I don't believe in the absolute music evaluation ladder

I don't believe there's a scientific absolute music evaluation ladder, "this is better than that" is full of subjective reasons coming from personal musical, cultural and life history. Nope I don't believe the reviewer who pretends me he knows all nor even all that "matter". It would be pure lie or naivety, no human can know all the music that "matter", from very far and even by rejecting large musical genres. The consequence is the education and the references aren't the same for two people and on that different base they'll build different ladders of evaluation and none will build THE absolute ladder, it can't exists.

The Resonars - Crummy Desert Sound (Burger, 2013)

 

The band released in September a compilation, The Greatest Songs Of The Resonars, on Trouble In Mind label. It's a collector release with a one-time, LP-only pressing of 1000 copies. That new release reminded me how great is their 2013 album, so I wanted post some comments on it in the blog.

The band origins are from 1992, they released their first album in 1998. There's some ambiguity about this album that I didn't succeed sort. From many sources it's an album made by Matt Rendon only after the band split. But on discog which is often a safe source well controlled particularly on older releases there's a full credits of musicians for this album, and from another source I read that it was only four tracks on this album that was made only by Matt Rendon.

The second album released in 1999, Bright & Dark, was made by Matt Rendon playing all instruments. It's Psychedelic Garage Pop quite colored by the 60's Pop Psychedelic. Then the band retired. A first come back occurred with the album Lunar Kit released in 2002, it's still a bit 60's Pop Psychedelic but it has also some Rock, Boogie or Country colors on some tracks. The second come back was largely triggered by the label Burger Records that wanted re release their albums. The band released Nonetheless Blue in 2007 on Get Hip Recordings. This album focus on a more powerful music with only a light Psychedelic color, it's a sort of Power Pop with some 60's colors. Evil Drone followed in 2008 on Burger Records. That album comes back to Psychedelic Garage Pop with 60's colors, but it is more Lo-Fi and aggressive, and many tracks focus on speed. That makes it sounds more Garage. Burger Records also released in 2010 two compilations on cassette, they include the complete first four albums of the band. In 2012 the band released the Long Long Thoughts EP on the label Trouble In Mind, and Crummy Desert Sound on Burger in 2013.

This album got a troubled release, a first version leaked in 2012 with 11 tracks and rumors of a release on Burger at end of 2012. But it's been pushed back to 2013 and the leaked version was still the only version available and the album has already reached a little hype. The release was pushed back again and it's only many months after the leaked version that finally Burger released the album. That official 2013 release had one more track than the leaked version but it was rather late. I suppose it's not all bad because the vinyl release is sold out, but for such album it's not a surprise. The digital release could have suffer of this, or not, no idea.

It's very catchy Garage between Pop and Rock. It has a light Psychedelic color but not as much than some of the previous albums that are more colored 60's Psychedelic Pop. It seems even a bit more 70's colored, but I didn't pinpoint why I have this feeling. More than in previous albums, you could hear echoes of Pop like Beatles (by opposition to Beach Boys) but the style has no link with the Beatles. It is full of enthusiasm that overflows on all tracks. This enthusiasm and the energy magnify the album. This album is also going closer to Rock than the previous albums, it has more power and more energy. The whole is great hyper catchy stuff.

To listen: Streaming sites like Deezer, Rdio or Spotify. Or 130k vbr preview.
To support the artists: Buy the digital (including a FLAC version) at Burger, or on the various standard digital shops. You could also buy "The Greatest Songs Of The Resonars" which is a vinyl LP collector compilation at Trouble In Mind.

Where all of this is going if nobody buy the music? Be fair, buy the music you like dig.

Gap Dream - Gap Dream (Burger, 2012)

Gap Dream - Gap Dream (Burger, 2012)

"Best" Albums of year... 2012

If I understood well the social conventions relative to music blogs there's a lot of freedom but one mandatory exercise, to make a list of "best" albums of the year before the end of the year. At first I planed cheat a little and make a list of the year 2013 - 1, but I gave up the idea.

This post is the result of this failed plan, I'm not sure how explain why I post this. Clearly the original "best of" lists of the end of the year are a (pointless) game, but one year later it looks as pointless but just pretentious like the definitive and polished list of the best albums of a year. So nope it's also a pointless game just with different rules, so it's just a list. At least you could use it to pinpoint better my preferences if you bother do it.

The Nits - New Flat (1980)

The Nits - New Flat (1980)

Pink Mexico - Pnik Mxeico (Self Release, 2013)

This first album of Pink Mexico is Garage Grunge a bit more minimalist than it's usual in Grunge and with vocals that have some 60's or 70s Pop colors. As most often in post Nirvana Grunge there's some riffs and bits of vocals or instruments melodies that evoke some Nirvana tracks, but it's variations, there's an important style shift, and that's not on all tracks.

The deliberate echoes are a part of the pleasure to listen this album, but the key is the style which is very successful and unusual for Grunge influenced musics. The vocals quite top with a lot of nuances and they are certainly the major element of the album. The instruments are quite more Rock to match the Grunge style, they are less sophisticated than the vocals and they have an approach a bit minimalist. But the instruments details and uses are polished, and they are a major element to build the tracks by giving an excellent counter point to the vocals, and the whole is very catchy. It's great stuff rather uncommon despite the mainstream influences through Grunge and Pop.

To listen: Band's  bandcamp page. Or 115k vbr v6 preview.
To support the artists: Buy the digital.

Where all of this is going if nobody buy the music? Be fair, buy the music you like dig.

Big French - Downtown Runnin (Wharf Cat, 2013)

I didn't noticed this album at its release, but thankfully the band released in September through ORS Tapes the Would Not Try EP on cassette and digital. That new release allowed me noticed this album. For the anecdote there's some links with Blanche Blanche Blanche for which I put some comment on their album Wooden Ball released at beginning of the year. Zach Phillips plays keyboards and the album is released by the same label that will release on 5th November the new Blanche Blanche Blanche album, Breaking Mirrors. The two bands also share clear musical ambitions and albums with many short tracks. But the music is totally different.

The singer use many different type of voices and all are rather strange if not weird. If you consider the voice as another instrument this bizarre approach is just an interesting and fascinating musical exploration of vocals. That's how I listen this album and if the first listening was a bit disconcerting, I quickly found this quite appealing. It's a major element of this album so if you can't go over this you'll get blocked at the door entrance of this album. Eventually to discover the band you could try first the Would Not Try EP. It's a smart selection of two tracks of the album and demo version of two tracks of the album. It's still quite bizarre but it doesn't produce the same weirdness chock that could produce the first listening of the album.

The vocals are quite diverse and they do an exploration around Pop weirdness and dissonance, but if you enter in it it's strangely very appealing and easy to listen. The instruments build a layer more aggressive and more Rock. Both use strange or uncommon sounds and dissonances but the vocals much more than the instruments. The dissonance games are most often light but are also often merged with weirdness or strangeness. That produces a strange feeling of not identifying clearly when it's real dissonance or when it's more strangeness but not dissonances. The whole is very dynamic, between Pop and Rock, a little bizarre but very catchy. That doesn't evoke at all the color of 60's Psychedelic, but the approach definitely evokes it from the point of view or merging weirdness and strangeness into music. It's a great impressive album, time could even makes it a classic (or not), but clearly it's not stuff for all ears.

To listen: Streaming sites like Deezer, Rdio or Spotify. Or 115k vbr v6 preview.To support the artists: Buy the vinyl. Or the digital on the various standard places.

Where all of this is going if nobody buy the music? Be fair, buy the music you like dig.