Sauw's Top 10 Albums of 2008

1.) For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver
Link to my album review

2.) Dear Science, TV on the Radio
Link to my album review
Link to my concert review of TV on the Radio @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple 10/14/08

3.) Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
Link to my album review
Link to my concert review of Fleet Foxes @ The Grand Ballroom 10/4/08

4.) Stay Positive, The Hold Steady
Link to my album review
Link to my concert review of The Hold Steady @ McCarren Park 6/29/08

5.) The Seldom Seen Kid, Elbow
Link to my album review

6.) Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
Link to my album review

7.) Visiter, The Dodos
Link to my album review

8.) Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust, Sigur Rós
Album review coming soon...

9.) Harps and Angels, Randy Newman
Link to my album review

10.) You & Me, The Walkmen
Album review coming soon...


Honorable Mention:

Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket
Link to my album review

Consolers of the Lonely, The Raconteurs
Link to my album review

Only By The Night, Kings of Leon
Album review coming soon...

Sauw's Top 25 Tracks of 2008

2008 was as good a year as any for music's current best acts to deliver a bountiful basket full of great foot-tappin', knee-slappin' music to our doorsteps. Here are the 25 songs that I personally enjoyed the most...maybe you'll enjoy something here as well.

1.) "Skinny Love" - Bon Iver

2.) "Lord, I'm Discouraged" - The Hold Steady

3.) "Golden Age" - TV on the Radio

4.) "Look At You" - My Morning Jacket

5.) "Ragged Wood" - Fleet Foxes

6.) "Time To Pretend" - MGMT

7.) "Walking" - The Dodos

8.) "A-Punk" - Vampire Weekend

9.) "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" - Elbow

10.) "Vid Spilum Endalaust" - Sigur Ros

11.) "So Everyone" - Bonnie "Prince" Billy

12.) "Souled Out!!!" - Conor Oberst

13.) "Carolina Drama" - The Raconteurs

14.) "My Favourite Year" - Destroyer

15.) "Manhattan" - Kings of Leon

16.) "For Emma" - Bon Iver
17.) "Violet Hill" - Coldplay
18.) "Same Old Thing" - The Black Keys
19.) "Pity and Fear" - Death Cab for Cutie
20.) "On The Water" - The Walkmen
21.) "The Time Has Come Again" - The Last Shadow Puppets
22.) "On The Edge Of A Cliff" - The Streets
23.) "Leviathan Bound" - Shearwater
24.) "Laugh and Be Happy" - Randy Newman
25.) "Profanity Prayers" - Beck

Album Review: The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

The Hold Steady are one of those bands that it seems absurd that more people don’t appreciate now, yet if you know their music you’ll know that 20 years from now twice as many people will be listening to them. The Hold Steady is the creation of singer/songwriter Craig Finn, who at first glance you might expect to see in the cubicle next to you rather than leading one of the most inspired and cathartic bands in existence. While the band owes a lot to past rock powerhouses (in this album explicitly paying tribute to The Clash’s Joe Strummer and Led Zeppelin), the band only uses the teachings of these past greats as a launch pad to take off from. In doing so, they have began an entirely unique juggernaut force of a band, not once stumbling in any of the four albums they’ve released over the last five years.

Their newest album is certainly their most ambitious, and debatably their most successful. Months before the album was released, Finn was reportedly taking voice lessons to help tidy up his often sloppy and slurred vocal approach, a first sign that Finn and Co. were shooting a bit higher this time around. There’s also a noticeable inclusion of new instrumentation in a few of Stay Positive’s songs, including harpsichord on “One For The Cutters”, moog on “Navy Sheets”, and even some Frampton-esque talk box guitar on “Joke About Jamaica”. While furthering their sonic reach, the band is still most effective when sticking to their classic rock band sound, featuring electric guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, and occasional horns, and capturing the spirit of bands as like The Rolling Stones or The E Street Band.

One thing that all Hold Steady fans know is that Craig Finn is a storyteller through and through. He has used his songs over the last three albums to essentially create a universe of youthful characters (better known as Charlemagne, Hallelujah, and Gideon) that interact with each other and all live for one single thing, rock and roll. Of course, there’s plenty of baggage that comes with being a die hard rock fan, ranging from sex, drugs, and alcohol, to love, lust, and often enlightenment. Stay Positive adheres to this lyrical subject material, yet throws a fascinating curve ball into the mix. Throughout the 11 tracks, there is a recurring narrative motif that alludes to the ambiguous murder of two teenage boys which binds the songs together and grounds the euphoria that these characters live for by the weight of life, death, and reality. While more and more details are revealed of the murders through the songs, we are never truly sure as to what has exactly occurred.

And so, while the stories Finn tells of these rock-propelled individuals are often ambiguous, the band reinforces clarity with incredibly powerful and inherently inspiring music. Stay Positive easily has some of the most melodic songs Finn has ever composed. While “Sequestered In Memphis” dictates the hazy details coming from someone in an interrogation regarding the murders, the song's hookiness overpowers the uncertainty with an empowering chorus that's nearly impossible not to embrace and sing along to. “Lord, I’m Discouraged” is the most effective track, standing as the true centerpiece of the album and one of the crowning achievements of the band’s career. The song is told from the point of view of a man torn apart by the disheveled state that he now finds the girl he loves in. As he looks to religion for some sort of guidance, he explains how after spending time with new friends she is continually distancing herself and only coming back with sunken eyes and noticeable sutures and bruises. Around the 3-minute mark, (underrated) guitarist Tad Kubler tears the entire song in half with an unspeakably amazing guitar solo, creating a trememdous example of music's ability to be used as catharsis. It is the single most empowering 45 seconds of music that you’ll hear this year.

And so with their fourth album, The Hold Steady once again legitimize themselves as an incredibly consistent and commanding rock outfit. When I think of how to put their greatness into words, I am reminded of a Jack Kerouac quote from his classic novel On The Road (from which the band derives the title for its third LP Boys and Girls In America). In a passage at the beginning of the novel, the narrator talks about the type of people that interest him, describing them as “the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’”. And so, with Stay Positive, The Hold Steady continues to dazzle and amaze, continuing to hold their status as one of the most invigorating and visceral bands around today.

