Wilder Maker Part 1: Year of Endless Light Review

For the past 2 months, I’ve had Highs on repeat – surprising after my slightly obsessive review, huh?  In timing somewhat akin to fate, I recently discovered Wilder Maker and Highs have acted as the perfect warm-up for them.  Lead singer Gabe Birnbaum contacted me and very kindly sent me a copy of their new LP, Year of Endless Light – is there a better kind of mail to get?! 

A quick read through his bio said that he, like me, is from Boston so I may have had a slight bias when I went to listen the 8-track LP.  At first glance, I was a little taken aback as the tracks range from 4 to 12 minutes!  That’s a bold move, given the emerging ADHD generation.  While people will listen to all 8 minutes of “Stairway to Heaven” there are endless songs that just aren’t compelling enough to convince people to stick them out.

So, in order to prevent myself from completely making my mind up about them before having heard a single note (this is a legitimate problem I have with music!), I moved on to the first track: “Float Us Through the Barroom”.

The song begins with soft guitar and each syllable beautifully stretched out.  A duet soon emerges that seamlessly weaves into the accelerating guitar.  I find Birnbaum’s voice so fascinating as through each song it seems to seesaw between strength and desperation.  Each word is passionate and warm, and it feels like the words are being drawn out by the instrumentals, which results in a very pleasant tone.

The next track, “Wasting my Time” changes up the tone completely!  Suddenly, you’re a fly on the wall in a dustbowl jam session with Woodie Guthrie – Birnbaum’s voice even conforms to the change in genre.  The song finishes with a 70s-inspired guitar riff.  This is the type of song that I picture M. Ward producing if he spent a few years in Alabama!  I’m generally not a big country fan, but this is a great track.

“Hangs Hooks” then darkens the mood with ominous harmonies and is followed by “Song for the Singer”, perhaps my favorite song off the LP!   It’s a little slow, and definitely not the most exciting track off the album.  However, this is the music at its finest for me.  My favorite song of all time is “Uncertain Smile” by The The.  It’s caulk-full of solos leading up to a very longwinded crescendo with the best kind of lyrics: poetic and ambiguous.  While “Song for the Singer” sounds nothing like “Uncertain Smile”, it’s still that type of song and is a win in my book.  However, it could definitely be shortened (it’s 12 minutes and 30 seconds!), not that I felt myself thinking that throughout the 12 minutes.   “Invisible Order” is another one of those types of songs.  It begins with an unexpected saxophone; the first 15 seconds are suitable for a plot change in an Audrey Hepburn movie!  The vocal doubling on the track is really well done and there are some beautiful trumpet and piano solos weaved in.

At first, “Slow Life” reminded me of Bon Iver, but after a few more listens the song is actually very unique.  Usually the easiest way to describe an artist or a track is to compare it to another artist or track… but with this one I really struggled!  It has mesmerizing lyrics, harmonies so strong and passionate it sounds like a full choir and a captivating chorus.  This is the best song off the album, no question.

“Lullaby” preemptively slows you down for the end of the album and for the last song, “Holy Night”.   This is perhaps a slower way to end the album then I would have liked, given the more upbeat beginning.  “Holy Night” is peaceful track, however, calling a song “Holy Night” and including jingle bells makes a little out of place! It’s a great song, but it probably should have been saved for a Christmas album – and this is coming from a Jew!

Year of Endless Light is a music genre roulette wheel where you win at every outcome.  I’ve previously said how I love bands that can venture out into a new genre without losing what they quintessentially are.  Yet, this usually happens across separate albums… not throughout a single LP!  On YoEL, each song literally changes genre, but I never found myself disappointed.  This makes it difficult to know much about the band as I’m not sure I could even place them in a genre (it’s going to take me ages to write the labels for this post!).

As I listened to and experienced a multitude of instruments, vocals and genres, I found that it was all accompanied by a bizarre feeling of understanding.  Even though you won’t completely know what’s happening to you as you hear each track… you’ll just get it.  If that’s not the sign of an impressive musician and lyricist, I’m not really sure what is.

Year of Endless Light was released today!  It can be heard and downloaded here.  I was lucky enough to get to chat with lead singer Gabe Birnbaum and ask him a few questions about the album - all this to come tomorrow!  In the meantime, you've got 8 fantastic tracks to get your hands on.

