In Our Heads by Hot Chip

Released:  June 12, 2012
Rating:  74.55
Genre:  Indie Electronic

Hot Chip made a huge impression on me the first time I heard them back in 2008 (Made In The Dark).  That album would easily be in my top 10 this year.  Their last album (One Life Stand) was a little disappointing to me.

This album is of the same caliber as Made In The Dark.  It's a little more experimental than either of those, but there's a combination of hooky pop songs and gorgeous ballads.

To get a taste I'd recommend The up beat, How Do You Do? or the gorgeous Look At Where We Are.  Both links are to the official videos.  I'm not sure that's a good thing.  Try listening before watching.

The London based quintet released their first EP in 2000 and they've released six full length albums since. 

It's difficult for me to compare them directly to anything else out there.  Musically, I hear traces of (the happier) Beck, LCD Soundsystem and even mid-career Brian Eno, but vocally, I think they're unique.

Synthetica by Metric

Released:  June 12, 2012
Rating:  80
Genre: Indie Rock

Metric had my number one release of 2009, and if you haven't heard Fantasies, all I can say is go and find it.  So here we are, 3 years later and Metric has another amazing album.  It leaped into the lead (so far) for my 2012 Album of the Year honors and it has a decent chance to stay there (though I hear No Doubt has an album coming this fall.

Lead singer Emily Haines' voice is ant once sweet, powerful and sexy.  Combined with the music, coming from the traditional rock combination of guitar, bass and drums, works so well together that I become totally mesmerized and I just can't stop listening!

Every song on the album is excellent.  The two standouts for me are the pounding Youth Without Youth and the girlish Lost Kitten.  Breathing Underwater and the driving title track Synthetica are also absolutely kickin'.  Click the song titles to hear the tracks via youtube, or do yourself a favor and buy the whole album!

This is the 5th album in nine years for the band that generally calls Toronto home these days.  Their backstory is complex, but worth the time, so, if you're interested, follow this link to the AMG write up on the band. 

Spoiler alert:  the liner notes have been printed in reverse image.  But just because they care, they provide a mirrored film to help you read them.  (It didn't)

Generals by The Mynabirds

Released:  June 5, 2012
Rating:  72.00
Genre:  Indie Folk

I don't know that I buy the "folk" part of the genre.  I actually hear a lot of Kills-style punk-blues.  In fact, like the Kills, this is a duo featuring a female lead vocalist (Laura Burhenn) and a male guitarist (Richard Swift) though they both also provide percussion and synthesizers.

With a comparison to the Kills, it's no wonder I love this album.  It doesn't have the stellar standouts of the last two Kills album, but it also doesn't have a throw-away in the 10 song set.

Check out the official videos for the hard driving title track, Generals, or the retro-chic Disarm.

(By the way, this is the sophomore release for the D.C. based band)

Words And Music By Saint Etienne (by Saint Etienne)

Released:  May 29, 2012
Rating:  75.38
Genre:  BritPop

I was once told this is my genre.  I don't know that's true, but there's no denying I find a happy place here.  Clearly connected to the 60's, with influences from 70's disco, 80's dance and 90's indie, this is great listening-music.  The slightly breathy, female lead vocal handles influences from early girl groups to disco queens to Madonna and Gwen Stefani.

This is an intro for me, though the band has existed for 20 years and their origins date back to the two founding members making mix tapes as teenagers in the early 80s.  This is their 10th album, but their first in nearly seven years.

This was a tough disc to come by.  It's still not been released i9n the US and since I couldn't find any news that it was coming, I ordered it as an import.  I paid too much, but damn, it's a great album.

• The half narrated/half sung Over The Border, about the singers earliest memories of BritPop music is my favorite song on the album.  (The chorus actually reminds me of Al Stewart)
• The Last Days of Disco has a bit of a No Doubt feel.
• Popular makes me think of 90s era Madonna (at least the music.)
• The official video (which means a brief advertisement) for Tonight is pure BritPop fun.

The Light The Dead See by Soulsavers

Released:  May 22, 2012
Rating:  71.67
Genre: Downbeat

I may be a little harder on them than the major critics, but I still think this is a great album.

