Spring Break
New Vibrations
Issue date: 10/11/07
The Shade of Poison Trees
Dashboard Confessional
Vagrant Records
Oct. 2, 2007
The new album by Dashboard Confessional, The Shade of Poison Trees, is a throwback to their first album, with many similar sounds and instrumentals. Christopher Carrabba goes entirely acoustic in this album, with only accompanying drums, piano and the occasional appearance from another instrument, used primarily to bring out and emphasize the acoustic guitar. Carrabba's vocals are beautiful as he sings his confessions with great emotion and passion.
The album opens with "Where There's Gold," which is similar to songs on Dashboard Confessional's first album, The Swiss Army Romance. This track starts the album off well because Carrabba shows off the unbelievable range of his voice and his lithe upper register.
On both "Little Bombs" and "Matters of Blood and Connection," there is very distinct, stylistic strumming of the guitar combined with Carrabba's powerful vocals, making them definitively classic Dashboard.
"Keep Watch for the Mines" and "The Rush" offer a nice and necessary change of tempo, as they are more upbeat and "poppy" than the usual ballads. "Fever Dreams" also adds variety to the album, resembling The Postal Service. "These Bones" also serves as an animated intervention.
One irritating aspect of this album is that it does get slightly repetitive. Although Carrabba has an exquisite voice, it is so distinct and unique that it almost makes the songs blend together and sound the same if all the songs are listened to consecutively. Carrabba begins to sound particularly whiny and annoying later on in the album.
Despite this Carrabba still sings wonderfully, with fervor and zeal in his voice. His lyrics are packed with emotion, as he looks back at important memories from his youth. His lyrics are very poetic and go along well with the exquisite melodies of the songs. The combinations of those aspects capture the listener, drawing you into the song. His lyrics create vivid images and cause the listener to drift off and visualize the song.
Although the sounds of this album are different from those of their last album, Dusk and Summer, this is actually the true sound of Dashboard Confessional. Carrabba does a brilliant job of arranging the songs with their various melodies and memories.
The Shade of Poison Trees is a album worth checking out for a Dashboard Confessional fan or not. It has a unique collection of songs, and it is definitely worth giving the band a try.
Â- Tinni Maitra
In Rainbows
Radiohead
Oct. 10, 2007
Anyone who says Radiohead is unpredictable is wrong. Radiohead has always been governed by the same smart, consistent and totally observable logic: When the musical community is in a jam, do the most sensible thing. In the post-grunge 90s, they brought melody and beauty back into angst (OK Computer). Later, they explored the opposite end of the electro-pop spectrum, laying claim to subtle, brooding electronica (Kid A).
In Rainbows, the band's seventh album and first since 2003's Hail to the Thief, is no exception to this rule. Well, not entirely. In Rainbows is, without a doubt, as important as any of Radiohead's past albums, but unlike OK Computer or Kid A, its importance lies less in the music, and more in its cultural significance.
Right when the tangible recording and the corporate music industry are coming to terms with an inevitable death, Radiohead is asking fans to put a value on music. It's a bold move that's been a long time coming, and that, as any Radiohead fan knows, couldn't have come from any other band.
Sonically, however, In Rainbows is less bold. Radiohead has made an album that's more-of-the-same, which, given their history, would seem like a good thing for most bands. But it's a bad thing for Radiohead.
For the past 15 years, Radiohead has been setting its own bar higher and higher, and for the first time, they've fallen short of it. It's almost unfair to the band, but people have come to expect each of their albums to be groundbreaking.
In Rainbows is a study of alienation and paranoia, set to a tasteful mix of electronic music and well-crafted pop-rock. The opener "15 Steps" blends the chomping percussion of "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" with Hail to the Thief's synths. "Bodysnatchers" finds Johnny Greenwood riffing like it's the psychedelic 60s, but the modern processing and modulating grounds the sound firmly in 2007.
Dynamic exploration, the blending of unlike sonic elements, has always been part of what's made Radiohead so original. But it feels tired on In Rainbows, and sometimes forced. In short, In Rainbows is only a decent Radiohead album because it is better than 90 percent of modern music. Radiohead is the closest thing we have to a modern-day Beatles. But even the Beatles could slump between masterpieces.
