Sepalcure - Sepalcure

Nic Newby likes this. If Enigma and Tycho had a child, I think it would be this album.

WU LYF – Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

 Nic Newby likes this.  Every song from this entire album felt like it could perfectly fit a montage scene from a movie about a road trip where the people don’t know each other very well at the beginning and know each other really well by the end and drive most of the way back home in complete silence after all they’ve been through together.  It’s exhilarating, happy, thrilling, sad, and drunken-group-singalong all rolled into one.  I’d give it another listen any day.

Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

The opening sounded epic and movie-soundtracky.  At first I thought Kate Bush’s voice was that of a pre-adolescent boy or perhaps a castrato.  But after the first song and a half or so, the album seemed to progressively wax self-indulgent.  I’m not opposed to self-indulgent music, but this was a little too much for me.  I can’t in good conscious “like” it because I know I won’t listen to it again.  Ironically, however, perhaps the single most indulgent track (50 Words for Snow) on the album was in fact my favorite.

Visions - Grimes

 Nic Newby likes this.  This album covers the whole story: from the call-to-arms of the Japanese against the Robot Army, to the desolation and meditation of war, to the victory Nirvana and post-traumatic-stress after winning the battle.  Much of it was beautifully accompanied by either Mariah Carey (track 5) or the Chipettes (multiple tracks).  I would definitely play it at a party.

Gauntlet Hair - Gauntlet Hair

 Nic Newby likes this.  The album makes me recall the feeling of driving on a long long stretch of empty highway, like across Kansas.  In a good way.

Painted Palms - Canopy EP

 Nic Newby likes this.  This album reminds me of just sitting on the beach when it's not too sunny and staring out over the water, not least of all because there was a lot of singing about water and some white noise that sounded like waves.

Tori Amos - Night of Hunters

 Nic Newby likes this.  It's about time New Tori started sounding like Old Tori (musically) but writing mature lyrics. I like it!

DJ Shadow - The Less You Know, The Better

 Nic Newby likes this.  This album made me cycle through the entire range of human emotion: that feeling like I'm in The Matrix, that feeling like I'm in Terminator 2, and that feeling like I'm in Moscow.

Feist - Metals

Feist is so hit or miss for me. There were a few songs that I liked on this album, especially the tension-building of the first song, but for the most part Feist in general is like a boring Florence + the Machine.

Twin Sister - In Heaven

 Nic Newby likes this.  This album ranged the whole gamut of sounds from 80's sitcom themesong to 80's fantasy movie to 80's western to 80's arcade game, all enveloped with a sweet, ethereal voice akin to Björk's. It made me feel like a kid being hugged by Björk!

Björk - Biophilia

 Nic Newby likes this.  Every time Björk puts out a new album I think "this is the one that's going to make me realize I just like her because she's Björk and not because she's still making great music."  And then I'm pleasantly surprised all over again.

Beyoncé - 4

 Nic Newby likes this.  I was understandably hesitant, because the album is called "4" and the first track is called "1+1." But Beyoncé has a panache for using a minimalistic and percussion-heavy sound in a way that makes you want to break up with your boyfriend and go out to the club to find a new boyfriend.

Wavves - Life Sux

I know I have said before that this kind of raw, gritty sound isn't my style. However, this is absolutely no exception.

Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls

 Nic Newby likes this.  This was just some good, old-fashioned, before-indie-rock-was-taken-over-by-hipsters indie rock.  They sound like they've just invented the genre and they sound like no one else and everyone else in the genre at the same time.  It was refreshing.

Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation

 Nic Newby likes this.  This album had a nice echo-ey, breath-y etherial sound, like the whole thing was being overheard from the back row at a mostly empty cathedral.  Good for a Monday morning.

Regina - Soite Mulle

 Nic Newby likes this.  I love French music!

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

 Nic Newby likes this.  It was like the song "Wake Up" from Arcade Fire, only for the entire duration of a 2-disc album. I loved it! So epic and grandiose!

Tycho - Dive

 Nic Newby like this.  This album is like the soundtrack to every dream I've ever had.  Especially the good ones.  But also the ones where I'm trying to run fast but am moving really slowly.  And the ones where I'm trying to talk but no words will come out.

Class Actress - Rapprocher

 Nic Newby likes this.  It was like girl Hot Chip, only more ambient. A really nice listen for a cold winter's night.

I should make a clarification here.  There are two classifications for me with music: music I like to hear and music I like to listen to.  This is music I like to hear.  I love having it on as atmosphere music, but I probably wouldn't get to the point of singing or dancing along.

