Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 09.22.09
by Joshua Krage

Well, I’ll say this much: this week could get expensive. Not just for me — for anyone who reads the list this week. Not just a few great bands from a genre or two, but some of the best and well-known artists across the board are releasing some really great albums, the best of their careers so far for a few, and I’m not exaggerating. Bundle that up with some truly inspiring debuts, side projects, and an indie-cred educational album, and you’ve got more than a few to keep you busy. On with it then:

Basement Jaxx, Scars – finally it’s acceptable to be a Basement Jaxx fan again, though still not for mainstream folks. The eclectic dance duo rope in star turns from Kelis, Sam Sparro, Santigold, Amp Fiddler and more for a better-than-average full-length album. Plenty of weirdness, and some lulls, but all outweighed by the space-born booty-groovin’ big-beat sounds present on all tracks here.

Billy Talent
Black Tape for a Blue Girl

Brand New, Daisy – continually amazing that a band that started out with high school-level power-pop emo leanings has turned out some of the most musically mature and lyrically challenging LPs of the ’00s. Daisy continues the sinister, soul-searching streak conjured up with their last album, with plenty of the fan required hardcore screaming, but luckily an equal portion of quiet, lurking shadows where they’ve lately been doing their most ground-breaking work. All-in-all, fewer full on crowd rockers, but a more satisfyingly dark catharsis is definitely achieved.

Castanets
Nick Cave
Children of Bodom
Harry Connick, Jr.

David Crowder Band, Church Music – nothing shocking or surprising (except maybe the alt.disco-esque, ELO-themed cover art), just steady modern worship music with the slight DCB electro-fueled edge and solid rock production.

Deadmau5
Diamond Rio
Five Finger Death Punch
Lisa Germano

Girls, Album – this green-tinged San Fran lo-fi duo sure generated a lot of blog buzz with their wanton drug-and-religion-fueled backstory, which is probably good for them since their music is kind of enh. Think Jesus and Mary Chain on a sunny SoCal beach, with slightly detuned guitars, kitschy percussion, and reverb sandwiches served up on every track, and Christopher Owens’ shaky, off-kilter voice (landing somewhere between Conor Oberst and Brian Wilson) delivering each narrative convincingly enough. I still don’t see the hype being justified, but maybe I’m just not mellow enough…

David Gray
Jessica Harp
Hawk Nelson
Richard Hawley

Islands, Vapours – OK so firstly, just to get it out of the way, Islands head honcho Nick Thorburn is evidently going by the surname “Diamonds” now. Nutty… whatevs. Perhaps it’s in keeping with the sound of this album, angling for a wider chunk of the middle ground between indie rock and mainstream pop. Wiggy synths and danceable beats pepper many of the tracks, and Thorburn’s — I mean, um, Diamonds’ — voice and lyrics are of a lighter and and more accessible variety this go-round. Their journey away from fringe indie tastemakers is kind of a bummer (they were really good on the fringe), but the guitars still chug and jangle in the right places, so who doesn’t mind a little disco sunshine instead of hipster coastline gloom? Maybe they’ll actually get some notice out of it.

Joshua James, Build Me This – soft-spoken heartland singer-songwriter who’s got one of those voices that just quietly peels back all your layers and saddles right up to your insides. Gorgeous, organic production with perfect, soulful vocal arrangements, a healthy dose of church organ mixed in, and expertly-applied guitars all vie for attention; James is righteously powerful at full volume, and devastating even with just an acoustic behind him. He’s one of the most consistently excellent artists I’ve heard (on four albums and a couple of EPs) and he’s only getting better. To give a testimonial, this album has been out on iTunes for a couple weeks now, and has received an average 5-star rating with 88 reviews submitted. That’s a lot of satisfied people.

Sean Kingston
Mark Knopfler
KSM
Larry the Cable Guy
LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 remixes
Dominique Leone
Matt Maher
Mika

Amy Millan, Masters of the Burial – honey of a second album from this soft/sweet-voiced member of Canadian indie superbands Stars and Broken Social Scene (some of whom contribute here). Definitely more mellow and folk-tinged than her day job, but so smooth and deftly handled in its minimalism that it remains an engaging, if sometimes overly-soothing, album.

Monsters of Folk, Monsters of Folk – this super summit of Conor Oberst, M. Ward, Mike Mogis, and MMJ’s Jim James (as Yim Yames) is not actually that folky; rather, each artist contributes some of their admittedly folk-leaning material, and then they juice it up with tasty vintage-sounding guitar and production, ending up closer to the “monster” than the “folk.” Whatever. Who needs to mince words when you’ve got great new music from four guys who know their way around a tune?

