Sound Affects: Music reviews and ratings
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The Flaming Lips: "Embryonic" (Warner Bros.) (rating: 7 out of 10)
Over the past decade, the Flaming Lips have steadily built their following to the point they now exist both in the underground and on the fringe of the mainstream. They've achieved this rather remarkable feat by releasing a trio of albums that adhere to a similar blueprint: add one part sentimental ballads, one part bombastic rockers, and one part instrumental freakouts, and you've got a latter-day Flaming Lips LP. Any mold they might have been creating within is completely shattered with "Embryonic," the first double LP from the Oklahoma City pioneers. No, there are no weepy ballads a la "Waitin for a Superman" or "Do You Realize??" Nope, there are no catchy pop-rockers in the vein of "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song." There are only a few tracks with anything resembling a conventional song structure. You'd have to go all the way back to 1997's "Zaireeka" to find a Lips album that is comparable in terms of artistic vision.
But whereas "Zaireeka" was just as much artistic gimmick as artistic statement, "Embryonic" is 100 percent the latter. Combining the Lips' long-time fascinations with early Pink Floyd-inspired psychedelia, science fiction, and long instrumental interludes, "Embryonic" often sounds like the soundtrack for a futuristic space movie. This, perhaps, might be due to their recent experience scoring their own such movie, "Christmas on Mars."
"Embryonic" often sounds more like early '70s Miles Davis than the product of a band that cut its teeth on punk rock — and that's certainly a compliment. From the first track to the last, the Lips test the boundaries of what it means to write a song. Album opener "Convinced of the Hex," for example, technically follows a verse/chorus structure, but the music is so ambient and the vocals so understated that it feels more like a mood piece than a rock song, effectively demoting the electric guitar's role to mere shards of sound while showcasing retro synthesizers and vibes. — Michael Franco
Air: "Love 2" (Astralwerks) (rating: 4 out of 10)
Please note that Air's latest album is "Love 2" and not "Love 2.0." Air is not looking for a radical reinvention. If anything, what they're presenting is intended to be some kind of sequel to previous efforts, or perhaps a rebranding effort for the emotion of love. Sadly, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel's new love is about as ill-advised as New Coke and this makes for a cluttered, uneven, and kinda hokey listen.
"Love 2" doesn't so much sound like a retreat as a regression. Any one of these tracks could be heard in the context of previous work as a B-side. There's not much bad material, but there's no real clear standout either. If I had to pick one, it'd probably be the breezy "Heaven's Light," which excels mainly by virtue of its evocation of "Moon Safari" and particularly "Kelly Watch the Stars." Amidst the rest of the clutter, it's almost a tranquil and timeless place to reside. "On the way to the heaven's light / Where the time doesn't matter," Godin sings. It's as if, with that line, Godin and Dunckel are able to stop time and revel in hazy narcotic bliss after trying so frustratingly hard throughout the rest of the LP.
Even though it is a far better album than "10,000 Hz Legend," "Love 2" is more of a disappointment than their sophomore outing. After the success of "Moon Safari," it was anybody's guess whether the band had a second act in them. After proving it possible several years later with "Pocket Symphony" and "Talkie Walkie" (which is easily their best album), "Love 2's" mediocrity is deeply vexing, particularly since a halfway decent album probably could have squeezed by with a few minor tweaks in things like instrumentation and emphasis. — Timothy Gabriele
Anti-Pop Consortium: "Fluorescent Black" (Big Dada) (rating: 8 out of 10)
The genesis of Anti-Pop Consortium's latest album comes after, some will assume, major personal shifts in the group. After the release of 2002's "Arryhthmia," the New York avant-hop brigade disbanded amid reports of internal dysfunction, reports that turned out to be a little exaggerated. As it turns out, "Fluorescent Black" is nothing more than a culmination of natural progressions, expanding ideas and some well-deserved downtime, and that in itself is reason enough to herald its arrival with due celebration.
What's most striking, immediately, is how unfussy it sounds. Compositions tend to hover between two and four minutes, and use economy to their absolute advantage. Not one single word is wasted, as you'd expect, even when they're creating something of a sing-along on "Apparently." Amid talk of BlackBerrys and encroaching technological claustrophobia, some of Earl Blaize's most direct and sparse beats crackle underneath the typically virtuosic vocal deliveries – a collision of not only mind and matter, but hips and shakes as well.
Indeed, the meeting point between man and machine is one tirelessly explored by this intrepid quartet, and provides much focus for "Fluorescent Black". More so than on previous work, the balancing act between mechanised precision and effortless human luminance takes centre stage. The result of this is an absolute inability to settle, maximising the entertainment for the listener but surely deepening the intellectual well from which the Consortium can now draw. "Capricorn One" is just about unfathomable if you take the buzzing sledgehammer synths at face value, an impenetrable bastion of conniving beats and tones. Only by the reasoned, balanced, and occasionally exhilarating wordplay do we gain the human insight, and it is the tension therein that creates the most pleasure. — Daniel Ross
J Dilla: "Dillanthology 3" (Rapster) (rating: 7 out of 10)
No one will question that James Yancey is a hip-hop deity for numerous reasons. Aside from the fact that he no longer resides on our spiritual plane, he was far and away one of the best producers to ever grace the genre. The man knew how to not just make good music, but how to make it breathe. His beats weren't merely "beats," they were productions. Call all this praise "stanning" if you must, but you would be foolish to deny his talent and long-lasting imprint on hip-hop. Whether in the studio on his own terms, mailing beats to Madlib, or producing for his close friends, Yancey — more commonly known as J Dilla or Jay Dee — was a force to be reckoned with. And the third installment from Rapster in his legacy, "Dillanthology 3," proves just that.
Previously, Rapster used its Dillanthology releases to display his productions for his closest friends, everyone from the Roots to Janet Jackson to De La Soul, to remixes he had done over the years. And it's important to note that even his remixes, many times of his own productions, were mostly absolutely incredible. There was just something about his drums and ability to capture specific sounds that made it exciting to see his name in an album's production credits. But this time around, on "Dillanthology 3," the focus is on beats crafted for his solo albums and Jaylib, which consisted of Dilla and Madlib. So what we have here is a spattering of joint from "The Shining," "Ruff Draft," "Donuts," "Jay $tay Paid," "Welcome 2 Detroit," and "Champion Sound." Can you say "classic material?"
Well, yeah, there certainly is a plethora of classic Dilla joints on this anthology. The thing is, it's likely that most people have heard them before. It's the same issue I took up with "Dillanthology 1," which featured cuts like Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know" and Common's "The Light." If anything, there were one or two tracks on there you might have missed, such as A.G.'s "Hip Hop Quotable." But most were hit songs that many listeners had likely heard before. The same isn't necessarily true on this third "Dillanthology," but seasoned Dilla fans will be safe in steering clear of this release. If you happen to be a Dilla newbie, though, well, then you are in for an experience. — Andrew Martin
Mission of Burma: "The Sound the Speed the Light" (Matador) (rating: 6 out of 10)
Since reforming in 2002, Mission of Burma has consistently avoided the most common pitfall in the biz: a once-influential band reunites and sullies their good name in the process. And living up to such landmarks of American post-punk as 1981's "Signals, Calls, and Marches" and 1982's "Vs." is no cakewalk. Those albums sound as vital today as they did upon their release. Mission of Burma is the thinking punk's music — their rhythmic intensity, instantly recognizable style, and mix of noise and melody are unlike any other. The apt title of return album "ONoffON" had its moments. "The Obliterati" from 2006 nearly reaches the height of the band's early material. Now, with the release of "The Sound the Speed the Light" the band rolls out another solid, if slightly unspectacular album. It's certainly no spoiler though.
The album begins with "1,2,3 Partyy!," a charging, humorous burner with classic Burma shredding from Roger Miller. Drummer Peter Prescott stabs the beat, accenting the action with the hostility and restlessness that makes the band's music so propulsive. Clint Conley's bass forms the bedrock for Miller and Prescott's explorations while offering a measure of calm. The song surges and spins like the classic "This Is Not a Photograph" from "Signals, Calls, and Marches". Parallels could also be drawn to the aggressive second track from "The Obliterati" "Spider's Web". However, after the roiling "Possession", the gentle picking of the intro to "Blunder" announces that this is a record with a different wrinkle — a softer one.
The fourth tune "Forget Yourself" confirms the notion that Burma wants to tweak it's formula ever so slightly on "The Sound the Speed the Light." This is a more introspective, gentle Burma. The song lumbers at what amounts to mid-tempo for the band and even flirts with falsetto at times. It retains an unmistakable Burma quality, but almost caresses the ear before gathering steam for a Miller solo that destroys any semblance of gentleness. The somber mood returns later on the album with the track "Feed." These softer moments aren't terribly unsuccessful, but they do come off a bit awkward in spots. Given that this is the third album since their return, however, one can't fault the band for trying something a little different. — Craig Carson
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