Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Dirty Projectors easily fall into the category of bands that induce divisiveness. That is, you will likely respond to their music with horror or admiration. Musically, they seem to thrive on unconventionality. Actually, they built a house in it and live there year ‘round. Though unconventionality certainly doesn’t guarantee quality, it does cause me to turn my head and listen. And when after listening to an album several times still leaves me guessing as to what the big deal is, I have to listen to it even more. Such is the case with Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca.

Many of Dirty Projectors songs and arrangements can be characterized as “disjointed pop.” Verses and choruses still exist, but in a world of odd time signatures, broken or twisted middles and endings, strange melodies, and completely unpredictable guitar playing. I would love to see “Temecula Sunrise” written out on paper just to see how bizarre it looks. Yet in this seemingly erratic landscape, there is a clear sensation of composition; everything is where it’s supposed to be. The guitar solo in “Temecula Sunrise” is peculiar in the least, yet sounds totally calculated. Singing duties are traded off between guitarist Dave Longstreth and his female compatriots throughout the album, with the ladies providing extensive harmonies behind Longstreth’s eccentric yelp.

It should be no surprise, then, that a band that enjoys rewriting the rules of popular song structure chose a sassy R&B love song as its first single, “Stillness is the Move”. Sure, why not? And it’s a great song! Middle track “Useful Chamber” is the epic, multipart centerpiece of the album, Longstreth shouting “Bitte Orca, Orca, Orca Bitte!” as the chorus. Ten minutes of internetting doesn’t help me figure out what he’s carrying on about, but I have no doubt that Longstreth is okay with the listener coming up with his own meaning. A flying killer whale? A line from a Greek tragedy? Whatever you want!

Actually, the most fun about this album is probably that quality exactly: it’s so non-linear and so amorphous that you have to make up your own meaning, have to approach it in your own particular idiom. Inexplicably, I find myself reacting rather optimistically to the whole affair. “No Intention” has me wanting to lie on a grass field and stare up adoringly at the sky for a reason I cannot discern.

So, in the end, I think this is an album of sheer creative energy that begs to be interpreted, and misinterpreted, and is ultimately best experienced as is without any pretensions. It’s ironic that such a “pretentious” sounding band can have such the opposite effect on me.

Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors

St. Vincent - "Marrow" (Live on Letterman)

St. Vincent's album Actor quite turned me off upon first listen. Though more recently it's grown on me like a fungus...an infectious, disease-causing fungus.

Dirty Projectors - "Stillness is the Move"

If you like llamas, you'll like this video. Most of Dirty Projectors' other songs don't really sound like this; they lie more in the uncouth, freaky pop category. Plus, on other tracks, their guitarist has a definite Jimmy Page-ness to his playing...always a good thing.

Video: Breakfast at Sulimay's

Produced by Woodshop Films, "Breakfast at Sulimay's" is an endearing music review show hosted by three retirees in a diner. To keep up with the kids, they review the likes of Eminem, Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Bat for Lashes, and so much more. Who better to give us insight into modern times than members of The Greatest Generation (well, Bill looks a tad younger than Ann and Joe). Joe's comments are the only ones that touch on any musical relevance (he also happens to be the most adorable of the bunch), but it's all pretty funny stuff. Here are episodes 18, 19, and 21, with a short breakdown and highlights of each:

Episode 18:
Common - "Universal Mind Control" (Ann: "they were just mish-moshin' it")
Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" (Bill: "I like it...cause I'm a sad person"; Ann: "generic American Idol")


Episode 19:
Eminem - "We Made You" (Ann: "it's cute")
Bat for Lashes - "Glass" (Ann: "belly rubbin' music"; Bill: "I felt like gettin' a massage")


Episode 21:
Dan Deacon - "snookered" (Ann: "I like the beginning with all the ding dongs")
Doves - "Kingdom of Rust" (Ann: "It's not Rascal Flatts, but it's pretty good")

Video: Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"

The incredibly creepy and, of course, weird video for Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks," featured on their new album Veckatimest (out May 26th). Why do all music videos these days have nothing to do with the song, add nothing to the quality of the song, and only serve to complete a New York art student's graduate degree requirements? Is there hope for the music video?

