This was written for the arts section of the April 20, 2009 edition of the Brooklyn College Kingsman newspaper.
The highly-anticipated sophomore record from Bat For Lashes, Two Suns, is an acquired taste. At first listen, it may seem a bit quirky - not exactly what you would hear on today’s Top 40 radio, but after a few listens, it definitely grows on you. Natasha Khan’s gorgeous vocals and lyrical imagery keep you hooked on every track and wanting more. This album could be the soundtrack to a Francesca Lia Block novel. It sounds kind of like a passage from Weeztie Bat while listening, and it just fits, words and music; the same imagery is conjured up. Two Suns is a beautiful record from start to finish if you give it a chance.
The album’s opener, “Glass,” builds up from a cappella vocals and ambient sounds to a pulsating, tribal drumbeat; sings of “a thousand crystal towers,” “a hundred emerald cities,” and her “knight in crystal armor.” The drums will stick in your head for days. Khan’s falsetto throughout the chorus adds to the dreaminess of the track, definitely one of the highlights of this record.
“Daniel,” the album’s first single, and “Pearl’s Dream” use synthesizers and drum machines to create a 1980’s New Wave throwback. This is the closest thing to mainstream pop as it gets on this record. “Peace Of Mind” has a group of gospel singers assisting Khan in the lyrical mantra. “Two Planets” also has catchy percussion and handclaps that will get you moving. “Moon and Moon” is a minimalistic track, unlike the rest of the album, with just piano and vocals and the occasional snapping, but doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
Another highlight on this record is “Siren Song.” This piano-driven ballad showcases Khan’s beautiful voice singing about being in love and happy with someone until they take her away (“Promise I’ll never get sad/’Till the siren comes calling, calling”). This song also introduces Khan’s album alter ego, Pearl, which is present throughout the whole album (“My name is Pearl and I’ll love you/The best way I know how/My blonde curls slice through your heart”). From this track on forward, you can start to see these songs weaving together to create this concept. “Pearl’s Dream” mentions “a sign that says ‘Good Love Town’” and the subsequent track is named “Good Love” (“Passed it last night in a dream/Good Love/And my heart caught fire”).
“The Big Sleep,” the final track, has vocal arrangements that could make this get away with closing an opera. This is a very poignant ending to the record. The first line in “Glass” is “I will rise now” and the final line of “The Big Sleep” is “Goodbye my dears and into the big sleep I go.” The journey has ended, the album is done and you feel as if you just woke up from a dream that you didn’t want to get up from. One can’t help but think that this was Khan’s intention while writing and recording the album: to take us on a journey with her words and the music. Mission accomplished.
© Allyson Yates, 2009
The writings of an opinionated New Yorker in her mid-20's. Music, makeup, life in general.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
My Top 5 Albums of 2013
Is it too late to make a list of my top albums of 2013? Well I don't care because I'm gonna do it anyway! I listened to a LOT of music last year. Usually I go for just singles, but I listened to a lot of albums. A lot of good albums. Most of which were 2013 albums, not older albums that I hadn't had the chance to listen to. So that's why this list will consist of albums that were released in 2013; that I first listened to in 2013. So even though Arcade Fire's Reflektor was released last year, it won't be on this list because I just listened to it a couple of weeks ago (Oops!). Alright, here we go:
Monday, January 20, 2014
The TMI Tag!
I got inspired by a video from two of my favorite YouTubers, Esteé (Essiebutton) and Sammi (Beautycrush), to do this TMI tag; the YouTube questions will be altered accordingly...aaaand here we go!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Mail Call!: Boxycharm Subscription Box - January 2014
So I restarted my Boxycharm subscription and got a great box today! Usually in these kind of subscription boxes, I would get products that I wouldn't get any use out of - due to shades that would not look good with my skin tone, among other reasons - and I would have to give them away to friends that would be able to get use out of them. But this time, I have to say, I got a pretty damn good variety of products! I have been getting into some neutrals/nudes lately, for face and nails, and this box nailed it! I would also like to apologize for the crappy picture quality of this, and any other blog post with pictures. I only have an iPod Touch at the moment, but that will soon be replaced, so for now, please bare with me until I get my new camera! Okay, now onto focusing on each product (the descriptions are from the card that came with the box):
Friday, January 10, 2014
From The Archives: "Depeche Mode Keeps The Universe Talking"
This was written for the arts section of the April 27, 2009 edition of the Brooklyn College Kingsman newspaper.
After a four year hiatus, Depeche Mode make their return to the music scene this year with their 12th studio album, Sounds Of The Universe. The Mode Men are one of the few bands left out of the 80’s post-punk/New Romantic movement that still makes (relevant) music in the new millennium. In a Mute/EMI Records press release it was declared that this record was “a Violator for the 21st century.” A little too much hype, perhaps, but a great record nonetheless. It could be put on the list of their best work to date.
The first track on a Depeche Mode album makes a strong statement - that they have returned to embark on the next era of their almost 30 year career (i.e.: the siren intro on "A Pain That I'm Used To" from 2005's Playing The Angel) and “In Chains” is no exception to that tradition; starting off with a bombardment of analog synthesizers that could easily be a turn-off. But lead singer Dave Gahan’s rich baritone vocal will bring you right back.
The album’s first single, “Wrong,” is an anthem for the outsiders. With its lyrical chant of life gone wrong (“I was born with the wrong sign/In the wrong house/With the wrong ascendancy…There’s something wrong with me chemically/Something wrong with me inherently…”), primary songwriter/guitarist Martin Gore has succeeded yet again with writing lyrics that would make one reach for the black goth clothes from the closet; put on the heavy black eyeliner and sing right along, and have no remorse while doing so. Not since “Barrel Of A Gun” from 1997’s Ultra have they released a dark single to announce they’re back.
This album marks the second time that Gahan has contributed songs to a Depeche Mode record (the first time being Playing The Angel in 2005). The three songs that he contributed this time around -“Hole To Feed,” “Come Back,” and “Miles Away/The Truth Is” - show that his writing is getting stronger as time goes on. There is a significant evolution from his debut solo album, 2003’s Paper Monsters.
“In Sympathy,” “Fragile Tension” and “Little Soul” are the most classic Depeche Mode-sounding tracks on the album, with their heavy use of analog synths and familiar melodies to any fan’s ears; best fit for the dance floor or for sitting around in those black clothes and matching eyeliner. You can easily fit these tracks within past records, such as Violator and Music For The Masses.
“Corrupt” closes the record with raunchy lyrics and crunching guitars, proving once again that Gahan’s voice and Gore’s words are a match made in musical heaven. After the song ends, there are about three minutes of dead-air, until a music-box version of the melody of “Wrong” is reprised to officially close the album; leaving the album on a high, open-ended note.
Depeche Mode fans always speculate over if they will ever release another record, since they only have a new album roughly every four years. With this kind of close to Sounds Of The Universe, it’ll keep the fans talking and wanting more for after their massive world tour is completed.
© Allyson Yates, 2009
After a four year hiatus, Depeche Mode make their return to the music scene this year with their 12th studio album, Sounds Of The Universe. The Mode Men are one of the few bands left out of the 80’s post-punk/New Romantic movement that still makes (relevant) music in the new millennium. In a Mute/EMI Records press release it was declared that this record was “a Violator for the 21st century.” A little too much hype, perhaps, but a great record nonetheless. It could be put on the list of their best work to date.
The first track on a Depeche Mode album makes a strong statement - that they have returned to embark on the next era of their almost 30 year career (i.e.: the siren intro on "A Pain That I'm Used To" from 2005's Playing The Angel) and “In Chains” is no exception to that tradition; starting off with a bombardment of analog synthesizers that could easily be a turn-off. But lead singer Dave Gahan’s rich baritone vocal will bring you right back.
The album’s first single, “Wrong,” is an anthem for the outsiders. With its lyrical chant of life gone wrong (“I was born with the wrong sign/In the wrong house/With the wrong ascendancy…There’s something wrong with me chemically/Something wrong with me inherently…”), primary songwriter/guitarist Martin Gore has succeeded yet again with writing lyrics that would make one reach for the black goth clothes from the closet; put on the heavy black eyeliner and sing right along, and have no remorse while doing so. Not since “Barrel Of A Gun” from 1997’s Ultra have they released a dark single to announce they’re back.
This album marks the second time that Gahan has contributed songs to a Depeche Mode record (the first time being Playing The Angel in 2005). The three songs that he contributed this time around -“Hole To Feed,” “Come Back,” and “Miles Away/The Truth Is” - show that his writing is getting stronger as time goes on. There is a significant evolution from his debut solo album, 2003’s Paper Monsters.
“In Sympathy,” “Fragile Tension” and “Little Soul” are the most classic Depeche Mode-sounding tracks on the album, with their heavy use of analog synths and familiar melodies to any fan’s ears; best fit for the dance floor or for sitting around in those black clothes and matching eyeliner. You can easily fit these tracks within past records, such as Violator and Music For The Masses.
“Corrupt” closes the record with raunchy lyrics and crunching guitars, proving once again that Gahan’s voice and Gore’s words are a match made in musical heaven. After the song ends, there are about three minutes of dead-air, until a music-box version of the melody of “Wrong” is reprised to officially close the album; leaving the album on a high, open-ended note.
Depeche Mode fans always speculate over if they will ever release another record, since they only have a new album roughly every four years. With this kind of close to Sounds Of The Universe, it’ll keep the fans talking and wanting more for after their massive world tour is completed.
© Allyson Yates, 2009
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
From The Archives: "Ex-Files: A Valentine's Day Show" Monologue
Sometimes there's something that I wrote in the past that I enjoyed so much that I would want to share it online. This is from two years ago, when I had the opportunity to write a monologue for an off-off-Broadway show. I took something from my own life and was able to make it into something positive. I was unfortunately unable to see it performed live.
Here I am, once again, spending yet another Valentine’s Day alone. Just me, a bottle of Jack, some Thai takeout and a Martin and Lewis movie. It’s a hell of a lot more fun than what I did last year. I had been going out with this guy Marc for a year and a half. It was one of those situations where we were really good friends and then...BAM! We fell in love. We were even talking marriage and honeymooning in Hawaii and adopting children and being together forever and ever. We had been planning our Valentine’s Day rendezvous: a home cooked meal at Marc’s place, complete with champagne, chicken parmigiana, tiramisu and a lot of alone time. Then while I was at work just days before, I got the phone call. Just like that, it was over. The atomic bomb had blown up right in my face. I cried so hard I started to shake. My friends tried to calm me down, but it was no use. I had crashed and was about to burn. For a few weeks, I was a zombie. I couldn’t help it, I mean, he was my everything, we did everything together and I couldn’t imagine life without him. During that time I had found out from his sister that he had cheated on me one night at a party they went to, where he made out and groped this other girl, who became his new girlfriend just in time for Valentine’s Day. All of my friends kept trying to get me to go out to meet new people and just get myself out of the routine that I conveniently put myself into: work, cry, sleep, repeat. One night, my friend Adrianna came over with a Starbucks frappuccino and this little black box for me. I opened it up, and there was a tube of red lipstick in there called "Bombshell." I gave her a look that said: you have to be fucking kidding me. "Just put it on." So I did. I went to the bathroom and dabbed a bit of it on my lips. Well, I don’t know if it was the lipstick or not, but in that moment, I felt confident and alive, two things I certainly didn’t feel for a while. I thought that she was pulling some voodoo shit on the lipstick before she packed it. Adrianna peaked in and said "Well, how do you feel?" "I feel like I’m on top of the whole goddamn world!" Then I got to thinking: the last time I felt like that was when I was with Marc. That’s when it hit me. I was depending on someone else to be happy. That is NOT a way to live. So right then and there I decided, fuck it! I’m going to live my life and not wait for the next man to come along to make me feel complete. That week I was back out with my friends, feeling much better about myself and ready for anything! And that brings me back to what I’m doing now. I’m not with anybody and I’m happy just staying at home with my quirky tastes in food and movies. No chocolate overdosing. No self-pity. No tears. It’s amazing what a shade of red on your lips can do!
© Allyson Yates, 2012
© Allyson Yates, 2012
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