Nada Surf started their career playing skate punk, college rock or whatever you might call it. In the 2000's they've, however, written beautiful pop melodies and catchy hit songs. The closest comparison is probably Teenage Fanclub. Let Go features the best collection of songs from this band. Some of the songs are very energetic and suitable for dancing and drinking, some are for sadness and time spent alone. The range is wide. One of the curiosities is La Pour Ca, which is sung in French. I had always known there was a band called Nada Surf, but I truly found it a few years ago, when I really started listening to their recent albums and it climbed to be one of my favourite pop bands. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Brendan Bensons second album Lapalco is his best record to the date. It features twelve outstanding power pop songs. The production is rougher than on the following albums which gives a suitable edge for these beautifully written songs. Benson is one of the best songwriters out there. Every single song could be an instant hit. It is impossible to draw up any highlights, since each song is brilliant. Folk Singer and What have probably been playing in my stereo the most. It's a shame that when I saw Benson live about a year ago, he was unenthusiastic and a bit boring. I would've never thought, since his music is brilliant and one could put up hell of a show using his song material. I still have these records to appreciate his music. Listen to the album on Spotify.
It took me a long time to really appreciate Aimee Mann. I always thought she was okay, but it took me to see her live to lift her among the greatest artists in the world. Her melancholic singer-songwriter songs feature outstanding lyrics, beautiful vocals and great production. If you ever get a chance to see her live, I encourage you to use that chance. SHe was witty and funny and played her beautiful songs perfectly bringing shivers in my back. Lost in Space is Mann's greatest album. Every single song is beautiful. I must especially highlight the brilliance of High on Sunday 51 and The Moth. The album truly sounds like you were floating lost in space away from this world. Listen to the album on Youtube.
Last Broadcast is the second album by Doves, a brilliant indie rock band from Chesire. Last Broadcast is full of hit material songs with huge sound, melancholia and otherworldly vocals. This band could be lifted among the great brit pop bands of all times. The album cover illustrates the music perfectly. A lonely city in the night with a beautiful sky and streetlamps lighting your way. King Crimson fans will be delighted to know, that M62 Song is a brilliant cover version of Moonchild. The title track, Friday's Dust and Pounding are the other highlights of this overall brilliant album. Doves have made great songs on their other albums as well, but this stands above them all. An excellent album. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Queens of the Stone Age is an okay hard rock band, unless you talk about Songs for the Deaf, which is an outstanding album. It's not excactly heavy music, so people who usually don't like metal music, don't be frightened of the first song on the album. This brilliant opening act is the roughest bit in there. No One Knows became a hit single that was played in radios and on MTV and lifted this band to everyone's knowledge. Mosquito Song is a haunting ballad that you wouldn't expect to hear on this sort of album. In between the songs there is a radio commentator which I think is meant to criticise the state of the radio today. A bit ironic, since Queens of the Stone Age has gotten it's fair share of radio play. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Irish Damien Rice's debut album O is one of the greatest debut albums ever. His delicate voice interprets hardships and joys of love perfectly. He's one of those artists who is so endearing that people just get really emotional with his music. Many of the songs on this album were played on radio and TV shows at the time. Rice has an extraordinary gift to sing quietly as a whisper and lift his voice high as the sky the next moment. For all you Finns, who read this blog, the last song on the album features an opera singer singing in Finnish. Even though Rice sounds brilliant with just his acoustic guitar, the violins in the background and Lisa Hannigan's background vocals make the sound perfect. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Ark is mostly unknown outside of the nordic countries, except probably through their performance in the Eurovision. Their two first albums are amazing rock operas manifesting the rights of sexual minorities. Massive, larger than life songs have humor and wit and they're really well written and performed. The real thing with The Ark was to see them live though. People sing along beautifully as a church choir and the band truly knows how to entertain their audience. They have flashy uniforms, changing outfits, brilliant solos, sing-a-longs and brilliant jokes. Glam rock of today as it should be. Musical style is a mixture of 70's glam rock, rock opera of Queen and massive stadium indie rock. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Flaming Lips is one of the most peculiar bands in the world. Their shows feature huge balloons, confetti guns, dancing teletubbies, singer rolling around in a hamster ball above the audience etc. The illustrations in their albums are bizarre. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is the best album from this amazing band playing psychedelic and alternative pop melodies. The title track's lyrics get a completely different meaning, when you think about them as a story about fighting cancer. This album requires probably a few listening times before you can truly appreciate all its little nuances. This is truly exceptional music. No one can be told what this album is. You have to see it for yourselves. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Sigur Rós lyrics are usually in ancient Icelandic. On this album, the lyrics don't mean anything, they're just nonsense. This doesn't matter by the least bit. This album doesn't have a real name. It's usually marked in writing as ( ), because of it's album cover. Even the original CD version looks brilliant with it's transparent figures. And the music; it's sheer beauty. I don't know if anyone has ever made more beautiful music than the second and third albums of Sigur Rós. This is music for those situations when you're dead tired after a hard day's work and you return home, lay down on the sofa and start daydreaming in the dark. When I saw this band live I cried out of sheer beauty of their music. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Wilco's music is a bit difficult to define. Sometimes it's alternative country, sometimes it's pop music that may be compared to the Beatles and sometimes it's just folk like nothing else. This is their most brilliant album and one of the best albums of all times. Every single moment on this album is outstanding. It was conjured in the same way as many of the most brilliant albums in the 2000's. They got tired of a record company that could not make them succesful, they decided to go away from commercial expectations and make whatever they felt like doing and managed to make their most appreciated album ever. While listening to this album, please use good stereo equipment and keep the volyme up. Listen to the album on Spotify.
No comments:
Post a Comment