weakcritique - Tumblr blog

[weakcritique]

       Revisited Revelation? Or just being high and emo?

      I was driving home from class today and smoking a joint. I decided I was going to start a playlist filled with songs from middle school. Then I thought of Lykke Li’s first album. So I put it on and started to get really feely. I realized this album was way more clever about heartbreak then I had ever bothered to realize. I just remebered 4 songs; I’m Good, I’m Gone, Let It Fall, Tonight, & Little Bit.

The beginning is very personal and I’m not sure if she’s using a little portable keyboard but it sounds simply badass. I have been trying to make music but I just sit and try and produce it out of myself randomly. To be honest I have no patience to write out a song or think out scales, I get restless. But there’s something so inspiring about her ability to make simplicity tasteful. As the second track comes in I wonder why the hell I never listened to the whole album. I admire how thought out everything is how she wants whoever hurt her to think she’s ok, but then she allows herself moments of vulnerability. The tracking is well thought out and fun. How Let It Fall leads into two love songs and then Little Bit. Little Bit is exactly how I feel whenever I find myself daydreaming about someone. While driving I asked myself, “what the fuck is this album called?” because I had forgot (I was high) YOUTH NOVELS! That sealed her genius for me. Because we all want to believe that only in youth you feel this hard or sad for people. I find things to be so fucken scattered, scary, and secular out in the available world of love currently. It’s cutthroat on the playing field, I guess it’s always been. But I also did wake up and start listening to Angel Olsen right away so maybe it’s just that typa day today. 

proper volume: a hard 9

proper setting: high (or not) in your car cruisin’ , and hopefully you find a friend who also loved Lykke so you can belt the lyrics together

[weakcritique]

Now gonna be dropping little themed playlists

[weakcritique]

GONE BY THE DAWN IS HERE!!

If all the wrenches to that poor heart of yours could take any type of malleable form I’m sure it’d be Shannon Shaw’s heady vocal chords. You can always count on Shannon and the Clams to have that same swampy doo-wop sound fueled by heartache but never count on them to disappoint you. They’ve perfected the trick of delivering the same style but never the same album. Opening the album with no time wasted she goes straight for the heart with, “I Will Miss the Jasmine” packed with loopy organ riffs and cries similar to those in “The Cult Song”.  Another mention of this, “jasmine” comes out in one of the first singles off the album, “Point of Being Right” explaining the feeling of knowing something is going wrong in a relationship and not paying attention to your intuitions, “you're hiding somethin’ big from me/something I’ve chosen not to see”. Good news, there’s at least one or two songs on the record that don’t take you on a bold introspective love spiral, “The Bog” a spooky tune about witches dancing in the bog with men crawling out of the ground and joining them, I will play it at every Halloween party I attend this year(as should you). Gone by the Dawn is set to be released next friday on September 11th, you can preorder your copy on iTunes, Amazon, and HardlyArt.com enjoy until then.

Honorable Mentions: (other tracks to check): My Man, Corvette, You Let Me Rust, How Long?, Telling Myself.

Proper Volume: 8

Proper Setting: Post Breakup in the car with your friends on the way to the beach (don’t cry alone)

[weakcritique]

If you did not already know about Hinds, what the fuck is wrong with you? 

Luckily you’re here now seeking answers, and I am ready to take your hand and skip through the meadow of green sg guitars and kazoos; dipping hips and shaking ponytails, beer, wine, cigarettes and love. Could it be? The spanish resurgence of garage rock? HINDS is powered by Carlotta (singer/guitar) Ana (singer/guitar) Ade (bass/backing vocals) and Amber (drums/backing vocals) these girls share an on and off stage dynamic that is so charming, always wearing bright contagious smiles. No doubt these girls know how to dig up those feelings that come with love and life, but they’ll always do it with a catchy sound. Chili Town is exciting to me because there’s a different sound, not just studio production but the girls have seemed to brush up on their english, which can only mean one thing; PROGRESSIVE SONGWRITING. Even on songs like Between Cans and Trippy Gum where lyrics don’t seem to be making much sense you still catch yourself dancin’ and relating, Hinds is on everyone’s must watch list right now and with a motto like, “Our shit, our rules.” you know they won’t disappoint. What drives this band the most in my opinion is their spirit, and it’s tangible and authentic, something unmistakable. Their story as a band almost sounds like every person’s daydream. Two best friends learning guitar and writing songs in a bedroom tirelessly until they’ve reached their own creative standards. Or how about how they just bought Ade a bass for her birthday just to learn and join the band. How with just 2 demos and 3 covers they were already playing stages at festivals every weekend. There’s some unstoppable but light hearted air to them that’ll keep them afloat for a really long time. Hinds is a band that won’t go away anytime soon, and I’m so happy about that.

[weakcritique]

Hey guys, Eddie here.

I occasionally also write for UCLA Radio so here’s something I wrote about the Ryan Hemsworth & Tommy Kruise show I went to last week

The Just Rap Tour featuring Ryan Hemsworth and Tommy Kruise made its stop at Santa Ana on Thursday night. I walked into the Observatory and was very shocked in how intimate the whole thing was, but then thought, “hell, it’s another Ryan Hemsworth show, it’ll make for a very chill crowd.”...

[weakcritique]

Single Review: Neon Indian - “Annie”

It’s been too long since we’ve last heard of a full-length release from synthpop wizard Alan Palomo’s Neon Indian project. In the in-between years, we’ve seen Alan host his own TED Talk and heard a Neon Indian single made exclusively for the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack. Luckily, 2015 sees Palomo’s return with “Annie” - which dives straight into the waters of acid-washed discopop that the one-off single aforementioned (“Change of Coast”) got Neon Indian’s feet wet in. The sound is definitely cleaner than a lot of his earlier work, but Alan still finds ways to manipulate synths, pedals, effects, and samples that stays true to Neon Indian's trademark style of production. The cover art is cheesy (in a good way!) percussion used throughout the song can convincingly confuse the masses as to whether the track is not a song released just yesterday, but actually a 90’s club banger #only90skids (sorry, guys).

Though an LP has yet to be announced, “Annie" is a definite keeper that makes it even harder to bare a wait for full details on a new record. Listen to the track on the Neon Indian website and please for the love of God, oblige Annie to, “answer the machine”.

[weakcritique]

My theory that doesn’t make sense to you but will always make sense to me

Sasha here; So, I have this crazy belief that Burn Your Fire For No Witness is not only heavily influenced by The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust BUT is basically the reincarnation of David Bowie’s album itself. 

  As we all “witnessed” (hehehehe) Burn Your Fire was equivalently pivotal to Angel’s career as much as Ziggy was for Bowie’s. There is no denying that both Angel and Bowie are some of the most transcendent artist’s of our time (and all the ones before). 

  David Bowie is always physically changing his appearance and sound, whether it is to keep from being bored, predictable, or just part of his need to share his beautiful mind and ideas with us. Anything to remind us of his celestially supernatural demeanor and immortal soul. I think his ability to dole out perfect slices of sweet and sour records that always tantalize the tastebuds is what makes him most nonhuman, because while he is doing all that there’s a sense of connection within those spaced out tracks. David’s ability to take that feeling of loneliness and misunderstanding and translate it into an out of this world anthem is his gift. He can make his point and express himself in a way no one else will ever be able to, it’s relatable to the right people and it’s moving at most.  There will never be some looming super imposed theme over a David Bowie album and neither will there on an Angel Olsen one. 

The parallels begin at the track list. 

