Flight of the Conchords are “New Zealand’s fourth most popular digi-folk paradists,” a comedic music duo probably best known for their HBO television series of the same name. For a comedy album, the songs are well-composed with melodies and rhythms that work entirely on their own. This instrumental quality only adds to the hilarity of what the songs are actually about. It’s nice to have a musical comedy act capable of playing virtually any style of music (moving from hip-hop to R&B to Bowie to pop). The songs on the album are the same that have been featured on the show and seen in their live shows. Even if you’ve seen them before, the witty, irreverent, satirical and downright silly lyrics still hit home with laugh out loud moments. Check for yourself.
Quarters for the songs: Business Time, A Kiss is Not a Contract, Hiphopopotamus, Mutha’uckas, The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room), Robots.
Worth listening, if you like: Stephen Lynch, Tenacious D, David Cross, Dave Attell, Team America, They Might Be Giants, Arj Barker, Demetri Martin.
I didn’t get to review anything last week (work, GTA, work) and so will attempt to make up for it this week. Feel free to drop me a note if there’s something in particular I need to pay attention to. I should be posting new stuff tomorrow.
Respect,
PL
*Regarding the warm weather playlist, I’ve created a Pandora radio station with the songs everyone contributed and am looking into setting up a virtual music player on the blog to stream the playlist too. As long as this is copacetic with the law, I’ll start posting other playlists we make, as well as some “best of the month” and personal compilations.
The Constantines produce a range of sounds on their fourth full length album, Kensington Heights. The group’s vocals are gravelly, but later soften to a tender tone in the album. The instrumentation is a hybrid rock—with hints of backcountry, traditional, dub-punk, blues and experimental. The first single, “Hard Feelings,” probably isn’t the most accessible track available, but the album offers a surprising range of sounds within its rock confines. Speaking of accessible, this album is definitely not as hard as their previous Shine a Light album, but nonetheless, is full of solid songs. Check for yourself.
Quarters for the songs: Do What You Can Do; Hard Feelings; I Will Not Sing a Song; Life or Death; New King; Our Age; Time Can Be Overcome.
Worth listening, if you like: Dinosaur Jr.; Klaxons; The Dears; Spoon; The Arcade Fire; The Walkmen; TV on the Radio; Modest Mouse; Built to Spill; Bruce Springsteen.
Story of the Year makes a run at staying socially relevant after slumping with their sophomore album, In the Wake of Determination. The anthemic emo-ish-post-grunge group keeps an edgier sound to a point, but adds a bit more melody and pop influences than their last album. The lyrics are also more politically focused, along with some dissertations on humans’ “delusions” of “a privileged position” in the universe.
Several of the songs are structured similarly with the “opening big riff, drop-off for singing, back to loud chords, scream a bit, get quiet, big finish” format. The album is constantly moving from screaming to piano solos to pounding drums to wind blowing to reverb to emo to power chords (often all within a three minute span). This balancing of differences (rock/pop, sing/scream, loud/soft) should attract fans of Page Avenue back to the band, with the potential of a return to radio play garnering some new attention as well. We will just have to wait and see if this particular breed of the genre has any legs left to it in mainstream play. One thing is for certain though—when they head out on tour—bring back New Empire! Also, props for the marketing and graphic design. Check for yourself.
Quarters for the songs: Wake Up; The Antidote; We’re Not Gonna Make It.
Worth listening, if you like: Rise Against; Hell is For Heroes; Fightstar; Lostprophets; New Empire; One Minute Silence; Coheed & Cambria; Deftones; Thrice; Used; AFI; Saves the Day.
In the jukebox this week (for reasons of appreciation or amusement):
G-Unit (single): I Like the Way She Do It. Ayo! This is much better than singing about technology.
Flight of the Conchords (album): Flight of the Conchords. “You’re the most beautiful girl … in the room.”
Story of the Year (album): The Black Swan. Heavy-handed “emo-inflected-post-grunge.”
Billy Bragg (album): Mr. Love & Justice. Compilation album of hits. If you don’t know Bragg, think of a more political, British version of Lyle Lovett.
50 Cent, G-Unit and Whoo Kid (album): Return of the Body Snatchers. I’ll review — first few songs sound better than 50’s last album … plenty of beats fused with gun shot sound effects and lyrics about money and dissing Diddy.(more…)
Foals are a twitch party band from Oxford, England. The music is poppy electric dance-punk (with roots in math rock) that moves from murky to move-inducing to mixing the two together. The album was recorded in June 2007, but had to be remixed to fit the band’s desired sound. The American version has two extra tracks — “Hummer” and “Mathletics” — compared to the earlier U.K album. Check for yourself.
Quarters for the songs: Heavy Water; Big Big Love; Mathletics;
Worth listening, if you like: Bloc Party; The Rapture; Youthmovies; TV on the Radio; Baby Shambles; Razorlight; The Futureheads; Wolf Parade; The Long Blondes; Kenna.
Ok — I think it’s time to put together a playlist for the arrival of some warm weather. Let’s collaborate. I’m thinking of doing two — one with whatever you’re listening to now, and another for music you want to enjoy this spring with (either via hammock swinging, Saturday driving, lawn darts — whatever it is you do). I say we make them as long as we want.
Who knows? Depending on the input, I might upload the lists as streaming music (or randomly mail out a couple of mix CDs). I’ll start (and make the other playlist a separate post to save space — see below). Click “more” to see my April list.(more…)
Jakob Dylan releases a simple, soulful single for his first solo album, “Seeing Things” (available June 10). It’s an interesting choice for a first single as it’s pretty standard folk-pop … not to say that it’s not enjoyable—it is—but it probably won’t be scaling the radio-play charts. It does make me curious if this is a sign of what to expect from the upcoming album—a softer, simpler take on what sounds like Wallflowers’ songs (and I’m ok with that). Check for yourself.
If it were in a movie: montage of old couple doing nice things for each other.
Worth listening, if you like: The Wallflowers; Norah Jones; Amos Lee; Ryan Adams; Sheryl Crow; Michael McDermott; The Jayhawks.
In the jukebox for this week (note: no way I’m reviewing all of these, but here’s what caught my eye … for reasons of appreciation or amusement):
The Constantines (album): Kensington Heights. I’ll review this later.
The Weepies (album): Hideaway. I don’t know this band, but there’s a cartoon whale on the cover.
Annea Lockwood (album): A Sound Map of the Danube. No lie, this is an album of just what it sounds like to ride down a river … no music (other than some distant church bells) … just water … and goats … .
The Duke Spirit (album): Neptune. I’ll review this later.
Jakob Dylan (single): Something Good This Way Comes. I’m a sucker for Wallflowers and will listen to this later in the week. (more…)
Tina Dico is a Danish indie pop singer, and Count to Ten is her second international album (which has been nominated for “Best Album” by the 2008 Danish Music Awards). Her voice is a clear alto, but the focus is more on the songwriting, opposed to her voice (though it shines in “Cruel to the Sensitive Kind”). The songs are low on hooks, but if you like somewhat-somber, introspective female singer-songwriters with meaningful lyrics, you should find something to like. Check for yourself.
Quarters for the songs: Night Cab; Count to Ten; You Know Better; Craftsmanship; My Business; Cruel to the Sensitive Kind; Magic (a bit Damien Rice-esque); Sacre Coeur.
Worth listening, if you like: Brandi Carlile; Neko Case; Beth Orton; Feist; Imogen Heap; Jewel; Missy Higgins; Tori Amos; Kathleen Edwards.
