Hello Blue

Hello Blue - Celebrate

I meant to pick up this CD when I was back at my parents house in Minneapolis this past summer, but didn't end up buying it until I returned there again after Christmas. I really wish I had picked it up earlier, because it has found its way into the car stereo as soon as I got home on the 31st and it hasn't left. I have been listening to Minneapolis's Hello Blue and their CD What It Takes To Wake Up the entire time.

This CD is now firmly in my top 10 for 2005. Number 8 or 9, at least.

This track is a good representation of what the rest of the CD offers: excellent indie rock, with a little shoegazer tossed in for good measure. It kind of has a Sunny Day Real Estate feel to it or Static Prevails era Jimmy Eat World. This song actually wouldn't have sounded out of place on the Bloc Party CD actually, especially the guitar work in the second half of the song. The production quality has that great home studio charm to it, but what if this were slicked up in a big time studio like the Silent Alarm? I'd like to hear that, but I think I like it the way it is.

The song opens with the band raiding the percussion closet before it gets down to business. fun. The slightly dissonant open guitar chords cascade in and the song takes off with the words "Celebrate", which also happens to be the only decipherable word besides the question everyone has been trying to figure out, "Why do all the good things/happen to such bad people?". These guys manage to stretch out one short sentence into a long verse, favoring chord structure over rhythm (while the guitars, accompanied by the drums, texture the song rhythmically), creating a nice unique effect.

The band uses the studio well with layers of vocals dropping in and out over each other, creating a nice surrounding effect. The controlled chaos of the drums, bass, and guitar underneath these vocals is just awesome - the ride cymbal just barely keeps it all from falling apart.

The second half of the song goes into instrumental territory and not a drop of energy is lost, as the end of each section is broken apart and then pushed forward by the drums, creating a very groovy effect. And at the end like finding a second toy in a cracker jack box comes the layers of feedback, which everyone loves.

Hear more Hello Blue on their myspace page.

Top CDs of 2005

No tunes to download here, you'll just have to find them on the artists's websites or buy the music.

Now before we get to the top 10.....

Best CD of 2005 That I Tried Hard To Like But Found Boring
Spoon - Gimme Fiction (Merge)

I listened to it once. Strike one. I thought I’d sit and really concentrate on it. Strike two. People who love all the bands I love loved this CD, so why didn’t I? Strike three. I gave it three good tries, but it really did nothing for me.

Best CD of 2005 That Should Have Been Awesome But Wasn’t
Longwave – There’s A Fire (MBG/Red Ink)

What a let down. I feel like I went into a high school amateur art gallery where there is no rhyme or reason to the pieces chosen to be put on display. There are some glimpses of something good in a couple of the works, but ultimately there wasn’t much there. It all felt tossed together at the last minute. What happened to all that spacy guitar shit that you used to do? I liked that and it made longwave sound like longwave.

Best CDs of 2005 That I Know/Think I’ll Like But Haven’t Fully Listened To Yet
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine (Sony)
Wilco – Kicking Television (Nonesuch)
Rogue Wave – Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop)
The Constantines – Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
The Most Serene Republic – Underwater Cinematographer (Arts & Crafts)

Best CD of 2005 That Was Released on an Indie in 2003, Re-released on a Major in 2004, and Again on a Major as an Enhanced CD in 2005
(tied for 7 in top 10 list) Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch (Sire)
This is the street-wise punk version of Fiona Apple, with a few sugary sprinkles on top. Very folky, very poppy, and lots of sweeping piano to go along with those sweet, memorable vocals. “Us” is just a flat out awesome song. Regina is a little snarky, a little sincere, and a little ironic. She blends the best of all of these attributes to make a cool CD.

Best CDs That I Heard in 2005 That Were Released in 2004 (okay, I guess even my #1 choice falls into this category)
(tied for 3 in top 10 list) Stars – Set Yourself On Fire (Arts & Crafts)
This came out in Canada in 2004, but its official release date in the United States was in 2005. My CD copy says copyright 2004 on it. Ah well. Onto the music. Amazing pop/rock with male/female vocals. The first three songs “Your Ex-lover is Dead”, “Set Yourself on Fire” and “Ageless Beauty” knocks you right out with touching subtle power, sweeping you right on the floor with the grand, big guitars, lush melodies, touching strings, and tweaking keyboards. No song on the CD really sounds alike, and so the CD moves you like you are going through the best movie soundtrack ever. This CD is a more complete version and a step ahead of their previous release, Heart. Here’s to hoping their next output is even better.

(tied for 4 in top 10 list) Chin Up Chin Up – We Never Should Have Lived Like Skyscrapers (Flameshovel)
This came out in late 2004 on an obscure Chicago based record label, so forgive me for not hearing it before last year’s end. Using melodic rhythmic guitar picking as a focal point in every song allows the band to create multiple storylines in each song. The rhythm section makes the songs really groove. This sounds like The Appleseed Cast if they wrote 3 minute pop songs. The keyboard parts in “Collide the Tide” absolutely rule and the bass/drum/keyboard trio section in “I Hope for Tumbleweeds” was one of my favorite musical moments I’ve heard this past year.

Best Record Label of 2005
Arts & Crafts

You keep putting out the hits and I’ll keep buying. Hot damn.


and now for the top 10.....

10. Biirdie – Morning Kills the Dark (Pop Up)
Did you ever wish your favorite band would just keep putting out different versions of the same album? You know, maybe just once, for the fans and not worry about “pushing yourself” and “moving boundaries”? This sounds like the delayed flight version of a Rilo Kiley’s Take Offs and Landings. The band even wrote a song about Jenny Lewis (“Open Letter to Jenny”). The band is also from L.A. and certainly is in the former child actor scene, and probably knows Jenny fairly well (bassist Kala Savage is Fred and Ben’s sister). It can be a little too much, but the songs are really pretty good for a debut full length.

9. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – Worlds Apart (Interscope)
The intro and opening track (“Ode to Isis”/”Will You Smile Again?) make an awesome use of an aggressive and fiery 5/4 to give a real penetrating impending feel of doom. The first 5 songs and the last couple on this CD are absolutely excellent, mixing somber moods and critical rock anthems. Unfortunately, the middle of the CD falls apart so much that you have to drag yourself through those awful tracks a few times to reassure yourself that you aren’t missing something.

8. Death Cab For Cutie – Plans (Atlantic)
Upon initial listen, this CD seemed so bland. It didn’t offer any song that captivated you immediately, like Transatlanticism did. They continued with their same light-rain-on-my-parade-with-a- hint-of-sunshine-dripping-on-me feel of indie rock. The drums and bass provide the foundation for the layered bricks and mortar of guitars, keyboards, and vocals to drop onto. The more I listened to this, the more I noticed the nuance of the brick work, and often found myself admiring the foundation, noticing that it, too, offered more than the standard concrete shaped in a rectangle with a completed basement. This CD sounds more methodical than their previous releases. “Soul Meets Body” is deliberate and systematic, but the band brilliantly moves the song from verse to chorus and all the rest with such ease that it sounds natural. DCFC is honing in on something bigger. This CD is for those who wanted Transatlanticism part II. DCFC plan on moving from their modest digs for something more.

7. Shout Out Louds – Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol)
The opening track “The Comeback” alone puts this CD in the top 10. It gets hooked in your brain and it won’t get out. And the chorus of the song is instrumental. It is amazing feat for a pop song. That interplay between the keyboard and guitar is just awesome. Fortunately, the rest of the CD has that same sort of interplay of loose and controlled freedom between all the instruments. This CD sounds like vintage American rock and roll in an alternate universe. It feels organic. You feel a renewed spirit listening to this.

6. The American Analog Set – Set Free (Arts & Crafts)
I was a bit put off by this CD because it felt like the entire CD stayed at one volume and the songs all lacked that increase and decrease in intensity. That ebb and flow of dynamics. AmAnSet works on a principal of a lot of repetition and groove. I needed to dig a lot harder to find that, but it was worth it. “Cool Kids Keep” makes great digs at hipsters and the CD then moves into a beautiful four and a half minutes of “She’s Half”, featuring layers of cashmere soft vocals accented with a loose grind of tambourine and guitar.

5. Final Fantasy – Has a Good Home (Blocks Recording Club)
Owen Pallet found his home with his violin and looping pedal. Most of the CD revolves around his soft, yet firm vocal styling over layers upon layers of different violin parts, with drums, keyboards, horns, and other instruments thrown in for good measure. The CD tends to lag near the end with too many songs, but it is thoroughly enjoyable. I’m interested to the next incarnation of Final Fantasy, which features a string quartet with Owen on harpsichord. Is neo-classical pop music the new indie rock?

4. The Decemberists – Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
I had listened to the band’s previous releases when they had come out and thought the songs were okay. There were a few good ones, but nothing that really hit me. I didn’t bother listening to this CD until late this summer because I figured it would be the same thing. I had seen the video for “16 Military Wives” and really enjoyed the video (and the song). So I gave the CD a good shot and was really knocked over. Two songs that sound like drunken epic pirate shanties, excellent instrumentation, excellent stories, and hooks everywhere - indie-be-damned. If this CD had been released on a major, we would have had 3-4 singles (“16 Military Wives”, “We Both Go Down Together”, “On the Bus Mall” and “The Sporting Life” released in that order) and a few Grammy nominations to boot.

3. Broken Social Scene – S/T (Arts & Crafts)
I have such mixed feelings about this CD. They could have not buried the vocals under a blender of noisy guitars and washed out drums, but they did because it was more arty that way. Would the CD have looked at radically differently if they had made it even remotely slicker on a few songs? (I’m looking at you “Ibi Dreams of Pavement” and you, “Superconnected”). Why didn’t the fast version of “Major Label Debut” go on the album instead of the bonus EP? They say they didn’t do these things because they didn’t want to sacrifice the art. But did the sacrifice it more by trying to be more artsy? These songs rock and roll in their own indie rock way, with countless influences and band members and countless noise feeds and guitar hooks. They also make you wonder what the hell is actually happening under all that white noise. I like this CD so much because it makes me think and really makes me try to understand why the band chose to mix these songs the way they did. While I like the CD for what it is, I like it more for making me wonder what it could be. Maybe I’ll figure it all out someday.

2. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
This CD moves and takes you to all emotions with it. Sufjan and his Melodymakers raided the elementary school music room (melodica, guitar, recorder, bells) and while many of the songs are easily put off as simple, there are layers upon layers of parts and messages. What makes the CD incredible is its grandness and expansiveness. The songs go as long as they need be, and are allowed the freedom to breathe. “John Wayne Gacy, Jr’ is a haunting song without the final two lines, where Sufjan declares that even he can be truly as dark as Gacy himself, causing you to question all that you have done. If Sufjan isn’t a saint, who is? This CD is truly exhausting. By the time you finish “Casimir Pulaski Day” it feels like the CD should be finished. Despite these things, Illinois has lasting power. I know I will be listening to this 10, 20, 30 years from now and it will sound fresh and exciting and distinctly precious.

1. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (Vice)
Combine equally slightly spacy, angular, and straight ahead rock guitar playing with a tight syncopated bass, perfectly complimentary and exciting drum work, half spitting and half very melodic vocal stylings, and a blue collar ethic and you have Silent Alarm. Each instrument knows when to take the lead and when to take a step back to let the others lead without missing a beat. Bloc Party can write a good fucking song. In fact, they can write fourteen.

From the beginning to the end, this CD is moving and you can’t help but move along too, regardless of whether you like the songs. It is a difficult album to dislike, and most people fall into one of two camps: the indifferent and the loving.

While the band tends to get the Gang of Four write off, there is so much more here.

The opening track, “Like Eating Glass” sets the tone immediately as the drums drop the controlled frantic shuffle feel over the layered guitars. It takes the bass almost a minute and a half to make its presence known with its slinky countermelody to the vocals. The second verse adds even more guitars to mix. It never feels like too much, though. Then as the chorus erupts, the band cuts back and breaks it down to a tight, simple drum beat and anthem-like vocals – “Like drinking poison / like eating glass.”

The band does an exceptional job with their quieter songs, and here the crisp, intimate production is highlighted. Listen to the bass drum and snare drum taps at the beginning of “Blue Light.” Doesn’t it sound like you are sitting right next to the drums at the band’s practice space?

“This Modern Love” shows off the band’s songwriting craft as the song never repeats itself and just evolves both musically and lyrically. The story that the music is telling coincides with the confessional lyrics that singer/guitarist Kele Okereke sings. As the song builds in noise and complexity it never loses its beautiful gentle feeling that is introduced in the guitar two string guitar plucking in the introduction.

The absolute highlight of the CD has to be the last minute and a half of the third track, “Positive Tension.” The song evolves into something absolutely fierce. The guitars take over with an audio riff assault with Kele pleading, “Why’d you have to get so hysterical?” As soon as he asks, “Why’d you have to get so fucking useless?” the lead guitar outdoes itself again with just the perfect melody to compliment the pounding drums that will make even the most jaded scene-star nod along and perhaps feel the urge to air guitar.

Where does Bloc Party go from here? This band has the talent and creative energy to do great things. They believe in their art and they believe they are a band of the people. What else do you need? (originally written for 30music)