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Grizzly Bear – Yellow House

26 Jun

In the middle of the woods, somewhere no one has ever set foot, sits a Yellow House. A place of serenity and a place of magic, it is only inhabited by the souls of people who yearn to escape. Wooden and dusty, it was furnished during a time long ago, when posterity borrowed its thoughts. Cut off from peering eyes, it is open only to you, a space so relative you cannot even place the feel of the wooden floorboards under your feet.

You may have heard of the Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear’s newest album Vekatimest. The name may have confused you, but you saw them on the David Letterman show and the poppy music intrigued you. You may have even bought (borrowed) the album and have since happily listened to its mystery.

*Puts on Hipster Glasses*

Well, I listened to Grizzly Bear before they blew up. Let me simply tell you now that their previous LP is one of the most mind blowing pieces of music ever. Their newest album strayed way too far and struggled to maintain the beauty of its predecessor whilst tackling the face of pop culture. It still turned out to be a very nice album, but today we focus on the pure musical serenity that is Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House.

I will start you off with the single. Knife, being the most approachable songs on the album. It features one of the most confusing music videos you will ever watch.

The song starts off with a slow and ghostly guitar riff. Try to imagine a sunny, yet haunted beach, where people go about doing the same thing forever, like on replay. The vocals are just the perfect brand of pop to make even the most hardcore magic user smile. The slow beat is just perfectly reminiscent of those unbearable summer days where simply walking down the street is putting oneself at risk of melting.

As the verse ends, a brisk guitar riff transitions the song like a cool breeze. But as quickly as it comes, it departs, leaving you again vulnerable to the sun. The vocals here are particularly amazing, the kind that ask you to remain calm as it is actually the ‘cool thing’ to be melting.

When that part ends a drumstick beat ushers in the main lyric. “Can’t you feel the knife?” It leaves you utterly shocked and confused as you scramble to figure out where you have been stabbed. But the song floats on as if it was just kidding about the knife part, hoping you will enjoy the rest of the song in peace. A nice touch of that 60’s psychedelic mind-trickery.

The extended ending is very soothing, just in case the knife part is still bugging you out. An interesting beat coaxes on piano notes, which wistfully echo a sweet tune.  The both of them remind you that you were actually inside a yellow house the entire time.

The last song on the album, my absolute favorite, is Colorado. It opens similarly to how Knife ended. This time though the beat is a low thumping kick and the piano notes are lower pitched and unevenly distanced.  The vocals fade in mid-sentence, unintelligible yet mystic. They eventually begin chanting “Colorado” in an almost confused manner, as if the state was the only thing responsible for some unknown misfortune

I am particularly fond of the use of many different forest-esque noises throughout the beginning. It makes me feel like I am sitting by some mountain lake somewhere in Colorado watching nature evolve in circles.

The drums drop in a very easy jazz beat which quickly grows on you. The song begins to build up, as the singer switches to asking “Now what?” A very nice and minimalistic guitar solo occurs and again “Colorado” is chanted.

The song builds and builds and finally just stalls, but only in the most brilliant way. The simple slow bass kick remains and a mysterious woodwind instrument transitions into one of the most epic drops my ears have ever heard.

Just the sound of the guitar. I am not sure what kind of effects or amps are being used, but the result sounds like pure gold. Combined with the piano and the drums, they together paint a ridiculously vivid picture. The vocals return, layered over one another and the entire song climaxes so high that any magic user would be thrown into an amazing upbeat state for a long after it’s over. And trust me, it’s a great feeling. You definitely don’t even need magic.

These two snippets of the album Yellow House definitely give you an idea for the entire album. A couple of the songs are a little bit hard to get into at first, but that is mainly due to fact that they are very slow. Not that the entire album is compromised of rather slow moving songs, but it definitely can take some time to learn to appreciate that kind of music. Also keep in mind that a bunch of the songs start out slow, but pick-up halfway in magnificent fashion.

Now my music player shows the genre of this album as rock, but if I had to label them I would most definitely go with Psychedelic-Folk, give or take the rock. If this is something you are into then most definitely listen to this album. You will not regret it. And if you don’t believe me on the folk part, then listen to the song I will post at the end.

And if you find yourself in a Yellow House at any point while listening to this album, you’re doing it right.

&)

-oko

P.S. Here ya go folks. This song has probably one of my more favorite lyrical lines. Enjoy.

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Teebs – Ardour

19 Jun

Happy Father’s Day everyone! Be sure to call up your dad, especially if he introduced you to good tunes! And regardless if that is possible, be sure to take a listen to those tunes in his name!

With summer well underway, I bring you today a very interesting experimental artist from a very sunny place. Hailing from California, Teebs is one of the frontrunners of a new wave of music coming from the West Coast. Under the Brainfeeder label which Flying Lotus created, Teebs’ debut album, Ardour, presents us with highly hypnotic, electronic, hip-hoppish, beats. It is very experimental and definitely psychedelic, just look at the album cover in this youtube video for proof.

This song, Arthur’s Birds, starts off with a short sea-side bell and some ambient motor noises. It hums and warps for a bit before a vibrant fuzzy warm melody washes everything over. Made of synthesizers and bells, it resembles listening to Christmas music on a sunny beach.

Teebs shortly thereafter creates a very unique beat using only what seems to be filters and the resonance on the synths. It stalls for a second reminding you of the melody and then the beat drops again, this time with bass spicing it up.

The rest of the song essentially is this beat. The dreamy synths make you feel like you are floating in warm water while the beat gives off just the right amount of verve to create this sensation of awesomeness. Such emotions are hard to encompass and experimental hip-hop is the perfect medium.

Now listen to this song You’ve Changed:

The intro is much quicker. It sounds like the menu screen of some video game. Quickly some clicking noises in the background arise, creating a distraction for the coming transition. The original noises ease into something simpler and more relaxing. The bass then completes the song.

The song is fairly short, but it does not fail to entertain. It ebbs and flows as the beat slowly morphs, at certain points cutting the bass only to have it drop back in shortly thereafter. In my opinion this is the closest you can come to dance music without actually crossing over to the that dark side. It should become a new genre of music called “sway music”.

The entire is filled to the brim with songs like this. Short and sweet melodic goodness for the ear with the added beats that give it that swagger that makes you want to go outside and do anything you want. My only qualm with it is, if you cannot already tell, that the songs are quite repetitive. Nothing Magic can’t help anyway, and at least the artist gets the moods across and that’s all that matters.

Basically, it is a perfect example of that summer feeling which is so key to the psychedelic mindset, something I will definitely be exploring in future posts. And as for the repetitiveness of Teeb’s beats, they are just yearning to be remixed. DJ’s and the like, have at em!

&)

-oko

P.S. No P.S. Today, enjoy the rest of the day!

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Islands – Arm’s Way

12 Jun

Hi,

No fancy introduction today… instead we dive straight into the music! I will be reviewing an album in an interesting fashion. I will only talk about the first and the last songs and see how they relate to the album as a whole. Hopefully it shows how much those two songs mean to an album.

Arm’s way is the title of the album. The Arm is the title of this song and as the first song on the album, I find it to be highly appropriate for some reason. The name of the Canadian band is Islands and Arm’s Way is their second studio album.

The first thing you should notice about this song is the amazing intro. Soft humming flows into a pretty violin trill. A bass drop and a heavier beat make room and a shriek queues in the song. If I was to make a top 10 intro’s list, this one would most definitely be up there.

The song in my opinion is one of the most idyllic takes on classic rock. First and foremost, the violins are such a nice touch. They are used sparingly to create a quasi-classical atmosphere. And it isn’t only violins. There is a piano and several different guitars all taking turns to make for a very interesting song.

Secondly, and most importantly to me, you can understand the lyrics! (Most of them anyway) This is so important to me because all too often good lyrics are wasted simply because the singer is unintelligible. But no, not this band. The man’s voice is clear and his lyrics about “arm’s way” have you yearning for him to slip and actually include the h in that first word. After all he is alluding to something, right?

In my opinion this is an all-around good song. At around four minutes a short down beat with screeching violins is expertly executed and foreshadows future songs. At five minutes, just as you think the song is ending, a march styled beat is employed, definitely not something you hear everyday.

Just the right mix of everything epic.

Excuse the two part video, this next one’s a long one.

Compare that first one to this last song on the album, Vertigo (If it’s a crime). The intro instantly fills you in on the mood at that point in the album. I like to think it’s a concept album even though I don’t think it is. Vertigo would be the direct final result of arm’s way, if that makes any sense. Also, this song makes even more sense if you compare it to the first song on their next alphabetically ordered album.  But I digress, you will have to explore that on your own.

The song is really slow and moody. The lyrics are soft and particularly melancholic, while the guitar has some really cool wah-wah action going on and what seems like panning. It a very relaxing song, but it fills you with this sort of mysterious loathing mixed with anxiety for what is coming next.

At around four minutes a shaker signifies an epic transition. The vocal ooh’s and the violin’s create a bittersweet atmosphere. Everything slowly fades away and the stage is set for one of the most breathtaking instrumentals ever.

Do you know when something is so sad and moody, but with just the right mix of an up-beat it actually results in something that is astoundingly beautiful? Yeah, sit back and enjoy it, because words cannot describe it.

Seriously, because before you know it you will be listening to the outro, and in which case you might feel a slight rising sensation. And yes, I believe that alludes to something as well. If you find that crazy, simply find the name of that first song off the next alphabetical album which I mentioned earlier and your mind will be blown, especially considering that that album that would be their first album.

The only thing I find funny about that scenario if it was intentional is that now they can’t use any album name starting with the letters A-R. But again, I do digress.

If you are lost, don’t worry about it. I have presented to you the first and last song of this amazing album and hopefully it paints a pretty accurate description of the scope of everything in between. This band successfully manages to keep an album interesting without having to change up their sound too much from song to song which is quite a feat in today’s day and age.

I definitely recommend it as it is probably one of Islands’ best. Although their first and alphabetically second is up there as well…

-Oko

&)

P.S. If you haven’t researched yet, I’ll help you out! haha Their first album is named Return to the Sea. Maybe that may be able to clear some things up and maybe uncover even more cool connections between the two album’s which I may have missed. Here is the single from Harm’s… errr Arm’s Way for being a good sport.

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RX Bandits – Mandala

5 Jun


Hey everybody!

I haven’t posted in a bit. I’ve been busy finishing my semester as well as my album. I am happy to announce it is done! There is link to my website at the bottom. Unfortunately however, as you might know, once you finish something you instantly start three new things. So I currently have a lot of things floating around my mind, but today I set aside some time to bring you some good tunes! : D

I will be presenting to you a band and an album which is very dear to me. The album just happened to be there for me when I was going through a rough time in my life and for that I will always cherish it. ❤

That album, as you may have deduced by now, is Mandala by the RX Bandits. Now be warned, this music is highly experimental. It is nothing crazy, but it’s considered alternative rock/ska which I don’t believe is something that has been done yet. It also contains elements of math-rock which adds a layer of musical craziness. This is most likely the reason why it meshes with me so much. Not to mention, it’s also trippy as hell/heaven.

Off the bat take this song as an example:

That would be Mientras lo Veo Sonar, a lovingly nicknamed Spanish song. If you are reading this that means you peeled your eyes away from that beautiful album art. However, it barely encompasses the complexity of this song. A heavy electronic opening gives way to Spanish diction and an intense drum beat. Matt Embree, the singer, guitarist, producer, and general driving force behind the band, begins singing in Spanish. I have no clue what he is saying other than ‘requesta’… request?

The verse then flows into the chorus, the singing switches to English and an easy ska-ish beat takes over, allowing you to catch up and get into the rhythm. But before you get a chance to get comfortable the song drops into a trippy verse, the singing this time half-Spanish, half-English. The electronic effects are on just about every single instrument, phasing in and out like as if you’re flying through space.

One more short chorus occurs and then we get one of the trippiest, drawn-out, awesome trip-out endings ever.  I love the emphasis on “Good-bye” as it begins to envelope you. Because once the piano begins to play you realize you are not where you were. The drumming, physically impossible for one drummer to perform, is the only reminder of what you are listening to as you drift somewhere away. As it ends you realize that a new day is starting both epic and mysterious.

Refreshment for the soul.

Now consider this song:

Probably my favorite song off the album, Breakfast Cat delivers anything a person could ask from a band like this. The beginning is a wild flurry of who knows what. It quickly catches an odd beat and is justified when a guitar plays it in and a riff is formed out of it.  But you do not even get a chance to think, because this song changes just as a fast as it possibly can. Once again Matt on vocals, quickly ushers the music into a series of transition after transition.

It eventually leads nowhere and after a brief synth interlude it jumps back into the main instrumental chorus. The singing returns, now for a shorter period of time. As that ends, transitions again make the bulk of one of these make-shift verses. Robot noises and echoed vocals are a definite recipe for a great time.

The final sung chorus, the shortest of the three, warrants higher expectations. And deliver it does as a trip-down ensues that will make you higher than anything. It is the final culmination of endless tangents – beauty and nothingness. Be warned, because the ending of this song will force deep amounts of introspection upon you. But this is psychedelic music. What did you expect?

Just try to picture a fat cat angry that it has not been fed yet, purring and rubbing your feet one second, hissing the next. Perfect imagery in my opinion for this monster of a song. :p

This band, hailing from California, traditionally had its roots in ska, albeit a very alternative style of ska. As a result they have garnished a certain image, specifically from ska-haters. But their musical journey has taken them extremely far and this latest album is definitely one which breaks down genre-walls and speaks to a new type of crowd. And maybe it will get the haters to quit hating. Who knows?

I will most definitely be returning to this band to cover past albums. I will also link one more video of theirs from one of the more slower songs off the album at the bottom, but even these three songs cannot fully represent this masterpiece of an album.

Happy listening!

-oko

*Be warned* – my music is very very weird

http://okko.bandcamp.com/
&)

P.S. One more song – March of the Caterpillar

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Circulatory System – S/T

10 Apr

Hopefully you bunch of paranoids realized that the song Slow Motion sounds just like as if Panda Bear attempted to re-create the sound of Person Pitch verbatim. There’s a reason he’s famous and not you… and he’s not about to leave fans hanging.

For today, however, I have a very rare treat for you! Yes music can be rare! Although it’s becoming ridiculously easy to obtain, music is a collectible. The larger your playlist, the better music collector you are. And of course certain gems stand out, capping your collection as complete, unique as your musical tastes hopefully are. After all, you’re only as hip as the amount of bands you listen to which others have never heard of.

Circulatory System is basically what remains of The Olivia Tremor Control after their 1999 break-up. And although there are rumors that The Olivia Tremor Control is getting back together to record another album, Circulatory System has been tearing up the scene in the meantime. But let me take a second and tell you, finding the album which I will introducing in a second, took me nearly half a year scouring countless blogs and internet nooks, back in 2008. I am serious about the rare concept.

Circulatory System’s 2001 self-titled debut album took that beautiful heavily Beatles influenced psychedelic rock sound The Olivia Tremor Control is know for, and expanded upon it. They added elements of drone and indie, and washed everything down with ample amounts of love and magic.

I dare you to tell me what this song is missing. The Lovely Universe has it all – catchy lyrics, warm riffs, a driving beat, a nice sounding synth, and heaps of effects and noises. The song rides waves in a most professional manner – throwing up’s, lows, bridges, and free-falls all within matters of seconds. And the only real grievance one could really have is that it might be the more pop-sounding song on the album. But then again that should make it better. Remember, it’s the best pop song that no one’s heard of.

The remaining 21 songs on the album easily make it one of the best undergrounds albums ever! I can and will just throw examples at your ears.

Joy. The name itself describes everything that psychedelia is supposed to represent! If you don’t like this song, you simply have no soul and should crawl back under the mass media rock from whence you came. This band manages to create in 2 minutes and 7 seconds an experience easily worth years and years of your time and thought. Listen to the lyric. In my ideal world, all lyrics would sound like this. I can understand them and they sound amazing, bridging the gap between drone and pop. The song builds and builds and simply ends, begging to be repeated.

“Looping scenes over geometry”. This final song, Inside Blasts, at almost 6 minutes can be considered an epic on this album full of shorts. And epic it definitely is. The minute long intro is probably one of the most subtle and low-key ones known to man, as it seems to build a lot more than it actually does. A “looping” transition and the mini-drop at 0:55 brings in sweetest cello riff ever. From there the song continues to take you on a slow-motion roller coaster, displaying the band’s mastery at song-writing. “Fools, if you’re waiting on some paradise, don’t forget your lives” The lyrics are down-right chilling, but only in the most awe inspiring and dream-worthy of ways. The song ends, “Looping”, appropriate and lulling, with a neutral sense of longing (for more).

This is a band which truly delivers. The album effectively captures the essence of a magic trip and conveys as beautiful sounds entering your mind via waves and instilling within you amazing feelings. Recommendation would an understating reality.

At some point during the writing of this post, I decided to order a physical copy of the CD, and am very anxious to gawk at it beauty. You saw the album art on the youtube videos right? I am a huge fan of album art and this CD is particularly cool, and rare. Also remember that, just as The Olivia Tremor’s CD’s always do, the CD version will reveal so much more sound then the MP3 version could dream of handling. It will be like listening to completely new songs! My perfectly justified excitement is building by the second!

Well this post concludes another double-weekend. Gotta now prepare for spring-break part two, and finally finish my music and write my novel. lol

&)

-oko

P.S. No I won’t link the website where I purchased the CD. It’ll be my prized rarity!

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