mp3 Albums, Part Two

As promised... Part two of two:

• Editors - An End Has a Start (2007). Eric Lax contribution number two. On this one, I hear a poppier Joy Division, as opposed to Interpol, which was my other touchstone for this one: the distinction lies in that they hit the higher notes vocally and musically, so the music is a little more uplifting, much like JD. I found four tracks I'd call great, and the rest I'd call solid. Very nice stuff.
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Portable CD Case.
  
  
• The Frames - Here Comes the Night (2001). Eric Lax contribution number three. This live double album, recorded on New Year's Eve, 2001, at Ireland's TodayFM studios, is a low-key acoustic effort that has a lot of charm (and a lot of covers). It's also a great snapshot of The Frames after they "made it big" the first time (i.e., before Glen Hansard really "made it big" with the movie Once). It's a great show for Frames fans.
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Portable CD Case.
  
  
• Klark Kent -Kollected Works (1995). Now, I'd happily buy this, but it's $50+ for this long out of print item... which is simply too much for any single album. So I'm stuck with a posted download instead. This is Stuart Copeland's one-man band side project while he was with The Police -- I still have the 1980 release Music Madness from the Kinetic Kid on green vinyl, with the album jacket cut into the letter "K." (It's truly unfortunate that the logo on the front is designed as "KlarK Kent" -- yup, KKK.) Despite what I will assume was a design "guffaw," I've always loved this album -- it sounds like an extension of the experimentation and wackiness from his songs on Regatta de Blanc. So I've been hunting this down, which is the CD version of the first album PLUS everything else he did as Klark Kent. I have to say, though, that something got lost in the translation from vinyl to CD. Think of this as a companion to work by The Police ("Police-lite," perhaps?), a piece of history that shows Copeland flexing his creative muscles at a very raw phase. This album is way too long, and not for everyone -- it fails when it teeters from quirky into self-indulgence. And it does, somewhat often. Also, I like his vocal style, which will not be everyone's cup of tea.
  Verdict: Recommended for Police completists. It will live in my CD Rack.
  
  
• Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007). Eric Lax's final going-away gift. He did not know that I hate OK Computer, and pretty much everything I've heard from these guys since I fell in love with the song "Creep." I tried this first in the car... not a good start. I then played it on the small stereo in my office (JVC, decent fidelity) and I have to admit... it is pretty darn good. This will be my first successful entry into the Radiohead arena; is this the opening to the rest of their library or a one-off? Only time will tell.
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD Case.
  
  
• The Suffocation Keep - A Few Minor Modifications of the Stars (2004). A free download, but this one I would have happily paid for. The brainchild of Built to Spill's Brett Nelson, this is just a great album. The vocals are a bit off at times, but I'll forgive them for that. They wear their influences are on their sleeves: the keyboardist clearly listened to a lot of Rick Wakeman (Yes), the guitarist loved Billy Duffy (The Cult), the drummer emulated Stuart Copeland (The Police), the vocalist wished he had the range of Tony Lewis (The Outfield), and the bass player... well, what bass player wouldn't emulate Chris Squire (Yes) or John Entwistle (The Who)? It all sounds great together... I'll have to find their commercially available release as well. I've been wavering on the vocals (I have to bring that up again, because they are a major factor here) between "great" and "off-key"... it changes from day to day. I still think it's great stuff.
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Go to their website and decide for yourself -- the link to the free album is available at their myspace page. Car CD Changer for me.
  

- Snilch

The Frames - The Cost (2007)

When you've heard what you consider to be a band's best album, the next album is a tricky thing: it's generally a trend towards either further greatness or "Use Your Illusion" spectacular disappointment. (Hint: it's more often the latter.) And when it's one of your favorite bands that has a "best one yet" moment, there is a lot of anticipation and trepidation when the next album falls.

In my case, The Frames' album Burn the Maps was (IMHO) the most consistent album the band had produced, and their best -- a great mix of their low-key and up-tempo strengths.

Thus, as Ireland's second-favorite sons released The Cost, I was a bit skeptical. When I heard it was significantly more low-key than Burn the Maps, I got worried. But (as the sucker I am), I still bought the album.

This album is, in fact, much more laid back than Burn the Maps, but there's such an intensity to Glen Hanard's performance (lead singer, guitar) backed with such beautiful melodies... well, I start gushing like a little schoolgirl, apparently. Think great lyrics and voice, backed by a charged up folk band (or quieted rock band), with well-placed strings and piano. Just a great, solid, almost Americana sound, with arrangements from sparse to almost orchestral. An all-around great sounding and well-performed album.

This is one of those albums I should not like, but I do. I love it. Absolutely a band at the top of their game -- eight of the ten songs are absolute gems (I'm listening to the album now and I've changed that number five times). And the other two are also very good.

And now, here's some trivia that should make you really care about the band:

• Glen Hansard played one of the band members in the 1991 movie The Commitments -- the red-haired guitarist Outspan Foster. He also appears (as the lead) in the Sundance Audience Award-winning film Once, which came out this year, in his only other acting role.
  
• "The Frames" band name comes from Hansard's habit of fixing the bicycles of his friends as a youngster.
• All of The Frames' albums have gone at least Double Platinum in Ireland.
• The Frames put on a hell of a live show.
  

Now that last one is not actually trivia, but it is a fact. My friend Denis and I witnessed what is still one of the five best shows I've ever seen live. I'd suggest going to see them live if you can -- hopefully they stop playing the Somerville Theater and play The Paradise again and make it a proper rock show.

Merch Rating: The beauty of having two ratings systems is that I can do whatever the hell I want to. In this case, the CD Placement rating doesn't work because I simply wouldn't play this in my car -- it's too mellow -- although (in terms of quality) it certainly deserves to be there. (Sean is trying to convince me that the new Eliot Smith CD should be played in the car, which I will trust him on, but generally I find low-key = driving off the road.)

I'd buy their next album, a t-shirt, go to the show (hopefully not at Somerville -- great venue, wrong band), and buy albums there I don't own by them. If they sold Frames socks, I'd probably buy them too. In short... listen to them, you idiot.

Warmest,

Snilch