MGMT - KSCR Review

Album reviewed for the studio.

Oracular Spectacular - MGMT

This is some cocained-out, hipster shit. So, it’s pretty much awesome. Thrillingly catchy synths and fuzzy guitar lines dominate, but MGMT also flesh out a few pop-acoustic moments. There are tracks that swirl; there are tracks that bounce, and Oracular Spectacular is best when it pulls off both. The music is somewhere between 1977 and 2067, so feel free to float along, but make sure you bob your head and chant accordingly.

Oh, and to help the DJ in you, I’m highlighting my recs:

“Time to Pretend” is their first punch and their best one. See how these kids can capture the anthemic futurism of the 80s through the art of electro-glam rock. It’s the single that’s given them all their buzz, but watch out for that “fuck” 51 seconds in. Play it anyway - it’s solid gold.

“Weekend Wars” back pedals into some Steely Dan, Zeppelin, and Yes, only to then swerve ahead through the electric eccentricities of today’s indie-pop a la Of Montreal.

This leads us to “Electric Feel” - straight-up disco, and I mean Bee Gees and Abba, so dance already.

“Kids” is pretty bass heavy, and totally synth soaked. It feels like a swimming pool of electricity where all the children are singing that catchy hook over and over again. I guess that makes the title fairly fitting.

“The Handshake” is sung from within the same swimming pool, this time through bubbling murky waters and shafts of starlight. Haunting and… well, cool.

On every track, Dave Fridmann’s production sparkles with slick reverb and welcomed grandiosity. That only adds to the drugginess of the album, but instead of making you shy away, a trip with these guys should have you begging for your next fix. MGMT can sound like the Rolling Stones one second (“Pieces of What”) and like Evangelicals the next (“The Handshake” and “Future Reflections”), which basically means it’s a 40 minute substitute for all that crazy shit you’ve been smoking these last few days. But if you aren’t into the laced sounds of Oracular, it can completely estrange you, or worse, wash right over your head.

I’m forgetting something… oh yeah, the lyrics are good too…

RIYL:
Flaming Lips, Evangelicals, David Bowie, Of Montreal

KSCR Review - The Weakerthans

Follow the link:

The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour

I made it long, but... no, yeah, it's just long.

"I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else."

"Anyone Else But You" by the Moldy Peaches is the song covered by Michael Cera (playing Paulie Bleeker) and Ellen Page (playing Juno MacGuff) at the end of Juno.

Touching and significant.

The track sums up the gist of the characters perfectly. Its odd, affectionate and somewhat contradictory lyrics get me every time. Or maybe what makes me swell up a little is the simple and honest delivery. Either way, I'm moved.

Music is so powerfully involved in the film, woven into the textures of the scenes and into the identities of the characters... kind of like life, but not. Without Kimya Dawson (1/2 of the Moldy Peaches) and a few classic punches (The Kinks, Sonic Youth, Buddy Holly), Juno wouldn't be half as good. It's soundtrack made the film. Never overstated and always fitting.

This was posted today, after all the hype and such, for two reasons. The first being that Juno was nominated for Best Picture. The second being that I just got the soundtrack today, and it's superb. No wonder it was #2 for awhile. Still, with all the popular praise, it's easy to see how some may say the movie is overrated. There's nothing overtly provacative or cinematically innovative. This quirky film, like its soundtrack, is just really sincere - In today's world, that's inexorably refreshing. Indeed, Juno will become a classic in the same way Garden State and Little Miss Sunshine did before it.

By the way, I am totally going to be Paulie Bleeker in his track uniform for Halloween. Calling 'Dibs' now.

Okay Is The New Awesome

photo from sefronia.com

Thanks to MFKWCRG, Pop Apocalypse and YouAintNoPicasso, here are three new tracks from an artist that you absolutely have to add to your music library.

MP3: Okay - Tragedy

MP3: Okay - Only

MP3: Okay - My

Little is known about Marty Anderson, who operates under the name Okay. He has a new full length coming out called Huggable Dust (artwork below), and based on these three posted songs from the album, it's a must buy.

Okay clearly makes great music. It's a twisted form of pop; there's lush instrumentation and countermelodies that bubble with passion under Anderson's quavering voice against shifting rhythms. This creates a fragile lo-fi uniqueness that seems to delicately discover beauty. Indeed, the songs appear complex because of their layered texture, but the musical phrases are, for the most part, based around simple chord structures. This gives Okay's sound an interesting dichotomy, which in the end, is compelling. Similarily, his lyrics seem sad and meaningful - it's an inspired sense of longing that I come away with. Perhaps that can be attributed to Anderson's battle with Crohn's Disease, which keeps him pretty much confined to his room.

"Only" is the exception. It's short and, well, sweet, with a fingerpicked acoustic guitar, handclaps and Anderson's voice as the only instruments. Yet somehow, the fragile sense of longing is still implied, despite his arguably ironic try at comfort ("i want you to know it's alright"), probably because his croaky voice seems like it will give out any second.

Stunning, yet catchy.

This is Okay's third album, Huggable Dust, out sometime this year on Absolutely Kosher.

Some Okay/Anderson artwork:

Welcome

It would be customary for this inaugural post to both qualify this website’s existence and articulate its purpose. The most that can be said at this beginning stage, however, is that pretty much everything about this site has yet to be defined. Whether it shall strictly be an in depth companion to the radio show of the same name or another blog offering its take on the news and releases of the music world, I cannot say.
Here’s what I do know. I love music, particularly what’s new and artistically compelling. I guess that explains the corny title of the blog. “The Audio Phile” was intended to be more of a play on those song files that one has saved on his or her computer, but it became both the sadly unpunny name of my radio program and the title to its appendix (this blog). Yes, I am a DJ. I proudly spin tunes and say a few things into the mic for the best station around, KSCR. I hope to incorporate my show into this website.
Now, to business. My music taste:
It varies, but focuses on Indie pop, rock, folk, electronica, hip hop, or any music mirroring the Indie style. Since “Indie” has become such an overused and often misinformed label for many artists, I do not wish to debate the propriety of the title for those whom I have lauded as worthy creators of music. Instead, let’s acknowledge that most of the music featured here is not, for all intensive purposes, mainstream. On the other hand, there are some good artists/bands on major labels.
Understand that I’m not limiting this blog’s content to the pretentious and snide discourse that often accompanies the writing of those who share this same particular taste in music. Indeed, critical open-mindedness will, with any luck, be exercised.
This is both a site of critique and explanation. Hopefully, you find its contents informed and compelling. And please, listen to KSCR for your new music and check this blog often. ENJOY.

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