"Oh in the morning/I stumble/my way towards/the mirror and my makeup/it's light out/and I now/face just what I'm made of
There's so much more/left to do/Well I'm not young/But I'm not through"
And so starts one of my favorite albums of all time: Friend and Foe, by Portland art-rockers Menomena (dun dun dun dun dun). Do you guys know how I am constantly preaching "creativity" as one of my favorite qualities in new bands? And of course, being me, I grumble all the time about bands that lack it. The way I see it, these guys are the gold standard for creativity in indie music. Yet for all their creativity, they remain grounded in some damn good hooks and don't tend to leave the stratosphere like some other more "out there" bands and musicians.
The core members of Menomena are Justin Harris and Danny Seim. Brent Knopf was with the band up through their third release, Mines, but left in what was a fairly publicized breakup. It's no surprise, though - each member of Menomena writes songs individually and brings them to the band to flesh out, usually over email. Naturally, not everyone's songs get picked, so feelings can be hurt. While the loss of Knopf was certainly sad for fans of Menomena, 2012's Moms (their first sans Knopf) is an excellent record. It doesn't top Friend and Foe though - their best work - which has the three core members of the band sharing songwriting duties and instrumentation throughout.
Harris plays bass, guitar, horns, and probably 50 other instruments, all of which are add unique layers throughout the record. Knopf plays guitar and keys, and Seim plays drums and is in general a complete badass. All three of them are wildly talented musicians, as it should become clear to you from the beginning.
In addition to the many different instruments being played throughout the record, Knopf wrote a computer program called Deeler that they essentially used to pass around the room and record loops one by one, building them into a full song. So: take a bunch of multi-instrumentalists who all write songs, throw in a homemade computer program, record and send snippets of songs via email, and put them all together. Somehow, time and time again, Menomena produce cohesive albums out of this chaos.
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Listening to Friend and Foe is a completely nostalgic experience for me. This was one of the first "indie" albums I ever really loved and have been listening to it constantly since it came out in 2007, when I was 17. I was a late bloomer, and it would be fair to say that this album has been the soundtrack to my "growing up/growing old" (I know, I'm not old...and it sounds silly, but you definitely start thinking about growing old a lot more once you've been out of college for a couple of years) stage of life, which is why those first couple of lines really resonate with me in the opener. The album only gets stronger from there. Standouts like Wet and Rusting, Rotten Hell, Boyscout'n, and Evil Bee are all fascinating songs with simple backbones that are bolstered by intricate layering and musicianship. Really, the whole album is fucking excellent.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Grammy-award winning album art, too. It's amazing. Google it for more details. In fact, it's so amazing that when I got my first original pressing vinyl copy of this (now apparently worth 50-100 bucks), and didn't have a record player/care, I hung it up on my wall as art...without protecting it at all. Amazingly, Vinyl Me Please was able to repress it this year, which got me to join (and eventually quit after 3 months).
This album is pretty close to the perfect artistic package. I hope you guys like it.
Questions to consider, if you want:
+ Which songs do you like the best? Each songwriter adds some unique elements to the music, so it's possible you'd gravitate towards a certain set of songs written by one of the dudes in particular.
+ What do you think about the drumming and why are your thoughts all centered around how excellent it is?
+ How tall do you think the drummer is?
+ Thoughts on the use of horns and piano throughout the album?
+ Ron, does this meet Ron's Music Standards™?
on the clock
Maz
current selection
Curtis Mayfield - Super Fly (1972)
past selections
- Elbow - Asleep in the Back (2001)
- Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)
- Asobi Seksu - Citrus (2006)
- Brittle Brian - Verisune (2015)
- The Notwist - Neon Golden (2002)
- Solange - A Seat at the Table (2016)
- Younghusband - Dissolver (2015)
- Downtown Boys - Full Communism (2015)
- Cornelius - Point (2001)
- Katie Dey- Flood Network (2016)
- Mother Falcon - You Knew (2013)
- Poliça - Shulamith (2013)
- Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda (1971)
- Cibo Matto - Viva! La Woman (1996)
- Self - Breakfast With Girls (1999)
- This Town Needs Guns - Animals (2008)
who's on deck
- Erik
- Nora
- Parker
- Tyler
- Sam
- Maz
what we do, and how we do it
1. Rotate through members of the club - current member picks an album and completes a write up on the album.
2. Other members listen as many times as they can throughout the course of 7 days. When ready, other members write comments on the original post detailing how they feel about the album.
3. Repeat.
Favorite songs: Muscle'n Flo, Air Aid, Rotten Hell
ReplyDeleteThe drumming was great. Definitely some of the most original drumming I've heard. They really turned the drums into a vital component of their music rather than just being background support without becoming obnoxious, which I think a lot of prominent drum parts are.
I think the drummer is 4'3"
I basically always horns in music, so this was no exception. A+ horn usage. Piano I though a few times was a little heavy-handed for my tastes.
I listened to this album a lot of times this week cause it's really fun music to listen to. In the car, getting ready, packing for school- it was almost always playing. I think the idea of three different people contributing songs as well as the many variations in the vocal sounds throughout the album keep in fresh and interesting listen after listen. I always felt like I was catching some nuance I had missed the time before.
Really everything about this band is creative and inventive. They're a lot of fun to listen to. Artsy Fartsy.
I do have to say I was slightly turned off when I discovered that one of the band members looks incredibly like Timothy Simons. https://www.google.com/search?q=menomena&espv=2&biw=1190&bih=782&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoA2oVChMIhL_QotXbxwIVA3k-Ch3cOwkv&dpr=1#imgrc=5dwEa9ZZ5ejTBM%3A
Forgot to add I'm very excited to listen to their other albums.
DeleteThe first time I listened to this album I knew immediately why Sam picked it. It is incredibly indicative of his taste in music. Of course, I mean this in a positive way. As he says in his write up, he harps on bands being more creative. There is certainly no shortage of creativity on this record.
ReplyDeleteEvery part of it seems carefully crafted to create a full piece of art. There are no throw away songs here. Creative rhythm and timing set the songs apart immediately. The drummer is a fantastic musician. While many bands hide the drums low in the mix, or simply as an after thought, here it shines through and the songs greatly benefit from it. The punching rhythms drive the music, along with the artfully melodic bass and guitar lines. The way the songs build is absolutely delightful. Layers come in and out, vocal harmonies swell, drums pound, horns punctuate, and they all culminate to create fascinating experiences.
Stand outs for me are : Muscle’n Flo, Wet and Rusting, Air Raid, Rotten Hell, My My, and Boyscout’n. So, basically the whole album. I very much enjoyed this. You can really hear how much work went in to getting as much sound as possible into the songs. The level of creativity needed to make music like this is immense, and it’s hard not to respect the work they put into it.
I have to admit I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this album. Not gonna lie, I didn't spend more than a couple listens with it (because life) but even from the first listen I was completely drawn in. First thing that stood out to me were the drums - lots of cool, complex rhythms that beautifully compliment the rest of the instrumentation.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too sure how I feel about the singing style to be honest. It's not one I've ever truly been a fan of but, in this record at least, it isn't distracting in any way for me.
I can tell it's an album that went through what probably was an extensive creative process. Everything flows so seamlessly, despite the fact that a lot of times there's a lot going on in some of the songs. Stand out tracks for me are Rotten Hell (love the simple piano usage here), Air Head, and Evil Bee. Overall, it was a cool album to listen through because of the surprise factor each song brought which really works in favor of the band.