Album of the Day: alt-J - An Awesome Wave

Should I call them delta? alt-J? ∆? I don't know. I know it's pretty awesome though - stick with it for the first few songs. It has echos of Fink, maybe a little B. Fleischmann/Electric President/The Antlers melancholy, a dash of folk, and clever, clever songwriting. Highly recommended - I've had it in regular rotation for a while now.

Album of the Day: Looper - The Geometrid

Looper, hailing from Scotland, have made a couple of fun albums. Sadly, I haven't heard anything from them for the last decade. Still, there are some really amusing songs on this album, "Modem Song" may be the geekiest song I've ever heard.

Album of the Day: Bonobo - Dial 'M' For Monkey

Dial M is laid-back. Very laid-back. Like Fridays should be. So kick back, relax, here comes the weekend. Ohhhhh yeah.

Album of the Day: The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends

What do Bon Iver, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Prefuse 73, Tame Impala, Jim James, Nick Cave, Lightning Bolt, Yoko Ono, Ke$ha, Biz Markie, Neon Indian, and Erykah Badu have in common? Why, they all feature on this new Flaming Lips record. Weirdness and noise guaranteed.

Read this interview to see how it all came about. It's a fun read.

Album of the Day: The Dodos - Visiter

Looking through my posts, I have not yet posted a single album by The Dodos. INCONCEIVABLE. This must be corrected. One of my all-time favorite albums, by the way.

Album of the Day: Lou Reed - Rock 'n Roll Animal & Lou Reed Live

Glam rock isn't really my thing but damn Lou Reed knows how to rock a set. Just 5 songs on the album for a total of 40-ish minutes of pure rock 'n roll, recorded live in 1973 at the Palladium in NY. I've always been fascinated by Reed, his life has taken some remarkable twists and turns. I remember seeing him live about a decade ago - he performed several of his classics and there were all these fairly old people in the hall (which had seats. Seats!) and they were all sitting around while this guy was rocking his heart out. Well, screw that - I rocked out too. It was great. The other half of the concert is available as "Lou Reed Live" and while it also contains some great songs, I like this one better. But I've linked both so you can make up your own mind. Enjoy.

 

Album of the Day: The National - High Violet

If there is any band I could petition to release a new album TODAY it would be The National. My god, what a sound. What a voice. What amazing arrangements. There isn't another album in my collection with this many 4 and 5 star ratings for songs. In 2011 The National were nominated for a Brit Award for 'International Breakthrough Act' and lost out to Justin Bieber. Justin Fucking Bieber. There is no justice in this world. Console yourself by listening to this.

Album of the Day: Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Time for an absolute classic. If you do not know this album, hang your head in shame. Hang it! Then listen. And if you don't see why it is brilliant the first time around, listen to it again. And again. Until you get it.

Album of the Day: Lamb - Lamb

This was an amazing debut album and has remained among my favorites. I always expected Lamb to become massively famous but they always remained sort of a cult-y festival-y band. I've seen them perform live a couple of times and was blown away every single time.If you're only going to listen to one song, pick "Cotton Wool".

Album of the Day: Mike Doughty - HOT SUMMER WEATHER SUPER HAPPY BONUS DOUBLE ALBUM FEATURE

Fooking 'ell, it's 30 °C here. I'M MELTING! MEEEEEEELTIIIIIIIING!

Album of the Day: American Analog Set - Know By Heart

Argh, I just lost most of the day to a bad stick of RAM in one of my computers. Took me a while to figure out that it was the RAM that had gone bad. Random crashes, kerneldumps, tons of fun. Eventually I saw the non-pattern pattern (because random stuff just kept crashing left and right especially under load - which was variable), downloaded Memtest86+, and sure enough, bad RAM is bad. Jolly good fun. Thankfully I had another stick somewhere that tested OK. All good now.

So I need to chill out a little. Therefore, AnAmSet. I feel better already.

Album of the Day: Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River

As Sea Wolf are gearing up to release a new album this September, let's revisit their 2007 album Leaves In The River. "Neutral Ground" and "Leaves In The River", the album's two softer songs/ballads are absolutely smashing (or I'm a sucker for melancholy, which is probably true). But there are a couple of currents running through this album, ranging from straight up indie rock through folk to an sea shanty-feeling with hints of haunting. They bear exploring.

Album of the Day: Lost in the Trees - All Alone In An Empty House

Lost in the Trees isn't an easy band to categorize. Wikipedia settles for "an American orchestral folk pop band" which is amazingly awkward. From the stunning, unnerving and haunting title track to the beautiful contemporary classical found in Sketch mvt. I&II, this is a record which deserves your full attention - I mean really listen, not have it on in the background as you go about your day.

In a 2010 SXSW interview the lead singer lists among his influences Beethoven, Radiohead, Vivaldi, Neutral Milk Hotel, Saint-Saëns, and OutKast. I can see that. The band takes all that and produces its own rich, deep, and rewarding brand of, ahem, "American orchestral folk pop".

Saturday is Make Some Noise Day: Photek - Form & Function Vol. 2

Almost 10 years between this 2007 album and the 1998 Form & Function.Where F&F 1 was dark, minimal, and austere this one is dark and pulls out all the stops. Make some noise, indeed.

 

Here's the original 1997 album too, just because I'm nice that way. Also I do like it somewhat better.

Album of the Day: Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again [Disc 2]

This is a 2-CD release and CD 1 is a typical retro soul album with early 70s strings, flutes and all the trimmings. CD 2 features some of the same tracks but with less instruments thrown in and I think it makes the guy's voice come out beautifully.

Oh go on have the first album as well. For comparison.

Album of the Day: Beastie Boys - The In Sound From Way Out

The mellow mood continues, I'm fiddling away on my lab, some nice laid-back non-intrusive music is called for. Background music. This 1996 album brings you the Beastie Boys like you rarely hear them; performing a relaxed semi-acoustic selection of their songs.

Album of the Day: Bruno Morais - A Vontade Superstar

And now for something completely different. I don't know much about this guy except that he's Brazilian and the album swings like crazy.

Album of the Day: Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days

Sunday chill time - something calm, relaxing, and laid-back. The track "Cinder and Smoke" is on my all-time favorites list.

Saturday is Make Some Noise day: Klute - Casual Bodies

Yaaaaay make some noise day! How about the debut album of Klute? That'll do pig, that'll do.

Album of the Day: Kaki King - Junior

I'd never heard of Kaki King until she released an EP together with the Mountain Goats which caught my eyes. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of her voice but she is an amazing guitar player; I'm not the only one who thinks so. Aside from that, there are 5 released albums to explore and one upcoming, and the sound of each is quite different; they are well worth exploring.