March 14, 2008
LEAVE IT TO THE PROS
So 2008 has been a slow year musically for me. That is until last Sunday when I got blindsided back to back to back with fantastic records from old reliables.
THOMAS BRINKMANN - When Horses Die
Thomas Brinkmann returns after two missteps with a slow-burning stunner. Last year, I mistakenly declared techno dead, and one of the greats immediately proves me dead wrong. This time around, Brinkmann channels his inner Michael Gira and offers a dark, sinister, and more musical, album. The title alone screams 1980s industrial music. The album starts with brooding, atmospheric, yet traditional, piano songs. It is gloomy yet solid stuff. Soon enough, the best techno music in years envelops the listener. Everything is there: the syncopated shuffle beats; glitch; solid breakbeats; only all with singing. This is the kind of music electronic album Matthew Dear should have done last year. By this I mean a song based record that does not take commercial aspirations more serious than craft. Asa Breed was too dumbed down for the masses and it ultimately bored them. This record is just as "musically simple," however, the obvious musical inspirations are taken into consideration quite seriously and will only delight the listener instead of putting them to sleep.
Kelley Polar - I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling
The king of disco finally returns to follow up his wonderful and straight out of nowhere classic, Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens, which, as we remember, was the album that immediately let us know that Environ was the official dance label of NYC, not DFA. Kelley Polar and the venerable Morgan Geist return with a popier affair. The vocals are a bit more masculine this time around and he seems to have listened to Max Tundra's Mastered By Guy at Exchange--one of the greatest and most neglected albums in history. Though not as solid as the last one (some moments feel forced), when this album soars, it fucking soars. Last year's wonderful Chrysanthemum (featured in my year end comp), is included in this album, though it stands out from the rest of the album, which is much more dense and full of overlapping vocal harmonies and Max Tundra analogue "bloops and bleeps" (technical term). I want to remind you to remember that the last time disco was important was when another classically trained violin player was creating his own unique sound.
PORTISHEAD - Third
I guess I am not as with it as I used to be since I had no idea this was coming out. The last time a Portishead record came out was when I was in high school. This sounds exactly as it should: a) fucking great; b) like they have been listening to the same records we have since then (a lot of German and Italian psychedelic and progressive rock music from the 70s, the Silver Apples, etc.); and c) fucking great. They seem to be having fun: the songs emote the love of their influences in a crate digging sort of way and there is even a little Velvet Underground inspired ditty thrown in. No doubt the coolest band of the 90s (do you still listen to that U.N.K.L.E. record?) is still the coolest band today.Remember that Yo La Tengo video which asked the important question: "do you like trip-hop?" The answer was yes. Oh, and I will give a buck to anyone who can tell me where I have heard the riff on The Rip . It's killing me. Mogwai?
Other noteworthy albums:
Various - An England Story - From Dancehall to Grime: 25 Years of the MC in the UK
Various - Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli
Autechre - Quaristice
Chris Corsano - The Young Cricketeer (now available in vinyl instead of cdr!)
Posted by Fran at March 14, 2008 8:23 PM