Vintage Review: Robert Post - Robert Post

If you were wondering what Conor O'Brien did between the Immediate and Villagers, here's what he was up to. Well, actually not, but just compare their voices. Identical.



Robert Post - Robert Post

Originally posted on March 22nd 2006 on Canadian website TwoWayMonologues.

We here at twowaymonologues are big fans of Scandinavian music – after all, the website is named after the second album of Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche (for those who didn’t know). A few months ago, I selected Robert Post’s ‘Got None’, an early single from his debut album for Track-Fu. Unfortunately neither Dan nor I could locate the song, and something else was entered in its place. The album itself wasn’t easy to find either, and after much searching (like Terri’s attempt to find Jamie Lidell, or Brandon’s attempt to find Waldo), I came across the album in a second-hand record store in Dublin (if you’re ever in Dublin, make sure you give Freebird Records a visit!) So now, some months after its European release, I can finally review it.

The album opens very strongly with ‘There’s One Thing’. It’s somewhat similar to the kind of music the aforementioned Lerche makes. And people from Norway sound great singing in English – it’s something about the accent which works so well. The chorus here is really catchy, and the song has that familiar feel – like you’ve heard it before, even though there’s possibly no way you even knew who Robert Post was before you saw this review. For me, however, two of the songs here I have heard before – both ‘Got None’ and ‘New Born’ are in the rotation in the shop where I work (there’s about 300 or 400 songs, so you don’t hear them too often). The way Post sings “girls” on ‘Got None’ is more alluring than any way Hugh Hefner could say it! The chorus is really breezy, and the female backing vocals really enhance the song.

The trend of powerful memorable choruses is continued with ‘Silence Makes Him Sick’ – a percussion led song with a very pounding melody – think Eleanor Rigby for the modern generation. It’s not every day you compare someone to the Beatles. Post however, isn’t bigger than Jesus! The piano solo is notable, and sticks out as a strong point on an album full of strong points. ‘High Tide’ slows things down a bit, and replaces the powerful chorus with a nice soul-infused one. The female backing returns to prominence, and Post once again speaks of “girls” – damn I wish I could say it the way he does. That accent would get more women than Sean Connery’s accent!

‘More and More’ is another great pop song, and it’s a wonder why I’ve never heard it on the radio or seen it on MTV (probably because it’s not crap like Cribs or Room Raiders!) The song would be excellent live, as there’s a clap-track in the background, and it’d be sure to get the audience going. The album is full of great pop songs, and ‘Big Boat’ is another one. Although how anyone can be “on a date with the moon” I don’t know. Maybe it’s the man in the moon, he’s on a date with… The bridge section and outro here are excellent and sound like they wouldn’t have been out of place on Parachutes or A Rush of Blood to the Head.

‘New Born’ is a return to the powerful up-tempo chorus, and this chorus perfectly contrasts as well as compliments the verses. ‘Everything is Fine’ is a slower, acoustic number. Fortunately, Post does the down-tempo just as well as he does the up-tempo. It’s the album’s “sit down and get your cigarette lighters out” song. ‘Ocean & A Tear’, one of the best songs on the album, is quite similar to the album’s opener – and that isn’t a bad thing. It shows that Post’s lyrics are just as good as any native English speaker, as the tune is full of excellent maritime metaphors. The song itself is even like the sea: sometimes calm, sometimes choppy, and like Ishmael’s Oceans, very engrossing.

‘Come Home’ is the album’s weak point. It’s a slow song, and seems like there’s something missing throughout. The album’s bonus track, ‘Far Away From This Town’ also suffers from this symptom. It tries to be sentimental, but does this at the expense of what makes this album – strong pop hooks. It’s a nice little ditty, but unfortunately is just that: a little ditty.

Tracks to Download: There’s One Thing, Ocean & A Tear, Got None, New Born

8.0 – a very solid pop album, and ranks up there with Sondre Lerche and Norway’s finest. Let down by the last two songs though.

Vintage Review: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

Originally reviewed: 12 July 2005

Firstly, let’s get a few facts straight: Illinois is the best album I have heard so far this year; Illinois is the best album I’ve heard in a long time; and that’s not just my opinion either; many critics agree with me on this one. Also another fact: this could be the longest review I have ever written. Why? The album contains twenty-two songs, most of which are worth at least a page’s discussion. However, I plan to sum each song up in a few lines, because otherwise you’ll think this review is too long and won’t bother reading it. Another thing to make it easier on you is to shorten the song titles. It also makes it easier on me, and saves me typing out “The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they are off our lands!'"

The album opens with “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL” which features a piano melody that John Williams would be proud of. The music really does sound like flying saucers from the movies, however, this is not at all pretentious, and fits the song perfectly. The second track (and the one which has the longest title, mentioned above) “The Black Hawk War…” is a nice little instrumental song which leads perfectly into the outstanding “Come on! Feel the Illinoise!” The song has two parts (each in a different time signature, so musicians will easily know where one starts and the other begins). It does not feel like a two-part song though, just one seven minute masterpiece. Part 2 tells how the poet Carl Sandburg came to Stevens in a dream, and the listener will soon find themselves singing the line “I cried myself to sleep last night” at various times for the rest of their lives. Yes, the song really is that good.

Track four, “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” is an attempt to get into the mind of a serial killer. It features some of Stevens’ greatest song writing, and perhaps his finest vocal moment when his voice soars for the line “Oh my God”. Stevens makes the listener feel the song, feel the terror. The last part of the song is Stevens’ bravest moment as he compares himself to Gacy: "And in my best behaviour, I am really just like him". However, Stevens is never sympathetic to Gacy, instead denigrating him with the contempt he deserves. “Jacksonville” is centred around a really catchy melody, and does not pale in comparison to what has gone before. Like many of the songs, “Jacksonville” is about an important Illinois figure – President Andrew Jackson. Other notable Illinois people feature on the album: Carl Sandburg, John Wayne Gacy, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mary Todd Lincoln, Casimir Pulaski, and many others.

Some of the songs such as “A Short Reprise for Mary Todd...”, “One Last ‘Woo-hoo!’ for the Pullman”, and “In This Temple…” are short songs which are mainly segues from the previous song into the next. “Decatur” is the song where Stevens must have pulled out the rhyming dictionary – it contains every possible word that can rhyme with “Decatur”. One line is “Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator”. Who ever thought they would ever hear the word “emancipator” in a song? “Chicago” features a choir and brass section, which enhances Stevens’ usual banjo playing. It’s also one of the happiest songs he has ever written.

“Casimir Pulaski Day” vies for the title of the best song on the album. And there sure are a lot of songs vying for that title. Stevens questions God while remembering a lost loved one. The lyrics truly are beautiful. "Tuesday night at the Bible study, we lift our hands and pray over your body. But nothing ever happens" may even cause the listener to question things – it’s that damn powerful and moving. The album could even have ended here, and it still would have been perfect. But when you’re as ambitious as Stevens is, you just don’t know when to stop. And luckily for music-lovers everywhere, he doesn’t know when to stop.

“To the Workers of the Rockford River Valley Region…” is a nice jazz-infused instrumental, and leads into the rockier “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts.” The verses and trashy guitar sections contrast perfectly with the all female choir of the chorus. The track is another inspired moment from the genius that is Sufjan Stevens. “Prairie Fire That Wanders About” is another hymn-like tune, which could have been sung eight hundred of years ago. “The Predatory Wasp…” is the biggest ballad on the album, and could well be a future single for Stevens. He might have to shorten the title of it a bit though!

“They Are Night Zombies!!...” features an overabundance of exclamation points in the title, but this is what we have come to know and love about Stevens – his love of bizarre titles to match his bizarre songs!!!!!!!! In Illinois there are a lot of ghost towns, and “…Night Zombies…” is “basically kind of dramatization of ghosts from old ghost towns being exhumed and coming to life and chanting their names” according to Stevens. The song itself is a successful attempt at a funky disco. “Let’s Hear That String Part Again…” is less a reprise of what’s gone before, and more a beautiful instrumental piece which combines with “In This Temple…” to lead into “The Seer’s Tower” – the name is a pun on Chicago’s famous Sears Tower. The song is very downbeat in tone and instrumentation – just Stevens and a piano, with those Night Zombies on backing vocals once again.

“The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders” will soon be a clap-along classic, as Stevens will need the audience to do all the clapping on his live shows. Come and visit Ireland, Sufjan, I’d be more than happy to clap along! The first section, “The Great Frontier” is a beautiful Polyphonic Spree type song, as it surely must feature as many people as the Spree in the chorus. The last song “Out of Egypt…” is the longest instrumental track on the album, and brings the album to a beautiful close.

Tracks to Download: Buy this album, download this album, steal this album, by whatever means get this album!

9.5 – The best album of the year so far. But somehow I doubt anything will better it. He has his work cut out if he plans to make another 48 albums as good. Both the first and second halves of the album would have been excellent albums in their own right. If Bright Eyes is the new Dylan, Sufjan Stevens is the new Neil Young. Now hopefully he’ll get the recognition he deserves.

Vintage Review: Weezer - Make Believe

Weezer - Make Believe

Originally Posted: 7 June 2005

This is the third attempt at reviewing this album. I wanted to approach this album differently, and comprehensively compare it with the band’s previous albums. First time around, I listened to all the albums, starting with The Blue Album and making my way up to Make Believe, giving each song a little comment of analysis along the way. However, on re-reading the review I found it to be pedantic and boring. Second time around I thought I’d compare each of the songs on the new album to one from a previous album, but then it was pointed out to me: “What if the reader has never heard a Weezer album? What use is this review to them?” So now, I’m on my third draft, which looks set to be a normal, straightforward review.

Most people know what to expect from Weezer: catchy (and cheesy) choruses, backed up by bouncy, fun melodies. If that floats your boat, you’ll be glad to hear that nothing’s changed here. This is why the album is an extreme let-down for me. In my frivolous attempts to make this review somewhat innovative, I went back and listened to Weezer’s four previous albums – Weezer could never exactly be called prolific – and found out why the world once loved Weezer. In the early nineties their music found a niche – it was perfect radio-fodder in our pre-Blink 182 world. Yes, I did just compare Weezer to Blink 182, because that’s what they feel like to me now. A band that I once thought were good, but now see the error of my ways. Go back and listen to their old albums if you don’t believe me. Each contains numerous radio-friendly songs, but only about three of these songs (from all their albums, including Make Believe) will last the test of time.

Recent single “Beverley Hills” fails to inspire; fails to find that special something that made “Buddy Holly” and “Island In The Sun” such great power-pop songs. And that’s the case with the entire album. “Hold Me” and “Haunt You Every Day” are more introspective songs than what we’re used to from Cuomo, but when looking inside he should also have looked to see what was missing. The only song which shows any glimmer of hope is “We Are All On Drugs”, which has a chorus that wouldn’t have appeared out of place on Pinkerton.

So what are Weezer doing wrong with Make Believe? Well, in their opinion: nothing. However, what Rivers Cuomo & Co. need to realise is that it’s now the 00s. Maybe it’s because they only release an album every four years or so, that they’re a decade behind. The love for their style of music has disappeared. It’s been replaced by our love for throwback-80s music. So maybe if they continue at their level of productivity, their seventh album, released in 2012 will cash in on the then love of throwback-90s. At the moment, it’s hitting no nerves, and misses almost every target.

Download these tracks: We Are All On Drugs – but only if you are a really big Weezer fan. Otherwise save your bandwidth for something better.

2.3 – One song can’t make an album, but it has worked in the past. Unfortunately for Weezer, this album doesn’t even contain one song that sparkles. “We Are All On Drugs” gives a dull glow, but nothing here should make you want to invest in this album. Weezer really need to evolve, or else they face extinction.

Vintage Review: Common - BE

Common - BE



Originally reviewed: 25 May 2005

In Ireland and the UK, only the really mainstream hip-hop music infiltrates our musical radar. We get to hear songs by all the usual artists, the superstars. We get to hear Kanye West sometimes. But what we don’t hear is most of the albums he produces or his protégés. Thus the music of John Legend, Talib Kweli, Do or Die and Common is lost to all but the true hip-hop fans. Up to about a month ago I had never heard of Common, much less heard anything by him. So I’m coming into this album with a Common clean-slate. I won’t be comparing this to any of his five earlier albums, because I haven’t heard even one second of them. Maybe this is the best way to review music; you’ll have no expectations of what the album should be.

"Be means to do without trying hard. Be is being able to be natural, the simplicity of life, being in the present moment. Just being. I think some of the most important things I’ve been able to do in life is just be. Be who I am, and at this point in my career and in my life, I chose to just be.” That’s what Common says this album is about, and the album does indeed sell this message. Especially in the reverential closing song, which ends with a Martin Luther King type speech. Although a departure from the rest of the album, this quasi-sermon does not seem at all out of place.

The album includes no skits, as Common and producers Kanye West (who produced 9 of the 11 songs) and Jay Dilla (who produced the other two) wanted to give the album a unified pure sound. West can never be accused of over-producing on this album (as with John Legend’s Get Lifted which is very much under-produced), as it sounds slick and polished with a very tight feel. Kanye himself appears on four of the album’s eleven tracks. But never once overshadows the main event. Common himself declares “I made sure this album was me, I wanted people to feel who Common Sense is at this point. So I didn’t want to go and get a lot of guests, and even when I got people – I’ve got a song with Bilal and John Legend singing, its called ‘Faithful’ but they’re doing more background, it’s not like it’s featuring them. I wasn’t really into putting this guest guy over here, I just wanted to say as a hip hop artist I can hold my own on an album. You know? This album really is expressions of me, expressions of my friends that are married, that work, my younger cousins, you know like young cats I see on the street; I felt like I could be their voice too." This gives the album a much less fragmented sound than other hip-hop albums, and also means it will be far easier for Common to tour!

Lead single, “The Corner” is one of the few songs featuring guest work. But it greatly adds to the track. It has a great layered beat, and again features some Luther King style preaching. Common’s lyrics reflect as he says himself “the reality of the street”. The next single, “Go” also features sparse guesting, once again from Kanye, but also from Kanye’s new best buddy John Mayer. But relax music fans, Mayer does not ruin this track, he just sings very very very basic backing vocals (just the word “go” actually). It’s an excellent follow-up single, and complements “The Corner” perfectly as it follows it on the album. The title track features some nice electronica-style beats along with some really catchy strings, and opens the album perfectly.

“Faithful” is one of the best songs on the album. Bilal and John Legend beautifully accompany the piece. It has all the elements needed for success as a single if released. “Testify” samples a song which I just can’t place, but like the sampling on The College Dropout, this works perfectly. There’s only one qualm I have about this track – it ends too abruptly, and also far too soon. “Love Is” looks at love from various perspectives, and once again could be released as a single. The name of a Sum 41 album is starting to look like it would fit this album perfectly. “Chi-City” sounds like it comes directly from the early 90s. It’s a very straightforward track, with just Common rapping over some simple instrumentation. The only song that’s somewhat disappointing on the album is “The Food” which was recorded live at the Dave Chapelle show. It’s definitely the worst song on the album, and leaves the listener asking would it have been better in the studio? You really have to question what Kanye was thinking when including a live song in the middle of a studio album.

“Real People” brings the listener back to what made the album good in the first place: real lyrics combined with a great melody. The final two tracks are similarly good. John Legend gets some more vocal time on “They Say”, a track that’s better than most of his own Get Lifted album. “It’s Your World” closes the album perfectly, a great hip-hop tune, which segues into a motivational speech. The speech begins with some children saying what they want to be when they grow up, and then Common telling the listener what to be: “Be loved by God as much as God loved Ghandi and Martin Luther King.” What he should have said was “Be loved by God as much as people will love this album.”

Download these: The Corner, Faithful, Testify, Love Is, They Say, It’s Your World

Rating: 8.5 – An absolutely excellent album, which leaves Kanye a lot to do if he wants to better it himself. Only let down by one song, the rest however, are all good enough to be singles.

Vintage Review: The Tears - Refugees EP

I used to write music reviews for a Canadian website, twowaymonologues, but its archive has disappeared. Thus I'm going to archive some of my own reviews from there under the heading "Vintage Review", so they won't be lost forever. Hope you enjoy these. I'll put them up now and again, whenever the mood takes me.


The Tears – Refugees EP



Originally reviewed: 25th May 2005.

The Tears (rhymes with ‘dear’, not ‘dare’) recently released their first single. Two versions were released, one could buy one or the other, or both packed together as the Refugees EP. So, who are the Tears? It seems they’re “life’s refugees / Like Bonnie and Clyde we’re free / Don’t say there’s nothing between us”. There’s probably no better description for Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson’s new band. Depending on your knowledge of early 90s Britpop, these names may or may not look familiar to you. In 1994, Bernard Butler walked out of Suede, just before the release of their second album, Dog Man Star. That left Anderson running the show on his own, while Butler went off to carve out a career with McAlmont & Butler. In recent press releases, both say they knew that they’d eventually get back together. Most fans never thought it would happen. But now that it has, The Tears debut album Here Come The Tears has become one of the most anticipated British albums of 2005 (almost up there with Coldplay). Thus why I’m reviewing a five track EP…

In the early days, Butler had wanted Suede to be a ‘Smiths for the 90s’. However, this ideal was becoming further and further from the truth, causing him to leave the band. Now that he’s older and wiser, he has a new agenda: "I wanted to make an album that was angrier and more questioning than what I might have done before," Butler says. "There are lots of elements of 21st century life that really put me off, and I find distasteful. ‘Rufugees’ is about the media creation of a new would-be underclass, people who exist through the bottom of society, selling cigarettes on the corner. While underneath we all have the same hopes, needs, fears and sense of family."

So what does it actually sound like? Well, David Bowie actually. Who’d have thought it? One of Britain’s biggest bands of the 90s reuniting in the 00s, but sounding like the 70s. (Actually you can quote me on that, Bernard and Brett – I won’t even demand royalties.) The title track is a great little pop song, and really recaptures the lost days of Suede. With a really catchy bouncy chorus, and an understated melody, this song is the essence of feel-good pop, even if it is a critique of society underneath. If the rest of the album is this good, it really WILL give Coldplay a run for their money.

Second song “Southern Rain” is where the Bowie-influence kicks in. The vocals sound like Bowie, the piano sounds like Bowie. It could have been on Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and wouldn’t have seemed out of place. Like its name, the song is quite dreary, but luckily not depressing. It’s a slow piano-led track, a direct contrast to what goes before and after, but doesn’t seem at all out of place. “Feels Like Monday” is more knock back to Suede. Like everything being released these days it has its Robert Smith moments; but for anyone that has listened to Suede, they’ll know that Butler and Anderson were trendsetters years before the trend.

The penultimate song, “Branded” is very similar to “Southern Rain”, but different enough to be interesting. Bernard is once again at work leading the song on piano. It has a really sparse sound, and has some beautiful Bowie lyrics. The last track, “Break Away” again follows the same route. It starts with “And this world is just atoms / spinning slowly / Other people are shadows, lost and lonely / But they're giving us rules to follow / And they're giving us lies to swallow.” It’s probably the angriest of the five songs, and also the best of them.

This is an excellent EP, much like Bloc Party’s one last year in anticipation of their debut album. However there’s one major problem with it – only the title track is on the new album, Here Come The Tears. So if that’s the case, the songs on the album must be better than all of these. If they are, Chris Martin watch your back.

Download these tracks:
All of them, and get the new single ‘Lovers’ which is released soon.

8.0 – An excellent EP, but it’s a bit too much like David Bowie to get a higher mark. But that said, if you like Bowie, you’ll love this! Luckily there’s only two weeks to wait until Here Come The Tears is released!