Amplified - Volume 2, Issue 1

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Letter from the editor

Letter from the Editor

AMPLIFIED VOLUME 2 , ISSUE 1 Ian Singleton David Yassky Editors-in-Chief

Gideon Broshy Managing Editor

Pamela Mishkin Executive Production

Alex Ma

Baci Weiler

Managing Editor

Production Assistant

Hallam Tuck

Rebecca Bahr

Senior Editor

Faculty Advisor

Baci Weiler

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Amplified

table of contents RADAR

NOVEMBER 2010

REVIEWS

New York buzzed with live music this summer--most of it free! Here are anectodes from the most exciting shows in city parks, at the Seaport, on Governor’s Island, and more. 14 Deadbeat Summer

24|Katy Perry by Greg Fabry

4|The Band Eclypse by Megan Lu

5|Former Ghosts by Ben Deutsch 8 Editors’ Thoughts: Summer Playlists

25|Interpol by Kim Sarnoff

16 MIT/GH/Interactive Music An inside look at the innovative technologies that transform nonmusicians into performers and composers--sometimes in the comfort of a living room--and the creative minds behind them. 6|Cage the Elephant by Spencer Cohen 26|Arcade Fire by Michael Sarnoff

7|Slow Runner by Kim Sarnoff

20 On The Cover: DJ Era House music is storming the nation: DJs are the new rockstars, and electronic dance festivals are their biggest parties.

27|The Thermals by Allie Bienenstock

7|Javelin by Kim Sarnoff

April 2010 2010 November

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Editors' Picks:

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+ Upcoming Shows Alex Ma

Ian Singleton David Yassky Hallam Tuck

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AMPLEFEST 01/07/2011 April 2010

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always leaving never moving

Uncle Tupelo & the Birth of Alt-Country hallam tuck

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It should be noted, before I attempt to explain the importance of Uncle Tupelo, that few bands lack cultural relevance like Uncle Tupelo does. Born out of a garage in Belleville, Illinois, the wistful project of Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy was the last in a long line of archivists and imposters. The band, named after Elvis in his late years, sought to pick up on a style that was never really popular, and whose last vestiges seemed to die off in the sixties with Gram Parsons. Uncle Tupelo both succeeded and was incredibly influential in merging two of the simplest musical styles. The band’s singular sound is born out of desolate Americana and imposingly loud punk rock. Imagine Doc Watson and a poorly tuned banjo in front of a couple of Marshall stacks and a really bad drummer. In the midst of 90’s grunge ubiquity, Uncle Tupelo were an anomaly. Where Kurt Cobain began to embrace his status as disgruntled prophet for millions of teeny-boppers across the country, Jay Farrar quit Uncle Tupelo after their first record with a major label came out. Where Nirvana embraced the sounds of New Wave and added a punch, Uncle Tupelo insisted on recording covers of Carter family songs, and replaced guitars with mandolins. Uncle Tupelo’s inability, or indeed resistance, to make music that fit in with the template of the grunge scene allowed them to purely represent their own surroundings. Among the small and increasingly irrelevant group of people who still care, Uncle Tupelo is jokingly referred to as country music for people who read. Although comical, this is a grave understatement. Uncle Tupelo’s crowning achievement is that they wholeheartedly immortalize their backwards ethos. Recently one of my friends joked that when a room is quiet enough he begins to hear the first few bars of “Teenage Riot” (Sonic Youth’s no wave ouvre). I am paralyzed by a similar phenomenon. In those fleeting moments when the atmosphere is particularly

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calm, it seems that if I were to lean my ear upon the ground just delicately enough I would hear Farrar’s raspy moan, and the click of Mike Heidorn’s hi-hat. Uncle Tupelo is what you hear when everything else stops. The noise behind the gliss of your air-conditioner, beyond the rush of traffic in that parking lot. They are the sound that you can never seem to put your finger on, and yet is always present. “Graveyard Shift,” from 1990’s No Depression, their first album, speaks to the boredom and anger and cynicism universal to every pissed off seventeen year old in a small town. “Fifteen Keys,” from 1993’s Anondyne, the band’s only major label release, is thick with the theme of disaffection and movement, and yet seems stuck in the same sleepy Midwestern town. The greatest contradiction, though, is that while the souls behind Uncle Tupelo yearn to escape from their hometown, they lament the fact that it will inevitably change. In a post-Springsteen world, Uncle Tupelo made music about being stuck in their suburban existence before a few blasé French-Canadians decided it was cool. There are few bands with as little commercial success as Uncle Tupelo that have spawned as much imitation and influenced as many people (an ironic coincidence considering their general cultural irrelevance). Indeed, when the band split up, its two founding members, Farrar and Tweedy, went on to found two of the greatest altrock bands of the nineties, Son Volt and Wilco, respectively. Uncle Tupelo is a vital link in the growth of American folk and rock music. The innocence and loneliness of No Depression are themes that reach as far forward as they do backwards. The same songs that would seem to be best listened to in a lonely hollow somewhere in the depths of Appalachia reverberate with a sense of heritage akin to bands like Whiskeytown or The White Stripes. Jay Farrar explored Roscoe Holcomb and Doc Watson years before Ryan Adams decided he liked Gram Parsons or Jack White made playing Son House covers edgy. “People are wrong in starting with us and saying we started anything, because we were just picking up the ball,” remarked Mike Heidorn, the band’s drummer, in an interview with Country Standard Time. “We didn’t start a genre. We contributed to a long line of fairly good music. That’s the way we looked at it at the time—doing what was right for the song.” The two monstrous bands that Uncle Tupelo gave birth to are peculiar in the way

April 2010

that they differ. Both bands have been scions of alt-rock, and yet both bands are distinctly different. Son Volt made two beautiful albums, and then, refusing to change in the early 00’s, was relegated to the condescension of posterity. Wilco, conversely, didn’t really do anything interesting until their third record, and then their music bore little resemblance to the stark simplicity of Uncle Tupelo. This parable tells the story well: Uncle Tupelo’s style was forced to either evolve and survive or remain stagnant and fall by the wayside. Uncle Tupelo broke new ground in their small Belleville garage. More than merging two previously incomprehensible styles of music, they made the music they wanted to make without compromise. It is perhaps a

Tweedy, he sings, “Where you’re from and where you’re going/I know these things like I know you hate me now.” Such words premeditate Uncle Tupelo’s demise and seem to briefly tell the story of a band pressed with constant inertia, always leaving, never moving.

More than merging two styles of music, they made the music they wanted to make without compromise. cliché to take that view of Uncle Tupelo, but it is nonetheless an honest one. There is no doubt that the history of American popular music is rife with artists who should have achieved more than they did, or whose music deserved more commercial success than it ever found, but that does not make their contributions any less important. Without Muddy Waters there would be no Rolling Stones, without Big Star there would be no R.E.M., no Kings of Leon without the Flaming Groovies. But perhaps Uncle Tupelo were too good to last. In “Chickamauga,” Farrar’s song about growing apart from

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features

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Amplified

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Participants take advantage of their complete creative freedom at the Brain Opera.

April 2010

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features

Two of Noah Vawter’s Exertion Instruments, powered by manually-generated electricity.

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Amplified

features

an interview with JEFFERSON FRIEDMAN conducted by Gideon Broshy Jefferson Friedman, 36, is a contemporary classical composer in New York City. He is a leading artistic force in a movement in which contemporary classical music and indie rock are becoming synonymous. He recently collaborated with pioneering 90s indie band Shudder to Think’s Craig Wedren on a 3-part piece called On in Love. How do your collaborations come about? I’ve known Craig Wedren, the lead singer and main artistic force of Shudder to Think for a long time, having joined STT twelve years ago. Recently we worked together on this piece, On in Love, which was co-commissioned by the Greenwall Foundation and the Miller Theater at Columbia University. It was my first conscious decision to fuse my experiences with rock and classical music, and it was a very natural process—they are two musical languages that I became fluent in, and then put together. Growing up in Massachusetts, I studied classical music at the pre-college program at the New England Conservatory, but I was always into rock music, and I always played in rock bands. I studied composition further but kept my rock influences close by. What music did influence you growing up? Although I lived up in Massachusetts, I was very attracted to the D.C. indie scene, which, besides Shudder to Think, consisted of bands like Fugazi, Minor Threat, and Jawbox. They weren’t like other bands—they had rhythmic complexity and used avant-garde pitch language, and they were fascinating to me. Contemporary artists like Marnie Stern and Battles, who they sometimes label as “math rock,” are sort of like that now. Bands are always referencing what came before them, and I think there’s a 20-year cycle: for example, when I was born the Beatles had recently broken up, and then when I was a senior in high school, in 1992, Nirvana was the big thing.

