67. Schwingungen

Schwingungen by Ash Ra Tempel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ash Ra Tempel. A breath of fresh air. Spacey, psychedelic, and experimental, this krautrock band from Germany takes music to other places.

"Light: Look at Your Sun" rings in with emotional, accented vocals and soulful guitars that wail and sing to fit right in with 1972. Building to the repeated "we are all one" lyrics, the music is a traditional opening piece that crescendos and then somberly smolders and dies out.

In contrast, "Darkness: Flowers Must Die" is a 12 and a half minute experimental trip starting off with the twangy Jew's harp and crazy vocals that verge on mindless babble and yelling. The saxophone along with the speedy guitar riff combine jazz and rock in an acid trip spin of mystique and emotionality. Perhaps the guys of Ash Ra Tempel were on a rock n roll spirit quest. The improvisational quality and the tripping distortions make one wild song.

Tying off the album, "Schwingungen: Suche/Liebe" begins with soft notes on the vibraphone taking one into a dreamworld. Nearly 20 minutes in length, the faint organ and electronics hover in the background and create a very mysterious and strange cosmic vibe. Are we in space? Where are we? Ash Ra Tempel makes you question. Looking up the translation for the word "Suche", I've come to find it means "Search". When the song transitions to the echoing vocals, guitars, and percussion, it becomes clear that "Liebe" or "Love" is an appropriate title for the second half.

This music is incredibly progressive for the 70s and is some seriously unusual and intriguing stuff. I was turned onto Ash Ra by listening to an online mixtape Lockett Pundt of Deerhunter compiled for a radio show. With them, you feel like you're on a journey. This album gives us three lengthy tracks that are memorable and otherworldly. Check out more of their stuff if you haven't already.

Track listing:

Side 1:
1. Light: Look at Your Sun
2. Darkness: Flowers Must Die

Side 2:
1. Schwingungen: Suche/Liebe

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Who are Ash Ra Tempel?

66. Oracular Spectacular

Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I love the playfulness of this incredibly creative group. I mean, you immediately feel it with "Time to Pretend" and "Kids." With old-school 80s synthesizers, sweeping melodies, thought-provoking lyrics, and music that sticks in your head in the good kind of way, this band creates a marriage of depth with lightness. Wonderful stuff.

"Weekend Wars" has a definite retro vibe with the vibrant electronic arpeggios creating psychedelic rainbows of sound. The airy vocals carry you through and make you want to sing along. Similarly, "The Youth" has a soft falsetto vocal quality that emulates trance synthesizers. As the lyrics repeat melodically throughout, you can't help but get caught in the melody along with it.

I really love "Electric Feel". It's definitely an homage to the late 70s/early 80s. There's a funkiness that makes you wonder how these 2 young guys from Connecticut managed to channel Prince. This song takes you back to those nostalgic disco times with the silver disco ball and flashing lights, leg warmers, monstrously curly hair, and blue and pink eye shadow.

"Kids" - there's something this song just does to me. I love how there really isn't a song like it anywhere. With synthesizers heavily prevalent throughout, you'd think the song would sound like a throwback to the 80s, but it somehow isn't retro at all. It's timeless. It doesn't sound like an 80s song or a 2000s song. I don't feel I can attach a date to it. There's a resolute, yet emotional subtlety to the lyrics with an ever-so slight eagerness in the musical lull of the chorus. It makes me want to believe what's being spoken in the song is a message of importance, but it's hard to make out what "a family of trees wantin' to be haunted" could mean. It's a little cryptic. Still, it's totally and completely awesome.

Then the radiance and vibrant movement of "4th Dimensional Transition" sweeps you up with fast rhythms and melodious singing once more. I like how each song on this album is different from the other in structure, mood, instrumentation, and tempo in a fairly big way. Like Deerhunter, MGMT keeps me interested.

"Pieces of What" mellows out and I want to reflect. There's a somber feeling to the music that creates a nice transition between itself and the prior tracks. In a somewhat similar way, "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters" has a melancholy vibe with major psychedelic retro twanging guitars and digital twittering that makes me think of the 70s, even though the guys of MGMT weren't even born and I was barely even alive.

"The Handshake" is really cool. It takes many unexpected turns. It's kind of all over the place with a very traditional start that just suddenly takes me to different musical tiers that I would have never expected to have gone without totally fucking it up. It's not often a band can manage that well.

Before I get to the Japanese re-release tracks, "Future Reflections" is a delight. The song is mostly a choral play of voices with some electronics twittering and droning here and there. What makes it sound complex is the interplay of the vocals as the main musical theme while also as background noise.

"Metanoia" is epic. I have to mention this song. It's like Pink Floyd - a mini musical for nearly 14 whopping minutes.

Check out the rest of the Japanese tracks too. They are worth it and it makes me wonder what it is about the Japanese market. I mean, they always seem to get the really cool bonus material of all my favorite bands.

Anyway, really fun bit of psychedelia. It's a little out there, but it's pretty amazing.



Track listing:

1. Time to Pretend
2. Weekend Wars
3. The Youth
4. Electric Feel
5. Kids
6. 4th Dimensional Transition
7. Pieces of What
8. Of Moons, Birds & Monsters
9. The Handshake
10. Future Reflections

Japanese Re-Release Tracks:
11. Metanoia
12. Electric Feel (Demo Version)
13. Electric Feel (Justice remix)
14. Kids (Soulwax remix)
15. Time to Pretend (Jorge Elbrecht of Violens Remix)

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Who are MGMT?

65. Tarot Sport

Tarot Sport by Fuck Buttons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, I really didn't forget about this blog. So many things have been happening for me that I've just become swamped.

Nonetheless, here's a great duo that takes music to the far-out reaches of space and time.

Starting off with "Surf Solar", this music dials in on some swirling, screechy electronics with some hefty bass and a glitchy, walkie-talkie-like riff. Then comes the somber synth with its almost religious electric organ seriousness.

An entirely instrumental album with lengthy tracks that are more than double the length of standard pieces, Tarot Sport takes you to another world - perhaps a CGI created world with abstract geometric shapes, alien mechanical devices, and atmospheric lens flares. Each song is a kaleidoscopic configuration that bounces with color, mood, movement, and life.

"Rough Steez" starts off with heavy droning as if a dozen or so futuristic vehicles are revving up to race. Then come the sliding pitches of dissonant synths and a pulsing underlying bass synth melodically providing a foundation for the song. More earthy and vibrating with energy, we're on the planet on this one. You can see the cliffs in the distance. Maybe a squad of marching robots too.

I really really like "Lisbon Maru". It's probably one of the more melodic tracks on this album. It has a powerful rhythm that taps into something tribal, but not exactly in the traditional sense. It's a song that evokes traveling and movement somewhere between earth and sky. The sounds in all Fuck Buttons' tracks are immense and epically enveloping.

As one track blends into another, we find ourselves at "Olympians". It sings with an oscillating, high-pitched tweaked synth and gentler pipe-organ synths carrying a melody that takes you to church in the year 3000. Coupled with what sounds like digitally manipulated Peruvian panpipes that whistle gorgeously and spaciously before a panoramic vista of what I would guess to be something like a natural wonder out of this world, at a near 11 minutes, this song is big big big.

"Phantom Limb" is a pinball machine gone nuts. Obviously, it no longer works, or it works in ways too erratic and counterintuitive to discern. Everything oscillates in this song simultaneously. Some of it sounds drowned, choked, swirling down a drain and spewing vitriolic fluids all at once. Oddly, midway through the song, it lightens up with a single pulsing synth and faint human vocalizations.

At "Space Mountain", we come back to signature Fuck Buttons territory, very much like "Surf Solar." Glassy, crystalline synths at the beginning make this my favorite track. It's like flying over a city made of crystals scintillating in the sun and throwing prismatic rainbows over everything. The electric guitar is a nice touch of instrumentation to an otherwise entirely synthesized and electronically rendered piece.

At last, the album ties off with "Flight of the Feathered Serpent". Fantastic drums in this one. Some of the best ever. Avatar anyone?

Terrific album. Gloriously original, moving, spacious, open, joyous, and uplifting.

Track listing:

1. Surf Solar
2. Rough Steez
3. The Lisbon Maru
4. Olympians
5. Phantom Limb
6. Space Mountain
7. Flight of the Feathered Serpent

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Who are Fuck Buttons?

