January and February Releases

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I guess I will start by just giving a quick roundup of some noteable releases from January and February that I haven't mentioned yet. First, Hawksley Workman is back with his latest, called "Meat". Hawksley is a strange artist and you never know quite what to expect with him. While his last couple albums have been disappointing, this one is better, with great songs like "We'll make time" and "song for sarah jane". While It doesnt duplicate the success he had with my favourite album of his "Lover/Fighter", Meat is a decent pickup.

Next, Is the highly anticipated album from Massive Attack, called "Heligoland". This album has been in the works for years now, and is the first release from the group since 2003. Unfortunately, as tends to happen with highly anticipated and delayed albums, this one is a bit of a disappointment. There are a few good tracks, such as "Splitting the atom" and "girl I love you", but the album just doenst pack the same puch the previous ones did. I don't think they can ever top Mezzanine, one of the best albums ever made.

Other albums out recently are One Life Stand By Hot Chip, Romance Is Boring by Los Campesinos! and The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night by the Besnard Lakes. All of these albums are decent and have something worth checking out. Stay tuned, this year looks to be a great one for music, especially May, which sees new albums from Broken Social Scene, LCD Soundsystem, The New Pornographers, and The National.

-&Him

Transference

After 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, I had high hopes coming in to Spoon's newest album Transference. Luckily, I was not disappointed. Spoon returns with an album that is similar yet at the same time different than previous works. There are still the same killer pop hooks with Brit Daniel's distinctive lyrics and vocals. At the same time, however, the songs seem less in your face and fast paced, with Spoon opting instead for a more experimental slower sound. While this could be a recipe for disaster if not done right, the band pulls it off to create another great album. Highlights for me include: "Who Makes Your Money" (an instant favourite), "Goodnight Laura" (which has the feel of classic Beatles) and "Trouble Comes Running."

-&Him

Heartland

Well, It's finally here. I have been waiting almost 4 years for Final Fantasy to release a new album after 2006's He Poos Clouds, one of my all time favourites. And even though the name was changed from Final Fantasy to Owen Pallett, it's still the same artist and he has again managed to produce a stellar product. The album is described as a concept album about an ultra-violent farmer named Lewis in the world of Spectrum, who is coming to terms with his creator, Owen Pallett. I will admit, I was at first slightly disappointed with Heartland, as it is different from Pallett's previous work, but after taking some time to digest it, I now see that it is fantastic and love almost every track. The two opening tracks, "Midnight Directives" and "Keep The Dog Quiet", as well as the previously released "Lewis Takes Action" are immediately grabbing. Other tracks become better with more listens, such as "Oh Heartland, Up Yours!" and "Lewis Takes His Shirt Off". Finally, the closing track is a hauntingly beautiful song called "What Do You Think Will Happen Now?" All in all, Pallett is successful in creating his fantasy world, with settings, plot and characters in his songs/lyrics that translate into a strange and unique, but highly enjoyable album.

-&Him

Contra

A couple months back, Liz posted the news of Vampire Weekend's new album Contra. I was able to download the album a couple days ago, and I must say, it is really really good. It seems as though people either love or have this band, and I am one of the people that loves them. I thought their first album was good, but this one is definitely better. I would urge people who didn't like the first to give this a chance, it is worth it. Aside from the singles like "Horchata" and "Cousins" that were previously released (which are great) ones that are also good include "Run", "Diplomat's Son" and my personal favourite "Giving Up the Gun", a song that shows the band developing and improving their sound. I will definitely be picking up a copy of this album on Tuesday when I go to get the new Owen Pallett (The new name for Final Fantasy) album, I would recommend you do too. Enjoy!

-&Him

Favourites of 2009

Happy New Year everybody! I've finally gotten around to posting my list of my favourite albums of 2009. And here it is:

1. Handsome Furs - Face Control
2. The xx - xx
3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
6. Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor
7. Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
8. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
9. Passion Pit - Manners
10. Annie - Don’t Stop
11. The Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!
13. jj - jj n° 2
14. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
15. A.C. Newman - Get Guilty
16. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
17. Peter Bjorn And John - Living Thing
18. Silversun Pickups - Swoon
19. La Roux - La Roux
20. Young Galaxy - Invisible Republic
21. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
22. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
23. Metric - Fantasies
24. Matt & Kim - Grand
25. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
26. Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence
27. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
28. Say Hi - Oohs And Aahs
29. Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light
30. Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Once again, as it was in 2007, my favourite album of the year belongs to Handsome Furs - Face Control. I almost didn't make it my number one just because I didn't like it as much as Plague Park. But when all is said and done, I just couldn't find an album that I enjoyed and listened to as much. A very close second (it was at #1 for most of the last few months) was the fantastic self titled debut album by the xx. Rounding out the top five were Animal Collective, Junior Boys (another strong candidate for #1) and Phoenix who had the great singles 1901 and Lisztomania. The rest of the albums follow an approximate but not exact order, since it is hard to judge certain albums against each other. There is something on each of these 30 albums that I liked, and I would recommend most of them to everyone. Biggest surprises were A.C. Newman, Phoenix and Mos Def, who delivered more than I was expecting. Albums that weren't as good as I thought they were going to be, and therefore I found to be a bit of a letdown were The Raveonettes, Kings Of Convenience and Metric, but they were still decent. Notable debuts include the afore mentioned xx as well as Fever Ray and Passion Pit.

-&Him