we couldn't afford a cover artist, so we got my 6-year old nephew to do it

It's 7am on a Saturday, I just got up, and I don't feel like getting back to sleep. The working life is doing wonders to me. It's weird, but I think I could eventually come to enjoy it - which is the perfect sentence to describe Sunset Rubdown's music.

Sunset Rubdown is a Canadian group made up of five people (four of them unreferenceable as they don't even have Wikipedia pages - I mean, that's like you don't even exist, right?), including lead singer Spencer Krug, who splits time between these guys, Swan Lake, and his slightly more acclaimed - and certainly more popular - band Wolf Parade. You know, he's the guy with the strange and affected voice, whereas Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner has the more straightforward-sounding one.

Introductions aside, if you know me, I like to work backwards: get the more recent album, and if I like the music, explore the back catalog. Thing is, I've had Sunset Rubdown's Dragonslayer for a little less than a year, and often, I tend to listen to a band's older stuff within a month of liking their newer offerings. Not so with Sunset Rubdown. Like I mentioned - this is weird stuff: heady lyrics, irrational progressions and song structures, and if you've ever heard the term "swirling rhythms", it had best have been about Sunset Rubdown's music, because I'm relatively sure they have the style trademarked. Due to all the unorthodox clattering Sunset Rubdown seem to do, I wouldn't blame you if you listened to either Dragonslayer or the here-to-be-discussed Shut Up I Am Dreaming (awesome choice of name if I may say so) and couldn't get through more than two songs.

Anyway, in usual fashion, I was turned on to this album by listening to CBC's Radio3. They occasionally play "Stadiums And Shrines II" off of it, which is surprising, because Shut Up I Am Dreaming came out in 2006, and R3 doesn't seem to stray too far from a playlist that's 95% newer music. I first heard "Stadiums And Shrines II" a few months ago, and got as far as finding the torrent for the album, but never decided to hit the download button. Dunno why. So I heard the song again yesterday and decided "to hell with it, I really haven't been listening to enough music lately, and I'd like something challenging". Luckily, the album didn't disappoint, and I had it on repeat all night. 

But I'm not here for the album review. I'm here cause I groggily got up to pee at 7am, and all I had stuck in my head, wriggling about like a musical earworm, was "I'm sorry/that your/mother died/...I'm sorry/that/any/body dies at all/these days". Now forgive the gratuitous use of forward slashes, but I couldn't think of any other way to textually present Spencer Krug's staggered delivery of that stanza. The words themselves may be poignant, and their presentation all the more impactful, but his tone is such that you can't quite take it too seriously. Unfortunately, it almost even comes off as mocking, but if you were to listen to the rest of the songs on any Sunset Rubdown - or even Wolf Parade - album (think "Grounds For Divorce" for the best example), you'd realize it's just his natural singing voice, and nothing is implied by it.

Sunset Rubdown - "Stadiums And Shrines II"

So yeah, the words really stuck with me, but so did the instrumentation. They made a great choice starting this record with "Stadiums And Shrines II", because it's one of the warmest tunes they've ever produced. Where "Idiot Heart" from Dragonslayer was their callous and drum-banging lead single ("I hope that you die/in a decent pair of shoes/you've got a lot more walking to do/where you're going to"), Shut Up I Am Dreaming's lead offering is sympathetic and - my God, is that a flute?

Honestly, drums and distortion aside, it sounds like a lead-in from medieval times, or even the ancient Greek figure Pan playing his wood flute in a low-slung forest. I mean, that's the kind of mental image it calls up for me, I dunno if that's strange, but whatever. The flute makes a few other appearances in-song, all of them welcome. Some piano even joins in. These guys will play anything (Pitchfork's review of "Idiot Heart": "...their trademark willingness to play anything that's lying around...") and their songs certainly showcase that. For example, the song following is "They Took A Vote And Said No" and it transitions from quite literally a sea shanty with a triangle tinkling in the background, to an outro with enough distorted guitar pounding it would make My Bloody Valentine slightly proud.

