Media Junkie

Essential Albums: All Thieves - We Are All Thieves (Promo)

All Thieves
We Are All Thieves (Promo)
2009 (Unreleased)
Chrysalis Music

Buy This Album (Unavailable)

The very first record I ever inducted into my Essential Albums category on this blog was Dusted's When We Were Young.  Dusted was the side project of Faithless creator and famous electronic music producer Rollo Armstrong and his friend Mark Bates, and it was a far cry from the dance music that made Faithless an international success. 

Far more introspective and melodic, When We Were Young was something of a musical storybook with artwork that recalled Maurice Sendak's classic childrens' tale Where The Wild Things Are to boot.  It was, and remains, a beautiful, brilliant album with layers of sounds and samples that yield new discoveries with each listen even years later.  Peaceful and serene at times, dark and sinister at others, When We Were Young remains my favorite work from Rollo to date, despite the wonderful output of his far more famous band.

Several years later, When We Were Young was rerecorded and retitled.  This time, Rollo's kid sister Dido provided vocals for many of the songs, several were removed and replaced, and the ones that remained had been heavily reworked.  The thematic elements of the music were even put into a companion book.  This album, retitled Safe From Harm, was still worthwhile, though it lacked the magic of the original recording on which it was based.

With Faithless on hiatus, Rollo has turned his attention to producing more new acts, beginning with British singer/songwriter Kristian Leontiou's One eskimO, who are currently getting some heavy buzz as an opening act for Tori Amos on her U.S. tour.  Their debut CD, All Balloons, is slated for release this fall, and the circulating 10-track promo is nothing short of spectacular.

So what happens when Rollo, Mark Bates, Leontiou and female vocalist Bailey Tzuke (daughter of singer Judie Tzuke) join forces for a new project?  Magic.

Essential Albums: The Summer Pledge - You Are You

The Summer Pledge
You Are You
2009
Woodbridge Records

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I have a confession to make: I hate writing music reviews.  Obviously, it's a love/hate relationship because I enjoy writing for this blog.  I love getting responses to my posts or e-mails from record companies and bands thanking me for my kind words, but when it comes time to sit down and write a review I often struggle with what to say.

I often feel my reviews are too redundant and I reuse the same phrases over and over again.  I am by no means a music expert or a master linguist; I know what I like, and I try to describe it in an enticing way so that the reader may be intrigued enough to check out whatever it is I'm raving about.  Sometimes, however, I hate writing reviews because there simply is no way to describe the experience of listening to a CD.

There's no way to convey the power, the emotionality, the depth, or even the technical aspects such as the production or mixing.  Sometimes words just aren't enough.  Sometimes you just have to hear it for yourself.

Essential Albums: Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter

Jason Lytle
Yours Truly, The Commuter
2009
Anti-

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In May 2006, the fourth and final full length LP from one of indie rock's most forward-thinking, original, and downright brilliant bands was released.  Just Like The Fambly Cat was Grandaddy's swansong, but though it was met with more of the critical success that followed the band for most of their existence, it also failed once again to capture the public's attention. 

Just over three years and a change of scenery later, the man most responsible for Grandaddy's electronic-infused rock is finally releasing his first of hopefully many solo albums on May 19th.

Yours Truly, The Commuter is the album Fambly Cat should have been.  Not that the latter was a terrible album, but as compared to the three records preceding it, it was easily the band's weakest.  It sounds just like what it was - a band at the end of their rope, tired and frustrated.  It's clear right from the first listen to Yours Truly that the time spent in his new Montana home has done Jason Lytle a world of good.

Essential Albums: Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
1992
Epic Records

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The 1990s are best known for the emergence of grunge rock.  Bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam changed the face of rock music and helped define the decade with their angst-ridden sound.  However, the 1990s also hosted one of the most important releases of an entire generation - Rage Against The Machine's self-titled debut album.

Combining hard rock, hip-hop, and funk, Rage Against The Machine's sound was every bit as heavy and influential as their politically-charged lyrics, shouted with unbridled, indignant anger and passion by frontman Zack de la Rocha.  Tim Commerford's low, rumbling bass would test the limits of your speakers, and guitar virtuoso Tom Morello shredded his axe with crunchy riffs and tweaks to produce a variety of unique sounds.  Anchored by steady, powerful drumming from Brad Wilk and proudly proclaiming "no samples, keyboards or synthesizers used in the making of this recording," Rage's fusion of heavy guitars and hip-hop came years before more commercially viable posers like Limp Bizkit, or the nu-metal craze of Linkin Park.

This wasn't some overproduced studio schlock trying to pass itself off as hardcore or anti-establishment; Rage were the real deal.

Essential Albums: Hybrid - Wide Angle

Hybrid
Wide Angle
2000
Distinctive Records/Kinetic Records

Buy This Album / Wider Angle UK Special Edition

In 1999 Moby released his critically acclaimed album Play and went from being a popular underground techno and dance artist to a member of the public conscious.  Every song from Play was eventually licensed for use in various films and television commercials, Moby videos were suddenly being shown on television, and the once obscure self-proclaimed Little Idiot from Connecticut embarked on a worldwide tour that spanned two years. 

In 2000, Moby teamed up with a duo of electronic producers/artists based on out Swansea, Wales to support him on the second leg of the Play tour.  This duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings called themselves Hybrid and had recently released their debut LP, Wide Angle.

My brother and I were in the midst of a five city road trip to see Moby, starting in Chicago, Ill.  Unfortunately, confusing directions and terrible traffic caused us to arrive late, catching only the last few minutes of Hybrid's opening set.  As we walked into the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, I was immediately taken with what little I'd heard and we vowed to arrive early for the next night's show in Ohio.

Planning ahead, we did indeed arrive with plenty of time to catch Hybrid's full set and what I saw was intriguing.  Little more than three members - Truman, Healings, and Alex Madge, their live drummer - and a stack of keyboards, Hybrid had a unique sound I'd never heard before - a mishmash of progressive house, breaks, and what appeared to be sampled strings.  I walked away impressed and in the day between the next show, this time in my hometown of Detroit, I ran to the local record store to purchase Wide Angle in order to better know Hybrid's music.  By the time the road trips were over, capped off by a wonderful show in Toronto where I purchased my first (and still favorite) Hybrid t-shirt (affectionately named "Old Bluey" due to it's blue-on-blue color scheme), I began looking forward to Hybrid's set more than Moby's.

This discovery has since resulted in the realization of one fact: Hybrid are not only the greatest act in electronic music today, but one of the best groups in any genre.

Essential Albums: The Future Sound Of London - Dead Cities

The Future Sound Of London
Dead Cities
1996
Astralwerks

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A long, long time ago there was a channel called MTV, which stood for Music Television.  That channel is still around today, but to suggest they still play music videos is both silly and inaccurate.  However, over a decade ago, MTV had a late night show dedicated to electronic music videos called Amp.

Amp was largely responsible for introducing me to many of the electronic music artists that I would go on to love.  I first heard Orbital's "The Box" on the program.  It was where I discovered DJ Shadow after they showed the video for his classic single "Midnight In A Perfect World", and it was where I got my first taste of The Future Sound Of London, the British duo of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans, in the form of "We Have Explosive" - a grinding, pulsating, visceral tune with a siren-like keyboard, funky chicken-scratch guitars, a ferocious, mind-blowing drum pattern, layers of buzzing noises, and a shouted vocal sample from Run DMC's "Tougher Than Leather", among other things.

It was a life-changing experience.

Essential Albums: The Envy Corps - Dwell

The Envy Corps
Dwell
2008
Vertigo Records

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Hailing from Ames, Iowa, the four piece indie rock band known as The Envy Corps have achieved some modest success with critics and fans.  Their debut, Soviet Reunion, was followed by the critically praised EP I Will Write You Love Letters If You Tell Me To, which earned them a stint as an opening act for The Killers. 

Earlier this year, their second full-length record finally saw release after numerous delays, and the band took to the road with Detroit indie rockers The Silent Years, where I first stumbled upon them at the October 18th show at The Magic Stick in Detroit.  That record, Dwell, is a marvelous piece of atmospheric indie pop-rock that, like the title suggests, will linger in your memory.

Essential Albums: Mason Proper - Olly Oxen Free

Mason Proper
Olly Oxen Free
2008
Dovecote Records

Buy This Album

It's always amazing when you discover a great band in your own backyard, figuratively speaking.  Earlier this year I finally took the time to see what all the fuss over Detroit indie rockers The Silent Years was all about and quickly realized all the hype was true.  The Silent Years are easily one of the best bands in the country, and possibly the world right now.  Having made this revelation, I attended their recent pre-Thanksgiving show where I subsequently discovered Mason Proper.

Based out on Ypsilanti, Mich., Mason Proper are a five piece indie rock band known for their rigorous, almost non-stop touring schedule.  Their first album, There Is A Moth In Your Chest, originally saw release in 2006, with portions being reworked and rerecorded for a 2007 rerelease.  It was a largely standard indie rock affair.  It wasn't bad, but it didn't take very many chances and stayed comfortably within the confines of the genre.  Though it touched upon grunge here or there, it was only towards the end of the album where the band branched out.  A wonderful experiment with electronica, "I Spy", the somber guitars and echoing piano of the ballad "Life's Corcucopia", "Carousel! Carousel!", which bears a striking resemblance to David Bowie's classic "All The Young Dudes", and "Blue Lips Eternal Inquiries", which sounds like something off of British indie-rockers South's first record with its use of digitized strings, a slide guitar, and reverberating drums, gave a glimpse into what the band's future might hold.

After spending several years on the road, Mason Proper returned to the studio to deliver their second album, Olly Oxen Free, a much more focused effort than their debut.  Unlike Moth, Olly Oxen Free defies any classification.  Mason Proper have found their sound by eschewing the trappings of the genre and the results are fantastic.

Essential Albums: Dido - Safe Trip Home

Dido
Safe Trip Home
2008
Arista

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In 1999, a British songstress named Dido released her debut album, No Angel, to an unsuspecting populace.  The younger sister of producer Rollo Armstrong, one of the key figures behind the international success of Faithless, Dido had appeared on several songs on her older brother's band's albums.  In return, he helped produce her solo debut, giving it a deep, vibrant electronic sound that worked perfectly in tandem with her airy voice. 

Already a fan of the album, I saw Dido perform at the now-closed 7th House in Pontiac, Mich., her first ever show in the state, with only an estimated 250 people in attendance and was entranced by her voice and how well her music translated to the live stage.  My autographed copy of No Angel remains one of my prized musical possessions, but not just for the nostalgic memory of meeting the singer.  No Angel is a wonderful record in every sense - a record that is still capable of moving me on an emotional level in a way that few albums ever have. 

Far from the normal saccharin drivel found on most pop CDs, Dido's lyrics often deal with complex issues.  Betrayal, fear of love and issues of trust (or mistrust), and heartbreak are far more commonplace in her songs than trite lines about being saved by a knight in shining armor or finding the perfect person. 

The night of the concert, I came home and immediately began work on a website dedicated to bringing Dido's music to the masses.  First hosted on AOL's free homepages, it eventually became DidoOnline, one of her first fan websites (along with several put up by members of her grassroots Yahoo group).  It wouldn't be until Eminem sampled Dido's song "Thank You" that she would catch the public's ear, and after that traffic to the site skyrocketed.  Arista Records contacted several websites, mine included, to run contests for her as her popularity grew.  Eventually, the traffic became so heavy that I was only able to keep the site up for several days out of the month before I went over my allotted bandwidth and my hosting company shut it down until my next billing cycle.  Unable to run the site the way I had intended, I eventually shut it down completely.

Expectations were high for her sophomore record, Life For Rent.  With the release of the lead-off single "White Flag", still one of her best songs to date, I expected another magical experience.  What I got was a disappointment.  Life For Rent wasn't a particularly bad record, but it was nowhere near the caliber of No Angel.  In many ways it felt like Dido, who once again teamed up with her brother for most of the production, was trying to copy the success of No Angel.  The electronics were still there, the lyrics still dealt with many of the same themes, and the strings were still present and even improved upon in several songs, but there was just something missing - some intangible element that made No Angel something special.

What does this have to do with Dido's newest release, her third studio album, Safe Trip Home?  I simply want you to understand how much I love and appreciate her music.  No Angel touched me on a deeply personal level, but after Life For Rent left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth I had little expectations for Safe Trip Home.  Even as I listened to the pre-release tracks on her official website I tried to keep my excitement down.  Sure, "Don't Believe In Love" and "Look No Further" were brilliant songs, but so was "White Flag" and that quality wasn't maintained throughout her sophomore effort.

It is with a gigantic sigh of relief that I can now officially say that Safe Trip Home is a stunningly beautiful record and every doubt I had has been washed away.  Dido has fully regained my trust, but more than that she has taken her music forward in a way I didn't think was possible.  Safe Trip Home is one of the most remarkable albums you'll listen to all year.

Essential Albums: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Animal! / Not Animal

Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Animal!
2008
Sony Epic

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Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Not Animal
2008
Sony Epic

Buy This Album

(Author's Note: This review has been edited from its original form.  Upon subsequent listens, much of my opinion has changed drastically, and this review now reflects those changes.  It has also been updated to include a review of the companion record, Not Animal, for comparison.)

It's hard to understand what Epic Records saw in Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, the 8-piece indie outfit from Indiana whose debut album, The Dust of Retreat, was widely acclaimed and ranks as one of my personal favorite records of all time.  They're not a particularly marketable band with their use of odd instruments often ignored in pop-rock music.  Their music is a strange amalgamation of sounds ranging from folk to country to pop to hard rock.
 
It's also hard to remain objective about a band I have unfettered adulation for.  However, if being a music lover has taught me anything it's that expectations can always get the better of you.  If you're looking for proof, look no further than my disappointment with Moby's 2008 release, Last Night.  After waiting for more than two years, the band's sophomore efforts have finally hit store shelves.  Would this be another case of high expectations, perhaps unreasonably high, being met by disappointment, or would Margot prove that they truly are a band worth my undying devotion?