Track Review: Björk – Crystalline

Posted on June 27, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

Bjork - Crystalline
It’s been two months since Bjork began the campaign for her innovative iPad record Biophilia with the announcement her six show stay at the Manchester International Festival after a three year absence from touring the UK. Since then, we’ve seen a gorgeous revamp of her official website, samples from the album on the iPad app “Solar System,” and learned that two songs a month will be released in separate interactive iPad apps starting in June, leading up to a tentative September 26th, 2011 release date.

The promotion for the record also offered a few teasers on her YouTube channel for the track “Crystalline,” which will be the lead single from the record and was unfortunately leaked a few weeks earlier than it’s intended release.

Who’s being negative though? Bjork’s fanbase is of the utmost loyal and although the track was made available before the iPad app release of it, there’s no doubt that we will all be downloading it to see what Bjork has in store for the Apple users.

Let’s get to the song shall we? “Crystalline” continues Bjork’s experimentation in offering a place for organic and electronic sounds flourish within the same sonic realms of a single track. It’s a method that’s become constant in her releases – from the horn punches of “Enjoy” (produced by the legendary Tricky) from Post to the manipulated human voice on “Desired Constellation” from Medulla, it’s one of many signatures to Bjork’s infinitely creative craft.

The main traditional instrument used within the song is a Gamelan + Celeste hybrid instrument specifically made for Bjork and appropriately called a Gameleste (See a video of the beast in action here). It’s apparently one of a few custom made instruments used on the record as noted on a forum post at Cymbalholic by one of the makers of the instrument.

UPDATE: A video has been posted on Vimeo of the entire construction of the Gameleste and includes a short demonstration on how the instrument works mechanically, including a short piece on the MIDI controller controlling it! Totally awesome and highly recommended. All you have to do is CLICK HERE!

Beyond that, there may be hints of manipulated beat boxing in the main rhythmic lines in the song, but when it comes to picking out what’s actually been utilized and warped in a Bjork song, it’s best to leave speculation alone. For all we know, she and her team could have recorded the sounds of tree branches sucking in Carbon Dioxide, expelling Oxygen, and then following the air around the universe until it reaches somebody’s lungs, which then expels Carbon Dioxide, and then a kitten meows and it’s all put into Pro Tools where it’s made into the sound of a kick drum and placed within the track (one can only hope she reads that sentence, gets a grin on her face and then sends her engineers out to complete this task like the time where she asked someone to make the sound of “tiny flowers blooming” or something for a song on her Vespertine release).

Anyway, can we get into the part where she goes all Aphex Twin‘s “Come To Daddy” on us and unleashes a BEAST OF A DRUM AND BASS BREAKDOWN IN THE FINAL FIFTY SECONDS OF THE TRACK? OH MY GOD IT’S EPIC. THE TRACK GOES SPARSE FOR A FEW BARS AND THEN ERUPTS INTO A SEA OF PERCUSSION WHILE BJORK SINGS ABOUT OVERCOMING ANXIETY. Oh..shit..sorry for the caps lock. I got extremely excited. I mean, it’s not everyday you listen to a track where something comes out to offer a surprise and give you multiple eargasms by the end of it.

Interestingly enough, you’d think with the layers at the end of the track that the Dynamic Range would be crushed to hell and back and would make the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Californiacation” album look like a work of mastering art, but it maintains a healthy DR8. I am going off of a 320Kbps leak though. I’m sure full quality would show a tiny alteration of these results, but not by much. This is one hell of a mixed track. The liner notes of Biophilia will provide the answer to who is behind the engineering aspects of the track, but my finger is on long time collaborator and amazing mix engineer Mark “Spike” Stent. I see you!

Vocally, there’s never any words for a track by this artist. She’s perfect every single time and if you don’t believe me, check out this live performance of “All Is Full of Love” where she holds out the final note in one of the choruses perfectly for 17 seconds. There’s a nice short reverb on the “Crystalline” track that gives the track a bit more of an atmospheric depth to it.

The thing that makes this track work so well is how the instrumental of the track helps to narrate the subject of the song. Lyrically, on the surface, Bjork obviously sings the beauty of the crystalline of crystals, how they’re formed and all of that jazz, but underneath it all, it seems to be a tale of growth from within and conquering the negative energies we cope with. The sparse beginning and the harsh Gameleste provides a constant percussive feeling throughout the track of something being worked on (the crystals, or more metaphorically, ourselves) and toward the end of the song there is that gorgeous left-field explosion of both excitement and anxiety as she rejoices over “The sparkle you become when you concur anxiety”.

I could have this all wrong, again, it’s best not to overanalyze a Bjork song because Bjork is art. But, art is subjective, so sue me and leave a comment on how you feel about the track, it’s meaning, your feelings on the upcoming album, and the woman herself! I know I’m excited!!!!!! Oh..and check out the track for “Crystalline” below.

(Unfortunately, the YouTube track has the track pitched up slightly as to avoid copyright issues. Ahh..the intricacies of Entertainment law and Music Business!! You can find a great stream of the track in full quality on The Prophet Blog’s website).

UPDATE: View the gorgeous artwork for the single cover!
Bjork - Crystalline Single Cover

Track rating: 5/5

“Crystalline” is now available for purchase! Click Here! [iTunes]
Purchase .Wav and other formats of the song here! [bjork.com]

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Amazon MP3 Offers Vanessa Carlton’s “Carousel” for free!

Posted on June 12, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Carlton ditched her major record label (only signing with the NY based Razor and Tie after her record was completed) and traded in the polished sound of her first three records for a more standard approach to recording on her new project Rabbits On The Run, and she’s offering her gorgeous first single “Carousel” for free over on at AmazonMP3.

CLICK HERE TO GET IT!

The warm and unique feel of this track is something that’s hard to track down in modern day recordings, which is in part because of the involvement of producer Steve Osborne, who Vanessa hand picked out because of his dreamscape sound he built with the band Doves and also because of the decision made to record her entire album to analog tape.

It’s a smart move and one that works over the style she brings to the table in that while her signature songs “A Thousand Miles” and “White Houses” sound great on their own, it’s the more stripped sound of the songs we’re going to hear on this record that truly brings out the artistic integrity inside the extremely talented singer/songwriter.

“Carousel” provides beautiful lyrics, lovely instrumentation, a wonderful choir, and perhaps one of the best engineered tracks of 2011. This is a must have!

You can watch the music video for “Carousel” by clicking here and make sure you leave a comment letting us know what you think of the track! Also check out the video below. It offers some great behind the scenes footage of the making of Rabbits On The Run which is due out July 26th, 2011.


Many thanks to my friend and hardcore Vanessa Carlton fan – Martin, for providing me with some of the facts you read in this article.

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Album Review: Lady Gaga – Born This Way

Posted on May 24, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain


When Lady Gaga released her debut album The Fame, I disliked how it sonically sounded so much that I spent hours researching who was involved in the project and how it was put together. While there were sparks of genius (example: the delayed vocal on her breakthrough hit “Just Dance” and the layered harmonies on the chorus of “Paparazzi”), the songs were extremely over compressed and as a result, all of the songs didn’t sound loud, but they sounded dynamically flat.

Things changed for the better with her follow up EP The Fame Monster in that the eight tracks featured more depth in layers and introduced a dark and almost industrial sound to Gaga’s catalog of music. As a result, while the mixing and mastering (done by the same people who worked on her debut) once again ran hot, it gave the album more excitement, more dirt, more grit, and overall, great attention grabbing, purposefully distorted product.

Born This Way‘s technicalities are a mix between her debut and her followup. The biggest problem with it is that it’s loud the entire way through it’s 70+ minute run and by the end of it, the songs sound like they’ve run together at times and can tire an ear out. However, the loudness can sometimes enhance a song like the moody “Government Hooker” in that it introduces the triplet-double kick effect that “Dance in the Dark” is noted for, but on songs that introduce actual organic instruments like “Americano,” it creates chaos. The fact that the kick is so compressed and at the forefront of the mix that it’s literally kicking the living shit out of all of the other instruments in the mix, throws a song that would allow Lady Gaga to genre jump across the Hispanic highway, into a noisy clash of sounds that make the layered and distorted vocals sound like nails on a chalk board.

OKAY, SO BASICALLY IF I PUT ON “AMERICANO” IN A CLUB I WOULD HAVE TO TALK IN MY CAPS LOCK VOICE BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHING IS SO LOUD THAT YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO HEAR ME. CAN YOU HEAR ME? AM I YELLING LOUD ENOUGH? WHAT ABOUT NOW? NOW IT’S GOOD? GOOD!!!!!! “AMERICANO” SUCKS.

Beyond the problematic compression, Born This Way is filled with smart EQ to ensure everything has it’s own niche in the mix but doesn’t interfere with the clarity in the vocal. It’s a standard technique in the realm of mainstream pop music as a means to put the leader of the project at the forefront and ensure we all know the reason we bought the disc. On the Gaga disc, it’s not a bad thing at all. In fact, sometimes the instrumentation does mask the vocals, especially on “Government Hooker” where the dark synthesizers and heavy kick drum match Gaga’s vocals in terms of what gets your attention.  (If you haven’t noticed yet, “Government Hooker” is one bad ass mother fucker). “The Queen” also has some shining moments where the uplifting synthesizer takes over, but at times, it sounds as if the higher frequencies of the vox are fighting for power with the lead synth.

Nothing fights more than the Whitney Houston sounding vocals of “Marry the Night”. They fight holds a negative affect by having several instances throughout the songs where the vocal is so prominent in the mix that it distorts within the song (this is evident on the first line of the chorus, where the double vocals scream “I’m gonna marry..the night!”) Perhaps the distortion was put there on purpose, but on certain sounding speakers, especially the $9 Skullcandy headphones a lot of Little Monsters listen to her music on, the distortion sounds negative in a way that it’s going to blow the speaker apart. Though, looking passed the mixing flaws, “Marry The Night” is one of the strongest songs of the deluxe-22 song set and masks the negative fighting with the positive fighting of a strong melody and strong vocal performance.

Strong melody is something that drives Born This Way. In fact, after listening to the album several times, the thing that impresses me upon each listen is how well thought out the lyrical melodies have been written. Where the title track, “Born This Way,” has been tore apart since day one for it’s campy, almost novice lyrics and it’s bland, predictable instrument arrangement, it’s the Madonna inspired melody (and message about loving ones self, which is the epitome of what Lady Gaga stands for) is what truly carries the song.

Along with strong melody, vocal delivery also provides a creative impact in that several songs have Gaga sounding like she’s channeling a heartbroken country star during the 60’s. “Bloody Mary” is an evident example, where she laments of sitting on mountain tips and apathetically delivers the lines “I’ll dance, dance, dance with my hands, hands, hands above my head, head, head, like Jesus said,” in such a unique manner that gives her an almost Jim Morrison of The Doors like style.  The verses to “Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)” carry hints of an early Johnny Cash.

“Heavy Metal Lover” also provides a vocal delivery similar to the apathetic vibes of a dark vocalist of yesteryear and seals the fate that this album is an interesting hybrid of old and new. Maybe it’s because the songs were written while on the road, in front of a piano, or perhaps it’s just Gaga fusing her inspirations into her songs, but they work.

Beyond the outlandish claims I just made that probably have both those men rolling in their graves (though I hope not, those three songs are some of the album’s best moments), Gaga also gives us a taste of a Kylie Minogue style vocal on “Electric Chapel” before settling down with the Mutt Lange produced “You and I” (which features the nice chorused harmonies that Mutt’s known for).

All in all, it’s an interesting record. One that genre hops while staying in it’s place and one that has it’s problems but makes up for it in other aspects of the record. Has it lived up to the hype of “album of our generation” or “the best record ever”? Time will tell, but while I love this record, I still have my bets on her first two albums as forever having one of the biggest staples on pop music history.

And what do you think? Shout it out in a comment below!

PS – Check out “Scheiße” and “Bad Kids”. I didn’t mention them in this review but they are two bitchin’ tracks.

Album rating: 3.5/5

Purchase Born This Way Deluxe Edition [Amazon]
Purchase Born This Way Standard Edition [Amazon]
Purchase Born The Way Standard Edition [Amazon] – $0.99, Limited offer!*
Purchase Born This Way Deluxe Edition [iTunes]

* – This album could have an entire book dedicated to the marketing strategy of it. For more, see the review over at our friend Brad’s blog @ Muumuse.com. Him and I have been desperate for days to play the Gaga Word of the Day on Words With Friends. Update: He just played the word today. He’s entered into the contest. We hate him. Feud starting now. Just kidding. 😉

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Album Review: Moby – Destroyed

Posted on May 21, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

Destroyed Album Cover
People hate Moby. Whether it’s his personality or his music is up for wild debate, but even taking a glance at a few critical reviews of his latest album Destroyed, it’s quite obvious that a lot of people subjectively have it in for the self-proclaimed “little idiot.” Regardless, he’s sitting pretty in his new Los Angeles home and his new record (which comes accompanied with a book of gorgeous photography) isn’t all that bad.

One thing about Destroyed and one thing about almost every Moby release is that the build-ups in the songs and general changes within the songs are generally predictable. Something new will happen in a Moby track every four or eight measures and it will almost always happen on the downbeat. It’s not a bad thing, it’s classic composition and the majority of music today is constructed in such a manner. It can become quite tiring in a way that Timbaland productions since 2007 have become ubiquitous, but using such standard modeling form allows for an extremely cohesive and fluid experience, where you can easily allow the more important aspects of the music, you know, the actual music, to seep in and focus on the mood and emotion presented within a given track.

The album’s opening track “The Broken Places” provides the greatest example. A sparse opening based off of a delayed kick drum and a pad that sound mildly distorted before a more warm one joins a long side it. It’s a simple composition, but one that provides the isolated feeling meant to take the listener in through Destroyed‘s 60+ minute drive.

The mood on this record is that of an evolved version of his previous release Wait For Me. It’s somber, mournful, sad, but hopeful at times and considering the concept of Destroyed is one that is based off of Moby working on broken equipment in the small hours of the morning while on tour, how could it be anything less? If one thing is clear, this record is meant for nighttime listening. “The Violent Bear it All Away,” one of many instrumental tracks on the album, perhaps gives the best summary in that it contains piano and strings, infused with drum samples and electronics, that builds and comes down beautifully and creates a mood that’s both sides of the emotional spectrum. One especially nice touch to this track is that you can hear the pedals of the piano being touched, letting you hear the actual mechanics of the instrument, giving you a humanistic accent to a song that could have gone horribly wrong, like the closing track “When You Are Old,” which suffers from sounding extremely artificial and while it’s a nice track in theory, it drags on the end of the record.

Can you imagine  if “The Violent..”  it were completely programmed in Logic Pro using virtual instruments, then quantized and drowned in faux-reverb? It’d be the epitome of what Electronic music has been given a reputation for: being robotic and having no soul. Luckily, Moby has had soul since he opened the box of Alan Lomax field recording samples for his 1999 release that every critic seems to compare every one his his releases since. Though rarely, it’s a valid comparison sometimes, as tracks “Lie Down in the Darkness” and “Rockets” provide subtle flashbacks with their chopped up vocal loops that have been signature to a big bulk of his productions since Play.

While there are a lot of tracks on Destroyed that contain inklings from previous releases by the guy, they contain refreshing and unique twists that continue the legacy of solid electronic music. “Be The One” contains a highly vocated main vocal, as well as a blaring guitar that drones and rocks like something that would be featured on a Massive Attack track during their 100th Window era if the boys wanted to feature a guitar as a prominent instrument.

The true master of the vocoder and king of the album? “After.” An uptempo track driven by synths, string hits, and a hell of a lot of cleverly programmed drum beats. It’s a little bit dance, a little trance, a bit of alternative Hip-Hop, and a hell of a banger. Layers upon layers of vocals by both Moby and a backup crooner sent through a phaser sets the emotional mood while the beat plays out like RJD2 at his finest.

It’s no Play. It’s no 18. It’s no Last Night. It’s no Wait For Me. It’s Destroyed and it’s far from being a record you’d be willing to hit with a sledge hammer. Beyond the musical content, a super-ultra deluxe edition (that Amazon has on sale for $27) comes with a 100+ page book containing photography by Moby, while on tour, while making this record. It’s the essential companion to understanding the concept and thought process beyond Destroyed and if you can’t pick it up, you can head on over to the Destroyed Mini-site to stream the entire record and look at every photograph in the book.

Album rating: 3.5/5

What do you think about Moby? Destroyed? Love or hate? Leave a comment below..!


Purchase Destroyed [Moby’s website]
Purchase Destroyed with Book [Amazon]
Purchase Destroyed [iTunes]

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Track Review: Iamamiwhoami – ; John

Posted on May 16, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

Iamamiwhoami - ; JohnTrack by Track: ;john | Clump | Sever | Drops | Good Worker | Play | In Due Order | Idle Talk | Rascal | Kill

After a six month break between videos, iTunes releases, and a concert-esque performance piece on their official website (which is nothing but a black screen now), one of the most innovative artists in the music industry have come out of their foil wrapped, cardboard castles to unveil a new generation of videos & tracks, starting with the release of “; John” to Youtube and iTunes.

While there are currently no sources available to download any of Iamamiwhoami’s blossoming discography in a lossless format, the production on any given song by the project is so well executed in the engineering process that while a 256kbps download from iTunes still gives you noticeable loss in clarity, they still sound decent. Of course the gritty opening synth to “; John” would sound a thousand times more powerful in a 24-bit WAV format, but if you put your headphones on, there is an oscillation that flutters the opening synth so rapidly that it almost feels as if you can feel the flutter hitting your ear drums – a delightful treat for audiophiles and synth geeks.

As the track builds up, the more supportive rhythmic and percussive elements provide a very spacious stereo image, with the more driving 808-esque kick and 16th note snare hits reminiscent of Portishead‘s “Machine Gun”, providing the solid foundation for the choir of vocals (provided by Jonna Lee and possibly a few other voices or variations of manipulated layers of Jonna’s voice) that fade in with a few other snyths.

As quickly as the beat begins to lather, a drop in layers and breakdown of the build up gradually takes place, allowing room for the vocals and lyrics to be represented and boy are they unique! At least four vocal tracks, from the main vox, to whispers, to harmonies, to reverb aux’s, are all present within the verses of “; John” and when the entire mixing process for the vocals change when the chorus hits, it’s an interesting experimentation of a more raw sound, which is partly because of the switch in EQ’s, background layers, and a more prominent reverb and extremely slight delay, but possibly (don’t quote me on this one, pure speculation) the result of using two different microphones for the main vocals. One mic for verses, a different one for the chorus.

Above all, the track relies on layers, build up, breakdown, and the reliance of reverb to give a cutting edge grit sound, while keeping in mind a ethereal depth. Lyrical content is also important, is it tells a growing concept, which is what the project is known for. “Used to be clean, now I’m filthy as can be. Raise me up, I’m your slut.” are some powerful reoccurring phrases within the song which give the track more power.

It’s all very Iamamiwhoami signature sound. It’s all very cryptic. Everything can have multiple meanings, even musically. It’s gorgeous and I can’t thank Jonna Lee & Co. for continuing the project when we all thought it was over. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Speculation: I hear a dog barking on the break between the first verse and the chorus and also a male vocalist, or, again, a wet Jonna (har, har) vox, mixed low in the choir build up that is present throughout the track and also in the second verse during the phrase “now I’m granting you oil/art/all/on/whatever she says”

What do you think? I know you Iamamiwhoami fans are quite the talkative bunch (I often leave comments under the screen name RJ Eclectica). Leave a comment below! And check out ForsakenOrder’s video Analysis!

Track rating: 4.5/5


Purchase “; John” [iTunes]

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Track Review: Nikki Jean – Pennies in a Jar

Posted on May 12, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain


Hello! how are you? This is not a track review but more of a celebration. What exactly are we celebrating? Well, let me tell you a story..

Once upon a time in 2010, a very timid RJ from 2020k walked into the Ava Lounge in Pittsburgh, PA, armed with two friends who were dragged to see an upcoming Nikki Jean perform a set of songs from her forthcoming debut album, Pennies in a Jar. I had just finished an 8 hour shift as an intern at a recording studio downtown, was extremely exhausted from the long day. As I walked through the door, an upbeat Nikki instantly threw her hands up and walked over to offer a friendly introduction, thanking me for coming to the show. After a brief conversation, my friends and I sat down and I went from being tired to being extremely excited to see the show and show my support for an artist I’d been watching since 2007 when her YouTube channel (which she updates frequently) launched.

Through the years, she’d blog of frustrations of working at a coffee shop, to what it was like opening up Lupe Fiasco’s sophomore release The Cool to listen to the track “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” of which she was featured on. Also, the flawless releases of Longtail EP & Free Money EP by the band Nouveau Riche of which she provided lead vocals to, and everyday things like arranging meetups with her fans and sending them cookies.

Oh wait..? Weren’t we talking about a show? Yeah, sorry, sidetracked.. It was a minimal and extremely grounded & admirable production — just Nikki, her keyboard, some lights, and a couple fistfuls of happy faces all anxiously awaiting to listen to the tracks that we’ve been waiting forever to hear. It was flawless and afterwards we snapped a pic together.

“Anxiously” and “forever” seem like good words to describe Nikki Jean’s walk to stardom — but it’s finally upon us. With an album release date of July 12th, 2011, Ms. Jean has finally given us the first taste of what’s to come with the upload of the title track on her YouTube Channel. It’s a classic emotional production, with Burt Bacharach on the music and Sam Hollander on the production desk. Nikki? They’re her words, her lyrics, her voice, her vision and this track is the reason for our celebration!

Track rating: 10 out of 5. Off the Richter Scale and why? Let me tell you..

Sometimes music doesn’t have to be based on whether it has the dynamic range of a saint or some Christ-like reverb. It doesn’t have to have sparklings of lyrical genius or instrumentation that pluck your heartstrings. Luckily, this song has all of those traits and more, but it’s given a 10 out of 5 because it moved me. Nikki’s entire journey has inspired and continues to influence me. At the end of the day, isn’t that the true point of music?

Needless to say, I’m anxiously awaiting the release of the album. You’ll get an actual review of this song when the entire album is released and I have a lossless copy in my hands.

* – Don’t worry. The Nouveau Riche EP’s were uploaded to Mediafire by the band. They’ll love you if you download it.

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Track Review: Solange tackles Boards of Canada once more with “Left Side Drive”

Posted on May 2, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain


Solange Knowles isn’t a stranger to collaborating with some of the world’s most most unique artist’s. 2008’s Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams took on a team consisting of (but certainly not limited to) Thievery Corporation, Mark Ronson, Soulshock, Bilal, and Boards of Canada themselves. Years later, Solange released the free song “Under Construction,” which found the songstress once again borrowing from Thievery, so it comes as no shock that she’s taken yet another Boards of Canada beat to throw her soulful musings over.

In “Left Side Drive,” Solange left the original Boards instrumental untouched, instead, completely focusing on vocal production that compliments and adds a fresh take to the already perfect song by the same name. The most stunning production aspect that allows Solange’s vocals to over top of the track is the gorgeous reverb that are prominently heard on the verses. As with most R&B productions, vocals are often left with a loud and dry sound as to allow more room for mass compression to ensure every syllable sung is presented in megaphone form and ready to compete with the cesspool of mundane music that floods our satellite and FM stations daily – Solange doesn’t play that game on this track. Instead, her vox tracks are manipulated and wet to fit in with the track’s psychedelic and chill out vibe. While her vocals are compressed to be heard and present above the track, there is clear dynamic range heard throughout the verses, with a heavier setting on the chorus to allow build.

The chorus of the track also contains a vocal double, panned left and right to allow the vocals to be an even more powerful and spaced out. At times, she may sound too loud for fans of the purest Boards of Canada beat, but in the realm of R&B, it’s classic and almost necessary to ensure the vocalist shines above everything else. While it certainly could be an issue during the strong parts of the song, the Sandison’s production is still clearly heard and would sound even better if the track were to be released in lossless format, instead of the MP3 we’ve been given.

Several delays are also cleverly automated and present throughout the track, mainly on the last word of each phrase in the verses, filling the void where lyrics are not present and adding a bit of depth within the empty spaces.

As for the instrumental itself? It’s perfect and like the article for “1969” that was posted just yesterday, I could go on for pages about it’s subtleties and admirable production that makes everything Boards of Canada touches, perfect.

Track rating: 4/5

Stream Solange’s “Left Side Drive” [rap-up.com]
Purchase “Trans Canada Highway” from Boards of Canada [Amazon]
Purchase “Left Side Drive” from Boards of Canada [iTunes]

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Flashback: Boards of Canada – 1969

Posted on May 1, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

GeogaddiIn mid-February of 2002, Boards of Canada geared up for the release of their highly anticipated and faux controversial sophomore release, Geogaddi. News of the band being involved in Satanic and alternative surroundings soon flourished through social media and press related releases, which eventually caused the brothers to cave and do several interviews themselves to clear up reputation issues and state that they were just two musicians interested in composing and putting together music.

It’s easy to see how such accusations could spread. Prior to the release of Geogaddi, an Extended Play entitled In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country was delivered to the public and contained several references to the notorious U.S.A. based Branch Davidians led by David Koresh. In fact, an image of Koresh is used in the album artwork for the EP. As a follow up, Geogaddi contains a track called “1969” which contains a vocal sample which contains a back masked message that, when reversed, says the name “David Koresh.”

However, putting aside the bad press (or good, depending on how you look at it) surrounding the Sandison’s during this era of their music, “1969” is one of the most phenomenal tracks on the record and has since become a fan favorite, some even dubbing it one of the band’s signature songs. On the surface, it’s an easily accessible Electronic jam with rhythmic aspects which, in structure, subtly hint toward hip-hop and several manipulated vocal samples to create a spoken melody. It carries a summer vibe, with bright synth pads, beautiful atmospherics and a strong percussion presence.

Digging deeper, it’s actually possible to completely lose yourself inside the song. Just thinking about the signal chain and technicalities it took to create the crisp atmosphere that the percussion executes during the song is head spinning. There’s smart equalization on the hats and snare to give them an extremely crisp sound and by taking out the majority of the low end of such instruments, allows the huge kick and bass a distinct amount of low-frequency space to roam about the song without sounding muddy. Following EQ, is a compressor of some sorts which sounds absolutely wonderful on every single instrument it’s outputting. The kick packs punch, the snare has smack – it’s perfect and while the compressor runs hot, it’s not squashing the dynamics of the tracks in the slightest. To top it all off? The most beautiful reverb placed on the whole of the kit, with a separate and more prominent verb on the snare.

“1969” shows us what subtle & specific EQ cuts and boosts can do for a mix. The track’s first set of vocal samples do not sound cluttered against the sharp high’s of the snare and hi-hat, but instead are balanced in a mid to high frequency range and produce different harmonics because of the pitch shifting Boards of Canada applied to it. It’s interesting to note that the same lyrics are featured in  “Poppy Seed (Boards of Canada Remix)” by Slag Boom Van Loon, but the vocals sound completely different from each other. It’s safe to say that a vast amount of processing was done on the “1969” samples to allow them to be more melodic and fit into the song more.

The second set of lyrics, “1969 in the sunshine,” utilize a chorus effect to stick far out into the mix and grab the listeners attention over anything else playing, but still allowing for the other aspects of the track to sound consistent.

The best thing about this track is the fact that everything is attention seeking at one point or another, but nothing fights for your attention. A song where all parts remain equal and balanced, but at the same time, can completely captivate you at different moments in the song, and different moments upon each listen is something to be cherished and celebrated. “1969” accomplishes this and allows the track to ebb and flow and sound  effortlessly put together. If I were the Sandison’s I would be proud.

In fact, the list of things Marcus Eion & Mike Sandison should be proud of could go on for an infinite amount of pages. Genre defying albums, layered samples reminiscent of childhood and the Occult, a idiosyncratic style of production utilizing mainly analog means, and a diehard following that currently has a 51 page thread at the fansite twoism.org, on a small black box which appeared on the discography section of the band’s website – each one of the members (myself included) refreshing daily, hoping for a sign of a new release.

Note: This article was supposed to give an overview of the entire Geogaddi experience, but literally every single track on the record could be broken down into an eight hundred word article. It’s not a coincidence that this is Boards of Canada’s most successful album to date. It’s worth a listen, two listens, five million listens. Just purchase it, or at the very least, check out “1969”.

Purchase “1969” [iTunes]
Purchase Geogaddi [Amazon.com]

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Album Review: The Weeknd – House of Balloons

Posted on April 30, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

The Weeknd - house of balloonsI am a bit late to review this one, but it’s because House of Balloons by The Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) is one of the best R&B records to be released in the past million years. So perfect, in fact, that I’ve struggled to come up with the words to describe it’s perfection. In short, you should probably just download it for FREE from the official website so you can be speechless and share the same mind blowing experience as I had.

But you want a review? Okay..let’s get right into it!

Perhaps one of the most stunning and awe-inspiring moments on House of Balloons is “The Morning”. It’s contents of a pitched down and delayed opening kick, subtle and beautiful sweeping pad (that’s uniquely used at the forefront of the mix in replace of a lead Synth), and a prominent guitar wet with reverb offers a foundation not much found in the urban music. Rhythmic elements & production that are classic to the genre’s sound flow throughout the track as well giving this track an intelligent combination of old school vs new school.

Lyrically & emotionally, you could call House of Balloons the R&B brother to Nine Inch Nails’ critically acclaimed release The Downward Spiral as it’s an eerily dark, and almost conceptual album about self-destruction. Tales of money, alcohol, drugs, and sex hold high among the rankings of what this album is about and while the majority of the mainstream R&B genre has a reputation of being dedicated to these four subjects; the matter is delivered in a way that feels fresh and most importantly, poetic. Perhaps, it’s because of the honesty in the way the lyrics are presented throughout the song.

Toward the end of the Beach House sampled track “The Party & The After Party” you’ll find the offending lines “I got a brand new girl, call her Rudolf/She’ll probably OD before before I show her to Momma./All these girls try to tell me she got no love/but all these girls never ever got a blow job./Ringtone on silent/and if she stops then I might get violent. No calls worth stopping/So Momma please stop calling.” In written form these words speak volumes and are the epitome of the content provided within this album.

Beach House aren’t the only artists sampled on this mixtape of sorts. You’ll also find Aaliyah & Siouxsie and the Banshees chopped from their original sources and inserted into Tesfaye’s realm of depression and while sampling has gotten a horrible reputation over the years of being uncreative and used merely as a scapegoat to hide lack of talent and to pump out tracks more quickly, the borrowed works of other artists on The Weeknd’s debut are uniquely warped, pitched, looped, and only enhance the overall mood of House of Balloons.

Perhaps that’s why this album succeeds so much. It takes all of the negative reputations of modern day music and presents them in a fashion that’s uniquely shocking, creative, and pleasing to the ears while holding a high sense of dignity and respect in each and every track. If this free release is any indication on what The Weeknd is fully capable of, I am ready and look forward to what’s coming next.

Album rating: 5/5


Free download of House of Balloons [Official Website]

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Track Review: Burial – Street Halo Vinyl

Posted on April 12, 2011 by 2020k | RJ Kozain

Street Halo CoverTake a quick look at some YouTube comments on a couple of his songs and you’ll find a plethora of dark settings that the listener imagines while lettings the soundwaves of a Burial cut infiltrate his or her ears. Mood is pivotal to the music he creates.  Without the vinyl cracklings, atmospheric sound effects, long reverbs, and somber pitch-bent vocal cuts, the tracks would have far less impact on the emotional toll the listener takes while listening to his music.

Luckily, the artist knows what sounds good and continues to evolve his signature sound with the three track Street Halo vinyl release. Distant remnants of dubstep’s wobbling bass? Check. Unique clicks and mid-range sounds for snare and hi-hats? Check. Depressing, but hopeful atmosphere? Double check. It’s all there and still sounding absolutely amazing.

To play along with everything that makes a Burial track stand out, there are a few new techniques utilized throughout the twelve-inch’s run. A more cinematic and dance-trance vibe surrounds the title track “Street Halo” and even introduces a few guitars half way through, which are creatively equalized to showcase mid-range and drenched in reverb. Pulsing and nicely compressed aspects are also introduced in the bulk of the mix. “Stolen Dog” also shows a step forward in production with the addition of a warm synthesizer which has a beautiful ASDR envelope that allows it to sound reverberated without using any at all (although there are several other tracks within the song that do put reverb on the synth to give it some extra depth).

The best piece on the vinyl is highly debatable, but I’d like my vote to go toward “NYC”. Starting from a very scarce landscape, the track is engrossed in minimal instrumentation with subtle accents that provide a platform for the sampled vocals to shine. They might possibly be strung together in a way that tells the most cohesive story in all of the Burial’s discography (next to “Archangel”). “When you know this is love..when I’m around you. NYC. Nobody loves me, no.” Throughout the track, dozens of effects are thrown on top of the vox and put into the mix at various points to provide an even deeper perception on the subject matter of the song. It’s the simplest of the bunch, but most impactful.

If this release is any indication on what’s to come from the third Burial record, I’m ready.

Single release: 5/5

Purchase Street Halo Vinyl [BoomKat]
Purchase Street Halo Vinyl [Amazon]

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