Customer Reviews

Pomegranate [Vinyl]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everything about a follow up to MIghty Oceans, Astro's last full length, was built up and scary. My friend's and I had been calling Mighty Oceans the "Ok Computer," that will never become a best seller. Our thoughts were that there aren't bad songs just songs that aren't our favorite. With all that praise "Pomegranate" had a lot to live up to.
It did. Astro is still transcending genres but the pretty and clean indie rock sounds have been replaced by the other sound of the spectrum. This time rather then the help of Astro's friend Radical Face (whose album Ghost is in my top ten ever) Astro collaborated with Paper Chase front man John Cocegton /sp?/ (Indie super producer for Modest Mouse, Poly Spree to list a few).
This time around the strings are violent and chilling, the drums pop rather then beat and the piano's straight out of the Paper Chase's b sides (which is a great place to be). Astronautalis himself still manages to gender bend genre's with his delivery alone. He shows off his story telling this time and only on a second notice do you realize he can growl, sing and certainly rap like no one else.

This isn't another introspective angst driven tale instead it's sad gothic tales that transcend time. Somehow Astro can talk about the Opium trade and it sounds more personal then most singer song writers. Between John and Andy the stories are a history lesson and the musical arrangements are ahead of the time resulting in music as vivid as Tim BUrton on top of his game. Maybe even darker and def. more sentimental and raw.
People say Astro may be branching off beck and while they have def similar influences in my opinion he doen'st just blow beck out of the water but "Pomegranate" sounds more influenced by Tom Waits then anyone else and that is a very large claim.
out of 12 songs 9 of them blow me away and that includes one track of silence. The other two tracks are just good and yet somehow that is disappointing. I wont go over each individual song for the sake of my time but let me say that the last song features P.O.S. another one of my favorite artist and this song exceeds my expectations which are already unfairly high.

Buy it Andy deserves your money.

This genre (is this even a genre?) is new to me. A coworker turned me onto it and I was hooked. Every track is great which is so uncommon these days.

Piano, driving beats, rap, vocal harmonies, experimental, and 100% awesome!

I stumbled across the song "The Story of my Life" completely by accident, but after hearing it I was pretty much sold on whatever Astronautalis wanted to sing about. His style is, in my experience, completely unique, and having since gone back and purchased his previous two albums, I have to say I like the bravado and swagger displayed on this one more so than the poetry and introspection on his previous efforts. This whole album is concerned with minor and major episodes in history, and while there is no common thread connecting the songs, they flow together very well musically.

Lyrically, the album is stunning, the only problem being the difficulty in deciphering words in faster bits (such as "Two Years Before the Mast," which is an excellent song nonetheless). Musically, I prefer the songs with a more minor tone and heavy beats. In this vein my favorite tracks are probably "The Wondersmith and his Sons," "Two Years Before the Mast" and "Trouble Hunters," this last one being a rabble-rousing song about a battle in the American Revolution with lots of historical references and allusions that actually sound cool when Astronautalis is singing about them.

If there is one weakness to "Pomegranate," I would say that it is its lessened impact after repeated listening. Just like hearing the same story told over again or reading the same book, you'll know exactly what's coming since the album is heavily dependent on lyrics. It's still good, just not knock-your-socks-off awesome like it is the first time you hear it.

I'm usually not a fan of hip-hop. I am, however, a fan of talented indie artists who for whatever reason aren't well known. Astronautalis is one of these artists.

The album's title is a nod to the greek myth of Persephone. Intriguing before the music even starts. Each song is it's own little story, told in a style somewhere between song and rap, swinging from one to the other frequently. It works well, although I suggest that the first time you listen to this album you devote 40 minutes to simply sit and enjoy, since he often has to talk rather fast to fit his entire story into 3-4 minutes. It works, but if you aren't paying attention you won't be able to follow the story, and the song won't have quite as much of an impact.

The Wondersmith and His Sons: Tied for my favorite song on the album. Starts with some simple but excellent piano and eventually goes into a background riff that oozes coolness. Not only is the music excellent but the story is quite interesting as well.
17 Summers: Mellow and well sung, but a bit repetitive for my taste.
Secrets of the Undersea Bell: A neat mix of rock and sailor shanty. Fun to listen to.
My Old Man's Badge: Slow but soulful. Something about his voice on this track just gives it a little extra emotion.
Two Years Before The Mast: A little difficult to understand at times, but a good background beat.
Mr. Blessington's Imperialist Plot: This was the first Astronautalis song I ever heard, and the reason I bought this album in the first place. An excellent, cleverly worded story with a dark undertone. The violin and piano vault it from good to great.
An Episode of Sparrows: A rather bizzare but funny story. Gets a little repetitive though.
The Case of William Smith: Although the voice effect he uses sounds a little overdramatic, it's a great story nonetheless with a great beat. Cleverly rhymed as well.
Trouble Hunters: Again with the voice effect at times. An interesting take on the Revolutionary War.
Avalanche Patrol: Good piano, but drags on a little much at the end.
The Most Important Track on the Album: Heheh. You'll have to figure this one out yourself.
The Story of My Life: The closest thing to mainstream hip-hop on the album. But that's not a bad thing. Featuring POS, this song tells the contrasting stories of two down-on-luck individuals. They intertwine into a single inspiring message. Excellent beat and a great ending to the album.

All-in-all, Pomegranate is an entertaining album for those who appreciate a good yarn and good music of all genres. I don't know how Astronautalis isn't more well recognized, because he is a brilliant wordsmith and an an excellent musician. A great addition to any diverse music collection.

Sometime in the spring of 2004, I was at a local coffee joint's open mic, listening to a slew of Jeff Buckley fans and Dave Matthews wannabes. I'd gone upstairs to visit the consignment shop, and I had just come back for more coffee when Andy took the mic for three songs (he was just passing through, on his back to the Warped Tour or some other ride.) I bought his promo CD without thinking twice. (I've since gone through three copies. Long story.)

When I first heard You And Yer Good Ideas in its entirety, I thought he was groundbreaking, heartfelt, maybe more than a tad visionary. He picked up pieces of the suburban experience that resonated across age differences, time zones, upbringings, locales. He found something unifying, all while sampling Janis Ian and Waylon Jennings. (Oh, and he could freestyle. Wow, could he freestyle.)

At a tiny show in Cheshire, he slipped me the secret URL to The Mighty Ocean And Nine Dark Theaters, which was still in production (although it sounded very similar to the finished product), and I was astonished by the artistry, the expansion on ideas and the oblique approach to personal history, real and imagined, as art. It was a dense, heady expansion on his first album's (maybe necessary?) minimalism.

Pomegranate is a creative tour-de-force, and nothing less. Andy adds more collaborators in his musical process, which lends itself to more sounds at his disposal, more ideas, and, quite possibly, the greatest ever rap about the Battle Of Trenton. There IS, as another reviewer cited, a very strong Tom Waits influence in places, especially the opener...and Astro handles it live, too, just like the theater major I suspect he was. Sure, I'm a sucker for "The Story Of My Life", being a P.O.S. fan as well, but it'd be a great track even if I wasn't.

In six years, I've seen him four times (including that set), listened to every sound he's seen fit to issue, and frankly, been insanely proud of the kid. He grows with every project, every tour, and, while Pomegranate is definitely a culmination of his many loves, his extensive travels, and his impressive hyperliteracy, I know for a fact that he probably has even more surprises in store on his next disc. I look forward to it.

[...]

"Hip hop infused folk indie or melodic rock with silly whimsical spoken-word rhymes? Either way, great music."

The more I listen to this album, the more I fall in love with the rambling sonic landscapes overlaid with brilliant story-telling. This is by far one of the most creative, original, and all around best albums of 2008.

This genre (is this even a genre?) is new to me. A coworker turned me onto it and I was hooked. Every track is great which is so uncommon these days.

Piano, driving beats, rap, vocal harmonies, experimental, and 100% awesome!

I wish Amazon offered 320kbps though...