Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
J. Spaceman aka J. Pierce and his cosmic band return for
their best album since their breakthrough Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating
In Outer Space. Drugs, pain, heartbreak have always been at the center of every
Spiritualized record, yet, Sweet Heart, Sweet Light hears the band hanging onto
something they have never discussed – hope. The album plays like a symphonic
masterpiece over electronic blips and beats with Spaceman’s signature vocal
style, the album is so lush in sound, it is hard not to play it as loud as
possible. Much like Ladies and Gentleman, Spiritualized reteam with the
legendary Dr. John for a number and prove to have created one of the years
best.
FINAL GRADE: A+
The Heartbreaks – Funtimes
We introduced you to Morcombe, England’s seaside sensation’s
The Heartbreaks over a year ago and now after all the waiting and wondering,
they finally released their fantastic debut LP, Funtimes. Produced by Orange
Juice’s Edwyn Collins, Funtimes brings the perfect combination of pop, rock,
soul, doo-wop all together on the years best debut release. Fans of all kinds
from The Vaccines to Bruno Mars will love this album, it is the perfect pop
record about love, loss and romantic confusion. While the wait for the record
may have been long than anticipated, it was well worth it. Funtimes will be one
of your favorite records of the year by one of your new favorite artists.
FINAL GRADE: A+
Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls
The blues-rock buzz band give us their debut and it lives up
to the hype. In the door opened by artists like Jack White and The Black Keys,
Alabama Shakes give us roots rock at it’s finest. Singer Brittany Howard has
proven she is one of the best new voices in rock and roll today and Boys and
Girls is record worth embracing.
FINAL GRADE: A
The New Jersey DIY punk trio return with mega producer Steve
Albini on a record worthy of praise. One of the most perfect punk records
released in years, Screaming Females have been a favorite with us since we saw
them open for Arctic Monkeys in 2009, the band have gone on to win audiences
around the country and now with Ugly, this will be the record that will put
them over the edge and make them critical darlings the world over.
FINAL GRADE: A-
Quakers
Geoff Barrow of Portishead assembles an all-star indie
hip-hop line-up for a massive genre defining record. A 41-track album qualifies
more for listening marathon but Barrow brings for Smif N Wesson, Guilty
Simpson, Coin Locker Kid and many more for something fans of indie and hip-hop
should listen to.
FINAL GRADE: A-
FINAL GRADE: A-
The Dig – Midnight Flowers
New York City indie sci-fi rockers return with their
sophomore release and do not suffer the ill fated “sophomore slump,” most bands
get into. Following the 2010 release of their debut, Electric Toys, The Dig
bring more atmosphere and curiosity, romanticism and mysteriousness to their sound with Midnight Flowers. A solid release and shows
the band progressing in all the right directions.
FINAL GRADE: B+
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives – Throw It To The Universe
Sweden’s space / psychedelic ensemble return three years
after the release of their ambitious double album, Communion with a solid and
conscious new album. Throw it to the Universe is everything we have come to
love about TSOOL over the years, it is a perfect record for fans, while it
sustains the sound they have crafted and mastered for so long, it does not
venture into too distant territory, it is still a solid release.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Miike Snow – Happy to You
Sweden’s favorite dance masters return with a new album and
lighter sound but still show how much fun they can have. While, Happy to You is
a much more mellow release in comparison to the band’s self-titled 2010 debut,
it still is a pleasure listening to, especially when Lykke Li collaborates on
“Black Tin Box.”
FINAL GRADE: B
Rusko – Songs
On his third album, Rusko still brings dirty, hard hitting
beats and enough movers and shakers on one record to create an instant dance
party.
FINAL GRADE: B
Orbital – Wonky
The U.K. electronic duo arrive in a new era where dance
music seems to have taken over the world and DJ’s are the new rock stars, yet
Wonky still shows that you can never mess with an original. Bringing the
Madchester scene back to life, Wonky is Orbital flexing muscle and years of
work to the new generation.
FINAL GRADE: B
Jack White – Blunderbuss
Jack White goes solo for the first time and makes a Jack
White record. Blunderbuss is a unyielding blues-rock record from a man who
helped usher blues rock back into the mainstream, however, much like his work
with The White Stripes, Racontours, Dead Weather it has his musical imprint all
over and is not too diverse for someone who we all hail with such regard.
FINAL GRADE: B
Plug 1 and Plug 2 Present First Serve
De La Soul’s Plug 1 and Plug 2 bring team up for a departure
from their main outfit and bring us First Serve – a concept record that plays
like a conversation more than it does a hip-hop record. Speaking about social
issues, life and how to live, First Serve is a throwback hip-hop record of
sorts that makes us remember 90’s glory days of hip-hop.
FINAL GRADE: B
Civil Twilight – Holy Weather
The South African three piece with inspiration from Coldplay
and Keane showed much promise early in their career, yet their latest record
just sounds like a generic pop-rock radio-friendly album to gain commercial
attention.
FINAL GRADE: C
Our Lady Peace – Curve
Sometimes band’s peak early in their career and then later
on they fall apart. Canada’s Our Lady Peace were one of those band’s that saw
some of their best material arrive in the 90’s, then as the turn of the century
happened, they got better with records like Spiritual Machines and Gravity. As
they got better, they also got bigger commercially and released Healthy In
Paranoid Times in 2005 and for purposes of this review, we will say it was the
last good OLP album. After 2010’s disappointing Burn Burn, the band comeback
with a new record that almost makes it embarrassing to ever say you were a fan.
Curve is as generic and as flat and dull as it gets, it hears a band trying
their hardest to stay relevant and fail miserably.
FINAL GRADE: F
