Grimes | Visions
Grimes - Vanessa (Arbutus/Hippos and Tanks 2011) from Grimes69 on Vimeo.
To describe your music as something like “post-internet” is both kind of stupid and absurdly pretentious. However, when you deliver a quality album to back it up, it’s something I can learn to forgive.
Grimes, Canadian electronic artist Clair Boucher, delivers an entire LP full of creepy and sensual grooves that, in today’s electronically saturated age, feel far more original than they have any right to be. Clair’s voice seems to hang eerily over every track, with the words themselves being equally indiscernible and inconsequential.
It’s electro-pop made in the bowels of some terribly hip beast, and I can’t get enough of it.
RIYL: SBTRKT, Little Dragon, Zola Jesus, Austra
By Richard Murphy, “Lionheart James,” Thursdays 2-4 a.m.
Memory House | The Slideshow Effect
The Slideshow Effect from Memoryhouse on Vimeo.
Awash in nostalgia, the dreampop of Memoryhouse’s first full-length album, “The Slideshow Effect,” may not be the deepest music you’ll listen to anytime soon, but it’s an enjoyable ride nonetheless. The vocals of singer Denise Nouvion are like honey, pleasing from beginning to end.
The tracks are typically washes of entirely reverbed-out guitar with a few riffs behind them, a formula from which the album rarely deviates. It’s cheery and somber in differing amounts, switching from both emotions almost effortlessly, even at times within the same song. Memoryhouse’s take on the genre may not be entirely original or unheard of, but it’s nice while it lasts.
RIYL: She & Him, Real Estate, Beach Fossils
By Richard Murphy, “Lionheart James,” Thursdays 2-4 a.m.
Hospitality | Hospitality
It’s 2012, and girly indie pop is — let’s face it — a bit overdone. You probably haven’t listened to your Thao & The Get Down Stay Down record in a while, and you’re starting to wonder what ever happened to Victoria Bergsman. Well fear not, Blue Roses fans!
On their full length debut, Hospitality demonstrates that, while the genre may be teetering on the verge of exhaustion, there is still room for a band with an impressive control of melody that isn’t afraid to get a little weird. Singer Amber Pampini’s keen pop sensibility guides “Hospitality” from irresistibly catchy uptempo strum sessions to lush twee ballads, complete with dueling male-female vocals.
Hooks aside, the hidden strength of “Hospitality” lies in its precise production, which lets the horns, violins and keys act as creative flourishes rather than over-complicating hindrances. If you still care about the young folks, pick this album up.
RIYL: Camera Obscura, Laura Marling, The Golden Dogs
By Maxwell Tani, “Baroqueback Mountain,” Fridays midnight-2 a.m.
Sleigh Bells | Reign of Terror
A dark stage. A wild crowd. Enter the noise pop queen muse, Alexis Krauss and her trusty guitar-shredding bard, Derek Miller. While listening to this album you may daydream about scenarios abundant with blowtorches, cotton candy and street luge.
Just as provocative and noisy as ever, Sleigh Bells’ new album is a rip-roaring ride on the back of a rabid unicorn to a hellish place with lovely decorations. The hooks are fresh and flashy, the fuzz is deafening and the hits and thuds can be felt in the very deepest regions of your guts.
It may seem as though “Reign Of Terror” is just “Treats” round two, but there’s a distinct difference between them. The album features a new complexity amid all of the claps, chimes and balls-to-the-wall riffs and licks, and a new layer of fragility exists in the lovably destructive songwriting that wasn’t there before. Songs such as “You Lost Me,” “End Of The Line” and “D.O.A.” have deeper cuts and more intimate lyrics and melodies.
In comparison to Sleigh Bells’ first album, the overall musical atmosphere on “Reign Of Terror” seems to be much more sensual, wistful and abysmal. That isn’t to say that listening to this album won’t make you feel as though a frigid bucket of water has been dropped on your sleeping head (in a good way), but purely suggests that some tenderness can now be found among Sleigh Bells’ brutally combustible nature.
Turn up the volume and get ready to be immediately inclined to run through the glassware section of your local department store with a baseball bat, jubilantly smashing everything in sight.
RIYL: Phantogram, St. Vincent (maybe?), Cults
By Brendan Principato, “This Radio Show Will Ruin/Save Your Life,” Mondays midnight-2 a.m.
Tennis | Young and Old
On last year’s “Cape Dory,” Tennis created an album that sounded as sunny and breezy as an album about an extended sailing trip should. While a retread of that material would have been bland, Tennis are smart enough to not make a complete overhaul in their sound, but do enough to expand and liven the material on this follow-up. Having Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney helming the production certainly helps in this regard, as he beefs up the percussion (surprise) while adding touches of keyboards and distortion.
Even with this broadening of sound, the beach-y vibes are still welcome and fresh, especially on the aptly named opener “It All Feels The Same.” For a band that could’ve been remembered solely as a sailing gimmick, Tennis prove they have a few more ideas than expected.
RIYL: Best Coast, Cults
By Cameron Meindl, Sundays noon-2 p.m.
