Thieves By Tuesday*

TRACKLIST

1 Smells Like Teen Spirit .......... 5 stars
2 In Bloom  .............................. 5 stars
3 Come as You Are ................. 5 stars
4 Breed...................................  4.5 stars
5 Lithium ................................. 5 stars
6 Polly ..................................... 5 stars
7 Territorial Pissings ................. 4 stars
8 Drain You ............................. 4.5 stars
9 Lounge Act ...........................  4.5 stars
10 Stay Away ........................... 4.5 stars
11 On a Plain ............................ 4 stars
12 Something in the Way ........... 5 stars

Track rating Result: 4.7 stars

Favourite track(s) are:
Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come as You Are, Lithium, Something in the Way.

Genre: Grunge , Alternative pop/ rock

Although I did happen to love this song, I would prefer we don't focus on Smells Like Teen Spirit. There are a few things that irk me about this album and that happens to be one of them. It's too popular for all the wrong reasons. It's popular because of an anti-commercialism leaning. 

In Bloom is a song that satirizes Nirvana's (at the time) growing fanbase and possibly launches an attack against the leader of the band Earth (as told to me by my dear cousin Kuya Jad), who was a close associate of Kurt's. If it weren't for him, Kurt wouldn't have gotten his hands on a shotgun and Nirvana would have turned into Pearl Jam by now. Honestly!

Come As You are is an obvious highlight for most people, definitely one of my favorites, and Breed is a fast rocker type of heavy metal. Hell, pretty much everything is good here... I take issues with Polly and the aforementioned Smelling Teen Spirits... but that's about it. All in all a fine record!

To Download:

DOWNLOAD FULL ALBUM

Okay, this is album number 4 for all of you following and this one is one of my favorites.

I have written many times before on Swede artist Lykke Li (and I am now informed, pronounced “Lu-key Loo”) and at that time she was just finishing up her debut album “Youth Novels”. So, the web-hit “Little Bit” sounded fantastic, delicate and funky, but I had a few doubt that her album would not reach that far.

After a listen of the whole album (just last week) I was fairly convinced that “Little Bit,” although a highlight, was not the end of it, by far. What struck me at first was her courage in being immensely courageous in the use of different sounds and instruments as well as conventional ones. It’s almost a hybrid between something dainty and sweet. Tracks like “Complaint Department” have a grungy edge, in the music as well as her vocals, whereas “Little Bit” covers the delicate love-pop area.

I like the fact too that the album was also in a progression mode (or whatever should it appropriately be called). Not many artists bother themselves with this but I love that Lykke Li used this aspect to further push up the quality of her album, not only her tracks.

If you think the sweet little voice will annoy you, becoming old and boring after just a few tracks with the same style, Lykke is obviously capable of utilizing her voice in dynamic fashions. This album is a surefire catch to any music aficionado.

Tracklist and Download


Melodies and Desires 3:52
Dance, Dance, Dance 3:41
I'm Good, I'm Gone 3:09
Let It Fall 2:42
My Love 4:36
Tonight 4:13
Little Bit 4:33
Hanging High 4:07
This Trumpet In My Head 1:42
Complaint Department 4:32
Breaking It Up 3:40
Everybody But Me 3:18
Time Flies 3:21
Window Blues 3:59

DOWNLOAD ALBUM

(Thanks are highly appreciated!)

HUZZAH!

So guys, just right after the pound released Daps And Pounds, DatNewCudi then released his mixtape covering some of the best Kid Cudi songs, including the newest Daps And Pounds.

So if you are one of the unfortunate people who still hasn't caught the breeze of Kid Cudi (cheesy, i know), then you guys gotta check this out.

DOWNLOAD

Daps and Pounds [credit to It's a Rap]
Dat Kid from Cleveland

I've only noticed Rachel Yamagata when I read from a Blender review of her Happenstance album way back 2004.

Blender
If she lacks [Fiona] Apple's emotional complexity, her lovely and original debut finds the romance in despair. [Jun/Jul 2004, p.149]

It must have been pretty uncomfortable frequently being compared to Fiona Apple. It was undoubtedly due to her playing the piano and having a dark, smokey alto. The Virginia-born singer-songwriter has the kind of mysterious voice I can visualize as the image of a woman's lower face with wispy hair and ruby red lips.

To people who haven't seen how she looks like, listening to her will give you a somehow comparable picture. You can imagine replaying candid videos of you and your ex-girlfriend -- the one that got away. She always makes it hard for you. The full and opulent quality of her voice gives you bits of Norah Jones, but with a more sincere and honest variety.

In her sophomore album, Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart, Rachel Yamagata delves back into the walls of her heart with a solid look on the pains of heartache and making a move to realign life...

Read the MUSIC REVIEW inside.


The title track "Elephants" is an emotional attempt to rationalize a break-up ("If the tiger shall protect her young then tell me how did you slip by / All my instincts have failed me for once / I must have somehow slept the whole night"). "Sunday Afternoon" copies the same pattern but without the seemingly random lyrics.

"Sidedish Friend" is a slightly fast-tempo pop-sugar track that slaps you from all the drama, which lacked the presence of her beloved piano. I was kind of shocked listening to the track and was thinking that maybe I was listening to the wrong track.
The moodiness and drama abruptly disappears with the start of up-tempo pseudo-sugar pop of "Sidedish Friend." I guess it was her method of making a paradox in her album.

"I didn't set out to make a two part album. We just followed the songs' lyrical lead," Yamagata said on the press release, yet even she accepts the second half's contrasting style, "[... Teeth Sinking Into Heart] is like rediscovering your backbone after you've gone through the loss."

Few female vocalists could pull off such a modern style without sounding overbearing or appearing unladylike. Though the more rockier sound is quite new to my ears, it is nonetheless appealing. The fact that Rachel Yamagata handles herself with maturity and genuineness is what makes her unique in this generation's brand of music.

MySpace

Rachael Yamagata Official Website

Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart [Explicit]
Digital Music Album

The Walkmen - You and Me (2008)

You & Me, what I think is their 4th album, is a solid and complex collection of really inspired songwriting. Only recently have I heard of this band, and I find that it takes a good 4 - 5 listens of the album to really get into it. I listen only to a few of the tracks of their previous albums for comparison, and I think in You and Me, the band is in their most bare, melancholy, and oddly laid-back sounding.

It's romantic and utterly celebratory. You & Me wouldn't be categorized as vintage or old, but would certainly evoke feelings of nostalgia and wishful thinking to any listener.

Download it or buy it at Amazon!

Track listing:

01 "Donde Esta La Playa"
02 "Flamingos (For Colbert)"
03 "On The Water"
04 "In The New Year"
05 "Seven Years Of Holidays (For Stretch)"
06 "Postcards From Tiny Islands"
07 "Red Moon"
08 "Canadian Girl"
09 "Four Provinces"
10 "Long Time Ahead Of Us"
11 "The Blue Route"
12 "New Country"
13 "I Lost You"
14 "If Only It Were True"

+ Download the album.
+ Buy the mp3 album on Amazon.