Questions, Comments, Recommendations or Inquiries?  Follow or contact me!

If You're Going to Listen to One Indie Band This Year - Make it Highs!

I don’t even know how to begin to explain my excitement over this band.  They’ve released one self-titled EP with a total of five songs and I am literally jumping up and down with excitement over it as I type this!  The band is composed of 5 musicians from all over Canada and has a fresh, modern sound with an unexpected afro-beat inclusion.  I previously wrote about Little Comets and I was talking about how they had some unwelcome genre changes with a few songs that I didn’t think flowed with the rest of their album or their work.  Sometimes, artists should just stick to what they know.  Unless you’re Highs… and you apparently know everything!

To prove this, I’ll go through each song on their EP and you won’t believe that I’m talking about the same band!

“Summer Dress” is a summer anthem, no question.  It’s cheerful, catchy, and romantic and honestly sounds like the beach.  Don’t ask me what “sounds like the beach” actually means, as I won’t be able to give you an answer… but it really does!  It starts off with a Foals-style guitar intro that leads into a quick and up-beat percussion.  Bands like The White Stripes and She & Him have developed the modern duet.  In this song, Highs introduce their fresh take on that, with a trio comprised of lead singer Doug Haynes, Karrie Douglas and Joel Harrower.

The first Highs song that I heard was “Nomads” and I think it’s their most beautiful song to date.  The stunning duet between Haynes and Douglas demonstrates their highly compatible vocals weaving together in a crescendo to the final chorus of “Yeah, I know it hurts you when I’m leaving, but I must because it’s something I believe in”.  Their lyrics are simple, yet powerful; the true sign of a fantastic songwriter.  Also, prepare to have “Give it up” echoing in your head after a few listens!  Probably not that best message, but catchy nonetheless.

“Harvest” slows things down even more with a dreamy intro, only to break into a catchy indie-pop beat about halfway through.  The control demonstrated in the vocals here is really incredible.  If you’re not already a fan at this point in the EP, then music probably isn’t for you.  Just kidding, but how could you not be?!

Even though “Fleshy Bones” sounds nothing like TV Girl, the combination of the lyrics and melody reminded me of them.  This is because the dramatic nature of the lyrics, where the narrator is questioning every aspect of their relationship and the alternative motives that their partner has for staying with them, while retaining a poppy, up-beat melody.  I absolutely love when bands do this and I think it’s such a cool way to present a dark theme.

“Cannibal Coast” is a perfect song to conclude this EP as it really encompasses Highs' style, tone, and most importantly, skill.  The arrangement is beautiful and the vocals are addictive.

A lot of new music today begins as catchy, but soon becomes repetitive and boring the more you listen to it.  Highs have produced an EP full of songs that need to be listened to over and over again in order to appreciate intricate aspects that aren’t apparent at first listen.

Highs epitomize everything that I love about music and I can’t wait to follow their career and see what they do next!  Their music is available for free, here, but it's an EP that's really worth buying and a band that's worth supporting!

Questions, Comments, Recommendations or Inquiries?  Follow or contact me!

Neko Case Teaser for a (possible) New Album

I’m not entirely sure what this 90 second release is meant to tell us – but I’m assuming a new Neko Case album will be released soon!  Cases’s last album, Middle Cyclone, was released in 2009 and any fans of hers have been waiting for what seems like decades for another release.  I’m not sure if the lyrics, “The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You.” are going to be part of a single or are a new album title – either way I’m looking forward to any new work of hers.  She’s been added to a lot of fall festival lineups, so all signs point to a new album!

Questions, Comments, Recommendations or Inquiries?  Follow or contact me!

Introduction to the National + Review: Trouble Will Find Me

Matt Berninger, deep baritone lead singer of The National, epitomizes an awkward-but-cool personality.  He’s tall and gangly, and does not exude confidence by any stretch of the imagination.  This vulnerability is clearly demonstrated in his music and makes him and it easy to relate to.  I think this comes from his late start in the music industry.  He wasn’t a young rock star, surrounded by girls from the age of 18.  Rather, he began with humble beginnings in Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a graphic designer in New York City.  Berninger has explained how this removed a lot of the pressure from the band, as it wasn’t an all-or-nothing situation.  Clearly, this needn’t have been a thought as 10 years on the National are still producing stellar albums.