April 2010

Why have indie music and contemporary classical become so close in nature? With On in Love, I’m not using rock music as a reference; I consciously decided to fuse it with my classical experience. In the New York scene, however, that idea is used less consciously, and indie rock and classical are being used as references in both kinds of music. Super-avant-garde indie rock is indistinguishable from contemporary classical now. People that listen to contemporary classical and indie are one and the same. They wear the same clothes, go to the same bars; it used to be segregated, but not any more. Ronen Givony is one of the most important people in this scene where indie and classical are being meshed together both intentionally and involuntarily. He created the Worldess Music Series, which encourages and fosters collaborations in that vein. What are other game-changers in New York? (Le) Poisson Rouge, in Greenwich Village, stages both indie artists and classical musicians—putting them at the same level, on the same plane—in a semi-formal setting, sort of a cross between a small classical hall and an indie club. There’s also the Tank in Hell’s Kitchen and Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) hosts interesting performances, too. Why has the classical music world been so distanced from youth culture? First, most classical music is old—and, well, it’s old! Antiquity is not very hip. Also, there’s a lot of pomp and circumstance associated with classical music. Formality itself is not very compatible with youth culture or the indie rock scene. Now, though, this meshing of scenes and genres is giving an audience to the classical world. And for a long time, at least in classical circles, people were scared of new, different things, but that is changing—new and different is exciting.

Do you think some of it, and something that’s probably harder to deal with, is that most people will never take the time to digest music that’s less accessible, or take the time to sit down and actually listen to music at all—after all, it’s illogical for avantgarde to ever be mainstream. Well, yeah, none of this is mass culture; the young people that are opening their ears to the classical world are people that really like and pay attention to music in the first place. A lot of people put music as background noise. I call it “vacuum music,” because you can listen to it while you vacuum. I don’t want to make vacuum music—I want to make something that’s not necessarily confrontational, but that commands full attention. I’m getting pretty general here, but—why is it then that some people will listen longer, will pay more attention? And what’s the importance of paying real attention to music, or all art, in the first place? I think music is just fundamentally part of some people. It runs through their blood. Music is really vital to some people and not as much to others. And maybe those others won’t savor music or art as much as we do. What did you think of the new Grizzly Bear album, [2009’s] Veckatimest? (Because it’s awesome.) (Ed note: this interview was conducted in 2009. I’m not that far behind.) Yeah Grizzly Bear is just a great band, with great voices. They really are straddling that indie-classical line. Do you know Nico Muhly, the composer who did the string arrangements for the album? Yeah, I do. A lot of people are doing things like that. And it’s good. Yeah, it is good.

19

DJ E

the 2000s have now claimed the superstar dj, a personality that charges a by Ian Singleton

Yesterday morning,

sitting at the breakfast table, eating a bowl of honey nut cheerios, I thought to myself, since when do DJs sell out large concert venues? After a night out on the town listening to strictly Afrojack, I began contemplating the fame that DJs have attained of late. Around the world, a DJ craze has taken full effect; I have certainly jumped on the bandwagon. Events like Ultra, Sensation White, Qlimax, and Electric Zoo showcase the masters of mixing on the grandest stages in the world for hours of passionate raging. Traditionally, DJs provided entertainment at clubs or parties as an accompaniment to festivities; now, notorious DJ’s have upgraded to the main event. Instead of dancing with other partygoers, audience members fix their eyes on the stage to worship these idealized gods of the turntable. Avid concertgoers will notice acts like Deadmau5 and DJ Tiesto dominating ticket sales. Famed DJs have obtained dedicated fan bases just like those of popular rock bands such as Kings of Leon and Green Day.

