Category: New Album Review

The newest albums, EPs and singles on the air at WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2

Categories
New Album Review

Summer Release Picks

2013 has proved to be an amazing year in music already, and with recent releases from the likes of Daft Punk, Club 8, Mount Kimbie, and Ryan Hemsworth (among others), it is safe to say that this summer in music will undoubtedly be a blessing to our iTunes. Here are a few of Triple Lindy’s top release picks for this summer.

Gold Panda – Half Of Where You Live

Release Date: June 11

Nearly three years after the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Lucky Shiner, Gold Panda returns with his second album Half Of Where You Live. Described as a “city album” by its creator, each track possesses a different aesthetic and reflects a different environment. The album reflects Gold Panda’s nomadic existence – you can see the influence of his travels in track titles like ‘Brazil’ and “Enoshima,” and in the oriental textures of “My Father In Hong Kong 1961” and “We Work Nights.” Gold Panda opts for a more considered approach, the music taking on harsher edges than his previous work, and an almost hauntological feel at times. Crucially, though, this new approach hasn’t compromised the producer’s creative freedom, and the album still flows with his trademark organic vibrancy. – via Ghostly 

Stream the full album here

Diamond Version –

Release Date:

Diamond Version is a Mute Records-based collaboration between veteran experimental artists Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto) and Olaf Bender (Byetone), perhaps best known as two of the minds behind Germany’s Raster-Noton imprint. The duo draw their inspiration from “digital short message information culture"—that is, those incessant corporate slogans and sound bites that are never far from a modern consumer’s eyes and ears. This is the latest installment in Diamond Version’s series of EPs leading up to an album in summer 2013. Diamond Version is a project born out of a live situation – precision-tooled and impeccably sculpted club tracks, powered by the duo’s characteristic rhythms and flecked with absurdist humor.

Egadz – Satellites 

Release Date: July 30

Braids – Flourish//Parish

Release Date: August 20

Angel Haze – Dirty Gold

Release Date:

 

Categories
New Album Review

Andrew Bird’s “Break it Yourself”

While performing an incomplete version of what would become “Eyeoneye,” Andrew Bird remarked to the TED audience, “Songwriters can sort of get away with murder. You can throw out crazy theories and not have to back it up with data or graphs or research.” Although Bird only occasionally touches in the theories of the absurd, he would not need an alibi to get away with his sixth studio album Break it Yourself.

In the TED speech and in music as well Bird has become a master of addressing his audience.  Much of the power within Break it Yourself is based on how he speaks to the listener, and the message that he delivers is made all the more significant because he knows how to take the listener wherever he would like.

What makes Break it Yourself so powerful is the strength in making music that feels personal. This is not simply an interaction between the musician and some far off idea or some other individual; throughout the album, you feel as if you are the agent around which his songs revolve. Through making an album that feels to its very core personal, Bird can make the most relatable of human emotions more significant and engaging for the listener.

The agent of the nostalgia that Bird will reflect on in songs like “Danse Caribe” exemplifies how he can turn the metaphorical camera on the audience away from him. When singing, “You were a shameless child…” he clearly focuses on the listener as the agent, not himself. In doing this early in the album there is always this feeling of intimacy in the songs. Although he does not intend to tell the story of the listener, it is hard to come away from the song without having recalled your own childhood.

This is accompanied by the fact that Bird has become an expert at the craft of conveying emotion through instrumentals. Controlling tones, pace, and precise layers of construction, Bird is able to guide the song exactly where he always intended. This on top of his prowess as a personal yet fictional storyteller makes the message of the songs take on more meaning.

It is the realm of relationships where this craft of making songs feel personal and sincere shines the brightest. In “Eyeoneye” Bird says that when we try to get back to the realm of fixation on oneself we become the agents of our own destruction. And although this does seem a bit hokey in many respects, Bird makes it feel natural. He takes the listener through this journey that describes “you” as someone who has become intensely fixated on attempting to fix “yourself” that it took “you” way too long to eventually recognize that “you” need help. It is the most personal of relationships: the relationship we have with ourselves.

