Oneohtrix Point Never‘s Replica must be some sort of masterpiece, an assessment quantifiable in terms of the outlandish metaphors and sci-fi jargon that bloggers and critics have already repurposed in order to describe it.
Whether you end up interpreting Replica in terms of Blade Runner or that music theory course you took back in college, it makes for a fascinating addition to the already-extensive OPN catalogue. Replica is of a piece with the synth-based drone of Rifts and Returnal, and like both of those albums, it owes much of its musicality to recurring arpeggio motifs. One of the odd paradoxes of ambient music is that a musician’s decision to incorporate more song-like elements into their work will almost always be welcomed by critics as evidence of maturation; if anything, OPN mastermind Daniel Lopatin seems to be resisting that trajectory, since nothing here matches the relatively overt pop gambit of Returnal’s title track. If Lopatin has made any concessions to accessibility this time out, they figure mostly into Replica‘s abstractly rhythmic qualities. With only one or two tracks employing anything like a beat, Lopatin’s fondness for cyclical phrasing nonetheless imbues his newest compositions with more body and direction than his previous work. And where actual percussion is employed, as on the coda to “Andro” or the title track’s recurring piano chords, the effect can be tremendous, as though the random functions of a few very noisy machines had spontaneously created something human. – Slant Magazine
Mastodon will visit The Record Exchange for a CD signing at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7. As always, this Record Exchange event is free and all ages. The band is performing at Knitting Factory later that night and we have tickets for sale here at the RX.
Purchase Mastodon’s new album The Hunter or pre-order the vinyl (out Nov. 15) prior to the signing and we’ll give you a wristband granting you priority placement in line the day of the event! We expect a big crowd, and wristband holders will get to line up and meet the band before anyone else! (One wristband per CD purchased.)
ABOUT THE HUNTER
Mastodon (mastodonrocks.com) have never really done anything the “conventional” way. The Atlanta-based band formulated their own brand of highly-skilled hard rock over a decade ago when others were rehashing 80s metal, and went on to mastermind a string of complex concept albums while much of the music world was centered on making digestible singles. The fact that Mastodon has received an outpouring of critical kudos along with public praise from respected icons from Metallica to The Melvins, The Flaming Lips and CeeLo Green and back, they’ve been humbled by the magnitude of appreciation. But rather than taking time to revel, they prefer to focus their attention on pushing musical boundaries even deeper by exploring their own creative process to the fullest.
The Hunter is yet another universe bending, high energy masterpiece from the band that helped shape hard rock for the 21st century with their previous albums:Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye. Though each consecutive album has transcended the one before it in terms of expectations, musical innovation and sales, The Hunter is the band’s most ambitious to date. Guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders and guitarist Bill Kelliher all continue to explore the outer limits of their own imaginations and as a result, deliver an album that stands apart — even in Mastodon terms. While their last four CDs explored complex themes rooted in earth’s elements, The Hunter is more about following one’s free will than a particular storyline. “We’ve always had this umbrella or a theme that we’ve written everything under,” says Troy. “To us, it made sense as one cohesive story. This time, we freed ourselves up to try something new. It was really the next step for us, and I’m glad we took it.”
That new-found spontaneity can be felt throughout The Hunter, from the melodic yet pummeling “Blasteroid” to the frenetic, muscled single “Curl the Burl.” The album is full of surprises—from melodic, close harmonies to downright demonic growls—but predictably, the musicianship is leagues beyond what anyone would expect to find on such a hard-hitting album. The Hunter is also the band’s most emotionally charged record to date, largely due to the difficult events that surrounded its making. Tragically, Brent Hinds’ brother died of a heart attack in December of 2010 while on a hunting trip. Not long after, a friend of the bands died after a drawn out battle with cancer. “There were a lot of stressful things going on while we were making this record,” says Brann. “I wanted to ignore all the stress, which felt like it was threatening our band’s existence. We were kind of waiting to see where everything landed. But Brent didn’t want to sit and wallow in it. He wanted to do the exact opposite. So we started coming up with all these really triumphant moments for the record. It was like, fist up in the air. Like fuck that – here we go.” And they dedicated the album to Hinds brother, an avid hunter.
The material for the record was largely written on the road when the band was touring with Alice in Chains, and was recorded between Los Angeles and Atlanta over a six-week period earlier this year. Continuing their tradition of breaking tradition, Mastodon decided to team up with Mike Elizondo, a highly respected producer more synonymous with hip hop than metal. “After meeting him and hearing his ideas and unique perspective on our band we thought ‘This could be really interesting,’” says Brent. “We’re all about doing things that other people don’t, so let’s do an album with the guy who just worked with 50 Cent and Eminem. How crazy is that? We always try and embrace the unexpected.” And again, Mastodon’s penchant for taking risks paid off.
The Hunter is at once space age yet earthy, aggressive but thoughtful, articulate and guttural. The guitar work here is, of course, masterful as always, as is the band’s ability to flip musical directions on a dime. All of Mastodon contributed to writing the album, and Sanders is now singing on considerably more than on previous recordings (“I never thought I’d be one of the main vocalists . . . on any record,” he laughs.) Following some fine vocal performances on the last album, Dailor’s role also as a contributing vocalist has become more prominent on The Hunter as well, adding even greater freedom to the sonic textures and overall expansiveness inherent of the new album.
As an example of the themes behind some of the new songs? They’re best described first hand by Brent and Brann:
Brann on “Curl of the Burl”: It’s about meth heads in the woods of West Virginia who look for certain types of knots in a tree. That would be the curl of the burl. They cut it out of the tree, drive it into town, sell it to furniture makers then go buy more meth. It’s like crackheads who steal copper from Lowes and sell it. We really couldn’t think of a better subject matter. It fascinated us.
Brent on “Blasteroid”: It was the name of a video game that was in the studio where we recorded. We thought it was hilarious—asteroids mixed with hemorrhoids. It had this crazy star that crapped out these asteroid looking thingees. So we mixed that ridiculous name with this sugary melody, then pushed it all up against, uh, somewhat aggressive lyrics. [Sings] ‘I wanna break some fucking glass, I wanna drink some fucking blood . . .’ Fun stuff.
Brann on “Stargasm”: It’s about having sex in space, or maybe not in space, just great sex where the orgasm brings you into space. When we sing ‘You’re on fire!,” I imagine swirling flames around these two people enjoying this sexual experience so good that they end up in outer space. Very Barbarella.
Brent on “The Sparrow”: It’s about Susie Polay, our accountant’s wife, who passed away of stomach cancer when we were recording the album. Her motto was pursue happiness with diligence, and that motto became the lyrics to the song. It’s such a pretty song, and it’s so sorrowful as well. It’s in her memory and for her husband Robert, to pass on her inspiration to the listener.
One of the many ways in which Mastodon challenged itself on The Hunterwas in simplifying their otherwise complex way of making music. In the past the band thrived on squeezing as much as possible in one space, and then making sense of it. With this record, they challenged themselves to pare back and let the songs breathe on their own. The result is an album where sublime interludes prove just as powerful as dense layers of sound. “Our last album Crack The Skyewas such a deep, long record,” says Bill. “It was very heavy. We thought, let’s make a spontaneous record based off music that comes off our fingertips in the moment. We didn’t over think it—like Hey, we gotta really dazzle the kids! It’s like, let’s not overdo it. Just let it fall naturally, and we did.”
By following their instincts, Mastodon has come up with the best record of their career. But then, should we really be all that surprised? Their slow-growing trajectory from flat-broke obscurity to the stages of Coachella, Europe’s Sonisphere and Bonnaroo has presented Mastodon to an inordinately eclectic cross-section of music fans who have embraced the band as much as any audience who are more interested in the quality of the music rather then fall into the trappings of narrow-mined genre dwellers. This is the result of taking the road less traveled with nothing more than their instincts—and love of a good riff—to guide them. “We can never go in the studio saying we’re gonna make a heavy record because that’s what people expect,” says Brann. “Or a progressive record, because that’s what they want to hear. You can talk all day about what you’ll do artistically, but once you sit down and it starts coming out, you find out it’s not really in your control. Things move in the direction they move in — much like life. It might not go the way you want, but that’s when great things come out that you had no idea were there. That’s when you tap the unexpected.”
