(Double) Album Review: Beady Eye/Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

Posted on January 11, 2012 by bgibs122

From Definitely Maybe to their break up in 2009, Oasis had always been defined by the dynamic and frequently antagonistic relationship between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. After finally having enough, Noel left the band in 2009, but that hasn’t stopped either brother from making music. Liam worked with the rest of Oasis to form Beady Eye, while Noel formed Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. I thought for the fun of it, I’d look at’em together. I’m not pitting them against each other in terms of which one’s better, but more seeing what each one does.

First of all, it’s worth noting that this is really the first time in both brothers’ career that it’s possible for them to carry on without the other. Noel wrote all of the songs on the first three Oasis albums, but it wasn’t until B-side comp. The Masterplan in 1998 that he was seen as a consistent performer in his own right. Liam’s first writing contribution to Oasis came in 2000, but it wasn’t until “I’m Outta Time” on 2009’s Dig Out Your Soul that he, to me, really put in a solid tune.

As Oasis became more democratic and successful on Dig Out Your Soul and its predecessor Don’t Believe the Truth, the idea of Beady Eye became more tangible. Liam, arguably one of the purest “Rock N’ roll” frontmen of the past decade, always acted like Oasis was rougher than they ever were, and Beady Eye gets to actualize that rock and roll spirit.

Beady Eye also borrow more from the 60s than Oasis ever did. That’s less of a slam, and more of an honest assessment (and besides, when you have a song called “Beetles and Stones”, you’re not even hiding it anymore); Different Gear‘s warm, thin production and crunchy, over-driven guitars call to mind The Kinks and, well, the Beatles and Rolling Stones. But while other bands just nick those bands’ sounds, Beady Eye have the attitude to match. The rockers on Different Gear aren’t especially loud or distorted, but kick the guitars into overdrive and Liam’s snarl drives it all home. Aside from poppier singles like “The Roller” and “Bring the Light”, the more rocking songs such as “Four Letter Word”, “Beetles and Stones”, and “Wind Up Dream” are sturdier than the album’s ballads.

At the heart of it, most ballads rely on a mix of really good/honest songwriting and polished songcraft. Unfortunately, these are probably both of Beady Eye’s lowest marks. “The Morning Son” ends about two minutes too late, while “The Beat Goes On” takes itself too seriously. The musicianship across the album is fine if you’re in a rock and roll mindset, but don’t push for anything new or original. At best, Different Gear is a well performed, if underwritten, reliable rock album.

Meanwhile, Noel’s lead single “The Death of You and Me” was released mostly to reassure fans that Noel’s sound hadn’t changed much, and the song recalls the jaunt of Oasis’s last really enduring single “The Importance of Being Idle” in a successful way. While Beady Eye got Oasis’ sheer loudness in the divorce, High Flying Birds nabbed the songwriting, scope, and melody. Different Gear mostly stuck with the traditional rock band setup, and a vintage production; High Flying Birds is loaded with overdubs, choirs, and strings, and has an all-encompassing massive production. From the first minute of opener “Everybody’s on the Run”, Noel makes it clear that he’s going big, and seldom backs down over the next nine songs.

It’s been noted that internationally, Noel’s had a much brighter reception with NGHFB charting number one in three countries as compared to Different Gear‘s zero (conveniently, Noel didn’t have to take Adele head on in the U.K.). There are multiple reasons for this (Noel being generally more friendly, and having Definitely Maybe on your resume is a plus), but simply put, it’s just easier to get excited about the songs on High Flying Birds. When he’s on target, he’s putting out some truly solid stuff; the midtempo “(I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine” reaches for the rafters and nails it, and “Dream On”‘s urgent chorus pulls you in at first listen.

For being one of the leaders of a giant rock band, Noel doesn’t seem to share his brother and company’s desire to rock. Aside from the odd solo or two or use as a rhythm instrument, guitars are rarely at the forefront of High Flying Birds. Instead, the album opts for something that’s not quite balladry, but doesn’t really rock either, but the result is more satisfying than not. Noel only wears thin towards the end of the album with skippable cuts like “Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks” and “(Stranded On) The Wrong Side of the Beach”, but manages to recover just in time for closer “Stop the Clocks”, which was originally an Oasis outtake. While the songwriting is very Noel, and filled with odd phrases/titles and occasionally painful rhymes, it’s certainly more nuanced and has a charm missing from Beady Eye. Different Gear might sneer at you, High Flying Birds has a  silly grin.

Both groups inherited some of Oasis’ strengths, but also got some of their weaknesses as well. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds would benefit with just a little roughing up while providing Beady Eye with a little ambition to lift them above their journeyman rock. But who am I kidding?You’ll probably be able to catch some of these songs at the Oasis 2015 reunion tour.

Different Gear, Still Speeding: 3/5

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: 3.5/5

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New Music: And the Giraffe – Something for Someone (EP)

Posted on January 3, 2012 by bgibs122

When you hear “indie”, “no label”, and “self-recorded”, normally you think of scrappy fuzzed out records sound like they were recorded by a mic set inside a tin cup. You don’t think of a lush, well-crafted EP by Gainesville, Florida upstart And the Giraffe.

And the Giraffe bill themselves as “dream folk”, which is a far better description than anything I’m going to come up with. They fit in well with any down-tempo, clean guitar based indie group of the last couple years, particularly Bon Iver. Slightly fuller than For Emma, Forever Ago but less cramped than Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Something for Someone is mostly grounded in acoustic and electric guitar, atmospheric production, and drums. The overall feel of the EP is minimalist; of six songs, only 2 or 3 fully utilize drums, and the acoustic guitar is mixed lower than in most records I’ve encountered. The electric guitar mostly picks out reverb leaden melodies that remind me of Explosions in the Sky at their most poignant.

Due to the minimal instrumentation and heavy production, Something for Someone is the kind of record that wraps itself in the listener and isolates them. This quality is especially evident on opener “Underground Love”, which is one of the clearer songs on the record. The EP’s warmth is in no small part due to Nick Roberts’ and Josh Morris’ vocal styles. Expressive while showing restraint and calm, the duo’s baritone vocals sound instantly familiar, yet somehow distinct. It’s not a sound that could work with a lot of bands, but it fits And the Giraffe’s overall ambient sound very well.

Taken as a whole, the band works best when their echoy productions have some forward momentum. “Masquerade” is bookended with some of the strongest guitar playing put on the record, and the drumwork on “Still” helps the song stick. That’s not to write the middle of the EP off by any stretch, especially “Magic 8”, which builds layers of guitar and bass into a gorgeous piece. That said, “1055” meanders a little too much, showing one of the weaknesses to dream folk: it can be a hard style to sustain in a fulfilling way.

But that’s something more for the band to keep in mind moving forward. As it stands, Something for Someone has something for everyone (I’m not apologizing for that). It’s a calm, soothing EP with some strong production values and intricate instrumentation, and is rewarding in every listen, four out of five stars.

tl;dr: Looking for some winter-friendly, pretty ambient folk? Look no further, 4/5.

Get Something for Someone from the band’s BandCamp account here, or like’em on Facebook.

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Radio Rant: Adele – Set Fire to the Rain

Posted on January 3, 2012 by bgibs122

Hello, and welcome to our first Radio Rant of 2012, yay! Who’s up?

By the way, sorry about the video quality this week, but there’s no official video yet, so I had to use something less stellar than our usual. Anyway, why not start 2012 with the latest from the biggest pop star of 2011? I still kind of can’t believe the grip Adele had on the mainstream last year, and basically doing it with two songs. “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You” were both big hits with a long and high profile gestation time. I’ve heard “Set Fire to the Rain” and other possible single “Rumour Has It” a few times on the radio, but not enough to really think on one of them.

Like the other songs on 21, “Set Fire to the Rain” uses all acoustic instrumentation in a band set up. In this case, the song’s built around piano, drums, and bass with a nice, big string section at the chorus. Actually, that’s not entirely true; the strings are almost always there, but work really well in the background during the verses. The piano in the verses is surprisingly nimble, and gives the song a good sense of drama. And, as always, the production is good and solid.

And, in true Adele fashion, she really lets her voice take off at the chorus. And, unlike her previous hits, the music rushes up to match her. Across the song, she sounds great like she always does (especially at the end), but I just don’t buy this chorus. It’s kinda catchy and memorable, but the transition is kind of clumsy, and when the music rises up with her, Adele doesn’t sound quite as powerful. It’s all kind of overwrought.

Now, I absolutely have to look at the lyrics to this song, because I have no idea what happens in life (besides drug use) that leads you to “I set fire to the rain”. Overall, the lyrics seems to be about the life and death of a relationship. It opens with lines like “You kissed my lips and you saved me”, then gets to “There’s a side of you/That I never knew, never knew/All things you’d say/They were never true, never true”. The only really bizarre line is somewhere around here:

“My hands, they’re strong/But my knees were far too weak/To stand in your arms/Without falling to your feet”. Mostly it’s the “stand in your arms” part that throws me off. I get what she’s saying (even if I had to act it out in my head), but there’s just something off about the line. But yeah, the gist of the song is that this guy was a jerk to Adele, and then in the chorus…

“I set fire to the rain/Watched it pour as I touched your face/Well, it burned while I cry/’Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name”. I’m guessing that setting fire to the rain is her way of getting back at him? Breaking up with him, telling him off? The chorus captures the duality of the end of a relationship; you’re really attached to this person, but you have to do er, something to them. I just wish she used a metaphor that didn’t make me think of acid rain.

The bridge is sort of unfortunate in that the lyrics are really sharp, but Adele goes for an Eddie Vedder impersonation, and mushes them together, meaning that you miss, “That heart you caught must be waiting for you/Even now when we’re over/I can’t help myself from looking for you”.

If this has seemed like a pretty sterile entry so far, I’m sorry, but this song doesn’t do much for me either way. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as frivolous as “Good Feeling” or “Stereo Hearts” or anything, but it still feels pretty pedestrian. When I reviewed 21, I mentioned that the album revolved around two phenomenal songs, and supported by songs somewhere in the realm of “good”, “Set Fire” being somewhere on the low side. I grooved out to “Rolling in the Deep”, and “Someone Like You” stops me in my tracks every listen, but I flatlined with “Set Fire to the Rain”. Maybe it’s Adele burnout, or maybe it’s that I’ve seen her cover “I was in a break-up and it sucked” territory before better than she does here, but “Set Fire” just sounds like a misfire.

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Radio Rant: Flo Rida – Good Feeling

Posted on December 26, 2011 by bgibs122

Zzz…

…

…

*Yawn* Huh? Oh, right, yeah. Sorry guys, I’m still in bed. Between Ranting About Music’s List Week, my Stack Attack project on tumblr, and the excitement that calls itself Christmas, I’m feeling pretty low energy. Radio Rant? Eh…ok. Who am I looking at?

Oh, no…do I have to? Yes? Can’t I get five more minutes?

[time passes, coffee is brewed]

Ok, you guys remember a few weeks ago how I said T-Pain works better as a support guy than the lead star? Well, if you imagine a League of Performers Only Tolerable as Featured Artists, he’d probably be the leader, and Coattail Flo Rida would be his second in command (Pitbull would be the team tech expert, and Dev is the designated team chick). Hell, T-Pain at least has the Auto-Tune, Pitbull has his bad pick-up lines, and Dev is vulgar to the point of desperation (repeated lyric: “Got a sex drive that’s push to start“). Flo Rida? Well, his name’s kind of clever…

Maybe it’s just because I’m half awake, but I think that Flo Rida might have an actual superpower. He’s managed to make a name and chart presence for himself despite having all the personality and charisma of store-brand knock-off Cheerios. This is the guy who had  the biggest song of 2008, and I cannot remember a single line of his. “Right Round”? The only thing people remember is Ke$ha’s uncredited work on the chorus. Were it not for David Guetta and the uncredited Nicole Scherzinger (from the Pussycat Dolls), “Club Can’t Handle Me” would have been utterly forgettable. When will.i.am can upstage you on your own song, and it’s still a hit, there’s something supernatural at work.

Then “Good Feeling”…well, I’m not hearing Flo Rida, nor am I hearing another uncredited woman. So, Flo Rida, where’s this sample from?

Alright, let me try to explain this.

The chorus and beat are sampled from the song “Levels” by Swedish DJ Avicii. Why? I don’t know, maybe producer Dr. Luke was feeling particularly lazy that day. But the thing is, “Levels” itself has a vocal sample from “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”, and that sample carried over from “Levels” and into “Good Feeling”, meaning that “Good Feeling” is essentially sampling a sample. And yes, I’m deliberately avoiding the Inception/”Yo dawg” joke here because it’s too easy.

The only things that “Good Feeling” changes from “Levels”‘ club beat are removing the extraneous (and fun) synths, and adding acoustic guitar strumming over the chorus. It’s sort of danceable in the way that every Flo Rida song is. And, because it’s the laziest way to show that your song is hip and with it, the bridge throws in a dubstep style breakdown that, like most pop songs with dubstep style breakdowns, screws up the entire momentum of the song.

“Good Feeling” is more or less a paint by numbers club pop song. I’m not even sure it’s meant to be taken seriously as a song; maybe it was just written as a four minute soundtrack to montages on TV, something to blare during half-time performances, and pump-up music to play in gyms across America. Not terrible, but easily forgettable. There, can I go nap now?

Oh, right, Flo Rida. Sigh…lyrics, please?

“I’ll be the President one day/January 1st” That’s not inauguration day, Flo.

“oh, you like that gossip/Like you the one drinking what god sip dot com” I thought this was a plug for godsip.com, but since godsip.com isn’t a registered site, that isn’t the case. Yet. Oh, and “god sip” is the root of “gossip”.

“The mountain top, walk on water/I got power, feel so royal” What?

“Got no fear, I sleep in the lion’s den” …hang on. Lions’ dens, walking on water, royalty, God, the heart of 20 men…

This is a song about Biblical lore.

No, really! “Now I gotta work with your tongue” describes how God felt while working with Moses (a known stutterer and poor speaker) in the book of Exodus. “Yeah, I got a new spirit” Uh, hello, the Holy Spirit? That one’s easy. We get to Jesus himself with “The mountain top” referring to the Sermon on the Mount, and “walk on water” is too obvious. “Drill a land, never give in” highlights the Israelites’ constant struggle in the Old Testament to find and maintain the Promised Land. “That spark/that crown” calls out to Jesus again, or his ancestor King David. And the titular good feeling is Flo Rida feeling the awesome power of God revealed to him through His sacred text, and passed on to us in this song!

Or, you know, his verses are inane, dull, non-sequiters put together by a hack who can’t even put a sentence together. Either way, goodnight!

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