Royksopp - Senior

Artist - Royksopp

Album - Senior

Label - Astralwerks

Genre - Swedish chill melancholy electronica

I love this album because I love Royksopp, not because it is incredible. However, it is still quite good. If you enjoy melancholy Swedish electronic music, executed flawlessly, adding small unexpected details to their tracks in all the right places, knowing just how to tug at one’s heartstrings with just a melody, then this is for you. Vocals are absent on this album, an interestingly contrasting sequel to 2009’s poppy Junior, which featured, among others, Robyn and Karin Dreijer. That said, I might not appreciate Senior as much were it not for the prequel – for example, Tricky Two is a solid track on its own, but I may not appreciate it as much were it not for Tricky, arguably the catchiest tune on Junior. Notwithstanding, there are 100% new tracks which I love as well – Senior Living (4) and The Fear (7) contain the attention to tiny details I expect from this seasoned band. Part of me feels that this album is a creative plateau, but that does not make it bad. Listen and enjoy.

Deluka

Artist- Deluka
Album- You Are the Night
Label- Vel
Genre- electropop

Deluka’s debut album has been hotly anticipated after they released their excellent EP of electro dance rock tracks in 2009. Frontwoman Ellie Innocenti is the clear star of this album, bringing a ton of attitude to her vocal performance (hints of Karen O on “OMFG”). “Snapshot” sounds like a fleshed-out, electro version of the Ting Tings. This album has great hooks, energetic drumming, and fantastic guitar riffs set off by synths.

Coastwest Unrest

Artist- Coastwest Unrest
Album- Old Weird Americana
Label- Reclaim

Folk-punk along the lines of Ghost Mice or This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. I could totally see this guys playing a basement show somewhere. The vocals are a bit gruff, but it works surprisingly well. The skittish hiccupping drumbeats are a nice feature as well. Violins flourishes are well employed. It’s definitely a step away from the typical indie-pop we play, but give this album a listen.

Charles Bradley

Artist- Charles Bradley
Album- No Time for Dreaming
Label- Daptone
Genre- soul

This funk and soul album comes from Daptone Records, home of Sharon Jones & the Dapkings and the Budos Band among other acts. Bradley is a hard-hitting soul belter who sounds at times like James Brown, especially in his coaxing “cmons!” and guttural noises. The Menahan Street Band (sampled frequently by Jay-Z and 50 Cent, randomly) provide excellent backing instrumentation (not as heavy as Budos Band, for example).
This album perfectly reinvents the soul movement of the 1960s and ‘70s into something gut-wrenching, beautiful, and modern.

The Greenhornes

Artist- The Greenhornes
Album- ****
Label- Third Man
Genre- vintage sounding 60's

The Greenhornes are best known for containing half of the Raconteurs (the bassist and drummer), yet this garage band has predates that musical project. They clearly have been playing their copy of 60’s compilation Nuggets on repeat, since this albums is heavily indebted to the Zombies and the Who. Single “Better Off Without It” sounds like a lost Kinks track.

Soft Circle

Artist- Soft Circle
Album- Shore Obsessed
Label- PPM
Genre- electronic, experiemental

This is the new project of Hisham Bharoocha, one of the founding members of both Black Dice and Lightning Bolt. The music here steps away from his prior, more aggressive-sounding bands and is full of great drumming and looped-out guitars. Pretty synth-heavy as well. Pleasant male vocals. Sounds a lot like White Dragon or Lucky Dragons. This album is really excellent, I could not recommend it more.

Girls

Artist- Girls
Album- Broken Dreams Club EP
Label- True Panther Sounds
Genre- indie rock

With 6 songs clocking in at 30 minutes, San Francisco outfit Girls randomly dropped this EP as a “thanks” to everyone who supported their debut album (literally titled Album). “Oh So Protective One” features gorgeous horn flourishes over Christopher Owens’ trademarked, pseudo-Costello voice. We have the usual Girls lyrical themes: getting high to escape problems (#3, though the whammy bar on this track is annoying) and heartbreak (any of them). The mood on this album is less triumphant than Album, with bummer lyrics like “Who wants something real / when you can have nothing?”.

