Tune 'O' The Day

"Limits of Desire" - Small Black, The Review

loneytunes — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:36:00 -0400

I haven’t been around much lately, I apologize. I’m currently directing a movie, for which our teaser trailer uses the song “Free At Dawn” by Small Black. On that note, I felt in this spare moment of free time, before I have to embark on another long day, (about 24 hours straight of work coming up, from 8am today until hopefully 5am tomorrow, but anyone who knows movies knows that’s bullshit. We’ll be going long.) I’d like to briefly review Small Black’s new album.

Unlike most my reviews, which I try to keep concise and based in elements such as instrumentation, lyrics and overall affect, I find this album requires a different, more personal approach. This by necessity means the review will go a little long but unlike most bands, Small Black seems to take the label “Music Artist”, seriously. Like the theory driven films of Vertov and Fellini, they are more concerned with revealing deep subconscious connection through aesthetic quality. This requires analyzing beyond debating how good the lead guitar riff is on a scale of one to ten, and examining what makes “Limits of Desire” one of the best, most accomplished pieces of art in general to rear it’s head in recent years.

I’ve been a big fan of the band for a while, ever since SPIN Magazine, in their last days of awesomeness (which I say officially ended in December 2011, which unfortunately led to their demise as any sort of respectable publication I care about when they decided to stop being the non-political thinking man’s Rolling Stone and become Pitchfork the Sequel.) turned me on to the song “Photojournalist” off their pretty damn good debut, “New Chain”. That track, along with their songs “Despicable Dogs” and “Search Party” became one of my go-to “Get High and Drive Around” songs a couple summers ago, back when life was fun and weed was still a relevant part of my every day life.

The shift in my lifestyle reflects the shift in their music, which necessarily affects my connection to their new album, “Limits of Desire”. Two years ago I was a carefree, relatively naive, as we all were, kid for whom hot boxing a car and driving around aimlessly with friends, until we found something better to do like break into a condominium hot tub with some random chicks, was a daily occurrence. Now I no longer smoke, for better and also certainly for worse. Those friends and I have moved on to a point where going home to wait tables and live with our parents for the summer is just not happening. I’m busy, and finding positive recreation, let alone forge new, meaningful human connections outside of the established circles is increasingly difficult. Much of my free time is spent asleep, or sitting on my porch just decompressing. Am I a better person today than I was then? Conventionally, yes, I suppose. But am I happier? I would postulate that I was certainly having more fun, but the structure of life as I grow older has yielded positive results of a different, hopefully more fulfilling kind.

Interestingly, this illustrates the change Small Black has gone through sonically. Their first album, while certainly good, had a tendency to get a little too busy, with it’s incredibly dense layers of production. This did wonders for the inebriated mind, as the multifaceted compositions wreaked havoc on my auditory perception, but grows tiring and cluttered from a critical standpoint. Beyond this, the songwriting was fairly inconsistent. For every song that was an absolute gem like “Photojournalist”, with it’s spectral, fuzz drenched synths and airy harmonies, or “Goons”, which is positively uplifting and features some particularly clever use of autotune, there was another like “Light Curse”, which while I like it a lot, grows fairly boring unless the listener is either too tired to care, or too high. Going further, tracks like “Camoflauge” and “Panthers” are just not that good. They seem more concerned with their chillwave, bedroom aesthetic and seeing how much reverb they can get away with, than actually writing a good song. It was a fun album, with a ton of short highs, but it didn’t really amount to any meaningful whole. There was no drive beyond the aesthetic, and in that sense “New Chain” is a bit hedonistic.

“Limits of Desire” on the other hand, is a complete album like I haven’t heard since that very summer, when Jon Fratelli dropped a bomb on the world with “Psycho Jukebox”. Like that album this one probably won’t get much mainstream recognition, but more importantly, like that album this album has a clear aural vision.

Actually, vision is a stupid word. When I direct a film, write, or make my own music I never approach it with a “vision”. I approach it with an emotion. “Limits of Desire” has a defined emotional affect, and like all great art it’s not easy to pin down with words. Fratelli’s affect was the musical recreation of a night out on the town, with each song representing a different shade of the many emotional complexities that come with it. The beauty of different mediums is that they create a unique experience that cannot be translated, no matter how much one tries. But, if I was to concisely attempt to describe the concept of “Limits of Desire”, I would probably have to go with this:

The album is one of mournful hope, intimate distance and transitory sadness. There is a metaphorical, admittedly contextual, maturity here that much music lacks. The sonic textures are no longer as confused. Instead of eight conflicting synths, the band allows each musical part to gel on their own. The simplicity is elegant, and each flourish is placed perfectly. By doing less, they do much more.

Take the lead single, “Free At Dawn”. The song is reminiscent of the 80s, as much chillwave/alternative electronic music is nowadays (I’m looking at you M83), but more than that it sounds like something that belongs at the end of a great movie. There’s this sense of finality to it, blended with an uplifting, forward looking tone. And this is the first track. The next nine songs progress accordingly.

The second track, “Canoe”, which aside from “Proper Spirit” (the only song on the LP I can claim to not be in love with), is probably the worst song individually. But as a second act to the album as a whole, it’s perfect. It seems elegiac, and the uncertainty that the songs slow burning groove indicated directly contrasts “Free at Dawn”. When the second worst song on an album is better than every song, except one, on the previous release, that’s a good sign.

One of the album’s highlights is “Sophie”. The song is very dynamic and moves along, despite the fact it moves along meticulously. The beat is completely hypnotizing, and this makes it hard to notice that the song is constantly changing, ever so slightly.

This is one of the most positive traits of the album. Each song flows, perfectly. I considered doing a simple track by track review, but the idea of removing each song from the context of the others is pointless. The album works as one enormous suite of glossy production. It may not have the technical complexity of a classical opera, but it works in the same way.

The album ends with the monster six minute closing track, which has perhaps the darkest feel of all the songs. Not that it’s sad, there are tons of more depressing songs here, but it almost replicates the feeling of walking through a dark alley. There’s nothing to really be afraid of, there’s just a lingering sense of dread. But at this point, you’re halfway down the alley, almost at your destination. There is no turning back, but as you move forward towards the open space and bright lights at the end, the walls still close in. The claustrophobia of this is what makes exiting the brick and concrete so gratifying. It may be dark and shitty outside, but it’s nicer here than it was back there. And there’s no way you’re going back through that alley again.

I think this metaphor explains why this album has such a profound affect upon me. To be cliche, every beginning is also an ending, as with the first track which would be more conventionally at home as the last song. These new periods seem exciting and open at first, but as the space is outgrown, we must venture through trial and tribulation to our next phase. My life, as I suspect is everyone elses, is constantly in transition, as is this album. Through it’s beautiful instrumentation, entrancing rhythm section and ethereal vocals, “Limits of Desire” creates a gorgeous sonic metaphor for the experience of life itself. That’s a pretty lofty achievement.

5 out of 5 stars

In summation, this is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. It’s streaming for free online right now, and if you like it do what I did and pay for it. That’s right, I actually paid for music, that’s how much I like it.

Playlist

loneytunes — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:44:26 -0400

Bonfire - Knife Party The greatest dubstep song ever came out...

loneytunes — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:44:04 -0400

Bonfire - Knife Party

The greatest dubstep song ever came out in 2012. That’s right, “Bonfire” is the best song to come out thus far in the short lifespan of it’s burgeoning genre. Debates aside as to what makes “dubstep” truly “dubstep”, if one considers the music as it’s treated in the post-Skrillex age of brostep domination, “Bonfire” is unparalleled.

One of the central reasons for this grand claim is that “Bonfire” keeps the dub aspect that most modern dubstep seems to forget about. There is a perfect reggae element to the song, from the synth-horn skank to the unintelligible ragga vocals. This lends it a perfect summer feel, as well as lifting it beyond the collection of industrial noise that many of Knife Party’s contemporaries fall into.

But then also there’s the drop itself. The drop is the centerpiece of American electronic music, currently, and there has never been a drop as perfect as this one (rivaled only by Pretty Lights’ “I Know the Truth”). The wobble, the riff itself, every facet of it is perfection. If there’s one song from the past 365 days guaranteed to rock so hard your face melts, it’s this one.

GENRE: Dubstep, Electronic, Dance

YBA - Flatbush ZOMBiES There is an art to intentionally making...

loneytunes — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 03:18:00 -0400

YBA - Flatbush ZOMBiES

There is an art to intentionally making rap that is hilariously utterly and completely ignorant. New York outfit Flatbush ZOMBiES have mastered the craft, as proved by “YBA”. Case in point? The titular acronym stands for “Young Black and Arrogant”, as evidenced by the chorus.

What makes this song better than Rick Ross and 2 Chainz bullshit though, aside from the fact they are compulsive liars? Flatbush ZOMBiES have perhaps the best flow of any rappers recently in the game, rivaled only by the now defunct Das Racist. Meech opens up the song with is typically labyrinthine cadence, as he espouses the virtues of being fucking awesome and actually being as badass as he claims. As he says, “My flow bounce off that bass”, and that’s the best way to describe his style: bouncy.

One densely layered refrain later, and Juice counters Meech’s baritone with an almost Bizzy Bone esque soprano. Juice’s verse is easily the weakest of the bunch, which says something considering it’s quality. Like the rest of the Zombies he displays a talent for stretching and distorting syllables to fit his desired affect.

Lastly comes Erick Arc Elliot, the third Zombie, who usually spends his time producing rather than rapping. Which is odd, because he may be the most talented of the three. Finding yet another notch on the tonal scale, best described as a treble. His rhymes and puns are the strongest, and his flow is absolutely ridiculous. Listen to line beginning “First of all/Ain’t gotta lot of change but my wrist aglow” for proof of how masterful he fits the beat. The song finally winds down, collapsing on it’s own awesomeness, and you, the listener, will probably need a moment to catch your breath.

Really, the fact one can write a paragraph about each verse should be enough evidence that “YBA” is one of the best rap songs of the past decade.

GENRE: Hip Hop/Rap

Part of the 50 Best Songs of 2012

Lay Your Cards Out (feat. Mike Noyce) - Poliça Hazy synths...

loneytunes — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:17:49 -0500

Lay Your Cards Out (feat. Mike Noyce) - Poliça

Hazy synths drone, warm sub bass tones punch in and out, and eventually the best beat of the year begins. Featuring an absolutely stunning rhythm section, the drums and bass guitar flaunt their stuff while remaining perfectly in lock step with each other, “Lay Your Cards Out” is a brilliantly relaxed song, with vocals from Channy Leaneagh and Bon Iver’s Mike Noyce. While the lyrics involve attempts to get your shit together, how can the singer do so when they sound so refreshingly content?

The song builds to a frenzy, with drums pounding relentlessly. The music pulses, ebbing from intense to chill, back and forth. When the song finally climaxes, it suddenly deflates. It fits that a song so good should sonically simulate sex.

GENRE: Electronic, Indie

Around My Head - Cage The Elephant Rock ‘N Roll, real Rock...

loneytunes — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:30:00 -0500

Around My Head - Cage The Elephant

Rock ‘N Roll, real Rock at least, is the genre of choice for anyone who wants to get real drunk and break things. Case in point? “Around My Head” by Cage The Elephant, a jaunty Aerosmith aping song informed by a post-The Vines sentiment, with lots of screams and crunchy guitar riffs to keep the audience entertained. The highlight of the song is easily the vocals, with odd enunciation and fantastic delivery.

GENRE: Rock, Alternative, Garage, Hard Rock

Roman Ruins - Line & Circle A clean guitar jangle kick...

loneytunes — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:00:00 -0500

Roman Ruins - Line & Circle

A clean guitar jangle kick starts “Roman Ruins”, the debut single from Line & Circle. And just as the opening strum hooks the listener, if this song is any indication of future endeavors, this band is about to be awesome. Many, in fact most bands, perform for years and never even come close to releasing a song as good as this.

Clearly inspired by R.E.M. and their college rock contemporaries, “Roman Ruins” finds a somber tone that is uplifting at the same time. Lyrically it’s nimble and focused on the big picture, and musically it’s grand and elegant. There’s something dreamy here and something raw. Just as their band name denotes, there’s a feeling of contrasting concepts within this song that keeps the listener engaged time and time again.

GENRE: Alternative, Rock, Indie

Bruises - Band of Skulls Despite Jack White’s efforts, the...

loneytunes — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:26:00 -0500

Bruises - Band of Skulls

Despite Jack White’s efforts, the best blues inspired garage rock riffage of the year came courtesy of Band of Skulls, and their album “Sweet Sour”. The best song on the album is clearly “Bruises”, which contrasts a sweet harmony on the verse with a thumping guitar crunch on the chorus. The shouted refrain is the definition of a BIG chorus, by the way, something Jack White was sorely lacking on “Blunderbuss”.

I wouldn’t be comparing this song to White as much if the influence wasn’t so blatant, and the product so superior. The songs real moment of head banging triumph comes after the bridge, which serves solely to build tension before the final chorus, which is just a rollicking, stomping good time.

GENRE: Rock, Blues, Hard Rock

Cut It Out - Kitten “Cut It Out” is a liquid song....

loneytunes — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:06:00 -0500

Cut It Out - Kitten

“Cut It Out” is a liquid song. What I mean by this is it sort of defies comparison. There’s definitely an 80’s vibe here, but really all I hear when listening to this song is raw emotion, and the feeling of nighttime. Odd right?

