album review: 'jealous gods' by poets of the fall

There are some bands that when you look through their discography or their charting singles, you wonder why on God's green earth they became famous. Because even bucking the trends of the time, even without a catchy or interesting song or even good song to their name, there are acts that will somehow rise to the top of the charts. And then five years later people will look back on that time and wonder why the hell these guys became popular.

And then there's the opposite case. A musical act that for all intents and purposes should have been huge - maybe the trends were on their side, maybe they had infinitely catchy hooks, maybe they just made awesome music - and yet for no discernible reason, they never blew up in the mainstream the way they should. And we're going to be talking about one of those bands today, the Finnish alternative rock act Poets of the Fall. These guys released their first album Signs of Life in 2005 and ever since then have been releasing record after record of quality music that pretty much encapsulated everything I liked about alternative rock and metal. They had a great melodic focus and the instrumental heft to back it up, they wrote fantastic, hook-driven songs with introspective and emotionally compelling lyrics, and lead vocalist Marko Saaresto had one of the most compelling and expressive voices in the genre, a rich liquid baritone capable both of grit and melody.

So why didn't Poets of the Fall become huge in the US? Well, I've got a few ideas, the first being that the band opted for a more sophisticated and melodic presence when alt rock and metal of the time was going in the exact opposite direction. And with the decline of mainstream rock radio, I'm not surprised that Poets Of The Fall never blew up beyond their home country. The other thing - and this is coming from a fan of the band that thinks they've never really made a bad album - is that Poets Of The Fall didn't really make consistent albums. Their early output, especially their third album Revolution Roulette, was pretty uneven as the band worked to strike a balance between gorgeous melodic ballads and their more hard-edged material. 

But in 2012, the band seemed to finally hit that sweet spot with Temple of Thought, a strikingly potent release that fused their melodic focus with sweeping heaviness that made the album one of the best of the year. So you can bet I was hotly anticipating their newest record Jealous Gods - so how is it?

video review: 'the union' by the glorious sons

Finally got around to talking about these guys, and man, it was worth it. Solid, thought-provoking record, definitely worth a look.

And coming up... one of my most hotly anticipated albums of the year. No, not that one. And not the U2 record either (though that review is coming soon). Stay tuned to find out!

album review: 'the union' by the glorious sons

So let's return to the Canadian music scene for a bit. Now as I've mentioned in the past, I now live in Toronto which is one of the major hubs of indie rock in Canada, mostly thanks to a thriving alternative community and multiple universities near the downtown core. And what's even better is that said indie rock scene and those who get invested in it tend to have a fairly tight-knit community, to the point where if you know the right people, buzz tends to circulate pretty quickly. It also means that buzz tends to die fairly quickly if the word doesn't get out, which can be the death knell of indie acts.

So when I start getting requests for Canadian bands not just from you guys, but from friends who are actively involved in the indie music community, it means one of two things: it means that buzz has reached some form of critical mass and we're looking at a possible radio or even mainstream breakthrough; or I've got something really special on my hands. And when requests starting coming in for the debut album of The Glorious Sons, after a very well-received EP Shapeless Art last year that was described as blending the sounds of 90s hook-driven alt rock and pub-friendly indie rock, it definitely caught my interest. So I made sure to pick up their debut album The Union when it dropped and gave it plenty of listens: how is it?

video review: 'the water[s]' by mick jenkins

Well, okay, I planned to cover The Glorious Sons today, but things don't always work out as planned and I've wanted to talk about Mick Jenkins for a while now. In any case, great mixtape, definitely worth everyone's time and definitely looking forward to seeing whatever else this guy drops.

Okay, next up is The Glorious Sons, so stay tuned!

album review: 'the water[s]' by mick jenkins

Let's talk a bit about concept albums. They've got a bit of a complicated reputation among critics, with some considering them high points of an artist's creative ambition and skill, and others calling them moments of excruciating hubris that show artists disappearing up their own ass. And let's make this clear, there are cases where both of these are true, but for the most part I tend to like concept albums, if only because they show an artist taking an ambitious risk and not just resorting to the default subject matter.

So let's go further and talk about concept albums in hip-hop, and when I say that, I'm not referring to albums that opt to have a narrative or a story or a subtle underlying theme. I'm talking about records that are focused on a single concept, usually abstract that the rapper then proceeds to explore in detail throughout an entire record. When you take a look from that perspective, the number of concept albums dwindles down to a precious few, appreciated by critics or hardcore hip-hop nerds but few else.

