I just heard Scorpions "Wind of Change" on a TV show. They played that at my junior prom. I didn't go to my senior year prom because I was at a computer competition. True story. But when I close my eyes at night, I went to both proms, and danced all night to Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I lost Andrew's virginity to that album.
That's all I have to say about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for now.
On to Midlake. Immediately after listening to Van Occupanther I forgot it. No, WHILE I was listening. I looked in my brain under "van occupanther, midlake" cross-referenced by "what do i think of the album," and there was . . . NOTHING. Like, a Never-Ending Story kind of The Nothing.
Take "Head Home" (please). The little flute and piano hook, and I'm thinking, Hm, what's this? Sounds kinda cool! But then the band chimes in with the drabbest music barf co-written accompaniment I've ever heard. What an incredibly boring sound. Tired rhythm guitar. Boring lead guitar pluckings and uninspired guitar solo. A filler piano which only completes the homogeneity until every single bar of the song sounds like every other bar of the song. Were there drums? I don't even know. Melody and harmonies sound like a lifeless redux of Jayhawks and Pink Floyd. Really: Nooooothing going on here.
Young Bride, ditto. So utterly forgettable. Offensively tedious violin riff trying to sound like one of those Japanese stringed thingies. Tempo more monotonous and rhythms more repetitious than a trance remix of a trance song.
That said, I had a bit of an awakening somewhere in the middle of the fourth or fifth listen, I think on the title track. There are some interesting things going on here, and more interesting for being subtle. In fact, I daresay the exact same elements which bring on The Nothing in other tracks are really working for me on "Van Occupanther" and maybe "In This Camp."
One more good thing about the album: During "Branches," I briefly thought, "Oh, that sounds kinda like a band I actually LIKE!" (Radiohead, natch, which you'd know after listening to it for 4 seconds.)
But overall I think it's just the Stockholm Syndrome talking.
It's Blitz is a little too sexy rocky punky for me in the long haul, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. Advance, my young friend Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Advance like a young boy advancing through the fields!
Wow, Karl. You must know absolutely nothing about music.
ReplyDeleteI just checked your top ten to confirm. It's true, you know nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason why people aren't flocking to support my choice is because none of them have ever listened to Midlake. Or if they have, they've forgotten it.
ReplyDeleteHey, speaking of forgettable: Explosions in the Sky have new album coming out. I haven't heard it yet, but I'm already bored by it.
ReplyDeleteI flock to support your choice, Karl. This Yeah Yeah Yeahs album continues to enthrall me after many listens.
ReplyDeleteI, too flock. I was trying to think of which song it was that hurts in a really good way, and realized it's at least three songs: Softshock, Skeletons, and Little Shadow. I like the Midlake album, but It's Blitz is...insert big-time accolades here.
ReplyDelete