Nicklist #5

Sorry for the lack of updates lately.  I haven’t been overly busy – put simply, there just hasn’t been things to review lately.  Fortunately a few great records are coming out this week, and after a little time with them I’ll post my reviews.  One way I’ve debated keeping the blog a little more active is reviewing older albums – but I feel like people have much more interest in newer releases.  Perhaps I’ll change my mind on that soon, though.  I want to remain as active as possible.

1.) “Dying Song” – John Frusciante (from The Brown Bunny soundtrack)

John Frusciante has always been one of my favorite artists, so its slightly surprising to realize that I haven’t mentioned him on this blog yet.  “Dying Song” is one of the most achingly heartbreaking things I’ve heard (in a beautiful way).  Frusciante has always utilized synths in unique and interesting ways, and this song is no exception.  The atmospheric, moody Rhodes keyboard and the little synth bleeps after each chorus add dynamics to what would just be a (very good) acoustic song otherwise.  The best thing about this song is the volume – despite the fact the song is acoustic, it sounds very full and is produced very well.  A lot of artists who record acoustically end up sounding thin or too sparse.

2.) “D. Original” – Jeru The Damaga (from The Sun Rises in the East)

Jeru the Damaja is one of those incredible hip-hop artists from the early/mid 90s hip hop scene that helped revitalize and change the genre.  Along with other artists like Wu-Tang and Nas, Jeru was a pioneer of East coast rap.  Although he isn’t as well known today as he was back then, his music still manages to sound fresh and interesting.  You don’t hear rap beats like this anymore.  There’s a dissonance there (in the piano strikes – my favorite part of the song) that you don’t hear in other songs, and it makes it stand out instantly.  Jeru also has one of hip-hop’s best voices.  And how awesome is the line, “Dirty, because of the skin I’m in/the fact I have melanin automatically makes me a felon”?

3.) “Helplessness Blues” – Fleet Foxes (from Helplessness Blues)

This is one of my favorite songs of this year so far.  It’s from Fleet Foxes’ next release, Helplessness Blues (which comes out in May).  It’s one of the most optimistic tracks I’ve heard about not knowing your place in life and what the point of it all is.  “After some thinking, I’d say I’d rather be/a functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me” perfectly describes the feeling people sometimes have about not knowing what to do or who they really are.  Are we here to be unique and make our own way?  Are we serving some higher power?  Nobody really knows, and this song says it so well.  The production is also incredible.  I’ve always loved reverb (when utilized well) and the band are the masters of using it in the best possible way.

4.) “Razorblade” – The Strokes (from First Impressions of Earth)

Although First Impressions of Earth is by far my least favorite Strokes record, “Razorblade” might be my favorite Strokes track (funny how that works out sometimes).  The intro riff is amazingly catchy, and the verse riff is even better.  It’s kind of crazy that even on their worst album, the band can still manage to create a track as perfect as “Razorblade.”  It definitely shows off the songwriting ability of the band.  One of the reasons The Strokes are so good is because they write pop songs in a rock format, and it works so well.  “Razorblade” is a great example of that.

5.) “While You Wait For The Others” – Grizzly Bear (from Veckatimest)

I really hate the term “indie” the majority of the time, but Grizzly Bear is one of the better bands to be classified by the general public as that genre.  There songs tend to be a little more musically interesting and varied than a lot of “indie” bands, and “While You Wait For The Others” is my favorite track from 2009′s Veckatimest.  Its hard to describe the band’s sound, but I guess there are some folk and psychedelic elements, with a more modern twist.  They really are a unique band – check them out before I bore you with my further attempts to classify them.