Eleni Mandell – I Can See The Future
3 of 5 stars
Drowning in a sea of swirly reverb, the rich mezzo sometimes gets lost in more complex vocal passages, but boy is it pretty. The superposition of 60s surf and honky-tonk works really well behind her vocals, but puts her pretty squarely in a supersaturated market.
The Early November – In Currents
3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed the full band arrangements. They were very much in that pop-punk vein, but actually had movement and interesting arrangement. The acoustic tracks were losers. It seems that ever since Green Day put out Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), pop-punk bands have been putting a single acoustic track on every album. It worked for Green Day, but most of the time it just sounds like a pimply college freshman trying to impress the girls in the dorm. Without the acoustic tracks, this might have been a four.
Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
4 of 5 stars
An album that truly elicits a physical reaction. Moments of dissonance and out-of-time playing serve to make the grooves pop. This dynamic album really captures the listener and holds him hostage to the whole production from bottom to top.
Delicate Steve – Positive Force
5 of 5 stars
Wonderfully expressive melodic lines over very solid grooves. Movement like this is not something many people are able to do with instrumentals.
Deep Time – Deep Time
4 of 5 stars
Great grooves pieced together with sharply contrasting changes between repeating phrases. Normally I would find this jarring style annoying, but the grooves make up for it, and the vocals are delightful.
Debo Band – Debo Band
4 of 5 stars
An utterly unique sound that moves so well, you just have to move along. It’s so massive, you can’t ignore any of this awesome album.
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