Of Montreal

The Decemberists, “Summersong”

I’ve talked a little about the Four Album theory, which is that some great metal bands (Metallica, Krallice, Mastodon) will push things as far as they can with their sound over four albums, before taking off in a different direction. It’s half-baked, yes, but it’s a theory anyway.

But in thinking about it, these aren’t the only Four Album bands. The Decemberists, for instance, pushed their increasingly elaborate folk-rock storytelling thing further and further over the course of their first four albums, culminating in The Crane Wife, which is really kind of a concept record that stands as the final record of that approach. While The Hazards of Love is maybe more ambitious, it kind of seeks a more prog direction without as much of the folk stuff, so to my ears, represents the same kind of stylistic break as those metal bands.

Flying Lotus, “Takashi”

It’s a little hard to describe Flying Lotus accurately. “Electronic” feels wholly inadequate. “Fusion” is accurate, yes, but also feels like it’s not really highlighting what he’s fusing. There’s lots of jazz and experimental electronic music here, some funk…just kind of lots of everything. It’s great! But hard to describe. Luckily, you can just listen to it.

The Mekons, “Wicked Midnite”

I don’t always have a ton to say about bands. The Mekons were good!