Thankfully, on the Dodos' No Color, they manage to do both.
That line is from album standout "Good," a 6-minute song that recalls the unpredictability of 2008 Visiter's "Joe's Waltz," a song with two distinct halves. While "Good" is a bit more polished, I think that its similarity to that song speaks for the entire album's style: it is a return to the form of Visiter but with more sheen and editing.
While the Dodos uncut are probably the best kind of Dodos, this actually works in the album's favor. The songs overall are much more concise than those on the band's three previous albums, but they also manage not to lose steam and are just great all the way through. "Sleep" is under 4 minutes long, nearly unheard of from the Dodos, but with its catchy chorus and featured spot from Neko Case, who also sings on "Good" and, amongst others, "Don't Try and Hide It," another highlight, the song quickly becomes one of the most memorable album.
"I cannot sleep/I cannot think/I cannot dream," sings Meric Long on "Sleep;" those lines speak well for the album, which is at first hyperactive and then, almost abruptly, sleepy and more introspective. Opener "Black Night" is raucous; 5 tracks later we have the decidedly hush "When Will You Go," which features Long's falsetto and has been bandied by critics as a highlight. The song reminds one more of Time to Die with its obvious production sheen but imbues it with the same spirit that embodies "Black Night."
The more mellow latter half of the album is not as immediately enticing, but the songs alternate between beautiful and interesting. While you'll love "Sleep" from the first play, a song like "When Will You Go" will command more listening time if only so you can discover its intricacies and attractive spots that are less readily enticing.
A song that is a personal favorite and reminds one of debut Beware of the Maniacs is "Hunting Season," which sounds bound for commercial or indie movie inclusion. Little oddities like this really show the band's ability to combine their intense percussion of old with their electric guitars and normalcy of late. It has its feet planted firmly in both camps, and the combination is interesting if subtle. It probably won't stand out for other people as much as it does for this reviewer, but the Maniacs vibe is much appreciated in a world that seems to think the band started with Visiter.
"Companions" is a real grower but ends up being a stand-out track. The classical-sounding guitar in the beginning really makes the song, which sounds laden with reverb and other production effects that you wouldn't really hear on their first two albums. It's the most interesting track on the album, stylistically; it sounds quite unlike anything else the band has done before. It's an experimental sort of song that really pays off and shows off the band's talent and versatility.
Overall, No Color combines the best of the band's previous albums to make a holistic, interesting, and engaging package that you will want to listen to again and again. Unlike Time to Die, it's not at all a disappoint. The Dodos still have plenty of color, and they are both "on" and "good.
No Color gets 4 and a half Neko Case guest vocals out of 5.
Download: "Good" (It's an .m4a so be prepared for that)
Also check out: "Sleep," "Black Night," "Companions"
Buy No Colorhere.
P.S. Sorry this review was suckish but I'm tired. The Dodos deserve better than this. Please check them out.
P.P.S. also lawl I really love "Good." The past two post titles have come from it. It's awesome.
Still digging the Dodos' No Color. I hope to get a review up before the end of the month. Senior year wasn't supposed to be this STRESSFUL, second semester!
SXSW was last week (or so) and the Dodos were there livening up the joint. Thankfully, AOL taped the whole thing for us non-goers to indulge in. Here's their entire, No Color-heavy set. (Can I just say that, if you have time to play both B-side "All Night" AND Time to Die's "Longform," couldn't you find time for something from Visiter? You have four albums out now, guys. Really. You got to indulge us fans a bit more.)
Yesterday Cartoon Network, the channel that reigned supreme over my youth but then went to the crapper when it started showing LIVE-ACTION SHOWS, held its annual upfronts.
What happened of interest? Well, for one, Genndy Tartakovsky's (Dexter's Lab) Sym-Bionic Titan was canceled, effectively killing what was probably the most original cartoon on television. I wasn't a raging fangirl but every episode that I saw of it just struck me as being some incredibly inventive; it's certainly the only animated show on TV whose main character barely talks. It reminds me of the extremely popular Samurai Jack for this reason, which was also made by Genndy; however, I felt like this show could be slightly more accessible, maybe because of its setting. However, I guess the complicated nature of its plot probably hindered it, and so now the only decent cartoons left on the channel are Adventure Time and Regular Show, which you need to watch because they're great.
Some new cartoons were given premiere dates, like the godawful Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, which originated on the canceled Cartoonstitue project as "Uncle Grandpa." It was HORRIBLE. I don't see a bright future for the show, which doesn't have a set air date yet, but I guess it's possible that it will appeal to the Adult Swim crowd, maybe?
Speaking of Adult Swim, they passed on the disturbing, unfunny, obnoxious Problem Solvers -- smart move. Would have been better had their sister CN not picked it up instead! This show will be encroaching upon my beauteous Monday Night awesome cartoons black with its garish colors and Flash animation. You can watch the pilot on Youtube. I warn you, though, it could cause you to develop epilepsy. Also it sucks, a lot.
Other things in the works are a bunch of boring looking superhero shows (Green Lantern stands out; I always liked how he was black in Justice League Unlimited) and the Looney Tunes Show, which is about the Looney Tunes characters living in suburbia and having suburbia-related problems. Aside from the ugly CGI Road Runner shorts, it actually looks pretty decent. I like its style and its premise.
Finally this show has been in development for awhile now and will finally be premiering with Looney Tunes in May: The Amazing World of Gumball. I had high expectations because of the ADORABLE character designs but this preview didn't exactly wow me. Gumball is pretty cute, though.
So, that's that. We'll see how these shows do. It looks like Cartoon Network won't be heading into any Golden Age again any time soon, but at least we still have AT and RS. And I'm excited for Looney Tunes and Gumball, no matter what.
So I've been listening to No Color a lot lately. Love it. I hope to get a review out by the end of this month.
But right now I'd just like to post this link to an interesting article I read about a presumed "Tina Fey backlash." I'm a huge 30 Rock, and thus by extension Tina, fan, and so I found this article particularly engrossing and thought-provoking. A lot of points are brought up that made me really consider her role as a feminist figure, if she even is one.
When she was a head writer on SNL they always made it a point to say that she wrote some of the dirtiest jokes, after all. It's not like she really powered ahead in female characterizations on the show. It was great to have her as head writer but how else did she innovate then?
And 30 Rock is about a female showrunner whose show is called The Girlie Show. I just used the word "show" three times in that sentence. ANYWAY, despite this fact, from the very first episode it's taken over by a guy, which was not Liz's choice but not something she's neccessarily fought against. The rest of the writing staff is either male or asexually female, aside from Liz, who herself is a little pathetic. I love her and I respect her and she's one of my favorite characters of all time, but Liz isn't exactly a great role model for girls. She's not terrible, and she's easily the best on the show, but in the grand scheme of things? I don't.
Anyway, read the article and let me know how you feel. Here's the link.
I'm sure you've heard of Rebecca Black's "Friday." Really, does it need introduction?
This video is at once revolting, off-putting, and hilariously awesome. My life increased in hilarity by about 150% after my first three viewings. And now, so will yours.
If you are of the opposing opinion that "Friday" is actually one of the worst songs ever created then I'm sorry that you are either 1. blind or 2. a sad person. "FRIDAY" MAKES THE WORLD GO 'ROUND. WE SO EXCITED GURL.
And then there is this.
This song is actually kind of decent but Alana Lee's constant scowling and the STINKING HILARIOUS climax towards the end makes me die laughing. "YES ALANA LEE WE UNDERSTAND YOUR BUTTERFLIES AND WE APPROVE." Too much. This song has been getting some play as the company's only decent song.
Ah, the company, you ask? What is the company? The company would be Ark Music Factory, which produces all of these songs and videos. (There are a LOT of them. Seriously. A LOT.) Basically you have to undergo a lengthy process to be accepted into their company; then, I BELIEVE (don't quote me on this), you have to pay them a fee and they will make you a song and video. They will also market you, although they didn't do such a great job of that. Did you know "Friday" has been around for a month but only has been popular for a week? Yeah, excellent, Ark. You know how to get your stuff out there, for sure.
Well, there you have it. I'm sure both of those songs are stuck in your head now, like they are in mind. And as for me, well, I gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.
I used to not like listening to music sung by girls. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I just did not like female-fronted bands or female singers of any variety for the most part. I used to be vaguely misogynistic despite my being a girl, so maybe that had something to do with it. Thankfully, I've grown up and out of that strange mindset and now I dig female singers as much as male singers. Yay for personal growth!
As I became less and less generalizing it seemed like female-fronted bands became more and more popular and mainstream. We grew out of our weird, awful hard rock/nouveau boy band pop punk phase and made some room for both girl singers and bands of these genres and others. Let's look at some of them, good and bad:
Paramore
This is one of, if not the single most popular mainstream girl-led band. Paramore started out back in '06-ish but hit it big with their album RIOT!, which is a pretty fun title, I must concede. People, girls and guys alike, really liked their take on the whole pop punk phenom that was starting to peter out by the time they hit it big. Lead singer Hayley seems to be the standard amongst girl-fronted rock bands these days; she's the frontwoman and really the face of the band, and groups with girls as the lead singer are generally compared to Paramore by default.
While I'm not a big fan by any means, the thing I like about these guys is while they're undeniably "emo"-tinged pop they're willing to be a bit more inventive with their sound than, say, Fall Out Boy. Check out their massively-popular single "The Only Exception" for a sense of what I mean. (By the way "That's What You Get" is not only my favorite by them, not that I know that many, but it's also one of my favorites to play in Rock Band 2. Just sayin'.)
Similar Artists: Hey Monday stands out as one that is particularly derivative. They're like Paramore-lite; they boast a girl singer, less notable than Hayley Williams with her naturally-colored hair, surrounded by a bunch of guys. The difference is that they're much less energetic; they may have a similar image but the similarities really end there. One friend compared them to Taylor Swift, which is probably not what they're going for but is, sadly for them, a pretty good comparison.
Also, Tegan and Sara have their punky energy and are even more talented -- and they're just two people! Also, I'm a twin so I'm biased.
Best Coast
This is a niche that has recently become popular - 50s/60s-inspired surf and/or trippy pop. Best Coast stands out as one particularly notable example; they've achieved fame in the blogosphere and even had their music featured on the UK Skins, which I fangirled about a couple of posts ago. (It was Liv's episode if you want to check it out.) Much like Paramore lead singer/guitarist Bethany is such a strong central figure that you sometimes forget that this isn't a solo project. The songs have a really defined sense of character: Bethany is a bit pathetic in her misadventures in relationships. To cope she hangs out with her cat and does drugs. It's all good on the Best Coast -- okay, not literally, but all of their songs are upbeat and take you back to a simpler time. Check out songs like "Crazy For You" and "Each and Every Day" for a sense of both their poppy charm and sad sack lyricism.
Similar Artists: The Dum Dum Girls are another 60s-sounding band making huge waves in the underground these days. While Best Coast has a bit of a modern edge to them, these ladies sound like they were transplanted from the early 60s. It's pretty nifty, as the kids might have said back then. (What would I know about that though?)
Amy Winehouse
You may think that this woman is irrelevant these days. Since her 2007 album Back to Black, she's spiraled downwards, walking around barefoot until finally fading away into obscurity. So, yes, fine, I will see your "Amy is out of the limelight," but I will raise you a "Without Amy you wouldn't have Adele." And why is this important? Adele is the latest British import who has risen to the top of the charts with her soul-inspired pop, and I'd argue that we wouldn't have her without Amy Winehouse. She may have been the Charlie Sheen of her day (oh, haven't you heard? He's crazy. Maybe you didn't know, I mean, it's not like every single person in America and possibly the entirety of Europe, yes, the entirety of Europe, this includes Luxembourg, has been talking about him incessantly for going on four weeks now, no, it's not like that at all) but "Rehab" alone shows just how talented she is. She's a trendsetter, although thankfully not in the world of hair fashion.
Similar Artists: Adele aside, Duffy. Personally I don't believe either of these women are as talented as Amy Winehouse but I guess it's subjective. I don't think they're untalented, though, of course, although Duffy reminds me of Kristen Chenowith to a degree that I'm not comfortable with.
Warpaint
Okay, mostly I just love these ladies. They're young and yet they have this really mature sound, as if they've been working to perfect it for so long. Their name has been tossed around the indie scene for a year or two now, and last year they released an album of songs that mistily oozed into each other. They are shoegaze in the least-obnoxious way; they have a sense of humor, a youthful quality about them, and yet they still manage to enshroud everything they do in fog and make it work so perfectly. I wax poetic about them like crazy, and I mean that in a literal way, okay? Thank you.
These girls rock when it's necessary and then take you out of this world. It's really quite something.
Similar artists: Wye Oak is a definite contemporary. They recently released their album Civilian to great reviews, including an "A" from the wonderful AV Club. Their song "Take It In," from their previous album The Knot, reminds me a lot of Warpaint's most spellbinding songs, like "Set Your Arms Down;" it's almost cult-like in its repetitiveness (in Warpaint's song's case, the chanting; in this song's case, the drums) and it's just transcendent of all things. It pierces the inner machinations of your mind! Deep.
While these ladies stand out the most to me, they are hundreds of other examples to choose from. I had to force myself not to start ranting about how great First Aid Kit is, and I was even tempted to mention Miley Cyrus. Sometimes you have to know your boundaries.
Also I'm leaving out notable musicians and icons like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and others, but hey, we always read about them, don't we? Once in awhile Warpaint needs a turn.
What are your favorite female-fronted bands/musicians?
P.S. Why do I always write so much about music? And by "so much" I mean the posts that I write about music always take me far longer than any other posts -- I wrote this over the course of two days, for example. (And my Beulah/Weezer "epic" took 6 hours.) Ever notice that? It's interesting.
P.P.S. The Dodos' No Color comes out today! Buy it! Expect a review sometime this week or next, whenever my copy gets here!
Whenever I become aware of someone or something it seems to envelop my everything, regardless of whether I want it to or not.
Weirdly, this is what happened with Lisa Ling. Sure, I'd heard of her, but once her sister got holed up in Korea last year and she was on TV everywhere crying about it (as she should have been, of course!) it seemed as if she never went away.
And now on Oprah's surprisingly decent/entertaining new TV channel, OWN, Lisa has her very own show called Our America with Lisa Ling, which is a sort of documentary series that covers taboo topics; so far she's done sex offenders, transgendered people, for example.
Last week's episode was, interestingly, about the idea (movement) of "praying the gay away." It's being rerun right this very minute, actually, with a follow-up airing afterwards. It's a very enthralling subject, and to see these people recognize the fact that they've had these attractions and yet deny them so vehemently is something that I don't think I can ever really understand.
I love watching specials about subjects like these. May I recommend National Geographic documentary specials (like the ones on the Amish and Mail-Order Brides) and MTV's True Life if you, too, are interested in these little-covered areas of society?
My love for Pokemon is eternal. It is everlasting. It is white-hot. It is glorious.
I finally got my copy of Pokemon Black yesterday and holy rhombus, that opening is spectacular. Easily the best Pokemon opening ever (objectively, anyway). For a second there I thought I had perhaps been shipped the wrong game...this was sweeping, epic JRPG-quality stuff.
I'm itching to play more of the game right now but I have boat loads of homework. Here's the opening so you can watch it yourself.
So normally I love being a baby. Okay, I'm 17, which is pretty far removed from being a baby, but I'm still younger than the majority of my friends. My birthday's in December (HEY YO) so while everyone else is able to vote or buy cigarettes or whatever the heck else an 18 year old can do by the end of senior year, I, alas cannot. This isn't usually a point of concern for me; as I said, I love being the youngest one around, as if it gives me more of an excuse to act immature and idiotic. But today, almost immediately after talking about internships with my sister (at my school in order to graduate seniors have to get an internship which they do in lieu of going to class for a month or so) I go on Kotaku and see this:
Kotaku Looking for Eager Interns in NYC
Joy! Glee! Happiness! Other positively-associated emotions! I love Kotaku, and I've been hoping that they'd post something like this for, like, a year now.
Aspiring writers: Kotaku is bringing in another round of editorial interns! Do you…
• Live in the New York City metro area?
I live a train ride away from NYC! Huzzah! Everything is looking great so far until, so anticlimactically, I reach a stumbling block.
• Are you over 18?
...curses. Over 18? I'm not even a day away from 18. I'm barely 17! How can an inanimate number, so minuscule in the grand scheme of things, crush my dreams so swiftly?
And then I realize, you know, this bulleted list is not over. Surely, being 18 is an important aspect (not that it should be) but look at the other points of "requirement":
• Want to learn how to work in the games press?
• Have a laptop and a better-than-average command of English? (Better than us, I'm saying?)
• Maybe, kind of, sort of heard of a few videogames?
All three of these points are readily applicable to me! I love video games, even if I'm not someone who plays them constantly. In fact, much of the time I am more interested in gaming news, and so Kotaku is so perfect for me. Obviously it's not just a site run by writers who like talking about games instead of playing them (not that that is necessarily true of me, either) but writing about video games, and just writing in general, is one of my admittedly few passions, and so, in sum: I really need this stinking internship. I more than just want it, I honestly think I need it. How can I breathe without Kotaku?! How can I live?! (I'm a little insane, but you should know that already.)
So, even if they throw out my application because I am not some arbitrary number that really should have no bearing on the matter when I'm giving free reign to do as I please instead of going to school starting the third week of May, I am going to apply for this internship. We'll see how that goes.
In other news, Pokemon Black and White was released here in the USA yesterday. I still haven't gotten it but it should be coming soon...not that I'll have time to play it :( Senior year is surprisingly busy.
Check out this review by IGN (I'm not a particularly huge fan of them/their reviews but whatever):
If you didn't know, the entirety of Hey Arnold! is available on Netflix Streaming. You should watch it right now. I especially recommend what I believe to be the best episode of the show, "Helga on the Couch." You know that Very Special Episode feature over at the AV Club? If I worked there and could write a column for that feature I would totally write about this one. Maybe.
So go watch it. I leave you with this cool "Trivial Facts" version of it that I found on Youtube.
On an unrelated note, why is the best series of The IT Crowd not available on Instant Streaming?! I want to watch "The Work Outing" darn it! That's another Very Special Episode right there. So funny.
That line is from album standout "Good," a 6-minute song that recalls the unpredictability of 2008 Visiter's "Joe's Waltz," a song with two distinct halves. While "Good" is a bit more polished, I think that its similarity to that song speaks for the entire album's style: it is a return to the form of Visiter but with more sheen and editing. 
