Album Review: Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon

Aging musicians releasing collaborative solo albums fronted by an all-star lineup of vocalists is a real marketable tool right now. Big name guitarists such as Slash and Carlos Santana are cashing in on pushing mediocre lifestyle music on their devoted fans who listen with the pretense, "Hey, I like (add dull MOR artist name here) and I like 70's classic rock/80's hair metal! This song must be good!" Millions of units sold and multiple Grammy wins later, mainstream opinion becomes the truth obscuring what the product really is: an glossy, over-constructed collection of songs with no common thread beyond the one money driven focal point whose name graces the album cover. With the album release from Dave Sitek's (of TV On The Radio's fame) Maximum Balloon on a major label, it brings notice to some strange parallels to the star-studded collaborative/big money product push. The overarching debate is this: Is Maximum Balloon a well-orchestrated, cohesive effort or merely a pedantic collection of tracks with a couple gems found amidst the rubble?

Maximum Balloon has some large shoes to fill with Sitek as a main creative force in musicianship and production behind TV On The Radio. The comparison if unfair is definitely inevitable. One thing is obvious from the kickoff: this is no TVOTR project. "Groove Me", featuring vocals from Theophilus London, is a sexy pop hit in the making featuring funky keys and Prince-like guitar jabs that juxtapose the industrial hum and roll under the London's assured voice. The nearest tracks to his Sitek's early efforts are by no surprise the tracks fronted by TVOTR frontmen Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone. Adebimpe's track "Absence of Light" has that slinky buzz meshing with Adebimpe's hefty voice that raises the hair on your neck while the beat punches you in the gut, making it the album's standout track. Malone's offering "Shakedown" is soulful and smooth, reaching beyond the doo-wop style carried by horns and chimes, sounding like a Curtis Mayfield jam brought back to life 500 years in the future. Oh, and that is a good thing.

The female vocal representation ably colors the wide open canvas on Maximum Balloon, often sounding like a different take or a remix, for better or worse, of their band of origin. The track "Communion" sung by Karen O has a Yeah Yeah Yeahs flavor via new wave that is sultry and swaying but misses the guitar crunch that fans expect. That similar retro pop is found on the Katrina Ford fronted "Young Love", a New Order groove that misses the subtlety of its inclination. The best female vocals on Maximum Balloon goes to Little Dragon, whose track "If You Return" blends the her effortless performance with jittery guitars and an ethereal synth that is a lovely homage to the best of 1980's pop. On that topic, I would be negligent if I did not mention the David Byrne track "Apartment Wrestling", that lifts the best nervous riffs from Remain In Light but retaining the contemporary flow, making me wonder what the Talking Heads would sound like formed circa 2005.

To answer the question posed earlier, Maximum Balloon leans more towards an album rather than a collection, with Sitek borrowing from his influences, then giving them a whitewash of futuristic industrial buzz that makes him a sought after producer. The diversions in sound are never so great to draw away from the whole album and the standouts rival anything in the TVOTR catalog. The result is Dave Sitek's outlook on the direction of pop music that touts a evenly distributed balance between memorable earworm melodies and au courant indie sensibility. It makes me look forward to the future of music while reminding of an amazing and varied past.

Purchase Maximum Balloon here.

Maximum Balloon - Groove Me


Maximum Balloon - Absence of Light


Maximum Balloon - If You Return


Maximum Balloon - Pink Bricks

Download Free No Age Track, Stream Entire New Album, Released on September 28

The noisy punk  duo No Age has all of the prerequisites for instant indie success. Pounding drums, fuzzy and squealing guitars and scream your heart out vocals translate to intensity that pounces from your listening source and crawls all over you. Their first two albums Weirdo Rippers and Nouns are two giant steps forward in their progression towards an album that balances noise and melody, while never forgetting the intensity that butters their bread. With the new album Everything In Between less than one week away, Sub Pop has posted the entire album for you listening pleasure via SoundCloud. After a thorough listening, Everything is a healthy leap rather than a step with each song showcasing a new color on their palate wheel. We always knew they could rock as hard as anyone, but it is the melodic left turns that keep your ear on point, intrigued by what comes next. Check it out now as it is unsure how long the stream will last.

As an added teaser, No Age offered up the first single a few weeks back as a free download. "Glitter" is that great example of melody and noise in sync, humming along with oscillating synth and guitar scrape over cheerleader beats and confessional vocals raising the whole glorious mess to indie's own pop perfection. The b-side "Inflorescence" is a squealing march featuring an jarring organ wedged in the middle. The song earnestly plugs along by keeping it simple. It is truly an similar sounding yet worthy companion to "Glitter". Listen to both tracks below then download "Glitter" by right-clicking here.

Stream Everything In Between here.

Pre-order Everything in Between here.

No Age - Glitter


No Age - Inflorescence

Download New DeerHunter Track, Listen To Entire Album

Bradford Cox has been a jarring force on the indie scene for the better half of the past decade. Alternating between his group Deerhunter and his solo work under the name Atlas Sound, Cox has made his mark with his take on psych-pop that leans heavy on the stormy feedback and kitchen-sink studio experiments. With each successive product, his voice and musical focus has transgressed from loose to laser-centered on finding that proper blend of noise and melody. For the past weeks, the machine has been drooling over the impending release of Halycon Digest, hitching a wagon to the album screaming "The Moon Or Bust". After giving it a full listen via NPR's First Listen, I think Deerhunter may have achieved that stratosphere-shattering moment that defines a band's career. An extended review on this surely to come soon...

The first thing that struck me about the offered track "Revival" is how coherent it was. Rather than opting for the drugged out waves of fuzz that attacked the listener, Cox now has the confidence to cradle us in a warm embrace. The production finds the balance between a delicate mandolin and a just enough electric hum to add tension to this short trip. Halycon Digest will be out September 28 on 4AD.

Give it a listen on NPR's website. Pre-order Halcyon Digest here.

Give "Revival" a listen below. Download it for free here.

Deerhunter - Revival

Free Protest Song Available From The Radio Dept., EP Single Out In November

Sweden's The Radio Dept. have been spinning their blend of delicate synth melodies and shoegazing Euro-indie since 2002, distributing a steady stream of singles, EP's and LP's at a rate of over one release a year. The band has gotten nudges of encouragement throughout their tenure from the inclusion on the soundtrack for the Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette to much critical adulation for this year's release Clinging To A Scheme. In characteristic Radio Dept. fashion, they follow up a full length with more releases of original music.

Made available for free via their website, "The New Improved Hypocrisy" has been a work in progress leading up to the national elections in their home country. Well known as a society who socialist policies has resulted in a worry-free, well-educated population coupled with heart stopping taxation, the polling indicates that a moderate government will be taking power in Sweden in the new term. The topic of the new track is rife with concerns over this impending change and it doesn't seem that The Radio Dept. are too happy about it. Interestingly, the song's theme finds a common parallel to America's present Teabagger movement/scourge. Still, the song is airy and lovely, blowing through on a cloud as a catchy reminder that not all revolutions are warranted. Read the given lyrics for better clarification and click here for an article on Sweden's upcoming elections. Then click here to download the new track for free.

Also, upcoming is a EP centered along Clinging to A Scheme single "Never Follow Suit" slated to be out November 9. Download the track for free here. Included below as well is a stream of the entire album. Purchase Clinging To A Scheme here.

The Radio Dept. - The New Improved Hypocrisy


The Radio Dept. - Clinging To A Scheme LP

Fujiya & Miyagi Release New Track, New Album Out In January

Non-Japanese, non-duo Fujiya & Miyagi have been making heads bob and hips sway on a mainstream scale since their 2006 breakthrough LP Transparent Things. An album full of perfect Kraut-influenced nuggets, they spawned massive commercial endorsements and more mashups and remixes than you can shake a glowstick at. The new track below "Sixteen Shades Of Black And Blue" is the most recent output since their 2008 followup Lightbulbs. The new album entitled Ventriloquizzing is slated to be released in early 2011 on Full Time Hobby. This first offering is skewed a bit darker than their earlier efforts, sporting Bowie-and-Iggy nightclub slither under requisite handclaps and poker-faced vocals. It is an intriguing turn for a band who could be easily written off as ankle-deep and all too commonplace. Further evidence of their darker turn can be found on their website where creepy ventriloquist dummies are...graphically enhanced. I will spare the details as a surprise. Enjoy the new track.

Purchase Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things here.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Sixteen Shades Of Black And Blue


Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone