Another Music Taste

Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (2011)

2011-05-17T23:43:00.005+01:00

It is tempting, when speaking about the music of Explosions In The Sky, to get diverted into biographical details. Details not of the band, but of the listener, of moments made more vivid by the accompanying soundtrack of this most emotional of instrumental 'post-rock' groups. Read more >>

The xx - xx (2009)

2011-05-14T23:01:00.003+01:00

London’s the xx belongs to the rare and dignified breed of artists who, on their debut, emerge fully formed with a unique sound and style all their own. Read more >>

These New Puritans - Hidden (2010)

2011-05-12T15:19:00.005+01:00

Bassoons, French horns, Japanese taiko drums, a children's choir, Foley samples, incantations about secret recordings, labyrinths, and knights. And that's just Hidden's first two tracks. Raise your hand if you thought These New Puritans had it in them.
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These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid (2008)

2011-05-05T12:23:00.000+01:00

For the critic, Beat Pyramid is a disconcerting album. It’s not that its sonic landscapes are radically outlandish or dauntingly expansive, though they certainly are idiosyncratic; no, it’s Jack Barnett’s speckled, hyper-intellectual lyrical palette that makes it intimidating. Read more >>

Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence (2009)

2011-05-04T11:28:00.002+01:00

“Music your parents like too” is how Kings of Convenience describe themselves on their MySpace profile. It’s a telling statement; self-effacing, sure, but not without a grain of truth – a tacit acknowledgement that the music Eirik Bøe and Erlend Øye make isn’t the kind to offend millions, move mountains, part oceans. No, it’s lovely, pretty, well crafted; it’s nice. And sometimes, well, that’s just plenty.
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Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (2009)

2011-05-03T02:24:00.001+01:00

Silver Lake five-piece Local Natives deliver their debut album after enjoying a decent degree of media coverage, especially throughout the blog world, much of which has concluded that the band could well follow in Fleet Foxes’ footsteps and take their brand of Americana-flecked indie-rock into the mainstream.
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Hellogoodbye - Would It Kill You (2010)

2011-04-30T02:16:00.000+01:00

The follow-up to 2006's Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! finds the California power-pop band reducing its sugar intake without shedding its sunny Beatlesque chirp. The tunes now rely more on sturdy instrumental interplay than electronic filler, and lyrics stray from the corny confines of high school diaries to touch on darker complexities of romance. Say hello to the band's growth spurt and goodbye to its awkward adolescence.
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Little Joy - Little Joy (2008)

2011-04-30T01:02:00.000+01:00

You want to wake up with Fabrizio Moretti. Gently coaxing open your eyes to the sun peeking around the curtains, The Strokes’ drummer’s side project Little Joy is considerately hushed. Here, Fab and singer Rodrigo Amarante (of Rio De Janeiro’s Los Hermanos) affect the heavy hearts of coastal lounge singers yet retain the resilience of city kids who can’t be beat. Although backup singer Binki Shaprio is too feathery to really make an impact, the sum of Little Joy’s sincere regret and wide-eyed optimism lend a bedroom intimacy to the group’s debut.
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Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be (2010)

2011-04-30T00:00:00.000+01:00

Although Brooklyn-based Dum Dum Girls pass the first band name-based test of integrity – are you really female, or have you just implied so to be ‘wacky’? – it still carries trace elements of fabrication. The first few releases under the name, on bedroom-sized indie imprints (this debut is on the far larger Sub Pop label), was the work of one girl only, a Kristin Gundred, calling herself Dee Dee in what must at least partly be a Ramones tribute. I Will Be was however created by a quartet of ladies, and fuzz-coated indie-pop bliss has resulted.
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Tegan & Sara - Sainthood (2009)

2011-04-29T22:13:00.002+01:00

Tegan and Sara are a tricksy proposition, identical twin songwriters who write far from identical music. Their last several records have seen them bound together by a strange partnership in which talent for writing thrillingly weird pop songs wages constant war with a predisposition to sack it all off and churn out comforting AOR. Somewhat improbably, both sides have worked out in their favour.
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De De Mouse - A Journey To Freedom (2010)

2011-04-29T21:00:00.004+01:00

The big buzz surrounding De De Mouse’s latest album A Journey To Freedom has nothing to do with the music inside, but rather the artwork on the outside. The cover, featuring four fantasy-role-play-meets-steampunk youth playing instruments as they walk in front of some weird double-mooned world, comes courtesy of Final Fantasy art designer Akihiko Yoshida. Video game blogs and Japanese-culture-lover sites have hopped all over this story, the majority of emphasis being placed on the cover. Outside of a handful of Japanese-centric music blogs, De De Mouse’s music has been largely glanced over in favor of discussing how boss this would have looked as a Nintendo DS package.
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Hellogoodbye - zombies! aliens! vampires! dinosaurs! (2006)

2011-04-29T20:00:00.000+01:00

Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! is the first full-length album from Hellogoodbye. It was released on August 8, 2006 by Drive-Thru Records. Recording of the album finished in March 2006. The cover artwork was done by LeDouxville (see Jesse LeDoux). Selling 40,057 units within its first week, the album debuted at #13 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, at #1 on the U.S. Independent albums chart and on #1 at the U.S. Internet albums chart.
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Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream (2008)

2011-04-29T19:00:00.000+01:00

Electro duo Empire Of The Sun dress like Adam Ant and borrow their name from the film that launched the career of Christian Bale. But don't let their at best dubious choice of influences put you off. Their talent is undoubtable and this album sounds like an instant classic.
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La Roux - La Roux (2009)

2011-04-29T18:00:00.000+01:00

Establishing themselves as one of our most exciting new pop acts, La Roux have mastered their debut. Never has something so tinny sounded so good.
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Little Boots - Hands (2009)

2011-04-29T17:00:00.018+01:00

Little Boots then. Be dazzled by her wonder. Hands is a solid pop debut, the sort of album which unites lovers of pop, young and old. It sounds great whether you’re cleaning the flat or riding a fibre-glass wolf through a crystal sequin waterfall. Really you can’t wish for much more than that. Amazing.
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Goldfrapp - Head First (2010)

2011-04-29T16:02:00.004+01:00

At an economic 38 minutes and free of anything in the slightest bit terrible, you should welcome Head First like the first sun of spring, know it inside out by the time the band are slaying festival crowds mid-summer and possibly buying copies to give to close friends and family at Christmas. The word’s overused, but this album deserves it: amazing.
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Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History (2010)

2010-05-25T17:45:00.004+01:00

Tourist History is the debut studio album by Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club. It was released on 26 February 2010 in the Republic of Ireland, 1 March 2010 in the United Kingdom on Kitsuné Music and April 27, 2010 in the United States on Glassnote Records. The band announced the details of their album on 1 January 2010 in an interview with NME. The idea for the album title "Tourist History" came from the popularity of their hometown Bangor with tourists, and of their own travels as Two Door Cinema Club.Read more >>

Villa Nah - Origin (2010)

2010-05-25T17:26:00.004+01:00

Villa Nah is a Finnish pop duo consisting of Juho Paalosmaa and Tomi Hyyppä. Villa Nah's sound is heavily influenced by 1980's synth pop. Jori Hulkkonen co-produced the band's debut album Origin and it was released in Finland in March 2010 by Sähkö Recordings's sub label Keys of Life. The album reached number seven on the Official Finnish Album List.

"Sleek electro-pop that deserves a wider audience."

There’s an argument that geographically defined music scenes have become a thing of the past since the spread of the internet. But place remains vital when marketing new music, as if the creative communities of certain cities are more valued than others. If Villa Nah were from New York, London or Berlin, you’d have heard of them before now – conventional machinations would have made it so. (If you have heard of them, you’re in a minority. Award yourself a biscuit.) But they’re from Finland, so here’s the duo’s debut album, landing in the laps of UK listeners without any discernable buzz.Read more >>

OK Go - Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (2010)

2010-05-25T17:10:00.005+01:00

Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is the third studio album by American rock band OK Go. It was released on January 12, 2010 on Capitol Records, and re-released on the band's independent label Paracadute Records on April 1. After the band's split with EMI and Capitol, Paracadute took over the promotional campaign and all distribution responsibilities. The album's name, lyrics, and concept are based on The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Colour of the Sky, a pseudoscientific book published in 1876. Its style was noted as a significant departure from the pop rock of their earlier albums.Read more >>

The Audition - Great Danger (2010)

2010-05-18T09:14:00.003+01:00

Great Danger is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band The Audition, released through Victory Records on March 16, 2010. The first single from the album is the third track, "You Ruined This".Read more >>

Kids In Glass Houses - Dirt (2010)

2010-05-18T09:06:00.005+01:00

Dirt is the second studio album from Welsh rock band Kids in Glass Houses, released on March 29, 2010 through Roadrunner Records. The album was recorded during mid 2009 at Sonic Boom Ranch Studios in Texas with Jason Perry and at Long Wave Studios in Wales with Smart Casual producer Romesh Dodangoda. The lead single from the album was "Young Blood (Let It Out)" and was released on 4 October 2009. The second single from the album is "Matters At All" and was released on 31 January 2010.

The track "Hunt The Haunted" was released as a free download on 8 January, 2010. As of 19th March, the entire album has been available to stream to on their Myspace page.

The album reached #15 on the UK midweek chart 2 days after its release and officially charted in its first week at #27 selling 8,400.

Futures - The Holiday (2010)

2010-05-18T08:51:00.003+01:00

The Holiday is the debut album from London-based pop punk band Futures, given away free with issue 133 (March 2010) of Rocksound magazine.

This is the first time that Rocksound have given away a full album for free and led this issue of the magazine to become the highest selling issue in two years.

The album was re-released through the band's website on April 19, 2010, with bonus acoustic tracks.

30 seconds to Mars - This Is War (2009)

2010-04-12T14:17:00.004+01:00

This Is War is the third studio album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, released through Virgin Records and EMI on December 8, 2009. It is the first studio album by the band since 2005's A Beautiful Lie.Read more >>

Fresh Pick! 2010: VA - Almost Alice (2010)

2010-04-12T13:42:00.005+01:00

Almost Alice is a collection of various artists' music inspired by Tim Burton's film, Alice in Wonderland. Read more >>

Fresh Pick! 2010: Scouting For Girls - Everybody Wants To Be On TV (2010)

2010-04-12T13:25:00.005+01:00

Everybody Wants to Be on TV is the second studio album by the English indie pop band Scouting for Girls. It is due to be released on 12 April 2010 through Epic. The first single on the album debuted on the Scott Mills BBC Radio 1 show on 15 January 2010. The album artwork was released on January 19 2010. It is the second time that producer Andy Green has collaborated with Scouting for Girls to produce an album. Read more >>