Crazy Talk!

In case our single remaining reader is wondering...

Andrew Griswold — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:52:59 PDT

I am most def going to see Bon Iver and Bowerbirds at Space Gallery, July 25. Returning to Portland, ME to find a show as enticing a this gives me great hope that my sheltered little city might be tipping national. If you haven't heard either of these bands, I highly recommend a listen, however casual.

Reason # 72,325 that Van Halen Sucks

Ken — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:26:04 PDT

I hate Van Halen. Not in the "Oh, Sammy Hagar ruined them" or "Oh, they suck" sort of way. I hate them in the "Van Halen would be played in my personal hell" sort of way. So, when I heard the mp3 on the below link, l found empirical evidence that they suck. Please be patient. The best part is the last 45 seconds.

David Lee Roth's Isolated Vocal Track from "Running with the Devil"

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

schmakt — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:25:47 PST

I ordered the new Helio Sequence on vinyl when the pre-sale started the other day. While I waited I remembered thinking about how annoying it is to get a vinyl and not be able to easily transfer it to other media. And how, really, can't I just get a free mp3 download when I buy the record? Then, sure enough, Keep Your Eyes Ahead shows up on my doorstep with a sticker on front announcing the inclusion of a coupon for a free mp3 download. How about that?
Plus I got all that other cool stuff... SubPop sticker (as always), KYEA sticker, KYEA ahead button, and a CD with some outtakes. I dunno, but that's a package for which I'm more than happy to shell out a few dollars.

I am, when trying to write about music, loathe to attempt a track-by-track review of any sort. I tried it once, and it was awful. I realized that and then realized that the only thing about which I am qualified to write is that which I feel. That often turns into a huge mish-mash of run-on sentences and inside jokes that only I get. Which is fine since I'm only writing for myself. Now, as I attempt to think what I feel, it's impossible for me to get away from the opening cut without saying something.
There's really nothing original about the subject matter of Lately, and the song itself is pretty straight forward. If, however, there was a *type* of song that makes me cry, it's this. It's an easy idea to butcher, but this was done beautifully. The production and playing were both crystal clear and razor sharp (as they were throughout the album), and Brandon's voice soared and every word was placed perfectly. Easily one of the most beautifully painful things I've allowed myself to experience in quite some time. There's never an admission that every word of the song is a lie, but you can feel it. It's heavy and, at the same time, promises freedom. If you just put it down on paper. Put it in a song. Making it concrete makes it real, right?
But no... no it doesn't.
I didn't come away from their show in Charlotte feeling like this song is as amazing as I think it is now. But, really... just fantastic.

So... there's that.
I tried to stay with Brandon's vocals, but the words quickly desolved halfway through the 2nd song, and his voice really became another instrument playing its part in a well choreographed tete-a-tete between space and sound. Now I purposefully did not listen to the record on myspace before I had it in hand... there's something about sitting in a room listening to music for the first time; I didn't want to ruin it. But they must have really been proud of these songs b/c they played most of them at the aforementioned show. I'm sure that had some effect on me as the next songs melded together, and I let them wash over me with a mild sense of comfort and familiarity. I'm spastic and fidgety enough that perhaps the highest compliment I can give to anything is that I was able to sit, unmoving, doing nothing else and not wondering what I would be doing next. It was soothing in such a strange way. I could feel the music slowly trying to pull some sort of low-level sadness out of me as it went by. And then Shed Your Love came on.
A pretty atypical song for me to enjoy. No drums. Just Brandon picking a guitar and channeling shades of Bob Dylan with some neat production stuff going on in the background. Its placement on the record definitely helped the long, and it really pulls you out of the electronic beep-boops that are so often prevalent in Helio Sequence songs. Highly highly unexpected... both its presence on the record and that I'd actually like it.

End Side 1.

Tangent...

I'll try to make this quick...
I was lucky enough to have been around real musicians a few times during the all-important final step of making an album. Figuring out the tracklist. I may have mentioned this before, but KYEA was done so perfectly that I just had to mention it again. A record has 2 first songs and 2 last songs. What those songs are is important. What if I Want You wasn't the last song on Abbey Road? That's all I'm really going to say about that except that the experience of listening to this album is greatly enhanced by the pause after Shed Your Love. (oh, and there was a big pause in the middle of the theatrical release of Lawrence of Arabia too...)

And there's a pause in the middle of this blog post...

So, Side 2.
Side 1 got you all good and depressed but not really sure why b/c it mostly sounds poppy and happy, and then they kick you with that last track and follow it up with the title track to open Side 2. The power of the pause. The effect is very mildly jarring as I listen to it now on iTunes... But Keep Your Eyes Ahead is a fantasticly hopeful and forward looking (duh) song. Red All-Stars. That's what it makes me think of. Sadly, it ends in a fade-out. One of those that seems to start fast and then just last a little longer than it should. So there's my one initial complaint about this record.
The remaining four songs were all new to me, which was nice. I couldn't help but feeling Beck mixed with Primative Radio Gods on Back to This, which was strange... But both of which are good things. Side 2 kind of did this sin curve thing. Keep Your Eyes Ahead was definitely the highest peak, then we dipped a little for Back to This and then back up just a little for Hallelujah, and it was a great ride. I like Hallelujah a little bit more each time I hear it. There's a lot of noise, and the lyrics got lost very easily. Pretty sure I got the general idea tho. And Brandon's really got a fantastic voice.

And then Broken Afternoon. I wasn't completely sure what to make of this. Initially b/c I just knew it was signalling, all too soon, the end of the record. Then b/c, well, where is Benjamin?? And then, why do I keep hearing Bob Dylan and Dan Bern? And, lastly, wtf is this? Dog Faced Boy? (No ophphense)
I know it's a sign of weakness to fall into making comparisons, but it's all I've got at this point. The record ends with such an odd little ditty that it leaves me rather confused... As a whole, Keep Your Eyes Ahead holds up better as an album than Love and Distance. Largely b/c L&D played like Cooleyhighharmony with it's divided sides, and KYEA flowed in and out and played much smoother overall. Also the overall production quality is amazing with nothing seeming out of place and everything feeling as though it was meticulously planned and very carefully put together. Aside from that fade-out.
My only other complaint? 37 minutes long.

How sad it was that we could not believe
And everyone who believes
And everyone who believes
And they said,
"We all said hallelujah"
"We all said hallelujah"
And everyone moves around with ease
And everyone fell right to their knees and then,
"We all said hallelujah"
"We all said hallelujah"
"We don't want answers anyway"

You Were Always: Since You've Been Gone EP Review

George — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:16:32 PDT

You Were Always
Since You've Been Gone EP

The first release from Austin, TX's You Were Always (myspace), Since You've Been Gone has the band poised to become the next obsession in indie-rock's respected�??if ridiculously named�??"Slowcore" sub-genre. Likenesses can be heard of Low and Red House Painters, but to be sure, You Were Always is more poppy and definitely distinct.

The first line sung is "Honey hear me out / give it a chance to start." Apropos, considering the sparse beginning of a single guitar floating over a mystery swirl of production noise in the background, courtesy of studio wizard Britton Beisenherz (production credits include Milton Mapes and Monahans). Not that the minimalism isn't compelling, but the song ends up being arguably the most flush and upbeat song on the release; it just takes a little while to get going. A little after two minutes of floating on the serene vocal harmonies of band leader Cam Houser and keyboardist Aubri Hughes, the sound is filled out with Tim Faehnle's melodic bass and the restrained, yet crushing drumming of Topher Hyink over layers of accordion and keyboard. On this track and throughout the EP, Houser's guitar is crisp in tone and unique in melody. The way it shimmers over the minimalist King Coffey-esque drums, blended with round bass and Hughes' mellow keyboard tones sounds really refreshing. Add to this Houser/Hughes' contrasting harmonized vocals�??his earthy and hers airy�??and any point in the record can be described as exceptionally pretty.

