{"id":3714,"date":"2014-12-02T13:03:01","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T18:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=3714"},"modified":"2014-12-02T13:03:01","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T18:03:01","slug":"november-music-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/02\/november-music-update\/","title":{"rendered":"November music update."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My <a href=http:\/\/klaw.me\/1zIUVfy>analysis of the Nelson Cruz signing<\/a> went up yesterday for Insiders, as did my annual <a href=http:\/\/klaw.me\/1y6wC98>gift guide for the home cooks<\/a> on your list this year, the latter here on the dish.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve already begun sketching out my top 100 tracks of 2014 list as well as a ranking of my favorite albums of the year, but I&#8217;m holding that until after baseball&#8217;s winter meetings, which are next week in San Diego, just to steal myself another week or so to make sure I haven&#8217;t missed any songs I&#8217;ll regret omitting. In the meantime, here&#8217;s one more monthly playlist to tide you over, with a few songs that will appear on the year-end ranking.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify:user:keithlaw1:playlist:39yyO3Du8E6ggMD0bDaheV\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kele \u2013 Closer<\/strong>. Bloc Party&#8217;s lead singer goes in a totally different direction in his solo work, with elements of trip-hop, two-step, and more traditional electronica. The album is uneven, but \u201cCloser\u201d is its best track between the tempo changes and the duet with an unknown female artist (I can&#8217;t find proper credits for the track anywhere).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00MXGBY4A\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B00MXGBY4A&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=meadowpartyco-20&#038;linkId=NMGMQWDXXTSIA3PF\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&#038;ASIN=B00MXGBY4A&#038;Format=_SL160_&#038;ID=AsinImage&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;WS=1&#038;tag=meadowpartyco-20\" class=\"alignright\" ><\/a>TV on the Radio \u2013 Lazerray. I was psyched for their latest album, <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00MXGBY4A\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B00MXGBY4A&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=meadowpartyco-20&#038;linkId=5SAOXSRPZAJO4NDJ\">Seeds<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=meadowpartyco-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B00MXGBY4A\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/><\/i>, to come out, but was mildly disappointed in how much of it is 1) mid-tempo or slower and 2) vaguely commercial-sounding. When they really let &#8216;er rip, they&#8217;re at their best; \u201cLazerray\u201d should bring back memories of last year&#8217;s one-off single \u201cMercy\u201d or their first crossover hit, 2006&#8217;s \u201cWolf Like Me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Young Fathers \u2013 Get Up<\/strong>. Young Fathers were the surprise winners of the 2014 Mercury Prize; this British rap trio&#8217;s album <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00I060HM2\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B00I060HM2&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=meadowpartyco-20&#038;linkId=O7OCI4HRH4QV65J2\">Dead<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=meadowpartyco-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B00I060HM2\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/><\/i> was \u2026 well, let&#8217;s just say I wouldn&#8217;t have given it the award. But \u201cGet Up\u201d winks back at &#8217;60s\/&#8217;70s Motown-era soul in the chorus, and YF&#8217;s technical shortcomings are far less evident because the verses are tight and the music is strong.<\/p>\n<p><strong>King Tuff \u2013 Black Moon Spell<\/strong>. That fuzzed-out guitar riff seems lifted off some lost &#8217;70s vinyl, maybe a Thin Lizzy B-side, and the slight shift into a minor chord when it repeats the second time through each chorus is just perfect. I&#8217;m a sucker for a distorted lead guitar hook.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dreamers \u2013 Wolves<\/strong>. Indie-rock with a good sense of melody, not terribly distinguished (so far) from a few dozen other bands with similarly ungoogleable names, but with the benefit of some early support on Sirius XM that at least is getting this strong lead single (\u201cand if you lie down with wolves\/learn to howl\u201d) some airplay in advance of their debut album, due next year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Death from Above 1979 \u2013 Always On<\/strong>. I didn&#8217;t know these guys did heavy, but the grinding guitar riff overpowers the grunge-pop drum and vocal lines here to take the song beyond the generic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ex Cops \u2013 Black Soap<\/strong>. I actually assumed Ex Cops were from somewhere in Scandinavia, just based on their sparse arrangements and lead singer Amalie Brunn&#8217;s voice (turns out she&#8217;s Danish, but the band is based in Brooklyn). I guess she was involved in a controversy earlier this year when she put out a dark metal record under the name Myrkur without revealing her identity, to which I give a giant \u00af\\_(?)_\/\u00af. Anyway, \u201cBlack Soap\u201d is a solid alt-pop track that&#8217;s gotten some quick buzz thanks in part to the involvement of Billy Corgan in producing the record. Not to be confused with Futurecop, which also put out an album last month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Empires \u2013 Please Don&#8217;t Tell My Lover<\/strong>. It&#8217;s electro-pop, I think, but the guitar riff is more pronounced than most tracks in that subgenre, which is worth extra points in my book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Dan Sultan \u2013 Under Your Skin<\/strong>. Winner of the ARIA award for Best Rock Album for his <i><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/blackbird\/id810965884?uo=4&#038;at=11l9Rw\" target=\"itunes_store\">Blackbird<\/a><\/i> (just $5.99 on iTunes right now) this year, Sultan is an Australian Aborigine singer\/songwriter who draws deeply on 1960s\/1970s soul sounds \u2026 which a lot of folks do these days, but Sultan actually pulls it off without sounding a bit like a fraud. \u201cThe Same Man\u201d is the other standout track from <i>Blackbird<\/i>, but I like \u201cUnder Your Skin\u201d best for its snarling intro riff and tight two-and-half minute run time. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Stars \u2013 This is the Last Time\/Trap Door<\/strong>. Stars made my 2012 top 40 with their New Order-mimicking \u201cHold On When You Get Love.\u201d Their latest album doesn&#8217;t plow any new soil at all; they&#8217;re playing it very safe, hewing close to their new-wave inspirations, but they do that sound particularly well, regardless of which vocalist takes the helm. The former has a hint of New Pornographers when Neko Case takes the mic; the latter is the song that reminded me most of that 2012 standout track. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Broncho \u2013 Class Historian<\/strong>. This song is going to annoy me if I listen it too much, due to that weird \u201cduh-duh-duh\u201d thing they do every thirty seconds, and I don&#8217;t love tracks that overproduce the vocals to make them sound low and distant, but there&#8217;s a decent pop hook underneath here and I think the song&#8217;s going to get a ton of airplay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CHVRCHES \u2013 Get Away<\/strong>. Mentioned earlier this year, now available on Spotify. The song is from the BBC&#8217;s \u201cre-scoring\u201d of the movie <i>Drive<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Banks \u2013 Waiting Game<\/strong>. Yeah, \u201cBegging for Thread\u201d is the best song from her <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00M323LNQ\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B00M323LNQ&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=meadowpartyco-20&#038;linkId=4ZXUPDPOKVWDXIFO\">Goddess<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=meadowpartyco-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B00M323LNQ\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/><\/i> album, but I figure you&#8217;ve probably heard that already; this was my second-favorite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My analysis of the Nelson Cruz signing went up yesterday for Insiders, as did my annual gift guide for the home cooks on your list this year, the latter here on the dish. I&#8217;ve already begun sketching out my top 100 tracks of 2014 list as well as a ranking of my favorite albums of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[779,359,755,852],"class_list":["post-3714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2014-in-music","tag-alternative","tag-electronic-music","tag-music","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3736,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3714\/revisions\/3736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}