New Music Reviews - 5/31/2011 - Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, and Rappin' 4-Tay

Death Cab for Cutie Codes And Keys - Frontman Ben Gibbard and the boys release their seventh studio album and first since 2008's Narrow Stairs.  Guitarist Chris Walla again pulls double duty acting as the producer of the album as he's done since their first release (he's also produced recent albums from Teagan and Sara, Nada Surf and The Decemberists, among others, so it's nothing new to him).  A great band to see live if they ever tour in your area.  I've seen Death Cab specifically 3~4 times plus I've seen Ben Gibbard perform solo and once with Postal Service and all were very good shows.  Now let's find out what the new Death Cab album brings to the table.

The album opens with downtempo, slow-building "Home Is a Fire" which I found to be to an odd opening song that did little to draw in the listener.  From there things pick up though with the catchy, piano-driven "Codes And Keys" which also features some charming violin work.  "Doors Unlocked And Open" is an early standout with a quick guitar-driven melody over a drum machine beat in a song about battling feelings of isolation.  "Underneath The Sycamore" is a more rollicking song that could easily have been found on one of their earlier albums. 

Codes and Keys is a slightly different album from Death Cab with far more piano-driven tracks and greater use of electronic wizadry during post-production over the 11-track disc.  It's not so different, however, that fans won't recognize Death Cab's style in the music and the album as a whole still fits well within the boundaries we expect from one of their releases.  As far as tone, it's a more buoyant album than their 2008 release and there are even a few tracks that Walla solely composed the music for. Whether or not that is the reason for the lighter feel, I could not say, but the tone of the album is definitely less dark.  Not their best work but still better than most other indie releases you'll find in-store this year. 

Score: 8.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Doors Unlocked And Open" [sample it below], "Codes And Keys" and "You Are A Tourist"

My Morning Jacket Circuital - The popular five-person rock band from Louisville, Kentucky release their sixth studio album.  The band's twice-named frontman Jim James co-produced the album with Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens collaborator Tucker Martine.  Although I've only seen them perform live once, I will go ahead and give them my approval as a band worth checking out with very energetic and rollicking live sets with lots of props on stage.

"Victory Dance" opens the party with mellow beginning to the song that segues to a rock-heavy jam band song whose electric guitar work and exploratory feel will make a really rocking live song.  The eponymous "Circuital" has a pop-influenced electric guitar riff to get the track going with James vocals given a more ethereal feel before an acoustic guitar takes over during the bridge in what turns out to be one out to be a beautifully arranged tracked with soaring vocals and guitar work.  "The Day Is Coming" has an 80's pop song feel with a melody and Jame's singing sounding like it's from a lost Tears for Fears song.  "Wonderful (The Way I Feel)" shows a return to their bluegrass rock roots with a slow, jangly country acoustic guitar melody in an extremely stripped down song.  "First Light" returns to the Southern rock the band grew up with although the distortion heavy melody and heavier vocal style are just a few of the more modern touches the band uses to not make the song sound dated in any way. 

Circuital doesn't offer a lot of radio-friendly singles but it is an album that grows on you with repeated listens with its subtle touches and clever nuances found throughout the disc.  What I was not expecting was the overall tone of the album sounding like the band was performing songs written by Phish for many of the tracks in addition to a return to the Southern rock roots the band came from.  The electro rock beats they had become more reliant on during their more recent albums has been dialed back for a greater classic rock/jam band style.  It's an interesting turn for the band although I hypothesize that it will alienate some of their younger fans.  But the jam band heavy tunes means this will probably be another great set to check out live and it's not too shabby on disc either once you give the music a shot.

Score:  7/10

Song(s) to Sample: "Circuital" [sample it below] and "The Day Is Coming"

Rappin' 4-Tay Still Standing - San Francisco native Anthony Forté, AKA Rappin' 4-Tay, releases his first album in four years.  Although this is the tenth studio album for 4-Tay the people I went to high school with would argue it's the songs from the Dangerous Minds soundtrack in the 90's that he's best known for.  For you kiddies out there, Dangerous Minds was a Jerry Bruckheimer movie (with no explosions or aliens!) starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a teacher at a racially charged East Bay high school.  The movie was a decent hit and the movie soundtrack got mass radio airplay.  The most famous song, undoubtedly, was Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" but one of the other breakout tracks was 4-Tay's outstanding "A Message For Your Mind" which liberally sampled the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" behind a clever rap about overcoming the things that can drag you down day-to-day.   Enough 90's movie soundtrack trivia, let's get to the review!

