Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle

Is there anything much better than a good alternative rock song from the '90s? In my opinion, not really. Archers of Loaf play some bastardized version of Pavement and Leatherface. They wear their heart on their sleeve, but why is never really addressed. The lyrics on this record are nonsensical and in general lack substance. The guitar playing on this album is amazing and some of the best '90s indie rock songs are found on 'Icky Mettle'.

archers of loaf's 'icky mettle'

Archers of Loaf had a weird career. Their first couple albums seemed very punk based and extremely one track. As they grew older their music morphed into very polished, but still very different alternative rock. 'White Class Heroes' saw the band experimenting with almost Brian Enoesque synths. Their first two records really sound the best for me, but their entire discography is very underrated. Very few indie rock bands grasp the idea that while music can be hook oriented it should also retain a certain amount of "rock". Archers of Loaf's first two records seem to be released in the heyday of '90s indie rock and easily two of the best from that period as well. Grungey, but poppy the group made sonic experiments with clear cut anthems. Its rare you get an indie rock band that possesses the ability to capture both perfectly. Usually a band is either very tame or very aggressive, the key to creating memorable pop music is messing with dynamics. Many groups in the '90s as experimental as they got always retained the poppy hooks and general structure of pop tunes. This is why in my mind the music of this period is the best in terms of 'indie rock'.

Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle (1993)

Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From The Estate

oren ambarchi's 'grapes from the estate'

I'm going to see Pavement tomorrow evening and Guided by Voices on Monday. Not sure how I feel about Pavement, but I'm very excited to see GBV. Great band and I imagine their live show is much better than their recorded material. Expect a blog post concerning those bands at some point. The title of this blog is a little misleading. The post will be focused around two records. Oren Ambarchi is an artist I saw opening for Boris w/ Michio Kurihara. He played a set that in my mind was much louder than any of the recorded material I've acquired of his. His recorded material tends to be very subdued and beautifully sparse. His live material has very ominous and from my knowledge (the concert was nearly three years ago) extremely cavernous and huge. His recorded stuff sounds so condensed that it was cool to hear him be very sprawling live. "Grapes From The Estate" is my favorite Oren record and every track is a highlight. The trouble with ambient music is making it simple enough to be subtle, but complex enough to remain interesting. The four pieces on "Grapes From The Estate" encompass that idea completely.

fennesz and ryuichi sakamoto's 'cendre'

Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto are both ambient musicians. Their collaboration "Cendre" is very different from Fennesz's work. The familiar glitchy ambience and solemn soundscapes are there, but Sakamoto seems to make the work very dark. The subtle addition of live piano and field recordings really adds a level of texture to the album that makes it great. Both of these records are excellent companions especially in the early hours of the morning. I find myself slowly drifting off to both Fennesz and Oren constantly in a way that is almost hypnotic. They both know the perfect amount of repetition to instill in a song while still allowing it to be relevant. Fennesz' pieces here are much shorter and less developed than Oren's, but they bleed a atmosphere devoid of Oren's sound. Ripples of sound encapsulating emotion is the only way to describe both of these records.

Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From The Estate (2004)

Fennesz (feat. Ryuichi Sakamato) - Cendre (2007)

Dabrye - One/Three

dabrye's 'one / three'

Michigan hip-hop production is the best. I'm not saying that other regional areas don't have their highlights. The south, east and west all maintain a level of consistency that allows for the yearly showcase of excellent beats. Detroit and on a large scale Michigan takes influences from all of those styles though. Rather than fall into a trap of defining itself regional, Detroit has managed to create a production style that dabbles in soul samples, hard hitting beats, and influences from the city's own techno scene. Dilla is the easy name, but when you begin examining Detroit and Michigan producers in general they tend to have a level of consistency not seen in other areas. Black Milk, Decompoze, Waajeed, Mr. Porter, etc. the state has a tendency for showing off beats in tracks.

Dabrye is sort of the more electronic version of the Michigan sound. Much like Flying Lotus or Daedalus in the LA area, Dabrye takes influence from the local hip-hop scene but his music can not necessarily be classified as hip-hop. He definitely creates hip-hop sounding beats and the follow up to 'One/Three' features numerous guest rap spots. This music is more akin to the Brainfeeder movement than the Detroit hip-hop sound. 'One/Three' sounds like a Warp Record version of one of Dilla's beat tapes. The album is very organic and passes you buy in a much shorter time than it actual plays for. If anyone has heard 'Vintage Vol.2' this album pretty much sounds like a more expanded, technical version of that idea. Simple beats with not so simple sounds.

Dabrye - One/Three (2001)