Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Contra - Vampire Weekend

This sophomore album is more mature than the debut, but still a little empty and unmatured.  That being said, it's upbeat and catchy.  The synthetic sound is meshed with a typical rock band instrumentation, a sting section, and a variety of percussive sounds.  The world music influence, specifically African, that dominated the debut album, here is more understated, drawing more from Afro-pop than more traditional or stereotypical African influences.  Within this soundscape, political issues are subtly explored, giving the album some weight, but not enough for it to be too heavy to enjoy on a lazy summer day.

Individually there are moments that are interesting, but each song follows the same format - same melody, same progression - it gets a little repetitive.  How they manipulate it is where the interest lies, but only briefly.  They know what works to easily catchy the ear of the general public and they milk it.  It's easily accessible, the songs are short, the album is very short, and while I'm entertained enough to listen all the way through, nothing made me go back and listen again, nothing really stood out.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Heartbeat (Kodo 25th Anniversary) - Kodo

I always thought of Africa when I thought of drumming.  This included products of the African diaspora like Brazil (Olodum), Cuban rhythms, etc.  This is a stereotype most people hold I would guess.  I was watching OvationTV, a station I only recently discovered and they had a special on Kodo.  This album is kind of a best of and contains many of the pieces performed by Kodo in that particular show.  I would say this group is much more of an act to see live.  There is a very important visual aspect to it including the movements and positions of the drummers, the size of the drums and how they are attacked, and additional dancers.  Some of that is lost in an audio recording, but the rhythms and melodies (played on on the fue and shamisen) are enough.

Kodo is a taiko drumming troupe.  Members begin as apprentices living within the Kodo village community until they are full time members.  This makes Kodo a very large, very tight knit, and very serious group.  They play traditional Japanese rhythms and melodies combined with compositions by contemporary composers and their own members.


Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold

Eight tracks make up the eponymous debut for this Los Angeles based band.  With an array of members and disparate genres as influence, Fool's Gold creates an interesting and engrossing sound.  Pitchfork describes them as "Afropop with a slight American influence" rather than Vampire Weekend which very obviously just appropriates Afropop sounds (here's the article).  The influence of the Talking Heads and David Byrne's love for Global Pop music is also apparent as well as what founding member of Fool's Gold, Luke Top, lists including, "African music: soukous music, East African music, Ethiopian music, Eritrean music, Touareg desert blues music," Krautrock and lots of American pop, specifically 80's dance music.

When asked if Fool's Gold is part of an international conversation, Top answers, "Most music is overlapping, so at this point, it's hard to say or pinpoint exactly what the ratio or the balance is. Everyone is taking from each other at this point."  Now some would argue that this is an easy way of privileged Western musicians justifying their theft of global musics.  Its hard to say and I would like to think that music is for the sharing and enjoyment of everyone, but in a time of strict action against online pirating, easily bent copyright rules, and large gaps between the economies of the "borrowed" music and the "borrowing" musicians this utopian ideal is not upheld by everyone.  Anyway, at the end of the article, the interview mentions that Indie rock has been incorporating African influences into their work and that there is a lineage associated with it.  Of course Fool's Gold doesn't see themselves as part of this line, but then again, no band does.  Each sees their own work as individual, inherent to their unique view and personality.  Both Luke Top and co-founder, Lewis Pesavoc, assert that they have been listening to world music their entire life.  Does the right to use the music of other cultures come from time then?  They also say that its their variety of choices within African pop that make their music more authentic.  This could be a valid argument.  They are more knowledgeable, most likely from so much time spent listening to and exploring world music, therefore their choices about which musics to borrow are more informed and less generalizing and stereotypical.  This discussion is always touchy since culture and economics come into play and I think it will not be resolved soon.  I always think that we will end up with a musical language so blended and mixed that world music will become one thing as they predict race will eventually end up as.  Cultural specifics will be a thing of the past and our experimentations with them now are the beginnings of this.

Gorilla Manor - Local Natives

This is the first and as yet only album by Local Natives.  It is driving, repeptitive, catchy rhythms that will carry your ear from start to finish without boredom.  Then there are some interesting harmonies, some typically indie guitar riffs, but overall its catchy enough.  The vocals have a similar quality to those of Nate Ruess of the Format, but sang less punctuated and more mellow.

My first impression favorites included "Wide Eyes" and "Who Knows Who Cares."

Monday, May 10, 2010

Swimming in Speakers EP - Swimming in Speakers

First post of May!  As far as I know, this is the only release for this band and it came out over a year ago.  Who knows if this duo from Saranac Lake, NY will eventually come out with a full length album, but it would be a nice surprise.  This EP is a mix of folk and electronic sounds.  At times like Bird and the Bee and then Gregory and the Hawk.  I like them better as the first.  Their sound is unique; their songwriting catchy.  Twenty minutes in the sonic imagination of Christopher Clarke and Meadow Eliz is well spent.