You know I try. I keep an eye on Pitchfork to try to keep up with what the kids are listening to these days. I have a Rhapsody subscription so I can try the new hotness without ponying up twelve bucks or so for each CD. Every so often, I get a good tip: Black Dice, the latest Mos Def, the first Lupe Fiasco, etc. But more often than not, I'm confused.
So it is with Real Estate (the link is to the review, not the album). I mean, really? I've listened to it twice, I don't hear anything. There is more depth and texture to white noise. Or not . . . can someone tell me what I'm missing?
Apropos the hip hop discussion here recently, I went outside my normal hip hop comfort zone and checked out the new Lil Wayne mixtape No Ceilings (again, the link is to the review . . . my link to the mixtape is dead, though I'm sure it would be easy to dig up). I don't get it. I'll try it a couple more times, but I can't see it hanging around my house until the spring. Maybe someone can tell me different.
I'll try to come back soon with something I like.
8 comments:
I saw that this was on Woodsist label so thought it was going to be bugged out weirdness that you are not "getting", but i downloaded and it is just kind of vanilla singer songerwriter shit.
Is that what you don't get? Pitchfork is on their jock as the next big thing but it is just plain old "music" with nothing noteworthy standing out?
It's the nothing noteworthy that bugs me. I can deal with plain old music sometimes - hell, I'm a huge Giant Sand fan, and that's pretty plain old music - but there has to be something that grabs me. Sometimes I miss it the first few times . . . like Big Star's No. 1 record, I listened to that thinking "what's the big deal here?", and then BAM! It hits me between the eyes.
I dunno. I'm not much of a pop guy, but usually I can at least hear something and think "OK, so that's why everyone thinks its cool" and then never listen to it again. I don't hear anything remarkable about Real Estate. They're as bland as the name.
As far as Lil Wayne, I'm just desperate for some new hip hop to listen to. Somebody help me out, please?
I haven't checked this out, but I tend to be sympathetic towards the singer/songwriter genre. But if you're not feeling it you're not feeling it.
As for Hip Hop, didn't you hear I declared it dead? Hahaha, but seriously, Lil Wayne, so fucking dumb, urgh. Have you checked out the Stone's Throw label and all the hip hop that DC says we only like because we're white?
Just checked this out. Had to see what the fuss was about. After listening through once, it strikes me as:
a) simplistic
b) melodically remedial, almost boring
c) rhythmically bland (DC was right to say "vanilla")
d) pleasant listening nonetheless
It's not offensive, nor is it at all inspiring. It's just some pleasant sounds to have playing while you do emails. It's like somebody took a good indy rock band (like maybe Yo La Tengo) and chopped their nuts off.
Hahaha, neutered band. That reminds me, Kings of Convenience has a new album out, I actually like those guys, but feel kind of lame for admitting it.
Other Music called it "all of the lackadaisical, lo-fi beach pop gems from the Jersey Shore’s Real Estate". I guess that's on point.
Jesus, is that something to aspire to?
It's pleasant, I don't mind pleasant, pleasant has it's place. I have this genre in my head called "clever young men with guitars, not as clever as they think" that this fits into, along with KoC, Rogue Wave, etc, you know where I'm coming from. I don't expect a lot from this genre but I just need some now & then. It's certainly not as rich as Yo La Tengo or The Feelies which Pitchfork compared it to.
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