Musical update #1

2006-10-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post in order to keep my blog alive.

New albums since my last post:
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
[5/5. Interpol, be careful, they're coming for you.]

Death Cab for Cutie -Transatlanticism
[30/50. Was recommended to me because I listen to Interpol. Vocals and lyrics are good, but they miss the instrumental part that makes Interpol so good.]

Explosions in the Sky - How strange, innocence
[45/50. Instrumental awesomeness. Try if you like Godspeed You! Black Emperor.]

The Mars Volta - Amputechture
[40/50. And another Mars Volta album that doesn't reach the high standard of De-loused in the Comatorium. Which doesn't mean it sucks, it still damn good rock music.]

The Postal Service - Give up
[35/50. Like Transatlanticism, but a tad catchier. Add real instruments next time please.]

The Veils - Nux vomica
[40/50. My local paper said the singer was "The new Jeff Buckley". But he's not, unfortunately. Still, pretty good in it's own right.]

It's up to me now, turn on the bright lights...

2006-09-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Being addicted to music is one thing. Being addicted to an album with only 11 tracks is another.

Strangely enough, out of 1376 songs on my iPod, I've only been listening to 11 lately. Occasionally something else on Shuffle, but I have to admit it: I'm addicited to Interpol. More specifically: their first album, Turn on the Bright Lights.

Turn on the Bright Lights is the true harmonisation of music and lyrics. Just listen to the album opener, Untitled, and you'll know what I mean. Then, when you've had a taste of harmonisation, try The New. And I don't mean try it once: put it on repeat. At least 10 times. When you've done that, there's no way you won't call The New brilliant. Unless you have real crappy taste, of course.

Now, you've likely heard the awesome outtro to The New enough by now. Next up: PDA. Why? Because it has an even better outtro then The New. Suddenly, there is silence in the song. Then, you hear a guitar. Slowly, all instruments are added again; it's like the song is being built up from the ground again. Finally, Paul Bank's voice comes in again. Although I should really say that another instrumenty is being added, because Bank's voice feels more like an instrument here (as it does on Untitled and part of The New too).

Well, I'm sure you loved those 3 songs. However, there's 8 more. For instance, you didn't listen to NYC or Leif Erikson yet. Listen to those as well, and you've had the 5 best tracks on the album. Next up, the great-but-could've-been-better-tracks: Obstacle 1, Say Hello to the Angels, Hands Away, Obstacle 2 & Roland.

Now, you've likely noticed that we missed one song: Stella was a Diver and she was always down. That is because no album can be perfect: if only Interpol had left Stella off (or replaced it by something like Not Even Jail), this one would've been. Stella starts off terribly, with Paul Banks telling you the name of the song. I truly don't know why, but it just sounds awful. The song itself never gets as good as any of the others on it, and it's too long as well.

To sum things up for you:
Best song ever:
The New

Songs that are better then 99,9% of everything else out there:
Untitled
NYC
PDA
Leif Erikson

Songs that are good compared to other albums but not too good compared to other tracks on this album:
Obstacle 1
Say Hello to the Angels
Hands Away
Obstacle 2
Roland

Songs that shouldn't have been on this album:
Stella was a Diver and she was always down.

With that being said: get this album. Now. You won't be dissapointed.

Kikuichimonji's Blog

Musical update #1

It's up to me now, turn on the bright lights...