The Consumption

Extremely brief #MoNM updates:

I’m in Vancouver for the weekend (mostly to check out Grinderman tonight). Combine that with a week of spotty internet service and the piling up of ridiculous amounts of homework (hooray for grad school) and you have a half-decent excuse for not blogging. But no longer! In the interest of catch-up, here’s a handful of (exactly) 50-word reviews of things I’ve listened to. Rejoice!

Day 21: Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Left Foot… The Son of Chico Dusty

The production’s less brassy; otherwise Sir Lucious is pretty much in line with Big Boi’s half of Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and that’s a huge plus. Even on the more laid-back tracks, Boi’s delivery is nothing if not precise. Highlights: the sparse “Back-Up Plan”, the grandiose “General Patton.”

Day 22: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s Before Today

Production’s a bit lo-fi and muddy, but that suits the AM radio harmonies on “Bright Lit Blue Skies” and the chintzy synths on “Fright Night.” Sometimes too New Romantic for my taste, but the pop instincts are impeccable. You can see why the Flaming Lips endorsed ’em.

Day 23: Avi Buffalo’s S/T

The sweet sound hides somewhat toxic subject matter, but spot-on songcraft and ideosyncratic vocals are an appealing blend. Reminds me of Deserter Songs-era Mercury Rev if they replaced dream-pop ambition with twisted Americana ideals, while keeping the melodic weirdness firmly intact. Byrds jangle and nasal whines fit together oddly well.

Day 24: Blitzen Trapper’s Destroyer of the Void

Nothing jumps out like Furr’s title track, but Trapper’s blend of ’70s soft prog and folk melodicism still rubs me the right way. More sweet background vox than I remember from before, and a stronger-than-ever sense that, had they been around in the heyday of Supertramp/10cc, they’d have been huge.

Day 25: Bettie Serveert’s Pharmacy of Love

Dutch indie-rock that sometimes sounds like a punkier Duke Spirit (though given Serveert’s been around since the early ’90s, I should probably phrased that the other way around). Nine-minute shoegaze-pop workouts share space with sweet ballads and self-esteem odes, but not enough nuance on first listen to draw me in.

Day 26: Black Francis’s Nonstoperotik

Hoping for a return to manic Pixies dreaminess is farfetched, but Nonstoperotik is at least on par with Dog in the Sand. Sex obsession suits Black, even if he usually sounds more lecherous than erotic. Diverse, rockin’ and occasionally just weird – in other words, just what you’d expect/hope for.