This Is Happening (
LCD Soundsystem) - James Murphy is the dude behind this band. He is exactly that, a dude. That's what's so alluring about LCD's music. He is just a chilled out guy making cool music and not taking himself too seriously (except for on the track, "You Wanted a Hit," which is some sort of backlash at music producers and is painfully reminiscent of Tom Petty's worst song of all time, "My Name's Joe I'm a CEO). It is dance-punk executed perfectly. For those who expressed disappointment in this album, I'm not sure what you were hoping for. Yes, the predecessor, "Sound of Silver," was amazing, but in the end it's just really good dance-punk music. 'This Is Happening' is likewise really good but to a slightly lesser extent. Fortunately, for the listener, they introduce some new sounds to their repertoire like the funkdafied "Dance Yrself Clean" and the Bowie-esque "All I Want." Finally, it has been rumored that 'This Is Happening' will be LCD's final album before James Murphy moves on to other projects. If that is so, then the final track, "Home," represents a great swan song and a culmination of talents, beats, and emotion.
7.4
The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) (
Janelle Monae)
- In sports people often hope for and talk about "some kid, somewhere that's going to be the next [Michael Jordan/ Tiger Woods/ Babe Ruth/ etc.]." Based on sheer population and anomalies, the theory goes, someone has to emerge eventually. In the music arena Janelle Monae is this kid. She seems, to me, to be a huge talent who just suddenly came out of nowhere (Kansas City, MO, to be precise). Apparently she was starting a career of training for Broadway but realized her passion is pop music. This means that she has an awesome voice (both booming and melodic) and great stage presence and dance moves. 'The ArchAndroid' is a continuation of her Metropolis concept series. Apparently, the series involves the fictional tale of Cindy Mayweather, a messianic android sent back in time to free the citizens of Metropolis from The Great Divide, a secret society that uses time-travel to suppress freedom and love. Whatever. The things to note here are that 1) the music is super high quality: good beats, vocals, lyrics, and an amazing range of genres (she channels Michael Jackson, Outkast, James Brown, Beatles, Claude Debussy, and Simon & Garfunkel, all with fluidity and grace), as well as a hefty dose of material (18 solid tracks); and 2) the over"arch"ing theme is actually pretty cool: she uses futuristic worlds and space travel as a metaphor for being free from chains and oppression (possibly inspired by her connection to African-American slavery).
9.1
