16

No time for a proper post tonight I'm afraid, I've got a 1500-word essay due in tomorrow afternoon and I've barely broken the 500 mark. Panic mode is not yet engaged, but rest assured it is a mere few hours away.

So anyway, today I..

-Listened to Album by Girls again. I can still heartily endorse it.

-Got excited about Four Tet's forthcoming album, due in January. First single "Love Cry" is streamable from his MySpace (sorry, no time for links!). I found it rather lovely, and have been aching for new material from Four Tet, so I went ahead and ordered the vinyl single off Bleep. It looks colourful.

-Went to work and while there listened to Arcade Fire's Funeral (undoubtedly one of the albums of the decade) and the new Flaming Lips record, Embryonic. If you haven't listened yet, it's one of the rawest and most visceral albums I've had the pleasure of hearing recently. It's a double album too, and double albums are never this exciting.

-Got back from work and buried my head in my hands. It's gonna be a late one tonight for me, so some minimal techno and strong coffee is in order I think.

See you tomorrow!

15

So there's this kinda new band from San Francisco. Their album came out about six weeks ago, and it goes by the name of.. Album. Crazy titling, I know. Oh, and the band are called Girls, despite being made up of two guys. So yeah, searching for them online was fun (also on the unsearchable band list: !!! and WHY?).

Anyway, what's the deal with Girls? Well, besides an interesting backstory (singer Owens grew up in the Children of God cult, and had a pretty screwed-up childhood as a result), they've released one of the best albums of the year. It's hard to put a finger on what exactly makes it so good to be honest, I can only bleat uselessly about how good it makes me feel. Even when plumbing depths of wretched emotion, Album always rides with a glimmer of hope and awe. At its most exhilirating points, such as in wonderful opener "Lust for Life", it's a serious rush.

Unsurprisingly, most of the album is about, well, girls. By extension, it examines friendship, youth, despair and joy. This is well-trodden ground, but Owens' lyrics are sharp enough, and his voice evocative enough, that it never feels stale. Both band members are accomplished musicians, swinging through takes on sunshine pop, shoegaze, Buddy Holly-esque rock and more with consummate ease (epic centrepiece "Hellhole Ratrace" even has shades of post-rock).

Basically, Girls rule. Listen to them. They're on Spotify, I checked =)

The gauntlet

Have you heard of NaBloPoMo? No, me neither until a few minutes ago. It has its own website and everything, but the gist of it is anyone participating has to blog once a day for all of November. I thought hey, why not. I haven't blogged since April (or even come close, if I'm honest), and need to get started again somehow. So, here goes.

I'm a bit too tired to write up anything like a proper review, but I saw Passion Pit live in Southampton a couple of nights ago and may as well talk about it a bit.

I got into Passion Pit into a big way back in May of this year. Well, I almost did. After picking up the EP and being thoroughly charmed, I bought the album with high hopes. While not a bad record by any stretch of the imagination, Manners just didn't grab me, despite being built from solid and likeable electropop. Maybe it just couldn't stack up with the many other great releases this year (of which I'll get to in about six weeks' time), or maybe Passion Pit have some growing to do before they make a truly great album.

Anyway, I digress. The goodwill built up from Chunk of Change EP (plus the stellar "Little Secrets") was enough to make me and a few friends take the train to see them live at Southampton Uni. In a word, the gig was good. The affable and polite Passion Pit put on an enjoyable show which, in its best moments, had the crowd jumping about and yelling along with wide-eyed admiration. My only real gripe is that singer Michael Angelakos' high-pitched, emotive voice - what turned me onto Passion Pit in the first place - was occasionally indisctinct and too low in the mix, which somewhat dulled the effect of songs such as "I've Got Your Number". Regardless, it was a great set.

Credit where credit is due: The two support acts were also very entertaining. We only caught the last two songs of The Joy Formidable's set, but they seemed enthusiastic and agreeably heavy. Second support act was Max Tundra, and my my, did he impress me. Having known virtually nothing about him before arriving at the gig, I was initially surprised to see an unassuming, friendly man standing behind an array of what looked like toy keyboards. Once the music kicked in though, it was a treat - an irresistible combo of offbeat lyrics, slippery rhythms and skittery percussion. Highly recommended, if you get a chance to see him.

Well, that about does it for now! Back tomorrow? Hopefully.