A Music Update

For those interested, here's what I've been listening to recently.

1. Tiny Amps~Trill and Swagger--This is a really great album, from the first "Dance on a Crowded Floor," which gets my alterna groove going, to quirkier fare like "Zombies" that sort of floats you out on a cloud of lazy guitar riffs. Their lead singer sounds like a weird mellower version of Mike Ness. But maybe that's just my crazy ass interpretation. I don't know too much about them yet, but I definitely like this album.
2. Killjoy Confetti~The Fun Is--These chicks rock! They remind me a bit of early Sleater-Kinney meets some Bikini Kill. Some nice punk style wailing and rough guitar playing on some songs, but all with a fair amount of precision. I think my favorite track is "Things I wanna Do."
3. The Rakes~Capture/Release--These Brit boys have been touring with Franz Ferdinand in the UK at some shows. They've got a very Brit flavor mingled with new wave and punk influenced tunes (some Sex Pistols, The Clash, et al). They've got spunk and a great sense of sarcasm. Some songs are better than others, but this is definitely worth getting a copy of. I especially like "Retreat," "We are all animals," "Terror" and "Work, work, work (Pub, Club, Sleep)."
4. Sufjan Stevens~Come on Feel the Illinoise--I don't quite know how this album passed me by for so long. Especially as it's being touted as the #1 album of 2005 in indie circles. Stevens has been doing a cross-country musical journey, creating an album for each state. He's only done a couple so far, so he has a long way to go. But this is his one for Illinois. (Monkey might enjoy this!) If nothing else, one must at least look at the wonderfully exotic song titles for each track.
5. The Dials~Flex Time--Yay! More chicks who rock! There's an upbeat vibe to this album and great guitar thrumming going on. You could almost picture these girls as the cool garage band down the road who irritate all the neighbors with their loud and boisterous playing. The songs are all short sweet little gems that make you want to move. "Phone Line" has hit single written all over it.
6. The New Pornographers~Twin Cinema--Shout out to my fellow Canucks! Their albums just keep getting better and better. A.C. Newman knows quality pop rock when he hears it and can crank out the stuff better than anyone I've heard recently. Plus, Neko Case on board makes things even cooler. This album has been on a lot of top music of 2005 lists.
7. We are Scientists~With Love and Squalor--These Aussies are hella catchy! I think I like every song on this album. There's definitely some teeny angst to their lyrics, but you can look past this because the tunes are so great. And there's something rather cute and earnest about these lads and their emotional baggage of adolescence that doesn't grate. Right now it's only available via import, but should hit US music stores some time in January.
8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah~Clap Your Hands Say Yeah--I'm still working through this one. Lots of hype for them going in indie music circles and I can see why. But I think the album takes some gradual listening to get into fully.
9. Wolf Parade~Apologies to Queen Mary--More Canucks! Huzzah! The Canadian indie scene is just exploding these days, which is awesome. And this album is an interesting one, with a lot of keyboard-heavy new wave style tunes in indie fashion. The lead singer has been said to have a strong David Bowie affinity to his voice, which I must agree with. If you like Arcade Fire, you'll like this Montreal group's debut.
10. Ladytron~The Witching Hour--I'm not usually much of an electronica fan, but this most recent album by Ladytron is the best thing in the genre I've heard in ages. I feel some echoes of early Depeche Mode going on, and the lead singer's voice is an eerily haunting synthesized warble at times. I especially like "Destroy everything you touch" and "International Dateline."
11. Art Brut~Bang Bang Rock and Roll--This album has gotten quite a few laughs out of me. Not only does it have a great sense of humor, but there's a lot of intelligent irony going on. Of course, they're Brits. Perhaps that's why. It's hard to classify where this album fits musically, but it offers some scathing critique on the current music scene and the wannabe punksters. The songs are all well crafted and diverse. Check it out!