Album Reviews: Death Cab For Cutie, Ida Maria, Silversun Pickups, and more
»Album Reviews For Release Date: 04.14.09
by Joshua Krage
I’m on vacation, so I feel like I should be getting paid double for even typing anything up this week. What, I AM getting paid double? Sweet! OK, what’s 200% of Zero? Anyways, here’s a list with some short info behind the notables. Rock on, rock in, rock over:
As I Lay Dying
Beck – proper, expanded edition of his old-school folk LP titled One Foot In the Grave. Lo-fi!
Russell Brand
Brutal Truth
Death Cab For Cutie, The Open Door EP – decent little 4 (+1)-track Open Door EP, all castoffs or leftovers from their Narrow Stairs sessions, and many topping that album’s content.
Dntel – expansive “early works” collection.
Easy Star All-Stars - the dub juggernaut (or “dubbernaut?”) takes on the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” album. That’s psychedelic in a whole new way.
Mike Farris – live
Fastball
Fire On Fire
Josh Freese
Grand Duchy, Petits Fours – anything Frank Black (aka Black Francis of the Pixies aka Charles Thompson aka father of “alternative” punk rock) does is noteworthy, and this little plaything of a project with his wife, Violet Clark, turned out to be a rather meaty album.
Ida Maria, Fortress ‘Round My Heart – c-c-crazy, frenetic, stripped-down punk rock done right by this Norwegian firebrand and her Swedish comrades. She lists her main influences as MIA, Roy Orbison, and Fela Kuti, fer chrissakes! Lots of press for singing “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked,” but there’s other good songs too.
John 5 - remix album. Crazy…
John Doe
The Juan MacLean
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Metric, Fantasies – wish I had time to listen to this, I really like Emily Haines and this band is pretty consistent.
Nick Oliveri
Papercuts
Prefuse 73
The Rakes, Klang – love this London 4-piece, a classic UK-type rock sound that’s really sarcastic and danceable.
Silversun Pickups, Swoon – long-awaited sophomore album from the band that picked up the Smashing Pumpkins’ grandeur where Billy Corgan dropped it many years back. That parallel persists, so if you liked their “Carnavas” album you’ll find not much has changed here, meaning the sound is still stellar but the writing is not incredibly original. Not really a step forward, but enjoyable enough
Jill Sobule
Soulive
The Who
OK, back to vacationing. Speaking of vacationing, you Coachella folks enjoy your sweltering desert this weekend, I’d love to join you but I just had my fill of people-packed, sweltering desert walking around the Las Vegas Strip. See you next week.
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