(resonance of reforming)
the blog of Jerry Bolton
Top Albums 2009
Dec 22nd
Without much ado, here are my best beloved musical albums of the year 2009. In descending order, building up to an apex of musical happiness.
10. Emery – “In Shallow Seas We Sail”
Although this record doesn’t really jump forward on Emery’s generally uncomplicated lyrical themes, it is a wonderful example of a band returning to their roots while incorporating everything they’ve learned in the meantime. Even though this won’t win awards, it’s a gutsy rocker with just the right amount of tenderness to make it all come together. Definitely a great record to throw on.
9. Fee – “Hope Rising”
I first heard of Fee this past spring after we began singing one of their (then unreleased) songs “Glory to God Forever” at Harvest York Region. By the time “Hope Rising” came out in the fall, I was stoked to hear it. The more I listened to it, the more stoked I became. My only critique is that it comes off a little overdone (particularly the production), but otherwise this is an anthemic, thoughtful, and lyrically excellent collection of original worship songs. As a plus, they work great when sung by a big crowd of people.
8. Maylene & the Sons of Disaster – “III”
Maylene is just all kinds of fun. Take former Underoath vocalist Dallas Taylor, mix his insane gutteral vocals with a whole truckload of southern twang and smash-you-in-the-eye guitars, and you have Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. This year’s “III” continues their pattern of putting out stuff that just ’southern rocks your world’.
7. Tedashii – “Identity Crisis”
With the Cross Movement focusing on solo projects primarily now, it’s been interesting to see successors to the Holy Hip Hop legacy rise up in their wake. Other than those on their own Cross Movement Records, cats like Lecrae, Shai Lynne, and Tedashii have really impressed me with deep, theologically informed yet immediately accessible lyrics. “Identity Crisis” isn’t the best example of this new wave of HHH (that goes to Lecrae’s 2008 disc “Rebel”), but it’s this year’s finest.
6. Project 86 – “Picket Fence Cartel”
Hard to believe this year brought Project 86 all the way to album number seven. “Picket Fence Cartel” wins points for bringing back a lot of the heavy that was missing on 2007’s “Rival Factions”. It also wins points for some great apocalyptic and devotional lyrics. Songs like “The Black Brigade” mean that this one will see repeated plays for quite some time.
5. Oh, Sleeper – “Son of the Morning”
Metal record predominantly ‘voiced’ by Satan but made by Christians. Nine tracks on this record are written from the perspective of the Devil himself, with the final track being from that of the risen and living one – Jesus Christ. Conceptually this pushes the envelope (if that idiom even means anything anymore), but trust me when I say that it’s full of Bible and theology, full of great moments, and full of excellence. Closing track “The Finisher” is a blistering, potent reminder of the all-consuming power of the Almighty One.
4. Matthew Good – “Vancouver”
Ah, Matty Good. He’s kinda the odd one out on this list, and not just because he’s Canadian. “Vancouver” does a lot of what 2007’s “Hospital Music” did, only better. The only thing it’s really missing is a blow-your-face-off rocker like “I’m A Window” was for that record.
3. Deepspace5 – “5print Mixtape”
What happens when an unknown but skilled producer has a whole whack of beats NOT used for Jay Z’s “The Blueprint 3″? He, Alex Goose, puts it out for free online as “The Blueprint Outtakes”. What happens when rap supercrew Deepspace5 gets ahold of those beats? Magic. This mixtape is freely available at Deepspace5 dot Com.
2. David Crowder Band – “Church Music”
After the letdown that was 2007’s “Remedy”, it was great to hear the return of the sprawling, almost experimental David Crowder Band ala 2005’s “A Collision”. Unlike that watershed record, though, there’s no bluegrass or Americana to be found on “Church Music”, just delicious electronics, top-of-your-lungs stuck-in-your-head choruses and a whole lot of heart and soul.
1. Thrice – “Beggars”
It’s no secret that I’m an avid, blathering, emphatic fan of Dustin Kensrue and his band Thrice. Between Dustin’s biblically-conscious, thoughtful, high-grade, genuinely epic lyrics and the band’s brand of toe-tapping groove-infested rock… it’s all win. “Beggars” is my Album of the Year with a vengeance. It’s also, in this fan’s opinion, Thrice’s best offering yet.
…i stole my confessions from a kleptomaniac
Sep 28th
Title: Confessions
Artist: Pillar
Label: Sony BMG Home Entertainment & Essential Records
Length: 11 Tracks / 37:59
For More Info: http://www.pillartour.com | http://providentpress.com/
It’s just been a year since Pillar’s last release, 2008’s For The Love Of The Game. Not much has changed in a year – Pillar is still cranking out generic, derivative rock music. Pillar, as always, remains a competent band with decent money behind them and a reasonably-sized primarily-Christian fanbase.
That’s about all the good I can say here. I get the impression they’ve been really trying hard to do something interesting and different since rapcore died, but this album is a train wreck… and the Confessions should be about how many “hard” rock, grunge, and rock-and-roll bands they ripped off trying to make things sound different. Apparently, they were going for a reinvention of their approach to “songwriting and studio production as well as half [their] line-up”. This means, among other things Confessions sports “guest songwriters” (five of them – all from outside the band), a producer other than Travis Wyrick (a first), and most distinctly a grip of songs that is anything other than the “rich, melodic, transparent, and hard-hitting … with weighty appeal” claimed in the press release.
Confessions starts out with an “Intro” that’s basically 10 seconds of ramping-up guitars that segue into the lead track “Fire On The Inside”. I’ll warn you straight up, this is one of two songs on the album that actually sound like a Pillar track (the other being the last track on the album “You Are Not The End”). There’s very little rock happening on Confessions – perhaps the album’s title is meant to be a sign… that says in big, capital letters:
WARNING! PILLAR THOUGHT IT WOULD BE REALLY COOL TO MAKE A ‘SOFTER, GENTLER’ ALBUM. PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND EARPLUGS. AND CYNICISM.
The next couple cuts on the record display this perfectly, as well as hinting at a lot of what’s to come on the record: plagiarism.
Earlier I mentioned that Pillar ripped off other bands to make Confessions. What exactly did I mean by that? Well, when you reach track five and it starts up, you’ll be expecting to hear these words:
“Everything’s so blurry, and everyone’s so fake.
Everybody’s empty, and everything is so messed up.”
Why? Because the verses of “Better Off Now” snatch their chord progression, vocal pattern, harmonic picking, and general aesthetics from Puddle Of Mudd’s hit song “Blurry”. That song is almost 10 years old now. Maybe they thought nobody would notice. The only real change from the song they stole is that Pillar wrote a non-grunge chorus for the otherwise lifted music. Which could have been a good thing, except they replace it with their brand of soft rock radio-friendly jello. Not exactly a positive spin.
It’s one thing to borrow a page from great musicians, but Puddle of Mudd was basically a Nirvana cover band in disguise that ended up being essentially a one-hit wonder. Hearing this kind of drivel makes me wish Pillar had just called it quits after Above. Or before that, preferably.
If that weren’t enough, I used to think that Rob Beckley (Pillar’s vocalist) at least had a distinguishable voice – particularly after he gave up the rapping he was never any good at. Confessions does away with that concession, since it finds Beckley pulling a page from the vocal tones and styles of Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida on various tracks – most distinctly on “Will You Be There”. He also borrows heavily from Thousand Foot Krutch’s Trevor McNevan on “Call To Action” and elsewhere.
The fact that Pillar chose this album to be their first LP with cover songs on it shouldn’t come as any surprise at this point. Late in the album, Pillar turns in an entirely unremarkable cover of Collective Soul’s “Shine” and a cover of a song that hasn’t even been released yet – “Call To Action” by Knoxville band Copper. In both cases, the reproductions are faithful but add absolutely nothing to the songs. In fact, Pillar’s covers are far less interesting, far less detailed, and far less listenable than the originals.
Cover songs aside, the original songs on Confessions are a confused bunch. Pillar’s intent to pull off some kind of softer, gentler side comes off as forced and uninteresting. Every once and awhile they try to bust out some kind of ‘hardcore breakdown’, but it falls flat and empty because it never fits nor does it actually sound heavy when its in the context of an otherwise ‘trying really hard to be both rich AND melodic’ song (see: “Whatever It Takes”).
Lyrically, there’s nothing here you wouldn’t already expect from Pillar – who have never been home to particularly deep, introspective, or… well… confessional lyrics. Their misguided attempt to go against the grain of what they’ve done prior to this comes off as awkward, forced, and derivative as the music and the vocals do.
It’s telling that Pillar made it their goal to make “every song on this album … a great fit for radio”, because – bottom line – if you’ve listened to rock music on the radio during the last two decades, you have heard this album already. I can respect wanting to change and evolve, but in attempting to do so, Pillar has put together a selection of 10 songs that neither cohere nor rock, and the utter lack of originality or innovation conjures up but one utterly horrific comparison: Nickleback.
So, essentially, what you’ll get with Confessions is a couple bad covers, a handful of flagrant unoriginality, and an earfull of sounds you’ve already heard elsewhere. If you’re a Pillar fan, stick to their old stuff. If you’re not a Pillar fan, stay away from this one just like you’d stay away from Frankenstein’s ravenous monster.
Zero Klepto’s out of Five.
Standout Tracks: None of them. Sorry.
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
September 28th, 2009
…man, machine, and progressive christian death metal worship
Sep 22nd
Title: Dichotomy
Artist: Becoming The Archetype
Label: Solid State
Length: 10 Tracks / 43:22
For More Info: http://www.becomingthearchetype.com | http://www.solidstaterecords.com
If you’re as old as me, you remember third wave ska. In Christian circles, that meant Five Iron Frenzy, The OC Supertones, and The Insyderz – the band that turned out some (admittedly decent) ska worship records, appropriately entitled Skaleluia!. On one of those records, at the beginning of a decidedly non-metal song, one of the band members introduces the track by saying “Christian Metal never dies, baby!”. I remember when that record came out, and I remember my friends repeating that quote ad-nauseum (of course, when I was a teenager, it was cool to “be metal” – whether you actually were or not). Either way, I appreciated the sentiments – Christian metal really never does die. Thus, although the source is suspect, the addage rings true.
Becoming the Archetype (hereafter BtA) burst onto the metal scene in 2005’s Terminate Damnation. At the time, the record was quite a departure for label home Solid State, who hadn’t had an honest-to-goodness metal band on their roster since the legendary Living Sacrifice folded a year or two prior. Full of great riffs, solos, and varied and complex orchestration, Terminate Damnation was a bright spot the year of its release. The band followed up with The Physics of Fire in 2007 and it was largely more of the same – lots of metal riffage, lots of great solos, a great mix of pacing, and more of the interesting orchestral accompaniment. Throughout both records, BtA explored traditional metal, progressive metal, death metal, doom, metalcore and other various styles within that spectrum.
This past year, 2008, brought BtA’s third and most recent outing – a collection of ten songs by the name of Dichotomy. Borrowing some of its lyrical themes from the science fiction “Space Trilogy” of C.S. Lewis, the titular ‘dichotomy’ lies between biology and technology – man and machine. Fairly typical sci-fi fare, but rather atypical for metal fare. Of course, seeing as this isn’t a concept record, and seeing as this is Becoming the Archetype, there is also a good smattering of biblically inspired lyrics to round out the content. Demon Hunter’s Ryan Clark comes through with some great guest vocals (clean and scream) on a handfull of tracks. Topics covered range from considering the superiority of the things God has created relative to the things man has made (”Artificial Immortality”) to a retelling of one of the Bible’s most damning passages (Romans 1 – on “Dichotomy”) to an imaginative and powerful account of seeing Christ’s empty tomb (”Self Existent”). The best song on the record, though, undoubtedly goes to the one track that BtA didn’t write – namely, their dominating and intense take on the classic hymn “How Great Thou Art”.
Becoming the Archetype follows in the lyrical footsteps of some of the great “Spirit-Filled Hardcore” of the 90’s – bands like Focused and Unashamed… and rides the musical wave that started with Living Sacrifice’s legendary album Reborn. In 2008, the result is bone-crunching progressive death metal (real metal, not a hybrid) with unabashed Christian lyrics whose primary source is Scripture, whose primary tone is worship, and whose voice is unapologetic, direct, and bold. Highly recommended, high-quality metal. The music is great, the vocals are great, the production is great, and the solos (yes, the solos) are great. This is this band’s best album to date. All of that being said, the thing which most impressed itself upon this reviewer is that Becoming the Archetype has finally arrived at a place where they write really catchy songs – the kind that get stuck in your head. The technical proficiency and musicianship has always been there, but this time around BtA really nailed their sound, their content, and their focus. Dichotomy is amazing. Christian metal never dies, baby.
Curious about the name? The band’s website says this: “According to Genesis 1:26, “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image’”. Since Jesus was the only person to ever live a sinless life, He is the ultimate archetype (or original design) of humanity. As a result, the life of a [Christian] is all about being conformed to the image of God or in other words; becoming the archetype.”
I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who loves metal and is becoming like our archetype, Jesus.
Four Classic Hymns out of Five.
Standout Tracks: How Great Thou Art, End of the Age, Ransom, Self Existent.
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
September 22nd, 2009
…sailing shallow
Sep 10th
Title: In Shallow Seas We Sail
Artist: Emery
Label: Tooth & Nail
Length: 13 Tracks / 41:10
For More Info: http://www.emerymusic.com | http://www.toothandnail.com
I’m going to come right out with it: this is Emery’s finest album, and it all started in 2004.
The year 2004 was the year most people were introduced to a fledgeling genre we now remember as “Screamo”. Screamo blends the screamed vocals and technical guitars of post-hardcore with the pop sensibilities and pretty singing of mid-nineties Emo. It quickly fell out of fashion because of a litany of talentless copycats and extreme overcommercialization, much like Rapcore did in the late 90’s.
Emery’s 2004 debut, The Weak’s End, garnered quite reserved reactions. At first glance, they seemed to be another Screamo band sporting dual vocalists. I think this rubbed a lot of critics and listeners the wrong way because it seemed like a cash-in on the popularity of other acts of the time – after all, 2004 was the year of Underoath’s They’re Only Chasing Safety, as well as Dead Poetic’s New Medicines, and ultimately it was the year Linkin Park’s Meteora solid a gajillion copies.
The Weak’s End was a decent debut – nothing spectacular, but since Screamo was the flavor of the year it sold quite well. The melodies were pretty good, the screamed vocals were satisfying, and the heart-on-sleeve, honest lyrics resonated with many. The record was ultimately driven forward on the strength of its most visible track. That track is “The Ponytail Parades”, and it represented Emery at their best – soaring harmonies and impassioned, agonizing screams told the story of a broken heart in a way that continues to resonate with fans to this day. Emery has since released the song in both acoustic and live versions on subsequent albums.
Just as violently as the Screamo tides came in, so they left not too shortly after. Pioneers in the genre such as Underoath quickly abandoned it, largely citing what it had come to represent – a stale, pigeonholed genre that held little long-term interest.
Emery was right alongside such bands in leaving Screamo behind, and they did it quite quickly. Their sophomore 2005 effort The Question focused much more on sonics, melody, and songwriting… and left behind almost all of the screaming. Their third release, 2007’s I’m Only A Man entered more experimental territory, adding in electronics and dancehall beats (among other things).
Then came 2008’s While Broken Hearts Prevail EP… which, if you heard it, you heard a significant shift in their sound back toward where they began.
What makes In Shallow Seas We Sail the finest record that this band has put out is the very thing that they’ve been largely avoiding for all these years since The Weak’s End – that being the proverbial “Heavy”. This is a record that starts with a rather delicious, throaty yell. The opening 30 seconds of “Cutthroat Collapse” set the stage well – covering more than a few screaming styles, and hailing in the return of a more confident, more mature Emery.
One of the things that’s allowed Emery to survive and thrive in the years since 2004 is that they have had at their disposal two extremely talented vocalists – both of whom are excellent singers and screamers. This has allowed them a great deal of flexibility and freedom both to experiment and to push themselves in ways inaccessable to most. Throughout In Shallow Seas We Sail, Both vocalists are at the peak of their craft, trading harmonies and conjuring some impressive back-and-forth intertwining lyrics and styles all throughout. In addition, the band’s rediscovery of heavy musical intensity rises up to match their ever-present lyrical boldness and heightened emotional appeals. The combination of these factors, which is ultimately a culmination of the lessons and progress recorded on all of their previous albums, results in an extremely impressive, challenging, and enjoyable collection of songs.
I believe that they have finally laid to rest “The Ponytail Parades” as their magnum opus. From its subject matter to its hooks to urgent crescendo, “Inside Our Skin”, is proof positive that Emery is presently in the best place they have ever been. When the song’s climax hits, and you hear the appeal “WISDOM LIGHT MY WAY INTO THE DARK / WE CAN’T MAKE A CHANGE ‘TIL WE KNOW WHO WE ARE”, these conclusions are utterly inescapable. A close runner-up is also on this record – the incredible “Dear Death”, which is split into two parts, the first quiet and sombre, the second pulsating, energetic, and impassioned.
If there’s one downside to this outing, it’s that Emery’s lyrics often don’t stray from the mold they set five years ago. Much of the album’s textual content is spent on relationships, and without much in the way of insight… instead focusing largely on venting emotions and feelings that most (myself included) would associate with high-school drama. Frankly, Emery’s most impacful songs are the ones where they deviate from that path – and although this record has a decent number, it would have been nice to see a wholesale shift in emphasis.
Ultimately, Emery builds on years of experience and their handful of previous releases and delivers to us their finest work to date. If it is truly In Shallow Seas We Sail, the seas are calm, the water is perfect, and the music is just right.
Four and a Half Sailboats out of Five.
Standout Tracks: Inside Our Skin; The Smile, The Face; In Shallow Seas We Sail; Churches And Serial Killers; Dear Death (Parts 1 & 2).
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
September 10th, 2009
…too good not to share
Aug 11th
Current Tunage: Thrice – Beggars
Album of the year.
It’s been forever. I’m (kind of) sorry. There’s much to report on, but that will be another post.
For now, here’s what’s on my mind:
“THE WEIGHT” by THRICE from their new album BEGGARS
There’s many who’ll tell you they’ll give you their love,
But when they say “give” they mean “take.”
They’ll hang ‘round just like vultures till push comes to shove.
They’ll take flight when the earth starts to shake.
Someone may say that they’ll always be true,
Then slip out the door ‘fore the dawn.
But I won’t leave you hanging on.
Another may stay till they find someone new,
Then before you know they’ll be gone.
But I won’t leave you hanging on;
No, I won’t be that someone.
And come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.
And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight.
Some talk of destiny, others of fate,
But soon they’ll be saying goodbye.
But I won’t leave you high and dry.
Because a ring don’t mean nothing
If you can’t haul the weight,
And some of them won’t even try,
But I won’t leave you high and dry;
I won’t leave you wondering why.
And storms will surely come,
But true love is a choice you must make
And you’re the one that I have set my heart to choose.
As long as I live, I swear I’ll see this through.
…the king of pop and the king of glory
Jun 26th
Current Tunage: Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster – Waiting On My Deathbed
Maylene’s new record, “III”, is stellar southern hardcore. Nobody does it better.
Yesterday, Michael Jackson died. I’ll be truthful – most of my exposure to him was through Weird Al (”eat it”) and Disney stuff when I was a kid. Never much cared for pop music, nor its “king”. Although I can certainly respect his impact on music, my sadness at his passing is not one of regret and admiration, but of pity. He was a man destroyed by the sins of his father, the trap of his money, and the war of self-loathing and self-idolatry that so clearly marked his life. Although I hope he met Jesus in a real way before his death, there’s nothing to suggest that happened.
Needless to say, his death has gotten me thinking, and I had some thoughts I was going to share… but in his usual fashion, Tim Challies said my thoughts for me in his own way. You can read them here.
…from nine to nineteen
Jun 13th
Title: Cloud Nineteen
Artist: Braille & Symbolyc One
Label: Hiphop is Music
Length: 16 Tracks / 55:35
For More Info: http://www.braillehiphop.com | http://www.hiphopismusic.com
Fresh off his fourth LP, 2008’s The IV Edition, Braille has teamed up with S1 aka Symbolyc One to deliver this new project entitled Cloud Nineteen. The most immediate benefit of teaming up with a single producer like this is that it results in a cohesion and togetherness of the record’s sound that was lacking on The IV as well as 2006’s Box of Rhymes.
In the role of beatmaker and production heavyweight, S1 brings his A game. Cloud Nineteen boasts some of the best and most enjoyable beats on any of Braille’s releases, at times rivalling 2004’s Shades of Grey, widely considered to be Braille’s finest album. Actually, it’s fair to say that every release since Shades has been held up against it – and in this regard I don’t feel that Nineteen takes the title as “best Braille”. With that said, Cloud Nineteen maintains the high levels set by Braille’s other post-Shades releases – no small feat. In short, the music here is fresh and enjoyable – with songs like “Megaphone Phonics” and “That’s My Word” standing out as highlights.
What is there to say about Braille’s rhymes that hasn’t already been said before? As always, he brings honesty, true-to-life experience, and an increasing breadth of wisdom to every track. For quite some time, Braille’s vision for Cloud Nineteen has been to give away freely to folks in schools, correctional facilities, and community centers. This vision seems to have informed the content and the topics of the record, which revolve around the idea that if ‘Cloud Nine’ is the best this world has to offer, then Christ offers us something much greater… Cloud Nineteen, so to speak. Throughout the album’s 14 non-interlude tracks, Braille shares from his life and learnings to encourage and challenge his listeners. A great example of this is “Found Her”, which shares his own fledgeling mistakes with women and eventual success in meeting and marrying his wife. It’s also a great follow-up to the only track on The IV Editon produced by S1, “Blessed Man”. Another highlight for me personally was one of the albums most polarizing tracks, the atmospherically dark and brooding “Heart of God”, wherein Braille asks:
How many times have I failed to represent the heart of God with my filthy rag righteousness
It’s painful to admit my lack of discipline when I commit sins, it’s shameful, I can’t live like this
…and later…
How can I dumb down the heart of God?
He sent his Son to come down and die for me.
I was in dire need.
…and finally…
All I really want is the heart of God
But I don’t live my life like I really mean the words that I say,
I want the heart of God to speak through my lyrics,
Why should you listen to me, when I don’t listen to the Holy Spirit?
To me, this track was the album’s highest highlight – brutal honesty from Braille about his own weakness and inability to do anything truly valuable apart from what God does through transforming his heart to be more like Christ.
Between S1’s consistent and engaging production and Braille’s consistent and precise vision for Cloud Nineteen, this is one of 2009’s best hip-hop records and will retain that status despite being released early in the year. Once again, I find myself impressed by and thankful for Braille and his desire to be a voice for hope and our need for the redemption and heart-level transformation that can only come through Christ. His vision to share this record freely with kids in group homes and cons in prison is to be applauded, and much more than that, it’s something to support. Here we have a guy who, rather than trying to cash in on his abilities, feels called to share his life, his talent, and his Saviour with the broken and outcast. That’s something worth getting behind. Getting behind it requires that you pick up a copy of this great album to enjoy, and that goes way beyond ‘cloud 9′ status and on to Cloud Nineteen. I’ll see you there.
Four clouds out of five.
Standout Tracks: It’s Nineteen, Broken Heart, That’s My Word, Heart of God, Megaphone Phonics, Hardrock.
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
June 13th, 2009
…glitching to fix something
Jun 11th
Title: Future Stars And Small Wonders
Artist: Bizzart
Label: Joyful Noise Recordings
Length: 12 Tracks / 32:33
What do you get when you combine bizzare with art? Bizzart, apparently. Future Stars And Small Wonders, the most recent release from Bizzart, is certainly bizzare – whether or not it’s “art” is ultimately up to each listener.
The record comes in a basic package with no indication of who the artist is, or of what the album is called. The liner notes are printed on a single square page, coded in HTML. The distorted, out-of-focus cover image kindly gives a hint at what the sound contents will resemble.
If you load up Future Stars And Small Wonders, Here’s what you’re going to hear: shout-rap vocals that generally favour oblique lyrical abstraction, weird juxtapositions of sound, erratic/glitchy electronics, schizophrenic loops, acoustic guitar/piano, and vocal samples that seem to bear no connection to the songs in which they are placed. Certainly, there’s a lot of effort that’s gone into this, even just to achieve the amount of layering and mashing of sounds (sometimes complimentary, sometimes intentionally dischordant). Song structures are anything but standardized – constantly doubling back on you and breaking conventions that have been set up in the first two minutes of a song only to frusterate or intrigue the listener. The same can be said of the album, which will follow a spazzy electronic indie rap song (”Android Hearts”) with a quiet piano number (”Changing Stars”) – though both of the songs named fit those descriptions in only the most basic sense. The only thing that comes to mind as a basis for comparison is Soul Junk (particularly at Glenn Galaxy’s more rappish and/or contemplative moments).
With all of these things in mind, this is a complicated record to listen to, and that’s probably an intentional move. The most important things to note about Future Stars And Small Wonders, however, is that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of substance here to take hold of, much less to reward a listener’s time and effort.
The promotional material for the record calls it “sound-collage hip-hop meets belligerent poetry for robots in love”, I’m more inclined to call it “difficult to enjoy”.
Check out Bizzart if you’re into Soul Junk and other crazy schizophrenic “sound-collage” music, as this will likely be a profitable listen. Otherwise, you’re better off elsewhere.
Two future stars out of five.
Standout Tracks: Android Heart, Future Girls, Wood Is Whyte.
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
June 11th, 2009
…a story about falling in love
May 15th
Title: it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright
Artist: mewithoutYou
Label: Tooth & Nail Records
Length: 11 Tracks / 44:55
MewithoutYou has always numbered among those bands whose sound is an “acquired taste”. From the start, there has never been a shred of pop-informed accessibility to their work.
Remember back in 2002 when [A->B] Life came out? Remember the first time you heard vocalist Aaron Weiss’ bizarre mix of talking and shouting? Remember being sucked in by the energy of it all – the broken heart of the protagonist, the churn and ferocity of the music to match?
Remember 2004, when Catch For Us The Foxes came out? Remember the intricate bass lines and the swirling crescendos of the guitars? Remember hearing Aaron talk quietly and, in his fumbling but endearing way, sing?
Remember how well all the new instrumentation introduced on 2006’s Brother, Sister seemed to fit? Remember how it added a lot to the depth and variety of their sound?
Remember falling in love with mewithoutYou?
If you’re like me, there are two key things that made it happen.
First, excellent musicianship. I know I’m not the only one who wept on the inside when Dan Pishock left after Catch For Us The Foxes – taking his ridiculously complicated and beautiful bass work with him. I know I’m not the only one who can’t help but dance or at least make spastic body movements when the opening peals of “January 1979″ rise up, carrying with them a wash of joy.
Second, Aaron Weiss. Don’t his lyrics have a way of shining light on such difficult things? Don’t his words get stuck in your head such that you find yourself using them as profound poetic injections in the middle of conversations about God, theology, and life in general? Doesn’t his delivery make you grin?
MewithoutYou’s strengths have always been the music and the man in front – and they have been such great strengths that those who enjoy them might even consider them to be superpowers. Such is the draw that mewithoutYou has upon their fanbase – faithful, passionate, and intensely proud of the intimate and meaningful work that ‘their’ band has given them.
I’m one of them. I first heard the band shortly after the release of their debut, and was happily carried along through second and third releases. Each one has been unique, yet all bear threads of similarity – music and man. I was sucked in first by the lyrics. Long before I grew to love and enjoy Aaron’s unique and, for most people, unlistenable delivery… it was his words that caught me. Consistently insightful, consistently grappling with the difficult yet most important things of life – meaning, existence, God, pain, relationships, and most of all the complicated realities of following Jesus in our present world. The grooves and pulses of the music didn’t hurt, either.
As you know, mewithoutYou has a new album and it comes out very soon. It is called it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright, and for many, just like me, the album’s title will summarize their first response upon hearing it. After some thought, I have a feeling that this kind of initial response actually provides a good framework for understanding this new album, as well as the many differences (and occasional similarities) it has with everything the band has done before.
So, without further ado:
It’s All Crazy!
When you start up this new album, and the opening carnival-organ notes of “every thought a Thought of You” hit your ears, it should be apparent very quickly that musically, this isn’t the mewithoutYou you’ve become accustomed to. What’s incredible is that this first track is about the closest to their “old sound” that you’ll find here. A couple of lines in, the band’s trademark guitars make their entrance (and, in many ways, take their leave – more on that in a second).
Behind the producer’s desk is none other than Dan Smith, who you might be familiar with from his work with Sufjan Stevens as well as heading up Danielson and all of its variants (Tri-Danielson, Danielson Family, Danielson Famile, etc). His fingerprints are all over the sound that mewithoutYou has adopted here – high falsetto background vocals make numerous appearances, not to mention generous and sprawling instrumentation from such varied sources as tubas, violins, xylophones, squeaky hinges, trumpets, pianos, banjos, and ultimately an entire orchestra. The trademark guitars still bring the heavy from time to time, but such occasions are few and far between – typically only at the climax of certain songs. If they’re present otherwise, they are mixed low and the other instruments take center stage. That said, there’s a lot more acoustic guitar (and bass) than electric, and really, that’s the craziest thing about this new album. Musically, this is really much more of a folk record than the post-hardcore or “artcore” we’re used to hearing from these guys.
Think about the coloured Spider vignettes on Brother, Sister and imagine them expanded to album-length, surrounded with lush accompaniment, and just generally tweaked in all manners of interesting, perhaps even “crazy” ways. That’s really what’s ‘crazy’ about it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright - it represents a huge shift in sound. To think that the direction taken on this new project was hinted at most clearly by the brief and incidental “arachnid interludes” of the preceding album makes it all the more perplexing.
It’s All False!
This album will probably be controversial, but you could have said that about any of their records – remember “Seven Sisters”, when Aaron said “Oh my God – I want to shoot myself just thinking about it!” and followed that up with “You think I don’t mean what I say? Well I mean every word I say!”. It’s not as though mewithoutYou have shied away from tense subject matter before – thoughts of suicide being the most easily recognizable.
The reason this album might be controversial is handily summarized by the title of the last song on the record: “Allah, Allah, Allah.” It’s the content rooted in faith and theology that will be most upsetting and divisive for both long-time fans and new listeners. Sometimes, it will be in a very good way – for instance Aaron’s proclamation on “a Stick, a Carrot and String” of Jesus as “our Lord”, come to replace the sacrificial system with his willing and obedient sacrifice on the Cross. Other times, as in the above example of “Allah…”, the knee-jerk reaction will likely be negative or at least confused. Let’s examine this.
Now, particularly in the West, we associate the word “Allah” with the specific god of Islam. Generally, the result of combining a song title such as “Allah, Allah, Allah” with our Islam-specific association is that we might conclude that mewithoutYou has converted to Islam. Listening through the song likely wouldn’t do much to assuage those fears, either. The problem lies in the association. The word “Allah” is merely the word for “God” in the language of Arabic. Aaron and his brother Michael (who plays guitar for the band) grew up with one of the most interesting religious heritages one might conceive of. They grew up with Sufi parents, their father a convert from Judaism and their mother from Episcopalianism. Sufism, for lack of a more concise description, is like mystical Islam – they believe, contrary to traditional Islamic teaching, that God is personal and personable rather than lofty and removed. For this, and other reasons, Sufism is about as close as any form of Islam gets to many of the most important distinctives of Christianity. It’s not the Truth, but it has elements of truth in it – many of which have inspired Aaron from the very beginning. None of this is a secret to fans of the band, who have likely already spent some time in the past investigating the Sufi poets and writers that Aaron derives much of his inspiration from. That said, this kind of far-from-normal background behind the lyrics creates an interesting and complicated set of juxtapositions for the listener. Begun on their sophomore effort, Aaron continues his pattern of utilizing Arabic primarily for purposes of praise (think back to “My Exit, Unfair”). With these things in mind, I would suggest that his use of “Allah” on the final track is simply that – just using another ‘name’ for God. It’s akin to calling Jesus “Yeshua” or “Haysoos” or perhaps the Arabic “Isa” – which, incidentally, Aaron has already done on Brother, Sister’s “The Dryness and the Rain”.
More than ever before, Aaron draws from his Sufi roots on this album – less from his usual source (the poet Rumi), and more from the “shiek” Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, who seems to be big on writing children’s stories – some of which Aaron retells. With all of this in mind, there’s a lot on the record that might cause some to cry “False!” reactively. However, I am certain that repeated listens (and a good, thorough time checking out the lyrics) will reveal that Aaron has delved into these Sufi proverbs and stories and dug up a lot of actual truth. The numerous places where Sufism parallels Christianity seem to be a treasure trove for interesting, thought-provoking content. Resist the initial urge to call it all “False”.
It’s All a Dream!
Aaron isn’t shouting! At all! Well, he might for a brief second at the beginning of “Bullet To Binary (Pt. 2)”, but that may have more to do with paying homage to the original song than with any desire to revisit old territory.
Actually, “breaking new ground” might be the best way to describe the lyrical content of the record… “storytelling” also comes to mind. There is, after all, a truckload of stories on this record – fables and tales and parables, as it were. They range from the apparently light-hearted (”the Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie”) to the biblically-inspired (”the Angel of Death came to David’s room”), to simple and elegant spiritual metaphor (”the King Beetle on a Coconut Estate”), to what can only be described as a Christmas song (”a Stick, a Carrot and String”). The cast is equally as varied, from animals and bugs, to baked goods and the ingredients needed to make them, to vegetables and plants. I’m reminded of Brother, Sister’s “O Porcupine”, which reminded us that “all creation groans… listen to it!”. This record feels like a response to that admonition. In many ways, these stories could very well be called ‘dreams’. Each one serves to share a moral or a collection of thoughts, touching on subjects like mortality, the mystery of God, and the fleeting and ultimately empty fancies of our sexual appetites. The aforementioned ‘Christmas song’ (”a Stick, a Carrot and String”) is perhaps the best example of the approach Aaron has taken this time around. Shifting the focus from one stanza to another, the story of Christ’s birth and sacrifice are told through the animals that feature in those accounts (ie. the sacrificial lambs, the manger’s horse, the donkey Christ rode into Jerusalem, and of course the titular Snake – our Enemy). The song is powerful, despite its loose pacing and the warbles of the accordion that permeate it. Ultimately, it captures some of the incredible wonder induced by considering Jesus’ willing and obedient sacrifice on the cross. So, in that sense, this is a record full of ‘dreams and visions’ in the form of parables and fables and stories – believe me when I say that the lessons therein are helpful and worthwhile.
It’s Alright.
In the pair of months I’ve had to preview this album, I’ve gone back and forth on myself many times as to whether or not I enjoyed this new direction taken by mewithoutYou. After much reflection, primarily on what I’ve written about above, I trust you can understand that despite the “craziness”, the “falsehood”, and the “dreams”, this record is alright. MewithoutYou has taken some pretty massive steps away from their “sound” (many of them steps towards the folky, experimental sound of guys like Sufjan Stevens, Danielson, and the Psalters). Further, a new and less Aaron-centered lyrical direction and much more listener-friendly vocal style has opened the content up to a much wider audience. As much as I might want to play the snob and say it’s “not as good as old mewithoutYou”… I’m not convinced. For the first time ever, my wife could stand listening for more than 10 seconds. Call me crazy, but in my books that counts for something. MewithoutYou has chosen not to keep making Catch For Us The Foxes, and I believe they’re all the better for it.
So, it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright is crazy, false, dreamy, and ultimately… it’s quite alright in spite of these massive changes. Lyrically, it’s more sedate and thoughtful. Musically, it’s restrained in tone yet expansively layered. This is a worthy addition to the mewithoutYou canon, an unconventional but very enjoyable collection of songs that will alienate many long-time fans, but will create many more new ones.
Remember falling in love with mewithoutYou? I do. It just happened to me all over again.
4.5 Cookies out of 5
For More Info: toothandnail.com | mewithoutyou.com
Standout Tracks: every thought a Thought Of You; the Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie; a Stick, a Carrot and String; the King Beetle on a Coconut Estate; Allah, Allah, Allah.
Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
May 15th, 2009