Thursday, January 31, 2013

Lo-Fi Snow Day - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Temperatures for the week along the northern Mississippi:

St. Paul, MN: 3°, feels like -17°
La Crosse, WI: 9°, feels like -9°
Davenport, IA: 9°, feels like -12°


So that's that. Now dig this. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the brainchild of Ruban Nielson, has a new LP out on JagjaguwarII is lo-fi at its best - distant, muted guitar, crisp, muted snares, a punchy muted bass, and scratchy, muted vocals that hit all the notes. And just listen to the chord structures - especially on "So Good at Being in Trouble," which sounds so very much like something remixed off of the Black Keys' Brothers. Check out the little soul vocal throw that Nielson opens with - very catchy. I don't need to say anything about how this album blends Sgt. Pepper with Of Montreal - if Kevin Barnes bumped to more hip-hop beats. I guess analogy is the best way I can tell you that this album has it all. 

"So good at being in trouble, so bad at being in love."

So good at making and mixing a rock LP.