Key Tracks:
Sequestered In Memphis
Lord, I’m Discouraged
Yeah Sapphire

Final Verdict: 9.4

The Hold Steady - Lord, I'm Discouraged

Album Review: The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed

In 2002, Mike Skinner under the name “The Streets” emerged with a confident strut from the depths of a London garage and released one of the most brilliant debut albums of the last ten years, titled Original Pirate Material. His sound was loosely derived from the emerging British 2-step style and garage rap genre, complemented by his signature white boy rap vocals filled with hilarious banter, biting social commentary, and occasional heartache. It was an invigorating and exciting release, one that took England by storm, but unfortunately hardly made an impact in the states. His second release A Grand Don’t Come For Free was equally impressive, which essentially plays out as a continuous narrative from start to finish of a hedonistic (yet sentimental) girl-chasing, 20-something Londoner in search of a missing 1,000 quid. The album solidified his status as one of the most important and innovative artists of the young century.

In the accordance with this newfound rise into celebrity, Skinner released a third LP titled The Hardest Way to Make a Living, which unfortunately brought his hot streak to an abrupt halt. With songs about the misfortunes of fame backed by uninspired beats and melodies, the album was more of a chore to listen through than anything. This brings us to his fourth and most release LP release Everything Is Borrowed, which is as much of a departure from his past efforts that we could ever have expected.

After the first pass through Everything is Borrowed it seems as if Skinner has set down his pint of beer and exchanged it for a book on philosophy. Rather than explain the trials and tribulations that take place on the cruel streets he inhabits, he has lifted himself hundreds of thousands of miles away from the earth, enabling him to broaden his scope and evaluate his existence on a universal stage. Take for example the opening track "Everything Is Borrowed", from which the album gets its title. The song boasts along on a triumphant horn loop and firm, steady beat while Skinner and backing vocalists sweetly sing:

“I came to this world with nothing,
And I leave with nothing but love,
Everything else is just borrowed.”

Many songs are equally bursting with life and energy, leading us to believe that Skinner’s overall outlook on life is positive. “On The Edge Of A Cliff” further validates this assumption, which is a fantastic track that truly shows off Skinner’s gift for vocal and lyrical phrasing. Within three quick minutes, he packs in a tale about a man who is pulled away from suicide by a mysterious, philosophical bystander. The man validates the protagonist’s existence by explaining to him that we were all brought to this world as a result of a marvelous chain reaction of serendipitous ancestry and heritage. Other songs examine big issues that were nowhere to be seen in the matters that Skinner formerly rapped about. Who would have guessed that the beer-toting, club-hopping Londoner from a few years ago would now be rapping about life and death, human sustainability on earth, and the misleading nature of the Bible?

Although Everything Is Borrowed is more successful than not, there are a handful of tracks that are unquestionable filler material. “I Love You More (Than You Like Me)”, “Never Give In”, and “The Way of the Dodo” are all flops, weakly carried by poor melodies or simply annoying and boring lyrics. One of the most cherished parts about The Streets’ first two albums was how incredibly consistent they were, without a single lacking song from beginning to end (at least in my opinion). However, Everything is Borrowed is certainly an improvement over his last release. Skinner’s decision to take his lyrical content and sound into a new direction is an admirable move. While the album is nowhere near the caliber of his initial output, there’s a wealth of contagious inspiration and optimism here, which is more than enough reason to give it a listen. After all, isn’t that what life's all about?

Key Tracks:
Everything Is Borrowed
On The Edge Of A Cliff
The Escapist

Final Verdict: 7.5

The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed

Album Review: The Dodos - Visiter

The Dodos' debut LP begins with one of the most instantly hooky and likable opening tracks of the year. "Walking" struts along to a steady beat, guided by light banjo-plucking and effectively harmless vocals, perfectly easing the listener into an album that will soon lead them into very unfamiliar and often salient territory. Avoiding a fade of any sort, "Walking" rolls right into "Red and Purple", the first track to actually begin to reveal the band's full M.O.

Dodos is an experimental pop duo that hails from San Francisco, sparked in 2006 by the uniting of musical forces between two innovative, out-of-the-box talents. While singer/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Meric Long lends his boyish vocals and country-blues fingerpicking and rhythmic acoustic strumming, drummer Logan Kroeber equally contributes to the sound with an endless library of experimental, syncopated rhythms. Culminating these two very unique musicians' play styles generates a formula that is wildly creative. Although it may be foreign to some, it's ultimately grounded on great pop hooks that lend to its accessibility.

Visiter catapults the listener into the unknown, delivering a sound that shifts between familiar and unfamiliar, native and exotic, creating a constantly invigorating bipolar approach. As we delve further into the heart of a given song, we soon realize that things aren't quite as we anticipated them to play out. The basic song structure (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, etc.) is often discarded. The timbre of the instruments and vocals jump back and forth from clean to canny, gentle to harsh. The overall tone of a song can unexpectedly switch from subdued to threatening (e.g. "Joe's Waltz"). This idea of "expect the unexpected" is what makes The Dodos such a thrilling listen. One of the triumphs of the album is how, despite its wild and chaotic nature, it is still very approachable for the average listener. At face value the album is immediately welcoming, with its innocent child-drawn cover artwork and cutely misspelled album title.

The Dodos are an incredibly promising new band who, despite a few missteps, successfully pull off the much sought after feat nowadays of creating something completely original, exciting, and stunning. The band manifests a fully fleshed out sound despite only having two members. Visiter is an album that certainly takes time to adjust to and accept. It took me about five or six complete listens to fully become accustomed to the sound. However, I've actually found that my favorite albums of all time are those that I hated at first just because they were so foreign. In my opinion, this is what being a good music listener is all about, forcing yourself to give new material a chance despite how different it might sound from everything else you've ever heard. This is certainly the case for The Dodos, a band that doesn't look like it's going to be extinct anytime soon.

Key Tracks:
Walking
Fools
Ashley

Final Verdict: 8.7

The Dodos - Walking

Album Review: Sun Kil Moon - April

Mark Kozelek is the sole heart and mind behind Sun Kil Moon, which is essentially a continuation of the formula from his last band, the critically acclaimed Red House Painters of the 90s. Throughout Kozelek's career, he has been known to use his songs to paint lush portraits of sorrow and yearning onto a canvas with intimate acoustic ballads that feature his tender, sheltered vocals. While his songs are often mournful, Kozelek usually sheds just enough light onto the darkness to keep us mesmerized rather than distanced. His guitar playing can be simply stunning, as is the case when he delicately plucks and strums with a level of beauty that often stops us in our tracks. The most intriguing aspect of his music is its ability to unravel and reveal itself more and more with each successive listen. While at first many listeners may just hear his songs as being settled and repetitive affairs, more listens reveal how the songs will shift to and fro to expose the innate complexity of the human heart as expressed through music.

I was first exposed to Sun Kil Moon after a spontaneous purchase of Ghosts of the Great Highway at my college’s radio station CD sale. This 50 cent purchase turned out to be one of the best steals I’ve ever been able to pull off. Ghost of the Great Highway is Kozelek's first release under the moniker Sun Kil Moon and marked an undeniable (and sadly overlooked) achievement in 21st century songwriting. While his songwriting was often somber, it never seemed to push the listener away. Rather it drew the curious listener in even further by integrating occasional glimpses of hope and enlightenment. At times on the album, Kozelek also effectively plugged in his guitar to achieve a heightened sense of inner revelation and invigoration through thunderous solos (as heard in the brilliant, Yo La Tengo-esque “Salvador Sanchez”). The album presented Kozelek as a cryptic figure, but one that we could learn more about with repeated listens, as well as one that we actually wanted to make an effort to learn more about.

This marks the main difference between Ghosts and his follow-up April, which arrives five years after his last. While songs on Ghosts often drifted lazily along to a fairly repetitive song structure, they were much more efficient and had just enough subtle deviation to keep us intrigued. April never achieves the lofty heights of his first release, and simply settles into a dreary space that rarely escapes its own dark tone. While the songwriting can be similarly beautiful to Ghosts, the songs themselves are far too repetitive to maintain interest. When listening to a song on the album, there are many instances when we think that Kozelek has gotten as much as he can out of a melody, only to find that he will continue playing it for another three, four, or five minutes. Listening to April reminds me of looking at something beautiful and cyclic in nature. While at first you can’t pull yourself away from studying it and taking in its splendor, after several minutes have passed and you’re still just watching the same thing it can actually take away from the beauty and becomes incredibly boring.

However, there are definitely some tracks that deserve recognition. The opening track “Lost Verses” ranks among one of the more amazing pieces that Kozelek has ever composed. Despite exceeding the 9 minute mark, it maintains its intrigue through a deviating song structure and a stunningly beautiful chorus, featuring backing vocals from Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard. “Unlit Hallway” is also a highlight, which also recruits the help of backing vocals, this time from Bonnie Price Billy's Will Oldman. However, on the whole April is a long-winded affair that favors floating, repetitious songs over the more concise and directional approach that Kozelek took on his previous release. To listen to it from beginning to end requires a huge amount of patience, which makes it much better in small doses or as relaxing background music. I feel like this is the type of album that I will pick up and listen to 10 years from now and completely fall in love with. But for the time being it just doesn’t strike a chord with me like his masterful 2003 release was able to. Take my advice and hold off on this one until you’ve gotten your hands on Ghosts of the Great Highway. If you’re still itching for more Sun Kil Moon, maybe this one will satisfy your thirst more than it did for me.

Key Tracks:
Lost Verses
Unlit Hallway
Harper Road

Final Verdict: 6.5

Sun Kil Moon - Lost Verses

Album Review: Randy Newman - Harps and Angels

Most people my age probably know Randy Newman best for his unforgettable songs from the film Toy Story (or maybe during the brutal representation of him in the Y2K episode of Family Guy). I was once in the same boat as well, that is until I gave a listen to his albums Sail Away and 12 Songs from the beginning of his career in the early '70s, now both commonly considered to be classics in modern singer songwriting history. At surface level, these albums are simply collections of New Orleans-based rhythm and blues delivered through Newman’s trademark, sloppy vocals and lighthearted piano playing. The songs on these albums were often light-hearted affairs, including a range of fantastic characters including the Yellow Man and Simon Smith, who was accompanied by his amazing dancing bear.

However, what Newman is most admired for is his ability to subtly mix in bitingly satirical commentary into much of his seemingly innocent material. For example, while the happy-go-lucky “Political Science” at first glance seems like a bouncy, jovial tune, we soon realize that he uses the song to essentially petition the dropping of atomic bombs on various areas of the world (but don’t worry, he doesn't want to hurt the kangaroos in Australia). It is this undercurrent of cynicism and comical attacks on society that set Newman apart from many of his contemporaries.

Now, over 35 years have passed since Sail Away and Newman has released an album just as bewildering and fantastic as anything he’s ever put out. Harps and Angels brings back all of the elements that made his past classics so cherished and more. First of all I have to mention how stunningly similar voice sounds at 64 compared to when he was 28. While he has always had a distinctive, more elderly sounding voice than appropriate for his age, it has never seemed more appropriate than now. The sincerity of his voice and the frailty that older age brings gives even more weight to ballads like “Losing You” and “Feels Like Home”.

There's also a whole grab-bag of wild, lively songs that are just, plain fun to sit back and enjoy. While “Laugh and Be Happy” sounds like it came straight out of a classic Disney movie (think bluebirds chirping, singing sunflowers, and rolling green hills), there are also fascinating stream-of-consciousness tracks that sound like a rambling Abe Simpson that we actually want to keep listening to. “A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country” is a hilarious rebuttal towards people all over the world that constantly accuse America’s horrific leadership under Bush by citing even worse terrors invoked by other political leaders of the past (Hitler, Stalin, etc.).

While Newman is adhering closely to his past success formula, Harps and Angels is even richer than past efforts in terms of instrumentation and backing vocals. Songs like “A Piece of the Pie” and “Korean Parents” exemplify this best, with a whole range of fascinating sonic flourishes popping up and decorating the space around Randy's piano. Instrumentation varying from blaring horns to light woodwinds to accompanying strings, creating a lush and often intriguing atmosphere of sound.

With Harps and Angels, Newman has not just added a cherry to the top of a legendary and influential career, but rather added substantially to the base of his portfolio, creating an even more firmly standing body of work. There truly is not a single bad song on this album, however this isn’t necessarily saying that it’s a perfect album either (as some songs could have been a bit less long-winded). Nonetheless it's an album that, once you've adapted to his style, can become a wonder to listen to from beginning to end. Now at age 64 (with his 65th birthday arriving at the end of the month), we cannot help but predict that this may be one of the final efforts of Newman's lengthy career, and what better way to end a long, wonderful musical journey than with a group of compositions that is both touching and hilarious, both cynical and hopeful, and alternates from wildly eclectic and beautifully bare with startling results.

Key Tracks:
Harps and Angels
Laugh And Be Happy
Feels Like Home

Final Verdict: 9.1

Randy Newman - Laugh and Be Happy

Album Review: The Black Keys - Attack & Release

In a time when there are only really a couple of well-known blues-rock duos around, it’s hard not to draw comparisons between The Black Keys to The White Stripes. Both bands emerged at the beginning of the decade with minimalist mentalities, understanding that the blues was based on the bare essentials of a guitar and the weeping of a man’s heart conveyed through his vocals. In recent efforts, both bands have begun to evolve their sound as their careers have progressed, although in slightly different ways. While Jack White has steered his ship towards edgier, more frenetic rock innovation, the two boys from Akron, Ohio have tried to elevate their down-to-earth, back-to-basics blues approach to loftier, more atmospheric heights.

With Attack & Release, the Black Keys have enlisted Danger Mouse to produce, picking what would seem to be the perfect man to bring their sound to a daring, new place. Danger Mouse has been popping up all over 2008, including his second LP collaboration with Cee-Lo on their band Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple, as well as producing Beck’s stripped down, crunchy and sometimes brilliant Modern Guilt. Listening through the album, we certainly hear his crafty presence as he struts his stuff with sonic manipulation and instrumentation flourishes. The haunting backing “oohs” on songs like “Psychotic Girl” and “Strange Times” remind us of the desolate soundscapes that he helped create on Gorillaz’ 2005 hit Demon Days. However, his presence is only really noticeable on a handful of tracks, as he seems to be keeping his hands away from the mixing board more often than not.

The album unfolds with the lazy, rolling blues of “All You Ever Wanted” which immediately showcases Dan Auerbach’s strong and soulful voice. The song carries along in a dreary fashion until the last 45 seconds when a tidal wave of organs, electric guitar, and drums come crashing in. The band chugs away throughout the album, alternating between hard-hitting songs led by heavy, fairly straight-forward riffs to slower, soul-soaked blues (see album title for a more concise articulation of this pattern). Auerbach and Patrick Carney (on drums) both sound very tight. However, at times the production seems almost too polished, which actually becomes one of the major faults of the album for me. One of the most treasured parts of The Black Keys’ sound (as also credited to The White Stripes) was their low-fi, raw sound that fittingly matched the stripped down blues they were so respectfully honoring. However, Danger Mouse seems to have cut out the fuzz, revealing the band in stark clarity.

One of the more interesting choices on the album is the pair of tracks in the middle respectively called “Remember When (Side A)” and “Remember When (Side B)”. The first is an atypically trippy blues song that almost floats through a mystic, desolate, percussion-less setting. “Remember When (Side B) is actually just another take on the same song, this time decorated by Auerbach’s most violent wails on the guitar and Carney’s most relentless percussion to appear on the entire album. One can easily see this pairing of songs as a microcosm for the general, two-sided nature of the album, which essentially takes the form of a balancing act between their typical blues rock tendencies and the more otherworldly direction Danger Mouse has taken them in.

There are certainly times when the collaboration with Danger Mouse works wonders. The best pick of the litter is “Same Old Thing”, where Auerbach once again leads with his crooning vocals, while Carney backs with a steady beat, and Danger Mouse crafts his production around a piping flute loop and intermittent, weighty chants that drop with the beat. I also have to mention the most dazzling exhibition of Auerbach’s vocals, which appears on “Oceans & Streams”, with precisely wavering vocals that are simply stunning and which remind us of one of the strongest elements of the band’s success.

The direction that the band has taken on this album can best be summed up by the title of the closing track, “Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be”. It’s obvious that The Black Keys have deviated from their past, minimalist blues rock roots with much more refined production values. Since their 2004 release Rubber Factory, the band has noticeably tried to elevate their sound into a more atmospheric realm, which Danger Mouse seems like the most obvious producer pick for. But in doing so they’ve begun to lose some of their identity as one of the best primitive blues rock bands around today. The album is certainly not a failure, exhibiting some of the strongest songwriting of the band’s career. However it all seems a bit lackluster and misguided in the end, often pushing the listener around a bit but never really grabbing and taking hold of them.

Key Tracks:
Remember When (Side B)
Same Old Thing
Oceans & Streams

Final Verdict: 7.1

The Black Keys - Same Old Thing

Sauw's Corner: America Celebrates A Change Of Tune

The results of the U.S. election are in, and simply to say that America has a "new" Commander in Chief moving into the Oval Office would be an unbelievable understatement. Last night marked a significant turning point in U.S. history, and most certainly a turning point for world history as well. With Obama's arrival to the White House, we are ushering in a new era of change and hope that our depleted country so desperately needs. So in celebration of this momentous event, and in accordance with Obama's near universal support among the music community, I've compiled what I call "Obamarama: A Soundtrack for Change" that I feel best captures the spirit, energy, and tone of this turning point in history. Feel free to comment on whether you agree/disagree with my picks, and of course let me know about other tracks that you feel deserve a spot in the compilation. So get out those dancing shoes, clap those hands, move those hips, and feel the Obamarama!

