Archive for Brooklyn
Matt & Kim “Sidewalks” Review – Track by Track
November 4th, 2010 • Album Review, Brooklyn, Electronic
#1: Block After Block – This track sounds more like a remix of a Matt & Kim song – there are just too many layers of sound. It’s more oriental-sounding like “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare.” The thing is that Kim is clearly playing a drum machine, and that is a totally new direction for the band. i know they’ve used it a little in the past, but this flat jingly snare sound doesn’t work here. I think this track would be better live.
#2: AM/FM Sound – Again it really doesn’t open like a Matt & Kim song. The verse sounds really tacky, like they struggled to write the melody. The chorus, however, is more fun and catchy with the “oh ay oh”s. This track is a little reminiscent of Cinders, but I just don’t really feel like I could dance to this.
#3: Cameras – I’ve already been in love with this song for over a month. I love the bells Kim is playing as well as the syncopated brass. Matt’s voice sounds so natural and excited in this song. The effects on his voice are just what they’ve always used in their prior albums. True, it’s not clear keyboard/drums of To/From and their self-titled album, but the elements are all there. I think it’s the syncopation and explosive jolting energy which really make this song so amazing.
#4: Red Paint – The drums and Matt’s voice are pleasantly familiar in this track, but then there’s too much cymbal and nintendo noises which distract. The volume levels seem off – Matt and the flute are kind of drowned out by extra vocal layers and whatever else they added in.
#5: Where You’re Coming From – I like this one more than most of the songs on the album. The beat is good and the energy is up a little more. It’s like the “Turn This Boat Around” of this album. It’s the feel-good, change-the-world, inspirational one. Whatever happened to abstract lyrics like “pitchfork, switchblade, salt water and this hose/I tend to believe my eyes before my nose.” No, apparently now Matt is showing people how to become a man, how to walk into a grave, claiming he knows where you’re coming from.
#6: Good for Great – Honestly this song is just asking for Fireflies and Riding Solo mash-ups. This song also just seems so boring…which doesn’t make sense because Matt and Kim are such enthusiastic performers. The lyrics take almost an environmental theme: “So I’ll leave these pages in the trees.” The layered vocals are awful in this song too, unfortunately – making it sound like Hawk Nelson or Forever the Sickest Kids.
#7: Northeast – Aww another song about New England. Okay this is the Daylight outro of this album. Matt’s vocals are pretty good and he references Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare: “as I said, the skyline’s brighter tonight.” There’s a nice drum addition and synth, but still it’s too simple and cliche for them. It ends very abruptly. It seems like it’s building up, and you’re hoping something awesome will happen next, but no…the song just ends.
#8: Wires – I have a great feeling about this one – it reminds me a lot of Dash After Dash, especially with the low distorted keyboard. I think they could have chosen a more crisp snare sound, but other than that this track is really quite good. The vocal layering fits much better here, and the drumming gets better and better. This is the second best track on the album, I’d say.
#9: Silver Tiles – At first I was really excited that they were doing a Silver Tiles remake. Now I feel betrayed. Matt’s vocals are almost the same as the original though he has a little more control. I HATEHATEHATE the tinny back up vocals. They make his voice sound like Matt Theissen automatically and totally drown him out. I feel like they’re trying to make this sound more professional and mature; and it sucks. They did almost nothing to remake it – they just re-recorded it with their fancy new equipment and effects.
#10: Ice Melts – The last track has a few more classic Matt & Kim qualities, like the keyboard following Matt’s voice and if you listen closely you can hear the bass notes on the keyboard. This, for some reason, sounds more like a track 2 than a last track. There’s definitely more energy in this song, though the balance between instruments and vocals still isn’t quite right. The bells pull the Cameras theme back in. Again the ending is very abrupt – much too abrupt for a last track.
Overall I was clearly disappointed with Sidewalks. I miss their old minimalist keyboard and drums feel – it felt much more genuine and the excitement from Matt’s voice and Kim’s beats was contagious. This album just feels different than their older ones. As an album itself, it’s actually pretty good. It’s just within the context of their other albums it falls very very short. It was smart of them to release Cameras as a single first, though – it’s definitely the best track on the album.
WRBC and CHC present Matt and Kim
September 1st, 2009 • Brooklyn, Electronic, Press Release, Rock
Tags: Brooklyn, Daylight, KahBang, Matt and Kim
WRBC, Bates College Radio, and the Chase Hall Committee, the principal campus programming board, will present Brooklyn, New York Band ‘Matt and Kim’ (www.mattandkimmusic.com/), at Bates College in Lewiston in Chase Hall on September 18th, 2009. Doors will open at 9:30; the concert costs $3 for Bates Students and $8 for the general public. Tickets go on sale on www.batestickets.com on September 1st. Read more »
Video: Au Revior Simone – 6/27/09
June 29th, 2009 • Brooklyn, Electronic, Video
Tags: au revoir simone, bowery ballroom, Brooklyn, new york city, Video
This is a video I shot of the song “Through the Backyards of our Neighbors” by Au Revoir Simone. It appears on their first album, “Verses Of Comfort, Assurance, and Salvation”
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