il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto Take a band. Take its album cover highlights. Take its album cover lowlights. Swish it all around in your mouth. Comment.
PETER GABRIEL
[Click for bigger] This is the cover to Peter Gabriel's second album, released in 1978. It doesn't have a title because his first three albums don't have titles. Something about treating his records like issues of a magazine. Anyway, people either call this one "Peter Gabriel's second album", or, more simply "Scratch". I like this one because he looks pissed. He's so pissed that he's tearing the fabric of space and time with his fingernails. I think it's doubly cool that his palms are faced towards him, which places this shredded plane somewhere between his hands and his body. I don't know. It's a simple picture, but it's blowing my mind.
[Click for bigger] This is the cover to Gabriel's Secret World Live live (duh) album, released in 1994. To me it just looks like outerspace Communist AT&T propaganda. A double-disc release (I don't even know if this is available on vinyl), I'd be interested in seeing the rest of the packaging. That is, unless it's full of angry red telephones.
[Click for bigger] Once Gabriel decided to name his albums, he kept the titles short and succinct, like So, Up, and Hit. Here we have Us, released in 1992. I was about to toss this cover into the Stupid File (ample fuzziness, baggy pants, lunging Pete) until I realized that the big white blotch has a face on it. Holy smokes (literally), it's a full body apparition! And Gabriel is either conjuring her from the depths of wherever, or he's playing Ghostbusters with his bare hands. Regardless, it's the best image of a ghost, fake or otherwise, I've ever seen used on a commercial product.
Don't ask me why, but somehow I knew William Stenner would read this blog. He was good enough not to flame me in the comment area, so I'll give him another hat tip -- linkedy link.
But of course I capped my pants when I listened to his older (early 1990s) Ritual stuff. Ritual on Myspace Bands nowadays sure don't crush your skull like they used to. Death Metal, baby.
And if you're into industrial gotho-somethingratherness: The World Black on Myspace I like that instrumental track for some reason.
I read about so many recording artists unable to cope with criticism and acting like spoiled divas. But more people will like you if you're just NICE to them. Weird how that works.
I like album art, be it for actual vinyl albums or for these newer fangled compact disc-mo-trons. Cassette art I'm not so crazy about unless it's actually featured on the cassette itself and not just the plastic case. That's rad. I have no opinion on 8-track art.
Check out A Grand Design for album art commentary, as well as for good/bad promo shots, show posters, and whatever other mediums that've been (in)adequately designed.
I'm sure there are countless other album art websites out there, but you should also check out album art BOOKS. "45 RPM: A Visual History of the Seven-Inch Record" by Spencer Drate, for instance. Or "1000 Record Covers" by Michael Ochs, a favorite of mine. Michael Ochs actually has several books about rock and roll imagery and history. If that kind of thing interests you then definitely check out his contributions. "Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings", though not explicitly an album art book, does spotlight a boatload of great albums and, consequently, great album covers (in addition to some awesomely lame covers).
Anyway, having mentioned all this, I think it's high-time I introduced another feature. il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto. Take a band. Take its album cover highlights. Take its album cover lowlights. Swish it all around in your mouth. Comment.
First up to bat, Genesis (appropriately).
(click for bigger) This is from Genesis' first live album, released in 1973. It'd only be a decent and un-noteworthy live shot were it not for the absolutely terrifying existance of Peter Gabriel looming between band members in one of his many freako costumes. This picture gives me nightmares, but it's one of my all-time favorite covers. According to the official Genesis website, "front photograph courtesy of Bob Gruen".
(click for bigger, but what's the point?) This is the cover to the 1981 album Abacab. I hate it. The design itself is garishly 80s and pointlessly abstract. The "Genesis" font appears to be the same one a cosmetics company would use. The whole thing also sort of reminds me of the Young and the Restless squiggle. Interestingly, subsequent re-releases feature the same image but with differing colors. More aesthetically pleasing? Perhaps, but I could also paint my feces bright pink and say it's more "aesthetically pleasing". Cover by Bill Smith, by the way.
(click for slightly bigger) Genesis' 3x3 EP, released in 1982. I'm mostly just impressed with Phil Collins' air. Blatant homagery, see also The Beatles' Twist and Shout single.
Periodically HM Magazine will send me e-newsletters. I don't insta-delete them because often they'll have trivia contests with CDs and stickers for prizes. I like CDs and stickers. Other times they chuck a list of bands at me that they'd like me to check out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
A couple weeks ago they sent me an email titled "Some Artists That Want Your Attention". I'm only just now getting around to giving them their precious wanted attention.
These pictures you're about to see, by the way, are the same pictures that appear in the email. No doctoring. No searching for the goofiest picture elsewhere. The images that follow are the ones they want me (and you!) to remember them by. Just keep that in mind.
I'm not entirly sure why I'm giving out points. I might as well just rate each band on a ten scale. But I think I'm just grading the hit-or-missiveness of HM's recommendations. Should we ever listen to their suggestions ever again? Stay tuned.
All the Day Holiday I initially thought this band name was stupid, but the more I tossed it around my brain the cleverer it became. Try it. The music itself is good. Very good. Unexpectedly good. Take the best parts of the Appleseed Cast, Mae, Copeland, dieradiodie (remember them?), layer it all together, call it a stupid band name that gets cleverer the more you toss it around your brain, and you've got yourself something very listinable. It makes no difference that they missed the emo-pop bandwagon by seven years. Call it a second wave. Call it whatever you like. Just listen. 1 point
Arts and Sciences They look like a Klezmer band gone horribly dumb, but they sound not at all how they appear, at least in this picture. They do the "emotionally driven" rock whateverness pretty good, but add brass (including a wholly unnecessary tuba) and various other instruments to enhance (or at least vary) their sound. Fortunately the accordian is subtle. Arts and Sciences is fairly comparable to Anathallo and maybe even to Foxhole (with whiney vocals). The music keeps my interest, and it's really not bad, but for some reason I'm underwhelmed. Maybe they don't quite fulfill their ambitious attempts at romanticism-rock. Maybe it's that stupid promo shot. .7 points
A Study in Scarlet A Study in Scarlet was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first novel to feature Sherlock Holmes. It is now, apparently, the name of a Memphis metal-ish band. ASiS sounds like a grittier From Autumn to Ashes, which would be fine if FAtA weren't nearly washed up at this point. Again, being seven years too late to a scene really kills you. They follow the same rules and methods of metalcore-ism that, while producing an energetic and pit-worthy sound, is completely un-unique. ASiS is good at what they do, but if you're even slightly familiar with the genre you will quickly become bored. If at a show, entertain yourself by stomping on some skulls. .5 points
Cage I'm not going to say a thing about the picture. Not a thing. So I mentioned metalcore, but now it's time for some metal METAL. Like, Dio metal. Judas Priesty metal. Metal that was popular twenty-five years ago. And despite the cheese of it all (the goofy lyrics, the shrieky vocals, the tight leather) the genre does retain some sort of ironic charm to it. It's better than hair-metal and has more balls than a lot of the "hard" bands nowadays. And now we have Cage (not to be confused for the hip-hopster of the same name) thrashin' out old-school style. They've actually been around for a while and are fairly popular in Europe (where metal is taken very seriously). If you like Iron Maiden and, I don't know, Dethklok, you'll enjoy this. Their myspace page is a disaster, by the way. .7 points
Eliot Fitzgerald As if it's not enough that solo artists give themselves band names, now we have bands giving themselves solo artist names. Here is Eliot Fitzgerald, four individuals not named Eliot or Fitzgerald. Musically I'd liken them to Copeland or Jars of Clay, though I personally enjoy EF (the myspace samples they're giving me, anyway) more than both. Lyrically they're as spiritually honest and assertive as Derek Webb, and you can read these lyrics on their myspace page. Good stuff, not great, but worth a listen. .7 points
Mishka Almost exactly a year ago HM sent me a newsletter full of bands to check out... and Mishka was on there as well. I don't think they've added any newer songs to their profile, and I'm finding I'm not enjoying this at all. There are a couple good moments in each song, but each tune somehow manages to foil itself somehow. It could be the vocals, or it could be the bland direction these songs take before they end. Although the half point I gave them last year wasn't good, I'm now giving them... .3 points
William Stenner I'm sure William Stenner is a swell guy, but these tunes are kind of blah. Not my style, but maybe yours? No? Regardless, I'm not hearing the Vengeance Rising and The Crucified influences he cited on his bio page. I want to hear THOSE songs. 0 points
Lightswitch Evidently they have a song that they're known for. I guess I'm out of the loop. This is typical CCM fodder; studio heavy, pozzy lyrics (worship lyrics even, which I won't say is a bad thing), -lite, SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE ON K-LOVE, etc. I just don't like it. Your mom might. 0 points
We end up with 3.9 out of a possible 8 points. I don't know what that means. Maybe it means I like half the stuff that appears in HM newsletters. Maybe it means I spend too much time assigning arbitrary points to bands I don't even care about. Whatever. Go listen to All the Day Holiday.
I don't like calling my best of 2007 list a "best of 2007" list. How am I to know without having listened to every single release what is and is not the best? Rule by album art? Instead I offer up my "albums that I really liked" "of 2007". Not sorted qualitatively, just alphabetically.
I know there's a ton of stuff I've missed out on. I'll either get around to filling in the musical gaps in 2008 or, and this is far more likely, not at all. I also apologize for posting this so far into '08, thus nullifying the relevancy of this list. Stay tuned for my best-of-2008 list to be published sometime in 2015.
Unfortunately my go-to file hoster, Filegunner.net, has been haxx0rcized, so when I want you to listen to choice tracks it'll either be a link from somebody else's music site or a link to Myspace. It's not the way I want to do it, but I guess you get what you pay for (which, to date, has been zero dollars and zero cents).
Enough 'splaining. Here are the goods of 2007.
Air Pocket Symphony Great chilllll music. Good atmospheric music without being too ambient. That is, the songs of Pocket Symphony work well as background music, but you could also pop on the headphones and pay close attention to the dynamics of every song. Not too electro, if you're not into the whole techno thing. Not too soft if you're not into the whole Yanni thing. Not too anything, as a matter of fact. Just perfect music that will drop you off somewhere between the ocean and outerspace.
"Once Upon a Time"
Arcade Fire Neon Bible The Arcade Fire have become so popular that they've become an indie cliche. But if you're honest with yourself and listen to them with undiscriminating ears you'll (re)find that they're really very good. Anyway, I find that I enjoy Neon Bible much more than I enjoy Funeral. This is either because Neon Bible is a step-up for the band with regards to songmanship and sonics (and whatever else makes up a piece of music), or it's because I burnt myself out on Funeral a long time ago. Both are probably true, and I imagine I'll burn myself out on this album as well. "Intervention" .mp3 (via Alucinante.net)
Beirut Lon Gisland Maybe EPs are a cop out as there's less opportunity to drop a terrible song to ruin the performer's credibility. On the other hand, sometimes you say everything you need to say in just five songs. As is the case with this one, sometimes I wish the artist would say more. Five tunes? Let's hear ten! These songs are a lot of fun, but in a stumbling gypsy carnival kind of way. There are accordians and horns and various other odd instruments and, of course, the warbly voice of Zach Condon. Why am I talking about the EP instead of the full-length The Flying Club Cup, which came out in September? Because I haven't listened to that one yet. That's why. So deal. Why am I talking about this EP instead of the other two that also came out in 2007? I don't know. Leave me alone.
"Elephant Gun"
Blonde Redhead 23 People usually say, "This album isn't as good as their other ones, but it's still pretty good." I say the exact same thing. But shoot me in the face, 23 gets better and better with each listening. The band shies away from that arty fartiness that up until this point made their music interesting. But while this is definitely a more pop-oriented album, it is (once you listed to it a half-dozen times) no less awesome. In fact, I would say that 23 is a good start for people checking out Blonde Redhead for the first time. myspace.com/blonderedheadislove Listen to "23", then listen to the other three songs.
