New Music Review: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - "The Heist"

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - "The Heist", 4/5 Stars

The Heist, an album by Macklemore (Ben Haggerty) and producer Ryan Lewis, is the first hip-hop style album I’ve enjoyed in a long time.  The lyrics are affirmative, campaign against misogyny and homophobia, and generally return the genre to its roots of celebrating the common man, all while engaging in musical minimalist background instrumentation.  This album was their first major release and a brief history of that effort can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNXWOl81mBE&list=UUXYRdIXDdeZIf816EWAr5zQ

The lyrics range from insisting that a “life lived for art is never a life wasted” in “Ten Thousand Hours.”  Unlike those who try to make a name for themselves on shows like X Factor or American Idol and claim they just want to make music, he’s been out in the world actually doing it.  He knows good and well that the system of American education has failed him and so many others, yet he is making his way in the world on his own terms.  There’s a certain nobility in that, insisting in “Make the Money” that “a true artist won’t be satisfied.”

He celebrates the lifestyle that led him to where he is today in tracks like “Thrift Store.”  While some might see this one as mocking the poor, anyone who has seen the music video knows it’s really about making the best of what you’ve got and maintaining your humanity, including the capacity for fun and charity, no matter the struggles life may present.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes  Indeed, he cautions against the tendency to focus on material things and the dangers they represent for urban youth when some are murdered even for imitation brand name items in “Wing$.”  He laments that “These Nikes help define me, but I’m trying to take mine off.”

In “Thin Line” and “White Walls” he points out the disparities between seemingly glamorous lifestyle portrayed in rap songs to the lived experience of rappers’ girlfriends and asks them whether or not it’s really worth it.  He thus impugns the entire rap industry demanding better treatment, both physical and rhetorical, for women.  His own past is acknowledged as somewhat neglectful, and he regrets that.  This song is a call for a better future which rejects the culture of alcoholism and drug use while hypocritically insisting upon religious identification with “broken hymns” and “prayers … soaked in gin” as he calls the universalized bar a “Neon Cathedral” and rues his relapse in “Starting Over.”

His insistence on maintaining shared humanity shines through again in “Same Love” where he expresses support for marriage equality, a measure which recently won passage in Macklemore’s home state of Washington.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0   Macklemore admits he didn’t always think this way, that it was a process of requiring he reject teachings of his childhood church and of hip-hop culture as an adult.  Possibly the most important line here is “I might not be the same / But that’s not important / No freedom ‘til we’re equal / Damn right I support it” as he expresses support for his uncle who has been in a loving, committed same sex relationship for years.  The law is just one stage in an evolving society, “but it’s a damn good place to start.”

That underlying theme, shared humanity being more important than merely physical differences, shines throughout this album, even in tracks like “Cowboy” and “Castle” which are exercises in the delightfully absurd.  Hip-hop, and popular music generally, could use more albums like this one.  Though this effort has an overabundance of the melancholic and the wistful, it overall presents a full experience of humanity in a believable way so often absent from rap and hip-hop.  The realism is what sells Macklemore’s message. 

– J. Holder Bennett, KMA Music Historian

Tracklist:

1. Ten Thousand Hours (Feat. Lyndsey Starr)

2. Can't Hold Us (Feat. Ray Dalton)

3. Thrift Shop (Feat. Wanz)

4. Thin Line (Feat. Buffalo Madonna)

5. Same Love (Feat. Mary Lambert)

6. Make The Money

7. Neon Cathedral (Feat. Allen Stone)

8. BomBom (Feat. The Teaching)

9. White Walls (Feat. ScHoolboy Q, and Hollis)

10. Jimmy Lovine (Feat. Ab-Soul)

11. Wing$

12. A Wake (Feat. Evan Roman)

13. Gold (Feat. Eighty4 Fly)

14. Starting Over (Feat. Ben Bridwell)

15. Cowboy Boots

Deluxe Edition:

16. Castle

17. My Oh My

18. Victory Lap

A Lament for Lyrics: Why We Should Really Listen

Song lyrics are occasionally rather controversial, and rightly so as they have the capacity to inspire unthinking, emotional reactions in listeners.  This alone would be a good reason to pay attention to what comes out of artists’ mouths.  However, there are other cases, where there are no overt reactions, which can be equally dangerous.  Some lyrics seek to normalize aberrant or dangerous behaviors which can lead to listeners’ acceptance of the propositions involved as if they were healthy or normative.  What follows is a brief description of such songs in no particular order, taking examples from several different genres and artists to demonstrate that it is a universal concern.  If a parent is genuinely going to ask, “Won’t someone please think about the children?” then they need to be thinking about music, too.  This is not a call for censorship.  Artists are and ought to be free, as of right, to sing what they please.  It is, however, most emphatically a plea to parents and others concerned with child welfare to pay more attention to what young people are doing.

One recent hit is Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat” featuring Nikki Minaj.  In the fifty-first week of 2012, this song registered at #9 on the Hot 100 Billboard Charts in the US.  While his own portion is problematic, linking a woman’s desirability entirely to her physical appearance rather than any of her qualities as a person, it is Minaj’s lines which are the more troubling.  The main portion of her lines, “Justin.. Bieber, you know Imma hit 'em with the ether / Buns out, weiner, but I gotta keep an eye out for Selena / … beautiful confessions of the priest” indicate several dangerous possibilities.  First, she intends to drug Bieber with ether, an old fashioned anesthetic and occasionally used today as a recreational drug.  She then talks about playing with his “weiner,” keeping in mind that, though he is 18 years old as of this writing, he looks like a much younger person and could be a target of pseudo-ephebophilia.  This is a circumstance where the adult predates upon those who, though legally of age to consent, appear to be younger than that while not actually childlike in appearance.  By indicating that she must “keep an eye out for Selena [Gomez],” Minaj further indicates that rape is her only route to sex with Bieber because he is unlikely to be unfaithful.  Female-on-male rape, or, at minimum, female-on-male sexual abuse, is a very real phenomenon in our country and one that is even less talked about than the more “normal” male-on-female varieties.  Considering that less than half of female victims of sexual abuse report, it is unsurprising to learn that the numbers are smaller still for male victims.  Lastly, she is making light of the very real, and very traumatic, experiences of the young men abused by priests, effectively alleging that youth sexual abuse is part of the sacramental duties of the priesthood.  There is absolutely nothing about her lines in this song that contribute to its legitimate, if putative, artistic merit.  While I cannot speak for other parts of the country, these lines are routinely played on the air by various radio stations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area of North Texas.  It is unlikely that many young people are registering these lines consciously.  That is precisely the source of danger: the subconscious absorption of an idea, time and again over the course of several weeks, that this dangerous behavior is acceptable.

This next one is billed as a Christmas song by Lady Gaga, “Christmas Tree,” featuring Space Cowboy.  In other songs, she has advocated for queer rights, third wave feminism, and other subjects some might consider controversial.  Those are legitimate topics of inquiry and disagreement, but one would think that burning Jews on Christmas was nigh-universally accepted as an affront to human dignity.  The lyrics are formally presented as “light you up with you on top,” but the pronunciation is clearly addressed to the Christmas tree as if a person and spoken as “light you up, a Jew on top.”  The intention is to make a less than oblique reference to a sexual position, itself potentially objectionable for young listeners, but that is not what is actually said by Space Cowboy.  The need for a more cautious screening process by producers and sound editors is clearly indicated as a solution to this problem.  I doubt either singer is antisemitic in any meaningful sense; merely that they should put as much care into how they say things as they put into what they say.

Last on our list of concerns is “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earl.  In the last part of the song, he talks about serving in Vietnam, coming home to grow drug plants, and having a flashback during a DEA raid due to PTSD.  His lyrics imply that the only people serving in the military were “white trash.”  He posits veteran drug use as a perfectly normal response.  Worst of all, he trivializes the very real problems caused by PTSD in troops in an era before its causes and effects were diagnosed in sufferers, to say nothing of the racist overtones of the entire verse.  Denigrating trauma-sufferers is just as bad as ignoring them, but implying that it directly affected everyone and did so in the same way is also a falsehood which can lead to misunderstanding and mistreatment from society.  These people, many of them drafted and forced to go to Vietnam, were met with vicious insults and even assaults from their fellow citizens, to say nothing of an initial refusal by the American government to treat their physical and psychological health concerns.  This song, a popular one for country line dancers, perpetuates the problem.

Each of these songs, from a different genre with different concerns, is indicative of a larger problem in American society.  Others may rant and rave about increasing violence or sexualization of children.  Those are valid concerns, surely, but they cannot be met without first paying attention to what happens in the world around us, including on the air waves.  My challenge to you, gentle reader, is to listen to and think about the words in your favorite songs and decide whether or not you would want young ones listening to them and absorbing their messages that normalize rape, antisemitism, and PTSD.

– J. Holder Bennett, KMA Music Historian 

We The Ghost, "White Noise". 5/5 Stars

Tulsa Oklahoma’s (unless they come back to Texas, cough) “We The Ghost” pulls comparisons to a rather fun grouping of artists, from One-Republic to Travie McCoy, but somehow retains a unique hold on their overall sound. They portray the full spectrum of emotions, be they love or hate, yet do so in a way which conveys a strong understanding and clear acceptance of the subjects. They aren’t writing these things because they know it will sell, and they don’t have to shove it in your face either, because they’ve lived it in some form. This is one of the best compliments I can personally give a band, you can tell they truly feel what they’ve written; it has more impact than whether a track is a masterpiece or even a simple television jingle. I feel this every time I listen to WTG, and they’ve successfully carried that mentality into “White Noise”.

Their first single from the release, “Let Me Know”, starts the collection off well, and if I’m not mistaken has had a little work done on the EQ to make certain aspects pop a bit more, but as I listen further, I discover it’s only the tip of the iceberg, and it continually gets better from that point. The tracks are primarily violin driven which plays nicely against Mr. Tyler’s textured vocals and brings an even more heightened feeling to the already powerful content of the tracks. As Gotye put it, “you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness”. The album does have a rather sad feeling to it, but I still can’t stop listening. That feeling culminates in the closing track “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (Mentioned previously in our interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFXxUezOvis ), a poignant story of abuse from the perspective of the abuser, whom holds a somewhat chilling indifference to the situation overall, and you can’t help but find a kind of sadness there for this individual who has become so jaded.

To clarify, this is not a full length album but a five track EP, however, it manages to hold the strength of an entire release. If this is genuinely “White Noise”, it may be time to redefine the term, because by current standards, the EP is anything but.

Tracklist:

1. Let Me Know

2. Notice Me (Feat. Ben Kilgore)

3. Wash These Sins Away (Feat. Rockwell Ripperger of Stephen Speaks)

4. Drama Scene (Explicit)

5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Explicit)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wetheghost

Official Website: http://www.wetheghost.com/

New Music Review: Ben Draiman - "The Past Is Not Far Behind (EP)"

Ben Draiman, "The Past Is Not Far Behind". 4.5/ 5 Stars

Ben Draiman’s new release, “The Past Is Not Far Behind”, is a fantastic example of what can happen when you do modern “piano rock” the right way. The album features a nice mix of soft to mid-range rock, with more traditional instruments blended in, creating a beautiful collaboration of sounds. This is especially evident to me on the track “Overcome”, which uses a deeper violin than prior tracks, complimenting Ben’s slightly deeper vocals.

Admittedly, for those who have kept up with Ben’s music or read my reviews in the past, you may notice that a couple of the tracks are the same. Don’t let this turn you off from the album however, as those were also earlier versions of the current tracks. I did enjoy the original “demos”, but the new versions are preferable to me and show his growth. As with all EP’s I review, I just wish there were more songs, but that’s something I’ll have to get over, since it IS an “EP”. My only concern then, is from a technical standpoint. Specifically, the mixing on “Avalanche” feels a bit muddy. There’s just a too much reverb for me, and it overwhelms the instrumental some on the chorus. The issue seems restricted to that track though, so it could be intentional to fit the idea of the song, in which case it does work, but I’m not certain.  This alone is why the release gets a 4.5 from me, rather than a full 5 stars, but it’s not enough to ruin the overall package.

The writing is intelligent and clear, very often pointing out the title’s message and the idea that much of what we lose or gain, is dependent on us paying attention to our past failures and successes. At the end of the day, we really are in control of where our journey takes us. I find myself drawn more to the softer tracks on the album. I’m not sure if “ballad” is the right term for them, but Ben certainly thrives in the more piano driven tracks in a way that feels less apparent on his heavier songs. Ironically the heavy tracks were what attracted me to his music to begin with, but they’re the places he visits, not where he lives, and his home is beautiful. 

Tracklist:

1. Soon Enough.

2. Avalanche

3. 21 Seconds

4. Would You Know Love

5. Overcome

6. Taken For Granted

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bdraimanmusic

Official Website: http://www.bendraiman.com

New Music Review: Wiz Khalifa - "Remember You (Feat. The Weeknd)"

Wiz Khalifa "Remember You (Feat. The Weeknd)" - 2/5 Stars

Wiz Khalifa is making a career of stereotypes in the rap industry. His content isn't exactly unique, sex, drugs, etc., it's the same thing that the majority of the hip-hop/ rap industry has been pushing for years. That said, he pushes it well enough to stay relevant to the mainstream. This was evident enough when he released "Black and Yellow" and it became a theme for a lot of Steelers fans around the Super Bowl, so much so that Lil Wayne decided to take it on with a freestyle over the B&Y instrumental, called "Green and Yellow" in favor of the Packers. Content aside, it seems to have  cemented him in a place of interest for the industry, something that will benefit him with his second release coming within only a year of the first.

With this week's release of his new single "Remember You", which features The Weeknd (yes, that's the right spelling), he sadly goes back to the same pattern lyrically. The song is another sex and drug filled track with Wiz bragging about himself constantly in a setting that could have potentially given him an opportunity to explore something new lyrically. The Weeknd's verses on the chorus aren't the world's next great love song as they slip into rap stereotypes occasionally, but they still feel far more romantic in nature than Wiz's, and as far as I'm concerned the song is his since it fits his style better. You can tell he's singing to a woman, whereas Wiz is just interested in himself. I'm struck with the same feeling I had with Maroon 5's "Payphone", everyone else knows what the song is about except for Wiz. He's off in his own world for the most part, probably because of the "papers" he's so fond of reminding us every few seconds that he's using. The song takes almost 3 and 1/2 minutes out of a nearly 5 minute track, before Wiz even seems to mention anything relevant to the chorus, but it doesn't take long to figure out he's actually just talking about himself again. 

I don't dislike the song so much as I dislike the lack of connection coming from Khalifa. I rather like his sound against The Weekend, I just wish he would expand more on his repertoire, since he clearly has the talent to do more but he won't as long as he keeps using drugs as a physical and lyrical crutch. Until then, as enjoyable as the underlying track and idea may be, this repeated pattern of narcissism and weed smoke is holding him back from releasing his full potential, and leaves me giving the new release only 2 of 5 stars. 

In Defense of Music Videos

I’ve done a few music reviews now, and I frequently refer to the music video presentations in addition to just the music.  Indeed, in my review of Delta Rae’s album, I pointed out the serious distinctions between the two experiences.  A friend asked me why I included the video element in a music review.  His question got me to thinking and what follows is the result. 

The short answer is that, because I’m a professor, I have a keen interest in how people learn.  Learning can be defined as taking in and processing information, making patterns with data already present, and trying to find meaning or patterns as you extrapolate toward the future.  All of that starts with taking in the basic information about the world around us.  That can’t always be done with simple text because the regular version of literacy, the ability to read words on a page, is historically unimportant.  Up to 1950, in our own United States, as much as half the adult population was functionally illiterate.  This means that a great deal of information was transferred visually and orally.  Historically speaking, these have always been and continue to be the main routes of data transfer. 

St. John of Damascus (c. 650 – 750 CE) lived in a time when officials, sacred and secular, were destroying religious images.  He vigorously objected by pointing out that the majority of the world was illiterate, up to 95% by some estimates, and that the pictorial representations were the best way to get across to Christian worshippers the stories of the Bible and various saints’ lives.  His position won out and is still the mainstream understanding in Orthodox and Catholic Christianity to this day.  During the Protestant Reformation and later, leaders ranging from Martin Luther (1483 – 1546 CE) to Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658 CE) insisted on destroying these images not because they were idols but because they told a different story than the one they wanted their followers to see.  Effectively, they accepted that John was right and feared the consequences.

One might well ask how this relates to music.  Well, music is a means of oral story-telling.  In this medium, the normal techniques of rhetoric and intonation are combined with pitch, rhythm, and other musical nuances.  St. Augustine (354 – 430 CE) held that, again because of general illiteracy in his congregation, the spoken word was itself a textual form that must be preserved intact if accurate information was to be given out and heresy nipped in the bud.  Again, he feared the consequences of the spoken word because it was so powerful in terms of information transfer.  Music is just that much stronger because of its underlying emotional nature.

In a more modern vein, a man named Leopold von Ranke (1795 – 1886) held that history could not exist without reference to primary documents.  For him, a document was any source of information, however conveyed, that came from the original participants or witnesses.  He accepted John’s and Augustine’s positions.  Visual images and oral traditions counted in his eyes.  We now consider even fiction from a given time and place to be a primary source due to its ability to tell us about the hopes, fears, and general society of the author.  Ranke is the father of history in its modern sense and is himself the source of both narrative history and historiography.  Because of him, historians like me remembered that our primary duty was to tell stories using whatever means we have handy.  Sometimes we do that with dry words in long books.  Sometimes we make maps and charts.  Sometimes we reconstruct whole symphonies.  And sometimes we get up in front of students and lecture, sharing what information we can as best we’re able.

The point is that any and every way information can be transferred from one person to another is a valid route and a potential source or record for later investigation.  More broadly, music videos can be analyzed in the same way an art or literature critic would look at their respective professions.  They can include visual puns or references to prior work, sometimes juxtaposing opposite ideas in ways mere words can’t get across.  They can demonstrate social relations between races, sexes, and economic groups.  They can be psychodramas or tales of spiritual redemption.  Even when the video and the lyrics have nothing objectively in common, they can be read individually as complete stories and then interlaced as a metatext to provide a deeper reading and understanding of the creators’ intent.  They can be anything the human mind is capable of creating.

So I would ask you, gentle reader, to take on a small assignment: Watch music videos, paying equal attention to both images and the songs, and “read” them as if they were your favorite stories.  What do they say to you?  Do they show men and women as equals?  Are the characters the sort of people you’d want your son or daughter to spend time with?  Are you disgusted or inspired?  What is the STORY that’s being told?  Please, share your thoughts.

At any rate, that, gentle reader, is why I include comments on music videos in my reviews.

– J. Holder Bennett, KMA Music Historian

New(ish) Music Review: Delta Rae - "Carry The Fire"

Delta Rae, "Carry The Fire" 4.5/5 Stars

Ladies, gentlemen, and otherwise: I was wrong about Delta Rae.  I was so unbelievably wrong that I honestly don’t know where to begin.  To be fair, the first track I heard was “Morning Comes” in the main music video version, which is done in a traditional college rock style and is thoroughly forgettable, even if the music video is a foray into the delightfully absurd.  The trouble is that it’s actually a good song, but only when divorced from the visual setting.  Eric Hölljes and Elizabeth Hopkins demonstrate their real abilities in a way the video irreparably harms.  But then, at Nick’s suggestion, I went through the rest of their Carry the Fire and fell in love. 

This group of six alternates leading roles seamlessly and plays to their mutual strengths in unique ways.  Particularly, the video for “Bottom of the River” attracts the attention of a social historian (my own background) for its mixture of antebellum slave spiritual musical styles, medieval Japanese kyuubi masks, and modern stomp dance moves.  Unlike the other track, the video here enhances the story-telling.  In this song, Brittany Hölljes demonstrates a roar in her voice fit for a cryogenically preserved white child birthed by Bessie Smith and tutored by Ella Fitzgerald.  She’s that good.  The background chants and keyboard trills add to the mystique she constructs with that primæval growl so rare in today’s music.

They have love songs about hope overcoming pain, the complexities of human relationships, the dichotomies between nostalgia and reality, and the overall cussedness of the world being overcome through hard work.  Throughout, the band’s work is blissfully free from autotuning and other forms of sound manipulation.  Their continually evolving harmonies demonstrate the complexities possible when a talented group of people just want to sing without modern augmentations.  Their style is variable, even between different releases of the same song, so it’s difficult to put them into a category.  Frankly, my initial assessment of “college rock” was unfair.  They deserve better than that.  If I had to put a label on them, one which acknowledges the equal parts creativity, adoption, and adaptation they use in this album, I would have to call it “American Awesome.”  Rating: 4.5/5

– J. Holder Bennett, KMA Music Historian

Tracklist:

1. Holding On To Good

2. Is There Anyone Out There

3. Norning Comes

4. If I Loved You

5. Bottom Of The River

6. Country House

7. Surrounded

8. Dance In The Graveyards

9. Fire

10. Forgive The Children We Once Were

11. Unlike Any Other

12. Hey, Hey, Hey

New(ish) Music Review: B.o.B - "Strange Clouds"

B.o.B - "Strange Clouds". 5/5 Stars

What do Morgan Freeman, Taylor Swift, and Lil' Wayne have in common? B.o.B. apparently. I was fairly amused by his first mainstream release, "B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray", but only recently got around to checking out his more recent release, "Strange Clouds". One of my favorite things about B.o.B. is the same thing he seems to get criticized for the most: he leans towards pop more than stereotypical rap. With a few exceptions music isn't particularly dark and shows more hope than anything, and he isn't afraid to reach outside of rap for his collaborations, which has made for more than a few interesting tracks. This is smart marketing at its finest because he can easily pull fans from any genre as he adds more and more unique collaborations, in addition to the new fans he'll grab on his own. He often reminds me of Kanye West without the auto-tune obsession, and before his ego took over. Plus, there's the fact that he's actually capable of singing, which he displays quite nicely on several of the tracks on "Strange Couds".

"As the war between light and darkness continues, heroes and villains become harder to identify. Kindred spirits separated at birth, fighting for their place in time to be solidified. The clock ticks faster and faster while tome runs a marathon in this Babylon. But see, the end is only the beginning, the beginning of the calm before the storm." - Morgan Freeman, from "Bombs Away" (Now read the rest of this review in his voice)

So begins the first track on "Strange Clouds", setting an almost fantasy tone for the album, which works since it seems to float along in the same mindset. The album has a few harder tracks on it, but feels relaxing overall, and the tracks that do feel a bit more depressing are still uplifting from the perspective of not being alone in a struggle,other people are feeling the same stress as you. Despite the wide range of collaborations, the flow is surprisingly well carried off and makes for a varied, yet cohesive story of sorts from one track to the next. I've tried to come up with a sufficient explanation for "why" you should listen to the album. It's actually taken me several listens and about a week's worth of stopping and coming back to the review to see if I could come up with a better reason, but the best endorsement I can give this album is fairly simple: It's good. I don't think you have to be a rap fan to like the album. It feels smooth and relaxing, and I could easily listen to this while gaming, reading, playing a sport, anything. I've gotten several new favorite songs out of this, and I believe you will too. 

Tracklist:

1. Bombs Away (Feat. Morgan Freeman)

2. Ray Bands

3. So Hard To Breathe

4. Both Of Us (Feat. Taylor Swift)

5. Strange Clouds (Feat. Lil Wayne)

6. So Good

7. Play For Keeps

8. Arena (Feat. Chris Brown & T.I.)

9. Out Of My Mind (Feat. Nicki Minaj)

10. Never Let You Go (Feat. Ryan Tedder)

11. Chandelier (Feat. Laurina Mae)

12. Circles

13. Just A Sign (Feat. Playboy Tre)

14. Castles (Feat. Trey Songz)

15. Where Are You (B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray)

Target Version:

16. MJ (Feat. Nelly)

17. Back It Up For Bobby

18. What Are We Doing

19. Guest List (Feat. Roscoe Dash)

20. Ms. Professional

Music Review: Fun. - "Aim and Ignite"

Fun. - "Aim and Ignite" 4.5/5 Stars

Like many of you out there, I only recently became aware of the band Fun. and thoroughly enjoyed their album Some Nights.  I was delighted to learn that this was actually their second title and quickly bought a copy of their first one, Aim and Ignite.  I trust my gentle readers will forgive me if this review is thus somewhat out of order. 

True to the group’s name, this one is just as much “fun” as the second one.  It has many innovative features as in their more recent work, but differs in several important ways.  The most notable is the lack of autotuning, a feature toyed with repeatedly in the second album but blissfully absent in this one.  Lead singer Nate Ruess repeatedly demonstrates that he just doesn’t need it.  This album, as a whole, is also more innovative than their later work and as such is not as accessible to the average listener.  Forget about that.  Focus on the fact that this is genuinely good music and ignore the pablum that passes for pop music.  Fun. knows what they’re doing.  Another fantastic feature is the variety of instrumentation, ranging from electric guitars to violins and from accordions to full brass ensembles.  Most groups would synthesize these sounds today but Fun. insists on authenticity and tradition, a position I can only approve of.

The first track, “Be Calm,” lives up to its name even in the more energetic sections.  Its initially mellow presentation is one of simple violin harmonies undergirding a complex dialogue, partly external and partly internal, between an emotionally unbalanced young man and his attempts to deal with human relationships in a new setting.  “Be Calm” is his mantra for trying to cope with the distancing of modern society, requiring ever more forceful emphasis as things spiral out of control.

“Benson Hedges” opens as a sort of gospel song as much about faith as about modern life and evolves into a more customary rock piece in a fashion not unlike a retrograde Elvis.  The overall tone is a critique of the trivialization of culture from both MTV and Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News commentator.  The breakdown is as much about his old car as it is about his reaction to trying to cope with the world and human relationships.  He crosses literal and metaphoric borders as he heads out into the world away from the urban “canyons” of the city.

The next piece, “All the Pretty Girls (On a Saturday Night)” reminds one of a simpler time and informal performance, indeed including at the beginning seeming chatter which would normally be excluded from a recording.  This song continues the theme of being dumped only here it is self-affirming, acknowledging that he’s been used and is trying to move on despite painful reminders from mutual friends.  He alternates between longing for a return to the former relationship and dissolution among “all the pretty girls,” literally anyone but his former partner.  The song highlights the codependency so common in young relationships that end up damaging as much as defining masculine youth.  But, in the end, the independent self wins out against temptation.

The fourth track is a sort of walking song, similar to what one might find in a 70s montage scene of young romance.  “I Wanna Be the One” is easily Fun.’s answer to “Your Song” while being far less self-conscious about it.  A far more descriptive title thus might be “My Song.”  Unlike most love songs, he’s actually talking to and about himself.  He’s finally over the former relationship from the previous tracks and is comfortable and self-confident. 

The next track is playfully self-indulgent, even including an antiphon using the chord progression from “Ring around the Rosie.”  He acknowledges the absurdity of his position, being an indie artist making it big in mainstream music fandom and pointedly makes fun of those fans who questioned his departure from his old band, The Format, as if it were some grand tragedy.  “At Least I’m Not as Sad (As I Used to Be)” is a bit of a jest and shouldn’t be taken seriously.  That said, this sort of self-referential meta-narrative can be read as the consequences of a complex and evolving relationship between a musician and his fans, not unlike those between a young man and woman in a tempestuous pairing.

“Light a Roman Candle with Me” is a mellow piece which belies its central importance to the theme of the album.  The singer is asking a girl to take a chance on him, much as he’s taking a chance by approaching her at all.  He’s not looking for “Miss Right” or “Miss Right Now.”  He’s looking for someone to share a moment with, even a mundane one like sharing a cup of tea or setting off a fire cracker.  The intimacy and particularity of shared moments, haecceity, the here-ness and now-ness of a particular moment or experience, are what he’s focusing on and he wants to share that temporal specificity with someone he cares about.  Life is, after all, a succession of moments, each entirely unlike any other.  Small joys are best had in company.

“Walking the Dog” is another piece which focuses on the breakup theme.  The “dog” here is his continued obsession with his ex-partner though the verb tense use is confusing and conflates past and present. He is mentally castigating her not only for cheating on him and dumping him, but for doing so with one of the “boys of summer” who physically abuses her.  The light tone of the song can be misleading but the story is clear on that point.  He is still angry but doesn’t believe she deserves this sort of mistreatment.

The eighth track, “Barlights,” is a story of walking home after the bars close.  He’s had good night out with friends, playing Bo Peep to their sheep as they amble along, and he feels his confidence renewed with equal parts self-reliance and camaraderie with his friends.  Such is the tone of this album overall that suddenly shifts from self-doubt to self-confidence make sense within the total context and makes for a well-blended narrative theme across multiple tracks.

The next piece opens with a piano trill that reminds of a medium-difficulty finger warm-up exercise, and for all that reminds one of chamber music.  Instead of being an immediate story, this song is an entire life’s love story, ranging across fifty years of joyful sharing.  This song is simultaneously the most joyous and melancholy on the entire album.  The singer is in the person of an old man looking back at a long and happy life as his wife is peacefully dying before him.

The final track, though of a very different tone, in many ways continues the last song’s theme to its natural conclusion while integrating it with the rest of the album.  “Take Your Time (Coming Home)” mixes the old man with the singer in his own person, each looking back on a life and juxtaposing a life-long love with the tempestuous career of a young musician and fully incorporates the theme only hinted at in track five.  Unlike the dumping the singer suffered, the woman’s death is thus a natural progression and result of a life well lived.  For both, the message is “If you love somebody, you’d better let them know.” 

Aim and Ignite is thus an integrated whole, each song a variation on a single narrative theme.  Twice makes a custom, as the saying goes, and Fun. carried over their innovative story-telling techniques, if in somewhat watered down form, from this first album to their second one, Some Nights.  If you have yet to listen to Fun.’s first album, do so.

– J. Holder Bennett, KMA Music Historian

New(ish) Music Review: Krizz Kaliko - "Kickin' & Screamin'"

Krizz Kaliko - Kickin' & Screamin'. 4/5 Stars

STRAAAANGE... MUSIC. This album isn't for kids, but if you're not a kid, boost the volume. (Yes, this review is far too delayed)

Krizz gets better with each successive album, and manages to pull off a fantastic mix that's harder to qualify as strictly rap because he's also a talented singer, in some ways not far off from Cee Lo Green, and in others so far beyond, because he actually does rock along with his rap. Before you start asking how I can compare the two, most of Krizz's vocals are deeper than what Cee Lo normally does, but he does have an impressive upper range as well. While the main sections of the album are good "party" rap, they aren't what make the album. There are several songs that dig a lot deeper into "Kali's" psyche, continuing his pattern from the previous albums of discussing his health concerns, mental and physical, while not giving up hope, and in fact embracing how they've made him who he is (Specifically "Created A Monster"). This provides a lot of insight into why his music goes the way it does and helps even the darker portions of the album make a lot more sense emotionally than the majority of rappers who choose to go "dark" just because they can. While he does unfortunately fall into a couple rap stereotypes language-wise, it rarely detracts from the message he's trying to get across (There are also times he uses the language strictly to make a point). He occasionally samples from his other albums and collaborations, which makes for a good reminder of his previous works and makes sure his music connects well from one album to the next without being overdone. Also, like most of the albums on Strange Music, there are a lot of collaborations from within the label, a smart choice since it not only sounds good, but sells the other artists just as well. This album fits the Strange label perfectly, so obviously SM fans will love it, but I'd also recommend it to fans of Cee Lo Green, Korn, Eminem, and even dubstep.

Tracklist:

1. Intro (Feat. Scenario)

2. Dancin' With Myself

3. Kali Baby [explicit]

4. Kill S**t (Feat. Tech N9ne & Twista) [Explicit]

5. Mayday (Feat. Chamillionaire & Rittz) [Explicit]

6. Dumb For You (Feat. T-Pain) [Explicit]

7. Spaz (Feat. Tech N9ne) [Explicit]

8. Dixie Cup (Feat. Big Scoob & Twiztid) [Explicit]

9. Abu Dhabi (Feat. 816 Boyz) [Explicit]

10. Species [Explicit]

11. Can't Be The Only One (Feat. Tech N9ne)

12. Created A Monster

13. Hello Walls (Feat. Tech N9ne)

14. Wannabe (Feat. Twiztid) [Explicit]

15. Unstable

16. Dream Of A King (Feat. ¡Mayday! & Prozak) [Explicit]

17. Stay Alive (Feat. Big Scoob) [Explicit]

iTunes Version:

18. Layin' Down (Feat. Liz Suwandi)

19. So Hard

Pre-Order Version:

18. Bad Man (Feat. Oobergeek) [Explicit]

New Music Review: Deadmau5 - "Professional Griefers (Feat. Gerard Way)"

deadmau5 "Professional Griefers". 4/5 Stars

If you're a Deadmau5 fan like I am, you've probably been rocking out to "The Veldt", and the preview of "Professional Griefers", while waiting for the new album to release. Today the "Professional Griefers" single released, so let's take a more detailed look at it. 

First off, the most notable change between the original and the single are the addition of vocals by Gerard Way of "My Chemical Romance. I like some of the work MCR has done over the years, but let's face it, he likes to whine at times, and while that has it's place it isn't needed in EVERY song he does. Because of this I find his voice a bit grating at times. On the flip side of that statement, he does seem to be maturing some vocally, and his style is actually perfect for this collaboration. The main verses have pretty good energy and works great for a club track, but what really makes the song for me is the chorus which is the only time Gerard genuinely sings.

The instrumental bits overall, but especially in those sections, feel like something that should be running in Tron, and actually sound a little like Daft Punk to me. Not necessarily enough to mistake one for the other, but the comparison remains and that can be an issue in some settings as you do want your music to stand out from the competition. Regardless, I still enjoy the track a lot and it feels like a good direction for both artists, again making me look forward to the eventual release of ">Album Title Goes Here

Speaking of which, YOU can hear it this coming Friday on the next episode of the Knightengale Music Podcast on our YouTube channel... http://www.youtube.com/user/KnightengaleKMA?feature=mhee

New Music Review: Signum A.D. - "Veto The Vultures, Vol. 1"

5/5 Stars

Well, I'm hooked. I just got my copy of Signum A.D.'s new E.P. "Veto The Vultures: Volume 1", and I never expected to say this, but for once an E.P. doesn't feel too short. That isn't to say I'm against them releasing Volume 2, because lord knows I'd be s.a.d. (poorly thought out pun intended) if they didn't, but as far as this one goes they managed to pull off a very full sounding and well produced E.P., something that is rare these days when it comes to partial releases. 

I'm going to start with my complaint because I want it understood that while it bothers me a little, I don't feel it damages the album, and in fact adds to it in some cases: I could admittedly do with a bit less shouting as a lot of rock artists in the last decade feel like that's the only way to express emotion, sort of in the same way that so many rap and pop artists have started resorting to Auto-tune for everything. It carries itself through just fine, but it does wear on the senses a little if there isn't some sort of interval (general comment, not saying this occurs  for me on the E.P. as they were smart enough to provide said intervals with their singing). I wouldn't mind so much under other circumstances, but as stated a lot of bands choose to do it now so the market is over saturated, meaning even good uses make me a bit uneasy. 

Now the good: The first single off the album, "Chemical Lifeline" makes for a strong starting track with some fantastic guitar riffs and sets the tone for the majority of the songs. Style-wise, think of a mix of Shinedown, Hinder, Rev Theory, and Black Stone Cherry. It still felt very much like a different band, it wasn't like I was sitting there going "oh, this is the same thing as _______", but there were still elements that felt inspired by them. My favorite song right now is "Pray For Me", which is probably one of the most unique tracks on the album as it incorporates a lot of modern rock feel in the main sections, while the chorus lyrically and instrumentally made me think more of 80's rock. There are what sound like a few synth effects used throughout the E.P., mainly as background pieces, but this song showcases the best uses. As crazy as it may seem, this in ways came across to me as a combination of Journey, Genesis, Three Days Grace, and Shinedown, in all the right ways. Feel free to argue the merit of my comparisons when the E.P. drops on August 21st, until then though, just trust that this is one of the best modern rock releases of the year and well worth a listen, or 50. Well done Signum A.D.. 

Tracklist:

1. Chemical Lifeline

2. Let It All Out

3. Blame Me

4. Pray For Me

5. Like An Animal