Frenchkiss Records 2011
Rating: 8/10
In an interview with Pitchfork this past January, Antlers frontman Peter Silberman related something Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchinson had told him about performing deeply personal material: “It’s the audience’s now. You’ll sing it to them, but they’re the ones singing it. You can let it go and give it to them.” It’s hard to imagine Silberman standing up night after night and going through Hospice’s litany of heartache, an album that was painful even for an uninterested listener, not to mention the guy who suffered through its creation.
Hospice was the Antlers’ landmark record, but it was also like reading the darkest entry in Silberman’s diary, feeling more like his own bottled up, smothering anguish and less like the work of a band. In short, it was the kind of one-off masterpiece that can’t be repeated, and who would want to? Burst Apart, then, is the sound of Silberman letting go: “You can put it on and not feel like it [had] to be a severe emotional experience.”
It also feels, in many ways, like the record the Antlers the band were always destined to make, one that feels much more the product of a groupthink that one man’s tortured relationship.
Hospice was the expunging of a sea of ugly feelings and thoughts that Silberman had to get off his chest, a lyrical blood letting so painfully autobiographical even those with no knowledge of the album’s back story could instinctively feel.
Burst Apart is the sound of a man at ease with that past, willing to let his bandmates grow with him and expand on their sound. The production is fuller, lush psychedelics competing with biting guitar riffs and cavernous drums, Silberman’s falsetto rising more often with joy than in sorrow. The record is looser, more at ease with itself; no longer are Silberman’s lyrics the main catharsis behind everything. The instruments do much of the heavy lifting here, painting a picture on opener “I Don’t Want Love” even more triumphant than the defiant lyrics (lyrics that gladly spit in the face of Hospice’s woe-is-me theme), all sparkling guitars and major key harmony.
But while Silberman’s emergence as a songwriter who can occasionally be happy isnotable, it’s the Antlers’ growth as a band that makes Burst Apart such a successfulfollow up. The lilting, minimal ambience of “Hounds;” the jazzy drumming and hazyatmospherics on “Rolled Together;” hell, “Parentheses’” hypnotic groove and jagged guitar riff sounds like the best song Radiohead forgot to put on OK Computer. It makes for a record that lacks the emotional artillery of Hospice but is the far moreinteresting beast sonically.
Many will criticize this album for not being the next Hospice. That would have been impossible, but to see the Antlers grow as they have on Burst Apart is heartening.
Nowhere has Silberman’s falsetto sounded so strong and confident as on theexperimental pop of “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out,” or when he uses it asjust another instrument on the ethereal “Hounds.” The band’s transition from the walls of sound in “Parentheses” and the almost trip-hop feel of “No Widows” to a softer, more rock-centric vignette in “Corsicana” would have seemed absolutelyridiculous in 2009. But it works, compensating for Silberman’s desire not to verballycut himself with a mature sound that seems capable of going anywhere.
It’s a happy medium, one that seems like it will fit the Antlers far better in the long term than Hospice’s once-in-a-lifetime journey. Lest you think the Antlers’ have become just another pleasant indie band, consider closer “Putting The Dog To Sleep,” a hauntingly beautiful track that speaks to the end of a relationship as good as any lyric Silberman has penned. “Well my trust in you / is a dog with a broken leg /tendons too torn to beg / for you to let me back in,” Silberman sings as a guitarheavy with reverb punches through the fog, ending with a line typically unsure: “Put your trust in me / I’m not gonna die alone / I don’t think so.” It’s a harkening back to the Antlers who won so many people over by being brutally open, but at the end of a record like Burst Apart it sounds like a band capable of so many things, confident in sharing joy and heartache equally.
It’s an album you appreciate not because you have to, but because you want to.
1. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Halcyon Digest was just how warm everything sounded. Whereas Bradford Cox and company’s earlier work tended to be unwieldy messes of noise thrown loosely under the shoegaze label, Halcyon Digest continued what 2008′s Microcastle begun: transforming Deerhunter into a full-fledged rock band, feet firmly planted in pop territory and beckoning us to just relax and enjoy. When I first heard “Revival” I was astonished at just how straightforward everything was, how easy it was to connect to a band I previously had regarded as somewhat cold. But things aren’t just direct; there’s a depth to these songs that, coming from Cox, is not much of a surprise, but makes Halcyon Digest something more than just a really good rock album. Songs like the self-destructing “Desire Lines” and the gorgeous dream of “Helicopter” seem like the new classic rock, all substance and style without a tipping of the scales one way or the other. “Coronado” is the best Strokes song since Is This It. “He Would Have Laughed” might be the most tragic song of the year, but it’s spindly buildup and cathartic ending seem positively joyful. Halcyon Digest is a record that seems destined to stand the test of time, constructed as it is out of the timeless building blocks of music: guitar, bass, vocals and drums, all done so effortlessly that it’s hard to believe Deerhunter have been doing this for years. In a way, of course, they have, but never so refined, so at ease. For Cox, someone who’s constantly fidgeting around with demos and side projects, hearing him buckle down and produce a whole album’s worth of immediately arresting music is a relief. Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter’s most deft accomplishment yet, and they’ve done it not with bells or whistles or 20-minute-plus compositions but by writing perfect rock ‘n roll, pure and simple.
2. Jonsi – Go
What I love about Go is it’s like Jonsi took all those nine-minute-plus Hopelandic epics and compressed them into the perfect four-minute pop song. Like Jonsi himself, everything about Go screams outsized; from Nico Muhly’s everything-and-the-kitchen-sink production to the hooks, which scream rainbows and unicorns and sweet, sweet honey. But it’s Jonsi and his angelic voice that really holds everything together, connecting on an almost primal level as its own instrument of unadulterated happiness. Go is a transparent record in its gaiety, with no hidden meanings or any subtext beyond a celebration of life. That’s what makes it great.
3. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
With a voice that only a Billy Corgan could love (at least at first), Sweden’s Kristian Matsson’s sophomore record was an unlikely album of the year contender. Built almost entirely on whispery guitar licks and Matsson’s screechy vocals was a complicated web of melodies and deeply personal lyrics. The Wild Hunt is a triumph not because it polishes everything that made Shallow Grave great but because of the mood it sets. From “You’re Going Back” to “Trouble Will Be Gone” to, most noticeably, “King of Spain,” The Wild Hunt is an unbridled expression of joy, made all the more powerful by its sparse instrumentation and Matsson’s cheerfully abrasive vocals.
4. The Walkmen – Lisbon
“I am a good man by any count / and I see better things to come” Hamilton Leithauser sings on opener “Juveniles,” and if there’s a better mission statement for Lisbon I haven’t found it. This is the sound of the Walkmen settling into a sweet spot, building on the rich palette of sounds they cooked up on 2008′s You & Me and imbuing it with a sense of warmth and a pleasant glow that pervades all the material here and lies in stark contrast to the band’s earlier material, which was as fiery and tense as their hometown of New York City. The National might get all the hype for being the next great American rock band, but the Walkmen would have something to say about that.
5. Noisia – Split the Atom
Noisia’s first proper LP is a shining example of everything good that can happen when a groundbreaking trio mashes all their influences together and produces something truly original. Split the Atom has it all: breaks, electro, drum n bass, funk, house, et cetera. It’s a mishmash of styles that never seems like it’s about to collapse – the Dutch group have collected everything they admire about electronica and make it their own. Noisia are not afraid to take some risks, and Split the Atom promises to be the first in a long line of relentless, heart-stopping party starters.
6. The National – High Violet
My road to finally realizing High Violet was right up there with Boxer and Alligator was a long one, and it took me until a long road trip six months after its release to see it for what it was: what I initially saw as boring and uninspired was actually a more mellow National, one less prone to emotional outbursts and not quite as energetic, but a wiser National, one who had a firmer grip on life’s realities and even more questions about it. It’s a fascinating listen, built around Matt Berninger’s wry observations and Bryan Devendorf’s continually amazing drumming, and a more confident record than anything the National have done to date.
7. Wolf Parade – Expo 86
Maybe Wolf Parade will never be able to recapture that spastic one-off brilliance that was their debut, but Expo 86 proves that maybe they don’t need to. It’s the band’s most cohesive collection of tracks to date, successfully ranging from Krug’s typically obtuse offerings to Boeckner’s more pop-oriented rock tunes. Most of all, it proves that Wolf Parade are still the visionary songwriters we thought we lost with At Mount Zoomer, and that’s a relief.
8. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I like to use Kanye West’s own Twitter to describe My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: “”This is rock and roll life my people . . . you can’t stop the truth you can’t stop the music and I have to be strong or ‘they’ win!!!;” “I can’t be everybody’s hero and villain savior and sinner Christian and anti Christ!;” “I have decided to become the best rapper of all time! I put it on my things to do in this lifetime list!” Besides an abundance of exclamation points, Kanye’s often hilarious Twitter is everything that made his newest album such a masterpiece, from his Christ complex to his feuding with the media to his undeniable artistic brilliance. The guy might be a little crazy, but weren’t all the best a bit off?
9. The Black Keys – Brothers
Speaking of good old-fashioned rock ‘n roll, The Black Keys are back to doing what they do best on Brothers. It’s hard-hitting, bluesy rock ‘n roll; bluesy like the delta, bluesy like the Sun Studio in the early ’60s, and Brothers is nothing if not a painstakingly well made time capsule by two of the best musicians in the business. Few bands can sound like they come from another era, but the Black Keys pull it off with ease.
10. Steel Train – Steel Train
Along with Free Energy, Steel Train showed me that sometimes, good rock ‘n roll can be just that; no gimmicks, no existentialist musings, no 20-minute-plus compositions swollen with strings and harps and timpani. Steel Train put their money down on ace melodies and that simple trifecta of rock: guitar, bass, drums. They only come out with some of the best songs of the year, sugary offerings that are no less potent because they revel in their hooks and sing-a-long capabilities. Not to mention a song of the year in the heartrending “Fall Asleep.”
11. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
This was a banner year for big name rappers, and Big Boi was no exception – up until November The Son of Chico Dusty was the rap record of the year, and another bit of evidence to suggest that maybe Outkast wasn’t all Andre 3000′s show (where the hell has that guy been, anyway?). Southern rap has never been this enjoyable and innovative.
12. Rogue Wave – Permalight
Permalight came out at just the right time for me, lifting me out of the February doldrums with passionate, high-energy indie pop that seemed all too easy and potentially canned. But there was something about Permalight that made me look past its clichéd sentiments and sometimes drab choruses – this is a record that was positively sunny, one that bared all without shame or any sense of self-consciousness, and was the better for it. If I want to be happy, I listen to this.
13. Free Energy – Stuck on Nothing
Paul Sprangers sings about girls and summer love and absolutely nothing of higher import because, frankly, that’s all he wants to sing about. It’s unfortunate that Stuck on Nothing was released in the spring, because it’s a summer record through and through. Beach cruising, salty air and salty hair, bikinis, breezy car trips, pool parties, Slurpees that always seem too damn drippy, the smell of tanning lotion, sand that will stay in my car for way too many months, days and days of doing whatever the hell you want – Free Energy have made a soundtrack for all of these things, and made it seem effortless in the bargain.
14. Spoon – Transference
It speaks to Spoon’s consistency that I consider a #14 finish an off year for them. Transference finds the band more comfortable with their own sound than ever before, relishing in the live environment the album was created in and even letting their ties loose a little bit, meandering about on songs like “Who Makes Your Money” and “Nobody Gets Me But You.” It’s not as consistent as previous releases, but it doesn’t have to be – Spoon like where they are, and they sound damn fine with it.
15. Serena Maneesh – S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor
Criminally overlooked shoegaze out of Norway, Serena Maneesh crafted some of the strangest, most endearing music of the year. This isn’t your older brother’s shoegaze; this plain rocks, with angular riffs and thudding bass lines seemingly more suited for prog than pop. But for all its oddness, it’s an album that refuses to be ignored, and I’d gladly take this over the Ambien most shoegaze bands proffer up nowadays.
16. Phosphorescent – Here’s To Taking It Easy
In an off year for alt-country Matt Houck stepped up to the plate and delivered a straightforward home run, all muscular slide guitar and folky twang. But the best part is Houck’s melodies, which are fleshed out and given new life with the colorful compositions offered by his expanded sound.
17. Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard
Beating Vampire Weekend at their own game, Ra Ra Riot avoid the sophomore slump by slowing things down and bringing out the best in the band – Wes Miles‘ brilliant vocals, the warm dimension the strings bring to their sound, and drummer Gabriel Duquette’s unheralded rhythm work that ties everything together.
18. Four Tet – There Is Love In You
There’s always bound to be some repetition in an IDM release, and it’s what usually turns me off on the genre, but Four Tet has truly created a masterpiece with his seventh album, one that has a definite organic quality to it that adds a vibrant layer to the discordant loops and drum samples that make up his work. It’s dense and challenging at times, but it never ceases to be enjoyable.
19. Delta Spirit – History From Below
It’s always a pleasure to see a band grow, and combining that with one of my favorite genres in Americana makes History From Below one of the year’s most exciting releases. Much of the credit must go to singer Matthew Vasquez, whose growth into a true barroom singer is remarkable.
20. Simian Mobile Disco – Delicacies
Outstanding food concept nonwithstanding, Delicacies is a delicious tech-house treat, all weirded-out bleeps and ghostly bloops that are at times incredibly creepy and others strangely bouncy. I have no idea how this is going to translate live (probably with a healthy dose of psychedelics), but after last year’s weak pop outing, Simian is back on track here.
Sid’s EP, ever-so appropriately titled, “Be Easy: The Acoustic Sessions,” dropped this week and he’s talking with THE POP FIX about how he is carving out his niche in the music world.
On what listeners can expect from his EP
Genre wise it the album is completely stripped down acoustic with just guitar and vocals. My vocals are R&B. My writing is indie pop with catchy hooks, but with more depth than club songs. I classify myself as an urban indie pop writer. Bringing together different musical genre’s, coming together in a really simple way, it is urban music meeting indie flavor.
On comparisons to Bruno Mars
I appreciate the comparison and he’s an amazing singer, but every artist has their own voice. I’m more urban and indie.
On doing covers and original music
There’s so much more of you in your own music. It’s genuine. I can put so much more into the song that way.
To hear Sid’s covers and original tunes check out his YouTube.
On music and social media
Social media gives you the ability to reach out to thousands of millions of people. It completely opens up the market place for you to perform to an audience.
On the meaning behind the name of the EP “Be Easy”
“Be Easy” is initially a song I wrote at my college dorm. My friend started playing a guitar line and I started writing to it. I had the term “be easy” stuck in my head for a while. “Be easy” is a term that I use calm myself down, relax and just be easy. It means taking a step back and not being so caught up. The song, “Be Easy” goes well with the flavor of the EP because it’s all acoustic songs with a really chilled out vibe.
On reviving pop music
Every song that I’ve written has a story behind it. I want to revive music, making pop music amazing again, going back to the Michael Jackson vibe.
On where he draws inspiration for his music
Everything is open – life is an open canvas and you can paint anything you want on it. Every single song on the EP is about an emotion I’ve felt. They are all specific emotions coming together to show who I am as a person.
If you need some new tunes infused into your musical collection (which we all do) be sure to download Sid’s five song EP, “Be Easy: The Acoustic Sessions” on Bandcamp now!
Here’s what people are saying about this book:
“There will be two kinds of PR professionals in the future: those who read this book and get with the program, and the unemployed. Your choice.” Seth Godin, Author of “Tribes”
“I am thrilled that there is finally a book about the right way to approach PR in today’s world, where hyper-connected conversations trump the old school broadcast mentality. Everyone who wants to build a career in PR or marketing should read this book.” Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com
To enter, leave a comment with a link to your favorite social networking site (or your profile on the site, if you have one) and type a few sentences telling us why you love it so much. The winner will be determined by a combination of the best comment and profile. Winners will be announced on THEPOPFIX.com on Friday, September 25th, so tell your friends to enter! Good luck!
Contest Rules: Comments must be posted between 9/18/2009-9/25 2009. Comments must be accompanied by a real name and email address so that we can contact you. You must allow us to use your name and winning comment in connection with this Contest, if we choose to announce you as the winner on our site. By writing a comment on this page you are consenting to these rules. Thank you!
Young Aspiring Professionals 2009
Rating: 6/10
The ‘80s live again (and again, and again) on Datarock’s second proper album, the ominously titled Red. With its dystopian album art and the crazed cyber-punk vibe of opener “The Blog,” one unfamiliar with Datarock might misconstrue Red as a twisted version of the future through the lens of Orwell’s 1984, where technology rules supreme and human emotions are in danger of dying out. A few more songs in, however, and it becomes clear that Datarock are the most reverent of ‘80s worshippers, taking all those glorious synthed-out romantic soundscapes and making their own millennial homage.
Generally lumped in with the mid-2000s wave of electro-rock revivalists (see: LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Klaxons, etc.), the Norwegian duo’s debut was a fittingly funky dance-punk jam, a record tailor-made for kick starting any hipster party. Red continues that proud tradition, but almost wholly submerses everything into a ‘80s fugue in an effort to pay tribute to their most important influences. And when I say submerse everything, I mean it – Datarock has claimed that every instrument used on the record was manufactured prior to 1983, song titles reference multiple pop cultural touchstones of the decade (“Molly” is, of course, about that heroine of so many Gen-X youths, Molly Ringwald), and one song’s lyrics (“True Stories”) is made up entirely of Talking Heads lyrics.
Such a one-minded dedication often lends these kinds of concept albums a bit of a stale quality – after all, who hasn’t heard the music of the ‘80s before? From the beginning, Datarock do their best to keep things interesting. Opener “The Blog” is the most disconcerting tune here, an abrasive, fast-paced electro anthem that opens with very John Hughes-ian synths before roaring into a fuzzed-out, almost punk riff with scattered spoken-word recordings and vocalist Fredrik Saroea’s throaty proclamations. Its quasi-horror-movie title is no coincidence: the song fairly drips with techno-punk menace, and is a far cry from everything that follows.
First single “Give It Up” is an appropriately bouncy intro into what Datarock are really all about after “The Blog,” a jittery guitar pulse and hyper-speed drum machine propelling the song onto indie club dance floors with ease. Unlike many of their peers, Datarock keep the electric guitar just as prominent in the mix as their beloved synths, giving songs like “Give It Up” and the funky “Dance!” a sort of Franz Ferdinandian feel to them. They certainly maintain their ‘80s infatuation as promised, however; from the aforementioned “Molly” to the spacey ring of “Back To The Seventies,” Red is an album that keeps both feet firmly planted in Breakfast Club territory, for better or worse.
But unlike last year’s similarly themed (yet superior) Saturdays=Youth by M83, Datarock’s preference for nonstop partying tends to drag the album down over the course of an overly long thirteen tracks, and although “The Blog” showed an admirable attempt at sounding unique, too much of Red sounds like merely acceptable dance-punk. Tracks like the too-short “Do It Your Way” or the unbearably pretentious spoken-word verses of “Fear of Death” make feeble attempts at branching out, while “Amarillion”s crisp guitar lines and dreamy vocals are sabotaged by an awkward song structure. Only “The Pretender” reaches that perfect storm of influences Datarock strive for throughout Red: guitars chime and slice around a skittery synth melody while Saroea does his best Morrissey imitation, creating the kind of retro masterpiece that Datarock fruitlessly try to come up with on songs like the one-dimensional “True Stories.”
But for all their single-minded impulses to make the best ‘80s album that never was, it’s when they shift gears a bit and develop their own sound that Datarock truly come into their own. While it takes them until the last two songs to do so, the wait is worthwhile. “Not Me” is a rave-up monster, a four-on-the-floor beat launching a shimmering guitar melody that devolves into an absolutely thrilling effects-laden guitar breakdown, while closer “New Days Dawn,” with its lounge-y feel and Saroea’s uncharacteristically relaxed vocals, is the perfect kind of sultry ballad the album was missing.
It’s these final cuts that cement Red as such a charming record, but it’s an album that still leaves one feeling just a little bit disappointed after everything’s said and done. Like a frothy ‘80s teen romance that’s all style and little substance, Datarock’s latest is one that has all the parts to a great, if not classic, electro-rock tribute to its idols, but one that is somehow missing that distinctive ingredient that separates it from the rest of the pack.
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Our lucky winners are:
RACHEL for her long, flowing poetic entry.
LAUREN for her unique knock-knock joke.
MARC for his double entry, and self proclaimed die-hard fan status.
See the winning entries, here. Thanks for your entries, and congrats! Keep your eyes on THE POP FIX for more prizes and giveaways! We’ve got another great one coming up in August! Keep checking for more sweet prizes and sweet things, like this U2 record that’s going home with one of the contest winners, Rachel!
Image via Vanessa Bezic for THE POP FIX 2009.
Fans sign the autograph wall, in honor of Michael Jackson.