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Posts tagged music

So, I don’t think I did this last month. But uh, I was kinda busy.

Anyway, let’s look at what I bought this month. It’s a doozy of a list:

Jamie Lidell - Compass

The sartorial electronic glitch artist turned blue eyed soul singer, Jamie Lidell returns. Man, this guy can sing. His records have striking electronic elements that come across as melodic and beautiful, not otherworldly and terrifying (as his Warp Records contemporaries often strive for). Not my favorite Jamie Lidell album, but another great effort.

Lissie - Catching a Tiger

I had the pleasure of seeing Lissie open for The Low Anthem (on my list for best show of 2010, so far) a few months back. She had a guitarist and a bass player/drummer (the guy sat at a drum kit and played bass. Fascinating).

Her album is slightly different from her live show, but it’s pop goodness with some folk and soul influences. For a first effort this is definitely worth a listen.

Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP

Suffie’s back with the 808! Just kidding. Well, sort of.

This sprawling “EP” clocks in at over an hour and features some incredible highs and some expected lows (the last track is seventeen minutes and features more of those limp guitar solos he farts out). If you’re a Sufjan fan you probably already have this, but go listen anyway.

In an interesting turn of events, he announced a full album only days after quietly releasing this album via Bandcamp. The album is apparently full of electronic and dance elements, and has nothing to do with any of the 50 states. Sheesh.

Best Coast - Crazy for You

Female-led surf rock. I’ve railed against the whole garage/surf revival going on right now, but bands like this really stand out. The album opener “Boyfriend” is a classic example of this surf rock movement but doesn’t feel derivative or tired. The songs are short and succint and it just works.

The Drums - The Drums

Another surf rock band that I just love. The song “Let’s Go Surfing” needs to be in a Quiksilver commercial or something - it’s just perfect surfer music! Light, unaffected and fun. A great summer album of jangly riffs and harmonized vocals… just pure fun.

Mountain Man - Made the Harbor

This band’s touted as the female Fleet Foxes (FFF, for short). Not a bad comparison, but this isn’t a ripoff of the bearded folksters. These girls are making beautiful, minimal music - lilting vocals over gentle finger-picked guitar. It’s a gorgeous album that’ll be getting a lot of listens from me this fall.

Menomena - Mines

I believe this is one of the most creative bands working today: they wrote their own looping software which they use to sing and beatbox into, which is then synthesized and programmed, which is then re-arranged with acoustic instruments. The result is a band which truly feels modern in this age of digital technology but has scant few electronic elements.

The instrumentation and experimentation on Menomena records is just unparalleled. Saxophones, alien guitar riffs, organ, piano, Moog foot pedals, huge background vocal pads — all this works together to orchestrate the melodies and arrangements the band works out. No wonder it takes them so long to make new material.

Everyone in the band takes turns on lead vocals, often earning them a Beatles comparison, but also allowing the other band members a chance to shine on BGVs. All three (four on tour) band members are multi-instrumentalists and it really shines on this album. One of my favorites of 2010.

Scissor Sisters - Night Work

This is the gayest album I own. Seriously — just look at the cover. It’s got some great songs on it (the title track is pure disco candy) but man, some of the content is just… well, gay. It’s not as good as their previous albums (I say that a lot, don’t I?) but you should at least check out the title track.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

One of the more hyped up and celebrated records on this list. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t get it. I think this is a pretty boring and safe effort.

Funeral stands as one of my favorite albums ever and one whose themes helped me through some personal loss. All that to say, it’s not working for me this time around.

“Ready to Start” is a nice song, sure, but nothing here really grabs me and won’t let me go like on their previous albums. This just sounds like a band running low on ideas.

The Books - The Way Out

I am so excited that the Books are still around. This band is one of the more unique things out there right now, and this album is certainly indicative of that. The Books are masterful audio editors and found sound splicers, but they’re also proficient string musicians and singers. The result is a jarring mix of beautiful indie pop and experimental found sound pieces; truly unique and amazing.

Much of this album got it’s start as found answering machine tapes and old self help cassettes. The band would raid local thrift stores on each stop of their tour and spend hours on the road listening to these old and forgotten tapes. The result is just amazing, especially on tracks like “Thirty Incoming” that dissects the relationships archived inside these acetone time capsules.

It’s a gorgeous and unusual record and showcases a real masterful understanding of digital audio. I feel like I could spend the rest of my life in Pro Tools editing pieces together and not come close to what’s contained in this album.

What’s your favorite album you just bought?

twentyfourbit:

Sufjan Stevens Unveils The Age of Adz

Just 6 days following the surprise digital release of his 60-minute EP, All Delighted People, Sufjan Stevens has announced the October 12 release of his next full-length album: The Age of Adz. According to Asthmatic Kitty, the Adz (pronounced “odds”) LP “sounds nothing like” last week’s 8-song set:

We can say it shows an extensive use of electronics (banjos and acoustic guitars give way to drum machines and analog synthesizers), and an obsession with cosmic fantasies (space, heaven, aliens, love), to create an explicit pop-song extravaganza, augmented by heavy orchestration, and maybe even a few danceable moments.

Pre-order The Age of Adz here and check out the 11-song tracklist below:

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Oh, Suffie.