One Beat
Encyclopedia
One Beat is the sixth studio album
by American rock band Sleater-Kinney
. Produced by John Goodmanson
, the album was recorded between March and April 2002 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon
. It was released on 20 August 2002 on Kill Rock Stars
. The record peaked at number 107 in the United States on the Billboard 200
and entered the Billboard Top Independent Albums at number five. One Beat was very well received by critics. Praise centred on its cathartic delivery and political polemics.
released in 2000. Before entering the studio, Sleater-Kinney practised in drummer Janet Weiss
's basement. The band conceived the album to be "the voice in the silence" following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on 11 September 2001. Lyricists and guitarists Corin Tucker
and Carrie Brownstein
did not follow a set blueprint when crafting the songs; rather, they simply worked off each other's input and proceeded in a piecemeal way.
One Beat was produced by long-time collaborator John Goodmanson, who came from the same educational background as Sleater-Kinney and recorded with most of the acts signed to Kill Rock Stars. Weiss has stated that Goodmanson has a "unique" way of working with the band. Both parties decided to steer the album in a challenging new direction. In a later interview, Brownstein commented that "sometimes when we would want to do new things, he would be like, "oh god, everyone would freak out if we did that, we can't do that!"". After the recording sessions, Tucker indicated that she viewed the record's final mix as "a vast, sweeping landscape" that is the most fully formed release in the band's discography.
festival in Los Angeles. Speaking about the development of the songs in a concert setting, Weiss has said, "The live forum is where we get the feedback from the people who we're really interested in communicating with." The album's track list was confirmed in May. Before the release, Brownstein took time off to act in an independent film
, Group, which documents a group of women meeting each week in therapy sessions. At the start of August, the band posted the 12 songs as QuickTime
streams on the Kill Rock Stars label website.
The album was released on 20 August 2002. Sleater-Kinney performed at a street festival in Los Angeles alongside Sonic Youth
on the weekend of 25 August. They embarked on an extensive U.S. tour in support of One Beat at the start of September. The tour started with a concert at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver on 11 September—which coincided with the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks—and ended with a gig at the 40 Watt Club
in Athens, Georgia
, on 24 October. Sleater-Kinney continued touring with the album for two years, during which time they secured a support slot on Pearl Jam
's U.S. tour.
. Corin Tucker said that it "wasn’t really a conscious decision" to write about the attacks, but there was "just such as an overwhelming presence in our minds as we were trying to write songs, that we felt that we really needed to deal with it, and that we really needed to write about it." The album's lyrics were also prominently influenced by the recent birth of Tucker's son Marshall Tucker Bangs, and according to Tucker, "Marshall is all over One Beat. The last year was definitely a difficult time for me, as he was born nine weeks premature and he was in the hospital for a while. It was the hardest thing that I've ever lived through, that fear and anxiety, and I think I was able to let go into the music." The song "Sympathy" was written about the "terrifying" experience of Marshall's premature birth. "Hollywood Ending" which attacks the concept of celebrity and the mainstream female beauty standard
.
Brownstein described the album's overall sound by saying, "I think of Dig Me Out
and The Hot Rock as the two ends of the spectrum and it's kind of been combined on this record. And then we also pushed ourselves beyond that." Goodmanson said in an interview that "To me, it's not a record that's built for alternative radio. Yet, surprisingly, the reaction from everyone I've played it for has been like, 'Wow, these guys are really going for it.'" "Far Away" and "Combat Rock" are both politically conscious songs. "Step Aside" references "the violence of the world outside" and the domestic responsibilities of motherhood. The track incorporates a horn section
. In One Beat, Carrie Brownstein
plays her guitar in the style of Document
-era Peter Buck
, the guitarist of alternative rock
band R.E.M.
. The album contains the use of wah-wah pedal
s, synthesisers, sing-along choruses, and hints of blues music. The song "Prisstina" features backup vocals by American musician and composer Stephen Trask
.
reported a normalised
rating of 85% in August 2002 based on 22 critical reviews. Robert Christgau
, reviewing in The Village Voice
, explained that Sleater-Kinney aim for "defiant uplift" and seem energised by the challenge. Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone
pointed out that the trio's "riotous manifesto remains the same". Victoria Segal of NME
stated, "Few bands could explore motherhood and terrorism without making you want to shoot them: Corin Tucker's electric-shock voice and the adrenal guitars make them... essential pop topics." Allmusic's Steve Huey commented that Sleater-Kinney sometimes sacrifices immediacy for angular melodies and riff
s that "don't catch hold", but gave One Beat a rating of four stars out of five by noting that its "musical progression is still extremely impressive". Drowned in Sound
's Becky Stefani indicated that listening to the record momentarily makes one feel that "all is well in alternative music". Douglas Wolk of Blender
gave the album a maximum rating of five stars out of five by indicating that the band "swagger like they never have before, eschewing the filler that made their last few records drag".
One Beat was ranked at number five in the Pazz & Jop
poll run by The Village Voice, which surveyed 695 critics to find the best album of 2002, while The Boston Phoenix included it in its unnumbered list of The Best Albums of 2002. CMJ placed the record at number 6 in its Top 10 of 2002 list, while Rolling Stone critic Andrew Dansby named it at number eight in his personal list. Spin
ranked the album at number 12 in its list of The 40 Best Albums of 2002; staff writer Caryn Ganz praised it as Sleater-Kinney's "sharpest statement yet". Pitchfork Media placed the record at number 14 in its end-of-year list for 2002; contributor Brandon Reid wrote, "Years at the top haven't dulled their willingness to take risks, and that's just what they do, spectacularly, on One Beat."
Limited edition bonus disc
Additional musicians
Production
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American rock band Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney was an alternative rock band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1994. Originally formed in Olympia, Washington, the group's name is derived from Sleater-Kinney Road, Interstate 5 off ramp #108 in Lacey, Washington, the location of one of their early practice spaces. They were a...
. Produced by John Goodmanson
John Goodmanson
John Goodmanson is an American recording engineer and indie rock record producer.-Selected discography:*Aiden "Conviction " *Simple Plan "Crash and Burn"...
, the album was recorded between March and April 2002 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. It was released on 20 August 2002 on Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
. The record peaked at number 107 in the United States on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and entered the Billboard Top Independent Albums at number five. One Beat was very well received by critics. Praise centred on its cathartic delivery and political polemics.
Origins and recording
One Beat is the follow-up to Sleater-Kinney's highly acclaimed fifth album All Hands on the Bad OneAll Hands on the Bad One
All Hands on the Bad One is the fifth studio album by the American indie rock band Sleater-Kinney. It was released on May 2, 2000, on Kill Rock Stars.- Track listing :All songs written by Sleater-Kinney....
released in 2000. Before entering the studio, Sleater-Kinney practised in drummer Janet Weiss
Janet Weiss
Janet Lee Weiss was the drummer of now defunct Sleater-Kinney and is currently a member of Quasi and Wild Flag. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album Mirror Traffic.-Early life:...
's basement. The band conceived the album to be "the voice in the silence" following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on 11 September 2001. Lyricists and guitarists Corin Tucker
Corin Tucker
Corin Lisa Tucker is a singer and guitarist, best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney.- Early life :In the early 1990s, Tucker attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she studied film, political economy, and social change...
and Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Rachel Brownstein , is an American musician, writer, and actress, best known as a guitarist and vocalist in the now-defunct Portland, Oregon-based band Sleater-Kinney...
did not follow a set blueprint when crafting the songs; rather, they simply worked off each other's input and proceeded in a piecemeal way.
