The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

Nobody got into the Decemberists for the riffs.

my being an english nerd might be the reason why i feel like i have to defend the decemberists’ latest record, the hazards of love, because i can’t really explain it in any other way. i certainly haven’t shied away from criticizing the band in the past, and i don’t really consider myself a big fan of their work. if anything, this album has reinforced in my mind that they are often inconsistent, and yet, the above quote is an example of the kind of oversight music journalists have made to the thematic and intricate detail that colin meloy and his fellow decemberists have put into the album, an oversight that has gone unchecked thus far.

the hard rock pastiche featured throughout the album is just that. i don’t think it’s a career path, or a style we can expect to see dominating decemberists albums in years to come. sure, it’s a style that is firmly rooted in the band’s past, but i think that it is primarily used on this record as a motif, like when “don giovanni” plays every time mozart encounters his father in amadeus. what reviews of the album thus far have failed to point out is that the hard rock sounds are employed to announce the queen character, or to hint at her presence. they are never invoked, without some kind of further reference to her in the music. moreover, the appropriation of hard rock sounds in these songs acts as a perfect counterpoint to the tender folk leanings we’re used to hearing from the decemberists, and it’s such an unexpected turn, that it’s bound to resonate in some sort of uncomfortable way for the listener. in fact, many reviews of the album attempt to logically situate the “rawkism” on this album without further trying to relate it to the narrative itself.

indeed, the songs involving the queen prove to be the most interesting on the album, not only from a narrative sense, but the call and response between meloy and shara worden are the best examples of dialogue that the album has to offer. i only wish that there had been more exchanges between each of the characters involved. oddly, the first 20 minutes of the album are devoted to setting the scene for the actual conflict between the queen and her adoptive son, rather than focusing on the conflict itself, the driving force of the album.

the only problem with juxtaposing meloy and worden, and perhaps the reason as to why there aren’t more vocal juxtapositions on the album is that the dude gets completely out-sung by her. worden has such an amazing range, and incredible projection that hearing meloy’s voice after hers is almost cringe-worthy (perhaps leaving room for the argument that this is a decent album, just not a very good decemberists album). in general, i find meloy’s nasal delivery wears my patience thin, so, his selflessness on hazards of love is a move i desperately needed as a casual listener of the band. i admire his decision to downplay his role as “frontman” and instead, to highlight his strengths as a songwriter and band leader by using other voices to tell his story.

the biggest issue i have with the album is that it’s really not much of a story. while the album has been carefully crafted, there’s a point at which things are so carefully crafted that things get a little dull. the throat-clearing at the beginning of the album is an example of this, and the repetition of themes through the recurring title track. consequently, the melodies are often simple, repetitive, and far too predictable. hazards of love is not one of those albums where you can look past the lyrics and simply enjoy the music, since the songs serve the story, which is made up preludes, interludes, reprisals, etc., and are only pieces of a larger whole. furthermore, the lyrics are really literal— yes, “the wanting” does “come in waves” … but then they drown! get it?!

meloy could learn a few things from nick cave as far as storytelling is concerned. if cave can make a 14 minute song about a bar-brawl interesting, then there’s definitely room for meloy to grow and learn. hazards of love is a testament to meloy’s skill as a songwriter and the decemberists as a versatile act in pop music, but it is also a sign that the two have a long way to go before they find an effective combination of a strong narrative and compelling music.

Filed under: Album Review , 2009, colin meloy, the decemberists, the hazards of love

Mastodon – Crack the Skye

mastodon’s latest album, crack the skye, is a concept album based around the suicide of drummer brann dailor’s sister, but although the concept is tied closely to the band, that doesn’t make it any more interesting, and the music suffers as a result.

their last album, 2007’s blood mountain, was really ambitious both musically and conceptually, and although crack the skye is much more focused, it still sounds like a conservative album, given the last’s expansiveness. the obvious plateau the music has taken on crack the skye is a concession that mastodon don’t really know what to do next— perhaps because of the immense critical praise that the last album received— and also a bit of a disappointment, as they cling to their old ways, when they seemed to have been on the cusp of something very unique. still, i wouldn’t label what they’ve done here as regression, not only because i don’t believe in such a thing, but also because the band seems to be taking what they’ve learned from blood mountain and are at least focusing it, ensconced in the safety of familiar territory.

