Music Exploration for 2/14

I averted disaster by inches this morning. I walked into my cube and apparently I hadn't left my headphones at work as I previously thought. My coworker Brian is out however, and stealing his headphones has been a common way of avoiding a boring day at work in the past. So we're up and running!

First up was Lungs (2009) by Florence and the Machine. Ever since I heard her single on the radio a couple months back, I've really found it to be particularly catchy and the vocal performance strong. Seeing her perform on the Grammys last night really lit a fire under me in terms of listening to more of her, and thus far I'm pretty impressed. Lungs has poppy hooks, a little bit of soul mixed in, and some nonstandard instrumentation thrown into the mix. The majority of Florence's songs are light and feature plenty of percussion, but usually a pretty buried bassline. Basically all the non-rhythm features of the music are provided by the vocals themselves, and occasionally a harp or what sounds like a xylophone/electric piano. At times, said vocals remind me of both Kate Nash (mostly in the inflections of her voice) and Bjork (during flourishes). All told, pretty good album. As a final note, how can you really not like eccentricity like this?



Artist: Florence and the Machine
Album: Lungs
Genre: Indie pop/rock
Hardness: 1-3
Rating: 7
Best Thing: Great voice and vocals. Fantastically done especially on the soul-inspired songs.
Reminds Me of: Kate Nash, Bjork


The next recommendation I got is Double Nickels on the Dime (1984) by the Minutemen. It's forty-five songs of punk-mixed-with-all-kinds-of-other-stuff. The majority of the songs are a minute or two long, a hallmark of punk. The vocals vary from spoken word over soft guitar melody to punk's trademark angry and matter-of-fact rasps. Many of the lyrics are oriented toward political concepts, rebellious as always toward war, materialism, and disillusionment in America. The title of the album itself is a reference to an imposed national speed limit of fifty-five, using it as a metaphor for being held back by authoritarian powers that be from one's real potential. What is pretty rare for a punk-rock album is the fact that the lyrics become positively abstract at times; metaphors in punk are rare enough, considering it's a staple of the genre to be pretty up front with your messages. Instrumentation is usually what you'd expect from a punk band, focusing on rhythm over all, though a funk influence can definitely be heard in the more complex basslines.

Artist: Minutemen
Album: Double Nickels on the Dime
Genre: Punk, Post-punk
Hardness: 2-4
Rating: 8
Best Thing: One to two minute songs are definitely easy on my ADD. Obviously, with 45 songs, you get plenty of variety. Also, Jackass theme is on here. Sweet.
Reminds Me of: Gang of Four, softer flavors of Rancid


Finally for today is Slint's Spiderland (1991). Basically the polar opposite of the last album, considering its songs generally come out to be 6-10 minutes apiece. The whole thing is a fairly standard post-rock affair, which makes a lot of sense - it was one of the first albums to be considered to fall squarely in the "post-rock" genre. It's pretty low key for the most part, but when it gets going, Spiderland tends to lend itself to plenty of distortion but also a lot of non-standard rhythm. Wailing guitars remind me of post-rock and shoegaze while the soft, repeating, and complex melodies seem to be forerunners of the math rock collective. Vocals appear a bit sparingly, but when they do, they tend to be soft and harmonic, blending into the background. It's fairly easy to see the connection between this album and its children. Slint in general and Spiderland in particular bridges a gap between post-rock's humble beginnings (Velvet Underground and various krautrock outfits) and its present, inspiring several high-profile bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky. Elements of ur-grunge can also be detected, particularly in "Nosferatu Man," where the lyrics are alternately spoken and shouted. Overall, a seemingly low-profile album thrust into the spotlight by its timing and innovation.

Artist: Slint
Album: Spiderland
Genre: Post-rock, math rock
Hardness: 1-5
Rating: 8.5
Best Thing: You can hear the influence of this album ooze from its lyrics and bassline and come thundering clear during the crescendo walls of sound near the end of several of the songs.
Reminds Me of: Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden