Weekend, Sports

This album would have landed squarely within the top 15 of my "Best Albums of '10" list had I been ambitious enough to follow through before the stroke of midnight on December 31st.

Instead, I'll just tell you about it now.

I'm still a bit confused about the title; Jock Jams this is not. The entire length of Sports is full of droney, space rock. Joy Division and Interpol are a couple bands I'd liken Weekend's sound to. Weekend's strongest components are its rhythm elements. Prominent and melodic bass lines and lots of drums. Vocals and guitars are used mostly as additional layers of sound.

I've listened to this album at different times, and I've found it to have an odd chameleonic effect. When I'm in a crappy mood, Sports echoes my sorrow, and when I'm feeling optimistic, the album has been uplifting (unlike the Antlers, whose music just depresses me no matter what).

Additional note: if you like to listen to music while bathing, this stuff is perfect...above- and below-water aural differences seem to be minimal, ha!

Sufjan Stevens, All Delighted People

Last month, seemingly out of the blue, indie darling Sufjan Stevens released his All Delighted People EP. Almost simultaneous was the announcement that he would release a full-length record as well. Titled Age of Adz, the album will be released on October 12, 2010.

I have downloaded All Delighted People and was, indeed, delighted by it. A couple singles from Age of Adz have also hit the airwaves, and that project seems just as promisingly wonderful. Alternative radio stations are abuzz about Sufjan, and so it's made me wonder, "Who is this person, creating such a stir and so recklessly purging all this music out to the masses?"

Sufjan certainly is an intriguing figure. I've compiled some interesting facts, gathered from careful research (Wiki really). Read on to find a bit more about the man:

• Sufjan's label, Asthmatic Kitty, is a family affair. He and his stepfather founded the label in 1999, and named the business after their kitten Sara. Both the label and the kitty were based in Lander, Wyoming due to the latter's need to breath thin, dry air.
• Sufjan (SOOF-yahn) was not named by his parents. The founder of the spiritual community Subud gave him his name, meaning "comes with a sword." Sufjan's parents later gave him the option to change it, but he couldn't think of anything better.
• Sufjan seems to have a strong fascination with animals. Label name aside, his work was greatly effected by the sudden death of his childhood dog, and he's written a song about the supposedly extinct ivory-billed woodpecker.
• The title of his new LP is easy to mispronounce. The last word in the title "Age of Adz" should be pronounced like "odds," not what Don Draper does.
• "Age of Adz" was inspired by the schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson. Much of Royal's work depicts his vivid dreams of aliens & apocalypse and uses media like cardboard, markers, and glitter. Sufjan made a conscious decision not to create a Royal biography but, rather, focus on broad themes like love, anxiety, and death.
• Sufjan's older brother, Marzuki, is a nationally recognized marathoner.

Check here for news on Sufjan and other Asthmatic Kitty artists: http://www.asthmatickitty.com/

Download singles here and here:

http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/track/too-much

http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/track/i-walked

Unapologetic Rock

The question is common, the answer is predictable:

"What's your favorite kind of music?"

"Oh, I'm down with everything."

Even if you believe you've got the most eclectic taste in tunes, you know there's something that just gets you going a bit more than everything else.

For me, it's always been rock, tinged with disobedience, machismo, and humor...and when I say tinged, I mean slathered.

This thought occurred to me a few days ago while listening to J Roddy Walston and the Business. You see, I immediately knew I would be all over their recently released EP "Don't Break the Needle". J Roddy sounds as if he were spitting his vocals into the mic after a weekend bender, possibly still inebriated and certainly in for a nasty hangover. On "Brave Man's Death," he sings about stealing his mother's hard-earned cash and being unable to love his kids. J Roddy, thank you for keeping this beautiful thing we call Rock 'n Roll alive.

http://www.theburningear.com/media/2010/06/J-Roddy-Walston-and-The-Business-Brave-Mans-Death.mp3

Sleigh Bells vs. Christianity

Track after track on Sleigh Bells' debut album "Treats" possesses the Holy Trinity of a great song: fat beats, dirty guitars, and saccharine vocals. I'm on a mission to spread the good news.

I was first introduced to Sleigh Bells via "Rill Rill," a low-key, Funkadelic-sampling, acoustic tune. I was pleased, but wrote the band off as one of those dream pop acts that seem to have infiltrated the music scene of late. Then I heard "Crown on the Ground"...

Guitar/beats man, Derek Miller lets it fly right from the beginning with a screaming little guitar riff, while singer Alexis Krauss joins in with a jittery, pep-rally vocal chant. The bass is heavy and the lyrics are singable. What's not to like?!

The album more or less follows suit, with 2- and 3-minute tracks that deliver infectious, danceable beats throughout. This album is perfect for my morning commute, and I plan on rocking out in my car well into the foreseeable future.

I also plan to see them perform live at Pitchfork on July 18. Will you follow?
http://www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com/index.php?d=sunday

Listen: "Crown on the Ground"
http://tympanogram.com/files/Sleigh-Bells-Crown-On-the-Ground.mp3

Blitzen Trapper: Wolves in Dylan's Clothing

From the poetic, emotive writing to the vocal delivery and phrasing, Blitzen Trapper's "Destroyer of the Void" has their influence plastered from floor-boards to crown moulding. I mean, the first line on the title track/album opener goes something like "Here's to the lone and wayward son, for to love is to live for to roll like a rolling stone." The album is cohesive and clear in a way that dear Bob may no longer have the the brain cells or vocal cords to pull off.

Blitzen Trapper hail from Portland, OR and are signed to Sub Pop, but Southern- and folk-rock are what these guys are all about on this album. Evoking the sounds of the Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, lots of vocal harmonizing and a healthy dose of guitar combine with tight production to create a decidedly retro-sounding album.

Standout tracks are found mid-album in "Love and Hate" and "Heaven and Earth." While the listener's brain gets lulled into a steady, twangy groove, "Love and Hate" opens with a heavy riff that commands the body's attention just like a nice guitar line should. And while they've got your ears, the band continues with the beautiful piano ballad "Heaven and Earth." Singer/songwriter/guitarist Eric Early's writing style is put on exhibition nicely here: all melancholy and oblique, the song begs a second listen as soon as it's over.

Consistency is king on "Destroyer of the Void;" the album is a smooth listen, the caveat being exactly that: tracks tend to pile together without much differentiation.

Listen below through NPR before the album's release June 8: