SOUNDTRACK: STARS-No One is Lost Tour EP (2014).
Stars are back with a new album and this downloadable 5 song EP. There’s something about Stars’ aggressive pop sensibilities that I just love. It’s the dual vocals, the big choruses and I’m sure to a certain degree it’s the darkness in the lyrics that compliment the poppy music so much.
The EP has five songs, “No One is Lost” and “From The Night” are from their new album. “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It” is from their previous album The North. There’s also two exclusive tracks: “Blue Is The Colour” and “From The Night” (A Tribe Called Red Remix).
“From the Night” has simple, keyboard note-driven verses which are obliterated by the dancey and even discoey chorus. Surprisingly at the 4 minute point, it adds a third fast part which segues back into the catchy chorus. “No One is Lost” opens with Amy Milan speaking French before the keyboards wash in. It has a slightly faster pace than their usual fare. But despite the bouncy music in the chorus, we get the twisted lyric: “put your hands up coz everybody dies” (that’s Stars in a nutshell).
“Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It” is less dancey (perhaps less discoey sounding is more accurate). It’s got a real Stars feel to it (when Milan comes in at the chorus it is really angelic), and showcases Stars’ previous album very well.
The two new songs include the Tribe Called Red remix of “From the Night.” I’m not that big a fan of remixes, but this one is pretty good. I like the way they stripped the big chorus of the music and left it spare–which makes their catchy vocals seem kind of sinister. I actually expected a bit more of Tribe’s signature sound put into the song, but that’s not really what remixes are all about, so I guess it’s no real surprise they didn’t.
“Blue is the Colour” is a dark sounding song as well, until the chorus comes in with some poppy keyboards and slinky guitars. It’s very electronic sounding which I love in contrast to Torquil’s mellow vocals. But at 6 minutes long, this song has many sections up its sleeve, and the twist at 4 minutes really turns the song into something else, with an almost epic feel.
It’s a great sample of Stars more recent work. This link takes you to WXPN from which you can download the EP from NoiseTrade.
[READ: November 5, 2014] Mr. Gwyn
I loved this book. It has been one of my absolute favorite books in years.
The premise is fairly simple. A successful writer (Mr. Gwyn) has had three books published to much acclaim and financial success. But one day he wakes up and decides that he is done writing. He crafts a list of 50 things he will never do again, and one of them is write a book which he publishes in the newspaper. His agent thinks it is a great marketing scheme, but Gwyn is quite serious.
Gwyn then disappears from society for a while. Only his agent is able to fin him (Gwyn and the agent are very close).
After a series of small incidents, Gwyn’s agent tracks him down at the laundromat. He has sent his new employee, a young woman named Rebecca, to give him a phone through which they can talk. Rebecca is respectful and Gwyn is fascinated by her. Over the next few months, he and his agent only communicate via Rebecca.
One day, in order to avoid a rain storm, Gwyn ducks into an art gallery. He has never really understood art. But he becomes fascinated with the portraits there. And he decides that his new “job” is that he is going to create portraits with words. He calls his new occupation, “copyist.” Obviously his agent freaks out about his–no one even knows what “copyist” means. But Gwyn is determined.
He spends the next few months getting ready–he rents a studio, buys furniture and specially ordered light bulbs. And then he is ready to work. But who will he his first portrait be? He finally settles on Rebecca–someone he knows a little and feels comfortable enough to ask to pose for him. And this is where the story became fantastic. (more…)
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Wells Fargo Center is becoming one of my favorite venues. Not because the acoustics are so good (although they are pretty good), but because now I’ve seen three of my favorite concerts there: Rush, Muse and now Pearl Jam.
I Just Read About That... 