Post 1d: CONTEMPORARY REVIEW 2: Vega Intl. Night School - Neon Indian

Contemporary Review: Vega Intl. Night School - Neon Indian

8.8/10, STRONGLY RECOMMEND

Background: Neon Indian is the sole survivor of one of indie music's greatest over-hyped failures, the genre known as chillwave. What separated Neon Indian from the rest of the chillwave movement is that his music was actually good, and he could perform in a live setting with the best of them. Neon Indian is fronted by Alan Palomo, the only member of the band who actually matters. Palomo has charisma like few in the game at the moment, especially live. Disappointingly, he is neither neon nor Indian in person, but probably carries both traits at heart. Neon Indian's body of notable work includes their debut album Psychic Chasms, a fantastic album and a landmark of the chillwave experiment. That was followed up by the solid Era Extrana, which got lukewarm reviews from critics but I personally thought was just as good as his stellar debut. 

Review: Before I even talk about the music, let's take a minute to appreciate that cover. That is probably the best cover of this year. If I was playing a game where I had to pick a cover that looks exactly how the album it houses sounds, I would pick this one. It is bold, eye catching, stylish, risky, nostalgic, yet still forward thinking. Absolutely perfect. 

The album opens with a short, one minute long track titled "Hit Parade." This song is just a series of clicks and blips that lead into a bouncing groove, meant to serve as an opener as well as a flex of production muscle. It goes over well, although it is a bit shorter than I would have liked.

The next track is titled "Annie." The song features Palomo's typical falsetto vocals, but pushed higher in the mix than they have ever been. A reluctant singer at first, it is a refreshing change to hear Palomo's vocals so upfront and confident, because he truly has a great voice when it is as decipherable as it is here. The track features a slight reggae influence, especially apparent in the clicking guitar upstrokes during the verses. Already it is worth noting that Neon Indian is still taking cues from chillwave, such as synthesizers, sampling, and a fetishism of 80s synth pop, but has evolved into something entirely different. Palomo is now taking cues from modern pop, funk, soul, and most apparently nu-disco, all of which are influences that I strongly approve of. 

The next track is "Street Level" and, in my opinion, is the first time Palomo knocks it out of the park on the album. The synths are squelchy and shapeless, and the song staggers its way through its three minute run time. Palomo's vocal melody is ridiculously catchy, especially in the chorus. When the chorus hits, the song pulls itself together to sound like it might contain some semblance of organization, only to fall into a disorienting myth of synthesizers and samples again for the verse. It is a neat trick, and again, Palomo's vocal melody just works its way into your head and refuses to leave. 

Next is "Smut!" which is a largely forgettable, albeit hilarious track. I'm not going to explain the lyrics to you, but here they are. The song has again, a superbly catchy chorus and shows a humorous side to Neon Indian that is sometimes left out of his records. "Smut!" is followed by "Bozo" which is the album's second and best instrumental. "Bozo" is barely over a minute long, but features an absolutely viscous groove/beat, reminiscent of Daft Punk in the best way one can be related to them. The song is relentless and pounding, a great dance interlude for the album. 

The album hits a stride starting with "Bozo" and reaches its peak with the next song "The Glizy Hive." This is not only the finest song of the album, but it is also easily Palomo's best creation, a strong candidate for song of the year in 2015, and probably the best thing to have ever come out of chillwave. The song is infuriatingly catchy. Well produced is an understatement, with its punchy, groovy instrumental. Palomo gives his best vocal performance ever as well as his best production performance ever at the same time. The song is dancable, catchy, and satisfying in every way. There is arguably only one pop song written this year that can match it and I do not say that lightly. 

Palomo then knocks it out of the park again with "Dear Skorpio Magazine" "Slumlord" and "Slumlord Reprise." All three tracks give us more of what we expect from Neon Indian, but catchier, tighter, better produced, and more fun. Palomo again shows his sense of humor on "Dear Skorpio Magazine" while showing a more serious side on "Slumlord." Despite its heavier subject matter, "Slumlord" is a wildly fun track that is also quite catchy. Notice a common theme here? Every song here is irresistibly catchy. Palomo just knows how to write a hook and is a remarkably consistent songwriter, something we have all known for years but just now are recognizing. 

The album hits a bit of a rut with "Techno Clique" and "Baby's Eyes." Techno Clique features a strong beat that is considerably faster and more energetic than anything else here, but completely falls flat vocally. The melody is almost non existent, and the fantastic beat is only interesting for a few minutes, much short of the song's four and a half minute run time. "Baby's Eyes" is not a bad song by any means, but is not nearly as stellar as any of the other tracks either. It is Palomo's attempt at writing a ballad and it goes over well. The main limitation the track carries is it's unwieldy six and a half minute run time, which feels largely unnecessary. 

The album closes out on three high(ish) notes, starting with "C'est La Vie (Say the Casualties!)." This is the albums most fun track, and makes a run at being the album's second best until the last minute of the song which devolves into a repetition of the title that begins to get slightly grating after a while. "61 Cygni Ave" is the group's most overtly reggae influenced work. It is overall a fun track, albeit not one that particularly sticks with you. Unfortunately, reggae is not one of the genres that I listen to on my own accord, and I feel guilty deriding a reggae influenced song due to my lack of experience in the genre. The album then closes with "News from the Sun" which is the third major high point of this album. Palomo channels his inner Prince for this one. Palomo nails the voice, the inflections, the melody, and the charisma in a way that makes this song easily passable as one of Prince's better songs. A comparison to Prince is not something I just throw around, so for me to compare the skills of this relatively unknown artist to the greatest individual pop star in modern memory (sorry MJ) is a big deal. 

Overall, Alan Palomo has crafted a fantastic little record here. It is strongly nostalgic of the 1980s night life, yet is a distinctly modern sounding album. It does not serve some larger purpose or pretend to be anything other than a frighteningly catchy and fun dance album. Every song on here sounds like the soundtrack to a city at night, every song sounds like it could have been "that song" that everybody gets on the dance floor for back in the 80s. This is not the kind of album that will win many awards, top anybody's end of the year lists, or be respected as highly influential or as a modern classic. It is just a fantastic album for the time being, and just like that song that makes everybody get on the floor, it will soon pass and everybody will go home, back to their boring lives. 

HIGHPOINTS: "Annie" "Bozo" "Street Level" "The Glitzy Hive" "Slumlord" "C'est La Vie" "News From the Sun"

LOWPOINTS: "Techno Clique" 

Recommended albums: Multi Love - Unknown Mortal Orchestra (this album's competition for my personal pop album of the year) Currents - Tame Impala,  Purple Rain - Prince, Gossamer - Passion Pit

Post 1c: CONTEMPORARY REVIEW 1: Wiped Out! - The Neighbourhood

Contemporary Review: Wiped Out! - The Neighbourhood

3.5/10

Background: And by choosing this album to review I shall again destroy any hipster legitimacy that I had built back up by fawning over Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest. The Neighbourhood is an alternative rock/pop band from California, who have been known to dabble in R&B and rap influences from time to time. Their music and image often features a heavy handed black/white aesthetic that serves no real purpose except for being generic and to attract indie girls who like to tell people they are into other music but are just listening to mainstream pop with a different face/facade. Aside: there is nothing wrong with being that person, but if you read that and it stung a little bit, maybe you should expand your musical tastes or get over it. Anyways. The Neighbourhood's career can essentially summed up by this fight, with The Neighbourhood played by the heckler and society played by 6'7" WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. The Neighbourhood came out of the gate talking a big game with smash hit singles like "Sweater Weather" (the soundtrack for every winter indie romance that year) and "Afraid," the song that all those faux hipsters listened to when they got home and began worrying about that aforementioned person cheating on them like they probably were. The Neighbourhood then proceeded to release their aggressively mediocre debut album that somehow managed to make both of those enjoyable singles sound worse in the context of the album. The rest of society, much in the same manner as WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, just tore the band apart and forgot about them, but not before reminding them to never do something like that again (eerily similar, right?). In 2014, the band released an R&B mixtape with a multitude of rap features. I expected to have to break out the boxing gloves for this mixtape, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. Don't get me wrong, at best it's a 6.5 or 7/10, because the low points are some of the lowest of the band's career, but some of the songs on there would be fantastic tracks for any band. With that mixtape to mostly wash the taste of the debut album out of my mouth (ears?), I went into this album expecting to see the band pursue a more R&B oriented direction. 

Review: Before I do what I'm about to do to The Neighbourhood, I figure I should say some things that I like about the album just to get it out of the way. I think the cover art is cool. A few songs on here like"The Beach" have catchy vocal melodies here and there. "Daddy Issues" is a pretty good song with some nice production. "Ferrari" is a decent song if you don't listen to the lyrics. That is just about all I have to say in the way of compliments for this album, and those are responsible for all three and a half points that I am giving this album.

I knew this project was going to be a disaster within the first thirty seconds. The album opens with a thirty second track titled "A Moment of Silence." Fittingly, the track is 30 seconds of NOTHING. No sound. Just silence. I don't know where The Neighbourhood gets off thinking they've built up the clout to open their sophomore album, the one that makes or breaks them, with a stunt like that. Also what they did by pulling a move like that is placed the stakes so much higher on the upcoming songs, because if they suck (they do) it will only become more infuriating. Nice work boys, you're 0/1 on actual songs here.

My next major issue is the lyrical content. Now, I am not one of those people that need to be listening to music with deep lyrical content or a higher purpose. The amount of music from artists like Chief Keef and Gucci Mane on my computer can attest to that. I listen to this mess of romantic cheesiness more often than I should. Lyrics only mean anything to me when they are supposed to be the focus of the music rather than the instrumentation, the melody, the flow of the song, etc. The Neighbourhood is a band that focuses on lyrics. The production is supposed to be interesting, the melody lines are usually sweet, but their focus is intended to be on lyrical content and vocal performance, both of which are somehow the album's biggest fault and were the biggest faults I had with the first album as well. The emotions discussed here and the relationship turmoils that are the subject of nearly every song are so juvenile that it is sickening. I can remember thinking some of the exact things said on here in elementary school when I had a crush on a girl I sometimes saw on the playground. Any emotional issues addressed on this album are things that any complex and mature individual should have figured out by either their sixteenth birthday or their first multiple month relationship, whichever comes first. There is absolutely no evidence presented here that proves singer Jessie Rutherford has developed as a romantic individual in any way past the age of fourteen. It is no wonder almost all of these songs are about turmoil in relationships or break ups: if my significant other had the emotional depth of a child I would leave them too! The amount of insecurities shown on this album is just astounding, and none of them represent any of the insecurities that an emotionally developed individual is reasonably allowed to have. Being insecure is part of the human experience, and usually perfectly normal in a relationship, and there is a way to address them in singing that makes for some incredibly powerful music (See: Gossamer - Passion Pit, anything written by GIRLS, Father John Misty, Weezer etc). This is not expressed here. Rutherford's insecurities reek of selfishness and a lack of emotional depth, without any signs that might lead the listener to believe that the person singing them is self aware or repentant at all. The lines are delivered flatly and generically, with no discernible emotion other than the occasional laughable attempt to sound sexy or intimidating. Curiously enough, this was not a problem on the band's mixtape. The Jessie Rutherford on #000000 & #ffffff (the mixtape) was infinitely more compelling because he wasn't whining about relationship drama; he wasn't even looking for a relationship on the best songs. When Rutherford isn't whining about things only middle schoolers and the emotionally vapid relate to, he is desperately trying to be sexy. He sticks out his chest, puts on his blackest leather jacket/black jeans combo, slicks his hair back, and tries to be a bad boy, but ends up looking like a total idiot doing so (that picture is of rapper G Eazy, but nearly every complain I have here can be applied to his music as well). His buffoonish swagger is laughable at best, the false bravado of a person who is quite insecure at heart. Rutherford is blatantly trying to cash in on the intimidating/sexy dichotomy that The Weeknd (re) popularized and has progressively gotten worse at since his brilliant first mixtape (by the way, Wiped Out! is a gutless remake of that album that shamelessly borrows from it) but fails miserably at being anything other than that tool. Rutherford comes off as the kind of guy that walks up to a girl in a bar and starts making assertions in an attempt to be commandingly sexy all the while failing to recognize the woman's boyfriend next to her. He then proceeds to get his teeth knocked down his throat and then to crawl home and cry about that girl for the next couple weeks, about how close he would be to true love if it weren't for that tyrannical boyfriend of hers.

The second worst thing about this album are the artistic risks it takes. Now in principle I respect an artist willing to take risks, and nearly all of my favorite bands and the most important artists ever were those willing to take big risks (The Beatles, Sex Pistols, The Clash, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, among many others). But the risks The Neighbourhood are calculated. They are not artistic, they are not dangerous. Just lazy. I already discussed the stunt they pulled in the opening that flopped miserably (actual footage of The Neighbourhood recording this album), but there are even more throughout the album. The title track features a noisy build up in the second half of the song that is meant to be artistic but comes off as a gutless attempt at artistic pacing and longer song structure solely for the sake of having long songs. They then try this disaster again on "Baby Come Home 2 / Valentines" and it fails just as miserably as the first, as if these guys don't realize that their album does not carry enough artistic merit to warrant experiments. One must learn how to write actual songs before they can experiment with them, and The Neighbourhood refuses to acknowledge this. The rest of the songs on here sound like awful attempts to write a Weeknd song. The "dark" production and psuedo-sexy vocals remind me of what the Weeknd would sound like if he lost all his charisma and talent in a freak accident (the way The Weeknd's last few albums have gone I fear this might have been what actually happened). The Neighbourhood try to be The Weeknd, but end up being more akin to Justin Beiber's newest album Purpose. They both fall laughably flat at what they try to do, with both singers sounding detached and sexless, and using their looks and aesthetics to sell records to teenage girls who do not know know any better. I bet the band felt really clever when they wrote a song about California, its addictive nature, and how it is impossible to leave. If this sounds like a familiar plot, it is because one of the most well known tracks off the most well known album from one of the most well known rock bands of all time did the exact same idea first. This is an album filled with artistic flops left and right, and when the album isn't busy making embarrassing decisions it goes back to pitifully trying to be The Weeknd.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of this album is the fact that I am not actually listening to it as I review it. I force myself to get through maybe one or two songs and then I have to change it to something else. Perhaps this just is not a project for somebody like me, but I can not sit here and honestly recommend that anybody should give it a try. The only reason I can see listening to this album might be a good idea is to get a feel for what not to do with a pop album. Perhaps I am being dramatic, but that is my job here. If you like The Neighbourhood or the type or entry level pop indie they provide there are some things to enjoy here, but you should probably listen to something else instead. The public is going to have a field day with doing anything but listening to this album and it will probably end the career of The Neighbourhood. Everybody has already forgotten about The Neighbourhood again and it has been a little over a month since the album's release. End of review, I can't do it anymore.

Highpoints: "Daddy Issues," the instrumental on "Ferrari," the vocal melody on "R.I.P. 2 My Youth"

Lowpoints: "Single" "A Moment of Silence" "Prey" "Cry Baby" "Wiped Out" "Baby Came Home 2 / Valentines"

Recommended  (better) Albums: House of Balloons - The Weeknd, Wildheart - Miguel, AM - Arctic Monkeys

Post 1b: MODERN CLASSIC REVIEW 1: Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter

Modern Classic Review: Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter

9.5/10

Background: Time to restore all the hipster cred (yes that is my intended audience) I lost by writing a Led Zeppelin review right out of the gate. Anyways. Deehunter is an indie/experimental rock band from Atlanta, Georgia that has been putting out hipster-worshiped music since 2001. Deerhunter's music has strong influences from shoegaze, punk, post-punk, dream pop, 50s/60s girl group pop, folk, alternative rock, and new wave music. The primary force behind Deerhunter (as well as the leader of the cherished indie act Atlas Sound) is Bradford Cox, the band's vocalist, secondary guitarist, and primary lyricist (for the most part). Other than their inconsequential debut album, their discography includes five albums and two EPs. Those albums include the brilliant but, well, cryptic Cryptograms (one of those albums everybody says is their favorite despite not understanding it at all), the double album Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (this album is the one that actually got every fake-fan of Cryptograms into Deerhunter), Halcyon Digest (see below), the heavy, noisy departure Monomania, and their most recently album, Fading Frontier. As far as my personal history with Deerhunter goes, I thoroughly enjoyed Cryptograms once I understood it (I still do not "get" a decent portion of the first half), loved Microcastle/Weird Era Cont., am currently writing a review about how much I adore Halcyon Digest, found Monomania to be great in theory and ultimately disappointing (to be fair, how does one even follow up Halcyon Digest?) and am not sure how I feel about Fading Frontier. 

Review: When I first heard about Deerhunter, before I had even heard their music, it was because somebody told me "Bradford Cox is one weird dude." I was thinking he was strange in more of a George Costanza way, and boy was I wrong. A self described asexual, not that there's anything wrong with that (that's right two Seinfeld references in one paragraph. I'm starting to get arrogant), a sufferer of Marfan's Syndrome, holder of an eccentric personality (Almost NSFW due to minor language in text format), and a genuinely unique individual, This eclecticism is important to Deerhunter's music, especially this particular album. The album is intended to play like a short series of radio blips, like breaks in the static of a dead radio channel. Many of the songs reflect Cox's feelings of melancholy, isolation, and resignation. Random/eventually connected aside/pity party: It seems fitting that as I write this I currently have a 102 degree fever (as well as all the fun side effects) and feel like death (what a chilling video), as this fever is how I imagine Bradford Cox has felt his entire life, judging by his music. Themes of death and loneliness cover this album like a blanket, as well as plenty of Southern Gothic and religious imagery, no doubt a product of the band's southern upbringing. They are then contrasted to the catchy melodies and beautiful effects and songwriting present behind the macabre lyrics. Cox, who is infamously outspoken (NSFW language) and extroverted to a creepy fault yet simultaneously vulnerable and damaged beyond repair, seems to be a fitting vessel for the themes presented on this album. Cox, understandably, has some serious inner demons, and they are made readily apparent over the course of Halcyon Digest's run time. 

The album opens with the song "Earthquake." The song begins with a series of synthesized whispers and cracks, as an acoustic guitar plays delicately over the intentionally fake percussion. Cox then begins singing his typically cryptic lyrics in a voice nearly drowned out in effects. The lyrics discuss the false memories Cox created in his head during a rough period in his life, such as his non existent friendship with fellow musician Ricky Wilson (guitarist for the B-52s, AIDS casualty in 1985), or his memories of living in an abandoned harp factory. Like I said, Cox is a strange individual.  

Deerhunter then launches into the next two tracks, the surprisingly heavy "Don't Cry" and the snakelike "Revival." Both tracks clock in at less than three minutes, and are loud, distorted affairs. Both tracks have helped Deerhunter further gain notoriety in the indie rock world for their "savage" live performance, where the hidden volume and aggression of their music is heavily amplified. While Deerhunter is not an inherently heavy band on record, some of their more aggressive album tracks can be made into punk-like jams if need be. Also to note on both tracks is the drumming of Moses Archuleta. Like most of the band, his talents are better showcased in a live format (check out the ridiculously talented bass playing by a barely conscious Joshua Fauver in that video in addition to the machine like precision of Archuleta during the more complicated passages), but even on record his precise and economical playing helps drive these two heavier songs forward. 

After "Revival" the album reaches its first climax with the song "Sailing." The song is not the explosive climax that the earlier two songs might point towards. "Sailing" is a beautiful, quiet jam that features just Cox's voice and delicate guitar playing, plus some watery effects and subtle percussion towards the end. It paints a beautiful picture of simply wanting to sit on a boat and play guitar all day, with no worries, no pressure, nobody to judge, etc. Here Cox begins to develop his theme of isolation, but in this context it is by choice. Cox just wishes to get away from it all, to hop on a boat and go sailing. The song comes as a sharp contrast to the previous few tracks and sounds particularly poignant when contrasted. 

The next three tracks, "Memory Boy," "Desire Lines" and "Basement Scene" show Deerhunter flexing some pop songwriting muscle. All three are upbeat, catchy, fast, and simultaneously dark. Their melodies draw from 50s and 60s girl group pop (especially the melody line of "Basement Scene"), post punk, and psychedelia. "Desire Lines" could just have easily been written Joy Division as "Basement Scene" could have been written by The Ronettes (minus the lyrics about getting high, but then again maybe not). These are the album's catchiest songs, and contain very little of the malice or depression found earlier in the album. Things are just beginning to look up for Cox's mental state. 

Suddenly, all the progress made towards Cox's improvement is torn down by the album's true climax, the song "Helicopter." Cox paints the picture of himself in a vegetative state, on his deathbed. It is here that Cox decides to give into his demise, and lets the relief of death wash over him like a wave. The song features bubbling underwater effects, and the guitar that comes in for the chorus feels like a wave washing to shore. Cox's lyrics are beautiful and grim, and feature more of the religious imagery present on tracks like "Revival." The song features multiple peaks and has a wide dynamic range due to the delicate acoustic verses and and massive underwater chorus. 

After "Helicopter" the album features the poppy "Fountain Stairs," the explosive, saxophone filled "Coronado" and the album's closer "He Would Have Laughed." Both "Fountain Stairs" and "Coronado" make use of horns in an unexpectedly brilliant way and are two great tracks that ultimately add little to the theme of the album. The closer is dedicated to the late garage rock legend Jay Reatard and features a delicate acoustic guitar and an interesting stop/start drum pattern. Cox puts on his best Jay Reatard impression by adding a bit of rasp and attitude to his voice, and the song switches speeds often over its seven minute run time. 

As far as influence goes, it is hard to tell what impact Halcyon Digest will have. It is still a young album (released in 2010), and not one with a distinct or easy to imitate sound. However, it is still a very important album in the cannon of indie rock. It established Deerhunter as one of the more popular faces of indie and alternative music, and has done much to further the spread of dream pop and shoegaze influences in modern rock. Deerhunter's noise pop opus remains to this day their most popular and acclaimed album, as well as their easiest to understand because they were able to take the avant-garde nature of Cryptograms and fuse it with the pop of Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. in order to make an album that is so much more than either of those two. 

Highlights: "Don't Cry' "Revival" "Sailing" "Memory Boy" "Desire Lines" "Helicopter"

Lowpoints: "Earthquake" (It feels like more of an experimental introduction than a song) 

Recommended Albums: Parallax - Atlas Sound, Bloom - Beach House, Shields - Grizzly Bear, Here and Nowhere Else - Cloud Nothings 

Blog Post 1b: CLASSIC REVIEW 1: Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin

Classic Review: Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin

 

CLASSIC/10

Background: Led Zeppelin is/was/will forever be a hard rock/heavy metal/blues band from London, England. Zeppelin was formed from the ashes of The Yardbirds, the band with arguably (but nobody is going to fight you on it) the most ridiculously talented guitarist line-up of any band ever. Eventually that ship sunk due to in fighting and gave birth to Led Zeppelin, trading one overly skilled blues band for another overly skilled blues band that is actually listenable. Led Zeppelin's early sound was rooted in blues, but drew influences from psychedelia, early heavy metal, folk, and more blues. They eventually evolved to include influences from progressive rock, Americana, reggae, funk, mythology/fantasy, Eastern music, and, quite regrettably, something that came close to resembling disco (don't get me wrong I enjoy disco, especially post-disco, but it was not a good sound for a band whose unofficial and largely fabricated biography is titled Hammer of the Gods). They are typically regarded as the most influential band to inhabit the post-Beatles musical universe, and are the second highest selling artist in the USA. Their discography includes 6 definitive classic albums, one decent album, and two pieces of hot garbage. Outside of music, they were infamous for their debauchery and general idiocy (slightly NSFW due to brief language and descriptions of hedonism) and really helped to create the wonderful trope of the excessive rock star.  

Review: It is fairly undeniable (unlike the majority of the people in your life, the numbers don't lie) that Led Zeppelin reached their commercial peak with their untitled album aka Led Zeppelin IV to anybody that isn't a pretentious loser. Their artistic peak, however, was reached with Physical Graffiti, and anybody that disagrees is wrong because I say so and I have a blog and they don't. Ha. Anyways. Physical Graffiti features some of the longest songs of any Zeppelin album, as well as some of the most complex (not that song length inherently equals complexity, a lesson that the majority of progressive rock needs to learn). The musicianship and songwriting skills shown on this album, especially on longer tracks such as "In My Time Dying", "Ten Years Gone", and "In The Light" are among the best ever put to vinyl. Equally impressive are shorter tracks such as the interlude "Bron-Yr-Aur," which features some dazzling acoustic guitar playing from Jimmy Page, and "The Wanton Song," a jerky, off beat rocker that alternates blazing fast playing with sudden stops and starts. It may not sound too impressive to the average person, but believe me, having to coordinate those sudden stops and starts with a full band is nearly impossible for mere mortals. This album is the sound incredibly skilled individuals (every member has been voted to be the best singer/guitarist/bassist/drummer of all time in multiple polls) at the absolute peak of their musicianship. 

