Saturday, November 28, 2009

LOGOS-Atlas Sound

Logos-
Atlas Sound
Label-Kranky
Status-Out as of 2009
2nd Studio Album
Rating-4 feathers

In 2008, an unfinished version of “Logos” leaked on to the Internet. So disheartened by the ordeal, Bradford Cox (of Deerhunter) almost canned the idea. Thankfully, he did not. Now, back under the name Atlas Sound, Bradford returns with his well-anticipated (and finished) 3rd album “Logos”.

The album starts with the very Sung Tongs/Feels-y ‘The Light That Failed’. It sounds like it is going to get nice and weird, but then after the first few seconds, it saunters into an incoherent drone. It does, however, set you up for a nice mellow trip through the brilliant and the tedious. Songs like ‘Criminals’ and ‘An Orchid’ take you to a bright, but calming place. ‘An Orchid’ especially gives you visual of walking through the woods with ‘Criminals’ providing the sunlight shining through. On the opposite end, ‘Attic Lights’ and ‘My Halo’ just go on and on and on.... They don’t really enlighten you because the intense calm just lulls you into a doze. There are some absolutely fantastic points like ‘Shelia’ and ‘Walkabout’. ‘Shelia’ sounds like an early 60’s pop song made in the late 60’s due to it’s simple guitar melodies and surreal lyrics with little experimental break downs. When I first heard ‘Walkabout’, I got filled with such an overt feeling of pure joy. It’s by far the perfect summer song. Bradford bringing Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) in for vocals was such a brilliant decision. With him, they were able to craft absolute magic. Unlike that collaboration, ‘Quick Canal’, with guest vocals by Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier, doesn’t do it for me. First off, it’s too long. It is 8 minutes of ultimately the same thing that would have benefited by cutting off a few minutes. Second off, I’m not a big fan of how she used her voice: it sounds very pretentious and over done with too much creepy. ‘Washington School’ and ‘Logos’ finish off the album on a very trippy fantastical note. ‘Washington School’ puts you in a little trance with it’s oh-so-catchy bassline and dreamy vocals, but kicks you out of it with ‘Logos’’s Julian Casablancas vocal impersonation.

Bradford Cox shows some serious potential with ‘Logos’. It creates a wonderfully calming atmosphere, while, for the most part, constantly keeping your attention with it’s weird pop melodies. Every song gives you something different while still sounding flawlessly cohesive. He will probably never escape the Animal Collective comparisons (for all I care he toured with them and now he has Noah Lennox as a guest), but I feel they’ll help him to branch out even further and create even weirder records.

"Almost everything you hear on the album is a first take. This makes it almost like a 'live album' where a band sets up in a studio and just rolls tape. There are songs on here I don't even remember recording."-Bradford Cox


Video for Quick Canal

Recommendations: An Orchid, Walkabout, Shelia
Atlas Sound's Official Website
Note: Sorry for the severe lateness of this. I hoped to get it out soon, but I just didn't have the time. I realized just now that the last review I wrote was Muse's 'The Resistance' and I can't believe it. For the next month, I will have atleast a Julian Plenti, Monsters of Folk, Bat For Lashes, and a Concert review out. Stay tuned, and thank you so very much for reading!

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Friday Thing: Spare-ohs by Andrew Bird

It's less than 20 minutes of this Friday but here we go: One day, I decided to look up Andrew Bird. Like many bands and singers I read about on various music blogs, I knew nothing about him. So, I went to La Blogotheque, and what do you know, he had a take-away show. Entitled 'Spare-ohs', this song is amazing. The whistling is done with such finesse, and his monotone-ish singing fits the tone perfectly. I am a sucker for folky type things, but I have a feeling he has more great stuff yet for me to find. Enjoy!


Spare-Ohs

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Friday Thing: Lua by Bright Eyes

Recently, I've been listening to a lot of stuff by Bright Eyes. I don't know, I just like it. I love Conor Oberst's sorta quirky pretentious folk, and I find it very calming. Just watching him on the Coachella movie after watching Arcade Fire go made this performance stick, and now I'm bringing it to you. I hope you enjoy!


Lua

Btw: Atlas Sound review out this week

New videos for In the Flowers by Animal Collective and Cousins by Vampire Weekend

About a week ago, I found out Animal Collective released a video for "In the Flowers", their mind-numbingly amazing 1st track off of this years Merriweather Post Pavilion. I didn't see too much talk about it, so I'm bringing it to you now. I don't like it. It's too trippy for me, and it's not a good fit for the song as "My Girls" or "Summertime Clothes" was. I think it'd be way hard to encase the song's glory in a video.


In the Flowers

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Unlike the last song, the new video for "Cousins" by Vampire Weekend is being talked about on numerous music blogs. The song gives hope that the album will be just as great as their debut. The video looks like they had a lot of fun making it and it fits the energetic-ness of the song perfectly! I hope you enjoy!


Cousins

Friday, November 13, 2009

The Friday Thing: Popcorn by Muse

I really hate not posting anything between Friday Things, I mean, I don't even know if anyone likes these, but I still post them hoping someone will. Anyway, Muse did a four song set for a French TV show called Taratata. They did a cover of Hot Butter's "Popcorn". It's so catchy, especially for an instrumental. It's one of the few covers where if I ever go to see Muse, I actually would enjoy it if they played it. They seem to like playing as much as you'll enjoy listening to it.


Popcorn

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Friday thing: Boy with the Arab Strap by Belle and Sebastian

A short time ago, I was watching the Coachella Festival movie. I had heard of Belle and Sebastian, but I really didn't know anything about them. I was pleased when they came up in the movie, and I quite enjoyed them. Their wholesomeness and how endearing they are is just too much. If this doesn't make you smile, even a little, nothing can.


Boy with the Arab Strap

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

New Video for Undisclosed Desires by Muse

Yesterday, Muse released the video for their second single 'Undisclosed Desires'. It's a good video, but it really does not fit with the song. I mean, when you listen to this song, you want to get up and move right? Well, apparently they thought that: the video features a dancer who looks like she was taken straight out of the Brianstorm video. Weird. Anyway, the video is decent, it just doesn't go with the song.


Undisclosed Desires