This April Spiritualized will release their seventh studio album Sweet Light, Sweet Heart. Got our first look at the WTF cover art, and a first listen at the albums lead-off singl, "Hey Jane". Now about a month prior to the album's release date, said first single receives the short-film treatment. It's a bit heavy on the sex and violence, and simply put, very NSFW.
That doesn't change the effectiveness of the video, which does deliver a strong, emotional ending. Check it out below. And consider Sweet Light, Sweet Heart our early contender for album of the year.
It's safe to say that Gorillaz had a really good year in 2010. Damon Albarn released the groups third album Plastic Beach in March of this year to pretty much universal acclaim, the album sold boatloads, and the tours sold out. So how do you cap off what turns to be a career best year for a band? Well, if your Daman Albarn you record 15 new Gorillaz songs on your iPad over the the span of a 32 day North American tour(Reportedly they used 20 different iPad applications to put the whole thing together). You then release the songs as brand new Gorillaz album for free on Christmas Day, calling it The Fall because of the time of year it was recorded.
Our initial thought was probably not at all unlike everyone else's. "How great can an album be that was entirely written and recorded on an Apple iPad?". Don't get us wrong though, the prospect of new Gorillaz material, add on top of that it's FREE has us salivating at the mouth. We've only given the album one good listen front-to-back, and it is sort of what we expected given the limitations of how The Fall was recorded. There's some stand-out material to be found here, but a lot of the ideas found here, are exactly that, demos and ideas that given the proper treatment could be fleshed-out more. It's because of that we're reluctant to consider The Fall an official follow-up to this year's Plastic Beach.
To actually obtain MP3's of the new album, you have to be a member of the Gorillaz fan club. Now, I am not. And I'm guess a lot of you are not either. So here for you is the new Gorillaz album, The Fall. Enjoy, and have a safe and happy new year.
Here we are, sifting through all the bullshit to deliver you our top music choices for twenty-ten. Now, this was something that most didn't happen, because "Top Ten" lists over the years, have become quite cliche. Resulting with a lot up arms spewing forth "Where's this musician?!" and "Whatta ya' mean you liked THAT?!". I've said it before, and I've said it a million times; it's all subjective people.
How does one compile a proper "Best Of" list? I've been down this road dozens of times, but for me personally it all boils down to mileage. The the albums that get the most spins on the record player. The albums that engage you keep you coming back to the songs that you have to listen to over, and over, and over again.
So, without further ado, I give you the music of 2010.
1. LCD SoundsystemThis Is Happening How bitter/sweet it is. That is, James Murphy is returning with his third and final album under the LCD Soundsystem moniker. He's always stated in interviews that he wouldn't carry the LCD moniker past the third album and/or reached the age of 40. So here we are. James Murphy is 40 years-old, and in 2010 he unleashed the third and final LCD Soundsystem full-length. Hopefully Mr. Murphy can move on to producing those Arcade Fire and Spoon albums he's so desperately wanted to work on(No really, his prior comments to LCD Soundsystem prevented him from producing the most recent Spoon and Arcade Fire albums). This Is Happening is nine tracks and sixty-five minutes of the thinking man's dance music. Nothing else this year was listened to more, and rightfully so.
2. Matthew DearBlack City The former Texan/Michgander now New Yorker Matthew Dear, released the ten song Black City in 2010; a career best for the electronic aficionado. Black City sounds exactly like it's title would imply; it's dark. But don't let that mislead you because this is definitely an album you can move to. Black City exudes sexiness throughout all ten of it's tracks. For a prime example look no further than the album highlights "I Put A Smell On You" and "Monkey".
3. GorillazPlastic Beach Dear Damon Albarn, please quit releasing such brilliant pop albums. You're making everyone else look bad. XOXOX Rebirth Of TheCool. So some might say that Plastic Beach is the Gorillaz at their creative best(this writer included). And while that surely is debatable, there is no arguing that Plastic Beach does sound like the next logical progression after 2005's brilliant Demon Days. Plastic Beach is the album where where it truly feels like Albarn pulled out all the stops. The guestlist alone is enough to get anyone's attention. You have appearances from Lou Read, Mark E. Smith, Gruff Rhys, Snoop Dogg, Little Dragon, Bobby Womack, and two, count 'em, TWO former members of The Clash, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon. Both of which perform together on the album's title-track.. It's one thing to have all these amazing musicians(and more) together on one album, but it's another thing when the actual songwriting is there to match it. It's an album that delivers on many levels, making for an extremely satisfying listen front-to-back.
4. Surfer BloodAstro Coast First of all, these young lads from Florida sound nothing like their name might imply. Surfer Blood brings to the table one of the best power pop debuts of recent memory; recalling all the best elements of college rock's past. You got your Weezer, you're Pavement, you're Big Star, and you're Replacements, and more. All melded together to form one super hybrid of a debut rock/pop album. All the while, still coming off 100% original and fresh. Surfer Blood's ten song debut album was released in January of '10. Almost one year ago to the day, and it's yet to grow old and miss a beat. Now what more can you ask for from a debut?
5. Holy FuckLatin Latin is not the grand departure from 2008's LP some might've been hoping for, but what it does is stick a formula that works, and works well. Now whittled down to a four piece, this Canadian band has a knack for composing infectious and compelling instrumental electronic pop. Latin is nine songs of noisy, schizophrenic melodies that burrow so deep into you're brain they will refuse to leave for months.
6. Free EnergyStuck On Nothing Not at all unlike Surfer Blood, Free Energy delivered one of the most compelling and infectious debuts of the year. Do you like your pop music in the shape of Cheap Trick, T.Rex, Big Star and The New Pornographers? Because that's exactly where the members of Free Energy draw their influences. This album landed on our radar most notably because the album is produced by LCD Soundsystem/DFA main-man James Murphy. Murphy brings all his production skills and friends (including Jerry Fusch, R.I.P., and LCD drummer Pat Mahoney who lends a hand with his mad drumming and percussion skills), making for a love letter to 70's glam and power pop.
7. Sleigh BellsTreats If there was an award for an "It" band of 2010(and I'm sure somewhere there is) Sleigh Bells would very much deserve that award. It's hard to swallow a band that has so much preconceived hype around them. But what's not difficult is admitting how fantastic and engaging the duo's 32 minute debut album Treats is. What you get here are short, wonderfully crafted songs, which feature infections drum machines with distorted and compressed guitar riffs; which at the right volume sound like they may destroy your speakers. One can only wonder how the boy/girl duo plan to follow up such an engaging debut. Then again, with the songs on Treats being as good are they are, one can't spend too much time wracking their brain over it.
8. Vampire WeekendContra I don't know if anyone could have expected Vampire Weekend's sophomoric LP to match, and some might say surpass, the band's self-titled 2008 Afro-Pop centric debut. Because by all accounts, the odds were not in their favor. Amiright? But low and behold, Contra is a fantastic follow-up to what was an already solid debut. The songwriting and production(slightly more polished than the debut) are top notch, all leading up to a fantastic eleven track album. The album highlight "Giving Up The Gun", might be the greatest thing the band has put put to tape.
9. Arcade FireThe Suburbs It's the Arcade Fire. There's not a whole lot I can say about this album that hasn't already been said. I feel like the minor quips I have with this album are just that, minor. I can legitimately understand why some might arguing this not the Arcade Fire at their best, but there's no denying The Suburbs is already poised to be the bands first commercial breakout release(The album debuted at number one on the Billboards, and it's already received a number of Grammy nods). While The Suburbs is a tad too long for my taste, most of the album is on par with almost anything found on the Canadian band's first two now-classic LP's, 2004's Funeral, and 2007's Neon Bible. Album highlight include "City With No Children" and the Kate Bush inspired "Sprawl II(Mountains Beyond Mountains)".
10. CaribouSwim There's no easy way to describe Caribou's(aka Dan Snaith) 2010 full-length Swim. It's pretty much a mixed bag, dare I say cornucopia, of sonic sounds and stylings. The nine songs contained here are difficult to pin down, especially when each song seems to be an equal and opposite reaction to the track previous. It's not a dance album, but songs like "Odessa" and "Leave House" wouldn't at all sound out of place on any well-made electronic or party mix. Released back in April of this year, Swim is an album that has yet to lose any sort of momentum and is still in constant rotation. Thus the true sign of any album with true longevity.
Six additional albums from 2010 burrowed deep into our brains and earholes:
-BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE Forgiveness Rock Record -CHAROLETTE GAINSBOURG IRM -GOLD PANDA Lucky Shiner -THE NATIONAL High Violet -SPOON Transference -THE WALKMEN Lisbon
Here is the first teaser-trailer for the film Paul, due out in theaters next Spring. The film was written by and stars long-time friends Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and directed by Greg Mottola(Superbad, Adventureland).
Pegg previously co-stared with Frost in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Both of those films were co-written by Pegg and director Edgar Wright(Spaced, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), but Paul is the duo's first venture out sans Wright. The film also co-stars Bill Hader, Kristin Wiig, Sigourney Weaver, Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, and Joe Lo Truglio. Check out the teaser trailer below.
If you're still with us we thank you. It's been a brief hiatus, to say the least but we finally feel we're ready to hit the ground running. If you haven't forgotten about us, thank you. We're gonna try to get this thing up on the ground again. Again, thanks for all the love and support.
Welcome to our track-by-track review of the Arcade Fire's third LP, The Suburbs. This is an album that everyone and their mom is anticipating in 2010, so we'll waste no time getting down to the nitty gritty. Scroll down to the bottom for a download of the album, as well.
1. The Suburbs Not to start things off on a negative note, but it's a shame that the album's title track has to be one of our least favorite songs on the The Suburbs. There are a handful of songs on this overly-lengthy album that sound like a slight variation of this opener, which in the end hinders the album's overall flow.
2. Ready To Start Alright folks, THIS is how you open an album. A fantastic song that ushers in the album much better than the aforementioned lackluster track. This is a song that will get you excited at the prospect of a new Arcade Fire full-length.
3. Modern Man A mid-tempo song that is the first of two cuts to bring to mind, surprise, surprise, a very Springsteen-esque vibe to the record. This should come as no surprise fans, because they've always worn their influences on their sleeve.
4. Rococo A song that opens beautifully with an acoustic guitar. This is tune that would not at all sound out place on their last two full-lengths. Consider this a good thing, because we certainly do.
5. Empty Room At first it sounds reminiscent of "No Cars Go", found on their debut EP and Neon Bible, but quickly heads in the guitar-drenched My Bloody Valentine/shoegaze territory.
6. City With No Children Upon our first listen of The Suburbs, this was very much a stand-out track, and instantly a song we fell in love with. An insanely catchy guitar riff, beautiful lyrics, and a hand-claps. What's not to love?
7. Half Light I This song gives the feeling or sense of closure. But it works because it's towards the end of side one. Definitely one of the weaker songs on the album.
8. Half Light II (No Celebration) Although the title suggests it's a part two of track seven, musically it really couldn't be any further from "Half Light I". This is how you properly close out a "Side One" of your album, folks. Arcade Fire dip their toes in the synthesizers just a bit, and it works wonderfully, making for one of many, many highlights on The Suburbs.
9. Suburban War Unfortunately, like the opening track on side one, side two opens with a song that just doesn't strike us right away. It's not a terrible song by any stretch of the imagination it just lacks the "oomph" found on the rest of the album. Still, a mediocre Arcade Fire song, is still better than 99% of everything else on your iTunes playlist. Amiright?
10. Month Of May The closest thing to a punk rock song as you get with the Arcade Fire. This uptempo song, is not at all unlike track three, "Modern Man" where the lyric-delivery brings to mind Bruce Springsteen. Again, no surprise there, but the song works really well. The Boss would be proud.
11. Wasted Hours This is where the album starts to trip over itself; where we get a song that arguably sounds too reminiscent of the album's title track. A sort of middle-of-road, mid-tempo song that gives me too much of a "Been there, done that" vibe. See tracks one and nine.
12. Deep Blue At the risk of sounding redundant, we get another semi-forgettable mid-tempo rocker, that sounds strikingly similar to tracks one, nine, and eleven. I don't wanna end up with foot-in-mouth syndrome but these songs are the album's weakest links.
13. We Used To Wait The album starts to get back on track with "We Used To Wait". Not a stand-out, but definitely a great song that has Arcade Fire "written" all over it. Great male/female shared vocal harmonies.
14. Sprawl (Flatland) A shorter tune, that's probably the most somber and morose song to be found on The Suburbs. It actually brings to mind, dare I say, Jeff Buckley
15. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) It's almost a shame that the best song on the The Suburbs gets tagged on towards the album's close, but whatevs. This song is arguably Regine Butler's finest moment in the Arcade Fire's history. It instantly brings to mind a Kate Bush-vibe, and for a second time on this album the band dabbles with the use of synths, and works beautifully. This is a song we find ourselves going back to again and again and again. Classic.
16. The Suburbs (Continued) Sharing lyrics found on the album opener, this is a brief(minute and a half) closer. Nice way to tie up the theme that runs through out the album.
Final thoughts: Another solid contribution the Arcade Fire catalog. There are a lot of great songs to be found here, make no mistake about it. With the record's biggest flaw being that it's suffers slightly from being arguably too long, and slightly bloated. If we could shave off the four songs that sound all-too strikingly similar, you'd have twelve classic Arcade Fire cuts, back-to-back; not at all unlike their two previous efforts, Funeral and Neon Bible. Again, this is minor quip, but in the past we've always been fans and firm believers of the "less is more" philosophy. We don't want to dwell on the negative, because this album truly does shine and is far and above one of best albums you'll hear all year. There are a lot of fantastic songs that are just waiting to become classics. Seeing how the band dabbles very loosely in usage of synthesizers on The Suburbs it just makes us all the more curious and anxious to see where Win Butler and company head next. Although, not ones to get ahead of ourselves, The Suburbs is a fine addition to the Arcade Fire cannon, and is sure get many more spins for months and months to come. Look for The Suburbs on many a year-end "best of" lists.
Only two more weeks and you wont ever have to hear(read?) us talk about Edgar Wright's(Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) highly anticipated third film, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. But in a Summer of mostly lackluster box office boffo, Pilgrim seems to be one of the few beacons of light.
So we all know about the soundtrack; it features many high-profile musicians performing songs for fictional bands portrayed in the film. Most notably, Beck, who provided a handful of new songs that are written by Mr. Hanson himself. In the film, Beck's songs are filling in for Scott Pilgrim's band fictional Sex Bob-Omb. We also know while all the instrumentation is written by Beck, all vocal duties are handled by the cast, aka. the member of Sex Bob-Omb. This is where things get interesting though. If you pre-order the 'Scott Pilgrim' soundtrack from iTunes, you can score three bonus tracks not found anywhere else. These three songs are Sex Bob-Omb tunes but with Becks vocals fully intact. See where I'm going here?
Well, I have one of those songs to share with you today, and it comes in the form of the Sex Bob-Omb song, "Summertime". And we're all in luck, because if this song is any indication Beck fans are in for a treat. Mind you, this is the bonus track version of the tune and it features Beck on lead vocals. Where as the film version, the one found on the standard soundtrack features actor Mark Webber, who portrays Sex Bob-Omb frontman Stephen Stills(a nice little homage to Crosby, Stills, & Nash) on vocals. On a sidenote, uber-producer extraordinaire, aka. Radiohead's sixth member, Nigel Godrich will get to see his score for the film released on August 10, the same day as the standard soundtrack. Unfortunately it looks like right now it's a standard digital-only release via iTunes with no release for the physical CD. It's worth mentioning to all you audiophiles out there that Amazon has a pre-order for vinyl edition of the standard soundtrack, too.
Going back to the film's score, at this point it looks like Mr. Godrich pulled out all the stops because the film's score features a handful of high-profile contributions to his score; including Beck(surprise, surprise, right?), Cornelius, Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene(who also provided a handful of tunes for the fictional band Crash & The Boys on the standard soundtrack), Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, David Campbell (Beck's orchestral arranging father), and Supergrass' Danny Goffey and Gaz Coombes who with the assistance of Nigel Godrich recorded a version The Legend Of Zelda theme song featured during a dream sequence. Alright, enough of the jibber-jabber. Check out the MP3 below to hear the musical-stylings of Sex Bob-Omb aka. Beck. Does not disappoint. (DOWNLOAD - Beck "Summertime")
