Album Reviews – Regina Spektor’s “Far”

by meandthestereo

  Artist: Regina Spektor
  Album: Far
  Label: Warner Bros.
  Release Date: June 23rd, 2009
  Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…Right Away
  Favorite Tunes: “Blue Lips”

 

 

1. The Background

 After three years, Regina Spektor is back! Did you miss her? When I heard this album was coming out, I was extremely interested. And, of course, it’s going to do well. So much sells these days just because of the name that’s on the plastic. Let’s take a look and see if this album is worth all the hype:

Album Reviews – Marnie Stern: “This Is It…”

Artist: Marnie Stern
Album: This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Release Date: October 7th, 2008
Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…After a While
Favorite Tunes: “Prime”, “Ruler”

1. The Background

Whoa, this album will wake you up! New York City musician Marnie Stern has released her 2nd album on Kill Rock Stars (a while back mind you, I’m a bit late) and she definitely has my attention. Trying to disregard the extremely long name of this album, I sat down and listened to these 12 short tracks for about a month before thinking about writing a review for it. A note of interest: Marnie Stern did all the guitar tracks for this. Amazing!

Album Reviews – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!”

Artist: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Album: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Label: Mute
Release Date: April 8th, 2008
Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…After a While
Favorite Tunes: “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!”, “Today’s Lesson”, “Albert Goes West”

1. The Background

Frickin’ 90-year old (OK, he’s actually 50) musician and writer Nick Cave and his band of Seeds that are Bad put out yet another album in search of the roots that made them famous back in the day of said famous-ness. What follows is one song referencing the Lazarus story from the Bible and then a bunch of other songs about weird yet cool things. 11 songs, about 53 minutes long. Sigh. Here we go:

2. The Substance

I’m going to be writing a post about the concept of an “album” and how it should be perceived by the artist, but that’s for another time. However, some things that make up my “album concept” bothered me about this album. More on that in the Decision. So, let’s talk quality: Great recording quality here, no real surprise, though. Cave shouldn’t have any problems scrounging up enough money for a decent producer. His vocals really come out clear and crisp and his deep monotone…umm tone shines through also. The Bad Seeds are an amazing band (I especially like the bassist) and they seem to really employ classic and modern effects in their music, and they mix things up enough to keep things moderately interesting throughout. The songs have some interesting concepts, and Cave is skilled enough as a writer to employ various forms of description that range from being simplistic to very graphic.

3. The Decision

3/5 Mediocre…After a While. I was going to give this a 4/5. I really liked it in the beginning. However, I just feel like it lacks the longevity that a 4/5 album should have. I don’t listen to this album anymore. It’s just not as attractive as it was at first. Here’s what I think the problems are: Cave is way to fantastical. His story-telling is so outside-the-box and strange that you’re never really quite sure what he’s singing about. Also his lyrics flow from his mouth so quickly and offbeat that it’s ridiculously hard to sing along easily unless you’ve studied the album religiously. I also wish his voice was more versatile. OK, so he whispered a couple of times, but after that it was just the same ol’ Nick Cave boom. The songs are kind of long, and that is most annoying in “We Call Upon the Author” where all Cave does is blabber quick lines of lyrics and then yells “We call upon the author to explain” about 50 times, because he seems unaware that the listener knows the chorus already. And again, I had hope, because the album was flowing so well, especially through the first three songs, but you really lose track of what’s going on. I believe that it is the artist’s responsibility to keep me in line during my listen. Don’t necessarily guide me, but don’t lose me halfway through. This album got a lot of raving reviews, but I hate to base my opinion of an album off of one listen. This is where I believe my reviews differ from other sites. I listened to this album a lot, to see if I would think it was better with each listen, but really, it just became more forgettable. Still, check it out if you get the chance.

Album Reviews – Murder By Death: “Red of Tooth and Claw”

Artist: Murder By Death
Album: Red of Tooth and Claw
Label: Vagrant
Release Date: March 4th, 2008
Decision: 4/5 A Worthy Purchase Indeed
Favorite Tunes: “Comin’ Home”, “Theme”, “Spring Break 1899”

1. The Background

This is the fourth full release from Murder By Death, and my goodness, is it a good one. I really enjoyed Who Will Survive, and What Will be Left of Them? but thought In Bocca al Lupo was dissapointing, so I was hoping their latest release would get me excited again. For a broad idea of this band’s sound, think Westerny Folk Rock. Yeh. Modern music for that showdown you have at noon in front of the saloon.

2. The Substance

Acoustic guitars, electric guitars, keyboards, cellos and amazing vocals fill this album. Adam Turla’s vocals are really spot on here, and (did anyone notice?) his voice is so much deeper and more powerful than on previous releases. It’s like he aged 30 years in 3, but it’s really not a problem for the album; it adds to the overall feel. The lyrics are descriptive and very story-like (another of Mr. Turla’s talents), but the only thing lacking in them are the simple choruses. It doesn’t necessarily harm any of the songs; they just seem to be almost too simple for what I’d expect from this band. However, that was just a minor thing I noticed; the metaphors and imagery used in this album are excellent. Every instrument is recorded well, though I felt the keys could have been emphasized a bit more. They seem to get lost in the background a little more than I’d like in some of the busier songs. The arrangements are well done, though, and I especially enjoyed “Theme”, the only instrumental track on the album. This band seems to understand where lyrics aren’t essential to a song and the track serves as a good break from the action.

3. The Decision

4/5 A Worthy Purchase Indeed. Purchase this album! It may be something you’ve never really heard before (because it is different), but it’s definitely a good buy. Give it some time and you’ll most likely come around. It’s enjoyable beginning to end. Start this album anywhere between and it runs just as well. The last song is an especially interesting end to the story. These guys are also on tour right now, so look out for them around your area. I’m sure they’re great live.

Album Reviews – Bright Eyes: “Cassadaga”

Artist: Bright Eyes
Album: Cassadaga
Label: Saddle Creek
Release Date: April 10th, 2007
Decision: 4/5 A Worthy Purchase Indeed
Favorite Tunes: “Four Winds”, “If the Brakeman Turns My Way”, “Hot Knives”

1. The Background

You know the story. Mr. Conor Oberst sits in a basement making tracks of him crying and people are like, “oh, this is good!” and he starts a band. Album number 10 or something from this group came out last year. Influences range basically from religion to love and maybe some existentialist ideas.

2. The Substance

It’s good. Great sound quality and great instrumentation. Every song feels like it’s been thoroughly planned out, and at some points in the album, I really found it fascinating that a group could actually develop these ideas and form the type of song I was listening to. It makes me wonder how much influence the entire group has in song development. The first 4 or 5 tracks will have your ears at full attention, but just like you can’t listen to a lecture for more than 10 – 15 minutes, you’ll eventually start to get bored. I listened to this album in different ways: I listened front to back to see how long it held my attention, then from the middle to end to pay attention to the second half (because I already loved the first half). I decided this: BUY this album. It’s an amazing album, but if you don’t feel like shelling out the $$$$ for the disc, then purchase the first 4 tracks on iTunes or something or other and enjoy them. I could have done well with a 4-song EP with just those first 4 tracks and I would’ve listened the blasphemy out if it.

3. The Decision

4/5 A Worthy Purchase Indeed. Again, it’s a great album. It just suffers from being too long. I really like the first half, but the album’s arrangement gets a bit strange after a while. Bright Eyes starts out with this folky, country set that is energetic and powerful lyrically, but then the songs drift to this boring repetitious folk style that got old after Dylan did it 50 times, and then we shift to a mystic, tribal song style that just left me confused with the album’s focus. I don’t mind the genre-switching (ok, I do) but at least give me a reason for doing what you’re doing. These things are what prevent “Cassadaga” from being a perfect album. They left on some songs that seemed a bit like filler and maybe didn’t think about the complete package as much as they could have. This album excites me about future Bright Eyes albums, but I really hope Mr. Oberst doesn’t get too spaced out on me.