Miike Snow: Happy To You

      The members of Miike Snow are pop-music geniuses, plain and simple.  Few producers have the capability to create such wonderful pieces of commercially accessible music.  After producing dabbling in top-40 production with the likes of Britney Spears,  the groups self-titled debut created a huge buzz in the indie pop world, it its impeccable sense of melody and tactful song structure.  Last week, Miike Snow came out with their sophomore effort, Happy To You.

    All the elements of Miike Snow are present.  Listeners will welcome the warm electropop production and catchy hooks.  The first three songs' bubbly charm show create the dance party that Miike Snow is known for.  Unfortunately, the album loses steam after this.  

     The group is clearly trying to break free from some of its commercialism, and for that, should be commended.  They use more instrumental layering rather than the thick beats of their debut.  The band uses lush orchestras and guest cameos, such as Lykke Li, to create a moodier album. The contagious sing-a-alongs are exchanged for different sheets of sound blanketed over one another.   The issue with this, is that their assigned genre (indie pop), is already a credible musical school, and creativity and talent can often lie within the accessibility of an artists' work.  The greatness of Happy To You is present within the album, but lost in the avoidance of the mainstream.  The catchy hooks and head-bobbing beats are buried away within the albums attempts at innovation.  Happy To You is by no means a bad album, nor a boring one;  there are many highlights interspersed throughout the album.  Rather, it is a just an album that fails to highlight the talents of a great team of musicians.   The album is worth a listen, just do not expect the gold medal product of the Miike Snow debut. 

The Shins: Port of Morrow

    In 2010, James Mercer, lead vocalist and guitarist of The Shins, teamed up with famed producer Dangermouse to create Broken Bells, an outstanding project intertwining the duos two respective styles.  As incredible as the endeavour was, however, it posed one significant problem:  It distracted one of indie rocks greatest pioneers and songwriters.

     Then, with a great sigh of relief Port of Morrow hit the public.  The album, The Shins first in nearly six years, combines all elements of Mercer and crews musical proclivities. Ports of Morrow is a tactful melange of the sprightly guitar driven rock of his early work, and the detailed production of the last effort, Wincing the Night Away.  The production, however, is not overbearing, every added note has its place, and is inserted with grace and thought:  it is detailed, but not over-produced. Despite the band's attention to detail, they did not forget the accessible tunes that made them acclaimed. Underneath the layers of instrumentation, are simple, great, pop songs. 

     Lyrically, Mercer picks up right where he left off.   Port of Morrow shows that despite his forays into different genres, Mercer is still able to match the perfect words to the music, and offer witty yet insightful couplets.  He has no big-picture, Dylan-esque, acumen, but his lyrics are heartfelt and clever.   His talent has not lost steam.   

     Indie rock has come a long way since the last Shins album,  and there was inherent risk of the band being left behind.  With Port of Morrow, however, Mercer and his gang show that their brief venture from the limelight has not affected their ability to be innovators of the genre they helped create.  Truly a great record!



 

WZRD: WZRD

   

     The principle target in the hip-hop world is "the flow:" the steady and accessible stream of beats and thoughts that come together to create a song.   For Kid Cudi's newest project WZRD (himself and producer Dot Da Genius), the traditional flow takes back seat to emotive ambiance, and alternative rock.
     With WZRD, Cudi shows his love and knowledge of Rock and Roll, as the entire album is guitar driven, and sung more than  rapped.  Kid Cudi is very forthright regarding his love for alt-rock, and it has always been in evidence within his production and vocal style.  The imperfections of Cudi's voice add to his, now trademark, flawed persona, and work well for him.  His voice perfectly blends with the heavy instrumental layering within the album.  The heavy droning rock, combined with Dot's subtle hip-hop beats create an ominous, industrial, vibe that successfully separates itself from both the rock and the rap tag, creating a brand that is truly original.
     Many critics, along with nominal Cudi fans, will cast WZRD aside for its avant-garde style, and lack of Man on the Moon type hooks.  Those who do, however, are losing focus on the true nature of the project.    WZRD is an exercise in personal creativity and innovation, binding all the elements of Cudi's past to develop a new, unique style.   

Todd Snider: Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables

     

     Renowned singer/songwriter Todd Snider returns with a new album, that continues to show his slow, gradual, and tactful musical progression, with his new album, Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables.  For his latest release, Snider abandons his laid back folk sound for an alt-country grunge.  Snider still uses each song as a platform for a great story, but the stories are more tempestuous, to match the music.  Electric riff rock swirls around his decries of religion and politicos.  The music fuels the fire of Snider's outlandish and dire tales.  He still throws curveballs, however.  Case in point being "Precious Little Miracles," which lulls you into peaceful contentment before explicating the gross injustices between rich and poor.
     Despite the progression of Snider's music, fans will still appreciate Agnostic Hymns expected boxcar grandeur.  Throughout the album, songs frowning upon the system, and smiling upon getting high, are peppered throughout.  Snider's aforementioned grungy electricity enhances the stories being told.  Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables shows that, although he is more aged and mature, is still the same troubadour that has been lighting the mainstream on fire for almost two decades.

*apologies for the poor quality of the videos.  not many links available.

Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Anders Parker, Will Johnson: New Multitudes

     

    Originally announced as a Jay Farrar solo album, New Multitudes gained steam, and collaborators, quickly.  Created as a Woody Guthrie tribute album, the various artists were handpicked by Farrar and Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter.  These artists were carefully selected to add modern instrumentation to Guthrie's posthumously unearthed, handwritten, archives. 

     The group unifies on this project amazingly.   Their collective proclivity towards alt-country, New Multitudes has a predominantly folk backbone, but there is clearly mutual respect towards each member's personal style.  The stylistic differences are refreshing to the listener, as haunting strings transition seamlessly into jangly, gritty, street rock.  The member's contrasting musical genres allow for the perfect background for Guthrie's words.  Each note is created with a specific participant in mind.  The four members did an irreproachable job putting the perfect instrumentation to the lyrics, breathing life into the words and making Guthrie seem as the fifth member of the band.  When taking on an endeavor, there is a risk of overdoing it, turning Guthrie's words into rambling, aimless songs.  New Multitudes flawlessly work Guthrie's words into the music, always conscious of when each song should end.  The end result is as unique and remarkable as the man they pay tribute to.  Woody would be proud.  Easily one of the best releases of 2012.

The Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the

     

      Love at the Bottom of the Sea marks the first new release on  the The Magnetic fields traditional label in over twelve years.  The Boston based synthpop quartet has clearly spent the time honing their talent for creating concise, eccentric, pop songs.   After the band made a conscious point to have a "no synth trilogy," with their previous albums, The Magnetic Fields have brought their synths back with a vengeance.  The opening song,  "God wants us to wait," resurrects the band traditional sound after their foray into formalistic rock. The Magnetic Fields do not really explore new ground on Love at the Bottom of the Sea, but rather picks up where they left off on their old label.  There are not many curve balls on Love at the Bottom of the Sea, but that clearly was not the group's intentions.  For this album, they made a release that reinforces the band's position at the top of the indie pop food chain.

Andrew Bird: Break It Yourself.

     

     Andrew Bird, folk rocker from the Windy City, has long been a frontiersman of the neo-folk movement.  His knack for creating concise,  heartfelt folk songs.  For his seventh album, Break It Yourself, Bird continues his typical M.O, but strips his songs down.  Break It Yourself still has the sweet songs, good-natured lyrics, and omnipresent whistling, but lacks the grand flourishes and eccentric time signatures of some of his earlier works.   Bird's latest opts, instead, for languid acoustic tunes, accompanied by a sparse band, and just enough effects to accentuate how minimal the album really is.  Bird's thesis of album is most pronounced in "Hole in the Ocean Floor," where he sings softly over melancholy violin, and little else.  Break It Yourself is devoid of the musical layering that Bird has utilized in the past, but the emotive qualities of the album is still in full force.  Some fans may find themselves bored by the lack of effects and instrumentation to the album, but hopefully most ears will be able to look past that to see how gentle and lovely Break It Yourself really is.