and doesn't bother going back to make his lyrics make sense.  It doesn't even seem like he tries.

I should totally talk about croissants right now.  Ya now would be a great time.

This is honestly a shame, because these beats are fantastic.  The deep underwater bloops of the electronics in "New Slaves" are threatening and chaotic, the TNGHT horns in "Blood on the Leaves" are fat as hell, The percussion in "Black Skinhead" is explosive, and the skidding glitching beat in "I Am a God" is tense.    Again and again though; I can't enjoy any of them while listening to Kanye say things like "I just talked to Jesus. he said what up Yeezus? I said shit I'm chillin, tryin to stack these millions."  Seriously, what the fuck?

I really tried, but I can't take this album seriously.  I think the beats are nearly perfect.  They each hold their own moods, and progress with expert precision and there was no moment when I felt the album dragged, or went too quickly.  I also appreciate that Kanye changing his production style this much would be akin to Van Gogh learning how to paint cubism and then doing it perfectly, and that these are really forward thinking beats to be released into mainstream audience.  However, In this entire album, I failed to find one thing I could relate to, sympathize with, or understand.  I found myself lurching from song to song in a confused state, half laughing and half disgusted, taking a break every thirty seconds to stare in disbelief at the lyrics wondering if this is a real thing.  I still don't know.

Discussion

• Do you think Kanye West a Genius or a fool? Give me your best argument!
• Do songs like "New Slaves" show that this album has a message? what do you pull out of it as a whole?
• Are there ways to tastefully remix old protest songs such as "Strange Fruit?" or are these some things that are just off limits?

Thanks for reading!

River Tiber - Synapses

River Tiber is the project of Tommy Paxton-Beesley, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Toronto.  I believe Synapses is his first full length album, however there was the Massachusetts EP, released in March of 2012, and another release back in 2011, titled From Now On, which I couldn't dig up any info on.  His music has a very spacy and eerie vibe, which employs drifting arpeggiated guitars, sputtering electronics, and a haunting vocal delivery.

Right off the bat, you may notice a strong Radiohead influence, especially in the style of the albums In Rainbows and Kid A.  This comparison really hits me on the second track "The Ancients."  The builds, the electronic percussion, and especially the transition into the chorus, with the ghostly voices and rising guitar melody, remind me strongly of a song like "15 Step."  Also, the electronically manipulated voice on the closer, "What are you afraid of?"  reminded me of "Fitter Happier," but it doesn't stick around for very long.  Sounding very close to such a famous band isn't always the greatest, but I really admire River Tiber's dedication to mood.  All of the songs coalesce very well to form a listening experience akin to sleeping in a stasis pod on the far side of the moon.

If you get up...you're in trouble.

The artful electronic, and acoustic, percussion really keeps this album alive for me.  Otherwise, the guitars in a song like "Subtract" would stagnate quickly.  There were a couple instances where I felt that it could have been mixed better, like in the song "Prophets."  When the clapping comes in, it starts to feel cluttered until the screaming guitar blows everything apart later on in the song.  Mostly, these songs build very deliberately and subtly, giving them a syrupy sense of progression.

The other prominent feature of this album is the guitar work.  In some places it feels monotonous.  In "Atlantis," "The Star Falls," and "What are you afraid of?" I like the way that the arpeggios float out towards you and build up like smoke, but these three songs all use the guitar in a very similar way.  These songs all develop very differently though, which saves them from being too samey.  River Tiber also has some great solos sprinkled throughout this album that will take you by surprise.

In closing, the similarity to Radiohead may really turn some people off of this project, but I think this album has more to offer than just that comparison.  Tommy Paxton-Beesley has some serious songwriting talent, tight attention to mood, and a knack for the slow build.  It is a very solid effort in almost every aspect, and since you can get it for free, there is no excuse not to give it a listen.

Download Link -> http://rivertiber.com/

Discussion

• Listening to this album, I couldn't help but think of this video from my contemporary(Ya right. I Wish.), The Needle Drop.  What do you think about this?
• Synapses is backed by a very gripping and artistic set of Youtube videos, how you do you feel your perception of a song changes with the music video? Is this a good or a bad thing?
• Which stasis pod would you rather wake up in? the one from Alien or the one from Moon?

Thanks for reading!

Future Bible Heroes at Earbuddy

Hey people,

I just reviewed (Slashed and Burned) the new Future Bible Heroes album, Partygoing for Earbuddy.net.  Give it a read here: http://tinyurl.com/ma44a2c, and let me know what you think!

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

"Dear congregation,

We are gathered here today to witness the baptism of a new member of our holy family."

A sweaty and stunned looking Ezra Koenig waits just out of view, in the clutches of an eager girl, whose face shimmers like the golden cross around her neck.  She intends to hold him for his assurance, but she might as well be a pair of shackles.  Suddenly his name is called and he's pushed into the spotlight as the audience applauds. 

"Wait!" he cries. 

"Let me think about this for a while."

The priest, Father Paul Simon, nods confidently in agreement and the congregation leaves Ezra to think.

