Castledoor - Shouting at Mountains

Artist: Castledoor
Album: Shouting at Mountains
Released: April 21, 2009
Label: Castledoor
Stars: 4.5
Skippable Tracks: 0
Must-listen/purchase Track: couldn’t decide on one

As promised, I’m doing the review on the new Castledoor album Shouting at Mountains. The only reason why I didn’t give it the full five stars was because they decided to use a lot more backing vocals on the album, which can be slightly annoying at times. I hate to say it but some songs are almost ruined by them (ex. the song Free).

On previous albums the backing vocals can barely be heard, so it took me by surprise when I head them. There is nothing wrong with using them, but when the vocals are basically just repeating what the singer just said, or just saying “bop bop” it makes it sound a bit cheesy. If the backing vocals were used only to create harmony, the album would have turned out quite a bit better. The singer is married to one of the vocalists, so maybe he had no choice. I mean, how do you tell your wife that she is ruining your songs? I don’t think you could, or should. That just goes to show you that the singer is a nice guy.

Anyways, all of the songs are pretty much just guitars, synth, and drums. Nothing really all that complicated, but they manage to put it together in an original way. Most of the songs are four-star-tacks, and the rest are about a three. I feel like there is a week point from tack six to eight, but they are still decent songs.

Castledoor has posted a lot of their music on PureVolume and has included some free tacks. As well, the band posted a link to one of their new songs on Twitter and can be downloaded here. You can also purchase all their music on iTunes.

Thanks again to Michael Elves for getting this CD for the station.

Here's the only official video I could find. It's not a song from Shouting at Mountains, but a single released last year from their 'til we sink EP.

The Ancient Astronauts - We Are To Answer

Artist: The Ancient Astronauts
Album: We Are To Answer
Released: June 9, 2009
Label: ESL Records
Stars: 4.0
Skippable Tracks: 0
Must-listen/purchase Track: Rising high



Miguel listens to hip-hop?????? Well, sometimes. What really inspired me to write this blog post was that I saw a young gentleman sporting a shirt that said I miss hip-hop Which immediately made me make a weird face at him. He probably thought he was being very clever and hip, but he failed. Why? Because hip-hop is not dead! Dude is simply not looking hard enough. And THAT is the bottom line. If you love music, you don't wait for it to come to you, you seek it. Because you love it.

As promised on episode 15 of My Portable device, I’m posting the name of that one song that I never announced. I really could not think of the name of it at the time.

The Ancient Astronauts consists of a couple of German producers named Tom Strauch and Ingo Moll who recently teamed up with ESL Records, founded by Thievery Corporation. So with that said, the album does have some of the same elements as a Thievery album, without making it a duplicate. Of course the band was allowed to work creatively with their own ideas, and claim that they did not feel pressure to create something that they did not feel comfortable with.

This album is a lot more varied than a Thievery album, including some downtempo type of electronic music, but also reggae, soul, dub, and hip-hop. It’s definitely some good background music, but also contains a few punches. For this reason, it earns a solid 4 stars. I know I haven’t given out too many low scores, but I’m sure I will very soon.

Check out the single below, it’s free, and legal thanks to the folks at AOL. So without further ado, here it is! Thanks for listening to My Portable Device, and thanks for checking my blog.

This album also features other MCs such as:

Bootie Brown and Imani from The Pharcyde, Azeem, Tippa Irie, Bajka, Phat Old Mamas, Ulf Stricker, Raashan Ahmad and Entropik, and a few more.

Ancient Astronauts - Rising High

Ancient Astronauts MySpace

Jack Peñate - Everything Is New

Artist: Jack Peñate
Album: Everything Is New
Released: June 22, 2009
Label: XL Recordings
Stars: 4.0
Skippable Tracks: 0
Must-listen/purchase Track: Pull My Heart Away




Has Jack Peñate given up on plaid? From what I can tell…no. He’s still wearing the same-old plaid shirts buttoned all the way up to the collar. The only thing that has changed is his music style.

