Anyway, DOOM's (aka Zev Love X, aka MF Doom, aka Viktor Vaughn, aka King Geedorah, aka [one half of] Madvillain) first new album in 4 or 5 years, entitled Born Like This, came out yesterday--and although I've listened to it a hundred times already--I'm still too excited to give a fair and level-headed take on it. I will say that Ghostface Killa and Raekwon, who each appear on 1 song, don't do anything for me anymore (it's been how long since Enter the 36 Chambers came out?!?). Quite frankly, I think they've been mixing in too much coke with their weed.
If you get the album from iTunes, you get a remix of "Gazillion Ear" by DOOM fan Thom Yorke, maybe you've heard of him (BTW, great Grammy poster, see below--apparently it's part of a series)--while it's really interesting and I hope Thom remixes more hip-hop in the future, this one didn't seem to come all the way together, plus the original version of "Gazillion Ear" (don't miss the "Ernest Goes to Camp" reference in there) is probably the best song on the whole album.
As I am able to fully digest all of the obscure pop references (the album title comes from a Charles Bukowski poem?!? are you sure?), off-the-wall alliteration ("...these meager fleas, he's the breeze and she's the bee's knees fo' sheez.."), and general insanity (he apparently sent out random look-alikes in his mask to lip sync at some of his shows in LA and San Fran last year) that DOOM is known for, I'll report back.
Update: it's a great album with the occasional hiccup.
Regardless, he still is my favorite reclusive, pot-bellied, forty+ year old, comic book loving, beat-making, metal mask wearing emcee.
Also looking forward to the new Peter Bjorn & John album which comes out next week. Although that leaked song ("Lay It Down") is way too abrasive and kinda rubs me the wrong way...
Update: Hmmmm...this PB&J album appears to be the first let down of the year, maybe.
Sweden, you've set the bar pretty damn high for yourself, but don't start slacking off. You have that adorable way of singing in English which means you're already halfway towards creating an awesome song. Don't let us down.
More upcoming (hopefully) good stuff:
Bat For Lashes (April 7)
Prefuse 73 (April 14)
4 comments:
Totally agree with you that this already has been a great year for music. MPP alone would make for a pretty good year, but also Mirah's new record is awesome; the chick from the Knife, under the moniker Fever Ray, has an eponymous record out that's pretty fantastic; Lily Allen's new record is way better than people have written about, the Micachu and the Shapes record is fucking great, and Beirut's double EP is really, really good. And that is just the stuff I've heard, which doesn't include the new ones from Junior Boys, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the Condo Fucks, Julie Dorion, or the record I'm anticipating as much as any new "Lost" episode: The Merge 20th Anniversay Covers Record, where indie stars play their favorite Merge songs -- Holy Fuck! It has St. Vincent doing a Crooked Fingers song, the Apples in Stereo doing "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3" (wow!), Barbara Manning covering Portastatic, Times New Viking singing an Arcade Fire tune, Tracey Thorn singing "Yeah! Oh Yeah!" with Jens Lenkman, and way more. There are many terrible things I would do to listen to this record right now. (It will also include Ryan Adams and Bright Eyes, so you know, they can't all be awesome, right?)
Which reminds me: Peter Bjorn & John? Really?
Yes, really. I actually like Writer's Block a lot--sad/lonely lyrical content with catchy, but not routine, hooks & rhythms. You really ought to check out "Amsterdam", "The Chills", and "Up Against the Wall".
The Swedes seem to have a knack for catchy pop music (but please, let's leave ABBA out of this). I mean, if you like all these other Swedes (Jose Gonzales, the Knife, Lykke Li--whose album was produced by Bjorn of Peter Bjorn and John, BTW) why not just take the leap, man? But like I said, the leaked songs from the new PB&J album didn't seem so hot...
Speaking of the Knife, I just noticed their interesting connection to DOOM, i.e. the constant mask-wearing, reclusiveness, and not particularly caring for live shows...
I don't really have anything against PB&J. I didn't really like "Young People" all that much (if I had to explain why, I would say it was the whitsling [potential future blog post: why whistling never works in songs, unless it's the Scorpions' "Winds of Change" or "Dock of the Bay" -- discuss]). I'm just kind of surprised that you like them. But you're right, I do like all the other Swedish peeps you mentioned (an no, I won't keep ABBA out of that category, because hit-Broadway-musical-be-damned, they're great), and I think Bjorn did a fantastic job producing Lykee's record, so maybe I will give that first record another try.
Hmmmm...interesting potential future blog post...I think you'd have to compare whistling (I kinda like "Young Folks" tho--the lyrics are really sweet and earnest) in music to another bodily noise which almost works universally in songs--the hand clap. Although I can only name a handful of songs that employ the whistling.
I'm a bit surprised I like PB&J as well (Amy-Marie got me into them). I guess as I age I'm learning to accept the mainstream a bit more while still paying attention to stuff that's off the beaten path...but fuck that damn walking Louis Vuitton ad Kanye West. Enough with the cardigans! It's only a matter of time before that dude is starring in action movies with Jackie Chan.
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