Zoos of Berlin, Why? and The Skygreen Leopards

Zoos of Berlin
Taxis
(2009, Self Released)
RIYL = PAS/Cal, Colourmusic, The Pernice Brothers

Taxis, the debut album (correct me if I’m wrong) of Zoos of Berlin is an album that is destined to be glossed over by the critical establishment and, as unfortunate as the correlation may be, by the record buying/illegally-downloading public as a whole. The problem is that on the surface, Taxis is a fairly standard example of indie pop that makes no inordinate stretches for a unique selling point or “angle” which can be easily written up. And it is because of this apparent lack distinctiveness that folks most likely won’t find their way to Taxis. After all, it’s just pop music right? So wrong. And not only that, but Zoos of Berlin are distinctive. Distinctive, at least, in the fact that they make pristine pop songs better than 95% of the 4-star, 8.0+, “Best New Music” out there. Taxis is tight vessel of pop glory filled with all manner of extravagant brass flourishes, smooth vocal harmonies and baroque song structures that belie their immediately satisfying pop accessibility by cutting deeper and deeper with every listen. But, again, there is the problem…what more can I say? It is simply good; just really good pop that you can always rely on to get you through the day and much better than most of the major indie label marketing hoopla that generally scoops up all the attention. That's it. So take a listen or ten.


Zoos of Berlin, "Black in the Sun Room" from Adam Lonczynski on Vimeo.


Why?
Eskimo Snow
(2009, Anticon)
RIYL = Subtle, Silver Jews,

I wanted to write a little blurb about Eskimo Snow because I have noticed, after scanning a few reviews on the album that there was a split between the general consensus of its 'goodness'. It appears that about half of those reviewing the album consider it just ok while the other half of reviewers insist upon it being really really good. Personally, my initially reaction to the album was, “meh, this is alright, but I miss the hard hitting break beats from Alopecia.” So, I guess you could pit me squarely in the it’s-ok-but-I-liked-them-better-when-they-were-more-hip-hop group. However, after listening to the album one more time than I normally would when dealing out a similarly apathetic-but-positive assessment of an album, something caught me. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I kept listening to the album over and over again. And now, while I can still say that I absolutely love the more evenly split quasi-hip hop of the band’s past, this new, more straight forward indie rock version of Why? is absolutely genius. Sassigrass has finally convinced me that it is not really indie Americana, despite the couple instances of slide guitar; Eskimos Snow is simply one of the tightest bits of lush indie pop/rock of the year. Just weighing in.





The Skygreen Leopards
Gorgeous Johnny
(2009, Jagjaguwar)
RIYL = Flying Canyon, Giant Sunflower Band

It seems that I'm just pickin' bones with these three reviews, but so be it. (Again,) I’ve read a couple of reviews of The Skygreen Leopards most recent album and couldn’t help but notice the casual dissatisfaction that some of the people felt about the album. A dissatisfaction which, after I listened to the album, seemed a little unwarranted. Sure, Gorgeous Johnny strays even further from The Skygreen Leopards experimentally tinged roots into straight forward bummer psych pop, but that doesn’t mean these songs aren’t completely enjoyable. I suppose the casual nature in which Donavan Quinn and Glenn Donaldson seem to effortlessly pull off the tiny little corner of outsider pop they now own can be a little unsettling. I mean, you can certainly hear the fluidity and ease with which the two of them seemed to be able to just pick up a couple of guitars and churn this thing out in a couple of hours, but that effortlessness is by no means worthy of distain. Seems to me that some of the reviewers are a bit jealous. Heaven knows I am. Fact is, Gorgeous Johnny is not going to go down in the record books as The Skygreen Leopards magnum opus, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be the record that you end up playing the most based on the easy going, instant satisfaction that it produces. Just saying…

The Skygreen Leopards on MySpace

-Thistle

Dosh - Wolves and Wishes

Dosh
Wolves and Wishes
(05.2008, Anticon)
Verdict = Instrumental music with wide-eyed originality

I think it is about time we stopped referring to Dosh as Andrew Bird’s drummer. That is probably going to sound a little divergent and unnecessary to some readers, but from where I am sitting that is just about all I hear when Dosh comes up. Despite his able contributions to Bird’s already incredible songs, Martin Luther King Chavez Dosh is, in and of himself, a musical genius. Wolves and Wishes, Dosh’s fourth full length album on the Anticon imprint is a testament to this. Continuing in the same direction seasoned listeners have become accustom to, Dosh still manages to deliver the goods and on Wolves and Wishes he is at the top of his game. Something about Dosh’s music, though utterly trained and scrupulously composed, feels beautifully innocent, fresh and inspiring. With dynamic drumming that patters like a drizzle throughout the album and layers of floating synths, Wolves and Wishes is manages to let in bursts of sunlight amidst each song’s individual, tangled complexity. Dosh also recruited some help. Andrew Bird returns the favor by adding his signature violin work to the mix, Will Oldham lends some vocal gibberish to “Bury the Ghost” and former band mates from Fog also contribute to the mix. It is no wonder with a collection of musicians this talented that things turn out so wonderfully, yet even with his friends on board, Wolves and Wishes is distinctly Dosh. With grumbling drones, textured atmospherics, glittered electronic blips and bleeps and probably just about any other instrument you could list off in under thirty seconds, Dosh has created a rambling masterpiece of sorts and definitely the high mark of his recorded output to date.

-Mr. Thistle

Dosh - "The Magic Stick"

Why? - Alopecia

Why?
Alopecia
(03.2008, Anticon)
Verdict = Awesome Music, Awkward Lyrics

For those familiar, Why?, the rapper turned band is the apex of indie pop fused with left field hip hop. On Alopecia, the bands third LP, Why? has moved divisively between being simultaneously more accessible and less. Musically, Alopecia is absolutely amazing. Gorgeous, downbeat indie pop anchored by a powerful rhythm section. Instrumentally Why? is better than ever with a record that is impossible not to nod to. The improvement on an already good thing was likely influenced by guest band members Andrew Broder and Mark Erickson borrowed from Fog. Even the vocals (whose lyrics I’ll address shortly) by lyricist Yoni Wolf have the perfect tenor and flow to match the lush backdrop. Tonally, Alopecia is pitch-perfect. Lyrically, Why? has always been odd but somehow kept from becoming uncomfortably bizarre. On Alopecia that has changed. First off, Wolf seems super depressed with multiple allusions to death and suicide. It seems with this tongue in cheek desperation he has also caused a dropped guard on some otherwise awkward lyrics. About on level with some of the jarringly descriptive lyrics you would find on a Xiu Xiu album, some of the phrasing seems unnecessarily leaning towards shock art. Personally this has created quite a bit of confusion because, while being absolutely elated with the album otherwise, reoccurring verses seem to pop out and kind of taint their songs. Perhaps such verses were purposely placed to sift out the wusses (yeah, totally me), but I can’t help but wish that I could be a wuss and still like Why? I mean I do ‘still like Why?,’ it’s just…you know, awkward.

-Mr. Thistle

Why? on Myspace