Jack Peñate is a U.K. Pop-rocker who just released his second full-length album. The Brit rock-star with a Spanish name released his first album in 2006. Most the songs on Matinée are heavy on the upstrokes and have a Pop-rock style to them. He received great feedback and it reached the number one spot on the U.K.’s independent album charts.

Peñate’s second album is certainly very different from its predecessor, and to me, that’s a good thing. I’m glad to see that he’s decided to explore another side of his creative mind. According to an interview done at Absolute Radio, he never felt the need to re-visit the same sound, and for that, I commend him. An artist should be able to express themselves however they want, and not have to cater to a specific audience. Go independent labels!

After hearing his first single, I expected the album to be a dancing-good-time. And it is, but there is also a couple of very creative Indie-rock kind of tracks on it. The album begins with my favorite song, Pull My Heart Away, one of those Indie songs I’m talking about. The second song switches the mood to a Pop sound which continues until the last couple of tracks where he throws in another two rock songs.

Peñate uses a lot of sound layering and continues to sing about his favorite subjects: Death and love.

Must listen/purchase track


First sigle


Old track

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Artist: Andrew Bird
Album: Noble Beast
Released: January 20, 2009
Label: Fat Possum, Bella Union Records
Stars: 4.0
Skippable Tracks: 1
Must-listen/purchase Track: Tenuousness

Alright, time to step it up a notch! I'm going to have to start using proper grammar and spelling. This blog might actually get read now. We'll see how that goes.


Andrew Bird is a singer-songwriter from Chicago, who has just released his sixth studio album - Noble Beast. The whole feel of the album is very Folk Rock, and at times Indie Rock. Since he purposefully tries to keep listeners on their feet, some tracks don't find their direction until a minute or two into it. Think of a folk song, a pinch of Thom Yorke, some violin, a hint of glockenspiel, a tune that you might hear in a Western film, mix, and you have a song from Noble Beast.

The album is full of great ballads,rock tunes, and songs with many twists and turns. Over-all sound would be mellow, and something you should not listen to while operating some kind of heavy machinery.

I only found one track that I would choose not to listen to as a stand-alone track (Nomenclature), but if you are listening to the album from start to finish, the track just blends in. It simply had too many twists and no climax. This is followed by Ouo a 20 second track of nothingness, but thankfully he picks it up with the next track.

Overall, this album has its brilliant moments, and deserves a high rating. Check out his MySpace, or preview and purchase the album at eMusic.

Must-listen/purchase track:

Attack in Black - Years (by One Thousand Fingertips)

Album: Years (by One Thousand Fingertips)
Released: March 10, 2009
Label: Dine Alone Records
Stars: 4.5
Skippable Tracks: 0


Years is Attack in Black's third studio album, and they have gotten a whole lot folkier from what I remember. All I had heard from them were a couple of pop-punk songs that really didn't do much for me. I decided to check out the album because of rumors of Years being quite a nice listen from start to finish. The album DID flow very nicely from start to finish, leaving you little time for you to doze off.
I have since checked out their previous album The Curve of the Earth which has quite a few great songs as well. Obviously, you can check it out if you decide you like this one. Another fact would be that both the guitarist (Spencer Burton) and singer (Daniel Romano) have contributed to the City and Color (Dallas Green) recordings.

The album opens with a folky song, and is followed by a song that mixes acoustic and electric guitars. This is accompanied by the distorted voice of D. Romano and has a bit of an older sound to it. Third song is pretty standard, but has quite a catchy chorus...so I gave it a passing grade. The same can be said for the following couple of songs. The next notable songs are Leather Jacket, which is sadly only two and a half minutes long, as well as Seeds which adds a little of guitar distortion to the mix right when you would have dozed. There are about ten more tracks after that, but I really don't wanna describe every single tune, but give you a brief idea.

This is a very nicely put together album, and has some pretty decent tracks available. My only complaint would be that my favorites happen to only be two and a half minutes or shorter. Overall, its a great listen from start to finish. I'd recommend a start-to-finish kind of listen for this album. Stand alone tracks don't seem to have the same charm.

