Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine [Carpark]

8.0

Chillwave: one of the newest movements of indie music these days. Chazwick Bundick, known as Toro Y Moi, is one of the leading artists of this “chillwave movement” along with Washed Out, Neon Indian, and Memory Tapes. Chillwave has yet to have a “definitive” record that is looked upon as an instant classic and is referred to anyone who wants to scrap away at the surface of the ever growing chillwave scene. Is Toro Y Moi’s sophomore effort Underneath the Pine that record? No, but really it’s a very solid piece of work that Bundick creates to push the boundaries of chillwave.

Sounding old and reminiscent of ‘80s synth freak outs and having deeply layered mixes of ambient sounds and having a very strong bass present is what chillwave is about. Underneath the Pine is no different kicking off the LP with a hazy, heavily layered instrumental intro with breezy female vocals with layers and layers of shoegazy guitars. A much more advanced direction for Bundick looking back at his just under par debut Causers of This.

“New Beat” follows the intro with its funky bass line and myriad of synths all pounding different directions to a very consistent beat. Bundick sounds very Beach Boys-esque on the glorious wavy “How I Know” with the vocals harmonizing in a very “Beach Boys way”, which is easily one of those “wow” moments on with haunting lines of, “Take me when I die and I’m full of sleep/Underneath the pine on a bed of leaves.” In fact, Toro Y Moi could easily be what The Beach Boys would be playing in today’s day and age, but that assumption is a neither here or there.

Underneath the Pine has its very, very nice moments and then it’s boring dragging moments, and both can appear in the same song. “Light Black” grooves nicely and has cool instrumentation, but Bundick’s vocals are weaker than usual and “Light Black”. Most of the time, Bundick’s vocals are spot on and create a really unique and atmospheric mood to every song on Pine. One of the coolest studio works that Bundick does is on the brief track “Good Hold” with its immensely impressive stereo use with the fade-in fade-out style to create these really heavy pressures of sound on your ears.

The six minute finale “Elise” tops everything off that is Toro Y Moi. With varied instruments, dramatic qualities, and awesome studio work to be pleasing to the ear; it’s a perfect conclusion to the very solid Underneath the Pine. I see Pine as an important stepping stone to chillwave becoming a defining genre of new music. If Pine is your first chillwave record, good for you; it’s a great learning record for someone interested in the growing of chillwave.

Battles - Gloss Drop [Warp]

7.3

Who can even compare Battles’ first record Mirrored to their sophomore record Gloss Drop when lead man Tyondai Braxton left the band for commitment towards solo work? It’s purely unfair. Braxton was Battles, he made Mirrored one of the lead experimental math rock albums of the decade. Now with no vocalists, Battles had to pick out some guest singers to make up for a missing element to their music, Battles picked out guests like Gary Nuwman, Blonde Redhead lead singer Kazu Makino and even Japanese musical virtuoso Yamantaka Eye. Gloss Drop can hardly be related back to the intricacy of Mirrored, making Gloss Drop seem like a debut to a very ambitious, almost supergroup-like record.

Battle surely picked perfect contenders as guest vocalists for Gloss Drop. The guest vocalists compliment the sound of Battles with an uncanny sense of creating light-hearted math rock jams. Shining track, “Ice Cream” with Matias Aguayo, takes an approach of thrilling guitar hooks and a jangly keyboard line. Besides the other couple of other tracks with guest vocalists, Gloss Drop’s beef is within instrumental jangly math rock that really has a knack to drag on and on with fast paced quirky instrumentation that really is in need of a singer to correspond with the sounds of Battles.

Ironically, Battles are their best on Gloss Drop when they create shorter, more pop oriented songs, as opposed to their very strong “math rock” appeal. “Dominican Fade” is a perfect example, with its very brief and heavy-drummed presence. Though it is roughly just over a minute long, Battles really keeps your attention on a song like that for just that long. Battles can still make consistently good math rock in a shorter format instead of the long, drawn out tunes like “Inchworm” or “Wall Street”. It’s hard to label Battles as a “math rock” group anymore when their greatest moments come from hard-hitting, shorter tracks.

The atmosphere Battles create on Gloss Drop is light-hearted, jumpy, and a perfect summer record. There really aren’t any “dark” moments throughout Gloss Drop. Maybe the long foreboding “White Electric” can be seen as a more dark and menacing track with its heavy distorted and sinister drive, but it all ends happy like light at the end of a dark and never ending tunnel. Other than that, Battles jumps and bounces around into so many different realms of different noises and intricate drum beats that groove.

Even the finale “Sundome” with the brilliant input of Yamantaka Eye is an excellent rendition of so many different, diverse sounds. In a way, this track can be seen as the ultimate image of Battles as being a fun-loving varied pop-oriented math rock band that has a keen interest in creating left field prog rock. Battles don’t make the best record that can be seen as group breaking as Mirrored, but Battles are hardly the same band so really that comparison is unfair and unnecessary.

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up [Sub Pop]

8.4

Hailing from Seattle, the hip-hop group of Shabazz Palaces make some of the most fresh and woozy hip-hop from recent memory. Releasing their debut Black Up on Sub Pop Records, it seems out of place. Black Up sounds straight from the realms of a Warp record from a LA underground artist like Flying Lotus or Gonjasufi. Regardless, Shabazz Palaces released two other EPs within a two year span with Sub Pop and now their much anticipated, yet fairly unknown debut Black Up is reaching a high reception in the underground hip-hop community.

Delivering beats and sounds from all around the world with funk, London dubstep, downbeat jazz, and so many other funky elements to make Shabazz Palaces a unique, heavy listen. Shabazz Palaces can also seem daunting with their haunting, deep-bass sound bouncing throughout the entire album with a heavy authority, but ultimately the hip-hop group is very rewarding and will open your ear to new and interesting sounds expanding your plate of rhythms. “Endeavors for Never (The Last Time We Spoke You Were Not Here But I Saw You)” is a trippy experience through plethora of jazzy and surreal instruments expanding in so many directions like a spacey Flying Lotus tune.

Main rapper Ishmael Butler utters one of the truest lines on Black Up on “Recollections of the Wrath” when saying, “Clear some spaces out so we can space out.” In fact, Butler’s rapping is spot on most of the time. His flow and delivery is different and has a different, out of this world approach. It sounds like he would rap with pop beats, but there is still a hint of his voice being with the satisfying underground, experimental appeal of Shabazz Palace’s beats, almost a perfect median between the two.

One of the things hindering Black Up from excelling completely is the fairly weak beginning of the album with the forgettable intro “Free Press and Curl”, which has the right idea, but doesn’t create the “dope” beats that the rest of the Black Up has. Also second track “An Echo from the Hosts That Profess Infinitum” has a slightly irritating sample that isn’t necessarily terrible, but it just has an appeal that isn’t musically satisfying compared to rest of Black Up.

Though it is definitely a grower, Black Up’s almost out of this world beats and samples makes you continually come back to its dark energy. Ironically, Black Up closes on a very bright note with a tribal chant from the members about being “black”, it may be some dark comedic twang, but it sure sounds bright enough to be enjoyed on a light note. Some tracks will gradually creep into your liking like “Are You Can You Were You (Felt)”, but others will immediately grasp you into Shabazz Palace’s dark and surrealistic world with “Swerve the Reeping of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding)”.

Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys [Atlantic]

5.5

Death Cab For Cutie has always been an artist I find hard to like. There one of those “seasonal” indie acts that everyone knows. Death Cab has a knack for creating one definitive song that defines the whole album, for 2008’s Narrow Stairs it was the eight minute epic “I Will Possess Your Heart”, for their latest effort Codes and Keys stays less ambitious and stays within a comfort zone of basic instrumentation with pop capabilities that sound too spaced out. In an effect, Death Cab doesn’t expand themselves in anyway and do the same stuff hundreds of traditional indie acts have done before.

Production has always been clean cut for Death Cab; nothing changes for Codes and Keys. In the examination of the way Codes was produced, it’s weak. It sounds fine to a casual listener, but deep down you can feel the space between the different members of Death Cab as if they are all different guys playing stuff that sound like it comes together. “You Are a Tourist” doesn’t bring a satisfying climax that the rest of the song tries and leads us to. That shows the lack of a uniform, cohesive sound that sounds like a band trying to play. Lead singer Ben Gibbard sounds completely apart from the rest of the Death Cab crew by a mile. The vocal manipulations that define Gibbard’s voice on Codes don’t help either.

One of the most musically interesting tracks off Codes that saves the album from being a completely travesty is the woozy electronic “Unobstructed Views” with its heavy layers of keyboard and other ambient drones that makes for the “I Will Possess Your Heart” of Codes. “Unobstructed Views” reminded me of how anti-critical I should be to Death Cab since they’re also a band that is also hard to hate since they have such a cutesy indie feel about them in an immature way. Kind of like that music you liked when you were 13 that you now dislike, but you still have respect for it. That’s what Death Cab is like for me, the pop qualities of Codes aren’t terrible and makes for a light, casual listen for anytime.

Lyrically, Codes like most Death Cab records is almost painful to listen to. They are nice little nonsensical rhymes that make us smile, but really they’re bad. “We are the same/Underneath the sycamore,” the main line of you guessed it “Underneath the Sycamore”. It’s simple casual stuff. I’ve never liked the vocals of Gibbard either, it just sounds so distant from the ultimate picture of Death Cab’s sound.

You probably think I hate Death Cab, I don’t; I guess they’re too generic for me. It’s always hard to be harsh on such a seasonal indie band such as Death Cab, but I really can’t find a definitive greatness about Codes and Keys. Death Cab is a very nice introductory band into the realms of different indie music, but after the introductory stages, they wear on you quickly.

WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain [L Y F]

8.4

Opening an album with a wide-open organ sound very similar to the ones you hear at Sunday mass can be offsetting, but don’t be misled. WU LYF brings to the plate a fresh and visceral approach to music with bombastic drumming, expansive production, tidal waves of surfy guitar, and incomprehensible vocals. These Manchester boys have actually received considerable hype from numerous scouting reports from sources such as The Guardian, NME, and others, with predictions for them to shape 2011 and coming years. Hype sucks, but WU LYF came through with a very solid record, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain.

Everywhere I’ve read reviews for WU LYF’s unique vocalist Ellery Roberts is that he’s like a modern Tom Waits, I can see the comparisons, but really Roberts is one of a kind with his near-snarl, unintelligible growls that he puts across very dynamic instrumentation. Seriously, the some of the only lines you’ll be able to clearly translate from Go Tell Fire to the Mountain is the tribal yelps of “We bros!” from one of the weakest tracks “We Bros”. The vicious attacks of Roberts onto the mic are exhilarating and unique and shadow the yelps of a handful of hardcore-punk vocalists.

Being recorded in a church, you can automatically expect Go Tell Fire to the Mountain to sound gloriously epic and big like a post-rock record, but WU LYF keeps within the confines of not being one. Huge echoes, especially from the monumental drumming of Joe Manning, reach across the sounds of the LP on every song. The guitar work sounds very Explosions In the Sky-ish with that very dramatic, distinct guitar twang that can’t help but sounding great amongst WU LYF incredible talent. The glorious guitar at the tail end of “Concrete Gold” almost completely shows WU LYF at their best.

The finale “Heavy Pop” easily shows WU LYF at their best with steady building of piano into a plethora of sound with Roberts’s gruff yells with the gloriously epic guitars all backed by the intricate drumming. It all fits so nicely in a compacted shell that is WU LYF. Unfortunately, as one would say “hates gonna hate” due to the great deal of hype that is going along with WU LYF’s image, but I don’t think it should kill WU LYF’s debut’s image greatly. But a band as secretive as WU LYF, the image of being controversial to the indie community is quite great news to them.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver [4AD/Jagjaguwar]

6.3

Certainly For Emma, Forever Ago is an impossible record to be duplicated, even by the most versatile artist. The idea of an emotionally train wrecked small town Wisconsin boy who secluded himself from society in Wisconsin to create minimal, artful music that has been so well received by everyone is magnificent. Justin Vernon returns, this time with unlimited possibilities in a nice air conditioned studio without the emotional drive that pushed Emma so far ahead of the game in the indie community. Vernon creates a less then apt self-titled sophomore LP.

Nobody should expect another Emma from Vernon, but this sophomore act could be Vernon’s most defining album of his career as being an indicator towards being an artist without limitation or simple a one-and-done indie act that will be lost in history. Bon Iver, Bon Iver is messily recorded and doesn’t have a cohesive theme or defining sound to it, it sounds like clunky studio work. It sounds as though different instruments are randomly being played at parts and don’t fit into a space or area.

At moments the layering of Bon Iver is purely wrong and just simply doesn’t sound good. The ending to “Michicant”, a very forgettable track with Vernon’s most poor vocal appearance, has some of the most misplaced saxophone work on the album with hazy layers of seemingly random drones of sax. The puzzling of any track off Bon Iver is the cheesy ‘80s love song-ish “Beth / Rest”. What is Vernon thinking? He fills the first nine songs of the album with folk renditions that sound all right, and then Vernon dumps a terribly cheesy synthesizer-filled mess.

Sometimes Vernon creates some pretty nice, minimal, and magic moments. The wavy “Hinnom, TX” is what Vernon should sound like, as well as the intro “Perth” were Vernon finds a nice median between soft and over-blown as being easily the best track off the album. Sadly, Bon Iver rarely has any of those moments on it. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t looking for another Emma, but the direction Vernon went with this record is unbearably bad.

Vernon’s most prominent approach of Emma was his delicate, passionate vocals put forward and front behind his minimal acoustic music. The vocals on Bon Iver are very weak and pitchy. Emma’s vocals were about the same, but the backwoods, secluded qualities that surrounded them amplified them into something not as bothersome. But the studio quality music alongside Vernon’s vocals on Bon Iver just doesn’t work well.

As disappointing as Bon Iver may be with atrocious vocals, messy layering, and overall bad production values, non-Emma fans might find a light in Bon Iver, Bon Iver. While the rainy day fans of Emma will find nothing to like about his sophomore work. This poorly made record could simply be the infamous sophomore slump that many artists have found themselves in.