This time tomorrow I will be headed to the other side of the world. Not sure how long it will be before I settle back down into the music blogging mode. If you’re interested though check out my adventure at sokoandlime.com

Rest assured though I have a big list of new music to listen to on the plane ride. Y’all can expect upcoming reviews of new stuff by:

Raphael Saadiq

Of Montreal

The Antlers

Okkervil River

Wye Oak

The Vivian Girls

I’m From Barcelona

Holy Ghost!

Girls Names

The Generationals

The Beastie Boys

The Luyas

MEN

and The Vaccines

Can’t wait to start listening!

Am I the only one that finds it difficult to sit down and listen to an hour of instrumental guitar music in one sitting? And thats not to bash this album or Explosions in the Sky in general. As far as lengthy instrumental guitar music goes, this is pretty damn good. I just always feel like I’m waiting for something that never arrives. Anyways, this album is basically the same thing Explosions in the Sky has done throughout their career. It’s well composed ‘post-rock’ that does a really great job of conveying intense emotions. It’s the type of music that is easy to make up a story for. Probably the most ‘cinematic’ album that I’ve listened to this year. Not surprising considering how stellar the band’s work was on the “Friday Night Lights” soundtrack years ago. In short though, unless I’m making a movie or feeling really emotionally scattered I’m not sure when I’m gonna listen to this again.

Listen to “Human Qualities”

Take care, take care, take care: 3 out of 5

Music Sounds Better With You by Acid House Kings

A collection of music this ‘sweet’ and ‘kewt’ just shouldn’t have the right to be any good, but for some reason I completely diggin’ this one. Maybe it’s just because it’s spring and the weather is warming up and I’m in a particularly good and unsnarky mood these days. Maybe, it’s because Acid House Kings harvest a nice collection of retro influences to keep it classy. Maybe though, it’s just that these guys know how to effing play pop music. The whole thing is really a clinic in all things sugary sweet. “Would You Say Stop?” is the type of track that will have just about anyone boppin around innocently in no time. Then there is “(I’m in) a Chorus Line” which is an absurdly catchy song that has the instrumental feel of a particularly bouncy Jens Lekman tune. Overall you might get the musical equivelant to a cavity, but it’s probably really worth it.

Music Sounds Better With You: 4 out of 5

The cave singers, more so than almost any other band, have a way of making me feel comfortable and at ease. Maybe it’s lead singer Pete Quirk’s way of crawling through the lyrics with his trademark grainy voice. Maybe it’s the relative simplicity of the key elements of their songs. Whatever it is, it gets me. “No Witch” has a rustic, but not at all antiquated quality that is hard to pin point. It’s the type of music that the band seems to feel so at ease making that at times it feels like Quirk is just improvising the verses. In general, The Cave Singers keep things pretty low key, but their are enough exuberant and rowdy numbers to avoid any sort of monotony. Every once in a while a record comes along that just ‘fits’ with me. This is one of those records.

All Land Crabs and Divinity Ghosts MP3

No Witch: 5 out of 5

Mirrorwriting by Jamie Woon

This is another one of those semi-dubstep / hipster pseudo-R&B type deals. And I can’t say that I’m a big fan. It is however significantly better than that James Blake album in my eyes because it does actually sound like music as opposed to a broken 80′s cassette player. Also, Woon can really sing (even without the help of autotune). In general though I just found this record undeniably boring. It doesn’t even have the raw sex appeal of that album by ‘The Weeknd’. The only track worth mentioning was “Night Air”, a quiet to loud gem that’s carried by Woon’s smooth vocals and is just way cooler than anything else on the album.

Mirrorwriting: 2 out of 5

This is the type of music that just warms the soul.

Pretty amped that MGMT decided to play an impromptu concert on the White House lawn. Would’ve been more amped if they didn’t play anything off of “Congratulations”. Can’t believe they even played ‘Kids’! Feelin’ like this is a monumental moment in ‘indie’ history. A moment that brought us all together. Never really known a world in which MGMT was ‘good’ live, or ‘cared’ about their fans. Think that everything is about to change. Just glad I got to return (for a while at least)  to a simpler time when there was an album with 3 songs that defined my fun loving life.  Just wanna go back to summer 09.

Which of the ‘big 3′ MGMT songs define you?

Did the founding fathers realize how chill it would be to chant our country’s name?

Were you amped last night? Or is MGMT already ‘over’?

Did ‘kids’ restore your faith in America?

Punctuation in band names is an epidemic. Maybe some straight-forward and danceable electro is the cure.

It’s amazing how a band that formed in 1976 can still sound so relevant today. Forget ‘indie-dads’ these guys are ‘indie-grandparents’. I’m not completely sure if  The Feelies are ‘timeless’ or if they just have adapted really well. Although, I’m leaning towards a conclusion that is closer to the former. I think I feel the same way about them as I do REM. It’s like their sound is timelessly ‘un-hip’, in the best sort of way. They are the sort of band that has never given any sort of mention or nod to what is trendy in the industry during their 4o some years of making music. “Here Before” is for the most part a remarkable combination of meticulously layered guitar, and Glenn Mercer’s trademark soulful buzz of a voice. ‘Grace’ and ‘class’ are two words that come to mind while listening to this one.

Listen to Morning Comes

Here Before: 4 out of 5

A Part of Something Bigger by The Eclectic Moniker

If tropical electro isn’t what you instinctively think of when you think of Denmark. Then you are in the same boat as me. Especially if you don’t really think of anything outside of windmills when you think of Denmark. Windmills are Denmark right?… Anyways, “A Part of Something Bigger” is a quick little 4 song ep filled with nothing but warm equatorial breezes and drum machines. The lead track “Easter Island” was almost too much for me to handle. With all the steel drums/marimbas it felt like I was listening to a ‘Sandals’ commercial or watching Weekend at Bernie’s 2 or something. You could say that track was a bit tacky. But I’m glad I stuck with it because the rest of this ep was much more tasteful and much less phony. “A Part of Something Bigger” is  full of gentle electronic beats accented by hints of umbrella’d drinks and sunburn. It’s all pretty legit, especially the song “2 officers”.

Download the whole ep here for free

A Part of Something Bigger: 4 out of 5

Blood Pressures by The Kills

The Kills keep chuggin’ on with another collection of gritty ‘indie biker chick’ rock songs. I imagine they do pretty well with the ‘Roller Derby’ demographic. “Blood Pressures” is an album that definitely rocks. No doubt about that. It’s just also an album that sits kind of heavy with me. Not in the sense that it dealt with a lot of sad or downtrodden subject matter, but all that ‘tough girl’ (or guy) vibe just starts sit with me the same way that eating too much fried food sits in my stomach. It’s just something I personally can only take in limited quantities. That shouldn’t stop you from giving it a listen if you so desire, and mean mugging anyone in your path.

Blood Pressures: 3 out of 5

These guys sound like an updated and better version of the stuff I grew up listening to.

VISIONS by Airlines

This is a really pleasant surprise of a release. It’s a quick 4 song electronic ep, that’s shockingly diverse in sound. The lead single “Burial Grounds” is a sprawling, tropically retro sounding track that would easily have been the best song on the last ‘Cut Copy’ album IMO. While “Colors” is a spastic and funky ‘Yeasayeresque’ trip to the land of semi-psychedelia. A lot of electronic groups have songs that feel like they are 1 or 2 minutes too long. But not these guys. This one holds your interest from start to finish.

Get and listen to the EP here!

VISIONS: 4  out of 5

Wit’s End by Cass McCombs

McComb’s 09 release ‘Catacombs’ was a stunning multi-dimensional folk album that balanced big emotions with playful lyricism.  Unfortunately, I never really got into his latest work ‘Wit’s End’. While, “The Lonely Doll” is a painfully pretty metaphor of a song. The rest of the album simply seems to maintain this drawn out overly delicate,  ‘music box’ type feel throughout. Leaving in it’s wake a very sleepy amateur music listener.

Wit’s End: 2 out of 5
Hit after Hit by Sonny and the Sunsets

Outside of Calvin Johnson, I’m not sure anyone has as keen a knack for creating massive quantities of jangly, innocent and at times goofy rock songs as Sonny Smith. The major difference being that Sonny’s songs  are probably a bit more ‘California’ and care free. ‘Hit After Hit’ is an aptly named album that keeps the 2 minute long, retro garage-pop gems coming one after the other. Major summer album alert y’all.

Listen to Teenage Thugs

Hit After Hit: 4.5 out of 5.

No Problem by Jamaica

This album strikes me as some sort of middle ground between ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Free Energy’.  Only not as precisely played / unique as the former and not as energetic / sincere as the latter. It’s a straightforward effort that tries to hit you with as many ‘hooky’ power pop jams as possible. The problem lies in the fact that only 1, maybe 2 of these tracks are memorable.

No Problem: 2 out of 5

W h o k i l l  by Tune-Yards

To say “W h o k i l l” is out there, is a major understatement. I imagine this is what it would be like to do ecstasy and speed at the same time. At times it’s off the wall fun. At other times it’s schizophrenic. In general though,  the hyper dance party portions outweigh the borderline creepy portions. There is a lot going on here but when it all comes together on tracks like “Gangsta” the end result is something along the lines of a ‘freak-folk’/free form jazz version of Vampire Weekend that is surprisingly kickin’.

W h o k i l l: 3.5 out of 5

What a Pleasure by Beach Fossils

Beach Fossils always kind of feel like the nostalgic suburban summers of one’s adolescence. On “What a Pleasure” the band basically continues with the same dreamy shoegaze style they created on their debut. The sound of the two releases is shockingly similar, with the only major difference being that now the lead vocals seem a little less hazy and more seperated from the rest of the track. The relaxing and immaculately played guitars are still the undeniable star of the Ep however. As much as I kind of want to dismiss this as ‘nothing new’ for the Brooklyn based outfit, I can’t help but find myself continually drawn in to the hypnotic ‘summer vacation’ that Dustin Payseur develops.

What a Pleasure: 4 out of 5

Jonny by Jonny

Jonny is a collaborition between Euros Childs and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. Most of the album tries to focus on a toned down version of the psychedelic pop that ‘Woods’ has revitalized. Most of the time though it hovers around a substandard immitation of that. Or worse, a really wimpy version of ‘The Kills’. I think Jonny is actually at it’s best  on tracks like “Circling The Sun” when the project harvess the same brand of charming pop that Teenage Fanclub made a living off of.

Listen to “Circling the Sun”

Jonny: 2.5 out of 5

Dream-wave, lazy summer-core,  chill-fi, hazelectro = May 2011