Video - Justin Timberlake + The Lonely Island(?) - "Motherlover"

Quite ridiculous...and quite hilarious.

Video: Modest Mouse - "Satellite Skin"

Here is the video for the new Modest Mouse single "Satellite Skin". If you find yourself scratching your head, maybe it helps to know that Director Kevin Willis also made Tool's "Stinkfist" video.  Then again, maybe it doesn't.

Album: Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care

Electronic music comes in all shapes and sizes. There’s the heavy, four-on-the-floor dance found at urban clubs, complete with seizure-inducing light shows (not to mention the ever popular, albeit grotesque, drunken make out). The dubious world beat groove heard spinning in a cheesy, dimly lit wine bar near you is actually tailored to dupe you into thinking that $15 for a martini is a reasonable price, maybe even cultured. And then there’s the avalanche of “chilled out” mixes (and remixes), which would be more aptly labeled “music for people in comas.” In short, there’s as much junk in electronica as in any other genre.

Junior Boys are indeed electronic artists, the vocals being the only discernibly non-digital element to their palette. Though, through focusing on melody and arrangements, they craft tuneful electronic music—knob twisters and samplers of the song-loving variety. 2006’s So This Is Goodbye is filled with tasty electronic morsels of song. It is music befitting the morning and the night; emotionally effective, never overdone. This is indeed Junior Boys modus operandi. And it’s not surprising the same tasteful production can be found on their newest, Begone Dull Care.

Though where So This Is Goodbye was more direct, Begone Dull Care plays with the format, extending beginnings and endings, adding space between verses and choruses, lending to a dreaded sense that maybe ideas were lacking in the studio. Yet, it is still very satisfying music, with some very memorable passages: the mellifluous verses on “Parallel Lines”, the soothing approach of closer “What It’s For”, and all of the superlative “Hazel.”

In an interview with Pitchfork.com, vocalist and co-producer Jeremy Greenspan shed some light on the album’s style: “One of the dilemmas in electronic music is how do you nurture the unpredictability of it and make it immediate? How can you do something that requires attention to detail but not over-analyze every decision? That's why the songs are so long and have these over-extended intros and outros. I wanted to say this is our process. This is us exploring some idea to the Nth degree…the record is about laying things on the table and discovering where we're at.”

Well, Begone Dull Care is not immediate, and it’s not exactly unpredictable either. It is a gratifying listen, just not Junior Boys’ career masterstroke.

Grade: B-

Begone Dull Care - Junior Boys

Video: Grizzly Bear - "While You Wait for the Others" on Later with Jools Holland

Another Grizzly Bear performance on Later with Jools Holland, "While You Wait for the Others," also appearing on the upcoming album Veckatimest.

Video: Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes" live on Letterman

Animal Collective dropped by Letterman the other day to perform "Summertime Clothes" off the marvelous Merriweather Post Pavilion. Freaky performance art included.

Video: Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks" on Later with Jools Holland

Grizzly Bear have come out of hibernation and will release the much-anticipated Veckatimest on May 26th. "Two Weeks" is on the album, performed live here on Later with Jools Holland. There is an unfortunate "Evaluation Copy" text over the video; it's annoying, but you'll get over it.

Video: Bat for Lashes - "Daniel" Live on Letterman

Because it's completely unnecessary, here's another live version of "Daniel" by oft-posted band Bat for Lashes. Hey, good content is good content.  And you get a little Dave banter, if you're into that sort of thing.

