Album of the Week

Maximum Balloon

I almost didn't listen to this album at all. I know this sounds silly but words are important to me, usually that means the lyrics, but in this case it was the name of the band. Don't you think it sounds like the least amount of time ever spent thinking up a band name? Ever? Maximum Balloon. Hmph.

But if you can get past that, this is actually a truly exceptional album. Maybe Dave Sitek was just too busy producing great music to stop and think too much about the name? I did have another reason to be cautious though. Dave Sitek is one of the TV On The Radio boys and I do find their music a bit heavy going sometimes, just lots of noisy noises and not that much to hold my attention. Think of Maximum Balloon as like an accessible TVOTR. Or TV-lite. And very timely indeed. They seem to be the most achingly hip 'band's band' at the moment, it is becoming almost comical how many young emerging bands reference them so obviously. And I don't mind at all if it means I don't have to listen to the real thing.

Dave has some pretty cool friends too, and I can make no secret of my love for Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. A few of the other collaborating names I was not really aware of before, but they all add their own distinct flavour to each track. I guess he's kind of like a more credible Mark Ronson? Yeah, I like his album too, but don't tell anyone.

it is happening again

It is time to eat my words when it comes to this band. And not just this band, but basically most bands that Wes gets obsessed with then introduces me to and then I tell him it's boring. It happens alot. He really likes slow, considered composition that initially seems like it doesn't even have any melody. But then it creeps into your head and installs itself and you just can't get it out! Beach House has been described as 'dream pop'. Never even heard of it. I think they are kind of like The XX.  

Album of the Week

Okay, the Album of the Week post has been on a long hiatus, which is really just indicative of the state of my blog in general, but I now have so much new music on my iPod I don't know where to start! After some long and hard consideration I have decided to tell you about the latest Black Keys album. I chose this album this week because they kind of get my 'Most Improved' award. Well, that sounds really condescending, more like, they've really evolved and I'm liking their sound with a few more layers. I have watched the Black Keys with interest ever since I first heard their early singles on jjj but I never got as fully into them as I expected to. I guess their albums didn't grab me like their singles promised to. I will definitely be going back and reviewing their back-catalogue now, though. I always like to have the history and context of a band in my mind when I'm getting to know the new music. They used to sound very stripped-back like two guys in an old house with an eight-track and a guitar and that was it. Now, in a nutshell their sound is very dirty rock (rawk!), that's very bluesey, and more than a little bit Hendrix. 

I'm not turning this blog into a Danger Mouse fanpage, I promise, but he is responsible for producing yet another brilliant effort here. Where does he get his genius inspiration from and when does he sleep??

Album of the Week

This week I have discovered so much amazing new music! It was so hard to decide which one to tell you about first, but I think I will have to start with Broken Bells. I am such a massive Shins fan, and this one is a collab of James Mercer with Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse. The Shins are one of my favourite bands, and Danger Mouse is aptly tagged the 'hardest working man in showbiz' having worked with so many big big names as well as being one half of Gnarls Barkley. His style is not so obvious at first listen, as Mercer has written some lovely pop songs and my ear is always automatically drawn to vocals and lyrics, but these are underscored with some really interesting 'arrangements', instrumentals, and subtle electronic mixing.

And they're looking very snappy indeed...is Danger/Mr Mouse seriously wearing a peg-leg trouser suit?! And  James may be wearing some 'meggings' here (male leggings, duh). So cutting edge.

Getting my iPhone (and control of my own laptop back) has finally given me the inspiration to get my music library in order, which includes obtaining a few old faves like Toad The Wet Sprocket - Fall Down and Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You. Plus, Wes would never download me any pop songs, so now I have a little Bey and Britters to go with my Dirty Projectors! Should I be admitting that?

Album of the Week

There is no way I was not going to love this album. I have loved everything The Strokes have ever done. I have loved all the side projects to have come out of them so far. I loved every one of their so-called 'difficult' albums. The second one my friends didn't like, the third one the critics didn't like. I say don't believe any of them, I still play all three very loud and on very high rotation. So, when I finally updated my pod, this was a high priority. Julian Casablancas. Is a God. Oh no, sorry, of course that's not the name of the album, ahem, it's Phrazes For The Young. He has produced a great album, and most reviews have been very much favourable, but it does raise a lot of questions. Is it too much like The Strokes? Is he improving with age or just rehashing old ideas? I guess my concern is where will the next Strokes album go? More of the same? And if all the guys are doing so well in their side projects, will the main project end up getting sidelined? Lord, I hope not. No, by the way I am not religious, I am just praying to my God, Julian.

