Because I love them....
Thoughts?
Download: Coldplay - Violet Hill [mp3]
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Duffy - Rockferry
I mentioned Duffy a while back but I thought I should write a bit about her now considering her album has been released in the UK, has gone number 1 and has had given several chart entries since then. If you've never heard of Duffy let me see if I can get you up to date in as little words as possible. She's from Wales. She is, quite obviously, a singer-songwriter. She is often compared to Amy Winehouse, so you can think of her genre as indie soul-pop..
I actually got a hard copy of her album Rockferry this week (though I've been listening to it for a month or so...magically) at a non-import price. I know Rockferry wasn't supposed to drop in the U.S. until May 13th and I assumed that was when we would get in Canada but I guess not. Or maybe it is an import, I don't know. All that matters is that if you want it you can go to your local CD store and grab it.
And you should. You know when you first here a song by a new artist and you just don't know if they will turn out other good tracks (this is not exclusive to Duffy but true of everyone). Well, Duffy does produce other great songs, in fact, Rockferry is full of them. Although the track 'Rockferry' is up there, it might not even be the best song. I think this spot might be reserved for 'Stepping Stone.' If I had to choose the one song that you needed to listen to of this album it would be this one. Loved it upon first listen. 'Warwick Avenue' and ''Mercy' are up there too. There are even some B-sides that, in my opinion, should have been on the album considering it only has 10 songs. This could have easily been a solid 12-track album.
There are really no bad songs here. This is probably why numerous music insiders have chosen her as one of the artists to watch in 2008. 2008 is well on its way and so, it seems, is Duffy.
Download: Duffy - Tomorrow [mp3]
MySpace: Duffy
Duffy: Official Website
Buy Rockferry
Sunday, April 6, 2008
R.E.M. - Accelerate
There can be no doubt that R.E.M. has written some great songs. Actually they've written some of the best. I tend to forget this but all it takes is a listen to some of their back catalogue to make you remember. ‘Shiny Happy People’, ‘Orange Crush’, ‘Fall On Me.’ What a fantastic band! I think I can safely say that R.E.M. was one of the first bands that I called one of my favourites.
The band released their new album, Accelerate, this week in Canada. Many are calling it their best album since 1994’s Monster. This seems to imply that the band have been somewhat lacking with their releases in-between but I'll leave that up to you to decide. Anyways, I just got their new one and I can confirm that it is one of their best. Thank goodness! I would hate to think that we were kept waiting for what, four years, only to be disappointed. But none of that matters because as I said, Accelerate contains a fantastic group of songs and are very much reminiscent of some of their older material. Not really in sound (there’s no 80’s retro here) but it just has that feeling to it; at least it does for me. The single ‘Supernatural Superserious’ is a great example of this.
R.E.M. is still a relevant band and Accelerate proves it.
The band are also one-third of an exciting summer tour that includes The National and Modest Mouse. They play the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto on June 8th and play twelve other dates including the tour opener in Vancouver. Tickets have already gone on sale. You can find a full list of dates on their MySpace page.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Album of the Month: FOALS - ANTIDOTES
I've been waiting to write about this band for some time now but I thought I would wait until around the album release date for reasons that are evading me at the moment. The downside of this is that most of you have probably already heard of Foals, sampled their music and decided whether you like 'em or not. If you are one of the select few who have not done so and maybe have never come across them (where have you been?), consider this another chance of many that are, have been and probably will be available to you.
So what's the deal? The band is a five-piece from Oxford, England. The music is danceable with heavy emphasis on the rhythm section but the guitars are there too. Their genre is often labeled as 'math-rock,' a reference to the complex rhythm structures and vocal styling’s. While the history of Foals is by no means long, it has been an eventful few months. Last year saw the band release several singles including 'Hummer,' 'Mathletics' and 'Balloons,' a song that got them some attention.
Foals were eventually signed to Sub Pop in North America and will release their debut album Antidotes through them and on Transgressive Records in the U.K., where it has already been released. We get it on this side of the pond on April 8th. All of the songs here are pretty great and I can't think of a sleeper amongst them. Antidotes starts off with a bang, opening with the energy-filled ‘French Open.’ ‘Cassius’ was a great choice for a first single. Not only is it a great song but it also gives you a feel of exactly what Foals are about; but don’t ask me to summarize, it seems like an impossible task at the moment.
Anyways, the band will be touring for what seems like the rest of their lives. Check out their MySpace page for a list of dates. The band has also made two live recordings (‘Hummer ’and ‘Two Steps’) available for free download at their official website. Both were recorded from their show at Astoria in London.
Tracklisting
1. The French Open
2. Cassius
3. Red Socks Pugie
4. Olympics Airways
5. The Race For Radio Supremacy
6. Balloons
7. Heavy Water
8. Two Steps, Twice
9. Big Big Love (Fig.2)
10. Like Swimming
11. Tron
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