What I’m Listening To, Volume 697. (TV on the Radio, The Hold Steady reviews)

ANOTHER music review post Taylor, really?

Look, this is my blog, and I WILL DO AS I PLEASE.

Nine Types of Light – TV on the Radio

Alright, Alright, so it took me a few months to fully listen to this CD. But I finally got a chance to on my drive home from CoMo to NoVa (that’s Columbia, Missouri to Northern Virginia for you uninformed, uncool folks out there).

I’ve always had trouble truly listening to a TV on the Radio CD over and over. They’re… unique. They’re… weird. And sometimes Tunde Adebimpe’s high pitched singing gets to me after, say, track 11.

That said, their older albums are good. Dear Science is a fun as hell CD, especially “DLZ”, “Make Love All Night Long” and “Crying.” I never really got into Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, but I did love “Staring at the Sun” [I know, how mainstream of me - gimme a break, my favorite band is Dave Matthews Band].

Nine Types of Light, though, may be the most digestible of all of the TVOTR albums. “Second Song” is a great way to start the album off. “Keep Your Heart” features Adebimpe’s deeper, much slower voice for much of the song, which I’m less of a fan of. “You” is all right. It’s definitely got cool instrumentals (as most TVOTR songs do).

“No Future Shock” is another one of my favorites. This song goes from 0 to 60 pretty slowly, but once it gets going it doesn’t let go. Well, that is, until the next song starts.

“Killer Crane” is a nice cool down after “No Future Shock.”

“Will Do” is also a good song. It’s not as crazy as “No Future Shock,” but not as low key as “Killer Crane.” “Will Do” also has this gem:

“Oh my reddest rose, caldera, set it off
How your fire grows hermosa caldera glistening
Through your fussed blows careen your caldera set it off
As your body flows the second hand flashes passes
Over your skin like time”

Interpret those for yourself, but the way Adebimpe sings it sounds fun. And it stays stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

“New Cannonball Blues” will put your subwoofer or your way-too-expensive Bose Quiet Comfort’s (or your Dr. Dre Beats…) to good use. And it’s also a ton of fun to listen to.

“Repetition” – YES! Blast this in your car while driving down the highway. “Caffeinated Consciousness” too.

And despite how [I assume] some TVOTR diehards feel, I love the addition of the two remixes at the end of the [deluxe version of ] the album. They’re fun.

With other TV on the Radio albums, listening to the whole album straight through would make you feel like you’ve just been put in a very loud, jumbled, blender with 14 different genres of music. Who knows, maybe that was TV on the Radio’s point. But this one, I don’t get that feeling. Much less TV on the Radio post-listening fatigue.

Or maybe I’m just not cool enough. Either way, this album has a ton of fun tracks, and is worth a download. Also, if you’re not so sure about TV on the Radio, this may just be the album to start with, before moving on to the others.

Favorite tracks: No Future Shock, New Cannonball Blues, Second Song, Will Do, Repetition, Caffeinated Consciousness

Stay Positive – The Hold Steady

So, now this seems like a trend. I’m reviewing a bunch of old albums! Well, look, I was in New Zealand, and… I was too busy to listen to music…. because I was skydiving, bungee jumping, and soaking in all the beauty of “Aotearoa”  (shameless bragging).

In all reality, it seemed half of my friends (I only have like 5) were listening to The Hold Steady everyday. And I just couldn’t get into them. Until finally I decided to sit down and listen to “Stay Positive” from track 1 to 11. It’s news to me, but that album came out in 2008! They have a newer album, Heaven is Whenever, which I haven’t fully digested.

But of all their albums, Stay Positive is what grabbed my attention. The Hold Steady are known for their storytelling lyrics, and, well, it seems from a closer look at their lyrics, there are a ton of references to classic rock. Wikipedia seems to agree with that quick synopsis.

I won’t pretend to understand what each one of the songs means; I’ll leave that to Hold Steady diehards. I’m sure they discuss it on forums somewhere out there on the interwebz. Sometimes it’s blatently clear. Other times I’m very confused.

Truth be told, I think some of their other albums are pretty meh. Way too much [lead singer] Craig Finn just talking into the microphone for me.

But enough about all that.

This album rocks. From the first track to the last, it rocks. With all the “alt nation” and “indie” out there, it seems like The Hold Steady are a return to something more classic, more traditional, even… just maybe… more basic. Even with Craig Finn’s strange voice (it suits the band’s style well). Granted, I think most people consider them “indie.” Then again, I’d definitely put them in the “heartland rock” genre, with guys like Tom Petty, Springsteen, etc. But all these genres blend together, and a discussion of them is pretty silly anyways. Anyways, they definitely have strands of Petty and Springsteen.

They also remind me just a little of a more fun, happier, version of The Counting Crows at times. There’s a touch of southern rock in their music for sure.

As Finn says in the opening lines of the first song “Constructive Summer”, “our songs are sing-along songs.” Yes they are!

I’m not even going to tell you what songs are better than others. They’re all freaking good, and you just have to listen to the whole album all the way through. Ok, fine, I’ll give you a few favorites: Joke About Jamaica, Navy Sheets, Magazines, Stay Positive, Lord I’m Discouraged.

Well, that’s all I got for you now. Merry Christmas Eve!

P.S. I just returned from Jamaica, and while “Joke About Jamaica” is probably my favorite track on this album… there isn’t much about Jamaica.

Although… take a closer look at the lyrics:

“They used to think it was so cute
When she said “Dyer Maker”
All the boys knew it was a joke about Jamaica
She’d always find a ride back home from the bar”

I do know [which means I JUST googled it] “Dyer Maker” is a Led Zepplin song, and that song was meant to imitate reggae and dub that was coming out of Jamaica in the 70s. BOOM. Connection. But that’s about as far as the connection goes.

Since I usually give some other albums for folks to listen to, here it goes: El Camino – The Black Keys (this is a no brainer). I finally downloaded Bombay Bicycle Club‘s latest album, A Different Kind of Fix. Also recently downloaded former Oasis vocalist Noel Gallagher’s new album.

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