Yeah, there's this rumor that there's a fantasy hockey league a-startin' in a few weeks. Well, cast aside the rumor, because this one's so solid that it's an e5, baby! Speaking in relation to the participants, an announcement is coming soon.
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Lately I've been digging into my back catalogue of tunes from which I listened to years ago. It felt like sophomore year all over again when I pulled out The Breeders' Title TK and The Gloria Record's Start Here, but the record that's really coming into full swing is Unwound's Leaves Turn Inside You.
There's just something special with this album that makes it flow together so seemlessly. The whole project just seems like a test of the listener's palate. Two minutes' worth of a layering of single notes start the double album and that's when you begin to wonder what's about to happen... especially knowing the history of the band. As a more loud, in-your-face group that seemed to nightly kill audiences by their punkish approach, Unwound (hate to say it, but...) matured on their final masterpiece. Maturing ain't that bad, either, as can be figured out by giving this record a listen. Once you get past the bombarding of notes from opener "We Invent You", you begin to get a sense that, "Ok, I'm thinkin' this was worth it now," when "Look A Ghost" takes over and brings you to your knees. It's kinda fortunate that happens because it's less of a distance for your jaw to drop.
As a fan of other Unwound records (namely Repetition), this record caught everyone off guard. And rightfully so. Something like this just doesn't happen as if it were supposed to. A bunch of their previous song arrangements tend to start and stop on the dime and are dramatically punctuated. Leaves' tunes are more elegant, graceful, flowing ("Radio Gra" instantly comes to mind), but that doesn't mean that there is a lack of tension felt on the record either.
It's hard to believe that I missed this band before I could truly appreciate them. I'm sure we can all say that about something.
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I also downloaded a copy of the latest Emily Haines solo effort, Knives Don't Have Your Back. Throughout my first few listens of the record, I really feel like that the problem here is that these "knives" won't have "your" (i.e. Ms. Haines') back.
Confession time, kids. I'm a pretty big fan of Metric. Shocker, right? Even though my girlfriend played the crap outta their first record, Old World Underground Where Are You Now?, I still find myself coming back to it every month or so because of its freshness and vivacity. And even though initially their last one appeared to be a "sweep-under-the-rug" effort, hearing Live It Out's stronger material live did the trick and makes the album more memorable than its predecessor. So when I heard that Emily was drinking from the same water that other influential "bandheads" were (i.e. Corgan, Amy Millan, Thom Yorke, Jenny Lewis, etc.), I genuinely got excited, just as I had about all the mentioned performers. Turns out I was bummed out with the end product... just like all of the other mentioned performers.
All I hope for from a true "solo" record is a beautifully crafted album that features great songwriting, dominating lyrics about something involving LIFE, and acoustic guitars... really. Nothing technological, nothing gimmicky, and absolutely nothing sleep-inducing. And this is where Emily falls into, unfortunately. With her, I didn't necessarily expect what I had just mentioned, but something along the lines of, "Hey, I put a bunch of thought into these older, crappy songs and then I put them in a rock tumbler and I came out with these gems... you know why? BECAUSE I CARE!"
Initially hearing "Our Hell" on her website, I got a little antsy. It was enough of a tease to form assumptions, but enough of a tease to really start chomping down at the bit and drool a little bit. The rest of the album just doesn't pan out like that as it often doesn't get off the ground. Which is a shame because she is a true character in Metric and that kind of personality doesn't even appear to touch the record. And maybe that's the entire point of releasing Knives. Desperate-for-attention piano tracks just doesn't do it for me for 10 tracks.
Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (featuring members of Metric, Broken Social Scene, and Stars) /// Knives Don't Have Your Back /// To be released 26 September, 2006
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