October is almost over, the leaves are changing color and fluttering from the trees. Its is a time of death, and a time of rebirth, best rung in with the somber intonations of Canada’s greatest poet and the resurrection of one of music’s greatest girl groups. Without furth ado, let’s get to this week’s Headphones.
Album: Popular Problems- Leonard Cohen
The remarkable thing about Leonard Cohen is that his music always has enough of a current feel to not rob it of its timelessness. Like Dylan, you can simply listen to the track and know what decade its from, and not just from the painfully (in the most beautiful way) deteriorating voice. The master songwriter/poet was once known for his work’s inclusion in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, but now at 80 after a stellar Buckley cover and one to many American Idols’, he’s now “the Hallelujah guy. It’s a shame, because tracks like “Dance Me to the End of Love”, “Famous Blue Raincoat” and “Dress Rehearsal Rag” are equally if not more profound and embed with a perfect pain (which perhaps might be why they aren’t as well known. “Hallelujah”, a song about sex, at least has some optimism in it, unlike most of his catalogue, which was once described as “music to eat a gun to”;). This new album kicks off with “Slow”, whose synth-y electric blues beat fits perfectly with Cohen’s low grumble. As it has been since around Natural Born Killers, his voice has changed from the wounded young man of The Songs of Leonard Cohen to a haunting etherial whisper, accompanied by a disembodied choir, and “Slow” despite its lyrical simplicity, packs a vicious bite that feels both personal and universal (a remarkable quality to Cohen’s lyrical writing). “Almost Like The Blues” gets much more vivid, and more grim, in its imagery and burns with an incendiary bitterness. “Samson in New Orleans” has an introspection in its melody that speaks to a far deeper hurt than its saddened lyrics let on. The truth is you could go song by song on this (unfortunately short) album, and save a few compositional issues with “Did I Ever Love You”, whose backing track is a bit too bluegrass for the pained music (hopefully, like “Hallelujah” someone strips it down and finds the beauty at its heart), all you could discuss is how exquisitely hurt every beautifully composed track was. Cohen has succeeded where even Dylan has faltered, by still retaining the same level of poise, control and emotional honesty in his songwriting today as he did back when he first put pen to paper. Long live the true poet laureate of the Great White North, and of every broken heart that ever sought comfort in song.
Single: “baby Don’t Lie”- Gwen Stefani
After the smashing success of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (which truly feels like forever ago), it seemed like Gwen Stefani could do anything. And apparently what she chose to do from that “anything” was disappear off the face of the earth. Thankfully, the former No Doubt singer decided to come back with a catchy pop track. The track itself we shouldn’t be so thankful for, because as catchy as it is, it’s not the right song for her, and her punk-y vocals feel kind of clunky against a Latin beat more befitting a J-Lo or a Shakira, but thankful because its ear-worm quality should get enough airplay Gwen’s more self-aware stylings can come back and bring back some of her trademark humor to pop radio.
Music Videos:
Electronic: “Slow Acid”- Calvin Harris
Kicking off with a tracking shot that looks fresh out of The Purge: Anarchy, we’re instead treated to a silver faced figure and flickering lights leading us down a rabbit hole that feels as though we’ve taken a bad hit of acid thats sinking in slowly.
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Hip-Hop: “Hennessey Angels”- Federal X
Yes, it does have two-thirds of the trifecta of rap cliche: hot girl and car. Yes, the rhymes can be weak (Why…why did we just name drop Alec Baldwin). The real appeal is the flickering light scenes in the parking garage that show the director can do some interesting things when he doesn’t have to just focus on an admittedly attractive woman.
Pop: “Speak in Tongues”- Ferras
Frequent readers know I’m a sucker for a good piece of black and white cinematography in a music video. Even if the track itself is sub-par, the visuals (including a burning heart wrapped in barbed wire) are stunning and well worth a watch.
R&B: “Call My Name”- Morgan James
Not every video needs a high concept or an epic story. Sometimes just a striking shot, a woman singing on the sidewalk, staring ahead at a silhouette which may or may not be the man she’s singing to is enough to enthrall before the video reveals its conceit (a world frozen save Morgan James herself). Even without the frozen time visual, Morgan’s pained eyes gazing into the lens is enough to engage the viewer.
Rock: “Bury Our Friends (feat. Miranda July”) - Sleater-Kinney
You guys…you guys…Sleater-Kinney is back. The riot grrl indie rock act from Olympia, which split up back in 2006 (sad, yes, but it helped give us Portlandia, which vocalist Carrie Brownstein stars in) is finally back with a new single, and it still has the brilliant drive which fueled every album in their discography. It’s a bizarre type of lyrics video comprised entirely of one person moving in a mask, but really, it could have been anything because, hey, you guys? SLEATER-KINNEY IS BACK!
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