Recently, I've been on a bit of a download/buying splurge, and so am listenening to quite a lot at the mo:
Broken Social Scene: You forgot it in people
Lovelylovelylovely. I think I like it even better than the recent self-titled effort. I love the drums on the second track, they're so enthusiastic. It sounds a litle more cohesive, and also a bit more experimental than the new one, and I love it. A keeper.
Stubbs the Zombie OST
This is equally awesome. 50's/60's songs by contempory mainstream 'alternative' artists, made for the soundtrack of some X-Box Zombie game. Who cares about the game when you've got Ben Kweller singing Lollipop, Cake doing Strangers in the Night and a lovely rendition of The Wizard of Oz's If I only had a Brain by the Flaming Lips. Hell yes, it's as good as it sounds on paper.
The Crimea - Tragedy Rocks
I got this becuase I liked Davey's old band, The Crocketts. Not quite sure about it as of yet. I like the single Lottery Winners On Acid - it has a very airy, trippy feel to it, and the lyrics in the chorus are neat, and the title premise always makes me grin. It makes me think of winning the lottery while tripping. That would be fucked. But the rest of the album... meh, not so sure. It's a lot softer than the Crocketts, and some of the more catchy hooks of the previous band have been lost with the bluster too. I'll have to give it a while.
65daysofstatic - one time for all time
Now this is something. I'm not sure if anyone else here is into this (I did a Google for it, and no-one here has mentioned them), but they're a kind of post-rock/drum'n'bass/hardcore instrumental band. I got this record a few days ago and it's bloody brilliant, I've had it on non-stop. In some ways it's quite traditional quietloudLOUD post-rock, but the electronic flourishes and amazing glitching electronic drums with a real kit add a lot of depth, plus the heavy bits are really fucking heavy, not the half-assed, tinny-guitar wussouts you get on some similar records. Sounds a bit like early Mogwai kidnapped Aphex twin and made him make beats for them. Great headphone music.
Also
Mogwai - Mr Beast
dled this and have given it a few listens, so not much to report. On first glance, it's a lot heavier than the last few, and a lot more straight-forward. The first track reminded both me and my missus of Nine Inch Nails at the same time (must have been a chord progression), and the secod track Glasgow Mega-Snake is a cool as it sounds.
Artic Monkeys - Whatever...
Hmmm... bit shit really, innit? Occasionally very good when they let themselves rock rather than playing stiff white-boy funk with no soul. Has a humourous lyrical turn, with a nice bit of bite to it, but all the cleverness blends together into a smug mush. Although, I find it odd that most of the songs are mocking/deriding scenester kids, aka the NME readers. Ooh, burn... they're all alternative and shit.
Sufjan Stevens - ...Illinoise
I've had this album for a little while now, and finally gave it a headphone-listen today at work. Fuck yeah, it's well good innit? I still have the melodies in my head as I write this. It's pretty, poignant, and lyrical like a story book, or in this case, regional history book. Made me laugh, made me well up in the office (when he mentions his friend getting cancer. Very sad, don't like thinking about dying friends), taught me a little bit about illinois while reading the lyrics on t'interweb. A nice listen. |
