Thieves By Tuesday*

The Knife

Compared to the generation of artists today who share to the world via sites like Twitter every waking moment they have, one of the good things about The Knife is that they still leave something to the imagination. Fans wonder when they will release a new album to follow the success that was Silent Shout. And then 2009, Karin Dreijer Andersson released her outstanding Fever Ray album. Like Silent Shout, dark and brooding but epic in its beauty that gave me a shred of hope for The Knife to release a second album to continue on the glory of their discography. Since the weeks that they released streams of their album, Tomorrow In A Year, I've been listening and warming myself to the new aesthetic they applied to their new album- orchestral elements, and some quite unusual bits. Don't get me wrong, I love some creativity and uniqueness but some of the tracks off their album are quite hard to appreciate. A week on streaming and consequent listens, the only track I give my thumbs up is their collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock, Colouring of Pigeons. I'm not saying working with Danish theater experimentalists Hotel Pro Forma can do this to a possibly great album nor do I suggest any thinking that the Dreijer siblings might have lost their touch. Their Darwin-inspired concept is good and well-thought out, but this new album is heavy that I had to press pause. And then, stop.

The Knife Epochs

Listen to The Knife's other tracks in Tomorrow in a Year via their Soundcloud account.


Download | The Knife in Collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock – Colouring of Pigeons


The Knife - Annie's Box (alt. vocal)


The Knife, Mt. Sims - Variation of Birds

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.