Lazy is the New Efficient
To say that you procrastinate is to say that you are human. Everyone has admitted to doing this at one point in his/her life, perhaps many more times. I, on the other hand, was once dubbed "Lord of the Planet Slack" by a friend and fellow student (Graham Dobbin, to be specific). So, I win.
What do I win? The immense pleasure in bringing you three mini-album reviews. These albums are all worth mentioning for one reason or another but I had not the drive nor the time (away from my Arrested Development Season 2 DVDs, that is) to let it ride. I ran into Boss Brophy at the Jens Lekman show this past Saturday and he commented that I should/could start writing reviews for the print version of Mesh. This would involve an extreme conscious effort to be more concise. I tend to windbag it and turn, as Ruiz would say, "an easter egg hunt into a butt-fuck-a-thon". Whatever that means. But yes, I tend to... what do you call... "horseshit"? Okay, off to a bad start.
So here I begin my "exercise" in brevity and at the same time, savagely cut off the hangnail that is my backlog. (Though, I'm reserving a few things for major horseshit consideration.)
Castanets
First Light's Freeze (Asthmatic Kitty)
I don't know how Raymond Raposa was able to get more dark from Cathedral, but First Light's Freeze is demonstration in more gritty, shadowy alt-country. Instead of counter-balancing the folky tunes with pop songs, as they did on their previous effort, Castanets go spacey on First Light's Freeze. The best among them is the ethereal and electronic "All That I Know To Have Changed In You". Raposa's voice ripples over a shimmering pond of electronic noise with tremendous beauty. While the rest of the record is covered with earnest folk tunes, Raposa's experimental tracks stand out. Though neither type could exist without the other. The amazing thing about Castanets is their ability to be successfully be gently depressing on all planes.
The Constantines
Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
I've often wondered whether you can become intense or whether you are born with intensity. The Constantines sound like they were born with it. The Fugazi meets Springsteen tag fits perfectly, as there is great sense of grit, workmanship and uplift that comes with each Constantines album. Tournament of Hearts is no match for their two previous albums Shine a Light and The Constantines. The songs are melodically less engaging and the tempos are less varying. But the intensity still remains strong. "Lizaveta" and "You Are a Conductor" are both tempo-wise, slow as molasses, but the heat is undeniable. The drums plug away slowly in the mass of guitar distortion with subtle horns accenting the gravity that their songs hold. "Love in Fear" and "Thieves" both lighten the load a bit; they are extremely plucky in comparison to their surroundings. In the end, Tournament of Hearts might not be their best to date, but it gets the job done, like most things blue collar, reliable and steeped in reality.
Tom Vek
We Have Sound (Go Beat!/Startime)
It won't surprise me when Tom Vek becomes uber-famous. His album title is very aptly named. On We Have Sound, Vek meshes a very raw... well, "sound", treble-laden garage guitar riffs and funky disco basslines with electronic effects. Fresh as a douche chill. For the effort put into making his sound, the songs are simplistic and the melodies are pretty bare. It's all show and just enough substance. No worries, at Vek's danciest, he's brilliant. Everything clicks, firing on all cylinders. "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes" is one part The Rapture and one part Bloc Party, three parts cream jeans. The single "Nothing But Green Lights" is so Talking Heads that it straddles the fine line between homage and rip-off. And "If You Want" sports a bassline funkier than sharted drawers. Nevermind the inane lyrics, they're easily ignored and no one wants a bookworm on the dancefloor. That is unless you're going for the "sexy librarian" look. In that case, speak dewey decimal to me, baby!
Castanets: http://www.asthmatickitty.com
The Constantines: http://www.constantines.ca/
Tom Vek: http://www.tomvek.tv/
What do I win? The immense pleasure in bringing you three mini-album reviews. These albums are all worth mentioning for one reason or another but I had not the drive nor the time (away from my Arrested Development Season 2 DVDs, that is) to let it ride. I ran into Boss Brophy at the Jens Lekman show this past Saturday and he commented that I should/could start writing reviews for the print version of Mesh. This would involve an extreme conscious effort to be more concise. I tend to windbag it and turn, as Ruiz would say, "an easter egg hunt into a butt-fuck-a-thon". Whatever that means. But yes, I tend to... what do you call... "horseshit"? Okay, off to a bad start.
So here I begin my "exercise" in brevity and at the same time, savagely cut off the hangnail that is my backlog. (Though, I'm reserving a few things for major horseshit consideration.)
Castanets
First Light's Freeze (Asthmatic Kitty)
I don't know how Raymond Raposa was able to get more dark from Cathedral, but First Light's Freeze is demonstration in more gritty, shadowy alt-country. Instead of counter-balancing the folky tunes with pop songs, as they did on their previous effort, Castanets go spacey on First Light's Freeze. The best among them is the ethereal and electronic "All That I Know To Have Changed In You". Raposa's voice ripples over a shimmering pond of electronic noise with tremendous beauty. While the rest of the record is covered with earnest folk tunes, Raposa's experimental tracks stand out. Though neither type could exist without the other. The amazing thing about Castanets is their ability to be successfully be gently depressing on all planes.
The Constantines
Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
I've often wondered whether you can become intense or whether you are born with intensity. The Constantines sound like they were born with it. The Fugazi meets Springsteen tag fits perfectly, as there is great sense of grit, workmanship and uplift that comes with each Constantines album. Tournament of Hearts is no match for their two previous albums Shine a Light and The Constantines. The songs are melodically less engaging and the tempos are less varying. But the intensity still remains strong. "Lizaveta" and "You Are a Conductor" are both tempo-wise, slow as molasses, but the heat is undeniable. The drums plug away slowly in the mass of guitar distortion with subtle horns accenting the gravity that their songs hold. "Love in Fear" and "Thieves" both lighten the load a bit; they are extremely plucky in comparison to their surroundings. In the end, Tournament of Hearts might not be their best to date, but it gets the job done, like most things blue collar, reliable and steeped in reality.
Tom Vek
We Have Sound (Go Beat!/Startime)
It won't surprise me when Tom Vek becomes uber-famous. His album title is very aptly named. On We Have Sound, Vek meshes a very raw... well, "sound", treble-laden garage guitar riffs and funky disco basslines with electronic effects. Fresh as a douche chill. For the effort put into making his sound, the songs are simplistic and the melodies are pretty bare. It's all show and just enough substance. No worries, at Vek's danciest, he's brilliant. Everything clicks, firing on all cylinders. "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes" is one part The Rapture and one part Bloc Party, three parts cream jeans. The single "Nothing But Green Lights" is so Talking Heads that it straddles the fine line between homage and rip-off. And "If You Want" sports a bassline funkier than sharted drawers. Nevermind the inane lyrics, they're easily ignored and no one wants a bookworm on the dancefloor. That is unless you're going for the "sexy librarian" look. In that case, speak dewey decimal to me, baby!
Castanets: http://www.asthmatickitty.com
The Constantines: http://www.constantines.ca/
Tom Vek: http://www.tomvek.tv/
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