Albums I Heard In June

Sleigh Bells-Treats

Currently being touted by uber indie cool king Spike Jonze and M.I.A. this American noise pop duo are gradually getting recognition in hipster circles even if their monstrous sounding music is probably unlikely to cross over into the mainstream. Make no mistake about it, the debut album of the craply named Sleigh Bells sounds absolutely fucking HUGE! It makes an album like, say, Hidden by These New Puritans sound intimate by comparison. The guitars sound utterly enormous, the fuzzbox sounding like the speakers are going to explode at any minute, but still appearing to be oddly clean while the primitive sounding drums anchor the record into a truly bestial stomp. Opener 'Tell Em' starts things as they mean to go on and there's really no letup until the surprisingly tender 'Rill Rill' referred to in an NME article as the 'Paper Planes' moment on the album alleviates the onslaught. At 32 minutes, 'Treats' is a very short album and at times the band do sound like a one trick pony, but much like The XX album, each listen draws you further in and separates the tracks in your mind, albeit in an Earth shattering way. Either way, this is a superb album, original sounding and forward thinking.




The Chemical Brothers-Further
Tom n' Ed's follow up to 2005's underrated, but nevertheless Grammy winning 'We Are The Night' arrives containing the labels 'back to basics' and 'multimedia project', suggesting the dance duo are going through some kind of midlife crisis. By 'multimedia project; they mean the songs on 'Further' are designed to accompany a series of short films available with the album and projected in their recent live shows. I have not seen the films yet, so my focus is mainly on the music, which this time around indeed showcases a 'back to basics' approach given that the focus is on the songs themselves as opposed to a flurry of guest vocalists, in the past a staple of Chems albums and here notable in their absence. The album as a whole does feel like a soundtrack, and 'Further' is a departure for the group as the album is more of a display of cinematic electronic numbers and with the possible exception of the superb, tribal beat heavy 'Horse Power' does not contain anything like the big beat stompers with which they have made their name. If anything, that is the albums only real disappointment; 'Further' goes for beauty over fun. Still, what we are left with is pretty good to begin with, the epic 'Escape Velocity' which first arrived a couple of months ago is a fine song, slowly building and very subtle. Single 'Swoon' though underwhelming at first is a real grower and another highlight and the closing pair of 'K+D+B' and 'Wonders of the Deep' end things in a bright emotional fashion. In the final analysis, this is clearly a transitional album for the Chemical Brothers into making convincing and essential grown up dance music done with considerable skill and is definately worth a listen.




Jonsi-Go
The proper solo debut of Sigur Ros singer Jonsi Birgisson is something of a minor departure from his normal band and indeed from his side project Jonsi & Alex, whose album Riceboy Sleeps from last year was pleasant enough, but did seem to retread worn ground. The opening track 'Go Do' has a stomping beat to it, but is still filled with pixie-esque Technicolor flourishes (the mythical creature not band). The driving, 'Animal Arithmetic' is even more pulsating, building to a glorious beat heavy conclusion. Not that the album is a stomping indie/dance record mind, as it is mainly ballad driven; 'Sinking Friendships' is particularly lush as is 'Grow Till Tall' which sounds very reminiscent of ( )-era Sigur Ros. Overall, 'Go' is a lot more song oriented than the lush album oriented music of Sigur Ros and for fans of the group or quirky/ethereal/Icelandic music, it's an essential listen.




Christina Aguilera-Bionic
After a fairly lengthy (in pop music terms) absence, Xtina's first album in four years seems to be jumping on the bandwagon of making electro-pop songs akin to Lady Gaga, who has taken her and Britney Spears pop Queen crowns as of late. Therefore, it seems the thing to do is to put her with a series of now collaborators (MIA, Switch) along with electro pop ones from the first wave of electroclash (Le Tigre, Peaches) in an effort to re-jig her sound. Press releases were touting this album as 'experimental' but beyond it's lengthy (18 track) running time, what we have here is fairly by the numbers and a number of 'safe' tracks with Tricky Stewart and Polow Da Don fail to hit the mark. 'Not Myself Tonight' and 'Whoohoo' are both pretty pedestrian about which there is little to remark or recommend. The MIA album 'Elastic Love' is good enough, though by her standards it feels like an out-take from her own forthcoming album, of the safer tracks 'Glam' is better than much of the others and the Le Tigre song 'My Girls' is also pretty fun. According to a piece in the Guardian, this could well have been a worthwhile album, with the Ladytron collaborations either jettisoned or relegated to the bonus disc along with some more Switch/Santogold numbers, while songs with Goldfrapp and a cover of Ladyhawke's 'My Delirium' have also ended up on the studio floor. What we have left is an overlong, bland electro pop album that in all likelihood, could have been something more if only her record label had a bit more guts.




Janelle Monae-The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)
Now this is how you do an epic, modern pop album! The debut album of American pop/soul/dance/electro/psychedelic (whatever she fancies) singer Janelle Monae is again an epic 18-track journey of an album but one that impresses in its eclectic nature and sheer quality of tunes. Billed as a concept album about robots and dealing in concepts of Afrofuturism, or whatever that means, the lyrics trade in Philip K. Dick style cyberpunk tales. Allegedly. To be honest, I've not paid any attention to the lyrics, but what I do know is that this is a superb, ambitious and totally accessible pop album jumping between styles without sacrificing any sense of cohesion. The record is broken into two 'Suites'; the first features the big sounding commercial singles. 'Dance or Die' is a superb open proper with a funky bassline and catchy chorus and is followed by the equally superb 'Faster'. Later on is the stunning one-two punch of 'Cold War' and 'Tightrope'; the former is a relentless would be hit single, but it's 'Tightrope' that really shines through with contributions from Big Boi and a superb beat and winning chorus, it feels like a number one single. The second half trades in more sunny pop styles with a guest appearance from Of Montreal providing highlight 'Make The Bus' followed by the superb 'Wondaland'. Perhaps the album could do with a bit of trimming but pretty much everything here is worth listening to and the sheer scope of the album is part of it's charm. I'd be very surprised if I hear a better pop album than this all year.




The Black Keys-Brothers
The Black Keys return with another generous helping of blues rock, and to boot a consistent album worth savouring especially while contemporary Jack White descends further into mediocrity through his various side projects. After their previous Danger Mouse collaboration, 'Attack & Release' this does have something of a back-to-basics approach, but is unfortunately compromised by its 15-track and epic running time. That said, there are some decent tunes here. The single 'Tighten Up' is a fine indie rock tune with a catchy riff and bluesy lyrics. That track is followed by 'Howlin' For You' a good minimalist bar room style stomper; elsewhere 'The Only One' is chilled out and pleasing enough. It's a decent album, but it's pace is a little slow at times and it is far too long.




The Foals-Total Life Forever
Oxford five-piece The Foals were one of the most hotly tipped acts of 2008, but never seemed to live up to their full potential. They had a scattering of good songs (notably Balloons and Cassius) that received decent airplay but their album 'Antidotes' didn't quite live up to its promise and sold modestly. With 'Total Life Forever' they give it another shot, and their sound has become notably tamer or mature depending on your point of view. 'Miami' has a decent groove to it sounding very grown up and slick as does the cool sounding title track. Also worthwhile is 'After Glow' sounding the most like something off the first album and the single 'This Orient', definately the most catchy song here and probably the most obvious 'single' on the record. Still, the best cut here is 'Spanish Sahara', which may be because of its already familiar nature, but in any case it's a superb, massive sounding epic and a clear standout on the LP. I probably haven't listened to the album enough to let it properly creep in, and sometimes it's production can feel a little bogged down and stale, giving it a slightly MOR feel but I'm sure this is a grower.




Deloran-Subiza
Third album from Spanish alt-dance outfit Delorean and follow up to last year's excellent 'Ayrton Senna EP' is a very song-oriented and summery affair. Appropriately enough for a Spanish group, the album trades heavily in nu-Balearic sounds and housey pianos combined with an indie-pop (think Phoenix of Animal Collective) aesthetic. Second track 'Real Love', I don't think is a single, but it definately should be with its heavily distorted and hazy vocals make this a fine summer tune as does the gorgeous 'Infinite Desert', the very 90's 'Come Wander' and the carnival esque closer 'It's All Ours'. It's a little samey at times, but it's an album you can stick on and float away with in the sun, while drenched in echoes of the past it also somehow feels very 'now' in terms of dance music.



Album Of The Month: The ArchAndroid (Suites II & III) by Janelle Monae