Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)

Taylor's Choice:

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)

Hipster Review:

I remember reading about Janelle Monae in Spin magazine (back when I wasted my time reading magazines) a few years back. The piece consisted of her talking about art and the impact that it had made on her throughout her life. She also stated her belief that music was an art form with the potential "to change the world". While this usually is a generally pretentious statement made by musicians to show off, listening to Monae's music reveals that she means it when she says it. Her music is expansive, (other)worldly, risky, and celebratory. She pushes musical boundaries not simply because she can, but because she aims to push herself and to allow her music to reach as many people as possible. She might succeed too: the music on ArchAndroid goes left and right, taking influence from funk, soul, classical music, swing, folk, art rock, and hip-hop to make a unique blend of pop music so dense, it makes a rock look like sponge cake. But unlike some high-shooter projects that go for quantity rather than quality, The ArchAndroid benefits from Monae's ability to limit her ideas and stop when she needs to (granted, the album is nearly 70 minutes long, but only three songs go past the four-minute mark, and very few of them drag). The guest appearances by Big Boi and Of Montreal are some of the album's high points, particularly the single "Tightrope," where Monae's funky side shows best. Overall, The ArchAndroid is an ambitious, messy (in a good way), and incredibly exciting album. Experience it at your own caution - but don't let it stop you from enjoying it.

Hipster Rating:

8.7

Friend Review:

Alright, so Janelle Monae (I’m just gonna type her name normally without that goofy accent over the “a” because those things are a pain to put in and you guys know what I mean)is another act I haven’t really heard of but I gave it a listen and like always came up with some opinions. I’ll go ahead and start with the high points. Two tracks, “Cold War” and “Tightrope” are very enjoyable to listen to. The fast tempos and Monae’s impressive vocals keep the listener interested throughout the entire song. Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, these two tracks would be very fun to drum along to because they offer many chances for experimentation. Then there is “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)”. This track is an absolute gem. The instrumentation is just about perfect, one of the grooviest bass lines I’ve ever heard and jazzy drums create one spicy tamale to dance along to. The shrieking guitars intertwining with Monae’s passion-filled screams is in all honesty one of the best tracks I’ve heard all year. While these three are very impressive tracks, they do not make up for the slower parts of the album. First off, at a running time of an hour and eight minutes, the album is about twenty minutes too long. I could do without the two overtures which I think would be more appropriate in a Star Wars soundtrack. Maybe they’re necessary for the “album structure”, but whatever, I didn’t dig them. Anytime Monae feels like slowing things down a bit it drags on far too long and gets boring very quickly. The vocal distortion or tuning or whatever the crap is going on in “Mushrooms & Roses” is absolutely painful to listen to. The few good songs on this album don’t make up for the long boring parts.

Friend Rating:

5.5

Coming up on next, Champ by Tokyo Police Club!

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

Taylor's Choice:

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

Hipster Review:

Through the course of the previous decade, James Murphy has proven himself to be a most interesting individual. Taking influence from the likes of Joy Division, Liquid Liquid, Talking Heads, ESG, etc. to create an oddly unique blend of Dance-punk, LCD Soundsystem's self-titled debut was a marvel of musical feat; while their influences were groundly rooted in the past, with the help of Murphy's creative mind, it sounded fresh and new. Then in 2007 came the band's sophomore masterpiece Sound Of Silver, which showed the band as more flexible, comfortable whole, and Murphy as a lyricist more than worth his salt - all around, the band took that simple but necessary step to evolving as artists: adding heart and soul to the music.
Now we come to This Is Happening, the third and (unless Murphy is screwing around with us) final album from LCD Soundsystem. And in all honesty, it's every bit a classic as Sound Of Silver was, and then some. Instead of simply staying in the waters of Post-punk that he has found himself comfortable in, Murphy goes for something more daring: think Brian Eno and Berlin Trilogy-era Bowie. Sounds pretty hefty a vision, doesn't it? However, those who know better were confident in Murphy's abilities, and thankfully the album doesn't disappoint - not even in the slightest, in fact. Murphy once again shows off his chops as a very (self)conscious songwriter, taking shots at himself whenever possible; "Love is an open book to your bad poetry; And this is coming from me." Although Murphy is a lot more clever than he gives himself credit for, his humility makes what he's saying more relatable (and just because he's self-deprecatory doesn't mean he's above attacking his detractors: "You wanted a hit; Well, this is how we do hits.") He's got a lot on his mind, too; the world he surrounds himself in is filthy and hedonistic, and he reflects on his various observations with biting sincerity. Musically, it's unbelievable just how much the band succeeds; They give the music just the right combination of moody atmosphere and arty dance arrangements. And while the influences are obvious throughout the album, the band makes it all their own, revisioning the music of the past into something completely new; which, aforementioned above, is what they've always done best. So far, This Is Happening is the best album I've heard all year, and I have a feeling (unless Panda Bear pulls out all the stops with Tomboy) that it'll stay that way.

