The Bhoy's Decade of Albums... In 104 Parts

Originally I was not going to do something like this. I thought I was too inexperienced, that I hadn't heard enough albums, nor have I been a mature music conoisseur long enough. But I started making it one day to tide my exam studying boredom and lo and behold I came up with 104, excluding many more. 104 is indeed a random number and I chose it just for that reason, totally random. Is it perfect? I don't know, but it's mine. So without further ado:

1. Radiohead - Kid A
2. Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye
3. Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn
4. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
5. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
6. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
7. The Weakerthans - Left & Leaving
8. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
9. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
10. Isis - Panopticon
11. Mew - Frengers
12. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
13. Dave Holland - What Goes Around
14. Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between
15. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
16. Arcade Fire - Funeral
17. The National - Boxer
18. Do Make Say Think - Other Truths
19. Destroyer - Destroyer’s Rubies
20. maudlin of the Well - Bath
21. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
22. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
23. Tom Waits - Orphans, Bawlers & Brawlers
24. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
25. Tord Gustavsen Trio - Being There
26. Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
27. Eluvium - Copia
28. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
29. Kayo Dot - Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
30. Sun Kil Moon - April
31. Battles - Mirrored
32. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
33. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
34. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
35. The Knife - Silent Shout
36. My Morning Jacket - Z
37. Caribou - Andorra
38. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
39. Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett
40. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
31. Do Make Say Think - You, You’re a History in Rust
42. Menomena - Friend and Foe
43. Portishead - Third
44. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
45. Bill Frisell - Disfarmer
46. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
47. Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
48. Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030
49. Hot Water Music - A Flight and a Crash
50. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog
51. David Francey - Skating Rink
52. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
53. Jaga Jazzist - What We Must
54. Ulf Wakenius - Notes From the Heart
55. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
56. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
57. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
58. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
59. maudlin of the Well - Part the Second
60. Les Savy Fav - Let’s Stay Friends
61. James Ehnes - Barber, Korngold, Walton Violin Concertos
62. Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of The Decline
63. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
64. Opeth - Damnation
65. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
66. Chicago Underground Quartet - Chicago Underground Quartet
67. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
68. Dave Holland - Critical Mass
69. Deerhunter - Microcastle
70. Pg.lost - It’s Not Me, It’s You!
71. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
72. Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project
73. Burial - Untrue
74. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
75. Madvillain - Madvillainy
76. Radiohead - Amnesiac
77. Isis - Wavering Radiant
78. The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
79. Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Lynx Pt. 2
80. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
81. Calexico - Feast of Wire
82. Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
83. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
84. Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
85. The Decemberists - Picaresque
86. The Besnard Lakes - Are the Dark Horse
87. The Dodos - Visiter
88. The Go-Betweens - Oceans Apart
89. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
90. The Drones - Havilah
91. Kiss Kiss - The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left
92. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
93. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
94. Radiohead - In Rainbows
95. John Scofield - Up All Night
96. Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks
97. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
98. DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling
99. Eric Whitacre - The Complete A Capella Works
100. Antony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now
101. Ali Farka Toure - Savane
102. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
103. Sigur Ros - Takk
104. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward

Kayo Dot are a very hard band to grasp. Of course being an Avant-Garde project as they are, this should not come as a surprise to any listener. The groups first two albums Choirs of the Eye and Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue, respectively, showcased the range of the band. Choirs shifted between neo-classical buildups, to hair raising metal climaxes; all with hints of jazz and ambience thrown into the mix. Dowsing refined the climaxes slightly, focusing more on the buildups. Both albums were fantastic in their own rights. Choirs was arguably the more raw and emotional featuring beautiful passages and gut-wrenching climaxes. Dowsing refined the sound slightly, focusing more on the build ups then the climaxes, it also featured slightly better musicianship from the auxiliary components (see the trumpet and drumming on Aura On An Asylum Wall). One criticism that could be brought up regarding the two albums is the sometimes overlong sections of ambiance and dissonance. Pieces such as Marathon from Choirs and more notably __On Limpid Form from Dowsing could have been made better with some slight editing. On Kayo Dot’s third effort, Blue Lambency Downward, the audience receives a bit of this trimming of the fat. A welcome sight perhaps, if only what was presented was more compelling.

