May's Music Update

Even though MGMT's recent album is clearly in the running for the Year's Worst Album Art, it's still receiving some significant play on my iPod. Last month saw me harping on the whimsical "Brian Eno" and the massive homage to 1960s pop, "Siberian Breaks." This month, it's the sparse sounds of "Someone's Missing" that continues to capture my attention.

Several potentially major releases came their way to me this month. Firstly, I finally grabbed a copy of Plastic Beach, the new Gorillaz album. Although I do enjoy it's surprising R&B vibe, I must admit that it's a bit shorter on hooks than Demon Days and a bit longer of multi-mediated concepts. I find the music far more enthralling when fooling around with the online extras.

Other notable releases come from some Canadian heavyweights, Broken Social Scene and New Pornographers. It's funny how much personal preference can play in our perspectives of things. I've listened to a lot more BSS over the last few months than their West Coast counterparts, and probably as such, I found Forgiveness Rock Record sounding a lot like a simple continuation of Broken Social Scene but with added effects' pedals. Together on the otherhand, strikes me as a more reinvigorated New Pornographers, energized in a way I haven't heard them for years, but, like I said, I haven't crossed paths with the New Pornographers as much in the last few years either.

Rounding out the Cancon, is Latin, Holy Fuck's follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2007 debut. It's an album that somehow manages to catch the block rocking spirit of mid-1990s Chemical Brothers, brilliantly constructed through a mixture of live instrumentation and children's toys.

Speaking of electronic music, Calgary's heRajiKa had two singles on the new Introducing! compilation Beats + Pieces.

This month also saw me become reacquainted with the ska band The Slackers. Their debut album, Better Late Than Never, was an instant classic, but The Great Rocksteady Swindle suffers from some uneven songwriting.

Finally, I just got hold of The National's High Violet and preliminary listens are encouraging...

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).