U2 - One
Arcade Fire - Wake Up
Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place
The Beatles - Getting Better
Brian Eno & David Byrne - America Is Waiting
The Roots - The Next Movement
The Flaming Lips - Suddenly Everything Has Changed
David Bowie - Young Americans
TV on the Radio - Golden Age
Simon & Garfunkel - America
Bob Marley - One Love/People Get Ready
John Lennon - Working Class Hero
Beastie Boys - Right Right Now Now
The Go! Team - My World
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.
Bob Dylan - I Shall Be Released

Sauw’s Corner: Where in the world is Sufjan Stevens? (cue the Rockapella)

In 2005, a singer/songwriter by the name of Sufjan Stevens exploded onto the music scene with the release of an album called Illinois, the second step in a self-proclaimed effort to make an album for every state in the United States (already having checked off Michigan). Before it’s release, Stevens had begun to quickly garner an avid following after having released a wealth of delicate and gripping, banjo-driven compositions that spanned over four albums from 2000-2004. With Illinois, Stevens shed some of his Christian-rock label by brilliantly chronicling much of the state’s history through beautifully layered and orchestrated pop-rock music. The album secured a spot at the top of the majority of critics’ year-end Top 10 lists, and many people began to realize that the album marked the arrival of a new force in the music community that didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

So now I sit here and wonder (as I have wondered often throughout this year and last) why Sufjan hasn’t released an album of new material for almost 2 ½ years. The person that I once saw as being one of the most prolific artists of this decade (releasing five fantastic albums from 2000-2005) now seems to be in a bit of a standstill. I understand that he did have two releases in 2006, but both were collections of unreleased material that had been written previously. The first was released in July of that year called The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album…whose title is pretty self-explanatory. The other was titled Songs For Christmas, which was a wonderful collection of 5 EPs released in November that spanned 42 tracks and were either covers or self-written Christmas songs he had been churning out consistently over the years.

After doing some in-depth investigating (i.e. Google searching), it’s obvious that Sufjan hasn’t just been lying around for the last 2 ½ years doing nothing. He has actually contributed to a large number of other artists’ efforts, adding various instrumentation touches on songs for artists such as The National, Rosie Thomas, Ben + Vesper, and David Garland. In addition, he’s covered a few classic tunes that have been featured on very good compilations (playing Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells” for the I’m Not There Soundtrack, Mitchell’s “A Free Man In Paris” on A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, and Tim Buckley’s “She Is” for Dream Brother: The Songs of Jeff & Tim Buckley).

I guess I should also acknowledge the remarkable work he produced with his symphonic endeavor titled “BQE”, a salute to the history of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway which runs through his current residence of Brooklyn. The project ended up becoming a 30-minute orchestrated piece (without any vocals), and featured a 36-person orchestra who performed the piece three nights in a row in November of 2007 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Okay, so maybe Sufjan has been keeping himself busy over the past couple years. But I’m sure I’m not alone in my lack of patience for the release of an entirely new, probably state-dedicated album. Despite becoming a surging singer/songwriter on the independent scene recently, he’s somehow still able to fly under the radar and retain his reclusive tendencies. Perhaps this gap in his output has been beneficial in stopping him from overexposing himself, or maybe he’s spending all of this time to create a work that's even more ambitious than his last (if that’s possible). Whatever the case is, I think it’s about time that Sufjan ends this torturous waiting game once and for all. Come on Sufjan, feel the malaise!

Album Review: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

With each successive release, it's easy to see that Jim James and crew are working to expand the reach of the band's sound more and more. The move from 2003's It Still Moves to 2005's stellar Z marked a shift from their traditional, reverb-entrenched Southern rock psychedelia to a more tightly written yet experimental and otherworldly sonic landscape. This year, My Morning Jacket expanded the range of their musical radar even further with their incredibly eclectic and ambitious fifth album Evil Urges.

The album is essentially a template of various musical genres that have crept into rock occasionally over the last 50 years but have rarely ever been grouped together on one album like they have been here. It's certainly an admirable feat, as not many other bands around today would dare to throw themselves into as many different pools as Jim James dives into here. While the Southern rock spirit still exists in their music ("I'm Amazed"), there are also flavors of arena rock ("Aluminum Park"), country ("Sec Walkin'"), 50s pop ("Two Halves"), folk ballads ("Librarian") and even psychedelic funk ("Evil Urges") mixed in.

The good news is that the band certainly succeeds much more than it fails, at times even reaching the exceptional heights of songcraft that Z so majestically achieved. The opening, title track "Evil Urges" is a bouncy and entrancing foray into funk, featuring James' unexpected Prince-like falsetto backed by layers of swirling guitar, piano, and driving percussion. It's easy to become completely immersed in the beauty of "Look at You", led by entrancing slide guitars and James’ fantastic vocals that sway back and forth between powerful confidence and haunting fragility.

And of course, I can't forget to mention the triumphant one-two knock-out punch that the finale delivers. The second to last track "Smokin' from Shootin'" is a tremendously listenable and gripping piece. During the first two-thirds of the song, James questions the mysteries of life and expresses the difficulty of searching for something we don't even know exists. The final third of the song builds to a booming climax that has James bellowing out his angst with no strings attached. The song concludes and we slide into the album closer "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Part 2" as we hear a sucking sound as if we're being pulled into a vacuum where nothing else exists but the staccato keyboards that begin to creep their way in. As the song continues, more layers begin appearing in this desolate, Pink Floydian space including a drum machine, James' vocals, and eventually the swelling backing vocals and synthesizers. By its end, the song is lifted to astronomical and almost spiritual heights, only to fade away layer by layer just as it came in.

