Air Review makes that nice romantic folky music that we've been hearing a lot of lately, due to the great succes of Mumford & Sons, who have either inspired a lot of bands or have paved the way for others to follow in their trail towards becoming the next big thing. While waiting for something new from M&S, Air Review does a good job at taking the stage for them. This "American's Son EP" consists of 4 great tracks, that deserve to be played over and over again. They definately have their own sound, which is more melodic, a little more powerfull and less melancholic. And it works very well. This is one of the finest EPs i've heard this year, and i've heard so many great EPs already.. It's a little unclear to me when and how this is gonna be released properly, but i hope they will; it's a definate-buy in my book.
The 2nd single from Noel Gallagher's new album is called AKA... What A Life! and will be released this weekend, but is already up for order on his website. It's not as special as the 1st single, but it's a good tune. And with those 2 tracks in mind, i'm becoming more and more interested in the entire album. That'll have to be pretty damn good!
Coeur De Pirate was among the 1st fine things i discovered when 2011 had just started. A year that has seen the rise of The Weeknd, although so far i have not spend a word on this band. Who knows what will come though, now that i've heard Coeur De Pirate record this fantastic cover of The Weeknd's Wicked Games. It is undoubtfully the talent of this great singer that makes this an unforgettable performance, but i am curious about the Weeknd now (i've tried it before and was not really into the sound..), for now i'll continue to enjoy this cover, it's motherfucking good.
Another Monday, another Monday Morning Kick-Off. Gross Magic is a UK-band about to release their debut EP "Teen Jamz" in October, and this cool track is a great introduction to them ánd the week. A fine way of getting up & getting out to go to work in a few minutes. Have a good one!
Rigoletto is an oldschool rockband in my book. Their 5-track EP "Prodigal Again" reminds me of the 90s rock music i listened to, inspired by classmates & friends who had their own bands and were more into rock music than me (i was a top40-lover, i must admit). I got tapes and cd's on a regular base and these songs really take me back in a good way. The 90s are slowly reviving, also thx to the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, but must of the new material coming out being inspired by those days are not even close to being as good as the original stuff. Rigoletto does it well on this EP and does it best on the last track Sugar. Which is amazingly good and a great intro to this band and their free EP.
Despite the little Summer-vibe we had going on today, this week had an Autumn/Winter-feel to it. And with the Fleet Foxes playing these last few days, i was ready for snow, frozen fingers and red wine. Coming across Haruko's EP "Bird In The Snow" was an easy match made in heaven, just based on the title, but the beautiful music has completed my love for this 6-track little folkrecord with 6 perfectly crafted songs. I would like to continue about how i can see the snowflakes on my kitchen-window, but Haruko has done a fine job at describing this EP in 2 lines: This is an EP which I recorded in two cold winter days in a tiny room in the north of Germany. In front of a little window and a candle on it's sill. I can close my eyes and picture this, listening to the songs & feel perfectly warm inside, caught by the beauty of the music.
right through the soul, so beautiful. Angel Olsen has an amazing voice & sings beautiful songs with nothing but a guitar. She has released a cassette according to Pitchfork, but it's not easy to find any data on this girl. Nontheless, this is simply beautiful.
This Tuesday-evening has been about complete boredom so far, so i decided to do some backups, useless browsing and eventually some annoying update and scripting that has been waiting to get finished for some time. Another one of these "far-overdue"-items, yet not annoying at all is a little story i'd like to write on one of my favourite releases of the year: "Helplessness Blues" by the amazing Fleet Foxes. Far overdue, because this was released in May and i have heard it 100s of times and am loving it (hence the 3rd rank on my 2011: best albums-list).
Almost never did write a proper review as this is not really my thing, i prefer writing a few lines on the fine tunes i encounter browsing the web and generally let the music speak for itself. i also feel that in order to write a genuine review on an album, the author must have some authority. which i do not have, neither do most of my fellow bloggers, which is why i usually don't read the (many) reviews they write. i care for the music only, as a review basically is just one person's opinion. and in the case of most bloggers it's also a not-so-professional or even far-from-professional opinion, which makes it basically shit worth.
but enough bashing, as i started to write this with the intent of spreading my love for the album that will probably join me when the Autumn hits our country, and later on when Winter strikes. Fleet Foxes have taken their great 2008-debut album to another level, an album that launched them straight into greatness, thanks to the beautiful harmonies, sweet melodies & fine songwriting. What it is that makes Helplessness Blues even better is a hard question to answer, it has to do with the fact that in every situation (at home, at work, travelling) i will have the option to listen to both albums and always pick the 2011-release.
One might argue that Helplessness Blues is newer, thus more interesting as there is still sounds, structures and lyrics to discover. Which is true, but that's not all. Every music lover sometimes has a moment, an hour, a day, a week, in which you just want to listen to those familair things, the tunes you've heard so much you don't really need to hear the actual music, because you have it all memorized in your mind. I have found myself last week in such a mood and played the fairly new Helplessness Blues. I switched to the debut album when it was done, but actually switched back after 3 songs, that's how much i've heard this album already. And the only reason i heard it this much, is because it's thát good! (am i done yet? nope, sorry!)
Title track Helplessness Blues (i should've copy-paste that title, pfff) is the perfect example. The lyrics are good, the song thrills and vibrates on all levels, yet it sounds perfectly sweet at times, with the guys singing in perfect harmony and the instruments fitting in perfectly. The title track shows also a little FF-weakness though, as it is everything one might expect from this band after their 1st record. Luckily the album does not have 12 similair songs, although it's very clear in each track that we're listening to this band. Mostly i had to get used to The Shrine / An Argument which opens as a 'traditional' FF-track, but end up exploding, which at first truly disgusted me. But as time went by, i got used to it & now it's one of my favourite tracks on the album. Although a recently described point of view definately fits this album: if i think with every track of an album that thís really is the best track on it and i continue to think this with every song on the album, this must be an A-MA-ZINGLY Good Album.
I love this album. For personal reasons, but also for musical reasons. With all the love spread here, one might wonder why i ranked it 3rd for the 2011: Best Albums-list. This has to do with me discovering nr's 1 & 2 (Deloreans / Mother Mother) just this year. They are completely new to me, and FF is not. Which for me is a reason strong enough to put both of the other acts above Fleet Foxes, as all 3 of them have probably had even amounts of air-time on my laptop/stereo/iphone over the past months.
I'm done. (referring to me attempting to write a proper review, i'm pretty sure i failed miserably by magazine-writers' standards, but oh well..)
Nice midnight-track to end the day with: dreamy vocals over a subtle beat with mesmerizing synths. Oliver Tank is doing a good job at this track and there's more where this came from on his Soundcloud, check it out if you like it!
Tokyo Police club decided on a special project: cover 10 songs in 10 days. Day 1 was Moby's Southside. Good song, great cover. The original is pretty much intact, but the guitars really spice it up, great for the Monday Morning Kick-Off: Have a good week!
Jon DeRosa is releasing a 4-track EP in September and it's 16 minutes of pure beauty. He has a deep, solid voice & is mostly accompanied by guitar and the occasional violin. His serene voice and the expressive lyrics makes this a record i can play over and over again. Which i have done the last 3 dark nights in a row several times. It feels as the perfect Winter morning record, walking through snow while freezing my fingers off, yet keeping the ears and spirit warm with these perfectly crafted songs. Although Winter is a few months ahead of us, this record is well worth hearing right away. The EP is now up for pre-order, so do your best to get a copy of the limited number (500) of copies being printed. Send it over to Holland as soon as you have 'em Jon!