Bird moves this focus onto the relationships people have with one another, onto the “you and I” aspect. This makes you feel as if you are the agent in the song with Bird and reemphasizes the personal nature of the entire album.

In “Lazy Projector” Bird shows how this feeling can be grounded in the reality of relationships, particularly their sometimes-ugly aftermath. The theme of the song revolving around how we become the editors of our own stories, especially in hindsight of what happened. As a coping mechanism we skew the sense of what actually happened with our own story, and in frustration Bird sings, “I can’t see the sense in us breaking up at all.”

“Sifters” provides one of the most powerful moments in the entire album when Bird takes this personal interaction between two individuals and speculates, “What if?” Bird sings, “What if we hadn’t been born at the same time? Would you tell me all the stories from when you were young and in your prime?” This scratches the surface of what becomes a beautiful and touching moment in the record and certainly not one to be forgotten.

The album finishes with that feeling left over. This is simply not an album that will be forgotten. Its personal and relatable nature, masterful instruments, paces, and imagery makes Break it Yourself one of the best albums of the year.

Categories
New Album Review

CYNE Weaves the Tale of Laserteeth Killmore in “Wasteland, Vol. 1”

Two years after their last release, Water For Mars, Florida hip-hop group CYNE is back with another album for hip-hop heads all over. Wasteland, Vol. 1 is definitely not your typical hip-hop album. Running close to an hour long, the album is probably better classified as a beat tape, and an amazing one at that. And while Cise Star does indulge us with some great verses and storytelling, the focus is primarily on the productions of Speck and Enoch as they provide a soundtrack for the tale of Laserteeth Killmore (Akin is oddly absent from this tape, reasons for such only amounting to speculation).

 

The first two minutes of each track feature Cise weaving the legend of Laserteeth Killmore, beginning with a haunting introduction of the protagonist in “Enter Killmore.” He is described as a “rebel for the right price/will fight for any cause” and the product of scientific experiments and modifications, called upon to do the dirtiest of jobs. However, as much as these tracks offer a story for the listener, “An Introspection” shows that the tale Cise spits may be an analogy for the MC himself with the final verse of the song stating “Baptized in hurt/resurrected in flame/Cise Star is the soul/Laserteeth is the pain.”

Even in the second track, “Teeth,” the analogy appears with Cise spitting “Last on the list is the name Cise Star/Looked in the mirror/Saw the target then I paused/Took a deep breath/And I opened up my jaws/Teeth,” which not only refers to the fact that Killmore and Cise are one and the same but the fact that Killmore’s method of killing his targets is through his mouth, similar to how Cise’s biggest weapon is his mouth when he rhymes. Cise proves himself to still be one of the best rappers in hip-hop, weaving a tale with strong lyricism that holds a bit more than the story that is told.

The main focus of this album, however, lies in the production that continues after Cise finishes his strong displays of lyricism. Handled by in-house CYNE producers Speck and Enoch, the production on the tape paints for the listeners a dystopian society. Speck and Enoch split up the production work, with Speck operating the boards for the first part of the tape and Enoch taking over for the final three tracks to close out the album.

However, even with this shift, there is no disconnect as the beats move on. The tape runs like a soundtrack, each track seamlessly flowing from one to the next. And with most of the tracks running close to 10 minutes long, each track is always changing and evolving. Utilizing the formula they have been mastering since CYNE emerged, the two craft soundscapes through the traditional boom-bap patterns and afro-esque rhythms that many of their listeners are familiar with, combining the beats with creative sampling and loops, keeping the tape fresh and never leaving the listener bored or waiting for the next section.

Ultimately, CYNE’s latest release may not be the most profiled hip-hop album of 2011. I myself was not aware of its release until the day it was released. However, it definitely deserves to be considered one of the top albums put out this year and is definitely worth a listen. Cise Star delivers lyrically while Speck and Enoch masterfully produce a beat tape that is full of music and will leave your head nodding for days.

