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The Suburbs (2010), Arcade Fire
The Suburbs is a polished album that evokes memories from the band’s childhood. “If I could have it back” sings Butler at the end of it all in a quiet reprise of the title track.
There are no anthems in this recording, as with previous efforts, but what it does offer is a lot of hidden details in each of the songs that with each hearing makes it extremely good.
A favorite for not only the season but for the ages.
It does require constant effort to really appreciate the album as a whole, instead of just a couple of singles, it is quite a strong concept album and it deserves to be heard in its entirety each time if possible.
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Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and David Gilmour will reunite again
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Live Aid 25 years later (photos)
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Pink Floyd's Gilmour and Waters Stun Crowd With Surprise Reunion
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Stomacher - Untitled/Dark Divider
Great music from this bay area band
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New Arcade Fire Album to Feature Eight Different Album Covers
(via s-duncan)
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The Wooden Birds - False Alarm
Since the American Analog Set has gone on hiatus, I’ve been waiting to hear something (anything!) from frontman Andrew Kenny. He put out a great few tracks on a split EP with Ben Gibbard and I wondered what a full on solo album would sound like. Well, it’s not technically a solo album, but the debut by The Wooden Birds, Kenny’s new endeavour, certainly FEELS like a solo album. The sound is incredibly organic, utilizing predominately acoustic guitars, soft percussion, and Kenny’s distinctive whisper-like vocals. There’s still a bit of that signature guitar sound, but it’s clearer and more subdued than any AmAnSet album. The Wooden Birds is one of 2009’s tiny pleasures. -
The Wooden Birds, Magnolia (2009)
Andrew Kenny offers a musical heaven in the form of his new band, The Wooden Birds with this release.
The album indeed has a lot of the textures, weird lyrics, and sounds found in his previous band, The American Analog Set, but with a slight difference, the songs are completely acoustic and feature minimal percussions.
The male & female voices blend beautifully in some instances while the mellow guitar strikes each note with a such delicate manner that keeps each song interesting enough to continue until the very end.
This is a very subtle record that shows the honest nature of his members and capacity to smooth the very saturated space in the music world that sometimes uses too much to give us so little.
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The Pretenders, Brass in Pocket
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The Black Keys, Brothers (2010)
The new album by the Black Keys certainly feels like a long and pleasant romance, because their classic rooted style seems intact but they keep doing interesting things with each song in a way that you don’t feel ripped off, it does feel fresh and different, almost like an evolution.
The energy of each song flows nicely through out the whole album, we have a nice rocky instrumental (black mud), the nasty rocker (sinister kid) and the love songs , it’s like the band is making us an offer we can’t refuse from beginning to end.