Now that you’ve realized both are 11 tracks long are you spooked? Im kidding this isn’t a conspiracy page. There’s no consistency as far as each song providing the same feeling, this is where the TRANSCENDENCE I WAS TALKING ABOUT COMES IN. Both Angel and David have the ability to go from one feeling to a completely new one with just one skip of a song. No sound will ever repeat itself, no album will painfully sound like one continuous song ever. Each song a new story contributing to the overpowering fear of us and you and they. Beyond and above, out and below, you, inside and out. If youre reading I havent finished this and i will late

[weakcritique]

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS DRINKS OH MY GOD

It looks like the gods of my subconscious have bestowed a gift only a crazy bitch can dream of THE COLLABORATION OF CATE LE BON AND TIM PRESLEY.  I MEAN WOW; I’d like to believe this is the doings of a higher power, let me take this moment. I’d like to thank (THEE Angel) Marc Bolan and his place on the Rock N Roll Heaven city council.  He turned this dream law into a bill, making this collaboration possible. This is a duo no one would’ve expected, kind of like Will Ferrel and Kevin Hart, except this time, it will succeed. It’s something I never thought I’d get to see or hear and I’m so excited I get to share it with you. Appropriately titled Hermits On Holiday, the albums self-titled opens in a very Le Bon manor soft and consistent then some jacked riffs come in. It isn’t without Eighteen Teenage Revenge Pair that we start hearing Presley’s recognizable touches; his voice and guitar give the song a driving force along with some swirly touches and clapping throughout. I can’t wait or the albums release on August 21st via Birth Records/Heavenly Recordings but these will have to hold me over for now.

[weakcritique]

TWIN STEPS: the lost interview

   Quick background: Twin Steps are a four piece band from Oakland,CA. Their music can be described as; difficult punk, r&b, romantic shred soul violence (according to their bandcamp tags) (it's a pretty spot on description though). They released one ep on a green 10" colored vinyl with Cola Bruin (SF,Ca) in April of 2012. One 7" record featuring two songs with 1-2-3-4 Go! Records( a kick-ass independent record store/label in Oakland) in August of 2013. There's also one demo on their bandcamp that will dig an earworm all up in your brain with it's unforgettable guitar riff. I was lucky enough to catch them at the smell on February 28th of 2014. I mustered up the courage to introduce myself and thank them for their performance after the set which resulted in this interview. Now see, this is a very important interview to me, I had been recently inspired and decided to start a collective music zine. Twin Steps was the first band that I had ever interviewed and being given this chance was new to me. If i remember correctly Devv's response was,"Yeah that sounds great! We'll be in LA a few days-we can all meet up, grab some tacos and chat with you."

 So, here it is my first ever interview, enjoy!

Sasha:What/Who are your major influences? Twin Steps: Campy horror/exploitation films, the apocalypse/post apocalypse, good candy, Charles Manson, Michael Jackson, and girls (love & heartbreak; everything before, after, and in-between). S:What is the first record/CD/Tape you ever bought? Jonathan: tape  De La Soul - Three Feet High & Rising, which my older brother had shown me / cd Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary, which i bought with the first paycheck i ever got. Drew: Queen's Greatest Hits, because it had the mighty ducks song on it. Nick: Space Jam Soundtrack. I bought Willenium for a girl haha.. Devvin: Will Smith - Big Willie Style. S:Any album that you can throw on during a terrible day and it just totally changes your mood immediately? J: Whitney Houston - Whitney DP: The Roots of Chicha N: Andrew WK - I Get Wet DT: Nick Drake - Bryter Layter S:Who are some of your favorite bands/artists right now? J: Each Other (from Montreal) DP: Drake N: Jamaican Queens DT: Yvette, Nitzer Ebb. I've been digging the newest Ponytail album a lot recently too, the song "music tunes" is soooo good. S:What are some of your goals as a band right now? TS:To be the first band to transform completely into a mobile app. Also, to get wet and make people happy, to dip. S:When you're at your show up on stage and you look out into the crowd what's favorite thing to see? DP: sweat. N: swimming pools, candy kids lol. DT: I like it when people climb on stuff, lots of movement. S:(on Drew's dance moves during the set)Do you lose yourself in the moment or are u definitely inspired by flash dance? DP: I definitely lose myself in the moment. I've never seen Flashdance, but sometimes I practice in the mirror. S:I LOVE YOUR USE OF SAMPLES. One thing that instantly attracted me to your band was the sample of Etta James on the track, Pinkie Promise. What about a song makes you decide, "I want to sample this."? Is there a process? J: There are so many lost and looked over sounds from the past that stand out to us as these hidden gems of sorts, long since forgotten.. The general idea is to take something old, cut it up, warp it, effect it, distort it, and then repurpose it similar to a musical collage to create something new. For instance, take that one amazing measure in the beginning of some obscure soul or girl group song from the 60's, maybe it's an intro or a bridge.. It's not the main theme of the song and probably doesn't even get repeated in the composition,  but we will capture it and use that find as a background for us to build a new song around. The first step in us writing songs is always listening to/sharing records & old music. We are all avid music collectors/appreciators and i don't think there is really any one thing that stands out as a specific requirement for a song to be sampled by us. We just do what feels right...

                                                          3/15/14

                                       "We just do what feels right...".

 It was this authentic and courteous nature that made this interview and their band possible. They announced their decision to dismember in November 2014 on their facebook page;

 "attention lovers and listeners: unfortunately, this is probably going to be our last show tonight. it has been an incredibly joyous and trying 3 years. we have made plans to record what we have created with in the next month or so but we have all come to a mutual agreement that this project has reached a stopping point for now. good things will come from this, but for now all we have are our tears. we'll keep you posted on new projects and other exciting news. we love you. see you tonight davis!"

luckily they continuously create new material so here's some important links:

https://twinsteps.bandcamp.com/

http://goldendrugs.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/popgang/alexander-spit-5-ringin-twin

https://www.facebook.com/xweakkneesx?fref=ts 

https://www.facebook.com/tropicalvomit?fref=ts

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy Twin Steps with the same gusto my 16 year old soul did

( photo by miriam brummel from the show at the smell )

[weakcritique]

I thought and drew about this today thank you

                                                                                                    (2/15/15)

[weakcritique]

ABOUT BROAD CITY AND DJ RAFF'S LATINO & PROUD 

 Anyone who knows me is well aware of my unhealthy obsession with Broad City. (this also coincides with my obsession for comediennes in general because they, in my opinion, are earth's mythical creatures/super heroes). I've watched season 1 over more times than Mariah Carey changed outfits in her MTV Cribs episode (she changed 6 times).

http://atrl.net/forums/showthread.php?t=511504 (this is a forum dedicated to the question: Is Mariah Carey's MTV Cribs Iconic?)   

Im convinced I could differentiate jokes and who's are who's like those crazy Beatles' fans who are able to tell when McCartney or Lennon are singing or wrote each part. I was/am in deep. SO, my point- the music featured is always FIRE. That being said I cannot listen to Dj Raff's Proud & Latino without smiling. I'm a big fan of sampling and I get even more “hwet” when I notice where it's from. There's some Mos Def and Felt sampling in their of my favorites but what got me was how the main hook with the piano. That was sampled from a 1997 spanish hip hop song.    

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzNRg4ObYLM Tiro De Gracia - El Juego Verdadero

  Seems like the temp was sped up a bit and sounds less out of date. I cannot wait to hear what’s in store for the new season’s music. 

[weakcritique]

RANT A REVIEW - A Segment by Eddie Hernandez

you know, I found this album at a very sweet time and it reminds me so much of the bitter. After some years of being considered "single", getting into a relationship has been a definite game changer in my life. After months and months of leeching off the bad habits of someone that put me in a strange place for a long while, I came across the new album from New Jersey band Forth Wanderers.

Vocalist Ava Trilling's songwriting in Tough Love is by all means relatable to my experience in transitioning into something as new and beautiful as a relationship. And that's the weird part: I used to always think that relationships were shit and that if I were to get into one, I knew it would be nothing but a depressing time watching two people fall apart as they pursue different things on the sidelines and forget that love between the two in no time. It's not actually that bad, and dating the wrong people is exactly what a shit time can lead to. I can honestly say I don't remember a time where I've been as constantly happy as I am today. 

That's the best part about listening to Tough Love today because I look at myself in retrospect to the past 2-3 years of my life and reminisce how my mistakes are really overshadowed by the bad things I used to get into. "Fuck" is a personal highlight from the album because as Ava spills "See i'm not so smart when it comes to the sound of things that'll bring you down", I see my former habits linger from a bad relationship represent themselves in a song. The lyrical content is very personal throughout the record and the songs not only talk about relationship problems, but personal change. Songs like "Television" and "Selfish" are dreamy pop anthems where Trilling swoons through coming of age lyrics such as "one day you'll see, turn on your tv // one day you'll see me on the big screen".

The album as a whole is generally a breakup album and as I understand it's hard painting a picture of past toxic relationships as one gets over how unhealthy they were treated, I also know there's some entity in the album that feels more like a step forward from such a trance. I've had so much to deal with in the in-between and for so long I haven't been able to bring myself to say a single word because I was scared of painting a bad picture on who I used to date or what I used to want to do. Thankfully, there's such an album to listen to and look back on how the past once was, but is done and dealt with. Good thing there was a fucking light at the end. 

Proper Setting: Listen to this album in any mood, you're bound to remember what being a teen was like nonetheless. 

Proper Volume: The angstier you feel, the louder it should be. I keep mine at an 8.

If you haven't listened to any of Forth Wanderers, check their shit out on their bandcamp now

Been a Pleasure, Eddie Hernandez

(2/2/15)

[weakcritique]

Mark my words when I say this album will be on every "Best of 2015" list at the end of the year. 

 If I would have considered writing this when I first listened to it then I probably would've picked Mr.Noah. But little did I know how wrong I was in my choosing. It wasn't until a high and cold winter night that I decided to listen to the album throughout. I was having one of those, "you were supposed to find this one song at that certain time in your life" moments. That, "this was written for me" feeling. I don't suggest googling the lyrics, (and I know you might want to) but, just experience it first.

 Why?

 Because you know when you watch a movie over again and each time you catch something new? That's the equivalent to what this song does. At first your intrigued by it's melody. For me, it's the melancholy masked by the beautiful Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker harp sample underneath.  It puts me in a trance and it's all I payed attention to at first. It wasn't until maybe the 4th time listening to it that I realized the powerful lyrics. 

 To me this is one of those songs whose importance/meaning is heavily reliant on the listener. After you experience that then I would suggest reading this

An interview in which PB explains the meaning:            http://www.thefader.com/2015/01/07/panda-bear-tells-the-story-behind-the-songs-on-his-new-album

Proper setting? Alone and marinating in emotion

Proper volume? A very stiff 8

Thank you for reading

                                                                                                                 1/31/15

[weakcritique]

 This song has been stuck in my head and feet for a cool minute now. The beat is infectious and might even lead you to believe you've stumbled upon some old record that belonged to an underground DJ from an amazing club you missed out on in the 70's. :'/

              BUT--no need to feel sad because, that's not the case here.

 Released back in 2012 on the album Jialong by Daphni (beloved Canadian, Daniel V. Snaith, aka Caribou ) this track towers above all the rest, and no not just because it's probably wearing platform dancing shoes; but because it just doesn't belong on this album. This song doesn't need to belong anywhere-It just needs to be everywhere.

 Here's the way I imagine it; You walk into Cold stone Creamery and there is Dan, ready for your order- , you order up what we never knew but always needed; "the answer to the revival of ass shaking funk." So then, in classic Cold Stone employee fashion (skillful quick with their hands and having no regard for American's health) he whips out this fine hunk of hard ass music and crashes it against the cold granite counter mixing and adding these undeniably suitable and very necessary ingredients of groove. 

Or at least that's how I like to imagine the birth of this delectable mix anyways,

proper setting? I would recommend playing this pretty much anywhere besides a funeral that is in-service

proper volume? 6+

Here's the original song that was sampled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9LgyzoGgWg\

Thank you for reading

                                                                                                                   1/31/15