New Crown- Wolfmother

The other day, I just happened to be scanning Bandcamp, as I do about once a week or so, and Wolfmother popped up in the discover tab. My first reaction was, "Oh yeah, they existed!". I feel like that might be the reaction of quite a few people. It's kind of weird, because in 2006, shortly after their debut was released, their songs were everywhere. You name it: movies, commercials, video games. Then pretty much as soon as they were here, they were gone. Internal problems led to a new lineup in 2009, culminating in the album Cosmic Egg, which kind of got a "meh" from me. Wolfmother is a band hearkening back to the golden age of riffs and stoners; the 1970s. Cosmic Egg may have been a little bit too much of the same for me.

Years passed, and I had heard nothing since. Unbeknownst to me, a third album had been recorded, re-recorded, the band broke up briefly, and these recordings were released as an Andrew Stockdale solo record (which by this point, with all the line-up changes, is what Wolfmother pretty much is anyway). It's kind of hard for me to imagine a band that was so big only a few years ago fading so fast. But luck had it that I caught this new album on Bandcamp, and I thought I'd drop a nostalgia bomb or two and listen in. If Wolfmother is known for something, it's no frills rock and staying consistent, even if it's line-up doesn't.

The first thing I noticed was the sound. I'm not sure if the album was mixed too loud, or since it was a lossy file format, but I went through a few headphone choices before the album didn't sound like a sludgy mess. Unless shoegaze is was Stockdale was going for, but for some reason I doubt it. I couldn't even imagine how terrible it must sound on headphones that are too bass heavy like Beats (but sorry to break it to you, but for $300, everything sounds terrible on those). Maybe if this album sees another release format this might be rectified. The second thing I noticed was that there was a little more deviation from the traditional Wolfmother sound. Highlights include Stockdale's best Robert Plant impression on 'Tall Ships' and (gasp) is that an acoustic guitar at the end of 'Tangerine Dream'? These were definitely the best moments on the album for me, because it sounded like after almost 10 years, maybe their sound was evolving maybe a little.

The rest of the album is more of the same, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It rocks ridiculously hard, and if you're a Wolfmother fan, or dig early Queens of the Stone Age, this is right up your alley. Great riffs, stomping rhythms, and solos, solos, and more solos. I might actually suggest the Andrew Stockdale solo album Keep Moving, released last year, which will henceforth be known as 'The Great Lost Wolfmother Album' (kidding). But honestly, I found it quite a bit better than New Crown, and definitely would have been a more triumphant return to the music scene. All in all, if you're a fan of classic rock or stoner rock, and want something that rocks while not reinventing the wheel, this one's for you. If you are looking for some radical new sounds, you might have to look elsewhere.

Out of a possible five stars, I give this:

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Recess- Skrillex

I'm not one of those dubstep purists, so I actually find Skrillex to be an inventive producer. I first heard Skrillex in college when a friend showed me the My Name is Skrillex EP. I had no preconceived notion of what dubstep or brostep was, but I liked what I heard. Those aggressive, guttural bass sounds and the synthesis of that with reggae like beats was intriguing, I immersed myself deeper into brostep, finding dubstep maybe a bit too on the ambient side of the tracks. I've listened to each Skrillex release since quite intently, and I've heard his sound evolve, incorporating more elements of general electronica, rap, and metal, while retaining the aggression and mid level bass drops that attracted me in the first place. Then for about the last few years, Skrillex pretty much fell off the face of the earth, at least recording wise. A couple of compilation appearances here, an EP of remixes of one song there, but nothing really substantial since Bangarang. Then I wake up last week and there's a full length album streaming on the internet. 

It had been a while since I had listened to Skrillex with this much attention. I've been listening to many other things in the meantime, and it took me a few listens to get back into that electronic mindset. The first two songs were definitely a return to form. The traditional Skrillex sound is there in full force. Then 'Stranger' kind of threw me for a loop. It's definitely different, but I actually found it to be ridiculously catchy. There's a tribal drum feel going on, which leads to a drop with some treble synth lines that worm into your brain. The second iteration of the synth line on this song is amazing. The fourth song, 'Try It Out', was previously released, and is more of the same brostep that gets you going for a work out or party. 'Coast Is Clear' featuring Chance the Rapper is a new direction for Skrillex's production, and I like it quite a bit, though the lyrics due draw from 'Big Poppa' by the Notorious B.I.G. a bit too much. 'Dirty Vibe' might be compared to 'Kyoto' in a way, showcasing rap verses, but with an almost horror movie like sample in the background which makes for an intense listen. 

The feel for the record is kind of an experimental one, with Skrillex throwing out a familiar sounding song, then one which reaches outside his comfort zone, and then a familiar sound to cleanse the ear palette before launching into new experimental territory. 'Ragga Bomb' is the familiar palette cleanser before the still baffling 'Doompy Poomp'. I could listen to this song a million times and never understand what the hell this is. I like the glitchy sound effects throughout, but the demented children's show theme as a melody really sours the song for me. 'F**k That' displays Skrillex's experimentation with some reverb laden bass, sounding like "lightsaber dub" (copyright pending, just kidding). This flows into 'Ease My Mind' which is easily my favorite song on the record, with its slow ballad intro, culminating in an unexpected rapid tempo change and Middle Eastern flavored bass drop. The album ends with 'Fire Away', which is a fitting cool down for a pretty high octane album, but never reaching the heights of 'With You Friends (Long Drive)'.

All in all, I liked this album a pretty good amount. It's a transitional piece for Skrillex, for sure, with some ventures outside the norm working and others not working as much, at least for me. People would probably get tired of hearing the same old brostep after a while, so it's good to know he's changing gears. It'll be interesting to see where he'll go with his next release. This album was a surprise for me, and I hope I have a few more this year (come on Fleet Foxes).

Out of a possible five stars, I give this:

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Album Spotlight: Grayfolded (1994-5)

In lieu of a new album review, I thought I might give the spotlight to an album that didn't get its fair share of it the first time around. I'll be doing something like this every once in a while.

Being a pretty big fan of the Grateful Dead, I've dedicated a pretty large chunk of my music library to their live shows, which is really the only way that you can listen to them and get the full feel of their capabilities. Top picks would include Live/Dead, their run of shows at Winterland culminating in The Grateful Dead Movie, and their epic Europe '72 tour, which has recently been reissued with every set in a mammoth box set, which, if I had the money, I might just be getting done listening to due to its length. But of all their shows, most fans can agree, the times that they unleash 'Dark Star' are amazing shows. 

John Oswald

'Dark Star', originally a 2 minute single, was first immortalized on record as the amazingly trippy jam on Live/Dead, with over 23 minutes of amazing guitar solos, bass lines and atmosphere. But why settle for just one recording of 'Dark Star' at a time? That's the idea behind Grayfolded. In the early 90s, bass player Phil Lesh was in talks with producer John Oswald, who specializes in plunderphonics (think the Love album that George and Giles Martin did with the Beatles catalog), to create an entire album using pieces of dozens of iterations of 'Dark Star' from live soundboard recordings. One of the great things about the Grateful Dead live shows is how well cataloged and recorded they are (I've got a recording of Jerry Garcia playing with the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers in a Jewish Community Center in 1962; the fans and recorders left no stone un-turned). The wealth of this live material made it possible for this almost 2 hour version of 'Dark Star', containing performances by everyone that has been in the band from 1965 to 1995. 

Phil Lesh

The intricate layering on this record is its strong suit, where it can take multiple performances, which are vastly different, and match the same mood as it shifts between different sections. Every once in a while, you'll hear some familiar riff or solo from a performance you've heard countless times, and it's really interesting to hear what Oswald has put in with it. If you're a fan of the Dead, you really need to check this one out. It was originally released as two single releases in '94 and '95, but there now exists a two disc reissue to get your full 'Dark Star' remix on. I've rarely heard of this album in conversation about the Dead, but I'm not sure why. Granted, it's a non canonical release, but this album truly embodies their live sound: unrelenting psychedelic jams, face melting guitar solos, and a band that can follow each other so well, you'd swear they wrote out the whole song. The fact that most of their live material is improvised never ceases to amaze me, and nowhere is that more true than on 'Dark Star'.

Check in later this week for my opinion on the long awaited debut LP from Skrillex, Recess.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Satellite Flight: The Journey To Mother Moon- Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi has been getting progressively more weird as his career has progressed. He has publicly stated that he had stopped smoking marijuana almost 4 years ago, be could have fooled me. This may be one of the most confusing statements he has released. I can see what he's going for here. This continues his Man on the Moon "story" of loneliness and isolation, with the central character's journey to the lonely confines of the moon (my best guess). I can only call it my best guess because the story line is hardly crucial to the album, and if I was told there was no story, I'd have a hard time arguing. The isolation is well illustrated with the relative lack of guests on this album (with the exception of Raphael Saadiq), which contrasts pretty heavily with Indicud. The production, done by Kid Cudi himself for the most part, is dark and atmospheric. This is the album's greatest strength and weakness, in my opinion. Because on this supposed rap album, there is almost nothing in the way of rap (or vocals for that matter), which forces the production to carry the whole weight of the songs.

With almost half the album consisting of instrumentals, most of them pretty repetitive, I was pretty confused. Kid Cudi hardly was a cookie cutter artist, but he did tend to rap on his own albums, albeit in his sing song flow. If you want to hear that, the songs most closely resembling his previous style, and therefore the most listenable, are 'Balmain Jeans', 'Internal Bleeding' and my personal favorite 'Too Bad I Have To Destroy You Now'. This almost seems like an ambient or post rock album to me. That's not to say that I dislike this style. 

Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor are masters of this dark, atmospheric style, so I know it can be done well. Hell, William Basinki's Disintegration Loops are short tape loops played for over an hour in some instances, and somehow that seemed a little less repetitive. That may seem a little harsh, but one of my requirements for a rapper on an album is to rap.

I can see what he was trying to do; create a dark and hypnotic soundscape to simulate the feeling of isolation, with his voice heard very sparingly. If this was done with some more interesting beats or over a shorter running time, I could definitely go for that. For what it is, it's pretty short run time seems exhausting. This album was supposed to be an EP, and I think this idea would have worked much better, especially with it essentially being a pit stop between major albums. I hope that Kid Cudi brings some more rapping to his next album; either that or start his new career as an electronica artist. Either way, I think this is just a small misstep, or a gateway for worse things to come. I know I made this one sound bad, but there are good things on this album which I think people should hear. Would I tell you to buy it? Probably not. Is it going to change music? I doubt it. But I think that this record does do some things right, and I think this is really a record people need to hear for themselves, because this is definitely going to divide listeners.

Out of a possible 5 stars, I give this:

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."