Hipster Rating:

9.7

Friend Review:

Alright, so this is my first experience with LCD Soundsystem and I’ve heard good things about it so let’s give this a shot. I think I’m gonna try something new with this review and I’m gonna write it as I’m actually listening to the album and see how it turns out. So anyways, I’m 4:36 into the opening track “Dance Yrself Clean” and I gotta say I like it. To all musicians everywhere: if you want to make a really long song, YOU MUST HAVE DYNAMICS. This track has that part down pretty well I must say, I really like the change between soft spoken vocals and then louder almost yelling as well as the entrance of 80’s-tastic synth playing. It keeps things interesting dude, and this track doesn’t feel like nine minutes at all. Be right back, I’m gonna pause the song and go to the bathroom. Alright, back guys and I feel much better. I really like that song, a great way to open the album. So on to the next track, “Drunk Girls”. I believe this is the first single from the album and I’ve heard it on Alt Nation on XM a couple times. There’s some good things about this song, but man, the whole yelling, “Drunk girls” part gets old really really fast. It reminds me of Beastie Boys type shouting, just kinda barbaric. Well, that might be a bit extreme. Then I get to the chorus and bridge and I find out there’s actually a really nice song hidden beneath all the yelling. That always makes me sad. Now that I’m rethinking this idea I think this review is going to be really really long but I already started doing this thing song-by-song so I’m gonna go ahead and finish it. Alright, on to track 3, “One Touch”. The intro has a nice little groove to it but I’m not really a fan of the whole robotic-type vocals going on. Yeah, there’s not much to this song that I like. The groove that started out cool drags on and adds extra sounds that just clutters and complicates things and the vocals are monotone and boring. Like I said before, long songs need dramatics and this one is lacking. Here comes “All I Want”. Right away this sounds like it takes on more of a rock tone than the previous tracks and I gotta say I love it so far. This is a very good song, amazing heartfelt vocals and rad drums and an awesome guitar riff. Then this little synth groove walks through the door and I’m like, “OMG this shiz is awesome!!!11!”. There’s really not much to say about this track besides the fact that I like it a lot. On to “I Can Change”. There’s not much excitement to this track. Vocals are pretty cool but the beat gets annoying after a while but that is a pretty addicting chorus. The vocals are the saving grace of this song, anything robotic like “One Touch” and this song would be dead. Okay, so “You Wanted a Hit” takes nearly half the song to actually get into the lyrics and the song. I think if they took out the super-long intro it could be a pretty good song but with the intro it just feels long and drawn-out. Once you actually get into the vocals it’s pretty fun tune that makes you want to nod your head along. I love the steady beat. Then the band adds a rad guitar solo and a tricky synth beat and that is one spicy tamale. On to “Pow Wow”. Once again, I love the vocals, the whole spoken thing is very cool and once he gets more dynamic with his voice it gets that much better. The beat is cool too… for the first minute or so. Unfortunately, this is nearly a nine minute track. There’s not enough change to keep me interested and if it wasn’t for the fact that I was writing this review I would have skipped long ago. This is a really long album, and “Somebody’s Calling Me” is probably the most boring track. Slow and boring vocals make me a sad boy. It just goes on and on and I’m bored, simple as that. The album does end on a good note with “Home” though. Some of the most interesting percussion on the album with actual drums (or at least it sounds like it) and great vocals which I’ve come to expect out of the band.

Overall, this album does have some high points but generally I’d say it’s very overrated. Some songs such as “Dance Yrself Clean” are absolute gems but they don’t make up for the low and boring points of the album.
I'm not sure if I liked my new way of writing out this review, leave me a comment letting me know what you think.

Friend Rating:

6.3

Coming up on Wednesday, Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man On Earth!