Twin Sister - Color Your Life Review

Twin Sister: Color Your Life. 

Color Your Life is a really simple. There are only six songs, and the total album length is around thirty minutes, but  it is packed with atmospheric sounds that keeps drawing you in.  I never expected that I would get into Twin Sister, but after a couple of listens, Color Your Life has been on repeat in my head, and on my stereo ever since then. 

The Other Side of Your Face:

This one starts off with quite a bit of white noise and then transforms into something else all together. It is as if the song is lifting to another world. The Other Side Of Your Face sets the tone for the rest of the album. The lyrical content is present, but on this song, it doesn’t really add on to the overall impression. However, the breathy vocals add another element to the song that draws more attention to the light guitars and other effects. Seven minutes goes by quickly and then moves quickly into the next song. 

Lady Daydream: 

Lady Daydream picks up where the last song left off. It is quicker, and the lyrics draw more attention in the song this time around. The light guitars and driving bass lines. Add to the song overall. However, it ends just as quickly as it begins because the next song quickly changes the attitude and mood.

Milk and Honey: 

This one starts off slower, but the vocals come in a little bit quicker. The bass line really adds another dimension to the song overall. By the way this song starts, you’d expect it to be slower, but it picks up quickly. This is the first Twin Sister song I heard and I couldn’t stop playing it. Everything just sounds great. Milk and Honey really hooks you in in is just addictive overall. I want to say that this song sounds like a mash up of The Slits, The Raincoats, and any type of shoegaze. But it is great whatever it happens to sound like. 

All Around And Away We Go:

This one starts off quicker than Milk and Honey, but it keeps the tempo constant throughout the song. Lyric wise, they are great to listen to, but I can’t really find any substance in it. If I had to put this song in a category, I would put it into the “music I would dance to late at night” mix. The baseline is just really great, and it keeps you listening. 

Galaxy Plateau:

Galaxy Plateau is the atmospheric part of this album. It shows the most amount of range overall. I think that this was a good decision on Twin Sisters part because it really shows, how complex their songs can be. 

Phenomenons:

This is a nice song to end the album on. It is quick and simple, but at the same time it is just right. I can’t really say anything about how it caputres the end of the album because it just does, and that is what I like about it.

Twin Sister keeps things simple, and that is why I like this album so much. It is a little bit hard to find, but it is worth buying. 

Tamaryn - The Waves

I enjoy The Waves because it takes me back to a time where shoegaze was at the forefront in modern rock music. Bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Chapterhouse and Slowdive set the standard for new music. Now that that that era has passed, Tamaryn has connected me back to these old sounds, and somehow made them new to me again.

Tamaryn is the point where the shoegaze sounds of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive meet the vast and dark sound-scapes of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus. Tamrayn is not too dark, and it isn't too lush, The Waves shows us a new type of shoegaze that blends the best of both worlds together.

The Waves
This song opens pretty slow, but it does not take away from the song any. Right away, the guitar and bass duo create a wall of sound that slowly makes you float away. I guess this is where the title of this song comes from. The vocal delivery on this song and the whole album is just brilliant. The vocals are not too deep, but at the same time, they are not too glossy. The medium is just prefect. This song is just about five minutes long, but it really does not feel like that again. If a song usually begins like this, I can tell that it would be a good album.

Choirs of Winter
The second song opens slower, but it adds to the overall effect of the album. I personally like it when my shoegaze albums start off slow and continue to get slower. This song is just pretty. I love it. I can really hear the influence of other bands (particularly Chapterhouse, and Cocteau Twins.) This song fades right into the next one.

Love Fade
Love Fade picks the tempo of the album up again. I particularly like the guitars on this one, they go very well with the vocals. At this point, I'm pretty much done listening for meaning, because I can tell that this album is all about rhythm and pattern. Most shoegaze albums are like this, the lyrics are not that deep, but the delivery is what matters. Going back to the song, Love Fade is rather short, and ends abruptly. That is fine with me, the album flows quite well, and it does not take away from the album any.

