New Music

A lot of you have been writing in and asking "Hey T, you have impeccable taste in music (and are attractive and modest, too). What are you listening to these days?"

Well, friends, here is a list of things I've put on my iPod in in the last month. I'll also put a little score (from 1 to 5) and maybe a brief comment so you know what I like.

• Ms. John Soda - "Notes and the Like" - 3/5
  Good but not great. If you wanna hear a great Ms. John Soda album, but up "No P. or D." German Electro-pop.
• The Raconteurs - "Broken Boy Soldiers" - 2/5
  Not getting much play. I much prefer the older Stripes material.
• The Angels of Light - "The Angels of Light Sing 'Other People'" - ?/5
  I haven't given this enough of a chance. Great cover, and from Young God Records, so it has some potential.
• The Unicorns - "Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?" - ?/5
  Again, needs a few more listens. I've been meaning to check out this lengendary band for a while. It's on my list of things to do today.
• Low - "The Great Destroyer" - 3/5
  I really wanted to like this a lot, but find it only allright. Lots of great press, and I like it, I just don't love it.
• CocoRosie - "La Maison de Mon Reve" - 3/5
  More of an interesting listen than something you go back to again and again. Interesting songs and found sounds, and some truly haunting vocals.
• Thom Yorke - "The Eraser" - 4/5
  This one is growing on me. I really enjoy 7 or the 9 songs. The other 2 still haven't found their way into my heart. Imagine the most electronic of songs from Kid A, and then imagine an entire album of those songs, and you've got "The Eraser"
• Couch - "Figur 5" - 4/5
  Instrumental German rock, with a touch of electronic tossed in. Great tunes and melodies. Somewhat repetitive in a very good way.
• Beirut - "Gulag Orchestar" - 4/5
  interesting CD, lots of eastern European sounds, but coming from Zach Condon, a 19 year old kid from Albuquerque.
• Destroyer - "Notorious Lightening and Other Works" - (3?)/5
  I really wanted to love this. I've been digging "This Night" and "Streethawk" a lot recently. This EP is a full band reworking of 6 songs from the keyboard heavy "Your Blues." It deserves a few more listens, but the older (and newer) stuff is treating me better.
• Three Mile Pilot - "Three Mile Pilot" - (2?)/5
  I picked this up on the strength of and MP3 I'd dowloaded last year, 'On A Ship to Bangladesh.' That song is the true highlight of this 5 song EP. Not the the other tracks are terrible, they just pale in comparison to 'Bangladesh' (which you can download free from Epitonic, BTW).
• Oval - "94 Diskont" - 3/5
  Very early example of glitchy IDM. These guys manually scratch and draw on CDs (most notable some Aphex Twin), recorded the skipping playback, and the work them into ambient beauty. Not the most exciting listen, but fascinating and enjoyable nonetheless.
• Tapes 'n Tapes - "The Loon" - 3/5
  Good, straightforward indie rock. A little cliched, a little predictable, but a totally enjoyable listen.

And that's it. Any questions of comments, let me know.