Rating: 7.5/10

Every time I see a new Michael Cera movie, I swear it has to be the last.  ”I’m going to get tired of this kid,” I tell myself.  ”It can’t last much longer!”  And yet each time Cera returns, he continues to make me laugh.

Scott Pilgrim is a dork (I mean, what else were you expecting from Cera?), a dork dating a high school girl.  However, his world is rocked when Ramona, a hip girl from New York, walks into his life.  Sound corny?  Well, it is.  Corny, and awesome.  Scott quickly falls for Ramona, and soon after we see her feelings returned, the hero learns that he will be challenged by Ramona’s seven evil ex’s for her affection.

“Scott Pilgrim” is quite literally an on-screen comic book.  The film is loaded with classic video game references starting with the opening credit fanfare (if you’ve ever used a Nintendo you will understand).  Naturally, I expected the corniness of villains, heroes, and cute girls, but I wasn’t ready for witty dialogue, decent acting, and brilliant action sequences.  Sword fights, kung fu, and comic violence are well shot and surprisingly engaging.  These colorful scenes feel like they are straight off the pages of the original comic series, complete with animated action sounds.

The film isn’t perfect, and it certainly isn’t for everyone, proven by its undeserved 5th place finish at the box office.  When the movie slowed down, I found myself drifting a little, and Cera seemed a little less genuine than in his other sweet guy performances (ex Juno, Superbad).  Still, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is immensely enjoyable and perfect for anyone with anything more than a tiny fraction of nerd in them.

Rating: 9/10

With the 2009 release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix has quickly risen to the top of indie and pop charts alike.  With an outstanding blend of French/Euro pop and American rock and roll, Thomas Mars and co. have captured the attention of the music world, and it was easy to see why Monday night.

The show opened with Toro Y Moi at 7:45 to an already packed venue.  The set started strong with impressive keyboard and sampling skills of Bundick.  The vocals and keyboard were reminiscent of Animal Collective with more rock driven drum and bass lines.  The audience remained interested and attentive for the first part of the set, but the songs began to feel too familiar by the second half of the performance, especially with the drum beats.  The crowd, although impressed, was clearly ready for a change when Toro y Moi left the stage around 8:20.

Phoenix opened with the Wolfgang lead off track Lisztomania which quickly got the crowd going.  Backed up by an impressive light display and album cover backdrop, the band rocketed through an impressive set which included all of Wolfgang Amadeus and highlights from their previous lesser known releases including the stellar “Consolation Prizes” and “Long Distance Call” from 2006′s It’s Never Been Like That.  Those only familiar with Wolfgang were never lost among unrecognized tracks as Phoenix kept the energy level high.  During “Love Like A Sunset,” a large white cover was dropped in front of the band for an impressive light display to back up an incredible instrumental track.

Phoenix closed out their first set with “Rome” and a song from their first album United, ”Funky Squaredance.”  After a short break, a brilliant acoustic version of “Everything is Everything” had the audience captivated.  The band closed with their hit single “1901″ and the crowd energy hit its peak with even the fans in the bar section on their feet dancing. 

Perhaps some of the most memorable moments of the show, however, were not during the music, but during the applause breaks.  Phoenix was possibly the most appreciative of the overwhelming crowd response of any show I have ever seen.  The band couldn’t help but smile like kids at their very first show.  Phoenix proved that they have the live talent to back up their recordings.

Rating: 3/4

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of the Black Keys keep themselves busy in the music world.  With 3 releases in the last three years (including work on Blakroc), the duo from Akron, OH, have found considerable success with their fusion of blues rock and modern production. 

The follow-up to 2008′s Attack and Release, Brothers, is a step back to a more recognizable Black Keys.  Without the production from Danger Mouse, the album has a more raw feeling which is what gives Brothers its drive.  The album also packs more emotion and passion than previous Keys work.

The albums lead off track, “Everlasting Light,” combines Auerbach’s falsetto and a gospel choir that will have you, at the very least, tapping your feet, if not standing on them throwing your hands in the air.  The album continues with passionate tracks like “Next Girl” and “The Only One” which are wonderfully raw both musically and emotionally.  Among other early stand out tracks is the album’s single, “Tighten Up,” the only track produced by Danger Mouse.  “Tighten” has one of the best guitar hooks on the album combined with whistling and outstanding production for a worthy single.