Before we analyze the DJ revolution, let’s take a quick look at the history of the art of “DJ-ing.” The verb “DJ-ing” originated in 1943 when Sir Jimmy Savile hosted the first ever “DJ party” in which he spun twelve jazz records continuously throughout a classy British evening. The art of Djing became hip in the 1970’s as disco music prevailed in the nightlife scene, thriving in places like New York at Studio 54. By the 1980’s, the invention of the turntable, “the break”, the act of “scratching,” and the “cutting” of records materialized. The late 1990’s marked a pivotal change for all disc jockeys as digital files began replacing turntables. The 2000’s have now claimed the “Superstar DJ,” a luminary that charges astronomical fees, demands firstclass travel, and lives like a rock star. Just like all other things in the past fifty years, Dj-ing has drastically transformed. In Dj-ing’s case, it has converted from a rare undervalued skill Technology is only as good as the expressive and artistic quality it facilitates. to a more accessible and treasured asset. Programs like Serato, Ableton, and Traktor allow DJs to perform their magic on their laptops with access to a near infinite song base. These intricate computer programs and digital files have replaced turntables, vinyl, and old school analog equipment. Bassnectar is very fond of this new technology exclaiming, “It’s like being a stand-up comedian, where you can seamlessly weave together every funny joke ever told, and tell it in any language, accent, or context while adding sound effects and mastering it all on the spot.” However,

sir jimmy savile, f irst dj 20

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according to DJ King Most now “Anybody with a laptop now DJs; anybody with a beat making-program makes beats; anybody with a camera makes videos for YouTube.” While there has been a surge in the number of DJ’s spinning these days, I believe that technology is only as good as the expressive and artistic quality it facilitates. Undoubtedly, a hierarchy of DJ’s still exists filtering the professionals In the 2000’s, technological advances have democratized the creation of music. from the amateurs. After further deliberation, I came to the realization that the majority of DJs gaining prominence (excluding perhaps DJ Khaled, DJ Ez-E and Xaphoon Jones) have been through techno/house music. This genre of music, generally referred to as electronic music, has been unearthed from the underground to a level of mainstream acceptance. If I may, let me tell you a little bit about the history of electronic music. Electronic music was cultivated in the 1980’s by bands like Depeche Mode with hit “Just Can’t Get Enough” and the Human League with “Don’t You Want Me.” These groups began utilizing equipment like the Fairlight CMI (the first practical polyphonic digital synthesizer/sampler), the Synclavier, and the E-mu Emulator all early forms of the synthesizer/ sampler to create digitally, dream-like, synth heavy tunes. In 1983, producing electronic music took a serious turn with the invention of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). MIDI technology allowed for predetermined singular actions like a keystroke or pedal movement to

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ERA

astronomical fees, demands first-class travel, and lives like a rockstar. activate all the other instruments in a studio simultaneously generating loud, complicated, and unheard of sounds. In the 2000’s, technological advances in the microprocessor field made creating sophisticated music possible on a single laptop. These developments have democratized the creation of music. Today, DJs are spinning exhilarating produced music that contains pumping synthesizer lead lines, electronic drumbeats, heavy bass, and other dreamy artificial sounds manufactured on computer programs like Reason and Ableton Live and synthesizers in high-tech studios. While most people refer to superstars such as Steve Aoki and the Swedish House Mafia as DJs, they forget their title as producers. These highly skilled DJs are creating all their own tunes without due recognition from the musical community. To solely DJ is one thing, but the “Superstar DJs” previously mentioned are unrecognized talented musicians that make their own music. No longer confined to nightclubs, Electro music has developed into an element of everyday life, whether it’s spun on your favorite radio station, played on DJ Hero, or heard at your favorite downtown boutique. DJ’s works are now produced, recorded, and sold all over the world. House and techno blogs sprout up on the Internet on a daily basis. The big-time DJs no longer keep to their own secluded clan; these stars have begun collaborating with the industry’s biggest pop and rap stars. For example, David Guetta has collaborated with Kelly Rowland, Fergie, LMFAO, Akon, Lil’ Wayne, Madonna and more within the last two years. Young people dominate the cultlike fan base of artists like Guetta and Aoki. More than ever, young people crave the intensity of a culmination of movement, excitement, loud bass, and driving beats other-

