17 February is a good day in music
16 Feb
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
"Morrissey's Years of Refusal is predictable, and lacks the lyrical prowess that the Ex-Smithsman has shown in his past albums. So what makes this album? His voice is still there, wavery and strong, something that the world lacks in these days, and the overstraightfoward song structures drive itself into your head. "Shame is the Name" ends this album in a complete :|"
C5
17 Feb
Thursday - Common Existence
"Never was a fan of the screamo scene, still am not, but Common Existence proves that mainstays Thursday have that rather complexity-wise edge over their shitty scene."
C5
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - The Century of Self
"Austin group the Century of Self are the type of Alt. Emo bands, falling along the lines of At the Drive-In with their call & response-ish sucker punched songs. But they bring that noisy-punk style to epic proportions in which AtDI never ever really accomplished- they made it long, stretched all it's meanings, and even made a rather different vortex in "Bells of Creation". Don't tell me who are the Century of Self. Tell me how."
B3
Asobi Seksu - Hush
"Saccharinely sweet vocals, accompanied with saccharinely sweet guitars and that little saccharinely sweet trinkets of sounds... before you know it, you'll suffer from diabetes and you'll die!"
C5
Mountains - Choral
"Electronic and acoustic are the exact opposite of each other, and that is the very reason why Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp have succeeded in making such an ambient bomb of an album. Surpassing Fennesz in all rights with the exoskeletons of blending the opposites, enveloping mystery of the winds and ultimately encompassing the mind."
A2
Dark Was the Night
"This is a compilation album, supposedly for a charitable cause. What's in it? Decemberists, Spoon, Bon Iver, all the stars of the Alternative Folky scene, really. And mind you, Alternative Folk is one of the very best bloomers out there. And, considering the star potential of the whole album, they mix in rather well into one long CD."
B3
M. Ward - Hold Time
"M. Ward has the strange, husky charm of Randy Newman, yet so unrefined in his tunes, and sounds like a total drunkard out there. I'll give him a few years."
B4
N.A.S.A. - Spirit of Apollo
"Spirit of Apollo came with a promise. The promise to blend the low brow backgrounds of electronica and the mainstream music above it. Ensures to give both sets of mainstream listeners and alternative ones a piece of whatever they got.
Result? More like a overly cleaned out Mr. Oizo with singing people. Verdict? They probably only got right on the mainstream part, but then again, mainstream listeners probably can't stand Jamaica. Where's your listening base now, N.A.S.A.? Lost in sea, when you get back."
C5
Robyn Hitchcock - Goodnight Oslo
"Hitchcock plays himself as those bluesy bastards who sing on stage during your drunkard days. His purposeful-driven low down voice and the acoustic band that follows his march into whatever you guys dream out when you take a whiskey or two."
B4
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
"Look at Isbell. Ditching a band just months before they create their very best album. And now they're way more popular than he and his 400 Unit will ever be. Jason goes Sea Change, he changes direction and heads towards an abyss of emotion, or lack thereof- it's hard to tell. Isbell's hopeless, and he knows it. This is when music creation is at its very best."
A2
