New Muzak Review
Utada Hikaru Heart Station
A solid album but not as strong as Ultra Blue. Stay Gold is probably my favorite track - a soulful down tempo piece sung over a simple piano & drum arrangement.
Probably the most jarring song on the album is Boku wa Kuma (I'm a Bear) - a theme to a children's show that has been tacked on for promotional purposes. Given all the other songs, it just really doesn't fit.
A solid album but not as strong as Ultra Blue. Stay Gold is probably my favorite track - a soulful down tempo piece sung over a simple piano & drum arrangement.
Probably the most jarring song on the album is Boku wa Kuma (I'm a Bear) - a theme to a children's show that has been tacked on for promotional purposes. Given all the other songs, it just really doesn't fit.
Portishead Third
Portishead is back after everyone left them for dead.
Third is a varied affair when it comes to its sonic signature - the singing and certain guitar riffs are about the only constants remaining; everything else sounds nothing like what they had on their earlier albums.
To be honest, I still need time to digest this - Third is one of those albums that requires a few listens to decide exactly what I think about it.
M83 Saturdays=Youth
Saturdays=Youth is what happens when an electronic group decided to make a tribute album to John Hughes films. And just in case it wasn't obvious from the songs, the artwork hammers the point in by featuring a bunch of pretty young things dressed up like the cast of The Breakfast Club & other such teen angst films.
Thankfully, the lush updated New Wave sound is done very well. Definitely my favorite M83 album.
Portishead is back after everyone left them for dead.
Third is a varied affair when it comes to its sonic signature - the singing and certain guitar riffs are about the only constants remaining; everything else sounds nothing like what they had on their earlier albums.
To be honest, I still need time to digest this - Third is one of those albums that requires a few listens to decide exactly what I think about it.
Saturdays=Youth is what happens when an electronic group decided to make a tribute album to John Hughes films. And just in case it wasn't obvious from the songs, the artwork hammers the point in by featuring a bunch of pretty young things dressed up like the cast of The Breakfast Club & other such teen angst films.
Thankfully, the lush updated New Wave sound is done very well. Definitely my favorite M83 album.
