Songs Of The Week #93: TCDroogsma

Kelis, Fear Of Men, Truckfighters, Fujiya & Miyagi, & Haley Bonar...

Well hello again, MP3 fans! Welcome To Songs Of The Week #93!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

Unfortunately, this week MinneSarah took the week off due to what could kindly be called "Current-based fatigue."  Trust us, her words were considerably more harsh.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So... Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Kelis - Cobbler (from the album Food)

TCDroogsma:

     A few months back I received my bi-monthly e-mail from the label Ninja Tune that included a link to download a single from Kelis' upcoming album Food.  I don't know enough Kelis songs to say whether or not I like her, but I figured I'd throw it on my weekly playlist and find out what the story was.

     That single was a song called "Jerk Ribs," a horn-stuffed, Motown-type workout that I found so enjoyable that I played it on my Flatbasset Radio podcast that week.  It seemed like the famously-difficult-to-pigeonhole artist had found a new home rapping herself up in the music that inspired her.

     I suppose it's possible that spending a week with such an enjoyable single would make it tough for a second single to stand up, but I couldn't help but be disappointed with "Cobbler."  Those rich, funky horns are gone, replaced by some shuffling percussion & afro-beat style horns that comes off like the most forgettable Dave Sitek song you've ever heard.  Kelis' whispery, melody-averse crooning brings almost nothing to the table, lacking enough mystery to create atmosphere and enough ooomph to sell an almost non-existent hook.  Even the breakdown (which features Kelis "hitting notes she never sings") feels forced.  I don't know if The Current ever embraced "Jerk Ribs," but "Cobbler" sounds like just the kind of mundane, sorta-indie, sorta-R&B that is right in their wheelhouse.

Final Score: 1.5/5

02. Fear Of Men - Waterfall (from the album Loom)

TCDroogsma:

     Remember last year when I couldn't stop ranting like a lunatic about Veronica Falls & their single "Teenage?"  I think we've finally found this summer's sequel to "Teenage's" youthful, innocent charm.

     Where "Teenage" lived in a world of the trivial teenage infatuation presented through the eyes of "this is life and death!" teenagers, Fear Of Men present the grown up sequel.  The guitars are excited, yet controlled.  There's a synth line that hints at the melancholy lurking underneath the chorus' repeated call of "I'm not alone in this..."  This is an "adult pop" song in the best possible sense.  A world of excitement, sadness, longing, & hope delivered in a way relatable to everybody who knows what it's like to be overcome by those feelings all at once.

Final Score: 4/5

03. Truckfighters - Prophet (from the album Universe)

TCDroogsma:

     As I spent the week with "Prophet" I kept stumbling across the same adjectives to describe Truckfighters. "Stoner Rock."  "Desert Rock."  "Metal."  I was kind of surprised by this.  The band owes an obvious debt to Queens Of The Stone Age, but just give the song a spin.  They may love Josh Homme, but it sure sounds like they enjoyed Room On Fire & First Impressions Of Earth as much as Rated R.

     Lead singer Ozo comes out crooning like a smitten Julian Casablancas during the verse before lashing out like... well... a bitter Julian Casablancas in the chorus.  The band around him works up a Polvo-esque fuzzy/precise racket right up until the chorus, when they snap into place like Albert Hammond & Fab Morretti in their prime.  Basically, this is what The Strokes would sound like if they adopted Josh Homme as a guitar player (which is awesome).  I'm sorry to be so redundant, but just listen to it!  There are no other conclusions to be drawn here. 

Final Score: 4/5

04. Fujiya & Miyagi - Vagaries Of Fashion (from the album Artificial Sweeteners)

TCDroogsma:

     Fujiya & Miyagi have built a career out of creating subversive electro songs that wouldn't be out of place in a packed European club or on Mogwai's tour bus.  "Vagaries Of Fashion" fits nicely with their work in the past, continuing their winning streak of sneaky hooks, sneakier lyrics, and an overarching feeling of suspense that gives the impression that they know something you don't.

     "Vagaries Of Fashion" opens with the lines, "You keep pickin' the scabs 'round the edges 'till it bleeds crimson red, cracks concrete grey..."  Pleasant stuff, to be sure.  The song goes on to add all kinds of guitar lines, blips, & bloops, but stays anchored on singer David Best's vocals.  With him crooning slyly throughout, the song never gets too high or too low, never completely revealing itself.  It's a clever trick and it allows "Vagaries Of Fashion" to be better with every spin.  Even when you know what's coming next, it's still exciting.

Final Score: 4/5

05. Haley Bonar - No Sensitive Man (from the album Last War)

TCDroogsma:

     Damn!  Haley Bonar's really changing the game these days.  Where she used to be the Twin Cities sappy, boring, female counterpart to Jeremy Messersmith, Bonar evidently got bored with that folk sound this time around (and not a moment too soon).

