Album Review: MIDNIGHT MEMORIES (One Direction)

        One thing I've learned from maintaining this blog for a little over a year is that finding your voice isn't an "A-to-B-to-C" sort of process. Things tend to ebb and flow, and sometimes you can go forward by going a bit back. Through all of this, I've found that my style and voice continually shifts to different areas. That sort of evolution is natural as an artist grows, or at least it should be. This seems to have been the case with One Direction's third poppidy-pop-pop outing, Midnight Memories. With this one, they seem to have done a bit of looking back, particularly into a number of hair metal/arena rock bands from the 80's. Though, don't think that this is an especially heavy album. If anything, it's Bon Jovi-light.
        Part of me is tempted to say this is an improvement. The introduction of "live" instruments can elevate the sense of perceived legitimacy to what a "band" does. You'll notice those scare quotes. You see, that's because those "live" instruments on the album are, for the most part, digital. Also, One Direction still isn't a band, but a group that sings. So, that perceived legitimacy isn't as great as I thought it was.
        I'm of the opinion that this marked a change in voice and sound for One Direction, something  more "mature", though it just sounds remarkably similar to what came before but with the sounds live instrumentation. The title track, "Midnight Memories", stands out as a most egregious example, sounding akin to a One Direction song that was written by Nickleback. It all comes off as disingenuous.  
        "Don't Forget Where You Belong" is an actual high point, a song that nods to the melancholy that can come from being far away from home. The lyrics are thoughtful and the harmonies and melodies work and resolve well, leaning more towards the Bon Jovie side. That, again, brings me to the one constant: One Direction are lads with fantastic voices. If only they would write more thoughtful, meaningful music. Then, they would actually be contributing something great.
        As it stands, what they've (and by that I mean One Direction AND the small army of writers and producers) gifted us with are strong melodies that are both catchy and well-resolved. The problem with that is that MANY others also do that. It's not enough to be catchy. Art should say something, or should be about pushing one's limits. Perhaps, that's my own musical experience talking (I've played different percussion instruments and sang for about twelve years), and through all of that, it's been instilled in me to push myself to new and better places. I will tend to expect the same from multi-million-dollar-valued artists, and to be fair, One Direction did shift sounds...but only just. No matter the gilding upon Midnight Memories, it's more of the same. It's a net gain of zero.

Album Review: TAKE ME HOME (One Direction)

Artist: One Direction

        Typically, as a band (or in this case, "band") releases a second album, there is a sense of progression. Growth is the goal, usually. Though, in the case of One Direction, the growth seems less dependent on the singers, and more upon the producers, songwriters, and handlers. At this point, it was more than a little obvious that the boys weren't writing their own music or lyrics.Yet, they remain consistent in their vocal quality. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY high point on the album.
        Somehow, a regression seems to have occurred in the production Take Me Home, One Direction's sophomore outing as this decade's main troubadours of bubblegum poppery. As far as lyrical high points go, there are only two that really register above the bare minimum. "Heart Attack" is a staccatoed chronicle of the trials and tribulations of the "friendzone", while "Little Things" rises JUST above that as an ode to all the little things (geddit?) that the hypothetical, collective man that the group represents loves in his hypothetical, collective woman that the audience represents. It's ultimately in the same vein as "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Everything About You" off of their debut, Up All Night.
        Again, they are vocally on point, and the melodies and harmonies are infectious, but they are lyrically running in place. In fact, much of this album feels somewhere closer to a mild reinterpretation of their previous album, but in the exactly the same style. Perhaps, this is to ensure consistency of sound and to maintain fan affections as they stand with perfectly crafted imagery onstage? This is reinforced by the "sampler" qualities of the album, possibly going for some sense of "timelessness", but instead, sounding like lesser versions of better things. After listening to the final track, I could only feel a bit let down. Perhaps, in another album, they may actually break free from the shackles of bubblegum-coated pop-rock, and strut into much more interesting places.

Album Review: BUT YOU CAINT USE MY PHONE (Erykah Badu)

Artist: Erykah Badu

        Erykah Badu and I clearly have similar taste in music, as the song she seems most inspired by for her latest mixtape, But You Caint Use My Phone, seems to be Drake's 2015 hit, "Hotline Bling." Yet, she moves beyond mere tribute and into a far more sophisticated realm of reinterpretation. Phones and communication is the name of the game for her latest, with every song revolving around the topic in some capacity. In fact, the first track, "Caint Use My Phone (Suite)" is made entirely of dial tones and rings, all crafted into an idea that's revisited various times throughout the album. Even more, "Hotline Bling" functions as a bit of an overture, with the song revisited over the span of the run time, and even covered in the track, "Cel U Lar Device."
        Erykah's sultry voice adorns every syllable of every song with charm, and her lyrics impart leagues of wit ( "Dial'Afreaq" is composed of a fictional answering machine message made of jokes and references to the whole of the album). Not only a product of R&B and Hip Hop, But You Caint Use My Phone is a meta-textual dive into musical textures of a wide array of sounds. It's brilliant.

Album Review: BANNERS (Banners)

Artist: BANNERS

        With a sound somewhere between early Coldplay and post-rock, BANNERS, AKA Micheal Joseph Nelson, has crafted a sound at once both pleasant and pedestrian. That's not to say it sounds bad, at all. Rather, its proximity to the sound of a Coldplay, or a Phillip Phillips, takes the wind out of his sails. A stand out track is his single, "Shine a Light." Building from smooth falsettos, a pounding, war-like, drum pattern leads into a solid folk-rock groove that may have inspired a rug or two to be cut whilst listening. All that being said, "Shine a Light" is THE high point. It's a good sound, but one that ultimately feels a dime-a-dozen with regards to the current music environment.

A Few Thoughts On: GAME OF THRONES, Season 1

        Despite the show's success, I don't envy showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. They were tasked with taking the mass of interweaving character arcs and plot threads of A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin's tale of medieval-esque mishaps in Westeros, and somehow adapt it into a television series. While the source material is somewhat lengthy (694 pages), though not as lengthy as some later volumes in the series (A Feast for Crows is 1521 pages), Benioff and Weiss manage to craft a rather propulsive season of television. This may have been aided by the fact that they didn't pull only from the first book, but used bits and piece of character information from later in the series. This enabled them to have a great deal more freedom in crafting the best series they could.
        As far as picking a favorite performance out of the season, who could I possibly pick? Would it be Sean Bean's Ned Stark, a man attempting some sense of honor in a dishonorable world? Or, would I pick Lena Headly's Cersei Lannister, who is both parts lizard-brained psychopath and tragic figure? Or what of Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister, who is small in stature but large in intellect? I tell you, I couldn't pick one.
        I'm fairly amazed that they were able to produce such a film-like quality, essentially raising the bar for all television production values. If I had to guess, I'd say that each episode must cost as much as a small film to produce, which is no small feat. All in all, it may have been one of my favorite seasons of television, ever.
         

Album Review: UP ALL NIGHT (One Direction)

Artist: One Direction


        So, I find myself in a bit of an odd position when it comes to voicing my opinion of One Direction's debut album, Up All Night. On the one hand, at this point Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik are, without argument, guys with wonderful voices. There's not once on the album where I could say that they did not sound lovely. On the other hand, it's an immensely uninspired series of songs that they happen to be singing.
        One can suppose the reason for this: since this is their first album since forming out of The X-Factor in 2010, the producers and managers/handlers wanted them to create something that was easily accessible for many. That would explain the "sampler plate" quality of  Up All Night. It's as though it's an assortment of bits and pieces of other songs or artists. Sometimes, this quality leads to interesting things.
        The Beatles-esque anthem "I Want" works as the strongest song on the album, with what seems to be a full band and a melody that nearly bounces around from side to side. It would be a wonder if that song didn't conjure up an on-tempo clap from the audience. The song "Taken" could be considered one I enjoy, if not for the fact that the instrumentation behind the vocals seems to think It's playing Tom Petty's "Free Falling." It leaves me to wonder, how much of One Direction is actually on One Direction's debut album? There seems to be this preoccupation with aping other styles (no pun intended), and perhaps this sort of thing got by the youth this was targeted towards. It's as though they were afraid to let the group display more of themselves, and to note, the actual members only have writing credits on two songs ( "Everything About You" "Same Mistakes").
        It's all kind of a shame. These are five guys with fantastic voices who are given music that seems to want to continue in the tradition of the Boy Bands of past glories (your N'SYNC's or your Backstreet Boys) but lacks some of the personality. In fact, I can't tell you why there are even five members of this group. Not once on the album do they warrant that as so many of their voices are so similar that they became nearly indistinguishable. The one truly good thing about this album is that the producers and songwriters were able to craft some rather catchy melodies that have yet to leave me.
     

My Favorite Concerts: Daikaiju at the Thirsty Hippo in Hattiesburg, MS

(RECOMMENDED LISTENING WHILE READING THIS: "Phase Two" by Daikaiju)

        So, I didn't expect the night to go as it did. I mean, clearly this band was bound to be... interesting. Their photo on the concert's Facebook page, a motley collection of shirtless lads with kabuki masks who were giving the camera a good bit of face-time and a small mass of people all collectively losing their minds, certainly peaked my interest. Also, I couldn't help but see a bit of a resemblance to the Psychos from the BORDERLANDS video game franchise, a favorite of mine. Needless to say, my interest was plenty piqued. 

        For those of you unfortunate enough to not live near The Thirsty Hippo, it's a place made of two spaces. The front area is a cozy area adorned with several places to sit and enjoy their fantastic burgers, sandwiches, salads, and deserts. Along with this comes a good assortment of beers, liquors, and cocktails. Nestled in the corner is a somewhat small stage, though I should say "small", as this is when compared to the stage in the larger area in the back. This larger area is much like the front...except there are no tables and there's a massive mural on the wall of different aspects of the state of Mississippi. So, basically nothing like it, save for the dim lighting in both areas. Now, Daikaiju played in the front area. This will become readily apparent as to why this location choice made for a much more interesting show.

        I have an unfortunate confession to make: I don't remember who opened for the band or even if there even was an opener. I would wager a guess, but I don't want to unintentionally offend any number of bands who may stumble upon this. So, we'll mention the headliners in question.

        As I hoped, they appeared just as their picture suggested. Five shirtless, Kabuki-masked fellas got onstage, not saying a word. The crowd gathered closer and had grown to a pretty decent size, filling much of the small-ish room. People were clearly excited, some apparently following the band around on tour. Elbow to elbow, we all awaited their first notes. When they began, they hit the ground running (and how else would a band like this begin?). Their sound a sort-of "surf punk" filtered through a touch of "post rock" affectations, with all of the energy of a "hardcore" show. So, essentially, everything I could want and more, with a circle-pit and everything. 

        They grew more animated over time, with the two guitarists eventually beginning to prowl through the audience, all the while their guitar chords dragging behind them. I suppose they just assumed the audience would trip over them, or maybe they just didn't care. I saw the wilder looking one occasionally take a beer bottle from some people, sling around what little beer was left in said bottle in the air (raining beer on everyone in the area), then handing back said bottle. Then he came to me, letting me get a good look at (and smell of) him: he had a long salt-and-pepper colored beard, and hair that followed suit...except for on the top of his head; he had apparently stripped down to a sort of loin-cloth; he smelled fairly rancid. Rock-Man (that's his name, I later discovered) looked at my empty bottle, then at me, and we both shrugged. A few minutes later, he came back by, looked at my still empty bottle, then took it from me and threw it to the floor. 

        Not long after this, a sort of tribal beat began on the drums as they were both crowdsurfed, piece by piece, to the middle of the floor. The guitarists and bassist followed suit. So, in this new configuration, the two drummers were set up in front of me, Rock-Man was standing in a chair to my right, Secret-Man (the other guitarist) was standing on the bar on the other side of the drummers, and Pulse-Man (the bassist) was standing on a chair to my forward left. The concert had taken on a new intensity. Secret-Man began a solo, then jumped into the audience while playing. He was crowd surfing and continuing his solo when the owner of the Thirsty Hippo jumped in (literally) as well, also surfing the crowd. 

        All at once, Blast-Man (the drummer) apperated a bottle of lighter fluid and doused both drumsets in a rather healthy amount. Then, flames. Both drummers (I don't know what the other drummer was called, so I'll call him Other-Man) were now playing flaming kits. Rock-Man apparently liked this idea so much that he also decided to light his guitar on fire, then proceeded to hand said flaming guitar to one of the audience members beside me, then danced around for a bit. 

        Then, using a series of head gestures and lots of pointing, Blast-Man instructed people to lift up each part of his drum set into the air. So we did, a different person holding a different part, all while some of us held up the chair in which Blast-Man stood. He played like this for a bit, managing to stay on tempo and maintaining that energy, before he decided that this clearly wasn't interesting enough. So, he grabbed hold of one of the rafters over his head, swung up onto it, then hung off it like a monkey and started playing while upside down. By this point, the audience had become a bit frenzied, both energized and amazed by what we were all seeing. A couple of smaller mosh pits had sprung up.

        Not long after this, the concert reached its endpoint. After a rather furious closer, there was one massive disharmonious chord that rang out. Each band member then handed off a different instrument to different audience members, apparently letting them play as the band just walked away, presumably out of the building and around to the back. The chord rang and rang, then the plain-clothes version of the band came out and packed everything up. The lights brightened and we all sort of collectively came to. Each and every person got leagues more than there money's worth that night, with people laughing and embracing, and being so absurdly alive in the couple of hours we had all just spent together. This was definitely one of my favorite concerts.