Category: Pop (Page 44 of 216)

Me, Myself, and iPod 4/28/10: The Silver Seas officially own our souls

April 28, 2010 /

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The original title of this post was going to be “Free Crowded House!,” as in I have their new single “Saturday Sun,” which they briefly made available on their web site. I’d repost it here, but that just doesn’t seem right. Plus, I’m loath to do anything that HMFIC, who’s a lawyer, would disapprove of. Sorry, guys. For what it’s worth, it’s good.

The Silver Seas – The Best Things in Life
Their first album, High Society, is one of my favorite albums of the 2000s. Their new one, Chateau Revenge, isn’t far behind, and who knows, it may eclipse its predecessor. It’s not quite as high on the ’70s AM radio sound as the first one, but is yet another first-rate batch of classic pop songs just the same.

April Smith and the Great Picture Show – Movie Loves a Screen
I just love this girl’s voice. Impossibly sunny, and what great pitch. She doesn’t dance around notes – she fucking hits them, hard. And what a sweet refrain. “I just want to mean something to you.” I love a little moon-eyed optimism. It’s a nice antidote to our snark-laden world.

Grosvenor – Taxi from the Airport
Think Joe Jackson’s “Stepping Out” covered by Double (of “Captain of Her Heart” fame), and you’re close. Sophisticated synth pop.

Trentemoller – Sycamore Feeling (Remix Edit)
Fans of Hooverphonic and Propaganda, take note. This moody slice of electro-pop is right in your wheelhouse.

Burning Hotels – To Whom It May Concern
Next time the Airborne Toxic Event is looking for an opening act, they’d be wise to pick these guys.

Kids of 88 – Ribbon of Light
Is it wrong of me for wishing MGMT’s new one sounded more like this?

The Brute Chorus – Could This Be Love?
Attention, Anglophiles. Here’s your next UK buzz band. I like this one because it has a little American swagger in it.

Lawrence Arabia – Apple Pie
Yep, I’m still a sucker for the power pop stuff. Sue me.

Alternative, Ambient, Artists, CD Reviews, Downloads, Electronica, Gothic, Me Myself and iPod, Melodramatic, Pop, Power Pop, Rock, Steal This Song

The New Pornographers: Together

April 28, 2010 /


RIYL: Neko Case, Canada, indie-pop musical theater

Since 2003, there have been only two years in which Carl Newman, leader of the indie-pop superstars the New Pornographers, has not put out an album. And for a stretch there, that was a good thing; you’d be hard pressed to find a one-two-three punch from anyone that rivals the New Porns’ 2003’s Electric Version, Carl’s solo album The Slow Wonder, and the New Porns’ staggering Twin Cinema (2005). That last album had half a dozen songs alone that could each start its own religion.

Since then, the goings have been, well, fine, but a far cry from the band’s best work. Challengers (2007) has aged decently enough, but still doesn’t contain a moment that rivals, say, “The Bleeding Heart Show” or “The Laws Have Changed.” Unfortunately, the band’s latest album, Together, doesn’t contain anything that rivals the best work on Challengers. It’s not a bad record, per se; it’s simply an average record from a band that has to this point been anything but average.

Sure, anyone who likes “Mutiny, I Promise You” will enjoy “Crash Years,” and fans of “Use It” will like the unofficial title track “Your Hands (Together).” Likewise, there are a million bands who would kill to call this album their own. But this is not some other band’s album – it’s a New Pornographers album, and they can frankly do better than this. They didn’t phone it in – the album’s final track, the other unofficial title track “We End Up Together,” is one of those reach-for-the-stars moments – but it appears that Newman’s well is running a little drier than it had been five or so years ago. Hey, writing good songs is hard – there’s a reason only a handful of people are truly good at it. If Newman needs an extra two years between albums to charge the batteries, that’s fine with us. We can wait. (Matador 2010)

New Pornographers MySpace page
Click to buy Together from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Rufus Wainwright: All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu

April 23, 2010 /


RIYL: Leonard Cohen, George Gershwin, deathly seriousness

All musicians should have Rufus Wainwright’s ambition, with a reach that far, far exceeds their grasp the way his does. The only catch, of course, is that there is no guarantee that you will like what he’s reaching for from one album to the next. He’s like Neil Young in the ’80s, only without the whole ‘fuck you Geffen’ thing.