The whole band starts together in a beautifully reserved manner on the second song, "Always," which is the standout gem of this EP. In two verses and two choruses, I get the feeling I know what this band is about, and it strikes deeply. The lyrics in the verses are poignant and intense: "On the end of a knife edge / The neighborhood where you live / Where secrets never mattered / But keeping them did." They're a perfect set-up and foil to the stingingly simple drone chorus of the lyric "Always," which has an intense ethereal gravity. The song is beautifully arranged with some understated crescendos reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky, and it leaves you wanting just a little bit more.

"Across the World" conveys a feeling that I can only compare to American Analog Set's Know By Heart, until the chorus breaks wide open into a full pop gallop of lyrical gloom: "Baby, I know darkness is chasing you down / Honey, turn the lights off and put the candles out," and finishes in a coda of "Baby, don't fight it." If I weren't one to give the benefit of the doubt, I'd think Houser is pulling some kind of lyrical Kevorkianism here, but perhaps that's a little melodramatic when the wider context of the song suggests something less extreme. It's dark, indeed, but not without bright points, creating an inviting contrast. The guitar break following the chorus sounds like Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler and Richard Thompson are one person playing a darker version of a Big Star riff, and the thunderous tom-toms rolling under soft keyboard melodies fit just right with the theme of a love who can't shake her depression.

The closing song is no exception to this record's rule of pretty, and plays even more with crescendo and concise verses. After just a couple minutes, it leaves you floating, true to its title, "Miles and Miles Away" from where your thoughts were before pressing (or clicking) Play. You'd expect a four song, 18 minute EP to be a short little trip, but Since You've Been Gone picks you up somewhere in middle America, and drops you off lost in an ocean all at once peaceful, lonely, dangerous and beautiful.

Paul Potts, An Unlikely Idol

Tamra — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:00:39 PDT

It�??s a gorgeous Sunday morning, and I�??m reading the New York Times Magazine online, on my back porch. Today�??s main article is about Rick Rubin, the man whom Columbia Records, and the recording industry as a whole, are hoping will be their saving grace. Apparently, Rick Rubin�??s first disciple will come in the form of 36 year old Welshman Paul Potts, a slightly dumpy-looking cell phone salesman with bad teeth who sings opera. Potts is huge in the UK thanks to �??Britiain�??s Got Talent�??, the show which gave birth to American Idol. Rubin�??s A&R guy showed him the video of Paul�??s audition, and Rubin started to cry (no, it wasn�??t because BGT�??s music supervisor thought it would be ok to play Aerosmith�??s �??Don�??t Want to Miss a Thing�?? as Paul�??s exit music).

Yes, Paul Potts�?? voice does everything it should. He hits the notes. He feels them. He knows them. But that�??s not entirely what drew me, and thousands of others, into his world. It was the vulnerability that he chose to expose.
There�??s one point in the video when the judges ask what Paul is going to do for them, and he says, �??I�??m going to sing Opera�??. The looks on the judges faces, as you can imagine, are those of dubiousness, suspicion, and flat out derision. At about 30 seconds into the clip, you can see Paul�??s reaction to the judges�?? faces; his expression is that of a 7 year old who has just been told that his best, and only, canine friend has to be put to sleep. It�??s just a tiny moment, but it is the moment in which he endears himself to anyone who is close enough to read his eyes.
Vulnerable, hurting, and human, Potts somehow manages to make everything around him disappear except the music. He opens his mouth. He is a triumph. He admits his lack of confidence. His admission is real. But what he doesn�??t fully understand is that he threw himself into the Lion�??s Den and came out unscathed. He put himself in an impossible situation, one where nobody wants him or is truly willing to give him a chance. He was reliving his troubled childhood, being teased for being the poor kid, never really given the proper shot. But he forces them to listen, not by threats, not by anger, but by the pure desire and ability that comes from within him.
I�??m not a fan of opera, but I�??m becoming a fan of Paul Potts. I imagine that there are many others who hold the same opinion. But I wonder...would I buy his CD when it comes out? I�??d like to think that I would if for no other reason than to support the underdog. But I'm not sure. Part of Pott�??s appeal is his nonverbal communication. You see it in his eyes. In his face. In his carriage. And yes, you hear it in his voice. But will his appeal withstand if I, and others, rely on the auditory alone? Judge for yourself.