The outcome of this imaginary scene is Modern Vampires of the City; Vampire Weekend's third album.  The group has turned their attention away from Caribbean music, towards more straight-laced indie pop with a slight gospel bent.  It is less flamboyant than their earlier work, but it retains the precociousness and clever lyricism that makes this group so engaging.

Thematically, this album revolves around a doubtful relationship with Christianity, ageing, and death.  Judging by the lyrics in "Obvious Bicycle" and "Unbelievers," it seems like selfishness and distrust mainly keeps Ezra from his faith.  Although he seems cynical, the upbeat and cheery delivery keeps it both relatable and likable. These themes, combined with the slower pace of the album, make it the most thematically focused and mature work Vampire Weekend has done yet.

These more serious topics in the lyrics also reflect a disenchanted feeling in the instrumentation.  It is nowhere near as bright and colourful as the rest of Vampire Weekend's work.  They have eliminated the bongos, steel drums, and even most of the guitars and string sections that used to define them.  In their place they use a lot of ancient sounding keys, and even the occasional choir, but it is definitely sparser.  It gives their music an airy and smoke filled quality, which doesn't always work perfectly.  For instance, the harpsichord in "Step" sounds hazy and frayed, like it's being played in a dusty cathedral.  I hear the same musky acoustics coming off the organs in "Finger Back," "Everlasting Arms," and almost every other time it makes an appearance.  Although it may be a stylistic choice, I still don't like how it sounds.  To me, it muddles the prim and proper, Princeton image that they are still trying to cultivate.  "Diane Young" is the clear exception to this.  The synths and the bass in this track are just so sharp and crisp.  Every time they play, it's like being slapped in the face...in a good way.

This is going to sound awesome!

The last thing I want to point out is Ezra Koenig's voice.  In "Ya Hey" it is unbearably annoying.  It sounds like a character from a kids cartoon targeted at the hyperactive and hard of hearing.  They use some far more endearing effects in "Diane Young" to make it sound like they are inflating and deflating him like some sort of balloon. 

In closing, I don't think that this is Vampire Weekend's best album, but I definitely don't dislike it.  They definitely show some more confidence on slower songs.  It's also great to see that their songwriting can stand out, without the embellishments of the instruments they are used to playing with.  If it weren't for the dirtiness of the production and Ezra Koenig's unpredictable and sometimes shrill voice, this album could have been great, but I think it stops just short of that.

Major Lazer - Free the Universe

I first heard Major Lazer several years ago.  When this happened, I wasn't even trying to listen to him.  I was just doing what I do during every waking moment of my life, which is clicking links on Reddit.  This happened to be the link I clicked on at that moment:

I laughed...a lot, but I was also intensely confused, and somewhat offended by the obnoxious stupidity of this video.  "Who created this?" I wondered.  Who would have the audacity to make something so "pants on head" retarded and how did he make it so catchy? Major lazer has taken club music by storm with this obnoxious, Caribbean bro-step so intensely that you can almost guarantee you will hear him next time you're getting down at a nightclub.

When this happens, you will definitely know. Diplo and Switch, the producers who used to comprise Major Lazer, have consistently been able to put themselves ahead of the mainstream pop music by making their music at least as offbeat and insane, as it is catchy and well produced.  Also, their choice of features, musicians famous for making music in the genres Major Lazer was more or less lampooning, gave their music a sense of integrity rather than mockery.  Now Switch is off the project though, and Diplo has continued it solo on the new album Free the Universe.

With Switch leaving, I feel like a sense of restraint and focus has also left Major Lazer, which makes the project feel more insincere.  For instance, Amber Coffman's voice on "Get Free" is uplifting, like a sunrise over the Serengeti, but the lyrical themes about government oppression are simply unbelievable coming from a Texan-born singer and a British producer.  In this respect, the other reggae track, "Jessica," sung by Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend, feels much more unassuming.  Even though it is silly, it's still very likable.

Just Like Ezra Koenig is!

The rest of the album is more hectic than a Carnival parade.  The vocals on the first couple of songs "You're No Good" and "Jet Blue Jet" don't come close to matching the energy of the synths and drums, and the smarmy way that they are sung in the bridge on "Wind Up" makes me cringe...hard.  It sounds like Diplo gets anxious quickly and rather than let the beat continue, he just adds in random sounds, like that stadium announcer voice, or the comical laughing, or the one line guest spots.  It really breaks up the flow of most of these new songs.

Also, the weird mishmashes of guests he features on each track don't fit well.  They just aren't used as purposefully as on Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do.  Also, I have no idea what dumpster Diplo found Shaggy in, but he certainly didn't do him any favours by getting him to sing on "Keep cool (Life is What)."  Shaggy was tacky in the 90's when he was still a recognizable performer and ten years later he sounds even more ridiculous.  Ok, I'll stop with the Shaggy hate.  It wasn't him, after all.

In summing this album up, even though I praised Major Lazer for being wacky in the past, the way Diplo is going about it now has several flaws.  It's just too much.  The beats are consistently overproduced, and far too aggressive without sticking to any sort of theme or letting an idea play out.  The guest spots are bizarre and crowded like a clown car, and it doesn't feel like Major Lazer is actually putting any thought into them.  Major Lazer is at its best when the guest spots are limited and the production is more relaxed like in "Get Free," "Jah no Partial," and "Watch Out for This (Bumaye)."  Other than those tracks (which are pretty good), very little about this album appeals to me. 

