final fantasy - this is the dream of win and regine

I have to thank my lovely friend Kira for introducing me to this song.

Now, I've known Owen Pallett's new stuff that he released under his own name, but I was unfamiliar with the music he released under the moniker of Final Fantasy. Yes, like the video game.

"This is the Dream of Win and Regine" has been playing nonstop for me the past few days, on my iPod, in the car, while cooking dinner. The violin melody is so simple, yet it's so piercing and unavoidably hummable. Listening to Owen makes me regret quitting the violin in 8th grade, since I want to be able to make magic like that too. His lyrics, as always, are very poetic using a variety of quirky words and images to paint a sweet little love story, "But what if they like it/ and lock us in a cannery with your accordian/ until we canned our love." And this entire song is like a mini inside joke for music enthusiasts, with Win and Regine being the married couple heading Arcade Fire, whom Pallett has worked with. It's like a little musical lovefest here. And we got invited to join, for a little while.

Youtube - This is the Dream of Win and Regine

lcd soundsystem - dance yrself clean

I was going to write something deep and witty about this song, but I'll just quote the best Youtube comment:

"I came at 3:09 AND 6:55
and the worst part of it is James Murphy won't call me back."

Just listen to it, you'll see...

Youtube - Dance Yrself Clean

girls - hellhole ratrace

I really try not to be such a music snob, though on the outside, it may look that way. I go to music not to be cynical about it. I go to music to feel. If I'm ever really critical about music it's because it's made for the wrong reason, like for consumerism rather than for the pure love of sounds and sharing your art. Music is meant to bring about emotion. If I can't feel the passion the artist put into the song, well then it's just empty for me. I actively seek catharsis through music. I want that emotional connection.

If you're looking for a similar sentiment in your music, I eagerly point you to San Fransisco duo Girls' (and yes, it is two guys) song "Hellhole Ratrace." Christopher Owens' lyrics are straightforward, yet so raw, and you genuinely believe him when he remarks, "I don't wanna cry my whole life through/ I want to do some laughing too," "I've got a sad song in my sweet heart/ and all I really need is ome love and attention." It's safe to say we've all been there. In that rotten place where you feel as if everything is falling apart and the whole world is out to get us. The internal struggles of our pre-teen selves still lurk in out subconscious only to come back with a vengeance.

But we move on because we find it within ourselves to remind us that there's always something to look forward to; it can't all be that bad. The song begins with twangy guitar mournfully echoing in the background, but as it progresses the sound swells until you banish those evil feelings from inside and the words which hurt so badly in the beginning become a sort of rallying cry. "I want to do some laughing too/ so come on, come on, come on laugh with me."

And by the end, even if our cheeks are still wet from our tears, we find it the ability to laugh anyway.

Youtube - Hellhole Ratrace

life in slow motion

I love going on iTunes late Monday night because all the new music is released and I get to stalk around previewing songs for about 10 seconds since my attention span rarely lasts the full thirty. Most of the time I rue over the fact that a new release from the Jonas Brothers came out, or in this weeks case Kidz Bop 8023 or whatever number they're on now. But there's always some good stuff hiding there, you just gotta search it out.

I was super excited to see Panda Bear's new songs were officially released to download, since I had to listen to the contraband copies on Youtube before that. I've just started to listen to his stuff recently. Panda Bear is really Noah Lennox, of the hipster-adored band Animal Collective, which I've liked for awhile. If you've never heard their stuff, "My Girls" is a great place to start. I think it is their best song by far. So since I'm always hesitant to listen to an artist who "goes solo" from a great band, I hadn't listened to Panda Bear, but I wish I would have sooner. "Comfy in Nautica" is such a fantastic song off of Person Pitch. It's as if the Beach Boys decided to throw aparty in the woods and it turned into an orgy around a campifre with everyone stomping in the background. The last thirty seconds of that song blow my ears off.

