Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

I live in a city affectionately called La-La Land. It's a fitting moniker for a number of reasons. Having been born and raised in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. (which according to John McCain's adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer isn't "real" Virginia) I have seen and experienced things (sometimes) ridiculously out of my definition of ordinary that I'm still compelled to write many of them down. (For the record, as stupid as it was for Pfothjzsdkjbsjer to characterize Virginia as 2 different states - not counting WEST Virginia - she was merely speaking the truth. If you drive more than an 90 minutes in any southern direction from Fairfax County I promise you will see what "real" Virginia is made of....lots of horses, hicks, Cracker Barrels, etc.) For instance, everyone knows that in L.A. you are required to drive everywhere. This is mostly true. I honestly don't mind the amount (miles) I drive on a weekly basis. The aggravating part is the time spent in the car. At home, 5 miles is about a 15-20min. drive. In L.A. those same 5 miles take at least twice that much time if you're lucky. I also had to quickly learn that there is no end to "rush hour". In order to understand this, you also have to know that no one works in L.A. Meaning, there are so many out of work actors or people whose job it is to shuttle things around town there is always traffic. Certain times are heavier and the only times to get on the freeways are between 10pm and 6am. All of this free time has to be put to good use. I don't recommend texting or using your BlackBerry because you will rear-end someone (not to mention the Govenator signed legislature outlawing it beginning in 2009). I use the time to listen to new music. Depending on the commute I can almost listen to an entire album on one leg, and have a repeat listen on the way home. Most recently I've been "spinning" Ra Ra Riot's debut album The Rhumb Line on my iPod. This is somewhat of a weird coincidence because the band was formed at Syracuse University, and many of my friends out here also went there. Incidentally, they either knew people in the band, saw them play at someone's house party, or some facsimile thereof.

Ra Ra Riot (in my mind) is a thinking-man's Vampire Weekend. It's probably because some lyrical content is inspired by e.e. cummings and not ruminations on oxford commas. But it's also due to the strings of cellist Alexandra Lawn and violinist Rebecca Zeller who artfully alternate between staccato (short) and legato (long) lines depending on the mood and nature of the song. There debut album comes at a perfect time after Vampire Weekend's rapid ascent and subsequent backlash among the snotty tastemakers. The reason for the "delay" is actually a tragic one. The band's original drummer John Pike died tragically in June of 2007 after disappearing one night after a show in Providence, RI. His body was found later in nearby Buzzard's Bay. No one would have blamed the mourning bandmates for calling it quits there and then, but the resilient group issued a statement saying they would continue. Honoring their friend, many of the The Rhumb Line's songwriting credits go in their entirety or partially to Pike. The 10 tracks take up about 37 minutes. It's another one of those albums without any weaknesses and can be listened to front to back. The backstory with the band and the adversity they've managed to get through is inspiring and lends even more emotional weight to songs like "Dying is Fine" and "Ghost Under Rocks." Having listened to the band's 2007 EP as well, this debut album is much more polished and focused than that EP. With some songs crossing over from the EP to the album you can hear the effects of having time in a studio and a good producer. It's an album that makes me forget about sitting in crappy traffic for an hour trying to go (ostensibly) down the street.

"Can You Tell"

NEW Alan Wilkis song in Hutchinson Urban Tires Video

Thought this was good enough to share with more people. Alan Wilkis has a new song that is used in a video for urban bike tires made by Hutchinson. Granted, I know nothing about bike tires but Alan's track fits really well against this cool video. Again, Alan has produced a track that has multiple layers that have a funky feel together but work really well as a whole. After emailing him congrats, he let me know there will be a new EP of material in the coming months! Come for the cool video, but stay for the kickass track. Enjoy.

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

Of Montreal is the musical baby of singer/guitarist Kevin Barnes from Athens, GA. It's hard to perfectly describe their style or even musical tastes because they often change from album to album. With that being said, if you want to know about the early history and formation of the band I suggest reading this. Of Montreal came onto my musical radar only a couple years ago when their album Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? became a hit with the indie blogosphere and magazines. That praise was warranted, and is still a great album. The best way to describe the sound of the most recent music from the band is electro-pop-funk-psychedelia...or something.

With all that being said, Of Montreal released their newest album Skeletal Lamping yesterday (10/21) in a litany of formats: "including conventional CD and vinyl, as well as t-shirts, button sets, wall decals, tote bags and a paper lantern, the latter formats replete with a digital download code for the album itself." This fact, is really beside the point. The newest album continues the style and feel of the previous album but with less cohesion. It was sometimes difficult to know when certain songs began and ended on the previous album. It was really meant to be listened to all the way through, but this newest album is very choppy. It's not out of the ordinary for tracks to shift multiple times in the span of a couple minutes. It makes for a headache if you're not prepared for the ride. There are a couple bright spots, but overall it's not as complete an album as its predecessor. It's really a love it or hate it album. While I fall more in the middle, I would probably not recommend it over Hissing Fauna. The album is incredibly ambitious, but tends to cross the line between ambitious and pretentious. I generally give the benefit of the doubt to the musician, but I just think Barnes missed the mark on this. On the flip side, some musicians could never begin to be this ambitious...so take it for what it is; an okay album from an entertaining artist.

"For Our Elegant Caste"