Current TV: "All Eyes On My Morning Jacket"

Howie — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:14:55 PDT

CrazyTalk's moles at Current TV, Douglas Caballero and Alex Simmons of The Current Fix, are back with another round of wily interactive shenanigans.

Following on the heels of their Shins user-gen coverage, The Current Fix is getting the crowd to "turn on" My Morning Jacket in the band's Lollapalooza show with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (Sunday, Aug. 5th).

The concept: Fans at the show whip out their cell phone or digicam & shoot a video of the experience. After the show, they upload the video to the Current "All Eyes on MMJ" microsite. Douglas & Alex then piece together the jigsaw puzzle to create a user-gen concert video, which is then available on the "All Eyes" site.

If you're a student of music & "the new media" (bandwagon, jaded or plain old fascinated), "All Eyes" is a core requirement for your education.

With hyperbolic sincerity, I've said it before & I'll say it again: THE FUTURE IS NOW!

(BTW - The Fix has some great little pods on Girl Talk, Feist, The Black Keys, MSTRKRFT, Earl Greyhound, Eef Barzelay, Of Montreal, Shiny Toy Guns, Little Man Tate, and Maps. And if you haven't seen the one of Doug as a Flaming Lips dancing santa - its pretty much mandatory at this point.)

Interview: Midlake on Bandega

Howie — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:52:00 PDT

Eric Pulido of Midlake sat down for an 5-question quickie with Bandega.

Read it.

Rock Quilts: Quiltsryche

Howie — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:20:01 PDT

Unbelievable.

For catching a few crook-necked z's in your 15 passenger van between Des Moines and Sioux Falls.

Or for curling up on your futon with a Led Zep DVD and a bucket of donut holes.

These are the quilts for you.

The touch, the feel of cotton. The fabric of our lives.

www.quiltsryche.com

www.myspace.com/quiltsryche

Incoming! July Shows

Howie — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:16:46 PDT

(courtesy of my profile on Bandega.com)

There's tons of great shows coming up in July. Some of these bands I'm genuinely a fan of. Others, well - I just like their name. For instance, Raccoo-oo-oon.

Bands with stars next to them are the ones in my Bandega profile.

What shows are YOU going to?