But I digress. "Tomboy" and it's B-side "Slow Motion" are now happily at home on my iPod. "Tomboy" is great, but I want to talk about "Slow Motion." The beginning tricks you into imagining you're about to listen to some old school rap song, but instead you're thrust into a world of controlled chaos. You've got a handclaps and deep synth beats pervading the sound, perpetually staying the same as is cycles over and over and over again. It's maddeningly constant as if daring you to tell it to stop. But it doesn't. It pounds in the background as everything else around it swells and changes with Lennox's voice echoing streams of words that aren't at all very coherent. It's as if his voice is just another instrument. Maybe in a few more listens, I'll figure out what he's saying.

What I love about his music, is it's almost trancelike. It's repetitive so it ingrains itself into your mind, latching on and refusing to let go. Yet, it still manages to capture my attention. With every listen I discover something new, uncovering the hidden treasures locked inside.

Youtube - Slow Motion

And just because I love it so much:
Youtube - Comfy in Nautica

in defense of congratulations

Sometimes you know you’re in the minority of opinion and it’s just time to accept it. Well I know that I’m in the minority on this one. I love Congratulations. And I like it more than Oracular Spectacular.

Gasp.



For some reason, there’s so much critical backlash for MGMT’s sophomore album, Congratulations, and frankly I don’t see why. Review after review pans the band for alienating fans or straying too far from their original sound. If I had a dime for every time I read one of those two phrases in a review…well, I guess I still wouldn’t be rich…

News flash world. "Kids" is not MGMT’s “sound.” Both that song and "Time To Pretend" (which is still my favorite just because it empowers me) were written when founding members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were in college. In the early 2000’s. Several years ago. A lot of things can change in the process of one year let alone about five from when early versions of TTP and Kids were released on their first EP in 2005. Those two songs and "Electric Feel" as well were almost fluke hits. I honestly don’t even understand the process in which music becomes popular, but by some occurrence of pop culture, MGMT became a well-known band based on those three songs. And that is how most people know them. So all the fair-weather fans who walked into the psychedelic pop-art wave of Congratulations’ album artwork went in expecting more dance hits to play at their dorm parties to make them look “hip.”

And that’s not what they found. Instead they encountered a complex amalgam of an album that can be a bit off-putting and intimidating at first listen. A quick confession, I listened to Congratulations in its entirety before Oracular Spectacular. I saw online when the album leaked and figured I’d listen to it. I mean, I liked MGMT. Might as well listen to their new stuff. And at first listen, I liked it. I mean, I wasn’t completely blown away, but I enjoyed it and would listen to it while aimlessly surfing the net in my dorm.

But then I listened to it again, and again and slowly but surely, it grew on me. And now, I’m totally in love with it. As an album, it is much more coherent and comprehensive than Oracular Spectacular. In Congratulations, they picked a sound and stuck with it whereas OS was a bit all over the place. There were the big thumping dance hits ("Time To Pretend" and "Kids"), acoustic, echoing tunes ("Pieces of What", "Weekend Wars") and then the trippier psychedelic stuff that would become the basis of Congratulations ("Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters", "4th Dimensional Transition"). Which is why it confuses me that people don’t understand where Congratulations “came from.” If they really loved Oracular Spectacular and listened to the whole album, they’d see that the guys were already dabbling in the spaced out sonic landscapes that invade Congratulations.



With help from producer Sonic Boom, of Spacemen 3 fame, the guys of MGMT create an aural world that once you’ve truly stepped into it, you won’t want to leave. The album leaves you feeling much like the confused little cartoon on the album artwork, engulfed in a wave that you can’t control, but something about it still feels so right. From the loud surf-rock open of "It’s Working" to the subdued applause neatly wrapping up the end of "Congratulations" (both the song and the album), it’s quite the journey if you’re willing to submit yourself to it. There’s quite the variety of songs, from the reverb-filled mystical "Someone’s Missing" that starts slow but builds up to a booming crescendo to the weird instrumental "Lady Dada’s Nightmare" which combines the sounds of organs, guitars, pianos and pained screaming which all combine to create a sound which is so bizarre and unsettling, but yet you find yourself still listening. Andrew VanWyngarden has described the song as what it would sound like if you had sex with Lady Gaga. Well, it’s definitely an interesting notion…

