Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
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Free Music Notes for Transatlanticism
Free Music Review: "So this is the new year, and I don't feel any different..."
Hit: 5 Stars
Transatlanticism is such a beautiful record; a glorious example of how truly amazing music can be. This record is by far one of the best albums of 2003, and is the bands best effort yet. And my oh my have they had some amazing efforts...Death Cab for Cutie have created the perfect album with this release. Every note played and every word uttered is beautiful and brings about emotions and feelings of everything. This album is really well played and structured. I think Gibbard has opened up a lot with his lyrics, and it shows through the music as well. This album just seems more realized than previous efforts. It even seems happy and hopefull.
The New Year - 10/10 A bright happy track that is a perfect start for this album. It flows so well and cojours up feelings of hope and happiness, as the song is upbeat and very happy.
Lightness - 10/10 A short and sweet example of how beautiful and dreamy this band can be. A simple drum beat litterd with piano and soft guitars, all overshadowed by Gibbards amazing voice that is one of the best around.
Title and Registration - 10/10 Another upbeat song in vein of the New Year, only not as "full". A simple electronic beat shows the influence of Gibbards side project, the Postal Service.
Expo 86 - 10/10 Yet another upbeat song. The line "I am waiting for something to go wrong" kicks in and the song really picks up, and then falls back into the jangly progression it keeps through out the entire song. This dynamic creates a very interging song that I really enjoy. Thick guitars mixed with piano and steady rock solid drumming never sounded so good, as proven near the end of the song
The Sound of Settling - 10/10 It's upbeat, it's short, and it's simple. A song that beckons you to sing along, with the simple chorus of "Ba ba ba ba this is the sound of settling ba ba...". If you can keep from singing along to this, then you have got some really strong will power.
Tiny Vessels - 10/10 So soft and vast, I get lost in this song every time I hear it. This song brings up so many emotions, it is such a well paced song, and is one of the hidden gems on this album. A very depressing yet at the same time hopefull song. The softness fades in the middle of the song when the bass kicks in and the volume gets turned up, but it fades right back to the drums and guitars lulling you into a trance.
Transatlanticism - 10/10 Ok, I seriously can not describe this song and how amazing it is. I'll just say that it's a mostly piano track, very soft, very atmospheric, very dreamy. Creates a feeling of wonderment and somehow hope. I get lost in this track as well. A testemant to this bands talent.
Passenger Seat - 10/10 A very soft almost soley piano effort, truly beautiful. Again, I get lost in this song as well. Not much to be said about this, it speaks for its self. Beautiful.
Death of an Interior Decorator - 10/10 the first song that I don't think deserves a 10, but it gets it because it's still great. This song just feels a little out of place, I don't know why. I think it would have worked a lot better if it was on a earlier release, it just feels out of place. Still a great song though.
We Looked Like Giants - 10/10 Definatly a stand out track, amazing. I love this song so much. Probably the most rocking track on the album, it rocks in the way only Death Cab for Cutie Can. Rock solid drumming, layered guitars and piano litter this song, and Gibbard sounds his best on this track. Wow.
A Lack of Color - 10/10 Beautiful acoustic song, a perfect closer for the album. Amazing. Listen to it and you won't be able to say much either, it speaks for itself.
*yes, every song got a 10...Get over it, it's that good.
Overall, this is an amazing album, filled with 11 songs of perfection, by a band that is in their prime. It has something for everyone, and can be enjoyed by everyone. Even you.
Free Music Review: Gorgeous indie rock
Hit: 5 Stars
Let me just start this review off by saying that i worship Ben Gibbard. He has a soft, but forceful, voice, a knack for writing universally personal lyrics, and for making the listeners believe every word he says. I have any album he has sung on, including all Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service's Give Up and all of their EPs, All-Time Quarterback, which was his lo-fi band before death cab, and Jimmy Tamborello's band Dntel's Life Is Full of Possibilities. Yes, i am obessed.
that being said, nothing has ever shown his talent, nor that of the other amazing members of Death Cab, as this album. It is very coherent, beautiful, and powerful. Whenever anyone asks what Death Cab album they should start with, i answer with this one immediately. It is very accessible, and doesn't dabble in vain indie elitism.
The New Year is a decent starter, but unfortunately one of my least favorite on the album. It has its moments, but it is mainly repetitve. Lightness was my favorite for months. It is a very delicate and catchy song. Title and Registration is many's favorite because it is vulnerable, catchy, and pleasant to listen to. Many have been won over by that song
Expo '86 and Sound of Settling are my two least favorite songs. Don't get me wrong, they are both spectacular songs. But they pale in comparison to the two previous songs and the musically heavy followers. Tiny Vessels is the heaviest sounding of the album, and Gibbard confronts a sexual encounter with a cosmetically beautiful woman, but one in who means nothing to him. To a often sincere man like Gibbard, this song is surprisingly different. And thats a good thing! Transatlanticism is the towering opus, a whopping 8 minutes. Now, most of the time, i find repetition to be annoying and unneeded. But sometimes when it is done out of desperation, such as in the Photo Album's We Laugh Indoors, or out of longing, such as this song, it very much acceptable. Its difficult to not love this song. Passenger Seat is one of the most beautiful songs i have ever heard. It is simply Gibbard and slow piano that drives the song, but trust me, it is enough.
Now for the home stretch. I used to not like Death of An Interior Decorator all that much, but it has come to be one of my favorites of theirs. It is kind of fast in comparison to the past two songs, but it sets up the next song quite well. We Looked Like Giants is one of my top 5 death cab songs of all time. It is probaly the rock-iest of the album, but it has all of the personal and introspective genius as the rest of the slower songs. This song is a welcome change in the slow theme of the album. The next song, A Lack of Color is actually my favorite Death Cab song of all time. The music is calming, the vocals are delicate, and the lyrics are introspectively heartbreaking. "I should have given you a reason to stay..."
All in all, this is easily in my top 10 albums of all time. And i am a complete music addict, so that is saying something. Anyone, even you metalheads and rap fans, should at least check this out. If you love music, this album should strike a chord with you somewhere.
Free Music Review: Pure magic!
Hit: 5 Stars
As a die-hard DCfC fan, I've heard all their albums and this one, to me, seems the most coherent and complete. The themes run through each song seamlessly and, despite my heseitation at making a comparison, I consider this their best work yet.Here are the tracks:
1. The New Year
2. Lightness
3. Title and Registration
4. Expo '86
5. The Sound of Settling
6. Tiny Vessels
7. Transatlanticism
8. Passenger Seat
9. Death of an Interior Decorator
10. We Looked Like Giants
11. A Lack of Color
Now, this will come as a surprise to those of you who know me well, but while the lyrics are amazing, what first caught my ear with this album is the elegance of the sounds. It both starts and ends with what sounds like the noise a computer makes when it's running (the hum), giving it a sense of unity. I think that someone listening to a vocal-stripped version of this album could still tell it's DCfC, but there's a sense of greater freedom and distance from We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes or The Photo Album. When I listen to "The New Year," I get a sense of opening up, where much of We Have the Facts . . . appears closed-off. As suggested in "The Sound of Settling" (track 5), this album proclaims "if you've got an impulse, let it out," clearly and with joy.
On to individual songs. My favorites are "The New Year" (track 1), "Transatlanticism" (track 7), and "A Lack of Color" (track 11). "The New Year" and "Transatlanticism" present two different but convergent views of distance. "The New Year" suggests a solely physical difference, claiming if "the world was flat like the old days . . . there'd be no distance that could hold us back," while distance in "Transatlanticism" appears predominantly emotional. A rift--the Atlantic ocean--isolates the song's narrator from the rest of the world, "making islands where no island should go (oh no)." The point of "The New Year" is that distance can be overcome, while "Transatlanticism" bears the message that "the distance is quite simply much too far." The former has a progressive, moving beat, while the latter settles, resigned, into the simplicity of its percussive chords.
While the album is by no means "happy," its message is progressive. Though "there's a lack of color here," we are told not to worry, that "this is fact not fiction for the first time in years." All the album's elements converge in the final track--the unity, the "cycle [that] never ends" (as demonstrated by the identical sounds at the end of "A Lack of Color" and the beginning of "The New Year"), and "a reason to stay." We are, together with DCfC, facing reality, and part of facing reality is recognizing not only our failings, but our capabilities. Transatlanticism is capable of transcending great distances, and of driving beauty into the human heart.
Free Music Review: Get emo or cry tryin'
Hit: 5 Stars
After Death Cab for Cutie's The Photo Album, good but not great, I was not sure what to expect next. Then came Give Up, Ben Gibbard's project with Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello as Postal Service. That album was near perfect with even the low points being extremely high. Was it right to expect DCFC to pull off anything solid after that? Maybe not but they have surpassed any and all expectations with Transatlaticism.Death Cab's fourth full-length album is a brilliant emotional dictionary of relationships. The first track, "The New Year", starts the album off right. Its struggling "if only" lyrics make for a powerful realization of the difficulty of long-distance relationships. "Lightness" follows in a parallel vein with the distance caused not by geography by an inability to communicate and the somber, fluid music makes a perfect compliment to the lyrics. "Title and Registration" might convey the most emotionally troubling traffic stop of all time. The after-love-has-gone theme is pulled off without being syrupy. There is a driving beat of melancholy backing up the lyrics and a very dark guitar compliment. The next two cuts, "Expo '86" and "The Sound of Settling" are probably the catchiest tracks on the record. The up-tempo rhythm of the latter betrays the regret of the lyrics while catching the feeling of an impending deadline to find happiness. It's the perfect lead into "Tiny Vessels", which is heartbreak defined. A slow, self-embittered portrayal of a cheap, because-your-here relationship, it seems to be the album's peak. Then comes the title track. "Transatlanticism" might be the best song Death Cab has made. It makes as fine a metaphor as can be made for the emotion of a relationship's end. The slow, building rhythm leading to the repetition of the lines "I need you so much closer" will resonate with all but perhaps Joseph Stalin.
It is a measure of the quality of the album that the remainder of the album does not falter. "Passenger Seat" is a simply a comfortable relationship, sung. On "We Looked Like Giants" Death Cab puts on their rockin' shoes to bring out a lush, full guitar sound at a higher tempo while keeping with the album's theme of emotive rock. The album is lyrically profound and sonically adventurous. As fine a spectacle of musicianship as one could reasonably hope for. That said, I hope Erato keeps up her work with DCFC and until we hear from them again this CD will be in rotation.
Free Music Review: One of the Monuments of Modern Music
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the first Death Cab album I ever heard, about a year ago. I've since listened to We Have the Facts..., Give Up and Plans, but I won't pretend to be a Death Cab expert. But regardless of whether you've heard anything by this wonderful band, this is an album you can't afford to miss if you are a serious lover of music.
On my review of Plans, I said I thought this album had two great songs (i meant "Title and Registration" and "A Lack of Color"). But on second thought, I think there are clearly at least four (those two, "Tiny Vessels" and "Transatlanticism"). For an album to have four great songs is a remarkable achievement. And the three song series of "Tiny Vessels"-"Transatlanticism"-"Passenger Seat" is about as good as it gets.
There are two songs I don't really like ("New Year" and "Death of an Interior Decorator"), but they're really only bad in comparison to the rest of the album, and least they're up tempo, so they don't cause the whole album to drag like some of the lower quality songs do on Plans. And "The New Year", despite its uncharacteristically trite opening "So this is the New Year, and I don't feel any different," even has one wonderful verse that starts: "I wish the world was flat like the old days / So we could travel just by folding a map."
Musically, the album really holds together without becoming stagnant in similarity. But, as always with Death Cab, Ben Gibbard and his lyrics steal the show. He is, in my opinion, the best lyricist I have ever heard. And this album is as good as he's ever been. He always uses those awkward-sounding metaphors that end up being beautiful, but here his greatest achievements are incredibly simple. There are three lines on this album, all deceptively simple, that, in the context of their songs, are as powerful as any lyrics I've ever heard: "You are beautiful / but you don't mean a thing to me" ("Tiny Vessels"), "I need you so much closer" ("Transatlanticism"), and, my favorite, "This is fact not fiction / for the first time in years" ("A Lack of Color"). The only lyric I can think of as simple and comparable in its power is Coldplay's "The truth is / I miss you" from "A Warning Sign."
I really believe that time will remember Transatlanticism as one of the great musical achievements of the last decade. It is absolutely essential to any complete music collection.