My Bloody Valentine – M B V [2013]

Title: M B V

Artist: My Bloody Valentine

Year of Release: 2013

A new album by My Bloody Valentine?! The music world screamed with delight the minute M B V was announced. Not that it was unexpected anyway. Band leader Kevin Shields has been teasing a new record for a pretty long time now, we just never knew when it would actually come out even though he would promise tentative release dates time and time again. Now that it’s finally here, the big question is: how does it hold up in their small but massively influential discography?

Atoms for Peace – AMOK [2013]

Title: AMOK

Artist: Atoms for Peace

Year of Release: 2013

Ever since Kid A, frontman Thom Yorke’s fascination with electronic dance music has had an unshakable influence on Radiohead’s core sound. However with their last studio effort (the abstract and frankly underwhelming The King of Limbs) it’s clear that Thom has greater ambitions that transcend the traditional rock getup of his primary band despite their constant flirtations with electronic sounds. Even though his solo effort The Eraser is as close to an intimate, personal statement as he can get (so far), his efforts grew too reminiscent of Radiohead’s more subdued tracks from albums like Amnesiac. Enter Atoms for Peace.

Night Beds – Country Sleep [2013]

Title: Country Sleep

Artist: Night Beds

Year of Release: 2013

“The name is tongue in cheek, but a lot of the music was developed at night, from listening to, or writing in my bed.” Winston Yellen explains the name of his project, Night Beds. Truly, the name befits the music; suited for those late nights doing nothing but laying down in bed in contemplation. Country Sleep – his major label debut – is chock full of introspective songs along with heart-achingly beautiful arrangements.

And So I Watch You From Afar – All Hail Bright Futures [2013]

Title: All Hail Bright Futures

Artist: And So I Watch You From Afar

Year of Release: 2013

All Hail And So I Watch You From Afar! Even after losing a founding member, they’re still going strong. They’ve just gotten a lot brighter, as if the album title All Hail Bright Futures isn’t enough indication. The band, who I consider as one of the best instrumental groups out there, decided to tone down on the metal guitars but add a lot of vibrant, colorful melodies into their math-rock equation that put them beside bands like Fang Island and Alt-J who expertly mix playfulness with technical prowess.

Iceage – You’re Nothing [2013]

Title: You’re Nothing

Artist: Iceage

Year of Release: 2013

Danish noise-punk quartet Iceage return with a blistering set of tracks, after their debut New Brigade. This time, You’re Nothing shows the group upping their ante. The songs are tight and refined; the lyrics have greater bite and the vocals. Well with frontman Johan sounding like he possesses dried-out lungs, they just sound really, really pissed.

Foals – Holy Fire [2013]

Title: Holy Fire

Artist: Foals

Year of Release: 2013

Foals are back with a huge truck-load of funk. After the jaunty math-pop of Antidotes and the rich, atmospheric indie-rock of Total Life Forever, the UK group dial up a healthy dose of ‘tropical funk’ into their third effort, Holy Fire. Ultimately a culmination of the sound they’ve meticulously crafted over the years, Foals present a tighter, punchier sound that explode out of the speakers courtesy of legends Flood & Alan Moulder (The Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine).

Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic [2013]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic

Artist: Foxygen

Year of Release: 2013

This two-piece from California has been making big waves on the Internet recently for all the right reasons. Aside from having the best band name since Japandroids and Ringo Deathstarr, their sophomore album We Are The 21^st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? No?) is an unashamedly fun ride into a genre-bending world where psychedelia, love, blues, shady spirituality, pop, soul and promiscuity collide.

Deftones – Koi No Yokan [2012]

Title: Koi No Yokan

Artist: Deftones

Year of Release: 2012

Deftones have been a band I’ve always admired ever since Diamond Eyes unleashed its power to my ears back in 2010. They’ve persevered on throughout the years in their career; be it the years where they struggled to stand out in a myriad of alt-metal bands in the late-90s, when they risked losing fans by experimenting heavily on their signature sound, internal conflict and of course, when bassist Chi Cheng met with an unfortunate accident in 2008 that has since left him bedridden and semi-conscious. Deftones are a resilient bunch and have been churning out solid material for the past few years. After Chi’s accident, the band as a whole was put into question; what happens next?

I’m back…kind of, sort of, maybe, I think.

Hi! It has been a while since I last posted. Where do I begin? I’ve been busy serving the nation (getting injured along the way) for the past few months. The time-consuming part is coming to an end soon though, which hopefully means I have more time to write. All this while, I’ve had the itch to write more that I have yet to satisfy.

It’s already December and yet there are a lot of albums I’ve yet to write reviews for. While this blog has been inactive, I’ve been contributing reviews to gig finder website (and second writing home) Bandwagon. Find for the Recent Record Reviews articles, where I’ve written about the new Deftones, Death Grips, Holograms, Pig Destroyer releases (among others). Not to mention the other fascinating reviews in those articles, written by the fantastic Bandwagon editorial team.

Thankfully, I’ve been tracking my favourite releases of 2012 on RateYourMusic since the middle of this year, so at least I’m not THAT out of date (but seriously I’ve missed out on a lot of new releases it’s pretty sad). I’ll begin posting reviews of those albums here soon (if I already haven’t).

Stay tuned and happy listening! 🙂

Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do [2012]

Title: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Artist: Fiona Apple

Year of Release: 2012

I have to admit I was never a fan of Fiona Apple before I listened to this album. Not because I didn’t like her music, I just never bothered to listen to any of her songs. Forgive me, music contains just so many artists for me to listen to that I end up neglecting the vast thousands out there that deserve to be heard. A downside of the Internet I guess (not that it necessarily isn’t a bad thing). Anyway, with her new release The Idler Wheel… gaining much fanfare (partly due to the return of a long album title), I thought it was due time I listen to her material.