Tobacco To Drop Maniac Meat

Above you can see the predictably terrifying album artwork for Tobacco's new album, the similarly predictably titled Maniac Meat. Tobacco is the alias of Tom Fec, a member of the mysterious collective of bubblegum psych weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow. Tobacco's work expands off the sugary psychedelic synths, vocoder vocals and general lo-fi weirdness that Black Moth Super Rainbow has become known for. But Tobacco's work owes more to hip-hop and dance than anything else the group has done. Tobacco's 2008 debut Fucked Up Friends is one of my favorite albums and is definitely an underrated 2008 gem.

No official tracks are available yet but we do know Beck will be featured on two tracks! Additionally, if you head over The Hairy Cult, which seems like it is run by someone closely affiliated or enamored with all things BMSR, you can find what I presume is some early demos from Maniac Meat. If your a fan of BMSR or Tobacco, definitely check out some of the other posts, the guy has uploaded a bunch of awesome rare tracks, demos and other cool stuff.

In other Black Moth news, I am currently listening to keyboardists The Seven Fields of Aphelion's debut solo album Periphery. Definitely not as compelling as Tobacco's work, but cool nonetheless.

Caribou- "Odessa"

Caribou is the moniker of Canadian electronic musician/multi-instrumentalist Daniel Snaith. Although I dug a few tracks from his 2007 Polaris prize winning album Andorra, I never really quite understood all the praise that it got. But I could definitely respect it; it's undeniable that the man has a knack for composing some interesting and catchy tunes.

A few days ago, Merge Record announced the release of Caribou's new LP Swim on April 20th and debuted the album's first single, "Odessa." Upon listening to "Odessa" for the first time, I was instantly drawn to it more than any of the tracks on Andorra. The track has Snaith's ethereal vocals and smooth melodies, both familiar dynamics of Caribou's music. But its funky bass line, dissonant background noise and simple percussion give the track a certain danceable feel that was absent on Andorra. "Odessa" has got me excited for Swim, despite any gripes I might have had with Andorra. If Snaith is able to blend his unique palette of sounds with more rhythm-oriented, upbeat dynamics, Swim may be one of the most interesting releases of the year and certainly a restorer-of-faith, so to say.

Download "Odessa" by clicking the album artwork above or stream the track below.

Caribou- "Odessa" from Swim (via I Guess I'm Floating)

The Fiery Furnaces- I'm Going Away (2009)

I think Brooklyn duo The Fiery Furnaces was the first ‘indie’ band I saw live, back in 2007. The Fiery Furnaces is the moniker of brother and sister duo Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. If you ask me, Matthew Friedberger is one of the most talented songwriters of our time; brother Friedberger writes all of the Furnaces’ music, records most of the instruments and writes the lyrics, which are in turn sung mostly by his sister. Whether it be the sprawling 10 minute, mind melting tracks found on 2004’s Blueberry Boat or the concise, complex pop of 2009’s I’m Going Away, Friedberger’s ambitious songwriting abilities are evident in all facets of their music. Blueberry Boat, while being one of the most critical acclaimed albums of the year, can be an admittedly difficult and tedious album to appreciate. But what the Fiery Furnaces managed to do on Blueberry Boat was strike the perfect balance between their zainy, schizophrenic songwriting and their pop song sensibilities. Think about what it would sound like if Girl Talk had been the fifth Beatle. Matthew Friedberger’s love for abrupt switches and off-tempo interludes makes their music paradoxically both cohesive and spastic. Their efforts since Blueberry Boat have found mixed success in finding that balance. 2006’s Bitter Tea is overbearing and tough to get through and while 2007’s Widow City lacks a distinct flow, it contains some of the band’s technically impressive material. The band’s live show is one of the most incredible I have ever witnessed, with Matthew leading onstage instrumentalists through seamless transitions from song to song and tempo to tempo, while jumping back and forth between two keyboards and singing.

What’s interesting is how polarizing the band’s signature musical dynamics have managed to be. Their ADHD styled compositions have been lauded by some, but called “toe-curlingly unlistenable” by NME magazine. Not to mention their love for doing weird shit like writing concept albums with and about their grandmother (check out 2005’s Rehearsing My Choir if you want to hear Grandma Friedberger do spoken word, seriously) or hiding secret messages in backwards vocals will surely turn a lot of people off. That’s why I think that The Fiery Furnaces’ 2009 album I’m Going Away will both please fans of old and perhaps convince some people originally turned off to the group’s wild antics. I’m Going Away finally finds a band focused and content with writing concise, traditional alternative pop songs. The result is a strong, refreshing and catchy album that retains the complex subtleties that have gotten the band this far while embracing a more manageable approach to songwriting. Album opener “I’m Going Away” has the signature driving dynamics that we saw on Widow City: sliding bass, bouncy piano, intense percussion and Eleanor’s frantic lyrical onslaught. Much of the album’s songs find their strength in their use of catchy piano and guitar lines that mirror Eleanor’s subdued vocals, namely the gripping “The End Is Near,” the lighthearted “Even In The Rain” and the brooding “Keep Me In The Dark.” Equally as rewarding is how well the album’s longer tracks work when placed next to the rest of shorter tracks. “Lost At Sea,” the album’s standout, features one of Eleanor’s most riveting and emotional vocal performances paired with dramatic chord changes and a revolving guitar line. And despite its six and a half minute length, album closer “Take Me Round Again” is one of the most captivating, with Matthew and Eleanor repeating a rousing chorus backed by jangling piano keys.

Unlike Blueberry Boat, there’s no 10 minute title track to be found on I’m Going Away. Instead, we find shorter but equally as ambitious stabs at eclectic alternative pop. And while I’m sure some fans will find call it a ‘lazier’ or ‘dumbed down’ version of the band, I think I’m Going Away is the strongest thing the band has done in years. In a musical year full of surprising comebacks (It’s Blitz!), the Fiery Furnaces have earned a spot on the list of the year’s most interesting albums and have certainly reassured me that they are still capable of captivating and reinventing. And don’t worry, the band hasn’t lost any of their craziness, as is exhibited through their recent release of Take Me Round Again, for which they both recorded their own interpretations of songs from I’m Going Away. Right on.

Click the album artwork to sample I’m Going Away and I have also included a little bonus: The Fiery Furnaces’ awesome cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” from the Rubber Soul tribute album This Bird Has Flown.

mp3: The Fiery Furnaces- Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) from This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute To The Beatles' Rubber Soul

Animal Collective- Fall Be Kind (2009)

Animal Collective- Fall Be Kind (2009)

I think I can speak for Mike here also when I say reviewing Animal Collective is tough. Of course, reviewing a favorite band or album is always a difficult task. I always find myself rewriting sentences, attempting to make them more elaborate or grandiose to mirror the way I feel about the piece of music I’m reviewing. But, I feel that it is this certain intangibility and incomprehensibility that makes these albums such masterpieces.

My relationship with Animal Collective is a particularly strenuous one. My freshmen year of college, I became more or less obsessed with 2007’s Strawberry Jam, in my opinion, the band’s crowning achievement and one of my favorite albums of all time. From there, I explored the band’s prolific back catalogue and found myself being blown away with every new song/album I listened to. My familiarization with the band was a fast paced, high intensity one and within months (weeks?), I was listing them as one of my favorite bands. For me, the band opened hundreds of musical doorways through their delicate combination of twisted folk and psychedelic pop, constantly flirting with the line between abstract and concrete, melody and cacophony, sane and insane. On Feels and Strawberry Jam, the band had seemed to find the balance that they had been searching for on their early releases. Although they represented valiant forays into the gray area between drone, folk, noise and pop, album’s like Danse Manatee and Here Comes The Indian often got lost in their indulgence in abrasive noise or endless loops. But in present day, the band seems to have succeeded in converting their love for sampling, loops and strange psychedelia into a digestible, compelling brand of alternative pop.

That being said, the band’s 2009 effort Merriweather Post Pavilion was simultaneously a huge success and minor disappointment for me. When compared to Strawberry Jam, Merriweather Post Pavilion wholeheartedly succeeds in creating a distinct flow and concise sound. Whereas Strawberry Jam jumped seemingly from genre to genre, with songs like the sunny “Derek” and the terrifying, droning “For Reverend Green,” Merriweather Post Pavilion experiments within a distinct bass-heavy, bubbly tropical pop not much different than the aforementioned “Derek.” The result is a smooth, easy to listen to album that is both engaging and soothing. “My Girls” is undoubtedly the group’s crowning achievement. “My Girls” is by far the band’s 'best' track, simply because it succeeds at doing what all the other tracks are attempting to do in the best and most catchy way, that is, utilization of loops, heavy percussion and bass, and melodic, catchy vocals. It is undoubtedly the quintessential Animal Collective track, the perfect execution of the concepts and ideas they have been building their music around for a decade now.

Strawberry Jam showcased Avey’s vocals, with him handling primary vocal duties on almost every track. Merriweather Post Pavilion was a beautiful display of what Panda Bear and Avey could achieve when they combined their contrasting voices. I feel like these are the things most commonly cited in the glowing reviews that the album has received. However, though admittedly I was enchanted with the album when it was first released, its appeal has worn off thoroughly. Celebrated for its cohesive flow, I think that the attempt to stick within a more specific genre/niche leaves the album feeling tedious, particularly once you get past its spectacular and superior first half. Strawberry Jam is such an exciting, adrenaline packed album that keeps you guessing what will come next. It establishes a clear flow, direction and sound while varying within that theme. Avey’s lyrics are finally up front where they deserve to be, considering some of the brilliantly vivid pictures he paints in songs like “Fireworks” and “Peacebone.” His delivery ranges from schizophrenic ranting to hair-raising screams. On their new LP, much of this is sacrificed for a much more traditional singing style, mirroring Panda Bear’s hazy moans and syllabic repetition.

Perhaps its all just personal preference, but I can’t help but stick by my feeling that Strawberry Jam is the best executed and most dynamic of the band’s albums. Merriweather Post Pavilion is ambitious but there’s a sense of claustrophobia, that perhaps the band is backing into a corner as they self-indulge in their newfound sense of direction and success. And for a band that I fell in love with because of their bold genre experimentation and ability to continually reinvent and push the boundaries, this simply can’t be a good thing. There was a point to that lengthy introduction though. You wanted to know about Animal Collective’s new EP Fall Be Kind, which is available today on iTunes and physically on December 15th.

The album begins on a quirky note, with the formidable track “Graze.” After Avey and Panda Bear’s echoing vocals swim their way through warm piano lines reminiscent of Feels, the song moves into its second movement, certainly one of the album’s most interesting moments. A magical pan flute lines unfolds and is soon joined by Geologists thunderous blasts of bass and some nice harmony work between the two vocalists. I still really haven’t made up my mind about the pan flute bit; I enjoy the ambition of the group but it does come of sounding a little gimmicky. The strong vocal work and catchy percussion save the track though. Following “Graze” is “What Would I Want? Sky,” the album’s far and away best track. After a fast paced first movement of vocal loops and heavy percussion, the song moves into its second part, a delightful, poppy jam based around a clever sample of the Grateful Dead (the first ever licensed). Again, as much as I dig the strange time signatures and the band’s ability to craft an infectious beat out of the sample, Avey’s vocal melodies are pretty stale, at some points flirting with a corny semi-rap delivery, the melodies something that wouldn’t be out of place on the radio. But again, despite its shortcomings, the song is engaging and finds success in the same way “My Girls” does, juxtaposing poppy vocal work with dancey loops and percussion.

The last three songs are equally confusing paradoxes where despite some small saving grace, they feel weak, flat and only half thought out. “Bleed” finds merit in its similarities to Panda Bear’s barely heard yet awesome b-side “Bonfire Of The Vanities,” with its psychedelic vocal overlaps and call and response theme. However, the song’s basis around two dark organ chords seem a bit simplistic, even for Panda Bear who excels at combining minimalism with delicate layering. While cool sounding, the song never evolves or goes anywhere, especially when compared to its predecessors “Graze” and “What Would I Want? Sky.” “On A Highway” is one of my least favorite compositions the band has ever done. Avey sputters and whines over 4 and a half minutes of echoing chords. “I Think I Can” manages to end the album on somewhat of a good note. Panda Bear’s repetition of words and fast-paced but poppy vocal lines succeed in engaging the listener, though unlike “Bleed” which never develops, “I Think I Can” accomplishes in 7 minutes what could have easily be done in 4 or 5.

So looking at the album as a whole, what can I surmise? At times, it seems as if the band is becoming a parody of themselves. The compositions just don’t seem as strongly written. Part of me tends to connect this with a trend that I see with almost all of Animal Collective’s EPs. Water Curses, while featuring some novel ideas and memorable moments, ultimately felt like leftovers. Tracks like “Bleed” and “On A Highway” definitely have a similar feel; an idea is presented but never really expanded upon. “Graze” and “What Would I Want? Sky,” whilst being examples of the band’s incredible knack for crafting psychedelic pop and neat transitions, simply feel like they are employing the same old tricks they used on Merriweather Post Pavilion. I simply don’t see any progressive movement here. And that worries me.

The EP feels confused at best, contrived at worst. Perhaps I am being too critical of the band, but the songs do not strike me even in the way that “Summertime Clothes” still does. Besides, when I love a band this much and have such a deep respect for their decade-long back catalogue of genre-bending masterpieces, isn’t it fair to be more critical? Fall Be Kind feels as stagnant and out of focus as its murky, brown cover art. I’m interested to see where the band heads next.

Click on the album artwork to sample Fall Be Kind but make sure to buy it on iTunes or when it comes out next month! Also, stay tuned for Mike's view on the album.