Music Bytes
Shabazz Palaces
Little is known about Seattle’s Shabazz Palaces, but that’s just how they like it. (MC Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler of Digable Planets uses the pseudonym MC Lazaro.) Their goal is to focus on the music, not the people or process that goes into it. This is admirable in a world where more emphasis goes to public reputation than the content.
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Before Today
Before Today is the brilliant new record released by experimental psychedelic rock/pop revivalists, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. As expected, the new album is hard to pin down, as are many of Pink’s past lo-fi indie projects. There are so many sounds on Before Today and so many styles that it seems only fair to evaluate it is piece by piece, song by song.
Christina Aguilera: Bionic
Christina Aguilera can sing, no doubt about that. But while many other female artists are trying to find their own sound and build a career out of it, Aguilera is trying to do the opposite. She is building her repertoire by making vastly different albums and releasing them on her own time.
Tokyo Police Club: Champ
Champ is an appropriately titled second album from Canadian rock group Tokyo Police Club. Here, they will not shake the comparisons to The Stokes, but they do create an album that is as catchy and listenable as their older stuff with a tweak of maturity and extra touch of verbal cleverness.
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Sleigh Bells: Treats
What’s great about Sleigh Bells is that the first thing you think of when you hear the name is pleasant bells jingling on a peaceful, snowy night. But Sleigh Bells’ music really isn’t peaceful, though it’s pleasant in an unusual way.
Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
Generating a lot of attention since their first album Everything All the Time, Band of Horses then released Cease to Begin the following year, which was praised as one of the best records of 2007. Three years later, they unveil Infinite Arms – their latest effort to date, and first release on Columbia Records.
LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening
James Murphey is a self confident, self aware and self-deprecating man. He’s smart and sensible, but cynical and sad. He knows what people want to hear, crafting every song for his audience, but only the way he wants to hear it. He is selfish enough to make (almost all) the songs over five minutes, but reasonable enough for the listener to treasure every moment of them.
Jonsi: Go
As the frontman of Icelandic group Sigur Ros, Jonsi has taken a few bold steps while still staying in familiar territory on his solo album Go. Many of the songs still create a symphony of sound around Jonsi’s boyish/angelic voice, an audio atmosphere that’s akin to some sonic land of enchantment.
Delorean: Subiza
If you type in the word “Delorean” into Google, the first results to appear in your search would be about the DeLorean automobile. You know, that 80s sports car/time machine made famous by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future. Strangely enough, this could be a way of describing the music of Barcelona-based synth-pop band, Delorean and their new album Subiza.
The National: High Violet
There is a certain feeling of relief every time The National puts out a new record. It might be because it’s almost guaranteed to be good. It might be because they have yet to disappoint. Or perhaps it’s because they are one talented group of guys. Regardless of what the reason may be, it’s no surprise that High Violet would turn out to be another beautifully crafted album.