BvtO Album Pick: Bat for Lashes - Two Suns

Looking at the cover of Two Suns, you can't really tell what you're in for. All you can estimate is that it might include a song or two about dying stars and that it's easy to get carried away when toying with photoshop. It doesn't encapsulate the music, but it does reasonably outline it: a colorfully menacing melange of electronic and acoustic production surrounding a warm yet somewhat detached voice. Regardless of their visual art goals, Bat for Lashes aim to create cathartic, penetrating music; and they hit the mark dead on.

Much of album is filled with tension and uneasiness; a troubling sense that something malicious is lurking around the corner. Yet, it's almost a comfortable agitation, with singer Natasha Khan's breathy tenor gently guiding you through dark, unfriendly landscapes.  Lead single "Daniel" perfectly balances this odd mash of dread and coziness, propelled along by a fitting 80s pop pastiche. Though this is intentionally dramatic music, it never touches on melodrama, which is why it is ultimately so effective and engrossing.  The soft verses of "Siren Song" are spliced by an arresting, mountainous chorus, which may have sounded overdone in other, less-careful hands.  And some songs are just downright pretty: the piano ballad "Moon and Moon" is quite touching. There is also a suitable, neo-tribal quality to some songs: first track "Glass" false starts with a lullaby before a thundering drum line builds suspense for the chorus. "Two Planets" is similarly pushed along by a tribal drum pulse.  As for influences, it's hard not to think Bjork or Tori Amos when listening to Two Suns, but Khan has certainly found a voice and style of her own that is unique, not derivative. Besides, if any songwriter wants to make heart-stopping, cerebral music, tipping your hat to what amounts to female music royalty these days is not a bad idea at all.

Two Suns - Bat For Lashes

"Daniel"


"Moon and Moon" live on BBC2's The Culture Show

Video: Antony & the Johnsons - "Another World" live on Late Late Show

Antony [Hegarty] & the Johnsons performing the beautiful, haunting "Another World" from their recently released album The Crying Light on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Death Cab for Cutie - The Open Door EP

Many musicians' creativity is subject to dilution when mixed with fame and bulging wallets. Death Cab for Cutie have made some strong albums, notably Transatlanticism (their fifth) and Songs About Airplanes (their first). These albums exhibit a depth, subtlety, sincerity, and richness that DCFC haven't been able to tap into since. In the their last two albums (Plans and Narrow Stairs), they seem to be more concerned with being pop executioners than tender storytellers. Granted, none of their albums are truly breathtaking, but their particular brand of remorse-filled nostalgia struck a teenage chord that was hard to deny. Instead now we get songs like "I Was Once A Loyal Lover": undeniably bland college pop-rock. The lyrics have gone from poignant to dispassionate. The drums from adroit to dull.

To be fair, DCFC are just trying to write decent little ditties that you can hum along to as you go from your home to your school/work and back again. Death Cab are a band fit for the suburban middle class, where your biggest problem is not having a date on Saturday night. But because they've proven they can throw more emotional weight around than this, I expect more than what can be found on the unfortunately underwhelming The Open Door EP. *Sigh*

The Open Door EP - Death Cab f...

Video: The Thermals - "Now We Can See"

The single for Portland-based The Thermals' new album Now We Can See.

Video: M83 - "We Own The Sky"

This consest-winning fan video for M83's "We Own The Sky" (off last year's superb Saturdays=Youth) is filled with the same cheese found in most of M83's videos: young pretty people dancing in trendy clothing on anonymous hilltops or in high school dance halls. Yet, its makers have unbelievably managed to get the ever so notorious flying shapes into it! There's a conspiracy going on here and as soon as I get to the bottom of it, I will lobby to pass an international law banning flying shapes of any kind in any music video (or any motion picture of any kind, for that matter!)!! This means war.

Video: Bat for Lashes - "Daniel" Live on Later with Jools Holland (UK)

Here is a fantastic rendition of "Daniel" by Bat for Lashes on the UK show Later with Jools Holland. When it comes to live bands, the production quality for most tv shows is pretty piss poor, so it's nice to hear a perfectly dialed-in version of this great song.

