Alex's Pick
Tame Impala - Innerspeaker [Deluxe Edition] - 2011
4/5 Stars
Psychedelic hypnotic-groove rockers, Tame Impala, hail all the way from Perth, Austrailia. Their recently released album,
Innerspeaker, can be compared to Strawberry Fields Forever-era Beatles, early MGMT and the more satiated side of The Black Angels. Solid record from start to finish. Noteworthy songs : "It's Not Meant To Be," "Desire Be Desire Go" and "The Bold Arrow of Time." www.facebook.com/tameimpala
Scott's Pick
The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello) — World Wide Rebel Songs
4/5 Stars
When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker decided to make stripping union rights his first priority upon entering office last winter, Tom Morrello was one of the first in line to give him hell. He immediately wrote protest songs and traveled to the state's capitol in February to fight — producing the album
Union Town and helping, with many others, to make Walker's political longevity as promising as Snooki becoming a brain surgeon. Instead of laying off Walker and other union-terrorizing politicians, Morrello, as the Nightwatchman, released his second album of the year,
World Wide Rebel Songs, a super intelligent and angry full-length disc that doesn't just aim to kick these white-collared zeros in face when they are crawling around scrapping for supporters, but uses the powerfully charged tracks as an attempt to slice a jugular or two. He keeps the songs fresh with not only some of the best protest lyrics I've heard in a long time, but also with his ability to pair optimistic, warm instruments with confident, pissed-off and relatable lyrics. "Are you going to stand around, or are you going to be free," the harvard grad and former Rage Against The Machine guitarist growls on the title track. He's the true working-class hero. A modern day Thoreau, except he isn't afraid to refer to today's tyrants as motherfuckers. Key Tracks: "Black Spartacus Heart Machine," "Save the Hammer for the Man," "World Wide Rebel Songs."
Matt's Pick
Decemberists - “Calamity Song" (Video)
4.5/5 Stars
Like a lot of longtime listeners, I was thrilled when the Decemberists, darlings of the sweater-vest-and-thick-glasses set, took a healthy step back from the prog-folk excesses of 2009’s
The Hazards of Love with this year’s
The King is Dead. There aren’t even any songs about pirates or chimney sweeps, just pure, sparkling songcraft and ecstatic wordplay. (With a few ballads, like the criminally ravishing “June Hymn” thrown in.) I’ve been telling people it’s the best R.E.M. album in 20 years, which is entirely appropriate since guitarist Peter Buck guests on a few songs.
This week, the band premiered the new video for “Calamity Song,” with Mr. Buck himself dealing the old-school “Reckoning” jangle. And the video, directed by Parks & Recreation’s Michael Schur, is a wonder. There’s certainly a lot of overlap between the Decemberists’ fanbase and that of the late revered cult author David Foster Wallace, and the “Calamity Song” video is a meticulous recreation of a crucial scene from Wallace’s magnum opus, the sprawling Infinite Jest. The song itself is a whimsical look at Apocalypse, with a wildly catchy melody, and the lyric already included an Infinite Jest reference. (“...in the Year of the Chewable Ambien Tab.”)
Schur introduces the audience to Eschaton, Wallace’s insanely elaborate fictional sport played by the students of an elite tennis academy (did you know those were a thing?). The kids simulate a global nuclear war on a tennis court, with tennis balls standing in for missiles. Naturally, this requires extremely complex computerized scoring, and naturally, the band sits and watches from courtside. And naturally, since all’s fair in love and thermonuclear exchanges, the scene devolves into farcical chaos.
IJ geeks will love the spot-on details, like the referee’s color-coded propeller beanies, and the fact that singer Colin Meloy is clearly standing in for Michael Pemulis, the novel’s tragic Falstaffian sidekick, with his jaunty sailor’s hat. Wallace wasn’t the hippest guy in the world, but I feel like he would have liked the Decemberists, with their nerdy charm and love of language. And he’d have loved to see one his tour de force comic set pieces brought to the screen. There’s joy in the End of the World, and Schur and the Decemberists make it look pretty fun.
(The video’s not embeddable, sadly — but check it out at
npr.org.)
Christy's Pick
Headed For The Ditch: A Michigan Tribute to Neil Young - Various Artists
4.5/5 Stars
Like indie music and bands including The Hard Lessons, Saturday Looks Good to Me and The Casionauts? Check out a fairly new compilation album which pays tribute to Neil Young featuring indie bands from Michigan.
Headed For The Ditch: A Michigan Tribute to Neil Young with tracks including "Soldier", "Southern Man", "Barstool Blues", "Saddle Up the Palomino" and "Hey Hey, My My" provides a look at the different progressions in Young's career. The album is Lower Peninsula Records' debut release and is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl with a 16-page hand-sewn booklet with handwritten notes from participating artists. Check it out here www.lansingscene.com/lprecords.
Julian's Pick
Foster the People - Torches
3/5 Stars
Okay, this entry normally should be tossed due to radio overplay of a certain single and the popularity from the certain single with the college hipster frat and sorority set. But fuck it, the album is addictive and actually really stellar. Besides "Pumped Up Kicks" (that certain single) there are quality tracks that are both fun to dance to and musically badass. Foster the People are definitely following the sounds of MGMT, by producing tunes with hip electronic beats and clever lyrics that often get hidden behind the danceparty-way they are presented. The first track "Helena Beat" is parallel to their first single in terms of catchiness but far less repetitive and crescendos into more of a riotous ending. "Waste" is an intelligent little diddy again with a club-like kick. And the closing track "Warrant" will undoubtedly make you want to start boogying. My favorite track has to be "Houdini" — again super catchy and I want to know how the lead singer stretches his vocals during the verses. Hate to admit it — for some reason, I'm so jeal. The band is legit, at least for their first album. Hope they are like MGMT and continue to grow despite overexposure.
