Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport

I was watching Top Chef: Masters tonight and one of the contestants commented on how “food should be like an Arcade Fire song…layers and layers…it should be like an orchestra” and it sounded pretty well-versed to me. It’s always good to see that music can reach a wide range, even if it is or isn’t because of The Suburbs surprising execution at The Grammys. Either way, it got me to thinking about music and layers; we’ve talked about Arcade Fire many times before but one distinction that some of the best music does have is layers and lots of them.

The style of layering and depiction of it is definitely present in the entire music electronic duo Fuck Buttons put out. Their first album got them an opening slot for Caribou during his 2008 tour and together they stopped at the old/old Club 101 where I first heard their music. Their newest album just came out and is receiving smashing talk as it is definitely one of the best of the year. But many would say it was their 2009 album, Tarot Sport, that truly shined the light on finely composed electronic music, with a pulse.

Bookended by two amazing songs, each of Fuck Buttons albums only have less than seven songs each but most span the ten minute mark as everything is about tension, release and attack. The closing “Flight of the Feathered Serpent” features a tribal-like, trance-like drum beating that is relentless in force. There’s a soaring melody that signifies the feathered serpent in flight as it battles through what sounds like a tumultuous ride. It has heavy doses of drums that are minimal in presentation but indicative of what Fuck Buttons are about: a full-blown assault on the senses. It’s layered within the walls of what is a powerful sound and although the synths and keyboards may not be as important as the actual drums here, it’s very much spectacular.

The opening song, “Surf Solar,” is definitely a piece that is tinged with the spectral touch of space and the atmosphere. It begins with a keyboard that is out of this world and that is both bemoaning an ominous style but mostly, delivering mood. The simple beat comes in before the synthesizer delivers the melody. Before you know it, you’re inside of this thick, densely layered world of bliss: it’s the perfect way to start Tarot Sport. These kinds of ‘orchestrations’ continue throughout the album, for it is what us snobs like to call – in a drastically different shade to something like Mount Kimbie, Bonobo or even, The Avalanches – real electronic music. And it was only a year removed from their first album but in many ways, worlds apart and most of all, a world that is easy to get lost in. (Also, FYI, this song was used as part of the montage for the London Olympics opening ceremony, hell yeah). – Bryan

Deerhunter - Cryptograms

The first time I heard Deerhunter was back during the old days The Wax Museum was around. Cleverly titled, it was a tiny store on Montana near downtown that prevailed amongst true vinyl heads. The owner ran a modest shop that catered to funk, old soul and jazz, some electronic and some indie music. He had a few books, a few cassettes and a few CDs to sell as well and he’d always be willing to let you play the record first and hear it before purchasing. I had heard this band from Georgia was coming to El Paso but I just sort of shelved it and never gave it much thought. The concert came and went and I went a week later to find copies of Cryptograms at the Wax Museum and I promptly bought one.

I bought the CD and immediately realized how foolish I was for not going to see them in concert. Half of the album is these ambient pieces that sort of melt into the linings of the music and act as breathers in between the intensity of the other half. The rest is a noisy and poppy but still rocking set of songs that showcase Deerhunter in full-on assault mode. “Octet” is a song that combines both of these styles onto one song that shines on the album. The beginning sounds like tranquil vibes of water glistening in the night and then a bass dives in. The music swells and grows from here with hi-hat, Bradford Cox’s growling vocals and the surrounding noise coming to a head.

What’s probably most amazing about a band like Deerhunter is how their albums really do change in terms of sound. They’re the kind of young band that has already mastered the ability of being able to drastically try out new mediums and new modes and they never, ever sound the same. Nothing from Cryptograms will be seen on Halcyon Digest, nothing from Microcastle was relatively close to Monomania. A truly remarkable band, “Lake Somerset” is simply the highlight of this album for me. It has the menacing guitar throughout and the drums come in dashes of light and heavy and Cox’s voice again takes over with even more snarling. But the magic of this song is the way it just massively roars and my goodness, it needs to be played as loud as possible every single time to be able to take in its entire glory. It has two separate instances where it just grows into explosions and the pay-off is everything. They came around to El Paso one more time and with my arm branded and all (BRADFORD WAS HERE), they played this song. Front row with my ears begging for it to stop, I didn’t care, it was pure bliss and that’s what Deerhunter is about – Bryan

Classic Film Music

It’s the opening weekend of the Plaza Classic Film Festival and this year the world’s largest classic film festival looks to feature another outstanding amount of awesome films for all movie-lovers to enjoy. I am glad I got a few kicks in the butt by a great friend that showed me this festival where I’ve been able to see classic films I love and also find new, breathtaking films I never knew about. I was on my way to write about Radiohead when their lyric about how “it’s not like the movies, they fed us all little white lies” stirred me up to write about some classic films that have some awesome music I absolutely love.

I had first heard Adagio for Strings back when I was in high school and my old band director showed it to me. A slow-moving and equally slow-burning song, it was made even more famous when Platoon used it as the centerpiece to its darkest, most horrific moments. A certain conviction and deep and profound movement, it’s a flawless classical piece. This version is even more fitting because it’s a symphony that is conducted by Leonard Bernstein who happened to write the music for West Side Story, which played at the festival today (Thursday Aug 1) but we didn’t attend (it was $20!)

 
One of the best touches to any of Quentin Tarantino’s films is his way of combining music with a scene for absolute perfection. One of those scenes is the one in Reservoir Dogswhere Mr. Blonde takes out his anger and anguish on an ill-advised cop in stunningly memorable fashion. Easily regarded a classic film now, it took some time for people to catch on and come to think about it, the film has at least a handful of other significant songs but “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel is probably the best.

  
I’m not sure if Mo’ Better Blues is considered a classic but I definitely like the film a lot. And even more because Spike Lee wanted to name it A Love Supreme after John Coltrane’s brilliant four-piece suite. Coltrane’s widow asked Lee to change the name of the film but luckily she let him use the first movement, Acknowledgement, on the film for what is a moment of beautiful music magic.

 
The film Donnie Darko is one of those cult films that you either love or don’t really care for. Personally, I feel like it deserves a lot of credit for presenting a story about adolescence in an understanding and moving fashion, while still using a lot of fantastic music throughout. The scene where they use Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels” is really special and the song itself, well, it’s really quite awesome.

 
Martin Scorsese, like Tarantino, has always been able to combine music into his films: with a deft touch. It’s fitting that tomorrow (Friday Aug 2) we get to kick off the festival with his stone-cold classic Goodfellas and while there are many songs from that film that could go here, I will go with an even older classic of his, Mean Streets, and its use of The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” Mostly because it inspired Brian Wilson to write “Don’t Worry Baby,” (I’ll include that classic song by The Beach Boys, too, just because I love it, although it’s entirely irrelevant to this post – well not entirely since there is this song) but also because the scene he uses it in is a chilling take of poignant humanity. And with that, to the festival we come! – Bryan