Music Update

A lot of good music came my way this month, though it started off with the somewhat mediocre release, The Brutalist Bricks, by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. I've seen and enjoyed Ted Leo live and like a handful of his songs when they come on the radio, so I thought I would pick this one up. While tracks like "The Mighty Sparrow" are good little rock numbers a la early Matthew Good, the album kind a runs out of gas with thirteen songs. I found it's best enjoyed interspersed with other things, which suggests to me that Ted Leo's songwriting isn't as strong as it really should be for such a long album.

Sweden's Love Is All and Austin's Harlem are two bands with a love of lo-fi rockers that know the value of keeping things short. I think both of these albums barely break the thirty minute mark, but the results are memorable indeed.

A friend of mine who records music as part of the local downtempo duo HeRajiKa had a single released as part of the Introducing Mellow compilation for the Japanese-based Introducing Records last month. It's a little tricky to get a hold of, but they've got another single out later this month that should be available here in town.

The new MGMT made it's quirky little way into my hands and "Siberian Breaks," a medley of sixties-styled songs, has been one of my favourites as it is quite reminiscent of "Suzanne"-era Leonard Cohen. The homage to Brian Eno is also pretty fun.

I also picked up a copy of proto-Weakerthan's band, Painted Thin's Still They Die of Heartbreak a staple from my CJSW DJ days. Nostalgia is nice, but the Weakerthans do everything much better, causing Painted Thin to sound a little too rough around the edges.

Finally, I've spent most of this week listening and enjoying the new Caribou album and trying to spread the love to all of my mathematician friends (put away your Rush albums, boys and girls).