1. Tower of Foil – Comedy of Summer Rain: It’s a rather plaintive song that might appeal to those who enjoy alt-country. There’s a piano and some big chords that also invite some Ben Folds parallels. 4/10
2. Bjork – It’s Not Up to You: This song is from “Vespertine,” which is like a giant lullaby to me. It’s not a bad album but I never really get into it. This song has the usual Bjork vocal inflections and rather minimalist background tones 5/10
3. The Cells – Silver Cloud: Rather power-poppy and a little too close to some generic California band. They do open it up a little bit for guitar solos but it never quite has enough power to make me love it. 5/10
4. Devendra Barnhart – I Feel Just Like a Child: This song just kind of rubs me the wrong way. There are some other songs on this album that I like others I don’t really care for. This is one of the latter 4/10
5. The English Beat – Dream Home in New Zealand: I really like this song. A fine example of 80’s two-tone ska with a decent sax solo and a stellar voice. 7/10
6. Architecture in Helsinki – Neverevereverdid: The opening track off of their new(er) album, this song takes a few minutes to get up to speed. Once it does, a rollickin’ good time is had by all. Tuba love, damnit! 8/10
7. Devin Davis – Iron Woman: Decent, slightly twangy rock about the encounter with an ‘Iron Woman.’ I like his voice but the song is a little rough. Still it hearkens me back to some early-90’s alt experiments so have a 6.5/10
8. Juliet – On the Dance Floor: I wish I could keep the dance stuff out of these selections. Not usually quite what I al looking for in the morning. Nevertheless, based on the frequency I seem to end up playing the song it gets at least a 6/10
9. The Wrens – 13 Months in 6 Minutes: Another sad story from The Wrens told so beautifully. I like this CD a lot and love seeing them live. I love the slight distortion of the guitar and the gentle singing over the lyrics. 8/10
10. Chinese Artists – Yu Bei Xushi Qu (The Narrative Music of Yu Provision): Now for something completely different. It’s a Chinese folk song featuring the erhu, what I consider the Chinese equivalent of the fiddle. It starts out slow but gets more animated through the middle. It is pretty much just erhu with a piano so approach with caution 6/10
posted by fulsome @ 12:19 PM
