Several worthwhile releases last week.......Things I’ve Heard:
The Helio Sequence: Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop) – The Portland duo doesn't get much respect from the indie snobs. Pitchfork compared their last album to Dave Matthews and invoked Blues Traveler, which doesn't make any sense to me (although it does make more sense when you look at these Pitchfork writers' Myspace pages, personal blogs, poetry and see what kind of music they're into making). Helio Sequence is pretty good. They play dreamy,well constructed (mostly) electronic pop. You could easily hear a song like "Lately" or "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" in the background of a CW show and there's nothing wrong with that. They put on a powerful live show, which you can see at Spaceland on 2/26. Recommended for fans of the genre. Download “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”
Human Bell: Human Bell (Thrill Jockey) – This is Dave Heumann from Arbouretum and Nathan Bell from Lungfish. It's instrumental, largely acoustic music. I've been listening to it a lot while I work. Recommended for fans of the genre. Download "The Singing Trees"
Joe Jackson: Rain (Rykodisc) - This is Jackson with his original drummer and bass player. Jackson's a great piano player and writes really good songs. Sometimes it's nice to hear well crafted, professionally played music. I've been listening to this a lot more than I would have expected. See him at the Orpheum on May 13th.
The Helio Sequence: Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop) – The Portland duo doesn't get much respect from the indie snobs. Pitchfork compared their last album to Dave Matthews and invoked Blues Traveler, which doesn't make any sense to me (although it does make more sense when you look at these Pitchfork writers' Myspace pages, personal blogs, poetry and see what kind of music they're into making). Helio Sequence is pretty good. They play dreamy,well constructed (mostly) electronic pop. You could easily hear a song like "Lately" or "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" in the background of a CW show and there's nothing wrong with that. They put on a powerful live show, which you can see at Spaceland on 2/26. Recommended for fans of the genre. Download “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”
Human Bell: Human Bell (Thrill Jockey) – This is Dave Heumann from Arbouretum and Nathan Bell from Lungfish. It's instrumental, largely acoustic music. I've been listening to it a lot while I work. Recommended for fans of the genre. Download "The Singing Trees"
Joe Jackson: Rain (Rykodisc) - This is Jackson with his original drummer and bass player. Jackson's a great piano player and writes really good songs. Sometimes it's nice to hear well crafted, professionally played music. I've been listening to this a lot more than I would have expected. See him at the Orpheum on May 13th.
Radar Bros.: Auditorium (Merge) - I really like it and already wrote a long review of this record. See it here.
Thao: We Brave Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars) - Her voice is similar to Chan Marshall's (Cat Power) but her music is more upbeat and easy to listen to. See her at the Echo on 4/11. Download "Bag of Hammers" and "Beat (Health, Life, Fire)"
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend (XL Recordings) - There are few people in this world I identify with and care about less than east coast, prep school types. Vampire Weekend have been getting buzz for almost two years and I couldn't be bothered with them. Just the site of them in their Izod shirts and a glance at their song titles made my stomach turn a bit. When their publicist finally sent me their album a couple of months ago, I was very pleasantly surprised. It's the most immediately catchy indie pop to come along since those early Voxtrot and Little Ones songs. Hearing them sing about Wellesley girls, Louis Vuitton, Mansard roofs and oxford commas is still slightly annoying, but they more than make up for it with their catchy tunes. The fact that they're able to incorporate ska rhythms and not make it completely awful is a feat in itself. Highly recommended for fans of indie pop. See them live at Amoeba on Feb. 4th or at El Rey on 3/20 or Coachella on 4/25.
Local Interest:
[LOCAL] Beck: Odelay [Deluxe Edition] (Geffen)
Other Noteworthy New Releases:
The Blind Boys of Alabama, Dub Trio, Ida, Jeffrey Lewis, Louis XIV, Shelby Lynne, The Mars Volta, Willie Nelson, Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie), Xiu Xiu, Classic African American Gospel compilation
4 comments:
I don't read Pitchfork and I still don't like The Helio Sequence! :-)
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fair enough. but does helio sequence sound anything like Blues Traveler or Dave Matthews? that's just some indie dickhead trying to compare them to the most unhip bands he can think. it's not a helpful comparison in any way. blues traveler fans would hate helio sequence.
duke -- I agree with you. Helio Sequence does not sound anything like Blues Traveler or Dave Matthews.
who's Dave Matthews?
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