Haze Interior
Haze Interior takes us back to the slower sounds of the beginning of the album. The opening is rather simple with a modulated guitar and a simple baseline that continues throughout the rest of the song. Haze Interior is a simple song, that just menders for three minutes.

Sandstone
Sandstone picks up the tempo of the album again. The loop that begins this song lasts for a minute or so, and then the main section of the song comes in, and the loop comes back. Listening to this song makes me want to spin around without stopping (trust me I tried it, it worked for a short while). The vocals are repetitive, but overall, they add to the character of this song.

Coral Flower
Coral Flower has a slow, droning, opening, but it sets the mood for the rest of the song. About a quarter way though, the song adds a perfectly placed wall of feedback that adds another layer to this song. Coral Flower sums up the theme and mood of this album, it has the patterns, wall of sound, airy vocals and delivery that I enjoy from this album.

Dawning
Dawning creates the opening that I associate with shoegaze. It is light, has the patterns, and the signature guitar sound. Dawning opens right away, and it does not take long to establish the mood of this song.
I really enjoy the vocals and lyrics on this song. They, along with the instrumentation makes me want to listen to this song nonstop. I really don't want this song to end. It just sounds that good.

Cascades
Cascades marks the return to the slower part of The Waves. Cascades has all of the essential parts that make up a shoegaze song; swirling and deep guitars, booming drums and a breathy vocal. This is the shortest song on the album. Because this song is so short I consider Cascades a opening to the next song, Mild Confusion.

Mild Confusion
This is the first Tamaryn song that I heard. I was impressed. I was simply sitting listening to internet radio, and what do you know, I heard shoegaze coming out of my speakers. At first, I thought that this was a song by Ride, or possibly Chapterhouse, but when I looked at the album artist, I was wrong. Mild Confusion simply proves that Tamaryn knows what they are doing when it comes to shoegaze. They even confused me, and that never happends. As for the insturmentation, this song is everything that you would expect from a shoegaze song, but for some reaso, it is just great. It might be because Tamaryn takes me back to a time where shoegaze was the new big thing in rock music.

Overall, The Waves is a great album, and if you haven't gotten it already, you should probally find a way to get it. I feel like this will be a classic shoegaze album in a few years or so. Also, this album is a pretty important bench mark for shoegaze revival or "nu-gaze".  Even if you don't pay attention to that, The Waves is a good album to bring in the start of Spring, or for enjoyment at any time of year.

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy.

Fall 2011 was quite the time for music. We had releases from Bjork, Feist, Wild Flag, and St. Vincent. Unfortunately, I'm still buying or trying to acquire music from Fall 2011. This week, I was finally able to get a hold of Strange Mercy. I've listened to all of the songs on this album before I bought it (thanks to another wonderful NPR streaming concert), but while I was listening, I suddenly realized that this would be one of the better albums of the year. I did not know it then, but this album is extremely well crafted. Although the album is somewhat sort at 40 minutes, all eleven songs flow very well into one another. The lyrics are all outstanding, and once again, Annie Clark delivers. Strange Mercy is not quite a departure from her past two albums, but Strange Mercy is very consistent, and that is always welcome in the music world.

Track By Track Review.

Chloe In The Afternoon

The first thing that I notice about this song is it's similarity to some other songs that Clark has worked on in the past, but at the same time, this song is entirely new and refreshing to listen to. I only wish that this song was a little bit longer. Although it is a great lead track, this song could easily been extended by another minute or two. Despite that, I like it.

Cruel

Cruel starts as soon as the last song ended. The opening is somewhat strange transitioning from the last song into this one, but the awkwardness wears off about a quarter way through. Cruel also gives us the first taste of of the signature St. Vincent guitar sound. The solo about halfway though is just enough to keep me listening and just short enough to flow into the next verse. This song is very danceable, and that is interesting. You wouldn't really expect to dance to a St. Vincent song, but I guess the danceability creates some variety.

Cheerleader

Again, the opening is strange flowing from the next song, but again, it really does not matter when the song progresses. This song starts off slow, but it creates the prefect mood for this song. The lyrics really stand out on this song in particular because, of the tempo. It isn't necessary a slow song, but it isn't a fast song, this is why I like it so much. It has just enough of a leeway to keep me listening and at the same time, it holds my attention and keeps me from skipping to the next song. 

Surgeon

Surgeon was the first single from Strange Mercy. When I heard it this summer on the local indie radio station, I thought “ I know this voice, but who is it? This can't be St. Vincent. This really isn't her style” After a short web search to confirm my examination, My instincts were in fact correct: it was St. Vincent. This is a pretty good pick for a single, it has the good pace, fascinating lyrics, and a really amazing solo near the end. I really didn't expect it the first time I heard it. And right when it gets good, it ends and slows down for a second or two. An even better transition into the next song. I wish this was done earlier in the album.

Northern Lights

Again, I really don't like the first :25 seconds or so of the opening, but everything else in this song is pretty solid. I really don't know why the opening is so strange to me, the rest of the song is really amazing in fact. The lyrics are very interesting, and the drum repetition gives this song character. Another really good quick solo and then a fade out to the next song. This time it is even better than the first songs with this effect.

Strange Mercy

I also heard this one on the local indie radio station really late at night. I really liked it when I first heard it. Thinking to myself again, I got it right “Now, this is St. Vincent. Fatigue can't trick me this time, this hast to be St. Vincent. The style and everything is just like her past albums”. And that was correct. This is one of the slower songs on this album, but at the same time it has an almost “glossy” character to it. On this song in particular, I can really hear the influences of Clark's label mates (Side note: 4AD is know for their ethereal musical work. Think Bauhaus and the Cocteau Twins) After a short solo/outro this song is over and we are into the next song, just like that.

Neutered Fruit

This is another one of my favorites from this album. It could be because I connect to the lyrics, but it could also be because this song is composed very well. This song is around three minutes, but it still has that glossy quality to it that the previous song has. I also really appreciate the bridge near the middle of the song. It is light, and consistent, but again, it doesn't divert my attention to something else. The electric part that comes in in the second half of the song make this a very captivating listen. I feel like this was a little too short, but I never want the good songs to end anyway.

Champagne Year

I haven't had this album for very long (its only been a day since I bought it) and I already have the lyrics stuck in my head. It isn't very long, but it flows very fell from the previous song. Its very light and airy, and I enjoy it.

Dilettante

Another one of my favorites from this album. I also heard this one on the local indie radio station when I should have been asleep (I listen to a lot of indie radio, we have a pretty good station here in town). I would have switched this song with Cruel, but even without my edit, this song is in a pretty good place on this album. It is just slow enough to listen to, but well crafted.

Hysterical Strength

Hysterical Strength breaks up the metonymy of the previous four or songs, and brings back the danceable qualities of Cruel and combines them with the glossiness of the the previous songs. The ending really picks the speed back up, and provides a good pathway into the final song.

Year Of The Tiger

Clark said that this was about the year of the tiger, or in other words 2010. Basically it was a bad year for a lot of people, and it is loosely based around that notion. You don't have to think about a really upsetting year to enjoy this song though. I think Year of The Tiger combines the best of each song on the album, and creates a really nice ending.

Overall, this is a really great album. It is basically everything that I wanted to hear from Indie Rock raped into one album (well except Wild Flag, that is a story for another day...). Strange Mercy is well crafted and very enjoyable to listen to. I'm still kind of upset that I missed Clark's Boulder concert, but the album is so well crafted, it is fine if I did. If you find this album on a end of the year chart, don't be surprised, it deserves to be there. This is another album that I recommend, go buy it now!

Wild Flag - Wild Flag album Review

I've been waiting for this album for a while. No, let me rephrase that. I've been waiting for this album for a very long time, and when I mean very long time, probably since last October. I've outbid people to get the 7 inch LP, I've heard the bootlegs (sorry Wild Flag), and I almost made it to their concert with Sonic Youth and Kurt Vile on my Birthday (August 12th). I've done everything that I could possibly done to hear just a little sliver of Wild Flag, and now I get the chance to.

