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Paedantic Basterd · 05-18-2011, 10:10 PM

Further abridged coverage of 2011.

Lightspeed Champion - Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (2011)

This was an album I could not even tolerate through to the end. Devonté Hynes' effeminate, lispy vocals evoke imagery of Ru Paul's drag race and a deep seated irritability towards individuals with speech impediments. Pop rock has never sounded so pre-pubescent.

ADDENDUM: As it turns out, this is not a 2011 release. It is a 2010 release. It is however, still awful.

tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (2011)

My first impression of Whokill, before even entertaining the album, was "Great, another pretentious band with an arbitrary, pain-in-the-ass name". Were you to pick up this release without an open mind, you would surely apply the adjectives contained in the previous sentence to the very music itself. It is fortunate that I did not, as Whokill is easily the most interesting album I have heard this year.

Merrill Garbus attacks the same brand of complex pop as Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca, but without the inane lapses in song structure that the Projectors tried to pass off as ingenuity. Merrill's voice is soaring and expressive, blurring gender boundaries and spitting in the face of anyone who doubts whether or not a white girl can sing with soul. Garbus deserves the title of my favourite female voice.

"Interest" is not a precise equivalent to "enjoyment" however, and I often found myself undecided as to whether or not I was entertained or annoyed between songs. Whokill is a smattering of buckshot, aiming at anything in Garbus' range from indie pop to afrobeat, sometimes unsuccessfully, but always with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Whokill is well worth the shot.

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (2011)

Colin Stetson is a jazz saxophonist and multi-reedist with a formidable touring resume, including Arcade Fire and Tom Waits. Given the obvious link, what I had expected from this album was a jazz take on Owen Pallett's layered and looped folk. Instead, Judges makes a half-hearted attempt at Steve Reich's Different-Trains-minimalism, but without achieving the same sense of movement or theme. While intriguing in theory, Judges is matte and monotonous in practice.

Cass McCombs - Wit's End (2011)

Described to me as the "feel bad hit of summer", Cass McCombs writes a melancholy album of pleasant folk/alt-country, and escapes the childish monkier of "Cass McComa" I had given him after hearing 2009's blackout-inducing Catacombs.

05-18-2011, 10:10 PM	#47 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	Further abridged coverage of 2011. Lightspeed Champion - Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (2011) This was an album I could not even tolerate through to the end. Devonté Hynes' effeminate, lispy vocals evoke imagery of Ru Paul's drag race and a deep seated irritability towards individuals with speech impediments. Pop rock has never sounded so pre-pubescent. ADDENDUM: As it turns out, this is not a 2011 release. It is a 2010 release. It is however, still awful. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (2011) My first impression of Whokill, before even entertaining the album, was "Great, another pretentious band with an arbitrary, pain-in-the-ass name". Were you to pick up this release without an open mind, you would surely apply the adjectives contained in the previous sentence to the very music itself. It is fortunate that I did not, as Whokill is easily the most interesting album I have heard this year. Merrill Garbus attacks the same brand of complex pop as Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca, but without the inane lapses in song structure that the Projectors tried to pass off as ingenuity. Merrill's voice is soaring and expressive, blurring gender boundaries and spitting in the face of anyone who doubts whether or not a white girl can sing with soul. Garbus deserves the title of my favourite female voice. "Interest" is not a precise equivalent to "enjoyment" however, and I often found myself undecided as to whether or not I was entertained or annoyed between songs. Whokill is a smattering of buckshot, aiming at anything in Garbus' range from indie pop to afrobeat, sometimes unsuccessfully, but always with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Whokill is well worth the shot. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (2011) Colin Stetson is a jazz saxophonist and multi-reedist with a formidable touring resume, including Arcade Fire and Tom Waits. Given the obvious link, what I had expected from this album was a jazz take on Owen Pallett's layered and looped folk. Instead, Judges makes a half-hearted attempt at Steve Reich's Different-Trains-minimalism, but without achieving the same sense of movement or theme. While intriguing in theory, Judges is matte and monotonous in practice. Cass McCombs - Wit's End (2011) Described to me as the "feel bad hit of summer", Cass McCombs writes a melancholy album of pleasant folk/alt-country, and escapes the childish monkier of "Cass McComa" I had given him after hearing 2009's blackout-inducing Catacombs.