Blues fans will not be disappointed with this release.  Tracks like “Ten Cent Pistol” and “I’m Not the One” have great progressions that will send you back to the good old days.  There are some weaker moments on the album including “Sinister Kid” and “Unknown Brother” which fail to capture the rest of the album’s passion.  Plus, with an album running a little over an hour, the blues theme grows a bit tiresome. 

Two of the album’s strongest tracks close out Brothers.  First, a Jerry Butler cover of “Never Give You Up” is shaped into a perfectly executed ballad.  “These Days” takes the listener away from the personal view to the world view with lyrics like “look what we’ve been through, men come in different shades, that’s how we’re made.”

With great production and the composition skills that are just as good as ever, the Black Keys have come a long way on their musically journey, but still managed to never lose site of what they do best.  Brothers is a more mature sounding band with the same goal, keep the blues alive.

http://www.theblackkeys.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNXwicxlsvI&feature=av2e

Alec Sydlow 2010

The Flaming Lips set the precedent for the “out there” band, but never fail to put together a great album.  Yoshimi is no exception; fuzz and ultra production combines with great melodic sounds for not only an enjoyable album, but an extremely influential one.

9.  The Shins-Chutes too Narrow

Chutes too Narrow is indie perfection…great acoustic riffs and melodic, sometimes shout like vocals.  Picking between this album and Oh, Inverted World was immensely difficult as both have so much to offer.  Chutes bounces from upbeat pop to sentimental ballads like “Pink Bullets,” one of my favorite tracks of the decade.

8.  The Red Hot Chili Peppers-By the Way

By the Way has some of the best alternative tracks I have ever heard.  ”The Zephyr Song,” “Can’t Stop,” and of course, “By the Way,” are all great examples of 90s rock carried over into the 2000s.

7.  Girl Talk-Night Ripper

It took me a while to accept Girl Talk as a legitimate musical act, but the more I listened, the more I developed respect for the creative genius behind these mixes.  No one does it better.  Night Ripper is an instant party, and Girl Talk is the only DJ you can ever truly love.

6.  Death Cab for Cutie-Transatlanticism

There are few positive examples of emo rock in the world, but Death Cab’s haunting Transatlanticism brings together emo and indie rock for near perfection.  Dark, but never getting too deep or heavy, DCFC’s album has something for everyone, cutters and indie kids alike.

5.  Wilco-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco is the deserving poster band for indie music.  YHF combines acoustic rock with some of the most unique production I have ever heard.  Intentionally rough, the album has a classic feel to it that makes it one of the most important chapters in every indie kid’s Bible.

4.  Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion

In a decade of changing music, no one pushed the boundaries of music farther than Animal Collective.  AC brought experimental music into the spotlight with Strawberry Jam, and finally secured their place in history with Merriweather Post Pavilion, undoubtedly the best experimental album ever recorded.  Loaded with sampled guitars, loops, and sounds galore, MPP will soon be seen as an album that changed music forever.  Blending experimental music with pop, Animal Collective took music to the next level, and continues to do so.

3.  Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes’ self titled album was an instant masterpiece.  Combining classic country and rock instruments and gospel like harmonizing vocals, Fleet Foxes made us remember that music could still be pure.  This is probably the most beautiful album of the decade with both musical and lyrical perfection.  The album transports you into countrysides or rolling mountains almost immediately.  Every song comes with an outstanding music arrangement.  Whether it is about the natural world or cutting straight at the heart, Fleet Foxes never fails to impress.

2.  Linkin Park-Meteora

Linkin Park was the earliest trend rock band of the decade, and beneath the fact that they really suck, Linkin Park was (saying was to exclude more recent work), outstanding.  Blending alternative metal and rock with DJ mixing (probably the reason Meteora and Hybrid Theory are so good), Linkin Park created a sound that reshaped the boundaries of alt rock.  No one can touch their influence.  Half of today’s rock bands will cite Linkin Park as one of their biggest influences.  There was no incredible musical talent in the band itself, but sometimes it doesn’t matter.  Meteora is a rock epic.

1.  Radiohead-Kid A

Listening to Kid A is a musical orgasm.  Cited by many as the most influential album of the decade, Kid A is a genre all its own.  Every song is unique, but this album flows together better than any I have ever heard.  Keyboards, drums, guitars, strings, extraneous sounds, and of course the instrument that is Thom Yorke make for an experience that isn’t just musical, but emotional.  Kid A sweeps you up and carries you into everything and nothing at the same time.  There is something that feels pure about this album; a sound is created that makes guitars wail and strings weep all at once.

You really haven’t mellowed out until you have listened to a Beach House album.  Even the name makes you want to kick back and float away.  One of the biggest names in Dream Pop, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have now completed three full length albums with several moderately successful singles.  Teen Dream continues to do what Beach House does best, simple melodies and echoing guitar riffs, capped off with the scratchy yet beautiful voice of Legrand.

There is nothing extraordinary about this album, but like their previous two albums, it also flows really well, which may be simply the result of the melodic qualities.  Unfortunately, there in lies the biggest problem with Teen Dream.  The first time I started listening, I thought that I had clicked on the wrong album.  Teen Dream, while being a solid album that I did enjoy, fails to show enough evolution to be really deserving of attention.  This isn’t a flaw to the album itself, but it keeps this reviewer from being blown away.

That isn’t to say that there is nothing here worth your while if you have already listened to Beach House.  There are some really great tracks on Teen Dream.  Songs like “Used to Be” and “Better Times” are really enjoyable combinations of the classic dreamy sound and more modern pop tracks.  ”10 Mile Stereo” almost has a trance feel with the steel like strings and pulsing snare beat.  Then I hear tracks like “Silver Soul” and “Walk in the Park” which are so similar to previous sounds that it makes the album feel a little unoriginal.

Despite the commonality, Beach House remains an outstanding band.  No one does dream pop and indie rock better than the Maryland duo.  Teen Dream is a great album, but as a fan I was hoping for more.

Take the guitar riffs from some old spy movies, the synths from a techno album, the drum beats from a hip hop album, and the crooning vocals of Beach House; meet Phantogram and their first full length album, Eyelid Movies.

Phantogram, a male and female duo, combine to make a really entrancing album.  The sound, which is intentionally left a little rough around the edges, sounds a lot like the production on a Beach House or Portishead album.  This album is a great example of human as instrument, maybe even the best example I have heard since Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion.  Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter’s vocals are not just to provide the lyrics, but instead are a big part of what gives the album it’s depth.  Vocals are distorted and layered like synthesizers.  The best example, also one of the album’s standout tracks, “Running From the Cops,” takes the distorted vocals of Carter and combines them with the vocal ‘ooohs’ of Barthel for a hypnotic sound.

The real accomplishments of the album are Sarah’s lead vocal tracks, including “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “When I’m Small.”  An incredible mix of synthesizers and guitar riffs almost redefine what hip hop can sound like.  The beats aren’t simple, but keep the classic bounce feel that drives any rap song.  The lyrical flow isn’t really rap, but it doesn’t feel like singing either until the chorus.  Other album highlights are the poetic “You Are the Ocean,” which features Carter singing the albums deepest track.  ”You are the ocean, and I’m good at drowning…”

The album does have its weaker moments, but never falls completely.  ”Turn it Off” almost feels like an Arcade Fire track as some of the distortion and synths are taken off Carter.  ”All Dried Up” is pretty, but I find myself wanting some sort of musical explosion which just never comes.

My biggest fear regarding Phantogram is an inability to follow-up Eyelid Movies with an improvement or more of the same success.  The first album seems to exhaust a really great idea, making a second recording extremely difficult.  Future accomplishments ignored, Eyelid Movies is a great twist on hip hop.

Don’t you love it when an album is so simple you can’t help but love it?.  Varsity Club Sunshine Coach’s EP “Some Stuff I Did” is one of those pure pop albums that makes you remember why you liked the guitar so much.   The album starts out with “Still Happy,” a track with an electric riff and acoustic flow that will put you back in the early 90s.  ”Rest is Not Sleep” changes with light background keyboard and poetic lyrics.  ”You’re It,” the third and final track, is the album’s treasure.  Starting with very simple electric guitar chords and mixed vocals, the song slowly progresses to percussion and seems to age, end with a vocal section which floats to the end and leaves you wanting more.

There is a sense of maturity to the album, while still keeping with the lightness.  Unlike similar pop concepts like Vampire Weekend’s first album or Born Ruffians “Red, Yellow, and Blue,” this album doesn’t sound like a bunch of ranting kids making great music.  There is real emotion here which is easy to get caught up in.

The biggest drawback on this album: it’s not nearly long enough.  Even by EP standards, the three tracks fail to deliver enough satisfaction.  Two of the tracks are less than three minutes long, and the other doesn’t even hit four.  Maybe Lennon Bone, who does vocals, guitar, drums, trumpet, and several others on the album, is just teasing, so we’ll take what we can get.

“Some Stuff I Did” is available for listen and download on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/vcscoach

Trying to follow an album like Merriweather Post Pavilion is several steps off impossible.  Arguably the best album of the year, MPP took Animal Collective from College Board to Billboard.  So how do you follow-up such a success?

Fall Be Kind is the answer.  AC slows things down…gets rid of almost pop music style of Merriweather, and goes back to their roots.  You can still hear the now perfected flow found in MPP, but the feeling is simpler, more relaxed.  The album’s first two tracks alone make this EP something special.  Keyboard, strings, and drawn out vocals make “Graze” one of Animal Collective’s most beautiful tracks, while still managing to spiral into the upbeat conclusion of drums and flutes, almost to the point that you forget you are listening to Avey Tare and company.

Following “Graze,” Animal Collective’s creativity hits a new high with “What Would I Want? Sky” which includes the first licensed Grateful Dead sample (as if the bad needed to increase their indie credibility).  Crashes echo in the background with the repeating GD sample, and Avey Tare adds his strange yet poetic story telling style, creating an unreal blend of sound that leaves you wanting more and more.  ”What Would I Want? Sky” may very well be Animal Collective’s best track to date, but certainly the best track to be released on an EP album.

The album slips a little in the back half.  ”Bleed” is a strong track, though similar to tracks on the second half of the previous EP, Water Curses (another impressive follow-up EP), with more echoing vocals and synths floating weightlessly in the background.  ”On a Highway,” the albums weakest track, doesn’t seem to go anywhere, an unfortunate break from the EP’s brilliant progression and build up.

Animal Collective will always come up with something new.  While Fall Be Kind isn’t perfect, it’s pretty damn good, and we can at least say thank you for trying following their groundbreaking earlier work.

I’m well aware that my desire for “Indie Cred” should prevent me from liking anything about Lady Gaga.  I know I should rip on the simple dance music, cheesy lyrics, and her “fashion sense.”  I know I’m not allowed to say this, but…

Lady Gaga is actually pretty good.

The Fame, shortly followed by the Fame Monster, is a different pop album.  When singles “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” came out, no one expected the album to have any lingering appeal.  Like most big pop stars, an album will have one or two hits, then quickly fade away.  Even past pop legends like Spears and Beyonce still will only get one or two hit singles off an album.  6 radio singles later, Gaga is changing the face of female power pop.

Each song comes with a catchy hook, whether it is lyrically or musically.  If you can sit through a Lady Gaga song without tapping your foot, you are a stronger person than I.  Lyrics are simple, but sometimes clever or comical.  But for Gaga, who, believe it or not, writes all her own music and works on her on production team (Haus of Gaga), it is about how it all fits together for a great pop song.  The 80s dance/rock influences are buried, but there.  Lady Gaga cites Queen as one of her biggest influences.  Whatever the style, it works.

There are song weaker moments on the album.  Some songs like Paparazzi, lack the hook of the “dancy” tracks of the album.  That being said, The Fame needs slower tracks to break up an album that can get slightly repetitive.  Yes, it all sounds the same.  You will get no argument out of me.  A different hook, still catchy, but very similar none the less.  But let’s be honest, isn’t that every top 40 album for the last 10 years?  To top it off, the album may bring us the best track of the year, “Bad Romance,” which comes as close to pop perfection as you can get.

If you can let go of the fact that she has been on the charts for months, you might actually enjoy Lady Gaga.  ”Have some fun, this beat is sick.”  Enjoy.

Alec Sydlow  2010

“Critics who despise us, go ahead and criticize us”  sings Cage the Elephant lead singer Matt Shultz, but he will find little criticism here. Very few albums come along that fit so well into so many categories.  Cage the Elephant’s first album, self titled, is finding its way onto college radio and top 40 stations alike, a feat that is not only rare, but well deserved.  The sound is simple enough, nothing too new or exciting, but when done right, it’s phenomenal.  Echoes of classic rock with a modern punk blend is irresistible.  Catchy riffs by guitarists Brad Shultz and Lincoln Paris drive the tracks and keep you hooked in a sound similar to the Arctic Monkeys, especially on tracks like “Lotus” and “Judas.”  Singles “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and “Back Against the Wall” are where the band shows their true brilliance when slowed down to acoustic rock without losing the angry punk feel.  ”Back Stabbin’ Betty” sinks the farthest into the classic rock sound, with an amazing 60s pop feel…jazz piano chords driving the song instead of the normal power chords.

A surprising success, Cage the Elephant may soon find themselves as Indie rock’s new standard.  Throw in the album, sit back, and get ready to stick it to the man.

Alec Sydlow-2009