I hear a lot of people talk about the National being overrated.  I understand this, as they do sound a lot like other indie bands that are around today.  However, what I think makes the National stand out is the relatability aspect.  They aren’t too much of anything.  What I mean by this is that they’re not too cool or too stylish or too hipster or too artistic – they just seem like regular guys who have the same problems in life and relationships as we do.  No matter what you’re going through or what mood you’re in, the National have an album for you.  Their first few albums are simple – calm, relaxing, easy acoustic arrangements.  Slowly they’ve added a larger orchestra and delved deeper into the directions their music can go, without loosing their sound or their roots.

What’s particularly special about their music is tone.  Berninger has stated, “Our songs are about death – but in a really fun way”.  While all of the songs are clearly melancholic, they don’t make you want to sit around waiting for death like the people in the Notebook.  They still retain a pop aspect to them, which makes them catchy and really enjoyable to listen to, despite the depressing undertones.

From a lyrical standpoint, the National falls between brilliant and confusing.  On the one hand, they can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways, making them applicable to a lot of different people and situations.  Regardless of what the artist actually meant when he wrote lyrics (this can often be disappointing, for example finding out that half of Bob Dylan’s lyrics really are just about marijuana), this ambiguity that stems re-interpretation demonstrates the lyrical strength.  On the other hand, and I’m not sure if this is a good of a bad thing, there are a lot of National lyrics that make me do a mental double take: “Can’t face heaven all heavenfaced” (what!?).

The first song on the album, “I Should Live in Salt” appears to be simple enough, discussing the deterioration of a complicated relationship.  It then brings in the idea of rubbing salt in an open wound.  This evokes the metaphor of Berninger himself being an open wound and condemning himself to a life in salt.  While I interpret the song like this, the beauty of Berninger’s lyrics is the sheer agility and versatility of them in their multitude of personal interpretations.  For example, it could also easily be interpreted as a life of guilt, as “I should live in salt” is followed by “for leaving you behind”.

Overall, Trouble Will Find Me is unsurprisingly a fantastic album and worth listening to!  Any fans of The National will not be disappointed with this installment.

My “must-listens” off Trouble Will Find Me are: “I Should Live in Salt”, “Don’t Swallow the Cap”, “Sea of Love” “This is the Last Time” and  “I Need My Girl”.

Questions, Comments, Recommendations or Inquiries?  Follow or contact me!

Review: M. Ward, A Wasteland Companion

She & Him is a band that I’ve followed since Zooey Deschanel’s performance while singing in the shower in Elf.  After obsessing over Volume One and Volume Two, and understanding that I would have to endure a three year wait until the release of Volume Three, I was ecstatic when I discovered that M. Ward (the Him of She & Him) would be releasing his eighth solo album in the mean time, entitled: A Wasteland Companion.

Generally, I tend to steer clear of Christian or any religion-based music. There are many gospel-toned exceptions that I adore, such as Alison Krauss.  Yet, when I’m listening to a song & enjoying it, the often unexpected, and perhaps unnecessary declaration of, “praise Jesus!” can put me off a song.  That being said, I actually found that I enjoyed the pastoral tones of the aptly titled, A Wasteland Companion.

While listening to this album I found that I had conflicting opinions from song to song.  The melancholic tone is hardly surprising, given Ward’s previous work, but the selection of songs seemed to be more accurately described as a series of mood swings.  Through this every song seemed to embody a plethora of emotions, with the listener being assigned the role of sorting through them all to determine the true, buried meaning.  While I like the challenge that accompanies this, I also feel that Ward’s vagueness acts as a downfall, particularly with this album.  When I listened to the first half of the album, I thought that this would be one of my favorite M. Ward albums to date.  However, I felt that some of the later songs were used as filler, and didn’t quite match up to the quality of the earlier ones.

Overall, there doesn’t seem to be anything that M. Ward can do wrong, in my mind.  As Conor Oberst put it: “M. Ward for president!”

Check out the newly released video for Me And My Shadow!

Questions, Comments, Recommendations or Inquiries?  Follow or contact me!