Apache Beat

Artist- Apache Beat
Album- Last Chants
Label- Babylon

This band is not easy to categorize by any means; this album is very experimental and so the song selection is very diverse, making it very intriguing. However, while it is impressive to create such a unique array of songs, one might be thrown off while listening to the CD (they might like one song to find there isn’t much else that sounds like that one song). One definitely will feel in some of the songs a certain element of post-punk rock, but other songs slow down and explore a different side of things, and regardless of what sound they band is dabbling with it is all very composed and intricate. These are talented artists that really demonstrate on this album that they are not a one trick pony, but I find myself feeling a little confused in not really feeling a strong point of view due to the diversity. Over all, Apache Beat delivers a lot of intriguing, well composed songs that have a strong back beat and good vocals. If one is looking for something that is creative, calming, and yet a little dark/edgy there is a good bet you will find something on this album that will peak your interest.

Screaming Females

Artist- Screaming Females
Album- Castle Talk
Label- Don Giovanni

While this album was not exactly what I was expecting, I still enjoyed it greatly. When one hears the name screaming females, I feel, it is difficult to not have a vision of what the vocals will be. However, this band name is misleading. While the singer is female, she is not screaming, in fact she has a very pleasant voice that has just a hint of unrefinement (not a real word). The real great part of this album/band is not the vocalist though, it is the instrumentals. They have a really unique balance between a garage punk sounding instrumentals and your more everyday poppy indie rock sound. This is cool, but also sometimes confusing, for some songs you listen to and you are like this is sick, and then it switches on you. However, I feel this really isn’t a huge deal and it does bring something new to the table, which I feel is enjoyable. This is a great album for people that like indie rock but want just a little more grime in the sound.

Tyvek

Artist- Tyvek
Album- Nothing Fits
Label- In the Red
Genre- garage punk


Tyvek is a band that has been around for a little while, but this is their first album on a more recognized label. However, this does not mean that they polished up their sound and collapsed to corporate demands; no, Tyvek, for those that know them, have stuck to their signature sound, a real raw, genuine garage punk. The album delivers all of the essentials; you got fast paced guitar riffs, heavy bass in the background, simple/clever lyrics, and an unpolished sound. For someone that does not know garage punk this is a good album to listen to, for Tyvek knows what they are doing and they do it well (if you do know the genre this will be just what you were hoping for). In general this album is good for new listeners and old listeners alike, and will surely get you blood pumping and your foot tapping.

Jamaica

Artist- jamaica
Album- Cross the Fader EP
Label- Cooperative


French electroc-rock that’s produced by Xavier de Rosnay of Justica and Daft Punk’s sound engineer. This shit has pedigree. Massive riffs (track 1) carry these songs, and the vocals have the catchiness of Phoenix.
For fans of: mr. Oizo, Phoenix, Breakbot, catchy shit

Robyn

Artist - Robyn

Album - Body Talk Pt. 3

Label - Konichiwa

Genre - Dance-y Girl Pop

I’ve been awaiting the third installment of Robyn’s Body Talk with great anticipation, mostly hoping it would emulate the exciting variety of Part 1 as opposed to the plateauing of Part 2. For this album, Robyn has compiled a tracklist of the “best” tracks from Parts 1 and 2, and I agree with her choices. Regarding the 5 new tracks: I salute the production of Part 3. It’s shimmery, infectious, and a little more so meant for the clubs than either of its predecessors. The lyrical content is somewhat tacky and forced – not to say Part 1 wasn’t tacky, but I could appreciate it for what it was. I think Robyn could have done a little better… but Indestructible is a truly great track, and I find myself humming Time Machine way more than I ought to. All in all, this was somewhere in between Parts 1 and 2 for me. Here’s to the Swedes for another great dance-pop production!

Voltaire Twins

Artist - Voltaire Twins

Album - Voltaire Twins EP

Label - s/r (Voltaire Twins)

Genre - electro pop

Sounds like all that currently popular shimmery electro-pop (think Class Actress and Mariage Blanc), but with a twist of the 80s. The duetting male and female vocalists over writhing, multilayered synths sound a little corny, but hey, everyone needs a little of that sometimes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really do it for me, and I really like corny stuff. It’s a little forced and awkward. Perhaps with some refinement I’d enjoy the Voltaire Twins – I hope their full length will impress to a greater degree.

Bad Books

Artist- Bad Books
Album- s/t
Label- Favorite Gentleman
Genre- indiepop

Evolving as a side project, Bad Books is an indie rock super group, including Kevin Devine and members of Manchester Orchestra. It's a fairly straight-forward indie rock album with a heavy-pop backbone. These tracks are pretty decent toe-tappers with a nice tendency to swell into full-out, Conor Oberst-eque choruses.

Warpaint

Artist- Warpaint
Album- The Fool
Label- Rough Trade


All-girl LA quartet revives the sound of early 90's 4AD, especially the mellower end of Throwing Muses. Dueling, languid vocals weave over spare, angular guitar figures (chorus pedals: ON). Other influences show through: "Undertow" recalls Nirvana's "Polly"; and "Baby", one of two largely acoustic numbers (the other is "Shadows") quotes the Beatles' "Long,Long,Long". There are no obvious singles here, but the best song is probably the faintly-menacing, bass-heavy "Bees", also fine is the incantatory "Composure", which shows off the band's excellent rhythm section. A promising debut.

Marnie Stern

Artist- Marnie Stern
Album- s/t
Label- Kill Rock Stars
Genre- RAWK

New York local Marnie Stern's self-titled third album finds the virtuoso guitar girl still shredding and pumping out more of the compelling, melodious rock music for which she won so much critical acclaim. Absolutely huge, layered spacious chord-like vocals atop of Stern's highly technical guitar parts. Crazy cadence turns, tempo shifts, and frenzied finger-tapping aboudn, especially on "Gimme" and "Female Guitar Players are the New Black". Stern is undeniably technically proficient and full of attitude, and her catchy melodies and accessible yet sometimes vulnerable voice make this album all the more incredible.

The Duke Spirit

Artist- The Duke Spirit
Album- Kusama EP
Label- Shangri-Las
Genre- indie rock

This EP by the UK rock band only has 3 tracks. The single, “Everybody’s Under Your Spell”, sounds like a less-annoying version of the Dead Weather. Singer Leila Moss sounds like she would have a great stage prescence. There is a hint of swampy blues vibe underneath all the swagger. “Northbound” is pretty sultry with a softer vibe.

Masonic

Artist- Masonic
Album- Live like a Millionaire
Label- Self-released
Genre- indie pop

This charming indie-pop album is well produced and has a wide appeal- in fact, the only real negative is the long running-time (15 tracks…). Singer Eryn Getty has a cute, girl-next-door type of voice. The songs alternate between boring and dull and poppy indie (the picks). Kind of an Apples in Stereo vibe.

Villagers

Artist- Villagers
Album- The Pact (I'll be your Fever) EP
Label- Domino
Genre- folky

This EP from folk-rock group Villagers, aka Irish singer Conor O’Brien, features acoustic re-workings of a few tracks from their debut album Becoming a Jackal (released summer 2010). There’s also unreleased song “Cecilia & her Selfhood” and Bob Dylan cover “Love Minus Zero”. Cute and poppy without being saccharine, these songs are perfect for autumn. The man is also an excellent piano player (#3).

PS I Love You

Artist- P.S. I Love You
Album- Meet Me at the Muster Station
Label- Paper Bag
Genre- rock

This rock band has a straight up AWFUL band name but their music is actually not too shabby. (Seriously, why would you want to sound like a shitty rom-com movie?). The duo manages to crank out a full sound, and vocalist/axe-man Paul Saulnier barks like Black Francis and rocks like J. Mascis. “Facelove” starts off like pop-rock, with a boy confessing his feelings for a chick, before the distortion kicks in half-way through. Like a softer Japandroids, these songs are full of heavy guitars but youthful and nostalgic lyrics.

Phil Wilson

Artist- Phil Wilson
Album- God Bless Jim Kennedy
Label- Slumberland
Genre- pop-rock

Having never heard of Phil Wilson, here’s a bit of research to pass on: he was the guitarist for 80’s pop group the June Brides and then disappeared for 25 years until now. It’s a good thing too because this album is awesome: opener “Three Days” is packed with energy and layers of instruments. Adorable, British-tinged pop-rock songs. Some tracks (#4) have a definite punky element as well. #6 is outstanding as well.

Paul Avion

Artist-Paul Avion
Album-RU With Me
Label- self-released

Musician Paul Avion puts out his first proper album after kicking around releasing singles for awhile. It sounds like Devandra Barnhart meets ELO. Cute singer-songwriter fare with good instrumentation and a slight flair for well-placed keyboards (#7). “Henry Sage” has nice horn flourishes. This album should appeal to fans of indie pop.

