We Could All Come Up With Something New

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

Warner, 2006

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Okay, I'm really glad this album came out. But damn it has a stupid title, and even more stupid cover art:

Yeah.
My favorite RHCP album has got to be One Hot Minute, but I think most fans of that album will sort of concede that it doesn't really fit into the Peppers' natural progression. I like Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but it sort of gets bogged down somewhere in all the same-tempo funk/reggae thing that they do on that album. Californication, on the other hand, sort of drags in all of the melodic slow and soft junk that they do so well on that album (which is why I didn't even spend time listening to By The Way ;I'll have to revisit it).

Stadium Arcadium feels like it's somewhere in the midde of these three albums. It's got a lot of melodic softness with some really great hooks and melodies and so on, and the softness is balanced with straight-up rocking, and the rocking is fully loaded with RHCP's trademark funk and even some of that old-style rap that they used to do. Yeah, lots of attitude.

The technicality of (some of) the songs is stepped up a few notches from their usual, which is really cool. Frusciante is all over the guitar with some technical soloing, a lot of effects-driven guitar noise, and some excellent and quicker leads in both soft and loud songs. The drums freaking pound. I wish Flea was a little more free go do his sloppy slap thing; he seems sort of restrained and a bit too perfect.

Of course the lyrics are, as usual, sort of stupid.

I like the whole disc. The soft stuff is catchy and has a surprising amount of variety. The rocking stuff just rocks. Listen to it.

Hold Me Closer Let Me Be

Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music: Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop

Atlantic, 1996

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Something always pulls me back to Tiny Music. Suddenly this band that so far has just rocked, this band has attitude. I mean, they still rock, but now it's with a swagger or a snarl or something like that, anyway. Suddenly the production gets worse for the better and the riffs get simpler but more alive in time.

And yeah, it all works for me. I guess this album inspired one of the meaner album reviews that I've seen on Pitchfork (check it out, it's worth reading if you like heroin jokes and suggestions that people should die) and it's greatly labeled and knocked as a "glam" album. I guess I don't really see it like that, since there aren't any real sing-alongs or songs to hold your lighter up to(as there are on the earlier two and later two albums).

Of all the STP, I like this the best. It's got the rock, but it's also got groove.

I Will Shout Until They Know What I Mean

I'm taking some time off from listening to NoFX, RCHP and PJ and this is the break I took.

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Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Merge, 1998

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In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the definitive indie album. It is simply incredible. It is not, however, for anyone who isn't willing to invest him or herself just a little.

Every indie music fan who has heard this album lists it as one of the best. It has it all: Deeply introspective and interpretable and even slightly confusing lyrics. Lo-Fi recording that opens up, intensifying and building on simple sounds instead of using production tricks for easy emotional payoffs. Hum-along melodies so engrossing that you don't even mind if the songs are stuck in your head for weeks. In short, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is both striking and beautiful, and should be considered by anyone who expects more from music.

Unfortunately, some of the defining qualities of the album keep casual listeners away, such as the production and vocals. What some see as honesty, others see as poorly recorded and executed. The only thing I'd say to anyone who doesn't initially see the beauty in this album is that it is totally worth the investment.