The song has a pounding beat with big echoed tom toms and glittering synths flesh out the pristine production. There’s a sense of bigness to this song, and that brings me back to trying to define what exactly feels so familiar here. The song falls somewhere in the realm of chillwave meets rock and roll, but not really (that’d more aptly describe Starfucker). Really, all “Cut It Out” should be classified as is pop music. This is Pop at it’s finest.

GENRE: Pop, Indie

“Cut It Out” is number 13 on the Tune O’ The Day 50 Best Songs of 2012 Countdown.

Free At Dawn - Small Black Small Black, the world’s...

loneytunes — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:25:00 -0500

Free At Dawn - Small Black

Small Black, the world’s greatest chillwave group, is back! And they, like the other groups they’ve been lumped into the chillwave genre with, like Washed Out and Neon Indian, continue to try and differentiate themselves from the stigma of the tacked on buzzword that critics used to describe them. “Free At Dawn” sounds like it should appear during the ending credits of a tear jerking movie. With shades of “Joshua Tree” era U2 and their signature echoed vocals, Small Black has set a high standard for their new album, dropping later this year.

GENRE: Electronic, Chillwave, Synth Pop

Sacrilege - Yeah Yeah Yeahs Karen O and company are back with a...

loneytunes — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:47:05 -0500

Sacrilege - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O and company are back with a new single, “Sacrilege”, and it’s a perfect example why they have stuck around longer than many of their Post-Punk Revival counterparts (here’s lookin’ at you, The Vines). “Sacrilege” is a slow burn tune, taking it’s time on it’s ascension to the heavens. Karen O’s overdriven vocal punctuations hint at things to come, as tribal drums and buzzing bass lines push this formerly modest song into an epic garage gospel party.

GENRE: Indie, Rock, Alternative, Gospel

Ashtray (feat. Domo Genesis & Schoolboy Q) - Smoke DZA The...

loneytunes — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:08 -0500

Ashtray (feat. Domo Genesis & Schoolboy Q) - Smoke DZA

The poor man’s weed rapper, Smoke DZA, delivers his best track ever. Ever is a definitive statement, but does anyone really think that the combination of DZA and two of raps most buzzed about up and comers, Domo Genesis and Schoolboy Q, will ever all deliver career best performances on the same song? On top of that, Harry Fraud (another young gun on his way to the stars) drops the baddest beat he’s ever dropped, and that’s really saying something. There aren’t many songs with more swag.

GENRE: Hip Hop/Rap

Wakin’ On a Pretty Day - Kurt Vile Kurt Vile just dropped...

loneytunes — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:37:07 -0500

Wakin’ On a Pretty Day - Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile just dropped this ray of sunshine and it has absolutely gobsmacked me. This is the chillest, most easy going anti-Jackson Browne awesomeness since White Violet’s “Lays Around Lazy” almost a year ago. It is especially unexpected from Vile, who is no stranger to folk rock. But for the former War On Drugs guitarist, folk rock has always come with bit of healthy distortion and grime (think “Jesus Fever”). Here his mumbling delivery is backed by fantastic guitar playing and a consistent rhythm part that paints the picture of sitting on a porch, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer and watching the time go by.

GENRE: Folk Rock, Alternative, Indie

I Don’t Recall - Lavender Diamond What happens when a...

loneytunes — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 07:17:00 -0500

I Don’t Recall - Lavender Diamond

What happens when a syncopated groove is relentlessly chill and elegantly simple? Well, providing some subtly auto-tuned vocals soar over the top of the relaxing musical concoction, you get “I Don’t Recall” by Lavender Diamond. Like so many classics before it, this song proves that music isn’t as much about complexity as finding a good balance between the parts. The song is never boring despite it’s lack of finesse, as the rudimentary guitar strums lock in perfectly with the laid back rhythm section.

GENRE: Alternative, Indie, Pop

A Lack Of Understanding - The Vaccines The lo-fi pop rock of The...

loneytunes — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:18:00 -0500

A Lack Of Understanding - The Vaccines

The lo-fi pop rock of The Vaccines is incredibly infectious, and I’m not sure why. Sonically they are akin to The Ramones in many ways, right down the lead singers timbre. There’s something unexplainable in pop music, and that’s how to make a song catchy. No matter how hard I try, every Vaccines ever will be relentlessly stuck in my mind, an earworm straight from the garages of England.

GENRE: Lo-Fi, Garage, Alternative

Today Is All We Have - Lower Heaven Shoegaze never sounded so...

loneytunes — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:12:00 -0500

Today Is All We Have - Lower Heaven

Shoegaze never sounded so happy to be sad than on this track from Lower Heaven. The indecipherable vocals drone in unique, densely layered harmonies, while the bass line and guitar interlock to hypnotize the viewer. This is the sound of being brainwashed into a manic depressive fan of My Bloody Valentine.

GENRE: Shoegaze, Rock, Alternative, Indie

When My Train Pulls In - Gary Clark Jr.Gary Clark Jr. loves him some Jimi Hendrix. The comparisons...

loneytunes — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

When My Train Pulls In - Gary Clark Jr.

Gary Clark Jr. loves him some Jimi Hendrix. The comparisons are inevitable, and it has very little to do with the fact that Clark may well be the most buzzed about Black guitar player in mainstream music since Hendrix. Listening to the solo that caps off Clark’s nearly eight minute blues epic, “When My Train Pulls In”, is like listening to a Hendrix classic for the first time, the same tricks are employed.

But Clark isn’t stealing from Hendrix, or any other guitar great for that matter. What sets him apart is his honey smooth voice, which lend his songs a relaxed delivery that contrasts his frenetic fingers flying along the frets. There’s no screaming in his delivery, but there’s plenty of soul. “When My Train Pulls In” is a completely entrancing song, that feels much shorter than it is thanks to the maestro instrumentation.

GENRE: Rock, Blues, Indie

Scarlet - 2:54 “Scarlet” is a song that echoes with...

loneytunes — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:53:16 -0500

Scarlet - 2:54

“Scarlet” is a song that echoes with hurt and sadness. The dark grungy guitar drones as the beat pulses with fury, while ethereal vocalizations wash over the entire composition, creating an eerie contrast reminiscent of School of Seven Bells, except minus the pop sheen. As the song chugs along, it builds and builds and builds until it finally collapses on itself.

GENRE: Alternative, Indie

Someday I’ll finish the countdown, but it’s been hard to motivate myself when everyone is pretty much over year end lists. So I’m back to the normal routine of posting stuff I’m listening to currently.

Falta de Ar – Céu The Portuguese term “Falta de Ar” translates...

loneytunes — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:45:30 -0500

Falta de Ar – Céu

The Portuguese term “Falta de Ar” translates roughly to “Breathlessness” or “Shortness of Breath”. But the second line, when translated, makes it very clear that the song is not about love. What is it about then? No idea. The lyrics cover space travel and some other psychedelic subjects, and it’s pretty unclear what the point is.

Luckily, most of us don’t speak Portuguese. So we can just enjoy Céu’s sexy smooth delivery, reminiscent of Astrud Gilberto, and the perfectly funky, Brazillian backing track. The guitar is tuned inventively, as evidenced by the dissonant solo at the end, and theBossa Nova-inspired drum part drives the song forward effortlessly. And the the main riff has one of the most original keyboard/synth sounds one will ever hear in modern music.

GENRE: World, Brazillian, Bossa Nova

Falta de Ar by Ceu is number 17 on the Tune ‘O The Day 50 Best Songs of the Year Countdown

Look At The Sky (feat. Deniro Farrar) – Flosstradamus With “Look...

loneytunes — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:31:42 -0500

Look At The Sky (feat. Deniro Farrar) – Flosstradamus

With “Look At The Sky” producers Flosstradamus has given us what is perhaps the chilliest electro-rap beat ever. Mixing ethereal layers of meandering vocals, synths and subwoofer-ready bass, the song hooks you instantly. For example, I once was listening to music with a rap aficionado friend of mine, and this song came on, but I didn’t want to hear it at the time as I felt it was “too chill”. I skipped it about 40 seconds in, and my friend freaked out at me. “Go back! I need to hear the rest of that song right now!” I obliged.

Aside from the beat, Deniro Farrar shines with his emotional tale of poverty. He details how it affects his family, and without making any gangster claims he tackles the issue of crime as a necessity. Very few rappers can pull off being tough while still ending a song with the line “Every night I hit my knees/I just pray that God turn me into a bird/I fly away”. His southern drawl flows like honey over the beat, creating a rap that is harrowing and affective.

GENRE: Hip Hop/Rap

Look at the Sky (feat. Deniro Farrar) by Flosstradamus is number 17 on the Tune ‘O The Day 50 Best Songs of the Year Countdown