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wise known as “raving.” “Raving” and large DJ followings occur primarily in fast paced urban societies like New York, Miami, and Los Angeles where the music fits harmoniously into the youngster’s upbeat lives; I personally can relate. I was lucky enough to attend Electric Zoo The big-time DJs no longer keep to their own secluded clan; they collaborate with the industry’s biggest pop and rap stars. on Sunday September 5th. One of 30,000 ravers in attendance, I lost my mind watching the trippy light shows displayed on the massive LED screens and listening to the heavy and invigorating beats of DJ Superstars ranging from Laidback Luke in the afternoon to Steve Aoki who spun into the wee hours of the morning. The concert was an indication of the promise in electric music and the foundation of a new culture of electro-loving ravers. Youth dressed in neon spandex sucking on pacifiers, older men with beards and earplugs in tights, fairies, goths, and even babies (I saw one stroller) braved the dirt that would invade their noses and mouths for the pure joy created by the pulsing music. International DJs like Armin Van Buren and Wolfgang Gardner played alongside oldies like Moby and the Chemical Brothers as well as smaller emerging acts like Chuckie and Aeroplane on the four immense stages. Boyz Noize made the biggest impact on me dropping breathtaking and technically savvy beats to the loud constant roar of the crowd. Another memorable act was Joachim Garraud who whipped out a keytar and grabbed the crowd by its throat and never let go. All in all, Electric Zoo was

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a smash hit which left me and tens of thousands of other fans exhausted yet begging for more; I guess I just have to wait till Ultra in the spring. Despite the DJ’s newfound fame and worshipping among the younger set, many conventional musicians (guitar, piano, etc..) do not appreciate or acknowledge the ability of disc jockeys/ electronic music producers. As a classical and jazz musician, I initially did not grant these creators of electronic music the appropriate respect they deserve. Do I respect all of them? No. Do I think they are all gifted musicians? No. But, I ask in what genre of music are all participants technically brilliant? I must say that as I listened closer, I started to break electric music down to its core; what I realized was that a solid portion of this music, just like any other genre, was much more intricate and musical than I had believed. So, as my final task in this article, I ask the “sophisticated” musical community to give a listen to some of the captivating music coming out of the electronic sector of the music world and give a chance to appreciate the valor of the musicianship and creativity in certain of these artists’ work.

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alexander ridha, boys 21

H A R D C O R E 22

bring me the horizon -­ “hair fringe & tight pants” hardcore

NOT SO

The Struggle for Popularity

and the toll it’s taking on the genre GABE IBAGóN HARDCORE FIRST SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY in the early ‘80s, thrashing in dark, sweaty, crowded underground basements. Taking what the original wave of ’70s punk had established, bands such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat created a faster, grittier and louder version of the genre. Along with a “Do-It-Yourself ” ethic and a rebellious attitude came a completely new and revolutionary genre: hardcore. Twenty years later, these pioneers would be less than pleased with what has happened to their precious genre over the years. The 2000’s marked an entirely new era for hardcore. During the past decade, the genre became more accessible to mainstream audiences than it ever had been. One of the first bands to exemplify this was the metalcore sextet UnderOath, who used standard hardcore verses with a combination of catchy, clean-sung choruses to attract a wider audience. While never reaching mainstream radio popularity, this caused hardcore to leave the underground scene Amplified

bad brains underoath attack attack! ceremony

between the buried and me

the fall of troy

successful old-­ school hardcore

converge

struggling old-­ virtuoso hardcore school hardcore

April 2010

prog hardcore

Luckily for true hardcore fans, not all hope is lost. While hardcore seemed to be heading towards the shallowness of pop music, the 2000’s brought forth one of the most innovative trends to ever happen to the genre: the incorporation of progressive music. Bands like Protest the Hero, The Fall of Troy, and Tera Melos are a few of the incredibly talented young groups that have started to feature multiple time signature

