Radio Rant: Taylor Swift – Mine

Posted on September 8, 2010 by bgibs122

So, Taylor Swift. You know, I thought it’d be fitting to review her new song a year after one of the biggest VMA moments ever of all time. That little incident sparked a wave of public sympathy for Miss Swift from mag covers and increased airplay of her singles to a Grammy for Album of the Year for Fearless High School Diary: The Album. I never paid her enough attention to look past the singles, which seemed to tell me everything I needed to know: pop “country” princess, annoyingly personal lyrics, catchy but spineless music, and a so-so singing voice.

But now I am digging deeper with her new single, “Mine”. The title comes from one of the lyrics in the chorus, “You are the best thing/That’s ever been mine”.

Hm, I just had a thought. Is it just me, or is Taylor Swift really possessive of her lovers? “You are the best thing that’s ever been mine“? “You Belong With Me“? At least the guy kind of gets a choice in “Love Story”, which goes, “It’s a love story/Baby just say yes“…but I can kind of imagine that she’s saying that with a gun to his head. Hm. Anyway, let’s continue.

Let me start by saying that this really sholudn’t be marketed as a country song, because it’s not. Aside form Swift’s token country accent (she was born in raised in Pennslyvania), none of this really qualifies as country. It’s pop that barely has enough oomph to it for pop rock status. Musically, “Mine” doesn’t do anything to stand out, there’s a generic rhythm section, acoustic guitar strums, and an electric lead guitar that noodles around here and there. Not that it’s a bad setup, it’s just nothing special. Hey, look, lyrics.

“You were in college/Working part time waiting tables/Left a small town/Never looked back/I was a flight risk/WIth a fear of falling/Wondering why we bother with love/If it never lasts”.

Doesn’t this seem awfully familiar? The “You were…” and “I was…” thing? Didn’t T.Swift already use that one in “You Belong With Me?” I think so. And hell, since I just gave you the first verse, it’s not hard to imagine the rest of the song. Cynical girl meets cute guy, moves in with him, the fall in luv, and just when she thinks things are at their worst, he says the lyrics of the chorus and everything’s alright.

Like I said in my Radio Rant for Maroon 5’s “Misery” (which, unless WordPress’s stats are fucking with me, is bizarrely popular), I could just say that the artist rewrote one of their former hits, repackaged it, and call it a day. But, I’m still a little short of my usual, so I’m going to keep going.

My main problem with this song is that it represents someone not trying at all. It’s pretty much everything we’ve come to expect in a Taylor Swift song; it’s catchy enough, the music emphasizes the “pop” part of pop country way too much, and it’s a silly love song with gee-aren’t-those-personal lyrics. The only difference is that this time she’s talking about life as an early 20-something, not a something-teen. Try harder, Taylor, or even try at all.

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Album Review: Interpol – Interpol

Posted on September 7, 2010 by bgibs122

So, let’s talk Interpol

I’ll be honest, I’m not all that up with these guys. I have a copy of “Turn on the Bright Lights” for the nights that I want to pout about the house, and I like it. Not the most most varied thing around, but I liked it, and so did a lot of other people. But after that, Interpol seemed to go the way of The Strokes, and put out two so-so albums that pissed away their credit (the only difference being Interpol never did anything as awesome as “Reptilia”).

And so we arrive at the present day with the band’s self-titled album. Opener “Success” does a good job bringing us in; it builds from a simple but in-your-face riff into a tension filled song that does a great job building momentum. ..which is then killed when that song suddenly stops, and “Memory Serves” starts at a much slower pace.

If the slow pace bothers you, then you might as well file Interpol under not worth it, because mid-tempo is the order of the day here. Aside from the aforementioned “Success”, the only time these well dressed New York boys break out of their funk is first single “Barricade”. That song demonstrates the giant hole left by bassist Carlo Dengler’s departure. In fact, Dengler’s bass continues to be the strongest thing in the band’s sound, and that actually means something. It’s been easy to fault Interpol on never changing their sound that much, but they do what they do so well musically; as musicians, these guys are lock-stop tight. The only addition to the Interpol sound is some piano and keyboard work, which adds some atmospheric touches here and there, and works to various degrees depending on the song.

Sorry, got off track. The mid-tempo approach works great on “Lights”, which builds to a long-sought but satisfying climax filled with dense guitars and keyboards. Interpol aims to be an atmospheric record, and it’s successful on songs like “Memory Serves” and to a lesser extent “The Undoing”. Interpol stays true to Interpol’s usual “dark but kind of oblique” stance on songwriting, although the dirge “All of the Ways” sounds almost embarrassingly bitter. I’ve heard that the record is supposed to be a loose narrative of a failed relationship, but that doesn’t strike me as something particularly essential to Interpol, although it’s a nice idea.

And the presence of “nice ideas” is what makes Interpol frustrating as a record. The added keyboards, atmospheric texture, and Alan Moulder’s organic mix are all great, but very rarely do all of the good elements come together in one song (I’d point to “Lights” as the best distillation). Too often, especially on the album’s funeral procession slow back half, ideas are tossed in, but never capitalized on. There’s nothing wrong with slow pacing, focusing on atmosphere, or building tension, but the trouble is that the songs don’t go anywhere. And when songs clock in at the 4 and 5 minute markers, that’s a problem. I’ve heard that this album is “a grower” (the great comeback to negative reviews), but after a full day of listening, what’s grown has grown and the rest never will. Three out of five stars.

tl;dr: Interpol proves that having great ideas and tight musicianship means nothing if you don’t engage someone with it. 3/5

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From One Friend to Another: the Mixtape

Posted on September 6, 2010 by bgibs122

Ah, the mixtape. For the uninitiated, a mixtape has become the catch-all term for a homemade compilation of songs. It doesn’t have to be on an actual tape (although I’m sure some audiophiles out there still do this), and thanks to the low-cost and ease of burning, a lot of mixes are now burnt on computers everywhere.

For music geeks like me, the mixtape is our own little foray off of the bench and into the game. We get to pick what music goes on, what order it goes in, and what the whole package will look like. It can be as basic as a CD-R in a jewel case with a name in Sharpie on the disc, or it can be a full-blown production with designs on the cd and cover and handwritten linear notes. In fact, part of the appeal of a mixtape is the absurd amount of freedom; despite what some say, there’s no rules you must follow. It can all be by the same artist, all different, unified by a theme, no theme, all start with the same letter…your own imagination is the only limit. For example, a mix I made for a friend of mine started with “Bad Romance”, but ended with something from the “Where the Wild Things Are” soundtrack; polar opposites.

Another reason that I like the mixtape is that it can be such a great way to get into someone’s head. “But how can that work with someone who has thousands of songs? You can’t whittle weeks of music down to a little over an hour without losing something”, the naysayers say. But really, getting at the core of what people like is the whole point. Yeah, someone can have Kanye West’s full discography on their computer, but if none of his songs show up and, say, “Love Story” by Taylor Swift does, then that person has implicitly given me a clue to their personal hierarchy of taste. Making a mix for others represents a fun challenge; most of the time,  you have to gauge what you like with what you think they’ll like too.

It also works as a mirror. If you make just a general of-the-moment mix, you’re able to give yourself a great snapshot for where you are at the time. Everyone sort of has an idea of what they like, but actually sitting down and picking out those 15 songs you like gives you a much better idea of where you are, and can help you pick out where you want to go.

But ultimately, I like the community aspect of mixtapes the most. For something that can be as isolating as music, the mixtape is the best way to reach out from your music world and enter someone else’s. A mix can be a little letter to a friend saying “This is the music I like, and on some level, shows who I am”. And it gives us a way to share in each other who we are. So mix it up! (God, I’m sorry for that)

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Album Review: The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Posted on September 2, 2010 by bgibs122

The Gaslight Anthem probably entered the studio to record American Slang with one question on their minds: How do you follow-up The ’59 Sound? That album more or less broke these Jersey boys; sure they aren’t too far into “mainstream” consciousness, but The ’59 Sound sure put them on the map outside of the punk scene. And with their blend of Springsteen vocals, penchant for story-telling lyrics, and The Clash-like energy there’s very little to not like. But the question still stands: how do you follow it up?

American Slang‘s answer seems to be by cranking out ten great tunes. The album clocks in a little under 35 minutes, and each song comes ready-made while still feeling fairly spontaneous. There’s a level of craft here that wasn’t seen on ’59 Sound, where the songs, great that they were, started to blend together after awhile. That’s not the case on American Slang where each song feels different enough to stand on its own. And The Gaslight Anthem avoids the common pitfall of giving each song a “gimmick” to make it stand out; even similarly paced numbers like the stellar “American Slang” and “Bring It On” have plenty of natural color. The title track might be this year’s blue-collar anthem, while “Bring It On” sounds more defiant and almost flirts with ballad territory. “Stay Lucky”, the song between the two, wouldn’t be out of place on ’59 Sound and gives a great bit of push here.

But 4th song “The Diamond Church Street Choir” is the biggest mark of difference. Instead of utilizing the band’s usual “kick the door open” approach, this song starts with some nifty chord work and settles in as a mid-tempo stomper. And it shows the band moving forward; the focus on craft is especially true here, and vocalist Brian Fallon slows down a bit and sounds pretty good.

Moving on down, “The Queen of Lower Chelsea” expands on this growth. Fallon’s usual tell-me-a-story lyrics are at their best here while the boys behind him focus on a dynamic song that builds throughout. And, almost as if to make up for the slow pace on those two songs, “Orphans” rocks out harder than anything else on American Slang and sounds great while doing it. “Old Haunts” and “The Spirit of Jazz” continue on in similar tradition.

Lyrically, this album abandons the band’s usual Jersey focus for some stories over state borders. The Bronx gets a name drop or two, “The Queen of Lower Chelsea” highlights the character’s travels from London and New York, and the go-to themes of Americana (broken hearts, looking to the past, stories of characters) are consistently present. And in true Gaslight Anthem fashion, there’s plenty of shout outs: “The Cool” (from ’59 Sound) is mentioned on “Bring It On” and “Boxer” mentions a tommy gun; a sure shout to Joe Strummer.

Overall, American Slang‘s pretty good. The musicianship is solid on all fronts, and Fallon’s lyrics continue to be one of the best things about these boys. With each song clocking in under 4 minutes (save the lukewarm closer “We Did It When You Were Young”) and only ten songs, there’s no time to get bored here. The Gaslight Anthem encapsulate nostalgia: while they have an eye on the past, they aren’t afraid to look forward and take risks. And these risks pay off, four out of five stars.

tl;dr: This well crafted follow-up to The ’59 Sound gives a more modern spin to The Boss’s biggest fans. 4 stars.
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