Review: Florence + The Machine: Lungs [A-]

Artist: Florence + The Machine
Album: Lungs
Released: July 2009
Label: Universal
Genre: Indie Pop

Purchase date: 01 Jan 2011

Format: mp3 files

Source: eMusic

This is one of those albums that had been on my "Save For Later" list on eMusic for more than a year. Florence + The Machine is British singer-songwriter Florence Welch, plus whatever backing musicians she can put together for a given performance.

Welch has a very powerful and expressive voice, and she puts her impressive vocal range to excellent use on this record. Stylistically, the music is all over the map: songs range from quiet bluesy ballands, to explosive rock, to off-kilter folk. In the hands of a less-skilled or more-pretentious artist, this would have tipped into camp, but Welch is an artist in full control of herself, and she transcends the material. This is an excellent album that will hold your interest.

Recommended.

Rating: A-

Watch "Dog Days Are Over" official video

Album listing at Amazon

Album listing at eMusic

Review: Belle and Sebastian: Write About Love

Aritst: Belle and Sebastian
Album: Belle and Sebastian Write About Love
Released: October 2010
Label: Matador Records
Genre: Indie pop / twee pop

Purchase date: 23 Nov 2010
Format: mp3 files
Source: Amazon

I've been a fan of Belle and Sebastian since the late '90s when I first heard If You're Feeling Sinister, and I've picked up all of their albums since. The eighth album by the premiere Scottish twee pop act comes almost five years after their previous release, 2006's The Life Pursuit. Despite the hiatus, Write About Love feels like it picks up right where Life Pursuit left off: it's exploring the same themes and is lyrically and musically very similar to its predecessor. That's not to say this is a bad album, but it's not breaking new ground or going into any direction that this band hasn't thoroughly explored previously. I think that any year that Belle and Sebastian put out an album can't be a bad year for music, but as much as I hate to say it, if you've heard their last three albums, you've pretty much heard this one.

A decent album from Belle and Sebastian, but more of the same.

Rating: B

Listen to "Write About Love"

Album listing on Amazon

Artist not available on eMusic

Review: Faded Paper Figures: New Medium [B+]

Artist: Faded Paper Figures
Album: New Medium
Released: May 2010
Label: Shorthand Records
Genre: electronica / indie pop / synthpop

Purchase Date: 19 Aug 2010
Format: mp3 files
Source: eMusic

I first heard of this LA-based synthpop trio when the CD Baby Music Discovery Podcast played "Small Talk" back in July. Synthpop normally isn't my cup of tea, but I really liked this song, so I bought the album from eMusic on a whim.

This is another band with male-and-female singers who trade off the lead. It's an effect of which I'm rather fond. Their sound is like a cross between MGMT and Belle and Sebastian. It's reserved synthpop that still has a beat, but you probably won't hear it at a dance club.

I liked this album quite a lot, and it's currently on high rotation during the work day.

Rating: B+

"Small Talk" official video

Album listing at Amazon

Album listing at eMusic

Review: Freelance Whale: Weathervanes [B]

Artist: Freelance Whales

Album: Weathervanes

Released: April 2010

Label: French Kiss / Mom+Pop Records

Genre: chamber pop / indie pop

Purchase date: 06 Aug 2010

Format: mp3 files

Source: eMusic

Weathervanes is the debut album from this unfortunately-named band from Queens. Their music is much more interesting than their hippy-dippy name (which came up on The AV Club's 2009 list of bad band names) would otherwise indicate. Their sound owes quite a bit to bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Belle and Sebastian, with a nod to the neo-folk-rock movement, but is just different enough to stand out. It didn't knock my socks off, but I liked this record.

Rating: B

"Hannah" official video

Album listing on Amazon

Album listing on eMusic

Review: The xx: xx [A-]

Artist: The xx

Album: xx

Released: August 2009

Label: Rough Trade Records

Genre: indie pop / post-punk

Purchased: 10 July 2010

Format: mp3 files

Source: eMusic

While this debut full-length album from this English trio came out in late 2009, I didn't pick it up on my radar until I heard the buzz about this band from the 2010 SXSW music festival in March. (Not that I've ever actually been to SXSW, but I was closely following my favorite critics' reporting from Austin.) Then All Songs Considered webcast an April concert by the band from the 9:30 Club, and I decided that I had to get my hands on this album.