While the album certainly attains levels of brilliance, there are also points where it fails miserably. With Evil Urges, James is trying to juggle too many genres at once and simply can't keep them all in the air at the same time. Probably the most mind-boggling, "what-were-you-thinking" song of MMJ's career appears on track three with the awful "Highly Suspicious". In trying to be an edgy, sexually-driven funk song, James' sinister laughing just ends up being the tipping point for the huge mess that it is. There's also the lackluster "Remnants", which pops up immediately after the album's only other rocker "Aluminum Park" and is nothing more than a shadow of it, swallowing itself up with failed hooks and unexciting songwriting. This actually brings to light another disappointment of the album, its very odd and poorly chosen track order. Whether it's James saying in an interview that the second half of the album starts after the first three tracks or the unnecssary 6-second closer "Good Intentions", the album suffers from what I like to call "iPod Shuffle Syndrome".

What made their previous effort Z so exceptional (enough to make it to the top ten of my Top 100 Albums list, see earlier posting) was that it not only took the band to a new and exciting place, but also the creation of music that was consistently well-written and effective in that new place. Between It Still Moves and Z, the band essentially looked down a new, foreign road and decided to take a direct and focused journey down it. With Evil Urges, rather than boldly traveling down a new road, they seem to be standing at an intersection of a dozen roads, spinning around in circles and spreading themselves too thin trying to cover all of the new, diverse terrain. I do have to give Jim James credit for once again pushing the limits of his band. Also, his ability shown here to adapt his vocals to the different genres that each song inhabits is beyond impressive, putting him in an elite group of modern rock vocalists. But personally I hope that with their next release they decide to take the road less traveled rather than the roads that have already been thoroughly traveled by both innovators and followers over the past 50 years.

Key Tracks:
Evil Urges
Sec Walkin'
Look At You

Final Verdict: 7.8

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Album Review: R.E.M. - Accelerate

R.E.M. comes out bold and blazing from the opening seconds of Accelerate, immediately wiping their slate clean that has been dirtied over years from a series of lackluster releases. For over a decade, the band considered as one of the pioneering forces for the entire alternative rock movement has struggled to come anywhere close to the past heights they achieved in the 80s and early 90s. What’s immediately obvious about their newest release is the band’s decision to essentially strip its sound down to the bare essentials, shedding overly-produced songs in favor of more direct and trajectory rock.

The band hails back to its glory days with the return of many elements that made them so universally lauded by the music community years ago. Their raw songwriting here harks back to their Do-It-Yourself persona established at the beginning of their career 25+ years ago. In addition, Michael Stipe’s vocals are just as poignant and effective as they ever were. Thankfully, Peter Buck’s guitars are back in full force as well, transitioning from driving riffs to the more wailing, distorted attacks in songs like “Man Sized Wreath” and “Mr. Richards”.

There are only a couple of missteps that hold this effort back from joining the ranks of their past classics (notably 1983’s Murmur and 1992’s Automatic for the People). “Accelerate”, the track that shares the album’s title, chugs along to an uninteresting melody, ultimately nothing more than filler in an album whose lean nature only works if all of the fat is shaved off. The closing track of the album “I’m Gonna DJ” also disappoints. What should be a chance to make a lasting, final statement for an album that says so much is instead replaced by a frivolous track that whizzes by the listener and never offers to pick them up along the way.

So in the spirit of the album, I’ll wrap things up quickly. Accelerate is certainly an accomplishment for a band that was as near extinction as any band can be. They have smartly returned to the winning formula that worked so well for them in their prime; mixing lyrics that are simultaneously cryptic and relatable, sound that is both modern and traditional, and a spirit that is equally fiery and tender. In the end, Accelerate is a bit too fleeting and underdeveloped, as if R.E.M. is serving us only a small sample of their recipe rather than the full, three-course meal that we want. But hey, a taste is better than nothing at all, right?

Key Tracks:
Living Well Is The Best Revenge
Supernatural Superserious
Until The Day Is Done

Final Verdict: 8.3

R.E.M. - Living Well Is The Best Revenge

Concert Review: TV on the Radio @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, Brooklyn (10/14/08)

I got to the Brooklyn Masonic Temple around 7pm, an hour before the band that I had been waiting years to see would soon be taking the stage. I neared the temple and noticed a silhouette of a dred-locked/afro hairline (the likes of Sideshow Bob) in the darkness that I quickly realized belonged to TVOTR drummer Jaleel Bunton, who was standing on the corner smoking a cigarette. I approached him and introduced myself, asking him if he’d ever played there before. Bunton responded, “no, but it’s a creepy place.” I laughed and told him that maybe it was fitting, being so close to Halloween. After wishing him good luck and walking away, I realized that the “creepy” setting was actually fitting in a more significant way.

About a month prior to this show, I had met the band's two singers Tunde Adembipe and Kyp Malone after they played on the fire escape of the Ed Sullivan Theater. After they performed "Dancing Choose" they both told me that playing up on the fire escape was also very weird and strange for them. And so a pattern was established and I realize now that this recurring theme of playing in strange locales is all part of a transitioning phase that the band now finds themselves in. After the release of their critically-acclaimed new LP Dear Science, accompanied by their exponentially growing fan base, the band is in a situation where they’re playing in places they’d never thought they’d play before (which are sometimes "weird" or "creepy"), while simultaneously experiencing fame they never thought they’d achieve.

TV on the Radio opened the first of three consecutive shows in a row at the Masonic Temple with the expected choice of “Halfway Home”, which came thundering out of the speakers and filled the murky, haunting space with ravishing layers of sound. The majority of the one hour and 45 minute set was appropriately filled with songs from Dear Science (in my opinion is their finest effort). The highlight of the show was the hand-clapping romp of their new single “Golden Age”, which fittingly became almost a spiritual experience in the temple. The band also had assistance from the terrific horn section from the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, whose presence was embraced by the audience and who helped to quicken heart rates during songs like “The Wrong Way” and “Dancing Choose”.

The band was impressive on every level, confidently integrating a slew of creative instrumentation choices with more typical rock band play mechanics. Whether it was David Sitek hanging wind chimes from the end of his guitar, Gerard Smith creating atmospheric sound from his Apple Macbook, or Tunde Adebimpe’s skillful fiddling with his mixing board, the band was doing things that few other bands both try and succeed at. One of the highlights of the show was their performance of “A Method” off of their 2006 album Return To Cookie Mountain. Adebimpe's anthemic vocals were backed by every member of the band playing a different percussive instrument, from jingling bells to wood blocks to others I'd never even seen or heard before. I felt like I was back in elementary school music class, being shown how a range of different instruments can make all types of different sounds. The show concluded with the “Staring at the Sun” off of their first album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, which proved to be an invigorating finale.

After the show, I was fortunate enough to stumble into Adebimpe as he exited the temple. I shook his hand and mentioned how 2008 has been such a huge year for him, with the release of debatably the best album of the year as well as his role in the much-lauded new Jonathan Demme picture Rachel Getting Married. His gratitude towards my praise was both sincere and genuine. While it seems like it would be hard to eclipse a year like this, that’s exactly what the band has done with their newest release after album-of-the-year marks for Return to Cookie Mountain two years ago. TV on the Radio is a band with limitless potential and an endless desire to boldly explore new sonic terrain, and for that reason they will surely stand the test of time as one of the most important bands of the decade.


TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me

Album Review: Beck - Modern Guilt

Beck emerged from the 90’s alternative rock scene as the prodigy of postmodern eclecticism. After his first two releases, Beck was quickly deemed the poster-boy for creating intelligent, genre-blending music that became something ultimately original and profound. Throughout the years, he has essentially played hop scotch with a range of styles, jumping around and mixing genres like pop, psychedelia, jazz, folk, blues, funk, and experimental rock to create a kaleidoscope of incredible music. And so Modern Guilt marks the 9th LP release from one of this generation’s most prolific and versatile singer/songwriters.

This time around Beck has chosen to mash minds with producer Danger Mouse who, after the brilliant production exhibited on the first LP from his band Gnarls Barkley, seems to be the new go-to-guy for smart musicians looking for producer that could add a little kick to their sound (e.g. The Black Keys, Gorillaz). Danger Mouse’s touch to this album is definitely noticeable, from his wiry, descending strings on “Walls” to his canny drum machine mixed with light, ethereal piano flourishes on “Replica”.

Nevertheless, we know that Beck is the real mind behind the project. After his last two affairs (2005’s Guero and 2006’s The Information), it’s immediately apparent that Beck has chosen to head down the darker road this time around, harking back to the somber tone of his much-lauded and introspective Sea Change (2002). However, rather than personalize his unrest, he’s instead expanded this sense of dread onto the world spectrum. Whether it’s references to icecaps melting, people drowning, or walls falling down on us, there's constant feeling of entrapment and crisis that permeates throughout the entire album.

While we listen to Beck on this album, the image of Charlie Chaplin passing through the machine gears in the classic film Modern Times comes to mind. He seems to be caught up in a giant, brooding machine with no escape. Songs like "Youthless” and “Soul of a Man” exhibit this best, during which Beck’s somber vocals are surrounded by swelling and pulsating technological sounds that almost overtake him. Again much to the credit of Danger Mouse’s production, songs often sound very crunchy and calculated with a collage of backing sounds that constantly interject and threaten Beck’s defeated vocal sound.

Ultimately, Beck has created a sophisticated album that attempts to capture the dread and despair that many Americans feel today with so many pressures (both global and local) falling down on us. So in capturing this sense of despair Beck succeeds. However, the album lacks the hook and draw that we so often find in his previous efforts. Part of this is because, as the listener, we always feel a sense of distance from the music. It feels as if we’re always a block or two away from the dark, murky alley from which the music is being played. The inherent likeability of his past efforts stemmed from his formula of incredibly original sound that was simultaneously gripping and addictive. As a result we were drawn in to the music rather than distanced from it.

Don’t get me wrong, Modern Guilt has some very strong tracks debatably some of the best of his career (“Chemtrails”, “Profanity Prayers”). However, it also has its fair share of songs that struggle to flourish to their full potential, leaving us flat-footed and admiring rather than moved and inspired. Perhaps this is what Beck was going for, an album that wishes to encapsulate the stand-still world many of us feel we live in. But as far as music-listening goes, it’s much more of a struggle to come back to Modern Guilt for a second or third listen compared our desire to return to albums like Odelay or Midnite Vultures. Hopefully next time around Beck will feel that the times they are a’changin’ and get back to his swinging, exciting, and bombastic roots.

Key Tracks:
Gamma Ray
Chemtrails
Profanity Prayers

Final Verdict: 7.2

Beck - Gamma Ray

Concert Review: The National @ The Hammerstein Ballroom, Manhattan (10/10/08)

Last night New York Magazine celebrated it’s 40th Anniversary at the appropriately lush and extravagant Hammerstein Ballroom on the first floor of the Manhattan Center. Around 6pm, dozens of people began to file into the lofty, four-tiered space after having bought tickets weeks in advance for what would surely be a solid performance line-up.

First to take the stage was the comedy trio Stella, the guys best known for their short-lived Comedy Central show by the same name and their cult-movie comedy Wet Hot American Summer. The troupe completely shattered my low expectations with their often hysterical banter. Whether it was their hilarious (phallic-centered) hand-drawn altering of past New York Magazine covers or sharing their ridiculous ideas of the perfect Autumn day, I could not stop laughing. The second act was the pretentious, Brooklyn-based band Grizzly Bear, by far the weakest and most disappointing part of the event. Their dreary songwriting and murky melodies came nowhere close to matching the excitement that the 40th anniversary celebration required. After a second appearance by Stella, The National was welcomed onto the stage around 9pm, ready to deliver to the crowd what they were all really there to see.

Because I went to the show with a friend who had already seen the band more than five times, I had a good feeling that this would be a band well-worth seeing live (as many solid bands surprisingly aren’t despite sounding fantastic on record). Vocalist/songwriter Matt Berninger is the epicenter of the band, who took center stage with just a microphone in hand his volcanic performance spirit that many fans of their shows are most drawn too. As a quick side note, I remember talking to someone in line at a Hold Steady concert a few months back who was commenting on having seen The National’s live. After asking how they were, his first response was how “Matt Berninger can get absolutely insane on stage.” This was definitely unexpected, knowing The National as a typically mellow, independent rock band whose strength stems more often from their subtle and delicately composed music than their occasional blasts of intense rock. Last night gave me complete proof of Berninger’s terrific talent. He not only has vocals that effectively alternate from Cohen's deep baratone to Cobain's primal screams, but also both bewildering and passionate lyrics to accompany it.

One of the most immediately obvious things that you realize when seeing The National play live is how incredibly in sync all six members play with one another. Maybe it’s the fact that their two guitarists are twins and hence are on the same mental wavelength, or the fact that they always have a consistently killer percussive beat to follow with drummer Bryan Devendorf. Whatever it is, the band just seems to have “it”, and by “it” I mean a complete, tightly packaged rock aura that not many other bands are able to embody. Whether playing one of their beautifully crafted ballads (“Daughters of the Soho Riots”, “Green Gloves”) or completely ravaging the performance space (“Abel”, “Mr. November”) their unstoppable sonic force is hard not to admire.

The only disapproval of the band from the crowd was when towards the end of the show Berninger claimed that this would be the last show they would play in New York City for a while. The boos were quickly reversed to optimistic cheers when he explained that it’s because they’re going back into the studio to record a new album. After hearing this, everyone understood that it was simply a matter of fact that the last few songs they would play for a while in their native city were probably going to tear the roof off of the ballroom.

And they did just that. During their encore, The National did what shocked both my friend and many others who had seem them so many times before…played a cover...and not just any cover, but the Velvet Underground classic “What Goes On” (you can watch my video of it here). Berninger explained the reasoning for playing it as a birthday present for a fan, but ultimately it was a gift to everyone in the crowd.

Their last song was the crowd favorite “Mr. November” which, although not much of a surprise choice, seemed to be just what the crowd ordered. I do not hesitate at all in saying that seeing them play “Mr. November” was one of the most incredible song performances I’ve ever witnessed. While every member unleashed their musical prowess to incredible heights, most notable was obviously Berninger, who brought out his inner Jagger to achieve God-like status on stage. While punching out amazingly cathartic vocals, he wreaked havoc on his mic stand by smashing it on the stage floor (in the spirit of The Clash's famous London Calling album cover), then hurling it over drummer Devendorf's head into the glittery stage backdrop.

As the lights went up, the New York crowd left the anniversary bash both completely satisfied and completely devastated, knowing they would now have to go back to the torturous waiting game for their album to come out. But everyone knows that when that album comes out (next year?), it'll surely be accompanied by a triumphant return to their much beloved home city.


The National - Fake Empire

Concert Review: Fleet Foxes @ The Grand Ballroom, Manhattan (10/4/08)

At 9:20pm, Fleet Foxes arrived on the Grand Ballroom stage at the Manhattan Center with a slight look of apprehension in their eyes. As the lights rose on these five Seattlinians, it was immediately obvious they had been thrown into a venue larger than any they'd ever played before (which midway through the show lead singer/songwriter Robin Pecknold admitted to). However, this shouldn't be that big of a surprise for those who follow the band. Many of us knew that it would only be a matter of months before their incredible debut album caught the attention of thousands outside of Seattle and would garner a strong following that spanned across the country. And so the audience spent the next hour and 20 minutes witnessing the exhilarating process of a band adjusting to an immediate rise in stardom and getting into their element in the concert capital of the world.

Unfortunately, the first sense that I got of the band was through my sense of smell, catching a big whiff of Pecknold's B.O. as he came on early to make a few instrument adjustments. This is probably the one instance in my concert attendance history that I wouldn't have minded being about five feet further back in the crowd. However, when the glorious harmonies started echoing through every cubic inch of the ballroom's interior, I would rather have been nowhere else but right up front.

The band sounded fantastic, matching the billowing and reverb-entrenched sound of their debut album. They played through much of the album (which I know very well), as well as many tracks which I assume are off of their EP (which I don't know very well, but undoubtedly will very soon). They also played a new song that they have been working on titled "Silver City", which they admitted still needed some fine tuning. While the entire band sounded great, the moments when Pecknold took the stage alone were even more impressive. By temporarily stripping off the often overwhelming harmonies and mighty backing instrumentation, it created a very intimate and engrossing performance situation that the audience became completely enveloped in (I smell solo career, and it smells like B.O.).

Going along with the whole idea of the band adjusting to a new, big setting, Pecknold frequently tried new performance variables, primarily concerned about how the audience liked them. For example, at one point he simply asked the audience if they would like it if he moved up to the front of the stage with both mic and guitar unplugged to play some songs ("Katie Cruel", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song"). After roars of audience praise, I think he got the idea that they liked it.

One of the best parts about seeing the Fleet Foxes live was seeing their personalities come out. Listening to the album, I've always had this image in my mind of the band being similar to a mysterious bunch of traveling Appalachian wanderers, descending from the mountain to play some beautiful, earthly songs, only to cryptically return to where they came from. However, with consistently hilarious banter going on between band members and innocent interaction with the audience, I got the sense that this is just a group of five genuinely good-hearted people with a shared passion for creating innovative and often spiritual music.

While this setting may at first have seemed a bit overwhelming for the band, they surely settled in very quickly, giving a terrific (though far too short) performance from beginning to end. In response to Pecknold's claim of this being the biggest venue they'd ever played, one audience member accurately shouted out "well you're gonna have to get used to it!" Pecknold and the rest of the band laughed and shrugged it off, though surely in the back of their minds knowing that the audience member was probably right.


Fleet Foxes - Sun It Rises