Some good new music at last
At the grand old age of 35, a person can feel impossibly out of touch with the music scene today. I should know. Having grown up browsing (and buying) records and CDs, I often feel sad that I can no longer bandy names of exciting new bands about with confidence, often having no idea at all what they sound like, just an inkling of what the music press had to say.
It's not that I don't try (The Thrills, The Concretes, Radio Dept, The Killers, Keane), but these days, I find new music doesn't connect immediately with me like a Kate Bush or EBTG CD might. Perhaps it's a lack of familiarity, or it could just be the generation gap. K.L. and I were just saying the other day that every decade that we can remember spawned distinct new genres of music (punk, New Wave, House etc), but not this decade. I'm tempted to agree that other than throwing up the exquisite Belle & Sebastian, the defining characteristic of the 2000s seems to have just simply been Retro - mixing up past trends in new ways (even B&S is said to be retro Nick Drake). Some people even say that this decade has just been about rock bands discovering that you can put a dance beat to guitars. But that could just be the grumpy, stubborn old man in me talking.
Anyway, to the topic of this post - new music that I bought recently that genuinely excited me, even if it excited me because it was cleverly retro haha.
First, The Arcade Fire, whose second album "Neon Bible" sported a cover I was immediately intrigued by. And after reading a few reviews (thank you atarashi), I grew even more curious about this Canadian band that has been described as "Baroque rock". Yes, it was extremely "multi-layered" as many trendy ensembles these days are, and yes they play intelligent classical instruments like the cello, the harp and the accordian. But oh the sound! At some points it was XTC in dub, then it was a little Elvis and a little Johnny Cash. Other times it sounded just like 4AD alt-country band Tarnation, and even a little like U2 - or rather what U2 might have sounded like if only they would stop churning out safe US adult contemporary rock. Very intriguing indeed.
Then, LCD Soundsystem's new album "Sound of Silver", which currently has the highest score on the excellent review site Metacritic (89 from 22 reviews!). I had heard about it from M., who told me he didn't like it because it was too "aggro". My goodness, it's a little bit Bowie, a little bit Nitzer Ebb and a little bit Talking Heads. It's The Cure set to hand-clappy disco, then it suddenly turns into early New Order meets early OMD. Astonishing! "Watch The Tapes" is Adam Ant stripped down, and the title track is Heaven 17 from their "Penthouse and Pavement" era. I had to play tracks like "North American Scum" and "Someone Great" over again just to confirm I was hearing what I was hearing.
Suitably humbled, my conclusion is that the 2000s still rock after all.
It's not that I don't try (The Thrills, The Concretes, Radio Dept, The Killers, Keane), but these days, I find new music doesn't connect immediately with me like a Kate Bush or EBTG CD might. Perhaps it's a lack of familiarity, or it could just be the generation gap. K.L. and I were just saying the other day that every decade that we can remember spawned distinct new genres of music (punk, New Wave, House etc), but not this decade. I'm tempted to agree that other than throwing up the exquisite Belle & Sebastian, the defining characteristic of the 2000s seems to have just simply been Retro - mixing up past trends in new ways (even B&S is said to be retro Nick Drake). Some people even say that this decade has just been about rock bands discovering that you can put a dance beat to guitars. But that could just be the grumpy, stubborn old man in me talking.
Anyway, to the topic of this post - new music that I bought recently that genuinely excited me, even if it excited me because it was cleverly retro haha.
First, The Arcade Fire, whose second album "Neon Bible" sported a cover I was immediately intrigued by. And after reading a few reviews (thank you atarashi), I grew even more curious about this Canadian band that has been described as "Baroque rock". Yes, it was extremely "multi-layered" as many trendy ensembles these days are, and yes they play intelligent classical instruments like the cello, the harp and the accordian. But oh the sound! At some points it was XTC in dub, then it was a little Elvis and a little Johnny Cash. Other times it sounded just like 4AD alt-country band Tarnation, and even a little like U2 - or rather what U2 might have sounded like if only they would stop churning out safe US adult contemporary rock. Very intriguing indeed.
Then, LCD Soundsystem's new album "Sound of Silver", which currently has the highest score on the excellent review site Metacritic (89 from 22 reviews!). I had heard about it from M., who told me he didn't like it because it was too "aggro". My goodness, it's a little bit Bowie, a little bit Nitzer Ebb and a little bit Talking Heads. It's The Cure set to hand-clappy disco, then it suddenly turns into early New Order meets early OMD. Astonishing! "Watch The Tapes" is Adam Ant stripped down, and the title track is Heaven 17 from their "Penthouse and Pavement" era. I had to play tracks like "North American Scum" and "Someone Great" over again just to confirm I was hearing what I was hearing.
Suitably humbled, my conclusion is that the 2000s still rock after all.
posted by rookcub at
9:22 AM
6 Comments:
you're welcome! :)
you should get both arcade fire and lcd soundsystem's first albums, they are good too
Yes, I'm definitely going to get those. And I think I'm ready to try Hot Chip now - I heard it on the listening post before, but it didn't have any context for me then.
Hot Chip are good, bleepy and melodic. their song 'Over and Over' was the summer indie disco hit of 2006.
from there, may i also suggest CSS (also known as Cansei De Ser Sexy), famous for 'Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above' . you can also try the band they refer to in their song, Death From Above 1979.
finally the latest darlings of the indie scene are 'nu-ravers' Klaxons. Can't say I really like them, but if you love LCD Soundsystem, you will probably dig them.
oh and also Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. their sound is closer to the Arcade Fire than the other bands I've suggested, so you will probably like them (the lead singer's voice is one of those types which people either love or hate).
Ok have checked out most of the bands you recommended:
CSS - HMV ran out of stock so I myspaced them. will probably buy the album because (a) it's bleepy-electro, (b) there's girly singing and (c) it's very hand-clappy - all things which turn me on haha
Klaxons - Quite good but they sound strangely like early Blur, except maybe more rave with grand KLF-type noises. Stopped short of buying it because it sounded too much like well... early Blur, which I already have.
Hot Chip - Fantastic, although the singer sounds creepily like Paul McCartney - which kinda adds to the slight "obiang party" feel for me. "Over and Over" is indeed very good and I play it well... over and over (sigh!)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Haven't tried.
Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem's first albums, I felt, didn't quite match up to their respective follow-ups. I felt "Funeral" was a bit too "epic rock" for me and LCD's first album was quite patchy - brilliant in parts but a bit boring in others... Maybe I'm too old, generation gap. Their new albums were cleverer and writing and arrangements way sharper. I truly love Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror".
I bought the Cut Copy album after listening to 3 tracks. Hopefully it turns out ok!
Thanks for the recommendations. Fascinating stuff...
again, you're welcome :) it's always nice to introduce great bands to fellow music fans (maybe cos in a way it makes me feel like i have good taste in music, bwahaha).
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