Summer Music Review

Throughout the summer I make mixes of the latest music I'm into for those road trips to the cottage or Grand Forks. I sprinkle both old & new tunes on these play-lists and by the end of summer I probably have at least a dozen different mix CDs that make their way through my vehicles stereo, along with pure albums from the past or present. Radio for me is ancient history other than the occasional talk radio or weather updates. IPod is the other medium but I still prefer hearing music rather than having it injected into my ears.

So what have I been listening to? I'll warn you it is all over the map eclectic. Here's a sample playlist that may give some idea:

1. Change of Seasons - Sweet Thing EP - Sweet Thing 2006
2. Clocks - Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba - Coldplay 2006
3. Get Your Way - Catching Tales - Jamie Cullum 2007
4. Grow Old With Me - Instant Karma - Postal Service 2007
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba - U2/Coco Freeman 2006
6. Instant Karma - Instant Karma - U2 2007
7. Let Me Give The World To You - Machina II - Smashing Pumpkins 2000
8. Perfect World - Alligator - Guards of Metropolis 2007
9. Possession - I-Tunes Originals - Sarah McLachlan 2005
10. The Promise - Cities - Anberlin 2007
11. Real Gone - Cars Soundtrack - Sheryl Crow 2006
12. Something To Believe In - Memory Man - Aqualung 2007
13. Tarantula - Zeitgeist - Smashing Pumpkins 2007
14. Too Much Too Hide - Nuclear Daydream - Joseph Arthur 2006
15. Violetlight - Codes & Secret Longings - Raised By Swans 2005
16. Watching The Wheels - Instant Karma - Matisyahu 2007
17. The Way We Get By - Stranger Than Fiction - Spoon 2006
18. Whispering Pines - Endless Highway - Jakob Dylan 2007
19. Whole Wide World - Stranger Than Fiction - Wreckless Eric 2006
20. Winter Night - Sweet Thing EP - Sweet Thing 2006

ALBUM REVIEWS:

The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - 4 out of 5 Stars. I personally love this album and although it's not their best album it really drives well & lyrically in a whole new direction. 4 stars. Favorite songs - Zeitgeist, Bring The Light, Tarantula, & Doomsday Clock - lots of rhythm, lots of angst - meant to be played loud!

Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur - 4 stars for tracks downloaded. I bought a few songs from this album from I-Tunes that I highly recommend: U2's version of Instant Karma (strangely doesn't sound like them - hard to explain but great song), Matisyahu's Watching The Wheel's - reggae but still true to the original, Postal Service's Grow Old With Me - I could hear John Lennon in his vocals, & Imagine by Jack Johnson.

Travis - The Boy Without A Name - 4 stars. A great album that is worth the purchase or download. For fans of Radiohead, Coldplay or U2. Favorite tracks: Closer (5 star - powerful), Sailing Away (laid back & wandering), & Under The Moonlight.

Northern Room - Only Seconds EP & Last Embrace EP - 5 Stars. I love these guys, great soaring melodies, good drive with bass & drums, Coldplayish but have their own sound. Up and coming. Favorite tracks: Galaxy, Last Embrace, We're On Fire, Waiting. Both EPs are worth purchasing.

Spoon - GaGaGaGa & Spoon songs from the soundtrack for Stranger Than Fiction - 3 stars & 5 stars. I don't know why I haven't been exposed to these songs before watching Stranger Than Fiction because they have been around for awhile but for some reason that movie got me hooked into their melodic, trippy version of music. It is hook-laden and moving. Their latest album from my perspective is good but not as significant as the tracks they provided for the movie but it seems to be one of those albums that takes time to simmer before you fall in love with it. So it could very well become a 4 star one for me yet. Favorite songs from GaGaGaGa: Don't Make Me a Target, Finer Feelings, & Black Like Me. Favorite songs from Stranger: The Way I Get By & My Mathematical Mind.

The Album Leaf - Green Tour EP- 5 stars. If you like Sigur Ros or Explosions in the Sky, the Album Leaf is for you. Instrumental heaven with waves of emotion & musical electronic genius. Favorite songs: We Need Your Help & San Simeon.

Eisley - Combinations - 3 stars. They remind me of Sixpence None The Richer but with a more folky influence. Great vocals but like Tegan & Sara they suffer from sounding very similar from track to track. Favorite tracks include: Go Away, Invasion & Taking Control.

Beduin Soundclash - Street Gospels - 3 1/2 stars if you like Reggae Folk. A Canadian band that embraces a reggae style that grooves but still very emotive & moving. His vocal has a roughness that grows on you but still melodic enough that it doesn't distract. Favorite tracks: Walls Fall Down & Until We Burn In The Sun (I hear a little INXS here meets Bob Marley).

Silverchair - Young Modern - 3? Stars. I don't know where to go with this review as I've just sampled it really and not sure. I really love Straight Lines but it doesn't sound like Silverchair, in fact I give that song at least 4 stars - building but powerful once it starts going. The rest of the album I'm just not sure. Okay maybe I need to wait for a month before I review this album, but it isn't Silverchair.

Sweet Thing - Sweet Thing EP - 4 stars. A great little EP. First two tracks are amazing but the album slips a little after that but I'm guessing this is just a taste of what the band has to offer in the future. Great drive, melodies, lyrics, nice vocals, and over-all feel. Has a emo-influence but rock enough for it to get airplay hopefully. Favorite tracks: Winter Night & Change of Seasons (great intro to this song!).

More reviews to come this fall!