     MinneSarah & I discussed the the track "Last War" way back in SOTW #78.  While that song was also a dramatic departure from the Bonar of old, I lamented that the new synth-heavy sound left Boanr's voice lost in the mix.  Well, here on "No Sensitive Man" the synths have been replaced by some buzzy guitar work while Bonar's vocals are the star of the show.  Bonar's voice has a rougher, more worn in sound than it used to and frankly, it suits the song perfectly.  Evidently Bonar's boredom with folk music also extends to the kind off "sensitive, artistic, fawning" men you meet when you play folk music for a living.  "Once you loved his hippie ways... but now you want to cut off all his hair, see what he's made of, wipe his tears away..." God bless you, Haley Bonar.

Final Score: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio









For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #91: TCDroogsma

Saintseneca, Wye Oak, Marissa Nadler, Sharon Van Etten, & Black Diet...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #91!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

Unfortunately, this week MinneSarah took the week off due to what could kindly be called "Current-based fatigue."  Trust us, her words were considerably more harsh.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So... Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Saintseneca - Happy Alone (from the album Dark Arc)

 
TCDroogsma:

     I'd never heard of Saintseneca before being given "Happy Alone" this week.  According to the internet, Saintseneca is the brainchild of band leades r Zac Little, who writes relatively sparse folk songs and then builds a world around them with the rest of the band.

     "Happy Alone" definitely seems to fit that mold.  Lyrically, "Happy Alone" sounds like some lonely singer/songwriter type of shit (though the line, "to presuppose this precipice could be scaled by any one of us..." deserves credit for its unique ridiculousness).  Fortunately, Little's lament/desire to be alone is relegated to the background while the band works up an indie rock storm around him.  The drums hit hard, the piano pounds, there's a welcome little synth swirl post-chorus to give the song some character, I think there's a woodblock in there somewhere... The band really does a great job off turning what was likely an insufferable demo into a pleasantly swinging spring jam.

Final Score: 3.5/5

02. Wye Oak - Glory (from the album Shriek)

 
TCDroogsma:

     I've stumbled across a few columns lately that have made a big deal about how Wye Oak is moving away from guitar music on their new album and venturing more toward left-of-center R&B.  Those columns then went on to discuss whether or not this was a good thing, whether or not guitar music was dead, and whether or not this "indie R&B" moment has passed.  As you can see, it was a super busy week for people with nothing to write about.

     None of that mattered much to me, as I don't know any Wye Oak songs.  As far as I know they've always played bouncy, keyboard-heavy indie pop.  Maybe "Glory" loses something without the context of their style change, but to my ears it sounds like a fine, if inconsequential single.  Singer Jen Wasner is desperately trying to write "smart" lyrics, but ends up with a chorus that begins, "And in the telling of the story I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase..."  Gripping stuff.  Nice groove, though.

Final Score: 2.5/5

03. Marissa Nadler - Drive (from the album July)

TCDroogsma:

     I think it's a real testament to level of fatigue instilled in me by listening to all these Current SOTD tracks that a song that is merely a woman with her acoustic guitar (no bed of keyboards, no unnecessary dance grooves, no vocal yips) can seem so refreshing.

     Nadler begins the song lamenting a career that never began.  "17 people in the dark tonight, familiar faces behind the cellular lights..." probably describes the view from the stage at hundreds of shows each night, musician's dreams crashing coldly into reality.  On that note, Nadler takes to the road with an organ, a pedal steel guitar, & her own echo as co-pilots.  "Nothing like the way it feels to drive..." is a universal truth, delivered here with both optimism & sadness, an open road promising no answers but, thankfully, no questions either.

Final Score: 3.5/5

04. Sharon Van Etten - Taking Chances (from the album )

TCDroogsma:

     Further proving my point that there just wasn't anything happening in the indie rock world last week, Pitchfork put together a lengthy column on the deep emotional resonance of Sharon Van Etten's songs of love & longing.  After reading the article I went back and listened to "Taking Chances" again just to see if I'd missed anything.  Turns out, not really.

     Credit where its due, though.  Most of the lyrics are a jumble of nonsense ("When you love all of you, they know all of you" "Turn on the charm, call to response now..."), however, Van Etten hits a moment of brilliance on the plaintive, simple chorus, elongating "Even I've taken my chances on you..." with a sense longing & regret" as an electric guitar shows up to give the lyrics a dash of anger.  The rest of the song is dressed up quite well instrumentally, but doesn't really go anywhere.  Still, most songs don't have a transcendent moment.  "Taking Chances" has a fine one.

