Quick Hits, Vol. 146 (Taylor Swift, Dirty Projectors, Dan Auerbach, Injury Reserve)

Taylor Swift - Red.  I have stupid, but still deep-seated shame, that I need to share with you here.  One of the first things I reviewed, and it may have been the absolute first, as the e-mail I just found in my saved messages was dated 8/2/13, was Taylor Swift's Red.  But I remember being reluctant to publish it, I think mentally I thought I'd be judged for loving it.  By now, that is probably the least of my issues on this blog, so since I just found that review again, I'm baring my soul to the masses.  Or at least the 6 people who will read this post.

Taylor Swift – Red.  I know, intrinsically, that I am supposed to dislike this music.  Enjoying the pop hits and tabloid fodder artists like Taylor Swift is supposed to be music snob death.  However, despite all of that, this whole thing is freaking great.  It is so damn well done, going from legit dance songs to really perfect little ballads and love songs that made me feel like a better person.  She can weave a great story that sounds so very true, like something that might have happened to me when I was 16.
A simple little example, from the end of the album song called Begin Again:
“And you throw your head back laughing, Like a little kid
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny cause, He never did”
This just clicks with me – I can see it in my head and feel that feeling, some 20 years after dealing with any kind of dating emotional garbage.  And then listen to “22,” and see if it doesn’t make you want to just dance around and jump and sing along.  If it doesn’t, then something may be broken inside of you.  Or I’m a 12 year old girl.  One of those two.
Makes me wish I had taken the Bird to the big Erwin Center show this spring [of 2013], instead of smugly smirking at all of the Facebook pictures.  It also makes me realize how much I miss this kind of music.  I used to listen to such kinder, gentler, simple music – R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs, U2, Bob Marley, etc. – before discovering rap and harder rock.  I’m going to go out and buy this one and make sure my kiddos get to hear it a few times.

God, I'm so glad to not be a teenager anymore, worried about love and connection and whether I'm going to get any of that back.  That damn song made me want to cry all over again.  Dammit.  I'm gonna need to cleanse myself with a little Cannibal Corpse or something.

Dirty Projectors - Dirty Projectors.  I don't know what I thought this was going to be, maybe like New Pornographers, but this is super strange and kind of annoying.  Kind of beat-based music, but with lots of angular weirdness and strange sounds tucked into the beats.  It reminds me a little of some of the odd stuff that TV on the Radio has done.  Kind of R&B, kind of indie rock, kind of hip hop - all layered with effects.  Just odd.  Another album where the first song is the most popular by a ways - here is "Keep Your Name," which has just over 4 million streams.

Nope.  The rest of the album has some that appeal a little bit more, but still not my thing.  I'm good.

Dan Auerbach - Waiting on a Song.  Give me more of this stuff all day long.  The Black Keys are a great blues rock band with loads of legitimate hits, and while I'd rather that the boys just keep banging out those, I can dig a smooth side project done with cool Nashville dudes like John Prine.  These tunes have some 70's and 80's pop stuff going on - back when pop was a groovy backing track and some bouncing guitar, not a dance-hall influenced electronic dance track like today.  "Livin' in Sin" has an Eddie Rabbit "I Love a Rainy Night" shuffle to it.  "Shine on Me" is like a latter day George Harrison tune, or even a Travelling Wilburys ditty.  So good.

Interplanetary, inter species demolition derby!  Just a good sunshiney track.  "Cherry Bomb" has a little middle eastern flavor in its psychedelic groove.  I don't know, I'm on board with just about every track on this album.  Keep it up.

Injury Reserve - Floss.  I have no clue where this came from, but it is kinda bad ass.  Unhinged, bouncy, funny sounding rap from dudes who remind me of Tribe Called Quest with Lil Jon on the payroll.  "All This Money" sounds like a Lil Jon track, all wild and loud.  I think you deserve more than one song to get this one in your system, so here is that one first.  Just over a million views.

I love how the money they are showing throughout that video is all one dollar bills.  If you turn on a Gucci Mane or Migos video, its all stacks of $100s (or at least $100s on the outside so that it looks like all benjamins), but these guys are just like nah, let's get $50 in dollar bills, that'll look just right.  Any track that represents Beck and Mellow Gold, gimme more...  "Oh Shit!!!" is a similarly loud tune of hollers and bouncing bass.  The album also takes some detours into a different sound, like the almost gospel-backed bump of "Bad Boys 3."  But how about this jazzy sounding, smooth track, "S on Ya Chest."

Yeah, that is the Tribe type stuff.  I read up on these guys and they are actually a trio from Arizona, which is kind of odd.  I wish I knew where the hell I found this, it bangs at times and is cleverly lyrical at other times, and its cool.  I think the album weakens after about halfway through, but all of it is pretty good.  I think I'll probably just save the top few tracks and then wait for the next album.