"Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"- Phoenix

9.5

I first heard of this band, like most people in America, from their appearance on SNL this April. I was stunned by their musicianship, songwriting, and how well crafted their songs sounded. I was impressed. So, like I do with virtually all bands I get into, I researched them and figured out everything there was to know about them.


So it turns out that this is not their first album; they've been around since 2000. And even better, ils sont francais!!!!! As you can tell, I was excited.


What I love about "Wolfgang" is how all the songs seem to glide into eachother. Clashing with the waves of poppy, atmospheric synths, perfectly produced guitars, and sly vocals full of gusto and emotion. The production quality is astounding, but they make it seem easy and their production never outshines their songs like most over produced bands. Their songs are very solid. Tight would be a good word to describe them. Everything is put right next to eachother and there's so silence or hollow feeling, it's a very full sounding album. The lyrics are great. They do justice to their great music they're put to. These songs hit the heart, and it sounds like that's where they came from.

The first two tracks are a valiant way to start off a record. "1901" is beautiful. "I'll be anything you ask and more", "It's not the miracle we needed, but I wouldn't let you think so". They've got really strong lyrics, and what sounds like a lot of worldly experiences. The song fades off wonderfully and has you immediately longing for more. "Fences" slides from sly caberet, so hush hush acoustic guitars. The general mood this album invokes is incredible. "Love Like a Sunset" is almost 8 minutes. Most of it is instrumental; with layers of phrased and programmed synths, but words eventually come at the end (at least a couple lines). You'd have no idea how long this song was until you looked at the clock and realized what you just enjoyed was actually 8 minutes. "Lasso"; "Forever is a long long time when you've lost your way". More great lines. The next gem is "Girlfriend". It enters in the same way most do on this album, synths and pads, and the drums start pumping when his sly vocals kick in again. Ah love songs. "Armistice" blends in with the other songs not mentioned thus far. Nothing short of Phoenix genius and therefore incredible pop.

Great music, great lyrics, great production, great mood, great songwriting, great album overall. My only complaint: why couldn't they have added more wonderful songs????????? This album is a beauty, and one of the best this year.

Highlights: "1901", "Lisztomania", "Fences"
Listen if you like: MGMT, Death Cab for Cutie

http://www.wearephoenix.com/
www.myspace.com/wearephoenix

"The Open Door EP"- Death Cab for Cutie

7.5

Thus far in the 21st century music world, bands release EP's whenever they either have an excess of material, or not enough. For Death Cab's case, I'm assuming it was an excess. For those who don't know, DCFC released an album last May called "Narrow Stairs" that brought them further into the major label superstardom world.
"Narrow Stairs" was a good album, but there were about 2 or 3 songs that were dull. And if I'm not mistaken, there are about 2 or 3 decent songs on this EP that could've taken their place. So this I'm not totally sure about considering Death Cab could've made a near perfect record if they would've done so. But hey, that's just me.
The songs on this EP are good, don't get me wrong, but they're a little too typical Death Cab. Happy music with sad lyrics that use weird metaphors about lost love. But I digress. Overall the songs all get 4 stars out of 5. But it's the fact that the songs are a little too typical to make this stick out as any "Sun Giant" EP. "Little Bribes" is the high point, and all the other ones just kind of mesh into one another without extreme excitement.
Good job Ben Gibbard.....and Colin Meloy if you're reading this........be yourself, nobody's judging.....there's already one Ben Gibbard that we love, we don't need another one.

Alright.


www.myspace.com/deathcabforcutie
http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/

"Veckatimest"- Grizzly Bear

8.0




Grizzly Bear. Folk-Rock, Indie, harmonies, mhhhhmmm. There was a lot of hype about this album, at least I heard a lot. When I finally got a hold of this album, I was surprised. It's a good, solid record, but not the kind of record I would expect to get as much praise and hype as it did.

This album, like many this year, starts off strong and fades off into wherever. In Grizzly Bear's case, folk-out, space-out, echoed-out, Indie rock soundscapes. "Veckatimest" is melodic, harmony-filled, mysterious, at times epic, and a good solid effort for the 2009 music year already tremored by the long, tall, shadow of Merriweather Post Pavillion.

"Southern Point" starts the album very mysteriously. It fades in with smooth, charismatic vocals, and tricky, equally charismatic acoustic lines. This song is definitely epic. Next, "Two Weeks" blows this album into "best of" territory. This song is filled a soulful melody, wicked piano, and aforementioned great harmonies. As we move along; more reverb, charismatic and often shakey (in a good, vibrato way) vocals. Mostly acoustic, with good drums, a touch of electric guitars, and an overall mystical feel. The songs on "Veckatimest" grab your attention at first, but often they lose it with their length. Don't get me wrong, I listen to the Grateful Dead and the Floyd, I can appreciate a long song, but you can't always make a record of 5 minute songs and expect it to fly 24/7. But that's perhaps what's beautiful about this album; it's not trying to be too impressive. Rather, it's a nice, modest effort.

Don't give up on this album, it took about 3 listens for me to get into it.

Key tracks: "Two Weeks", "While You Wait for the Others"
Listen if you like: Beirut, Fleet Foxes, Department of Eagles