Only two of the tracks, which book end the album, could be considered typical Kayo Dot lengths. In between the two epics are a handful of more accessible songs in terms of length. Immediately one gets the impression that the long stretches of ambiance are gone, which for the most part is true. The end of Clelia Walking and Right Hand is the One I Want dissolve into ambiance, but with the shortened lengths, these songs are more approachable. Even the longer cuts remain generally interesting musically for the entirety of their lengths. However, what came before the long stretches of ambiance in the first two albums was for the most part astonishing, making lulls approachable. The main problem with Blue Lambency Downward is that, while the long stretches of ambiance are trimmed down, the actual melodies are of a noticeably lesser grade then before.

That is not to say that the album is devoid of anything interesting. In fact there are plenty of musically compelling bits throughout the album. Mia Matsumiya turns in another fantastic performance on the violin, most notably on the end of Clelia Walking where she shows off her wonderful capabilities of crafting beautiful melodies. The jazz-lounge piano styling of Right Hand is the One I Want is something new offered from the band. While the group has dabbled in jazz tendencies before, they never fully embraced an all out jazz oriented piece quite like this. Unfortunately this song begins to sag towards the middle, it seems to not really go anywhere, the piano and drums just seem to float around, until the violin takes over. The album has plenty of good moments in it musically, in fact there are only two parts of the album that are just plain awful. The end of the title track becomes flat out annoying, mainly due to Driver’s vocals (which I will address later) and The Sow Submits is by far the worst track Kayo Dot have yet to produce. Putting disconcerting chords together on a simple pattern of quarter notes is not making the music ‘challenging’, it is making it unlistenable.

This brings me to my ultimate problem with the album, Toby Driver’s vocals. While Driver has never been the best vocalist, his abilities were sufficient for the roles of the vocals. The first two albums saw the vocals used more as an added texture. This album brings them out to the forefront. Instead of showing his emotional range that he has shown before, he opts for trying to sing in a non falsetto voice, most of the time. His singing is flat, nasale and boring. The title track suffers the most from this, the ending of the song is sung so flat and monotonous that it makes me reach for the skip button real quick. On top of this, the musicianship just isn’t as good as before. Mia and Toby are still good on their respective instruments, but the additional players, mainly the new drummer Charlie Zeleny, do not add up to the players on Choirs or Dowsing. Further more, the biggest issue musically with this album is it’s inconsistency. The audience has to sift through a lot of mediocre stuff to pull out the good bits. I understand the ‘difficultness’ of the album, but after a good six or seven full listens, it is becoming evident that the album just is not that good.

On the positive, the album does feature some decent tracks. While Clelia Walking doesn’t meet as high as other Kayo Dot pieces, but it is still a strong work. Also, Right Hand is the One I Want is refreshing in its full on jazz-lounge mode, and The Awkward Wind Wheel is as close as Kayo Dot have ever come to a conventional rock song (though it is still a few miles away from that). Finally, the closing piece lives up to past works by the band. The horn and woodwind interplay that opens Symmetrical Arizona is very interesting and it segues into a cool, long guitar solo from Driver that is backed by a vibraphone and Mia on the violin. The song never explodes into a climax, but slowly fades out with some jazz drumming. Another thing to note on this album is it’s lack of explosive climaxes. The only song to feature noticeably distorted guitars is Clelia Walking and it is used sparingly. This may be an issue for fans of the earlier Kayo Dot, or even maudlin of the Well albums, though this reviewer doesn’t mind the lack of huge climaxes.

Overall, I applaud the attempt of further experimentation on the part of Driver. He was never going to settle into the progressive, neo-classical avant-garde/post-metal niche he had carved out on previous efforts. He opted to forgo long buildups, hair-raising climaxes and long ambient passages and focus simply on melodic and harmonic patterns. Unfortunately, these melodies and other various musical dynamics, pale in comparison to previous efforts. Also, standing alone, it is simply not a great release. Music can be challenging, yes; but ultimately you need to have something to hang your hat on. Minus a few tracks on the album, there is just very little for the listener to grab onto. That is the ultimate downfall of this disappointing album from an otherwise very creative and talented band.

5.2/10.0

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Hmmm, so here we have the new double album from The Flaming Lips Embryonic. It's difficult to fully put into words my thoughts. The album teeters between absolutely stellar and head sratching. In straddles the line of psychedelia tipping either way between hip and cool, to strange and annoying. The drumming is, however, a constant plus the entire way through. Difficult and interesting this is not for first time Lips fans. It's a good album, not their greatest. Given time there are plenty of fantastic moments in this. However no amount of time can make me appreciate Karen O's noises in "I Can Be a Frog".

