Author Archives: Andrew Halverson

Welcome to Fermata Over Whole Rest’s first video review! There might be more of these, but we’re honestly more focused on actual writing because it’s cleaner and by cleaner, I obviously mean “professional” (derp). So, view to your hearts content and see me try to explain why I like my favorite album. Shit’s tough.

So, in short:

WINNER: “Black on Both Sides” by Mos Def

WHY: Because it’s really hard to argue with a favorite album of all time.

It’s safe to say that I’ve been waiting for this album for a while now, though it hasn’t been all that long since “808s and Heartbreak” was released. But before I go anywhere on expressing my thoughts on the album itself, let me give you the set up for Kanye as of late. September 2009: the VMAs, no explaining really needs to be done here. Since then, Kanye’s been keeping a relatively low profile, at least until Summer of 2010. There was a bunch of talk about how Kanye had been recording an album and whatever earlier this year, but he never took advantage of an outlet to tell people that. Then came “Power” out of nowhere: his redemption. This song made me realized that Kanye’s next release was going to mean hell of business. Lately, he’s been releasing one song every week for his “G.O.O.D. Fridays” series (which is amazing). The hype just kept building for Kanye West’s new album to be the greatest thing ever. Sure, that’s not reasonable, like, at all, but the end product of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is nothing short of awesome music from one of the most powerful artists of the last decade. Continue reading →

“Down There” is the first solo album from Animal Collective founding member Avey Tare (aka David Portner). Throughout the last decade, these guys made some wildly different music, from their hectic electro-coustic 2004 album “Sung Tongs” to the pop-driven 2009 album “Merriweather Post Pavillion”. With Avey Tare now by himself, I expected some of the craziness from “Sung Tongs” and “Strawberry Jam” to return but the end product turned out to be the exact opposite. “Down There” is perhaps the most subdued work I’ve heard from any Animal Collective project. Unfortunately, I really wish it wasn’t.

There are plenty of neat ideas on this album, each track starting with an odd voice sample or a clever upbeat. It’s just too bad nothing really comes out of them. None of these tracks have the signature Animal Collective buildup to something crazy, and it probably would have been fine if Avey ditched it, but the songs don’t take the opportunity to capitalize on their awesome openings. I’m not sure if the intension of the album was to stay static, but somehow it doesn’t work as well as it was intended to. As predicted, though, “Down There” is more personal than the majority of earlier Animal Collective songs. “Heather in the Hospital” is about Avey’s sister being diagnosed with cancer and the oddly memorable imagery surrounding the challenges.

I definitely have to give it up to this album for having such amazing transitions. The songs sometimes fit together seamlessly from “Oliver Twist” to “Glass Bottom Boat” to “Ghost of Books” and “Heather in the Hospital” to “Lucky 1”. The transitions keep the pacing of this album just right, making “Down There” a relatively easy listen, especially at its 35 minute runtime.

Sadly, I’m pretty torn between this album. There are points when I am totally digging it, but there are also a ton of spots where it drags along. It also should be mentioned that Animal Collective member Deakin produced this album. The guys have worked together for years, so it’s easy to see where the vibe comes in. The well-thought swampy, alligator-inspired concept (despite being totally weird-sounding in the album’s press release) of this album makes it worth a listen, though.

WINNER: Tie

WHY: I know Avey can do better than this, and maybe the next time he ends up working solo, it will be awesome, but it resulted in something pretty interesting despite being light on any real “hell yeah” moments.

Last month, I reviewed the recent EP from Sufjan Stevens, “All Delighted People”, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I also mentioned that I was a little down after hearing “I Walked” (apart of “The Age of Adz”) so coming into this album, I had a healthy skepticism for what I was going to end up hearing. After all, the guy has been making indie folk-pop for the past ten years, it’s always strange to see an artist take this much of a musical departure. If you asked me to describe the sound of “Adz”, it would result in a lot of confusion. The result of this album tells me that Sufjan got depressed over the past five years. He sounds more relatable than he has before and even though he throws out some of the most basic ideals of his albums “Michigan” and “Illinois”, minimizing the use of his banjo and throwing in drum machines and weird electronic blips, the core of his songwriting still stands.

The transition between the first two tracks is probably one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I had expected Sufjan to sound totally obnoxious, clinging onto his new style with a firm, annoying grasp, but I was wrong. “Futile Devices” is a song that any fan of Sufjan Stevens will enjoy, with quirky yet melancholy lyrics and soft acoustic instrumentation. As soon as it ends, you are immediately thrust into the direction of the album with “Too Much”. The opening is reminiscent of Animal Collective, tearing up what once was “Sufjan” and replacing the sound completely.

Title track “Age of Adz” brings back his intricate and bombastic orchestrations while incorporating the album’s mildly electronic background and the reason I say “mildly” is because I believe calling this an electronic album is only a portion of what these songs come down to, though it is definitely there. Now, I expressed some disappointment in “I Walked” when I had first heard it, but in the context of the remainder of the album, I realized that it actually is an interesting song after being grouped with the others. Also, it now reminds me of a recent event that makes me kind of sad, so that might make the song automatically better.

“Vesuvius” which is probably one of my favorite songs on here has a bit of a call-out from Sufjan himself as he receives an answer: “Sufjan, follow the path. It leads to an article of imminent death. Sufjan, follow your heart. Follow the flame or fall on the floor.” This is him asking for advice for something, perhaps music, or maybe just his life. His vagueness throughout this song and the entire album keeps my previous statement of his depression fairly intact.

One of the final signs of his increased edginess appears in “I Want To Be Well” where Sufjan Stevens, a pretty open Christian, spouts off the line “I’m not fuckin’ around” repeatedly through the song. If most artists pulled this, it wouldn’t be that special, but in his case you can tell his thought process has really changed over the years and it has carried over into his music. This reminds me when I broke out of the Christian faith and I eventually realized it really wasn’t for me so I sort of understand this direction.

“Impossible Soul”, the song on “Adz” that is over 25 minutes in length is definitely a highlight. It goes through a five-part composition crammed with an awesome distorted guitar solo, a section with autotuned vocals, a chorus singing gleefully “it’s not so impossible”, as well as a return to his trusty banjo at the very end. This piece is most assuredly a spectacle.

Sufjan Stevens made a really smart decision by not caving into his typical deal because I’m not sure how much more of it in a row I could probably take, after receiving what which was considered “classic Surf Jan” on the “All Delighted People EP”. I should also mention that this is not simply the situation of an alternative artist adding drum machines to his music to sound different. It’s a full-blown mood change. You can totally tell this is Sufjan Stevens, but it is an extremely unfamiliar and dark side of him that hasn’t been seen all that often.

WINNER: “The Age of Adz” by Sufjan Stevens

WHY: Five years since “Illinois”, the guy makes a solid, thought-provoking LP that sticks out from this year’s releases as well as his own as he commentates on his own career with a darker tone.

Avi Buffalo is a young, new band that emerged on the independent scene not too long ago. They were, what I heard to be huge users of ambiguous lyrics and clean electric and acoustic instrumentation. I ended up buying a copy of their debut album “Avi Buffalo” at my local record store as a bit of an impulse buy with a mix of hearing good things from them and, boy was that a disappointment. This is, frankly, one of the worst albums I have heard this year.

Usually, stuff like this is bearable to me. However, as soon as the lead guy’s voice (as well as one of the female members of the band) hits on “Truth Sets In” I am immediately frustrated and annoyed. It’s not like their instrumentation is horrible, in fact I quite enjoy that aspect (until stuff starts to sound similar), but the voices and lyrics surrounding it are unbearable.

The basis of pretty much all the songs on “Avi Buffalo” involve silly teenage infatuation, immaturity, and straight-up blatant sexual allusions. Besides the fact that there are songs on here titled “Five Little Sluts”, “Summer Cum”, and “Where’s Your Dirty Mind?”, the lyrics match the theme of being infuriatingly horny with parts like “I walked in on a plan to dissolve all of your wishes But I couldn’t help your mouth which I missed by two inches”. These innuendo filled lines get to the point where they stop being clever, especially when he just describes kissing flaccid points.

There really isn’t a whole lot more I can say about the album that makes me hate it so much, since the issues I have with it are carried across from start to finish. However, “Five Little Sluts” is such a huge mess of vocals that makes me cringe and turn it off and “Remember the Last Time”, the seven and a half minute track that feels like a lifetime, most definitely, is no fun to hear. Songs including the female vocalist are the biggest break from the shit I have to hear from Avi Zahner-Isenberg’s voice. And I’m not a frequent hater on awful voices.

WINNER: Andrew

WHY: Avi Buffalo is constantly aggravating with their persistently sexual themes and it shows how immature this band is. Hopefully, they can get to a point when Avi can stop sounding like a jerk when he sings as well.

It has been a good long time since Sufjan Stevens has released anything along the lines of his “regular” material, putting out mainly compilation music since 2006, and as a pretty huge surprise, he has come out with “All Delighted People EP”: nearly sixty minutes of brand new stuff. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “How can new Surf Jan be called an EP if its runtime is sixty minutes?” My response to this is “Whatever. I think that’s a joke because he hasn’t made anything worth listening to since ‘Illinois’.” That, and “He’s also got a new album dropping in October that’s completely different than his past shit.” Analyzing the marketing behind this EP/album/monster is pointless at the end of the day because what you’re receiving is a collection of some really well-written music.

The bar of energy on this EP is set extremely high going into its intro track “All Delighted People”. Out of the two epics on here, it is by far the best, and probably its most powerful piece in general. The song is very derivative of the balad structure, filled with a choir and a crafty lyrical hooks of “all delighted people raise their hands” and “and the people bowed and prayed, and what difference does it make for you and me”.

The EP then continues into “Enchanting Ghost” and “Heirloom”, a couple calming spectacles in the vein of Sufjan’s outstanding albums “Michigan” and “Illinois” containing great usage of his artist staple: the banjo. He could have just made these three songs his EP, but he decided to go above what was asked for him.

“From the Mouth of Gabriel” is probably the most intriguing song on here. It functions as your typical Sufjan song from years past but he manages to incorporate some electronic elements that he is using in his next album “The Age of Adz”.

“All Delighted People (Classic Version)” is throw away and slightly unnecessary, but it’s sort of neat to see how that song can be turned inside out into one of his standard tracks for the purists. Now, “Djohariah” is probably the hardest track to listen to on here since its runtime goes for over 17 minutes. A bunch of it could get cut out but Sufjan still manages to keep the flow going because he’s in his element on this thing.

Altogether, this enormous EP is a great return for Sufjan Stevens and makes me wish he was still doing his crazy folk banjo thing instead of his song that’s reminiscent of Owl City. (see: “I Walked”)

WINNER: “All Delighted People EP” by Sufjan Stevens

WHY: Sufjan Stevens’ voice is wonderful as well as his musical composition. It’s been a good four years since a proper release and he makes one so with a sixty minute EP.

In a year filled with buzzbands playing nineties-inspired beach rock, Twin Shadow makes a pretty ballsy attempt at breaking through the crowd with some truly interesting and fresh material. If you haven’t heard about this artist, I would not be the least bit surprised. What I have managed to dig up on the guy is that his name is George Lewis Jr. and he plays music. That’s about it. However, my interest in him hasn’t really been about his story since I’ve started listening to his music.

His situation is reminiscent of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti to me. Ariel Pink’s 2010 album “Before Today” makes it very apparent that Ariel doesn’t belong in this day and age, but the throwback feel is not overly pretentious and forced. This is how I would describe “Forget” by Twin Shadow. The style of this LP is so rooted in mid to late 80s New Wave that it becomes a powerful outlook on that time of music itself. It makes me question a lot of it, but at the same time answers a lot of my questions about the progression of post-punk and whatnot. Twin Shadow gets it.

Album starter “Tyrant Destroyed” is one of the slower, eerier tracks on “Forget”. The lyrics “When you were fifteen, I know what you said. ‘I’ll never let another black boy break my heart'” are particularly hitting to me. As the song ascends into its chorus, signs of an anthem start showing up.

Going into “When We’re Dancing”, the mood is a little more upbeat, however the underlying feel of the song is unusual. This situation extends across the entire album and is the culprit to why this album makes me look at 80s pop music in such a “did I miss something?” kind of way.

“Shooting Holes” is one of the dancier songs in this collection, adding funk-inspired guitar riffs, bass lines, and strings. It demonstrates Lewis’ talent at writing pop music, but with a serious flare in his mature lyrics and voice. In fact, he talks in a video interview about how he really wishes his voice would sound different. Every artist has something that they could change about their sound, but seriously, his voice fits everything so well that it’s one of the last things I would want to be different.

“Tether Beat” has a crazy awesome drum beat and… ugh… there was so much thought put into this track and everything on the album that it becomes monotonous when I say how well-made everything is. Because it really is as simple as that. Songs like “Slow” and “Castles In The Snow” are superbly composed pieces. Not only are they awesomely written and created by George Lewis Jr., producer extraordinaire Chris Taylor (also of Grizzly Bear) got on the Twin Shadow train and produced this album. Thumps up to him because everything from Grizzly Bear is produced to a highly professional degree and his talents migrate here as well.

“Forget” is one of the most refreshing albums of the year, right next to 4AD label buddy, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. I can’t wait to see and hear more from Twin Shadow in the future.

WINNER: “Forget” by Twin Shadow

WHY: All the songs from “Forget” are so well-crafted, making Twin Shadow stick out from the more popular artists of 2010. Totally fresh, totally throwback.

Before I get totally up in Candy Claws’ business, I should probably lay out on the table that this is an odd, odd album. According to the band, “Hidden Lands” is a musical accompaniment for the book “The Secret Life of the Forest” by Richard M. Ketchum, but it isn’t really necessary to have read it to get the full effect. There are lyrics pulled directly from the book, but the lyrics are pretty much incomprehensible to human ears across the board.

There are no pop hooks on “Hidden Lands” and to sum it up in one broad stroke, it’s mysterious art music that likes to feel similar to classic travel advertisement shit for places like Yosemite and the Redwood Forests. However, that mood is half-destroyed when it’s constantly using its strange synthy elements, making the album sound more celestial than something that would fit in a forest.

“Hidden Lands” starts out with a fittingly slow intro “In The Deep Time”, perhaps one of the most interesting pieces on the album. I can’t really describe the structure of this song, let alone anything else on the LP, so I am going to describe what I felt when listening to these songs. “In The Deep Time” represents a sunrise to me, but it appears the animals are still sleeping. Its intense calmness is something unseen on the rest of the album.

When I hear “On The Bridge” it seems like there should be some voiceover by a dramatic reader from the 50s on top of the track, describing to me what the deer are doing in this fictional world without humans.

As you can tell from my current tone, the songs don’t work so well as singles. This album is a piece of ambient, experimental music that goes for a pretty good attempt at broadening itself past being an album and focuses on its theme more than making actual awesome music.

I can tell you, though, my favorite song from “Hidden Lands” is “Silent Time Of Earth”, utilizing some cool beats on bongo-like drums as well as having an interesting guitar riff throughout areas of the song. The flow is the most consistant on this song than just about anything else on here. So, yeah, big ups to “Silent Time Of Earth”.

This album had potential to be so much more, but it’s fine enough to be accepted by experimental music lovers. In my opinion, they really could have lightened up on the vocal effects because I would really like to hear what they have to say. Also, less noise would be a plus, and more record scratchiness, and, yes, audio advertisements for national parks from the past. You could have been something special, “Hidden Lands”. Instead, you’re just a good album that’s worth a try.

WINNER: TIE

WHY: The theme is there, the consistency in good songs is not as there. I do suggest a listen, everyone.

Arcade Fire has continued to be a beloved group since 2004, the year they put out one of the best albums of the decade: “Funeral”. When “Neon Bible” was released in 2007, it became apparent that the band enjoyed tackling a broad message on a single album. With “Funeral”, they expressed the challenges and sadness of dealing with death and in “Neon Bible”, the subject matter involved religion and the controversy around it. Finally, their newest release “The Suburbs” sets an all too familiar tone. It’s about home, growing up, and the nostalgia of being in a place you wish you weren’t in.

“The Suburbs” is the first song, a swingy, piano-powered track. Essentially, the song is about becoming an adult and feeling trapped inside the cage of suburbia. There are some extremely well-chosen words used by Win Butler: “The kids want to be so hard, But in my dreams we’re still screaming and running through the yard.”

The guitar riffs surrounding “City With No Children” are perhaps one of the coolest highlights of the album. They are cleverly written and extremely appealing to one’s earholes, or so I hear (pun).

“Half Light I” appears to be a neutral song, however there is a sense of relief and wariness in the lyrics. For some reason, it reminds me of “Funeral” quite a bit, which is a good thing. “Half Light II (No Celebration)” brings something unseen on the album so far, being sort of half-dance track, half-rock anthem. The rock anthem side doesn’t surprise me as much as the other, and it’s pleasing to hear some variation in the bass and drum beats.

The track “Suburban War” borrows lyrics from “The Suburbs”, basically being a song of rebellion and escape. It also borrows a verse from “The Suburbs”: “In the suburbs, I learned to drive, People told me we would never survive, So grab your mother’s keys we leave tonight.”

“We Used To Wait” starts with piercing piano, driving the majority of the song. Its premise is caring and then eventually losing your drive. The rest of the song sounds kind of fun as opposed to the message, possibly because Butler now cares again.

The best song on “The Suburbs” is quite possibly “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” carrying the same basic principle as “Sprawl I (Flatland)” but a little more anthemic and pumped up in emotion. It almost seems like it’s a Springstein/ABBA collaboration. “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” is what you would expect from Arcade Fire, but it’s also a pleasant surprise.

“The Suburbs (continued)”, the album’s closer repeats the theme of the starter almost as if it’s the conclusion of a high school research paper, ending with “Sometimes I can’t believe it, sometimes I’m moving past the feeling again”.

Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” is no doubtably their second best record to date (it’s damn hard to beat “Funeral”), however it is my personal favorite of theirs. It emulates a message and feeling that is extremely important to me in my life. All I’ve really known is the suburbs and it seems that they haven’t forgotten either.

WINNER: “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire

WHY: Arcade Fire has put out some amazing music over the years and this is no exception. Definitely one of my absolute favorite albums of the year.

I’m going to say right off the bat, I really love electronic music. I also can really despise it a great deal of the time. With that now in the air, it’s safe to let you know that I was interested in trying out Javelin’s “No Más”. After a few good listens, I realized that I found an album that was extremely enjoyable and I will definitely listen to it again and again.

Javelin has a unique style, mixing 70s funk beats with specified electronic elements. It mixes up tracks with the occasional go at vocals and produces innovative sounds that were pretty much made to rap over, but still stand by themselves as great songs. The first song “Vibrationz” is a chilled out track when one could find peace while listening to it in a convertible by the beach. However, that’s only how to get the maximum effect out of the song and it’s extremely easy to see its catchiness and overall fun attitude without any of that.

A ton of this album sounds like it came straight out of a mid-to-late 80s video game, making great tunes, and sampling great shit. The tune that powers “Oh! Centra” is reminiscent of a well-written classic video game theme, also probably the easiest area of that song to listen to. The rest of the song is powered by Katamari Damacy / Animal Crossing raps from a squeaky voice. This is a toss-up enjoyment for most people; the voice could come off as annoying, cute, funny, or stupid. I find it that it’s a mix of all of that.

“On It On It” is perhaps the best jam on here. The keyboard sounds that occur throughout the song sound so damn cool, it’s totally hard to dislike it. Then it revs up into full funk status and ends with some interestingly composed vocals. I can’t help but want to dance every time I hear it.

The album progresses from being funk based, to not, and going back again, having nice time coming up with enough variety so it keeps you interested until it ends. It also decides to through some out of place but welcomed acoustics amongst the dancy beats, which I can appreciate if it’s done right.

I really don’t know what else to say. “No Más” is just straight-up fun. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys music. A broad stroke, but a very pretty looking one.

WINNER: “No Más” by Javelin

WHY: It’s one of the funnest albums I’ve heard all year. Perfect for summer, fits your lifestyle.