“scene” hardcore

a prime example of a band that became a hit with “scene” kids by writing songs composed entirely of breakdowns. This was intended to create non-stop hardcore dancing at their shows (known as “moshing”). Unfortunately, they ended up sacrificing the depth and meaning of their songs. Bands like Attack Attack! brought the genre even further popularity in the mainstream by incorporating pop and hip hop influences, including computerized beats and auto-tuned voices. Although many of these up-andcoming bands use gimmicks and unoriginal techniques in their music, this “scene” side of hardcore continues to gain a larger fan base.

catchy hardcore

One of the largest effects of hardcore’s movement to the mainstream was that the main audience of these bands shifted from tough 20-something-year-old punks to predominantly “scene” (often mislabeled as “emo”) teen boys and girls. With a new set of eyes watching the genre, many hardcore bands needed a way to satisfy the short attention spans of their younger crowd. Bring Me the Horizon was one of the many bands that focused on making its image more appealing to teenage girls (spawning more hair fringe and tight pants). Others resorted to changing their music, filling their songs with catchy and easy-to-digest breakdowns. Connecticut metalcore band Emmure is

original hardcore

and head towards larger stages, most notably those of the annual Warped Tour. As the genre started to become more prominent, an influx of similar bands invaded the scene, with hardly any originality to offer. Hardcore hit a stalemate that it never could manage to get out of, for every new band seemed to follow a predictable formula of song structure and breakdowns. For each band that brought in a bit of originality to the genre, there was a flood of bands copying its exact style.

changes, impressive instrumental techniques and song structures typical of progressive metal into the realm of hardcore, giving the genre a breath of life. Between the Buried and Me, a quintet from North Carolina, proved to be the masters of this style with its opus, Colors, in 2006. They seamlessly plowed through eight songs with the intensity of hardcore, while still displaying intelligence and restraint. Featuring tons of genre-crossing (from baroque to bluegrass to polka to ambient) and unmatched proficiency at each of their instruments (especially bass with its solo in the ambient “Viridian”), BTBAM proved that there is still some hope for the hardcore genre. Of course, there have always been bands that continue playing the “original” hardcore, regardless of its current lack of commercial success. Record labels such as Bridge 9 Records are filled with small bands, such as Ceremony, Ruiner, and Agnostic Front, struggling to keep afloat in an industry that has become overtly commercialized. However, old-school veterans Converge have risen up in the past decade and are providing the rare case of an underground hardcore band garnering widespread critical acclaim. Their record Jane Doe (2000) received extreme praise for its relentless and brash style and even landed on some high profile “end of the decade” lists; Sputnik Music ranked it as their #1 album of the decade. Converge continued to receive recognition for their records throughout the past decade, most recently for their 2009 masterpiece Axe to Fall. Despite garnering much acclaim from critics and hardcore fans alike, traditional forms of hardcore still have not been able to receive the mass recognition that the new wave of watered-down metalcore has received. The new century brought us a new, younger face to hardcore that propelled the genre into the mainstream. Although the hardcore that holds true to the original sentiments of the genre doesn’t receive the acclaim that it boasted years ago, the torch has been passed onto another generation of bands, who are striving to gain popularity and restore the integrity that hardcore once held.

23

reviews

katy perry

teenage dream by Greg Fabry Katy Perry has certainly managed to stay in the spotlight in the last few years. Since her 2001 gospel debut -- er, okay, her 2008 pop debut -- she has released a formidable set of singles, all catchy and entertaining, although not always tasteful. Unfortunately, with sophomore album Teenage Dream, Katy Perry fails to maintain the freshness and quality of her earlier songs, instead falling to a level of trashy, boring, standard pop songs. Just look at her singles and you can easily see which way the trend is heading. Her first single, the song that originally got her noticed in the musical world, was “Ur So Gay,” a not-so-tactfully written song about her boyfriend who, basically, is not man enough for her. This was soon followed up by “I Kissed A Girl,” about kissing girls but not being gay, and “Hot N Cold,” the accompanying music video featuring Katy Perry and several girls dressed as brides with baseball bats, beating up a fiancee on the run. Tasteful, no; border-line offensive, yes; but entertaining? Absolutely. She continues in this style all the way up until “California Gurls,” featuring Snoop Dogg (admittedly in a step back for him careerwise), after which she releases the title track from her new release, “Teenage Dream.” Teenage Dream is, well, a love song. A boring, cliche one with no catchiness or hook to it, to boot. Whatever happened to the (relatively) intricate melodies of “Ur So Gay,” or the infectiousness of “I Kissed A Girl”? The raunchiness of the “California Gurls” music video (although it’s debatable whether it’s possible to climb up a candy cane in a prude fashion)? Instead, the music video of “Teenage Dream” is of a beach-side romance. The rest of the album doesn’t really take off either, unless you’re talking about various articles of clothing. Katy Perry goes for all the cheap shots, releasing an album full of trashy, gimmicky songs catered to twelve-year-olds... which is okay in the mainstream pop music scene, but she could have at least tried a little harder. You can almost see all the middle-schoolers giggling to “Peacock” (“I want to see your peacock, cock, cock.”) When she’s not singing about raunchy party photos going on Facebook or, um, peacocks (“In 3D!”), she’s singing love songs about being a princess. Although she does show more passion in singing those songs, she still fails to show her true strength, which is overpoweringly evident in her

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earlier material. Princess songs still don’t manage to fly farther than the twelve-year-old demographic, either. So does Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” have much hope? Not really. With the exception of “California Gurls,” whose sugar-coated bubblegum style is well produced enough to be noticeable, Katy Perry’s sophomore album is more of a slump than a true hit. Her old material sure wasn’t tasteful, but it was leagues more entertaining than Teenage Dream. And while her more sugary songs do show more hope, you’d be better off with, say, “Evergreen Hits of the 80s”; not only would it be more entertaining, but also less superficial.

Amplified

reviews

interpol interpol by Kim Sarnoff Interpol has just released its fourth studio album, cleverly entitled Interpol, which has proved to be a real disappointment. For the most part, it is dreary and drawn out; lead singer Paul Banks sounds more like he is moaning than singing while the music beside him simply drones and buzzes. Although the music still has Interpol’s characteristic rock sound, it is a sad, sorry rendering. “Barricade” and “Lights,” the first two singles off of Interpol, are subpar, but I still had hope that the rest of the album would be worth listening to. After all, their last album as a whole was far better than its first single, “The Heinrich Maneuver.” Sadly, it turns out that “Barricade” and “Lights” are probably the best tracks on Interpol. “Barricade” starts off just fine with a fun, repeated guitar riff and a rock-heavy first verse. It’s neither particularly inventive nor different from what Interpol is accustomed to, but it’s not bothersome either. Unfortunately, when the chorus kicks in, Paul Banks hits this note that frankly sounds unnatural and out of tune, which turns a potentially good song into a very uncomfortable one. “Lights” has its own issues. Its long, ominous intro, though unpleasant, isn’t necessarily bad – it’s when Banks enters singing that everything turns into a monotonous drone. The song does get better as it develops. Banks becomes more animated and the music becomes fuller, but it does not sufficiently compensate for the less than stellar first half of the song. The rest of the album is full of more serious letdowns. The first track “Success” starts off with the usual rock guitar riffs, but by the chorus, the vocals become melancholy in tone, and everything becomes unpleasant. “Memory Serves” continues the trend of the boring and droning vocals that plague all of Interpol. “Always Malaise” brings the album to somewhere even lower and worse. Every one of Interpol’s albums has a slow, almost ethereal track; “Always Malaise” tries to fill that role on Interpol. It’s very reminiscent of “The Lighthouse” on Interpol’s previous album, Our Love to Admire, but where “The Lighthouse” invites you into a tranquil world, “Always Malaise” fails to do so, as it is incredibly sinister and threatening. While Interpol has never been able to touch the success of their first album, Turn on the Bright Lights, their second and third al-

April 2010

bums, Antics and Our Love to Admire, are both excellent. Antics showcases musically inventive rock, and Our Love to Admire is full of risks with several slower tracks. This new album, so unfortunately the one the band chose to name after itself, is many steps in the wrong direction and is no reflection of what they can potentially do musically. While I am still a huge fan, I’ll be sticking to the old stuff. I hope they get back to their old selves next time around.

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reviews

HYJHKL ÄYL the suburbs by Michael Sarnoff For those of you that don’t know, Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band composed of Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara and led on stage by the married couple of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Arcade Fire has gained universal acclaim for their past two albums, which have won multiple awards. These accolades are due to both their music and writing style. Their thought-provoking lyrics treat songs as chapters in a book as opposed to unrelated ideas, a more popular style in current albums. They intertwine their songs with orchestral elements that have such impact you might forget you’re listening to indie rock. Arcade Fire have just released their third album called The Suburbs, the origin of this title coming from the childhood of the Butler brothers in the suburbs. This album can be looked upon as a return to form for Arcade Fire after Neon Bible, their second album. Although Neon Bible wasn’t a bad album, it didn’t handle the messages that they were trying to send to their audience as gracefully as their first album, Funeral, did. While Funeral focused on kids and how they must face the unknown even though it may be frightening, The Suburbs focuses on adults and the difficulties of maintaining a family and being in charge of your own life. The Suburbs contains sixteen tracks that are very easy for newcomers to enjoy because of the prominence of rock instrumentals. Anyone who is not accustomed to or doesn’t like indie music can give this a listen and have a good time. The songs are not slow enough to lose your attention, but not so fast and distorted that the lyrics lose their meaning. This album is a little more methodical then Arcade Fire’s past showings but it shouldn’t disappoint any die-hard fan. “Ready to Start” and “Rococo” are the most accessible tracks on the album. “Ready to Start” encompasses some of this album’s greatest character, and showcases the bands vocals, while “Rococo” is a very engaging song that is a joy to listen to. I wish that more bands would adopt the idea that an album can tell a cohesive story. The incentive to hear the whole tale is so great that you won’t mind sitting through some songs that aren’t as engrossing. This is what makes Arcade Fire and this album so unique.

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Amplified

reviews

the thermals personal life by Alex Ma Sit down for a second. Think about writing a love song. It doesn’t have to be good— pretend you’re James Blunt. It’s not hard. In fact, it’s almost too easy for any human being to spit out an uninspired, love-inflected couplet (“You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, it’s true”)—but it’s hard to write a meaningful record about relationships. On their fifth effort, Personal Life, The Thermals seem to aim for just that. And for the most part, they succeed. Known for their almost haphazard chords and frontman Hutch Harris’ passionate, at-times-abrasive delivery, the Thermals churned out exhilarating guitar-driven songs on arguably their best album, 2005’s The Body, The Blood, The Machine. Acclaimed for Harris’ sparse, to-the-point lyrics, The Thermals proceeded to tackle the more abstract topic of death on 2009’s Now We Can See while occupying the same stylistic vein. Personal Life finds Harris once again at the top of his songwriting game. “I’m gonna change your life / I’m gonna steal your soul / I’ll keep you warm at night / I’ll leave you in the cold,” he sings on album opener “I’m Gonna Change Your Life.” In a much more subdued voice (and to a much slower beat, compared to standard Thermals fare), Harris manages to avoid all the typical love-struck clichés. “I’ll give you all that I have / I’ll tell you everything / Love me all of my life / Never listen to me,” he sings on standout third track “Never Listen To Me.” He’s not wasting any time talking about how he feels—he’s taking action, trusting his listeners will take away the same sort of feeling. Yet the biggest change on Personal Life comes in the music itself. Instead of following Harris’ guitar, Kathy Foster’s bass is driven towards the top of the mix on most of the album’s thirty-odd minutes, producing mixed results. Part of the appeal of earlier Thermals albums was the sense of urgency generated by the chaotic guitars—without those, some songs simply fall flat (see: “Not Like Any Other Feeling”). The band finds some success in experimentation—“Alone, A Fool” is a successful two-minute, second-half jaunt where Harris plays some of the cleanest guitar in Thermals history. Personal Life is by no means a failure for The Thermals – Har-

April 2010

ris’ lyrics are as strong as ever, and another album of sugar-coated punk would have been a little repetitive. The best songs on the album are still some of the fastest ones—first single “I Don’t Believe You” is the closest the band gets to a song like “Returning To The Fold.” It’s satisfying to see The Thermals experiment with a plethora of new sounds, but they still haven’t found one that works just yet.

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