eyes-on-the-weather

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Floating Coffin by Thee Oh Sees is all texture, all the way down. Compared to their other releases, it's perhaps a little lighter in color. That and the fact that it has Minotaur are what make it stand out to people already familiar with the band. For people not already fans, well, either the noise-drenched punk/garage & psychadelic rock that makes up most of this album will charm them, maybe they'll be drawn in by the odd instrumental-heavy track like No Spell, maybe they'll even be infatuated by the lyrics, after doing whatever it takes to be able to parse them in the first place. Thee Oh Sees can be a bitter pill to swallow for many, and so the latter few options are far less likely, but I'm one of those who is already charmed by their consistent style, to the point where not a lot incentivizes me to discover actual preferences between their albums. For posterity's sake: this one a bit lighter on things like acoustic guitar and keyboard synthesizers, with a slightly more regular mix to the drums across the whole tracklist. The noise never gets too strong/grating, but the hooks are rarely strong enough in turn to get a lot of these songs stuck in my head, and so I return to my initial point: it's ideal for filling up the background of one's life with a precise sonic texture, while offering more variety than a straight hour-long jam session.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

As I see it, surf rock is a genre that's simply specific. Its sound is particular enough- instrumental, guitar lead, heavy drums, high tempo, non-strophic form, some electric organ (hammond-style) keyboard featuring -that a band like Man... Or Astro-Man? can integrate esoteric sci-fi movie* samples into the bookends of just about every track on their release Your Weight on the Moon and it doesn't subtract a bit from the tunes. I can't say if it adds a whole lot, either, certainly not enough to fully give this any appeal to those who aren't sold on the sound of surf rock. For such a short record, it very nearly bored me thanks to just how musically consistent it was, curious samples be damned. Regardless, I conclude: Destination Venus is an always-memorable jam, the overall sound of the album handily evades offense, and I've left with a desire to identify all those samples, so I'm sure all's well that ends well. If you want to know you'll get a bit of variety to the mood of your surf rock, from cheery to tense to even a little lonesome, here's the EP for you.

*I, with about 95% certainty, recognize one of the samples (on track three, Electrostatic Brain Field) as coming from a movie that was covered on MST3k: The Atomic Brain. For all I know, any number of the other samples could come from radio dramas rather than movies, but considering MOAM's other crossover into MST3k territory with their cover of its theme song, and that I haven't seen every damn episode of the show, my money is on the other samples coming from obscure sci-fi flicks buried for good reason by the sands of time.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Needing all the word-of-mouth it can get, deserving all the attention it might, Kill the TV by Gene Pool is a proudly engrossing little album. Each track knows how to hit, just as the album itself knows how to line them up and give you the best experience in linear order, making it a real close race as to which is greater, the whole or the sum of its parts. The attention given to complex song structure ensures the quality of execution given to the high-end track lengths, culminating, of course, into a dip into the stylings of prog rock I love so much with What Have You Done?. Emotive, despondent vocals abound if that's your thing, with the dueting style utilized giving much of the album a sing-along quality, almost like what you'd get from mainstream arena rock without being near and a half as straightforward. It's the perfect length where I can pick out each individual track past Shed as something I'd want to listen to on its own, at every & any time, while totaling to a respectable, if humble, album length in the end, for all those "setting a CD to play" purposes people find themselves with.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Strawberry Chips by Halcali is one of the easiest recommends there can be for people who want a diverse musical palette. I believe this down to its bones- observe the eye-catching use of highly varied melodic & percussive instruments that are both removed from the world of rock and yet no more foreign than what one might hear in, say, easy listening and pop-world music. It's acoustic bubblegum pop, produced with gilded finesse, great strophic-form tunes bedazzled with the most companionable pace of accompanying flourishes you could ask for. Why the hell shouldn't the instrumental to the first track be the closer for the album? Who couldn't listen to it, in its promenade-style density, and let the chorus's hook ring in their head for the hours that follow? Opt out, and what you're left with is a bite-sized album, that's for sure. Something small, sweet, and memorable, like a maple macaron, or maybe some fruit-flavored crisp. You'd have to come up with a brand new confection to refer to it with.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

I gave it my best effort, I swear, but Lost by Trentemøller was highly forgettable. I just think all its attempts at soft/indie rock, synthpop, IDM, and what have you were a bit too dyed in the hues of atmospheric & slow experimental electronic music. I can recognize that there's a variety of attempts present across this album's tracklist, that many of the tracks differ from each other stylistically, but not in a manner more than obligatory, because in listening to it all I hear's a bunch of the same stuff. Understated melodies, repetition (goodness, if a lot of the tracks aren't club, rather than radio, length), a generally reverb-heavy atmosphere, frequently rock-like drumbeats, and a heavy bass touch. Nothing's catchy, per se, which isn't a requirement, but the more edm-like tracks aren't my cup of tea, for ambience or otherwise, nor are the lyrically driven ones able to grab my attention. I can get inundated & familiar with these tracks without feeling like I could recall them any time after the fact. Maybe if this album simply cohered a little bitter I'd enjoy it more, in addition to the fact that I think I could identify precise components of Trentemøller's style that would appeal to me if elaborated on in full.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Okeeblow by Scapegoat Wax fascinates me as an album in its totality. Track-by-track each song is fairly passable pop/rap with not a whole lot for me to remark on- rather, what I'm stuck on is that genre descriptor I just used, with the conjuncting forward slash. This album's tracklist is split so evenly between pop rap and just "straight" pop it blows me away, in part because the lead vocalist's delivery & presentation doesn't change greatly between these two types of tracks. I wish I could say the most popular song from this album, Aisle 10 (Hello Allison) makes the perfect prep for its contents, being extremely pop-styled rap, except that it was my first exposure to Scapegoat Wax too and I got whiplash when Freeway started up and it was free-flowing, slightly nonsensical pop funk, followed, then, by a rather sincere-seeming ballad. I will also add that despite all their lovely qualities- high-def arrangement, fun synthesizers, good vocal hooks, or other such things -most of the songs on this album are unmemorable, oddly hard to consciously bring to mind. It's an easy listen I gladly recommend, just be sure to leave as many expectations as possible at the door.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

I think, by a very slim margin, the lyrical content is the greatest strength of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays. By a less slim margin, the streamlined, overly consistent musical texture of each track is its greatest weakness. Tracks don't exactly overstay their welcome, but perhaps the album's sound as a whole does- according to my tastes, anyway -because if it weren't for the rather captivating words to each song all the politely situated guitars, gentle bass, averagely pertinent drums, and so on would make for a somewhat tiring experience. The aforementioned lyrics are elevated yet more by well-driving vocal melodies, a good mix, & the singer's easy-to-follow emotiveness. Out of all the British alternative rock that's out there I think this album represents (if not depicts) the country well. It feels very easy to put on & re-listen to, and I almost wish it was a little bit more appropriate for general company- that I could trust peoples' tastes to be a little different -so that I could play (some of) it in a car or such circumstances.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

I liked the fact that every track on Mystic Stylez by Three 6 Mafia was fairly memorable. The variety of beats, vocal deliveries, and featured vocalists spoke to a good sense of production value & consciousness behind the record. It's definitely one I wouldn't mind listening to again (I'll admit, I like the thought it could give me music nerd/hip-hop appreciator points around the right people, things that are both normal to want and possible to acquire) in the right environment, even as my personal tastes still don't align towards hip-hop. Along that vein, insofar as I could pick up the foreshadowing of the trap hip-hop sounds that have become so prevalent in the 21st century, I didn't really mind them as much as I normally, absolutely do because the samples that made up the rest of the beat were filling & substantive and given a good mix. In short, I don't think I have any complaints that could by any means double as critique.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Whatever And Ever Amen has made me realize that I am not someone who needs more Ben Folds in zer life. This is not to say it's unwelcome, moreso that the extent of my desire has (heh) been reached. I'll state that Whatever And Ever Amen was still not bad by any means; its quality was acceptable & that is where the story ends for me. I think I'll come back to, say, Smoke, Fair, and Steven's Last Night in Town because they've got the right level of interesting concepts or a hook to meet my tastes where they're at. I think I'm glad enough I listened to this album- I'm not exactly sure who it's for, who wants this type of music introduced to them, which is maybe a bizarre blind spot to have as someone who likes indie rock from circa 2000. They've got the pop, they've got the rock, and they've got the somberness that contrasts both of that. Perhaps it's just the songwriting, at the end of the day. The lyrical content doesn't grab me and that is that. Still, this album has given me food for thought and a bit of perspective- how can I be unhappy?

[eyes-on-the-weather]

In Visible Silence by The Art of Noise doesn't stand the test of time, unfortunately. It only mildly registers as impressively experimental for its time, but to a modern ear it'd have to either go even further left field or rein things in to sound like, say, the folks working on house & techno- electronic, sequenced dance music, that is. Why shouldn't I listen to Kraftwerk instead? Yello? Goodness knows how many new wave or plunderphonics acts? I like knowing that Art of Noise was likely pushing the bill for electronic/sample-based music but on purely its own (musical) merits I have little regard for this album. Novelty & plenty of technical skill contribute to the enjoyment of an album, yes, but alas, they don't excuse a lack of interesting components elsewhere. I probably wouldn't listen to much of it other than maybe Backbeat all that much more, if only because I know where to find much more enjoyable music doing a lot of the same stuff.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Ben Folds's Rockin' the Suburbs is undoubtedly high quality, yet not what I want from an album. I liked most of the tracks for their complex, detailed arrangements, strong melodic hooks, neat concepts, unique flourishes, and the like; certainly if I were the type of person to listen primarily to a playlist (on shuffle) most of this album would make it on there. Even as a person who listens mainly to albums straight through, I think this might go on my back rotation of familiar and (mostly) appropriate-to-the-public records. In what other regards are left, though, this album doesn't quite hit the mark. I just barely can't buy into the overall Ben Folds piano rock sound, even as an ostensible indie rock fan. It's always good to know one's limitations, and in that way Rockin' The Suburbs has enriched my life.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Discovery from Daft Punk is them doing something better than anyone else will. It's a specific thing. I am simply not one to say anyone else will place the solos, chop the beats, apply a phaser, or whatever else in the right parts of 3.5-6 minutes of the same 4 otherwise monophonic measures. There's not a lot to disguise by any means: tracks like Crescendolls & High Life are repetitive, but because the bass level gets modified or some track gets turned on or off at just the right time, it's enjoyable. Others like Digital Love & Something About Us have got vocal lines that are just catchy enough to turn an easy club beat into a banger. It's all- if you don't mind my vulgarity -practically a counterargument to the saying about polishing a turd. Turns out you can make something truly enjoyable & good out of the most base of components; no dynamic harmonies, no auxiliary segments, no lyrical or vocal virtuosity, not even hardly any shaping/dynamics as far as the eye can see. It's admirable & a little intimidating, giving one an impression of the album as more an item of historical significance than a straight body of fun musical works.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

