A Round of Sound

#3) The National – High Violet [4AD; released 5/10/2010]

“I still owe money, to the money, to the money I owe”

“Bloodbuzz Ohio”

Growing up churched as I have, I’ve heard plenty of sermons that have had an impact on me, however, one of my favorites is a sermon I heard a couple times in college entitled “Ministry of the Mundane”. Without getting too preachy here, the sermon speaks to God’s presence in the smallest details in our lives and not just the huge events. (This sermon was used as a way to counter the huge Christian Revival events that pop up all over the place, especially the Bible Belt…but I digress.) What I loved about it is that it showed the significance of day to day events and the ability to get as much out of that as some huge “Look at me!” undertaking. Considering how much that speaks to me, it’s no wonder that The National have become one of my favorite bands, due to their “Music of the Mundane” as I shall forever now call it. The National sing about things that effect all of us, cause they have all been there too. Lead singer Matt Berninger used to work in a typical office job and those experiences have lead to his “blue collar” outlook on many of his tunes. It’s amazing what happens when you can relate to a band and what they’re singing about, and of course it doesn’t hurt that the music they write is damn good too. High Violet is the follow up to Boxer, my album of the year in 2007, and prior to Boxer The National had a tendency to release albums known as growers, meaning, you needed to put in the time in order for it to burrow under your skin. Boxer came along and was their most immediate release, but High Violet falls more into the “grower” category, and doesn’t suffer a single bit for it. There’s still the immediate pop songs such as “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and the Sufjan Stevens assisted “Afraid of Anyone”. However, also present are songs like “Sorrow” and “Little Faith” that are no less beautiful despite their lack of an obvious hook. What they do have though, is incredible and driving percussion, which is once again a great strength for the Brooklyn 5-piece. High Violet is the most mature release yet from this group, who as they age, have continually been able to find the influences to write their brooding anthems, something that must be easier said than done, because while writing about the mundane in our lives is not a groundbreaking idea, no one can seem to do it like The National.

[“Bloodbuzz Ohio” – High Violet]

#4) Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me [ Drag City; released 2/23/2010]

“Be at peace, baby, and be gone.”

“Baby Birch”

Listening to Joanna Newsom’s epic 2006 release Ys, you could sense what an accomplishment it was and that it certainly deserved to be considered one of the best releases that year, however it wasn’t an album that was easy to come back to. Consisting of only 5 tracks, Ys still clocked in at just under an hour thanks to its swirling songs that hovered around 10 minutes long. It truly was an album that worked best as one piece of art, basically a symphony expressed in 5 movements. There really was no where to jump in, and as brilliant as it was, it was an exhausting and overwhelming listen that took some effort. This is why when news broke that Newsom’s follow up album would actually be a triple album with over 2 hours of music, expectations were understandably reserved. However, with Have One On Me, Newsom took everything that made Ys an ambitious success and broke it into little pieces spread throughout 18 songs that the listener can drop in and listen for a while and not feel like he or she is missing any context. There are still plenty of lengthy tracks that harken back to Ys, such as the title track and “Kingfisher”, but for everyone of those, there’s a track like “Baby Birch” that, while sitting at almost 10 minutes long, goes by like a pop song thanks to it’s dearth of great moments spread throughout. Newsom’s patented harp playing and squeaky voice are still the prevalent feature of Have One On Me, as they should be, but also on display is her inspired piano playing, most notably on “Good Intentions Paving Co” and “Soft as Chalk” which give another glimpse into the many talents Newsom encompasses. Thanks to a renewed focus on song-structure, Have One On Me is a much more accessible release for Newsom, but one that doesn’t sacrifice the scope of her compositions. It almost comes across as what her greatest hits collection would sound like, accentuating all the unique preciousness, confidence, and lyrical ability that sets her apart from all other singer-songwriters.

[“Soft as Chalk” – Have One On Me]