Issue#57 [Album Reviews]

Reviews of the latest by Camera Obscura, Dirty Projectors, Jeffrey Lewis and Passion Pit.

Camera Obscura
My Maudlin Career
4AD
These songs make me disregard my movements entirely; they enter and stay inside the channels of my mind. And, you’ll think I’m such a girl, but maybe you’ve run into the video for the first single off the record, “French Navy,” and maybe you felt a little bit like me? Did you swoon at its super editing-to-drum beat proficiency, or think the model boyfriend looked like a douche, or just smiled because the band looked really fucking cool? The video is an example of what Gwen Stefani’s “Cool” tried to be. Find your ex-lovers, gather them in your room and show them David Lynch cartoons they’ve never seen and grin. That is the closest I can come to explaining My Maudlin Career in a decree as swift as hitting your head against your lover’s forehead.
Stefana Fratila

Get it from iTunes here.

Dirty Projectors
Bitte Orca
Domino
It’s been nearly two years since I was floored by a video of the Dirty Projectors performing their somewhat delicate version of Black Flag’s “Rise Above” live at Death By Audio. I haven’t been able to shake the tune since, constantly shortlisting it for thoughtful occasions and dreamy playlists for lazy Sundays. The album, Rise Above was released in September 2007, as an attempt by lead Projector Dave Longstreth to remember and re-interperit the classic Black Flag album Damaged after not hearing it for nearly 15 years. Though I was completely unaware of the Dirty Projectors before accidentally discovering Rise Above, I have been anticipating a new release ever since. Following the success of Rise Above, Bitte Orca continues along a similar sonic pathway. It’s certainly the most pop-oriented release the Dirty Projectors have put out, sometimes even skirting around R&B on the most accessible track “Stillness Is The Move.” Don’t get me wrong, this is not a pop album and the Dirty Projectors are not an R&B group. Just comparatively speaking, Longstreth’s compositions up till now have been typically lo-fi and fairly experimental. Bitte Orca seems richer than previous outings, with lush catchy arrangements, a very distinct kick drum and a move to push the guitar and bass players’ stunning vocals into the foreground. Bright, catchy, indie art rock from Brooklyn flirting with pop and R&B. No doubt Bitte Orca will make it to every year-end list on the planet, and it should.
Tyler Fedchuk

Jeffrey Lewis
‘Em Are I
Rough Trade
While researching (googling) Jeffrey Lewis’s new album ‘Em Are I, I found out a few interesting things about Mr. Lewis I would like to share. Firstly, he is supposedly the reigning king of New York’s anti-folk scene. This leads me to believe that the anti-folk scene has some obsession with twee mid-Ninties indie rock (Pavement). So much so that it’s necessary to have a dude like J Mascis come in and do his thing on one of your songs. Secondly, Jeff draws comics while he isn’t making music. This explains why so many of his songs are full of characters like glowing pigs and zombies telling you secrets and hippie chicks from the future melting your psyche with their powers. His lyrics follow suit, being funny and clever while simultaneously sad and self-defeating. I can just picture the ghost of Charlie Brown over Jeff’s shoulder saying “good grief.” ‘Em Are I is a fitting title for the disc (MRI, brain scan, get it?). This super personal glimpse into Jeff’s head is fun, but I’m glad I don’t live there. Seems like the anti-folk kingdom is a place I have been before, not inspiring, but not uncomfortable.
Troy Sebastian Alden

Passion Pit
Manners
Frenchkiss
According to rumour, Passion Pit started when frontman and keyboardist Michael Angelakos wrote and recorded an EP as a Saint Valentine’s Day present for his girlfriend while attending Emerson College. Yeah, and if you believe that then you probably also believe that Belle & Sebastian were formed when Stuart Murdoch hung out in an all night coffee shop in Glasgow waiting for just the right cast of characters to enter and recruited them for his project. Turns out, B&S were all just on the dole and took a music recording course together. The more probable scenario for Passion Pit is that Angelakos just wanted chicks to dig him singing and playing keyboards at the same time because he was really into this girl in his American History class who was really into Steve Bays from Hot Hot Heat (who performs the musical double duty on stage with fab panache). New bands, can we get a little more myth with our creation stories? Here’s how the next band I’m in will have been created according to me: One day, Trevor Risk was piloting his hover-moose to the moon in search of the secret keys to his Father’s wondrous, glowing tool box of secrecy. Along the way, he met Jeremy, a French Teddy bear who swings on stars and spy satellites. Jeremy introduced Trevor to an army of doe-eyed shoegaze sirens, who blessed his fingertips with reverse feedback and gave to him a magic Bigsby tailpiece with which to destroy the hearts of all who listened. The sirens became his backing band in a kind of post-modern Robert Palmer kind of thing. And that’s how Trevor Risk and The Blush were conceived. Bam. That’s how it’s done, Passion Pit. It should be mentioned though that Manners is the best album that’s been released thus far this year.
Trevor Risk

Get it from iTunes here.