3rd quarter Music Update

Seems like there were a ton of highly anticipated releases in the past 3 months or so with new releases by The XX, NAS, Yeasayer, Ben Folds Five, Kanye, Frank Ocean, The Avett Brothers etc. As a result it, felt kind of like I was swamped with exciting new music to listen to. I tried my best to get to what I could and give it all at least a couple listens through, while still trying to get caught up with stuff I missed while traveling. Anyway here’s my take:

I Totally Dug…

Frank Ocean: Channel Orange

Intelligent minimalist R&B (Sounds like if the XX met The-Dream).

I rarely get excited about R&B, but this is very far from the cliche laden stuff that I have become familiar with. The lyricism is clever and fresh, but Channel Orange’s biggest victories were won in the studio, where serious restraint won out against cheesy overproduction. The result is sexy, at times sparse and almost always completely interesting.

Two Door Cinema Club: Beacon

Smooth, highly danceable Electro-pop (Sounds like if Hot Chip met Peter Bjorn and John)

Honestly surprised these guys had such a good follow up. For reasons unbeknownst to me I was fully expecting this to be a flop, but I was definitely wrong in that assumption. It’s packed just about as consistently with jams as any album this year. I love the sexy flashes of guitar, plus the addition of horns on some of the tracks really helps to flush out the bands sound. The whole thing is fun and completely unpretentious.

Jeff the Brotherhood: Hypnotic Nights

Slightly southern fried two-piece garage rock (If Japandroids had more classic rock influences, mellowed the fuck out and moved to Nashville)

Just an on-point summer rock album. Well timed hand claps, plenty of classic rock inspired oohs, loud guitar and songs about beer, camping, and generally having a good time make this one of the best “roll the windows down and jam out” albums of the year.

Jens Lekman: I Know What Love Isn’t

Lyrically driven baroque folk pop. (The wittiness of the Magnetic Fields, presented in a hi-fi and almost overproduced manner)

On paper, much of what Jens Lekman does should be too sappy and just over the top to actually work. But for some reason, I like almost everything he puts out. I just can’t decide whether it’s because his lyrics are so well thought out or if it’s simply a matter of charm. Either way, this might be Jens’ best album to date IMO.

Stars: The North

Cool mature indie pop. (Like a much more delicate version of RaRa Riot)

These guys just know how to make a pop tune. The synths, the drums, the guitar and the dual vocals are all expertly pieced together. The result is some emotionally charged gorgeous indie pop music.

Nas: Life is Good

Hard hitting, intelligent verse heavy rap (Sounds like….Nas.)

Life is Good is the album of a rap veteran who seems completely content with the path his career has taken him. This album album has very ‘in your face’ production quality to it, to the point where it’s obvious that Nas is no longer out there trying to make radio friendly hits. He’s making music simply because he has something to say. Nas is smart and can spit with the best of em, and hell he even made Rick Ross sound good on this album. If nothing else you gotta give him credit for that. That being said, the album wouldn’t lose credibility if he threw in a hook or two.

Ben Folds Five: The Sound of the Life of the Mind

Eccentric piano pop rock

Ben Folds more than any artist, has been there for me over the years. For as long as I can remember giving a fuck about music I’ve loved Ben. That’s why it was such a relief to have the long awaited reunion of BF5 be everything that Ben Folds music has always been, at times wacky, at times heartfelt, and always thoughtful. As usual, thanks for the tunes Mr. Folds.

Twin Shadow: Confess

New Wave inspired guitar pop with some balls. (Like a meatier more in your face version of the Smiths)

This is a powerhouse of a pop record. It feels both intimate and larger than life, something that’s really hard to pull off. I really don’t know why 80′s pop seems so much more appealing the second time around.

Worth a listen…

Django Django - S/T - Fun/weird psychedelic electro-pop with loads of clicks, beeps and twitches.

Milo Greene - S/T - Indie folk that is sort of like “Of Monsters and Men” lite.

Cat Power - Sun - Never been a huge Cat Power person, but this album is a lot different than her other stuff. Lots of interesting distortion done to the vocals in particular. A cool record.

The Vaccines - Come of Age – It’s a far cry from the pop-punk perfection of “What Did You Expect From the Vaccines” , but it’s still not bad at all. There are a couple of major gems on there, and The Vaccines still totally get aloof confused 20 somethings better than just about anyone. Plus, you get all that sweet live stuff with it!

Angel Haze - Reservation - Dayum gurl, you spittin fire! No, seriously she throws it down. This is an intense rap experience.

Yeasayer - Fragrant World - No matter how many times Yeasayer switches up their style, it seems like they can still only get 2-4 really good songs on a record. It’s a shame, because when they’re good, they’re really fucking good.

Lana Del Rey – God Bless America - I know I’m super late to getting to Lana in general, but I just didn’t expect to like it this much. It’s a cool pop record with a sense of humor.

Dan Deacon- America - Emotive, hyper creative electronica. By far the most accessible Dan Deacon album to date.

Grizzly Bear - Shields - Grizzly Bear is probably a bit too ‘high-brow’ for my taste level, but this was a significantly easier album to listen to than Veckatimest for me at least. In fact I’ve found myself letting this one play through on quite a few occasions. Pretty surprising for a Grizzly Bear record.

Eh….

The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter - One of my all time favorite bands let me down a little here. I really liked the maturation and evolution they showed on their previous record, but this time around it seems like they took a step backwards. It lacks the energy of their earlier stuff, but isn’t as flushed out a sound as on their last album. Still some good songs though.

The XX – Coexist - Speaking of let downs. A couple of super promising singles, then an album that for the most part just made me sleepy. Idk if it’s because the same formula just wasn’t as exciting the second time around, or if these songs just weren’t as good, but yeah (insert sad face).

Lemonade – Diver - Another album with a couple of killer tracks (“Neptune” and “Ice water”). Then, not much else that I liked. Those two songs though…hot dayum are they synthy and sexy. (I also realize it took me forever to listen to this one.)

Jessie Ware - Devotion - Nothing bad at all here, but aside from “110%” which is an awesomely unique subdued pop jam, there is little I will come back to for more.

JJAMZ - Suicide Pact - Seems like there was a lot of potential for this to have been a killer synthy pop album. Unfortunately I only found one or two songs I’d go back to.

Kanye West - G.O.O.D. Music - There are some killer beats here, and a few really good verses, but overall it never comes together the way I hoped it would. And that’s hard to take, because no one loves Ye more than me.

Passion Pit – Gossamer - Not sure why, but most of their songs this time around just made me really sick of falsettos. Carried Away was dope though.

Nah…

Tame Impala - Lonerism - Cool album name, but that’s about it. I think I’m the only one who doesn’t get these psychedelic rockers. I was bored and in desperate need of a hook.

The Killers - Battle Born - I stand by the Killers older stuff as pretty damn good, but this album just felt like a bunch of cheezed Springsteen guitar moments. There wasn’t much of anything that made me even want to listen a second time.

Band of Horses - Mirage Rock - I can’t believe how disinterested I was in this album. I normally love these guys, but this one just felt like old worn out 70′s folk rock, like the band America or something.

The Heavy - The Glorious Dead - Just no catchy radio/commercial friendly funk jams on this one like there were on The House That Dirt Built.

Bloc Party - Four - The song V.A.L.I.S had a really cool chorus. Other than that though, I’m just gonna continue assuming that these guys broke up.

25 Solid Jams (In no order)________________________

JJAMZ – Heartbeat

Angel Haze - New York

Frank Ocean - Forrest Gump

Cat Power - Cherokee

The Vaccines - Teenage Icon

Santah - Indigo

Jessie Ware - 110%

Jens Lekman – I Want a Pair of Cowboy Boots

Jeff the Brotherhood – Sixpack

Django Django - Default

Lana Del Rey - National Anthem