Here’s my Last.fm Top Artists chart for the past week (June 1-June 8, 2008):
I usually only ever get maybe 30 or 40 plays from a single artist, maximum, on any given week. But 170 plays for Igor Stravinsky? What gives? A rather convenient boxed set titled The Works of Igor Stravinsky, that’s what.
I bought it on the same day I wasted cash on Duran Duran’s Red Carpet Massacre. I already had quite a packed playlist at the time, and I knew I would probably only ever listen to this boxed set during a listening lull. Well, I’m in the middle of a listening lull.
I guess the first quarter of 2008 was all the year had to offer. The upcoming quarters look pretty desolate in terms of releases interesting to me, and even my current playlist doesn’t have much luster.
After a marathonofwriting earlier in the month, I managed to get my audition playlist down to about 14 hours. It usually averages around the high 20s or low 30s, but it can peak into the 40s. (That sounds like a weather report.)
It feels kind of weird not spreading my listening time over many days’ worth of material, but I’m taking care of that right quick.
This time around, I’m listening to multiple releases by a number of artists. It wasn’t planned.
There are two things you can count on with Leo Imai’s debut album, FIX NEON:
The prodigious use of the syllable "Oh!"
The recycling of melodic material for his choruses
You needn’t look further than two consecutive tracks toward the middle of the album, "Metro" and "Karaoke". The choruses are practically identical. As for the "Oh!", they appear most frequently between the end of a chorus and the start of a verse, but you can pretty much put them anywhere.
This … economy of musical ideas can get alternately tiring and endearing. It would be nice if he didn’t sing "Oh!" so much, but at the same time, the songs would be so empty without them.
Those are pretty much the only significant issues holding FIX NEON back from greatness. Set them aside, and the album is perhaps one of the most confoundingly appealing releases this year.
If her album releases are any indication, Utada Hikaru would make a lousy poker player. Between double-A sides and coupling tracks that turn into album tracks, she has a habit of revealing her hand before it’s ever shown.
Seven of the 13 tracks on HEART STATION were released as singles, and after the release of "Prisoner of Love" in May, she will have made 60 percent of the album available.
The Japanese music industry still adheres to a model to which the US industry is heading back — driven by singles with albums treated as after-thoughts.
This tactic is good for building hype where it’s warranted. It certainly worked (on me) for Utada’s previous album ULTRA BLUE.
Although Ben Gibbard gets a lot of attention for being the main songwriter for and distinctive voice of Death Cab for Cutie, it’s Chris Walla who mans the recording booth, crafting the moody sound for which the band is renowned.
So when news hit that Walla was recording a solo album, I was intrigued far more than if Gibbard were to record one. Walla is the wizard behind the curtain — just what would he sound like when he steps out?
One question is certainly answered on Field Manual — Gibbard isn’t losing his day job as front man anytime soon. Walla’s raspy voice is actually quite appealing and a sharp contrast from Gibbard’s pixie croon, but Gibbard’s voice has more presence.
Not surprisingly, Walla’s album sounds a lot like Death Cab, given the overlap in producers, but in terms of songwriting, Field Manual is split between fast, hard-driving rockers and slower, atmospheric numbers. On such tracks as "The Score", "Geometry & C" and "Archer v. Light", Walla is a lot more willing to rock out than Death Cab normally would.
Now that I’m working out more, I made a startling discovery about Kylie Minogue’s 2002 album, Fever — it’s really quite good.
At the very least, it’s good for a leisurely jog on the treadmill. But with my earphones (not earbuds!) on and the machine set to approximately 4 mph, it’s tough not to be seduced by the four-on-the-floor beats, the immediate hooks and Kylie ‘s nondescript come-hither voice.
Rockist though I may be 90 percent of the time, sometimes I just can’t help but be teh Gay. (Not that it’s any prerequisite to enjoy such pop perfection.)
For her follow-up Body Language, Kylie attempted to mature, releasing an album with a heavy underground dance influence and lacking anything resembling a single. When it failed to match the sales of Fever, she was written off. Then the cancer. Then the comeback.
Kylie ‘s tenth album, X (is it pronounced "ecks" or "ten"?), puts the singer back squarely in the prefab hit-making mode of Fever, teaming her up with a lot of the same songwriters from before.
In the span of six tracks, MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS manage to cover a lot of ground on their self-titled debut mini-album.
The duo has been described as "psych-rock", but that label is too limited. In fact, it’s easy to compare each track on the album to a particular band: NUMBER GIRL, mono, unkie, condor44.
It’s the NUMBER GIRL influence that seems most prevalent, especially with producer Dave Fridmann behind the board on the last two tracks ("IF A SURFER" and "Bears"). The thundering drums of SAPPUKEI kick off "IF A SURFER", while a tidal wave of distortion inundates "Bears". The second track, "Highlight", even recalls the syncopated rhythms and thick chords of NUMBER GIRL’s "I don’t know".
And I have to say I’m enjoying these titles quite a lot. Pretty much all of them are by the men. At some point, I’m need to start listening to the ladies.
A while back, I linked to a Washington Post article describing the apathetic relationship between classical music and the Grammys. Oddly enough, the classical categories are the only ones I pay any mind.
It’s because the Grammys have a particular irrelevance in classical music circles that makes me interested in the nominees and winners more. If the classical world doesn’t really care about the awards, who cares enough to nominate and to vote?
I’m also distant enough from the classical categories not to be so derisive of its nominees. I wouldn’t question eighth blackbird’s nomination as much as I would Fergie’s.
Most of the titles in this round-up are 2008 Grammy nominees and winners, while others I just happen to be listening to at the time.
![[Last.fm Top Artists, June 1-June 8, 2008]](http://media.tumblr.com/yJH57ockLa0p1oygOMzpntOV_500.png)