About ratingwithears

Nothing but music

Daft Punk- Random Access Memories REVIEW

Posted on May 22, 2013 by ratingwithears

Encountering this album, I didn’t quite know exactly what to think about the entire thing. Random Access Memories is so far into it’s own universe that it’s cannot be looked at in comparison to other music right now. I’ll admit that I’ve only recently been listening to other Daft Punk records from front to back, mainly so I could get a decent idea of where the duo has been before and where they’re going with Random Access Memories. But that didn’t do me much good. Random Access Memories gives itself over to the past, but not too much of Daft Punk’s past and it’s a better album because of it. Hell, it’s one of the best dance records I’ve ever heard.

Right away, “Give Life Back To Music” gives off some disco/funk and it’s the catchiest thing on the entire record (which is really saying something). The next track, “The Game of Love” is smooth and sexy and I don’t quite know how to place it, some people might end up calling this song cheesy, but I’ll address this more later… “Giorgio by Moroder” had me very excited with it’s title, but Giorgio Moroder is only here through a vintage interview, but it works perfectly with the music. Moroder tells about his growing up and how all he ever wanted to do was make music. It’s like he’s giving a voice to the robots, and Daft Punk almost treat his voice like it’s something from the heavens, something that’s more important than many of the lyrics on this album. “Giorgio by Moroder” builds with some massive sounds towards the end and it also finds the perfect moments to slip into some jazz elements.

There’s other guests scattered on Random Access Memories, and Pharrell handles two songs here that are easily the most funky songs here, “Lose Yourself To Dance” and the single “Get Lucky”. The first track is quite simple and has a great bass groove, and while Pharrell’s vocals aren’t the best, they work nice on this song and the vocals of “come on, come on, come on” are really nicely done and catchy. “Get Lucky” has many of the same stuff going as “Lose Yourself To Dance”, but has an even catchier chorus and the groove is even better.

Julian Casablancas from The Strokes takes over vocals on “Instant Crush” and it’s easily the most modern song on the album, but there’s still plenty of eighties sounds going around the song. Casablancas gives some of his best vocals on “Instant Crush” even though most of it’s put through a filter, it sounds fantastic. Panda Bear pops up on “Doin’ It Right” with his usual vocal style, and it seems slightly out of place at first over the robotic vocals, but it melds together into a very intoxicating song that ends up being too short, just when I started to really get into it, the song ended.

Back to the issue of “cheesy” music on Random Access Memories. Daft Punk don’t seem to care what anyone thinks, and it shows on several songs here that shamelessly display their love for seventies soft pop (if I can make that comparison, it might be totally accurate) and some eighties shlock too. Using the word “cheesy” doesn’t really apply here. I don’t see Daft Punk making songs like “Within” and “Touch” and finding them funny or amusing, like many of people who claim to like “cheesy music”. These are very sincere songs that wink at their origins without making fun of them.

“Within” is a light, smooth jazz song that puts some electric keyboard (not synths), soft jazz drums, and slick bass lines together with some auto-tuned vocals. It’s very simple and the use of piano and a moment of very light bar chimes might turn people off, but it’s a stand out moment on the album because of these elements. “Fragments of Time” plays like an early eighties Hall & Oats, Leo Sayer or Boz Scaggs cut, complete with some very clean vocals, hilariously bad lyrics and some Peter Frampton vocal stuff tossed in too.

The moment that might end up being the most polarizing on Random Access Memories is the eight minute epic, “Touch”. Paul Williams, writer of some the biggest Carpenters and Three Dog Night songs as well as starring in the fantastic cult classic Phantom of Paradise, takes “Touch” through a labyrinth of disco that’s bound to make unassuming people laugh the first time through. There’s horns, there’s some saloon style piano banging away, there’s strings. The song then goes with some backwards sounds before shifting off into piano and a chorus of singers. Things build back like The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” with some escalating strings and then a flurry of sci-fi sounds that swirl around. Just when the song should start to wind down, Paul Williams does some falsetto and then it’s just him and a piano.

“Touch” is the strongest moment on Random Access Memories with it’s shameless throwback to big seventies pop music. Daft Punk have created something that’s extremely entertaining with Random Access Memories, but it’s not going to strike everyone that way. The use of seventies and eighties sounds that never show up anymore are going to irritate and might not go down well with some Daft Punk fans. But this is Daft Punk’s finest moment. This is a group that has decided to look a segment of the past that no one else is going towards, and make it their own powerful work. “Let the music of your life/Give life back to music” is sung over and over on the opening song, and Daft Punk have done that over and over on this album.

