The Rapture - Echoes
2007-06-18 18:59:00
Owing Much to Gang of Four, the Cure, David Bowie and P.i.l., The Rapture
Are One Retro Band that Even a Jaded Postpunker Can Learn to Love. Here is the Stuff with which So Many have Waited for So Long to Hear. Though They Clearly Do Live Sampling (Could They Be Any More Blatant Than the Drum Beat on "Open Up Your Heart"?), It's Easy to Forgive Here Because There is So Much Meat on These Bones and it is Served Well Done. Give it a Listen, You Won't Regret It!Site : The Rapture Similar Artists: !!!, LCD Soundstsyem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio, Junior Boys, Gang Of Four
Read more: Echoes
of Montreal - OM 60
2007-06-18 16:46:00
Read more: Montreal
Rooney - S/T
2007-06-18 14:29:00
The young Los Angeles band Rooney
draws on some obvious influences--the Beach Boys, Weezer--to craft its own promising sound. This catchy debut makes a strong case for the group's smarts by updating its tales of teen life with knowing details (side-by-side references to cell phones and Shirley Temples, for instance, in "Sorry, Sorry"). "Daisy Duke" mirrors a night-before/morning-after scenario with its Rivers Cuomo-esque structure of vulnerable verse/mock-tough chorus, while "I’m Shakin'" almost matches the Dandy Warhols' obsession with the Cars as a next-big-source of retro sound. But singer-guitarist Robert Carmine protests readymade Britney and Justin types too much on the overdramatic change of pace "Popstars." After all, can there really "killers of rock & roll" as long as unassuming bands like Rooney are around?
Rooney - Calling The World
2007-06-18 13:40:00
Their second album "Calling
The World
" - a pop-rock manifesto and contribution to the rock-pop body of work initiated by The Beatles and The Beach Boys and propagated by subsequent groups such as Queen, E.L.O., Cheap Trick, The Cars, Jellyfish and Weezer. Lead singer Robert Schwartzman wrote all of the songs on "Calling the World" after searching for a sound that would at once rock and "also make people dance." The first single from "Calling the World" is "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" - an effervescent head-bobber with an infectious chorus. The colorful video was shot in various locations in Los Angeles by noted director Benny Boom (50 Cent, Missy Elliot) and depicts a day in the California life of Rooney
, complete with afternoon wake-up, beach bar-b-q house party, classic car Hollywood cruise and late-night Silver Lake club romp. Other songs from the album include the mini-rock opera "I Should Have Been After You," "Believe In Me," a driving synth-propelled call for a leap of fait
Efterklang - Tripping
2007-06-17 15:29:00
I UPLOADED THIS IN .OGG FORMAT.... many of you will need to convert this before it will work. Tripper is the debut full-length by the 10-piece Danish ensemble Efterklang
, a band whose name translates literally to "after-noise" but more loosely to "reverberation" or "remembrance." All of these translations are in one way or another appropriate descriptors for the wondrous music created by the group, which settles beautifully into an open area somewhere between the elegant minimalist orchestrations of Max Richter, the electronically-enhanced chamber music of Rachel's albums like Systems/Layers, and the more contemplative moments of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. The most obvious characteristic that separates Efterklang from these other artists is their extensive use of vocals to augment their spacious orchestral sound. The band regularly alternates between male and female lead vocals, and on many tracks it also employs a full Greenlandic choir. In addition, the band's roster now includes
Tunng - Mothers Daughter And Other Songs
2007-06-17 14:19:00
Although the term 'Folktronica' seems to be used entirely as a derogatory term now, it is a useful word to help describe this album, which is a fairly literal fusion of folk songwriting and the glitchy textures of electronica. Unfortunately, it is the songwriting that lets the album down. The sub-Wicker Man pastoral imagery is contrived and unconvincing, and the atmospherics of the production do not realise this as poignantly as, say, the Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man album 'Out of Season'. There is something of the Beta Band on some tracks, but ultimately this is a very mediocre folk record embellished by some tricksy production. That said, there are a couple of fine moments. The title track 'Mother's Daughter
' builds on some heavily distorted vocal sample and ominous murmerings with plucked strings and crunchy beats before the rather sinister vocal refrain ('Float on the Water, Time will tell if you're your mother's daughter') kicks in, hinting at some unwholesome pagan acti
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Polyphonic Spree - Beginning Stages Of
2007-06-17 13:16:00
It's kind of a cliche' thing to say, but this is a band that, at this point anyway, you kind of have to see live to fully "get". On record, it's possible to hear the orchestral instrumentation, former Tripping Daisy vocalist Tim Delaughter's Jonathan Donahue-esque vocal delivery, and choruses like "hey, it's the sun, and it makes me shine" and (mistakenly) write them off as a twee/hippy version of Mercury Rev. But being faced with 24 people dressed in robes up on stage performing this material with such abandon that it becomes contagious, such cynicism inevitably fades away. Still, despite paling before their live performance, this is a very strong creative release, especially for what is essentially a demo recorded in 3 days. The main mood of the album is spiritual uplift, with Delaughter offering such advice as "have a day, celebrate, soon you'll find the answer" backed by a soaring chorus of backing vocals. As I said, it can all come off as a bit "twee" at first, bu they're t
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, Stages
Sigur Rós - Takk
2007-06-17 07:57:00
Takk... (Thanks...) is the fifth full-length studio album by the Icelandic band Sigur
Rós. The first singles, "Glósóli" and "Sæglópur", were released on August 15, 2005 and August 16, 2005 respectively, the former worldwide and the latter only in the United States. The single "Hoppípolla" was released in the UK on 28 November 2005 and entered the singles chart at #35 on 4 December. Upon its re-release in May 2006 it reached #24 in the UK chart. The album debuted at 27 in the U.S., selling 30,000 copies in its first week of release. On 7 April 2006, Takk... was certified gold by the BPI, marking 100,000 copies sold in the UK. In total, it has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide. 1000 copies of Takk... on vinyl were manufactured and arrived in UK and US stores as of January 2006. It is composed of a gatefold sleeve housing two 12 inch records, with a single die cut page that houses a 10-inch record with a design etched on one side. Sigur Rós also released music videos for "Glósól
Architecture In Helsinki - Do The Whirlwind
2007-06-16 22:14:00
Architecture in Helsinki
is one of those delightful bands that are both twee and catchy, sounding a bit like a dancey collision between Belle and Sebastian and the Polyphonic Spree. Despite only having two albums out, this large Aussie band is rapidly making a name for itself.One of the most entertaining songs on their second album, "In Case We Die," is "Do the Whirlwind," a delightful Stereolab-style dance tune that is just offbeat and sunny enough to avoid sounding cliched. Of course, there's also the wonderfully weird lyrics: "She said you'd given up on/your folks told me you should be left alone on a mountain top/knocking the aeroplanes down with stones/do the whirlwind..."But this EP also has two other songs to follow up that underground single. One is a remix of "Do the Whirlwind," where the melodies are chopped up and glued back together, backed with some great bongos, wonky keyboards and sax. But "Find Your Animal Power" revs back to the sound Architecture in Helsinki does we
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The Decemberists - Connect Sets
2007-06-16 22:12:00
Read more: Connect
The Decemberists - The Tain EP
2007-06-16 22:11:00
If we agree The Decemberists are one of the main features on the current music scene, mostly thanks to their last album, Her Majesty The Decemberists and to the reediting in Kill Rock Stars of their debut album, Castaways And Cutouts, it comes as no surprise that one of their next releases is this 2004 EP for Acuarela. This fascinating and creative Portland (Oregon)-based pop-art group that is reputed not only for its music, but also for the romantic and epic spirit in the best sense, has recently handed us its 18-minutes long release titled The Tain, whose cornerstone, according to leader Colin Meloy, is a cycle of Celtic mythology under the same name, and is basically a conceptual work, a song divided into five parts. Recorded with producer Chris Walla in Seattle, one of its fragments marks the first time that group drummer, Rachel, puts her voice and literary talent into a record
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
2007-06-16 22:09:00
Capitol raised a few eyebrows when they signed indie stalwarts the Decemberists. There's nothing blatantly commercial about the Portland quintet, from Colin Meloy's quavery voice and hyper-literate lyrics to the band's wide-ranging music, which encompasses baroque pop, prog rock, and dozens of other styles. Then again, he did once sing, "I was made for the stage," and those who've seen the group live know this to be true. Sure, they're storytellers, but they're entertainers, too--just not in the Top 40 sense. Never ones to play it safe, their major label debut takes its inspiration from a Japanese folk tale. It travels from the Replacements-style balladry of "The Crane Wife 3"--which joins words like "Each feather it fell from skin/'Til threadbare while she grew thin" to the melody from "Here Comes a Regular"--to the ELP hoedown of three-part epic "The Island" to the haunting duet between Meloy and Laura Veirs on "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)." It's an impressively ecle
The Decemberists - Picaresqueties
2007-06-16 22:09:00
The Decemberists - Her Majesty The Decemberists
2007-06-16 22:05:00
Failing students have had such an influential role in shaping rock & roll that it's easy to give the bookworm segment short shrift. Witness the vital contributions from the likes of Ray Davies, the Zombies, and Neutral Milk Hotels Jeff Magnum--the kind of smartypants songwriters with whom the Decemberists' Colin Meloy is often compared. The second full-length CD from Portland, Oregon's Decemberists certainly posits Meloy near the top of the current crop of literate indie rockers. Meloy is the brother of author Maile Meloy and a fellow whom one concludes has his own well-worn library card. Eschewing conventional pop-song subject matter, he delves deep into the past for his narratives and even his lexicon, witness "Shanty for the Arethusa," the high-seas opener, and "The Chimbley Sweep," which recalls the Zombies' similarly dark-hued "Butcher's Tale." Though the subject matter is frequently dire and the approach is lyrically erudite, one shouldn't conclude that listening to Her Maj
Read more: Majesty
The Decemberists - 5 Songs EP
2007-06-16 22:04:00
I've always enjoyed music that evokes feelings of lukewarm summer evenings. Cold wintry days always seem to bring me down to a level I quickly want to be removed from. Instead, I take pleasure in evenings where the sun seems to never want to hide itself behind the horizon. The kind of evening that just doesn't seem to come around too often in my neck of the woods. Coming from the Midwest, I've always had the ability to take long drives down the highways and countryside simply for the sake of my own enjoyment. The Decemberists are a band that incorporates images of all these feelings. If you've read any of my music reviews in the past, you know that although I'm not the biggest fan of country music, per se, I am a true believer in the steel guitar. I'll even take it in the format of a pedal steel if that's all I can get. The steel guitar has just always had the ability to express true heartfelt sorrow and beauty to me.With their Five Songs EP, The Decemberists have showcased stee
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
2007-06-16 21:47:00
Deerhunter's artsy second full-length record is about contrast; dissonant but melodic, loud and bold yet dreamy and peaceful. Like Spiritualized on a bad trip, the first half is noisy, moody, and mostly instrumental except for Bradford Cox's occasional, heavily distorted sing-talking. But it shifts gears on "Spring Hall Convert" when the music lightens into lo-fi shoegazer pop. Elsewhere you'll find clanging punk, drone rock, and minimalist psychedelia. Sounds like a disjointed experience, right? Well, yeah, it is somewhat, but stay with it. After a few listens you'll hear the consistent sonic smarts that unify the record's wandering tone. The title track for instance comes off like watered-down Joy Division until the feedback kicks in, and the giant guitar blare sets off a charging momentum. A song like "Hazel St." has a goofier appeal, with its slightly awkward intro and loopy melodies. But there's nothing awkward about how the song generously unfolds so that by the end, the on
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Sigur Rós - ( )
2007-06-14 21:12:00
Are Iceland’s Sigur
Rós the saviors of 21st-century rock or true heirs to the silk-robed-and-platform-booted, pompous progressive rock of the '70s? On their third album (first for a major label), they are a little bit of both. The group continues to mix the most interesting aspects of U2 (the anthem), LOW (the maximalist slow-mo thing), Radiohead (the utter lack of irony in the quest to make meaningful art for stadium crowds), and My Bloody Valentine (guitar as texture), while not sounding like anyone else on this planet. The average song length on the eight untitled tracks is eight minutes, with cascades of moaning, bowed guitars colliding with low-end keyboards while the lovely, alien-registered vocals of singer Jónsi float on top. Dynamics are employed spectacularly, but half of the album is spooky soundtrack music that never really goes anywhere. However, the actual songs on Two Sausages Kissing (or whatever you want to call it)--the third, sixth, eighth, and especially fourth
of Montreal - Satanic Panic In The Attic, Bonus Covers EP
2007-05-26 08:09:00
Site: Of Montreal
Similar Artists: Neutral Milk Hotel, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Architecture in Helsinki, Broken Social Scene, The Shins, The Unicorns
Read more: Panic
, Attic
, Bonus
, Covers
of Montreal - Daytrotter Sessions
2007-05-24 09:16:00
Site: Of Montreal
Similar Artists: Neutral Milk Hotel, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Architecture in Helsinki, Broken Social Scene, The Shins, The Unicorns
Read more: Sessions
of Montreal - Deflated Chime, Foals Slightly Flower Sibylline Responses
2007-05-19 17:43:00
Site: Of Montreal
Similar Artists: Neutral Milk Hotel, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Architecture in Helsinki, Broken Social Scene, The Shins, The Unicorns
Read more: Chime
Interpol - Our Love To Admire
2007-06-22 02:51:00
Moving up to a major label has hardly lifted Interpol
's spirits. This is a good thing. Even with the twisted Wild Kingdom album cover and bassist Carlos Dengler's unexpected Wild West makeover, on its third studio album the black-clad New York quartet still sounds inflexibly menacing, grasping tighter than ever to its doomy post-punk influences and delving further into frontman Paul Banks's emotional unrest. Everything sounds a little bigger and brighter, sure, but at their core songs like "Rest My Chemistry" and "Wrecking Ball" are heroically sinister, goaded on by prickly riffs and slow-bleeding rhythms. The group briefly jumps to life on the buzzing "Heinrich Manouver" and exhibits an unexpected dash of humor on "No I in Threesome," but it's the closing "Lighthouse" that best defines the set--a late-night lament that simply steals away into the dark.Site: Interpol Similar Artists: Joy Division, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Chameleons, Arcade Fire, Radiohead
Mogwai - Travel Is Dangerous
2007-06-22 02:49:00
Another fine and worthy addition to the Mogwai
canon. All five tracks will be familiar, and the lead track is one of the best songs from the brilliant Mr Beast album.The next two tracks are remixes. Errors do a fine job with "Auto Rock", managing to make it sound eerie and sweet at the same time. Likewise Acid Casuals, who lift a couple of the refrains of "Friend Of the Night" into the sky and allow them to hang there.The EP is rounded-off by splendid renderings of old favourite "Like Herod", and Mr Beast closer "We're No Here", recorded in Japan earlier this year.Yes, you should buy.Site : Mogwai Similar Artists: Explosions In The Sky, M83, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, Album Leaf
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Mogwai - Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996-1997)
2007-06-22 02:45:00
Even before an official debut, these young lads from scotland were already proving their relationship with music far exceeded their peers..Yes this is probally the least amazing of Mogwai
's catalouge, but within the subtlties you see the ingrediants that would help make Mogwai one of the standout bands of the new millenium..This album has more breezy, relaxed tracks then what we are used to dealing with when plunging into the abyss with these guys, however the essence of the band and it's die hard philosphy of letting a composition breath as long as it needs to is in full effect. Amazing that a band so young could be so sincere in it's goal of pure audio immersion.Site : Mogwai Similar Artists: Explosions In The Sky, M83, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, Album Leaf
Read more: Rapid
, Recordings
Mogwai - Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 [LIVE]
2007-06-21 19:04:00
Part 2Mogwai
has always been one of those near-great bands that you never give up on because they're a thrilling live act with a terrifically bold, louder than God sound and their use of loud-soft-loud dynamics is rivaled only by Godpseed, the Dirty Three and Slint. But on their albums, Mogwai so often seems lost in search of an actual song that, well, it's easy to get bored. This album collects tunes the band recorded for the BBC, and it walks the balance between experimentation and melody far finer than any of their proper albums. Perhaps the need to record songs quickly in the studio for airplay compelled them towards accessibility rather than ear-bleeding wankiness? Regardless, this is not only a must for Mogwai fans, it's the beginners' best place to start. The collection is dedicated to the late, brilliant DJ John Peel, for whom many of the songs were recorded.Site : Mogwai Similar Artists: Explosions In The Sky, M83, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt.
Read more: Government
, Commissions
, Sessions
Mogwai - Friend of the Night
2007-06-21 18:49:00
More than just melodic joy-rock band, the Friend of the Night
disc exhibits a smooth, free-slowing music style, all done while keeping the traditional PMR composure. The use of definable piano's are a welcome to the ear helping to bring the pieces of music to life.Each of the three three tracks off this album are a bit subtle in the beginning, but by slowing adding in more instruments, awkward chords, and crescendo, they all build into their musical climax, bringing the listener right in with it, until the end of the song where it lets you off the journey lightly, leaving you ready for the next trip.Site : Mogwai
Similar Artists: Explosions In The Sky, M83, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, Album Leaf
Mogwai - My Father My King
2007-06-21 18:48:00
"My Father
My King" starts off quietly and unassumingly enough, but builds into a frenzy of guitar-based melodic chaos within the first five minutes. The next couple of minutes bring it all back down to let you catch your breath before Glasgow's kings of sonic martial arts give you another swift kick to the ears.Despite there only being one track, this is perhaps my favorite Mogwai
release to date. Harmoniously anarchic, frighteningly beautiful, this is one record you don't want to miss.Site : Mogwai Similar Artists: Explosions In The Sky, M83, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, Album Leaf
Mogwai - 4 Satan Ep
2007-06-21 18:47:00
This EP's first two tracks are absolutely worth your money. They communicate with you as if they are alive, and have known you your whole life. "Superheroes of BMX" and "Now You're Taken" seem to work together to create a blanket of musical comfort. "Now You're Taken" is one of the most personal, affecting songs I've ever heard. The first time you listen to it, make sure it's raining at 2:00 AM -- the experience of Aidan Moffat's voice flowing through you accompanied by the smell of rain is truly amazing. I would pay 10 dollars for this track alone."Sterodee" stinks. Let's face it. It's an interesting concept, but just doesn't work. Get this EP, listen to it once through, then stop it after the incredible second track for repeated listenings. But get this EP. In fact, get every Mogwai
album ever made, except for Come On Die Young and Kicking A Dead Pig. They don't live up to the perfection of Young Team, Ten Rapid, or EP+2.Site : Mogwai Similar Artists: Explo
Read more: Satan
Mogwai - Travels In Constants, Volume 12
2007-06-21 18:43:00
This is Mogwai
's instalment to the Travels
In Constants singles club on Temporary Residence released last year. However they managed to get their hands on a limited number of copies for people who were not lucky enough to get it first time round. Track 1, simply called Untitled starts with drifting guitars building up to a driving atmosphere laden with haunting vocals before gently placing you on the ground with the words of a monologue bringing you to your senses. The next track Quiet Stereo Dee builds you up gradually leaving you expectant for a dramatic end but instead drifts off into space. This brings us to the final track Arundel is a Papa M cover and is a gentle piano instrumental, a relaxing end to a great single. This is one of Mogwai's best singles since No Education = No Future and it's a shame that it is limited. There are however samples of the song on Mogwai's web site so you can hear what you are missing.Site : Mogwai Similar Artists: Explosions In T
Read more: Volume
Destroyer - Notorious Lightning & Other Works
2007-06-21 07:51:00
For Destroyer
fans, the six songs on Notorious
Lightning and Other Works
will sound familiar-- although perhaps not as familiar as they might think. All six tracks appeared on 2004's grandiose Your Blues, on which singer-songwriter and New Pornographer Daniel Bejar took his heady popcraft to new heights of synthesized theatricality. At subsequent live gigs, however, Bejar performed with the crazed snake charmers (and fellow Vancouverites) of Frog Eyes as his backing band, and was apparently so tickled by the results that he has here attempted to bottle that genie for home use. Recorded over the course of a weekend (and entirely without Bejar's usual regard for subtlety) the new versions of these songs get fingered and manhandled to such degrees that those who love the verdant, extraterrestrial warmth of Your Blues might not want to look. Though Notorious Lightning finds Destroyer returning to a more traditional guitar-based instrumental line-up, this nevertheless feels like a
Destroyer - City of Daughters
2007-06-21 07:50:00
City of Daughters marks the first sallying forth out of the confines of the bedroom for Bejar's Destroyer
nom de guerre, and it sounds it. The album, if ultimately a bit precious, is pleasant enough, beginning with a kind of stuttering promise. Over the sound of rain, Bejar's guitar is suitably hesitant as he laments, “Oh, to shy away from days of opulence, of fakings, and false starts.” It's a terrific start to an album, hitting a conventional but always attractive note of world-weariness. But then we learn that, uh, “Girls are foxes, boys are boxers,” and I'm lost. Bring your exegesis to bear on this line and others like it, you critics, you rereaders; search for truth where none or little exists – “girls are attractive to boys, who tend to engage in athletic activities”? – and you'll be wanting to shy away from these fakings and false starts, too. Indeed, the whole album seems to want to start anew with every song, halting, shuddering, but always revving
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