Check their MySpace

Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day

Artist: Deer Tick
Album: Born On Flag Day
Released: June 23, 2009
Label: Partisan Records
Stars: 5.0
Skippable Tracks: 0 !!
Warning: This is not for everybody

Alright, the reason why I hadn't written anything in like a month was because I wanted to have some exciting to share with ya'll. And I've found it!!! So I tell ya whhhat, I'll get right into it.

Deer Tick consists of a few guys from Rhode Island who grew up idolizing grunge, country, and folk music. The result obviously are dark folk-country songs with some good ol' rock thrown in. The kind of band you would imagine playing a small country/blues bar and would most definitely want to make you finish-off whatever is in your hand, and and make you reach for another.

This is the second album released by the trio, and is just as amazing as their 2007 release, War Elephant. As always I'll mention my favorite tune on the album, and that would have to be - Song About a Man. What made me proud to be blasting this music while riding around in my work truck, was the harmonica. I'm a sucker for a good tune with some harmonics...with a harmonica. On top of that John Joseph McCauley the Third's raspy voice is an excellent touch to the already beautiful tunes. And what a great name for a lead singer of an indie country band.

This album will hold your attention from start to finish, although it is a pretty short one. Regardless, I loved every single tune on it and will continue to have in repeat for some weeks to come.


Old track:


New track:

The Dodos - Time to Die

Artist: The Dodos
Record: Time to die
Label: Frenchkiss Records
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Skippable Tracks: 0
Stars: 3.5

Even though the album has yet to be released, a digital copy has leaked on the Internet. According to the all knowing Wikipedia, the album leaked on July 8Th, 2009 and is produced by Phil Ek who has produced other amazing albums by The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, and Built to Spill. So you can imagine that I was expecting a different sound from the Dodos on this release. I was wrong. It was not that much different.

The sound can probably be described as a tame folk rock sound with a high concentration of drumming beats. While concentrating on drum beats more than any other instruments the band makes the songs sound a little repetitive. This can be too much at times, for I can not imagine listening to more than one album at a time. I currently only own the album Beware of Manics and I believe I might keep it that way for now. I feel like owning one album is like owning them all.

I SHOULD say some positive things about the album, since it is quite a pleasant listening experience and has some great tracks such as Acorn Factory, and Fables. I believe I'll just be using a few credits on this album and downloading only select tracks (If its made available on Emusic). I do recommend you listen to it and pick out the tracks that you enjoy the most.

Not too complicated of an album since the band only consists of a couple of dudes, and at times 3. Enjoy the tune below!

Paolo Nutini- Sunny Side Up

Artist: Paolo Nutini
Record: Sunny Side Up
Label: Atlantic Records
Release June 2, 2009
Skippable Tracks: 0
Stars: 4.9

I was pleasantly surprised with this album right from the beginning, straight through to the end. I really under estimated the talent of this artist after listening to the album released in 2006. This is not to say that the album was a poor attempt, but rather that it was very simple pop-rock album with one great single. The album is something that James Blunt would probably release, which is why I was expecting something similar from him this time.

The CD art caught my attention, and I could tell something was up. "What is this guy up to?!" I asked myself, and popped into the CD player.

The album starts with the song 10/10 which is a Ska/Rock-steady kind of song, and followed by a Soul song called Coming up Easy. I posted the third song in the album called Coming up Easy which and absolutely great love song followed by the track Candy. Both of which are my favorites on the Album. The album is peppered with soul, country, blues, folk,and even a Maddi Gras type of song. The styles used in the album are too vast to name completely, so you'll have to check it out for yourself below. As far as lyrics, he mostly talks about his love experiences.

This album was produced by Nutini and Ethan Johns, who has helped Ray LaMontagne produce a few albums. With that said, there are a couple of tracks that definitely remind me of his sound on here. I should warn you that Nutini's voice is not loved by everyone, and it may take you a few songs to get used to, but once you do, this album will only continue to grow on you with every listen. I'm interested to see what other tricks this guy has up his sleeves.





