There's nothing I fear more when buying an album than buyer's remorse. My youth consisted of my shitty taste in music facing the harsh realities of evolution thanks to a glut of terrible product with catchy singles, as well as non-existant options for sampling your fate in advance.
Thank God for the iTunes store. It's practically the Polio Vaccine for music lovers.
I thought I'd just list the last batch of records that have been cycling through my car stereo/iPod, and identify my favorite tracks to give an idea of how successful each record is as a whole.
Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate
Rogue Wave's latest was released in 2007. It just took me a while to get around to it, because it didn't sound like I'd enjoy it as much as Descend Like Vultures, but guess what? It's great. The record feels like it was recorded in a coal mine, managing to find bursts of levity and joy within the sorrowful darkness.
1. Harmonium
2. Like I Needed
3. Chicago x 12
4. Lake Michigan
5. Lullaby
6. Christians In Black
7. Own Your Own Home
8. Ghost
9. Missed
10. Fantasies
11. Phonytown
This is a damn good album, despite some overly distorted tracks that go off the rails and descend into ambivalence. Luckily Asleep At Heaven's Gate ends strong, as tracks 8-12 are just a joyful bicycle ride through an overcast apocalypse.
And I mean that as a compliment.
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Lookout folks. Death Cab are back and they're...quasi-progressive?
Just kidding. There's plenty to enjoy here.
1. Bixby Canyon Bridge
2. I Will Possess Your Heart
3. No Sunlight
4. Cath
5. Talking Bird
6. You Can Do Better Than Me
7. Grapevine Fires
8. Twin Sized Bed
9. Long Division
10. Pity and Fear
11. The Ice Is Getting Thinner
It's an uneven album, to say the least, and honestly the album goes nowhere after Twin Sized Bed, just a slew of tracks that don't impress or involve me in any way. I'm giving I Will Possess Your Heart a pass, despite it being needlessly overlong and overtly simple, but let's be real here, Cath may be the best song they've written in years, a beautiful and heartbreaking story of fear and compromise. It's a standalone masterpiece...which means the inevitable music video was shite.
Beck - Modern Guilt
How do you do it, Beck? How do you always make great music?
What's that? Dangermouse was your producer this go-round? Wow. You're a lucky Scientologist, you are.
1. Orphans
2. Gamma Ray
3. Chemtrails
4. Modern Guilt
5. Youthless
6. Walls
7. Replica
8. Soul of a Man
9. Profanity Prayers
10. Volcano
It's tough for the rest of the album to measure up the one-two-rum-punch of Orphans and Gamma Ray. Those tracks just make me want to pull a heist, or go surfing, or become a Ninja. Anything to own a life as cool as they sound.
But after Walls, I rarely stick around. Volcano ends the record with some Sea Change nostalgia.
Overall, good times, but like any party, you want to bounce before it slows to a halt.
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
I. Love. This. Music.
1. Charity Case
2. Who's Going To Save My Soul?
3. Going On
4. Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)
5. Would Be Killer
6. Open Book
7. Whatever
8. Surprise
9. No Time Soon
10. She Knows
11. Blind Mary
12. Neighbors
13. A Little Better
Jesus Christ, these guys are good. Even when they're not good, they're fascinating. For my money, nothing sets my blood on fire more than listening to Going On and Surprise back to back for a double shot of inspirational vigor. It makes you want to take on an epic pilgrimage and claim your destiny...once you get off work.
Pick this record up. Pick. It. Up.
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
Coldplay's new album is a masterpiece. Every song listenable, every transition from track to track is smooth and organic as Trader Joe's almost-butter. They kick the weak memories of X/Y to the curb, and with it, their addiction to ripping off their own style from A Rush Of Blood To The Head.
This is a great record. Symmetrical. Epic. Bittersweet and alive.
1. Life In Technicolor
2. Cemeteries of London
3. Lost!
4. 42
5. Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love
6. Yes
7. Viva La Vida
8. Violet HIll
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Death And All His Friends
Talk about a strong ending, Death And All His Friends manages not to overstay it's welcome but also to bridge the musical mobius strip right back to track 1 with a heartfelt lament and acceptance of the end and the beginning, all wrapped up in one delicious morsel.
But if I had to pick a favorite, I'd tell you that Strawberry Swing is the perfect song to drive/laugh/sing/fuck/smile/exist to.
Summer. It's been a great season for listening.
West Coast. Love.
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