Deerhoof Friend Opportunity Speaking of accessibility from bands who normally shun such general appeal, if you've never had an opportunity to let your ears experience the off-kilter excellence of Deerhoof, now's the time. The time is now. It's now time. Time: NOW. The inanity is still there, and at times they seem on the verge of a complete musical meltdown, but this time around the band crafts (rather than barfs) their tunes into shape, and the result is amazing. Song after song of blow-your-mindism. "Believe E.S.P." mp3 (via Busted Up Bulldozers)
Deerhunter Cryptograms All the epicness and gloom of Explosions in the Sky without any of the pomp. There are vocals on these songs, but more often than not they fall into the dense haze of guitars and become a part of the musical landscape. I don't have much else to say about this album or the band because I have such a hard time wrapping my mind around these songs. But sometimes it's okay to be overwhelmed. myspace.com/deerhunter Start with "Heatherwood", then listen to the other tunes.
Julie Doiron Woke Myself Up I don't know why I like the music of Julie Doiron so much. It's all fairly simple, very subdued. Maybe it's because her straight ahead folky tunes are the yin to the nearly convoluted yang of such bands' music as the aforementioned Deerhunter. Complexity is neat, but simplicity is refreshing. Anyway, Doiron's been making music since the mid-nineties, but I find her latest full-length album to be pretty dang enjoyable (though there's still that 2003 split with Okkervil River I really need to check out). Give 'er a listen if for no other reason than she deserves one. myspace.com/juliedoiron Only one song on her myspace, but it's exactly the one I want you to listen to.
Feist The Reminder Feist is almost overplayed, but not quite yet. I might be done with "1234", but there's still the whole rest of the album to enjoy. A bit bluesy, a bit groovacious, a tiny bit folky... this one's a nice unintrusive soundtrack to most casual social situations. What's most important, though, is that these songs will stick with you. I've had the word "sealion" bounce around my head for days at a time. By the way, the other day I overheard somebody refer to her as Feast.
"My Moon My Man" She totally stole that idea from OK Go, who totally stole it from Jamiroquai.
Klaxons Myths of the Near Future Dancy punky psychedelically funky rocky rock. From the planet Spectra. This band, their songs, and this album are all a whole lot of fun and would make a suitable soundtrack to a mind-altering pixy stix binge (including also the horrifying comedown crash). myspace.com/klaxons After listening to "Golden Skans", pick yourself back up and jam out to the other songs.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Living With the Living This is all I've heard other people say about this album: it's good, but his older stuff is better. I tend to agree, but that's how awesome Ted Leo is; even his less-than-stellar material is still quite stellar. There are fifteen tracks on Living, so whatever might be lacking in quality (which actually happens to be nothing, thus rendering this sentence non-sensical) is made up for in quantity. Ted Leo has always given me insane deja vu as I always feel I've heard each of his songs somewhere else before. This isn't a bad thing, and this ghost-familiarity is probably the thing that makes his music so initially appealing to me in the first place, and so once again he's given me another excellent album that messes with my perceptions of space and time. "La Costa Brava" .mp3 (via Captainsdead.com)
Mixtapes & Cellmates Mixtapes & Cellmates Swedes! Ambitious and creative ones! This self-titled release is full of etheral atmospherey stuff, some electronic boops and beeps, hushed male vocals, hushed female vocals, some angst here and there, and a bunch of good songs. I think this album is internet-only in North America, but if you want to shell out some extra kronas for an imported and tangible compact disc then by all means do it. myspace.com/mixtapesandcellmates "The Better Half of Cynical Boys", then "Hold", then "Dress Up Wear Down", then "Quiet", IN THAT ORDER.
Mob Polygon Super emotional (and super-emotional) stuff reminicient of the old-school days of emo. If broken hearts were to piece themselves back together with equal parts sadness and rage, and they had singing voices and could play driving music, and they were Danish, then you'd have yourself a Mob. They label themselves "shoegaze" on their Myspace, but I don't think that definition fits unless their shoes are on fire. Though just a four-song EP, there's more awesomeness on Polygon than there is on a lot of other full-lengthers. www.myspace.com/mobnoise The first two tracks are from the Polygon EP, but the other ones are good as well.
