The Weeknd & Beach House

I remember hearing House of Balloons a good ten times and realizing that The Weeknd had major potential. I remember reading about his other mixtape and how he was to put out another mixtape in December. I liked it quite a bit, it was a sweet sound. And then I remember meeting with a friend and how he commented “eh it’s good, the best stuff on it is some Beach House samples.” Then I started to see more and more love for The Weeknd and more and more attention made me check out his other two albums (deservedly) and now am definitely feeling a lot of love for The Weeknd. It’s definitely not what my friend described (he wont be too upset for the choice words quoted here ha) and very much deserving of a ton of praise.

All three of his individual albums kill it. This is just a small mention of tiny, insignificant relevancy haha.

On House of Balloons, The Weeknd mixes smooth beats with an R&B/dubstep/electronic/hip-hop blend of utter bliss. The mix of sounds makes for songs that both reach atmospheric highs both in terms of scope and sound. He sings about how women are the most beautiful and horrible things in life and how the rise has slowly just begun. There is a part where the album gets to “The Party & the After Party” and the Beach House lull begins. I remember getting lost in the sounds amassed here – there is a rich texture all throughout – all of his music really should get more and more talk as time passes. Heck, especially if he continues to make 3 amazing albums a year.

Here’s the song that he samples, “Master of None” by Beach House. It sounds a lot like the early progressions where the chops and movements were developed and later explored in full depth on future classics. It has this heavily drifting feel and the way she sings is so mesmerizing; the sheer bliss of the sounds and how everything melts around each other are sweet. I gotta get this whole album now. I might need to reconsider their first two albums some more ha.


Here there is a focus on the use of the sample at the beginning but other than that, the song swirls into a mashing of sounds that emphasize heavy bass, the stuttering guitar and The Weeknd’s twisted lyrics. There’s many theories to the lyrics on House of Balloons but whatever your take is, there is never no need to be so serious about it all. If anything, he’s talking about a girl he’s trying to get with and how she might overdose when it is all said and done. It’s pretty morbid sure and there is plenty of drama but it all sounds so lush and enveloping that it all seems to feel just fine. The song that follows is ridiculously perfect for the aftermath, maybe I can write about it soon. – Bryan

Best Albums of 2010 – through the first quarter – Part One

With the first quarter coming to an end, I thought it’d be cool to do a 2010 list of the top albums through this part of the year. I’ve said it before and it’s true, it’s been a massive year for music. Today, I'll release albums #12-9 and I will do some more tomorrow. All great albums, in my opinion.

12. Spoon – Transference (Merge)
The Austin-based rockers have always been criminally overlooked for lazy reasons. Their consistent brand of solid rock with hook-laden riffs is so unbelievably consistent that if we’re not careful, we may just take them for granted. You see, Spoon aren’t just an awesome band but they’re one of the finest acts in the last ten years and with Transference, everything is again, solidified and proven. The music is brilliant and it even hones in on what they perfected before: strikingly good rock music that can be loved by all.

11. Beach House – Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
Beach House’s duo has always been able to create music to pair with feelings of nostalgia but they’ve somewhat, in a way, perfected their dream pop with Teen Dream – an album that flows like the beach and cascades with lush melodies, harmonies and fantastic gentleness. And while their craftiness starts and ends with Victoria Legrand’s magnetic singing, it reaches farther than you’d expect. It’s a step up and justifiably so, its expressional devotion towards good music shines all around like a radiant day at the beach.

10. Four Tet – There is Love in You (Domino)
Regarded by the likes of Radiohead as a musician we should all be on the look out for, Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden constructed something magical with There is Love in You. In a day and age where more and more music is being dumbed down for the masses, Hebden contrasts that notion with music that is both intelligent and soaked with gripping melodies and harmonies. Electronic music is still on a high note and it’s because of forward-thinking musicians like Hebden that we can even say that.

9. Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté – Ali and Toumani (Nonesuch)
The second and seemingly last album for these two guitarists as Touré passed away and is sadly, no longer around, is a collection of fascinating music. Not only do they weave their way around their guitar-based instruments with splendid ease but their strong sense of melody and harmonics is astounding. It’s refreshing to see them attempt slower, gentle tunes and then rip into highly-energetic jubilant songs: bottom line is that Ali and Toumani is a startlingly beautiful album, rich with poise and craft.

The song for today comes from the aforementioned Beach House album. It’s the first song, “Zebra,” and it’s pretty awesome; just let it wash over you. – Bryan

A New Day is Born

As the first post to our very first blog I stretched too many ideas over the course of my head. We tried to come up with a name last night but certain experimentation and substances prohibited our conscious thinking. Ha, if that makes any sense - hopefully it does!

It'd be best to describe 'we' wouldn't it. For the moment, it's just me, Bryan, as I've taken the initiative in creating the actual blog here. But I've sent the other soon-to-be-admin of this blog, Nick, his proper 'invitation.' I suppose we will discuss many things here and while they may run the gamut and sprawling nature we aim for, we hope to avoid any pretentious talk all the way.

I think music will be a prevalent topic as Nick and I certainly love it. It's a passion yes, something we've both been in love with yes, and something that we each have a very special connection with. The title of the blog is "The Odd Couple" because we want to showcase our dissimilar styles (even if we occasionally/frequently blend the same side) and separate passions. "Odd Gila" is odd because everyone is odd and Gila is the name of Beach House's song, "Gila." And with that, here is a video (the original video will not allow it to be embedded but watch it too!) for that song, a psychedelic, intriguing trance of a song that will keep you sucked in, enjoy:



P.S. I clicked away because I am still lost on how to input items and I just wanna say, "Thank you autosave!" - Bryan