Quattro Dischi
I’ve finally done it this time. Four in one week. This probably says something about my decision-making skills.
Seriously though, with next week being a rewind week (one I’m really looking forward to), and the rest of June being a bit compressed because there’s a “so far” article at the end of the month, this is a sort of splurge to get out all those albums that I won’t otherwise have a chance to discuss. So, here we are, starting with…
The Love Invention
Alison Goldfrapp
Dance-Pop
Wow, wow, wow. This is some truly fun pop. There are also a few crazy awesome beats on opener “NeverStop,” the roiling, breathy “Digging Deeper,” and the glitchy “Fever (This Is the Real Thing).”
With as long as Goldfrapp has been around, you would think that Alison would have long ago made a solo project. But this long-overdue debut proves she still has command over the dance floor, respect for the power of a great groove, and ability to create something entirely sublime.
Gag Order
Kesha
Alt-Pop
Kesha is not an artist I would usually pay attention to. Her early work (while heavily forced by an abusive producer) was…not great. It was what I would call the mainstream-iest of heavy pop dance, full of bland, boring lyrics about partying and routine arena EDM beats.
Her freedom from her admittedly sad, dark past has allowed Kesha much more creative freedom. While a lot of Gag Order is still very standard pop songwriting, the lyrical content is disturbed and personal. The instrumentation constantly changes from song to song between moody, minimalist electronic beats, and passionate acoustic guitars. It’s an incredibly powerful and affirming experience.
…plus there’s a song where she wishes she was a housecat, complete with sampled meowing…*chef’s kiss
Amatssou
Tinariwen
Tishoumaren
Tinariwen is definitely one of the more obscure bands that I’m absolutely in love with. Several years ago, on the old site (link is ^^up there^^), I wrote a review of their Amadjar within a larger article discussing “world music” (a term I loathe, but sadly must use because Western record companies have brainwashed us), and have been following the group’s Sahara-drenched, Tuareg-language, electric blues ever since.
Amatssou is a fantastic continuation of Tinariwen’s long career making some of the most interesting, fascinating, and downright enjoyable blues rock that you most likely will not understand. Despite the language barrier, the band can’t help but create a fully immersive, realized world. It is brilliantly produced, and totally captivating.
The Last Rotation of Earth
B.C. Camplight
Art Pop
The Last Rotation of Earth is certainly dark. How could it not be, with that name? But it’s darkness is glib, almost funny. B.C. Camplight is laughing into the void, and covering his ears when it answers back. His lyrics are sardonic and witty, perhaps to underline their innate sadness, or perhaps in spite of it.
The music Camplight’s sarcasm overlays is varied and always deeply intriguing. Opener and title track “The Last Rotation of Earth” is comparable to a Father John Misty song, with off-time cowbell and a country-western piano accompanying the nearly-spoken word vocals. Brooding art rock slow-jam “It Never Rains in Manchester” is at times an ode to 70’s psych-folk and then cuts to bizarre sci-fi sound effects and distorted growls and a fake weather report about how it’s drizzling like cats and dogs. Is this man trying to replace Ariel Pink? Good, because that guy has problems.
This album is quite the trip: too serious to be fun, too silly to be serious, the humorous experimentalism of John Maus, the biting bleakness of Jarvis Cocker. Why can’t I stop listening to it?