Sunny Side Up

Rocky Votolato - Makers (2006)

Artist: Rocky Votolato
Album: Makers
Released: January 24, 2006
Label: Barsuk/Second Nature
Stars: 3.0
Skippable Tracks: 0

Just when you thought there wasn't going to be anymore posts, you get one more.
I know I am a whole lot late reviewing this CD. Truth is that when I purchased this CD I only downloaded selected tracks since I ran out of credits on my e-music account. This month I remembered that I had some tracks missing and decided to complete the album.

Makers is about the 7th album/lp released by the Seattle born singer Rocky Votolato. Votolato is one of the founders of the band Waxwing, which gained a bit of success during the late 90s and early 2000s. Votolato's solo stuff is very singer/songwriter and extremely mellow compared to Waxwing.

Rocky Votolato gets to show off his amazing guitar picking skills in songs as Uppers Aren't Necessary, and compliments it with his soft soothing voice. Although a lot of the lyrics are what you might call slightly depressing, you do know what to expect from the tone of his voice and acoustic melodies. Lyrics like "Heaven or heavenless, we're all headed for the same sweet darkness" and "Death keeps calling me, she's gonna set me free" are pretty good examples.
Other tunes have a heavy country influence, and are slightly more upbeat. A good example would be the songs Tennessee Tracks, and Tinfoil Hats. If you are in the mood for something relaxing, Elliot Smith kinda mood (Not that he's at the same level), Rocky Votolato is a great choice.

As an album, I don't think its going to be remembered as a masterpiece, but individual tracks are absolutely amazing to listen to in a mix. Try listenining to a couple of tracks first, and then decide. Personally I can never seem to get through the whole album, makes me wanna hit the bottle, and hey!, life ain't that bad.

Immaculate Machine

Album: High On Jackson Hill
Released: April 28, 2009
Label: Mint Records
Stars: 4.5
Skippable Tracks: 1

The funny thing about this skippable track is that it's song number ONE. Not really a good choice for a first track in my opinion, but maybe someone really wanted it on the album, and another person decided to put it on as the first track just to get it out of the way. I feel like the rest of the album is a LOT better than that this first track.

After that first little bump, you will not have to touch any buttons for the rest of the album; except maybe to crank it up. I especially enjoyed the folk track You Destroyer, a nice little break early in the album. I've must have listened to that song about ten times in a row. The beautiful voice, and raw recording made me fall absolutely in love with it right from the beginning. The only problem with that track was that it left me wanting more, and a whole lot more of that type of sound. Sadly, that sound never comes back. We do hear a couple more ballads later on in the record such as I know its not easy, And It Was, and Blurry Days which are quite great in their own wright.

The rest of the album rocks-out quite a bit more with Sound the Alarm, Primary Colors, all incredibly catchy rockin' tracks. This is one of my recent favorites to pop in to the disc layer! Check it out!




High on Jackson Hill

The Kickdrums - Just a game

Album: Just a Game
Released: March 22, 2009
Label: Kickdrums Musik/ Tune Core
Stars: 3.5
Skippable Tracks: 2

Kickdrums...who are the Kickdrums?! They are producer/songwriters from Cleveland that recently released their debut album It's Just a Game. These guys have experience producing for some big shots like 50 Cent, Kid Cudi, Talib Kweli, Kanye, Jay-Z, and others.

Knowing very little about their previously produced music, I dove into "It's Just a Game". To my surprise, these tracks where very different from what I was expecting. There weren't any shotguns being fired in the background, or some idiot saying "Ehhh...ehhh, shyeeeah!", or two bars of music repeating on forever. The songs were very melodic and with different approaches than typically heard on mainstream radio.

The album starts strong with Impatient and continues this way for a few tracks, but quickly gets a little weak. I must admit that it took a couple of listens for me to get into it but slowly I found myself wanting to hear specific tracks a few more times. This was especially true for the tracks called Out to Get me, as well as Slipping away. These are the sixth and seventh track respectively, and are dubbed the catchiest tracks. After these two tracks I loose interest…and it needed a strong finish.

This definitely worth a listen, you can pick which tracks interest you the most. The album left me wishing that there was more content, and less filler.

Blue Lights on the Runway

Album: Blue lights on the Runway
Released: March 3, 2009
Label: Yep Roc
Stars: 3.0
Skippable Tracks: 2

Bell X1’s fourth studio album Blue Lights on the Runway was released in North America on March 3, 2009 and it delivers to your ears a familiar sound that you have come to expect from the band. Shortly after being ditched by Damien Rice in the 90’s, Bell X1 renamed and rearranged themselves become what you know them as today. These Irish dudes have been together for about ten years, and have recently started to make a cross-over. Their big break came after they were featured on one of the Soundtracks from everyone’s favourite TV show the O.C. The album opens strong with the song The Ribs of an Umbrella and continues down this path for a couple more tracks. I caught myself zoning-out somewhere between the fourth track and the line “how log were monkeys typing”; which I found just hilarious. Lead singer Paul Noonan starts to sing “I want a better band” later in the track, and throws in some distortion. The album ends strong with some pop-rock songs with humorous lyrics and a couple of mandatory ballads. Is this the greatest album to come out of Ireland? Probably not, but if Pop is what you want - and you like the sound of Snow Patrol - this will be a nice option for you. In short, no sound barriers were broken here, but some diamonds can be found in the rough.

Analytics

Album: Lytics EP
Released: December 17 , 2008
Label: Unsigned
Stars: 3.5
Skippable Tracks: 0
Picture: Borrowed from their Myspace

First of all I would like to apologize to my two blog followers for not posting for more than two weeks. But good things come to those who wait, because I’ll be posting a lot more often now.

You may have already head local home-boys the Lytics spittin’ some rhymes at local clubs and events. Although the band seems to work best when there is a live band performing with them, they also manage to work up the crowd when their DJ spins the beasts.

The band is composed of “Ashy” Sannie (18), “A-Nice” Sannie (20), “Munga” Londe (22) and DJ Dex (20). They have been together since 2005 and have finally gotten around to releasing their first EP. The brothers are determined to succeed in the hip-hop world by remaining humble and staying easy. They want to create hip-hop that is positive, and is analytical of their world. “We’re not saying that our music is better because of that” one of the brothers stated in an interview. But I completely disagree with the statement; I believe that that’s exactly what makes this hip-hop better than the negative, bust-a-cap in your ___ kind of hip-hop. This is only the beginning for this band; I do see a bright future ahead for them.

The age of Cool-Edit and Pro-Tools has cleared the path for many artists to clean up their vocals and assemble something so incredible that could never be reproduced on stage. This band is not one of them; in fact I think they sound even better with a live band. What this EP delivers is a very well produced version of their live shows, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Click here to listen to Big City Sound Girl

PB and J

Album: Living Thing
Released: Mar 31, 2009
Label: Almost Gold
Stars: 3
Skippable Tracks: 2 of 12

Peter Bjorn and John released their fifth album March 31, and it should do just as well as the previous album: Writers Block. Although there is no whistling in this album, it does deliver on the catchy tunes that all young and old folks will enjoy.

Lyrics from Lay It Down confirm that this album was a more playful attempt by the band. I enjoyed a lot of tracks on the album by the time I was done listening to it thoroughly. Tracks like: It Don’t Move, Just The Past, and I Want You are some of my favorites. A lot of the tracks are fairly electronic and have a pop sound that we have come to expect from the band. Others tracks just consist of a few repetitive beats, clapping, vocals, children, etc. The Swedish meat band is an acquired taste, but if you have an eclectic ear you will definitely enjoy the sound of PB&J. As you may know, not everyone likes Swedish meat balls or Pb&J. In FACT, some choke at just the smell of it. A little insulin will clear that right up.

Below is one of the two videos the label uploaded to Youtube. If you like it, then you'll have no problem with the rest of the CD. Not the best track on the album, but it has a hilarious video.




Or just Click Here to visit their Myspace.



John Eriksson, Peter Moren and Bjorn Yttling of the the Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John. (AP PHOTO/PRESS HERE PUBLICITY, JOHAN BERGMARK / March 21, 2009)

Decemberist

Album: The Hazards of Love
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Stars: 5
Skippable Tracks: Zero

This album is a perfect example of why I love to listen to an album from start to finish with no breaks. It was love at first listen, and I think it feels the same way towards me too; so that’s awesome.
The album was released March 17th, and I have listened to it straight through about ten times by now. I believe the band’s original plan was to make this album into a musical, but later decided that it was not going to work out. This amazingly artistic masterpiece is arranged in a way that a love story develops from the first track to the last, taking the listener through many different genres of music. Even the tracks become characters, re-appearing throughout the story.
There are probably only a couple of tracks that can be played on their own, so I’m posting the complete album below. Put aside one hour to listen to the tracks and try to follow the story. It begins with a short interlude that sets the mood; it’s dark, mysterious, and intriguing. After the interlude a folkie song begins to play introducing the main characters William and Margaret. They toss in some power cords on the next track, followed by some baroque music, some riffs right out of Black Mountain, and so on.
I can only imagine how much work it took the band to put together something like this, so it is being labeled a masterpiece on my part. William and Margaret’s relationship develops throughout the album, and the music perfectly compliments this.
The best Album released this year, and may possibly be one of the top 5 albums of 2009 according to Smigs Reviews.

The Hazards of Love

Animal or Not Animal ?

Album: Animal/Not Animal
Label: Merge Records
Release Date: December 17, 2008
Stars: 4.5
Skippable Tracks: Zero (Animal) One (Not Animal)

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s may have not picked the best name for their band, but they sure know how to pick tracks for their albums. The band and the record label could not come to an agreement on which tracks to release on the upcoming album; so two versions were released. The band’s arrangement was released under the name Animal, and Merge Records’ arrangement was given the name Not Animal. I was completely oblivious to this when I first heard about the release of the new album, and ended up listening to Not Animal first. The albums are almost 50% different from each other and are quite a bit of a different experience. Animal is pretty mellow from track one through twelve, while Not Animal takes you through a rockier route. The label’s arrangement would have scored a 3.5, but this album receives a whole star more.
So how can you tell if you have purchased Animal or Not Animal? That’s easy! If you see an Animal on the cover…you’ve got Animal. No animal? Then…yeah, you get the idea.
If you like Arcade Fire, this would be a nice addition to your collection. Although I would put their sound more on the mellow side of the scale. I’m including a link to a track as usual.

North America only

Album: Spirit of Apollo
Label: Anti-
Release Date: February 17, 2009
Stars: 3.5
Skippable tracks: 4 of 17

I was unable to find the rap CD that I was going to review, but I did listen to the N.A.S.A. album released earlier last month. I went into this with an open mind, and found myself enjoying a lot of the tracks on this album. As always, I do have a few issues with it. One: N.A.S.A, in this case, does not stand for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, but rather North America South America. So what..? All you have to do is listen to the CD to realize that there is VERY little to do with South America or North America. It’s mostly a sound that has already been heard, using funk tracks as well as some Brazilian song samples. My understanding of the album was that it was going to be a fusion of all kinds of music from all of the Americas; what came out was a CD for The United States of America. Two: They tossed in as many names as possible into the mix to try and attract as many people as possible into buying the album. Three: They played it too safe.
That’s my only beef.

As mentioned above there are a whole lot of really funky tracks that make this a very enjoyable listen. There is also a rock-based song with John Frusciante, an incredibly weird song with Tom Waits, and a song that sounds exactly like anything M.I.A. would put out on her own. Instead of commenting on all the collaborators, I’ll just post them below. Maybe one of the names will attract you into listening to the album. Peace! I’m out! ...Yo!

N.A.S.A. Feat:
David Byrne,Chali 2na, Gift Of Gab & Z-Trip, David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip, Method Man, E-40 & DJ Swamp, RZA, Barbie Hatch & John Frusciante, KRS-One, Fatlip, Slim Kid Tre, Karen O, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Tom Waits & Kool Keith, Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke L, Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx, George Clinton, Spank Rock, M.I.A., Nick Zinne, Kool Kojak & DJ Babao, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert, The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, Scarface & DJ AM.

NOTE: If you like Hip-Hop this would be a 4/5.


Sweet song with KRS-One! My favorite.

Cool NES hack

Album: Dawn Metropolis
Label: 8BitPeoples
Release Date: March 3, 2009
Stars: 3
Skippable tracks: Zero


Something that I've started to see more and more is the practice of using samples from Nintendo games as well as hacking Nintendo or Atari systems to make retro-cool music. By far the best band that I have come across has been Anamanaguchi.
Personally I don’t really like electronic music that much, but for some reason this band really got my attention right away. Think of the greatest NES song you can think of, now jack up the tempo, throw some guitar and base; you now have an Anamanaguchi song.
Even if you only listen to the CD once, you'll be glad you did. Have fun!


Note: I’m gonna review a rap CD next. That’ll be interesting…

This one's for the slupree kids

Album: Grand
Record Label: Fader Label
Release date: January 20, 2009
Stars: 2.5
Skippable Tracks : ?

This band has been causing a whole lot of hype in the past year, so I decided to chcek them out. Matt and Kim "sold-out" even before the release of their second album. Their song "Yea Yeah" was the theme for a Virgin Mobile commercial in 2008, and was also used to promote the movie Juno in the US. I must admit that the commercial was what initially got me interested in checking out the band, and I can’t say I was all that disappointed with what I heard since it was exactly what I expected it to be: Very simple, very energetic college pop. Like the title of the post suggests, it may be an album that you may want to listen to if you are having some younger people over at your place or if you are just young at heart.
The whole album is under half an hour, so it really doesn't really give you a chance to even skip a song, since by the time you realize the track is repetitive, the song is over.
I'm including one new track, and one old track below. Check out the whole album if you are interested. It's really not that bad and is fun to listen to if you are in the mood to feel young.



Matt & Kim loading up on sugar before a big show

M. Ward - Hold Time (2009)

Record: M. Ward Hold Time
Label: Merge Records
Release Date: February 17th, 2009
Stars: 4.5

I'll start by saying that I really enjoyed listening to this album, and the only reason why it did not get a higher rating was because I've enjoyed his previous work a bit more. I always listen to an album from start to finish, none of that shuffling business, and will try to listen to it at least three times.

If you are unfamiliar with M. Ward I'll go ahead and describe it as a Blues-Country-Rock (You may have a different classification if you're a hipster or music snob). Ward does not write that that kind of annoying pop country you constantly hear on the radio, or that type of rock country that's written by old farts trying to rock-out country-style. This is bluesy rock with country feel. Absolutely noteworthy!

Ward decided to include some covers in this album: "Rave On" featuring Zooey Deschanel as well as "Oh Lonesome Me" featuring Lucinda Williams. If you like Rave on, you may be interested in checking out the full length album by Ward and Zooey. You may remember Zooey from the classic Christmas movie Elf singing Baby It's Cold Outside with Will Ferrell. The other cover is with Lucinda Williams, who has quite the following. Sorry to say that I'm not a big fan of her or the collaboration of Zooey and Ward. I know they have their following, and if you like Lucinda you will probably like M. Ward.

I found myself listening to the whole album only skipping one track on the third listen. That's pretty amazing since the album contains fourteen tracks in total. I would probably say that my favorite track on this album is Fisher of Men. It’s got a bit of a honky-tonk feel to it, and has some pretty catchy riffs to it. But hey! Don’t just take my word for it, and check out for yourself.

Rave on from the new album: