Album Review Blitz

Hello readers! I am way behind on my record reviews but not my listening, so I am doing to do an Album Review Blitz. I am just going to give my score for each album and maybe a one or two sentence statement. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I have listened to each of these albums start to finish at least twice.

Hold Steady: Heaven is Whenever, Rating 5.9
Two mediocre albums in a row now from one of my favorite bands The Hold Steady. "Heaven is Whenever" is a slight bit better than their last effort "Stay Positive" just doesn't please start to finish like their first three albums.

Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles II, Rating 7.4

Radio Dept: Cling to a Scheme, Rating 4.3
Don't believe the hype, I found Radio Dept. Boring, and unoriginal.

Delorean: Subiza, Rating 6.8
I was a fan of Delorean's 4 song EP "Aytron Senna" and now with "Subiza" I get a whole album of songs that make me dance. This is probably all the Delorean I'll need.

Caribou : Swim, Rating 7.0

The Tallest Man on Earth: The Wild Hunt, Rating 7.3
Great singer/songwriter acoustic music. Easily comparable to Dylan. I've really been enjoying "The Wild Hunt" while driving around. I think this album will get a lot of play in the fall from me.

MGMT: Congratulations, Rating 4.1
MGMT decided to total revamp their sound and take an "Art Rock" turn on "Congratulations." Now I like me some art rock from time to time but this album feels manic and messy.

Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh, Rating 6.9

LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening, Rating 9.1
Another instant classic from James Murphy. Every track on "This is Happening" is great and "Pow Pow" will be in your head for days. One of the year's best so far.

Sleigh Bells: Treats, Rating 7.8

Holy Fuck: Latin, Rating 7.2

Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts, Rating 4.2

The Dead Weather: Sea of Cowards, Rating 6.8
A great rock record. I'm liking "Sea of Cowards" quite a bit more then then their debut album. "Sea of Cowards" holds my interest track to track.

The National: High Violet, Rating 8.1
"High Violet" continues to grow on me. This is no "Boxer" or even "Alligator" but another solid album. I am excited to see them live soon to see if these songs carry more energy on stage.

Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record, Rating 7.5

Album Reviews

Dr. Dog: Shame, Shame, Rating 5.1

Another disappointment in 2010. “Fate” Dr. Dog’s previous album made my top 10 of 2008 leaving me very excited to hear their new effort “Shame, Shame.” I was immediately pleased with track 1 “Stranger” which was full of the Beatlesque pop vibe I loved so much about “Fate” but none of the tracks that followed kept my interest. I found my hand going to the next track button quite often on my second and third listen of this album. Sorry Dr. Dog but this album is tired.

Ghost, Meth, Rae: Wu Massacre, Rating 6.5

If Wu Tang or any member of Wu Tang puts out an album I will give it a listen. Over my 13 year relationship with the Wu I have been treated to some of the best hip hop albums of all time and some utter garbage. But there seems to always be on constant, the combo of Ghostface and Raekwon is a hip hop gold. When I heard they were releasing an album together with Method Man I was pretty excited, but for some reason it just doesn’t work. This albums has its moments like the stand out tracks “Our Dreams” and “Smooth Sailing” but the rest just falls into a “it’s just another average Wu-Tang record” category. “Wu Massacre” may be the result of too much of a good thing.

Jonsi: Go, Rating 7.2

Jonsi Birigisson, front man of Sigur Ros may be small in stature but “Go” might be the most epic sounding album of the year. Every song on “Go” is a wall of sound, filled with grandiose orchestra arrangements and synth loops. On top of all of this Jonsi’s distinct falsetto voice sweeps over every track completing the magic. Every time I listen to “Go” I see cartoon Gnomes dancing in my head, and I like it. Congrats Jonsi on creating yet another indie rock sub genre, Gnome Rock.

Sharon Jones and the Dapkings: I Learned the Hard Way, Rating 7.7

One thing I like about buying Sharon Jones albums is I know exactly what I’m going to get, amazing soul vocals backed by one of the tightest soul/funk bands in the business. “I Learned the Hard Way” is not my favorite album by Ms. Jones but it’s a great addition to her catalog. The only reason being I feel it’s a little over produced and is missing the rawness of “naturally.” If you get a chance to see these guys live don’t pass it up. It is very rare to see a band so in tune with each other.

Titus Andronicus: The Monitor, Rating 9.0

This is easily the best punk/rock anthem/civil war concept album to date. “The Monitor” is an ambitious effort from Jersey’s Titus Andronicus that succeeds it's goals. It’s full of sing-along choruses, catchy guitar riffs and rousing chants. I saw Titus do “The Monitor” in completion live a couple months ago and it made me like the album even more after seeing the passion that is behind all of these songs. This album I’m guessing will come in pretty high on my year end list. For every pus festering wound that Jersey has suffered from the show “Jersey Shore” Titus Andronicus comes in like a big bottle of Neosporin to make Jersey seem like a place I wouldn’t mind visiting.

Devotchka and Gogol Bordello @ First Ave 4/25

What did you do on your birthday? Last Sunday on my birthday I took in a great live show at First Ave with my friend Luke. I've been a fan of Gogol Bordello now for 5+ years and have never gotten around to seeing them live. Seems like every time they come to town I always have another conflict.

Before Gogol took the stage we were treated to a great set by Devotchka. I was familiar with a few of their tunes and heard they are a great live show. I couldn't agree more. The set had everything, an on stage proposal, scantly clad women twirling from the ceiling and a lady in cowboy boots playing a tuba. I would defiantly see Devotchka next time they come to town.

Now time for Gogol Bordello! Imagine you get place a treadmill set at 11 for an hour and a half and you can't get off. Energy just radiates from ever member of this band. The setlist was very heavy with songs from their new album, which I hadn't heard yet so that was a little disappointing. But the more I listened there really isn't a huge difference in their songs. They are high powered and filled with la las, oi ois, hey heys and so on. So you can sing along to parts of songs you've never heard.

It was a great way to end my birthday weekend and I'm glad Luke and I finally got around to seeing them live.

jj and The XX @ The Varsity 4/9/2010

First thing I noticed when walking into The Varsity Theater on Friday night was the diverse crowd of people. You had everyone from your typical hipsters to Jersey Shore fist pumpers. We hadn't been to The Varsity in a few months and it was nice to see all they've done with the place. It's turning into a great venue to see a show. Cool atmosphere.

We got there just in time to see jj. Now I am a pretty big fan of jj on CD but I was unsure what to expect live. jj's set up consisted of the singer, a laptop, a screen showing either nature videos or jj tour footage and a random surfer dude that kept walking up on stage to do who knows what. The singer sounded great but she looked bored as hell, which I'm sure she was just stoned out of her mind.

Time for The XX. The XX set started with a white sheet covering the stage and they were back lit projecting their silhouettes on the sheet. Extremely cool intro. The band sounded great, each song was powered by infections bass groves and sexy vocals. The light show was definitely the 4th member of that band, the lighting added a great ambiance to the evening. Mary kept joking that everyone was going to start taking off their clothes during the show, I wouldn't have been surprised if it happened. They played around 12 songs including a 1 song encore.

Titus Andronicus @ 7th Street Entry 4/5/2010

While most people were tucking themselves into bed I decided to rock. A friend and I went to the 7th Street Entry late Monday night to see Titus Andronicus, a punkish/rock anthem band (is that an oxymoron?) out of New Jersey. When Titus took the stage at 11:45 singer Patrick Stickles said "let's make this the best Monday ever" and went right in to "A More Perfect Union" the first track on their new album. Titus played every song they know not leaving anything for an encore. Titus's energy was infectious, they had me bopping and singing along the whole show. Yeah it was late, loud and hot but I'm glad I went, even if I was a zombie at work the next day. I have a feeling in a few years I might be saying, remember when we saw Titus in the entry, it was cool to see them in such a small venue. I don't know if it was the best Monday ever but it sure was fun and energetic.

Spoon @ First Ave 4/2/210

What an amazing start to start of the 2010 concert season! This was our second time seeing Spoon at First Ave and they did not disappoint. I will say it wasn't as good at the last time but I think that is because I am not completely in love with their newest album but they still put on a great show. Singer Britt Daniel has one of the coolest voices in rock and he sounded great. It was fun to see him really strain his voice on "Written in Reverse" live. They played about 25 songs which included a great cover of Wolf Parade's "Modern World." We were also treated with 2 encore performances. I hope the rest of the concert season keeps pace!

More Record Reviews

Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me, Rating 7.7

“Have One on Me” is an ambitious 3 CD release from singer songwriter Joanna Newsom. Majority of the songs on “Have One on Me” are eight or nine minutes long and demand attention. Newsom accompanies her songs with either her playing the piano or harp. I found myself engaged more with the piano based songs. The harp songs as times got a little to RenFest for me. Newsom’s voice is often compared to Kate Bush and I couldn’t agree more. All in all a really good album, a little long but really good.

Broken Bells: Broken Bells, Rating 6.7

“Broken Bells” is a collaborative effort from Danger mouse and James Mercer, front man of “The Shins.” This album is neither great, nor bad. I guess it’s exactly what I expected a more funked up spacey Shin’s album. I’ve listened to it through a few times now and I feel like I get kind of bored with it. There are a few stand out tracks the will stay on my iPod but I’m not sure this collaboration needed to happen. I am more excited for a new Shins album.

Liars: Sisterworld, Rating 4.0

So “Pitchfork” gave Liars a “Best New Music” rating so I thought I’d check it out. I’m not sure if I’m just not hip enough to get it but I was bored from start to finish. I felt the band was trying to be weird and do something new which I respect but it just wasn’t working for me. To be honest that is the same initial thought I had about “TV on the Radio” when I first heard them and now they are one of my favorite bands but I don’t see that happening with “Liars.”