Floating Points - Shadows (320) (2011)

It's tough to aptly describe the specific sound found on this record. I can tell you that mood wise, it conjures up similar feelings to that of Submotion Orchestra's brilliant Finest Hour, currently my frontrunner for album of the year. And there are sonic similarities to that album to be found here, make no mistake--the subtle jazz elements and the occasional sojourns into that all-too familiar two-step rhythm will be familiar. Shadows is a different listen, though. For one, the album is far more beat-driven than Finest Hour, which relies primarily on Ruby Wood's vocals to find its sweet spot. Even though Shadows never even comes close to approaching anything that could be considered uptempo, the album actually evolves. If there's one complaint I do have about Finest Hour, it would be that it uses its rich and unique sound to take the listener to an absolutely wonderful place, but then chooses to go no further, to take no real leaps or other risks. That is absolutely not the case here.

The album opens with the excellent Myrtle Avenue, and you pretty much discover what the album is all about throughout its 10:02 playtime. Warm, jazzy piano underscores what is essentially a minimalistic house beat, with the ambient sections breathing a distinct personality into the track. Obfuse and Realise are separated but could easily be considered a single track, with very similar rough, garage-esque beats layered with equally raw synths. ARP3 picks the album back up with a return to the driving, four-to-the-floor beat. The closer Sais is simultaneously dreamy and majestic, the keys taking the track to another level.

Overall there's nothing here that we haven't seen before, but the arrangement is a definite breath of fresh air.

Yay bad reviews

Her Name Is Calla - The Heritage (320) (2008)

This is like chamber music with occasional schizophrenic episodes of post-rock.

Echospace - Liumin (2010)

Ubububububububub whoooooooooooooooooooooshwhoooooooooooooooooooooooooooshhhhhhh

Submotion Orchestra - Finest Hour (2011) (320)

Jazz/dubstep (minimal wobble, Burial-style dubstep) hybrid with gorgeous female vocals reminiscent of Beth Gibbons layered with an all-around deliciously chilled-out vibe.

One of the finest hours indeed

Their weakest album out of the first three, but still some damn good cuts on here. Forget It, even though an outlier sonically compared to the rest of their material, is my favorite BB track of all time.

I could live forever here

Feist - The Reminder (320) (2007)

Sublime stuff. Sealion is the only outlier.

The Park

Editors - The Back Room/An End Has A Start (320) (2005/2007)

Pitchfork only gave The Back Room a 6.0 and An End Has A Start a 4.9, I wouldn't even waste your time.

You'll speak when you're spoken to
Smokers outside the hospital doors

Swervedriver - Ejector Seat Reservation (1995)

Because I care.

Bring me the head of the fortune teller

Stick To Your Guns - The Hope Division (320) (2010)

Per request. Maybe a full description later.

Just because I leave you doesn't mean you leave my mind.

Easy Star All-Stars - Radiodread (320) (2006)

As someone who doesn't really listen to reggae, let me just say that it's remarkable to me how easily this group was able to adapt Radiohead's seminal OK Computer into a dubfest. Featuring a variety of vocalists (some reggae, some not), some tracks seem to almost remain the same (No Surprises, Karma Police) while some are a completely new experience (Let Down, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Electioneering). This is sometimes good and sometimes bad, for instance the vocals provided by Toots & the Maytals on Let Down are so good. So good. It is able to bring out the bitter, misanthropic emotion from the original song while giving it a completely different atmosphere. Other songs can't quite do this as well, I personally thought the Subterranean Homesick Alien cover was completely disappointing and probably the worst song on the album. But they are all worth a listen, and as a whole, again, it's remarkable how seamlessly the transition seems.

An airbag saved my dub

SemaJ EkalB - S/T (320) (2011)

This is dubstep. It's soul. It's folk. It's electronic. It's candid. It's subtle. It's fucking amazing.

Wilhelms Scream

Scottish PostRockers - Hxc Will Never Perish, But You Shall (320) (2011)

Just cuz I'm paranoid over new albums. This one really reminds me of CODY, and yes, that is a compliment.

I'm Lionel Richie?

Pete Yorn - Musicforthemorningafter (320) (2001)

In a similar vein to the way The Strokes or The Gaslight Anthem (best two examples I can think of off the top of my head) took their genres and breathed new life into it without doing anything terribly tricky or special, Pete Yorn revitalizes the electro-acoustic singer/songwriter genre here. There is nothing Pete Yorn does here in regards to musical progress; all he was apparently interested in was packing an album full of incredible songs. Which he did. Very well.

I wrote a big-ass review for this but I only want to say this: the two key ingredients that make this album so good are 1) its subtlety and 2) its consistency. That's all you really need to know.

I'm walking around your closet

Mos Def - The Estatic (320) (2009)

This album is better than you. From the opening Malcom X soundbite to the closing piano of Casa Bey, there really isn't a track that isn't worth listening to. So listen to them. The samples, production, and lyrics are all great. Though obviously, his pseudo-singing and odd choices for delivery at some points will certainly be off-putting to some. But screw them.

I love this album more than I love my own wife. Or at least I would, if I was married.


What was I talking about again?





Oh, right!



I didn't know we were playing fight night!

65daysofstatic - Heavy Sky EP (320) (2010)

Unlike others, I did not write off 65dos's latest LP We Were Exploding Anyways as "stupid dance music;" nor did I think it was the point where the Sheffield natives who created such beautiful electronic post-rock gems as Aren't We All Running? and Radio Protector jumped the musical shark. However, I did understand where those critics were coming from, as it seemed 65dos had decided to, for the most part, leave behind the sound from their first two records that brought them so much acclaim. In a way, I applaud that they did what many bands are afraid or unwilling to do.

However--this EP shows that they haven't quite made as sharp a turn away from that sound as the LP released earlier this year may have indicated. And even though I didn't hate the LP, I can't pretend that I'm not completely stoked to finally hear this. This is the aural equivalent of seeing active brainwaves in a coma patient: you have no idea whether the patient will ever wake up, but it's nice to know that they're still in there. I have no idea where 65dos will go from here, but I know that I will be there sitting by their bedside just in case they decide to come out of their coma.

Guitar cascades