let's play the exclamation point game!

alas!, poor tan! if thunderbirds are now! and the go! team hadn't emerged around the same time, tan! might stand a chance of being the coolest band with a ! in their name (i don't personally like !!!, thank you very much). anyway, the fact that tan! and the go! team sound somewhat similar doesn't really help, because the go! team is, actually, much better than thunderbirds are now! at the spastic pop thing, as tan!'s third effort, make history, proves (also, their inclusion in forget remember when isn't really a ringing endorsement either).

i've tried hard to like make history, but it's time to face the facts: there's really only one great track on the album, and that's "why we war." if every tan! song sounded like "why we war," then pitchfork would be premiering their video this week, instead of this one. it's not that the other songs on make history are flops, they're just missing the little bit of oomph "why we war" has, unfortunately. and oomph is exactly why "why we war," in fucking spades. jagged, angular, with more than a daub of political angst, "why we war" comes right in the middle of the album, when you start to realize that you might've made a mistake in buying it. "why we war" is placed back-to-back with the other standout song on the album, "sound issues/smart ideas," and you start to cheer up, thinking that maybe make history just got off to a slow start - but no, it's just rather plain throughout, actually.

okay, "plain" sells make history short. it is filled with vibrancy, excitement, and spastic melodies, and i have been known to jump around and thrash to it, in the privacy of my own home. but it gets repetitive, and fast. "the veil comes down," the album's second track, is more worth skipping than sitting through, and the semi-ballad "shit gold," while adopting a different style than most tan! songs, isn't worth much either. but "why we war" is propelled mostly by ryan allen's nasalized shout/singing and a regular beat, and a sweet-ass breakdown chorus with some kind of synthesizer. tan! achieves a balance on this song - it is compelling not merely because the melody is more pleasing, or easier to dance to, but because it is not over the top, stuffed to the point of overflow with effects and angles. "why we war" is assured, straightforward, and has a maracas (always worth bonus points). mostly, however, "why we war" is make history's best track because it simply rocks. even with the maracas and synth and other fun bits, "why we war" is simple - it makes you want to dance, maybe yell out a "fuck bush" just for fun, and doesn't require all that much from the listener - and, really should a dancepunk song do more than that?

thunderbirds are now! - "why we war." buy make history on frenchkiss here.

p.s. - i counted 18 exclamation points, not counting the one in the title.

p.p.s. - here's a video from a band with more than one good song with lots of exclamation points.

microphone biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics

try as i might, i've never really been able to get into quasimoto as much as i want to be. i love madlib's other stuff, and i don't think he can put out a bad instrumental track (see all of liberation, where he makes even talib kweli sound like he can rap), but his raps as quasimoto are just a little too abrupt, too stream of consciousness for me. he barely rhymes and his flow is deliberately off-beat, and it's both recognizably good yet hard to enjoy (unless you're stoned, as madlib undoubtedly was when he made the song).

in addition to quasimoto's off-kilter rhyme scheme, madlib plays with his own voice so it sounds like alvin (of & the chipmunks) rapping about smoking blunts and hating cops, which is the ultimate quasimoto aesthetic. madlib provides his own beats, so they're always damn close to perfect, though they occasionally seem ill-matched to quasimoto's subject matter; it feels odd for the violence of his words and delivery to be accompanied by such mellow beats. i've only listened to the unseen, quasimoto's first album, and while i respect it, and hear why it's good, it doesn't have the ease of his other work.

however, one incredibly dope remix of quasimoto's "microphone mathematics" really fleshes out the song and makes it at least twice as accessible and enjoyable. which, ultimately, leads me to forget remember when #2: peanut butter wolf - "microphone mathematics remix". now, this forget remember when isn't as stark as +/- last week; there are several other good songs on the album where this appears, jukebox 45s, peanut butter wolf's compilation of stones throw songs - most appropriately, as he's the label head. "ernie & the top notes feat. raymond winnifield - things could be better" is a great song, as is "breakestra - ghetto soul togetha (part two)," but the "microphone mathematics remix" is the standout track. it has all of the aural spunk and chipper-ness that the original lacks. it's especially interesting, because i think madlib himself produced the remix, leading to an

for your consideration, both are below.

quasimoto - "microphone mathematics" from the unseen. purchase here.

quasimoto - "microphone mathematics remix" from peanut butter wolf's jukebox 45s. get it here.

forget remember when

i just came up with this idea about 75 seconds ago, and i want to try it out. so let me know what you think.

there are lots of bands that aren't very good. and there are even more bands that are occasionally okay. and, every once in a while, there's a band that isn't very good at all, but, for one song, they pull all the right elements together and something just clicks. forget remember when honors these songs, the single gem on an album that is overwhelmingly...okay. the first forget remember when song is "let's build a fire," the title track of +/-'s third album.


+/-, despite having a bitching name, are not very good. let's build a fire, released last year on (also excellently named) absolutely kosher records, is not a very good album. but, damn, the song is great. the way it starts always reminds me of "jaipur," by the mountain goats - the way it opens with a needle drop and hissy aural scratches. but, whereas john darnielle probably used a real LP for "jaipur," i think +/- are just using protools.

but that doesn't take anything away from the quality of the music. in fact, by relying on that effect, +/- give themselves a leg up, providing them with a horn section that creates the mood before being supplanted by the crashing entrance of guitars and drums. +/- is described as an electronic indie band, but there is little electronics in what i've heard. james baluyut, vocalist and primary songwriter, cradles the opening of "let's build a fire" tenderly, the horn melody old-timey and curious, making the listener want to hear more. once the downbeat rings in the rest of the cast, the song loses none of its allure, keeping its slight-swing feeling. the trumpet is featured prominently here, before the sound trickles back down to the end of the song. it ends like it began, with mock-vinyl pops and the velvet sound of a clarinet. "let's build a fire" is a great song.

enjoy: +/- - "let's build a fire" buy the entire album from absolutely kosher here.