64. The Floodlight Collective

The Floodlight Collective by Lotus Plaza
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First off, I'm a huge fan of everything Deerhunter and I feel that Lockett Pundt is an extraordinarily talented musician with greater potential down the road waiting for him on the horizon.

This shoegaze experimental album by the shy guitarist is a great debut. "Red Oak Way" meanders with emotional sensitivity and a sort of tone deaf vulnerability apparent in the young guitarist's vocals. What I appreciate about the album is the fact that its washed out, ethereal, airy sound isn't about achieving perfection. It's a very loose catalog of tracks that almost blend into each other.

"Quicksand" takes it back with retro country influences. I will say that I wish he would sing out a little more on these tracks so I can actually hear what he's saying. These tracks are not as vocally strong as the later pieces he's written for Deerhunter like "Desire Lines" and "Fountain Stairs" on Halcyon Digest as far as being able to hear what's going on and song structure, but it's possible that may have been deliberate. Also, Lockett, from what I've read, is a more reserved, shy personality than the other band members of Deerhunter. I think he's learning to shine regardless of that. Making a solo project has shown his skills as an artist as well as his courage to venture a little outside of his own personal comfort zone. In fact, the quietness and sensitivity is actually a nice contrast to the typical rock star image we've been bombarded with as a culture. There's potential for a greater emotional depth which I think he's attempting to meet, and I believe adds some value and color to the musical landscape.

There are truly some exquisitely beautiful moments. "These Years" is art. The humming electronics, choral atmospheric expansiveness, and tinkling fragility takes you to another realm. Very cool.

"Different Mirrors" is sonically very similar to "Red Oak Way" in its emotional quality and vibe, but is a lovely track nonetheless. "Whiteout", which follows has a gentle melodic quality that is quite beautiful. It seems to lull you and rock you to a peaceful state, which I find to be very comforting and refreshing.

"What Grows?" picks up the pace a little with the reverb guitar, which is signature Pundt. It's a breath of fresh air to hear a shoegaze act that doesn't sound as dark as A Place to Bury Strangers, showcasing Pundt's ability to take this style of music to a lighter place.

"Sunday Night" is quite playful with the electronic theme plucking a very catchy rhythm throughout. Hearing this live must be pretty awesome. The track ends with a pulsing rhythm that makes me think of a fast heartbeat.

"Antoine" is no less than magical. It glows with a fullness that blows the mind. His vocals in this one are similar to Sigur Ros. Pundt may not even be entirely aware of where his songs are going to take the listener, but wherever we go, the melodies seem to envelop you in the process of taking you to that otherworldly place.

What I love most is his ability to incorporate harmonious as well as dissonant elements in such subtle ways. Nothing about his music is overproduced or over-refined. He allows the polarities of dissonance and consonance to exist simultaneously. It's almost like a reflection in nature. It's not meant to be chiseled out in perfect defined lines. These lines are more impressionistic and blurred, creating hazes and fogs with golden lights that burn through.

"The Floodlight Collective" almost sounds like music for an art installation. There's this digital playfulness that plucks and dials out notes in the beginning, and then out of nowhere, this steady synth grows amidst the playfulness and drowns it out in fullness. It blazes with light.

I do feel Pundt's music reflects life and nature in many ways. You can hear the light in it. You can hear the clouds in it. You can hear the water dripping in it even though he doesn't actually use any real natural sounds in any of the tracks. The electronics seem to emulate it.

Another aspect of Lockett's songwriting is his capacity for lyrical depth. In "A Threaded Needle", he writes:

With the cuts that scar your mind
Afflictions that don't heal with time
You slowly map the fading lights
In the parking lots of these endless nights

Touching on spirituality and finding one's way, the images evoke something of direct personal experience. My only hesitation in giving the album a full 5 stars is the fact that I wish he would have sung louder so that I wouldn't have to look these lyrics up online.

Also, that pulsing synth closing the track and ending on that high note is one of the more beautiful, poignant sounds I've heard in a long time.

All in all, a pretty great album. If you listen to Desire Lines on Halcyon Digest or even the live Interface performance here, you'll hear that already Pundt's singing and songwriting ability has advanced to a realm of sophistication, wisdom, and intelligence that is profoundly beyond his years.

I hope he comes out with a new solo project that continues to reflect more of what he's capable of soon.



Track listing:

1. Red Oak Way
2. Quicksand
3. These Years
4. Different Mirrors
5. Whiteout
6. What Grows?
7. Sunday Night
8. Antoine
9. The Floodlight Collective
10. A Threaded Needle

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Who is Lotus Plaza?

63. Scarlet's Walk

Scarlet's Walk by Tori Amos
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One point to make about Tori Amos - she's never in short supply of songs on her albums. With a whopping 18 tracks on this one, you can't say she's stingy with music.

The piano laden album is greatly sensitive with tracks like "Amber" and "Carbon", which echo and expand hauntingly with decisive maturity and force.

"A Sorta Fairytale" is probably one of the more lyrically and melodically poignant tracks. There's a melancholy beauty, enchantment, but at the same time, resignation. It's a song that looks back, which is something we all do once in a while.

"Wednesday" is different with a quick tempo and the incorporation of other musical elements and effects. There's a dreaminess to many of Tori's melodies that is haunting and pensively contemplative as is demonstrated in "Strange." I do feel that there's a bit more symphonic effects than is necessary. A lone violin may have been more effective.

"Crazy" is a more traditional tune softened with Tori's signature tremulous vocals, while "Wampum Prayer" deviates from tradition with her simple voice and no instrumentation whatsoever. I would have liked to have heard more of these transitions between songs on the album. It may have pushed it into a new territory altogether.

"Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" has deep piano chords which makes it different from many of the other songs on the album. "Sweet Sangria" echoes this, but uses electric piano intermittently with the acoustic.

I find that there definitely is a common stylistic thread that runs throughout all of the tracks. The tunes on this album all fall within a framework that make them distinctly Tori Amos. I imagine it would be difficult to somehow break out of that. I think you'd have to be Björk, who manages to vary between songs in a way that is beyond incredible.

But Tori definitely has chops. "Pancake" has emotional and lyrical depth with many spiritual references. Her voice vibrates with rawness and passion. "I Can't See New York" exemplifies this by showcasing the purity of her voice. It almost has a sonically religious quality.

"Taxi Ride" and "Gold Dust" sound like typical adult contemporary songs. They both could have very easily been left off the album, and not necessarily because they're bad songs. I just think they don't challenge the listener as much as "Another Girl's Paradise", which resonates with a certain feminine determination.

"Scarlet's Walk" starts off strangely, which I like, and takes a melodic direction that is highly unusual. However, there are traditional elements and breaks in the song which make me wonder if it could have been shaped differently.

Tori is a seasoned pro and there's no doubt about it. I would like to hear more electronics or tweaks in her music though. Even just doing something retro or with less background choral echo effects and symphonic implementation could lead to a possibility that would make her music even more intriguing, captivating, less produced, and more aligned to the simplicity of her voice and piano playing.

Track listing:

1. Amber Waves
2. A Sorta Fairytale
3. Wednesday
4. Strange
5. Carbon
6. Crazy
7. Wampum Prayer
8. Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
9. Sweet Sangria
10. Your Cloud
11. Pancake
12. I Can't See New York
13. Mrs. Jesus
14. Taxi Ride
15. Another Girl's Paradise
16. Scarlet's Walk
17. Virginia
18. Gold Dust

Single Edit:

1. A Sorta Fairytale

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Who is Tori Amos?

62. Oh, Inverted World

Oh, Inverted World by The Shins
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

The refreshing music of The Shins takes indie pop to a level near Death Cab For Cutie if not surpassing them entirely. I would say their music is reminiscent of the past, but also simultaneously pushes it in a new direction.

"Caring Is Creepy" is an oddly titled track, and the song is what I'd deem a college indie pop hit. Mercer's vocals are urgent, but openly fresh and boyish.

"One by One All Day" definitely recalls boy bands of old like The Beatles. The incorporation of subtle and sometimes singular electronic elements amidst the use of real instrumentation puts a quirky twist on the music that makes for a playful and unique listening experience.

The gliding guitars in "Weird Divide" and vocals in "New Slang" croon melodically in a folk-friendly way that very much puts you at ease. "New Slang" in particular is a lovely tune with a touch of mystery. Of course it was made popular by the movie Garden State, but I think it ultimately stands on its own and brings to the realm of melodies an air of folk gentleness and intelligence.

"Know Your Onion!" is a pop rock tune very similar to some of the tracks The Presidents of the United States of America have written, but definitely has its own vibe. It's upbeat and lively in a way that picks you up.

There's a sonic distance to "The Celibate Life." I almost feel as if the audio for this tune is deliberately made to sound as if its coming from a different room than the band is playing in. It's almost like this tune is one room removed.

"Girl on the Wing" plays with electronics again. The band is very good about not overdoing it. The acoustics of real instruments dominate while subtle electronic dialing punctuates certain places, never over-riddling the music with more effects than it should.

"Your Algebra" is very different. It's a somber and brooding tune with an interesting play with electronics and children laughing towards the end of the track. It doesn't last long and sounds more like an experiment if anything.

"Pressed in a Book" has a great beat. The band has this keenness in its way of knowing when and where to be forceful with musical stresses and when to back off.

Tying off the album is one of my favorite songs: "The Past and Pending." I actually used this one in a slideshow of personal photos. The acoustic guitar is simple and the vocals are like a breeze. The horns and flute conjure up something dreamy and idealistic with a simplicity and gentleness that is almost divine. It's like laying back on the grass on a warm summer afternoon under a beautiful willow tree and a bright blue sky.

Wonderful album by a thoughtful band.

Track listing:

1. Caring Is Creepy
2. One by One All Day
3. Weird Divide
4. Know Your Onion!
5. Girl Inform Me
6. New Slang
7. The Celibate Life
8. Girl on the Wing
9. Your Algebra
10. Pressed in a Book
11. The Past and Pending
12. Sphagnum Esplanade (Japanese Bonus Track)

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Who are The Shins?

61. Reject All American

Reject All American by Bikini Kill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm still here! I didn't disappear. I just had some time away and have been busy with other projects.

So next in line we have riot grrrl band Bikini Kill with their album "Reject All American." If America is apple pies and nice girls, then yes, when listening to this album, you can consider that rejected.

"Statement of Vindication" is all out punk with yelling, sassy singing and lyrics you can barely discern. The track, like many on this album, is short and rhythmically upbeat which is typical of many punk tracks.

"Capri Pants" and "Jet Ski" are jammin' tracks that are feminist (especially "Jet Ski"). These girls are not ashamed of their sexuality or their rejection of the opposite sex. Let's face it. When guys wear the jerkface, is it any mystery why an all-girl band would write tracks like this?

There's something distinctly retro about these tracks too as if they were written in the 50s or 60s, but then tweaked to sound hardcore punk. "Distinct Complicity" has this vibe coupled by the wild, tone deaf vocals.

"False Start" is a great track. It has a cheery melodic quality compared to the other tracks. The vocals are softened and feminine with a sparkly xylophone to accompany it.

"R.I.P." sounds like an homage to someone they knew who died, but in some ways also sounds like a genuine song of mourning and frustration at that loss. Kathleen Hanna's voice just tears through you. It's the one song on the track that seems to convey that she's singing from a deeper place.

From "Bloody Ice cream" to "For Only", the band dynamically shifts from faster to slower tunes. From the wild to the tame, Bikini Kill covers their bases. "For Only" incorporates a trumpet and strums its way into a more subdued punk space.

"Tony Randall" starts off almost like an old Clash hit. The instrumentals are very reminiscent of early 80s punk. Great stuff.

The last two tracks finish the album off in style. The album's title track is an anthem for a generation sick of American traditionalism. The "Finale" is a minute and a half closing track that rocks it out in Bikini Kill fashion.

Feminist, punk, young, and fun, if you're looking for some riot grrrl tunes, check this one out.



Track listing:

1. Statement of Vindication
2. Capri Pants
3. Jet Ski
4. Distinct Complicity
5. False Start
6. R.I.P.
7. No Backrub
8. Bloody Ice Cream
9. For Only
10. Tony Randall
11. Reject All American
12. Finale

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Who are Bikini Kill?