song writeups

sasha - involver

sasha is an internationally known dj from the uk. he played live8 in germany and plays the occasional show in the us but usually only in nyc and la. he was at a summerfest at the borgata last year but i, sadly, missed him.

this album is one of the finest mix records ever made because he deconstructs each song and integrates the entire set into a single piece of music. the song selection is eclectic from shpongle (an israeli guitarist/producer) to grand national (big on the UK pop charts) and lots of stops in between. the mix of lostep's tune burma packs a great vibe.

i can literally listen to this record on repeat over and over again. its a classic in electronica.



gorillaz - demon days
the singer from the britpoprock band "blur" and the cartoonist who created "tank girl" combine with a ton of guest peeps (including a spoken word piece by dennis hopper) to create a really weird-ass record that i've listened to a lot over the last few months.


cary brothers

i orginally heard one of the tunes on this e.p. on the garden state soundtrack. the rest of the songs on the e.p. are really good too. short but well worth the listen.



wheat - hope & adams / per second per second per second... every second

trio from boston. good pop songs along with some solid alternative instrumentation and engineering. some of the songs are superfluous but by and large these are great offerings. hope & adams is their first record. per second was their... uh second.


air - talkie walkie

fairly famous worldwide, big in the uk, this french duo has been pumping out albums and soundtracks (the virgin suicides) for a long time now. i heard one of their tunes on the lost in translation soundtrack and then had my high opinion of them backed up by my friend jared, who told me which records to check out. i wasn't disappointed by any of them but this album, walkie talkie, strikes a nerve with me. i really like it a lot.



squarepusher - hard normal daddy

this guy is a freak. starting his musical life as a jazz bassist and drummer he got into electronica and is often mentioned with hardcore insane person, aphex twin. he seems to mention the fact that he's after the "mindfuck" in interviews, giving people something to listen to that they wouldn't be able to suss on a first listen. is it drum & bass or is it jazz? is it electronica or is it straight jazz. there are no easy answers with squarepusher. one thing that can be said without reservation is that he's an awesome bass player and easily one of the best drum programmers i've ever heard.


stereophonics - language sex violence other....

this record was a revelation for me. the singer was described by esquire as having an entire pack of marlboros lodged in his throat but, putting that aside, there is some very solid song writing and excellent instrumentation on this album. there are some standouts like dakota and superman but the entire album is a great effort and i love cranking it up.



bloc party - silent alarm

best album of the year. read sidechain.blogspot.com to see my superlatives. its an incredible album from the first note to the last. i reallly really like it.



coldplay -

these motherfuckers are really good. popular or not, its hard to dispute how good the songwriting and instrumetation are on this album.