The media refers to them as downtempo.  I'd probably have called it prog rock.  Some of it might even qualify as chamber pop.  Their bio describes it this way "This British downtempo electronica duo with rock, gospel, and country influences was formed by producers/remixers Rich Machin and Ian Glover" and AMG's review of this album characterizes them as "the production duo who prefers the sounds of spaghetti westerns to synthesizers"

This is the fourth full length studio album for the duo from Britain since their first in 2003.   This is my second album from them.  My introduction to the band was 09's Broken, with Mark Lannegan (see earlier review of Lannegan's Blues Funeral) on vocals.  David Gahan, from Depeche Mode, provides the vocals this time out.

To get a sense of who they are, give a listen to the love son In The Morning or the VERY downbeat Gone Too Far.

Urban Turban: The Singhles Club by Cornershop

Released:  May 15, 2012
Rating:  71.67
Genre:  World Music; Pop; Etc

 

This is my third album by the multi-cultural, British quintet in the past 4 years (it's their 7th album since '95) and, in that time, they've gone three completely different directions.  The first album I picked up was Judy Sucks a Lemon For Breakfast in 2010, a 60s style pop album; last year's Cornershop And The Double O Groove Of was full-on Punjabi Pop/Dance; this is more of a mixed bag, some old fashioned AM pop, some dance and some Indian influenced world-style music.

Though of the three, this scores the lowest, it's still a lot of fun and worth a listen.  Try What Did The Hippie Have In His Bag (feature the children of the Welsh Castle Hill Primary School).  Or, better yet, go into Spotify to hear the whole album.

Trespassing by Adam Lambert

Released:  May 15, 2012
Rating:  68.00
Genre:  Pure Dance Pop

I was tempted not to admit I have this, or that I'm keeping it.  It's so mainstream compared to most of my 21st century collection.  And the low rating?  That's mostly the result of too many songs.  The album is 15 songs and nearly an hour long.  If he'd left off 4 songs (that are way too sappy for me) it could have made it into my top 10.

I will assume most of you are familiar with Adam Lambert, so I won't spend much time on his backstory (American Idle runner-up; came out of the closet after the show; got a little too wild for his own good; calmed down and cut a good album.) Stand out tracks (in my opinion) include:

• The 80s-style dance tune Trespassing
• The pseudo-funk song Shady
• Don't hold it against me, but try the Bon Jovi (Slippery When Wet-era) styled Outlaws of Love

Death Dreams by PS I Love You

Released:  May 8, 2012
Rating:  72.00
Genre:  Noise Pop

This is the sophomore LP for the duo from Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

They made a heck of an impression on the less-than-mainstream critics, getting a metascore of 77, but no mention from the New York Times, Rollingstone or All Music Guide.  The worst review the got (3 stars out of five) included the following:  "Lyrics ... come off as exceedingly everyday - as well as vital."  It's pretty cool stuff, but I'm slightly less taken.

To describe the sound, I'll quote from Paste Magazine:  "frontman Paul Saulnier on the glorious fuzzbath that is 'Future Dontcare,' his cracking, Tom Verlaine-esque chirp engulfed in radiant, distorted waves of electric guitar, firing sparks off Benjamin Nelson’s ricocheting snare rolls."  (By the way, Tom Verlaine is the lead singer for the New York band Television.)  Oddly, they also draw multiple comparisons to Cheap Trick.  In any event, they score way high on my "off-beat meter" and remind me a little of Wussy, though they're not quite up in that rarefied air.  For a sampling, check out

• The official video for Princess Towers; or
• The live take of Sentimental Dishes.

Neck of the Woods by Silversun Pickups

Released:  May 8, 2012Rating: 74.55
Genre:  Indie Dream Pop/Rock

The third, proper, full length studio album from the L.A. quartet, and their first since 2009.  This is the first time they've captured my attention, though not the first time I've listened to them.  It's a tremendous piece of work, though, oddly, in my opinion, the album. starts slow.  The second half is far more exciting, with my favorite being the eighth track, Pit.

The related artists list on spotify includes some of my all-time and recent favorites (e.g., Pearl Jam, The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse and Metric). I'm not completely convinced of some of those relationships, but in any event, I highly recommend checking this out.  A good cross section (click the track titles to hear via youtube.com) includes:

• The somewhat sinister Busy Bees
• The cinematic, and somewhat harder rocking Mean Spirits (this vid is live on Letterman, please forgive the leading commercial.)
• My favorite, the tightly wound The Pit (this is also live on Letterman, you shouldn't have to watch the commercial again.)