September 2010
13 posts
5 tags
Elf Power - Elf Power →
How many albums are Elf Power up to now? This long running Elephant 6 band have returned with an eponymously-titled and fairly straight-up batch of indie rock tunes. It might be missing a little bit of the poppy quirkiness which one associates with their earlier work, but fear not: this is still an eminently listenable album. In fact, it is somewhat reminiscent of Sebadoh in their prime during...
6 tags
Ben Folds / Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue →
How’s this for a concept album…? Nick Hornby (who is known for writing about music more than actually writing it) penned a set of lyrics before sending them over the interwebs for Ben Folds to write the music and melodies around. The hand of Hornby is evident as each song packs in a little story by itself (particularly the gorgeous Belinda and the vitriolic Levi Johnston’s...
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Glasser - Ring →
Ring is one of the more daring albums you’re going to hear this year. It’s full of strong, almost tribal percussion and smooth, synthetic elements and takes curious turns in places where it could have been easy to churn out a very safe record. However, the part that stays with you the most is the ghostly, hallucinogenic vocals of Cameron Mesirow (the solitary person behind Glasser)...
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Race Horses - Goodbye Falkenberg →
One of the best debut albums of the year finally gets a Spotify release (not sure exactly when it went live but I’ve been checking fairly attentively since it was released originally in early February). It’s psychedelic indie-pop from Wales and thus inevitably draws comparisons with Super Furry Animals. But in this case Race Horses truly hold their own with some really inventive...
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School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire →
This entire album feels like sky-diving in a psychadelic landscape, just going round and round and slowly down. It’s an utterly entrancing album. All the shimmering layers of sound blend perfectly together to create something that (whilst not unique, since the shoegaze influence is clear) sounds like it’s from another planet. Their last album was great and this one feels like an...
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Of Montreal - False Priest →
If you thought Skeletal Lamping was a fairly nutso tangent for Of Montreal to boogie down after Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer then you’re likely to be both pleased and disappointed with this one. Kevin Barnes and co certainly seemed liberated with the critical success of HF and whilst the last record was one of extreme indulgence and fantasy this one at least manages to pull some of...
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Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon →
It’s difficult to pick a favourite track from this album - (TV On The Radio’s) Dave Sitek’s version of the ultimate party playlist featuring a whole host of famous voices. Allegedly, an accidental album, this project turned into an electro-funk masterpiece, from the soulful opener “Groove Me” (feat. Theophilus London) to the best David Byrne collaboration since (and...
4 tags
Interpol - Interpol →
It’s hard to be too harsh on an act you’ve loved. Interpol’s first and second albums were brooding masterpieces in their own time. But sadly this one is just a bit dull. It just doesn’t have the same polish and sharpness of old and it bears all the hallmarks of a band getting tired and running out of ideas (so tired in fact that founding member Carlos D quit the band...
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Philip Selway - Familial →
When did a drummer last write a good spin-off album? Because Radiohead’s Philip Selway might’ve just done that. Smartly moving away from the familiar sounds of the ‘head, aptly-titled Familial features largely acoustic-guitar driven songs with a melancholic feel and perhaps surprisingly good vocals. It’s not particularly bold, neither is it particularly ground-breaking...
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Weezer - Hurley →
The hilariously titled and ‘artworked’ Hurley, Weezer’s eight studio album and first for independent label Epitaph, finds the boys in fine and boisterous form, as ever. It’s quite a poppy effort from the lead single and singalong track Memories to the self-referential Trainwrecks. Being a Weezer album, it’s not without it’s silly moments either like...
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Eels - Tomorrow Morning →
To call Eels prolific would be a misnomer. Despite Tomorrow morning being their third album in just over a year (after Hombre Lobo and End Times), it’s business as usual for E and the gang. Indeed, Tomorrow Morning sounds like a natural companion piece to End Times with its sombre tone and feel. But there’s light in the darkness that signals something of a mental rebirth out of the...
1 tag
August Playlist
Another short month this time around. Seems like only days ago I was doing this for July (oh wait, it was). With album season getting back into action with autumn on its way, expect more updates from here on out.
So, what was good this month? Well, first up was the long-awaited indie-rock, surf-pop record from Best Coast, although that’s summeryness was even challenged by Admiral...
6 tags
Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern - Losing My... →
To tide you over until next month’s release of his latest solo (albeit with the backup of the venerable Secondary Modern) album, Essex Arms, here’s a four-track EP released last year around the same time as Pram Town. Pram Town was the first in a proposed conceptual trilogy of records about Essex, his (and my) home county and featured his ever present eagle-eyes and acerbic wit. This...