Album of the Week

Hurrah! The reason I haven't been doing my regular music posts is because it has been weeks since I've been game to update my 'Pod. Game, because iTunes keeps losing music and then when I go to update it, it deletes the stuff it lost! Stoo-pid I know. But I finally got up the courage to give it a go, as I realised it doesn't happen if you just update and don't let it Sync. I'm getting bogged down in the details, sorry.

So this morning is the first time I actually got to listen to Gossip's new album in its entirety, and I was blown away. I think the only song I knew was the single Heavy Cross, but they are all really catchy I felt like I could almost sing along straight away. Wes says this is a bad thing and that if you like music straight away, it means it is too pop-y and you will tire of it quickly. I don't work that way. I am not fickle with my music and once I like something alot, I like it forever. I love this cover artwork, too. At first I thought it was a bit strange, but it actually fits really well with the Gossip's ideals of challenging gender preconceptions. And it is so striking visually - that bone structure, wow!

Music of the Week

I am a baaad blogger. I'm sure nobody else even noticed how long it is since I've done an Album of the Week post. But I know. And I'm apologising for it right now. Busy...Christmas...New Year...yada yada. And yet I still don't really have an album review so to speak, more of a reminder: To vote in Triple J's Hottest 100 2009! My favourite, and reportedly the world's biggest, music poll, closes at midnight Sunday AEST. So get voting! This is one tradition from home (and summer) that I just cannot let go of. I love love love Triple J and its' Hottest 100 so much, not to mention the great memories of spending Australia Day listening to the broadcast while barbecuing or lolling about in a pool somewhere. I really take voting seriously, compiling lists, refreshing my memory by re-listening to tracks, and somehow slowly whittling it down to my 10 favourite tracks of the year that was. This year was actually not that hard, because I didn't know heaps of the songs (where have I been?) but I figure it's a great jumping off point for discovering new stuff I should already know about and would have heard if only I could listen to my beloved station regularly!

In case you were wondering, my choices were thus:

Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over (I think she might get number one, but not sure if she was as big in Aus as she was here)

Florence & The Machine - You've Got The Love (yes, two, but the year really did belong to her, didn't it?)

Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls

Kasabian - Fire (should hear me sing along to this one! If you've heard the song, you'll know what I'm talking about)

La Roux - Bulletproof

Metric - Gimme Sympathy

Passion Pit - Little Secrets (not their biggest song, so may be a wasted vote there, but I really like it alot better than the single, The Reeling)

Phoenix - Lisztomania (obv)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (tough choice between several tracks on this album)

Bertie Blackman - Byrds Of Prey (ditto)

Album of the Week

Was it to cure shellshock??

Off with your head! Dance til your dead!

You suddenly complete me...

I can't stop listening to Yeah Yeah Yeahs latest album, It's Blitz! I have long been in love with this awesome three-piece and not only because lead singer Karen O is so inspirational. They just write such amazing pop songs, they get me every time. Ever passion-filled, their sound continues to evolve, and is now laced with a dose of synth, which I am right into at the moment. It almost goes without saying that they are amazing live. I am sure, if you are a music lover like me you have heard stories about their tremendous performance exploits. Or, if you are a fashion lover, perhaps you have heard about Karen's crazy stage costumes which could range from a glittery leotard to a lion's head within the same show. We just missed out on tickets for their recent London gigs, but they are touring Australia at the moment, so anyone down there should get along to see them any way they can. In the meantime I will content myself with listening to my favourite tracks over and over and over.

Album of the Week

So the other day, I stumbled upon (not Stumbled Upon) The Brunettes somewhere or other, and was so impressed by what I heard, I had already decided I had to post about them this week. Then I listened even more and realised 'Hey! I know this B-A-B-Y song!'. I think it must have been played on triple j. It is great, but so are all their songs - quite catchy, yet mellow, not too poppie...basically they are indie. And they are a really quirky and cool couple, so, they are my new favourites!

ps. Definitely rethinking my original comments on Kasabian's other albums...

pps. Just finished my first week of work in my new job!!

ppps. Congratulations to my friends on the safe arrival of their new baby girl Natasha xxxx

Album of the Week

Forgot all about doing an Album of the Week last week as I was running around like crazy preparing for the weekend. Most of this week was spent recovering from said weekend, which incidentally involved dancing to alot of Florence and the Machine. So, after asking Wes for a recommendation, we have been kindly introduced to Pony Pony Run Run. Info about them is a bit thin on the ground, unfortunately. Apparently they have been around for a few years; I would describe their sound as electro-pop/rock; and they seem to be heavily into the current trend for bands and friends-of-bands remixing each other's stuff back and forth, and they even have a feature on their myspace where you can remix the tracks yourself.

Owing to their Frenchness, comparisons to Phoenix are probably unavoidable, and to be honest they do sound a little bit like them. But Phoenix are great, so is that such a bad thing? I do really like all the tracks I've heard so far. I think they remind me a bit of Passion Pit too, whom I also love, so all round, I can't see what's not to like about Pony Pony Run Run except the amount of concentration it takes to type their name! Their album 'You Need Pony Pony Run Run' is out now.

Album of the Week

Hurrah! I always have the highest expectations of Kasabian, and finally, this new album does not disappoint. Do I need to say the title? Really? Okay, but don't sue me if I get it wrong, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. I have always found that they are a band with great singles (more than great. Really, really great), but then not enough songs to back those up on an album, so I end up skipping to the tracks I know and find everything else a bit, well, boring. But this one is definitely a listen-all-the-way-through album, and I'm thinking I might have to discipline myself to have another go at their previous releases, just in case I missed any gems. They do write that kind of rock-pop with an awesome riff that is right up my alley. They are very catchy tunes, but here they add in a few twists and switching of genres so it doesn't get lumped in the Brit-pop bin, like I think they have been before. Don't they just look cool too? Obv I'm a sucker for a beardy-man and don't get me started on colonial military jackets! lol

Just listen to this album. You will like it.

Album of the Week

This album is particularly special, as Sleeping States is the brainchild of Markland Starkie, who was my lovely flatmate when I first moved to London. He is so talented, and this album was really well-received by the critics and now his music is popping up all over the place! It is so weird to hear someone you know featured on a proper radio station!

You must check him out. The music is very atmospheric and I particularly like the layering effect of the vocals, which he also replicates live. We are hoping we might be able to catch him at Scala in November. The album is called In The Gardens Of The North, and you can buy it from iTunes or probably lots of other places. How cool is this video??

Sleeping States - 'Gardens of the South'

Sleeping States | MySpace Video

Hear more on myspace, and he also has a blog.

Albums of the Week

Note that plural! I have so much new music that I'm keen to share that I can't wait to release it in the trickle that is weekly album posts. Maybe I should call it a 'Just updated my iPod' post. Note I am busying my blog with other things like music, in the hope that it won't notice I haven't posted any outfits in months! This is of course because I wear pretty much the same clothes everyday now (comfy and house-bound) and Wes is too busy with work to take photos of me :-(

So, I 'Just Updated My Ipod' with...

Dragonette - tipped off by Sportsgirl's blog, this is soo good, kind of like Lady Gaga but cooler. Maybe like Yeah Yeahs Yeahs but more electronic?

The Big Pink - really reminds me of something but can't put my finger on it. Good album, and it doesn't stop at the single (Dominos - they're using it on ads and stuff already). It's quite rock, which is a relief from all the electronica I've been listening to lately.

The Kooks - shouldn't like this at all. Rich pretty boys who went to talent school. All songs sound mostly the same. But I can't stop! I'm sorry.

Hockey - yes, so did everybody else this week!

Phoenix - ALL their albums as I'm going to see them soon, but I will be posting on that later...

Now I've got them all out of my system let's see if I can come up with anything next week!

Album of the Week

Everyone was going on about this album so much when it was released that I purposely stayed away from it, the stubborn teenager inside me determined not to jump on the bandwagon, my most hated thing to jump on, by the way.

But, having heard the songs so much on ads and the like, I found them constantly looping over and over in my head, and when I can't get a song out of my mind I just have to listen to it - it's the only way to get over it!

So, having reluctantly loaded it on my iPod, it has been on pretty high rotation all week. You know those songs that make you so happy you just want to sing at the top of your lungs, but you remember just in time that you are on a packed bus, or the treadmill at the gym? Yeah, there are a few of those. Then you get to the final track, and bliss - a pretty straightforward cover of 'You've Got the Love' from the SATC final episode!! Such great memories come flooding back whenever I hear that song.

So, all in all, definitely worth the download. Plus - famous redhead!

Album of the Week

I know this album has been out for awhile, but I've been listening to it on my iPod alot this week, and I wanted to make sure everybody knew about it, especially those not in Oz who might have missed it (what, you don't stay up til all hours to stream triplej?).

This chick is pretty amazing and this album is so powerful. At the risk of sounding cliche, I have liked her ever since I first heard that awesome single 'Favourite Jeans' a few years back. That song was sort of a 'happy times driving around on a hot summer's day singing along at the top of your lungs with your best friend' kind of song. But this album goes in an entirely new direction, and where Bertie goes, I'm happy to follow. It's all about the electro-y, pop-y, rock-y ballad-y goodness.

You should definitely check out her MySpace page. It's actually a really good page - does anyone else find it annoying when a page has no real information on it other than the music player and a gig list?

www.myspace.com/bertieblackman