Jul 03 Tue	Vetiver The Papercuts The Dry Spells	Independent Independent 628 Divisadero Street San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 771-1422 map/directions official website	Vetiver The Papercuts / The Dry SpellsIndependent (21+) Tuesday, July 03, 2007 8:00 PM (doors 7:30 PM) $15.00 » buy tickets
Jul 03 Tue	Raccoo-oo-oon Death Sentence: PANDA! Numinous Eye	Hemlock Tavern Hemlock Tavern 1131 Polk Street San Francisco, CA 94109, map/directions official website	Raccoo-oo-oon Death Sentence: PANDA! / Numinous EyeHemlock Tavern (21+) Tuesday, July 03, 2007 9:30 PM $6.00 » buy tickets
Jul 05 Thu	Band Of Horses A Decent Animal	Great American Music Hall Great American Music Hall 859 O'Farrell Street San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 885-0750 map/directions official website	Band Of Horses A Decent AnimalGreat American Music Hall (All ages) Thursday, July 05, 2007 8:00 PM (doors 7:00 PM) $20.00 » buy tickets
Jul 05 Thu	The Complications Michael Zapruder Mist and Mast	Make-Out Room Make-Out Room 3225 22nd Street San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 647-2888 map/directions official website	The Complications Michael Zapruder / Mist and MastPresented by Playing In Fog Make-Out Room (21+) Thursday, July 05, 2007 9:00 PM $7.00 » buy tickets
Jul 06 Fri	Hiss Golden Messenger The Court & Spark Kelley Stoltz	Cafe du Nord Cafe du Nord 2170 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94114 (415) 861-5016 map/directions official website	Hiss Golden Messenger The Court & Spark / Kelley StoltzCafe du Nord (21+) Friday, July 06, 2007 9:30 PM (doors 8:30 PM) $12.00 » buy tickets
Jul 11 Wed	David Vandervelde Blitzen Trapper	Bottom of the Hill Bottom of the Hill 1233 17th Street San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 626-4455 map/directions official website	David Vandervelde Blitzen TrapperBottom of the Hill (All ages) Wednesday, July 11, 2007 9:00 PM (doors 8:30 PM) $10.00 » buy tickets
Jul 13 Fri	Howlin Rain Citay Cryptacize Get Him Eat Him	Hemlock Tavern Hemlock Tavern 1131 Polk Street San Francisco, CA 94109, map/directions official website	Howlin Rain Citay / Cryptacize / Get Him Eat HimHemlock Tavern (21+) Friday, July 13, 2007 8:30 PM $12.00 » buy tickets
Jul 13 Fri	Dr. Dog Delta Spirit The Teeth	Cafe du Nord Cafe du Nord 2170 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94114 (415) 861-5016 map/directions official website	Dr. Dog Delta Spirit / The TeethCafe du Nord (21+) Friday, July 13, 2007 9:30 PM (doors 8:30 PM) $12.00 » buy tickets
Jul 17 Tue	The Polyphonic Spree Jesca Hoop	Great American Music Hall Great American Music Hall 859 O'Farrell Street San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 885-0750 map/directions official website	The Polyphonic Spree Jesca HoopGreat American Music Hall (All ages) Tuesday, July 17, 2007 8:00 PM (doors 7:00 PM) $22.00 » buy tickets
Jul 19 Thu	The Bird and the Bee Mike Andrews	Independent Independent 628 Divisadero Street San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 771-1422 map/directions official website	The Bird and the Bee Mike AndrewsIndependent (21+) Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:00 PM (doors 7:30 PM) $15.00 » buy tickets
Jul 19 Thu	Rasputina My Brightest Diamond	Great American Music Hall Great American Music Hall 859 O'Farrell Street San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 885-0750 map/directions official website	Rasputina My Brightest DiamondMy Brightested Diamond Solo Great American Music Hall (All ages) Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:00 PM (doors 7:30 PM) $16.00 » buy tickets
Jul 19 Thu	Sonic Youth	Berkeley Community Theatre Berkeley Community Theatre 1930 Allston Way Berkeley, CA 94704, map/directions official website	Sonic Youth Berkeley Community Theatre (All ages) Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:00 PM $81.00 » buy tickets
Jul 25 Wed	Casiotone For The Painfully Alone The Donkeys El Olio Wolof	Bottom of the Hill Bottom of the Hill 1233 17th Street San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 626-4455 map/directions official website	Casiotone For The Painfully Alone The Donkeys / El Olio WolofBottom of the Hill (All ages) Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:00 PM (doors 8:30 PM) $10.00 » buy tickets
Jul 27 Fri	Tartufi Silian Rail Sky Pilots Low Red Land	Bottom of the Hill Bottom of the Hill 1233 17th Street San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 626-4455 map/directions official website

Music Video: Datarock "Computer Camp Love"

Howie — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:50:18 PDT

This video warmed the digital cockles of my digital heart.