Maserati

Artist-Maserati
Album- Pyramid of the Sun
Label- Temporary Residence LTD
Genre- dancey post-rock

Holy f*** this album is great, and it also sounds a LOT like the band Holy Fuck (or an instrumental !!!) as well. This album is a tribute to Jerry Fuchs, an indie scene staple who lent his disco-influenced drumming to Maserati, !!!, and the Juan Maclean. This is prog-rock meet dance-punk, with a bit more synthesizer than their last album Inventions for the New Season. “They’ll Suffer No More from Hunger” and “Ruins” (track 6, 5) is the most “rock” of the bunch, anchored by sludgy drums and guitar feedback.

Bikini

Artist- Bikini
Album- Ripjds EP
Label- Lefse
Genre- chill electronic

This debut EP from a fairly unknown group is really nice, full of chill textured pop music. Labelmates Neon Indian would be a similar comparaison musically. “Acheerlaeder” is a sick tune with altered vocals and a throbbing beat that still manages to have chill-wave appeal while being interesting.

The Last Royals

Artist- The Last Royals
Album- s/t ep
Label- Ooh La La

This new two-piece band sure likes to sing-talk a lot, as evidenced by both tracks in this short EP. “Crystal Vases” starts off innocuously enough with pleasant male singing and upbeat chord strumming before a nice glossy guitar riff at about 1:20. This sounds a lot like Gossip Girl music, like a less-dancey The Virgins. It’s catchy enough.

The Fresh and Only's

Artist- The Fresh and Only's
Album- Play It Strange
Label- In The Red
Genre- psych surf-punk
The F&O’s third album (in 2 years!) has the band making huge strides artistically (and not in a bad way). The sound’s slightly cleaned up, but it’s still tropical surf garage rock with a heavy dose of reverb. Coming from the psych-garage West Coast scene that produced Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees and more, this album is wonderful and hopefully will gain the band new recognition.

#1- Waterfall - great track, between the faintest hints of “ooh” in the background, the typical F&O’s jangliness, and the spaghetti-western riff, I’m hooked.
#5- I’m Shook Up - not Tim Cohen’s (formerly of band Black Fiction) greatest vocal performance, but the combination of the steady rhythm section and the 50’s guitar vibe makes this another winner.
#4- Tropical Island Suite - excellent if you’re willing to play a 7 minute track (with a fuzzed-out breakdown half-way through).
#7- Fascinated - undoubtedly tied for my favorite track (besides “Waterfalls”), full of lovely pop distortion, a bit of 90’s sound, and the chorus of “you’re such a pretty girl”

Matt and Kim

Artist - Matt and Kim

Album - Sidewalks

Label - Fader

The third album from this “dance-punk” trio doesn’t sound much different from their past releases. Fortunately, their older tracks are infectious and fun, so here’s much of the same! Very danceable. Aside from the same beeping beats and bold vocals, this album seems to have a little more variety in terms of the overall sound – a welcome change after almost every track sounded like a variation of “Daylight” on their latest album.
Basically, if you’ve liked their past stuff, you’ll enjoy this. If you’ve never liked M&K, you probably won’t like this.

Swedish House Mafia

Artist - Swedish House Mafia
Album - Until One
Label - Astralwerks

This is one for the clubs. I spent most of my early teenage years perusing Limewire for many of the Tiesto-like artists found on here, like Benassi, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, David Guetta, TV Rock, Steve Angello, and Laidback Luke. In my recent, more musically enlightened years, I’ve perused music blogs for the more progressive artists found on here, such as Justice, Empire of the Sun, MGMT, and Miike Snow, while still retaining a guilty love for the aforementioned DJs. I liked the incorporation of indie hits into very danceable, club-worthy jams. Granted, the pieces used (Coldplay’s “Clocks” and MGMT’s “Kids”) are a little obvious, but whatever, Pharrell’s appearance makes up for it. As a whole the mix (at 24 tracks!) is a nonstop party with beats which manage to morph into different grooves while still maintaining a uniform sound. Yeah, it’s the same beats you’ve heard before, but that doesn’t make any less enjoyable. The only thing I wish I’d seen was a little more original material as opposed to just remixes, but I still give this a thumbs up.