Three eventful months have passed since I last shared anything with you. And I feel as though I’ve started one too many posts with an apology, so if it’s all the same to you, I will skip the excuses and get right down to it.
The year has had a semi-slow start in music. Comparatively, by spring of last year, there was an overload of amazing records. Nonetheless, a few gems have surfaced, and I’m here to tell you all about these rarities. Here they are, in the order of their release date.
The year has had a semi-slow start in music. Comparatively, by spring of last year, there was an overload of amazing records. Nonetheless, a few gems have surfaced, and I’m here to tell you all about these rarities. Here they are, in the order of their release date.
- Cut Copy’s Zonoscope: The Ozzie synth pop ambassadors deliver a third studio album that is even more sophisticated and thought out than their first two. The band adeptly demonstrates their growth and musicianship in this dancey and polished eleven-song release. I really like “Need You Now,” “Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat,” and “Sun God.”
- Radiohead’s King of Limbs: The eighth studio album by the UK music veterans is every bit as abstract and envelope pushing as their other seven. This one is short but sweet. And while it is experimental, it keeps with that signature percussive and elegiac Radiohead sound. Check out “Bloom,” “Lotus Flower,” and “Separator.”
- Broken Bells’ Meyrin Fields: This four-track EP came one year after the band’s first release. If you enjoyed their debut album, you will love this; it’s like an addendum to an album so beautifully crafted by two contemporary music legends. Of the four songs, my favourite is an instrumental titled “An Easy Life.”
- Craft Spells’ Idle Labor: Here is another band doing what many others have done before them, reviving 80s synthpop; however, this shouldn’t and doesn’t take anything away from this album. It is another record I will gladly add to a collection I’ve come to call ‘bedroom dance party.’ Check out “Scandinavian Crush,” “After the Moment,” and “Beauty Above All.”
- Gorillaz’s The Fall: During their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour (a tour promoting my favourite 2010 musical release, Plastic Beach), the band recorded a new album, the Fall. This was a low-fi, portable studio, musical travel journal type album, and it’s fantastic! Technically, this album was made available to download (for free!) on the band’s website on Christmas day of 2010, but was officially released a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, my favourites on this one are “Revolving Doors,” “Detroit,” and “Amarillo.”
That concludes my list today; soon I will be back to tell you about more great new records. The ones I’m most looking forward to are upcoming releases by Junior Boys, Digitalism, Little Dragon, CSS, and Washed Out. I’m also excited to hear the rest of the Justice album, of which we only have a single so far titled “Civilization;” I’ll leave you with it. See you next time!