Show Pics: Birds & Batteries @ Cafe Du Nord

Howie — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:06:30 PDT

Local slow-fast alt.dance-folk phenoms, Birds & Batteries, played their CD release party at Cafe Du Nord on the 29th. 90% of the people I talked to after the show were 100% blown away. Having spun the album several times before the show, I can confidently state that the album is great and the live show is greater.

Though some of the transitions between live drums and electronic beats could've been a tinge more fluid, this is a very tight band and everyone seemed on their game for this important show.

Here's my shots from the show.

Check out a review of the new album, "I'll Never Sleep Again" here.

Music Video: Ryan Adams' "Two" on Letterman

Howie — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:53:30 PDT

A snapshot of Ryan Adams' day:

Wake up.
Don't brush hair.
Drink coffee w. nipper. Accompany w. inhaled drug of choice.
Write and record 13 songs.
Eat breakfast.

A couple of nights ago, he played a track ("Two") off the new album "Easy Tiger" with the Cardinals on Letterman.

Not his most provocative songwriting, but still a pretty song.

Who's listened to the album - any thoughts?

(thanks to Miley for the link....)

Music Law: M.E.L.O.N. Blog

Howie — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:43:50 PDT

YO. Lawyer life has kept me pretty tied down lately - but my fingers have not been idle on my keyboard.

I'm running a blog called MELON - Media and Entertainment Law Online News, with trillions of awesome articles for lay peeps on the ins and outs of the entertainment & technology industry.

www.melonews.com

Some of the topics are copyright, music law, music business, trademark, internet law, digital rights management, film law and the TV business.

Here's some links to my most recent articles:

My brain has swelled to dangerous proportions. I believe the medical term is Rock Law Edema.

Show Pics: Menomena & All Smiles @ The Independent, 6.8.07

Howie — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:17:29 PDT

This was a very, very good show.

Not counting All Smiles. They were sick - literally.

Menomena was phenomena(l). Someday I might even have the time to post the audio review up here.

Meanomawhile, satisfy with these delicious shots of an exciting band.

I was rocking the telezoom from the back of the room, so most are head shots.

Album Review: Birds & Batteries' "I'll Never Sleep Again"

Howie — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:51:12 PDT

I don't know what happened when I first heard Mike Sempert's Birds & Batteries. My wife Kate had struck up a conversation with him in early 2006 at Albany's now defunct Ivy Room after a show, and he gave her a copy of the 18-song demo "Nature vs. Nature." Kate gave it to me, and after giving it a once through - I found myself slipping it into my car's CD player whenever I drove across the bay bridge into the city.

What drew me into "Nature" was how it combined elements of music I loved in a way that seemed wholly original. And because it is so rare for a band's music to strike me this way, I have become an unapologetic fan of Birds & Batteries (see the end of this post for old reviews & audio interviews).

The San Francisco based quartet have just come out with a new album entitled "I'll Never Sleep Again," which they recorded and mixed at a couple of big whoop studios - Vanderslizzle's Tiny Telephone and Hyde Street.

Before listening to it, I was honestly prepared for this to be a band that put out one great album that never matched up to later recordings. And I would have been okay with that.

But "I'll Never Sleep Again" is a damn good album - every bit as good as "Nature vs. Nature." Although the previous album did amazing things with garage folk-tronica, the new album has kept the same general aesthetics but also utilized insightful production to capture and hone that sound.

Here's a play-by-play:

1. "Heart of Gold": Just like Nature rolls off with a spacey interpretation of "Albuquerque," Sempert paralleled this in Sleep by starting with a similarly spacey "Heart of Gold", which has been a show staple for quite a while. Yes - there's the plaintive pedal steel, but the melody is played by a weird multi-tone synth with an underscore of heavy "ursh" synth bass. The synth-guitar break down in the middle is somehow still able to capture the longing poignancy of the original. This is a very slow start to the album, which as a whole takes a while to peak. Just consider it foreplay.