"Don't Trip" starts the 15-track disc with a funky guitar and bass rhythms that slowly gives way to a silky rap on a simple but catchy song.  "Left My Baby Home" is one of the sultrier tracks with a harp and synthesizer intro with female vocals in what could be easily mistaken for a Zero 7 song before the well-matched rap begins.  "No Man's Land" has a more modern hip-hop skewing with a very smooth and laid back groove to begin the song with auto-tuned vocals and chorus bookending a potent rap about learning his lesson too late in life.  "Put It on Me" (featuring Dru) is structured like a more modern rap song with heavy samples and a heavier vocal track.  "Other Side" is a very seductive hip-hop songs that has a weirder synthesizer driven melody that still works well together with both the sung and rapped vocals on that track. 

Still Standing shows us the Rappin' 4-Tay is more than just still standing when it comes to music albums.  He is still very much in high gear with the good number of melodic rap and lite funk jams on this very introspective release.  It's an artist still in his prime but he's not trying to appeal to the masses by giving us attractive but generic bubblegum-type tracks instead focusing on his own internal growth and writing rich hip-hop songs that reflect that.  It's a very personal album and that's what gives it part of its charm--we get to see the artist bear his soul and it reaches a depth few artists have expressed through rap.  Throw that over some well performed, although nothing revolutionary, old school R&B or more modern Funk and Hip-hop-type jams and you have some very interesting tracks on an album that is able to touch you on many different levels. 

Score:  8/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Left My Baby Home" and "Other Side"

New Music Reviews - 5/24/2011 - Friendly Fires, Foster the People, and Mitch Winehouse

Friendly Fires Pala - The three person dance/pop band from St. Albans, England release their sophomore studio album.  The bandmates all met at an early age at school and formed their first band together at the age of 14.  If you're not familiar with the band's first album, you might know the song "On Board" which was featured in a Nintendo commercial for the Wii Fit or the song "White Diamonds" which was featured on an episode of "Gossip Girl."  That self-titled debut album went on to reach double-gold in the U.K.  Their new album, released last week in the British Isles, is already ranking at #6 on the U.K. charts. 

"Live Those Days Tonight" is the first single off the album and it opens the album with a fast paced breakbeat beat pushing a very modern sounding dancepop song with an easily danceable Euro feel.  "Hawaiian Air" is another song with non-standard syncopation that slowly builds and layers on additional instruments and electronic sounds that did emulate the feeling of a plane taking off with each new layer added leading to a very soaring sound.  "Show Me Lights" has a greater Progressive House sound although I felt the vocal style was a bit too heavy for the song causing a noticeable disconnect between the two. 

Pala is a very consistent album from beginning to end that has a good overall sound but is hurt by a lack of any really standout singles.  The band's dancepop music will definitely appeal to both new and aging club kids with its Eurodance sounding arrangements coupled with a very Brit-sounding New Wave vocal style but the lack of a truly outstanding single will mean minimal crossover to people who weren't already fans of Eurodance or British New Wave.  I wouldn't call the album disappointing by any means but it also never shines as brightly as I would hope either.  A good album if you're in the mood for it but the music never transports you to another place like a really great album should.

Score:  7/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Hawaiian Air" [sample it below] and "Blue Cassette" 

Foster the People Torches - Foster the People is a Southern California rock band that is currently getting a decent amount of radio airplay with their hit single "Pumped Up Kicks."  That track, which has already ranked as high as #9 and #1 on the U.S. and Canadian Rock charts, respectively, can be found on this debut album.  The music given to us is in the electronic-rock/alternative-dance genres with vocals present on every track.  So let's find out if this trio can create other songs that are as catchy and popular as their hit single.

