New Circa Survive Song: "Imaginary Enemy"

Circa Survive just posted a new stream-able song, "Imaginary Enemy", on their website. When Circa first broke the news on their upcoming third studio album, we got to hear the first track from the album, "Get Out". I wasn't too impressed with that song, but "Imaginary Enemy" restores some of my hope in the album. Let's hope they've still got something better to show us though. Blue Sky Noise will be released April 20th, 2010.

stream "Imaginary Enemy" here

and let's not forget about the free streaming of Jónsi's Go available right here on NPR, or on Jónsi's myspace, depending on whether you are a cool British guy or not.

[currently listening to: Tornado - Jónsi]

Jónsi on NPR's "All Songs Considered"

One of my very favourite people, Jónsi, was featured on this week's edition of "All Songs Considered" on NPR. This show contains a wonderful forty-five minute interview and a collection of songs chosen by Jónsi. From January's WNYC interview, we already know Jónsi grew up listening to a lot of Iron Maiden, but now he also reveals some other musical interests and influences, including Billie Holiday (who he enjoys singing along with), Alessandro Moreschi (whose music is sort of a background soundtrack in his life), and Django Reinhardt (a famous castrato singer). I wouldn't expect anything more eccentric. Host Bob Boilen also plays two songs ("Animal Arithmetic" and "Tornado") from Jónsi's upcoming solo album, Go. We get to hear Jónsi talk a bit about his early introductions to music, his process of recording, his thoughts on his own music, and many other interesting things. It's quite worth its entire 45 minutes, so go listen!

[download on this page]

You can also now stream "Go" in its entirety on the NPR website right here (until the album's release, April 6th).

[12 days till I see Jónsi live <3. Tomorrow I'm seeing a screening of Animal Collective's new visual album/movie ODDSAC. Should be fun.]

[currently listening to: Sinking Friendships - Jónsi]

American Ghetto - Portugal. The Man

Nothing really screams “summer” like a new Portugal. The Man record. For me, this is very easy to say, as I was first introduced to PtM through The Satanic Satanist, when it was released last July. I had this gorgeous 11-track album on heavy rotation for months after I initially heard it. File it under “love at first listen”, I guess. Satanist quickly became the soundtrack to (the rest of) my summer and easily slid into slot number 2 on my best of 2009 list.

Yet somehow, not even 8 months have passed since Satanist’s release, and these guys are eagerly handing us another album like it’s no biggie. And it’s really not. Since the band first formed in 2004, they’ve almost effortlessly put out a new album every year, with an EP thrown in here and there for good measure. And each year they’re revving up their productivity even more, now, almost so it seems that American Ghetto came too fast. When explaining PtM’s spontaneous new release, vocalist John Gourley said in a post on the band’s website, “American Ghetto was an album that, though drum machined and programmed and synthesized, maintained a lot of feeling and the soul and heart of what this band is.” True to his word, the band’s music seems to sustain, if not exceed, their regular quality of work given a shorter time frame. They’ve just got this shit down.

To be completely honest, it’s really hard to level up any two PtM albums side by side. The band writes incredibly consistent albums— consistently incredible, that is— so even if you find anything to pick at it’s more likely the general direction of the album instead of a minor detail. I haven’t yet been disappointed by any of their albums and Ghetto is no new exception. From start to finish, they’ve created yet another masterpiece in which the threads are weaved together perfectly, allowing the album to throw forth its brightest colours and dance like crazy as the sunlight reflects them from above.

As far as influence goes, Ghetto echoes Satanist’s captivating pop sound more than anything else the band has released. But besides that faint vibe, Ghetto heads off into territory yet undiscovered by PtM; a world where synths dominate layers of muddled guitar and work with Gourley’s ever-catchy vocals to give a new name to Portugal. The Man as far as pop is concerned. Only during “The Pushers Party” does Ghetto temporarily remove its mask and explode into a Satanist-esque jam (that’s hard to pronounce). The rest of the time, the album jumps out with catchy tracks like “All My People” and “The Dead Dog” or the melancholy “Some Men”, which remind us that PtM has lost none of their songwriting talent whilst straying from their traditional sound.

Ghetto doesn’t maintain its strength through its entirety quite as well as Satanist did. Around “Fantastic Pace” and “Do What We Do”, the album actually stumbles a bit, despite starting off so strongly. But I think it makes up for this with the last three tracks, particularly “When The War Ends”. Satanist honestly could have spun up a better ending after repeatedly setting such high standards, but Ghetto’s finale actually lives up to its name. “When The War Ends” almost mimics “People Say” ’s uncertain attitude with its own matter-of-factly-ness, perhaps suggesting that American Ghetto is a more mature Satanist. Is it? Well, I dunno, but I love this song and I sure can’t wait till summer, because Portugal. The Man during the summer is the shit.

