Snark and Reverb

Yes, it is that time of year again! CHRISTMAS TIME! So what are you to do as a music lover?! Why…play music of course. The difficulty is knowing which albums to get and / or how to compile a good album. I’ll be helping in both areas, but first, a little history:

Christmas Music

Christmas music has been playing during the Christmas season since the 13^th Century. But, what exactly is Christmas music? Christmas music is simply any music of any genre which is traditionally played, performed or heard during the Christmas season. The music usually deals with common themes such as the folklore and traditions surrounding the holiday. The music can have a religious overtone or it can simply be about the weather being cold. Thus, many songs not originally intended to be Christmas music have been [...] Continue Reading…

I really enjoyed the self titled debut album by Seattle’s Fleet Foxes.  Basically a giant B12 shot for pop music, it came in like a breath of fresh air.  At a time when the majority of introspective pop artists feature a whining quality, it was nice to hear pure, unadulterated singing.  Vocal harmonies, panning, counterpoint and substance; the whole bit.  This prequel has the band doing more of the same, thankfully, still with an abundance of clean guitar and instrument tracks, frequently juxtaposed against interesting miscellaneous acoustic instruments, which has garnered the group classification as “Baroque Pop“, further exasperating the freshness of this band, ironically.  Comparisons can and are drawn to such acts as CSNY, Neil Young, and others from years past.

The title track starts the album off with an a capella intro that has [...] Continue Reading…

Upon the very first trumpet note, “Back To The Land” oozes tone.  Syncopation, varying durational patterns, texture and of course turn-arounds are some of the devices used throughout.  Gillespie often uses muted and/or distorted notes to set against the rinforzando notes he interjects quite frequently, which themselves set to material held back, or ritenuto.  This is some heavy manipulation, and goes a long way to interject unadulterated emotion into the music.  This is one of the more emotional jazz albums I’ve heard, but not in an overtly exaggerated way.  There is never a sense the musicians are trying to explain how they feel to you; this feels more like an experience that the listener is made part of, right along with the band.  Put simply, when listening to this album, you will forget the world around you.  Gillespie is [...] Continue Reading…

Halloween approaches on the Gulf Coast, and a hurricane hasn’t decimated the Crescent City* this year, which means its time for Voodoo.  Yep, fun in the cool breeze New Orleans City Park, complete with the aromas of sugary alcoholic swill, golden fried shrimp, and tangy smoky schwag.

I was there this past weekend, and as usual New Orleans made it a fantastic time. We left Mobile Saturday afternoon, so with the two hour drive we only caught the evening acts, but the whole trip was just to see Nine Inch Nails. First up was Thievery Corporation. I could go the rest of my life without having that dreadie dude or that latina chick yelling at me through a sea of their dub lounge bullshit. Summed up real nicely when my friend Meribeth stood up, pointed at the stage and said “I’ve [...] Continue Reading…

Sometimes an album becomes a time in the listener’s life.  Its notes, its tone, and its lyrics become indistinguishable from that time’s hopes, fears, and epiphanies.  The National’s Boxer and the Fall of 2007 are such an album and time for me.  So as the temperature begins to drop and cool scented breezes begin to stir in the sweet sunny South, I thought it appropriate to revisit with a (somewhat) critical eye this album that inhabits the memories of a wonderful time in my life.

In short, I see Boxer as a late night album concerning the early evening.  The songs, cosmetically identifiable as mellow or calm, immediately lend themselves to quiet late night listening, but they also hold an urgency and subtle excitement , embodied in various forms from a nervous piano riff to post punky guitar crunching.  The characters [...] Continue Reading…

While a bit obscure stateside, Tatsuya Takahashi has offered up a gorgeous, meandering piece from the far east.  Much of the work of The Tokyo Union is in fact unavailable and/or hard to find in the U.S.  However, Scandinavian Suite can, for now, still be found in XRCD format online in the usual places.  It is an album that is probably best thought of as a jazz band filtered through superlative orchestration.

Things start out rather slow in part one;  “Midnight Sunrise.”  Mickey Yoshino’s synthesizer opens up with a delayed echo sweep of sorts, which is then joined by bass & piano, guitar and finally the rest of the band.  This appropriately sets the stage for the rest of the album.  It is made clear this is a “sum greater than the parts” affair, with everyone playing their part.  Its rather [...] Continue Reading…

I was in 12th grade AP Physics class, on the second floor of my hometown highschool. I think we had a substitute teacher that day, as we weren’t doing anything important. I had my Sony portable CD player (with ESS!!!), and a CD my friend Lawrence burned me inside it.

It Began in Afrika -ka -ka -ka -ka
It Began in Afrika -ka -ka -ka -ka
It Began in Afrika -ka -ka -ka -ka

I guess it would be more accurate to say it began in Physics Class -ass -ass -ass -ass. As funny as that is to say, the event was no laughing matter. I had my first taste of the Brothers, and my life was forever changed. That iconic disc, of course, was Come With Us. Since that time, we saw the release of Push the Button, and We are the [...] Continue Reading…