A couple of months ago, a friend of mine was lamenting the
fact that bands don’t use the word monstrosity in songs any more.
I had to think about it.
She was referencing the 80s, because was talking about a local radio
station that was doing a marathon of songs from 1986.
I thought about it for a while, trying to come up with an
80s song that used that word. Finally, I
said, “Um, Bohemian Rhapsody came out in 1975.”
It was a shot in the dark, but it turns out I was thinking
of the right song. Where things fell
apart was that she didn’t know if the station screwed up, or she remembered the
year incorrectly, or… well, we basically shrugged it off.
It was what she said in light of the discussion that
bothered me – that she didn’t listen to or buy any new music.
And I sighed, and realized that, yes, I am getting to that
age where there is a definite dividing line between “our” music and “their”
music. People my age are writing
articles and posting memes about how modern music is too musically simple, and
too lyrically dumb, and why can’t we have musical artists that are as talented
and smart as when WE were kids.
Of course, maybe six months ago I read that people pretty
much give up on new music starting around age 32 or 33.
I’m 39. That freaks
me right out.
I debated going off on a long-ish rant about how people my
age need to at least try out some new music from time to time, but I can’t say
that it felt like it would be worth it.
If my friend wants to be trapped in 1986, where the New Kids on the
Block are about to come to prominence, well, that’s her right.
I think it just saddens me, because there are literally
dozens of records coming out every week.
And while I don’t pick up something new all THAT often, over the last
few months I’ve picked up no less than 12 albums. That might be a record for such a short
period of time.
And you know what? I
really liked some of them. And was not
very wowed by some of them.
So – capsule reviews!
Pentatonix – Pentatonix:
There’s a rant to be written about multiple versions of the
same record coming out. With this one,
there was the regular edition, a deluxe edition, and a Target edition that had
three extra songs.
ARGH.
Don’t do that, folks.
If you want to cram some songs on there as a bonus, note them as bonus
songs. That’s fine. But hopping from store to store to store to
get a handful of extra songs… it’s maddening.
But in this case, it’s almost worth it. Pentatonix has put out three pop music EPS, a
Christmas EP, and a Christmas record.
This one was “the big one” because it was going to be ALL original
songs. Unless you get the extended
version, because there are extra covers on there, and… you know what?
It’s a great record.
The gang got together with a handful of accomplished songwriters and
made a fun pop record that uses five voices to sound like what’s on the radio
today. Back when they won The Sing-Off,
one of the judges said he felt these guys were sent back from the future to
save A Cappella.
And this year, they had the number one record in the country
for a week. It’s a well eared
accomplishment. All I hope is that they
take all future records as seriously as this one. There are no bad songs, so weak
arrangements. It’s fun and impressive
from end-to-end.
How good is it?
Kirstie Maldonado, the sole female in the group, often regulated to
background vocals and a verse here and there?
She writes and sings and just SLAYS a little R and B number called
Water. She’s been in the background so
long I’ve kind of taken her for granted, and this is me saying I was wrong.
I want a whole record like that someday.
Ultimately, it’s a dance/pop record, designed to recreate
the forms and fashions of what’s on the radio today. That might not be your kind of thing. But they’re well worth a listen for the level
of singing talent alone.
Prince - HITnRUN phase one
Much was made of this record because Prince shared producing
duties. It would seem that he, like
Pentatonix, wants to sound like the radio today.
Reviews were… interesting, basically saying Prince needed
someone he couldn’t push around to really make the experiment work.
But truthfully, I realized years ago that there’s not going
to be another great Prince record – or at least not one I love end to end, like
I did Purple Rain, or The Gold Experience.
But there’s still good stuff here. "1000 X's & 0's" is a great
little song, for example.
But I once heard Prince say he wrote a song every day. And this felt like he took a random sampling
and put it out there. There’s nothing
bad here, but nothing that makes me excited for what comes next.
But I’ve felt that way for something like two decades now. So that’s on me. (Side note: I started writing this before
Phase 2 came out. I still haven’t heard
it. But I’m weak, and I’ll probably pick
it up, because Prince. I really wish
that impulse would pay off in a bigger way.)
Demi Lovato – Confident:
I’ll admit – this one actually made me a little sad.
I got Demi’s last record for free, thanks to Google offering
it at no cost, and I really grew to love it. Heart Attack was an awesome vocal
over a solid pop hook. In Case was just
heart-rending.
But Confident…
It seems there’s this thing where former kiddo pop
princesses suddenly need to prove themselves, and it happens to ALL of
them. In one record, they go from making
fun songs you can sing along to, to dropping F bombs and talking about doing
it, more often than not with someone of the same sex.
I think I’d feel better about it if I really enjoyed
anything on here, but it feels… broken.
Confident, as a song, is fun, but the fake horns don’t really work for
me. Cool for the Summer was a big hit,
but there’s a buildup to the chorus that stops the song dead, and I can’t play
it in front of my kid, which is sad, because she loves Demi.
As for the rest of it?
I spent a week listening to it and sitting here now I can barely recall
any of the songs.
Sorry Demi. Maybe
next time.
Ben Folds – So There
So There is, now that I think about it, an odd title for a
record with a Piano Concerto on it. It
gives of the air of refusing to grow up, while having music only a grown-up
would want.
And it’s… okay.
I love Ben’s first couple of records, and Rockin’ the
Suburbs, but his work has been hit or miss for me since then. He has a gift for melody, is an amazing
pianist (the concerto really shows this off), but he seems… stuck.
Supposedly a lot of these songs came out of recent breakup,
and, well, he’s DONE that before. This
is a man who’s been married and divorced four times.
I mean, there’s good stuff here. I liked the Concerto, though I question how
often I’ll listen to it. The songs are
mostly pleasant, except when they’re basically a goof.
I dunno. Maybe Ben
has said most of what he’s needed to say?
I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that.
Come to think of it, the last full record of his I really
loved was Lonely Avenue. Maybe he just
needs another collaborator…
Ed Sheeran – 5
A while back, I picked up copies of both of Ed Sheeran’s
records, thanks to various American Idol and Glee and soundtrack work that my
wife and I dug.
And what I learned about Ed is he either write’s an amazing
song you can’t ever forget and can’t not love, or… he writes a song you forget
the second it’s over.
My wife loved the records, and asked if he had anything
else. I said he had some EPS, but they
were hard to come by and often ran you $25 or more for five or six songs.
So we shrugged it off.
I’m guessing Ed or his label realized they were leaving
money on the table, so they put the five EPS into a box, called it 5, and slung
it out into the world.
And I’m glad they did, because there’s some great stuff
here. Songs I Wrote with Amy is an
entire EP of stuff from the team that gave you Thinking Out Loud, the new big
wedding song everyone will be using for the next ten or fifteen years. It’s delightful. The live record is fun.
Some of his better songs pop up on the EPs in earlier
versions, and it’s interesting to hear them stripped down or rearranged.
If I wasn’t fan, I’m not sure this collection would make me
one. And while I like having the
artwork, putting all the EPs into little sleeves makes listening to them in the
car way more complicated than it needed to be.
I think I’d prefer to have these fives discs on two discs, perhaps with
some liner notes from Ed talking about the process of making them.
But for a fan, they’re well worth a listen.
The Silent War – Introducing
I was reminded to finish this article by Facebook, which
informed me that this band was putting out their first record TOMORROW.
Introducing was the free online EP they offered for
download. Six songs, four of them fully
produced, and two demo/acoustic numbers, and all of the songs are
delightful. I discovered them months ago
when one of their songs ended up in a movie I was watching and I ended up
spending hours trying to track it down.
It wasn’t available for sale OR for free at the time, which was
maddening.
But, then I got this EP for free, and really, all was
forgiven.
I’ve described the band as being The Indigo Girls laced with
80s pop, and I think that best describes their work. Lovely harmonies, bright keyboard work,
catchy melodies, it’s all there.
Honestly, I rate them as my favorite musical discovery of
2015, and I hope their record leads to bigger and better things.
Twenty One Pilots – Twenty One Pilots, Regional at Best,
Vessel, Blurryface
I’m trying to remember the last time I felt compelled to
pick up the entire back catalogue of a band or artist after getting an initial
taste, and it might go back to my college days.
I do recall getting both of the Ben Folds Five records back then. And grabbing everything Elliot Smith had done
up to that point, which ended up being a five record binge.
I first heard of 21P thanks to a friend linking to their
performance of I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You, which is a cute video
that someone with an iPhone and some free time clearly edited together and
turned into a video made of pure fun.
Mostly I thought it was interesting that the lead singer was
holding a ukulele. So I hit up their
YouTube channel and learned they used both the uke and the piano on a regular
basis.
It wasn’t until I picked up their records at the library
that I realized their videos kind of… reduced them.
21P will, I think, be written off by people who only hear a
couple of their songs as decent pop songsmiths who occasionally tip into the
hipster world by adding ukulele to the mix.
In reality, they’re a lot more eclectic than that. The opening song of Blurryface, their most
recent record, starts with heavy dance music drums, has rap verses, and then
adds a piano lick and sung hook that…
I mean, it wasn’t what I was expecting.
And that sums up the rest of the record nicely. There’s some rapping on there. Tear In My Heart is a wonderful piece of
piano-pounding pop until it moves into an oddball, loping bridge. Songs change time signatures, often at a
whim.
It’s a second-listen record, where it works just a little
better once you know what you’re getting.
From there, I went backwards. Vessel is more of the same, though the songs
are a little more straightforward here and there. Regional at Best is now out of print, but
pulls it back to songwriting basics even more.
And their debut, Twenty One Pilots, really is their
infancy. The songs are straightforward,
but they also suffer a bit for being too repetitive. They’ll find a lovely musical phrase and
repeat it just a few too many times.
There’s good stuff there, but it isn’t the record I’d start with.
Adele – 25
I’m not sure I could convince anyone to listen to or not
listen to this record. Right now there
are maybe five musical artists in the world who can sell a million records, no
questions asked. If you wanted this, you
already bought it, and if you hate Adele, this will not change your mind.
Me? I like it
fine. But it comes on the heels of 21,
which was, I felt, just about a perfect record, a collection of songs so good
they can just retitle it “The Best of Adele” and call it good.
25 experiments a bit more with musical textures, but in the
end you’re listening because Adele sounds like she’s willing to scoop her
emotions out of her soul and place them directly in your hear via your eat
canals.
The more I listen to this record, the more I find things to like,
but 21 was pretty much perfect.
