UMB Media Center Music Reviews

New Modest Mouse album is not a sinking ship...

2007-04-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Modest Mouse
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

It was a long wait from Modest Mouse’s 2004 breakthrough hit Good News for People Who Love Bad News; but We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank released on March 20, 2007 on Sony marks the return of the band, as well as a new line up.
Modest Mouse’s beauty has always had a peculiar sort of ugliness. At the root of Isaac Brock’s catchy backbone is a vengeful bark with dark lyrics made darker by the fact that they’re usually so incisive and smart. It might have been difficult for the band to bounce back from their huge, upbeat hit single “Float On,” which was even covered by Kidz Bop, but We Were Dead gets brighter without ever feeling formulaic.
The unexpected new member for front-and-center chiming guitars is the legendary Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr. Marr was originally called in to help Brock write songs but the two apparently got along well enough that Marr joined permanently. For those familiar with The Smiths, Marr’s influence will be obvious but to the rest of the world, it will still be just Isaac Brock and another incredible album.
With Brock and Marr together, the album was set into motion. Originally, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank was envisioned as a concept album about a boat crew that dies in every song, sadly, this is not the result. The first single off the album, “Dashboard” even features some horns and cinematic strings, and “Fire It Up” sounds like old-school Modest Mouse with a twist. Brock never seems shy about bouncing wherever he pleases. Another guest appearance on the album is James Mercer of The Shins for three tracks, the most prominent of which is the stunning “Florida.” We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is far from a sinking ship for Modest Mouse.
Blender says, “Is there another "Float On"? It scarcely matters: 10 years into their career, Modest Mouse have stumbled into their best album yet.” The Guardian agrees, "The Modest Mouse frontman has the kind of overbearing personality that seems to bring out the best in Marr: their collaboration on the band's fifth album is thrilling.”

http://www.modestmouse.com/ - Official Website http://www.myspace.com/modestmouse/ - For tour dates, band information, etc. http://www.amazon.com – To purchase We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

If you missed these in 2006...

2007-02-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

do not worry! there is still time to add these great ones to your album collection.

Top 3 Albums of 2006

Gnarls Barkley
St. Elsewhere

The highly anticipated debut album from the pairing of super-producer DJ Danger Mouse and rapper-singer Cee-Lo has had music lovers reeling since the album was released over six months ago, May 9. On St. Elsewhere, hip-hop is big and amorphous enough to include everything from a lively revamp of a new-wave classic to spookiness to trippy songs about necrophilia and feng shui. On most hip-hop albums, a cover of The Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone” would sound out of place, but no on this record. Gnarls Barkley has obviously stepped outside of the usual hip-hop box and created a record that shares a love of all spectrums of music on St. Elsewhere.
St. Elsewhere balances solid songcraft with free-floating weirdness. “Crazy,” and infectious, danceable exploration of mental illness built around a killer baseline, ghostly background vocals and disco-symphonic flourishes. Insanity seems to be a recurring lyrical theme on the album, “Just a Thought” is another example, but it isn’t all infectious songs about madness, death and “sexy suicide.” St. Elsewhere isn’t entirely without filler, but a brisk run time helps keep the disc from becoming overly self-indulgent. PopMatters describes the album as “The collaboration between sound technician Danger Mouse and astral soul brother #1 Cee-Lo Green is scattered and compulsive, a collective of voices in varying degrees of twitchy, restless (in)sanity competing for one mind. The New York Times says, “A manic, twisted soul album that’s part nostalgia and part dementia.” However you feel about the album, it is obvious that Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo took a chance and created an album for every fan of music.

http://www.gnarlsbarkely.com/ - Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/gnarlsbarkely/ - For tour dates, band information, etc.
http://www.amazon.com – To purchase St. Elsewhere

Cat Power
The Greatest

Despite the misleading title, The Greatest, released on January 24 on Matador Records, is not a best-of collection, but it is Chan Marshall’s first album of original songs in three years, and well worth the wait. The last album, 2003’s You Are Free, hit rock bottom and simultaneously reached an artistic apex. From there, there is no where else to go but up. For Marshall’s sophomore album, recorded in Tennessee, she enlisted players from Al Green’s old Memphis soul band. However, fans do not have to worry about great change on this album; The Greatest doesn’t compromise a beloved vision to fit an unlikely sound. Marshall’s heartsickness and passion is still very apparent in every note. Green’s old companions serve the songs with perfect restraint, adding color and textures that Marshall never would’ve found with indie-rock musicians, but that never cheapen the impact. Those who are looking for a sad song may be jolted by the refrain in “After It All,” when the piano kicks in and the sweetly whistled refrain, but this is just a happier case for a sorrowful song. The album continues this way, taking deep lyrics with a contrasting sunny background. “Empty Shell” could have been another entry in Cat Power’s deeply dark catalog but with the hoedown violins and smart backing vocals, it sound like classic country. The Greatest is obviously the result of Chan Marshall challenging herself to explore familiar themes with remarkable new dressing. Rolling Stone declare, “What’s remarkable about The Greatest is how much Marshall accomplishes without ever straining.” Spin says, “After only a few spins, The Greatest sounds like another masterpiece.”

http://www.catpowerthegreatest.com/ - Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/catpower - For tour dates, band information, etc.
http://www.amazon.com – To purchase The Greatest

Arctic Monkeys
Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not

Sheffield England’s pride and joy, Arctic Monkeys, was not only the most-hyped band of early 2006, their album Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not released on Domino Records on February 21, managed to accomplish what the likes of Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines couldn’t do before them: set the UK record for fastest-selling debut album of all time. However, don’t let the hype skew your point of view, it is a catchy record. “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” three minutes of nightcrawler frenzy that captures what it’s like to be young, hip, and on the make and everything that rock n’ roll is supposed to be. The song starts off in chaos and gradually stabilizes as frontman Alex Turner puts on his best Ziggy Stardust voice and sings about lust and hope. It is music to go nuts to. Song after song, “From the Ritz to the Rubble,” “A Certain Romance,” all return to the same nightclubs for the same set of cocky put downs and faintly misogynist come-ons, while the band creates a sound that seems to have been assembled from pieces of retro-minded rock acts like The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand. There is obviously a lot of hype behind this record based on the many times “Dancefloor” was downloaded off the band’s MySpace page, and no wonder it went straight to number one on the UK charts when it got an “official” release date in October, but even without the hype Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not is a good record. New Musical Express says, “Even if you’ve been fortunate enough to live with these tracks over the last year or so, they still sound more vital, more likely to make you form your own band than anything else out there.”

http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/ - Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys - For tour dates, band information, etc.
http://www.amazon.com – To purchase Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not

New Indie Music

2006-12-07T10:28:00.001-08:00

The Rapture – Pieces of the People We Love

After a long three years since the New York City quartet’s first LP, Echoes, the band returns with Pieces of the People We Love, released 9/12/2006 on Vertigo/Motown. The Rapture decided to drop their former producers, The DFA, and team up with Paul Epworth, who worked with Bloc Party, Ewan Pearson, and the DJ Danger Mouse, which was a very smart move for the band. In between an 18 month, hectic touring schedule, the Rapture recorded their sophomore full length and the ruthless efficiency shows through the straight up hipster dance attack that is Pieces of the People We Love, which makes the three-year hiatus well worth it. The first single off the album, “Get Myself Into It,” might be The Rapture’s best single to date. It is smooth and ultra danceable, with large amounts of bass and a horn hook that is impossible to ignore. Although the album isn’t very deep, with song titles like “Whoo! Alright – Yeah…Uh Huh,” but for what the album lacks in lyrics and profundity, it makes up for with fat bass, retro keys, and a funky dance record with guitars. Entertainment Weekly says, “It’s good to hear these hip-shaking hipsters cutting loose with such abandon” While Rolling Stone says, “Lots of cowbell. Lots of Bass.” Pieces of the People We Love was worth the wait.

http://www.therapturemusic.com/ - Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/therapture - For tour dates, band information, etc.
http://www.amazon.com - To purchase Pieces of the People We Love

TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain

TV on the Radio’s highly anticipated sophomore LP was released on 9/12/2006 on Interscope Records (which is also their major label debut). The band, based out of New York, is constantly changing shape and exploring endless possibilities, which makes it hard to pinpoint the band into a certain genre. Whatever type of music you classify the band into, it is obvious that TV on the Radio has talent and a sound that makes the listener lose themselves, and this not any different on Return to Cookie Mountain. The opening track, “I Was a Lover,” establishes that there are no rules on this album. At times, the experimentalism of the song seems almost improvised, but the sound just seems to click. On track five, “Wolf Like Me,” the song is more organized, with steady drumming and melodic chord progression. Return to Cookie Mountain continues throughout this way, with an experimental song that lack rules, and then a complete contrast into a song that has structure and melody, keeping the listener on their toes. The album even includes the song “Tonight” which features David Bowie. According to the New York Times, “It’s more experimental yet catchier, more introspective yet more assertive, by turns gloomier and funnier, and above all richer in both sound and implication. Return to Cookie Mountain is simply one of this year’s best albums.”

http://www.tvontheradio.com/ - Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/tvotr -For tour dates, band information, etc.
www.amazon.com - To purchase Return to Cookie Mountain

Cursive – Happy Hollow

Tim Kasher, Cursive’s frontman, has always had change on his mind, and Happy Hollow released on 8/22/2006 on Saddle Creek Records is no different. The post-punk band has reinvented itself a few times over the past decade with the changes usually coming after a short-lived breakup. However, as seen with 2000’s Domestica, which transformed the band from a typical emo band into a forceful, D.C. style post-punk band, and then again with 2003’s The Ugly Organ, which added a cellist and the songs grew more complex with subtle experimentalism, the change continues with Happy Hollow. Now, after a Cursive breakup that allowed Kasher to focus on his side project, The Good Life, the band reconvened in summer 2005, which resulted in another fiery and intense album with a lot of change: the cello has been replaced with horns and the personal, emotional lyrics that have been seen in prior albums have been replaced with a concept that hits close to every listener’s heart; about the perils of religious fundamentalism in a small town. With Kasher’s folky background, each song tells a story about a controversial topic, like the origins of the Earth in “Big Bang” or war in “Flag and Family,” and others. However, with the horns and dynamic post-punk guitars, Happy Hollow is dark and far from folky. Alternative Press says, “Even if you can’t fully grasp the disc’s existential subject matter, Happy Hollow is still a pleasure on the ears.”

http://www.cursivearmy.com/ - Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/cursive - For tour dates, band information, etc.
http://www.amazon.com - To purchase Happy Hollow