2. �??Jungles (Oceans)�??: This track is more like the second half of the previous song �?? a similar synth hook, but slightly more epic and all instrumental. Its more like beautiful filler �?? breathing space before the next song.

3. "I'll Never Sleep Again": Here's another example of the evocative mixture of pedal steel and synth melodies. Not to mention great songwriting. I also noticed on this track that Sempert is taking more vocal risks, which is something that continues throughout the album. Once it gets to the swell towards the songs end, I wish it would just explode. But he gets to exploding later in the album.

4. "A Passenger": Like track 2, this track is like the second half of a 2 part suite �?? an extension of the previous song. There�??s also mention of jungles and never sleeping.

5. "Ocarina": An unassuming anthem of good times past. Hard to know if Sempert�??s referring to the ancient wind instrument or the Zelda MPORG. LOTS of water imagery in this one: underwater, rising swamps, water in sinking shoes, aquariums & shark tanks and oceanography. Great song, although I think the ending is wrapped up too neatly.

6. �??After a Flood�??: Oddly infectious dance beat intro �?? I�??m picturing a Justin Timberlake video with Sempert�??s face superimposed. The break down is pretty amazing. It has the strangest chord progression you�??ve ever heard (which at first makes no sense but later listens reveal to be genius) coupled with a sick & funky bass line. Then it launches into an intense recap of the song�??s beginning, this time in a dance club swarming with sexy ladies and henchmen.

7. �??Starclusters�??: This may be my favorite song on the album. The first 30 seconds alone make it �?? stuttering electronic beats in strange succession followed by BLAM �?? the song proper. The lyrics seem to be about how all stars die and give up their light to the universe. But laid on this is the most fascinating assault on my ears, in the form of synth effects. One of my favorite lines on the album: �??Out there in the open / Where the big things happen slowly / I can feel it coming towards me / Like a skater, it�??ll crack the whip�?? �?? then BLAM �?? back into the synth assault. Love it.

8. �??Turnstyles�??: This is the single. Possibly the most perfectly constructed song I�??ve heard in a long, long while. Extremely catchy synth hook to open, then add steady kick drum, then add keys and bass. Mix well. The lyrics tell a bit of a story as well. Simple yet wailing guitar solo leads into a surprising horn backup in verse 2. Towards the end, massive vocal layering leads the way back to a more upbeat recap of the initial hook. My only complaint �?? this part of the song requires dancing, but as soon as you realize you�??re required to dance �?? the song ends.

9. �??The Squeaky Wheel�??: Now we turn the pace down about 5 notches (out of 10). A simple piano ditty �?? �??The squeaky wheel gets the oil / the squeaky wheel gets the oil / make a sound while you toil / the squeaky wheel gets the oil.�?? There�??s several iterations of the same melody. In the movie, the main character has just accidentally taken a several oxycontins and laid down by a tree in the park �??just for a sec.�?? 7 hours later he snaps out of it and staggers home.

10. �??Soft Surveillance�??: Here�??s the mandatory acoustic one�?�.or so you thought! The dance beat, bass, synth and pedal steal kick in. More on this track than anything yet, I see that this album is driven by its driving electronic dance beats �?? beats that by themselves would be the center of the �??Night at the Roxbury�?? skit on SNL. But the addition of pedal steel, interesting bass lines, otherworldly synth textures, inventive guitar accompaniment and broadly-themed lyrics take the tongue out of the cheek of the dance beats.

11. �??Humanization�??: A slow dirge that will be played by the gods at humanity�??s wake. But this will be no ordinary wake, because the gods will get drunk and sway in a very epic manner. Featuring great, echoey female harmonies.

12. �??Mythology: The Great Director�??: Another synth slowcore song with lyrics front and center. The harmonizing guitar solo sealed this one for me.

13. Extra Track?: This one wasn�??t mentioned on the jacket I got. Mostly an outro of musical ideas that seem to stem from the �??Humanization�?? track.

Holy wow this album is good.

If you still haven't gotten your fill: