The Word :: The National :: Boxer

So we might be a little behind on getting this review out there. People have been blogging about Boxer since it leaked a couple months back. (The best review we've read being Chromewaves', and if you head to his front page right now, you can read his review of their recent live show.) So here's our attempt at getting all you IndieRocketeers out there to pick up what is certain to be one of the year's best.

The National’s 2005 album Alligator was something of a sleeper hit — released to some critical success, it wasn’t until a year later when the video for the anthemic shout-fest 'Abel' hit airwaves that people began to take notice and — as is customary these days — create ridiculous expectations for the follow-up. While some folks have been let down by the absence of angst-drenched throat-rippers like 'Abel,' they are missing out on what can only be described as a musical revelation. Boxer finds singer/songwriter Matt Berninger delivering the same dark poetics we’ve come to expect but with a decidedly more wistful slant.

In album opener 'Fake Empire,' his smoke-filled baritone reminisces about a more quixotic time of 'picking apples / making pies,' but the illusion is shattered with the following line: 'We’re half-awake in a fake empire.' The rest of the album contains similar bittersweet reflections, painting the picture of a gin-soaked almost-ran looking through rose-colored glasses at how his life used to be, only to snatch the glasses off and see the harsh neon haze that his life has become. It’s an album for anyone who has ever sat alone at a bar with beer in hand and regret in pocket.

While this all sounds very dour, there is a hint of hope around the edges and an acknowledgment of the age-old adage that it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. No review of this album would be complete without mentioning drummer Bryan Devendorf, who taps out intricate rhythms with uncanny precision, providing the backbone for the body of music created by the rest of the band, making the sparsest track seem huge and looming. It’s a perfect foil for Berninger’s lyrical passion and cements the album as the masterpiece it is.

4.5 of 5.0

The National Fake Empire

The National also recently appeared on AOL's The Interface. Check it out. There's a free live French radio session up at The Rawking Refuses To Stop that you need to own. And if you missed The National's awesome Blogotheque video, we've got you covered. Whew. We're a bit obsessed. Does it show?

You can buy Boxer and other National music here.

The Word :: Battles :: Mirrored

To most, the words 'math rock' are an immediate turnoff. 'Math' was that ambiguously named and highly boring class you took in middle school, and to mix it with 'rock,' a genre that’s produced such songs as 'School’s Out,' is just too dichotomous for most people. However, even before Lou Reed decided to go a little nuts on us with Metal Machine Music, artists have been trying to perfectly blur the lines between man, machine and music. And with the release of Mirrored, Battles might have accomplished just that. A band comprised almost entirely of multi-instrumentalists, Battles’ set-up is a cacophony of guitars, computers, keyboards and miles of tangled Firewire cables. And then there’s John Stanier’s drum kit, which looks somewhat out of place among all the electronics, but therein lies the beauty of Battles. As otherworldly and machinist as the music sounds, it’s all played in real time. Stanier is actually pumping out those ludicrously complex rhythms in precision-perfect timing with the looped guitars and programmed bleeps and whistles.

Further blurring the lines is the addition of Tyondai Braxton’s vocals, something of a contention for old fans but an integral part of the band’s purpose. Electronically processed, shifted and looped, Braxton’s voice becomes something post-human — a stream of grunts, breaths and indiscernible, crooning babble, ameliorating the group’s avant-pop. I would hesitate to say that Battles is one of the best bands out there right now, but that’s only because I’m uncertain of whether it even could be considered a 'band' anymore. The players are merely extensions of their instruments and equipment, which in turn are being directed by the music itself. Never has something so electronic sounded so naturally organic. This is the future of music, but thanks to Battles, it’s happening right now.

4.8 of 5.0

Battles Atlas (Video Cut)

The Word :: Patrick Wolf :: The Magic Position

Life is hard for a wunderkind musician. Think about it. You're 18 to 20 years old, and people are already praising your work left and right when really you're just a narcissistic kid working through the self-possessed horror that was your adolescence. It would be very easy to deny your own maturity and stay stuck in that attention-garnering position for years (just look at Ben Kweller or Ben Lee). Irish pop wunderkind Patrick Wolf faced a similar problem but with his latest release The Magic Position, he embraces his post-pubescence and comes out all the better for it.

At 23 and with two brilliant but angst-ridden and somewhat dour records under his belt, Wolf has taken his usual Brit-folk and chamber pop music and turned it into a triumphant anthem that is occasionally pure joy in musical form while still acknowledging his darker past. He put it best himself in one of his recent blog posts: 'I have toured my albums before and communicated darkness and mysteries and have left feeling empty but now after communicating my loves I feel full and still hungry for more.' These newfound loves are no more apparent than in the title track, which is one of those incredible love songs where while it could be about a lover (especially with the slightly suggestive title), it is just as easily applied to friends or family who inspire and care for you.

This new lyrical approach has also had an effect on Wolf's already impressive songcrafting. His violins, pianos, and interesting inclusion of electronic bleeps and beats still come across like The Divine Comedy meets Final Fantasy (the band, not the video game) but now have a bouncy, jovial quality that is undeniable, giving even the most crepuscular moments of the album (like Augustine, below) a light of hope.

Patrick Wolf The Magic Position

Patrick Wolf Augustine

Buy The Magic Position and Patrick Wolf's other albums here.