New Order – Low-Life
About a year ago I found this album on vinyl. A few months after I found this album I found out that the record company put out all of their 80s albums as special 2 CD editions. I picked them all up. There are 5 albums that were released this way. I also found out that they repressed them all in vinyl. I couldn’t bring myself to also buy them on vinyl. It is a little disappointing to me as I would rather have them all on vinyl. This album is a classic synth/pop album from the 80s. New Order is the result of Joy Divisions loss of their lead singer to suicide. The group decided to continue to make music and relabeled themselves New Order. I remember this album in particular because there are a couple of great singles that I remember from when I was a kid. Love Vigilantes is the first song on the album and instantly the most recognizable track. Unless you were not allowed to listen to pop radio in the 80s (I’m looking at you Moms) you should know this song by heart. It is perfectly classic and simple. The group were never the greatest musicians but could put together some of the greatest pop songs. The second song and the second single is Perfect Kiss. The vocals on this track are a little pitchy as the black guy would say on American Idol. I don’t know where those judges get off complaining about such minuscule things anyway. Every group that started in a garage has been this away. Anyway, there is a really cool breakdown in this song with frogs talking in the background. That is what always got me with this song. It was an organic breakdown in an electronic song. The song Elegia was used in a few different movies including Pretty In Pink. This is where I recall the track from. It is an instrumental track that the band claims is dedicated to Ian Curtis who was the groups lead singer when they were Joy Division. This is a great album and shows how the band has transformed from punk to dance pop.
The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
Most fans of The Lips, as they are known to their fans, are not happy with this album. It is too precise and pop for their expectations. The group is knows for their progressive rock sound and this album does not follow that sound at all. This is exactly why I love this album. They get down and into the music. They lay it out so precise and exact with their progressive sound that I can’t not listen to the whole thing. They have somehow put an attraction sound into the music that once I start listening to the album I find it very hard to turn off. From the very first track, The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, It drags you in. Most of you would probably recognize the track from a car commercial that was released a few years ago now. The second song could have easily been a single but I don’t think that it was picked up. This song is called Free Radicals. The first single that was released to radio was The W.A.N.D. This track has a riff that goes through out the whole song and does not quit. It may cut out for a few bars but when it comes back it is exactly the same. It is a simple riff but it is so catchy. It is so catchy and simple that when it was released I was obsessed with the riff and taught myself how to play it on my guitar at home. I did my best to get the distortion on the guitar that is playing the riff. Then I proceeded to play that riff with the song playing on repeat until my fingers hurt or I finally tired of the song. I can’t remember which happened first. The last single that came from this album is called It Over Takes Me. This is another song that has a great riff but it is played on the bass guitar. This song doesn’t have that same pull as the previous three that I have mentioned but is still sounds great. It may be that there is more variation on the bass part or it could be something else all together that I just cant put my finger on. Either way this album is really a great listen.
Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
I picked this album up when it first came out on CD from Target of all places. It was on the up and coming artists end cap. The graphic caught my eye. I had never heard anything from them before and just picked it up on a whim. I was astonished with what I heard from them and instantly fell in love with their sound. That sound is what I have come to label as NUgazer or the new shoegazer movement that has started pushing through in recent years. They are more focused on the music than on the lyrics. I am not the only one to think this is a great album either. There are four singles off this album. The first of which is Future Foe Scenarios. It is a good song with a cool distorted sound but it did not gather enough steam. It was not until the next single was released that this album started gaining some headway. The second single is Well Thought Out Twinkles. This song has a brighter lead guitar sound with higher pitched vocals to match that guitar part. The next single, Lazy Eye, is a song with a clearer sound. There is no distortion in this song which is not usual for a group of this genre. It is actually a refreshing point of view. This song was also used in a couple of the new crop of rhythm games that have come up in recent years giving the group lots more visibility in the public teen eye. The last single off this album is called Little Lover’s So Polite. This song comes back with the fuzzy distortion on the guitar. The guitar is just so catchy. This is what grabs me on this track. That is what attracted me to them after the first listen I think. The fuzzy, warm guitar riffs are so welcoming to me. I also like how the male and female vocals blend in with the music but at the same time stand out enough so that you can understand the song.
LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (S/T)
This is the first album from LCD Soundsystem. The band is actually a musical project put together by songwriter/producer James Murphy, who also happens to be the co-founder of record company DFA Records. I found out about this album only because of the second release. When I find a record that I really like I tend to do some research about the group to see if they have any music that I may have missed out on. In this case there was a whole album that I did not know about. I picked it up as soon as I could. I instantly could tell where the second album came from after listening to this one. This album is defiantly inferior to its predecessors but this does not make it irrelevant. The first single, Losing My Edge, for example uses a simple drum and bass loop with some cool synth sounds and on top of that is a talking vocal that talks of someone trying to stay on top of the curve. It is really a fun track. The second and third singles came from the second disc of the album which contained re-releases of previous singles not from the album. The second single is called Give It Up and the third is called Yeah. The fourth single and the song that got the “band” the most attention is Daft Punk Is Playing At My House. This is the one song that I recognized when I first listened to the album. I had heard it on the radio, 89.3 The Current to be exact. It is a laughable song about Daft Punk, a popular electronic band that I like a lot, that he got to play at his house. This makes sense since he is a well known producer and record company owner. I wish I could have Daft Punk play at my house too. I don’t have any connections with the music world so I don’t see it happening any time soon but that is OK. I think that I would rather have heard a song about them playing at someone else’s house at the moment anyway. This is a great album just not as good as his following works.
That is all for now...
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