Thursday, June 01, 2006

Music That's Better Than You. Week 5


Yeah, fucking Yorke threw off my whole stride. Anyway get the rubbers and let's do this thing.

The Sound Team
Indie-pop



There is something about a band that lets their sound breath; allowing chords to drift into gentle termination between the drum’s ringing detonations. It speaks to a band confidence, when the thick drive of the bass hums relentlessly but without anxiety and the vocals are anthemic and yet blissfully patient; letting lyrics linger on the tips the singer’ tongue just long enough to tumble through the depths of the listener’s ears.

From such a description you would expect Sound Team to be another post-rock ambient outfit. But they’re not. Sound Team makes music that could be post-rock, but post-rock for the A.D.D. Truly this band has too much of a pulse to let their songs wander endlessly down ambient hallways because Sound Team’s 2006 full length Movie Monster is unmistakable danceable Album.

And yet for all of the moves Monster dares you to make, the album could just as easily entertain the couch bound melody junkie. It’s this duel nature that makes the band greater than the sum of their parts. Movie Monster throbs with a tempo that refuses to be ignored, and yet despite what the rhythm section would have you think (or do), the rest of the band lounges placidly midst layer upon layer of thick dreamy keys and chords.

The band’s frontman is perfectly suited to his group’s sonic duality, he croons and hooks like any other ego-rich neverwave frontman and yet his delivery snaps and twangs with a timbre that belies the normally postured style he is referencing.

Ultimately the only thing preventing Sound Team from transcending the startlingly well crafted pop-willing album realm and leaping into the masterpiece strata is the repetition of their technique, specifically the near omni presences of the dancehall staple: the four to the floor bass drum. But for those of you who don’t have any idea what that means- you should have no problem falling under this album’s deceptively simple allure, and you should feel damn good doing so.

Sounds like:
If The Secret Machines sounded half as big as they wanted and were fronted by The Killer’s lead singer, and if he had half as much personality as his reflection promised you’d have a sound similar to this.

No really, sounds like:
If tragedy and introspection incited less tears and more dance.

[MP3] The Sound Team - Born To Please

[THE ‘SPACE] The Sound Team

[HOME] The Sound Team



Araki
Indie-rock



There is a rare type of artist who is so skilled and gifted that his talent radiates from his pours lingering on all of the projects he touches. Often this artist’s true aptitude is his or her ability to inspire and resonate with other artists forming a sort of creative symbiosis capable of remarkable feats of production. And yet there is an artist rarer still, who needs no one else- who can craft great works all by their lonesome.

Such is Karl Rasmus Kellerman.

You may have heard Karl’s more famous project last week on this site when I did a review of Tiger Lou, Karl would be Tiger’s lead singer.

Still, years before he joined up with his mates in 'Lou he made music under a different name: Araki. In 2001 Kellerman recorded his first moody demos, they were later to be finished and then released by the now defunct label Scene Police, the album was named Ikara.

If you found Tiger Lou’s dark swoons, sweeping melodies and finely tuned indie rock craftsmanship something you could easily lose yourself in, Ikara is something you must own. Where Tiger Lou has an unwavering grasp on the basic song format Karl’s earlier work was far more sparse and restrained. The songs on Ikara all bare reminisce to soft requiems, translated into indie-rock. There is a spacious quality to the release that toys with the deconstructed nature of post-rock, but the songs never lose their cohesiveness and Karl’s haunting and devastatingly graceful vocal melodies are never far away…

Sounds Like: A quieter, darker Tiger Lou

No Really, Sounds Like: Soft grave-side musings of a guitar, some keys and a voice that will not forget.

[MP3] Akari - My Ego Could Crush A Full Grown Man

[THE ‘SPACE] Akari



*SPECIAL NOTE!!*

Please read below before continuing with the reviews.

The other day I loaded up my Elite Opinion desktop folder to begin writing this week’s Music That’s Better Than You post and to my surprise I found the file already in progress. It turns out I had already started week five’s post… I just happened to have absolutely no recollection of it.

At all.

After some short detective work (really short, check out the second sentence in the As the Poets “Confirm” review) I quickly deduced that at some point, during Friday or Saturday night I got B.O.D. and decided to whip up some reviews!!

Look out Bukowksi; you’re not the only poet with a liver condition.

Anyway for comedic effect I’ve left the reviews entirely as I found them, in all of their wandering pathetic glory, only the band names have been edited for obviously reasons.

Show me another music blog like this. Seriously.


_______ The Drunken Reviews: ______


Ane Brute
(Post Inebriatory Edit: Ane*Brun*)
Indie-Folk



If American music still sounded this hurt and blue I would have never turned to hardcore for cartharsis.

Where Jose touches us for his tender intrigue ane stabs us with a depth of cold, cold goddamn sweet cold knife that leaves a scar you can be proud of.


*The following was left incomplete originally and was completed after the original review:


Sounds like:
Jose Gonzalez’s shadowy brand folk got dressed up for a night at blues dive.

No really, sounds like:
A subtle melancholy ache drafted across an acoustic fret board in small clever doses.

[MP3] Ane Brun - This Voice

[THE ‘SPACE] Ane Brun

[HOME] Ane Brun



As the Poets Confirm
(Post Inebriatory Edit: As the Poets *Affirm*)
Post-rock



Yes, this is post-rock, yes this obviously, this el post-rocko. You’re drunk. Stop it.

No, seriously, there are bands who take the post-rock tools (oh stop, we’ve all seen them at the store, reverb and delay on the guitars, some strings and keys plus a drummer who can strike 4/4 earth shaking drops that re-start our pulses. (What the hell was I drinking?)

But sometimes we have a group who takes those tools for granted. And does something trascenedental. They take the queues we lavish on them and brush them off like so much B.S only to make an album so dynamic and coherent we suddenly understand why we’ve been pushing this sound for so long!

YES! This is how to do it!

Don’t just take these epic chords and huge rythmes to bed, restring and pound them into new form and new style to forward an entirely deep and more honost art….



*The following was left incomplete originally and was completed after the original review:


Sounds like:
Sigur Ros’ devotion to the creative concept that mood should dictate technique, and not the reverse. This band has all of the depth and range that puts artists like Do Make Say Think and Evpatoria Report high on a pedestal, towering above the milling crowd of their peers.

No really, sounds like:
The post-rock cannon was dismantled and re-deployed by a nearly classical mastermind’s attention to composition and theme.

[MP3] As the Poets Affirm -Snow-White Wings in the Bottomless Blue
[MP3] As the Poets Affirm - A Lie Told Before Breakfast
[MP3] As the Poets Affirm -A Voice Recited the News on the Radio

[THE ‘SPACE] As The Poets Affirm

[HOME] As The Poets Affirm





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