Final Score: 3/5

05. Black Diet - Nothing To Say (from the album Find Your Tambourine)

TCDroogsma:

     Black Diet appears to be 2014's Next Big Thing here in the Twin Cities.  Frankly, after years of Lizzos & Messersmiths & Southwires, I couldn't be happier.

     As I understand it, the idea behind Black Diet is a combination of garage rock & R&B.  If that's the goal, "Nothing To Say" hits the nail on the head.  The songs chugs along on some low-fi drums & cooo-ing girl group harmonies, but the star of this show is singer Jonathan Tolliver.  The energy of "Nothing To Say" is high, but Tolliver spends the track channeling Lou Reed singing Motown's Classics.  Lyrically, he sticks to Reed's straightforward "there was a chair, I sat in the chair" style.  "I got real drunk & said some things that I really didn't mean, and now I'm hear alone wishing you would pick up the phone, I'm lonely, I'm horny, I wish I had you girl."  It doesn't get much more Blunt than that.  That's kind of the point though.  Tolliver stays relatively deadpan, only breaking his nasal, conversational tone to to sell the chorus.  This matter-of-fact style gives the song a charm all its own.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio









For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #88: TCDroogsma

Bad Suns, Pattern Is Movement, Big Scary, Snowmine, & MaLLy...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #88!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

Unfortunately, this week MinneSarah took the week off due to what could kindly be called "Current-based fatigue."  Trust us, her words were considerably more harsh.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So... Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Bad Suns - Cardiac Arrest (from the album Transpose)

 
TCDroogsma:

     The Bad Suns is a band coming out of southern California that seems to have a real soft spot for early 2000's British music.  "Cardiac Arrest" bounces around nicely due to some solid work of the rhythm section, while lead singer Christo Bowman's elastic voice sounds as if he learned to use it by singing along to The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs,  etc...  As somebody who was a huge fan of that type of band, this isn't a bad thing.

     However, much like the collected work of The Kooks & Kaiser Chiefs, "Cardiac Arrest," though pleasant enough in the moment, is not particularly memorable.  Despite his claim of "high voltage when we kiss," it's a low-stakes love song (he starts that same chorus by claiming, "I'll try my best..." Gripping.)  "Cardiac Arrest" is a fine, trivial spring single.  Not a bad little number, but nothing special.

Final Score: 2.5/5

02. Pattern Is Movement - River (from the album Pattern Is Movement)

TCDroogsma:

     Heading into this week I only knew two songs from Pattern Is Movement and they were both covers.  Bjork's "Enjoy" and The Smiths' immortal "I Want The One I Can't Have."  I'm not familiar with the original "Enjoy," but their take on Moz's yearning was certainly curious enough to make me excited to hear some of their original work.

     "River" rides a slinky, streaming verse of falsetto & synths that recalls Dirty Projectors before collapsing into a chorus of... well... more synths & falsettos.  Frankly, it's the same kind of song structure that has made millions of dollars for everybody from The Beatles to New Found Glory.  Pattern Is Movement puts their own Philly-white-boy-indie-soul twist on it.  That seems like a mouthful on paper, but they pull it off admirably the first couple times.  The song loses all its steam at the end when they decide to just crash the chorus into the ground and neglect to rebuild it, but up until then PTM makes an interesting racket.

Final Score: 2.5/5

03. Big Scary - Twin Rivers (from the album Not Art)

TCDroogsma:

     "Gonna have to wake up, I don't wanna have to wake up, get up, get changed, game face, I don't want to have to wake up again this morning..."

     That's how we're greeted by Big Scary on "Twin Rivers."  Suffice it to say, hearing that as I listened to the song while walking to work at 5:45 in the morning all week may have given those lyrics some extra weight.  Big Scary wraps those lyrics around some big, shuffling drums & strings that give lend those melancholy sentiments some color.  The rest of the song features some lovely boy/girl vocals, and clattering piano, and a chorus that's big in the same way a Travis chorus is big.  They don't go full Chris Martin, and that suits them.  The whole song takes its cue from those first lyrics and provides enough small glimpses of beauty to remind you that life can be so much more than the daily grind.

Final Score: 4/5

04. Snowmine - Columbus (from the album Dialects)

TCDroogsma:

     Snowmine is a five-piece coming out of Brooklyn with a crowd-funded new album, Dialects.  Just based on that information (and the picture above), you can probably gather what the band sounds like.

     "Columbus" is rich in keys, strings, gospel-esque harmonies, and a great chorus.  There's not much going on in this song that you haven't heard before, but Snowmine seems to be doing it as well as anybody.  Their great trick on "Columbus" is giving all of their ideas space to breathe.  It takes a lot of parts that are easy to dismiss on their own and deploys each with brutal efficiency.  The result is a song that, as you listen, is captivating, and yet leaves almost nothing behind when it ends.

Final Score: 3/5

05. MaLLy - A Long Day (from the album The Colors Of Black)

TCDroogsma:

     I feel like I"m cheating a bit here with "A Long Day."  When it was released as an SOTD track I spent a week with it and, despite the fact that I'm a MaLLy fan, I wasn't too high on it.  I thought the piano was a bit too saccharine while MaLLy's "life is tough" take struck me as a bit too constructed.

     However, since then I've picked up the song's parent album The Colors Of Black.  Given proper context on the album, "A Long Day" stands up as a highlight.  The album is an angry affair, with MaLLy's ire directed almost entirely at the struggle a young, black man faces in America.  By the time we get to "A Long Day," it's clear that MaLLy's not depressed, merely exhausted.  "A Long Day" is the sound of a man who's upset with the world around him, and equally upset with the fact that, despite his best efforts, he's nearly powerless to change it.

Final Score: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio









For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #86 & #87: TCDroogsma

No, Lost In The Trees, Trust, Gardens & Villa, Howler, The Drive-By Truckers, Tycho, Stone Jack Jones, Stepdad, & And The Professors...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #86 & #87!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

Unfortunately, MinneSarah is continuing her sabbatical this week. Without his co-reviewer, TCDroogsma got lazy and took a week off.  Fortunately, taking a week off from reviewing songs didn't mean taking a week off from listening to the songs. He's back this week & making up for lost time with a double-dose of reviews.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So... Droogsy... thoughts?

01. No - Leave The Door Wide Open (from the album El Prado)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Back in SOTW #15 MinneSarah & I reviewed No's single "What's Your Name?"  Both of us came to the conclusion that, while it was an OK song, it was basically a case of the sum of a bunch of other indie band's traits not adding up to an especially compelling whole.

     "Leave The Door Wide Open" still sounds like it's aping somebody else's sound, but fortunately the sound that it's aping is The Killers circa Sam's Town.  Singer Bradley Hanan Carter & Co. aim for a sweeping, epic sound and, for the most part, succeed.  Carter's lyrics, particularly, strike the tongue-in-cheek-tone that Brandon Flowers used to be able to nail in his sleep.  "We make some noise inside a room and call it art..." is, at different times in the song, delivered with nonchalance & passion, leaving the listener to wonder whether he's serious, super-serious, making a commentary on his band's commercial ambitions, or mocking the concept of pop music as art altogether.  No may or may not be finding their own sound (it's legitimately difficult to say), but until they do they'd be wise to keep crafting songs with hooks like this.

Final Score: 4/5

02. Lost In The Trees - Past Life (from the album Past Life)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Their must be something in the water in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Lost In The Trees is yet another band to come out of the college town to somehow strike the delicate balance between epic & personal, aiming for big ideas while providing just enough little flourishes to make it feel like you're hearing something in the song that nobody else hears.

     "Past Life" provides enough "indie rock 2014" signposts to leave the song sounding very much of the moment.  There's echoing vocals, keyboard pulses, and some nonsense about staircases, lover's eyes, and nature.  The real star of "Past Life," however, is the guitar work.  The band aims for hooks in just about every manner possible, but the lead guitar work provides the most memorable wrinkle.  The bouncing guitar figure that opens the song (and returns halfway through each verse) is light & catchy in a song that threatens to be bogged down by ideas.  When the riff is finally spun into a full-on solo at the end of the song it feels like everything that was holding the song together comes unraveled brilliantly.  There's a lot of very good ideas at work here and Lost In The Trees deserves credit for balancing them well.

Final Score: 3.5/5

03. Trust - Capitol (from the album Joyland)

 
TCDroogsma:

     "Capitol" is a peculiar track that grew on me over the course of the week.  The song opens with some garbled noise before giving way to a clear, catchy keyboard line.  That, however, gives way to Robert Alfons' mumbling, which then gives way to a clear, catchy chorus that somehow thrives on Alfrons' nasal delivery.  You see the pattern here?

     While "Capitol" is a frustrating song due to it's essentially non-existent verses, at its core it's a lesson in pop song structure.  The song ebbs & flows brilliantly (if predictably).  By letting the pieces fall apart during the verses, Alfons is able to make the chorus sound like a glorious payoff even if, in a vacuum, it wouldn't amount to much.  Alfons deserves a ton of credit for playing to his strengths to turn "Capitol" from a struggle to a single.

Final Score: 4/5

04. Gardens & Villa - Colony Glen (from the album Dunes)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Going over the lyrics to "Colony Glen," Gardens & Villa seem to paint a picture of a mutually-maintained secret that involves the murder at Colony Glen.  It's a curious subject, but they manage to pull it off reasonably well.

     Unfortunately, the lyrics are matched with a very "2014-by-the-numbers" synthesizer bounce that actively detracts from the devious lyrics.  The song is aching to breath, to give more weight to the lyrics, but in the end the can't (or won't) concede aiming for the instant pleasure of dance-pop to take the chance on something darker, more memorable, and potentially terrible.  It's a risk/reward proposition and Gardens & Villa played it safe.

Final Score: 2.5/5

05. Howler - Indictment (from the album World Of Joy)

 
TCDroogsma:

     I don't own a Howler album, and yet they just might be my favorite local band.  Everybody jumped on Jordan Gatesmith when he (justifiably) called on the Twin Cities music scene as insular, narcissistic, & thin-skinned.  He was right on all accounts and the fact that he was deemed a pariah by the local music "press" essentially proved his point.

     However, none of that would matter much if he & his bands didn't have the tunes to back up their smartass remarks.  With "Indictment" as the lead single off their World Of Joy LP, it's pretty clear that they do.  The band works up a pretty straight-forward rave up while Gatesmith (who sounds like he spent his time between albums smoking filter-less Lucky Strikes) spits some early-20's lessons about not wasting your time on fading youth, pitching fits... really giving a shit about of the trivialities of young manhood.  It's hardly groundbreaking stuff, but the band bring enough snotty conviction to the track to remind you that there's no gimmick in rock music quite like youth.

Final Score: 4/5

06. The Drive-By Truckers - Pauline Hawkins (from the album English Oceans)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Despite the fact that I own three of their albums and have seen them live, I've never totally bought into what The Drive-By Truckers are selling.  I realize that it's ridiculous for a guy who's a huge fan of The Hold Steady to criticize a band for writing fictional narratives as songs, something about their old-timey Southern tales just fails to get me too enthused.

     "Pauline Hawkins" is a fine, harmless number that is unlikely to make believers of the non-believers.  Patterson Hood (who sounds more & more like Wayne Coyne everyday) fires some mean-spirited shots at a lover while the band works up their typical southern rock racket.  Frankly, the most telling description of "Pauline Hawkins" is also the most basic.  "Pauline Hawkins" is a new single from The Drive-By Truckers.  You don't really need any more information than that to have a good idea of what it sounds like.

Final Score: 2.5/5

07. Tycho - Awake (from the album Awake)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Tycho is the working name of Scott Hansen, a musician & photographer out of San Francisco.  He's also an artist who frequently turns up on my "suggested artists" list on Last.fm and is being played frequently by my Last.fm friends.  I was kind of excited to see what all the fuss is about.

     "Awake" is a a fine instrumental song that is difficult to place.  It's built mainly on some smooth electric guitar work with a canvas of ambient keyboards underneath.  Hansen works up a pleasant, inconsequential sound that's less club-friendly and more Volkswagen commercial.  It's sunny sound provides pleasant background noise but not much else.  Hansen seems to understand that it's hard to make a grand statement in a song without lyrics and, as such, just aims for something pleasant and harmless.

Final Score: 3.5/5

08. Stone Jack Jones - Jackson (from the album Ancestor)

 
TCDroogsma:

     I don't know much of anything about Stone Jack Jones and it seems neither does the rest of the internet.  He's from West Virginia.  He was unable to serve during the Vietnam War due to bouts with epilepsy.  He released an album back in the 2006, relocated to Nashville, and returned in 2014 with Ancestor.  Also, he can ride a horse.

     "Jackson" is a delightfully off-kilter song that, while owing something to the old Nashville country sound, remains rough around the edges.  Jones recounts a searching Jackson for a lost love, but meanders into descriptions of the townfolk, the sky, & the corn along the way.  He sounds like a man who knows what he wants (or, rather, knows what he doesn't, which is to "lose you"), but he also sounds like a man who's spent enough time in his life looking that he's not going to waste his time.  By the end of the song Jones has found a glass of whiskey rather than his lost love. The cycle begins again.

Final Score: 2.5/5

09. Stepdad - Running (Does That Mean You Care?) (from the EP Strange Tonight)

 
TCDroogsma:

     One of the most difficult things a musician can accomplish in 2014 is writing a synth-based song that stands out from the crowd.  Stepdad accepted that challenge and very nearly pulls it off.

     "Running (Does That Mean You Care?" pulses along predictably, but becomes memorable thanks to a good old-fashioned sped-up sample that sounds like Kanye West remixing an old Cut/Copy track.  Singer Ultramark fashions a world-beating hook out of the chorus, giving the song more personality than a sample every could.  Stepdad's aiming to be the kind of a the well-populated synth-pop hill and with "Running" they've staked their claim.

Final Score: 3.5/5

10. And The Professors - Turn-Of-The-Century Recycling Blues (from the album Our Postmortem)

 
TCDroogsma:

     I spent a whole week with "Turn-Of-The-Century Recycling Blues" before realizing Adam Levy of The Honeydogs was the man behind the song.  Suddenly, this well-crafted, expertly executed pop song made a lot more sense.

     I'm sure Levy has no desire to read about his full-time band in relation to this one, but it's difficult to make the distinction.  Frankly, he should probably consider it a compliment that he's been crafting pop songs with such consistency that it doesn't matter what he calls the band he's fronting.  "Turn-Of-The-Century Recycling Blues" finds levy & company going full McCartney, bouncing along on percussive piano, swooping strings, & group harmonies.  The song's texture is rich & pleasant while it's lyrics, which recount the World's Fair, appeasing Hitler, & the Dust Bowl.  I barely understand what Levy's getting at, but it doesn't really matter.  If you like pop music you'll love this one.

Final Score: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Two week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio









For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #85: TCDroogsma

Sylvan Esso, Tinariwen, Sally Seltmann, Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes, & K.Raydio & Psymun...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #85!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

Unfortunately, this week MinneSarah took the week off due to what could kindly be called "Current-based fatigue."  Trust us, her words were considerably more harsh.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So... Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Sylvan Esso - Coffee (from the single Coffee/Dress)

 
TCDroogsma:

     As mentioned up above, MinneSarah is not joining me this week.  We traded text messages earlier this week and she told me that she just didn't have the energy or the patience this week to slog through another batch of Current songs.  I could definitely understand.  If you didn't read last week's reviews, I hit a similar wall with that Yellow Ostrich song.  Spending years with these SOTD tracks has taught me that, more often than not, you're just going to get stuck with very, very average music that aligns with The Current's definition of "relevant" or "trendy."  As such, you have to sift through a lot of sound-of-the-moment bullshit to find the gems.

     Why do I bring all of this up?  Because "Coffee" is just such a gem.  Sylvan Esso is a collaboration between vocalist Amelia Meath of The Mountain Men & producer Nick Sanborn aka Made Of Oak.  On "Coffee," Sanborn works up lovely, synth-heavy canvas for Meath's vocals.  His production hinges on keyboads that create a backdrop for crystal clear plinks, plunks, & percussion.  It's a brilliantly laid back production that perfectly matches Meath's matter-of-fact vocals.

     Meath, in turn, puts together a stellar performance, painting a picture of falling in love from the perspective of somebody who's probably fallen in love a few too many times.  Her vocals are weary, yet hopeful.  When she pulls out the tired hip-hop trope of , "Get up, get down.. get up, get down..." it's tellingly delivered as old news, yet, obviously, always a crowd pleaser.  "Coffee" ebbs & flows brilliantly, with both members of Sylvan Esso sounding absolutely essential. 

Final Score: 4/5

02. Tinariwen - Chaghaybou (from the album Chaghaybou)

TCDroogsma:

     This is Tinariwen's second appearance as a SOTD track.  Their first, a song called "Tenere Taqhim Tossam" was a peculiar song that found success by mixing in airy vocals and guitar work that left plenty of room to breathe.  They caught a nice groove and rode it for over 4:00.

     "Chaghaybou," unfortunately, brings none of that subtlety to the table.  The guitar work on this song is similar to "Tenere Taqhim Tossam," however it's significantly more claustrophobic than before.  Lyrically, not a word is sung in English.  While it's completely unfair to criticize a band from Mali for not singing in English, that doesn't change the fact that songs I can't understand do not appeal to me.  Were "Chaghaybou" an even mildly interesting song, I could understand its appearance as an SOTD track.  However, it's not.  Frankly, the fact that The Current is pushing a 30 year old band from Saharan Africa reeks of the kind of, "They're great, you've probably never heard of them..." music snobbery that pervades just about everything The Current does these days. 

Final Score: 1.5/5

03. Sally Seltmann - Seed Of Doubt (from the album Hey Daydreamer)

TCDroogsma:

     You may know Australian singer-songwriter-producer Sally Seltmann better by her former stage name New Buffalo.  Or, if you're like me, you may not.  No matter.  "Seed Of Doubt" is lovely, if somewhat cliche-riddled song.

     As I've mentioned many times before in these reviews, sometimes sequencing is everything.  I spent the week listening to Sally Seltmann's middle-of-the-road piano-pop immediately after that pointless Tinariwen song.  As such, it's familiarly warm hooks and lyrics of relationship confusion felt like putting on a warm, familiar sweater.  Seltmann's vocals are clear & pretty.  When she sings, simply & plaintively, "I love you, I love you, I love you-ooh..." in the last 30 seconds of the song, it's delivered with such little pretension that it's difficult not to become immediately smitten with Seltmann.  Sure, "Seed Of Doubt" sounds like it was meant for the next Cities 97 compilation, but so what?  Great pop is great pop.

Final Score: 3.5/5

04. Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes - Sun Goes Out (from the album Kid Tiger)

TCDroogsma:

     Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes is a Nashville-based band, however, Mr. Ellsworth hails from the Land Of 10,000 Lakes (many of which are great, though only one is labeled as such).

     "Sun Goes Out" actually sounds exactly like a Minnesota boy leading a Nashville band.  The hooks are sharp, but the performance is loose & open.  Lyrics like "I don't know why we fight just to get along..." sound like they're coming from a man who knows the true definition of "Minnesota Nice."  The song remains sunny as the band builds to a rock n roll chorus and finally explodes with an odd, wordless group vocal bridge.  While not a particularly memorable song, "Sun Goes Out" is a pleasantly familiar four and half minutes that takes small risks & yields small rewards.

Final Score: 2.5/5

05. K.Raydio & Psymun - Joyride (from the album LucidDreamingSkylines)

TCDroogsma:

     I was very excited to see a new single from K.Raydio & Psymun in this week's batch of songs.  If you're a frequent reader of SOTW, you should already be familiar with K.Raydio's voice from MaLLy's "Good One" & Homeless' "Get Gone."  If you're a frequent reader of my Flatbasset blog or listener of my Flatbasset Radio podcast, you may know that I spent the first week of February with Psymun's excellent Heartsick as my Album Of The Week and played their single "Jupiter" on Flatbasset Radio: Episode #24.

     So, for better or worse, I'm already exceedingly familiar with K.Raydio & Psymun's sound.  That said, "Joyride" does not disappoint.  Psymun builds one of his brilliantly off-kilter beats around percussion that drifts from speaker to speaker, a twinkling keyboard figure, and saxophone bursts.  As is typically the case with Psymun, the beat aims for the stars and hits the mark (even the inherently risky use of saxophone pays off big time).

     It should be noted, however, that for 2:50 seconds of the 3:12 song, the beat doesn't really go anywhere.  It doesn't push or pull or really have any say in the song's hook.  As such, K.Raydio (who's voice has proven so adept at selling hooks) is left to craft her own melody.  Fortunately, she's up to the task.  While she never crafts the kind of hook that will have you humming, she returns to the same melody enough times that the song maintains a structure.  While this sort of song could lend itself to vocal embellishment, she manages to keep her vocal flourishes strictly in the "tasteful" column.  Frankly, much like Sylvan Esso up above, K.Raydio & Psymun both bring their own ideas to "Joyride" and manage to compliment each other exquisitely.

Final Score: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio









For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #84: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

Liv Warfield, Big Data, Yellow Ostrich, Quilt, & The Person & The People...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #84!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01. Liv Warfield - Why Do You Lie? (from the album The Unexpected)

 
TCDroogsma:

     "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and let me tell ya, Liv Warfield's been scorned.  Unfortunately, she's decided to voice her fury over a backdrop of by-the-numbers bro rock and poorly EQ'd horns.

     "Why Do You Lie?" is built around the strength of Warfield's powerful voice, which she wields here with convincing ferocity.  Both lyrically & musically, however, the song is poorly crafted.  Many R&B singers over the years (from Aretha to Beyonce) have tried to go bit with electric guitars and all have failed.  Warfield's effort does nothing to dissuade me from believing that the best R&B coming out of Portland right now is being played by white guys with keyboards and beards.

MinneSarah:

     My first listen to this song, the guitars sounded extra grungy - think Soundgarden with horns and a soul singer.  Then I found out that Prince produced Liv's new album and every questionable note fell into place. The lyrics are serious - dude stole twenty bucks out of her purse - he also tripped when she bought him Jordans (however that is possible).

     On the whole, the song is way over the top, though it could sound halfway subdued to a diehard Prince fan.   While I've never felt compelled enough to call someone out with full horns and intense guitar solos, the main takeaway is that the words "lie" and "why" really do rhyme.  

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
                     MinneSarah: 2.5/5

02. Big Data - Dangerous (from the EP 1.0)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Speaking of white guys with beards, here we have Big Data.  Big Data have two concerns.  First, they're concerned that the internet & the government are conspiring to pacify the public, essentially removing people from the human experience.  Second, they want you do dance.  I suppose the two go hand in hand.

     "Dangerous" focuses on that first concern lyrically, but they're obscured by a dominating bass guitar that implores that we stop listening to the lyrics & dance.  The end result is the song that would play over the trailer for Baz Luhrmann's hypothetical take on 1984.  Bouncy and catchy, Big Data makes their case with their hips.

MinneSarah:

     Bass can make or break a song - so lay it on thick.  Add some keyboards, and I'm in heaven.  While this song is going to make it on my spring mix, no question, it also has some self righteous political undertones.

     While it's not a long shot, Big Data writes songs about humans vs. Internet and NSA surveillance.  While I was hoping these guys would me my modern day DFA 1979, I just don't find Edward Snowden the least bit sexy.  Oh well, I hope the NSA are listening to these guys, they'd be shaking their butts.  It's got to be better than listening to my mom and I discuss her neighbors' dogs.

     Back to "Dangerous," - this song could be considered perfection of my newest guilty pleasure genre.  I'm just going to go ahead and pretend that they aren't dangerous because of trying to stay off the data grid, but rather the old fashioned way - they'll break your heart girls, but at least it's not going to show up on Facebook the next day. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                     MinneSarah: 4/5

03. Yellow Ostrich - Shades (from the album Cosmos)

TCDroogsma:

     I like the ideas being explored in "Shades."  The electric guitar loops are an intriguing move.  The backwards drums are, um, something...  Ah, who am I kidding?

    I spent a week with this song and I forget it the second it ends.  As much as I want to find something interesting to say about "Shades," it is the living definition of "average."  It sort of builds, it sort of lulls, it's lyrics shift between self-centered & non-sensical... it basically just exists for 3:46 and then disappears forever.  The Current has given me too many songs like this over the years to pretend that something interesting is going on here.

MinneSarah:

     "Shades" features a guitar loop that could hypnotize any listener.  It's good to see indie bands taking a cue from hip hop, and layering over a loop. Yellow Ostrich is out of New York, but they fully embrace the West Coast sixties psychedelic with "Shades."   However, it's clear that they are adding their own sober ennui to this revival genre - making it one of the most interesting takes you've heard this year.  The song loosens up in the final thirty seconds, giving a slightly freer sense of hope.

     It sounds a little jam bandy, but whether it is despite of or because of the driving but somber majority,the last part puts the song into perspective.  It is encouraging to see bands putting their own mark on their influences, and between mid-2000's indie and 60's psych rock - Yellow Ostrich makes it to the other side. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
                     MinneSarah: 3.5/5

04. Quilt - Tie Up The Tides (from the album Held In Splendor)

TCDroogsma:

     "Tie Up The Tides" is another song that comes off as brutally average.  It's a monotonous, steady-paced song that's given just enough studio tricks to sound "indie."  Fortunately, those tricks (the separated guitars, the echoing vocals) give the song a warm, welcoming feel.  Lyrically.... I don't know... some new age type shit... who cares?  "I point my way back home until my fingertips turn blue, there is no me and there is no you..." Sure, why not?  Like I said, "Tie Up The Tides" sounds warm.  Maybe the winter has warped my perspective, but this week that's all I'm asking out of a song.

MinneSarah:

     "Tie Up the Tides," sounds like a sunny morning.  While usually not a fan of cloying vocals - this singer's sweet approach misses all the right notes - the end result is that the song will keep your interest.  Another band out of New York embracing the sixties psychedelic genre, but adding their own spin, Quilt produces something mellow yet encouraging.

     I have a theory that this generation's parents came of age in the seventies, making the sixties an acceptable genre to embrace without agreeing with mom and dad.  Although with a boomer parent and fifty years since the Beatles invasion this year, I can't remember if the sixties were ever not "in."  Whatever the attraction, Quilt brings it to the present day and somehow makes it work.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2.5/5
                     MinneSarah: 3.5/5

05. The Person & The People - I Was Wrong (from the album Big Whoop)

(Ed. Note: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah reviewed "I Was Wrong" ins SOTW #72.  We're reprinting what they wrote for that review below.)

TCDroogsma:

      I don't know what they're putting in the water over in St. Paul, but it's leading to tremendous power pop.  Somewhere between The Persian Leaps and Panther Ray lies The Person & The People.

     Now, a large chunk of the appeal of "I Was Wrong" is that absolutely no aspect of it sounds new.  In fact, I could pretty much hum along with the melody as it unfolded the very first time I heard it.  Whether that means the songs appeal is in "timeless pop craftsmanship" or "listener nostalgia" is an interesting question, though it's rendered absolutely moot for the three minutes I spent bobbing my head while the song played. 

MinneSarah:

     You know what the world needs?  A good pop song.  "I Was Wrong," is a straightforward example of an unapologetic (okay, the song is about an apology) rock pop song.  It's a formula that is beyond refreshing.  While I'd give my left nut to have a new Superdrag albums, I'm lucky (mostly because I lack nuts) that there is a local band capable of carrying on the torch of straight forward, catchy, pop music.   

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                     MinneSarah: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  In addition to  filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column she occasionally joins TCDroogsma as co-host of the Flatbasset Radio podcast.







For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.