Junior Boys – So This is Goodbye

When it comes to electronic music, the brand that Junior Boys has created is definitely some of the easiest to get into. Accessible and yet heady with minimal tendencies, the kind of music this duo crafts is both masterfully composed and easy to get lost in. Their second album, So This is Goodbye, focused on a brighter kind of sound than their first album and before the moody soundscapes of Begone Dull Care, the cover art fittingly portrays the kind of music behind the veil. The title track rests at the heart of the album and starts with a slow burning shroud of color. The synthesizer is the only constant here with everything around it acting as pure atmosphere. There’s a foggy sort of dissension and the lyrics are pointedly poignant, “So this is goodbye, no need to lie.” This is the kind of album you could play at the dark of night, in your bedroom, with nothing but your headphones surrounding your ears as the beats blast away. And when this song hits, it’s as if everything lets loose: a certain kind of blissful swaying and easily one of the album’s many highlights.

Before the album ends, you get this other song that also begins with a cloud of atmosphere: bits and pieces of robotic sounds before the piano takes main stage. At first I was floored with the lyrics about feeling entirely alone when no one is around to vent to, or to love, “When No One Cares” is a Frank Sinatra cover. The version by Junior Boys removes the strings from the original and replaces them with pacing keyboards that lightly glimmer in the background, because the star of the show here is the aching vocals. “You’re like a star that dies…and seems to keep on dying.” On Sinatra’s version there is this huge cascade of strings that definitely support, but don’t take over. Instead, Sinatra’s voice melts with the strings and although I’m still a fan of the version by Junior Boys, there had to be Sinatra suffering heartbreak and finally coming out of his shell for us to even have “When No One Cares.” It’s always awesome to listen to such sad words when there is no current sadness in the heart simply because you can take everything at face value; instead of being entirely sad with it. If that makes sense – either way, great music all around. – Bryan

Los Zafiros - "He Venido" (BB)

All good things must come to an end. Some of the features will say that all bad things must come to an end. Either way you look at it, it’s going to end very soon and while it’s sad, it’s enough to reflect and realize what’s good in life and Breaking Bad is very, very good. The music they use is impressive, for lack of a better word. Everything from the likes of America, to Thee Oh Sees, to Calexico, to old jazz numbers, to Fever Ray, to Danger Mouse, to Apparat, to so much more.

This particular song is played when the RV is destroyed and the faces of the two characters who worked on it are priceless. Dejected, somewhat depressed, almost demur; they play this love song that fits more in terms of sound, rather than lyrically. I’ll use these words to dedicate it to the special one in my life and I’ll use this chance to dedicate this post to the show. Maybe I can get around to showcasing some more of that aforementioned music soon but until then, the lyrics below and “He Venido” (I have come..) by Los Zafiros.- Bryan

He venido a decirte, que te sigo queriendo.
He venido a decirte, que te sigo amando.
Que quiero estar contigo…cada día más y más.
He venido a decirte, que nada ni nadie
Podrá separarme, ni podrá arrancarme
De mi alma tu amor.
Por tu amor soy capaz, de enfrentarme a cualquiera.
Por tu amor soy capaz, de dar mi vida entera.
He venido a decirte, que te sigo queriendo
Que te sigo amando, que te sigo adorando
Cada dia más y más.

The Roots - How I Got Over

Sometimes there’s a certain kind of distraction that takes over. And sometimes a blend of restrictions and confinements makes it an arduous task to embrace the singular passions in life. It’s rare that it’s everything from the aforementioned combined – but rare is not never. While it sometimes feels like a sort of cloudy fog that has encapsulated everything in its path, the distraction is a definite kind of solace. An escape from the immediate temporary, a remarkable kind of love that has sustained throughout; the only thing I know for sure is what I wanna do, anytime, anywhere… 

Arguably the hardest working band in music has always been The Roots. I know I’m not going out on much of a limb by saying that but they were the hardest working band even before they became the best house band on TV. But before and during their mainstay as the best house band on TV, The Roots has been making album after album of tremendous music – twelve total studio albums if you count all of their collaborative albums – and How I Got Over is #9. Distinctly a lot brighter than their previous two albums, Rising Down and Game Theory, it’s also the first album after the Bush administration finally left office. So it immediately has a much clearer flow and the songs just sort of gel throughout The Roots’ positive, optimistic point of view. And since they became the best band on TV they’ve also met some amazing musicians who they collaborated with on this album to create some of the better songs.

I need to include “A Peace of Light” because it features the original females from Dirty Projectors. A band The Roots met through performing on the late show and whom they immediately fell in love with. It’s mostly an introduction that features the women harmonizing their vocals into one bubbly, smooth opening that allows ?uestlove’s timeless drums to appear in a light refrain.

Jim James is another hardworking musician who crafts music with his main band My Morning Jacket, as a solo artist and who also did a collaborative album with M. Ward and Conor Oberst as Monsters of Folk. The Roots borrow the melody from the opening song off their album, “Dear God,” and also use James to sing the chorus on “Dear God 2.0” (perhaps homage to “The Seed (2.0)” as well?) The Roots version is a straightforward letter about the pain in the world and how everything from broken homes, to drugs, to jobs, to love can fall apart and how there can be so much suffering in this world. “Why is the world ugly when you made it in your image?”

Joanna Newsom is another hardworking musician as she not only composes all of her music but practically writes poetry when she writes lyrics. Here The Roots borrow her “The Book of Right-On” on “Right On,” for what is probably the best song on all of How I Got Over. Her version features her trademark harp and her singular voice but The Roots version combines it all for a smashing hit that showcases just why they’re one of the best bands, period. – Bryan