When It Hits: 5 Albums You Should Listen to This Month

 

              Although Hyogo Times may have satiated your intellectual and visual cravings with literary and film recommendations, we haven’t forgotten about your auditory needs. In his song “Trenchtown Rock,” Bob Marley sings, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” However, to suggest that listening to music is merely painless would deny a mental and emotional elation that also accompanies the experience. Music reaches us at a personal level, expressing what is not easily conveyed through normal dialogue. This month we give you 5 albums from a variety of genres for you to fill both the tiny holes on the side of your head and your heart.

 

1989 by Taylor Swift (album release October 27)

2014 seems to be a year of matured album releases. The musicians listed here whose 4^th, 5^th, and even 9^th studio albums are being released do not show the amateur or nervous tendencies that you find in many debut albums. These albums reflect an artist’s or band’s confidence, a mastery of their style, and a willingness to try something new. Taylor Swift’s 1989 does just that. Swift announced early this year that she would take a step away from her country roots for this album and with her single “Shake It Off” it appears she is doing so boldly. However, fans eager to hear what else is in store will have to wait until the end of the month for the CD’s release. Even if you are not the biggest pop or country fan, T. Swift’s enormous popularity here in Japan provides a great opportunity to connect with your students while further introducing them to foreign culture.

 

Everything Will Be Alright in the End by Weezer (album release October 7)

While listening to the podcast All Songs Considered on NPR in August, which I highly recommend to any music enthusiast, producer and host Robin Hilton offered an interesting and eye-opening opinion about early Weezer fans. Hilton said that something often happens to fans of artists who have been around for 10 or more years, where the early ones fall away, become nostalgic and then refuse to accept that anything after the first few records is worth listening to. Even “Back to the Shack,” a single from the new album, shares some of the band’s own desires to get back to a more familiar time. Feeling ashamed that I was indeed one of those fans who like Hilton said, “Put[s] The Blue Album on a pedestal,” I’ve spent the last month listening to all those albums I deemed unworthy and in the process rediscovered why I became a Weezer fan in the first place. Yes, I still hold their first albums in high regard, but something great can be found in all their works and I am genuinely excited for this new album. It also helps that Ric Ocasek, guitarist for The Cars and producer of both The Blue Album and The Green Album is once again lending his production skills for the project. So put your wariness aside and rest assure that even after 20 years Weezer can still deliver to old and new fans alike.

 

Listen by The Kooks

Although Listen, The Kooks 4^th studio album, was released in early September, you should make it a priority to listen to the album since they will be touring Japan later this month. For fans of Britpop rock looking for something in between the Arctic Monkeys and The 1975, The Kooks’ newest album is for you. The album contains moments of slow gospel choir in “See Me Now,” latin-like rhythms in “Dream” and “Sunrise,” and British-invasion influence found in “It Was London.” Similar to their previous albums, The Kooks are not afraid to slow it down (this is especially apparent from their tendency to play acoustic and the last four songs on the CD’s deluxe edition), and yet, those looking for a faster pace found in previous singles like “Naïve” will also be pleased.

 

Rhapsody in Beauty by The Novembers (album release October 15)

If you are interested in expanding your musical taste to include more Japanese artists look no further than The Novembers. They list a number of their influences on their website, which include The Smiths, Joy Division, and Arcade Fire, lending to an often soft sometimes dark yearning tone that often slowly builds to a static instrumental bombardment throughout their tracks. Although absent from the list I couldn’t help, but be reminded of My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins at certain moments throughout their songs as well. Releasing their 5^th album Rhapsody in Beauty later this month, this four piece band will also start their Romancé tour two days after the album release in Nagoya. You can catch them in Osaka at the Music Club Janus on Sunday, October 19.

 

Too Tough to Die by the Ramones (album release October 1, 1984)

It’s impossible to do an album recommendation list without sneaking in at least one that is celebrating an anniversary. This month marks the 20^th anniversary of Too Tough to Die, and it also felt appropriate to honor Tommy Ramone, the last original Ramones member who passed away earlier this year in July. Even if you’ve never listened to the Ramones, their name and influence has permeated throughout popular culture. Punk rock enthusiasts know just how instrumental they were in advancing the popularity of the genre.

The album itself, their 8^th studio production, which Tommy helped produce, is often celebrated as a return to their roots whereas previous albums had strayed more into pop. Songs like their instrumental “Durango 95” that leads straight into “Wart Hog” and followed by “Danger Zone” are a punk’s dream of fast head-banging with the latter two being lyrically repetitive, but in a way that adds rhythmically to the beats. One could also argue that The Ramones’ “Danger Zone” is much more suitable for a movie like Top Gun than the version Kenny Loggins released two years later. With 1984 being the year of Big Brother a number of songs tend to address societal concerns, but a number of tracks also shine a positive light on living even when things aren’t so bright, like “Chasing the Night” and “I’m Not Afraid to Die.” So although we similarly face a number of pressing issues around the globe, live your life as you choose, you paid the price, paid your dues it’s what this album recommends and how the original members of The Ramones surely lived.

 

 

Sean Mulvihill

 

*touring: http://thekooks.com/#!/home

*Music Club Janus: http://www.arm-live.com/janus/schedule/2014_10.html

*All Songs Considered: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/