Middle Cyclone

In the shadow of U2's No Line On The Horizon another modern gem was obscured. Neko Case released Middle Cyclone, a collection of visually spectacular nature based metaphors for a disgruntled heart. I have never heard a better song about a tornado in love. She is just wonderful. Don't just take it from me, let her convince you. Check out Pitchfork's review and listen to it here.

No Line

Now that I have been listening to it for a few weeks, I feel that it is safe to claim U2's No Line On The Horizon as one of their best albums. I do believe that as a piece in its entirety, it is the best album that they have made. Listening to No Line has reminded me of listening to The Cure's Disintegration. The songs are good or even great, but put together they are heavenly.

Upon my first listen, I felt that it was a little slow and I had to work to find the groove. There is a simplistic feel to the record that slowly proves to be a facade. Each listen reveals some new layer of texture that wasn't at first apparent. The sound scape is so rich and dense, that it amazes me that it can come across feeling so simple.

Even though there are fantastic and larger than life songs buried in the play list that are sure to be crowd pleasers in the stadiums and on the radio, it is the context that makes this effort so noteworthy. The non-radio friendly songs are some of the most poignant marks on the album. Fez - Being Born sits in this bass groove, rolling drum part, and layered vocals create suspense and build to other worldly unchorus from outerspace (thank you Brian Eno). Then the next song drops you back to Earth in a quiet and haunting folk tale of a song carried by simply plucked chord progression on acoustic guitar. From there they launch into Breathe, a loud reminder that U2 are still the Irish rock band that once proved that mullets can rock.
I love the notion of a concept album. No Line has it down all the way to the art that it is wrapped in (see above). The whole package of an album has such potential to create mood, tone, and atmosphere. All of it can work together to create a larger experience. I strongly suggest adding this to your record collection if you are someone who has ever enjoyed music in a context larger than one song at a time.

Perhaps the music industry is floundering not only because of an obsolete business model, but because they have forgotten to make a product worth buying. Most albums today are a few singles, some filler songs and a generic, genre image cover art. Black guy looking angry with a logo that is all blingy = rap album. White dude with thumbs tucked in belt buckle under a wide rimmed cowboy hat in a picture that looks like it was taken at Glamor Shots down at the mall = country album. Attractive woman in a form fitting outfit with a some sort of "come hither" look on her face with partly open mouth and lighting that emphasizes her curves = any top 40 female artist. When the cover art is disposable and half of the music is disposable, why would anyone pay full price far an album. Even though music is a product, it only retains its value if it holds up it's artistic integrity.

Can you say overextended?

Crazy busy household changes = neglected blogs.

I have been listening though and there is so much I wish to share.

Since we are already into spring, I will be giving a very brief wrap up of my favorite albums last year.
It was a so-so year overall, but there were some albums that I really enjoyed.

The theme, for me, seems to be getting old. Two of my favorite albums last year were from artists that I associate with being before my time. Yes, they started before my time, but they have been active ever since, yet for some reason I have held them captive in a pre to mid 80's quagmire that is not a pretty place to be. I am speaking of the Alison Krauss and Robert Plant album as well as Springsteen's Magic. Prior to these two records, my feelings on the gentlemen mentioned had been pretty indifferent. In my world, Plant had been the soundtrack to middle school dances and Springsteen had meant little more than American kitsch. I realize that I have alienated most music fans with that statement. No apologies. I have never been able to get into either Zeppelin or the boss. The huge followings and stereotyped fans put me off as a youth. As an adult, I haven't found anything to interest me from either. So I was very pleasantly surprised with both of these records and for very different reasons. The Krauss and Plant album is hauntingly beautiful, soulful, and unZeppeliny. It is the last thing that I would have expected to hear from Robert Plant. However, Alison Krauss is a pretty good stamp of quality. She spurred my interest in the album in the first place. As for Bruce... What blew me away about Magic is how hugely this album was what I had known him to be, but never discovered first hand. All the Americana, none of the kitsch. He is a powerful songwriter and even more powerful of a performer surrounded by a very talented army of musicians.

I am quite fond of the latest Ryan Adams and the Cardinals record. It is one Ryan's few records since his Whiskeytown days that works well as a whole. He is my favorite song writer and has made good albums with great songs. They tend to be disjointed most of the time. Cardinology works well together and ranks up there with Cold Roses and Heartbreaker.

My favorite album of last year had to be AA Bondy's American Hearts. I don't think I took it out of my car stereo at all last spring.

Portishead and Tricky dropped some wonderful albums that brought Trip Hop back from the dead.

Saul Williams dropped a fantastic album in 2007. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust is a sonic freakfest and the best thing produced by Trent Reznor since his Year Zero album.