And behold! Radiohead come along, with their usual cheek and casually drop a record with less than a week's notice. And whilst some of us think "wait, this can't be it?! There must be more!" as those who are disappointed by afraid to say often get, others of us, myself included, see a modest little release, half full of gorgeous, instant Radiohead classics, and the other half requiring us to work a bit to find the beauty. But my friends, it's there.
Otherwise, my top 10 tracks of the month come from a variety of different musical sources. From obscure gems to, quite frankly, the guiltiest of pleasures. It's all good though, I promise you.
Gaga does not feature, so you know.
10. Glee Cast - Thriller/Heads Will Roll
Despite being a distinctly lacklustre and inconsistent show since its opening episodes, the musical side to Glee still occasionally manages to hit a streak of brilliance. Mashing up an arrangement of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Heads Will Roll" that is most certainly influenced by the thunderous A-Trak remix, with what could've been a standard Glee performance of "Thriller", makes it anything by standard. It goes to show that when it wants to be, Ryan Murphy's high school geek fest can be much more musically current and exciting than its dreary plotlines.
9. Toro Y Moi - New Beat
Toro Y Moi's sophomore record "Underneath the Pine" has yet to grow on me. After the lustrous glowing lo fi "Off the Wall" pastiche of "Causers of This", "Underneath the Pine" is a much more difficult listen to those, such as myself, listening out for the same gorgeous ear candy of their 2010 gem. However, first single "New Beat" manages to be right on the money from the first listen. In the same way that Ariel Pink's "Round and Round" managed to be both gloriously era-authentic and melodically hypnotic, "New Beat" entrances us with its clumsy disco beats and greasy 70s squelch-synths.
8. Ke$ha - Blow
Bad taste alert! Ke$ha's "Cannibal" EP offers nothing that we didn't hear on her ALMOST impressive out-of-hand-party of a debut, but that doesn't mean that her dirty club anthems are any less addictive. As with her collosal "We R Who We R", "Blow" employs a cut and paste vocal on the chorus, one that shields us from the blast of what would've been an immense vocal attack, but we're still showered with the debris of beats and electronics colliding. And as with any Ke$ha track you'd care to mention, it doesn't relent.
7. Cut Copy - Pharaohs and Pyramids
It is such a relief to find that "Zonoscope" is as good as its first two magnificent, genre-defining singles, and "Pharoahs and Pyramids" almost approaches the dizzying heights of those tracks, starting off, as so many tracks on "Zonoscope", with restraint and subtlety, before well and truly unleashing its glorious climax upon the unsuspecting listener. In this case it's a chaotic wall of synth chords that pummels the beats into the background, but its a battle that results in nothing short of sheer euphoria.
6. The New Division - No Health
And now a pupil from the Cut Copy school of indie dance music, outimpressing their teachers in this case. From their above average EP "The Rookie" (very aptly named), "No Health" would sound very bedroom-indiepop if it weren't for its undeniably beautiful hooks and a syncopated bass donk taken straight from the late 90s. The New Division certainly couldn't sound in better health here.
5. Jessie J - Abracadabra
There's not much I need to say about this album highlight that I haven't already raved about in Popdar #16, (see here: http://givepopachance.blogspot.com/2011/02/popdar-16-jessie-j-you-win.html) so I'll just repost the video and leave Jessie to cast her perfect pop spell upon you once more. Sadly, it's the only time on the album that I personally was bewitched by her, but one blissful pop song is better than a mediocre record without exception.
4. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
Terrifying as always, but this time Tyler has a record deal and means business. You can read what I had to say about "Yonkers" here: http://givepopachance.blogspot.com/2011/02/unpopdar-1-im-fucking-walking-paradox.html
3. Radiohead - Give Up The Ghost
One listen to the introspective and fragile "King of Limbs" and you can feel yourself growing old with Radiohead. On "Give Up The Ghost", a gathering of background Thoms weakly emplore "don't hurt me" on a loop throughout, and his falsetto has rarely sounded more fearful. But there's no sign of angsty, panicky tenor here, ala "Wolf at the Door", this is resigned fear and gentle pleading, and quite honestly, Radiohead has never sounded more beautiful.
2. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
"Limit To Your Love" was nothing compared to this. How anyone who loved Blake's quirky cover of "Limit" could be disappointed with a self-destruction anthem this heartbreaking is beyond me. "I don't know about my loving anymore" sings a resigned and defeated Blake over a gorgeous chord sequence, that is gradually enveloped by glass shatteringly loud percussion and a crescendo that leads a cacophony of feedback. The track sounds like its drowning slowly, and Blake tries to resist at first, but eventually concedes: "might as well fall in". A strong contender for track of the year already.
1. Radiohead - Codex
...Well, "Wilhelm Scream" is certainly a strong contender until one first hears the opening notes of Radiohead's latest perfect piece of music, entitled "Codex", then its entirely possible that you will reconsider. There's actually quite a lot of Radiohead influence to be heard in James Blake's remarkable lonely soundscapes. But whilst Blake, in his youth, seems unwilling to emotionally commit to his listener, hiding behind big, confusing vocal arrangements and sharp clicks and beeps, Radiohead left that behind many years ago.
As with "Nude", "Sail to the Moon" and "Pyramid Song", no one does a surreal power ballad like Radiohead. But this time round, we're hearing the message clearer than ever. "Jump off the edge, into a clear lake" Thom peacefully murmers to us, and so enchanting is the shimmering piano that we could well be enticed in ourselves without realising. As with all of Radiohead's thoughtful suicide ballads (or what we assume to be), there is a level of innocence and even optimism that makes it even more beautiful and poignant. Thom rhymes "dragonflies" with "fantasise", and all of a sudden we enter the fantasy world that only Radiohead can open up to us.
And with every record, although it seems we are let further and further into the mindset of Mr Yorke, it's my bet that we will probably never understand quite what these beautiful words mean. But isn't that where the magic lies?
No comments:
Post a Comment