Rating: 9.3 out of 10.

Mike Patton- The Place Beyond The Pines ALBUM REVIEW

Posted on May 15, 2013 by ratingwithears

Mike Patton has moved from one project to another for years, being a part of groups like Peeping Tom, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk and Phanomas. Patton’s latest project, the soundtrack for Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond The Pines, is another very interesting work from Patton and shows that he can take some of the unusual aspects of his solo work and place them inside the confines of a Hollywood film.

Patton’s score does exactly what a good film score should do, gives a mood and enhances the emotional points of the film to make for a stronger experience for the audience. While The Place Beyond The Pines didn’t enthrall me in theaters, there were plenty of moments where the soundtrack stood out and other moments where the soundtrack did exactly what it needed to move the emotions into the right spot.

Looking at this soundtrack on it’s own doesn’t give me much to reflect back on, but many of the songs here are very good and deserve to be looked at on their own. Patton’s use of choir and electric guitar throughout the album is quite dark and brooding. The opening song, “Schenectady” and “Misremebering” have some strong Ennio Morricone sounds with the electric guitar picking over strings and some choir added in for some epic sounds. Other tracks here use these elements, but there’s a certain darkness to most of these songs that can be slightly unsettling. “Family Trees” and “Handsome Luke” have deep drums and choir vocals that are reminiscent of 2001: A Space Oddity and there’s also a moment where things start out beautifully just to suddenly take a dark turn with field recordings of crickets and some scattered piano going over some drone strings.

Plenty of songs here sound very good on their own, but they don’t have enough power in the film to really stand out in the medium. It’s odd that while many of the songs here are very well done, nothing really makes a strong impact or sticks with you. “The Snow Angel” is the only piece that I remember from the film. Mike Patton continues to show his power on The Place Beyond The Pines, but I don’t see myself coming back and listening to this again any time soon. It’s an intense listen, but there’s too many moments that sound the same as others and a little more variety would have helped too.

Rating: 6.2 out of 10.

Quick Reviews: Tera Melos, Charles Bradley

Posted on May 13, 2013 by ratingwithears

TERA MELOS- X’ED OUT

X’ed Out has Tera Melos still laying down some great playing, but many of the math rock elements are hidden here behind some fuzzy guitars. While this is still a very exciting record, some of the energy and fun of their previous record, Patagonian Rats is gone. Some songs like “Bite”, “Sunburn” and “Slimed” still have plenty of great moments, but other songs like “Melody Nine”, “Tropic Lame” and “New Chlorine” breeze by and don’t have much going on.

Rating: 6.4 out of 10.

CHARLES BRADLEY- VICTIM OF LOVE

The second record from this soul act is much stronger than his first with heavy influence from James Brown in Bradley’s frayed and worn vocals and The Temptations are felt all over the backing group (Menahan Street Band) specifically on the track “Confusion” (“Ball of Confusion” anyone?). Fans of old soul music will find every track here worth something. Charles Bradley shows that he has a unique voice in a genre that has lost it’s voice.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Colin Stetson: New History Warfare Vol 3: To See More Light REVIEW

Posted on May 8, 2013 by ratingwithears

Colin Stetson had a big hit with New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges, it was the first time I had heard him, and he’s since gone on to make music with several other artists including helping Bon Iver record his latest album and touring with the group. The third and final part of Stetson’s New History Warfare trilogy, Vol 3: To See More Light, has even darker moments than Judges but there’s some very uplifting moments here as well. These darker moments are best exemplified with the pounding repetition of “Hunted” and the booming “Brute”.

But the strongest moments here are dedicated to lighter and uplifting moments like “Among The Sef” and “High Above a Grey Green Sea”. The best track here puts the best of light and dark together for the monster fifteen minute track “To See More Light”. The only thing that seems slightly off with this album is the use of Justin Vernon’s vocals, there’s nothing wrong with them, but they’re used too often even though they never take away from Stetson’s saxophone. The opening track, “And In Truth” has some beautiful sax swells, but it gets overpowered by Vernon’s strong falsetto. And even though fans of Stetson’s other material will find plenty of songs here that cover the same ground, the gems here are the strongest tracks that Stetson has ever put out.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10.

Tom Jones- Spirit In The Room ALBUM REVIEW

Posted on May 6, 2013 by ratingwithears

On his previous album, Praise and Blame, Tom Jones not only ended up with his best album in years, it was his most powerful record yet. Tom Jones is known for his voice, and while his recent albums have shown his age, he’s still a very gifted singer. Spirit In The Room has Jones interpreting other people’s songs, and most of them are decent with covers of Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson and others.

The best thing here is his version of Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song” where the lines “born with the gift of a golden voice” are serious instead of a joke. Blind Willie Johnson’s “Soul of a Man” fits perfectly with Jones’s bluesy vocals. Another song, Tom Waits’ “Bad As Me” is too identical to stick out, and Jones even tries out some of the trademark Waits growl just to fall short. There’s one original track here, the bluesy “Traveling Blues” and it’s one of strongest numbers here, as Jones continues to show that he belt out a great and passionate blues vocal. Another stand out is The Low Anthem’s “Charlie Darwin” with a simple acoustic guitar and then a full choir coming in during the second half, it’s a slow and emotional song that made even more powerful with Tom Jones’s vocals.

Sure, Spirit In The Room is just another covers album, but it’s also another remarkable album from Tom Jones. While nothing here comes to match Praise and Blame, there’s plenty of songs here to show that Tom Jones is still one of the best vocalists out there.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

The Flaming Lips- The Terror ALBUM REVIEW

Posted on May 3, 2013 by ratingwithears

The Flaming Lips have put away their gimmicks and put out a new record that’s easily the darkest thing they’ve ever put together. It’s odd that The Terror was recorded at the same as Heady Fwends, one album being very high energy and another sounding like a group lost in an abyss. While there’s songs on The Terror, nothing here stands out and the songs meld together to create one massive mood inducing experience. Wayne Coyne sounds out of it with some depressing and lyrics and although his voice isn’t at it’s best here, somehow it adds a certain quality to the record.

“You Lust” is the biggest psychedelic trip here, sounding like a Pink Floyd cut. The song clocks in at almost ten minutes, and while it’s a very intoxicating song, more changes over the track would have helped. ”Be Free, a Way” has the same issues with it’s progression. The song starts out great with some soft vocals and synths pulsing but the stays in the same register and doesn’t go anywhere. It sounds like it could explode at any moment and it never does. “Butterfly, How Long It Takes To Die” is even more dark than the rest of the songs here with spacey guitars and thick bass.

I could keep going about each song, but I find it to be the same story for every track here. The Terror has songs filled with some very interesting sounds, but nothing changes or builds enough to stand repeated listening. It’s not boring or flat, it’s just very easy to get lost and stop paying attention. Because of it’s slow, drone atmosphere the album does seem to go on for longer than it’s 50 something minutes. More dynamic sounds and builds would have helped, but The Flaming Lips have created something that sticks in one mood and carries it out.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Quick Reviews: The Black Angels, Iron & Wine

Posted on May 1, 2013 by ratingwithears

THE BLACK ANGELS- INDIGO MEADOW

The sixties are alive with this group’s fourth record. If you love stuff like Jefferson Airplane, The Velvet Underground or Nuggets comps, then there’s plenty of songs to love here. Indigo Meadow goes along the same path as other Black Angels releases, so I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard this all before on the group’s other work. It’s still a very entertaining listen, but nothing new here.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

IRON & WINE- GHOST ON GHOST

Sam Beam’s previous album showed him going into a very different direction with big horns and a full band. Now he continues down that path, but brings back plenty of his acoustic elements into the record as well. While only a few songs on here are great, the entire album flows very well and is quite laid back. It’s almost too soft at times, but I find it be Beam’s best work yet.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10.

Paramore- Paramore ALBUM REVIEW

Posted on April 29, 2013 by ratingwithears

Paramore’s fourth record comes after a uneasy split with two of it’s members and the group is now down to three and this new album shows the group building even farther beyond pop punk than their great 2009 record, Brand New Eyes. I can say that I used to love this group a handful of years ago, although my taste in music has grown and changed, I can say that I still like many of the songs from Paramore’s discography, they’re a group that has built upon every release.

This album is sprawling, and it’s almost too much at seventeen songs. These tracks do carry enough sounds and changes to keep the momentum going through the entire record. There’s still plenty of pop punk here on the opener “Fast Car”, “Ankelbiters” and the single, “Now”. There’s plenty of songs here to keep their older fans happy. Other songs show the group going into different sounds with several “interludes” that have nothing but ukulele and vocals.

Paramore tries to grow up and mature on this record in several ways. Lyrically, “Ain’t It Fun”, “Grow Up” and “Interlude: Holiday” show this although the music is still put into what the group usually does. “One of Those Crazy Girls” sounds like a great Best Coast song with some Weezer thrown in. Another moment that stands out is the closing song, “Future” where things start out simple with some acoustic guitars and then building up with a wash of loud guitars that reminds me of Explosions In The Sky. It’s one of Paramore’s best moments and a fantastic way to close out the album.

Paramore is a loud record, and there’s little dynamic going on here. Everything is set at a certain level and stays that way. Yes, this is a collection of pop punk and rock tracks, but more songs needed some clearer loud/soft moments like the closing track. It’s not a badly produced record through. The great pop moments like “Daydreaming”, “Proof”, “Still Into You” and the christian rock sounding “Part II” work very well. All these songs would have been stand outs on any modern day pop artist’s album. And these songs are the ones that I keep returning to.

Paramore delivers one song after another that’s filled with energy and it’s enough to keep the entire album running until it’s all over. It’s not something for everyone, but there’s plenty of moments that show the group is more serious about themselves than ever before and it’s a big payoff for longtime fans to see the grow as much as they have over the years.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10.

James Blake- Overgrown ALBUM REVIEW

Posted on April 26, 2013 by ratingwithears

James Blake’s second album, Overgrown, goes down some of the same roads as his debut, but there’s plenty of growth going on here to set it in a different area than his debut. Blake’s album is dumped with many of the trademark atmospheric, chilly beats of his debut. But nothing here sounds as chopped or tossed in. Overgrown shows a certain amount of growth for Blake as a songwriter, while there’s several moments like “I Am Sold” or “Life Round Here” that don’t go far enough and end up being repetitive, all the other songs here sound fully fleshed out.

The opener, “Overgrown” sets the mood perfectly with it’s cold atmosphere that builds upon itself while the entire song is still kept in enough simplicity. “Take a Fall For Me” has some great opening beats, but the entire song falls apart with RZA showing up and rapping. It takes you out of the song completely and sounds like a mash up that doesn’t work. It’s the only time the record completely misfires.

The greatness of Overgrown lies in Blake’s voice, and how he uses it in an R&B setting. Although there’s a very unique sound going on with many of these songs, most of them are nothing more than modern R&B tracks. The single, “Retrograde” is the best song on the record with Blake reaching for a stronger R&B vocal than anything else he’s ever done. It’s powerful how he builds the layers of sound and his voice as the track progresses.

Tracks like “DLM” or the closer “Our Love Comes Back” are quite simple with it’s piano chords and could almost fit on the radio. But there’s still other songs here that are compelling by building up an interesting array of sounds. “Digital Lion” starts too abruptly, but it’s progression from a cold loop to a suffocating trap to a deep dub to an odd loop of Blake’s voice. (And Brian Eno does production on the song) “Voyeur” and “To The Last” are great examples of Blake combining his R&B vocals with his distant production and typical song structure.

Overgrown doesn’t stand out in my mind like his debut does, but Blake shows how to overcome the much used “sophomore slump” and build upon the work that he’s already produced. There’s a few moments where things don’t click, but when things do fit together on Overgrown they end up being better than anything on his debut.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10.

Quick Metal Reviews: Nails, Ghost

Posted on April 17, 2013 by ratingwithears

NAILS- ABANDON ALL LIFE

The third record from this grindcore metal group has all the energy of their other releases, and that’s about all this record really has. But it’s enough. There’s nothing quite like Nails in metal music, and I can’t help but love Abandon All Life, and I’ll go as far as saying it shows growth from their previous record, Unsilent Death. Most of these songs are still very short (under three minutes) and the entire record goes by very quickly. One song, “Wide Open Wound” goes on for three and half minutes, and it’s the best song on the album. This album is a rush, but I’m hoping that the next Nails record will take it’s time and give us more.

Rating: 8.6 out of 10.

GHOST- INFESTISSUMAM

This group’s first record really took my by surprise with the clean production and great vocals mixed with some very dark, satanic lyrics. And while these elements are still here on Infestissumam, it tries to be too big and goes for a stronger hard rock sound than metal. It’s not as dark, and there’s too much Blue Oyster Cult here. There’s some really awesome songs here like “Year Zero” and “Secular Haze”, but there’s also some hilarious crap here like “Idolatrine” that sound like the group is having too much fun and recording stuff just for the hell of it.