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Monday, October 13, 2008

MP3 Not Bad... Well, Pretty Good

Posted by Andrew R Tonry on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 4:22 PM

On my way to the Decmberists' Merkley Fundraiser last night (Ezra is wrong--we here at End Hits DO know politics) I stopped by Everyday Music and listened to the CD's up on the wall. One in particular surprised me: Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul.

In some ways the album reminds of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Howl with mostly simple structures, strong, sparse beats and killer production. Dig's sound is excellently described in a recent review by Ben Ratliff of the New York Times:

... "Dig Out Your Soul," the group's seventh studio album, should be heard in a really good stereo showroom: an extraordinary one with high-end stuff, and where the salesmen might let you have beer and chips while you listen. Produced by Dave Sardy, the record is an interior trip, rich with guitar and voices and organs and keyboards, some of the sonic layers scuffed and some clear as water. You get the full measure of the sound because the songs stay in single chords for longer. It's an expensive record valorizing the drone.

It sounds so good; really, it sounds better than it is. Noel Gallagher, the band's guitarist and principal songwriter, wrote half the album and the best of its droney tracks: "Bag It Up," "The Shock of the Lightning," "(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady." They all go down in the first half, and they're not fascinating; they don't particularly show off his skill for the unexpected chord change. As ambitious as it is in the experience of sound and groove, "Dig Out Your Soul" is unambitious in songwriting content.

Listen: Oasis - "(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady"