New Music Reviews - 7/12/2011 - Yes, R.E.M., Brian McKnight, and Washed Out

Yes Fly From Here - The influential prog and psych rock band from the 70's and 80's reunite a decade after their most recent disc to release their twenty-first studio album overall.  Loooong time lead vocalist Jon Anderson recently left the band for health reasons and he is replaced on this disc by Benoit David who was the one-time frontman of a Yes cover band named Close to the Edge.  Bassist Chris Squire (the only member on the band to perform on all of Yes' twenty-one albums) actually discovered David through YouTube.  Well, let's hope he at least lasts longer than that singer INXS found to replace Michael Hutchence did.

This album starts with an overture for and with parts one through five of the eponymous "Fly From Here."  On the version I listened to, the overture and the individual parts were divided into separate tracks but when I looked at the listing for the deluxe version of the album, those five parts plus the overture were combined into one track lasting over 22-minutes in length.  The normal version of the album, however, lists out the parts individually so I'm going to assume that's how the band wants it interpreted.  The deluxe version also comes with a second disc that includes a "making of" documentary plus some live footage of the band in action.

The short overture opens with a simple keyboard melody before layering on drums, electric guitars and more complex piano work that creates an engaging intro song whose style is reminiscent of the band's at it's peak.  "Fly From Here Pt. 1 - We Can Fly" gives us our first sample of David's vocals and, although his timber is slightly gruffer at times than Anderson's, I wouldn't even had noticed it was a different singer if I wasn't already informed of the change and would have probably attributed to the slight difference in vocals due to the years that have passed. Pts. 2 ("Sad Night at the Airfield") & 3 (Madman at the Screens") take a more serious take on the overall story with Pt. 4 ("Bumpy Ride") having a more chaotic and whimsical melody before turning serious 2/3 of the way through.  Taken as a whole, all parts of "Fly From Here" make for very interesting tracks that sucks you in with their soothing melodies and that goes out of its way to piece together a story that is entertaining to follow along. 

"The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be" has some Steely Dan-esque blues-y guitar riffs that add some very welcome funkiness to the album.  "Hour of Need" features a guest female vocalist whose voice combines to create some soaring vocal harmonies that is backed by blue grass style acoustic guitar work for a gentle and sweet song. 

Longtime fans will be absolutely thrilled with Fly From Here as the style harkens back to their glory days without recycling any of their past successes although there is little in terms of style or technique that would tell you this album was made in modern times.  David does a more than passable job providing vocals and keeping the sound consistent with what we expect from the band with the music having the ability to stand side-by-side to most of their quality releases from past decades.  Younger listeners can use this album as a good introduction to the band although they'd be better off going back to classic albums like Fragile or Close to the Edge for a more complete exposure.

Score:  7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Hour of Need" [sample it below] and "Fly From Here Pt. 4 - Bumpy Ride"

Washed Out Within and Without - Washed Out is the stage name of Atlanta DJ Ernest Greene. This nine track release comes out from Sub Pop Records, the label that has also released albums from The Postal Service, Wolf Parade, and The Shins.  This is his debut album after releasing three EPs since 2009.  Greene's style falls between chillwave and downtempo electronica with some lo-fi touches here and there.  Very subdued vocals are present on the majority of the tracks although it seems they are there as much to provide atmosphere than they are to tell a story or convey a message.  The music does produce a very relaxed ambiance over the duration of the disc although the music isn't engaging enough to sweep you off your feet or to transport you to another place.  It makes for quality background music but I wouldn't play it during an after party for fear of putting people to sleep.

Score: 6.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Amor Fati" [sample it below] and "Before"

R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition) - It's hard to believe it's been 25 years since Stipe, Buck, Mills and Berry released their first album to go Gold in the U.S. moving them beyond being a college radio staple and bringing them mainstream attention with tracks like "Begin the Begin" and "Superman."  This collector edition includes postcards of the band from that time period, a new poster, and two CDs.  The first CD is a remastered version of the classic album although other than improved clarity and levels, I didn't hear anything that was different from the original disc we all loved so much in our youths.  The second CD has 19 previously unreleased tracks recorded by the band before the final studio sessions.  The demos include early versions of songs that would later end up on this album like "Fall On Me" and "These Days."  The demos tracks all have a rawness to them or are just sub par pop songs which means they will only appeal to the most ardent fans of the band.

Score:  The remastered first disc gets a 8.5/10 while the second demos disc gets a 6.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "These Days (Demo)" and "Flowers of Guatemala (Demo)"

Brian McKnight Just Me - The R&B singer/songwriter from Buffalo, NY releases his fourteenth studio album.  This is another dual disc release with the first CD having 10 new tracks while the second CD is a recording of a live show McKnight did at the Avalon here in L.A. earlier this year.  I wasn't able to preview a copy of the second disc so this review is based solely on the new tracks from the album.  The disc starts well with the warm and sultry "Temptation" followed the reflective, R&B-heavy first single, "Fall 5.0."  The quicker tempo "Husband 2.1" with its hard rocking electric guitar work is a real standout track that helps transition to the more melodic songs that populate the second half of the CD.  McKnight's vocals are still silky and consistent over the entire disc and he still uses his melismatic style (ya' know, when he moves between multiple notes while singing just one word of the lyrics kinda like what Stevie Wonder is known for) very effectively to draw emotion to the otherwise somewhat bland lyrics. Just Me is an enjoyable listen that does lose some steam during the slower ballads but it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre.

Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Husband 2.1" and "Without You"

New Music from 3/8/2011 - R.E.M., Starfucker, and Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata

Starfucker Reptilians - The four-person Indie/Electro-Pop band from Portland, Oregon known to sometimes cross dress for their live performances releases its sophomore album.  If you think you are unfamiliar with the band, you might remember this song from their debut album that was featured in a 2009 commercial for Target.  Frontman Josh Hodges wrote Reptilians shortly after the passing of his grandmother and, according to a recent interview, the theme for a lot of the songs is about death and the end of the world.  Sounds like cheery stuff!

"Born" opens the album with a quick acoustic guitar riff with drums and synthesizers accompaniment shortly thereafter.   The lyrics are written from the perspective of a newborn and the song is sung with airy vocals to enhance this perspective with esoteric synthesizer sounds layered to mimic the confusing sounds a newborn would experience in this well crafted track.  "Julius" follows with a more standard electropop sound with heavy keyboard work, a catchy hook that is reminiscent of an OMD song, and more conventional vocals.  "Reptilians" is slower indie ballad initially with jangly instrumentation and ethereal vocals until the synthesizer gets cranked up and the bass gets going to drive home the message.  "The White of Noon" and "Mona Vegas" have a stronger electronic feel with House influenced samples which, when overlain with the slow tempo beats, help create two very haunting and memorable tracks. 

Reptilians is a fantastic indie/electro pop album.  While their self-titled debut album from 2007 was a very good album, the band shows tremendous growth since that release with more complex song writing, a complete theme for an entire album, and better overall production work.  And despite the heavy sounding tone I foreshadowed in the first paragraph, the music is very vibrant and upbeat without much of the dreariness you would expect on an album about death and the end of the world.  It's really a testament to  Hodges and the other songwriters to be able to turn the bleak subject matter into something dynamic that you will want to listen to repeatedly on good days or bad ones. 

Score:  9.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Julius" [sample it below] and "Mona Vegas"

R.E.M. Collapse Into Now - Indie music icons Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills reunite to release R.E.M.'s fifteenth studio album.  This twelve track disc comes exactly 30-years after their first single "Radio Free Europe" was first released and started to get heavy play on lots of college radio stations.  Can the band that was so influential to the indie music scene in the 80's and 90's release an album that is still relevant and sounds fresh by today's standards?  Let's find out...

"Discoverer" sounds like an old R.E.M. song from the early 90's with heavily distorted guitars, a fast tempo and a catchy hook during the chorus--all buoyed by Stipe's distinctive warbling sounding none the older despite the years.  "All The Best" continues the fast pace of the opening with another hard rocking, guitar driven song.  "Uberlin" is a real standout song that had me wondering why they weren't recording more songs like this over the past decade with most of the fancy electronic wizardry gone in favor of an acoustic guitar, simple keyboards and a laid back beat to create one of their better songs in ages.  "Oh My Heart" is an Irish sounding ballad with lots of various string instruments and a heavier tone as if R.E.M. were covering a Pogues song.  The album then becomes very uneven after that with, unfortunately, some extremely forgettable songs mixed in with some pleasing but unspectacular tracks.

By far, this is the best R.E.M. album in over a decade.  The first handful of songs are very diverse but all of them have that spark that the band used to magically bring to their albums with such ease.  There is also more variety to their track choices with a good mixture of slow-, medium-, and fast-tempo songs and a better blend of electronic/distortion heavy songs and acoustic guitar driven tracks.  They will probably never be able to recapture the greatness they once exhibited but it's good to know they can put out a credible album still. 

Score: 7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Uberlin" [sample it below] and "All The Best"

Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata The Hills Are Alive - BRO is an instrumental quartet led by Peter Kiesewalter, founder and arranger of Grammy nominated Opera "revisionists" East Village Opera Company.  This is their debut album and it is a high-concept album that re-imagines and rearranges the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.  A plethora of guests singers pitch in to provide the vocals necessary when covering one of the most well-known musicals of all time. 

All of the twelve tracks can fall somewhere into one of three categories: 1) a rearrangement of the original usually in a more modern style; 2) a mash-up of the original and a well-known pop or rock song; or 3) shoehorning the original song into many well-known songs.  The songs are not in the same order as they are presented in the musical.  The opener of this album, "The Sound of Music," incorporates extremely well known guitar riffs from over a dozen popular modern music singles by groups like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Steve Miller Band probably in an attempt to show how music can leave an indelible impression on its listeners but it ends up being more distracting than clever.  That's followed by "Do-Re-Mi/ABC" which unsuccessfully tries to mash-up the original song from the musical with the Jackson 5 hit.  However, there are some bright spots in some of the tracks that follow.  "Something Good" is rearranged in a Soul/R&B style with sexy vocals and sultry horn work.  "My Favorite Things" is arranged in the style of a 90's Broadway rock musical (think part Chess and part Miss Saigon) that oddly works.  "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is cleverly re-imagined as a hip-hop/R&B song in which the updated version creates a new meaning to the chorus.

The Hills Are Alive is a valiant and ambitious effort that comes off as part oddball and part beautiful.  None of the three styles they use to rearrange the songs are genuine successes or complete failures.  There are a couple of tracks that are very clever updates and create a different meaning to the lyrics ("Something Good" and "Maria") but a lot also that sound off-putting especially when they're combined with another popular song ("Do-Re-Mi/ABC").  When you mash-up two songs, they must have something in common (or at least a good transitioning point) so when you switch between them it doesn't sound awkward.  Otherwise, one song (usually the more popular one) ends up dominating the other with unspectacular results.  However, if you liked the recent David Byrne and Fatboy Slim collaboration album about Imelda Marcos (an album I definitely enjoy when I'm in my more eclectic moods), the style of music and the theme of this album will be right up your alley. 

Score:  7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Something Good" [sample it below] and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"