So if you can put up with that, some mind-bending lyrics, equally head-spinning and disorienting swirls of guitar, and a lead singer who could be providing voiceover for the weirdest character on a morning cartoon show, then I certainly encourage you to give Sunset Rubdown a listen. If you can't, then I've probably turned you off of them and I don't care and I'm gonna try and go back to sleep. I'm thirsty too. Ugh.

what is that song?

Hopefully the post's title doesn't become a long-running gimmick - I hate not knowing what a piece of music is if I like it. This post however stems from a shopping trip to American Eagle (don't worry, I didn't buy anything) last weekend. It really serves two purposes that I'll elaborate on: 1.) the commercialization of indie music 2.) Wolf Parade

We'll get to Wolf Parade first, as it's ostensibly the easier issue to tackle. The Montreal group, fronted by now-one half of Handsome Furs (looked at here on WNTY here, here and here), Dan Boeckner, and now-Sunset Rubdown band leader (featured here), Spencer Krug, has been around long enough that it's one of those other groups I regret not getting into earlier. I've certainly tried to keep abreast of Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown since discovering them, but Wolf Parade's back-catalog is only something I've dabbled in conservatively. Again: mistake.

Wolf Parade is evidently the more exciting, engaging, alt-rock-centric precursor to both (major) offshoot groups it spawned. They mix Spencer and Dan's vocals interchangeably, and it's amazing how two people who are so outwardly different can have two similar and equally pained-sounding voices. When listening to a Handsome Furs or Sunset Rubdown album, it can get tiresome listening to each guy holding his own for a full length, but interspersed with each other, it becomes much more bearable, and even inviting to listen to. It's also striking how aside from slow marches like "Dinner Bells," Wolf Parade is able to consistently contrast the guys' dullish voices with such upbeat instrumentation.

Anyways, I've known about Wolf Parade for over a year now, but I have to admit to just listening to their debut album, Apologies To The Queen Mary this morning. How I got around to that however is where the story lies. Chilling at American Eagle on a shopping trip, I was greeted with the sounds of Spoon and other indie legends, as well as a few up-and-comers I all recognized. That is, until a certain song came on, and the voice sounded extremely familiar, though the song did not. I knew it wasn't Interpol, though the sadness in the voice echoed lead singer Paul Banks' delivery - and of course Joy Division's Ian Curtis if we're playing that game.

Now, most people who I really like, I can pick out their music quite adeptly if I've heard enough of it. Given that I've heard three album's worth of Dan and Spencer's music away from Wolf Parade, it was a bit disheartening that I had to wait for the TV screen announcing American Eagle's playlist to tell me that I was, in fact, listening to "Shine A Light" by Wolf Parade. Upon realizing it was a Wolf Parade song, I was instantly struck by the catchiness and pure feeling captured in the song, even over the speakers at a retail outlet. Now, Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown both feature their own share of emotion, but it's sometimes convoluted, and in Sunset Rubdown's case, downright weird and indecipherable. Wolf Parade offered something more palatable, accessible, and ultimately, pop-ish.

(This is the part where I post my own mp3 link, or one from hypem, but as luck would have it, basically every single one of Wolf Parade's songs has been removed from hypem's database, which means Wolf Parade really doesn't want their music being shared that way...regardless, below is a link I got through hypem from a post on hearya.com, so credit goes to them)

Wolf Parade - Shine A Light

Now the second issue at hand. The commercialization and mainstreaming of indie. I'll keep this as short and sweet as possible, though an entire essay could easily be written about the topic. Kids, teens, young adults, and even twentysomethings tend to love indie music. They also tend to shop at the same stores. Maybe it's just that I heard Wolf Parade playing in an American Eagle, which is the poster-store for largely dressing like a trust-fund douchebag, even though you may not be anywhere near that well-off. (Full disclosure: Yes, I have pieces of clothing from American Eagle. I certainly don't shop there regularly though, and I have a certain self-consciousness about me when I am looking for clothes there.)

