This is a miscellaneous post, starting off with 2 reviews that didn't make the deadline for my previous post.
Crystal Castles - II (7.5/10)
The second self-titled album by this elektronica duo -infamous for not shying away from controversy and for their chaotic live performances - from Toronto, Canada, with a slightly creepy album cover. On this album, they expand the noisy-poppy contrast that was also present on the debut album, but overall succeed better in keeping the balance between those two opposites. "Violent dreams" is a dreamy track, whereas "Intimate" is a more classic danceable videogame-bleepy CC-track.
Balthazar - Applause (7.5/10)
Balthazar did good in Humo's rock rally a couple of years back, but were smart enough to find their own sound first before bringing out a full album. On Applause, they present a collection of tracks that fall in 2 categories: more downtempo intimate ballads, and extravert, funky, groovy, danceable tracks with a minimal but very functional rhythm section and even some group vocals. I prefer the latter tracks, current single "Hunger at the door" is the catchiest Belgian single of the first half of the year, and "Throwing a ball" is equally good. Don't know if their sound is unique enough to stand out enough for a international breakthrough, but I wish them all the luck.
This is the rip-off section of this post.
Now, as an artist, you can borrow a riff or an idea from some obscure track and get away with it because no one ever notices. It's different however, when you clearly base your new hit single track on another recent smash hit track. Jason Derulo ripped off Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry's new "California Gurls" single has an undeniable Ke$ha influence, with maybe a more eighties production and a little less auto-tune. But still, the synth riff in the verse and the "ooh-ah-ooh"-s in the chorus give it away.
VV Brown's voice sounds a whole lot like Alicia Keys in her new/old single, now doesn't it? Not to mention the acoustic intro riff is a distant cousin from the guitar riff in "Faith" by George Michael.
In another clear example, local singstress Natalia tries to cash in on the long Amy Winehouse absence with a track that's clearly based on the "Back to black"-track. Very similar piano riff, some brass instrument decorations, and even a very similar tempo change in the chorus. Very, very obvious.
I guess everybody was hoping for something really cool when Kele Okoreke from Bloc Party announced his solo dance album. On the first single however, he doesn't do better than a pretty weak remake of a well-known euro dance track with a quite raunchy video.
I'll wrap it up with 2 more video's from UK bands.
I have to admit I was a bit sceptical about the Mumford and Sons-hype. Little Lion Man was an unexpected hit that even propelled them to commercial radio stations in Belgium, something even Fleet Foxes never succeeded in doing. Of course, they're jumping the whole folk revival movement bandwagon a little, but they I was convinced by their appearance on Jools Holland a couple weeks back. Ok, there are some hilarious attempts at beard growth, but they seem to play their songs with the right amount of conviction. Plus, this track has a foot stomp solo at around 2:50!
Florence and the Machine is doing really good everywhere, so she got approval from the record company to make a new video for new single (and I daresay best single so far) "Dog days are over". The result is really colourful, and one of the few music videos these days really worth watching.
Ok, as promised, I'm gonna talk about some albums I got a hold of lately (most of them thanks to the nice collection at the local library). I might regret this later, but I'm gonna rate them on a 1 to 10 scale too. Here we go.
Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini (8/10)
I liked the Fisherman's woman by Emiliana Torrini a lot, and also got to see her live at Pukkelpop sometime when that album had come out. A lot has changed for the Icelandic singer with Italian roots since then. After gaining some popularity with a song on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack and writing songs for other artists (most notably Slow by Kylie Minogue, which is a terribly annoying and overrated track imo), she broke into the mainstream with her own music with this album. Big Jumps and Jungle Drums made the soundtrack of some big American shows (Grey's Anatomy among others), and Jungle Drums even became a number 1 hit song in some European countries. She did some extensive touring for the album too. Now, about the album, I have to say I really like this. Whereas her previous effort was mostly standard slow-paced, acoustic, intimistic singer-songwriter material, here, she's also trying a lot of different things and gets away with it. "Big Jumps", "Jungle Drums" and the title track have a have a more up-tempo, poppy feel, there's the electric guitar on the repititive and driving "Gun" track, and some weird time signature in "Dead duck", but also some tracks that could've been on "Fisherman's women", like "Beggar's prayer" and "Fireheads". This album will grow on you, and there's no filler here. Good stuff.
New Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom (6.5/10)
Whatever happened to the whole post-punk revival of a couple years back? Franz Ferdinand are a shadow of what they used to be, and I haven't heard about The Rapture in a while. One of the bands that fits into that scene was the English New Young Pony Club, and I finally got around to listening to their "Fantastic Playroom" album. My expectations weren't really high, but this was a pleasant surprise. "Ice cream" was a really good single, and the rest of the album doesn't pale in comparison. This is just a set of fun, jumpy, danceable tracks. According to some live video's I checked on Youtube, they're (well, the singer anyway) pretty dreadful live though. They have a new album out now, which is more new wave and less post-punk apparently. I like "Hiding on the staircase" because it has a dynamic, latin-sounding percussion.
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg (6.5/10)
I can be concise about this, even with the line-up changes, Wolfmother still sounds pretty the same, they still sound like classic rock seventies band with some stoner influences here and there, and the singer still varies between Ozzy O. and Robert P.-mode. As far as the songs on the album are concerned, I'd rate this about as high as their previous album. Good stuff if you're into the genre. "Phoenix" is one of my favourite tracks, has a nice bridge, and features the singer (+ studio production) doing a pretty sweet Ozzy.
Vampire Weekend - Contra (8/10)
The second effort by these New Yorkers is filled with fun, poppy tracks. They still have the afro music influence, but they experiment with some electronic stuff too on this album (mostly because the album was produced by the electronics guy in the band this time around). I can't say anything bad about this at all. "White Sky" is a more typical afro track with an electronic loop and has some nice falsetto action (which I would advise you not to attempt to sing along to in public), whereas "California English" is a really jumpy track that even uses some auto-tune.
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (6/10)
Because I knew My Morning Jacket and Band Of Horses on beforehand, I never really was a big Fleet Foxes enthousiast. I never really got what made them special (except maybe the slightly higher group vocals/campfire factor) in comparison to the aforementioned bands, that have played the style longer than them. After listening to the album, I still can't put my finger on what really made them that popular. Not saying it's a bad album, but it can't really grasp my attention for very long. "Ragged wood" is a good track though, even though the opening riff (here I go again, can't help it) sounds a little like the opening riff from this track.
These New Puritans - Hidden (7.5/10)
And now for something special: one of the music press hypes of the last months was These New Puritans, an English band that tries to take indie rock a step further by mixing in elements from classical music and other genres. The album's pretty good, you should check it out sometime when you're in a really musically adventurous mood. I picked the song "Attack music", which demonstrates their musical style quite nicely and has some breakbeats and tribal drums.
The Big Pink - A brief history of love (9/10)
Hands down my favourite release of all the albums I'm reviewing here. Right from its inception, London-based The Big Pink got hyped a lot and I have to say I was a bit sceptical, but I have to admit their debut album is fantastic stuff. Genre-wise, they have the same clash between noise influences (The Jesus and Mary Chain) and sixties pop melodies like The Raveonettes, but this linked with slow, lament-styled songs like Glasvegas (but better). Apart from that, they also have a more electronic side and they use some samples and loops. This album is pretty much a concept album about love, the lyrics are pretty straightforward and simple, but heartfelt. Most songs are long but never really get boring, there's always a couple of good ideas in every song. Highly recommended listening material. The title track is a slow track with some female guest vocals, and "At war with the sun" is a more up-tempo track with a surfrock riff.
A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding head (5.5/10)
Continuing with The Jesus and Mary Chain worship, A Place To Bury Strangers also goes for the noisy sound. One of the band members even has his own type/brand of distortion guitar pedal, so this record really sounds like it's supposed to. Unfortunately, unlike their debut album, they forgot to write real songs for this album so every track just sounds like the other and it's pretty hard to tell them apart. That's a shame, because "I lived my life to stand in the shadow of your heart" is a pretty damn cool song title.
Baroness - Blue Album (7/10)
This alternative metal band from Georgia gets compared to Mastodon a lot, although they have some non-metal tracks and more stoner rock influences. Their latest effort did well among music critics, it's a varied piece of work that's kind of hard to get into, but I guess you won't grow tired of it fast either. The pretty, colorful artwork was made by one of the band members.
Maxïmo Park - Quicken the heart (7/10)
Maxïmo Park blew me away with their 2005 Pukkelpop performance, and their excellent debut album "A certain trigger" spun around a lot in various music playing devices. The follow-up album however was a immense disappointment to me, and I pretty much had given up on the Park. I decided to give their third album one last try, and I think they're back on track with this one. They will probably never regain the sense of urgency that trademarked their first album, but they get pretty close here. Favourite "Roller disco dreams" with the melancholic guitar riff and synths reminds me of The Cure.
MSTRKRFT - Fist of God (6.5/10)
MSTRKRFT are a pretty hip DJ-duo, and this is their second album. The succesful single with John Legend isn't really representative for the whole album, they still have the Daft Punk influence, but I feel this one is even more an all-out party album then the previous one. Couple of filler tracks maybe, but most of the tracks on this could make me sprint to the nearest dancefloor, especially "Bounce".
Angels and Airwaves - Love (6.5/10)
I like the spacious A&A sound. No shame. Delonge will probably never reach his Blink level here, and lyrics aren't always his strong point, but I like listening to this. This album is very much comparable to "I-Empire" as far as the song material goes. And for an album that is titled "Love" and was released on Feb 14th, there's not that much corny songs featured.
Crowbar - Lifesblood for the downtrodden (7.5/10)
Crowbar are a metal band that pretty much created their own style and have been going since the nineties. They're working on a new album, but Lifesblood for the downtrodden from a couple years back is still an excellent effort. Fans of Pantera and Down probably checked this out already. The opening track "New Dawn" has a groovy Morbid Angel-style riff. Avoid if you like your music uplifting. Like this.
Deftones - Diamond Eyes (7.5/10)
Finally, the new Deftones album just came out, and there's no great departure in the sound so fans should like it. Sounds a bit harder than the more atmospheric "Saturday Night Wrist"-album. Overall I feel it's an album that is better listened to in its entirety than listening to individual songs. "CMD/CTRL" has a slight hip-hop feel, whereas the verse in "Prince" sounds a lot like some song on White Pony. Glad to see the guys are going strong even without their regular bass player.
I personally can't wait for a disco revival, so I am really happy about this track by The Swiss, who is Australian and not really from Switzerland, continuing the whole "I am from Barcelona" and "Architecture in Helsinki"-tradition. This superfunky track is urging you to get your glitter costume out of the wardrobe right about nowwwww.
This next track is such a hard "Just dance"-ripoff, it's not even funny anymore. Jason Derulo also has the best (auto-tuned) sample in an R&B song recently, chances are it has been stuck in your head, check out the intro of this track here
We are scientists made a couple of line-up changes and are now back with a less indie, more pop-oriented single that makes me think of Crowded House A LOT (well, the voice anyway).
I still can't get over how much the first part of the "New kid in town" single by Humo's Rock Rally 2010-winners School is cool sounds like Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. Compare for yourself below.
And the eerie synth sound in the new Team William track sounds a lot like the one in an eighties track by Mike Oldfield.
In the next post, we are going to steer away from the whole "this song reminds me of that song"-concept (well, for once anyway), and I'm going to present you with my favourite tracks of the albums I've been checking out lately. Be on the lookout for some The Big Pink, Maxïmo Park, Emiliana Torrini, Baroness and more. But as a preview, the new Crystal Castles album was supposed to come out sometime in June, but has been leaked, so it has been digitally rush-released and the physical couterpart should see the insides of a record store near you by the end of May. I checked it out and it blew me away, this is one of the standout tracks and someone made a really nice video to accompany it. Enjoy!
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