August Song

Just back from a month long trip to China. Didn't really get to listen to any new music. But once I came back, Soulseek on! In China, perfectly legitimate (for real) compact discs cost around 10-30 RMB at most. Which is anything from S$2-7. Makes me wonder why I paid up to S$50 for those import cds... Of course, ever since the napster age dawned, I wondered why I even paid a single cent.

Right, right, right...
new music august. alphabetical order.

Guide
#. Artiste - Album - Source
Description - Rate

Comment

1. Arovane - Lilies - Boomkat

A duller Xela - 3.5/5
Ambient, clinky piano, hushed beats. A record that belongs to the city. Like a Westerner's view of what Japanese electronica could sound like.

2. Arto Lindsay - Salt - Life!

Electronica styled Antonio Carlos Jobim - 3.5/5
I like Arto. Like his voice, his semi-lazy style of singing, the laid back mood to his music. Not too much of a departure from his previous stuff, like Noon Chill or Invoke, just heavier beats, leaning towards hip-hop.

3. Badly Drawn Boy - One + One Is One - HMV

If Underworld went Indie - 3.5/5
I loved Hour Of Bewilderbeast and the About A Boy OST. Don't really love the two albums after. This one seems a bit more like a return to form. It sounds older, folkier, more Nick Drake. Like if some minstrel from the middle ages met with a keyboard and electric guitar maybe.

4. The Charlatans - Up At The Lake - HMV

Tim Burgess gone to see Franz Ferdinand - 3/5
They seem to have hung around the longest out of all the Britpop era bands. When a band has a best of comp, it signals their demise. See Blur, Pulp, Suede. The Charlies haven't. They're still around and still rockin' it. Not the most innovative record you'll find but decent I suppose.

5. DJ Krush - Jaku - Soulseek

If Akira Kurosawa had to use a soundtrack today - 3.5/5
Japanesely dark and brooding, and runs the gamut from using traditional Jap instruments to trip-hoppy beats, hip-hop and Jazz all over. A tense run through a bamboo forest like in Rashomon, dotted with moments of surreal calm.

6. Doves - Lost Sides - Q

Badly Drawn Boy please, more electronica, hold the folk - 3/5
This has been out for a while now. The review in Q wasn't too nice. In truth, it does sound like they just rehashed whatever they had from Lost Souls and bits of The Last Broadcast. But I saw this compilation disc in HMV and it had Darker, the third track in Sides. Which reminds me of the newer Sneaker Pimps.

7. Erlend Øye - DJ Kicks - Soulseek

21st century Electro Frappacino - 4/5
Mr. Øye mixes his own vocals and shows his varied taste for music, from Cornelius' Drop to The Rapture's I Need Your Love. The sound of today, mashed into an Ikea table. Imperfectly blended, but the jumpy cuts give it character.

7. Jay Chou - Qi Li Xiang - Poster in China

Skinny, mumbling Hip-Hop/R&B Chinese guy - 3/5
So into his 5th album, he sounds less fresh. But its still OK. Same mumbly hip-hop/R&B with lashings of rock here and there.

8. Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street - Life!

Norwegian acoustic folk - 4/5
Lovely. Blissful strings that seem more like harps than a pair of guitars. Voices that blend into each other. Quaint boopy sounds that drift along fjords. As title suggests, a riot minus the violence.

9. Mel Torme - Smooth As Velvet - Soulseek

Gentleman sings Jazz - 4/5
I heard Mel sing Stardust on the Thai Airways flight back from China. Thought it was pretty brilliant. He sounds wonderful. Makes me wish I had his voice. Less flashy and sparkly than Frank Sinatra, Mel coos, crystal in the higher registers. This is smooth as velvet.

10. Phoenix - Alphabetical - Soulseek

Frenchie Electronica - 3/5
Somewhere between Air and Tahiti 80, with almost boy-bandish vocal tracks that nod toward Robbie Williams, like on (You Can't Blame It On) Anybody. It even goes "I thought I'd entertain you...". Perhaps the svengalis should take notice. But it does have funk/soul elements that make it sound unique in this day and age.

11. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free - Soulseek

UK Hip-hop/Garage - 3/5
Original Pirate Material was quite the classic when it was released, that perfect UK hip-hop/garage record. Grand picks up where it left off. Good for a smirk listening to his narrative, perhaps straining for extended listens.

12. Various - Turn Left Turn Right OST - Turn Left Turn Right

Jimmy Liao in sound - 3/5
I don't really like Gigi Leung's voiceovers when she recites that poem. I cringed when she did it in the movie, I keel over now. But! The title track and also track 7, 她是784533... are gems.

13. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue - HMV

New hot! punky American band - 2/5
HMV heralded this as some new hot band. Why I have scant idea. This is run of the mill punk-lite/rock. Sum 41 with another singer. Deleted.