Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol Two Judges

On a recent trip to the mall, I noticed New History Warfare Vol. Two: Judges by Colin Stetson filed under the rock / pop section of HMV.  After my initial surprise at finding this obscure album at HMV, I realized that whoever put this here had never listened to it, or even been in a room with someone who had.  This beast of an experimental jazz record resembles nothing close to pop or rock music, even though the soloist in question has played saxophone with the likes of Arcade Fire and Bon Iver as recently as last year.

New History Warfare Vol. Two: Judges is the second album by soloist Colin Stetson.  While listening to this behemoth, you may find it hard to believe that only one man is responsible for the cacophony of sax that you will hear even though each song was recorded in one take with no looping.  Mr. Stetson utilizes a technique called circular breathing, which allows him to play pieces up to five minutes long without stopping the insanity for even a moment.  The effect is quite dizzying, and at times it sounds barely human at all.  The saxophone seems to leap and bounce off a cavernous expanse deep within the earth.   Also, look at how big it is, Link.  This man is a beast.

He also manipulates the sound of the saxophone using 24 microphone positions throughout his recording space, sometimes even placing them inside the saxophone itself.  This recording techniques allows the saxophone to express an array of strange noises and even makes it sound like a heard of charging horses on the song "Clothed in the Skin of the Dead."

There are times in this album when short, well needed, interludes break up the noise, and guest spots by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden help to add a human element to the devilish menagerie of sounds without distracting too much from Colin's playing.  "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" utilizes Shara Worden's voice to devastating effect.  She sings mournfully about her family and dismal life in a traditional blues fashion, while Colin's saxophone sniffles along in the background as if it is literally trying to keep from crying.  He plays one note throughout the entire song, which at times groans with such intensity that it feels like you are listening to the world rip apart around you.

I also felt incredibly impressed that one of the most emotional moments on the album for me was the 36 second track "All the Colours Bleached to White."  This track contains no brass at all, but instead opts to use a glorious choir to describe what feels like a heart breaking surrender.

The sounds that he produces from his demonic saxophone are so rich and deep they yawn and groan like some great beast from the bowels of hell in "Judges" and "Red Horses (II)."  He can also sound shrill and frantic in "From no Part of Me Could I Summon a Voice," strangely beautiful in "A Dream of Water" or shudder with ecstasy in "The Righteous Wrath of an Honourable Man."

This album blew me away so completely, that I could do nothing but sit in silence after some of the songs.  I find it as invigorating and challenging as it is entertaining.  It can be shrill and evil sounding, but it consistently shines with a strange sort of beauty I find it hard to put my finger on.  This is an experience like nothing you have ever heard before,  and it is definitely worth your time to listen to the whole thing.  This album actually came out in 2011, but I have been holding onto this review and refining my ideas about it since then.  I feel like I could still talk about it more, but I will leave it to you to experience yourself.  

The XX - Coexist

When I heard that a new XX album was released, I immediately went and put away everything that would remind me of my exes while I prepared to listen to it.  The often haunting and arresting simplicity of their début self titled album was remarkable.  The group has a great power to use their emptiness for raw emotional impact, exchanging complex songs for your own complex emotional response to it.  Songs like "Heart Skipped a Beat" and "Islands" from their first album definitely left me breathless, and if you have not listened to them, I suggest you do it now.

In their new album, Coexist, The XX still chase the same emotionally drained emptiness that their first album did, but it is altogether slower and although the songs have a more complete feel to them, I found that this took away from their emotional impact.  In this record, they don't put silence and empty space to work in nearly as affectively as they did before.  They do attempt to do this on "Tides" and "Our Song," but without engaging lyrical content, these two both come off as flat and uninteresting.

One thing that I noticed as soon as the opener "Angels" started playing is a change in percussion style from their last album.  The drum rolls on this track and cymbal splashes on "Chained" give a new organic life to these songs which was previously alien to The XX, and it is a fantastic development.  Jamie XX has also stated that club music had a strong influence on this record, which you can hear in songs like "Reunion," "Sunset," and "Chained," but the sleepy nocturnal feel that the xx produces does not allow them to be compared to any real club music.  That is not a problem for me because I would never expect an XX record to make me want to do anything but cry myself to sleep.  As a side note though I do see some good club remix possibilities for songs like "Chained" and "Try," the Hype Machine and Youtube confirm this suspicion.

Many of the songs sound more developed than on their first album, but their constituent elements don't always feel like they mesh very organically.  I noticed this the most with the very dark sounding guitar intro to "Try" (couldn't find a working link) which, although it sounded great on its own, had a very different tone than the rest of the song.  I also wish that steel drum on the next song "Reunion" were more of a centre piece because Jamie XX has shown how pretty he can make it sound in his solo work on the song "Far Nearer."

In general, I was not particularly thrilled with this album.  While I liked the improvement in percussion, many of these songs seemed awkwardly put together and dull.  It didn't have nearly the same arresting impact for me as their first album.  The real pitfall of making such skeletal music as the XX does is that if the few elements you use are lacklustre, or if they don't coalesce very nicely, there is very little else to keep the music interesting.

Kids and Explosions - Shit Computer

In honour of the upcoming Rifflandia Festival in our very own victoria, I have decided to try to review a couple albums from the incredible lineup of talented artists they have this year.  The first of these artists that I decided to check out is Kids and Explosions' 2010 album "Shit Computer."  You can check out his bio for Rifflandia here.

At a first glance, you might compare K&E to the pop sampling maniac Girl Talk, but K&E's more focused and careful delivery exceeds Girl Talk's frantic, fuck and chuck style of quickly adding elements and then changing them 8-10 seconds later before they have a chance to fully develop.  K&E's attention to pacing creates more complete songs and an altogether more cohesive album.

Even though K&E utilizes samples for all of his music, he is not content to let them play as normal.  In fact, a lot of the fun of listening to this music is remembering what the original lyrics or melodies are, and comparing them to how they have been chopped up and forced into these new formations.  For example, the opener, "Everything," features some hilariously mixed up Eminem and Notorious lyrics, set against a very backwards rendition of what I think might be "Sweet Child of Mine."  This technique reaches ridiculous proportions on the aptly titled "Swear Words," a song that is childish, but still fun.  I definitely laughed every time I heard Biggie yell "tits!"

I also find that, when you take away the meaning of these rap lyrics, it forces you to pay attention to the timbre of each rappers voice.  This is something that does not always get as much attention in rap music and you may once again find yourself loving how angry Eminem sounds, or appreciating Lil. Wayne's nick name "Weezy."

This album is not without its flaws, however.  When K&E's slice and dice skills fail, they fail hard.  At their best they are fun and intellectually compelling, but at their worst they are jittery and nearly intolerable, like on the track "Winning is Easy."  To put it in perspective though, this was a remarkably fun and unique mash up album, and since it is a first effort from K&E, I look forward to seeing K&E's development in the future.  I am also excited to see him play Thursday September 11 at Market Square.

Dirty Projectors - Swing lo Magellan

I feel like I need to start this review by saying that I was a very big fan of the Dirty Projectors first major label record "Bitte Orca."  That work was brimming with confidence and although their sound seemed a bit cluttered on songs like "Cannibal Resource" and "Useful Chamber," it was a solid demonstration of guitar playing talent as well as fabulous voice work.  Their sound was delicately constructed, but at the same time it consistently flew off the handle with fiery guitar solos that gave it a very bright and ecstatic feel.  Both the guitar playing and their vocal work seemed to me like the strong points of the Dirty Projector's sound and I was hoping these two elements, in all their bright form, would be the focal point of the band's next release.

"Swing lo Magellan," the Dirty Projector's new album, features both of these elements, but not as strongly or as excitedly as their preceding work.  It takes on a more mature feel, which is not always a bad route, but in this instance I did not find it nearly as engaging.  The work as a whole feels much more calculated, and darker.  Rather than riding triumphantly through the desert, this feels sun baked like a six shooter showdown.  I think overall this change in ambiance is what made me dislike this album more than "Bitte Orca."  I really connected emotionally to the ecstasy they projected, but I just do not feel the same emotions while listening to "Swing lo Magellan."

That being said, there were several songs I really enjoyed.  "About to Die" has some interesting drum work that builds to a very emotive chorus.  The next song "The Gun Has No Trigger" makes the rest of the vocalists sound like a chilling choir of ghosts next to David Longstreth's lead vocals.  This single was actually the song that I liked the most out of the songs that do not bear as much resemblance to their earlier work.  It also epitomizes the change in style that really struck me on this album, if only the rest of the songs matched this one in quality.  "Dance for you" is an another simple and relaxing song that I enjoyed immensely.  The light percussive work allows Longstreth's voice to really ring out as if he is singing to a vast canyon. 

The back half of the album had several songs that I enjoyed due to their similarity to their old style.  "The Socialites" really shows Amber Coffman's voice well.  It lets her bring forth great emotion that sounds comforting like a lullaby and on a side note, in this song she sounds very similar to Marceline from Adventure Time.  "Unto Caesar" has a some guitar parts that remind me a lot of "The Bride" from "Bitte Orca" and the speaking interludes add some hilarious moments to the song.

All in all, with the exception of "Dance for You" and "The Gun Has No Trigger," I found my favourites to be the songs that were closest to their original style.  The slower and drained feeling of a lot of these songs does not fill me with the same exuberance that their first work did, and without any other elements than the guitar and voice to fall back on, it seemed ineffectual and boring all the way from "Swing lo Magellen" to "See What SheSeeing."

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

(I would like to thank Frank for choosing a colour that fit in with the rest of my blog)

This new work from Frank Ocean is surprisingly sunny and relaxed for a member of Odd Future.  This Californian singer really goes to lengths to portray the good and bad about the culture of his peers and friends in the Orange Country.

Channel Orange is slow paced and careful.  The songs take their time, but Frank Ocean uses the space well, filling it with sleepy synthesizers and his stellar voice.  Some of the songs really feel like the beats were ripped from 1970's infommercials, but I feel like the sterile ambiance of songs like "Fertilizer" and "Super Rich Kids" really adds to the overall feel of a world stuffed with shrink wrapped couches and pools only for sunning oneself beside.

Both of the rap features on this album fit into the rest of the songs with ease.  Earl Sweatshirt kills it as usual, and Andre 3000's soothing swagger seems right at home in the mournful "Pink Matter."  Also, the fact that only two are used goes to show that Frank Ocean can hold his own comfortably on his début solo release without using the features as a crutch.  This album is R&B all over and comfortable that way.  John Mayer also makes a fantastic appearance on the lounge interlude "White."

One grievance that I have with Channel Orange, is that the message tends to be somewhat heavy handed at points.  Songs about the hollowness of Californian, suburban lifestyle only pack emotional weight when they are not played back to back.  I generally enjoy heavily themed albums, but when they do not have a wide enough variety of material it can grow stale.  I also find it hard to feel sorry for millionaires sometimes, although most of Frank's lyrics concern the children of these people and it is very easy to sympathize with children whose "maids come around too much, and parents aren't around enough."

In general, I quite enjoyed Channel Orange.  After listening to it all the way through a couple times, it did seem to drag a little bit in the middle, but considering the album's generally slow pace, it did stay quite engaging.  "Pyramids" and "Lost" helps to drive the album forward when the pace slows down, but at the end of the album, I found the song "Forrest Gump" perplexing and nonsensical.  This album would be perfect for a lazy day in your beach side villa after a night of heavy drinking and regrets.

Zammuto - Zammuto

Zammuto - Zammuto

Experimental music consistently has a habit of being serious in nature.  It plays itself off as something you should be scratching your chin at while staring blankly into your stereo.  This is not the case with Zammuto's new self titled album.  Nearly all of the vocals in this work are heavily edited, and the song structure frequently deviates from the norm, but the music consistently comes off as light hearted and fun.

This album is the new project of former Books guitarist Nick Zammuto.  It is a four piece outfit with Nick Zammuto on the guitars and vocals, Gene Back on guitar, organ, and keys, Sean Dixon on the drums, and Mikey Zammuto on the Bass.  While it retains several elements that make the Books a good band, it is more accessible and energetic.  For starters, Zammuto does not use nearly as many vocal samples as the Books, which I feel makes the lyrical content more engaging and emotive.  You can read the full story of the Books' break up and Zammuto's formation here.

One thing that is interesting throughout this album is the different ways that they edit the vocals.  The opener "Yay" uses some strange intermittent filtering which makes the lyrics unintelligible, but builds the energy of the song to the point of ecstasy.  The next song "Groan Man, Don't Cry" makes extensive use of a vochorder to building interesting harmonies against Nick Zammuto's fantastic guitar riffs. "FU-C3P0" sounds like the lyrics are typed into a speak and spell.  The incredibly strange, pseudo rap or slam poetry song "Zebra Butt" has the female vocalist slowly speak like the Windows text to speech program (that we all typed swearwords into, in our youth) over a bubbling electronic bass line that slowly builds until it explodes into a cacophony of electric angst.

The second half of the album has a more relaxed feeling but still maintains interest through the use of the  electronic vocals, drum samples, and sequenced bass.  The song "Harlequin" uses some interesting keys that sound like pvc piping, before falling into a haunting night time ballad.  It utilizes a more toned down version of "Yay's" vocal editing that sounds like the vocals are rippling across the surface of a pond.  Finally, the closer "Full Fading" makes it seem like you are drifting away on the smoothness of Nick Zammuto's electronic voice, like a computer slowly running out of batteries.

All together, I immensely enjoyed this album.  The use of the vocal editing made this work consistently fun and engaging all the way through, even on the slower songs at the end.  It can be hard to distinguish which sounds have been sampled and which have been authentically recorded, but I don't really think it matters because the end product sounds fantastic.  The use of vocals in this album can seem alienating during the very energetic songs such as "Yay" and "Zebra Butt", but the closing tracks are so beautiful and relaxing, that it should round off the experience quite peacefully.