Underneath the Pine is an interesting experiment, but fails to live up to its predecessor

I was having a chat with my buddy the other day, and he introduced me to Toro Y Moi, the latest trailblazers in a type of music known as chillwave.

What is chillwave, you ask? Good question. I think the best way to explain it is like this: picture this scene.

It's Friday night, and you're in the car cruising down past all the hip clubs and bars with your buddies trying to find some place to land on, but everything looks so totally awesome you just can't decide.

You need a super cool soundtrack for this situation, right? I mean, every generation has had their music for this type of setting. If you were growing up in the 70s, it might be the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. If it's the early 90s, you might be jamming to Haddaway's "What is Love?"

But if we're talking present day, my friend, then you might very well be listening to Toro y Moi's Underneath the Pine.

Toro Y Moi, also known as Chazwick Bundick, generated waves last year with his debut, Causers of This. The spaced out electronic record received a groundswell of positive review and even garnered whispers of album of the year in some circles.

Does Underneath the Pine live up to those lofty standards? It won't take long to notice this record is a little different. The sound presented here is, generally, a very mellow and laid back sound. Each track is awash in a variety of electronic and synthesizer effects.

But don't make the mistake of thinking this is dance music or anything, it's more like chillout music. It's the perfect thing to put on as background music when you're hanging out with your buddies having a few beers, or driving down the road at night. Through it all, Bundick's vocals hazily drift through the mix. It even sounds a little stonerish at times.

My take on this record: I admire it for its aesthetic and I'd recommend you to give it a listen. You probably haven't heard much that's similar to Toro Y Moi, unless of course you've been listening to other bands within the same scene.The closest comparinson would be to imagine Jamiroqui combined with smooth electronica.

I don't think Underneath the Pine is that great of a record in and of itself, but I respect the idea behind it. I think it could provide the blueprint for much greater musical works that come along in the future. Or maybe it will prove to be nothing more than a slightly wigged out electronic record. But it's still worth giving it a listen, if for nothing else than to experience the vibe.

Score: 75/100

King of Limbs highlights Radiohead's artistic side

Genre: Electronic Rock
XL/TBD
Running Time: 38:08

Following the release of Hail to the Thief in 2003, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke famously prognosticated that the band would take an extended hiatus, then reemerge totally unrecognizable.

Nearly eight years have passed since then, and Yorke's prediction has been mostly accurate.  

In Rainbows represented a sonic step away from the Kid A/Amnesiac/Hail to the Thief arc. For those hoping for a return to those days, don't expect to be obliged by King of Limbs. I've heard some people compare this album to their Kid A days, but I don't see that.

My initial instinct is to say that King of Limbs bears some similarity to In Rainbows; the band has managed to  blend the sound of their instruments so well with the electronic elements of their music that it's tough to discern what's a live instrument and what's electronic.

In Rainbows was a pensive, emotional record, but that wouldn't be an accurate way to describe its successor. If I had to describe King of Limbs in a word, it would be hypnotic. It's not necessarily psychedelic, but it contains some hints of that.

I've heard comparisons to Animal Collective and I don't think that's really accurate but I can see it a little bit.With The King of Limbs, Radiohead has once again made something that sounds totally different from what they've done previously but it holds its own when stacked up against their back catalog.

One of the most striking aspects most Radiohead records is how they're able to set the mood for an album almost instantly after you hit play. Within the first 10 seconds of the opening track, expectations are forged or crushed. Here, you get Bloom, which sets the mood with its slightly psychedelic electronic intro.

But for a band that's well known for having stellar album openers, I can't help but feel that Bloom falls a bit short of the mark. Yorke's vocal sounds a bit flat, almost like he's just going through the motions. I think that most listeners will find Bloom to be one of the more abstract and experimental tracks to be found on King of Limbs.

Some of the effects sound like they could have been pulled right off Sufjan Stevens' Age of Adz album. Not a bad track, but it took some time to grow on me.

Bloom segues perfectly into Good Morning Mr. Magpie, and if you're not paying attention it may sound exactly like the the song before it. The vocals are still a little flat, but the instrumentation is more interesting than in Bloom.

That leads into Little By Little, the first track on the album that really grabbed me from the get-go. The guitar work provides something rarely heard in a Radiohead song - a real sense of groove. That earns it bunches of brownie points in my book. And it sounds as though Yorke has finally had his coffee, as he comes alive on the first time on this album to show great range and emotion in his voice.

Feral is a bit unique. There are no actually articulated lyrics, just formless, misshapen moans that drift through the eerie ethereal fog that is the backing music. It's powered by an ominous buzzing bassline and other creepy electronic effects. This song makes me feel like there's something stalking me in the shadows, but I don't quite know what it is.

Louts Flower is easily my favorite off King of Limbs. The drums and bass work together perfectly to create a serene and enlightened listening experience. Yorke also takes the opportunity to show off the depth and dynamism of his range. Lotus Flower is entrancing, captivating and magnificent.

From this point the pace of the album begins to seriously mellow out and slow down the pace. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I personally lose a little bit of interest at this point.

Codex is the token non-experimental song, as it features just Yorke's vocal and a piano. It's nice, reminds me a little of Motion Picture Soundtrack, but not as emotional or as brilliant.

Give up the Ghost presents an interesting proposition. Radiohead has been a band often known putting a lot of emotion in their work, but that doesn't really show so much on this album until you get to this track. It's a heartfelt emotional ballad in which Yorke begs for the pain to stop.

The effects applied to the backing vocals sound similar to the distortion used on the vocals for You and Whose Army from the Amnesiac album. Not my favorite song on the disc, but one I've grown to appreciate.

All that's left after that is Separator, which I'm not really a big fan of. Most Radiohead closers are usually pretty emotional pieces but this one is not so much. It's just rather bland, and the looping drum pattern is just annoying.

So once again Radiohead has managed to make a solid record and do something different from their previous works, though I can't help but mentally group it in the same general family with In Rainbows. It may not ever be a serious contender for the title of best Radiohead album, and may even come across as slightly obtuse at certain points.

But give it time. It took a little while to grow on me, but I can now safely say it's moving up the ranks of my favorite Radiohead LPs.

Score: 80/100

Iron & Wine shows off sense of groove with Kiss Each Other Clean

Genre: Folk/Alternative
Warner Bros.
Running Time: 44:06

Nearing the end of February, we find ourselves at a bit of a crossroads.

January seemed to be a month of change; several artists, including Cage the Elephant and The Decemberists, released records that were significantly different to their previous albums, while the month of March is filled to the brim with exciting and noteworty releases.

February, on the other hand, was mostly devoid of anything I care about, for the most part. Radiohead put out another buzzworthy release, as they often tend to do, but with not much on the horizon it seems like an opportune time to review a favorite recent release of mine that I haven't had time to get around to lately.

Samuel Beam of Iron & Wine has long been known as a guru of folk music, but Kiss Each Other Clean sees the singer/songwriter attempting to expand his palette a bit. There's a distinctly less folk/acoustic feel on this album, and going in I suppose that's what I was expecting. You know, something along the lines of Bright Eyes.

But Beam has often incorporated more of an urban/groove type influence into his tunes, and nothing makes that more evident than Kiss Each Other Clean. The opener, "Walking Far From Home" threw me for a loop right away with the distorted vocal in the opening.

If cuts like "The Trapeze Swinger" and "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" were designed to make your girl get all weepy and starry eyed, many of the offerings found here are crafted to make her get down and shake her booty.

Just listen to the funky horn part on "Big Burned Hand" and tell me you don't want to get down. But fans of earlier Iron & Wine releases will still find much to like here. The album still contains Beam's fantastic sense of songwriting, which includes great lyrics.

"Tree by the River" seems Beam reminiscing to an earlier time with an earlier love, something that many people can easily relate to. However, most of his lyrics don't really focus on anything concrete; they're based more upon creating a dazzling sense of imagery.

Vocal wise, Beam has always had a tenderness to his voice that I've always found to be one of the main appeals of Iron & Wine, and that is still present here. I suppose the main reason why I like this album is because of the great sense of melody combined with clever and intelligent lyricism.  

Kiss Each Other Clean does have more of an alternative/groove type feel than maybe some of his previous works, but Iron & Wine fans can rejoice that Beam is still putting out the type of music we have all grown to know and love.

Score: 85/100

Decemberists' latest offers vibrant selection of indie country/folk

Genre: Indie Folk
Capitol
Running Time: 40:42

So I haven't been writing much on here lately cause I been so damn sick. If there's anything I hate, its something that bars the way to forward progress.

Which explains why I've been so grumpy lately. But enough of that. For now, I have to present to you the first ass kicking record I've heard in 2011.

Or to put it more accurately, it's a great record on a initial listen, but it has one fatal flaw: the more you hear it, the more stale it becomes. The record I'm speaking of is The Decemberists latest, The King is Dead. My initial reaction to melodies on this disc was akin to your first experiences with a new sweetheart feelings of excitement and passion gripped me.

The first track, "Don't Carry it All," had me instantly hooked, so much so that it was a couple days before I could get past that track to listen to the rest of the album. When I did, I found that The King is Dead is an album that lives up to its billing - it's a folk/pop album with a definitely poppy sound that is much simpler and down to earth than what we've heard previously from the Oregon folksters.

Their previous album, 2009's Hazards of Love, was a slightly overwrought concept album that followed a love affair based in colonial America. The Decemberists had risen to fame as a folk outfit with decided Neutral Milk Hotel influences. They took their act to the major labels for the first time in 2006, releasing The Crane Wife on Capital Records.  

The Hazards of Love was notable for introducing more of a heavy rock driven sound into the band's repertoire. That rock sound is gone on The King is Dead, but the mixture of the folk sound with country is so alluring that you won't miss it.  

The King is Dead greatly simplifies the formula from the previous albums, a move that I think works well. The Decemberists are seen mostly as a folk band, but most of the songs here have a decided pop influence that will have you stomping your foot and singing along.

Nothing makes this more clear than the opener, "Don't Carry It All" with it's lazy and easy-going melody that's catchy and infectious. And there's a wide variety of instruments used to create the country sound, including banjos, fiddles, pump organs, harmonicas, and bouzoukis.

Then, there is of course the vocals delivered by Colin Meloy, who sounds just as comfortable doing straight up folk as he does with a mixture of pop, country and folk. His easy melodies are instantly recognizable and are simple to pick up.

However, if you a fan of the female lead vocalists on The Hazards of Love, as I was, you may be disappointed to learn that you won't hear any of that here. The only female vocals you'll hear here are that of Gillian Welch, who contributes backup vocals to the album.

"Down by the Water" is easily one of the standout tracks with its driving groove, while "This Is Why We Fight" is a war story fueled by a propulsive bassline. "All Arise" is a nice folksy romp, while "Rox in the Box" perhaps has the most pertinent lyrics:

"Of dirt you're made and dirt you will return
So while we're living here
Let's get this little one thing clear
There's plenty of men to die; you don't jump your turn"

Then of course you have the June and January Hymns, which are more like traditional folk songs with less pop influence. The Decemberists have produced a traditional, folky sounding album that expands their cupboard of influences while still maintaining their core identity.

I come away with the feeling that the album is a bit top heavy. Songs like "Don't Carry It All," "Down by the Water," and "Rox in the Box" make me want to sing this album's praises, but then you hit songs like "Rise to Me," "June Hymn," and "Dear Avery" which don't ring through quite as clearly when compared to the album's upper tier material.

Another issue is that the melodies, with all their confection and sugariness, tend to get old after awhile. At some points I would almost go as far to say that it begins to seem synthetic. This album did hit #1 on Billboard - there's a reason for that.

Indeed, there were times in which I thought my romance with the album was growing stale, and might soon be at an end. But for all it's little kicks and imperfections, The King is Dead is an album still worthy of delivering a rollicking good time, which may be exactly the thing you're looking for to kick off the new year in music.

Score: 83/100

More to Nappy Roots concert than meets the eye

Hip-hop was in a state of transition in the early part of the 2000s. The gangsta rap of the 90s was ready to die, and what it gave way to was in many ways completely horrible and disgusting. Around that time, Southern rap started to get big, and it produced a lot of what I would put into that horrible and disgusting category.

But I did become a big fan of Nelly and by extension, the St. Lunatics (okay, so technically, I guess Nelly is midwest/St. Louie rap, but same difference). Ludacris started getting big around the time I started losing interest in the scene, and of course you would have T.I. later.

Nappy Roots left the crowd wanting more at Gilligan's in Murfreesboro.

But a group everyone forgets about is Nappy Roots. They hit it big with that song "Awnaw" and at the time I absolutely hated that song. But over time my mood would change. I'm not sure if hearing their song played over and over on Madden 03 had anything to do with it, but eventually I came around to Nappy Roots.

So when I heard they were playing at Gilligan's in Murfreesboro, I just had to make the trip. On January 21 I arrived there with my lady, not quite sure what to expect but hoping for the best. What we got was certainly not that.

To illustrate why, I have to tell you a little about the venue. Until recently, Gilligan's was known as 527, and every time I'd been there it seemed like a down to earth, no nonsense music venue. Sure, there were people there to have a good time, but it was also a great place to just catch some bands.

Gilligan's appears to be aiming for a different clientele altogether. As soon as I stepped in the door, all I could see was an army of wannabe frat boy douchebags outfitted in conformist plaid shirts and drunk bitches stumbling over the table we were seated at.

Great. I'm surrounded by the stereotypical frat/sorority college crowd, but now I feel even more out of place Laser lights washed over the joint. Yup, the venue I once knew and loved had gone from being a indie music focused venue to a generic club.

However, I was determined to make the best of the evening as I could. The first performer was This Is Art, a DJ who played a bass guitar on stage. I liked how you could feel the music as he plucked the strings of his bass.

For an opening act, I figured he would get about 20 or 30 minutes. I was wrong.

This Is Art played for close to an hour and half. I know some people would be fine with seeing a DJ play that long, but an hour and a half is absurd for an opening act. Maybe he wasn't meant as an opening act. I couildn't find much info beforehand regarding the show or the venue, so I had no way to figure out what to expect. I was digging him at first, but halfway through his set I was beyond sick of seeing him.

I was hoping to get to see Nappy Roots once he finished, but no. After he left, he gave way to another lame ass DJ, even lamer than the one before him. With a name like Wick-It the Instigator, you can tell he's going to be annoying as all fuck. He stepped on stage shouting a string of profanities for no apparent reason. I guess he was trying to get the drunkest of the drunk into it.

I was sick and tired of the DJs. All I wanted to see was Nappy Roots. I was not getting my wish. Musically, this DJ seemed like he was into sampling a little bit more than the guy before him. I heard the Big Tymers "Still Fly," followed by a quick Ludacris sample. At this point what I was thinking was: if he breaks out the Lil' John, I swear to God, I'm going to snap this guy's turntables in half.

One thing he did toward the end of his set that I liked was that he played an electronic-ized riff of Metallica's "Seek and Destroy," and would then sample the guitar riff from the acutal song alongside it.

By this point I was not enjoying myself at all. And I was getting pissed how each performer kept hyping Nappy Roots. It went like this:

Lame ass DJ: Are you ready for some Nappy motherfucking Roots?
Everyone: Hell yeah!

An hour later. Still no Nappy Roots.

After the Wick-It guy, a rapper/emcee named LAWS came up.. He wasn't bad, and was certainly a welcome change from 2 1/2 hours of  DJs. Flow wise, he wasn't bad but he wasn't the greatest either. What I wasn't fond of was that he kept spouting the line, "When I say 'love,' you say 'hip-hop!'"

"Love!"
"Hip-hop!"

"Love!"
"Hip-hop!"

Sorry, but the whole gag of "When I say [insert word here], you say [insert word]" is one of the most cliched gimmicks in the book. Show me some originality.

Finally, more than three hours after the show first started, Nappy Roots finally took the stage. I didn't get to see much of them because it was after midnight when they went on and we had an hour drive back home.

But there's no denying their awesomeness.

At this point, the entire place was totally packed and rocking. There were probably 500 people in the entire joint. Each of the guys had great stage presence, and really knew how to speak to a crowd.

Musically, much of their material was really hooky, whchi was great for getting the audience pumped. Then they would complement that by having one of their guys take center stage and just spit. This worked to perfection on "Po' Folks" which was pretty much the highlight of my night. The guys all seemed like solid emcees and rappers as well.

So, in retrospect, Nappy Roots was pretty awesome. The rest of the night was total balls, that even 20 minutes of Nappy Roots couldn't entirely make up for. Three hours is entirely too long to have to wait for a headlining act, and when I go to see rap, I'm not there to try to see a bunch of DJs.

Sorry, but it's just not really my thing. I thought Nappy Roots was great, but I wish there could have been a little better distribution on info on the part of the venue or the concert staff.

M.I.A. makes a stand with Vicki Leekx

Genre: Electronic
Self-released
Running Time: 36:09

Somebody tell me quick, how do you resurrect a career? It's not an enviable position for any type of entertainment star to be in, but Maya Arulpragasam may have rebounded about as well as anyone could have imagined.

Her previous album, Maya, (I'm tired of typing it out with the slashes, so expect to see me refer to it as just Maya). Arulpragasam rose to acclaim on the back of her first two albums, which showcased an ecletic mix of techno and hip hop with tribal influences mixed in.  

Maya ruffled some feathers, though, by ditching that approach in favor of an album that featured heavy motifs from the Internet, the information age, and the digital highway. Nothing made that more apparent than the Youtube menus splattered all over the cover of the album (which was horribly ugly, by the way).

Musically, the album was heavy on electronics on light on almost everything else, with Arulpragasam reaching for delusions of grounder as she labeled herself as some type of online political firebrand.

So to try to salvage her image, Maya has decided to do - what else? Release a mixtape. Because there's nothing like free music to help reinvigorate your fan base. It also doesn't hurt that the mixtape itself is decently impressive in its own right.

M.I.A.'s Vicki Leekx mixtape, released online on New Year's Eve, continues in the electronic/digital theme of Maya, but things have changed. For one, Maya seems to have recaptured the charm that was so glaringly absent on her previous full-length.

She got rid of most of the vocal distortions and let her girly Britishy accent shine through. For once, her voice actually work well with her techno/digital age theme.

Lyrically, you can expect to hear Maya discussing police raids, controversial blog posts, and even making references to Wikileaks . The mixtape consists of a single 36 minute track, which makes it a bit cumbersome. I'm not a fan of the mixtape in its entirety but two cuts I was particularly drawn to were "Gen -N-E-Y" and "Bad Girls."

Ultimately, the significance of Vicki Leekx is that it proves that Maya's techno/digital sound can work. It's not up there with Kala or Arular, but it shows that there's still reason to have a little faith in Ms. Arulpragasam.

ALSO SEE: M.I.A. is missing in action on latest effort

The Elephant comes uncaged - and unhinged - on sophmore effort

Genre: Rock
Jive - R.E.D.
Running Time: 45:07

No matter where you go, you can always find a band vying for mass stardom. Any dance club, bar or grungy music venue is brimming with them every weekend. But there is key question every one of these bands may have to face.

Once you finally release that breaktrhough album that brings in all the mainstream praise and adoration you're seeking, what do you do for an encore? Do you release a clone, or try something totally different? Cage the Elephant made waves with their 2009 eponymous debut, unleashing a sexy, raucous brand of rock and roll that featured strong melodies and a smidge of punk vitality.

Leading the charge was frontman Matt Schultz, who wowed crowds with his high energy and unique vocal delivery not unlike Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother fame. Their followup, Thank You Happy Birthday, however, veers down a markedly different road as the band attempts to diversify its sonic palette.

The good news is that there's definitely more diversity here than there was on the debut. The stable of songs on Thank You Happy Birthday range from steady rockers to softer, mellower pieces, to outright screeching rockers. But it's not evident the quintet from Bowling Green, Ky. have fully mastered all the styles they try to pull off.

One of the highlights from the self titled album was the frenetic guitar playing. Personally, I'm the kind of guy who loves loves great guitar playing, with loud, rip-roaring riffs, which is something I really liked about the first album. But the guitar presence is noticeably much more subdued this time around; it sounds muddled and buried in the mix. I would even go so far as to say the guitar presence on this album is very weak, which is a major turn off for me.

The opening track, "Always Something" makes this as evident as anything - the guitar doesn't even come in until halfway through the song, leaving the drums and bass to carry the song along with Schultz's vocals. The low and rumbling guitar sound found in many of the album's tracks is new territory for Cage the Elephant, and it's a convention I'm not sure I like.

But despite this, the band tries to craft several radio singles to remind fans of the old stuff. "Shake Me Down," "2024," and "Aberdeen" sound like they could fit in on the previous album. Aberdeen, with its catchy and soaring chorus, is an album highlight.

The band also takes a stab at over the top screaming rockers - much to their peril. The guitar sound is muddled, the instrumental compsiton sounds disjointed, and Schultz's screams and shrieks begin to drive tracks like "Sell Yourself" and "Sabertooth Tiger" into histronics. Cage the Elephant masterfully demonstrates that screaming is an art best left to the metal bands.

But there are also some real gems to be found. The acoustic "Rubber Ball" is a delight, and "Right Before My Eyes" is a catchy rock nugget sporting tight drumming and brimming with a sense of energy. The closer, "Flow" also demonstrates the band's newfound gentler side. There's an unplugged version of "Right Before My Eyes" hidden at the end which may be the best thing on the album.

And the band continues to impress lyrically, as many songs are chock full of clever wordplay. "Indy Kidz" is a rant aimed at the proliferation of mass media, while "Sell Yourself" takes aim at greed and corruption. On "Indy Kidz," Schultz snarls:

"I don't watch TV cause it's just a box of lies/
It makes me want to stick a toothpick in my mind"

In all, Thank You Happy Birthday is an album about experimentation for Cage the Elephant. Some of it works out well, most of it not so much. The neutered guitar sound is a disappointment; for an alleged kickass rock and roll band that's a pretty important element to overlook. If there's a sliver lining to that, though, it's that bassist Daniel Tichenor and drummer Jared Champion get a chance to show off their chops. And they don't disappoint.

And the lack of a standout track like "In One Ear" or "No Rest for the Wicked" is also glaring. However, it's encouraging that the guys are willing to try to break new ground. I'd like to see them try to develop some of the motifs they introduced here and see where they can go with it. But I don't think they're quite there just yet.

Score: 60/100