Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life

Let me start off by saying I don't care if you like this or not, as this is my my opinion. This album is garbage. Nearly everything about it is. I will say, the first track, "Son The Father", seemed decent with a hook that did make me think, "Hey, despite this guys Kermit the frog holding his breath like voice and the uninteresting instrumentals, this just may be ok." But I was let down by a lackluster of any kind of hook or anything that made me want to come back to this cd at all. I did though, thinking it would take a few spins, but never did it once get any more appealing. I will admit, I don't listen to a very large amount of hardcore anymore, but I used to, and I can tell you that this is not hardcore. This is more of something that hipsters can listen to and say "wow I think I like hardcore", because it sounds vaguely different from anything ever written.
Different isn't always good though, and it is showed in Fucked Ups album. Why must they try so hard to make their music sound "distructive", and leave out much needed hooks for music of this style. The music drones on and on, and, besides the first track, gives youy absolutly no reason to come back. Why reviewers gave this cd above 8's is beyond me. The situation is kind of like There will Be Blood, where it seemed overted. At least that movie was pretty good though, and had something special about it.

3.4/10

Parenthetical Girls - Entanglement

I came across this album randomly, with no expectations whatsoever. I'm actually quite happy Pitchfork or the like have not yet reviewed it for it could have skewed my view. That being said, this is a great album, and is fresh in what seems to be a stale world of new music these days. Rather than using the classic verse chorus song structure, Entanglements builds melody through other ways. The main hook factor involved with this album is used through the singers voice, whom uses Beirut like vocals (not the pitch, but they general dominance that it takes over the rest of the instruments).
Other instrumentals are also Beirut like, with violins, trumpets, flutes, ect. While PG are similar to Beirut, they really in no way sound like each other. The first track, "Four Words", is happy sounding and fast paced, and the "chorus", which really shouldn't be called one, is a crescendo to a falsetto voice, and is the best of the album. "Unmentionables" has a strangely catchy, gentle mix of falsetto and tuba, which then ends in a mix of violins and a lower, but still enjoyable voice. "Young Eucharitist" is also a great example of how varied vocals can become addicting. "The regrettable end" is the emotional ender of the album, that leads us to a crescendo of male/female vocals along with many instruments.
If you are a fan of classical instrumentals, varied vocals with women vocals also, or just a different aproach to catchyness, I really suggest you get this. It's briliant in what it tries to do, and has a happy goth like feel to it that can only be explained with a listen. I am looking forward to future releases, and will be looking at their past albums as well.

8.4/10

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

What to expect of girl talk...a guy named Greg who merely mixes music together into a 16 track album. While this may not sound so interesting, I can assure you it is. DJ's usually create boring and uncreative mixes from samples of songs, not really trying to make it catchy to the listener, but rather just make it sound cool. Girl Talk, on the other hand, was able to get me humming and singing snippets of his songs without even realizing it. That, right there, is enough to win me over. He mixes classic songs with new rap songs mainly, with perfection. Who knew that Come On Eileen and The Cranberries could be re written with rapping? The cd needs to be listened to as a whole and flows together perfectly, so I can honestly say I do not know 1 individual track.
The cd does tend to go on a little longer than you want it to at first, but that's just cause there is so much going on. I would like to see mixes with time signatures also. But really, this is a great album for many occasions, and is definetly worth picking up.

8.3/10

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

I had high hopes for Of Montreal's new cd, Skeletal Lamping. Their last cd, Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer? Was extraordinary, and with repeated listens, became one of my favorites. So When I listened to Skeletal Lamping for the first time and thought, "hmm, this could be great", I decided to listen to it 6 more times with the same feeling, with exception to a few songs. It really makes you feel like it will be a grower, butthat is not so much true. In a nutshell, this cd is just dick references sung in falseto, along with some interesting beats/music. "For Our Elegant Caste" is definetly the standout track for me, with a chorus of "We could do it sofcore if you want, but you know i take it both ways". Most of the songs have lyrics such as these. "Wicked Wisdom", "Gallery Piece", "Id Engager", and "An Eluardian Istance" are all the standout tracks. and while no song is really horrible, the rest seem almost like filler.
This album is suffering from too much happening at one time, and while this sometimes works, in this case it just seems like too much. All the sexual inuendo, lack of true hooks, and just straight up music that won't keep you interested for very long, all make this cd passable. Some tracks though, such as "For Our Elegant Caste" were stuck in my head for days, but this isn't to sy that a couple tracks can save a 15 track long cd.

