Vampire Weekend is experimenting with new sounds on Contra and it doesn't work that well for them. Their first album was a great throwback to 80's afro-pop styled pop albums such as Paul Simon's classic Graceland, but that sound can only really go so far. Simon's post-Graceland albums weren't nearly as well received and Vampire Weekend wasn't about to go that route. Smart enough to dodge that fate though, they can't seem to figure out where they're going now. There are some good songs on here, but it's marred by unfocused songwriting and half-assed pop music experiments. I don't have a problem with auto-tune worming its way into indie rock, Bon Iver uses it expertly, but Vamp Week's songs get fucked over by it. Sophomore syndrome runs strong here. I've been a big supporter of the band since they started, but I'd be surprised if my support for them continues after this album. (C-)
The Weakerthans - Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre (2010)
Obligatory live album from the Weakerthans. Live albums can either feature wonderful reimaginings of songs that make you appreciate them all over again or horrible ruinations that make you wonder how they could fuck up your favorites so badly. This one falls right smack dab in the middle, a perfunctory release featuring good performances but no imagination. If you already love these songs, just listen to the original albums. They don't change much. A live album like this one is nice but completely unnecessary. (C)
Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids (2010)
Typical Ghostface, which is awesome. Insane rapping technique over vintage soul beats. He brings in some of his Wu-Tang fam and they all kill their verses as well. Nobody should be surprised by anything on this album, but it's nice to hear Ghost still pumping out great music year after year. While his last album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, was a nice diversion into R&B styled songs, Ghost is back in his natural habitat here and we're all better off for it. (B)
Emo Side Project - Particle Physics Gives Me A Hadron (2010)
How far can one really go with covers of pop songs in different styles? Apparently pretty far, if the Punk Goes compilations are any indication. Look up any given pop song on YouTube and there's probably an acoustic cover and a metal cover and a punk cover and everything else. It's been done to death now. It's no longer entertaining. That being said, Emo Side Project's release of covers of hip-hop and pop songs covered acoustically is pretty fun. Sure, it's not an original idea, but aside from being funny, it takes these songs to new territory. Not every single one is a hit, but some, like the cover of Insane Clown Posse's hilarious "Miracles," stripped down and played in this setting shed some new light on these songs. If "Miracles" wasn't tremendously catchy aside from the ridiculous lyrics, it would have never caught on. Love ICP or hate them, there's some cheesy awesomeness to that song that worms its way into your head and it's proven by being played on an acoustic guitar. The same could be said of many of the selections here. For instance, hearing ESP-man Andrew McShan work his way through "Hard Knock Life," you gain a newfound appreciation for Jay-Z's skill as a rapper. The recitation here flows horribly, no disrespect to McShan's attempt, but it makes you realize how great Jay-Z is and was to make that bizarre style work in the context of the original song. Overall, a very interesting listen, aside from being on the bandwagon of funny covers. (C+)
La Dispute - Winter Tour Holiday CD-R (2008)
Much love for La Dispute, but this was horrible. Frontman Jordan Dreyer's whiny mewithoutYou aping voice works for his own lyrics and in the context of their songs. Where it doesn't work at all is reciting "Twas the Night Before Christmas," where his speaking voice just sounds dorky as all hell. Quirky one-off Christmas single or not, this is unpleasant to listen to. Oh yeah, and there's a B-side instrumental which didn't grab my attention enough to even remember. (F)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network (2010)
Nine Inch Nails (why don't we call a spade a spade here?) doing the soundtrack for a movie works well. Reznor proved that when he masterminded David Lynch's fantastic soundtrack for Lost Highway. Of course, that featured him selecting other people's songs, there's only three songs he did himself on there. Here we get nineteen tracks of Reznor and Ross fucking around with fucked up soundscapes. It's nice and it played out extremely well in the film. But like with most soundtracks, I find myself tremendously bored by listening to it out of context. Truth be told, I slept intermittently while listening to this. The parts I was awake for told me I didn't miss much. Listening to it on its own, it's a repeat of the amazingly boring Ghosts album Nine Inch Nails put out a while back. But it does lend some more insight into that album as well. It's all about context. As I said, this worked in the film, would Ghosts have made a good film soundtrack as well? The Social Network is essentially the answer to that question. (D)
Yeasayer - Live at Ancienne Belgique (2010)
Some bands are better live. Yeasayer isn't. Live at Ancienne Belgique was a sweet Christmas gift from the band, but it's a shame that it's awful. Listening to them butcher their own songs like this makes me glad I skipped them when they were in town, charging exorbitant ticket prices and playing the House of Blues, the single most undesirable music venue in Houston. I would try to defend them based on their fantastic studio track record, but there's little to defend here. Chris Keating's voice fails him live and a big part of the appeal of their music to begin with is his vocalizations. The electronics, chants, keyboards, and random sounds are essential to the broad experimental style that they pursue, but they sound so phony here that you wonder why you enjoyed them to begin with. Everything rings hollow and it sounds like a puzzle with a piece missing. The transitions are terrible. When the danceable sound effects aren't going, you wonder where they are. It's like listening to a band play with no low-end. When they do come in, they're intrusive and poorly placed. They barge in and just start yelling at you and you sort of long for when they weren't there. It would be an exaggeration to say this is one of the worst live productions I've ever heard, but it's definitely the worst in recent memory. (F)
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