Listen to this album as you read the review! (thanks NPR!)


Like I said before, I've only heard various tidbits of this album. Some songs here and there, a music video here and there, a bootleg here and there, but besides all of that, I don't think that I've been exposed to the studio recorded epicness that I need to be exposed to. So I have high hopes for this album. Really high hopes for this album. Album of the Year Hopes for this album. I'm pretty sure that I can speak for a lot of people when I say that. I hope it can meet my standards!

Romance
(Go listen to it here!) Something told me that they would open with this. It was one of their singles after all. (should have been a red flag) It is a fitting song, it just starts off awesome. You have the dual guitar maze going on with those blaring drums and the flowing wind of the keyboard. They really started this album with a bang! I could just be happy with this one song playing over and over, but instead I have a whole album to play though! This is very good news. If I find it hard to not move on from the first song to the next song, then you know that I would like the album!

Something Came Over Me
This has been my favorite song from the bootleg, so I'm remotely familiar with this song. This is a slower song, but it isn't lacking on the awesomeness. Right off the gate the dual guitars are just what keeps me listing, it really is a simplistic guitar tab, but it is just in the way that they play it on this song! Something just sounds...Better I guess? I'll find more examples thought the song

Boom
Wow, Carrie's vocal delivery on this one is reminding me of the Kinks or is it the Pretenders? Whatever it is I'm enjoying it. This song is pretty simple lyric wise, but at the same time it is so complex; this is showed in the breakdown near the end of the song. This might just be me again, but I 'm fining some resemblance to Sonic Youth here too? (am I just crazy?). Anyway, this is a great song to listen to, and it flows greatly into the next song. 

Glass Tambourine
I think that Wild Flag collectively summed up the universe. I've really liked this song ever since I heard it on the 7inch and I"m so glad that Wild Flag went back and revised it a little. (yes I can tell). But it is still the same song but this time around, they just added a little extra something in the solo/breakdown, and they made the ending more epic (4:31 on is re-worked). What else can I say about this song? It is just very good. Halfway through it you feel like you are floating in space looking at a glass tambourine.

Endless Talk
Endless Talk is the halfway point of this album. If you read my reviews often, you will understand that the halfway point is where I judge if an album is just average, or if it is really great. Like most halfway point songs, this one started off a little bit slow (one of my pet peeves) but the pace is a major part of this song. I when I listen to this song, I can hear a mix of The Who, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pretenders and those awesome 60's pop harmonies (no I seriously do). The guitar isn't mind melting on this one, but that is a good thing because we get to hear the harmonies from the keyboard!

Short Version
Nice Opening! I feel like this band never stops on this album! To be honest this sounds even better than I thought that it would sound (dont' rely on the lyrics).  I seen a live version of this not too long ago, and I was amazed by the dual guitar harmonies and the vocal melodies and even at times the keyboard melody is pretty out there. I guess this song is what liquid would sound like, and by that I mean that this song is very fluid. 

Electric Band
 I've heard this song plenty of times on the bootleg. Every time that I listen to it, I just can't get my mind around how awesome the drum opening is. It just holds up the rest of the song, and gives it unique qualities.
I also like the high gain effect that the lead guitar has on this song; it goes great with the drums It takes a little effort to hear it but from what 2:18 until the end of the song, that guitar with the gain is going crazy. On the other hand I felt like this song could have been a little bit longer, but the ending just sounds great,so its fine even if the song is a little short.

Future Crimes
The Drum opening is what really sands out on this song. It is there from the start, and right there when the song ends. But there is more than just drums on this song. Again you have to listen carefully, but you listen to the guitar with the gain, you can find a really good riffs,  and also if you can listen and try to find the keyboard riff that is going right along with you will probably be amazed. You probably didn't hear the difference (trust me I did) but this "album version" of Future Crimes is a little bit different from the 7inch version. I personally think that re-recording it is smart, but that just might be me tyring to be cool again.

Racehorse
This is the best song on the album. But you would only agree with me if you listened to the whole album in order. Firstly, listen to that bridge at 1:09. There is just so much in that small section of that song, and then not too long after that at 1:20, we have another breakdown! Check that out. (Another one at 1:45 I need to quit counting!)  The small instrumental beak starting at 2:40 is nice too. After that the keyboard adds another dimension to this song.4:40 on is just pure joy in my ears and brain. It is 6 minutes of pure amazing.

Black Tiles
I love how they broke up the long song by ending this album with a shorter song. I really haven't seen that on a shorter album. This song is also a highlight on this album because it is shorter, but also because it sets the new standard on how to end an album. It doesn't scream "This is the last song on the album, be sad that it is over" but more "This song is slower, but because this the last song on the album, enjoy it and listen to it again". I really appreciate the ending  of this song (3:45 on). It is just the cherry on top, the one last guitar melting solo on this album; and then it is over. Just like that.


Trust me, I'm not joking when I say this, but this is probably my new favorite album. I honestly can't find any weak points on any of the songs or on any of the instrumentation. This is pretty much anything that I could want in a album. It has elements of punk, indie, noise, experimental and it even has hints from some of the great bands of the past. Looking to the future, I hope that Wild Flag releases more stuff! They can't just leave us hanging (a la Sleater-Kinney). Because if they did...

Anyway, I hope I didn't sound like a rabid Wild Flag fan that was trying to get you to buy this album. It is just great. Go buy it Today as a thank you to Wild Flag. I think that they just saved music.

TuNe-YaRdS - Bird Brains Album Review

I've been trying to find this album for a while. I've been all over record stores in Colorado trying to find Bird Brains. I think that it was out of stock because of the newest Tune Yards release. I finally go tmy hands on this album as a birthday present. I've been listening to it ever since I got it on Friday. I think it is time for a review. (Avid readers of my blog...Did you realize that this is the first "Albums I got at the libary" album reivew in a while?)

Track-By-Track Review

For You
This one starts off slow, and somewhat relaxing. The vocals come in not too long afterwards. Everything is light in this song. Then we hear some sampling? Is it a conversation? What does this have to do with anything? Anyway it is cool. (or fresh)

Sunlight
We go right into the next song, and this time we hear drums in the mix. When I first heard this, I wondered "So we went from sampling, to drums, to bass, and then to vocals in just about 1 minute? I haven't heard this sequence before." I like this song. There isn't a lot in it, but it is diffrent in a good way, and it really stands out. I'll talk about this later, but this is why the whole album stands out to me; it isn't anything I've heard before, and I've heard a lot.

Lions
The music slowed down a little on this song. I feel like this was done on purpose. Usally when a slow song is after a fast song, it brings more attention to the lyrics. I'm not going to do an "lyrical annalysis" on this album and on this song, but I can say that they are pretty deep although they don't "sound deep". I just have that feeling, when I listen to this. "No it can't be about Lions, it just can't be, these lyrics are too deep".

Hatari
This is is the First Tune-Yards song that I've heard, and I remember exactly what I thought "What the Hell is this? Why am I listening to this? I like this. I don't know why I like it, but I want to listen to more of this." Ever since then, I've been trying to find this album. I don't want to use unusual, but that is what this song is. (well it is in a good way). You have ukelele action going on, vocal loops, and Garbus' one of a kind voice. I know what is going to happen when you listen to this song, you'll think "this sure is different" and then near the end of the song, you realize that is a pretty good song. (Its even better without the band!)

News
Things get faster on this one, but the tempo of the last song remains the same. If you want to want to see how good Merrill's voice is, I recommend this song. I honestly haven't heard someone hit a high note that high while playing ukelele. (no really!). I also think that these lyrics are signifigant, but again without doing an album annalysis, we have more simple

Jamaican
(did she sample a kid coughing? That is pretty good right there). Jamacican is similar to the last song, but the beat is a little bit stronger, and the vocal delevery are just a little bit stronger, this most strong right around the second half of the song.

Jumping Jack
This is the "halway" point song, or in other words, this is the song that lets me know if an album is worth listening to or not. This time around, I can say that "Jumpin Jack" is a song that I want to listen to; it has a strong opeing, intresting beat, and a captovating melody which I find intresting. This is a very good song all around.

Little Tiger
Going off of my "Halfway point Song rule" this song will be the longest song until we reach the last part of the album. I feel like Little Tiger would be skipped over a lot because it is a slow song (it might be the slowest) on the album. It is worth listening to though because you hear some really good lyircs. And if you don't want to listen to good lyrics (who wouldn't?) you get to hear some pretty intracate ukelae work. I personally haven't heard a ukele sond that has sounded this good. Another great song.

Saftey
I thought that Merrill was done with the awesome ukele songs, but that was a wrong thought on my part. There really isn't too much on this song, basiclly uke, some occasional precusion, loops and vocals. so its pretty "light".

Fiya
"FIRE!!!!" Probably the best sample in a song on this album. If you live in the United States, you probably heard the first part of this song in a Black Berry Torch commercial. It was all over the place. One Saturday, I was half asleep trying to watch some TV and then I was awakened by the awesme ukele intro "I've heard this someplace...But where?" Then with some thinking and researching, I found this song. "Something told me that this was Tune-Yards"...I knew it.

Back to the song. I love this song. I highly recomend listening to this song right now just so you can experence the lyrics. I love them so much. Musicly speaking, this song is slower, but not as slow as Saftey, but the lyrics and vocal delivery are better than Saftey (heck it is all on the same album, so everything is equally good to me). Come on, this lyric is great!

what if my own skin makes my skin crawl?
what if my own flesh is suburban sprawl?
what happened between us makes sense if i'm nothing
What happened between up makes sense if I am nothing, you're all if I am nothing at all.

Fiya flows really well into the next song too.

Synonyonym
I could talk about how genius these lyrics are, but I don't want to bore you with that (trust me, you don't want me to talk about metaphors and things right?) so I'll just talk about how awesome the arrangement is on this song. I know that I've talked about the slow songs a lot on this review, but this is THE slow song on Bird Brains. It is a work of art. Seriously. Merrill's voice is spot on, the ukelele melody is great and if that isn't good enough, it flows right into the next song well.

Want me To
This is a "hybrid" between Synonyonym and a faster song. Just wait for the first bridge; the ukelele and the bridge go along together like pen and paper (or Merrill and a Boss Loop Station...) then the second slower bridge comes in, and then my mind explodes every time. This is song is great. If you are just getting into Tune-Yards, I woud recomend this song or the next song "real live Flesh as a first listen. Not because they are "easy" to listen to but because they are good.

Real Live Flesh
I heard this song once, and I automatically knew that I had to buy this as soon as possible (that was probably someplace between Hatari and Fiya). I was blown away. Then I forgot all about this song. (yeah, I know...) And then I was at this party not too long ago, and the DJ sampled some of this song. (I was probably at Titwench...I know for a fact that someone sampled this!!!). I enjoy listening to this song so much. Everything is good. The beat, vocals, arrangement. Everything is good! This is how you end an album everyone! You go out with a bang! And then you also create a pretty good video to go along with your song.

Merrill Garbus is a boss. I don't know anyone who can create something this great with a Ukelele, a boss loop station, microphones and some drums (Proof. Yeah, its Real Live Flesh Again). Even crazier, this album was released in 2009! It is still relevant in 2011, where we still try to be "cool" with deluxe loop stations and Ukeleles. I think this is the album that made ukeleles cool in Indie Rock (Trust me I looked and I couldn't find any other album relevant to indie rock that featured ukeleles before 2009.) I can safely say that Bird Brains was ahead of its time. It was so ahead in fact, it took me two years to find it. I hope it doesn't take you nearly as long.