1/5 [Volcom; 2007] Styles:Battle of the Bands Others: Please, No.
“Anything that does not spring from tradition is plagiarized. Begin drawing and painting like the old masters; after that always do as you wish, you will always be respected.”
– Salvador Dali
Dear Year Long Disaster,
Can I trade a quote with you? For years I misinterpreted the Kate Bush lyrics “You had a temper like my jealousy, too hot, too greedy” as “You had a temper like my gelatine, too hot, too greasy”. I mention this because misinterpretation is a common problem. So when you quote Salvador Dali as your album’s mission statement, I have to assume it was all a big misunderstanding. After all, plagiarism isn’t only something that “does not spring from tradition”. Sometimes plagiarism is recreating an almost note for note, dive bar reincarnation of The Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” and naming it “Leda Atomica”.
In fact, let’s take a closer look at “Leda Atomica”. Let’s listen together, right now.
There are two discernable influences at play within the first minute. The first will be familiar to anyone with even the most basic knowledge of Hard-Rock-by-numbers, as you’re greeted with a chugging power chord for the first thirty seconds of the song known to every intermediate rock song world over. Then, like a musical melting pot, Leda Atomica gives us our second musical reference of the night. Catapulting in to even more 4/4 heavy banality, vocalist Daniel Davies attempts to attach himself every single vocal inflection heard on “Gimme Shelter”, through verse and in to chorus. Only to be met again with our old friend Droning-Chug Guitar for yet another thirty seconds when he’s inexplicably given a solo before meeting up again with a lacklustre Rolling Stones-copying approach to vocal melody.
It’s a fair point that tradition is a necessary didactic base. Every musician has some kind of musical roots that you can trace back to. But rock-revival isn’t only about the act recovering genres; it’s about modifying them as well so that you don’t inevitably begin emulating other formulaic, identity-less revival bands. Because if you begin sharing more similarities to a godforsaken High School “Battle of the Bands” by churning out reheated, derivative rock then, Year Long Disaster, you have to ask yourself: Am I in a 1970s hard rock cover band?
There’s a reason why music reviewers utilise band names as adjectives in their reviews instead of extended metaphors and Karmageddon is it. When reviewing a band that has as diverse a set list as Dog there’s a certain amount of pride that comes with not being the guy who inevitably uses the phrase “An aural excavation of melting pot rock” to explain the fact that Dog’s songs can only be described in terms of incongruity to one another. If of course that happens to be the one quote taken away from this to put on the album’s liner notes alongside “Cor Limey, TMT” then I’ll qualify it with a more succinct version: it sounds like a lot of different things, all together.
At times the range of influences in David Hyman’s solo effort, Dog, pours out like a high-pressure hose trying to put out a match. Karmageddon isn’t exactly a neo-psychedelia album, nor is it consistently a folk-rock album, nor is it exactly dream pop. On some songs you can hear the echo of The Flaming Lips only to be followed by a thoroughly T-Rex infiltrated set of songs, only to be followed by spoken word, in French. Dog’s third track “Caroline” is part of a long line of songs that couple odd musical bedfellows, incorporating what sounds like the first measure of Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels” in to an unabashed Southern Rock jam session.
Karmageddon doesn’t exactly have any establishing context for itself but it is surprisingly successful as an experiment to forgo the failures of pop aesthetic which typically finds itself identified with terms like “radio friendly”, “light” or “complete tripe”. Instead Dog cross-breeds pop sensibility with an experimental ethic, fusing sound manipulation and shuffling drum beats with an altogether 1960s Americana image.
This is essentially the showcase of David Hyman’s talent as a multi-instrumentalist, with the help of producer Dougie Browne (Iggy Pop, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto, Jack Bruce, Marc Ribot). As a solo album it’s incredibly ambitious. As an album alone it can get a bit lost. But even when it’s not sure of what kind of album it wants to be, it’s incredibly intricately put together and genuine musical ability is more than enough to even out the lack of coherence.
3/5 [Kindercore; 2007] Style: 1960's nostalgia pop, indie pop Others: Elephant six
Dear newly formed independent labels of the future,
I would like to begin my correspondence by congratulating you on securing your new business! It’s an exciting time for a record label entrepreneur. With a little perseverance you too will be on your way to the world of industry standard competition, cutthroat capitalist strategies to eliminate the little guy, and Rock ‘n’ Roll!But it’s not all hard work. Hold on for a wild ride of recreational drugs to politely turn down! Make room on your calendars for crazy parties of reasonable length! Tempt gorgeous women with such phrases as “In eight years I may have a six digit salary, if we’re not inevitably bought out before then.” Intrigue them with statements like “No, I’m not technically in the band”. Wave at them coolly as they walk away from you.
