Listen Before You Buy

of Montreal have gone back to basics while at the same time developing a penchant for thick, overlong instrumentals, often doing both in the same song. The result is wonderful, terrible, fascinating, treacherous, glorious and ultimately frustrating album.

Sometimes he sounds straight out of a saloon, sometimes he sounds like a like a pulpit-pounding preacher, sometimes he could be a cheerful grandfather singing his grandchildren a silly ditty, and sometimes Leonard Cohen sounds like a veritable legend. Whatever your degree of contact and connection with this record, it becomes apparent even upon a cursory listen that, despite its flaws, this collection of songs is the work of a musical genius.

While his direction isn’t necessarily original, Nacho proves that he’s able to wield his lyrics with a sense of humor. He may be under-appreciated in the latest wave of experimental hip-hop, with artists like Danny Brown, Tyler, the Creator, and Lil’ B around, but his talent is greatly complimented by Blue Sky Black Death’s beats. “Lord of The Fly” is a step in the right direction for Seattle’s hip-hop.

Chairlift bring a little more sonic muscle, as well many more nods to the 80s, to their latest album and it’s pretty much a dance-fest from start to finish.

“Ester” may not bowl you over completely, but it is definitely a winner for hazed out nights and early morning monologues.

“Let’s Go Eat The Factory” is an uneven album for sure, but it should please GBV fans with a retro hankering and suggests good things for them in future, especially if the whole band starts having as much fun as the returning Tobin Sprout clearly is.

No need to beat around the bush with this one: “We Don’t Need” is an almightily good EP. It’s tempting to call Cheyenne Marie Mize promising because her career is so young, but that’s underselling it: this is a compelling record, equal parts fascinating experimentation and plain fun, and as exciting as Mize’s future will no doubt be, she deserves your attention right here, right now.

Maynard James Keenan’s continued evolution on “Conditions of my parole” is remarkable and well worth highlighting, albeit a little late!

“Attack on Memory” forgoes the “sophomore slump” and provides a valid argument for Cloud Nothings as purveyors of a rare brand of Rock with a capital R that exists beyond trends. This is one of the first truly great albums in a year that could be full of them.

As formal introductions go, “Strange Weekend” is a pretty good one. In a flooded genre it stands out as an example of how far bedroom pop can reach.

Syd tha Kyd’s vocals are something of a revelation on “Purple Naked Ladies”, but Syd and Matt need to determine a more fixed direction for their sound. While there are a few memorable tracks, the rest of “Purple Naked Ladies” tends to be a little scattergun.

The problem with Lana Del Rey isn’t her image or her motivation, the problem is that “Born To Die” simply isn’t good enough to carry it off.

“Provincial” is an album firmly rooted in Manitoba, Canada, John K. Samson’s home. The album follows him and his observations about the countryside and nearby residents. Don’t let Samson’s past fool you: there’s very little punk here, but this album of stories is very much worth hearing.

“The Lion’s Roar” is a uniquely warm and well developed album that wears its recent folk and country influences on its sleeve and is no worse for it.

TweetShare Symmetry is the pseudonym of Johnny Jewel (as if “Johnny Jewel” wasn’t good enough), who is the brains behind Glass Candy, Chromatics, and is responsible for the whole of the Italians Do It Better vision. In 2007 Jewel became something of an icon to me. 2007 saw the release of “B/E/A/T/B/O/X/” by Glass Candy [...]

TweetShare Sigur Rós never needed to put out a live album. The raw power of their LPs is enough to rank them among the greatest bands of all-time. But they put out a live album anyway, and it’s an impressive one at that. Recorded over two nights at Alexandria Palace, “Inni” and its accompanying film (directed [...]