19. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism (2003)

"So this is the new year / and I don't feel any different." So goes the first line of Transatlanticism, in what seems like a statement of jaded ennui. But the narrator goes on to reveal that though the new year is so celebrated as a time for fresh starts, it means nothing to him because he's still separated from someone he loves: "I wish the world was flat like the old days / So I could travel just by folding the map / No more airplanes or speed-trains or freeways / There'd be no distance that could hold us back."

This whole album is really about travel and distances, both literal and figurative. There are two songs (Title And Registration and Passenger Seat) using cars as scenes for romantic despair and contentment, respectively. The title track, fittingly, is the center of the theme. A piano-driven, slow-burning epic, the song uses an extended geological metaphor to build to the final lines. After describing the ocean that has formed between them, songwriter Ben Gibbard tells the object of his affection that "the distance is quite simply much too far for me to row / I need you so much closer."

I've written before that lyrics don't really matter in pop music. You don't need to be able to understand them to enjoy the song, they just have to sound good and be easy to sing along with. I stand by that, but I won't deny that really good lyrics are so much icing on the cake, ice cream on the pie, marshmallows in the hot chocolate, etc.

Gibbard, DCFC's main songwriter, is a gifted confectioner. Every song contains at least one line that stands out in a good way. Take this one from Lightness for example: "Your heart is a river that flows from your chest through every organ/ And your brain is the dam and I am the fish who can't reach the core." It sounds odd, but the melody and music really sell it to the point that I feel like I know exactly what he's trying to say.

The Postal Service, Gibbard's side project, recieved space on several end-of-the-year-lists, and I think that's a great record. But I like this one even more. The lyrics on both albums are equally top-notch, but where The Postal Service backs Gibbard's wonderful melodies with electronic blips and beats, DCFC's sound is much more organic. Traditional guitar, piano, drums, and bass are all important, as are subtle background harmonies. This is definitely indie-rock, but there's a balance of delicate and powerful, loud and soft that keep the album fresh.

Rating: A
Fave Song: Death Of An Interior Designer

REO Speedwagon: R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971)

REO Speedwagon got its start in the late 1960s on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. The band grew out of a friendship between a students Neal Doughty (piano/keyboard) and Alan Gratzer (drums). Joining up with a couple of other musicians, they took the name R.E.O. Speedwagon. It wasn't long before they started getting gigs at parties and bars, doing covers of the hits of the day. The band cycled through several players in its first three years, with Gratzer and Doughty as the only constants. One-by-one they added the members that would form the first "official" lineup: singer Terry Luttrell in early 1968, bassist Gregg Philbin later that summer, and guitarist Gary Richrath at the end of 1970. Richrath was a native of Peoria, 90 miles northwest of Champaign, and had essentially stalked the band until they let him join. It was a good move, as he not only an accomplished guitarist, but also a songwriter. With Richrath the band ascended to the n...

Stuck, or Obsession Cessastion

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I had the summer off from teaching, and I spent it with my 7 month-old son. I gave myself permission to make this blog less of a priority. Well, "less of a priority" is putting it lightly. Initially, I considered an abrupt retirement. But then I reconsidered. Maybe the proximity to Brett Favre is causing this. If you're a long time reader, this is probably not all that surprising to you. Since 2007, it has become an annual ritual for me to soul-search about my waning interest in music. First I blamed an inability to express myself and a lack of quality music . Then in 2008 I cited new technology and the death of the album . Last year I wrote about how my changing life priorities hindered my ability to seek out new music. I've done a lot of thinking about it this summer and in truth I believe this was all just dancing around the issue, a slow realization of something I didn't want to admit to myse...

Billy Joel: Greatest Hits, Volumes I and II (1985)

As you may know, I'm something of a connoisseur of compilations. I have three guidelines that I like my greatest hits to follow, though I am open to these rules being disregarded in certain cases. It's not an exact science. Billy Joel's 1985 Greatest Hits Volumes I and II (an odd title for a set that was never sold separately) is proof of that. It mostly follows the rules. The songs are in chronological order. There are no remixes, just a couple of single edits; there are two live songs, but those were actually were the versions that charted. And there are two new songs - we'll get to them eventually - but both ended up in the Top 40, so in retrospect that was a good decision. My mom bought the double LP when it came out and then dubbed it to a tape that lived in her car for at least three years. It and An Innocent Man were part of the soundtrack of the second half of my first decade of life. So I have a hard time criticizing something so ingrained in my consciousne...

3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

Search This Blog