Bonus points for the packaging of the tape as well: not only is it a digital download, but the only other format Wasteland, Vol. 1 is available in is cassette tape. So go find your old Sony Walkman, pop in the cassette and get taken away by CYNE. “There’s Earth, there’s Space, and then there’s CYNE.”

Categories
New Album Review

“Charity Starts At Home” by Phonte

Hip-hop fans have been waiting. Ever since the split of North Carolina hip-hop group Little Brother, many have eagerly anticipated the moment when Phonte would step back in the limelight, grab the mic and start to rhyme again. But the past few years have witnessed Phonte forging his path as a successful R&B crooner with Grammy-nominated act The Foreign Exchange, with all thoughts of rapping in the back of his mind, appearing once in a blue moon. So when it was mentioned that Phonte was set to finally release his debut solo album, anticipation hit the roof. And when it was revealed that Phonte and 9th Wonder, the producer of Little Brother fame, had reunited earlier this year, Little Brother fans rejoiced. Everything seemed ready for the debut of Phonte Coleman. The question was who would take front and center: “rapping Tay, four-and-half-mic honoree/Or singing Tay, first-time Grammy nominee”?

While each side of Phonte appears on the album, it’s the rapper that takes center stage here, tackling themes that don’t stray far from the material he has been putting out over his career. The themes of the common man are heard, stories of ourselves at our worst and best. “The Good Fight” is a song about money woes, uncertainty of keeping the job and all the frustrations of a 9-5 that the majority of Americans face, especially in the midst of an economic downturn. “Ball and Chain” weighs the pros and cons of marriage, specifically the suffocation that occurs when love dies out in the house. And of course the album has its fair share of lyrical wizardry, such as the back and forth wordplay of Phonte and Pharoahe Monch on “We Go Off” and the opening track “Dance in the Reign.”

Lyrically, Phonte is better than ever. His album combines the rawness and honesty of his Little Brother persona with the maturation he achieved with his recent work as singer of The Foreign Exchange. Having written for himself and other artists since starting his adventures with The Foreign Exchange, Phonte has clearly polished his skills as a lyricist and now, on this debut album, he brings that experience and writes verses like a “pro with the prose/what a concept.” Even with his weaker punchlines, Phonte’s wit and charisma pulls him through, making the lines seem as if he’s delivering them with a wink and a sly smirk.

The production, for the most part, is solid. Nothing stands out, however, and it serves more as backdrop for the lyrical wordsmith to pick up his mic and paint images with words. 9th Wonder provides the same repetitive drum patterns and looped samples that he has become well-known for (whether that is for better or worse). Swiff D introduces the album on “Dance in the Reign” with a church organ and takes it to the church with a synth and Phonte preaching to the congregation. S-1 and Caleb bring a modern production to the quiet-storm sound with hard-hitting drums and an atmospheric sound that allows Phonte and Carlitta Durand to get musically romantic on “Gonna Be A Beautiful Night.”

Overall, Charity Starts At Home features mature, honest, and raw songs from N.C.’s top-notch spitter and crooner Phonte Coleman. It may not feature a breakout song, hold mind-blowing production, but it holds plenty of love and humility that hip-hop seems to have lost in recent years. The last line of the song “Who Loves You More” sums up the album perfectly: “I got a room and a microphone and a family I ain’t seen in months. And I played this record a million times just hoping you would play it once.” Phonte is one of us. He works hard at his job and goes through the struggles in life and love, just like any of us, hoping that someone will take notice at least once. “Let that boy saute!”

Categories
New Album Review

Real Estate’s “Days”: Simple Can be Rewarding

Real Estate has fallen into somewhat of a song-writing algorithm.  I’m assuming their music making process works something like this:

  1. Lead Singer, Martin Courtney puts together a few chords and some lyrics.

  2. Matt Monandile (who has also achieved some praise for his exploratory guitar project, Ducktails) adds a catchy and psychedelic guitar hook.

