I was bored so decided to write a short review of what I've been listening to over the last couple of weeks.
Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites (Crap) - Potentially good indie-pop album ruined by some of the worst CD mastering I have ever heard. The tunes are good, the arrangements are creative, but the almost uniform volume levels make the crescendos sound flat and uninspiring . Normally I can live with this, but when its a band trying for epic and dynamic music (think Sigur Ros), you need a sound that is able to rise and fall in level. This doesnt, have it so meh. I bet they're great live though.
Porcupine Tree -
In Absentia (Not Crap) - This is seriously brilliant, and one of the best rock album I've heard in ages. If you havent heard this yet and have any love at all for prog {rock/metal} then you need to get it immediately.
Don Caballero - What Burns Never Returns (Crap) - Nice instrumentation, but sounds pretty directionless and goes nowhere. It feels more like a jam band than something which was thoughtfully composed. Parts of it are pretty rocking but I dont really like it as a whole.
Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope (Crap) - I really like her voice and some of the melodies are catchy, but I cant get past the lack of genuineness in her lyrics. I find her songs devoid of emotional content because she just doesnt seem like shes taking any of it seriously; compared to someone like Stuart Murdoch or Will Oldham the difference in sincerity is obvious. I dunno, calling this crap probably isnt fair but it really isnt my thing at all.
World's End Girlfriend - The Lie Lay Land (Not Crap) - Still the best post-rock album ever made.
Philip Glass - Powaqqatsi (Not Crap) - I've been totally gay for Philip Glass over the last few months, and this is no exception to his general awesomeness. It's a film soundtrack of sorts, but you wouldnt think so since the music stands on its own (especially Train To Sao Paulo/New Cities: Africa+India). This is minimalist like most of his work, but the tracks are a lot shorter and have more variation than usual so even misguided people who normally find him boring may still like it.
Faust - Faust So Far (Crap) - I generally dislike artists that seen like they arent taking their work seriously, and Faust are a fairly blatent culprit. Too much insincerity and sillyness, especially when compared to some of the absurdly fantastic bands they had as contemporaries. Faust IV is a better album all-round, although the same criticisms apply.
Guillemots - Through The Windowpane (Crap) - Although I only like 1 track on this (Madeup Love Song), its still infinitely better than all the other British indie groups that have been big in recent years (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, etc) so I'm cool with it. Still largely forgettable though; I've listened to it 4-5 times and can only remember one of the other songs.
Antonin Dvorak - Symphony 9 (Not Crap) - I've liked this for a while, but its only recently that I realised just how fantastic it was. Like most romantic symphonies, I dislike the third movement, but the rest of it is completely awesome. Probably my favourite non-Beethoven classical piece at the moment.
65daysofstatic - Hole EP (Crap) - I like the title track, but it suffers from having very little dynamic range (see Mew). The rest of it is largely forgettable, although Betraying Chino is ok for a 3 minute piece I suppose. Jer will probably tell me this is great.