What We've Been Up To

Hey everybody!

It's been a while since we've posted, but we haven't been dormant. In fact, we've been busier than ever in terms of writing articles.  We're now both editors at the Daily Free Press, Boston University's independent student newspaper, and we're having the time of our lives covering shows/movies, conduction interviews, and more! Lucien is the music editor and Michela is the film & tv editor. A lot of our writing goes here (http://dailyfreepress.com/category/the-muse/) and we've made portfolios of our writings and more!

Lucien:
Portfolio
Twitter

Michela:
Portfolio
Twitter

And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Fuzzy Trio at Brighton Music Hall Leads to Musical Confusion

Just before Foster the People exploded to become one of Summer 2011's hottest acts, Common Ground's Michela Smith saw the band, along with the electric Royal Bangs and hippie Grouplove, at Brighton Musical Hall in May. Here's what she thought of the night:

This article originally appeared on Boston University's, The Daily Free Press

By: Michela Smith

The Royal Bangs, Grouplove and Foster the People proved a triple threat at Brighton Music Hall last Thursday, pumping out a night of low-fi excitement, eventually fizzling out in a monotonous wait of equipment setup hell at the end of the night.

The Knoxville trio Royal Bangs took the stage first, a surprising opener as the band is far more eminent that the other two they were sharing the bill with.

The Royal Bangs were just named as one of Spin Magazine’s “Best New Artists for April” and made their television debut on Letterman this month.

Schaefer Bangs on the Keys.

Indicative of their MySpace discovery by Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney, the Royal Bangs weave techie flourishes with guitars and voices bathed in effects.

While this layered technique works on record, it seemed to hinder the trio on the Brighton stage as they promoted their latest LP Flux Outside.

The electronic overdrive on all the instruments blurred the individual instrument lines into a cacophonic tangle rendering lead singer Ryan Schaefer completely unintelligible.

Schaefer mirrors the Doors’ Ray Manzarek on keyboards and synths, simultaneously pumping out a bass line and synth lead while guitarist Sam Stratton and drummer Chris Rusk are equally powerful in their corners of the stage.

The Royal Bangs would do well to tone down the fuzz and gel their individual talents into a more coherent sound. While they work on this, pick up Flux Outside to hear their best “Back Then It Was Different.”

Next came Grouplove, a five-piece harmony of lazy surfer ambience pierced by the solid lead voices Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper.

Sharin' the Love.

According to the L.A. Times, the five met while all vacationing on the island of Crete and formed out of “ love for one another,” which certainly shined through the shadows at Brighton Music Hall.

Still giddy from their SXSW performance, Grouplove brought fervor as they danced, stomped and jumped about the stage, pumping out instrumentals.

The band’s backing tracks are witty anthems, mixing charming acoustic guitar with catchy hooks.

Grouplove does, however, need to grow lyrically; some tracks sound a little too close to other West Coast acts, many of which perform on the Disney Channel.

Slated to perform next was Foster the People (FTP), a LA-based foursome projected to be the next MGMT. Yet, the dragging forty-five minute wait until FTP finally finished their set-up demolished any eagerness for their performance.

Sean Cimino of Foster The People

FTP echoes MGMT, but lacks the same charisma that strengthens the latter.  While FTP only has one EP, they’ve gathered quite a following with “Pumped Up Kicks,” a heavily-layered piece that features Gorillaz-like vocals.

“Kicks” was the best of FTP’s set and certainly moved Brighton. The potential power of the rest of the night, however, was lost to over-effect that clouded the vocals and instrumentals, especially after the long wait.

While Thursday ‘s show was frustrating in more ways than one, the three groups have promise for the future. Until then, we’ll just have to wait.


Photo Credits: Michela Smith

The Puzzling Madmoiselle Adele: A Look at "21"

Yes, I realize this review comes quite a bit after the release of "21." Yet, Adele's enormous success and recent launch of a North American tour renders Adele still very much relevant.

A slightly different version of this review appeared on The Arts Fuse.

By: Michela Smith

Adele looking for "Someone like You" at the Brit Awards

Adele puzzles me. 

