Getting Caught Up

Hello to anyone who has stumbled onto this blog. I am a film school graduate who has, in all fairness, done little with regards to film since school finished. And even the choice to enroll in such a program was a bit tricky, in that I'm fairly schizophrenic when it comes to arts and media. What it comes down to is that I value creativity in all of its glory. I'm an avid fan of music, film, writing, video games...even cooking.

I can't draw.

Every Thursday I will be adding a post. Being idealistic, I'd love to promise a film review, album review, and game review every week, but that's going to depend on that lovely yet oft-spiteful variable we call real life.

The title of this post refers to the first order of business: music. The idea behind "getting caught up" is to give you a touch of insight into the kinds of music that allow me to maintain hope in human creativity. This typically is not Top40 stuff, or anything you're likely to hear on the radio (with some exceptions, of course,) but it's inspired, and when it comes to music, there's nothing more important. We do this chronologically, starting with...

2005 

Favorite Album: Gorillaz - Demon Days

This is probably the most "mainstream" of all the albums that will appear on this list. But trendy or not, this album was fascinating. And I suppose it's good for me to have a popular album like this one at the top of my list to immediately support that I'm not a music snob (i.e. I don't base my opinions on whether an album is popular or not.) The appeal of the Gorillaz, as far as I'm concerned, is escapism. This "cartoon band", led by Blur's Damon Albarn, churn out funky, surreal bits of pop. Blending rap, sung vocals, hypnotic beats, and synths of all flavors, and featuring an impressive roster of contributors--De La Soul, Roots Manuva, MF Doom, and Ike Turner, to name a few--Demon Days is an adventurous, trippy, sometimes dark but always playful look at the modern world.
Favorite Tracks: "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head", "Kids With Guns" 

Runner up: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Stevens once boasted that he'd like to write an album for all 50 states. If they could somehow all be of the same quality as his ode to Illinois, I'd argue it would be a worthwhile endeavor. This is meticulously arranged pop at its finest, every note and every melody having been given careful consideration. Though the song titles come off as pretentious at a glance ("A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reason", "The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us"), once you give the album a listen you'll realize that it's the simple playfulness of an anti-folk auteur, perhaps even a poke at the fact that title means very little when compared to content. And as ludicrous as the titles may be, these songs are anything but. Lush and over-the-top instrumentation paired perfectly with Stevens' hushed tone, create some truly magical moments rivaled only by the ambition of it all.
Favorite Tracks: "John Wayne Gacy Jr.", "Chicago", "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhhh!"

Honorable mention: Wolf Parade - Apologies to The Queen Mary.

2006

Favorite album: TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain

Right from the first listen, this one kicked my ass; it's the antithesis to a slow-burner. And if the flasetto-laden opener "I Was a Lover" doesn't win you over, "Hours" surely will, as it immediately dives into all things TV on the Radio. The combined voices of singers Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone create an instrument like no other. Add in the funky, jazzy production and unforgettable melodies and what you end up with is an album you're unlikely to forget. For me though, as catchy and head-bobbable as most of the album may be, it really heads to another level altogether when they slow it all down and make beautiful indie-pop ballads.
Favorite Tracks:  "Province", "Tonight", "Wolf Like Me"

Runner up: The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America

Touted as the greatest bar band in the world, these guys know how to craft catchy, dirty rock tunes and expertly blend them with matter-of-fact narrative lyrics to create songs in which the sum is greater than the parts. Taking on a somewhat Springsteen/E Street Band flavor, singer Craig Finn sing-speaks his way through stories of low-lives, drugs & alcohol, and excessive partying, yet somehow it all comes across honest and heartfelt, not nearly as cold and unaffecting as you'd expect from the above description. Who else could pull off a line like "she was golden with bar-light and beer" without a smirk and evoke genuine emotion? In the context of that song ("First Night") and Finn's delivery, it's a breathtaking line of barroom poetry.
Favorite Tracks: "First Night","Stuck Between Stations", "Hot Soft Light"

Honorable Mention:   Beirut - Gulag Orkestar

2007

Favorite Album: The National - Boxer

This is a slow-burning masterpiece of melancholy. It's an album that gets better with every listen. Matt Berninger's haunting baritone leads us through songs of heartbreak, boredom and all those sad things in between. The lyrics, arguably the most interesting part of the experience, at first seem slightly random. But as you listen to the songs, they come together to create beautiful visual interpretations of emotions ("You were always weird but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now"). Though at first the songs may seem somewhat simple, this is only due to the subtlety of the hooks that sink deeper into you with every listen. Essentially, you'll get out of this album what you're willing to put into it.
Favorite Tracks: "Fake Empire", "Start a War", "Racing Like a Pro"

Runner Up: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

As the story goes, singer/songwriter Justin Vernon, following the break-up of his previous band and of his relationship, secluded himself to a cabin in northern Wisconsin for 3 months and wrote/produced this album from the ground up, which included playing all of the instruments himself. It's a touching, sad winter album that reflects his state of mind at the time of his self-inflicted isolation. His moniker is an slightly altered spelling of "bon hiver" which means "good winter" in French.
Favorite Tracks: "Skinny Love", "Flume"
 
Honorable Mention: The National Lights - The Dead Will Walk, Dear

2008

Favorite Album: Why? - Alopecia

There's nothing else I've ever heard that sounds quite like this album. The best way to describe it would be indie pop with a hip-hop swagger, but even that doesn't come close to doing it justice. The lyrics spill out of front-man Jonathan "Yoni" Wolf like if stream-of-consciousness could be meticulously calculated. And if that sounds like a contradiction, it's no more or less one than what you find on this album. Combining the vulgar with the intelligent, this is an album by someone with a lot to say. Wrap it all in a bundle of somewhat uneasy, somber musicality and it becomes the perfect late night (read: early morning) companion. This guy must keep a pen and paper--or better yet, a recorder--by his bed at night; I mean just check out the ending to "The Fall of Mr. Fifths".
Favorite Tracks: "The Hollows", "Song of the Sad Assassin", "The Vowels Pt. 2"

Runner Up: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

This is an interesting album in that it caters to both my love of music and videogames (well, old videogames, anyways.) Combining crunching bass lines, funky drum loops, and 8-bit sound effects, they create interesting, danceable songs. Who knew that the old-school sounds of collecting coins or bouncing off the head of an enemy from the NES games of the 80s could be transformed into intense, dance-punk masterpieces? This album oozes with attitude and energy and will have you bobbing your head along, whether it's at a party or on your iPod.
Favorite Tracks: "Alice Practice", "Crimewave"

Honorable Mention: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

2009

Favorite Album: Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer 

Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Sunset Rubdown know how to make pop feel unpredictable. Each song leaps from one melody to another, hitting highs of which many bands could only dream before hopping into something even better. Spencer Krug (of Wolf Parade fame), layers somewhat abstract lyricism in his immediately-recognizable, emotional warble over an inspired and fun (albeit never goofy) assortment of songs. Kicking off with the art-rock ballad "Silver Moons", the album flirts with many styles, such as new wave ("Idiot Heart") and even minstrel-toned music ("Nightingale/December Song"). It could be argued that I'm all the more swayed by this one being that I saw them perform in a small venue and it was the best live set of music I've ever experienced.
Favorite Tracks: "Silver Moons", "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)", "Nightingale/December Song"

Runner Up: The Antlers - Hospice

This was a tough one to choose, as it was pretty much tied with Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion" as my runner up for 2009. The deciding factor is that, while Animal Collective's album was the more creative from a technical standpoint, the humanity of Hospice won me over. It is an exploration of intense human emotion, mostly the ugly kind. It's a concept album that tells the story of a man who falls in love with a woman who is in the hospital, dying of cancer (presumably, the man works there.) Though it could be quickly assumed that it is simply the sadness of her passing that makes this album touching, it would be a false assumption. What makes this story (and album) tragic is the journey of the main character. The object of his love is dying and takes out much of her suffering on him, leaving him broken. While he loves her and tries desperately to help her, care for her, and keep it together, she hurts him to the point where he regrets his involvement with her ("I wish that I had known in that first minute we met the unpayable debt that I owed you. 'Cause you'd been abused by the bone that refused you and you hired me to make up for that"). It's disgustingly human, and yet for that same reason, it's hauntingly gorgeous. Drowned in distortion and reverb, these songs will stay with you long after the album has ended; whether that's something you want or not becomes a matter of personal choice. 
Favorite Tracks: "Kettering", "Wake", "Epilogue"

Honorable Mention - Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

And that's it for tonight! Next week I'll give some background as to the movies I enjoy (horror) and video games. And then I'll be able to start posting weekly reviews. Until then...