Yeah, looks like it's just not out there. Oh well.

i'll have to find a friend with a vinyl to mp3 converter.

Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be

Eleven songs whiz by in twenty-eight minutes, and I really don't care about a single one. Dum Dum Girls have a pretty good sound, somewhat similar to Best Coast and other recent bands that write simple, sunny, naive songs. I'm just not really big on any of the melodies, and there's something just a little bit off. The lyrics are pretty weak which wouldn't be such a big deal, but somehow I also find these to be somewhat distracting and irritating. The lo-fi crunch seems very put on, too. Like I get the impression that this is very much a professionally recorded album, just put through a few filters here and there to give it some grit. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but here it just makes an empty experience feel even more plastic.

Or I guess I just don't like any of these songs very much.

Rating: 5/10

Free Energy - Stuck on Nothing

There's something kind of lame about Free Energy on the surface. They seem overly earnest, a little bit cheesy, a little too epic, and little too eager to reach for the stars in the classic rock/arena rock sense. But they do it well, and it doesn't feel the least bit ironic. At its best, I'd say this album reminds me of Thin Lizzy. Just pure, fun rock and roll. It's big and ambitious but never really pretentious or overwrought. Once you've spent a little time with it, it's hard not to get lost in it's rollicking momentum and just enjoy the ride.

It's a consistent little record, too, so it's kind of hard to pick a clear standout. "Bang Pop" is pretty memorable, but it's not necessarily my favorite track. "Bad Stuff" has some of the most noticeable lyrics, for me, something about a "last ditch effort to communicate", persevering and hoping for change in some hopeless post-apocalypse. Various lyrical themes tie all of the tracks together pretty seamlessly. Space, sci-fi, and war motifs (which manage not to be silly or distracting) color a lot of general yearning and searching and dealing with tough times. "Free Energy" is a pretty great name for this band as energy and enthusiasm abound here, and it's little wonder that people are raving about their live show. Good stuff.

Rating: 8/10

Musically, I'd agree on a surface level, but Thin Lizzy could out play, out rock and out song-write these guys any day.

I think that should go without saying. "At its best" and "reminds me of". I don't think that I was implying that these guys are the new Thin Lizzy.

But they do evoke a similar vibe, which is all I was saying. And who knows, this is just their first album.

My comment was more "Thin Lizzy is BAD ASS!" than "Drinky is a dumdum". Didn't mean it as a personal jab at your critique.

that Free Energy album was interesting for maybe 5 plays.

I don't even think it's interesting, but if you're throwing a party or hanging out with booze and weed, it's a good soundtrack.

i feel ya.

Yeah I wouldn't necessarily use the word "interesting", either.

The National - High Violet

OK, The National. Depending on the day of the week, these guys are either 1) actually pretty good, 2) mildly annoying, or 3) The Most Overrated Band in the World. So I guess now it's time to settle on a single opinion and stand by it. It'd be easiest to go with that last option, and a part of me would certainly like to. This band certainly has a disproportionately large and growing fanbase for the type of wholly unexciting Interpol-but-less-stupid indie rock that they peddle. (Or The Walkmen with lazy vocals instead of strained and frayed ones, if you prefer.) Of course then there's always that first opinion nagging at me, that they really aren't bad enough to be The Most Overrated Band in the World. So, predictably I guess, I'll settle on the middle option. It's probably the most honest, anyway.

In keeping with my contrarian stance towards this band's loyal fans, my favorite song on this album is their least favorite, opener "Terrible Love". I suppose I like the fact that it's a demo as opposed to the grandiose, polished ~Majesty~ of the rest of the album. It mostly goes downhill from there with only a few moderately bright spots. I suppose I like "Afraid of Everyone" and "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (OK, so I'm in agreement with their fans there) to some extent but the lyrics to both kind of bug me. A lot of the lyrics on this album bug me, honestly. Their last album, Boxer, was my introduction to this band, and I thought at the time that the lyrics were the bright spot, this band's big draw. Now I feel just about the opposite. I hate a lot of the word choices, the muddled imagery, the funereal cadence, and most of all the nagging insistence that it's all supposed to actually be really meaningful. That "insistence" may just be in my head, a result of all of the hype, but I think the sweeping, downcast, cinematic music kind of supports it. The "melancholy" here is about as shallow and empty as it gets for me, though. Again, the lyrics confuse any feelings that the music might have given rise to, and the music isn't moving enough to ever overcome that. After those two tracks, the downhill plunge continues all the way to the end. "Conversation 16" is probably the worst offender. Just a lot of lyrical non-sequitors (for all I care, anyway) that lead up to a zombie metaphor ("I was afraid I'd eat your Brains"). I mean I guess because it's called "Conversation 16" it's supposed to sort of ramble around or something and be a little unfocused, but I find it, simply, irritating. Even if I can relate to some of this guy's self-deprecation, and even if all the lyrics have some brilliant underlying meaning that ties them all together, I just hate the way they sound and the clumsy way that it all "fits" together. I don't even really want to talk about the last two tracks. The same criticisms pretty much apply. This stuff just isn't for me.

Rating: 6/10

I like this review and its theme can be applied to 99% of "indie" rock nowadays. I feel like I can use the seemingly hyperbolic "99%", whether it is an exaggeration or not, due to the huge number of bands out there.

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

I have never been an LCD Soundsystem fan. I may have written off the debut a little too hastily because it wasn't what I was into at the time, but I gave Sound of Silver plenty of chances to sink in and win me over. It never did. I found James Murphy's cult-like fanbase to be a little bit annoying and his music to be fairly unexciting. It was just another example of how electronic music had taken a disappointing, unimaginative turn during the '00s, more concerned with posturing and being hip - since dance music in general was hip again - than in exploring new possibilities of technology in music. But now we have this album which has me calling that whole point of view into question because I really, really like it. And it's probably the most blatantly retro-sounding thing he's done.

This is supposed to be the final LCD Soundsystem album, and here he's paying deliberate homage to his musical influences. Turns out one of the biggest of those influences is '70s Brian Eno (the pop stuff and Bowie collaborations, not so much the ambient stuff), and I never would have guessed based on past LCDS stuff. Even "Drunk Girls", the seemingly boorish and obnoxious lead single, is peppered with little flourishes of Eno's pop sound (the guitar, the layered vocals near the end). And it's a great song, too. Don't listen to anyone who says it doesn't belong here. "One Touch", the third track in, may be the album's masterstroke with what may be Murphy's best and most irresistible dance groove. It also reminds me a little of NIN, but it's hard to put my finger on how exactly. "All I Want" is the most blatant throwback to Eno. I could swear the guitar line is lifted straight off of something from one of Eno's first three albums, but I don't know what. Yes, it does make me want to listen to those records, but I also enjoy it greatly at the same time. "Pow Pow", which, like "Drunk Girls", also seems to be divisive for some reason, is a great rant track that's musically more redolent of Eno's collaborations with David Byrne. If I have a major criticism of this album, it's that it may be a little long and begins to run out of steam on the last two tracks. "Home" is pretty solid, though, and I honestly like it a lot more than the closing track on Sound of Silver. All in all, I'm surprised at how much I like this, and I'm a little bit sorry that this is the last LCDS album we're ever going to get (supposedly). Way to go out on top, though.

Rating: 8.5/10

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

The ArchAndroid is an uneven album but one that shows promise. Janelle Monae is plenty charismatic and ambitious, imbuing the uptempo numbers with ample energy and covering styles all over the map, all as part of a sprawling concept album. Naturally her reach exceeds her grasp from time to time, but overall her eclecticism works to her benefit. It's hard to really pin her down to a single sound, and that lends her a little bit of intrigue. Unfortunately, the one thing that ties it all together, aside from the sort of vague sci-fi concept and some nifty tricks in the production and arrangements, is her voice, which, while clear and strong, is kind of indistinct and not very evocative.

"Tightrope" is the most immediate song on the album and was a good choice as a lead single. Other memorable tracks that precede it on the album like "Dance or Die", "Faster", and "Cold War" are good but nowhere near as infectious and addictive. Where the album falters most - aside from the bloated ending which I'll get to - is in the kind of "psyche-rock" middle section. "Come Alive (The War of the Roses)" and "Mushrooms & Roses" are clearly not examples of what she does best although they are, I guess, admirable attempts. It's little wonder given all the ground covered here that a collaboration with Of Montreal, "Make the Bus" - which just sounds more or less like an Of Montreal track - blends right in fairly inconspicuously. It's an interesting novelty for the first few spins but unfortunately doesn't have much shelf life. The best thing about it is how it leads into one of my favorite tracks on the album, "Wondaland". "Tightrope" may seem like the superior pop song, but I like "Wondaland"'s comparative brightness and freshness. It sounds less like old Outkast and more like what I imagine (or hope) the essence of Janelle Monae's sound is. It's bright, optimistic pop, not Southern R & B or soul. The following track, "57821", makes this my favorite stretch on the album. While she kind of fails when she tries to rock out, she nails this kind of atmospheric '60s baroque pop. It's the best slow track on the album and one that only starts to make an impression after several listens. Unfortunately, after that are the two tedious closing tracks which together add up to nearly fifteen minutes total. There's not much I can say about them other than that they're fairly unremarkable and obviously way too long. Still, I'm left with a positive feeling about this album and Janelle Monae in general. A new unique, creative, intelligent mind in the world of mainstream pop can only be a good thing, especially one that actually has the goods and isn't all flash and shock value and is actually interested in making interesting music, not just in being an interesting public figure.

Rating: 7.5/10

i like your review and agree to an extent w your feelings toward sound of silver, but i'm curious to know what other acts fall under the above category. off the top my head i can't think of any bands who successfully translate their electronic sounds into a live 3, 4 piece show. i guess i'm actually drawn to their musicianship.
and i think 'all i want' was ripped from the last track of here come the warm jets, whatever it's called.

Yeah, I mean I think that was a misconception I had about LCDS. I've never seen them live and had never watched any live clips until this year. But as far as who else fits into that category... I could probably assemble a decent list with some thought, but in general I feel like a lot of albums/artists held up as the high water marks for electronic music in the '00s are seriously overrated. The Field, Daft Punk's Discovery, Cut Copy, any number of house sub-genres.

I was searching through Youtube trying to figure out what Eno song that was, and nothing I listened to was quite it. That last track from HCTWJ (also the title track) is the closest thing, but it's not exactly the same. So maybe it's not an exact rip-off? I could swear that it was. In the thread for this album (interesting that it was bumped today), I think south pacific said it was a sample from "Heroes". Not sure about that, but I'll have to skim through those Bowie albums at some point to see.

man, I love that LCD record.

I'm actually not at all familiar with LCD sound system, live or otherwise, so I'm not sure how their live shows compare to the recorded material, but Moby, Underworld, and Juno Reactor all play/ed instruments (guitars/bass/keyboards/drums) live to recreate the sounds you'd hear on an album.

Yeah Mouse on Mars does, too. And Manitoba/Caribou. Makes for a good show, but it doesn't really affect how I feel about their albums.

Build an Ark - Love Part 1

This is one of the few new albums/groups I've discovered lately thanks to Obner that I really like. Billy G was talking this up in his 2009 re-cap thread, and from that plus maybe one or two positive reviews here and there, I decided to check this out. As far as why it was in his 2009 thread and is now in my 2010 thread, well, from all the information I can find on this, it appears that it was officially released in January of this year. I think Billy got a copy of it late last year at one of their live shows, and so he considered it an '09 release. Here's his write-up: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45740&p=846292&hilit=build+an+ark#p846292

Build an Ark is nominally a jazz collective, but their music is sort of a fusion - or to use a less misleading term because this isn't anything like electric Miles Davis or Weather Report, a synthesis - of a variety of styles of music played by musicians from a variety of backgrounds. What it most closely resembles, to my knowledge, is "spiritual jazz" of the '70s played by the likes of Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders. Like a lot of that music, and unlike a lot of jazz from '50s and '60s and even today, there are vocals on many of the songs. Spiritual jazz incorporated elements of soul and R&B as well as Eastern "world music" sounds and other elements to create a more soulful, "earthy" jazz that looked forward by looking back and to the outside. I suppose Build an Ark could be hoping to accomplish something similar, or they could be just a whole lot of people gathered together to have fun making some uplifting music.

This is a very beautiful and easy listen. I found it very easy to like initially, but while I can't really say that it hasn't worn well, it hasn't really set its hooks into me as much as I might have hoped based on that initial promise. I'm not sure I can fault it for that, though. It's a pretty dense album, full of expert performances and one rich flourish after another. Maybe it's just a little too professional sounding to me, and little too evenly the work of a large group. Of course it's probably in keeping with the "love" theme of the album that a positive, all-together-as-one community vibe is carried throughout, and it's just my mindset of typically dealing with the works of single songwriters that keeps me from really appreciating this on its own terms. Don't get me wrong, though. This record makes for excellent atmosphere and can improve my mood on almost any given day. It's a rare thing, for sure, and even if big productions like this aren't typically what I'm used to, it can still sweep me up in its sunny enthusiasm just about every time.

Rating: 8/10

That's too bad. It still blows me away every time I listen to it. I'm probably a much bigger fan of spiritual jazz in general though.

Love Part 2, however is really disappointing.

He gave it an 8/10: I'd say he likes it a lot.

Though with the Drinkster sometimes it's hard to know.

I do like it a lot. When I initially heard it, I thought it was easily going to be something in the 9+ range, a top 5 of the year shoo-in. I've just kind of mellowed on it over time, but I still think it's a very solid record.

And billy, I pretty much agree on Part 2, I think. It's pretty amorphous and tough to get a handle on, but I kinda get the feeling that there's not much there.

Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker

I wasn't in a real big hurry to hear this one. More throwback psyche-rock a la Dungen isn't exactly what I'm looking for these days. There's no denying that this is a solid record, though. Even if I'm not so into the vintage stoner aesthetic, I can't help but be moved by the melodies and grooves here. There are some serious earworms on this album, and I suppose it's to its credit that I can always hear the opening notes of the first track in my head before I hit play.

The whole first half of the album is pretty memorable, really. The trio of "Alter Ego", "Lucidity", and "Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?" is probably its strongest stretch. (For whatever reason, I'm not as crazy about lead single "Solitude Is Bliss" that comes immediately after these three.) As effects-laden and generally drenched in a druggy haze as most of this album is, the music continually shines through as being thoughtfully constructed and tightly arranged, especially on these tracks. The rhythm section probably deserves the MVP award here as they provide a seriously thick and irresistibly groovy foundation throughout. Of course the guitar is nice and not prone to excessive soloing, and the Lennon-esque vocals are easy enough on the ears. It's a consistent album overall, and if I have a complaint it might that it's just a tad long and doesn't end when it feels like it should. Closing track "I Don't Really Mind" is a good song and all, but the epic preceding track, "Runway Houses City Clouds", feels like it should be the closer. That's a very minor complaint, though. I've really enjoyed this album.

Rating: 8/10