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By Rudy Klapper, June 20, 2011 11:00 am

Owl City – All Things Bright and Beautiful

Universal Republic 2011

Rating: 2/10

“Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn’t want to live there,” Owl City visionary Adam Young sings on opener “The Real World” off his new album All Things Bright and Beautiful, and, honestly, has there ever been a more relatable line? As critics everywhere have lamented, originality has gone by the wayside, the stagnation of art and culture seemingly omnipresent, in throwaway pop music, vapid, cardboard cut-outs of rock stars and regurgitated influences. The truth is, reality is a reused, recycled place, sadly enough, but for a little over forty minutes on Adam’s new record, he manages to transport us somewhere that isn’t so stale. All Things Bright and Beautiful is painted in bright watercolors, day-glo synths and candy-colored drum machines backlighting lyrics that speak to the eternal optimist in all of us, the starstruck inner child who believes that anything is possible. It’s what Owl City is all about, and with this sophomore effort, Adam is living his dream, and we’re all invited to join!

If All Things Bright and Beautiful has a mission statement, it’s that we should always be appreciative of the everyday joy around us. Adam has always been a bit of a naturalist, referencing nature metaphors and the wonders of creation throughout his promising 2009 debut Ocean Eyes, but here his intertwining of relationships with evocative imagery is promise fulfilled. “If the green left the grass on the other side / I would make like a tree and leave / but if I reached for your hand would your eyes get wide? / Who knew the other side could be so green?” Adam croons in a delicate duet with Breanne Düren on “Honey and the Bee,” effortlessly combining natural imagery with his own unique brand of humor and a heart-on-his-sleeve approach that we could all take a lesson from in this cynical world. Lyrically, however, Adam refuses to be pigeonholed. The juxtaposition of “Kamikaze” with the Ronald Reagan vocal sample on “January 28, 1986” tastefully compares the bravery between Japanese suicide pilots and the crew of the doomed U.S. space shuttle Challenger, respectively, while on “Hospital Flowers” Adam fearlessly lives the role of an emergency-room victim: “The curtain decayed, the daylight poured in / I was never afraid of the darkness again / my burns were third degree, but I’d been set free / ‘cause grace had finally found its way to me.” At times, Adam’s lyrics approach near poetry, no more so than on this opening stanza from “Dreams Don’t Turn to Dust,” where Adam calls out all those who have lost hope in their aspirations: “Splashdown in the silver screen into a deep dramatic scene / I swam through the theater, or maybe I’m just a dreamer / like a kite in the bright midday, Wonder stole my breath away / shy sonata for Mercury; the stars always sing so pretty.” Inspirational, to say the least.

Adam’s lyrics may be poetry, but it’s All Things Bright and Beautiful’s array of effervescent electro-pop backing tracks that make them into an organic artistic statement. The album has suffered multiple release-date setbacks, but the extra time has actually ripened the final product. As Adam mentioned in an interview, the additional time allowed him “to better connect the dots and ensure that every cloud in the sky is stitched together with its own special silver lining.” The care and attention show; where Ocean Eyes was often (perhaps unfairly) criticized for its one-trick pony electronic angle, All Things Bright and Beautiful leaves no musical stone unturned. “Honey and the Bee” builds up to its delectable declaration of love with a light fingerpicked acoustic melody, cleverly drawing a thematic connection between the lack of electronic elements in the tune and its message of irrepressible love via animal metaphors. Closer “Plant Life” is an epic rocker replete with stadium-sized keyboard chords and a chorus that calls to mind similarly positive artists Train, while “Hospital Flowers” and its gentle piano melody remind us all of the fragility of human life and the eternal hope of redemption. First single “Alligator Sky,” meanwhile, is a daring venture into hip-hop, a firm notice to his critics that Adam is not afraid to delve into unfamiliar territory.

His roots haven’t been forgotten, however; on the contrary, All Things Bright and Beautiful is a new voice for electro pop, from the pounding four-on-the-floor of “Deer in the Headlights” to the appropriately spacey vibe of album centerpiece “Galaxies.” It’s his calling card and, if anything, the sound already present on Ocean Eyes has been refined, a finely glossed sheen of high production values polishing Adam’s potent “bedroom-pop” sound without losing any of his emotional intimacy. All Things Bright and Beautiful is just what Adam has shown flashes of since “Fireflies” took the world by storm: a groundbreaking, original artist not unafraid to sing what he’s feeling, unfettered by societal constraints and the cynicism of the 21^st century, all buttressed by a fresh take on pop that combines the best of Beatles-esque songwriting and modern electronics. The messages are universal: love everyone; notice the little things; take nothing for granted. The feeling is as primal as unwrapping presents on Christmas morning or freebasing Prozac. Most importantly, what All Things Bright and Beautiful encourages us to do is much what Adam Young has been doing his whole career: getting better and growing, as a human being and member of this crazy little world, each as unique and equal as the next.

Owl City – “Dreams Don’t Turn to Dust”

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By Rudy Klapper, May 25, 2011 10:00 am

Foster the People – Torches

Columbia 2011

Rating: 6/10

Foster the People almost made me want to hate them from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong – “Pumped Up Kicks,” the band’s first single, is easy to love, a MGMT rehash filtered through the surly Strokes-ish vocals of leader Mark Foster, propelled by the kind of hook Apple marketing execs’ wet dreams are made of. No, it was more how I found the band playing a evening set at Coachella off the basis of a three-song EP; how, after enjoying said set, I browsed through summer concerts to see the synthpop group playing a two night set in L.A. that had already promptly sold out months in advance; how KROQ has already murdered said great single by relentless replay, turning a song I loved into one I was already sick of after a couple months, à la MGMT’s “Time To Pretend;” See a trend here?

But I realized I was being selfish, and a bit jealous – this isn’t the first time a band has ridden the coattails of a great couple songs to a major label and national airplay, and far be it from me to hate a band that was merely guilty of knocking every pitch out of the park that came their way. As far as Foster the People go, it’s hard to blame them. Their self-titled EP was a fantastic three-song slice of electro-pop, the kind that MGMT and Passion Pit had already ridden in successive years to headlining festival slots. It’s the “in” sound right now, particularly in that glorified 18-24 demographic, and with “Pumped Up Kicks,” “Helena Beats” and “Houdini,” Foster the People could have done a lot worse than gifting the world with a remodeled MGMT devoid of any high art aspirations. These are powerfully neon-lit songs, summer anthems in the making that revel in surging synths and SoCal harmonies and hooks that sink deep. “Houdini,” in particular, is the kind of well produced jam that stands up to the best of their influences, a fist pumping piano part anchoring Foster’s waifish falsetto awash in day-glo electronics. It’s the kind of forward-thinking pop song that many an indie band would die for; Torches, thankfully, has about four or so more to spare.

The problem with Torches is the same problem uber-hyped groups like Black Kids have had in the past – we’ve already heard the best the band has had to offer. The three songs on the EP are the three best songs on the album, and it’s not even close. Those that are, most noticeably the Beach Boys ooh-la-las of “I Would Do Anything For You” and the inventive percussive rhythms underlying “Waste,” are unfortunately derailed by saccharine lyrics that call to mind the worst of electro-pop cash-ins. It makes me a little less confident that Foster, who, after all, chose the band name because he liked the “nurturing image it evoked of taking care of the people,” will be able to pair his considerable songwriting skill with lyrics that aren’t quite so stale.

Luckily for Foster, the hooks are still there, and for coeds looking for that perfect album to blast down the beach roads this summer, there are few albums better suited than Torches. Aside from the trying-too-hard-to-be-a-rock-band in closer “Warrant,” Foster the People show a remarkable skill in sticking to what they know, be it typical dance-rock sing-a-longs (preferably with the top down) like “Call It What You Want” or slightly off-kilter but still pleasantly palatable synth-rock numbers like “Hustling (Life on the Nickel),” “Miss You,” et al. But even a flavor of the season can be fleeting – just ask Black Kids’ how their sophomore album is coming along. For all the immediacy inherent in Torches, it’s hard to imagine listening to this album in a different time and place (say, winter of this year) and still having that instant connection. For better or for worse, Torches is a product of the here and now, and who can be mad at Foster the People for seizing it for all its worth? Get it while it lasts, boys.

Foster the People – “I Would Do Anything For You”

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By Rudy Klapper, August 27, 2010 8:00 am

In Ghost Colours is one of my favorite CDs of the past decade – needless to say, I’m pretty excited for Cut Copy’s upcoming release. “Where I’m Going” tones down the group’s trademark electro for a Beach Boys vibe that’s perfect for the dog days of summer.

Cut Copy – “Where I’m Going”