Remember, as an independent company you are always in the crosshairs of those awful “Goliath” major labels. One wrong move and that little David of a business plan can expect to experience its first inverted Indian deathlock of the business world. Lucky for you, with the advent of the “internet” anyone can make a record label—and they do! So while they are all being pinned to the ground by corporate pressures you can indiscreetly hop your way to the finish line of success.
Don’t worry, it’s all part of the business world’s circle of life. Much like how the rabbit population is dealt with by the invisible hand of nature in the form of dogs and supper in the Ozarks, independent labels are sorted by the invisible hand of the market, which forces successful companies to make highly unethical decisions to take down their smaller competition.
Be aware: there are variations of just this kind of natural outcome which may or may not work in your favour. Athens, GA.’s independent label Kindercore became almost completely defunct after a sour business deal with their financial backer, only to regain its enterprise with the intervention of the law. This caused a shift in their business paradigm to include more forward thinking approaches, primarily through a partnership with the Independent Online Distribution Alliance to develop a solid digital distribution focus and avoid the negative environmental aspects of manufacturing CDs. King of Prussia is essentially the fruit of that labour if only because they’re one of the chief headliners of the now semi-successful label.
Don’t forget, getting a band on your label that sounds nearly identical to a more successful band is just as good as having that successful band. This is the same approach used by Kindercore in signing King of Prussia. They may be going to impressive lengths to help haul the music industry in to modernity but they aren’t above “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” music distribution. As a throwback to Elephant 6’s throwback to 1960’s pop, King of Prussia do surprisingly well: varying Beatles harmonies with the traditional foray of layered indie pop and socio-political lyrics that only sometimes dribble in to the cheesy consistency of processed Velveeta (“Tony Danza’s/On the run”). Although it’s hard to gauge whether they’re only derivative clones to the stem cell of Neutral Milk Hotel, the Elephant 6 fan base will welcome them with open arms. For a semi-successful label this signifies the inevitability of a semi-successful band.
Good luck as you pursue your dreams, future stars of the industry! You’re on your way to making it big!
Corilyn Limeyelle, Financial Analyst Dreamweaver Consultant to the stars
4 Bonjour Parties: Pigments Drift down To the Brook 3/5
3/5 [Mush; 2007] Style: chamber pop Others: The Books, Cornelius, listening to glaciers melt
Among the list of instruments 4 Bonjour's Parties make use of in their debut album are a vibraphone, multiple flutes, glockenspiels, an acoustic guitar, an accordion, bongos, a laptop, whatever "noise" is and best yet someone is given the esteemed duty of playing a key which I'm assuming is managed by continuously thrashing them on their forehead while imagining what their musical career could have been. Yet even while Pigments Drift down To the Brook could have easily become an example of throwing any possible instrument, synthesizer module and languages in to a senseless aural goo they actual maintain a surprising sense of cohesive arrangement.
The majority of ambitious debut albums suffer through similar complications, a band will read “artistry” and understand that to mean "convoluted". This is the kind of misunderstanding that spawns bands which ramble through songs with an EBow piled on top of underwater gongs and swarms of dub effects like loyal sons of Marcel Duchamp after being told to "just play whatever". And this is one thing that 4 Bonjour Parties well avoid. Each song is meticulously structured and stays far away from the aimless chaos that plagues many multi-instrumentalist bands: both acoustic and electronic instruments continuously alternate as focal points in every composition, reacting in each bar with slight variations while being tied together by the locked repetition of whatever principle instruments happen to be in that song. Every instrument has a purpose.
Too bad they seem to have a near-complete aversion to melody. Actually, you’d be hard pressed to find any very noticeable change in pitch at all through out the album which is strange considering how heavily orchestrated this debut clearly is. Instead they choose to totally sedate each song, letting it apathetically sludge toward the outro as slowly as it can while safely neglecting to acknowledge any kind of significant tune. This is almost forgiveable considering how well-arranged the album happens to be, and near-impressive in how well they keep any apparent melody hidden beneath many structural layers or possibly stored away in a vault. But compositional talent doesn't make up for the regrettably packaged banality of the album.
Welcome to Celebrity Death Pool! Slightly more fun than a poke in the eye.
Here's how it works:
Each player chooses nine celebrities which he or she deems likely to die in the upcoming year. Celebrities must be confirmed as being 'alive' prior to the start of the game, and must be recognised as being alive by each contestant. While some celebrities may appear dead, don't be fooled! Even the most miserably doddering celebrities can take YEARS to die! Prime examples of this are Peter O'Toole. Equally relevent but unnacceptable answers include the career of Tom Cruise and Emily Gera's social life (:( )
Answers will be calculated on December 31st, 2008 at midnight. The winner of Celebrity Death Pool will be based on how many deaths he or she has guessed 'right'. While there are no prizes in Celebrity Death Pool, the victorious player will be named superior to all other contestants in all ways and may feel free to beat us with reeds.
