Review of Gotye’s Making Mirrors

Walking around the streets of my East Town neighborhood I see people with flock of seagulls hair cuts and tight jeans and it seems like there are many people who want the 1980’s to come back in full effect. When it comes to hearing the influence of the 80’s in music you don’t need to go much further than the Australian musician Walter De Backer, or as he is better known Gotye.

His 2011 album, Making Mirrors, has seemed to take the United States by storm recently. The hit “Somebody That I Used to Know” has been getting plenty of airplay and thrown him into a spotlight to get his work out there in a way that his previous album did not. One of the previous albums biggest criticisms was that it did seem a bit scatter-brained and was a little too jumpy from style to style, while this record seems to walk the fine line from style to style on the album and seems to flow so wonderfully.

From the beginning I see a story being unfolded in this album starting with the slow quiet intro breaking into the powerful “Easy Way Out” and going straight into the hit of the album, the duet with Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know”. The lyrics of that song, the feeling of loss and hurt followed by the helplessness and awareness of “Eyes Wide Open” are chilling and can not help but evoke memories of pain and loss. It seems to come back and add the 1980’s Paul Simon/Hall and Oates feel when you hear the tracks like “I Feel Better” and my personal favorite “In Your Light”. Those songs can put a smile on your face and you immediately are put into a montage that the late John Hughes would be proud of and you are dancing and singing out loud as you walk down a crowded street on the way to work.

It is with those pairings that I think the album is anchored and it allows him to get away with the bit of techno-electronic experiment that is “State of the Art”. While I can not explain the song and it does sound a bit like something from an AutoTune the News clip on YouTube, even that screams 1985 to me. He seems to strike on the soft spot once again at the end of the album with the heartfelt lyrics in “Save Me” and “Giving Me a Chance” and you see the redemption side to the coin that “Eyes” and “Somebody” had in the beginning.

Very much like the 80’s, not always knowing exactly what is happening and not understanding parts of it at all even after it is over, this album seems to bring a level of pop and experimental to life that anyone has the ability to relate to. I would give it a 8 out of 10 and recommend you give it a listen to. I think you will be hard pressed to not find something you like.

 

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Come Back As Rain by Good Old War

Good Old War is a trio from Philadelphia that has some of the most addicting music I have heard in a long time. The thing that kept me coming back to them and listening to their sophomore, self titled album was the catchy rhythm and infectious energy. Many bands are fantastic live and have great energy, but when it comes to recording time it lacks a certain luster for me and tends to fall flat. So when I heard the new album Come Back as Rain was set to be released I was excited to take a listen and see if they could capture that energy in this third instalment in their catalog.

The album starts with a catchy tune in “Over and Over” They waste no time getting to the harmonies they are known for. The songs keep coming with tight vocals and fun guitar parts that keep you listening. From the light feel of “Calling me Names” to the slower song “Amazing Eyes” you are pulled in by the story each song tells.

For me the center of this album is the part I continuously repeat and I think it is really where the boys hit their stride. The one two punch of Can’t Go Home and Not Quite Happiness seem to hit me the hardest and they are the songs I repeat the most on this album. The haunting harmonies at the beginning of “Happiness” is what you listen to this band to hear and they do not relent on them from beginning to end.

This is a solid effort from the guys of Good Old War and if there was one thing I could say bad about it is that a few tracks (Better Weather and It Hurts Every time) seem a bit to similar to me and many songs have sections that are a bit too repetitive.They have fantastic lyrics and melodies in songs like “Loud Love” but they are just repeated too many times.

The energy was there for pieces of this album, but it didn’t quite thrill me to rant and rave about how amazing the album was. It is a tough thing to have an album be a hit overall and this one has its shining moments, but it is not a great album, for me it is a good album and one that I will continue listening to. Over all I would give this album a 7 out of 10 and I do look forward to the concert I am going to see in Ann Arbor on April 17th.

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Lissie.

Have you ever seen a girl who you know can sing, play and instrument, drink half your friends under the table then beat the other half up? All while looking beautiful?

Lissie is one of those girls.

This girl is amazing, and for those of you who are unfortunate enough to be my friends on Facebook see that I have been listening to her stuff on Spotify on repeat for a week straight. let me explain why that is the case.

I first heard Lissie when a friend posted a link to a Kid Cudi cover that she did a few years ago. I am quite the Kid Cudi fan and I was a little hesitant to see a 20 something blond girl with an electric guitar cover this song. I was surprised to see how much I loved the cover and I started to look into other things she has done.

Her latest original album is from 2010, and is entitled Catching a Tiger. From the very beginning I was tapping my toes and humming the choruses. I was consistently blown away by the lyrics and the vocal skills of Lissie. The girl has a voice that makes you lean in when she is singing softly but lows you back in your chair when she lets loose.The one track that jumped of the album for me was the second track “When I’m Alone” it has a nice driving pace to it and it is the type of song you end up humming a few hours after listening to the album.

Lissie’s covers are the things that she is most recognized for, but the original tracks she has are incredibly solid and I am excited for her to get back into the studio and record new material. With the vocal chops she has, anything she does will have an original spin to them and I will keep listening.
Lissie’s covers are the things that she is most recognized for, but the original tracks she has are incredibly solid and I am excited for her to get back into the studio and record new material. With the vocal chops she has, anything she does will have an original spin to them and I will keep listening.

 

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Back in the game.

I have been gone for a while.

I took a bit of a break the last few months. Lets be honest, it has not been due to a lack of good music. It has been the opposite as a matter of fact. There is a ton of good music out there, which I love.

Something has to give us hope in this era of Nickleback and Ke$ha.

But I will admit that I have been lazy. I have been enjoying the music, going to more concerts than I ever have, however I have not been writing. But I feel like it is time to get back into it, time to put the pen to the page (or in my case the fingers to the keyboard) and let you fine people know about the music I listen to.

Maybe it is just for me, maybe someone will hear something they enjoy. Maybe this is a useless blog that does nothing but make me feel important because 8 people read it once a week.

Ah well, I don’t care. It will be here, if you enjoy it or not.

the crane wives.

the crane wives. credit Grand Rapids Social Diary

So this is the first post I am doing about local music in the West Michigan area. To kick it off I thought I would start with a band that everyone in GR is talking about, The Crane Wives.

I have been a fan of this band for a few months now, since I saw them play at The Twisted Rooster in Grand Rapids. They have a style that is quite fantastic, which I have described as what would happen if Florence + the machine and Mumford and Sons were to have a baby. The harmonies in this band are insane, and are enough to get you to stop doing what you are doing and perk your ears up like an excited dog. Kate, Dan and Emilee have such wonderful voices seperately but the way they play off of each other is magical and is unlike anything I have heard in a band this style.

They recently released their debut album, entitled Safe Ship, Harbored and it has made quite a bit of buzz around the GR area as well as beyond, reaching #2 on the Contemporary Folk charts on Amazon.com. The CD is good front to back, with not a single track that seemed like a throw away. Each song has lyrics that make you think, and you can tell the time that went into them all. From songs like “New Colors” and “Counting Sheep” that make you tap your feet and want to dance to “Caleb Trask” where Emilee and Kate’s voices cause tears to well up. Then you have “I Ain’t Done” and the title track “Safe Ship, Harbored” that make you want to roll down your windows and drive the coast of Lake Michigan.

The thing about this band that seperates them from most others is that they are as good live as they are on the album, maybe even better.On stage when Emilee and Kate play and sing, you can look behind and see Dan, Tom and Ben having a great time, singing along and dancing with the crowd. They love the music, love playing the music and have so much fun doing both you wish they were your friends. Not to mention the unreleased, new music they have written is amazing as well. Seriously, you will clap the drum part to “Once and For All” for weeks. Go and see a live show, you will not be disappointed.

I have had the pleasure of befriending them over the past few months and it has done nothing but add to the level of my enjoyment with them as a band. They are down-to-earth, fun-loving people who truly love the music, Grand Rapids and the people that come to their shows. I wish nothing but success to them and I hope the world has the opportunity to hear the music they make together, because we have something great in our hands with them.

the civil wars.

joy and john paul

I realized today that I wanted to write a post on The Civil Wars after I watched the Tiny Desk Concert from NPR Music. I planned in my head what I would say about them, and that part came easy.

The only problem was that I couldn’t stop watching the video over and over again.

So as I sit here, I have watched it 5 times and I am now listening to it while typing and every so often I tab over to the video and just enjoy watching them perform in the NPR offices.

I came across them a while back but my friend Nate showed me this video and the vocal control that Joy has is so amazing, so I hopped over to their website and sure enough they are amazing people who have an entire album available to be downloaded FOR FREE. Yes sir, thank you sir. So after playing that over and over again, I saw the music video for the single off the new album “Barton Hollow”.  I have been blown away by the harmonies that they have together and the rubber band control they have together. So simple, so beautiful. Bare and raw. I am in love.

Buy the new album, you wont be disappointed.

Cheers,

Dom

bon iver.

So, round two on talking about music, and I have learned that I need to link artists on this page to be able to allow easy access for people to enjoy music.

I love Justin Vernon. Serious, hardcore man-crush on him.

DJ and Bob Dylan.

I first heard Bon Iver when my friend and old roommate Doug Ferrall showed me his single “Skinny Love” a while back. (Looking back now, I realize Doug had FANTASTIC musical tastes and I definitely took that for granted, and Doug, if you read this I am sorry. You are ridiculously awesome and I miss you dearly, not just for your vinyl.)

I listened to Bon Iver quite often this past year and enjoyed For Emma, Forever Ago a crazy amount.

So going into this new album Bon Iver was entered into with quite a bit of excitement. Now I will admit, I didn’t go out and buy the album the moment it came out, partially because of money and partially because I have been wearing holes in The Crane Wives album Safe Ship, Harbored and The Black Keys album Brothers (Both will get time on here in the future, trust.) So when I first listened to this album, it was streamed on NPR’s website and I sat, with bated breath, waiting for my life to be blown away.

Initially it wasn’t. Gasp.

Now hear me out. I LOVED For Emma, so this was set up in my head as something that I wanted to blow my mind to the point that I needed to wipe it off the ceiling. So there is nothing against the first take of the album. There were times that I heard other artists in the music, like Coldplay off X&Y or a very 80’s feel for a few tracks. Not that those are bad things, it was just a bit of a switch for me because of the way that  For Emma sounded so fresh and new and raw.

Now I didn’t want to hate on the album, or cast it aside (It is Justin Vernon after all) so I have been listening to it more and more. It has been growing on me, growing quite a bit. The more I listen and see the little intricacies, I am falling in love with the album. So good job Justin, you got me and I am pushing this on everyone. That is it for this edition, click the link and enjoy, friends.

Cheers,

Dom

horse feathers.

I hadn’t heard of these guys until 2 weeks ago when I was told that they were coming to Grand Rapids. So being in this new music kick, I thought I would give them a shot.

So, I saw them in concert at Founders Brewing Co. a week ago and boy oh boy do they know how to put on a show. When I got there with my friend Kate and her co-worker Corey, we got a beer and sat on the floor, indian-style along with about 50 other people. Now having been to Founders quite a few times, I will say this was a first and I was quite happy with it.

The stage looked like a playground that folk artists dream about, there were guitars, violins, a cello, tambourines, a keyboard. All it was missing was a flannel shirt and a some Buddy Holly glasses (which came on stage later). The first band that played was called Hello Mountain and consisted of Nathan Crockett and Catherine O’Dell. They were bouncing from instrument to instrument and it was beautiful the entire time.

Then when Justin came on stage, we were told that we needed to stand up and move in close and it was a pleasure to get closer to the amazing sounds they were making as a band. I was standing there, surrounded by friends, swaying back and forth to the sounds of the violin and cello (even the saw made an appearance), Sam Copper playing percussion and banjo so well and the way that Catherine and Justin’s voices played with each other made a sound I would not soon forget.

Afterwards at a place like Founders you get a chance to meet the band, and they are class acts, Nathan even helped me look for Catherine for 5 minutes so I could get the vinyl of the new album (Thistled Spring; go buy it now) signed by them all.

I am now a fan of Horse Feathers and will not be missing them the next time they are around these parts.

Cheers,

Dom

if music be the food of love.

I have been hit in the head lately with new music. I am loving every minute of it.

I wanted to express this love for new music, but I realized my main blog was not the medium to do it so I am creating this blog to get the thoughts of music out.

Now I will admit, when it comes to great music I am a bit behind on some artists, so bear with me. But I am going to attempt to express my love for music in a way that I love: blogging.

Cheers,

Dom