REVIEW: Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

ZACH THAT:

Spencer Krug is a musical genius. There, I said it. I officially put him in the contemporary musical genius hall of fame alongside Matthew Friedberger, Jack White, Thom York, Alden Penner, Win Butler and Wayne Coyne. I’m a fan of both Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes (Spencer Krug is a member of both) but with the release of "Dragonslayer", Sunset Rubdown can move away from being called a side project and eclipse the all-powerful Wolf Parade. I’ve been talking up this album for a few weeks and I can’t seem to get anybody on board the Sunset Rubdown train with me. A lot of people bring up the case that it sounds like a side project, just something for Krug to do on his downtime. I couldn’t disagree with this more; the arrangements on each of Rubdown’s songs are lush and complicated...a lot of time/thought went into this album Putting this aside, I would still argue that Wolf Parade is the side project; we just need to look at the facts. First, Krug worked on Rubdown’s first LP, “Snakes Got A Leg” from 2001-2004, finally releasing it July of 2005. Wolf Parade first released their four song EP in 2003, a six track EP in 2004, the full EP in 2005 on Sub Pop, and then finally offered up their first LP, “Apologies To Queen Mary” September of 2005. So, Krug worked on Rubdown and released an LP before Parade. Secondly, just look at the discography. "Dragonslayer" will be Krug’s forth LP while Wolf Parade has two. With all this evidence, people still seem to brush Rubdown off to the side, leaving me to conclude that if you’re in multiple bands, the majority of people will consider whatever band is the most popular to be your main focus. I, however, will not, and consider Rubdown to be Krug’s main band…everything else are side projects.

Now that I’ve gotten that rant out of my system, let’s move on to reviewing the album. The first track, “Silver Moons” begins with a somber piano, quickly joined with a tambourine, marking the beginning of a very cinematic journey through sound. I immediately recognized that Camilla Ingr would be playing a huge role on this album, as she sings throughout. Ingr’s voice is the perfect compliment to Krug’s sometime off key, packed to the brim with emotion, voice. The result is breathtaking. In food terms, Ingr is like a nice sherbet and Krug is the spicy entrée you enjoyed before. That kind of worked. Moving on. Like all great things in life, the beauty of "Dragonslayer" is revealed in the small details. This is why I encourage listeners to put on the headphones and play the album start to finish without jumping around. The guitar is really the superstar on this album, marching in the front, blazing away, while the synth, drums, and bass act as a masterful supporting cast. I could gush all day about this album, but the point has been made…all that’s left is for you to go experience it yourself.

The albums of 2009 have really shattered my previous image as the WLFY reviewer who refused to give an album anything over a 9.0. I started off giving Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” a 9.8…a pretty big error looking back. I followed this by giving out my first perfect score to the self titled Clues album and now hand Sunset Rubdown a 9.5. I stand by these two scores and feel like “Pavillion” should be a 9.0 because I feel like “Pavillion” no longer poses any challenge…I get it…it’s a fun album. Clues and Rubdown on the other hand challenge me every listen and I always pick up something new that leaves me grinning from ear to ear. Krug has done a masterful job on this album and has set the bar very high for his main project, Sunset Rubdown, to try to jump over with their next release.

(Drowned In Sound gave the album a perfect score. Read their review HERE)

REVIEW: Dirty Projectors - "Bitte Orca"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

This is how I describe the Dirty Projectors to people who've never heard them before: "Imagine if your hippie-jam-band younger brother (who grew up listening to Sinatra) got marooned on a desert island with nothing but Black Flag and music theory." It's a pretty apt description, because more than anything Dirty Projectors are a band's band -- they do shit that no other group would do (like re-imagine a Black Flag album in their last record) and, thus, are labeled as "influential" or "experimental" or "wacko" depending on what side you come down. And there is something fundamentally wacko about the Dirty Projectors. They don't follow traditional song structure. They juxtapose crazy crescendos with subtle electronica. They place gorgeous harmonies next to dissonance that will make your dog run out of the room. They use Afro-bop and chamber music. All this while simultaneously referencing Nietzsche and Gatorade. You have to be have a big musical vocab. to adequately describe what's going on. Dirty Projectors are to indie rock what Kool Keith is to hip-hop -- you have to know hip-hop to know how Kool Keith turns it on its head and you have to know indie rock to know how fucking inventive Dirty Projectors are.

The guy behind the group is Dave Longstreth (the aforementioned hippie-jam-band little brother). If you go back and listen to the group's discography, one of the things that will stand out in Bitte Orca is how Longstreth has cultivated a band. With music like this, the other players are as instrumental as the visionary behind them. Current members, Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, Brian Mcomber, Nat Baldwin, and Haley Dekle shine in this record. There isn't a spot of missed production, awkward musicality, or half-done change. Everything is spot on despite the demanding musicality and tonal shifts. Longstreth's perserverance has paid off in full, turning this record in to a sonic-scape that can rank right up there with other paradigm-shifting indie albums like The Soft Bulletin and Daydream Nation.

Of course, one of the difficult (or rewarding) parts of being a band's band is that despite being monumentally innovative, you still exist somewhere outside of the the mainstream indie scene. Unlike Grizzly Bear, whose harmonic musical twitchings, have been universally accepted, there's something more angular and alienating in the Dirty Projector's work. This necessarily limits their audience while cultivating and rewarding those who can break down the barrier and get into what's going on. That's a philosophical way to get at this -- you may not like the Dirty Projectors, but you should. It took me 3 years to get into Modest Mouse. I could respect what they were doing, but couldn't get down with what they were doing. I feel like I'm getting down with Bitte Orca, even though each listen reveals something new. There's something to said for patcience and shunning buzz and letting an album stand on it's own. It's like those colleges that don't give out grades. As Longstreth did, we have to perservere as listeners. It isn't always easy. Your girlfriend's going to tell you to turn down the racquet, but give her some time, and she'll come around too.

REQUIRED LISTEN: Diane Birch

ZACH THAT:

Make room at the table Feist, Neko Case, St. Vincent, and Cat Power…we’ll be a party of five for now on. Diane Birch is a powerhouse of a songwriter, combining lyrics overflowing with emotion and melodies that waltz around, pleasing the ears. On June 2nd, Birch released Bible Belt, a must have album, that mixes soul, folk, and blues to make a remarkable listen. This New York beauty has shot up the list of my musical crushes and definitely earns a spot as a required listen.