May Album Reviews

St. Vincent: Actor, Rating 8.5

"Actor" is like no other album I've heard before, and I love it. Annie Clark really shows her unique instrumentation on this album. My favorite song "Marrow" Starts with a flute/clarinet flurry and then all of the sudden you are like "when did NIN get a female singer?" Distorted sax, violin and guitar take over to a heavy beat. Then you move to a song like "The Party" which has a nice singer songwriter feel and showcases Annie's voice. I am a big fan of St. Vincent and this album, give it a shot!

Peaches: I Feel Cream, Rating 6.6

What I love about Peaches is I know exactly what I am going to get when I listen to her albums, dance grooves with dirty in your face lyrics. "I Feel Cream" falls right in suit. This album is probably her best as far as production goes and is well rounded from start to finish. "Talk to Me" is a great tune and is possible the first Peaches song that has been able to receive radio play.

John Vanderslice: Romain Names, Rating 7.1

To me John Vanderslice is one of those artist where I'll listen to their album, really like it, move on to a different album and for get about them. I find myself checking my iPod whenever Vanderslice comes on to see who it is because I really like it. Maybe I haven't given Vanderslice the listening time he deserves. "Romain Names" is a solid example of how good of a singer/songwriter Vanderslice is and his instrumentation's are light, bouncy and fun.

White Rabbits: It's Frightening, Rating 7.3

Produced by the lead singer of Spoon Britt Daniels it's easy to hear the similarities and influences of Spoon on "It's Frightening." This percussion heavy album is fun to listen to and has some great heavy pop tracks on it. But I usually find myself about half way through the album wanting to put Spoon on, which isn't a bad thing. If you are a fan of Spoon I am 90% sure you will like this album.

Jason Lytle: Yours Truly, The Commuter, Rating 7.1

"Yours Truly, The Commuter" is the first solo album from Grandaddy's lead singer Jason Lytle. To be honest I hear very little difference between Lytle's solo stuff and Grandaddy which is fine with be because I was bummed when I heard they broke up. I find Lytle's music very cosmic sounding, like it could almost be an alternative sound track for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown, Rating 3.0

It came out, I don't care, it will win lots of grammys.

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest, Rating 9.4

An all around amazing album. The best Grizzly Bear album and they make really good albums. Perfect harmonies and great song structure. The songs "Two Weeks" and "While you Wait out for the Others" are near perfect songs. This is one of those albums I will never tire of, whether it's 10 weeks, 10 months or 10 years from now.

Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Rating 8.7

"Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" reminds me of when I listened to The Stokes "Is This It?" for the first time. It's nothing new but it's done so well it sounds it stands out on it's own. I wouldn't be surprised to see a handful of bands to have that "Phoenix" sound just the we got a bunch of Strokes sound-a-likes in the early 2000's. Every single song on this album could be a radio single, it's that good. Pop-rock can't be done much better than this.

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of Soul, Rating 7.5

This album that may never be released due to legal disputes with EMI but is available to stream and download online. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse bring together a collection a indie stars such as Jason Lytle, Wayne Kramer (Flaming Lips), Iggy Pop, Black Francis (Pixies) and Julian Casablanca (The Strokes) to sing over their music. Not a great album but a good album. It's a fun mash up of a lot of great artists, it's worth a listen.