Best in Music: July 2006 Edition

Guillemots - Through The Windowpane (Universal)

In an era of pop where mainstream executives negate anything that is too abnormal for the fear of rejection from music conservatives, the uniqueness of Guillemots’ pop is a breath of fresh air. In this debut, the London-based quartet surrounds the conventional pop structure with jazz percussions, double-bass, creaky piano notes, parading brass, and choir oohs and aahs, zesting it with flavors and colors that are foreign to the run-of-the-mill. The impact is instant, yet it’s chock-full of substance so that the satisfaction lasts. The copious arrangement’s purpose isn’t to establish a “too cool for school” gimmick, but it exists to enrich Fyfe Dangerfield’s sumptuous vision of euphoric pop. Aside from being a song inventor, Dangerfield lends to the mix his impressive vocal range, which is packed with such emotion and tenderness and delivered with such undeniable charisma. Qualities such as these make his voice ideal for imparting optimistic messages about life, love, and even music without sounding sugary. It’s a terrific album to cure discouragement; you can either subscribe to its exhilarating lyrics or dance to its up-tempo bliss. It’s a tad presumptuous to declare Guillemots as saviors of pop radio, but it’s, for sure, reassuring to hear something that extends the limits for a change.

[Little Bear | Made-Up Love Song | Trains To Brazil]

Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XL)

Weeks before the release of Thom Yorke’s solo debut, he promptly declared in Radiohead’s website that: “I don’t want to hear that word solo.” But, how can a record sung by Yorke, written by Yorke, and credited to Yorke not be called a “solo”? Well, it’s a “solo” in a sense that Selway, O’Brien, and the Greenwood brothers are absent here; but this very comfortably fits into the Kid A/Amnesiac era that it seems inappropriate to call it a Yorke solo effort. Although, separated from the aural contributions of his band mates, Yorke is permitted to intimately showcase his trademark falsetto. The glitchy laptop clicks and twitches, spliced vocal ticks, and paranoid processed synths were also kept minimalistic at its overlay, conceding to Yorke’s astonishing vocal lament. The lyrics, which are expertly blended with the bleepitting and blopitting, are, for the most part, straightforward in meaning; but, as for its target or inspiration, it’s considerably vague. Is it about social awkwardness, romantic despondency, or political argument? It’s for Thom to know, and for countless of message boards to find out. The message boards may also be quick to label these tracks as Radiohead outtakes, but is that necessarily a bad thing? With Radiohead or not, Yorke hasn’t disappointed yet—or, at least, not since Pablo Honey.

[The Eraser | Atoms For Peace | Harrowdown Hill]

Cut Chemist - The Audience’s Listening (Warner Bros.)

When casual listeners hear the term “turntablism” to describe an album, they habitually expect a collection of tracks with a whole lot of wikka-wikka-wikka going on. Don’t get me wrong, though; The Audience’s Listening is a competent exhibition for Cut Chemist aka Lucas MacFadden to display his ability to scratch a record. He does have the reputation of being one of the masters of the technique, sitting behind the turntables for acts like Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli. But the thing is, a successful turntablism album, which Cut Chemist was able to achieve here with his debut, is far more than performing tricks. It takes equal amounts of talent in beat-making, crate-digging for samples, and, ultimately, meshing all of it together into a cohesive assortment of layers—vinyl wizardry is just the icing on the cake. Unlike most producers, Cut Chemist doesn’t just linger with a catchy riff on his medley of beats; he changes it up by either playing around with the hook, the tempo, or the time signatures. By the cunning samples he arranges, it proves that he’s elbow-deep when seeking for audio clips, acknowledging segments from black-and-white movie reels to Rakim to Brazilian lounge records. His impeccable sense of rhythm, along with his Technics, should enlighten the audience with what they should be listening to.

[The Garden | Spat | A Peak In Time]