lifesgreatestfool

[lifesgreatestfool]

After some rewatches, I choked up at Tim Robinson’s “Baby Cries” sketch

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

               It took me a little while to warm up to I Think You Should Leave.  I found a lot of stuff funny initially but wasn’t always into Robinson’s unique style and delivery.  But I’ve only found it funnier and funnier the more I watch.  What I didn’t expect to ever discover about the show was what I think to be a genuine and subtle layer of intentional emotional depth.  And, in a rare feat for unabashed comedies attempting to weave in occasional notes of solemnity, it actually works very well when it’s there.  

               The best example of this is in the infamous “Baby Cries” sketch.  Or, as it’s probably more commonly referred to, the one with the “I’m worried that the baby thinks people can’t change” line.  The sketch is pretty hilarious all the way through with ridiculous stories of a past life made even funnier when the stories are later brought to life by the actors (see the hilarious “Turbo Team” sketch for a similar genius maneuver by Robinson wherein the absurd story being told is made 50 times more hilarious by intermittent splices of the real insane events unfolding).  This one follows the typical thematic line of most of Robinson’s sketches – take a common, stereotypical quirk of a given social situation and twist it far into the depths of absurdity.  Here, we’re focused on the all-too-common occurrence of: “baby starts crying when someone holds it and the person immediately says the baby must not like me.”  Robinson springboards from this social trope and twists it into a bizarre tale of the baby-holder imploring everyone else there to understand that the baby cried because the baby knows he used to be a piece of shit. But he assures everyone that he’s changed since then.  

               At the end of the hilarity, the present-day part of the sketch ends with Robinson again holding the baby, who is no longer crying, and everyone agrees that people can change.  Then we flash back to a younger Robinson with his piece of shit crew – slopping up sloppy steaks at a restaurant and being just general youthful, self-centered D-bags.  It’s still very funny, and the comedy remains the main focus far and away. 

               Still, Ezra Koenig’s moody and apparently original score for the flashback scene is kind of sad and emotive in tone.  Eventually, Koenig’s brooding electro-pop backdrop syncs up with the sketch’s final moment. The young, piece of shit Robinson is lying cockily on the beach at night with his friends drinking booze.  He glances to his side and sees the baby he held in the future sitting in the dark on the beach a few yards away from him, giggling.  He gives the baby an assuring head nod, and the sketch ends.  I was bewildered when I found myself choking up a bit at this finale recently.  It recontextualized the entire sketch and struck me as a genuine reflection on the absurdity of reconciling your past self with your current, responsibility-ridden adult self who may either be a parent or may be surrounded by old friends who are now somehow parents.  It’s as if the baby is checking in on Robinson from the future and saying “hey, you’re good.  I’ll be ready for you when you get here.  But take your time.”  

               Rethinking it, I think very subtle strokes of earnestness run throughout many of his other sketches.  It’s just faint enough to recognize after some rewatches but not quite overt enough to ruin the comedy or take you completely out of the show.

[lifesgreatestfool]

One of these days, part 2. As a follow up to the last post, I’m compelled to note that, as I often find to be the case, little connections, impulses, patterns in music/artists (and life for that matter) truly are there and should be followed. So what started as a random occurrence of me thinking of These Days, has now turned into me further realizing that the Tallest Man on Earth’s 2022 For Sent For Edelweiss contains a cover of Nico’s Fairest of the Seasons, the opener of her album Chelsea Girls, the same album sporting These Days at track 2 (what an opening 1-2 punch). This song is also written and guitared on Chelsea Girls by, yet again, Jackson Browne.

Clearly, TTMOE is infatuated with Chelsea Girls, in particular those songs crafted by Browne. And you can see why, the guitar style is very reminiscent, as is the general mood and approach of the songs. When TTMOE burst on to the scene, it was all about the Bob Dylan comparisons. Perhaps Browne’s name should have been a more prominent fixture in early TTMOE lore. Maybe it was and I didn’t realize. Well at least I have now, and I will use the discovery of these connections to motivate me to continue my recent listening trifecta of Chelsea Girls, Jackson Browne, and as always TTMOE. The connections are all there. And what really bakes my noodle, did I subconsciously know all this already this whole time!? I swear I wrote a bridge/part of a song recently that sounds exactly like the “Yes and the morning has me” part from Fairest, in particular the chord change and the use of the word “Yes” are identical. So again the question is, did I discover these connections or somehow already know them?

[lifesgreatestfool]

Today was just one of these days. The lyric above has always stuck out to me. Very cutting and breaking of the third wall. And when it pops into my head I always think about These Days being one of those few songs where I have direct intimate familiarity with and exposure to so many versions of it, beyond just being aware that different versions are out there. It might be the song the most versions of which I have some connection to but I’d be interested to confirm that.

My path with it is probably a bit unique. Nico popularized it but I didn’t know that at first. Due to coming of age musically in the days of emo/indie pop transition, Mates of State’s version was my first exposure. At the time I knew only that it was a cover and that there was something good about the song. Only later did I hear Nico’s version. I thought it was a man singing at first——clearly this was well before continuing to further my musical education and All Tomorrow’s Parties would land on Absence of Sludge. And ironically my favorite artist The Tallest Man on Earth’s version came next for me, and yet despite him occupying such prominence in my musical hierarchy there isn’t anything about his version particularly notable to me. And probably only then did I come to the version by the song and lyrics’s creator - Jackson Browne. He applied lots of thought, persistence, and elbow grease to making this one. I winded in many directions with this song before finally connecting it to its creator.

And the winding path continued today by the coincidence of me thinking of the lyric, then thinking of the song, the looking up all the versions, then realizing Cat Power’s album from this year- Covers - had a version, then realizing I’ve had that album set aside to listen to all year, then finally getting around to it, then hearing the song in yet another iteration. And again, nothing about this version made any particular impact on me. But at this point by sheer brute force These Days is an important song to me, and across all the versions I’ve encountered the leading reason for that is the above lyric closing out the song on such a memorable note.

Oh..yeah..welcome back readers.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Part II. Top 5!

5.     The Gardener (Shallow Grave)

It’s a somewhat obvious choice to include.  One of his quintessential cuts.  I initially didn’t think I’d include it on the list.  But in going back to confirm, I was reminded that it’s indisputably a top-fiver.

On the surface, it’s a peppy earworm - one that has understandably attained the most reliable sing-along status at live shows.  But of course, the otherwise lively, stomping arrangement sets the stage for some staggeringly sharp and downright sinister writing.  In a brilliant extended metaphor, the narrator frantically snuffs out (quite literally) anyone and anything that threatens to expose the darkest parts of his being and uses those remains to cultivate a beautiful garden to present to the rest of the world.  The penultimate verse could hold up as a chilling final scene in a horror film, as the narrator dances through his garden/graveyard with an oblivious lover, all the while being “soothed” by his knowledge of the garden’s true character.

It’s one of the most incisive and disturbing explorations of paranoia, insecurity, and egoism I’ve come across.  There’s not all that much more to say about it.  What makes it so great is easy to discern, which is likely why it’s one of his most celebrated efforts.

4.  The Wild Hunt (The Wild Hunt)

Though it made this list more fun, being forced to pick only two tracks off The Wild Hunt was quite a daunting task.  Originally, there was a different contender in this spot.  But after going back to confirm the choice, the title track came out the clear victor.

It doesn’t take much more than the breezy tap of the opening chords and the faint and beautiful banjo lines that pop up shortly thereafter to seal the deal.  By the time we’re hearing of “phenomenon’s arising out of the darkness,” I’ve already melted into a puddle of existential beauty.

The rest of the journey just further solidifies its excellence.  There are too many gorgeous lines to wade through and come out in-tact on the other end.  Spirits being pulled away in the glade, a nervous boy abandoned on a trail, Satan escaping through an open window.  And of course, the simple and refreshing refrain that artfully turns our insignificance and certain mortality into a point of jubilation.

It's a perfect opener to a perfect album.

3.  Like the Wheel (Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird)

If TTMOE knows anything best, it’s how to weave abstract tapestries of devastation.  Yet, Like the Wheel, the shining stand out from his wonderful postscript to The Wild Hunt, marvels in both its ambiguity and its piercing bluntness.  Even the stark and beautifully stately instrumental seems to signal a no-frills, direct meditation to come.

Wheel achieves that balance masterfully, offering characteristically fresh explications of longing and melancholy alongside cuttingly direct displays of despair.  At times, the listener flits between portraits of guiding summer birds and distraught forest-dwellers unloading their insecurities in the stoic silence of the surrounding trees.  Yet, the refrain provides the common thread running throughout: a simple declaration of weakness.  A desire to mimic the resolute objects around us that bear weight and weather faultlessly and without complaint.

If I recall correctly, TTMOE name-dropped Bill Callahan’s song To Be of Use in the intro to one of his Light in Demos.  It’s a similarly stark and despondent tune wherein Callahan fantasizes about transforming into a common tool like a “spindle” or a “corkscrew.”  Something with a “hard, simple, undeniable use.”

Ever since, I can’t help but draw parallels between Wheel and Use.  Both appear centered around a sadly futile appeal to stoicism.  An odd but understandable envy for the very tree branch that holds firm without emotions as it watches your own overtake you.

2.     Love is All (The Wild Hunt)

Alright, it’s not number one.  But isn’t it his best song? Objectively, most likely.  But this isn’t a fully objective list.

Until parsing this list out, I’ve always considered it to be the cream of the crop since I first heard it in 2010.  To this day, nothing’s changed about how great it is.  Its placement is solely due to how deeply #1 has come to reside within my DNA over the years.

Love is All boasts the best of everything TTMOE.  A simply chilling and unforgettable guitar line, harrowing storytelling, and easily the best recorded vocals of his career.  The rumbling, fingerpicked melodic walk-up culminates in his most magnetic instrumental flourish to date – one so obviously effective that he was compelled to vocalize the same melody along with it.

The first half of the song is mostly set to simmer.  It’s a masterclass in restraint – a keen awareness of how a payoff hits that much harder when the listener is left to marinate in a state of tension for a while.  It gives birth to what is inarguably TTMOE’s career-defining moment. By the time the second refrain rolls through, the safety’s been clicked off as the vocals daringly ascend to the higher octave and ring out as though delivered in real time:

“Oh, I said I could rise from the harness of our goals.  Here come the tears, but like always I let them go.”

It’s an unmatched moment in his catalogue.  A gut-wrenching admission of one’s inability to find solace within oneself alone, despite our best efforts to convince ourselves otherwise.

1.     This Wind (Shallow Grave)

It’s been a slow and steady journey toward appreciating This Wind as his best song.  As mentioned in the Time of the Blue discussion, the influence of live performance likely has had a small role to play.  Interestingly, I don’t think I’ve ever personally seen it played live.  No, rather, it is this absurdly electrifying performance that I stumbled upon years ago that has stuck with me ever since and propelled the song’s true brilliance into my sights.

First and foremost, the writing.  It is his best, bar none.  Not too far removed from the themes of his other best works, I read it as a surreal kaleidoscope of crippling anxiety and otherness manifesting through time.  And the way in which those themes are presented utterly floors me.  Every. Single. Time.

I won’t attempt to dissect every line here.  But it starts with a point of uncertainty.  What would the raven do if he found you with rain in your hands?  Our narrator won’t stick around to find out, as he’s bounding down the street at the first sound of the raven’s scratching claws.  Imagery from the animal kingdom continues with foxes on the run and burning questions as to where the mighty eagle is fed.  The answer remains elusive until our narrator stands “on the black cross in June.”

There’s obviously no fixed interpretation when we’re sailing in lyrical waters this deep.  But a consistent theme does ring out to me.  The narrator is at odds with the mightier birds of the world, wondering where they get their strength and desperately hoping they never find out how ill-equipped he is to battle them.  The closing verse painfully brings this idea into full view:

“And nobody said that the raven was dead.  So you hid all your tears in the grass. Sure, it could look like dew, but they’re laughing at you.  And they’ll send in the clowns when you’re lost.”

The portrait of our narrator frantically hiding his tears in the grass to disguise them as dew because the ominous raven still lurks somewhere out there is simply too much to handle, and it’s far too beautiful a metaphor for a human being to have conjured.  Still, that’s not enough, as a parade of laughing clowns are still due to pour into focus at your lowest moment – the moment your weakness is outed. The moment the raven discovers that it’s only rain in your hands.

And that’s only the storytelling.  Briefly, let’s dive into the actual playing here.  Jumping back to the live performance linked above, the only way I ever play the song now is the open capo version.  It’s one of his signature open tunings, allowing the player to conquer the instrument more effectively and freeing space to focus on the feel and emotion of the tune itself.  The powerful ease of the sliding guitar riff becomes mere intuition and transforms the instrument into a tool at the complete mercy of the player, not vice versa.   It’s emblematic of why TTMOE is such a captivating performer.  A song like This Wind presents an admirable dichotomy.  It permits a guy to stand on stage, completely alone with thousands of eyes on him, and utterly beast his way through an earth-shattering rendition of a song that is largely about just how terrifying it probably is for this guy to do what he’s doing before your eyes.

[lifesgreatestfool]

We’re back! Sorry for the short break in content readers. Top Ten Tallest Man on Earth songs to celebrate first concert since pandemic. Part I below. Caveat: two songs per album max.

10.   Time of the Blue (Single)

In theory, this list refers to the studio versions of these songs.  But, after seeing TTMOE in concert so many times, live renditions of each song invariably end up hovering in the periphery of my considerations.  This is perhaps most true for Time of the Blue, and it’s likely responsible for propelling it into the top ten.  While the studio version is great, you can’t help but yearn for the full-throated belting of the chorus, as generously offered each time I’ve seen it performed on stage.  A recording more closely aligned with the live rendition may very well have secured Blue a much higher place on this list.

Still, the wonderfully hypnotic guitar line with its shifting base note underscores dreamy, forlorn thoughts on marginal existence, extraordinary landscapes, and pioneers questioning their place on the frontier.  Turns of phrase like young birds “rioting through the orchestra” remind the listener of TTMOE’s unrivaled poetic flair.  The song is a surreal and powerful journey from start to finish and I’m glad he correctly felt it was strong enough to stand on its own.

