The Funnel

Since Ben's gone for a while, and I'm going to be blogging from now on, this place is going on a hiatus. "But Ben," you say, "you haven't posted in almost exactly a year." And yeah, I know, but I'm going to be combining my 2 blogs into one, so that you won't have to come here anymore, not that you were. In fact, I don't think anyone will read this. SO! Since Ben's gone for a while, this place is outta the picture, hopefully he'll be interested in started it back up when he's back.

-Ben Nelson

So this idea's been brewing in my head for a while. These are the top...15 parts of my music collection that I find the most breathtaking, intriguing or just plain beautiful. I'll count down, but I really didn't keep track until the end, the higher numbers were too hard to sort out. Since this is technically meant to be a mixtape it goes by the main mixtape rule: Only one song from each artist. There would normally be an abundance of Sufjan, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and Jaga Jazzist but not this time. I figure you guys would be happier that way. Here we go, I'll give you the DL first so you can hear the parts as you read through this.

http://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=08SX81IGBQW500TU4BBFE64M4G

15. Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse by Minus the Bear
The guitar and bass are what we're looking at in this song. The way the 2 guitars complement each other so well and the bass just lays the foundation. Throughout the song the guys weave their sounds in and out of each other. The vocal melody complements it so well it's astonishing, the tone and inflection used in his voice is perfect. The downside? The guy's lyrics suck. He couldn't write a good lyric to save his life, everything comes off cheesy and ridiculous. The music is what we're looking at in this song, Minus the Bear is unmatched in the world of Math-rock. They know how to make complicated rhythms sound normal and they know how to combine them to make them beautiful.

14. She Spider by Mew
It's bands like Mew, Kashmir and Kent that make me proud to be mostly Danish. Mew makes beautiful music effortlessly. This song's turn on a dime transition is breathtaking. I remember the first time I heard it. I wasn't paying any attention to the song at all, it was background noise on my computer and then it happened. It slapped me in the face and demanded my attention. I still get goosebumps.

13. Passenger Seat by Death Cab for Cutie
Taking a hint from Brian Eno's Ambient 1 (Music For Airports) the piano part is simple and unobtrusive, it's there but out of the way. The big thing here is Ben Gibbard's voice. It's perfect. It works with the innocent lyrics flawlessly. The best moment? When Gibbard sings "If you feel embarrased, then I'll be your pride. When you need directions, then I'll be the guide" It's on "be" that he kills me. He rips my heart out. And that's never felt more satisfying.

12. The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice
This was always my one exception to my "Only full albums, no single songs" rule in my music collection. After hearing this song in the Closer trailer, I searched for hours to find it. I would listen to this on repeat, just over and over again. I was repeatedly astonished by its simple beauty. Why was it the one exception to the rule? I couldn't bring myself to by the album and be let down. I didn't want to have to hear what the guy REALLY sounded like apart from the beauty of this song. I eventaully bought it, and while it certainly didn't live up to this song, it is still a very solid album from a great songwriter.

11. Lateralus by Tool
Tool Tool Tool. When will I ever get over you? I've been listening to you longer than any other band, and yet you've long since fell from the top band slot. Tool is amazing, Tool is the best thing in Prog rock right now and yes Danny Carey is the best rock drummer right now. This song is a testament to their complexity and mastery of timesignaturization. Yes, Danny Carey plays more than one time signature at a time. Yes, it hurts my brain to think about it. Yes, the band IS playing a different time signature than the two Danny is playing. This song blows your mind live. Nuff said.

10. Who Is It (Carry My Joy On the Left, Carry My Pain On the Right) by Björk
All the sounds you hear on this song are voices. Only voices, no that's not a drum machine, no those aren't keyboards. They're all sounds from a human mouth. The entire album of Medulla is done completely in voices. Björk is a genius. And no, that's not a bass line, or a synthesizer, that's a guy growling.

9. The Outer Banks by The Album Leaf
This album was recorded in Sigur Ros' Swimming Pool recorded studio, can you tell? The best thing about this song is when the beat drops and out and you're left with keyboards. Then all at once everything crashes on you in full swing with an added bassline. This song is the perfect example of ambient electronica post-rock. Yes, that's a genre, genres sure are silly aren't they?

8. Fix You by Coldplay
Yeah, the album sucked, but this song is still one of the best of the year. Without the four part harmony this song would lose 100% of its effect. The climax of this song is what makes it, the build up is mediocre. But sheesh, that climax rips you apart. You don't really need me to go on, you've all heard it. Why couldn't the album have been half as good as this song?

7. Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles
A perfect song. Period. The strings, the vocals, the lyrics. They all combine to make the perfect song. Too bad it's just over 2 minutes...

6. John Wayne Gacy Jr. by Sufjan Stevens
There are two parts of this song that just get to me. The first one being Sufjan's prolonged falsetto cry of "Oh My God." Has falsetto ever been used more effectively? I think not. The second is the final line "And in my best behavior I am really just like him. Look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hid." Jeesh, what a spine-tingling beautiful turn of events. Start with a song about a serial killer, then note that we've all fallen short and we're all just like him.

5. Δ by dredg
The song starts off normally enough. A decent intro into some soft soothing guitars with simple drums. But then it drops out and we're left with chimes...where'd the song go? It's when some guy in the background yells "HEY!" that we find out. The song explodes back into our ears and we're treated to Gavin Hayes' muted voice in 2 forms. His normal singing voice in our left ear and a haunting whisper of the same lyrics in the other ear. Astonishingly beautiful, instantly breath-taking and unrelentlessly disturbing.

4. Pyramid Song by Radiohead
A 4/4 song subdivided into 16th notes and counted as 123 456 7812 345 678. A perfect piano part with Thom's voice softly singing and humming. PERFECT drums, just perfect, intro, everything. The first time I played this song while driving in the car, I had to stop. And I had to sit there, and listen to it the entire way through. It was occupying my mind so much that I thought I would crash. This song is the pinnacle of Radiohead's beauty, but don't think there aren't others...don't underestimate the best band we have today.

3. Oh Comely by Neutral Milk Hotel
Jeff Mangum is/was a genius. Plain and simple. He wrote abstract lyrics that inticed moods and feelings unrelated to the subject. He bent words to fill his meaning and does it effortlessly and stunningly.

your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies
while you and your mother were asleep in the
trailer park
thunderous sparks from the dark of
the stadiums the music and medicine you
needed for comforting
so make all your fat fleshy
fingers to moving and pluck all your silly strings
and bend all your notes for me
soft silly music is
meaningful magical the movements were
beautiful all in your ovaries
all of them milking
with green fleshy flowers while powerful pistons
were sugary sweet machines
smelling of semen
all under the garden was all you were needing
when you still believed in me
say what you want to say and hang for your
hollow ways moving your mouth to pull out all
your miracle for me

Yes. He's amazing, even if you don't agree.

2. Swedenborgske Rom by Jaga Jazzist
This instrumentalist's entire catalog should be up here. But this one moment takes the cake. When the first part f the choir comes in soft and slightly muted, at first you wonder where he's going with this...then the rest of the choir comes in, creating one of the most beautiful textures I've ever heard. The first few times I listened to it, and even now if I'm in the right mood, I cried. It was that beautiful. Where's Doug? He can make fun of me now.

1. Untitled 8 (Popplagi / The Pop Song) by Sigur Rós
I bet you were wondering where these guys were. Well here it is, the most beautiful moment in my collection of music. The climax to this wonderful song remains to be the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. This is the hallmark of Sigur Rós' music. This is their best song, but there are about 40 other songs that could go here. And I'm still waiting for the newly recorded version of Hafssól. But for now, at least, this is it.

-Ben

Don't be dumb. Just DL it. I shouldn't have to tell you to. I shouldn't even have a link to this, you should all already have it. It's the friggin' Beatles. If you need me to tell you why this album is good, then come talk to me sometime in person, in the words of Dane Cook, "I'll stab you in the jaw. There aren't too many of us out there, just look for the guy stabbing jaws. That's me. Come up and say hello and I'll stab you in the jaw."

I will defend my choice over another album though. The common argument is whether this album is better than Sgt. Peppers. When this comes up, I remind you that this is my favorite list. Not always what everyone considers the best. I admit that Sgt Peppers is the better album, it's just a solid almost perfect album. But I like Revolver better. Probably 7 times outta 10 I'll play Revolver over Sgt Peppers. Sgt Peppers has a place in my heart since it was my first Beatles album, but Revolver can be played in any mood. It can be played on random, unlike Sgt Peppers which demands to be played in order. Revolver is just my favorite f the two.

Once again, if you need to know why it's a good album, come up and say hello sometime.

http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1X2UPDCHE3K5F3OUZA7KP2GYNX

-Ben

Here it is! Your introduction into shoegazing. What better way to start than with one of the best albums...ever? This is one of 2 albums on my list that is going to stretch you. It's going to take WORK to understand this record and to *gasp* like it. That's right, this album won't be a nice instantly accessible record for you to spin casually. No, this album demands your attention in full, and nothing less.

