Menomena – Mines May 30, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Album Reviews, Music.Tags: menomena, rock
2 comments
Artist: Menomena
Album: Mines
Release: Barsuk, 2010
Genre: Rock
RIYD: Music, life, happiness
I’m going to make this review short, not just because my past few album reviews have been rather lengthy and exhausting to write, but because the goal here is different from the usual: instead of going into depth about the whos, whats, whys, and hows of the album, I want to convince you to give a listen to Menomena’s newest masterpiece, Mines, in as few words as possible.
I feel this way because Mines is an instant indie rock classic, comparable to notables like Funeral and Apologies To The Queen Mary, and as such is one of the first essential releases of the new decade. An album like this comes along very rarely: the most recent of its caliber was Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, the album that dominated almost every year-end list of 2009 (and we all know how warm and gushy I felt about that one.) Actually, I’ve noted quite a few similarities between Merriweather and Mines, though more in spirit than in actual sound, that may help to explain why everyone needs to hear the latter (and no, it’s not just because they both share an affinity for gimmicky album art.) Like MPP was for Animal Collective, Mines is an amalgamation of all of Menomena’s various works thus far that combines the classic loop-based rock of their claim to fame, Fun Blame Monster, with hints of the lengthy jams of Under An Hour and the more cutesy Friend And Foe as well as a whole slew of twists and turns that explore entirely new territory. Also like Merriweather, this album shows that elusive mastery of a sound that usually takes several releases to accomplish; a sound that combines the fun of sonic experimentation with catchy and accessible pop sensibility but still retains that unique essence that is inherently Menomena. No other band could have made this, and, though many may try to imitate it, no other band ever will again. Mines stands alone as Menomena’s magnum opus (at least until their next effort, if all goes well) and, now that we’re on the other side of its emergence into this world, it seems like everything thus far has been building up to it.
I guess that wasn’t as short as I had planned, but I hope you’re convinced nonetheless. If not, just listen to the selections below, which include the Good News-era Modest Mouse-influenced opener “Queen Black Acid” and the horn-based lead single “Five Little Rooms”, and you’re sure to be clamoring for more:
HEALTH – DISCO2 May 29, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Album Reviews, Music.Tags: electronica, HEALTH, remix
add a comment
Artist: HEALTH
Album: DISCO2
Release: Lovepump United, 2010
Genre: Electronica
RIYD: Liars, Crystal Castles, The Knife
What is it about HEALTH songs that make for such excellent remixes? Is it something inherent to their structure and sound? Or is it that their quality and uniqueness somehow attract extremely talented remix artists? Either way, remixes of HEALTH tracks seem to stand at the pinnacle of what all remixes aspire to be and all twelve tracks on DISCO2, HEALTH’s second remix compilation and fourth full-length release , may be even better than their source material on last year’s GET COLOR. And that’s saying a lot, considering that GET COLOR placed in the 10th slot of my list of top twenty from 2009.
In fact, DISCO2 has become one of my favorite releases so far this year. I generally tend to steer clear of remix albums, as usually they’re kind of horrible, but this one has a very different feel from the traditional last-ditch effort to capitalize on previous successes that characterize most others of its kind. This is because the remixes on DISCO2 are 1) very different from the originals, 2) very different from each other, and 3) sequenced in such a way as to form a cohesive whole. DISCO2 plays more like an electronic music compilation, gathering work from a group of like-minded artists that all fall within a specific scene. In this case, the “scene” consists of just friends of the band HEALTH, but all of the contributors share some special attribute that really brings it all together and the album serves as an excellent starting point for people new to the genre.
HEALTH’s first DISCO, which compiled re-imaginings of their self-titled debut, exposed the grimy techno experiments of their peers, all of which sounded like eggs from the same basket. It was good and all, but it became sort of tiring after a few listens because of the lack of variety in sound and sample material. DISCO2 improves upon every one of DISCO’s flaws. Though the album has multiple remixes of the same tracks (“Before Tigers”, “Nice Girls”, and single “Die Slow” were especially popular), no two of them sound at all similar. A lot of them sound more like entirely new material than remixes, borrowing only a few vocal samples or a few machine sounds from the original and subtly incorporating them into something completely different. And even though a lot of the remixers from DISCO are back for another spin (Cfcf, Crystal Castles, and Pictureplane), the album sports an excellent set of musical styles ranging from chillwave (Small Black, Little Loud) to psychedelic hip-hop (Tobacco) to ambient dance (Blondes) to avante-garde electronica (Salem, Blindoldfreak) with elements of sample-funk (Javelin) and minimalism (Gold Panda). With the inclusion of “USA Boys”, a brand new HEALTH original that jettisons their sound even further toward blissed-out noise-dance perfection, they’ve got all their bases covered. One listen through the album feels like a whirlwind tour through all of today’s popular electronic sub-genres, with the mechanically distorted and yet somehow still painfully emotive vocals of HEALTH’s frontman (or, if you’d rather, frontmachine) as the guide.
DISCO2 is indeed an experience, and this experience doesn’t have to end after track twelve. The album serves as a diving board into the work of a lot of unique and talented musical acts and, if you’re like me, you’ll have a lot of fun exploring them after DISCO2’s conclusion. It’s rare that a remix album can have such a powerful effect, but this time HEALTH have really outdone themselves. With their second remix album and fourth release, HEALTH have transformed themselves from a promising upstart noise-rock act into one of today’s most refreshingly innovative musical projects. Kudos to them.
Blackbird Blokus May 28, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Desktop Apps, Games, Projects.Tags: blackbird blokus, downloads
add a comment
This past semester I took a class on software engineering and the final project was to create a piece of software of our own choosing. My groupmates and I chose to work on developing a desktop game based on the increasingly popular board game, Blokus.
In case you’ve never played, Blokus is a simple game played on a grid of squares in which players of different colors place pieces of different shapes and sizes and try to fill up as many squares of the board as possible (or be the first to play all of the pieces.) The catch is that a piece can only be played if it touches an already-placed piece at a corner and is not adjacent to any existing squares of the same color. It sounds a bit confusing but it’s really easy to catch on: you can try playing a web version of the game here.
Since the goal of the project (and software development in general) was to create something that doesn’t already exist, we spiced the game up a bit by turning the 2-dimensional board into a 3-dimensional cube. The game is played on the six faces of the cube and the exciting twist is that pieces can wrap around the cube in all directions, which allows for entirely new strategies. In addition to coding up the actual game mechanics and the graphical user interface for the cube and the pieces, we added a ton of features including computer players, networked games, chat functionality, loading and saving of games, move ratings, and a tutorial that teaches the basics of the game as well as some general strategy. Here’s a snapshot of the most recent version:
If you’re interested in playing, you can download a copy of the game that works for Windows and Mac computers by clicking here. Once you download the zip file, you can play the game by double-clicking the executable jar file called “Blackbird Blokus” within. Be forewarned: there are still a few bugs that we didn’t have the time or energy to work out in our struggle to create a working version before the deadline. These include problems with the tutorial, starting a new game from within a game, saving and loading games on Windows machines, computation speed of AI players and accuracy of move ratings, but the normal gameplay should be entirely functional and, if you know a friend’s IP address, you can also play games against each other remotely. If you’d rather not read the rules from within the game, you can control the cube by clicking and dragging with the right mouse button, play pieces by left clicking on them and then on the cube, and flip or rotate pieces with the WASD keys. You should be able to figure out the rest, and there’s even a message dialog to help you understand why certain moves are valid and others aren’t.
Since we only had a few weeks to complete the project, this version is far from perfect, but we hope to improve on it in the future and maybe set up some sort of web application where people can play against each other online similar to the way you can play on the Blokus website mentioned above. Enjoy playing our “alpha version” and I’ll keep you updated on the project’s progress!
Tobacco – Maniac Meat May 27, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Album Reviews, Music.Tags: experimental, tobacco
add a comment
Artist: Tobacco
Album: Maniac Meat
Release: Anticon, 2010
Genre: Experimental
RIYD: Black Moth Super Rainbow (though also recommended if you don’t dig them)
I don’t care much for Black Moth Super Rainbow. Their sound is too unnaturally saccharine, like an artificially flavored Hostess snack or Splenda sweetener. It sounds sweet for the sake of sounding sweet without being supported by any real substance. Part of this artificiality stems from the extensive use of vocoder and synthesizer: all of the sounds are clearly manufactured and bear no resemblance to anything organically derived. I know this sugar-coatedness is their trademark sound and many applaud them for sticking to it, but BMSR’s ear candy is sweet enough to make me fear ear cavities and I’m definitely not a huge fan.
So you can imagine my surprise when I checked out Tobacco, the side project of Tom Fec, the brains behind BMSR, and found myself immediately enthralled. All of the elements that I dislike in Fec’s work as BMSR are found all throughout Maniac Meat, but they’re assembled in an entirely different way that sounds intriguing as opposed to annoying. Tobacco and Black Moth are two sides of the same overly polished coin. Both are comprised of artificial electronic effects and filtered vocals, but where BMSR’s music frolics in the world of overwhelmingly pleasant sunshine pop, Tobacco’s Maniac Meat dabbles in the dark caves of grimy, spastic, and overblown hip-hop beats. Both sounds are equally psychedelic in nature, but if BMSR represents the pure pleasure of a good drug experience, Tobacco is the muddled confusion and harsh anxiety of a bad trip (though in the best way possible.) Where BMSR is the good, Tobacco is the evil, and never has evil sounded so good as it does in Maniac Meat.
The album itself is a collection of short songs and sound experiments filtered through an aggressive veil of sludge and engine grease. The off-kilter beats that drive the music contained within are loud, abrasive, and mechanical, resembling a failed attempt at starting a car or using a chainsaw to cut through hard metal. The songs move from dense arrangements of blasted electronics and whirring motors to stuttering, pulsating rhythms of dirt and decay. Fec’s vocoder presence seems much more diabolical against this backdrop, taunting the listener as would a demon at the gates of hell, and even something as pleasant-sounding as guest vocals from Beck only serve to increase the anxiety and dimensia embodied by the sixteen tracks that make up the album. The album and track titles describe the sound even better than I can, with tracks like “Sweatmother”, “Motorlicker”, “Unholy Demon Rhythms”, and “Nuclear Waste Aerobics” sounding almost exactly as you would expect them to. Maniac Meat is a violent, chaotic, and grungy affair; a psychedelic mindfuck that takes no prisoners.
I know none of these harsh descriptions make the music sound all that appealing, but what’s great about them is that they give Tobacco an innovative edge that Black Moth Super Rainbow lacks entirely. If you thought BMSR embodied the experimental psychedelic aesthetic, think again. Tobacco’s edge makes Black Moth sound like radio-friendly pop, and that edge is what makes Maniac Meat a worthwhile listen.
Also, on a somewhat related note and for reasons unbeknownst to me, there are random color-changing cats drinking milk in this unofficial visualization of the Beck-assisted single “Fresh Hex” :
Sleigh Bells – “Tell ‘Em Rye Rye Said Bang” May 12, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Music, Track Reviews.Tags: downloads, mash-up, sleigh bells
add a comment
Though Sleigh Bells’ debut, Treats, is quite an accomplishment for the upstart explosive noise/electronic duo, this mash-up of lead single “Tell ‘Em” with Rye Rye’s “Bang” (featuring M.I.A.) is really where it’s at. This “Mover Shaker Remix” of the track combines the ridiculously catchy, energetic, and loud beats of the original with the attitude and crisp vocal delivery of two of hip-hop’s finest females. Check it out and/or download it below:
Sleigh Bells – “Tell ‘Em Rye Rye Said Bang”
from the collection of demos that’s been floating around
Julian Lynch – “Rancher” May 12, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Music, Music Videos.Tags: folk, julian lynch
1 comment so far
Now that I’ve finally learned how to embed vimeo videos on WordPress, I figured I’d repost this one of Julian Lynch performing “Rancher.” It sounds exceptionally good live, and the colored lights and atmosphere really match up well with the music:
Adventure May 12, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Movies, Projects, Random, Short Films.Tags: cs15
add a comment
Here’s the video that my fellow CS15 TAs and I made last semester for our final project of choice, Adventure. I play the villain who tries to thwart CS15 from within and my cohorts play the band of heroes who try to stop me. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the jokes:
Thanks to Adam for putting this (and all the other videos from CS15) up on his blog.
Four Tet – “She Moves She” May 10, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Music, Music Videos.Tags: electronica, four tet
add a comment
Here’s a rather trippy video for Four Tet’s “She Moves She,” off of Kieran Hebden’s breakthrough album, Rounds. It’s quite pleasing to look at:
Gayngs – Relayted May 3, 2010
Posted by gwyoung in Album Reviews, Music.Tags: gayngs, r&b
1 comment so far
Artist: Gayngs
Album: Relayted
Release: Jagjaguwar, 2010
Genre: R&B
RIYD: Broken Social Scene, Gang Gang Dance, The xx
Just when you think you’ve heard it all, right when you’ve grown tired of the direction of today’s musical trends, after the endless barrage of lo-fi electronics and blissed-out synthesizers that has pervaded popular music since last January, Gayngs come along and drop Relayted, a wrecking ball of an album so unique and thoroughly excellent that it shatters your conceptions of what good music should sound like and completely revitalizes your waning interest in seeking out new sounds.
Or at least that’s how it was for me. A few weeks ago I decided to give the new “indie supergroup” featuring Justin Vernon and friends from Bon Iver, P.O.S., Lookbook, the Rosebuds, and Megafaun a close listen and was completely blown away. Relayted is one of those albums that sounds completely different from anything you’ve ever heard but is also comfortingly familiar, gathering your favorite aspects from other bands you love and re-interpreting them into something entirely new. Not to mention that the music itself is remarkably genuine: it sounds as if a bunch of friends decided to get together and write songs that sound good to them, without infusing any pretentions of experimenting for the sake of being experimental or trying to sound like something they’re not.
Though a lot of the influences present in Gayngs’ music would fit comfortably in some sort of jazzy, soulful, R&B/rock fusion category (“The Gaudy Side Of Town”, “Cry”, “The Last Prom On Earth”), Relayted’s tracks seem to defy all genres, incorporating smooth bass guitar reminiscent of the xx (“The Walker”), subtle and intricate vocal and sound layering evocative of Broken Social Scene’s self-titled album (“Faded High”), and abstract piano and electronic effects similar to those found on Gang Gang Dance’s Saint Dymphna (“False Bottom”, “The Beatdown”). The album inhabits each of these sounds with masterful dexterity, moving from disparate influence to disparate influence without at all disrupting the balance and flow between the tracks. Though each one is startlingly different from those that precede it, the extended intros and outros make the album seem impossibly cohesive, as if its 55 minute runtime were one long jam session taking place on a lazy afternoon in one of the members’ basements.
As I’ve hinted at above, one of the most important aspects of Gayngs’ musical identity is the fact that they are a supergroup and they’re not afraid to sound like one. Due to the wide variety of musical ideas, the interplay between numerous vocal presences, and the skillful playing of a multitude of diverse instruments, you can clearly tell how many different minds and philosophies contributed toward the production of this collaborative effort. It makes it seem all the more remarkable that all of these different cooks managed to not only avoid spoiling the pot but turned it into a dish of much greater than each of its ingredients. Relayted is not the brainchild of any one person (though technically producer Ryan Olson is responsible for bringing the group together) but rather is a testament to the synergy capable of being produced through the power of cooperation. As a result, the album consists of excellent music without any ego, a refreshing combination that amounts to the best release of 2010 thus far.
safer in the dark 