She Could Use One
One has to wonder what the logic was behind delaying the stateside release of Victoria “Little Boots” Hesketh’s debut album Hands for so long (it made it’s way to the rest of the world last Summer). During that lag time, we’ve seen similar, superior femme-pop albums from the likes of Annie, La Roux, Florence and the Machine, even a new supplemental album from the ubiquitous Lady Gaga make their respective dents on the blogs and the charts. To strut Little Boots out now almost begs American listeners to compare and contrast, not to mention unfairly paints her as a coattail rider to newcomers when in reality, her demos and singles were making the rounds online before any of their recent efforts. Nevertheless, it matters not who does it first, only who does it better. And despite a valiant effort and some tenuous highlights, Hands can’t help but be left in the dust by her peers. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in Reviews Little Boots, Victoria Hesketh
We’ll Give You Laid Back
With the release of their breakthrough 2006 album The Warning, Hot Chip developed dueling signature sounds: the cheeky, floor-filling mania of “Over and Over” and the soulful, Euro-disco balladry of “Boy from School.” If 2008’s Made in the Dark found the band trying to indulge the former, One Life Stand shows them perfecting the latter. Though that approach may come at the cost of another single on par with those past, it makes up for it with new found consistency and artistic subtlety. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews Hot Chip
It’s a Vision
To the more causal listener, there may not be a high ratio of substance to style when it comes to Beach House. Undeniable masters at creating atmosphere, they’ve arguably focused too much on perfecting that atmosphere and not enough on filling it with actual songs in the past. 2008’s Devotion was a definite step in the right direction, revealing a good deal of quality songs and melodies to those willing to dig through the gossamer for them. With Teen Dream, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand have grown tired of waiting for you to come to them. These songs pierce and shine straight through the fog without compromising any of the duo’s dreamy aesthetic, finally perfected here to positively gorgeous effect. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews Alex Scally, Beach House, Victoria Legrand
Maybe Not but it Sure is Fun
If there’s one thing that Hans-Peter Lindstrøm is good at, it’s delayed gratification. From his early epics to the 28-minute title track from 2008’s sprawling Where You Go I Go Too, the Swedish space-disco maestro’s work has both required and rewarded immense patience from its listeners. It’s only fitting then that Real Life is No Cool, his easiest, breeziest collection of dance-pop to date, comes from nearly a decade of prolonged collaboration between him and vocalist Christabelle. It was worth the wait. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews Christabelle, Lindstrøm
Keepin’ On Keepin’ On
The story behind the release of Annie’s sophomore album Don’t Stop borders on the mythic. Island Records was originally supposed to release it in the Summer of 2008 only to shelve it in the wake of, among other things, label management changes, poor promotion and performance of the album’s first single, and the unfortunate leak of what many claim was an incomplete version of the album. Annie subsequently parted ways with Island, teamed with new producer Paul Epworth (of Bloc Party fame) and retooled the album, inserting, deleting and re-sequencing several tracks. Don’t Stop is finally out officially on Smalltown Supersound. Given how most of her audience already has access to and familiarity with much of the material, the question is whether or not the album still holds any surprises or new rewards for the listener. The answer is yes, but they’re not always worth the cost. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in Reviews Annie
Goner Records has confirmed that artist Jay Reatard, longtime champion of the Memphis garage rock scene, has passed away at the age of 29. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in News, Top Story
Ah, the 2000’s. The 00’s. The ‘Aughties’ or ‘Noughties’ if you will. It was a big decade for anyone who lived through it. We’ve seen the inaugurations of two new presidents, endured two of the worst national tragedies of our recent history, and watched the internet and digital technology literally take over our daily lives, for better and for worse. There was also a lot of great music, both in single and album form. Given the emergence of the MP3, iEverything, and services from Napster to Pandora to Lala over the years, it could be seen as miraculous that the album as an art form holds any continued relevance at all these days. That it continues to thrive both artistically and even commericially is both a testament to the times and to the continued (even enhanced) quality of such albums. Of course it helped that we we had so many great online music publications crop up during that time to sing their praises (not going to name names). So, on the last eve of this fine decade and after months of hard work and debate, we bring you MXDWN’s Favorite 100 Albums of the Decade to sing those praises one last time before moving on to the 10’s (Teens?). Have a look at what moved and motivated us to write about music over the years and keep checking back as individual writers chime in on their personal faves. Happy New Year! Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in Features Best of Decade
With the birth and growth of the MP3 as the default way to experience music over the last ten years, individual songs have been given an even brighter spotlight over their parent albums, often abandoning them altogether. The 100 choice tracks listed below reflect some of the best genres, albums, artists, and individual moments of sonic achievement of the decade. Here are MXDWN’s Favorite Songs of the ’00s. Keep checking back as various writers chime in with reflections on personal picks… Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in Features Best of Decade
You’ve got to hand one thing to A Place to Bury Strangers—they don’t believe in subtlety. Already the self-proclaimed “loudest band in New York,” the group went into their sophomore album Exploding Head intending to make the “craziest, most f*cked-up recording ever,” in the words of frontman Oliver Ackermann. Indeed, as their new album’s title suggests, the band who once wanted to fix the gash in your head are ready to tear open a new one, and have been doing just that during their ear-shattering recent tour. That didn’t stop Ackermann from taking a time out to let MXDWN pick his brain on what went into making said heads explode, their current musical tastes, and exactly how they manage to get through the tour without destroying every piece of equipment they have. Read more…
By Robert Huff Posted in Features A Place to Bury Strangers
