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Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young
In a certain light, -ulian Casa&lancas could look
like a man who had won the battle, but ultimately
lost the war. t the turn o! the "###s, when daily
news$a$ers had to strain to accommodate current
a!!airs alongside their White Stri!es co%erage,
Casa&lancas could take some com!ort in the !act
that it was his band The Strokes who were the
!esti%al headliners, his who had made the de!ining
album o! what was rather embarrassingly called the
&new rock re%olution' and his in !act, that were the
more original $ro$osition.
(ince then, howe%er, the situation has markedly
changed. )hile Jack )hite has s$ent the last se%eral
years consolidating his $osition as the decade*s most
$roducti%e and e+citing merican musician, it*s a bit
harder to tell e+actly what Casa&lancas has been
u$ to. ,%en his own band seem to ha%e become
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Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young - Uncut.co.uk http://www.uncut.co.uk/the-strokes/julian-casablancas-phrazes-for-the-y...
1 de 4 21/10/2014 08:45 p.m.
.+EE deliver% of ever%
issue
)+,((,ANT .+EE C/
ever% month
!rustrated by their singer*s schedule. lthough The
Strokes aren*t making records, (trokesy records are
still being made- by .a& Moretti .with (ittle -o%/,
Al&ert 0ammond -r .his two solo albums/, e%en
by bassist Nikolai .raiture .with his band, Nickel
E%e/.
nd Casa&lancas0 )ell, since the third Strokes 1P, the singer has got out o!
bed !or such challenging assignments as a Con%erse ad, and, most recently !or an
a$$earance on the album by 2( comedy team The (onel% ,sland. )ere he e%er
to ha%e to sit a 3ob inter%iew, this would be the moment o! !idgeting in which were
discussed the ga$s in his C4.
s '1hra2es .or The 3oung' makes abundantly $lain, howe%er, that remains
an unlikely e%entuality. Instead, the album suggests that though its details are
closely guarded, this is someone who is still methodically !ollowing their own
secret game$lan. It would be tem$ting to take a line !rom 45ut 5f The )lue6
.one o! the !irst great songs here, in which Casa&lancas memorably states, &I*m
going to hell, in a leather 3acket5'/ and say that all was essentially unchanged. s
it is, 1hra2es5 deli%ers most o! what one might ho$e !or !rom the brains behind
The Strokes 6 3ust not necessarily in the !orm one might e+$ect it.
1hra2es7 is certainly bursting o%er with core Strokes 7ualities. There*s the
em$hasis on minor key tunes o! a generally baro7ue com$le+ity. There are se%eral
wry glances cast at the social mores and $sychological wellbeing o! the writer*s
generation. There is also some $articularly !ine singing, Casa&lancas !inding a
way to carry a tune through the most challenging musical landsca$es .see- 4+iver
5f )rake (ights6/. Chie! among the di!!erences, though, is the medium through
which all this is con%eyed. 8ather than the scu!!ed guitar style o! the $arent band,
1hra2es7 is awash with keyboards and drum machines, the classic 9ew York
circa :;<= sound o! the Strokes u$dated !or a new decade 6 the :;=#s.
8ather than a !ashionable a$$ro$riation o! electro$o$, howe%er, Casa&lancas
has deli%ered a !ar less sleek and more nostalgic sound. Throughout, he deli%ers a
mood that homages almost the entirety o! the :;=#s. 488th /imension6 is
e!!ecti%ely both an 0alen*s 4-um!6 and New 5rder*s 489:"6. The break-u$
song, 4'lass6, is a yearning melody carried on keyboards, but that also !eatures
the kind o! guitar solo you can only imagine being $layed by a man in %ery snug
white 3eans. 4; Chords 5f The A!ocal%!se6, howe%er, breaks the $attern,
being both 4Time ,s 5n M% Side6 and 4When A Man (oves A Woman6.
These are songs that, rather than ha%ing been dis$ensed with 7uickly, ha%e been
taken to their logical conclusions. There are only eight here, but they mostly run
u$wards o! !i%e minutes, with a lot o! em$hasis on multi-te+tured arrangements.
Casa&lancas also has a lot to say, the songs !illed with some amusing
obser%ations. 4'lass6 $osits the idea that- &I! you want to know somebody>Take
a look at their best !riends>?iamonds are hers>The dog is his5' @est o! all is
4(udlow St6, a deranged country song, which accounts !or the !ortunes o! a
1ower ,ast (ide thorough!are, once home to (ou +eed and -ohn Cale- &Faces
are changing>Yu$$ies in%ading5'
2ltimately, 1hra2es .or The 3oung testi!ies that the 7ualities that made
-ulian Casa&lancas so noteworthy in "##: remain in $lace, 3ust a little more
di!!icult to $redict. It*s a marathon, not a s$rint 6 Casa&lancas looks like he*s in
!or the long haul.
JAB9 8A@I9(A9
*NC*T <=A> -*(,AN CASA)(ANCAS
)hat*s the a$$eal o! a solo album0
It*s nice to try new things. ,%eryone took a stab at going outside The (trokes*
!iltering $rocess, which I think is natural and healthy. In the meantime, I decided
to do the same. )ith the band it*s com$romise 6 and the a$$eal here is !reedom.
The title is not literal, ob%iously, but I wouldn*t say it*s ironic.
Current Issue
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August 2014
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Neil 3oung on
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%ou make a
mistake %ou have
to fi@ it right
awa%?
Eric Cla!ton -
1lanesA Trains And
Eric
/avid Cros&% on
Neil 3oung> ?0e is
ver% angr% with
me?
Noel 'allagher>
?Morrisse% is the
funniest man ,'ve
ever met?
,gg% 1o!> ?,f , had
to de!end on what
, get from al&um
sales ,'d &e
tending &ars
&etween sets?
Tom Waits writes
!oem for Ca!tain
)eefheart
-ack White's
ke%&oard !la%er
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5wens dies aged
"#
*NC*T MA'AB,NE
S*)SC+,)E T5 *NC*T
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young - Uncut.co.uk http://www.uncut.co.uk/the-strokes/julian-casablancas-phrazes-for-the-y...
2 de 4 21/10/2014 08:45 p.m.
Tweet# (hare# (hare#
There are a lot o! synths on the record5
I wanted it to !eel kind o! modern but I was de!initely sonically in!luenced by
scattered weird *=#s things. lot o! *=#s stu!! tried to be all !uturistic and a lot o!
them were %ery cheesy, but a !ew o! them were actually kind o! success!ul. I can*t
remember all the names5
&1udlow (t', is great. Bow did you arri%e at the idea o! a country song about
gentri!ication0
That*s what it ended u$ being, but it started out as a song about being hungo%er. I
3ust can*t hel$ mysel!, I get greedy and I want se%en layers o! meaning in e%ery
song. There*s elements o! a country song but I tried to take it !urther and ha%e it
be hal! a%ant-garde country song >hal! weird Caribbean-beat s$ace-3am.
Inter%iew- JAB9 8A@I9(A9
1atest and archi%e album re%iews on 2ncut.co.uk
1atest music and !ilm news on 2ncut.co.uk
Pic credit- Pieter B 4an Battem
8ating- D > :#
.8ough Trade/
Kate Bush concludes live shows,
suggesting it will be "a while"

F 1i%e d%d
$lease......sooooooonnGGGGGGGG
Roger Waters issues angry statement
to confirm he does not

F Is (yd @arret on it0
David Bowie reveals Nothing Has
Changed artwork and announces

F )hich is the
Bi-8esolution .i.e. Pono/ edition0
David Crosby on Neil Young: "He is
very angry with me"

F You sure the H(torytoneH
.sic/ album was Hrecorded in the %intage
%inyl booth at Jack )hiteIs 5
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