First, this is my first post from the BlogPress iPad app so if things a little off, thats why. I'm hoping it turns out alright because that will give me some freedom to post on the go more often. Anywho, here we go!
ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS
Halcyon Digest Rating: 80/100 While immensely enjoyable and beautifully executed, Halcyon Digest fails to venture outside of territory that hasn't already been fully charted by The Velvet Underground, The Strokes or Pavement though a band could hardly be inspired by a better group of artists. High Point Tracks: "Sailing", "Desire Lines", "Coronado"
Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard Rating: 77/100 If you like Vampire Weekend, it is almost certain you will also like the latest offering from Ra Ra Riot as it is similarly polished, preppy and poppy but it lacks the wild energetic streak that has propelled VW to indie rock super stardom. High Point Tracks: "You and I Know", "Too Dramatic", "Do You Remember"
Girl Talk - All Day Rating: 86/100 It takes a while for All Day to really get moving, but once it does, it never looks back with Girl Talk aka Gregg Gillis creating a constant stream of hard core booty shaking mashups that are breathtakingly sublime, often comical and utterly unforgettable. High Point Tracks: Not Applicable
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz Rating: 90/100
After years of waiting for another installment of the legendary 50 States Project, Sufjan returns with a majestic and pioneering album that redefines his refined indie folk sound with electronic textures and innovative rhythmic patterns.
High Point Tracks: "Age of Adz", "Vesuvius", "Impossible Soul"
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager Rating: 84/100
Post-rap prodigy Kid Cudi delivers another chapter in his Man on the Moon trilogy that leads the listener through a dark tour of his psyche with a highly enjoyable collection of infectious genre bending tracks.
High Point Tracks: "Erase Me ft. Kanye West", "Mojo So Dope", "These Worries ft. Mary J Blige"
Last night Sleigh Bells put on one hell of a show at the Clubhouse. Don't believe me? Check out these videos I shot. If you are only going to watch one, definitely check out the set closing Crown On The Ground. They only played for 34 minutes, but as you can see, it was a wild 34 minutes.
It doesn't happen very often but when the planets (free time & spare cash) align, I like to check out a live show. Over the past month I've had a chance to see both Sea Wolf and The Walkmen. I recorded a few full songs and posted them on the YouTubes but because I'm a nice guy, I've also embedded them right here into MidPoints. I've got a few more shows lined up so check back for more videos soon. Enjoy!
"Leaves In The River" - Sea Wolf
"You're A Wolf" - Sea Wolf
"The Rat" - The Walkmen
"Another One Goes By" - The Walkmen
"New Country" - The Walkmen
"Woe Is Me" - The Walkmen
"We've Been Had" - The Walkmen
ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Rating: 81/100
A promising debut album from a band that cleverly balances pop melodies, dance beats and robot noises not unlike Justice, Cut Copy & Daft Punk, but with there own enjoyably distinctive touches.
High Point Tracks: "Vanished", "Crimewave (Crystal Castles vs HEALTH)", "Knights"
The Roots - How I Got Over
Rating: 80/100
Excluding the final few tracks, How I Got Over is a remarkably thoughtful and cohesive hip-hop experience that emphasizes authentic instrumentation, rhythm and of course, an MC who actually has something to say.
High Point Tracks: "Walk Alone ft. Truck North, P.O.R.N. & Dice Raw", "The Fire ft. John Legend"
Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Rating: 70/100
Both enjoyable and forgettable, Infinite Arms does little to distinguish itself from any of the bands preceding releases.
High Point Tracks: "Laredo", "Neighbor", "Compliments"
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Rating: 85/100
Filled with irresistible pop melodies, fuzzy guitars and soaring harmonies, Crazy For You is a quick but entrancing journey through the 'highs' and lows of summertime love and heartbreak.
High Point Track: "The End", "Goodbye", "When I'm With You"
Florence + The Machine - Lungs
Rating: 86/100
While the execution isn't always perfect, the debut album from Florence + the Machine is expansive, unapologetic and straight up epic.
High Point Tracks: "Dog Days Are Over", "Cosmic Love", "You've Got The Love"
The Walkmen - Lisbon
Rating: 79/100
Lisbon is a satisfying mix of energetic indie rock and relaxed guitar pop that sounds both comfortingly familiar and enticingly strange.
High Point Track: "Angela Surf City", "Victory", "Torch Song"
Lil Wayne - I Am Not A Human Being
Rating: 77/100
Half of it sounds like a triumph, a quarter of it is unnecessary features and everything else is a mix of useless trash and Planet Weezy weirdness; but all math aside, this is a solid place holder until Tha Carter IV drops.
High Point Tracks: "Right Above It ft. Drake", "I Am Not A Human Being", "What's Wrong With Them ft. Nicki Minaj"
Enjoyable from start to finish, Brothers is the Black Keys doing work.
High Point Tracks: "Next Girl", "Tighten Up", "Sinister Kid"
Drake - Thank Me Later
Rating: 71/100
After the incredible So Far Gone mixtape and a handful of promising singles, Drake delivers a somewhat disappointing major label debut that reveals the young rappers fatal flaw: he just doesn't have much to say.
High Point Tracks: "Over", "Up All Night ft. Nicki Minaj"
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)
Rating: 80/100
While somewhat repetitive and noisy, a healthy number of strange and satisfying tracks redeem Crystal Castles' self titled sophomore album.
High Point Tracks: "Baptism", "Suffocation", "Not In Love"
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Rating: 94/100
Treats is unabashedly loud, inventive, fun and easily one of the best albums of the year.
High Point Tracks: "Kids", Infinity Guitars", "Rill Rill", "Crown On The Ground"
Eminem - Recovery
Rating: 84/100
Relapse was only ok; Recovery is much better.
High Point Tracks: "Won't Back Down ft. P!nk", "No Love ft. Lil Wayne", "Almost Famous" "Havoc"
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Rating: 89/100
Big Boi's hip-hop epic is fresh and flawlessly executed.
High Point Tracks: "Daddy Fat Sax", "Shutterbug", "Fo Yo Sorrows", "Shine Blockas"
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Rating: 98/100
The Suburbs is another remarkable release from one of the best bands of the past decade; I believe there is no stopping them now.
High Point Tracks: "Half Light II (No Celebration)", "We Used To Wait", "Month of May", "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP
Rating: 83/100
The title track which is more than 11 minutes long makes two appearances on the EP and they're both different, and uniquely enjoyable in a way only Sufjan Stevens can deliver; as is everything else in between.
High Point Tracks: "All Delighted People (Original Version)", "Enchanting Ghost", "Djohariah"
M.I.A. - Maya
Rating: 73/100
The chaotic splashes of noise and sound effects over deeply effected pop melodies sometimes seem more like a schtick than an artistic choice here, however they still seem work for her most of the time.
High Point Tracks: "Steppin Up", "XXO", "Meds and Feds"
So my friend Kristie has been telling me about Miniature Tigers for a while but I was foolish and never really gave them a chance until I saw that Neon Indian has started producing their stuff. They have a new album, F O R T R E S S, dropping later this summer and you can download the Neon Indian produced first single "Gold Skull" right here.
Wolf Parade - Expo 86 preview
A pair of new tracks from the band's forthcoming third album were recently released and fans of the bands previous material won't be dissapointed with either. You can download them both for free right here:
"Afraid of Everyone" - The National w/Sufjan Stevens on Letterman
"Higher Than The Stars" - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
"Next Girl" - The Black Keys
"Zebra" - Beach House
ONE-SENTENCE REVIEWS
Note: This has easily been the best month of new music releases that has happened since I started this blog. This stuff is really good, I'm just sayin'.
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Rating: 90/100
By drawing heavily from many of the most innovative artists of the past half-century, James Murphy aka LCD Soundsystem has once again synthesized countless familiar sounds and textures together with his own dance-production prowess to create a profoundly emotive, ridiculously danceable and brilliantly constructed album experience.
High Point Tracks: "Dance Yerself Clean", "All I Want", "I Can Change"
The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever
Rating: 72/100
With out any of the urgency, heart, nostalgia or drunken poetics of their previous releases, The Hold Steady have disappointed me for the first time with a very average and unfortunately forgettable record.
High Point Tracks: "Hurricane J", "The Weekenders", "We Can Get Together"
The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
Rating: 87/100
Everything I said about their debut album holds true with their sophomore effort but more so; its grittier, scarier, bluesier, more distorted and it flat out rocks harder.
High Point Tracks: "The Difference Between Us", "Die By The Drop", "Gasoline"
MIDPOINT OF INTEREST
The National - High Violet
Rating: 98/100
With four consecutive nearly flawless albums under their belt, The National continue to take strides towards being one of the greatest bands of this generation and High Violet proves that they can remain true to their core sound while wildly expanding their scope with a batch of 11 songs that dig deeper and soar higher than just about anything the band has previously released. This album delivers their loudest, most distorted guitar-rock anthems as well as their softest most desperate, heartbroken orchestral ballads; the crazy thing is that they are often the same song. Frontman and songwriter Matt Berninger isn't quite as mumbly as he was on Boxer and he doesn't yell as much as he did on Alligator or Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, but the middle ground of High Violet translates to what is probably the most direct and melodic National record yet. With each release, he seems to expand his nuanced lyrical honesty and in my opinion, this album proves that he is more than just a great modern songwriter but a great modern poet. However, the quality of a record or a band isn't determined simply by lyrics or guitars or melodies, but in their ability to weave all of these elements together to create something innovative, moving and transcendent and that, above all else, is what makes High Violet more than just a great rock record, its the closest thing to perfection I've heard in years.
High Point Tracks: "Terrible Love", "Afraid of Everyone", "Lemonworld", "England"
Posts
