Cold Cave, Wim Wenders, and the Instant Gratification Paradox

(Didn't feel like doing homework so I wrote this instead.)

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is what I see as the "instant gratification culture" of music. Actually, there are elements of this sentiment in everything, movies and art included. The demand seems to be "we want it, we want it now, we want it to be interesting, entertaining, and accessible." I first started noticing this in American movies. There's a sense of urgency in our movies--that audiences must be satisfied, there has to be a love story, an action sequence, and millions spent on special effects. The protagonists have to be beautiful, and the plot has to be utterly riveting (and wrap up within a tidy hour and a half). God forbid we should be bored for one second. We need to leave the theater feeling buoyed up by these fantastical plotlines, and above all, the movie needs to sell. 

Compare this set of characteristics to one of my favorite movies of all time, Der Himmel über Berlin (or, "Wings of Desire"). Directed by Wim Wenders, the 1987 film is a sort-of romance, but more a meditation of what it means to be human, and our questions concerning the afterlife. Wings of Desire is entirely unlike an American film. It runs 128 minutes, and more than half of it is in black and white. What I love so much about this film in particular is that it takes its time. Each aerial shot of Berlin and each close up on a stranger's face is leisurely, pensive--and though sometimes I start to feel a little bored, the attention Wenders pays to small details and building the plot up in a slow and natural way makes the overall experience fantastic, and incomparably deep.

This is what so much music is lacking. Though I will never stop sighing when anyone mentions My Bloody Valentine, and wishing that for god sake's Kevin Shields would do something once in a while, I have to respect him for taking his time with Loveless, arguably one of the greatest albums of all time (in my opinion), and not feeling the need to follow up with a hit-filled album that would net him some profit. The music world is a demanding one. A band has to grapple with both identity related and artistic questions, while still trying to make a little money off it. If a band doesn't release frequently enough, they're called lazy. Release too much and they're called sellouts.

Cold Cave is a band I've been following for a while now, not because I like their music all that much, but because I find them an interesting case study. They've had to deal with the classic economic, ideological, and artistic questions that all musicians face. Cold Cave, which now consists of Wesley Eisold, Dominick Fernow, and Jennifer Clavin (formerly of Mika Miko), is releasing their new album Cherish The Light Years, on April 5th on Matador Records. The label has already streamed the entire record so at this point, it's not much of a surprise. Cherish The Light Years has a completely different sound than anything CC has released before, but given the trajectory of their sound since their first release in 2008, what they've settled into now isn't so surprising. This isn't a review about Cold Cave though---this is a review about the implications of their current sound, and where they may go in the future. 

Cherish The Light Years is without a doubt, Cold Cave's "hit" album. Every song is an anthem, each song relentlessly fast and driving, and Wes' vocals struggling to keep up and compete with the heavy synths. And that's the problem. We don't get a chance to breathe. Each track comes at us like a moving freight train, pounding and thumping and reaching it's climax within 30 seconds. Every song is trying its best to be a hit, and in trying so hard, Cherish The Light Years is an album of singles, not a cohesive and nuanced whole.

Compare this to Cold Cave's 2009 release, Love Comes Close. I didn't know quite what to think of it at first, but for some reason I left it floating around in my iTunes, and every time I listened to it, I came to like it a little bit more. The first track, "Cebe and Me", with its softly blurred vocals and steady synthesizer beeping eases listeners into a hazy, lo-fi world, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Right in the middle of the album comes "Heaven Was Full", a fantastically dark, post-punk throwback, with Wes' voice at the heart. The album finishes with I.C.D.K., which conjures up an almost playful electronic landscape as the end of the release. The result is a unified and multifaceted album that holds its own.

The first issue I have with Cherish The Light Years is the ridiculous amount of money Matador has put into promoting this album. Actually, the first link I saw for the teaser track ("The Great Pan is Dead") was one that popped up on my Facebook (and seeing as my Facebook has previously recommended that I listen to Vampire Weekend and Matchbox Twenty, I casually disregard everything it says). Cold Cave and Matador have advertised this album to death--links showing up on nearly every social networking outlet. Granted, all artists and labels use social networking to announce and publicize releases, but CC has taken it to a whole new level. So much money was put into producing and advertising the album, rendering it so laminated and obvious I cringe. Even the album art and promo shorts have a glossed over, expensive, and truly gaudy quality to them.

I'm not one of those people who stops listening to a band when they get popular, but I can't deny that the self-awareness emanating from this album drives me away. If Cold Cave wanted an album that would grab them countless interviews, and shunt them into the mainstream indie vein alongside Yo La Tengo and Girls (fellow Matador artists), Cherish The Light Years is it.

Cherish The Light Years is a perfect example of what I mean when I talk about "instant gratification." Take the song "The Great Pan Is Dead". It's a clumsy, fast paced track, with Wes practically gasping for air in between sentences. Instead of patiently and delicately building up to a climax--"Pan" delivers that climax right off the bat, so by the 40 second mark, it's already gotten predictable. Had they taken the time to build to such an emotional and prolific sound, maybe "Pan" would be a better song. Though "Confetti" is a fun track, with a Depeche Mode synth foundation and snappy vocals, it doesn't redeem the blatant overproduced mess that is the rest of the album. Cherish The Light Years is a musical sugar high--giving listeners that energetic sound and emotional tidal wave they so desire, but it's as fleeting as a dancefloor remix, dissipating the second the lights come up.

Granted, synthpop/darkwave bands like Cold Cave are under pressure because their music is inherently more accessible to a wider audience. I don't think a band like Wolf Eyes would ever have to worry "Are we selling out? Will this album sell?" because they have a very different (albeit equally critical, but loyal) fan base. However, Cherish The Light Years lacks the complexity and attention to detail that is so important for a musically solid album.