But as experimental hip-hop continues to grow and become more accepted, I knew it was only a matter of time before concept records in hip-hop returned. Enter Mick Jenkins, a Chicago MC who released his first mixtape with Trees and Truths last year that got a fair bit of critical scrutiny. Not only did he display a good flow and real wordplay, he also had interestingly textured production and some intriguing deeper themes in his work. Now I didn't quite love Trees & Truths - it felt a little long, the biblical elements felt a little shaky, and the ubiquitous pitch shifting got exasperating, but it was enough to pique my interest when he dropped his second mixtape The Water[s] this year. Now let me stress that I don't normally cover mixtapes, but considering the absurd critical acclaim this tape has gotten and the assertions that it comes together as more of a fully formed concept album than most, I figured I might as well try something new. So I gave The Water[s] a listen - what did I find?

video review: 'el pintor' by interpol

Pretty pleased with this review, all things considered, because this album was a tough nut to crack. Hopefully it'll deflect attention from the Team Breezy attempted circlejerk going on in the last review, but I doubt it.

Okay, next up I want to talk about The Glorious Sons, but Tim McGraw and Poets of the Fall aren't far down the line, so stay tuned!

album review: 'el pintor' by interpol

It's a well-known fact that at the beginning of the 2000s, we saw a wave of shockingly good, career-defining records from the indie scene that didn't just define the possibility of a garage rock revival, but the shape of indie rock going forward. Bands like The Strokes, The Vines, The Hives, and The White Stripes were the first, but bands like The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Arctic Monkeys, and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs weren't far from the punch. But the truly alarming thing was that many of these bands would fail to carry forward their success throughout the rest of the decade, either flaming out, breaking up, or delivering significantly mixed results throughout the next ten years, or at the very least cursed with constant comparisons to their early days that they'd never be able to live down.

And one of the most notable of those bands was Interpol, a New York based indie rock band that exploded into the indie scene with the critically beloved Turn On The Bright Lights and Antics, two records filled with memorably chunky riffs, tight bass work, and great drumming. And yet a shift to a major label brought their 2007 record Our Love To Admire that saw the bass shoved back to a mix that had aspirations to grandness that the band couldn't back up instrumentally and certainly not lyrically. Interpol had always been a band caught between the grand earnest insecurities of teenage dreams and being smart enough to know better, but Our Love To Admire saw them trying on more of an assertive rock star persona and man, did it fit uncomfortably. They left that label for their self-titled fourth album in 2010, and while it did work a little better, it was also a sign that the darkness, rock star gravitas and internal frustrations had taken its toll on the band. Interpol had tackled dark material before, but this was the first time the music had mirrored the subject matter and while it felt cohesive, it was not an album most fans were eager to revisit.

So with the departure of their bassist Carlos Dengler, Interpol managed to pull things together for their fifth album El Pintor, an anagram for the band's name and Spanish for 'the painter'. So, what did the album deliver?

video review: 'x' by chris brown

My least anticipated album of the year... and it arguably turned out to be pretty mediocre and actually a step above the true atrocities Chris Brown has dropped. Go figure.

Okay, Interpol next. Stay tuned!

album review: 'x' by chris brown

One of the hardest thing for any critic to do is to separate one's feelings regarding the artist from the art itself. It's something that can be anathema to some people, because to them the artist's presence is so intertwined with what the art is that they can't see the separation, and thus they perceive any attack on the art as an attack on the artist, an attack that is often undeserved or might be considered unfair.

That's not quite the case here - because Chris Brown's music is easily the least interesting and least hateable element of his persona. It's not worth my time to go through the banner list of all the terrible things this guy has said and done over the past five years, as well as the fact that he's clearly learned nothing from it thanks to a total lack of accountability, but all of that can distract many critics from judging the art fairly instead of judging the artist. And it gets even harder when it becomes plainly apparent the artist's life and experience has influenced his songwriting, so where does one draw the line?

Well, here's my policy: it becomes important to understand why certain songwriting choices were made, but ultimately the art has to stand on its own regardless of the artist's life/experiences. And on that note, Chris Brown has made some of the worst music of the past five years. And when I say 'worst', I mean that Graffiti and Fortune were some of the worst albums of their respective years and deserve nothing more than scorn and derision because they are absolute torture to listen through. Even Forgiving All My Enemies had its fair share of turds like 'Deuces' and 'Look At Me Now' and 'She Ain't You' interspersed between the upbeat dance tracks that were the saving grace of that record. 

And thus I've had a certain amount of morbid curiosity in looking up X, the long-delayed record from Chris Brown that promised to go more towards R&B than dance pop - which made sense, given the changing trends on the charts, but every single one of the singles was giving me a really bad feeling about this record. But I figured I'd try to be fair and give Chris Brown the chance he heartily does not deserve and I listened to this record: how is it?

video review: 'bulletproof picasso' by train

So this happened. Overall, a fundamentally broken album, but still entertaining to talk about. Be sure to check out Mark's work over at Spin It! Reviews, he's got some solid material over there.

Okay, Chris Brown, you finally got around to releasing X, hit me!

Wait, bad choice of words -

video review: 'preparanoia' by lmno

Wished it was a little better, but overall a good record from a rapper I really do respect. Check it out.

Okay, tomorrow we could have a pretty interesting surprise - either that or Interpol, so stay tuned!

album review: 'preparanoia' by lmno

So last year, I received a request to review a hip-hop album from a rapper I had never heard of before, and yet managed to turn out as one of my favourite albums of last year thanks to great, well-structured bars and phenomenal production from a guest producer who I've already covered twice this year. That producer was Evidence, and the album was called After The Fact, by the prolific, highly skilled, and impressively monotone MC LMNO. 

And over the past year, I've begun to see more and more why LMNO has managed to carve out his niche defiantly outside of mainstream rap: not only does he produce new material at an impressive rate - not counting 2010, where he released ten albums worth of material in one year - but his delivery was icy, crisp, multisyllabic, and near devoid of inflection or drama. He was the sort of rapper who could deliver bars until the end of time, although his flat brand of intensity could prove to be a little difficult to tolerate.

Yet even with that, I really did respect his wordplay and creativity, and while it was a little disheartening to see him part ways with Evidence for his newest album Preparanoia, I still took the time to check it out regardless. What did I get?

video review: 'where it's at' by dustin lynch

Well, that was a surprising listen. Still wouldn't consider it great, but it definitely caught me off-guard and I do appreciate that.

So okay, still got a bunch more albums to listen through before I'm ready to talk about Opeth or U2. In other words, I'll either be finally talking about Mick Jenkins or Lee Brice, so stay tuned!

album review: 'where it's at' by dustin lynch

So let's talk a bit about labels in country music. Like in any other genre, you've got your big labels and your independents, but unlike other genres, you don't really have one independent label that has accumulated tons of critical acclaim or real powerhouse artists under their banner. In other words, country doesn't seem to have a label like alt and indie rock's Sub Pop, or rap's TDE, or pop rock's Fueled by Ramen. 

But that's not saying some indie labels don't have power in mainstream country - far from it, which takes us to Broken Bow Records. Founded in 1999, it has grown most prominent in recent years for signing Jason Aldean, Thompson Square, Craig Morgan, and the artists we're going to be talking about today, Dustin Lynch. Now Lynch comes as a bit of an odd arrival to mainstream country music, in that he released his debut in 2012 just before the bro-country wave took over and subsequently collapsed. If anything he seemed to be looking more for the neotraditional smooth adult country where you'd usually find Chris Young or Blake Shelton, especially off of his highest charting single from that album 'Cowboys and Angels', a pretty solid song that had a bit of lyrical clumsiness but made up for it with great guitar tones and instrumentation all around. It was enough to get me curious about his follow-up album Where It's At, which was set to be released this year albeit with a much less impressive lead-off single. What did concern me was that his number of writing credits had fallen off significantly, from well over half of his self-titled debut down to just a third of this record. But then again, he was working with established country songwriters, which could mean good things, including with longtime Dierks Bentley collaborator Brett Beavers. So I gave it a look - what did I get?

video review: 'souled out' by jhené aiko

Holy shit, I did not see this coming. Seriously, you all need to get this record, it's fantastic and will likely land on my list of one of the best albums of the year, bar none.

Okay, next up... I think it's time for a bit of country, wouldn't you say?

album review: 'souled out' by jhené aiko

So in case you haven't noticed, the biggest new wave in pop music seems to have finally materialized... and it's R&B and soul.

Now this sort of thing comes in cycles, usually on the opposite side of when pop music goes for shiny, electro dance pop, but when you think about it, R&B hasn't exactly been dominant in mainstream music in quite some time, not really since the early-to-mid-2000s. I mean, of course there was always Beyoncé, but she's a force in and of herself. This sort of evolution is broader, and like most musical waves, it was driven by the rise of the glitchy, off-beat, minimalist indie R&B that would come to win tides of critical acclaim at the beginning of the decade. And now that it's finally reached the mainstream, we're getting all sorts of new R&B acts cropping up.

Jhené Aiko isn't quite one of those 'new' acts, in that she's actually been involved in the music industry for over ten years and got her first steps in the door thanks to family connections to B2K. She could have started her career right then, but label tensions, pregancy and a desire to continue her education caused her to take a long hiatus from recording. She eventually returned in 2011 with a well-received mixtape and EP, and even a few legit charting hits that I wouldn't quite say were stellar, but weren't bad either. They showed that Jhené Aiko did have an impressive amount of charisma and vocal presence, and enough wit in her lyrics to back it up, so provided the production was on point - which is often was, thanks to collaborating producers Fisticuffs and No I.D. - I mostly liked her material. That being said, I was skeptical going into this new album Souled Out, mostly because Jhené was saying it was going to be a concept record, and those sorts of ambitious projects right out of the gate can misfire if not directed carefully. So what did I find here?

video review: 'goddess' by banks

Wow, not impressed with this album at all. Okay, maybe a little, but it did very little for me as a whole.

Okay, my schedule has gotten a lot more full... and then U2 decided, 'Hey, let's collaborate with Apple and release a free album out of fucking nowhere!' Well, U2, you've got to wait. In other words, next up is Jhene Aiko, so stay tuned!

album review: 'goddess' by banks

So over a month ago when I reviewed the debut album from UK girl group Neon Jungle, there was one song in particular that stood out in terms of its production and placement on this album: an eerie, reverb-punctuated song called 'Waiting Game' that had well-framed lyrics and context that could back up the heady drama of the track. It was an interesting shift for Neon Jungle, and I liked the song's inclusion... but it wasn't long before everyone informed me that I couldn't really give full credit to that band.

No, more credit belonged to Jillian Banks, often going by her surname as her stagename and who was the American R&B singer-songwriter who originally wrote and performed that song. So I checked out that version and honestly it might be even better, concentrating the emotion on one performer and heightening that sense of intimacy across the track. So you can bet I was curious to check out that debut album when it dropped, a composite record composed of tracks from her first two EPs and new material. Which... okay, not exactly a good sign in terms of album cohesion, but surely the album would come together somewhat, right?

video review: 'v' by maroon 5

Okay, glad that's out of my system.

Next up... well, we'll see here. I've got a few rap projects I want to talk about before Interpol or Opeth, so stay tuned!

album review: 'v' by maroon 5

I'm amazed this album exists.

Because if you had told me a decade ago that one of the few pop rock acts still charting singles highly on the Billboard Hot 100 would be Maroon 5, I probably would have laughed in your face. And it wasn't as if they were originally a bad band: their brand of funk was aggressively stiff but they could write some impressively catchy songs. I might not have been the biggest fan of Adam Levine's vocal delivery as he occasionally came across as more obnoxious and smarmy than he could really back up, but his voice was unique and he did have some versatility as a performer. And as much as many of Maroon 5's relationship songs screamed of douchebaggery and framing that was nowhere near self-aware enough to pull it off, they occasionally brought some swagger or even real sincerity to anchor their better material. 

But as the 2000s became the 2010s, it became clear that Maroon 5 was becoming less of a rock band in any capacity and more of a vehicle for Adam Levine's solo career, one that was supported by an arsenal of professional songwriters. In other words, they sold out, which honestly wouldn't have been a problem for a pop act if the music had stayed strong or at least maintained some vestige of individuality. And that really didn't happen, culminating in the album Overexposed in 2012, a record that has only gotten worse every time I listen to it. It was a record that somehow stripped away even more of Maroon 5's unique sound with even worse lyrics. It was a sour, bitter, unpleasant listen with the exception of the gentle and heartfelt piano ballad 'Sad', and it left me with little hope the band would ever recover any artistic integrity, especially considering the record sold shockingly well, so why would they have any reason to try?

And even with the return of keyboardist Jesse Carmichael from hiatus, I didn't have high hopes at all for their new album V, and I was not looking forward to covering this album. But then again, this meant Maroon 5 had nowhere to go but up, at least in my books, so I gave the album a chance: how did it go?