Do you remember high school parties? The cheap vodka in plastic bottles, scantily clad girls, red and blue Solo cups, and the bad rap music blasted beyond belief? Ah, those were the good ‘ole days. Now imagine those parties, but instead of bad rap music, you could listen to Fake Problems. Better yet, hire them for the evening, set them up right next to your outdoor pool, and invite everyone you know! Surely the party will rage, and what a party it will be! Worth remembering to, so don’t drink too much “punch.”
Katy Perry is stepping away from the homophobic and lezploitational sensationalist songs and performances from her previous album and paying more attention to her craft with her sophomore album. I can’t say that I was a fan of the pop artist during One of the Boys’ album promotion, but she began her road to redemption with live performances of some really fun songs from Teenage Dream, released this week. More than a year ago, she was quoted as saying she wanted to combine The Cardigan’s “Lovefool” with Madonna’s “Into the Groove,” and she has successfully done this with Teenage Dream, providing an album that’s a fun and youthful romp into adult pop bliss.
Steeped in the pop-soul sound of Otis Redding and Stax Records, Fitz & The Tantrums take a welcome spin on ’60’s pop and Motown-styled soul with vintage organ and genuinely catchy hooks. Pickin’ Up the Pieces takes us on voyage back to a time when pop meant something much different than it does today, music full of warm, deep soul rhythm.
Scott Pilgrim vs.The World wowed me as a movie, but a resounding element from the film was the music. Sex Bob-Omb, Scott’s band from the film, has provided a return to the artist who performed at my first concert: Beck. Having composed the songs for Sex Bob-Omb, Beck has crafted four anchoring tracks that rock on their own, and in the film you see some amazing characters that you’re really rooting for perform them. I don’t really like calling this a ’soundtrack’ because it’s not simply a a collection of songs. This album richly relays the idea of a bad-ass punk band that’s got the chops to make it big with an attitude that’s crafted in the source material in the film and magically translated by Beck, Metric, Plumtree, and a slew of other artists. For the five of you that don’t know what a Bob-Omb is, they are living bombs that present challenges to Mario in all the Super Mario games.
The album opens with Sex Bob-Omb’s appropriately titled “We Are Sex Bob-Omb.” It’s a mean one. The distorted bass conveys this sense of amateurishness (that’s a real word, believe it or not), but the elements of the song are all masterful. On “Garbage Truck,” the distorted bass sound is a little exaggerated, but it somehow fills in for the song’s slower rhythm. “Threshold” is a mean one that’ll likely make you dance in place and possibly shake off your earbuds if you’ve had a caffeinated beverage. Beck’s hands are the most obviously present in this one, to the point where I can almost hear his voice singing. “Summertime” rounds out Sex Bob-Omb’s tracks with an unwavering amount of confidence and attitude. This return to ’90s Beck is so refreshing for me since my interests in music steered more toward pop and rap after 1998’s Odelay.
“I’m So Sad, So Very, Very, Sad” is a deliciously tongue in cheek poke at emo bands. There are actually a bunch of tongue in cheek titled songs on this soundtrack. The Bluetones’ “Sleazy Bed Track” is essentially a sleazy bed track. Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl” is also somewhat satirical, but it comes off as serious as well.
The film takes place in Toronto so it would only make sense to have music native to that location; Plumtree, Broken Social Scene, and Metric hold it down for the Canadian bands. Metric’s “Black Sheep” is a resounding favorite among my circle. It’s a foot-stomping good time.
Beck keyboardist and musical director Brian LeBarton closes the album with an 8-bit version of “Threshold.” I don’t know how anyone cannot want to play some video games after hearing this song.
There are too many songs to review individually, but the album is well-worth checking out and *gasp* purchasing. The album is ambitious with nineteen tracks, but they’re actually all pretty good. Interested in the movie too? Check out my review on Cosmic Toast Studios‘ site!
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What if The Sword had a baby with Fleet Foxes? Seems like an odd question to ask, but it’s quite easy to answer if you give a listen to Sleepy Sun. It isn’t certain if the spawn would be a boy running through the forest, getting muddy while listening to Black Sabbath, or a girl making tea and reading books about love, but what is certain is that the offspring would provide plenty of harmonies, earthy-raw textures, and the occasional psychedelic freak-out. Sleepy Sun is no baby band though, having played at SXSW in 2010 and filling the opening spot for the Arctic Monkeys during their April tour.
Mix The Breeders with The Vaselines, add in a dash of Pavement and then have Brian Wilson produce it and what do you get? Indie pop gold, that’s what. Their name is Masonic, and Live Like a Millionaire is their fifth LP since forming in 2001 in Austin, Texas. Founding members, songwriters, and siblings Kevin, John, and Brian Mason craft a masterful soundscape, respectively showing their experience on keys, guitar, and drums to create complete and sometimes sweeping movements in 4 minutes or less. Live Like a Millionaire is packed with indie and noise pop classics and deserves not to go overlooked.
Theatrical indie rock darlings Arcade Fire are back in true form with their third full-length album, The Suburbs, and they’re bringing with them a return to their first album’s more-melodic-than-melancholy movements. After releasing the autumnal Neon Bible with its church pipe organ, military choir, and complete orchestra in 2007, Arcade Fire’s latest still features an orchestrally sweeping sound, but it’s one that is more concise and less conceptually eccentric.
The hard thing to do with remixing a Lady Gaga record is retooling the mastery of RedOne, Martin “Cherry Cherry Boom Boom” Kieszenbaum, Rob Fusari, Rodney Jerkins, and Fernando Garibay. A bunch of dance artists who you’ve never heard of take on the task of making this music more club-ready. In a move likely to please Lady Gaga’s biggest fans, a compilation of some of the best remixes has been made so you don’t have to wonder what’s on that import B-side.