The Harrow and The Harvest, Gillian Welch’s new record, is both a product of and is unrelated to those years in-between. Best to forget that. What it is, indisputably, is the product of two people (one of them being husband/guitar god David Rawlings) who have become so entwined in one another that the songs and the singing and the playing on this record seems to exude from a single voice. This is the sound of two people in a room, playing to one another, with one another. This is the sound of the room in which the two people are playing. This is the sound of two voices, locked in unison, locked in harmony. The sound of two people playing live, with no overdubs, and very few takes. Two people making music together as if they were one soul combined. You need this.
Bubbling up from the underground of the Los Angeles music scene with an indelible Nashville-influenced sound, indie roots duo honeyhoney have arrived with their new full-length album, Billy Jack. Produced primarily by Raymond Richards (Local Natives), Billy Jack finds twenty-something musicians Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe threading sweet melodies with big acoustic guitar sounds, percussive banjos and countrified fiddles. honeyhoney’s sexually tinged, bruised knee honeysuckle take on roots music must be heard to be understood, and Billy Jack pumps with the sound of hearts on fire, and real instruments played by people who really mean it. The album’s first single, “Turn That Finger Around,” is a steady-grooving story detailing hard times with a memorable hook and some Southern twang. A slow burn seethes beneath the gospel-flavored tale of romantic doubt, “Don’t Know How (Slow Mover),” while strings baste the mourning ballad “Angel of Death” and “Thin Line” explores dissatisfaction, good times and loss through the blues. From the dark smolder of “Glad I Done What I Did” and stark piano of “LA River,” to the euphoric romp of “Let’s Get Wrecked” — honeyhoney’s music embraces the sound of what it means to be alive.
What is a Record Exchange exclusive? It’s a CD, vinyl LP, 7-inch, DVD or other product you can only find at the RX — no big box, corporate record store chain or uncle’s basement will have it.
NEW EXCLUSIVES:
Karen ElsonVicious/In Trouble with the Lord 7-inch Radical FaceThe Family Tree Presents The Roots CD Shonen KnifeOsaka Ramones: Tribute to the Ramones CD Snake Rattle Rattle Snake Sineater CD Other LivesTamer Animals vinyl LP
OTHER RECENT EXCLUSIVES:
Puscifer Conditions of My Parole CD, vinyl LP and MP3 Josh Ritter The Golden Age of Radio vinyl LP Olivia Tremor Control Dusk at Cubist Castle and Black Foliage vinyl reissues (read more HERE) The Quiet Company We Are All Where We Belong CD and MP3 Kathleen Edwards Wapusk 7-inch Cowboy JunkiesSing In My Meadow (Nomad Sessions Vol. 3) CD Oberhofer Gotta Go/Mahwun 7-inch Radiohead Bloom (Jamie XX Rework)/Separator (Anstam RMX)/Lotus Flower (SBTRKT RMX) 12-inch — the sixth in a series of limited-edition (2,000 copies each) indie exclusive 12-inches featuring remixes of tracks from The King of Limbs! Juliana HatfieldThere’s Always Another Girl vinyl LP Garland JeffreysThe King of In Between vinyl LP CorreatownPleiades CD and vinyl LP Jonathan KeevilBellflower Soundtrack vinyl LP Radiohead Good Evening Mrs. Magpie (Modeselektor RMX)/Bloom (Objekt RMX) 12-inch — the fifth in a series of limited-edition (2,000 copies each) indie exclusive 12-inches featuring remixes of tracks from The King of Limbs! Clem Snide The Ghost of Fashion vinyl LP (one-time limited pressing on colored vinyl, first time on wax!) Lera Lynn Have You Met Lera Lynn? CD PrimusGreen Naugahyde Bootleg Edition hand-numbered green colored vinyl LP (only 750 pressed!) Juliana HatfieldThere’s Always Another Girl CD Radiohead Give Up the Ghost (Thriller Houseghost RMX)/Codex (Illum Sphere RMX)/Little By Little (Shed RMX) 12-inch — the fourth in a series of limited-edition (2,000 copies each) indie exclusive 12-inches featuring remixes of tracks from The King of Limbs! Hawthorne HeightsSkeletons 12-inch — available in black, white or green colored vinyl! Matthew RyanI Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall CD Radiohead Feral (Lone RMX)/Morning Mr. Magpie (Pearson Sound Scavenger RMX)/Separator (Four Tet RMX) 12-inch — the third in a series of limited-edition (2,000 copies each) indie exclusive 12-inches featuring remixes of tracks from The King of Limbs! Radiohead Morning Mr. Magpie (Nathan Fake RMX)/Bloom (Harmonic 313 RMX)/Bloom (Mark Pritchard RMX) 12-inch — the second in a series of limited-edition (2,000 copies each) indie exclusive 12-inches featuring remixes of tracks from The King of Limbs! GusterOn the Ocean CD Stephen Colbert with the Black BellesCharlene II (I’m Over You)/Charlene (I’m Right Behind You) 7-inch The FeaturesWilderness CD Pearl Jam Vs./Vitalogy Collectors Box (remastered CDs and vinyl LPs for both, plus a double live vinyl LP and CD, cassette of Self Pollution radio broadcast and extra goodies) Rose Hill Drive Americana CD Seasick Steve You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks CD and vinyl LP Star Anna Alone in this Together CD RadioheadLittle By Little (Caribou Remix)/Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene Remix) 12-inch — the first in a series of limited-edition (2,000 copies each) indie exclusive 12-inches featuring remixes of tracks from The King of Limbs! Radiohead Supercollider/The Butcher 12-inch (UK Record Store Day release now available in the U.S. — features two new tracks recorded during The King of Limbs sessions!) The Dodos All Night 7-inch (features three exclusive tracks) Candy Golde self-titled 10-inch Cheap Trick In Color audiophile vinyl LP Disc Genie Cleaning Cloths Dispatch EP CD Eastern Conference Champions Speak-Ahh CD Garland Jeffreys The King of In Between CD Graham Cotton Pacific Coast Eyes CD Joe Purdy 4th of July CD The Silos Florizona CD All Time Low Dirty Work Deluxe Edition (indie exclusive with bonus tracks) Neil Young A Treasure vinyl LP (two versions) READ MORE HERE Mark Kozelek Live at Union Chapel and Sodra Teatern vinyl LP Toad the Wet Sprocket All You Want CD Joe Purdy This American Life CD Pete Droge A Lot Like You Soundtrack CD Glasvegas Euphoric/Heartbreak vinyl LP Foster and Lloyd It’s Already Tomorrow CD Glitch Mob Drink the Sea vinyl LP Grand Magnolias Grand Magnolias CD Tres Mts.Three Mountains CD. A project comprised of Pearl Jams bassist, King’s Xs Vocalist and guitarist and the Fastbacks drummer. Brendan Benson Lapalco vinyl LP Vanity Theft Get What You Came For CD Vanity Theft Anatomy EP Black Lips/Strange Boys Bruise Cruise Vol. 4 7-inch Quintron and Miss Pussycat/Turbo Fruits Bruise Cruise Vol. 3 7-inch Wanda Jackson Thunder on the Mountain/Dust on the Bible 7-inch Dungen Oga Nasa Mum/Highway Wolf 7-inch Riley Grandma’s Roadhouse vinyl LP Booker T and the MG’s McLemore Avenue (Abbey Road covers) vinyl LP Kate Bush Hounds of Love vinyl LP Kate Bush The Sensual World vinyl LP Harry Nilsson A Little Touch of Schmilsson vinyl LP Dex Romweber Duo Third Man Live 02-04-2010 vinyl LP Conan O’Brien and the Legally Prohibited Band Third Man Live 06-10-2010 vinyl LP Pujol Third Man Live 05-21-2010 vinyl LP Tyvek Third Man Live 09-27-2010 vinyl LP Gregory Alan Isakov This Empty Northern Hemisphere vinyl LP Josh Ritter The Animal Years CD reissue – includes bonus CD with live acoustic performance of entire album! Hellogoodbye Would It Kill You? vinyl LP Pearl Jam Live on Ten Legs CD and vinyl LP Josh Ritter The Animal Years vinyl LP (first time on wax – includes CD with live acoustic performance of entire album!) Band of Horses/Cee-lo Greensplit 7-inch (Band of Horses covering Cee-lo, Cee-lo covering Band of Horses) The DecemberistsThe King is Dead deluxe box set Bing Crosby and David Bowie Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth 7-inch (red vinyl) John Fahey Volume One/Blind Joe Death vinyl LP John Wesley Harding Sings to a Small Guitar Vol. IICD The Duke Spirit Kusama CD EP Os Haxixins Noites Brancas 7-inch Right Now 7 to 10 7-inch Right NowCarry Me Home vinyl LP Carbon Leaf Christmas Child CD The Knife Seeds 12-inch Fitz and the TantrumsSanta Stole My Lady 7-inch The Greenhornes Saying Goodbye 7-inch Laura Marling Blues Run the Game 7-inch The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers 180-gram vinyl LP Dead Weather/Third Man vinyl: Tons of new 7-inches, 12-inches and full-length LPs from Jack White’s label, including six Dead Weather titles as well as new cuts from Jack White, Dex Romweber Duo, Conan O’Brien, Carl Sagan, Dan Sartain, Wanda Jackson, Jon Wayne and Secret Sisters. Keith Richards Life book DJ Shadow4 Track Era vinyl LP Widespread Panic Johnson City 2001 3CD set The Shipping News One Less Heartless to Fear CD The Answering Machine Another City Another Story CD Scott Miller Christmas Gift CD Wingless Angels (Keith Richards)Wingless Angels CD EXTREMELY LIMITED! Wingless Angels (Keith Richards)Volumes I and II CD Box Set Bad BooksBad Books CD Bobby LongStranger Songs vinyl LP California Guitar TrioAndromeda vinyl LP The Shipping NewsOne Less Heartless to Fear vinyl LP Jill Cunniff City Beach vinyl LP, available on red/yellow or orange/pink colored vinyl; both versions come with a bonus 7-inch! Limited to 250 copies (that’s in the entire universe). Keith Richards Vintage Vinos CD (retrospective from out of print studio albums, plus live tracks) Matisyahu Shake Off the Dust … ARISE CD (reissue of out-of-print, fan-favorite indie debut! Biffy Clyro Only Revolutions CD Broken Spindles Document No. 2 (handmade CD, extremely limited) Dapose Positive Feedback limited-edition vinyl LP Touch People Everyone Is Not Alive limited-edition vinyl LP Brendon Benson Well & Goode 7-inch Paul McCartney and Wings Band on the Run 7-inch.Taken from the forthcoming Paul McCartney Archive Collection reissue of Band On The Run, this limited-edition, highly-collectible vinyl 7-inch replicates the original U.S. single release that shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 back in June of 1974. Housed in a deluxe picture sleeve and digitally re-mastered from the original tapes, this is sure to become a sought after Paul McCartney single release for years to come. Elvis CostelloThis Year’s Model 180-gram half-speed master vinyl LP (only 5,000 made!) Elvis CostelloArmed Forces 180-gram half-speed master vinyl LP (only 5,000 made!) PixiesBossanova 180-gram half-speed master vinyl LP (only 5,000 made!) KlaxonsSurfing the Void CD Puscifer“C” is for … vinyl LP Wingless Angels (Keith Richards)Volume I and II Shadow Shadow ShadeShadow Shadow Shade CD Soundgarden Telephantasm 3LP vinyl version. Read more HERE. Amy Correia You Go Your Way CD Darden SmithMarathon CD Fever Ray Mercy Street 7-inch Lloyd Cole Broken Record CD Nicole Atkins Vultures 7-inch Cee Lo F**k You CD single, only 99 cents! Read more HERE Maroon 5 Hands All Over Indie Store Version with bonus tracks Weezer Raditude Photos 144-page color photo book Puscifer Sound Into Blood Into Wine CD Puscifer “C” is For … CD Sea Wolf Turn the Dirt Over 7-inch Hayley Taylor One Foot in Front of the Other CD Mason Jennings Live at First Ave. CD BradBest Friends? vinyl LP Corinne Bailey RaeThe Sea vinyl LP Paper BirdWhen the River Took Flight CD Record Store Days book Coconut RecordsNighttimingvinyl LP Crooked FingersForfeit/Fortune vinyl LP Josh Ritter Golden Age of Radio CD Josh RitterS/T CD Patton Oswalt222 CD Right Away, Great Captain!The Eventually Home CD Warren HaynesThe Lone EP William FitzsimmonsDerivatives CD BradBest Friends? CD The CoralButterfly House standard/deluxe CD The Damnwells Golden Days DVD John Wesley HardingSings to a Small Guitar Vol. 1 CD Kristin HershCrooked CD Neu! Vinyl Box Set Earl GreyhoundSuspicious Package CD Shonen Knife Live at Mowawk Place 2009 DVD Donavon Frankenreiter Revisited vinyl LP Various Artists Eat, Pray, Love soundtrack CD BeckSea Change half-speed master vinyl LP Cowboy Junkies Whites Off Earth Now! half-speed master vinyl LP Elvis Costello My Aim Is True half-speed master vinyl LP Faith No More Angel Dust half-speed master vinyl LP Megadeth Countdown to Extinction half-speed master vinyl LP Pixies Surfer Rosa half-speed master vinyl LP Pixies Doolittlehalf-speed master vinyl LP Bad BrainsLive at CBGB 1982 vinyl LP Builders and the ButchersWhere the Roots All Grow CD Earl GreyhoundSoft Targets CD FilterInevitable Relapse 7-inch Junip (Jose Gonzalez) Rope and Summit vinyl LP Matthew RyanDear Lover Acoustic Version CD Via AudioAnimalore CD and vinyl LP William Fitzsimmons Derivatives CD Donavon Frankenreiter Revisited CD Guggenheim Grotto Universe is Laughing CD Hurricane Bells Tonight is the Ghost CD I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business The World We Know CD Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds The Mercy Seat 12-inch (limited edition white vinyl!) STS9Ad Explorata vinyl LP The Glitch Mob Drink the SeaCD Mz StreamzIt’s Alive CD Shannon McNallyColdwater CD Snow and VoicesAnything That Moves CD Toots and the MaytalsFlip and Twist CD Record Store Day exclusives. We still have limited quantities left of select titles! NirvanaIn Utero 180-gram yellow colored vinyl LP NirvanaMTV Unplugged 180-gram red colored vinyl LP NirvanaNevermind colored vinyl LP SlacktoneWarning: Reverb Instrumentals CD Randall BramlettThe Meantime CD Lou ReedSatellite Of Love 7-inch The ReplacementsI’ll Be You 7-inch The RamonesCalifornia Sun 7-inch Kate NashMy Best Friend is You Indie Store Version with bonus track. The Ravenna ColtSlight SpellCD and vinyl LP. Vampire WeekendContra indie-store version bundled with a limited-edition bonus CD featuring three exclusive tracks! BlakRocBlakRoc CD and vinyl LP, ONLY VERSION WITH LUDACRIS/ODB TRACK “COOCHIE” and it’s going quickly! Get it while you can — very limited quantities remaining of this first pressing! Old Crow Medicine ShowGreetings From Wawa limited-edition CD reissue. DJ ShadowIn L.A. 10-31-09 CD Jack JohnsonBrushfire Fairytales limited-edition CD Josh RitterHello Starling vinyl/double CD reissue The BeatlesAbbey Road vinyl box (w/ t-shirt and poster) Zac Brown BandLive From Bonnaroo CD EP
Oneohtrix Point Never‘s Replica must be some sort of masterpiece, an assessment quantifiable in terms of the outlandish metaphors and sci-fi jargon that bloggers and critics have already repurposed in order to describe it.
What is a Record Exchange exclusive? It’s a CD, vinyl LP, 7-inch, DVD or other product you can only find at the RX — no big box, corporate record store chain or uncle’s basement will have it.