7.3/10.0

Bill Frisell - Disfarmer

Born Michael Meyer in 1884, Mike Disfarmer (his alias) was a gifted photographer who specialized in portraiture. His black and white images are simple but engaging, with a perspicacious eye for composition. Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, a member of John Zorn’s Naked City outfit, obviously felt a connection with the photographer as he sets out to "score" Disfarmer’s photographs in his new album, Disfarmer. Like a film score, this album is based upon a visual influence and thus is best listened to while viewing Disfarmer’s photographs. Frisell’s graceful guitar along with his modern string band, featuring Greg Leisz on mandolin and pedal-steel, Jenny Scheinman on violin/fiddle and Viktor Krauss on upright bass; create a rich, cinematic tapestry. While hushed and sparse enough to play as good background music, the strong blending of Americana, folk, jazz and minimalist classical also creates an intelligent piece of music that can be enjoyed from a technical standpoint as well.

The style changes from song to song, but the shifts are never too radical, allowing for a nice flow and giving a sense of continuity to the album. One moment we’re scaling rhythmic violin arpeggios in the modernist classical piece "Focus" with Frisell laying thick reverb on his thoughtful lines. The next we’re jauntily humming along with playful fiddle and acoustic guitar melodies on the country-tinged hoe down of "Peter Miller’s Discovery". What keeps these pieces, and the album as a whole, together is the unifying atmosphere. There is an inherent sense of space and breathing room to the music. This is a group of technically proficient musicians, but they don’t try to pack every second of these compositions with too many different ideas. Frisell’s jazz background lends him the greatest confidence in improvisation amongst the group, but he is just as interested in interplay with the band as he is in soloing. For example, "No One Gets In" builds from sparse bass lines to perhaps the busiest soloing on the album but for it slowly molds into a harmonic synchronisation between guitar, bass and fiddle.

At heart, Disfarmers is the soundtrack to the photographs. As each photographer peers into the souls of each individual, so does the music peer into every grain of the photograph. Each smile coincides with a flourish of electric guitar, or fiddle melody; each shadow is mirrored by lingering pedal-steel tone. It’s in this sense of cinematic grandeur that Disfarmers truly shines. Not to suggest that the album doesn’t stand on its own merit. The intelligence of the music allows it to stand as its own separate entity just as well as when paired with the images. However, with the imagines accompanying it, tracks like "I Am Not a Farmer" feel deeper, "Lost Again, Dark" haunts a little more, and "Did You See Him?" hurts just that little bit harder. The music is the same, but the images stretch the emotions associated with the pieces a little bit more. This enriches what is already very good music on its own.

The only fault that can be put towards Disfarmers pertains to its length. At almost 30 tracks and over 70 minutes in length the album can be a chore to sit through in its entirety. While there are plenty of dynamic shifts in tone and mood, these shifts are never too drastic which can lead to a sense of the mundane towards the albums latter half. While the leitmotif dynamic that is used adds to the intelligence of the music, it doesn’t help with the length problem. Still, this shouldn’t take away from the great music that is presented. Overall this is a great album with wonderful composition, atmosphere and technical ability. While at times perhaps a little to down tempo, the excellent blending of jazz, folk, americana and classical result in one of the better albums of 2009. Plus it got me to look at a really good photographer who I would otherwise have never heard of. Bonus!

8.4/10.0

The Blind Side

Yeah, so I saw this with a girl. Pretty much the only reason I would go see Sandra Bullock. Normally I would just feel whatever about such a generic movie, but I actually found this offensively bad. First off, just arbitrarily using the race card is even worse then using the generically beaten-over-head-with-baseball-bat consistent race card. Secondly, if you have the talent of Cathy Bates, don't waste her as a Fairy Godmother figure. Third and most importantly, don't hire Sandra Bullock... ever. In conclusion LOL.

1/5

Do Make Say Think - Other Truths

If you don't have this by now, what are you waiting for? Best post-rock release since the last Do Make Say Think album. 4 fantastic tracks that flow better than any of their other albums, Other Truths is equal parts intricate and spacious. At first you might be left wanting something more to grab onto, like the crescendo in "Fredericia" or the wonderful drumming in "Executioners Blues" but give it time and the rewards of all 4 tracks (Do, Make, Say and Think) will reveal themselves in time. Awesome.

