Day 0979 - Dear Science

TV on the Radio “Dear Science” (2008) – got it

I came to TV on the Radio via the project Nevermen featuring TVotR’s Tunde Adebimpe, rapper/producer Doseone and a favourite of mine Mike Patton.   When I heard about the project I decided to check out TVotR who I had been vaguely aware of (if only by name) for a while.

After a bit of youtubing I picked up their excellent full-length debut (if you don’t count the self-released “OK Calculator”, and it sounds like the band themselves don't count it much) “Desperate Youths, Bloodthirsty Babes”.  I’ve since collected all of their albums including this one.

While I found their second album “Return to Cookie Mountain” to be a bit of a muddy, messy affair audio-wise, “Dear Science” is crisp and catchy.   With the band being full of producers and multi-instrumentalists it would be easy enough for it to be a “too many cooks” situation, but they seem to find their way around it.

The album owes a debt to the 80s, without sounding derivative or ‘retro’.  It's more like the 80s is the starting point and then there are enough looped fuzzy beats, interesting production and other 00s touches to make this fully contemporary.

Opener “Halfway Home” is all glorious synths and soaring vocals, followed by “Crying” which has more than a hint of Bowie to it.   “Dancing Choose” is a favourite of mine with its pulsing beat, hand-claps and speedy vocals from Tunde.   "Golden Age" and “Red Dress” bring the funk.   “Lover’s Day” is Prince making sweet sweet love to Peter Gabriel while he does his thing.

The album nicely tows the line between melodic atmospheric pieces, and funky danceable grooves.

Day 0943 - Sea Change

Beck “Sea Change” (2002) – got it

Relationship breakups sometimes make for the best albums.  That was the case with the end of Beck’s 9-year relationship to his fiancée, after she cheated on him.  What to do when your heart has been broken by a cheatin’ woman…. Go country of course!

Beck wrote most of the songs in a week and then sat on them for a while.  He felt that the songs were too personal and that recording/releasing them would seem like airing his dirty laundry.  Not a surprising attitude for a guy who’d previously made his name laying abstract and cynical lyrics over a rapidly shifting collection of musical genres and sampled sounds.  Eventually he decided the breakup theme was universal enough to not seem too self-indulgent and recorded the songs.

‘Sea Change’ lives up to its name with Beck largely shelving his genre-splicing approach to largely stick with a ballady alt-country sound, and as mentioned, displaying much greater introspection with his lyrics.

There are still interesting audio touches.  The opening track “the Golden Age” is, on the face of it, a pretty straightforward ballad but with atmospheric washes of noise underneath.  The following track “Paper Tigers” has an almost Jean-Claude Vannier/Serge Gainsbourg vibe to its sound and string arrangements.   Strings are one of the main embellishments on the album and range from subtle backing to bombastic attack.   The mood througout is definitely sombre, with song titles like “Lost Cause” “Lonesome Tears” and “I Guess I’m doing Fine”.

The album manages to maintain its quality without a 'side B slump'.   A couple of the last few tracks "Sunday Sun" and "The Little One" kind of have hints of Chris Cornell's slanted melodic sensibilities, maybe with touches of Radiohead thrown into the mix.   Radiohead's regular collaborator Nigel Godrich produces, so one of those influences is perhaps unsurprising.

0873 - Queens of the Stoneage

 Queens of the Stoneage "Queens of the Stoneage" (1998)

Following the breakup of desert-rock/stoner-rock masters Kyuss, that band's guitarist Josh Homme got together with Kyuss drummer Alfredo Hernández to form QOTSA (major collaborator and former Kyuss member Nick Oliveri would join the group following the album's completion).

Oddly I seem to remember not really enjoying this album when I listened to it a few years back.  Not sure why, as it seems to be the classic QOTSA sound: bashy-yet-tight drumming a la Mitch Mitchell or John Bonham, and Homme's muddy fuzzed out guitar and light, clear voice.  It also features the studio experimentation that Homme continued on the group's second album "Rated R" with instruments being hard-panned to either side of the stereo field in unconventional, yet cool ways.

"Walkin' on the Sidewalks" has a guttural, gutter twang, contrasted by Homme's melodic vocals.  "Regular John" has a pounding, unrelenting pulse to it.  The instrumental track "Hispanic Impressions" bears a suspicious resemblance to Jimi Hendrix's very phonetically-similarly titled "Manic Depression".

In some ways with Homme writing all of the songs and playing most of the instruments, this is the heart of QOTSA.  Though I prefer "Rated R" and "Songs for the Deaf" with their contributions from Oliveri, the Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan and (on the latter album) Dave Grohl on drums, the band has always been Homme's baby.

Day 0631 - Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth "Daydream Nation" (1988)

Sonic Youth's last release before moving across to a major label.   Friends of the band, including Henry Rollins had told them that their albums were great, but the long-form noise jam versions of the songs that would characterise their live shows had never really been captured on record.

The band took this on board, and when Thurston Moore brought in the songs for "Daydream Nation", instead of refining and condensing his ideas, the band sought to expand them out into a form more recognisable to fans of their live work.   The resulting album is viewed by many as Sonic Youth's creative peak.

Myself I probably preferred "EVOL" and "Sisters" as I enjoy that more concise approach.  However, this is still a worthwhile and interesting album.