  3. Alex Bleeker follows the ideas with some bass, and a simple, rolling rhythm is added to finish it off.

Almost every single song follows this premise…which makes it exceedingly frustrating to pin down what makes Days so good.

Real Estate has always focused on perfecting easy-listening surf rock that retains a certain sense of sentimentality. That uniqueness manifests itself in wandering melodies and ambiguous emotions. While their previous releases have found themselves situated comfortably in smaller indie DIY-centric labels, such as Underwater Peoples and Woodsist, this record had a lot to live up to. Getting signed to a larger indie label like Domino is a serious deal these days and rising to the occasion was probably a mixture of exciting and stressful. Having to deal with the additional room high-fidelity recording practices is daunting enough, not to mention all of the expectations that high-profile music critics have been prophesying since the band’s 2009 debut.

In no uncertain terms, Real Estate pulls it off with Days, all the while staying true to their earlier releases. What makes this record so fantastic is its easy-going demeanor. Every song fits into the larger context of the release perfectly. In particular, transitions seem extremely transient (in a good way) and no stand-out tracks eclipse the cohesive nature of the record. Instruments and vocals are clear and no instrument sits too high as to cause any obscurity.

In a gutsy move, Real Estate decided to re-record a song off their 2010 Reality 12", “Younger than Yesterday." When I saw this on the track-listing I was extremely concerned, having had one of my favorite songs (The Love Language’s "Brittany’s Back”) de-lofi’d, only to have much of its gusto disappear. For Real Estate, this was not the case. Being able to work with a proper studio setup helps the melodies and nuances of each song on Days stand out. Since the focus of Real Estate’s music has never been on emotional charge, the absence of grain doesn’t cause any loss of ambiance.

The only minor issue I wrestle with in regards to Days is that Real Estate stays a bit too “safe” in order to achieve continuity. Aside from the psych-heavy “Kinderblumen” written by Matt and the Garage croon on Alex’s “Wonder Years,” every song features Martin Courtney at the helm. While he is an amazing songwriter, I’d be seriously impressed if they could retain this album’s coherence with more flexibility in musical roles between the band’s members. “Out of Tune,” which features (or rather, includes) synth-styling from Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never fame, could use a bit more influence from the guest as well. It’s important to note that these issues have nothing to do with the actual music presented in Days, and are more of just wishes from a long-time fan.

In all seriousness, Days is one of the best releases I’ve heard this year, and its spot on the WKNC Pick of the Week column is well-deserved.  Make sure you listen to this one and go see Real Estate the next time they come to the Triangle! If you thought their guitars have impossibly brilliant tones on album…just wait.
Categories
New Album Review

Bombadil Delivers With Their Newest Album

It has been a long time since we have heard anything come from the local folk group Bombadil, which is really quite a shame. Maybe that is why I was so excited for the release of All That The Rain Promises, a new album that follows their 2009 release of Tarpits and Canyonlands. Everything that you hoped would be present on a Bombadil album is apparent in this new release: strong emotional ballads, beautiful folk and pop melodies, and upbeat songs with deeper meanings all combine to create an album that one can become emotionally attached to.

Battling illness in the band and now cross country living situations, I would say that it is quite a feat that Bombadil has been able to get together and record All That The Rain Promises. The album was recorded in a barn in Oregon in the month of January, and the band had to warm themselves by a fire in between recordings. The album was named after a book found on site. Even after being separated and having gone through a lengthy break in recording, Bryan Rahija, Stuart Robinson, Daniel Michalak, and James Phillips of Bombadil were able to create an album that sounds like the same band that played together in 2009, as if no time had passed.

All That The Rain Promises begins with the strong ballad “I Will Wait,” sung by Stuart Robinson. This piano-driven song is an emotional and bare start to the album with Robinson singing to God and asking him to guide him in the right direction. “I will wait for you to swing below and take me away,” ends the ballad. It leads into “The Pony Express,” which includes all members of the band and speaks of a relationship that has fallen apart.

