The Leaky Faucet: Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

I hope Dredg aren't trying to say that they "mailed it in."
I hope Dredg aren't trying to say that they "mailed it in."

Retail Release Date:  June 9, 2009

Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date:  May 6, 2009

Dredg really never had a shot on the major labels.  They’re a prog rock band, first and foremost.  This is, of course, why I like them.  For their last album, Catch Without Arms, they teamed up with a big name producer (Terry Date) and had songwriting help from Queensyche’s Chris Degarmo.  That’s a high powered team, and the album that came out of it had a lot of polish and shine, but also lacked some of the musical innovation found on the band’s older releases.  In a lot of ways, it made their earlier albums sound like demos.

So now Dredg is off of the major label, yet they’ve maintained the polished sound, but–and this is exciting–they’ve also thrown caution to the wind in a lot of ways.  No longer worried about trying to sound like the band the majors want them to sound like, they go back to the more experimental sounds of their earlier albums, Lietmotif and El Cielo.  And it’s almost a complete success. Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Dredg — The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion”

The Leaky Faucet: Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

He wanted to make sure he won the Silliest Album Cover of the Year award
He wanted to make sure he won the Silliest Album Cover of the Year award

Retail Release Date:  June 2, 2009 (digital only)

Leaky Faucet Acquision Date:  May 3, 2009

I’ll start with the album cover.  Patrick Wolf is posed here as an alien who’s landed in an oddly shaped spaceship tent, in some crazy cyberpunk outfit with a purple glow behind his hand, and some ancient instruments at his campsite.  What is Patrick Wolf saying about this album before you even listen to it?  He’s saying, “please don’t take me too seriously.  I’m an utter goofball.” Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Patrick Wolf — The Bachelor”

The Leaky Faucet: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Is this cover more interesting than the album?
Is this cover more interesting than the album?

Retail Release Date:  May 25, 2009

Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date:  March 11, 2009

Phoenix is a French pop band that plays music that can only be described as Britpop.  What does French Britpop sound like?  It sounds like the band Phoenix.  Perhaps I should explain. Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”

Album Review: Graham Coxon – The Spinning Top

Once again Graham shows us his many talents, using his own art for the cover.
Once again Graham shows us his many talents, using his own art for the cover.

Graham Coxon’s new solo album The Spinning Top is due to be released on May 11th, a month before his former band Blur reunites for a series of reunion tours.  I must admit that I have been in fangirl love with Graham Coxon since I was 16 years old, and The Spinning Top makes this fangirl swoon.  Musically, we’re back to a simpler Graham, focusing on him and an acoustic guitar, unlike his last two more rock-tastic albums.  Thematically, The Spinning Top is more complex.  It is a concept album, following the story of a man from birth to death, but the theme gets a little lost.  It comes across more as a way for Graham to expose his deep inner self without having to be held accountable for anything that he reveals.

Continue reading “Album Review: Graham Coxon — The Spinning Top”

Sing It Hasselhoff: Feltbeats (Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy)

Time Well Spent
Time Well Spent

I am a sucker for actor albums. I have no control of the sick curiosity and need to either further worship (Zooey Deschanel) or further ridicule (everyone else) said actor for their musical exploits. Needless to say when I saw this EP by Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) I HAD to hear it.  “Time Well Spent” has been out for about a year, but I just stumbled accross it last week.  Little did I know it would have me going “Aw! It’s Draco!” while watching the new Harry Potter trailer.

Continue reading “Sing It Hasselhoff: Feltbeats (Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy)”

Beirut: March of the Zapotec/Holland

Beware the back slash
Beware the back slash

Beirut-March of the Zapotec/Holland

Release Date: February 16, 2009

As a girl who claims to be quite a huge Beirut fan, my natural reaction when I first heard about the newest production from said band was, OMG! I had read in an article in Fader Magazine that front man, Zac Condon, had traveled down to the Oaxaca region of Mexico and recorded with a troop of local musicians known as Banda Jimenez of Teotitlan del Valle. This bit of information made Zapotec all the more exciting, as a blogger of Mexican decent, to feast my ears on. Continue reading “Beirut: March of the Zapotec/Holland”

The Leaky Faucet: Silversun Pickups – Swoon

Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Silversun Pickups – Swoon.

Retail Release Date:  April 14, 2009

The Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date:  March 26, 2009

The Silversun Pickups new album Swoon landed on my hard drive last week.  I wasn’t thrilled with the last Silversun Pickups album.  I really liked their live show, but the energy of that show didn’t end up on the record.  This album continues that trend, but is overall a far better album anyway.  Why’s this?

Swoon is the kind of album that simply isn’t made much anymore:  a major-label 90s alternative rock record.  What I mean by this is that it has that shiny perfection in every sound and an overall gloss that makes it really easy to listen to.  There’s strings in parts where there should be strings.  The guitar is fuzzy but never distorted.  The vocals are clean with just the proper amount of reverb.  If you fondly remember the production style of Bush’s Sixteen Stone or Candlebox’s debut album, then you’re totally going to dig this record.

The songs are good here, especially the driving rhythm section.  There’s a decent amount of dynamics here; Silversun Pickups don’t do Pixies-ish loud-quiet-loud too much, but rather slow builds from soft to loud.   The lyrics sound cool, but in the end have no real meaning to me.  I might not be paying attention that much because the groove is really quite excellent.

Again, these songs are likely to sound even better live, but this album is a good listen.   Recommended.