I feel confident in saying the part of Want One that is most lacking is Rufus Wainwright's voice. Everywhere I look there are vibrant leading melodies, personalized instrumentals, interesting subject matter- all the works. The range of this album is mainly easygoing ballads of various colors, shaped by full, orchestral accompaniments one half of the time & more muted instrumentals the rest of the time. Ballad, of course, is the term that applies to this music insofar as it's not dance-able. The vocal performances are impressive a lot of the time, yes; I also found them not quite to my liking. An acquired taste, perhaps. This means that when it comes to the songs with the vox up front & center the onus falls on the lyrics, if anything, to find purchase and make the song, well, good, in my eyes. Vibrate worked, Harvester of Hearts didn't. The vibrato-laden vocals of an angelic choir boy aren't my style. All this is to say that there were many, many other aspects of the album that really strongly appealed to me: the choice of rhodes piano in Vicious World, the lyrical subject of Movies of Myself, the rock stylings that appear in 14th Street, & similar things. Nothing wrong with the pieces, and I won't condemn the whole. This is a very good album to share with the right people and I'm glad to have listened to it more than once.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

The self-titled album by Dog Police is true new wave for new wave enjoyers. A very even split of straightforward synth-heavy experimental tracks & post-punk synth-pop stylings; unrepentant social commentary in more tracks than not; energy, charisma, and enthusiasm, among other words easy to describe this whole album with. The primary aspect that might put people off it is the distribution of less melodic/hook-heavy tracks in the tracklist, relative to the catchy tunes. Still, when the songs are made to be catchy, they certainly catch. A vivid spread of concepts explored allows every track to stand out, regardless of whether the synthesizer hooks are to your tastes. It's easy to see how people already enjoying the likes of Devo & Talking Heads would like this album- it honestly deserves to stand among them as an intro to the new wave scene. It's not Dog Police's fault they only have the one album. But, silver lining: take some 45 minutes out of your day just once to go through this album, watch the music video too if you're inclined, and leave it at that. That's all you have to do to make your life quite so much better.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

The release nihilism from cockmonster63 is sufficiently emotional. It definitely merits multiple listens thanks to its dual strengths in the moodiness & melodic enjoyability. I don't say this kind of thing often, but I'd call the album somewhat innovative in its commitment to atmosphere along the electronica front. Most of the tracks are moderately paced, and they all cohere together with the theme of the release without feeling even remotely samey. Not catchy, usually, yet still easy to get familiar with. The similarities to vgm/other soundtrack work are straightforward, and not just for the atmosphere present in so many tracks, but I would say this release eschews that category with a certain amount of strength. I can't get into the intricate qualities of soundtracks as compared to everything else, but I will describe this album as listenable for people who don't listen to soundtracks. There's a lot to enjoy, even in the short track (& overall album) length; it left me wanting more, for all the good that is. Dense compositions never belie the emotions, statuses, and lifestyle associated with emptiness that this release is centered around.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

The album The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel by Biff Bang Pow works nicely as a reaction to its times. I can hear in it reflections of the psychadelic scene, post-punk, jangle pop, all that. Unfortunately, reflections alone don't make up a very memorable time. The composition isn't anything to write home about, and I feel the mixing of most tracks is a detriment to its ability to hook you with the lyrics. Listening to the whole album can be a pretty droll experience; a fair portion of the individual tracks can stand up fine on their own, but lack a level of significance that makes the album experience worthwhile, relative to all the rest of the indie pop out there. Perhaps this album stood out better in its time.

[eyes-on-the-weather]

Green Day's Dookie was fine. Totally fine. Perhaps average or a little above it, more than middling, worth a listen (especially since it's not too long). Honestly, compared to somewhat similar pop punk albums, I have to give props to this one for not being boring, progressing track to track. The message isn't too strong, isn't pathetic either; if you're the right type of misanthrope or just have really low expectations it's good. The composition isn't too impressive, isn't unappealing either; I'm not getting a lot of them stuck in my head, but I appreciated them a perfectly healthy amount as I listened. Not worth a full re-listen, not a waste of time either. Just fine.