NYC Music

New York may have turned into Yuppie Paradise but musically it has closed the decade in style, on top of the pop heap. Excuse me then if I indulge in some dancing about architecture.

It has been a fantastic Indie decade for the city, contributing more unforgettable albums to these fragmented ten years than any other time since the CBGB’s heydays in the late 70’s. Be it The Strokes’ Is This It? or TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain and Dear Science or Vampire Weekend’s eponymous debut, its been a thrilling ride. In my opinion though, 2009 has put all the other years in the shade.

Just take a look at this year’s releases. Among the countless hipster faves, you’ll find such gems as Antony and The Johnsons’ The Crying Light, Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, Julian Casablancas’ Phrazes for the Young and arguably the best album of the year- Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca.

Pic: Antony Hegarty, beautifully brittle

The Crying Light was the first of the lot that I managed to get. Its impossible to go through the strangely luminous, teasingly seductive songs that makes up the album without being profoundly moved. Everyone knows about Antony Hegarty’s much talked about sexuality, but it really amazes how few have actually heard the music. A great amalgam of jazz figures, understated autumnal strings and Hegarty’s beautiful voice, The Crying Light is absolutely brilliant. Although the album deals with issues like death and decay it’s a classic statement of the creative will turning fear into a defiant celebration of life. Epilepsy is Dancing, based in part on the famous Japanese Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno, who at 106, is still performing, is a case in point. And then there are deeply sexy, playful songs like Kiss My Name, one of the most accomplished come-ons set to music that I can think of. On top of all that, Hegarty’s album makes one of the most personal environmentalist statements in music. In the haunting Another World, he sings, “I’m gonna miss the sea, gonna miss the snows; I’m gonna miss the trees, miss the things that grow.” A beautiful album.

Pic: Animal Collective, Good Vibrations

Very happy with life seem Brooklyn favourites Animal Collective. They delivered another early stunner when Merriweather Post Pavilion was released in January this year. MPP is like most other AC albums in one way- it takes time getting used to. At least so I thought, before I heard the album a second time. Its no understatement to say that this is veritable candy-shop of an album- immensely accessible, and with new sound-treats in store every time you visit.

Lyrically the songs move away from the tribal hootenannies of yore, peopled by strange animals and colours, as Panda Bear and Avey Tare write about the joys of domesticity on Summertime Clothes. Of course, if you’re as Day-Glo as these gents, even your domesticity’s slightly weird. They write love paens to wives and children in the band’s surreal metaphors on My Girls and Also Frightened. On Brothersport As opposed to being slightly cheesy, its actually exciting and very touching, especially when coupled to the fairground music that goes with it. Ah the music! All AC albums have followed the relatively simple but hard-to-execute sonic architecture of overlapping circular arrangements culled from samplers and damaged-guitar tones, that come together for soaring choruses and then break down again, creating a compelling ebb and flow. In MPP, they get it very right because all the sounds chase the very conventional song structures in a dizzying sound that’s designed for the inside of your head. Grounding this kaleidoscope wash of sounds are deep bass pulses, tambourines and the occasional tribal thud. By the time the album orgasms in the joyous Brother Sport, you’re left breathless and grinning. AND they made Billboard Top 20! Last month’s Fall Be Kind EP’s no slouch either.

Pic: Julian Casablancas, Synth Popper!

Strangely enough, you hear distinctly AC-ish sounds at 1:53 of 4 Chords of the Apocalypse, a great blue-eyed soul number delivered with uncharacteristic ferocity by Strokes-man Julian Casablancas. Yes, you read right- Casablancas and ferocity in one line. Nearly all the members of the Strokes had released multiple solo albums- barring guitarist Nick Valensi- but what people were really eager to hear was new music from the band’s singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas. Finally released, his debut solo album Phrazes for the Young is a triumph.

It starts out on familiar Strokes territory with the chugging, chiming guitars of Out of The Blue bursting from the speakers. But by the time the glorious chorus comes on, it isn’t guitars that come to the fore, but synthesizers! And this from a man who we all thought was a late-Seventies, guitar chewing, Velvet Underground-loving pop purist!But the song’s so good, you can hardly imagine it existing in any other sonic context. The other tune on this short album that most resembles The Strokes is the raging River of Brakelights. But the other six songs take one musical left turn after another, all the while retaining their quality pop hooks. So while Glass can only be described as a combination of Western Classical motifs and shiny, glacial electropop, 11^th Dimension wanders through a looking glass world of cheesy 80s synth pop, treated percussions and a decidedly 50s guitar figure. These wildly disparate elements should never mix, but here they do so, miraculously. In a similar vein, the deep soul of 4 Chords of the Apocalypse suddenly morphs into sampler-led sonic terrorism in the chorus, which then leads to a delightful sweeping guitar solo. It’s a mesmerizing mix, one that feels perfectly logical.

Casablancas has often been accused of singing in a sullen whine. On Phrazes he buries his vocals deep in the mix ala Mick Jagger on The Stones’ Exile on Main Street, and just as Jagger did on that album, Casablancas proceeds to unveil his rich range- considerably better than on the Strokes’ albums- from the fantastic soul croon on Apocalypse to a warped, wry sing song on the country ditty Ludlow Street. His voice is expansive and expressive. It grows on you, and soon you’re humming the tune. Ludlow Street, another strange mix of styles, is the masterpiece on this album. It starts with an ominous drone like something out of the There Will be Blood soundtrack before morphing into a country lament for the soul of New York City. While Casablancas rips into the gradual marketing and yuppification of the world’s greatest- and once the most bohemian- metropolis, banjos duel with pianos, drum machines and loud brass. I’ve never been this pleasantly surprised.

And finally, Dirty Projectors.

Pic: Dirty Projectors, obstinate eccentrics

When I saw Bitte Orca, it looked strange enough for me to get it. And when the heavily reverbed prog guitar intro of Cannibal Resource started, with the very Led Zeppelin heavy drums, I was lulled for a second into thinking that this would be a straightforward pop album. Of course, I knew nothing about band mastermind David Logstreth. Pretty soon the soaring, ethereal voices of singers Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman started floating all over the place, in precisely written parts over stop-start rhythms, Tinariwen-like handclaps- all tied into a very Captain Beefheart-like approach to songwriting. Its difficult music, but one that let’s you in if you give it enough time. And once you’re in, the pleasures- melodic and rhythmic- just keep on coming.

Take Temencula Sunrise for one. Soaked in the same warm communal vibes as Merriweather- is this the dawn of an East Coast love-in?- this songs winds its way into your skull through a beautiful chordal acoustic guitar figure that is as eccentric as Longstreth’s high, keening voice; which suddenly leads up to a gloriously electric chorus and then breaks for the second verse which is arranged like a song from Tinariwen’s Aman Iman from two years ago. Longstreth evidently takes African music seriously, and you can hear his influence on the band that two of his erstwhile protégés formed- Vampire Weekend. Anyway, the song then goes into a compelling, driving yet utterly inscrutable guitar solo- more inventive than anything Jack White has recorded in the past few years.

Further on you have the brilliant Timbaland soul r’n’b pastiche Stillness is the Move. Amber Coffman outdoes herself in a masterful vocal turn of glorious radiance. Then you have the unsettling folk ballad Two Doves and other highlights like Useful Chamber which winds all over the place over eerie keyboard figures and voices, a dancefloor beat before convening for the strangely uplifting chorus of “Bitte Orca Orca Bitte” and another blistering solo that Jimmy Page would have been proud of, as would be Thurston Moore. Its mesmerizing music, messy by design and rich in melody and rhythm. Its my favourite album of the year by miles.

Songs of Winter

When I came in to work today, the first day in over two weeks when I don’t have anything to worry about, I was determined to make it my day of music, albums back to back. On a whim I put on the Fleet Foxes' album from last year, then The Arctic Monkey’s Humbug, and finally Antony and the Johnsons’ The Crying Light. You couldn’t have three more dissimilar albums, or three more dissimilar bands for that matter. While the tripping melodies and harmonies of Fleet Foxes are by now as familiar to me as a favourite blanket, Humbug is dark and brooding, fascinating in the details, but claustrophobic in the main.

And what can I say about The Crying Light? Its one of the most haunting and intriguing albums I’ve ever heard, and not only because of Antony Hegarty’s voice or his sexuality. As I type, he is singing seductively, teasing me to kiss his name. Joy.

So let’s get straight to my Songs of Winter, shall we?

Julian Casablancas- Phrazes for the Young

I don’t know about you, but for me any new Strokes related release is a cause for celebration, especially when its such a weird pop album like this one. Keyboards, slow soul, Krautrock, drum machines, surf guitar, loud brass…boy does he pile it on thick on this album, sometimes all of these things in the same song! But the man’s way with melody and his uber-sexy voice totally does it for me, every time I hear it.

Antony and the Johnsons- The Crying Light

Although it came out way back in January (which is when I acquired it), I’m listening to it more often- probably because winter’s approaching. These are sophisticated torch songs, flowing with melancholia that inspires, rather than saps. The baroque strings, the playfull jazz times, the beautiful melodies, and above it all, Antony Hegarty’s tremulous, mournful/playful voice weaves a rich tapestry of shadow and light.

The Beatles- Remastered boxsets, Mono and Stereo

What can I say? I’m shameless. But the detail! Its like a window to a world wiped clean of dust after a long shower. My favourite album turns out to be Beatles for Sale. Curiouser and curiouser.

Pearl Jam- Backspacer

I’ve never been too great a fan of them. So when people told me their new album was pretty great, it didn’t make much of a difference to me. Having heard it- though only twice- I can say that individual songs ARE actually pretty good, especially where they give themselves some space to stretch out.

Arctic Monkeys- Humbug

I don’t know what to make of this album. Its maddeningly dense, and many of the riffs and tempos and melodies sound like each other. There are lovely little bits of detail though. A fabulous manual of how to write a modern Indie rock album.

Love- Forever Changes

Not particularly new in my affections. No modern band has been able to capture the melodies, the songwriting, the hope, despair, ennui and rage of this diamond of an album.

Paul McCartney- Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

I just can’t tire of this album. Its just so sure-footed in its pop nous that its stunning. Just listen to the way the arrangement builds up in Friends To Go, and you’ll see what I mean.

The Supersonics- Maby Baking

I truly think this is the best Indian rock album of the year, full of stupid lyrics, great melodies, interesting arrangements, and tons of rock songs that stick in your head. The boys from Calcutta have swallowed The Strokes and Britpop whole, and have come up with this superb debut. I love Blotter.

The Strokes- Is This It? and Room On Fire

When in doubt, put on The Strokes!

Well, these are what I’ve been hearing to, obsessively. Of course, I still haven’t stopped playing Bitte Orca, the best album this year by a long, long mile.

Note to myself- Have to hear the new Devendra Banhart album.