Electric Guest Floored Me... In a Good Way

Hey,

Before I get to the interesting stuff, I mentioned this last week, but I have a twitter…check me out here. I don’t tweet a lot, but it’s a good way to see when I have a new blog post up or something like that. J

Tonight’s blog post is about Electric Guest’s new album, Mondo. In case you missed my first post about them last week, they are comprised of Asa Taccone (younger brother of Jorma Taccone, of The Lonely Island/SNL Digital Shorts fame) and Matthew Compton . They met in this house that they were both living in California, and one thing led to another, and Jorma hooked Asa up with Danger Mouse—who is a fantastic producer—and Electric Guest was born.

      Like last week, I’m rating this album on a scale of ten.

Here we go…

1. Holes: 9/10
A very nice introductory track, as I like the synthesizers at the beginning and how the vocals kind of trickle in. The melody is simple, but its beauty comes through. This is one of my favorite songs on the CD (can we even say CD now? I'm technically listening to it on Spotify...maybe I should say album...). I pretty much love everything about this track.

2. This Head I Hold. 10/10.
Best song on the album/CD (you pick which one you like...I really couldn't care less. Something I should care more about, however, is my overuse of {...}) Every time I listen to it, it reminds me of the first time I heard it--I think I've told this story before--when I was sitting in my minivan, waiting for my sister. I was just chilling and then this came on, I cranked it up, and wrote the title down so I could look them up. Amazing track because of three key things: Asa's memorable vocals, because, quite honestly, you don't hear voices this special every day, the piano line, and the drums at the beginning--it sounds like something Darren King--of MuteMath--would have written.

3. Under The Gun. 9/10
I like the storytelling lyrics; God knows Ke$ha could not write something this good ("Oh, my Gawd, I got sooo drunk last night."Thank goodness that these lyrics are like, a gazillion times better) The piano is absolutely stunning. It melds nicely with the rest of the instruments and of course Asa's vocals. That guy's voice just keeps getting better with each track, I think.

4. Awake 9/10
The steady beat of this one caught my attention instantly. I like the background vocals as they blend seamlessly with Asa's. And Matthew's bass is really nice too. This has a very soundtrack-ready feeling to it, which is cool. For some reason, I keep wanting to compare EG to a bunch of bands, but I'm stopping myself. If I did some comparisons, I'd end up comparing them to pretty much every band I listen to; they are a perfect mix of my Alt Playlist on Spotify. That is a compliment. :)
5. Amber 9/10
The drum line is incredible on this track! It's crazy good. The synthesizers just...wow! I used to kind of skip over this track, but not any more. I love this one almost as much as This Head I Hold. Coolness...

6. The Bait 10/10
Jazzy, kind of funk-based little thing, this track has made its way to the top of my running playlist. I love everything about this song. The lyrics are creative, the vocal/effects work perfectly, the drums totally rock, and it all comes together like a jigsaw puzzle, like, it all fits together, almost without effort. Love it.

7. Waves 10/10
I really do hate to make comparisons because I either feel like I'm snubbing the original artist, or the artist that reminds me of another artist, but I'm swallowing that notion for a moment. This reminds me of Foster the People, except EG is 1000x better than FTP. I'm not trying to be rude; I really do think this song is golden. It's perfect. I love that "go," but it kind of freaked me out a little...I was like, whoa! Who said "go"?
I'm dead serious about this, Asa, just record all your songs in falsetto from now on. It's gorgeous. He has power, force, its slightly sweet, and downright lovable. I'm impressed. Some guys, they just fail at falsetto. Not him, though. Kudos.

8. Troubleman 10/10
This is a loooooooong song. Clocking it at 8:49, I nearly did a double take when this came on earlier. That's a long song. Anyways, I love it. The lyrics, for one thing, are creative. I love unusual synatx. I like the line: "girl of the bohemian kind," because of the wording. Next, the drums are a key ingredient in this song--if you ask me, a song is like a recipe and I'll explain that in another blog post, maybe next week--as well as the organs and synthesizers.

9. American Daydream 10/10
If I could, along with This Head I Hold, I would give this song 20/10, but that's not exactly mathematically correct. Oh, well. I love this song, as well as the music video. The first time that I watched it, I was like, "Why is he tackling that poor girl?" then I was like, "Oh, it's artistic," and finally, I was like, "Hahahahahaha. That's funny." But, I digress. This song is great because of the guitars and drums which play central roles, and the backing vocals help give strength to this brilliant song. Only weakness: I wish it was longer! It's kind of funny that the song before it is 8 minutes, and this one is 2:49. I like the placement. :)

10. Control 10/10
Great song. Asa and Matthew: you guys rock. I think this is the first album where I haven't had a single negative comment about any of the songs. Nicely done! I love how solemn this song is, the weight of it, and the power behind it. It's the best track to end a CD/album with that "Oh." It has a haunting quality to it.
Conclusion: Mondo is probably my favorite album I've heard in a long time--almost better than Panic! At the Disco's latest album and Fun.'s too. Asa Taccone + Matthew Compton + Danger Mouse = A power trio. Seriously. I love these guys, their talents amaze me, and I am looking forward to even bigger and brighter things.  They have made a fan out of me.
Now, it would be super chill if these guys would come to Des Moines, Iowa, so I can see them in concert. :)

Follow me on Twitter or leave me a comment, and let me know your thoughts on Electric Guest.
Until next week,
Bella
Edit: After I wrote this, I started thinking about it and I wanted to make sure to mention that Danger Mouse, Brian Burton, was the producer and he played a bunch of instruments on the album, but he doesn't tour with the band. I kind of realized that it sounded like I was implying that he goes around with the band, but that's not what I was trying to say.