- Max McKenna
Dashboard Confessional
Vagrant Records
Oct. 2, 2007
The new album by Dashboard Confessional, The Shade of Poison Trees, is a throwback to their first album, with many similar sounds and instrumentals. Christopher Carrabba goes entirely acoustic in this album, with only accompanying drums, piano and the occasional appearance from another instrument, used primarily to bring out and emphasize the acoustic guitar. Carrabba's vocals are beautiful as he sings his confessions with great emotion and passion.
The album opens with "Where There's Gold," which is similar to songs on Dashboard Confessional's first album, The Swiss Army Romance. This track starts the album off well because Carrabba shows off the unbelievable range of his voice and his lithe upper register.
On both "Little Bombs" and "Matters of Blood and Connection," there is very distinct, stylistic strumming of the guitar combined with Carrabba's powerful vocals, making them definitively classic Dashboard.
"Keep Watch for the Mines" and "The Rush" offer a nice and necessary change of tempo, as they are more upbeat and "poppy" than the usual ballads. "Fever Dreams" also adds variety to the album, resembling The Postal Service. "These Bones" also serves as an animated intervention.
One irritating aspect of this album is that it does get slightly repetitive. Although Carrabba has an exquisite voice, it is so distinct and unique that it almost makes the songs blend together and sound the same if all the songs are listened to consecutively. Carrabba begins to sound particularly whiny and annoying later on in the album.
Despite this Carrabba still sings wonderfully, with fervor and zeal in his voice. His lyrics are packed with emotion, as he looks back at important memories from his youth. His lyrics are very poetic and go along well with the exquisite melodies of the songs. The combinations of those aspects capture the listener, drawing you into the song. His lyrics create vivid images and cause the listener to drift off and visualize the song.
Although the sounds of this album are different from those of their last album, Dusk and Summer, this is actually the true sound of Dashboard Confessional. Carrabba does a brilliant job of arranging the songs with their various melodies and memories.
The Shade of Poison Trees is a album worth checking out for a Dashboard Confessional fan or not. It has a unique collection of songs, and it is definitely worth giving the band a try.
Â- Tinni Maitra
In Rainbows
Radiohead
Oct. 10, 2007
Anyone who says Radiohead is unpredictable is wrong. Radiohead has always been governed by the same smart, consistent and totally observable logic: When the musical community is in a jam, do the most sensible thing. In the post-grunge 90s, they brought melody and beauty back into angst (OK Computer). Later, they explored the opposite end of the electro-pop spectrum, laying claim to subtle, brooding electronica (Kid A).
In Rainbows, the band's seventh album and first since 2003's Hail to the Thief, is no exception to this rule. Well, not entirely. In Rainbows is, without a doubt, as important as any of Radiohead's past albums, but unlike OK Computer or Kid A, its importance lies less in the music, and more in its cultural significance.
Right when the tangible recording and the corporate music industry are coming to terms with an inevitable death, Radiohead is asking fans to put a value on music. It's a bold move that's been a long time coming, and that, as any Radiohead fan knows, couldn't have come from any other band.
Sonically, however, In Rainbows is less bold. Radiohead has made an album that's more-of-the-same, which, given their history, would seem like a good thing for most bands. But it's a bad thing for Radiohead.
For the past 15 years, Radiohead has been setting its own bar higher and higher, and for the first time, they've fallen short of it. It's almost unfair to the band, but people have come to expect each of their albums to be groundbreaking.
In Rainbows is a study of alienation and paranoia, set to a tasteful mix of electronic music and well-crafted pop-rock. The opener "15 Steps" blends the chomping percussion of "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" with Hail to the Thief's synths. "Bodysnatchers" finds Johnny Greenwood riffing like it's the psychedelic 60s, but the modern processing and modulating grounds the sound firmly in 2007.
Dynamic exploration, the blending of unlike sonic elements, has always been part of what's made Radiohead so original. But it feels tired on In Rainbows, and sometimes forced. In short, In Rainbows is only a decent Radiohead album because it is better than 90 percent of modern music. Radiohead is the closest thing we have to a modern-day Beatles. But even the Beatles could slump between masterpieces.
- Max McKenna
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