Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
With his sixth proper album, Sufjan Stevens does battle with what we’ve come to expect from a proper Sufjan Stevens album. This time, instead of painstakingly humanizing the locations, historical inhabitants, and trivia of a certain slab of America, he’s more concerned with his own state of mind. Banjos are out; moody electronics, deep bass, and drums that burst like geysers are in. The lengthiest song title on his last LP, 2005′s Illinois, was 53 words long; here, that same superlative goes to a tune called “I Want to Be Well”. He’s whispering less, hollering more. And at the climax of The Age of Adz, the devout Christian and poster boy for mannered indie-dude sensitivity shouts, “I’m not fuckin’ around!” no less than 16 times. Believe him. Read the full Pitchfork Review
Belle & Sebastian – Write about Love
Write About Love opens confidently with a strong drum pattern, simple piano chords and Sarah Martin gently cooing, “Make me dance, I want to surrender”. That track is I Didn’t See It Coming, and it sets the tone for the first half of the record with its synths, wandering bassline, airy feel and careful layering. The tracks begin fairly sparsely, but build into something fully immersive and represent some of the most professional and well-crafted work the group have produced. Even songs that don’t immediately jump out on first listen have plenty to recommend them, like the gorgeous chord change to introduce the chorus of the languid ballad, Calculating Bimbo. Read the full Noripcord review
Antony & The Johnsons – Swanlight
With a voice that embodies both life’s fragility and something as towering as that great white bear, Hegarty has carved his own luminous path. He communes with the sacred and majestic in life, often against a backdrop of pain and suffering, and with the natural world as his most charged landscape. On the twinkling “Swanlights,” the fourth studio album he’s made with his classically attuned band, working in a more stylistically abundant form here than last year’s “The Crying Light,” he captures the otherworldly more often than not. Occasionally, though, the songs overreach or miss some central point. Read the full LA Times review
Orb w/ David Gilmour – Metallic Spheres
When there’s no brain-massaging kick beat or snappy guitar delay to mark the time, The Orb and David Gilmour’s two-track collaboration Metallic Spheres gracefully drifts to its peak. This stands to reason, because both artists have a sense of timing that’s brilliantly suited to vast, lengthy formats. Between the 14- and 24-minute marks on “Metallic Side,” the ambient ravers and the Pink Floyd guitarist manage to recall the folkier moments of Ummagumma and Meddle, and even the playful expansiveness of U.F.Orb, amid backdrops that glitter and drones that warmly glance off each other. Read the full AV Club Review
All right, so I’m not sure if I’ve got this new site polished down yet, but I’m giving it a shot. Avatars and youtubes are beating down my soul but luckily everything Matador records seems to put out lately helps it reascend. Here’s my Top 5 in rotation today:
Pavement: Brighten the Corners-Nicene Creedence Edition – I used to have favorite Pavement albums and then one day they all just melted into one universal pile of affection. Obviously I’m not the only one as this is the 4th reissue for the band and features no less than 24 bonus tracks. Unreleased classics include “Harness Your Hopes,” “Cataracts,” and a killer version of Echo and the Bunnymen‘s “Killing Moon.”
Brightback Morning Light: Motion to Rejoice – Eerie, rhodes driven rock forged in electric slow motion and ideal for any modern opium den.
Jay Reatard: Matador Singles ’08 – Get past the name, quick. Because an acoustic guitar has never sounded more ideal for punk-rock. “Seesaw” is all you need to get hooked.
Belle and Sebastian: BBC Sessions – The best from 1996-2001 on weighs heavily on tracks from If You’re Feeling Sinister. The production quality is phenomenal and the band is even better. Sound from the hayday of mellow perfection.
Lou Reed: Berlin-Live at St.Anne’s Warehouse – This 2006 live performance of his 1973 album, while essentially for fans only, can serve as a comforting step for the novice Velvet Underground fan to reach into the more obscure world of the Lou Reed catalogue. I ‘get it’ more each time I listen. I think.
