Amy's Music :: RIP Alex Chilton

This week I was sad to hear of the death of singer and guitarist Alex Chilton. He was 59. Alex Chilton deserves to be remembered for his influential 1970s band Big Star. I love Big Star's pop songs especially "September Gurls" (not a typo, it's truly "gurls") and "Back of a Car" with their ringing guitars. You might have heard Big Star's song "In the Street" as the theme for the TV show "That '70s Show".

Big Star were sadly never commercially successful when they released their albums and in early 1970s. Record company distribution problems and band disagreements hurt their chances. But their innovative, power-pop music went on to inspire many other musicians. R.E.M., The Replacements, Game Theory, and The Bangles are a few of the artists who have acknowledged Big Star as an influence.

Here are some of the lyrics, or a best guess, from "September Gurls":

September gurls do so much
I was your butch and you were touched
I loved you well never mind
I've been crying all the time

December boys got it bad
December boys got it bad

September gurls I don't know why
How can I deny what's inside
Even though I'll keep away
They will love all our days

Also, before Big Star, Alex Chilton was the teenage singer of The Box Tops 1967 hit song "The Letter", which begins with the lines:

Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain't got time to take a fast train

RIP Alex Chilton.

Amy's music :: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Counting up, as opposed to a countdown, NME's #4 album of 2008 is Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weeekend. Rolling Stone magazine rated this as the 10th best album of 2008. It was released little over a year ago.

Vampire Weekend are from New York. They met at Columbia University and produced this, their debut album, after graduation. The band members are Ezra Koenig (lead vocals, guitar), Rostam Batmanglij (keyboard, guitar, vocal harmonies), Chris Tomson (drums) and Chris Baio (bass guitar).

The New York Times in a review called Vampire Weekend "Preppie Afro-pop". The band label their own style as "Upper West Side Soweto". To me music seems a mix of genres including Afrobeat, ska-punk, and calypso.

In their music there are repeated sequences of notes on guitar, pulsing keyboards, and racing drums. Various songs feature harpsichord, violin, cello, mellotron, and hand drums.

Notable songs off the album are "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma", "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and "Mansard Roof".

"A-Punk" is a catchy tune, clocking in at a mere 2:17. Musically it's like ai!-ai!-ai! punk, but lyrically it's from a different world. Here are the first two verses:

Johanna drove slowly into the city
The Hudson River all filled with snow
She spied the ring on his honor's finger
oh-oh-oh
A thousand years in one piece of silver
She took it from his lilywhite hand
Showed no fear - she'd seen the thing
In the young men's wing at Sloan-Kettering

"Oxford Comma" begins with these lyrics:

Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?
I've seen those English dramas too
They're cruel
So if there's any other way
To spell the word
It's fine with me, with me

Other song lyrics mention such things as Pueblo huts, Louis Vuitton, the Khyber Pass, Darjeeling tea and Peter Gabriel. There is nothing about vampires.

It's difficult to dislike Vampire Weekend. Their music is upbeat and listenable. Yet I wasn't truly hooked by their mixed-genre music or their quirky college-boy lyrics. Nonetheless, I'll admit it's a likable album.

Amy's music :: Glasvegas - Glasvegas

Continuing my count-up, as opposed to a countdown, of NME's top albums of 2008, at #3 is Glasvegas.

I bought this album soon after its September release because NME was calling Glasvegas the best new band in Britain.

Glasvegas are a Scottish alternative rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan (vocals and songwriter), Rab Allan (guitar), Paul Donoghue (bass) and Caroline McKay (drums). All the photos I've seen of Glasvegas show them wearing black. Even their album cover is black.

Glasvegas is their eponymous debut album. They released several songs earlier as limited edition singles. In 2007 Glasvegas received critical acclaim from NME for their single "Daddy's Gone".

Glasvegas play guitar based music. There are shimmering and reverberating guitars, bass, pulsing drums and tambourine. Backing vocals feature oohs and aahs. Their music is melodic and atmospheric.

The vocals are distinctive. James Allen sings in a Scottish accent which at times is difficult to decipher. Yet he uses his voice as an instrument to add poignancy and emotion to the songs. The lyrics often tell stories from working-class lives.

Notable tracks off the album are "Geraldine", "Daddy's Gone", "Go Square Go" and "Flowers & Football Tops".

"Geraldine", the first single off the album and NME's #2 track of the year, starts with these lyrics:

When your sparkle evades your soul
I'll be at your side to console
When you're standing on the window ledge
I'll talk you back, back from the edge

There are explicit lyrics, something I usually frown at. In "Go Square Go" the line "Here we fucking go!" is rousingly repeated.

This is an excellent album, in my opinion and NME’s, definitely one of the best of 2008.

Amy's music :: TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Counting up, as opposed to a countdown, NME's #2 album of 2008 is Dear Science by TV on the Radio.

I'd heard mention of TV on the Radio, but hadn't actually heard them until recently. Given the critical acclaim they are getting from not only NME but from Rolling Stone, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly, I decided to give them a try.

This album falls in the alternative genre, but I'd call it experimental rock funk.

TV on the Radio are a band from Brooklyn, New York composed of Tunde Adebimpe, David Andrew Sitek, Kyp Malone, Jaleel Bunton and Gerard Smith. Dear Science is their fourth release. TV on the Radio released an EP in 2003, followed by albums in 2004 and 2006.

Notable tracks on Dear Science include "Golden Age" and "Dancing Choose" (not Dancing Shoes).

The optimistic chorus of "Golden Age" was memorable from first listen:

The age of miracles
The age of sound
Well there's a Golden Age
Comin' round, comin' round, comin' round

The chorus of "Dancing Choose" includes these interesting lyrics:

I've seen my palette blown
to monochrome
Hollow heart
clicks hollowtone

This album has synths, rhythms, bass, funky vocals and often horns and strings. There are diverse sounds and lots of production. Songs have pop bits, experimental bits, and extensive lyrics I couldn't always catch. Vocals on songs such as "Golden Age" reminded me in a good way of Prince.

Do I like the album Dear Science? Maybe. I will say that it's challenging stuff, worthy of a listen.

As a side note, according to NME, the album title Dear Science is "a name taken from a note left in the studio saying "Dear Science, please start solving problems and helping people or shut the fuck up"." Not sure I care for that attitude.

Amy's music :: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Time for me (Amy) to post some miscellanea, namely, here's a music review. For a tangential SF/F reference, I bought this CD in August during Worldcon here in Denver.

At the end of the year, we see many best of the year lists. NME (New Musical Express), a music weekly magazine from the UK, lists their Top 50 Albums of the Year. NME is arguably on the cutting edge of new, alternative music.

NME's 2008 Album of the Year was Oracular Spectacular by MGMT. It's a debut album made by a couple of guys, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, who started out making tunes for themselves at Wesleyan University. MGMT make catchy, hippy, pop music.

Noteworthy songs off Oracular Spectacular include “Kids”, “Time to Pretend” and the disco-ish “Electric Feel”.

“Kids”, which was in addition dubbed NME's The Track of the Year, contains for a chorus these interesting lyrics:

control yourself
take only what you need from it
a family of trees wanted
to be haunted

“Time to Pretend” begins with these lyrics:

I'm feelin rough I'm feelin raw
I'm in the prime of my life
Let's make some music make some money
find some models for wives

I'd recommend MGMT’s album Oracular Spectacular, despite it being more electronic dance than what I usually listen to. The music won me over, and I was pleased to see that it wowed the critics over at NME.