The first taste listeners got of Congratulations was "Flash Delirium," which, even for MGMT’s standards, is a strange song. It takes a few listens to orient yourself with the insanity of the track. It’s a complex and layered song with many things happening at once. On paper it lyrically looks like a tangled web of confusion, but when all combined, it somehow forms the outline of a coherent thought. It uses a lot of post apocalyptic imagery, “even if this hall collapses/ I can stand by my pillar of hope/it’s just a case of flash delirium,” “my earthbound heart is heavy, your heartbeat keeps things light, with the violence forever threatening the night.” And by the end all hell breaks loose with VanWyngarden channeling his inner heavy metal star screaming nonsense combinations of words and then the end. You’re left, head spinning, confused, but hey you have to admit it was a fun trip.

I would give a song by song analysis, and believe me, I could, but I need to talk about my personal favorite, "Siberian Breaks." The 12 minute “pop surf opera” behemoth of a song. First let me say this song is incredibly epic live. My friend Clare who went with me started to film it not knowing it was 12 minutes long; at around 6 minutes she asked “Is this still even the same song?” I guess I should have warned her ahead of time. But honestly, this song is a journey. Lyrically, it is the most developed with so many thoughts piled into it that make me stop for a moment and really think, “It’s not the life lesson you’d’ve guessed/ if you’re conscious you must be depressed/ or at least cynical.” The song moves in waves, carrying you along the frozen soundscape they are creating. It opens with the strumming of an acoustic guitar, travels through levels of echoing, vast aural landscapes, and ends with two full minutes of synthed out bliss. I’ve heard synths called “sparkling” before, and I never understood what that really meant until I heard that song. Beautiful.

MGMT name drops some of their influences in the brash and fun "Brian Eno" and the bouncing "Song for Dan Treacy," about the singer of the band Television Personalities. In all honesty, it’s helped introduce me to new music since it piqued my curiosity about those two artists. VanWyngarden and Goldwasser have said in interviews that they never planned to make an album about fame, but it kind of happened anyway. I guess it’s hard not to when it comes out of nowhere; it must be hard to get a bearing on what is happening. "Congratulations," the song, is a thesis on fame that laments the superficial aspects of it, but basks in the glories of it as well “I’ve got someone to make reports that tell me how my money’s spent/ to book my stays and draw my blinds so I can’t tell what’s really there.” Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows, for “all I need’s a great big congratulations.”

Well, congratulations MGMT. I genuinely mean that. This album deserves a lot more credit than people are willing to give it, but those who do appreciate it will hold onto it as a little gem. I know I will.

mood music - angry

Angry, angsty, anxious. All very accurate words to describe my state of mind right now. All a part of the pains of being a free spirited 19 year old. So what to do in a situation like this? Listen to music. Of course.

My angry songs playlist:

The Kills - Cheap and Cheerful
"I'm bored and cheap and cheerful/ I want expensive sadness." True that. Plus, the lo-fi grunge rock sound of this song helps me channel my inner angry rockstar. Might as well indulge myself in my quest to release my bad feelings.

Robyn - Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do
Story. Of. My. Life. The title tells you all you need to know.

MGMT - Flash Delirium
OK, so blame the boys of MGMT for my angst right now, but nevertheless I still love them eternally. I will get around to posting my extended commentary of Congratulations, but for right now I'll keep it sweet and short. This song is awesome, confusing and loud. I just lose myself in the insanity and it's cathartic. Plus, the last 45 seconds of the song, whenever I'm listening to it in the car, I like to full on scream along. I wonder what other drivers think of me.

I'm sure there are more songs, but as of now, these three songs have gained many more play counts on my iTunes. And while I'm pretty chill right now, the evil feelings are still lurking in the pit of my stomach. Blah.

the name of this post is talking heads

So when I'm not scouting out new new music, I like to listen to the stuff our parents listened to. The classics. The basis for all good music today. Sometimes when I go out searching for 60's and 70's music, I feel like I was born in the wrong decade.

Anyways, my latest favorite from years past are the Talking Heads. I'm kind of in love. Their music ranges from thumping dance tunes with apocalyptic lyrics (Life During Wartime) to twinkling synth tunes I'd listen to on a day at the beach (This Must Be The Place). The sound is so innovative for it's time and even way ahead of stuff today. David Byrne's voice spits out the lyrics effortlessly, on a flow of consciousness. I've read that sometimes the takes for lyrics were all improvised. Damn.

What I love is it's ability to link two time periods that are only separated by time. On the drive home from LAX from dropping my mom and sister off on their vacation, I was given musical freedom on the drive home. Which is great because my dad loves my music. I put on Life During Wartime and you should have seen how he lit up. He was smiling and moving to the music. "I used to listen to this song in college!" he exclaimed excitedly. He proceeded to tell me how this was the party song of the time and how his friends saw them in concert. He opened up a flood of memories and perspective into the period of his life that I am living right now. It was the neatest thing. How one simple song could, after all these years, have a relevance in both of our lives.

Only further proof as to why music is the greatest thing that manages to exist on earth. It's magical in its own way.

Youtube - Life During Wartime

Youtube - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)

jónsi - go do

Youtube - Go Do (official video)

I dare you to listen to this song and not feel happy. It's been on repeat for me the past few days, and I can't help but feel uplifted and completely empowered. Granted, I can barely understand what he is saying with his thick accent. I can make out a word or phrase here and there, but the amazing thing is that you don't need to understand what he's saying to understand the feeling he's conveying. It's a similar effect that was utilized by Jónsi's band, Sigur Rós, in their untitled album symoblized(). Instead of writing lyrics in any language (which the band has dubbed "Hopelandic"), they use the vocals as another instrument. There are no words, no grammar, no form, only functions of sound. It makes it completely universal; no one can be excluded.

Kind of a cool notion, yes?

soundtrack to my summer: robyn - body talk pt.1

Throughout every stage of my life, I guess I have a certain album to go along with how I'm feeling at that point. Yes, I went through my pre-tween emo-esque phase where I thought I was cool if I listened to Avril Lavigne and Evanescence. Those were the days when I was heavily influenced by what other people thought of me. Now, I honestly don't give a fuck and I can confidently say that makes me a much happier person.

But to get to my actual point, I think I've found my soundtrack of my summer. Robyn's Body Talk Pt. 1 seems to articulate my feelings so accurately it almost scares me. Coming back home from college after a year of fun and freedom has been a messy transition, one that still throbs painfully from time to time. My free spirit feels trapped under rules and stuck in a city where dreams wither like the lawns fried by the burning desert sun. Robyn's lyrics poignantly address these suppressed feelings I have inside. In "None of Dem," she laments about how nothing in her life is what she'd hoped it would be, "I'm so bored in this town/ take me away from here/ play some kind of new sound/ something true and sincere." A similar sentiment is echoed in "Cry When You Get Older," where she points out the negative aspects of suburbia, "Then endless incomprehensible boredom takes ahold again." I sit there thinking oh my god that's my life right there.

And yet even though all of these ideas are less than pleasant, ("Dancing On My Own" talks about not being noticed by someone no matter how hard you try) the way in which she delivers them with her slightly accented voice and a booming dance anthem sound, you can't help but want to get up and move. Robyn knows and understands these feelings and she doesn't like them, so let's banish them. We can banish them by enjoying ourselves, even if we have to dance on our own; it's better than not dancing at all.

Her music is clearly pop music, but it is intelligent pop music. Robyn has been around the music business longer than any of the latest teen queens; she knows her shit. Her voice needs no auto-tune or over produced background music to overshadow sub-par vocals too often found in pop music today. Her vocal ability is showcased in the album closer, "Jag Vet En Delig Rosa," a Swedish jazz song from the 60's, in which her voice reminds me of Bat for Lashes with it's ethereal quality. It's a lovely end to an album filled with big sounds and big thoughts. She recently announced that Body Talk Pt. 2 will be coming out September 6th, hopefully with Pt.3 coming before the end of the year as well. I anxiously await both albums.

So now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go dance.

myspace

Youtube - Dancing On My Own

baths - maximalist

It's easy to get lost in the swirling, sparkling synthesizers of Baths' song Maximalist off his newly released LP Cerulean. The sound swells and fades rhythmically as if enticing you in and simultaneously pushing you away. As soon as you begin to feel slightly comfortable in this movement, the sound cuts out to spoken samples that sound as if they've been ripped from a sub-par recording of some anonymous motivational speaker: "what's love telling you to do right now?", "it takes a lot of courage to radiate your essence." It abruptly pulls you out of the song with explicit subliminal messaging. You stop to ponder these ideas, but then the swell of the synths pull you back into the mind mending spin where a search for control is fruitless.

Don't listen to this if you're not prepared to get a little dizzy, especially if you're lying down with your eyes closed. But maybe that's exactly how you're supposed to listen to it.

Youtube: Baths - Maximalist

lazy inspiration

While my mother and younger sister are dealing with tornado warnings and thunderstorms on their vacation in Wisconsin, I lounged it up by the pool in the lovely California sun this afternoon. Since I'm trying to stop worrying about minute things in the future, it was much more enjoyable to soak up the sun without any preoccupations. Before my iPod battery gave out because stupid me forgot to charge it after the long car ride yesterday, I listened to quite an odd mix of songs while tanning my pale self.

My tanning mix:

Animal Collective - My Girls

Beirut - Scenic World

Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo

Baths - Maximalist

As I tried to analyze my reasonings for choosing these songs, my mind ran through potential explanations like the fullness in the sound of each song, the calming transcendental repetitive melodies, etc. But then I came to the realiziation it was really only because all the band names are really close to each other in my iPod library and I was too lazy to go further than "B." Sigh.

living on the best coast

Best Coast is California.

And no, I’m not saying that because I happen to live in and love the Golden State. Best Coast, the Los Angeles duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno, produces a sound that conjures images of the idyllic California dream. I've just recently discovered them, but I instantly fell in love when I heard their song "Boyfriend."

The surf pop guitars and the swelling vocal waves in the background can automatically transport me from my current desert wasteland of a location to the ocean shoreline where everything makes so much more sense. Even though Cosentino's straightforward but strikingly accurate lyrics ("I wish he was my boyfriend/ I'd love him 'til the very end/ But instead he is just a friend") only serve to resurrect those feelings of unrequited love, I can't help but feel good listening to it. Images of the waves crashing against the shore while the sun sets on a warm California evening come to mind. A place where even if I was feeling lonely, I'd still manage to feel at home.

Best Coast's debut LP Crazy For You was made available to stream online yesterday and I've listened to it all the way through once. All I want to do is find an old vintage convertible, some Ray-Bans and drive down the 101 all day listening to it.

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dip your toes in

I have been meaning to do this for a very long time. Make a music blog that is.

To say I love music would be horribly understating the truth. I've loved music since I was a child. Yes, my preference in what type of music has vastly changed (and quite frankly improved) as I have gotten older, but nevertheless I have always loved to be wrapped up in sound.

I was looking at my small, but growing vinyl collection and I could see myself reflected in its shiny black surface and I had a revelation. That is what music is. Being able to find yourself within it. Music is not meant to be recorded once and forgotten. Nobody who makes music would ever do that. Each person has their own memories in every song. Our reaction is unique and only the individual can experience that. We allow ourselves to merge with the music and let it take over our bodies.

It’s such a beautiful concept. A person and a song becoming one. The music artists give us gifts that we get to do whatever we want with them. I think my love affair with music is one that will never wane. If I had to pick only one of my five senses to save and abandon the other four, I’d keep my hearing just so I could still listen to music.

This will be a place where I can spill my own love, disgust, shock, awe and admiration of whatever soundwaves pass through my ears. It's a work in progress, but like us, it's ever changing.

Let the journey begin.