Discussion!

• I avoided rushing into a discussion about cultural appropriation, but my review hinted at it anyways.  Do you feel like Major Lazer does this negatively? is it a problem for you?
• Does Major Lazer's zaniness appeal to you or do you find yourself overloaded?

Thanks for reading! let me know what you think in the comments.

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual

Hello everyone! I am sorry that it has been a while, but I hung myself up on this review because I found this album very hard to approach.  This shouldn't be a surprise for anyone familiar with the Knife's work in general, or with this album in particular.  They have always had a shadowy and evil character to their electro pop, but as they produce more albums they seem to fade even further into the abyss.

The last studio album from the Knife was 2006's Silent Shout.  Since then, the group has produced Karin Dreijer Andersson's sullen and haunting solo project Fever Ray, and an obtuse Avant-garde opera about the life of Charles Darwin, titled Tomorrow in a Year.  I wouldn't recommend the latter of these two, unless you feel like being confused and horrified for 90 minutes straight.  However, it does help to be aware of it, in order to understand the more acoustic and experimental direction they followed from that point to their new album Shaking the Habitual.  They experiment with the same instruments on both albums, but this time they have actually mastered them, rather than just experimenting wildly.

The Knife could find a way to play a mean mayonnaise. 

This new work is still heavily experimental, but the structure is much more fluid, and feels more organic than Tomorrow in a Year.  However, Just because it flows well, don't think it's going to be a relaxing listen.  When the Knife says they are Shaking the Habitual, they clearly mean it.

Because of its name, I was expecting something more pointed and political.  Instead I received an amorphous, impenetrable blob of primordial ooze.  This fact alone would annoy me more if the cathartic experimentation wasn't the message in and of itself.  I think this decision goes hand in hand with the acoustic direction.  It almost feels like a regression through time, back to humanity's infancy.  There is less structure, and less electronics, and instead more unpredictability, and more emotional indulgence.

You want a nine minute, ambient, brainmelter with synths deep enough to hide the lochness monster in? and with only four lyrics about eating coffee and cake for lunch? Bam! "Cherry on Top," how about 20 minutes of tense, dissonant groaning created by recording noise in a boiler room with sputtering percussion that builds to nowhere? No? TOO BAD! "Old Dreams Waiting to be Realized!"

Shaking the Habitual is profound in its commitment to unbridled emotional expression.  The Knife doesn't shy away from a feeling or a thought until it has fully run its course, whether it takes 20 minutes or 37 seconds. Despite the huge variation in song lengths and styles, It is consistently dark, bold, and unapologetically ferocious.  These songs are so seriously far off the deep end; they could have been written by Cthulhu himself.  They do have their more accessible moments though.

Because Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn would be such a good chorus...

Like the single, "A Tooth for an Eye."  It has all the characteristics of a great Knife song: a steady build, intricate percussion, and disturbing vocal manipulations underwritten by a challenge of gender roles (which they expressed nicely in the music video).  This song and the other pagan dance ritual, "Without You My Life Would be Boring," are definitely the high points on the album for me.  They have a determined, satanic energy that makes me want to run until my lungs cave in, or scream till I start coughing up blood.

The second track "Full of Fire," is also a pounding, percussive, tour de force with some really devastating drum rolls, but I seriously hate the vocal delivery.  Despite its different manipulations, it remains displeasing to me in a way that isn't bold enough to make me more than mildly uncomfortable.  In fact, if I had to pick one thing I really didn't like about Shaking the Habitual, it would be the singing in general.  Usually, the Knife's strange vocals are blended seamlessly with their malevolent synthesizers, but their move to this more acoustic sound leaves the vocals sounding out of place in the beginnings of "Raging Lung," "Full of Fire," and "Ready to Lose."  They are eventually blended together, but the moments where they appear on their own are glaringly lacklustre.

At the end of this thing, and after reading the insane manifesto the Knife produced to describe it; I feel this album defies being rated on a traditional scale.  If someone were to give it a bad rating rating for being an inaccessible, shadowy behemoth without structure, catchy lyrics, or any semblance of comfort anywhere in it, then they would merely be confirming its existence as something disturbingly outside the ordinary.  It is long and disquieting and it may burn you out before it finishes, but this nightmare deserves your time and effort.  It will remind you that the strange, the beautiful, and the horrifying are not always separate when we encounter them within ourselves or hidden within the depths of the world.  By presenting them wholesale, and not parsing them down or separating them the Knife has created something truly disturbing and intensely thought provoking.  My god that was long.

Discussion!

• Honestly, the one thing I am curious about with this album is how other people experienced it.  Could you listen to the whole thing? Did it make you uncomfortable? Did it inspire you to think or did it just confuse you?

I really want to engage with people about this album, rather than just adding my review to the pile of positive reviews that already exist for it.  Please let me know in the comments.