the most noticeable difference on crack the skye is how the band has opted to make up in structure for what they lack in experimentalism. prior to blood mountain’s success, mastodon were renowned for their brevity and muscle, and really had that formula down pat. by messing with it here, they force themselves out of a comfortable situation, resulting in a number of problems, but also offering a fair share of rewards. “the czar” stands out particularly as an example of how the band are able to translate their thunderous pacing into a much longer format. divided up into four different movements, the song seems almost like it’d be more at home on a mars volta record, and yet it never reaches the same point of dull wankery that TMV have become known for. it’s interesting to hear how well they adapt to their self-imposed change, and because they rarely falter, perhaps mastodon aren’t so bereft of creativity after all. at least, musically speaking.

for all the successes of crack the skye, what hurts this album most is how it is conceptually weak. it’s nice in thought, but not in practise. here’s a quote from dailor as he summarizes the gist of the album’s narrative:

It’s about a crippled young man who experiments with astral travel. He goes up into outer space, goes too close to the sun, gets his golden umbilical cord burned off, flies into a wormhole, is thrust into the spirit real, has conversations with spirits about the fact that he’s not really dead, and they decide to help him. They put him into a divination that’s being performed by an early-20th-century Russian Orthodox sect called the Klisti, which Rasputin is part of.

Knowing Rasputin is about to be murdered, they put the young boy’s spirit inside of Rasputin. Rasputin goes to usurp the throne of the czar and is murdered by the Yusupovs, and the boy and Rasputin fly out of Rasputin’s body up through the crack in the sky and head back. Rasputin gets him safely back into his body.

That’s the basic story… but it’s all metaphors for personal shit.

oh, that clears it all up then. actually, no it doesn’t. i wouldn’t have known that had i not read it elsewhere. how’s that about your sister? luckily, it’s metal, and as usual, you can tune out the lyrics, but it’s unfortunate that i have to, because i know that they’re capable of writing great lyrics and tackling huge topics like melville’s moby dick. the fact that dailor has to explain his concept in that much detail tells me that this idea is far too opaque to speak for itself. i’m finding it difficult to divorce their music on crack the skye completely from the concept, making me less inclined to revisit the album once my initial excitement for new mastodon material has worn off.

EDIT: stupid warner music group taking the video down…

Filed under: Album Review , 2009, concept album, crack the skye, mastodon

Chris Cornell – Scream

this would be a really disappointing record if i were one of those people who clung to the 90s hopelessly— thankfully that makes it only partially disappointing… when the first song on chris cornell’s scream has a chorus that proclaims “that bitch ain’t a part of me!,” you’d think that he was trying to make it achingly clear that this album is a pop album and nothing but. unfortunately, while cornell’s new album might be a departure (to say the least), he’s not as pop as you might think.

as scream is also a timbaland vehicle, i was surprised to see the lack of “feat.” ’s that are so prevalent in rap and r&b these days. even on his most-recent ’solo’ album, timbaland was joined by at least one guest on virtually every song. so what i don’t understand is, why didn’t he do the same with cornell? that would’ve made cornell’s move toward pop much more believable and honest. i’m not kidding when i say that he really should have just went for broke and had the pussycat dolls guest on a song or two, or maybe even fellow timbaland collaborators fall out boy. i would’ve loved to have heard an album that ignored the kinds of barriers that usually exist between the “credible” rock genre, and all-out pop. maybe have eddie vedder and lil wayne join forces! what a colossal mindfuck that would be.

instead, there seems to be an unspoken distance between the kind of pop cornell is making, and the kind of pop that his own producer is regularly involved with. it’s as though cornell wants to be pop without losing what credibility he has left. by not committing to pop fully, cornell sounds like he’s simultaneously trying to erase his past while keeping those who he is ultimately trying to become at arms length. having a few guests here and there would at least legitimize what he’s doing, rather than scream seeming even more like a midlife-crisis. just look at that cover art, for fuck’s sakes. frankly, cornell can buy all the designer beats he likes, it won’t make his career any more buoyant, or his music any more relevant.

that’s the short version of this review. read on, dear reader, if you so choose. it gets a bit nerdy from here on in.

Filed under: Album Review , 2009, chris cornell, scream, timbaland

Marissa Nadler – Little Hells

2007’s songs iii: birds on the water was marissa nadler’s grieving album, and it was beholden to a kind of grief that made it a difficult record to approach. her pain was so specific that it seemed otherworldly (which i’m sure was the point), and was therefore difficult to empathize with. still, there were moments where nadler’s song-writing was able to connect, and did so with such a beauty and elegance that i could not stop listening to her.

little hells finds nadler not in the midst of grief, but rather at the moment where she’s accepted the loss and is on the brink of being able to move on. these songs explore the loneliness felt from the absence of a loved one, and questions whether they really are absent, as the memories of them still haunt every thought and action. this record feels very much like a continuation of the last, and in that sense, the quality of song-writing is consistent with what nadler has done before. some might be apprehensive toward this album simply because it boasts a more accessible sound, after all, the tenement of a good folk artist is their knowing how to say a lot with very little. rest assured though, because the austere approach that has guided her style for the better part of her career, and that has informed many of the more ‘gothic’ directions her music has taken is present here as well. in fact, nadler’s dreamy, reverberated vocals washing over distant organs and acoustic guitar lines, as they do on “loner,” work quite well to evoke the feelings of loneliness so prevalent in her lyrics; imagine a more folksy, cohesive sketches for my sweetheart the drunk.

while this is a very dark record, there are occasional pockets of light adorned throughout. it helps to think of songs iii as a cold, icy, and often unforgiving record, whereas little hells is more akin to the start of a warm thaw; by creating a more accessible sound while still maintaining the ethereal quality her music has always had, nadler has come up with a striking record and statement that makes her pain and longing all the more palpable.

Filed under: Album Review , 2009, little hells, marissa nadler

U2 – No Line on the Horizon

U2’s weak choruses are a problem that has plagued the band throughout the decade, and on no line on the horizon, not much has changed. there are a few exceptions though, like the gospel-tinged “moment of surrender” which carries much of the emotional weight of the album and does so with some success; “unknown caller,” a song with a staccato sing-a-long chorus that echoes david bowie’s cover of “white light/white heat;” and “breathe,” the most driving, uplifting song on the album, offering a chorus that is an exhilarating moment of relief.

still, U2 fuck up more good songs than they should. the album opener and title track of no line on the horizon has a whirlwind of a verse that took me completely off guard: bono`s vocal performance is unhinged, and is supported by a rolling drum beat, phasing keys and a nurturing bass line that come together quite well— until the clunker of a refrain comes in and instantly recalls “vertigo” by overtaking the song and practically ruining it. i didn’t care for “vertigo” at all until trent reznor remixed it and took the emphasis off of the throwaway chorus and placed it on the rather strong lyric: “i can feel your love teaching me how.” “no line on the horizon” would really benefit from reznor’s scissors in the same way.

similarly, this chorus problem translates to a much larger scale, in that U2 have a very difficult time suspending disbelief in the listener for a sustained period of time; as much as i want to believe in what bono is singing, i can’t for very long because something usually throws me off. essentially the album documents a shift from darkness to light, and while bono often finds unique ways to communicate this to the listener, he still relies a bit too much on cliché to make that happen, which in turn makes the subject matter seem trite rather than relevant. even the band are not exempt from dabbling with cliché, as they depend on a lot of organ to connote religious or transcendent experiences, and yet the songs that sound the most transcendent are the ones that do the most to subvert the typical U2 sound. “fez” is one song in particular that demonstrates that the textures on this album prove to be much more interesting when they’re experimental, while it also functions as a reprisal of the “meet me in the sound” lyric from “get on your boots,” an integral idea of the album’s ideology.

it should be said that this album is great for headphones. there are a lot of subtle touches (like the sound-collage technique in “fez” or a very quiet loop in “moment of surrender” that teases at an african rhythm) that makes no line a really curious listen. this is not an album of stadium rock or fist-pumping anthems as you might expect, and the fact that the band goes to some lengths to have a bit of fun and to shake things up is commendable at the very least, making for some of the most interesting music they’ve made in years.

Filed under: Album Review , 2009, no line on the horizon, u2