(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)
Sebastien Grainger, Lord Echo, Milagres, & Buffalo Moon...
Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #74!
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story: TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. They're also both opinionated and have access to computers. Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column. Over a year later later and here we are.
As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free and it's fun for the whole family!
To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page. The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.
As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting
So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?
01. Sebastien Grainger - Waking Up Dead (from the album Yours To Discover)
TCDroogsma:
There's a lot to like about "Waking Up Dead." Grainger sands off some of DFA 1979's rough edges (specifically the drum sound because, of course he played down the drum sound) and crafts a pop song that plays to his strengths. He doesn't push his vocal range too far, writing hooks that he can deliver with a bit of belly fire.
Where "Waking Up Dead" loses me a bit is in its lyrics. In his DFA days Grainger was, as he put it, a machine. That Sebastien Grainger would take God knows what and do God knows what with God knows who. This Sebastien Grainger is apologizing for saying the wrong thing while he was "wasted" and having nightmares about his girlfriend leaving him (which, for the record, he doesn't think she should. No, no, no, no, no, no, no...). If Grainger sticks to this trajectory I fully expect him to be headlining the Basilica Block Party in 2018.
MinneSarah:
My heart was a flutter when I saw that Sebastien Grainger was the Monday track last week. DFA 1979 is one of my favorite bands of all time, due in part to Grainger's sexy, confident, and forceful vocals. When DFA 1979 broke up and Grainger signed to Saddle Creek Records in 2008, I knew it wasn't going to have the same grinding guitar and edgy keyboards of his former band. In fact, Grainger's first solo effort was awkward in comparison, using his unique voice to croon emo tunes. I've avoided his solo music until this song showed up in my inbox.
"Waking Up Dead" is bass driven and includes Grainger's vocals in full glory - even featuring some of the exasperated shrieks that made me swoon while listening to DFA 1979. The lyrics are about drunken couple fighting, which is always relatable. The only part that left me scratching my head was the guitar arpeggio, though if I played guitar, I'd probably add that in as well. Though it's not DFA 1979, it's got some of the epic grittiness of Grainger's roots. I for one am satiated.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
MinneSarah: 4.5/5
02. Lord Echo - Digital Haircut (from the album Curiosities)
TCDroogsma:
I'm a little bit biased toward "Digital Haircut" because it hits my iPod every morning as I'm strolling to work and, let me tell ya, few songs were made for strolling quite like this one.
Lord Echo certainly isn't breaking any new ground with "Digital Haircut." In fact, if you had me listen to this song and then told me it was a lost Dust Brother's beat from the Paul's Boutique era, I'd believe you without a second thought. On the other hand, this song sounds like a lost Dust Brother's beat from the Paul's Boutique era!
MinneSarah:
If robots had funky afrobeat clubs in the 70's (or on another planet), "Digital Haircut" would be their anthem. This song is an instrumental, though there is a high pitched sound that fills in for the vocal interest. If you didn't know the language, you wouldn't be any wiser. While I love to dance around and anything electronic certainly fits the bill, I don't know that there are many situations that I would want to flip on this song. Clocking in at under 4 minutes, it doesn't outwear its welcome, but doesn't seem to have a purpose larger than delivering joyful beeps and taps.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3/5
MinneSarah: 2.5/5
03. Milagres - The Letterbomb (from the album Violent Light)
TCDroogsma:
Milagres is a four-piece out of Brooklyn who, at least as far as "The Letterbomb" is concerned, seem to have spent too much time with their David Bowie album collection.
Now, as I've made perfectly clear over the years, I think spending any time with a David Bowie album collection is spending too much time with a David Bowie record collection. Milagres don't quite hit their mark with "The Letterbomb." If anything they sound like they were aiming for "Bowie meets The National" but landed on "Spacehog." I mean, their were times this week when I couldn't help but chuckle at the amount of drama they were trying to force into this song. After spending a week with this one I know a lot about what kind of music the guys of Milagres like, but no idea what kind of music they could write if they stepped into their own shoes.
MinneSarah:
Where did Milagres come from, and why has nobody told me about them? Throughout the week, this song grew on me immensely. I have such a strong desire to see them live, I'm considering booking my vacation to SXSW.
"The Letterbomb" features some of the commercial 80's Bowie gravitas, coupled with larger than life keyboards. I love the mix between light-hearted glam rock "ooohs" and lyrics delivered as deadpan assertions. The mood of the song shifts between stadium rock to intimate as your living room. The singer's voice confidently lifts the song through these wide transitions, never sounding out of place. I've never yearned to see a band live based on a single song, but I'll be putting in the effort with Milagres.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2/5
MinneSarah: 4.5/5
04. Buffalo Moon - Machista (from the album Machista)
TCDroogsma:
Remember everything I wrote last week about how difficult it is to review songs that are sung in a different language. Well, all of that applies here as well.
Part of the struggle of reviewing a song in which you can't understand the lyrics is that I'm forced to give extra consideration to the canvas of music built up behind the vocals. In the case of Typsy Panthre last week, that worked out just fine, as the song consisted of lushly crafted indie pop. "Machista," conversely, is built around Ecuadorian-influenced garage rock. Basically, they take all the energy and rawness out of American garage rock and replace it with a layer of acoustic guitars and momentum-thwarting bongos.
Don't get me wrong. There's a lot to like about "Machista." It's certainly delivered with passion to spare (with everybody in the band jumping into some group vocals) and, at times, not having any idea what's being said allows you to choose your own adventure with the lyrics. Still, after spending the week with "Machista," I'm left with no real desire to return to it.
MinneSarah:
Who knew the Minneapolis scene was so cosmopolitan? After the Typsy Panthre track last week, I shouldn't be surprised.
"Machista" is a foot tappingly catchy song, with unwavering female vocals and prominent guitars. The vocal accents and driving guitars make this song fun and hard to get out of your head. I'm not entirely up to date on my Spanish, but "machista" stands for male chauvinist. Buffalo Moon, with its sixties-inspired guitar pop, is fighting sexism while buoying the mood of the frozen tundra.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2.5/5
MinneSarah: 4/5
Well there you have it, MP3 junkies! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!
As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.
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For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah). She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column
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