Fleet Foxes (Self Titled)

Thanks to some constant encouragement from a few people that I know, I finally picked up the first Fleet Foxes Album. I had been very hesitant to do so as the quick preview I did on Amazon was so mellow and harmonious I was worried I would fall asleep listening to it. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised.

Its true that the Fleet Foxes describe themselves as "Baroque-Pop" music. This phrase to me screams stuffy chamber music and madrigals, but in truth it means carefully laid out harmonies and riff driven guitar parts laid over peaceful soundscapes. There's also a heavy modern influence in the sound that could be compared to bands like Band of Horses, Bon Iver, Rogue Wave, and Grizzly Bear.

For a first sampling/ introduction track I really dig the song "White Winter Hymnal."



It's simple, short, but it does a great job capturing the essence of the band. It starts out with a pseudo-round vocals then slowly layers entrances of voices and instrumentation that build a pyramid into the full song. Listening closely you hear several guitar parts (rythm AG, rythm EG and lead EG) all layered neatly so as to not distract from the melody of the song. The drums themselves are minimal with only the occasional tom hit and tambourine, but they do an excellent job accenting what is happening in the song. By the time the song ends the pyramid built up has collapsed and you have returned from your journey back to where you started all in the course of 2.5 minutes. Pretty impressive.

One of the distinct things about the Fleet Foxes sound is that everything is drenched in reverb, which lends to an ambient enveloping feeling in their songs that slowly absorbs you into their world. By the time the album ends you feel completely entrenched in the sonic journey that has taken you to another time, place and space.

So why was I so surprised? The album actually has a pretty good balance and energy to it that takes some thought to pull off. Of course, the horror of Muzak was first imposed upon us in the 1950s and has been ever since, so this is a very well understood field that should be hard to screw up, but I digress. My point being I have a hard time understanding why so many artists these days have trouble sequencing their albums. Fleet Foxes got it just right. I could just call out tracks I like, but for these guys, I like to experience the album as a whole. To cut it up would be taking away from what these guys are doing.

U2 and Lenny Kravitz @ Angels Stadium (6.17.11)

So on Thursday a friend found himself with an extra Red Zone ticket to see U2 play at the Angles Stadium of Anaheim Los Angeles California Orange County USA. I, of course, jumped at the chance. For those not familiar, Red Zone tickets guarantee you access to a special area close to the stage as well as the GA area in front of the stage. With the benefit of a short line and my recent exercise kick, I was able to get to the front row just to the left of the stage.


Before I talk about the concert I should mention that these Red Zone tickets are very controversial with the hardcore fans who pay the GA fee rather than pony up the extra dough. The GA fans essentially line up hours (and I have heard even days) in advance to get a chance at getting close to the stage. I definitely got a great spot because of my red zone ticket, but totally understand why the fans were cheesed off. Still, they should be cheesed off at the band not the people who paid for the tickets.

So, being in such a great spot, I was able to take some AMAZING shots of both Lenny Kravitz and U2.


It was the first time in 15 years or so that I have seen Lenny Kravitz, and while it's a different energy, he still had a lot of it. I was surprised at the number of songs he played that I knew. Fly Away, Are you Gonna Go My Way (which Bono slipped a weird ref in to later), Let Love Rule, It Ain't Over Till its Over and a bunch of other songs I remember but don't know the names of.


Typically I despise large concerts. There's such a disconnect between the band and the audience that its essentially just listening to the album really loud while crammed into a small space. This is never the case with U2. I saw them on their last big tour in 2005. That time my seat was as far from the stage as you could get (back wall top row of the venue). Even still, the visuals were amazing and the camera work so good you felt involved in the show. U2 360 was a bit different, as for the most part I was so close I could not see the elaborate stage/screens. There was a section where the stage came down that was cool and I am sure from further back it would have been even more impressive.

One thing a bit odd was that they played David Bowie's "Space Oddity" before the show and immediately after was "Rocket Man." Not sure what the tie in was to other than maybe the fact that the stage looks like the LAX spaceship or Gabrielle Giffords' Husband who made an appearance.

Mark Kelly's appearance was something I heard about before, so I am gathering it is something they have worked in to every segment of the tour. Essentially they had him holding up the words to "Beautiful Day" in space. I kinda felt a bit pandered too, but its all part of the U2 pageantry so it was still cool. When I'm a big rock star I'd like to have a guy from space showing off the words too my songs too.

The band was amazingly tight and on cue. Almost too much so. The one major glitch was that the guitar level on "I'll Go Crazy..." was low at the start. As soon as the Edge walked away from the pedals, everything was back to normal. I hate to be the suspicious guy wondering how much was pre-recorded, but I can say that I heard enough wireless dropouts/pops in the vox etc that I feel better about how much was live. "Go Crazy" I think had a lot of pre-recorded music though as it allowed Larry Mullen, Jr. to get out into the crowd playing djimbe.


It's notable that "I'll go crazy..." is one of the only songs off the most recent album they played, and thank god for that. Every so often U2 puts out a crap album. Given that they've put out so many good albums (Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All that you cant leave behind, How to Dismantle an atomic bomb) I forgive them.

In one of the visual highlights of the night, Bono wore some crazy laser jacket and was swinging from a suspended microphone during the batman soundtrack song "Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me." Not such a huge fan of the song, but all the lights were pretty cool. I shot a video, but sadly I was trying to shoot with my other camera at the same time, so its a bit off.



For me the best part of the show was the encore during which they played "One" and "Where the streets have no name" two of my favorite songs. It was the perfect culmination to an excellent evening. With that, I will leave you with a few more photos.








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This is a complete side note, but Bono has definitely put on a few Katie Courics. Feel free to watch that later if you haven't. Don't know if its from the backiotomy Bono had a while back or the fact that U2 has been in existence longer than I have.

Bon Iver (Self Titled)

So this review started as a conversation with a co-worker about the new Bon Iver Album. She was kind enough to inform me it's up on NPR (pre-release) so check it out. After a first listen, I can say I am disappointed. Everything I like about Bon Iver's first album is gone. This should have been my first clue.

When listening to songs like "Calgary" and "Hinnom, TX" the phrases "overproduced" and "disappeared up his own..." come to mind. Really it's just too much synth and not enough of that underwater warm acoustic sound that permeated the first album. Apparently no one told Vernon that Beirut has the market cornered for non-guitar indy albums.

To be fair (and less snarky), my issue is I had a grand vision of where the guy was going and he totally went the other way. When I heard the first album and follow up EP, I thought “give it bit more percussion and do a few more up tempo songs to mix with some of the slow and this guy is gonna have it.” Sadly Vernon instead decided to create an electronic soundscape background album.

Don’t get me wrong, I sorta like the new album, and I completely respect artist that venture in new directions, I am just expressing my disappointment for what could have been. It’s like going to Paris and ordering “un sandwiche avec beaucoup de jambon et une tasse de vin” and getting grilled cheese with a coke... You’re still in Paris, right?

I tried for a while to find songs that I like on the new album. I did so because I want to talk positively about this guy because of how good his first album is. There are bits of "Minnisota, WI" that I dig, namely the arpeggiated guitar sounds (ahem... stereo hp eargasm), but I can't get past the horns and Phoneix style synths. "Towers" is also kind of cool, but the slide guitars and country drum beats feel out of place with the rest of the album.

Truth be told, none of the songs are terrible, and I will probably still buy the album. I just hope that album three will be more too my liking. BTW if you don't have anything from Bon Iver, start with "For Emma, Forever Ago." It's one of my favorites.

As an interesting post-script, I did not read the NPR review until after finishing my own, and find it interesting that we both called the guy out for that odd performance on Jimmy Fallon...

Noah and the Whale

Got Noah and the Whale's first album recently. This band appears to be evolving into another Death Cab knockoff, so I carefully selected "Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down" as my starting sample point.

This is one of the better structured albums I have run into in a while. Ebbs and flows quite nicely. Not perfect (gets a bit squirrely at the end), but still pretty good. As far as I am concerned, the best album rather than collection of song's is Badly Drawn Boy's - Hour of Bewilderbeast.

The first few tracks are so upbeat they just make you happy to be alive. Don't get me wrong, the subject matter might not be the happiest, but sometimes its just a feel... The video for Shape of My Heart says it all:



This track has heavy Beatles circa Sgt Pepper's overtones but keeps enough of a respectful distance to call it their own. Two Atoms in a Molecule reminds me (strangely) of Neutral Milk Hotel's "King of Carrot Flowers pt 1," but they are nothing alike. I also dig "Rocks and Daggers" for its country shuffle beats and backing vocals.

Speaking of which, I absolutely love Laura Marling's voice. She should be more prominently used or do her own stuff... Oh wait... She does. Disappointingly though, her most recent album sounds like Mumford and Sons (she was apparently dating the singer from this band for a while). Don't get me wrong, Mumford is a band I like, I just liked them better when they were Mumford and Sons. Give her time, she's young... eventually she'll find her own sound... but I digress...

The track on this album that really hit it for them is 5 years time. It's a pretty catchy poppy track so I can see why it got them noticed. Fun Wes Anderson style vid too... Although if you listen to the words, its almost sugary enough to give a man diabetes.

If I were looking for something new I would definately pick up this album.