New Pornographers Challengers I had previously considered the New Pornographers the outlet for AC Newman's poppy bubbly songwriting efforts (though his solo material isn't what you would call overly saddish) and the twing to Neko Case's country twang. Indeed, the band's prior albums sounded as though they were fashioned from sweet dancing candy canes. But here on Challengers they go in a different and mellower direction. I was off-put at first, but these songs have really grown on me. There's still plenty of head-bopping to be had, but there are also handfuls of surprisingly low-key moments. Good album.
"Challengers"
Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? More psychedelia! This time a bit darker and with more electro-dabble. There are still elements of their old poppy selves on this album, but until you've listened to all twelve minutes of the track "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" then YOU JUST DON'T KNOW. Other songs spazz all over the place, slow down, speed up, get lost in the haze, breakdance on your retinas, teleport to 1980 leaving behind an environmentally disasterous contrail, and do various other crazy interesting things. "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" .mp3 (via PrettyMuchAmazing, via KeithSchofield.com)
Rosie Thomas These Friends of Mine Rosie Thomas has the prettiest voice ever, and that's just something you'll have to deal with. And as if hearing her soft sweet folky tunes weren't enough, Sufjan Stevens, Denison Witmer, David Bazan, and Damien Jurado all make appearances on this album. It's like a Christian coffehouse wet dream! The harmonizing is glorious, the lyrics are honest and poignant, there's a great rendition of "Song Bird", a great REM cover, and a great Witmer cover. And really funny between-song studio banter to lighten those heavy moments. Every minute not spent listening to These Friends of Mine (it's only half-an-hour long, by the way) is a minute of your life wasted. Don't waste your life, friend. myspace.com/rosiethomasmusic "Much Farther to Go" kills me. "The One I Love" is also killer. The other two songs are off of If Songs Could Be Held and are just as killful.
St. Vincent Marry Me Also pretty-voiced is Annie Clark, whose stage name, for whatever reason (though simple research could probably explain why, but I'm not really interested in simple research right now), is St. Vincent. Her songs are a little bit loopy, but not overtly zany. A little bit experimental, but still quite palatable. Interesting and good. She also has a neat blogger blog (that hasn't been updated in a month, but I'm sure she's been busier than I have) that's full of tour pictures and various Youtubery and word snippets. My favorite is the piano she manually bloodied, though apparently she's done that more than once. Anyway, Clark's the American Kate Bush of the aughts, so check her out. myspace.com/stvincent Listen. To. All. Four. Songs.
Tegan and Sara The Con Is it funny that I like Tegan and Sara? That I've followed their career for years? That I'm a fan-letter-written-in-blood away from being a creepy stalker? Anyway, after being dissapointed with So Jealous I was (and continue to be) very super impressed with The Con. The recording quality, as well as the song-writing itself, is a great improvement over most of their prior material. They ease back on that tinny "Tegan and Sara sound" (which made it seem like they filtered their music through AM radio) and allow a backing band and various keyboardy/synthy instruments to fill things out. Retained are the elements that make T&S so appealing in the first place (the folk-punk attitude, the killer hooks ["Back In Your Head" is often stuck in my head for days at a time], the faux adorableness).
"Back In Your Head"
Voxtrot Voxtrot Voxtrot's first full-length album is really dang good. Imagine Ted Leo being a bit mellower and more rounded, but equally as catchy. "Kid Gloves" .mp3 (via Despite the Times)
Various Definitive Swim What's better than a sweet hip hoppin' comp? A FREE hip hoppin' comp. There really isn't a bad song here, which says a lot about the quality performers on Definitive Jux records. I'm not even a huge fan of the genre, but I can appreciate creativity, and I can appreciate a dang good song, and I can appreciate ten dang good creative songs found together in one place. My favorite is the Aesop Rock tune, which will absolutely spin you around. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass .mp3
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