20:09, Part 2: Albums

It's that time of year where music bloggers and publications post their picks for the best music of the past twelve months. I'm just following the crowd. As a gimmick to force me to narrow down my selections, I'm presenting my list in the form of the nine (09) best albums and songs. Go here for the songs. Below are the albums:

:09) The Devin Townsend Project - Addicted

Devin Townsend has always been on the fringe of what I tend to like in a metal band, but somehow he manages to impress me where similar artists bore me, or worse, make me laugh. I'd given up on him after a so-so latest release from his full-time band, Strapping Young Lad, but I'm glad I gave Addicted a shot. With Swedish-style industrial pop tracks like these, it should be easy to see why “HevyDevy” and I are on good terms again.

:08) The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

At War With the Mystics is what happens when the Flaming Lips try to sound like the Flaming Lips. Embryonic is what happens when the band goes balls to the wall and see where it gets them. I like that Flaming Lips much better. This album starts off sounding like 70's krautrock mixed with Kid A-era Radiohead, and goes all over the place from there. Sometimes their experiments prove unsuccessful (take the annoying “I Can Be a Frog”...please*rimshot*), but for the most part, everything works, and works together to create what should be remembered as one of the best albums of their career.

:07) Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights

Maybe the most amazing thing about Lightning Bolt is that I've yet to grow tired of them. What we basically have here is a band with about 1.5 songs repeated ad nauseum, spread across a ten year career and (now) 5 albums. But maybe I just find it hard to be super critical of a band who is constantly doing this to my face:

Earthly Delights came after a four year hiatus and they haven't missed a beat. Still melting faces.

:06) Dälek - Gutter Tactics

Dälek are like that friend you don't always like to hang out with because all they ever wanna do is talk radical politics. Oh sure, the conversation starts with your new kitten, but before you know it, it ends up with how the government plans to use the microchips implanted in pets to emit a mind control signal that will expel minorities from America. Good thing the music is so damn good. DJ Oktopus seems to mature with every new album, and this is his darkest, most consistent, and overall strongest effort yet. To give credit where it's due, MC Dälek's doomy lyrics fit the mood, and his thoughts are often passionate, well-researched, and perhaps agreeable. But...damn dude, can we just talk about kittens for a minute?

:05) Converge - Axe To Fall

I've figured it out: Converge are not human. They look human, but that's just a ruse. Any bit of human they may have one point had in them belongs to a power far more sinister. They've sold their souls for rock and roll, which has given them an uncanny level of stamina that allows them to thrive at a pace that would've destroyed other hardcore bands. What's more impressive is that Axe To Fall is what most people consider a “weak” Converge record. This does not bode well for their hardcore peers.

:04) The Mars Volta - Octahedron

A funny thing happened in 2009: the Mars Volta made their comeback record; only many of those who might have cared have long since given up on the band. Octahedron is the album many people thought they no longer had in them: a shorter, straightforward album that significantly trims down on the elongated prog-rock passages they've indulged in as of late and brings back the hooks. This is what people wanted to hear after De-loused In The Comatorium, and after six years, they finally have it. Better late than never, right?

:03) Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Let's take notice of a few things working against Crack The Skye: 1) it's Mastodon's most progressive and indulgent album yet (which is saying something). 2) It's a concept album in which the concept sounds like it was written while on acid, at 4AM, by a monkey that has been trained to type. 3) The lead singer was a douchebag before the band found success and is an even bigger douchebag now that they've made it kind of big. 4) The band were coming off their weakest album to date in Blood Mountain, and many thought they'd only go downhill from there. And now here they are with a collection of songs that can't seem to decide which riff it wants to settle upon and it still manages to be among the best things to come out of 2009. Though the lead singers' massive ego needs to be deflated a little, I can't find reason to do so after listening to this album. The most hyped metal release of the year totally deserves it.

:02) maudlin of the Well - Part the Second

I really want to hate this band. Look at those fucking song titles (“Another Excerpt: Keep Light Near You, Even When Dying”, and “Laboratories of the Invisible World (Rollerskating the Cosmic Palmistric Postborder)”, to name two)! Look at that fucking all-lower-case-except-the-last-word band name! Look at that fucking haircut! Anyone who's been exposed to Toby Driver's music has figured out that he's frustratingly pretentious, but goddammit if he doesn't strike gold sometimes. On Part the Second, he strikes five times. Yeah, the pretense is still abundant in the music, but these melodies do too good of a job calming the part of me that wants to punch him in the face.

