Monday, September 14, 2009

I'll Ask You Kindly To Make Your Way

Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest has been universally lauded since its release and rightly so. It's a terrific album with great melodies, harmonies and pretty everything you could want. Definitely one of the albums of the year, but that is really not a surprise.

Having had the album for a while now I'm glad to see that the choice for second single is also my personal favorite track (well, one of two fav's with Ready, Able being the other). Good on you, Grizzly Bear.

While You Wait For The Others is a true break-up song filled with heartbreak and big emotions. The song builds terrifically and hits you right where it hurts. Right where you want it to hurt. Something we all can relate to now and then.

... and you gotta love a song that has a version with Michael McDonald doing the vocals. Pure genius.

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others

Death Is Not The End of This Song

YACHT is about group consciousness. YACHT is about the individual man or woman. If you believe these assertions to be contradictory, consider the Triangle: it is both a collection of points and a shape.” (YACHT mission statement)

YACHT makes electronic dance-y music in the classic DFA vein (which incidentally also happens to be their label). Their songs have the spoken vocals over dance-y music รก la LCD Soundsystem, which just seems to work really well and projects a sort of effortless cool.

The Afterlife is, to me, their best song to date. The song is jampacked with little details and really showcase their ability to mix all kinds of weird (for lack of better words) sounds to create what is essentially a party/pop song. Not your conventional pop song, but a pop song nonetheless. I am particularly partial to the lyrics of the song as, with a subject such as death, it could easily become cheesy and contrived. Rather, on this song the lyrics come off almost, well, insightful. Sample lyric:

"It's not a place you go
It's a place that comes to you
And it's not about who you know
or who is in your heart
It may come as a surprise,
but you are not alone
All that you have is not what you own"


Not something you expect from a dance song.

YACHT - The Afterlife