Back to the music however. It makes perfect sense to play music that your shoppers would like. But when you think about the kind of aesthetic and corporate image American Eagle has, it would seem that getting played there would fulfill every criteria of "selling out," whether by the band's design or not. Where, especially in a realm like indie culture, selling out and authenticity are always at the helm of current issues, you have to consider being irked a little bit by the whole thing. "Indie" itself is derived from "independent," as in the record labels that went their own way and did their own thing, instead of following suit (and suits) with the major record labels. Such a fierce and ingrained sense of independence breeds a mistrust for mainstreaming and selling out, while maintaining an undeniable emphasis on authenticity. Plainly and simply, it just doesn't feel authentic for American Eagle to play Wolf Parade.

Whether or not that's a harsh criticism of American Eagle is up to the individual, but take it for what you will. But like any other company, it will cater to what the majority wants, and that requires constantly changing your stance on something. Indie is "in" right now. If country somehow made a huge leap to the mainstream and dominated in sectors like indie is doing currently, I'm sure American Eagle would be playing the hell out of that too. But for now, indie feels like it's mine and ours, so when you see corporations pimping it out, you have to take it a little personally.

That being said, all thanks to American Eagle for playing that Wolf Parade track and igniting an interest in me for them. So what am I trying to say here? I don't know.

a pictorial analogy of how I feel about music at the moment

By my estimation, it's been two weeks and a day since I posted anything. That's just way too long, but in my defense, I just moved out, got a job, and university started, so I've had my hands full with classes, work and getting settled. Obviously music's been a big part of that, but I've found my habits have changed a little bit, and I'm no longer able to keep daily track of what's new on Pitchfork or what's hot on the hypemachine. I've had peeks here and there of both, but with a shoddy wi-fi connection in the new place, even that's been tough.

So with all of that in mind, I may as well clear out old inventory first. I promised some record reviews earlier in the summer, but really only delivered on my take of Jackson Square from Arkells. In that time, I've literally added 214 songs to my iTunes library, many of which are from albums by Joel Plaskett, Black Mountain, Ladyhawk (not Ladyhawke), Radiohead, Death From Above 1979, Broken Social Scene, Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains, Lightning Dust, Arcade Fire, and my much-loved collection of New Pornographers tunes.

Within this post, I'll actually have quick little run-downs of each one of those albums, but first, I'll get to what I promised earlier, and do some short reviews of previous albums. A foreword though: if I'm passionate about something, I'll be more likely to follow through with it - the following few albums didn't make as big an impression on me as Jackson Square did, so that's why I didn't have quite the same initiative to review them.

Sunset Rubdown | Dragonslayer | I liked this album. I really did. But when the majority of the songs are around 5 minutes and there's a 10 minute epic like "Dragon's Lair," it can be a hard thing to throw on and listen to in its entirety. "Idiot Heart" is certainly the standout, and the rest of the album's songs have much the same structure and sound, but overall, that tends to be a dense and disorganized one, right down to lead singer Spencer Krug's voice and lyrics.

There's some sentences he utters that'll surely make you question his sanity, and that's after you wrap your head around what was actually just half-shouted/half-sung at you. Again, it's good music - but I stress music. It's really an album that's more to be appreciated than truly enjoyed; more like attending a symphony in a church than a rock concert in an arena. Before moving on though, I do want to add that "Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!" is on the shortlist for this year's "Best Song With A Song Title That's Long Yet Still Ties In To What's Actually Sung." - and that's to take nothing away from a song that's actually still good regardless.

The Most Serene Republic | ...And The Ever-Expanding Universe | Yet again, another good album, but another that I didn't truly enjoy or play too often. To approximate their sound would be to compare them to Broken Social Scene, albeit on a smaller and happier scale. Again, it's largely orchestral music, and some of the songs border on modern classical music, with some truly great strings and piano arrangements. There's a joyous and uplifting tilt to most of the songs, and "Heavens To Purgatory" will be most people's favorite, but it's simply one of those things that's not totally my cup of tea.

Speaking of that though, The Most Serene Republic actually seems like a good band to just sit outside in the garden while drinking tea and listen to. It's that kind of music I guess; relaxing and modest, with just enough pep to not be boring or dragging on your ears. They're playing here in Halifax in November, and I may yet check them out, just to see if there's any added pizzaz to their live shows that may not come through in the recorded versions of the songs.

Handsome Furs | Plague Park | I remember I was going to review this one simply with more recent album Face Control in mind. To be honest, I barely listen to this album, and I've actually taken more of a liking to Face Control in recent days, so there's little to compare I guess. Suffice it to say that in my earlier stipulation that Handsome Furs would sound better with some live drums...I guess they utilize them on Plague Park, though with the decidedly slower and more deliberate sound of the latter album, they don't have quite the same effect I'd intended when I made that recommendation.

Plague Park, funnily enough, sounds like Handsome Furs decided to record an album of them playing a small underground jazz club. Whereas Face Control sounded boxed-in, the earlier album is simply more rounded in its claustrophobic-ness, as if that jazz club was built in a small cave. "Hearts Of Iron" shows off the above analogy quite well, but tracks like "Cannot Get Started" show off more of the direction Handsome Furs took later on with Face Control, dominant drum machines, faster-paced choruses, reverbed guitar and all.

If you were to measure the albums against each other simply in terms of some abstract "excitedness," Face Control would score about an 8.2/10, while Plague Park clocks in around 5.3/10. Yes, totally random numbers, but that's what the albums sound and feel like to me. Dan Boeckner's voice is pretty forlorn on either compilation, but the instrumentation and pace of the two albums make a real difference. For one, it's like wife and bandmate Alexei Perry woke up and decided to take the obvious energy she has during live shows and transmit it to album form on Face Control. Sadly, you don't get that on their first effort.

-----

But good, that gets those out of the way. Because it may well be another few days before I get the free time/initiative to do another post, I'm also going to get a bunch of other reviews and musings off my chest right now, so another long post it is.

Like I alluded to earlier, I've been putting my room and the general apartment together since moving in, and much of this I've been doing while listening to entire albums on iTunes, something I very rarely did in the past, but which I became much more attuned to this summer. I owe much of this to my friend Laura, who chastised me for my singles-heavy listening, and kind of reintroduced me to the concept of listening to entire albums. It's certainly given me an affinity for hearing albums all the way through, instead of simply picking and choosing what I want to listen to out of them - although hand-in-hand with that, listen to an album enough, and it becomes easier and more justifiable to pick out some favorites you'll come back to again and again.

In light of all the above, a quick rundown of what I've been listening to for the last month plus, with a song to check out from each:

Arcade Fire | Funeral | It's no wonder to me now why this album was so well-received and so quite universally well-loved. In 10 songs, Arcade Fire show off how to make an album, make it work well together, and how to arrange the songs for the maximum impact. There are four or five legitimately great songs ("Tunnels," "Power Out," "Wake Up," "Rebellion (Lies)" spring to mind quickest) and the rest more than hold their own. It's an intensely listenable album and a favorite with many of my friends.

Arcade Fire - "Power Out"

Radiohead | OK Computer | I knew going in that this was the more rocking Radiohead album, and I really like it for that. Lots of classics in here, some of which I'd heard, and others which I'd never and which really surprised and pleased me. There's diversity and only the subtlest hints that Radiohead was going to unleash Kid A years down the line. It just blows me away that this album came out in 1997 - 12 years later it sounds just as great, and I can hear the precursors in their music to the likes of Keane and Coldplay in the decade following its release.

Radiohead - "Electioneering"

Radiohead | Kid A | Brutal honesty time: yes, I did cheat on my final exam. Oh wait, Radiohead. Yeah, not as big of a fan of Kid A as I am of OK Computer. If I'm simply one of those people who would have back then dismissed it as experimental trash, or if I'm just someone who favors straightforward rock over electronic hissing and concept-heavy material, so be it. I like to think I'm pretty open to experimental noise and music, and Kid A is supposedly epic in that regard. Maybe I don't fully appreciate it in that way, or I just don't have the same connection to it as people who heard it when it first came out.

Don't get me wrong, there's more than a few songs on there that I do truly enjoy listening to, but they're the more conventional Radiohead, and seemingly not the pieces that went together to make Kid A the sonic landmark that it so overwhelmingly happens to be. Maybe my view is reflected well enough in my choice of song from the album:

Radiohead - "The National Anthem"

Lightning Dust | Infinite Light | I went out and bought this album, and I'm actually very pleased that I did. Singer Amber Webber (of the to-be-reviewed-in-a-minute music collective Black Mountain) has a beautiful voice, one that sounds strong but damaged all at once. It seems ready to break at any time, but there's an underlying force driving her to keep the words coming out of her mouth. I read that the duo (Joshua Wells - also of Black Mountain - is in Lightning Dust) rented a Steinway piano for the album, and they put it to great use, clearly showing off the piano parts with skillful playing and clear acoustics. Lightning Dust may be getting a little more publicity right now, but nowhere near what it should be when they craft such good music.

Lightning Dust - "I Knew" (was to put "The Times" but couldn't find it on hypem...definitely check it out though if you can)

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains | Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains | Similarly went out and bought this album, and I'm equally glad I did. Fun fact: Sebastien was actually one half of Death From Above 1979 before they broke up, and he's went on to lend guest vocals on some of my favorites like "Let's Make Out" by Does It Offend You, Yeah?. I didn't know the latter fact until after I bought this album, so it turns out I was more familiar with Grainger's work than I even thought. Quick and simple review though: my second favorite album on this list. Great variation between the songs, awesome backing band, great pace to the album, and really makes you wish that DFA1979 got back together for one more go at it - between Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains and MSTRKRFT, the boys have still got it.

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains - "I Hate My Friends"

Black Mountain | Black Mountain | The aforementioned musical collective, hailing from Vancouver, BC. Of the two albums by them here, this is my favorite. It tends to longer songs, so it can be harder to digest, but to think of and compare it earnestly: The Rolling Stones do pysched-out, 70's-influenced, Canadian-rock - right down to this almost-rip-off/tribute:

Black Mountain - No Satisfaction

Black Mountain | In The Future/Bastards Of Light | The newer of the two albums, this go by Black Mountain is certainly more appropriate for their name, as the material is darker and almost gothic. Some of the care-free sentiments and delivery present on Black Mountain are done away with and replaced instead by frenzied classic-rock guitar playing and a grandeur that seems a little unbefitting of a group of musicians from Vancouver. With songs clocking in 7:07, 8:03, and 16:41, you also get the feeling that Black Mountain could have split a few tracks in two and still had quality tunes.

Black Mountain - "Wucan"

Ladyhawk | Ladyhawk | The initial offering from the also-Vancouverites, Ladyhawk lean a little more to the garage sound of rock, and do it admirably. There's a bit of a live sound mixed into the album, but it doesn't detract from the quality, instead adding an authentic quality to the compilation. Between some legit rockers and the perfectly suited voice of the lead singer, it's a wonder these guys aren't bigger either; I know they have a good Canadian following, but this album proved pretty well they've got all the tools to make it.

Ladyhawk - "The Dugout"

Ladyhawk | Shots | If I have any complaint about Ladyhawk though, it's their front-loading of albums. Ladyhawk starts with a great trio of "48 Hours," "The Dugout," and "My Old Jacknife," while Shots works a similar angle with standout "I Don't Always Know What You're Saying" and the impeccable "S.T.H.D." before tailing off a bit into death-obsessed songs like "Corpse Paint" and quite literally, "Faces Of Death." In light of the previous statement finishing out the Ladyhawk review: these guys certainly have all the elements of a band on the make; it may just be a matter of putting them all together for a consistently great effort to launch them a little higher in music fans' minds.

Ladyhawk - "S.T.H.D"

Broken Social Scene | Broken Social Scene | I said above that Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains was my second favorite album here. Well, this is my first. It's the one I've been going back to over and over: everything from cooking meals to doing the dishes to showering to getting to sleep - Broken Social Scene has everything you could ask for and then some. I didn't dive into the whole album when I initially got into BSS, opting only for You Forgot It In People and two or three songs off Broken Social Scene. On my recent album-hoarding spat though, I went for all 14 tracks off the latter, and could not have been more thoroughly impressed.

You Forgot It In People had some weirder moments and some lackadaisical instrumentals. This album has absolutely none of that - it may be the most perfect album on my iTunes in my regard. Just a stable of outstanding songs, paired with eight or nine other great tunes that make up the most easily digestible and fun-to-listen-to album I've heard, possibly in my life. I mean, yeah, there's great albums that come out all the time, and consensus may dictate which of those is "the best," but to me, right now, Broken Social Scene is probably my favorite album ever. There, I said it. And I only just figured that out as I've been writing these words.

It has everything. Exuberance ("Ibi Dreams of Pavement [A Better Day]"), sincerity ("Major Label Debut"), the sexiest song I've heard in a long time ("Hotel") and a song so damn good that I could care less that it's 9:55 long ("It's All Gonna Break"). I cannot say that about any other album I've heard, previous favorites In Rainbows and Post-Nothing included. That's what, four songs? There's another 10 amazing tracks, so think of it that way. Heck, K-OS even makes an appearance. Where was I in 2005 when this actually came out? I shudder to think that I've went four years without paying attention to this gem.

Broken Social Scene - "Hotel"

Joel Plaskett | Three | This thing really deserves its own separate post at 27 songs long, but with the Polaris Prize being presented tonight and Joel in the running, I may yet give it a proper one should it win/be slighted. Just a genre-spanning spat of tracks spread over three very-well-organized CD's, each one keeping a definitive tone. CD 1 contains most of the singles material and tends to Joel's folksy and rocking side. CD 2 without a doubt contains the real ballads of the compilation, and a few odes to Joel's Maritime (and maritime) connections. CD 3 has some country feel to it (old-country, not that new-country stuff) and the epic "On And On And On," 12 minutes of Joel self-consciously sing-speaking about almost anything that comes to his mind.

Three is just a superb effort, plays great in concert (I've seen three - coincidentally - shows since the album came out, and whether in a theatre setting, outdoors for Canada Day, or at a university concert, it sounds amazing) and is a great introduction for those new to Joel's music, and a special treat for career-long fans of possibly the most lovable guy in Canadian music.

Joel Plaskett - "Through And Through And Through"

Death From Above 1979 | You're A Woman, I'm A Machine | Have you noticed yet I'm extremely far behind on most relevant music, especially some select Canadian classics? Um, yeah. It's sad too, because ever since I really got into alternative music, I've had a great affinity for dance-punk/electro/rock, which nobody does better than DFA1979. I was really only slightly familiar with "Blood On Our Hands," and even then it was through my sister getting the track what must have been about four years ago.

What stuns me about DFA1979 is that they can craft such small and immediate-sounding songs; the majority of tracks clock in under even three minutes. Thank God for the remix economy though; DFA continue to live on through the expansion of their tiny tracks into danceable jaunts many minutes longer. I've already expressed my liking for MSTRKRFT and Sebastien Grainger, so it was nice for me to get into DFA and see where it all started for the two guys.

I can't really say much more about them or the album anyways: it's testosterone in music form and one of the truly great acts that combusted before it could put out any more truly awesome work.

One thing I do have to say though: why the hell did Death From Above Records (officially known as DFA Records after the Sept. 11th attacks since they were a NY-based record label) get mired in a legal dispute with DFA1979 over their original name when they could've put that money towards simply signing the act to their own label instead. I mean honestly, has a group ever been more fit for a label, both in name and musical style, than DFA1979 was for DFA Records? Another shame of a development when it comes to Jesse and Sebastien's adventure into duo-ship.

Death From Above 1979 - "Black History Month"

Upcoming Reviews

...hopefully, because I know I'll be listening to them. It's just a matter of writing up my thoughts.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

The Most Serene Republic - ...And The Ever Expanding Universe

Arkells - Jackson Square

...and possibly Handsome Furs' debut release, Plague Park. But only as a reference point and in the context of my review of Face Control.