Dave's Totally Boss Musings

BEST NEW MUSIC
How many times can I say “retro”?

Hey all...I’ve been sort of crash-listening to a thousand different CDs as a part of my baptism by fire into the realm of music idiot savantdom. So here are a few of the most amazing of things out there at the moment.

PS – I will no longer be posting my Pfork reviews here, as it seems like something of a waste of web space...instead I’ll try to do things like this and provide links to all of my reviews.

PPS – I apologize to Basshead lovers awaiting our September issue. Unfortunately, I’ve been having severe Internet problems since the start of the semester, and working with the Basshead template is nearly impossible at present connection speeds. Expect a massive October post with double the reviews, staff features, and that Ian MacKaye interview we’ve been promising for three months.



Annie – Anniemal

I’m usually pretty skeptical of artists whose sole intention is to rip a hole in the time-space continuum and return us to 1982. Whether this is a result of an intense fear of rollerskates, a general distaste for superficial 80’s nostalgia, or the fact that I wasn’t born yet and dread reverting to a pre-embryonic stage of primoridial genetic material, I have no idea. But I’m ready to risk it all if it means embracing Anniemal, which is hands-down the best 80’s nostalgia piece of the year. A mix of authentic roller-disco fetishizing (“Heartbeat”), trashy Tom Tom Club-style bubblegum pop (“Chewing Gum”, “Anniemal”) and syrupy girl-pop balladeering (“Come Together”), this album achieves effortlessly what a million cash-in nostalgiophiles have been attempting to do for the past few years: Annie has created a pop album that genuinely holds up with the best music from the early days of post-disco pop music. Twenty years removed from its original source, Anniemal is about as guilty a pleasure as an 80s pop cynic can wholeheartedly embrace.



The Arcade Fire – Funeral

I covered this one for Pitchfork. I’ve come under a lot of fire for my review, but I continue to defend the emotional caveats and what has been described as the “existential bullshit” of the piece. There is far more to an analysis of this record than describing what it sounds like, and in this instance I thought it was important to convey the emotional aspects of the album rather than pinpoint the band’s sound. It feels like In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, The Soft Bulletin, Bright Eyes, and late Talking Heads, but doesn’t sound particularly like any one of these references. Their sound is singular and extraordinary, and Funeral is, without a doubt, the most stunning musical achievement of the year. Here’s the link to my original review: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/arcade-fire/funeral.shtml



Devendra Banhart – Nino Rojo

Consisting of outtakes from the sessions that led to Rejoicing in the Hands, one of the most unexpected pleasures of the year, Nino Rojo ranks just under Sufjan Stevens’ Seven Swans in terms of building album cohesion from B-material. The album’s best tracks (“At the Hop”, which includes a grainy 16mm-looking music video, and the surreal “Little Yellow Spider”) would fit easily onto a remastered edition of RIH, and overall the material is uniformly strong, though obviously not Banhart’s absolute best. A great album for Banhart junkies in need of a quick fix.



Dogs Die in Hot Cars – Please Describe Yourself

If the descriptor “the next XTC” doesn’t appeal to you, you might want to pass on this one. But damn if the 80s FRENZY doesn’t continue to galvanize with yet another time-capsule album. Dogs Die in Hot Cars have the overwrought Andy Partridge pop bliss shtick down cold, and this is an expert throwback to Nonsuch-era XTC. Clearlake was fairly successful in similar territory on their 2003 release Cedars, but they curbed their most cloying tendencies, which in some ways hindered the clarity of their tone. There’s no ambiguity here, though—DDIHC’s boldness in embracing unabashedly schmaltzy influences is also what makes their debut so endearing.



The Go! Team – Thunder Lightning Strike

This band is so all over the map that the only comparison I can think of offhand is Cornershop, who achieved with traditional Indian music and culture what The Go! Team achieve with the brainwaves of a Gen X-er inundated with late night syndicated TV shows, Phil Spector records, and dippy 60s kitsch. The cheerleader chants and theme song power guitars of “The Power is On”, spontaneous “Linus and Lucy” aura of “Feelgood by Numbers”, and cyclic cheese guitar bliss of “Junior Kickstart” are all highlights—and each is an entity unto itself. Brilliantly ADD-addled rock/hip-hop retro collage.



Saturday Night Looks Good to Me – Every Night

This one is refreshing only because SLGTM reaches back further than the typical late 70’s/ early 80’s nostalgia, evoking sock hops, doo-wop girl groups, and, uh, pomeade. It’s somewhat ironic that the only antidote to ubiquitous blasts from the past is a blast further into the past. This honestly sounds a lot like the music on SLGTM’s previous releases, but I’m not complaining—it helps me forget that Def Leppard is currently getting airplay on “oldies” stations.



Six Parts Seven – Everywhere and Right Here

This is Six Parts Seven’s breakthrough album, the point where their combination of stellar musicianship, masterful pacing and construction, and shrewd indie contacts (check out the guest-laden Lost Notes from Forgotten Sounds from last year, which featured Iron and Wine, David Bazan, and Isaac Brock) come to full fruition. The album, like most of SPS’s work, is a prolonged acoustic post-rock exploration that naturally develops into a cohesive musical statement. The band traverses more lighthearted territory than on previous releases, and their newfound liberation from the characteristic heaviness that afflicts so much sub-par instrumental rock—evidenced in dulcet percussive flourishes and playful cartoon artwork—has led them to new heights as a collective.