8A - Monday, November 3, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com .
Inventive album
stalled by filler
a
By JACK PORTER hi-hats suggesta
Daily Arts Writer sequently pushir
into a sort of ins
Tom Jenkinson, the man behind It's one of the
the moniker Squarepusher, has tracks on the al
built a reputa- the most access
tion for blur- *** traditional struc
ring genre ed themes.
boundaries. Squarepusher "A Real Wom,
His usual est number on t
sound is a Just a Souvenir sounding like
clever fusion Warp punk anthem
of IDM ("Intel- as sung by a ro
ligent Dance Music"), jazz and closest thing So
funk. Jenkinson's musical aims proper rock song
have always been progressive, and a full set of lyri
fittingly, Just a Souvenir is a prog- things grow mo
rock epic. The album is more gui- time signaturec
tar-focused than many of his other
LiPs. Also, instead of following his
usual freeform jazz model of song- O
writing - improvising around a
single theme - he pursues more blurs a
intricate and definite construc-
tions. Expanding the scope of his and pro
musical efforts, Jenkinson has cre-
ated his most diverse and challeng-
ing album yet.
In Souvenir's first slot, "Star guitar melody tr
Time 2" treads familiar ground cascade of arpeg
and provides a welcoming intro- wry, oddball hi
duction to the dense composi- are a joy: "You t
tions that follow. Jenkinson's bass the world today,
work is elastic and mobile, giving about what to &
a buoyant backbone to the piece. you say, it shoul
Clipped but cheery, an endear- / Everything yo
ing synth takes up the melody. be well understo
Percussion-wise, the claps and say whether the
DEERHUNTER
From Page 5A
excellence in the otherwise average record. It
showcases Cox's knack for dreamy pop, which is
clearly stronger than his grasp of noise. Enchanting
clean guitar arpeggios outline the bars, filled in by
Cox's endearing vocal performance and a sharp but
simple rhythm section. Two minutes in, a buzzing
guitar arises, driving the evocative chord progres-
sion to the song's conclusion. Its masochistic lyrics
are pure poetry: "And after some time / I know I
would go blind / But seeing only binds / The vision
to the eye." Cox's words aren't as clear or captivat-
ing elsewhere.
Another standout is "Nothing Ever Happened,"
which kicks off with a propulsive bass-beat and
jangling guitar chords straight out of '90s alter-
native. During the verses, the guitar mirrors the
melody and snare hits punctuate the stressed syl-
lables. The piece follows a satisfying line of devel-
opment, eschewing the verse and chorus structure
early on. Its long conclusion features crafty inter-
play between the two guitars - while one dabbles
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house beat, sub- mocking humanity or courting
ng "Star Time 2" this "real woman."
trumental disco. Souvenir later moves into a
few danceable three-part prog-rock instrumen-
lbum - and also tal suite. As awhole it's a bit much,
ible - given its and "The Glass Road" stands on its
ture and repeat- own as the best of the three. Tran-
sitioning from one mood to anoth-
an" is the weird- er, "Glass Road" travels through
he disc, initially passages of both brutal thrash-
The Ramones's riffing and softer stretches, with
"Blitzkrieg Bop" elegantly blossoming modula-
bot. Still, it's the tions of the core melody. Between
ouvenir has to a the xylophone, kazoo-like guitar
, and even sports sounds, busy jazz drumming and
cs. As expected, crunchy distorted bass, it's an
ire complex: the enveloping piece with a strong
changes and the cosmic vibe.
Though the musical variety in
Souvenir is impressive, Jenkin-
an band son's ambition birthed a record
marred by aimlessness. In par-
ZZ, punk ticular, there are several shorter
atmospheric tracks that feel like
)g-rock. afterthoughts. "Aqueduct" is the
prime example, where ominous
twangs and buzzes are subjected
to pin-point stereo pans while an
ransforms into a acoustic guitar engages in slip-
ggios. Espousing pery improvisation. While not
umor, the lyrics unpleasant, it feels like fat that
think a lot about should have been trimmed.
/ You think a lot Just a Souvenir is bursting with
ay / Everything creativity but weighed down by
id be listened to filler. It's an easy recommendation
u say, it should to fans of progressive and experi-
ood." It's hard to mental music, but only a small
robot vocalist is drop in the oceanic progbucket.
in noisy abstract phrasing, another teases out vari-
ations of the central theme. Deerhunter is in their
element when prioritizing melody and musician-
ship.
Rare moments of brilliance aside, Microcastle/
Weird Era Cont. isn't original or daring enough to
live up to legacies of the bands that inspired it. It
also pales in comparison to Cox's recent solo album
under the Atlas Sound moniker, Let The Blind Lead
Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel. Blind had a
striking unity of vision in the way it combined
lush sample looping, electronic beats and swoon-
ing vocals. His latest work isn't nearly as focused
or fresh.
"Calvary Scars II/Aux Out," the monolithic
10-minute closer, exemplifies the double album's
weaknesses. Its debt to pre-Strawberry Jam Ani-
mal Collective is apparent in the halting rhythms
and bristly textures of the first segment. Later, it
suffers a tedious end: a guitar drone sprinkled
with hapless wind chimes drags on for six min-
utes without much complication. Missing a sense
of evolution or progression in many of its songs,
Microcastle/WeirdEra Cont. is a floundering disap-
pointment.
I
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(Insert Palin joke here.)
Si ngle woma n
Pink fails on radio-friendly breakup album
By Sasha Resende I Daily Arts Writer
4
SPROPOSAL
UPPORNPARK R EEWA
PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF WASHTENAW COUNTY PARKS
Pop tart Pink has made a
name for herself as the
so-called
"alternative" to **
the manufac-
tured Christinas Pink
and Britneys of
top-40 pop's Funhouse
glory days. The LaFace
artist has since
experimented
with a wild assortment of sounds,
ranging from her initial R&B-
style hits to mild flirtations with
harder rock-based hooks on her
subsequent records, before finally
settling into her role asa pop star-
let. On her most recent album,
Funhouse, Pink admirably tries
to formulate a distinct sound, but
the disjointed result ultimately
falls short.
Funhouse reverts Pink to her
prior methods with wide-ranging
musical experimentation. The
album veers from classic chart-
friendly smashes to country-influ-
enced ballads of woe to her former
dance-rock endeavors. The disc's
first single, the Martin Max pro-
duced "So What," is Pink's only
number one solo hit. Like so many
other tracks on the breakup-influ-
enced album, it laments the art-
ist's recent divorce from husband
Carey Hart, opening with the line
"I guess I just lost my husband /
I don't know where he went." It's
jumpy and exciting, with all the
key ingredients of a radio hit, and
sharply contrasts the rest of the
album's more low-key cuts.
The most recent single - aptly
titled "Sober" - details Pink's
battles with addiction. Keeping
in tune with the song's theme,
Pink belts "How do I feel this
good sober?" in a haunting key.
The pop-rock song is a lot more
subdued than the caffeinated "So
What," with Pink's exceptional
voice carryingthe majorityofit. It
stands above most of the album's
subsequent selections, but can't
rescue the entire disc.
The rest of the album is a col-
lection of would-be singles that
couldn't quite make the mark
("Funhouse," for example),
strained rock ballads bemoan-
ing her recent breakup ("Please
Don't Leave Me") and a variety of
other subpar cuts. The quasi-bal-
lad "Mean" has a marked coun-
try vibe that sounds more like
Sheryl Crow than an actual Pink
cut. It deals with - what else -
the constant fighting that leads
to a breakup. It only stands out
because it simply doesn't fit with
the rest of the album's collection.
"It's All Your Fault" is some-
what more successful. Quick-
programmed keys open the track,
highlighting Pink's luminous
vocals, creating an eerie effect.
Sadly, the song drifts into awk-
ward rock-band-esque ,choruses
for prolonged periods. Another
close hit is "Bad Influence," a
bass-heavy pop song with the
greatest single potential of the
album's remaining tracks. Over
catchy hand claps, the singer
lists off her favorite drinks and
exclaims: "Lordy, lordy, lordy! /
I can't help it I like to party, it's
genetic! / It's electrifying, wind
me up and watch me go."
With the recent worldwide hit
"So What," Pink is likely to find
great success in the near future.
Her latest disc is all over the musi-
cal map, which will likely appeal
to her fans as it gives the album
a certain variety. Given each
song's less-than-desired quality, a
homogenous version of the album
would have likely grown boring
after only the second or third lis-
ten. In terms of regurgitated pop
filler, Funhouse offers some hits
but is barely passable as a whole.
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