New Mars Volta – Cotopaxi and Since We’ve Been Wrong

Two new-ish Mars Volta tracks to share with you. Cotopaxi and Since We’ve Been Wrong.

Since We’ve Been Wrong appears to be what pops into Omar’s head when he decides to write an ‘acoustic’ album. Sure, it’s got an acoustic guitar in it, but it’s not exactly the stripped down, minimal sound you expect when someone says ‘acoustic album’. For the opening minute or so, behind the arpeggiated guitar riffs and Cedric’s (relatively) hushed vocals, a delayed, reverberating electric guitar pulses in the background but only until the chorus hits and it explodes into a latin infused guitar solo. By the final minute of the song there’s at lease two extra layers of guitars throw in, some strings and other ethereal, ambient sounds all join the mix. Not exactly a James Blunt strumfest, thankfully and very good.

Cotopaxi, however, is probably my favourite of the two singles. It’s the same sort of interstellar, operatic prog-rock featuring Cedric’s typically octave bursting wails completely unrestrained by any acoustic nonsense. It’s got a great Schizoid Man style break with a tight interplay between the shuffling drums and relentlessly ascending guitar. Your ‘typical’ Mars Volta song, if such a thing exists. Since We’ve Been Wrong feels restricted by its acoustic stylings, that it never really sticks to, this song has no pretensions and just goes straight out the blocks.

Both songs are very good, though. This could be my sort of acoustic album.

You can dig a little deeper and check out their ‘interactive artwork experience site’ http://www.intotheoctahedron.com/ which features what is presumably going to be the album artwork,a stream of Since We’ve Been Wrong, pictures of the band and lyrics to Cotopaxi to check out, if you like that sort of thing.

The artwork is pretty special. I’m not sure if it’s a contender for best or worst album artwork of the year so far though…it certainly evokes something in me.

The Mars Volta’s fifth album, Octahedron, is due out on the 23rd of June.

1. “Since We’ve Been Wrong” 7:20
2. “Teflon” 5:04
3. “Halo of Nembutals” 5:30
4. “With Twilight as My Guide” 7:52
5. “Cotopaxi” 3:38
6. “Desperate Graves” 4:56
7. “Copernicus” 7:22
8. “Luciforms” 8:21

I just hope the album is more De-Loused than Bedlam.

MP3: The Mars Volta – Cotopaxi
MP3: The Mars Volta – Since We’ve Been Wrong

Regina Spektor’s new song and video is really, really bad

Regina Spektor‘s always been an artist I’ve always wanted to get into, but as many times as I’ve been drawn into her by a song, there’s been a time where I’ve something that really grinds my gears. I’ve never really been a fan of ‘minimal’ stripped down singer-songwriter ‘guff’ and she’s always toed that line between earnest sentimentality and trite banality a little too much.

This song and this video is an example of the times she’s grinded my gears…

Ignoring the song’s complete lack of dynamism and a hook. Ignoring Regina’s constant force-feeding of an unbearably schmaltzy and infuriatingly smug ‘God’ idea that sounds like something a stoner would profoundly come up with in the middle of a high before coming down and relishing what rubbish they’ve spoken. Ignoring the awfully meandering and limp lines that just further embarrass what is essentially a simple idea by butchering its execution (and make her sound like she may have been high when she performed as well as conceived the song)

Ignoring all these things. The music video looks like an extremely vivid and unbearably ‘naff’ nightmare. What are meant to presumably be abstract, metaphysical landscapes look like they were made sometimes in the mid 90s, perhaps modeled using a Sony Playstation. It looks like a video made by whatever the bland piano-pop equivalent of pen and pixel is. Instead of lens flared, Mercedes, gold chains, guns, we get huge apples, lots of Reginas and she takes off her head, wow! The aching earnestness of her face throughout it all! God..

Her voice annoys me too, it’s got that child-like Joanna Newsomishness going on which just feels so affected, unnatural and put on.

It’s a shame because I really like Blue Lips which I first heard on Jools Holland earlier in the month, It has the same sort of fragile earnestness, the same repetition of a clear, simple ‘humanistic’ theme, but it manages to get it right in all the places that Laughing With doesn’t.

Perhaps I will give her a chance. Sometime.

MP3: Regina Spektor – Laughing With

Myspace:http://www.myspace.com/reginaspektor

Ugh, what a rant. Three (mainly) negative posts in a row! I’ll try and post something I actually like later.