I know not enough music gets reviewed for this site. The problem is so many music is dropped every week. (The same is true for books, but with books even more.) And for what ever reason we have been trained as consumers to buy the new thing right when it comes out. (I am a little dishonest there. I know the reason. The reason is just a long rant of a post…another time perhaps. Books thankfully are immune to this. Unless you really love the author/series.) Theoretically the reviewers of whatever media do this early critical reason to steer those reading the review to steer clear of the coals, and find the diamonds.
The problem is the sheer amount of material available within the media. We then have to commit an X amount of time to getting to the durability of the material under review. Durability here means two things. One is likability, and Secondly worth. As in both money, time, and memories. This is compounded by the fact that we here at the site are putting our own resources in getting the latest game, book, and/or compact disc. (etc) This is different then other sites, where they have people sending them gratis stuff for reviews. Those sites may get send something they have never totally encountered before…and viably unmolested with preconceived notions. They are unobjectionable. (So far we are only have that with the movie reviews.)
I guess they are others ways to look at gratis relationship. In order to keep getting the goods, you have to give a good review. That is neither here nor there. That is not the point here.
The point is anything reviewed here started as an interest in the reviewer. I already had to purchase or get from the library the said medium. I already have some idea of the material. I am “biased.” So the point of all this is to put up front some biases about the music I like.
I like good music, but that is some kind of temporal paradox waiting to happen. I like my guitars scuzzy or shoe glazed with different time changes or signatures. I like dual singers, but in general I don’t like female singers (unless they are in the dual singer situation.) Guys with acoustic guitars bore me. The stuff has been down to death. I like multiple instruments going on. I like my singers to have an unusual voice, and not what is considered good. If you can sing on American Idol, then I probably don’t like your voice. Now if you sing to high, lisp, faltering, soaked in whiskey…well meet my new favorite artist. If it is a classic…it is better than you think. I had to learn this the hard way. Yes, there are overrated songs or artists, but the truth is there are more underrated than overrated. The exception to this is U2. They are still barfy. (I don’t care if barfy is not a real word. It should be.) If you rap, don’t produce boring beats or flat hooks. You know the type, pre-manufactured disposable crap for the clubs. It will be huge for a month, then gone forever. Unless it gets huge in the gay community, where the kitsch factor is high. I like your rhymes to flow as if you read a thesaurus right before breakfast. As a rapper I probably prefer you if your on the west coast. I don’t know why that is, but it just happens. This is by no means a complete list, but if you like some of the adjectives listed on this declaration speak to you…please read on.
I LOVE Broken Social Scene (BSS). “You Forgot It People” is one of the best albums. Not in 2004, but ever recorded. It is one of my favorite albums. I really want to hone in on the word “album.” A word, which aside from some independent labels (Saddle Creek comes to mind.) that is largely meaningless. Technically a collection of songs…great albums are rarely produced today. I guess some explanations are in order. A great album is this: there is no one track or part of a track you will skip over. Not a one. So if you make a skit on your album…probably screwed. If you make an annoying intro….probably screwed. If you make a seven minute flat feedback…probably screwed. If you create an annoying instrumental going no where…probably screwed. If you have midgets getting castrated at a county fair…probably golden.
That said the BSS collective’s follow up was not a great album. It was good, perhaps better in the sense they had grown as musicians. Whatever the case their eponymous follow up was not a great album…it tried to be. I think the problem was too many ideas from away from them in all directions at the same time. It also has one of my favorite songs of all time. “It’s All Gonna Break.” A 10 minute proclamation of shit happens…get over it. Well that is my interpretation of it.
As stated previously BSS is a collective. They have some more famous members like Feist, and Emily Haines from Metric. (I have a crush on Emily Haines.) They have their other bands and contribute to some tracks. Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning are the guiding force. In fact they are the founding members. The more anonymous co-founding members decided to take a break from BSS to make solo albums I was crestfallen. Solo albums from successful groups are almost always uniformly bad, while side projects are about fifty fifty. To be honest I was picturing (or is this downloading?) song with a guy holding an acoustic guitar. Gross!
I am happy to state that Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew is just a really long way of saying this is BSS with Kevin Drew singing lead vocals. I hope that means Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning is just a really long way of saying this is BSS with Brendan Canning singing lead vocals. Because “Spirit if…” is Broken Social Scene album. It has other members of the collective, including Brendan Canning, and Feist. It also has members of Dinosaur Jr. playing on a song that sounds like a long lost song from Dinosaur Jr.
It is an album. It picks up where sonically where “It’s All Gonna Break” ends…chaos that builds into melody. It has scuzzy guitars with shoe glaze thrown in. The guitars swirl with each other. What a surprise. Broken Social Scene always sounded like taking the best bits of underground or independent rock, thrown in to a blender. Blended. Then served. This is no discouraging remark. It is a compliment.
Kevin Drew sings in a voice that sounds like too many cigarettes almost giving out. A little whispering with some smoky harshness hidden in there. The songs themselves are little confessionals of some alcohol fueled weekend, either that or child like epiphanies of the universe. You know almost the same thing. There are multiple instruments balancing each other out. It sounds fragile, but doesn’t rock out.
I have yet to fast forward the tracks while they keep playing in my Itunes. It may be too early to tell, but…
It could be the first great album of the year.
Buy…download…get “Spirit If…” You will not regret it.
Of course I could get be biased.