9.     I’ll Be a Sky (I Love You.  It’s a Fever Dream)

Given TTMOE’s public ode to Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now wherein he declared it the best song ever written, I’ve always viewed the album-defining cut “I’ll Be a Sky” as a gentle nod to the same. Something about the opening chords and the wide-eyed scope of the storytelling ring as something of a follow-up to Joni’s biggest triumph.

Sky is uniquely emblematic of the most recent stage of TTMOE’s career.  As I believe he’s referred to it himself, Sky kind of puts a bow on his “Mr. Rogers” era.  At times, its unabashedly corny and hopeful.  But it’s worth resisting the temptation to cringe at refrains like “I feel that I’m a little strange most of the time, but I don’t really mind, oh, when my heart feels strong” and, rather, lean into them.   These moments are also easier to digest when they’re accompanied by more characteristically challenging and illuminating themes – like the narrator literally being the sky that birds dive into and references to an inscrutable “they” who are “working” those very skies that the narrator embodies.  The warm, tumbling guitar accompaniment keeps the vibe throughout as delightfully airy as the title.

8.     Wind and Walls (There’s No Leaving Now)

Leaving sits in a difficult spot among TTMOE records.  It followed The Wild Hunt, inarguably his best effort and perhaps one of the best singer-songwriter offerings to date, period.  Still, Leaving’ssheer consistency and its nuanced expansion of sound have allowed it to hold fast as a great album.

Wind and Walls is a great example of why Leavingstill measures up so well.  At its core, it’s a driving acoustic strummer, the bare bones of which would still deliver an effective track.  Yet, the subtle instrumental build that swells around the foundation actually elevates everything pretty substantially.  And if I’m being quite honest, that is a somewhat rare conclusion to draw from a TTMOE song.

The backdrop fills out in such an incremental and satisfying way so that each verse kicks in with just a bit more potency than the last.  It sets the stage aptly for what seems to be a general lyrical theme of turning a new leaf.  References to “singing songs of rivers” and “telling people lies of lions, treasures, and kings” jump out as what I can only conclude to be direct references to his past work.  Ultimately, there’s an air of condemnation directed at his past self - moving away from the “broken sounds” of the past with eyes now fixed instead toward the light laying upon the plains.

7.     Little Nowhere Towns (Dark Bird is Home)

It’s the signature TTMOE one-off piano ballad.  And, perhaps controversially, I’d call it his best one.

Arguably a trivial detail to place so much weigh on, but there’s a somewhat buried jewel lurking in Nowhere’s hushed opening moments that imbues the rest of the song with an extra dose of melancholy.  Just before the infectious piano melody kicks in, the painfully sad and lonely whistle of a firework sounds in the distance.  From then on, I’m compelled to believe the song is delivered by a narrator who happened to drunkenly stumble upon an abandoned piano alone in the middle of the night - playing while watching a firework pierce the night sky from afar.

This isn’t too much of a stretch considering the track’s feel and tone.  There’s a deliberately sloppy and unrehearsed rhythm to the piano as it clunks and meanders along, at one point wandering into a beautiful minor passage.  The story, like most tracks here, obviously seems to be rooted in the divorce that inspired the album.  Still, there seems to be a bit more to it.  It comes off as a harsh reckoning with one’s current reality during a rock bottom, lonesome moment.  An elegy penned by someone roaming the empty streets of their hometown and attempting to reconcile their past and current selves.

6.     Bright Lanterns (There’s No Leaving Now)

One of his most underrated songs hands down.  I don’t think even think I’ve ever seen him play it live (maybe this time!)  Lanterns lands right in the middle of the album.  In a way, it almost seems out of place and can be easily overlooked.

A haunting duet of fingerpicked guitar and pedal steel carries an often perplexing, apocalyptic narrative filled with fires, dying stars, and falling satellites.  Lyrically speaking, though I’d hesitate to call it his best, I would easily crown it as his most captivating.

There are certain fascinating continuities to discover when digging through the somewhat puzzling, fragmented musings.  Ignoring the risk of overanalyzing lyrics, the most notably brilliant exchange is a back and forth between the narrator and a mountain that crops up twice.  The latter exchange between the two seemingly casts doubt upon the narrator’s understanding of the nature of their relationship.  At first, he laments the mountain always treating him like a “stranger,” even though the mountain knows him best, having seen the “shadow between the city and what is mine.”  Later, the mountain retorts, perplexed that the stranger views it as a mountain at all.  It clarifies “I have never seen your shadows or fading lights,” but, rather, “I’m just a rock that you’ll be picking up through all your ages.”  Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but either way, it’s truly brilliant stuff.

The calamitous and natural imagery is punctuated by a defeated refrain: “It’s only what these kids will haul around.”  Short of a direct inference that he’s alluding to climate change, there at least seems to be a general theme of confronting the impermanence of nature itself.

