Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost 10/5-10/11

The album that is new to us all, while we’ve heard it all before...
To start out I will say this is one of best albums I have heard in some time. I realize making a statement such as this is just asking for backlash, (I know I probably would give some… but I have also been called argumentative.) but I hope after I explain my opinion we will all be in agreement and the ACTW community will be able to say this as well… Because how awesome would it be for all of us to have just listened to an album and be able to say something like “MAN! That was awesome!”… Unlikely I know. But a guy can dream cant he?

So back to “The album that is new to us all, while we’ve heard it all before…” Simple enough idea… and personally if I read that I would most likely assume the album is unoriginal and/or played out stylistically. Whether it’s a band that has ripped off another’s sound or released an album identical to one of their previous releases, most of us have experienced the dissatisfaction resulting. (I know I have.) However when it comes to “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” a unique situation arises. Now it is no secret that Girls have a sound similar to many one might hear on their local “oldies” station, and (trust me) this album is no different. I would say not only is the sound similar to many great bands of the past, but many of the songs are so similar they feel as if you have already heard them.

When I listen, I hear many of my favorite bands from past generations. I hear sounds of the Beatles, Elvis, Pink Floyd, Elliot Smith, Brian Wilson, and many more which I couldn’t nail down. Wait… What is this, an oldies compilation fall 2011? … Anything but.. Yes when you listen to “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” you may hear a few if not many bands from the past you’re familiar with. However the unique beauty of the album and its success in my opinion is Girls ability to incorporate all of these iconic sounds while never losing their identity. Each and every song is truly their own.

The sound is rich. The style diverse. The writing of Christopher Owens stimulates without fail.

Hope you all enjoy it.
AJ

Trolle//Siebenhaar - Couple Therapy 9/27-10/3

There’s the kind of relaxing music you play on low to help you focus on work, and then there’s the kind that makes you lean away from the computer, roll your chair back and forth, and smile a little at the thought of being somewhere far away. It’s necessary sometimes, and hard to come by.

Trolle//Siebenhaar is a Danish duo from Copenhagen consisting of Ane Trolle and Pato Siebenhaar. Trolle’s soft, playful vocals are enough to soothe your stress and sexy enough to keep you distracted while Siebenhaar layers reggae beats under sweet harmonies for a dreamy, upbeat quality. Some notable tracks to check out: Amelita, Sunday Song, Sweet Dog, and These Streets.

This whole album is one for a Sunday. Take a joyride or drag out an evening cooking dinner and washing dishes over a glass of wine. The work will still be there once you’ve finished and you’ll be in a better mindset to handle it anyway.

Note: I included an additional track in the playlist. It is not by Trolle//Siebenhaar but has a similar feel so you get a bonus.

Beruit - The Rip Tide - 9/19-9/26  

The number of images and memories this band name can evoke is literally infinite. From the sun-soaked peninsula of the Mediterranean Sea and sister city to Los Angeles, Baghdad, Tripoli, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Mexico City, Istanbul, Marseille, Cairo, Athens (...and it goes on, but basically, a city that rolls with only the most happening places on this floating marble we call Earth), to dank and grimy beer-soaked basements alive with yells and the tip-toe of ping-pong balls, that sometimes delicately land in foam to extra yelling. I now present another cerebral linkage in the form of a sextet hailing from Santa Fe, USA.

Beirut is world-American pop music and The Rip Tide is a glorious collection of brass, drum and voice, woven together in ear-to-ear smiling harmony. Tracks dance with different subjects, but include a story of a childhood city, Santa Fe, to a more abstract track in East Harlem, which abandons all logic and begs you to understand that "sound is a color [you] know." 

Crank up your speakers, wherever you are and especially if you're playing 'rut, and listen to what Zach Condon and his gang have to say. You won't be able to stop.

-pM

Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt - 9.14.11-9.21.11

I think we’ve all had the pleasure of mouthing the lyrics to a song in another language even if don’t understand the words one bit. From the second we were shuffled into a preschool or nursery school, we were fed Frere Jaques for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, polyglot or not. Well, this my friends, is your upgrade. Offering a variety of styles (I’d call some of them influences, cough, to be discussed?, cough), and rhythms, if you listen to this cd enough, there is guaranteed to be a song where you pretend to know at least a little Swedish.

Dungen is a four piece outfit based out of Stockholm, Sweden, but the soul really comes from the lead singer, song writer, and talented musician, Gustav Ejstes. Ta Det Lugnt, released in 2004, is their 4th album and most beloved. The cd provides some more gripping tracks than others including the gems I have previously pointed out: “Panda” and my favorite “Det Du Tanker Idag Ar Du Imorn” (I do not attempt to impress my Swedish friends with the pronunciation of that one); however, every track forces a look at what could superficially be perceived as a “one-trick-pony.” As a live experience, the band enjoys prolonging songs to infinity; some people call this jamming, I call it running on a treadmill. Their energy is indubitably there, and even a heartless snot like me can get immersed in the quality of the performance, maybe I’m just not in shape to keep running with everyone else.

Ta Det Lugnt carries me to my high school years where I was just wishing I existed in another, cooler era that I thought Dungen was taking me to. Hope you can sink in as easily as I did. Enjoy.

Love Mamolou

Concert Counsel

The SuperSonic Suggestions

The La's - The La's 8.16.11-8.23.11

More often then not, the concept of perfection is viewed as a positive thing. Although it might be born out of a negative comment, the ultimate view on perfectionists is neuroticism, but enviable diligence. Media is littered with perfectionist heroes: James Cameron, James Joyce, Michelango, etc.

Little do we hear about perfectionism actually crushing an artist's career; the assumption is that perfectionists will never get frustrated enough to commit artistic suicide. The La's are just such an example.

Lead singer and guitarist Lee Mavers was known as somewhat of an oddball and perfectionist even before the inception of The La's. After shuffling producers, band members and songs for over 2 years, the production studio Go! Discs forced the band to release their album as is. Despite the overall critical and public success of the album, Mavers claimed the album was "rushed" and retreated to his home in Liverpool to live outside the spotlight. Rarely, on nights where the moon is ripe in the night sky, Mavers has been spotted playing deep in the underground Brit scene under random pseudonyms or with obscure bands.

The resulting self-titled album is an undoubtedly 90s sound, a fresh and lasting take on the British invasion. The album wades in that puddle of attempted perfection, trying so hard to reach it. The album shines, but was it worth it in the end?

Perfection is a speeding car stuck on cruise with a 7 year-old boy behind the wheel. Needless to say, it's dangerous.

Arthur Verocai - S/T 8.9.11 - 8.16.11

There is a particular word in Portuguese, famously untranslatable into English, used to describe a particularly Lusophone feeling of loss, joy and elegance.

Saudade.

Some have described it simply (and inadequately) as “sadness” or “nostalgia”… More sophisticated thinkers have noted that it is closer to “happy-to-be-sadness,” and the brand of nostalgia it describes is as much for the present moment as for the lost past.

One thing for sure is that it is a feeling that permeates the vast majority of Brazilian popular music, and the 1972 self-titled LP from composer, arranger and producer Arthur Verocai is awash in it. Elements of jazz, soul, psychedelic rock, funk and Música Popular Brasiliera intertwine amidst waves of exquisite yearning. It’s the kind of feeling of sadness that makes you glad to be alive with a heart capable of feeling.

UCI