10 - Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigan6ily.com
10 -Tueday Aprl 2, 213 Te Mchian Dily- mchign~.ai~~cI
Phoenix strikes gold
French band never
loses a step on
danceable album
By ERIKA HARWOOD
Daily Arts Writer
Two weekends ago, rumors
swirled around the desert ofIndio,
Calif. that Daft Punk would join its
fellow French-
men of Phoenix A-
onstage during
their set at the Bankrupt!
Coachella Music he
Festival (feel
free to take a Glassnote
moment now
to imagine that
on-stage collaboration). However,
the two helmeted men in shiny
designer suits never showed up.
Instead, at the end of Phoenix's set,
a lustrous, unaccompanied voice
emerged from the unlit stage. A
voice that belonged to none other
than the modern-day poet and
man who spends a notable amount
of time in closets, R. Kelly.
As the lights turned on, R. Kelly
continued to slowly belt out the
lyrics to "Bump n' Grind" while
Phoenix waited patiently behind
him. Where was this going? Why
was R. Kelly onstage with Phoe-
nix? Was this some weird Coach-
ella installation art piece? At this
point, nothing in life made sense
and the confusion among the pre-
sumably intoxicated crowd was
probably widespread. Then, after
R. Kelly commanded the crowd to
"make some noise," Phoenix began
playing their 2009 fame-maker,
"1901," as R. Kelly gyrated across
the stage singing, "Now I'm not
trying to be rude / But hey pretty
girl, I'm feeling you..."
Yes. A mashup of R. Kelly's
"Ignition (Remix)" and Phoenix's
"1901" happened live onstage and
transformed Phoenix's set into one
oftheweirdestCoachellamoments
since that Tupac hologram. We
should all feel soblessed to live on
GLA SSNOTE
Next year, Coachella will take place on Mars.
,A
a planet where Phoenix's Thomas
Mars andR. Kelly can share a stage
singing "Sippin' on coke and rum
/ I'm like, 'so what, I'm drunk' "
together as one.
Thanks to this impossible-to-
predict performance, the hype for
Phoenix's fifth album, Bankrupt!,
reached its peak. Despite being
together since 2000, Phoenix
soared to immense popularity in
2009 with the release of its last
album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoe-
nix, which churned out hits such as
"Lisztomania" and "1901," result-
ing in the group's first Grammy
win.
"Entertainment," the first
single off of Bankrupt!, glistens
with light synths before drums
erupt and more synthetic layers
emerge, transforming the song
into the album's danceable open-
ing track. While the group's fifth
full-length album doesn't depart
much from its previous efforts,
Bankrupt! serves as a compila-
tion of Phoenix's best elements:
fresh-sounding synth rock.
Tracks like "Trying to Be
Cool" and "The Real Thing"
shine like classic Phoenix songs,
with dazzling synths and light,
grooveable melodies that will
surely make the cut for many
summer-themed playlists. "Try-
ing to Be Cool" stands out as
a potential next single on the
album, with its breezy electron-
ic-alt sound that seems crafted
for outdoor summer listening.
Also, does Phoenix think it has
to "try" to be cool? Only those
who are effortlessly cool can get
R. Kelly to make an appearance
while they headline one of the
world's most famous music fes-
tivals.
The group even takes a page
out of the Wolfgang book with
the. almost seven-minute-long
instrumental track "Bank-
rupt!," unarguably reminiscent
of Wolfgang's "Love Like a Sun-
set." While none of the tracks
set themselves apart as any
sort of risk or experimentation
for the group, Bankrupt!'s 10
tracks could all be identified as
Phoenix, something the group
has been cultivating for over a
decade. Mars' breathy vocals
can easily be traced on songs
such as "Don't" and the slightly
slower "Bourgeois," adding to
the laundry list of reasons why
Bankrupt! will prove to be a fan-
pleaser.
This doesn't mean the album
is without its flaws. Despite
what the Coachella performance
might have people believe (or
dream), R. Kelly doesn't make an
appearance on the album, and
the absence is notable. Maybeon
the Bankrupt! re-release?
4
MIRAMAX
No touching!
Movies will never beat
the art of real musicals
By REBECCA GODWIN
DailyArts Writer
4
4
A