9.4/10.0

La Grande Illusion

Jean Renoir's Other masterpiece (besides Rules of the Game) is simply a must have for anyone who considers themselves film fanatics. Sure its long, in multiple languages and black & white, but it's also the greatest anti-war film ever made. Subtle in a way that modern film makers could take notes from, this story of a couple of PoWs is interestingly timeless. Funny, moving, sad but always optimistic, La Grande Illusion should be something you see. DO IT.

5/5

Olenka & The Autumn Lovers

Hailing from my hometown I feel slightly obliged to rep this album/band. Fortunately, because it's actually good I can come away from this endeavour without feeling dirty. This self-titled debut of Eastern European tinged indie-folk is most easily likened to big(ger) name acts such as Beirut or DeVotchKa. This parallel is rather apt, but in simply doing that I would be doing unjustice to both the band and the album. The group take their trained musicianship and great vocal harmonies to some very beautiful places. "Iron Pump" is a short little number with a stuttering chorus and lovely vocal harmonies. It's in these subdued moments, like "Hushush" that Olenka and her lovers are at their best. At nearly 7 minutes, album opener "Ballad of Lonely Bear" is by far the longest piece on the album and it feels that way; mostly because it strays too far into traditional European folk area. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but comparing it to the more indie-folk vibe of stunning album closer "When We Were Children", there's a stark contrast. Alluding to ancestral folk within the indie-folk framework fits better for the band and luckily that's what they stick to most of the time on this debut.

7.7/10.0

Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy

Built to Spill have earned the respect of the indie community and beyond since starting in the 90's. From the beginning they had sound that was fun and chock full of great melodic interplay. The now famous switch to a more mature and layered sound with their magnum opus Perfect From Now On, endeared them further to the indie crowd. They also held one thing over most of their contemporary’s of then and now– they’re actually good musicians. Doug Martsch can shred with the best of them and both Scott Plouf at the drums and Brett Nelson on bass are no slouches either. So, at the announcement of a new album I was intrigued as to just what it was going to be like. Sprawling schizophrenic song structures like Perfect From Now On? Glorious, sunny, but still complex guitar rock like Keep It Like a Secret? Or perhaps the jam band sound that was both a blessing and a curse on their last effort, You In Reverse? The answer: all and none of the above. Just like Yo La Tengo’s earlier 2009 release Popular Songs, There Is No Enemy is a clear exhibition of what has made Built to Spill an indie staple and how they are still able to make relevant records this far into their career.

At its core, There Is No Enemy is pure Built to Spill. Shifting song structures, layered guitar riffs, shredding solos and a solid rhythm sections are the dominant qualities of the record, but it’s the small touches that make the record shine a little brighter. The horns that blare out in the middle of "Life’s A Dream" or the trumpet solo in the middle of "Things Fall Apart" are totally unexpected and add such a rich texture to the songs. Another deviation from past Built to Spill is the lack of noise and fuzz in the guitar work. While past guitar solos often had to be picked apart through a wall of noise, this album breathes with a cleaner, more energetic sound. The up-tempo indie rocker "Pat" is a prime example of this and features some of the best guitar work on the album. It also happens to be a shining example of the economical approach to length employed by the band on this album.

Built to Spill have always been known for their sprawl, but their last album wandered too often into jam band territory and songs began to drag. The songs on There Is No Enemy seem far more focused, like the breezy and dreamy "Hindsight". Even on the longer cuts the band seem to be more focused, which means every second of the song is earned. They don’t ever drag on and they usually have a direction that progresses the song to a destination, instead of just adding a three minute jam session onto the end. Every part of the slow burning "Oh Yeah" seems perfectly paced, so once the song finally spills over into its album highlighting guitar solo climax, you’re left thinking, "fuck yeah Built to Spill." Finally the sprawl comes in spades from the epic album closer, "Tomorrow." It shoots for the stars with big guitars, good bass work and solid drumming. This keeps it in line with the traditional Built to Spill album closer by adding some extended, layered guitar soloing to bring the album home.

