Customer Reviews

Destroyer's Rubies

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I will honestly say that out of the 50+ albums I heard last year, had this come out 3 months earlier, it would've been in the top 2 (it's a tough choice between this & Sufjan Stevens, although I prefer this). Following the mediocre-to-good release of Your Blues in 2004, I never would have guessed that Destroyer had the capacity to create an album such as this. Dan Bejar, co-lyricist for the ground-breaking power pop band The New Pornographers, along with his bandmates, differ remarkably in texture & purpose from that of the New Porn's; the dense, baroque pop feel is still there, but subdued by the extravagence of the instrumentation. Bejar's vision, as we've seen to a lesser extent on Your Blues, leans toward the avant-garde, a series of formless songs with expert lyricism that he sings over the full instrumentation with the seeming spontaneity of some great 60's jazz-- Andrew Hill's piano or Miles Davis's Jack-Johnson-era trumpet.

The major source of improvement comes from the band itself. Whereas earlier the band backed up Bejar with more constraint, now the band comes forth as wonderfully as Bejar. An album like Rubies comes from the expertise of every single player and, no doubt, the producer (Bejar? I didn't look). The piano and other keyboard instruments are a noteworthy improvement. Like Neutral Milk Hotel's "Aeroplane..." or Okkervil River's brilliant album "Down the River..." Rubies is a swirl of captivating instrumentation and lyrics that listeners can ponder over for years, an epic sort of album where the tracks wind together without explicit conceptual refrains (as in NMH's "Aeroplane...").

It's worth noting that Destroyer recently collaborated with the like-minded, but harder-edged avant-rock group Frog Eyes on a reworking of selections from Your Blues. Frog Eyes are one of my favorite of today's bands (The Folded Palm is a minor masterpiece), and I'm wondering if this could be the impetus for Destroyer's dramatic improvement. Well, whatever went on behind our backs, Rubies probably belongs in your collection.

Prior to this release, I was only familiar with Dan Bejar through the New Pornographers. To me his contributions there, while lyrically and musically interesting, seemed a bit distractive vocally. In Destroyer, Bejar is in his own element and has developed his own style. In this setting, we get a complete set of songs that are not in competition with other songwriters and singers. On Destroyer's Rubies, this focused attention reveals much complexity and range. The song arrangements couldn't be better. Some are minimally orchestrated, some have horns, most have piano, organ and rhodes-like keyboards, but all arrangements seem to achieve the songs' greatest potential. Bejar touches on musical styles as diverse as Motown ("Dangerous Woman..."), hippie classic rock a la Deja Vu-era CSNY ("Sick Priest Learns..."), power pop ("3000 Flowers"), and the indie rock of Pavement/Malkmus ("Your Blood" and "Priest's Knees").

Admittedly, Bejar's singing is not for everyone. It wasn't for me initially - but I'm among the converted now. His vocal delivery is kinda half spoken, half sung as Dylan or Lou Reed tends to be; Bejar is perhaps more over the top in his articulation and emotion. Besides his vocal delivery, the tone and quality of his voice is somewhat like Bowie's. I would think most readers who ended up here are open minded enough to get over any initial objections to the vocals. There is too much to like to dismiss it on vocals alone.

The lyrics are weird, ambiguous, and clever. Bejar slyly borrows many lyrical phrases and titles from other artists and puts them into a different melody and context. With almost each new listen, I discover new references and quotations. (he name checks Proud Mary, refers to a golden slumber, uses "I couldn't bare to..." which is an apparent reference to "Awful Bliss" by GBV, cops "Oh life is bigger.." from "Losing My Religion", and sings "kids...they were all right", a reference to The Who). I'm sure there are many more.

As other reviewers have speculated, I predict this CD will be on many "Best of 2006" lists. Highly Recommended.

In this latest release by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar one finds a very driving pop gem. Each album since the start of his output has had significantly different approaches in musical styles, this never more obvious than in the last album, Your Blues, where every song is drenched in cheap keyboards and soaring melodies. Destroyer's Rubies (Which of course is one of the many references he makes to himself throughout the album) treads a little bit of familiar ground in that it has the pop structures of the album, Streekhawk:a Seduction, but of course with an absolutely fresh vocal and guitar delivery. Bejar's voice sounds as strong as ever, thickly recorded and appropriately amped up when needed to match the distorted guitars (The heaviest since, This Night). For Bejar followers this is definitely a pleasing release. One might find themselves singing along to "Painter in Your Pocket", having undoubtedly the catchiest chorus on the record or nodding to the sweet piano rhythm and fantastic Bejar one liners on "European Oil".

Destroyer's Rubies will go down as one of the best albums of 2006 of that I can assure you. Rubies is a very difficult album to review, it's hard to say what is so great about it, it just is great. It stands on its own. It has to be heard; not once mind you, but tens of times to realize how truly unique and inventive it is. Dan Bejar has an uncanny knack for creating some of the most complex and lovely melodies in the business. In addition, Bejar writes some of the most obtuse and thought provoking lyrics I've ever heard. The lyrics are often rushed and delivered in an impossible frenzy, but they are fun, they are majestic, they are beautiful. The highlight of this album is the album itself. Yes, some songs are better than others, but as a whole it is what it is, complete. Destroyer's Rubies is music, it is art, it is an album that takes patience to understand; to realize its greatness. You don't have to be a genius, drink wine, or read great literary works to enjoy this album. You just have to love music, have an open mind and a little patience. As a reward you can then visit Destroyer's previous six albums and realize what you have been missing.

When Dan Bejar says in "Priest's Knees" that "I was another west coast maximalist exploring the blues", he is only partially having the listener on. By West Coast, he means Vancover which is hardly the sun and fun Amercian audiences associate with the golden coast. And he is hardly just another musician. But the rest just might hold up. Okay maybe not the blues part

Maximalist is certainly apparent however. The instrumentation augments the rock band set-up with pianos, trumpets, and saxaphones. That it never sounds cluttered is quite acchievement. But it is a big sound. Everything seems to be in wide screen and right up front. And while it may not be the blues as we know it, it does mix up country, rock, folk, and, even, prog into something sonically unique. You can call it ramshackle but never sterile. It rollicks, rocks, and swings. (And by damn if it doesn't start to feel like a sea chanty by the time you hit the chorus of Looter's Follies.) For all its outre elements, there is a pop backbone that keeps it all so grounded. Which is a good thing considering the cryptic lyrics.

While all the songs can be seen as being love songs of a sort, Bejar just can't help embroidering them with surreal characters, abstract images, smartass footnotes, and confessional asides. It starts to feel like an epic from an alternate world. It is so easy to get lost in these tone poems. Drawing as much from Dylan as any number of cult rock figures (From Malkmus all the way down to T-Rex), these lyrics are shamelessly literate and often clever. It should be mentioned that they are incredibly insular and delivered in nasal voice that flirts with all sorts of theatrics. They will be the deal breaker for those not already familiar with Bejar's methods. For the rest they place these songs in a distinct place that can only be Destroyer.

No matter what you may think of them, after a single listen you will know that you have never heard anything quite like it.. And if you can hang with it for dozen or more times, you may just find that these songs are not too much of a good thing. In fact they are just enough to keep you coming back for more. Depending on your degree of adventurousness, you may want to hear the more direct Streethawk or the slightly less dense This Night instead. Myself, however, I think I'd rather just press play again. These songs are treasures. They have such a brave and unique sound. Destroyer doesn't beg for your affection, they just go for it. This is what music is supposed to do. Transport and confound. Empty headed popsters need not bother. It'll just confuse ya.

First listen: Not all that great, some interesting moments, the guy cops Dylan, the music moves around too much, often a sign of pretension. Then I read along while listening, and the light went on: What a great record! Suddenly Bejar's odd vocal delivery just made sense, like line breaks in a poem. And the lyrics themselves! A great mix quotes from other lyrics, and quotable original lyrics. The words themselvess drew me more deeply into the music (which also borrows phrases from variousd and sundry styles) and made the shape-shifting musical textures less jarring, more aluring. I don't love every song onthis disc, but I'd say a good 2/3 reward repeated listens.

This is simply a groundbreaking thoroughly distinct album. The taste is acquired but you simply can't deny its genius

Taking a departure from the theatrical show that was 2004's Your Blues, Dan Bejar makes a bit of a return to his earlier, acoustic work here while at the same time maintaining the grandness of Your Blues.

The result is the best album of the year (and I've listened to many albums.) Bejar is a modern-day Picasso, spinning his words like they are paint brushes and creating an entirely new medium of art.

The highlights are the nine-minute opener "Rubies" and "Painter In Your Pocket", easily two of the best songs Destroyer has ever done.

If you enjoyed this, check out the Swan Lake album out this November, which teams Bejar with Wolf Parade frontman Spencer Krug for what should be an indie explosion of epic proportion.

Great music, no doubt about that one and not much one can add to the rave reviews. Cheers to that!

This CD however comes with copy-protection that makes you unable to listen to it on your computer or ipod. that is just about the most stupid thing a publisher can do - so cheers to the last cd I'll ever buy from MERGE RECORDS. As far as I'm concerned, not labelling the cover as a scrambled / copy protected cd is simply [....].

A very unique sound that is unlike any other band. It is nice to hear something so original and not just a copy of someone elses style. If you listen to the whole album at once some of the songs to sound the same however. But there are many standout songs that I listen to again and again.