:01) Ancestors - Of Sound Mind

The lead guitarist of this band found a review I wrote of this album and personally thanked me for my kind words. I could speak about his act being humble, but when you're as overlooked and unknown as this band is, humility has yet to enter the picture. I could spend most of this space speaking of how criminally overlooked this record has been, but when it all comes down to it, I'm not that surprised. A little-known psych rock/doom metal band channels 70's progressive rock and records an album full of 12-17 minute epics? Not the kind of thing that's going pique the interest of a press stuck on the discussion of where Merriweather Post Pavilion ranks among the best of the decade. Oh well, that's their loss. I have little hesitation in calling Of Sound Mind a modern classic. I can only hope that time will earn this album the more widespread praise that it deserves.

20:09, Part 1: Songs

It's that time of year where music bloggers and publications post their picks for the best music of the past twelve months. I'm just following the crowd. As a gimmick to force me to narrow down my selections, I'm presenting my list in the form of the nine (09) best albums and songs. Below are the songs:

:09) “Hand of the Host” by Isis
I've sort of tired of Isis' repetitive song structures lately, but when done well enough, it can still make for some infectious music. As this song demonstrates, the band's predictability doesn't always ruin the listen experience.



:08) “Gutter Tactics” by Dälek
How to describe this? It's like an industrial flavored doom/sludge metal shoegaze track but with rapping, except it doesn't suck nearly as much as it sounds like it should.



:07) “Isis Unveiled” by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Sometimes Trail of Dead can overwhelm themselves with the amount of bombast they throw into some of their songs. But every once in a while, you get songs like “Isis Unveiled” that strike a perfect balance and destroy without destroying the song in the process. Completely epic, this one.



:06) “Anonanimal” by Andrew Bird
Honestly, I often find singer/songwriter music to be a little boring, but I'm glad I gave Andrew Bird a shot after years of ignoring him. This song combines violin melodies with post-punk guitar and acrobatic word play, which is like automatic win in my eyes.



:05) “Abdul Alhazred's Anxiety” by Bird From The Abyss
Sometimes you can hear the first 30-seconds of a song and just know that it was tailor made to your tastes. This is a creepy experimental track with Eastern-style instrumentation, therefore bound to be one of my favorite songs of the year.



:04) “Gorgon” by Natural Snow Buildings
Part of the reason “Gorgon” is so striking is because of it's placement on the album. Following a 24-minute heavy, daunting drone, this song comes out of nowhere and this delicate voice serenades you. It's like the aftermath of some terrible disaster, letting you know that, in the end, shit's gonna be alright.



:03) “Fields of Coal” by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
I'm breaking my own rule by putting two songs from the same album on this list, but when I thought about it, I couldn't honestly say that there were many other songs this year better than both "Isis Unveiled" and “Fields of Coal”. This is a monumental anthem that seems to express the joys of youth so well that I have a hard time believing it was recorded by a band in their 30's.



:02) “Laboratories of the Invisible World (Rollerskating the Cosmic Palmistric Postborder)” by maudlin of the Well
The title of this song alone is almost pretentious enough for me to hate it. In fact, if it weren't such a great song I'd probably talk shit about it. But honestly, this song got me through the month of August. The most moving 11+ minutes of music I've heard this year.




:01) “Bounty of Age” by Ancestors
Nearly 14-minutes of bliss. “Bounty of Age” achieves the notable feat of getting more badass every 2-3 minutes. Take a bluesy opening baseline, add a psychedelic guitar solo, super down-tuned chugs, megaphone vocal effects à la Outkast's “Da Art of Storytellin' pt 2”, a church organ solo, and a fast section with tag-team vocals, and you've got the recipe for song of the motherfucking year.

High Ate Us

(view of Himeji-jo from near my new home)

I'm bringing this blog out of hiatus, much to the cheer and fanfare of no one but myself (but that's okay). If there does happen to be anyone reading this, I'll explain further.

The difference between this post in my last one is that I'm writing this one from my apartment in Japan, where I've been living for the past four months. I moved here for the same reason a lot of foreigners come here: to work as an assistant language teacher in Japanese public high schools. I've had this move on the agenda for quite some time, but was hesitant to write about it on a public forum for fear of being found out before telling my employer in the states that I planned on quitting. Perhaps it was just paranoia, but in a bad economy where jobs were being cut, I'd rather not have given them any reason to consider letting me go before I was ready, when I was relying on those paychecks to prepare for my wife and I's big move. But I told them with enough time in advance to transition smoothly and leave on good terms, so all is well.

The Future of What? Xoxobra...
Since moving to Japan, I've began putting a lot of time into the research of the Japanese music, especially the hip-hop scene. Why Japanese hip-hop? Well, pretty much because I knew nothing about it and was curious. Essential in my research has been reading Ian Condry's 2006 book Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization, which, as far as I know right now, is the definitive introduction into the genre and its relatively short history. While I don't plan on going to the lengths that he did for his research, I do plan on providing some reviews and insight on the differences/similarities between the American and Japanese hip-hop scenes and the general perception/acceptance of black culture in Japan from my point-of-view (which is all I really can do), and hopefully that's interesting enough.

I'll still review non-Japan related stuff, of course, but for the most part, due to my surroundings, this blog will likely just be another fish in the sea of Japan-centric music blogs (removing it from the even bigger sea of general music blogs).

The Reason for My Return
Mainly, because I'm finally starting to get my head straight and get settled. I've been so busy with school and adjusting to my new life that I could barely even remember to call my family at times, so trying to maintain a blog was just kind of out of the question. But I've still been writing, and I've got enough of a handle on things to begin putting more attention to hobbies and all that other shit.

That, and because it's December and I have a music blog, and as such a person I wouldn't be able to stand it if I didn't post a year-end list or two. It's required. It's in mah blood. So that's coming up soon enough.

For those who have for some reason maintained interest in this blog, thanks. Here's a short introduction to Japanese hip-hop by way of Rhymester, one of the leaders of Japan's underground J-rap scene, who also don the cover of Hip-Hop Japan.



"AB・A・O・B" by Rhymester

Isis - Wavering Radiant (2009)

Isis
Wavering Radiant (2009)
One thing that Wavering Radiant does immediately is expose the weaknesses of In The Absence of Truth. Not that Absence was a bad album by any stretch, but it was missing that certain whatever-it-is that made you feel as if repeated listens would continue to reveal new and exciting subtleties. There were certainly good songs on there, but since its release in the fall of 2006, I haven't been back to hear them again. Exposing Absence's weaknesses is about the only thing that Wavering Radiant does immediately. You know that it is a stronger album when you hear it, but the magnitude of that strength takes a while to gauge. Even after several weeks of ownership I still wasn't sure where I'd place it in the hierarchy of Isis albums from best to worst.

Admittedly, my first few listens revealed a certain sense of staleness; that feeling that they as a band and I as a listener had been down this road one too many times before. Isis aren't a band known for sea changes between albums, and over time it seems like the differences that do exist from one album to the next is getting harder to spot, and perhaps is almost nonexistent; and that is especially pertinent here. Wavering Radiant presents the same basic formula as their other works as of late: the crystalline guitar tones, predictable clean vocal/growl variations, long post-rock buildups withs sludge crescendos, the token ambient album break. Even if you haven't heard this particular album before but have heard their previous work, chances are Wavering Radiant sounds eerily similar to how you thought it might sound, which is obviously a little disappointing if you were looking for more significant growth.

But there's something about this album that kept bringing me back. Once the initial disappointment faded, I actually discovered some nice touches here once I paid attention to the details. A lot of merits can be given to the production, which is getting more and more layered and complex to a degree that, to be honest, I notice but don't quite understand. Isis have experimented with sound on previous albums, but this one finds them taking those tricks a bit further, and with mostly positive results. You'll notice this immediately in the start of songs like "Ghost Key" and "20 Minutes/40 Years", even if they are eventually buried by Isis' standard song development methods.

In the end, Wavering Radiant is just good enough to satisfy me as a fan, but without some noticeable adjustments in the future this will likely be the last time I'll be able to say that with any level of sincerity.


Score: 6.5/10


"Hand of the Host"


"20 Minutes/40 Years"

The Mars Volta - Octahedron (2009)

The Mars Volta
Octahedron (2009)

Reviewing Mars Volta albums feels slightly pointless. Chances are, you've already got your opinion of the band and it's not really going to change. So eff that; instead of reviewing Octahedron outright, I'll share some personal thoughts inspired by listening to Octahedron -- which will likely be barely distinguishable from a proper review, but that's neither here nor there. For what it's worth, though, I will say that this album is a slightly different beast than their recent work, and that if there is any Mars Volta album that will change peoples' minds about them, or reengage any wayward fans, then this would be it. If you were not keen on the pointlessly long solos, chaotic drumming and guitar playing, and general prog-rock indulgences, you may like what they've come up with for Octahedron. At 8 songs and 50 minutes long, this is easily their most straightforward, digestible album yet. Inversely, if you were a fan of the long solos and chaos, you may not like Octahedron all that much. And that's all I have to say about that.

I've always positioned Mars Volta as the kind of band that I would eventually grow out of. They provided some good music and memories for my younger days, but their brand of rambunctious prog-rock was surely bound to work its way through my system as the process of my maturing musical tastes simultaneously coincided with their inevitable decline in quality (though can you ever tell which is occurring faster, if at all?). It's no wonder, then, that I've approached their last few albums with a bit of hesitation, none more so than Octahedron. I saw it sitting on the New Releases wall at the record store, stacked next to new albums by Green Day, Depeche Mode, Eminem, Mos Def, Marilyn Manson, Dave Matthews Band, Iron Maiden, and other such artists past their prime (arguments on whether some of those artists ever had a prime will be heard at a later date), and wondered about the kind of people who buy those records. How much do they really expect these new albums to live up? It's not because those artists are still making classic material, I decided, but it's more of a comfort issue. The listener knows what they're gonna get. The purchase doesn't require them to take any risks and there's little uncertainty as to how it will sound. Certainly I'd never fall into such a habit, right? Right? Wrong. Because there I was, doing exactly that with the Mars Volta.

So what does it mean if I tell you that Octahedron is a great album? Or if I add that it's their best since De-loused In The Comatorium? I believe that I mean it, but there's that nagging feeling that I may merely be trying to justify my continued support of a band that many of my friends no longer listen to. That I'm not listening to them because they are still good, but because they have only done a good job at reminding me of how I felt when I first heard them when I was younger. On that note: does how much a new album reminds you of a past good album mean that the new one is good too? Is Octahedron successful in my eyes because it sounds the most like their earlier material, or because it is an honestly well-written, well-performed, and well-executed album? The more I think about it, the more I think the answer to those questions don't really matter, and that it's a lose-lose situation to try to provide a completely objective opinion of a band with as polarizing a history as The Mars Volta.

I walked out of the record store with Octahedron feeling like the oldest 25-year old in the world. I was barely anticipating that the album would be worthwhile, yet I bought it anyway, realizing that I was now able to answer my own question: Did I really expect that this new album would live up? No. But maybe it would be good enough. Good enough to remind me of the old days (that really aren't very old at this point). Good enough to satisfy me for a short time. Maybe good enough to get me to buy their next record. And if I was lucky, it would be more than that.

In my eyes, Octahedron is more than that; and even if I do just have smoke in my eyes, I suppose there are worse aspects of aging than stubbornly supporting bands that you felt like you should've stopped caring about a long time ago. Besides thinking that 90% of teenagers are fucking retarded, supporting declining bands is about as "old" as I get...at this point.


Score: 8/10


"With Twilight As My Guide"


"Desperate Graves"

Ya Ho Wha - Penetration, An Aquarian Symphony (1974)

Ya Ho Wha 13
Penetration, An Aquarian Symphony (1974)
Living very literally up to the phrase "cult" band, Ya Ho Wa 13's recordings are the product of California's Source Family, one of the more well known and slightly less creepy hippie communes formed during the 1970's. Led by well-traveled weirdo Jim Baker (a.k.a Father Yod a.k.a Ya Ho Wha), the Source Family gained a large following which consisted of many musicians. With profits garnered from their popular vegan organic food restaurant on the Sunset Strip, the group recorded albums in a soundproof garage, completely unrehearsed in the early morning hours, and sold them in their restaurant under the name Ya Ho Wa 13.

Abstract. Meditative. Improvisational. All descriptions apply here. As such, I'm having trouble coming up with a review of something so thoroughly trance-inducing in nature, because with albums like this, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. Sure, I could probably talk about the haunting quality of Father Yod's nonsensical howling or the rhythmic taiko-like beat that is complimented by meandering psychedelic guitar strums, but I couldn't do so without sounding like a complete and udder tool. The songs are not really individual songs, but mere separations to mark the ends of certain movements before changing course slightly and building on a new rhythm. There are no individual moments. Swallow this one whole and enjoy. I'm sure there was a similar mindset going around within the Source Family (OOOOOHHHH!).


Score: 7.5/10


"Ho"

Selda - Selda (1976)

Selda
Selda (1976)

The aging hippie at the register when I bought this while on vacation in Portland was totally unimpressed. I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only motherfucker who's ever come in there looking for Turkish rock, but certainly I'm one of a very small number, right? Right? "Oh yeah, Selda. Good choice. I really like the stuff she did later on that was just super avant garde, experimental psychedelic stuff. You should check it out. This one's more pop, but it's still good." Well, fuck you too, aging hippie. Sure, most people wouldn't have caught your subtle jab at my musical selection, but I'm on to you, buddy. Don't think I don't know what you meant by "pop". The word has resulted in fisticuffs between hardcore record elitists on more than one occasion. It's the equivalent of throwing down the gauntlet; a quick way of communicating that your musical tastes are waaaay more esoteric and that the challenger's attempts to dethrone you are admirable, yet weak. Fine, you win this round. I'll take my "pop" record, thank you very much, and maybe I'll rip it to my computer and put it on my iPod so I can listen to it while I'm at my job THAT ACTUALLY PAYS WELL AND PROVIDES HEALTH INSURANCE! Yeah. Maybe my wife will like it, too. That's right, I bet you don't have one of those either...dick.

Selda Bağcan was one of the premiere artists of the Anatolian rock movement in 1970's Turkey, which combined traditional Turkish folk with western-influenced rock (and even a bit of funk). She's the first artist who's music I just had to hear more of after I got rather addicted to the Turkish Psychedelic Music compilation courtesy of the good guys responsible for the Love, Peace & Poetry series. Hearing "İnce İnce Bir Kar Yağar" -- found both on this album and on the compilation -- it was hard not to be taken with her grating, raw, powerful vocal style. The sick, fuzzy saz riffs didn't hurt either, and luckily they're all over this album, because I love them. Just sick, fucking fuzz riffs all over the goddamn place from the first track on. Actually, the first track might have the best one; there's this one part where she stops singing and everything drops out, and she just starts shredding this hard ass fuzzy solo as if to say ,"Yeah, I'm kind of a badass", and I can't do anything but agree wholeheartedly. While there's certainly a good amount of fuzz, the album is actually pretty varied, with a couple of beautiful ballads that aim for use of softer instruments (like the silky violin-led "Dam Üstüne Çul Serer") as well as a few that incorporate some early electronics in with your traditional rock instrument fare.

Of course, it's all going to come down to her voice for most people. Selda's not exactly what you'd call a classically trained singer, and frankly, sometimes her voice can sound like very bad karaoke from a little boy, mid-tantrum. But dammit, she puts her heart into it and that's all I care about. A known political activist in Turkey, Selda's songs often contain politically charged lyrics that criticize government and military, and speak for the oppressed, struggling working class. Openly calling herself the "bitter sound of Turkish people", her vocal limitations aren't lost on her. Obviously, it doesn't bother me. She does a bang-up job conveying the emotions of the people she's speaking for, and sometimes what they have to say or how they say it isn't pretty. Let it bother you if it must, but you'd miss out on a great album in the process.


Score: 8/10



"Mehmet Emmi"


"Dam Üstüne Çul Serer"