The album transitions to something more upbeat and hopeful with “Laundromat.” The percussion-heavy beginning turns into a catchy song about taking some chances at a Laundromat. “The next time I am at the Laundromat/ I’m going to talk to her!” or “The next time I am at the Laundromat/ I’m going to call my dad!” Bombadil’s use of vocals, harmonies, and storytelling songwriting is one major characteristic of the band and is just right for the music they are creating. It seems that the melodies are written around the lyrics instead of the other way around. The guitar, harmonica, drum, bass, piano, ukulele, keyboard, and trumpet used throughout the album create good accompaniment for the stories that Bombadil shares.

All That The Rain Promises continues with higher-energy songs. “A Question” is, well, awkward, but in the best way possible. The ukulele and high-pitched “what is it Stewart?” add a lighter aspect to something as potentially traumatizing as asking someone if they have deeper feelings for you, which could indeed make things uncomfortable.

Bombadil has mastered the art of emphasis in their music. There are songs on All That The Rain Promises where the spotlight is on the vocals. “Leather Belt” begins with a beautiful harmony concerning a dropped acorn, and “Flour Water Sugar” consists primarily of singing and harmonies. “Avery,” on the other hand, is a very successful instrumental piece almost right in the middle of the album.

When the last song, “Unicycle,” ends, it’s hard not to turn back to the first track and listen to the album again. All That The Rain Promises contains all the makings of one of the best albums of this year through the instrumentals, melodies, harmonies, and of course, the emotional attachment that accompanies every Bombadil song. I look forward to what this band produces in the future.

Categories
New Album Review

M83 sends us back to space

M83 does one heck of a job with their latest double disc album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, which was released on Oct. 18.  Being their sixth studio album, and following behind such pivotal releases like Saturdays = Youth, M83 had a lot to live up to. Even though some have criticized the album for sounding different, I think it’s a beautiful new direction for the band.

Named after the Messier 83 galaxy, M83 continues delivering ambient tunes and goes back and forth between either solely instrumental or minimal lyrics with full-blown epic tracks on Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. There are a ton of space and dream references, which create a feeling of being outside of this planet while the listener zones out to it. 

Anthony Gonzalez, producer and main component of M83, described this two disc compilation as “brother and sister, with each track having a sibling on the other disc.”   I personally can’t quite figure out if he’s referring to the six instrumental tracks, but that’s how I choose to believe the two discs are paired off.  There’s also a few interesting plays with the way the tracks are arranged on the discs with titles, like tracks 10 and 11 being, “When Will You Come Home?” followed by “Soon, My Friend.”  

Going back to the main theme of this album, dreaming, the listener can either feel it with the synth and shoegaze sounds, or with the spacial lyrics.  Gonzalez said himself in an interview with Spin magazine that, “It’s mainly about dreams, how every one is different, how you dream differently when you’re a kid, a teenager, or an adult. I’m really proud of it. If you’re doing a very long album, all the songs need to be different and I think I’ve done that with this one.”  I agree that the album progresses perfectly, and one can get a sense of maturity as it continues.

Most of the lyrics on the album either refer to time, love, or space, like in “My Tears Are Becoming a Sea,” with the lyrics “I’m slowly drifting to you/ this star is a planet,” or in “Claudia Lewis,” saying “alone, twenty millions years from my place/ a slide on the starlight./ Watch out, a new planet right on my trail!/ The space, oh, oh it’s mine!”

They also chose to use instruments that they’ve previously never experimented with, like a saxophone jam on their first single and second track, “Midnight City.”  The use of the saxophone and other instruments, and the way in which M83 created this album, seems to be heavily influenced by a mixture of the synth-pop, as well as shoegaze, created in the 1980s.

Prior to this album, Gonzalez toured with Depeche Mode, who were huge throughout the ‘80s and still create music with the same darker electronic sounds.  The song “OK Pal” reminds me of Tears for Fears, who were also extremely popular in the ‘80s, because of the vocals and music.  You can get a sense of the shoegaze genre with the droning repeated lyrics accompanied by heavy instrumental emphasis in the songs “Another Wave from You” and “This Bright Flash.”

They’ve also included two monologues: the track “Echoes of Mine,” which is a beautiful story in French of a woman walking through a forest and reverting back to her twenty-year-old self, ending with “I loved like I’d never loved.” The second, “Raconte-Moi une Histoire,” which means “tell me a story,” is of a child telling the listener about a frog that changes its life, which sounds peculiarly like a story of a drug experience.  This adds a whole other level to some of the lyrics and sounds of the album, but relating it to space is enough detail on that, and it’s interesting that they chose to do an English monologue with a French title, then the reverse.

In all, this album has to be a huge personal revelation for Gonzalez.  He said in an interview with music OMH, that Hurry Up, We’re Dreamingis “a reflection of my 30 years as a human being” and something he dedicated to himself.  Each listener can travel to the place where he was each time they put on this album, and float out to space with the beautiful lyrics and synth sounds.

 

Categories
New Album Review

Neon Indian makes weird coherent with their sophomore album

“This in no way a return to basics; it is an example of how to successfully tackle the complex.”

If there was one thing Alan Palomo would have to answer to with his second album as Neon Indian, it would be the huge amount of hype and acclaim from his 2009 debut Psychic Chasms. The Texas-based musician, coming off of rave reviews and praise, also had the distinct problem of being grouped among a handful of musicians making similar, yet compelling music. All this combined did not necessarily make it easier for Palomo and company to make a successful second album.

With labeling and comparisons easy to make in a market of music that includes a wide range of rising musicians including Toro y Moi, Washed Out, and well-established artists like Caribou, they had to make an album that was different from an ever-growing crowd of talented musicians and grounded favorites, yet true to the essence of their sound.

In the face of this diversity, Neon Indian was able to answer with one of the most compelling synthpop albums of the year in Era Extraña.

The art of mixing layers of synthesizers is one of the distinguishing factors of this album. Delicately placed and perfectly timed, the ability that Neon Indian has in execution in an area that could have easily been cluttered is one of the more admirable qualities of the record. The expertise of placement lays in the fact that Neon Indian is able to get these really poppy, intricate patterns of synthesizer without being cluttered or ruining their sound.

The best example of how this execution works so masterfully comes within the track “Polish Girl.” The track is able to build upon itself, adding diversity and spouting with moments of colorful synthesizer that shoot from the heart of the track itself. On top of this includes subtle moments that add rhythmically and effectively to the overall track.

With all this in mind it’s also necessary to point out the amount of variation that Neon Indian goes through from track to track. From glittery synth tracks like “Polish Girl” to grittier, harder sounds like “The Blindside Kiss,” Neon Indian demonstrates how they are able to change up their sound while keeping the essence of their synthpop intact.

Much of the credit of this album is in response to how Palomo’s harmonic arrangements hold this collection of wild songs together. It is his effort as a singer that has the impact of charging this coherent sound forward.

Coherence is a big part of the story of this album. Though it is able to change, the album still holds onto its original focus. This not only keeps it compelling to listen to, but it gives the listener a sense of anticipation on how Neon Indian will go about making the next track different.

This in no way a return to basics; it is an example of how to successfully tackle the complex. At its core, it’s a rewarding, fun, electro-pop record that leaves much to the imagination, and demands its listeners to hold on for what is coming up next.

At 23 years of age, Palomo is creating complex musical arrangements at a level that seem way beyond his years. Throughout Neon Indian’s sophomore release, they are able to tackle the hype of their previous success, and leave the listener wondering what the boundaries of such a young act are.

-DJ Ones

Categories
New Album Review

Bon Iver comes back strong with sophomore record

88.1 WKNC’s Pick of the Week 7/7

Coming off of the success of his self-released debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon, lead singer of Bon Iver, had a lot to live up to. Where he could have relied solely on the success of his debut, Vernon decided to evolve out of the cold, isolated feelings of the debut, and move into a world of sound that is optimistic yet grounded in reality, and colorful in its production.

The execution of tracks is quintessentially different. While in For Emma, Forever Ago the instrumentals were consistent and to the point, Bon Iver have produced a sound that is complex and varies multiple times within any given track. “Perth,” the opener, starts with drums that drive the song forward. Then come along Vernon’s vocals that push the forward. Then both come together for what is an extremely powerful moment within the opening track.

Bon Iver’s self-titled album is muddled in its beautiful and tragic compositions—the mixture of sounds and paces transforms what could have come off as another tragic album into something that has hints of hope.

Although grounded in reality, the guitars are precise and add a level that compliments the lyrics in ways that introduce overall depth of the record overall. They are precise and the intensity of the guitars alongside the vocals helps dictate the overall feeling of the album.

It is the range within the vocals that also stands out within this work. In songs like Minnesota, WI, Vernon’s ability to go from a somewhat unexpected low sound to the normal higher pitch makes a stunning difference in the delivery, and his ability to transition between the two sounds works seamlessly within the emotion Bon Iver projects. While the deeper vocals accentuate this very blunt meaning, the higher vocals emphasize the vulnerability of the subjects in the tracks.

Timing and precision are some of this album’s greatest qualities. While in moments that feel similar to the dark and cold Bon Iver of before, Vernon and company construct these little moments that capture everything the listener needs to understand about the emotions that are being expressed, without weighing the listener down.

The perfect example of this comes in “Wash.” As the track begins with a very simple piano intro followed by Vernon’s vocals, it then picks up additional orchestral elements that fade in and out in a flash. Yet, as they seem to linger in the background, they provide for one of the most piercing moments in the album. The violins provide a brief, striking whirlwind that emotes all of the anxiety that builds up until Vernon sings with appropriate punctuation, “We finally cry.”

Even in moments that seem completely unexpected, Bon Iver is able to tap into the dreary themes that won over so many earlier. In the final track “Beth/Rest,” all the emotional sadness and intensity of any Bon Iver track are dominated by this 80s sound filled with vocal correction, saxophone and funky synth. However, they are all twisted brilliantly to work well within the arsenal of Bon Iver’s catalogue.

If there was one thing that could have potentially got in the way of Vernon and company with their sophomore release, it would have to be the immense hype and anticipation following the critically acclaimed debut. In using the tragic tones of previous works and in expanding the musical arsenal of Bon Iver, Vernon has not only met the benchmark set by his first, but also raised it to a whole new level.

Bon Iver will come to Raleigh July 29 to tour with local band The Rosebuds, at the Raleigh Amphitheater.

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week is published each week during the summer in the print edition of Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.

Categories
New Album Review

Cannibal’s Corner V: Do You Like Anaal (Nathrakh)?

Anaal Nathrakh - Passion

I sure as hell do! Anaal Nathrakh has released another ear-shattering gut-pulverizing mind-munching limb-decapitating lung-popping skull-smashing brain-bursting intestinal-disemboweling album, Passion.

This album is to family friendliness as loaded guns are to baby pacifiers. Unless you’re the Manson family. The guitars are raw and brutal, but never approach blandness as they’re broken up with slight melodies, industrial undertones, guitar solos, and even growling solos! Their songs encompass a certain stand-alone uniqueness missing amongst the more grind core-oriented bands. This does mean that there are clean vocals, which at first put me off like an undefiled grave. However, upon listening to the entire album, it’s clear that they’re a great juxtaposition against the pure, raw, and grotesque microphone-swallowing exercises these guys do. And it doesn’t take away from the horn-rising head-banging factor at all.

In totality, this is one ear-splitting album with many differing embellishments that are sparsely used to recreate the old “put this album on repeat” syndrome, thought to have been eradicated by its bastard cousin “put this song on repeat” syndrome that big music industries have let flourish.

If anyone looks at you funny for listening to this album, such as family, friends, or significant others, just be sure to tell them that there is nothing wrong with liking Anaal.