Oh well, Tame Impala. Some essential or near-essential LPs released by other acts since 2015 owe a lot to their highlights. And inside *Currents*, Kevin Parker's own last essential LP as of now, "Let It Happen" and "The Less I Know, The Better" are humongous bangers for sure. The rest tags along rather nicely, thanks to groovy basslines and abundant washes of dreamy synths. Listening to the record again, I can't help reminiscing about that hilarious meme comparing Kevin Parker's fans circa *InnerSpeaker* or even *Lonerism* to the ones from the time of *Currents*. The first are psych rock hippies sat on the floor of a wooden shack getting hits from a bong, while the second are corporate squares sipping champagne in a pristine environment. Of course, what's implied in the meme is that those people are probably the same persons a few years apart. Bohemian bourgeois taste sure explains the critical and commercial success of this act, doesn't it? Indeed, rarely has the old story about "selling out" been so clearly harnessed in a music album. Parker puts it best himself in the lyrics of one song, seemingly about a romantic break-up (like most songs in the tracklist): "They say people never change, but that's bullshit, they do". The meta impulse is very strong throughout this record, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that said impulse was actually a very self-conscious one throughout the recording sessions. Because for all intents and purposes, Tame Impala mostly broke up with the indie world to embrace the mainstream here. Such self-consciousness can also work against those compositions on a purely musical level, admittedly. Perfectionism -- apparent from the results, but also from reports on the way the LP was recorded -- was surely pivotal to craft the highlights, but it also sometimes stifle the overall "feel" of other tracks. And all-too-clean production values can never save a weak tune anyway. Alas, Parker's obsessive, perfectionist mindset thus led him to miss the forest for the trees once in a while, at least in a couple of inconsequential duds that could have easily been left on the cutting room floor without hurting the tracklist's flow or even shortening that 51-minute album too much. Looking at you, "Past Life" and "Disciples". Parker's glossy falsetto unironically repeating "''Cause I'm A Man" in the song bearing this name is also objectively a little worthy of derision. Even if I also recognize that Kevin's candid earnestness in that track may sound quite idiosyncratic or even endearing for some ears. This song being about masculine flaws, it sorts of checks out anyway Sometimes you need a little time to understand what past hypes were all about. That won't make me enjoy huge misfires such as later LP *The Slow Rush*, but I now readily recognize how iconic *Currents* comes off ten years down the line -- thanks to its hit singles first, but also through its overall theme of change and evolution. Growing up is rarely a walk in the park, right? Moody and zither-enhanced closer "New Person, Same Old Mistakes" even hammers the point home in ways I now find impressive -- both for the somewhat tormented bass-heavy music and for the lyrical contents. That internal dialogue Parker goes through in that back and forth between lead and background vocals during the song's chorus -- representing the parts of him that want to move forward and the parts that can't let go -- is truly a thing of wonder, in all senses of the word. "Maybe fake's what I like" the Australian musician even suggests at some point. Beyond the synth-driven meta shtick, such candour actually raises some very universal questions about identity and authenticity. Pretty cool for a record I only considered as gravely overrated at the time of its release. Guess I changed as well. At least, can I have one more glass of champagne now? Please? ----- 4/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 9/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4). Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 33 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 42 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 79 ----- Salut Émile, ça va ? J'ai enfin un peu de temps pour te répondre (pourtant je suis en vacances, pas comme toi qui traîne sur le générateur en scred pendant le taf, ha ha). L'interview s'est très bien passée. Il s'agissait de Tropical Fuck Storm (tu connais ? Son leader officiait dans The Drones auparavant). Avec le décalage horaire, j'ai cueilli le chanteur du groupe au réveil à l'hôtel. Ils étaient en pleine tournée, à Portland, Oregon. Et pourtant le mec était adorable... J'imagine que l'info que je te donne ici est pas vraiment renversante, et que ça n'intéressera pas grand monde autour de toi, mais garde-la pour toi, s'il-te-plaît. Le rédac chef de Mowno est un peu parano avant l'annonce officielle du sommaire des magazines version papier, lol. Je crois effectivement que l'on est très raccord sur KGATLW, ce qui, au vu de leur discographie gargantuesque, signifie beaucoup. *Nonagon Infinity* en number ouane et *Polygondwanaland* en number two, je valide totalement. "Crumbling Castle" était aussi mon titre préféré d'eux avant que "The Dripping Tap" ne déboule en ouverture d'*Omnium Gatherum*. Et il reste mon deuxième titre préféré aujourd'hui. J'adhère aussi (quasi) totalement à ta liste d'albums essentiels. Je remplacerais juste *Fishing For Fishies* (que je trouve très sympa, hein) par *Float Along - Fill Your Lungs*, pour lequel j'ai une tendresse particulière, et qui a l'air de bien représenter leur garage rock des débuts... Le KGATLW version heavy metal de *Infest The Rat's Nest* et *Petrodragonic* ne me parlait pas trop au début non plus, mais pour les avoir vu en festival (prestation proprement sidérante) clore sur ce style-là avec un abattage incroyable après une performance de quasi-deux heures, je dois dire que je vous les choses un peu différemment maintenant. Le reste du concert explorait principalement Omnium Gatherum (ouverture parfaite avec "The Dripping Tap"), avec aussi un extrait de Nonagon Infinity. Je pouvais difficilement espérer mieux ! Tiens, au fait, c'est quoi les concerts les plus mémorables auquel tu as assisté ? J'ai noté tes deux dernières suggestions d'écoute. Ravi d'y trouver le *WIDE AWAAAAKE* de Parquet Courts, qui est effectivement un classique de l'indie rock moderne, quelque part entre Pavement, Talking Heads et Beastie Boys (en quelque sorte). Ce disque était d'ailleurs l'album de l'année 2018 pour Mowno -- avant que je ne fasse partie de la rédaction. Quand je te dis qu'il est bien, ce site ! 😉 J'ai compté le nombre de suggestions d'albums / artistes que tu m'as faites en tout et que je ne connais pas: il y en a sept ! Challenge : tout écouter avant la fin de l'été. Pour l'instant, je vais être bien occupé à traduire et retranscrire mon interview, mais j'essaie de m'y coller après ! Dans les jours qui viennent, je réponds aussi à tes questions sur ma sélection pour la users' list et sur comment je suis tombé sur ce générateur... Ah, au fait. Dans ma review sur Tame Impala au dessus, je t'ai piqué l'expression "humongous banger", que tu avais utilisé pour le "Tiny Dancer" d'Elton John. Tellement drôle ! 😄 Have a very nice day! 🙂