The main reason Lanterns is relegated to the backend of the list is it’s need for a slightly stickier melodic presence.  Though the winding, drawling vocals suit the song well, they can result in the lack of a defining tune to latch onto.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Favorite Albums: 2017

10. Father John Misty: Pure Comedy

Grew on me a bit. There are enough good tracks to carry the album along although I still do think there’s a solid chunk of the album that is really underwhelming. Still haven’t decided if Leaving LA works or not. But the title track and Ballad of the Dying Man are some of the best songs all year. I do find myself returning to it more than I thought I would initially.

9.  Sampha: Process

Enjoyable most of the way through. Good mix of more reserved, emotional moments and catchier jams.  Not quite Frank Ocean’s Blonde but still a really solid album.

8.  Mac DeMarco: This Old Dog

Probably the most consistent project from Mac yet.  It doesn’t really have any major tracks that stand out as much as the best of Salad Days and 2.  But it also doesn’t really have a chunk of underwhelming tracks like I’ve always felt was the case on his previous records. 

7.  Dirty Projectors: Dirty Projectors

I feel like this album has gotten a lot of unwarranted flak. It pushes boundaries and it works more often than not (although I will concede there are some spots where it doesn’t really work).  5 of the album’s 9 songs are great, a couple other solid ones and only one or two major duds. 

6.  Alvvays: Antisocialites

This album, when played all the way through, is like how the band’s last album should have sounded if all of the tracks on that record were as good as Adult Diversion and Marry Me Archie. Really great songwriting.  Almost all of the melodies are pretty incredible.  

5.  Jesca Hoop: Memories Are Now

Really good stuff all the way through.  Just enough idiosyncratic charm to standout as an otherwise straightforward but compelling indie folk/rock record. A couple tracks which, though not bad, pale in comparison to the rest. But stunning moments like the falsetto climax on Pegasi more than make up for the occasional weaker moments. Themes of independence, appreciating the present, and anti-digitization run throughout this pretty great album that has flown under the radar.

4.  Sun Kil Moon: Common as Light and Love are Red Valleys of Blood

Again, I inevitably fell for Mark’s ridiculously meticulous story telling. This time we get oddly rhythmic, driving instrumentals which often do a 180 on the dime as each track unfurls around Mark’s hilarious and moving diatribes. I find Mark’s musings always provide the very necessary service of peeling our narrowed perceptions back and reminding us to get the fuck on with enjoying our lives while we can (mainly due to his well-intentioned insistence on berating us with countless “could be much, much worse” scenarios). There certainly is nobody else doing what Mark has done over the course of his last three records, divisive as he may be. Mark’s personality remains as wonderfully puzzling and alluring as ever.  His dark, no-holds-barred, profanity filled tirades often transition seamlessly into tender, tear-jerking moments of raw empathy right under our very noses. If you take the time to devote your full attention to this endearing monstrosity and leave your ego at the door, you might like what you find.  

3.  Kendrick Lamar: DAMN.

A full discussion of the significance of DAMN in the context of Kendrick’s career could take pages to address. My shortened thoughts are that Kendrick’s approach here was exactly the right move. An attempt to push further along the path of To Pimp a Butterfly probably would have inevitably fell short. Rather than attempt to top his un-toppable past work, I have come to view DAMN as Kendrick stepping outside of his career trajectory altogether to deliver his most vulnerable, direct, and emotionally impactful album yet. The track list is spectacular. FEAR: the three-layered dissection of Kendrick’s crippling apprehensions from ages 7-27. DNA: because, well, the beat switch. FEEL, because the bars from “I feel heartless often” to the end of the track are maybe the best thing I’ve heard all year (chills every time Kenny screams “I CAN PUT A REGIME THAT FORMS A LOCH NESS).  XXX, which perfectly sums up the themes of aggression, confliction, and hypocrisy that run throughout the entire record. DAMN is Kendrick’s fuck you record and I’ll be...damned...if he doesn’t deserve it.

2.  Fleet Foxes: Crack-Up

They’re back! And lordy they still got it. The addition of Crack Up to Fleet Foxes’ discography now makes it even harder to pick a favorite of the band’s immaculate trio of albums. I’m so happy that I can say that honestly. The words often used to describe Crack-Up are mostly true. Dense, “proggy” (even though I hate that word), cryptic. Compared to their last two albums, Crack Up definitely requires the most unpacking. But after several listens the albums’ brilliance and beauty smacks you in the face. It’s an almost flawless track list. The opening three track run is perfection. Third of May is one of the band’s best efforts to date. Keep Time on Me finds success in its simplicity and emotional punch. The closing title track has grown on me tremendously. I Should See Memphis is gorgeous and a bit unnerving, but in a good way.

The album cover perfectly conveys what I take away from it. I envision Robin sailing through his 6-year stormy hiatus, challenging his past convictions and slashing through the conceptual mess that comes from, as Robin has stated in interviews, “the necessity of holding two opposing thoughts in one’s mind at once.” It looks like there may be more to come in the near future and I can only hope the band can somehow keep up this fantastic streak.

1.  Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked at Me

There is an unfortunately exclusive space that this album seems to occupy. The obvious reason is because it features Phil Elverum documenting, in detail, his grieving process after losing his wife to cancer shortly after the birth of their daughter. Crow is not the first album to address the death of a loved one. An album like Sufjan’s Carrie and Lowell comes to mind as a possible point of comparison. Yet, even that comparison doesn’t seem completely justified. Not to place one tragedy over another, but the manner in which Crow is presented is uniquely devastating. There is no time for hindsight and reflection, no big catharsis or grand takeaway. As Phil makes clear up front on opener “Real Death”, death is not for singing about or making into art. So that begs the question, why does this record even exist?

And after posing that question, the listener quickly arrives at the unfortunate answer. There is no real reason why the record exists, just like there is no real reason why Phil has to endure the loss of his wife. With Crow, there is nothing to do but listen to Phil, essentially in real time, as he weaves his way through the hollow, “dumb,” bottomless emptiness that comes with the territory he now tragically sits in. I listened to this album maybe twice when it first was released and did not return to it until very recently. The record is not really “enjoyable.” In fact, I’m hard pressed to find any adjective to describe the album, let alone why I view it as the best album of the year. It seems even stupid to mention it in a list of favorite albums. What I can say is that the album is uniquely important. If you can muster up the strength to give it your undivided attention, you essentially give yourself the opportunity to trace what it feels like to grieve. Inevitably, you will impress Phil’s experience upon your own life, and, whether or not it was the intended outcome, you will quickly learn to appreciate the hell out of every single moment you can possibly spend in the presence of the ones you love.

[lifesgreatestfool]

2017 Update/Summary

Sorry, Dirty Projectors. Fuck your track rankings. Up in Hudson/Little Bubble were gonna battle it out for the top spot, for all the curious readers who were furiously awaiting the remainder of the countdown. Instead, here’s an update on the year in music for me so far. 

Standout Albums:

 Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked At Me

 A work so devastating, powerful and independently remarkable that it                 feels almost wrong for listeners to discuss their own subjective reactions             to it.

Dirty Projectors: S/T

  A refreshingly bold and captivating record. If Amber Coffman’s                            new track is indicative of the direction she’s heading in, I’m quite thankful            that Dave recognized the“dissonant” vision between the two, as he                    mentions on Keep Your Name. 

Jesca Hoop: Memories are Now

Almost every song on this record is a winner. No trend-setting or ground            breaking here. Just an airtight, successful, and regrettably overlooked                folk-rock album. 

Sampha: Process

 Sampha’s excellent and distinct voice propels Process into the                            growing collection of great alternative R&B records as of late.

Honorable Mentions:    

  Sun Kil Moon: As Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood

While lacking the listenability that made Benji such an overwhelming                    success, Common as Light is still a noteworthy project, if you have the                time and mind to give it the attention it requires. 

Arca: S/T

 Just listened to this album for the first time recently. Not all that familiar              with it yet, but the first impression was fairly strong. Will be returning.

Somewhat Disappointing: 

The Shins: Heartworms

 It has grown on me a bit since it first came out. A few standouts have                 emerged, but still the weakest Shins release to date in my opinion.

Father John Misty: Pure Comedy

 I could go on for a while about this album. It’s still very early in the                      record’s lifespan, but I’m pretty positive not much is going to change my            opinion going forward. Based on many of the singles (Pure Comedy,                    Ballad of a Dying Man, Total Entertainment Forever), I was expecting this            album to easily take a top spot of the year for me. The tracks mentioned            above and perhaps a few others are absolutely excellent. But a great                  deal of this album is falling flat for me, mainly sonically. A lot of the                      melodies and instrumentation are just not interesting. It had huge                        potential, but so far not fully living up to it for me.

Other: 

Shoutout to Laura Marling’s Wild Fire as potentially the song of the year so far, though the rest of the album hasn’t stuck for me as much unfortunately. 

Fleet Foxes triumphant return with Third of May has me counting down the days until Crack Up is released.

Shoutout to Animal Collective’s Kinda Bonkers. Wish they included it on Painting With, easily would have been one of the best songs on that album. 

Anticipating Kendrick’s DAMN. coming Friday. Somewhat mixed feelings on Humble, and the album artwork has certainly had everyone buzzing about uncertain expectations. But the man has certainly earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants with the album rollout at this point. He’s turned my expectation on its head in the past many times, so certainly still fully excited for TPAB’s follow up. 

[lifesgreatestfool]

Dirty Projectors Self-Titled Track Rankings: Tier 3

#8: Winner Take Nothing

It should be said that minus Death Spiral, there aren’t really any other songs on the album that I don’t enjoy to some extent. Winner Take Nothing falls to the #8 spot due to a few factors. Again, Longstreth’s falsetto can sound a bit silly in certain parts, particularly on the “Fighting we can ONNLLY LOSE” melodies. But the melody itself is pretty solid. It’s a little mild compared to the rest of the track listing, a pretty standard R&B tune for the most part. I do like the song’s transition passages, like when the thudding beat kicks in around the minute and fifteen seconds mark. The tremolo, strobe-like sounds that kick in around halfway through the track are pretty cool too. I’m not absolutely thrilled with the break around the 3 minute mark, where David kind of starts half-rapping again. Overall, pretty solid tune but not a favorite. 

#7: Keep Your Name

This track is so frustrating for me. I feel like it could easily be one of the best songs on the album if it weren’t for the pitched-down vocals. Yep, I said it. The pitching just doesn’t really work for me. Sure, it’s different and kind of interesting. But c’mon, I’m supposed to keep a straight face through the Andre-the-Giant like delivery of “You were my soul and my partner”? The fuck is Hagrid’s break up song doing on the album? Other than that, the song itself is pretty great. I absolutely love how Dave samples the “we don’t see eye to eye” from Impregnable Question off the Swing Lo album. I even don’t fully mind the half-rap the goes down in the middle. Some of the lyrics and quirky deliveries in this part are pretty great. I kinda love the “I don’t think I ever loved ya...that was some stupid shit.” Just guessing obviously, but it seems like Dave is referencing a time when he told Amber (the presumed subject of this entire album) the he didn’t love her anymore, and now he’s cringing about the defensive cheap shot. Also love the brutally honest and aptly delivered line “a band is brand and it looks that our vision is dissonant” (or at least I think those are the lyrics). Overall, a pretty great song that, in my opinion, only suffers a bit from stylistic choices. 

#6: Work Together 

What a totally bonkers song. I can see it may be borderline too crazy/experimenting-for-the-sake-of-experimenting for some. For me it works though. I really love the auto-tuned, descending vocal lines that act as part of the instrumental background/beat. The chorus is great in lyrics and melody: “how good we could have it if we worked together.” I love how, throughout, Dave talks about love as if it should act as a motivator for people to “raise the bar” and “better ourselves,” even going as far as to label love a “competition.” It’s an interestingly utilitarian view of such a lofty and pure concept. Sonically, I like the belching, synthy bass-lines that pop in throughout, and the atonal “work together” interjections. It’s definitely insanely chaotic and can maybe sound a bit overloaded, which is the only reason I have it hanging back to top off the third tier.   

[lifesgreatestfool]

Dirty Projectors: Self-Titled Track Rankings: Tier 4

#9: Death Spiral:

 This is probably the only song on the album that I kinda wish wasn’t there. It’s a borderline skipper for me. Which is why it’s in the bottom tier all by itself. The second track on the album, Death Spiral kicks into its main gear with a fuzzy bass that drives the tune, accompanied but Longstreth’s fast-paced first verses. Flamenco-like guitar lines flutter in and out occasionally, sounding a bit superfluous and out of place. The tolerability of Longstreth’s vocals declines as the track progresses. The harmonies that start the chorus off (“You spin me around”) sound just a bit too cliché R&B for me. Unfortunately, Longstreth’s falsettoed “WILD DEATH SPIRAL” lines that also pop in throughout the chorus don’t go over great either.

 The lowest point on the album for me is probably when song shifts to the repetitious “Our love is in a spiral” section. Again, Longstreth’s vocals fall short as he rhythmically and crazily shouts “DEATH” in the background. The delivery here is kind of absurd and over the top in how maniacal Dave sounds. Also, the lyrics are pretty bland. Our love is in a spiral…to describe a break up, meh. I’ll take the many superior lyrical meditations on love and relationships that come up throughout the rest album. Overall, definitely my least favorite track.

Tier 3 up next, everyone better stay tuned.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Dirty Projectors: Self-Titled Track Rankings Incoming!

Hey readers. Sorry for the break I’m sure you have all been beside yourselves. But not to worry, now that we’re back I assure you that...just kidding I probably won’t even actually do all of these track rankings. But if I do they will be broken down into three posts, as I will be breaking down the album into three “tiers” of tracks based on my enjoyment levels. The tracks will be ranked from least favorite to favorite. Buckle in buckaroos and look out for the first post coming soon (probably never). 

[lifesgreatestfool]

Artist - The Flaming Lips Album - Oczy Mlody Track ranking coming? No

The newest from veteran wackyboys The Flaming Lips is, to say the least, and interesting world to delve into. Oczy Mlody brings to life an odd world, bubbling with strange sounds and stranger lyrics. It’s the kind of world that, upon entering, you may feel compelled to leave right away. But, if you stick around long enough, there’s plenty in the album’s world that can offer you curious comfort and unexpected bliss.

