Charlotte Gainsbourg & Beck, “IRM” Review

By Rip Empson

You may know Charlotte Gainsbourg as the stunning and talented French actress from The Science of Sleep, 21 Grams, or Lars von Trier’s Palme-d’Or-winning Antichrist -- but what you may not know is that she also happens to be the daughter of legendary gallic singer/songwriter and troublemaker, Serge Gainsbourg. It seems music has always been in her blood, even though she’s spent most of her musical life in the shadow of her father – and their strange, provocative 1984 duet album that included a song called “Lemon Incest.”

Fast forward to 2006 and you’d find Gainsbourg beginning to establish her own musical sound, thanks to her Air-backed, heart-break record, 5:55, which went platinum in France. She parlayed her success into a collaboration with jack-of-all-sounds, Mr. Beck Hansen, who produced her latest effort, IRM.

Written, produced, arranged, and mostly played by Beck, IRM unsurprisingly sounds a lot like … a Beck album. WEIRD, right? With the sonic swashbuckler at the helm, musically IRM is a Frankensteinian mix of psych rock, nerd rap, graveyard blues, and eerie ballads. As a result, the album feels a lot like the doppelganger of Modern Guilt, Beck’s 2008 collaboration with the ubiquitous Danger Mouse.


Thematically, IRM, which is French for “MRI,” was inspired by a head injury Gainsbourg sustained while water skiing that led to two years of testing and multiple brain scans to prove that she was healthy. The incident and its aftermath left an indelible impression on her, inspiring the album’s mood, which seems permeated by electronic resonances, biological cadences, and heavy, existential lyrics.

Though Gainsbourg’s vocal abilities seem somewhat limited, she gets the most out of her voice, varying her approach with each song. And in spite of the overall eeriness of the album, her reverb-soaked cooing, purring, and double-tracked harmonizing adds a sex appeal and joyful defiance to the sinister landscape.

The heavy bass, minimal guitar and breathy vocals of the album allow its songs to anxiously explore the darker side of pop music, as the distortion-tinged guitar of “Trick Pony” sounds like something Danger Mouse and The Black Keys would have created, as Gainsbourg’s vocal harmonies float over it in psychedelic reverb – as is “Looking Glass Blues,” which is another opiate-filled song riffing on Alice in Wonderland, backed by inverted organ and spooky blues guitar.

All in all, IRM seems to have brought out the best of both Beck and Gainsbourg, especially if you are a fan of the creepier side of pop. There’s a lot going on sonically, and a lot of pondering going on thematically, which gives the album depth and makes it worthy of multiple listens. I’m not always a fan of dour, abstract pop music, but a sexy French grim reaper is better than the alternative, am I right? IRM may be wispy-edged and hallucinogenic, but it succeeds in celebrating the fragility and darkness of life -- and, in the end -- the bliss of survival.

It’s definitely an interesting album and well worth a listen.

11 out of a possible 13 caskets.

The Black Keys' "Brothers" Album Review

By Rip Empson


From where I sit, The Black Keys long ago cemented their legacy as the Greatest Band to Come Out of Akron, Ohio Since Devo. Now, admittedly, the competition for this illustrious distinction isn’t exactly fierce, but following-up on the huge success of 2008’s Attack and Release, their hazy, psychedelic collaboration with Danger Mouse, on top of a critically acclaimed foray into hip hop last year with Blakrock, which attracted the likes of RZA, Mos Def, and Ludacris … ? Easier said than done.

This being the case, I was anxious to see (along with perhaps a few other Black Keys fans) if Brothers – which released May 18 – would be another step away from the gritty, blues-fried sound that made them my special band. Luckily, my concerns were unfounded. What’s so cool about Brothers is that, being the Keys’ sixth album, it demonstrates a maturity that should now come with being produced by The Best Thing From Akron Besides LeBron; the album manages to both pay tribute to the band’s Delta influences as well as build upon their experiments in other genres.

While a little errant pop does shine through, Brothers nevertheless confirms that The Black Keys will remain the torch-bearers of badass contemporary blues – always just a little weirder and muddier than their counterparts, The White Stripes. Fittingly, the album kicks off with the rolling, catchy “Everlasting Light,” which features guitarist Dan Auerbach singing in distortion-soaked falsetto, punctuated by doo-wop back-up singers and revolving glam guitar that would make Marc Bolan (of the great T Rex) proud as a weird, British peacock.

From there on out (with one or two exceptions), Brothers is permeated with the retro, swampy feel of 70’s-era Chess B-sides – or more accurately – the Muscle Shoal sound. To record their newest effort, Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney headed down to an obscure town in northwestern Alabama to record at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, once an underground mecca for R & B and rock artists, seeing the likes of Aretha, The Stones, Wilson Pickett, and Paul Simon, pass through its doors.

If Brothers is any indication -- Muscle Shoal has some good voodoo. Sure, the album sounds slick in places, and Danger Mouse returns for collaboration on the cinematic pop anthem “Tighten Up” and, yes, there’s some whistling. But, the hazy and heavy Black Keys are back. “Black Mud” and “The Go Getter” will have you thinking you’re doing heroin with Robert Plant and Albert King.



So, for any of you Black Keys blues purists out there, don’t worry – the chewy bump of “Howlin’ For You” (along with the album cover’s homage to Howlin’ Wolf’s 1969 “The Howlin’ Wolf Album”) and “Ten Cent Pistol” will leave plenty of grit in your teeth – and assure you that there’s enough blues to go around.

With Brothers, it’s clear that Auerbach and Carney have been soaking up plenty of Curtis Mayfield and classic soul – and that they’re trying to teach old sounds new tricks. With great singing by Auerbach and the best drumming by Carney yet, I think it’s working. But, then again, I’m just a janitor.

11.5 out of a 13 possible carrots … or a “B+” if you wanna be a dick about it.

Maybe "Congratulations" or Maybe Not: MGMT's New Album

MGMT's new album, Congratulations, has received mixed press. The album is stirring the critic pool, causing wakes which might be intended. As Michael Roffman from Consequence of Sounds wrote in his review, "The boys behind MGMT want to tell you something. It’s short and to the point. That message? Thanks for listening, but fuck you." In comparison Culture Bully stated "the record is hardly as unlistenable as some have made it out to seem; the album retains a continuous flow and offers a variety of different sounds within the larger umbrella of modern psychedelic rock."

It's hard to say whether Ben Goldwasser's apology in an interview with Spinner Magazine is sincere, and why should it? Regarding their fans' negative response towards the first single "Flash Delirium," Goldwasser told Spinner, "I'm sure there are plenty of people who think it's completely weird and not what they were expecting. I'm sorry." Sorry won't cut it bub, I want another "Kids," make me dance!

All the hoopla and critique have left SFCritic wondering: What's the big deal? With Oracular Spectacular, MGMT took the world by storm and soon after (and in this order), Rolling Stone magazine awarded the album eighteenth best of the decade. In essence, if a "music critic" didn't review this album it ought to be for the reason of political resistant, or a death wish to one's general credibility. But in this instance, when an album like Congratulations winds up on your doorstep, it's like that baby you never intended to adopt: it could change your life, for better or for worse, or it could be just a story. I mean the album is THAT important to everyone, right? Who cares about waiting to review the album after the scheduled release date?

In the Spinner interview, Goldwasser stated that fame is "not our world. We don't feel comfortable in it. But we didn't want to make that typical second album either, about fame. So we're definitely observing it, as opposed to reveling in it."Kudos sir. Who needs those "I love MGMT" fans who knew only three of your songs ("Kids," "Time to Pretend," and "Electric Feel"). I'm sure Milli Vanilli would roll in his grave over your career decision, Congratulations.

All things considered, MGMT might be saying "fuck you," but who are we to tell them what to say? Who wants a fair-weather fan? Who gives a shit what such and such blog has to say? "Here you go blogs, Congratulations. Here's out album, whatever, fight amongst yourselves for editorial supremacy, see if we care!" So being SFCritics, we feverishly debated over a cold one and thought to share bits of our conversation--not because it makes a difference, but because we like to read our thoughts. Congratulations for reading.

*While listening to the album*


Eve: Why make a such a huge departure from the first album? Why not have singles? You were actually really good at singles MGMT. What's wrong with being good at something, huh?

David: Yeah, I'm not good at anything. I don't think they should be sorry though. I mean, I doubt they're really sorry, but even so--their job is to make music, not win a popularity contest.

Eve: Making something totally different is one thing; it doesn't have to be bad, it could be great--but it's not. It sounds like a musical, like the Wiz or some horror score. ["Lady Dada's Nightmare" plays] I've been listening to it all day. This song sucks too.

David: Why is a wretched woman screaming off at the top of her lungs? I was scared when I was eight and heard "Thriller," but this is ten folds more intense. Whether it's one in the same maybe after fifteen more plays I'll have a better answer, but why give it fifteen plays?

Eve: I suppose I can respect them if the point is doing something creative. Oracular Spectacular had these three really great singles, and for many people that's MGMT. Now, this album doesn't have really any stand-out singles, which they communicated on NPR. Unfortunately it also isn't very good.

David: If they had put out an album that sounded just like the last one, and then on top of that it was awful, that would be tragic. The album is either like a bad joke, and the jokes on us for either liking it or hating it--or well, I don't know--it's a bad joke right?