I would be lying to you if I said Physical Graffiti is an easy album. Some of the songs are excessively long and at times just boring. It's eighty two minutes long. Not everybody appreciates raw musicianship in the same way they enjoy a happy vibe or a catchy hook, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you listen carefully, however, these more conventional aspects are plentiful across the album. There is a reason this unwieldy behemoth is 16x platinum in the USA, and it's not because Billy working down at the Topeka Wal Mart  really gets off to nice string arrangements, ten minute blues songs about dying, and lyrics that reference The Lord of the Rings. Zep's main commercial draw comes from the way the music makes the listener feel. "The Rover" and "Trampled Underfoot" both feature aggressive guitar playing and grooves that could make even your grandmother feel like the coolest person on the planet. "Houses of the Holy," "Down by the Seaside" and "Boogie with Stu" are all short, easy, catchy songs that still feature Led Zeppelin's typical complexity. (Fun fact: "Boogie with Stu" features one Mrs. Valens in its writing credits, added when the band realized that the mother of the deceased Ritchie Valens never received any royalties from her son's tragic eight month recording career.) The epic "Kashmir" might just be the greatest driving song ever written, especially in the desert. Despite this, while there certainly are some more conventional things to enjoy about this album, the primary way, in my opinion, to listen to Physical Graffiti is to let the album take you on a journey, maaaaaaan, and absorb you into its huge world of fantasy, excess, and gloriously sloppy guitar solos. 

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Physical Graffiti is the way it plays with dynamic range, or basically the way some parts of songs are quiet and then suddenly get loud. Many of the songs on this album feature a member of the band playing in a more quiet register only to have the rest of the group pop up like Gene Parmesan and form an explosive climax for the song. What Physical Graffiti lacks in regard to Zep's earlier, heavier albums it makes up for in its epic scope and contrasting sounds. Quiet/loud passages are more common in the previously mentioned longer songs, such as "In the Light" and "Ten Years Gone." This use of quiet/loud contrast would later be imitated by The Pixies (although nobody ever acknowledges that The Pixies took it from Zeppelin), who were the primary influence on a little band called Nirvana. This use of contrasting song elements was innovative at the time, and has found influence in genres as diverse as grunge, EDM/IDM, rap, metal, and even punk (more than a few punks had an outspoken hatred for the cheesiness and ridiculous song length of Led Zeppelin, and some punk tropes were subtle jabs at the conventions of metal set by Zeppelin). 

If I had to pick an album that truly represents Led Zeppelin, it would be Physical Graffiti. It features all of the elements that come to mind when I picture the high points of the band's career. However, I would not start somebody new to Zeppelin here (I would have them listen in chronological order starting with Led Zeppelin I in order to give them a full grasp of the evolution Zeppelin's sound underwent during the course of their career). This is a complex and lengthy record, one that rewards multiple listens, yet can be enjoyed upon first listen as well. It is an album of beautiful, delicate subtlety and dark heaviness. Some songs deal with love, both in the physical and mental sense, and some deal with death. Contrasts run amok through the album as well as in Led Zeppelin's career, and I feel that is important to keep in mind while listening. As far as influence, this album, as well as all of the band's albums, can be heard in heavy metal and its sub-genres, including the monstrosity that became hair metal, progressive rock, post-rock, and even some areas of folk rock. Truly a monumental album for a truly monumental band. 

Highlights: "The Rover" "In My Time of Dying" "Trampled Underfoot" "Kashmir" "In the Light" "Ten Years Gone" "The Wanton Song"

Lowpoints (if I had to pick): "Sick Again" "Custard Pie" (seriously the central metaphor and last verse of this song is just uncomfortable)

Recommended albums: Literally anything in Zeppelin's discography that was released before this one (albums after Physical Graffiti took a steep nosedive in quality), Paranoid -Black Sabbath, Machine Head - Deep Purple, Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (yeah I just did that)

Blog Post #1a: Introduction, or How You Will Know What This Blog Is About And Why I Would Attempt Such A Thing As This (Not Voluntarily)

Introduction (If you are going to skip this introduction like I know you want to do, please at least read the disclaimer in the last paragraph)
This is a blog that has been created to fulfill the requirements of my 20% time project. Whether or not it does that is to be seen, and if we are being honest with ourselves, seems unlikely. For those unfamiliar, 20% time is an idea my beloved instructor blatantly stole from Google (to be fair, he did credit them when introducing this project), who blatantly stole the idea from 3M's 15% project. In a typical Google move, Google had to kick things up a notch and changed it to 20% time, thus popularizing this phenomenon in a format 5% better than it previously existed. So it goes. Nothing is original anymore, and as you will soon see from my blog's unabashed and shameless idea stealing from overrated publications like Pitchfork.com and theneedledrop.com, I just don't care. Anyways. The question my glorious instructor has posed to us is "How will you enhance your world?" That question initially staggered me, as it has essentially been the goal of mankind since the beginning of humanity, and I really didn't know the answer. I then decided to give up on saving the ENTIRE world and began trying to improve my own world, which is how every happy man since the beginning of mankind has answered that question. I began thinking, and then realized that most of my day consists of listening to music, talking about music, thinking about music, and making music. I don't do a whole lot with my time. My 20% time is to write a series of music reviews. I'm not changing the world, walking old ladies across the street, or pulling a third world country out of poverty like many of my classmates. I chose to write music reviews because I genuinely care about the music I listen to. I am one of the few people that can say music has changed my life and helped me find who I am as a person, and not in the cheesy, basic way that every "deeper than thou" stoner claims music has affected him. On top of that, I feel that many of my friends and peers do not listen to music "properly." I put this word in quotes, as music is a completely subjective experience and to say that there is a best way to listen to music is among the stupidest things I've ever heard in my life. What I mean by this is that many people do not listen to music by the album, the format the artist usually intends it to be listened to in. Many do not search for a deeper meaning in their music, appreciate the effort or artistry put into even the most simplistic music, and simply enjoy music in its most simplistic form. While there is nothing wrong with that, it is somewhat akin to eating only cheese pizza for one's entire life. Cheese pizza is more than a solid option, but to never experience the joys of a vastly superior sausage pizza is just a shame. I personally feel that one of the best ways to learn how to appreciate music for what it is intended to do is to read things from the perspective of another person who is analyzing the music for them. I also have inherit issues with most of the other music publications. Pitchfork has generally become a pretentious mess and, to make things worse/better, has sold out to the man, maaaaan.  Consequence of Sound has been lying to us now about something that is so far from a joking matter that it offends me on a personal level that they would even pretend to have the inside scoop on something like this (expect a doting modern classic review of at least one, possibly two, LCD Soundsystem albums in future blog posts). The Needle Drop is... well, fine, I guess, but I still have yet to find anybody that agrees with Anthony Fantano more than 60% of the time on his scores, and I'm not sure if I would want to take musical advice from somebody who so strikingly resembles a cantaloupe. I also do not believe that most music publications are easily readable for the average person, as most of them are publications devoid of any humor (save The Needle Drop), and usually just try to impress the reader with pretentious writing and music jargon that means absolutely nothing to anybody.

My biweekly goals for this assignment are as follows:

As this is an assignment with an objective sense of complete/incomplete, the required question asking me how I intend to measure my progress doesn't even warrant a response in my book.

The final requirement of my introduction is listed as "establish your voice." I feel that I have properly done this, so now is the time to issue my disclaimer. My voice is one of sarcasm, irony, satire, mocking, exaggeration, and occasionally formality. I like to poke fun at things. I like to be dramatic about issues. Yes, I know my hyperlinks barely make sense and are usually irrelevant. I get sidetracked often, and it is usually intentional rather than the product of poor writing. I don't need organizational issues to prove to my readers that I am not a professional writer. I have my prose for that. Doing these things for the sake of humor makes my posts much more readable and entertaining (at least to me), and is a style of writing that I personally enjoy. As a person, I rarely feel as strongly on issues as I appear to here. When I poke fun at things like my teacher, other sites, artists, albums, etc. it is nearly always for the sake of a joke and in good humor. I mean no offense to anybody. Creating an album, be it good or bad, is an immense undertaking and is to always be respected. Also to keep in mind is that these are the writings of a single human being. Music is very subjective, possibly the most subjective of any of the art forms. My opinion is not the right or wrong answer, and neither is any opinion that is not your own. I am simply here to share how I interpret music in a humorous and entertaining way that hopefully inspires you to think a little more about the piece of art playing in your headphones. I do minimal proofreading and revisions, and thus this blog is already undoubtedly filled with errors already. Expect me to contradict myself multiple times throughout this project. I just don't really care. You'll find that is a common theme with me. Anyways. Any images, videos, songs, or other media used in this blog are not my own unless designated otherwise, and are used fairly.

NOTE: My blog posts will come in sections designated by numbers and letters. I cannot write 5-6 album reviews in a single blog post, as that is inefficient and far too much writing in one block for the average person's attention span. This post is designated as Blog Post 1a. My first classic review will be designated as Blog Post 1b, the next review will be Blog Post 1c, so on and so forth until I finish what I feel is enough work to feel good about, and enough for my teacher to properly grade. Any random blog posts that I am doing purely for my own entertainment and that I do not wish to be graded will not be assigned to one of my six blog posts. They will just have a title, but no number.