Treats

This one is going to split the jury. Sleigh Bells are not a Christmas novelty act (some will disagree) but another band from the People's Independent Noise Republic of Brooklyn and an immense grungy dance punk juggernaut consisting of Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller a former hardcore rock guitarist. For influences think Bow Wow Wow, crossed with Lil Wayne and then throw in the Beastie Boys, White Stripes and Le Tigre.

As for the music Sleigh Bells elephantine beats don't just hammer the damn things could pile drive concrete supports into the foundations for skyscrapers. Their primitive guitar fuzz is wickedly distorted and married to the simplest of pop melodies. Krauss's ever so sweet voice provides tranquillity amongst this cacophony. Thereby this irresistible mix combines with room-shaking production and big guitars and is the reason why so many people are salivating over this album on the blogosphere.

When I first played the opener "Tell em" on my car stereo it was so bloody loud I swerved to miss a passing cyclist. It is a full blown aural assault, the musical equivalent of a punch in the face and one of the quieter songs on the album. It may just be 2010's musical counterpart to last years "My Girls" by Animal Collective. In terms of what follows there is no let up or escape. "Riot Rhythm" has drums which pound and Millers guitar introduces a razor like cutting riff. "Infinity guitars" sounds like a cross between the Beastie boys and Japandroids. "Run the heart" is Abba for the Twitter generation. It is a staccato composition punctuated by bubbling noises, shimmering synths and the dreamlike vocal of Krauss. Then there is the Phil Spectorish "Rill Rill" formerly "Ring Ring" from their demo's which is a charming confection of a pop song that is a temporary if welcome relief from Miller frankly going mental. His return however comes back with all the force of a wayward Katyusha missile on "Crown on the Ground" which sounds like the treble button has broken and someone has sucked the bass out. Your graphic equalizer is I am afraid onto a hiding to nothing but it works brilliantly and is actually quite sweet in comparison to the 90 second riff monster "Straight A's" that follows which could be Husker Du having a bad soundcheck. "A B Machines" is a surf guitar hip hop mash up (I kid you not) with Krauss repeating a two line lyric throughout. Finally the title track sounds like Mastadon making a bid for the charts with a girl singer.

There will be many of you wonderful people on Amazon who will state that "you don't get this", that "you've heard it all before" or will use that ubiquitous insult that it is the "king's new clothes". Even more will complain that the level of distortion on the album (at Spinal Tap "11") is giving your speakers a workload which they neither desire or can cope with and that perhaps "Treats" should come with complimentary Paracetamol. Yet there are on occasions when certain albums for just a very elusive moment on the space time continuum appear to make all other game players sound a bit wrought and tired. Sleigh Bells new album "Treats" falls into that category and will nudge popular music into different directions.

Granted "Treats" is so bound for mainstream success and overexposure that you sense that a brief romance with this band may be the extent of your involvement, but so what it will be fun while it lasts. Thus we have an album that is very loud, trashy, and disposable and pulled off with the sort of brazen audacity that would find the state police visiting in the dark of night in a less tolerant society. "Treats" describes itself, get it on Amazon MP3 download now and be prepared for a complete sensory overload.

2011 GRAMMY Nominees

When I turned 40 almost 12 years ago I realized that my taste in music had not really evolve since I was 25. I worked late hours and focused on my career and starting a family. For some reason, at that point, I purchased my first Grammy CD. I really
did not like a lot of the music on the CD. But, it remained in my car and I would skip over the songs that did not appeal to me.

Over the course of a month there were times when I would forget to skip a track and would listen to songs that were not my preference. As I became more familiar with the songs, I began to appreciate genres that had previously not appealed to me. Among others, I came to enjoy and understand hip hop and rap, and to recognize the popular artists.

Each year since then, I have purchased the Grammy CD (and mp3 now) and I follow the same pattern of exposing myself to new music and new artists. I look forward to purchasing the CD, though from year to year the changes now are less dramatic than when I began. I also began having friends by to watch the awards show, which has been fun.

I am by no means an audiophile. However, while many of my peers hear new music as noise, I have acquired a much better appreciation of popular artists. My son's college aged friends are usually shocked that his decrepit father likes songs by eminem or TI. Maybe in 20 years my grandchildren will be the ones asking: "how does grandpa know about that?".

There are other annual compilations, but this is the best from my perspective. I listen to other music during the year, but buying this CD each year hopefully will keep me open to enjoying new music. I would hate to become stuck again. 

This great & fantastic CD has 19 great tracks, all nominated/from nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards which were presented during the ceremony on 02/13/2011. Winners are voted by the members of The Recording Academy & recipients will receive the greatest music accalade in the music industry (Grammy Awards). A portion of CD sales will go to charities (Grammy Foundation & MusiCares Foundation). The music from this CD has various musicians & genres ranging from Classical ("Have n't Met You Yet" by the great Canadian crooner Michael Buble' from his bestseller album 'Crazy Love', wonderful track, vocals & melody), Country ("The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert & "Need You Now" by the ever popular country band Lady Antebellum from the bestseller album of the same name), Soul/R 'n B ("Forget You" by soul singer Cee-Lo Green from the bestseller album 'Lady Killer', "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars from the bestseller album 'Doo-Wops And Hooligans' & "Babyfather" by Sade nominated after a 10 year hiatus, song from great album 'Soldier Of Love'), Hip Hop/Rap/R 'n B ("Nothin' On You" by B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars, "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem & Rihanna. This track is in both 2 bestseller albums by these two great artists, CDs/albums being 'Recovery' & 'Loud' respectively) & Pop/Rock ("California Gurls" by the sucessful Katy Perry featuring bad boy rapper Snoop Dogg, "Telephone" by the ever popular & outragious Lady Gaga featuring the amazing Beyonce', "Ready To Start" by Arcade Fire, "Half Of My Heart" by John Mayer featuring country superstar Taylor Swift, song from the great album 'Battle Studies', "This Is It" by the late King of Pop Michael Jackson from the album of the same name, a posthumous release; "Beg Steal Or Borrow" by popular Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs, "Don't Stop Believin'" by great Glee Cast, "Misery" by Maroon 5 from the great album 'Hands All Over' & "Hey, Soul Sister"~(live) by the ever popular live performing rock band/act, Train from the great album 'Save Me, San Francisco'). On overall, this is a compilation of the best music/artists nominated for the greatest award in music industry, a wide variety of music/artists may be a double-edged sword for the 'purists vs fans' but often many fans are pleased as shown/indicated by the popularity/success of this series (Grammy Nominees) & this CD will make you enjoy the Grammy Awards Ceremony much more as the winners are announced as well as some great performances or if you enjoyed the ceremony/performances on 02/13/2011. All the categories of the nominations appear at the back of this great CD for each track/nominee, a highly recommended CD listening! 

1234

You may not know it by name, but you've probably already heard Leslie Feist's "1234," in that iPod commercial that runs about a hundred times a day. It's certainly one of the more winsome pop tunes from Feist's second album "Reminder," and the one that seemed to cling to her folky-pop roots. It's a bittersweet little love song, but played with colourful, innocent exuberance.

"One, two, three four/tell me that you love me more/sleepless, long nights/that was what my youth was for," Feist croons over an acoustic guitar. But with "oh, teenage hopes are lying at your door" it blooms into a sprightly pop confection, which manages to be just a wee bit symphonic, and very catchy.

It's an unabashedly sprightly little song flavoured with some bittersweet little reflections on a love that just ain't what it used to be. "Sweetheart, bitter heart/now I can't tell you apart/cozy and cold/put the horse before the cart," Feist sings during one of the quieter moments.

It's not the only song here, though. "1234" is paired with Feist's collaboration with Mocky, "Fightin' Away the Tears." It's a sensual, rainy tune full of beats, electronic ripples and a mellow guitar tune. Mocky and Feist alternate their vocals, and they actually sound pretty astounding together.

These two songs actually fit together very nicely, though one is acoustic indiepop and the other is a sort of downtempo folk. That's because both have a reflective, slightly sad quality, set to a melody that can make you want to dance... at least a little bit.

And they both have a melodic backbone of acoustic guitar, but it's got plenty of instrumentation wrapped around it -- strings, smooth ripples electronica, a twangy banjo, plinking piano, guitar and blaring trumpet. Handclaps take the place of typical percussion in the first song, but there's a hollow, slightly rattly drum in the second.

But the highlight is Feist's pretty vocals -- peppy and fun, or languid and torchy, singing songs with innocent insight ("one, two, three, four, five, six, nine, and ten/money can't buy you back the love that you had then"). There are tiny imperfections in her delivery, but that just shows that there's no studio gloss in there.

The "1234" single is a solid pair of songs -- while their styles are very different, they have the same wistful prettiness. Nice.