CLASH THE TRUTH BY BEACH FOSSILS

Clash The Truth By Beach Fossils

While Beach Fossils' eponymous 2010 debut taught us what an Indie version of Surf Rock would sound like if it was played through a tin can—the results were very successful, by the way—2013's Clash The Truth substitutes the surf rock for late 80's post punk textures similar to those by pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, This Mortal Coil and Jesus & Mary Chain.  The result is a stunning, melancholy, introspective record which could easily serve as the soundtrack for teenage stoners, a kid spending yet another day alone in his attic and girls folding jeans at Urban Outfitters.  That's a wide spectrum, but Clash The Truth has such an addicting sound, the perfect combination of mopey and exuberant, that it will likely move a lot of people—though probably not to the cash registers.

Clocking in at, in my opinion, the perfect album length (just over 35 minutes,) there are not any great songs on Clash The Truth.  That's not a digression, actually—there were not any great songs on their debut, either.  But, Beach Fossils succeed on a variety of good songs like "Careless," "Shallow" and "In Vertigo;" okay songs with lots of muscle and texture like "Generational Synthetic" and the title track; beautiful, acoustic songs like the charming, purposefully out-of-tune "Sleep Apnea" and the few somewhat haunting instrumental passages like "Modern Holiday," "Brighter" and "Ascension."

Do all these sonic changes and 14 new songs make Clash The Truth an improvement on Beach Fossils' debut? No, actually.  Rather, the album shows a new, different side to a band that sounded perfectly fine and comfortable doing what they were doing.  A better question is, do I prefer Clash The Truth to 2010's Beach Fossils.

Yes. 

Clash The Truth By Beach Fossils

And, why not?

Beach Fossils

PERFECT ANGEL BY MINNIE RIPERTON (A PERFECT ALBUM)

Perfect Angel By Minnie Riperton

It's funny when you listen to "It's So Nice (To See Old Friends") the second track off of Minnie Riperton's second album,  Perfect Angel, released in 1974.  The song opens with flange-drenched harmonics performed on an electric guitar.  But, after listening to Minnie Riperton's magnificent high register on the opener "Reasons," you're not sure whether those are guitar harmonics or the singer doing more incredible things with her voice.  Riperton has an absolutely unheard of five octave range and she tastefully showcases all of it on  Perfect Angel, which was produced by the artist's husband—and actress Maya Rudolphs father—Richard Rudoplh and Stevie Wonder.  Riperton shows a lot of love on  Perfect Angel and it feels authentic because all but two songs, including the irresitable hit  "Lovin' You," were composed with her husband.  The other songs  "Take A Little Trip" and "Perfect Angel" are Stevie Wonder creations.  

Of course, "Lovin' You" is the reason that the public made  Perfect Angel a hit record.  Indeed, it's an unbelievable song and performance.  But, every track on the LP is a stand-out.  For a writer and vocalist who can do things that 99% of singers can only dream of,  Perfect Angel feels remarkably tasteful, relaxed and calculated.  It's an appropriately-titled masterpiece.  In fact, the only thing that isn't perfect is the album cover, which depicts a nearly naked Riperton in denim overalls holding a melting vanilla ice cream cone.  My guess is that her vocals brought the heat.  

Perfect Angel By Minnie Riperton

A LIST OF 15 RADIO HITS FROM THE LAST 15 YEARS THAT DEFY ANY SERIOUS CRITICISM

Jamie loves—you know something? Screw this pretentious third person opening.  If you don't personally know me, I'm sure all of you were able to ascertain that jamiedoesmusic.com is a blog written by one person and his name is Jamie.  

Ahem.

I love artsy songs and hit songs.  Today, I'd like to talk about a special class of hit songs that are so good that, in my opinion, any serious criticism directed towards them reflects poorly on the "criticizer's" ability to judge music.  Wow, if I didn't want to sound to pretentious before, I'm clearly not giving a fuck now.  But, I do stand by this list.  These are songs that will make a songwriter pull on the side of the road to take it all in and marvel on how mankind can come up with things this infectious, this moving or this original.  These songs are not hits simply because of a right place, right time sort of thing.  Rather, they're just really good.  

Some of these songs I listen to all the time and some I never listen to.  I'm not suggesting that you have to love everything I list—I'm not that much of a self-absorbed dickhead—but hating them just doesn't make sense to me.  And if such haters actually exist, I don't think they are being intellectually honest.  Rather, I think they are likely attaching the celebrity's outside behavior, how they appear in the media and how often they are heard on the radio to unfairly judge one of their songs.  

A Hypothetical Conversation Between "You" and Me

You: Why do you think these radio hits deserve to be radio hits?

Me: Oh no—I don't think.  I KNOW!
 

You: Well, dickhead, I'm not sure it's possible for you to know something that is subjective, but why? 

Me:  It's simple. Let's say I'm chilling out on the balcony of my apartment complex and I hear one of my songwriter neighbors—let's say his name is Kid Rock—playing and singing one of these songs that they happened to write.  I'll probably call up friends and my parents and be like, "wow, someone I kinda know is really talented." I suggest you do the "chilling on your balcony" test whenever you hear a song on the radio and consider how you would react if you were one of the first people to witness a hit.

You: Oh yeah? I suggest you go directly to hell.
 

Me: K.

A List Of 15 Radio Hits From The Last 15 Years That Defy Any Serious Criticism (In No Order):

15. "Closing Time" by Semisonic

13.  "A Thousand Miles" By Vanessa Carlton

12. "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback—controversial!

11. "Smooth" Feat. Rob Thomas by Santana 

10. "Bright Lights" by Matchbox 20 

9. "Game Of Love" Feat. Michelle Branch by Santana 

8.  You Get What You Give by New Radicals

7. "In The End" By Linkin Park

6. "The Way" By Fastball

5. "Love Song" By Sara Bareilles 

4. "Breathe (2 AM)" By Anna Nalick

3. "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys

2. "Roses" By Outkast 

1. "Somewhere Only We Know" By Keane 

Hey you? That's right, you! I wanna know what's on your list.  After all, I've done too much of the talking.  Share your list in the comment section or let me know if you have problems with the songs I picked. We can duke it out and maybe share a cyber beer.