Album Review: Tanlines ‘Mixed Emotions’
The perfect blend can be delicious and addicting when done right. Choosing the appropriate base is extremely important, however, the supporting cast of substance classifies the good from the bad. Take the Blizzard from Dairy Queen for example. Vanilla soft serve is the foundation and an array of miniature bites of our favorite chocolate candy bars follow. This winning combination has been a means for parents to shut their children up and listen ever since I can remember. While the standard is great, the obscure is preferred. I was a Nerds Blizzard guy. This candy should not have tasted the way it did with DQ soft serve, but it was magic. Like Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Twins,” it just worked together. Pulling influences from all types of world music, Brooklyn based Tanlines has been my new favorite dynamic duo. The team released of their debut LP Mixed Emotions on Tuesday and since then I have felt like a 10 year-old version of myself finding that perfect blend once again.
Tanlines are compromised of Jesse Cohen (drums, music) and Eric Emm (guitar, vocals). Their project is captivating because it is very much experimental. A mixed pot of off-the-wall ingredients that creates music that just works. The title Mixed Emotions is brilliant because of their ability to pull unique sounds together and create a rich blend. Emm’s stadium filling vocals and rich, melodic synthesizers throughout prove to be the foundation. The Nerds element is sprinkled through the record with ambiguous world drumming patterns and indentifying string instruments. Created by a machine or not, Tanlines’ sound is authentic and provides several anthems to step to.
Track, “All of Me” is their best work and is the song of the record for me. Although early in the album, this is the moment when it all comes together for Tanlines. When this song came through my headphones for the first time I immediately thought music festival. This is a song that is meant for the scorching outdoors and was created to build a summer time dance party. A 10 pound shirt and an overdose of UV rays make sense with this song.
“All of Me”
This momentum is kept as the album progresses and reaches finger snapping mode with track, “Not the Same”. Keyboards start the song and wild western guitar licks lay over the intro. Comfortable synths take over and Emm’s voice erupts. The violin makes a cameo after the chorus as the melting pot of sound grows thicker. The icing on the cake is recorded finger snapping that compliment the many elements of sound. They are unorthodox, but sensible. This is the point on Mixed Emotions where the duo finds perfect balance.
“Not the Same”
Tanlines are innovative and focused on building rhythm to hold the listener’s interest. They are outside of the box musicians that offer the listener the opportunity to embrace many new styles. They hold true to their dancehall foundation, but incorporate alternate sounds to demand engagement. Their choruses are attention grabbing and they sound like they are built for the live show. Like the Nerds Blizzard they are an unlikely combination that brings a smile to my face. I hope to see Tanlines continue to serve up off the menu type music for listeners as they progress in their young career.
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Written by Brett McGrath
Album Review: Perfume Genius ‘Put Your Back N 2 It’
Rehabilitation is a word that scares most. It suggests that a problem exists that most are unwilling to face. The pains of life become easier to handle as addicts cover credible moments with falsified feelings of hope. While addiction regularly pairs itself with drugs or alcohol, a deeper dependence can be found in the current and former relationships that we commit to. Independence is intricate. We rely on others to exist because it provides comfort. When relationships vanish we become dependent on memories that offer anecdotal doses of hope. Seattle songwriter, Mike Hadreas dedicates his sophomore album Put Your Back N 2 It to relationships, both new and old. From friends to family the Perfume Genius project is a means for Hadreas to subtly share his intimate feelings with his listeners. This is a recording that produces thought while slightly opening the closing door to therapy.
Perfume Genius was introduced to me in 2010 with release Learning. My first impression of Hadreas was that he was a complicated and dejected individual. His songs were powerful, but sad. I could not listen to the album regularly because of its tone. I always thought twice before I hit play, asking myself “are you sure you are ready for this today?” It was not until a month after the release of Put Your Back N 2 It that I realized the effect that Hadreas’ music had on me. I tend to turn down songs of his nature because they produce unwanted emotion. Denying feeling displays weakness. Although difficult to admit, this release offers listeners the opportunity to eliminate infatuation and accept the authentic.
The songs sing like hymns from start to finish. Opening track, “Awol Marine” begins with slow notes from Hadreas piano. While not religious, this sounds like Hadreas tryout as a deity displaying desire. Hadreas tells someone to “turn toward the camera”. Using a photo or video to stop a moment in time suggests Hadreas’ unwillingness to forget. The placement of an object, such as, a camera at the beginning of this record proves brilliant upon my own reflection. This record is very much a visual depiction of a vivid story through music. Not since the Antlers release of ‘Hospice’ can I remember a record that comes to life so easily for me as the listener.
My favorite song on this record is “Dark Parts”. This song displays a stronger side of Perfume Genius as he appears in control offering instead of asking for support. The song ends with Hadreas displaying affection by saying, “I will take the dark part of your heart into my heart”. This song is about family and that is why I can appreciate it. While Hadreas displays himself as a vulnerable human in a majority of his work, this song shows his ability to be strong when important people around him yearn for support.
A return to the weakness of Perfume Genius is found in song “Hood”. This track is about being someone that we are not for someone else. As previously stated, independence is intricate. Oftentimes, it is easier fake it on the outside to hide that we are on the inside. Hadreas shows a subtle strength by his willingness to admit his denial by saying, “I am scared baby, that I can’t keep it up for long”. This song is an intimate addiction and lust to feel good in the moment. Continuing down this path only pushes back the timeline to recovery. This song proves to be Hadreas moment of identifying his addiction to the relationship that he holds with others. Acceptance always proves itself as the hardest step to recovery and Hadreas openly offers this up to his listeners
“Hood”
Hadreas might come off frail to the listener with the first spin of Put Your Back N 2 It. It took me over a month to write about it because I just could not piece it all together. The end result was a month of listening and a month of my own interpretation. This record pushed my thought harder than any in recent memory. I learned a lot about myself as I close the door on a year of living by myself. While my new independence proves its value I quickly begin to realize the comfort of having others around. This record could not have resonated at a better time.
Connect with Perfume Genius via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Brett McGrath
Album Review: Nite Jewel ‘One Second of Love’
I have been closely tapped into the buzz surrounding Bloomington’s Secretly Canadian artist Nite Jewel. It did not matter which blog I read, I could not escape the build up to the release of One Second of Love. While Nite Jewel was new to me, the strength of the release was reaffirmed in too many different locations to ignore. Nite Jewel has spent the last four years on an EP release cycle since her 2008 LP Good Evening. By giving her fans just enough since her first full release, she has found a way to engage and grow her following.
Romona Gonzalez is the comforting voice behind the Nite Jewel project. Created in Los Angeles, Gonzalez has found a unique way to attract and maintain relevancy in the one and done independent music scene. Nite Jewel followed Good Evening by releasing three separate EP’s: Want You Back, You F O, and Am I Real. Leaning on extended plays, Nite Jewel, has countered obscurity by constantly satisfying listeners’ short attention spans. This style has been leveraged by artists such as Toro y Moi and is beginning to provide some statistical data to back up the approach. The fact that One Second of Love was released from a local label should make local readers proud. Left coast bred and Bloomington fed, the attention surrounding Nite Jewel has helped give our local scene some more deserved national buzz.
While listening to One Second of Love I begin to identify many important moments that carry me from track to track. Synths help support Gonzalez’s deep melodies throughout the entire record. Many moods appear while listening. Some sound happy like Class Actress and others sound dark like Bat for Lashes. The dichotomy of sound and provides a comforting contrast. Coming across more eager than anxious, Nite Jewel displays a subtle confidence that earns my attention.
Title track, “One Second of Love” pops off with a catchy HQ rhythm and funky synth line. It’s simple, soothing, and now I’m sold. As the chorus repeats, the listener is able to identify Nite Jewel’s ability to transition quickly between ranges. With many artists, such transitions can wind up sloppy and distracting. However, with Nite Jewel pulls makes the switch seamlessly, each and every time.
“One Second of Love”
“Autograph” serves as the darling of this record for me. Gonzalez showcases her versatility, dropping a 90s pop, female R&B vibe. She smoothly states that “I still got your autograph, it is on my heart”. This line could have been ripped out of the Zhane discography and I would not have noticed any difference. As Nite Jewel strikes my sweet spot, I begin to think that Secretly Canadian must be proud to have her autograph inked to their hearts.
“Autograph”
Nite Jewel’s massive vocal range mixed with contrasting melodies makes this project worth a listen. I am excited to see what happens after this record marinates in listeners minds. My guess is that it will continue to garner attention, leaving listeners anticipating Gonzalez’s next move. I recommend that you sit back and relax with this one for a while.
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Written by Brett McGrath
Thought on Tracks 