Neon Indian - Era Extraña

 Nic Newby likes this.  I thought this was so video-gamey and melancholy that it surely must be what Samus Aran listened to inside her little helmet as she explored the foreign caverns of Zebes all alone. Plus it had a little bit of 80's twinge.

Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know

 Nic Newby likes this.  This was a good, fiery listen. It falls somewhere in between Tori Amos and Natalie Imbruglia (a wide range to fall in, I realize).

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

 Nic Newby likes this.  Having listened to "Marry Me" so many times in the last year, I was disappointed with the first 20 seconds or so of Strange Mercy. It wasn't as compelling right from the start. But then I was pleasantly surprised and pleased by the rest of the album. Another great piece by another great band.

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

 Nic Newby likes this.  Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The opening musical phrase on this album made me think I was about to hear The Cranberries. Then I thought I was listening to crunchy surf rock. Then it was a sadder and sadder tone until what I thought was a song about dying (Forgiveness). Then Love Like a River was very Pink Floydesque. Altogether, a really well-rounded album that was fun to listen to!

Elite Gymnastics - Ruin

 Nic Newby likes this.  No modesty here, I LOVED this album.  But I have a hard time putting a description into words.  The crossroads of Autechre and Skrillex seems a little sacrilegious but I'm going to say it anyway.

Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence

 Nic Newby likes this.  I didn't used to like Asobi Seksu, aside from the name, because they were too much of that "raw" sound I mentioned in a previous post not really liking.  But this album has the edge taken off to an extent that makes me like it, but leaves enough edge on to be Pj Harvey-esque only higher pitched.

Destroyer - Kaputt

 Nic Newby likes this.  The wide variety in sounds from this album, ranging from U2 (early, like Joshua Tree) to Belle & Sebastian to Al Stewart made me wonder if this was their first album.  But it didn't make me wonder so much that I did any research.  All in all, I liked it but I hope future albums go in the direction of some of their songs more than others.

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

 Nic Newby likes this.  It's like traditional Japanese folk singing meets Hot Chip!  Good music for waking slowly in the morning.

Active Child - You Are All I See

 Nic Newby likes this.  Somewhere between Sigur Ros, PJ Harvey, and Arcade Fire.  Maybe a little Florence in there too (maybe just the harp).  I liked it.  I would play it at a mellow party for sure.

Kanye West & Jay Z - Watch the Throne

I had a hard time getting into this album, and maybe I just wasn't in the right mood.  I liked the tone throughout most of it, but I wouldn't put it on my regular rotation.

Zola Jesus - Conatus

 Nic Newby likes this.  I definitely heard something that I would describe as "experimental and heavy Florence + The Machine" in there.  Nice album by which to find one's center, I'd say.

The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient

 Nic Newby likes this.  I didn't dislike the singing, but I definitely like the instrumental tracks better.  A very nice late-Radiohead feel.

Apologies and thoughts

I'd like to say, it's harder than I thought to keep up on one-a-day posts.  Even though I try to keep them brief, sometimes I have something to say about 3 or 8 albums and sometimes I just want to hear and not be heard.  BUT if I say "on average, one a day" then I can post 7 on one day and 0 for a week, right?  So I'll shoot for that.  Thanks for your loyalty.  On an unrelated note, have you ever noticed how similar "biotech" and "biotch" are?

Sellout

I would just like to comment here that I added the option for ads to appear on the side of this blog.  That's because someday I will have so many followers that I will be paid well for this blog.  Let's never forget that everyone has their price.

Widowspeak - Widowspeak

 Nic Newby likes this.  I did exactly what they wanted, which was try for hours and hours to figure out whether it was widow speak or widows peak.  Then after that, I decided that they sound like the love child of PJ Harvey and Carla Bruni.

The One AM Radio - Heaven is Attached By a Slender Thread

I didn't dislike it but it didn't do anything for me.  I can't solidly say "Like" because there was no point during the album where I was like "yeah, this is pretty cool."  Maybe lackluster is the word I'm looking for.

The Woods - Sun and Shade

 Nic Newby likes this.  The songs with vocals and the instrumental songs had very different vibes.  I liked them all but it made for an album that kept catching me off guard, and I'm not totally convinced it was in a good way.  I definitely preferred the instrumental tracks.

Whoopsie

Already slipping on my goal of posting at least one a day.  Hey!  Give me a break!  I'm new at this!

Beirut - The Rip Tide

 Nic Newby likes this. I'm fairly confident when I say this sounds a lot like DeVotchKa. I liked it a lot, but it was a little to bouncy for the mood I was in at the time of listening.

Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr. - It's a Corporate World

 Nic Newby likes this.  It's like the tolerably happy end of sad music for someone who's already sad.  Somewhat reminiscent of The Flaming Lips.