No-Man - Wild Opera

Artist: No-Man

Album: Wild Opera

Release: 1996

“Maybe there’s more to life then writing songs, maybe not”

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a die-hard Steven Wilson fanatic. What this means is I’m willing to buy anything he graces with his presence, I mean, anything he works on. This is how I discovered No-Man, Mr. Wilsons first foray into the music scene. Pre-dating Porcupine Tree, No-Man’s history goes all the way back to 1986, (just to give you some perspective on me, almost four years before I was born), when Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness – the left and right sides of the brain respectively – met up and started the project. Their second album, Flowermouth in 1994, is one of my favorite albums. It’s sweeping soundscapes and romantic lyrics can sweep the listener off their feet. Maybe this is why I find their next album, Wild Opera, so interesting. It fails to capture what Flowermouth did. The romantic poetry has been replaced with gritty, almost grunge-sounding lyrics reminiscent of a breakup letter. And 80’s sounding hip-hop beats alongside distorted guitars have taken over the soft, calming soundscapes. Normally, this would be a bad thing and I would dismiss the band for changing their sound to suit a labels wishes. But No-Man have seemingly done the impossible and created something so outlandish that it works. Everything about Wild Opera screams of two musicians so fed up with the industry that they made the ultimate satire record to voice their intentions to remain true to themselves. The lyrics, sound, even the cover’(s) manage to convey this idea. The original ’96 cover has a very 50’s propaganda-ish feel to it that give a false feeling of accessibility to the listener. The woman is pointing at something and chuckling. I relate this to the musicians laughing at the direction the music industry is taking. To a person browsing a record store, this would look like it fit in with the Blur albums a shelf over. This theme continues on the recent reissue, (the copy I acquired.) The people are gazing out over a very bloated-looking lake and a wall of stone. The lake is representative of how oversaturated and bloated musicians sound’s have become and the walls are the labels leering almost menacingly over them. It dosnt look like the family – Wilson & Bowness – want to go swimming here. As for the lyrics, I found myself laughing more than once while listening to the album. I mean, how could you not with lyrics like “Not even housewives hooked on heroin can understand the awful mess I’m in”. Tim’s lyrics reek of intentional irony. And finally the music itself. Wild Opera was created during a time when musicians were moving away from the idea of solos and the grunge movement happening at the time spearheaded this idea. On a funny side note, one of the songs is called “My revenge on Seattle”… think of that what you will. Wilson mocks this notion by combining two styles that are completely at end with each other, hip-hop and rock. But it’s because of this decision that Wild Opera sounds a unique as it does. This album really is the black sheep of No-Man’s discography. The definitive anti-rock album. I love it.

Eluvium - Similes

Artist: Eluvium

Album: Similes

Release: 2010

“Appended to the breeze, talking amongst the trees”

Portland is an interesting city. The majority of the time it’s raining yet the city’s inhabitants are some of the friendliest people you can ever meet. Normally those two things could never coexist. But Portlanders can often be seen smiling while they walk down Burnside or Hawthorne in the rain. This is my ideal listening experience for Eluviums new release Similes. I find it appropriate not only because Matthew Cooper, aka Eluvium, resides in the rose city, but because all of Eluviums music just seems to make more sense on a rainy day. His music manages to both capture the beauty of the city and subdue the listener into a rather submissive state. One feels at ease like you’re floating above the clouds, above the storms below. It’s as though the paintings of life around us are melting away before our eyes and what we are left with is the primal beauty of our natural world. One can't help but smile while experiencing this album. Musically, this is Eluviums most groundbreaking release yet. The soft piano keys create an atmosphere of relaxation and no sound ever overstays its welcome. The soundscapes captured here are an ever rotating door of audible clarity. As one sound exits, another enters to take its place. Like players on a stage, each instrument plays its part to perfection until the final curtain falls. But this is not the biggest thing about Similes. The most shocking part of this recording is the fact that it has lyrics! Until now, all five of his records have been entirely instrumental with the occasional sound clip. It’s natural for musicians to try and expand their sound in interesting ways. So adding lyrics into the mix was the next logical step for Eluvium. I view this decision in the same way I view Steven Wilson’s choices lyrically on Insurgentes. The lyrics are meant to complement the music, not the other way around. So the addition of lyrics helps the record by adding a whole new level of sound that could never exist on his previous releases. It’s not often I come across music that can take my breath away. But with Similes, Mr. Eluvium has created something magical. I can’t wait till the next rainy day!

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Artist: Gorillaz

Album: Plastic Beach

Release: 2010

“Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach”

I loved Gorillaz. They were the first band I got “into”. Their self titled 2001 debut was the first album I ever bought. It was a brilliant idea. A real life cartoon band lead by a Satanist for a bassist, a possessed hip-hop historian as a drummer, a ten year old Chinese girl as a guitarist, and a blue haired pretty-boy with no eyes as lead singer. These oddballs were the center of my pre-teen life. Then they disappeared off the map, and I forgot about them. Then in 2005, the band returned with Demon Days and so did my interest. And now, five years later, Gorillaz give us their final (?) release Plastic Beach and I’m not sure about it. I used to be really into Hip-Hop and rap. Even though I’ve moved onto better things I still find both of their previous records to be a refreshing change of pace. But maybe it’s been too long… I can’t seem to wrap my head around this eccentric little record. This really isn’t a new Gorillaz record but rather a Gorillaz fronted collaboration album. There’s soooooooooo many people on this record that the actual band get lost in the mix. It doesn’t have the easy-listenable aesthetic the first album had and it doesn’t have the apocalyptic soundtrack feel to it that Demon Days had. I found that throughout all three of the bands releases, the tracks where singer 2-D croons into the mike are my favorites, but those are few and far between on Plastic Beach. I’m not saying that the guests tracks aren’t interesting – it’s actually quite the contrary. I think Mos Def’s contributions to this record are some of the most enjoyable hip-hop I’ve ever heard. Also, Snoop Dogg’s track is a beautiful hybrid of 70’s synth and old school rap. But the biggest surprise on Plastic Beach is inclusion of unknown gem by the name of Little Dragon. The vocalist provides a nice calming change to the rest of the albums over-produced, lets-hit-every-button-on-the-sound-board style of rap. I get the feeling this is a really deep album. I would love to get to the core of this record some day but the music is just so thick that the overall message doesn’t ring as loud as it should be. But overall, the impression Plastic Beach gives me is this – this is a pop record with pop sensibilities. While this is a concept album deserving of a full listen to understand and let the music sink in, that’s just not going to happen. It will be promoted like any other run-of-the-mill forgettable record and all the overexposure will ultimately hurt and taint the album as a whole. But what really bothers me is there’s a chance that the videos from this album have a possibility to be aired before or after MTV’s newest artist-of-the-moment. As a result I fear that Plastic Beach will be completely forgotten like all the other cannon fodder MTV airs. But I do have hope… Maybe one day Plastic Beach will speak to me the same way Gorillaz other releases do. But until then I’m content with what could be Gorillaz last release. Maybe I’m too old for cartoons…

(I have a feeling that I will feel completely different about this record in a year’s time. Setting alarm clock… NOW)