The Sea and Cake - The Moonlight Butterfly [Thrill Jockey]

8.0

The Sea and Cake can’t make a bad record. It really isn’t in their chemistry as a band. They’re easily one of the most consistent and accessible indie acts out there right now. Their catchy, jazzy rhythms are easy to catch an easy ride into and are very rewarding with lead singer Sam Prekop’s distinctively smooth vocals. On their latest LP The Moonlight Butterfly, The Sea and Cake find themselves in familiar and foreign territory. More electronically driven music is present, but continues the persistent guitar driven sounds that have defined themselves s in past works.

On The Moonlight Butterfly’s opener ”Cover”, a woozy electronic wave is met with jangly guitars, a consistent drum beat and underlying jazzy bass line and immediately opened up to Prekop’s breezy vocals, this tracks establishes a consistent tone throughout the rest of the album. Though The Sea and Cake have ventured into unknown realms of their sound before, they have the tenacity to snap back to their roots and sound very fresh at the same time; The Moonlight Butterfly is no exception to this method. Although the electronica-driven title track can sound out of placed in context to the rest of the LP, The Sea and Cake work around this bump with a ten minute jam, “Inn Keeping”, which transpires to be the highlight of Moonlight.

Despite being such a short stretch as an album (just clocking in over half an hour), the body of work put into those minutes is fun and engaging and very enjoyable that you hardly notice that a half an hour has even passed. Even the ten minute jam isn’t a daunting listen like some long winded indie acts trying to churn out “epic” pieces of music. “Inn Keeping” begins with a simple Sea and Cake track with the consistent sound The Sea and Cake have mastered, but the track slowly transforms into something quite different with beautiful and lucid chord changes that stays so true to the ear.

The Moonlight Butterfly is just another solid Sea and Cake record, which is what is expected. Only falling short in one track (“The Moonlight Butterfly”), The Sea and Cake stay comfortable and create pretty music that is strictly relaxation and chill music for a slow Tuesday night. Sam Prekop’s creamy vocals, consistent drumming, intricate guitar work, and groovy bass all make The Sea and Cake a vivid and fun listen.

F***ed Up - David Comes To Life [Matador]

8.8

Most of the time when hardcore punk comes to mind, I think of relatively short, loud tracks that hit hard and fast, F’ed Up have completely warped my image of modern, very ambitious hardcore punk. With David Comes to Life, F’ed Up have pushed boundaries that only a select other ambitious punk records form the past have done. An 80 minute rock opera with a complex narrative may be pushing the envelope for the Canadian hardcore punk group, but this ambitious, superlative record exceeds all rock operas in recent memory.

First off: David Comes to Life isn’t for the faint of heart, similarly to Titus Andronicus’s epic The Monitor from last year with its heavily ambitious concept. Lead vocalist Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham never changes, his nail-biting, brittle scream is difficult to be turned on to, even after multiple listens. Abraham’s vocals are what they are, nothing incredibly unique, but easy to pick out. Abraham goes hard 110% of the time on David with no limitation to his ability to scream, there really isn’t a moment where Abraham isn’t screaming, the only rest we get from his vocals is the occasional female vocal insertion.

David Comes to Life’s story is bizarre and emotionally driven from true dedication from the members of F’ed Up. Honestly, it’s pretty much impossible to translate the lyrics from simply listening to the music, if you want to follow along with the lyrics; the most convenient way is to check out davidcomestolife.com. Following along with the lyrics, it reveals beautiful, vivid imagery that corresponds with a story that is far too complex to be understood simply through a read-through. It needs to be experienced, the way F’ed Up wanted it to be, they way they experienced it through recording and planning out this entire David project that has actually been stated to be in the back of their heads for years now.

Instrumentally, David is purely satisfying that is fulfilled in every climatic build up on every song. Beginning the album like a factory with its lights just warming up with heavy reverb on the guitars just warming up and that is immediately brought into the epic opening hard-hitter “Queen of Hearts” with the beginning lines of “Sun rises above the factory but the rays don’t make it to the street,” bringing in the consistent theme and symbolism of light and darkness in David Comes to Life. Literally chills are brought to my back whenever I reach the climax of ”Queen of Hearts” though all of F’ed Up’s awesome elements being played to effectively which can only be described through one word: epic.

Truly, the story of the album really isn’t necessary to enjoying David Comes to Life, it simply enhances it. Being a rock-opera of sorts, David in some ways runs on its story like The Who’s Tommy or Pink Floyd’s The Wall, but both of those albums can be enjoyed for just the elements of the music being produced rather than the story, the same applies for F’ed Up’s work, except David is harder since it isn’t an “easy” listening album like Pink Floyd or The Who. Asking someone to read the lyrics along while listening to the music is asking a lot, but if you have 80 minutes to spare, do it, it’s rewarding to your listening pleasure.

Any fan of music cannot miss David Comes to Life, its monumental ability to create such a masterful punk-rock opera that is fulfilled through its excellent instrumentation and in-your-face blasts of musical energy that runs the entire album like a lithium battery. Though Abraham’s vocals are tough as nails to listen to, growing room must be allowed for F’ed Up’s hardcore punk appeal.

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres [Constellation]

8.9

"Gens de couleur libres" translate to "Free People of Color", an appropriate title to the exquisite young, up-and-coming jazz musician Matana Roberts's beginning chapter to her 12 part epic Coin Coin album series. Ambition is jam packed in the first chapter of Coin Coin with avant-garde saxophone licks, blood hurtling screams, dramatic dynamical qualities, and purely cryptic story telling from Roberts herself and it's all done live in front of a very small crowd.

Constellation Records knows how to pick up the right artists in their search for independent, out of the norm music. Constellation is growing into one of the most prominent label for experimental musicians in hopes for what they always wanted; a true label that respects and publicizes their music perfectly with extraordinary vinyl packaging, free streams on their website and so many more mementos to go along with anyone who is a fan of a Constellation artist such as Matana Roberts or more known Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Like Colin Stetson's incredibly deep New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges, Matana Roberts's first chapter to her Coin Coin which delves into the deep history and roots of over 350 years of jazz and black history, a truly epic venture into the deep, impeccable vein of jazz music and culturally rich society of African-Americans. I can't relate to really any of it, but it moves me nonetheless. The clear, piercing cries of sax on "Kersaia" is so deeply affecting and beautifully performed that it sounds like an earning cry of sophisticated beauty.

Coin Coin Chapter One has a knack for staying avant-garde, and yet sounding like it comes together, which I find to be the best kind of avant-garde; the avant-garde that is Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, or maybe Captain Beefheart. It's unfamiliar to the ear, but that ear can be adjusted to beautiful and humanized pitches that need to be listened to. Opening track "Rise" may be offsetting to Roberts's abrasive sax squawks and the mixed bag of instruments being mixed around within Roberts's tones, but it seems to start to come together.

There a lot of variations coinciding with Roberts's immense talent. Her ability to create these near-possessed shrieks on the intro of "Pov Piti" is so dark and daunting that one would turn off the music and move on to something more light. But don't, keep listening it will pay off into a dramatic and impressive work of art. The contrast of dynamics and ambient drones on the mid-point of "Song For Eulalie" really kicks in when an explosions of multiple instruments smacks you right in the face with tenacity and grit and opens your eyes to so many different sounds never captured through your ears.

There is so much to examine in Roberts's work that I cannot explain through a simple review such as this. Her story telling, instrumentation, compositions, and all together canvas of talents is unmatched by any active jazz musician in our time. This might be history written through the eyes of a young African-American soul that truly stays true to her heart of musicianship in the modern jazz world.

Cults - Cults [In the Name Of]

8.3

Not much is known about Cults, even after releasing their latest self-title debut. From simply browsing a Wikipedia page, I find that Cults are another simple indie pop duo that follows suit of Beach House and other hazy indie pop outfits out there. Made up of lead singer Madeline Follin and multi-musician Brian Oblivion, Cults are an ideal indie pop duo that fulfills their titles as a cutesy and fun duo.

Leading off their debut with the very earl single, “Go Outside”, Cults couldn’t have made a more appropriate and puzzling introduction. Appropriate because it shows their tenacity at creating hazy, laid back atmosphere with the fun theme of summertime, but it’s puzzling since they also have a sample of the speech of the ultimate cult leader Jim Jones. Though that could be a very pretentious clichéd trick in music to use dark speeches from cult leaders and tyrants, but Cults make it work through their ironic use of beautiful, cutesy melodies on top of dark, evil speeches.

Cults is a quick listen, only clocking in at around 34 minutes, it’s a perfect listen for a short ride to school or work. As well as being so short, there really isn’t a weak track. Cults stays consistent to its comfort area of heavy layered guitars and keyboards with the beautiful vocals of Follin. Though the instrumentation isn’t anything groundbreaking or new, Follin’s vocals make up for this lack of ambition a lot like Beach House records do. Her voice never falters, even under the stress it’s under on “You Know What I Mean” towards the climax of the track.

Not to say that the instrumentation isn’t lacking, it keeps to the theme of Cults perfectly. The production throughout Cults keeps the hazy, warped surf-rock sound fresh and fun. The chaotic conclusion to the LP’s finale “Rave On” really showcases Cults’ ability to be a touch epic with really heavily layered instrumentation. The joyous sounds of Cults will have you forgetting about how you’ve heard it all before because it’s so well produced and played.

Short and sweet are the easiest adjectives to sum up Cults. Their ability to create fresh and easy to listen to indie pop can appeal to any crowd of easy going music listeners. Cults are a wonderful addition to the ever growing list of indie pop acts that are making an impact on the music spectrum.

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Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges [Constellation]

8.5

Colin Stetson plays the bass saxophone. I could leave the review right now and that would make Montreal-based saxophonist Colin Stetson sound like the coolest jazz musician out there right now. But I simply cannot because Stetson's music is unlike anything I've ever heard. It's sonic qualities are so organic and rich that Stetson almost sound inhuman. What could make this album sound any more awesome? I got it, it was all done in one take with no looping or overdubs using 24 strategically placed mics in a studio. Woah. New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is truly a piece of avant-garde, improvisational art.

From the avant-garde/free improvisational jazz albums I've listened to (which is very little), New History Warfare is unlike anything. The only other jazz album I can recall that create such an emotional depth is Charles Mingus' brilliant The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. That album creates a depth of rich sound that is almost matched by Stetson's intricate saxophone squawks and terrifying long drones. New History Warfare could also be looked at as a Miles Davis record such as Kind of Blue; the way it was recorded was basically in very few takes and most of the music on King of Blue was all improvised during the session - exactly what Miles wanted. Stetson's music is all in one take showing minimal errors with sketched out ideas that get paved whenever the recorder is rolling, it's quite amazing.

Track titles like "From No Part of Me Could I Summon a Voice" and "The Righteous Wrath of an Honorable Man" are obvious indicators on how even just a look at the back of the CD or vinyl to check out the tracks could lead you into an impression on how epic Stetson's music is going to be. Incidentally, New History Warfare is purely epic, monstrous music with minimal qualities. The bass saxophone explains that, being mostly only one instrument on the tracks the minimal qualities are explained, but since the bass sax is so powerful and Stetson's talent towards creating monumental sounds and intricate manipulations creates the "monstrous" quality. "The Stars In His Head (Dark Light Remix)" is a good example; it ascends and descends rapidly in dynamics but continues the same instrumental movements of fast moving notes mixed in with long organic drones.

There is the inclusion of avant-garde musician and spoken word legend Laurie Anderson as well as the lead singer of indie group My Brightest Diamond, Shara Worden. I find these inclusions to be unnecessary and they even slightly take away from the full effect of the album. Shara Worden isn't that much of a bother, but I've never liked Laurie Anderson. Her voice never suited me very well with any type of music; she simply ruins some songs for me, especially "A Dream Of Water". Worden's inclusions is on the slow, bluesy "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes", like I said her inclusions in this album isn't necessary, but it is a nice little contrast to the exhausting, fast-paced free improvisations of Stetson. I also praise her ability to freely sing in perfect harmony with just long drones of bass sax.

One of the more "easy" listening tracks is "Clothed In the Skin of the Dead" which has some great harmonies and not as much dissonance as the rest of the album, but will still take a special ear to really click in. Another really cool entry into New History Warfare is the bass heavy "Red Horse (Judges LI)"; surprisingly it has a really hopping beat to it. You must also be aware Colin Stetson isn't easy listening by any means. It's hard-hitting improvisational free jazz with a lot of foreign sounds to the brain. Not to say these "foreign sounds" are bad, to me their sounds that I've always wanted to hear and have a very abstract feel to them.

You aren't going to be listening to this in your car or have it as background music in your house, it's simply music to be observed and explore your true taste into music. Ninety percent of anyone who listens to Stetson will simply wave it off and call it "a bunch of crazy noises". What Stetson has is special, very special. His ability to create these organic, bizarre sounds takes a true musical genius with a true integrity of hard work to pass off the people looking for a true "jazz" sound with a simple harmony and consistent beat. That is what makes free improvisational jazz such a vast and transcending genre of music.

Sample: