Radio Rant: Passenger – Let Her Go

Posted on November 27, 2013 by bgibs122

Hello, and welcome to Radio Rants. Did everyone bring their dream journals today?

Before we jump into Passenger and his–based on the cover art up there, I’m assuming–yearning meditation on what it means to “let her go”, let’s talk about indie folk for a moment, because that might actually be interesting. The genre’s a recent development, made up of groups that combine the storytelling lyrics and acoustic instrumentation of folk with indie rock showmanship and wider instrumentation (fiddles, piano, etc). The “sensitive, quiet, beardy dude singer-songwriter” subgenre solidified around the emergence of Bon Iver, who’s “Skinny Love” is basically it’s answer “Stairway to Heaven”. Since Bon Iver and similar acts like Iron and Wine’s breakthough, acts focusing on sad bastard poetry lyrics, acoustic guitars, and deliberately uncharismatic “aw shucks” earnest performers have flooded the market. This is the niche genre responsible for “Fall/Winter” playlist filler tracks the world over.

And it’s never gotten much of a reaction out of me. I like indie folk fine enough, but “beardy dude” is just too boring. The music’s rarely engaging, and any emotional punch to the lyrics tends to get undercut by mumbling deliveries or cloying performances. On top of that, few of the acts try to sound all that different, meaning that for me, the songs blend into one mopey package before too long.

Enter “Let Her Go”, by (of course) bearded British singer-songwriter Passenger (Michael David Rosenberg), a slice of 2012 indie folk that’s shrugged and whimpered its way into the current top 20. I tried looking for an interesting story behind “Let Her Go”, like an innovative video or a breakout live performance, but the song apparently picked up steam through sheer force of will. I don’t get it.

I’ve covered more than a few bad/offensive/horrible songs on Radio Rants before, but never one this pathetic before. “Let Her Go” is so pathe–actually, wait a second.

Let’s change it up here.

Let’s be constructive for a bit: instead of me prattling on about how boringly bad “Let Her Go” is, why don’t I look at a few songs that do the things that “Let Her Go” tries to do, but better? That way, we’re still here talking about music, but hopefully happy about it, eh? And, just to avoid claims of being “too obscure”, I’ll only pull from music videos with over a million hits on YouTube. Ready?

Cute and Fuzzy Folk Song: “Let Her Go”, with its syrupy strings and overly twee xylophone melody, is presenting itself as a sweet and charming little ballad to cozy up to. Instead, try…
“She Keeps Me Warm” by Mary Lambert

You’re still getting all your acoustic guiar, piano, group vocals and string tinged cute-folk, but the delivery is way less predictable than “Let Her Go”, where you could predict where the fingerpicking becomes strums and where the soaring violins appear on the first time. “She Keeps Me Warm” gives Mary Lambert’s hook on “Same Love” proper context, and while that context might be sweeter than a puppy chasing a butterfly through a field of daisies, it works. This is personable, it’s melodic, and the final chorus is to die for. Might be a few seconds shorter than “Let Her Go”, too.

Brit with a Weird Singing Voice: Of all “Let Her Go”‘s characteristics, Passenger’s voice is the most colorful and most damning. That mewling voice you use to sing to yourself while praying no one else can hear you? That’s Passenger’s singing voice, and his wispy, on the perenial verge of tears tenor is impossible to take seriously.
Instead, try…
Anything by The Smiths. Literally any song.

Smiths lead singer Morrissey’s been a punchline, even before making outrages claims, partly because of his signature bleating voice. I bent my own rules a bit and linked to a live song just to verify that yes, that is what he sounds like. Try imitating it; it’s impossible to not sound like Kermit the Frog. And it’s still better than Passenger.

Lyrical Theme of “Hey, You Fucked Up Your Love Life”: The main lyric to “Let Her Go” is “You didn’t know that you love her until you let her go…and you let her go, (man)“. Tossed in the verses are passive-aggressive, never expounded on potshots at that vague “you”–lines like, “Maybe one day you’ll understand why/Everything you touch surely dies”. These lyrics hint at some darkness beyond the song’s bright and shiny exterior, but never get touched.
Instead, try…
Death Cab for Cutie – Cath…

The world is full songs about screwing up your love life, but “Cath…” jumps passed passive-aggressive, and gets downright cruel. That “everything you touch surely dies” lyric from “Let Her Go” might be catty, but it ain’t shit next to “Cath, it seems that you’re living someone else’s dreams/In a hand-me-down wedding dress/All the things you could have been are oppressed”. Like, holy shit, Cath might not even be a real person, and I still feel bad hearing that. “Cath…” also gets points for having some honest to God empathy and understanding for its subject, concluding that the singer might be talking shit, but “I’d have done the same as you” in the situation.

“Let Her Go” as a Break-Up song. “Let Her Go” is a break-up song, but it’s the type that’s a lot douchier than its puppy dog-eyed exterior lets on. He didn’t realize he loved her until he broke up with her. He doesn’t try to win her back, either; he comes to the “I loved her” realization forty seconds into the song, and then basically shrugs and laments being without her forever. Dude, you skipped a few steps.
Instead, try…
Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball

Ok, stay with me on this one. I’m going to do this without riffing on Miley Cyrus

I know it’s “Wrecking Ball” is its own instant punchline, but just imagine it through the lyrics. It’s about someone who asked too much of their romantic partner, kept pulling at them even despite the other person’s protests, and fought for the relationship until the bitter end, when it blew up in their face. That’s an actual Thing that happens, not just a reason to get a former child star to gyrate naked on a wrecking ball (dammit, that one slipped out). So yes, as a break-up song, “Wrecking Ball” is better written and more emotionally resonant than “Let Her Go”.

That should say it all about “Let Her Go”: a song so middle of the road, dorky, and unconvincing that it got lapped by “Wrecking Ball”, of all things. When Jason Mraz did this sort of thing, it reduced me to a spittle-covered rage, but Passenger’s too slight for even that. Let this one go, everyone. You won’t miss it.

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Album Review: Lady Gaga – ARTPOP

Posted on November 14, 2013 by bgibs122

It’s hard to remember the last time a pop star made their way into pop culture as viciously and immediately as Lady Gaga did between 2008 and 2010. “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” put her a cut above other pop artists at the time, but “Bad Romance” and its accompanying video were her true breakthrough. Lady Gaga went from “typical, if kind of kooky” pop artist to a thoroughly weird performer that juggled outsized music, image, and persona in a way that, even if it wasn’t always successful, was entertaining to watch. From The Fame Monster EP and into the album cycle for Born This Way in 2011, Lady Gaga seemed like she was going to be a commanding pop force for the long haul.

And then…something went wrong. Born This Way churned out a pair of hits, neither of which were as successful as her other monster singles, and she struggled to gain commercial and critical footing during the entire album’s cycle. Born This Way was and still is a flawed but fascinating album, and two years later, I finally see the overarching problem with it: Lady Gaga had stopped laughing with us.

I know that’s a weird diagnosis to give an album filled with celebratory anthems and a song called “Highway Unicorn”, but the delivery on BTW and in its videos is deadly serious. There was an undercurrent of humor in those The Fame/The Fame Monster videos: Gaga knew that pop was bullshit, and responded by making it as extreme as possible; would someone who wasn’t self-aware make something as gaudy and absurd (and still kind of insufferable) as the “Telephone” video? Fast forward to the video for “Marry the Night”–it’s a superior product, but presented as seriously as a film school application. Taking your art seriously is all good and fine, but Gaga did it without paring anything down; now she had to mean something while being larger than life.

That’s still the approach on ARTPOP, arguably the most Lady Gaga-y record title of all time. Gaga herself has billed this album as one of reinvention, of stripping off the huge glasses, the elaborate costumes, and the meat dresses, and building something new from a black cat suit, all while making a “reverse Warhol” statement. Hearing Lady Gaga shed away layers of her persona and remake herself could make for an intriguing and great album, but sadly, that isn’t what we get on ARTPOP. Her career-long balancing act of artistic ideas against musical output has never swung so hard in one direction.

Take the opening four tracks, for example. Each one is a variation on the “overstuffed, distorted synths with thundering drums” markers that characterized Born This Way at its worst stapled to eager to please choruses. Opener “Aura” works the best out of bunch; the chorus has an actual build to it, while the chaotic dubstep-tinged verses sound fittingly deranged, and the lyrical theme of “behind the aura” is an enticing start to ARTPOP (spoiler: this idea spends most of the LP ditched in line to get in the club, only turning up late in the game for piano ballad “Dope”). The trio of following songs–“Venus”, “G.U.Y.”, and “Sexxx Dreams” are by-numbers sex jams that feel redundant one after another after another.

Those three songs demonstrate ARTPOP‘s largest conceptual flaw: Lady Gaga can present themes, but she never expands on them across the album. She can mull over fashion, drugs, or sex in three to four minute chunks, but rarely with any depth or personal interest. The same artist that once famously sang, “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick” and “I want your whiskey mouth all over my blonde south” can’t write a song called “Sexxx Dreams” without sounding like she’s slumming it. Like naming the album ARTPOP, Lady Gaga writing a song called “Fashion!” or “ARTPOP” issues a non-reaction from me; haven’t these been key ideas since Day 1?

ARTPOP‘s middle and back sections fair better than the front, although that still doesn’t mean as much as it could. The fight for “best song” is between three songs: the R.Kelly assisted R&B jam “Do What U Want”, simple pop song “Fashion!”, and Born This Way-style anthem pop “Gypsy”. “Do What U Want”, the album’s by-demand second single, is a slowburning, industrial R&B electro-stomper that sees both artists turning in stellar vocals over a smooth instrumental. “Fashion!”‘s unarguably the simplest song on the LP, and works all more because of it; most of the song’s lead by a simple piano-bass-drums combo that erupts into a metal-tinged guitar finale that’s grandiose and indulgent in all the best ways. “ARTPOP” and “Dope” are both somewhat restrained with electronic overtones, and while they aren’t stellar songs, work as a lovely alternative to forgetful tunes like “Manicure” and “Swine”.

Finally comes “Applause”, a decent first single and great album closer. The hook is strong and builds, the post-chorus synth line and melody have great interplay, and even though it’s always been a safe song, it’s always enjoyable. It’s just a shame that “Applause”, a song I was ready to think of as a mid-tier cut on the album is one of ARTPOP‘s better tracks. Lady Gaga’s music has been vapid, loud, and messy before, but it’s never been this empty. ARTPOP doesn’t successfully live up to its name on either account; it’s Lady Gaga’s most conventional release by a stretch, and it’s also her least memorable as far as pop music goes. It’s disappointing to hear one of pop’s most unpredictable voices on repeat, two and a half stars out of five.

tl;dr: the Lady Gaga bubble busts on ARTPOP, 2.5/5

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Radio Rant: OneRepublic – Counting Stars

Posted on November 10, 2013 by bgibs122

Hello, and welcome to Radio Rants. You know who we haven’t heard from in awhile?

You’d have to make a few jumps to say anything really mean about them, but the fact that OneRepublic have had steady work the last six years says something about a lack of quality pop-rock on the charts. There’s just nothing to these guys; I can roll my eyes at Maroon 5’s Axe-drenched doucheyness and use Jason Mraz’s acoustic guitar and notebook of Sensitive Guy bullshit as kindling, but OneRepublic are so milquetoast that the worst I can do is shoot spitballs at them. I’ve never listened to one of their albums end to end, but if their singles are any indication, it has to be like drowning in a sea of beige. But, they finally got a hit off this year’s album Native, so here we are.

Before we get to “Counting Stars”, let’s take a moment to look at what makes OneRepublic two steps above dental office muzzak. The band’s frontman and journeyman songwriter/producer Ryan “I really should have picked a stage name” Tedder has bragged that, “We’re no respecters of genre. If its a good song or good artist whether rock, pop, indie, or hip-hop, they’ve probably influenced us on some level”. I mean, I get idea here: take the best bits you come across, and make something great out of them. But, for that to work, you have to either 1. Not sand all the edges off your influences or 2. be really good at cherrypicking and mixing styles together. Ok, let’s finally delve into “Counting Stars”.

After a brief opening that sounds worryingly like more Mumford & Sons imitation, “Counting Stars” reveals it’s true colors: part folk and part rock with some electronic undertones and some honest to God momentum. The galloping drums, the group vocals, the somewhat triumphant lyrics…there’s even some “Hey!”s snuck in the chorus. Hang on…

Holy shit, OneRepublic went Of Monsters and Men on us.

Ok, fine, it’s a poppier version of Of Monsters and Men, but I can’t be the only one who hears it. “Counting Stars” works because the main influence isn’t the only one. There are a few synths tucked into the songs background, some soulful backing vocals, and the almost gospel group on the bridge. It reminds me of the genre mesh on “Locked Out of Heaven”, where the song took two ideas that were ok but flat on their own, and made them feed into each other.

Hey, by the way, what does “Counting stars” even mean?

“Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep/Dreaming about the things that we could be” No, please, this song had actual personality before I started listening to the lyrics.

“But baby, I’ve been, I’ve been praying hard/Said no more counting dollars/We’ll be counting stars” You’re going to what, renounce all your possessions and wealth and become a wanderer of the Earth in the name of religion? I know there’s some extrapolation there, but what else can I come up with?

“In my face is flashing signs/Seek it out, and ye shall find” Yep, definitely going to be a monk.

“Take that money/Watch it burn/Sink in the river/The lessons I’ve learned” Something something the trappings of wealthy living? Look, there might be some deeper thought behind these lyrics, but they also sound like Tedder was just slinging rhymes together.

But, oblique lyrics aside, I like “Counting Stars”. OneRepublic finally made a hit that cribs from other acts, but it’s still enjoyable on its own. It’s the least like themselves they’ve ever sounded, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a bad thing.

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Album Review: Arcade Fire – Reflektor

Posted on November 6, 2013 by bgibs122

“Do you like rock and roll music? Cuz I don’t know if I do…” Arcade Fire lead vocalist Win Butler mumbles at the start of Reflektor song “Normal Person”. Even without the spastic, Isaac Brock-esque delivery, you immediately know it’s a joke: the histrionic rocker “Normal Person” is a song toward the end of disc 1 of an indie rock double album with thematic ties to 19th-century philosophy and South American film, takes sonic cues from traditional Haitian music as well as 80s art-rock, and follows up the 2011 Grammy Album of the Year and has been promoted as such. Reflektor is, in short, Arcade Fire’s Event Album, a rock and roll staple.

Arcade Fire’s albums have always had bold identities, but the mentality behind Reflektor is clear and distinct from that of the band that made Funeral and The Suburbs. For one thing, this iteration of the band is much looser, no doubt due to their trip to Haiti (to which band member Regine Chassagne has strong family roots) and the influence of LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy, who produced this album. The band’s always present disco grooves have a stronger kick to them ala LCD. And, like that band, they make up for what they lack in funk with raw power, especially on “We Exist”.

Reflektor follows the “disc 1: immediate, disc 2: experimental” double album formula that’s been around since The White Album. That isn’t to say that disc 1 is more compact, but the songs have more punch to them. The opening title track is a seven minute, slow-burning, multisuite disco jam that’s everything you could want/expect from an Arcade Fire song produced by James Murphy. “We Exist” keeps a more singular groove and steady bassline while giving the band’s string section one of their more prominent roles on Reflektor. This opening combo is the album at its most accessible, locking you in for “Flashbulb Eyes”, a hazy, paranoid, dub inspired interlude about the band’s new fame.

Aside from “You Already Know”, the restraints come off for the rest of disc 1. “Here Comes the Night Time”, Reflektor‘s jubilant tribute to Haitian festival music, explodes triumphantly midway through and reverts to its calmer beat with such precision that it’s impressive even when you know exactly when it’s going to happen. Chassange, somewhat underused throughout the album, gets more exposure during arena-rock stomping first half closer “Joan of Arc”. Both of these numbers, as well as “Normal Person” have a harried sense of claustrophobia, as though the could fall in on themselves at a moment’s notice. Thankfully, they never do, and even as the songs stretch to six and a half minutes, they never quite feel that long.

The second and third songs of disc 2, “Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)” and “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)” are the emotional head and the heart of Reflektor, as well as its thematic centerpiece. At six minutes a piece, they’re a lot to ask of an audience, especially for “Awful Sound”, the more subtle of the pair. A light drum beat attempts to ground atmospheric synths and airy bass/guitars that ebb and swell, but without a main idea to latch onto, the song doesn’t have the impact it could. “It’s Never Over” flips the previous song on its head; pounding drums and heavier guitar riffs dominate the majority of the song, giving the quieter parts some dramatic weight. Between the staged instrumentation, Chassange and Butler’s dramatic vocals, and their heartbreaking final verse, “It’s Never Over” saves the entire Eurydice and Orpheus arc from bloat.

In keeping with the tropes of double album-dom, Reflektor‘s uneven as a whole, and yet there’s no graceful way to cut it down. If I did, my first instinct was to ditch “Porno”, a six minute pastiche of 80s pop that unfortunately exists between two of the album’s best songs. “Afterlife” continues Arcade Fire’s tradition of absolutely stellar penultimate tracks, and despite the Haitian drum loops, is the most typically “Arcade Fire” song (indie rock dynamics, cathartic chorus, kinda dancey) on Reflektor. Closing song “Supersymmetry” is a gorgeous if slightly underwritten number that would be vastly improved without its gimmick (the song is 11 minutes, and half of that is ambient coda–it’s meant to be played forward and backward at the same time–no thanks). The flow of the entire album is a little clunky, but that also feels like part of the charm.

If The Suburbs inadvertently put Arcade Fire on the mainstream’s map, then Reflektor is their attempt to minimize themselves as much as possible. Ironically, they’ve done this while acting in the biggest way possible; Reflektor is an album in full on Trying Hard mode. Part of the rollout for the album’s media campaign included an SNL performance, and this performance, to me, sums up Reflektor in its entirety. Extremely stylized and polished, overreaching and a little awkward (those dance moves), but still great fun to watch. Four and a half stars out of five.

tl;dr: On album four, Arcade Fire grow bigger and weirder while trying to smile at the same time. 4.5/5

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