One Beat was produced by long-time collaborator John Goodmanson, who came from the same educational background as Sleater-Kinney and recorded with most of the acts signed to Kill Rock Stars. Weiss has stated that Goodmanson has a "unique" way of working with the band. Both parties decided to steer the album in a challenging new direction. In a later interview, Brownstein commented that "sometimes when we would want to do new things, he would be like, "oh god, everyone would freak out if we did that, we can't do that!"". After the recording sessions, Tucker indicated that she viewed the record's final mix as "a vast, sweeping landscape" that is the most fully formed release in the band's discography.
Promotion and release
In March 2002, Sleater-Kinney previewed tracks from One Beat during a series of U.S. East Coast performances and at the All Tomorrow's PartiesAll Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet UndergroundAll Tomorrow's Parties may also refer to:* All Tomorrow's Parties , an annual festival in England...
festival in Los Angeles. Speaking about the development of the songs in a concert setting, Weiss has said, "The live forum is where we get the feedback from the people who we're really interested in communicating with." The album's track list was confirmed in May. Before the release, Brownstein took time off to act in an independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
, Group, which documents a group of women meeting each week in therapy sessions. At the start of August, the band posted the 12 songs as QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
streams on the Kill Rock Stars label website.
The album was released on 20 August 2002. Sleater-Kinney performed at a street festival in Los Angeles alongside Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
on the weekend of 25 August. They embarked on an extensive U.S. tour in support of One Beat at the start of September. The tour started with a concert at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver on 11 September—which coincided with the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks—and ended with a gig at the 40 Watt Club
40 Watt Club
The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB's, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and "New Wave music."...
in Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, on 24 October. Sleater-Kinney continued touring with the album for two years, during which time they secured a support slot on Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
's U.S. tour.
Lyrics and composition
Brownstein has referred to the album as a "strident and pointed political record, in terms of the lyrics". The album contains some of Sleater-Kinney's most polemical songs; "Sympathy" and "Far Away" explicitly reference the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the latter track contains criticism of American president George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Corin Tucker said that it "wasn’t really a conscious decision" to write about the attacks, but there was "just such as an overwhelming presence in our minds as we were trying to write songs, that we felt that we really needed to deal with it, and that we really needed to write about it." The album's lyrics were also prominently influenced by the recent birth of Tucker's son Marshall Tucker Bangs, and according to Tucker, "Marshall is all over One Beat. The last year was definitely a difficult time for me, as he was born nine weeks premature and he was in the hospital for a while. It was the hardest thing that I've ever lived through, that fear and anxiety, and I think I was able to let go into the music." The song "Sympathy" was written about the "terrifying" experience of Marshall's premature birth. "Hollywood Ending" which attacks the concept of celebrity and the mainstream female beauty standard
Body image
Body image refers to a person's perception of the aesthetics and sexual attractiveness of their own body. The phrase body image was first coined by the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Paul Schilder in his masterpiece The Image and Appearance of the Human Body...
.
Brownstein described the album's overall sound by saying, "I think of Dig Me Out
Dig Me Out
Dig Me Out is the third album by punk group Sleater-Kinney. The album was released on April 8, 1997.Marlene Goldman, in Rolling Stone, has described it as the album that "defined the band's sound." In 2005 it was ranked #24 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005"...
and The Hot Rock as the two ends of the spectrum and it's kind of been combined on this record. And then we also pushed ourselves beyond that." Goodmanson said in an interview that "To me, it's not a record that's built for alternative radio. Yet, surprisingly, the reaction from everyone I've played it for has been like, 'Wow, these guys are really going for it.'" "Far Away" and "Combat Rock" are both politically conscious songs. "Step Aside" references "the violence of the world outside" and the domestic responsibilities of motherhood. The track incorporates a horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
. In One Beat, Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Rachel Brownstein , is an American musician, writer, and actress, best known as a guitarist and vocalist in the now-defunct Portland, Oregon-based band Sleater-Kinney...
plays her guitar in the style of Document
Document (album)
Robert Christgau praised the album, and called "It's the End of the World as We Know It " an "inspirational title." Stephan Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that "Where Lifes Rich Pageant sounded a bit like a party record, Document is a fiery statement, and its memorable melodies and riffs are made...
-era Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
, the guitarist of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
. The album contains the use of wah-wah pedal
Wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
s, synthesisers, sing-along choruses, and hints of blues music. The song "Prisstina" features backup vocals by American musician and composer Stephen Trask
Stephen Trask
Stephen Trask is an American musician and composer, who graduated from Wesleyan University.He was the music director and house band member at the New York club Squeezebox, where he performed with stars such as Debbie Harry, Lene Lovich and Joey Ramone.Trask composed the music and lyrics for the...
.
Critical reception
Media response to One Beat was highly favourable; aggregating website MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported a normalised
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating of 85% in August 2002 based on 22 critical reviews. Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
, reviewing in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, explained that Sleater-Kinney aim for "defiant uplift" and seem energised by the challenge. Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
pointed out that the trio's "riotous manifesto remains the same". Victoria Segal of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
stated, "Few bands could explore motherhood and terrorism without making you want to shoot them: Corin Tucker's electric-shock voice and the adrenal guitars make them... essential pop topics." Allmusic's Steve Huey commented that Sleater-Kinney sometimes sacrifices immediacy for angular melodies and riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
s that "don't catch hold", but gave One Beat a rating of four stars out of five by noting that its "musical progression is still extremely impressive". Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
's Becky Stefani indicated that listening to the record momentarily makes one feel that "all is well in alternative music". Douglas Wolk of Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
gave the album a maximum rating of five stars out of five by indicating that the band "swagger like they never have before, eschewing the filler that made their last few records drag".
One Beat was ranked at number five in the Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
poll run by The Village Voice, which surveyed 695 critics to find the best album of 2002, while The Boston Phoenix included it in its unnumbered list of The Best Albums of 2002. CMJ placed the record at number 6 in its Top 10 of 2002 list, while Rolling Stone critic Andrew Dansby named it at number eight in his personal list. Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
ranked the album at number 12 in its list of The 40 Best Albums of 2002; staff writer Caryn Ganz praised it as Sleater-Kinney's "sharpest statement yet". Pitchfork Media placed the record at number 14 in its end-of-year list for 2002; contributor Brandon Reid wrote, "Years at the top haven't dulled their willingness to take risks, and that's just what they do, spectacularly, on One Beat."
Track listing
- "Funeral Song" and "Prisstina" were incorrectly listed as track 10 and track 9 respectively on the CD and LP pressings (catalog KRS 387).
Limited edition bonus disc
Personnel
Band- Carrie Brownstein – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Corin Tucker – vocals, guitar
- Janet Weiss – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion, vocals
Additional musicians
- Stephen Trask – background vocals, synthesiser
- Steve FiskSteve FiskSteve Fisk is a Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician.Fisk joined the instrumental rock band Pell Mell in 1982. With vocalist Shawn Smith, he formed Pigeonhed, which released its first album in 1993....
– keyboards - Sam CoomesSam CoomesSamuel J. Coomes is an American musician, and currently one-third of the Portland-area indie band Quasi, along with drummer and ex-wife Janet Weiss and bassist Joanna Bolme...
– thereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device... - John Goodmanson – EBow guitar
- Mike Wayland – alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Russ Scott – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Jen Charowhas – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Brett Arnold – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Production
- John Goodmanson – producer
- Larry CraneLarry CraneLarry Crane is an American editor, recording engineer and archivist based in Portland, Oregon. Crane is the editor and founder of Tape Op Magazine, the owner of Portland's Jackpot! Recording Studio, a freelance engineer, and the archivist for musician Elliott Smith.-Career:Tape Op was started in...
– engineering - Roger Seibel – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Chart positions
| Chart (2002) | Peak |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 (U.S.) Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
107 |
| Billboard Top Independent Albums (U.S.) | 5 |
| Billboard Top Heatseekers (U.S.) | 2 |
External links
- One Beat lyrics at MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
- One Beat critical reviews at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...