Every once in a while...I don't have anything shitty to say.
Every once in a while...an angel sheds a happy tear and farts powdered sugar.
Every once in a while...
John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
After relistening to this album, it's not as great, overall, as I remember, but, those tracks that stood out still stand out, more than before.
"GMF"
So, so catchy. Listen to it once and it will become your anthem.
"Ernest Borgnine"
Grant's staccato delivery combined with the dark waves and sax are just infectious.
Plus, it's a techno song about Ernest Borgnine.
What does it take to impress you?
"Glacier"
This seems to be Grant's "it gets better" track, but without all the sap. Or, rather, there's sap, but it's offset by his palpable anger and snark. If I were having a tough time coming out of the closet or getting bullied or both, while no song is going to solve the problem, this seems like the most realistic and helful one I've heard.
I go into much more detail in my review of Pale Green Ghosts here.
If you're interested.
Tool.
Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
Didn't want to lead with it for fear you saw the words "nine inch nails" and tuned right out, but also wanted to get it out of the way early on because you knew it was coming.
Honestly, I've been too close to Nine Inch Nails since 1994, so I don't really know if they're actually any good or if Trent Reznor just has a small portion of the Earth's population completely hypnotized*.
Whatever the case, here are some of my favorites off the new NIN album.
"Find My Way"
This track is the most like something from The Fragile, my favorite NIN album. It's the softest song on Hesitation Marks and I like the layers and little sonic gems hiding in it.
Despite my closeness and bias with the music of NIN, I can admit the lyrics aren't super original or inspiring, but, form over content sometimes wins with me.
"Everything"
This straight up shocked people, diehard fans and casual fans alike. It's just so...positive.
At least on the surface.
On the surface, it kind of sounds like hard U2.
I'm not going to get into my dissertation on it, I'll just let you (not) listen to it and move on.
"I Would For You"
My favorite song on a solid, damn album.
The descants in the chorus and chords and just everything on this work perfectly for me.
Again: for me.
I like the rest of it too, but I'm not going to put the whole thing here.
You've already stopped reading...which seems like a perfect time to encourage to read my review of Hesitation Marks. Less of a proper review, actually, more like my first impressions after my first few listens.
Atoms For Peace - AMOK
Oh, man did this deliver. I really liked The Eraser and this is a bold evolution of the formula that created it.
"Default"
This was the lead single and remains my favorite track from the album. Everything about it is just as it should be. I don't know what to say, some things just work.
"Dropped"
Much like "Default", I can't really say what I love about this track. The way it evolves and blossoms is amazing and...other things.
"Judge Jury and Executioner"
Same as the others. If you like Thom Yorke's solo stuff, you'll understand the trouble I'm having.
Maybe.
Maybe I'm just tired.
I did a better, more perspicacious job of talking about AMOK in my review, look!
They Might Be Giants - Nanobots
This...is going to be tough.
25 songs, 45 minutes.
The best They Might Be Giants album in a very long time.
"Nanobots"
This song is so fucking They Might Be Giants.
It's got Flans, Linnell, horns, a bouncy, upbeat melody which belies some dark subject matter and microscopic semi-sentient robots bent on taking over the world.
Plus Marty Beller (TMBG drum god) finally getting a chance to shine on an album.
"Call You Mom"
The first song debuted from Nanobots. While I don't like to judge albums based on one song, I do.
And I'm usually hurt because of it.
Based on how much I dug this song, I was ready to be very, very hurt.
In the butt.
Those horns, those drums, that Flans yelling part...
"The Darlings of Lumberland"
I still have trouble hearing this without gaping at how much it doesn't sound like They Might Be Giants.
Anyone who's been reading these Bitchfests will understand how much I appreciate evolution of sound, especially in bands that have been around for a while.
These guys have been doing this for three decades and have never produced anything like this.
While the wiggly Flans vocals might not be the most amazing thing ever, the horn arrangements on this are. I would sell a fair portion of my blood to hear this live with a full horn section.
"Stone Cold Coup D'Etat"
Yet another They Might Be Giants ass They Might Be Giants song.
A straightforward rocker about role reversal, sure, whatever, but this features the lyrics:
"Around the dinner table a family says grace / and the son sees the secret signal on his sister's face / dad smiles at his wife / daughter reaches for the knife"
God, I love these guys...
"Replicant"
CHECK OUT THE VIBES.
THE VIBES.
I'm done here.
If you're a fan of TMBG, I'd be surprised that you haven't checked this out yet.
Here's my utterly glowing review.
How to destroy angels - Welcome oblivion
Once all the news of the new Nine Inch Nails album came out, I forgot about HTDA and their debut album. Recently, I put it back on, to see if it still mattered to me after Hesitation Marks. Turns out it not only still matters, but some stuff has gotten even better.
I'm very happy that this doesn't sound anything like the new NIN, that it has its own identity.
And, as awful as those awful lyrics still are, when you focus on the sound behind them, they become forgivable.
Kinda.
"Too late, all gone"
Yeah, ignore the lyrics and just drown in the sea of sonics offered up here. The interplay and juxtaposition of Reznor and Mariqueen's vocal are just stunning, and the editing is fantastic. I'm still hearing stuff in this I haven't heard before.
Like him or not, Trent Reznor knows how to craft a multi-faceted song.
"And the sky began to scream"
Again, ignore the lyrics. Instead, soak in the menace and fear this track is dripping with.
The depth, the feel.
Never before has the look and sound of an album come together more perfectly than with Welcome oblivion. I'm very excited to see what 2015 holds for How to destroy angels.
And, here's my full review.
Eels - Wonderful, Glorious
The year started off with the tremendous, triumphant return of Eels.
I will fully admit that I was worried after those three albums (which, when combined, featured about thirteen good songs) and this follow up, but E managed to come up with gold once again.
"The Turnaround"
Sometimes, the Eels songs intended to illicit an emotional response don't work on me.
And sometimes they do.
This is one of the latter.
The rising, defiant ending gets me every single time and seeing it performed live was...just so fucking cathartic.
Even though E has admitted this isn't an autobiographical song (he's never battled with heroin), it still works.
From about 2:40 on, he has me by the heart.
"Peach Blossom"
The debut single from Wonderful, Glorious, and, while I did get my hopes up, I had been hurt by Eels before, more so than by any other of my favorite bands, so I was able to manage my excitement and prepare for disappointment.
I still dug the song though.
Any time E puts a celeste into a song, I'm in.
"You're My Friend"
Yeah, I know, it kind of sounds like a Randy Newman song and the lyrics aren't sparkling with wit, but I like the simplicity of the message and the instrumentation a lot (musical evolution and all that).
And this is my blog that no one's reading so fucking FUCK OFF, MOM!!!!!
"On The Ropes"
For me, no artist has more weight behind his words than Mark Oliver Everett. When he talks about having been through everything, it's real. And if he can live through what he's lived through and still speak of having hope, so can I. He makes some of the darkest, brightest and most bittersweet music I've ever heard. This might not be the darkest, brightest or most bittersweet of those songs, but it falls among those that are.
I was so happy with this and can't wait to hear their new one, which should be out in May or June.
My review.
Which got quite a bit of hate for being too long when I posted it on Amazon.
Hah.
Mackelmore and Dude Who Isn't Mackelmore - "Thrift Shop"
Yes. I know this came out in 2012. In October. But I have this strange ability to, unintentionally, avoid a lot of mainstream and pop culture music. I'd never heard of "Wrecking Ball", "Blurred Lines" or Robin Thicke until that stupid MTV VMAs video. I hadn't heard "Call Me Maybe" until July of this year.
And I didn't hear "Thrift Shop" until a few months ago.
And I have yet to stop listening to it.
I checked out The Heist, and, while there's some cool stuff on there, nothing even comes close to the catchiness of "Thrift Shop".
In fact, just writing about it makes me want to hear it.
Excuse me.
I'm not posting it here because you haven't heard it, I'm posting it here so you can hear it again.
You're welcome.
And that is all the music I liked this year.
Nope.
Nothing else.
That is the kind of monster I am.
NEXT UP: Remember the 2013 BITCHWISHLIST?
...
Wow. That was meant to be rhetorical.
You fucking dicks.
* A portion of the Earth's population that contains members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, a bunch of renown and well respected musicians and a bunch of really amazing filmmakers.
Whatevs.
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