Menomena + Matt and Kim

Hello friends its a beautiful day because the blog is finally being used again! (Oh by the way pretend the first ! in the title is upside down so its like that language that most of this country speaks) Anyway I've decided to start writing on this blog more. Remember when I used to review music (wait, I think it happened once) well I'm gonna be at it again. Oh also remember when I used to complain about a certain duo not giving Boston any respect, well I'm also at it again.

So far my 2007 music year has been slow. I've only bought one album (although there are like 10 different albums I want), I've only been to a few small shows, and I have three broken strings on my gitbox that need replacing. But none of that matters because the one CD I did buy was Menomena's ill disc Friend and Foe. First off let me tell you about the most immediate thing about this album, the cover art. If you look at a picture of it online it doesn't look so great but when you see it up close it is insane. Its this hand drawn sketch with holes in it and you can see parts of other hand drawn sketches through the cover. Yeah that was a horrible description but at some point I'll show it to you guys.

So, on to the music... it is ill. The music is a mix of indie rock, electronica, Jazz, and horns, so think Neutral Milk Hotel mixed with DJ Shadow. The first half of the album is good albeit a bit conventional while the second half is much more experimental and is where this album really comes together. The track Ghostship is pure bliss. Opening with this deep nicely paced bassline and what sound like maracas. It then flows into this steady piano and then comes in a voice. Ghostship is hauntingly beautiful. Another highlight is Boyscout’n which is clearly the most upbeat track. Boyscout’n is all about this killer horn and whistle. The horn stays strong on the next track Evil Bee where it dominates creating a really jazzy feel.

I could go on about this album because I really like every song a lot (save for Air Aid). Friend and Foe is full of really strong songs that surprisingly come together to form a great album. My one quarry with this album is that the first 4 tracks don’t really fit with the end of the album (did I just contradict myself no I didn’t shut up).

Key tracks: Muscle ‘n Flo, Running, Evil Bee, Ghostship


Oh wait I almost forgot about Matt and Kim yeah so remember how they canceled on Boston a little while back well now as far as I'm know they haven't even scheduled a show in Boston. I guess my car park (garage as you fancy americans (yeah that's right no capitol ) say) won't host any shows. Actually maybe we could get them to play at our school we can even pretend we're doing it for charity.