Music Review March 2014

My favourite songs and albums from March.


Albums

Honourable Mentions: Eagulls - Eagulls, Teeth Dreams - The Hold Steady, Mess - Liars


5. Best of Times - My Sad Captains

A pleasant, pretty crossover of pop and electronic. Intricately developed arrangements complement an oddly pertinent commentary on social media consumption.

4. Singles - Future Islands

A commendably consistent series of synth-pop classics. The tunes are great, but it's Herring's voice which really lingers; a low-key howl providing each track with an unsettling power.

3. Say Yes To Love - Perfect Pussy

Behind the obviously attention-grabbing bandname lies one of the most exciting new acts in post-punk. The collaboration between searing abrasion and twisted melody is enormously impressive.

2. Here and Nowhere Else - Cloud Nothings

One of my favourite current Indie Rock bands return with a record that possibly defeats their magnificent Attack on Memory. Behind the angst-driven riffs and chantalong choruses is a Dylan Baldi disillusioned with disillusionment. Brilliantly, he's optimistic about finding self-satisfaction.

1. Lost in the Dream - The War on Drugs

The title is a more-than-adequate description of listening to the album. It's simply gorgeous. It's drenched in galactic synths, whimsical guitars and irrepressible keyboards and all the space you need to absorb it. There's love songs, pain songs, and songs about being really, really unsure about everything, but you'd be forgiven for enjoying yourself too much to listen.

Songs

1. I'm Not Part of Me - Cloud Nothings
2. Burning - The War on Drugs
3. Light House - Future Islands
4. Nerve Endings - Eagulls
5. Eyes to the Wind - The War on Drugs
6. Interference Fits - Perfect Pussy
7. Spinners - The Hold Steady
8. Psychic Trauma - Cloud Nothings
9. Primitive - Real Estate
10. All Times Into One - My Sad Captains

Favourite Albums/Songs of January/February 2014

A brief list of my favourite music so far this year. One note: February has been much, much better than January.

January

Albums

Honourable Mentions: Total Strife Forever - East India Youth, Sun Structures - Temples, Fuck Off Get Free... - Thee Silver Mt. Zion...

5. Dirty Gold - Angel Haze

A momentous crossover to the mainstream for Angel Haze; one which she almost pulls off. Although not as concise and hard-hitting as her debut mixtape, the ambition, instrumentally and structurally, is impressive.

4. Rave Tapes - Mogwai

The Glaswegian Godfathers of post-rock return with a record which compounds their unfaltering consistency. Not a massive leap forward, but atmospheric, unsettling and even terrifying.

3. Beyonce - Beyonce

A delicately understated release from arguably the biggest pop star of the last decade. Intelligent and immaculately crafted, but it still has time for at least two gargantuan love anthems.

2. In the Silence - Asgeir

A thought-provoking, pretty, particularly Icelandic amalgamation of James Blake and Bon Iver. The perfect revision music. You'll love it. 

1. Transgender Dysphoria Blues - Against Me!

It's smart punk, but it's also one of the most emotionally charged, deeply personal rock albums I've heard in years. A haunting, ferocious expose of social castigation.

Songs

10. Sun Structures - Temples

9. Deep Sea Diver - Angel Haze

8. Drinking with the Jocks - Against Me!

7. Remurdered - Mogwai

6. Dripping Down - East India Youth

5. Boss Ass Bitch (Remix) - Nicki Minaj

4. Higher - Asgeir

3. Transgender Dysphoria Blues - Against Me!

2. XO - Beyonce

1. Head in the Snow - Asgeir

February

Albums

Honourable Mentions: Little Red - Katy B, Dead - Young Fathers, Blank Project - Nenah Cherry

5. Oxymoron - Schoolboy Q

It's not quite Habits And Contradictions, but it's damn close. The best Hip-Hop album of the year so far; a razor sharp wit supplemented by excellent production.

4. Burn Your Fire For No Witness - Angel Olsen

A country-rock album with a troubled, tender soul, and a reservedly vulnerable heart. As grungey as it is touching.

3. St. Vincent - St. Vincent

Although, in my opinion, not as good as Cruel Mercy, this is still a fantastic dose of pop-mediated social commentary. Catchy and lyrically wonderful, it is immensely difficult to fault it technically.

2. Benji - Sun Kil Moon

Magnificently unpretentious; Kozalek doesn't recount elaborate metaphors or abstruse allegories, just anecdotes. We grasp significance in what we take from each track, only abled by his achingly emotive drawl.

1. Present Tense - Wild Beasts

The Line Of Best Fit deems it to be the 'most intelligent, involving and profound record since OK Computer'.  A controversially bold claim for any major music site, for me especially considering OK Computer is my 2nd favourite album. The staggering quality of Present Tense means I genuinely debate with myself whether The Line of Best Fit could be right.

Songs

10. RIP Kevin Miller - Isaiah Rashad

9. Mecca - Wild Beasts

8. Weightless - Neneh Cherry

7. Man of the Year - Schoolboy Q

6. Digital Witness - St. Vincent

5. Dance Slow Decades - Angel Olsen

4. Carissa - Sun Kil Moon

3. Get Up - Young Fathers

2. Ben's My Friend - Sun Kil Moon

1. A Dog's Life - Wild Beasts