Ratatat - LP3: No matter how many times I listen to Ratatat, I always expect their stuff to sound just like the opening track "Seventeen Years" to their first, self-titled, album. This really isn't fair to them, since their sound is anything but repetitious. Still, with this expectation in mind, my listening sessions with Ratatat always start with a sort of disappointment due to my unmet expectations. This disappointment is always soon replaced with a genuine sense of excitement and wonder, however, as I soon forget everything I remembered about Ratatat (i.e. "Seventeen Years").The first big change from their previous style that hits you in LP3 is without a doubt their use of live percussion. Though I was a bit apprehensive of this move during the first few tracks, it really was a wise move by the band; moving their sound away from a two-dimensional, pseudo-badass-tetris-sountrack sound to a much more rich and immersive listening experience. After all, the true appeal of listening to Ratatat is listening to the movement of all the different layers of sound; so the more unique each layer is, the better.
3.5/5
the Hold Steady - Stay Positive: It's a habit of mine to never listen to pre-released singles before an album that I'm excited for comes out. So, with absolutely nothing to base my own opinion on and the bad reviews of "Sequestered in Memphis" coming from my friends, I started my first listen of Stay Positive with a certain degree of fear. That fear, however, was also countered by the inherent fondness I have for Craig Finn and the Hold Steady.
You see, I had first been introduced to the Hold Steady by a close friend and fellow DJ during my second year at WDUB in Granville, OH. Since my first listen, I became infatuated with their full musical catalog. Though I worked my way backwards through their musical career - starting with Boys and Girls in America, then Separation Sunday, then Almost Killed Me - it almost seemed to me as though these albums were speaking to the exact point in my life I found them during. You know, minus the waking up from a blackout night in a confessional booth part. This seemed to culminate with my last-minute decision to use Killer Parties of Almost Killed me, a favorite live closer for the Hold Steady, from what I've seen, as the final song of my final show at WDUB (and believe me when I tell you that the decision of what your final song will be is one that all DJs at the station heavily contemplate from the moment they get their own show).
Anyway, the point I'm trying to get at here (and I swear to god, there is one) is that my investment in this album was in part because I felt it might echo the things to come in my new post-graduate life. I needed this album to be good.
The album opens with "Constructive Summer," a fuck-all anthem about the irresponsibility of summer friendships, and immediately restores my faith in the potential of Finn's simple-yet-epic songwriting style. Though the album does hit a snag early on with "Sequestered in Memphis" (which, to put it bluntly, sounds forced and devoid of the emotional backbone present in their other songs), it quickly comes back with combination of powerful instrumentals, heartfelt vocals, and some good ol' fashioned harpsichord.
Perfectly embodied in the titular track, Stay Positive isn't simply a look ahead for the Hold Steady, it's also a pause to look back and stand in awe of life's possibilities. In the end, though, Stay Positive is the Hold Steady's look towards the future, and the future's looking very good.
4/5
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges: Though I try to avoid getting any information about new albums before I listen to them, it was impossible to escape the hype surrounding Evil Urges. With the music community unified in their love for this new album, I could not help but get both excited and cautious all at the same time. All too often, I've heard rave reviews of albums which turn out to make me want to go skydiving with a parachute pack manufactured by ACME a la Wile E. Coyote.Anyway, apprehensions aside, Evil Urges does not disappoint. Like a truly great album, it makes me want to listen to it end-to-end, listen to it again, go back and listen to all of their previous albums, then listen to it one more time. I wouldn't go as far as to hail this as the album of the year just yet, but get back to me come December.
4.5/5