Look, I’m not feeling Miley Cyrus’s appearance on final track “We a Famly,” and, to be honest, after floating around in Oczy Mlody a few times, no single track has stood out, but overall, I wouldn’t sleep on the album altogether, because once you accept the fact that it’s weird for the sake of being weird, it’s actually got some cool musical elements and catchy beats. I may have even spotted a monumental musical moment in second-to-last track “Almost Home (Blisko Domu),” specifically when the song unexpectedly shifts (at 2:08) into a laid back beat that changes the entire mood of the song in an instant. Flaming Lips may have lost some of their indie-rock cred over the years, but they clearly still gel together well enough to produce some quality and forward-thinking tunes.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Mount Eerie: Real Death

Not much to be said about this perspective-shattering new song from Phil Elverum. It speaks for itself. 

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/01/25/511604857/mount-eerie-shares-heartbreaking-real-death

[lifesgreatestfool]

Father John Misty: Pure Comedy

After the fantastic I Love You, Honeybear, Father John Misty, refreshingly, is not planning to prolong his next album. His third full-length release as FJM, Pure Comedy, will apparently be arriving on April 7th of this year. In the mean time, we all get to digest the title track, which was recently released with an accompanying video alongside the album announcement. So far I’ll admit that I am really digging it.  

I’ll say only a few things initially, mainly about the song’s narrative. This single again proves that FJM’s unique approach to music and storytelling somehow acts as an excellent medium for exploring otherwise risky and cringe-prone ideas. In many other contexts, songs that are so overtly political, or that attempt to tackle such insanely weighty topics, often struggle to sound earnest, novel, or even noteworthy. It takes an ambiguous kind of grace to pull off such a venture. But for some reason, FJM accomplishes it again here in my opinion. 

Perfectly timed, the song explores the political and cultural mess that we are currently sitting in by drastically widening the scope of its attack. Rather than boringly attacking, say, a particular reviled politician, the track starts off by taking things all the way back to, well, the origins of human life kind of. And in all of its admirable grandiosity, the song ends it’s six-minute diatribe with a reference to the sad solitude of Earth and its comically helpless inhabitants, urging listeners to remember that “each other is all we’ve got.” The song’s subject never narrows too much, which I think is the key to its success. Rather, it sits back with the whole apparatus in its sights. 

On paper, the track may sound preachy, pretentious, etc. But again, FJM’s approach makes it work somehow. Very much looking forward to the rest of the album. 

[lifesgreatestfool]

Monumental Musical Moments

https://vimeo.com/188262310#t=2m35s  

Listen through the beautifully anguished, “sighing” bit around 2:40. Kills me every single time for some reason.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Weird coincidence of the day. I was listening to the song Maxwell off of the above album from the Infamous Stringdusters called the laws of gravity when it struck me that the lead singer’s vocals sound very much like if James Hetfield went rogue and recorded a bluegrass album. Then, the first line of the very next song called Black elk was “the memory remains.” Weirrrrd.

In all seriousness the band is very talented and the album is an enjoyable listen. Maxwell jumped out as my favorite song. Apparently the Dusters are pretty well regarded in the bluegrass community. If you enjoy the kind of crazy fast paced acoustic bluegrass music you might hear at a fair or small music festival (Musikfest maybe?) where they definitely serve gyros, then definitely check this one out.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Just dropping by quickly to note that the above album, A Tribe Called Quest's "We Got it From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service," has been digging deeper with each and every listen as a great effort. Current favorite track: Solid Wall of Sound. While other recent hip hop releases from artists I have enjoyed in the past have failed to catch on with me (unfortunately this refers to both Danny Brown and Run the Jewels' latest), the Tribes's latest has emerged as my favorite hip hop album of recent vintage. That's not surprising, considering Midnight Marauders and The Low End Theory are among my most listened-to hip hop albums. While it took some time with each to decide, out of the three-way race between Atrocity Exhibition, RTJ3, and We Got It From Here, the Tribe is out in front for me by a long shot.

[lifesgreatestfool]

Artist: Zooey Album: The Drifters

Track Ranking Coming? No

The roll out of 2017 albums is just getting started, so I’ve had to dig a little deeper to find some new ones. Came across The Drifters, by Zooey, and, after a few listens, find the album to be pleasant, if somewhat unengaging. At times the album can be slightly too sugary sweet, with the girl and guy vocals both sounding so cutesy as to be indistinguishable. And the synths, which are lurking on most tracks, are a bit too playful, although they do complement the overall style of the album. Despite these initial critiques, however, a few of the tracks actually have caught on pretty strongly. Second track Time to Get Alone has definite “single” potential. It’s got a driving feel and packs more of a punch than some of the more easy-to-digest songs. But The Drifters succeeds the most when it takes more chances, like on standouts When the Morning Comes and Long Gone. I like what’s going on in the background of When the Morning Comes; there are some fun sounds and little vocal bursts to keep you guessing. On Long Gone, the female vocals ditch the sweetness and go for more of a sultry, longing tone, with great success. The album is better the more mature it sounds, and Long Gone is the best example. Oh and there’s a Bill Callahan cover. Always appreciated. (Get on Spotify already Callahan, ya rock bottom riser you!)