Mudhoney – reissues
Music Go Music
Noisettes
Yoko Ono
Pastels

Pearl Jam, Backspacer – what do you need to hear? By now you’ve had plenty of chances to hear the new rock-heavy entries into their catalog, what with appearances on Target TV commercials, Conan O’Brien, and all over the interwebs. Their previous, self-titled effort was somewhat of a reinvigorating reboot of their franchise, and they bring that vigor into these sessions, with the results being… I’d say decent, not really groundbreaking, but they sound great and have plenty of fire. These grunge veterans have plenty left in’em…

Julie Peel, Near the Sun – I’ve been enjoying the creative output from this nonchalant, multi-national singer-songwriter for well over a year now, mostly due to American Laundromat Records’ Joe Spadaro doing a good job of not hiding his enthusiasm about her work (and featuring her high point contributions on some decent tribute records). This is the kind of music which you could hear in the hippest of indie art movies; I can see Zooey Deschanel and Jason Schwartzman painting a room in an overly-disheveled New York loft under direction from Sofia Coppola on any of these tracks. Peel has the benefit of a few creative touchstone territories, hailing from Cannes, spending time in Montreal, and residing in Brooklyn. Luckily, none of this — or her subtly immense compositional talent — goes to her head, and these songs stay low key and personal, with uncluttered arrangements played, mixed, and produced mostly by her, with expertly understated help from cellist pal Cyrille Catios and drummer/producer Andreas Dahlback. Lots of Pixies/Kim Deal influence popping up too, which sounds really interesting in the mellow, cruise-controlled melancholy of these compositions. Overall, what a great debut — indie filmmakers have found their soundtrack songs, and indie hipsters have another talented female genius to pine after. WIN.

A.R. Rahman

Rain Machine (TVOTR’s Kyp Malone), Rain Machine – if you’re a TV On the Radio fan, you’ll be mighty satisfied by this release from their mightily-bearded singer-guitarist. Malone handles pretty much all the instrumental duties, with plenty of falsetto and layered vocals with thick grooves and phat beats. He does half of TVOTR’s singing and songwriting, so some of this basically sounds like half of any of their previous albums, minus Dave Sitek’s production (think less sinewy keyboard haze, but just as much reverb). Luckily, the rest of the album is an expansion toward some varied and eclectic genres (eastern, almost Tibetan, acoustic introspection), and is a welcome addition to this artist’s already-impressive catalogue.

Rakim
Jonathan Richman- best of
Sea Wolf
Jon Secada
Ralph Stanley

They Might Be Giants, Here Comes Science – two of earth’s most entertaining songwriters turn their talents toward the classroom yet again in pursuit of helping young people everywhere stay awake in science class. These songs ARE rather informative, but luckily they’re also as catchy as the flu and produced to be enjoyable to children and indie hipsters of all ages.

Three Days Grace

Times New Viking, Born Again Revisited – these guys take the term “lo-fi” to a whole new level, almost to the point of absurdity, but they seem to get a following out of it. The formula stays intact on this new album, with plenty of busy-sounding, fuzzy-edged guitars and organs providing a muddy foundation for their AM radio GBV vocal ethic to play through.

The Twilight Sad, Forget the Night Ahead – this band of Scots has really matured, taking their dense, hazy Northern England gloom and really condensing it for a powerful punch of brogue-bathed shoegaze played at breakneck speeds. Jarring at times, but a fulfilling journey through the darker places on the indie landscape.

VA – NOW Club Hits
VA – Where the Action Is! LA Nuggets 1965-68
Vertical Horizon
Volcano Choir
Rufus Wainwright – Milwaukee At Last!!! live album
Ween – reissues

WHY?, Eskimo Snow – still some of the most world-weary and yet simultaneously fragile lyrical fare in all of indie-dom, Josiah Wolf questions more than ever the purpose of walking this earth in a way that makes you feel his pain while still seeing his reasons for going on. This band is singularly unique in its sonic palette, incorporating hip hop and obscure musical textures seamlessly into its overall jaded rock sound.

I’m really not equipped to be tempted by this much high-quality new mewsic. I’m turning my ignorance switch on in 3..2..1.. *SWITCH*. Well, that’s a few good albums to get you started, hope you find something good in there. I know it’s there, I just can’t seem to remember what it is… anyways, have a great week, and see you when I read you.

P.S. Enjoy a sampling from this week’s new songs on my MySpace page. It’s updated pretty much weekly now…

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