Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust– I eagerly await all Sigur Rós albums but somehow I let this one slip through my fingers. Chalk up another good reason for going through this little project of mine. I finally got to pay close attention to this album. The first song (“Gobbledigook”) shows a slight change in direction. The song is as rhythmic a number as I’ve ever heard from them. The rest of the album adds more “regular” guitar than I’ve heard from them yet still maintains their wonderfully plaintive sound.
Simian Mobile Disco – Sample and Hold – For a while, these guys seemed to pop up all over the place. Propelled by the success of their 2007 album Attack Decay Sustain Release, they clearly felt compelled to release the obligatory follow up remix album that seems to have become de rigueur for electronic acts. As far as remix collections go…well, this is one of them. None of the remixes are entirely outstanding and, as such, this collection is strictly for fans of SMD. Fans of general electronic beats should spend their dollars elsewhere.
Smashing Pumpkins – American Gothic EP – Digital download EP that apparently features left-over tracks from their 2007 Zeitgeistrelease. Nothing here stands out and falls strictly under the category of “for completionists only”. The last song “Pox” is kind of funky, at least as far as Smashing Pumpkins go. I’ve also just read that they are essentially done releasing albums and will concentrate on singles and EP’s from now on. I’m OK with that, because trying to get through the Melon Collie… and Machina… albums was very time consuming.
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns– The more I’ve heard from Snow Patrol the more boring it had become. This album is a bit more upbeat and anthemic but isn’t anything that will shake my opinion of them. They are a nice band for people who are musically cautious and have 15 CD’s in their entire collection, much of it revolving around Billy Joel and Dido.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Pershing – The name is more interesting than the music, but that’s a very interesting name! In general, they follow the college rock formula of earnest, mid tempo rock. Nothing stands out as particularly strong but overall it has an earnest sound. It’s a likable record but nothing I would inherently recommend to anyone.