The xx is a master of getting maximum impact from minimal arrangements. Their music draws a deep intensity out of spare instrumentation and quiet vocals. This is another band with both a male and a female vocalist who each sing lead, often on the same songs. The pairing of their voices adds a delicious sexiness to the music, which often reminds me of early Portishead.

Rating: A-

"VCR" Official Video

Album listing at Amazon

Artist no longer available at eMusic

Review: Dum Dum Girls: I Will Be [A]

Artist: Dum Dum Girls
Album: I Will Be
Released: March 2010
Label: Sub Pop
Genre: indie pop / noise pop

Purchase Date: 10 June 2010
Format: AAC files
Source: iTunes

Dum Dum Girls is an all-female quartet from LA. Led by singer-songwriter Kristin Gundred (who goes by the stage name "Dee Dee," a nod to The Ramones), the band radiates a cool feistiness that I just loved. Sounding like a distorted, lo-fi cross between a '60s Phil Spector girl group, a '70s punk act, and a '90s alt-rock garage band, these women have both the musicianship and the looks to really pull it off. They had a minor hit on college radio over the summer with the single "Jail La La," a peppy and upbeat song about waking up in a jail cell and not quite remembering how you wound up there.

I really liked this album. The songs are all extremely catchy nods to bands like the Ravonettes but with a very 21st century style and attitude. This was a perfect summer album, great for blasting on the car stereo with the windows rolled down.

Rating: A

"Jail La La" official video

Album listing on Amazon

Album listing on eMusic

Flashback Review: Rilo Kiley: More Adventurous [B+]

Artist: Rilo Kiley
Album: More Adventurous
Released: July 2004
Label:Beaut/Brute Records
Genre: indie pop

Purchase date: 4 Feb 2010
Source: eMusic

Format: MP3 files

I'd heard of Rilo Kiley for years, but had only noticed them once or twice on the local college radio station. Then they started showing up frequently on some of my Pandora channels, and I started to pay attention to them. Then All Songs Considered played a recording of a concert, and I realized that I'd been missing out. I decided that I needed to take a chance, so I downloaded this five-year-old album of theirs with some "loyalty bonus tracks" I'd accumulated from eMusic.

Led by singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis, the band tends to pair upbeat, catchy melodies with very dark and sometimes disturbing lyrics. For example, the opening track of More Adventurous, "It's A Hit," sounds like a breezy love song, but is really a biting indictment of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq. Lewis has a very pretty and expressive voice, which often completely contrasts with the words she's singing. The music is playful, and the band has a lot of fun with the witty juxtaposition of music and lyric. It's fun music, with a cutting edge. Recommended.

Rating: B+

Listen to "It's A Hit"

Album listing on Amazon

Album listing on eMusic

Review: The Magnetic Fields: Realism [A]

Artist: The Magnetic Fields
Album: Realism
Released: January 2010
Label: Nonesuch Records
Genre: indie pop / alternative folk

Purchase date: 04 Feb 2010
Source: iTunes

Realism is the tenth studio album from singer/songwriter Stephen Merritt and his band The Magnetic Fields. It is also the third album in their "No Synths" trilogy, following 2004's i and 2007's Distortion. Merritt's musical style runs all over the map, often going in different directions on the same album. Realism has a pristine sound overall, a stark contrast from the grungy fuzz of their previous album. The songs are all heartfelt, touching, funny, and poignant, often all at the same time. The opening track, "You Must Be Out of Your Mind" is the strongest in my opinion, and it really illustrates Merrit's sense of humor, such as the line, "You can't just go 'round sayin' stuff/ Because it's pretty / And I no longer drink enough / to think you're witty." A marvelous album, it would have been hard to pick a better "first album of 2010."

Rating: A

Listen to "You Must Be Out Of Your Mind"

Album listing at Amazon
(Not currently available at eMusic)

Review: Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix [A]

Artist: Phoenix

Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Released: May 2009

Label: Glass Note Records

Genre: indie pop

Purchased: 27 January 2010

Purchased from: iTunes

The fourth album of this French alt-pop quartet is a whole lot of fun. The music is upbeat, accessible, and very radio-friendly. It's a very bright and cheerful album, and is more pop-oriented than a rock album. The standout track is "1901." Another darling of of the rock critics, this album deserved all the praise it got. Like other of my top picks, this album really stands up to repeated plays. It works less as a deep listen album (you know-- put on your best headphones and turn off the lights), than an album you can put on and cheerily do something else while bopping your head to the rhythm.

Rating: A

"Lisztomania" official video

Album listing on Amazon

(not available from eMusic as of this writing)