The super catchy "Pumped Up Kicks" is the second track off the album and it is an ideal summer pop song with its catchy hook and light, jaunty electric guitar and synthesizer-heavy melody which actually helps cover up the somewhat dark lyrics ("All the other kids with the pumped up kicks/you'd better run, better run, outrun my gun"). "Waste" is a slower tempo song sounding like a 80's New Wave song with more modern, electronic touches in what ends up being the most ballad-sounding track on the album.  "I Would Do Anything" is a more standard pop song on 4/4 beat with a more common arrangement and a few typical pop tricks (e.g. lots of repeated "oh-la-la" in the chorus, etc.).  "Houdini" features another very catchy hook although this time it's well paired with a more Trance-like beat and melody to easily create one of the more enjoyable and danceable songs from the album.

Torches is a well-timed summer release that is much better than your average debut album.  The album does have a number of consistency problems with some really catchy electro pop/rock songs being bookended by some very generic tracks.   The real strengths of the album are the high amount of energy present on most of the tracks and the very catchy hooks found on the best tracks.  The band is also able to match the glamrock-lite vocal style of frontman Mark Foster with the raver-pop style of the music effortlessly without compromising any enjoyment taken from listening to the melodies.  If you're already familiar with and like their single "Pumped Up Kicks" then do yourself a favor and pick up the entire album.  If you're not familiar with that song, give a listen to the song below and judge for yourself.

Score:  8/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Pumped Up Kicks" [sample it below] and "Houdini"

Mitch Winehouse Rush of Love - The papa of the eclectic and eccentric Amy Winehouse releases an album of jazzy crooner standards.  What, you didn't know Amy Winehouse's dad was a singer?  That's probably because Mitch Winehouse's day job was as a taxi cab driver until he recently somehow got a record contract *cough*nepotism*cough*.  (At least Mitch Winehouse is wise enough to recognize on his website that he knows he wouldn't be in this position if not for his daughter.)  Now let's find out if Mr. Winehouse sounds as good on vinyl (or, in my case, on MP3) as he thinks he sounds while singing in the shower. 

I won't go into an in-depth song-by-song analysis here since all of the tracks are faithful covers of classic lounge songs.  Among the songs Mr. Winehouse covers are some Frank Sinatra hits ("Please Be Kind," "Day By Day," "How Insensitive"), a Harry Belafonte classic ("Close Your Eyes"), a couple of memorable songs from Billie Holliday and Jackie Wilson ("You Go To My Head" and "I Apologize," respectively), plus a couple of standard songs that were sung by multiple performers back in the day like Sinatra, Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dean Martin ("April in Paris").  All of the songs have a lounge-y/jazzy backing music and are performed in a manner that is close to, if not a note-for-note parroting of, the original versions on this 11-track release. 

Within the first few seconds of listening to Rush of Love it is easy to discern that Mitch Winehouse did not earn his recording contract solely on the silkiness of his voice.  In fact, despite the various digital tricks producers can use these days, his voice comes across as quite amateurish on many tracks with his lack of formal training quite noticeable.

At its brightest moments (if you can call them that), the vocals on Rush of Love sound like Frank Sinatra's or Tony Bennet's voices on their last/latest releases where their voices were mere shadows of how they sounded in their primes.  However, even when those two lost their classic crooning tenors, they still knew how to carry a tune which Winehouse fails to do on a number of tracks (I cringe every time I hear Mr. Winehouse's version of "I Apologize").

At the very least, Winehouse could have stolen a page from his daughter when she covers a song and did some cool or interesting things in the song's arrangement.  Instead, with the melodies being nearly identical to the originals, the songs just invite extremely unfavorable comparisons to the versions we know so well. 

Score:  1/10 (I gave it a point because the backing music is competently performed)
Song(s) to Sample:  None

New Music Reviews - 5/17/2011 - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi, Ben Harper, and Dinner At The Thompson's

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi Rome - The Grammy's reigning winner of "Producer of the Year," Danger Mouse, teams with Italian composer Daniele Luppi to release an album inspired by the music from Spaghetti Westerns.  Danger Mouse is best known for being the half of the band Gnarls Barkley not named Cee Lo Green but his work with bands like Broken Bells, The Black Keys, and The Good, The Bad and The Queen (plus other acts too numerous to mention here) is equally as impressive.  On this 15-track album that has been five years in the making, Jack White and Norah Jones lend a hand providing vocals on three separate tracks each. 

The album opens with the slow rolling "Theme of Rome" which features Edda Dell'Orso's vocals (the same singer who memorably performed on the The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly soundtrack more than 40-years ago) over a subdued drum beat with atmospheric Fender guitar work that borrows heavily from the genre they are trying to emulate.  "Seasons Trees" has a Downtempo electronica feel that matches extremely well with Jones natural singing tenor to create a song that could be easily found on a Zero 7 album.  "Two Against One" features White doing vocals and is one of the best Jack White sung tracks I've heard in a long time and would not sound out of place on some of the more recent White Stripes albums. 

Overall, Rome is an album that flies very high that comes close, but never manages, to leave orbit.  The music is a mixture of a more modern Downtempo style with the jangly, orchestral sounds of a Spaghetti Western score.  The tracks where White and Jones provide vocals are the real gems of the album with their vocals able to elevate the music above the melodies given to us.  Danger Mouse and Luppi do a great job of bringing us an under appreciated style and updating it for more modern ears.  The album is highly enjoyable even though it struggles on a few tracks from the indecision if this should be more of a downtempo album or more of a Spaghetti Western homage but that doesn't dampen the overall pleasing aesthetic that emanates from the album as a whole. 

Score: 8.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Two Against One" [sample it below] and "Seasons Trees"

Ben Harper Give Till It's Gone - The eclectic singer/songwriter and two-time Grammy winner from Claremont, CA releases his tenth studio album.  Harper is extremely entertaining to see live (I've seen him twice) especially since he performs often at smaller venues and his style of music is well suited for more intimate performances.  This is Harper's first release since he and actress Laura Dern filed for divorce so let's find out if going through that unfortunate event has influenced his music at all. 

The album's opener "Don't Give Up on Me Now" definitely sounds like a song written by a man going through a separation with lyrics like "I need to change/I don't know how" before pleading not to give up on him.  Thankfully, not the entire album follows in the footsteps of that downtrodden song.  "Spilling Faith" one of two songs featuring Ringo Starr on drums (what else were you expecting him to play?) which has a quicker, more uptempo beat with blues/funk inspired electric guitar work.  Ringo's other song is the sprawling neo psych-rock instrumental jam "Get There From Here" that will go over well during live shows.  One of the real standout tracks is very emotional "Pray That Our Love Sees the Dawn" which exhibits a level vulnerability a lot of artists would be afraid to show even for an artist like Harper who has never shied away from his more personal side. 

Give Till It's Gone is a more personal album from Harper that has a deeper meaning although the music presented isn't as good nor as consistent as what can be found on some of his best albums like 2004's There Will Be a Light.  Thankfully, not all of the album is a dark and introspective as the first track with a good mix of the blues, soul, folk and jam rock we expect from a Ben Harper album.  However, the overall disc feels incomplete because Harper is not able to blend the various styles as well as he has on past releases giving us a weird hodgepodge of songs over the duration of the entire album. 

Score: 6/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Pray That Our Love Sees the Dawn" [sample it below] and "Get There From Here"

Dinner At The Thompson's Off the Grid - Dinner is the creation of New York-born and California-raised singer Lucille Tee and French producer, performer, and DJ Fablive. I wasn't familiar with the band prior to listening to this album and I couldn't find many details on them online so, instead of my usual jib jab, let me quote their MySpace page bio:  "[The duo's music is] a great home listening experience that requires sunshine, headphones and a few ready rolled fat ones."  'Nuff said--let's get to the review!

This 15-song album (plus one hidden track at the very end of the last song) opens with a quick intro track that segues to "How Can I" which has a goa-influenced beat that adds some funkiness to Tee's ethereal-sounding vocals.  "Spirulina Queen" has a acid/downtempo feel but alternates between a trance and a break beat with a more peppy hip-hop/soul vocal style to create an instantly memorable song.  "It All Began" is the grooviest song on the album with a style that fits firmly between funk and hip-hop with Tee using a more modern hip-hop vocal style.   "I Can Do Anything" shows a softer side with a slower tempo and simple acoustic guitar backing. 

Dinner At The Thompson's has a very unique sound like what I imagine what would happen if you smashed Portishead together with Groove Armada.  This means it's hard to shoehorn their type of music into any one or two specific genres.  Instead, they creatively blend genres like hip-hop, funk, break beat, jazz, downtempo, house plus lots more to create very robust and well layered tunes that also have a light French touch.  Tee's light and airy vocals also match the various styles the band incorporates well by being able to bridge the different genres effortlessly.  I enjoyed the album a good deal even though I listened to it without the aid of any "ready rolled fat ones" but I can see where that could improve the album's score a point or two. 

Score:  7.5/10

Song(s) to Sample: "It All Began" [sample it below] and "I Can Do Anything"

New Music Reviews - 5/10/2011 - Raphael Saadiq, The Cars, & Sam Roberts Band

Raphael Saadiq Stone Rollin' - The Oakland born and former member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Tone! releases a new album of old school R&B jams.  His last album, 2008's The Way I See It, garnered three Grammy nominations and was voted best album on iTunes for the year.  While his last album was buoyed by guest artists like Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone and Jay-Z; this album has a more self-centered approach with only Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano getting guest credit on this album (although former Earth, Wind and Fire member Larry Dunn does help out on another track).  Let's see if Saadiq can recreate the magic of his previous album without the household names helping out.

"Heart Attack" opens the album with a 70's funk beat in a song that's part James Brown and part Rick James with it's thumping bass guitar work and effective Soul lead guitar work.  "Stone Rollin'" has a modern Blues feel with Southern harmonica playing with well layered guitar work to create a silky song.  "Day Dreams" has a simpler and older Blues feel that allows Saadiq's singing and the backup vocals to really shine (especially during the catchy hook) and drive the song over the accompanying guitar and piano playing.  "Movin' Down the Line" has a slower tempo with subdued horn work and feels like a 60's Motown song in terms of melody although the singing style is more reminiscent of 70's Soul song.  "Just Don't" is a real standout track with one of the smoothest arrangements on the album with big orchestrations that never go overboard nor do they threaten to overwhelm the silky vocal harmonies. 

Raphel Saadiq proves with Stone Rollin' that the success he had with his last album was no fluke nor was it due to the many superstar guest artists that contributed as the songs given to us on this album match and surpass them in many ways.  The album is chock full of R&B-influenced songs from past decades although it's impossible to shoehorn the individual songs into any one particular style as Saadiq borrows from and is influenced by songsmiths from the earliest Motown days to more rocking Soul acts like a Bo Diddly or a Chuck Berry.  Not only does he borrow the style of past greats, he's also able to recreate the magic that made those previous artists so special while still adding small modern touches so the songs never come off as dated.  Stone Rollin' is head and shoulders above all other recent R&B releases and it proves that the 2008 album's success was no fluke nor was its success reliant on the big name guest artists that helped out. 

Score:  9/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Heart Attack" and "Just Don't" [sample it below]

The Cars Move Like This - Only one year shy of having a quarter of a century pass since they last released an album, Ric Ocasek and the boys are back with a their first new album since 1987.  Their new album features all of the original band members except for the late Benjamin Orr (1947-2000) who played bass and helped provide vocals with Ocasek.  Rather than replace Orr, the band either programmed the bass parts or had lead keyboardist Greg Hawkes lay it down with Ocasek solely providing the vocals on the album.  Now let's see if the band can recapture our imaginations like they did in the 80's.

The 10-track disc opens with "Blue Tip" which is a New Wave revival song with heavy emphasis on keyboards and synthesizers before familiar-sounding 80's guitar riffs are added.  Ocasek's vocals are instantly recognizable although he doesn't display the same range he did in the past.  "Soon" is a guitar driven rock ballad although Ocasek's voice is poorly matched with the song.  "Free" is a harder rocking New Wave song that has some dated keyboard work although it does feature some of the album's niftier guitar riffs.   "Take Another Look" is another throwback song although the early guitar work is most reminiscent of the jams the band used to give to us but the rest of the instrumentation and vocals are snooze inducing. 

Move Like This sounds like an extremely dated album that might have been fresh in the mid-80's but now just sounds terribly out of place in modern times. In a few of the songs, the band is somewhat able to recapture a sound that is similar to what they produced in their glory days but at no point on the album are they able to reconjure the magic they used to bring to their hits.  Also, Orr's presence is definitely missed as his voice would have better complimented some of the songs on the album than Ocasik's now somewhat raspy warble does ("Too Late" and "Soon" are two that spring to mind).  Using a couple of the song titles from the disc, Move Like This isn't so horrible that it seems to "Drag on Forever" but the sound is so dated that I doubt I will ever "Take Another Look" at the album. 

Score:  3/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Blue Tip" [sample it below]

Sam Roberts Band Collider - Sam Roberts is a popular Canadian indie/rock music singer/songwriter.  His previous three albums all charted in the top three of the Canadian music charts with his last album reaching all the way to number one.  The previous albums all came out under the Sam Roberts moniker although on this album he/they rename themselves as the Sam Roberts Band although it looks like membership is pretty much the same as it was on the last album.  The band is also a multiple Juno Awards recipient, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy.  Although the band's quite popular with our neighbors to the North, I hadn't experienced any of their music before so let's get on to the review! 

The album opens with "The Last Crusade" which showcases the robust indie sound the band gives with the numerous instruments they slowly incorporate like acoustic and electric guitars, horns, and even a some cowbell thrown in for good measure on top of the normal instruments you would expect from a rock band.  "Let It In" is a guitar driven song with a fun, jangly melody but it's the song's catchy hook that will have you playing it over and over again.  "Streets of Heaven (Promises, Promises)" starts off simply with an acoustic guitar before adding a funkier bass line and more subdued overall orchestration that meshes well with the Jack White-esque vocal style Roberts uses at the beginning of the tune.  While a song like "Sang Froid" is done in a quicker, guitar driven pop/rock style yet the album transitions smoothly from the two similar but not always compatible styles seamlessly. 

Collider is a well put together and entertaining album that had me add the band to my iTunes/Amazon "to get" list to see if their past releases had the same fun energy.  The band's music sounds similar in style and tone to a more active Pinback or a less harmonious Ambulance LTD with its infectious melodies with lots of indie-sounding life .  Roberts' vocals have a light modern feel and is done in a sing-song manner that helps add depth to the tracks.  There are one or two songs that could have been left off the album but those end up being very small bumps on one extremely smooth journey. 

Score:  8/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Let It In" and "The Last Crusade" [sample it below]

New Music Reviews - 5/3/2011 - Beastie Boys, Architecture in Helsinki, and Shine 2009

Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part Two - New York's own Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock release a long-awaited new album of beats and raps for their eighth studio album.  Don't worry if you see the "Part Two" in the name of the album and are wondering how the first part sounded--nobody knows except the band because the first part has yet to be released.  As MCA put it in an e-mail to the band's fan club members, "Strange but true, the final sequence for Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 works best with all its songs replaced by the 16 tracks we originally had lined up in pretty much the same order we had them in for Hot Sauce Committee Part 1."

The album opens with "Make Some Noise" which unabashedly shows the band can continue the high energy music that we expect from them.  The song could fit stylistically onto almost any of their studio releases since License to Ill with its wah pedal-heavy guitar licks, real drummer beats, characteristic record scratching, and dual-vocalist rapping (although it'd probably best matched with something off Hello Nasty, which was the first album to include Mix Master Mike).  "Ok" has a fast tempo and builds off a 3-note guitar riff by expanding the guitar melody and infusing some catchy synthesizer work with more subdued vocal work.  "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" has a more Latin beat and features electronica/hip-hop artist Santigold providing backup vocals and vocals during the chorus for one of the more chill songs on the album.  "Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament" is the customary instrumental track which has a slow-jam feel where the slow drum beat and the synthesizer work dominate the sound although it's not as catchy as the instrumental tracks on their past albums. 


Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is decent album that manages to still be relevant today without forgoing the style that made them popular in their early years.  The style of music hasn't really altered over the nearly 25-years since they released their first album despite the fact that MCA looks really old nowadays (although Ad-Rock still pretty much looks the same).  However, despite the band's style remaining constant and the frenetic energy they are able to capture, the biggest problem with this album is that there are few standout tracks besides the two I mention below that will become long-term radio hits.  There's a lot of decent songs in the tenor that we expect from the band but, especially in comparison to some of their great albums like Ill Communication and Paul's Boutique, there are only one or two tracks that will be Beastie Boy classics.  


Score:  7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win"(ft. Santigold) and "Make Some Noise" [sample it below or click here to watch the hilarious video featuring actors Seth Rogan, Elijah Wood, and Danny McBride--plus about a dozen more famous actors]

Architecture in Helsinki Moment Bends -  Don't be fooled by the band's name like I was originally, Architecture in Helsinki is an indie pop group from Melbourne, Australia.  I saw the band a handful of years ago when they were the opening act for either Death Cab for Cutie or The Polyphonic Spree and although I didn't become a fan of the band at that time I do recall thinking they were one of the better opening acts I saw that year.  This 12-track release is their fourth studio album overall.

"Escapee" starts off the album with a super catchy melody that starts slowly with drum machine beats plus a keyboard melody and then smartly layers on guitar, synthesizer and vocals to create an immediately charming song.  "Contact High" is the first single off the album where the lead's falsetto singing voice is altered even further at parts to go with the jaunty electro and synthesizer-heavy melody that leads to a fun summer pop dance song.  These songs segue to tracks like "W.O.W." (which stands for 'walking on water' and not the MMORPG game by Blizzard) and "Sleeptalkin'" which have slower tempos and more muted slants that don't quite qualify as pop ballads but are closer to that in style than the fast paced opening electro-heavy songs. 

Moment Bends is an mostly consistent album that manages to have more bright spots than dim spots.  The album has a strong indie pop/electropop feel with extensive use of both digital and analog instruments like real and fake drums, synthesizers, hand clapping, and samplers to help bring a very lush electro sound to many of the tracks.  The tracks feature either a male or female lead on vocals but rarely do they share the singing duties with dual-vocal harmonies being rare.  The album does get bogged down some in the middle but there are enough good stuff at the beginning and towards the end that the disc easily earns a passing grade.

Score:  7/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Escapee" [sample it below] and "Out of Focus"

Shine 2009 Realism - Unlike the band above, Shine 2009 actually does come from Helsinki, Finland.  This is Shine 2009's debut album although they did have a popular EP that was released last year.  One of the fans of the EP, Paula Abdul, provides guest vocals on a track from this album.  Don't be put off though if you're not a fan of the former 'American Idol' judge as the music the band gives us is  in the style of downtempo electronica with subdued lyrics present on every track and has little-to-no resemblance to the stuff Paula puts out. 

The album opens with "Graduation" which has a downtempo beat  with soul-heavy grooves and sounds similar in style to a Saint Etienne song but with more a prominent male vocal track.  "So Free," the song featuring Paula Abdul, has a simple drum kit beat with well integrated keyboard and guitar sequences during various sections of the refrain.  Abdul pretty much just provides backing and chorus vocals and even with only that small role it still sounds like her vocal track has been digitally washed such that it was hard to notice her usually recognizable voice.  "New Rules" has a house/trance sound with a nu jazz beat plus funky bass and electric guitar work over the samples, chamber music instruments, and non-standard ones too (like a cowbell) to create one of the more engaging songs on the album. 

Realism is very good debut album that has a smooth sound perfect for winding down after a hard partying night.  The songs on the album have a enjoyable downtempo feel with some soul and house music influences present on many of the tracks.  The whole album is like a gentle ride; the songs segue comfortably from one another without too many highs or lows to put you through an emotional roller coaster leaving you in a genial disposition by the time its all over.  In their future releases, one would hope and expect to see greater differentiation in style over an entire album but even if they just give you more cool jams like the ones found on this album it will still be worth picking up.

Score:  8.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Graduation" and "New Rules" [sample it below]