Flobots- Survival Story

Paul's Choice:

Flobots- Survival Story

Friend Review:

Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had an album ever exceed my expectations as much as this one did. Flobots had the most typical story ever set up: their first major album was pretty average. It produced one awesome song that saw major radio play but other than that they were pretty quiet as all the other tracks were just alright. Let’s start this off from the beginning: after hearing “Cracks in the Surface”, it is my personal opinion that every album from now on should start with a super awesome crescendo. This thing grabs your attention quick and sucks you in; if that first song doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will. One new thing I love about this album are the trading verses between Johnny 5 and Brer Rabbit. Even if the lyrics get a bit cheesy in “The Effect”, the constant trade-off between the two rappers keeps things fast-paced and interesting. Between these two and violist Mackenzie Roberts, (just listen to her sing in “Defend Atlantis” and “Good Soldier” and try not to fall in love) the group is not short of vocal talent. Which leaves me bewildered as to why they felt the need to include Tim Mcilrath of Rise Against on “White Flag Warrior”. It feels out of place and forced in, if they had Roberts singing on that track I think it could’ve been decent, but I cannot stand the sound of Mcilrath on that track which I believe is definitely the weakest of the album. Matt Morris is also featured as a guest vocalist in “Infatuation”. His inclusion is definitely more subtle than Mcilrath’s contributions but does not contribute much to the song. The closing song “Panacea for the Poison” features Rabbit’s voice at its smoothest and the soothing sound of Roberts’ viola, something I have yet to find in any other band. I know I’ve put a lot of emphasis on the vocals, but I don’t want to take any credit away from the instrumentation of the album. In any given song the music alone keeps the listener interested. Hip Hop/Rock works are very hard to pull off, but Flobots accomplishes it in this album flawlessly. If you get a chance, I urge you to listen to more than just “White Flag Warrior”, I know I was happy with my choice.

Friend Rating:

8.6

Hipster Review:

I must disclaim: I am not exactly a fan of this band. But at least the material I've heard from their debut was fun. Yeah, it wasn't that original or (in my opinion) good, but it was entertaining enough. But on this album it sounds like they're eyes are bigger than their stomaches. This time, instead of aping Cake, Flobots have decided to go for a P.O.D. (ew), Rage Against The Machine-esque sound template, while throwing in a bunch of stuff that, quite frankly, doesn't belong. I was both intrigued and confused by the band's decision to include Gogol Bordello-like instrumentation in the songs. It's a neat idea, but it really doesn't fit well here; if anything, it makes the songs sound even cheesier than they already are. Which brings up another aspect of the album that bothers me: the lack of a cohesive narrative or message. Flobots are penned as a "political-minded" group, but lyrically there are way to many ideas that are thrown at the listener, without any real knot tying them together. I'm sure they have plenty to say, they just don't put it together well. And now I come to the rapping, and I'm assuming that this is supposed to be a Rap album for the most part: it really feels like that basic premise is pushed to the sidelines behind all these other ideas. The rapping seems like an afterthought, which is a shame because "Jonny 5", as he calls himself, is a half-decent MC. All in all, this is a pretty lame album, overzealous in it's scope and half-assed in it's execution.

Hipster Rating:

3.8

Coming up on Sunday, "Congratulations" by MGMT!

Erykah Badu- New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

Taylor's Choice:

Erykah Badu- New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

Hipster Review:

Return of The Ankh is Eykah Badu’s fifth studio album and the second part in her New Amerykah saga. In contrast to her previous album Third World War, which was strongly political in tone, Return Of The Ankh is lyrically introspective, reflecting on love and other personal themes. Also, whereas that album was musically all-over-the-place, mainly drawing from funk and electronica, this record finds Badu returning to her soul-rooted sound, using both sampling and live instrumentation. But whereas previous albums such as Mama’s Gun were musically sparse, Ankh is sonically dense, and most tracks find Badu experimenting with her sound palette much like on her previous outing. This density brings great warmth to the music, in a way that previous releases have lacked. And the lovelorn lyrics make the album all the more inviting, calling you to explore Badu’s world and enjoy every minute. While there are moments on the album that stray too far into indulgence (most noticeably in the 10-minute finale “Out My Mind, Just In Time”), the experience as a whole is extremely enjoyable. I found this to be one of the best records I’ve heard so far this year, and I look forward to more trips into Badu’s Amerykah.

Hipster Rating:

8.7

Friend Review:

I gotta say, R&B is not a familiar genre to me. In fact, I think this might be my first real experience with it. Regardless, one of the reasons I wanted to do this blog in

the first place was to discover new music so what better way to open it than to review something completely new to me

The first thing I noticed while listening to this voice was Erykah Badu’s voice. It’s… kinda whiny. Maybe it’s just me, but this was a thing I could not get past. There was no point in the album where I was simply wow’d by her singing, it almost seemed detrimental to the album. The reason I say this is because at many points in the album the instrumentation in fantastic. I would kill for my drums to sound the way ?uestlove’s do on “Window Seat”. The piano has a great jazzy sound in just about every song that it’s featured in. There is one thing that I’ve found R&B is useful for: throughout the entire album I was imagining myself drumming along. Many of these songs will become a staple in my jams at home, and because of that, this album will remain on my iPod. However, I can’t imagine myself ever listening to one of these songs without being behind a kit. I found many parts of the album to be cheesy, particularly the whole “sonic” sound Badu said she was trying to go for. In relation to this, the album seemed too “sample-happy”. The point I noticed this in was “Umm Hmm” when it felt like part of the time when she sampled “Take Some Time” by Ndugu & The Chocolate Jam Co. it just didn’t match up with the song. Also, it seems that the album at times drags on. “Fall In Love (Your Funeral)” and “Out My Mind, Just In Time” seemed like they would never end. Besides “Window Seat” which was quite nice (despite the controversial video), there were really no gems on the album; it all just seemed like background music that you would feel but not actually notice.

Unfortunately, I will likely not listen to this album again in its entirety. To me, all it’s good for is its use as a drum-along track. Despite my complaints of the album, however, it was not terrible. There is nothing in it to make me hate Erykah Badu or R&B as a whole. It simply was not my cup o’ tea; and for that I will give it a very average score.

Friend Rating:

5.0

Coming up on Wednesday, "Survival Story" by Flobots!

Introduction

Hello hello!

So anyways, I got the idea for this blog while I was in the shower. Which is strange. Anyways, my buddy Taylor and I are kinda similar in our music tastes in that we both like indie stuff, but when you really get into it our tastes differ GREATLY. Simply put, he is a hipster (even though he denies it, but what hipster wouldn't?) while I am... well, I think I'm unclassifiable. I've asked other people and they have no idea. If you come up with a stereotype for me, please let me know! Back to the main point, I thought that it would be entertaining to see each of us experience each other's music and let each other know how we truly feel about it. What better way to accomplish this than to make an album review blog?! Anyways, here's the general guidelines for the blog:
1. Each week, Taylor and I will each choose a relatively recently released album to review.
2. Without discussing the album with each other at all, we will each listen to it in its entirety, write a review about it, and then rate it on a scale from 0.0-10.0.
3. We will post Taylor's album of choice and its reviews on Sundays and my (Paul's) album of choice and its reviews on Wednesdays.
4. We are not professionals by any means! This is simply a fun project for us and a good way for us to discover new music while informing any readers we have.
5. We realize that musical opinions differ! I might hate what you like and you might hate what I like. IT'S ALL GOOD! Don't take any of these reviews too seriously, they should be treated as guidelines, not the Gospel!
6. Love music!

Here's the introductions of our reviewers...

Hello, my name is Taylor King. I am a guitar player in two bands (Be At Leso, in which I also sing, and Ottoman Turks) and I love music. My taste is very expansive, and ranges from Punk rock all the way to Hip-hop.
A quick summary of my favorite music: Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, R.E.M., Pixies, The Velvet Underground, Television, LCD Soundsystem, The Clash, Talking Heads, Gogol Bordello, Iggy & The Stooges, Mission Of Burma, De La Soul, MF Doom, Outkast, Yo La Tengo , Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Pavement, Belle & Sebastian, Wire, Portishead, David Bowie, James Brown, Miles Davis, etc... this is not even close to being an exhaustive list.
Though I am pegged as a hipster by some, I usually dismiss the term simply because I don't like being labeled. But for the sake of this blog, I shall humbly don the moniker "hipster."
Besides music, my other interests include reading and photography.
I am delighted to be here :D

Hi! My name is Paul and I’m a drummer for three bands: Be at Leso, The Hot Tickets, and Ottoman Turks. My music preferences are a bit random at times, sometimes I even surprise myself with what I like or don’t like.
My top three favorite bands are The Beatles, Weezer, and the Strokes. Besides them, I also enjoy listening to Pixies, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Flobots, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Alkaline Trio, Unwritten Law, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Horrors, Ozma, Action Action, Vampire Weekend, Matt and Kim, The Thermals, Mystery Jets, Wolf Parade, James Brown, Belle and Sebastian, CAKE, Wavves, Fungi Girls, Born Ruffians, The Clash, The Smiths, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Lync. I basically just copied that straight off of my Facebook page, sorry.
I’m not really sure what I can be classified as, and apparently nobody else does either. I’m just a guy that likes music I guess.
Besides listening to and playing music, I also enjoy playing hockey and golf and running.
Nice to meet you!

Thank you for reading!