The Songs Have Changed
From the drooling yet coherent review that made me decide I really did want to buy the new New Pornographers album, Electric Version:
At a raw materials level, some of the songs on Electric Version have so many hooks that they become bouillon?listen to how “The Laws Have Changed” keeps kicking in, over and over. Added to water, it would yield three perfectly good pop songs.
Two songs are free for download here, including “The Laws Have Changed”, which is, indeed, the very definition of quality pop. Pop as a musical genre that is, not pop as shorthand for “popular” (Britney, Celine et al), which we really ought to rename pap, or perhaps poop, to avoid the unnecessary confusion.
Somebody asked me what “indie rock” was the other day. I couldn’t quite explain, but it definitely involves independent pop music, and it just might have something to do with bands like Minus the Bear, of whom I’ve been enjoying what little I’ve heard. Their new album, Highly Refined Pirates excels in the art of eye-catching appellation if nothing else. Some sample song titles include “Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!” and “I Lost All My Money at the Cockfights”. The sound, meanwhile, is unmistakably West Coast (they hail from Seattle — something about all the rain?): a dash of synth to warm up the chilly yet smart guitar licks and distant, angst-ridden vocals.
Finally, in other music news, over at What Do I Know they’re speaking of music as memory, and gosh if some people don’t have some poignant things to say.
Previously: Some Privacy Please
Subsequently: iTunes 4: Now With Less Love to Give
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