6.2/10

TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Dear Science seems to be getting praise from critics all over the country, and though it is a pretty enjoyable album, it is far from perfect. There are 11 tracks on Dear Science, which, by the way, seems to be a popular number of tracks with bands these days. It opens with "Halfway Home", which quickly became a favorite off the album for me. While the chorus is not booming with hooks, it's fairly catchy and does not fail to impress after further listens. Crying may not impress upon first listen, but with repeated listens it becomes clear as to what they were trying to do, which was make it funky sounding, yet still have a rockish type of chorus.
One of the tracks that do not follow this structure, however, is "Stork and Owl". This is easily the best track off the album, and uses mens low, but gentle voices for most of the rhythm, creating a satisfyingly different feeling than the rest of the tracks. Another track that stands out is "Family Tree" which is soft and slow, with a very beautiful melody.
While some traks are quite good, others just ruin the cd, such as "Red Dress", which gives me an annoyed feeling while listening to it, and that's something you don't want with a cd.

Dear Science is not a bad cd by any means, just an overrated attempt of funk. While it does show promise with songs like "Halfway Home", "Stork and Owl", "Family Tree", "Lovers Day", and others, it gets almost annoying to listen to with songs like "Golden Age" and "Red Dress". If you like David Bowies (whom he strangely resembles) voice and are a fan of hybrid music, then I suggest checking it out Dear Science. Actually any fan of Alternative music should probably check this out, but don't have you expectations too high. If your new to Tv On The Radio, I suggest checking out Return To Cookie Mountain first.

7.7/10

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

Animal Collective has long been one of my favorite bands. Those reading this probably know their unique style, but in a quick summary, one can label them as "experimental", for Animal Collective create fresh and new music that will either disgust you and make you wonder how anyone could listen to this, or make you smile and praise the gods of music. For many, it's either one or the other, and for me, it's all praise.
Animal Collective's past Cd's have been hailed by critics all around, and had a tribal type quality to them that made them stick out from all other bands. Strawberry Jam, though, is not like those other albums. Instead of tribal like sounds, with big drums and slow paced ( for the most part ) rhythm, Strawberry Jam uses mainly electronic devices, and it uses them like they've never used before. Who knew and electronic song could sound so weird.
But a good weird. No, a great weird. Underneath the rough vocals and loud noises is beautiful pop structures and melodies, and the mix of weird and catchy, creates a fresh musical experience never heard before.
"Peacebone" is the first and probably best album on the cd. It starts out with a mess of electronic instrumentals, and then evens out into a still murky, but clear cut electronic verse of noises and odd lyrics. The chorus is unelievably catchy, (as is much of the cd), and will have you singing "and ubsession with the past is like....." for weeks.
"Unsolved Mysteries", is not as clear cut as Peacebone is song structure wise, but still is briliant in the technique used for hooks.
Other highlights include the fan favorite "For Reverand Green", which uses a hook filled shrieking chorus to atract listeners. "Fireworks", the only one that took time to grow on me, became another instand classic. Clocking in at about 7 minutes, it puts you into a drone like trance, and becomes very catchy after about 3 listens. Another of my favorites, "Cuckoo Cuckoo" uses a gentle piano, and then cresendos to the catchy chorus.
The only song I didn't really love, (though I still liked) was "Winter Wonder Land". It holds the cd bck just a tad.

After about a year of listening to this cd, it still remains a favorite, and will most likely always be so. Though only 9 tracks, the album stays with you and remains catchy for a long long time. It is chop full of hooks and melodies, and uses techniques to make it almost impossible to become stale. I love this Strawberry Jam.

9.8/10