THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void

 DJ Sub Par Says:

Since 2007 album, Wild Mountain Nation, Blitzen Trapper have incurred comparisons. This album is so overstuffed with ideas that that critics tried to explain it by calling it "Grateful Dead meets Pavement", for their sound that veered from loose Americana to crunchy angular guitars. On their more focused follow up, Furr, critics tossed around the Band and 60's era Dylan. On Destroyer of the Void, they come out of the gate with the title track a proggy number, that I'm sure will invite comparisons to a prog-band-I-don't-know very well (maybe ELO?). After the title track and Laughing Lover, proving they are willing to try something new, they settle back into the folk of Furr. Who wouldn't welcome the delightful storytelling of "The Man Who Would Speak True" and "Heaven and Earth"? However, this album feels like a transition between the sound of "Furr" and whatever will come next.

DJ Responsible Says:

I initially thought that Destroyer of the Void was too prog--and the musical comparison I might offer would've been Rush. But on repeat listens, Destroyer doesn't stray too far from Blitzen Trapper's first two albums, instead further revealing the band's strengths and weaknesses. Blitzen Trapper, much like fellow Pacific Northwesterners Fleet Foxes, can knock a ballad out of the park. "The Tree" is gorgeous, both simple and understated, and beautifully sung over a minimal acoustic arrangement. Their 'rockers' are more of a mixed bag: "Destroyer of the Void" ultimately succeeds, but a song like "Evening Star" falls into meddling Fleetwood Mac territory (for however that makes you feel). I still don't think Blitzen Trapper have put together an amazing album-in-full, but they continue to release promising collections with a sprinkling of memorable tracks.

Essential Tracks:

"The Tree (ft. Alela Diane)"

"Heaven and Earth"

WORTH A LISTEN: Dr. Dog - Mirror, Mirror

It's rare that the chorus is my least favorite part of a song, but the calmer repetition of "mirror, mirror" acts as the only stumbling block to an otherwise impressively jubilant effort. Still can't tarnish a great song, which builds towards a manic finish.

QUICK RIFFS: David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - Here Lies Love

Admittedly, I didn't slog my way through both discs of this I-can't-believe-it-exists collaboration, featuring collaborations. But here's what I think of the standouts: they're quite good. "Eleven Days" is sultery post-millenial disco, and the non-David Byrne vocals on "Seven Years" both give me the chills and make me want to take this ridiculous concept album seriously. "American Troglodyte," on the other hand, along with much of the Talking Heads oeuvre (!), feels underproduced and overcooked.

Essential Tracks:

THE iTUNES TOP 100 & THE END OF THE WORLD: Young Money - Steady Mobbin (ft. Gucci Mane)

I like this song. Lil' Wayne has a lot of noticeable lines for a pop song, like tens of good ones betwixt the standard drivel and his amiable giggles. Including: "[y'all] softer than Roseanne's son," "[I'm] givin' the universe my damn tongue," "Fuck wit the money get ugly as coyote," and the politically-ambiguous "I'm the hip hop socialist/Life is a gamble and I'm all about my poker chips."  At the very least, these lines are weird. And with a danceable beat, that's the point.

MIXTAPE CHALLENGE: LCD Soundsystem

In "Mixtape Challenge" my obsessive categorizing and rearranging of music is put to the test.

This challenge is to create a LCD Soundsystem mix in five to nine tracks. All killer, no filler.

DJ Responsible's LCD Soundsystem Mix:

1) You Wanted a Hit
2) All My Friends
3) Dance Yrself Clean
4) Tribulations
5) North American Scum
6) Daft Punk Is Playing at My House
7) All I Want
8) Someone Great
9) Home

DJ Responsible's defense:

LCD Soundsystem are at their best when they are given room to meditate, and, much like their excellent live shows, when they patiently build momentum with the steadfastness of their approach. I almost included the eleven-minute, pummeling "Yeah (Pretentious Version)" for that very reason, as well as the hypnotic "Us v. Them," but these tracks ended up just missing the cut. Not to be overly modest, but my mix perfectly captures LCD's strengths with a sandwich of brilliantly long-winded opening and closing threesomes: the eternal "All My Friends" and "Someone Great" (off Sound of Silver) inter-spliced with the best tracks from This Is Happening, resulting in a time capsule of definitive turn-of-the-decade indie electro-pop. The mid-section, a masterfully tightknit 1-2-3 powerpunch, also manages to incorporate some of James Murphy's best lines ("And for those of you who still think we're from England/We're not, no"). Only missing is LCD's more meandering concoctions ("Losing My Edge," "Pow Pow") and their more alt-type sound ("Drunk Girls," "Watch the Tapes"). Unfortunate but necessary sacrifices, I'll admit.

QUICK RIFFS: Mose Allsion - The Way of the World

If you like jazzy hippies along the lines of Randy Newman meets Bad Plus, this is for you. I remain skeptical.

WORTH A LISTEN: Blitzen Trapper - The Tree (ft. Alela Diane)

A beautiful acoustic guy-gal duet full of natural imagery and elegant twang. "La La  La   La   La   La  La La  La La  La..." Oh, how the Blitzen Trapper can handle some easy listnin'.

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

DJ Responsible Says:

This is Happening is a whirlwind. Every track is restless (some just fidgety, others epileptic). Emotions and insecurities are strewn about. The dance floor is spinning on a miraculous axis. It's a lifetime, albeit a drunken New York lifetime, crammed into a little over an hour.

The coolness isn't the draw, it's the tunes: there's always a new favorite, but you can't go wrong with the splendidly over-the-top synth-and-squeal of opener "Dance Yrself Clean" or the Bowie-esque "All I Want" (or the extended chug of "You Wanted a Hit", or the outer monologue musings of "Pow Pow"--"We have a black president and you do not, so shut up"--goddamn there's a lot to love here).

Best of all might be "Home," which is all shimmery and warm and full of cowbell. The sentiment is all the more pertinent, given James Murphy's desire to quit this whole album, touring thing. You can't blame a man for growing up, at least when he captures it this magnificently.

DJ Sub Par Says:

LCD broke into the conscious of the indie rock scene with the exuberance and humor of "Daft Punk is playing at my house." Since then he has reused his tricks of danceable beats, synthesized squelches, and jokey talking lyrics to similar effect with the previous single like "North American Scum" and now "Drunk Girls." James Murphy makes the most of these elements and seems to be striving to get past his own cool. The half humor of "Drunk Girls" seems to be a way for him to squeeze in a chorus that claims "I believe in waking up together."

Essential Tracks:

"Dance Yrslf Clean"

"All I Want"



"You Wanted a Hit"



"Home"

WHEN TALENT COLLIDES: Phoenix - Fences (Def Starr Remix)

Eight seconds into this song, I realized how ripe "Fences" was for a quality remix. Just rip out all the mid-tempo, between-chorus chugging and let the juiciest segments shine. Def Starr's remix isn't anything too fancy: it work with what works.

WORTH A LISTEN: Apples in Stereo - Dream About the Future

There's a few tracks off Travellers in Space and Time that are Apples in Stereo's most buoyant in years, but the one most begging to accompany an iPod strut is the infectious "Dream About the Future." Sure, it sounds exactly like ELO circa 1985, but this would've definitely made the Best Of.

GREAT COVERS: Bird And The Bee - Heard It On The Radio

I don't know about calling Hall & Oates "Masters" (Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John Oates), but this unabashed, time capsule rendition of the duo's 80's staple "Heard It On The Radio" is bowls of fun.

THE BREAKDOWN (FT. DJ SUB PAR): The National - High Violet

DJ Sub Par Says:

To say an album needs to be listened to over and over to "get it" tends to be an excuse for mediocrity. Often the best music is immediate and gripping. We don't need to ask ourselves, "Do we like this music?" We either we do or don't. Sometimes, however, bands that don't give us immediate thrill still have something of value.
The National consistent create moody guitar driven indie rock and High Velvet is no exception. Occasionally they achieve the emotional power of Arcade Fire or Frightened Rabbit, though pounding drums and jagged guitars, but for the most part they could fall inline with a hundred other indie rock bands. A few extra spins of the National and one of the best aspects of the band emerge: the lyrics. On their last album, Boxer, I had become disinterested until I heard the lyrics of "Green Gloves", where the narrator breaks into his friends house while he's not there and questions how much we really know people. On High Velvet singer Matt Berninger uses images of floods and bee swarms to craft tales of spiritual emptiness and becoming a father.

DJ Responsible Says:
The lyrics are actually the first thing that I noticed about The National; Alligator fit a perfect balance between  Sam Shepard's poetical clarity and Isaac Brock's nervous detachment. Curious psychoanalytical lines like "I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain/It went the dull and wicked ordinary way" swirled alongside anthemic, Americana-capturing classics like "I'm the new blue blood, I'm the great white hope...I won't fuck us over, I'm Mr. November."

High Violet is no Alligator, but I suppose that's not really the point. High Violet is a gentler affair.

The National have obviously grown comfortable in their own skin--too comfortable, I would argue, since much of the album's first half drifts along about as memorably as an afternoon lost. But anything The National releases is still special, and anything Berninger sings is still essential: the album feels destined to be part of a larger narrative we'll one day be proud to have shared at the source. As Berninger might suggest, everything's just a series of moments.

Essential Tracks

"Bloodbuzz Ohio"



Runaway

WORTH A LISTEN: Big Boi - Daddy Fat Sax

The Outkast half that still consistently writes verses drops this horn-heavy jam that makes cool look easy. The deep Southern voice over the chorus and the Milky Way synths justifies lines like "My ear to the streets and my eyes to the sky/I'm on another planet my nigga and you just fly."

WORTH A LISTEN: JJ - Let Go

These Swedes got a bad rap for their recent foray into the soft and understated (as opposed to the Lil' Wayne sampling "Ecstacy"). But, much like beautiful ballad "Are You Still in Vallda?" off jj no. 2, "Let Go" (jj no. 3) is as beautiful and calming as a river rowboat dream.

QUICK RIFFS: Fang Island - Fang Island

Fang Island, the Pitchfork-driven prog-rock debut, is actually a bit of fun. Don't expect the party album that their review would lead you to expect, but do expect a couple of half-frenzied upbeat instrumentals in "Daisy" and "Careful Crossers."

Essential Track: