Monday, January 31, 2011

Matt and Kim- Sidewalks




ARTIST: MATT AND KIM
ALBUM: SIDEWALKS
RATING: 8/10
YEAR: 11/2/2010
TRACKLISTING:
  1. Block After Block – 2:55
  2. AM/FM Sound – 3:14
  3. Cameras – 3:32
  4. Red Paint – 3:06
  5. Where You're Coming From – 4:09
  6. Good for Great – 3:50
  7. Northeast – 2:51
  8. Wires - 3:58
  9. Silver Tiles – 3:36
  10. Ice Melts – 3:45
Album available at www.mattandkimmusic.com/

Whats that I have in my hand? Is it another late pass? Yes it is. I slept on this record for a while. I am very much a Matt and Kim fan, ever since I saw them on tour with Against Me! in 2007. Since then I have seen them many times live, each show more energetic than the last. The reason I slept on this record was because I knew it would be very cheery sounding, and its winter time. What do these things have in common? I have no motivation to be happy in the winter, therefore don't listen to much cheery music.

But I saw a video of them playing a newer song live and decided to check the new record out.

The album starts off with a very hip hop influenced track, called Block after Block. Not a bad way to start the record. Gets you into the groove pretty quick. This song is not nearly as good in my opinion as the track that follows it, AM/FM Sound. Such a poppy chorus, its really hard to stop your foot from tapping the ground to this awesome party track. Throughout the next couple tracks( Cameras, red paint) it gets kind of easy to blend the tracks together. A little change of pace on "where youre coming from" is refreshing at 5 tracks in.

The song northeast is not like many other songs on the record at all. Much slower, and quite heartfelt. Not just a party jam. Matt and kim apparently decided to re-record a classic song from their self titled release. An updated version of "silver tiles" was an unexpected joy for me. It wasnt as fast as the original recording, it seemed. It has been a while since I heard the original, but I feel like Kim added some new drum rolls that give the song a way more solid edge.

I enjoyed listening to this record, just like I do with other Matt and Kim records. I liked this one a bit more than I enjoyed their release"Grand." The downside of this record is that sometimes the songs bleed into one another where 2 minutes may have passed and you didnt notice a song change. This is by far the best produced record, the drums sound amazing. Kim really let the beats go free on this record. I hear a very strong hip hop influence. Most of the record is hip hop influenced in old school hip hop, especially the album opener. On top of the old school hip hop feel..I'm getting a vibe of Billy Talent meets Fang Island. Matts vocals are so well done on this record, his voice really does sound familiar to Animal Collective's Avey tare. High pitched, but not nasily. Perfect melody. This record is a great pick me up, and even though the songs do kinda bleed into eachother at times..whos to say that an album clocking in at a little over 30 minutes should be anything but a fun dance party?

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