Witulant

Spoon – Transference

Spoon is still in a sort of musical purgatory as a band, not obscure enough to fly under the radar but also without a breakthrough mainstream moment ala Death Cab or The Shins. (Even though Stranger Than Fiction came pretty close to exposing their awesomeness to the masses)  In some ways, this is almost reassuring.  It’s nice to see them assembling a healthy fan base while still being able to fully choose the sort of music that goes on each LP as opposed to some stereotypical, wealthy fat-cat record tycoon: I imagine Texas guy from the Simpsons, big cowboy hat and two six-shooters blasting whimsical bullets in the air while shouting, “I hate the noise on track six, and why not add some hand claps to the opener??  Yeeeeeeeeehawwwww!”

Not the case on Transference, in fact, this is a record that sports the double threat of being both entirely satisfying for long-time fans while being something a noob could totally sink his fledgling teeth into and appreciate.  It won’t be their ticket to a ten-album multi-million dollar deal from Warner Bros., but it’s exactly what you want to hear from a Spoon album.  And that’s just fine, as I imagine an underwhelmed Britt Daniel and co. ascending the stage on Grammy night, just after Taylor Swift and Black Eyed Peas, speaking a sardonically-charged acceptance speech, “Wow, uh, thanks.  This is…this is really cool,” wouldn’t be all that fulfilling.  Imma let you finish, but nah.

****

Eels – End Times

No real surprise here.  An album from Eels about heartbreak and divorce.  An ominous, old-man E on the cover.  The end of his life and the end of his relationships.  At some point, we’re supposed to care about this right?

To be fair, the album does its job.  It’s thought-provoking and, conclusively, a bit of a downer.  But I’ve become bored with E’s music.  His heart is in the right place, but I couldn’t find a huge difference between his conceptual album about desire and (a mere six months later) an album essentially about the results and downfall from it.  It’s all sad, all downtrodden, and a bit repetitious.  There’s a lot to take in here, it just might feel like the same stuff you’ve been taking in for a while.

****

Irm – Charlotte Gainsbourg

Honestly, I wouldn’t have taken the same notice of this album had it not been produced, co-written by and featuring Beck.  I’m a Beck Hansen whore, I’ll admit it.  It’s a page right out of Modern Guilt, with a more melancholy, ethereal-bent.  But this isn’t a case of all-star writer/producer imposing his will upon and shifting another artist’s sound.  On the contrary, Gainsbourg’s last album had already traveled down this gossamer path, and Beck simply further fleshes it out, their styles fitting together like Lego bricks.  It’s a super album.

Oh, and it also helps having a dandy, ear worm of a first single + entrancingly-gorgeous companion video for all the music blogs to talk about.  Check.

****

other 1/19 releases: Cold War Kids (EP), Lindstrom & Christabelle, RJD2, Dawn Landes (US), Danny Barnes, Shapes Stars Make, Aziz Ansari