[download "The Dead Dog" ]

Rating: 8.5/10

(And if you are wondering, Satanist gets an 8.8 in my book)

PtM RETWEETED THIS. I LOVE YOU -->

[currently listening to: In Response to Irresponsibility - Algernon Cadwallader]

Heligoland - Massive Attack

Like many artists, electronic masterminds Massive Attack (known by their stage names as Daddy G and 3D) have been known to take multiple years in between releasing their albums. Sure, they manage to fit several soundtracks and compilations inside those gaps of time, but the true masterpieces we patiently await for are their studio albums. The last Massive Attack album given to us was back in 2003. Released as both a follow-up to the godly Mezzanine and also a solo effort by 3D (after some lineup struggles), Protection was considered shabby and disappointing by some. Now, 7 long years after Protection and over two decades since the duo first arrived on the scene, we are given Heligoland.

I’m a little young to have observed the growth of anticipation for this album, but I suppose that after 7 years there is much to be expected from this group. I think I’m also safe to assume that no one was actually expecting another Mezzanine. There are few artists who can repeatedly top their best work, let alone do it once. But does Heligoland even stand up to Massive Attack’s other albums? Driven by repetition and maintaining a fairly low-profile for the majority of its 52 minutes, Massive Attack’s latest has mainly been beaten to the ground with words like “unimpressive” and “disappointment” (but also received some occasional praise).

The album opens up on a somewhat weak note with “Pray for Rain”. This song mainly rides along its repeating piano-drum pattern (very bland compared to the lush electronic sound we typically associate with Massive Attack), but later rises into a haunting crescendo of ‘oooh’s and ‘ahhh’s. Though slow, the progression through the song eventually becomes rewarding. This climax, however, is completely ruined when the song decides to return to what it was doing at the beginning, allowing us to forget about everything that happened in between.

Disappointingly enough, “Pray for Rain” is sort of a set up for the entire album. Most of the tracks don’t stray from the boundaries they set up at the beginning, putting the listener at a distance instead of inviting them closer. And if they do manage to break new ground, they won't develop on it, but instead run back whimpering with their tail between their legs. “Girl I Love You” may be one of the few exceptions to this general direction of Heligoland. It sings, it doesn’t whisper (take this as literally as you want, the vocals on half the songs sound very laidback and uninterested). Built from thick bass tones, a chorusing brass ensemble, rickety percussion, and all topped with vocals from Massive Attack favourite, Horace Andy, the song draws back to a familiar Massive Attack sound, while also entering a new, exotic territory. The album’s first single, “Splitting the Atom”, a dark droning number, exhibits some of Heligoland’s love of repetition, but uses it to establish its eerie atmosphere. Even though it's not as outspoken as "Girl I Love You", it's still one of the greater highlights of the album. But I do have a feeling that it would lose its charm if it had been placed later in the tracklist and allowed to be overdriven with the monotony of the entire album.

Songs like “Flat of the Blade” and “Saturday Come Slow”, however, are just dull and struggle to contribute something of substance to the album. “Rush Minute” is a total callback to Protection-era sound, perhaps it’s the child of “Small Time Shot Away” and “Name Taken”. Though their child is not disappointing, it fails to try anything its parents haven’t already accomplished. It seems like Massive Attack has forgotten how to make their music as emotionally impacting as it was before. Nearly every song on Heligoland lacks the spark that their older music had.

“Paradise Circus” almost gets away with its restrained vocals and laid-back sound, had not the majority of the album already tried that. On “Paradise Circus”, these elements seem to add to the song’s direction and create a timid-yet-edgy mood. The song could work well as quieter moment on another album, but in this situation the impact of its soothing simplicity is less memorable since Heligoland provides it with nothing it can suppress.

Despite weaving through undeveloped and mediocre moments, Heligoland still manages to catch itself and deliver a strong closer. Like “Rush Minute”, “Atlas Air” is also reminiscent of an earlier Massive Attack; a cross between the moody ambience of Protection and Mezzanine’s dramatic compositions. Del Naja’s (3D) vocals form a slick, catchy melody against the electronic-laden track, and the whole song is rather comforting and pleasant to hear at the end of the album. It may not be as epic and moving as “Group Four”, but it’s a very well-rounded finish. (It’s a shame Heligoland featured so little vocal appearances by 3D and Daddy G though. This album became much more of a ‘guest-vocalist party’ than Massive Attack’s other albums).

With some reassurance from the last track, Heligoland proves to be less of a tragedy to live through than it has been credited to be. In fact, it’s in no way a disastrous album. It’s that lack of disaster, disagreeable or pleasant, (a pleasant disaster?! What’s that?) that makes it mediocre in the end. It’s neither a stain to Massive Attack’s reputation nor a new source for praise and admiration. I’ve found it to be most enjoyable when the songs are listened to individually instead of all at once, since none of them adhere to make the album strong as a whole anyway.

Rating: 6.5/10

(Way to post this a month after it's relevant, right?)

[currently listening to: Better Things - Massive Attack]