Welcome to the Weekly Digs– a new, recurring feature in which our core writers offer a selection of albums they’ve had on repeat lately. New or old, famous or obscure, here is the music that moved us this week.
Adam’s Picks:
Tim Kasher – The Game of Monogamy
The frontman from Cursive and The Good Life is flying solo now. The first album under his own name, while a retread thematically of earlier work, attacks that subject matter with a renewed fervor and better instrumentation. Reviewing this next week; stay tuned.
Die Antwoord – 5
Lead vocalist Ninja has a startling technical prowess and unique style, which is captured on this short EP. But I still can’t believe that these South African rave rappers just signed to Interscope.
Harvey Danger – Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone
I don’t care what you say, Harvey Danger was an incredible band and this album still ranks among my favorites. The perfect transitional band between Nirvana-era Seattle grunge and Death Cab For Cutie-era Seattle hipster.
Lil Wayne – I Am Not A Human Being
Musically, this feels like a collection of leftover tracks from Wayne’s rock abortion, Rebirth, but the rhymes are vintage, gross-out, fire-spitting Wayne. Music 3/10. Lyrics 8/10. Guest verses 4/10.
A follow-up to Owen Pallett’s Heartland, A Swedish Love Story is an EP of all new music from Mr. Pallett. With an artist like Pallett, you really don’t have any idea which direction he might sway towards. Could this EP be more experimental indie pop? Could this be more instrumental? Could it be more vocal? What could it possibly be? Well, it’ll be pretty hard to top a masterpiece such as Heartland. But could this new EP come close?
Owen Pallett has been non-stop since his release of Heartland with constant touring, recording strings for The Arcade Fire’s latest album, and just recently appearing at the Polaris Awards. It seems as if the Toronto native has had his hands full this year. The hype for Mr. Pallett hasn’t seem to have reached it’s apex, but Owen Pallett is most likely one good supporting tour away from becoming huge.
If Heartland didn’t impress instrumentally (if you weren’t impressed, you’re lying to yourself), A Swedish Love Story should. I’ve said this earlier in the year and this short-release has confirmed it: Owen Pallett is the prototypical singer-songwriter all singer-songwriters should aspire towards. It’s music, and it’s really really good. Throw your overly-excessive ideas of weirdly deep metaphors and reverb tanks turned up to 12 in the trash. Owen Pallett is about as real and honest as singer-songwriter music gets. It’s not over the top and it’s not under-produced. It translates from the album to the stage very gracefully and transfers back from the stage to the album if you’ve seen him live and wanted to pick up a CD on the way out of one of his shows. A Swedish Love Story is no different than what he’s been putting out all year. Just good music.
There seems to be no hint towards whether these “brand new tracks” were actually brand new tracks or just b-sides from his previous studio adventures. In either case, it seems that this album doesn’t necessarily point in a general direction of where Owen Pallett will venture to next. Maybe not necessarily a great con, since the spontaneous nature of Owen Pallett’s songs are a majority of the reason it is so interesting, but interesting to note that he has been hard to pin point what will exactly be on the next release. We know it will have lots of technical violin and instrumental arrangements. We know he’ll maximize his vocal ability throughout the album. What we don’t know is whether we’re getting the more of the singer or more of the songwriter. And for some people, that is a con. The random unknown of Mr. Pallett is just that… who knows what the next song might be?
Well, it’s obviously a good album. A little more instrumentally, but that just might be because this is a more concentrated Owen Pallett. If someone said to sum up Owen Pallett in four songs you haven’t heard, this is a great way to get a taste of what he’s about. However, his LP releases do show a little more tact than what this has to offer, so if you’re looking for the musical experience rather than to be blown away by the musically gifted, just go ahead and get Heartland.
In this: Xiu Xiu, Fang Island, Joanna Newsom, Husky Rescue, and Best Coast reviews. Maxi helps out with the outro music as well.
Errors: A few plural errors here and there. I said the cover of “Peach, Plum, Pear” was a cover by John Nolan. Although correct, it was actually by Straylight Run (probably just John and Michelle). A few other errors as well, but I really don’t recall them unfortunately.
Notes: Sorry if this one is a little drawn out… still trying to figure out this podcast thing. Any ideas as to what I should do is definitely welcomed. Also, feel free to check us out on iTunes for the same podcast, and all other 402 podcasts as well, if that’s more convenient for you.
