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Posts tagged Album Reviews
Grimes: Visions
When I saw Grimes open for Austra last year, I saw a meek DIY artsy girl dressed in a grungy t-shirt and dark tights wail into a microphone while expertly mixing complex tracks to produce a seriously rhythmic dance spell. Now, as 2012 has unraveled before us, Claire Boucher, the Montreal-based mastermind behind Grimes, has become the “it girl” of the indie music blogosphere. Much more than just a buzz band, Grimes has sky-rocketed in popularity thanks to the success of her previous albums (Geidi Primes, Halafaxa, Darkbloom) as well as her signing onto 4AD records to release her latest album Visions. Now when I look at Grimes, I see a meek DIY artsy girl dressed in slightly less grungy t-shirts and dark tights that has created some of the most imperative and compelling songs in quite some time (or at least since the beginning of the year).
Listen to The Strokes’ new Album, Angles - 5/10 songs
Chinese water torture? Nahhh. Just plain old suspenseful fun. Almost every couple of days now a new preview or song drops from ‘Angles’ and a mad rush ensues.
Last Saturday Nite the Strokes were triumphant in their first TV appearance in 5 years (SNL). Articles abound on Pitchfork and the NYT about the New York band’s struggle to record Angles, having been forged from the equal input of every band member (In the past Julian Casablancas held reign). The jury is still out on whether this new collaborative spirit has created a Strokes record contender in a contest with their past 3. As far as I can tell, Angles ushers in a new Strokes, same people, different sound. But there’s nothing wrong with that. It would be strange hearing Is This It? Part 2 in 2011. Then again, an Interpol album in 2033 will still be undoubtedly an Interpol album. A Strokes album in 2011? I’m not quite sure yet. Await a full review March 22nd. Anyway here are 5 full songs off the album after the jump.
THE STROKES emerge from the Cover of Darkness
Candidly speaking, nothing ever written (here nor anywhere else) will do the Strokes justice. So rather than belabor the incredible history of a band that paved the way for modern rock, the consequent music industry revolution that came with it, and produced one of the best albums of the 21st century, I will just impart recent news here. At precisely 2:30pm EST Zane Lowe of Radio 1 BBC played the new single from the Strokes’ upcoming 4th album Angles, Under Cover of Darkness. From now until 2:35pm Friday, the single is available for free download off their website. After a 5 year hiatus post their 2006 released First Impressions of Earth, Angles comes out in the states March 22nd.
Everyone knows who the Strokes are. But those who appreciate their brand of post-punk garage rock and know their contributions to music and pop culture, will agree with me when I say this is and will remain the most anticipated album of 2011.
The first Single from ‘Angles’, Under Cover of Darkness for your Listening Pleasure
UCOD by tbogin
Tanya Bogin
Station Manager Emeritus ‘10-‘11
All Fired Up Radio Show, Thursdays 8-10pm EST
Bear Hands: Burning Bush Supper Club
Our Rating:
On their first full length album, Bear Hands brings back a lot of old favorites from their launch back in 2007. After the release of their Golden EP and subsequent touring with the likes of MGMT, The XX, and Chairlift (to name a few), they’ve decided to dabble with a few new styles; the batch of single-oriented tracks course through elements of post punk, pop-rock, chill wave and even sampled Indian tablas. While “Burning Bush Supper Club” is not a neatly strung together conceptual album, it is full of a lot of little treasures to keep.
Album Review: The Naked and Famous- Passive Me, Aggressive You
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the winners of the 2010 APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Silver Scroll Award: The Naked and Famous. Not sure what any of that means? Don’t worry. It just means that they are from New Zealand and they are a talented band, at least according to the anonymous APRA panel. The group won the award for their hit single “Young Blood” just a few days after the album’s release on September 6th, but their success is less sudden than this fact might suggest. Hype had been building around the band since the 2008 EPs “This Machine” and “No Light” garnered attention for the potential of Kiwi duo Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith, the only members of The Naked and Famous at the time. Now a quintet, they saw the first single (“Young Blood”) from their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You debut at No.1 on singles charts in New Zealand in June before quickly making its way to the international stage, albeit not on the official charts yet.
Fortunately for you, there is more to Passive Me, Aggressive You than “Young Blood,” but also more where that came from. Several tracks mimic the camp synth pop, contemporary electropop, and for lack of a better comparison, MGMT-style psychedelic pop. Not surprisingly, the hit singles often feel like newer, more pop-inspired versions of the moments we loved on Oracular Spectacular or Passion Pit’s Manners. Even so, “Young Blood” is fresh, infectious, and invigorating, and so are tracks like “Punching In A Dream,” “All Of This,” “Eyes,” and “Girls Like You.” The tone of the album definitely steers it towards pop, but The Naked and Famous know how to lull you into comfort only to surprise you with their skill, especially that of lyricist and vocalist Alisa Xayalith. Rock reverberations with harder guitar and drums on “Frayed,” the soft piano of the interlude “The Source,” and electronic ambience of “The Sun” are nicely spaced between the melodic, thumping pop of the more chart-ready tracks. The consistent noise on each track unifies the album, whether we hear it in the rhythmic yet distorted guitar on “Punching in a Dream” or the grating discord of “Wolf in Geek’s Clothing.”
The tone of the album is a defiant insouciance that is carried in large part by “Young Blood” and its similarly inspiring fellow tracks. Many of the lyrics are anthemic and familiar but avoid being trite, while others reward multiple listens and invite investigation: “as the plans turn into compromise, the promises all turn to lies.”
-Kevin Cotter
