Table of Contents:
Animal Collective – Centipede Hz.
Animal Collective follow-up their magnum opus with a noisy and confusing album.
In 2009, Animal Collective were one of the most prestigious indie acts in America, with a string of acclaimed releases and the critical backing of major publications. From the curious freak folk of Sung Tongs to the lush, psychedelic soundscapes of Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective were displaying exceptional musical growth and progressively mastering a blend of pop and experimentalism.
On Centipede Hz., after nearly a decade of evolution and gathering momentum, the Animal Collective train begins to slow down. This album is far from a failure, but it also doesn’t match the heights of Feels, Strawberry Jam or MPP, and the band’s brand starts to lose its charm, if even just slightly. The harmonies between Avey Tare and Panda Bear also start to betray the ears, leaving the listener with somewhat of a sour taste, something that did not as easily happen during their run from 2004-2009.
Moonjock throws you directly into industrial chaos, where AnCo’s style of neo-psychedelia is injected with sounds of radio static. Today’s Supernatural is a highlight, with synthesizers that warble like a wavelength. Monkey Wrenches is built around a rather annoying loop. Wide Eyes is known for being the first song to feature Deakin on vocals, though he doesn’t make much of an impression next to Avey Tare and Panda Bear.
Centipede Hz. may share some characteristics of its immediate predecessor, but it’s just far less appealing as an album, unable to recapture the same vibrancy in sound. It’s a perfectly fine (if not almost boring) album, but it seems like the band used up most of its magic in the 2000s.
6/10
Beach House – Bloom
Beach House is in full bloom.
Gradually enriching their sound from 2010’s Teen Dream, Bloom continues to see Beach House flourishing as they make their signature celestial dream pop.
Lead single Myth starts the album off with an uplifting sound, building up to an airy climax. Lazuli (the other single) entrances listeners in with its hypnotic synthesizers and divine vocals. Victoria Legrand sounds lovely all over this album (see Wishes). Wild has Edge-like, echoey guitar from Alex Scally. The Hours has some more of Scally’s best guitar work on the album. There’s a section in the middle of the closing track, Irene, that verges into drone territory, but it pulls itself back with enough restraint to never become dissonant or disconnected from the rest of the song.
A wonderful continuation of the band’s dream pop sound, mixed in with pinches of shoegaze, gothic rock and post-punk.
8/10
David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
Annie Clark teams up with the legendary Talking Heads frontman.
After using an orchestra on the second St. Vincent album, Actor, a discussion occurred between Annie Clark and David Byrne of Talking Heads about making a collaboration album together with horns — that idea has since become a reality, with Love This Giant.
Opening track Who shows the fruits of this labour of love from the two art rockers and is one of the best songs here. Ice Age is the only track here solely written by Annie Clark and very much feels like a St. Vincent song. Weekend in the Dust and The Forest Awakes are other highlights.
The album’s use of horns can feel a bit like a novelty, and listeners may grow tired of them by the end of the album, but ultimately, the goal of this album was to make an album adorned with horns, so if you take it for what it was aiming for, it’s a success. Otherwise, it seems like both artists made their fair share of contributions towards the tracks, making for a smooth synthesis.
In the end, Love This Giant is an interesting detour spurred by a conversation, and while it may not be the best album in either artist’s discographies, it’s still a fascinating one-off experiment.
7.5/10
Death Grips – The Money Store
Death Grips change the landscape of 2010s rap with this landmark release.
Where their debut Exmilitary was highly influential, The Money Store was even more impactful, helping to usher in a new era of experimental rap. Sure, Exmilitary would be considered their debut if not for being a mixtape, but The Money Store takes what already made that album such a phenomenon and dials it up even further.
Prior to this, some of the biggest shifts in the paradigm of the modern hip-hop landscape were primarily from Kanye West (breaking the gangsta image of rap, chipmunk soul and creating emo rap a few years later), but Death Grips were the ones to influence the culture this time.
Death Grips bring an aggression that feels real, one that many rappers fail to truly achieve. This isn’t some manufactured tough guy, gangster image — hell, it’s not even so much about the lyrics (which are often cryptic), but the delivery of them — MC Ride genuinely sounds deranged and the music is all the better for it. Drummer Zach Hill pummels his drum kit as if he was beating somebody into a pulp, creating drum beats so complex, that they would probably even impress Frank Zappa. Then there’s Andy Morin’s experimental production, which is the glue that holds all of the chaos together. Really, Morin’s name should be brought up more in conversations of the greatest producers in the hip-hop sphere.
Get Got starts the album off with its walls of synths and bouncy drums. The Fever (Aye Aye) is a balls-to-the-wall banger with a great chorus. Lost Boys has a jarring beat that exudes so much character. Hustle Bones uses chopped up female vocal cleverly. I’ve Seen Footage is built around a synth guitar riff, feeling both modern and retro, with MC Ride’s vocals acting as both the melody and a percussive instrument. Double Helix subtly samples the bells from John Lennon’s Mother. System Blower is the exact type of song you want blowing your system. The Cage traps the listener inside of it’s cage of synths. Hacker is quite possibly the greatest Death Grips song yet, a song that will make you both dance and wonder.
There was nothing quite like The Money Store before and there will probably never be anything quite like it after.
10/10
Death Grip – No Love Deep Web
Death Grips leak their own album and get dropped by their label as a result.
It wasn’t enough to drop a legendary mixtape and then a groundbreaking debut album in the span of a year, so Death Grips decided to up the ante and release their sophomore album only six months after The Money Store, even if it meant being dropped by their label. Epic Records wanted the band to wait, but the band did the punk thing and leaked it themselves, which resulted in the breaking of their contract and being booted from their label. Such a move would be considered career suicide for many, but for Death Grips, it was all just part of the plan.
The production style on No Love Deep Web is noticeably different from The Money Store, being somewhat more raw and aggressive, with an infusion of the spirit of heavy metal and punk.
The hostile Come Up and Get Me sets things into motion with it’s bass-heavy synths. Lil Boy is dynamic, always keeping the listener guessing what’s next. No Love sounds as evil and doomy as something from Black Sabbath, but without the help of any guitars. Black Dice and Whammy are somewhat reminiscent of The Money Store. Bass Rattle Stars Out the Sky and World of Dogs have this kind of amphetamine-induced punk energy to them. Lock Your Doors has a menacing instrumental. Hunger Games and Stockton are percussion-heavy bangers. Deep Web is like a second part to the title track, and is just as heavy and doom-laden. Pop features shimmering, celestial synths. Artificial Death in the West ends the album with the most (relatively) chilled-back song on the album.
This album gets overshadowed by its two immediate predecessors and the controversial artwork likely put many people off, but this is still top tier Death Grips.
9/10
Deftones – Koi No Yokan
Deftones carries on from the momentum of Diamond Eyes.
After losing their bassist through a car accident and the resulting coma and death, Deftones rose from the ashes with Diamond Eyes, a masterpiece that saw the band soaring high, despite the turmoil surrounding it. The band seemed to come together through this tragedy and channeled it into some of their greatest songs yet. Only two years later, Deftones are back with Koi No Yokan (Japanese for “premonition of love”), which improves upon the template built with Diamond Eyes, resulting in their lushest production and some of their best songwriting to date, in an already stellar discography.
Swerve City is an adrenalized opener, which perfectly suits its music video of a beautiful woman riding a horse. The percussion in Poltergeist uses handclaps to great effect. Entombed is one of the band’s most beautiful songs, in the vein of Cherry Waves and Sextape. Rosemary builds up through its use of ambience and texture. Romantic Dreams, Leathers and Tempest are also highlights.
White Pony may be the moment where everything came together for Deftones’ and their sound, but Koi No Yokan is perhaps the greatest distillation and refinement of it yet.
10/10
The Flaming Lips – The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
The Flaming Lips makes a collaboration record with an eccentric cast of guests, ranging from Nick Cave and Yoko Ono to Kesha and Tame Impala.
After ending their best decade yet with the double album Embryonic (a top three album from the band), The Flaming Lips had become something of a figurehead for neo-psychedelia, going from cult rockers in the 80s and 90s to being at the forefront of the genre. On The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Wayne Coyne & Co. gather up a ragtag group of artists from all over the musical spectrum, for one of their strangest releases yet.
Kesha and Biz Markie appear on the opener, 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded), which begins the album on a wonderfully weird note. Ashes in the Air has vocals from Bon Iver, who is no stranger to strange collaborations (having worked with Kanye West back in 2010). Helping the Retarded to Find God is much better than the title may lead you to believe. Children of the Moon features Tame Impala, who had recently worked with The Flaming Lips’ producer, Dave Fridmann.
Is David Bowie Dying? is a highlight on the album, with music just as dark and mysterious as its title suggests. Yoko Ono sings on Do It! and may invoke the same reaction as Chuck Berry had to her in 1972. You, Man? Human??? has Nick Cave letting loose and acting unhinged, channeling the weirdness that permeated his work with The Birthday Party and the early Bad Seeds records.
The Flaming Lips and Heavy Fwends may be rather scattershot and is a far less focused album than anything the band has released since The Soft Bulletin, but it is still a fairly successful showcase of the godfathers of neo-psychedelia having a blast with some of their disciples.
7.5/10
Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE
Frank Ocean makes a modern R&B classic.
After releasing an acclaimed mixtape, nostalgia,ULTRA., and appearing on the JAY-Z and Kanye West collaboration album,Watch the Throne, Frank Ocean was quickly becoming a hot item in music. He was posed to be the next big R&B star and it all came together like a dream on the generational, channel ORANGE.
Lead single Thinkin Bout You basically rewrites the rules for the next decade of R&B, with sincerity, soul and a sound as smooth as the creamiest of butters. Sierra Leone is a jam worthy of late night drives. Super Rich Kids features rapper Earl Sweatshirt and samples Elton John’s Benny and the Jets . Crack Rock warns of the dangers of crack in the funkiest way imaginable. The nearly 10 minute Pyramids is the type of R&B epic that R. Kelly probably wishes he could have written, had he not been too busy urinating on minors. Lost is the type of radio hit that I wouldn’t mind listening to, compared to the garbage they actually play. Monks is a powerhouse of funk, with a saboroso bassline. The semi-retired André 3000 makes an appearance on the laidback Pink Matter.
A great album that captures a perfect mix of R&B, pop and hip-hop sensibilities.
10/10
Trivia: channel ORANGE won Best Progressive R&B Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
GOOD Music – Cruel Summer
Kanye West leads a collaboration album full of GOOD Music artists.
In 2010, Kanye West had released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was seen as his magnum opus — this marked a major comeback after the polarizing, but ultimately amazing and influential 808s & Heartbreak and the 2009 VMAs incident, where he interrupted Taylor Swift’s award speech, pissing off millions in the process.
Following the success of that album, him and JAY-Z released their collaboration project,Watch the Throne, cementing his status as arguably the biggest rapper/producer at the time. Cruel Summer sees a continuation of Kanye’s hot streak, this time with a compilation of songs from artists on the GOOD Music roster, including Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Common and John Legend.
While the album is definitely front-loaded, Cruel Summer still boasts some of Kanye’s biggest hits of the early 2010s so far, such as The Morning, Clique, New God Flow or the crowd-pleasing club hit, Mercy. It may not reach the heights of MBDTF, but it’s nearly as good as Watch the Throne and is an overall blockbuster hit all the same.
8/10
Iggy Pop – Après
Iggy Pop en Français.
Following his previous album, Préliminaires, which saw Iggy Pop singing cabaret (and even singing in French one a couple of songs), Après sees a continuation of that style of music, with marginally better results.
Some of the covers here include legendary French singer Serge Gainsbourg’s, La Javanaise, Yoko Ono’s, I’m Going Away Smiling, Frank Sinatra’s, Only the Lonely and The Beatles half-English/half-French classic, Michelle.
While only half the album is in French, Après is a more cohesive project than its predecessor, though like that album, it’s still not something an Iggy Pop fan is likely going to reach for when they want to hear his music. However, the effort and experimentation is quite admirable all the same, even if the project is quite boring.
5.5/10
Jack White – Blunderbuss
Jack White goes solo.
Shortly after the White Stripes had disbanded, Jack White had finally made the decision to go solo. He had released some solo singles, including the James Bond theme Another Way To Die, and was playing in other bands, such as The Raconteurs and Dead Weather, but he still hadn’t yet released a proper solo studio album. Blunderbuss feels very much like a spiritual successor to the White Stripes, but shows signs of the explorations to inevitably come.
Opener Missing Pieces is carried along by electric piano. Sixteen Saltines has that classic Jack White hard rock sound to it, which was previously heard on signature songs like Seven Nation Army, The Hardest Button to Button and Icky Thump. Freedom at 21 is propelled by its drum beat, sounding more complicated than anything Jack White would have been able to get out of Meg White. Love Interruption brings in some southern flavour. The title track sees White do his best Neil Young impression with the song’s slide guitar.
Jack White was already the mastermind behind the White Stripes, so a solo career almost felt unnecessary, but this is still excellent music and indicates at interesting things to come in Jack White’s solo career.
9/10
Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar makes the greatest west-coast rap album of all time.
His debut album, Section.80, released one year prior, was an accomplished album, though it wasn’t game-changing by any means and that’s what makes it so hard to believe that only one year later, Kendrick Lamar could release something as amazing as good kid, m.A.A.a City.
As the cover suggests, GKMC is a short film by Kendrick Lamar. While there are no visuals (outside of music videos of course), this is a cinematic and conceptual album about growing up in Compton and the pressures on black men to conform to a life of crime. Is it all just a self-fulfilling prophecy, or were these boys always destined to such a fate?
Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter starts the album with a sinner’s prayer, before leading into Kendrick’s lust for the titular Sherane (who screwed him over), ending with a voicemail message from his parents, who are concerned with his whereabouts and direction in life. Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe has a soulful groove. Backseat Freestyle is a banger with driving percussion, deep bass, and lyrics about Kendrick comparing the Eiffel tower to a certain appendage of his. The Art of Peer Pressure starts out somewhat innocuously, before a complete beat switch which results in a dark instrumental with Kendrick retelling stories of the titular peer pressure from his friends, which resulted in criminal activity, like stealing from cars.
Money Trees is backed by an interesting ambient sample. Poetic Justice features ex-Degrassi actor Drake. good kid is a funky track and is every bit as good as anything from Dr. Dre’s The Chronic. m.A.A.d city paints the scene of life in Compton, and features one of the best beat changes in hip-hop history — one of the defining g-funk songs, up there with Nuthin’ But a G Thang and Gin & Juice. Swimming Pools (Drank) is a ballad about the pressures and dangers of adolescent binge drinking. The album ends with Compton, which suitably features Dr. Dre.
The album sounds both vintage and modern, taking elements of older genres of hip-hop like west coast gangsta rap and g-funk, but producing it with modern techniques, making it hard to pin down exactly when this album could have released. An absolute masterpiece and one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.
10/10
The Killers – Battle Born
Brandon Flowers cosplays as Bruce Springsteen.
The Killers’ Brandon Flowers has never been discreet about his love for Bruce Springsteen. From the similarities between When You Were Young and the boss’ own Born to Run, to songs like A Dustland Fairytale, the influence has been apparent since their sophomore album, Sam’s Town. Where Springsteen once inspired Flowers to write generational anthems, like the aforementioned When You Were Young, the songs on Battle Born seem like they were written with Springsteen in mind as crutch, because it’s an easy foundation to fall back on.
Flesh and Bone is a middle of the road opener, failing to capture the immediacy of a Jenny Was a Friend of Mine or a Sam’s Town. Still, it’s perhaps one of the more exciting songs here, but that’s really not saying much. Runaways is basically the same template as Springsteen’s Thunder Road or Born to Run, but despite how schmaltzy it is, it’s still one of the better songs here. Miss Atomic Bomb is an American Graffiti era take on young romance. Most of this album consists of ballads, making it quite boring and lacking in any thrills, though I’m sure it has its female audience, due to the sentimentality and tenderness of these songs.
The Killers went from having one of the best debuts of the 2000s, to releasing one of the bolder follow-ups, to saccharine pop and dull ballads. It’s really sad that they may never relive the glories of a Mr. Brightside or a Somebody Told Me, but hey, at least we’ve got the memories and our CDs.
5/10
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – 12 Bar Bruise
Album #1: Garage Rock / Surf Rock
Following the Willoughby’s Beach EP, the seven-piece Australian garage rockers release their chaotic, punky, surf rock-infused debut LP, 12 Bar Bruise.
Elbow is an energized opener accompanied by shouts of “Hey hey hey hey”. On Muckraker, Stu Mackenzie sings of “pissing shit off porcelain”, which is definitely the most memorable lyric on the album. Nein is another high energy rocker, with most of its lyrics consisting of counting up to the titular number. The title track sounds as if it were recorded on a phone, but it was actually recorded on four phones! Sam Cherry’s Last Stand is a spoken word western track with harmonicas, narrated by Broderick Smith, the father of band member, Ambrose Kenny-Smith. Footy Footy is a tribute to football (soccer).
While 12 Bar Bruise is quite top-heavy, doesn’t contain much on the lyrical front and has fairly raw production, it’s still got plenty of character and enthusiasm from the young and hungry rockers.
6.5/10
Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
Leonard Cohen returns with his first studio album in 11 years.
After his manager fled with his life savings, Leonard Cohen spent the late 2000s touring, trying to recoup his lost retirement fund. This period of activity eventually led to the inspiration to create Old Ideas, his first new studio album since 2001’s Ten New Songs.
On the opening track, Going Home, Cohen sings in the third person, or perhaps from the perspective of God? The slow crawling Amen and its violins sound like something that would play as you float down the canals of Venice under a full moon. Crazy to Love You is reminiscent of the folk sound of his early records. The southern-flavoured Banjo is accompanied by cornet. All of the songs are aided by female backing vocals, which contrast nicely with Cohen’s whiskey and cigarettes deep-baritone.
At 77 years old at the time of release, Leonard Cohen sounds as wise as ever, with the approaching inevitably of death seemingly guiding his pen. There is plenty of rich instrumentation on the jazzy Old Ideas, with the album being a welcome return for Cohen after a decade’s absence of new material.
8/10
Mac DeMarco – 2
A Canadian slacker inspires the bedroom pop movement.
Following his mini album, Rock and Roll Night Club, Mac DeMarco’s 2 shows major growth, with some incredible guitar playing and a sound that brings to mind the 1980s jangle rock of The Smiths’ or R.E.M.’s early stuff, with some Beatles-like vocals.
Cooking Up Something Good is a playful opener with a surprisingly trippy chorus. Annie is another highlight, with a trippy chorus of its own. Ode to Viceroy is a love song devoted to Mac’s favourite brand of cigarettes. Dreaming is suitably dreamy. My Kind of Woman is backed by the gentle hum of an organ. Songs like Freaking Out the Neighbourhood and The Stars Keep On Calling My Name showcase Mac’s expert explorations of the fretboard.
2 is a promising start for one of Canada’s best musicians of the decade and a defining piece of bedroom pop history.
9/10
The Mars Volta – Noctourniquet
The Mars Volta moves on without John Frusciante and creates their strangest record yet.
After having made contributions on every The Mars Volta album thus far, John Frusciante (the on-again-off-again guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers) had now left The Mars Volta too. Including Frusciante’s departure, a new drummer and in-fighting between Omar and Cedric, it makes sense that Noctourniquet sounds somewhat lost and unfocused, though it is a unique album in the band’s discography nonetheless.
The Whip Hand is a rather uncharacteristic opener, with its thick buzzsaw-synth chorus and drumming that almost sounds off time. The Malkin Jewel is another left-field stylistic choice, with bluesy verses atypical to The Mars Volta’s previous output. Elsewhere, the band experiments with different things, like Trinkets Pale of Moon, which features a sparse acoustic guitar arrangement and musique concrète elements.
These songs have no chance stacking up next to anything from their first few records, but Noctourniquet is far from being phoned-in or uninteresting and deserves some reappraisal.
7/10
Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber
Kevin Parker produces the debut album of French singer, Melody Prochet.
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker produced and provided many instruments on Melody’s Echo Chamber, with the album very much feeling like a spinoff of his own Lonerism. Parker’s imprints are all over this record, but his influence on the album isn’t to take away from the star of the show, Melody Prochet, whose writing is ultimately on display here, accompanied by a dreamy voice that’s pleasant as silk.
A must-listen if you want more of that Tame Impala style, neo-psychedelic ear candy, or if you want a more feminine take on that formula.
8/10
Muse – The 2nd Law
Muse continues to branch off into pop and even some dubstep.
Muse were on a hot streak through the naughts, transforming from Radiohead wannabes (though those early records are still amazing), to their own unique concoction of Radioheadisms, Queen-like bombast, singalong choruses, heavy metal riffing and the virtuosity of prog rock. But then things started to change with 2009’s The Resistance, an album whose critical reception was further south than anything Muse had previously released, despite hit singles like Uprising and an unparalleled live spectacle. The theatrical elements were a little too on-the-noise, the band were further embracing pop and the virtuosity began to come off as pretentiousness. On The 2nd Law, the band continues to pursue commercial domination, with an album that plays it safe, while also chasing new trends, like dubstep.
Opener Supremacy sounds like a James Bond theme song and a typically epic Muse opener. On Madness, Matt Bellamy tries something new, with one of the better pop experiments here. Panic Station is a falsetto-sung, bass guitar-driven, 1980s style rocker and though it can be a little campy at times, it’s still great. Prelude is a brief orchestral instrumental that leads into Survival, which sounds like Muse taking the Queen comparisons as a challenge to write their own proper Queen song. Animals is a darker track that sounds a bit like Radiohead and is another highlight. Bassist Chris Wolstenholme sings lead vocals on Save Me and Liquid State and while his vocals aren’t bad, they’re also not as theatrical as Bellamy’s. Follow Me, Explorers and Big Freeze are all rather forgettable. The 2nd Law: Unsustainable is the infamous song where Muse goes dubstep, though it’s not as bad as one might expect it to be.
Overall, The 2nd Law isn’t a bad album, though it’s still probably the band’s most inconsistent set of songs yet — it’s got a handful of enjoyable tracks and nothing is atrocious, but the second half of the album definitely pales in comparison to the first.
6/10
my bloody valentine – ep’s 1988-1991
mbv finally releases all their legendary EPs in one place.
Consisting of four EPs: you made me realise, feed me with your kiss, glider and tremolo, along with an assortment of other rarities (including three previously unreleased songs), ep’s 1988-1991 is as essential as any of my bloody valentine’s proper albums.
For a band as influential and legendary as they are, it took several years for my bloody valentine to find their footing and get any momentum in the 1980s. After a handful of poorly received and since forgotten singles and extended plays, the stars were finally starting to align towards the end of that decade, with a period of prolificness that took place between 1988-1991. During this time, they released two studio albums: isn’t anything and loveless, and the aforementioned four EPs.
Seeing as the band’s earliest recordings are out of print and impossible to officially listen to, it goes without saying that guitarist Kevin Shields wasn’t too fond of those primitive songs, but the recordings made between 1988-1991 are all solid gold and finally available in one beautiful package. Everything on here is essential to the mbv story and for any music-listener who claims that they have good taste.
you made me realise is where the band first realised their sound; it’s noisy and heavy, including an experimental noise section that lasts about half a minute. The song evokes the very dynamic that the band has built its foundation on: a marriage of beauty and angst; always enough light to balance the dark. The title track contrasts with the other four tracks from the EP: slow, thorn, cigarette in your bed and drive it all over me; which are all dreamy shoegaze perfection.
feed me with your kiss continues the band’s 1988 sound, with a scorching title track. i believe resembles something that Iggy & The Stooges may have recorded back in 1973. i need no trust is slow and meditative, like a stoned out tribal chant. The glider EP introduced the world to the mbv of the 90s, led by the dance influenced soon. glider (along with a 10 minute extended version), don’t ask why and the fan-favourite off your face are all here. The psychedelic soundscapes of to here knows when begins the tremolo EP, followed by swallow, honey power (another fan-favourite) and moon song.
The remaining tracks consist of sugar, which was released on a split 7″ in 1989, two instrumental tracks and three new tracks: angel, good for you and how do you do it. Seeing as these tracks were recorded sometime between 1988-1991, there was no doubt that they’d be anything short of flawless.
One of the best compilation albums.
10/10
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Rush’s swan song to their legendary career.
Rush doesn’t really have any bad albums, though most fans will argue that their best work was behind them by the late 1980s. 1993’s Counterparts, which tried to appeal to the grunge and alt rock crowd, was probably the best album they’ve made in the past 20 years, but it still wasn’t quite a 2112 or a Moving Pictures, but Clockwork Angels changed all that, by giving fans one more classic before the band bowed out.
Working with producer Nick Raskulinecz again (Deftones, Foo Fighters), Clockwork Angels sounds great and while it’s still not quite comparable to the sound of the legendary run of albums that Terry Brown produced (1974’s Fly By Night to 1982′ Signals), it’s probably about as good as you can get for a modern album from a legacy prog band.
Lead single Caravan and its b-side, BU2B, were teased back in 2010, two years before the album had actually released. Caravan sounded gargantuan, with its massive guitar riff and BU2B was just as heavy and memorable; as if Rush were channeling the magic they had possessed between 1974 and 1984.
When Clockwork Angels did finally drop in 2012, fans were treated with the most conceptual Rush had gotten since the 1970s, with a loose concept based around a steampunk-themed world. Neil Peart began to write more down-to-earth and relatable lyrics from the 1980s onwards, but it’s as if he’s revisited the fantasy books that birthed the lyrics to most of Rush’s greatest works.
The second single, Headlong Flight did not disappoint when it released nearly two years after Caravan, with more of the inspired songwriting that birthed the preceding singles, and some of Alex Lifeson’s best guitar work in a long time. The title track evokes the new wave guitars of Hemispheres and Permanent Waves. The Anarchist starts with Neil Pearts’ drums, before chunky basslines and guitars enter. Geddy Lee’s bass riff on Seven Cities of Gold dares to be one of his best riffs yet, even at age 60. The Garden is a beautiful and fitting end to both the album and the Rush canon.
Other than Geddy Lee’s aged (but still impressive) voice and the modern production, this album sounds like peak Rush and is everything a fan could ask for in 2012.
A legendary finish for Canada’s greatest classic rock band.
9/10
The Smashing Pumpkins – Oceania
Billy Corgan continues The Smashing Pumpkins as its only original member.
After reuniting with Jimmy Chamberlin in 2006 and releasing Zeitgeist the next year, Chamberlin eventually left the band once again, leaving Billy Corgan as the only original member remaining in the band. Following several standalone singles, Oceania was released as an “album within an album” as part of the ongoing Teargarden By Kaleidoscope project that started back in 2010.
Quasar is a solid opener to the album, but starts off a little too similarly to the superior Cherub Rock from Siamese Dream. The title track is a 9 minute epic with an acoustic middle section. Panopticon and The Chimera are solid rockers, with the latter having those fuzzy guitars that were such a staple of the band in the 90s. The synthesizer of Pinwheels and One Diamond, One Heart stand out as particularly cheesy, and Pale Horses is also a bit of a dud. Wildflower is a gentle and sparse, but overdramatic closer, not unlike the one from Zeitgeist.
Although Oceania goes in a new direction with a dreamier sound than its predecessor and is better-produced and feels more ambitious and accomplished than the rather regressive Zeitgeist, it could use some editing down (there are a handful of lame songs) and at times ends up feeling less like a proper Smashing Pumpkins album and more like a Billy Corgan solo album (which it basically is).
7/10
Soundgarden – King Animal
Soundgarden is back with their first album in 16 years.
In 1994, Soundgarden released their magnum opus, Superunknown; that same year, Kurt Cobain had died, which effectively signalled the end of the short-lived (albeit highly influential) grunge era. While there were still some gems left to be released in the grunge genre over the next couple of years, by 1996, grunge was pretty much all but dead.
Until King Animal, Down on the Upside was Soundgarden’s last proper album and while it did feature some decent singles (Pretty Noose, Blow Up the Outside World, Burden in My Hand), it was also full of filler and showed that Soundgarden’s gas tank was running low, which led to Chris Cornell eventually parting ways with the band and forming a supergroup, Audioslave, with ex-Rage Against The Machine members.
So, how does the Soundgarden reunion fare? Lead single Been Away Too Long roars out of the gate, with the band sounding rejuvenated. Although Chris Cornell’s voice is aged and raspy, he’s still an incredible vocalist with one of the most unique voices in rock music. Guitarist Kim Thayill continues to pump out his excellent eastern-tinged guitar riffs that gave Soundgarden such a distinct sound, making it feel like no time has passed since 1996, with Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd’s rhythm section acting as the perfect backbone. Non-State Actor and By Crooked Steps are other highlights.
King Animal doesn’t reinvent anything or see the band evolve, and it’s a bit too long at 13 tracks, but this is still a successful comeback and one of the better late era albums from a grunge band (similar to Alice in Chains’ Black Gives Way to Blue). Audioslave was a decent enough detour (I can’t say the same about Chris Cornell’s solo output), but Soundgarden is where he truly belongs.
7.5/10
Tame Impala – Lonerism
Tame Impala enhances the Innerspeaker template, adding layers of synths and an extra dose of melody.
If Innerspeaker was Kevin Parker’s John Lennon album, then Lonerism is his Paul McCartney album, with greater emphasis on melody than its predecessor’s (relatively) heavier sound. Innerspeaker had introduced listeners to the psychedelic soundscapes of Tame Impala and Lonerism invites listeners deeper into the mind and soul of Kevin Parker.
Be Above It acts like an intro, subtle and sparse, before leading into the colourful chaos of Endors Toi (French for “go to sleep”). Apocalypse Dreams crescendos to a captivating outro. The percussive Mind Mischief is pure sonic bliss. Elephant is perhaps the most well-known Tame Impala song and goes from somewhat standard fuzzed-out blues to a psychedelic mid-section and back. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is another signature Tame Impala song and one of Parker’s best pop moments. Why Won’t They Talk to Me? is an anthem for the lonely and the misunderstood. Music to Walk Home By is well… perfect to walk home by. Keep On Lying makes use of musique concrète in it’s bridge.
An expansion on the already exceptional formula of Innerspeaker, with orgasmic production that makes you want to keep coming back for more. A perfect record and one of psychedelia’s finest moments yet.
10/10
Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix
Tenacious D returns with a third helping of vulgar comedy rock.
The last time we saw Jack Black and Kyle Gass together was in 2006, when they released the Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny film and soundtrack. That movie was a box office bomb, but has gone on to become a cult classic, up there with timeless music comedies like This Is Spinal Tap and School of Rock (the latter of which also stars Jack Black).
On Rize of the Fenix, the band is self-aware of their past commercial failures and are determined to rise from the ashes of their box office bomb. Low Hangin’ Fruit is a classless tale about JB and Kage looking for some easy action. Señorita is a muito caliente track about JB fighting a man who has dishonoured his woman. Deth Starr is a mixture of sci-fi and vulgarity. Roadie is an ode to the unsung heroes of live music.
The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage details the schism between Jack Black’s burgeoning film career and his commitments to the band and to Kyle Gas. They Fucked Our Asses is a short but epic song about those who have stood in the way of the D. To Be the Best sounds like something that would have been written (and probably rejected) for some sort of 90s cartoon, like Pokémon. 39 has JB offensively serenading his ageing woman, lacking any semblance of subtlety about her age. Unlike their first two albums, there are only two skits here, Classical Teacher and Flutes & Trombones, both of which are quite funny.
Rize of the Fenix is a fantastic Tenacious D album and is a more fleshed-out listening experience than The Pick of Destiny, as many of that album’s songs were brief or lacked context outside of the film. It’s not quite as excellent as their debut, but it’s another quality release from the filthy Simon & Garfunkel.
7.5/10
FIN
Brett Nippard
