Signing Off...Thanks for Reading Everyone 7 Apr 2012 7:13 AM (13 years ago)
Unfortunately this site has been gathering more dust than readers lately, so it looks like it's time to finally pull the plug on the transmitter and sign off from Radio Free Chicago. Hats off to all of the dedicated and talented writers and photographers who contributed to this site over the years. Great work everyone, thank you so much for keeping this labor of love alive for so long. I hope everyone out there enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.
Cheers all...
-Brad
Wiping Off The Dust... Of Montreal's The Sunlandic Twins 28 Mar 2012 7:34 PM (13 years ago)
An upbeat drum machine drives many of the album’s tracks. Cheerful nostalgia valiantly saturates the melody of “Requiem for O.M.M.2.” “I don’t want to make a wake out of my life/ I just have to let you go,” sings Barnes. I can all too well relate to this mantra of ruminating over a romantic ember from the past while taking a momentary gulp of hopeless yearning. In fact, just before I started this review, I swallowed such an instant. The suitor fused to my first monumental heartbreak happened to be courting me during the time I discovered Of Montreal. Memories of how excited I’d be over doing even traditionally mundane endeavors with him like hiking up the road a couple miles to a shopping center ensue. Times we’d walk to the railroad tracks and playfully shoot photos … and that one dewy eyed moment he kissed me ‘just because,’ as sizable snowflakes delicately fell on a January day. Upon falling for my first love, the all too temporary euphoria of my new relationship naturally blinded me to the possibility of romantic finiteness. After all, how could two beings that complimented and flowed together so well conceivably ever pull apart?
“Forecast Facsist Future” buds with a jubilant and commanding acoustic guitar riff, then mounts on motor-like synthesizers. These sounds almost emulate an aerial vehicle taking off.
Embodying one of my favorite melodies on The Sunlandic Twins, “The Party’s Crashing Us” contains thoughtful lyrics fronting another markedly infectious dance beat. “Oh well we made love like a pair of black wizards/ you freed me from the past/ you fucked the suburbs out of me.” Perhaps the ‘suburbs’ represent desolation and angst that the woman Barnes is having sex with deems herself a rejuvenating retreat from. This reminds me how many students react when moving from dull, empty suburbs to an exciting college town, myself included.
Increasingly dim and mysterious compositions spearhead the second half of the album. “Skate 2" is an entirely instrumental track which beams a very pensive, somewhat twisted, undercurrent of minor notes.“Oslo in the Summertime,” which conveys a muggy and sweaty day in a foreign locale, maintains this gloomy buzz. Confusion and hazed clarity tinge the echo-laden air.
Concluding the LP, “The Repudiated Immortals” delivers the heartwarming line, “…Don’t feel sad/ because it’s a violent world/ but there’s still beauty/ I’ll take care of you if you take care of me.” I can’t help but to grin and feel my heart bake in amorous hope for humanity. The album ends by retreating its dimness to optimistic solemness.
Ok Go Covering Songs I Love 16 Mar 2012 8:03 AM (13 years ago)
Most people know Ok Go for their music videos. When the band showed up on the Sasquatch! Music Festival lineup a couple years ago, I couldn’t contain my excitement, but a friend contested with (paraphrased) “but how great could their live show be when they can’t implement their video gimmickry?” I then went on to explain that, um, Ok Go is first and foremost about the music, and anyone who doesn’t realize that needs to listen to them.
It wasn’t until later I began listening to the band that I saw one of their videos, the treadmill one. “Here It Goes Again” is a fine song, but nowhere near Ok Go’s best work. So, understandably, people were more fixated on the extremely interesting and clever choreography. The band certainly has a knack for that, and it should be admired.
However, Ok Go’s self-titled debut album (2002) was a much better introduction. “Hello My Treacherous Friends” was daring and catchy, and “1000 Miles Per Hour” is like the Moody Blues meets Fountains of Wayne, which works out beautifully. The 2005 EP preceding Oh No, Ok Go’s second album, further won me over with a cover of one of my all-time favorite songs, “The Lovecats” by the Cure.
Ok Go’s rendition remains fairly faithful to the original, but delivers it in a smoother package. Drums, bass, keys, guitar and vocals all sound richer. Elementally speaking, the original is more metallic while the cover has a more woody quality. But they really master the Cure’s essence with the recording, which solidified Ok Go’s place in my heart.
The band released the “Extra Nice Edition” of their third album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (2010) last November, which offered a ton of remixes and alternate versions of songs from the album, as well as a few other treats. One of these was a cover of the Pixies’ “Gigantic.”
Again, Ok Go refines the edges of the rock classic, but stays mostly true to its original style. Damian Kulash coos “Hey Paul, hey Paul, hey Paul, let’s have a ball” with psychedelic flair and is a softer substitute for Kim Deal on the repetition of “a big, big love.”
What’s wonderful about Ok Go’s cover efforts is they sound distinctively like Ok Go while still honoring the integrity of those they emulate. They definitely make it worth it to shell out for the versions of their albums with bonus tracks. Never a disappointment; always a pleasure.
New White Rabbits Single 7 Mar 2012 2:19 PM (13 years ago)
Check out White Rabbits April 8th at Metro...