Return to form is a bit of a misnomer considering Built to Spill have never really been out of form. Rather, There Is No Enemy feels more like a tightening of the screws. Instead of trying to rewrite a winning formula, they evolve it slightly as if to say, "yeah, we’re still here and this is why you love us." It’s classic Built to Spill with some slightly uncharacteristic diversions thrown in. We still have Doug Marstch’s wonderfully melodic vocals delivering pondering’s of eternity, as he states, "And if God does exist / I am sure he will forgive." But these familiarities seem to breathe a certain vitality that was missing from the past few records. I mentioned in my review of You In Reverse that the band seemed to be missing a certain x-factor. Well, they must have found it once again as they create their best record in years. It might not be quite up to the standards of say Perfect From Now On or Keep It Like a Secret, but you know what? It really isn’t all that far behind.

9.1/10.0

Boy A

John Crowley's film Boy A is a masterwork of atmosphere and mood. Buoyed by the skillful cinematography of Rob Hardy, this is the type of film that draws in the viewer not with continuity of involving plots, but rather with pure emotion. Boy A is in reference to the label of Jack as a youngster who was sent to prison for the murder of a young girl. Part of the film is a flashback to the childhood friendship he has with Boy B in the case, which eventually leads to the murder of the girl. The other part of the film revolves around Jack as he deals with being released secretly back into society. With the help of his parole officer he finds a job, a friend and a girlfriend. The inevitable happens when his past is found out and the events afterward seem to fall too often into conventional territory. But this isn't a film about story so much as it is about mood. We feel emotional at Jack's character not necessarily because of his development and pitfull, but simply because the screen drips with it. The superb cast aids in this feeling and while the ending seems undeserved and hurried in a way, it doesn't take too much away from the power of the film.

3.5/5

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Spencer Krug is a hard guy not to like. There is just something endearing in the man that makes his songs so likeable. He adds an extra pep that makes Wolf Parade just that little bit better. He’s the ying to Dan Bejar’s... well, Dan Bejar is kind of also a ying, but whatever he adds something to Swan Lake. While his yelpy vocals are at first off-putting overtime they grow on you, nagging at you until you can’t imagine the songs being sung in a different (I’ll refrain from saying better) voice. Through his different projects, Krug has crafted some top-notch and infectious indie tunes. Sunset Rubdown is no exception, and neither is their newest album Dragonslayer. Like other Krug offerings, this album isn’t immediately infectious. While many of the songs are certainly immediately catchy and likeable, many of the melodies grow on you subtly as you attempt to digest the, at times, lengthy compositions. Plus he attempts the difficult task of using the indie faux-pas decade of the 70's as a reference point; and since he succeeds we have all the more reason to like him. Everybody likes an underdog.

The refrain in the second half of the epic center piece "Black Swan" encapsulates the rest of the album perfectly. After the first half alternates somewhat awkwardly between brooding percussive verses and sudden bursts of distortion in the chorus, Krug and back up vocalist Camilla Wynne Ingr repeat the line, "My heart is a kingdom / The King is a heart / My heart is a kingdom / The King of Hearts." This type of clever wordplay is frequent throughout the album and this line in particular showcases the fairytale themes that reverberate around the stories in the record. Like a lot of Dragonslayer, "Black Swan" also features a meandering song structure that never necessarily moves from Point A to Point B but still maintains a sense of direction and organization. The ten minute epic album finale, "Dragon’s Lair", takes this template to extremes; and it’s all the better for it. Never building into any suspected climax, the song starts with a dark carnival piano line and strained vocals from Krug. The drums and guitar slowly fill out into a full out stomp, before quieting back down into a pitter-patter. The song changes tempo and a spacey keyboard line wails in the background for one more refrain before the album slowly closes out. Those keyboard lines are an important part of the overall sound of the album, especially that 70's vibe.

The keyboard, whether playing arpeggios on "Apollo and the Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!" or giving carnival-esque lines on the slow build of "Nightingale / December Song", is as integral to the music as Krug’s voice. While guitars, drums and other instruments (check out the tabla at the beginning of "Nightingale...") all play important roles, the album just seems to be lifted by the keyboard / piano lines. They also have the feel of the golden age of 70's prog, at times drifting into Emerson, Lake and Palmer territory ("Come and see the show!"). Krug is also smart to inject more modern practices, like expressionistic guitar stabs that flavour the female vocals on the militaristic stomp of the opener "Silver Moons". Elsewhere, Krug places a bit of a reggae guitar line at the beginning of "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II). Through this he manages to reference the 70's instead of living in the decade. While mixing the old with the new is far from original, especially in the present state of the indie community, when it’s done this well, who needs originality?

