New Music Review: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart “Belong”

Have we come to the conclusion that the early 90’s were perhaps the one of the greatest periods of existence? For some, maybe. In the pilot episode of Portlandia, Fred Armisen jokes about a place where the 90’s never ceased. That sentiment doesn’t exist solely in Portland, but rather through a collection of individuals longing for the days when bands like My Bloody Valentine, Stone Roses, Galaxie 500 and Dinosaur Jr. graced the mix cassette circuits of many woeful young adults. Three songs into Belong, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart‘s eagerly anticipated sophomore album, I felt my early 90′s nostalgia surge. I mean, back then I was six and spent most of my time with Teddy Ruxpin and The Return to Oz, but I’m sure my brooding, twenty-something self would have reveled in a haze of moody alternative shoegaze.

Thus, we are presented with the term Nu Gaze. Some consider it derogatory while others embrace it. The early 90’s were full of ethereal, effects-heavy guitars on both sides of the Atlantic. Flash forward two decades later and those sentiments are resurfacing. Belong falls in this vein, especially when frontman Kip Berman oscillates from croon to coo. The melodramatic percussion, clouds of reverb heavy drone and selective guitar picking all come together to create a sound straight from the playbook of early 90’s shoegaze pop.

There’s a chapter in Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Pop Culture Manifesto that comments on Save by the Bell and The Breakfast Club. In a nutshell, the reason so many people enjoy adolescent themes is the feeling of relatability. Everybody was a teenager. Belong, in a similar fashion to M83’s Saturdays=Youth and with song titles like “My Terrible Friend”, “Heart in your Heartbreak” and “Heavens Gonna Happen Now”, enforces these adolescent themes and imagery. “Heavens Gonna Happen Now” shines on the album. The wailing riff sounding almost like a high pitched whale aching to be euthanized is somehow pleasantly fitting in the melodramatic atmosphere of Berman’s vocals, the escalating drums and appropriately uncomplicated bass lines. “The Body” also deserves praise for engaging from beginning to end.

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Overall, Berman’s vocal approach takes me back to My Bloody Valentines’ “To Here Knows When” and Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored”. Other influences range to The Radio Dept. and Slowdive. So, if you’re into that collection of ethereal, shoegaze elements blended with synths and themes of heartbreak, Belong is right up your alley.

Belong is out March 29, 2011 via Slumberland Records

New Music Video: Twin Shadow “At My Heels” + Live Session

Taking inspiration from DVD audio commentaries,“The Directors” have provided their own sound bites to accompany the painstakingly rendered film. Allegedly inspired by the Twin Shadow‘s internet celebrity, “At My Heels” features previously unseen footage of the Blogosphere, the iconic Blue Ladder and heart-warming snippets of the Siberian Tiger. As with so much of their work, the video was very much a labour of love for the talented duo who make their first and last foray into music films. (via 4AD)

According to “The Directors”:

“Twin Shadow challenged us to make a film that was highly diseased, something sick, something bacterially infected, something wrought with viruses. He wanted us to take this film to its last remaining breath, knocking on heaven’s door while gasping for air within inches of life, and then REVIVE and REVEAL it to the world. He also wanted us to think outside the browser. Little did we know that we were entering something so stark and so dark. Although it was our first foray into music films and almost certainly will be our last, we look back at the undertaking with a sense of accomplishment and artful wonder. “

Filmed at Teddington Studios at the back end of 2010, the sessions airs ahead of the Twin Shadow’s debut European tour and gives fans a real insight into the band’s live set up following the release of debut album, Forget, last year.

Watch a performance of “Castles in the Snow” here

Watch a performance of “At My Heels” here

New Movie Review: Super

Via IMDB:

After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills.

I saw this premier at SXSW. The film was an instant success. During a panel that was hosted by James Gunn and Rainn Wilson, the inevitable questions arose as to how they would handle the comparisons to Kick Ass. After watching the film, the only parallel that really exist is the desire to create a costume and take the law into one’s own hands. Gunn had said that this has been his passion project for well over eight years. The problem was, he couldn’t find an actor who could both exude physical dominance and deliver an offbeat blend of humor, melancholy and self deprecation. On a call to his ex-wife Jenna Fischer (Pam from The Office) she said, “Hey, why not Rainn?” Nice one, Mrs. Halpert.

Super does a great job of blending elements of violence, humor, drama, action and suspense. The cast includes Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler and a slew of others who come together to illuminate Gunn’s vision. Rainn Wilson plays Frank D’Arbo, a line cook at a lackluster restaurant in Louisiana. After his wife (Tyler) leaves him for a sleazy drug dealer (Bacon), D’Arbo breaks down and asks God for a sign. In a dream, D’Arbo’s skull is cut open by several Hentai sex tentacles and his brain touched by God. He then has a vision of a mask. From there, he creates Crimson Bolt, a vigilante who fights crime with a pipe wrench. On his quest to fight for his wife, he is joined by Libby (Page), a 23-year-old fan girl who works at a comic book store. She creates a whimsically eccentric side kick for Crimson Bolt: Boltie. Together they fight crime in an awkward and entertaining manner.

Super strives to achieve both unease and humor at the same time. One scene in particular has Frank down on his knees praying to God as we can hear him thinking that “people look stupid when they cry.” The film plays with how likely it is that someone who’s been dealt a horrible hand by the universe will go to drastic measures to save themselves. Super is gritty, hilarious, violent, uneasy, action packed, fun and unsettling all at once.

Super will be release April 1^st via IFC Films

New Music Review: Craft Spells “Idle Labor”

Brooding, yet uplifting, Craft Spells‘ Idle Labor is somewhat of an oxymoron. Call it depressing fun. Hailing from Stockton, CA, Craft Spells – aka what began as the bedroom broodings of Justin Paul Vallesteros – offer a collection of songs that ruminate on the thematic concepts of bands like New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode and other 80’s pop / new wave.

Drum machines, synths, melodramatic vocals and danceable basslines all combine on Idle Labor to create a familiar atmosphere. “Scandinavian Crush” functions well to establish its happily-dazed-by-a-new-crush vibe. The layering of vocals alongside lo-fi and subtle Flock of Seagulls guitar riffing plays out well. “Party Talk” is the obvious stand-out featuring reverb-heavy vocals, crisp guitar work and snip-snappy drum machine clicks that result in a chill-on-the beach-at-night atmosphere. When the Theremin sounding keys take center stage, the song establishes itself as a quality piece of work.

“Scandinavian Crush”, “Party Talk” and other stand-out tracks like “Ramona” deserve our praise; however, throughout much of the album Craft Spells could benefit from exercising their own uniqueness more confidently. Many tracks, rather than distinguishing themselves from their influences sound almost like B-Sides off Craft Spells’ favorite albums.

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Idle Labor is best enjoyed when not taken under too powerful of a microscope. Listeners may be inclined to think, If I want to listen to New Order, I’ll listen to New Order. (“After the Moment” obviously sounds like “Bizarre Love Triangle”).  Craft Spells is not doing anything revolutionary, but they are making music influenced by many bands that quite a few people the world over hold very dear. Pop on Idle Labor and dance to your heartache.

Download the single “You Should Close the Door” here (right click + save link as)

Idle Labor is out March 29, 2011 via Captured Tracks

New Music Review: Kurt Vile “Smoke Ring For My Halo”

There is something oddly familiar about Kurt Vile. He’s found a sound track for that moment when you get out of the shower. That moment when you’re staring at your reflection. You think, “Who is that? How did I get here? And, where am I going?” He’s been likened to a capricious mix of artists from Bob Seeger, My Bloody Valentine, Elliot Smith, Badly Drawn Boy, Nick Drake and Suicide. With his newest from Matador Records, Kurt Vile, a long-haired songwriter constantly in a state of marvel at his own confusion, kills it. It’s no surprise that Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon can’t get enough of him.

The album opens with “Baby’s Arms”, somehow drowsy and alert at the same time, it’s like getting really high and drinking a bottomless cup of fine roasted coffee. The song reminds me of a homemade devil’s food cake: the unique blips and bleeps the icing, the guitar the cake itself, the selective tambourine beat a pinch of salt, and Vile’s vocals the fire that flickers and illuminates the composition.

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“Puppet to the Man” is all attitude. Vile declares, “This one goes out to all that want the rat to survive.” “Society is My Friend” is similar in theme, but contrasted in atmosphere. The finger work on “Peeping Tomboy” is clutch. Vile makes another declaration we’ve all come to at some point, “I don’t wanna change / but I don’t wanna stay the same / I don’t wanna go/ but I’m runnin’ anyway / I wanna work but I don’t wanna sit around / all day frownin’.”

We then transition to the album’s title track, “Smoke Ring For My Halo.” The title alone brings to mind such vivid imagery. To me, it feels as though Vile is an angel rising from the ground after getting the shit kicked out of him by a shady character called Life. Bloody, bruised, defeated, he takes out a pack of smokes and lights one up simply because sparking a cigarette seems like the only option left with any sense of valor.

And that’s Smoke Ring For My Halo. It’s as real as you and me. The culmination of our confused attitudes in life’s triumphs and peculiar tribulations. Often, we consider ourselves battered, enigmatic capsules of frustration and insecurity. Vile feels the same. The difference is that he owns it, and righteously so.

Smoke Ring For My Halo is out March 8, 2011 via Matador Records