My Top Ten (Plus One) Albums for Springtime

Perhaps it's because here in Wisconsin it seems to last all but a week, but Spring was the hardest season for me to think of essential music for.  There really wasn't a go-to element that immediately came to mind; such as the sunny pop harmonies of summer or the stripped-down organics of autumn.  In a certain way, I feel like that ambiguity makes the selections for this list that much more genuine.  As I scourged through my music library I found album after album that belonged here, each for its own unique reasons.  Looking back there are some common elements that emerged, but when I set out to make this list I truly had no idea what I was looking for.  They all jumped out as soon as I came across them though, and it was because they all share a timeless, optimistic vibe; an energizing freshness that makes them perfect to listen to during the Spring awakening.  

11.  Green Day - Warning

In a certain way, Spring feels a little bit like the forgotten season.  Wedged between the harshness of winter and the excitement of summer, it can be difficult at the time to appreciate the transition.  In a similar context is Green Day's Warning.  By 2000 the band had clearly detached themselves and been disowned from their Gilman St origins, but they were still several years removed from their rebirth as punk-opera giants.  In the meantime they took advantage of the creative opening to make their most fearlessly original album.  While not at all ballad-oriented nor breakneck in pace, with Warning Billie Joe and company brought their outcast attitude to folksy, british invasion-style rock with unapologetic glee.  The lyrics focus on the random and monotonous blows of every day life, and rolling with them via buoyant acceptance.  Green Day still packs a punch with Castaway and the perennial concert-staple Minority, but it is the lighter moments that really elevate Warning.  The title track and Waiting thump along with rollicking, optimistic grooves, while Church on Sunday and Hold On offer a jangly, stripped down breeziness and Jackass comes directly out of The Kinks' playbook.  Overall this is the sound of a band that has weathered the shift from punk rock misfits to mainstream heroes, and emerged without giving any semblance of a damn.

10. Pearl Jam - Vs

Pearl Jam started to open up their sound with Vs, the followup to their breakthrough debut Ten.  The passion and intensity is still very much intact, but this time they "drop the Leash" and allow it to attack from whatever angle it may.  What makes Vs such a great Spring album is the way in which that angle often is one of aggressive redemption, rather than the claustrophobic darkness of Ten.   This is most apparent in hit singles Daughter and Rearviewmirror, but even the more straight-forward rockers like Animal and Glorified G have a spacious, confident aura.  In effect Vs feels very much like when the world seems to open up as the winter gloom finally gives way to the big thaw.  

9. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

Drawing from his backlog of unused Beatles songs, George Harrison crafted by far the greatest post-Beatles offering of anyone in the group.  With the aid of Phil Spector's lush wall-of-sound production, Harrison put his deep spirituality on full display in the form of grand melodic arrangements and sweeping jam sessions.  His reflective and celebratory lyrics and expressive slide guitar are consistently on full display, particularly on standout tracks My Sweet Lord, What is Life, Beware of Darkness, and Awaiting on You All.  As a double album it does tend to drag along at times, but even at those times it falls right into line with the wavering weather of Spring.  

8. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes debut record has a very particular aura to it, which in its best moments is akin to sitting in a bath of pure sunshine.  At its core are woodsy, understated folk songs, but the arrangements and mixes are so sprawling and dense that it is easy to get lost in the calmness of the soundscape.  Ragged Wood, with the opening lines "come down from the mountain you have been gone too long/Spring is upon us follow my ornate song" lends itself especially well to the world's re-awakening.  As the guitars and percussion gently ebb and flow beneath chanted gang vocals and drawn-out chamber-pop echoes it has a sound of familiarity or homecoming; as if Spring itself is welcoming you back with open arms after a long time away.  

7. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Like the Spring season itself, Pavement seems to have some trouble making up their mind on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.  No two songs really sound alike, but they all share the same freewheeling, shambling vibe.  The album trades some of the explosive, fuzzy energy of its legendary predecessor Slanted and Enchanted for a more contemplative atmosphere.  Alternating jarringly between warm pop melodies and rainy-day drones, the individual songs are fractured and disjointed so as to almost sound like ice cracking and shifting as the earth thaws itself out beneath rays of melodic sunshine.  When the band settles into a groove it is just as cathartic and awakening as those first truly nice days of Spring, but they always seems to leave with loose ends as it disintegrates into those early-season rainstorms.

6. Grateful Dead - American Beauty

The Grateful Dead are a band that never quite grabbed me, but it is easy to see why they have had such a passionate legion of followers.  Legacy aside, their studio album American Beauty is just about perfect for that particular springtime feeling.  Opening track Box of Rain in particular is mellow and cheery almost to the point of annoyance, but fits the time of year perfectly.  It sounds like an afternoon nap, just enjoying the fresh sunshine or gentle rain for nothing more than what it is.  Friend of the Devil is my personal favorite from The Dead's catalog, weary yet upbeat and just begging for a campfire and a circle of good friends.  The rest of the album follows suit from there with a constant stream of laid-back folksy jams and euphoric harmonies, closing with Truckin', one of the all time classic road-ready anthems.  

 5. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory

As Seattle's pitch black "grunge" scene exploded throughout the States, the UK responded with a wave of bright, harmonious music that became known as Britpop.  Although at the time it was something of a genre (and even national) rivalry, the contrast now seems very symbolic of the awakening into spring. The breakthrough act of this movement was Oasis, and their pivotal album was (What's the Story) Morning Glory.  Oasis echoed the garage-rock aesthetic of those Seattle Bands, but traded the angsty howls for clear British voices, and the gloomy distortion grind for bright, jangly interplay between guitars and piano, all framed by soaring, anthemic choruses.  Morning Glory especially is packed with classic songs- the undying fratboy staple Wonderwall, the crystal clear power-pop songcraft of Don't Look Back in Anger and Cast No Shadow, and the sprawling, sublime drone Champagne Supernova.  What they all have in common is that joyous, assuring feeling like the sun as it emerges from behind a cloud.  

4. Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand

When this album came out in June of 1994, it was a burst of sunshine in the form of the manic energy of aging hipsters.  By that time bandleader Robert Pollard and his crew of 30-something, beer swigging, rock 'n' roll enthusiast buddies had been making laundry room recorded music for years.  In the 90s burgeoning indie rock scene they finally found their audience with Bee Thousand, their greatest collection of songs to date.  There is a certain mysterious quality to the album- it was recorded entirely on consumer-level four-tracks, the songs are short and tinny sounding, the arrangements are a bit off-the-wall, and damn near all of the lyrics are just plain weird.  Above all though, these songs are CATCHY.   With 20 of them packed into around 36 minutes, none of them make more than a brief appearance, but the brevity of it puts even more emphasis on the spontaneous bursts of carefree energy.  Pollard presents his work from his perspective of an unabashed music fan, packing each tune with timeless hooks and rock tenets.  When thrown through the enigmatic filter of the lo-fi recording technique and surreal lyricism, it all has a way of sounding perpetually fresh and exciting. 

3. Tom Petty - Wildflowers

During the spring semester of 2009, and my last at Stevens Point, I used to love to walk out to the nearby Schmeeckle nature reserve.  I had known by that time that I wouldn't be returning to school there, and spent many afternoons by the lake contemplating my future.  My iPod always at hand, Tom Petty's Wildflowers is an album I often found myself listening to as I sat on those rocks watching the water.  I was as lost as I've ever been, but Wildflowers helped me turn it into something to embrace, and gave me a lust for life like few other records have.  Between heartfelt send-offs to loved ones and empowering anthems of self-reliance and chasing destiny, this album is an amazing account of a time of transition into the unknown.  On contemplative tracks Wildfowers and Time to Move On, as well as driving rockers You Don't Know How it Feels and You Wreck Me, The chiming guitars and sympathetic lyrics find ways to burst open the horizon and invite you to run towards it; armed with a clear mind and unshakable independence.  

2. The Strokes - Is This It

"Is this it?" is a question every one of us asks ourselves as soon as the freezing weather breaks and the end of winter's tunnel is in sight.  Although that isn't necessarily the intended context, it fits remarkably well with all of the pent-up energy displayed by The Strokes on their debut LP.  Throughout Is This It the band seems on the brink of explosion, but keeps it contained beneath smothered leads, droning rhythms, and a general detached cool.  The energy is still palpable however, and it mirrors that which is felt during the bi-polarity of spring when summer is still vaguely on the horizon.  Nowhere is the jolt of optimism more apparent than on near-perfect singles Someday and Last Nite. 

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road

I hate writing about The Beatles.  Don't get me wrong, I love the band as much as anyone else- but just like everyone else there is not a whole lot that I could say at this point that hasn't been better said already.  Abbey Road however, is an album that truly hits me.  At the time of its recording, it was well known that the band was on the outs with one-another.  Their legendary stint as the Fab Four had run its course, and The Beatles were all but over.  As such (along with the benefit of hindsight) the feeling of them admirably setting aside their differences for the sake of laying it all out there one last time is almost tangible throughout the entire record.  Although it is symbolic of the death of a band, the cleansing nature of Abbey Road fits incredibly well with the re-awakening of Spring.  

The albums first side features some of silent troubadour George Harrison's greatest contributions to the Beatles catalog.  Something makes a strong case for the Beatles' greatest song, with fluid guitar leads weaving though around ethereal lyrical lines and a bridge section that soars like few others.  Later on is another great Harrison track- a little tune called Here Comes the Sun- which to this day is THE definitive springtime anthem.  It is so ubiquitous of the season that I could just as easily have made this list ten album's worth of this song on repeat.  Meanwhile on side one are Paul McCartney's soulful vocal showcase Oh Darling! and  the rolling thunderstorm of showstopping blues workout I Want You (She's so Heavy).  Even oddball track Maxwell's Silver Hammer and good ol' Ringo's surreal Octopus's Garden fits the strange feeling transitioning away from winter, when everything is sloppy and wet and, well, a little bit weird. 

Already great to this point, Abbey Road shifts into a new gear for side two.  Often considered an unofficial medley, each song blends into the next and reoccurring elements pop up on many occasions.  With perfect execution and just some damn good songs, the album's closing 20 minutes are pure musical bliss.  As a listener one is guided seamlessly through glowing tranquility (Sun King, Golden Slumbers), lighthearted ruminations on odd personal troubles (You Never Give Me Your Money, She Came in Through the Bathroom Window), and the curious tales of volatile characters Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam.  All together it feels like a bittersweet roller-coaster on some sort of collision course- not unlike The Beatles themselves at the time.  It all culminates as the cathartic gang vocals in Carry That Weight ramp up and finally thrust us into the cathartic farewell of The End.  All four members give their goodbyes in the form of explosive solos before dropping out to deliver their final message in unison - John Lennon's most immortal verse "And in the end the love you take, is equal to the love that you make".  

Happy Spring everyone, and be sure to LIKE the Noisepaper Facebook Page for quick updates and new articles!

My Favorite Fall Albums [Part Two]

Halloween has come and gone, fall color is well past its peak, and we no longer have daylight savings time to stave off the early nights.  The transitional period is behind us, and we are now in the depths of Autumn; Winter is beginning to make it's impending arrival known and Summer has faded into a distant memory.  

I'm not sure if there are necessarily any inherent differences in this batch of fall albums compared to the first edition, compiled almost two months ago.  I will say that the swift progression of the season gives a more subdued, introspective flavor to the earthy, organic sound that albums from both lists share.  Whether it is the more prominent dreariness in the seasonal context, or an increased withdrawal in the music itself, these are the ten albums that I feel are most fitting for (late) fall.    

[SEE PART ONE HERE]

1.Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

I would be hard pressed to find any other album that comes this close to literally sounding like fall.  The sparse arrangements, with the lazily echoing drums and windy, ringing electric guitar strumming, seem to be crafted for the sole purpose of transporting the listener to a park bench with a steaming cup of coffee as brown leaves whirl about on the hollow wind.  And just as that coffee brings warm appreciation to the heart, so does the sublime voice of Neko Case.  For as great as the album is as a whole, it is crafted entirely around the warm, ethereal glow of her crooning.  

2. Patti Smith - Horses

Patti Smith the "post-Beat" poet probably could have been just as influential as Patti Smith the musician, but when framed by the raw, simple guitar grooves heard on Horses, her impact rises to transcendental heights.  Her anarchic free-verse wordplay drones through and dances around the improvisational garage rock song structures, and at the perfect moments erupts into cathartic hooks.  The hypnotic vocal meandering on Birdland and Land put the listener in a beatnik heaven in the darkened corner of a smoke-filled club, until the band bursts in, burning the world to ashes of proto-punk fury.  

3. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

The album opens with breathy schoolyard taunts echoing over a droning guitar progression, but upon awakening to a Teenage Riot you are thrust headfirst into a sprawling land of experimental song structures, strange alternate tunings, bursts of sheer noise, and detached surrealist lyricism.  No matter how far Daydream Nation takes you into the unknown however, it always keeps its roots in sublime artistic expression.  The album is an odd, challenging, and occasionally even threatening journey, but at the end proves to be a brilliant marriage of indie rock and avant art.

4. Television - Marquee Moon

Gotham City was once described by Batman creator Dennis O'Neil as "Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November".  That happens to be exactly where I envision Marquee Moon taking place.  The tense, nervy garage rock is the soundtrack to distant flashes of lightning behind the looming skyscrapers, as smoke bellows out of grates in the wet street and shady figures maneuver in and out of the shadows.  

5. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers, along with Exile on Main Street, is probably the mighty Rolling Stones at their absolute weariest.  In 1971, The Stones had already become the stuff of legend.  Their reckless barroom swagger, controversial subject matter, drug-fueled hedonism, and general contempt for authority was and still is the very embodiment of rock and roll.  Such legacy doesn't come without a price however, and by the time Sticky Fingers came out the band's personal troubles were catching up to them.  This is the sound of the world's greatest rock band running on fumes, worn out from their own lust for life.  As a testament to their power of musical expression, the dark moodiness of Sticky Fingers is exactly what makes it great.  Shamelessly decadent rockers are counterpointed with druggy, strung-out ballads and anachronistic country.  The album is dense and murky throughout, as instruments blend into each other to create the mood of the whole. 

The Stones more than paid their dues to the demons of rock and roll by the time this album came out.  Although they lived to tell about it, they found themselves at a turning point to figure out where to go next.  In this way, Sticky Fingers is eerily similar to the experience of Summer's magic fading closer into the dreariness of Winter as the world catches up to us once again.

6. Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff

As far as I'm concerned, Superfuzz Bigmuff (technically a combination of Mudhoney's early Sub/Pop EPs and Singles, but today considered an LP for all intents and purposes) is the pinnacle of the Seattle "grunge" scene in its purest form.  This is a collection of songs that all deliver massive melodic riffs with the intensity and destructiveness of punk music, while condensing punk's relentless energy and anger into a half-speed, down-tuned sea of distorted slop.  Meanwhile the attitude of vocalist Mark Arm is practically tangible as he delivers the snarky, debasing lyrics with aggressive sarcasm, his howls often drifting into and resurfacing from the underlying murk.  

7. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

Like fall itself, I can't think of many better ways to describe Band of Horses than "a breath of fresh air".  Throughout the album the drums are beautifully compressed and splashy, the guitars chime and swirl, and the vocals echo with reverb as they stretch over the aural landscape.  The result is a dense, vaguely Spector-like wall of sound, which the wide, airy mix molds into one long gust of brisk fall wind.  Meanwhile the delivery and melodicism, which alternates between tranquil meditative country and explosive anthems to the majesty of the natural world, finds a comfortable balance somewhere between Beach Boys whimsy and Neil Young's woodsy naturalism.  

8. Dinosaur Jr - You're Living All Over Me

The debut album from indie legends (and Neil Young disciples) Dinosaur Jr offers an interesting blend of Neil's rustic, backwoods authenticity and fractured indie songcraft, the downbeat grime later heard in grunge, avant noise, and old school guitar shredding mixed with hints of psychedelia.  Perhaps more than anything though, it is known as the album that brought lead guitar back to indie music.  While the mumbled vocals and intentionally sloppy overall sound led to the band's reputation as "slacker" icons, frontman J Mascis certainly had/has the guitar chops to compete with anyone.  Of course his leads are delivered with an incredibly distinct recklessness and a near-violent lack of giving a shit; which makes the album that much more representative of the season. 

9. Broken Bells - Broken Bells

As an artist, there is nothing more satisfying to me than seeing a successful collaboration between styles that initially seem conflicting.  James Mercer is the indie icon that crafted dreamy, heartfelt pop music with The Shins.  Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) is the prolific, primarily electronic producer/DJ.  The result is Broken Bells, a seamless melding of organic instrumentation with electronic beats and loops; indie-pop songcraft with technically ambitious production.  Songs like The High Road and The Ghost Inside make the two elements almost indistinguishable from each other, while others like Sailing to Nowhere and Mongrel Heart play on the relationship between the familiar and the intimidating.   All said and told, it just lends itself to the ominous underlying mystery of autumn.  

10. The Highwaymen - Highwayman

Willie Nelson.  Waylon Jennings.  Kris Kristofferson.  Johnny Cash.  Does any more really need to be said?  Probably not, but I'm gonna say it anyway.  It would have been easy for those four to have made a "successful" album full of cookie-cutter songs and fueled by name recognition.  Instead they crafted a ten-piece of songs so transcendental that it could only have been pulled off by a group of legends.  Songs like Desperadoes Waiting for a Train and We're All in Your Corner seemingly unite the group into one omnipresent force of outlaw spirit, while The Last Cowboy Song and The Twentieth Century is Over celebrates their impeccable longevity among the disintegration of their mythical outlaw ethos.  Of course it is all framed by the opening track Highwayman, a cathartic ode to the past and future of their immortal, unstoppable renegade legacy.  

Matt's Halloween Mixtape; Part Two

Behind all of the fun and games associated with Halloween lies a very dark and mysterious past.  While customs such as carving jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating, dressing up in costumes and so on have become time-honored traditions ubiquitous with the season, and many variations of monsters and ghosts have rightfully become pop-culture icons, we mustn't forget the darkly rich history of the relatively recently mainstream holiday.  The underlying purpose of Halloween is less about celebration as it is paying respect to the certainty of death, and the frighteningly unknowable thereafter.  

This eerie correlation with the the unknown and the otherworldly is, in my opinion, what really makes Halloween special.  Therefore, I've taken great care to include in this series those songs which I feel most effectively acknowledge the darker aspects of the human (or not-so-human) condition, and bring them to the forefront of a fittingly ominous atmosphere.  

Suicide - Frankie Teardrop

Suicide is quite simply a weird "band", both during their active years and within a historical context.  The were the first group to ever use the term "punk music" to advertise a show, yet they were widely detested by much of the punk scene for their provocative demeanor and reliance on keyboards, drum machines, and murmured vocals.  

This artist/audience conflict came together for several stunning moments on their 1977 self-titled debut album however, most notably on side two's minimalist epic Frankie Teardrop.  The song immediately establishes a disturbing claustrophobic atmosphere of doom with a pounding, straight eighth-note rhythm of industrial noise that drones on for its ten minute entirety.  laid over the top of this agonizingly simple beat with unnerving volume are Alan Vega's nervy, tense, half-whispered vocals.  As the metallic noise pounds on Vega weaves a tale of a young father on the brink of insanity trapped in poverty and the maddening repetition of his factory work.  Good ol' Frankie hopelessly grinds through the days to support his family, but when his desperation reaches its breaking point he is left to pick up a gun and let it provide all the "support" his family needs.  All the while the constant pounding noise continues.  The song can explode into hell at any moment, but the real terror is that you know it won't- it will just keep droning on and on.  When listened to in the right setting, you have already long been firmly on edge by the time the utterly blood curdling screams come out of nowhere. 

Acid Bath - Finger Paintings of the Insane

Much earlier in this blog's life I wrote with disturbed affection about Acid Bath's classic "death rock" album When the Kite String Pops.  I am excited now to have an opportunity to more deeply explore one of my favorite cuts from that album.  

In the years before and since I made that post reviewing When the Kite String Pops I haven't come up with a better description for their sound than that which must constantly play within the mind of a serial killer.  From their overbearing menace to the unrelenting brutality of their lyrics and their schizophrenic straddling of genres, Acid Bath creates a musical environment that is directly engaging in it's heaviness yet consistently unnerving in its twists and turns, and it has a way of getting you lost in the fractured mind of the deeply disturbed.

At no point in the album are these qualities on more troubling display than during Finger Paintings of the Insane.  As vocalist Dax Riggs alternates between morbidly dark crooning and agonized verbal assaults of self-destruction, torture and pure evil, the band weaves a spellbinding web of shifting dynamics and jarring tempo changes, bookended by skull-crushing rhythms and guitars that grind and slash their way through the nightmare.  As a listener you are left disoriented; scared and lost in the mind of a psychopath, yet morbidly fascinated and unable to take yourself away from the hellish, unforgiving sonic landscape.

The Beatles - Revolution 9  

Possibly the one song that I would call the creepiest comes from an unlikely yet ultimately unsurprising source.  More widely regarded for their mop-tops and desire to "hold your hand", The Beatles were certainly no slouches when it came to experimental recording, and the results heard in Revolution 9 are nothing short of terrifying.  

Revolution 9 begins with a minor piano theme and a mysterious voice repeating "number nine", panned jarringly between stereo channels.  For the ensuing eight minutes, it spirals deeper and deeper into pure insanity.  The piece consists entirely of various different tape loops that have been treated with odd, disquieting effects.  Most of them are taken from classical music or opera, but there are also everyday sound effects such as crowd noise, laughter, voices, breaking glass, and car horns that in this context are made harsh and grating.  The loops fade in and out, dance around each other, and, at the absolute scariest- burst unexpectedly out of nowhere on only one side of the mix (DO NOT listen to this loudly on headphones late at night).  In a move of subtle production genius, the piano and "number nine" motif recur and echo almost tauntingly in and out of the mix, confirming that the suddenly not-so-Fab Four realize exactly how uncomfortable of a listening experience they have created.  

Running List:

Sonic Youth - Death Valley '69

HorrorPops - Walk Like a Zombie

Suicide - Frankie Teardrop

Acid Bath - Finger Paintings of the Insane

The Beatles - Revolution 9

Matt's Halloween Mixtape; Part One

Sonic Youth - Death Valley '69

With a few weeks left to go, it feels appropriate to kick things off with a song that leaves its intentions shrouded in mystery.  Sonic Youth uses this vagueness to its advantage by crafting an atmosphere of impending doom and an aggressive creepiness on its own terms.  Death Valley '69 was inspired by the ultra-creepy Manson Family; and the pulsating rhythm, screeching discordant guitars, and schizophrenic vocals stay true to the source material in the most satisfying way.  

The Horrorpops - Walk Like a Zombie

To introduce the other side of "Halloween music" are a Danish group of jubilant misfits (foreshadowing definitely intended) known as The HorrorPops.  Taking the "psychobilly" subgenre to the brink of caricature, The HorrorPops energetically combine 1950s rockabilly and doo-wop songcraft with direct lyrical references to the undead, the otherworldly, the luridly sexual, and the violent.  The result of course, is an ominous yet upbeat representation of whatever debauchery comes to life for Halloween.  

With that we reach the point of no return, the Halloween season is upon us.  It is said that this is the time of year in which the barrier between the living and the dead is at its weakest, and later in the week we will take a close look at some songs that unearth the darker depths of our human psyche…