The music veteran, innovator and pretty much Thomas Edison of gothic synth and new wave has burst forth with a new stunner, Dead Son Rising (Mortal Records).
Gary Numan’s career, spanning over 30+ years, has led him down some interesting roads and into some interesting personas, both of which slouched in the dark side. An innovator, he was the future before the future became the present. He is best known in the U.S. for the 1979 robotic-electronica hit “Cars” and among musicians for such unsettling gems as “Down In The Park.” A time-forged original, Numan’s icy-calm, stiff-upper-lip delivery is most present on his latest and only contributes to the dark intensity as the surging, soaring music contrasts it.
“Dead Son Rising is a beautifully written, stark, spare song. It’s hard not to be half-hypnotized by lines like ”And when you dream, we’ll come for you and breathe in your pain/ We’ve seen such things and hide them from you and so keep you pure or of angels.” Spooky! On “The Fall,” the reviewer conceivably could (and did) catch herself thinking “Hey, the intro to “The Fall” sounds exactly like the opening to Nine Inch Nails’s “Head Like A Hole.” Flipping that thought around is key when you consider musically really who gave birth to whom.
Reznor is a longtime admirer of Numan’s and the two have performed together multiple times. ”Big Noise Transmission” is an exceptional highlight on Dead Son Rising bringing emotional sledgehammer power and lyrics that describe hitting lower than bottom i.e. “I was hiding inside a dead soul.”
“I was hiding inside a dead soul.”
The grinding, strident quality on “Resurrection” could soundtrack a new adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s novel Crash about the merging of technology with sexuality. Even if Dead Son Rising had only half its content it could stand alone as a book of poetry or an album of instrumentals. The two halves come together here to make a really gloomy whole.
There Is No Competition: Death Comes In 3′s - Fabolous - Review
If I ruled the world, I’d give Fabolous and DJ Drama a weekly half-hour TV program on which they’d preside over the mock funeral of a different rapper each week. I believe this idea is guaranteed comedy gold and would generate more memorable one-liners than any TV program since Chappelle’s Show. Why would I do this? Because if Fab and Dram are to be believed, There Is No Competition: Death Comes In 3’s is the last installment in the mixtape series that, if there was any justice on planet Earth, would forever be the “Weekend Update” to Gangsta Grillz’ Saturday Night Live.
Death Comes In 3’s dropped on Christmas Day, and its intro, the appropriately titled “Intro,” features Funeral Fab and Drama Cain delivering yet another eulogy for “the competition,” while backed by Mykola Leontyvych’s “Carol Of The Bells” (did I have to google the composer of this piece? Yes, yes I did). Besides the fact that the duo’s competition has now apparently died more times than Kenny on South Park, I respect this move because I hope that DJ Drama’s anguished cries of “Y’all turned us into serial killers!” will inspire future generations of Christmas carol authors in a more Tarantino-esque direction.
Now, as for the actual music… it’s basically There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service, but not nearly as good. Funeral Service saw Fab taking already-good songs like “Roger That,” “Beamer, Benz Or Bentley” and “All The Way Turnt Up” and bludgeoning them to death with clever punch lines. Death Comes In 3’s, on the other hand, is basically Fab taking a bunch of mediocre beats and saying, “oh, you don’t think I can use this line as a hook? Watch me!” The man’s built up enough residual charisma over his career to earn forgiveness from me to the point where I refuse to accept that he named a song “Swag Champ” and spit “I don’t jerk off in public/But I been out doin’ myself” as the chorus for any reason besides proving he had the cajones to do it.
That said, Death Comes In 3’s definitely has more than enough #Nice one-liners to warrant some listens. Once Trey Songz shows up around track seven, the tape really hits its stride. On “Spend It,” Fab goes Rick Ross Bauce Mode and rhymes, “Ridin’ round through my city/Emphasis on MY city,” a line so good Dram brings it back twice before the verse continues. It takes true swagger to deliver an “oh, shit!” line while rhyming a phrase with itself, and nine out of ten times it fails. But this is why Fab murders his competition.
The “this shouldn’t work but it does” bang-fest (pause?) continues with “Black City,” which somehow transforms “black city bitch” into an irresistible hook. The rest of the tape approaches but never quite reaches Funeral Service levels of thugged-out-hilarious awesomeness, but “Unfuckwitable” deserves mention, if only for the superb title. The tape cascades with Fab’s rendition of “Lord Knows,” which brings his count of Drake remixes in the past 24 months to about 87 (but who’s counting?), followed up by a (spoiler alert!) Public Enemies-themed hidden track.
While Death Comes In 3’s may be the Return Of The Jedi of the Competition threesome (as in, a major drop from its predecessors), it’s still a (guiltily) enjoyable go around, despite its often-Atlanta-like beat selection. But like George Lucas with Star Wars, I refuse to believe that Fab and Drama will ever be finished killing the competition, and whether or not it ever happens, I’m gearing myself up for There Is No Competition 4: The Zombie Apocalypse.
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Review
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Mute Records) has a soundtrack that takes no melodic prisoners. Trent Reznor, in collaboration with English composer and musician Atticus Ross, comes bearing a monolithic 39-track beast. Fresh from their triumph at the Oscars (They won Best Original Score for The Social Network) they have hit the ground not running but barreling. Ross has collaborated with Reznor on past Nine Inch Nails albums and it’s a fusion of dark vision.
The staccato clattering machinations of “Oraculum” chime and skitter along at a frenetic pace that brings to mind OCD and the agitation brought on by any painful thought or situation you just can’t seem to escape. It’s a sonic distillation of discomfort and visceral ill-at-easeness. The cover of “The Immigrant Song,” the gem of the OST, unites Reznor and Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs taking Led Zeppelin to the factory and churning it back out as industrial puree. The effect is sharp, not overstated and free of the eardrum-popping overdoing that’s so tempting to give into when covering a powerhouse like Plant.
“The Sound of Forgetting” manages to be both upsetting and catchy and memorable. “The Heretics” thump and clang and echo never relents. Reznor’s talents are a natural fit for the thriller adapted from the novel by the late Stieg Larsson. “She Reminds Me Of You” with its quirky vibrations is a soundscape of sadness and coming unraveled In all, it’s perfect music to pulse along to the story of someone who’s been brutally backhanded by fate like Lisbeth Salander, GWTDT’s main character.
As the force behind Nine Inch Nails Reznor, built a career on the hard-edged creative manifestation of suffering. Joined with Ross, the combination hits hard and hits home.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - She Reminds Me Of You (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack)
Over the last two years, Skrillex (aka Sonny Moore, the former frontman of early-2000s emo act From First To Last) has quickly become the universally-recognized faceplate of American dubstep. Where dubstep’s UK origins drew on the eerie loop-and-effect ethos of dub reggae, the US’s adaptation (sometimes referred to by its detractors as “brostep”) is on the whole more taken with the thumping intensity of contemporary house. And in Moore’s case, that intensity often smacks of his pseudo-metal musical history.
On his new EP, Skrillex delivers pretty much exactly what’s expected: glitched-out synthesizers, impeccably cavernous bass-lines, and filthy half-time breakdowns. The power of Skrillex’s music has always been his ability to make the extremely weird palatable and to make the merely palatable seem weird, and Bangarang is no exception. Moore chops apart his own voice, stitching it back together with the saccharine rubble of digitized keytars and yawning filters, leaving behind something you can almost, but not quite, sing along too. It’s indulgent, fist-pumping music, typical to his own brew of chaos and the type you might use to soundtrack a bank heist or something featuring Vin Diesel.
Aside from a rather puzzling collaboration with the remaining members of the Doors, “Breakn’ A Sweat,” there are no real surprises on the EP, and in fact, most of these songs would have fit in well on any of his other releases. Which is not to say that it’s not a fun listen – the glitch freefall of “The Devil’s Den” and the guitar-heavy Right In are clear standouts – but that Bangarang feels like more of the same. One of the blessings of many more-established electronic dance music acts is the freedom they have to experiment: genre-bending DJ/producers such as Dieselboy and Diplo spring immediately to mind as artists whose tastes expanded outwards with their fame. On Bangarang it seems the opposite is happening; rather than diversifying, Moore is consolidating and defining, and frankly, it’s a let-down. Hopefully he’s loosen up next-time around.
SKRILLEX - Bangarang feat. Sirah [Official Music Video]
Sub Pop has consistently supplied the masses with incredible groups like The Postal Service, Iron and Wine, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Mogwai. Not surprisingly then, they have proven this once again with Papercuts’ fourth album, Fading Parade. An interesting mix of complex, yet understated instrumentation, hazy vocals, and perfectly simplistic songwriting.
Sub Pop labels Fading Parade as “dream pop of the highest order” – I find that statement completely true and quite an accomplishment, but itsfatal flaw might be it is a bit too dreamy and definitely not in that cute 80′s guy way. It is lo-fi in a very polished way, something I appreciate, yet I still can’t shake the I’m-falling-asleep feeling. This is probably best listened to on a summer day, intoxicated by sun, and dripping laziness.
There’s a mellow ambiance created by Fading Parade. Like the world is collapsing around you, spinning slowly, and all you can do is stand and watch in awe as everything is enveloped in fog. Each track offers another realm of dreaminess, and because of the similar musical qualities and the different mood in each track, they are incredibly complimentary. In fact, the whole album plays very synched, as if it could be one 38 minute song, which is generally an indicator of a keen awareness and appreciation for overall composition.
“Chills” offers a love story about pills and clouds that has impeccable (and very simple) rhyme schemes, but the intriguing segment of this track is in the middle when there is this interruption by an indiscernible vocalist that doesn’t fit completely, but close enough. This is indicative of the many elements within the album that seem weird, but nevertheless support the quality of the album. The opening of “Marie Says You’ve Changed” intrigued me with its held notes and emotive lyrics in that I’ve-so-felt-that-way way. The track continues in this style which entices me even further and gets to me with an instrumental break just after the first half. This is the type of music that gives hope to those yearning for elementary songwriting that isn’t banal.
Papercuts is obviously going places in 2011: first Sub Pop release, SXSW, Urban Outfitters compilation. Whether or not one likes any of these things doesn’t matter, what does matter is these particular things have predicted indie greatness. Fading Parade is the love of your life evaporating slowly in front of your eyes, like the last float disappearing down main street.
The Stars have always been pretty twee, a typically groan-worthy genre, but they’ve managed to win me over (versus, say, The Field Mice). They also put out fun, original videos and I have lingering good feelings for “Bitches in Tokyo”, “Sleep Tonight” and other cleverness. Unfortunately, the promo for their single “We Don’t Want Your Body” off of The Five Ghosts departs from the creative trend and lands in Disappointing-stan. [Editor's note: Woah. I can't believe I wrote that. Sorry guys.]
In what must be a tribute to Olivia Newton John’s “Physical”. Even the soft, blurring lighting and 80s quality footage is reminiscent of Olivia’s gym terrorizing. Of course, the recognition of such a close relation also invites us to compare the homage against the original. Both of the videos have the same running joke: overly muscly brutes are thoroughly absurd people, especially when you watch them go through their grueling and sweaty rituals. It’s a bit much to handle in both cases.
But unlike “Physical”, this Stars effort doesn’t soften the gross exercising with a (albeit wispy) narrative or light commentary beyond “lol they look like monsters.” Instead, all we get are a few visual gags – body builders lip-syncing Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, the meatheads flex dancing in unison and the other antics – which becomes tedious very quickly. The body steam runs out and we’re left to watch the absurdism go on for 3.5 minutes. That’s too much protein powder to swallow.
In Heaven (Domino) is a good, fun, unhurried ride through the neighborhood of a band from Long Island that took their vision to Brooklyn and developed a following and released one well-received EP, Vampires, with Dreaming Kids in 2008 before their first full-length debut.
Andrea Estrella has the ethereal vocals and the flexibility to shift from siren song into popville without it being jarring. In “Kimmi In A Rice Field,” she exhibits the transcendent psychedelic floataway cool of Debbie Harry. Flecked with Asian influences, this rack is nicely trancy and outerspacy, but at times it’s unevenly leveled and your ear may need to scramble to find its footing. “Bad Street” is a pulsing danceable and saucy groove, twangy and out there. Gwen Stefani and No Doubt come to mind here.
“Daniel” has a charming bossa-nova “Girl From Ipanema” feel to it. It blends well into the background of your daily life and tasks but if you focus on it you’ll still recognize its merits. The cool, comfortable breeziness of it expands Twin Sister’s sound beyond the defining confines of “indie” or chillwave even though those elements are undeniably present. ”Spain” juxtaposes Doors-esque electronic touches but Estrella’s lyrics come across muddied almost as if she were speaking in tongues which may well be the desired effect.
The band definitely enjoys experimenting with the genre switchoff, creating an effect something like playing the first few notes of multiple songs in a consecutive block. “Saturday Sunday” shifts into upbeat poppy single mode and it’s a much-needed varietal injection into the bloodstream of the album with its punk pop new-wave mashup. The lineup change-up continues with ”Stop,” a surprising foray into mellow jazzy soul. ”Gene Ciampi” has the swingy island-breeze calypso sound that Blondie captured so deftly. Twin Sister’s easy playfulness, rather than music to worry by, is music to escape worry by.