A recipient of two 2009 Grammy’s (and three additional nods) for her debut album, 19, Adele drowned the meager wheezes of Katy Perry, Pink, and Leona Lewis to fill the halls of the music industry with her resonating voice. Critics hailed Adele as refreshingly different, a return to the soul & style of Carnaby St. – far preferable to dreary Top 40.

I tuned into the 2011 Brit Awards in February to hear a sample from her sophomore album 21 and can report that her stunning performance of “Someone Like You” left both the home audience and Adele herself in tears after her broken heart determinately fought for a second chance. Yet, upon hearing all of 21, my heart began to break as well, but not because of Adele’s ability to translate emotion. Far too many of the songs – in fact, half of the albums tracks -- sound like Katy Perry and Pink and Leona Lewis.

Adele puzzles me.  

But to begin positively…21’s strongest pieces are those that ironically stray from her award-winning formula of intense heartbreak.

21 opens with unquestionably its best: “Rolling in the Deep.” Punctuating Adele’s silence since 19, a quick-moving, heavily-thumbed guitar line begins, setting metronome-like time for the piece. Adding contrast, the swirls of Adele’s voice enter and swim through the auditory space. The song soon layers, adding bass drum, piano, lead guitar, and Supremes-like backing vocals to paint Adele’s infuriation with an ex-lover she plans to overwhelm in a rage of revenge. Cultured Adele reveals her classical training too, including quintessential blues allusions like “roll your stone” and “reap just what you sow.” This recall of Mississippi Delta ghosts, combined with Adele’s smooth vocals that leech venom, render the track sumptuously addictive.  

The same percussive momentum continues into the following “Rumour Has It,” a track set to the time of a throbbing floor tom-tom mixed with cool, snipey “ooh’s”, reminiscent of 1960s. This time, Adele harnesses an even darker side, shamelessly alluring her flame to leave his proper lover. Adele and her accompanying piano are seductively vindictive, reminding her beau not only of her superior lovemaking, but also how she’s “cold to the core,” tantalizing both her lover and the audience to join her sinful indulgence. 

Melodramatic...


It is at this point that the album begins its decline. “Turning Tables” is a melodramatic declaration in which Adele promises to leave behind a lover who continues to trifle with her affections. While the subject matter itself is moving, Adele’s treatment is not.  The piano and strings weep slowly, weighed down with their oversaturated emotion – sentimentality that’s been done before. They lyrics aren’t particularly innovative either. Lines like “Under your thumb, I can't breathe” are not only derivative, but their generality doesn’t translate the emotion Adele hopes to and causes the reader to pray for a quick table turn to the next track.

“Turning Tables” sounds remarkably close to “The X-Factor” product Leona Lewis’ “Run” and unfortunately, the echoes of Top 40 on 21 continue.  “He Won’t Go” sludges along in monotony to a J-Lo-like pop beat.  “Take It All” fuses Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keyes with a solo piano occasionally accompanied by a gospel voices that chime in on unimaginative lyrics like “How can you walk away from all my tears?” “Lovesong” melts into a bossnova that could appear as any Aguilera or Shakira B-Side and is only slightly redeemed in its background hint of organ, an instrument rarely featured in Top 40. “Set Fire to the Rain” combines all of these influences, creating the most generic pop song on the album. Recognition of the unoriginality of these songs is not meant to suggest plagiarism, but rather an inability to escape the pressures of the mainstream.

Adele: Whhhyyy? Critics hailed you as a beacon of originality, someone to move us away from repetitive Top 40! I didn’t think seeing all those pop stars at Staples Center in 2009 would be so intimidating… Adele – you puzzle me!

Adele Still Reigns Supreme.

Yet, this disappointing imitation shrinks in the shadow of the album’s closer, “Someone Like You.” Accompanied by only a piano, Adele’s respiratory system seemingly inflates on this track, dragging anguish out of the depths of herself to purge her body of her sadness. While the track is an acknowledgment that her past love has happily moved onto another, she literally begs him not to forget her, an agonizing appeal to hear. Despite her range on this track, Adele’s vocals are intimate, envelop the listener in misery, and seemingly encourage an impromptu duet to mourn past lovers together – which usually happens…

The emotion Adele summons in “Someone Like You”, amplified even further in her Brit Awards performance, reassures tactful listeners that her reign as 2009 Best New Artist over dispassionate Top 40 artists isn’t over. Yet, her slip to the mainstream on 21 is evidence she’ll have to fight to avoid that world; perhaps this means choosing a producer other than Columbia Records co-president Rick Rubin who mixed 21. Until then, even with this recent dimming, Mademoiselle Adele’s beacon of originality will continue to twinkle and Adele herself will remain a puzzle.

A Note:

Michela recommends 21 (Bonus Tracks) over the widely-released 21 reviewed here on ArtsFuse. 21 (Bonus Tracks) features five additional tracks which Michela finds makes the album far superior to the original release. 

Overall Grade: 7.5

I'd Like To Be Under The Sea...with Planckton

Hey you!

Planckton Rockin' Out

Interested in a Boston-based band who mixes rock with relaxed ambient sound waves? 
Check out Planckton, the recent winners of Boston University's "Battle of the Bands".  


The reigning champs will be playing again on March 26th at BU Central, opening for the Weezer-like Free Energy. You better be there....


Until then, check out Planckton here:


- Common Ground Consortium
March 13, 2011

Iron & Wine - Still Folk's Savior?: A Review of "Kiss Each Other Clean"

By Michela Smith
The original version of this article was published on February 14, 2011 for The Arts Fuse. 

Folk's Messiah?

Boston remains capricious about folk music. While Joan Baez, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt began their strumming in rhythm with the Charles River, Pacific winds soon drew them and others westward, stripping the area of its folk identity. Thus, as critically hailed folk savior Iron & Wine (I&W) visits Boston’s House of Blues in April with his new album, Kiss Each Other Clean, its bushy-bearded messiah, Samuel Beam, has serious evangelical work to do.

In 2002 Iron & Wine debuted with The Creek Drank the Cradle, a brilliant Simon & Garfunkel-meets-Bob Dylan synthesis that caused many to proclaim a folk revival. Since this success, however, I&W’s singer-songwriter Beam has steadily drifted from his organic folk roots. With this latest album, Beam diverges completely and crafts Kiss Each Other Clean with producer Brian Deck to “sound like an early Elton John record.” While achieving John-like instrumentation on the uninteresting tracks “Walking Far From Home” and “Glad Man Singing,” most of the album fails to capture the storytelling spirit, charisma, and energy essential to John and, in previous years, to Beam.

Beam’s art-school training is evident in his imagist style on Kiss. Like brushstrokes, Beam sings in coarse, concise concepts, presuming his expressions will paint eloquent illustrations on tracks like “Me and Lazarus,” “Monkeys Uptown,” and “Rabbit Will Run.”

While imagism has the potential to be effective when complemented by an engaging storyline or a colorful backing track, Kiss’s tracks feature neither. Beam sings in a tangle of metaphors that feature nature, animal, and religious allusions, together rendering his message incomprehensible. Driven solely by electric bass, “Me And Lazarus” and “Monkeys Uptown” are only accompanied by random, extra-terrestrial sound bytes and the occasional electrical guitar whines, making the tracks entirely unsalvageable. “Rabbit Will Run” centers on an underdeveloped, African polyrhythm and misplaced Ian-Anderson-esque flute, making Beam’s inclusion of the disastrous pieces downright confusing.

When channeling folk, Beam is outstanding in his field.

When Beam deviates from this imagist pattern, Kiss achieves some aesthetic deliverance. On “Tree By the River,” simple acoustic guitar and a chorus of innocent voices complement Beam as he asks his past lover Maryanne if she remembers “the tree by the river, when [they] were seventeen,” together composing a lush landscape of adolescence. The slide guitar on “Half Moon” creates the album’s most folky sound, and its lyrics are drenched with tender passion as Beam asks to die if he loses the woman he adores. These concrete stories and emotions recall Beam’s previous work—and it would serve him best to remain with the style.

Ironically, the two most interesting tracks on the album are Beam’s most novel. On “Big Burned Hand,” Beam saunters with funky bass, hot saxophone, and electronically-singed vocals. Closing the album is arguably its best tune; “Your Fake Name is Good Enough For Me” boasts a full horn section and a guitar solo that drips with low-fi hiss and distortion. Beam’s voice then intertwines with breathy vocals that twirl the piece 180 degrees. The track ends in a mesh of electric and acoustic sounds, a metaphor for the tangled style of the entire album.

While a mostly experimental album punctuated by some success, Kiss’s mediocre performance shouldn’t discourage Bostonians from returning to the House of Blues this spring. Beam is guaranteed to revive his stronger past work and with his folk will once again breathe redemptive life into this city, delivering the people of Boston.

Overall Grade: 5.5

"Some Things Are Pure, and Some Things are Right": Arcade Fire Wins the Grammy for "Album of the Year" and some other Grammy Thoughts

February 14, 2011

That was the reaction from Arcade Fire’s twitter after taking home the Grammy for Best Album and man, was this award deserved.  I apologize if I’m a little all over the place, but I’m honestly too excited to write.  I screamed when they announced the award.  I’ve only ever screamed while watching TV one other time in my life (that came when Zach Parise of Team USA scored with 24 seconds left in the Gold Medal game in the 2010 Winter Olympics to tie it up against Canada, however, let’s not talk about how that ended…).  Not only did I scream at the top of my lungs, but I also jumped on top of my friend, and paraded through my room.  I actually missed the English portion of the victory speech thanks to my excitement.

Yes.

God, I’m happy. So many times I thought to myself while watching artist after artist getting rewarded for mediocrity that there was no way The Suburbs would pull through.  I lost more and more faith after seeing the band lose the “Best Alternative Music Album” and “Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals” to the Black Keys.  Now, I love the Black Keys, but Suburbs absolutely deserved to come away with some hardware.  If you’ve read my review of the album then you know that I adored The Suburbs. It’s just beautiful.  To quote myself, ”The Suburbs is much more emotionally-wrenching than any of Arcade Fire’s previous albums.  The lyrics are those of a band at its strongest, showing more emotional meaning than Funeral while being less overtly political than Neon Bible.”  Seeing them live at the front of the pit at Madison Square Garden August 2nd certainly helped them cement their reputation in my book. Not only can they compose beautiful music, but they have a knack for unbridled performances.  This was especially true tonight; for all the hate “Month of May” seems to get, it is still a great song that’s even better live. Tonight’s performance of the rocker was simply superb and the encore of “Ready To Start” was also pretty fantastic.  Just purely emotional, almost cathartic, performances. 

Now who expected this outcome when the nominees were announced?  How did Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, or Katy Petty not end up winning? No, I don’t think they deserved it, but this is the Grammys after all and indie bands, even indie mega-stars like Arcade Fire, aren’t expected to win. I just can’t help but feel like justice was served tonight in Los Angeles. 

For all that is said about the death of the album, what does The Suburbs mean? Is this the revival of the album? Is this what contemporary music needs or am I just getting ahead of myself?

Congratulations Arcade Fire. You deserved it.

- Lucien Flores

 

While Michela also vocally rejoiced in the unprecedented, but proper and fitting, win of Arcade Fire, to avoid repetition with her reaction, here is a summary of the rest of the awards:

Other winners included Lady Antebellum who snatched up both “Record of the Year”, “Country Album of the Year” and “Song of the Year” through her success of “Need You Now”, a pop-country mix that has dominated Top 40 radio. While Cee Lo Green won for "Best Urban/Alternative Performance", Justin Beiber was  surprisingly shut out, despite being one of the most advertised acts of the night. 

The Black Keys: Lookin' Sharp Boys

Mirroring their fortunately astute appreciation for quality music that honored Arcade Fire, the Recording Academy donned The Black Keys with “Best Alternative Music Album” for Brothers and with “Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group with Vocals” for “Tighten Up” off the same record. Neil Young won “Best Rock Song” with “Angry World” and Them Crooked Vultures, the latest project by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, won “Best Hard Rock Performance” with “New Fang”.

Cee Lo and Paltrow.

Besides for Arcade Fire, the night’s performances were mixed. Muse delivered a solid performance of “Resistance”, the title track of the album that won them “Best Rock Album.” While the novelty of the Bob Dylan, Mumford & Sons, and The Avett Brothers trio held promise and the latter two delivered in their solo sets, Dylan’s incomprehensible aged grumbles spoiled their collaborative “Maggie’s Farm”. Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” was surprisingly moving and secured her win of “Best Female Country Vocal Performance”. The performances by Bieber, Usher, Rihanna, and Eminem were predictably derivative (save for Dr. Dre’s appearance). Yet, the fun from the colorful Lady Gaga and the Elton-John-esque jaunt by Cee Lo Green and Gwyneth Paltrow did manage to recover mainstream’s Grammy effort.

- Michela Smith


The Grammy's are an annual opportunity to yell "YES!" and REALLY?!" at the television set out of passion for the music that connects to our human experiences and speaks to our very souls. The Grammy's honored that tradition tonight and in the Recording Academy's recognition of those not always heard on radio airwaves, several underdog artists were given the chance to sing directly to us. 


- Common Ground Consortium 

Michela's Picks: "True Love" from Buddy Holly & The Celeste

Hey everyone, just a quick thought to spark interest and discussion.

I've been listening to Buddy Holly quite a bit lately. While I know "Everyday" has been covered by many including John Denver and James Taylor and has been featured in several commercials, I simply can't get over how absolutely adorable its melody and theme are in their simplicity and romance. 

Even more endearing is Holly's use of the "celeste", a rare glockenspiel-like instrument so cute in its innocent tone that you suddenly feel the urge to reach through the speakers and give Buddy a hug. 

So in the spirit of Valentine's Day -- even if you're feeling grumpy on the 14th -- take a listen, because "everyday", love's  "gettin' closer" :)

  "Everyday"

- Michela Smith

Common Ground News Update - January 20th

Listen up folks – literally. The Coachella Festival slated for April 15-17 in Indio, CA has released its lineup. The directors of the three-day extravaganza again seem to be attempting to cater to both indie and mainstream audiences, a trend becoming increasingly evident over the past few years. Check out the list which includes Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Cold War Kids, The National, Morning Benders, Nas, Black Joe Lewis, Sleigh Bells, Titus Andronicus, and more Common Ground favorites. Also included...Cee Lo Green.

As you may already know, the indie-rock super stars, Arcade Fire, have been nominated for three Grammys this year. Their 2010 album, The Suburbs, faces competition from Katy Perry, Lady Gaga,  Eminem, and Lady Antebellum in the Album of the Year category.  The Suburbs is also up for Best Alternative Music Album while the track "Ready To Start" has been nominated for Best Rock Performance by A Duo or Group With Vocal.  On top of these honors, the band has also been given the nod to perform at 53rd Grammys (February 13th, 8pm).

In other Arcade Fire news, the band will debut Scenes From the Suburbs, a short film directed by Spike Jonez at the Berlin International Film Festival, taking place February 10-20. The film has been referred to as "a science-fiction B-movie companion piece for the record" and in an interview with Pitchfork, lead vocalist Win Butler said "my brother [William Butler] and I and Spike wrote it together, which was really fun– it was like total amateur hour.” Enjoy a clip from the film:

What do you get when you cross Bob Dylan, Wanda Jackson, and Jack White? An innovative combination of vintage old and vibrant new - classic black with a splash of girly pink – a marriage evident in Wanda Jackson’s new music video released on Tuesday. Covering Dylan’s 2006 “Thunder on the Mountain”, the rockabilly star joined forces with Jack White and his Third Man Record team to produce The Party Ain’t Over out January 25^th. Take a look at the rip-roaring fun here: 

Back on the 11th of December the Cold War Kids played a few songs over at Jack White's Third Man Records in Tennessee. Now, a few videos of the act making their way to the band's Youtube/Vevo page. Here's the unreleased "Skip The Charades." You can also check out a performance of "Louder Than Ever" from that show. Also check out the new "Louder Than Ever" music video.

Gregg Allman, famed founder of the band that bears his name, released his latest album Low Country Blues on Tuesday, his first in fourteen years. Produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, the album consists of eleven covers and one original. Mostly blues interpretations, the tracks seem to connect Allman again to his Nashville roots, albeit in more relaxed arrangements than those he always played with his “brothers”. You can listen to the album on Rolling Stone. 

The Denver based DeVotchKa releases 100 Lovers March 1st on Anti- Records. The diverse band achieved some acclaim in 2004 with "How It Ends." They also provided the majority of the music for the Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack which was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack at the Grammys in 2006. Anyway, the band once again draws from an eclectic mixture of musical influences on their new track "100 Other Lovers." Listen to it here on Stereogum.

~ More News and Notes ~ 

- The energetic funk revival band, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears is set to release Scandalous on March 15th. . This is Sugarfoot, off their 2009 debut, Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!

- In an odd turn of event, The Dire Straits' classic radio anthem, "Money For Nothing" has been banned in its uncensored form in Canada. Read more about it at Rolling Stone.

- A Grateful Dead videogame in which "players will explore a Grateful Dead-themed world." Read about it at Rolling Stone.

- Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes tweeted that their second LP "is done and mastered."  He later went on to tweet, "that happened a little while ago. Announcements soon, but no turning back now I guess.”

- The Strokes are set to release their first album since 2006 later this year. Angles will drop March 22nd in the USA  

- Common Ground writer, Lucien Flores has begun contributing to the Daily Free Press' new blog. Here he weighs in on the three bands that he most wants to see live at Coachella.

Cheers,
Michela Smith & Lucien Flores

Perplexing Popularity: A Look at Cee Lo Green

By: Michela Smith

January 13, 2011

The fickle nature of popular music never ceases to amaze me. Most recently, I have been stunned by the worldwide celebration of Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You” (“Forget You” is the radio edit). 

First leaked on the web, the piece was released as a single in August 2010 to promote his November album The Lady Killer. The single peaked at #9 on the U.S. Billboard Charts, currently holds #1 on the U.K. Billboard Charts, and dominates radio stations throughout the U.S, Europe, Japan, and Australia. “Fuck You” has additionally been named TIME Magazine’s “Song of the Year” and has garnered a Grammy Nomination for the same category, helping The Lady Killer acquire four additional Grammy nominations.

He's everywhere...

In the midst of this popularity, I find myself unable to escape Cee Lo. Toggling between radio stations has succumbed to frustrated channel surfing to escape incessant repetitions of the piece. Innumerable album covers featuring an aviator-clad Cee Lo sprawl across entire shelves at music stores. One can’t even sit down to enjoy a relaxing, simple, episode of Glee without hearing a “Fuck You” remix. Emerging lightheaded from this dizzying Cee Lo domination, I am here now to ask: “Why?”

 Granted, Cee Lo has produced some quality music in the past. Partnered with the fantastic producer, Danger Mouse, Green released St. Elsewhere and the single “Crazy” in 2006 under the pseudonym “Gnarls Barkley”. Green’s silky voice paired with the flowing and shapeless backing strings was an innovative combination that earned the duo two Grammys and Rolling Stone’s prestigious “Song of the Decade” award.

Cee Lo, what has happened? While catchy, this new piece is terribly uninspired. While innumerable critics and teenage fans alike have been praising “Fuck You” as cutting edge, it is completely derivative. Have we forgotten the 1960s and the 1970s? The opening piano on Green’s track sounds strikingly similar to that on The Foundation’s “Build Me Up Buttercup” and the female backing vocals on “Fuck You” could have been lifted from any Supremes record. Cee Lo has clearly listened to Motown his entire life – why don’t most recognize it too?                                                                                                                                                                       

This is how I feel

The lyrics fail to compensate when the music falls short. There is a complete lack of poetry; instead of utilizing animated adjectives to articulate his emotions, he unimaginatively confronts his gold-digger heartbreaker by simply swearing at her. Additionally, in trying to maintain a cool and biting cadence, Green doesn’t even sound distraught.

Song of the year – really? Is this the best music can do? There are multiple groundbreaking artists who are continually snubbed in attention, sales, and awards. If this kind of imitative and lyrically-pedestrian music continues to capture listeners in rapture, I fear the demise of creativity.

Jog your memory with these hits, music that combines catchy hooks with actual emotion and inventive poetry. Hopefully it will bring you back to a time when the christening title of “music” was a little more sacred.  

"Do You Love Me? (Now That I Can Dance)" - The Contours

"Dancing in the Street" - Martha & The Vandellas 

"These Arms of Mine" - Otis Redding