Let It Happen

Feats of Strength: Tame Impala

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Even after several repeated listens, I still have not been able to fully embrace Tame Impala’s latest album, Currents.  With their previous efforts (Lonerism and Innerspeaker), each spin created a new favorite track, which speaks to the depth of each record.  On the other hand, I think of Currents as one brilliant song followed by many decent-to-good tracks.  But goddamn, how great is that one song?

At 7 minutes and 47 seconds, “Let It Happen” is the longest song in the Tame Impala catalog, but not by much; the band regularly traffics in songs that clock in at around five minutes, with a few running a bit longer at six and seven minutes.  So, it is not just the fact that Tame Impala wrote a long song that is impressive, but that they wrote a long song that captivates the listener’s attention in such a way that they could make it the opening track and lead single for their new album.  That takes a special skill.

For about three minutes, “Let It Happen” meshes a smooth bass groove, a glitchy funk guitar lick, and an insistent kick drum to create a chill yet catchy dance number.  Kevin Parker then introduces a descending synth melody, and uses this new hook to seemingly signal that the song is about to fade out.  As one anticipates the fade out, the track appears to skip, with a beat stuck in a repetitive loop.  After a few seconds, the listener realizes this was done on purpose, as Parker throws in a rising string melody as a direct comment on the previous hook.  This new melody is then put into a repetitive loop on its concluding beat, and after processing that beat through a few extra effects, the song returns to the previous descending synth melody once again.  With the second repeating section, it almost as if the two melodies are locked in combat, with the original winning out in the end.  The song then rides this last melody to the end, with a few additional touches.

Perhaps the best part is that once the listener knows what happens at the end of the song, it is possible to pick up on clues that appear in earlier sections.  If one listens to the drums, one can notice that a few of the patterns have slight glitches or slight deviations, with other parts offering more overt clues as the song progresses.  Not only does the song’s catchiness inspire repeated spins, but it rewards careful listening as well.

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Over the Weekend (Aug. 17 Edition)

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News, new videos, and other fun stuff to help you begin your week…

There had been rumblings for a while now, but now it can be confirmed that Flight of the Conchords are reuniting.  Fans of the hilarious HBO show featuring Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie should be delighted to hear that not only are they making plans to head out on tour next year, but that they are in the initial stages of writing a full-length movie.

The best song of 2014 finally has a video, as Death From Above 1979 shared the music video for “White Is Red” today.  Instead of following along with the riveting narrative described in the song, it mainly consists of footage from the documentary on the band, Life After Death From Above 1979, serving as a very effective advertisement for the film.

Switching the focus to more recent releases, Tame Imapala released a video today for a condensed version of Currents standout “Let It Happen”, focusing on the travails of one of the weariest travelers you will ever see.

Deerhunter released the first single of their upcoming album Fading Frontier this weekend, with frontman Bradford Cox first teasing fans by playing “Snakeskin” on his radio show.  The song is livelier than you might expect considering Deerhunter’s recent material, and you can check it out for yourself as the band has released a video for the song as well.

In another surprise, Talib Kweli has released a free album called Fuck the Money that is available through the website Kweliclub.com.  All of this is of course for free, in case the name of the title was not clear enough for you.

Rage Against The Machine will be releasing a concert film this fall from their recent reunion, as fans from around the world will now be able to see their free concert from London in 2010.

Foo Fighters = content.  Ultimate Classic Rock has the story of how Dave Grohl ended up singing “My Hero” to a crying fan at a recent concert.

Finally, we have a couple of useless lists for your enjoyment.  First, Rolling Stone has compiled one of those extensive, vague lists that only exist to get people arguing, this time ranking the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time and attempting to show off some fancy web tools at the same time.  A more interesting list is the AV Club Inventory that takes a look at “20 Great Songs Orphaned By Their Namesake Albums”, a concept that took me a few minutes to understand but is nonetheless a pretty cool idea.

Review: Tame Impala – Currents

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It has become increasingly rare for indie rock bands to break through into mainstream success, and a psychedelic record about the comforts of isolation is probably the unlikeliest candidate to accomplish the feat.  Nevertheless, Lonerism became a hit and catapulted Tame Impala into the rarefied air of festival-headliners, and the pressure was on for Kevin Parker to see what he could accomplish next with his project.  For Currents, Parker has seemingly ditched synth-like-guitars for actual synths, giving his explorations into 70’s-era psychedelia a slick 80’s sheen, an initially jarring juxtaposition that reveals itself over multiple listens to be a smart approach to evolving the band’s signature sound.  The album does not provide the same gratifying pleasure of Lonerism, but Currents still provides an intriguing next step forward for Tame Impala.

The album kicks off with the absolutely stellar “Let It Happen”, a track that is a restless, pulsing, seven-and-a-half minute monster that is sure to be the highlight of any future Tame Impala live show.  It not only is a perfect example of Parker’s studio wizardry, but it is a compositional masterpiece–“Let It Happen” effortlessly shifts from one idea to the next, but never comes across as meandering, even as it effectively stops, restarts, and reverses itself mid-song.  While the song does an excellent job of not only setting the tone for the rest of the album, but preparing the listener for Tame Impala’s shift in style, it unfortunately overshadows everything else that follows.

Currents is a sonic marvel, and fans will deservedly pore over every note on the album.  The incorporation of dance elements and Prince-inspired R&B was an inspired choice, and the production on the album makes it the most modern-sounding retro album possible.  However, the album suffers from a saggy middle section, where compelling musical ideas are compromised by weak vocal melodies that fail to leave much of an impression.  Despite these flaws, the album picks up in its second half when it finds the groove again in songs like “Disciples” and “Reality In Motion”.

It is clear that Currents is a deeply personal record, and Parker’s passion really shines through the entire work.  Like other Tame Impala albums, it takes several listens to pick up on the nuances of Currents, but the music is fascinating enough on the surface that it never feels like a chore.  At the moment, it may not be the equal of Lonerism or Innerspeaker, but as it stands Currents is a welcome addition to the band’s catalog.

Over the Weekend (Apr. 6 Edition)

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New videos and other fun stuff as you fill in the hours around the NCAA championship game…

Lots of new songs and videos to get through this week, so let’s get straight to the action.  After announcing a North American tour and releasing a new track (the groovy epic “Let It Happen”), Tame Impala has finally revealed some details about their followup to the fantastic Lonerism.  The album Currents will be available later this year, and to help celebrate the news the band released another track, the slow-burning “‘Cause I’m A Man”.

My Morning Jacket continues to leak out new songs from their upcoming album The Waterfall, sharing the ballad “Spring (Among the Living)” last week.  My immediate reaction was to say that it is a more dramatic version of “Victory Dance” from Circuital, but with a seriously ripping guitar solo.

Kendrick Lamar is doing the rounds in promoting his album, which involves things like talking to MTV about the origins of the album title to doing radio interviews discussing how he did the Tupac interview that closes To Pimp a Butterfly, as well as announcing his engagement (congrats, btw).  Kendrick also released the music video for the new album’s latest single, “King Kunta”, which features a performance in his hometown of Compton.

The National have shared a previously unreleased track from the Trouble Will Find Me sessions, a song called “Sunshine On My Back” that features Sharon Van Etten on vocals.  The band explained in a Facebook post various options for people to purchase the track.

Most of us were not able to make it down to Austin for SXSW this year, but NPR is doing us a real solid favor by hosting video of TV on the Radio’s performance at the festival.

Legendary punk rockers Refused announced a new tour last week, this time emphasizing smaller venues.  If you are unaware how much we love the band, you should take note that the header photo that graces this site comes from their reunion show at the Roseland from a few years ago.  Unfortunately, though it would have been amazing to see them perform at the Doug Fir, tickets sold out in about two seconds, so it is unlikely RIJR will be able to review the show.

Maybe our inability to purchase tickets was due to the fact that we forgot to post the latest Run The Jewels video.  Killer Mike and El-P released the video to the fantastic “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” which features a memorable appearance from Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha.  Enjoy the symbolism.

And finally, watch another one of those “let’s see what today’s teenagers know about the 90’s” videos.  This one has kids listen to various 90’s songs, and for the most part they didn’t do too badly.  I can forgive these guys for not knowing Ace of Base or how the non-rockers were unfamiliar with Tool’s “Sober”, but it pains me that so few knew who Coolio was or could identify Green Day’s first big hit.