The Books - The Way Out

Taylor's Choice:

The Books - The Way Out

Hipster Review:

The two-piece electronic/folk vocal-sampling group The Books are in a league of their own; they're one of those bands, like Animal Collective, that literally makes music that's unlike anything you've ever heard before. They've created and developed a unique and singular sound, altering slightly over the course of their career, and whether you like the music or not, their ingenuity cannot be denied. The Way Out is the band's fourth LP, and after three albums of using that same formula, the most important goal of this release is to distinguish itself from their previous work.
The music is a bit more pop-minded this time around, though you'd be hard-pressed to call this album accessible; the album's lead single, "A Cold Freezin' Night," with its unsettling vocal recordings of children making death threats to one another, is disquieting to say the least. The band is, in fact, being more experimental here by using their samples for creating actual tunes. "I Didn't Know That" samples various voices exclaiming just that, backed up by a spare funk groove, and "Beautiful People," the album's other single, is a perfect example of abstract artists putting a good pop song together. Each song has a different feel, which separates this record from the mostly static feel of the group's past albums. However, this is not the band's best album by any means, though it is a great, well-put together work. If you're looking to get into The Books, this is not the best starting point; look to their debut Thought For Food or their last release Lost & Safe. If you don't dig The Books' music, then this isn't for you. But those who enjoy the group's eccentric and unique brand of electronic sound collage will be plenty satisfied.

Hipster Rating:

8.4

Friend Review:

I typically try to stay away from Pitchfork, but occasionally I’ll read their reviews just to see how they feel about a specific in work. In this case, I checked out their review of The Books’ The Way Out and found this:

“Imagine if a blog had posted these clips of goofball hypnotherapist and meditation consultants, or found a tape of a boy and a girl swapping violent threats with each other: You'd chuckle and move on. But when the Books use these samples, they give them integrity.”

This is total crap. I don’t care if it’s me taking a dump or Jenna Fischer taking a dump, a dump is a dump. The Books made a piece of crap song. It's not saved by the fact that it was made by The Books. It's crap. But anyways, that’s the end of my Pitchfork rant.

My main gripe about this album is the use of samples. Yeah, samples can be cool at times (see The Heavy’s “How You Like Me Now” or M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”) but when 98% of your music is samples, well that’s not very creative is it? A perfect example is their song “A Cold Freezin’ Night”. There’s basically two elements of this song, a loop of a drum machine beat thingy and two children threatening to kill each other. As far as drum machines go, **** drum machines, they suck. Especially using the same beat over and over and over again, boring. For the two children, well, why? It’s annoying, pointless, and stupid. The whole album sounds like the duo just found a bunch of samples and said, “Sure, this is weird let’s do it.” But other than the drum machine with whining children, there’s nothing on the album that’s completely unbearable. Yet, I still have no desire to listen to this again. There’s no feeling or soul to their music.

Friend Rating:

4.6

Coming up next, Crazy For You by Best Coast!

M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\

Taylor's Choice:

M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\

Hipster Review:

Wow. Even for M.I.A., Maya (or /\/\/\Y/\, if you're not into the whole brevity thing) is a weird album. In fact, not even that is an appropriate word to describe it. Instead of twisting pop on it's head like her previous albums did, Maya builds pop songs from the ground up and blasts them with layers of industrial noise. Sounds like an M.I.A.-esque enough idea, but the execution on display here makes it seem like the album was made by someone with a lower caliber. A lot of the ideas here are either overdone or underdone, and rarely do the songs hit that sweet middle ground (The Suicide-sampling "Born Free" is incredible, and easily the best song on the album). Which is a shame, because the very idea of the album is perfect on paper; after the crossover success of her last album Kala, it would make perfect sense that a rebellious spirit such as hers would try to make the most unfriendly-sounding record possible. She does that with ease, but a lot of her songwriting chops are lost in the haze of contempt. But the industrial sound does, in spite of everything, seem to suit her music. Sometimes it does get way too ridiculous, like in the second track "Steppin' Up," but for the most part the whole noise thing fits each song in a strange way. It's not a bad album (Well, I don't think it is; a lot of people will despise it, even hardcore M.I.A. fans. Hell, freaking Pitchfork gave it a 4.4), but it could have been so much better.

Hipster Rating:

7.4

Friend Review:

Holy crap. I don’t even know. I was too harsh on Caribou, I see that now. This is hands-down the worst album I’ve ever heard. The best song is practically a carbon-copy of Lady Gaga, what does that tell you? There’s just nothing redeeming about it, everything song is absolutely obnoxious as every second of this album is filled with random noise that drills a headache into your brain. At least it’s redeemed by M.I.A.’s intelligent lyrics. FALSE! Let’s take a look at some of her art: “Rub a dub a dubdub, rub a dub a dub a dub.” So deep. “It takes a muscle to fall in love.” Thanks, now get the hell outta my house. “Gravity is my enemy, it grabs at me like harmony.” I am absolutely amazed that science has gotten to the point where someone is capable of taking a bucket full of poo and transforming it into sound waves. I’m certain that this is how this album was created, and if not, I’m completely bewildered. How anyone can find this even listenable is beyond me. All it sounds like is a dumb girl who learned how to manipulate music on her Mac and now thinks she is artistically inclined. I’m gonna name some things I’d rather do than listen to this album… Let’s see… Eat soup that’s too hot, stub my toe, lick a chalkboard, get into a car after it’s been sitting in the heat all day, ride on a bike off a curb, get a wedgie, give a wedge, watch someone get a wedgie, marry Jenna Fischer, ride in a car with Taylor driving… Well, you can see it’s pretty much everything. For your own sake, don’t listen to this album

Friend Rating:

0.1

Coming up next, New Politics!

Caribou - Swim

Taylor's Choice:

Caribou - Swim

Hipster Review:

While mostly known for his previous work as a psychedelic pop craftsman, Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith saw it fit to evolve and push his art into uncharted waters. With Swim, Snaith delves deep into House and Dubstep territory, creating a strange breed of Dance music that is surrounded by a moody, emotive atmosphere. The results are spectacular, and the various musical textures flowing in each of the 9 songs make the record a feast for the ears. And the songs are all sequenced perfectly; it's clear that Snaith worked meticulously on each piece, making sure that everything fell into place in precisely the right way. The beginning track "Odessa" sets the mood perfectly, kicking off the album with a clubby yet abstractly-layered electronic jam. The rest of the record continues this pace, with song after song grooving together in a satisfying manner. Those who enjoy music with underlying layers of sound will be pleased with this; I've yet to hear another album this year as daring as Swim, and when Caribou dares, he succeeds. It is a record that, despite it's electronic nature, is full of heart and soul, and no doubt it's one of the best I've heard all year.

Hipster Rating:

8.8

Friend Review:

I’m just gonna go ahead and open this up with an apology to anyone who enjoyed this album. I know it wasn’t my thing, but it might yours, so, yeah, I dunno, whatever.
So as many, if not all, of our few readers know, I am not a fan of Animal Collective, in particular their album Strawberry Jam. You see, that was my first introduction to any electronic/experimental related music and I thought that was as bad as it could get. If there is one thing I have to thank Caribou for, it is that they make me want to give Animal Collective another chance now that I know that they are far from the worst.
My first occurrence with Caribou was when I noticed someone had posted a song by them on Taylor’s profile. Curious, I gave it a listen and was introduced to the horror that is “Jamelia”. I was then saddened to learn that Swim was the album Taylor would pick to be reviewed today. Nevertheless, I went into it with an open mind knowing that I have been proven wrong before. I heard the opening track “Odessa” and thought to myself, “Hey, not too bad, but not too great. It might be okay after all!” NOPE. After the high point that is the opening track and single of the album, everything is a downhill tumble into a bottomless pit o’ doom and gross things. This album screams to me, “Check out my beatz and noise, lol!” Repeating the word “Sun” for nearly six minutes with typical electronic music? Cool story bro. Every song sounds like Caribou took any random noise he could find, stuck it in a bag, and let the contents out for any listener to hear. Every song is too long, and every song sounds the same, just a mixture of electronic stuffing backed by cheesy house drum beats. There is nothing special about this album to separate it from any of the junk you can hear at any stuck-up fashion salon. I usually listen to an album once and then have it playing in the background while I write my review. For Swim, once is enough. It’s simply typical electronic and doesn’t leave any lasting effect on me besides weirded-outness. This is one of the worst albums I’ve ever listened to.

Friend Rating:

0.4

Coming up on Wednesday, Together by The New Pornographers!