Perhaps more than any other album, Dragonslayer epitomizes Spencer Krug as an artist. It can be immediately be off-putting, but with time it grows on you. Upon the first few listens, I was trying to gain a feel for the album and something just wasn’t clicking. The songs were all impeccably crafted, but they weren’t settling in. Perhaps it was due to the thick storytelling; like I said, fairytales and such. Maybe, and probably more rightly, it was because Sunset Rubdown seem to make albums first and foremost, instead of songs. Albums are always harder to digest then singles (duh). Either way it wasn’t until a few days after my third or fourth listen, whilst standing at the empty cash register by myself, that the album started to click. As the store speakers quietly played Sheryl Crow in the background I began singing the refrain at the end of "Black Swan" to myself. Then it hit me and I slowly began to feel the urge to listen to the album again... and again. The subtle melodies began to make their way out of the woodwork and into my brain. I became more in tune with the music the fourth, fifth and sixth time around (naturally, I suppose.)

It certainly is not as difficult of a grower as say Grizzly Bear’s newest, Veckatimest. Dragonslayer has enough hooks in it to grab a hold of you upon first listen. But that first listen might come across as ordinary. The meandering song structures and obtuse vocal passages can seem be disjointed at times, but as with most good things you just have to give it time to settle. Because any indie album that has fairytale theme deserves to be given time to grow, don’t you know. So lets chalk this one up as another stroke in the victory column for Mr. Krug and company.

8.7 / 10.0

Let The Right One In

Do you like the concept of Twilight but hate the fact that it sucks? Well then Swedish coming-of-age-with-vampires tale, Let the Right One In is perfect for you. Superb cinematography turns the wintry Stockholm suburb into a cold, eerie and isolated place. Not your typical atmosphere for a story of young love but then again this isn't a typical film. Frightening in a psychological way, the violence and gore remains reserved until one last outburst at the climax of the film. With an excellent cast and overall engrossing story, it's easy to forgive a few flaws and hicoughs here and there. Intelligent and artsy, the slow-burn pace of the film may put off the MTV generation, but if you let it, this film becomes increasingly enveloping with each passing shot and victim.

4/5

Everything In Its Right Place: A Look at Kid A at the End of the Decade

As the first decade of our new millennium nears its sunset, we reach a time of inherent reflection. It seems impossible to ignore reminiscing over the past decade that will be looked upon as a milestone in the history books. Simply turning the page from one millennium to the next is cause enough for recollecting where we were, where we are, and where we are going to be. It has certainly become status quo of late to discuss the events of the previous ten years; whether it be the 70's, 80's, 90's and so on and so forth. The 2000's hold a certain feeling of significance over these past decades. Perhaps it has to do more with it being my contemporary than anything, but starting with the threat of Y2K it quickly became apparent that humanity wasn’t merely changing its calendar dates, but it was shifting its entire epoch. It seemed to marry the "we’re all fucked" paradigm of early 20th century modernism, the whimsical wonderment and love of the virtuoso of the Romantic period, and the materialistic "me" culture of the 70's. Look no further then our society’s love affair with celebrities that self destruct in front of the public’s prying eyes, only to build themselves up for the comeback of the century. The one thing that seemed to overshadow everything was a development that started in the late 80's, expanded and boomed in the 90's and had become intrinsically woven within the tapestry of society by the time the year 2000 rolled around. Technology.

Not only in the public sphere, but increasingly in the private; technology had quickly cloaked itself over everyone’s lives. From the rise of cell phones, to the ever expanding internet, to social networking and the much debated music downloading and file sharing– technology was at the heart of everything in the news and in our lives this past decade. With all this in mind, I now turn towards contemporary music giants Radiohead and their magnum opus Kid A. The stories and descriptions of shocked fans and critics alike are well worn and thus I will not go further into them then as to say: in an age that seems to increasingly negate the ability to keep a secret, Radiohead managed to turn a hell of a lot of heads. The band had obviously been effected by the growing dependence on technology and their sound had obviously completely turned, just as the millennium did. And so it goes without saying that Kid A is the best, most important album of the decade, for not only riding the tide of the times; but for becoming the epitome and definition as to what it meant to be living in the first decade of the new millennium. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2000's put to record.

It starts immediately with the album’s opening track, "Everything In It’s Right Place" which haunts the listener with its schizophrenic vocals and electronics swirling around a pulsing keyboard lead. The soundtrack to New Years morning, as millions of denizens woke, hungover to the realization that the giant computer bug had not crushed us all. No, the Earth was not a cold dead place; in fact, besides the streets littered with the parties of the night before, the world had no great aesthetic change. But just as "The National Anthem" grows increasingly chaotic from a hypnotic bass to an entire brass band wailing with the utmost disturbance, so to did the imprint left by the Y2K scare. People seemed to become a little more skeptical of technology as it quickly realized that the computer age could potentially produce just as much chaos as convenience. This skepticism is at the heart of Kid A, and what makes it such a masterpiece is the approach to its subject matter. The obvious choice for an artist to rebel against the encroaching computerized world, would be to strip themselves of computers– go acoustic. The genius of Kid A is in the way it utilizes technology (electronics, keyboards and effects) along with lyric content and overall mood to create something that both heralds in a new age whilst remaining critical of it.

A major condition of the technological age is of course globalization; the process of bringing everyone closer together. While on one hand this process brings a greater understanding of other cultures, it has negative consequences as well. Certainly the aspect of identity crisis is explored within the weeping and eerie strings of "How to Disappear Completely" Globalization opens up the opportunity for one country to economically dominate another in ways not seen since the days of imperialism. "Optimistic" surveys the negative with its anti-capitalism lyrical content as Thom Yorke sings, "Files are buzzing around my head / Vultures circling their dead". While I find the anti-capitalism debate bordering on ridiculous (Michael Moore), the song none the less creates another interesting parallel between the album and society. Looking further into the piece the lyrics, "This one just came out of the swamp / This one dropped a payload" we can look at the other aspect of globalization that has become a major talking point in the decade, international terrorism. Especially since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, society in this decade seems to be underwritten with a sense of impending doom. This dark mood is mirrored by the cold, dreary atmosphere of the album.

The haunted, stuttering 10/8 groove of "Morning Bell" seems the greatest culmination of this dread on Kid A. As Yorke wails, "Cut the Kids in half", the most automatic reaction is too get goose bumps on your skin. These goose bumps hold the same creeping terror of every suicide bombing, hostage taking, global warming hyped fear mongering or any school shooting. Even on the ridiculous side, with the recent fascination with Mayan prophecies, the fear of an apocalypse has been at its highest since the Cold War and Mutually Assured Distruction. Kid A possesses this overbearing sense of dread, it literally bursts out of every seem on the album. So by the time "Motion Picture Soundtrack" comes to a bittersweet close we find ourselves in a similar situation to our current mind set– apathy. As Yorke whispers his tale of suicide over a heartbreaking pump organ, one can’t help but realizes that we have become too comfortable with our endless fear mongering. We all too easily accept that the end of the world is nigh, and only make half-hearted attempts that are really no more then surface value. Like the pretty sounding closing, too many people are a little too comfortable with the fact that our skylines are going to become all twisted metal, stretching upwards into that thin orange haze.

We need to stop and ask ourselves, what’s really going on? Is the end of the world really just around the corner? Or has the technological age that Kid A seems to be so skeptical of wiped away our ability to see past what we are told by the media and politicians. Can we get out of this naive lifestyle that so many people seem to be stuck in, like some sort of matrix. The final line on Kid A is also the most fitting send off to the decade. "I will see you in the next life" is on one hand a sad and depressing send off to one life, and on the other an optimistic departure. For all the dread and turmoil that dotted much of the news of the decade, there was still a lot of good too be found and hopefully this good will be expanded upon in our next decade. The last remaining question that could be raised is thus; can an album released at the beginning of the decade be the most important? To answer this, all you have to do is flip it around. Would an album released at the end of the decade really be the most important? Or would it simply be a chronological summarization of all the happenings of the decade past? Kid A isn’t a list of our decade, it is our decade. Not only is it a great piece of music, it is a masterpiece of culture.

An Introduction

Good day all,

For those of you who have stumbled aimlessly upon this blog, allow me to introduce it. The River in the Rain, a title of which is derived from a short story I recently wrote, is a collection of my thoughts on various subjects. These subjects will primarily revolve around music, film, books and I may post the occasional story. I don't pretend to have a superior opinion on the things I talk about, but rather this is just an excercise for me to write on a consistent basis. So with all this in mind, I do hope you enjoy my blog, and I hope you become frequent visitors.