Here's what WIkipedia has to say about Shoegazing:

"Shoegazing is characterised by the use of distortion and the fuzzbox, droning riffs and a Phil Spector-esque wall of sound from the noisy guitars. Vocals are typically subdued in volume and tone, but underneath the layers of guitars was often a strong sense of melody."

There are layers and layers of this album to peel away, and the first ones will be the hardest. Most of you (who am I kidding? all of you) will probably give up on this album. My challenge to you is to work at peeling back the layers. It's worth it, trust me.

This album is just has that 'thing', that indescribable 'thing' where, even if you don't like the music, you can just hear that what is going on is beyond you. I think all of my Top 5 albums have this. It's a weird thing to notice at first, but it's there. You just get this feeling that even if you hate it, you have to respect it, because of what it does.

The first thing you will notice about this album is how low the vocals are mixed. It's supposed to be that way, and the record is better because of it. Kevin Shields mixed the vocals just like any other instrument, the melodies are there, just like wikipedia says. But they're only there for someone willing to hear them. Beneath the droning guitars and pitch-bending synthesizers lies a BEAST of an album.

When I first heard the album, I heard nothing special, until about the 3rd listen. It hit, the first layer had been peeled away. I think the ticket was a song getting stuck in my head, from that point on the rest of the album started to unfold. It just takes work, work that a lot of people don't want to do.

This isn't so much a review, as it is a challenge. It's a challenge to give it a chance, just play it in the background while you work on other stuff. Put on headphones and listen to it as you fall asleep. TRY THE RECORD OUT. I guarantee, it will be worth it in the end. The record has a beatiful way of revealing itself. The $500,000 was well worth it, and your time will be too.

Give it a chance:

http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CBFNOR1LGHPF3DZH9S7MZV4IV

It's worth it.

-Ben

So...where do you begin with this monster of an album. How about I explain the story behind the album.

Broken Social Scene is a collective of musicians from Canada. With an average of 9 members, but sometimes going as high as 15, there pretty much isn't a band in Canada that doesn't have some ties to BSS. Here's a list of bands:

Metric
Stars
KC Accidental
Apostle of Hustle
Feist
Do Make Say Think
The Dears
Placebo

And that's just the most popular ones (yeah yeah, don't worry, you probably haven't heard of any of them). For their first album, these guys get together and make a traditional electronic post-rock album. It's a great album...but really only a few stand out tracks...nothing to write home to mom about. BUT! then, having decided they were art-ed out, they change directions. They say "Hey, let's try a pop album." And in doing so, they create one of the most original and sprawling pop albums ever. A modern classic.

To call this a pop album is almost hindering it. This covers every different type of pop you can imagine. It's straight forward, yet complex. In fact...the only thing "pop" about it are the song lengths, each clocking in around 4 minutes. I think the most striking thing about this album, is how consisten it is. Even with their style ranging from Island themes to soft folk to fast pushing rock their quality is consistent. You can still tell it's the same musicians, they've mastered their personal styles to the point that they're always recognizable.

My favorite thing about this album is the drums. Hands down. It's consistently original without being complicated. He twists simple rhythms into new and interesting sounds. For each song the drummer adjusts his style to fit the mood and genre. The drum parts are perfect complements to the swooping, swirling guitars and the strong but subtle bass.

The singing is traded between...5? people. Yeah, I think it's 5, 2 males and 3 females. Don't ask me to name them. But they each have their own style and it seems each song is tailored to fit the current vocalist. The best example of this is on Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl. In this "anthem" Emily Haines' looped-sounding vocals mix and match perfectly with the music. Her voice fades to be another instrument in the ever repeating melodies. This is a song to be experienced rather than passively listened to.

The one word to describe this album is definitely "Striking." I ended up using that 5 times originally in this post and had to go back to change it. It's the perfect description for every aspect in the album. One thing I often use to differentiate between "good" albums and "great" albums is this: When I listen to a good album, I'll think to myself "man, I wish the band would have done this with the song" and then not a few seconds later that exact thing will happen. But when I listen to great albums and I have that same thought, the band pulls something completely out of no where, destroying that thought in my mind and making me ask how I could have been so stupid as to have thought it would fit. They whip something out that works 10x better than anything I could have thought of. That is definitely what BSS does...several times in each track.

This album will be a grower for a lot of you. When I first listened to it, I liked the first few tracks and one of the last tracks. That's it. The others just bore me. But I think on the 3rd listen, it hit me. The only thing that could be considered a weakness on this album is its eclecticism. And once you realize the scope of the album, it fails to be a weakness. The true strength of this album lies in its eclectism and how the band suceeds in sounding focused and control while utilizing such a broad range of influences.

I'm cutting this off here, because as usual, my thoughts are scattered. I could probably go on for a lot longer, but I figure you guys don't like to read this anyway.

Here it is:

http://s63.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0XIJIP2B9ATMT3CVD6GDGM95T6

(grab the album quick...it took me a few days to write this post.

-Ben

Here we go! For probably my Sophomore year of high school, this was my favorite album ever. It came out in October and a friend burned the first 14 tracks for me. I listened to it to Chicago, on repeat, 10 hours, no pauses. I was in love from the moment it started. But what I didn't know then, was the depths dredg went to to creat this album, this is where we'll start.

This album is a concept album about 2 things, we'll address each of them in turn. First of all, there is Sleep Paralysis. This is a phenomenon that happens to some people, and probably a lot of people at some time or another but goes unnoticed. I've experience it in a bad case about 5 times. Upon awakening in my bed, I found myself unable to move my body, you just sit there. But the worst part is the chest pressure and the dreams. In this kind of faux awake state you have hallucinations or dreams, many people see many different things, mine were usually nightmares, some people have recurring old men, some people have weird creatures. And on top of this you experience what people refer to as "Chest Pressure," which basically feels like someone is pushing down on your chest with all their might. It's at these moments when I've felt the most scared/vulnerable in my entire life. There is no cause for why this happens at all, at least that I can figure out. The last time it happened for me was at the last ski trip, which for me sleep wise, was one of the worst few nights of my life. So anyway, this album references sleep paralysis in many many ways. Whether it be occurences during different events of sleep paralysis, or references to the feeling of chest pressure, the album is laced with little hints and clues. But even more than that...

It references the Salvaor Dali painting, take a big breath: Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening. If you take the initials for this painting, you get the random letters found in the first track of the album. Along with this you will year paint strokes and scrapes in the first track. The last track "The Canyon Behind Her" refers to tha painting which depicts a woman...with a canyon...and guess what! it's BEHIND HER! WHOA! Okay...anyway, I don't really wanna go into it more.

The drummer is very consistently original. It's not that he strays to far into the experimental drumming, he just sits on the edge, ready to leap off into experiment, but instead stays behind. It's fasinating to hear his consistency at work. The vocals have to be a tough part of the album. For a lot of people, it's the one thing they can't get past, for others it's a resting point. The vocals kind of rest on the album, if you get my meaning. The bassist/guitarist/drummer are creating this amazing music, and Gavin's voice just sort of sits on them. Not ranging too much in his tone, just kind of accenting them.

One of my favorite moments on this album, and definitely one to look for is on track 5. As the song transitions into the first verse, you hear 2 voices, one singing in an ear, the other whispering the same lyrics. It's a moment that continues to give me shivers to this day.

Although my favorite track is number 5, the strongest track has to be where the drummer, Dino, is at his best. The band plays over Dino's drumming and an amazing free jazz backing band. It's just, yeah, one of those songs that gets you. You have this band, that feels like a straight ordered line, and then you have these jazz instruments weaving their way in and out of what the guitarist and bassist are doing. It's an expertly crafted song and one of the many high points on this album.

This is definitely an album for headphones and dark rooms. I say this 100% honestly: You have not heard this album until you sit in the dark and listen to it straight through with headphones. It's an experience that is as breathtaking as it is intriguing. Only when your mind is no longer focusing on what it sees, will you truly experience this album. I can say truthfully, that I would go without my other senses for a week if it meant I could ONLY listen to this album.

Here it is, in all it's glory:

http://s64.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0VC72LX1TNWIB1OUYNABKGQRI5

-Ben Nelson

This is Ben and Ben's Music blog. We'll post albums here for your downloading pleasure. Obviously, Ben and I won't always agree on things. He might not like all the albums I post, and I might not like all the albums he posted. Each opinion is that of the poster and only the poster. I'm at the beginning of posting my top 10 favorite albums. I will continue that in the next few days with Number 7. Ben will post whatever albums he feels like posting whenever he feels like it. This is your place to discover new music and to discuss it. If we find important news that is music related, we'll post it and our comments as well.

Check back often for new music.

-Ben Nelson