Listening Party: July 2009 Edition

July 17, 2009 | in Music | 1 Comments Share

The inaugural installment of the monthly Hella Sound Listening Party, in which we listen to specific tracks and talk about why they're great. And stuff.

What's This All About?

Ever notice how you associate songs and artists with certain people? Music discovery can be a social experience; we find new music through friends, and gain a greater appreciation when we discuss what we're listening to.

Listening Party is an experiment—an attempt to recreate the discovery and discussion process via blog post. Each month we'll pick a handful of songs, then talk about what's great about them while listening. Come, queue up the playlist and listen along—and don't hesitate to add your comments about the music, too!

The Participants

The badass and beautiful Jennifer Tran, A.K.A. @anotorias; marathoner, audio connoisseur and music fan extraordinaire. Step to her and get defenestrated. Word.

Hella Sound proprietor John Frenette, A.K.A. @HellaSound. Runner, musician, finder of lost keys. Habitually speaks in the royal "we".

This Month's Playlist

Download this playlist from iTunes and listen along.

The Listening Party

John at Hella Sound: 3...
2...
1...
GO!
John at Hella Sound: so tell me about this song
Jenn Tran: is your mind totally BLOWN yet?
Well, this is a little indie band I like to call Longwave.
John at Hella Sound: I like the gritty, Fender-y sound of the bass
Jenn Tran: Yeah, the lyrics are great too.
It's got a very epic rising emotion kind of feel to it.
John at Hella Sound: the guy's voice in the refrain has a similar staccato delivery as Interpol, but without the I'm A Dead Zombie Singer vocal inflection the Interpol guy has
like Interpol as interpreted by Death Cab for Cutie
Jenn Tran: Oh WOW
John at Hella Sound: know what I mean?
Jenn Tran: yes, you know the Death Cab for Cutie interpretation paints a really good picture
John at Hella Sound: I like that high-pitched whistle sound. all amped and reverbed
Jenn Tran: NEXT
John at Hella Sound: The Plan
I went back 10 years for this one.
Jenn Tran: Oh I didn't know we could go all retro with the music. Why'd you pick this song?
Kinda sounds like a smidge of Pixies influence. I like it.
John at Hella Sound: that descending bass line in the back during the verse is just great—adds that "big chorus payoff" sound, like a Bowie song, or pomp & circumstance
This was one of those albums that everyone all of a sudden was listening to when it came out. Universal.
Very, very Dinosaur Jr.
And every time I hear Death Cab for Cutie I can't help but think "don't these guys already know there was a Built To Spill?"
Jenn Tran: Woops, I missed out on this one (never heard it). :/
John at Hella Sound: Well, I think I have a couple years on you
the tension in the guitar—against the chords
it's like an expression of exasperation
Jenn Tran: It's less mellow than Death Cab for Cutie.
John at Hella Sound: then an ease up in intensity—something you don't get a lot of in music produced post-2001
this whole album is really worth listening to if you get a chance
Jenn Tran: will do!
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
John at Hella Sound: oh wow. I'm already sucked into this song
Jenn Tran: OK call me wanna be hipster emo kid
but I love Bloc Party
and lemme just say
great to run to
John at Hella Sound: I can definitely see that
very, very in-your-face production
Jenn Tran: They are like a poppy happy The Bravery
John at Hella Sound: it's 165 BPM
Jenn Tran: well with this song
John at Hella Sound: perfect cadence for a lot of runners
Jenn Tran: 163 to be exact!
John at Hella Sound: yeah, well I keep it in the Hella Sound 5-beat increments
Jenn Tran: LOL!
very close though, you got street cred with that.
John at Hella Sound: listen to the production of this tho—hear how forward and up-front everything is?
super intense, crunched up compression
John at Hella Sound: compared to say the Built to Spill production, where things had more breath
Jenn Tran: Yeah, this is like him yelling at his ex in a public location, making a scene.
John at Hella Sound: I'm totally going to run to this
There was a big hubub about Bloc Party but I never stopped to check them out
oooh key change!
Jenn Tran: oh yeah
John at Hella Sound: is this a remixed version? or the original
Jenn Tran: OG
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
John at Hella Sound: okay, Trans Am
dude I just love these guys
Jenn Tran: I am really digging the intro
John at Hella Sound: 3 piece "math rock" band from (I think) DC
Jenn Tran: I LOVE MATH ROCK!
(now that I know the term)
OMG
this DRUMMER KICKS A**
John at Hella Sound: this beginning is like a Led Zeppelin "Song Remains the Same" jam, but cutting out everything that doesn't scream BIG PAYOFF
John at Hella Sound: total "deconstructionism"
they take a part and just repeat repeat repeat
Jenn Tran: you know all great bands need a stellar backbone for a drummer.
it's *awesome*
John at Hella Sound: love the dirty saturated/analog guitar—just raw
low fi to the core
and yes, great drummer == everything
Jenn Tran: yeah very gritty
John at Hella Sound: I think stuff like this tries most people's patience
but I think that's what makes it good
this whole middle segment—they're trying on all these different ideas
asking questions with these sustained chords
thoughts?
Jenn Tran: No vocals?
John at Hella Sound: nope
Jenn Tran: Like, ever?
John at Hella Sound: sometimes they do vocals through a vocoder
and frequently in german
LOL
basically, they rule hell
Jenn Tran: holy cow... not what i was expecting
John at Hella Sound: so easing into this groove
totally great vibe to run to btw
Jenn Tran: 177!
John at Hella Sound: and then they'll start removing or adding parts
Jenn Tran: If this was playing in my car and I was driving, or it popped up in my shuffle while running I wouldn't skip it
it definitely grabs my attention when I least expect it
John at Hella Sound: single-note vamp on the guitar
John at Hella Sound: "I wouldn't skip it"
lol
Jenn Tran: I like the way the guitar "talks"
LOL
I'm just sayin'
John at Hella Sound: I look at it like this: "fine art" requires something from the listener or viewer
it's demanding
not always comfortable
but are they fine art? not sure. they have a lot of humor in their stuff too
Jenn Tran: I was feeling a lil uncomfortable after the 2 minute mark
John at Hella Sound: lol yep
I bet that goes in the "success" column for them
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
Low vs Diamond
Jenn Tran: yes
John at Hella Sound: oh wow holy chorus
Jenn Tran: favorite band ever
yeah lead singer Lucas = tons of bravado
John at Hella Sound: I love that they dropped the chorus so early in the song
Jenn Tran: and every song has a great story to it (lyrics wise)
John at Hella Sound: epic
he's like Jeff Buckley a little
Jenn Tran: YES
very Jeff Buckley
John at Hella Sound: Jeff Buckley singing for the Sisters of Mercy maybe
Jenn Tran: LOL
John at Hella Sound: admittedly, I do a crappy job catching lyrics & lyric meanings
how'd you find these guys?
Jenn Tran: i pay attn to lyrics a lot
i saw them open up for AIR
(who are AWESOME in concert btw - you wouldn't think since they are so studio recorded but great)
so i was hooked ever since
John at Hella Sound: I like how the drummer lagged a bit in his snare roll/rush—added a bit of drama, humanity and error to it. Mistakes in recording is very, very good (and rare these days)
I can imagine these guys would rock in a small club
nice find!
Jenn Tran: YES I've seen them rock a small club 4x
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
Jenn Tran: 1st question
John at Hella Sound: my wife and I used to see Kurt Elling live at the Green Mill in Chicago all the time
Jenn Tran: who is Kurt Elling?
John at Hella Sound: you mean grammy award winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling?
lol
he's a singer
chicago boy
Jenn Tran: See
I knew he was famous.
John at Hella Sound: but I mean listen to this
I hear this as super..."romantic" for lack of a better word
intimate, for sure
Jenn Tran: Moving?
OK I really dig the inflection
John at Hella Sound: yeah, but not in a Betty-Buckley-Singing-"Memory"-in-Cats kind of way
Jenn Tran: I dunno why
John at Hella Sound: he's all over the place
Jenn Tran: yeah!
John at Hella Sound: listen to this long note
up into the falsetto
Jenn Tran: it's very "real"
John at Hella Sound: hold....hold....hold...
chills
Jenn Tran: He has an amazing range.
John at Hella Sound: I'm sure 10,000 contemporary dance students use this in their first recital
bucking around and whipping and whatnot
Jenn Tran: I like really clear deep voices.
John at Hella Sound: but I think it's awesome and stands on its own—just a voice and an upright bass
if the other music was run-able, this one is definitely post-run stretches and cool-down
Jenn Tran: Confession: almost teared up at the end.
I'm a SAP
John at Hella Sound: dude I'm the guy that put it on the playlist
Jenn Tran: I could definitely cool down to this. Then have an emo breakdown and cry.
I think it's a cool chill little tune, by a guy we like to refer to as grammy award winning, so and so
John at Hella Sound: alrighty, closing thoughts? what did you think?
your 3 were definitely more structured, big choruses, big pay-offs
I dug the Low vs Diamond sense of drama, for sure
and the Bloc Party in-your-faceness
Jenn Tran: I think yours had a sniper effect.
John at Hella Sound: LOL!
what does that mean?
Jenn Tran: Not sure what you're looking for, but whatever happens, does not miss the target!
John at Hella Sound: lol okay, so sorta a DC Sniper effect
lol
Jenn Tran: That's the best way I could explain it.
John at Hella Sound: not clean military strike, more haphazard but still deadly.
Jenn Tran: LOL!
Very deadly!
Snipers aren't friendly at all!
John at Hella Sound: alright. until next month.
don't hesitate to dig up whatever—there's no timestamp on this stuff. If it's worth listening to, it's worth listening to
Jenn Tran: Trans Am and Kurt Elling were REALLY REALLY surprising
John at Hella Sound: didn't expect that?
Jenn Tran: not at all
John at Hella Sound: we saw Trans Am a few months ago at a small club here in SF
they were a riot
Jenn Tran: but they both hit me in unexpected ways. i bet they're awesome
MATH ROCK!
John at Hella Sound: for whatever reason, near the end of the set, the bassist/synth guy started peeling a banana mid-song
Jenn Tran: Oh my god. I must see them live.
John at Hella Sound: like he needed to fuel up on carbs and electrolytes for the big ending
Jenn Tran: So self-aware!
John at Hella Sound: had these Zensah-like forearm wraps on
Jenn Tran: Love it!
John at Hella Sound: ate the banana while keying chords. weird.

Tags: Listening Party, music, bands

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Comments

ok, this is my new favorite page in the Hellasound website. What a fun idea!

Carrie | July 19, 2009

Let’s keep it polite and on topic. Email address is required but will never be shared, sold or used for nefarious purposes.

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