Friday, February 5, 2010

Miike Snow is Cryin'

Hello people, how's everything? Hope everything is alright with everyone. :)

The internship countdown: After 5 weeks of internship and 9 more weeks left, all I can say is that, my internship involves lots of crying. Yup, the act of sheddin' tears. If I can combine all those whom I saw cryin' for the past month, I think I can say I saw one person crying per working day. Wait, before you think any further, nope, they didn't cry because of me. And no, they didn't cry because of what I did to them, wait, maybe it's something I did. Well, wanna guess what's the deal with peoples' tendency to cry in front of me? ;-)

Back to some music stuff, I still can't get enough of SNSD's Oh!, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now and Pin Me Down's Time Crisis. Click here for my previous rant about all three songs and few more~ :D Great stuff, I think. Haha.

-----

I've been listening to Miike Snow's debut album for the past few weeks. I don't really get their kind of pop at 1st, but after previewing few of their tracks at youtube, I finally decided to give the album a spin. B4 I start, you should know that I am not an album kinda guy, so it's hard for me digest a whole 10 track album, the last album that I really love are Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster (whether you agree or disagree with me, this is a POP Masterpiece).



Anyway, back to Miike Snow, the 1st track, "Animal" is the song that kick starts my interest in them (yup, its trio which consists of lead singer, Andrew Wyatt and the duo of Bloodshy & Avant of Brit's Toxic fame, you thought it was a dude huh? Same here.) I gotta admit that they really got me humming to the chorus after few spin, but I did find the lyrics are way too kooky for my taste, at 1st. Seriously, a song about being an animal? LOL. I don't think they take themselves that seriously, that's when I think that is how I should approach "it" :) It's supposed to be a fun album, the verdict, it is. (Well, I might be wrong :)

I really enjoyed myself listening to it, even though the 1st representative track "Animal" is a catchy pop piece to my ear. It's their quiet moments that totally sealed the deal for me, especially the next two tracks, "Burial" and "Silvia". That is when I fell in lurve with the lead singer's voice. I personally think Andrew's voice is very sexy, very smooth (psst, I usually lurve deep voices such as Paolo Nutini or Darius Danesh)

I don't quite know how to describe their sound. But according to their wikipedia page, they are labeled as Indie Pop and Electropop. OK, stuff that I usually like. Won't be too bad.

I love their heavy usage of piano, horn, drums and the equally important synthesizer in the album. It blends well together to produce something so melodically beautiful. It blends well with the soft soothing vocal of the lead singer to take it to another level.
There is something that I don't get though, some of their lyrics are quite creepy, "It's over, Don't forget to cry at your own burial"??? and weird "A horse is not a home"?? *scratches head* I have no problem with that though, sometimes it's all about the beautiful complimenting melody. I think I just need more time to digest it (lyrics-wise) I might not get it til the end but who cares?

Another thing that I lurve about this album is the fact that most of the beats are so danceable and pop-ish, the lyrics took a 180 degree turn from the sunshine-happy-lovin' approach to a more melancholic stance. Not everything from the Pop genre gotta be all sunshine-shining-out-of-people-ass. No kiddin' :) Cue, "Song For No One" (my personal faves of the album)

I personally find "Cult Logic" is a more digestible version of MGMT's Electric Feel with all those jungle theme bits. Yes, I love Electric Feel. While "In Search Of" kinda reminds me of Kylie and Little Boots. And I mean that as a compliment. I wonder what magix will happen if Kylie lends her vocal to that track~

"Plastic Jungle" and "A Horse Is Not A Home" are the low point of the album, I don't really dig it as much as the other song, they sound very out of place with too many things going on at one time. A bit too OTT for my taste but it's all good.

Final verdict, this is definitely not your typical fun pop album. It's not exactly what I thought it would be since it's from the guys who won a Grammy for Toxic (brilliant pop song btw) but something that is so different that it surprises you with lots of pure, clean, and polished pop gems. This is a good way to start the year. A great way.

Best bits of the album: "Burial", "Silvia", "Song For No One", "Animal", "Cult Logic" and "In Search Of".


----------------
Listening to: Miike Snow - Song for No One
via FoxyTunes

3 comments:

Cook In / Dine Out said...

If people are crying daily at the place you're interning, it might be a sign that it's not a good place to work.

Miike Snow's album sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.

J.Mensah said...

I LOVE that Mike Snow album. Glad I listened to you lol!

rcLoy said...

ww_adh: Hello!
Would your judgment be any different if I told you that my work place is in a hospital? Nope, I am not studying medicine. *I can't deal with all those blood*

Oh, thank you for commenting on this post. I really want to read your review of their album. Hope you're going to do that after checkin' them out. I don't really see any music bloggers buzzin' about them. I personally think they are amazing :)

J: I am so glad that you love it. *no kiddin'* I wouldn't know what to say if you don't find it palatable with your music taste. LOL. Are you going to write a review about the album? I would love to read it. Miike Snow rocks :)