Some more records real quick...

Dirty Projectors-Temecula Sunrise

So, Dirty Projectors released one of the "albums of the Summer," according to a lot of bloggers, this year; well, they are now back with an EP. I have one pretty serious question: Why does it have "Cannibal Resource" on it again? I hate that! This EP is a waste and Dirty Projectors are one of the most over-rated acts out there. They re-use samples and sounds so often that the tracks begin to meld into one long painful cacophony of garbage. Nothing is worth your time here.

Grade: 1.2 (only for "Cannibal Resource" being on it)

Real Estate-Real Estate
Is this what we need? Another soft-rock indie rock band from Jersey? I say why not, but they better be good. They aren't great, but they have talent. The songs really aren't that impressive and the production is way too twangy (I can still feel the strings vibrating somewhere in my chest), unedited, and really just not that good. There is a general feeling of possibility-like when you listen to Death Cab for Cutie's You Can Play These Songs with Chords. I suppose this is the result of too-early hype and the rush to put out a record. If you want to hear their best, then seek out the tracks "Fake Blues" and maybe "Black Lake" or "Let's Rock the Beach." Good luck!

Grade: 3.7

Cate Le Bon-Me Oh My

Welsh-born Cate Le Bon brings her dark imagery and subject matter together with a light musical style that can go from psychedelic melancholy to dementia in a matter of seconds, see: "Burn Until the End." It always seems like one piece of a chord progression is a bit off-like an ice cream truck that has a warped note on it's jingle. Cate's voice is entrancing like a Joni Mitchell of the night. It takes on the personality of the music quite well going from dark and foreboding to light and seemingly unaware of the words that are coming forth. I kept the title track "Me Oh My," "It's Not the End," and the aforementioned "Burn Until the End."

Grade: 6.8

Back & with more ideas

Sorry for the break, but drama intervened and now we're back. I was thinking about the format for what we've been writing about and have decided to branch out and include all media. I take in at least one new thing per day and I have the same high standards to apply to TV, film, and video games that I do to music. For my first post back, though-we'll stick with the tunes though.

Lake - Let's Build a Roof

Lake are labeled a psyche-pop band and come from Olympia, Wa. It's a surprise I know, but K Records put this out too. Seriously, I really liked parts of this record. It is smooth and lovely with less of the kitsch-y psyche crap that makes me generally dislike the genre as a whole. If you like Hem or even Flunk, then you'll like Lake. I kept "Loose Wind," and "Gravel."

Grade: 5.3

Jim Ward - In the Valley, On the Shores EP

You remember Jim Ward. He was the lead guitar in perhaps one of the best bands of the early 00's: At the Drive-In. Sure, he went on to form Sparta and be moderately successful, but this is Jim Ward on his own and it is not what you are used to hearing. The record is bare, raw, and full of emotion consisting mainly of Ward's tender vocals and acoustic guitar. There is a brightness to the record and it is a testament to his talents. Since it is an EP, I kept the whole thing because each track was powerful in it's own way.

Grade: 7.2

Alec Ounsworth - Mo Beauty

The unique vocalist for Clap You Hands Say Yeah has produced a record with plenty of depth that, while it's hard to immediately take in, is incredibly interesting. The music is stripped down, unamplified, and more bare than we are used to, The progressions and timing are also recognizable. What really stands out to me on this record is the slower more delicate moments, while the more uptempo tracks seem to take away from the overall feeling of the record. Alec has an air of Bob Dylan at times with slurred vocals and drawls that create emotion and give the music a lot of distinction. I kept "Modern Girl," "Holy,Holy, Holy Moses," "What Fun.," and "Obscene Queen Bee."

Grade: 6.2