- Battles - Mirrored. It's prog, with nods to King Crimson, but with a modern post-rock feel and no wanky soloing; it's like Tortoise but aggressive. Vocals are scarce, mostly wordless, often used instrumentally, Bjork-like; sometimes they sound like the singer from Oxford Collapse, but warped.
∅∅∅ Three nulls. - Cowboy Junkies - At The End of Paths Taken. Another collection of intimate, low-key songs. There are male vocals on a few of these songs, which is unusual - the credits don't really say who it is, but I'm going to guess it's Michael Timmins (the guitar player). It's a pretty solid Junkies record.
∅∅∅ Three nulls. - Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (reissue). It's been remastered, so everything is bright and shiny - all the vocals and guitars are up-front and crisp. I heard guitar things I'd never heard before (even though I've listened to the original record a million times); some of the vocals are so much cleaner they almost sound like different takes. It also comes with something like 19 demos, live versions and covers - including a cover of Mudhoney's Touch Me I'm Sick that almost measures up to fieldfresh's version. Almost. They're playing the entire album live, tonight, at the Pitchfork music fest. And then Slint's playing all of Spiderland. And I'm not going to see either because I'm not in Chicago.
∅∅∅∅∅ Five nulls. - Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare. A bit louder and heavier than their last one. The first few songs kindof run together for me, and then they do some other things, and then there are a few more songs that sound like the first five. I much prefer their previous record.
∅∅ Two nulls. - Desert Sessions - Vols 9, 10. Sometimes it's Alice in Chains, sometimes it's Soundgarden, sometimes it's classic PJ Harvey, sometimes QotSA, sometimes EoDM, sometimes Babes In Toyland. Many different things going on there. Someone in there can play some damn fast guitar fills (I'm Here For Your Daughter).
∅∅∅ Three nulls. - Oxford Collapse - A Good Ground. I haven't explored this one much yet, because whenever I want to hear these guys I always reach for Remember The Night Parties. But, there are definitely some hooks in there ex., The Boys Go Home, and the Feeliesesque Cracks In The Causeway. The singer's strange off-key yelping will probably turn a lot of people off, but I like it. Enthusiasm sometimes outweighs adherence to standard technique.
∅∅∅ Three nulls.
ok-cleek
Man I had a dreadful flight
