2007 Post-Release (or Post-Leak) Thread - Page 2

That's what I'm finding with their older stuff, too (although I shamefully have about four of their albums a friend recorded for me that I haven't listened to yet). I think Hissing Fauna's still the only great album I've gotten this year that grabbed me right off the bat (Neon Bible comes close, but even that required a few listens before it fully made sense to me). This year's been full of sleepers that take a while to register (Sky Blue Sky), and slightly "off," more experimental discs that require some adjustment in expectations (Living with the Living).

There's also a weird divide between pop accessibility and depth that not many artists seem to be bridging. The new Modest Mouse and Menomena albums do pretty well in the former, not so well in the latter (although Modest Mouse comes so close a few times). In the opposite corner, there's...

The National's Boxer. I was looking forward to this one since I caught on to the greatness of their last one, Alligator, a few months too late to mention it in that 2005 wrap-up I did in this forum (if you haven't heard it, you're missing out on one of the best albums of the last five years). Boxer's pretty good, but I have to admit some disappointment that they didn't continue the trend of getting louder and more extroverted with each release. Dynamically speaking, it's almost a throw-back to their self-titled debut, on which slow, introspective songs dominated. It's clearly a more developed, layered work than that, but patience is going to be a requirement.

I'm also taking in Rufus Wainwright's Release the Stars; I'm having a similar reaction as I do to Boxer. It's not as immediately accessible as Poses or Want One, but I think some digging will prove fruitful.

I picked up that Kings of Leon album on Ray's suggestion. It's interesting how all of the comparisons they've gotten on this album (Ray's Zeppelin/Stones/Sabbath, some other critics' U2) are fairly disparate, and the others that came immediately to my mind (the Pixies on the second song, sort of a rootsy version of Fugazi or Jawbox or the Constantines on some others) are more disparate still. I'm not sure if this means that they haven't found their voice, since, face it, the lyrics just aren't very good or that they've settled into an effective, pastiche-based style of their own. I like parts of it a lot, but something rings a little hollow to me about it.

It took a bunch of listens, but I'm loving that Feist album now. I was lukewarm on Let It Die, but this album has far better songs and a bigger scope, generally.

Still processing: Patrick Wolf's The Magic Position, the Twilight Sad's Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, a whole bunch of other stuff that my main source for advance releases and indie stuff graciously let me copy.

Still waiting for: another album like Hissing Fauna (or Alligator) that will floor me on a first listen, yet merit sustained listening. I like elusive, subtle listens as much as the next guy, but we need some more barnstormers this year.

I'm seeing Arcade Fire in a couple weeks, but someone else is opening, unfortunately. Still, the first (and only) time I've seen the Arcade Fire, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. It's a good week, actually - we're seeing the Hold Steady a couple of days before that.

Nope, it's a new name to me. I'll give it a listen.

I'd personally feel guilty checking out the new Dinosaur Jr., since I've had You're Living All Over Me for about four years and have still never made it through the whole thing. Everyone seems to consider that their masterpiece, so I feel like a Dino Jr. philistine. I caught on with Green Mind and never really got into their stuff before or after (though I'm fairly familiar with the first self-titled Dinosaur release).

I haven't heard the old stuff, but I like the new one. How did the tone shift?

That's strange - there was nothing easy about listening to them before.

I hear the new Of Montreal EP that came out this week is good, too.

Potential barnstormers: White Stripes (if the first single is any indication, this one will be shooting straight to the top), Radiohead (will they confound or move me? probably both), M.I.A. (love her debut), Wolf Parade (my fave new band of the last five years)[/QUOTE]

I'll add the New Pornographers and Postal Service to the list. And I'm really hoping Jason Isbell's solo album makes up for him being ousted from the Drive-By Truckers, but the tracks I've heard so far sound modest and appealing rather than awe-inspiring.

In the meantime, the slow-burners like Boxer, The Reminder, and Sky Blue Sky are keeping me occupied, so it's not at all a bad year. Just one with few obvious and direct hits.

I haven't listened to all of the discs I have by them yet, but that one I've listened to a few times. It's okay, but doesn't really resonate in the same way.

It's a concept album of sorts, so, yeah, I'd definitely recommend listening to the whole thing in order. Some of the songs may sound a little slight minus context, and it's also a little schizophrenic, stylistically, so short clips (or even individual songs) probably won't do it justice.

I can't think of whom Kevin Barnes might sound like, but the band's been around for quite a while.

Picked up that Battles CD a couple weeks back. At first listen, I thought it was good, but not something I'd listen to a lot. I'm finding that I'm playing it pretty often, actually, although I tend to stick to the more straightforward tracks like "Atlas."

I'm liking the new Spoon an awful lot, especially considering how cold Gimme Fiction left me. I've heard the first half of the album a bunch since I keep re-starting it when I put it on in the car, but if I end up liking the second half as much as the first, I'd say it's damn near on a par with Kill the Moonlight.

I've also discovered that I don't hate the new Polyphonic Spree, which is a new thing for me. I'm not blown away by it, but it also doesn't make me vomit from a saccharine overdose like their earlier stuff did. Toning down the sunshine-up-the-ass vibe was a very good move.

Sounds like I might be hearing the new New Pornographers a little earlier than I'd expected. Very exciting.

I've heard Challengers, and all I can say is I'm still waiting for the New Pornographers to slip up and make an album that's less than fantastic. It's an obvious evolution from Twin Cinema with slower, bigger-sounding songs, lots of keys and more strings, and far fewer rockers. As such, it's sort of the anti-Electric Version, which was probably their most upbeat album to date. At the same time, "All the Things That Go To Make Heaven and Earth" is one of the few of their songs that sounds a little like a retread, and in this case, it's Electric Version's "It's Only Divine Right" that's the obvious precursor.

With the rock downplayed and the elaborate, layered pop played up, it comes off almost like Carl Newman's old band, Zumpano, but with more control, a bigger budget, and better songs. I'm not sure I'd call it their Pet Sounds, and I'm not even sure that that vibe is their intent, but there are a few songs that have that expansive summer feel that brings the Beach Boys classic and even the Shins' Oh Inverted World to mind.

In short, while the anthems are less up-tempo for Newman and company (and it does leave one wishing for a Neko Case star turn like "Letter from an Occupant" or that fabulous ending to "The Bleeding Heart Show"), Challengers is certainly not subtle. Hissing Fauna is no longer this year's only love-it-on-first-listen barnstormer that will also probably hold up on future listens.