How To Destroy Angels - How To Destroy Angels
Debut EP from Trent Reznor's first outing since Nine Inch Nails went on hiatus. His wife sings but all the cool NIN synth noises are still there. On the whole, a lot more mellow than NIN, but still probably just as dark. Maybe darker. My initial reaction, if I remember correctly, was along the lines of Portishead doing industrial-influenced dubstep. Looking back, that might not be that accurate, but ah well. Worth a listen.
Moneytree - The Great Indoors, Part III
The long-awaited third and final part of the Great Indoors trilogy, and after several lineup changes and consequent changes in sound, the Southampton four-piece have had quite a journey to this point. That's not to say they've disappointed, because honestly, this EP is flipping brilliant!
The Beaux Hardts - Leisure (Deluxe Re-Issue)
The Wade-Brown brothers really knew how to make noise in the days before Dave was with Thomas Tantrum and Rob lived in Barcelona, and I was SO happy that this album got re-released (as I missed it the first time round, and was stuck with 5 or 6 demos for nostalgia's sake). The re-issue comes in hand-made packaging, and as well as the 8-track 'original' disc, there's a second CD with 17 demos and rarities. These box sets are only available on www.sotones.co.uk and I believe there are only 50 copies (I have number 1) so if you're quick you might get one. If you don't, it's on Spotify too!
Fang Island - Fang Island
Tightly-arranged guitar-based indie-rock-pop (but not in the lame way) from New Jersey. I have no idea what their songs are about, not because their lyrics are indecipherable, but because listening to this album makes me dance too much to listen to the words. Instant down-day cure; go buy!
65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway
Something of a change in direction from the intensely inaccessible (but still dead cool) post-rock of their previous album, this is basically a dance album with some clear post-rock influences. I'm pretty sure I've listened to it in the region of 20 times. Best album of the year for me.
Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue
Music by Ben Folds, words by writer Nick Hornby. If you didn't know the lyrics weren't Folds', you wouldn't guess it. It's another reliably good release from the Nashville resident, but dare I say it a little too 'safe' . . . ? I didn't mean that summary to sound as scathing as it does; it is still a pretty sweet album! Plus, he's coming to London in February: YAY!
That's about all I can remember for now, so that'll have to do.
~J.R.
EDIT: I just remembered two more that I haven't bought yet!
Gungor - Beautiful Things and John Mark McMillan - The Medicine
I've put these two together because I link them quite closely: I discovered them both within a few days of each other, and both a quite folk-/blues-driven albums with similar lyrical styles and themes. I believe I have posted about The Medicine before, including a short video about one of the songs . . . ?
No comments:
Post a Comment