Archive for the ‘pop’ Tag
The Rumble Strips – Welcome To The Walk Alone
Don’t let this album pass you by. Seriously. It’s probably the best typical British album in a long time – strings, trumpets, piano, bittersweet melodies with the accent. And unexpected, at least judging by how little there is about the band on the web. We’ve been listening a lot to it in the office, and you always feel like you need to play it one more time. Thanks, Strips.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – s/t
It’s hard to give the band a name more indie than this; anyway, these people are a promising act and deserve your attention. A sweet semi-amateur interpretation of the late 80s, sounding like a cross between Vivian Girls, The Jesus and Marie Chain and The Meeting Places that’s non-stop running. Not particularly original, but sincere and fun it is.
Update: This album gets better and better after each listen. In my ears all the time – album of the month I say!
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
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When Twiligh Omens ended, it was fourth perfect modern pop rock song in a row from the start of the album. I worried what kind of a beast it is going to become. A few songs later, I was, to bo honest, relieved – they were good but not as brilliant as the openers, so fortunately these guys are really human. But then, it’s the third album of all these rhythmic clever short songs… they have to do something strange, they can’t go on like this forever! Finally, yes, they dissolve in the 7+ minutes long Lucid Dreams from a sound feast into a most primitive mechanic beat. In Dream Again, they’re back to do a simple and beautiful mostly vocal Beach House-style tune repeating “I live to dream again”. Wrapping up with Katherine, an acoustic guitar, talking about what we will never get. What we do get however, is Franz Ferdinand’s best album period.
The Aliens – Luna
Filed under: music | Tags: experimental, pop, psychedelic, rock
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A great release from The Aliens, whose members stem from Beta Band. The album goes on for more than an hour, two songs over ten minutes, but this album is in fact a constant stream of different musical ideas – sometimes they’re pieced together in one song, sometimes they split, lose the focus a bit and wander off. The essence of Luna are vocal harmonies in differrent styles, from glam, funk and ballad to Syd Barret-flavoured pop psyche, with lots of effects and layered instruments playing behind. Would be a great live experience I imagine.
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
Another classic remaster ripped to FLAC and posted today – The Beatles‘ A Hard Day’s Night. Oh yes, I have been working like a dog as well.
Belle and Sebastian – The BBC Sessions
Of all Belle and Sebastian, I only listened to If You’re Feeling Sinister a few times before, but now I think I properly get their music. A nice companion to feeling … quietly awesome in a november fog.
Love Is All – A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night
Filed under: music | Tags: disco, indie, pop, post-punk, rock
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Love Is All are a Swedish indie-garage-disco-punk band led by Josephine Olausson. They come with eleven songs on their second album that will most probably make you stand up, move and remember them. Meanwhile it’s actually a soundtrack to the young modern folk’s solitude despite a hundred things. Olausson’s tiny voice yells about how shitty movie romance portraits are, walking home with the last guy at the bar, being inside 19 walls and all in between.
Beck – Modern Guilt
Filed under: music | Tags: electronica, experimental, folk, minimalistic, pop, rock
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Dunno why I never posted about this; I often return to it these days. It’s such a juicy beat box with psyched vocals and vintage collage sounds. Yet it’s all very modern. It often happens with Beck, but I haven’t been into none of his albums this much. The important factor this time must be the album’s length – about half an hour, just right for each idea to have its own time and leave space for another, all equally good. Catchy and thoughtful at the same time.
Edit: this torrent’s track 6 can’t be played, it has a virus it seems. Somethign more awesome can be found on Demonoid, a vinyl rip.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cardinology
Ryan Adams, who seems to have become a writer as well, returns with his Cardinals once again with a new recording. By now you probably have a formed opinion of his ctrl.alt.country; I personally liked Heartbreaker and Love is Hell a lot, but the rest, including this one, don’t move me. Still, this album does have a few gems towards the end: Natural Ghost, Sink Ships and Evergreen.
Vivian Girls – s/t
An all-girl trio singing short punkish shoegaze songs washed with sweet feedback? I’ll take some. This is the colour of their music:
