My friends and I have a mutual understand concerning music: they don’t recommend music to me and I don’t force my music on them. Against my better judgment, I took the advice of a friend who suggested I listen to Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
I wouldn’t say I was altogether impressed by what I heard, but I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
Pink Robots is the tenth album produced by The Flaming Lips. You can hear the electric-psychedelic influences in every song. The album is a weird step toward alternative music while simultaneously being held up in a past full of peace, love, and just the right amount of LSD. The effect is really quite satisfying and I’m sure anyone with a head full of acid could find this album to be a revelation.
However, not being an LSD user myself, I can’t get by some of the weaker points of the album. The vocals on most of the songs are less than satisfying and after a few listens the bass lines and drum parts seem to become eerily similar.
Not knowing what to expect from The Flaming Lips, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are still musicians and not completely dependent on synths. While a large portion of their songs are synthed, the Lips, I’m sure, could hold their own with out them. But as with the bass and drum parts, much of the guitar from song to song becomes similar.
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots has an incredibly unique sound. It’s not everyday that you hear albums with as much going on as this. It really takes more than one listen to hear all that’s going on in this album. There are a plethora of odd sounds and irregular beats that fill the empty spaces of the album. It would seem that a lot of time went into creating these effects for the album to round out the sound.
Acoustic guitar fills most songs with synth bass lines and offbeat drums. Once again, the effect is satisfying to the point of being confusing. While it usually takes a masterful solo to get my attention, I was content with the sounds produced on this album.
Being a theme loving guy, I did enjoy that the album wasn’t a hodgepodge of songs but rather followed a storyline, albeit a strange one.
But as I said, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robot is certainly not a disappointment and for alternative or psychedelic rock fans, it is time well spent.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Graduation
I’d like to take a break from what I pretend is a tradition and review a hip-hop album today.
Kanye West’s Graduation, his third album, was released last September. The 30 year-old rapper, producer, and six time Grammy Award winner opened his first two days with 437,000 copies sold.
Unlike previous Kanye albums, Graduation has only 13 tracks. Late Registration (2005) and The College Dropout had a combined 41 tracks. Graduation also differs from previous albums in that he has begun to use synthesizers to great effect.
The album is hard to like on the first listen. I found myself unhappy with some of the beats and the lyrics landed less than softly on my ears. But after another go, I found that the album was really well broken down. A second glance (or rather listen) allows the consumer to look past the dominant sounds that they heard the first time and focus more what really makes the songs worth listening to.
Graduation features a number of guest performers including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, rappers Lil’ Wayne and Mos Def, and R&B singer T-pain. They come together to create a good depth of vocal sounds that make the songs diverse, something hard to find on modern rap/hip-hop albums.
Easily the albums strongest song is “Stronger”. The song’s excellent use of synthesizers makes it a unique find in traditional hip-hop.
I apologize that there will be no accompanying tab for this song. I’m not nearly good enough with music to create a tab based on the synthesized.
Overall the album is worth a good listen. And I really mean a good listen. It’s easy to miss a lot of what this album brings if you have it playing while trying to focus on a million other things. Sit. And listen. You’ll find that this album has much more to offer than traditional hip-hop. That isn’t to say that I think it is the only hip-hop album out there with universal appeal. It’s just one of the most recent that I have come by.
I chose to review this album because I thought it had a unique sound to it. These day’s its hard to find popular music with a unique sound; it seems like the same beats pound out of every car radio with slightly altered lyrics about bitches, booze, and nice cars. Graduation, to me, is different. It takes a different approach to modern music and Kanye does a wonderful job of putting his own mark on his music and indeed the entire music culture of modern day America.
Kanye West’s Graduation, his third album, was released last September. The 30 year-old rapper, producer, and six time Grammy Award winner opened his first two days with 437,000 copies sold.
Unlike previous Kanye albums, Graduation has only 13 tracks. Late Registration (2005) and The College Dropout had a combined 41 tracks. Graduation also differs from previous albums in that he has begun to use synthesizers to great effect.
The album is hard to like on the first listen. I found myself unhappy with some of the beats and the lyrics landed less than softly on my ears. But after another go, I found that the album was really well broken down. A second glance (or rather listen) allows the consumer to look past the dominant sounds that they heard the first time and focus more what really makes the songs worth listening to.
Graduation features a number of guest performers including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, rappers Lil’ Wayne and Mos Def, and R&B singer T-pain. They come together to create a good depth of vocal sounds that make the songs diverse, something hard to find on modern rap/hip-hop albums.
Easily the albums strongest song is “Stronger”. The song’s excellent use of synthesizers makes it a unique find in traditional hip-hop.
I apologize that there will be no accompanying tab for this song. I’m not nearly good enough with music to create a tab based on the synthesized.
Overall the album is worth a good listen. And I really mean a good listen. It’s easy to miss a lot of what this album brings if you have it playing while trying to focus on a million other things. Sit. And listen. You’ll find that this album has much more to offer than traditional hip-hop. That isn’t to say that I think it is the only hip-hop album out there with universal appeal. It’s just one of the most recent that I have come by.
I chose to review this album because I thought it had a unique sound to it. These day’s its hard to find popular music with a unique sound; it seems like the same beats pound out of every car radio with slightly altered lyrics about bitches, booze, and nice cars. Graduation, to me, is different. It takes a different approach to modern music and Kanye does a wonderful job of putting his own mark on his music and indeed the entire music culture of modern day America.
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