There are two clear phases to his career at this point: the pop years (his 1998 debut, 2001’s Poses, and 2003’s Want One), and the stage years, which is everything he’s released after Want One. Hell, the man did a show as Judy Garland, so Broadway clearly appeals to him more than conventional popular music. And that’s okay: the man is nothing if not melodramatic, so he’s wise to play to his strengths.

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This time around, though, the ‘melo’ to ‘drama’ ratio is tilted mightily in favor of the former. All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, Wainwright’s first studio effort since 2007’s Release the Stars, is Rufus armed only with a piano, a stark contrast to the elaborate productions he’s been assembling for the last, well, ten years now. It’s pretty, but hot damn, is it maudlin. Wainwright’s pulse quickens only three times here, and they wisely opened the album with one of them: “Who Are You New York?” has the album’s biggest hooks both vocally and musically, with “Give Me What I Want and Give It to Me Now” not far behind. Someone needs to talk to him, though, about his tendency to draw out the syllables to the point where it doesn’t sound like he’s singing actual words. Entire songs can go by without a single lyric leaving a mark, and when it’s one of the, ahem, many ballads that All Days Are Nights sports, the experience of listening to the album can get laborious in a hurry.

In a business where promising careers get smashed by simple-minded executives who want to put a square peg in a round hole, Rufus Wainwright is one of the few artists who could stand to benefit from a little direction. Unless, of course, Wainwright is actually trying to make albums that appeal to fewer and fewer people, in which case he should continue doing exactly what he’s doing. All Days Are Nights is fine for what it is, but if he doesn’t watch it, Wainwright’s subsequent releases will be given the same fanfare as a new album by Sarah Brightman. (Decca 2010)

Rufus Wainwright MySpace page
Click to buy All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu from Amazon

Adult Contemporary, Artists, CD Reviews, Melodramatic, Pop, Vocal

The Apples in Stereo: Travellers in Space and Time

April 22, 2010 /


RIYL: ELO, The Beatles, Cliff Richard

If the early returns are any indication, 2010 is the year that musicians realized that it was all right to admit that they like ELO. The power pop circuit has been cribbing from Jeff Lynne for years, of course, but they have about 600 records sold to show for it. Perhaps that’s why bands like the Apples in Stereo and the Silver Seas (wait until you hear their song “What’s the Drawback”) waited until they developed a devoted fan base before dropping the news on their fans that yes, they like ELO, too. For a band that was so successful, the ELO name carries a curious amount of baggage.

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Don’t be surprised if Travellers in Space and Time, the new album by the Apples in Stereo, changes that stigma some. This is not the first time the Apples have dabbled in Lynneisms, but Travellers ups the ante by exploring different aspects of the ELO sound. “Hey Elevator” is this album’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman,” while “Dignified Dignitary” is a clear descendant of both “Do Ya” and the band’s own song “Go.” “Wings Away” is the album’s big Beatles moment, with one of those instantly recognizable ascending progressions in the chorus. The album does explore other catalogs besides ELO’s, though, as “Next Year at About the Same Time” sounds like Squeeze covering David Bowie’s “Blue Jean.”

At 16 tracks, the album does feel a tad long, even with two of those tracks being interludes. Still, it’s nice to see a band tackle the whole in-crowd notion of indie pop and declare the party open to anyone and everyone interested in attending. Get your Vocoder on. (Yep Roc 2010)

Apples in Stereo MySpace page
Click to buy Travelers in Space and Time from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Me, Myself, and iPod 4/21/10: Little Boots’ money shot

April 21, 2010 /

esd ipod

Why is this week’s installment of “Me, Myself and iPod” subtitled ‘Money Shot,’ you ask? Because last week’s column produced the largest number of downloads this site has ever seen, and I’m still not sure if that is a testament to Amanda Palmer’s fiercely loyal fan base, or if it’s because I used the words ‘blowjob queen’ in the title. Either way, I’m not messing with success. Plus, this week’s headliner, um, makes me tingly.

Little Boots – Remedy (SPEAK Remix)
SPEAK makes their second appearance in the three weeks of this column’s existence (they covered Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” in MMI’s debut) by tackling one of the best songs from Little Boots’ album Hands. The mix is a bit of a Frankensong, as the music track doesn’t really mesh with Boots’ vocals, but I’d love to hear someone take the chords in the verse and write a song around that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch her “New in Town” video. Sweet Jesus, is she hot.

Slow Club – Giving Up on Love
This cute boy/girl song also has a great video, but it’s a different kind of great than the Little Boots clip. MacKenzie Crook, a.k.a. Gareth from the UK version of “The Office,” lip syncs the song on a ferris wheel in a one-take clip. As for the song, think the Raveonettes, only poppier.

Eyes Set to Kill – All You Ever Knew
We’re still trying to wrap our heads around this one. The instrumentation in the intro brings to mind Primus, but the male vocals are pure Cookie Monster screamo. And then, this lovely female voice appears in the chorus, and the body that voice comes from, that of Alexia Rodriguez, is equally lovely. Odd, melodic, and thrashy. New record Broken Frames out in June.

See Green – Goldmine
Courtenay Green first caught my eye roughly a year ago when she released the video for her song “Beyond Therapy.” The song was all right – truth be told, I was a bigger fan of the old-fashioned video – but armed with a new band name and an updated, more muscular sound, Green appears to be ready for her close-up. Her Violet EP comes out May 4. Haven’t heard it yet, but you can bet that this song has officially whet my appetite.

Minus the Bear – My Time
Truth be told, my eyes rolled whenever I saw this band’s name. I’m a stickler for band names, and believe that it tells you next to everything you need to know about a band. Upon seeing Minus the Bear, I thought, “pretentious twits.” Wrong. This nifty little synth-friendly rocker fits nicely next to Jupiter One’s recent material, resurrecting the open frontier that was the late ’70s and early ’80s rock scene.

We Have Band – Honey Trap
Look for these guys to burn up the blogosphere. Armed with a drum machine straight off of the Human League’s Dare, this song will appeal to anyone who dug Calvin Harris’ “Merrymaking at My Place.”

The Love Language – Heart to Tell
Jangle pop! Who wants jangle pop? Merge’s latest act blends super-catchy ’60s-style melodies with more contemporary percussion riffs (think “Hollaback Girl”). New album Libraries comes out July 13. Please let the rest of it sound like this.

Elogy – London
The press release compares this trio to Coldplay, Muse, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. I definitely hear the first band, don’t really hear the second band, and am going to try to forget that I ever saw them compared to the third band. If Coldplay made a drum ‘n bass-type record, or at the very least something a little more glitchy (think Everything but the Girl’s Walking Wounded), it would probably sound like this.

Gadi Mirhazi & Soul Clap – Beautiful Thang
Time for a little Deep House Dish. The sampling in the beginning is a little annoying, but then this “Trans Europe Express”-type keyboard settles in, and it’s all smooth sailing from there.

Jeremy Messersmith – Violet!
It was not at all surprising to discover that Dan Wilson is a fan of fellow Minneapolis pop boy Jeremy Messersmith. Armed with a chorus Burt Bacharach and the Red Button would kill for, this tuns is sure to have the Audities set buzzing.

Talking to Walls – Came to You
The press release for this New Haven quartet compared them to the Cure, but to my ears, they’re closer to the Call. Big, earnest, anthemic.

'60s, Alternative, Artists, Dance, Downloads, Electronica, Hipster, Me Myself and iPod, Metal, Pop, Power Pop, Rock, Steal This Song

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