Review: Ariel Pink - "Pom Pom" (4AD, 2014)

Sometimes I feel weird being another guy on the Internet writing about Ariel Pink. But despite all of the ridiculous Twitter controversy, Ariel has a new record out today–and debut as a solo act–and I'm excited about it.

Ariel Pink is notorious for his gender-bendy, gothic, lo-fi synth pop. His new double-album release Pom Pom is 67 minutes of weirdness: somewhere between whimsical and sordid, sporadic and punkish. Produced by the infamous Kim Fowley (Alice Cooper, KISS), this record seems much more spastic, flamboyant, and upbeat compared to previous recordings with his Haunted Graffiti. According to the 4AD website, songs like "Jell-O" and "Plastic Raincoats In The Pig Parade" were written with Fowley in his hospital room during his recent battle with cancer. Instrumentation across the record is generally synthesizer and guitar heavy, featuring bored vocal embellishments on top of sampled recordings of bells, slide whistles, flatulence, and applause. Lyrical topics include songs about frog princes, sex, the color pink, strip clubs, and Jell-O.

I think many would agree that Ariel Pink has mastered the art of the style pastiche. These songs are immediately reminiscent of an early 80s nightclub scene, British new wave, and that one scene from Dumbo that gave you nightmares. He consistently saturates his music with a series of obvious clichés, which at first seem kitschy (they are), but Pink manages to exaggerate them to the extent to which it becomes oddly creepy. It's parody–sure, but with Ariel Pink you just never know. I admire his ability to ride the line between parody and originality so thinly that he effectively challenges both spectra. Is he just another asshole trying to bring back 80s goth-pop, or is this all a big joke? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

These lyrics are as strange and silly as they've always been, "Nude beach a go-go / Fram-a-lama ding dong / Surfer Billy bing bong." Azealia Banks actually debuted a nice cover of this song last week on her new record, Broke With Expensive Taste. Other lyrics featured on Pom Pom are more unsettling, "Where a handful of love goes down where you got fed / And now it’s time for pain, that’s right!"

Pom Pom lands at record stores everywhere today. Catch his performance at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac, MI this February.

Stream "Put Your Number In My Phone" below via YouTube, courtesy of 4AD records. 

Review: Deerhoof - "La Isla Bonita" (Polyvinyl, 2014)

Listening to the new Deerhoof record is the closest I've come to actually encountering physical contact with sound.

The CD was serviced to WIDR last week from Terrorbird Media, so I had my interim Music Director take a look at it while he was covering for my time away in NYC. When I asked him afterwards what he thought, he didn't have too much to say. "Uhh, this one's sort of unpredictable," he said, the same way one might refer to a small animal or a poorly behaved child. 

He wasn't wrong. This totally wonky noise-punk record is 32 riotous minutes of pure nonsense, and truly the most refreshingly disorienting record I've heard in a while. The first track, "Paradise Girls" is characterized by high-strung electric guitars and an energetic, distorted drum kit. The whole tune only uses 12 different words, which are often interrupted by a most outrageous guitar riff – its notes are totally off beat, random yet repetitious – and somehow it works. After that, each song is more whimsical, delightful, and confusing than the one before. Classic Deerhoof.

The whole record acts as though it's playing some game with the listener. Every few minutes the band chucks a musical curveball aimed for the face–be it an out-of-place stereo pan, a sudden tempo change, or a surprise cowbell solo. The listener has no prediction power here.

The band does this intentionally. La Isla Bonita was recorded DIY-style in the basement of guitarist Ed Rodriguez over the course of a week, celebrating the band's 20th anniversary. According to this interview with DIYmag,

We recorded this record by accident. Those 10 days in Ed’s Portland basement were meant to be for writing and recording demos. It wasn’t till the last day we put it together that the rehearsals should be the album. That’s the way we always did it when the band started out as a lo-fi noise side project so we were super game to go again.

The spontaneous nature of the album's production is not hidden by the music. Lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki is both playful and aggressive in her singing, goofing along with mostly nonsensical stripped-down lyrics and bouncing her syllables off the guitar riffs. These lyrics seem particularly stripped down, "Baseball is cancelled / E.T. is running late / New from America / I cover all of the walls with sad dollars / Ta-da!"

Behind all the noise, these songs are really catchy. Co-produced by long time band member and Pitchfork writer Nick Sylvester, La Isla Bonita showcases the band experimenting on a whim, exploring noisier punk sounds, and having a blast.

La Isla Bonita arrives at record stores tomorrow. Don't forget to catch these weirdos live in Kalamazoo at Louie's Trophy House on Wednesday, November 11th.

Stream "Last Fad" hot off the new record below via YouTube.

Belated Review: My Brightest Diamond - "This is My Hand" (Asthmattic Kitty/Paper Bag, 2014)

This week is the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC (!!!), and so in accordance with the festivities there are no new releases this week (that I know of). So I'll write a belated review of one my recent favorites.

I've been a fan of MBD from the beginning. During my angsty high school Sufjan Steven's craze (which evidently never ended), I learned to explore other artists on Asthmatic Kitty's roster after realizing that Sufjan himself collaborates with almost every artist he signs. St. Vincent, Helado Negro, Lily & Madeline, Linda Perhacs, Sisyphus, and The Welcome Wagon are among my favorites. And My Brightest Diamond, who I argue should have replaced Adele to record that 007 theme. Check out this quirky music video for "From the Top of the World" and you'll see what I mean.

Her artist website describes her truthfully:

Not many people can front a rock band, sing Górecki’s Third Symphony, lead a marching band processional down the streets of the Sundance film festival and perform in a baroque opera of their own composing all in a month’s time. But Shara Worden can.

I view the Detroit native as a classically trained punk goddess. Her debut record Bring Me the Workhorse (Asthmatic Kitty, 2006) was totally hardcore to say the least. Characterized by out-of-tune guitars and loosened drum heads, fronted by theater performer singing about dead birds–no one combines beauty and ugly quite as well as Shara Worden.

But her latest installment This is My Hand is *all* beauty.

It introduces the listener in the best way a record can: with a marching band. The Detroit Party Marching Band, to be exact. A percussion ensemble plays alone for 12 measures or so before the horn and woodwind sections kick in. Shara Worden is here, folks, and she's riding on an audible chandelier. "Mountain on top, a fire below / a pressure grows, pressure". Pressure indeed. She plays with her backup singers and straight-faced guerrilla drummers to achieve a fearsome dance-pop sound that you wouldn't expect. How does the rest of the record sound?

Track five, "I Am Not the Bad Guy" goes proto-punk. "Lover/Killer" is a swirling pseudo-Motown sound (stream below). "So Easy" makes my urban apartment feel like a spaceship. "Apparition" is based upon a ghost story.

And the quality of production on this record is astounding! It's mastered exceedingly well and it has more elaborate instrumentation than any of her previous recordings, but none of her beautiful poetry or badassery or personality that I used to associate with MBD has changed at all–in fact all of that's been enhanced.

This is My Hand is available at record stores now. For all you Michiganders, she visits Grand Rapids on November 13 at the Wealthy Theater. Get tickets here.

Stream "Lover/Killer" below via Soundcloud.

Review: Allo Darlin' - "We Come From the Same Place" (Slumberland, 2014)

 

I was first introduced to Brit-pop after I turned 15–a friend of mine showed me Belle & Sebastian at summer camp one day while I was still bent on Classic Rock as the only genre of music that mattered. He showed me how much more capable of accessing my emotions this music was than anything else I had been listening to at the time (because who can better relate to a high schooler than Stuart Murdoch?). Six years later "Like Dylan in the Movies" is still my Autumn anthem, and has essentially become the new center from which I build almost my entire taste in music. Almost.

Allo Darlin' fits well into this emotional Brit-pop spectrum. The band's third, full-length, delightfully British installment We Come From the Same Place is composed of eleven cheery, uplifting pop songs leaving the listener emotionally bruised and asking for more. The band thoughtfully combines ukulele progressions, catchy guitar riffs, and coffeehouse-style percussive brushes along with witty and heartfelt lyrics to make this record genuinely captivating. According to this insightful Stereogum interview with frontwoman Elizabeth Morris, We Come From the Same Place was recorded live with minimal overdubs, giving the record a somewhat grittier sound. Whereas their 2012 album Europe (Fortuna Pop!/Slumberland, 2012) was more heavily decorated in the studio, Morris explains, “OK, that was a good experience, but we want to try and capture something.” The band's "live" sound in the recordings is refreshing to a close listener. It feels inviting on the listeners part, where the band is comfortable letting the listener hear it without hiding any perceived mistakes or blemishes.

Morris has a way of cracking her honest, demure voice at certain points that really help drive some of her emotional points home, "I never said things would be okay / I'm just trying to make it through another Tuesday". Lyrics become cute and optimistic at other points, "Do you believe in fun? (I sure do!)". Happy or sad, these are phrases that communicate a great deal in a few words. According to Slumberland's website, Morris wrote many of these lyrics during a transitional period in her life.

“So many things have happened since I first wrote the songs that make up this album, it´s difficult to remember back to where it all began. The songs were written very quickly, during a period when I found writing songs very easy, whereas I often find songwriting very difficult.”

Last year she moved to Italy with her husband where spent she time traveling, writing, and contemplating. This record reflects that in her songwriting.

We Come From the Same Place lands at record stores tomorrow.

Stream "Bright Eyes" below via Soundcloud.

Review: Mr Twin Sister - "Mr Twin Sister" (Infinite Best / Twin Group, 2014)

I love synth pop.

There's something special about a particular cheesiness carried by a three-note synthesizer riff that I love and appreciate deeply.

I argue that it's best when a synth-pop artist doesn't take his or herself too seriously. That's when the synthesizer truly shines. Musicians and audiences alike generally accept that the synthesizer keyboard does not require much musical training to conquer. In fact, knowledge of the equipment itself might be more useful. A keyboardist might only play one or two notes before altering those sounds in different ways using digital (or analog if you're a snob) trickery. Electro-pop legends Devo mastered this use of the synthesizer, making fools of themselves all too intentionally.

In the shadow of Devo, Mr Twin Sister, formerly known as Twin Sister, takes the listener on a 37-minute electrified dream cruise through the late 80's. Synths in all, this record is driven throughout by chunky synthetic bass lines, vocoders, vicious female vocals and songs about one-night-stands, and the occasional Kenny G-style sax solo. This is in stark contrast to the Long Island quintet's debut LP In Heaven (Domino, 2011), which was recorded with a more traditional dreampop style: catchy, innocuous pop songs delivered by full-band instrumentation (drums, guitar, etc.). My favorite song is this one. Where you might have heard In Heaven spun in a Brooklyn café or in your local Banana Republic, you might hear Mr Twin Sister at that boutique fashion outlet where you're consistently ignored by the sales associate.

The rude synth arpeggios under lead singer Andrea Estella's false French accent give the record a sexy Euro-pop feel. Dancing is mandatory. Lyrics like "Now that I've had two or three, I can feel a little free" or "I've got all the drinks that I can handle / Stop telling me so much about yourself" work to establish a whimsical dance club scene early on. The listener may forget about these lyrics and enjoy the vibrations instead. There's no wonder Pitchfork describes it as "strictly nocturnal." While these lyrics might lack in substance (they're probably supposed to), the music is brilliant. The band does an excellent job of capturing the salient sounds of 80's dance pop without sounding too dated. The saxophones and orchestral embellishments are a refreshing contrast to the electronic rhythm section that is truly nostalgic of Jackson-era pop. All in all, although I miss their dreampop days, this new record does it right.

Mr Twin Sister's Mr Twin Sister hits record store shelves today.

Preview "In the House of Yes" below via Soundcloud.

Review: Hiss Golden Messenger - "Lateness of Dancers" (Merge, 2014)

It only took this record one listen before it earned a top spot on my personal list of favorites from this year: Hiss Golden Messenger's Lateness of Dancers sets the pace for alt-country done right. Without delay, track one takes the listener for a stroll over an easy two-chord progression–an acoustic guitar and Hammond organ assume the rhythm, and modest lead guitar and female harmonies work to top off the high end, all while a straightforward country beat and an electric bassline found the whole thing. The hook lyrics here are simple and optimistic enough to make the listener forget about anything: "She was beautiful / It was circumstance / Watch the boat on the water learn to dance."

Somehow the whole aesthetic of Lateness of Dancers pertains to the soon-to-be-changing season: the folk, country, and soulful tones; lyrics about harvest and whiskey; bare trees resting in fog under a rainbow (pictured on the album art), and the album was even recorded around this time last year under a tin-roof barn near Hillsborough, North Carolina.

The album's title alludes to a short story written by 20th century American novelist Eudora Welty.

The duo is fronted by music industry veteran M.C Taylor, whose vocals you might recognize from his work with The Court & Spark (track one mentioned above was actually originally recorded by this project and featured on the soundtrack belonging to the 2004 film Baptists at Our Barbeque). Scott Hirsch is his musical counterpart, currently and historically: Hirsch also participated in The Court & Spark, and before then he joined Taylor in a hardcore band called Ex-Ignota. The rest of the band featured on Lateness of Dancers is the product of collaboration with Phil and Brad Cook of Megafaun, Nashville guitarist William Tyler, and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig of Mountain Man who is the person responsible for the beautiful backing vocals across the record. 

Taylor's voice makes me nostalgic for Neil Young's drug days while the lyrical content and instrumentation directly reminds me of Jason Molina's Songs: Ohia. These songs are generally electric guitar, pedal steel, and Rhoads keyboard heavy. I couldn't ask for better instrumentation.

The Durham duo releases their fifth full-length studio album (and Merge records debut) today.

Listen to "Saturday's Song" below via Soundcloud.