Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!

A: We are Devo!
Q: Why are you Devo?
A: With songs as "Jocko Homo" and "Satisfaction" you are basically deconstructing music.
Q: Why deconstruction?
A: Cos these two songs sound like a toddler trying to force a square brick into a round hole. It just does not fit, but you don`t care.
Q: More groups have tried that - why is Devo's effort so special?
A: Besides making square songs they are also completely unpredictable.
Q: Unpredictable as in?
A: Listen you "Jocko Homo" and see how it turns into an anthem at 02:30.
Q: Do they go beyond this gimmick?
A: Absolutely, listen to "Gut Feeling". Probably one of my favorite songs ever. It starts of with a simple guitar riff, speeds up, then the piano sets in, speeds up even more, the piana starts to get frantic, the guitar spits in together with Mark Mothersbaugh's words. At 03:30 in crashes into chaos, only to end with another frantic punk prelude for "Slap your baby down". Crazy and brilliant at the same time.
Q: So you really like this single song, anything else worth listening to on this album?
A: Well, yes: "Too Much Paranoias" makes you feel paranoid and very uncomfortable. In the middle the song breaks up, only to materialize again for one final push. "Mongoloid" is a beautiful song, telling the story of a mentally disabled person who just like everyone else brought home the bacon without being noticed. Such a sensitive song.
Q: Are there any weak points on this album?
A: Yes. The first 10 songs are just one big winning streak. Not one weak link in there; It catches you with its hyperactive jabs and does not let you loose. I never really understood "Shrivel Up" though. It misses a bit of direction, it feels a bit out of place. Still a good song though - but it does not feel as "urgent" or "relevant" has the others.

Q: And why do you still listen to Devo in 2009?
A: Nothing came before, and nothing came after it quite like it. Devo devolve there music like no-one else, and therefore listening to it sounds like a great party where people can only move in stop-motion. Check out there first album at your local record or web store. It's worth the money.

You`re an extra, lost in the scene

It has been a long, long time since my last post. Don`t let the gap of 3 months fool you: I`ve been listening a lot of music and learning about myself in the process. It for instance seems that I`m a person who likes a bit of structure in music. Groups like Animal Collective and the Dirty Projectors seem to be on the wrong side of this thin red line of mine. I don`t think they're bad, but I just don`t get it (yet). I don`t get what's so appealing about it (yet).

Artists that are appealing to me at the moment are Phoenix, The Pains, Allen Toussaint, Talking Heads (yea,yea, due to the dirty Projectors), Apostle of Hustle, T. Rex, Charles Spearin and St. Vincent.

St. Vincent in particular makes me smile. It's hard to describe how her music sounds like; It's a mix of styles. It's a (lot) rougher version of My Brightest Daimond - with a beat. Her latest album is a carefully constructed patchwork of songs. Some can start of as dreamlike and then at one point fall back into harsh distortion. It is this combination that makes me really like Actor, and songs like Marrow and The Strangers perfectly demonstrate this. Playing them very loud though will get your neighbours yelling at you.

Luckily she has some very neighbour friendly songs like Save me from what I want and Laughing with a mouth of blood. Judging from their titles and lyrics you would not call them upbeat, but they do sound like it. I especially appreciate those nice backing vocals she did on both the songs; the "Watch your step's" give Save me.. that little bit of extra.

Finally, the first single Actor out of work is a great stacato marsh from the start to the end. I really like how the songs builds up to the finale. It's not a second too long at a little bit more than two minutes, and makes you want to play it, again, again and again.

The best thing about this is that I`m going to see St. Vincent live in action in Nijmegen in about a week's time. I`ve taken half a day of to go see her perform her songs. And if this Letterman performance is anything close to what I`ll see that monday, I`ll go back home happy. Hopefully my right foot doesn`t drop off in the meantime.

Two Suns from Bat for lashes

Natasha Khan is Bat for Lashes and with the first song on her new album "Two Suns" she immediately caught my ears, and after seeing the album cover, she caught my eyes. A beautiful album design placing her in the centre, two worlds in her hand. Is that a tear on her cheek and a crown of stars or thorns? So many questions. Is there a vinyl version? - this would look great on any wall.

It all started when I saw her as a similar artist on last.fm for PJ Harvey and My Brightest Diamond. So basically nothing could go wrong with me picking up her record, and after listening it for several times, we were a match made in heaven.
Her music reminds me of 80s Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush (although I only own one album of the latter) and more recently, Yeasayer. So it did not really come as a surprise when I read that actaul members of Yeasayer participated in the creation of this record. Her voice is indeed almost as strong as those of PJ Harvey and Sarah Wooden, but still unique. Music wise she is a lot smoother than Polly Jean (Check out her latest cooperation with John Parish), and replaces Sarah Wooden's guitar with a grain-shed of other instruments.

As mentioned earlier, "Glass" is a very strong opener, the perfect song to kick the album off. It takes you to a different universe with its echoing (tribal?) drums, synthesiser bass and hollow guitar. All together it sounds epic, and that's wher it reminds me of Peter Gabriel: Serious lyrics, dominating drums and low bass. It's only four and a half minutes long, but you`ll keep repeating it till infity.

I like "Sleep Alone" for the background vocal and cymbal which set in after about 45 seconds. Haunting vocals, subtle synthesizers and nice rhythm which keeps your feet tapping. Together with "Moon and Moon", this song is stuff that puts you into a dream like state (edit: actually counts for the whole album in retrospect). "Daniel" is the first single from this album and a good one. It's got a catchy chorus that you can pick up without a lot of difficulty. Those violins at the 2 minute mark must be an addition of Yeasayer, they sound so recognisable.

"Peace of mind" is a great combination of traditional and modern instruments, woven together into a songs which follows the beat of the drum. "World Music" just popped into my head while writing about this song. "Pearl's Dream" wants me to buy a drum machine and start experimenting myself. Wonderfull rhythm she devised there. Also love the chorus which acts as anchor in all the experimentation and sampling.

"Good Love" sounds like a mix between BSS' "Anthems for a seventeen year old girl" and the Zombies' "Way I feel inside". The organ at the start of the song resembling that of the Zombies, and the generally sad mood of the song reminding of the Anthem. Together with "Two Planets" (Which is the song that is most out "there" on this album), "Good Love" makes sure that the whole album keeps you captivated. There is no filler here.

What is on this album, is a great mix between piano and drum-lead songs. Experimental at times, but highly listenable. Dreamy, but not at all light. Unusual and delicate music with a lot of detail, but without making it sound as complicated kitsch.
In short: Buy it on monday.