Wednesday, May 30 2012
Sigur Rós: Valtari
With Valtari, these Icelanders may have pushed their dream-pop/post-rock formula to its final point. Where can Sigur Rós go after pushing the very limits of beautiful?
Lemonade: Diver
Music that could be classified as "rave music" will never achieve enough transcendence to hold its own when isolated from the dancefloor. Lemonade seem to realize this and attempt to remedy it.
Cory Branan: Mutt
Branan is not just another hairy face rehashing the songwriting greats of yesteryear; his songwriting is up there with the best of the new breed of today.
Patrick Watson: Adventures in Your Own Backyard
The fourth long-player from inaugural Polaris Prize winner Patrick Watson is full of dark melancholy and a sense of the downtrodden, as though the Montreal multi-instrumentalist and his band is reacting to some stinging criticism the last album, Wooden Arms, received.
Young Hines: Give Me My Change
Young Hines can carry a tune and maybe even write one, but the remarkably unremarkable Give Me My Change just doesn't add up.
Gazpacho: March of the Ghosts
March of the Ghosts marks the seventh album from Oslo-based Gazpacho. As you'd expect from a prog band well into its career, the new album is a lustrously polished example of artfully composed melodic rock. The fact it's such an overly familiar affair makes it all the more disappointing.
Tuesday, May 29 2012
The Walkmen: Heaven
Heaven is an album not about discovering what you want, but rather about the goodness you've already found, and in attempting the difficult task of the content record, the Walkmen succeed.
King Tuff: King Tuff
In the days of insipid and precious bedroom projects, King Tuff’s return to rock and roll, its insistence on loud guitars and fun, is a sublimely radical move.
Theresa Andersson: Street Parade
Theresa Andersson breaks down the sounds of a New Orleans parade and reconstructs them into wonderfully idiosyncratic, introspective pop. No beads or revelry required.
Jason Mraz: Love Is a Four Letter Word
The "I'm Yours" feel-good guy returns with his most expansive set yet. The results are (mostly) better than you might think.
Lee Bannon: Fantastic Plastic
Bannon's beats may vary from spastic breakdowns to golden-age bangers, but they come together to form a surprisingly dope and cohesive whole.
Friday, May 25 2012
Saint Etienne: Words and Music
With the aptly titled Words and Music, Saint Etienne offers a statement of purpose for its existence more than 20 years after its founding in what’s essentially a love letter to musical fandom.
fIREHOSE: lowFlOWs: The Columbia Anthology (‘91-‘93)
lowFLOWs is a great rock 'n' roll story, the story of musicians pushing on in the face of heartbreak and finding new sounds, new music, and new creative heights.
Carina Round: Tigermending
Carina Round's third full-length is a perfectly crafted record from an amazingly talented songwriter.
Carole King: The Legendary Demos
The music from the middle of the decade shows how much things have changed in such a short time. The songs are serious, even when they do concern love, such as “So Goes Love”, about the end of a relationship. But these more adult concerns are still wrapped in pop conventions.
Pumice: Puny
Noise music is supposed to be challenging. That's someting that Pumice understands and has taken to heart as Puny makes clear. Fortunately, like the best noise releases, their are breaks from the madness where everything makes sense, at least for a little while.
Robin Trower: Farther on Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983
The great Robin Trower shouldn't have strayed this far.
Laurent Mignard Duke Orchestra: Ellington French Touch
A new concert recording by the formidable Duke Orchestra of Paris led by Laurent Mignard collects Ellington’s French-inspired compositions, including a wealth of unheard music. The album brings into focus the triumphant late period of jazz’s greatest composer.
