Review: Spoon - Transference

For the purposes of being up front with my biases, Spoon is part of a triumvriate of bands that are my favorites. The other two are Sigur Rós and Beirut, but Spoon is perhaps even higher than the other two. In my mind they are on a three album streak of absolute knockouts with 2002's Kill The Moonlight, 2005's Gimme Fiction, and 2007's blockbuster release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

However, leading up to their January 19th release Transference, reviews had been scattered. A lot of reviewers were making statements of "it's a step back for the band" and "this is no Ga x 5."

To me, that is an unfair way to review something. While Transference is assuredly no Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, that album in itself was wildly different than Kill The Moonlight or even Gimme Fiction. The same basic elements that comprise Spoon are evident across all of the albums - the swagger, the grooves, the unique, soulful vocals Britt Daniel gives us. To discredit the album in itself because of its inability to recapture the magic of a pop masterpiece like Ga or Moonlight is just a listener creating unfair expectations for an album.

Because this album is without a doubt a success, and another fine addition to Spoon's ever growing discography.

This album seems to fuse a lot of the more melancholy and lo-fi aspects of 2001's Girls Can Tell with the precision pop of their last two releases. I think one of the biggest issues people have with the album is that while listening to the opening four tracks, nothing jumps off the page like Moonlight's "Small Stakes", Fiction's "I Turn My Camera On", or Ga's "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb".

Then, the fifth track comes up and it is single "Written in Reverse" and it almost bottoms out those first four tracks by giving us a jam that is exactly like what we expect from the band. It hearkens back to "Camera", but with less emphasis on a smooth jam, more of something Daniel can really reach back and give us some hearty yelps and the rest of the band can give us some raw power - it really stands out given the low key nature of the albums beginning.

Yet those first four tracks hold a lot of gold in their lengths. "Before Destruction" and its slow build intensity coupled with Daniel's soulful vocals. "Is Love Forever?" and the echoing vocals and classic Spoon driving guitars. "The Mystery Zone" and its bizarre half song feel (it starts in the midst of the track and closes in the middle of Daniel singing the title) mixed with some fantastic instrumental arrangements that recalls "Don't You Evah". "Who Makes Your Money" is perhaps the most jarring of the openers, as it is a slow, hazy jam that ambles in its disconnectedness, but still draws you in.

Really, those first four tracks are a great sampling of what to expect. It's Spoon trying something new, but ultimately it still sounds like Spoon doing what they do better than almost anyone else: making great music. While tracks like the previously released "Got Nuffin" or the aforementioned "Written in Reverse" do bring our minds back to past releases, this is Spoon at their most experimental. While it isn't as instantly inviting as previously releases, it is more of a grower and something that is building on me after a delightful first listen.

Ultimately, what I'm trying to say is this: if you come into this album and are disappointed because you don't hear singles all over the place like on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, perhaps it isn't the album's fault but your expectations. This is a Spoon album through and through, and an occasionaly raucous and very enjoyable one at that. Enjoy it for what it is, and don't focus too much on what it isn't.

Spoon - Transference: B+

If you would like to try a free, legal stream of this album, check it out at NPR's website here. Thanks Web Sheriff!

Spoon's "Written in Reverse"

Today on NPR's All Things Considered, they premiered the first single off the new Spoon album Transference. The track is titled "Written in Reverse," and in typical Spoon fashion it's a tasty cut that is a bass and piano driven stunner, using the guitar more as a texturing device for the other instruments. Of course, you also have Britt Daniel's increasingly bluesy vocals, especially highlighted as he yelps "I'm not standing here...no I'm not standing here" towards the 2:45 mark. Incredible.

The NPR commentator stated he's gotten hold of Transference already and stated that it may be the best album yet. If this track is any indicator, he's probably right. Don't miss All Things Considered this week if only for that track.

Halloween Week For Life

On a week that has featured the release of a new Battlestar Galactica movie (The Plan!), Bill Simmons' new book The Book of Basketball, and has featured more Halloween based hijinks than you can shake a stick at (Senator David Harper...for real?), it's hard to imagine it getting better. Yet this morning Pitchfork broke news that one of my favorite bands out there - Spoon - will be releasing a new album titled Transference on January 26th of next year. As in a little less than three months from now.

That's incredibly exciting news. Spoon released three of my fifty favorite albums from the 2000's (to be exact, top thirty three albums), and if listening to their Got Nuffin EP from this year is any indication, well...we're in for another treat.

Favorite Albums of the Decade: 40-31

Day 2 of my favorite albums of the decade is upon us, with albums 40 through 31 coming today. Before we start that, a recap of the list so far (you can see that post here):

50. Andrew WK - I Get Wet
49. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
48. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
47. Badly Drawn Boy - About a Boy Soundtrack
46. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
45. M.I.A. - Kala
44. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
43. Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
42. The Stills - Without Feathers
41. Cake - Comfort Eagle


40. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Recommended Track: My Girls

Why I Love It: While the cries of "album of the decade!" may have been a pinch strong at this album's release, the hype that this was Animal Collective's best yet was not. This is AC distilling their sound into more of a pop structure, as you can sense Panda Bear's influence (after 2007's stellar Person Pitch) becoming more and more prominent throughout. This may be the definitive headphones and audiophile album of the decade, as this album is all about rich textures and layers of sound. Not only that, but when they take us through the chorus on "My Girls" and we get the gleeful "Ohhh!!", there may not have been a more euphoric moment from music this decade.


39. The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder (2007)

Recommended Track: 7 Stars

Why I Love It: The Apples in Stereo were another out of nowhere band for me, regardless of the fact that they had been around for 16 years before I knew any better. This album is one that is filled with delicious vocoder driven vocals, 70's pop instrumental arrangements, and a sunny disposition mostly about...science? Whatever it is really about (obviously I am all about the lyrical content here), this album is one that surprised in its ability to alternately get me screaming out vocals and to regress into a far more contemplative state. This is not an album weighed down by import, but mostly one wondering "can you feel it." Yes we can, and it feels good.


38. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)

Recommended Track: Shakey Dog

Why I Love It: For all of the reasons Raekwon's Cuban Linx sequel is a success, so is this album. While for the most part Wu Tang Clan had a quiet decade, Ghostface exploded to become the most dominant voice from that crew. With his searing vocals, Ghostface tells us yarns of what a day to day life for a coke pushing gangster is like on the East Coast. Especially on "Shakey Dog", which is, to me, the apex of rap as a form of inner city storytelling. Not only that, but we get all kinds of guest appearances (including an honest to god Wu track), comic book and kung fu flick nods, and we learn a little about the metric system on the way as well. Who saw that coming?


37. The 88 - Over and Over (2005)

Recommended Track: Nobody Cares

Why I Love It: The 88 released one of the best albums of the 1960's, giving us rather straight forward pop rock tracks with soaring vocals, clap along rhythms, and tracks about sweet things such as coming home to your love, or things of that sort. Of course, the fact that it was released in 2005 to relative obscurity sort of alters that concept a bit, but that does not rob this album of any of its brilliance. While their follow up was...not strong, this album (which I found when I first started reviewing albums at my radio station in college) is laden with pop gems that I'd say match up with nearly anything from this decade.


36. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (2008)

Recommended Track: Hearts on Fire

Why I Love It: Cut Copy is a group that so effortlessly fused indie pop, electronica, and influences from the 1980's into their sound on this album that they were pretty much impossible to be denied. While it's true this album really doesn't intend to be much more than an album that is light, airy, and fun to dance to, it doesn't really matter. Cut Copy is so obviously comfortable with their identity and their sound on this album that everything they do ends up sounding like everything you wanted to hear from them, but you didn't even know it. That's how you know it's good.


35. Muse - Absolution (2003)

Recommended Track: Butterflies and Hurricanes

Why I Love It: Muse is one of the most incredible bands on the planet, as in many ways they are about as talented as anyone out there. For example, Matt Bellamy, lead singer, guitarist, and pianist for the group, can do all three things about as well as anyone in music today. Whether you're looking for a classically trained piano piece in the midst of a track, or an absolutely insane riff, or some of the most beautiful vocals you'll hear from any man, they'll deliver this and plenty more. This album became a very popular one because of a few standout singles, but the depth of the album is where the gems are hidden, such as the more slow burning pieces like "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout."


34. Cursive - The Ugly Organ (2003)

Recommended Track: Art is Hard

Why I Love It: "When you get on stage and they scream your name...oh Cursive is so cool...". From the very moment I heard those moments, with the former part sang in standard style and the "so cool" part in the background with muted vocals, I immediately knew I was a little bit in love with this band. At first, I was drawn in by the arty aggressiveness of "Art is Hard" and "Some Red Headed Slight of Hand", but later on I was pulled in by the more introspective moments like "The Recluse" and "Staying Alive." About that time I started to realize just how stellar of an album this was, and it ended up being my favorite album by one of Saddle Creek's absolute finest. Front to back, this album is loaded with power, brains, and a hidden soft streak that they'll scream at you to ignore. Brilliant.


33. Spoon - Gimme Fiction (2005)

Recommended Track: I Summon You

Why I Love It: First, I have to say that if I was going to make a list of favorite tracks of the decade (I may still do that), "I Summon You" would have to be up there for the top prize. This album followed their less structured and more eclectic album Kill the Moonlight and really focused on focusing the bands strengths into more straightforward tracks. For the most part it was a success, as tracks like the aforementioned "I Summon You" and "My Mathematical Mind" end up being every bit as wonderful as anything else in the Spoon discography. However, it falls somewhere in between the spontaneity of Moonlight and the polished pop sound of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and that lack of identity keeps it in the 30's for me.


32. Phantom Planet - The Guest (2002)

Recommended Track: One Ray of Sunlight

Why I Love It: Alright, cool it with the laughter. If you're thinking "really? the band that made the O.C. theme song?" well, you'd be right. That is in fact this band. However, hidden under that overplayed (but infectious) track is an album that is 60's bubble gum pop at its finest. Loaded with more hooks than a meat locker and featuring more toe tapping beats than almost anyone should be expected to handle, this was my album of choice for one entire summer during the middle of this decade. It still stands up to the test of time as an album that will get spins from time to time, just because every once in a while you need a little bit of pop in your life.


31. Air - Talkie Walkie (2004)

Recommended Track: Alone in Kyoto

Why I Love It: Whether it's the simmering creepy beauty of "Run", the effortless cool of whistle happy "Alpha Beta Gaga," or the Eastern quietness of standout track "Alone in Kyoto", Parisian duo Air takes us on a journey through their sound on this album. The way they structure their purely electronic sound gives the album the feel that it is more organic than your average album of this sort, giving it additional weight and soul throughout. This is their masterpiece in my mind, and one of the best electro pop albums of the decade, assuredly.