Music:
Flirtphonic - New Car Smell [note: help out Flirtphonic by showing him some comment love at DJ Shadow's site!]
Husky Rescue – Sound of Love
Xiu Xiu – Dear God, I Hate Myself
Fang Island – Careful Crossers; Daisy
Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch; Occident; Soft As Chalk; Bridge and Balloons
Straylight Run – Peach, Plum, Pear [note: I couldn't find John Nolan or Straylight Run doing this... so here's Owen Pallett, who I mentioned in this podcast]
In this: Me complaining, Owen Pallett, The American Dollar, some Flirtphonic. Also, I threw a shout out to my homie Gigi. No need to review Michelina’s Rigatoni & Sauce with Broccoli and White Chicken, I got you covered.
Some errors: I say I’m “restarting” Flirtphonic’s song at the end… but I never started it to begin with?
This month hasn’t been packed with game-changing music, to say the least. Much of it has been predictable, rehashing of other music, or just not inventive enough. There aren’t many people who can step into a genre, saturated with good talent, and really change minds. Owen Pallett is definitely putting a foot forward and making his case. Heartland is maybe the most different singer-songwriter attempt I’ve heard in a long time, and definitely can turn some heads.
Mr. Pallett himself is most known for his studio work, being the composer of many string compositions for many indie artists (Arcade Fire, Beirut, and Grizzly Bear included). Knowing this, his album might be reminiscent of these indie staple-bands, and rightfully so. However, the album only slightly resembles the tone of his former employers. This new album is definitely more of something else. Maybe best to describe this as “indie classical music”. That might be over-the-top to say, as it really is an elaborate singer-songwriter attempt, but it’s surely something else to label it as.
Owen Pallett live is definitely toned down from his album. Impressive to see his almost-robotic time as he samples himself with a loop station of some sort, although it lacks the beauty the album strikes with. The video above is a great example. The song on the album definitely sounds similar to this attempt, but obviously lacks many things that the album includes. For one, the beautiful vocal harmonies he has. For two, more weirdness. The album is full of great vocals and weird scratching noises and such, and there isn’t a clone of him on tour either… so many of the nice, lovely things the album has doesn’t translate fully to the stage. Although, the idea that he does percussion, violin, and sings all at once is definitely a sight to see, and worth it if you’re into Owen Pallett.
The entire album is really nice to sit and listen to. That’s something to say, since many people don’t have the attention span or care to sit and listen to any given album. I feel as if I could sit and listen to this album on loop at any given time. It’s a great mix of noise, touched by care. Maybe the voice might be not-so-lovely for others, but I enjoy it much. It’s hard to dislike what this album offers. Also, this album takes a major stab at what is out there in terms of singer-songwriters. Owen Pallett is doing something completely out of the box in my opinion, and making it happen. There is much to learn from here. Although some songs are definitely familiar in tone (sadly, the almost-title track, “Oh Heartland, Up Yours!”, is familiar in arrangement) the album has plenty to offer aside from how a song is structured. This would be what I would consider a very very great attempt at experimenting within a genre.
Variation is a concern, even though the album itself almost flies through a spectrum of different sounds. Owen Pallett sits in a certain sound, erring on lo-fi and hopped up on complexity. The music produced is fantastic, but the amount of fantastic music produced could be pressing on people who aren’t completely sold on the sound. Be prepared to listen to some similar sounds up until the song “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”. From then on out, it gets pretty fun. Up until then it’s pretty serious, bro.
This album is definitely a contender. I can’t say much else about it, as far as praises go. I am very interested in the next Owen Pallett adventure. I would recommend this album to everyone. Oh yeah, that reminds me of a part of my reviews I totally forgot about!!
People who would like this album: awkward music listeners. If your iPod has “interesting” artists listed next to each other, even though it’s alphabetical and you have no control over that (e.g. Death Cab for Cutie + Disney Soundtracks), this might be the perfect album to introduce to your album flow. Plus, it fits in pretty well if your “O” list is Onalaska!, onelinedrawing, and Owen Pallett. Others who would like this: people into Death Cab, Onalaska!, and onelinedrawing. Actually, Jonah Matranga (ex-onelinedrawing) is pretty similar is concept to Owen Pallett, as far as songwriting goes. They both have interesting arrangements but aren’t afraid to kick it back down to an almost-pop level if they feel it. Both mutually enjoyable. Collaboration please?
