Beach House - Depression Cherry (2015)

*Beach House - Depression Cherry (2015)*

Rating: 14

"Chances are like night disappeared,"

Best Song: 10:37 or Levitation, maybe?

Worst Song: I have no idea again

Song List:

1. Levitation

2. Sparks

3. Space Song

4. Beyond Love

5. 10:37

6. PPP

7. Wildflower

8. Bluebird

9. Days of Candy

Continuing on with the reviewing of Beach House's Discography, we retreat back just a couple of months ago, to when this album released was near the end of August. I was walking around my local record store, browsing the vinyls of bands like  Rush and Brian Eno, when a song came on the overly loud speakers of the store. A soft chord began on a keyboard, and as it was held, other keyboards began to layer it in beautiful and melodic ways. Then the drum machine began playing softly and a gorgeously ethereal voice began singing "You, and me, with our long hair on the gold wall," I just stopped what I was doing and listened in shock as this amazing song played on and on until it prettily faded out. After it was finished and the next song began, I walked up to the cashier and asked him "What band was that?!" He just looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "It's Beach House, man. Their new album just came out."

About an hour later, I held the beautifully clear "Loser Edition Vinyl" of Beach House's newest album, Depression Cherry. I listened to the album from start to finish a couple times that day alone, and my god, was I in love. This was a band at its peak playing to its strengths and making some gloriously music. Other reviews pinned it as lazy, and it seemed quite divisive overall, but I knew where I stood. I couldn't get enough of this album, and even as I bought Bloom, Teen Dream, and recently Thank Your Lucky Stars, I kept flocking back to this album. It captured some kind of feeling that the others just can't. To be honest, that's what makes Beach House so great. One major complaint that they always get is that every album sounds the same, but after a couple listens, that obviously isn't true. Beach House has this power to tap into emotions that may sound similar at first, but reveal their depth and differences with time. Depression Cherry does this impeccably, by making the jumpy feeling of Bloom toned down and more relaxed.

Listening to this album in order of songs as an album is a must. There is no way to more fully enjoy the songs than to just experience the songs in the order intended by the band itself. This may seem like an obvious fact restated, but in a world where many people have an ipod with 3000 songs, and 2500 albums on their ipod, the flow of albums are being more forgotten about than ever. This album blossoms when listen to in its entirety, and the way that the album calms down through its modest running time almost makes it feel like the day ending and the night beginning. If Bloom is a hazy summer day, then Depression  Cherry is a cool autumn evening. Thank Your Lucky Stars is the middle of the night, if we were to continue on with that comparison, but it's so different from the other two that such a comparison is almost meaningless.

I don't really enjoy track by track reviews, but the flow of this album must be mentioned. The album starts out with the amazing "Levitation," A dreamy reminiscing of days gone by and wishes not fulfilled, before crashing into the noisy, yet chilled out "Sparks,". Sparks almost fades into "Space Song," A song as floaty and beautiful as it sounds. By the time "Beyond Love" comes on, you're overtaken in this world of pretty sounds, and as side one ends, you are given a breather, almost to signify time passing. By the time you flip your vinyl record (or just wait a few seconds),  the night begins to fade in with the fantastic "10:37" which is my possibly favorite Beach House song, and it is followed up by the magnificent "PPP," Which floats like a cloud. Then, the lo-fi "Wildflower" sends you off to another world, as "Bluebird" and "Days of Candy" return you to your world, and after the otherworldly choruses of "Days" ends, you're left in a calm world of beautiful silence. It's a truly remarkable experience...

Overall, I would say get this album right now. Beach House doesn't have a bad song on here, and the whole album is a beautiful listening experience and one that has to be heard to be believed. It's my personal favorite album by them, and a must-buy for anyone who even has a passing interest in dreamy or alternative music.

You can listen to a Youtube stream of the album for free by clicking on this link!

Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015)

Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015)

Rating: 13

"Watch you spin like that..."

Best Song: Majorette? Or One Thing?

Worst Song: I have no idea...

Track Listing:

1. Majorette

2. She's So Lovely

3. All Your Yeahs

4. One Thing

5. Common Girl

6. The Traveller

7. Elegy To The Void

8. Rough Song

9. Somewhere Tonight

Well I certainly haven't written here in a while, and what better band to bring me back than Beach House! I'll probably write my reviews of their discography, but in backwards order, because I'm still getting into their early discography. Anyway, the album, right. Thank Your Lucky Stars has an interesting place in the overall history of Beach House, because 2 weeks ago, no one but the people close to Beach House had any idea that there was going to be another album by them coming out for several years. Then, 9 days before the album released on October 16th, they announced this album. It wasn't outtakes from the stellar Depression Cherry, even though it released only two months prior to this, and it wasn't a b-side collection, it was an honest-to-god new album.

And we'd all better thank our lucky stars, because this album is fantastic. Opening with the pretty but also restrained Majorette, the band echoes with the threads of Depression Cherry, like a name check before a vast change, because after Majorette, the album changes styles drastically. From She's so Lovely onwards, the album is a lyrical dream unlike anything that Beach House has really done before. Stories of girls and innocence lost, almost reflecting upon the album cover. The band is as dreamy as always, of course, but there is an emotional depth to this album that differs from the mood of other recent Beach House records. Where those had a hint of melancholy that bridged over to happiness, TYLS doesn't ever bridge that gap, save Majorette. Victoria Legrand sounds almost cynical and sarcastic on a few songs, and while her voice is as pretty and croony as always, there's something different about her on this album.

Let me stress this fact about the previous paragraph; These changes are good! As much as I loved Depression Cherry, Bloom and Teen Dream, another album in the vein of these released just 2 months after the last major LP would have made an otherwise great album have seemed worse because of context. The other albums are released with just enough space in between them to make you remember the past while loving the present album, but make the overall old songs seem like distant but happy memories. The songs of Depression Cherry are still fresh on our minds, however, and a departure like what we got on this LP was the perfect way to release essentially a double album in the span of 2 months successfully. I'm with the band on this, as a double album called Thank Your Lucky Depression Cherries would have been tiring and an overall tedious listen. But taking these albums as separate works of Beach House art make them both work on their own.

To sum it all up, this is another fantastic album by a fantastic band, and the departure from what they've been doing is a welcome change. This album will be taking up the spot for a record in my LP player for the next few months until something else comes my way. Pick this album up in whatever format you want, cuz its worth a listen or 100! I'll be back at some point with my review of Depression Cherry in the next month or so! See ya.

You can listen to this album for free on YouTube by clicking on this link!

Kid A by Radiohead

Kid A by Radiohead (2000)

Rating: 15

Best Song: Idioteque

Worst Song: In Limbo

     Here it is, one of the greatest albums of all time. It's among my 15 favorite albums, and in my opinion is the best album of the 2000s. Now, I really don't have much to say about Kid A that hasn't already been said, so I'll just make this quick. First of all, this is the album where Radiohead began to go experimental. At first, some people were confused, but as time went on, it seems that this album has been accepted as one of the all time greats. However, it's not as acclaimed as OK Computer (Though I'm not a huge fan of the album, although it's pretty good).

     This album is best listened to in it's entirety, where you get to experience the perfect pacing of the album. The only song I don't love is "Morning Bell", which seems to drag a bit for me, but the rest of the album is absolutely perfect. Yes, even the ambient song "Treefingers" because of the amazing atmosphere and imagery it creates.

     The best song on it is definitely "Idioteque." This song's got it all, great lyrics, great hooks, great bass, etc. It's just a really awesome song. It's fun to dance to as well. Another great song is "How To Disappear Completely," which is an absolutely beautiful song about handling hard times and depression. "The National Anthem," another highlight, is a song I didn't like at first, but as my appreciation for jazz music grows, the more I end up liking this song. Oh and the opening is amazing as well.

     All in all, this is one of the greatest albums of all time. Pick it up today; You need it.