i'm willing to bet that i'm not the only one that has been waiting impatiently to hear the new broken social scene album. i guess the album has been officially leaked now that bss feel the need to announce it on their website. so what is the verdict? it's not you forgot it in people. it sounds more chaotic and less poopy. windsurfing nation, (zip file) which any bss fan has heard by now, is a stellar song. in short, it is not the album i dreamed of but neither the album that i feared after seeing them on olympic island this summer. it somehow feels a little loose knit, like the band just had a big party - kinda like the band is having more fun playing than you listening. of course, repeated listening may chance this - great albums are rarely great at first listen. anyhow, the good news is that bss is also releasing a limited edition ep (7 more songs) on the same day as the album... oh joy.
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another album i have been dying to hear is calla's collisions. televise and scavengers are two of the best albums released in the last few years and it is a shame that calla hasn't caught everyone's ear yet. calla apparently thinks so too because collisions strikes a little poppier note than previous releases as hinted at by their (excellent) shows over the last year. unfortunately this comes at a cost - the nice "calla-sound" is almost missing here. previous releases sounded a little dark, a little miserable, and a little mysterious. now the lyrics seem a little to straightforward and the choruses too big. but despite all my complaints the album really is pretty good - it just didn't live up to my, perhaps unreasonable, expectations. if you haven't heard calla before, start with televise though.
it dawned on me
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ah, mf doom... not that one ever needs to wait impatiently for an mf doom release since he releases about 43 albums a year. nevertheless, many have been excited about the pairing of mf doom and dangermouse - the grey album guy. i wasn't too crazy about the grey album - though i did think it was an improvement on the white album, which, honestly, was rubbish. dangermouse's work here sounded a little flat here at first, and perhaps a little derivative of mf doom's production style and you wonder what is the point of a collaboration if you aren't bringing anything new to the mix. but to be fair, the beats grow on you and despite a slight initial disappointment (a theme here?) I now manage to thoroughly like the album - much like it took me a while to get into mm food. it is no madvillainy, of course, but yet another solid mf doom album (the 28th this year, i think).
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just because i have the links handy: Rogue Wave: 10:1
& Of Montreal: requiem for omm2
& the new pornographers: use it
& wolf parade: you are...
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i caught the red sparrowes opening up for zombi and breather resist last night and, well, this band is the shit. they were so good that i just left after they played because there was no way the other bands could compete (and, ok, i was feeling a little sick and tired). their album is strong contender for the album of the year in my book and live they are even better. catch them if you can....
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