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

@myspace

The Decemberists are not strangers to grandeur. In 2004, they released an 18 minute, 5-part EP called The Tain, even then getting recognition for its classic prog rock vibe. The Melville-amped song "The Mariner's Revenge" appearing on 2005's Picaresque was a fan-gathering success about revenge on the high seas. And 2006's release The Crane Wife contained no more than two separate 3-part songs: a bookending story about a lonely man's brief affair with a she-bird (unsurprisingly titled "The Crane Wife") and the murderous yarn "The Island". Since they have already done it before, it makes perfect sense that The Decemberists would once again weave an epic tale of love, murder, and revenge, dripping with folky sensibility, infused with classic rock panache for good measure. So we have The Hazards of Love, which compared to everything else before is more bloated saga than clever fable.

While "The Crane Wife" was wisely displaced by unrelated songs, The Hazards of Love is just one damn long song. Nothing breaks up the slow, linear progression of the story; each song just casually bleeds into the next. Momentum built up from one song is unceremoniously dashed by the next. Passages from earlier in the album are repeated, and then repeated, and then repeated ad naseum until you realize they have four tracks of the very same song, arranged slightly differently each time. Moreover, no single song really makes sense when plucked out on its own, either. The only track that actually feels like a "song", and is arguably the best moment, is the very last one dubbed "The Hazards of Love 4." (The irony is bludgeoning me). Finally, the band and lead man Colin Meloy forgo all the indulgent theatrics and just lay down a decent song.

Reportedly, Meloy's original vision was to write and perform a full-on Broadway musical containing the whole shebang: costumes, sets, props, and overacting. Instead we get the soundtrack for a musical that doesn't exist. When you think about The Hazards of Love this way, it becomes slightly less confusing (and confounding). On the other hand, maybe we should be thankful that only the soundtrack survived the brainstorming process, and now that they've got it out of their system, these guys can get back to doing what they do much better than this--writing good songs.

Hazards Of Love - The December...

Video: Phoenix - "1901" and "Lisztomania" on Saturday Night Live

There's a great line from an Animal Collective song called "Cuckoo" in which the discombobulated protagonist, before losing it all, cries out, "sometimes all I want is one favorite song/in two or three minutes/don't sing so long." That sentiment pretty much sums up my attraction to the songs of French band Phoenix. Why draw it out when you can hit your audience over the head with a memorable, smacking pop song? The gummier the better really. And therein lies the difference between good pop and bad pop: good pop actually makes you feel good, while bad pop causes brain aneurisms (see: Fergi).

Phoenix is putting out a new album called Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix on May 25th. I thought they did splendidly on SNL the other day performing "1901" and "Lisztomania", which both appear on the new album.

BvtO Album Pick: Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

I quite like Neko Case's new album Middle Cyclone. It's a logical follow up to 2006's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, albeit with less immediacy, but so very rewarding upon repeated listens. Her blend of dark storytelling and angelic vocalizations make for an unique experience indeed. And her loves songs are far from obvious, as this lyric can attest: "Carved your name across three counties/Ground it in with bloody hides/Their broken necks will line the ditch/'til you stop it, stop it/Stop this madness". I'm excited to finally get to see her live in June! 

In any case, I stumbled upon yet another music browsing website, Lala. This one's set-up pretty well for discovering music and buying it cheap if all you want is the MP3, which you can then use any way you want. Personally, I'm still a sucker for the good 'ol cd, but the prices are enticing. Anyway, you get one listen for free, so don't be confused when it don't work twice.

Middle Cyclone - Neko Case

Video: Andrew Bird - "Anonanimal" Live at Guthrie Theatre

Here is a live version of what I think to be the top track from Andrew Bird's most recent LP Noble Beast, "Anonanimal".

Video: Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta of Nerve"

The first single from Neko Case's new album Middle Cyclone. The cover for the album is quite silly, but we'll forgive her because of that stunning voice.



And in case you missed it...

BvtO Album Pick: Air France - No Way Down EP

Air France

No Way Down EP

@myspace

Air France are a duo from Sweden that craft simple, sweet, upbeat electronic music that can be used alternately on a dance floor or waking up in the morning.  I seem to use it more for the latter.  Particularly useful is the track "Collapsing at Your Doorstep" from the short but effective No Way Down EP, which was released in early 2008 (not actually available in the US yet).  I have found myself actually waking up with the "no...better...sorta like a dream" sample looping through my head; an equally soft and confusing way to start another day of consciousness.  So, if dreams often feel as real as life, is life also a dream?  What people do awake they also do in their sleep.  How can we prove that life isn't a dream?  Like I said, the song is effective.

Luckily, "No Excuses" is an antidote to the pedantic arm chair philosophizing caused by the previous song: a sunny beat with an optimistic melody, proposing that we should enjoy life while we've still got one to ponder about.  Fair enough.  Below you can find music videos of the above songs and I'll post others in the Becca Vs. The Octopus Radio side bar soon.

Happy dreaming!

PS: You may not be dreaming, but your brain is in a vat!

No Way Down - Air France

"Collapsing at Your Doorstep"


"No Excuses"

Video: The Walkmen - "Four Provinces"

The Walkmen's You & Me did not exactly elicit a fervor in me, but "Four Provinces" is a stand out track on the album. Directed by Bruno Levy, the video follows a young girl around the apparently gorgeous Kagbeni Mustang region of Nepal. Anybody know someone with a couch to surf on in Nepal?

Video: Fleet Foxes - "Mykonos"

Well, for a music video director, you really can't go wrong with flying shapes. In fact, I see far too many paper cut out shapes in music videos these days! So, it's a bit regretful that the video for Fleet Foxes' song "Mykonos" off their Sun Giant EP includes such stand-by creative tropes. Luckily, the song is anything but typical; quite beautiful really! And in a way, the animation melds nicely with the song. In the meantime, let's hope that bands take a stand against flying shapes in the future.

Video: Animal Collective - "My Girls"

The video for Animal Collective's "My Girls" from their recently released album Merriweather Post Pavilion definitely aims to discredit my belief that the band is more pop than psychedelia. It's a typical band-rocking-out-on-camera video, only the band is blackened out, and their stage appears to be in a hallucinogenic aquarium of some kind. It's certainly fitting. Though the song holds up completely on its own, with or without flying shape bubbles.

The band recently posted a tour schedule on their myspace page. Giggity giggity!

BvtO Album Pick: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavilion

@myspace

myanimalhome.net

Psychedelic music has often been given a bad rap.  Calling a band "psychedelic" usually conjures up images of stoned hippies lying motionless on a floor amidst lava lamps and strobe lights while Pink Floyd plays in the background.  This image is unfair, both to hippies and to Pink Floyd, but it nonetheless happens. Animal Collective have, too, often been labeled a psychedelic band.  While they are surely odd, they are closer to a pop band than a true freak out affair.  They experiment with sound, new technology, voice effects, the works.  Yet, at their core is an appreciation of delicious melodies, which are often to be discovered amongst the layers of bells and whistles. Merriweather Post Pavilion is their follow-up to 2006's Strawberry Jam, the first Animal Collective album I truly adored.  In comparison, Merriweather is noticeable less immediate than Strawberry Jam; it takes more than a few listens to hear the "hooks", to catch the aforementioned delicious melodies.  Its a more subtle and more patient album.  Though its equally rewarding and forward-thinking as anything they've done.  The band members may playfully identify themselves through pseudonyms--Geologist, Avey Tare, Panda Bear--but by merit alone, they are probably better songwriters than performance artists.  Either way you look at it, they are creating some of the most interesting music these days.

Merriweather Post Pavilion - A...