Where do I start? So I've been privy to hearing a pair of as yet unreleased and highly anticipated records over the last week. The albums in question are Sigur Ros'(I'm aware of the accents, I just don't care to replicate them) Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust and Coldplay's Viva La Vida (or Death and All his Friends). I've been listening to both of these all week and have been enjoying them quite a bit. The Sigur Ros album, at least with it's first few songs, presents itself as a considerably warmer and more organic affair than what their back catalogue would suggest. Earthy, playful melodies pour out of songs showcasing surprisingly (for the band) concise and restrained composition. The band is back to its old tricks by the half-way point however, with 'Festival' 's lengthy dirge steering the album's second half into much darker territory. It should be noted that the set's closer, 'All Alright', is sung in what appears to be english. What's more is that the track might very well be one of the most stirring and heartbreaking tunes the band has put together. The hushed, barely mumbled vocals and the shy, almost hesitant piano chords create a mood of desolation, shame and despair. I remember a part in Radiohead's Meeting People is Easy where a journalist describes Ok Computer's 'Lucky' as "music to slit your wrists to." If any song was ever worthy of such a statement, 'All Alright' would be it. Anyhow, good record.
And what about the new Coldplay? I feel sort of silly writing about something that will be written about ad nauseam for the coming years, but here goes anyway. Simply, it's good, polite, inoffensive, fun and slightly experimental rock music. It showcases the most interesting song writing of Coldplay's career, not to mention some of Christ Martin's better lyrics. The band isn't breaking any new ground or even making genuinely great music, but really it's just so damn easy to enjoy. My biggest complaints with the album lie with a few failed attempts at 'adventurous' song writing (i.e. the poorly executed transitions that segue the jarringly incompatible sections of '42') and a few ideas that just come off as blatantly derivative (i.e. the My Bloody Valentine/Slowdive aping of hidden track 'Chinese Sleep Chant', the textured post-rock of opener 'Life in Technicolor', the post-punk rhythms that close off 'Death and All his Friends', the middle-eastern folk strings of 'Yes') But you know, here I am complaining like a critic, yet I've been listening constantly since Monday. All I'm trying to get at is that if Coldplay manages to work on their song writing and arranging skills, all while finding ways of incorporating their influences into their own sound, they'd become a great band instead of a really good one.
What else? I just heard the new Beck single a few minutes ago and upon first listen it struck me as tremendous. Really tremendous. Chemtrails is a blisteringly concise psych/baroque pop number with drums and bass that absolutely lay everything to waste. I'm now excited for Modern Guilt.
Finally, Mogwai is putting out a new album in September called The Hawk is Howling. The album will be preceded by the Batcat EP, Batcat being the title of the album's first single. Below is a video of the mighty scots performing said song live. If this is any indication of what the album will be like, I think we should all be looking forward to it.
And I guess that's it. I'll update this with more personal details soon I guess. Yay, music.
